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(04/16/03 12:00am)
Author: Nicolas Emery The International Student Organization (ISO) has announced the results of its 2003-2004 student election: Sumaya Huque '06 (Bangladesh) is the president-elect and Alvin Lam '06 (Hong Kong) and Zsofia Young '06 (Hungary) are the vice-presidents for the upcoming academic year. ISO Advisor and Associate Dean of Student Affairs Kathy Foley-Giorgio and current ISO president Namik Kirlic '05 confirmed the results of the on-line election on April 9. The initial on-line poll resulted in the election of as president and Lam as vice-president. However, since the ISO constitution calls for two vice-presidents, another poll was conducted which resulted in the election of Young as the second vice-president. Huque garnered 42 votes for president while Lam received 57 in the initial vice-president election and Young won 30 votes in the second. This was the first year that the ISO held its elections online.Some of the issues Huque raised in her letter of intent include a desire to increase support for international first-years and to bring back the ISO bulletin board in McCullough in order to increase the organization's visibility and broadcasts its events.According to its Web site, the ISO, a student organization with members from 80 countries, "seeks to broaden students' perspectives regarding foreign affairs and to introduce foreign cultures and traditions to the college community." "I will try my best to make ISO a happier and brighter place," said Huque, "a place of security and belonging for all the international students on campus, as it has done for me my freshman year."I'm very pleased with their enthusiasm," said Kirlic of the election winners. "I think they have a lot of ideas, and they are very much on top of things [for next year] which is encouraging. It's a young board, but I don't think that will be a problem as they can fill their committees with experienced members. They're very enthusiastic about the ISO."
(04/16/03 12:00am)
Author: Erich Kahner The Otter Nonsense Players hosted the First Annual Clown Parade last weekend at Middlebury College. Improvisational comedy groups from six colleges, along with four professional improv comics and one adult group, participated in the two-day comedy festival.The event coordinators, Ben LaBolt '03 and Toby Lawless '03, came up with the idea for the Clown Parade after attending similar festivals around the northeast."With this year being the seniors' last, we wanted to take part in a comedy festival at home and in the process establish something at Middlebury that may last a while," said LaBolt.He expanded on the Clown Parade's purpose, "Basically it's just a creativity love-fest. Aside from the performances at night, we attend workshops and learn from each other during the day." The first round of performances took place Friday night in Dana Auditorium. TheatreSports, from the University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H. - or, what one member called, "the armpit of New England" - was the first team to take the stage. They performed several skits, starting off with a game of "Oh Sir Walter Please Do Not Touch Me There" and ending on a spoof of the penultimate scene of the Eminem film "8 Mile," in which members of TheatreSports exchanged insults in a rap-off.Stupid Broken Children, a group of post-college age comedians from Portsmouth, N.H., performed next, followed by Combo Za of Williams College. A mock movie review marked Combo Za's routine. The gist of the fictional movie, "Running with Scissors," was revealed in a series of acted out clips: two kindergarteners are involved in a murderous plot to capture the teacher's favor and the coveted "gold star."Skidmore's Ad-Libs provided Friday's finale. They won the loudest applause on the evening. Their first act, performed with the Nutcracker Suite chiming in the background, involved an innocent country girl waiting at a train station. The girl danced around stage among abandoned suitcases until she opened one and was stunned when a dead body rolled out.Julia Langbein, a senior member of Columbia University's improv group, Six Milks, attended Friday's show. "Festivals like this provide us with a chance to keep us in touch with what's objectively funny, rather than what is just funny to us," commented Langbein.The following night in McCullough, Langbein proved she could get some laughs outside of the Columbia community. Her portrayal of a high-strung, malnourished vegetarian teenager whose first taste of deer flesh turns her into a bloodthirsty hunter established Langbein and the Six Milks as a crowd favorite. Purple Crayon, the large group from Yale University, preceded Six Milks. Paul Dome '00, Zabeth Russell of ImprovBoston, Steve Waltien '00.5 and Bill Arnett of Chicago-based ImprovOlympic added a professional touch to the Clown Parade. At one point in the evening, Dome and Waltien joined forces as a married couple and relived their days as Otter teammates.Middlebury's Otter Nonsense took the stage for the final act of the Clown Parade. The skit, "When a Crime Becomes a Date," won loud applause. In the piece, a zealous poacher and a lisping zoo animal plan their future after the two meet while the poacher hunts in the zoo. After the Otters finished, nearly all the 80 participants in the Clown Parade crowded the stage to provide closure on the weekend's events with, what LaBolt called, "the biggest game of Freeze ever."
(04/09/03 12:00am)
Author: Michael Hatch Artist-in-Residence Liz Blum opened her art show "Composites" Friday evening at the Johnson Gallery. She described the dozen pieces on display as "constructed images in photo-collages and drawings connecting realism to the animated."The resulting montages of fragmented photo-scenes and witty political collages tease and trick the eye. Her photography elicits second looks traditionally reserved for paintings. From several feet away, a work such as "Sniper" appears to be simply a large-scale photograph of the highway. All of Blum's photographic works carry this illusion of straightforward photography, but step closer and the incongruities emerge.What was first a simple large photograph of a typical scene becomes a madly shifting and titillating play of photographic fragments whose seams don't always line up.One patch of snow and earth has a warm yellow saturation while its immediate neighbor exudes a cold blue tone. Branches and clouds stretch naturally from one piece of the collage only to be abruptly fragmented in the next space cell. Spaces that would usually be dismissed as commonplace suddenly become unique. Each surface and fragment of the composition is an abstracted surface of color worth comparing to its neighbor. These photo-composites make ordinary spaces sacred and puzzling. What's more, they add mystery and suspicion to otherwise commonplace scenes. The shifting patches of rock, snow and asphalt and the altered horizon lines of "Sniper" morph into dangerous pockets of unknown intent once the title is applied. The act of transformation becomes potentially deadly. Blum creates these images by shooting several rolls of 35mm film to produce about 80 4"x 6" prints of a scene. She then enlarges and shrinks the images with a color photocopier, fragmenting, cutting, pasting and rearranging moments of a common landscape to produce a composite of that scene from a variety of vantage points and details. Blum, who is trained as a painter, states that this collaged photo medium "has the physicality of painting. A photograph flattens everything out, but in this process I get to pour over it in detail and deal with issues of form, light, composition, much more like painting."She continues a similar methodology in her series of composite drawings, the source materials for which are British political cartoons of the 1930s to 1950s. She explained, "Of course in that time you've got World War II, NATO and the U.N. and there are so many cyclical themes that are relevant today." In "The Stars at Night are Shining Bright," a rain of cartoon bombs blankets the sky, caught in mid-descent, thus creating a surreal night sky. The barren, rocky landscape is all too similar to images of the dry Afghani mountains, creating a disturbing contradiction between the comical components of cartoon illustration and the reality of recent news.Blum's collection of subtly composed and sometimes unnerving "Composites" will be on display in the Johnson Gallery until April 15.
