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(03/12/09 12:00am)
Author: Thomas Meyell USF VICE PRESIDENT STEALS BIKE AND RESIGNSDr. Abdul Rao, vice president of the University of South Florida's (USF) School of Health, resigned after surveillance footage showed him helping a friend steal a bicycle. The bike belonged to a university student. Rao, who was earning $384,000 a year, described his friend as "semi-homeless." Rao could face charges of grand theft if the price of the bike surpasses $300, or a misdemeanor if the price ranges from $100 to $300.Rao resigned days after the allegations surfaced, but his severance package of $60,000 for six weeks of pay caused public scrutiny and USF reopened the case. The case is currently being investigated by the district attorney.In a bizarre twist, Rao rescinded his resignation two days after submitting it. The university rejected his request, saying it would stand by the resignation document. Rao wrote that he was "convinced that the outcome is not compatible with the level of infraction."The bike was returned to its owner, who plans to sell it on eBay. Proceeds will go to his preferred charity, the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital.- The OracleNEWLY PASSED STIMULUS GIVES AID TO STUDENTSThe recent passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 will cut costs for qualifying students and their families. The stimulus package will allow students to receive greater tax credits for a longer duration. Students will now be eligible to receive the scholarship for their first four years of college as opposed to the previous limit of two years.The act will also increase the tax credit for students from $1,800 to $2,500, and will allow tax deductions on additional expenses, such as textbooks or lab materials. President Obama campaigned on a $4,000 credit in tandem with 100 hours of required community service, but the final stimulus package produced trimmed results. - The Jambar NEW YORK STUDENTS AND FACULTY PROTEST TUITIONStudents and faculty from New York University (NYU) and the City University of New York (CUNY) protested proposed tuition increases at a 4 p.m. rally on March 5. The protest comes in the wake of Governor David Paterson's proposal to cut funding for higher education in New York. In November, Paterson announced plans to lower state aid to higher education institutions by $2 million and increase tuition for state-funded universities. CUNY schools last raised tuition in 2003.Students at CUNY-Hunter walked out of classes at 2 p.m. on March 5 to protest the proposed cuts. The Hunter students were among protestors who marched on city hall hours later in a protest organized by a group of organizations called the One New York coalition.Weeks earlier, NYU students and others barricaded themselves inside the NYU cafeteria in what became known as the Kimmel Occupation. Among the group's demands were increased transparency in administrative operations and student representation on the board of trustees. The occupation fell apart soon after security officers and administrators forced their way inside.- Washington Square News
(03/12/09 12:00am)
Author: Rachael Jennings In 2004, Lynn Gordon Bailey, Jr. - "Gordie" - was found dead, his body written on with Sharpies, at the University of Colorado after an extreme hazing incident. If his friends had simply called for help, his life may not have ended so tragically. He is not alone.Every day, six college and university students die from alcohol-related issues.Every year, over 400,000 college students are injured due to alcohol.Over 320 students have died this year.The Gordie Foundation, founded in response to the tragedy that ended Gordie's life, has worked tirelessly to educate college students about the dangers of alcohol and the importance of awareness and responsibility - their slogan is fitting. "Save a life. Make the call."This October, the Foundation held an event called National GORDIEday, during which they offered participating colleges and universities the challenge to design and execute programming about alcohol abuse, hazing and alcohol poisoning.Jyoti Daniere, director of Health and Wellness Education at the College, along with a dedicated team of "Student Wellness Leaders," planned a series of unforgettable events around these issues.Given $500 worth of free materials - from bandanas to carabiners to bottle openers with the Gordie symbol imprinted on them - Daniere and her staff took off running. The Health and Wellness Center had students sign a huge composite photo of Gordie. It was composed of thousands of tiny photos of other victims of alcohol abuse. The unnerving and powerful documentary "HAZE" was shown, and Travis Apgar, assistant dean of students at Cornell University spoke about his own traumatic hazing experiences as a rookie on the football team and as a fraternity pledge. When the Gordie Foundation reviewed the documentation and photos from the College's programming, they commended Middlebury College by selecting the school as the winner of the best overall National GORDIEday event for 2008.The Health and Wellness Center has not stopped there. They will participate in National GORDIEday every year and they continue to advocate education about the dangers and misconceptions of alcohol use and abuse.Daniere stresses that part of the problem on this campus is the falsely formed ideas about drinking: it is actually a relatively small percentage of students who actually abuse alcohol consistently.In the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey conducted earlier this year - in which 604 students participated - students reported that six out of 10 students drink between zero and five alcoholic beverages a week, while 22.7 percent of students do not even drink."The perception is that all Middlebury students are drinking many drinks, several times during the week," said Daniere, "The Core Survey showed that many of our students chose to drink moderately and only once a week."Daniere hopes to work with the idea of social norming. She will begin with a poster campaign that presents statistics such as these - she wants to stress what is really happening versus what students believe is happening on campus."We want students to realize that their peers do not drink as much as they think, and that you don't have to drink that much to fit in," Daniere explained.Daniere recalled those frightening statistics. "Six kids a day? It's just unacceptable."She went on to discuss the death of Nick Garza. "Statistically, it was probably our turn [to lose a student]. I think this is a preventable situation. We do not need to lose another student to an alcohol-related death."The statistics, Daniere explained, are completely remedial."We can change those statistics," she said. "But I'm not at the parties. You are. You have to make this a peer-to-peer effort. Middlebury students need the skills to step forward and say, 'Are you alright? Do you need help?'"The Health and Wellness Center plans on advocating the need for a supportive and empowered community with further programming and outreach, which they have found and continue to find very successful in terms of alcohol awareness and other areas such as healthy dating, perspectives on sexuality and work with stress."I continue to believe that students are very interested in this idea of alcohol abuse prevention - how things could be done differently," Daniere said. "People care about their friends. I'm convinced that we can have fewer bystanders. I'm convinced that we can change this campus."How does Daniere want the campus to change? She envisions a safer, caring environment with more trained and aware students - more students able to recognize when someone needs help. The Health and Wellness Center hopes to provide more training and dialogue around intervention."We have these students who go to Africa and raise vegetables and save babies," said Daniere. "They have this great altruistic spirit of service. They need to bring that here."She urges students to question what they see. When someone is slumped on the curb, unable to walk. When a girl is being dragged off to another room at a party. When a friend is stumbling and not talking coherently."Do the right thing," she urged. "Feel empowered. Reach out and help."
(03/12/09 12:00am)
Author: Sarah Harris On a snowy Monday morning, Steve's Park Diner is a cozy oasis. At 7:30 a.m., the place is already hopping with regulars enjoying full plates of eggs, pancakes and hash browns. I scan the specials: Silver Dollar Pancakes, mushroom and cheese omelets and chipped beef and gravy on toast. Before ordering, I sit down over coffee with Steve Park, the diner's founder. He is cheery, and I already see why the diner has accrued a loyal following over the past 20 years."I came in here 20 years ago," said Steve. "I was a chef up at Middlebury College for 15 years and I always wanted my own business. So we decided to make the break."Park's family was instrumental in the creation of the diner - he credits the help of his wife and daughter in running the organization. "My favorite thing in here," Park said, "is the people. Boy, I get anybody, everybody." Be it college kids in for a late breakfast (served until 2 p.m.), regulars who have been dining for the past 20 years or the Middlebury Union High School football team, which has eaten Park's breakfast before every Friday game since 1989. Steve smiles down at his cup of coffee. Now, he says, football players from decades past bring their young children to the diner. "I like to think we grow our new customers."Over the summer, the diner underwent remodeling and now boasts new carpets, chairs and tables. "I tried to spruce her up a bit," he said. The walls are no longer covered with 1960s-era paneling, but with the work of local artists.My pancakes arrive - steaming discs the size of my entire plate. I am impressed. Yet, pancakes are not Park's only specialty. He also runs a sugaring operation. "All the maple sugar you see in here," said Steve, "is the stuff we make. We go through 500 or 600 gallons of syrup a year." Only once has Park received a request for fake syrup - from, of all people, a high school classmate. Our interview draws to a close, and I'm eager to dive into my food. Steve and I rise to shake hands. He flashes a smile. "Try the maple syrup. We made it last night."
