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(02/21/19 11:04am)
MIDDLEBURY - Homelessness in Vermont is sometimes hidden within the state’s signature rolling green hills and idyllic pastures. Though the issue may not be as obvious or prevalent in Vermont as in urban centers across the country, it is nonetheless a serious and growing problem.
The Vermont Coalition to End Homelessness (VCEH) recently released a report showing that homelessness increased from 2016 to 2018. The winter months, in particular, can create life-threatening situations for those experiencing homelessness.
Between October and April, organizations across the state work to meet the increased demand for shelter caused by extreme cold weather. Doug Sinclair, co-director of Charter House Coalition, explained that “shelter life is not easy … so, in the warmer months, some people prefer to camp. Many official and nonofficial campgrounds have people living there who are homeless, even if it’s not apparent.”
Middlebury’s Charter House provides clients with a Winter Warming Shelter from Oct. 15 to April 15 annually. As reported by The Campus earlier this year, the shelter opened on Sept. 1. The need is especially pronounced by Dec. 1, according to Sinclair.
Peter Kellerman, co-director of the John Graham Housing & Services in Vergennes, Vt., noted a similar trend of increased need in the winter. But Kellerman continued, “we’re full year-round and maintain a waitlist. There’s a greater need during winter months, but the truth is, we’re always full.”
“Need seems to have grown every year over the last 10 years,” Sinclair observed. This may have to do with a variety of factors.
Firstly, there is a lack of employment opportunities, and the jobs that are available do not have adequate wages. The National Low Income Housing Coalition released a report last year showing that “both average renter wages and prevailing minimum wages are insufficient to afford modest rental apartments throughout the country.” According to the report, a federal minimum wage earner would have to work 122 hours per week for 52 weeks per year, in order to afford a two-bedroom apartment.
“A lot of retail minimum wage jobs are available [in Vermont], which don’t create enough of an income to sustain housing,” Kellerman explained.
“Folks who could’ve afforded to live on their wages 15 years ago, have ended up in a situation where they just don’t have enough income to afford housing,” Sinclair said, echoing Kellerman.
Dawn Butterfield, treasurer for the VCEH, elaborated on the issue. “The cost of living in Vermont is pretty high; some scales rate it number 42 in affordability. Wages have not kept pace with the cost of living, so households with moderate incomes are falling farther and farther behind,” she stated.
These problems are compounded by a severe shortage of affordable housing. “There is a less than 1 percent vacancy rate for affordable housing in Addison County,” Sinclair noted. “Someone can have a [housing] voucher to help them with rent, but can’t find an apartment because it’s not there, so they lose the voucher.” Butterfield agreed that “truly affordable housing is rarely found.”
In Addison County, a perfect storm of events contributed to this shortage leaving many experiencing homelessness in vulnerable positions. Previously, three motels accepted housing vouchers. One however — The Blue Spruce Motel – was destroyed in a fire in 2017 , and another, Greystone, now Middlebury Sweets Motel, was sold to “folks who are less inclined to receive people with vouchers,” as characterized by Kellerman.
This left just one, the Sugarhouse, that according to Kellerman, also holds some “reticence.” Those experiencing homelessness can have “complex service needs, such as mental illness or addiction, so the experience for the proprietor is not always great,” he continued.
Those who are lucky enough to find affordable housing may still face a multitude of challenges in acquiring and retaining the housing. Landlords may be reluctant to “Landlords, both public and private, are loathe to take chances on people who have a poor rental history whether because of payment issues, violence, or crime. That’s understandable, of course, but it does make it challenging to find housing for people, even when they have made changes in their lives that might make them ‘better’ tenants,” Butterfield said.
People experiencing homelessness are also more likely to suffer from severe mental illness, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless. “You have to think about domestic violence victims, addiction, mental illness, and people who have experienced extreme trauma,” Kellerman said. “There are a lot of layers to homelessness and how people get affected.”
Butterfield also mentioned the impact of the opioid crisis on increased homelessness. People experiencing homelessness are disproportionately affected by substance abuse and overdose, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Additionally, the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 identified stable housing as a critical part of treatment and recovery. These factors left homeless populations across the nation very much at risk to be impacted by the opioid crisis
Finally, Kellerman spoke about the effect of the changing political landscape. “People have been staying with us longer and longer. There is fear [on the part of the clients], because much of the human services funding we rely on has been threatened.”
Kellerman also noted that state agencies are taking a conservative approach following the government shutdown. “They want to make sure they’ll be able to sustain what’s already active, and don’t want to hand out too much,” he said. “But I think it’s worth taking a chance… because people are suffering.”
In order to address this daunting problem, organizations in each county of Vermont work together on a process called Coordinated Entry. Developed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the process is intended to “make sure the most vulnerable among us are housed the quickest,” explained Jan Demers, Executive Director of the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO).
Organizations find available housing, use a vulnerability assessment to look at who is most in need of housing, and then assess what those people need to get into the housing, Demers elaborated. “Even though there may be more households in need, the process of being referred by one of multiple community partners and assessed for level and type of housing need, means we are able to more quickly get people the help they need,” Butterfield said.
Despite the efforts of organizations such as CVOEO, VCEH and shelters, more support is needed to tackle the problem of homelessness in Vermont. For example, Kellerman discussed the importance of ongoing support for formerly homeless people when they are housed.
“When they acquire housing, there’s a new set of stressors, and what had them at risk in the first place doesn’t disappear that quickly. After people are safely housed, ongoing outreach is essential,” he said.
Demers agreed, and pointed out that “funding is no longer there for agencies like CVOEO, and other social service agencies, that used to get funding for supportive services for people who are recently housed.” She agreed that being able to follow people, especially through their first year being housed, would be beneficial.
Butterfield brought up multiple other points including the creation of more “truly affordable housing for households with limited incomes and more money to subsidize rents. He went on to describe the importance of supporting case management for households with multiple barriers to obtaining and retaining housing, as well as more incentives like risk pools so landlords are more willing to take chances on challenging tenants.
Community can also be important in supporting people experiencing homelessness. “If you’re homeless, you feel disenfranchised. You don’t feel part of the community,” Sinclair said.
Some of the challenges faced by people experiencing homelessness can derive from judgment or misunderstanding of their circumstances. “People think that ‘homeless people’ are somehow to blame for their misfortune, and so they don’t ‘deserve’ to be helped,” Butterfield noted. In Kellerman’s words: “It’s not what’s wrong with them, it’s what’s happened to them.”
Demers emphasized the importance of compassion and considering people as individuals. “No matter if you are at Middlebury College, walking around the campus, there are people on your grounds who are in circumstances where there is trauma and great difficulty. Being open to knowing who those people are and what their needs are is essential,” Demers said.
To contact or donate to Charter House Coalition: www.charterhousecoalition.org
(02/21/19 11:01am)
Let’s do some word association.
The task is simple: I say “police” and you respond with the first three images that come to mind.
For most, this evokes an archetypal uniformed police officer. But depending on who we are and what experiences our community has had with law enforcement, the details of that picture may vary. Some think of strength and protection, while others’ minds jump to guns, to yelling voices and shaky videos of police violence on Twitter.
In this whirlwind of images, it is worth questioning why our idea of policing has become almost synonymous with the use of force. This and a plethora of other questions were addressed in “Policing the Globe: The Historical Origins of Contemporary Police Power,” a Winter Term class offered by the Department of History and taught by Visiting Professor Amit Prakash. Prakash, a self-described Europeanist, specializes in the history of the police in the French colonial world. The college’s Winter Term format provided a unique opportunity to teach a course he had had in mind for a long time.
The course centers around the finding that the civilian police is becoming increasingly intertwined with the military. In practice this means that we see more and more force being used in the everyday operations of law enforcement. Since 1997, the Pentagon’s 1033 Program has distributed used military equipment to civilian police forces, giving officers access to gear that they often have not even requested. According to the Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO), 8,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States currently use equipment obtained through the program. Examples can be found as close as Keene, N.H., where a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle (MRAP), roams the streets of the quiet town.
Untangling the implications of this could fill up four weeks by itself, yet Prakash took his class a step further by approaching police militarization from a postcolonial angle.
Policing is indistinguishable from governance, which in turn is informed by historical events. Counterinsurgency techniques as we know them today are rooted in the world of European imperialism when policing was used to maintain constant social control in the colonies, and the police acted as an iron fist to stifle challenges to the regime.
“I think one of the contributions of postcolonial studies is to show that the shadows of empire are long. Colonial techniques survive colonialism and escape these temporal borders; just because they use the word ‘post’ doesn’t mean colonialism is over,” Prakash said. “As we know, culture tends to be sticky.”
Today, globalization further complicates the spread of these practices. Like physical equipment, military techniques used in Afghanistan can now easily be brought “back home” and become part of the repertoire of civilian police forces around the country.
Although this may feel distant, Prakash linked the issue to our personal lives. “The police are often our most direct contact with the physical manifestation of state power,” he said. “(They) become the real interface between the governors and the governed.”
Consistent with the systemic inequality that colonialism left behind, how these encounters with the police play out can differ vastly between different ethnic groups.
In class, Prakash emphasized the spontaneous nature of these interactions: “The police get to — in the moment — decide which laws to enforce and which (to) not … on certain populations. (They) aren’t necessarily going to be raiding Middlebury College because of underage drinking or marijuana, but they might well be raiding a street corner in the Bronx for the exact same practice by same age people. But they’re of a different color and social condition.”
As an alternative to a traditional research paper, Prakash gave his students the option to explore a topic of their liking in the form of a podcast, a website or a documentary film.
Students took advantage of this creative freedom. The projects, which were discussed in class, approached the content from a variety of angles and included interviews with the Addison County Sheriff and a minority police officer in Los Angeles. Some went as far as writing their own music for their podcast.
Grace Vedock ’20 was initially drawn to the course because of its connection to contemporary issues like police brutality and decided to explore the issue of masculinity in policing as her final project. If her podcast episode is any indication, then gender cannot be exempted from discussion of police militarization. Through interviews with Laurie Essig of the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies and sociologist Michael Kimmel, she came to see social ideas of gender as tools to provoke soldiers to fight.
The enforcement of masculinity creates bonding in the military, she found: “You don’t fight for love of country, you fight for love of brother.”
Vedock spoke with enthusiasm about the final products which were presented in class and described the course as an eye-opening learning experience.
“I think we all chose topics that interested us but were also complex, so distilling them was challenging,” she said, adding that her podcast overran the prescribed time limit by five minutes. “It’s definitely one of those classes where people left being like, ‘Wow, I had no idea that this was so widespread.’”
