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(04/09/09 12:00am)
Author: Carolyn Fox The Otter Creek Audubon Society welcomed Jim Shallow to the Ilsley Public Library on March 19 for his lecture, "Wings of the North: Songbirds and Global Warming." The evening marked the final event in a three-part winter lecture series. It addressed the latest National Audubon Society research on the effects of changes in ecosystems on bird species, specifically those native to the Addison County area. Twenty Otter Creek Audubon Society members attended the hour-long event as they anticipate the southerly migration of many local birds in the coming months. The Audubon Society of Vermont, now a part of the National Audubon Society, was founded in 1901 as one of the oldest grassroots conservation networks in the country. Shallow is the conservation and policy director at Audubon Vermont. A high school science teacher before working for Audubon Vermont, Shallow quickly picked up what he needed to know to advance the cause of conservation. "Before working at Audobon Vermont, I didn't know much about birds," Shallow said. "Audobon Vermont was a crash course for me, but it quickly taught me a love and appreciation for the birds in our area." During the lecture, he applauded the enthusiasm of the Otter Creek Audubon Society and explained the need to educate the community about the increasingly dire effects of changing ecosystems on birds. According to Shallow, Vermont and its neighboring states support some of the highest densities of breeding bird species in the continental United States. Thus, climate changes in ecosystems have the potential to drastically influence the behavior of birds. Shallow explained that because the northeast has been warming 0.5 degrees per decade since the 1970s, only five to 10 of the 40 bird species that depend on the area to breed will remain local over the next century. All others will migrate north to stay within temperature ranges optimal for their behavioral patterns. Shallow speculated that climate change may cause the Vermont state bird, the hermit thrush, to move north of Vermont. In addition to migration, Shallow noted that climate change has affected habitat, reproductive timing and the spread of disease among birds. Birds lay eggs earlier and in smaller breeding grounds. Shallow worries that these behavioral changes will threaten the survival of bird species, but working to slow the pace of climate change will help. Shallow reinforced the necessity of legislative advocacy in reducing carbon dioxide emissions and supporting ongoing conservation work. Recently, Governor Jim Douglas suggested eliminating funding for conservation in his plans to restructure the budget. The Audubon Society encourages residents to talk to local legislators and show support by getting involved in local Audubon chapters."I encourage any interested Middlebury students to get involved with us," Shallow said. "We have occasional internships and summer camps, and love meeting new people interested in birds and their natural environment."
(03/12/09 12:00am)
Author: Andrew Piccirillo Last week's article on Power Shift reminded me of the complex relationship between science and politics, between knowledge and action. I believe that prevailing assumptions on campus about the severity of anthropogenic global warming (AGW) and how we should respond need critical reexamination. While Al Gore has declared the debate over, debates over scientific theories, by their very definition, should never be over. In the past two years, I have become increasingly aware of complexities related to global temperature forecasts made in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2007 report. Let me begin by saying I have believed in AGW for as long as I can remember. I have always been committed to preserving the environment for both its beauty and utility. This predisposition has caused me to make some false assumptions which I have recently begun to question.The 2007 IPCC report gives a best estimate of 2.8 degrees Celsius (C) of warming by 2100. This is in contrast to about 0.7 degrees C of warming for the last 110 years. A quick calculation tells me that the next 90 years will require a rate of warming 4-5 times that of the last 110 years to meet the IPCC best estimate.These predictions become even more remarkable when current trends and predictions are accounted for. The trend line in global climate since 1998 has been flat or slightly negative. Warming has halted. A number of meteorologists have been predicting cooling to occur for another 10-20 years. Last year the earth's climate cooled an astronomical 0.23 degrees C which finally got the attention of the mainstream media. The longer this halt in warming continues, the faster future warming will need to be to reach the IPCC prediction.Nothing in IPCC models can explain an 11-plus year cooling trend. It is likely that much of this cooling can be explained by changes in the El-Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) state (1998 was a strong El Ni
(03/12/09 12:00am)