(03/12/09 12:00am)
Author: Grady Ross Vermont maple trees brought $22 million of economic activity to the state last year, and in 2008 the state yielded 500,000 of the nation's 1.635 million gallons of maple syrup. On March 6, Governor Jim Douglas '72 celebrated this maple monopoly amid festivities and ritual at Mead Chapel.Each year, in keeping with Vermont tradition, the Governor taps the "first maple" sometime in early March, officially kicking off the sugaring season. The ceremony rotates locations throughout Vermont from year to year, and this spring the formalities fell into the hands of the Addison County Sugar Makers' Association, which hosted the event at the College. Community members turned out to watch Douglas strike sap and to collect goodies distributed by local sugar makers. Vermont's Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Anson Tebbetts pointed out the importance of the day's events."It signifies the start of a new agricultural season," Tebbetts said. Tebbetts speaks for the entire state: Vermont has a lot to be excited about in the spring. As Douglas pointed out, Vermont is the nation's leader in maple production. Producers are not anticipating a decline this year, even in the current economic climate. "The one bright spot in the agricultural economy right now is the price of maple sugar, which is rising," Tebbetts said. If the maple industry is affected at all, he predicts, it will be affected "in a positive way: so many people are looking to diversify. People are looking to start sugaring who haven't before." This might be attributed to the dynamic aspect of maple production. "The industry is always changing," said Tebbetts. "That's the interesting part." Don Dolliver, a Starksboro sugar maker, has been in the maple business for 20 years. "Technology is different than it used to be," he said, citing innovations like reverse osmosis, pipelines and vacuum lines. "People have the idea that sugaring is about buckets and horses, but that's changed." There are those who remain faithful to original sugaring techniques: Tom Kerr, who taps trees in Goshen, has never used pipeline. Using only buckets he produces 20 to 25 gallons of syrup each year. Douglas used this old-fashioned method during the ceremony, where he successfully hit sap to cheers from the crowd. President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz had something else to cheer about. The College was "thrilled," he said, to have been chosen as the site of the ceremony."We are a part of the local town and state community," he said. "We are linked to Vermont, and this is Vermont at its best. It's a clich
(03/12/09 12:00am)
Author: [no author name found] BASEBALLAfter what Coach Bob Smith called a "disappointing" season last year, the Middlebury Panthers baseball team is looking to rebound this season and achieve the same kind of success that brought them their first NESCAC championship in 2006. The Panthers finished 14-16 last year."Last season was tough," said P/C Nick Angstman '11. "We were really hurt by injuries." Smith also cited injuries as a reason last year's team did not live up to its own expectations. However, those injuries did force younger players to step into bigger roles than they might have otherwise played, and that could translate into more success this spring. "We have very few guys who haven't seen significant time at their positions," said Angstman.The Panthers are looking to revive last year's strong offensive performance, when they recorded the second-highest batting average in the conference, finishing only behind eventual national champion Trinity. Key players in the lineup hoping to maintain last year's hitting success include OF Erich Enns '10, 3B/P Donny McKillop '11, and team captain 1B Mark Shimrock '09, who hit .421 last year on the way to being named to the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association Division-III All-Star team.Pitching and defense were two areas in which the Panthers struggled last season, finishing seventh in the conference in both team ERA and fielding percentage. However, Smith said that this season the team can improve in both of those categories. "One of our main goals is to reduce free bases, such as those given up by errors and walks," he said. The pitching rotation this season is anchored by Angstman and seniors Steve Shortle '09, Rob Palladino '09 and Matt Joseph '09. Other key players on the defensive side include SS Dave Miranowski '09 and outfielders Enns, Alex Blair '10 and Tim Dillon '09. The biggest question the Panthers have this spring involves the catching position, which Smith calls an "open situation." Angstman will see time at both pitcher and catcher, and other players will compete for the spot. If the Panthers can fill the catcher's position and improve in the areas where they struggled last year, the squad has the potential for a competitive year. Said Angstman, "If we can throw strikes and make the routine plays this year, I think we'll fare well.""We have been coming to practice with a purpose and we have been getting better every day," said Shimrock, who hopes to lead his team to NESCAC playoffs. "As long as we continue to come to practice with a desire to get better everyday and maintain a high level of focus, we can achieve this goal."-Dillon Hupp, Staff WriterSOFTBALLThe women's softball team has an enormous amount of potential this season, with many key returning players and a motivated freshman class. Led by strong senior co-captains Natalie Komrovsky '09 and Amelia Magistrali '09, the team will surely be ready to take on NESCAC competition this season.The team as a whole gained a lot of experience last season. Specifically, the current sophomore class includes seven of the 14 members of the team and now has a season under their belt. "We had a lot of young players starting last year and that experience is sure to help us this season," said Nellie Wood '11.Starting a new tradition, the team will travel to Southern California over spring break this year to practice outdoors and play their first 11 games - including their NESCAC opener against Williams - at Pomona-Pitzer."While it's been frustrating playing inside during the preseason, we should be ready to hit the ground running when our season begins over spring break," said Magistrali. "It's a really important trip, not only because we finally begin our season outdoors, but we'll be playing three games against Williams at the end of the week. We want to send a message right from the beginning of the season that we're ready to compete with the top NESCAC teams this year." The competition will definitely be strong in the NESCAC west division, but the women's softball team will be competitive, vying for one of the top two spots to qualify for the NESCAC tournament.- Elissa Goeke, Staff WriterMEN'S TENNISThe Middlebury tennis team hopes to come out swinging when the spring season kicks off this Saturday at NYU. Undeniably one of the top D-III programs in the nation, the Panthers won the NCAA national championship in 2004 and have earned six straight trips to the NCAA final four. When asked about goals for the season, tri-captain Andrew Thomson '10 was firm in his conviction. "There is no denying that our team goal is to win a National Championship this spring," he said.The Panthers are also looking to regain their NESCAC crown which they had held from '04-'07 but lost in the finals last year. This year's team seems to be poised to do just that. Although the team graduated a top national player in Filip "The Flash" Marinkovic '08, the tri-captains - Thomson, Andrew Lee '10 and Conrad Olson '09 - point to the depth and work ethic of the team as great strengths. The tri-captains also prided the team on their singles play, but said that there was work to be done with the doubles squads. The incoming first-years will undoubtedly add depth and strength to the program."It is refreshing to know that if senior players suffer injuries," said Olson, "we have excellent first-year players ready to step in and play - [if they aren't] already playing, of course."While many Middlebury students will be stuck on campus over spring break, the tennis team will be in California for some early season matches and training. The trip will allow the team to start their season with some stiff competition from D-III and D-I schools. The matches in California will also set the tone for the season."They will be a chance to make an impression on some of the better teams," said Lee. Back east, the Panthers will face some tough competitors in the NESCAC from the likes of Williams and Amherst. Although confident, when pressed for predictions, the tri-captains refused to commit to any results; rather, they stressed that the team members will work and play as hard as they can. - Martin Breu, Staff WriterWOMEN'S TENNISPanther women's tennis starts up again this weekend with the Middlebury Invitational, a two-day event in which Middlebury will compete against teams from Brandeis, NYU, Connecticut College and Bates College.According to senior co-captain Clare Burke '09, "[the team] has been working really hard during this preseason and I think everyone is ready to have that work translate into solid match play."The spring season will be filled with challenging matches against some of the best Division III teams in the country, including the top-ranked Williams College team and the number two ranked squad from Washington and Lee. The Panthers struggled with injuries in the fall, and once again will be missing some key players for the first few weeks of the spring season due to injuries. "The diagnoses for the most part have been positive and it seems that none of [the injuries] are super serious," said Burke. "A couple of players have to take a week or two off. Even so, I think the team is looking good. People worked very hard in the off-season, especially our freshmen, and it shows. I think we are going to have a very good season."The team certainly has a great outlook for the season, and hopes that under the guidance of captains Burke and Elizabeth Stone '09, the players will be able to win their first NESCAC championship this spring. "We have a fairly young team with five freshmen, but everyone is very talented and dedicated," said Annie Weinberg '10. "We certainly have a shot at beating some of the top teams." Taking the numerous team injuries into account, the team hopes that its attitude and hard work in the off-season will translate into a successful spring.- Alex Lovett-Woodsum, Staff WriterMEN'S LACROSSEAfter being unceremoniously dethroned in the NESCAC semifinals, the date with Williams on April 24 cannot come soon enough for the Panthers. The loss, and the season as a whole, was less an indicator of a slip in Panther skill than of the emerging parody in Division III lacrosse. The men's streak of eight consecutive NESCAC championships ended last year, but the storied program seems poised to start anew this season. Ranked by InsideLacrosse and LaxPower as preseason #3 and #4, respectively, it would appear that the lacrosse world agrees.The Panthers are losing several key players from last year's quarterfinals run. The attack will continue to use a heavy dose of Pete Smith's '10 distributing, Matt Ferrer's '09 crease work and Tom Petty's '09 dodging, but they lose honorable mention all-American Jim Cabrera '08 and his 23 goals from a year ago. Cabrera's size, strength and powerful shot complemented others' strengths and created space for strong midfield dodges. David Hild '12 took this past off-season very seriously, adding muscle and honing his shot in preparation to fill Cabrera's large shoes.On the defensive side, Middlebury has a very young corps of long poles. The Panthers lost honorable mention all-American John Bambrick '08 and second team all-American James Guay at close defense, as well as long-pole midfield specialist Glenn Bickley '08. Charlie Schopp '10 returns at close defense with football standout Mike Quinn '09, but three first-year players, Matt Rayner '12, Briggs Davis '12 and Henry Clark '12 will see extensive time. Captain Pete Britt '09 gained a critical year of experience between the pipes last season, but the success of the defense rides on the ability of youngsters to step up.After a drought of NCAA finals appearances, the Panthers look to prove that they belong with the likes of Gettysburg, Salisbury and Cortland State as perennial title-contenders. The team has assembled the pieces around NESCAC player of the year and first team all-American Mike Stone '09, but the real question is if they will fit. Let's hope that this time when Williams rolls into town with their vertically-challenged goalie, we can remember it as the game that sparked the run, not the game that ended the streak.