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(03/14/19 10:36am)
MIDDLEBURY - As the town poured into the Middlebury Union High School auditorium at 7 p.m. last Monday night for the annual Town Meeting, energy was high. Some brought their knitting, some brought brownie-wielding toddlers and all brought their own perspectives to add to the night’s nearly three hour discourse. Joining towns across Vermont in a tradition over 200 years old, the 2019 Middlebury Town Meeting used direct democracy to tackle issues such as the budget for the upcoming year, infrastructure initiatives, environmental proposals and the election of local officials.
This year, Middlebury joined Burlington and Manchester in passing a long-awaited and hard-fought article to advise the Selectboard to ban single-use plastic bags in retail locations. The article, which was spearheaded by local resident Amy McAninch and Middlebury student Amelia Miller ’20, was approved on Tuesday’s Australian Ballot vote at Town Hall. It passed in Middlebury with a vote of 838 to 211. At the meeting itself, attendees unanimously approved Articles 1-7. This included a long-debated town budget of $11,155,400, spending plan approvals and the allocation of a $400,000 surplus from the Cross Street Bridge Reserve Fund to be put toward capital projects and to serve as a property tax cushion.
For some, this year’s gathering was bittersweet. Former Governor and longtime Middlebury resident Jim Douglas ’72 has moderated Middlebury’s Town Meeting since 1986, and after 32 years serving the town, 2019 was Douglas’ last. Before public debate began, the Selectboard dedicated their annual town report to Douglas among cheers and a standing ovation from the attendees. Selectboard Vice Chair Nick Artim lauded the retiring moderator for “his calm demeanor, his dry sense of humor and his amazing ability to know and remember the names of almost everyone in the audience.”
As the meeting continued, it became clear what he meant. Douglas moderated discussion with a cool hand for almost three hours, calling on most townspeople to speak using a first-name basis. Much of this time was spent deliberating over fiscal Articles 2-4, which included use of the Cross Street Bridge Reserve Fund surplus, purchase of new town vehicles and the adoption of the proposed budget for the upcoming year. Each of these articles passed, including a friendly amendment to Article 4 on the provisions of the town budget.
Articles 5-7 were approved with less discussion. These included means of collecting local taxes and, in Article 7, authorization of a loan of up to $100,000 for the Memorial Sports Center. This article passed with a friendly amendment as well, which will allow for the renewal of the loan as needed.
It was around 9 p.m. by the time Article 7 passed, and parents had begun quietly carrying their sleeping kids out of the auditorium. The night wasn’t over yet, though. Article 8, the final item on the night’s agenda, was not a vote but rather a chance for discussion of pertinent town topics.
State Senator Ruth Hardy spoke first, standing to read a resolution in honor of the Foster Brothers Farm for having recently become the first New England farm to receive the national Innovative Dairy Farmer of the Year award.
Article 8 also allowed for discussion of the articles that would be voted on in the following day’s Australian ballot election. This included time for the candidates for town government positions to introduce themselves, and for Middlebury student Amelia Miller ’20 to give a presentation on her proposal for a town-wide ban on single-use plastic bags.
The ban, which passed by a significant margin of votes the next day, proved to be compelling to the crowd. Many stood to voice their support for the article after Miller’s plea to consider the environmental impact of non-reusable plastics. Middlebury resident Steve Gross even stood to add, “I believe this is almost a no-brainer.”
Inspiring winces and sighs from the attendees, Miller explained that in a town like Middlebury with a population of 8,598, the ban would annually reduce the use of bags by 4.6 million, eliminate approximately 120 metric tons of greenhouse gas and save retailers $182,000. “We just use an exorbitant amount of plastic bags,” Miller remarked.
Despite the Article’s passage, the town of Middlebury will still allow use of specific recyclable or reusable plastic bags such as those used for dry cleaning. The town will instead eliminate single-use bags such as those provided in grocery store check-out aisles, and paper bags will still be permitted.
Other Articles passed in Tuesday’s Australian Ballot vote included a motion to appropriate $3,000 to the Habitat for Humanity of Addison County to support affordable housing and a motion to advise the Selectboard to send a letter to the Vermont Statehouse in support of the 350VT Climate Solutions Resolution. Article 10 was comprised of a motion to advise the adoption of the same Climate Resolution locally, including initiatives to reduce energy usage and to install solar panels on town and school buildings. Each of these Articles passed with a significant majority.
Several town officers were also elected in the Australian Ballot, including Listers Gary F. Baker and Elizabeth J. Dow; Selectboard members Nick Artim, Victor Nuovo and Heather J. Seeley; Ilsley Library Trustees Alice L. Eckles, Joe McVeigh and Catherine P. Nichols and, taking over for former Governor Douglas as Moderator, Susan E. Shashokm
It was nearing 10 p.m. when the meeting finally concluded with cheers from the sprinkle of residents still in the auditorium. For some, this year’s Town Meeting was yet another continuation of a tradition they have known their whole lives. For others, this year’s meeting brought renewed hope to improving Middlebury’s infrastructure, community and environment. And for retiring Moderator Jim Douglas, the end of the meeting marked his last motion on the town stage. “The ‘ayes’ have it, and the annual meeting stands adjourned.”
(03/14/19 10:00am)
It was a long day and an even longer week. The weather was hot, the fields labor-intensive. All this poor guy wanted was to relax with a nice drink. So, Friday evening, he pulls together a small lump of clay and with his stylus scratches a note: “4 beer.”
