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(11/07/12 11:14pm)
Divestment is a tool that is best used as part of a broader movement towards a real-world goal. My goal is to keep the global temperature from rising two degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial temperature, an increment that was about the only thing global leaders could agree upon at the Copenhagen Summit. In the 1980s, activists had the goal of ending Apartheid in South Africa, and used divestment as a tool to do so.
Next it is important to consider how businesses are related to the given goal. Will divestment be an appropriate tool towards that goal? In the 1980’s, U.S. companies were doing business in South Africa, supporting and profiting from the Apartheid regime. In facing climate change, fossil fuel companies have a vested interest not only in extracting and selling five times the amount of carbon as will raise the global temperature two degrees, but also in funding climate-change-denying science and lobbying against climate change legislation.
When investors do remove their money from the culpable companies, or divest, it must be a widespread action. Admittedly, one shareholder’s divestment will not significantly impact the company — the shares will simply be sold to another investor. But if a large cohort of investors across the country, or even across the globe, mobilizes to divest, than the value of the company’s shares could drop and the company could begin to lose its financial stability. Perhaps more important are the social and political impacts of broad scale divestment. When divestment is used in concert with boycotts, lobbying, political pressure, civil disobedience and widespread media coverage, the companies can be stigmatized so that they change their business practices, they lose their political power or the public consumes less of their product.
In the case of South Africa, the divestment movement included more than 55 colleges and universities, 26 U.S. states, 22 counties, 90 cities and many religious organizations and pension funds. The divestment movement caused 200 U.S. companies that had been supporting the Apartheid regime to cut their ties with South Africa. But change in those businesses was not the ultimate goal — rather it was an important tool used in conjunction with a broader social movement towards ending Apartheid. Governments issued sanctions against the regime, human rights organizations lobbied and activists in South Africa and around the world rallied against the regime. When Apartheid officially ended in 1994 with the election of Nelson Mandela, he specifically cited divestment and the withdrawal of U.S. companies as key factors in the end of Apartheid.
The movement against climate change is on a similar track. Students at more than 40 campuses are already pressuring their administrations to divest from fossil fuel industries. Climate change is the target of countless environmental and human rights groups, international agreements and coalitions of reputable scientists. Businesses in renewable energy, efficient technology and green buildings work to reduce fossil fuel consumption. Thousands of activists through organizations like 350.org mobilize to raise awareness of the urgency of climate change. In other words, there is a broad and multidimensional social movement against climate change. But through lobbying and campaign contributions, fossil fuel companies are effectively preventing more rapid and systemic change. Additionally, it is not just the industry’s spending practices that are the problem. Rather it is their inherent business model. The fossil fuel industry is so big and so profitable that even a widespread divestment movement will probably not keep it from selling 80 per cent of the reserves it has discovered. But divestment could easily be the catalyzing force in separating our politicians from fossil fuel interests, in demanding climate change policy, in ending fossil fuel subsidies and in exciting the public to a new degree of urgency in reducing its carbon consumption. Divestment from fossil fuels, coupled with social pressure against the industry, will work within the broader social movement to keep climate change from passing two degrees.
Written by JEANNIE BARTLETT '15 of Leyden, Mass., Co-President of the Socially Responsible Investment Club (SRI)
(11/07/12 10:52pm)
This past Sunday afternoon in Twilight Hall, the program in Women’s and Gender Studies, Chellis House and Women's Resource Center held a screening of Guerrilla Midwife, a film that follows Robin Lim and her incredible experiences as a modern midwife. Lim’s business partner in Vermont, Katherine Bramhall, cited the film as being particularly important because “peace is becoming more and more imperative in our modern world.”
It was the premier presentation of the film in the northeast and Lim hopes that by showing it at the College, young people — women especially — will become more aware of the problems in the way that America handles childbirth.
Karin Hanta, director of Chellis House, wrote in an email about her impression of Lim on Sunday.
“She beautifully spoke about the connections between a gentle birth and a life dedicated to non-violence.
I wish every student on campus could have come to this film. Many of our students will have children of their own one day and it would be good for them to have some knowledge of what options are out there to provide the most humane maternal and child care.”
Hanta expressed her wish, in the context of Lim’s work and film, that the United States stop the industrialization of childbirth and reassess methods for dealing with such a life-changing event.
In 1995, Lim found the non-profit organization Bumi Sehat Foundation International to help women in need with all matters relating to pregnancy or maternal health. The program initially began in Bali where Lim set-up a birthing clinic and since then programs have also been started in Aceh and Haiti.
The Bumi Sehat Foundation International, according to its website, “is based on a foundation of three very simple principles: respect for nature, respect for culture and the wise implementation of the science of medicine.”
In 2011, Lim was named one of CNN’s “Heroes of the Year” for her humanitarian efforts for female victims of natural disasters or political unrest and her continuing global advocacy for natural births.
The film, Guerrilla Midwife, was shot over a six-year period by Lim’s daughter. Her daughter followed her as she traveled around the world helping pregnant women give birth in the most peaceful manner possible. In the film, Lim’s daughter shares her earliest memories of her mother and recalled “my mother smelled of newness.”
The film depicted Lim’s relief efforts after the tsunami in Aceh as well as her work in Bali. It also addressed the United States’ shortcomings in terms of the natural births that occur.
According to the film, in the United States only .6 percent of children are born at home, where as 70-80 percent of children are born at home in the rest of the world.
“A lot of lobbying work remains to be done: 10 states in the U.S. still prohibit midwife-assisted home births,” said Hanta.
In 2010 Amnesty International published called “Deadly Delivery: The Maternal Health Care Crisis in the USA.” The study documented that although the U.S. spends more money than any other country on health care, we rank only 41 in the world for maternal mortality rates, about the same as countries like Slovakia and Latvia. The report stated, “this is not just a matter of public health, but a human rights issue.”
Hanta called for changing the country’s policies for maternal leave to encourage births with less stress.
“In my native country, Austria, one of the parents can stay home with the newborn for up to two years, while still drawing wages and having a guarantee that they can return to their jobs,” she said.
In a question and answer session following the film, Lim said, “we must concern ourselves with marrying the medical model of care with the holistic model.”
Lim expressed the need for more awareness in our country concerning this issue. She acknowledged that while health care should be given to all, it will never be free.
“Healthcare is a human right, but it still costs money,” said Lim.
(11/07/12 10:18pm)
On Monday, Oct. 1, Associate Professor of Mathematics John Schmitt objected to the quorum that was called during the monthly faculty meetings. When the moderator deemed the quorum was in fact not met, the meeting was adjourned until the following month.
The quorum for the monthly faculty meetings requires that a majority of faculty members be in attendance in order for any business to be taken care of. This number includes all professors that are on academic leave.
Associate Professor of Political Science and member of the Faculty Council Bert Johnson said that the quorum has not been met in the past, but no problems have arisen up until now.
“In the past, there has rarely, if ever, been an actual quorum at faculty meetings, so the chair of the meeting […] would declare a quorum present, no one would object and we would move on,” wrote Johnson in an email.
The Faculty Council has calculated that a majority of the faculty would amount to 169 faculty members.
Johnson said that he guesses about 80 members of the faculty attend the meetings now.
Schmitt, the faculty member who contested the declaration of the quorum, had a familial obligation and was not available for comment.
The faculty’s agenda for the year has now been pushed back one month, and the cancellation of these meetings could have an effect on students.
Johnson explained that the faculty uses these meetings to vote on the administration committee’s grade changes, as well as the approval of fall and spring graduates.
“If we don’t solve this problem somehow, it will affect everybody, not just the faculty,” he said.
Professor of Mathematics and Faculty Meeting Parliamentarian Mike Olinick said that only in emergencies could the faculty vote without a quorum, such as the approval of students for graduation.
Members of the Faculty Council are now working to get faculty members to commit to the November faculty meeting this Monday, Nov. 12. Multiple emails have been sent out in the past week reminding faculty of the upcoming meeting.
While in the past, a quorum was technically necessary but not strictly enforced, Johnson believes that the attendance of the meetings will now be more regulated.
“Now that the cat is out of the bag, I anticipate an objection if there is not a quorum [this Monday],” said Johnson. “Now we’ve moved into a different situation where we really do need a quorum, or we need to redefine what a quorum is.”
In order to redefine the quorum for the meetings, there will need to be a majority of faculty at the meeting on Monday. They will then need a two-thirds majority vote to suspend the present rules — thus suspending the current quorum rule — and then a two-thirds majority vote in order to approve the new quorum rule.
The Faculty Council is in charge of proposing the amendment. Johnson said they will attempt to lower the number of faculty members required at the meetings, and they are leaning towards specifying a specific number of people rather than a percentage.
Olinick believes that an amendment to the definition of a quorum will be beneficial, particularly considering the circumstances under which the quorum was originally defined.
“The current rule that half the entire faculty must be present for a quorum has been in place for more than 40 years,” wrote Olinick in an email. “It dates from an era when the faculty was much smaller in number than it is now, and so a higher percentage of those in attendance had an opportunity to speak.
“Also, only six or seven professors were on leave during an academic year then,” Olinick continued. “Now close to 20 percent of the faculty may be away from campus on academic leave during the year. Our quorum rule now includes those people in the count even though it's impossible for them to attend.”
Johnson explained that in addition to professors on academic leave, other professors have obligations to their families or have classes that interfere with getting to the meetings.
Professor of Religion Burke Rochford is one of those professors who cannot attend due to familial obligations. He believes that redefining the quorum makes sense in light of who attends the meetings.
