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(01/23/20 11:04am)
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Following a fall semester wrought with student-caused residential building damages, especially among the buildings of Atwater Commons, students living in many of these residential halls have been charged for the common space damages that were not attributable to specific perpetrators.
“Prior to the Holiday break, all damages were totaled by building. Any damage to which a responsible student(s) had been identified was billed accordingly,” Atwater Commons Coordinator MariAnn Osborne wrote in an email to residents of Allen Hall, the Chateau, Coffrin Hall and Atwater buildings A and B. “Any remaining damage was totaled and shared equally among the residents of the area or building. These costs were added to student accounts and labelled as ‘damage’.”
Damages across all Atwater dorms for the fall semester totaled $5,953.16. Charges across all campus residential buildings were roughly $4,200, $2,700, $3,500 and $6,010 for the 2017–18, 2016–17, 2015–16 and 2014–15 academic years, respectively.
Individual students incurred charges as little as $3 and as much as $40 for these “remaining damages.” Some charges were distributed to whole residential buildings, while others were allocated to specific hallways or towers.
Damages in Atwater A and B included the removal of signs and urination in elevators; Allen had several signs torn from the walls; the Chateau sustained broken lounge furniture, urine and scorch marks in elevators, and destruction in bathrooms.
Last fall, a community meeting hosted by Atwater Commons Residence Director Esther Thomas included discussions of financial responsibility for damages in common areas or halls with no identified perpetrator. Students at the meeting expressed disappointment with shared charges like the ones distributed for the Fall semester.
Damage and charges are not limited to Atwater Commons: other halls and buildings on campus are charged accordingly for the cost of destruction maintenance.
(01/23/20 11:00am)
What has unfolded since the morning of January 3, 2020 has been incredibly difficult for me to unpack as an Iranian-born Canadian citizen and a U.S. permanent resident. To summarize the sequence of events, the United States, under President Donald Trump launched an airstrike that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, the leader of the Quds Force, sparking an escalation in tensions between the Iranian regime and the U.S.. Iran then launched over a dozen missiles to two Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops. Four or so hours later, a Ukrainian passenger plane, UIA Flight 752, crashed in Tehran after take-off. After initially blaming the crash of engine failure, the Iranian government admitted to mistakenly launching a surface-to-air missile (some reports now say two missiles were launched).
To put it simply, the recent events involving the Iranian regime have been overwhelming. Although I am against escalating tensions in the Middle East, the narratives of Soleimani and the Iranian regime presented in western media, specifically concerning Soleimani’s popularity and the general opinion of the Iranian people, are entirely false. It is disheartening that world powers economically involved with Iran have turned a blind eye to the Iranian regime’s ongoing abuse of power and attempts to silence its opposition. The powerful individuals within the Iranian regime are not humans: they are monsters who must be held accountable for all the pain and suffering they have caused their innocent people and those affected by Soleimani’s actions outside of Iran.
I am adamantly against the current regime and its treatment of the Iranian people. My family would not have had to leave Iran if the regime allowed its citizens to practice their human rights. As my father likes to say, “there may be freedom of speech, but there is no freedom after speech.” The Islamic Republic of Iran consists of a broken government, economic disparity and minimal human rights, where the Ayatollahs and the rich become richer and the rest are left to suffer. I have always wished for the fall of this disgraceful regime, and hope the death of Qasem Soleimani could be the beginning of the end.
Soleimani, who dictated Iran’s foreign policy, was the second most powerful man in the country. He was personally sanctioned by the U.S., the European Union, and the United Nations, and the U.S. even deemed him a terrorist. Until his death, many of you may not have even heard his name. But to many Iranians, he was either seen as a “selfless hero” or a murderer. Soleimani’s minority of supporters was made up of regime sympathizers who favored expansionism and military interventionism in hopes of returning to the glory Iranians once enjoyed during the Persian Empire.
Under Soleimani’s leadership, the Quds Force has been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, and Afghanistan, as well as hundreds of U.S. soldiers in the region. The Islamic Republic’s financial and military support for its proxies and allies is alarming because it has placed greater importance on power over the condition of the Iranian people.
The Iranian regime declared the days that followed Soleimani’s death national days of mourning, closing businesses, workplaces and schools during that period. Protests erupted in some cities with Soleimani supporters chanting “death to America.” The Iran state media outlets released videos of the streets of major cities packed with black-clad mourners. The funeral procession for Soleimani eventually led to a stampede that killed 70 mourners and injured over 100 other people.
It is difficult to gauge the reactions of Iranians living in Iran because of the restrictions on communication within the country. A prominent tweet reposted by Shaun King, an outspoken civil rights advocate and journalist, claimed 82% of Iranians inside the country looked favorably upon Qasem Soleimani. This statistic originated from a 2019 study conducted by the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy. This data was collected by interviewing 1,000 Iranians inside the country via phone interviews. The methodology of this study is problematic because it is a common belief in Iran that the government has all phones tapped, so how could Iranians comfortably express their true opinion over a presumably tapped phone?
A more credible study done in 2018 by the Group Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran (GAMAAN) surveyed over 19,000 Iranians, 80% of whom lived inside Iran, through a secure online survey platform shared via social media networks. Only 0.2% of respondents said they would vote for Qasem Soleimani in a free election. While I understand that not all of Soleimani’s supporters would vote for him for president, these findings are an indicator of Soleimani’s perceived popularity among Iranians.
Prominent American news media outlets have brought on foreign policy experts and political analysts to weigh in on the escalating tensions with the Iranian regime, deafening the public to important matters at hand. Republicans have proudly supported the “accomplishment” of Trump in ordering the airstrike that killed a terrorist. Democrats have expressed their fears of what the regime and its allies may do, and have focused on how the crisis is Trump’s way of diverting attention from his impeachment.
Since the UIA Flight 752 crash, U.S. media coverage has diminished because the crisis no longer appeals to the U.S. public or the political agenda of U.S. politicians. But the crisis in Iran is not just a political matter: it is a matter of human rights and holding a corrupt regime accountable. These events remain relevant to millions of innocent Iranians who continue to live through the dire conditions, even if they’re not deemed important enough to be covered by U.S. media.
[pullquote speaker="" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]U.S. media coverage has diminished because the crisis no longer appeals to the U.S. public or the political agenda of U.S. politicians.[/pullquote]
In a recent interview, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked whether she supported the protesters in Iran. She diminished the majority of protesters opposing the regime by focusing her response on protests involving Solemani’s supporters because they were “protesting against the U.S..” Pelosi’s disregard for the majority of Iranians is a representation of how the Iranian people have been treated by foreign governments, which have disregarded the regime’s oppression of the Iranian people’s rights.
The IRGC has a long history of hindering the Iranian people’s right to freely express their opinions: most recently, over 1,500 were killed during the November 2019 unrest protesting the exponential spike in fuel prices. Since the regime’s admission of guilt to their role in the UIA Flight 752 crash, thousands of protesters have flooded the streets of major Iranian cities, chanting “Shame on you” to the IRGC forces and calling for Ayatollah Khamenei to step down. The IRGC’s response? Firing tear gas and sometimes shooting and killing its own people.
Irrespective of international response, the Iranian government will continue to silence its own people with excessive force throughout these protests because this crisis has placed them in a vulnerable position. During these trying times of conflict, I ask you to go after the facts and to not be afraid to question what your favorite politicians may say. Evidence surrounding these events will continue to come out, and the Iranian people will continue to risk their lives by sharing damning evidence on social media platforms displaying the regime’s troubling actions in hopes of uncovering the truth that the regime frequently tries to hide from the world. Innocent Iranians have suffered far too long and deserve to be heard. The Iranian regime refuses to give a voice to the voiceless, so as a free society, we must hear those who are trying to speak up.
Niki Kowsar is a member of the Middlebury class of 2021.5
(11/21/19 11:04am)
The complexities of dining preparations don’t usually cross our minds as we try to squeeze in meals between the hustle and bustle of classes, jobs and other commitments. Since most of the work is already done for us, we rarely consider the behind-the-scenes operations that allow for students to have a maximally comfortable dining experience.
Middlebury Dining Services employs 106 people, including student employees, who assist with basic prep, run The Grille and manage the overall operations. Each dining hall has a head chef, a secondary group of chefs, dishwashing staff and a receiver in charge of handling food deliveries.
“Many of our employees have been here for more than 20, sometimes even 30 years,” said Executive Director of Food Services Dan Detora.
The college’s three dining halls operate, for the most part, independently of each other, according to Detora. Although Atwater boasts the largest kitchen, food is prepared separately at each dining hall. This excludes the baked goods prepared at the bake shop, which is centralized at Proctor and provides all the bread and desserts for Proctor, Ross, Atwater, The Grille and Wilson Café.
The bake shop is staffed with three professional bakers and a host of student workers responsible for making dessert bars and other sweet delicacies. Detora said that the shop is also home to MiddCakes and the headquarters of the “granola gang,” the group of students tasked with making granola for the entire campus.
Ingredients for meals are typically ordered in bulk, meaning that the dining halls will order 1,000 pounds of squash at a time, for example. Because the dining facilities are rather small, materials are delivered to all three locations, plus The Grille, daily. This inventory is monitored through a system called E.A. Tech, which allows staff to keep track of what food needs to be ordered and informs dining halls from where they can borrow if one site runs out of something.