(04/09/03 12:00am)
Author: Ryan Hisner Pro-war advocates often assume that after the United States has successfully overthrown Saddam Hussein, it will install a benign leader and bring democracy to Iraq. This will, they argue, improve the life of the Iraqi people. But how do we know if this will happen? We could take the government's word for it. Or we could look at the governments the United States has overthrown and then given power to in the past.Let's start with Brazil. In 1961 Joao Goulart was elected president. His leftist policies and involvement with Brazilian labor and peasant organizations greatly disturbed the United States. Robert Kennedy confronted this growing threat to U.S. business interests by telling Goulart to adopt pro-American policies or face reductions in U.S. aid. In 1963 a military coup occurred with the full support of the United States. Lincoln Gordon, the U.S. ambassador to Brazil at the time, said the revolution should "create a greatly improved climate for private investments."The new government destroyed the labor movement and instituted policies favoring the wealthy at the expense of the poor. This eventually led to appalling conditions as seen in recent years, where, according to Amnesty International, children have been forced to the streets to support their families and are then tortured, beaten and killed by police. There are other problems as well. According to the Brazilian Health Ministry, hundreds of thousands of children die of hunger each year. The primary school dropout rate is 80 percent and slave laborers are forced to work 16 hours a day and are beaten or tortured. Half the farmland is owned by one percent of the farmers, seven million abandoned children must beg and steal to survive and fewer children are vaccinated than in Tanzania and Botswana. All this after, according to Gordon, "the single most decisive victory of freedom in the mid-twentieth century." All this has transpired in one of the most resource-rich countries in the world. A victory indeed.Guatemala, where U.S.-backed coups laid the path for Guatemalan "development," is another example. Today 87 percent of the population lives in poverty and 72 percent don't get enough to eat. Forty percent of the population lacks drinking water and two percent owns 70 percent of the land. Since the United States took over, an estimated 200,000 Guatemalans have been killed.Panama is another sparkling success story. After the 1989 U.S. invasion, in which there were widespread reports of massacres by U.S. troops, poverty rose 14 percent. A post-invasion U.N. report revealed horrific effects on health, food, education, housing and culture. Human rights violations have increased, and according to a USAID study, use of narcotics has quadrupled. Panama's Congress reports that drug trafficking has doubled and money laundering has "flourished," as was widely predicted.The Dominican Republic offers another interesting case. In 1963, a year after the first-ever free elections in the Dominican Republic, a military coup took place, fully supported by the United States. Two years later the people tried to overthrow the military regime and reinstate the elected president, but the United States intervened and then watched as civilians were slaughtered. In the 1970s under the U.S. imposed government, political murders were rife, wages declined and the country was opened up to foreign (U.S.) exploitation. By 1985, 90 percent of the population was malnourished. Such is the legacy of a U.S. installed government. Similar things happened in Iran, where a CIA-sponsored coup put the Shah in power, leading to what Amnesty International called "a history of torture which is beyond belief," and in Indonesia, where the U.S.-backed General Suharto butchered 700,000 on his way to power. The list is far from complete. Why would Iraq be any different than any of these countries, especially when the president and half his administration are oil magnates? Make no mistake, the U.S. government does not care about the Iraqi people or the atrocities they suffer. Otherwise it wouldn't have contributed to such atrocities in the past. Ryan Hisner is from Decatur, Indiana.
(04/09/03 12:00am)
Author: Greg Duggan Although not a large training ground for soldiers, the Vermont Air National Guard's members are ready to ship out to the Middle East should a command come calling them to combat. Located in South Burlington, the Vermont Air National Guard houses the 158th fighter wing, "The Green Mountain Boys," and its fleet of F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft.During times of peace, the base flies training missions so that pilots can hone their skills. Captain Jeffrey Roosevelt explained in an interview with The Middlebury Campus that each time a plane takes off, a lot of work goes into flight preparation, whether it be maintenance or support for the plane. "There are constantly projects being worked on," explained Roosevelt. These projects can vary from maintaining and upgrading the facilities to updating the paperwork and files of 1,000 members of the Air National Guard.The Air National Guard plays a role at both the state and federal levels. The Guard Web site says its state role is "to provide assistance to the State of Vermont for use during local and statewide disasters or emergencies, to protect life and property and preserve peace and public safety." Roosevelt elaborated on this concept, giving the example of ice storms in recent years. During the storms, Roosevelt said, "The National Guard played a big part in emergency relief - generators, things like that, actually milking cows."The Web site says that federally, the Air National Guard provides "the United States Air Force with combat-ready personnel and equipment for utilization during times of war or national emergency."After the Sept. 11 attacks, activity increased at the base. Rather than flying training missions, the F-16's were used as combat air patrols over New York City and other large metropolitan areas. Flights with that specific purpose began decreasing last August, but Roosevelt assured that guard members were still "ready to answer the call" if needed.Since Sept. 11, approximately 85 guard members have been deployed worldwide. About 80 members are stationed in the Central Command Area, made up of Southwest Asia, the Middle East, Northern Africa and the Gulf. Jefferson did not have exact numbers, but assumed that some of these servicemen and women could be facing action in Iraq.When asked about the role the Vermont Air National Guard would play in the event of an attack on the United States, Jefferson could not give specific details, but expained, "It really depends on what's asked of us." He referred to the two separate responsibilities of the Air National Guard: "The federal purpose, which is war fighting, and then also a state role, which is emergency help." If some sort of attack on the nation "were to happen," Jefferson explained, "it would be to respond according to what the higher-ups want."The most likely candidates to give commands would be North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) or the Air Force, but orders could come from a number of different places. NORAD, a joint organization serving Canada and the United States, has the motto, "Deter, Detect and Defend Against Air and Space Threats to North America." Jefferson said the organization became much more prominent after Sept. 11.While the Guard members may have a limited role in the current war, their presence provides reassurance. As Jefferson said, "They're trained and prepared to answer the call."
(04/09/03 12:00am)
Author: Edward Pickering A memoir of imprisonment and escape, "Papillon" ranks among the greatest adventure stories ever written. It took France, then England and America by storm when first published in 1969."Papillon" is your summer reading, and you found it right here.At the age of 25 Frenchman Henri CharriËre, nicknamed "Papillon" ('butterfly'), was wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in the penal colony of French Guiana, an upper-world inferno with an 80 percent mortality rate for newly arrived convicts. Papillon dispenses with his trial - a mockery of justice replete with perjured witnesses, a Machiavellian prosecutor and venal jurymen - in a matter of pages. He then describes the implacable anger but also stubborn determination that swelled inside him in the days following his sentencing. In a cell in France Papillon determined to serve no more than two years of his life sentence. At the outset of his South American odyssey, which would eventually encompass 13 years of imprisonment, nine escapes and countless schemes, Papillon demonstrates the iron resolve that later proves to be his most indispensable trait as a fugitive. The hardships, deprivations and terrors that Papillon suffers will titillate readers who crave high adventure. After his initial escape Papillon is sent to Devil's Island - a hell from which no previous prisoner had ever escaped. Papillon became the first. His companion in the attempt died a horrific death on the mud flats along the shoreline of the South American mainland. Having beached before Papillon, Sylvain foolishly decides to walk across the flats to aid his friend, parched and beaten by 40 hours of exposure to sun and water. The death scene, drawn across several pages, is harrowing and representative, in a broad sense, of Papillon's experience in the penal colony - a world in which men die by murder, madness, guard brutality, sharks, heat exhaustion, carnivorous ants and inimical natives. "I flattened myself again and dug into the mud - it was almost liquid now. My eyes and his were inseparably joined. He shook his head to say no, don't struggle any more. I went on nevertheless and I was less than thirty yards away when a great roller smothered me under its mass of water and very nearly tore me off my sacks-they floated and moved me five or six yards.When the roller had gone I looked around. Sylvain had vanished. The mud, with its thin layer of foaming water, was perfectly smooth. There was not even my friend's hand showing to say a last farewell. I had an utterly disgusting, brutish reaction, the instinct for self-preservation overcoming all decent feeling. 'You're alive, Papi.'"A tremendous story that moves at galloping pace, "Papillon" reads "as a masterpiece of oral literature." Charriere, not a scribe, writes colloquially and quickly. The story itself, like the indomitable spirit of the man who recounts it, brooks no fluff, no pretense. Charriere produced an epic adventure, vivid and truthful.
