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(11/06/02 12:00am)
Author: Kate Prouty Harnessing the controlled chaos that is common in most Hepburn Zoo productions, "Zooprints" went up last weekend juxtaposing three disparate plays, an evolving set and a barrage of actors with relatively few flubs. Of course, some things went amiss in Friday night's performance — props came undone or broke and some lines were muffled — but they were quickly remedied and, in some cases, even incorporated into the message of the work.Before the lights went down, the three directors — all experienced with acting but new to the directing process — Estye Ross '04, Sarah Peters '03 and Amanda Knappman '04, mulled anxiously around the room making space on the floor for an overflowing crowd. A curtain (that was not to be used until the third play) fell out of place but was quickly swept up by the Set Designer, a calm Parker Diggory '04. A skeleton of the set (which was itself the mere bones of a wall — like a house half-built, a geometric wall of wooden beams erected with nothing in between) remained static as a backdrop throughout the three plays. Providing structural continuity through the plays, it was adorned with different props and thus different meanings as the plot of each play unraveled. In the first play, "Women and Wallace," directed by Ross, the wall remained bare to expose the emptiness between the beams. In a play about a boy growing into a man while trying to reconcile his mother's suicide, the unfilled structure represented the emptiness of his relationships. Because women "desert," as Wallace repeatedly lamented, Wallace is never able to connect with the women in his life: his grandmother (Elizabeth Hammett '05), his psychiatrist (Jocey Florence '06), his childhood love (Retta Leaphart '06), his high school crush (Meghan Nesmith '06), the older sexpot at college (Lucia Stoller '05) and the drunken fling (Edymari Deleón '04). Wallace was not able to love or trust women until his girlfriend Nina, played by first-year Jeniffer Almonte, decided to "come back" instead of abandoning Wallace when he cheated on her."Women and Wallace" introduced the theme of relationships that exist between lovers, friends and enemies. Following suit, the second play, directed by Peters, examined how one person can represent all of those things at once."The Basement" reduced its cast down to three and its setting to one room: a "Pinteresque 20-something world" adapted from the playwright Harold Pinter's original middle-upper class British flat. In the single room, Law first loved Stott then loved Jane; Jane first loved Stott then loved Law; and Stott was in love with everyone, including himself. If this seems like a love (and sex) merry-go-round, it was.According to Peters, "The play has a cyclical nature to it, as we end back where we begin." In fact, Peters "didn't want to rule out the possibility that Stott and Law could be one person — each of the characters represents one half of man. Stott is the physical, violent side who uses language of the body; Law is the more civilized, verbal side who uses the language of words and music." This is a product of the original play in which Peters feels Pinter "leaves room for a multiplicity of different interpretations. The characters and their relationships operate on many different levels, and they all tie together in an expression of the competition involved with male-female relationships, male-male relationships and a man's relationship with his sense of self."As this competition unraveled, the skeleton of a wall that remained from "Women and Wallace" metamorphosed. Stott (Jeff King '05), imposing himself and young lover Jane (Leaphart) on his old friend Law's (Jim Pergolizzi '04) life and apartment, changed Law's decorations to his liking. Stripping postcards and posters away from the beams, by the end of the play Stott's alpha-maleness (acting with no shirt on, drinking beers, playing video games, having sex and fighting) dominated the space. But, "what's important" about the changing of the set, said Peters, "is that they are only skeleton structures. The actual set walls don't really exist, they're invisible." Similarly, the threesome often created a skeleton of emotion, neither true nor false, just a desperate attempt to establish a human relationship. The next play, "…thy name is woman," directed by Knappman, departed from this use of the emptiness of the set, letting drapes fall ornamentally from the ceiling. Adapted from Charles George's "When Shakespeare's Ladies Meet," the play imagined the conversations that would take place between William Shakespeare's leading ladies. Portia (Hammett), Katherine (Eliza Hulme '05), Ophelia (Sheila Seles '05), Desdemona (Stoller) and Cleopatra (Diggory) thus joined together on stage to give Juliet (Katie Peters '06) some words of wisdom in the way of the heart. The most lighthearted of the three, "…thy name is woman" was not necessarily to be taken lightly. Knappman acknowledged that the "Elizabethan quality of most of the lines would be a challenge," as was taking on some of the most symbolic women in the literary world. This final play cemented an idea that the previous two had introduced: There is a line (not so thick that it can't be blurred, but nonetheless a line) that exists between reality and theatricality. Knappman felt the point of her play, which especially at the end was blatantly theatrical, was "the actors are aware that they are going to put on a play, thus, the audience also sees and recognizes the actors' intention." She continued, "the idea of consciously 'acting' a play connected well with the idea of our set being the bare bones of a wall. The idea was (in all of our three plays) that the audience could see everything — the bare bones of the performance." In this way, Diggory, as set designer, working with a confined space that needed to encompass the settings and themes of three separate storylines, thus defined the space in an intelligent and definitive, but malleable way.
(11/06/02 12:00am)
Author: Andrea La Rocca "What is your favorite word in the English language?" The question, posed to a group of Middlebury students, causes a moment of contemplation, possibly of confusion, and then ..."SEX!"Surprise, surprise — or not. Would you really expect anything less from Middlebury students? Especially from Middlebury students who are still recovering from the hook-ups and break-ups of fall break? (It's an oxymoron at Middlebury: Fall break is meant for recovering from midterms, but most of Middlebury comes back to campus needing to recover from the long weekend of a hometown relationship or one-night stand trauma. Such a vicious cycle!)Yes, even at Middlebury, sex is a buzzword that sparks interest, opinions and conversation. Sixties or not, it's still a slightly taboo subject. Salt-n-Pepa or not, there's still a right time and right place for talking about sex. But all these social constraints or not, Middlebury undoubtedly likes the topic. Why? What exactly do Midd- kids think about "sex"?"What do you think about sex?" Yes, that's what I asked. "Well, um, well ..." Hmm. It seems that the question is either incomprehensible or half of Middlebury hasn't ever thought about sex. Or, perhaps, even on our very liberal campus, the public discussion of sex is still hindered by personal inhibitions. "Sex? Sex, well, um, sex." OK, for our sake, let's hope people here are just shy, not that dumb or naïve. As for the extroverted half of the Middlebury campus, I found that men and women, not surprisingly, had different opinions on sex. Most Middlebury women answered my question with long, in-depth analyses of relationships and the role of sex in a relationship. They talked of sex with a capital S: Sex, a noun, a verb, an adjective, a central question in each and every relationship. And Middlebury men, well, they talked about the questions of sex, too. In fact, many of them answered my question of, "What do you think about sex?" with a question of their own: "Would you like a demonstration?" No, thanks. I have to, um, wash my hair tonight.In other words, the stereotype of men and women defining sex differently seems to persevere at Middlebury, with the men looking for some lovin' and women looking for love. That's the other aspect of "sex." It's a highly interpretable word (translation: be sure that your definition matches his/hers). But is this female-male division only on the surface or is it true in the reality of Middlebury relationships? When sex ideologies are put to the test, what are the men and women at Middlebury really like? Sounds like another question that needs to be answered ... next time.
(11/06/02 12:00am)
Author: Jonathan White Most people have a love-hate relationship with Broadway. You either look forward to a visit to the theater district next time you venture to New York, or you wouldn't be caught dead at "The Phantom of the Opera." Yet I'd wager that Mel Brooks' current Great White Way sensation "The Producers" will appeal to those who detest the genre as much as to those who love it. As a recent trip to the St. James Theatre proved, this is the "South Park" of Broadway shows. No stone is left unturned when it comes to lewdness and offensiveness, and if this outlandish show doesn't have you rolling in the aisles by the end of the first act, it's time you hop a plane to some staid, humorless corner of the planet like England.The show needs little introduction. Sweeping into New York in the spring of 2001, it stripped "Hello Dolly" of her bragging rights for the most Tony Awards ever received. It proceeded to set an all-time Broadway box-office receipt record not long after its April opening that year. Nathan Lane (remember "Aunt Albert" in "The Birdcage"?) played desperate Broadway producer Max Bialystock while Ferris Bueller himself, Matthew Broderick, was his sidekick as meager clerk-turned-show-biz icon. The show recreates Brooks' decades-old film. Those unfamiliar with the film version of "The Producers" may know Brooks as the brains behind "Blazing Saddles." These days Brad Oscar and Steve Weber respectively inhabit Bialystock and Bloom. I have no doubt that Lane and Broderick were indelible in creating the roles. Nonetheless, Oscar succeeded, as did understudy Jamie LaVerdiere as Bloom, at turning the theater into a cauldron of laughter the evening I saw the show. What's more is that they clearly enjoyed every minute of it. Tony winners Gary Beach and Cady Huffman continue as flamboyant director Roger de Bris and gorgeous beta-blond Ulla. The plot involves Bialystock's plan to stage the worst Broadway show ever. Judging by the posters of his old productions on the wall, including "When Cousins Marry," he is the man for the job. As he schemes, wimpy Bloom waltzes into his office dreaming of lights, showgirls and "lunch at Sardi's everyday" as a Broadway producer. Together the two enlist de Bris and dig up the most rancid book ever, "Springtime for Hitler." "Springtime for Hitler," however, proves to be a theatrical coup and launches Bialystock and Bloom to stardom. They go on to produce subsequent hits such as "Katz" and "47th Street."On stage, "Springtime for Hitler" must be the greatest act of comic genius and excess mounted on Broadway in generations or, at least, the classiest silliness I've witnessed in the theater. As it opens, Aryan couples dance ridiculously about praising the Fuhrer and extolling the virtues of agrarian life in good ole Deutschland. These Nazi counterparts to those wholesome von Trapp children must have Rogers and Hammerstein rolling in their graves. Las Vegas-style dancers then parade down a flight of stairs dressed as bratwursts and a keg with legs. Finally an effeminate Hitler emerges singing "Heil Me!"The show's top number smacks of tastelessness, and yet the glory of "The Producers" is that its vulgarity and offensiveness appeals with the finest Broadway razzle and dazzle. The production values are high even if the humor is decidedly low-brow.Which brings me to another point: The show may be anathema to many in this age of political correctness. If lines like Ulla's cooing Swedish riff of "What audiences really want is a G-string" or Bialystock's "Wait till they hear about this in Argentina!" cause you discomfort, then stay away. Like "South Park," everyone gets roasted: Jews, gays, Germans, overweight women, beloved Roosevelt and Churchill and even little old ladies. Yes, that's right. Bialystock finances "Springtime for Hitler" off his services to libidinous old ladies. Rivaling "Springtime" as the show stopper is the moment when dozens of sex-starved grandmas tap dance and somersault with their canes and walkers.What Brooks refreshingly suggests is that we all need to relax a little, though if flaunting stereotypes distresses you, by all means, don't go near the St. James Theatre. While I initially held back on laughing at swastika-clad Bavarian chickens in "Springtime for Hitler," I think that there is something decidedly human about the show. Only mankind, with our capacity for both goodness and evil, could ever have produced a regime as horrifying as Nazi Germany and then have the audacity to poke fun at it. This inversion of political correctness by Mel Brooks reveals, however, one of man's saving graces: an ability to laugh, and laugh heartily, no matter how tongue-in-cheek or inappropriate the subject matter.If a rollicking two-and-a-half hours of over-the-top humor beckons, tickets to "The Producers" are more readily available these days, and you'll be supporting an industry that has taken a severe blow since Sept. 11. I'd say that "South Park" producers Trey Parker and Matt Stone have nothing on Mel Brooks and the inferno of laughs roaring from 44th Street. You might walk away feeling guilty for laughing, but you'll be smiling from ear-to-ear with devilish satisfaction.
