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(11/05/15 12:51am)
Middlebury volleyball wrapped up its regular season with a split this past weekend against two NESCAC foes, losing to Connecticut College on Friday evening, Oct. 30 (25-27, 20-25, 26-28) but bouncing back Saturday, Oct. 31 with a big win against Tufts (22-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-19). Finishing at 7-3 in the conference, the Panthers secured the fourth seed in the NESCAC tournament in Brunswick, Maine, where they will square off against the Jumbos once more on Friday in the quarterfinals.
This past weekend’s games, combined with those from the prior weekend at the New England Challenge at MIT, brought the team’s regular-season record to 17-6. In Boston, they had come up short against MIT (20-25, 19-25, 22-25) and Wellesley (22-25, 25-17, 19-25, 23-25) but defeated Babson in straight sets (25-19, 25-18, 25-22).
In the week leading up to the New England Challenge, Head Coach Sarah Raunecker was excited to see her team tested.
“This weekend we’re going to play three very good teams in our region, but all non-conference, which will be great,” Raunecker said. “MIT is the top ranked team in NE, Babson is in the top 15, as we are, and Wellesley is always a good team, so the competition should be great all weekend. It’ll be fun to see what we can do against these teams.”
Even though the Panthers didn’t manage to win a single set against MIT, they put together a number of strong runs throughout the match and showed that they felt comfortable against premier competition (MIT was ranked no. 23 in the nation at the time). The game against Wellesley was more or less the same; Middlebury started strong out of the gates, taking the first set, but unfortunately struggled to stay in a consistent groove over the final three.
Against Babson, however, the Panthers controlled the match from start to finish, coming away with a decisive victory in straight sets over a team currently ranked #5 in New England.
In the eyes of middle blocker Gabi Rosenfeld ’17, with just a little extra push, the two games that the team lost might have come out quite differently.
“We had a lot of really great moments this weekend,” Rosenfeld said. “Our serve receive was extremely consistent, which allowed us to run our offense well. We showed that we can beat any team if we’re playing our best and staying positive, but if we don’t play with intensity, we lose to teams that we really should beat. The matches against MIT and Wellesley kind of just slipped away from us because we weren’t playing our own game.We let the other teams set the pace and could never take back the momentum.”
Notably, outside hitter Becca Raffel ’18 earned a spot on the all-tournament team for her play over the weekend, pouring in 35 kills over three matches to the tune of a .272 hitting percentage.
The NESCAC matchup against Conn College last Friday, Oct. 30 turned out to be an especially frustrating one for the Panthers, who stretched both the first and third sets past 25 points but never seemed to be able to take the reins against the Camels en route to a three-set loss. On a more positive note, team captain and setter Hannah Blackburn ’17 surpassed the 2,000 assist mark for her career. She notched 29 to bring her total to 2,003, good for fourth place all-time at Middlebury.
Outside hitter Charlotte Devine ’17 thought the team’s play felt choppy and a tad sluggish against the Camels, but praised the squad’s ability to make adjustments before Saturday’s match against Tufts.
“On Friday in our game against Conn., we were lacking the energy and flow that have allowed us to come together and play cohesively so much this year,” Devine said. “On Saturday, we really found that enthusiasm, and our defense and offense worked beautifully together to play a clean match against Tufts. So while we had our ups and downs on the weekend as a whole, I’m really proud of our ability to pinpoint what needed fixing on Friday and to come ready to play our game on Saturday.”
In fact, Saturday’s game had major implications for the Panthers’ playoff seeding. Had they lost, they would’ve shared the fifth spot in the NESCAC with Conn College (6-4). However, the Camels would’ve had the tiebreak, meaning the Panthers would be facing an uphill battle as the sixth seed.
Instead, Middlebury fought through a tough loss to Tufts in the first set to take the next three and come away with the win. The Panthers hit .227 to the Jumbos .166, with a number of players getting in on the action: outside hitter Isabel Sessions ’19 led with 15 kills and Raffel poured in 13, while middle blockers Eliana Schaefer ’18 and Melanie English ’17 combined for 18 kills and 6 blocks.
Still, Devine stressed that, regardless of whether the team had won or lost Saturday’s game, the team would need to focus on its own play rather than their opponent in the NESCAC tournament.
“We can take any team in the conference when we play our game: this season has proven that,” Devine said. “We’ve had some of the best teamwork on the court that I’ve seen in the three years that I’ve been playing here, and I know every single person on our team is committed and willing to place the team above everything else.”
The Panthers will face Tufts at 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6. If they win, they will face the winner of the Bowdoin-Bates matchup on Saturday with hopes of making it to Sunday’s championship game.
(11/05/15 12:47am)
The Men’s Water Polo Club team took second place at the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III National Club Championship at Macalaster College in St. Paul, Minnesota last weekend (Oct. 31-Nov. 1) with a performance to finish off their 2015 season on a high note.
During the regular season, the team participates in the CWPA New England Division, which allows them to face off against Dartmouth, Boston College, Boston University, Yale, and the University of Connecticut (whose team is co-ed). Boston University and Yale hosted tournaments on the weekends of Sept. 26-27 and Oct. 10-11 respectively. Middlebury hosted the league championship tournament on Oct. 24-25, and finished fifth in the league.
The Panthers’ status as the only Division III team this year in the New England Division earned them an automatic spot in the Division III National Club Championship. There, Middlebury represented New England as one of the nine teams that contended for the National title.
The team entered the weekend hoping to improve upon their third place finish in last year’s tournament at Bowdoin College.
“Though we all knew it was a long shot, we flew to Minneapolis to win Nationals,” said Brian Rowett ’16, one of Middlebury’s three captains.
The Panthers came out strong in their first game against Emory University on Saturday, Oct. 31 to notch a 21-11 win. Middlebury’s strong teamwork gave them an edge in this game; nearly half the team — seven of 15 players — contributed to the scoring effort.
J Whelan ’16, one of Rowett’s co-captains, led the team with seven goals. These combined with Jacob Epstein ’16’s five goals, Kevin Benscheidt ’17’s three, Rowett’s two, Ben Weaver ’16, the other co-captain’s two goals, as well as single goals from Jack Ravery ’17 and Eli Jones ’16 for a total of 21.
This momentum carried over to the Panthers second, closer, victory that day against Grinnell College (16-13). Epstein and Whelan again scored five and seven goals respectively, and were named co-players of the game. Rowett (2), Benscheidt (1) and Weaver (1) also outsmarted Grinnell’s goalie to cushion Middlebury’s win.
“[The] team played [their] best game of the year against Grinnell,” said Head Coach Brian Goodwin. “They looked really good in all areas.”
On Sunday, Nov. 1, the Panthers played Washington University in St. Louis (Wash. U), the defending co-champion for the first-place trophy. (Wash. U split last year’s championship with U.C. Santa Cruz after a power outage at Bowdoin prevented the final game from being played). The Bears, however, defeated Middlebury 14-9 for their second straight National title (which they now hold on their own for the first time).
Taylor Moore ’18 used his speed to win each of the four sprints, and secure possession of the ball for Middlebury at the start of each quarter. Benscheidt kept the Panthers in the game from the start, scoring his first of two goals in the first quarter.
Middlebury trailed by just one point at the end of the first, but Wash. U seized the chance to pull ahead in the second, making it 7-1 by the half.
Middlebury fought back for the rest of the game. Working to score two goals each, Whelan and Rowett brought the score to a close 9-5 by the end of the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Benscheidt and Epstein added one goal apiece. Whelan’s last two goals, one of which came from a penalty shot, rounded out Middlebury’s scoring as the game wound down.
Despite Weaver’s defense in the center position, the Panthers could not stop player of the game Mike Lee, who notched 7 individual goals for the Bears.
Goalie Ethan Strayer ’16 anchored the Panther defense, saving seven of Wash. U’s 21 shots on goal, and adding to his 26 total saves in the tournament.
The Panthers’ failure to capitalize on offensive opportunities — as highlighted by their conversion of just two out of five extra-man situations — placed them at a deficit they couldn’t come back from. The game ended with a score of 14-9.
“This was likely the team’s best chance in many years to bring home the title, so naturally it was disappointing to lose in the championship game,” Rowett said. “That said, we played incredibly well for the vast majority of the tournament.”
“It was a tough loss in finals,” Coach Goodwin echoed, “but we ... played very well to get to the championship game.”
Middlebury’s runner-up finish in this tournament marks the program’s second-best performance at a National Collegiate Club Championship ever, besides their first place finish in the 2003 National Championship.
The CWPA chose Epstein and Whelan for the First All-Tournament Team, and Goodwin, who has been with the program since it was founded in 1999, was named the Outstanding Coach of the tournament.
“I’m proud to bring home the second place title and to be part of a very dynamic team,” Rowett concluded.
(11/05/15 12:42am)
The third-ranked women’s field hockey team (15-1-1) went 3-0 in NESCAC play over the last two weeks, extending their win streak to 11 games. The Panthers began the run on Oct. 24, beating Bates 5-0 on the road, before finishing up regular season play on Oct. 28 with a 4-1 win over no. 20-ranked Williams. The NESCAC tournament began on Saturday, Oct. 31 where Middlebury beat Hamilton 8-1 in a quarterfinal match-up.
In the match-up against Bates, Annie Leonard ’18 was first to put the Panthers on the scoreboard, netting a goal in the 12th minute off an assist from Grace Jennings ’19. Pam Schulman ’17 was next for the Panthers offense, scoring her first of two goals for the day in the 14th minute, and putting Middlebury up 2-0. As the clock wound down, Schulman netted her second goal of the day off a penalty corner to give the Panthers up 3-0 lead at half.
After the start of the second half, both teams went scoreless for over 34 minutes, before the Panthers were able to find the net again. At 61:38, Leonard sent a beautiful reverse chip past Bobcat keeper Cristina Vega. Less than two minutes later, Susanna Baker ’19 secured the 5-0 victory for the Panthers off a pass from Audrey Quirk ’18.
“We have been practicing finishing in front of the cage lately, and it paid off,” Baker said. “Audrey sent the perfect pass from the end line to right in front of the net, which I was able to finish for a goal.”
Middlebury held a 13-1 advantage in shots, and edged Bates 8-1 in penalty corners. Katie Knox picked up three saves in the first half for the Bobcats, while Vega recorded one save in the second half. Panther goalkeeper Emily Miller ‘17 picked up the win without having to make a save for her fifth shutout of the season.
In their last game of the regular season, Middlebury scored four first-half goals in a 14-minute span to top Williams 4-1.