- Jeb Burchenal, Staff WriterWOMEN'S LACROSSEMiddlebury women's lacrosse ended last season with a 9-7 loss to Hamilton in the NCAA regional final. That was the first time the team did not make an appearance in the Final Four in 14 years.This year, they are looking to make history in a different way. With a new defensive method and some talented offensive threats, the squad has different plans for this season.Middlebury's defense seems like it will be the backbone of the team. Last year Middlebury played with a zone in the defensive end but this year the team is switching to a different plan of attack. Attacker Chase Delano '11 commented that "the new 'D' we will be using is a lot more intimidating and aggressive and will rattle a lot of the attack that we face on opposing teams this season."Anchored by a pair of senior co-captains - defender Taryn Petrelli '09 and goalie Blair Bowie '09 - the Panther defense is up to the challenge of adjusting its tactics. "They are speedy and aggressive and have been working great together in the new defensive system," Delano added.Middlebury's offensive squad has the potential to be some of the fiercest competition in the league. After losing some high scoring seniors, Middlebury will look to different players to generate scoring opportunities this season, relying on upperclassmen Dana Heritage '10 and tri-captain Kate Barton '09."We have big shoes to fill after losing seniors like Katherine Entwisle and Mimi Shatz on attack, but we also have some new rookie talent to look forward to, as well as some returners who really know how to light it up," said Delano, who proved to be an offensive threat last year in her freshman campaign.Whether on offense or defense, the players on the Middlebury team are well prepared for the exciting challenges that the season will bring. The Panthers opened the season with a 14-6 win over Bates College and will play their first home game on Friday, March 13 against Babson.- Julia Ireland, Staff Writer GOLFAfter the long winter hiatus, the men's and women's golf teams are ready to break out their clubs and hit the ground running. Both teams had very strong fall seasons, putting them in a great position to go to nationals. "We're definitely excited to start the spring season again," said Courtney Mazzei '11, who placed first overall in the NESCAC Tournament and led the team as the Panthers clinched NESCACs last October at Williams. The Panthers are hoping to follow up on last year's 14th-place finish at the Division III national tournament in Iowa. They are ranked fourth in the nation after their fall season and are poised to make a return. "We're going to have to overcome the rustiness from the winter," she said. "We're all working back into it and spring break is going to be really important for us." The team is going to Florida over break to fine tune for the upcoming season. "We're really optimistic," said Liz Hirsch '11. "We have everything we need; the biggest challenge is going to be putting it together."The men's team is also looking to capitalize on their strong fall and make another run at Nationals. "Last year in the spring, we made a really big push to qualify for nationals and fell just short," said Brian Cady '11. "We know going into this year that we can do it."The Panthers hosted the NESCAC qualifier last September and put on a show for the home crowd, coming in first and setting the stage for the NESCAC finals this April. The key to success for the men is going to be beating these schools again and having a strong spring break. "Mike McCormick '09 is going to be the senior we're going to look to for a solid performance," said Cady. "We have the people that can shoot the scores to make nationals."The season opens up in Florida, at the Division III national course against Williams. The Ephs, Hamilton, and Trinity are going to be the Panthers' biggest rivals, with all three schools coming to Middlebury for the NESCAC finals. If the Panthers can beat them again, they will receive an automatic bid to Nationals. - James Schwerdtman, Staff WriterTRACK AND FIELDAnyone intimately acquainted with the track and field world will tell you that the indoor season is really more of a buildup to outdoor than a true season in its own right. It essentially serves as a barometer to outdoor success, and if this year's indoor season is any indication, the Middlebury track and field team should be in good shape making the transition from the bubble to the track this spring. Both the women's and men's squads, after 3rd- and 7th-place respective finishes in NESCACs last spring, are looking to build upon last year's success. "The competition is going to be harder this year," said Alice Wisener '11. "Based on indoor results, it looks like we are going to have a better team and will be able to compete at a higher level." The women's middle-distance and distance events in particular look poised for a great season, building off the success of both the women's cross country and indoor seasons. Kaitlynn Saldanha '11 will be one to watch in the spring after qualifying provisionally for Nationals in the indoor season in the 800-meter event. Sophia Spring '11 saw a great rookie season last spring running the 1500 and 3000 and will likely add another dimension to the women's distance success this season. After breaking school records in both the 500 and 600 in the indoor season, Katy Magill '11 promises to carry the middle-distance team into the spring season, while rookie Becca Fanning '12, running well in both the 500 and 600m indoors, is hoping to add to the success of this talented bunch in the 400. A solid core of senior leaders, anchored by co-captains Kelley Coughlan '09 and Jen Katz '09, will carry this relatively young team into the season. Jen Brenes, also a senior and current 100-meter hurdles school record holder, should be another invaluable veteran while rookie Mia Martinez '12, building off success in the 55m hurdles in indoor, represents just one athlete in a very talented class of first-years.On the men's side, an excellent jumping crew, led by pole vaulters Adam Dede '11 and a currently-injured Kristoffer Williams '11, could shape up to be one of the best in the NESCAC. Leadership should be provided by a good group of seniors including captains Ben Fowler '09 in the 800 and Chandler Koglmeier '09 in the hammer throw. Look to Micah Wood '10, an all-NESCAC and all-New England runner in the 200 and 400, to lead the mid-distance sprinters and keep an eye open for up-and-coming rookies John Montroy '12 in the 110 hurdles and Mike Schmidt '12, current school record holder in the 3000. The goal of the season, according to Martin Beatty '84, is to "do as best as we can in our conference," hopefully culminating in a team win in NESCACs. Going into a challenging season, he believes the key to success will be "really good strength across the board," something such a diverse and talented team seems to have in full supply. While only time will tell for this Middlebury team, prospects for a successful spring season look good. - Alyssa O'Gallagher, Staff Writer
(03/05/09 12:00am)
Author: Ben Benson With midterms fast approaching, I know I'm not the only one playing catch-up on readings and assignments. Often this requires staying up late, waking up early and a little extra focus in class. And where do most people turn when they need a little boost? Caffeine. It's common knowledge that caffeine helps people stay up later and operate on a little less sleep than usual, and nearly 275 million Americans drink caffeinated beverages regularly.The two most popular sources of caffeine are tea and coffee. Aside from water, tea is the most consumed beverage on the planet. The amount of caffeine in coffee and tea varies greatly, but typically a cup of coffee is considered to have around 100 mg of caffeine while a cup of tea has around 60 mg of caffeine. In comparison, a 12 oz. Coke has about 35 mg of caffeine, and a Red Bull 80 mg. But how much is helpful, and how much is too much?Typically two to three cups of coffee, or 200-300 mg of caffeine a day, is considered a moderate amount and perfectly healthy. Aside from the commonly known benefits of caffeine, such as increased alertness and decreased drowsiness, caffeine has been recently found to have several other benefits. For one, caffeine increases the metabolic rate by 10 percent over the following several hours after consumption, and even helps with the digestion of some fatty acids. Caffeine allows the body to burn fatty acids 30 percent more efficiently. Also, even though caffeine won't speed up the sobriety process, it can help with a hangover. A hangover headache is caused by enlarged cranial blood vessels and caffeine is known to constrict these vessels. For the same reason, caffeine can be found in several over-the- counter painkillers. Lastly, many sports nutritionists agree that caffeine can delay muscle fatigue if taken prior to exercise and can increase muscle recovery if taken after exercise, yet frequently very large amounts are needed (more than 500 mg) to feel this effect. These levels of caffeine may have several negative side effects so large doses may not be such a good idea.Ever gotten the shakes or jitters from too many late night coffees? Excess caffeine can cause a variety of issues from sleeplessness to anxiety to abnormal heart rhythms. Also, dehydration is known to be a common side affect of caffeine. It's not the actual chemical that causes dehydration, but caffeine increases blood flow to the kidneys. This causes the kidneys to work faster than normal, processing urine at an increased rate, leading to more frequent trips to the bathroom. Dehydration can be easily overcome by consuming water or other caffeine-free beverages, but not much will help with trying to avoid an overactive bladder.The most troublesome quality of caffeine is its addictive nature. Caffeine, like cocaine and heroin, increase the body's dopamine levels. Dopamine affects the body by activating parts of the brain that control other functions like sleep, mood and attention. The effects are much duller than those of heroin and cocaine, but the body still enjoys the boost. If you think you might be consuming caffeine in excess, try gradually reducing how much caffeine you consume in a day. This may help avoid the withdrawal feelings of irritability, grogginess and headaches. For tea lovers, a way to reduce the amount of caffeine in a cup of tea is to reduce steeping time. There are several types of decaf herbal teas. Caffeine is beneficial, just be aware of how much you're consuming. For a chart of the approximate mg of caffeine in different types of tea, coffee, chocolate and other beverages, check out the Web site www.faqs.org/nutrition/Ca-De/Caffeine.html.