(10/30/02 12:00am)
Author: Erika Mercer The first time listening to Sonic Youth is a lot like taking your first bite of sushi — raw, cold, foreign and delicious. It's a taste you've never experienced before, one that startles you with its strangeness and amazes you with its distinctive flavor. Your palate, initially shocked, begins to crave more.Sonic Youth emerged in 1981 from the American underground rock scene, debuting during the height of the New York's post- punk No Wave movement. Guitarists Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo, together with bassist Kim Gordon and a revolving set of drummers, evolved past the harsh, nihilistic character of No Wave to produce a unique, more hopeful form of noise experimentalism. The avant-garde composer, Glenn Branca, whose dissonant guitar-based sounds helped map out the direction Sonic Youth's music would take, supported this tendency toward experimentalism and helped the band initially get started. Sonic Youth's self-titled debut EP, in fact, was released in 1982 on Branca's own label, Neutral Records, followed by its first full-length album, "Confusion Is Sex," in 1983. In these albums, the band introduced its original style by abandoning the traditional rock n' roll sound for one much more jarring and discordant, creating a completely new, stunningly scrumptious sonic dish.Moore and Gordon married in 1984, the same year in which the band became caught up in intense record label negotiations. Rejected by the British indie label Doublevision, Sonic Youth was that same year taken up by Blast First Records, a label created by Paul Smith, one of the owners of Doublevision, in order to release Sonic Youth's album "Bad Moon Rising." In "Bad Moon Rising," the band combined its raw experimentalism with a straightforward pop song structure, creating a somewhat more accessible sound. The album served as the launch pad for Sonic Youth's takeoff to fame. Shortly thereafter, the band released their "Death Valley 69" EP and signed Steve Shelley as its permanent drummer.Between 1986 and 1988, Sonic Youth produced the albums "EVOL," "Sister" and "Daydream Nation," whose immense success established its music as a permanent fixture on college radio (most notably the single, "Teenage Riot"), earned it major critical acclaim ("Daydream Nation" was hailed by critics as a musical masterpiece) and turned Sonic Youth into the idols of an entire generation of indie rock lovers.In 1990 the band switched to the major record label DGC and, despite doubts, astounded fans with its ability to preserve its indie character on a major label. During the 1990s Sonic Youth released a succession of over a dozen albums, including major sensations such as "Goo" (1990), "Washing Machine" (1995) and "Thousand Leaves" (1998). During the mid-1990s, Sonic Youth formed its own label, SYR, under which many of the later albums of the decade were released. In 1994, Gordon gave birth to her first child, Coco Hayley more.In 2000, Sonic Youth released "NYC Ghosts & Flowers," the first album in a proposed trilogy about the cultural history of Lower Manhattan. The album, featuring post-classical composer Jim O'Rourke as producer and musician, signified a considerable change in style for Sonic Youth. Under O'Rourke's influence, Sonic Youth began drawing more from classic rock sounds, creating more harmonious, increasingly radio-friendly songs. This change is even more drastic and noticeable in the band's latest release, "Murray Street," the second album in the Manhattan trilogy, and Sonic Youth's 16th album. The band dubs "Murray Street" an "operetta of place:" Murray Street, originally located in the northern edge of Queen's Farm, later became the site of King's College in 1754 and Columbia College in 1787, and now houses Sonic Youth's studio, in which the recording of "Murray Street" began in August of 2001. In general, the album is tighter, mellower and more approachable than any of Sonic Youth's previous albums. Again, O'Rourke — who produced "Murray Street" and is now a full member of the band — had a large impact on the direction of Sonic Youth's sound, helping the band achieve its finest balance yet between noise and melody, experimentation and listener friendliness. "Murray Street" is in many ways a tailored version of "Daydream Nation," more melodic and subdued. At the same time, Sonic Youth has preserved its distinctive sound of screeching guitars, evocative vocals and dissonant tones, interspersed with unexpected jazz chords, all layered on top of a basic pop framework. In a recent interview, Moore stated, "We're definitely one of those bands that convinces itself that anything is a song, so we were really into completely exploding what song structure can be and liberating it as much as we could." He claimed that though "Murray Street" is a more accessible album, it does not mark an attempt to break into the mainstream. This claim is supported by Moore's lyrics. The album opens with the song, "The Empty Page," which begins, "These are the words / But not the truth / God bless them all / When they speak to you." Though the music sounds more accessible, the listener is still strangely distanced — made unsettled and uneasy — by the mysterious lyrics. Moore grounds the music on "Murray Street," but allows the lyrics to soar into mysterious outer space. Is the apparent accessibility of the album merely a façade covering a new complexity? This puzzling feeling is reinforced in the second song, "Disconnection Notice," in which Moore sings, "A secret Mona Lisa hides behind her smile." Deception, disconnection and dishonesty intertwine within the straightforward structure of the songs to produce an album that is both intriguing and appetizing.
(10/30/02 12:00am)
Author: Andrea Gissing Rutgers, Bates Name New PresidentsRichard L. McCormick was named the 19th president of Rutgers University and Elaine Tuttle Hansen was inaugurated as the seventh president of Bates College. Hansen is Bates' first female president.Hansen earned a bachelor's degree at Mount Holyoke College, a master's at the University of Minnesota and a doctorate at the University of Washington. Her last position was as provost at Haverford College. She began her duties at Bates in July.McCormick, a native of New Brunswick, N.J., where Rutgers' main campus is located, will take office Dec. 1. He received a doctorate in history from Yale University in 1976 and taught history at Rutgers for 16 years. From 1989 to 1992 McCormick was Rutgers' dean of the faculty of arts and sciences. In 1995 he became president of the University of Washington, a position he will hold until taking office at Rutgers.McCormick was considered the leading candidate for Rutgers' presidency before temporarily withdrawing his name from consideration just before Gov. James E. McGreevey announced his proposal to merge Rutgers with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and the New Jersey Institute of Technology in an effort to improve the state's university system. McCormick reconsidered, however, and said he had always dreamed of becoming president of Rutgers. McCormick's appointment ends a six-month search for a president of the university. Source: The New York Times and The Boston GlobeMen Invited: Maryland Women's College Turns CoedHood College's board of trustees voted Oct. 17 to admit male students to its residential program beginning in the 2003/2004 academic year.Sources from the 109-year-old private women's college in Frederic say that the board voted unanimously for the change after studying Hood's long history of decreasing enrollment and the potential costs associated with recruiting and changing the college to accommodate men. College officials have downplayed the impact of the change to coed, stating that the school has enrolled men as commuter students for 30 years and that men make up about 13 percent of all undergraduates. The College's decision to switch completely to a coed system was fueled by concerns that the school could no longer attract enough female students to sustain it financially. Since the late 1970s, enrollment has decreased from a first-year class of 300 to the 110 students admitted last fall.Hood's change reflects a lengthy national trend of college's departing from the single-sex system. Fewer than 60 independent four-year women's colleges remain in the United States, a drop from 300 in the 1960s, and there are only three all-male colleges.Source: The Washington PostNewspaper Opinion Column Fires Up SDSUAn opinions column published in San Diego State University's (SDSU) The Daily Aztec on Oct. 10 resulted in controversy as a benefactor's reaction resulted with him cutting ties with the university.San Diego Padres owner and SDSU benefactor John Moores called President Stephen Weber and Athletics Director Rick Bay requesting that his name be removed from all university property and informed them that he was withdrawing all future financial support after reading an opinions column entitled "Athletics should not be the beneficiary of corporate greed," written by staff writer Lenn Bell.Bell cited a Fortune Magazine article, painting Moores as one of the nation's "greediest executives." In the column Bell also outlined lawsuits against Moores for allegedly dumping Perigrine Systems stock before the company fell on difficult financial times. Most troubled and affected is the SDSU Athletics Department. Bay said that his concern is not simply monetary, and that the university's friendship with Moores "shouldn't be treated so shabbily." However, Bay estimated that Moores's donations to SDSU athletics have amounted to almost $30 million. Without that support, it would be unlikely that SDSU would ever have been a Division I school. The Daily Aztec's Editor-in-Chief Jessica Disco stood behind the article, and commented "universities are designed to be arenas of free speech and forceful debate. As [an independent] student newspaper, [they] provide the space for people to express their opinions — even if they are controversial opinions."Source: U-Wire
(10/16/02 12:00am)
Marriage ... marriage?!? We're only in college and are therefore still exempt from thinking about such commitment, right? Wrong. There is always an exception to the rule, and yes, we go to school at that exception. Love is always in the air at Middlebury: Statistically, about 60 percent of Middlebury graduates marry Middlebury graduates. But wait, before we talk marriage ... 60 percent?!? Is that even possible?!?