Author: Anna Briggs With the news of Atwater Dining Hall closing next winter and Ross Dining Hall closing for renovations this fall, students are particularly looking forward to the reopening of Proctor. Most of the structural work on the renovated dining hall is complete, and the construction crew is beginning some of the final stages of work on the dining areas and the College Bookstore. The reopening of Proctor will be coupled with the closing of Ross Dining Hall for the fall semester.Proctor will not be too different from the way students remember it, but the Woodstove Lounge, servery, dining room and mezzanine will be more spacious."We have opened it up," said Mark Gleason, project manager for the renovations, on a tour of the facilities. Proctor will have more seating capacity than previously - in total, approximately 600 seats, compared to the old Proctor's 400.When all of the renovations are complete and both Ross and Proctor are running at their normal capacity next spring, there will be 1075 seats between the two. That is 200 more than at present with Ross, Atwater and FIC operating, and is approximately the same number of seats as there were with Ross, Atwater and Proctor.The new Woodstove Lounge will feature a large fireplace and newly installed doors that will open onto the patio."It will seat about 50 or so diners with different types of tables and bench seating," Gleason said.The Proctor servery has been expanded to accommodate the larger number of students that will now be able to be seated in the dining hall. From the front door of the building, there is now a straight hallway to the door of the servery, which is flanked by windows looking out onto the perpendicular hallway. There will be a horseshoe-shaped serving area for hot food, a massive 16-foot salad bar, a grill, panini machines and a soup counter. All of the servery functions will now be contained in one room, as opposed to in the old Proctor, which had the salad bar and ice cream in the main dining hall."After hours, the door [between the servery and the dining room] can be closed, and the students can still use this space," said Gleason. This means that students will be able to continue to lounge around in Proctor outside of serving hours, for maximum utility of the space.The stairway up to the mezzanine now faces the opposite direction because of the expansion of the servery, and the dining room will feature a wood slat ceiling and carpeted floor. According to Gleason, this will create much better acoustics than Ross or Atwater.In addition to the expanded eating areas, the renovations on Proctor will bring the dining hall entirely into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Proctor will be ramp-accessible, and students can access the mezzanine and the Redfield Dining Room by elevator. The new bathrooms have been made larger to make them wheelchair accessible. The building's utilities have received an upgrade, and the electrical and sprinkler systems have also been replaced.Gleason said some aspects of Proctor - such as the dish room and much of the kitchen equipment downstairs - will remain unchanged. Gleason explained that these renovations were originally intended to be a 10- to 15-year fix for the building, according to the College's architectural master plan. Based on the current economic climate, however, that timeframe will likely be extended.In addition to the renovations to the dining areas of Proctor, there is also extensive work being done on the Bookstore, which will once again contain all store functions in one space. There will be a fireplace where the old side entrance by the tennis courts used to be, and there will be seating areas for students and offices for Bookstore staff.The back wall of what is now the clothing area of the Bookstore will be torn down, revealing the rest of the future Bookstore. The room to the right of the Bookstore entrance, where textbooks were sold this spring, will turn into a space for student activities.When Proctor's doors reopen this fall, Ross will close its doors to begin renovations. According to Director of Dining Services Matthew Biette, students should not worry about radical changes to the dining hall."Ross will remain Ross as everyone knows it," Biette said. Most of the renovations will expand the existing space, he said, rather than changing it drastically.Biette said the pit will be raised to become flush with the main level of the dining hall. This will allow for more seating where the walls and ramps are currently. The Fireplace Lounge will continue to seat students, and the glass-paneled doors running along the side of the dining hall will be moved out to the hallway, creating more seating space where the lobby area is currently. In addition, the small kitchenette next to the Fireplace Lounge will be converted into more dining space, which will be able to seat about 20 people.Biette expects the new Ross to be able to seat 450 students, 85 more than the 365 it currently accepts.
(03/12/09 12:00am)
Author: Canem Ozyildirim On March 8, an unseasonably sunny Sunday, approximately 50 students gathered in Dana Auditorium for the first in a series of lectures associated with the Global Health Symposium. Kristie Ebi, a renowned epidemiologist who has worked with numerous non-governmental organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), delivered a talk titled, "Where on Earth are we going?: Human health and climate change."Ebi began by stating the severity of the current situation. "The global mean temperatures changed dramatically between 1860 and the present," she said. "The past 10,000 years were uniquely stable and this was crucial for the evolution of our ecosystems and societies. Today, the rate of climate change [is much faster]
(03/12/09 12:00am)