From its premises to its outcomes, “Policing the Globe” makes clear that it is only by understanding our history that we can begin to comprehend the events of today.
Or, in the words of William Faulkner: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”
(02/21/19 10:59am)
If I am honest with you, the author of this work is everything I’ve ever wanted to be: a smart, paid and recognized writer who addresses issues of race in her writing without being beholden to them (and who has a solid plan B for a career, just in case). In this debut collection of short stories, Nafissa Thompson-Spires draws a broad swath of characters, who also happen to be people of color, who encounter a variety of challenges. There’s the woman who lives for likes on Facebook; the university professor who struggles to assert authority over a shared office space; a woman who has a romantic fetish for amputees; an anime-based cosplayer at a convention; and feuding mothers who attack each others’ children with ongoing epistolary insults. The literary plain is so rich! And the verisimilitude so plausible! In one work alone, Thompson-Spires addresses the sometimes brutal confrontation between the 21st century desire to be well adjusted and to appear well-adjusted on social media; the weight of code-switching many people of color encounter as we/they navigate personal/social circles and professional/educational ones and the general quirks and eccentricities of a people that is as diverse as any other.
I should probably call the author by her first name, “Nafissa,” as we’ve met and occasionally chat on social media. Nafissa and I coincided at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She was shy and (lovingly) awkward in person, her social skill failing to convey what would come next as the United States’ “ideal” protagonists of “success” are often effusively extroverted and take up a good deal of space.
At that time, I didn’t know I was in the company of genius. I also didn’t know that “Nafissa” was also “Dr. Thompson-Spires,” that the book she released would be chosen for Oprah’s Best Books of 2018 or that she would be interviewed regarding her writing on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Since the time we met at a bus stop on Wright Street a handful of years ago, Nafissa has publicly launched a writing career with a strong foundation.
Part of what’s special about her writing is that it both casually and aggressively eschews the use of caricatures and stock characters. Twentieth century consumers of media have certainly encountered enough of those when it comes to representations of African Americans. See “magical Negro,” “mammy,” “Sambo,” et al. There’s an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to the topic: “Stereotypes of African Americans.” She takes characters who are “queer” (in the retro, retro sense of the word) and demonstrates that they, too, exist within communities of color and also experience the crises of identity that have been regularly afforded to the dominant culture. She diversifies diversity, an effort creators and people of color have long wanted to see forwarded.
I listened to this work as an audiobook on go/overdrive/ as, at this point in my life, moments of multitasking allow me to get slightly more done this way. I move through texts faster, but I imagine I retain less. I recommend this work to people with seemingly conflicting identities holed up in one body. For example, if you’re both a ballerina and a boxer or a fitness guru and a junk food fiend. Thompson-Spires’ works explore the less visible personalities that exist among the extremes. For more titles like this one, see Carmen Maria Machado’s “Her Body and Other Parties” (which I have yet to read), “The Ways of White Folks” by Langston Hughes or “The Complete Short Stories” by Zora Neale Hurston.
Literatures & Cultures Librarian Katrina Spencer is liaison to the Anderson Freeman Center, the Arabic Department, the Comparative Literature Program, the Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies (GSFS) Program, the Language Schools, the Linguistics Program and the Department of Luso-Hispanic Studies.
(02/21/19 10:58am)
The Polish composer Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) once glumly wrote to a friend, “It is dreadful when something weighs on your mind, not to have a soul to unburden yourself to. You know what I mean. I tell my piano the things I used to tell you.” Such emotional power was put on full display on Sunday, Feb. 17, when Natasha Koval Paden, an Affiliate Artist with the Music Department of Middlebury College, hosted a piano recital in Robinson Hall at the Mahaney Arts Center. The free concert, “Connections: A Musical Journey With Debussy and Chopin,” had an audience of about 60 attendees, including locals and college students.
The concert was comprised of two halves, one for each of the eponymous composers. The half devoted to the music of Frédéric Chopin was spectacularly Romantic with rich melodies and unbridled zeal. Paden then swept the audience into a forty-minute daydream with the concert’s enchanting Debussy portion.
“My favorite pieces were spread throughout,” Jonah Edelman ’20.5 said. “(The music) made me want to let my mind wonder and imagine something different than the typical monotony of Sunday studying.”
Assistant Professor of History Rebecca Mitchell, whose research explores musical metaphysics, illuminated the connections between the two composers.
“Many of the musical textures that Debussy explores develop out of Chopin’s compositional style,” Mitchell said. “Chopin was a master of piano composition and helped to develop the full range of its expressive possibilities, something that Debussy continues to explore in his preludes for piano.”
Paden began the Chopin segment with the Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 23. Composed in 1831, Ballade No. 1 is often considered a masterpiece, rivaled perhaps only by Chopin’s Ballade No. 4 in F Minor.
Ballade No. 1 in G Minor is not for the timid. Paden delicately controlled the Ballade, accentuating the gloomy countermelodies in the opening “heartbeat” sections. Her controlled pace allowed the music to breathe.
In the viruostic last sections of the Ballade, however, Paden shined with pyrotechnic glee. Her fingers zinged across the keyboard and lashed out the final, jaw-droppingly tricky coda of the piece. There are videos on Youtube of even Vladimir Horowitz, one of the greatest pianists of all time, struggling a little with the Ballade’s final bars. Paden held her own and conquered this pianistic Mount Kilimanjaro.
Paden next played Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu in C sharp minor, Op. 66. The pianist played the composition’s first and last sections with gusto, using soft dynamics to highlight the tenderness of the song’s middle.
Fantasie-Impromptu is a dark and rebellious piece. Mitchell commented on the revolutionary aura of Chopin’s music: “Chopin left Warsaw just before the November Uprising of 1830 in which Polish nationalists tried to regain independence from the Russian Tsar. He never returned to Poland, but remained close to other Polish emigres. He glorified Polish nationalism in his compositions for piano.”
The crowd heard Chopin’s exiled loneliness at the end of the concert’s first half; the final chords died softly.
The music of Claude Debussy (1862-1918) is an enigma of otherworldly grace and polish. Paden expressed the strangeness of Debussy through subtle dynamic shifts and delicate color choices. She first played three preludes: “Bruyéres” (“Heather”), “Ondine” (“Mermaid”) and “Feux d’Artifice” (“Fireworks”).
“Heather” offered a calm look at the titular flowers. Paden demonstrated a careful pith in coloring the musical landscape, offering fresh purples and exciting blues through each chord she played.
If the first prelude was a pleasant detour into the French countryside, “Mermaid” was a splashy thrill-ride through Les Champs-Élysées. Paden nailed the work, cranking out Art Tatum-esque glescendos that rollicked up and down the Steinway D-274 in Robison Hall.
The 2.74 meters-wide instrument is worth noting. The massive Steinway’s unrivaled power worked perfectly with these preludes: a listener first heard a Debussy arpeggio then its pedaled echoes, then a mixing lilt from the piano’s soundboard that floated through the hall like a ghost.
The audience began to see why Debussy is often called an Impressionist in the vein of Monet. Paden melted and changed the sonic landscapes of these preludes, questioning the very form of classical music itself. The last prelude, “Fireworks,” if not a literal showstopper, certainly earned its explosive title. The pianist highlighted Debussy’s influence of Japonisme through her speedy rendering of the pentatonic scale in the her final prelude.
Paden finished the evening with Debussy’s “L’isle joyeuse” (“The Isle of Joy”). Debussy might have found this piece joyful, but it is first and foremost spectacularly weird. Abrupt shifts of time and tone abound. The sensation of listening to the piece is like reading Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness:” mysterious and draining, but often fun. “The Isle of Joy” ended with Paden crashing a tsunami of chords onto the archipelagos of the piece’s beginning, rejecting any sense of structure that the Chopin half tried to make.
On the performance as a whole, Paden’s interpretation of Debussy and Chopin highlighted the two composers’ similarities in color and technique, but also their stark differences — Chopin’s restlessness, Debussy’s obliqueness. A proverb of classical music goes, “Bach is God’s word; Mozart, God’s laughter; Beethoven, God’s fire.”
Mitchell expanded this analogy: “I think that you could add that Chopin is God’s poet and Debussy is God’s painter.”
(02/21/19 10:58am)
Three months after the Red Sox’s World Series victory, the New England Patriots have pulled off their own version of ‘Beat LA.’ The Patriots took home a record-tying sixth Super Bowl title against the Los Angeles Rams in a fraught defensive battle that was the lowest-scoring Super Bowl ever. The 13-3 victory was a defensive masterpiece for the Patriots, as a high-powered Rams offense that had scored the second-most points in the league that season was completely neutralized. Ironically, despite the low score, it was the Patriots’ largest margin of victory in a Super Bowl. The key moment from the slow-moving game was hard to pin down in comparison to the nail-biters of past Super Bowls, but Stephon Gilmore’s game-sealing interception, Jason McCourty’s incredible breakup of a possibly game-changing touchdown pass, Rob Gronkowski’s huge catch on the only Patriots’ touchdown drive, and Julian Edelman’s MVP performance will take their rightful places in New England lore.
In a season when many analysts and pundits believed that the Patriots’ reign was coming to an end, they defied the narrative to win it all again. In the aftermath, Patriots fans around the country and at Middlebury revelled in the triumph with exultation and vindication for their unflagging faith in the team. Omar Frometa Jr. ’21 was one of those feeling vindication, as he remarked, “It was nice just seeing everyone eat their own words. We were underdogs until we were champions.” There were plenty of words to be eaten, as the Chargers, Chiefs, and Rams, all of which were given a better chance to win the Super Bowl than the Patriots at the start of the playoffs, were dispatched.
Another fan, Corinne McGillicuddy ’19, found satisfaction in the reassertion of New England’s dominance after the Patriots’ loss to the Eagles last year. “I’m just proud,” she said. “I think that the team of Brady and Belichick is just like an empire, and everyone needs to be reminded of that, so another Super Bowl title is really helpful. Boston sports are just reigning on top.” Indeed, this gives the greater Boston area its 12th major sports title in the last 18 years. Some wait times at the mail center have lasted longer than Boston’s latest title ‘drought,’ which stretched from the end of the World Series in October to February 3.
However, the joy of Patriots fans is not the only post-LIII emotion to be found on campus. From other quarters come frustration and disgust. The unbelievable dominance of New England’s dynastic 18-year run — nine Super Bowl appearances, 16 division titles, and 13 AFC championship games — has left many from other parts of the country beyond weary. Nick Wagg ’22, a Chiefs fan, said, “I’m sick of Tom Brady winning championships, and I think it’s ruining the NFL.”