(04/02/03 12:00am)
Author: Emily Thaler Last week the senior class voted to use money raised for its class gift to endow the Angels Fund and to add to the growing Community Service Fund. The results of the online referendum were close, prompting the Senior Gift Committee and Officer of Annual Giving Kristie Gonzalez '02 to put the gift money towards two of the four options presented to seniors, rather than selecting just one. The decision to direct the senior gift to two sources resulted, in part, from the fact that only $6,000 was needed to endow the Angels Fund, one of the senior class' top choices. The rest of the money raised could therefore be directed elsewhere. Fahim Ahmed '03, member of the Senior Gift Committee, noted that the Angel's Fund endowment was a "natural choice" for the class gift, supported "by the many members of the senior class affected as freshmen by the loss" of four classmates: Anisa Gamble, Iniko Johnson, Maika Prewitt and Tiffany Holmes. The Senior class gift will ensure that the Angel's Award continues to be given out in their memory. The rest of the money raised in the Senior Gift campaign will go into the Community Service Fund, which supports student-led volunteer organizations such as Page 1 Literacy and Community Friends, as well as service-learning projects. The gift to the Community Service Fund will boost the fund's endowment and ensure the continuation of the College's volunteer organizations.The 2002 senior class gift was a donation to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) fund.Some of the money has already been spent on making the campus more accessible. Gonzalez said that the senior class' choice of gift "sends an important message to the administration about what students care about." Although the goal for this year's Senior Class Gift is set at $25,000, just above last year's senior class gift of about $24,000, Gonzalez noted that they are also interested in surpassing last year's class in terms of participation. It is important for seniors to contribute to the fund, to show they have been satisfied with their last four years at Middlebury. About 80 percent of seniors contributed to the gift fund last year, and this year's committee is suggesting that seniors donate $20.03 for their class year. The senior class is actively soliciting donations from the entire college community, from the senior administration to underclassmen. Ahmed suggested that the gifts will "strike a note with members of the entire community," particularly the contribution to the Community Service Fund, as everyone seeks to benefit from the community service programs.The Senior Gift Committee also hopes to solicit matching donors to support the collection.Collection for the class of '03's senior gift has already begun, with members sitting outside of the dining halls to solicit student donations. Ahmed noted that the dining hall sit is only one of the multiple approaches the committee is taking to raise funds. A mailing campaign is under consideration for the senior class that would make it easier for students to contribute. Seniors would receive slips in their mailbox, requiring simply their signature, student ID number and donation amount, which they would then send back to the Annual Giving Office. The committee intends to solicit the majority of the senior class on a more personal level, hoping that members will spread word of the gift fund to their friends. The committee will also host a class gift kick-off party in the beginning of April to get students interested in contributing. The party, to which all students are invited to attend, will include a band and will be held in the Ross dining hall.
(04/02/03 12:00am)
Author: Campus Editor in Chief The Student Government Association (SGA) at Middlebury was forced to re-write a social life survey which they initially distributed to students before spring break. The SGA did not receive the 80 percent quota of student responses they had hoped for and hope to distribute the new survey sometime this week. The impetus for the original survey came from the Social Life Committee, a body formed by SGA President Ginny Hunt '03 in the fall of 2002. The group is composed of administrators and leaders of student groups, all of whom in some way are directly involved with social planning, as well as student senators and faculty advisers. The committee was created, explained Hunt, to respond to concern that a lack of social options on campus is leading students to go off-campus, resulting in an increase in drunken driving. The committee's purpose was "to bring together all those involved in the larger areas of social policies and event planning" in order to better facilitate discussion and implementation of ideas and policies.The committee met several times in the fall in order to make "a comprehensive assessment of social life on campus" and determine relevant strategies. After some discussion, it was decided that a survey of the student body at Middlebury was needed to better understand student behavior and student preferences regarding the social options available on campus. The committee decided to create a survey similar to one that was conducted by the SGA in 1996.One result from that survey was the creation of The Grille, which now functions as a major center of social life for students on campus. The survey sent out before break, went to students selected at random in order to to elicit responses that would reflect the opinion of the overall student body. It asked students what types of events on campus they attend, and how often they do so. Hunt hopes that the survey to be conducted will also provide enough helpful student input and "will function in a similar way [to the 1996 survey] - to make substantive, long-term recommendations on social life policy" in order to directly benefit the student body by the creation of other viable additions to the social scene at Middlebury. After reviewing the results of the survey, the SGA Cabinet, SGA Senate, and Social Life Committee itself would be the primary sources for such recommendations.
(03/19/03 12:00am)
Author: Erika Mercer You might hate the guy who can sing a line as corny as, "I want so badly to believe / That there is truth and love is real," and get away with it. Or the same guy who can put a sweet, soft, Belle & Sebastian-esque voice to a quick, upbeat, 80s electronic dance beat and make you want to dance and sing -- even though you might despise either 80s dance music or Belle & Sebastian. Or the guy -- dare I say it? -- who makes you remember that pop music (and life, for that matter) can be oh, so fun. But even if you're tempted to hate him, Ben Gibbard of "Postal Service" literally says, "Give Up" and proceeds to mesmerize you with his catchy melodies and sweet, boyish voice. "Postal Service," a collaboration between "Deathcab For Cutie" frontman Ben Gibbard and "Dntel" mastermind Jimmy Tamborello, can be traced back to early 2001, when Tamborello asked Gibbard -- at that time the two were total strangers -- to provide the vocals on his song, "(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan." The song was featured on Dntel's 2001 release, "Life Is Full of Possibilities," and won the pair much acclaim for their unique combination of complex electronic music with a soft and simple indie voice. The enjoyment and success both musicians gathered from their collaboration sewed the seeds for their first full-length album, "Give Up." As early as Dec. 2001, Tamborello began sending Gibbard electronic music samples -- two songs every two months -- via mail (hence, "Postal Service"), which Gibbard edited and mixed, adding melodies, lyrics and often guitar, drums and keyboards (played on the album by Chris Walla). Gibbard described the process: "I'd do demos and he'd send them back and he'd say, 'That sounds good,' or maybe he'd change this or that [...] It was such an impersonal way to work, it made it a lot easier to take criticism. Jimmy and I were really good about not voicing criticism unless it was something we felt strongly about." The correspondence continued over the next year, resulting in 10 songs and a close friendship between Tamborello and Gibbard: "The whole time we were doing these songs, we didn't know each other at all. We started getting together to do vocals and hanging out more, and we became friends."Their end product was released Feb. 18, 2003, on Sub Pop, marking the close of the two musician's year of hard work. "Give Up" certainly makes the unique production seem hard to believe -- the lyrics and melodies interweave as effortlessly with the electronics as if the two had worked side by side on the songs. A mixture of indie, pop and electronica, "Give Up" combines Tamborello's dense electronic arrangements -- what one critic called his "melodic knob-twiddling" -- with Gibbard's sweet, indie melodies, creating a sound that is both retro and modern at the same time. Mingling 80s dance beats -- created through vintage synthesizers and drum machines -- with catchy pop melodies, "Postal Service," doesn't leave you any option but to tap your foot or hum along. Even when the lyrics or melodies happen to be more downbeat, the relentless electronic beat pulses on, keeping the tone high and happy.In addition, the Gibbard's lyrics are about as sappy and sugary-sweet as a big wad of cotton candy, a taste that many critics have attacked as adolescent, immature or overly sentimental. In a sense, this criticism holds: the lyrics are undeniably corny, yet at the same time this corniness fits with the mood of the album -- dark, deep or depressing lyrics would create too huge a disparity between themselves and the upbeat nature of the album. While sometimes exceedingly syrupy, the lyrics find their place: when Gibbard sings, "I am thinking it's a sign / That the freckles in our eyes are mirror images / And when we kiss their perfectly aligned," we bop our head and sigh romantically instead of rolling our eyes. Gibbard commented fittingly on the song-writing process: "It didn't feel right for all the songs to be break-up-type songs -- they just felt more like the kind of songs that you would want to dance to and you wouldn't want to have a lyric that's super heavy." As a conscious result, the lyrics are light, sweet and happy. Just as the music commands you to dance, the lyrics will find you singing along to them.For more info on "Postal Service," check out their website at: http://www.subpop.com/bands/postalservice/index.php.Also, catch "Postal Service" being aired on WRMC the Friday after break from 8-10 p.m.
(03/19/03 12:00am)
Author: David Lindholm Since Richard Nixon signed Title IX into law in 1972, the number of girls playing high school sports has increased from 294,000 to 2.7 million. The number of women's sports at colleges had drastically increased, and most people credit Title IX with the creation of leagues like the WNBA and the WUSA. But recently, the law has, once again, come under fire for creating and expanding women's programs at the expense of boys' and mens' teams.This controversy resulted in a federal commission formed to examine the law, and the commission's report came under heavy criticism. This started when two of the commission members, Olympic gold medalists Julie Foudy and Donna de Varona, issued a minority report that stated that the commission's hearings were geared toward changing Title IX instead of giving the law a fair review. The report did actually recommend changes to the law, stating that it should expand the use of surveys to gauge women's interest in sports programs, and decided not to recommend some of the more controversial ideas for colleges and universities, such as disregarding nontraditional students and athletes not on scholarship when determining if the men's and women's funding were equal.The complaints fired against Title IX almost always relate back to football. With between three and five times as many players as most other sports and huge equipment needs, football funding and the total number of athletes throws a wrench in the balance of men's and women's sports. As a result, over the last 30 years many smaller men's sports have been cut, such as wrestling, swimming and gymnastics. It is interesting to note that at the Division I level, there are almost 80 more women's soccer programs than men's, which means almost 2,000 more opportunities for women than men. Having between 75-100 players on a football team leaves other men's sports likely candidates to be dropped and almost impossible to be added. As a recent New York Times article stated, college football is the "SUV of the college campus: aggressively big, resource-guzzling, lots and lots of fun and potentially destructive of everything around it." And at smaller schools, having roughly one in 12 male students on the football team forces admissions to worry about accepting enough players to field an entire team. In the end, both commissions like this one and colleges and universities themselves must analyze the role of the sport and the constraints that football programs place on gender equity on a campus sporting scene.