Each dining hall receives the same materials, but each operates on an independent menu cycle that repeats itself every five weeks. Detora said that these menus are curated at the beginning of the semester, based on existing information about what students are eating and what they are not. In terms of how much food is made for each meal, production in each dining hall is determined by the previous experience of long-time employees. Ross, for example, will typically prepare an average of 1,000 portions of whatever is on the menu, Detora said.
A significant amount of the food is also locally sourced. While the dining halls do have a contract with a national company called Reinhardt Foods, a lot of produce is purchased from nearby farms or from a company called Black River Produce, which Detora said “works as a middleman between us and the farms.”
Coffee is purchased from Vermont Coffee, cheese from Cabot Creamery and milk from Monument Farms in Weybridge. In addition, beef is purchased from two Vermont beef farms, one in Cornwall and one in Essex. Instead of purchasing actual pieces of meat, the college will purchase whole animals, which are later slaughtered and packed at Vermont Packing.
“If we can get it locally, we do,” Detora said. “We put over $1.2 million back into the economy last year in terms of local sourcing.”
For a campus that is a national leader in sustainability, however, the focus of environmental and economic sustainability in the college’s purchasing practices is not widely broadcast.
“I don’t think we do a good job, to be honest, with advertising what our purchasing practices are and how we are different than most schools,” Detora said.
Detora said that a lot of schools use pasteurized carton eggs, whereas Middlebury “uses cracked, shelled eggs from just down the road.” Middlebury also uses real maple syrup in all of its dining halls, whereas UVM only has one dining hall that has real maple syrup, according to Detora.
To ensure maximum freshness, food is typically prepared one day before it is served, unless frozen meats are being used, in which case the meals are prepared several days in advance. If chefs at a dining hall are cooking a Recipe from Home — a family recipe that a student has submitted — Detora said staff will conduct research in advance. Chefs will sometimes call the parents of students who submitted a recipe and ask for advice, and often invite the student into the kitchen to supervise the preparation process.
One change the dining halls have had to contend with recently is the increase in the size of the student body over the past couple of years, and the out-the-door lines that coincide with it.
According to Detora, Ross is built “for four- to five-hundred people tops,” but now serves around 1,000 people in one meal. The same goes for Atwater, where it is common to see students eating on the floor during lunch after all of the tables fill up.
“On a typical Tuesday in Atwater, from 12:15–12:35 we swipe in anywhere between 1,600 to 1,800 students,” Detora said.
Detora said that the influx of students has proven to be particularly challenging given the small size of the Ross kitchen.
“On a busy morning there will be six to eight chefs in there, and they’re all bumping into each other,” he said.
Thankfully, the swipe system has helped staff gauge how many students are coming in, and what preparation adjustments need to be made. Still, this method is not always one hundred percent reliable.
“I’d be lying to you if I said we haven’t run out of an entrée before,” Detora said.
Despite these challenges, Detora believes the dining system has done rather well, considering it has to cater to all but the few students who aren’t on a meal plan.
Dining is also currently working to incorporate a system in which recipes can be converted into their nutritional value. This will allow each dining hall to post the nutritional information of each dish and not just the ingredients.
(11/21/19 10:57am)
“I was born and raised in rural Hawai`i. Aside from me, there are only two other people from Hawai`i in the class of 2022. I had never heard of Middlebury until I searched ‘northeast’ and ‘<2,500 students’ on my Common Application, a week before the application was due.” — Maya Gee ’22
“Coming to Middlebury — an institution my school counselors didn’t recognize, in a state my parents didn’t know existed — without knowing anyone as a person of reference, or even guidance, was difficult.” — Dennis Miranda Cruz ’22
“Growing up in a suburban/rural part of upstate New York myself, I wondered at the low percentage of students from rural backgrounds. Was this because Middlebury did not find them a good fit when reading their applications, or was it that simply not enough students from rural backgrounds applied? I think the problem lay in the latter — in the limitations of Middlebury’s outreach to rural communities, and thus the lack of rural students applying.” — Cynthia Chen ’22
“I commuted to a public school in the very wealthy Financial District of New York City to escape impoverished and underfunded high schools. I strongly believe that I would not have known about Middlebury if I went to one of my local high schools.” — Roni Lezama ’22
“Growing up in Southern California, I assumed that my area would get a lot of outreach due to the size of our population; that was until I realized that, historically, schools like Middlebury never reached out to my high school or any of the public schools in my surrounding area due to how vast the state is and difficult it is to travel in a short amount of time.” — Myles Maxie ’22
When we, five members of the Class of 2022, arrived on Middlebury’s campus in the fall of 2018, the demographics of the student body saddened us. However, they were not something that surprised us. When we all joined the SGA Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (formerly known as the Institutional Diversity Committee) last fall, we found a platform to address these common concerns.
Put simply, we wanted Admissions to do more outreach to high schools in rural, low-income serving, and/or ethnically-diverse areas — areas where we all came from. While the Admissions Office does currently conduct some outreach in these areas, we believe our own student population could amplify and personalize this outreach even more. To that end, Miranda Cruz pitched the idea of establishing the Student Ambassador Program on campus. The program would have current Middlebury students doing outreach to high schools that can’t always be reached by the Admissions Office. Quickly, we (Miranda Cruz, Gee, Chen, Lezama, and Maxie) formed a sub-group within the committee that decided to initiate this project.
Last fall, we began collaborations with the Admissions Office to turn our idea into reality. Since the program’s conception, the Dean of Admissions, Nicole Curvin, and Senior Assistant Director of Admissions and Coordinator of Diversity, Inclusion, and Access Initiatives, Santana Audet ’13, have been assisting us in our endeavor. Not only have they helped us build a training program, they have also shared their travel schedules with us — that way, we can be sure to visit the high schools they are unable to.
As student ambassadors, we train Middlebury students in two areas: first, giving information sessions on the college to prospective students and second, adding a personal touch and connect with high school students in their own hometowns. We believe that, above all else, students want to go to a college where they envision themselves being happy. In our experience, the best way to help them have that vision in the first place is by watching and listening to someone from their own hometown speak about the school.
On that note, we think that Student Ambassador visits offer unique perspectives on both college admissions and Middlebury College itself. Apart from the basic information that Student Ambassadors must be trained to know, we think that students can also provide a more candid outlook of life at Middlebury. Often, connecting with college counselors can be very intimidating for college students. In particular, high school students may feel more self-conscious about what they say and do knowing that they are talking to people who might one day be reading their applications. By comparison, chatting with current college students (who are closer in age and experience) mimics conversations with friends.
Since we began training Student Ambassadors in Spring 2019, we have been piloting the program. We started with schools around the D.C. area and, this fall, are expanding to visit Delaware, Vermont, Hawai`i, Oklahoma, Texas, New York and Ohio. As we are now officially launching the program, we are searching for students who are passionate about creating more access and connection to Middlebury College. We hope this program will be a pivotal point in not only amplifying diverse college admissions outreach at Middlebury, but also across all elite institutions.
If you are interested in bridging a connection between your hometown and Middlebury, apply to be a Student Ambassador at go/ambassadorapp or visit middleburystudentambassadors.weebly.com. Applications are due: Dec. 2, 2019 at 11:59 p.m.
Maya Gee, Dennis Miranda Cruz, Cynthia Chen, Roni Lezama and Myles Maxie are members of the class of 2022.
(11/14/19 11:03am)
YouTube has long been known as a platform for user-created video content. Nearly 15 years after the website launched, a recent survey by toymaker Lego found that one-third of kids between 8 and 12 aspire to be either a vlogger or a YouTuber. I’m fairly certain this desire to be seen and heard isn’t just limited to kids. We all have that one friend from high school who started their own food blogging or make-up channel, and let’s be honest — who doesn’t secretly want to be a YouTube star?
For Rocket ’14, one of the two co-owners of the freshly minted YouTube channel “Love Town,” storytelling (or more appropriately, outing details of his personal life) is nothing new.
In 2012, he gave a speech as the first student speaker at TEDxMiddlebury on his summer traveling the country using the Amtrak system, and later spoke at Moth-Up, Middlebury’s version of the nationwide storytelling platform The Moth, on the same subject.
In 2013, he started a column in The Campus called “Dining, Dating, and Dashing,” whose content is exactly what it sounds like. The biweekly column’s goals were threefold: Rocket dated, ate free food and chronicled his experiences and musings for all to see in the pages of the paper. Each article chronicles a date with a different person at a different restaurant in the Middlebury area, which he persuaded in advance to provide free meals for him and his date. It seems like a pretty sweet deal, especially if you’re looking at it from Rocket’s perspective. As he writes in the inaugural article, “I get a date, the girl gets a story, we both get fed, the restaurant gets publicity and hopefully we all get a good laugh.”
A little over a year after graduating, in October of 2015, he changed his name legally from Ryan Kim to “Rocket, no last name.”