The Ephs came out strong in the first few minutes, when Brigid Bruno sent a shot from the left side that looked to be heading for the back of the net. Co-Captain Jillian Green ’16 made a quick defensive save, however, and kept the game scoreless. Molly Freeman ’19 started things offensively for the Panthers, putting in the first goal of the game in the 12th minute. This began a 14-minute goal-scoring spree for Middlebury, with Leonard finding the back of the net for a 2-0 lead. Bridget Instrum ’16 was next for the Panthers, swatting a ball out of midair in the 22nd minute for a 3-0 advantage. At the 24:49 mark, Williams had a great scoring opportunity, attempting to get on the board off a penalty stroke. Hannah Goodrick put the ball in past Panther goalie Miller, but officials ruled that Goodrick had committed an infraction and disallowed the goal. Middlebury closed out their scoring run a little over three minutes later, when Leonard collected a loose ball in front of the cage and sent it in. Williams scored their only goal in the 64th minute on a penalty corner that ended a Middlebury shutout streak of 437 minutes and 27 seconds, which spanned nearly six games.
The Panthers held a 15-6 advantage in shots and a 6-5 edge in penalty corners. Miller picked up the win for Middlebury with a pair of first-half saves, while Ephs goalie Margaret Draper finished with 10 stops.
The NESCAC Quarterfinal match-up against Hamilton on Saturday proved an easy win for the Panthers.
The game was scoreless for the first 14 minutes, before Middlebury went up 3-0 in less than five minutes. Jennings tallied the first goal for the Panthers, before Schulman added two of her own shortly after. In the 28th minute, Jennings put the Panthers on the board again, this time with a 4-0 advantage. Leonard followed shortly after, converting a cross pass from Schulman to give the Panthers a 5-0 lead at half. Audrey Quirk ’18 scored her first of the year early in the second half, off a pass from Jennings, before assisting Lauren Schweppe ’18 in a goal just over two minutes later. Quirk found the back of the net once again, completing a three goal run in under five minutes, to put the Panthers up 8-0. Casey Brown broke up the shutout for Hamilton, tapping in a crossing pass from Caroline Ames at 61:23.
Middlebury outshot Hamilton 20-2, and held a 11-1 advantage in penalty corners. Miller was forced to make just one save in goal for the Panthers, while Hamilton goalie Mary Kalb stopped six shots.
“Heading into the NESCAC tournament, we will look to maximize our team’s ability to connect throughout the field so that we control time of possession,” Head Coach Katherine DeLorenzo said. “We look directly to our seniors for their leadership, on and off the field, and to be at our best throughout the postseason. This team has some unique strengths that we hope will carry us well beyond where we are right now.”
With Saturday’s win, the Panthers advance to the NESCAC semifinals in Brunswick, where they will meet Tufts at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Bowdoin takes on Amherst at 11:00 a.m., and winners will play for the NESCAC crown on Sunday, Nov. 8.
(11/05/15 12:38am)
A petition has circulated among students, parents and alumni urging the Board of Trustees to pause construction on the new residence halls west of Adirondack View. The petition, which had 458 signatories as of Nov. 1, asserts that the current designs of the residences are not universally accessible.
As approved by the Middlebury Select Board, the construction plans for the townhouses do not include elevators, so that only the first floor in each building will be wheelchair accessible. In a letter to the editor, Director of Residential Life Douglas Adams said that four of the sixteen townhouse units and three of the sixteen suites in the residence hall will be wheelchair accessible. In each accessible unit or suite, he said, at least one bedroom will be fully accessible. All other suites are designed to be “visitable,” as defined by the State of Vermont’s Act 88, a fire code for residential housing.
The petition states that providing only the minimum number of accessible spaces required by law is inadequate. “Middlebury’s new buildings should model innovative, inclusive designs that enable all our members to be in them,” it reads. “We can choose to demonstrate in word and in deed our values of diversity and inclusion.”
The petition originated when Barbara Ofosu-Somuah ’13, who now works in Washington, D.C., became concerned with the project.
“When I was at Middlebury, I worked at the Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity in Carr Hall for four years.” Ofusu-Somuah said. “I was active in finding ways to create spaces of inclusion for all students. Reading this was disappointing: Middlebury, you say so much and you want to be inclusive, but that’s not what this is.”
Ofosu-Somuah, with the help of Lauren Kelly ’13 and Dan Egol ’13, wrote a formal petition. They used Google Drive so that people could suggest changes to the wording.
“We didn’t want it to be an indictment or aggressive campaign, but rather a way to spark a conversation,” Ofosu-Somuah said.
She was struck by how quickly the petition spread: it garnered 100 signatures on the first day. “It was just amazing,” she said. “People began reaching out, asking how to become more involved. It was never my intention to be the figurehead on this, just the person who began the conversation,” she said. “It was a question of how do I, as a person who loves her alma mater, help it to be the best version of itself?”
Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of the College Katy Smith Abbott and Professor of Spanish & Chief Diversity Officer Miguel Fernández said that members of the core leadership team have discussed the issues raised in the petition, most recently at a meeting on Friday, Oct. 13.
“A number of students, faculty, staff and alumni have raised important questions about what accessibility policies we should have in place for new construction or major renovations of existing buildings,” said Bill Burger, Vice President for Communications and Marketing.
“They have challenged us to raise the bar and to operate to a higher standard of accessibility,” he said. “We welcome that discussion. It’s an important one for our community and it’s overdue. We long have operated under a policy of being in compliance with national and state standards.”
“What we’ve learned in the last several weeks is that our community wants more than compliance,” he said. “As Patton said, ‘diversity is an everyday ethic to be cultivated.’ That principle applies in this case as it does in so many areas of our shared experience at Middlebury.”
Burger noted that the College held two open meetings and heard no objections to the designs as presented. In a 2014 email, Adams invited all students to a presentation the developer to discuss the preliminary design and layout of the new residences. The event took place on Tuesday, Feb. 10, and representatives from Residential Life and Facilities Services were present.
Students were also invited to an informal conversation with the design group and staff on Wednesday, Feb. 11, in the Ross Fireplace Lounge. In its May 2015 meeting, the Board of Trustees approved the design for the Ridgeline complex, and Burger said the plan met the College’s current accessibility standards.
Burger noted that stopping the project would have tremendous costs. “Site work is complete and most of the foundations are in place,” he said. We also have signed agreements with contractors and with our partner on the project who, in turn, has agreements with its lenders. But we are investigating what changes are possible with the current building footprint.”
Project Manager for the Residences Tom McGinn declined to state how much KCP is spending on their construction. He said that the College’s share is about $1.5 million, which is to bring utilities such as water and sewage to the site. The completion date of the project, which broke ground on Sept. 23, is still set for Sept. 2016. McGinn estimated that it is probably 15 or 20 percent complete. Concrete foundations are in, floor slabs are being poured, framing has started, and utility infrastructure is up. Their plan is to complete the concrete by the end of November and get the buildings enclosed so the interiors can be worked on during the winter.
When asked the cost of installing elevators into the buildings at this stage in construction, McGinn estimated in the millions. “In the several millions, at a minimum, and probably at least a year of redesigning and reworking and redoing,” he said. “To do so, we would have to either extensively remake the work that’s in place, or just tear it out completely. The footprint gets bigger, the framing plans change, the wood trusses and the roof trusses that are ordered and already stacked up on the site, they all wouldn’t work anymore. The buildings might not even fit on the footprint—so then we would have to re-permit and redesign. And stop, essentially. Just stop. And what you have would go away.”
Representatives from the College have estimated that it will cost five million to make the three townhouses visitable on all floors and up to an additional three million in fees for breaking the contract. Patton has indicated that this expense is too great.
“With great regret, given all the other educational obligations we have and our limited resources, I cannot see how we can justify such a large expense,” she said.
(10/22/15 12:02am)
This season is certainly shaping up to be one of the stronger ones in Middlebury Volleyball’s recent history. After seeing their winning streak halted at ten games with a loss against Williams two weekends ago, the Panthers promptly started another streak by sweeping NESCAC opponents Colby and Bates this weekend Oct. 16-17, pushing their overall record to 15-3 on the season.
To anyone who’s been following the Panthers this year, the difference between on-paper expectations and actual performance has been nothing short of impressive.
Emily Kolodka ’18, who has served as the team’s libero for most of the season, recalled some of the group’s uncertainty from back in August.
“Coming into this season...initially, everyone was a little on edge. What [will] our freshmen be like? What is it going to be like having no established, older leaders on the team?” Kolodka wondered.
However, “everyone [has] done a really great job stepping into leadership roles,” Kolodka said. “On the court it doesn’t really matter how old you are or if you’re playing with much experience, if you can be calm under pressure… and can step up when you need to — whether you coming off the bench and...haven’t played a game the whole season, or you’ve started every game ...and [just aren’t] having a good game — that’s what counts,” Kolodka said. “I think everyone on our team has done an amazing job of that this season, and I think that’s what’s made us so successful, regardless of the fact that we don’t have any seniors and regardless of those question marks people raised.”
The squad, which has yet to lose a conference game on the road, used all five sets to take care of the Mules Friday evening (22-25, 25-23, 25-16, 17-25, 15-11) before rolling over the Bobcats in four during Saturday’s day game (25-19, 15-25, 25-14, 25-16). These two wins gave Middlebury a 6-2 record in the NESCAC, locking the Panthers in a four-way tie for second place with Amherst, Tufts and Williams.
Despite the unsettling loss to Williams the week prior, the team stuck to its principles in this week’s preparations, Kolodka insisted.
“We definitely didn’t have a different attitude. If anything, it was important for us...to keep moving forward. Especially when you come out from a loss like that, that’s so close—it makes you realize how important every single NESCAC game is [and] how important every single point is,” said Kolodka. “So we really paid attention to detail in practice, trying to do our best …[on] every rep.”
Despite their 3-4 conference record coming into the game, Colby came out more than ready to play on Friday, leading for most of the first set and finishing things off after a Panther comeback tied the game at 22-22. Middlebury responded in a hard-fought second, which ran to 23-23 before the Panthers managed to put the Mules away with a kill from middle blocker Gabi Rosenfeld ’17. It seemed that the third set would be just as close until, knotted at 14-14, Middlebury rattled off ten straight points on the service of outside hitter Isabel Sessions ’19.
Colby took the momentum back from the Panthers in the fourth set as they raced out to an early 12-6 lead. The Mules held Middlebury at arm’s length the rest of the way, forcing a fifth and final set.