(03/05/09 12:00am)
Author: Jaime Fuller From Feb. 28-March 2, nearly 12,000 college students converged on the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., for Power Shift 2009. The national youth climate change summit offered a chance for student leaders to exchange ideas on how to prevent global warming on both a national and local scale, and offered a plethora of panels, workshops and speakers with experts sharing their knowledge on the issues. The event culminated on Monday with a lobby day at the Capitol, the largest in our nation's history relating to climate and energy policy.Middlebury demonstrated its fidelity to the environmental cause with a delegation of 194 students, bested by a narrow margin by the University of Vermont's group of 198 students. Middlebury was not only well represented by its youth - several faculty members made an appearance at the weekend's events including Scholar-in-Residence Bill McKibben and Luce Professor of International Environmental Economics Jon Isham.Isham expressed his enthusiasm for the energy and scope of the conference while moderating a panel titled, "Cap Carbon & Trade? Invest? Auction? Dividend?: A Conversation that Explores all the Options!""This is a moment to celebrate," he said. "A pinch-me moment for many of us."McKibben felt he had to counter some of the overpowering optimism at Power Shift with a dose of urgency and a quick reality check "I feel like I am being Captain Downer, but it's been my job for a long time," said McKibben, during a panel titled, "The Road to Copenhagen: The Future of International Climate Change Legislation." "The window is starting to close, not just on our species, but on a lot of other species too."However, McKibben's realism does not stop him from being an outspoken environmental activist. He is one of the creators of the www.350.org movement and he helped organize the mass civil disobedience march at the Capitol Power Plant on March 2, where activists occupied all gates to the government-owned coal-fired power plant.The panels and workshops catered to people interested in the many facets of the climate change movement, and even offered options that focused on broader social justice issues. Session tracks included campus organizing, skills training, new media, international, green jobs and the economy dismantling oppression, faith and spirituality, as well as many others. Prominent speakers such as Van Jones, Adam Gardner and Majora Carter were featured in the nighttime program, and were often met with standing ovations and thunderous applause. President Barack Obama's role in the quest for climate change policy was an unmistakable theme of the conference, and many of the speakers and panels focused, or at least mentioned, the new administration."We are in the Obama era," said Carter in her keynote address on Friday night. "I have to tell you its not only Obama the president, but Obama the acronym. Obama is an acronym for 'Officially Behaving as Magnificent Americans.'"The high level of organizing and thought put into the Power Shift national summit can be seen on a local level in the amount of planning required to transport and house 194 Middlebury students 500 miles from campus. Two buses, powered by biodiesel, transported most of the students to and from the conference, and housing was mostly decentralized, with native students offering their homes to friends and others crashing with friends of the family or anybody willing to offer a floor to a Middlebury student. The aura of youth and change pervaded Power Shift this year, and was especially apparent in the event's reliance on new media and technology to communicate with participants and to share what was occurring at the conference with the rest of the world. In order to know where panels and workshops were being held and to receive updates on changes to the schedule, participants sent text messages frequently throughout the weekend. Speakers, like Representative Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and former mayor of Salt Lake City Rocky Anderson, even called for students to text during their speeches, and the organizers of Power Shift told participants to tag their photos and videos on YouTube and Flickr so they could use participant-generated content for a slide show. Middlebury students also were involved in documenting the conference; Mori Rothman '11 filmed much of the weekend, and plans on posting his video on YouTube sometime next week.All of the activity on Saturday and Sunday was in preparation for Lobby Day on Monday, where around 5,000 activists overtook the Capitol and pushed their representatives to move quickly to pass climate change legislation. However, the blizzard that struck D.C. on Monday, while not daunting for the energized youth, did prevent several well-known speakers in national government, such as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Markey, from attending. According to Sarah Simonds '11, this did not stop the visit to the Capitol from being an inspiring event."We managed to visit representatives from all 50 states, and there were 12 to 50 people at each meeting," she said. "You couldn't walk down the hallways without seeing groups of young people in green hard hats."An oft-repeated theme at the conference was that the majority of the action taken to prevent global warming would take place not at the conference center or lobby day, but at a local level when participants returned back to their respective campuses. The Middlebury attendees who are also active members of the Sunday Night Group (SNG), the largest environmental group on campus, were positive that they would be able to transform the energy and ideas at the conference into tangible change back on campus. It's awesome to see so many inspired young leaders in the same place for the same reason," said Nathan Blumenshine '09.5. "Knowing we have 10 percent of the student body that is willing to travel, listen and change their habits for the weekend gives me hope that we can reach the whole campus instead of just SNG."Many of the Power Shift participants who have never been involved with SNG have already expressed interest to use what they learned in D.C. to help accomplish things in Vermont. "I always have been interested in the environment
(03/05/09 12:00am)
Author: Molly West The Middlebury men's swimming and diving team took sixth place with 781 points at this past weekend's NESCAC Championship at Wesleyan University. Williams, Tufts and Amherst finished in 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively. Support from many Middlebury swimming alumni and family members of the swimmers and divers increased the excitement of the entire meet. Although the competition was intense, the friendly NESCAC aura resonated throughout the weekend, and was highlighted when the teams and spectators danced a little jig to Andy Collins' '12 bagpipes on Sunday evening prior to the finals. The men's team members were entirely supportive of one another and truly made the season a genuine team experience. Kevin O'Rourke '09 mentioned that "the guys rallied around each other and we had almost every single guy accomplish lifetime bests." The swimming competition this year was unusually tough, but Middlebury grasped hold of the challenge and many individuals broke school, pool and personal records. Kevin Glatt '11 impressively dropped seconds off of his 100- and 200-yard butterfly time. Senior Zach Woods placed 3rd in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 151.32, setting a school record which qualified him for the NCAA Championship meet in a couple of weeks. But he did not stop competing there. He also stole 8th place in the 50-yard backstroke, and fifth place in the 100-yard backstroke. Two rookie swimmers, Nick Daly '12 and Andy Collins '12 both had particularly strong performances. Daly "had an incredible night swim in his 100 free," according to O'Rourke, and Collins swam a lifetime best in his 1650-yard freestyle, dropping 50 seconds off his time. The relay teams competed particularly well. The 400-yard medley relay team, comprised of Woods, O'Rourke, Matt Vukich '11 and Schuyler Beeman '10, finished in fifth place with a time of 3:25.54. The 200-yard freestyle relay team, comprised of Beeman , O'Rourke, Jay Li '11 and Nick Daly '12, erased a 10-year-old school record by more than half a second.The same swimmers also competed in the 400-yard freestyle relay, which had a jaw-dropping result. The relay team entered the meet seeded in fifth place with a time of 3:16 and managed to surprise everyone in the pool by dropping 12 seconds and seizing second place. Beeman also recorded an impressive individual accomplishment, as he swam into fifth place in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.74. O'Rourke had an incredible individual performance in his 200-yard freestyle, finishing in second place with a time of 1:38.22 in the preliminary race. He broke a 13-year-old NESCAC conference record, as well as the meet and Wesleyan pool record, and currently holds the fourth fastest time in the country for the 200-yard freestyle event. O'Rourke also took fifth place in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:31.36, breaking the school-best time. His striking performance continued as he swam into second place in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 45.30. From here, as the few NCAA qualifiers continue to train in anticipation of the championship meet happening March 17-21, the rest of the team will recover from the strenuous season.
(03/05/09 12:00am)
Author: James Schwerdtman Katy Magill '11 paced the Panthers last weekend at the Open New England Championships at Boston University. The meet brought together the top track and field athletes from every collegiate division."This week was a little different," said Magill. "We were running against some really good teams like Southern Maine and UConn, and it was nice running against some really talented people."Magill had a great performance at Division III New England's, in which she tied the school record in the 600-meter run while setting a new personal record. The sophomore followed it up last weekend with a time of 1:18 in the 500-meter run, breaking the school record and giving her a new personal record. "Katy had a great race," said Grace Close '11, who was not in competition after suffering a stress fracture. "She was running against some really fast girls and did really well." "[Katy] had a great weekend, and it was really great to see her break her personal record," said captain Kelley Coughlan '09. After a long season, it is typical to see the times become more and more similar, but this was not the case over the weekend. "I felt pretty good going into the weekend," said Magill, "but I guess I did a little better than expected."While Magill had a more than impressive day, the rest of the team also performed very well. The Panthers only had a small team at the meet this weekend, with the regular season coming to a close a few weeks ago. For the men, Adam Dede '12 and Michael Schmidt qualified for the meet, with Dede traveling to Boston to compete in the pole vault. The women sent a larger group of girls although some of the core distance runners, including Close, were not present at the meet, despite qualifying. Becca Fanning '12 ran the 500-meter with Magill and came in with a very solid time of 1:19. Kaitlynn Saldanha '11, who has been having a very strong season and provisionally qualified for nationals in the 600-meter run, came in at 2:15 in the 800-meter run, finishing in the top 10. Jen Brenes '09 and Mia Martinez '12 both had solid performances in the 55-meter hurdles, with times of 8.68 and 9.16 seconds, respectively.The women's distance medley had a personal record on the day, coming in 10 seconds faster than their previous time with a finish of 12:25. This finish gave them eighth-place against a tough field and gave the Panthers their sole point for the meet. From here, the team continues to look to the spring season and the spring trip to San Diego, where the Panthers kick off competition. "Everyone is doing really well at this point," said Magill. "We're training really well and our freshmen look really strong." Next weekend are the ECAC's, and the Panthers will be sending Dede, Coughlan, and Saldanha to compete.
(03/05/09 12:00am)
Author: Lea Calderon-Guthe To see Robert Jensen standing behind the wooden podium at the front of Ilsley Public Library's basement meeting room, no one would have guessed that this slight, bespectacled and amiable man, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin's School of Journalism, would condemn the direction of today's society and paint a picture of the end of the world.But on Feb. 28. as the 15 or so audience members gasped in shock or nodded in righteous agreement, Jensen graphically described the state of pornography and used it as a measure of our society's ills. He began very simply."Pornography is what the end of the world looks like," Jensen said. "If you look at pornography honestly, what you will see is a vision of a set of values, values rooted in hierarchical systems around gender, around race and around an economic system that I think are fundamentally unjust and unsustainable. If you look at especially the direction pornography is going and is likely to continue, what you see is a very disturbing picture about what the end of these systems looks like. And it ain't pretty."The Addison County Coalition against Domestic and Sexual Violence organized Jensen's talk, titled "The Pornification of Pop Culture," and most of the audience members were women from domestic violence and child abuse prevention programs. Jensen's approach to pornography elicited many nods and knowing looks in these women as he stressed again and again his fundamental theory of pornography: the eroticized subordination and domination of women. He supported this theory with an explicit depiction of the evolution of the sexual script in pornographic films - these films, generally of heterosexual intercourse produced for a target audience of primarily heterosexual white men, are what Jensen meant when he referred to pornography. When pornographic films first became socially acceptable in the '50s and '60s, they featured primarily vaginal intercourse between a man and a woman. By the '80s and early '90s, anal sex was a wildly popular feature, and in today's pornography Jensen cited acts known as double penetration, gagging and a-- to mouth as common elements. Why the change in the sexual script? Jensen said an executive in the porn industry explained it to him the best when asked about the move to anal sex in the '80s."Anal sex is not part of the regular sexual preference of most straight women," Jensen said. "[The porn executive] said, 'Men know this.' He said, 'When men get pissed off at women, they think to themselves, 'Boy, I'd like to f--- you in the a--' as payback. But most men are not in situations where they can do it, so they like to watch it done to women on the screen.'"The brutality reflected in this response is the same motivation Jensen pointed to behind the more recent pornographic evolutions.He placed his theory in line with femininist critiques of pornography - that pornography itself is not a bad thing, but that the way in which it is made and the attitude it reflects towards women are horribly damaging to both women and society."We could have had pornographic scripts that were focused on egalitarian sexuality with mutual pleasure, with lots of foreplay and expressions of intimacy and caring," Jensen said. "It didn't happen."Melissa Deas of the Domestic Abuse Education Program, which works with men who commit acts of violence towards women or children, raised the issue of porn's psychological effects on men."Men objectify themselves as well as they objectify women," Deas said. "We need to go deeper into that and think about teaching men to view themselves as sacred and their sexuality as sacred and precious."Jensen acknowledged this idea, but not to the extent Deas wanted. She called for social reform at the ground level in teaching men that their bodies are sacred life-givers just as women are taught that their bodies are sacred vessels for life. But Jensen only went as far as recognizing the objectification of men. "[Men] are trained to take all of the complexity that comes with being human and reduce it to this task of obtaining sexual pleasure," Jensen said. "In a patriarchal society, that's how sex is most commonly defined for men."According to Jensen, in pornography, everybody loses their humanity, but the consequences remain considerably more dire for women than for men. To illustrate his argument, he referred to noted writer Margaret Atwood's famous description of fear between the sexes. When Atwood asked a group of men why they were afraid of women, they said they were afraid to be laughed at. When Atwood asked a group of women why they were afraid of men, they said they were afraid to be killed.Jensen's argument is that pornography increasingly propagates both of these fears, and it does so ever more effectively as it infiltrates pop culture in more seemingly inocuous realms."You can see the paradox I'm raising," Jensen said. "In a civilized society, how is it that you can have a mass media that becomes more and more accepted at the same time it is becoming more and more cruel and degrading to women and more and more overtly racist?"At the culmination of his talk, Jensen summed up his characterization of pornography as industrially produced and marketed upon the subjugation of women in a sexual way.He answered his own question using his earlier proposal of pornography as a depiction of the end of the world."Pornography calls into question the assumption that we are a civilized society, that in fact the systems out of which our society is built are truly civilized," Jensen said. "If you have an unleashed patriarchy, an unleashed white supremacy and an unleashed, predatory corporate capitalism, [pornography] is the image of the world that they produce [...] an image in which the most important feature is that there is no empathy possible."Jensen's portrayal of contemporary society is not optimistic But despite his forecast of doom and gloom he remained inspired and he hoped to spur his audience to action rather than depress them."If the world were a bad place just because people were bastards, you couldn't fight that," Jensen said. "Human beings are what they are. If you can see that human nature is channeled through institutions and systems, then you can say, 'Well, I can fight that,' and so it creates the possibility of action. "For me, that action doesn't have to come with guarantees of short-term results to be meaningful."
