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(01/23/20 11:00am)
Vermont Gas Systems, the state’s sole provider of natural gas, announced a plan last year to eliminate all greenhouse gas emissions from their operations by 2050. The company also unveiled plans to double energy efficiency savings, outlined strategies to reduce home and business emissions and promised to continue sustainable partnerships in communities around the state.
Vermont Gas is one of the state’s largest utility companies and serves about 50,000 customers in the residential and commercial sectors. Along with Green Mountain Power, Standard Solar and Northern New England Investment Company, Vermont Gas is owned by the Northern New England Energy Corporation (NNEEC), a subsidiary of Quebec-based company Énergir.
While the 2050 emissions goal was the headline announcement from a press release on Nov. 14 last year, Vermont Gas also provided details on additional elements of its strategy to “transform the company.” The company has announced a “cornerstone strategy” to double energy efficiency savings by 2025. This task will be put into motion with the help of a $20 million investment. Much of this budget is expected to go toward home weatherization, which will improve heating efficiency so that local energy usage can be reduced. The average homeowner will save about $200 per year after weatherization, according to the press release.
“VGS has been a strong partner in supporting Vermonters with low and fixed incomes and we know they’ll continue to be,” said Jan Demers, executive director of the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, in the VGS press release. “Weatherization is an important way to reduce costs for Vermonters. We appreciate this balanced approach to make steady environmental progress while pledging ongoing support for those who need it most.”
The plan also calls for an increased focus on renewable natural gas (RNG), which is produced by processing natural methane, derived from waste materials. By 2030, the company aims to have 20% of its retail customers using energy supplied by RNG, adding about 2% per year to steadily ramp up production. The gradual transition is also intended to keep costs low for consumers, according to the company.
Vermont Gas explicitly mentioned its partnership with Middlebury College and Wellesley, Mass-based Vanguard Renewables in its November press release. An anaerobic digester is currently in production at Goodrich Family Farm in Salisbury to produce RNG, which will flow into a Vermont Gas pipeline. The College announced that the digester, the first of its kind, will provide energy to heat about half of its Vermont campus upon completion. President Laurie Patton applauded the program as a major leap toward the College’s goal of using 100% renewable energy sources — one of the goals in the Energy 2028 plan.
“Another exciting aspect of the digester is how it further connects the College to the local community and Vermont,” said Laurie Patton in the press release. “The College’s interest in pursuing the facility also reflects our longstanding commitment to innovative environmental education and sustainability projects. Building on our carbon neutrality initiative, it will provide our students and faculty with new research and teaching opportunities.”
The final components of Vermont Gas’s plan for sustainability include district energy systems (DES) and a “Net Zero Home” pilot program. District energy systems are networks of underground pipes that provide thermal energy to heat buildings more efficiently. Vermont Gas has planned one such system in Middlebury and another in Burlington in partnership with the Burlington Electric Department.
Vermont Gas’s Net Zero Home pilot program is the final element of their long-term plan. It is a proposed incentive for residential customers to achieve a net-zero carbon footprint. The pilot is currently being co-developed with Burlington Electric and focuses on an “action plan” personalized to residential consumers. Such plans would include recommendations like weatherization, heat pump installation, renewable natural gas usage, electric vehicles and upgraded efficient equipment.
Reactions to Vermont Gas’s strategy and pledged commitment have been mixed. Peter Walke, deputy secretary of Vermont’s Agency of Natural Resources, said that his agency welcomed the company’s announcement to reduce emissions, while the larger impact of the announcement is yet to be seen.
“We want to understand the details more so we can understand what it might mean for direct emissions and other related policy matters,” Walke said. He also explained the importance of sustainable practices not addressed by Vermont Gas. “Other Vermont fuel suppliers have begun to diversify their products and services, primarily by introducing bio fuels and wood pellets,” Walke said. “These are great steps that need to be brought to scale.”
In general, Walke expressed the need for “significant reductions in emissions across all sectors of the economy.”
Middlebury resident and community advisor to the Sunday Night Environmental Group (SNEG) Fran Putnam expressed concerns with Vermont Gas’s announcement. “One thing about [Vermont Gas’s] advertising that I particularly object to is selling themselves as a way to lower customers’ carbon footprint,'' said Putnam, who cited a New York Times article discussing the emissions of methane leaks at natural gas facilities. “In fact, some studies seem to show that because of the methane leaks from drilling and distilling as well as leaks along the pipelines, natural gas may have an even worse effect on the climate than oil.” On the utility company’s zero emission timeline, Putnam concluded that “2050 is far too late” and that 2030 would be a better projected date.
SNEG member and intended environmental studies major Victoria Andrews ‘23 explained that Vermont Gas’s plan is insufficient in addressing pressing environmental issues. “By 2050, half of the species on the planet could be extinct and climate change’s effects could be irreversible,” she said.
Andrews said that while Vermont Gas’s announcement is admirable, a “more aggressive” timeline is needed. When asked about additional sustainable solutions that corporations could pursue, she mentioned removing barriers to more renewable sources, implementing local environmental initiatives and incentivizing recycling and composting to reduce net carbon footprints. “Although these changes are small,” Andrews said, “I think basic routine shifts in the workplace can evolve to sweeping change and make business more environmentally friendly.”
After the company’s November press release, Vermont Gas’s President and CEO Don Rendall posted a New Year’s message for the company’s customers. “By 2030, we expect an annual reduction of over 187,000 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions as compared to our emissions today,” his message announced, adding that “we embrace this future, and we stand with our partners, old and new, in the fight against global climate change. Together, we believe, our future is bright.”
(12/08/19 3:28pm)
Some members of the Student Government Association (SGA) have spent the last two weeks discussing the possibility of impeaching President Varsha Vijayakumar ’20. However, whether or not Vijayakumar will face an impeachment inquiry has yet to be determined.
The SGA’s three-member impeachment committee, which was formed in September along with every other senate committee, notified Vijayakumar in an email on Tuesday, Dec. 3 that her plan to leave campus during the upcoming winter term may be a violation of the SGA’s constitution and is thus potentially an impeachable offense.
“President Vijayakumar, you have expressed the intent on several occasions to leave campus during the 2020 Winter Term,” the email read. “If you follow through with these intentions, then the impeachment committee will begin impeachment proceedings against you.”
Vijayakumar said that when she read the email, her understanding was that impeachment proceedings would begin at the next senate meeting on Dec. 8. However, despite the tone and immediacy of the email, opening an impeachment inquiry into the SGA President requires a multi-step process that has not yet been initiated. The process must start with either a petition signed by 25% of the student body, or a written statement submitted by a senator or cabinet member. No such petition existed, nor had any SGA members submitted a statement, at the time of publication of this article.
According to Drew Platt ’20, one of Vijayakumar’s chiefs of staff, the impeachment process also cannot start until the offense at hand has already been committed — in this case, until after Vijayakumar left for winter term.
If impeachment proceedings are initiated in the future, the impeachment committee would hold a hearing, and two out of the three members of the committee would need to vote the process forward. Then, the entire senate would hold a subsequent impeachment hearing, after which the senate would vote. Impeachment requires a two-thirds majority in the senate to pass.
If the president were to be impeached, Community Council Co-Chair Roni Lezama ’22 would assume the role of interim president. There would then be a special election to fill the position.
A constitutional debate
Whether Vijayakumar’s upcoming winter term absence violates the constitution comes down to the interpretation of Article II, clause E.5. While the constitution allows for senators and cabinet members to leave campus over winter term, the clause regarding the presidency reads, “The President of SGA must be on campus for the duration of their term,” and does not specify if winter term is included.
Vijayakumar said that, according to her interpretation, this clause does not include winter term.
“I chose to interpret ‘term’ as not inclusive of J-Term,” she told The Campus in an email. “We do not pay a separate tuition fee for J-Term, we do not change our housing, and the college only requires Middlebury students to remain on campus for two of four J-Terms— one of which must be in the first year.”
Others interpret the clause differently, including Wonnacott Senator Myles Maxie ’22.
“For clauses where you can miss J-Term, it specifies,” he said. “By not specifying for two clauses — for community council co-chair and president, the only two all-student positions — it seems sort of clear that it is set up that way. It seems intentional.”
When there is disagreement over the meaning of the constitution, the document states the president has the power to “resolve all questions of constitutional interpretation and interpretation of the Bylaws, except relating to procedures for Senate meetings.” However, the senate can overrule the president’s interpretation with a majority vote. The senate has yet to vote on this issue.
While a constitutional violation is an impeachable offense, there has also been discussion among members of the SGA about the gravity of impeaching an elected official.
Vijayakumar said she believes impeachment should be reserved for circumstances when a president is not acting in the best interest of the student body or is acting in ways that are intentionally malicious. She does not believe either is true in this case.
Vijayakumar explained that she has offered to video chat into any meetings that she misses, and said she feels her winter term plans will not detract from her ability to fulfill her presidential duties.
Paul Flores-Clavel ’22, the chair of the impeachment committee and a sophomore senator, expressed a similar sentiment about the nature of impeachment.
“The purpose of impeachment should really be about someone who is maliciously trying to not create a functioning SGA or is somebody who is clearly violating the expectations of the community,” he said. “Varsha is doing neither of those things.”
Several members of SGA noted that the climate of uncertainty surrounding the potential for future impeachment proceedings is due in part to the fact that the SGA’s constitution has a lot of vague language.
The SGA is currently undergoing a constitutional review process, which was spurred by the impending dissolution of the commons system. The removal of the commons requires the SGA to restructure the senate to remove — or at least adjust — the five commons-specific positions. Several senators expressed the hope that any confusing or vague language might be remedied as part of the current review process.
However, any constitutional changes that are made in the future will not go into effect in time to remove the ambiguity from Vijayakumar’s case.
Questions of access
Vijayakumar is going to India for winter term as part the BOLD Women’s Leadership Initiative, a program that offers young women mentorship and networking opportunities, in addition to scholarship funds.
“Going on this trip is a requirement of the BOLD program, and my funding is contingent upon successful completion of all program requirements,” she said.
Vijayakumar explained that she did not know that BOLD would require her to be away for winter term when she ran for president last spring.
The fact that Vijayakumar’s winter term absence is related to the terms of her scholarship has raised questions, both for her and some members of the senate, about the nature of equitable access to leadership roles on campus.
“Without BOLD, I probably would have had to transfer out of Middlebury two years ago or face the reality of crippling debt,” she said. “I find it inherently inequitable to be removed from office due to my commitment to BOLD. Are we implying that a student on financial aid must choose between a scholarship— funding that is crucial to my ability to be on campus— or being the SGA president? I find this to be directly against the college’s core mission and values.”
Platt emphasized that Vijayakumar and the rest of her leadership team has been preparing for her departure for months.