“I assume the people who don’t go to faculty meetings choose not to participate in faculty governance, so who needs a vote from those people?” said Rochford. “The people who are involved, who know the issues, they’re the ones who should be voting anyway. I think making something out of this quorum is basically a false issue.”
Even though Rochford does not attend the meetings due to other obligations, he also does not believe that he has a duty as a faculty member to attend.
“My expectations about being a faculty member are that I teach and I teach well, I contribute to my department and I contribute in every way I can and that I do the research that I do,” said Rochford. “Whether I go to the faculty meeting doesn’t mean that much to me.”
Johnson, however, does not know what to make of the lack of attendance at the meetings.
“We have a system in which the faculty is supposed to run most of what happens here at the College,” said Johnson. “It is concerning when not as many people as perhaps should want to take part in that governance. I don’t know if that’s a signal whether things are all okay or whether things are bad.”
Professor of Physics and Faculty Moderator Susan Watson, who’s in charge of leading the faculty meetings, declined to comment.
This is Watson’s first year as moderator. In the past, President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz, and the presidents before him, always ran the faculty meetings.
Last May, the faculty voted to suspend the rules regarding the Faculty Moderator and chose to instead use an elected faculty member.
Olinick explained that a faculty member moderator was tried around 1990, but then the president resumed the position after one semester. He said they are attempting to use a faculty moderator again for two reasons.
“One [reason is] that [the meetings] will be perceived more as a faculty run meeting rather than an administrative run meeting, and faculty members might feel freer to engage in the debate,” said Olinick. “It was also felt that [Liebowitz], given the nature of the position that he has, would have a strong opinion about a lot of the issues that come before the faculty for decision. When you’re moderating a meeting you’re not really free to express your own opinion on these issues.”
Liebowitz continues to attend the faculty meetings as a participant.
The meeting on Nov. 12 will take place in McCullough Social Space, a change from Kirk Alumni Center, where the meetings are usually held. This is to account for the higher number of faculty members that the Faculty Council hopes will attend the meeting.
(10/25/12 5:08pm)
The Killer’s new album Battle Born features an interesting mix of sounds that the band has experimented with over the years.
Some of the tracks have an art-rock feel whereas others are more pop-oriented. Overall, though, the album feels like a tired rehashing of old clichés, as it lacks a stand-out single.
I would not consider myself a Killers fan, but I did like their first two albums, Hot Fuss and Sam’s Town, when I was young.
The tracks that worked for me on those albums were driven by captivating guitar riffs and catchy choruses.
Even more so than the music itself, I felt that the older work put out by the Killers felt more honest the songs and lyrics were something that came from their heart.
And let’s face it — at the risk of sounding like a hipster — huge critical and financial success have really brought down the overall quality of the Killers music as the years have gone by.
Unfortunately, over time the band has shifted their focus away from guitar-driven songs and established a more synth-oriented and electronic sound, perhaps reflecting a more general shift over the last several years in pop music.
In the process of developing a less guitar-oriented sound, the band also seems to have thrown away the ability to carefully and tastefully incorporate electronic timbres into their works.
Many tracks on Battle Born have fills and transitions that seem out of place in relation to the rest of the song, and the album itself is also full of cheesy synth lines and flat guitar parts.
For instance, “The Rising Tide,” a song with a lot of potential, feels watered down because the guitar takes a backseat to a generic 80s ostinato on the synthesizer that may or may not be from GarageBand.
The most redeeming feature of the song is the crunchy guitar solo that shines through the fluff in the middle of the song but disappears as quickly as it comes.
I’m not sure if I would say the band has run out of creative ideas, but most of the songs just feel forced.
“Be Still,” a song toward the end of the album, has a weird electronic drum backing and even stranger lyrics:
“Don’t break character/ you have a lot of heart/ is this real or is this a dream/ be still, be still.”
There’s a message in the song of hanging on in tough times that made me uncomfortable; there might be a place for this heart-to-heart message somewhere in pop music, but with lyrics like “Rise up like the sun and labor ’till the work is done,” it’s hard to take the band seriously unless you’re a time-traveling puritan.
Another song, “Carry Me Home,” perhaps best demonstrates the band’s morewishy-washy sound on this album. The Killers have never been edgy by any means, but the band fails a perfectly good motive in this song by not fully committing to a minor key. In the verse, they introduce a nice riff with a minor tinge that makes you think the song is going to be dark.
I was excited because this seemed like the first actual risk the band was going to take in an otherwise very conventional album. Instead the band keeps the song largely in a major key, eschewing what could have been a more complex sound for a basic pop cliché.
I know that looking for emotional complexity in a song from the Killers would make me an idiot, but is it wrong to expect that a band develop promising material?
In past albums like Hot Fuss and Sam’s Town, we see more of a meshing of ideas and the songs just seem to be better written.“Mr. Brightside” and “When You Were Young,” for example, were both fully realized songs whose elements worked together as a whole. The main guitar riff in “Mr. Brightside” is one of the more memorable riffs of the last decade in pop music, and “When You Were Young” also incorporated itself into the public conscience of popular music.
Tracks on the new album, however, lack the direction and determination of these earlier songs. What makes nearly all songs off the Killers new album ho-hum? Many factors play a role, but the mostly likely explanation is a deviation from the formulas that worked in the past.
(10/25/12 1:12am)
The Middlebury Men’s Rugby Club (MCRC) emerged victorious in their match Saturday against the University of Albany, 91-7, while the Middlebury Women’s Rugby Club (MCWRC) blanked Williams on the road 39-0. Due to heavy rain over the course of the week prior to the match, the game was moved to Essex Tree Farm in Burlington when the pitch in Middlebury was deemed unplayable. This change of pitch did not disrupt the Panthers, who, after winning their match by a commanding score, to remain undefeated with a record of 4-0.
“In five years of coaching the team I have never seen us play so well for 80 minutes,” said coach John Phillips. We had a really good week of practice and it all came together on Saturday.”
The dominating performance attests to teamwork and depth, as over the course of the match MCRC notched 13 tries from 10 different players.
“We have a starting squad of 24 players, so any of these players can come on at any time and fit right in,” said Phillips.
Highlights of the game include a 31 point performance from Middlebury captain Brian Sirkia ’12.5, who finished the match with 1 try, 10 conversions, and 2 penalties, and a 15 point performance from Alex Ruocco ’13, who finished the match with a three-try hat trick.
The Panthers took an early lead and ended the first half up 41-0. The relentless offensive continued in the second half, allowing only one try from the University of Albany and tacking on another 50 points.
This win comes a week after Middlebury was ranked 16th nationally in Division I-AA, and a week after Middlebury shut out the University of Connecticut Huskies by a score of 49-0.
MCRC hosts American International College next Saturday, and host Boston College the following week Nov. 3, their last match of the season.
“I’m not worried about overconfidence,” coach Phillips said. “The boys know what needs to be done the rest of the season.”
The Middlebury Women’s Rugby Team (MCWRC) travelled to Williams to defeat the Ephs 39-0 on Saturday, Oct. 20. MCWRC dominated possession, and converted the advantaged into seven tries and two conversions, to improve their season record to 3-3.
Four first-half tries from Melanie Haas ’13 put MCWRC up 22-0 at the half. Hooker Rae Colombo ’13 and fullback Julianna Gardner ’14 added second-half tries, and Captain Jess Berry ’13 converted twice, to cement the score at 39-0.
Berry was happy with her team’s effort.
“We went into this game knowing it wouldn’t be as difficult as our last two, but I was happy with how strong we started regardless,” said Berry. “Williams has some big players, so we still needed to work really hard on the field in order to get that win.”
Haas’s offensive outburst, coupled with the patience and field control of the Middlebury backs, never allowed Williams into the game.
“Haas was crucial for the win. She’s an incredibly fast player, and having her out on the wing is really deadly,” said Berry. “Plus we had tries come from outside of our typical back-line players. Colombo had an awesome try in the second half, and then actually had a second that the referee deemed illegitimate. Overall we had great play all over the field, and we’re really using these final games of the season to prepare for playoffs in.”
Fly-half Julia Gulka ’13 and inside center Marissa Shaw ’14 controlled play from the backline and stymied any Williams attempts to break through the Middlebury defensive line. Ultimately, steady advancement and overwhelming possession proved the best defense for the MCWRC side.
The women travel to Lewiston, Maine to face Bates on Saturday for their final match of the regular season. The women are assured of one playoff game in early November. Teams advance with each win in the competition for the league title that lasts until the middle of the month.
GABE WEISSMAN contributed to this article.
(10/03/12 10:33pm)
On Sept. 4 concerned Vermonters gathered together in the Brandon Town Hall for a public informational meeting held by state officials regarding the recent outbreak of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) in the Brandon area. The deputy secretary of agriculture, the chief of the pesticide division, three representatives from the Vermont Department of Health and other government officials called the meeting to make a presentation about EEE and the state’s decision to spray a pesticide in hopes of reducing the adult mosquito population as well as to answer questions from the public.
Concern surrounding EEE emerged in late August when two men, one in his late 80’s the other mid-40’s, fell ill with confirmed cases of the virus. At the time of the meeting, one of the men had passed away and the other remained in a coma; he died a few days later. Wanting to take immediate action to mitigate further infection from the virus, state officials agreed the best solution was to spray swampy areas, which posed the greatest risk in Brandon, Whiting, Leicester and parts of Shoreham.