Author: Grady Ross Vermont maple trees brought $22 million of economic activity to the state last year, and in 2008 the state yielded 500,000 of the nation's 1.635 million gallons of maple syrup. On March 6, Governor Jim Douglas '72 celebrated this maple monopoly amid festivities and ritual at Mead Chapel.Each year, in keeping with Vermont tradition, the Governor taps the "first maple" sometime in early March, officially kicking off the sugaring season. The ceremony rotates locations throughout Vermont from year to year, and this spring the formalities fell into the hands of the Addison County Sugar Makers' Association, which hosted the event at the College. Community members turned out to watch Douglas strike sap and to collect goodies distributed by local sugar makers. Vermont's Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Anson Tebbetts pointed out the importance of the day's events."It signifies the start of a new agricultural season," Tebbetts said. Tebbetts speaks for the entire state: Vermont has a lot to be excited about in the spring. As Douglas pointed out, Vermont is the nation's leader in maple production. Producers are not anticipating a decline this year, even in the current economic climate. "The one bright spot in the agricultural economy right now is the price of maple sugar, which is rising," Tebbetts said. If the maple industry is affected at all, he predicts, it will be affected "in a positive way: so many people are looking to diversify. People are looking to start sugaring who haven't before." This might be attributed to the dynamic aspect of maple production. "The industry is always changing," said Tebbetts. "That's the interesting part." Don Dolliver, a Starksboro sugar maker, has been in the maple business for 20 years. "Technology is different than it used to be," he said, citing innovations like reverse osmosis, pipelines and vacuum lines. "People have the idea that sugaring is about buckets and horses, but that's changed." There are those who remain faithful to original sugaring techniques: Tom Kerr, who taps trees in Goshen, has never used pipeline. Using only buckets he produces 20 to 25 gallons of syrup each year. Douglas used this old-fashioned method during the ceremony, where he successfully hit sap to cheers from the crowd. President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz had something else to cheer about. The College was "thrilled," he said, to have been chosen as the site of the ceremony."We are a part of the local town and state community," he said. "We are linked to Vermont, and this is Vermont at its best. It's a clich
(03/05/09 12:00am)
Author: Hillary Hall In a report that could significantly change Middlebury's entire academic climate, the Honor Code Review Committee (HCRC) suggested several changes be made to the Honor Code, including the removal of the current ban on faculty presence during exams. The full report includes nine specific amendments, three of which require a student vote as they involve changes to the student constitution. Two of these three are simple revisions meant to make the Honor Code concurrent with the handbook, but the first and likely most controversial suggestion asks for removal of the language that prohibits faculty in the exam room.The Honor Code currently forbids faculty members from sitting in on exams unless the Academic Judicial Board has specifically granted them permission to do so. It puts the onus on students to report cheating; if they do not want proctors, they must be willing to monitor themselves and each other. The report, however, suggests that students no longer want or take advantage of this responsibility."It is clear from the feedback
(03/05/09 12:00am)
Author: Jaime Fuller From Feb. 28-March 2, nearly 12,000 college students converged on the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., for Power Shift 2009. The national youth climate change summit offered a chance for student leaders to exchange ideas on how to prevent global warming on both a national and local scale, and offered a plethora of panels, workshops and speakers with experts sharing their knowledge on the issues. The event culminated on Monday with a lobby day at the Capitol, the largest in our nation's history relating to climate and energy policy.Middlebury demonstrated its fidelity to the environmental cause with a delegation of 194 students, bested by a narrow margin by the University of Vermont's group of 198 students. Middlebury was not only well represented by its youth - several faculty members made an appearance at the weekend's events including Scholar-in-Residence Bill McKibben and Luce Professor of International Environmental Economics Jon Isham.Isham expressed his enthusiasm for the energy and scope of the conference while moderating a panel titled, "Cap Carbon & Trade? Invest? Auction? Dividend?: A Conversation that Explores all the Options!""This is a moment to celebrate," he said. "A pinch-me moment for many of us."McKibben felt he had to counter some of the overpowering optimism at Power Shift with a dose of urgency and a quick reality check "I feel like I am being Captain Downer, but it's been my job for a long time," said McKibben, during a panel titled, "The Road to Copenhagen: The Future of International Climate Change Legislation." "The window is starting to close, not just on our species, but on a lot of other species too."However, McKibben's realism does not stop him from being an outspoken environmental activist. He is one of the creators of the www.350.org movement and he helped organize the mass civil disobedience march at the Capitol Power Plant on March 2, where activists occupied all gates to the government-owned coal-fired power plant.The panels and workshops catered to people interested in the many facets of the climate change movement, and even offered options that focused on broader social justice issues. Session tracks included campus organizing, skills training, new media, international, green jobs and the economy dismantling oppression, faith and spirituality, as well as many others. Prominent speakers such as Van Jones, Adam Gardner and Majora Carter were featured in the nighttime program, and were often met with standing ovations and thunderous applause. President Barack Obama's role in the quest for climate change policy was an unmistakable theme of the conference, and many of the speakers and panels focused, or at least mentioned, the new administration."We are in the Obama era," said Carter in her keynote address on Friday night. "I have to tell you its not only Obama the president, but Obama the acronym. Obama is an acronym for 'Officially Behaving as Magnificent Americans.'"The high level of organizing and thought put into