“It’s not like she’s leaving us out in the cold. This is something we’ve known about for a really long time,” he said. “This is something that quite frankly the rest of her executive team and the chair of the community council are ready to take on for this brief period of time that she’s not on campus.”
The personal becomes political
While the focus has largely been on the differing interpretations of the constitution, several members of the SGA expressed their concerns that the true motivations behind the impeachment effort stem from certain members’ personal grudges against Vijayakumar, rather than a legitimate concern about her absence over winter term.
“As a senator I understand that everybody has other things going on besides the senate, and I think people fail to realize that Varsha is no exception,” Flores-Clavel said. “People forget that she’s also a student.”
Flores-Clavel cited the elimination of the commons and subsequent conversations about restructuring the senate as one cause of tension within the government.
“People might have whatever feelings they might have for her, and I think what’s becoming apparent is that not every member of the government is able to separate their feelings for Varsha as a person from Varsha as the president,” he said. “Like it or not, she very much has been doing her job.”
Platt said that, in his view, the constitutional clause in question is intended to ensure the president is committed to the job.
“If this clause is about dedication to the position, it’s almost undeniable that Varsha has been dedicated to the position,” he said. “Anybody who wants to impeach her for this particular technicality is being disingenuous by saying her absence during J-Term represents any kind of argument against her dedication to the role.”
[pullquote speaker="Paul Flores-Clavel" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]People might have whatever feelings they might have for her, and I think what’s becoming apparent is that not every member of the government is able to separate their feelings for Varsha as a person from Varsha as the president.[/pullquote]
The impeachment process has also been complicated by last minute changes to the impeachment committee. Atwater Senator Jack Brady ’21 resigned from his position on the committee Saturday morning, leaving one seat unfilled. The constitution does not lay out specific steps as to how vacant committee seats should be filled mid-year, giving the president the ability to interpret the ambiguity in this area.
The third committee member, Senior Senator Anthony Salas ’20, recused himself from this case on Friday because of his past romantic relationship with Vijayakumar.
“If this process were to actually begin, the impeachment committee would have to make a recommendation to the senate,” Salas said over text. “I think it ethically and morally makes sense [for me to recuse myself], and I want to avoid a potential false portrayal of my intentions. I have a lot of pride in the work I’ve done in the SGA since sophomore year and I don’t want that possibly misconstrued because of this situation.”
While the constitution does not address the issue of recusal due to a conflict of interest, it does say that “if a member of the Committee has brought the charges, said member must recuse themselves. In such a case, the Chair of the Impeachment Committee shall select another member of the Student Senate to replace said member.”
A highly anticipated meeting
Various members of the SGA have been communicating with each other and with administrators about the impeachment process this week, but the matter has yet to come up at an official senate meeting. Vijayakumar hopes the upcoming meeting on Sunday, Dec. 8 — the last meeting of the fall semester — will give everyone a chance to be heard.
“I want all members of senate to be able to express their opinions, but to also take in the opinions of others. What I do not want is for this discussion of my abilities to splinter us as an organization,” she said. “It would be a shame if a conversation about me detracts from our credibility as an institution or reduces our ability to continue serving students’ best interests.”
Platt expressed his desire to make sure everyone is on the same page after a week of rumors and confusion about the process.
He also expressed his support for Vijayakumar on the basis of her work ethic, citing the progress she has made building relationships between SGA and administrators and her progress on forming a spring action plan.
“I think her track record speaks for itself, and I can say with complete confidence that starting over this summer she’s worked unbelievably hard to dedicate herself to this position,” he said. “I think ideally we can use this as an opportunity to reset as a unit, to make sure that we acknowledge the work that Varsha has done, and also just to improve communications with the body.”
Sunday’s SGA Senate meeting will occur in Axinn 220 at 3 p.m. and is open to the public.
This is a developing story and will be updated as necessary.
(12/05/19 11:00am)
A couple weeks ago, an email popped up in your Middlebury inbox from the Office of the President. In it, President Patton introduced the student handbook’s new Policy on Open Expression (section A.5) and revised Demonstration Regulations (section C.4). As Patton outlined in her email, these new documents replace the old Demonstrations and Protests policy and represent the culmination not only of a host of open meetings, but two policy drafts (one released November 18, 2018 and a second on May 19, 2019).
You might not have read the new policies. We don’t blame you (after clicking on the link, our own impulse was to retreat fairly quickly, cowed by multiple pages of sub-clauses and hyperlinks). Still, we think what’s there — FAQ, resource page and all — is worth your time.
For one thing, we applaud the administration’s willingness to engage with criticism of previous drafts. A lot of students’ and faculty members’ feedback was acknowledged and included in the alterations. For instance, the new policy loosens restrictions prohibiting college staff from participating in protests, acknowledging that staff, too, have the right to open expression.
On that note, we deeply appreciate the new policy’s acknowledgement of the value of protest and expression. Where the old C.4 policy briefly affirmed that members of the Middlebury community “should always be free to support causes by orderly means,” and then turned immediately to the more legal and punitive stipulations of the protest policy, the new Policy on Open Expression devotes multiple paragraphs to the importance and legitimacy of peaceful protest and demonstration. It even recognizes that learning “occurs inside and outside the classroom, often involving public speech and action through which people affirm and enact their values” — allowing, in other words, that student activism and protest are not only important, but vital, educating tools for bringing about change on campus.
Finally, we applaud the new policy for its thoroughness. Sure, there are too many documents and pages for most students to parse through en route to class, or in between lengthy political science readings. Still, we appreciate the edifying impulse behind the FAQ’s lengthy itemization of “non-substantially disruptive acts,” and the list of links on the “Resources on Speech and Inclusion” page. We also appreciate the policy’s clear detailing of consequences for violating policy; now, students can go online and determine the fairly specific repercussions of certain actions. A student who is “warned, asked to leave, refuses and/or must be escorted or arrested by law enforcement officers,” for instance, will “ordinarily” face “probationary status to letter of official college discipline, depending on the severity of the disruption.”
To clarify: We don’t think the new policies are perfect. In fact, as student journalists, we’re sort of dying to give them an edit. Not only is the language difficult to decipher, but at times the policies read almost as though they were intentionally written to be vague or convoluted. We understand that college documents often adopt an elevated tone. But as policies primarily geared at student activists (not to mention, published as part of the student handbook), shouldn’t they be written with a student audience in mind? Unnecessarily elevated or vague language only reinforces the confusion and disconnect between students and the administration which often surrounds Middlebury protests in the first place. To that end, we’d also scrap some of the more jargon-y additions — phrases like “robust public sphere” more closely resemble the stuff of admissions pamphlets than they do concise, clear protest policy. Most student readers are less interested in sweeping statements of purpose and more interested in concrete details about how to stand up for what they believe in without incurring major consequences.
And then there’s the question of the policy itself. Taken together, the revised C.4 and new A.5 bring with them a couple of significant changes for Middlebury students activists. Now, student protesters are required not only to submit an “Event Scheduling Request,” but to sit down with the event management office and Public Safety to review any relevant policies or issues. While clauses like these don’t differ too much from the stuff of other colleges’ policies (Amherst, for instance, likewise makes students register with either college police, student activities or events), only time will tell how the new rules will play out in Middlebury’s own activist culture. In the event that these policies aren’t effective on Middlebury’s campus, we hope the administration remains responsive to feedback going forward.
To that end, we encourage students not only to continue to voice their opinions on the policies in question, but to hold the college accountable to the promises and values included in them. The FAQ states, for instance, that Middlebury is committed to an “everyday ethic of inclusion” and seeks to “make Middlebury a place where everyone’s voice can be heard.” That’s great, but begs the question — how? Statements like those would benefit from the same kind of specificity that was used to distinguish “substantive” from “non-substantive” disruption, or that which was used to outline potential consequences. Just as a multitude of conversations went into the creation of the new policies, so too should many more conversations arise from them.
In the wake of these new policies, Director of Public Safety Lisa Burchard is offering an inaugural J-Term workshop about “Activism on Campus.” Like the new policies, we think this workshop constitutes a step in the right direction. Again, we appreciate Public Safety’s willingness to engage with the subject. That said, the course description reads as slightly prescriptive; we’re not so sure Public Safety knows what constitutes “effective” protesting any better than we do. We hope the workshop looks more like a two-sided, mutually-instructive conversation, rather than a top-down lecture or course. We also hope that, if enough students show interest, Public Safety expands the course (or makes the information available elsewhere).
At the end of the day, students and administrators’ definitions of what constitutes “effective”— even acceptable — protesting will likely always differ. In the wake of the Murray and Legutko incidents, however, it’s especially important that the administration make their guidelines and policies as clear and accessible as possible. It’s equally important that students do their homework to understand the risks they’re taking and the consequences they’re incurring.
It’s also worth noting that not all effective student protesting takes place within guidelines. The recent Harvard-Yale football game protest reaffirmed that there are causes, like climate change, whose importance outstrips any kind of administration-imposed consequence. Often, breaking rules or coming up with creative methods of protest represent powerful statements in themselves. Still, it’s worth familiarizing yourself with the rules (not to mention, ensuring that those rules seem fair). That way, you can stand confidently behind whatever statement you’re making, and how.
(12/05/19 10:56am)
Over the past several months, anti-government protests in places like Hong Kong and Iraq have made headlines across the globe. High schoolers on almost every continent have held strikes against climate inaction. This rising global tension is proof of the urgency of our current socioeconomic and environmental reality. Yet while activists’ rhetoric is inspiring, a kind of dissonance lodges in my chest every morning as I scan the headlines. I look around Middlebury’s campus and suddenly feel so separate from the rest of the planet. I wonder what we as students are doing with our time on this campus. I wonder what future we are learning, working and paying for.
As Middlebury students, we are on a trajectory to live the majority of our lives in a global state of climate and socioeconomic emergency. I therefore wonder why we are often not being trained for and encouraged to live lives of consequence, lives that can adapt to the crisis and maybe even work to mitigate its worst impacts. Middlebury’s mission, after all, is to “prepare students to… address the world’s most challenging problems,” is it not?
[pullquote speaker="" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]The status quo on campus is to ignore the urgency of the climate crisis[/pullquote]
And yet it feels like the status quo on campus is to ignore the urgency of the climate crisis (as well as the socioeconomic inequities that exacerbate the climate crisis and disproportionately distribute its impacts). Most of the time, Middlebury continues to uphold business-as-usual practices in conflict with the upswell of catastrophe and civic action outside of our collegiate bubble. As students, we often do not question the most important decisions of our lives — majors, career paths, purpose in life — in the context of the urgent socioeconomic and environmental crisis. Instead, the values of another generation color our professional goals: sustainable (and often cushy) salaries, some level of status and maybe even happiness or passion. While those values are all valid, there is a part of this equation that is severely lacking: the pursuit of a positive socioeconomic and environmental impact.