[pullquote speaker="Rocket" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]Coming from Love Town means I want to live a life in pursuit of love... not a romantic or sexual love; it’s a love to live.[/pullquote]
“It just popped into my head,” said the 27-year-old self-described conceptual artist. What started out as something of “a secret stage name” eventually became a part of his identity. “If we as adults are required to take responsibility or ownership of all of our actions, then it is my right to own the actor,” he said. We choose the clothes we wear, the food we eat, with whom we spend our time, Rocket pondered — so why can’t we choose our own name? Legally changing his name to Rocket, then, seemed to be both a statement of his identity and an assertion of his autonomy.
Three weeks ago, “Love Town” released its first video, titled “Welcome to Love Town!” In the video, Rocket, sporting all black clothing, a slightly overgrown mohawk and gold-rimmed lens-less aviator glasses, introduces himself and the channel’s co-owner and producer Marshall Hodge, who he identified as “my adopted brother.” They sit side-by-side, arms wrapped around each other’s shoulders in front of a gorgeous mountain range speckled with autumnal patches of green and orange. Right behind them is their black Tesla Model X, parked on the lawn with its wings up, batmobile-style.
“We’re living in Rex, this Tesla behind us,” Rocket said, “just out on the road, adventuring and just figuring things out as we go.” According to the channel’s description, the two are “on a journey of discovering the most authentic, dopest version of ourselves and overcoming any obstacles along the way: personal fears, expectations from others, cultural norms, etc.”
Bringing his background as an Economics major to the table, Rocket did some number-crunching to explain the rationale behind this recent lifestyle change. Previously, he had been commuting into Los Angeles and paying over $500 per month in gas, in addition to rent, utilities and other living expenses that plague the electronic checkbooks of many a working millennial. When he analyzed the costs of living in a car, monthly payments on a Tesla turned out to be cheaper than what he had been paying in rent and gas. “Well,” he said, “if I’m willing to live in a vehicle, I could have a pretty sweet vehicle to live in.” It actually seems quite practical, once you can get behind the idea of living in a sedan.
From a more conceptual standpoint, “Love Town” for Rocket is also a personal project that grew out of his “rabid curiosity” about the full range of human existence and experience. Love Town is a metaphorical place, according to Rocket. “Coming from Love Town means I want to live a life in pursuit of love,” he said. “And it’s not a romantic or sexual love; it’s a love to live.”
His goal is “not to be celebrities or heroes,” as he said in an interview, nor is it to be an influencer, a term he rejects because of its reputation as a provider of simple entertainment. “Entertainment is cheap,” he said, “and it can go anywhere.”
Rather, he’s exploring what he calls “radical candor,” an effort at authenticity in a world of perceived fewer human connections. This is all part of his path to becoming a “real and dope person.” What is a “real and dope person,” you ask? According to Rocket, “a real person listens to the song of their soul” and “goes the distance for people they care about.”
For Hodge, who serves the roles of content producer, video editor and (adopted) younger brother, “Love Town” is about “pushing past this bitch named fear.” Before joining “Love Town,” Hodge was a video editor at Yes Theory, an adventure-travel YouTube channel that makes videos like “Asking Strangers to go Skydiving on the Spot!!” and “SAYING YES TO EVERYTHING FOR 24 HOURS (ended up in a dress in Mexico).” He admits that, even in a Tesla, life on the road can take some getting used to. “The shower part’s a little tricky sometimes,” he said in a video. “We can go a few days, sometimes a week before showering; it’s a tradeoff of this lifestyle, honestly; like if you wanted to have another lifestyle where you could shower everyday you’d have to get an apartment or something.”
The channel’s only three weeks old, but has already amassed a following of 16.2K subscribers at the time of this article, with videos that range from 10K to 283K views. In a video released last week, titled “I Lost My Virginity in a Tesla,” Marshall documents his first sexual encounter (“everything but the sex”) with a woman Rocket had matched with on Tinder. Another video recounts their 7000-mile road trip from California through Vermont and back and in a third viewers are invited to follow along Marshall’s “First Date Ever.”
Internet fame aside, however, “we don’t want to place any of our personal value on what this view count is or what this subscribe count is, ’cause it doesn’t fundamentally affect any of our inherent worthiness,” Rocket said. “The only thing we can do is to be as real of a person and as dope of a person as you can. That’s it.”
Here’s to becoming “real and dope” people.
(11/14/19 11:00am)
More than four weeks have passed since Atwater Commons Residence Director Esther Thomas called Atwater suites residents into a meeting about consistent damage in their buildings, including urination in elevators and sign theft. And, while all of the signs stolen in October have since been returned and inappropriate urination across campus seems to have come to a halt, destruction of and disrespect for property at Middlebury is nowhere near over.
Masted signs — the large blue-metal placards on posts outside many buildings on campus — were knocked down by students in the past several weeks, most notably outside of the Robert A. Jones ’59 House and Carr Hall, according to facilities staff. Repairs for these signs will collectively cost between $400 and $600, as the bases of the posts must be re-welded. Students also tore down recycling and custodial signs in Atwater Hall B.
Wayne Hall, a facilities supervisor, has worked at the college for 25 years, and has seen the levels of damage over the years ebb and flow based on the populations of different campus buildings.
“I get youthful exuberance and accidents, but the malicious vandalism and disrespect, I don’t get how people can feel okay about that,” Hall said.
On Monday, Oct. 14, shortly after the Atwater community meeting and only five weeks into this year, the total residential damage cost for the year came out to about $2,500. This suggests a higher rate of damage this year in comparison with others, given that during 2018–19 school year there were $4,200 in damages for the whole year. During the 2017–18 school year there were only $2,700 in damages.
[infogram id="1p0y21lkj6jeg7tegnev0mnxz3bnj3e5lgr?live"]
If destruction continues at this rate for the remainder of the school year, there could be an unprecedented $16,000 in residential hall damages. And, according to reporting from 2015, damages tend to pick up in the spring.
Hall and Custodial Supervisor Dan Celik spoke about the burden that deliberate damage places upon the custodial team, especially in a time of staff shortages.
“In the long run, [damages] are costing the college money. And with our staff reduction, I’d rather be fixing things that need to be fixed than fixing things that didn’t need to be broken,” Hall said.
Facilities has been suffering from staff shortages for years, but vacancies have peaked recently.
“I’ve been here for a long time and this is the first time that I remember having as many openings as we do,” an anonymous custodial staff member told The Campus last month.
When conducting fire safety checks, residential life and facilities will often find signs that have been stolen hanging on the walls of rooms and suites, like “trophies” according to Celik. The act of taking signs from the buildings in which people live for their own decor is particularly troubling to him.
[gallery columns="2" ids="47419,47420"]
“You’re taking from your own community. You’re disfiguring your own building,” Celik said. “We pride ourselves on having a world class facility: not every place looks like this. And when it gets defaced it’s super frustrating. We do our best to make the bad places look good, keeping them clean.”
However, Celik noted, it’s not the so-called “bad places” — older buildings like Battell — where the damages primarily occur. It’s newer, nicer facilities like the Atwater suites.
Whodunnit?
Conversations about damage by students have often hinged on laying blame: if someone gets away with destruction without being caught — which is often the case — who should have to be responsible for the cost of repairs?
At the recent Atwater Community Meeting, students debated who should be charged for the $2,300 in damages that were originally to be divided among Atwater residents. Many argued that destruction in common spaces should not be charged to all residents, most of whom were not present at the time of damage or hosting the parties that brought in guests.
Thomas responded by imploring residents to set a tone in the building, and noting that they are broadly responsible for the space, even the communal spaces outside of their suites.
Celik and Hall echoed this sentiment. “We consider where you are now to be your home,” Hall said, referencing the way that students would likely behave in their own houses. He believes people are responsible for the buildings they live in and the behaviors of people who visit those spaces.
To students who have caused damage, either deliberately or accidentally, and want to avoid high fees for their entire building, facilities staff have a solution: fess up.
When a student comes forward about causing damage, the labor rate per hour is reduced from $59 to $39. When a specific student is not found to be responsible for damage, an entire hall or building will be charged the higher rate, but when responsible parties admit to destruction, they are individually charged at the lower rate.
While materials costs remain the same, facilities hopes to incentivize student honesty by reducing the labor fee in situations where students confess.
“I think if someone is honest enough to come forward and return the sign, we’re going to just fix the sign. We see that as an adult reaction. We’re not out to screw over the students, we just need to fix things,” Hall said.
(11/07/19 11:21am)
CROSS COUNTRY
Cross country teams place solidly at NESCACs
BY JORDAN HOWELL
The Panther Cross Country teams are already off to a good start in the championship portion of the season. The men placed third, while the women placed fourth in their respective NESCAC Championship meets on Saturday, Nov. 2.
The top two finishers for the men were Theo Henderson ’20 and Henry Fleming ’20. Henderson captured second with a time of 25:41.8. Fleming followed close behind coming in at 26:00.7 to pick up 10th place.
The top two finishers for the women were Meg Wilson ’20 and Talia Ruxin ’20. Wilson grabbed 10th place with a time of 22:46.8. Ruxin came in right behind her in 11th place with a time of 22:47.1.
Ruxin commented on her team’s performance. “The team had a strong performance at NESCACs,” Ruxin said. “Every Midd runner ran considerably faster than five weeks ago on the same course!”