the Power Shift national summit can be seen on a local level in the amount of planning required to transport and house 194 Middlebury students 500 miles from campus. Two buses, powered by biodiesel, transported most of the students to and from the conference, and housing was mostly decentralized, with native students offering their homes to friends and others crashing with friends of the family or anybody willing to offer a floor to a Middlebury student. The aura of youth and change pervaded Power Shift this year, and was especially apparent in the event's reliance on new media and technology to communicate with participants and to share what was occurring at the conference with the rest of the world. In order to know where panels and workshops were being held and to receive updates on changes to the schedule, participants sent text messages frequently throughout the weekend. Speakers, like Representative Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and former mayor of Salt Lake City Rocky Anderson, even called for students to text during their speeches, and the organizers of Power Shift told participants to tag their photos and videos on YouTube and Flickr so they could use participant-generated content for a slide show. Middlebury students also were involved in documenting the conference; Mori Rothman '11 filmed much of the weekend, and plans on posting his video on YouTube sometime next week.All of the activity on Saturday and Sunday was in preparation for Lobby Day on Monday, where around 5,000 activists overtook the Capitol and pushed their representatives to move quickly to pass climate change legislation. However, the blizzard that struck D.C. on Monday, while not daunting for the energized youth, did prevent several well-known speakers in national government, such as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Markey, from attending. According to Sarah Simonds '11, this did not stop the visit to the Capitol from being an inspiring event."We managed to visit representatives from all 50 states, and there were 12 to 50 people at each meeting," she said. "You couldn't walk down the hallways without seeing groups of young people in green hard hats."An oft-repeated theme at the conference was that the majority of the action taken to prevent global warming would take place not at the conference center or lobby day, but at a local level when participants returned back to their respective campuses. The Middlebury attendees who are also active members of the Sunday Night Group (SNG), the largest environmental group on campus, were positive that they would be able to transform the energy and ideas at the conference into tangible change back on campus. It's awesome to see so many inspired young leaders in the same place for the same reason," said Nathan Blumenshine '09.5. "Knowing we have 10 percent of the student body that is willing to travel, listen and change their habits for the weekend gives me hope that we can reach the whole campus instead of just SNG."Many of the Power Shift participants who have never been involved with SNG have already expressed interest to use what they learned in D.C. to help accomplish things in Vermont. "I always have been interested in the environment
(03/05/09 12:00am)
Author: Cloe Shasha Since the announcement of the budget cuts at the end of Winter Term, speculation about the implementation of a meal plan has become a talking point on campus. But according to Director of Dining Services Matthew Biette, the discussion among faculty and staff is at an early, non-definitive stage. No specifics have been established about the type of meal plan Middlebury might develop."We are discussing possibilities as we should in this economic climate," Biette said. "We need to look at every way we do business and contain costs while providing quality meals within a budget. The meal plan discussion falls within these parameters."But Biette emphasized that changes in the College's dining system will probably not be implemented in the next year - if at all - because this type of change would require a long planning process. Students who heard rumors about a meal plan felt that it would have a major impact on the College."Having no meal plan makes us eat more healthfully," said Brad Becker-Parton '11. "It's nice to be able to come in at 5 p.m., get a bowl of soup, and then come in later to eat more, rather than stuffing our plates in one go. We might lose that healthy attitude with a meal plan."Ken Grinde '11 worked at the admissions office in the fall and noticed that prospective students are drawn to Middlebury's current dining system."In the admissions office kids were really turned on by the idea that our dining halls are open," said Grinde. "They thought it was so cool."Hillary Gerardi '09 thinks that the social qualities of the dining halls would change with a meal plan."The dining halls are major social spaces on campus right now," she said. "Right now, people can eat, go to class, come back, and find their friends still there. A meal plan would make dining hall culture less relaxed."Some students believe that a meal plan could help the College save money and food."I think a meal plan would be great," said Angela Evancie '09. "It would encourage people to waste less food. In fact, if there was a penalty for wasting food with our current dining system, we would already save a lot."Andrew Powers '11 suggested another way to save money other than with a meal plan."If we want to reduce our waste and save more money, we should have some visual evidence of the amount of food that we waste," he said. "If the College showed the students the amount of food that is regularly squandered, I think it might have an effect on peoples' tendency to waste. But a meal plan would change the atmosphere of our dining halls - they would be more like restaurants and less personal."