Often, students accept suggestions as to what an appropriate profession to strive towards may be, without space for reflection on the impact of those professions on the planet. I’ve had a professor encourage my class to apply for internships for consulting firms that analyze the economics of antitrust cases on behalf of firms being sued for antitrust practices. Our own Center for Careers and Internships invites recruitment officers from Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo to recruit fresh talent for their profit-centered business operations. In fact, so far this year, there have been almost twice as many finance, consulting, and business events (~17) hosted by the CCI as there have been social impact events (~9).
On the other hand, there are professors and recruitment officers who challenge the status quo. These individuals encourage students to reflect on their potential socioeconomic and environmental impacts, as they believe that Middlebury’s job is to prepare us for lives of social and environmental consequence. For instance, one of my professors encouraged my classmates and I to work for the DOJ, breaking up mergers and acquisitions and empowering consumers in a neoliberal socioeconomic landscape. Another professor assigned a semester-long philosophy project wherein we engaged with community partners that incorporate a perennialist, regenerative philosophy into their practices. Another professor invited a Green Corps recruitment officer to our class to encourage my classmates and I to attend their organizing school upon graduation. And there are countless other professors and staff who encourage us to research the effects of climate change, work for the state or federal government, write for publications that speak truth to power, or use our disciplines to affect change in other ways.
Still, these professors should not act alone. I believe it is the role of individual faculties and the broader College to contextualize each discipline in the future climate and socioeconomically affected world. Curricula itself must change, addressing questions that will become increasingly relevant in a world of climate and socioeconomic chaos. For instance, how does environmental degradation impact the human body? How can we restructure the global economy to respond to resource scarcity resulting from declining crop yields? How can we use art to move people towards personal and political change? Likewise, the CCI must view their mission as channeling students towards socioeconomic and environmentally-minded futures.
However, it is not just on the college; students should take initiative and use our talents to create counter-hegemonic art, engineer batteries for solar power, run for office on a progressive climate platform. It does not matter what your major or passion is. Many of us are lucky to have the resources, opportunity and talent; it is now time to change what it means to be a Middlebury College alum.
As David Roberts said, “This [climate crisis] is a fucking emergency.” We should be obligated to ourselves, each other and the planet to choose professional lives that result in positive social, economic and environmental impacts and to view our talents and interests as vehicles through which we all can begin to tackle the climate and socioeconomic crisis. Middlebury should emphasize, not shrink away from that obligation. It should even fundamentally change its mission as we propel ourselves into an irrevocably-altered future.
Emily Thompson is a member of the class of 2022.
(12/05/19 10:52am)
As a geology professor at Middlebury College, I am proud to be involved with the “Energy2028” initiative, which seeks to switch entirely to renewable energy and reduce overall energy consumption at the college by 25%. A major part of reaching 100% renewable energy is the 5 MW solar array being developed by Encore Renewables on ~28 acres of college land located between South Street Extension and Route 30. The originally proposed site was nearly perfect, situated in a broad valley about a half mile southwest of the road. With mature trees to the east and west, the vast tract of steel and silicon would have been well hidden from all angles. I was pleased with the initial site when I visited it two months ago. Unfortunately, subsequent engineering tests revealed that the area contains shallow bedrock and some wetlands that would require additional engineering work, thus driving up the cost of the project. As a result, Encore is now seeking to move the project eastward, to a site with zero natural shielding and entirely unobstructed sightlines from South Street Extension. Thus our beloved Energy2028 has arrived at what is becoming, for environmentalists, an all-too-familiar conflict — pitting Vermont’s stunning natural aesthetic against the footprint of renewable energy that we so desperately need to fight climate change.
In my opinion, the new site adjacent to South Street Extension is NOT appropriate for a 28-acre solar array. When you drive, run or bike around the area, the landscape takes your breath away. Broad fields stretch to the horizon, dotted with trees and marsh grasses glowing gold under the low sun of a November afternoon. This working agricultural landscape is a nearly 200 year-old historic relic; too large to fit in the Sheldon Museum alongside the linens and rocking chairs, but worthy of preservation nonetheless. Until now these lands have been preserved due to Middlebury College’s remarkable legacy of land stewardship, which began with the vision of Joseph Battell. Battell understood the aesthetic value of landscapes and was not afraid to put real money behind them as he amassed and protected land in the late 1800s before donating vast tracts to the college. He famously said: “Some folks pay $10,000 for a painting and hang it on the wall where their friends can see it, while I buy a whole mountain for that much money and it is hung up by nature where everybody can see it and it is infinitely more handsome than any picture ever painted.” A desire to preserve beautiful landscapes can be more than NIMBYism; instead, it is a recognition that natural aesthetic beauty has value and is worth preserving.
I thus urge the college and town to use their considerable leverage and persuade Encore renewables to build either on the originally proposed site, or a comparably shielded one. They should ask Encore for a detailed financial analysis showing the difference in cost between the two sites. Even a cost well into the six figures would be a relatively small amount of money when amortized over the minimum 25-year lifespan of this multi-million dollar solar array. Although the 28 acres in question could theoretically be returned to pasture in 25 years after the first set of solar panels wears out, it seems more likely that we are constructing a permanent power station that will take one more slice of aesthetic beauty away from our children and grandchildren. Without fighting for responsible land planning, the beautiful landscape that we all value will evolve slowly towards the sprawling suburban development that characterizes other parts of the state and country. Instead, let us accept the extra cost to do this project right and create a legacy (and landscape!) we can be proud of. I am guessing Joseph Battell would consider it money well spent.
Will Amidon is a geology professor at Middlebury.
(11/21/19 11:01am)
This past Wednesday, many Midd students like myself were likely confused when an email with the subject line “Changing But Not Saying Goodbye” landed in their inboxes. In it, Sugarbush Resort owner Win Smith explained that Summit Ventures NE LLC had agreed to sell the majority of its Sugarbush assets to Alterra Mountain Company. Alterra currently owns 14 ski resort destinations in North America and 27 around the world on their Ikon Pass. The price of the transaction, which should wrap up in early January 2020, was not disclosed, as the company is privately held. “Sugarbush Resort is a premier East Coast mountain destination and we are excited to expand the Alterra Mountain Company family in the Northeast, with Sugarbush joining Stratton in Vermont,” Rusty Gregory, Alterra’s CEO, said in a press release.
Addressing the “Sugarbush Community,” Smith wrote of the considerations and emotions that went into the decision, describing it as walking his daughter down the aisle at her wedding. “I have tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat knowing that I am about to give away someone I have raised and loved. Looking down the aisle, however, I am delighted to see someone waiting who will also love, respect and care for her as I have done,” he wrote.
Smith explained that the Sugarbush team will remain in place, and Alterra will not seek to change the culture or values of Sugarbush. Smith’s family, along with three others, purchased the resort 18 years ago from the American Skiing Company and throughout the years have turned down offers to sell Sugarbush.
Smith cited the challenges arising in the ski industry, including climate change and the cost of doing business in Vermont. He also discussed how the multi-resort season pass has altered the industry, and Sugarbush will have an increasing amount of trouble competing against Vail Resorts, Alterra Mountain Company, and other large corporations. He referenced the acquisition of Peak Resorts by Vail as the tipping point in his decision.
Students expressed their initial reactions to the acquisition. “Growing up skiing on the East Coast, I always felt like each mountain I skied at had a unique almost family-like quality to it,” said Philip Klinck ’20, a member of Middlebury’s ski patrol. “Unfortunately, it’s harder and harder for ski resorts to cut it on the East Coast these days for a number of reasons, and so we are seeing a lot of acquisitions and buyouts.”
In an article published in VT Ski+Ride, Smith stated that he “expects Alterra to bring the sort of resources that fuel innovation,” and increase Sugarbush’s purchasing power and ability to provide substantial resources, including employee healthcare. Ben Arquit ’20, also a member of Middlebury’s Ski Patrol, echoes Smith’s hopes in his reaction to the acquisition. “The positives to these acquisitions are that mountains get proven management and benefits from the big corporations,” he said, citing things like being able to make snow in the early season and thus open earlier. “The downsides are that smaller mountains may lose their small mountain charm that many locals have grown to love. In addition, the management may not be as responsive to complaints/suggestions from skiers as they were before,” Arquit said.
Though such a phenomenon is a common worry when large corporations expand their influence, Smith assured members of the Sugarbush Community that he “[has] no plans to retire to a gated golf community in Florida and still plan[s] to ski at least 100 days this season and in many more years to come.” Gregory also has experience running independent operations with local followings. Prior to his current role as CEO of Alterra, he served as CEO of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area in Mammoth Lakes, California for 20 years. According to Gregory, Sugarbush’s “fiercely independent spirit, unique brand and loyal clientele” made it a match for Alterra.
Smith will stay on and manage the resort at a minimum through the transition, which, coupled with Gregory’s past experience with local ski areas, should somewhat mitigate the loss of a local feel. “As someone who grew up skiing at Sugarbush, I really feel like I know the mountain and the culture that they have been trying to create in the Mad River Valley. I hope that Alterra recognizes what is special about Sugarbush and will do their best to shield those things from what I’m sure will be a number of big changes,” Klinck said.
(11/21/19 10:59am)
Veganism — perhaps the biggest thing in 2019 after the movement to storm Area 51 and the Keanu Reeves Renaissance. Fast food chains are producing vegan burgers with meat-free patties, and a recent Economist article showed that sales of vegan food “rose ten times faster than food sales as a whole.” Today, about 3% of the U.S. population identify as vegan, and this number is growing, especially among Millennials and Gen Z’s, according to a Gallup poll in 2018. Does this mean that all of us should go vegan? We can turn to economics for an answer.
In deciding whether to eat vegan, we should first consider whether it is what we want. As consumers, we make decisions to buy based on our individual preferences. Choosing to switch our diets depends on our preferences defined by a number of factors: our taste for vegan food, the extent of our value for our health and the environment, etc. The utility — or pleasure — we get from leading a vegan life will determine whether we ultimately decide to lead this lifestyle.
Of course, this assumes that we are perfectly aware of our preferences, which is not always the case. Martin Abel,Professor of Economics said: “People may not have tried vegan food, or have misconceptions. [This is] the ‘status quo bias’ - a tendency to stick with the familiar.” Preferences can also fluctuate depending on tastes and opinions, and perhaps more subtly, exogenous factors, such as advertising, the media, norms and exposure.
We know our preferences; still, whatever our preferences are, we are limited by scarcity. Thus, our decision to become vegan also depends on whether it is possible for us. Typically, economists identify cost as a constraint. According to a study by Diana Cassady, Professor of Public Health Sciences at the University of California, Davis, low-income Americans would have to spend 43% to 70% of their food budget on fruits and vegetables. A large part of this is because the locations where many low-income Americans shop are convenience stores rather than supermarkets and grocery stores. Not only do convenience stores tend not to provide fresh produce, constraining access, but those that do tend to charge more.