(03/12/03 12:00am)
Author: Ryan Hisner Throughout all the debate about the war with Iraq, there is one simple, and to me pertinent, question that is never discussed. Why should the United States, the most flagrant violator of international law and the greatest source of terror in the world, have exclusive rights to weapons of mass destruction (WMD)?Time and again the United States has flouted U.N. laws, illegally invaded other countries, given aid to the most blatant civil rights violators in the world and overthrown democratically elected governments, yet we deny the right of North Korea, Iraq and others to possess WMD. Studies have shown that U.S. aid is strongly correlated to the extent of human rights abuses in recipient countries. The more human rights abuses, the more aid they receive. The correlation is independent of need.Examples abound. Columbia, the worst human rights violator in the western hemisphere, also receives the most aid. The aid is used by the government to support paramilitary groups that commit some of the greatest atrocities in the world. Each year they drive hundreds of thousands from their homes, slaughter peasants and murder leaders of the opposing political party, actions typical of a U.S.-supported "democracy." The United States even supplied them with biological and chemical weapons to be used against peasant farmers, wreaking ecological havoc and contaminating the water supply. Turkey, another leading recipient of U.S. aid, consistently tortures and massacres Kurdish populations. Turkey even went into northern Iraq to devastate the Kurdish population there, something Saddam Hussein, who had temporarily fallen out of U.S. favor, was forbidden to do. Over 80 percent of the Turkish military equipment used to carry out these was American. Human rights groups in Turkey have also reported rampant use of torture in Turkish prisons, primarily in "anti-terror" prisons. For such pillage, Turkey was praised by U.S. newspapers, citing its tough "counter-terrorism" efforts. The list of U.S.-sponsored terror goes on and on: Kosovo, where NATO bombings were undertaken with the intention of escalating the violence and undermining incipient democracies in Kosovo and Serbia; East Timor, where Indonesia has used U.S. arms to butcher hundreds of thousands; Israel, which has relentlessly terrorized and intimidated neighbor countries; Libya, which the United States attacked for no plausible reason; and Iraq, where Saddam used U.S. biological and chemical weapons against Iran. This list is far from complete.How can the United States, the only country ever to have used a nuclear bomb, the leading violator of U.N. law and the cause of unspeakable terror around the world claim any more right to WMD than any other country? I believe that all countries should eliminate their WMD, but for that to happen the United States would have to agree to eliminate its own program, an unlikely event. Furthermore, it is generally agreed upon that sub-state terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda are not only the biggest threat to U.S. security, but also the hardest to eliminate. I think the Bush administration's strategy of eliminating WMD through force and quashing terrorism through invasion and violence is unlikely to succeed. An invasion of Iraq will only escalate the hostilities that exist between the Middle East and the United States, and as long as such hostilities exist, terrorist organizations will exist. We could continue raining bombs throughout the Middle East and maybe temporarily contain the terror threat, but at what costs? No doubt many thousands would die, both American and Middle Eastern. Feelings toward the United States would only grow more antagonistic, and terrorist groups would pop up all over, wanting vengeance for lost kith and kin. And eventually, the terrorists would acquire WMD anyway. I think a more viable solution would be to improve relations with the Middle East, redress past injustices, agree to weapons reduction and begin working toward a long-term solution to terrorism. Ryan Hisner is a first-year from Decatur, Ind.
(03/12/03 12:00am)
Author: Edit Honan Since March 28, 1979, the day of the Three Mile Island (TMI) partial nuclear meltdown in Pennsylvania, no new nuclear power plants have been built in the United States. This speaks to an underlying fear that Americans share when it comes to nuclear power -- a fear that I encountered first hand a few years back, when I witnessed a routine test of evacuation sirens in the southeastern Connecticut town of Waterford, the location of the Millstone nuclear reactors. The siren blasted through the town, and for those 60 seconds each resident was made to consider the unthinkable: the consequences of a full-scale nuclear accident (this was pre-Sept. 11). Despite of this fear -- and despite the deadly Chernobyl explosion seven years after TMI in the Ukraine -- the nuclear industry is very much alive in the United States. Nuclear fears did not lead to the phasing out of nuclear power plants, nor to the development of alternative sources of energy to meet the nation's insatiable thirst for energy. There are 103 nuclear power plants in operation in the United States, and the Bush Administration would like to see that number increase. In Vermont, the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor, situated in the far southeastern part of the state in Vernon, generates 80 percent of the state's energy needs.This series is designed to promote a dialogue on campus about nuclear energy, and especially our own nuclear neighbor, Vermont Yankee. And it seems that there is no better time to get started on this than now, with the 24-year anniversary of the TMI accident approaching.This series is about the radiation emitted by nuclear power plants into the air, water and soil surrounding them. Nuclear power plants routinely release radiation while producing energy. According to the Washington,D.C-based Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), additional radiation can leak out in "unplanned" releases, due to either mechanical or human error. The radioactive emissions may be divided into two categories: the permissible and the illegal/accidental. In the second category belong "undetected and unreported releases" which may never be verified. The NIRS also states that "accurate accounting of all radioactive wastes released into the air, water and soil from the entire reactor fuel production system is simply not available."U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission guidelines mandate that releases of radioactive material be kept "as low as reasonably achievable" and comply with guidelines for maximum dosage for the public. The NRC's Web site (www.nrc.gov), provides this explanation: "The permitted effluent releases result in very small doses to members of the public living around nuclear power plants." What the Web site fails to mention is that the very small doses are determined arbitrarily; no studies have established what a "safe" dose of radiation is, or if there is such a thing as a "safe" dose of radiation. An article in The New Scientist (Oct. 11, 1997) entitled "Radiation Russian Roulette" put it this way: "Expose yourself to even a low dose of radiation and it might or might not kill you some time in the future. This hit-and-miss effect on the body, along with the fact that it's invisible, is why most people have a profound mistrust of radiation." Helen Caldicott, a Nobel Peace Prize nominated pediatrician, is among the most respected critics of nukes in the world. In "Medical Implications of Nuclear Power," Caldicott argues that dangerous releases of radiation occur even before energy production begins -- that is, with the harvesting of uranium. When mined, uranium gives off the radioactive gas radon, which can be inhaled by miners. Caldicott cites a study which found that 20 percent of uranium miners in the United States die of lung cancer over a 20- to 40 year period of mining. Further dangers emerge when unused scraps of uranium tailings are left in heaps on the ground. Radon gas is emitted from these piles. Once a reactor is in operation, radiation is released into the environment. But there are few clear answers for those who live in the shadow of nuclear reactor. As Caldicott explains, "It may take five to 50 years before a cancer appears after the cell is exposed to radiation." Communities that host nuclear power plants and radiation waste facilities are finding that they have become de facto nuclear dump sites where thousands of tons of spent nuclear fuel are accumulating while cancer clusters are appearing in their neighborhoods.Edith Honan is a literary studies major from Redding Ridge, Conn.