(03/05/09 12:00am)
Author: Johanna Interian If you are too busy or stressed to read this article, then you are part of a campus-wide trend.While it is nearly impossible to definitively quantify and compare stress levels over the years (attempts have been made at this - read on), there is a general concurrence among students and especially faculty that the workload at Middlebury - and with it, the level of stress among the members of the College community - has been on the rise.On Wednesday, Feb. 25 an open forum was held to discuss these issues and establish possible solutions. The forum, titled "Work Hard, Play Hard - Stress Hard?", was advertised throughout the campus and open to all, but eventually attracted only nine students, several of whom were there on behalf of the Ad-Hoc Committee on Campus Stress. Over 20 staff members were in attendance, including professors from various departments, dining services staff and psychologists from the Center for Counseling and Human Resources. Having the forum during midterms week must have been a deterrent to students whose priorities were to complete papers and study for exams, but others who did not attend simply feel that there is no prospect of change when it comes to stress at Middlebury. Most students get to Middlebury after years of toiling in advanced classes and intense academic environments and have essentially grown accustomed to the rigorous academic climate that characterizes Middlebury. "If you're coming to see me, you're probably stressed," joked Dean of the College Gus Jordan as he introduced himself. His position requires him to confront the predicaments stress creates on a daily basis and he is convinced that there is a problem at Middlebury. "How do we know we're afflicted? By the lack of counterevidence to suggest stress is not a problem," said Jordan.As part of his work study, Michael Nevadomski '09 has been compiling research to find out whether there has in fact been an increase in the workload at Middlebury in comparison to previous years at the college and also to other NESCAC schools. "I was asked to pull syllabi from the present day and (more or less) similar classes from 1998 across levels and departments and compare the numbers: increase in pages assigned, essays assigned, different weights, etc," said Nevadomski. "About halfway through the math and biology departments, I realized how ineffectual this was - as you know, there's no real way to tell how stressful a class is going to be based on the hard figures."His research has led to some conclusive results, however. Through interviews with professors and students, Nevadomski found that there has been an increase in the amount of "police work" - such as pop quizzes and reaction papers. He has discovered that many professors do not even read or evaluate these assignments, and simply give them to students to make sure they are keeping up with the coursework. Academics are not the only source of stress, though. Some students in the forum brought up how social stress is just as much a part of being a college student and that it is sometimes harder to deal with than academic stress, which is more predictable and in our control.Mark Stefani, a neuroscience professor from the psychology department, is interested in the biological and social aspect of stress and is particularly concerned with what he terms the "myth of multi-tasking.""Trying to do more in tiny little fragments is a modern-day myth," he said. He urged students and faculty alike to focus on one activity or assignment and put aside other distractions, such as e-mail and answering phone calls, in order to be more efficient and less prone to last-minute deadlines that will inevitably increase stress. Sometimes doing more is not always the problem, however. Yonna McShane, director of Learning Resources, pointed out that being idle is not necessarily more appealing than feeling overextended. "Boredom is an incredibly stressful state," she said, and encouraged students to find a balance in their commitments on campus.Elise Cohen '11 sees benefits in her extracurricular involvements. "Being on the crew team has helped me with time management and is also calming," said Cohen.Apart from extracurricular activities serving as therapeutic, other remedies were also discussed. MiDDialogue is proposing a silent lunch area once per week, where interested students can go to eat a quiet meal at a designated area in the dining hall.C.A. Johnson Fellow in Political Philosophy Kateri Carmola insisted that pass/fail courses should be permitted and also indicated that sometimes students overestimate the importance of grades and professors' expectations. She also suggested that certain college policies, such as the 24/7 library hours during finals week, inadvertently promote stress. "What message is this sending; that students should be up at 3 in the morning studying all week?" said Carmola.There will be a "Managing Academic Stress" workshop on Thursday, April 2 in Library Room 145, where various stress management techniques and relaxation exercises will be taught.
(03/05/09 12:00am)
Author: Katie Siegner The effects of the recent financial cuts announced by the administration have been felt by ever-expanding sectors of the College, and athletics has not been exempt. In light of the rapid changes, it is difficult for students to foresee how the budget cuts will affect them, and information sharing has been limited. President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz explained this in a recent e-mail, writing, "We must act quickly to address the budget deficits that are projected to develop during the next two years as a result of the deteriorating financial markets and the College's reduced wealth." The athletic facilities will soon see a number of changes. "Fitness Center hours have been reduced from being open 16 hours a day to 13 hours a day," Chief Financial Officer Patrick Norton wrote in an e-mail, and "several staff positions have been frozen." Furthermore, plans to replace old equipment over the next couple of years "have been put on hold," which means that athletes visiting the fitness center on crowded weekday afternoons will have to resign themselves to the difficulty of finding a functioning treadmill that isn't already in use. "I've taken to running around the hockey rink when there are no available treadmills," said Francie Alexandre '12. In keeping with the recent climate of fiscal restraint, Norton also wrote, "a five percent cut was made in discretionary spending in the operating budget." To ensure transparency and participation in the budget decisions, Director of Athletics Erin Quinn formed the Athletic Budget Oversight Committee (ABOC) which consists of staff, coaches and students. "Our purpose is to advise the Athletic Director on possible cost-saving measures in our department and to determine 'best practices' for the department with cost savings in mind," said Committee Chair and Women's Lacrosse coach Missy Foote. The committee has sparked many discussions regarding the financial problems the athletics department is facing and the possible responses. As a result, Quinn said, "members of the department have been willing to be flexible and adjust to the changing times." Since its formation, the ABOC has been examining the department's expenditures, large and small. As student member Lindsay McBride '09 said, they have been looking for "ways to save money without greatly affecting the students' experience. Every $100 here and $200 there adds up to a significant amount." The ABOC has also been conscientious in ensuring that the cuts do not disproportionately affect certain athletes. "We have tried to concentrate equally on budgets for varsity teams, club and intramural teams and general athletic services," said McBride. Foote said that sports teams will also be affected by the tightening of the College's budget. Sports teams at the College have been "level funded" for the past several years, meaning that their budgets remain constant even if prices rise. Because of this, Norton said, they "did not cut team budgets across the board." However, the luncheon portion of teams' senior banquets will be eliminated and their uniform budget will be reduced, according to Foote.This is occurring within NESCAC-wide changes designed by the conference's athletic directors. For example, changes in travel policies "may include limitations on travel squads, may replace some overnight trips with same day trips and may contain other measures," said Foote. Student athletes can expect noticeable impacts when the new NESCAC policies are finalized. The administration has made efforts to make the process open to student and faculty input, as can be seen from the establishment of the ABOC. The committee is dedicated to implementing "low-impact cuts" according to McBride, and thus reducing expenses without significantly altering students' athletic experiences.
