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(10/29/14 5:58pm)
A year and a half ago I decided to take a gap year. The term “gap year” invariably implies backpacking through some countries, picking up the local tongues and doing some pro-bono work. I did a bit of that, but was never one of those hostel-hoppers you find in European cafes. Instead, I chose to do a fifth year of high school (a.k.a. a post-graduate year) in Jordan at a school called King’s Academy.
Fast-forward a year and a half later to here at Middlebury. Since my arrival, I’ve had several discussions about the Israel-Palestine conflict. It’s in the news often, especially after this past summer, and when it enters the domain of conversation, people become pretty impassioned. I am undoubtedly among the zealous people who are moved by the situation. In Jordan, the topic was always relevant and many of my friends were of Palestinian descent. There was understandable frustration with Israel’s existence; my Palestinian friends’ families immigrated to Jordan because of what occurred between 1947 and 2000. Much of the animosity was towards policy like the occupation and the general treatment of Palestinians in Israel, which I will get into later.
In America, we cannot truly empathize with the Palestinian struggle. Many other ethnic groups have been forced out of home countries or have fled to avoid oppression; the Jewish people are a perfect example. However, the specific suffering in Palestine is unique in its own right and we (here in the U.S.) can’t imagine how it feels to live in Gaza right now. But before talking facts and morals, about whose side to take, and how peace can be achieved, the approach to discussing the conflict needs to change. The common labels of “pro-Israel” or “pro-Palestine” are aggravating. Everyone with some interest in the Middle East identifies as one or the other, which is incredibly counter-productive to peace. To consider oneself pro-Israel connotes an absolute anti-Palestine mindset. It’s the mindset of ultra-conservatives in Israeli government like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who care less about Palestine or its people. They rather believe in the triumph of Israel and the eradication of anything that may inhibit Israel’s climb to hegemonic status.
Similarly, to be pro-Palestine implies a degree of extremism, believing that Israel shouldn’t exist at all. Groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah preach this rhetoric and commit themselves to the destruction of Israel rather than focusing on Palestinian sovereignty and equality. The radicals on both sides perpetuate hatred and polarize the situation in a horrendous way. Thus, to label oneself pro-(either nation) is to align with the morally reprehensible ideals of radicals. Confining oneself to such a single set of beliefs creates a precedent of obstinacy that inhibits diplomatic and political progress. To be obvious and idealistically frank, the goal should be peace and equality for the people, not one country over another because both have a right to exist.
There is an intricate and controversial background to what is now geographically Israel and Palestine but it’s not too essential in analyzing the current conflict. Regardless of how you feel about the history, Israel has been thoroughly established over the past sixty years and it’s not going anywhere. The same way Palestinians aren’t going to stop fighting to get their land back. Therefore the discussion needs to be in the present tense, about the policies and issues of today.
The match-up right now is unbalanced to say the least. Israel’s a big grizzly bear and Palestine is a squirrel throwing acorns. The death toll from Gaza this past summer was about 2,200, and about 2,100 of which were Palestinian. Moreover, to quote the political analyst recently brought by Justice for Palestine, Josh Ruebner, “Israel administered a sort of collective punishment” in Gaza that took nearly 1,500 civilian lives and demolished Palestinian infrastructure. Hamas is a dangerous threat to Israeli civilians and enemy of Israeli defense, but the military answer should not be the destruction of 531 Palestinian villages. This demolition left innocent Palestinians homeless, seeking any refuge available. UN schools were made available as safe havens but those were later bombed, too.
Israel is becoming increasingly more brutal with its treatment of the Palestinians. Those within Israel suffer from a segregation and inequality that is analogous with the former apartheid in South Africa. Those in the occupied territories seek sovereignty, but are denied freedoms of assembly and speech. This injustice should not be tolerated by the global community because if left unaddressed, what remains of Palestine will continue to shrink and nationhood will always evade its people.
Our lecturer from last week, Josh, advocated for an intense series of boycotting, divestment, sanctions to punish Israel for its unjust treatment of the Palestinians. I’m not sure that’s a bad idea because many of Israel’s policies have been utterly unacceptable. Israel is gradually annexing remaining Palestinian land, similar to Russia’s efforts in Crimea. America should criticize Israel the way it did to Russia. Perhaps if Israel’s greatest ally, America, turns its back towards them in the form of divestment, etc. we’d see more Palestinian integration and equality and a big step towards an autonomous Palestine. In turn, Israel could worry less about fighting Hamas as they treat Palestinians better because that mitigates Hamas’s case for battle.
Ultimately, extremists cannot be reasoned with, and the radicals on both sides will always demand more concessions from the opposition. I still have hope though, as everyone should, that a solution can be reached. As our generation comes to power, I envision new, progressive political parties working towards a single state. We, as future leaders, should not fight for Israel or Palestine but for justice, equality and an end to the violence.
JOSH CLAXTON '18 is from Summit, N.J.
(10/29/14 5:56pm)
President Obama claims to not be on the ballot this November; however, in a few days, we will see if voters agree with that or not. Republicans need to gain six seats in order to “Fire Reid,” the Democratic Senate Majority Leader. The field is not good for Democrats. They are mostly on defense, defending their gains from 2008. Many vulnerable incumbents and open seats fall in states that Romney won in 2012. Moreover, the GOP has recruited many strong candidates with previous experience in office. I know that there are more races going on besides the Senate races, but the House will most likely stay Republican and few gubernatorial races are as national as the those in the Senate this cycle. I refer to the Real Clear Politics Average Polls (RCP Poll Average) as of Oct. 26. The 2012 Presidential Results are from Politico.
Alaska: Begich (i) v. Sullivan
RCP Poll Average: Sullivan +4.2
2012 Presidential: Romney 55%
Prediction: Alaska has been an interesting race from the onset of this election cycle. Begich (D) is relatively popular in Alaska and overall shows great political aptitude. However, he slipped up in recent weeks after refusing to take down a recent advertisement that has been deemed offensive. This, as well as the Affordable Care Act’s unpopularity, have created a unique opportunity for former State Attorney General Dan Sullivan (R), who fought his way through a crowded GOP primary. I think Sullivan pulls this one out, but it will be close.
Arkansas: Pryor (i) v. Cotton
RCP Poll Average: Cotton +5
2012 Presidential: Romney 60.5%
Prediction: Mark Pryor (D), knew he was in trouble early on in this race. In fact, he was behind in the polls as early as March and then rallied over the summer, but has since slipped again. Arkansas has not had a good experience with Obamacare and the President has a disapproval rating of about 60.3 percent, according to the Huffington Post. Moreover, Tom Cotton (R) is no fire breather. In fact, Cotton graduated from Harvard undergrad and Law School and has served in the Army, completing two tours of duty overseas. I’m chalking this one up as a GOP victory as well.
Colorado: M. Udall (i) v. Gardner
RCP Poll Average: Gardner +2.8
2012 Presidential: Obama 51.2%
Prediction: Colorado is one of the many states Democrats didn’t think would really be in play this cycle that turned out to be tougher for them than they originally thought. Cory Gardner (R) is risking a sure congressional seat to challenge Mark Udall (D). Gardner is a more moderate GOP candidate challenging a strong liberal incumbent. However, Colorado in recent years has shifted much more to the left, supporting marijuana legalization and voting for Obama in 2008 and 2012. The state legislature even felt safe enough to challenge the Second Amendment, and that was the final straw. Two Democratic legislators were successfully recalled in 2013, which may signal that the GOP is motivated and ready to take back the Rocky Mountain State. It is important to note that Colorado’s other Senator, Michael Bennett (D), chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, so he will put up a fight for fellow Coloradan Udall. This race is too close to call, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there is only one Udall in the Senate next year.
Georgia: Nunn v. Perdue (Open Seat)
RCP Poll Average: Nunn +0.3
2012 Presidential: Romney 53.4%
Prediction: This is a race to watch this November. Georgia has arisen as the Democrats biggest chance at a seat pickup this November, and even one could derail a GOP majority. Michelle Nunn (D) has a slight advantage in that her father served as a U.S. Senator from Georgia. David Perdue (R) is a businessman who is fighting attacks on his record as a business leader and CEO of Dollar General. This race will most likely go to a runoff (no candidate will receive 50 percent of the vote in November, I think). This race will then be the focus of national attention and may determine Senate control. In my mind, there are two things to consider: who will have enough resources to win and how will the runoff effect turnout? Georgia is experiencing a slight demographic shift that may benefit Nunn, and national attention may drive up turnout which could benefit her as well. This race is too close to call. I will nominally give it to Perdue, because midterm voters tend to be more skewed towards the GOP.
Iowa: Braley v. Ernst (Open Seat)
RCP Poll Average: Ernst +2.2
2012 Presidential: Obama 52.1%
Prediction: Joni Ernst (R) has stormed onto the scene and become a frontrunner in this critical Iowa Senate race. She started was a dark horse in the GOP primary, but her “Let’s Make ‘Em Squeal” ad made her a GOP rock star. She has many presidential hopefuls come campaign with her (remember: Iowa is a critical presidential primary state). Moreover, Brue Braley (D) has lost some steam. I mean, even Michelle Obama doesn’t know his name, famously telling voters to vote for “Bruce Baily.” That’s not good. Also, Ernst is a State Senator and an officer in the Iowa National Guard who has had success pitching herself to voters. Congressman Braley, on the other hand, has often come across as cold and unlikable. He has managed to insult farmers, complain about the lack of towel service in the Congressional gym during the shutdown and is generally portrayed as callous. I think Lt. Col. Ernst will defeat Congressman Bruce “Baily” Braley.
Kansas: Orman v. Roberts (i)
RCP Poll Average: Orman +0.6
2012 Presidential: Obama 52.1%
Prediction: Kansas is probably the most frustrating and confusing race of the cycle. Pat Roberts (R) could have easily walked to victory had he squashed rumors of his lack of a home in Kansas. Moreover, Greg Orman (I) may just convince voters that he isn’t a Democrat and march to victory. Orman is quite possibly the most confusing candidate out there and has been a member of both major political parties, most recently the Democrats’. He has also contributed to many Democratic campaigns, including Barack Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s, but also to Scott Brown (R-NH) in 2010 and the famous Todd Aiken (R-MO) campaign of 2012. I have no idea where this guy stands on anything. However, Roberts is in trouble, and Gov. Brownback isn’t helping him very much heading the GOP ticket. However, the other Kansas Senator Jerry Moran (R) is the Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and won’t lose Kansas without a fight. Overall, I think this race is a pure tossup. I’ll give it to Roberts, but only because he is an incumbent (and for the sake of a nice looking map).
Kentucky: Grimes v. McConnell (i)
RCP Poll Average: McConnell +4.4
2012 Presidential: Romney 60.5%
Prediction: If the Democrats win Kentucky, it would be a major victory for them because Mitch McConnell (R) is the current Minority Leader for the Republican Caucus. After fighting off a Tea Party challenger, McConnell has gained on Alison Grimes (D) and surpassed her in recent polls. It is interesting to note that in Kentucky, the state’s Obamacare Exchange has been relatively successful and may hurt McConnell, or at least take Obamacare out of the race. The big issue of this race is jobs, specifically those from the coal industry. Obama’s EPA regulations threaten Kentucky’s coal industry, and McConnell has accused the Democrats of waging a “War on Coal.” Grimes claims to support coal as well; however, she also campaigns with “coal makes us sick” Harry Reid, so it will be interesting to see who Kentuckians decide has their best interests at heart. I think Leader McConnell holds onto his seat.
Louisiana: Landrieu (i) v. Cassidy
RCP Poll Average: Cassidy +4.4
2012 Presidential: Romney 57.8%
Prediction: This is in close second for the most perplexing race of the cycle. Mary Landrieu (D) has a major name advantage in Louisiana. Most importantly, her brother is the Mayor of New Orleans. She also wields a lot of power as Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee. She has taken favorable stances for her constituents on the Keystone XL Pipeline, the Export-Import Bank, and the oil export ban. Also, Louisiana, like Georgia, can go into a runoff if neither candidate reaches 50 percent. Congressman Bill Cassidy (R) leads in the polls, but if he doesn’t break 50 percent in the first election, I think he could lose the second. Landrieu has more resources at her disposal to play a massive turnout game in New Orleans, and, if turnout is high, she could hold on by her fingernails. This is another tossup, but Cassidy could win and avoid a runoff, so I will tentatively predict Cassidy.
Maine: Bellows v. Collins (i)
RCP Poll Average: Collins +29.7
2012 Presidential: Obama 56%
Prediction: Everybody in Maine likes Susan Collins (R). She is an example of moderate and thoughtful leadership in a partisan Senate. Shennah Bellows (D) is a former leader of the Maine ACLU and also a Middlebury alumna, class of ’97. However, she doesn’t stand a chance against Senator Collins. She would have a better shot at Angus King (I) the next time he is in cycle.
Michigan: Peters v. Land (Open Seat)
RCP Poll Average: Peters +10.1
2012 Presidential: Obama 54.3%
Prediction: I really was hoping Terri Lynn Land (R) would pull out a win for the GOP. She was a successful Secretary of State, but her Senate bid has lost steam heading into the last ninety days. Congressman Garry Peters (D) will win Carl Levin’s vacated seat.