With my best detective intentions, I decided to validate this statistic at the Alumni Office; or at least I was going to, but since I'm one of the 40 percent that don't have a Middlebury knight in shining armor to take me anywhere on his white horse, let's just say that I didn't get to the church on time. So instead, I took my best detective intentions and asked students about Middlebury marriages. I heard story after story of parents meeting on the steps of Pearsons, of graduated siblings newly engaged to their Middlebury romance, and yes, even of a brother's friend's cousin's sister's nephew re-meeting his Middlebury sweetheart 30 years after graduation and marrying her on the spot. (Have you realized yet that "welcome to the Middlebury family" has a very literal meaning?) The stories were more validation than the Alumni Office could have given - I think 60 percent may be an underestimation of reality! But if the statistic is true, then the real question persists: Why do so many Midd-kids marry Midd-kids?
I found my answer in Princeton Review's "The Best 331 Colleges" (the book that you swore you never wanted to see or hear of again). When describing Middlebury life, a student is quoted as saying "everyone around is an overachiever, star athlete, talented musician and very attractive." Wow - of course we marry each other! Everyone talks about how high our marriage statistic is, but instead of doing the typical "look to your left and look to your right - you very well might marry either of those people," do it a little differently. In the dining hall, in your classes or while walking around campus, look to your left and look to your right. And ask yourself, would you really mind marrying the attractive overachiever, star athlete and talented musician next to you? My guess is that 60 percent of you are seriously thinking it and 30 percent are unsure (the other 10 percent are commitment-phobic and ran away at my first utterance of the word "marriage"). Maybe Middlebury is just inherently a compatibility zone. And maybe that's not as bad as the statistic may first make you think. So hey, once your midterms are all over and you're well on your way to that Middlebury degree, take a moment and think about the Middlebury Mrs. or Mr. for a change.
Are those wedding bells I hear from Mead Chapel?
Written by ANDREA LA ROCCA
(10/16/02 12:00am)
Author: Nick Ferrer In 1972 President Nixon signed Title IX of the Education Amendments into law. As part of a series of laws aimed at extending civil rights, the legislation prohibited individuals from being subject to discrimination on the basis of sex under any educational program receiving federal aid. Although the law made no mention of any specific activities, it would soon come to be seen as the centerpiece to the development and progress of women's althetics. Last Wednesday alumni, athletes, faculty and members of the administration gathered to celebrate the 30th anniversary of this landmark legislation. With seven former student-athletes serving as panelists for the event, it was a night to travel back to the times before Title IX and a night to look ahead to the future. At the time the bill went through its final steps, women's athletics were hardly a blip on the radar screen of national sports. Just 300,000 women played high school sports and even fewer played at the collegiate level. Coaches were predominantly male, with very few exceptions, and rare was the institution where teams were adequately funded or even provided with decent uniforms. One of the first prominent female athletic figures at Middlebury was Coach Joan Greiner. Greiner, who coached field hockey, basketball, volleyball and a number of other women's sports during her 27 year tenure at Middlebury, arrived in 1960 when many sports were still considered "too rough and too unladlylike" for women to play. Indeed, the football team's budget was far greater than that of all women's sports combined. Many women's teams had to drive their own cars to play their games, and several teams could not even enjoy the luxury of a uniform. And, should women's teams have found themselves practicing in the field house on a rainy day, they would soon have to leave to make way for the football team.That said, Middlebury was far ahead of other schools in providing ahletic opportunities for women in the pre-Title IX era. At least six women's programs were well established, and the College was able to use its reputation to attract top female athletes from around the country. Yet there was still a commonly accepted notion that women were less interested, if not less capable, of participating in sports. As late as the early 1970s, female students who wanted to ski at the Snow Bowl were required to first take lessons. The men, on the other hand, simply signed their names and took to the slopes. As years passed, the College, under the tutelage of then Athletic Director Tom Lawson, made it a priority to enforce Title IX and provide gender equity in its athletics programs. Lawson successfully recruited new female coaches like Missy Foote and helped give the women's programs the prestigious image they hold today. Well ahead of its NESCAC competition, Middlebury's women's teams have produced nine national championships in the last five years alone. There are currently 16 women's teams and 14 men's teams.All the panelists were thankful for the lessons they had learned from sports, explaining that athletics endowed them with tools ranging from communication to teamwork and a never-die attitude; many of them said that without Title IX they would never have become the women they are today — accomplished Wall Street executives, corporate CEOs, administrators, coaches and educators. But there are still obstacles to overcome. One formidable obstacle is the commonly held view that Title IX impedes the development of men's programs. Recently, a wave of cutting sports teams — usually men's teams — has swept the country. Many have pointed to the legislation as a cause for the phenomenon, claiming that a necessity to maintain equal opportunities for men and women inherently leads to the cancellation of already established men's programs. Wednesday's panel was determined to challenge that notion. "The easy 'solution' for how to be in compliance with Title IX has been to cut men's programs in order to add women's [programs]," explained Foote. "The intent of the law was never to take away from one area, but to enhance opportunities for women." Megan Harlan '88 echoed Foote's sentiments. "People used to tell me that Title IX gives a woman the right to complain. That's not the case." On the contrary, Harlan and others believe women should continue to push the law's enforcement further. The next step in the progress of women's athletics may be an increase in the number of women coaches and athletic administrators. Despite Middlebury's 16 varsity women's teams, there are only six full-time female coaches —compared to 14 full-time male coaches. "The male coaches we have coaching women's teams are superb," said Foote. "But when hiring new staff it would be nice to have women coaching women's teams, and perhaps even coaching men's teams." Whatever course Title IX does take, the one certainty is that it has come a long way from its inception. Since 1972 there has been a 403 percent increase in the number of female collegiate athletes, and players and coaches agree the gender gap is growing narrower. Thirty years ago women who played sports were called "tomboys," explained Assistant Director of Athletics Gail Smith. "Today there is a new word to call women who play sports: Athletes."
(10/16/02 12:00am)
Author: Andrea Gissing Gardner-Webb U. Rocked by Grade ScandalGardner-Webb University, a small Baptist school in North Carolina, has been shaken by a cheating scandal involving the school's president and trustees that has resulted in protests and faculty resignations. President Christopher White admitted that he wrote a memo two years ago ordering that the Grade Point Average (GPA) of a star basketball player be calculated without an F he received for cheating, without which the player would have been ineligible to play in Gardner-Webb's National Christian College Athletic Association championship 2000-01 season.After a meeting on Sept. 27, the university's trustees supported White's presidency and demoted some administrators who criticized the president's actions. This resulted in the resignation of three faculty members and since Wednesday students have protested White's presidency and the trustees' actions. Opponents say that the adjustment of the GPA and the trustees' failure to punish the president violates the spirit of Gardner-Webb's honor code. Protesters emphasize that White's actions go against the Christian ethics upon which the school is based.White is an ordained Baptist minister who has been president of Gardner-Webb for over 16 years.Trustees chairman Thomas Hardain noted that the F still remains on the student's transcript. The failing grade omitted from the GPA was received for cheating in a religion class.Source: CNN.comSex Column Draws Attention to U. KansasUniversity of Kansas's The University Daily Kansan's weekly sex column has drawn attention from media groups such as Playboy.com and The New York Times.The column started in the fall of 2001 after sex columnist Meghan Bainum '03 completed a journalism class project on fetishes and turn-ons. Bainum said it took her an entire semester to convince the editors of the paper to let her have the column. Media attention on the sex column and columnist grew last semester after both the Kansas bureau of the Associated Press and the Chronicle of Higher Education wrote articles on the subject. Last month, many publications have done stories on Bainum, including Fox News, "Inside Edition", Esquire magazine, Mexican and Spanish radio stations and student papers nationwide. "Inside Edition" story coordinator Alanna Stack said the idea for a segment on sex columns, which includes an interview with Bainum filmed at the University of Kansas, came from the growing trend towards more open discussions of sexuality, especially in a college setting. "Obviously college has always been a very sexual place," said Stack, "but what's interesting here [with the sex columnists] is that it's basically a university sponsored discussion."Bainum, who will fly to Chicago later this month to do a shoot for Playboy.com, hopes to keep working as a sex writer after graduating in December, though she is open to anything that would let her be "experimental."Source: U-WireTighter Controls Shrink EnrollmentFigures released by the University of Oregon's Office of Admissions show that new restrictions placed on student visas might be responsible for declining enrollment rate of international students at the university.Since the discovery that one of the Sept. 11 hijackers used a student visa to enter the United States, international students have been placed under increased observance by U.S. governmental organizations. International students applying for student visas are now being tracked by the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a Web-based program expected to be fully operational by Jan. 30. SEVIS allows academic institutions to share information about international students with the State Department and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. Academic institutions are required to connect to the database by Jan. 30 or they will be unable to admit foreign students. Until the Jan. 30 completion date, temporary measures being used by embassies and consulates abroad to monitor international students include the Interim Student Exchange Authentication System (ISEAS), a Web-based system that requires universities in the states to enter immigration data about the students so that they can be tracked. However, because schools were not given prior knowledge of the logistics behind using ISEAS, some of the University of Oregon's returning international students had difficulty obtaining visas or re-entry into the United States. While not all international students experience difficulties obtaining student visas, increased restrictions may discourage international students from applying to the university, said one admissions officer. Source: U-Wire
(10/09/02 12:00am)
Author: Andrea La Rocca Girlfriend. Boyfriend. Girl friend. Boy friend. These words win for the most heartbreaking homonym in the English language; they sound the same. But oh, if you ever mistake them to be the same (and we all have), then you quickly learn their differences with that dreaded line, "Let's just be friends." But is "just friends" really an option? Is that single space large enough to separate the passionate from the platonic, or will these emotions always overlap? Here's the question in "When Harry Met Sally" translated: Can men and women be friends?By the end of high school, I had been on both sides of the "let's just be friends" line, but even in its immediate aftermath, I never agreed with Harry's conclusion that "men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way." Of course men and women can be friends! My opinion was based on my best friend, who yes, was a guy and yes, was only a friend. In all our years together, throughout all our conversations about the other men and women in our lives, there had not been a single spark between us - until, in that pre-college attitude of why-the-hell-not, he used the "L"-word. All right, so maybe the sex part does get in the way ... At Middlebury, that seems to be the consensus. When I asked my soccer team about men and women friendships, the reaction was an outburst of laughter and stories, followed by the conclusion that "platonic" is more a myth than a reality. Why? Well, a frisbee boy explained it to me in the newspaper-printable way: "It's all about the circle and the square problem ..." But here's the catch that everyone mentioned: The question of friends or more than friends only arises when a man and a woman are close, good friends. And that makes sense. When you connect so much with someone of the opposite sex, isn't it natural to wonder what else is there? You know he/she makes you smile and laugh, can be trusted and talked to; if the kiss has butterflies, then both of you would be happy, which is, coincidentally, exactly what you want for each other as best friends. So yes, the sex part is inherently there, but maybe it doesn't have to "get in the way." For me, after a few awkward conversations and a lot of "I need my space," my best friend was once again only a friend. The sex part came up, but we got around it. So, Harry, let's say this: Men and women can be friends, but more often than not, the sex part will come up and decisions will have to be made. Girlfriend or girl friend. Boyfriend or boy friend. Your choice.