The Panthers’ next meet will be the NCAA Regional Championships on Saturday, Nov. 16.
“The general feeling is that the best is yet to come,” Ruxin said. “Coach Nicole Wilkerson has the training very dialed in for the final few weeks of the season. With her coaching experience and the team’s positive energy, we should be primed for a great performance.”
VOLLEYBALL
Volleyball sweeps weekend, ends regular season on high note
BY HEATHER BOEHM
Women’s volleyball closed out their regular reason with dominant play against conference rivals. The Panthers overcame Williams on the road in a five-set nail-biter on Friday, Nov. 1 and swept Hamilton on Saturday, Nov. 2.
“This weekend, the team came in with focus,” said Chellsa Ferdinand ’20. “After disappointing losses to Bowdoin and Tufts, we knew that defeat this past weekend was not an option.”
Middlebury started off the match with a decisive first set. The Panther offense lifted themselves to a 25-16 win that gave them some momentum heading into the second. The Ephs showed resilience in the second set but were edged by the Panthers by two points. The close set gave the Ephs some hope going into the third and they were able to beat out the Panthers 28-26. The next two sets were just as tight. The women capitalized on a few Williams errors, and took home the win in the final period.
The Panthers built off of this triumph going into Saturday’s contest with a 3-0 shutout. Middlebury slid past Hamilton by two points in the first set and eased by in the next two. Sophomore Maggie Wise led the offense with 10 kills, while Senior captain Gigi Alper held up the defensive front with 16 digs.
“Our team has incredible potential,” said Ferdinand. “We were resilient in the face of adversity. We all want nothing more than the best.”
Volleyball’s performances helped the women secure a spot in the conference tournament. Middlebury will fight for a chance to pick up a NESCAC title this weekend on the road against Amherst in a quarterfinal matchup.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
BY HEATHER BOEHM
Women’s soccer came up big with a 2-1 victory over Wesleyan in the quarterfinals of the NESCAC tournament on Saturday, Nov. 2.
The Panthers won the race to the scoreboard within the five minute mark. Simone Ameer ’21 capitalized on a Cardinal opening and slapped the ball to the back of the net. Middlebury’s offense spent most of the game giving the Cardinal defense a tough time but had an unlucky setback in the 61st minute. Wesleyan’s Dani Milovanov snuck her way in to bring some hope to her teammates.
Jinx Charman ’20 commented on her team’s effort. “Wesleyan is always a really tough opponent,” said Charman. “They have had some great wins this season, so we knew we had to get a goal in quickly. When they tied it up, our team really stepped our level up under pressure and we decided to high press their defense, which gave us a lot more opportunities.”
One of those opportunities led the way to sophomore Ellie Bavier’s goal. With time running out, Senior captain Olivia Miller paved the way for her game-winning effort with a well-placed cross.
Middlebury will take some confidence from this triumph but will refocus for their semifinal matchup against long-time foe Williams on Saturday, Nov. 9 at Tufts. After a silent 1-1 draw with the Ephs earlier this season, the Panthers will come out hunting.
“We are really excited to face Williams again, and hopefully we will get redemption for the national championship,” said Charman.
The championship game will be held on Sunday, Nov. 10 at Tufts as well.
FOOTBALL
BY LAUREN BOYD
The Middlebury Panthers improved to an 8-0 record this past Saturday, grinding out a win against a 4-4 Hamilton team. Not only did the Panthers take home the “Rocking Chair Classic” trophy, but also stepped one game closer to an undefeated season, guaranteeing a share in the NESCAC title.
Heading into the game with a 7-game win streak, the Panthers faced immense pressure to perform. The Middlebury squad hoped to extend this winning streak, clinch a spot as NESCAC champions, and honor their seniors in their last home game. The stands, packed with fans, friends, family, and alumni, kept loud and proud throughout the contest.
During the first drive of the game, quarterback Will Jernigan ’21 led the Panthers 60 yards down the field. After a connection between Jernigan and senior Frank Cosolito, Alex Maldjian ’23 punched in the first score of the game.
After a Hamilton response, tying up the game 7-7, the Panthers quickly responded to the pressure. Another drive by the Panthers led to a second Maldjian touchdown, bringing Middlebury to a 14-7 lead.
The Panthers would hold out for the rest of the game, preventing the Continentals from putting more points on the board. In the process, Middlebury claimed (at minimum) a share of the NESCAC title. Rounding out their season with a win against Tufts would mean being sole NESCAC champions and an undefeated season.
The Jumbos will be coming to prevent Middlebury from attaining a 9-0 record, hoping to move above .500 themselves. Falling to Williams, Wesleyan, Amherst, and Hamilton, Tufts currently holds a 4-4 record, tied up with the Hamilton Continentals.
The Panthers will kick-off their final NESCAC match on Saturday at 12:30PM.
FIELD HOCKEY
BY MIGUEL ESPINOSA
First-seeded field hockey topped Trinity, 3-1 at home in the NESCAC Quarterfinal on Saturday, Nov. 4. The Panthers advanced to the semifinals where they’ll face off against seventh-seeded Hamiliton on Saturday, Nov. 9. Middlebury will be hosting championship weekend, including the semifinal game between Tufts and Williams.
Forward Katie George ’23 put the Panthers on the scoreboard early in the first quarter and was assisted by captain Marissa Baker ’20. The Panthers augmented their lead in the second quarter thanks to goals by Audrey Lazar ’23 and Danielle Brown ’21. Trinity managed to score their only goal 20 seconds into the third quarter.
“We changed a couple of people's positions and were able to better utilize some of our strengths in doing so,” said Erin Nicholas ’21, when asked about what clicked for the Panthers, offensively and defensively. “Our new formation allowed us to possess the ball a bit better while also providing us the opportunity to attack from different areas on the field.”
MEN'S SOCCER
BY ERIK ARVIDSSON
The Panther men headed into postseason play determined to get a win to keep their season alive. First up was the NESCAC tournament quarter-finals against Connecticut College on Saturday, Nov. 2. After 110 minutes of scoreless play, a stat line not too uncommon for the Panthers this year, the game headed to a shootout. After the first five penalties resulted in a 3-3 tie, the shootout would be decided by sudden death. With the game on the line, Liam Sloane ’22 stepped up and netted the ball into the left corner. Goalkeeper Marco Kaper ’21 secured the final save to give the Panthers a birth into the NESCAC semi’s next weekend.
When asked about how it felt to convert the game winning goal, Sloane praised the team’s collective effort. “I was very happy to convert that penalty,” said Sloane, “but overall happier about the incredible team effort we put in.”
This weekend the Panther’s head to Amherst to face the top-ranked team in the nation. If they beat the Mammoths they will stay in Amherst for a chance to play for the tournament championship game on Sunday, Nov. 10. After tying the Mammoths during the regular season, Kenan Ulku-Steiner ’22 believes that “the key this weekend will be to run faster and kick the ball farther.”
(10/31/19 10:03am)
After a decade-long crusade of student activism, Middlebury has begun its long march toward divestment. In a unanimous decision last January, the Board of Trustees approved Energy 2028—an ambitious and sweeping plan that promises certain reductions of the college’s environmental footprint in response to the mounting climate crisis. With the vote, the board set a timeline for meeting a series of environmentally-minded goals and initiatives.
(10/31/19 10:01am)
Families dressed in costumes, posed for pictures, danced to live music and munched on bags of fresh-popped popcorn. A NASA toddler in a tinfoil hat and a painted cardboard rocket waited patiently in line for face-painting. A mini Evil Queen and a black fruit bat played a life-sized game of Connect 4. Multiple Spider-Men and one Spider Gwen chased each other in front of the bubble machine. In the meantime, parents holding umbrellas stood on the grass and waited for the parade, Spooktacular’s main event, to begin.
The Better Middlebury Partnership hosted its 12th Annual Spooktacular on the Town Green this past Sunday, Oct. 27. Despite a steady drizzle of rain, kids flocked to game stations and activity tables operated by volunteers. Visitors could enjoy games, face-painting, bubbles and a craft table, alongside dancing and halloween-themed treats.
Nancie Dunn, the primary organizer of Spooktacular, started the event 14 years ago and has been hosting it with the help of her husband, Bruce Baker, ever since. For Dunn, the idea for Spooktacular rose out of a need she saw for a community-based Halloween event.
“When my kids were little, there was a parade and a bonfire that the Middlebury Parks and Recreation put on, and then there was nothing,” Dunn said. “So I thought with this cute town we needed to make something.” That was when Dunn got the idea for Spooktacular, which she and Baker have been running ever since.
“We had good weather last year and saw about 500 kids,” Baker said. “Because of the weather, this year was the most challenging year out of the 14.” The covered gazebo in the middle of the Town Green served as not only a refuge from the rain but also as the center of activity from where Baker played live music.
“My favorite part is right here at the gazebo,” Baker said. “All the kids come up, and the ones that are gregarious dance with me and have fun.”
Lauren Laberge, in charge of face-painting station, is one of the committee members who organizes the event every year.
“It’s cute to see the families come out all dressed up,” Laberge said. “I think they love it because you don’t always get an opportunity with your kids to be a part of something with costumes.”
Sarah Stahl, who oversees the crafts, is another committee member.