Minnesota: Franken (i) v. McFadden
RCP Poll Average: Franken +10.5
2012 Presidential: Obama 54.3%
Prediction: The funniest Senator is going to win his first reelection contest by more than 500 votes. Al Franken (D) was a writer for SNL before moving back home to run for office, but has since convinced voters that he is a dedicated and serious U.S. Senator. Mike McFadden (R) fought through a GOP primary, and the football coach may not even put up a fight at the polls. Some have called McFadden a dark horse, but I think Franken wins by double digits, no joke.
Montana: Curtis v. Daines (Open Seat)
RCP Poll Average: Daines +18 (yes, 18)
2012 Presidential: Romney 55.3%
Prediction: The Democrats pulled out all the stops to hold on to Max Baucus’ seat. Yes, they shipped the sponsor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act all the way to China so they could appoint Sen. John Walsh (D) to fill his spot. This was in hopes of giving him an “incumbency advantage,” but the Democrats put their eggs in the wrong basket. Walsh recently had his master’s degree revoked due to severe plagiarism. This sent the Democratic hopes of holding onto Montana out the window. Steve Daines (R) is going to easily win.
New Hampshire: Shaheen (i) v. Scott Brown
RCP Poll Average: Shaheen +2.2
2012 Presidential: Obama 52.2%
Prediction: This is an interesting race and, like Colorado, is another example of the GOP “expanding the map” and increasing the number of competitive races. Jeanne Shaheen (D) is a longtime political figure in New Hampshire and has previously served as the state’s governor. Scott Brown (R), on the other hand, grew up in New Hampshire, but served as a Senator from Massachusetts. Shaheen has a few problems to confront, and that may just tip the scales for Brown. Obamacare is very unpopular in New Hampshire due to drastic medical network restrictions associated with Obamacare insurance plans. Shaheen’s races have historically tightened at the finish, but she often pulls them out. I predict Shaheen will hold onto her seat.
New Jersey: Booker (i) v. Bell
RCP Poll Average: Booker +15.6
2012 Presidential: Obama 58%
Prediction: Cory Booker (D) defeated Steve Lonegan (R) in the 2013 Special Election, and that may have been his only real contest. The 2013 election produced one of the most entertaining debates I have ever watched though. So, if you don’t want to do homework, look it up on Youtube. Lots of one-liners. Previously, Booker was a controversial mayor of Newark. He faces a weak challenger and should retain his seat.
North Carolina: Hagan (i) v. Tillis
RCP Average: Hagan +1.6
2012 Presidential: Romney 50.6%
Prediction: Kay Hagan (D) has done her best to distance herself from an unpopular president, and it just may have been enough. The polls are close, but most people are saying Hagan will win, and I agree. Sean Haugh (L) may just take away enough of Thom Tillis’ (R) vote share to put Hagan over the top. Also, Tillis is the speaker of the unpopular State House. So that isn’t helping him much. I think Hagan wins.
Oregon: Merkley (i) v. Wehby
RCP Average: Merkley +13.5
2012 Presidential: Obama 54.5%
Prediction: Dr. Monica Wehby (R) is an interesting candidate; she’s a neurosurgeon and more libertarian, supporting many middle of the road social stances. However, that will not be enough to overtake Jeff Merkley (D), who should easily win.
South Dakota: Weiland v. Rounds (Open Seat)
RCP Poll Average: Rounds +10.2
2012 Presidential: Romney 57.9%
Prediction: Mike Rounds (R) is going to win, this race really was never that close. There are four Candidates in the race, two of whom will detract from making Rick Weiland (D) a true threat to Rounds’ healthy lead.
Virginia: Warner (i) v. Gillespie
RCP Poll Average: Warner +10.6
2012 Presidential: Obama 50.8%
Prediction: Mark Warner (D) is a relatively moderate Senator and former business exec. He has done a lot of bipartisan work, most notably in the “Gang of Eight” who often are the source of major compromises. He faces former RNC Chair and Bush White House Staffer Ed Gillespie (R). Warner is going to win with ease.
West Virginia: Tennant v. Capito (Open Seat)
RCP Poll Average: Capito +16.6
2012 Presidential: Romney 62.3%
Prediction: Both of these candidates initially seamed very strong, but Congresswomen Shelly Moore Capito (R) has pulled ahead. She faces Secretary of State, and former UWV mascot, Natalie Tennant (D). Tennant, however, made the mistake of bringing Sen. Warren (D-MA) to West Virginia, where she probably was less than helpful. On the other hand, Paul Ryan (R-WI) was better received. Capito will win handily.
(10/23/14 12:48am)
Spots for Middlebury Mountain Club-led trips go fast. “They fill up in half an hour or less,” last year’s Head Guide Tess Sneeringer ’14.5 said. “That’s a new phenomenon we’ve seen over the past couple years.”
Established in 1931, the Middlebury Mountain Club (MMC) is the College’s largest student organization. The MMC organizes immensely popular free hiking, boating, climbing and winter trips at all levels of difficulty in the Adirondacks, Vermont and beyond, promoting engagement with and appreciation for the outdoors among the student body.
Sneeringer, who got involved during her first semester on campus, says that although the MMC does a lot more than the trips, they have been the Club’s focus.
“The center mission is to get students out,” she said. “We do a day hike or overnight [trip] every weekend of the school year.”
The MMC has a mailing list over 1,500, and a significant portion of the student body participates in its trips.
“[We don’t get] a ton of athletes because they don’t have weekends [but we do have] a good group of international students because they don’t go home,” Sneeringer said. “A lot of people go on day hikes ... it drops off in the winter because there are fewer people. If they have an interest in the outdoors and a means to go, they’ll go, which is why a lot of people go.”
Sneeringer believes that the trips are so popular because they are very accessible.
“We’ve led open trips, no experience necessary,” she said. “We use an online sign up program,” she said. “We provide outdoor program gear from the gear room, so all you need is appropriate clothing and hiking boots. It’s all paid for.”
Another reason why the trips are enticing, Sneeringer suggests, is that they offer the chance to meet and bond with fellow students outside and away from campus.
“A group of random participants down to spend time in the woods,” she said. “That’s a huge draw. They don’t know who else is going. You get to know new people and talk to people literally in the woods. Mountain Club was the way I got out.”
Sneeringer also points out that the trips raise students’ awareness of the local and larger environment: “It’s about knowing the state, knowing Route 7 beyond Burlington and Lake Dunmore,” she said. “It’s a fuller way to embrace where you’re going to live for four years, in a place where you’re probably never going to live outside. They get to see a little bit more of Vermont out there. I’ve definitely seen places I wouldn’t have known about if I hadn’t gone on my trips or friends’ trips.”
“Being outside is awesome, so of course people would love to do that,” Current Head Guide Kent Ratliff ’16 said. “I think that the campus, surrounded by two beautiful mountain ranges and being well-known for outdoor enthusiasm, has a lot of emphasis on the outdoors. So that in and of itself encourages people who haven’t been outdoors to go out more.”
The MCC welcomes students by hosting open events at Brooker House.
“We advertise and make it easy to sign up for trips. We have a solid presence on campus with events. Pumpkin Tumble is coming soon. We do Fireside on Friday nights at least once a month. It helps quite a bit that the Mountain Club has a designated building, Brooker House. Trying to make that location as open and welcoming as possible, I hope, brings a lot of people in,” Ratliff said.
Unlike other outdoor programs on campus, the MMC is completely student-run. Each trip is planned and led by two or three guides who have trained under veteran guides and in collaboration with the College’s MiddView and February Outdoor Orientation (FOO) programs. To ensure that they are safe and sustainable, trips in the Adirondacks take about eight participants, while those in the Green Mountains take about ten. Ratliff coordinates all the trips and makes certain that the leaders are aware of all the necessary policies.
The majority of trips last one day or overnight; the longest last from four days to a week. Most trips, Sneeringer says, have gone smoothly.
“It’s been relatively incident-free,” she said. “People can get into sticky situations, but they’ve gotten themselves out. [As a guide], it’s pretty cool to influence someone’s confidence … in an activity they’ve never done. It’s really rewarding on both ends.”
Ratliff, who was encouraged to join the MMC by the MMC guides, directed his Outdoor Introduction for New Kids (OINK) orientation trip and went on to coordinate FOO as a Sophomore, shares a similar perspective on guiding trips.
“The outdoors is important for me,” he said. “I like being the one to make that available for more people, because it could also be important to them. One of my favorite things is being able to reach out to people who haven’t had any outdoor experience.”
(10/09/14 2:48am)
With the newly installed squash center green roof, the second one at the College after the 2004 installation at Atwater Dining Hall, the nine-court, 18,000-square-foot Squash Center has been awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) its highest level of certification, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum last month. This is the second time the College has won the platinum certification. The other LEED-certified building is the Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest.
The Squash Center has nine courts arranged around a central corridor covered with a skylight. Connected to the southeast end of the Peterson Family Complex, the $7.8 million building replaces the now-defunct Bubble, which had five squash courts inside.
The Squash Center opened last October without the green roof, but with numerous other sustainable features aimed to boost its energy efficiency and lower its impact on the environment. The skylight design allows filtered, natural light into the building, providing enough light during the day to make electric lighting unnecessary.
“LEED Platinum certification says two things about the college,” said Director of the Office of Sustainability Integration Jack Byrne. “One is that we hold ourselves to a high standard of excellence in the way we design and construct our buildings. Second is that we value transparency and the opportunity that having a third party evaluation of the project affords us to learn from out efforts to make our buildings reflect our sustainability ethos.”
The building materials, from the green roof to the high-efficiency LED lights in the building point to a focus on low impact materials. Likewise, the project manager tried to extract materials from the local community, whenever possible.
“We try to stay local within reason,” said College Project Manager Mark Gleason last year before the opening of the Squash Center. “But in general that’s what we are trying to do: meet the 500-mile radius. For concrete and steel that’s easy to do. For siding, sometimes not as easy to do,” he continued.
One obstacle to the local commitment is the Athletics department’s demand of the use of ASB squash courts – a product only manufactured in Germany.
“The courts come from Germany and there’s no way around it,” Gleason explained. However, the reuse of five of the original squash courts from the Bubble seemed to help alleviate the issue.
Some other key sustainable features of the Squash Center excel in include its efficient ventilation and mechanical systems, which can monitor equipment use and functionality, its insulated building envelope and the use of low-emitting and environmentally friendly materials, which helps ensure the high quality of the indoor air.
The building also contains wood from forests certified as responsibly managed and the green covers the roof with thousands of living sedum plants.
In the Squash Center project’s LEED application, the project also received points for using renewable energy from its solar array and biomass plant, and for diverting away from landfills 97 percent of all construction waste and reusing the five original squash courts. Other small features, like high efficiency pumps, LED lighting and low VOC materials, reflect the College’s long-standing commitment to sustainability.
The green roof, which is the newest feature of the building, has more of a practical function than what its appearance first indicates, providing insulation and protecting the roof’s membrane. In a storm, the water percolates and saturates in the layer of the sedum-growing soil, preventing peak water run-off from possibly damaging the roof. The greenery and soil also naturally cool the building by absorbing sunlight, potentially reducing the cost of the air-conditioning of the building, while saving energy.
“Because it’s visible and tangible, it prompts conversations,” said Director of Athletics Erin Quinn in his response to the Campus last October. “Now we have a very prominently visual feature which prompts conversations that might not have been started otherwise.”
However, creating a building with extremely sustainable and innovative features does not come without a cost, a reality that is aggravated by the decision by the Board of Trustees to only construct buildings that are bankrolled by financial gifts.
“The upfront costs for designing and building a building of LEED platinum are certainly higher than had we not gone this way, but over the long term those added costs begin to pay off with less energy use, less maintenance and replacement of equipment and materials, and greater satisfaction in the use of the building,” Gleason said.
“At the start of any building project, the question needs to be asked if the college resources are being used for the best long-term goals of the college. In the squash building, given the needs of the squash program, the answer to that question is absolutely yes,” he added.
Byrne and other sustainability leaders on campus seem to emphasize that this certification is an indication of momentum that we are looking forward to continue with a commitment to sustainable building.
“Middlebury has a well-earned reputation as a leader in environmental stewardship and sustainability. But we can’t rest on that reputation. We need to keep thinking ahead about how to do better in our design and construction of buildings, the way we use and conserve energy, how we can use the vast intellectual power we have via students, faculty and staff to identify the causes of our sustainability dilemmas and to solve them,” Byrne concluded.
(10/08/14 6:12pm)
As of 2012, the estimated population of Americans belonging to the so-called “millennial” or Generation Y numbered around 80 million, making those born between the mid-1980’s and late 1990’s approach one-third of the total population. Of these 80 million, only 41.2 percent that were of voting age bothered to cast a ballot in the 2012 national elections, according to the Census Bureau’s 2012 Voting Report. As a member of this generation and a friend or colleague of many who abstained, I can hardly blame them.
I am extremely doubtful that anyone of my age could view a Congress comprised almost entirely of rich old white men (and one that is seemingly incapable of functioning as a legitimate governmental organ, no less) and genuinely believe that they understand our interests, let alone have them at mind. The fact of the matter is that these Exxon-bankrolled octogenarians will not for long continue to inhabit the nation that they are currently (mis)shaping — sometimes I wonder if Dick Cheney was even alive in the first place. However, while our deceased lawmakers sip celestial piña coladas and gaze down at us from that Great Big Corporate Consulting Agency in the Sky, we millennials will be frantically attempting to pick up the pieces of the Republic for which they supposedly stood.