Showing the closing strength that’s helped them throughout the season, Middlebury jumped out in front, 6-1. The Panthers fought the Mules’ valiant comeback attempts to finish things off (15-11) on a kill by captain and setter, Hannah Blackburn ’17. Team leaders were outside hitter Becca Raffel ’18 with 13 kills, middle blocker Melanie English ’17 with 4 blocks, and Kolodka with 24 digs.
While the game was closer than the Panthers would’ve liked, especially against a team that’s out of reach of a top spot in the NESCAC, Kolodka wasn’t one to complain.
“Wins are wins, no matter what—so at the end of the day, we’re all really happy that we did what we needed to.” Koldoka said. “I don’t think we were necessarily as clean as this weekend, …but we still pulled it out.”
The team played with more authority on Saturday against Bates, posting decisive wins in the first, third, and fourth sets by margins of 6, 11, and 9 points, respectively. They stumbled briefly in the second, hitting at an unusually low .065 clip as a team.
They didn’t look back though, hitting at .293 the rest of the way and holding the Bobcats to a percentage of .033 over the last two sets. Like in Friday’s game, Raffel led the team in kills (16), English led in blocks (4), and Kolodka led in digs (18).
The Panthers will take a break from NESCAC play this weekend as they travel to Boston for the New England Challenge. They will take on MIT on Friday, Oct. 23 and Babson and Wellesley on Saturday, Oct. 24.
(10/21/15 11:09pm)
This week’s Performing Arts Spotlight features guest writer Su Zheng, Associate Professor of Music at Wesleyan University. She previews the upcoming concert by Wu Man and the Shanghai Quartet, Thursday, Oct. 29 at 7:30 p.m. at the Mahaney Center for the Arts (MCA).
“The pipa is a lute-like instrument with a history of more than two thousand years. During the Qin and Han Dynasties (221 B.C.–220 A.D.), instruments with long, straight necks and round resonators with snakeskin or wooden soundboards were played with a forward and backward plucking motion that sounded like “pi” and “pa” to fanciful ears. Hence, all plucked instruments in ancient times were called “pipa.” During the Tang dynasty, by way of Central Asia, the introduction of a crooked neck lute with a pear-shaped body contributed to the pipa’s evolution. Today’s instrument consists of twenty-six frets and six ledges arranged as stops and its four strings are tuned respectively to A,D,E,A. The pipa’s many left and right hand fingering techniques, rich tonal qualities and resonant timber give its music expressiveness and beauty that are lasting and endearing.”
— notes by Wu Man, “What is a pipa?”
The pipa was a major instrument in the teaching of Buddhism in early China, as witnessed by its portrayal in numerous murals in the Buddhist caves near Dunhuang, along the ancient Silk Road in western China. Throughout Chinese history, the pipa has also been a prominent instrument for female entertainers at the imperial courts in rich households, and at teahouses or pleasure houses, where the performers were known as singsong girls. Depictions of these singsong girls’ expressive performances and graceful voices constitute an important aspect of classical Chinese literature. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368–1911), literati (or scholar-bureaucrats) began to take an interest in playing pipa and, as a result, more elaborate compositions were created and preserved in the earliest pipa music collection, published in 1818.
What kinds of new sounds and songs will emerge when a classical string quartet is in conversation with the ancient pipa? What emotions will this music evoke for childhood friends and schoolmates who meet again on tonight’s stage, and for those in the audience? To find out, I spoke with Wu Man, widely recognized as the world’s premiere pipa virtuoso and as a leading ambassador of Chinese music in the West.
When she was just 13, Man was accepted into the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. It was there that she met Yi-Wen Jiang, the Shanghai Quartet’s second violinist.
“He was my classmate at the conservatory,” Man said. “A few years later, I met Honggang Li, the viola player, at the same conservatory. Through him, I met his brother Weigang Li, a very talented violin player.”
But Man didn’t collaborate musically with her friends back then.
“We took many cultural and required political doctrine courses together, but we never played music together,” she said. “We belonged to different departments. They played Western instruments, and I played a Chinese instrument. We were separated by two different musical worlds.”
After conservatory, Wu Man came to realize that her lifelong creative journey would be to combine her instrument, her voice and her body to create unprecedented sounds and new modes of performance for the pipa. “I feel pipa is my voice,” she said. “I communicate with people through my pipa.”
The year 1992 marked the first time in history for musical dialogue between a string quartet and a pipa, and a new musical form was born. One of the most memorable performances is Man’s collaboration with the Kronos Quartet on Tan Dun’s Ghost Opera in 1995.
What is unique and exciting about Wu Man’s present tour with the Shanghai Quartet is that it not only promises the cross-cultural and genre-defying musical experiences that Man is now well known for around the world, but the collaboration has also been a deeply personal one for the performers.
“We have the same cultural heritage,” she said. “We are so familiar with the repertory. We have a visceral understanding of the meanings of these folk songs and contemporary compositions because we grew up in China in these sounds. In rehearsals, we were able to ‘jump into’ the music immediately. We were transported back to our childhoods by the music; all the memories came back with the music. It is something very special to us.” After a brief pause Wu Man added, “very emotional.”
Wu Man and the members of the Shanghai Quartet are particularly looking forward to sharing their musical journey and emotions with college students.
“I love to answer [students’] questions about pipa,” she said. “I love to share my creative processes with them, and it’s so inspiring to see the sparkles in their eyes. I am always thrilled by their curiosity.”
Wu Man’s adventurous journey with the pipa seems to have radically departed from the aesthetics of those pipa masters recorded in China’s historical texts. Her journey could never have been imagined by innumerable pipa singsong girls throughout China’s long history. Yet, Man plays a pipa that belonged to one of her teachers and that was bestowed upon her when he passed away, a significant gesture to recognize her central role both as a guardian of the pipa tradition and a pioneer of a new path for this ancient instrument.
Tickets are $25 for the general public; $20 for Middlebury College faculty, staff, alumni, emeriti, and other ID card holders; and $6 for Middlebury College students. Visit go/boxoffice or stop by the box offices in McCullough or the MCA.
(10/21/15 8:29pm)
As the last trees on campus dramatically change from green to gold, it is hard for members of the Middlebury community to lose sight of their natural surroundings. In fact, such a pristine backdrop makes it clear why the College was inspired to found the nation’s first Program in Environmental Studies, a program that celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. As we attend these celebrations and take in our beautiful surroundings, we would do well to consider the ways in which Middlebury can continue to be a leader in the field of environmental stewardship.
After reflecting on Middlebury’s principles and stated aims, we as an editorial board would like to officially endorse the withdrawal of College funds from industries of environmental degradation – a process known to many as divestment. Upon reviewing the evidence, we have concluded that drawbacks are scant compared to the benefits of actualizing our values in this way. A number of our editors remember hearing divestment discussed around campus over the years, but few recall a moment when the time felt more right to finally take action.
In 2012, Divest Middlebury started a campaign calling on the administration to remove our investments from the top 200 fossil fuel companies. Groups such as the Socially Responsible Investing Club and Sunday Night Group endorsed the move, but their cause did not garner enough support for the administration to alter Middlebury’s investment strategy. Instead, the College stuck with Investure, an endowment manager, which invests 1 percent of our endowment in top 200 oil and gas companies.
This portion of our endowment sits with money from Trinity College, Barnard College, Dickinson College, Smith College and the University of Tulsa, with whom we reside in a consortium of investors. While it is unlikely that the College breaks its ties to investiture because of the returns and structure it provides, we propose that Middlebury, along with other schools within the consortium where divestment movements are equally relevant, form a group within the fund that is divested. While this poses a logistical challenge, we do not believe it is insurmountable. Our consortium makes up six of Investure’s 13 clients, a proportion that would incentivize investure to meet our demands to avoid losing half of its clients. While coordinating with so many separate institutions may prove difficult, there is the potential to harness our near-majority influence and insist that Investure divest.
Furthermore, Middlebury should lead the charge as a pioneer in the field of sustainability. We recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of our program in Environmental Studies. Middlebury’s webpage describing the event proclaims, “In five decades, Middlebury has left an indelible mark on the environment and sustainability in higher education. Today, the College is an internationally recognized leader in environmental thought, research, and action…” But we see a disparity in what the College proclaims as our environmental mission and in our actions taken.
Middlebury loves to tout its goal of carbon neutrality by 2016, yet how can we stand by this pledge when the carbon footprint from our investments renders it meaningless? The College claims to be a “leader in environmental… action,” but how can we say this if we cower behind the bureaucracy of Investure and do not attempt to leverage our case on divestment?
Perhaps it is time that we drew our attention back to the students, where the divestment movement began and where its success depends. Divest Middlebury has made limited progress in persuading the Board of Trustees thus far, but we believe that this results from the lukewarm support of the student body. While many of us have appeased our peers by signing their petitions for divestment, or perhaps we have even read an op-ed from Divest Middlebury, a lack of enthusiasm for the campaign across campus has characterized the cause.
Many of us on the editorial board – and we expect that a number of our classmates could say the same – had not given much thought to divestment, but felt instinctively doubtful of it. We feel that some of the tactics employed by Divest Middlebury in the past have trivialized the group’s message. This skepticism also reflects an assumption shared by many students that divestment would negatively affect the College’s bottom line.
Therefore, the Campus would like to set the record straight once and for all and proclaim our undeviating support for the cause. While divestment might seem too good to be true for Middlebury, it is not. According to the investment management firm Aperio Group, divesting from the entire oil, gas and consumable fuels industry has a 0.0034 percent penalty on returns and a 0.0101 percent increase in risk, quelling the fears of those worried about divestment’s financial losses.
Choosing to divest has political ramifications that will extend beyond the cause’s short-term gains. Middlebury’s decision to withdraw funds from fossil fuel industries will likely spur our peer institutions to do the same. Furthermore, it will encourage environmentally-conscious applicants – a demographic that only grows with new generations – to consider our College more seriously for its role as a bellwether of divestment.
The College’s own website celebrating “50 Years of Environmental Education & Leadership” states, “As we prepare for our 50th anniversary celebration, we ask ourselves – as we ask our students – not what is reasonable but what is possible. Not what is easy but what is right. And not what is now but what is next.” We call on the College to heed its own admirable words. To embrace the right choice, not the easy choice. Divestment may not be “what is now,” but it could — and ought — to be next. Let’s live up to our reputation.
(10/21/15 8:25pm)
Middlebury has joined 83 other colleges and universities in forming the Coalition for Access, Affordability and Success, a new application system that was created in hopes of making the college application process easier for disadvantaged high school students.