Or, to use a more expert translation, “Three liters of first-rate beer,” according to alumni Seth Richardson ’90. Beer, both a refreshing (and safe!) beverage as well as a gift from the goddess Ninkasi, dates back at least 3,000 years to ancient Mesopotamia (in modern Iraq). Our protagonist’s proto-Venmo request was (hopefully) handed to the local keeper of beer in exchange for a jolly night out. There it sat, possibly until an invading army burnt the building in which it was kept, accidentally firing the clay and preserving it so thousands of subsequent generations can see that, before inflation, a one-inch lump of clay got you three liters of classy booze.
This is all speculation. What is certain, though, is that this beer receipt sat somewhere in the world for the last 4,000 years, outlasting nearly everything we know about human culture and a good deal that we don’t know. This small tablet now resides, available for any student to view, in the college’s Special Collections.
To some (myself included), the prospect of our small school owning a 4,000-year-old cuneiform tablet is amazing in its own right. To others, admittedly less so. It is easy to be impressed by things of extreme age, of ‘historic-value,’ and, frankly, things that sound like they should be impressive. Yet, when we ask what really makes an item like this special, we can find a more human answer.
Poetic license allows me to refer flippantly to this tablet as a ‘proto-Venmo request,’ yet the comparison is apt. Setting aside concerns of technology and fashion, the two are not so different. This is part of the humility of this tablet; it has no real historical importance save for the fact that it’s lasted so long in the same way that 4,000 years from now, your Venmo history could provide archeologists valuable insight into our modern society if only for the reason that it is, in its own time, entirely unremarkable.
It is this common — even banal — aspect of the tablet that now fills it with meaning. In it, we find proof of a long history of enjoying beer, a history carried on by other Mesopotamians, by Medieval knights, by Martin Luther and his fellow Protestant monks, by American founding father Sam Adams and by Middlebury students today, to name just a miniscule few examples.
The past is not a place for strangers, although people in the past seem admittedly obscured to us, clouded by the thousands of intervening miles and years. It can seem that they live worlds apart from our daily lives. Yet if we look closely, we have a lot to bond over with those who have come before us.
After all, if we’ve all been buying beers for the last 4,000 years, what other experiences do we share?
(03/14/19 9:59am)
Every weekday shortly after noon, students fill the Redfield Proctor dining room and sit down at one of more than a dozen different Language Tables for a served meal with professors and TAs. At each table, everyone including the student waiter that serves it, speaks only the designated language. The idea is straightforward — to provide students learning the foreign language a space to practice.
With more than 60 years of history, the student-run facility is now looking to extend its reach. On Mar. 4, students and faculty member of the computer science department sat down at the pilot Tech Table.
“We would like to extend this platform to non-language majors and would like to provide spaces for what Language Tables value and love, which are languages but also passion toward their learning subjects, the celebration of diverse cultures and inclusive platform for community engagements,” reads the Language Table’s official instagram account on the day.
Subin Cho ’19 and Stephen Chen ’19.5, Language Table managers for the academic year, shared that the idea of a Tech Table came partially from the fact that their technology manager, a computer science major, had not attended a Language Table yet.
The managers invited six students and one faculty member to the very first English-speaking academic table.
“Unlike the normal language tables, the focus of the table was not an improvement of a language (we didn’t speak in a computer language if you’re wondering),” one of the attendants Takao Shimizu ’20 said, adding that the conversation topics ranged from internship experiences and academic decisions.
“I’d love to see non-language language tables to continue because they would facilitate communications and build communities within departments,” Shimizu said. He also noted that because the Tech Table was open to non-majors and minors, undeclared first-years and sophomores could use the opportunity to explore the department and connect with each other.
Being from Germany, Professor of Computer Science Daniel Scharstein used to go to the German Table sometimes, and said that the Tech Table was successful.
“I think it’s a good idea,” he said. “And if they do one table like that for different departments — it doesn’t have to be tech, I don’t think there was anything special about it being a tech table — but if they have other things in addition to the languages, it’s a nice form that you don’t usually have.”
One of the main realizations that the managers had was that there is a lack of space for students to talk to professors in a non-academic setting. While the Language Tables have been providing students that for decades, Chen said that the the language-learning community represents a small fraction of the academic community, and the students who come to the Language Tables only comprise about 10 percent of the student body.
“So how do we expand that?” Chen said. “How do we open up the space where people can do that?”
Both Chen and Cho started working as Language Table waiters in the fall of 2016. Cho sees the Language Table as a particularly global and international space not only because of the diversity of languages represented, but also because of the way student attendees and student waiters bring encouragement to each other.
“What we deliver is not only the food, but also the spirit and the sense of language community,” Cho said, explaining that the same sense of community applied to the Tech Table, even though they are speaking English.
At the same time, Chen brought up that there has been some concerns over English-speaking tables at a space that’s otherwise solely dedicated to foreign language learning. Similarly, Scharstein said that English-speaking tables should probably be a small component of the initiative.
There are 15 different languages at the Language Tables, some of which are offered only seasonally, including Korean, Cantonese, Swahili, Vietnamese and ASL. While the food is prepared by Proctor Dining Hall, the entire process from recruiting student waiters to arranging daily attendance is completely organized by students.
“I’m just completely amazed that the whole thing is student-run,” Scharstein said.
The Vietnamese Table was a new addition to the Language Tables this spring term. Following the founding of Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) this year, Nathan Lam Nguyen ’19 reached out to the Language Table managers about having a table for the Vietnamese community on campus. Now every Friday, Nguyen serves as the Vietnamese waiter for the table.