Or at least we would, if any of us could be bothered to do anything beyond the occasional agitated Facebook post or impassioned student newspaper article. No one should care more about the precarious state of the Earth’s environmental, political and economic systems, yet most of us are content to conveniently ignore all of them. And why not? Unmitigated consumer capitalism, a gargantuan national security apparatus and climate change are all terrifyingly large and difficult problems ideally solved by someone else.
This collective political shrug is reflected in our voting patterns mentioned above. Although polarization between Democrats and Republicans has never been higher, they are far from representing the entirety of political opinion in America; other than a few new pieces of large legislation (e.g the Affordable Care Act and 2009 stimulus), Democrats spend much of their time attempting to protect what’s left of government regulatory systems and the social safety net while Republicans try to eviscerate them in a bloody, Randian fervor. What’s more, both parties are nearly unanimous in their support for hundreds of billions of dollars in annual military spending, fossil fuel subsidies and other means of corporate welfare. Coupled with district gerrymandering, suppressive voter ID laws and continuous wars under both Republican and Democratic administrations, it’s really no wonder that so many have become jaded.
All this being said, I remain quite hopeful. Generation Y was not born with an inherent sense of political apathy; rather, the main channels through which we can express our opinions and sentiments have become terribly inefficient and uninspiring. There has been a pervasive sense of smallness that causes many (including myself) to believe that even if we did attempt to mitigate our nation’s ills, it would be to little or no effect. However consider this: only 126 million out of nearly 206 million eligible Americans voted in the last national election, meaning a block of 80 million millennials carries incredibly significant and underutilized electoral weight.
Millennials have an energetic and better-suited approach to a world that is now considerably different from when our parents came of age — in only two decades, our tastes, habits and innovations have largely reshaped how the world communicates. Our exposure to world cultures, knowledge and beliefs through global connectivity has produced one of the least insular and open-minded groups of people to ever exist. Regardless of the myriad complaints and analyses written by most news/culture outlets, I remain truly inspired by what I’ve witnessed my peers being capable of. We have been unfairly dropped into a flawed system not of our making, but have the opportunity to change it, through both national and local actions.
Consider the impact of 80 million voters on progressive third parties — 60 percent of my generation didn’t vote because they believed the act futile, their views unrepresented. 2,500 ballots from the Middlebury student body may seem like a pittance nationally, but oftentimes local election margins are in the hundreds of votes. Research your state’s elections; request an absentee ballot; attend meetings or contact campaigns. The aforementioned establishment politicians continue to win because they count on our disillusionment. Yet however cynical we may be about the seemingly rigged nature of US politics, it is still a democracy and can be shaped by the actions of voters. The Populist and Progressive movements of the early 20th century began as largely a localized movement, one that came about from a similarly disenchanted base yet went on to completely revolutionize the country. We are now overdue for a new wave of organized change, one that is in tune with the real existential threats our society faces and led by those with the unique mindset and emotional investment necessary to see it out.
TEVAN GOLDBERG '18 is from Astoria, Ore.
(10/08/14 12:51pm)
On Oct. 3 and 5, the Opera Company of Middlebury (OCM) presented a concert staging of Guiseppe Verdi’s La Traviata at the Town Hall Theater. The production, directed by OCM Artistic Director and Executive Director of the Town Hall Theater Doug Anderson and joined by the College Choir under the direction of Associate Professor of Music Jeffrey Buettner, wowed sold-out crowds with big-city talent on a small town stage.
This staging is remarkable in many ways. The orchestra, College Choir and members of the principal ensemble practiced together for only three days, or about six hours, before opening night. It is a testament to the professionalism, dedication and preparatory rehearsal time of each of those groups that La Traviata appeared as a polished, seamless performance after so little combined rehearsal time.
Verdi’s 1853 opera La Traviata follows Violetta, a character based on real-life Parisian high-priced prostitute Marie Duplessis, who arrived in the city penniless and slept her way to a position as one of the richest women in Paris. Critical of decadence, aristocratic privilege and 19th century gender roles, La Traviata is a sumptuous production filled with party scenes and extravagant behavior that is also a tragedy, following Violetta’s journey from loose woman to doting wife to dying patient. Her ornate lifestyle is literally killing her, most likely from tuberculosis, and tragic forces separate her from the man she loves.
The songs of La Traviata are extremely recognizable, including the rousing drinking song “Libiamo,” which includes full ensemble and choir, and Violetta’s aria, “Sempre Libera.”
Soprano Rochelle Bard demonstrated an impressive vocal range and control as Violetta, appearing in most of the acts with her consistently rich vocals. She portrayed a woman of extravagance well, displaying ecstasy and agony in equal measure as Violetta traveled an emotional roller coaster. Bard has performed as a soloist at Carnegie Hall in New York City and with opera companies around the country.
Joining her were the equally impressive tenor James Flora as her doomed lover, Alfredo, who has previously performed with OCM and will be performing with the Metropolitan Opera in 2014, mezzo-soprano Olga Perez Flora and decadent baritone Brian Major as Alfredo’s father, Giorgio.
There is an athletic dedication to the craft of vocalization present in opera that requires not just exquisite knowledge and care of the vocal chords, but practiced control of breath, diaphragm, posture, emotion and foreign diction. It is not singing that makes one a diva. It is the personification of passion through meticulously crafted trills, controlled vibrato and mastery of dynamic phrasing that allows a singer to even consider themselves a diva. Opera singing is difficult, and these professionals did it with an ease that made it seem as natural as carrying on a conversation.
The fact that the Town Hall Theater and Opera Company of Middlebury are consistently able to draw world-renowned opera stars to participate in their productions is astounding. And the cost for this professional quality performance, $40 to $50 per ticket, is a fraction of the expense of a large-venue production, making an art form stereotypically labeled as elitist or snobbish accessible to an entirely different audience.
Tickets to the Metropolitan Opera’s production of La Traviata, running this December and January, are selling for upwards of $400 each. This is due to the sheer number of people, in addition to the principal singers, required to stage such a lavish performance, including up to 80 orchestra members and equally large choirs, depending on the piece. On a stage as prestigious as the Met, opera stars charge large fees, and some production companies have started to place financial caps of $500,000 on each production. Operas cannot be staged eight times a week in the same manner as a play or musical because of the physical demands on the singers, who have required days of rest when they occasionally don’t speak at all to save their instruments.
Ticket fees cover only about 50 percent of the Opera Company of Middlebury’s production costs, with sponsors, intermission refreshment sales and raffle profits covering the remaining half.
The College Choir, fresh off of their summer tour to Berlin, Prague, Liepzig and Vienna, participated as the opera’s chorus. This community and collegiate collaboration provides students a unique opportunity to work with experienced opera singers and appear in a professional production.
Leo DesBois ’15 participated with the Choir in Madama Butterfly two years ago, and he is thrilled by the opportunity the musical collaboration provides.
“It’s incredible to kind of be so close physically to these amazing soloists to experience that level of musicianship, and also to work with a professional conductor of the caliber of Emmanuel Plasson, who has conducted at the Met, and all over the place,” DesBois said. “He brings an intensity and a precision to his conducting that you don’t get to experience very often. It’s also amazing that it’s such a big ensemble with the orchestra right there, the conductor, the soloists in this intimate setting, it makes you feel like it’s the real deal, because it is.”
Since the semester began, the Choir’s four-hour a week rehearsals have consisted primarily of Verdi’s La Traviata choral repertoire. Their only additional rehearsals were a sitzprobe, or seated rehearsal, on Tuesday, Sept. 30 and a ticketed dress rehearsal on Wednesday, Oct. 1. These rehearsals paid off, as the Choir was phenomenal throughout the opera, easily performing at the professional level.
The Choir’s first collaboration with OCM came in the Fall 2012 production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly after Anderson approached Buettner in the spring of 2012 about the possibility of working together. Due to the huge success of that teamwork, Anderson approached Buettner again about La Traviata, which has a critically important choral component.
“We had to learn the music very, very quickly, and with an opera, the challenge is not just learning the music but the Italian text and also the timing of the entrances, because the chorus is sort of like a minor character who has to pop in every now and then and say things, and it’s hard to get that timing right when you’re not with the soloists and with the orchestra,” DesBois said.
Orchestra, chorus and OCM members alike brought a thrilling combination of professionalism and musical excellence that made the three and a half hour opera seem much shorter. The audience buzzed with excitement at each intermission and, after the show, thrilled at the rare experience OCM and the Town Hall Theater creates twice a year.
OCM’s Spring 2015 production is Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot, which will be staged May 30 to June 7.
The Town Hall Theater also broadcasts Live Metropolitan Opera productions on its big screen for a $24 admission fee, giving the community an opportunity to view the Met’s productions for a fraction of the in-person cost. The Met’s season opener is Le Nozze de Figaro on Oct. 18. Tickets are available for a discounted $10 for students at the Town Hall Theater box office. More information about the College Choir is available at go/choir.
(10/01/14 11:20pm)
As of October 1, Vermont law has banned the use of all handheld cell phones and other electronics. The goal of this law is to decrease distracted driving and increase road safety. The ban includes the use of cell phones for calling and texting, but not calling over speakerphone or Bluetooth. Using a handheld cell phone is now a primary stop, meaning that if a police officer sees a driver using a handheld cell phone, then the officer can pull over and ticket that driver, even if the driver is not violating any other laws.
The former Vermont law regarding electronics use prohibited the use of any portable electronic device by drivers under 18 years old, having a movie on a screen that is visible to the driver and texting for drivers of any age. Handheld cell phones were illegal in work zones.
The new law bans having an electronic device in your hand while behind the wheel for all ages in all areas. A violation of this law could result in a ticket worth anywhere from $100 to $500.
On June 12, Vermont governor Peter Shumlin signed the bill on the handheld electronics ban into law.
“I listened to Vermonters who desperately want this bill,” Shumlin said at the ceremony in Colchester, Vermont where he signed the bill into law.
“I had a view that I think some share — that I think it can be difficult to legislate common sense,” Shumlin said at the ceremony. “It has become clear to me … that Vermonters really want us to sign this bill and try to make our roads more safe.”
Originally, Shumlin had been opposed to the first draft of the bill banning cell phone use because first offenses gave drivers one point on their licenses, thus raising their insurance rates.
The version of the bill that was passed instead includes a fine for the first offense, but no points toward the driver’s license. Accumulation of 10 or more points over two years leads to license suspension. However, texting while driving still carries a penalty of a fine and two points.
In an interview with VTDigger.org, Lieutenant Garry Scott, Commander of the Vermont State Police Traffic Safety Division explained how the cell phone ban came to be what it is today.
“It started with just the texting, and we realized that it didn’t work because we weren’t able to determine whether it was a text or this,” Scott said, looking down at his phone and scrolling through, demonstrating what often appears to officers as texting.
“This is the next step,” he said of the new ban. “Then we’ll kind of adjust as we go from here to see if we have to improve upon it.”
“Now just having the device in your hand is enough for the officer to stop you and then conduct an investigation as to what is going on in the vehicle,” he said.
If it is necessary to make a phone call while driving, Scott suggested having your phone in a cradle somewhere that it can be voice activated, and then making the call using Bluetooth or speakerphone.
However, Scott brings up one possible common sense exception.
“Maybe you are dialing 911 for a reason … that obviously would be an exception to the law,” Scott said.
One other possible exemption is amateur HAM operators. According to Mike Stern, a member of the Radio Amateurs of Northern Vermont club, the state of Vermont recognizes amateur HAM radio operators as a safety organization, just as it recognizes fire and rescue groups.
Amateur radio networks become crucial in emergencies when cell phones and landlines fail, such as during storms like tropical storm Irene. HAM radios require the operator to hold a microphone, but there is no need to push any buttons. This would technically violate the ban on handheld electronic devices, but also helps authorities communicate in emergency situations.
Vermont now joins 14 other U.S. states that prohibit handheld cell phone use in an effort to make roads safer.
(10/01/14 10:29pm)
The tailgating policy change was first made known to the student body on Sept. 16 and since then there have been many student-led initiatives to discuss the change as well as the process by which it was made.
Such initiatives have included an open Student Government Association (SGA) Senate meeting where members of the administration were available to speak with students, coverage by multiple news outlets on campus and meetings between student leaders and administrators. However, according to SGA President Taylor Custer ’15, this issue will, for the time being, not be included on the agenda for the SGA for the upcoming year after the passage of the most recent resolution.
On Sept. 21, the SGA Senate held their meeting in the Robert A. Jones ’59 house to accommodate the extra students who came to listen to the discussion and pose questions to Dean of Students Katy Smith Abbott and Athletic Director Erin Quinn. The meeting allotted time for both senators and students to direct questions to these administrators regarding both the policy itself and the process that went into it.
“There was a lot of benefit of actually being there and being able to talk to those who were directly involved with the decision,” said Custer. The meeting concluded with the passing of a resolution (with a vote of 15-0-2), detailing how the administration will work with the student body about future policy changes.
“A resolution states the official position of the student body as presented by the SGA and its capacity as a representative,” Custer explained.
According to the resolution, “the administration should inform the President of the SGA and the Student Co-Chair of Community Council about all changes to college policy to ensure that the student body has an opportunity to voice its ideas and concerns about changes it believes will impact student life… [and] the President of the SGA and the Student Co-Chair of Community Council should inform their constituents about those policy changes that they believe students would like to have an opportunity to discuss.”
The SGA Senate meeting, the new resolution and student input have shown that one of the most troubling aspects of this policy change was the process behind it.