[pullquote speaker="Jackson Evans '22" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]I didn’t like the taste of meat and that killing animals wasn’t really something I wanted to support[/pullquote]
At the same time, a large reason why stores can afford to overcharge or simply not supply vegan options is due to the lack of demand for these products. Economic theory suggests, however, that if more people begin demanding vegan food, the price of these products will increase. However, producers — farmers, restaurants and stores — will see this as an opportunity to profit and enter the market. As a result, the supply of vegan food would increase, offsetting the price and making vegan options more affordable. This also addresses the unemployment argument, where veganism will lead to a huge surge of unemployment in the meat industry; while this is true, it is also important to understand the jobs that may open up in place.
Then, the question becomes whether we should go vegan. Jackson Evans ’22 states that animal treatment was a large motivator his decision to go vegan four years ago. “I didn’t like the taste of meat and that killing animals wasn’t really something I wanted to support,” Evans said. In economics, these moral and environmental costs are referred to as externalities.
Recent research from the University of Oxford has shown that veganism is “the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth.” Using a “vegan calculator” to figure out the marginal effect of going vegan, one year of veganism could save 7,436 pounds of CO2 from being released, and 401,766 gallons of water. There is also the humanitarian factor, which Evans cited earlier to be industrial farming. Industrial farming reflects the inhumane conditions of the farms, including overcrowding, abuse of antibiotics for stress and illness and breeding for fast growth or high yield of meat. Technology has made farming all-too-efficient, which can be illustrated through a U.S. Department of Agriculture report, citing total commercial red meat production in September 2019 alone at 4.44 billion pounds. While animal welfare is not included in the traditional economic welfare framework, there should be lots of thought given to how living beings are treated, and how this could reflect our own wellbeing and welfare.
So should we go vegan? It really depends on our preferences, constraints and how we will affect those around us if we don’t. Then, how about Midd’s dining halls? We’ve already seen Meatless Mondays take over Proctor and Ross, and word is going around that Atwater will be increasing vegan food production in J-Term (see News, Page 2).
First, let’s start thinking about the preferences of the dining halls. Dining Services’ preferences are likely most focused on foot traffic. Granted, a dining hall that is all vegan would likely lose a significant number of student diners; however, if the kitchen were able to build a menu that appeals to students regardless of being vegan, this could alleviate the loss of non-vegans. Next, we turn to constraint. Finally, we can look at how becoming vegan will affect others. Environmentally, it will have a significant impact, saving hundreds of thousands of gallons of water and pounds of CO2 gas. By going vegan, the dining halls could change the dining habits of Middlebury students. Remember the status quo bias from before? Abel suggests that this change could transform students’ preferences: “[People can] discover their preferences… by being forced to experiment and try and develop new habits.” As a result, more students could decide to go vegan. Evans described this to be the case when he first got to Middlebury: “[H]ere when all the options are there, it’s simple and is congruous with my thoughts on not hurting animals, and attempting to mitigate our climate disaster.
(11/14/19 11:00am)
This past weekend, members of the Middlebury community had the opportunity to express their hopes and concerns for downtown development during the Town’s “Planapalooza.” Over the course of four days, Planapalooza held several events to bring public input into the development of the new Middlebury Downtown Master Plan. “Planapalooza” is a distinct strategy of Town Planning and Urban Design Collaborative (TPUDC), the firm leading the project.
TPUDC is the lead consultant working to develop the master plan with the Middlebury Planning Commission led by Town Planner Jennifer Murray. Brian Wright, principal and founder of the firm, said that Middlebury is receiving grants from the Vermont Agency of Transportation and the Vermont Clean Water Initiative Fund.
The firm is employing charette, a style of planning characterized by intense periods of design and planning activity that stresses collaboration and conversation, to emphasize transparency and public participation. TPUDC has used this process in several other college towns including Lewiston, Maine and Manchester, N.H.
Planapalooza events included focus group sessions on Saturday morning, and a pin-up presentation Saturday evening. In addition to meetings, TPUDC held Open Studio hours in their temporary office on 51 Main St., encouraging community participation and input for this long-term project.
Emily Wright has been with the firm for 14 years and mentions how she specifically enjoys working with Vermont towns because it is wonderful to see people who “love and care for the surrounding nature.” On Saturday, Nov. 10, the planning group held a Sustainability and Resiliency meeting open to the public; one of the main topics discussed was how Middlebury should confront the current climate crisis.
Steve Maeir, a concerned citizen, said Middlebury needs a vision. “We need to set enforceable goals to meet the requirements of Paris climate accord and support a transition to an economy that is no longer based on fossil fuels,” he said. Maeir acknowledged, however, that this transition may put economic, political and social pressures on communities, and it may even “compromise certain aspects of business and ways of life.”
Maeir thinks the college is taking steps in the right direction with its Middlebury Energy2028 plan, the college’s commitment to transitioning to using only renewable energy to power and heat its central campus. The college should “continue to be more aggressive in its footprint” and keep setting examples for the entire town, he said.
Another focal point of the weekend was transportation and mobility. TPUDC’s data review found that 81% of downtown customers drive to the downtown area, which citizens acknowledged heightens parking concerns and highlights the need to improve transportation. Eli Madden, a Middlebury resident of 36 years, believes safe pedestrian and biking infrastructure is important for environmental safety reasons, but also for social justice and community development.
“Our most vulnerable community members often have to walk or ride bikes, not by choice, and often at busy, dark times of day,” he said, mentioning missed opportunities for modern infrastructure like a bike lane on the Cross Street Bridge, which was completed in 2010 and partially funded by the college. Madden also discussed inadequate sidewalk clearance and visibility. Several citizens mentioned poor snow plowing that endangered pedestrians and cyclists.
Madden believes that students at the college “have an opportunity here to help get some good results and make some real change.” He said that students, many of who have bikes, can pressure the town and college to adopt modern guidelines for all future projects, and can vote in selectboard elections.
Charlotte Tate, associate director at the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs, has worked in Middlebury since 1992 and walks from the college to the Co-op four times a week. Tate echoed similar concerns to Madden, saying a “pedestrian friendly downtown” is necessary if the town wants to attract more students, families and residents shopping and eating locally.
Residents were divided as to what types of stores should comprise the downtown area. Catherine Nichols said the loss of Ben Franklin is felt by the community and that the general store was well-loved. According to focus group participants, having an affordable, successful shop like the general store downtown could be another way to increase student and resident traffic through the town.
In the public pin-up and review presentation on Saturday night, TPUDC recapped the concerns citizens expressed over the past few days and presented potential areas for improvement. Attendees were also part of a visual preference survey, where consultants presented pictures of houses and residents were asked if they liked a particular style in the context of Middlebury. Later in the evening, John Stover, the economic developer from Washington, DC hired by Wright, proposed possible solutions and plans of action to address these concerns.
As part of their process, TPUDC spoke with the owners of dozens of downtown stores like the Marquis Theater, and were surprised to hear that students rarely were their customers. In order to address this issue, Stover spoke with college representatives about the potential for students’ declining balance to be accepted at downtown stores or even finding a way to include restaurant meals in our meal plan. After speaking with both parties, Stover said both “Middlebury store owners and the college did not seem opposed to the idea.”
Amazon has had an impact on downtown businesses, as many students prefer to shop online out of convenience. As Amazon continues to dominate and grow e-commerce, downtown businesses have lost a large portion of their student customer base. One proposal mentioned in the Saturday night pin-up was to have college Amazon deliveries be sent directly to Amazon lockers in town instead, requiring students go downtown to pick up their Amazon packages.
When Becca Brownstein ’23 was asked what she thought about extending the swipe system to downtown restaurants, she said, “I definitely think that will encourage students to go into downtown more as budgeting is often a concern and declining balances make it easy to track spending on food.” Becca said Amazon Lockers could be an inconvenience for students, especially during winter months. However, she said that “if the circumstances of this shift are explained to students in the larger context” of supporting and growing local businesses, “then people would be more likely to be receptive of the idea.”
The firm is prioritizing housing density downtown, riverfront development and stormwater improvements in its plan. Community members applauded the firm’s intent to incorporate green infrastructure to better manage runoff for pedestrians and drivers. In terms of riverfront development, Wright saw Bakery Lane as a point of major potential with the possibility of developing a mixed-use area and a more scenic river walk.
Multiple longtime residents expressed their belief that Middlebury has a history of projecting its commitment to sustainability without following through on these ideals. The new plan, therefore, presents a new opportunity to prioritize sustainability in future developments.
Resident Leslie Caer Amadora agreed with the fact that Middlebury needs some structural and strategic renovations. However, she stressed the importance of maintaining the town’s character throughout this process by “creating an infrastructure that holds the webbing to connect and diversify our town.”
Following Planapalooza, community members will have more opportunities to voice their ideas. A closing presentation, previously scheduled for Monday, Nov. 11 will now take place on Friday, Nov. 15 due to snow. The firm’s data will be refined during the winter and a draft plan will be delivered in the spring, with a targeted delivery date of July 2020. More information on the creation of the Town Master Plan can be found at townofmiddlebury.org.
(11/07/19 10:56am)
I often wind up at the mouth of the Mediterranean on Sunday nights. The 30 minute walk from my apartment to Mar Bella beach was the first route I memorized. As someone who scoffs at google maps but has possibly the worst sense of direction ever, this was a symbolic feat. Despite leaving a permanent trail of sand through my cramped apartment, my weekly chats with the sea have become grounding rituals and have marked my time in Barcelona.
My first Rosh Hashanah away from Vermont, I ate apples and honey at the beach. When a friend visited last month, I insisted we plunge into the ocean before catching the last train home. And, it has become my preferred place to call my mom, meet new friends, or star gaze.
I spent my first night at the beach during La Mercè, a week long festival that celebrates Catalan culture and traditional art. As one of three international students at Eolia Conservatory of Dramatic Art, La Mercè was the perfect introduction to Barcelona. Celebrating with my Catalan classmates gave me a deep appreciation for my temporary home, a city that is bursting with culture and beauty.
After watching a dance show outside the Arc de Triomf and scarfing down a plate of patatas bravas — crispy potatoes and aioli (in other words, my current replacement for Grille fries), my class headed to Mar Bella. We put down our blankets and began an obligatory “get to know you” round of Spanglish “never have I ever.” But after several calimochos (a surprisingly tolerable combination of cheap red wine and Coca Cola), the conversation turned more serious. My classmates’ love for Catalonia is contagious, but they also fear for its future and the state of democracy in Spain.