“You don’t really need 20 students to set up a table,” Cho said. “As long as there are some regular attendants or there are some demand of setting up a table, you can ask us and come to us; be like ‘open up a table.’”
“There’s enough Vietnamese students on campus for us to be able to probably have a table going,” Nguyen said, explaining that he knows personally at least nine new Vietnamese first-years.
Consisting of 55 students serving tables of different languages, the work environment is a unique one in that student workers get to use a foreign language.
“It’s a very interesting space just because everyone here speaks at least two languages, and more likely than not they probably speak three, maybe four,” Chen said. “Meeting so many people who will go abroad, or have gone abroad or are from abroad really creates this interesting community within the workplace.”
The next pilot table in planning is the Japanese Heritage Table, which will take place on Mar. 18. According to the managers, new tables in the future could be either academic and cultural oriented. “The focal point of the pilot tables is to give the space to those people that are unrepresented,” Cho said.
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The defending Division III National Champion Panthers got back in action on Saturday for the first time this spring against Hamilton and No. 26 Skidmore.
Despite their championship run last spring, the Panthers did lose a considerable amount of firepower to graduation. All three seniors were integral pieces of the lineup all season long. #3 William de Quant finished with an impressive 95-27 career total, while #4 Kyle Schlanger totaled a 69-23 record. Timo van der Geest went 19-11 playing at several different positions in singles, along with a 26-13 doubles record.
The Panthers did add some depth in first-years David Vilys, a 4-star from Naples, Florida, Stanley Morris, a 3-star recruit out of Santa Monica, and Zach Hilty, a 2-star out of San Luis Obispo, California. This 10th-ranked recruiting class will certainly be called upon to fill the hole in the lineup left by the seniors, particularly Schlanger and de Quant.
Things certainly looked positive for the No. 2 ranked Panthers this Saturday as they took on Skidmore in Saratoga Springs. Middlebury swept the doubles competition easily, starting off with a win at #3 from Aleksandr Samets ’20 and Andre Xiao ’21 in one of their first doubles showings as Panthers. Doubles specialist Peter Martin ’19 teamed up with fellow senior captain Noah Farrell for an easy 8-4 victory. Veteran standout Lubo Cuba ’19 and sophomore Nate Eazor finished the session with a perfect 8-0 win.
The singles corps quickly followed suit. In an impressive showing, not a single player dropped a set to his opponent. Morris recorded his first dual match win as a Panther in a win over Skidmore’s Travis Leaf at the #3 spot. Xiao slotted in at the #4 spot for just the second time in his career and also recorded an easy victory. Also getting some new experience in the singles lineup was Adam Guo ’21, who dominated his opponent 6-0, 6-1. Eazor, Farrell and Cuba all resumed similar singles positions as last year as the Panthers cruised to victory.
That same day the Middlebury men returned from Saratoga to host Hamilton at the Nelson Recreation Center. It was the same exact story for the strong Middlebury contingent, as the Panthers swept the competition without dropping a set.
This weekend, Middlebury will face sharper competition. In two home matches on March 16 and 17, the Panthers will take on No. 10 Brandeis and No. 33 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. On Saturday, Middlebury will take on a Brandeis team with a bit of a new look. After losing no seniors, the Judges welcomed a first-year class ranked seventh in the nation. A team that finished last season at No. 21, they’ve already recorded wins against #11 Pomona-Pitzer and several top-30 programs. With their first two wins under their belt, the Panthers have a week to prepare to defend their home courts and their national ranking.
(03/14/19 9:54am)
Following a tough road loss to Bates to open up the season, the Middlebury Men’s Lacrosse team traveled to New London, Connecticut to take on Conn. College this past weekend. The Panthers earned their first win of the season, with a clutch 16-9 victory that will steer them in the right direction for contests ahead.
Middlebury came out hot from the start, taking an early 3-0 lead with the goals coming in a 1:38 time span at the start of the first. Sophomore Eric Jeremiah got things going not only for the team, but also for himself as he netted his first of the season. After a Camel’s goal coming at the 6:17 mark of the first, Tyler Forbes ’22 kept his hot streak going, scoring two stifling shots from the left side to put the Panthers up 5-1. Conn. College rebounded with a last second goal to close out the first quarter but still remained far behind.
The second quarter included a lot of back-and-forth action. While the Camels were able to come within two scores of the Panthers, Forbes struck again to end the opposing team’s momentum and get the Panthers back on track. After contributions from seniors Nick Peterson and Jack Gould, who both scored to end out the half, the Panthers maintained a 9-5 lead.
With quality defense and a save by senior Charles Midgley, Middlebury outscored the Camels 4-0 in the third quarter. Scoring came from four different contributors, both in the early minutes and closing minutes of the third. With a commanding 13-6 lead heading into the fourth, the Panthers continued to press on.
Gould opened up the fourth with a goal at the 9:52 mark, increasing the Panthers lead. After a late push from the Camels, who tallied the next two goals, the Panthers were able to seize back momentum and really put the game out of reach. Trading goals in the final five minutes, Chase Goree ’20 ended all scoring with an unassisted netter to end the game.
Middlebury showed its roster depth in this game, with contributions coming from a large number of players. Forbes kept his streak alive by tallying five goals in the contest, culminating to a team-leading nine goals for the season. Goree, led the squad with four assists, while also netting two goals. Goalie Midgley, played outstandingly, saving 11 of 19 shots in 54 minutes played.