He believed that the Patriots dynasty would soon meet its end. “Don’t sleep on the Chiefs,” said Wagg. His words met with approving nods from the others around him, presumably fellow fans still waiting for the moment when their favored team could take the throne from New England. Asking this group of fans for their Super Bowl picks for next year yielded a variety of answers: Chiefs, Colts, Saints, Rams. Notably, there was no mention of the Patriots. Perhaps the next season will be when such fans are finally right about the Patriots’ decline. Perhaps not, and trying to push Tom Brady and Bill Belichick off the stage only makes them dig their heels in harder. But if there’s anything that those who can’t stand New England any longer should learn from this season, it’s that not believing in the Patriots is always a dangerous move.
(02/21/19 10:57am)
Editor’s Note: Throughout the semester you’ll be reading articles from Middlebury students of different identities and experiences on all things sex and relationships. If you have a topic you’d like to see written about or you’d like to write, visit go/sexpanther to get in touch with us.
Sex Panther here — and just so you know, I’m queer. And it sometimes throws people off when they hear me describe myself that way, especially people who aren’t in the community. “Can’t you just say gay?” “Isn’t queer a derogatory term?” “Are you reclaiming that or do you just want to be edgy?”
The term ‘queer’ does have a varied and often convoluted history, and yes, historically, it has been used as a slur. However, it is also an academic area of study, a verb and an adjective. There is a lot to get used to, and to be honest, I myself am constantly learning and unlearning new things about how we as non-straight people exist and are perceived in society. It’s a process. There’s a lot to unpack, but consider this a crash course on queerness. So buckle up, sweeties!
To start off, I’m going to give some background (skip this if you’re lazy or like, a GSFS person): the academic disciplines of Queer Studies and Queer Critique are heavily influenced by the works of two very famous theorists, Michel Foucault and Judith Butler. Here’s a run-down just to give some context to the often-overwhelming world of gender, sexuality, and feminist studies and to show how these words have moved outside the lecture hall and become more commonly used terms. Many consider Foucault to be a poststructuralist theorist; he focuses on the way that discussions around things like power and sexuality have been formed more than the content of the discussions themselves. In a queer studies context, Foucault argues that the body is “the site in which discourses are enacted and where they are contested.” That means that identities are often simplified or essentialized and projected onto different people’s bodies and that the presentation (or the ways in which a person manipulates the expected presentation) allows the person to challenge or accept that identity within the larger context of society, like putting on different outfits to fit into different scenarios.
[pullquote speaker="" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]Identities are often simplified or essentialized and projected onto different people’s bodies.[/pullquote]
Judith Butler also talks about the “performativity” of gender and the ways in which a “body becomes its gender through a series of acts which are renewed, revised and consolidated through time,” in her 1988 essay titled Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory. This means that the things our contemporary society associates with being a woman or a man (the clothes we wear, the way we cut our hair, the jobs we do, the pitch of our voices, the way we react to social situations) are all things which are not innate, but rather are created and mandated by the society in which we live. Basically, gender (and attraction to gender, which we call sexuality) are things that we as a society generally create and agree upon, but don’t necessarily consider to be made up. It’s a whole lot of self-delusion, really.
We’re going to springboard from this revelation into the way that, as part of the male-female gender binary that society creates (and which most bodies perform), heterosexuality (ya know, straightness) is also part and parcel of this dichotomy. Butler says that “there are strict punishments for contesting the script by performing out of turn.” I know. What does that even mean?!? “Out of turn” can mean anything which challenges what mainstream culture perceives as norms of gender or sexuality: people who aren’t straight, girls who shave their heads or dress like men, or people who don’t even fit into the categories of male or female.
[pullquote speaker="" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]It’s a whole lot of self-delusion, really.[/pullquote]
This is where the word queer comes in. It is for people, and places, and things that are, simply put, contrary to “the norm” in a radical way. In academic circles (i.e. places like Midd’s classrooms where people throw around words like praxis, epistemological, and cis-heteropatriarchy like they’re self-explanatory things), one definition of queer includes any presentation, identity, or performance which actively challenges the norm of heterosexuality and binary genders. This is where Foucault comes back in. Sara Mills gives a super easy-to-follow summary of some of Foucault’s theories on sexuality. For example, she simplifies how Foucault suggests “counter-identification” or “counter-discourses” as ways to find empowerment in “stigmatized individualities,” which is just a fancy way of saying that people can use the ways in which society shuns them to find community and empowerment; it’s why some lesbians call themselves dykes, and why some people (gay, lesbian, bi, and everywhere in between) call themselves queer.
The very act of claiming the term queer is actively subverting and challenging the ways dominant social powers shape the way people can identify and what counts as socially acceptable. In this sense, queer is an active word, and it is possible in identifying as queer some people are pointing to and embodying the ways in which their performance of identity and actions dispute normative expectations of gender, sexuality and sex. Make sense?
So, if queer is that which is “out of turn” with “normal” performances of gender and sexuality, and by some definitions even any identity or performance that is not straight, cisgendered, white, abled or upper-middle class (which, let’s be real, is the demographic which has historically held the more power and social capital than any other). That means a lot of people could fall into the category of queer, but not everyone that might fall into that category feels comfortable claiming that word. And that’s totally fine; the use of words like queer, gay, bi, lesbian etc. are all depended on how the person using them (or not using them) chooses to interact with those identifiers.
TL;DR, if you don’t vibe with the word queer because of the culturally loaded connotations it has for you, then it is your prerogative to not use that as an identifier! If queer isn’t a word that you use to describe you, your friends shouldn’t use it to describe you either! But it is important to know how and why the term came to be something that many people are proud to claim, as well.
I always love to hear from you lovelies, so if you have a question or burning comment, head over to go/sexpanther and hmu, baby!
Xoxo, Sex Panther
(02/21/19 10:54am)
The Middlebury College Libraries have recently acquired dozens of new audiobooks on the Overdrive platform, which is compatible with a variety of devices: iPods, MP3 players, Androids, Nooks, Ereaders, Chromebooks and many more! Try them out at go/overdrive/. To read how a variety of users have enjoyed these resources, see below. And for instructions, on how to use them, check out this graphic to the left.
Name: Katrina Spencer
Title: Literatures & Cultures Librarian
Major: Library Literacy
Titles You’ve Listened to On Overdrive: “The Hunger Games” trilogy, “The Silent Wife,” “The Wife Between Us,” “Things Fall Apart,” “The Underground Railroad,” “Heads of the Colored People,” “Sister Outsider,” “I’m Afraid of Men,” “Becoming,” “Hunger: A Memoir of My Body,” “Less,” “Between the World and Me.”
What first drew you to this platform?
I actually resisted investigating audiobooks for awhile. While I’m technically a “millennial,” I didn’t want to engage with my smartphone any more than I already do. But when I started hitting the gym — an overdue undertaking — I still wanted to have time for books. Audiobooks allowed me to be mobile and engaged with literature at the same time.
Advantages of Audiobooks: I can stretch at the gym, cook or drive while listening to them.
Disadvantages of Audiobooks: I can’t underline or highlight text while listening and skipping ahead or back to a passage with accuracy isn’t as easy as turning the pages in a print book.
To whom would you recommend audiobooks on Overdrive and why?
I recommend Overdrive to people who are busy and love literature, best sellers and classics. Audio books allow me to consume texts with a speed I’ve never encountered before. I can stay abreast of the latest releases without having to give up or negotiate other activities like exercise.
What else should users know and why?
I would not recommend this platform for people who want to deeply study works of literature, their plots, their constructions, their word play, etc. It seems this platform is best for a more cursory understanding of texts. It provides quick, surface access. But for me, if I want to be deep, analytical and ponderous, I need a print work, stillness, to be able to take notes, to rewind, re-visit and re-examine passages.
The books currently on Overdrive tend to be geared towards leisurely consumption and extracurricular works rather than representative of the “great works” of literature from “the” canon. It’s unlikely that you’ll find your textbooks in this format within this collection. Also, these works are read/performed by voice actors. So it’s interesting when there is more than one actor, as in A.S.A. Harrison’s “The Silent Wife” or when the actor performs foreign accents as is the case with Oyinkan Braithwaite’s “My Sister, the Serial Killer.”
Name: Marcos Rohena-Madrazo
Title: Associate Professor
Department: Department of Luso-Hispanic Studies / Linguistics Program
Titles You’ve Listened to On Overdrive: “La casa de los espíritus,” “Song of Ice & Fire” Saga, “The Hunger Games” Trilogy, The “Harry Potter” Series, “Brave New World,” “Dune,” Tina Fey’s “Bossypants,” Amy Poehler’s “Yes, Please,” etc. (I’ve listened to many others on Audible; out of those some notable reads are “Americanah,” “Lolita,” “Cryptonomicon,” “The Color Purple,” “Call Me By Your Name,” “A Little Life,” and some amazing author-read memoirs that I mention below.)
What first drew you to this platform?
The fact that I can borrow audiobooks for free from the Middlebury College Library or from the local library. I am an Audible subscriber, but I always check whether my libraries have the book before buying it on Audible. Also, Overdrive is good for multi-volume series, since you don’t have to commit to buying the five books in a series (one or two might not be that good, wink wink).
Advantages of Audiobooks: Multitasking! I love listening to audiobooks while I’m doing chores or doing exercise or driving long distances. Also, I particularly like listening to memoirs that are read by the author; it’s their story in their own voice, as they meant you to hear it. (“Dreams of My Father,” written and read by Barack Obama, or “Redefining Realness,” written and read by Janet Mock, or “Born a Crime,” written and read by Trevor Noah...wow, so incredibly powerful!). This is an experience that you cannot have with a traditional print book.
Disadvantages of Audiobooks:
You can’t tell when a chapter or a book is about to end, the way that you can with a print book. It’s happened to me while I’m driving that I’m really into the audiobook and suddenly the book ends and I’m left feeling, “Wait, what? That was the end!? I wasn’t ready!” But this is a relatively small drawback. Oh, it’s much harder to use “bookmarks” and take notes, so I wouldn’t recommend audiobooks for academic readings for class or research.
To whom would you recommend audiobooks on Overdrive and why?
I would recommend audiobooks on Overdrive to anyone who is “too busy” to read. In my youth I was a voracious reader, but with the responsibilities of grad school and academia, I felt guilty if I read for pleasure. Audiobooks have allowed me to rekindle my love of literature and reading for fun!