Catalonia has a complicated political history, fraught with oppression and cultural silencing. As Spain’s financial crisis has pushed Catalonia into debt, the desire to secede has become urgent. Catalonia generates tremendous revenue for Spain (at least relative to its size) and many feel that the partnership between the region and the country is unequal. In 2017, Catalan Seperatist leaders held an independence referendum, and 90% voted to cut ties with Spain. However, the referendum saw low voter turnout, and was deemed illegal by the central Spanish government. Madrid imposed direct rule over Catalonia, and protest erupted in response. In 2017, nine Catalan leaders (charged for rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds) were detained for pre-trial. My classmates explained that this was a breach of laws protecting free speech. Thus ensued a fight to defend democracy in Spain, rather than simply an argument over Separatism.
Several weeks ago, the nine Catalan leaders were sentenced to 100 cumulative years in prison. The news broke during my Monday morning Shakespeare seminar. Mentally, I had left class 15 minutes prior and was silently rehearsing a scene for my next class. I snapped to attention when news alert pings dominoed through the classroom. Democracy had been challenged and Barcelona’s political climate would change indefinitely. Protests began immediately, rendering my internal scene study trivial. Classes halted the 72 hours preceding a general strike. Students led the movement, staging demonstrations on an unprecedented scale. That week trash cans burned around my block, as marching continued through the night and helicopters flew overhead.
With classes canceled, I had time to fill. I protested with my classmates, at their request. But I also drank coffee with international friends, among whom the political crisis became background noise. Inhabiting these two seemingly different worlds has been confusing, and raised questions about my role as a foreigner. Though a fight for democracy is at the heart of the movement, it feels complex to march along seas of Catalan flags, far from the security of home. Still, disengaging from the conflict is impossible when smoke spirals toward my window and sirens scream through the night.
The beach became eerily quiet the week of heavy protesting. I wish I could say the silence has given way to profound personal discovery, or that a higher calling has led me to fight for democracy and change. I haven’t settled on anything that concrete yet. But, I have come to realize that outside isolated communities (like Middlebury) there is no place for apathy.
To enjoy Catalonia’s beaches, I must also try to understand the needs of its people.
My class celebrated our friend’s birthday at Mar Bella last weekend. The scene echoed the night of La Mercè, and it momentarily felt like life had returned to normal since the sentencing. But in the midst of political revolution, there is no “normal.” The protests have altered the quality of life in Barcelona. Though the political current of the city has become less predictable, I still feel constantly grateful to be here. Catalonia’s beauty warrants a fight. Although I still don’t have answers about my personal role in the struggle right now, I do know my heart is with the Catalan youth who are brave, ready for change and willing to fight for it.
Becca Berlind is a member of the class of 2021. She is studying in Barçelona, Spain for the fall of 2019.
(10/31/19 10:03am)
After a decade-long crusade of student activism, Middlebury has begun its long march toward divestment. In a unanimous decision last January, the Board of Trustees approved Energy 2028—an ambitious and sweeping plan that promises certain reductions of the college’s environmental footprint in response to the mounting climate crisis. With the vote, the board set a timeline for meeting a series of environmentally-minded goals and initiatives.
(10/17/19 10:04am)
[caption id="attachment_46896" align="aligncenter" width="475"] COURTESY PHOTOLewis is the last remaining member of the “Big Six” civil rights leaders of the 1960s, along with Martin Luther King Jr., Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young Jr. and James Farmer Jr.[/caption]
“Hate is too heavy a burden to bear.”
This is one of the sentiments that U.S. Congressman John Lewis (D-Ga.) expressed when he spoke at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in Burlington on Monday, Oct. 7. The talk was also live streamed in the Mahaney Center for the Arts for students and community members who wanted to attend without leaving campus.
Lewis said his commitment to fight hate continues to drive his dedication to the civil rights movement. He visited Vermont to speak about his graphic novel trilogy, “March,” and how the stories relate to our current political and social climate.
“March,” co-authored by Andrew Aydin and illustrated by Nate Powell, is about Lewis and his life’s work as an activist. Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s radio broadcasts, Lewis highlights the challenges he faced and his journey to where he is today.
“March” is also the Vermont Reads selection for this year by the Vermont Humanities Council, one of the sponsors of the event.
Lewis, who was introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), spoke to a sold-out audience about the book, his experiences in the civil rights movement and its continuation today, growing up in rural Alabama and what he sees as modern social justice issue priorities.
Lewis is the last remaining member of the “Big Six” civil rights leaders of the 1960s, along with Martin Luther King Jr., Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, Whitney Young Jr. and James Farmer Jr. In the pursuit of social justice, Lewis has dedicated his life to nonviolent protests and activism. When Lewis was younger, he participated in the Freedom Rides to challenge public transportation segregation, and organized demonstrations to oppose segregation at lunch counters in Nashville, Tenn.
Lewis said that every year, he travels back to Alabama to retrace the route from Selma to Montgomery that he marched for human rights for people of color.
At the talk, Lewis recounted the dehumanization he felt as a child when he was denied a library card due to the color of his skin, and a memory of where he was beaten by police officers and woke up in the hospital with Martin Luther King, Jr. standing by his side.
Lewis has experienced multiple arrests and injuries over the years from his involvement in nonviolent protests. He considers each of his 45 arrests worthwhile — 40 of which took place in the 1960s, and another five of which occured since he was elected to congress.
At the event, Lewis emphasized the importance of nonviolent protesting, and the significance of using adversity as fuel for positive change.
“Those of us who got involved in the sit-ins in 1960 — we embedded, hard, the essence of [“March”] in our very souls,” he said.
“Every time we were beaten, arrested and jailed, we didn’t strike back,” Lewis continued. “We destroyed by sitting in.”
Melanie Chow ’22 attended the talk in Burlington with members of her Race, Rhetoric, and Protest class. She was moved by hearing Lewis speak — immediately after returning from the event, she ordered a copy of the book herself.
“A lot of people are activists when they’re younger and then they stop, but [Rep. Lewis] never did — he never stopped working, never stopped caring,” she said.
Chow felt the event added nuance to some of the history lessons students typically learn in school.
“We learn about the civil rights movement in history class in high school, but those lessons are his life,” she said. “He was there — he lived through those experiences, and it’s really inspiring.”
Olivia Peterson ’21, who attended the talk with her African American Literature class, expressed a similar sentiment.
“During Lewis’ talk I found myself repeatedly hit with the realization that the man on stage before me was actually there during the rise of the sit-ins, there for the Freedom Rides, for the March on Washington, for countless beatings and moments in between,” Peterson said, “This came as a vivid reminder of how recent the civil rights movement truly is.”
Peterson left feeling inspired by Lewis’ call to action.
“Hearing John Lewis advocate for making the ‘good and necessary’ kind of trouble is effectively a call to not get complacent in the comfort of being part of the dominant majority,” she said.
Lewis closed his speech by bringing attention to the current state of the nation, and the unruly attitudes that spew hatred toward American minorities.
“We’ve come a distance, but we still have a distance to go,” Lewis said. “Today in America, there are forces trying to take us back. We’ve come too far, and we’re not going back.”
“You have to make a little noise. You have to get in the way, and you have to get in good trouble, necessary trouble,” Lewis said of his experiences as an organizer. “When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation to say something, to do something, to speak up, and speak out.”
(10/17/19 10:03am)
Midterms are in full swing, fall break is right around the corner and Vermont’s renowned peak foliage has hit. The season is here, and with it comes brilliant bursts of color that define fall in New England. The Green Mountains show their seasonal red hue and blazing leaves wash the trees with a fiery touch.
Where can students find the best glimpse of fall? Middlebury’s landscape horticulturist Tim Parsons vouches for Snake Mountain.
“It should be a graduation requirement for all students to hike Snake Mountain, if able,” he said. Aside from this staple hike, Parsons recommended Bristol Cliffs and Mount Abraham.
For those staying on campus over break, Vermont Mountain’s Sports and Life ranks Hunger Mountain in Waterbury and Mad River Glen in Waitsfield as two of the top nine Vermont hikes for fall foliage.
Students can even appreciate the stunning scenery without lifting a finger. “Middlebury is a gorgeous campus with really beautiful trees!” Parsons said.
Indeed, Middlebury has seen scattered sights of foliage since mid-September. Although trees turn their leaves at various rates, early foliage is a sign of environmental stress. The first trees to turn are typically stressed or hurt.
“Even the top of that really big tree, there, that’s really stressed,” Parsons said, pointing to a particularly bright yellow tree by McCullough Student Center. “It’s my job to read trees.” The black maple tree species produces a radiant red tone that is crucial to Vermont fall. Black maples thrive in cold weather, whereas oak trees, with their dull, muted gold, are more apparent in areas south of Vermont. According to Parsons’ active social media presence, black maple trees’ peak foliage occurred about a week earlier this year than last.
“I posted almost that exact same picture last year, but a week or two earlier,” he said of his recent Instagram photo. “Two to three weeks ago, when I was seeing trees turn, that to me was a really bad sign.”
According to Parsons, foliage has also been affected by the wet weather throughout the past year. Persistent wetness has led to leaf spots, mildew and diseases. Although the difference goes unnoticed, the leaves are ridden with spots that stay brown rather than turn color.
Parsons, however, is not concerned for the foliage in upcoming years. Global climate change hasn’t disturbed the foliage quite yet, as foliage is prompted by daylight rather than temperature. As daylight becomes shorter, chlorophyll production slows, making way for the carotenoids that produce foliage colors.
That’s not to say foliage avoids responding to climate change altogether. “In the grand scheme of things, global warming might affect foliage in the long run,” Parsons said.
Environmental changes have degraded the quality of peak foliage this year. But to the bare eye, these minimal effects have not yet manifested to disrupt the spectacular fall views. Vermonters should enjoy them while they last, both in the short and long term.
“I’m saying leaves aren’t as good this year, but wow, they’re still great,” Parsons said.
(10/17/19 10:01am)
The Department of Public Safety (DPS) has been working on a plan over the past several months to update the college’s security systems before the end of this academic year.
The plan, introduced to the Middlebury community in an email on Sept. 24, will lead to the installation of an updated door swipe system and an undetermined number of stationary security cameras across campus — both measures scheduled to take effect this year. Administrators have also discussed the possibility of equipping public safety officers with wearable body cameras, but that measure has been only tentatively broached and will not be implemented this school year.
“Fundamentally, at the highest level, it’s about providing a safe environment for our students,” Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration David Provost said.
Discussions about installing stationary security cameras have taken place continuously over the past decade, according to Provost, as peer institutions have incorporated such cameras in their campus security plans in increasing numbers. Colleges like Colby, Bowdoin, Saint Michaels and University of Vermont have used cameras in past years. As recently as 2015, however, Community Council voted down a proposal to install cameras at Middlebury.