“Middlebury prides itself on being transparent, especially in the student to administration relationship,” said Junior Senator Sydney Sanders ’16. “The resolution that was produced was specifically about the lack of clarity in the policy-making process. We have SGA and Community Council for students to participate in changes like this and to work closely with the administration to discuss issues, especially surrounding non-academic issues, on campus.”
Custer noted that the common denominator between those who supported and those against the policy change was the belief that the lack of student involvement in the final decision was unacceptable.
“I’m hoping that the main outcome of this debate will be that the administration will be more open with us about what policy changes they’re considering. From there, we can take all that information and figure out which ones the student body will want to weigh in on,” he said.
Ben Bogin ’15, Co-Chair of Community Council, said in an email, “The administration is well within its rights to make a policy change like this without input from the SGA or Community Council, but I hope that students always have the opportunity to discuss policies changes that affect our social life.”
According to Custer, the way the policy change was handled could potentially set a bad precedent for future changes. “If we’re not involved in this policy change, who’s to say we won’t be included in the conversation on a policy change more relevant and seen as more important by other segments of the student body?” he said. “At Middlebury, given the mission of the College, it’s inconsistent if students aren’t included in the conversation.”
The student body has held conflicting views, however, about whether the issue of tailgating is really worth the amount of attention it is receiving. There have been many student responses through different mediums. The We the MiddKids petition to reverse changes made to the new policy received over 2,500 votes, which is over three times as many votes cast for the change to the Culture and Civilizations requirement. The Sept. 17 post on the student-run blog Middbeat generated close to 100 comments.
There have also been posters put up throughout the College addressing what issues students would like to see addressed over the issue of tailgating. These posters carry a call to action for students. They say, “Historically, students have been social justice leaders in critical movements around the world. Where will you invest your time?”
Guest contributors Ian Stewart ’14 and Cailey Cron ’13.5 noted in their opinions article that the type of attention surrounding the issue of tailgating has “dilute[d] the potency of words and ideas that are needed to fight real injustice — some of which is alive and well at Middlebury.”
However, as members of the SGA note, this upsurge of student advocacy will hopefully be representative of student involvement in future issues.
“I’m always happy when I see people passionate about an issue. I think if you’re looking at the tailgating issue as a process problem, then the amount of student attention is worth it,” said Sanders.
“People being passionate about this issue will hopefully transfer into students being more vocal about other issues around campus. This is just a starting point for people to voice their opinions and offer student input on other issues,” he added.
Custer also pointed out that the heightened attention to this matter also stems from parental and alumni involvement. The change in the tailgating issue more directly affects them when they return to campus, whereas other issues affect them in a less direct way.
Moving forward, the change in the tailgating policy will not be a major issue at the next SGA Senate meeting. As noted in an email sent on Sept. 23 to the student body, the administration stands by its decision. Any changes to the policy itself, as noted by members of the SGA, are very unlikely.
“Based on my conversations with the administrators, I know that they are very firm on their decision, primarily because it’s motivated out of their concern that it is a safe space,” said Custer.
While revisions to the passed resolution to make it more specific are being developed, the next step is witnessing how the administration to student relationship changes.
Custer said, “At the end of the day, it is a decision that is within the purview of the administration. The administration does get to make decisions unilaterally, but hopefully with our input. And if not, then hopefully with our concerns addressed.”
(09/25/14 2:49am)
From SGA to Community Council, we have a system of student liaisons to the administration whose key purpose is to keep the two groups on the same page. Yet last week we were all surprised to receive an email announcing that alcohol would no longer be allowed at tailgating events. Though students are all over the map on the policy itself, and we on the Editorial Board reflect this divide, we all agree that this process was flawed. The decision came directly out of the athletics department, bypassing and undermining student organizations, which are meant to represent the student body’s interests in exactly this type of decision. If the administration wonders why it is receiving such negative feedback, it is because it has failed to properly communicate with the student body. They are treating the student body more like a group of sixteen-year-olds than adults. The email from President Liebowitz, Dean Collado and Director of Athletics Erin Quinn on Sept. 23 acknowledges this failure to communicate, but actions speak louder than words, and what matters is how they will act differently going forward.
There are many other, more transparent paths this could have taken. First, directly following the unacceptable behavior prompting this policy, Erin Quinn, Director of Athletics, should have sent out a message calling out what had happened. He should not have deliberated over this decision for almost a year, as indicated in his email, without ever seriously petitioning for student input. Though the Sept. 23 email mentions consulting Community Council, evidently it was not a thorough enough discussion for the SGA and the rest of the student body to not be blindsided six months later. Quinn should have suggested the policy change and gone to student (and faculty) forums to modify his ideas and brainstorm other ways of dealing with the problem.
The lack of communication shows that the administration does not have confidence in the student body. This could have been an opportunity for students to step up and be more conscious of their actions, which they might have done to preserve tailgating. This disconnect is clear in that by and large, the student body was not aware that the behavior at these events was troublesome, but the Sept. 23 email illustrates the administration’s longstanding concern with tailgating behavior and an inability to self-police. If told that our behavior was out of line, things could have been different. Perhaps students would have found innovative ways to maintain high standards of behavior while still tailgating. The issue at hand here is the lack of discussion and transparency. With one department making a decision for everyone, we are not upholding the ideals of our community.
The loss of tailgating brings questions of Middlebury’s identity to the surface — questions that must be answered as a community. We as a school must consider what football games should look like, whether we want to engage in events that encourage day drinking on our campus and whether this decision was, in fact, the best thing for Middlebury students. Although our Editorial Board does not agree on the answers to all these questions, we agree that they were not one person’s decision to make; they are questions that belong to the school as a whole.
That being said, we need to take responsibility for engaging in these discussions. The forum on Sept. 21 is an example of a failure on our part. Though the WeTheMiddKids petition has 2,500 votes, only 20 students attended the forum, letting an opportunity to meaningfully engage slip through our fingers. Being drunk in the dining halls is not an effective way to make your outrage known.
Moreover, the behavior at last year’s tailgates was out of line. There is absolutely no excuse for this behavior. Although there are only four tailgates per year, and most alumni and parents attend only one, students must deal with the consequences to a far greater degree. Everyone involved in this has caused the many to be punished by the actions of the few. The egregious actions of all offending parties are far more insulting and disrespectful to the Middlebury community than any miscommunication on the part of the administration.
Everyone has done something wrong, from the administration’s failure to communicate to the disrespectful behavior of the students and the alumni at the tailgates. This is an opportunity for us to learn from our mistakes and ensure that going forward, everyone’s voices are heard. Student input should not just be lip service. With the Presidential Search Committee and other decision-making bodies with student representation, we need to know we are valued. Tailgating is the hot button issue of the moment, but effective communication will guide Middlebury into era of the College, and we hope to still be proud to call it our alma mater.
(09/24/14 8:36pm)
Over 160 energized Middlebury students, alumni and faculty descended upon the streets of New York on Sunday, joining 311,000 others at the People’s Climate March, a historic climate rally that wound a three-mile, six-hour course through Manhattan.
Hundreds of thousands of people both in New York City and at over 2,800 sites in 150 countries marched with polychrome floats, banners, pickets, placards, and blow horns, marshaling attention to the looming threat of climate change. More than 1,500 U.S. organizations, including schools, labor organizations, businesses, and faith groups, helped plan the protest, which espoused the tagline, “To change everything, we need everyone.”
The single largest demonstration of the climate movement to date, the march preceded the United Nations Climate Summit on Sept. 23, which was called to order by Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Dubbed a “political action forum,” the gathering at the U.N. Headquarters in New York will generate a precise framework for forthcoming climate talks in Lima in December and Paris in 2015, during which an international pact on CO2 emissions reductions will be discussed.
“The U.N. has outlined the stakes in the climate fight,” Greta Neubauer ’14.5 said at the march. “Today, people filled the streets and demonstrated that we will accept inaction no longer. The U.N. needs to take serious steps to address the causes of the climate crisis, and it needs to take the lead from the people most impacted. They will lead the path to a just transition.”
The Climate Summit also followed last month’s release of a major report on climate published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report states that human-produced emissions will significantly increase the risk of “severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts” to the environment in the decades ahead. These environmental impacts (e.g., flooding, heat waves, reduced grain production, and thawing snowpack in the poles) are likely to escalate unless greenhouse gases are regulated with uniform benchmarks set by national governments, according to the report.
“At this point, the urgency of climate change is well documented, so now, it’s time to act,” said Laura Xiao ’17, who helped lead the organizing team at the College for the march. “The march on Sunday was for the record books, and we’re eager to see how this momentum and excitement will boost the Middlebury Climate Campaign this year.”
Led by Xiao and others in Sunday Night Group (SNG), Middlebury’s enduring environmental activism umbrella campaign, began planning for the march over the summer.
“We were on conference calls in mid-July, already thinking about buses, vans, lodging, recruitment, fundraising, and grant writing for the march,” Xiao said. “First, we focused our efforts on the College’s newest students, the members of the Class of 2018.”
Michael Shrader ’18 from Bristol, Va. was one of the first to reach out about interest in the march and recruitment at the College. “Since my interests lie primarily in environmentalism and politics, I was ready to get started as soon as I made it to campus,” Shrader said. “The final result in New York was greater than anyone could have anticipated, and the voice of the climate movement was surely heard.”
Boston-area resident Ethan Reilly ’17, who joined Shrader and the rest of the Middlebury contingent at the march Sunday, was inspired by the throngs of marchers snaking through the city.
“The feeling of solidarity was just unbelievable,” Reilly said. “Seeing a crowd so large and diverse affirmed for me that anthropogenic climate change is an issue that people everywhere take very seriously. I am confident the march sent a resounding message to the U.N. going into the summit Tuesday.”
Moving into the third week of classes, students of SNG are hopeful that those who brought the noise in Manhattan will channel their enthusiasm through initiatives back on campus. “This is one of the most exciting moments in the climate movement in my four years here,” Hannah Bristol ’14.5 said. “The march was beautiful and showed how diverse and intersectional this movement is. I can’t wait to see how that energy transfers back to campus.”
(09/18/14 2:32am)
Every student of the foreign languages at Middlebury College is most likely familiar with the language tables. From Monday to Friday, waiters and waitresses make their way through the lively and chatter-filled rooms of Proctor and Ross dining halls, carrying plates of food and taking orders from students. A myriad of sounds – some familiar and some utterly new – bounce off of the walls, from the phonetics of the Russian Cyrillic alphabet, to the distinctive guttural “r’s” of the French language.
The concept of the language table is simple: students studying a foreign language join their peers and a member of the faculty – or a teaching assistant – for a sit-down lunch in which their conversation may only be in that language. Currently, the College offers these tables in a diverse range of languages, including Chinese, Italian, French, Arabic, Russian, Korean and German, just to name a few.
Most students agree that the language tables offer a casual environment away from the traditional pressures of the classroom to practice a foreign language. Hye-Jin Kim ’17 – a waitress for the French language tables – has studied French since sixth grade and notes that she took the job in her first semester at the College.
“When I started working language tables, I was only in the 205 class. I really wanted to improve my French speaking abilities and become more comfortable with the language, so being a waitress made a lot of sense, and cents. It’s cool that I can be paid to practice French at Middlebury.”
When asked about the best part of the job, Kim remarks “the most enjoyable part is definitely hanging out with the other waiters in the kitchen and [helping] kids during my shift. All the behind-the-scenes shenanigans. [Everyone] is a character, in the best way possible. The most challenging part is speaking French. Trying to describe a ‘magic bar’ or a ‘rice krispie treat’ is still difficult for me.”
Similarly, Joy Zhu ’17 also views the language tables as an effective way to immerse oneself in a foreign language environment right here in Middlebury, Vermont. Zhu – who just attended the 8-week German Language School this summer – is currently enrolled in a 350 level German class and loves simply “getting to know my classmates and talking to her teachers about everything from class material to more specific cultural topics.”
However, language table veterans also remark that beginner students have a hard time at first adjusting to the language tables. Robert Liu ’17 – who is currently enrolled in Spanish 210 – has studied the language since his junior year of high school and attends the language tables approximately six times each semester.
“Beginner students will often encounter someone with very high Spanish-proficiency,” Liu notes, “which makes it difficult for them to communicate.”
As a solution to this problem, Liu suggests that the language tables be re-grouped in such a way so that “students with relatively higher language proficiency – namely the 400 and 500 level students and students who have just returned from their study abroad experience – converse at one table, while the beginner students are a grouped at a separate table.”
While it is clear that the language tables will always remain an invaluable part of the College’s long – and hugely rewarding – history in foreign language instruction, Zhu also agrees with Liu’s suggestion, but with a slight twist.
“Sometimes students enrolled in 100 level classes feel a certain sense of awkwardness because they just do not know what to say. I think it would be better if we had tables especially purposed toward beginner speakers that are equipped with more TAs and some higher level students, too.”
(09/17/14 3:42pm)
Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin recently announced his bid for a third term in office. As the Democratic nominee, Shumlin will be running against Republican Scott Milne and Libertarian Dan Feliciano.
Shumlin’s platform emphasizes economic matters, including job creation, income inequality, healthcare reform, renewable energy sources and resolving Vermont’s opiate problems.
Shumlin insists he has focused on increasing job opportunities “like a laser.” During his time in office, approximately 9,200 jobs have been added to the market. Vermont’s unemployment rate is one of the lowest in the country.
However, Eric Davis, the retired Middlebury College Professor Emeritus of Political Science, says Vermont’s labor statistics are not as clear-cut as they seem. The low unemployment rate fails to reflect the lack of income growth in the middle class or the insufficient income tax revenues that have been plaguing the state.