(02/26/03 12:00am)
Author: Kelsey Rinehart Sen. James Jeffords (I-Vt.) addressed a large crowd in Mead Chapel last Wednesday in a panel discussion with Middlebury College Student Government Association President Ginny Hunt '03 and Professor of Political Science and Environmental Studies Chris Klyza. Jeffords strode in, grinning and waving enthusiastically to the students, faculty and area residents that had packed into Mead Chapel to see him. He received glowing introductions from John Morgenstern '03, who was instrumental in getting Jeffords to come to Middlebury, Faculty Head of Cook Commons and Professor of Italian Patti Zupan and President John McCardell.Jeffords' first words were, "Thank you, Mr. President. It's the first time I've said that in a long time." The crowd erupted in laughter and applause. In an informal conversation addressed to the Middlebury College community, Jeffords spoke about his new autobiography, "An Independent Man," covering topics ranging from global climate change to education to war with Iraq. He then responded to the audience in a question and answer session moderated by Professor of Political Science David Rosenberg.In response to Hunt's question regarding how the daily tests on his values have shaped his political career, Jeffords remarked, "I have always tried to make sure that I listen to people, that I understand what the needs are, and also go out and talk to the people." In response to another question, he mused about the political atmosphere in the South, noting, "The conservative nature of the population in the South leads it to different conclusions on funding of education, in particular."Education was a topic on which Jeffords expressed strong feelings. "I spent years doing what I could by traveling all over this nation, visiting the schools. The systems that we have are far from what we could have. That's the problem with this nation. The Republicans, unfortunately, have a strong feeling that the federal government should not be involved in local education, and they just feel that the states should be able to do that. What I found is that we had to really involve ourselves in improving education," he stressed. On the issue of the Individuals with Disabilities Act, Jeffords said, "I was the ranking member on a subcommittee that dealt with the problems with disabilities, and it was an opportunity for us to understand the horrors of the nation at that time with young people that had disabilities. It was terrible. We said the federal government should provide 40 percent of the funds for the local schools. It's somewhere around 14 percent now. This is horrible. This is the constitutional right of these children to have a free and appropriate education. We have to keep fighting."In his new book, Jeffords reflects on his journey to the nation's capital and his experiences there, relating the crucial lessons he has learned along the way. Born in Rutland in 1934, James Merrill Jeffords went to Rutland public schools, received his undergraduate degree from Yale University in 1956 and served three years of active duty with the U.S. Navy before receiving his degree from Harvard Law School in 1962. Among other achievements, Jeffords tested for his black belt in tae kwon do, hardly flinching while he broke the two-inch boards. He resides in Shrewsbury, Vt., with his wife Elizabeth, and has two children, Leonard and Laura. In response to a question posed by Klyza, Jeffords related the strain that his life in politics has placed on his personal life. "It's a very pressured situation. Liz and I made a commitment that no matter what happened, the children would be held as free from that type of pressure as they could be, and that worked pretty well. We had our problems, but we never really were separated. We always had the common enemy -- the kids," he said, causing peals of laughter to resonate in Mead Chapel.The son of Olin M. Jeffords, former Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court, Jim Jeffords grew up amid a political atmosphere. "I came from a political family, but not in the traditional sense," Jeffords commented in an interview with The Middlebury Campus. Two noteworthy Vermonters attracted Jeffords to a career in public service. "Ernest Gibson and Leonard Wing -- they were an inspiration to me. I followed their leadership," he said. Gibson made history when he interrupted 80 years of dominating leadership by the Proctor family after being elected Governor of Vermont in 1946. Wing was the celebrated commander of the 43rd Infantry Division in World War II.Since 1966, when the 32-year-old Republican began his career in politics as a state senator from the Rutland district, Jeffords served Vermont as its sole Congressmen for seven terms, from 1975 to 1988, and is currently serving his third term as a senator. Jeffords introduced the federal bottle deposit law and was praised for his "Education for All Handicapped Children" bill during his first term. He went on to catch the public's attention when he moved out of his apartment and into his office, and when he was the only Republican in the House of Representatives to oppose President Reagan's three-year tax cut plan.As a senator, Jeffords immediately voiced his concern over the potentially decimating problem of climate change, calling on U.S. lawmakers to take up the cause of the global environmental movement. In his discussion at Middlebury College, Jeffords said, "We're going to be able to put carbon dioxide into the program, which will bring us into concordance with the Kyoto treaty. There are enough moderate Republicans that are concerned about the environment that we're going to be able to get some good legislation through this year." When asked whether he thought Bush would sign such a bill, Jeffords said, "I don't know. If the public pressure was there. If the public around the country says, 'Hey, we're tired of dying prematurely and how about giving us a chance?' and he would listen to them, then he might sign it." On the local level, Jeffords is known for introducing the bill that keeps Vermont vistas clear of highway billboards. He has become known as an outspoken critic of the environmental policy in all areas.After his first election to office as a Republican, Jeffords gradually moved away from the conservative standpoint, often voicing his opposition to his party's bills. In 1991, Jeffords announced that he would vote against Clarence Thomas' appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court of Justice and voted in favor of a five-day waiting period for the purchase of handguns. The next year, Jeffords chose to visit Yugoslavia on an information-gathering trip rather than attend the Republican National Convention. In 1999, the senator announced that he would vote against President Clinton's impeachment.The division between Jeffords and his party came to a head on May 25, 2001, when he abruptly announced that he was leaving the Republican party to be an Independent, to the delight of many and the dismay of others. The select few that witnessed the historic moment wildly chanted, "Thank you, Jim! Thank you, Jim!" and applauded throughout his speech, while others, such as Vermont Republican Chairman Patrick Garahan, expressed opposing sentiments. "He really hurt Bush more than anything. Maybe that's what Senator Jeffords intended to do," he said. At Middlebury, Jeffords commented, "When I made that switch, all over the world, people began to send me things. They're just scared of this nation, what we're going to do to the environment, and scared of what we're going to do now in war, and that's one of the reasons I feel that we have to have a change." Jeffords did not elaborate on this point, much to the dismay of the crowd.Among the disappointed was Mary Kerr, who said she knew Jeffords well after living in Vermont with her husband Joseph for the past 40 years. She came to Middlebury, joined by many others with similar desires, to find out how the senator felt about the situation in Iraq, and what the Congress was doing about it. "I was ready to hear a man who
would speak his mind, other than in reference to his book," Kerr said. She cited a question in which a student referred to Iraq and the role of a seemingly 'silent' congress, saying, "I felt that the senator didn't answer those questions directly. I was disappointed that he didn't really express where he stood in all this." At the book signing, others expressed similar sentiments of frustration. "What about the "silent" Congress?" exclaimed the parent of a prospective student.Despite these criticisms, Jeffords received an enthusiastic standing ovation and signed countless books after the talk. Jeffords commented, "I think one of the value-supporting systems is the college system. I remember, in my days at college, the classes I took and the inspiring people that helped me mold the thoughts I wanted to guide my life by." He stated, "Let me assure you, there are a lot of problems out there right now, so I look forward to doing the best I can to try to solve those problems."
(02/19/03 12:00am)
Author: Tom Drescher With recent budget adjustments made to counteract the effects of a national economic downturn, Middlebury College is looking to boost income and limit gratuitous spending. As a result of the recent fiscal examination, other, somewhat odd financial issues have been appearing. In the last few years, the College has been losing large amounts of money in two rather unusual areas: parking violations and the long-distance phone service. For the 2001-2002 academic year, the College made $80,000 on fines associated with towing. The towing fees collected to date this year total a meager $11,000. The College is facing a $60,000 loss in revenue if students continue to park legally. At a time when excess money is scarce, this relatively small figure could have a significant impact on the College's budget, especially when combined with other areas of financial decline.According to Director of Public Safety Lisa Boudah, the decline in towing revenue this year is simply due to the fact that "people are parking where they are supposed to be parking." Middlebury students are following the rules set out by the Winter Parking Ban more closely this year than in the past. Boudah emphasized that the resulting loss in revenue is not considered negative. Public Safety is glad that students are following the parking rules, she said.Income from long-distance telephone calls has declined steadily in the past three years. $431,509 was billed out in 2000, $370,375 in 2001 and only $269,140 in 2002. Long distance rates were recently lowered in an effort to boost income in this area. Domestic rates range from $0.10 to $0.14 per minute, while international rates range from figures only slightly higher than domestic rates to $7.12 per minute for a call to the Solomon Islands.Efforts to raise telephone service income have been fruitless so far. Competition from alternative methods of communication has crippled the College's telephone service income. According to Assistant Treasurer Tom Corbin, the sharp decline in the use of the long-distance telephone service is due to many factors "including e-mail, calling cards, personal "800" numbers and, most recently, cell phones."Telephone services are expensive for the College. "Today the telephone budget is $750,000 plus wages," said Corbin. "In the past, the College has used the margin on the long-distance service to pay for local calls, voice-mail, in-room phones and part of the system cost."With an income now under $300,000 for long-distance calls, the College is forced to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on telephone services. "The general college budget has had to make up for the shortfall," explained Corbin.Including the indirect costs, the College is approaching a million dollar loss from its telephone services. Increasing cell phone use appears to be the largest factor responsible for the dramatic drop in telephone service revenue. "Given the current state of the telecommunications industry," Corbin explained, "the levels of income the College saw in the 1990s are not likely to happen again."