The coalition—which includes all eight Ivy League schools, all NESCAC schools save Trinity College, and many prominent state universities—requires that its members meet the full financial need of accepted students and have a six-year graduation rate of at least 70 percent.
The initial version of the program will be available to freshmen, sophomores and juniors in high school beginning in April 2016. The coalition application will open in summer 2016. However, Middlebury is considering to delay its rollout until 2017, following the University of North Carolina’s decision to do so.
Dean of Admissions Greg Buckles said that the coalition formed from informal talks among admissions deans about an alternative to the Common Application.
“We joined first from a pragmatic standpoint: we needed to have a backup plan for the failure of one system,” he said. “Soon, deans began to see it as something more than a simple alternative—they had the hope of achieving a nobler set of goals like access and equity.”
Buckles said that his office had been in discussion with the original group of organizers, and that Middlebury had indicated its interest in participating early on.
The online application will include a ‘virtual college locker,’ in which students can securely and privately store classwork, awards, journals, and notes for their application. Admissions officers will not have access to a student’s locker unless the student asks for help and advice with specific elements. The locker was designed as an optional tool to help students, especially under-resourced students who do not have access to college counseling or college planning tools, prepare and organize for the college admissions process.
Students could opt to share (privately, if they desired) some or all of their portfolio with people who might provide advice. Colleges could, at students’ invitations, provide feedback as early as freshman year of high school.
The coalition has partnered with CollegeNET to produce their platform of tools, which are designed to be used on tablets and mobile phones. CollegeNET is a Portland-based technology developer with expertise in creating dependable, student-oriented programs and applications.
The coalition application will not replace the Common Application. Colleges and universities using the new application will neither expect nor require the use of other coalition tools, either as part of the Coalition Application or other application systems accepted by that institution.
In the wake of Common Application glitches that prevented students from applying on deadline days, many administrators have become critical of it. Technical failure is especially problematic for the any schools that completely rely on the Common App. Each year, about 860,000 students use it to submit more than 3.5 million applications.
According to Aba Blankson, director of communications for the Common Application, 32 percent of the 860,000 applicants who used the Common Application last year were first-generation students. Many of these students enroll at colleges that, in part because they serve many disadvantaged students, don’t have the graduation rates to be eligible for the coalition, she said.
Currently about 13 percent of Middlebury students receive federal Pell grants, which are given to low-income students. The New York Times ranked Middlebury 51st based on college access index in a list released in November 2014. As of that same month, 43 percent of the student body received any amount of financial aid. The average aid package to those students was $41,870, including subsidized and unsubsidized loans. The average per-undergraduate-borrower cumulative principal borrowed was $17,975. On the other hand, 57 percent of the student body pays full tuition, which increased by 3.9 percent from last year to $61,046.
The coalition has described its efforts to improve the admission process as being grounded in research that shows that many talented low-income and first-generation students do not aspire to college or get hung up in the complexity of the process. The coalition intends to get these students thinking about college earlier in order to create the expectation “that college is for them” and affordable, and that the “top schools in the country want students like them.” Many of these students, the coalition’s website reads, do not get access to sufficient information in high school and they may even be actively discouraged from aiming for college.
“The coalition, in my opinion, paves the way for students to spread out the stress of a one year application process across four years of high school,” said Natalie Figueroa ’18, an International and Global Studies major withLatin American focus. “I see this as a tool to become more inclusive and effective in widening the applicant pool to include multiple ethnicities and people who identify as first-generation college students who otherwise would be discouraged about the stress of a one-year application process.”
“My experience as a first-generation college student revolved around my old brother’s disadvantages that he wish he knew about pre-college process. He went to a great state school, but he reflects on how if he knew now then maybe he could have achieved more and been able to strive for more,” she said.
While the coalition aims to help disadvantaged students, many of the high schools it is intended to help have not been deeply involved in its development. Many counselors at low-income schools could not afford to attend the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), the yearly conference of admissions deans and high school counselors. Held from October 1st to 4th in San Diego, members of the coalition’s core group announced the program’s rollout. According to Buckles, by not reaching high school counselors in underprivileged districts the coalition may not be as effective as intended.
Though Buckles noted valid concerns among some admissions deans about the coalition, he applauded its overall goal of access.
“I’m excited out the potential of this. It’s a huge undertaking, but it’s one of those rare opportunities to serve the needs of the greater good and not just Middlebury,” said Dean Buckles. “That’s a worthy thing to do in higher education.”
(10/21/15 8:22pm)
On Oct. 13, the 2015 First Generation Mentorship Program launched with a dinner in Atwater Dining Hall. Now in its third year, the program is designed to help first-generation students adjust to life at the College. This year the program consists of 49 first-years, the largest group to date.
“[The program’s participants] are sometimes hesitant and unaware of things like office hours,” said Viviana Altamirano ’16, a first-generation student and the program’s director. “We cannot call our parents for help or insights on majors, classes or assignments. It is like living in a parallel universe on campus.”
Present at the kickoff dinner were 15 faculty members who identified as first-generation college graduates. The faculty advisers are a new addition to the program this year and are meant to serve as resources for students in the program. Additionally, the program assigns each of its first-year participants a student mentor. This year, a majority of mentors were former mentees.
“There are some things that they can’t ask other first years, and it’s very important to me that I’m there to help them get acclimated to life at Middlebury,” said Lev Khodaverdy ’17, a mentor and former mentee.
According to Zorica Radanovic ’19, a mentee, the mentors are available to “answer questions we don’t even know we have yet.”
“We are at one of the most affluent colleges in the country, and the assumption is that people do not expect us to be here,” Altamirano said. “Many first generation students get to colleges like Middlebury through self-reliance. When we encounter a challenge, we feel like asking for help is a sign of failure. Though Middlebury offers tutoring, advising and writing, we don’t feel entitled to this academic and emotional support… We hope this program changes that.”
For the past two years, the program’s structure relied mostly on individual pairings of mentor and mentees to establish their own relationships. Altamirano noted that the suggested meeting schedule consisted of bi-weekly one-on-one meals. This year however, the program hopes to organize more group events, with a focus on involving faculty.
In previous years the training session for mentors consisted of a single half-day session, this year the training will be split up into shorter yet more frequent sessions in collaboration with the Anderson Freeman Resource Center.
(10/15/15 12:36am)
The Middlebury football team ran into a brick wall in Amherst, Mass. on Saturday, Oct. 10. While both teams entered the match previously undefeated, only the Lord Jeffs maintained their sterling record after wearing down the Panthers over the course of four quarters. Amherst eventually capped the 24-7 win with a 30-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that was a direct product of Panthers’ fatigue on defense.
The game was competitive throughout, and Middlebury nearly struck first on a long bomb down the seam from quarterback Matt Milano ’16 that bounced off the hands of his receiver. Middlebury was forced to punt, and Amherst responded with a 10-play, 2:53 drive that resulted in a field goal and the first points of the game.
The Panthers responded emphatically. The second Middlebury drive of the game began with a 13-yard catch and run by rookie running back Diego Meritus ’19. Three plays later, Milano hit tight end Trevor Miletich ’16 for a 35-yard gain down the middle of the field. After a pair of short-yardage runs, Milano connected with his favorite target, wideout Matt Minno ’16 — who missed last week’s game with an injury — for a 22-yard score. Minno fended off two defenders like they were flies, and hauled down the Milano pass to give Middlebury a 6-3 lead.
“[Having Minno back] was a big impact for us,” Head Coach Bob Ritter said. “For Matt Milano, I think he has good chemistry with Matt [Minno]. He feels confident throwing the ball up to him.”
The next six drives all resulted in punts, as both defenses showed their mettle and toughness. On their first drive of the second quarter, Amherst charged deep into Middlebury territory. On 4th and 1 from the Middlebury ten-yard line, Amherst ran a dive, expecting to easily pick up the first. However, LB John Jackson ’18, making a big impact for the second straight week, came flying off the edge to pancake the ball carrier and earn it back for the Middlebury offense. At the time it felt like the spark the Panthers needed to get the offense rolling.
“That was a huge play and got our bench excited,” Ritter said. “Jackson’s a dynamic player. The defense calls for him to come hard off the edge, hard and flat, just for that reason, trying to stop the inside run and he did a great job.”
Unfortunately for Middlebury, it was not to be. The following drive ended quickly after Milano was forced to scramble on third and four and had to slide down short of the first down marker.
With 4:27 left in the half, Amherst took the ball and marched down the field, eventually scoring on a three-yard rushing touchdown from the powerful senior Kenny Adinkra. With that, the Lord Jeffs took a 10-7 lead going into halftime and never looked back.
Amherst opened the second half with the ball, but gave it back to Middlebury in short order when Gil Araujo ’16 forced a fumble along the sideline that was picked up by teammate Carsen Winn ’17. The Middlebury offense threatened early and often in the third quarter, carrying a pair of drives into that no man’s land portion of the Amherst side of the field. Too long for a field goal but too short for a punt, the Panthers elected to go for it on a fourth and ten and then on a fourth and four, but were unsuccessful on both occasions.
Another great defensive play in the third quarter felt like the spark that would ignite the Panthers. From the Middlebury 27 with just under five minutes to go in the third quarter, Charlie Gordon ’19 punted the ball away on fourth down. The coverage team sprinted down to pressure the return man and was rewarded when the Amherst returner muffed the punt and the ball was recovered by Jimmy Martinez ’19 at the Amherst 34.
Here Middlebury had a chance to take advantage of a short field and possibly take the lead, but the Amherst defense continued its aggressive style and dragged down Milano for a nine-yard sack on first down, dooming that drive.
“It certainly felt like, ‘Let’s take advantage of this right now,’” Ritter said. “Then they catch us with an A gap blitz that we don’t really have an answer for. That’s one of those where if we get the screen off but if they get the sack it’s a big play [for them].”
Through three quarters the Middlebury defense played inspired football, holding the LJs to just ten points and really only one sustained drive all day. But, the air seemed to go out of the Panthers — on both sides of the ball — in the fourth quarter.
It began with a muffed punt that gave Amherst the ball at the Middlebury three-yard line early in the fourth quarter. Araujo and Dan Pierce ’16 made stops on first and second downs, and the coverage on third down was good enough to force an incomplete pass. Smelling blood, Amherst went for the touchdown on fourth down, and QB Reece Foy found receiver Jackson McGonagle in the back of the end zone for a touchdown.