What else should users know and why?
I find it really fun to set up a rotation system, e.g. traditional novel, sci-fi/fantasy novel, non-fiction/memoir, and then start back with another novel. That keeps the listening experience interesting and diverse. Enjoy!
Name: Tré Stephens
Year: 2021
Major: Education and Theater
Titles You’ve Listened to On Overdrive: “The Hunger Games”
What first drew you to this platform?
As a person with a learning disability I have always disliked grabbing a book from the shelf and just reading it. I have a very short attention span and often lose my place in the book I was reading. This platform has made it so easy to listen to my favorite stories, and the best part is I don’t even have to strain myself reading them, I can just listen to the book and it reads itself to me.
Advantages of Audiobooks:
I can’t speak for everyone, but I definitely think this is a tool that can help challenged readers. Also it’s a very nice way to listen to your favorite stories while multitasking.
Disadvantages of Audiobooks: I do think that as we move forward in this day and age, we sometimes forget about what came before. I hope people actually still use the library and learn how to use the library. With audiobooks, the library is in the palm of your hand, but it’s definitely a skill people should still be learning to master.
To whom would you recommend audiobooks on Overdrive and why?
As I said before, I think everyone should use Overdrive. Honestly, this has been a great way for me to view books that may be too expensive on other platforms such as Amazon, Google Books, and Apple. It’s literally a free way to release books, who doesn’t love that?
What else should users know and why?
The interface is a bit tricky at first, but after some playing around with it, you will get used to it.
(02/14/19 11:00am)
Middlebury residents will vote on whether to enact legislation that would ban plastic bags within the community on March 5. A Town Hall meeting will take place the night before the vote, giving residents, business owners and members of the Selectboard a chance to discuss the proposed ban and its possible implications before making their decision.
Middlebury resident Amy McAninch and Middlebury College student Amelia Miller ’20 are spearheading the movement to ban plastic bags. Prompted by the news of other towns that have approved plastic bag bans, McAninch said she “felt really strongly that we could do this.” Since then, they have held several meetings throughout town to hear concerns, questions and suggestions about the bag ban.
On Feb. 12, two of these meetings were held at the Residence at Otter Creek, an Independent and Assisted Living Facility in Middlebury and the Ilsley Public Library. The meetings have been happening in town for months now, and McAninch and Miller’s hard work has paid off: the signatures on their petition were verified by the Town Clerk in January, which means the proposal can be voted upon in the Town Meeting. Should the motion go through, the Selectboard will then manage the exact wording and logistics of the program.
The benefits of a ban are clear from a sustainability viewpoint. The Mass Green Plastic Bag Cost Calculator shows that the town of Middlebury, with a population of 8,500, uses about 4,513,500 bags every year. These bags cost retailers $180,540 each year — a figure that doesn’t include the environmental impacts of the plastic production.
As it is now, consumers can choose to use reusable bags or recycled plastic or paper bags. However, those involved in the movement to ban plastic bags are not confident that shoppers will consistently opt for alternatives, continuing generally to use the bags supplied by retailers. The thin composition of these bags poses a problem. They can break, blow into the water, or turn into microplastic particles, thereby contaminating water sources or threatening wildlife.
The Mother Up!: Families Rise Up for Climate Change group, a project of 350Vermont, met in late January to discuss potentially banning plastic bags in Middlebury. The group, run by Ashley Laux of the college’s Center for Community Engagement, meets once a month to take action against climate change. The structure of the group mirrors similar groups throughout other Vermont communities, designed to provide a forum for families to be proactive in climate change action while also balancing their familial responsibilities. Past issues included eco-Sabbath days, where consumers change their patterns of behavior to “try to live lighter on the earth”, explained Laux. She feels that the group has helped her learn more about causes she might not have otherwise engaged with as well as making her a more conscientious consumer and environmental activist.
The group meets once a month in the Town Recreation Center, where dinner and childcare are provided by 350Vermont. According to their Facebook page, Mother Up!: Families Rise Up for Climate Action represents “a network of parents across Vermont who are coming together to take organized, empowered action to protect the health and safety of our collective future.”
The participants in the Middlebury chapter of the project engage in local action, as highlighted in January’s meeting where community members brainstormed the best ways to campaign on behalf of the ban. From letters to the Front Porch Forum and the Addison County Independent to speaking at the Town Hall Meeting next month, parents are prepared to play an active role in the environmental movement in town. They also discussed the possibility of donating reusable bags in order to reduce the worry that getting rid of plastic bags would force people to buy new bags that might be unaffordable for some.
The engagement displayed by the Mother Up!: Families Rise Up for Climate Change is reflected in the community as a whole. McAninch noted that there has been very little pushback from community members at any of the meetings so far. In fact, she noted that the next step would be to tackle plastic straw usage in town.
Laura Asermily, a member of the Middlebury Selectboard, attended the meeting as well, appearing optimistic about the success of the proposed ban. She explained that last year, 70 percent of surveyed Middlebury residents supported a ban of this nature. However, it could take about a year from the time the town votes on the possible ban to its actual implementation. The Selectboard would need to finalize logistics of getting rid of plastic bags, from grandfathering them out to providing a cheap and sustainable alternative. Those details could take a while, explained Asermily, but they would also create great change for the community.
In the meantime, Mother Up!: Families Rise Up for Climate Action has turned their efforts towards the capital. In February, the group is planning to have their children make Valentines for the Earth to deliver to the state legislature in Montpelier on their Annual Lobby Day in an effort to encourage more eco-friendly laws. Hopefully, their civic-minded dedication will provide dividends as residents cast their ballots on Feb. 5.
Middlebury students can support the ban by not using plastic bags and, whenever possible, patronizing stores who support the bag ban and are committed to building an environmentally sustainable town. Registered Middlebury voters can add their names to the petition by emailing KeepMiddleburyBeautiful@gmail.com.
(02/14/19 10:59am)
Editor’s Note: Feb. 14 seems an apt time to revive our Sex Panther column. Throughout the semester you’ll be reading articles from Middlebury students of different identities and experiences on all things sex and relationships. If you have a topic you’d like to see written about or you’d like to write, visit go/sexpanther to get in touch with us.
A hallmark holiday that stems from the ancient Roman Lupercalia feast and the execution of its two eponymous men, Valentine’s Day continues to generate massive sales among U.S. consumers. While many outwardly disown the holiday as a cliché and a gimmick, the spending trend continues to rise. Last year Americans spent nearly $20 billion on Valentine’s Day (according to the National Retail Federation), up from 2017. Hallmark began churning out valentines in 1913 (per an NPR report) and over 100 years later the Hallmark card is still a staple in the classic Valentine’s Day gift along with candy, jewelry and clothing. Why do we still love spending money on Valentine’s Day? I have some theories:
1) If you build it, they will come. Celebrating Valentine’s Day is what you’re supposed to do, it feels wrong to not do anything. Even in elementary school it felt horrible if someone else was given chocolates and a heart-shaped anything but you weren’t — what does that teach us about love?
2) I’m in a glass case of emotion. Or, it may be that being vulnerable and sharing with someone you care about just what you love about them seems an all-too daunting task except on its designated day.
3) I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen. For some those words are always too scary and we prefer instead to buy gifts and hope that the message gets across.
Vulnerability in communicating your emotions is easier said than done, and I’ve definitely experienced that tongue-tied feeling of not knowing what to say or being scared to say what you really feel. But in challenging ourselves to be honest with ourselves and our feelings, and not just for show on Valentine’s Day, we can find more fulfilling and sustaining relationships.
This isn’t to say that the idea of Valentine’s Day is completely horrible. Yes, it started as “a drunken revel” in ancient Rome, and perhaps that’s what it has returned to, but having one day to celebrate love and its power could be awesome. What if we stopped buying into the capitalist commercialism that has overtaken Valentine’s Day and instead showed our love in other ways? Whether we are in a relationship, single, or somewhere in between, Valentine’s Day is a reminder to love, and not just romantically.
Making dinner with friends (using as many dining hall ingredients as possible) going to the Middlebury Discount Comedy show in Hep Zoo tonight (it’s free!), sending your friends notes about how amazing they are — these are all great ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day without buying into the traditional gifts we’ve been taught to expect. In the end, we all get to decide how and when we want to celebrate Valentine’s Day, if at all. The important thing is to share moments with the people we love. And if we need a holiday to remind us of that, then so be it.
Xoxo,
Sex Panther
P.S. those movie quotes were from Field of Dreams, Anchorman and Say Anything
(02/14/19 10:59am)
When the U.S. Department of State was looking for a field hockey delegation to lead a sports envoy program in Jharkhand, India, there was an overwhelming need in the region for strong female role models. Through a serendipitous connection from Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Baishakhi Taylor, Middlebury field hockey head coach Katharine DeLorenzo jumped at the opportunity.
“Their greatest advocates need to be themselves,” she said in an interview following the trip, drawing attention to the Middlebury delegation’s role in building relationships through the program and fostering female empowerment.
From Saturday, Nov. 24 through Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018, DeLorenzo, assistant coaches Rachel Palumbo and Lauren Schweppe ’18 and field hockey alums Lauren Greer ’13, Alyssa DiMaio ’15, Anna Kenyon ’16 and Audrey Quirk ’18 led a week-long field hockey residential program in Ranchi, the capital of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Working with the U.S. State Department, the Indian consulate and the India-based anti-trafficking NGO Shakti Vahini, the East India Field Hockey Project coached 106 women aged 14 to 17 from tribal regions who were at high risk for human trafficking. Considering the hardships the young women endure throughout their lives in an impoverished and sexist society, Palumbo said that field hockey was their only true outlet; the young women would often play with sticks or other materials they could find. “I almost hesitate to say that we taught field hockey,” she said. “They’re tireless.”
Throughout daily workshops, drills, scrimmages, seminar groups and time spent off the field, the delegation focused on giving the young women tools and skills they could take with them beyond the camp and pass on to their peers. “We wanted to show them that their dreams were valid and something they can attain,” Schweppe said. Making a positive impact on their lives was a priority for DeLorenzo. “Those dreams were going to sit there and stay dreams until we kept this going,” she said.
Coming into the program, the coaches realized that their goals for the young women were more than teaching them the skills of the game; the program also focused on creating an expanded vision for themselves of their own future. One of the strategies was to reiterate that the young women could rise up in the societal ranks. “They absolutely matter, and they don’t hear that enough,” Palumbo said.