Davis said that households in the middle class “have seen their incomes be stagnant for the last four years while health care costs are going up, property taxes are going up, and other aspects of the cost of living are outrunning their income gains.”
Shumlin, however, is aware of these challenges.
“The wealthiest are seeing their incomes expand, middle class Vermonters are continuing to get kicked in the teeth and lower income Vermonters are losing ground,” Shumlin said. “So we’ve got a lot more work to do.”
Shumlin has recently implemented a plan to raise the minimum wage in order to combat Vermont’s income inequality problem. In 2014 he signed a bill into law that will increase the state minimum wage, which is currently $8.73 per hour, each January over the next four years until it reaches $10.50 an hour by 2018. Shumlin advocated the gradual increase to mitigate the impact of the bill on business owners.
“Our challenge is to make sure that this state is affordable,” Shumlin said, “that we balance budgets, that we don’t raise taxes, income sales ... which I haven’t done in four years as governor, because we need to keep the state competitive.”
Despite these goals, Shumlin has been accused of ignoring in-state economic problems. Milne criticized the governor for focusing too much on national issues when he should have been addressing issues such as rising property taxes. Vermont has struggled with school properties, and Shumlin acknowledges that rising taxes combined with shrinking school enrollment are unsustainable.
He has stated that his administration will be working to find solutions for schools that are too small to be economically viable. However, Shumlin ultimately feels that such measures must take place on the local level.
“Changes need to come from the ground up and not the top down,” he said.
One of Shumlin’s most significant projects is his push for Vermont to be the first state in the country to implement a single-payer health care system. He has taken strong stances on health care, stating that “[healthcare] is holding us back as a nation.” He further says that adopting a single payer system will help the Vermont economy as out-of-state businesses will want to move their operations here.
“We think we can come up with a much better system moving from premiums to one where you pay for health insurance based on your ability to pay,” he said.
Shumlin has received criticism for the state’s handling of Vermont Health Connect, the state’s version of the federal Affordable Care Act. Technological difficulties made signing up for the program a challenge for many users and have yet to be completely resolved.
“The most frustrating job [I’ve] had to undertake is dealing with the health care situation,” Shumlin said, “There is no silver bullet.”
Vermont Health Connect was created to keep Vermonters’ health benefits higher than the federal exchange benefits. If Vermont joined the federal exchange, Shumlin has said he believes that health care costs in Vermont would rise.
By January, Shumlin aims to create a plan for implementation of the single payer system for the Vermont legislature to discuss, which will include a two billion dollar tax package to finance it. However, as a result of the Affordable Care Act, states cannot go to single payer health care until 2017.
Another key point in Shumlin’s platform is his strong support for renewable energy options.
“Climate change is the biggest challenge that we are facing,” Shumlin said.
He has expanded solar energy usage in Vermont during his time in office, and boasts that Vermont has more solar jobs per capita than any state in the country.
Shumlin is also an advocate of energy efficiency and affirms that his administration is serious about Vermont’s goal of being powered by 90 percent renewable energy by 2050. Shumlin was decidedly in favor of closing the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.
Under Shumlin’s leadership, Vermont became the first state to ban hydraulic fracturing in 2012. Shumlin called the science surrounding the safety of fracking “uncertain at best,” citing potential water pollution caused by fracking.
Despite Shumlin’s strong stance on fracking, he is in favor of the Vermont Natural Gas Pipeline, which will transport fracked natural gas from Canada. In a recent interview on Vermont Public Radio, Shumlin commented that the pipeline would take people that are currently burning dirty oil and move them to a cleaner fossil fuel. He sees natural gas as a “transition fuel on the way to renewables.”
Shumlin is also dedicated to reducing Vermont’s opiate problem. During his 2014 State of the State Address, he spent his entire 34 minutes speaking about the heroin addiction problems plaguing the state. Each week, the value of the quantity of heroin and other opiates entering Vermont totals over two million dollars. Additionally, almost 80 percent of prisoners in Vermont jails are in jail due to drug charges.
Keeping these Vermonters in jail is costly, adding up to approximately $1,120 per week per person. To ease these costs, Vemont decriminalized marijuana in July of 2013, becoming the 17th state to decriminalize marijuana, making possession of less than an ounce punishable by a small fine rather than arrest and jail time.
Shumlin remarked that this was just “common sense,” adding that Vermont’s limited resources “should be focused on reducing abuse and addiction of opiates like heroin and meth rather than cracking down on people for having very small amounts of marijuana.”
To deal with the heroin problem, Shumlin is pushing for the creation of more treatment centers for drug addiction, which would cost $123 per week per person. This would allow the more than 500 heroin users currently on waiting lists to get receive treatment and potentially avoid jail time.
Additionally, Shumlin would like to create a system in which the police direct addicts to treatment centers when they are arrested, as this is the moment when addicts are most likely to agree to treatment. Shumlin also advocates imposing tougher laws to prevent drug dealers from entering the state.
Shumlin is also in favor of increased gun restriction. He has commented that “we should not be living in a country where someone can walk into a school and shoot up 23 little kids.” He added that semi-automatic weapons - like those used in the Newtown Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting - have no place in society. However, Shumlin does not advocate for a total ban on guns. He wants to allow guns to be used by hunters in Vermont and rural areas across the country.
In May of 2014, Shumlin signed into law a bill that will make Vermont the first state to require foods that contain genetically modified ingredients to be labeled as such. The new law is supposed to take effect in July of 2016 but faces challenges from food manufacturers who threaten to sue and from congressional legislation that would prevent states from implementing labeling requirements.
The implementation of this GMO labeling law and the handling of the state after Hurricane Irene are some of Shumlin’s most important accomplishments. Irene struck in 2011, his first year in office, destroying 500 miles of roads, hundreds of private homes and businesses, and damaging the state office complex in Waterbury. Despite the praise he has received, Vermont continues to rebuild to this day.
Like all incumbent politicians, Shumlin has a number of accomplishments and failures. Seeking a third term in office is a fairly recent phenomenon amongst Vermont governors. However, voters tend to favor incumbents, and Shumlin is currently heavily weighted to win the seat in November.
(09/11/14 2:15pm)
The White House recently asked Governor Peter Shumlin if Vermont can harbor immigrants fleeing their homelands in Central America. Vermont is one of several states being considered to host the immigrants – predominantly children from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador.
Governor Shumlin’s office responded that the adminstration was “...willing to investigate locations and logistical requirements...to determine if Vermont would be an appropriate host state for some of the children who have crossed the border and are in custody.”
Currently, around 1,500 undocumented immigrants live in Vermont. Most of them – around 80% – work on dairy farms, shoveling manure or milking cows. The wave of immigrants crossing the border in recent weeks often meet up with family members, like the aforementioned farm hands, already settled in the United States.
The sites Vermont proposed to house the new immigrants vary in size and type, from the Vermont Technical College in Essex Junction to the Ethan Allen Cinema in Burlington. Although all of the proposed locations do not meet the Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) 90,000 square feet minimum, intended to provide adequate living space for the immigrants, it is unclear whether the requirement will change.
Both of Vermont’s Senators, Patrick Leahy (D) and Bernie Sanders (I), have advocated heavily for immigration reform. Although Leahy was far from enthusiastic about all of the amendments on the failed bill, he vowed to support it and said that “legislating is about making tough choices.”
“Vermont has a long history of supporting refugees in need,” said David Carle, a spokesman for Senator Leahy. “Governor Shumlin and his team reflect that history and that ethic, and Senator Leahy applauds the Governor for the state’s willingness to explore ways that Vermont may or may not be able to help.”
Historically, Vermont has been accomodating to refugees fleeing violence in Central America. In 1987, Vermont Refugee Assistance, now the Vermont Immigration and Asylum Advocates (VIAA) was founded to “support refugees fleeing civil wars in Central America.” The VIAA provides legal counsel to immigrants hoping to avoid incarceration or deportation, provides health assistance to survivors of torture, and “logistical and legal support” to refugees hoping to immigrate to Canada.
State Refugee coordinator Denise Lamoureaux stated that most refugees have adapted extrordinarily well to a climate and culture very different from their own. Still, “...all transitions require effort, flexibility and adaptation,” she warned Seven Days Vermont.
Other outreach workers warn that a combination of xenophobia and economic hardship could endanger the traditionally placid relationship between the immigrants and their host communities.
“We’ve been going through a long recession,” said Laurie Stavrand, an outreach worker for the Colchester-based Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program (VRRP) “and everybody has been trying to look out for themselves.”
For residents accustomed to living within hours of the Canadian border, the immigration issue can seem a world away. Yet racial tension in Vermont could actually be compounded by the state’s ethnic homogeniety; 93.7 percent of Vermonters are white, and only 1.7 percent are Hispanic or Latino.
The White House’s request for shelters comes on the heels of intense debate in Washington over immigration reform legislation, which Congress failed to pass before the midterm break. Although the Senate did pass the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S. 744) in April of 2013, it will likely die in the GOP controlled House.
President Obama has come under heavy fire for failing to secure the southern border, which an estimated 60,000 children have crossed in recent weeks. The head of U.S. Border Patrol has said that Federal agents are inundated with the amount of immigrants, and are unable to fulfill their traditional anti-terrorist and anti-cartel roles.
The President had previously promised to sign reforms into law before the end of the summer, but abandoned the timetable Sunday. Republican leaders claim that Obama is avoiding the volatile subject until after the November elections to avoid endangering Democratic candidates.
After the elections, Obama has warned he will utilize executive action.
“In the absence of action by Congress,” stated President Obama, “I’m going to do what I can do within the legal constraints of my office, because it’s the right thing to do for the country.”
Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner said that “the decision to simply delay this deeply controversial and possibly unconstitutional unilateral action until after the election — instead of abandoning the idea altogether — smacks of raw politics.”
(09/10/14 8:26pm)
It’s often said that we at Middlebury live in a bubble. Our little college sits deep in the Vermont woods, hours from the nearest major city and 45 minutes from Burlington, a town that’s hard-pressed to consider itself metropolitan in any way. We’re insulated from societal upheaval and cultural turmoil by the miles and miles of Green and Adirondack Mountains and national forests. And although we’re all undoubtedly fully immersed in the digital age, it’s still far too easy simply never to hear of events around the world. Because we have little to no exposure to the rapid, interdependent world around us, news, announcements and changes can go unnoticed.
In spite of the physical and metaphorical isolation of Middlebury, however, the students here are passionate. Activists, politicians and advocates make up the college. Our 2,500 students are determined, talented and dedicated individuals who want to make a difference. But in our little bubble, this is often a challenge.
And so, what we get is constant small-scale political and social revolution in a self-contained, self-sustained, insulated environment. Instead of protesting the tax breaks for massive oil corporations, Middlebury students push for the college’s divestment from fossil fuel companies. Instead of raising awareness for climate change as a large-scale phenomenon, we call for better efficiency in our heating and cooling. Instead of attempting to tackle homophobia on the societal level, we hold forums, write articles and stage protests against rappers for using homophobic slurs in their songs.
All of these social movements help make Middlebury a more progressive place, welcoming to people of every background. This kind of behavior of students is what made Middlebury a bastion of openness and tolerance. More than this, however, these acts allow students to make a meaningful change in their community. Protesting the investment of Middlebury funds in fossil fuels gives students an achievable goal, one that can significantly alter the way that Middlebury interacts with the outside world. It’s a monumental task to take on homophobia in the United States — but asking whether it is acceptable to let a musician sing homophobic epithets at Middlebury? That’s something manageable. That is something we can change.
At the same time, this isolated, inward-focused community we created brings about its own risks. For example, it’s entirely too easy to forget that the rest of the world even has problems. I didn’t know that a Malaysian Airlines flight disappeared over the Indian Ocean until almost a week after it happened. It took Russia invading and annexing Crimea for a large number of Middlebury students to learn something was wrong with Ukraine, even though the country had been going through extreme turmoil for several months. Most of us probably would say that when we live at home, we generally try to have one eye on current events. But at Middlebury, that habit can slip away.
So we end up with this community of people all concentrating solely on Middlebury. Everyone wants to help facilitate change, and so social movements frequently arise. The biggest danger that arises from this bubble is that people lose perspective. When a protest or a movement catches the College’s eye, it becomes almost a fad to be a part of it. And when activism becomes popular among a group of people contained within a small community clamoring to help, it occasionally can blow out of proportion.
This sounds counterintuitive at first glance — a social movement gaining popularity is bad? But it’s too often true: the zeal with which students respond to these movements can have unforeseen, and sometimes counterproductive, consequences. The exclusion of contrary voices is often the most obvious of these. One of the generally overlooked harms of zealous activism is the growth of the divide between a group and the rest of the community around it. We do not want activism to be driven by an “us vs. them” mentality. That isn’t conducive to equality and open-mindedness in a community.
We have to break down the bubble. We have to, as individuals and citizens of this world, take it upon ourselves to understand global events. As a result of Middlebury’s geographic and social isolation, it’s not easy to acquire knowledge and perspective of the eternally changing world, but it’s necessary. Each of us needs to put in the time to follow the news, even superficially, just so we have perspective. The more we know and the more we are aware of, the more tolerant, inclusive and effective our social movements will be. You can’t change a problem without understanding the complex background and issues that made that problem arise.
(09/10/14 8:03pm)
As students prepare for a new semester, silent competitions between textbook retailers intensify.