The Panthers’ offense could do nothing on the subsequent drive. A three-and-out resulted in a punt, and the gassed defense was forced back on the field. The Lord Jeffs moved the ball down the field with ease, and eventually first year running back Jack Hickey took the handoff, got wide to the left sideline and then niftily cut back towards the center of the field on a relatively easy 30-yard touchdown run, putting the nail in the coffin for the Panthers.
With Middlebury in desperation mode and Amherst able to expect the pass, the next two Middlebury drives resulted in interceptions, snuffing out any remaining hope of a come back.
This loss changes Middlebury’s record to 2-1, forcing them to relinquish some control in the fight for the NESCAC crown.
The issue all day for the Panthers was the Amherst pressure on Milano, as the gunslinger was sacked five times and brought down a few more.
“We got caught with some sacks that we don’t normally have,” Ritter said. “Some of it was our play calling and them catching us at the right time. Blitzing the A gaps on a screen, they got it on a boot … sometimes you hit those things and they’re big plays and sometimes they’re a second earlier and it turns into a big loss.”
On both sides of the ball, Amherst’s physicality proved more than Middlebury could handle.
Milano finished the game 26-46 (56.5 percent) for 249 yards and a touchdown, and if not for the late interceptions his stat line would have looked like a typical Milano game. Minno was his usual self even as he nurses that injury, racking up 76 yards on five catches and a touchdown. Conrado Banky ’19 was not far behind with five catches and 70 yards of his own.
Defensively, Araujo led the defense with 11 tackles and forced the fumble that was secured by Winn.
Amherst controlled the game and the clock, holding on to the ball for 34 minutes and 50 seconds. This failure to win the possession time battle has now begun to characterize this Panther team; Middlebury is last in the NESCAC in rushing yards per game and time of possession. The Panthers’ 38 percent success rate on third down is fourth in the league, but not even close to Amherst’s 54 percent success rate, and that was what helped the Lord Jeffs’ sustain longer drives and beat up the Middlebury defense.
“I told the team,” Ritter said, “one of the things we have to do a better job of is converting third downs, and then getting off the field on third downs [defensively].”
The Panthers return to action this weekend with their Homecoming tilt against the visiting Williams College Ephs (2-1) on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 1:30 p.m. on Alumni Field.
(10/15/15 12:23am)
The third-ranked women’s field hockey team extended their winning streak to six, picking up two big conference road wins over the weekend. The Panthers (10-1, 6-1) traveled to Tufts on Saturday, beating the Jumbos 3-0, before heading to Wesleyan on Sunday for another 3-0 victory.
“I think we’ve been really successful [at] getting contributions from so many different areas of the team in different ways,” Assistant Coach Meredith Rowe said. “We’re scoring multiple goals per game and have a defense that is keeping games scoreless until we are able to score at the other end.”
Saturday’s game got off to a slow start, with 15 minutes passing before either team got a shot on goal. Middlebury stepped things up as the first half drew to a close. Off a penalty corner, Grace Jennings ’19 fed Bridget Instrum ’16 who gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
The Lady Panthers continued to build momentum in the second half, putting pressure on the Jumbos defense and drawing multiple penalty corners in the first few minutes. At the 52-minute mark, Middlebury increased their lead to 2-0 when Annie Leonard ’18 put in her first of two goals on the day. Jumbo goalkeeper Emily Polinski had come off the line to kick the ball away from the goal, but Audrey Quirk ’18 picked up the loose ball and sent it flying over to Leonard, who put it into the empty net. With just 45 seconds left to play, Leonard added an insurance goal and continued her great offensive performance by netting her second goal of the day, and ninth of the season, to give the Panthers their final 3-0 victory. Middlebury finished with a 13-8 advantage in shots while the Jumbos held a 6-4 advantage in corners. Panther goalie Emily Miller ’17 finished with five saves in the win, while Polinski made eight saves for the Jumbos.
Sunday’s game against Wesleyan got off to a slow start as well as neither team could break through in the first half. Middlebury took nine shots in the first half, but Cardinal goalie Sarah Grundy turned down the seven shots on goal to keep her shutout intact.
Leonard again had a strong offensive effort, assisting the first goal of the day by Shannon Hutteman ’16 in the 56th minute before netting a goal of her own. Less than ten minutes after Hutteman’s goal, Leonard tallied her tenth of the season, when she sent in an unassisted shot to put the Panthers up 2-0. Three minutes later, Instrum contributed to the scoring action by beating Grundy and giving the visitors a 3-0 victory.
Middlebury thoroughly dominated Wesleyan as they held a huge advantage in both shots, 23-1, and penalty corners, 16-5 in Sunday’s game. Panther goalie Miller only needed to put up one save to earn her ninth win and third shutout in ten games.
The Panthers will return to Kohn Field at 2 p.m. on Saturday for the homecoming match-up against NESCAC foe Trinity College.
(10/15/15 12:21am)
The Panthers managed to come away with a 1-1 split this weekend in their home matches against two of the top teams in the NESCAC. They decisively handled Amherst in four sets on Friday (25-20, 21-25, 25-17, 28-26), before succumbing to Williams in a nail-biter on Saturday that went the distance (21-25, 18-25, 27-25, 25-18, 12-15).
The Panthers knew they would be facing two well-rounded squads this weekend, as Amherst and Williams perennially provide staunch opposition. However, outside hitter Becca Raffel ’18 stressed the importance of staying focused on their own play and eliminating such distractions.
“We prepare for every team the same way,” she emphasized. “We don’t want to think about their overall standings. We just go into every game with the same mindset: we want to perform the best we can.”
Determined to avoid some of the slow starts that plagued the team earlier this year, Middlebury came out more than ready to play Friday night against the Lady Jeffs. Both teams displayed strong fundamental volleyball at the start, but the Panthers proved able to keep their focus while Amherst lost theirs; after forcing a timeout with a 13-8 lead, Middlebury took the next five points to go up 18-8. Not to be done away with so easily, Amherst battled back to 22-19 before two quick points from the Panthers captain, setter Hannah Blackburn ’17, brought the squad closer to finishing the set. They did so off a kill from Raffel, ending at 25-20.
In the second set, the teams stayed mostly even in the beginning, reaching equality at 8-8. Amherst tried to pull away, but Middlebury stuck around and even took the lead at 17-16 behind strong play from middle blocker Gabi Rosenfeld ’17 and outside hitter Isabel Sessions ’19. Unfortunately for the Panthers, Amherst took back control, gaining a 24-19 lead before closing out the set.
The Panthers rebounded in a big way in the third set, jumping out to an 8-3 lead on kills from Sessions, Raffel and middle blocker Sarah Staver ’19. The Panthers continued their domination, hitting their way to a 19-12 lead; not even the officiating crew was safe, as a hard Middlebury spike ricocheted up to hit the head line judge in the face when Amherst couldn’t control it. Middlebury then coasted to a 25-17 finish.
The real drama came in the fourth and final set. After Middlebury raced out to another 8-3 lead, the Jeffs clawed their way back into the match, finally catching the Panthers at 16-16 and taking a 20-19 lead shortly thereafter. Determined not to let one slip away, the Panthers arrived at match point, 24-21, behind a kill from Blackburn and two from Raffel. Amherst came back to knot the score at 24-24 and the teams traded the next four points before Sessions and Raffel put the Jeffs away for good, sealing the victory with a score of 28-26.
In Saturday’s contest against the Ephs, the Panthers’ old demons seemed to rear their heads once again, as the team got off to a slow start in each of the first two sets against a stout Williams team. On top of strong defensive play at the net from the Ephs, errors in communication and trivial penalties prevented Middlebury from gaining any momentum. For the first time in a while, the Panthers played like the young and inexperienced team they seemed to be on paper coming into this season.
Toward the end of each set, when Middlebury finally seemed to have settled down, it was too late to catch up: the Panthers dropped both, 21-25 and 18-25. However, Middlebury snapped out of that downward spiral in the third set. Raffel felt that the team came back out revitalized and ready to play how they knew they could.
“We completely changed our energy in the third set,” Raffel recalled. “In the first two we were a little flat and we realized that, if we just came out with a ton of energy, we could really change our game. So once we started celebrating every point, having a lot of fun, we definitely played better and performed.”
Strong all-around play — kills, blocks, digs — allowed the Panthers to jump out to a 13-6 lead. Of note were some incredible saves by defensive specialist Claire White-Dzuro ’19 that further energized the squad. Williams, however, would not go down so easily, fighting back to tie the set 19-19. What followed was some of the most exciting volleyball played by the Panthers this season: the two teams traded scoring, point for point, all the way up to 25-25, when Middlebury finally took the set off consecutive kills from Raffel and Sessions.
That momentum carried over into the fourth set, which Middlebury controlled from start to finish. Great facilitating from Blackburn and excellent hustle from outside hitter Charlotte Devine ’17 helped the Panthers secure a comfortable 25-18 victory and force a fifth and final set.
With the game on the line, though, the Ephs seemed to find an extra gear, fighting off the Panthers to take a 10-4 lead off the bat. Determined not to go quietly, the Panthers strung together five points on Rosenfeld’s serve to come back to within one. Falling once again to 13-10, two straight kills from Raffel kept Middlebury close. The Panthers ran out of steam as Williams took the final two points to close out the match, 15-12.
This weekend, Oct. 16-17, the Panthers take on Bates and Colby.
(10/07/15 11:48pm)
Despite the absence of No. 1 wideout Matt Minno ’16 who was out with an injury, the Middlebury offense racked up 28 points and the defense held firm, with the first-team allowing nary a point as the Panthers (2-0) topped Colby (0-2) by a score of 28-9 at home last Saturday.
Middlebury’s defense and special teams came out of the gate firing. On the game’s opening possession, a Gil Araujo ’16 sack on 3rd and 11 forced Colby to punt. The ensuing kick went high but not far, netting just -2 yards as it hit the turf and spun back toward the Colby punter. Two possessions later Nate Leedy ’17 charged at the Colby punter who was standing at his own five-yard line and utterly rejected the poor punter’s kick. As the ball bounded into the end zone a pack of Panthers tried to get their hands on the pigskin, but it ricocheted out of play for a safety, and Middlebury took the 2-0 lead.
Those special teams plays kept the Panthers afloat as they sandwiched an interception from quarterback Matt Milano ’16. Milano quickly regrouped and went on a roll, connecting on two TD passes in the first quarter.