Shakti Vahini was an integral part of the planning and execution of the program, selecting individuals with the highest social standing — ones the rest of the tribe would look up to — and providing interpreters to assist the Middlebury group. Another goal of the trip was to raise awareness for human trafficking, which is at the core of Shakti Vahini’s mission statement. The organization strives for a “just, free and equitable society” through its various public advocacy campaigns and programs.
“Nari Shakti,” or “women power,” was a phrase the Middlebury coaches used often throughout the program. Reiterating these two words (often as a chant before beginning an activity) was a key strategy to ensure that every girl feels cared for, loved and empowered, since many of the young women did not have parents or siblings to rely on. “Everyone matters. They matter. I don’t think they’ve ever said those words in their life,” Palumbo said.
Through the drills and lessons on the field, the coaches employed strategies similar to coaching Middlebury athletes back in Vermont. “We definitely took the Middlebury way,” Schweppe said. The young women’s backgrounds in field hockey took the form of mostly unstructured games, as many of them have never had any formal training. “It definitely taught us the value of simplicity. We’ve been a team that has embraced that pretty well,” DeLorenzo added.
For DeLorenzo, her first trip to Asia enabled her and the other coaches to try to change the worldview of the athletes they coached. “These young women can develop a different perspective on how they fit into the world,” she said, as tribal traditions often influenced the young women’s future goals. Out of 106 young women in the program, only one said she aspired to be an engineer; the rest believed they would grow up to be policewomen (a powerful position for women in the region) or professional hockey players. Palumbo said that despite the cultural differences and language barrier, field hockey united the coaches and players. “As soon as the whistle blew, I [was] comfortable and they were comfortable too,” she said.
Following the program, the Middlebury delegation went to watch the Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar, the capital of the Indian state of Odisha. In a Middlebury team dinner back on campus following the trip, the coaches showed their athletes the high level of competition present over the eight games they watched. “They cover the field,” Palumbo said.
The Middlebury delegation hopes to continue this sports diplomacy program, and its contacts on the ground in India have started to continue connections with the young women from the camp this year. One of DeLorenzo’s highlights of the program was “witnessing such a throng of people in urban India working on behalf of these young women’s betterment. This was a drop-everything; no one was focused on anything else for seven days,” she said.
“These girls have dreams in their hearts,” Palumbo said, referring to a conversation with one of the Indian facilitators of the program. “There’s so much that needs to be done.”
(02/14/19 10:58am)
I write in part to thank the editors of The Campus for devoting an entire recent issue to concerns of the staff at Middlebury. As the daughter of an old newspaper-man (my father reported for the Associated Press for over a quarter century and was a ‘stringer’ for The Wall Street Journal for a few decades), I appreciate that you chose to devote many column-inches to recognizing and valuing the contributions of staff members.
I found it ironic that this recognition followed the issue in which Middlebury’s executive-in-residence, Governor Jim Douglas, was quoted dismissing “activists” with the words “I used to look out the window of my office and see these people demonstrating for or against something, and I wondered – Don’t they have a job?” He’s further quoted as saying that he believes that demonstrators “will take whatever position they’re asked to.”
Yes, we do have jobs. As one of many Middlebury staff members who consider ourselves local political activists, I found his statements humiliating.
More than a few Middlebury staff members use some of our CTO (CTO is combined time off, and includes earned vacation time, sick time, etc.) to travel to Montpelier to voice our opinions at the Statehouse — a place that I frequently hear referred to as “The People’s House” — because we believe our elected representatives are willing to listen to us and take us seriously.
And that’s not all. In order to take that CTO day, we arrange ahead with our supervisor and colleagues to make sure essential services are covered. On the day of the protest or the legislative hearing, we often get up an hour earlier than usual, drive for an hour and a half each way to get to Montpelier, and spend an additional 30-45 minutes parking the car and taking the shuttle to the Capitol. If the event is a hearing, we may spend time beforehand crafting an oral statement. We do this because we care about our fellow citizens, our towns and the state of Vermont. I personally feel very fortunate that my employer and my position here gives me the flexibility to participate in our democracy this way.
I wonder if Governor Douglas was reflecting on the time he looked out his window and saw protesters who opposed his veto of Vermont’s marriage equality law. I reiterate: Yes, Governor Douglas, we do have jobs. In fact, some of those protesters with jobs are now your colleagues right here on this campus.
(02/14/19 10:58am)
Leo Tolstoy lacked a firm definition for his seminal work, “War and Peace.”
“It is not a novel, still less an epic poem, still less a historical chronicle,” wrote the Russian author. “‘War and Peace’ is what the author wanted and was able to express, in the form in which it is expressed.”
Tolstoy’s words aptly describe the enigmatic film-theater mashup of “Winter’s Cocoon,” the senior thesis project of Sabina Jiang ’18.5. The last showing of “Winter’s Cocoon,” which ran January 24 through 27 at the Hepburn Zoo, zigzagged fluidly through its duo medians.
The play tells the story of Ida (Yachao Dai ’21), a young actress who begins a love affair with a big-shot film director, Will (Nick Jaccaci ’22). Ida’s dreams reveal an alter-ego: Tina (Linh Tran ’22), also a young actress, who represents Ida’s latent insecurities. Eventually, these vignette-reveries become more violent and unsettling, especially when it is revealed that Will is married to a femme fatale insect enthusiast, Christine (Amanda Whiteley ’19). By the end of “Winter’s Cocoon,” the characters Ida and Tina both go from controlled victims to avenging Valkyries, wreaking comeuppance upon all who have done them wrong.
Jiang used both the screen and stage to tell a complex narrative through the relatively unexplored genre of the dream-based-May-December-romance-revenge-thriller-psycho-drama. From decorating a washing machine with Christmas lights to layering a room with used latex gloves and bloodied scissors, the director began with the macabre lever at a solid eleven, and turned it up higher and higher with every shocking twist.
“A dream is a jarring experience,” Jiang said. “You are suddenly punched by someone; suddenly someone is chasing you. At a certain point, you just give in.”
This deliberate mysteriousness allowed for some scenes to become darkly comedic. For instance, two chase scenes in the play involved an imaginary fish-headed man who craves “sushi and ketchup,” a delusion that might have had even Sigmund Freud drop a cigar in bewilderment.
The play’s venue often transformed. At one point in the production, the audience followed the cast out of the performance space into Hepburn’s basement and were also encouraged to interact with the actors.
The program even gave advice to the audience on how to fully appreciate “Cocoon.” In perfect alignment with the show’s eeriness, the instructions were from the protagonist’s perspective: “You are all free in my dream. You can move around, watch from anywhere … If you hear dance music, you DANCE.”
Across the board, the cast was stellar. Jaccaci took dramatic risks to play a seedy and emotionally manipulative Hollywood filmmaker, leering at the camera in all the filmed scenes and snarling at the audience in the play.
Jaccaci reflected on his role that “[Will] represents the worst of the worst in the entertainment industry.”
In a smaller but equally great performance, Whiteley played the Scylla to Jaccaci’s Charybdis, taking on the role of his wife Christine. Striding across the stage in a Cruella de Vil-style outfit while condescending to the Asian-American protagonist with racial jabs, the role of Christine acted as a great commentary on the bigotry that still lingers in the entertainment industry today.
As the dialogue became thornier and tensions ran higher, Whiteley’s Lady Macbeth-esque antagonist displayed a nefarious cool whenever on stage.
Yanchao Dai powerfully portrayed the young actress, Ida. Her every look combined numerous emotions: grief and horror when her character was strapped to a dinner table and gagged, but also dominance and power in the blood-soaked third act. Ida’s imaginary alter-ego, Tina, was also characterized with sensitivity by Linh Tran.
Jiang laughed when talking about the violence in her play: “Out of the plays and short films I have done, on the prop list there is always fake blood. I do not go into filming planning this, but it’s always red and there’s always blood.”
She said, “We are all very aware of how the violence could be misunderstood.”
The actor made the distinction that several of the murders in the play were with a “finger-gun,” implying a level of allegory to the violence rather than the realization of it; the play’s gore was more in the spirit of ‘Mulholland Drive,’ less ‘Reservoir Dogs.’
When asked about her plans after leaving Middlebury, Jiang said that she does not want to work in Hollywood, but would like to continue some sort of acting path.
“You have to work in a place where you feel needed,” Jiang said.
What exactly is “Winter’s Cocoon?”
The director smiled: “I think it belongs to experimental theater, maybe immersive theater … One of my goals for theater is for people not to walk out of the play and say, ‘Hah! I’ve got this!’”
(02/14/19 10:57am)
The weekend before finals, Elise Leise ’22, Leif Taranta ’20.5, Connor Wertz ’22, and I traveled to Washington D.C., and two of us got arrested. While on the surface, this may look like a series of self-destructive decisions, in actuality, traveling to D.C. was one of the best decisions we ever made.
The four of us went to Washington with the explicit purpose of lobbying Congress with about 1,000 other volunteers from the Sunrise Movement. Sunrise dedicates itself to the mission of drafting and passing the Green New Deal through Congress. Modeled off of FDR’s New Deal, the GND will make American industries more sustainable, transition our energy supply to 100 percent renewables, and create millions of green jobs.
Most importantly, the GND confronts the “justice” component of “climate justice.” By breaking up fossil fuel monopolies in addition to providing a livable wage for all workers and universal health care, the GND aims to tackle the social justice problems that facilitate the exploitation of the environment. Without this component of social justice that so many previous climate policies lacked, the GND would not confront the root of the problem: human exploitation perpetuating environmental exploitation.
Upon discovering the story of Sunrise in the news, including its successful sit-in in Nancy Pelosi’s office in November, Elise, Leif, Connor, and I knew we wanted to get involved. When the opportunity to go to D.C. presented itself to us, we soon found ourselves driving to Washington during one of the busiest weekends of fall term.
On Dec. 10, we congregated with other Sunrise volunteers in the appropriately-named Spirit of Justice Park outside of the three congressional office buildings we would be visiting. Elise, Leif, and Connor lobbied Vermont Congressman Welch with other volunteers and persuaded him to publicly endorse the Select Committee for a GND.
I collaborated with citizens of greater Reading and Philadelphia to lobby a representative from my home state, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, Rep. Matt Cartwright (PA-08) has yet to publicly endorse the Select Committee for a GND, but as the legislation makes its way to the House floor, I have hope that this will soon change.
After we lobbied 50 separate congresspeople, we combined to perform demonstrations in the offices of three high-profile representatives: Nancy Pelosi, Jim McGovern, and Steny Hoyer. Pelosi was a particularly important target, as the ability to create a Select Committee rests on the Speaker’s shoulders. Since December, Pelosi has established a powerless committee unable to create or pass legislation, but we have hope that this too will change.