“[Spooktacular] is different from trick-or-treating in the dark,” Stahl said. “This is a daytime event, and it’s free. Some mother even said to me: ‘Thank you for doing this. This is all we do for Halloween.’”
At 2:30 p.m., Dunn, dressed as the Spooktacular Witch, led the group in a parade through the town. All through Main Street, merchants, some in costume, stood outside their shop fronts with bowls full of candy ready to be dropped in the children’s waiting bags. Audra Ouellette has participated in Spooktacular for all the three years she has been an employee at Sweet Cecily, a local home goods retailer.
“My favorite part about the event are the little faces that come through with costumes on,” Ouellette said. “There’s almost no preparation the vendors have to do beforehand. Nancie supplies everyone with the candy. It’s perfect.” As kids walked past Dunn with bags heavy of sweets, they waved at the Spooktacular Witch and headed home.
“It’s a real nice community thing,” Baker said. “It gives people who might not be able to afford to do anything special on their own an opportunity to get dressed up with their kids and have a great time.”
(10/24/19 6:07pm)
Huge thank you to everyone who came out last night! Even if things didn’t quite go as planned... we heard your #EQUALPAY chants from all over the field ??? Also- it’s not too late to get a jersey!! Link in bio #worthit #seniors
(10/17/19 10:10am)
The percentage of Middlebury graduates with jobs within months of their graduation date has been steadily rising since 2014.
Six months after graduation, 81% of the class of 2018 had found employment, the highest rate on record. Most of these graduates are working full-time jobs while others, also included in this definition of employment, are working part-time while studying or pursuing an additional career.
As of Aug. 1, two months after graduation, 69% of the class of 2019 was employed, representing a 50% increase from the class of 2014, according to Peggy Burns, director of the Center for Careers and Internships (CCI).
Even considering rising national employment rates, Burns said that the CCI’s increasing efforts over the last five years to help students find employment has also contributed markedly to this growth. Most notably, the center has increasingly funneled alumni enthusiasm through several new programs that help emerging grads enter the workforce.
These efforts include the creation of seven Middlebury Professional Networks (MPNs), consisting of alumni who volunteer to provide active career support in the fields of consulting, energy and environment, financial services, government and policy, international affairs, media and entertainment, and technology. The center aims to expand these offerings in the future, according to its website.
The CCI also created a program called “Student Treks” in 2017, which brings students on themed trips where they learn about a career pathway through meeting alumni, visiting their worksites, and shadowing them on the job.
Eight times a year, the center’s Field Guide program brings five or six alumni, who all shared the same major but have gone on to diverse careers, to speak with students. The CCI also brings alumni who work in the same industry, regardless of their major, through a program called Up Next.
“[The alumni] have always stepped up when asked. Now all these vehicles are set up where they can really channel their energy and enthusiasm for our students,” Burns said. In the last academic year, 500 alumni engaged in on and off-campus programming.
This year, the CCI created Midd2Midd, an online platform that connects members from across the Middlebury community. The platform hosts three programs: MiddMentors, which connects students with alumni mentors; MiddConnect, which allows students, alumni, and parents to ask for advice and share opportunities amongst each other; and MiddGroups, which hosts affinity-based communities of alumni and students.
The CCI also switched its online job-posting platform from Mojo to Handshake, both of which are sites used by colleges and universities across the country to aggregate job and internship opportunities. The switch is part of an effort to diversify the types of work Middlebury graduates pursue
Handshake makes it much easier for employers to post opportunities than Mojo, vastly increasing both the number and types of opportunities available to students, according to Burns. In the last academic year, employers posted 22,000 jobs and internships on Handshake, 10 times as many as with Mojo, on average. Middlebury students responded with 12,000 applications submitted through the site.
Recent shifts in industries that graduates are choosing to pursue reflect students’ ever-evolving interests. For the first time in years, the fields of arts and communication constitute the foremost employer for the class of 2018, according to a survey by the Office of Assessment & Institutional Research (OAIR) conducted six months after their graduation. Financial services, usually the most popular field, came in second, followed by education, consulting, technology, and science and health, amongst others. Social justice forms the smallest employment sector accounting for just 5% of those employed. However, Burns cautioned that these rankings do not tell the full story, as many jobs overlap categories.
While only 11% of the class of 2018 immediately pursued postgraduate education after graduation, 50% reported that they intend to do so within the next five years, according to the OAIR survey. Out of the NESCAC schools, Burns said Middlebury is on the lower end of the spectrum in terms of how many students transition straight to graduate school. While both Amherst and Hamilton also reported that 11% of the class of 2018 immediately entered postgraduate school, 15% of Bowdoin students, 19% of Tufts students, and 20% of Connecticut College students continued their education directly after completing undergrad. Burns said she sees this difference as a strength rather than a weakness.
“Graduate schools feel that students get more out of grad school, and grad school get more out of students when students have been out in the world and are more mature,” she said.
The center also aims to increase levels of participation by younger students in its activities and counseling. Burns encouraged students to come to the CCI early and often to prepare themselves and reduce stress come graduation. The center offers drop-in hours with peer career advisors every afternoon, and students can sign up for longer meeting with staff on Handshake.
(10/17/19 10:00am)
With several years of work remaining on Middlebury’s Bridge and Rail Project, downtown merchants are determined to outlast dwindling patronship that has posed a challenge since the project began.
The Bridge and Rail Project, aiming to bring passenger rail service from Rutland to Burlington by 2021, will close down Main Street to vehicles from May 27 to Aug. 5 this summer, limiting parking for visitors and potentially decreasing foot traffic and sales. Examples of recent work include the replacement of the Main Street and Exchange Street bridges and blasting tunnels in preparation of the replacement of 3,500 feet of rail.
Nearby businesses are often caught in the crosshairs of the disruptive process.
“It’s been a real challenge,” said Theresa Harris, manager of Edgewater Gallery. “Everyone knows that Middlebury is going through a big construction project, and people bypass the town.”
Despite seeing the long-term benefits, Harris noted the immediate effects: “In the short term, we think it’s very destructive and troubling for businesses.”
Jutta Miska, the founder of second-hand clothing store Buy Again Alley, was a social worker at a teen center in Addison County when she would run clothing swaps at the local high school. As participation grew, students suggested she opened up her own store. While she initially predicted that she would open a store in six months, she managed to open in three months due to the enthusiasm of high school and college students in the community. Miska felt worried about the ten weeks of road closures. “The only way to survive is to adapt and come up with new ideas, and I really hope it will be okay,” she said.
Others, however, are less worried about construction.
“I think they’re doing a phenomenal job with the downtown construction,” said Dan McIntosh, owner of Forth N’ Goal Sports. “If your business is doing poorly, it’s very easy to blame the construction.”
For Dana Franklin, owner of Vermont’s Own Products, his business’ location situates him away from some of the problems associated with construction.
“I don’t see this as a big thing for me, because we already have another bridge, Cross Street Bridge,” he said, “but I can see how a business closer to the construction site can have problems with parking and stuff like that.”
Some merchants spoke to other reasons regarding dwindling patronship. Paula Israel, owner of Wild Mountain Thyme, contributed the slowing of business to a greater focus on Main Street, not the Bridge and Rail Project.
“There’s always parking available, and you’re still going to get amazing service when you walk through the door,” Israel said.
Israel called for more students from the college to patronize local businesses. “It would be nice if college students have more awareness of their surroundings and shopping locally,” she said, “and giving back to a community that has more than welcomed them.”
Scott Gemignani, owner of Tinker and Smithy Game Store, spoke of his frustration with the delay of project’s start date to 2017.
“I think the onus and the ownership is on our community as a whole, because we could have had this done years ago,” Gemignani said. “But now that we’ve waited this long, there’s that much more work, time and money.”
Despite these challenges, business owners remain hopeful that the Middlebury community will continue to help town businesses thrive.
Danforth Pewter also has a cohort of dedicated customers.
“We are very connected with a lot of local folks, as well as tourists and college people,” said Karen Douse, manager of Danforth Pewter’s downtown location. “We have a lot of people who come in for wedding gifts and then come back for baby gifts, so it’s a lot of fun.”
“There’s a lot of things that attract people,” said Gemignani of the town of Middlebury. “We are sort of a destination location for people looking to get away yet still have nice amenities and still enjoy their vacation and decompress without having to go to a big city.” For Gemignani, part of the appeal of opening a game store came from a place of nostalgia, since Middlebury used to have a game store.
The narrative around the construction project is one of endurance and hard work. Middlebury has had a history of surviving long construction projects, with many businesses being established as early as the 1970s. In many cases, shopkeepers are determined to stay.
“Old Mountain Thyme is the oldest business in town that has been singularly owned for as of this month, 48 years,” Israel said. “I used to come here when I was in college with my roommate.”
“I started [Vermont’s Own Products] in Shelburne in 1986,” Franklin said. “Fourteen years ago, I moved to Middlebury. I’ve gone through worse things than this already, so I plan on staying for a while.”
Despite both the short-term and long-term effects of construction, merchants feel a sense of community with each other.
“Our plan is to keep [Danforth Pewter] open kind of in solidarity with everyone else — we need to stick together and stay open,” Douse said.