(10/02/02 12:00am)
Author: Andrea LaRocca During those two weeks of eternity at the end of the summer - you know, the weeks when everyone else has gone back to college and we Midd-kids are left still counting the days - my summer fling ended in a dramatized version of "Well, um, since we're both going to college in opposite directions ..." My friends were away, and now I had a broken heart; the two weeks of eternity had suddenly become purgatory. What was I going to do? Well, I did what every self-respecting, heartbroken girl does: I got in my car and drove to the nearest supermarket and video store. But somehow, despite my best intentions of drowning myself in ice cream and fairy tales, I ended up tearless - and addicted to the HBO sitcom "Sex and the City." At the supermarket, I balked at the fat content of Ben & Jerry's Half Baked and went for the frozen yogurt instead. And then in the video store, I passed over every proven tear-jerker chick flick ("Pretty Woman," "Jerry Maguire," "The Wedding Planner") until, wait, what was this? "Sex and the City"? The video jacket promised stories of four women in New York City trying to find themselves while also finding husbands - about as chick flick as possible. I checked out the first season, and soon I forgot my cry-fest and, yes, became addicted to "Sex and the City".But what about it had I become addicted to? Did the stories of the four women empower me beyond chick flicks and ice cream? Or was I obsessed because "Sex and the City" raises almost every question about relationships that begs to be asked? Was I - and the other millions of "Sex and the City" viewers - just addicted to the answers of these questions, to the thought that maybe by watching this show I would learn what relationships are all about? When my brother stopped by to shake his head in disgust at me and then ended up staying for an entire episode, I realized: We are all obsessed by the questions and answers of relationships.Which is where this column begins. Club Midd is full of eligible bachelors and bachelorettes but also full of its own dating rules. So it's time to start asking some of the Middlebury sex and relationship questions ... What's the deal with sex at Middlebury? Why does it seem that most Midd-kids don't date other Midd-kids? How has Stalker Finder - oops, I mean People Finder - changed the dating scene? And what happens if you actually talk to your Proctor (or now Ross) crush? "Sex and the College" will finally answer all these questions (and more), so stay tuned and get addicted. And hey, brush up on your "When Harry Met Sally" trivia for next week ...
(09/25/02 12:00am)
Author: Kristina Rudd I am concerned about Atwater Commons' sponsorship of the American Red Cross Blood Drive on Monday, Sept. 23. The blood drive is indeed a worthy cause, but I wonder if Middlebury College is aware of the policies of the American Red Cross concerning homosexual men. According to the American Red Cross eligibility requirements for the donation of blood, no man who has ever, since 1977, had sex with another man may ever donate blood. They specify that "those who are at increased risk for becoming infected with HIV are not eligible to donate blood. According to the Food and Drug Administration, you are at increased risk if you are a male who has had sex with another male since 1977, even once." This is blatant discrimination based upon obsolete prejudices regarding gay men as the propagators of HIV and AIDS. This grouping together of all bisexual and homosexual men as "HIV carriers" is wrong. The eligibility requirement does not allow a gay man who has never had unprotected sex and who is HIV negative to donate blood.I believe that it is Middlebury College's responsibility as a non-discriminatory institution to speak up about this injustice, rather than to support it. It is an outrage to all supporters of gay rights and justice in our community that Middlebury College is sponsoring the American Red Cross in its promotion of discrimination on this campus. I request that Middlebury College refrain from sponsoring American Red Cross events in the future, and instead take a positive stance against this form of discrimination on our campus.Kristina Rudd is a senior from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
(09/25/02 12:00am)
Author: Gale Berninghausen Have you ever felt stereotyped due to your race, sex, physical capabilities or specific social group? Have you worried that your academic achievements or failings may confirm the stereotypes attached to your group? Have you ever questioned the bias of the people who are responsible for assessing your abilities? Have you under-performed academically, athletically or in other areas due to your fears of being threatened by stereotypes? Have you ever heard the term "stereotype threat"?Within the first weeks of every fall term, the Office of Institutional Diversity hosts a lecture addressing a specific issue concerning diversity. On Sept. 19, Associate Provost for Institutional Diversity Roman Graf welcomed Yale University's assistant professor of psychology Geoffrey Cohen to speak on the effects of stereotype threat.Cohen explained this little known issue as "an idea with big implications for education and schooling." His lecture, entitled "Stereotype Threat and the Academic Success of Women and Minority Students," examined the applications, causes, effects and solutions for stereotype threat. Graf remarked, "Everyone should be aware of stereotype threat because we all have some stereotypes which have an effect on people."So, what exactly is stereotype threat? It is, simply, the fear of confirming a negative stereotype about one's group. It is a universal process that can apply to anyone and is widely experienced. Every person belongs to a group that has been stereotyped in some way. Stereotype threat can cause anxiety and serious distraction and can undermine performance, thus explaining why certain groups fare poorly in school. It is experienced only in situations where the individual fears that a stereotype may be applied to him or her.Let's take a look at some of those situations. For example, imagine that you're a white kid who steps out on the basketball court only to think, "White guys can't jump." You play in fear of confirming that racial-athletic stereotype and as a result your game is bad. Or perhaps you're a transfer student from a college unlike Middlebury, and you've been warned that you'll struggle to make it here. Your academic achievements may falter because you feel threatened by the stereotypes attached to your past college experience. It's also possible that you're a female student in a mostly male science or math class. Everyone knows that girls aren't as good at science or math as boys, right? What if you confirm that? Or maybe you're white and everyone knows that Asians are better at math. Finally, maybe you're a minority, and stereotypes about your academic capabilities threaten your chance at success. That's stereotype threat. Now, let's look at how it works and how it's been studied. Cohen, who received his bachelor of arts in psychology from Cornell in 1992 and his doctorate in social psychology from Stanford in 1998, has been at Yale since 1999. The recipient of numerous fellowships, honors and awards and the author of many publications, Cohen has lectured on stereotype threat throughout the United States and Canada. His work is done in conjunction with his mentor from Stanford University, Professor Claude Steele, who first described "stereotype threat" back in 1992. Cohen, Steele and others have studied stereotype threat in correlation to the academic success of women and minority students at several universities. They have found fascinating results that confirm the primarily negative effects of stereotypes. Often these appear in test taking where students may feel disadvantaged. Tests described as "ability-diagnostic" and "ability-non-diagnostic" have been administered to groups of white and black students and groups of male and female students. Ability-diagnostic tests are stereotype relevant because students take the test with the understanding that it will determine their ability in a certain academic discipline. The students may under-perform due to anxieties about the stereotype of their racial or gender group. In such a test, black students performed 50 per- cent as well as white students. However, if administered a test that the students are told is ability-non-diagnostic and stereotype irrelevant, a drastic improvement is noticed which subsequently wipes out the race or gender-based achievement gap. These findings are significant because they indicate that women and minority students often experience academic success or failure based upon the way they are tested. But the ramifications of stereotyping reach beyond test taking to student-teacher interactions. Teachers are often faced with something known as the "mentor's dilemma," which is based on the question of how to provide critical feedback without undermining the motivation and desire to succeed. Cohen stated that this is "especially acute when providing feedback across lines of difference, such as race, where there is a question of bias." The teacher must indicate that while he or she may be providing serious critical feedback, it is done without buying into the negative stereotypes of a specific group. Thus, teachers must use positive buffers across racial lines to, Cohen said, "invoke high standards and assure the students of their capacity and potential to reach those standards." This is meant to increase the minority success rate and lessen the racial divide. The phrasing of feedback is, therefore, fundamental in education.In his lecture, Cohen outlined several solutions to the "stereotype threat." It is effective to downplay the diagnostic nature of tests. It is important to refute stereotypes associated to certain groups. Diversity within the teachers or evaluators can also help to diminish questions of bias. The institution, college or university can intervene with specific programs that strive to wipe out race-based and gender-based achievement and improve the academic success of minority students. Cohen added that "if students understand that ability is malleable, that can be of help."Graf believes that it is important to "get everybody on the campus to know what this is because it could contribute to the academic success of students." Consider the implications of stereotype threat and question whether it applies to you, as a student or professor, here at Middlebury. Graf expressed certainty that there is "not a single person who couldn't profit" from a greater awareness of stereotype threat.