(02/26/09 12:00am)
Author: Lea Calderon-Guthe "What powers a learning community? Apparently, wood chips," said Bill McKibben, scholar-in-residence in environmental studies, at the official launch of the Biomass Plant at the College on Feb. 19. Trustees, faculty, staff and students toured the new facility as part of the launch event, and President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz sought to describe the plant's significance best in his celebratory opening speech."This is no ordinary energy plant," Liebowitz said. "Biomass gasification demonstrates a new technology that cuts the College's consumption of heating oil in half, saving about a million gallons a year while reducing our carbon dioxide emissions by about 40 percent, or 12,500 metric tons per year."The biomass facility turns wood chips into carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the gasification chamber and then ignites those gases in a boiler. Steam from the boiler is used for heating and cooling in most of the buildings on campus, and on its way out of the plant the steam cogenerates about 20 percent of Middlebury's electricity. The biomass plant is designed to handle the College's base heating load 365 days a year and the wood chips will replace half of the number 6 oil the College uses. The plant also represents the largest step Middlebury has made toward its goal of carbon neutrality by 2016, a goal proposed largely because of student initiative."This whole process has been student-driven with tremendous student involvement the whole way," said Executive Vice President and Treasurer of the College Bob Huth. "I think that's one of the reasons that Middlebury has advanced as far as it has - we probably would not have a biomass facility had it not been for our students."The College first assessed its carbon footprint in 2003 when a Winter Term course taught by Professor of Chemistry Lori Del Negro and Luce Professor of International Environmental Economics Jon Isham produced a report proposing potential objectives and strategies for reducing campus climate impact. A Carbon Reduction Work Group reviewed the proposals and determined that gasifying biomass was an economically feasible way to reduce the College's footprint. Then, the Biomass Energy Research Corporation surveyed the area for biomass and verified that it was also environmentally feasible and locally sustainable. Building a biomass plant became part of not only reducing the College's carbon output but becoming completely carbon neutral by 2016 following the Board of Trustees' approval of student organization MiddShift's proposal in May 2007. The Board's pproval came after a campaign by Sunday Night Group (SNG), Middlebury's largest student environmental organization, achieved significant student response in the form of a petition and a task force chaired by Huth and made up of students and administrative staff outlined a path to carbon neutrality including the Biomass Plant as a key component. Like Huth, Chester Harvey '09, an active member of SNG and Huth's Carbon Neutrality Task Force, credits student support for a large part of the Carbon Neutrality Intitiave's success. "I think most students are at least interested in why the biomass plant was built," said Harvey. "While the administration may be handling the details and the action of the program, it's still the students who are kind of sitting behind the scenes and prodding them to keep going."Billie Borden '09, another member of the Carbon Neutrality Task Force, emphasized not only student leadership in the success of the Biomass Project, but also the unique collaboration between students, faculty and staff."For me, the most memorable part of the whole thing was actually being able to have an important role on these committees and as a student being taken seriously and being able to contribute to important discussions on the College's carbon footprint," Borden said. "I was increasingly impressed with how well the College and staff work with students and really value that relationship."Measuring the success of the Biomass Plant from a purely economic standpoint, the College has invested in a $12 million facility that will ultimately pay for itself in approximately 10 years depending on the cost of oil, and then continue to save money. Diversifying the fuel supply with wood chips also decreases the College's dependence on oil while stimulating the local economy."The focus hasn't been on if it would be nice to do this - it's been on solving real-world problems that have an economic rationale to them," Huth said. "To me, this is a case-in-point where we've diversified