(10/03/19 10:40am)
Activists flocked to the Merrimack Generating Station on Saturday, Sept. 28 to protest the station’s continued use of coal fired steam generation. One of the last major power plants in the Northeast to use coal fuel, Merrimack Station has been frequently protested by environmental activists for the last year. Middlebury students in attendance were Asa Skinder-Richardson ’22.5, Cooper Lamb ’22.5, Caleb Green ’19.5, Malia Armstrong ’22.5 and many others. No Middlebury students were arrested.
Protest organizers included the Climate Disobedience Center (CDC) and 350 New Hampshire, with affiliates like 350 Vermont, Vermont Climate Strike and Middlebury College’s Sunday Night Environmental Group (SNEG).
Among the hundreds of demonstrators present on Saturday, the most significant were a group of activists that trespassed onto the station’s property in an act of civil disobedience. Many of them acted in collaboration with the #BucketbyBucket No Coal No Gas campaign, under which most were suited up in Tyvek suits carrying five gallon buckets with the goal of collecting buckets of coal. In mid-August, activists removed 500 pounds of coal from Merrimack Station and dumped it at the New Hampshire State House to increase political action against the plant.
On Saturday, Bow Police heavily enforced the station’s property boundaries, and 67 participants were consequently arrested for criminal trespassing, according to a Press Release from the Bow Police Department late that afternoon. Arrests were made between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m with no injuries or damages reported.
EMMANUEL TAMRAT
Around 300 demonstrators gathered at the edge of the Merrimack Station property, engaging in song and speech. They stood in solidarity with those risking arrest on Saturday.In an act of solidarity with activists risking arrest, a group of 300 people gathered by Merrimack Station’s gate. Among the participants were several Middlebury students, including Claire Contreras ’22.5 and Cora Kircher ’20. Both said that the gathering was as much about demonstrating solidarity with those risking arrest as it was about celebrating the movement towards ending the use of fossil fuels.
“A lot of the energy was channeled into making the environment feel supportive for people who were putting themselves at risk in a pretty scary way,” Kircher said. “It was also part of a larger celebration too.”
Contreras felt similarly. “It was pretty inspiring seeing people come from all over the east coast,” she said. “There was a lot of singing and chanting, amazing speakers, [and] a sense of solidarity for the people putting themselves on the line for a cause we all believe in- which is to end the age of fossil fuels.”
Protests lasted through mid-afternoon, with riot police present to control those attempting to further trespass. “The images of [the protests] speak for themselves,” Kircher said. “I personally had never seen that big a police force for an action that was nonviolent. It’s mindboggling that they hired two helicopters, a private security force and had state police in riot gear to take down people in white suites protesting injustice.”
In a statement released from Bow Police, Chief of Police Margaret Lougee said: “The Town of Bow would like to thank our local, county, regional and state partners for their assistance in ensuring that safety remained the top priority for our community, and all those who gathered at the Merrimack Station.”
Granite Shore Power, owner of Merrimack Station and four other generating stations in New Hampshire, said in a press release that although they support the views of those demonstrating, Saturday’s trespassing was seen by them as an act to make a scene. Merrimack Station is the largest of all five owned by Granite Shore Power, with full operating power at 482 MegaWatts. Granite Shore Power did not respond to The Campus’ request for a further statement.
Saturday’s protest capped a week of climate striking across the U.S., including climate strikes on Friday, Sept. 20 in Vermont towns and cities such as Brattleboro, Burlington, Lyndon, Middlebury and Montpelier.
(10/03/19 9:59am)
Sometimes we think we’re awake when we’re merely sleep-walking. I was taught to recycle and compost kitchen waste in my youth and have since considered myself fairly environmentally conscious. “Waste is bad,” and “Conservation is good,” are mantras that I grew up with and have passed on to my children (both Midd grads).
On a recent visit to the Galápagos, I woke up to some startling discoveries. However environmentally conscious I might consider myself, when I was invited this past summer to join a group of students from Planet Forward, a George Washington University-based environmental communication and storytelling program, I was in for an eye opener.
Frank Sesno, Middlebury ’77, trustee emeritus and founder of Planet Forward, introduced their mission “to inform, engage and inspire people to take action to move our planet forward.” This program, which has involved Middlebury students over the years, brought 10 undergraduate students to the Galápagos to experience a life changing adventure. As a mentor, I was with them every step of the way as we explored this incredible place, teeming with life: the place Charles Darwin called “a little world within itself.”
I was immediately struck by each student’s concerns about the global environmental crisis. Despite the polarizing debate about the reality of the climate crisis, all 10 students from colleges around the country were determined, focused and hopeful about the future. Last April, their prize-winning journalism had been celebrated at the annual Planet Forward Summit in Washington D.C. The prize-winning StoryFest topics ranged from energy conserving electric buses and algae that digest plastic, to programs to reduce food waste and meditation practices to enhance environmental awareness.
CEO of Lindblad-National Geographic Expeditions Sven Lindbland announced the StoryFest winners. Each of these winners chose a topic relevant to the Galápagos that they investigated by conducting interviews with naturalists aboard the ship and at the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz Island. Their videos, photo essays and journalism focused on invasive species, ocean plastics, the balance between conservation and tourism, among other topics.
The wildlife taught us about a world of interactions without fear (but with respectful boundaries). We learned that, historically, the most serious invasive species in the Galápagos is human beings. We came within a few feet of sea lions who were not the least bit perturbed by our presence.
My own big “aha” moment came when students talked about the massive threat plastic poses to our environment. We sit in judgment of those who hunted tortoises, quietly condemning their brutality while the world drinks from an estimated 500 billion plastic cups each year. We then toss those cups into bins when we could be carrying reusable bottles or cups instead, thereby reducing the megatons of waste that choke our landfills and desecrate our oceans.
My experience with the Planet Forward students galvanized my commitment and imagination. I saw how these 10 students inspired an entire ship full of vacationers and explorers to think about the life lessons contained in this pristine environment. Observing the tenderness of a mother sea lion feeding her pup made us realize how interconnected all life is in the quest for survival. Each one of us felt compelled to think about what we can do to move from anxiety and dismay to action.
As stewards of our planet, we bear the responsibility to examine our own values and actions and assess whether they correspond to a genuine concern for the environment. Every product we buy casts a vote for what we value. Agreeing to buy food packaged in plastic or styrofoam is a vote for continuing to package products this way. We shouldn’t vote this way anymore. Each of us needs to share stories to inform and inspire others, write to our senators and representatives, and get involved in efforts to reduce energy consumption. We must all ask ourselves what personal changes we will make, which environmental groups we could join and how we will galvanize others to move our planet forward.
Middlebury students are invited to submit their own stories and podcasts, along with college students from around the country, to Planet Forward’s StoryFest. The next trip is this summer in Iceland.
(09/26/19 10:05am)
After years of growth spurts, you can only withstand sleeping so many nights in a too-small-bed. Adam Wisco ’22, a varsity hockey player measuring in at six feet “and a quarter,” hadn’t given much thought to the inconveniences of snoozing in a twin XL prior to founding Bigg-A-Bed, but there was one thing that was for sure: “It definitely wasn’t nice.”
“Then I got a girlfriend,” he said. From there, he came up with the idea to create an extension piece that would hook onto the side of the school-provided bed frame to accommodate a full-size mattress. Countless dorm room conversations, hours of research and one $1,500 grant later, Bigg-A-Bed, Middlebury’s new student-run bed extension company, was born.
Wisco’s initial vision started out last April with nothing more than a hockey stick and some bed measurements. Using those measurements, he created a design in which the proposed hockey stick extension would slide into a 3D printed attachment piece that would hook onto the side of the bed frame.
Then, he did what any good entrepreneur would do: He sought the input of his potential buyers, who seemed more than enthusiastic about the idea. His floormates were the first to be consulted.
“It was all I talked about for a very long time,” Wisco said. At the same time, some of Wisco’s peers were pursuing similar, competing ventures, like Middorm, an affiliate of Roomie mattress rentals, and Rockefeller Beds, a company with origins at Dartmouth College.
Upon gauging that there were plenty of students who would jump at the prospect of sleeping in a bigger bed, Wisco took the design to the Makerspace in the Freeman International Center and printed out a plastic prototype for the attachment piece.
Equipped with his prototype, Wisco decided to take the idea to the Innovation Hub. He applied for a MiddCHALLENGE grant, a highly competitive application for students hoping to fund their business or social entrepreneurship ideas.
Wisco was accepted as a finalist and took his hockey stick prototype to pitch his idea to local entrepreneurs and alumni. They liked what they saw and awarded him a $1,500 honorarium to support preliminary expenses, under the condition that he submit a log of his progress each month.
Wisco then tested more than 30 different designs, using the money to experiment with different kinds of attachment piece prototypes. He spent up to four hours a day working on the design towards the end of last year and through the summer in search of a model that best incorporated simplicity, safety and cost efficiency.
“At the time, I was like, ‘okay, I guess I need a bunch of broken hockey sticks,’” Wisco said.
He began testing the hockey stick model out on his own bed, but Wisco soon discovered that while broken hockey sticks worked well in theory, they were all built differently, and were too expensive to manufacture in mass quantities.