Eastern Equine Encephalitis is a rare, but potentially fatal, mosquito-borne viral infection. Those infected with the disease can develop two main types of symptoms: flulike symptoms that evolve gradually and a more severe set of illnesses which affect the central nervous system and cause convulsions, headaches, irritability, drowsiness and comas. One of the men who died had been in a coma for days before his death. EEE does not have a treatment and is difficult to detect due to the similarity its symptoms have with other, more common diseases. Oftentimes, therefore, by the time an infected person is hospitalized, it is too late to treat. According to Vermont Health Commissioner Harry Chen, the EEE virus is fatal in one third of all cases.
According to Vermont State Representative Will Stevens of Shoreham, the number of cases contracted annually is typically low.
“What’s odd about this [virus], is that nationwide annually, there are about six reported cases,” Stevens said. “And we’ve had two in Vermont [so far this year] and both were fatal.”
Not surprisingly, this rare occurrence has sparked fear in Vermonters. This year’s outbreak was the first time EEE has been contracted by a human in the state; in 2011, emus were tested and confirmed to be infected with the disease. Chen declared this human infection an imminent health emergency.
“We want to take every reasonable action to prevent people from becoming infected,” said Chen in a public health announcement.
One of these actions was to spray a mosquito pesticide, Anvil 10+10 (Sumithrin), from a fixed-wing plane over areas where state officials had trapped mosquitoes that tested positive for EEE and in the vicinity of where the two victims had lived. The spraying, which was intended to target the adult population of mosquitoes before they were due to lay eggs, would occur at dusk when mosquitoes were most active.
As a result, the spraying was time sensitive. Vermont currently has 45 species of mosquitoes present, most of which are nuisance mosquitoes that lay their eggs in ephemeral pools of still water.
“The problem here is that [mosquitoes carrying EEE] are not like the nuisance species,” Stevens said. “Mosquitoes that carry EEE are different. Peak emergence is in middle to late August and then they lay their eggs, which then hatch into larva and mature over winter. Their habitat is acidic, hardwood swamps. So you can’t treat them the same way as the nuisance species and that is one of the reasons that justified that they needed to aerially treat.”
To spray from the air, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture used the mosquito control fund to pay for a Dynamic Aviation plane to fly up from Texas. These planes possess sophisticated computer systems, which account for wind direction and speed and can spray within exact coordinates. This was important, as many organic farms are located on the periphery of where EEE was located. The conditions for the spray, therefore, needed to be very specific; it couldn’t be too windy or overcast.
“Given the conditions, they needed to act right away to get one application [of pesticide] done,” said Stevens.
The spraying took place on Sept. 6, two nights after the informational meeting in Brandon, but not without some hesitation from the public.
“The general reaction of the public was resignation,” Stevens said. “I think there was general support for [the officials’] decision. There were expressions of concern about the product, but in general I think people were resigned to the fact that something had to be done, and spraying was that thing at that time.”
As fall and the promise of cold weather approaches, the threat of contracting EEE becomes less imminent. A hard frost will kill off any remaining mosquitoes. Nevertheless, a statement released by the Vermont Department of Health reminds individuals to reduce the likelihood of infection by limiting time spent outdoors at dawn and dusk, wearing long sleeved pants and shirts and using effective insect repellents.
“So long as mosquitoes are out there, [EEE] is always a risk,” reflected Stevens. “We’re entering a new time — we have pests and diseases now that we didn’t have 31 years ago. I think that this is all part of a new normal that we’re going to have to figure out our relationship with.”
Although EEE was never a direct threat to the town of Middlebury or the College, officials maintain that individuals all around the state should remain cautious. The symptoms of EEE are largely undistinguishable from those of other diseases, but still can have serious, potentially fatal side affects.
(10/03/12 10:29pm)
Along with the bike path tax, the Burlington City Council recently voted in favor of putting another new item on the ballot this November: a marijuana referendum. After hearing the public’s opinion at the polls, the city will determine whether or not to open up the state’s first two dispensaries nearby. Two years ago an identical proposal was defeated by city council vote.
Vermont has already passed several bills regarding medical marijuana. Back in 2004, the state established a mandatory, confidential marijuana registry with the authority to issue licenses to qualifying patients. That year Vermont also removed criminal penalties for individuals diagnosed with a “debilitating medical condition.” In 2007, a bill passed that expanded the definition of “debilitating medical condition” to include multiple sclerosis, AIDS, eating disorders and cancer.
Although medical marijuana has been legal in Vermont since 2004, until a city votes to open a dispensary, patients can only legally obtain marijuana if they have the means to grow it themselves. In June 2011, Governor Peter Shumlin signed a bill authorizing the creation of up to four dispensaries where registered patients can buy medicinal marijuana. A final vote in November will establish whether two dispensaries can set up near Burlington.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a former U.S. attorney, recently promised to move forward with carrying out his state’s medical marijuana program outlined back in a 2010 bill.
“I’m trying to implement the program in a responsible way, but I can’t force a town to give a certificate of occupancy to a tenant they don’t believe has met their standards in their town,” he said in response to the delayed opening of a dispensary in Montclair Township.
There are currently seven states total with impending legislation to legalize medical marijuana. Arkansas will be the first southern state to vote on medical marijuana this November.
While many east coast states are just introducing medical marijuana legislation, states out west are experiencing a dispensary crackdown. There has been a recent trend of federal police telling dispensaries to either move or close down due to being located too close to schools. Over 200 California dispensaries have been shut down since U.S. attorneys ordered a crackdown last October.
Similarly, in Colorado, the U.S. Attorney’s office has ordered over 47 businesses to shutter or else risk property seizure or even criminal charges. The Boulder, Co. area used to be home to around 80 dispensaries; now the number has dropped close to 20. Historically, whenever there has been any doubt as to whether a power should be delegated to the states or Congress, the courts have often been the entity to decide. In this case, the courts have decided to act in favor of the federal jurisdiction over states’ rights.
In spite of the federal dispensary crackdown in states with established medical marijuana programs and dispensaries, there is currently a rather streamlined process for obtaining a medical marijuana license. In Colorado, for example, it takes no more than 90 days for a patient to obtain his or her license, while several years ago the process was more tedious.
Lance Woody is a resident of Boulder, Co., who received his medical marijuana license following a car accident three years ago. After obtaining a doctor’s approval for his ailment in October 2009, he got his license in June 2010.
“Receiving a license doesn’t necessarily mean you can smoke,” clarifies Woody, “but [you] can attain lotions and hemp.”
There are quite a few misconceptions surrounding the issue of medical marijuana legalization. Many people are unaware of the discrepancy between “decriminalization” versus legalization of medical marijuana.
In states like Vermont and New Jersey, marijuana has been legalized only medically. This means the substance is strictly regulated according to a state registry of approved patients. In states where marijuana has been “decriminalized in small amounts,” if someone is caught with a small amount of marijuana (i.e. less than 1/8 oz.), they will not receive criminal penalties regardless of whether they are on the state registry for medicinal marijuana.
Currently marijuana for solely recreational purposes is not legal in any state. Colorado is one of the few states with both medicinal legalization and decriminalization in place.
Amy Scanes-Wolfe ’13, of Longmont, Co., grew up surrounded by dispensaries but believes that they offer “just one avenue to get something people would find a way to get one way or another.”
In Vermont, supporters of decriminalization argue that if the medical marijuana measure passes in November, it would reveal to the state how the war on drugs is costly and misguided. The law may encourage further legislation for decriminalization of marijuana in the state.
The main argument behind legalizing medical marijuana is that while painkillers and other medications are often addictive, one cannot become physiologically addicted to marijuana. In fact, individuals with eating disorders benefit from the appetite-inducing side effect of the substance.
“If you look at marijuana purely scientifically, it is much less harmful than alcohol or tobacco or many prescription drugs,” argues Barrett Smith ’13. “Yet, the federal government classifies it as a schedule one drug, claiming that it has a high addiction potential and has no legitimate medical uses. Looking at scientific literature, both claims are blatantly false.”
Smith, Middlebury’s recently elected Student Co-chair of Community Council, is an Ohio native. Though his home state has not yet legalized medicinal marijuana, through his travels he has encountered people of all ages who possess licenses to obtain and grow the substance. One friend’s grandmother even uses medicinal marijuana to alleviate her suffering from pancreatic cancer. For people like her, it is beneficial and offers better relief than opiate-based prescription drugs because it addresses pain in a non-addictive way and stimulates appetite.
Tony Huynh ’13, of the San Francisco Bay Area in California, also supports decriminalization nationwide.
“It’s sort of like decriminalizing abortion or lowering the drinking age because people will find a way to do it anyway,” said Huynh. “If you can regulate marijuana to make it come from reliable sources rather than drug cartels, you can ensure safety in the supply chain.”
Critics of medical marijuana legalization argue that the substance hinders productivity, leads to harder drug use, interferes with fertility, impairs driving ability and injures the lungs, immune system and brain. In August 2012, a study conducted in New Zealand by Duke University researchers (Meier et al) revealed that marijuana can negatively affect brain development. The study showed that IQ tests of individuals who began using the substance before age 18 dropped significantly later in life than IQ tests of non-users.
Other critics of medical marijuana legalization say it has sparked an underground marijuana culture in states that condone its use. Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley estimates there are approximately 1,000 illegally operated marijuana shops in the city alone.
There is also fear that decriminalization even of minute amounts of marijuana leads to more drug abuse overall. The experience in Norwalk, Ct. earlier this year gives creedence to such fears. Ever since Connecticut voted last year to decriminalize small amounts of recreational marijuana, the number of cases dealing with possession and use went through the roof.
Despite opposition, proponents of legalization remain convinced that stigma surrounding marijuana can be removed with legislation and time.