New book sales at the College Store declined 23.8 percent between 2012 and 2014, while rental profits rose 123.2 percent during the same two-year period. Sales of used books increased by 12 percent, which can be largely attributed to inflation.
Collegiate retailing is a $10 billion industry. But with the explosion of online textbook vendors in the past decade, the College Store faces increasing competition to entice students to shop on campus. Big online retailers include Amazon, which collected an annual revenue of $5.25 billion in book sales alone. Amazon and Chegg, an online textbook vendor, boast $1.1 billion in publicly issued shares, promise up to 90 percent off the list price of textbooks and offer free shipping on many orders. The runaway success of sites like Amazon and Chegg have even prompted brick-and-mortar store Barnes & Noble to start its own textbook rental business in 2010, promising an average of 42 percent off text- book list prices to compete in the market.
Roksana Gabidullina ’16 turned to Amazon for a price break on textbooks because she had already shopped with the online retailer before she started her Middlebury career.
“I do shop online for books, and the reason is purely financial,” she said. “Bookstore books tend to be really expensive, although sometimes, you do find books that are cheaper in the bookstore than online. If I choose to buy at the school, it is because the books are cheaper and instantly accessible. Renting is sometimes less expensive, so I do that in- stead.”
With online retailers advertising significantly lower prices for items available with the click of a mouse, declines in new book sales at the College Store have prompted new efforts to both lower prices and recycle profits back to the student body.
While some college bookstores are owned by chain giants like Barnes & Noble — which controls 636 collegiate book shops nationwide — the College has independent ownership over its bookstore. Books can therefore be obtained from a wider variety of publishers, and prices are lowered without permission from a higher corporate office.
All profits from the College Store are distributed to the College’s General Fund.
“The entire Middlebury budget is $300 million,” Vice President for Finance and Treasurer’s Office Patrick J. Norton said. “Any surpluses from any operating unit go to sup- port various Middlebury commitments.”
These commitments include recruiting and retaining faculty, funding students’ financial aid, and constructing, maintaining and renovating the College’s academic, residential, dining and athletic facilities.
As a small brick-and-mortar business, the College Store faces some costs that simply do not exist for online retailers.
“We [the College Store] have a higher cost of labor,” Store Manager Georgia Best said. “There are three full-time people and one to two part-time people devoted to the process of ordering, receiving and setting up textbooks and pulling and packing to return overstock. Our freight cost was over $40,000 this past fiscal year.”
The cost of this manual labor and shipping must be incorporated into the cost of the textbook.
The Store purchases textbooks from publishers at a discount of anywhere from 20 to 45 percent off suggested retail, which are then sold to students at the original suggested retail price, translating into an average profit margin of 23 to 24 percent for the store.
“If we make a change, it is to lower the price,” Best said. “On a national level net priced textbooks are sold at a 25 percent margin. Here at Middlebury any text that is $100 or more net cost has a 20 percent margin.”
Online retailers like Amazon can occa- sionally sell books below cost, or for less than the original purchase price. This benefits the buyer, but is not a sustainable strategy for a physical bookstore.
“There are reports that Amazon has never made a profit selling books,” Textbook Co- ordinator Dean Leary said. “Recently it was reported that Amazon as a whole makes only less than a penny in profit for every dollar of sales.”
At the College Store, items like clothing, miscellaneous merchandise and school supplies carry a higher profit margin of 35 to 50 percent to account for lower textbook profits.
The College Store promises for each student enough copies of the required reading— new or used. Since used books are a hot com- modity both in the bookstore and in the larger market, the competition among the colleges for these used books are stiff.
“If a title has just been published there aren’t many, if any, used on the market,” Best said. “We compete on a national level with other colleges and universities for used books, and the later the order from faculty, the less likely we’ll get used copies. We try to buy back as many as we can from students.”
In an attempt to entice students with competitive prices, the rental program allows the purchase of books for one semester at about 54 percent off the retail price.
“For rentals, we partner with a wholesaler that guarantees us a certain amount for each book at the end of the term, which allows us to offer it at a reduced price,” Best said.
A quick price comparison: this semester, a Biology 140: Ecology and Evolution textbook, Tangled Bank: Introduction to Evolu- tion, is being offered at a used rental price of $32.50 and a used purchase price of $60.00. The new purchase price of the book is $80.00 compared to the $42.50 charge for a new rental copy.
The availability of a book for rental depends on the wholesalers’ offerings.
Trying to sell the book back to the store is a game of supply and demand. The frequent publication of new editions makes many relatively new textbooks obsolete to the College Store or wholesalers if faculty members request the newest edition or the wholesalers are trying to move only the newest product.
If a book is being used in the next semester, students can recuperate about 50 percent of the purchase price through the buyback process at the store. If the book is not being used, the student may receive a less lucrative wholesale value for the book or try selling the book at another time.
In comparison, customers typically recuperate about a 60 percent return when selling back a textbook through Amazon, 65 percent with Barnes & Noble and up to 85 percent on Chegg.
eBooks are also available to students at 40 to 45 percent off of the suggested retail price, but the option is not as popular, with less than 20 eBooks sold at the College Book- store last semester.
A Spring 2014 study by OnCampus Research showed that only 10 percent of students prefer an electronic textbook, for reasons ranging from ease of use to the ability to sell a book back.
At the College Store, items can be returned by the Friday of the first week of classes with no questions asked for a full refund on a bookstore gift card. After the first Friday, textbooks are only returnable with proof of a dropped class.
Online retailers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble offer free shipping on orders from their warehouses over $35 and $25, respectively. Chegg charges a flat $3.99 fee per order when they aren’t offering free shipping promotions at the beginning of the semester.
Additionally, Barnes & Noble has a 14- day return policy, and Amazon and Chegg ac- cept returns within 30 days. Chegg pays for return shipping, but the customer is responsible for this fee at Barnes & Noble. Amazon will fund a return shipping fee only if the return was a result of the company’s error.
Shipping typically takes anywhere between three and 14 days from online retailers.
“Shopping online is not for ease because shipping often takes some time, and I’ve had experiences with going through the first weeks of classes without books,” Gabidullina said. “I’ve also only tried to sell one book back to Amazon, which was not easy. I only received a tiny fraction of the price I was selling it for, which is the reason I don’t sell online. I have a lot of books still on my desk at home.” Individual sellers on Amazon forfeit a 15% commission, a $1.35 fixed closing fee and 99 cent selling fee per item.
“Since Amazon charges an annual fee plus a percentage of each title sold to use their site for selling books, they are making money off a book they aren’t shipping,” Best said. “They are then allowed to take a smaller percentage off the publishers net price than we [the College Store] are.”
The College Store implements its own programs to recycle profits back to the stu- dent body and entice customers. An estimated 75 to 80 percent of the student body uses Panther Points, a program that allows students to redeem points earned by making purchases at the Store for gift cards, and in 2013, students redeemed 692,000 points.
In addition to the Panther Points Program, the College Store started a raffle four years ago to benefit student groups.
“We partner with a company that has a program called ‘One Planet Books,’” Best said. “For every box of books we send to them they give us $10. These are books that have no value either to used book wholesalers or online vendors. The books come from students who donate them and from the recycling center. The money that we earn from these books is donated to SGA groups that sign up for the drawing. Since we started we have donated almost $3,500 to different groups.”
In addition to textbooks, the College Store aims to be a one-stop shopping destination for students, offering supplies, clothing and a Mac Store selling Apple computers at educational discounts. In recent months, the store acquired a Boots makeup kiosk, and this semester they are introducing a scarf kiosk, rack of posters and an increased selection of dorm supplies to provide students more of an incentive to look to the College Store for a convenient and complete inventory of products.
Though the store cannot lower their textbook prices to be as competitive as online retailers like Amazon, Chegg and Barnes & Noble, loyalty programs and personalized services are just some of the ways the College Store is trying to compete.
Leary cites three reasons why he thinks students should shop at the College Store.
“Amazon does not offer true cost prices, so it’s easy for people to make decisions with less than best long-term outcomes, there are efficiency and environmental savings of mass shipping to one distribution point and the competition may not offer the same working conditions and compensation as the College,” he said.
In the future, competition from online retailers will likely only increase, forcing changes in sales techniques from all sides. It is hard to say which method for buying textbooks is the best, but retailers are fighting for students’ business, which, in the end, can only benefit the student by offering more options.
Image: http://www.witherbysonline.com/iStock_Books.gif
(09/10/14 7:49pm)
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, there were an estimated 43.7 million individuals 18 years or older living with mental illness in the United States in 2012, or about 18.6 percent of the adult population.
In a survey of 157 colleges and universities, the American College Health Association found that 31 percent of college students have struggled with depression that affected their collegiate performance and more than 50 percent have felt overwhelming anxiety. 7.1 percent of students surveyed reported having seriously considered suicide in the past 12 months. In a survey conducted by the Na- tional Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), college students diagnosed with a mental health condition reported that stigma was the number one barrier to accessing mental health services and supports. 40 percent of students surveyed who reported having diagnosed mental health problems did not seek help. According to NAMI, over 90 percent of people who die by suicide struggled with mental illness. There are many factors involved in treating mental illness and preventing suicide, but it begins with people getting the help they need. Reducing stigma around mental illness plays a vital role in encouraging people to get help for mental illness.
Throughout the semester, I will be profiling various mental illnesses, such as anxiety, depression, and anorexia, by giving an overview of each disorder, as well as student perspectives on what it’s like to live with a mental illness.
This week, I am going to focus on suicide prevention: how to tell if someone might be suicidal and how to help him or her get help. September 10 was World Suicide Prevention Day. The American Association of Suicidology (AAS) explains the mission of World Suicide Prevention Day as “[representing] a call for action and involvement by all governments and organizations worldwide to contribute to the cause of suicide awareness and prevention through activities, events, conferences and campaigns in their country. By collaborating together in this endeavor, we can indeed save lives.”
Suicide is not a common conversation topic because it can sometimes be uncomfortable to talk about. Unfortunately, though, it’s an all-too-common tragedy in the United States and in the world today. According to the AAS, approximately one million Americans at- tempt suicide each year and five million living Americans have attempted to kill themselves at some point. Every year in the United States, more than 19,500 men and women kill themselves with a gun, which is 66 percent more than the number who use a gun to kill another person. It is estimated that 4.8 million Americans have survived the suicide of a friend, family member or loved one.
Suicide’s prevalence in our culture requires our attention. In order to prevent suicide from continuing to take the lives of one million people per year worldwide, it is important that we know the risk factors for suicide, common behaviors before suicide and how we can help people around us get the help they need. The warning signs of suicide include hopelessness, rage, revenge-seeking, reckless or risky behavior, increased alcohol and drug use, withdrawal from friends and family, anxiety, agitation, trouble sleeping, dramatic mood changes and loss of purpose. More explicit signs include someone threatening to kill or hurt him or herself, looking for ways to get access to pills, firearms, or other weapons and talking about death or suicide when that behavior is out of the ordinary. Risk factors for suicide include prior suicide attempts, family history of suicide, family history of mental illness, physical or sexual abuse, having firearms in the home, chronic physical illness or pain and incarceration.
If you see someone exhibiting behaviors that indicate that they are po- tentially suicidal, you can help. You can call 800-SUICIDE or 800-273-TALK, as well as the Counseling Service of Addison County 24-hour hotline, 802-388-7641. If someone seems to be at risk of committing suicide and you are with them, remove all weapons from the area and seek help by calling 911 or one of the hotlines mentioned above. Do not try to handle the situation by yourself. Do not act surprised or shocked to hear that they may be considering suicide, as this may cause them to withdraw from you. Offer hope that there are alternatives and continue talking to the person.
If you see the warning signs of suicide in the behavior of another person, you can ask them if they are considering suicide — this will not “put thoughts into their head,” and it could be the question that saves their life.
(05/07/14 2:51pm)
On Friday and Saturday May 2 and 3, a portion of the track and field team headed south to Springfield, MA, with the sun shining for the first meet in some weeks, to compete in this year’s Division-III New England outdoor championships.
The Panthers sent over forty athletes to the meet, and emerged from the three day affair with a number of All-New England honors, including one all-region title and a new school record.
On the women’s side, Alison Maxwell ’15 once again led the Panthers when she claimed the victory in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:36.84. Teammate Katherine Tercek ’16 also earned all-region honors in the same event when she took seventh in 4:42.82.
Other all-region honorees included Alex Morris ’16 with a sixth place finish of 58.38 in the 400 meters, Katie Rominger ’14 with a second place finish of 17:39.00 in the 5,000 meters, and Jackie Kearney ‘16 with a sixth place finish of 1:05.08 in the 400 hurdles. Summer Spillane ’15 took fifth in the 3,000 meter steeplechase with a time of 10:59.38, while Abigail Pohl ’17 was seventh in 11:22.81.
In the field, Maddie Pronovost ’17 finished seventh in the heptathlon with a total of 3,387 points and Laura Strom ’14.5 took sixth in the high jump with her mark of 5’ 4.25”. Lauren Pincus ’14 finished in fourth in the javelin with a toss of 131’ 7”, while Hannah Blackburn ’17 took third in the long jump when she posted a mark of 18’ 2.5”, a jump that broke the standing Middlebury outdoor record in the event.
“My goal for the day was to get a [personal record] and get closer to qualifying for NCAA’s,” Blackburn said. “When I had my good jump, I definitely freaked out a bit; I was really excited. Right now I’m ranked 25th in the [country] for long jump and the top 22 go to the NCAA championship meet, so my goal for the next two weekends is to jump farther.”