The Panthers enter the weekend with a 1-2 (1-1 NESCAC) record and remain in the middle of the pack in the NESCAC conference. Traveling to St. Lawrence for a non-conference game on Tuesday, March 12, the Panthers fell to the Saints 3-9, with Jack Sheehan ’22 and A.J. Kucinski ’20 scoring two and one goals respectively. They will travel to St. Lawrence to play a non-conference game on Tuesday, March 12. Over the weekend, the Panthers head to Baltimore, MD to play in the Mustang Classic. They will take on nationally ranked and conference foe, #7 Wesleyan Cardinals, as well as non-conference opponent, #8 Dickinson.
(03/14/19 9:53am)
After rallying for a comeback in the ninth inning, the Middlebury College baseball team (0-1, 0-0) sent its first non-conference game of the season versus the Stevens Institute Ducks (2-4, 0-0) to extra innings. The Panthers ultimately lost 5-4 last Saturday at Stevens.
The Panthers scored in the top of the first on an infield single by sophomore infielder Ryan Hanrahan, who was later driven in by senior right fielder Sam Graf on a sacrifice fly. The Ducks responded with a two run inning, setting the score to 1-2, and then with another run in the seventh inning to increase their lead, 1-3. Middlebury then went scoreless until the ninth inning.
According to senior catcher Phil Bernstein, having the mentality to get on base is key for the Panthers.
“Ultimately, it comes down to our approach at the plate,” Bernstein said. “We simply struck out way too much and didn’t put any pressure on their defense and for us to be successful we need to put the ball in play and make their fielders actually feel the ball cleanly and make the play. We gave their pitcher too much credit by not changing our approach with two strikes and forcing them to earn the out.”
Senior pitcher Colby Morris started on the mound for the Panthers, adding four strikeouts on six innings. Stevens sophomore pitcher Joseph Deitz received the win for the Ducks, after pitching the final 1.2 innings and striking out one batter.
The Panthers’ ninth inning comeback started with a center field single by Hanrahan, which drove home junior shortstop Brooks Carroll. Carroll hit .500 for Middlebury, with one run and one RBI. Sophomore center fielder Henry Strmecki scored on a sacrifice fly by junior catcher Gray Goolsby to put Middlebury in the lead.
The Ducks then responded with two runs in the bottom of the 10th inning, scoring on a Panther fielding error.
The Panthers return to the field at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2-3, 0-0) at 4 p.m. this Thursday, followed by a three-game series against Emory University (6-4, 0-0) starting at 12 p.m. this Saturday in Atlanta.
“The loss left a bad taste in our mouth and we’re excited to get back in competing again against RPI,” Bernstein said. “It’ll be a chance for us to flush the loss and get our minds right before we head to down to Atlanta to take on Emory. We open our season competing against high level competition who have been playing games outside for weeks now and our only experience since the fall has been indoors in the field house. In the past we’ve made that an excuse and this year we’re using it as a crutch in order to prove we belong in the conversation with those teams down south. This week is going to be super important for understanding who we are and how we handle adversity and respond to it.”
(03/14/19 9:52am)
The sixth-ranked Middlebury women’s tennis team proved they will be a force to reckon with this spring, opening up their spring season over the weekend with a 9-0 home victory over Hamilton on Saturday, March 9.
The match took place indoors at the Nelson Recreational Center, where the Panthers kicked things off by picking up all three points in doubles play. The No. 3 doubles duo of junior Maddi Stow and first year Nora Dahl secured a swift 8-0 victory over Jane Haffer and Sarah Bargamian, while the tandem of junior Heather Boehm and sophomore Ann Martin Skelly continued the streak with an 8-2 win against Ajla Karabegovic and Kat Roberts. Securing the third point for the Panthers was Middlebury’s top junior duo of Katherine Hughes and Skylar Schossberger, who triumphed 8-2 over Sophia Aulicino and Audrey Chor.
“This weekend we were finally able to put what we have been working on in practice to the test,” Hughes said. “We have been really focused on our doubles play these past few weeks and I think all our work really showed this weekend. It is great to be back from abroad and compete next to my teammates.”
During singles play, the Panthers dropped a combined four games, with No. 3 Schossberger solidifying the team’s 4-0 singles lead after her 6-0, 6-0 victory over Haffer. At the No. 4 position, Maddie Stowe clinched a 6-1, 6-1 win over Kat Roberts. Hughes continued to dominate in singles as well, cruising past her opponent 6-0, 6-1 in the top singles position, while Boehm blanked Chor 6-0, 6-0 in the second singles flight. Sophomore Emily Bian put the panthers at an 8-0 advantage with a ruthless 6-0, 6-0 triumph at the bottom of the singles lineup, and at one spot above, freshman Emma Gorman finished off the sweep with a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Karabegovic.
“Our goal this season is definitely to win both a NESCAC championship and a national championship,” Bian said. “Last year, we came so close (second in NESCAC and a Final Four finish in NCAA), so we are all really excited to try and make Middlebury history by winning it all this year!”
With their sights set high, the team will continue to put the pieces together to accomplish this feat, as they take the countless hours spent over J-Term on fitness training and in the weight room to the court this spring.
The Panthers will play with another home crowd behind them on Saturday, March 16 against 18th-ranked Brandeis at 10:00 a.m.
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The Middlebury women’s hockey team wrapped up their year this weekend, placing second in the NESCAC tournament and missing out on an NCAA tournament bid after an excellent season.