(09/18/02 12:00am)
Author: Julie Shumway Vermont Governor Howard Dean has declared that, were he elected president of the United States in 2004, he would recognize same-sex marriages.Dean spoke at the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association annual meeting in Philadelphia last Saturday. He said that as president he would encourage the federal government to recognize state laws granting legal benefits to same-sex couples.Vermont is the only state to recognize same-sex civil unions; Dean's plan would mean the federal government also recognized the rights of gay and lesbian couples who entered into a civil union.Dean's plan would not supercede the rights of individual states to determine if they will grant same-sex couples marriage rights; it would mean that when and if states determined to do so, the federal government would recognize those unions. Were Dean's plan to be accepted by Congress, it would extend federal rights to same-sex couples, including federal tax benefits, health insurance and immigration rights.
(09/13/02 12:00am)
Author: Tim McCahill With elections less than two months away, Vermont's three candidates for governor are in the full swing of campaigning and debate. The candidates, Democrat Doug Racine, Republican Jim Douglas and independent Cornelius "Con" Hogan, are traveling across the state to spread their views on the key issues in this year's race: unemployment, improving Vermont's economic climate and education.Douglas, a Middlebury alumnus who currently serves as state treasurer, has been a mainstay of Vermont politics since 1972. The Republican, who announced his candidacy in June, has centered his campaign on making the state friendlier to private business. Like most Republicans, the treasurer supports Act 250 — Vermont's Land Use and Development Law, passed in 1970 — but believes the legislation would benefit from revision. Douglas has strongly advocated changing the appeals and permitting process of Act 250 to quicken the pace that businesses can receive permission to build or expand. An improved regulatory climate, the treasurer has argued, will help create more jobs in a state recently devastated by a series of layoffs and business closings, first at IBM in early June and, more recently, at 12 Ames stores across Vermont.Democrat Doug Racine, who some commentators term "Silent Doug" because of his low-key style of campaigning, has adopted a stance quite similar to Douglas' on modifying Act 250. Racine, who currently serves as Vermont's lieutenant governor, has espoused a vision of the state where hi-tech jobs in computing and information technology assume a larger role than more traditional businesses in the manufacturing sector, which has been hardest hit by national recession and changing global trends. Revamping Act 250 by streamlining its permitting process would help lower unemployment, which stands at 3.9 percent across the state.Neither Douglas nor Racine differ widely on how the state's foremost economic law needs to be improved, and both agree that changes should not be made at the expense of Vermont's natural environment. Independent candidate Con Hogan, however, has faulted the "machinery" of the law for being antiquated, and pressed at a gubernatorial debate aired Monday on CCTV for a complete overhaul "from scratch." No stranger to state politics — Hogan served prominently in the Vermont Department of Corrections and worked for most of the 1990s as commissioner for the state's Health and Human Services department — the Republican-turned-independent candidate also has extensive experience in the private sector, and is a primary shareholder in the Montpelier, Vt., company International Coins and Currency.Though not the hot-button issue here as in other states, national debate on school choice has caused the gubernatorial candidates to speak out on the issue. Douglas supports the student's right to switch schools, as does Hogan, who in January proposed a system of "universal school choice" for students throughout the state; Racine, in contrast, voiced strong opposition to school choice in the last session of state Legislature, a move that in early August won him the endorsement of the Vermont charter of the National Education Association.Financing for public education is more of an issue than school choice, primarily because there are fewer schools in Vermont listed as "failing" under the Bush administration's "No Child Left Behind" program of enhancing the quality of public schooling nationwide. Under the system, a "failing" grade would merit a students' switching schools. Act 60, or the Equal Educational Opportunity Act, was passed in 1997 to link property taxes to spending on schools in an effort to equalize education costs and quality among the state's towns and cities. Controversial since its passage, in recent weeks the law has come under greater scrutiny by lawmakers and candidates because of the methodologies used to collect taxpayer dollars and spread them evenly among Vermont schools. All three candidates for governor agree that Act 60 should be changed, and that its methodology is antiquated and highly complex.As the gubernatorial race draws closer to the Nov. 5 election, political commentators have noted marked differences between this year's candidates and those running for governor in 2000. That year witnessed intense debate around the granting of civil unions to same-sex couples, an issue that sharply divided the contest for governor between then-incumbent Howard Dean and the outspoken and sometimes controversial Republican candidate Ruth Dwyer. Though somewhat less exciting than the 2000 race, this year's election signals the first time since 1984 that neither an incumbent or former governor is campaigning for that office. Furthermore, if none of the three candidates receives more than 50 percent of the popular vote, the Vermont Constitution requires that the Legislature — which most predict will be majority Republican — will choose a governor by secret ballot in January 2003. An undecided electorate of approximately 30 percent remains a factor for the Democrat Racine, who currently leads in the polls but may have to concede the popular vote to Douglas, the Republican, if the Legislature decides who will assume the governorship at the beginning of its next session.A decidedly more tepid race than the one in 2000, the greatest controversy to emerge this election season involves not the campaign for governor but rather for state treasurer. In late August, then-candidate for treasurer, Democrat Ed Flanagan, failed to disclose an additional $100,000 that he spent on his bid for the office. The financial indiscretion generated much bad press for Flanagan, and may have contributed to his losing to contender Jeb Spaulding, a Democrat, at the polls Tuesday.
(05/08/02 12:00am)
Author: Raam Wong My upcoming graduation still does not seem real to me. It feels like just yesterday that I was a naïve student getting lost in Proctor, not emerging until six hours later when the firemen found me shivering and weeping behind the salad bar in the arms of Dr. Proctor. Actually, that's a bad example given that it was just yesterday. I would like to mark the occasion of this, my last Rambling Man column, by commenting on how much the column has meant to me, but I realize doing so would probably be self-serving and boring. I am reluctant to make my readers anymore hostile and/or suicidal than they already are from reading my column. So I offer this compromise: anytime I mention the word "column," feel free to substitute it with a more stimulating subject, such as, "my sex life." Because, like my column, "my sex life" is short, boring and typically elicits snickering. When my friend Julie first suggested that I write a humor column, I reluctantly agreed. I thought it'd probably be another one of my half-assed schemes that I don't complete, like scuba diving certification or the sixth grade. While I had proven myself to be witty with such pranks as walking into my Western religion class totally naked except for a "Jesus Loves Me" hat, I wasn't sure if such sophisticated humor would translate well into a newspaper column. I also had doubts about my writing ability. You see there are several idiosyncrasies of the English language that I never learned such as use of apostrophes or the letters of the alphabet. My first column went into the Opinions section. Alongside articles about the Middle East crisis and violent WTO protests, I described the equally weighty issue of my inability to hook-up at McCullough dance parties, despite my attempts to standout from the crowd in khaki pants and my posh new cologne, Febreeze for Men. On the day the paper came out, my economics professor commended me in front of the class for being an "activist" for horny single guys everywhere. I sunk down in my seat as he proceeded to explain the theory of supply and demand using my sex life as an analogy. As the weeks went by, I had to stretch to come up with material to write about. On my computer, I have an entire folder of useless columns that I had begun to write, usually while drunk, but never finished. Their titles range from, "Fart Jokes," "Things that are Smaller than the Beer Can I'm Holding" and "The Impact of Globalization in the 20th Century." I've gotten into the habit of either deleting these humorless articles or selling them to Bob Wainwright for his column.Writing my column could also be difficult because my computer, the Atari 250, is pretty antiquated. To keep it running, I've had to shovel coal directly into the DVD player. What's worse, often the screen saver will come on and the computer will freeze, forcing me to read motivational screen saver message, "Raam, you are a beautiful, vivacious woman" until figuring out how to reboot the computer. Still, the positive feedback I've received from readers has pushed me to reach a level of quality in which readers will think to themselves after reading a column, "Well, that was certainly something."I can count the number of fan letters I've received on one finger. I'll never forget receiving a fan letter in my box. Originally I thought it was my PIN Bill — which explains why I first urinated on it — but then I picked it up off the floor, opened it, and realized two important things: that someone enjoyed my column, and that my hands were covered in urine. To this day, I still have the yellow-stained letter in my scrapbook. I met another fan at the Vermont Liquor Outlet. (Of course I was there buying a keg of O'Doul's for my substance-free party in which I was planning on playing such rowdy drinking games as Milk Die and Seven, Eleven, Doughnuts.) Upon reading my name off of my I.D. the owner complimented me on my column. At first I wondered why he hadn't mentioned it before, but then I realized that until recently, the owner only knew me as the person on my fake ID: 40-year-old Yolanda Silverman. The owner was so nice that he gave me a six-pack of what he called an "imported" beer. I'm not sure of the correct spelling, but I think it's called "Naty Ice."The one downside of my column is that I'm afraid I've occasionally offended certain groups of people. I don't have much to base this on, unless you want to consider the half-dozen libel suits against me or the animal