(02/26/09 12:00am)
Author: Lea Calderon-Guthe "What powers a learning community? Apparently, wood chips," said Bill McKibben, scholar-in-residence in environmental studies, at the official launch of the Biomass Plant at the College on Feb. 19. Trustees, faculty, staff and students toured the new facility as part of the launch event, and President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz sought to describe the plant's significance best in his celebratory opening speech."This is no ordinary energy plant," Liebowitz said. "Biomass gasification demonstrates a new technology that cuts the College's consumption of heating oil in half, saving about a million gallons a year while reducing our carbon dioxide emissions by about 40 percent, or 12,500 metric tons per year."The biomass facility turns wood chips into carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the gasification chamber and then ignites those gases in a boiler. Steam from the boiler is used for heating and cooling in most of the buildings on campus, and on its way out of the plant the steam cogenerates about 20 percent of Middlebury's electricity. The biomass plant is designed to handle the College's base heating load 365 days a year and the wood chips will replace half of the number 6 oil the College uses. The plant also represents the largest step Middlebury has made toward its goal of carbon neutrality by 2016, a goal proposed largely because of student initiative."This whole process has been student-driven with tremendous student involvement the whole way," said Executive Vice President and Treasurer of the College Bob Huth. "I think that's one of the reasons that Middlebury has advanced as far as it has - we probably would not have a biomass facility had it not been for our students."The College first assessed its carbon footprint in 2003 when a Winter Term course taught by Professor of Chemistry Lori Del Negro and Luce Professor of International Environmental Economics Jon Isham produced a report proposing potential objectives and strategies for reducing campus climate impact. A Carbon Reduction Work Group reviewed the proposals and determined that gasifying biomass was an economically feasible way to reduce the College's footprint. Then, the Biomass Energy Research Corporation surveyed the area for biomass and verified that it was also environmentally feasible and locally sustainable. Building a biomass plant became part of not only reducing the College's carbon output but becoming completely carbon neutral by 2016 following the Board of Trustees' approval of student organization MiddShift's proposal in May 2007. The Board's pproval came after a campaign by Sunday Night Group (SNG), Middlebury's largest student environmental organization, achieved significant student response in the form of a petition and a task force chaired by Huth and made up of students and administrative staff outlined a path to carbon neutrality including the Biomass Plant as a key component. Like Huth, Chester Harvey '09, an active member of SNG and Huth's Carbon Neutrality Task Force, credits student support for a large part of the Carbon Neutrality Intitiave's success. "I think most students are at least interested in why the biomass plant was built," said Harvey. "While the administration may be handling the details and the action of the program, it's still the students who are kind of sitting behind the scenes and prodding them to keep going."Billie Borden '09, another member of the Carbon Neutrality Task Force, emphasized not only student leadership in the success of the Biomass Project, but also the unique collaboration between students, faculty and staff."For me, the most memorable part of the whole thing was actually being able to have an important role on these committees and as a student being taken seriously and being able to contribute to important discussions on the College's carbon footprint," Borden said. "I was increasingly impressed with how well the College and staff work with students and really value that relationship."Measuring the success of the Biomass Plant from a purely economic standpoint, the College has invested in a $12 million facility that will ultimately pay for itself in approximately 10 years depending on the cost of oil, and then continue to save money. Diversifying the fuel supply with wood chips also decreases the College's dependence on oil while stimulating the local economy."The focus hasn't been on if it would be nice to do this - it's been on solving real-world problems that have an economic rationale to them," Huth said. "To me, this is a case-in-point where we've diversified our fuel supply, we've done something that has a payback for us and the local economy, and we have the great benefits of reducing the carbon produced. It's a win-win-win situation, and to me that's what you call a real-world solution to a problem we're all trying to correct."The Biomass Plant's success is widely acclaimed, but to a leader in the field of institutional sustainability like Middlebury College, there is more to be done. Even though the wood chips for the Biomass Plant are currently collected within 75 miles of the campus, the College seeks to shrink its definition of 'local' even more. Environmental studies students are currently investigating the environmental impact of 1200 acres of willow trees based on a 10-acre test plot west of campus. If the willow trees prove to be environmentally friendly, the College has plans to grow its own fuel and supply 25 percent of its heating needs. The willow project would further benefit the greater Middlebury community as well. "We have a lot of fields in the area that nobody does anything with, so if we were to have landowners be able to grow a cash-crop - willows - that works, it would really help the economy within Addison County," Huth said.The College has reduced its need for oil by one million gallons, about half, but there remains the second million-gallon question: how will Middlebury reduce the rest of its carbon emissions? After the rest of the oil, Isham and the Carbon Neutrality Initiative point to transportation as the next major source of carbon emissions for the College, and even as the Biomass Plant continues to receive nationwide attention, students, faculty and staff are already tackling the other 60 percent of the College's carbon emissions. "I am utterly stunned, in awe and so proud," Isham said. "Everything about [the Biomass Plant] speaks to the best of what we can do, including the sense that we have to do more. One of the things I really admire about environmental studies as an academic department is that while we are quite proud of what we do, we are always trying to do better, and I think that is something that gets at the core of what makes our college and the entire Middlebury community such a strong place. We're proud of what we do, but we don't rest on our laurels too much. Genuine celebration is well-merited, but we also have a sense of, 'Okay, what next?' It's that sense of moving forward that is such a special part of this community."The students involved with the Biomass Project are looking forward already, as well. Borden, who is graduating, hopes other students will continue to step up. "I definitely would like to see students maintain an interest in helping to plan [carbon neutrality]," Borden said. "I think there are a lot of really exciting things going on at a national level and even at a state level in terms of increasing the sustainability of our operations. I think if you want to be invested in where you are, then this carbon neutrality commitment is a really great way to take an active role in shaping the environment at Middlebury. I want to see that excitement about the project sustain itself."Harvey is also graduating, but before he leaves he has set some new goals for SNG and continued expectations for the student body as a whole."I think that the College has done a really good job identifyi
ng places where the institution can make really big changes to take a large bite out of our carbon footprint," Harvey said. "What we haven't done such a good job with, and what I think SNG could help with a lot potentially, is figuring out ways to mobilize students to do something about [carbon neutrality] themselves. There are all of these things that form a much smaller piece of the pie but can really be used as an educational tool in everyday energy conservation."The College is itself an educational tool in that it sets an example for other institutions. It has become one of the leading models in collegiate carbon neutrality, but according to Huth, its success will not be easy to emulate. "Other institutions have asked questions like, 'How do you do this? How do you get an institutional goal of carbon neutrality by 2016, how do you affect carbon reductions, how do you get the community engaged?'" Huth said. "They'd like to replicate that, and it's very hard to replicate because it's in the Middlebury College DNA and to a great extent it's driven by our students. We have this environmental program and over the course of the years it has become embedded in the culture. It's something that students get excited about because they will have to deal with the environment longer than we will."