(10/03/12 10:26pm)
Nancy Weber-Curth opened one of the only sparkling wine and champagne bars in the country on College Street in May. The shop, situated just a few minutes’ walk from campus, was designed as a place where upper-classmen, faculty and local townspeople can have a seat, relax and celebrate the day. The menu offers a wide variety of sparkling wines and champagnes from all over the world, including Argentina, Australia, Italy, South Africa and, of course, France. Weber-Curth offers “Citrón-Presé” — a classic French sparkling lemonade served with sugar — as an option for underage patrons or those who choose not to drink.
Weber-Curth fell in love with sparkling wine while studying abroad in a small French town, and, although she has always treasured the drink, she has found it extremely hard to find in the United States.
Although Weber-Curth experimented with other business pursuits, the idea of running a business in Vermont was something that particularly appealed to her, so she decided to pursue her passion for sparkling wine and bring the product to her home state.
“I believe that if you start your own business, it’s a really good idea to choose something that you really love,” she said.
After considerable research, she ventured to France to meet grape growers in the Champagne Valley. Rather than go to corporate champagne and wine giants for her selection, she decided to explore smaller vineyards whose farmers really focus on producing a quality drink.
After touring various wineries, sampling a broad array of selections and speaking with numerous producers about their products, Weber-Curth was able to pick out the highest quality sparkling wines.
She offers 15 different sparkling wines — ranging from $21 to $44 per bottle — which includes details about each one’s origin and key notes. She features five wines each week, which are between $6 and $7 by the glass. Her champagnes are more expensive at $12 per glass and $60 per bottle. Weber-Curth does not plan on offering student discounts, as she claims that her prices are relatively affordable — the few other bars in the country offer wines for upward of $80 per glass — and that the quality of the wines is more than commensurate with their cost.
Fluent in French, Weber-Curth feels that communicating with the producers in French really helped them express their passion for their wines, and having a connection with her growers is part of what she believes makes her shop unique. Weber-Curth, who is also fluent in Arabic and Russian, feels that foreign language skills are important and she wants to inject the atmosphere of the shop with a multicultural flair. During the summer months, Weber-Curth and one of her multi-lingual employees offered students at the summer language schools a place to go off campus without violating their pledge of not speaking English.
When summer ended, Weber-Curth realized that a lot of townspeople, students and faculty would appreciate a relaxing off-campus venue in which to practice their foreign-language skills.
Weber-Curth has plans to designate a few hours a week as language hours. She hopes to foster a community where people can feel comfortable practicing with acquaintances and strangers alike.
Weber-Curth, who is from Ferrisburgh, Vt., chose to open her business in Middlebury because she felt that the diverse community would find her bar appealing.
She thinks that her unique idea will boost Middlebury’s economy by generating business for the other shops in town. She offers a variety of cheeses and chocolates — which she purchases from local producers — as pairing material. She also purchases local furniture; her tabletops are made of soft maple from Addison County. Her emphasis on using local products reflects her commitment to sustainable agriculture and her desire to contribute to Middlebury’s economy.
She hopes that people will stop by to relax after an afternoon walk or an entertaining tasting experience before going out to dinner.
Emily Blistin, the manager at the nearby shop Clementine, has wined at the bar, and found it a great place to have a pleasant evening conversation with friends. She said that it was worthwhile to step out of her comfort zone and visit the shop.
“It’s a great atmosphere, [and] the scenery is beautiful,” said Blistin. “She sets out tables in the summertime, and the patio is lovely. I’ve met a couple friends there after work and we all just sat and had a great time. It is a limited selection and I didn’t know if I’d like it, but I just had a glass or two and it was wonderful.”
Weber-Curth rejects the notion that sparkling wine and champagne should be reserved for special occasions — she feels that being alive should be cause for celebration.
“People associate sparkling wines and champagnes with celebration [and] fun things,” said Weber-Curth. “I thought, why can’t we do this every day?”
(10/03/12 8:56pm)
Battling through the elements, the women’s golf team finished second at the Middlebury Invitational this weekend, while the men placed fourth at the NESCAC Qualifier hosted by Amherst, sending the men for the NESCAC Championships in the spring. The men and women had some impressive results, led by William Prince ’13, who tied for second overall in the men’s tournament, and Keely Levins ’13, who finished in third on her home course.
On the men’s side at Amerhest’s Hickory Ridge Golf Club, Trinity College stole the show with a 15-stroke win (592) followed by Williams (607), Hamilton (611) and Middlebury (613). This result gives Trinity the right to host the NESCAC Championship in the spring.
On Sunday, the Panthers bested their first day total of 314 strokes by improving 15 strokes for a score 299. The Panthers have improved on their first day totals during the second day at each tournament so far this season.
“The conditions were very wet, particularly on the first day,” said Prince. “The greens were tough to get the hang of because there was a ton of moisture in them. I think this threw a lot of our guys off on the first day.”
Given the challenging weather, Prince led the team with 148 strokes followed by Chris Atwood ’14 (154), Rob Donahoe ’14 (157) and Eric Laorr ’14 (158). Andrew Emerson ’13 also made his first appearance since recovering from an ACL injury, shooting 160.
For Prince, this weekend was a big step up.
“I definitely took a lot away from those first couple of tournaments and turned them into learning experiences,” said Prince. “That being said things came together well for me this weekend. There was great competition out there and I really enjoy competing and going all out in these big tournaments.”
He was also optimistic concerning the team and the upcoming spring championships.
“I think the team will learn from this tournament,” remarked Prince. “We’ve got a lot of talent, so if we can consistently improve from now until the spring championship, we’ll play to our abilities and have a great shot of winning.”
At the Ralph Myhre Golf Course, the women competed in the Middlebury Invitational, which also doubles as the NESCAC Tournament. The Panthers continued to perform strong in second place behind Williams. Williams took the win with a total stroke score of 651, 12 strokes ahead of the Panthers’ 663, followed by Vassar College in third with 693. These results demonstrate the ongoing dominance of Williams and Middlebury in NESCAC women’s golf.
Senior captain Keely Levins ’13 topped the Panthers in third place overall with a pair of 79s for a total of 158 strokes. Head Coach Bill Mandigo spoke about his captain’s impressive season.
“[Levins] has done an outstanding job as captain and has been playing great golf,” said Mandigo. “She has played seven rounds this fall, and been under 80 in six of them … a tremendous accomplishment.”
Close behind were Jordan Glatt ’15 in seventh place (164), Michelle Peng ’15 in eighth (167), and Caroline Kenter ’14 in 12th (173). Monica Chow ’16 finished tied for 13th, scoring a 175.
“In the past few years our Middlebury tournament has had tough conditions and this weekend was no different,” said Peng. “It rained on and off both days and the course setup was difficult. No doubt the conditions affected the whole field and resulted in high scores across the board. We were all drenched and it was difficult to even hold onto the club.”
Peng improved her score by seven strokes on day two, shooting 88 on Saturday and 81 on Sunday.
“The one part of our game our team is working on is consistency,” commented Peng. “This fall, we’ve struggled to put together two good days of play and subsequently haven’t been able to perform as well as we want to. Next weekend at Williams our goal is to play well both days and hopefully come out with a win against our biggest competitors at their home course. The only way to do that is for all of us to play our best and be consistent.”
The men compete in Manhattanville on Oct. 13 and 14, while the women compete at Williams this weekend to round off both of their fall seasons.
(10/03/12 8:47pm)
The Middlebury College Women’s Rugby Club (MCWRC) shut out visiting Amherst 36-0 on Saturday, Sept. 29. The home match, played on a soggy field under windy skies, was the MCWRC’s first win in three tries this fall.
The side held Amherst scoreless, and improved its record to 1-2.
“Our effectiveness on defense led to many successful counterattacking plays where the organization of the forwards allowed quick and controlled passes out to the backs,” Emily Duh ’14 said.
Duh completed a hat trick with a try in the final seconds of play after captain Jess Berry ’13 intercepted the ball which, in the ensuing confusion, found its way into Duh’s hands. Duh then ran it under the uprights for her third try of the afternoon. Berry converted the kick to cement the score at 36-0.
“Duh’s performance was essential to our win,” said Berry. “Her try in the final seconds of the game demonstrates the intensity the entire team played with throughout all 80 minutes of play, up until the final whistle blew, which is something we’ve strived for all season.”
The potency of the offense was the result of a concerted effort to force the opponent back at heel, and to free runners like Duh on the outside.
“Offensively, we have been working on changing our angles of attack and taking the ball at pace,” said Coach K.O. Onufry.
A shifty runner, the outside center Duh cut through the Amherst pack at will. Her three tries provided MCWRC with 15 points, while six points came off the foot of the scrum half Berry. Inside center Laura Hoffman ’15 broke a series of tackles for her first career try to round out the scoring.
“Our captain led the team in focus and intensity right from the kick-off through to the final whistle,” Onufry said.
MCWRC fell in a season opening scrimmage against St. Michael’s Sept. 15, and then again to Colby, 26-5, in Waterville, Maine on Sept. 22. Despite the loss, the team carried home the momentum from last week’s strong second half against Colby. It was enough to blow away Amherst on home turf.
“In our past two games, we struggled with slow starts, which allowed the opposition to gain large enough leads so that we were left playing catch-up,” said Duh.
After dominating Amherst, MCWRC hopes to secure their position as a force in the NESCAC women’s rugby league in the coming weeks. The women play Tufts this weekend at home, followed by a home match against Bowdoin Oct. 13.
“This win was an important one for us not only in that it was our first of the season,” said Duh, “but also in that each player on the field gave it their all from the get-go.”