On the men’s side, Jason McCallum ’14 finished in second place in the pole vault with a mark of 15’ 3”. In other field event action, Taylor Shortsleeve ’15 cleared the high jump bar at 6’4” to take eighth place.
On the track, Jake Wood ’15 and Kevin Chu ’14 both took home all-region honors in the 400 hurdles with their sixth and eighth place finishes, posting times of 54.88 and 56.27, respectively. Wilder Schaaf ’14.5 managed a second place finish in the 1,500 meters when he crossed the line in a time of 3:54.56. Teammate Sam Cartwright ’16 was behind him in fifth, running 3:56.40, while Sam Klockenkemper ’17 finished in eighth with a time of 3:57.55.
Sebastian Matt ’16 also posted an eighth place finish in the 5,000 with his time of 15:40.10. Bryan Holtzman ’14 led the sprinters as he crossed the line in 11.06 seconds in the 100 meters, good for a sixth place finish, while recently crowned NESCAC Rookie of the Year Alex Nichols ’17 tied for a seventh place finish in the 200 with a time of 22.40.
“It was almost 70 degrees at the meet and I think we were all just really happy to be able to compete in the warmth for once,” Blackburn said of the day as a whole. “Everyone had a really competitive meet and there were a lot of season bests.”
Although the primary focus was on individual performance after a team push last weekend at the NESCAC championship, the Panther squads managed to stack up well against the other D-III teams in the region. The men’s team took eleventh in a field of 32 teams, while the women finished in fourth out of 33.
Head Coach Martin Beatty and Assistant Coaches Nicole Wilkerson, Kurt Fischer, Bill Edson and Luke Hotte continued their success after claiming the NESCAC Men’s Track & Field Coaching Staff of the Year.
“We didn’t necessarily try to do well in this meet as a team,” Beatty said. “It’s more about the individual icing on the cake. We didn’t even run the relays, so we didn’t attack this meet like we did NESCACs. That’s our emotional high point, and we don’t want to burn out the athletes.”
The championship meet season continues this weekend with Open New England’s at Westfield State. About fifteen Panther athletes are expected to compete alongside DI and DII competition. Those who do will return to action on May 9 in the final push to qualify for a spot at NCAAs.
(04/30/14 2:59pm)
On Saturday, April 26, the Track and Field teams competed in the focal event of their outdoor season, traveling to Waterville, Maine to contend for the NESCAC championship hosted by Colby. On a cold, rainy day, the men recorded their highest team finish in the meet’s history – finishing second behind only Tufts – while the women were third.
On the men’s side, the Panthers finished the day with five event victories. In the field, Jason McCallum ’14 took home the title in the pole vault with his mark of 15’ 1”, while teammate Taylor Shortsleeve ’15 won the high jump when he posted a mark of 6’2”.
On the track, Jake Wood ’15 earned a decisive victory in the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 53.39 while first-year Alex Nichols ’17 earned a win in the 400 meter dash, edging out teammate Peter Hetzler ’14 to take home the victory in his first NESCAC meet with a time of 48.66.
The 4x400-meter relay team of Nichols, Bryan Holtzman ’14, Fritz Parker ’15 and Peter Hetzler ’14 secured a win for the Panthers when they edged Tufts by .04 seconds at the line, posting a time of 3:20.89.
“The relay was neck-in-neck for the entire of the race,” Holtzman said. “We led for two legs and our anchor Peter got the baton about two steps behind Tufts. [He] ran a beautiful leg and was able to pass the Tufts anchor in the final twenty meters of the race to seal the victory.”
Holtzman rounded out his day with a second-place finish in the 200 meters and a fourth-place finish in the 100 meters, while teaming up with Kevin Chu ’14, Parker and Adam Markun ’17 to finish second in the 4x100-meter relay.
Other top finishes for the men included Chu’s runner-up performance in the 110-meter hurdles, where he crossed the line in a time of 15.09. Deklan Robinson ’16 posted a pair of third-place finishes, tossing the javelin 173’11” and also clearing 6’2” in the high jump. Wilder Schaaf ’14.5 finished third in the 1,500 meters while Shortsleeve rounded out his day by taking third in the 110-meter hurdles.
The men finished the day with a team point total of 166.5, good for second behind Tufts, who took home the crown with 178.9 points. In addition to their record overall finish, the Panthers far surpassed their previous record point total of 140, good for third at last year’s meet.
“We entered the meet with our sights set on victory,” Holtzman said. “Going into the meet, neither Tufts nor us were favored to win. It was a toss-up. We did everything we could, even beating our projected point total. Tufts happened to have an even better day than we did. This was the most fun and interesting meet I had been a part of from a team perspective.”
On the women’s side, the Panthers emerged with a victory in the 4x800-meter relay, in which Addis Fouche-Channer ’17, Katherine Tercek ’16, Olivia Artaiz ’16 and Summer Spillane ’15 posted a team effort of 9:30.22, edging Williams by less than a second.
“Crossing the finish line in first place was such an exciting and unexpected end to the day,” Spillane said. “All of us had put a majority of our energy towards our individual events, so we were pretty exhausted stepping onto the start line for the relay. When I heard my teammates’ loud cheers as I was rounding out the last 200 meters I knew I had to dig deep and kick.”
Alison Maxwell ’15 led the Panthers by posting a pair of second-place finishes, running 4:37.12 for 1,500 meters and 2:15.44 in the 800 meters. Katie Rominger ’14 took third in the 5,000 meters in 17:37.59, while Spillane finished third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Despite finishing seventh, the 4x100-meter relay team of Chelsea Montello ’16, Sara Sobolewski ‘14, Madi Goodstein ‘16 and Lauren Henry ‘16 managed to set a new school record with a time of 49.36.
In the field, Laura Strom ’14.5 took second in the high jump based on number of attempts, matching the winning mark when she cleared the bar at 5’3.75”. Lauren Pincus ’14 also turned in a runner-up performance with her toss of 135’11” in the javelin. First-year Hannah Blackburn managed a pair of third-place finishes, with a mark of 17’ 6.75” in the long jump and 35’ 8.5” in the triple.
The women finished in third place with 109.5 points, trailing behind Williams’ 179 and Tufts’ 126.
“Although the girls finished in third place, so many of us set new personal best records,” Spillane said. “We were all too busy celebrating everyone’s individual accomplishments to care too much about how we stacked up against the other teams. The overall result, although not what we ultimately wanted, stands as motivation for NESCACs next year.”
“It was a great day,” Head Coach Martin Beatty said. “Our goal is always to win, of course, because everyone wants to win NESCACs. But we put forth our best effort, and the athletes gave all that they could. It was a great result. We had a lot of personal records, and even though it was a cold, blustery Maine day, the team was so determined, and they all came together to pull for one another.”
The team has around 35 eligible athletes who have hit the required times and marks for this weekend’s Division-III New England Championship, and those competing will return to action on Thursday at Springfield.
“We begin to operate on more of an individual level now,” Beatty said of the weeks to come. “We’re trying to get that icing on the cake for each person who is able to qualify far into championship meets.”
(04/24/14 3:39am)
The Middlebury track and field teams finished up their last weekend of non-championship competition at the University of Albany Spring Classic on Saturday, April 19, competing in a field of mostly Division-I schools in a non-scoring meet that also featured elite international competitors.
On the women’s side, Alison Maxwell ’15 continued her season’s success with a second place showing in the 800 meters, crossing the line in time of 2:16.09.
“I was really surprised and excited with my 800, which is the first one I have run all year,” Maxwell said. “My time is one I’ve been hoping to run for a while, and it felt really good to finally make it happen. Mostly, though, it felt great to get some speed in my legs, which should benefit me in the coming weeks.”
Other Panther women with high finishes on the day included Paige Fernandez ’17 in the 400 meter hurdles, where she took sixth place in a time of 1:06.87. Emily Singer ’14 also posted a sixth-place finish with a time of 18:45.69 in the 5,000 meters, while teammate Katie Rominger ’14 took fourth in the 1,500 in 4:49.00. In the field, Hannah Blackburn ’17 posted a mark of 16’11.5” in the long jump, good for fifth place in the event. Carly Andersen ’16 took third in the javelin with a toss of 121’11”.
“The whole team is really excited for NESCACs of course,” Maxwell said. “After getting second last year, the girl’s team is hungry for the win, and we have a definite chance of getting it. I can’t wait to see how it plays out.”
On the men’s side, the Panther squad managed to post a number of top finishes. Bryan Holtzman ’14 edged up the Panther’s all-time list with his 10.79 performance in the 100 meters, the third fastest time in school history. Jake Wood ’15 continued his collection of high finishes in the 400-meter hurdles when he took fifth in the event with a time of 56.57. Sam Cartwright ’16 and Sam Craft ’14 also took fifth place in their respective events, with Cartwright posting a time of 4:02.20 in the 1,500 and Craft crossing the line in 1:58.47 in the 800. In the 110-meter hurdles, Kevin Chu ’14 took second place in a time of 14.75, while teammate Taylor Shortsleeve ’15 finished behind him in third with a time of 15.40.
“The 110 hurdle race went well,” Chu said. “It was the first time all year that I have felt a good rhythm in the hurdles, just in time for the NESCAC championship. My time ranks me eleventh right now in Division-III. The goal is to stay in the top twenty to earn a trip to the NCAA championships next month. I made it there last year qualifying seventeenth overall, and I’d like to improve on that. The race over the weekend is nothing more than a step in the right direction, and there is still a lot of work left.”
“[Albany] as a whole went well for the team,” Chu said of the meet. “Many of our athletes did not compete in their primary event. We used the meet as a tune-up for the conference championship. The most important thing is we came through the meet healthy. NESCACs is the big meet for us every year because the focus is on overall team performance rather than individual accolades. Check back with us next week and there will be plenty of stories of my teammates rising to the occasion and performing well beyond expectations. It happens every year. This is the strongest team I have been a part in my four years here. I’m confident that my teammates will back up my words.”
Head Coach Martin Beatty was encouraged by the weekend’s results as the team heads into the NESCAC Championships on Saturday.
“I am excited not just from this weekend, but overall,” Beatty said. “It was nice that we had sunny weather to work with, but it was another windy day so that took away from most people’s performances. But having that wind makes us tougher, and it’s good to get through it. NESCACs is our big build-up for the season, and I’m rearing and ready to get to Colby and compete.”
While the rest of the team was in Albany, two Panther individuals traveled to Princeton to run in the Larry Ellis Invitational on April 18th and 19th. Sam Klockenkemper ’17 took 67th in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:00.52, while Kevin Wood ’15 took 34th in the 5,000 in a competitive 14:37.15.
“The race at Princeton is a unique opportunity to run at a very competitive level and put up a fast time before championship season,” Wood said. “Few races have such a deep, talented pool of runners, which can make a huge difference in distance running. The race was pretty fun. It was a crowded heat with 30 entries, but everyone was fast, so traffic wasn’t bad. I got to the rail early on and chilled in the back of the pack drafting. My plan was just to hang on as long as I could to a pack going 69 or 70 [seconds] per lap. It worked out pretty well.”
The Panthers will return to action at the NESCAC Championships on Saturday, April 26 at Colby.
(04/23/14 5:57pm)
One chilly September morning in 2011, Kristin Lundy heard someone ascend her front steps and knock on her door. When she opened it, police Sgt. Mike Fish asked her to gather everyone living in the house. "Your son is dead," he said.
"I ran up the stairs," Lundy later recalled in an interview with the Burlington Free Press. "I just screamed until I went into shock...I thought he was coming out of the woods. I thought we were beginning to understand this opiate thing.” Joshua Lundy, at just 23 years old, had passed away from a heroin overdose.
Sadly, Kristin's horror story is a tired one in Vermont. Statewide treatment for heroin addicts has increased 250 percent since 2000, and the number of deaths from by heroin overdose has doubled in the past year.
In last year's State of the State Address, Governor Shumlin asserted optimistically that Vermont was "... healthy, resilient, and strong. We are blessed to live here," he said, "and we care deeply about our shared future."
In his 2014 State of the State address, Shumlin's tone changed dramatically. "In every corner of our state, heroin and opiate drug addiction threatens us," said Shumlin.
Unfortunately, the stigma attached to heroin addiction makes it much harder for users like Joshua Lundy to get clean. Heroin addicts face intense social pressure to hide their addictions, and candid public discourse about heroin abuse is difficult.
In response, Governor Shumlin sought to reclothe the crisis as a medical emergency in his 2014 State of the State Address. "We must address it as a public health crisis," said Shumlin, "providing treatment and support, rather than simply doling out punishment, claiming victory, and moving onto our next conviction," he said. "Addiction is, at its core, a chronic disease."
Many health care professionals and recovering addicts agreed with Shumlin.
“I think that’s hard for some people that struggled with addiction to move on, if they’re always being labeled an addict forever,” said Gina Tron, a recovering addict and local journalist. “If you’re trying to fix a problem as a person or a state it should be something admirable instead of something to be looked down upon.”
“I imagined a heroin addict as, you know, some super-skinny guy laying on the ground in a back alley of New York City,” Tron said. Her perception began to change in 2002, when she heard about a high school classmate — a “very Vermont girl” — struggling with heroin addiction.
Dr. John Brooklyn, cofounder of the state’s first methadone clinic, refuted the idea of a ‘typical’ heroin user. “We think it’s some gangsta in a hoodie sticking up a convenience store,” Brooklyn said. “Not the person serving your coffee, pumping your gas or taking care of your kids at a daycare center.” In reality, Brooklyn knows recovering addicts at each of these professions.