(02/19/03 12:00am)
Author: Chelsea Coffin There is more to look forward to than a long weekend this week. Winter Carnival kicks off Thursday night, and the festivities don't stop until Saturday night's ball. The fun begins at the Center for the Arts on Thursday night with a cultural gala, including the Burlington Taiko, a Japanese drumming ensemble, MchakaMchaka, Middlebury College's own African running choir and Shari Poons, a student funk band. As the cultural gala empties out, the crowd will be able to look to the sky for a fireworks display. The festivities continue in McCullough Thursday night with a screening of "Goonies" in The Grille for any interested fans, in addition to a dance party that will surpass any average McCullough fiesta thanks to karaoke and Orange Crush, a live 80s cover band. Friday afternoon will bring the Commons Winter Olympics. From 2 to 5 p.m. students can participate in luge, curling, snowshoeing and sledding competitions on McCullough lawn. The winter sports continue with the first performance of the ice show in Kenyon Arena. Performers include students, children and outside guests of all experience levels. One group will skate to the Middlebury favorite, Madonna's "Like A Prayer."For those in the mood for some cabaret entertainment, there will be a Night Club talent show in McCullough Social Space on Friday evening. Waiters will serve mock cocktails as spectators sit at candlelit tables. On tap and Brian the Juggler are among the acts scheduled following the Night Club. Things will also heat up with a dance party in Johnson.There will be a second performance of the ice show on Saturday afternoon. Then on Saturday evening, students are invited to attend the semi-formal "Hooray for Hollywood" ball, the Carnival's largest event. Last year's event drew an estimated 1600 people. Nelson Arena will be transformed with decorations and a live band.All events are free, except for the ice show, the Night Club and the ball. Tickets can be purchased this week at Ross. The entire package comes with a snazzy T-shirt to commemorate the weekend. So buy your tickets, and gear up for Middlebury's annual three days of fun to ward off the mid-winter blues.
(02/12/03 12:00am)
Author: Matt Ross The Panthers had an up-and-down February break, going 2-3 and 2-2 in New England Small Colleges Athletic Association (NESCAC) play. With two games left before the NESCAC tournament, the team is 13-9 overall and 2-5 in the league. The Panthers started the week hot, burying Colby 86-67. Middlebury let an early 8-0 lead slip away before establishing a 14 point halftime lead. The team never looked back. Captain Eric Bundonis '03 led the team with a career-high 29 points. The win marked Middlebury's 12th of the season, the most wins in a season since '92-'93. The momentum helped carry the Panthers to a close 82-80 victory over Bowdoin. Middlebury trailed by two at the half despite allowing the Polar Bears to shoot 50 percent from the field. The lead ballooned to 20 with 10:36 left in the game before Nate Anderson '04 sparked a stunning comeback that was sealed by his own lay-up that put the team ahead by two with four seconds remaining. When Bowdoin's Mark Yakovonis missed a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer Middlebury had all but secured themself a berth in the NESCAC tournament. With 34 and 21 points respectively and 10 rebounds apiece, Anderson and Bundonis carried the Panthers in a game where the team shot only 39 percent from the field and was out-rebounded 41-33. Anderson's performance earned him NESCAC Player of the Week honors.Despite losing 111-75 to the University of Vermont, the game gave the Panthers a chance to test themselves against the best competition the state has to offer and to spread the ball around. Each player saw some action and all but three made their way onto the scoreboard.After the breather from NESCAC play Middlebury returned to the league against a very evenly-matched Wesleyan squad. Wesleyan controlled the tempo in the first half, holding the Panthers to only 36 points and establishing a 10-point lead. Middlebury turned up the heat in the second half, taking 78 shots and scoring 62 points, but the Cardinals held off the charge by shooting 58 percent from the field on their way to a 106-98 victory. The game was a huge blow to Middlebury as it denied them a chance to pull even with Wesleyan in the NESCAC standings, and give them the tiebreaker needed to vault Middlebury into the top half of the league. It would have also given it a shot at pulling ahead of Bates and Tufts in the league. Such a streak would have garnered Middlebury a home game in the tournament.The let down against Wesleyan seemed to follow the team into the game against bottom-dwelling Connecticut College. By the end of the first half Connecticut College (previously 0-6 in the NESCAC) had established a 4-point lead, holding the Panthers to just 27 points. Middlebury managed to hang in the game and hoped to shake off the Wesleyan defeat in the second half, but the poor play only got worse as Connecticut added 53 points to its total and 16 to its lead to win 84-64. While the Panthers viewed both of the last two games as must-win, they are still in a position to make some noise in the NESCAC tournament. Even without winning either of its last two games, Middlebury would likely make the league tournament as Connecticut College would have to beat either Amherst or Trinity just to match Middlebury's league win total. Colby and Bowdoin play in what amounts to an elimination game on Saturday as Middlebury would hold the tiebreaker against the loser of the match-up. However, entering the tournament on a four-game losing streak to play one of the league's top two teams on the road is not a desirable outcome. Another win assures Middlebury a place in the tournament, but would not improve its seed beyond seven. The best outcome for Middlebury includes wins against both Bates and Tufts, which would give the team a 4-5 record in the league. These wins would vault Middlebury ahead of Bates should the Bobcats lose to Williams on Friday. There is also a chance that, with the correct tiebreakers, these wins coupled with losses by Wesleyan to Trinity and Amherst could lift Middlebury as high as fifth in the league. Anything less than winning would leave Middlebury with a game at Williams, Amherst or Trinity. With two wins Middlebury can avoid playing the top two seeds in the NESCAC in the first round, and enter the tournament with momentum and confidence. The games against Tufts and Bates will be held on Friday and Saturday afternoon.