The first came on a jet screen to wideout Ian “One-Sev” Riley ’16 on the sideline opposite the stands at Alumni Stadium. Riley snagged the ball behind the line of scrimmage and darted 10 yards for the first score of his career, making it 8-0 Middlebury. When the fourth-year receiver found the endzone, the Panthers’ sideline exploded in celebration as if they had just clinched a NESCAC championship.
“One-Sev’s story is a real example of a guy ... earning his way to where he’s gotten,” fellow wideout Ryan Rizzo ’17 said. “He is a huge part of the offense now … [Practice] is where he made his mark, and everyone respects him because he was given nothing and had to earn every step to becoming an integral part of the offense. He just has so much fun playing and everybody pulls for him because we always see him giving his all.”
On the following possession for the Mules, linebacker Tim Patricia ’16 created yet another turnover when he picked off his second pass of the season, keeping the momentum rolling in their favor as the defense continued its amazing play.
“Both of his interceptions have been when teams have been driving,” Head Coach Bob Ritter said, “and he just has a really great knack for reading the quarterback’s eyes and he’s come up with two big picks in two games.”
Shortly thereafter Milano succeeded in tossing another score, this one a six-yarder to tight end Trevor Miletich ’16 which capped off a nine play, 73-yard drive that took all of two minutes and 42 seconds.
However, the Mules kept things interesting and weren’t the only ones to have problems on special teams. On both Middlebury touchdowns the following PAT was blocked by the Mules, and the score rested at 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.
The defense for the Panthers played phenomenally all day long. Straddling the break between the first and second quarters, Colby had two possessions totaling eight plays (including punts) and 13 yards. The Mules totaled 122 yards in the first half.
Colby’s only points of the half (and their first of the season) came on a Middlebury muffed punt that resulted in a safety. The Panthers responded, though with another TD pass, this time from quarterback Jared Lebowitz ’18. With Milano temporarily sidelined with a neck injury, Lebowitz took the reins starting the second quarter. His first two series were unsuccessful, but on the third attempt Lebowitz led the offense on an 11-play, 87-yard TD drive, capped by a 10-yard seam pass to slot receiver Rizzo, and highlighted by a 39-yard toss to wideout Conrado Banky ’19. The score was the first of the season for Rizzo and the first of his career for Lebowitz.
The third quarter went by without much action, as the teams traded turnovers on downs and punts, but late in the frame former-running-back-turned-linebacker John Jackson ’18 came up with a fumble, giving Middlebury the ball and the chance to bury their opponents. Jackson has impressed fans and coaches alike with his transition to defense that can often be a difficult adjustment, understandably.
“We really had a long debate about [the position change] in the offseason because he did such a great job for us at running back,” Ritter said. “So we were hopeful that he could bring us some athleticism on defense, and I think he’s done that. He’s playing a big role for us and had a great game on Saturday.”
The Panthers didn’t quite put the Mules to bed just yet. The next Middlebury possession ended with a blocked field goal, and two possessions later Milano was intercepted yet again. Perhaps those two possessions inspired the Panthers, for just eight plays later the defense came up big yet again when safety Kevin Hopsicker ’18 picked off the Colby QB and gave the ball back to Milano and the offense. After a couple of short gains, Milano hit Banky down the right sideline in front of a packed house of Panther fans for a 60-yard score that sent the Colby bus driver to warm up his vehicle. The Mules stole a touchdown late, but by then the game had been long-decided.
Milano was productive once again, finishing 21-33 for 258 yards with three scores (and two interceptions). Banky led the receiving corps with 123 yards on his five receptions, while Rizzo added 62 yards to his team-best receiving total. In addition to his interception, Patricia led the defense with seven solo tackles. Araujo tallied 1.5 sacks, combing with defensive lineman Joe LaLiberte ’18 on one. Robert Wood ’18 racked up one sack as well.
This Saturday, Oct. 10, Middlebury will travel to western Massachusetts to play the defending NESCAC champion Amherst Lord Jeffs, who are 2-0, in an enormous matchup. The Lord Jeffs have looked dominant so far, outscoring their opponents 74-20, and the winner of this contest will have an inside track on the NESCAC crown.
(10/07/15 11:47pm)
The ladies of Middlebury volleyball have really begun to hit their stride as their season passes the midway point, mowing down NESCAC opponent Trinity on Friday in straight sets (25-13, 25-19, 25-23) before proceeding to dispatch another pesky conference foe, Wesleyan, just as quickly on Saturday (25-22, 25-20, 25-18). After opening the season at 3-2 and dropping their first NESCAC matchup against Bowdoin, the Panthers have not looked back. The squad is now riding an eight-game win streak, the last six of which have come on the road. During the entire streak, the team has needed a full five sets to secure a victory only twice.
Middle blocker Melanie English ’17 was quick to credit the team’s acumen and poise, likely unexpected from such a young team back at the start of the season.
“We were a little unsure of what was going to happen, having such a young team with all these new people being dropped right into the game,” English said. “I’ve been very impressed by the attitudes and the mental toughness, especially of the newer people on the team ... Frankly, there’s even more mental toughness than last year. The moments when people would get frustrated or maybe panicked, I’m not seeing that this year.”
On Friday, Middlebury made their presence known early against the Bantams, jumping out to a 9-2 lead in the first set and never even giving Trinity a chance. The strong early play helped to build confidence for the Panthers, as they brought their high level of play to the latter stages of the next two sets. They pulled away from a 17-17 tie in the second and allowed their opponents the tiniest bit of hope before closing them out in the third, overcoming a 21-23 deficit with four straight points for the match victory.
In past weeks, the Panthers had often struggled to come out firing on all cylinders; at Wesleyan on Saturday, they continued to reverse that trend by putting away the Cardinals 25-22 in the first set. Middlebury’s play only got stronger as they won the next two sets by increasing margins of five and seven points, respectively. The defense really stood out in the third set, where the Panthers held Wesleyan’s hitting percentage to .000.
However, English feels that the team still has room to improve, especially in view of this week’s conference foes, Amherst and Williams, who sit tied for second in NESCAC standings.
“I think we’ll have a much bigger challenge coming from Amherst and Williams this week. Even when we do come out and play really well in the first set, sometimes we’ll still have periods during the middle of the game where we sort of let it slide a little bit,” English said. “Coach Raunecker wants us to be playing good volleyball all of the time, rather than just 80% of the time or 90% of the time. We’re looking not to let points go on silly things.”
As usual, outside hitter Becca Raffel ’18 had a strong weekend for the Panthers, leading all players with 13 kills on Friday and 19 on Saturday. Emily Kolodka ’18, who often plays as libero or defensive specialist for the Panthers, separated herself with 17 digs against Trinity and 23 against Wesleyan.
Overall, English expects good things from the team for the rest of the season.
“I feel really good about our capability, physically, to win. The piece that gets tougher — if you’re playing a game against Williams and you know it’s going to be really even — who wants to win,” English said. “Who can bring it that day? I think that’s what this week will start to tell us: where we are, and how much we need to do before NESCACs.”
At home this weekend, the Panthers face Amherst at 8 p.m. on Friday and Williams at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
(10/07/15 11:20pm)
“Do not go gentle into that good night but rage, rage against the dying of the light,” Michael Caine intoned, bringing the great words of the 20th-century poet Dylan Thomas into the cultural mainstream as mankind’s last hope shudders through space and time. This Wednesday, Oct. 7th, adventurers and innovators will once again invoke Thomas’s words to describe their explorations into the human experience.
The evening of Oct. 14 will feature several unique but cohesive performances. Before we mothernaked fall is choreographed by Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance, Scotty Hardwig, and explores the poetic processes and expressionist sensibilities of poet Dylan Thomas. Meanwhile, This is your Paradise, a composition by Salt Lake City-based dance artist Molly Heller, confronts struggle, resistance, hope and faith. “A Duet Called Blue” is a collaboration between Heller and Hardwig that follows the creation, disconnection and cracking undercurrent of energy that runs beneath the sea of human sensation.
Before we mothernaked fall references Thomas’s interest in the male form and its place in the world. Hardwig adapts the sentiment for modern times by sketching the homosensual body in an attempt to create a space “where the individuals identity melts into a group body,” according to dancer Doug LeCours ’15.
“It’s not about sex or identity but sensation, a shared sameness among the three bodies on stage moving through a physical experience together,” LeCours said.
LeCours will return to campus as one of the piece’s three performers. Noting that he has always had a strong advisor-advisee relationship with Hardwig, he is proud to make his professional debut at the College.
The sound score from the performance features text by poet Dylan Thomas. Unlike contemporaries such as T.S Elliot and W.H Auden, who focused on specific social and intellectual issues, Thomas is celebrated for writing that is emotionally lucid yet narratively obscure. By conveying the feeling of his subject more clearly than its definite form, his work possesses a quality that corresponds naturally with dance. Thomas’s storied life funnels into often-metaphysical idolatry, with a percussive rhythm that hammers lines in time with the reader’s heart, covering topics ranging from death to the human condition to lost childhood and the sea of coastal Wales. Hardwig played his works aloud as they worked to generate content, drawing from both his delivery and subject.
Both Hardwig and Heller have unusually organic and communicative creative processes, in which the final performance evolves organically from a continual dialogue between dancer and choreographer. Heller views the process as collaboration, both in terms of movement and the exchange of energy. A successful project invokes a strong sense of catharsis.
“Choreography helps me understand that I’m not any label; I’m no perimeter, I’m no thing. I am experience,” Heller said. “I actually believe that we are our experiences. The energy produced by a situation translates into our body and it’s felt and it’s manifested physically and we are those things, so we are our DNA and we are also our experiences. Identity is our way of negotiating those two things.”
Heller works and studies in Salt Lake City, UT, where she uses dance as a medium for healing. Her movement seeks to mend trauma through a heightened awareness of energy channeled through the physical body. Supported by Zen beliefs surrounding introspection and mindfulness, she also operates a teahouse, with the goal of supporting the individual within a greater community.
Her research into the healing powers of dance is interwoven into her pedagogical beliefs. The differences between her passions – dance and tea culture – allow her to expand the ways in which she perceives the world and to further appreciate ritual, sacred spaces and inner stillness.
This particular performance is bursting with a passion so potent it is felt tangibly amongst the audience. Explicit consciousness on behalf of onlookers or the dancers only impedes the journey to the liberation that this raw expression allows. Instead, the audience is encouraged to relax their minds and embrace the stillness of honest movement.
The first performance will begin at 7:00 p.m. on Oct. 14 in the Mahaney Center for the Arts. All performances are free and open to the public.