feces currently smeared across my windshield. But targeting certain people was never my intention. The truth is, there are two kinds of people I hate: those who dislike a group of people for no discernable reason, and first-years. Therefore I would like to apologize to the following people whom I may have offended: my parents, President McCardell, social house members, the Republican Party, anyone disliking "Your momma" jokes, my seven illegitimate children and the People's Republic of China. Admittedly, I have had made a number of snafus for which I am slightly embarrassed about. (Including being the first person to use the word "snafu" in the paper.) But I have been proud of my association with this newspaper. However, there remain a couple of issues that I never got to write about. For instance, I never got around to discussing my solution to missing jackets on campus: The Yellow Jacket Program. And I never mentioned the need for the College to eliminate erroneous all-student e-mails, such as those from Coach Bob Smith announcing an Intramural Underwater Quilt- Making tournament. The truth is that Middlebury has meant a tremendous deal to me. Transferring to the College my sophomore year was a daunting experience. And having spent my freshman year at an impersonal, urban university, I was already pretty skeptical of collegiate life. Yet the College on the Hill embraced and encouraged me in a fundamental way that I never could have imagined. And now, in my final days as a Midd-Kid, I lounge in the sun on Battel Beach and browse through the scrapbook of my mind and fondly recall every friend, dean or professor who in some way contributed to my personal growth as both scholar and human being. I think about my family whose total love and support allowed me to prosper at such a fine institution. And I think about you, my readers, who have contributed to my Middlebury experience more than you will ever know.As for my future, I do not know. Thoughts of backpacking through Europe or attending graduate school excite me, but I move reluctantly into the future, always with the same question floating in my head: can it possibly get any better than this?Archives: www.middlebury.edu/~rwong
(05/01/02 12:00am)
Author: Lanford Beard Last week, Feminist Action at Middlebury (FAM) hosted the annual Take Back the Night Week as part of Sexual Violence Awareness Month. A few of the goals of this event were to promote ongoing awareness of the serious issues that women face, ranging from media exploitation to sexual assault policies, as well as gaining both individual and unified voices.FAM president Elizabeth Brookbank '04 explained, "Schools and communities all around the country hold different events for Take Back the Night Week, all of which are centered around raising awareness of sexual assault and providing support to survivors."The fact that the event has no specific date and is held on different dates for different campuses and communities across the nation reveals that the issues highlighted in Take Back the Night Week must continually be confronted and evaluated.The week kicked off on Monday, April 22, with a Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) demonstration in Mitchell Green Lounge. Given the recent review of the College's sexual assault policy, this choice for the opening event could not have been more appropriate.On Tuesday, two events centered on different aspects of the woman's experience in comtemporary society. This night featured both pressing issues and lighthearted fun.At 7:30 p.m. there was a screening of 1997's "Dreamworlds 2: Desire, Sex, Power in Music Video." The hour-long film was directed by the week's keynote speaker Sut Jhally and won the 1997 San Francisco International Film Festival Certificate of Merit in the category of Film & Video — Media & Society.Tackling the overly sexual depiction of women in contemporary music video, the film features clips from predominantly heavy metal and rap videos with voice-over commentary by Jhally in lieu of music. As the images continued, Jhally began to intersperse pictures of a violent sexual assault scene from 1988's "The Accused" until the music videos and the movie were indistinguishable. Jhally sought to express the dangerous and powerful effects that male fantasy and sexual objectification can have on women.Later that night at the Gamut Room, Courtney Brocks '01, Tori Sikes '03, Emma Kuntze EX, Charlotte Carlson '05 and Cherine Anderson '04, among others, took part in the more festive Chick Jam.Brookbank mentioned, "Chick Jam was our second most attended event, and everyone had a great time, myself included as I'm a huge Courtney Brocks fan."The most emotionally touching and empowering event of the week perhaps came on Wednesday when survivors of sexual assault shared their experiences in Hepburn Lounge's Speak Out. This event emphasized the overwhelming importance of openness and a vital support system as women's issues today are continually faced, bringing together through identification rather than dangerously tearing apart.On Thursday, Jhally again spoke about today's media representations of women and girls in his lecture "Virgin & Slut:The Media's Catch-22 for Women and Girls."Brookbank commented that Jhally "was an amazing speaker, and it was so refreshing to hear a man being so passionate about these issues." For more information see Lindsey Whitton's article on this page.Finally, the week finished with a barbecue, candelight vigil march and rally starting from Chellis House at sunset. While the week began with an emphasis on individual awareness, the events drove quickly to the ideals of identification and unity through the common bond shared by all people, not just women.Overall, Take Back the Night Week focused across the country on the importance of unity between groups and individuals and of universal identification through empathy, sympathy and shared experience.Not solely a week for women to share together, Take Back the Night Week was a welcome experience for all Middlebury students to come together and form the all-important support network that will keep our community moving forward.
(05/01/02 12:00am)
Author: Ami Kilchevsky This campus has been subjected to an onslaught of facile rhetoric which attempts to portray support for Israel (in its continuing struggle with the Palestinians) as "blind," uncritical, entirely one-sided, lacking in compassion and understanding for the plight of the Palestinians, etc. Can we move beyond the propaganda and spin to a reasonable discussion of opposing views?The vast majority of Israelis, American Jews and their supporters believe in the following: a two-state solution. Territorial compromise, meaning an eventual withdrawal from occupied territories on the basis of secure and recognized borders (grounded in United Nations Resolutions #242 and #338). Support of a Palestinian state living side by side in peace and harmony with Israel. Absolute opposition to the current methods employed by the Palestinian Authority to achieve their ends — support of terror, violence and incitement of violence. A just settlement to the refugee problem.Why does any country, let alone Israel, have to apologize for taking actions against homicide bombers and violent militants to safeguard the lives of its own citizens? Where are the condemnations against terror and atrocities from the Palestinians and Islamic clerics? When will the Palestinians be led by statesmen who are more concerned about the welfare of their own people than with killing Israelis? Israel and the Jewish people need not apologize for their persistence in desiring to survive. At the same time, our heritage teaches us never to rejoice at the fall of our enemies. Israel takes no pleasure in being forced to retaliate and to kill Palestinians, including innocents who are unintended casualties. The United States government supports and will continue to support the security and well-being of the state of Israel for the following reasons: First, Israel and America share a common ideology based on both western political and cultural norms along with a common Judeo-Christian heritage. Israel, like America, is a multicultural nation comprised of people from more than 100 different countries. As in America, immigrants have gone to Israel in the face of religious persecution to build a better life for themselves and their families. Even with minimal resources, these citizens have achieved a relatively high standard of living and outstanding achievements in science, medicine and agriculture in a short period of time. Israel has absorbed more refugees than any other country in the world relative to its size, many of whom were displaced from Arab and Islamic countries such as Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt and Yemen.Second, in a region characterized by non-democratic regimes, Israelis, like Americans, have demonstrated a strong commitment to democracy and the rule of law. All citizens of Israel, regardless of race, sex or religion are granted full civil rights and equality before the law. Arab citizens vote and elect officials who represent them in the Knesset (Israel's parliament). They are free to serve in the army if they wish. They own and circulate their own newspapers. They practice religion without interference and choose their own religious leaders. There are many interest groups and human rights organizations that advocate on behalf of the Arab minority and other causes. Moreover, these rights and protections are staunchly upheld by an independent judiciary and the Israeli Supreme Court.Third, Israel, as one of America's most dependable allies, is of the utmost strategic value to our country. Since American involvement in the Middle East began more than 60 years ago, no other state in the region with the exception of Turkey could contribute to Western defense. The United States-Israeli alliance came to full maturity at the height of the Cold War when Israel presented itself to America as a country that would keep the Soviet-aligned Arab states in check, and it came through in both the 1967 and 1973 wars deterring Soviet domination of the Middle East. This alliance is still vital today. With the war on terror currently in progress, we cannot rely on Arab countries that harbor the very terrorists that we are pursuing to earnestly ally themselves with us. A recent CNN poll shows that nearly 80 percent of the respondents believe that Saudi Arabia, supposedly America's closest and most moderate friend in the Arab world, is not trustworthy. After all, would you trust a government whose inflammatory domestic policies, including media-saturated contempt for America and Jews, ultimately led 15 of its citizens to kill 3000 Americans? Compare this to a recent Harris poll showing that 86 percent of Americans considered Israel a close friend and a dependable ally. Why do most American's feel this way? Because, unlike other countries in the Middle East, Israel's friendship with the United States does not fluctuate based on American foreign policy. Israel will continue to support the United States in its war on terror and that is one of the many reasons why America will continue supporting Israel. The bond between these two nations is too strong to let terror and its supporters break it.