On the other hand, McGovern listened to the Sunrise volunteers and publicly endorsed the committee. Now, over 43 congresspeople and congresspeople-elect have publicly supported the Select Committee for a GND, and over 300 public officials have endorsed the Committee.
Many volunteers, however, wanted to do more. Risking arrest is a method of social justice demonstration that symbolically reveals how committed individuals are to specific causes. Elise and Leif were arrested, though never convicted, of incommoding (civil disobedience). Singing and chanting with other Sunrise volunteers, both Leise and Taranta sat down in Hoyer’s office and refused to leave. After receiving polite warnings from officers, they were zip-tied and paraded out of the building.
While their arrest was probably terrifying for them, watching so many people take this risk inspired hope not just in me but across the country. That is what Sunrise is — a movement born out of hope for a more perfect world, not a movement born out of fear and darkness. In this movement, the Democratic Party is finally standing for something instead of against it. It is standing for people fighting with words and songs and true human connections instead of the violence and hatred that brought us here. The taste of those values was so addicting and inspiring that the four of us knew Dec. 10 was not the end.
Since then, we founded Sunrise Middlebury, a hub of the Sunrise Movement that can help mobilize individuals for regional, state and national actions. Now, in collaboration with Sunday Night Environmental Group (SNEG) and Middlebury townspeople, we are actively working to pass the Climate Solutions Resolution. This proposal would implement climate solutions in Middlebury like adding solar panels to schools and banning fossil fuel infrastructure in the town, but it would also petition the state government to stop construction of any new fossil fuel infrastructure. If registered Middlebury voters pass this proposal on March 5, we could stop the metaphorical bleeding of climate change in this state and could work towards additional future initiatives.
Such future initiatives could include the Vermont Green New Deal, a state-level version of the national proposals of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ed Markey. Statewide legislation like the Vermont GND is imperative in our current political situation where federal environmental policies often do more harm than good.
The Middlebury Climate Solutions Resolution and the Vermont GND will work hand-in-hand to make Vermont a national leader in sustainability. Sunrise Middlebury is working to make these initiatives possible, and Middlebury students can be a part of that.
We often feel helpless in the threat of climate change, as if every mile we drive in our petrol-powered vehicles and every piece of plastic we use will be the literal plastic straw that broke the camel’s back, that will send the world over the edge. But being surrounded by so many hopeful environmentalists advocating for policy change that would shift the burden of sustainability from people like us to the people in power — that is uplifting, that is beautiful, and that is what a free, just, democratic America looks like. If you want to be a part of that America, come to SNEG on Sunday nights at 8:30 in the Orchard of Hillcrest and get out the vote in Middlebury on March 5.
(01/24/19 11:00am)
The monthslong effort by Middlebury to shrink staff costs and reevaluate the way the institution does work is entering its most critical stage, and staff members report varying levels of satisfaction with the process as they wait for buyout offers to arrive in February.
The workforce planning process, announced by President Laurie L. Patton in a June email to college employees, began with the goal of shrinking staff compensation costs by 10 percent — about $8 million — by the end of the academic year. Now, administrators have reviewed proposals to reshape departments across the institution, and buyout offers will be sent to staff in early February. Involuntary layoffs remain a last resort, if not enough employees take buyouts by the end of the academic year.
Faculty, meanwhile, are undergoing a separate process of buyouts and retirement plans, as part of the same effort to reduce the college’s deficit.
LEARNING FROM THE PAST
For several years, college officials have been open about the financial challenges that the institution is facing, with yearly operating expenses exceeding revenues since the 2013 fiscal year. Causes of the deficit include rising financial aid commitments, a flawed policy that capped annual tuition increases and an aborted venture into online language instruction.
The college has since lowered its deficit faster than initially projected, hoping to balance its budget by fiscal year 2021. But faculty and staff pay remains the institution’s biggest expense, often making up about two-thirds of its annual spending.
This is not the first time that budgetary issues have prompted the college to rein in staff costs, and administrators are taking lessons from past mistakes. In 1991, college officials, led by then-President Timothy Light, abruptly fired 17 staff members, causing an uproar that made national news and brought about Light’s resignation. And following the 2008-09 financial crisis, the college offered voluntary buyouts to any employee interested in taking one — an unstructured process that led to excessive loss of crucial staff positions, some of which needed to be restaffed shortly afterwards.
So when administrators realized a new wave of deficit reductions were needed, they took a more deliberate approach. “To do it in a really thoughtful way we needed to think about the work we do, and how we could staff ourselves for a sustainable future,” said Bill Burger, vice president of communications and chief marketing officer.
Beginning in the early fall, staff vice presidents across the institution were tasked with leading discussions within their departments about how their work could be redesigned, and done more efficiently. In December, each department submitted two different proposals to senior leadership, containing alternate plans that would cut compensation by 10 and 15 percent, respectively.
Now, staff across Middlebury can only wait. As of last week, Burger said, senior leadership was almost done reviewing the proposals and finalizing a list of positions to be cut. Before decisions are finalized, Human Resources is required by law to review the proposals to make sure they do not disproportionately affect certain demographics.
In early February, staff working in areas where the college plans to cut positions will get letters giving them the option to apply for buyouts. The college will send more applications than necessary, anticipating that many will decline to apply. By early March, the applications will be due and administrators will know whether enough staff have volunteered to take the buyouts, or whether they will need to resort to layoffs. On the other hand, if more staff than necessary apply, the most senior staff will be offered buyouts first.
The staff cuts in some areas will be partially offset by the creation of about 40 new staff positions in other areas — the result of new needs identified through the planning process. Applications for these positions will first be made available in early February to all staff members who are offered buyouts.
WAITING FOR WORD
Workforce planning will have uneven effects across Middlebury, leaving some staff departments largely intact while transforming others. Likewise, staff contacted by The Campus report uneven feelings about the process. Many said they have been pleased with the level of transparency thus far, while some complain that the drawn-out process has left them on edge for too long. Others say they simply haven’t paid much attention to it all.
“For our area, the communication’s been really great,” said David Kloepfer, the assistant director of Student Activities. “We haven’t heard exactly what the full plan is as of yet. We’re still waiting to hear the final outcome.”
Missey Thompson, box office coordinator at the Mahaney Center for the Arts and a representative of the staff council, said workforce planning has been a major point of conversation at the council’s meetings for some time. The staff council advocates for good working conditions for college employees and has held forums and posted information about workforce planning on its blog since the process was announced.
“We knew that something was coming a while ago — we didn’t know what it all entailed until they were ready to tell us,” she said, adding that some anxiety remains about the potential job cuts. “Whenever people have to leave, it can cause a lot of tension, but I think it depends on the day and how people feel so we’re just kind of going with the flow. That’s all we can do right now.”
[pullquote speaker="" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]You might lose the 40 percent of your job that you like.[/pullquote]
But some staff who feel most at risk of losing their jobs say that the long process has been a source of deep stress. Academic coordinators, who handle the logistics of academic departments and support faculty and student work, fear that some of their positions may be cut, while the coordinators who stay employed will need to deal with new responsibilities.
“Morale is terrible,” said Judy Olinick, coordinator for the Russian, German and Japanese Departments. “Everybody is worried about it, it’s just been going on so long.”
While Olinick, like other staff, participated in the initial planning conversations this fall, she reported feeling helpless as the final say was left to senior leadership.
“We had all these meetings where we discussed it at great lengths, breaking up into little groups — ‘What can you change, and how would you change it?’” she said. “But it doesn’t mean anything unless you have some idea of what is really going to be changed.”
Even staff who expect to keep their jobs face uncertainty about how much their job descriptions will be changed, according to Tim Parsons, landscape horticulturist and president of staff council. An employee who gets to keep 60 percent of their job tasks, for example, may still be disappointed by the results of workforce planning.
“You might lose the 40 percent of your job that you like,” Parsons said.
Still, some staff look forward to the impending changes to their departments.
“I’m looking forward to some changes, to stir things up,” said Christina Richmond, an Atwater Dining Hall I.D. checker and servery worker. “Change is always good. I’m not afraid of it.”
GROWING PAINS
Multiple staff members reported frustration about the way workforce planning has become intermingled with the goals of Envisioning Middlebury, the college’s long-term strategic framework. Patton herself connected the two processes in her June message, saying that they both entail “responsible stewardship of our resources.”
Dan Frostman, manager of the Davis Family Library circulation desk, said that the alignment of the two processes made decision-making difficult.
“We were trying to envision the next five to 10 years while also trying to figure out what it would look like if we got rid of 10 percent of the staff,” he said, noting that he reached out to his circulation staff to get input on both the changes they wanted to see and the cuts that had to be made. “So that was challenging and, personally, a little bit frustrating, to try to do those two sort of opposed things at the same time. There wasn’t a lot of reconciling that could be done between the two.”
Olinick said that she and her colleagues struggled to focus on the future, since workforce planning presented a more immediate issue.
“How can you make recommendations about that if you’re worried about keeping your job?” she said.
BEYOND WORKFORCE PLANNING
Workforce planning is not the only source of staff discontent at Middlebury. Low salaries in certain staff positions have prompted some employees to seek work elsewhere, and a 2017 staff survey showed low confidence in senior leadership and dissatisfaction with the way administrative decisions are communicated.
But Burger said that those concerns have informed this process, prompting administrators to focus on communication and consider changing the compensation structure once the planning is complete.
Though administrators expect to resolve the institution’s budget shortfalls within the next few years, the college remains heavily staffed, with a growing student body. With the newly-completed Envisioning Middlebury project serving as a likely precursor to a major fundraising campaign, this may not be the last time the college has to reconcile its long-term goals with its short-term needs.
For full staff issue coverage, click here.
Correction: An earlier version of this article said that the new positions created by the planning process will first be made available to staff members who took buyouts, when they will actually first be available to all staff members who were offered buyouts.
(01/24/19 10:59am)
Results from a 2017 faculty and staff survey reveal that Middlebury lags well behind its peers in almost all measures of employee satisfaction. Most notably, faculty and staff gave low marks to communication within and between departments as well as confidence in senior leadership.
The consulting firm ModernThink, which has administered similar surveys for colleges and universities across the country, conducted the Middlebury survey in October 2017. 1,046 faculty and staff members across both the Vermont and Monterey campuses took part in the survey — a response rate of 68 percent.