(02/12/09 12:00am)
Author: Nicole Lam The five women sitting in the car knew what to do.Their performance was going to start in 10 minutes. After struggling to find a parking spot at the venue, they spotted a police officer. After signalling that they would be receiving a ticket, they jumped out of the car, formed a circle around him and did what they do best: belted a barbershop-style love song. As members of the all-female a cappella group Maiden Vermont, the women were accustomed to stopping people in their tracks with their vocal talent."We eventually got a parking spot, but more incredibly, the officer came back to ask if we could serenenade his wife," said Lindi Bortney, the group's musical director.The group started four years ago, when Bortney realized that there was no barbershop a cappella group in Middlebury. After advertising in the Addison Independent and spreading the word about the forming group, 13 women met in a hair salon to practice - not as an homage to the barbershop style, but simply because they had no other place to practice."Now, four years later, we have 45 women in the group along with a choregraphy and costume committee," Bortney said. Three women affiliated with the College have also joined Maiden Vermont.This Valentine's Day, the group plans to travel across the county singing Valentine songs to lucky sweethearts. For $25, those loved ones receive two songs, a rose and chocolate. The group's Valentine's day repetoire includes classic songs such as "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," "I Love You Truly" and "My Romance." Members of the group often recall moments when their serenades managed to touch the lives of others."A young man called up asking for us to visit his wife and their newborn baby and surprise them with a song," said Serene Eddy-Moulton, one of the members of the group. "It was such a sweet, touching moment that day in that little, small apartment. When we sang, the wife started to cry. Then the husband started to cry. Everyone cried except the baby."The group has also seen their fair share of embarassment among the recipients of their serenades. In settings from barns to banks, the group relishes in moments when they can brighten someone's day. One serenade at the National Bank of Middlebury is particularly clear in Eddy-Moulton's mind."The coworkers were all taking their cameras out and taking pictures of [the recipient], blushing from head to toe," Eddy-Moulton said. "After the first serenade, he asked us politely if we were done. But he had no idea what was coming for him. His wife had ordered the deluxe package that came with two more songs. So he stood there, turning into a complete pumpkin." Maiden Vermont also sings at Christmas, New Year's and birthday celebrations. The group tries not to limit their arrangements to traditional barbershop songs, with their repetoire also including jazz, broadway, country, pop and oldies songs. This range allows them opportunities to sing at a broad range of events."We once were invited to be part of a naturalization ceremony," said Bortney. "During this ceremony, we sang the Star Spangled Banner in front of a judge and the individual who had just become an American citizen."In addition, the group is determined to give as many performances as possible to raise money for a $500 scholarship benefiting a graduating high school senior majoring in music or theater in college. To accommodate the growth of the group - whose members range in age from nine to 74 - Maiden Vermont now rehearses each Thursday in the Town Hall Theater."If you can match pitches and hold a harmony, everyone is welcome to audition," said Bortney. "After that, any woman can help to spread the joy of singing to the community."
(02/12/09 12:00am)
Author: Kelly Janis In the latest iteration of a close financial relationship, College trustee and ex-CEO of Lehman Brothers Richard S. Fuld, Jr. donated the 15 offset lithographs and silk screen prints which constitute the centerpiece of the College Museum of Art's new exhibition, "Confronting History: Contemporary Artists Envision the Past." Fuld has received grand jury subpoenas in criminal investigations probing the role of possible securities fraud in the collapse of the 158-year-old Wall Street firm over which he presided.Chief Curator Emmie Donadio said she had acquired the portfolio, Kara Walker's 2005 Harper's Illustrated History of the Civil War (Annotated) last year, but would not disclose its appraised value."Since these are gifts rather than purchases at auction, issues of price and value are not public," Donadio wrote in an e-mail. "We generally do not focus on the monetary value of works of art in the collection, since that kind of attention tends to compete with - and sometimes to obscure - the reasons why we acquired them, or assembled them for exhibition, in the first place."Fuld, who received $71.9 million in compensation in 2007, is believed to have lost nearly $1 billion in Lehman's bankruptcy, the largest in history. In November, shortly after the announcement that he would step down as the firm's chief, Fuld and his wife, parents of 2003 and 2007 graduates of the College, fetched $13.5 million at Christie's Auction House in New York City for 16 post-war drawings initially expected to draw $15 to 20 million. The same week, Fuld transferred full ownership of one of his five luxury homes - a $13.75 million beach-front mansion in Florida - to his wife for $100. Many have speculated that this move was intended to protect his assets from creditors threatening lawsuits. Meanwhile, in addition to continuing his service on the College's Board of Trustees until 2013, Fuld - referred to by The New York Times as a "notable squanderer of American wealth" - remains the co-chair of the Middlebury Initiative, a five-year, $500 million fundraising effort aimed at establishing Middlebury as the "first truly global liberal arts college."The College does not comment on the contributions of specific individuals unless they are in conjunction with a particular event, such as the dedication of a building in a donor's name. The Kathy and Richard S. Fuld, Jr. Family Foundation's IRS Charitable Contribution Summaries from the past three years, however, reveal that Fuld's financial impact on the College has been hefty. The Fulds contributed $2.3 million to the College in 2006 alone, the year Richard Fuld ranked 374th on Forbes Magazine's list of the richest people in America. The media and blogosphere have buzzed with repudiations of Fuld in recent months, most prefacing his name with "embattled" or "disgraced."In December, Fuld joined former president George W. Bush, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ.) and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Time Magazine's list of 20 "People Who Mattered in 2008." While acknowledging that the government's unwillingness to bail out the firm may have worsened the financial crisis, the write-up accused Lehman of borrowing recklessly under Fuld, and noted that members of Congress implied that he had profited from the firm's collapse. Time - which declared Fuld one of the biggest "losers" of the "Wall Street mess" in another article - wrote that "every tragedy needs a villain, and with his deep-set eyes, gruff voice and hundreds of millions of dollars in pay, the Lehman Brothers CEO was perfectly cast as the bad guy of the recession." New York Times op-ed columnist Nicholas Kristoff targeted Fuld in a piece titled "Need a Job? $17,000 an Hour. No Success Required," proclaiming him the winner of his "annual Michael Eisner Award for corporate rapacity and poor corporate governance."Overseas, The Times of London said that Fuld, "whose combative nature earned him the nickname 'The Gorilla,' has become the symbol of everything that was wrong with Wall Street."Fuld said in sworn testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that he believed his decisions at Lehman "were both prudent and appropriate," and that he did not intentionally mislead or defraud investors."I wake up every single night wondering what I could have done differently," Fuld said. "This is a pain that will stay with me the rest of my life."In a Sept. 25 2008 article in The Campus, Senior Associate Director of the Career Services Office Don Kjelleren called Lehman Brothers a "big fish" at the College. The firm was a stronghold in the CSO's annual "Day in the Life" event in New York City and furnished students and alumni with jobs, internships and Winter Term projects.In a recent e-mail, however, Kjelleren downplayed the bankruptcy's impact on the estimated five to 12 graduates a year who signed on at the firm during its prime. "My understanding is that most of the Middlebury alumni went over to Barclays and now await the same fate as everybody else on Wall Street or in the workplace in general," he wrote.Barclays Capital - an international investment bank that absorbed approximately 9,000 of the 25,000 employees who remained when Lehman Brothers went under - announced last month that it will cut 2,100 jobs. "Richard Fuld is a valued trustee of Middlebury College," said President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz in a statement released the day after Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. "His work in this role has helped contribute to the success of the College and reflects his strong commitment to higher education."Executive Assistant to the President Betsy Etchells said Liebowitz's stance remains unchanged.
(02/12/09 12:00am)
Author: Tim O'Grady The release of course textbook lists two weeks before the semester commences and a $500 giveaway for College Bookstore members were the first of a myriad of developments for the newly renovated Bookstore in Proctor Hall.The new bookstore, which will sell textbooks, school supplies and memorabilia in its old location, will be completed by May 2009. The clothing and gift section of the store has already been completed and can be accessed through the newly renovated entrance on Hepburn Road."The space is finally going to be worthy of Middlebury," said Jansen. "It's going to have the look and feel of a college of this caliber." In addition to selling textbooks and products, the bookstore will also serve as a social space for faculty lectures and students events. All of the fixtures in the Bookstore will be on wheels, which will increase the functionality of the space."We look at it as a great opportunity to create a sense of community and do more things for students in the Bookstore," said Jansen.Additionally, Jansen continues to build up the bookstore's reward and Facebook networks by holding various members only promotions. The most recent promotion was a $500 giveaway in which 10 students each won $50 of redeemable store credit. Jansen reiterated that such giveaways benefit the Middlebury community as they deliver value back to the students themselves and increase Bookstore profits."We're not giving away $500," said Jansen. We're reducing the costs of textbooks for 10 students by $50."Jansen has been featured in a smorgasbord of publications for effectively using Facebook to promote the Bookstore. Jansen has set up his own account, as well as a Middlebury College Bookstore fan page on which students can learn about deals and giveaways. The most recent giveaway was conducted on Facebook and only those students who were "fans" of the Bookstore's page and friends with Jansen were eligible for the reward.Another major development is the Bookstore's decision to release course textbook lists two weeks in advance of the semester. This information is accessible through the Bookstore's Web site. It lists the ISBN as well as the book's edition to ensure students are buying the correct textbooks.According to Jansen, several college bookstores have been releasing book lists for many years without being affected financially. Nevertheless, since this is the first time the College has released booklists two weeks early, Jansen is unsure of how Middlebury will fare. "It's too early to know how much it's going to hurt us until after [book] rush," said Jansen.In 2010, the U.S. College Opportunity and Affordability Act will go into effect - which requires College bookstores to list textbook ISBNs on course schedules so that students have the opportunity to look around for books on their own. Jansen believes that students will start to use peer-to-peer markets, such as Half.com and Amazon.com, to more readily buy their texts instead of buying them through the Bookstore.Furthermore, the establishment of two new student-run sites - Middbooksearch.com and Middbay.com, serve as local peer-to-peer markets in which Middlebury students can trade and sell their textbooks directly without the College Bookstore acting as a middleman. These peer-to-peer markets may pose a problem to Middlebury as the College bookstore is the one of the few profitable establishment on campus. Since fewer students are expected to buy textbooks through the Bookstore, the College will have to find new ways make up for the loss of profit."We deliver value back to the College which offsets the cost of the College," said Jansen. "It's all about change and staying on top of the best we can be. I think we're heading in the right direction."