(04/24/02 12:00am)
Author: Campus Editor in Chief QUESTION & ANSWERTwo years after the contentious civil unions bill won approval from the Vermont State Legislature, co-plaintiff Stan Baker has settled back into a life of relative obscurity. Reflecting on the legal battle that spawned the civil union legislation, though, brings back memories of when his face was well known in the press and around the state. Baker, a registered play therapist, paused from cleaning out his office at the Addison County Counseling Center in Middlebury this weekend to recount the salient moments in the movement for civil unions. He will begin work as a clinical director at Burlington's Fletcher Allen Health Care System next week. Baker and his partner Peter Harrigan were one of six same-sex couples who sued the state of Vermont in July 1997 for the right to marry. The suit touched off a three year legal battle that reached the State Supreme Court and was finally resolved in the state Legislature on April 26, 2000. Campus: What first motivated you to seek marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples? What were the first steps in what later became a statewide movement for civil unions? Baker: I think what motivated me was being the narrator for the Vermont Freedom to Marry Task Force video and really becoming acquainted with the movement at that point. Peter and I in many ways are not a gay male couple who need more than they have. However, one reason why we did it is because we thought we could. We both had protection on the job and we could become part of a movement like this that we believed so deeply in without putting our jobs in jeopardy. And we both have supportive families. Many other people, had they jumped into this public process, would have lost families or lost jobs. Being able to marry gives gay and lesbian parents a legal connection to each other as well as a legal connection to the child, and I really wanted to support that. I'd also seen many instances in which friends had not been able to get into the hospital when their same-sex spouses were ill and couldn't make medical decisions. So for all of those reasons. I also like to remind people that Peter and I jumped into this because we love each other. We both had come from families where marriage was important and we felt it was the right thing for us. Campus: When you reflect on the legislative process leading up to the April 26, 2000, approval of the civil unions bill, what are the moments that stand out most vividly in your mind? Baker: I think there are two most vivid moments for me. One of the most vividly positive moments was when the joint version of the bill that the House and Senate had put together was finally passed. I was actually at a meeting in Randolph and Peter was coming from St. Michael's, and we were going to meet at the State House. He was already on the floor and I actually got there right after the vote had been taken. I remember running up the stairs in the State House and people were saying congratulations, congratulations — I wasn't really sure until I walked into the chamber, but as soon as I did, and this was back when both of our faces were well known, lots of cameras started following me. They followed me over to Peter and I gave him a big hug. That picture was in the paper all over the place. But even not being there for the vote made it more exciting to walk in, and just everyone there was amazingly thrilled, except I guess the people who were against it. But they didn't seem to be there. And the second most vivid moment for me was before that. It was the year before during the Supreme Court testimony, which I found amazing. I was very proud of that day for Vermont and for myself and for everyone because I think the suit was heard respectfully and the justices asked amazingly wonderful questions. Our lawyer Beth Robinson, who argued it before the Supreme Court, was just spectacular. And I felt that this is really political and judicial process at its best as only Vermont can do it. I remember just feeling immensely proud. Campus: To what extent would you say the civil unions bill was a compromise? Were you at all disappointed that civil unions were called by that name rather than recognized as marriage in the traditional sense of the term?Baker: Yes. Sitting now in April of 2002 I don't think I feel any disappointment, but when the Supreme Court decision came down, the plaintiffs and our lawyers had very confused emotions. At one point we felt that this was landmark and amazing. The language of the Supreme Court decision is beautifully written and talks about common humanity and just makes some beautiful statements. On the other hand, it did not give us marriage, and there was a touch and go point in January and early February of 2000 when the Freedom to Marry group was trying to decide whether to go with the Domestic Partner bill — which later became the civil unions bill — or oppose it because it wasn't marriage. We decided to support it, feeling that there might not be another chance. So we supported it, but with the feeling that we were giving something up. It's clear now what we're giving up. An easy example: Peter and I filed our taxes in February, and for the first time we got to file those jointly as a couple in Vermont but we didn't get to do that federally because civil unions are not recognized federally. If I were to die or Peter was, neither one of us could inherit the other's Social Security as a married couple could. If we traveled outside the state we have no protections. If someone in Vermont falls in love with someone in Canada, a civil union does not give green card status to the Canadian as marriage would. If we had children they wouldn't be protected outside of Vermont. So for all of those reasons, civil unions, while equal in Vermont, are not equal in the nation. Campus: How soon do you think national recognition of civil unions could come? Baker: Sometime between 10 and 30 years, to offer a wide spread. It took 30 years from the first biracial couple legislation in California to the time that it was made unconstitutional to say that multi or biracial couples couldn't marry. This seems to be moving faster. My sense is that people of [the younger generation] don't seem to think it's a big deal. A lot of people don't even know that gay people can't be married. My sense is as your generation and people younger come up, they will sort of shrug their shoulders and say, "Of course."Campus: When you first filed the suit, did you expect this issue to be as divisive as it was? Baker: No, because I thought that we would either get marriage or be turned down. And I think if I were to be honest I would say that about 51 percent of me thought we would actually get it and the 49 percent thought we would be turned down. I was totally unprepared for what they did, which was to say that gay people need an institution that is equal in all ways, but you figure it out, legislature. What happened is that the Judiciary Committee hearings in the Vermont House — which they wisely decided to open up to the public — opened up a debate unlike any seen before in which legislators and people on the street were using words that they never used before, like gay and lesbian and homosexual. But I don't think it was as divisive as people like to say. I think it's actually a testament to Vermont that it stayed primarily in the press and on lawn signs, and in elections. A few people got voted out of office, but if you look at this year, the attempts to bring it back to the legislature were basically ignored, even by legislators who said they disagree. People are more interested in the economy and Act 60 and the Champion Land deal and terrorism. The debate was, in the end, part of a civil process. Campus: Was there ever a time in the c
ourse of the legislative debate when you thought, "Maybe Vermont isn't ready for this?" Baker: No, I think that we had done a lot of talking before we launched this suit and talked thoroughly with our lawyers about all of the possible outcomes — we kind of rehearsed them, even the outcome of violence being done to us. I've lived in Vermont since 1971 and my ancestors are from here. I'm related to Ethan Allen — my grandfather eight generations back was Ethan Allen's first cousin. So I really believe in this state to, in kind of a scrappy way, come through with the right thing. The Green Mountain Boys were a bunch of thugs, but they were also a bunch of iconoclastic thinkers who led the state in the direction of really believing in freedom and equality and standing on your own. I have a very strong belief in Vermont being a place where the right thing will happen given time. There was a time during the second public House hearing when I got, I don't know if depressed is the word, very tired. They did one speaker for and one speaker against, and every against person seemed to be quoting that one chapter of Leviticus. It was very tiresome because I'm actually a spiritual person and I wanted to say, "That's not my Bible." And it was hard just sitting there and trying to look dignified when all that crap just kept coming and coming and coming. But we also has a lot of support at those times and we turned to it when we needed it. Campus: Could you comment on whether you think there is a next chapter in the civil unions saga, either in Vermont or on the federal level? Baker: I don't think there is a next chapter for me, except to be interviewed by people like you or, if something else happens, to be interviewed again, or perhaps to write a book. But I think there is a next chapter federally, but I think it will happen in other states first. Another state needs to pass legislation similar to this. Once more than one state has it, it's going to become more difficult for it not to become reciprocal. Campus: What lessons have you taken away from the civil unions movement?Baker: I've had confirmed or reconfirmed for myself that just about anything is possible if you think it through carefully, stand up for what's right and don't back off, and do it with respect. I think one of the reasons we were successful is that we were more respectful to the politicians than the anti-civil unions people. I really love the language of the decision, I really believe in common humanity, and I think this shows that it's possible. I believe in love. I believe in marriage for those who want it. I see myself as being part of a grand sweep of a movement in our country towards real diversity and real inclusion. We're not there yet, but we're getting closer.
(04/24/02 12:00am)
Author: Sarah McCabe "Welcome to Middlebury," the tour guides say — and how welcoming it is. Green grass abundant, the sun shining, the temperature hovering around 85 degrees with a slight breeze. "Yes, Middlebury!" the prospectives are thinking. "This is where I want to go."Wait a minute, back up. Sun shining, 85 degrees? That's Florida, not Middlebury. Or is it? We've all checked Weather.com about 10 times a day just to make sure that we are typing in "Middlebury" correctly, and not, perhaps, hitting "Miami." We've all woken up to the sun burning our faces and grappled for the blinds to send us back into some darkness, confused as to where that blazing heat is coming from. And still, we've all come to the same conclusion: somehow summer found Middlebury.And like a jet of Alaskan tourists dropped off in Jamaica for a week, we're running around with red faces and tomato-red streaks on our arms and chests. Presuming that those months of typically cold Vermont weather somehow justify the thought that, "Hey, for us, sunscreen is unnecessary," Middlebury College may quickly start churning out more skin cancer victims than University of Hawaii and Arizona combined. "I was labeled the 'catch of the day,'" sunburn victim Devin Murphy '05 proclaimed, "I'm pretty embarrassed at how sunburned I got on April 18 in Vermont." The sun does not discriminate by age, sex, location, day of the year, whether you're out casually playing Ultimate or in a tank top or lying on Battell Beach. "When you get a tan," Lotionbarn.com notes, "what is actually happening is the melanocytes are producing melanin pigment in reaction to ultraviolet rays in sunlight. Ultraviolet light stimulates melanin production … Melanin production takes a fair amount of time — that is why most people cannot get a tan in one day." When we burn ourselves, "what we are really getting is cellular damage from ultraviolet radiation. The body responds to the damage with increased blood flow to the capillary bed of the dermis in order to bring in cells to repair the damage. The extra blood in the capillaries causes the redness and the dehydration associated with sunburn," the site continued.This sunburn epidemic may be attributed to the fact that we simply could not count on five to seven days of great sun, knowing Vermont weather. We get two days of 90 degrees, and before you know it is 35 degrees again. Not only was such a prediction of Vermont's flaky weather accurate, but Mother Nature spiced it up with an earthquake, too. So panicking over losing the sun, we flocked out during peak sun hours hoping to get lucky with perhaps a one or two day tan — and struck out with painful burns and very peculiar "farmer's tans." Another Web site, Americansun.org gravely reminds us, "Over 1.3 million people will be diagnosed with skin cancer in the U.S. this year alone. It is the most common type of cancer in the United States and is one of only two types of cancer that continues to increase rather than decrease. Someone dies of melanoma every hour in the United States. More ominously, melanoma can strike people of any age, race, gender and economic status. It is the most common cancer for women ages 25 to 29. In 1930, an American's lifetime risk of developing melanoma was one in 1500. Today, it is one in 75." Not to turn everything towards such a sad topic on such lovely spring days, but sometimes the truth can be ugly. We have groups working to save the ozone on campus, and we have groups working to save the environment, but no groups are trying to save our skin. Instead, we must take this on as a personal responsibility. Most of us probably thought that we escaped this duty by enrolling in Middlebury, but those freckles and red blotches are here to remind you that the sun is everywhere, even in mountainous, and for the most part freezing, Vermont. "Everyone made fun of me for lying out in the sun wearing SPF 45 with a sun hat and glasses," native Hawaiian Cortney Fritz '05 joked, "But I'm from Hawaii and we don't mess around with sun protection there. Hawaiians would be shocked to see so many sunscreen-less people on such sunny days. No one is laughing at me now, though!"The American Cancer Society says, "Always use sunscreen with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 15 or greater. For best results, apply sunscreen about 30 minutes before going outside to allow it time to bond with your skin. In addition to protecting you from overexposure to sunlight, sunscreens also help to prevent other problems related to sun exposure including aging skin and precancerous growths." But we all know that, right? Of course one would assume that we've heard enough of all this sun-protection hullabaloo, but judging from all the red faces walking around campus this week, maybe Vermonters and New Englanders could use a brief reminder.