Administrators decided to proceed with a plan to install cameras this year because of a combination of community support — even the once-reluctant Community Council urged administrators to consider installing cameras in January — and a national climate that necessitated more stringent security measures. In the wake of several mass shootings nationwide in recent months, administrators began to consider ways to decrease the campus’ vulnerability, according to Provost.
Provost, Public Safety Director Lisa Burchard and DPS are still in the preliminary stages of devising the new security plan. Detailed “best practices,” the exact number of cameras and their locations, and policies around storage of stationary camera footage have yet to be determined.
Updated card access system
DPS has already begun upgrading the card access system used to regulate entrance into college buildings. DPS has been contracting with Minuteman, a Massachusetts-based security technologies firm, to add swipe pads to doors that haven’t had them in the past, like Old Chapel and the lower doors in Bicentennial Hall. Minuteman has previously installed security systems at Smith College, University of Massachusetts at Worcester and other Northeast colleges.
The new system will also give people who work in certain buildings jurisdiction over who can enter them with ID cards, removing some of that responsibility from DPS. DPS hopes to install the new Minuteman card access system by this December alongside the old system, before transitioning completely to the new system at the start of the spring semester.
Students will still be able to use their existing Middlebury ID cards once the new system has been installed.
“We don’t want people to think that the changes are going to suddenly overwhelm them,” Burchard said. “Most of the changes are going to happen within public safety.”
Stationary cameras
The September community email said that stationary cameras will be installed “beginning this winter.” But that timeframe was a rough estimate. Realistically, Provost said, students should not expect to see stationary cameras on campus until April or May of 2020. Though DPS has a sum of $10,000 allocated from its operating budget for the installation of cameras this year, a larger budget is needed before the plan can be carried out in full. Next year’s budget will not be finalized until May, so it’s unlikely that many cameras will be installed before the end of the spring, according to Provost.
DPS has yet to decide the exact locations and number of cameras. The Atwater parking lot, where cars have been broken into in recent months, is one site that Burchard identified as a likely candidate for an early-stage stationary camera — one that would be installed using the leftover $10,000.
Minuteman, the firm commissioned to upgrade the card-access system, will also work on installation of stationary cameras. This will allow for what Burchard describes as an “integrated” system between cameras and swipe systems.
Provost and Burchard acknowledged that the new plan would likely prompt student concerns about privacy, as discussions of cameras have done in the past. In 2015, for example, students voiced frustrations with plans to install cameras that emerged after a wave of vandalism.
Though they are still in the process of determining best practices, Burchard and Provost said definitively that camera footage would likely not be stored for more than 30 days. Stationary camera footage occupies huge amounts of space, Burchard said, and storing it for longer than a month would be impractical. She also said that camera footage will not be monitored 24/7, but will be consulted in the wake of a reported crime that is being investigated.
“By no means are we suggesting at all that this flies in the face of privacy,” Provost said. “This is about spaces that are most vulnerable, from our information as well as students’.”
Following recent instances of campus vandalism in some dorms, some facilities staff have voiced support for the security cameras.
“Hopefully this will cut down on vandalism,” Facilities Supervisor Wayne Hall said. “Over the last 10 years, my staff group has been reduced from 16 to 10. We have to cover more buildings than ever, and we don’t have time to fix things that don’t need to be fixed.”
Body cameras
Burchard said plans to equip public safety officers with wearable body cameras are in the “the very beginning discussion phases,” and that it is unlikely the college will implement these plans in the near future. She said that her staff remains unsure of camera model and exact policies around data storage and use of cameras by officers.
If they are implemented, Burchard said, body cameras will be part of an effort to increase transparency between DPS officers and the campus community.
“We want to improve the trust and transparency involved in the interactions when people have questions,” Burchard said.
Body cameras are implemented in many cases by police forces as tools to prevent racial profiling by officers. DPS officers have been accused of racial profiling in the past, such as when an officer alledegly racially profiled a non-white member of the faculty, according to a 2017 letter to the editor in The Campus.
Past camera controversies
Proposals to install stationary security cameras at Middlebury have surfaced repeatedly over the past two decades.
The 2015 plan to install cameras resulted in a spate of campus vandalism, according to a May 2015 report in The Campus. Graffiti sprayed around campus, some of it in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, had ignited a debate over whether or not to install cameras. In response to the proposed security response, some students spray-painted “no camera” graffiti at various locations.
An op-ed submitted by Beyond the Green in 2014 raised attention to the “hyper-policing” of minority people on and off Middlebury’s campus, urging students to consider who society teaches them to be worthy of policing.
“Certain bodies are already marked as scary and criminal before they have been ‘caught’ committing a crime: Black and Latino bodies have historically been watched on this campus, mirroring how they are hyper-policed in the ‘outside world,’” the piece reads.
The article goes on to recount an instance of a non-white, gender non-conforming student being confronted by Public Safety. The piece’s authors suggest that the student was confronted because their identity made them seem to have “something to hide,” arguing that “surveillance reinforces normative identities by making deviance ever visible.” Installation of stationary security cameras would continue to perpetuate such systems of oppression, the piece argues.
In an editorial published in April 2015, The Campus editorial board pointed to a surge in thefts as a reason for the installation of cameras, arguing that “there is a large divide between a police state and installing surveillance cameras to protect students’ belongings.”
Hall, the facilities director, remembered that when he was a member of staff council in the late 1990s, the Middlebury Openly Gay Alliance (which has since been disbanded) posted a bulletin board that was defaced several times. Staff Council discussed placing a camera in the location of the bulletin board, but student protests ended up shuttering the plan.
“The student responded was, ‘Big Brother’s watching. We don’t want it’,” Hall said.
Peer institutions
Many of Middlebury’s peer institutions have been using stationary security cameras for years. But few of them equip safety officers with wearable body cameras.
Bowdoin College has had a stationary camera system in place since 2000. A 2005 report on Bowdoin’s security surveillance network describes a system of 50 CVC-GANZ high-resolution digital color cameras that store video data for up to five weeks before deletion. The cameras were an “invaluable tool” in solving on-campus crimes, Bowdoin’s then-director of security said.
Colby College was one of the first schools to equip its public safety officers with wearable body cameras, according to Burchard. A July 2017 Patrol Procedures Summary for Colby’s security staff states that “body camera footage will be reviewed and interviews will be conducted by the Dean’s Office” in the event of a Colby student failing to show a security officer their ID upon request.
Burchard and Provost said that as plans for both stationary cameras and wearable body cameras develop, students, faculty and staff will have the opportunity to weigh in on the discussion through Community Council meetings and other forums.
(10/10/19 10:03am)
“People are obsessed with Middlebury” — even and especially after they leave the college, according to Professor of the Practice Erin Davis. As a co-producer of “Midd Moment,” along with Juliette Luini ’18.5 she’s encountered a fair number of Middlebury fans. “For a lot of alumni ,” she said, “this is a real part of their identity.”
The first episode of “Midd Moment” was released on Monday, Oct. 7. “Midd Moment” is a new podcast hosted by Laurie Patton in an effort to connect with the Middlebury alumni community. In the brief introduction to the podcast, Patton explains that many alumni are interested in “a direct link to the Middlebury community.” The podcast features a different guest each week, including professors, alumni and other people with connections to Middlebury. In addition to Middlebury Magazine, the podcast is another outlet for alumni to connect with the Middlebury community. “When you’re not here anymore or on one of Middlebury’s campuses, directly participating in Middlebury, they miss it,” Davis said.
Davis explained that the podcast aims to “continue to give people access to the stuff that you miss once you leave Middlebury.” When asked about student interest in the podcast, she said that it is geared toward alumni so she is uncertain how current students will respond to it, but hopes that they will listen to it and see what they think.
According to Davis, something she has taken away from producing the podcast is how much the college has given so many alumni. “There’re just people doing really cool stuff, who went to school here,” Davis said. “It’s really made clear to me what Middlebury has to offer. It’s an incredible springboard.”
Producing “Midd Moment” was a humbling experience, Davis said. As a Professor of the Practice at the college, Davis sees students pushing themselves academically “to the limit every day,” but hopes that they will develop skills that help them make a difference in the world.
“[Podcasts] have the potential to make you feel connected, to make you learn something new, or to feel something new by the time the podcast ends,” Davis said. She hopes that this will ring true for “Midd Moment” as well.
When planning the podcast, Davis said that they were considering how to make it more appealing to current students, yet it did not seem like an effective way to engage with them. The production team threw around ideas such as interviewing students, but those ideas all “felt false, like old people trying to appeal to young people,” Davis said.
Davis said that the producers of “Midd Moment” want to be representative of the diversity of alumni career paths. They tried to find a diverse group of alumni to talk to about their current endeavors and how the college has impacted their work. One of the interviewees, Bianca Giaever ’12.5, found success immediately after graduating, and now, several years later, continues to develop her voice in the film and radio world. Koby Altman ’04, the general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers, spent years coaching after he graduated from Midd. Another alumna, Julia Alvarez ’71, has been publishing successful novels for over 30 years.
The first episode featured Environmental Studies Scholar in Residence Bill McKibben. McKibben, one of the world’s leading environmentalists, opens the episode by saying “I’m not convinced that there’s any institution in the world that’s produced more people doing more interesting things in the environmental world than Middlebury.” President Patton and McKibben discuss the college’s environmental initiatives, including the Energy 2028 plan and the college’s plan to divest completely from fossil fuels. Patton asks McKibben what he thinks needs to be done to change people and institutions to actively and effectively combat climate change and hey discuss the importance of individual responsibility and group action. According to McKibben, the key to effective action is in “individuals deciding to become a little less individual and joining together in movements large enough to make some difference.”
“I hope it scratches the itch that alumni feel to be reconnected to Middlebury,” Davis said. “So I hope that they can read the magazine and feel connected, I hope they can listen to the podcast and feel connected, I think it’s just another way for people to connect.”
This season of the podcast features 11 episodes with different guests each week. The podcast airs on Mondays.
(10/10/19 10:03am)
“I have a confession: I am a true romantic. I fervently believe in happily ever after and true love always,” Professor Laurie Essig of the Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies (GSFS) Department read to supporters of her newest book, “Love, Inc.”
“I am also a cynic,” Essig said. “I have a sinking feeling that romance blinds us with fairy dust.”
The audience of college students and Vermonters gathered at Stonecutter Spirits on Friday, Oct. 4, for “Love Stinks: 80s Rock Ballads + Laurie Essig’s Love Inc.,” an evening in which Essig deconstructed the “romantic industrial complex.” It seemed fitting that the event was held at a local, female-owned business that also temporarily houses a female-owned vintage pop-up shop called Reel Vintage. Co-hosted by Womensafe and Planned Parenthood NNE, the event sought to envision the feminist future Essig advocates for in “Love, Inc.”