In the semifinals, the 10th-ranked Panthers beat out Hamilton to go to their fifth title game in a row. After a scoreless first period, sophomore Shayla Coates got Middlebury on the board with a redirected shot from senior captain Jenna Marotta for her first collegiate goal. Just over halfway through the period, junior Sidney Portner sent another redirection past the Hamilton goaltender on the powerplay to double the lead. In the third period, first year Jenna Letterie received a breakaway pass from sophomore Madie Leidt and lifted the puck into the net for a short-handed goal. Less than a minute later, Hamilton’s Nancy Loh scored on the powerplay, bringing the score to 3-1. The semifinal win sent Middlebury to seek their fourth consecutive NESCAC crown against first-seeded Williams, who had won the season’s previous two contests 2-1.
The championship game started off with even play in the first period. Middlebury got on the board first as Letterie won an offensive zone faceoff and found Leidt, who fired a shot from the top of the circle past Williams’ goalie Chloe Heiting with just over three minutes remaining. Two minutes later, Williams retaliated with a shot from Brynn Puppe that slipped through traffic and past junior goaltender Lin Han. In the second period, Williams took their first lead of the game with a power play goal just over three minutes in. Halfway through the period, Middlebury took advantage of a 4-on-3 opportunity to even the score. Junior Anna Zumwinkle’s shot hit bodies in front of the net before slipping past Heiting. In the dying minutes of the period, Han came up with a big save on a one-on-one breakaway opportunity for the Ephs, keeping the score 2-2 to start the third period.
Williams broke the tie nine minutes in as Meghan Halloran one-timed a shot inside the post after a cross-ice pass. Head coach Bill Mandigo pulled Han for the extra skater and, with a minute left, Middlebury once again enacted some late-game heroics and appeared to score a game-tying goal. Marotta’s shot from the right point appeared to have crossed the goal line after bouncing around in front of Williams’ net. However, after a lengthy meeting, the officials waved off the goal, cutting off Middlebury’s last chance for overtime by citing the use of a high stick. Williams won its second NESCAC title in program history (previously in 2014) and will go on to the NCAA tournament.
The Panthers finished an excellent season with a record of 16-8-3. Marotta and Leidt were named First-Team All-NESCAC selections - Marotta’s second straight and Leidt’s first after being named Rookie of the Year last season. Though the Panthers will lose a valuable group of four seniors in Marotta, alternate captain Rachael St. Clair, Katherine Jackson and Katarina Shuchuk, a strong group of underclassmen look to continue Middlebury’s legacy of success.
(03/07/19 10:57am)
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Speaking to a full audience in the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs Conference Room, Changyong Rhee P ’21, Director of the Asia and Pacific Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), asserted that Asia must not be ignored in the 21st century.
“I strongly believe that your generation cannot miss the opportunity of China and Asia as a whole,” he said, drawing on his background as an academic, economist, policy advisor and parent.
Rhee’s is the first lecture in the China@70 speaker series, a five-part set of lectures designed to provide a deeper perspective of the People’s Republic of China in light of the 70th Anniversary of its founding and the 40th anniversary of U.S.-China relations.
Allan Lei ’21 played an integral role in designing the speaker lineup. Lei attributes the current tensions and problems between the U.S. and China to people’s lack of understanding about the country. “With this series, I’m hoping to help bridge that divide and allow students to have a more clear understanding of the nation and its growth,” he said.
Before his position at the IMF, Rhee served as the Chief Economist at the Asian Development Bank and the Chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission of Korea, among other roles, and holds a PhD in Economics from Harvard University. The lecture —titled “Can Asia Be a Growth Pole in the Global Economy in the 21st Century?” — revolved around the central question of whether Asia’s immense growth in the past two decades can be sustained. Rhee said that this trend is likely but not pre-ordained, and there are numerous opportunities, risks and challenges.
With a series of maps, Rhee explained that the U.S., Europe and Asia are three regions that dominate global trade and that China’s growth since 2001 was a result of China joining the World Trade Organization and accessing the global market. “This is a reason why the global trade tensions between the US and China started,” he said.
However, despite China’s fast growth, its income per capita is lower than that of advanced economies. “China’s a big country, sure. But are they a rich country? Not yet,” Rhee said.
Elaborating on China’s diverse economic regions, Rhee outlined the dichotomy between the country’s coastal regions with high economic productivity and development issues throughout other parts of the country. This represents a difference in opinion between the U.S. and China — while China would like to still be considered a developing country, the U.S. argues that it has surpassed that status.
Expanding to the larger Asia region, Rhee presented statistics on economic development in India (or the “elephant,” as he called it) and Asia accounting for two-thirds of global growth.
“Whether you like Asia or not…somehow because of the linkages and the growth you cannot completely ignore Asia,” he said.
Despite this optimistic picture of growth, Rhee said that there are risks associated with the rise of Asia on the economic world stage. Trade tensions, especially in light of the U.S.-China trade war and the recent summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un in Vietnam, could place global economic flows in a state of crisis. “So how is this going to go? We’re really worried about it,” he said.
According to Rhee, additional tariffs placed by the U.S. on China could have a significant impact on the global economy, with China losing as much as 1.5 percent in negative GDP growth. “Our conclusion is everyone will lose. Our managing director said that there are no winners in this trade war,” Rhee said.