(04/24/02 12:00am)
Author: Claire Bourne NEWS ANALYSISNestled neatly in the heart of rural Vermont, Middlebury College appears to offer an idyllic setting in which to pursue a rigorous academic program and a healthy social life. Despite this sleepy New England college image, Middlebury is not immune to incidents of sexual assault, as recent debate on the topic has shown.On academic building and residence hall bulletin boards and in the Opinions section of The Middlebury Campus, members of the College community have aired their concerns about the College's sexual assault policy. One poster went so far as to accuse the College of "silencing" survivors' voices.According to the Department of Public Safety, only four sexual assaults have been reported at Middlebury since 1997. While it is widely accepted by College administrators and health officials that this number is skewed by survivors' reluctance to report or even talk about the incidents, a handful of students who believe too little is being done are taking action to rectify the situation. Last weekend, four members of Feminist Action at Middlebury (FAM) met with New York City-based Students Active For Ending Rape (SAFER) to discuss how to successfully lobby for a more effective policy at Middlebury. SAFER is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to "empowering university students … to rewrite campus sexual assault policies."In addition, yesterday marked the first formal meeting of a "study group" charged by Dean of Student Affairs Ann Hanson to review the College's current sexual assault policy. The group includes representatives from the student body, the Department of Public Safety, the Office of Health and Wellness Education, Parton Health Center, Chellis House, the commons and the Dean of Student Affairs Office. The committee will present its findings to Hanson by November, said Associate Dean of Student Affairs and group chair Kathy Foley-Giorgio.The Current PolicyAccording to Foley-Giorgio, the study group will address two broad issues. It will first examine the current sexual assault policy on paper and then consider how effectively the language "plays out" for survivors and those accused of sexual assault. The umbrella term "sexual assault" includes, but is not limited to, rape. Vermont law defines sexual assault as the perpetration of a "sexual act," including, but again not limited to, oral sex and sexual intercourse, by force or without the consent of one of the people involved. It is also a crime to engage in a sexual act when one person "has impaired substantially the ability of the other person to appraise or control conduct by administering or employing drugs or intoxicants without the knowledge or against the will of the other person."A copy of this law and the College's sexual assault policy, along with a list of resources for survivors of the crime, are distributed to first-year students during orientation. The College's policy focuses primarily on procedure, outlining how survivors can bring charges against an alleged perpetrator within the College's judicial structure. "A case will be considered during the time that the student charged is a Middlebury College matriculant," the language reads. Acknowledging that assault or attempted assault of this nature is "recognized as wholly unacceptable," the policy states that students found to have violated this language "are subject to disciplinary sanctions up to and including expulsion."Student Initiative Opens DialoguePresident of FAM Elizabeth Brookbank '04 said she did not consider the current policy "horrible" but added that the language needed "to be tailored" to fit the nature of sexual assault. She said it seemed as though most of the policy had been "cut and pasted" from Handbook language dealing with other types of assault.FAM member Kate Moffett '04, who along with Brookbank met with representatives from SAFER last weekend, said the issue surrounding sexual assault was "less about pointing fingers and more about making sure the victim feels safe."On its Web site, SAFER claims that current campus sexual assault policies across the nation "fail to include provisions to protect the confidentiality of the individual reporting an assault." Middlebury's policy provides for confidentiality if the victim seeks help from the Health Center or from a College counselor. However, the language stipulates that reports made to the Department of Public Safety "will be shared with the [accuser's] commons dean."Dean of Cook Commons David Edleson said that he had never received a report from Public Safety before already having been approached by the victim. In the event that he was given a report without prior knowledge of the situation, he said he would follow up with the victim unless he or she had "made it clear" in the report that he or she did not want to discuss the incident.Nevertheless, drafted in 1998-99, the current policy does not guarantee any form of anonymous reporting, an aspect of the language both Moffett and Brookbank are working to change. Should the College establish a method to anonymously report incidents of sexual assault, the number of reports, as recent dialogue suggests, would certainly increase. SAFER cites the potential for a sudden rise in statistics as one reason to explain American college and university administrators' reluctance to establish an effective sexual assault policy. "Procedural problems [such as the lack of a confidentiality clause] are compounded by a desire by administrators to maintain a positive public image by downplaying the incidence of crime on campus," the Web site asserts. Edleson said that the low statistics at institutions across the country, as well as at Middlebury, were low because whether or not to report a sexual assault was "up to the victim." "Because few victims want to report a sexual assault, it sometimes looks like the College does nothing," he explained. The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act requires all institutions of higher education to annually report crime statistics to the Department of Education and to make those numbers available to members of their communities. According to Middlebury's Director of Public Safety Lisa Boudah, the College releases data every fall documenting incidents of forcible sex offenses, homicide, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, arson and hate crimes, among others. The statistics, she said, are compiled from the Department of Public Safety's records and information from the Middlebury Police Department pertaining to incidents that occurred on the College campus and on peripheral streets.Brookbank said she believed that the College's move to examine the current policy was prompted by this semester's student-driven dialogue. She also speculated that the creation of the study group was linked to the administration's desire to maintain a positive reputation. For this reason, she said, one of her greatest challenges will be convincing members of the group and, if a recommendation is agreed upon, persuading Community Council to draft language ensuring anonymous reporting. "That rape happens here does not give the College a bad reputation. It's how we deal with it that might," she elucidated.Potential Policy Changes"If I were the victim or perpetrator of a sexual assault and turned to the Handbook for guidance, I would not find two critical components — certainty and clarity," said SGA President-elect Ginny Hunt '03. "I am not a legal expert, and I am not an expert of sexual assault, but neither are sexual assault victims or victimizers on this campus." The College's sexual assault policy should "first and foremost" address anonymous reporting and 24-hour counseling "no questions asked," she commented.Both Moffett and Broo
kbank said they would like to see the College establish a rape crisis center with a counselor on call 24 hours a day. "A rape victim needs a safe room where she can lock herself in," Moffett explained. "She needs a place where she can feel safe behind closed doors and feel removed from a vulnerable position."Brookbank suggested that this room be separate from Carr Hall. She also proposed the creation of a hotline to be used for both counseling and anonymous reporting of sexual assaults. Edleson said he was skeptical of the hotline proposal for two reasons. First, he said such a service would be "problematic" if there was not enough volume to support a trained staff. Secondly, he cited the potential for "false reports" as another negative implication of the line were it to be established. "It's not about wanting to avoid the reporting of more incidents," he said, "it is just that these details need to be worked out before [a hotline] would be useful."Hunt agreed that the College needed a crisis center for sexual assault victims "even if it begins as a single room." She added, "If we are going to spend thousands of dollars on Mongolian grills in [the new Ross Commons] dining hall, I think that requesting a rape crisis center is not out of the question."The topic of anonymity relates not only to the initial step of reporting the crime but also to the judicial proceedings, themselves. Under the current policy, a student accused of sexual assault can request a meeting with the accuser, however the accuser does not have the choice to opt out of the "mediated discussion." "During judicial proceedings, as long as they pre-submit written statements and their advisers are allowed in the room, the victim and accused should be able to testify without the presence of the other in the room," asserted Student Co-chair of Community Council-elect Ben LaBolt '03. Brookbank pointed out that an accuser is only "re-victimized" when he or she has to face the accused again.In the weeks to come, Foley-Giorgio said that the study group would be addressing these issues, among others like implementing language guaranteeing a review of the policy every few years.Although widely representative of the College community, the committee will seek input from other groups and individuals on campus, Foley-Giorgio said. The group will hold an open forum at 4:30 p.m. next Monday in McCullough Social Space to gather suggestions from members of the community. In an effort to reach as many students as possible, Foley-Giorgio said she welcomed e-mail comments.Brookbank, who sits on the committee, also said she would "try to get as wide and varied student opinion as possible."She added, however, that her work with the group would "not be the extent" of what she was doing to raise awareness about rape and sexual assault at Middlebury. "Overall, though, I'm happy with what's going on," she affirmed. "People are talking about this now, and it is leading to action."