The coming matches at home will test MCWRC against the two strongest teams in the NESCAC.
“We are going to have two tough games at home,” said Berry.
The challenge of the next fortnight also poses a great opportunity for MCWRC, as two victories will lift them over the .500 mark on the season, and gives them a chance to compete for the conference title. The top four teams in the NESCAC qualify for the postseason.
The MCWRC side have qualified for the playoffs in each of the last three seasons.
(09/26/12 11:02pm)
As a liberal arts college, Middlebury is not the first school that comes to mind when people think of entrepreneurship and young people working with small, start-up companies.
Middlebury may not be Silicon Valley, but that does not mean there are not students right here on our campus doing groundbreaking things in the business realm and making an impact in their industries.
In recent years, with the help of classes like Middlebury Entrepreneurs and MiddCORE, but primarily through their own efforts and determination, several students at the College have founded their own companies.
Corinne Prevot ’13 started her business four years ago as a high school junior at the Burke Mountain Academy, a boarding school in northeast Vermont with a focus on skiing.
Over one rainy winter break, she and her mother went out to buy materials to make hats, headbands and other accessories for ski races.
“I’ve always been very crafty,” said Prevot. “Some people like music; I dabble on the sewing machine.”
Prevot’s quality products and unique designs soon gained popularity. She began selling custom orders to friends, teammates and competitors at ski races and eventually sold some to her first retail buyer, East Burke Sports, a local ski shop. Prevot named her new company Skida, after the Swedish word meaning “to ski.”
Since then, Skida products have expanded to 80 locations across the country. In 2011, Prevot was awarded the prestigious title of an All-Star Student Entrepreneur by Forbes when her revenues hit the $100,000 mark. This spring, Vermont Life Magazine featured Skida as a “fabric of Vermont.”
As a full-time student running her own business with nothing but the help of her mother and some hired seamstresses in northeastern Vermont, Prevot still manages a regular course load along with a 20-hour work week. However, Prevot looks forward to the prospect of devoting more of her time to Skida once she graduates this spring.
She plans to increase her product line and add in some style pieces, as well as expand on Skida’s philanthropic project, Skida Plus One, where online buyers can donate a hat to one of four cancer centers in Vermont or Colorado at their time of purchase. But no matter where Prevot takes Skida next, she maintains that it is her goal to keep all production domestic.
Prevot’s advice to other entrepreneurs is simply to “be patient with it.”
“Let it grow organically,” said Prevot. She believes that entrepreneurship derived from passion is best when left to take its own path.
Rocket Listings is another small start-up company that were founded by Middlebury students.
The summer after taking MiddCORE during his first winter term, Brian Sirkia ’12.5 had the idea of helping spring semester students rent out their things to language school students.
Over the next few years, Sirkia collaborated with mentors and co-founder Nat Kelner ’12.5 to take this initiative even further by establishing Rocket Listings, a website designed to make buying and selling items online easier and faster. Rocket Listings also allows customers to cross-list postings with similar sites, like Craigslist.
“What brought me to Middlebury was the appeal of the liberal arts and their intersection with technology, and that same appeal is what brought me to Rocket Listings,” said Teddy Knox ’15, chief technology officer and co-founder of the company.
Although Sirkia and Kelner received money through the College’s Millennium Fund, they expressed that raising funds and contacting potential investors has been one of the most challenging aspects of running their small business.
Their hope is to stay based in Burlington where they currently have an office on Church Street, but they recognize that relocating is a real possibility. Still, the two feel that the move would be well worth staying with the company and pursuing their dream jobs.
“You’ve got to be willing to take risks and jump into the deep-end,” said Kelner.
He admits that Rocket Listings has not been a simple endeavor, but that college is the time to take such chances, when most of us do not have to worry about putting food on the table or taking care of a family.
“It’s all an attitude,” said Sirkia when talking about what he learned from his entrepreneurial endeavors.
(09/18/12 2:35am)
When Stephen Greenblatt was an undergrad at Yale University, he stopped by the local Co-op and, browsing through some unwanted and cheap books, he discovered a prose translation of Lucretius's two thousand year old poem, "On the Nature of Things." He purchased it for ten cents.
Greenblatt begins his brilliant and fascinating new book, The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, with a similar anecdote of discovery. He recounts the journey of Poggio Bracciolini, a papal secretary and humanist who, in the winter of 1417, traveled to a monastery looking for ancient manuscripts. There he rediscovered, by accident, one of the last known copies of Lucretius's text, thus preventing its disappearance into oblivion.
It is the bold thesis of this book that this moment, the rescue of "On the Nature of Things," caused a "swerve" in the course of history, urging Europe into the Renaissance and the Early Modern period. According to Greenblatt, Lucretius's poem, written in 50 B.C.E., had this history-altering and "dismantling" effect because of the dangerous ideas that the poem contained, including the existence of atoms and the idea that the universe lacks a creator or afterlife. The release, spread and percolation of these concepts, so argues this book, profoundly altered the way the world thought.
It might sound absurd to suggest that a single poem could cause such a profound ripple effect. Greenblatt's book reminds the reader of a classic superhero movie, except here, it is "one text that saved the world." But Greenblatt's thinking is not all that strange, and it in fact follows one of the most significant movements in literary criticism in recent years, New Historicism. A scholar practicing this method of criticism often focuses on reviving and discussing a little-known writing or anecdote, making the resuscitated document the center piece in an analysis of a more famous Early Modern text. Such a writer also attempts to show that history does not simply influence texts, but that texts influence history. This book is the ultimate New Historicist tale, written with the same style as the criticism, but less obscure.
The Swerve does not simply explore the profound implications of the poem on history, though; those fascinating and ultimately convincing details that show where exactly the text influences writers and thinkers lie in the back 80 pages of the book. The first 180 pages of this book, barring the anecdote discussed at the beginning of this review, involve historical context: the world in which Lucretius wrote "On The Nature of Things," the tragedy of lost texts in the ancient Roman world, the Christian attempt to smother the Epicurean philosophy, information about the humanists, bibliomanic monks copying old texts, the nature of printed scrolls at the time Poggio rediscovered Lucretius, Poggio's life as a secretary to a corrupt pope. Though these details sometimes seem tangential, Greenblatt consistently manages to connect his commentary to the initial anecdote of Poggio's journey, using the information to paint a powerful story.
If this kind of world isn't compelling to you, there are still other reasons to read this fine pop-New-Historicist accomplishment. For one thing, Greenblatt showcases some gorgeous prose; in describing, for example, why Poggio may have been grasped by old texts, it was because they "were not texts but human voices." He also manages to find and exploit a great deal of humor during the course of weaving his story, referring to the corrupt anti-pope as a "thug, but a learned thug."
Aside from his elegant prose and wit, Greenblatt also frequently makes use of his powerful imagination. Because of the rampant absence of information on his subject, Greenblatt is often forced to conjecture about the details of his story. The reader frequently notices words like "perhaps" and "could" and "might have been" peppering his work. The constant speculation, far from revealing a lack of research, makes the reader remember how little history has been preserved, and how important the imagination is in any work of writing.
But perhaps the most interesting aspect of this book, and the biggest reason you should read it, is the contagious enthusiasm that Greenblatt has for all things literary. He writes with not only passion, but with unstoppable love for and fascination with his subject. In an interview with Charlie Rose about the book, Greenblatt mentioned, with a smile, that he was thrilled to have learned on Amazon that Lucretius was, briefly, the third best-selling poet in America. You could tell that this kind of resurrection was his dream all along.
Recommendation: Definitely read it. Or read anything by Greenblatt, for that matter, especially if you're looking for inspiration for writing an academic essay.
(09/18/12 1:47am)
On Aug. 6, six demonstrators were arrested in Lowell, Vt. at the site of the Kingdom Community Wind Project. These six demonstrators, members of a fifty-person protest group assembled to voice their disapproval of commercial wind-farming, bringing the total number of arrests made at this site to 15. This project, an alternative energy generation venture in the process of constructing 21 wind turbines along a three-mile section of ridgeline along Lowell Mountain, has been the site of a half dozen large protests and demonstrations in the last two years.
The Kingdom Community Wind project is not unique in Vermont; similar wind farms adorn the skylines of Sheffield, Georgia, Milton and even Middlebury. The field adjacent to the College's recycling center is home to a 10-kilowatt turbine that is a feature of the College's carbon neutrality initiative.
Opinions about the wind turbine vary on campus.
Steven Zatarain '15 feels that Middlebury's wind turbine is "a façade" that "gives tour guides something to talk about."
Director of Arts, Professor of History of Art and Architecture and Associate Curator of Ancient Art Pieter Broucke is "really in favor" of wind turbines, which he believes can flourish in Vermont's "delicate and venerable landscape."
Across the state, wind farms like the Kingdom Community Wind Project are being sharply criticized for having what opponents claim to be a disruptive impact on the landscape. The situation in Lowell has developed into a particularly contested dispute.
The saga unfolding in courtrooms and on mountaintops across Orleans County began in the spring of 2010 when Green Mountain Power, the Vermont Electric Cooperative and the Vermont Electric Power Company, Inc. submitted a proposal to build a wind farm on the Lowell Mountain Ridgeline and install 16.9 miles of transmission equipment in the towns of Lowell, Westfield and Jay. On May 31 of the following year, the Public Service Board of the state of Vermont approved "either 20 or 21 wind turbines and associated transmission and interconnection facilities ... (to) be sited along the Lowell Mountain ridgeline in Lowell, Vt."