With the global economy slowing down, Rhee said that there are key challenges in the trade and financial market that could result in the possibility of a sharper-than-expected China slowdown. Another risk is the aging population in many Asian countries, including China and Japan. Rhee attributes the growth rate in Asia to high productivity of workers. “Our growth rate is due to perspiration, not due to inspiration,” he said. With the rise of the digital economy and mobile payment software such as Alibaba’s Alipay, Rhee stressed that Asian countries will need to overcome problems by investing in new technology and education. “Asia has been doing very well,” he said, but “you cannot just be a copycat.”
Professor of economics and moderator William Pyle said that the series focusing on China’s rise could not be more timely. “He really brought into focus just how important Asia, generally, and China, specifically, have become to the fortunes of the global economy,” he said. Pyle agreed that there are “very real” challenges that the region must confront over the next generation. “Aging populations might be the biggest one,” he added.
The next lecture in the series will be Friday, March 7 at 4:30 p.m. in Axinn 229. Professor Suisheng Zhao, Director of the Center for China-U.S. Cooperation at the University of Denver, will speak on the evolution of Chinese nationalism and its implications on foreign policy.
(03/07/19 10:56am)
After a long and cold pre-season, Middlebury men’s lacrosse finally began their campaign for the 2019 season. NESCAC conference play started the first weekend of March, as Middlebury drove up to Lewiston, ME to take on Bates. Despite early success, Middlebury was unable to keep up with Bates’ fast-paced offense and lost 17-10, ending their three year streak of opening day wins.
Despite the loss, the team showed many signs of hope as the majority of their goals came from the younger players. The Panthers were able to grab onto an early 2-1 lead after first-year Tyler Forbes scored twice in the opening minutes -- his first ever collegiate goals. He later went on to tally 4 goals in the game, quite an accomplishment for his rookie debut. After Bates was able to tie the game back up at 2, Middlebury went on a run to close out the first quarter. They scored three in a row to take a comfortable 5-2 lead. Bates then went on the attack. The Panthers failed to gain momentum in the second quarter and limped into halftime down 6-5, being shut out in the second.
With the Panthers being within just one score of the 25th ranked team in the nation at halftime, confidence and hopes remained high in the locker room. Although the Bobcats scored the first goal of the second half, Middlebury’s Aldrerik van der Heyde ’21 responded at the 8:30 mark. After the trade of goals, Bates again went on the offensive and scored a commanding 5 straight. Despite a beautiful shot by sophomore Will Brossman for the Panthers, the score entering the 4th quarter was held by the opponent 13-7.
The Panthers closed the gap to 4 after goals by van der Heyde and Forbes but the home team was able to quickly shut any hopes of a Middlebury comeback, tallying the final 3 goals. Middlebury senior Charles Midgley tallied 7 saves on 20 shot attempts. In addition, junior Jake Madnick garnered 5 ground balls, alongside Zeke Emerson ’20 who had 4 ground balls.
Despite the loss, Middlebury has a long and exciting season ahead of them. They saw contributions from every class in their season opener and look to continue to grow as a team as they play up to their potential. Middlebury will travel to Connecticut College next Saturday, March 9, to take on another NESCAC opponent. The Panthers will not host their first game on Youngman Field until March 23, when they take on the Bowdoin Polar Bears.
(03/07/19 10:54am)
The men’s hockey team finished up their season on Saturday, February 23 with a 1-4 loss to Wesleyan in the 2019 NESCAC Championship quarterfinals. Despite a tough loss, this was the first time the Panthers have made the tournament in two years, pointing to potential for next year.
“I am happy with how the season went,” said Kamil Tkaczuk, a senior captain. “We have come a long way in the last year and keep making strides in the right direction.”
The addition of scrappy, talented freshmen played a key role in this transition. Despite the loss of talented seniors, the return of underclassman leaves the team feeling hopeful for future years and the prospect of building upon such potential. The team is on an upward trend and have all the right tools to only go up from here.
(03/07/19 10:53am)
The women’s squash season came to an end with a resilient finish two weekends ago at the CSA Team Championships. This past weekend, a few Panthers were selected to compete in the CSA Individual Championships in Providence, Rhode Island. Co-captains, Beatrijs Kuijpers ’19, Alexa Comai ’19 and a first year, Ideal Dowling ’22, were among the many talented players competing for a title.
Comai unfortunately dropped her first match against George Washington but quickly rebounded and took the win in the next round over Cornell in the consolation quarterfinals (11-6, 7-11, 11-7, 13-11). In her last match, Comai battled before losing in five games against Virginia (10-12, 11-8, 4-11, 11-6, 13-11), ending her season with a 13-9 record.
Next up was Kuijpers, who made an amazing run and advanced all the way to the main draw quarter finals before being edged out by Yale’s Aishwarya Battacharya (15-13, 11-6, 11-4). In the first round, she tallied a win for Middlebury by defeating Brown in three games (13-11, 11-9, 11-7). This concluded her season with a 10-10 record and a successful career as a collegiate athlete.
Finally, Dowling’s first time competing at the CSA Individual Championships proved to be a rather challenging experience. Pitted against University of Pennsylvania’s Jamila Turner in the round of 16, Dowling fell 11-6, 11-8, 11-8. In the consolation round, the first-year Panther lost a tough battle to Drexel in four games and brought her first season to an end with a 9-12 mark. Given Dowling’s freshman status, one could only expect her to improve throughout the rest of her Panther career.