The survey comprised 60 core belief statements included in all ModernThink surveys and seven custom statements provided by the college itself. Faculty and staff responded to each statement expressing their level of agreement on a spectrum from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree,” creating 67 distinct indicators. For example, one indicator asked respondents to react to the statement: “Our review process accurately measures my job performance.” Grouping responses to each statement into positive, neutral and negative categories, the report — if taken at face value — conveys an overall positive image of job satisfaction at Middlebury.
The Campus obtained the complete survey results, significant portions of which have not previously been released to the student body and general public. In particular, these fuller results include a benchmark that allows for comparison between Middlebury and other baccalaureate colleges that have been surveyed by ModernThink.
Administrators delivered key survey findings at a staff meeting in Dana Auditorium in January 2018, led by then-Interim Provost Jeff Cason, Vice President for Human Resources Karen Miller and ModernThink representative Richard Boyer. While the presentation disclosed Middlebury’s low-performing areas, including perceptions of senior leadership and the effectiveness of communication structures, it juxtaposed Middlebury’s results only with ModernThink’s 2017 Honor Roll of small colleges and not with the national average for baccalaureate colleges.
The honor roll benchmark includes only the highest-performing schools surveyed by ModernThink, numbering nine total in 2017, including institutions such as Mississippi University for Women and New York Chiropractic College. In other words, the presentation exclusively contrasted Middlebury’s performance with those institutions with the very highest levels of staff satisfaction in the country while failing to disclose that Middlebury also consistently performed below the national average for colleges of its kind. Middlebury did not simply fail to reach the highest standard, it also fell short of the average benchmark.
Only five of the 60 core belief indicators met or exceeded Middlebury’s peer group average, with 27 falling into the “Red Flag” and “Acute” classifications defined by ModernThink. “Acute” is a category of performance below “Red Flag,” denoting positive response rates lower than 45%.
A college news release published several weeks after last year’s presentation begins by stating that “a majority of faculty and staff have a positive overall working experience, value the sense of community engendered by Middlebury, enjoy a high degree of ‘job fit,’ and appreciate the flexibility and autonomy their jobs afford.’” The release does not discuss how Middlebury’s results compare to the national averages.
Responding to the survey, the college has developed a four-pronged action plan that addresses the onboarding process for new hires, compensation, the Annual Performance Summary tool and performance management. It includes timelines for each of these areas, hoping to complete all of them by the fall of 2020.
According to Bill Burger, Middlebury’s vice president for communications and chief marketing officer, the survey results have also informed how the administration has conducted the workforce planning process.
“It has certainly underscored the importance of communication on this, and I think we’ve made an effort to communicate more,” he said. “Although my guess is you can never be sufficient in that — there will always be some people who feel they haven’t been communicated to enough.”
Burger said that Middlebury is also looking more closely at compensation rewards and incentives, in response to low scores in those categories.
“A lot of staff didn’t feel there was appropriate recognition for work well-done and that work well-done wasn’t rewarded appropriately in terms of compensation,” Burger said. “So we hope that through this (workforce planning) process we will emerge so that we can be not locked into the annual 2 percent or 2.25 percent increase that goes to virtually everyone, but that we’ll have more flexibility to reward people for a really exceptional performance.”
Still, only 45 percent of respondents expressed confidence when asked if they expected senior leadership to take action based on the results of the survey.
“The administration does not seem to want to listen and they do not seem to care. If you say something, it is held against you,” said one staff member who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution. “You are underappreciated no matter what you do.”
By the numbers
A total of 1046 respondents took the survey, with the response rate standing at 68 percent. The majority of respondents work in Vermont and are staff (either exempt or non-exempt).
In the Overall Survey Average, Middlebury performs below the average for Baccalaureate Colleges. 57 percent of responses were positive, 25 percent were neutral, and 14 percent were negative. The percentages do not total to 100 percent because of a “not applicable” option in the survey.
The survey also groups statements into categories. In each sectional average, Middlebury consistently falls below both its peer group and the Honor Roll benchmark.
Breaking down the data into specific statements, the college also fails to meet the national benchmark in each of the individual indicators. Each indicator is plotted with the benchmark score on the x-axis and the Middleburry score on the y-axis. Thus, the 45 degree line represents any point that reaches the benchmark value. Any point below the line represents an indicator not meeting the Baccalaureate average.
There is a stark contrast between perceptions of supervisors/academic leaders and senior leadership. Senior Leadership was amongst one of the three poorest-performing categories — the other two being Communication and Faculty, Administration & Staff Relations.
Faculty and staff expressed a uniform lack of confidence in senior leadership. Only 45 percent of respondents gave positive feedback when asked if they expect senior leadership to take action based on the results of the survey.
Looking forward, morale remains low with workforce planning looming on the horizon. Only 39 percent of respondents expressed confidence in the institution moving forward as a whole.
Graphics by Bochu Ding, using data from ModernThink.
Nick Garber contributed reporting.
For full staff issue coverage, click here.
(01/24/19 10:59am)
Two days before the start of the 2004 women’s soccer training season, then-assistant coach Peter Kim learned of an abrupt coaching staff change that left the team without a head. After only a year on the Middlebury coaching staff, Kim became the prime candidate for the head position.
Just over a year before, Kim had been working at a youth nonprofit, continuing a track he had set for himself years earlier when he pursued and earned an M.A. in public administration. He wanted to provide consulting services to nonprofits, helping them to run more like highly effective businesses. But after 10 years in the nonprofit world, Kim wasn’t enthused. In addition to his day job at the nonprofit, Kim had founded and was running a youth club in central Vermont, Capital Soccer. “I felt like I was doing more for kids after work than in my day job,” he explained. He decided to leave the nonprofit and took time to regroup.
It was the summer of 2002 when Doug Holly, a friend of Kim’s and coach of the Vergennes High School soccer team, called Kim. Holly informed him that Diane Boettcher, then coach of Middlebury, was looking for an assistant coach. Kim had no desire to coach college at all, but Holly convinced him to go down to Middlebury to meet with Boettcher. Soon after arriving on campus, Kim realized he had the potential to make an impact on the team. He took the job.
Coach Kim’s eagerness to jump into leading practices paid off when Boettcher left unexpectedly in 2004. “The players didn’t even know [of the staff change] when they got here; they were expecting Boettcher,” he explained. Despite this rapid transition, Kim felt obligated to to maintain the level of success of the previous few years; Boettcher had led the Panthers to the dominant position in the NESCAC in 2000, then second and third places for 2001 and 2002, respectively.
Additionally, when Kim joined, there hadn’t been a long-standing coach in the position for most of the team’s history. Coaches were overextended because of the three-sport coach model where they would head a different team each season of the year, leaving very little room for program growth. This left them with no offseason to help train their athletes, let alone develop training and game strategies.
Kim was the first women’s soccer coach to shun this model, instead devoting a significant amount of time and energy in the offseason to better develop the team. This included making workout packets, conducting bi-weekly training sessions and developing the schedule for the next season. Given more time to settle into the job, Kim found himself loving the position and eager to channel his best coaching ability.
The most noticeable development in Division III athletics during Kim’s tenure, however, has been the explosive growth of recruitment effort made by both teams and prospective players. Approached by more than 800 athletes a year, Kim communicates with each player individually and devotes an extraordinary amount of time seeing her play, ideally multiple times, before “the moment of truth,” when she decides whether to apply to Middlebury early decision. Kim was quick to criticize this American recruiting system. “It leads kids to make their college choice for the wrong reason. They wait to get tapped on the shoulder by the coach on high who dubs them worthy of playing for them, when it should be all about the student choosing the school that’s right for her,” Kim said. Nowadays, it isn’t rare for him to receive emails from sixth- and seventh-graders proclaiming their allegiance to the Panthers. “It’s terribly unhealthy,” he frowned. “In what world would that make sense?”
Kim’s skepticism of this “elite” mentality extends into his coaching philosophy. While an undergrad at UVM, Kim sustained a devastating concussion that pulled him from the sport early in his career. From then on, he had to focus exclusively on a doubled academic course to graduate on time. This profoundly influenced his current emphasis on athletics as part of the greater picture of college life: “Injuries can happen, and if that happens and suddenly you stop loving the school, then you’re probably at the wrong place.” In this way, Kim’s philosophy is perfectly tailored to the Middlebury student. “When I was in college, academics were not prioritized. You got it done to the extent that it was important to you. Middlebury kids, to their credit, love school, and then they come down and play at a Division I level.” He cited how one of his goaltenders played a major role in a theater production last semester and smiled with pride. “That’s a testament to who you guys are as students here.”
Kim’s overarching coaching philosophy is paired with a core set of team values, all of which rolled off his tongue with sharp familiarity. First up was academics. Second, he said, “We play the game; we believe in the technical game and to keep it on the ground.” Next on the list was community service. “I am very proud that we are one of the leaders in community service on this campus. We’re spoiled rotten here, and we try to maintain a culture of gratitude because we are just so lucky.” Finally, with a twinkling smile, he mentioned the family culture of his team. “Class lines are blurred almost to the point of being erased, and students become family with players three years older and younger than them. It’s that chemistry, which is difficult to explain, that is the central aspect of the team. If we didn’t have that, we wouldn’t be successful.”
Upon being asked what success meant to him, Kim, unsurprisingly, presented a long list. “This year was a success because we made it all the way to the finals, and we won the state championship, and we played beautifully, and we won the NESCAC Championship, and we’re a family, and we’re killing it in the classroom, and we’re leading the campus in community service. I think that kind of sums up what Middlebury is about: the word and.”
For full staff issue coverage, click here.
(01/17/19 10:57am)
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BURLINGTON — The fifth annual Purrrses for Paws event is set to take place on Thursday, Feb. 7 at the Burlington International Airport. Hosted by the Humane Society of Chittenden County (HSCC), the event aims to raise funds for their animal shelter in South Burlington. New and ‘like-new’ purses, clutches and handbags will be auctioned off at the fundraiser, where ticket-holders can also purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win an emerald ring valued at $8,000. Tickets for the event are on sale for $30 and can be purchased through HSCC’s website, chittendenhumane.org.
Powered by over 200 volunteers and a small staff, HSCC was founded in 1901 by June and Herb Davis and has grown tremendously since. Today, HSCC serves Chittenden and Grand Isle counties, taking in and caring for 974 animals in 2018. The Purrrses for Paws event has reflected the shelter’s growth.
“Our first Purrrses for Paws raised around $18,000,” said Erin Alamed, Director of Volunteer and Community Outreach at HSCC. “In the last two years we have raised between $40,000 and $50,000 at the event. It has grown significantly in the way we’re executing the event, the event’s location and the purse options, and we are honing in on what’s working and what isn’t.”