The Public Service Board's decision ignited a contentious debate over the merits of wind energy. So far, construction has been fraught with setbacks due to the many protests that have been staged within the last year: two Sterling College students were arrested while protesting on Nov. 12, six demonstrators were arrested for trespassing on Dec. 5th, two arrests were made and state troopers were called when a group of 80 to 150 protestors blockaded Vermont Route 100 to delay the arrival of turbine components in July and six of about thirty demonstrators were arrested at a protest staged on Aug. 6. These disruptive incidents have precipitated a statewide dialogue about the benefits and drawbacks of wind energy.
Proponents of wind energy point to the dual economic and environmental value of wind farms as the primary reason why wind turbines should be installed across the state. These advocates believe that wind farms will economically benefit the state by creating jobs, tax revenue and a stable long-term source of inexpensive energy.
"It's a very good symbol of the promise of renewables," said Middlebury's Director of Environmental Studies and Professor of Economics Jonathan Isham. Isham believes that "taking advantage of new technologies and economies of scale" will enable wind energy to be a financially viable option for the state of Vermont. Isham also pointed to other examples of successful wind energy across the country as signs that wind energy can find a niche in Vermont.
"The rise of wind power in Iowa is a sign of the promise of wind," said Isham.
Green Mountain Power Corporate Spokesperson Dorothy Schnure compared the development of wind energy infrastructure to home ownership in what she called a "rent vs. own model." She said that having wind energy facilities in Vermont will provide long-term benefits despite initial financial hurdles because future contract renewals will be avoided by keeping production local.
Supporters of the wind energy movement in Vermont also think that wind farms are an appropriately "green" approach to energy creation. Advocates believe that wind energy is an environmentally responsible alternative form of energy generation that aligns with Sustainably Priced Energy Enterprise Development (SPEED), a piece of legislation passed in 2005 that requires 10 percent of Vermont's energy load to be provided by new sources of renewable energy.
According to Schnure, "the Vermont legislature has made it clear that [they] want a ... higher proportion of our energy mix to come from renewable energy sources."
The Kingdom Community Wind project emphasizes the project's "low potential for significant environmental impact" and says the completed wind farm will "reduce the need to import power and will reduce pollution in (the) wider community."
Schnure went on to say that the project represents a form of renewable energy generation that is "low cost, low carbon and very reliable."
Critics of the development of large-scale wind-energy generation systems believe that the host of deleterious effects of wind turbines with respect to aesthetics, environment, noise levels and cost efficiency make wind energy a poor choice for the state of Vermont. Environmentalists are furious that the turbines and their associated transmission and interconnection facilities destroy dozens of miles of natural landscapes without significantly reducing emissions.
Lisa Linowes, exectuve director of Vermont's Industrial Wind Action (IWA) group, says that the label "renewable" often encourages members of the public to accept an environmentally degrading source of energy that is "extraordinarily expensive relative to other forms of generation."
"How could anyone find a problem with wind energy?" asked Linowes. "Out of the gate a lot of people just accept that renewables are wonderful [even though] there is no way in Vermont or in New England that wind energy [could] pay ... for itself."
Citizens living in Lowell, Westfield, Jay and neighboring towns decry the turbines for their obtrusive presence, and, as the multitude of arrests suggest, they are not afraid to stand up for their opinions. Linowe believes this is evidence that the anti-wind protestors will not rest until their voices are heard.
"It's a big step for a doctor in an emergency room, [...] one of the people that got arrested – to stand up and to be so outraged about the Lowell mountain projects that he stands up and he would allow himself to get arrested," said Linowes. "People don't do that."
The issue remains divisive, however, and protests continue. Although opponents continue to clamor for an end to the construction of Kingdom Community Wind, Schnure insists that the 21 turbines will soon be powering 24,000 Vermont homes. According to recent estimates, the Kingdom Community Wind project will be completed by December. While construction crews race to erect the final few turbines on the ridge of Lowell Mountain, environmentalists, economists and engineers across the state of Vermont are sure to be investigating other alternative energy sources.
"In the end, Vermont should aspire to have a portfolio of renewables, including wind and solar," said Isham. Vermonters seem to agree that investment in multiple renewable energy sources is positive, and the wind energy debate seems to be a catalyst for discussion of these new sources of renewable energy.
"Wind can be effective," agreed Visiting Lecturer in Architecture Andrea Kerz-Murray, the lead faculty advisor for the Middlebury Solar Decathlon Team, "but [it] is not enough on its own [...] The most effective approach to clean energy in a place like Vermont has to be a varied one."
"Just like investments, you don't want to put all your money in one stock. It's the same with energy," said Schnure. "There is a lot of value in having a diverse mix."
The increased interest in the environmental and economic landscape of tomorrow that has resulted from the wind energy debate will benefit all residents of Vermont.
"The high profile debate and the actions that have been taken will drive people to look deeper, to peel away some of the layers to that onion," said Linowes.
With both corporate entities like Green Mountain Power and advocacy groups like the IWA both striving to develop a varied energy portfolio for the state, the future of sustainable energy in Vermont remains bright.
(04/21/11 4:09am)
In their second tournament of the spring season, the men’s team came away with a win, while the women’s team placed fifth out of 13 teams. Battling wind and rain, the women’s team competed at Amherst College and the men’s team competed at Hamilton College.
Placing in the top spot for the Panther men was captain Jimmy Levins ’11 in third place with a score of 77 for the day. Just one stroke behind was Andrew Emerson ’13 in fourth place at 78 strokes. Rounding out in the top eight was William Prince ’13 in fifth place with a score of 79 and Max Alley ’14 in eighth place with a score of 80. Brian Cady ’14 finished off for the team in 11th place shooting an 81. From Levins third place finish to Cady’s 11th place finish there was only a difference of five strokes indicating how close this day of golf was for the competitors.
This one-day tournament took place under extremely harsh conditions. In an outdoor sport like golf the uncontrollable weather has definite effect on the players performance. According to Levins, this is something that the team has to deal with especially in the spring.
“We played in some of the toughest conditions we will probably see this year, gusting winds, rain and even some hail,” said Levins. “I was very impressed with how the team stuck it out and got the job done. Playing in tough conditions is something we’re going to see a lot of in the spring, and we learn what adjustments we have to make, in terms of shot selection and mental approach, when the weather isn’t perfect.”
The girls fought against the same weather this past weekend at Amherst. Flora Weeks ’12 led the Panther women in fifth place with a score of 162. Caroline Kenter ’14 followed in 34th place, shooting 179 for the weekend. Only one stroke behind was Jessica Bluestein ’14 in 35th place with a score of 180. Rounding out the Panthers was Keeley Levins ’13 shooting a 182 and placing 37th.
The women’s team has next week off before their final regular season tournament at Williams on April 30 and May 1. The men’s team will travel to Williams next weekend before hosting the NESCAC championships the following weekend.
Although last weekend’s weather was not the best the men are looking forward to next weekend.
“We’re looking forward to next weekend at Williams where we’ll look to keep going in the right direction,” said Levins.
(04/21/11 4:05am)
The Middlebury Track and Field Team competed in a rare Sunday meet this past weekend in Hanover, N.H., competing against Dartmouth and the University of Vermont. The Panthers finished third, only six points behind second-place UVM, a Division I school. Several runners gave impressive performances at the meet. For the women’s team, four runners won their events. Senior Annie Rowell ’11 took home the 100m dash, and sophomore Juliet Ryan-Davis ’13 gave an impressive performance in the 400m, winning with a time of 58.38. She also gave the Panthers a third place finish in the 200m. Showing the Panther’s depth at all distances, first-year Madie Hubbell ’14 won the women’s 5000m with a time of 18:20.95. Rounding out the four first-place finishes was sophomore Emily Dodge ’13, who won the long jump with a distance of 17’5.25”.
Other notable performances were given by Erin Toner ’11, who came in third in the 800m, and junior Mia Martinez ’12, who came up with a third-place finish in the 100m hurdles. The Middlebury Women’s 4 x 400m relay team, made up of tri-captain Christina Kunycky ’11, Toner, Rebecca Fanning ’12 and Ryan-Davis also had a great day, running a time of 4:03.90 and coming in third.
Senior tri-captain Alice Wisener ’11 was pleased with the team’s performance in the meet, stating, “We were up against Division 1 teams and we were still able to compete. It was really encouraging to see such a great performance by the team.”
On the men’s side, sophomore Stuart Fram ’13 gave the team a big win, bagging a first place finish in the 110m hurdles with a time of 15.47. First year Peter Hetzler ’14 pulled through for the team with two second place finishes, in the 200m and the 400m races. Finishing immediately behind Hetzler for the third place finish in the 400m was Ethan Mann ’12. Sophomore Jack Davies ’13 also ran an impressive race in the 1500, coming in second with a time of 3:57.80, and senior Donny Dickson ’11 rounded out the quartet of second-place finishes in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 9:37.80. In an impressive display of teamwork, the men’s 4 x 100m relay team, made up of first-years Kevin Chu ’14, Hetzler, Jason Jan ’12 and Dan Bent ‘13 took first place.
Though it was not the team’s best overall meet, it did give them a chance to go up against stiff Division I competition and hold their own; both the men’s and women’s teams showed their depth and strength this weekend. With NESCAC Championships a mere two weeks away, the team is looking strong and confident and poised for an impressive showing. The team will have a last chance to fine-tune their skills at next week’s meet, the only one at home this season, so look for some great performances as the Panthers put on a show for a hometown audience. Runners like Davies, who was recently named player of the week in the NESCAC, will look to continue to build off of the strong starts they have established so fall this spring season. After the stirring success of both the men’s and women’s cross-country teams last fall, Middlebury track and field should be anxious to continue our new-found dominance of all sports running related.