(10/07/15 4:42pm)
If you’re currently a senior, a super-senior or an ambitious more youthful individual, you are probably beginning to have some existential thoughts as you look towards life after Middlebury. As Middlebury students, we spend our college careers in a place that is remote in all senses of the word. It is far in mileage and vibe from the hustle and bustle of big cities where post-college jobs seem most attainable and impressive. Its beauty and scenery set it apart. And, most dauntingly, what we spend our time thinking about seems light years away from the nebulous duties or requirement documented by any “real world” job description.
(10/01/15 2:59am)
This past Saturday, Sept. 26, the Tour de Farms bike ride kicked into gear with a new route including more of the northeastern part of Addison County. Now in its eighth year, the Tour de Farms is an annual 37-mile bike ride around the Vermont countryside that stops at various farms, features local foods and benefits Addison County Relocalization Network (ACORN), a local non-profit.
The ride began at the recreation fields behind Mt. Abraham Union High School. The ACORN website suggests bikers plan at least five hours for the ride, which includes ten minutes at each stop, though many may want to stay at the farms longer.
At the start, there were two tents set up for registration. Representatives from two local bike shops were there as well, ready to provide free assistance to anyone who needed bike repairs along the way.
Noah Klammer ’17 volunteered at the start before doing the ride himself.
“I was actually signed up to just do set-up on that very morning, so that was like 7 to 8, so as it turned out, the ride didn’t start till 8:30 or 9 anyway, so I helped with parking,” Klammer said.
“We had a lot of cars,” Klammer added, “which was kind of cool, because … people were hanging out, and not really tail-gaiting, but hanging out, fixing up bikes [and] talking.”
As bikers started out on their ride, they headed north from Bristol up through Monkton and soon left the pavement behind for gravel roads. The ACORN website specifies that 13 miles of the ride will be on gravel road and suggests – in all capital letters – that bikers use “a mountain bike, hybrid bike or road bike with wide tires.”
“The terrain is hilly with a mix of paved and dirt roads so a mountain bike or road bike with wide tires is recommended,” explained ACORN in a press release.
Sophie Vaughan ’17 seemed to appreciate the varied terrain and views along the ride.
“It was gorgeous. The ride had a lot of different landscapes. At one point we were sort of riding along the base of the mountain in Bristol, at other times we were passing rivers, and other times we were seeing mountains in the distance,” Vaughan said.
This route was different than that of the past seven years. The old route used to go out by Shoreham and spend more time on paved roads.
Traffic was more of a problem since riders spent more time on the narrow shoulders of fast-paced roads.
“This was a great route because I think they really planned it so that you can take back roads. You’re on gravel about half the time,” Klammer said.
“Traffic really wasn’t an issue, which made it really fun to just ride and not be worried about that.”
Not only did the new route keep bikers off busy roads, it made them ride on back roads they may never have reason to travel.
“There’s this whole area that’s between [route] 7 … and [route] 116 that people don’t go to. It’s like Monkton, and Monkton Pond, and then Hinesburg, all this area,” explained Klammer, using his arms to show the north-south orientation of Routes 7 and 116 and pointing to the area in between. “Most of New Haven is actually east of [Route 7].”
Along the ride, bikers stopped at a total of eight different farms. There they had the chance to sample different foods and drinks from 18 different farms and restaurants. Various businesses set up stands at the farms where the bikers did stop. Farmers and businesses hailed mainly from Bristol, Monkton, New Haven and Hinesburg.
“You eat a lot of different types of food from vegetables to apple cider and cider donuts … at one station they had these maple donuts with cream – maple cream – on them, which I very much enjoyed. A lot of good roasted vegetables,” said Vaughan as she recalled all the delicious foods she had tasted.
“If this was like Top Chef, you know, I’d rate it ‘Most Creative,’” Klammer said, referring to one of his favorite foods along the ride. “At one of the farms – where they raise vegetables and they raise pigs – they had … pulled pork in coleslaw, but it was in a collard green wrap. It was kind of a challenge … the leaf was really, really thick and you had to wrap it up, but it was kind of good! It was kind of like eating the pork inside of a coleslaw.”
About 300 people participated in the event. Several students were among them. Bike and food enthusiast also came from far and wide – at least a few hours – for this event.
“People come from all over New England,” commented Vaughan. “I was talking to a guy who came all the way up from Boston just for the day.”
Every year, the Tour de Farms requires the help of at least 20 volunteers on the day of the event. In exchange for giving their time, volunteers, such as Vaughan and Klammer, get to ride for free. For the majority of riders who did not volunteer at the event, the cost of registration is $35 in advance or $55 the day of. All proceeds benefit ACORN and the farms.
According to the ACORN website, 25 percent of the fees for registration go to the farm partners. Various businesses also sponsor the race. The Tour de Farms is ACORN’s major annual fundraiser.
According to the home page of their website, “ACORN’s mission is to cultivate connections that promote the production and use of healthy, local food in Addison County, Vermont.”
“We are working with growers, schools, businesses and community and statewide partners to double the consumption of locally-grown food by 2020,” stated the press release about the event. ACORN takes a project-based approach to tackling issues of local, healthy food production and consumption. They provide mentoring, networking and financial support for those who have a project idea in line with their mission.
Many people seemed to be having a jolly time participating in the event and supporting a good cause.
“It was really nice to see the fall color change and just spend a Saturday outside, six hours or so, riding a bike, enjoying the community with people beyond the Middlebury campus,” Vaughan said.
“100 percent,” said Klammer when asked whether he would do it again. “I’ve been trying to encourage people to look into it. I think one thing is people [students] are reluctant to pay any kind of entry fee, like being at Middlebury where we get so much free stuff … But also you can do what Sophie and I did … They usually need a couple dozen volunteers, and then that’s a way you can ride for free.”
“The Tour is a one-of-a-kind experience,” said Jonathan Corcoran, ACORN’s Executive Director, in a press release. “People keep coming back to share a relaxing day with family and friends to experience the flavors of the fall harvest, the beauty of the land and its fall colors and the great people who make our local food community special.”
Traffic wasn’t really an issue, which made it really fun to just ride and not be worried about that.”
Not only did the new route keep bikers off busy roads, it Klammer, using his arms to show the north-south orientation of Routes 7 and 116 and pointing to the area in between. “Most of New Haven is actually east of [Route 7].”
Along the ride, bikers stopped at a total of eight different farms. There they had the chance to sample different foods and drinks from 18 different farms and restaurants. Various businesses set up stands at the farms where the bikers did stop.
Farmers and businesses hailed mainly from Bristol, Monkton, New Haven and Hinesburg.
“You eat a lot of different types of food from vegetables to apple cider and cider donuts … at one station they had these maple donuts with cream – maple cream – on them, which I very much enjoyed. A lot of good roasted vegetables,” said Vaughan as she recalled all the delicious foods she had tasted.
“If this was like Top Chef, you know, I’d rate it ‘Most Creative,’” Klammer said, referring to one of his favorite foods along the ride. “At one of the farms – where they raise vegetables and they raise pigs – they had … pulled pork in coleslaw, but it was in a collard green wrap. It was kind of a challenge … the leaf was really, really thick and you had to wrap it up, but it was kind of good! It was kind of like eating the pork inside of a coleslaw.”
About 300 people participated in the event. Several students were among them. Bike and food enthusiast also came from far and wide – at least a few hours – for this event.
“People come from all over New England,” commented Vaughan. “I was talking to a guy who came all the way up from Boston just for the day.”
Every year, the Tour de Farms requires the help of at least 20 volunteers on the day of the event. In exchange for giving their time, volunteers, such as Vaughan and Klammer, get to ride for free. For the majority of riders who did not volunteer at the event, the cost of registration is $35 in advance or $55 the day of. All proceeds benefit ACORN and the farms.
According to the ACORN website, 25 percent of the fees for registration go to the farm partners. Various businesses also sponsor the race. The Tour de Farms is ACORN’s major annual fundraiser.
According to the home page of their website, “ACORN’s mission is to cultivate connections that promote the production and use of healthy, local food in Addison County, Vermont.”
“We are working with growers, schools, businesses and community and statewide partners to double the consumption of locally-grown food by 2020,” stated the press release about the event. ACORN takes a project-based approach to tackling issues of local, healthy food production and consumption. They provide mentoring, networking and financial support for those who have a project idea in line with their mission.
Many people seemed to be having a jolly time participating in the event and supporting a good cause.
“It was really nice to see the fall color change and just spend a Saturday outside, six hours or so, riding a bike, enjoying the community with people beyond the Middlebury campus,” Vaughan said.
“100 percent,” said Klammer when asked whether he would do it again. “I’ve been trying to encourage people to look into it. I think one thing is people [students] are reluctant to pay any kind of entry fee, like being at Middlebury where we get so much free stuff … But also you can do what Sophie and I did … They usually need a couple dozen volunteers, and then that’s a way you can ride for free.”
“The Tour is a one-of-a-kind experience,” said Jonathan Corcoran, ACORN’s Executive Director, in a press release. “People keep coming back to share a relaxing day with family and friends to experience the flavors of the fall harvest, the beauty of the land and its fall colors and the great people who make our local food community special.”
(09/30/15 9:58pm)
The women and men’s cross-country teams competed at the Purple Valley Classic at Williams College this past Saturday, Sept. 26. While the weather was more cooperative than the previous weekend, the Williams course is notoriously “challenging, yet rewarding,” according to Erzsie Nagy ’17. The women placed second overall in a field of 17 teams and the men placed sixth in a field of 22 teams.
There was intense competition at the Purple Valley Classic including four women’s teams that ranked in the top ten and seven men’s teams that ranked in the top 25. The women followed only Williams in the competition, placing ahead of MIT, Geneseo State and Amherst. The men followed Amherst, Williams, Geneseo State, MIT and Pomona-Pitzer.
Scoring for the men were Sebastian Matt ’16 (22), Miles Meijer ’19 (26), Sam Klockenkemper ’17 (33), Brian Rich ’17 (35) and Tim McGovern ’18 (38). Mohamed Hussein of Williams finished first overall.
Middlebury’s fourth place finisher, Rich, was thrilled about the competition and the performance of his teammates.
“It was just swell to get out on the course with some great runners. The way we worked together was neat and I hope we can work as a team in future meets,” Rich said.
For the women, the top five finishers were Abigail Nadler ’19 (2), Adrian Walsh ’16 (12), Erzsebet Nagy ’17 (13), Katherine Tercek ’16 (14) and Katherine MacCary ’19 (25). Lacey Serletti of Williams won the race on the women’s side. Nadler continued her streak of top place finishes this week after winning the Aldrich invitational last Saturday. She had another great race this weekend, finishing just seven seconds behind Serletti.