(01/22/09 12:00am)
Author: Kelly Janis Poet, playwright and activist Sonia Sanchez kicked off the College's week-long celebration of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on Jan. 15, delivering a keynote address titled "The Consistent Relevancy of Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 21st Century." In a lecture comprised by personal anecdotes, historical musings and, occasionally, song, Sanchez - who has spent three decades at the forefront of African-American literary and political culture - insisted that without a radical revolution of values, the earth will "swallow us whole" and wait for new life to emerge from the sea. "It reminds me of herstory every time I enter a chapel," Sanchez said as she peered out at the audience in Mead Chapel, a familiar perspective for a writer and professor who has lectured at over 500 colleges and universities across the nation. "Women didn't come up here. I hope you young people understand what I'm saying."As the author of 16 books, winner of the Robert Frost Medal in poetry and a former presidential fellow at Temple University, Sanchez has done plenty to lead women out of a past in which "they weren't allowed to speak."Sanchez recited key moments in African-American history, from the Middle Passage to the election of Barack Obama, as justification for speaking now. "We are here because the questions of the 21st century are not about slavery," she said. "They are about genocide, AIDS, famine, death squads, hunger, malaria, corporate greed, corporate greed, corporate greed."She decried a "culture of fear and intimidation" in which people can "kill each other and be killed while the world looks on in ceremonious silence," in which "genocide can take place with impunity."Sanchez invoked King at numerous junctions throughout her address, drawing particularly heavily from a speech the Reverend made at Riverside Church in 1967."We've got to make it known that until our problem is solved, America may have many, many days, but they will be full of trouble," King said at the time. "There will be no rest, there will be no tranquility in this country until the nation comes to terms with our problem.""And you wonder whether he's relevant today?" Sanchez asked.She pointed to Obama's "message of longing, hope and solidarity" as a chief means of confronting the contemporary problems she articulated, and congratulated the young people who played a role in electing him. "Thank you for having more vision than your elders," she said, before wondering aloud whether the public at large is truly prepared for an African American president."Can white folks handle it?" Sanchez asked. "Can Asian folks, Latino folks, handle it?"Sanchez said that Obama's ability to clinch one of the most powerful offices in the world has utterly transformed the political and social landscape."When Obama was elected, the earth tilted," she said. "It tilted away from people who want to continue war."Sanchez learned the price of opposing war when she was arrested during a sit-in at an enlistment office two years ago."Take us," Sanchez and her partners said, "not our children."When we came out against the war, we got slapped," she said. "We weren't nice poets anymore."Sanchez said that the belief that joining the military is a vehicle for securing access to education or getting out of a small town is based on "old memories.""At some point, we have to erase old memories," she said. "This is a different war. We're talking about peace. Period. No wars."Making progress toward peace, Sanchez said, is contingent on remaining engaged in the political process."You can't say, 'now that Obama's been elected, I can go back to partying this year. Let's get down,'" she said.Instead, Sanchez urged the audience to practice the "ancient, holy, political" art of resistance."Woke up this morning with my eyes on change," Sanchez sang. "Gonna resist, gonna resist, like Martin did." Sanchez said that much of this resistance can manifest itself in everyday interactions."We must stop worrying about the threat we think we pose to each other," she said, and curb our impulse to "talk against each other" out of envy. Sanchez recalled that when she challenged her students to spend a week refraining from "twisting and curling their tongues" with unkind language, they complained that it was too difficult a task, that they would rather write villanelles. Had they complied, Sanchez said, the "poisons" would have dropped out of their bodies.Throughout her lecture, Sanchez sought to link the struggle for civil rights to other social justice movements. She recounted an occasion on which she was invited to a church to receive an award and listened in horror as the preacher characterized AIDS as the righteous wrath of God. When the sermon concluded, a man Sanchez believed to be gay stood up to lead the choir in song."Thank you, my dear brother, for making this church holy again," she told him. It is experiences like these, Sanchez said, that lead her to believe that "if Jesus were to return to earth, he would be lynched and nailed to another cross."Sanchez railed against the use of religious beliefs as a crutch."Don't just thank Jesus," she said. "Do Jesus's work."Sanchez delegated this work to the students seated in Mead Chapel."I'm a child of the 20th century. I've been given some time in the 21st century that I'm grateful for," she said. "This is your country. This is your time. You must walk toward this time with a vision."
(01/22/09 12:00am)
Author: Jeff Klein The women's basketball team lost a pair of road games this weekend, falling to Bates 80-67 and to Tufts 60-41. The two defeats drop Middlebury's record to 6-8, a disappointing setback for a team that, before the weekend, had reached the .500 mark and was looking to begin NESCAC play on a strong note.As it is, the Panthers will have to rebound and try to move up the NESCAC ladder when they host Connecticut College and Wesleyan University at Pepin Gymnasium this coming Friday and Saturday. Against Bates, Middlebury trailed from the get-go as the Bobcats surged out to leads of 5-0, 15-7 and 19-9. Despite the fact that the Panthers out-rebounded the Bobcats by a comfortable 22-12 margin in the first half, they still saw themselves trailing at the intermission by a 37-22 score. While Bates shot a sweltering 59.3 percent from the field in that first stanza, Middlebury was a cold 30.3 percent from the floor.A three-pointer from sharpshooter Ashley Barron '09 narrowed Bates' lead to 42-30 with two minutes elapsed in the second half, but Bates gradually built its advantage back up as time wore on. A 12-4 Bates run capped by two straight layups by Lauren Dobish gave the Bobcats a commanding 58-37 lead at the 11:42 mark.Middlebury would not go away, however. Brittany Perfetti '12 nailed two three-pointers in a 13-6 Panther run that got the team to within 12 at 68-56 with a little over five minutes remaining.Unfortunately, that margin was as close as the Panthers would get, and Bates was able to secure the 80-67 victory.The following day, Middlebury found itself locked in a defensive battle with 12th-ranked Tufts, who came into the game having won its last seven contests.While the Jumbos led 12-3 at the 15:40 mark, the two teams combined to score just 16 points in the ensuing 10+ minutes.However, the scoring picked up a little bit after Middlebury had closed to within 17-14, as Tufts went on a 13-5 run to establish a double-digit lead.Once again, Middlebury had thoroughly out-rebounded its opponent in the first stanza - this time by an even bigger margin of 11 - yet it still trailed at intermission, 30 to 19. Middlebury came out of the half with renewed vigor, as it went on an early 8-0 run to cut the Jumbos' lead to 36-31 at the 14:42 mark. Four consecutive points by Alison Wells '11 brought the Panthers to within 38-35 with 11:52 on the clock, but Middlebury went ice cold thereafter, scoring just six points for the remainder of the game.While Middlebury was struggling from thefield, Tufts went on a 16-0 run in a little under 10 minutes of action, giving them an insurmountable 56-37 lead with just over two minutes to play.Allison Needham '11 led the Panthers with eight points, while Wells led the Panthers with nine boards to go along with six points.Senior co-captain Ashley Barron '09 made it clear that the Panthers have the potential to come up big in the NESCAC this season, but that every member of the team needed to get that fiery mentality and winning attitude that characterize successful teams. "Everyone needs to be mentally tougher and executing the smaller aspects of our game in order to compete with the fast pace of NESCAC basketball," she said. "We're aware of our potential to be a threat. However, the difference comes with all 13 of us having the heart, courage and confidence as individuals and, most importantly, as a group."
(01/15/09 12:00am)
Author: Molly West The Middlebury swimming and diving teams started off the new year victoriously with strong wins over the Mules of Colby College on Jan. 10. The men won 181-89, and the women 179-101. Last year, both teams comfortably beat the Mules, and Mary Roberts '09 explained prior to the competition that "these meets allow us to experiment with new lineups and have people swimming different events than they typically would." The teams trained in Florida after Christmas, where they swam on average 15,000 meters a day - equivalent to almost 10 miles. Although the training in Florida put the team in great shape, Kevin O'Rourke '09 fearfully expected "most of the team to be pretty sore and broken down" because of the intensive training. However, nobody could sense the soreness of the team on Saturday, as the Panthers swam with strength and confidence throughout the meet. On the men's side, Zach Woods '09 had a strong performance, placing first in the 50-meter backstroke, second in the 200-yard backstroke and second in the 100-yard inter-medley. The rookie men's swimmers also impacted the results, as Kazu Asaga '12 came in first in the 50-yard butterfly, followed by teammate Adam Schaffer '12. Nick Daly '12 also put forth an impressive performance, coming in first in the 50-yard freestyle and second in the 100-yard freestyle. On the diving board, Brooks Farrar '11 remained on top, placing first in the 3- and 1-meter dives. Jack Dinning '11 followed Farrar and added to the scoreboard, coming in second in the 1-meter dive. The Middlebury men also took home the 400-meter relay, comprised of Schuyler Beeman '10, Schaffer, Mac Staben '11 and Daly. Overall, the men ended the day successfully and went home to rest for the following day's competition against Bates. The women also displayed a strong performance on Saturday. Emily McDonald '11 competed particularly well, placing first in the 50-yard freestyle, first in the 50-yard butterfly and second in the 100-yard butterfly. Alyssa Ha '11 also performed excellently, placing first in the 100-yard freestyle and butterfly, and first in the 400-yard inter-medley. Katie Soja '10 returned from abroad as strong as ever, placing first in the 500-yard freestyle and third in the 400-yard inter-medley. The Middlebury women divers - Lena Halliwell '12, Meagan Collins '12, Bobbi Heidbreder '09, and Susan Read '09 - swept the diving board results, further contributing to the Panthers' margin of victory over the mules. The women left the pool with success and began to mentally prepare for the meet against Bates the following day. The swimming and diving teams are away competing at Hamilton next weekend where they hope to build on their success. O'Rourke explained that "the team chemistry right now is incredible," adding that "[Assistant swimming coach] Andy Weinberg is an incredible addition to this team. He fell right into our program and has elevated people's work ethic and encouraged people to try harder." With strong team chemistry and a respected coaching staff, the Middlebury swimming and diving teams clearly have the capability for continued success.