(02/28/19 11:32am)
MIDDLEBURY – In the 1800s, Middlebury residents faced a problem: pig protocol. Should local pigs be allowed to freely roam the streets? Would it be more beneficial to keep all of them fenced in? Unable to come to a conclusion, those residents did the same thing Vermonters will do next month: they took the issue to that year’s Town Meeting.
Held annually for over 200 years, the meeting is a rare holdout of direct democracy designed to allow the voices of Middlebury to be heard on the issues that affect them, their families and their jobs. Although every town in Vermont now holds their own meeting, the first was held in Bennington in 1762, making the tradition older than the state itself (VT was created in 1791.).
The meetings are cornerstones of the town’s sense of community, allowing its residents to come together to tackle civic issues. Vermont government employees even get a holiday to attend, and the state grants students over 18 the right to skip school if necessary in order to participate. In fact, many public schools give their students a day off for Town Meeting Day.
So, how does it work? The meeting takes place in two parts. The first is a floor meeting, which features town-wide discourse that gives residents the opportunity to voice their opinions on proposed articles and issues facing the town. This is where most of the action takes place. This year’s floor meeting will be held on Monday, March 4 at 7 p.m. in the Middlebury Union High School auditorium. Anyone registered to vote with a Middlebury address is encouraged to attend, speak and vote.
This includes any Middlebury College student who is registered in Vermont.
Alexander Giles ’21, who studied the floor meeting’s style of government in the 2019 Winter Term class “Democracy, Deliberation and Global Citizenship,” believes it’s an invaluable process. “Direct democracy still has great value in localized settings,” Giles told The Campus. “It’s a great example of bringing the community together in deliberation.”
The second part of the town meeting is the Australian Ballot. Separate from the floor meeting, this is a specific way to vote on proposed articles and mirrors a traditional voting process. The Australian Ballot will take place the following day on Tuesday, March 5 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the town offices at 77 Main St., and any Middlebury voter is welcome to stop in to cast a vote.
Although the floor meeting is more involved, the Australian Ballot process offers another opportunity for political engagement as it often takes on citizen-led initiatives and allows every vote to have an impact in such a small election. The Campus spoke to Brian Carpenter, the Chair of the Middlebury Selectboard (a team of seven elected at the meetings to collaborate on the town’s issues throughout the year), about the process. Carpenter expressed that he thinks these votes are particularly valuable.
“Votes will count pretty significantly based on the average turnout,” Carpenter said. “It’s an opportunity to be heard and either affirm or redirect priorities within the town.”
But if not pigs, then what issues are going to be taken on during this year’s meeting? As usual, there are plans to vote on a town budget for the upcoming year. There will also be a vote to reelect three members of the Middlebury Selectboard.
Beyond the meeting’s typical business, though, this year’s floor meeting agenda also includes a vote to allocate funds toward improving the Memorial Sports Center and purchasing new town vehicles, along with other topics to be proposed by residents.
The Australian Ballot is particularly compelling this year, and primarily addresses environmental concerns.
The Middlebury College Sunday Night Environmental Group, or SNEG, has been vocal in encouraging students to turn out on March 5 to support these measures. “Let your voice be heard — help Middlebury take the steps necessary in creating a cleaner, better future for all,” read a post on the group’s Facebook page.
The vote will address an initiative to ban plastic bags from all Middlebury businesses, which has been spearheaded by Middlebury student Amelia Miller ’20 and town resident Amy McAninch.
The ballot will also include a vote to advise the Selectboard to write to the Vermont state leadership in support of the 350VT Climate Solutions Resolution. This act would halt the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure and aim to achieve 90 percent renewable energy by 2050 in an equitable fashion. Voters will also decide whether the town of Middlebury should commit to efforts to install solar panels on town and school buildings, encourage landowners to implement carbon-responsible practices and appropriate $3,000 to Habitat for Humanity of Addison County to bolster affordable housing. These Articles will all be on the ballot on March 5.
Selectboard Chair Brian Carpenter encouraged any eligible Middlebury students to participate. “There are issues that I believe many of them are passionate about,” he said. “And it’s something quite unique about Vermont.”
(02/28/19 10:57am)
This week I am featuring a new dress that I recently bought from Zara. The dress is bright red, long-sleeved and features covered buttons and a pussycat bow neckline. Working in the Admissions Office as a Senior Fellow, I have to wear business casual attire at least once a week. Given that professional clothing can be very expensive, I was super excited to find this dress on clearance for less than twenty dollars. I felt that it was the perfect dress to match my preppy style while also looking office appropriate.
I find that many companies are adopting inclusivity and wellness practices into their work environments. One main component of this is allowing employees to dress in a way that allows for self-expression and comfort. “Business casual attire” is supposed to be the happy medium between business professional and casual clothing. Clothes that are informal enough for you to feel at ease, but professional enough not to disrupt the work environment. Despite my past internships and career bootcamps, I still sometimes struggle to discern which articles of clothing I should wear to the office. What clothes are suitable and which are pushing the limits of professionalism? I find that many people my age and across industries, struggle when deciding what to wear to work in the mornings. This is why I wanted dedicate a column to unpacking and explaining what it means to adopt a business casual attire.
So, here are some tips for how to navigate the business casual work space:
1. Skirts and dresses above the knee are typically not acceptable, but capri cut slacks and khakis are fine. Never jeans.
2. Collars on shirts are nice but are not required. Feel free to wear a stylish blouse or shirt of your choosing--just stay away from anything too revealing. Polos and short sleeves are acceptable. Ties are optional.