our fuel supply, we've done something that has a payback for us and the local economy, and we have the great benefits of reducing the carbon produced. It's a win-win-win situation, and to me that's what you call a real-world solution to a problem we're all trying to correct."The Biomass Plant's success is widely acclaimed, but to a leader in the field of institutional sustainability like Middlebury College, there is more to be done. Even though the wood chips for the Biomass Plant are currently collected within 75 miles of the campus, the College seeks to shrink its definition of 'local' even more. Environmental studies students are currently investigating the environmental impact of 1200 acres of willow trees based on a 10-acre test plot west of campus. If the willow trees prove to be environmentally friendly, the College has plans to grow its own fuel and supply 25 percent of its heating needs. The willow project would further benefit the greater Middlebury community as well. "We have a lot of fields in the area that nobody does anything with, so if we were to have landowners be able to grow a cash-crop - willows - that works, it would really help the economy within Addison County," Huth said.The College has reduced its need for oil by one million gallons, about half, but there remains the second million-gallon question: how will Middlebury reduce the rest of its carbon emissions? After the rest of the oil, Isham and the Carbon Neutrality Initiative point to transportation as the next major source of carbon emissions for the College, and even as the Biomass Plant continues to receive nationwide attention, students, faculty and staff are already tackling the other 60 percent of the College's carbon emissions. "I am utterly stunned, in awe and so proud," Isham said. "Everything about [the Biomass Plant] speaks to the best of what we can do, including the sense that we have to do more. One of the things I really admire about environmental studies as an academic department is that while we are quite proud of what we do, we are always trying to do better, and I think that is something that gets at the core of what makes our college and the entire Middlebury community such a strong place. We're proud of what we do, but we don't rest on our laurels too much. Genuine celebration is well-merited, but we also have a sense of, 'Okay, what next?' It's that sense of moving forward that is such a special part of this community."The students involved with the Biomass Project are looking forward already, as well. Borden, who is graduating, hopes other students will continue to step up. "I definitely would like to see students maintain an interest in helping to plan [carbon neutrality]," Borden said. "I think there are a lot of really exciting things going on at a national level and even at a state level in terms of increasing the sustainability of our operations. I think if you want to be invested in where you are, then this carbon neutrality commitment is a really great way to take an active role in shaping the environment at Middlebury. I want to see that excitement about the project sustain itself."Harvey is also graduating, but before he leaves he has set some new goals for SNG and continued expectations for the student body as a whole."I think that the College has done a really good job identifyi
ng places where the institution can make really big changes to take a large bite out of our carbon footprint," Harvey said. "What we haven't done such a good job with, and what I think SNG could help with a lot potentially, is figuring out ways to mobilize students to do something about [carbon neutrality] themselves. There are all of these things that form a much smaller piece of the pie but can really be used as an educational tool in everyday energy conservation."The College is itself an educational tool in that it sets an example for other institutions. It has become one of the leading models in collegiate carbon neutrality, but according to Huth, its success will not be easy to emulate. "Other institutions have asked questions like, 'How do you do this? How do you get an institutional goal of carbon neutrality by 2016, how do you affect carbon reductions, how do you get the community engaged?'" Huth said. "They'd like to replicate that, and it's very hard to replicate because it's in the Middlebury College DNA and to a great extent it's driven by our students. We have this environmental program and over the course of the years it has become embedded in the culture. It's something that students get excited about because they will have to deal with the environment longer than we will."