“It was a great experience racing with such strong competition and working with the team to move up throughout the race,” Nadler said.
These results show two runners in the women’s class of ’19 and one in the men’s class of ’19 scoring for Middlebury Cross Country. The first-year class put in a strong effort the past two weekends.
“Individually, I was really impressed with [Nadler] and [Meijer],” Wilkerson said. “They both raced extremely strong and fast.”
Despite great individual performances, the team’s performance as a whole were what seemed to stand out to Wilkerson.
“While I would like to praise those two individual performances as outstanding, I thought both teams did really well,” Wilkerson said. “Both teams averaged about 25 to 30 seconds faster than we did on this course last year, which happens to be one of the better indicators as to how we are looking. It is still early in the season, and this is a good indicator that our team is stronger than it has been in years past,” Wilkerson said when asked about how the team stacked up against some of the bigger teams in the NESCAC.
The team competes at the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh this Friday, Oct. 2 and the Vermont invitational at Johnson State Saturday, Oct. 3. There will be over 45 teams at the race at Lehigh, with mostly Division I teams and the best Division III teams.
(09/30/15 9:50pm)
The Panthers overcame deficits of 12 and four points in a nail-biting victory in Middletown, CT against Wesleyan on Saturday, Sept. 26. When the outcome seemed in doubt with just minutes to play, Middlebury took a 28-25 lead on a screen pass from 2014 NESCAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year Matt Milano ’16 to Diego Meritus ’19. The first-year back took it 43 yards to the house thanks to a couple of huge blocks from right tackle Andy Klarman ’17 and slot receiver Conrado Banky ’19. Linebacker Wesley Becton ’18 put the final nail in the coffin with an interception with just over 1:00 left to play.
Milano and Co. started off like gangbusters, driving 78 yards on the game’s opening possession for a touchdown on a six-yard scamper by the quarterback. After that, though, neither team could tally another score in the first quarter.
With the second quarter under way Wesleyan began gaining ground at will on the way to three scores by the middle of the third quarter.
The score should have been 21-7 in favor of Wesleyan, but 2014 All-NESCAC Second Team defensive lineman Gil Araujo ’16 just got enough of a hand on the Cardinals’ first PAT to keep it out of the uprights. Later the Cardinals’ kicker was unable to convert after Wesleyan’s third TD, leaving the score at 19-7 in favor of the home team. Those points left on the table would come back to haunt the Cardinals.
The third quarter brought new life to Milano, the team’s top returning pass-catcher Ryan Rizzo ’17, and Milano’s new favorite red zone target, tight end Trevor Miletich ’16. Rizzo racked up 126 yards on five receptions, the second-most yards in the NESCAC on Saturday, and Miletich hauled in two touchdowns, the first of his career.
“What was nice to see [from Miletich] was that the sophistication of his route-running was beyond his experience,” Head Coach Bob Ritter said. “We rely on that position a lot, and Matt [Milano] does have a good rapport with him, so we were pretty excited to see that he came up big for us.”
The Cardinals continued to pound away on the ground en route to compiling 296 yards rushing in the game, but the Panthers defense kept Wesleyan out of end zone until late in the fourth quarter.
Wesleyan was able to break the plane with 5:49 left in the contest to take a four-point lead, 25-21. Because of the two failed extra points earlier in the game, Wesleyan elected to attempt a two-point conversion, but the pass fell incomplete and the score stood pat. Had the Cardinals been able to make a PAT on each occasion, they would have led by seven and the game may have ended differently.
As it were, the Panthers started off its game-winning drive at the 25-yard line. Milano and gang made quick work marching down the field. Banky hauled in a 15-yard catch on the drive’s initial snap. On the next play, Meritus took the handoff and was gobbled up after just a two-yard gain, but a personal foul on the defense advanced the football to the Wesleyan 43. Meritus immediately followed that up with the dagger on his 43-yard trot to the end zone.
Now up 28-25, Middlebury was in a position to seal the deal by playing good defense. The Panthers did just that, forcing a three-and-out on the Cardinals next possession, but the offense was unable to move the ball and kicked it right back to Wesleyan after a three-play, five-yard, 58 second drive. The Cardinals took the ball with 2:06 remaining and 81 yards to go to the end zone, and the opportunity to kick a game-tying field goal.
The Panthers defense stepped up once again, forcing the Cardinals into a 4th and 13 situation with the game on the line. Becton closed the book on the Cards by picking off an errant throw from Hawkins. Even though the defense bent throughout much of the second and third quarter, it did not break when it counted.
“When you’re on defense,” Ritter said, “it’s always hard going into the first game, because there are scheme things you can’t anticipate or you haven’t seen before. And so I think our guys came up big when they had to and learned on the run as the game went on.
Milano finished the game 23-34 with 337 yards and a 3-0 touchdown-inerception record, while Rizzo led the team in receptions and receiving yards. Rookie kicker Charlie Gordon ’19 was a perfect 4-4 on extra points. Tim Patricia ’16 led the team in stops, with 12 stops and one interception, and was followed closely by safety Dan Pierce ’16 (11 tackles, one sack) and linebacker Addison Pierce ’17 (10 tackles).
The football team has now won its last six contests dating back to last season, and will play Colby (0-1) this Saturday, Oct. 3. The Mules were stomped by Trinity, 34-0, in their season opener last Saturday.
(09/24/15 1:22am)
“Guys! Look! The onion root tips… they’re making sister chromatids!” Thrilled that the way we had pressed cells onto glass slides had recreated DNA replication across an arrangement of cells, I stepped back from the microscope and made room for the other T.A’s to gather around. By chance, the cells had arranged themselves like sister chromatids, part of a phase of DNA replication that could have been happening inside any one of them at that moment. I felt the urge to hum the Inception soundtrack (Cell-ception!) under my breath. “Or… maybe they’re more like a skull and crossbones,” I conceded, reexamining the blood-red blocks.
That is the Middlebury Science program for me. While some people lie on Battell Beach and find unicorns and pirate ships whilst cloud-watching, I, apparently — as a Neuroscience major and resident of Bicentennial Hall (a.k.a. “I’ll take my mail forwarded to the lab at the end of the hall, please, and while you’re at it, please bring sandwiches and reinforcements, and maybe a toothbrush; it’s going to be a long night”) — have opted for interpreting shapes in slightly more academic substances. Between professors who give extra credit for writing songs about the parts and functions of the human brain and the semester in which I colored the human nervous system with scented Mr. Sketch markers (heavy on the cherry) and it counted as homework, I have clearly been conditioned to look for an intersection between the sciences and arts.
I have been lucky to have science as play in my life for a while now. Pre-college years included making DNA helixes out of licorice and rainbow-colored marshmallows (“Adenine’s red, thymine’s green, guanine’s orange and cytosine’s blue… now, match the complementary colors!”), tying together neurons out of beads from internet patterns and writing and illustrating similes for the function of the components in an animal cell (“The cell is like a castle: the nucleus is the king, the cell membrane is the moat, the cytoskeleton is the brick and mortar of castle walls,” and so forth). I am not alone in exploring intersections and overlaps of art and science, and if you hear yourself in these stories, you are not either. Recently, I spent some time browsing through The Scientist Magazine’s website, where I learned about an artistic trend called “Neuroaesthetics.” A movement called “STEM to STEAM,” which advocates for the addition of Art and Design to the “Science, Technology, Engineering and Math” core for innovation in the United States, also appears to be gaining momentum.
Of course, one does not even have to leave campus to find people who express love for science and art equally. I knew I would like Associate in Science instruction Susan DeSimone when, during our first class my freshman year, she appeared in a rainbow tie-dye lab coat and left slightly early to go deliver singing Valentines with her choir group, dressed in all pink. I got to know her over the subsequent semesters as her teaching assistant. As an instructor of the laboratory sections of Cellular Biology and Genetics, Professor DeSimone hopes to take a leave in the coming years to sail with her husband down to the Caribbean bringing microscopes to people who have never had the chance to look through one. She intends to share these microscopic images of nature, with the goal of illuminating the world that cannot be seen with just the naked eye. Indeed, in the classroom setting here at the College, Professor DeSimone makes a point to highlight to incoming students that she views the laboratory as her playground. She wants to methodically cultivate a level of comfort in students that allows for them to experience science in an equally playful way.
Professor DeSimone’s enthusiasm proved to be contagious. One of her former students, Ariele Faber ’13, graduated from Middlebury and went on to combine her fascination with science and passion for art in launching her own company, Cerebella Design. Inspired by the colors, patterns and textures of ordinary things magnified to a scale far larger than we can normally see, Cerebella seeks to promote the accessibility of science to the general population in a visually appealing way. Ariele’s company sells bowties, neckties and scarves with patterns based on microscope images of, for instance, human windpipe cartilage rings and whale skin.
Passerby: “Hey! Nice bowtie!”
Cerebella Consumer: “Thanks! You see these red and pink circles? They’re actually starfish eggs, mega-magnified!”
Passerby: “Oh, wow!” or “Um… eww…”
Cerebella consumer: “That’s right, stand back. I WEAR SCIENCE.”
Made aware of Cerebella and its mission early in my Middlebury career, I carried Areiele’s appreciation of the science aesthetic in the back of my mind into my summer internship. Part of my summer was spent doing neuroscience Alzheimer’s research in the lab of Dr. Sylvain Lesné at the University of Minnesota, and a big part of my work included imaging and analyzing tissue slides. I could not help but interpret the images not just for their scientific value, but also for the potential of bright and visually-appealing textile patterns. Though disappointed with the botched results of the first round of staining and dying neurofibrillary tangles and tau proteins in crepe-paper-thin mouse brain sections, I ended up submitting the image to Ariele’s company. To me, it was powerful that beauty could be found in the intersection of pathology and imperfect science. Who knows, maybe in the next year we will be able to purchase bowties, neckties and scarves with that very pattern — because come on, who wouldn’t want to wear degenerative mouse neurons around his or her neck?
So, dear Middlebury, as we hoist our sails, gather our microscopes and glide into another academic year, it is my hope to remember that being a college student does not necessarily equate to taking oneself, or one’s classroom experience, too seriously. Seek to learn, of course, but don’t let that make you forget to play. Equal pleasure can be derived from cloud-watching outside on the grass and onion-gazing in the fourth floor laboratory. Really, it is just micro- and macroscopic manifestations of the same thing.