“I had to think of what else I could use that was strong like a hockey stick, but that you can get in custom quantities in relatively uniform size,” he said.
By the end of the year, Wisco found a local company that would make custom cut metal to replace the hockey sticks as the extension piece. The only problem was that the metal didn’t fit his original attachment piece prototype.
“Inch by inch, I had to adjust the design of the hook to fit the metal piece,” he said. “At that point, if people asked to buy one, I could have said yes because there was something tangible that could go on beds and that people could sleep on.”
By mid-April, Wisco’s roommate, Paul Flores-Clavel ’22, began to tackle the advertising aspects of the venture. Bigg-A-Bed promotion posters soon lined the halls of dorms and academic buildings all over campus.
But the design was far from complete. Over the summer, Wisco continued to work on the evolving model at home in Canada, even as he started taking orders in July.
“I didn’t want to make people bring their own full-sized mattresses, so we came up with the idea to use foam to put on top of the metal extension,” he said. Wisco then found a company to custom cut foam, another to mass produce the hooks, and one to cut the wood for the support beam that would sit on top of the metal.
By that point, Flores-Clavel had revamped the informational website that Wisco created in the spring into a business from which buyers could choose from a wide array of options.
“I wanted to give people customizable options for their bed,” Wisco said. “You can buy just the frame, the foam and the frame, a topper, no topper, or you can rent and store the topper with us for any semesters you want. We wanted to adjust the product to what each person actually wanted, rather than saying, ‘Here’s what we’re giving you and you have to deal with it.’”
Due to his Visa restrictions, Wisco cannot do any work for the company while in the U.S., so he appointed Cathy Han ’22 to manage and run the business. Fyn Fernandez ’22 is in charge of deliveries, pickups and making sure everything is in order at the company’s on-campus storage container.
At this stage, Wisco is hoping for enough sales to help offset the research and manufacturing costs that went into building the company. Aside from the MiddCHALLENGE grant, Wisco funded the project entirely himself
“I tried to price it so that it would cover most of my costs, but I underestimated,” he said.
“When I’m home for breaks, I’m going to see what we can do better for next year, and how we can streamline the process,” he said.
So far, 50 people have ordered the company’s bed extension in some form.
“Someone else’s parent posted the company website on the parents’ Facebook page, so I’m just excited to see that people have really taken to the idea,” Wisco said.
(09/26/19 10:05am)
Curious students on the heels of the global climate strike movement turned out in droves to the three-day Clifford Symposium this past week.
There, they grappled with the future of the global ocean and were introduced to exploratory and conservationist efforts. The symposium brought together researchers, activists, filmmakers and students to offer a multidisciplinary perspective on one of the world’s most precious resources.
“I wanted to strike a balance between sounding the alarm and asking people to share research that would incite a sense of wonder and hope,” said Associate Professor of English and American Literatures Daniel Brayton, one of the symposium’s organizers who also teaches in the Environmental Science Department.
Keynote speaker Dr. Kara Lavender Law, of the Sea Education Association (SEA), struck that balance in her talk, “Reflections of an Oceans Plastic Scientist” on Thursday night in Wilson Hall. Law, a leading scientist in the study of marine plastic debris, spoke about her educational path and discussed the harm that plastics, especially microplastics (pieces less than five millimeters long), can have on marine life.
Law and colleagues recently estimated that between 1950–2016, there were 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic produced globally. “I can’t even tell you a reasonable number of Empire State Buildings or elephants or football stadiums to give you an idea of how much material that is,” she said.
Scientists don’t know exactly how much of that plastic debris is now in the ocean, what form it takes or how it will impact human health. However, they widely agree that plastics are hazardous to marine animals, who are likely to ingest or become entangled in the material. Some bio-families will even grow on floating microplastics.
To Law, solving the ocean plastic pollution will require a multidisciplinary overhaul of the current system. She suggested the audience start locally, by asking themselves: “What happens to my trash?” Although the question may seem obvious, acting on it can be hard.
“The conveniences of [using plastic] don’t impact us on a daily basis and we’re privileged enough to live in this beautiful clean, green environment regardless of the waste we’re producing and the impact on our earth,” Alex Cobb ’20 said.
[pullquote speaker="Daniel Brayton" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]We tend to think of the environment as green. We think of green space, of grassy meadows and forest, and yet 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water.[/pullquote]
Outside Wilson Hall, a group of local women from Sewing For Change, a “community effort to end the use of single-use bags,” were working to reduce our collective waste. Since January of 2019, they have sewn 500 bags from reused materials. Bethany Barry Menkart, a group member, said they hope to reach 1,000 bags by the end of the year with the help of students.
On Friday afternoon, attendees crowded the Rohatyn A. Jones conference room to hear about whale watching in New Zealand at a talk comparing previous and present global whale population numbers. Jennifer Crandall ’20.5 and Caitlin Dicara ’20 presented alongside visiting Associate Professor of Maritime History and Literature Richard King of SEA.
The students opened by discussing their experience conducting six weeks of fieldwork on a tall ship off the coast of New Zealand. Crandall described being woken up at 3 a.m. one day amidst rough seas. The waves were over 13 feet high and it was pouring rain and windy. In that moment, Crandall recalled, “the ocean became more alive to me because I saw how powerful it was.”
Over the course of the semester, Crandall, Dicara and their 14 classmates transcribed the log book of Commodore Morris, which detailed where and when the sailor had seen and killed whales in the 1850s. Using data from the log and their own journey, they created a Geographic Information System map and studied shifts in whale populations.
King presented an overview of the history of right whales (or black whales), whose coastal living and bountiful oil made them the “right” whales to hunt. His discussion, like Law’s, struck the balance between underscoring the perils of the present and offering hope for the future. King explained, for example, that from 1927–1963 not a single right whale was sighted off the coast of New Zealand, in large part due to over-whaling. Now, with the population on the rebound, there are around 70 sightings per year.
Throughout the symposium, audiences and speakers alike grappled with the idea of how to get oceanic issues on peoples’ radars. As Dicara explained, “it’s really hard to get people to care who are inland of the ocean.”
“We tend to think of the environment as green,” Brayton said. “We think of green space, of grassy meadows and forest, and yet 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water.”
The symposium’s message was clear: If we want to understand environmental issues and advocate for a healthier world, we can start by looking to the ocean.
(09/19/19 10:00am)
Construction on the Middlebury Bridge and Rail Project continued through the summer, with further work set to take place throughout the next year. The $71 million Bridge and Rail Project, overseen by the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), will allow a passenger rail service to run from Rutland to Burlington via Middlebury for the first time since 1953. VTrans expects the project to be completed by 2021.
Despite heavy construction in and around Main Street, project administrators anticipate a positive impact with the return of a passenger rail.
“Not only will we keep our businesses, we will add to the benefits of new businesses coming in downtown once we get through to 2021,” said Jim Gish, Middlebury’s community liaison for the project.
Kubricky Construction and Maine Drilling and Blasting are currently in the process of replacing 3,500 feet of rail line running through downtown Middlebury, track that only freight trains have used in recent years. The new rail line will be continuously welded, resulting in faster and smoother transport for passenger rails; however, this process will require crews to strip the existing rail, excavate below it, and install new tracks. Due to the extent of this construction phase, Main Street and Merchants Row will be closed to all traffic for ten weeks next summer.
Upon project completion, the two temporary town bridges will be replaced with a tunnel, with the rail passing under a green space that will expand Triangle Park. This reclaimed space can be used for Middlebury town events, such as the farmer’s market.
While many are excited for the convenience and opportunities that the passenger rail will offer, some merchants and community members are worried about the effects of a lengthy construction project.
When asked about the disruption to businesses, Gish acknowledged the concerns of local residents. “It’s hard to characterize the entire community, but certainly the owners of the downtown businesses have been concerned about this project from day one,” he said. Construction has limited parking and has the potential to impede local businesses further with road closures next summer.
To offer a counterbalance to the effects of construction, VTrans awarded the town of Middlebury a $230,000 grant. Part of this money is used for Bundle, a workshop and retail space that holds periodic events to highlight the talents of Middlebury and the advantage of a Main Street retail space. Bundle recently relocated to 51 Main St., with Buy Again Alley moving into Bundle’s former space. Gish emphasized that the best way for students to help downtown Middlebury is to continue to shop at stores throughout the next few years.During the toughest part of construction next summer, there will be a special sale held throughout Middlebury every Wednesday to help facilitate patronage at downtown stores. These events are mainly organized by Neighbors Together, a community action group hoping to minimize the impact of construction in Middlebury. Better Middlebury Partnership is the fiscal agent behind this group.
While the current construction can be tough for downtown businesses and residents, Gish remains optimistic. “Once we get through it, it’s going to look beautiful downtown.”
For project updates and construction schedules, visit https://vtrans.vermont.gov/projects/middlebury.
[related title="Related Stories" stories="36006" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]
(09/12/19 10:00am)
On July 23, the Trump administration announced a proposal to drastically alter the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps. Their proposed changes would revoke benefits for 3.1 million Americans and over 13,000 Vermonters.
For 20 years, 43 states including Vermont have employed an option within SNAP called ‘broad-based categorical eligibility.’ The administration is trying to eliminate it with this proposal.