In an interview with ABC, Dr. Richard Besser even asserted that the term ‘Ex- addict’ is a misnomer, because heroin addiction is a lifelong battle. All of the users Dr. Besser spoke with self-identified as “recovering addicts.”
The intensity of this battle is largely attributed to heroin’s extremely addictive nature. About one in four users becomes dependent after their first injection – an addiction rate higher than that of crack-cocaine or crystal methamphetamine.
Whether snorted, smoked or injected, heroin instills its trademark ‘blissful apathy’ by binding exogenous endorphins to opiod receptors in the user’s brain. After extended use, a heroin addict will no longer endogenously produce endorphins, and an ensuing dependency spiral can be lethal. Since opiod receptors are located in the brain stem — the part of the brain responsible for automatic processes like breathing — respiratory arrest is the leading cause of heroin related deaths.
Despite these dangers, “You’re gonna get hungry,” said recovering addict ‘Jen,’ who asked to remain anonymous during her interview with VICE. “Childbirth was nothing compared to kicking heroin."
Another recovering addict said that heroin addiction consumes all other priorities. “The first thing you think about [is] not feeding your kids,” she stated, “It’s how am I going to get high ... ”
Even heroin users brave enough to overcome the social stigma and seek help may not be able to find it. Over 750 people are relegated to wait lists at methodone clinics and rehabilitation centers across Vermont.
In order to supply this burgeoning market, smugglers have ramped up their efforts across the Northeast.“We’re seeing thousands of bags at a time, multiple raw ounces and grams, levels of heroin that we’ve never seen before” said Lieutenant Matthew Birmingham, the head of the Vermont State Police Narcotics Task Force.
Approximately two million dollars worth of heroin is trafficked through Vermont every week. Yearly, this means heroin smuggling is a 100-million dollar industry.
Even a small package of the drug can cause big problems. Heroin is most often sold in 25-40 milligram bags, or ‘folds,’ which are half the size of a sweetener packet. Just one kilogram of heroin provides nearly 30,000 of these bags.
Heroin’s pervasiveness can partly be attributed to Vermont’s geographic location. Interstate highways from Montreal, New York, Boston and Philadelphia all converge in Vermont, in what some analysts have described as ‘the perfect storm.’
During one sting, Burlington police and DEA agents traced Videsh Raghoonanan through his cellphone. The signal traveled from Burlington down interstates 89, 91 and 95 to Ozone Park, Queens. Less than 24 hours later, Raghoonanan retraced his path and arrived in Burlington before midnight.
New York is one epicenter of Vermont-bound heroin. Another particularly lethal type of heroin, known as “Chi” or “Chi town dope,” comes from Chicago. Authorities are often able to pinpoint the heroin origin because of signature ‘stamps’ on the packaging.
If the heroin comes into the state in its purest form, dealers will often cut it with other substances. “I’ve ripped people off by throwing hot cocoa in an empty bag,” ‘John’ told VICE in one interview. “Scoop a little dirt off the ground and throw that in there, dude.”
To make matters worse, some dealers have begun to cut their heroin with Fentanyl, a deadly synthetic narcotic. The powerful drug — between 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine — has been attributed to dozens of grisly deaths throughout the northeast, including three in Addison County. Some of these users were found with the needle still sticking from their arm.
In October of last year, Vermont state police arrested two New York smugglers in one of the largest busts in state history. When Marcus Davis and Eddie Eason were brought into police custody, Davis admitted to having bought 30,000 dollars worth of heroin in New York City.
If smugglers like Davis succeed, their potential profit margin is nearly impossible to comprehend. One dealer in Colchester buys heroin out of state for 6 dollars, and resells it in northern Vermont for 30, a markup of 500 percent.
Accordingly, the drug has brought organized crime with it. “There are real and legitimate organized gangs and organized criminal groups that are operating drug rings … and establishing themselves in Vermont,” said State Police Lt. Matthew Birmingham, commander of the Vermont Drug Task Force.
Still, a stronger police force is not the only solution, said Lt. Birmingham. “You can’t just keep arresting people coming in as runners,” he said.
Already, 80 percent of Vermont’s inmates are incarcerated for drug related crimes. The state pays more to incarcerate its prisoners than it does on higher education.
Behind the empty syringes, plastic baggies and gun-toting drug dealers lies a darker reality: heroin addiction often starts with legally prescribed painkillers like Oxycodone.
The opiate crisis arguably exploded in 2010, when Purdue Pharma changed the formula of Oxycodone. By making pills harder to crush up and slower to dissolve into the blood, the pharmaceutical company successfully reduced prescription abuse, from 47.4 percent to 30 percent in the past thirty days. Yet in the same period, rates of heroin abuse nearly doubled.
“It’s like Whac-A-Mole,” said Barbara Cimaglio, Vermont’s deputy commissioner or alcohol and drug abuse programs. “We address one thing and then something else crops up.”
“Let’s be honest about this,” said Shumlin in an interview with ABC. “OxyContin and the other opiates that are now prescribed and approved by the FDA, lead folks to opiate addiction.”
Shumlin’s assertion was not just political maneuvering. According to one poll, 4 out 5 new addicts turned to heroin after abusing prescription painkillers.
Even more tellingly, Shumlin’s claim resonates with many current addicts. 32 year-old Andreia Rossi asked: “Why spend 80 dollars on an Oxy 80 when you can get a bag of heroin for 20 bucks?”
“You’re pretty much doing heroin anyway,” said another anonymous user. “It’s much cheaper than doing Oxys.”
In 2012, roughly a million doses of Oxycodone were prescribed in Rutland county alone.
“Not many things make my jaw drop, but this did,” said Clay Gilbert, director of Evergreen Substance Abuse Services. “[It] figures out to 17 pills for every man woman and child in the county.” Per capita, Grand Isle and Bennington had even higher prescription rates.
Furthermore, just like prescription painkillers, heroin can also be snorted and used intravenously. Combine this with its price and availability, and heroin is the ‘logical’ next step.
To parents who have lost their children to heroin, like Kristin Lundy, painkillers are far from logical. In an interview with The Burlington Free Press, Lundy recalled when her 17 year-old Joshua was administered morphine for a severe stomach bug.
“He lit up like a Christmas tree,” she said. “He said it was the best feeling he ever felt and that he wished he could do it forever.”
Lundy attended the sentencing for Kevin Harris, the smuggler who allegedly sold her son the deadly heroin, five years later. Harris was born in a jail, and both of his parents died before he turned 11.
“I’m sorry you didn’t have a good childhood,” read Lundy’s statement to Harris. “We have something in common. We have both suffered great loss due to drugs and addiction. My hope for you is that someday you will experience the love I felt for Josh, and that he felt for his daughter.”
Local Westland native and rehab worker Michelle Flynn was concerned for her own children. “It scares me for people’s well being that it’s this available,” she said in an interview. “I have two young kids – 18 and 20 year old boys – who have not found [heroin], which I am grateful for. But it scares me for that generation. Your generation.”
“I know what addiction life is like,” she recalled, “and I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. It’s not an easy change to give up on what used to be mind altering. What used to be your escape.”
Paramedics and EMTs on the front lines witness this loss firsthand. When the heart and lungs have stopped, a quick response is critical. Permanent brain damage can occur after 4 minutes without oxygen, and death just 5 minutes later. And even by medical standards, heroin overdoses can be messy. EMT Lisa Northup recalled when one semiconscious patient began to vomit onto her on January 9.
“I kept talking to him,” said Northup, “telling him he was going to be alright. I mean, that’s just what we do.” The patient was lucky. Just hours later, Middlebury Regional EMS arrived too late for another heroin victim. For him, “Everything we could do we had done,” recalled Paramedic Kevin Sullivan. “Unfortunately, he had been down too long at that point.”
Consequently, one wonder-drug has helped pull many patients back from the brink of death, including the Salisbury patient that Northup revived. Naloxone hydrochloride — whose trade name is Narcan — is an µ-opioid antagonist that kicks heroin off opiate receptors in the brain.
The drug is administered intravenously by paramedics, or nasally through a device known as an atomizer. The effects of the drug, which untrained civilians can administer, are almost immediate.
Mike Leyden, Deputy Director of Emergency Medical Services at the Department of Health, said the atomizers are an ‘infallible’ safety net. “[They’re] a good reliable safe route,” he said. Still, since heroin in the patient’s system can outlast the Naloxone’s effects, administration should always be accompanied by a 911 call.
In 2013, Vermont Legislature passed Act 75, which aims to provide a “comprehensive approach to combating opioid addiction and methamphetamine abuse in Vermont ... ” As a result of the legislation, the Vermont Department of Health began developing a statewide pilot program to distribute Narcan, which is now available at many health clinics.
“They’re just going to hand it out to folks,” said Chris Bell, director of emergency medical services at the Vermont Department of Health.
“It is a relief for any family member to know there is something they can do immediately if that horrible occasion might occur,” said Nancy Bessett, who lost her husband to heroin last November. “I will always feel guilty because I wasn’t there. If I had been there. If I had Narcan. Maybe I could have revived him.”
For legislators and medical professionals, preventing overdoses is only part of the battle. Establishing programs to rehabilitate heroin users may prove to be an even larger hurdle.
One such positive initiative is Chittenden County’s Rapid Intervention Community Court (RICC). The program is designed to allow addicts to avoid further prosecution if they accept medical treatment shortly after their arrest. Governor Shumlin has called the program a ‘humane’ option for heroin addicts.
After attending just 90 days of counseling, drug treatment and life skills training, RICC attendees can get their charges dropped. At its best, the ‘pre-charge’ initiative helps recovering addicts avoid a criminal record and take back control of their lives.
Heroin users tried in conventional courts often reoffend shortly after their trials. RICC reduces recidivism by focusing on repeat offenders with no violent record and a clear indication of addiction.
“What we’re trying to do is break the cycle,” said Chittenden County State’s Attorney T.J. Donovan. “We can do the same thing that’s not working, or we can do something different.”
The program is effective: only 7.4 percent of recovering addicts that completed the program reoffended. Of those who did not, 25 percent reoffended.
Despite their success, the novel programs are imperfect. Not everyone who applies is accepted, and rapid intervention is harder to implement in rural areas where applicants cannot easily commute.
Emmet Helrich, a manager at the RICC, said the program strikes at the underlying trigger of criminal activity: the user’s health. “Forget about the court case,” Helrich said. “Get healthy.”
Anonymous recovering addict and Burlington mother ‘Jessica’ appreciated the second chance.
“I just needed somebody, one person, to give me a chance and have a little bit of hope,” she said.
Inspired by the success of RICC, Addison, Lamoille, Rutland and Franklin counties have begun to implement similar programs. Governor Shumlin advocated investing $760,000 to expand and strengthen the programs.
Like Shumlin, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick labeled opiate addiction a public health emergency. “We have an epidemic of opiate abuse in Massachusetts, so we will treat it like the public health crisis it is,” Patrick said in a statement.
Because of the interstate nature of the crisis, officers from across the Northeast convened to discuss cooperation. On March 28, roughly 90 officials from Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, as well as members of the US Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Homeland Security met at the Sheriff’s office in Washington County, NY.
The discussion largely focused on two heroin pipelines, Routes 149 and 4, which pass through Washington County into Vermont.
“This will also help us exchange information and tie all the pieces together,” said Washington County Sheriff Jeff Murphy.
Officials determined routes of travel, trends in drug distribution, and began to formalize a cooperation agreement.
Still, Shumlin recognized that solving the heroin crisis in Vermont will take more than just good police work. “We’ve got to stop thinking we can solve this with law enforcement alone,” said Shumlin in an interview with ABC.
Imprisoning a heroin dealer in Vermont is incredibly expensive – around $1,120 a week – or ten times the weekly cost to treat an addict at a state-funded center.
“Today, our state government spends more to imprison Vermonters than we do to support our colleges and universities,” noted Shumlin in his State of the State address.
To many officials, this is an untenable path. Rutland beautification project Rutland Blooms has responded to the influx of heroin with a resilient positivity. The beautification project plants flower gardens around Rutland. It was established by Green Mountain Power and Rutland officials to “highlight the community’s incredible spirit and beauty.”
Yet, Rutland Blooms is more than just flowers. According to their website, the organization consists of over 50 local groups all intent on “supporting and increasing the sense of community that will be necessary to solve the issues the city faces.”
Rutland Mayor Chris Louras has helped spearhead the effort. “This is one more step in efforts to improve the economic and social climate of the community,” Louras said. “Its impact will be visible and symbolic. The outpouring of interest, even before today’s announcement as GMP quietly began planning, has been extraordinary.”
This sense of community is important, especially to those who have lost loved ones to the drug. Skip Gates, whose son Will was studying at UVM when he overdosed, now works to spread awareness of the devastation heroin can cause.
“I never knew anything in human experience could be this hard,” Skip said. “I never knew any human being could feel this much pain. It has redefined the rest of my life.”
In his 2014 State of the State address, Governor Shumlin explained that Skip “speaks for all grieving families.” At the end of the speech, Shumlin called the state to arms: “All of us, together, will drive toward our goal of recovery by working with one another creatively, relentlessly, and without division. We can do this. I have tremendous hope for Vermont, and for our efforts to overcome this challenge and keep the Vermont that we cherish for generations to come."
Graphics by OLIVIA ALLEN