3. For shoes, please stick to closed-toed dress shoes. Peep-toe sandals and mules are typically acceptable, but flip flops, slides and sneakers are a no-no.
4. Wrinkles are never acceptable, so allocate time to ironing your outfit in advance. Also, “distressed” anything is definitely unacceptable. Stay away from ripped, bleached or cut up garments.
5. Business professional attire typically only includes dark and neutral colors. So, business casual attire means you have room to experiment with colors and patterns. Be careful not to go overboard–but this gives you room to experiment.
6. When it comes to jewelry, have fun, but in moderation. A nice necklace, watch, lapel pin or belt can add a pop of style as long as they aren’t too distracting.
7. Makeup is also acceptable in moderation. Feel free to sport a bold red lip, but don’t come to the office looking ready for the Grammys.
8. I believe that everyone should at least own a blazer or suit jacket for initial interviews but it is not needed for the office. A nice cardigan or vest is all you need.
9. In the name of sustainability, I recommend shopping at thrift stores to find clothes. Especially when you’re on an intern salary or just starting your career.
10. Finally, stockings are typically required for business professional settings but not business casual. Leggings as pants are never a good idea in the workplace but may be a nice option to wear under your work dress.
While these tips provide an idea of how to dress appropriately, these aren’t fixed rules. Above all else, I recommend being a tad over-dressed for the first day. This not only helps you make a good first impression but saves you from unknowingly wearing something too informal.
Also, because every company is different, no one work culture is the same and neither are their definitions of business casual. Take at least a week to feel out the company. Take mental notes of what other employees are wearing and maybe even have a chat with the Human Resources representative to learn official company policy on clothing. This way you can find the happy medium between professionalism and personal style.
(02/28/19 10:56am)
(02/28/19 10:55am)
The track and field teams put forth a strong performance when they competed in the Division III New England Championships on Friday, Feb. 22 and Saturday, Feb. 23. The men got fifth place in a total field of twenty-three teams, while the women got fourth place in a total field of twenty-six teams.
“DIII New England’s was a great start to the postseason for both the women’s and men’s teams,” Rory Kelly ’19 said, when asked about the outcome of the meet. “Some of the team is shifting their focus to the outdoor season with our first meet less than a month away. Others are looking to get in another fast race to either improve their times against some strong competition or to qualify for nationals. While individuals on the team have different goals during this period at the end of indoor and before outdoor, we still remain a very cohesive team and support each other.”
The men’s squad ended their meet with 64 points, with MIT finishing first, Tufts in second, WPI in third, and Southern Maine in fourth. Jimmy Martinez ’19 came in fifth in the 200 meter dash with a time of 22.50. Jon Perlman ’19 captured first place in the one mile run with a time of 4:10.82. In the 3000 meter run, Will Meyer ’20 got third place with a time of 8:34.36. Harrison Knowlton ’19 secured fourth in the 5000 meter run with a time of 15:13.40.
The Panthers also did well in their relays, since the “A” team got first in the 4X400 meter relay with a time of 3:21.94. This team was composed of Martinez, Arden Coleman ’20, William Robertson ’21, and Matthew Durst ’21. In the 4000 meter DMR, the “A” team also captured first with a time of 10:10.99. This team was comprised of Meyer, Coleman, Perlman and Nathan Hill ’20. Other crucial contributors were John Natalone ’19 in the pole vault event, Nathaniel Klein ’21 in the shot put event and Minhaj Rahman ’19 in the weight throw event.
“This being a championship meet, there was very strong competition, so it was incredible to be able to win the mile and DMR,” said Perlman. “Our team put a lot of emphasis on doing well at this meet and I think across the board we performed really well.”
The women’s squad finished with 57 points, and placed fourth overall. Ahead of them were Williams, who came in first, MIT and Tufts. Ava O’Mara ’21 and Lucy Lang ’19 both did well in the 600 meter run, getting fourth and fifth place respectively. O’Mara had a time of 1:37.64, while Lang had a time of 1:38.56. In the 800 meter run, Cassie Kearney ’22 came in second place with a time of 2:13.36. Behind her were Meg Wilson ’20 in fifth place with a time of 2:15.97 and Anna Willig ’20 in seventh place with a time of 2:17.61.
“I felt really great and surprised about my performance in the open 800 race,” said Kearney. “I didn’t do indoor track in high school, so this sport is new to me and I’m not used to running throughout the winter. I thought that how I did this past weekend really showed how my hard training has paid off over the past few months and I definitely realized the potential I have going further into the postseason.”
Katelyn Pease ’22 had a time of 2:59.20 which got her sixth place in the 1000 meter run, while Tasha Greene ’21 had a time of 5:02.24 which got her fifth place in the one mile run. Kelly came in second in the 3000 meter run as she had a time of 9:47.28. It is also important to mention that the “A” team came in third in the DMR with a time of 11:54.82. This team was composed of Kearney, Kelly, Abigail Nadler ’19 and Gretchen McGrath ’21.
On her performance in the 3000 meter run, Kelly said, “I was very excited by my 3k on Saturday. It was a challenging race and it was truly my teammates cheering me on every lap that got me through. They were critical to my successful performance.”
Perlman concluded by saying, “At this point in the season, we just need to make sure we’re feeling rested and ready to compete. We’re still hoping to get a few more qualifiers for NCAAs.”
Next week, on Saturday, March 2, the Panthers will be competing in the Tufts Last Chance Meet in order to get more qualifiers. After that comes the biggest meet of the indoor season, the NCAA Championships.