This option makes 3SquaresVT, the Vermont name for SNAP, “even more effective and responsive to the needs of food insecure Vermonters,” according to a news release by non-profit organization Hunger Free Vermont in August. It allows states to expand access to SNAP to more low-income people, by giving states more flexibility with the gross monthly income limit.
In order to be eligible for SNAP, households must fall under the federal limit, which is 130% of the poverty level. With broad-based categorical eligibility, states can raise the limit. “It allows states to really align the income limit with the need in the state,” said Drake Turner, Food Security Advocacy Manager at Hunger Free Vermont. In Vermont, it’s currently set at 185% of the federal poverty level.
“The federal government says they’re trying to close a loophole, but that’s really misrepresenting what broad based categorical eligibility is,” Turner said.
Hunger Free Vermont explains that the option is “a provision used by our state to help 3SquaresVT reach households that are working and may have slightly higher incomes but significant expenses (such as high housing, medical, and childcare costs).”
All households are still required to apply to SNAP and meet the same requirements as anyone else in order to receive benefits.
Last December, Congress passed a bipartisan Farm Bill that considered and rejected the change the Trump administration is now attempting to make. So, the administration is trying a different avenue, one which allows them to bypass Congress.
“This proposal is another in a long line of actions by this administration to demonize low-income Americans and keep them from applying for programs that help them and their families get what they need to thrive,” said Anore Horton, Executive Director of Hunger Free Vermont, in an article published by the organization.
The broad-based eligibility option “has become a key part of the SNAP program over the last two decades,” Turner said, “so states will have to spend a lot of money to change in accordance with the rule, if it goes into effect.”
Turner is also concerned about free school meals. The proposed rule would “jeopardize more than 500,000 children’s access to free school breakfast and lunch,” according to the Food Research and Action Center.
Children whose households receive SNAP benefits are automatically eligible for free school meals. If their households lose SNAP benefits, they may lose free school meals because of differing requirements, or have to apply separately for free meals.
This will also impact community eligibility, which allows high-poverty schools to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students if at least 40% of their students are certified for free meals without an application. Most students who fall under this category are certified for school meals through SNAP.
“These kids already don’t have enough to eat, and now they’ll be even hungrier. This will impact their ability to grow and learn. Is this how we want to steward the future generation?” asked Jeanne Montross, Executive Director of Middlebury-based nonprofit Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects (HOPE).
SNAP has been proven to reduce hunger, help bring people out of poverty, and lead to positive short and long-term health, education, and employment outcomes.
“If the Trump Administration was truly concerned about food insecurity, it would be working to increase wages and improve access to housing, health care, and food assistance, instead of repeatedly proposing severe cuts to programs that support low-income Americans,” reads an article on the Hunger Free Vermont website. All in all, $7.5 million in benefits coming into Vermont would be lost per year with the proposed change.
Lily Bradburn, Local Food Access Coordinator at HOPE, is concerned that something as simple as losing SNAP benefits could significantly hurt individuals struggling with poverty, potentially even pushing them towards worse situations than before.
Before the rule can be passed, the Trump administration is required to collect and review public comments about the impact of the proposed change. So, Hunger Free Vermont is fighting it with a campaign to encourage people to submit comments.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture must review every single submission before a final decision is made by the government. There have been collections of public comments that have had substantial impacts in the past, said Turner. “Also, the comments create a record of public opposition,” she added, “so it can be proven that the given decision is going against the will of the people.”
The deadline to submit comments is Sept. 23. More information about the campaign and instructions for submitting comment are available at www.hungerfreevt.org/protect3squaresvt.
(05/02/19 9:56am)
The Middlebury Panthers (20-9, 5-4) wrapped up a four-game week with a series win over the Wesleyan University Cardinals (14-15, 4-5) in a NESCAC West matchup.
In a 9-4 win versus Plymouth State (13-20, 4-9), Middlebury scored four times in the second inning. Plymouth State scored a run and loaded the bases in the eight, but left runners stranded and the Panthers added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the inning to win the game.
Freshman pitcher Alex Rosario allowed just three runs on five hits over four innings. Senior pitcher Colby Morris received the win on a scoreless inning of relief.
“We were successful because we were playing loose and having fun playing instead of feeling like there was a ton of pressure on us to win,” junior pitcher Andrew Martinson said.
In the first matchup against the Wesleyan Cardinals, the Panthers scored in the third inning when junior third baseman Hayden Smith reached base on an infield error and stole second base, moving into scoring position. Junior left fielder Justin Han drove Smith in on an RBI single down right-center field.
The Panthers took the lead in the bottom of the fourth, off a solo home run from junior first baseman Kevin Woodring.
Wesleyan pulled ahead in the seventh, and the Panthers threaten in its final at bat, but were unable to pull ahead.
Junior catcher Gray Goolsby went 2-for-4 with two doubles. Morris threw a complete game, allowing four runs on seven hits with five strikeouts.
In Sunday’s doubleheader, the Panthers swept the Cardinals, winning 5-2 and 8-4.
In the first contest, Middlebury jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Panthers extended its lead in the bottom of the second with an RBI single from Woodring and an RBI double from sophomore center fielder Henry Strmecki.
Freshman pitcher Alex Price earned the win with six innings of work, allowing two runs on five hits, and striking out four. Earlier in the week, he tossed a hitless inning against Plymouth State. Sophomore pitcher George Goldstein earned the save on an inning of relief.
In Game 2, Middlebury scored a pair of unearned runs in its first at-bat. In the bottom of the fourth, the Panthers took a 3-2 lead on a sacrifice fly to drive in senior left fiedler Sam Graf. Middlebury scored twice in the seventh, with an RBI double from Graf. In the eighth, junior Alan Guild, who went 1-for-1 pinch hitting, homered and Strmecki scored an unearned run.
Martinson received the win on two innings of scoreless relief. Graf went 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI, junior shortstop Brooks Carroll added two RBIs.
On the week, Woodring hit .538, with a double, a home run, and two RBIs. He went 5-for-11 against Wesleyan, with an OBP of .500 and was perfect in the field with 25 putouts.
The Panthers face Amherst College (15-12-1, 5-4) in its next NESCAC West matchup, beginning Friday, May 3rd at 4 p.m. at Amherst.
“We’re preparing to keep the same mentality this weekend by having fun and playing loose and trusting that our work in the fall and winter is going to pay off,” Martinson said.
(04/25/19 9:59am)
Before the production began, director Stephanie Miller ’20 spoke to the audience crowded inside Hepburn Zoo. Along with the kind reminder to silence our cell phones and pointing us toward the exits, she cautioned us to recognize the play’s content of addiction, sexual and physical abuse, death and self-harm. This weekend marked the premiere of “The Violet Sisters,” a play written by Gina Femia.
The old staircase leading to the Zoo was plastered with headlines from October 2012, giving the audience a harrowing picture of what happened during Hurricane Sandy, a Category 3 Hurricane that caused nearly $70 billion in damage and took the lives of 33. Pamela and Samantha, portrayed by Toria Isquith ’19 and Kaitlynd Collins ’19 respectively, lose their father in the hurricane.
It begins in the torn-up living room of their house, where Pamela comes in rushing to make it in time her father’s funeral service. As her older sister Sam learns that she has returned after eight years in California, the two begin to bicker.
While their fight ensues for almost three-quarters of the play, the audience is also given glimpses into how the characters behave when alone. Older sister Samantha commits acts of self-harm, using cigrarettes for more than just smoking, while Pamela worries about her marriage to an abusive partner who is upset about her sudden departure while they were on vacation. This is followed by a series of events that, despite rising tension between the two, sheds light on how they each play a part in the other’s healing. The play highlights how family, at the end of the day, is crucial in shaping who we are and who we wish to become.
The relatable circumstances that the two sisters struggle with — relationship issues, self-esteem worries and uncertainties about careers — make us ask ourselves how far we are willing to go and what we are willing to give up to pursue our dreams, questions that individuals may struggle with throughout their lives. The play is effective in demonstrating how we often jump to conclusions about those around us, without giving them a chance to tell their entire story.
Miller, who directed the show for her 500-level directing work, echoes this sentiment.
“In terms of my artistic vision, maintaining the authenticity and truth of these women, women in the real world was the most important to me,” she said. “These are truthful women in a real world, there is nothing hugely theatrical about the characters or the world they live in.”
The performance was not only authentic but also deeply complex.
“I’ve only been in one Zoo performance before,” said Toria Isquith ’19, who did this show as her 700-acting work. “You become so much more aware of all the things happening outside of your performance, namely the design, the production, the management. It can be pretty overwhelming. However, working on “The Violet Sisters” and occupying this multidimensional role has been an incredibly powerful learning experience. Other projects seem so much more doable now that I have accomplished this massive, complicated project with so many moving parts.”
“The fact that Sam and Pam did not ultimately get the closure the audience wants them to helps the audience recognize those moments in their own life and work to resolve conflict and respect one another, rather than leaving things as they are, broken and unsettled,” Miller said.
With its sharp humor and sometimes painfully relatable storyline, “The Violet Sisters” implores the audience to look at their own relationships and their values, thinking about what truly matters in the grand scheme of things.