Situated between barrels of gin and whiskey and racks of vintage clothing, Essig imparted her argument to the Blundstone-donned audience: the further capitalism drives the world towards environmental, economic and political chaos, the more society is driven towards the romance industry as a coping mechanism.
She began her argument with a tale of matrimony rendered sensational due to the then-modern technology of the mid-19th century. Queen Victoria’s white wedding was the first of its kind to become popularized by telegraph, a technology that allowed for the beginning of a cultural obsession with white virginal dresses, wedding rings and the tale of happily-ever-afters. Essig fast-forwarded to the 20th century era of Reaganomics (where all roads seem to lead), which was born amidst the global fascination (read: distraction) with Princess Diana and Prince Charles’s elaborate white wedding in 1981.
Instead of critiquing trickle-down economics and consequently engaging in productive civil discourse, as Essig might have preferred, the American public was being sold an idea of romantic bliss only made possible with the purchase of a wedding priced at — on average — $32,641 as of 2016. She notes that we continue to drug ourselves with romantic falsehoods to this day. Deconstructing the “dream[s] about a land of (white) plenty” in bestselling romance novels like “Twilight” and “Fifty Shades of Grey,” Essig argued that these books teach readers to value the attainment of unrealistically wealthy, white, heterosexual lifestyles.
Essig did not eschew “romantic” connection itself but rather urged the emotional and spiritual connection with another human being to be the foundation for positive change. She encouraged people to focus on this concept of love as opposed to false, purchased marital harmony that distracts us and drains our wallets. When asked by an audience member how to combat capitalism through our romantic lives, Essig jokingly responded,“Canvassing together works really well.”
On a more serious note, however, Essig urged her audience to not mistake her for propagating singleness and apathy as cures to this phenomenon, nor does she believe that wallowing in scientific projections of the climate crisis is a productive use of our time and mental capacity. “A future is possible — that’s the most romantic thing you can think.” Essig encouraged the audience to realize that the romantic future we all desire cannot be achieved just by spending an average of $2,379 on fresh flowers for their wedding celebration.
“I don’t see love or intimacy as a withdrawal from the world, but rather as a way to find someone to confront the hardships of the world with,” audience member Christian Kummer ’22 said.” Kummer pointed out that love — not necessarily even romance — can distract from civic engagement. He referenced obstacles of domestic life like laundry and errands — as reasons people often withdraw from the public sphere and advocated for healthy relationships that foster political action.
Of course, arriving at a place where one can think critically about public narratives and begin to dispel the tales of happily-ever-afters that drench our society is not simple.
One audience member who identified herself as the mother of a preteen attended Essig’s event as an avid opposer to the romance ideology, and said she actively works to counteract the powerful effects of “the Machine” that has made so much of our society numb and oblivious. In her household, her daughter doesn’t have a phone and is not allowed access to television. As a mother, the audience member tries to instill positive body image messages like encouraging her daughter to ask herself “What does [my] body need?” instead of succumbing to the pressures of mass media that sell fairy tales of what bodies look like to impressionable youth and adults alike.
While navigating romantic relationships is ultimately personal and these decisions are different for everyone, Essig stressed that this personal experience is fundamentally political and collective as well. She writes, “in that happy ending we ride off into the future not with our prince or princess to a castle on the hill, but with each other, all of us — married, single, straight, gay, old, young, white and black and Latino/a and more — fighting harder than we have ever fought before for a collective future.”
(10/03/19 9:59am)
Sometimes we think we’re awake when we’re merely sleep-walking. I was taught to recycle and compost kitchen waste in my youth and have since considered myself fairly environmentally conscious. “Waste is bad,” and “Conservation is good,” are mantras that I grew up with and have passed on to my children (both Midd grads).
On a recent visit to the Galápagos, I woke up to some startling discoveries. However environmentally conscious I might consider myself, when I was invited this past summer to join a group of students from Planet Forward, a George Washington University-based environmental communication and storytelling program, I was in for an eye opener.
Frank Sesno, Middlebury ’77, trustee emeritus and founder of Planet Forward, introduced their mission “to inform, engage and inspire people to take action to move our planet forward.” This program, which has involved Middlebury students over the years, brought 10 undergraduate students to the Galápagos to experience a life changing adventure. As a mentor, I was with them every step of the way as we explored this incredible place, teeming with life: the place Charles Darwin called “a little world within itself.”
I was immediately struck by each student’s concerns about the global environmental crisis. Despite the polarizing debate about the reality of the climate crisis, all 10 students from colleges around the country were determined, focused and hopeful about the future. Last April, their prize-winning journalism had been celebrated at the annual Planet Forward Summit in Washington D.C. The prize-winning StoryFest topics ranged from energy conserving electric buses and algae that digest plastic, to programs to reduce food waste and meditation practices to enhance environmental awareness.
CEO of Lindblad-National Geographic Expeditions Sven Lindbland announced the StoryFest winners. Each of these winners chose a topic relevant to the Galápagos that they investigated by conducting interviews with naturalists aboard the ship and at the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz Island. Their videos, photo essays and journalism focused on invasive species, ocean plastics, the balance between conservation and tourism, among other topics.
The wildlife taught us about a world of interactions without fear (but with respectful boundaries). We learned that, historically, the most serious invasive species in the Galápagos is human beings. We came within a few feet of sea lions who were not the least bit perturbed by our presence.
My own big “aha” moment came when students talked about the massive threat plastic poses to our environment. We sit in judgment of those who hunted tortoises, quietly condemning their brutality while the world drinks from an estimated 500 billion plastic cups each year. We then toss those cups into bins when we could be carrying reusable bottles or cups instead, thereby reducing the megatons of waste that choke our landfills and desecrate our oceans.
My experience with the Planet Forward students galvanized my commitment and imagination. I saw how these 10 students inspired an entire ship full of vacationers and explorers to think about the life lessons contained in this pristine environment. Observing the tenderness of a mother sea lion feeding her pup made us realize how interconnected all life is in the quest for survival. Each one of us felt compelled to think about what we can do to move from anxiety and dismay to action.
As stewards of our planet, we bear the responsibility to examine our own values and actions and assess whether they correspond to a genuine concern for the environment. Every product we buy casts a vote for what we value. Agreeing to buy food packaged in plastic or styrofoam is a vote for continuing to package products this way. We shouldn’t vote this way anymore. Each of us needs to share stories to inform and inspire others, write to our senators and representatives, and get involved in efforts to reduce energy consumption. We must all ask ourselves what personal changes we will make, which environmental groups we could join and how we will galvanize others to move our planet forward.
Middlebury students are invited to submit their own stories and podcasts, along with college students from around the country, to Planet Forward’s StoryFest. The next trip is this summer in Iceland.
(09/26/19 12:04pm)
Middlebury’s student voting rate increased from 15% in the 2014 midterm elections to 51% in 2018, according to a national voting report released last week by the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE) at Tufts University.
“This increase is incredibly important because it demonstrates how Middlebury College students are engaged in both local and national politics, and have realized the importance of their generation going to the polls and casting their vote for causes they believe in,” said Nora Bayley ’21, co-president of the non-partisan student organization MiddVote. MiddVote, which was founded in 2006 encourages and helps students participate in local, state and national elections.
Middlebury is not alone in this upwad trend. College voting across the United States has more than doubled from 2014 to 2018, with national voting rates skyrocketing among eligible college students from 19% to 40% within the four years. These statistics were published in the IDHE’s Democracy Counts 2018, which analyzed voting patterns for more than 10 million college students on more than 1,000 campuses across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
The IDHE report shows that Middlebury students turned out to the polls in greater numbers than most other colleges across the United States, Bayley noted. This difference can perhaps be attributed to MiddVote’s efforts to engage students; last fall, MiddVote held at least 10 voter registration drives and absentee-ballot request drives for the midterm elections.
“We also provided free stamps for students to use when sending their ballots back to their home state, and helped students who were experiencing difficulties requesting or receiving their ballot in the mail,” Bayley said.
MiddVote also received a grant from the organization #VoteTogether, which allowed it to provide transportation to and from the Middlebury Town Offices on election day for Vermont voters, and to host a “Party at the Polls” for both college students and locals.
“Helping remove barriers to voting can encourage participation and we hope to carry on this initiative during the 2020 presidential elections,” said Ashley Laux, program director at the Center for Community Engagement. “MiddVote’s in-person outreach method of hosting many on-campus voter registration and absentee ballot drives is a useful mechanism for Middlebury College students to get their questions answered by trained peers,” she said.
IDHE intended for this study to “support political learning and civic engagement, as well as to identify and address gaps in political and civic participation,” according to a press release. It did not receive information that could individually identify students or how they voted.
The IDHE findings looked at differences across genders, race and ethnicity, year, major and various other factors when it came to determining voting habits.
Nationwide, women in college continued to vote at higher rates than men in 2018. This trend was true for Middlebury as well. The report showed that black women maintained their position as the most active voters on campus, and Hispanic women made the largest gains.
The largest voting rate increase nationally across racial or ethnic groups was among Hispanic students, from 14% in 2014 to 36.5% in 2018.
“Voting gaps between disciplines persisted in 2018,” according to the IDHE press release. Turnout among students in STEM fields and in business lag behind students studying the humanities, social sciences and education.
At Middlebury, of the majors included in the study, Visual and Performing Arts ranked the highest in 2018 voting rate, with Natural Resources and Conservation trailing closely behind.
Historically, older Americans vote at higher rates than their younger counterparts. But the turnout gap between students under 22 and students over 30 decreased 2014 and 2018, the study found.
According to the U.S. Elections Project, the voting rate increased among all Americans by 13% in 2018 as compared to 2014. In comparison, the college and university National Student Voting Rate (NSVR) rose 21%.
Increased political involvement on college campuses will likely impact the 2020 presidential elections, according to an article published in the Washington Post. NBC News analysts credited voters under 30 as a key group in bringing about the Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives in 2018. Surveys indicate that young voters tend to oppose President Trump, especially on issues such as climate change, immigration, gun violence and student debt.
MiddVote will continue its efforts this semester. Most recently, the organization hosted a voter registration outside McCullough on Tuesday, Sept. 23 for National Voter Registration Day.
(09/26/19 10:05am)
Curious students on the heels of the global climate strike movement turned out in droves to the three-day Clifford Symposium this past week.
There, they grappled with the future of the global ocean and were introduced to exploratory and conservationist efforts. The symposium brought together researchers, activists, filmmakers and students to offer a multidisciplinary perspective on one of the world’s most precious resources.
“I wanted to strike a balance between sounding the alarm and asking people to share research that would incite a sense of wonder and hope,” said Associate Professor of English and American Literatures Daniel Brayton, one of the symposium’s organizers who also teaches in the Environmental Science Department.