(02/12/03 12:00am)
After living and studying in Madrid for one month, I found myself experiencing the first so-called feelings of rechazo, Spanish refusal -- a sentiment that the directors of our program had so delicately warned us we would feel toward our sudden immersion in a foreign culture, and for some, such as myself, our first time being away from everyone and everything that we know and love. This feeling came to a head one afternoon as I was sitting in the living room of my seÒora's apartment. She was sitting across from me, smoking her cigarettes and drinking her whiskey, her frail 80 year-old body bundled up in front of the television. I felt the sudden impulse to understand this aristocratic Spanish woman with whom I lived, and the first question that came to mind was, "What are your feelings on Spain's government?" I had chosen the right question. Carmen proceeded to indulge me for the next 30 minutes straight on the awful state of her country. Since the death of Franco, she said, all had gone straight to hell. She told me the story from her childhood of the rojos, Spanish for "reds," her term for everyone who opposed Franco during the civil war.In the initial phases of the civil war, they had come to her house to kill her whole family, simply because they were wealthy and Catholic. Upon returning from a vacation in Franco-controlled territory, they learned from their doorman that the rojos were waiting there to murder them.They consequentially returned to safety in Franco's territory. If she had not been in the safe-haven under Franco, she and her whole family would have been assassinated. She tells me of the derelicts who now roam the streets. The police should be able to physically hit these criminals, as they did under Franco, in order to maintain a "safe" city, she maintains. Clearly, I was shocked by Carmen's passionate words. It contradicted everything I had ever learned in the United States. Never had I heard such an old, seemingly sweet woman, express such strong and extreme convictions. She explained that she used to love history when she was my age, but that the records of the brutal murders and crimes, which Franco's opposition had committed, have been conveniently forgotten and erased. Her words transformed this shock into revelation and a storm of thoughts and questions and an eerie sense of comfort. My rechazo became my strength because I, from that point on, realized how amazing this moment was and how closed my eyes had been to the world outside of my small-town American education and to what I had thus far witnessed in Spain. Carmen later told me of the problem with domestic abuse in Spain. Abusive men are not punished until they finally kill their wives, a problem she is sure was not tolerated during the dictatorship. I find that extremely difficult to believe, yet she does have credence in the fact that the problem was far better controlled under Franco, a fact I have validated with Spaniards equally opposed to Franco as to Carmen who supported him. Months have passed since then, and I no longer live in Carmen's ornate apartment, yet her words stay with me during my discovery of this country and culture. As far as the horror of battered women in Spain goes, I recently learned that last year 70 women were killed as a result of abuse, and in 2003, in less than two months, there have already been 9 documented deaths. I also saw a play that touched on this subject as well as on the issue of prostitution, something I witness almost every day. As early as one in the afternoon, I saw prostitutes lining a certain large street in the center of Madrid, right in the heart of the city. Although this issue is often addressed on the local news, no one seems to confront it head on.On the other hand the Spanish city still riddled with public displays of affection that would make many Americans cringe. However, I learned two weeks ago that this overt expression of love is not simply because the Spanish people are less "bashful" than Americans, as my own preconceived stereotypes had led me to believe. My theater professor told me a story of his youth in the late seventies, following Franco's death. He was passionately kissing his girlfriend in the street. A police car drove up to the couple, two policemen climbed out and one proceeded to hit the back of my professor's head with his night stick, growling in his ear that such behavior was reserved for the privacy of one's home. My professor said that at that time public displays of affection were considered a form of rebellion against the suppressive government. I could only think of Carmen's desire that the policemen today would physically punish the street dwellers to maintain order, and how ironic it was that the first example I heard of such a punishment in the past was that of a boy being beaten for kissing his girlfriend. This process of learning two such different sides to the story and all that falls between, while also observing from my own biases the world around me, affords me a perspective that continues to have striking relevance. Consequently the rechazo is long gone, my eyes are open much wider to what makes this country and the Spanish culture what it is today. However, I also recognize that first appearances, which so easily provoked rechazo in my first months here, can be far from the truth. I learned this above all from Carmen and my initial shock to her vehement love of Franco and his reign -- a shock that transformed into a new appreciation of views that first seem wrong and disgusting, but in the end that have justly arisen from witnessing and experiencing history rather than reading and believing only one of its interpretations.
(02/12/03 12:00am)
Author: Claire Bourne The faculty's recent decision to figure all study abroad marks into student grade point averages (GPA) is one piece of a much larger puzzle that came together last fall when the Educational Affairs Committee (EAC) drafted a comprehensive report addressing study abroad policy. The six-part document offered an overview of the College's study abroad practices and presented recommendations intended to tailor rules governing Junior year abroad to recent trends in overseas study. Middlebury College's study abroad program has evolved by leaps and bounds over the past two decades. Not only are more students spending half or all of their third year off the College's Vermont campus, but many of them are traveling to countries and institutions that did not factor into the study abroad picture in the early 80s. According to the EAC report, 106 students studied at Middlebury programs and 88 chose non-Middlebury programs during the 1984-85 academic year. Last year, 63.6 percent of Juniors studying abroad embarked on non-Middlebury programs while 36.4 percent attended C.V. Starr-Middlebury Schools Abroad. The increased number of study abroad options, while seemingly embraced by students, has raised concern among the faculty that some of their advisees are attending foreign universities about which the College knows relatively little. Consequently, the faculty argues, it is difficult to hold these institutions accountable for the level of education Middlebury students receive there. Requiring all study abroad grades to be factored into students' GPAs is one attempt to ensure that those studying overseas, and especially those who do not fall under the purview of a Middlebury program, take the academic dimension of their experience seriously.In the early 80s, students wishing to study in an English-speaking country found themselves in the British Isles. Today, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa have become red-hot destinations, a development that has some questioning students' reasons for traveling to these southern hemisphere nations. Director of Off-Campus Study David Macey confirmed that, while academic performance of those studying on non-Middlebury programs was comparable to that of students studying under the auspices of C.V. Starr or partner schools, there were still "more students getting lower grades in Australia and New Zealand."The debate concerning study abroad grades at the Dec. 9, 2002, faculty meeting centered around the logic of counting grades at Middlebury Schools Abroad and not at other institutions. "If we don't count grades [from non-Middlebury programs], these institutions are perceived as not being on the same level as Middlebury College," said Associate Dean of the Faculty and Professor of German Michael Geisler. The EAC's initial proposal called for all study abroad grades to be displayed on students' transcripts. However, an amendment brought to the floor and accepted during the December meeting took the language one step further to require these grades to be factored into students' GPAs. This decision is even more significant given plans to begin printing students' GPAs on official Middlebury College transcripts, a practice that up until now has been impeded by the College's current AS/400 computer system. According to Secretary of the College Eric Davis, transcripts reflecting overall and semester GPAs will appear in January 2004 after Banner, the new student information computer system, has been fully implemented.Student Co-chair of Community Council Ben LaBolt '03 said that he and Student Government Association (SGA) President Ginny Hunt '03 supported the EAC's original proposal to display all study abroad grades on official transcripts. This measure, he maintained, would be enough to "hold students accountable" for their academic performance overseas. Factoring these marks into GPAs, he continued, does not make sense given that students engage in different types of learning while abroad. "Someone studying on a program in Africa is going to be graded differently from someone studying at the London School of Economics," he said. Macey explained that all grades earned from non-Middlebury programs and institutions would be converted to reflect the College's educational standards. Department chairs were commissioned with the task of preparing a list of suitable study abroad institutions for majors or minors intending to study overseas. This move concerns LaBolt and Hunt, who are convinced it will limit the number of study abroad options currently available to rising Juniors. "We need to maintain choice in programs," said LaBolt.As the Faculty prepares to tackle other initiatives outlined in the EAC's report, Hunt is prepared to fully involve herself in upcoming discussions on the topic. She and LaBolt will suggest a two-year review of the new GPA policy at Monday's faculty meeting. More importantly, they will present a proposal for universal portable financial aid to the Board of Trustees on Friday. Currently, only students studying at C.V. Starr Schools are eligible for financial aid. Passage of the SGA's proposal would extend this benefit to all financial aid recipients, regardless of where they are studying. If other institutions are treated equally when it comes to grading, said Hunt, they should be treated equally in the eyes of the Financial Aid Office.