(04/21/11 3:57am)
Musically speaking, 2009 was a dying year. But thanks to a team of indie superheroes including Animal Collective, Passion Pit and The Dirty Projectors, humanity was saved from the soul-sucking clutches of Susan Boyle and auto-tune. Although no definitive list of music’s heroes exists, one thing’s for certain: no indie Justice League would be complete without the hot and fuzzy eponymous debut of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.
Two years later, the Pains are back with their sophomore effort, Belong. Just as loud and twee as their debut, Belong exhibits the same indebtedness to 90s dream pop and shoegaze that the band has always worn on its sleeve. Of course, this comes as no surprise, especially considering their collaboration with British producers Flood and Alan Moulder (acclaimed for their work with The Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine and The Smashing Pumpkins). In other words, you can expect this album to be chock-full of ear-splitting guitars, wispy vocals and infectious melodies.
And that’s exactly what you get. After 15 seconds of mock delicacy, the title track explodes into a whir of distortion and breathy intimations of adolescent love. Refusing to settle down, the album races from the rumbling bass and cheesy synths of highlight “Heart in Your Heartbreak” to the groovy swirl and breakneck beat of “The Body.” But halfway through the album, the Pains offer a bit of respite from all the thunder. The jangly guitars and swelling chorus of “Anne With an E” begin the soft descent, while “Even In Dreams,” at once confident and vulnerable, sounds like a hard rock cover of a slow-dance scene from some mid-80s Molly Ringwald movie.
One of the distinguishing features about The Pains of Being Pure at Heart is lead singer Kip Berman’s boyish innocence and shrouded delivery. Ever faithful to his shoegaze roots, Berman views his voice as yet another texture in the mix, and although he has unearthed his vocals from the reverb-soaked trenches of their debut, he’s still nearly indecipherable. When you finally figure out what he’s saying, you notice how his childlike croon often belies his dark, melancholic subject matter. Sex, drugs and adolescent fears and desires pervade his lyrics, as heard on “Girl of 1,000 Dreams,” another of Belong’s highlights: “Held my breath, thought of death and things I’d like to do ’til then: See my friends, lose my head, wake up with you in my bed.” Thanks to Berman’s earnest and youthful delivery, these emotionally charged lyrics never cross over into over-sentimental babble.
So how exactly have the Pains progressed over the past two years? And what’s the difference between Belong and their debut, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, anyway? Well, for one, Belong is a more mature album, leaving the band more streamlined and polished without having sold its soul. Their more profound dynamic shifts, for example, allow for subtler verses and more arresting choruses. But for the most part, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are still the same old twee-pop band that saved the day in 2009. Mighty guitar riffs and saccharine hooks still abound, and their albums still deserve to be cranked up to 11. Let’s hope those aspects never change.
(03/24/11 11:00am)
Beginning in the fall of 2011, the College will recruit 10 Posse Scholars from Chicago in addition to the roughly 10 students selected each year from New York City.
For the past 12 years, Middlebury has been a partner school to The Posse Foundation, offering full four-year scholarships to students selected and mentored by the foundation, or Posse Scholars. The Posse Foundation works within the public school systems of Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City and Washington, D.C. to identify and prepare talented student leaders from diverse backgrounds for attendance at one of Posse’s 39 prestigious partner institutions. President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz spoke to the success of the Posse program at Middlebury.
“So many on campus, and on the board of trustees, are strong believers in the Posse program because of the diversity, leadership and talents our Posse Scholars bring to Middlebury,” said Liebowitz. “I believe the Posse Foundation does an exceptional job identifying and then mentoring talented students — students who otherwise might never apply to Middlebury — who then make great contributions to our campus.”
Middlebury was the fourth school to forge a relationship with The Posse Foundation, and it will join the ranks of approximately one third of the current partner schools that draw Posse Scholars from multiple cities. Middlebury will be only the second New England school to recruit through Posse Chicago, the other being Trinity College. Dean of the College, Chief Diversity Officer and former Vice President of The Posse Foundation Shirley Collado, who was also a member of the foundation’s first graduating class, attributes the expansion of the College’s relationship with Posse to an already successful history together.
“The College has experienced a very positive and rewarding partnership with The Posse Foundation and was looking to expand the program to another city for the last few years,” said Collado. “We took a close look at the program and its success, examined our admissions efforts and diversity goals and came to the conclusion that this would be a wise investment for the College.”
According to Dean of Admissions Bob Clagett, the College currently draws around 10 percent of the student body from the Midwest, and recruiting in the Chicago area through Posse will further the College’s goal to increase that percentage.
“I have no doubt that being a part of Posse Chicago will significantly enhance Middlebury's visibility in that important part of the country,” said Clagett. “We are, of course, always trying to improve our outreach efforts in different parts of the country and around the world to help keep Middlebury as geographically diverse as possible, and the Midwest has been an important part of the effort.”
By 2016, two teams of Posse Scholars, or posses, will make up 20 students in each class, doubling the number of Posse Scholars on campus today from 40 to 80. Collado called this number a “critical mass of leaders.”
“As I imagine in four years having 80 [Posse] Scholars on campus from two major cities in this country, the power of that is really promising to me,” said Collado. “Not so much in terms of numbers, but the kind of talent and leadership and academic promise that I know these students will bring from two of the largest and most diverse public school systems in the country.”
President and Founder of The Posse Foundation Debbie Bial said increasing the number of Posse Scholars on campus benefits The Posse Foundation as much as it does the College.
“Nationally we had more than 12,000 nominations for 500 slots, so the fact that Middlebury is saying, ‘We have more room for these great kids,’ — I don’t know what could make anyone happier in this situation,” said Bial. “A lot of schools have separate programs that end up creating segregated diversity, but [Liebowitz] really gets it, and I am very appreciative of having a partner like him who knows how to address some of the difficult issues related to building a diverse community… It was a no-brainer when [Liebowitz] wanted to bring in the second posse, and it’s great for Chicago kids to have the opportunity to go to Middlebury.”
Collado believes maintaining a close relationship with The Posse Foundation will continue to do great things for all of the parties involved.
“I think this will be a win-win for Middlebury, for The Posse Foundation, for Posse scholars and Middlebury students in general,” said Collado.
(03/17/11 4:02am)
Friday, April 8 will mark the debut of a performance quite unlike any Middlebury College has even seen. MOVE, a performance art piece masterminded by Adam Kritzer ’11, integrates elements of theater, dance and audience interactivity. But that’s not all: it will be staged in The Mill, where — in a series of 13 performances spread out over Friday, Saturday and Sunday — groups of a dozen audience members will be guided through several different rooms as the play progresses.
The piece concerns the story of the MOVE Organization (or simply MOVE), a radical, neo-primitivist group that inhabited several compounds in Philadelphia in the 70s and 80s. After years of tense relations with the Philadelphia Police Department, a seige of the MOVE row house in West Philadelphia’s Cobbs Creek neighborhood culminated with a police helicopter dropping a C-4 bomb on the house. The explosion killed MOVE founder John Africa as well as 10 other adults and children (only two members survived) and incited a blaze that destroyed 65 houses. Kritzer’s script covers the years between MOVE’s founding in 1972 and the 1985 firebombing.
An ambitious story to tackle, no? The Campus sat down with Kritzer and his collaborator Christian Morel ’11 to discuss this brutal narrative and their inventive adaptation of it.
Middlebury Campus: How did you originally hear about MOVE?
Adam Kritzer: Two and a half years ago I was living in Brooklyn. I made an off-handed joke to my buddy about destroying a building in Brooklyn, and he said, ‘Oh, like the MOVE Organization.’ I said, ‘What’s the MOVE Organization?’ and he proceeded to tell me that in 1985, after several years of terrible relations with the police in Philadelphia, there was this organization that had been firebombed, and it was a big part of Philadelphia’s cultural history.
MC: What was the mission statement of the MOVEment, so to speak?
AK: They described themselves as a ‘revolutionary family,’ they were anarcho-primitivists who wanted to return to a hunter-gatherer society, and they used to stage demonstrations at zoos, and circuses. They used to poop in their yard, and use that poop as compost, and they created an entirely self-sustaining home based on things that had grown out of their s**t. Can I say s**t in the newspaper? Because the MOVEment is all about s**t.
MC: What inspired you to turn this story into a piece?
AK: What drew me to the project was that, as I started to do research, I couldn’t figure out who was ‘right’ in this situation, because both sides seemed very guilty — I don’t think the state handled it in the right way, but I don’t think the MOVE Organization as an extremist group really handled it in the right way either. I became fascinated with the question of, if it’s bad on all sides, what good can be taken out of this situation, what can be learned?
MC: Is that why you call it a parable instead of a play?
AK: Yeah, that’s why I call it a parable. I think that more can be learned from thinking about what happened and how it can be avoided then by choosing sides.
Christian Morel: And that’s why we're giving it two endings; because we want the audience to figure it out for themselves, or come to their own conclusion.
AK: It was originally written as a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ — it’s actually undergone several different forms. I wrote it first as a screenplay, and that didn’t work, and I wrote it as a musical, and that was a bust. So I shelved it for a while, and then I went to see Christian’s dance performance — the RIDDIM show last spring. Then I realized that this sort of movement was what my approach to the story had been lacking. Because ultimately the MOVEment is a celebration of the body, of the self, and of life. And that’s very much what dance is, and that’s what Christian brings to dance especially. So I think I approached you that night…
CM: Yeah, you did, you approached me that night and said, ‘I need to speak to you about something.’ And I figured it was about some project or something along those lines.