Keynote speaker Dr. Kara Lavender Law, of the Sea Education Association (SEA), struck that balance in her talk, “Reflections of an Oceans Plastic Scientist” on Thursday night in Wilson Hall. Law, a leading scientist in the study of marine plastic debris, spoke about her educational path and discussed the harm that plastics, especially microplastics (pieces less than five millimeters long), can have on marine life.
Law and colleagues recently estimated that between 1950–2016, there were 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic produced globally. “I can’t even tell you a reasonable number of Empire State Buildings or elephants or football stadiums to give you an idea of how much material that is,” she said.
Scientists don’t know exactly how much of that plastic debris is now in the ocean, what form it takes or how it will impact human health. However, they widely agree that plastics are hazardous to marine animals, who are likely to ingest or become entangled in the material. Some bio-families will even grow on floating microplastics.
To Law, solving the ocean plastic pollution will require a multidisciplinary overhaul of the current system. She suggested the audience start locally, by asking themselves: “What happens to my trash?” Although the question may seem obvious, acting on it can be hard.
“The conveniences of [using plastic] don’t impact us on a daily basis and we’re privileged enough to live in this beautiful clean, green environment regardless of the waste we’re producing and the impact on our earth,” Alex Cobb ’20 said.
[pullquote speaker="Daniel Brayton" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]We tend to think of the environment as green. We think of green space, of grassy meadows and forest, and yet 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water.[/pullquote]
Outside Wilson Hall, a group of local women from Sewing For Change, a “community effort to end the use of single-use bags,” were working to reduce our collective waste. Since January of 2019, they have sewn 500 bags from reused materials. Bethany Barry Menkart, a group member, said they hope to reach 1,000 bags by the end of the year with the help of students.
On Friday afternoon, attendees crowded the Rohatyn A. Jones conference room to hear about whale watching in New Zealand at a talk comparing previous and present global whale population numbers. Jennifer Crandall ’20.5 and Caitlin Dicara ’20 presented alongside visiting Associate Professor of Maritime History and Literature Richard King of SEA.
The students opened by discussing their experience conducting six weeks of fieldwork on a tall ship off the coast of New Zealand. Crandall described being woken up at 3 a.m. one day amidst rough seas. The waves were over 13 feet high and it was pouring rain and windy. In that moment, Crandall recalled, “the ocean became more alive to me because I saw how powerful it was.”
Over the course of the semester, Crandall, Dicara and their 14 classmates transcribed the log book of Commodore Morris, which detailed where and when the sailor had seen and killed whales in the 1850s. Using data from the log and their own journey, they created a Geographic Information System map and studied shifts in whale populations.
King presented an overview of the history of right whales (or black whales), whose coastal living and bountiful oil made them the “right” whales to hunt. His discussion, like Law’s, struck the balance between underscoring the perils of the present and offering hope for the future. King explained, for example, that from 1927–1963 not a single right whale was sighted off the coast of New Zealand, in large part due to over-whaling. Now, with the population on the rebound, there are around 70 sightings per year.
Throughout the symposium, audiences and speakers alike grappled with the idea of how to get oceanic issues on peoples’ radars. As Dicara explained, “it’s really hard to get people to care who are inland of the ocean.”
“We tend to think of the environment as green,” Brayton said. “We think of green space, of grassy meadows and forest, and yet 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water.”
The symposium’s message was clear: If we want to understand environmental issues and advocate for a healthier world, we can start by looking to the ocean.
(09/26/19 10:00am)
After lifetimes of being told to turn off the lights and stick to reusable water bottles, it’s easy to feel hopeless about climate change. Take this week: On Sunday, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization released a new, harrowing report about rising temperatures. Rather than engage with climate strikers across the country, the President tweeted that Greta Thunberg “seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future” (“So nice to see!”). And Facebook photos of devastation in the wake of Hurricane Dorian offered demoralizing, daily reminders that we aren’t prepared for the even more immediate consequences of the climate crisis.
Still, for those who joined the protest at College Park last Friday, it felt like maybe — just maybe — we might still have cause for hope.
With an issue as confounding and urgent as climate change, collective actions like voting and protesting are the closest things we currently have to answers. At a basic, human level, participation in large-scale activist movements is unifying. On Friday, members of the Middlebury community found renewed strength in the knowledge that others were not only worried about, but that they were working on, the same issue as they were, whether that knowledge came from joining the crowds in College Park or pulling up Facebook to find friends from all walks of life clicking “Interested” on the page for their own local climate strikes.
Energy2028 — the college’s four-pronged framework for increasing campus sustainability over the next nine years — similarly was the culmination of years of student climate activism. If upheld, the college’s promises represent enormous, tangible progress.
It seems a bit soon, though, to start patting ourselves on the back.
Self-interrogation, on the part of this editorial board and the broader student body alike, is important. Many Middlebury students (including members of this board) consider themselves self-aware and thoughtful eco-citizens. Yet many of those same Middlebury students have little knowledge of their college’s ecological footprint, or the college’s plan to reduce those footprints, as evidenced by the amount of background research we had to require in composing this editorial.
That is no longer acceptable if we claim sincerity in calling for the kinds of sweeping structural change our climate crisis demands. How can we hold the administration accountable to promises if we have not properly investigated what those promises are? Collective action is crucial; still, it rarely comes about as a result of abstract or isolated, uninformed thought. The UN General Secretary, António Guterres, made a similar point in anticipation of this week’s Climate Action Summit in New York, warning world leaders to leave behind “beautiful speeches” and arrive instead “with concrete plans and strategies for carbon neutrality by 2050.” He closed the summit by providing a comprehensive overview of those concrete initiatives. We need to apply the same substantive standard to climate conversations on campus.
Once we stopped trying to write an editorial telling everyone to drive less and recycle more, the editorial board began discussing the different ways we can use our platform to cover climate activism on campus. As mentioned in our first editorial of the year, we often talk about “holding the administration accountable.” The Campus sees itself as a sort of campus watchdog, and when it comes to an unprecedented emergency like climate change, interrogating the role our institution plays in that emergency is of utmost importance.
To that end, we are committed to publishing more climate-related content (and would love to receive some of that from you, in the form of pitches and op-eds). Beginning this fall, we will be spearheading a special interactive project that will allow viewers to visually engage with the ways in which Energy2028 is hitting the marks — and falling short.
This commitment stems not only from our duty as truth-tellers, but out of our unwavering belief in the importance of collective action. For students, professors and locals alike, that formed a rare, raw moment of solidarity, even — dare we say it — hope.
(09/26/19 10:00am)
Climate activists in over 150 countries left work, school and business as usual to join last Friday’s Global Climate Strike.
The first event in a planned week of worldwide climate activism, the Global Climate Strike arrived in Middlebury as hundreds of students, professors and town residents gathered at College Park to protest government apathy toward climate change. College students walked out of class at around 9:45 a.m. to attend the rally, joining students of all ages from the Addison Central School District as well as educators and community members.
Student organizations Divest Middlebury, Sunrise Middlebury, and Middlebury Sunday Night Environmental Group planned the strike in collaboration with Extinction Rebellion Vermont, a local climate activism group. Organizers Cora Kircher ’20, Zoe Grodsky ’20.5, Connor Wertz ’22 and Divya Gudur ’21 had been coordinating the event since July.
Attendees gradually collected around the speakers’ platform, and when most had arrived, strikers kicked off the event by chanting, “We are unstoppable. Another world is possible.”
“In my three years doing the climate strike, this is maybe the largest turnout we’ve had,” Grodsky told The Campus.
Some protestors held handmade signs that displayed phrases like: “Denial is not a policy,” “Go Greta [Thunberg!]” and “There is no Planet B.” College students hoisted a banner that stated “Strike 4 Climate.” The excited chattering and passionate dialogues about climate change subsided as a series of inspired speeches began. Families, friends and strangers alike stood side-by-side and listened intently.
Kircher spoke first, concentrating on the necessary coordination of the climate justice movement with “decolonization, racial justice and indigenous resistance.” As Middlebury is situated on what she referred to as “stolen land,” Kircher included a moment of silence in solidarity with the Abenaki — a native people of Vermont.
“We are here to demand an end to the age of fossil fuels, and we are here to demand something better,” Kircher said. “We’re striking because we believe that another world is possible, and we’re striking because that world is only as close as we make it and only as far away as we allow it to be.”
Grodsky spoke next, focusing on the uprising against oppressive institutions and the impossibility of true climate justice in a society where migrant, racial, and economic injustice are systemic and institutionalized.
“The climate change and the systems we talk about have material consequences on people’s lives—not in some far-off future, not in some far-off place, but right here, right now,” Grodsky said. “We must acknowledge that the disproportionate harm of climate change is falling right now on the most marginalized populations.”
During her speech, Grodsky also asked the crowd to join in remembrance of Juan de León Gutierrez, a 16-year-old Guatemalan migrant who, while fleeing the repercussions of climate change, was one of six children since September 2018 to die in United States custody.
Professor of Sociology and author of “Global Unions, Local Power” Jamie McCallum spoke after Grodsky, highlighting the power of protest to teach and to “win a better world.”
“There’s nothing I can think of that’s more ‘liberal arts’ than professors and students and community members being hauled off to jail together after such an action [as blockading the ICE Facility, or other acts of civil disobedience],” McCallum said at the rally.
McCallum also emphasized the ongoing alignment of the labor movement with the climate justice movement. He cited the United Auto Workers as an example of recent protest: On Sept. 20, they held a strike of 50,000 people against General Motors — a global corporation.
“We’re at a point where it’s pretty obvious that the climate crisis is an economic crisis, as well, and the people that have the power to transform an economic crisis, for the most part, are workers. Whether or not you work in an extractive industry, the climate crisis is beginning to affect all of us,” McCallum told The Campus. “There are all these ways in which these movements are cross-pollinating, and that is the holy grail of social change.”
Vivian Ross, a first-year at Middlebury Union High School, spoke fourth at the rally. She emphasized the onus on all community members — despite age, past activism (or lack thereof), or other obligations — to somehow actively engage in combating climate change.
“Walking out of school, leaving work, organizing a rally … These are actions that build and build into a barrier so high that the politicians and corporations can no longer scale it with their money and blatant lies,” Ross said. “As one human race, we are capable of making all the right decisions before the Earth as we know it dives off the cliff that it’s barreling toward. We are all perfectly capable of digging in our heels and refusing to let the worst of us get the better of us.”
Environmental Studies Professor Rebecca Gould then taught the crowd a Hebrew song called “My Strength,” traditionally sung in peaceful protests — at “racial justice marches in D.C., in front of ICE facilities, after the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre, and in Jerusalem with women fighting for the right to pray at the Western Wall.”
“What music has done in social justice movements for hundreds of years, across cultures, is help us tap into the hope when we feel so much anger — not just righteous anger at the corporations but anger that gets in the way,” Gould said.