(02/12/03 12:00am)
Author: Andrea Gissing Sounding Off Against SUVsA group of students from Stanford University is starting a campaign to raise awareness of the contributions made by sport utility vehicles (SUVs) to environmental and political problems. The campaign, named "SUV SOS," plans to educate faculty and students about automobile consumption and especially SUV oil consumption among the Stanford and broader national community by tying it to global climate change and dependence on foreign oil.Seniors Jonathan Neril and Josh Bushinsky, an international relations major and an earth systems major respectively, are leading the campaign.Neril thought that the issue of SUV use was especially pertinent to the university community because of the large number of SUVs owned and driven by Stanford students. "We want to make people aware that SUV consumption is a national security issue and a global environment issue, not just a personal choice," Neril said."The idea is that the technology to make these cars more efficient is out there and it's been sitting on the shelves for decades," said Bushinsky, continuing that since the automotive industry has focused on things like car size and horsepower instead of emissions, there has been a decline in average fuel efficiency since the late 80s. He has been amazed by the student response that the campaign has had since the group's first meeting on Jan. 29. So far, the group has concentrated on gathering student attention through e-mails. They are currently planning a protest on Feb. 14 at the Burlingame auto mall where students will try and raise media attention through speeches, chants and spoken-word protests.Source: U-Wire.comModern Technique Mixes Things UpStephen Webber, a professor of music production and engineering at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, has been trying to integrate a more modern musical style into the college's curriculum: turntablism. Webber has designed a course that would teach students the technical and musical basics of hip-hop turntable techniques, which involves manipulating a record against the needle to create percussive sounds and beats. The college turned down the idea of the Class in 2000 because the provost disapproved and again in 2001 when the executive vice president rejected it because of budget constraints. Despite the opposition to the course, Webber wrote and published "Turntable Technique: The Art of the DJ," the first musical method book for aspiring hip-hop DJs. He used interviews, photographs and traditional musical notation to create a series of lessons and exercises that anyone wishing to learn could practice. The book became one of Berklee Press' best-selling titles, which encouraged college's administrators to reconsider the course. If Berklee approves the course, it will be the first hip-hop performance class to be offered at a conservatory, applying Western notation and theory to an oral tradition. Courses on hip-hop music and culture have become increasingly common at colleges in the past 10 years. However, they are predominantly cultural or analytic in their approach, not instructional or practical.Source: The New York TimesHarvard To Return Donation From Jane FondaHarvard University has announced that because of the continued downturn in the stock market, along with new university rules regarding research centers, it would return most of a donation that Jane Fonda pledged to the Graduate School of Education. The $12.5 million donation, which was made two years ago, was going towards the establishment of a major research center on sex and education. The university is also giving up its plans for the center. The decision to discontinue the project and return the donation was a mutual decision between Harvard and Fonda.A spokeswoman for the School of Education said that Harvard would return a large portion of the $6.5 million that Fonda had already given to the university. The stock market slump has also prevented Fonda from completing the second half of the gift. The portion of the donation that will be kept by the university will be used to support a curriculum development project that will address teachers' understanding of sex, race and class, and the impact those have on the educational experience of students. Fonda's donation was the largest single donation in the Graduate School of Education's 83-year history.Source: The New York Times
(01/25/03 12:00am)
Author: Charlie Goulding Attorney General John Ashcroft appointed visiting Winter Term Professor Kenneth Feinberg to the position of head of the newly formed Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund in November of 2001, just two months after the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. Both the fund and Feinberg's position have been controversial. In fact, the families of seven victims recently filed a lawsuit against Feinberg, accusing him of acting illegally and unfairly. Feinberg's current post as "special master" of this fund was the topic of his lecture given on the evening of Friday, Jan. 24.Secretary of the College and Professor of Political Science Eric Davis introduced Feinberg, and offered insight into the compelling logic behind Feinberg's appointment. After having graduated from New York University Law School, Feinberg gained recognition politically by serving as Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy's chief of staff. Feinberg later enjoyed a successful career as a lawyer, and is most famous for his groundbreaking work in the realm of class action lawsuits -- specifically those concerning breast implants and Agent Orange. Feinberg's expertise in class action litigation, particularly with respect to devices endangering humanity on a mass scale, made him a sensible choice for head of the fund.Feinberg divided the content of his speech into three sections: a description of the fund itself, an analysis of the way in which the fund has been received and utilized by the victims thus far and the problems and concerns Feinberg sees with the fund.The Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund was enacted by Congress to provide support to those directly affected by the attacks. The fund is applicable to any "next-of-kin" to someone who died in the World Trade Center, Pentagon or any of the four airplanes crashes and also applies to anyone physically injured from the attacks resulting in at least a temporary disability. Monetarily, the fund is essentially a blank check from the U.S. Department of The Treasury.After reviewing applications for participation in the fund, Feinberg must then compute the amount to be allotted to each individual participant. To do so, he takes a fixed number of $250,000 (non-economic loss) and adds it to a rough estimate of what he believes the victim would have earned over the course of a lifetime (economic loss). Feinberg then subtracts from that sum any collateral income generated by the deceased such as the book proceeds of an author. Finally, as a departure from this decidedly formulaic model, Feinberg is allowed to exercise his own discretion.Though the Sept. 11 death count currently stands at just below 2,900, only 1,000 next-of-kin have applied for compensation thus far. Considering Feinberg awards an average of $1.5 million to those participating in the fund, the number of current participants appears strikingly low. Feinberg attributes this dearth of participation to three things. First, he believes some relations of victims are still too grief stricken to seek compensation. He also thinks that some remain dubious and await the results from other cases before deciding to take action themselves. Lastly, he believes that some people simply plan to wait until the last minute before applying. Feinberg expects a deluge of applications shortly before the Dec. 20, 2003, deadline.Not all who were affected by Sept. 11 intend on participating in the program. Some will not seek any sort of recompense, while others will choose a wholly different course of action. To date, 61 people have filed lawsuits, bringing litigation against airlines, foreign countries and a slew of other potential sources of culpability.According to Feinberg, "victims choose to sue when they believe it is the only way to make airlines safe. The other possibility is that they believe bringing litigation is the only way to get at 'the truth,' whatever that may be." Feinberg labeled these potential motives as "spurious," having no desire to mask his own partiality.Feinberg went on to illustrate the difficulties associated with the fund by providing poignant examples from his work. To begin, Feinberg is endowed with the impossible task of assessing the life's worth of an individual in economic terms. Feinberg spoke about allotting more money for a deceased bond trader than for someone with a less lucrative job. He recalled, "I was giving a presentation to a group once when the widow of a fireman gets up and says, 'my husband was a hero. He went into the first building, brought everybody out, and then went into the second building and it collapsed on him. Why should he be getting less than anybody else?' Then, the widow of a bond trader gets up and says, 'A fireman knows the risk he takes in his line of work. My husband was minding his own business when a plane crashed into the building he was working in.' What do you say to that?"The contentions of both women shed light on the difficulty of Feinberg's task.A Pandora's box can also lay at the heart of deciding who constitutes the "next-of-kin." When possible, Feinberg molds his decisions of where to direct the money in accordance with state law. All proceeds typically go to the spouse, if living, then the biological parents provided there are no children. Feinberg stated that, "I will always follow the guidelines of a will, if it exists. However only 25 percent of the victims had wills."One fiancÈe approached Feinberg with her dilemma. Though she and her fiancÈe were not married, their wedding was to occur within weeks after the tragedies. Furthermore, the deceased had not spoken to his biological parents in 11 years. Feinberg identified this example as one in which he chose to exercise his personal discretion.Finally, Feinberg appeared visibly moved by the most fundamental and human aspect of his job -- the stories of pain and suffering with which people must come to him each day. One man was unsure of whether to apply for compensation on behalf of one person or two since his wife died while pregnant. Another from the Pentagon suffered 80 percent burns on his body and showed up on Feinberg's doorstep bandaged from head to toe.Feinberg concluded his speech by posing a question which cut straight to the heart of both the Victim Compensation Fund and the Sept. 11 tragedies themselves. "Is the program a good idea?" Admirably, the simplicity of the question, as well as its bold objectivity, reflected Feinberg's professorial qualities more so than his obvious skills of persuasion.Earlier in his lecture, Feinberg alluded to the connection between the fund and Congress' desire to protect the airlines from potentially crippling litigation. A vital aspect of the statute holds that "anyone who decides to enlist [in the fund] waives the right to bring litigation." Congress made it exceedingly unappealing to sue via other clauses in the act as well, including a provision to cap liability in case of a favorable judgment.On a more fundamental level, Feinberg's inquiry brought into question the philosophical underpinnings of the fund. "I got an e-mail from a victim of the Oklahoma City bombing asking: 'Dear Mr. Feinberg, my son died at Oklahoma City. Why don't I get money?' 'African Embassy bombing, Why not me?... What is it that's so special about Sept. 11 that justifies this unprecedented response?"When questioned this fundamental issue, Feinberg affirmed his support of the fund. "I think it's wise ... there's a historical vein in this country. Call it compassion, call it an expression of solidarity, that makes this fund possible ... There's also something uniquely American about [it]. Something like this could only take place in America." Feinberg also speculated that the very uniqueness of Sept. 11 could justify Congress' response to it.Audience response to Feinberg's speech
seemed far less critical than the recent piece on him in the Nov. 25 issue of The New Yorker, to which Feinberg alluded when he began his lecture. Indeed, Feinberg achieved a commanding sense of empathy with his audience, largely through his use of poignant illustrations and examples. Furthermore, Feinberg's use of stories and examples subtly evoked the all-too-simple reality that he has been appointed to perform a job. '"Dear Mr. Feinberg, my son died in the first World Trade Center bombing, in 1993; why not me?'" The question points our gaze not only in the direction of the irrationality the incomprehensible humanity of the issue- but also at the person whose job it is to deal with it. "What do you say to that?" Feinberg kept repeating.Feinberg posed one final question about the merit of issuing variable rewards. When asked what changes he would suggest to Congress, Feinberg asserted that he would eliminate the variance in awards and compensate each person equally.