I was a bit concerned at first because of the number of things I’m committed to already, but the story sounded so compelling that it sparked my interest, and I wanted to try something
different before I left. I never really got to do theater here, and this was kind of like theater on my own terms, in a way, because it’s more of a ‘dance-ical’ than a musical.
AK: I think that a good way to think of it — theater on our own terms. Because I’ve never taken a playwriting course, or even been in a play before. And I’d say that’s true of most of our cast.
MC: Is there any precedent for this sort of thing, at Middlebury or out in the real world?
AK: This is very new for Middlebury.
CM: It’s new to Middlebury for a couple of reasons — for the content and because it’s an all-African-American cast; that was part of what sparked my interest, as well. I’ve never seen anyone do something like that in the theater department here. It’s also not just theater, and not just dance — I think we’re trying to make it more along the lines of a performance art piece.
AK: There are a lot of things that are informed by traditional theater … but I think this is a direction some theater might be moving, in it becoming more like performance art. Theater is unique in that it’s the art form, outside of the live performance of music, that has the closest relationship between audience and artist. You can’t pause a play, or talk to your friends
during it; especially this, which is so interactive that the audience is so small. They really become part of the play, as the jury in a court case in the second act.
MC: I imagine the staging of this has happened in real time, in a way, with things changing as you rehearse them. Could you talk a little about the process of directing and choreographing this?
AK: Well, I should talk a little bit about how we originally moved down into The Mill.
MC: Was that the original plan?
AK: No, it wasn’t. I had written the play to be put on in any normal theater. I guess the Hepburn Zoo, but really any standard theater. But it was so hard to get a good time at the Zoo because of all the senior work going on. Christian and I sat down and we said, ‘We’re not g
oing to get a space in the Zoo. What’s the most outlandish place on campus we could possibly stage this? What about the Mill?’
CM: And we thought, you know, that’s not that crazy. We live there, and it would only be a weekend, so I’m sure we could figure that out with the rest of the house members. And because we live there, we can manipulate it in any way we want—
AK: We can put s**t in the house if we want…
CM: It’s just totally under our control.
AK: When we realized this, the space really opened up for us, and we realized how good a space it would be for this. It took a little bit of thinking, and I had to go back and revise the draft so that it could work in the Mill. But it’s really the same play, the form just changed a bit. What great is that all the obstacles that have come up and changed the play have made it a better piece than it would’ve been without those obstacles.
Ramona Africa, the sole adult survivor of the 1985 firebombing, will be in attendance at one of the Friday performances, and at a potluck/discussion at 8 p.m. following the performances. Ticket-holders, non-ticket-holders, students, faculty and members of the community are all welcome. The social and philosophical implications of the events will be discussed, and having Ramona Africa in attendance promises to make it a memorable event.
MOVE also features Alexandra Vasquez ’12, Cameron McKinney ‘14, Christo Grabowski ’12, Peter Walker Kaplan ’13.5, Napol Wills ’14 and Phil Gordon ’11. It is being co-produced by Emily Rosenkrantz ’11, Claire Sibley ’13 and Nerissa Khan ’12, with tech assistance provided by Matt Cherchio ’11, Thom Corrado ’10.5 and Reilly Steel ’11.
(03/17/11 3:59am)
About thirty years ago, R.E.M.’s debut single “Radio Free Europe” sparked a garage rock revival in the American underground, essentially marking the transition from post-punk to alternative rock. Over the next fifteen years, they tweaked and developed their signature jangle-pop sound, giving us a string of ‘80’s and ‘90’s classics like Life’s Rich Pageant and Automatic for the People. Recently, however, new R.E.M. releases have sounded less like the familiar Athens, Georgia band and more like a bunch of has-beens trying to be adventurous and hip. And so we get their fifteenth LP, Collapse Into Now, a twelve-song restoration of the dusty forms that made them rock icons in the first place.
Unlike their previous five albums, Collapse Into Now sounds like, well, an R.E.M. album. In fact, it sounds like several R.E.M. albums. Over the course of 41 minutes, the band mimics the ragged rock of Monster (“Discoverer”, “Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter”) and the melancholy ballads of Automatic (“Oh My Heart”, “Walk It Back”), while still maintaining a cohesive flow. Although long-time drummer Bill Berry left the band in 1997, Collapse Into Now still incorporates signature elements from the rest of the band, like Michael Stipe’s cryptic lyrics, Mike Mills’ Beach Boys-inspired harmonies, and Peter Buck’s familiar mandolin work.
But despite all the comparisons to their previous work, Collapse Into Now certainly stands as a solid album in its own right. “Mine Smell Like Honey”, with its jangly guitars and infectious pop hooks, is a perfect choice for lead single, while “That Someone Is You” features some of Stipe’s best vocal work in years. But the real highlights here are the slower, more intimate tracks. The gorgeous “Oh My Heart”, for example, showcases stately horns and antiquated warmth, creating just the right atmosphere for a dedication to post-Katrina New Orleans. And for fans that pine for the elegance and grace of songs like “Nightswimming”, “Walk It Back”, with its gentle piano strokes and expansive vocals, offers a similarly reserved and mature option.
Despite these successes, Collapse Into Now simply can’t compete with the albums from R.E.M.’s glory days. “All The Best”, structured as a rock anthem, comes off as dull and lifeless, while “Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando and I” always feels like its on the cusp of an arresting chorus that it never quite reaches. Even Stipe’s lyrics flounder at times: “Someone has to make the first move. That someone is you.” Awkward and uninspired, this line gets lost among the explosiveness of an otherwise exceptional track. On “It Happened Today” Stipe croons, “It happened today. Hooray! Hooray! It happened. Hip, hip, hooray!” Listen Michael, you’ve been doing this for thirty years. What in God’s name made you think that that was a clever line?
So while Collapse Into Now may not be R.E.M.’s best effort, it’s still an excellent album, maybe even their best since New Adventures In Hi-Fi. There’s nothing groundbreaking here, but the group just feels more comfortable, more cohesive and more like R.E.M. Despite some weird detours over the past few years, it seems that the band is finally back on the right track, capturing the jangly college-rock sound that so heavily defined their early classics.
(03/17/11 3:58am)
With $53,879.19 in dorm damage already billed and what are traditionally the most destructive months still to come, the 2010-2011 academic year is shaping up to be the most costly on record.
This fall, the College saw over $16,000 of damage in both October and November, making the two months the second and fourth, respectively, most expensive months since at least September 2006.
This particularly destructive fall was noticeable not only in the dorms but also outside with a trend of tree vandalism, resulting in $6-8,000 in non-billable damage.
“I find the increases very concerning because they suggest a lack of general respect and a lack of self-control among some of our students,” said Shirley Collado, dean of the College and chief diversity officer. “If we can’t get students to feel empowered enough to protect that part of their lives here, I think we have to really consider what this means for our students and our expectations as a community.”
Collado sees next year’s Superblock “Intentional Living House” as an example and potential leader in creating a greater sense of community, a potential solution to the dorm damage problem.
“The whole premise behind [the house],” she said, “is to model community. The 26 members … want to really ‘walk the walk,’ if you will, and set up expectations, values, guidelines that really embody respect for the people who live with them,” she said. “These are students who are tired of being in these social spaces and residential communities where there’s not a real shared sense of respect and community.”
Collado added that she hopes the Intentional Living House can be a model to emulate for the rest of the campus, and emphasizes that while the administration can continue enforcement to the best of its ability, the discussion needs more student voices and cannot merely be a top-down approach.
Damage typically spikes again in March and April, as spring fever sets in, seniors prepare for graduation and sophomores prepare to go abroad. Dorm losses peak in May when more room damage is found after move out. Last May, there was $26,913.80 of damage discovered, which accounted for almost a third of the damage for the entire school year.
Assistant Director of Custodial Services Linda Ross cites the majority of these charges to students moving furniture out of the room and not moving it back in before they move out. Even if a piece of furniture is found elsewhere in the dorm once a student leaves campus, the student is still charged for the furniture because there is no way to prove whether the furniture belongs in the room. Furniture is expensive, with beds and desks costing almost $400 each. Ross reminds that these costs can easily be avoided if students remember to move all furniture back to the room and leave the room the way it was found.
The costs of the fire in Gifford — which already was the second largest bill for dorm damage this year, totaling $3,653.42 — have not yet been finalized. The cost of repairs for water damage, particularly for the elevator, and the cost to re-do the rooms will most likely be substantial.
This year, the bills have been highest for the sophomores and seniors, who have incurred $11,427.77 and $17,330.21 in damage costs respectively. Alan Sanders ’11.5, who lives in Milliken, a sophomore dorm that currently has the third largest bill this year with $3,519.18 of damage, said he is “surprised at the total cost of the damage, but not by the fact that it is occurring.” He has woken up several mornings to find damage in the halls and in the stairwells.
Atwater B, Hadley and Allen have also incurred high charges with over $2,000 of damage in each.
To the surprise of College administrators, Winter Carnival weekend saw less than $500 of damage, breaking with one prominent Carnival tradition.
The College continues to face difficulties deciding who to bill for the damages. The commons do their best to isolate the area to as few people as possible; however, it is often impossible to determine who exactly was responsible. This results in an inexact process, where entire halls being billed for the actions of only a few people. Sanders explained that he was charged for holes punched in the walls in his hall even though he was sleeping when it happened.
The damage generally occurs on weekends when students are in large groups and alcohol is involved.
“Students need to have fun, but it doesn’t mean you need to break something,” said Ross.