(01/15/09 12:00am)
Author: [no author name found] FOUR FACULTY MEMBERS PROMOTED TO POSITION OF ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, EFFECTIVE JULYOn Dec. 4, the Board of Trustees granted promotions to four faculty members. This July, Assistant Professor of Psychology Jason Arndt, Assistant Professor of History Louisa Burnham, Assistant Professor of Economics Jessica Holmes and Assistant Professor of Film and Media Culture Christian Keathley will each assume the post of associate professor.With the exception of Holmes, who joined Middlebury in 2001, each of these professors began their career at the College in 2002. Both Burnham and Holmes previously occupied positions on the Faculty Council, while Arndt acted on the Institutional Review Board and Keathley served on the Curriculum Committee.Arndt has taught a variety of courses, from the psychology department's introductory course to a seminar on animal cognition, and focuses his research on human memory and recognition. He has published articles in Memory and Cognition and the Journal of Memory and Language.Burnham has taught courses entitled "The Making of Europe" and "The Mediterranean World." In 2008, Cornell University Press published her book, So Great a Light, So Great a Smoke: The Beguin Heretics of Languedoc. She is currently in the process of writing Medieval Heresy: The Church's Struggle for Orthodoxy and Survival.Holmes focuses on health economics and economic development. She and her colleagues, Associate Professor of Economics Jeff Carpenter and James B. Jermain Professor of Political Economy Peter Matthews recently received a National Science Foundation award to study charity auctions. Holmes teaches a diverse array of courses, including " The Economics of 'Sin'," the economics of social issues and "Public Finance."Mark Carlough '12 described Keathley, his first-year seminar instructor, as "a professor who really tries to get his students to think about the material." Keathley helped start a service-learning project for the Vermont Folk Life Center and is currently working on a book entitled The Mystery of Otto Preminger."It was a temendous joy for me to receive tenure," wrote Keathley in an e-mail, "mainly because it means I will for sure be staying in a community that I love -- both the college and the town. -Dana WaltersANTI-KIDNAP EXPERT ALUM ABDUCTED IN MEXICOOn the evening of Dec 10., Felix Batista '77 was abducted outside of an upscale restaurant in Saltillo, Mexico. Batista resides in Miami, Fla., where he works as an anti-kidnapping expert. He is widely known and has successfully negotiated the release of hundreds of kidnapping victims in Latin America. According to ASI Global, a firm that provides security experts to protect high-profile businesspeople and their families, Batista acted as a response coordinator whose primary job was to secure the release of captives instead of jailing kidnappers. The police invited Batista to the Mexican state of Coahuila to give seminars on security issues. He was not assigned to handle a kidnapping during the time of the abduction. According to friends, Batista stepped outside the restaurant to answer a cell phone call. A security camera outside the restaurant revealed that there was an SUV parked outside and that Batista entered the vehicle. However, the police are unsure whether he was hauled into the SUV forcefully, or if he got in willingly. The incident occurred just a month after Batista said in a television interview that Mexico is one of the worst places in the world to be kidnapped. Mexico is infamous for its high number of kidnappings. Some independent groups claim that roughly 500 people a month are kidnapped in the country. Just a few weeks before Batista was abducted, the state of Coahuila made a public plea to reinstate a now-defunct law that sentences convicted kidnappers to the death penalty. Some believe that Batista's kidnapping was a direct response to that plea. Batista graduated from Middlebury in 1977 and earned an M.A. in Spanish from the Middlebury College Language School in 1991.-Tim O'Grady
(01/15/09 12:00am)
Author: Jeff Klein The Panthers are heading into conference play on the right note.With a balanced scoring attack and several solid late-game stands, the Middlebury women's basketball team earned a 69-57 win over Skidmore at Pepin Gymnasium on Jan. 10. The victory evens the Panthers' record at 6-6, only the third time the team has been at least .500 on the year.Yet the boost could not have come at a better time for the Panthers, who begin NESCAC play this weekend. They hit the rode for Bates this Friday and will square off against Tufts on Saturday.It wasn't easy getting there. The Skidmore Thoroughbreds came out of the gate racing, using an early 8-0 spurt to give them a 16-9 lead at the 13:08 mark. One of the signs of a good team is the ability to withstand pressure and not fold when the other team grabs the momentum for a period of time. Middlebury was able to counteract Skidmore's run with an 11-1 run of its own.The spurt gave the Panthers a 20-17 lead with 9:06 remaining in the first half. Neither team could permanently seize the upper hand. The lead seesawed back and forth throughout the rest of the half, and Middlebury took a tenuous 34-31 lead going into the halftime break.Following the trend of the first half, the second half immediately began with one team grabbing hold of the momentum, as Middlebury put together an impressive 8-0 run. Kaitlyn Fallon '10 was instrumental in the spurt, as her pair of hoops gave the Panthers a 41-33 advantage early in the second stanza. Again, though, that lead did not last long. Skidmore narrowed the lead to a single point three different times, and Laura Michael's bucket with 6:03 left finally deadlocked the contest at 54 apiece.But that would represent the last signs of life the Thoroughbreds would see on this afternoon. The Panthers went on their second 8-0 run of the half behind two clutch baskets from Alana Wall '10, which gave them a 63-54 lead with just 2:45 left to play.The best way for a team with a lead late in the game to put the nail in the coffin is to hit its free throws. That's exactly what Middlebury did, going four-for-four from the charity stripe in the game's waning moments to cement the 69-57 victory."I think the key against Skidmore was our patience offensively," said co-captain Emily Johnson '09. "Against any full-court press and zone defense it is possible to get impatient but we stuck to running our stuff and it paid off for us in the end."Johnson netted nine points, including a perfect six for six from the line, and Lauren Sanchez '11 and Brittany Parfetti '12 each scored eight to complete the balanced Middlebury attack.Now the Panthers face a tall order as they prepare to do battle with Bates Bobcats, who are 10-4, and the Tufts Jumbos, who sport an even more impressive 9-1 record heading into NESCAC competition.But none of that will deter the Panthers, who have their own reasons for being confident after their strong play as of late. In each of their last three games, the Panthers have outrebounded their opponent, something that attests to the team's increased physicality and grittier play around the rim as of late. The continued success of the inside game will undoubtedly be crucial as the team takes on the NESCAC conference."I have the utmost confidence in my team and our ability to perform well in league play," said Johnson.In particular, the two team captains, Barron and Johnson, can easily catch fire at any given time. They will remain, both in leadership and skill, essential to Middlebury's success.
(12/04/08 12:00am)
Author: Annie Onishi Primum non nocere - it's the Hippocratic Oath; a sacred promise that all doctors make before they begin their careers. It means: First, do no harm. I haven't taken it yet, but I'm planning on it some time in the next 10 months or so when I start medical school next August. To do no harm - a straightforward, simple, and elegant way to outline the role of the traditional Western doctor in our society. Unfortunately, this role has recently come under attack from the rising popularity of alternative healing and homeopathy.Although I personally believe that this recent fad is a sickening manifestation of our society's gross scientific illiteracy, this is not the venue for such a broad-based tirade. Rather, I hope to defend the institution of "traditional Western" medicine - an institution in which I am a firm believer. Do not misread me: homeopathy is not a complete hoax. Its foundation, based on the keen observation of the total patient, is its strongest talking point. The idea of treating people and not diseases is admirable; I can only hope to someday become the type of doctor that understands the person instead of the x-ray, the life-story instead of the lab results. While the human side of homeopathy certainly holds merit, the explanation of its so-called healing abilities leaves much to be desired. In fact, even an extraordinarily basic understanding of a few simple scientific principles is enough to induce the skepticism which plagues homeopathy.For example, the homeopathic theory of the "Law of Similars," is really referring to the biochemistry of our immune systems - how our bodies differentiate between "self" and "not self." And this is how vaccines work. We give our bodies dead versions of viruses like the flu for example, and we let our immune systems learn to recognize them, so when the real thing comes around, our white blood cells and immunoglobulins know to attack and destroy. Vaccinations are similar to the way a cheetah mom gives her cheetah baby an antelope that already has a gaping neck wound - it's just good practice. So while the homeopathic "Law of Similars" probably has some biochemical merit, it is just not safe to mess around with natural cures and remedies until their full pharmacological effects have been elucidated - and that's the difference between traditional Western medicine and homeopathy. Both observe natural curative phenomena, but only one seeks to explain it on a rational level.Further, there are certain homeopathic principles that, in addition to being ill-informed and unexplained, are downright dangerous. For example, the idea of treating burns with the hottest water you can stand is a clear violation of a simple rule of thermodynamics - heat flows from hot things to cold things. When you touch something cold, it feels cold because heat is leaving your body and going into the object in an effort to establish a sort of equilibrium. The assertion that heat from water will take heat from a burn is wrong; and if you follow this logic, you might as well just put your hand right back on that scalding pot. As another example of the danger of homeopathy, its cure for seasickness - ingesting tabacum - is also somewhat curious. The leaf of the tobacco plant, N. tabacum, affects the body via the chemical nicotine's interaction with special receptors that are present in the nerves of your spinal cord and the nerves that connect to your muscles, as well as in certain tissues in your brain. When exposed to nicotine, these receptors are stimulated which causes the myriad effects associated with smoking your first cigarette like nausea, vomiting, and salivation. However, with prolonged exposure, these receptors actually become blocked and paralyzed. When nicotine toxicity occurs, respiratory failure is induced because the nerves that control the breathing muscles cannot fire; your airway becomes obstructed from the obscene amount of saliva and other mucosal secretions; your heart can lose its normal rhythm, you can have seizures, and you can die. Yes, many FDA-approved drugs and medicines have such nasty effects - but only when used improperly or in unsafe doses. And these factors are explored extensively before the drugs are released onto the market; there's a reason your Claritin comes in 5 mg pills and not 500 mg pills. So how much tabacum will you ingest before your next boating trip? A pinch? A dash? A spoonful? The entire plant? In this day and age, depending on hearsay, superstition, and gut-instinct is just down-right stupid. We are lucky to live in a society and a time where science saves lives and improves the quality of life everyday. When it comes to decisions about your health, gambling on anything but Western medicine is a risk that no one should be willing to take - there's just too much to lose.