As a nonprofit organization receiving no city, state or federal funding, HSCC depends entirely on donations from the community.
“We are constantly asking a lot from the community, and most of our donations come from one-on-one donor support,” said Diana Hill, director of development for HSCC. “We have our annual campaign fund that is always requiring gifts, but we also have specific funds that we always want to keep full so that we can do everything we do, both here at the shelter and in the community.”
Though a large percent of HSCC funds go toward veterinary bills, money is also needed to keep facilities in order and to provide food and other amenities for the shelter’s animals. The impact of Purrrses for Paws extends beyond monetary support, however.
“The events we host spread the word about our mission to people attending, people who might not be familiar with what we do,” Alamed said. “We try to incorporate an educational aspect into it and try to tie the event back to our mission.”
Right now, that mission is the accessible education of animal treatment. “If we educate people early on, hopefully we will put ourselves out of business,” said Alamed. “Hopefully we will soon turn into something different, but for now it’s about education and figuring out the best way to care for animals.”
The effects of this mission are seen in HSCC’s army of volunteers. Carrie Prat, a self-proclaimed animal lover, began volunteering in May 2018 after she and her husband adopted two cats from the shelter.
“I felt like working full-time didn’t allow me to express my volunteer self. I really wanted a consistent volunteering opportunity,” said Prat. “I have had such a great experience adopting animals from HSCC, and I wanted to help out even more.”
Volunteering in a facility that services 50 to 75 animals at any given time, Prat quickly observed the commitment of HSCC’s volunteers and staff. “I have learned how dedicated the staff and volunteers are,” she said. “Everyone works so hard to keep things going. It’s a 365-day job; it’s not something that ever stops.”
The importance of volunteers is not exclusive to the shelter’s daily runnings. Purrrses for Paws requires a massive volunteer effort as well.
“We don’t have a large expense for these events,” Alamed explained. “All of the people who will be working Purrrses for Paws are volunteers, except myself. We couldn’t do events like these without our volunteers.”
With the Feb. 7 event quickly approaching, the staff is busy planning the event and preparing the purses. “We have about 300 people come to bid on new and like-new purses,” said Hill. “I just sat through my first purse processing meeting.”
With excitement building as the date draws nearer, the shelter’s staff and volunteers look forward to another interaction with the people who allow HSCC’s goals to become reality. While preparing, however, the staff and volunteers at HSCC will continue to evolve their operation.
“Events have changed, staffing has changed, and [they] will continue to change over the next hundred and twenty years or so,” said Alamed. “We are always learning new things about how to enrich our animals, the processes that are working for some organizations and not for others, demographics, animals we’re taking in, adoption rates, all of that.”
(01/17/19 10:57am)
Middlebury students will have Martin Luther King Jr. Day off for the first time in college history this Monday, Jan. 21. The holiday, traditionally observed by most schools and many places of work, has been a class day for Middlebury students since President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983.
The change to the calendar was made to allow more students to participate in celebrations surrounding the holiday. In years past, the Center for Community Engagement (CCE) has held events the weekend prior to the day itself. This year, the CCE will host an MLK Afternoon of Action on Monday.
According to CCE Program Director Ashley Laux, the CCE is soliciting volunteers to help with the event. In the Ilsley Library Meeting Room, volunteers will read books to and participate in arts and crafts activities with young children from the town. At the Addison Central Teen Center, volunteers will help with a collage art project and talk to local teenagers about mobilizing for change in one’s own community. Volunteers will start at 1 p.m. while youth in the community can come to the event between 2:30 and 4 p.m. Laux and the CCE team will be coordinating with AmeriCorps VISTA member Sarah Litwiller to organize the event, and encourage interested students to sign up at go.middlebury.edu/mlkafternoonofaction.
Although students will have classes off this year, Laux expects that event turnout will be comparable to last year’s.
Ricardo Lint Sagarena, director of intercultural programs, is also organizing a brunch at 10 a.m. on the 21st in the Redfield Proctor Room in Proctor Dining Hall.
“Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words and selfless actions continue to be an inspiration and never-ending call to action for tolerance and peace,” Sagarena said. “In that spirit, students, faculty, and staff are invited to come together to share a meal and talk about their commitments and convictions.” He advised interested students to register for seats at go.middlebury.edu/mlkbrunch.
Sagarena is unsure about how the day off will impact participation, as it is yet to be seen whether students will take the day off to attend these events.
(01/17/19 10:57am)
Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Matthew Evan Taylor is curating a series of concerts from now until May that will celebrate women and people of color, who are typically underrepresented in the classical music tradition. Their first two concerts occurred on Jan. 6 and 11 in Waterbury, Vt. and Middlebury College, respectively. The other concerts will take place at venues around Vermont, including the FlynnSpace in Burlington and Axel’s Gallery in Waterbury, but all will have at least one performance at the college in the Mahaney Performing Arts Center.
This series of concerts presents a unique opportunity to new and old listeners because it includes the work of composers who have not yet been heard in Vermont. I must admit that I had not seen the names of any of the composers or performers Professor Taylor is bringing to our campus. I hope to provide some background information on some of the artists included in this series both for the sake of general interest and to engage potential audiences. I highly recommend attending as many of these concerts as you can because they will provide a refreshing change of pace from the Performing Arts Series Society (PASS) events I usually cover and because it may be an interesting proposition to compare these concerts to the PASS concerts.
The next concert in the series will include a number of piano sonatas by the composer George Walker on Friday, Jan. 25 at 5 p.m. This composer is best known for an orchestral piece called “Lilacs,” which won him the Pulitzer Prize in 1996. The snippets of the piano sonatas I listened to are distinctly modern and sometimes sound harsh or dissonant, but the merit in them seems to lie in their adept handling of very different kinds of thematic material simultaneously. The pianist who will play the sonatas is Redi Llupa, an experienced pianist who graduated from the Boston Conservatory and has played at Carnegie Hall. After seeing a few videos of his playing that he has graciously posted on YouTube under his name, I have confidence that this concert will be well worth attending.
The next concert has not posted its exact program yet, but it will be curated by composer Carlos Simon, a native of Atlanta who has worked with the Sundance Institute. It will occur in the Mahaney Center for the Arts on Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m. I look forward to this concert because this composer has extensive experience with film music composition; such a background lends itself well to finding many different kinds of music and putting them together into a compelling whole; or, in other words, curation.
The fourth concert of the series will include a performance by Gary Levinson and Asiya Korepanova on Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m. This concert will include the premiere of Ms. Korepanova’s piece “Poem” for saxophone and piano, as well as Professor Taylor’s piece “Meet at the Horizon” for violin and double bass. Rounding out the program are Prokofiev’s first piano sonata and Strauss’ sonata for violin and piano in E-flat. The following day, Mr. Levinson will offer a masterclass at 3 p.m. in collaboration with the Middlebury Community Music Center and Vermont Youth Orchestra.
The next concert, Music Without Borders, curated by composer Marcos Balter, will take place on April 7 at 7:30 p.m. in Middlebury. According to Balter’s website, his works have received such praise as, “Balter has a wicked sense of humor and a fiercely imaginative palette of instrumental and vocal sounds that is rare in today’s dour post-classical new music.” This concert promises interesting works because many of his previous works have used unusual ensembles, such as alto flute and cello for “delete/control/option” or clarinet and violin for “A vis”.
The last concert of the series, American Mestiza, will play the music of Gabriela Lena Frank, a composer whose works reflect her deep knowledge and engagement with Latin American folklore and music. This concert will take place in Middlebury on May 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the arts center.
As you can see from the long list of concerts, this series represents the results of many artists in areas that badly need more representation, especially in classical music. I was happy to hear that this concert series was occurring, and I am even more happy to cover it. This series will hopefully set new expectations for classical music concerts in our region and promote the exploration of new music.
(12/06/18 11:00am)
When I was young, my parents took me to a dinner concert at our church. I remember my father telling me that he found musical moments like this particularly good for thinking. I sat myself down, back to the musicians, prepared for a relaxing, pensive evening, at which point I was promptly told that it was rude to sit with your back to the music and that I should listen. As a child, I found this a strange contradiction. Now, I understand.
Claude Debussy, the French composer perhaps most famous for his piece “Clair de Lune,” died in 1918. To mark the 100th year since his passing, the Jupiter Quartet came to the MCA last Friday to remind us why we love art and the impressionists in particular.
The program kicked off with a confident theme from Maurice Ravel, admirer of Debussy and an influential French composer in his own right. Although it is typical for the main piece, in this case Debussy’s “Quartet in G Minor,” to be proceeded by complimentary pieces, the inclusion of Ravel’s only string quartet before Debussy’s quartet was duly appropriate. As would be seen later in the evening, Ravel’s piece is highly derivative of Debussy’s. From the wonderful pizzicato with which the scherzo begins to the swooning central themes, Ravel’s homage was well received by the earlier artist.
Perhaps of most interest that night were the themes. I use the term “swooning” to convey the emotional pregnancy, the swaying, the general accord with which the music lays in the world and yet it was unromantic. Tension, melancholy, peace, joy and sadness were all woven together in a way which reminds one of life in all of its muddled facets.
The music of the night, which included Ravel, Debussy and “Ainsi la Nuit,” by Henri Dutilleux, embodied this very impressionistic idea. The music was not nice, per se. It lacked the simple prettiness of some music and yet it was not unpleasant either. The impressionists pioneered new musical strategies, new harmonies (and assonances). They broke away from classical structures and ideas in order to build complex emotional textures that makes one feel, deeply.
This leads us to an element of the Jupiter Quartet’s performance that is essential to great music and yet too often overlooked. Music is more than the sounds that are produced. One can play the score perfectly and still fail to produce the appropriate music if the musicians prevent the music from entering their soul. This was not the case Friday night. The members of the quartet were flooded by the music. When the score went soft, they were gentle. When the music became vigorous, the musicians convulsed along with it. The music was felt the way it is meant to be.
I remembered my father’s words at this concert in particular because the music of these impressionists is not only beautiful, not only emotional, but fertile, ready to embrace those thoughts, reflections, loves and worries that life likes to leave with us, particularly in the cold at the end of the semester. Although we are surrounded by recorded music every moment of every day, there is something special about going to a performance where your activities are limited to listening and thinking. The artists represented last Friday, both the performers and the composers, provided a wonderfully pleasing few hours and, more importantly, an ocean upon which to set our minds adrift in the wonders and contradictions of life. It was a sacred moment of life, of beauty, of strings.