(02/19/09 12:00am)
Author: Hillary Hall Last April in a tight election, College students elected Bobby Joe Smith '09 as the Student Government Association's (SGA) president for the 2008-2009 school year. Voters responded to the three platforms he called his most important: communication between the SGA and the community, the development of an Africana Studies department and the introduction of a multi-purpose access card. Yet the past semester - Smith's first as leader - has been a challenging one for the College, with budget shortcomings putting strains on the administration and announcements of upcoming changes to life at Middlebury angering some in the community. Smith, though, said that the SGA has much to be proud of despite the economic hurdles it faces. "The budget and economic crisis certainly made us approach things much differently than we had initially intended," Smith said, "and made us shift our focus as to what is most important and what can be reasonably implemented this year, but I also like to think of this moment as an opportunity rather than a hindrance." Smith believes that it will be the SGA's duty to prove that its initiatives are a "worthwhile investment," despite the College's financial trials.This positive determination is what several SGA members called Smith's most valuable quality as a leader."His unfailing desire to work for the betterment of the student body here at Middlebury has been a mainstay since day one," said David Peduto '11, one of the sophomore senators.Becky Harper '11, Chair of Diversity and Cabinet Member of SGA, echoed Peduto, saying, "He is truly dedicated to what he is doing."Several SGA members noted the subsidy of Addison County Transit Resources (ACTR) fares as a great accomplishment from the past semester, yet most of the goals that Smith cited last spring remain uncompleted thus far. The multi-purpose access cards, which would transform current student IDs into a laundry, debit, access and copy card, are, as Harper says, "still in the works," because of the large amounts of research and work that they require.And many College students still do not understand what SGA does, nor do they have much of an idea of what the SGA has accomplished yet this year."I can honestly tell you that I don't really have one," remarked Jack Kramer '10 when asked his opinion on the SGA.The several students with whom Kramer was sitting all agreed."[There are] a lot of people on campus who are unclear as to what the SGA's initiatives are," said Phebe Meyers '11.While the monthly student rallies that Smith has introduced do invite community members to take initiative and listen to what is going on, many students still remain in the dark as they lack the time to attend these rallies.Smith admitted that he has not done everything that he set out to at the start of the year, but maintains that his focus has been more on the internal workings of the SGA."Given the complaints and general negative or indifferent attitude most students on campus have towards the SGA, I figured it was time to really re-examine the student government to see if it was living up to its name, and if not, why," Smith said.Thus Smith spent the majority of last semester researching the role of not only the SGA as a whole, but the roles of each individual position within the group. He, with the help of Director of the Center for Campus Activities and Leadership (CCAL) and SGA advisor Doug Adams, wrote an SGA guidebook. This manual will, Smith hopes, reduce the "learning curve" that new members of the SGA often encounter upon entering office. He and Adams also decided to start a program this coming spring to train the incoming administration so that it can be more prepared to take on the 2009-2010 academic year.Smith also created three new SGA committees: External Affairs, Publicity and Special Projects. Smith called all of these internal changes his greatest accomplishment of the past semester."If you want to make a change in the broader community, you must first start with yourself," he said.Other SGA members recognize that, to some, it seems that Smith has not carried out the goals he set at the start of his term. But Harper assures students that positive steps will come from the behind-the-scenes reorganization."Improving communication on all fronts has been a slow process but progress is being made," she said.If his work to change the culture of the SGA is as effective as he believes, he will be able to execute the goals that resonated with students last spring. In the difficult economic climate and with the allowances that College students will have to make in the coming semester, the next four months will be a true test of both Smith's new SGA structure and his capability as the strong leader that students need in times of change. Smith hopes that he and the rest of the SGA are up to the task."We still have the entire second half of the school year to get the things I had initially intended accomplished," he declared. "I think the SGA as a whole will have to bring it up another notch in order to make the most out of this year, but I am confident we can do this."
(02/19/09 12:00am)
Author: Grady Ross In an economic climate that many are comparing to the Great Depression, the state of Vermont is revamping its food stamp program - a program that found its start in that first major period of financial distress. Renamed 3SquaresVT, the new program is designed to reach out to more Vermonters than ever in an effort state administrators hope will extend help to a quickly broadening population in need.Most importantly, the threshold at which citizens become eligible for food stamps has been more inculusive. Before Jan. 1, hopeful applicants were required to have an income at or below 130 percent of the poverty level. Since Governor Jim Douglas enacted the new program, the income eligibility level is now at 185 percent below the poverty line, opening the opportunity to a more extensive pool of Vermonters. In a phone interview, Joanne Heidkamp, program director for the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger, said that Vermonters, particularly in today's economy, have an increased sense of urgency when providing for their families."Participants are going dollar for dollar, going for the most food the money can buy," Heidkamp said.In addition, the program increases the variety of deductions that people can claim when applying for assistance. Previously, regardless of how much a person paid for childcare, elderly assistance or similar services, one could only claim $200 as costs."Your gross income level determines whether or not you can apply, but your net income after deductions determines the amount of benefits you get," Heidkamp said.Changes of this degree require financial backing, money that is not necessarily easy to come by under current economic circumstances. The program found its champion in Congress, which approved an increase in funds to food stamp programs across the nation as part of the economic stimulus package. Heidkamp said their willingness to back food stamps makes sense."Money cannot go into a savings account;" said Heidkamp. "It must be put directly into the local economy," she said. Moody's Economy, a leading independent provider of economic analysis, has called the food stamp program the most effective method of economic stimulus.But Heidkamp said the plan encourages economic growth in more indirect ways as well. "Changes in the economy are making it difficult for people to nourish their families," she said. "People are often sacrificing their own nourishment to feed their children. We need a workforce that's ready to work. We need to make sure the next generation is nourished while they're gaining the skills to enter the workforce."Heidkamp said lawmakers also took social issues into account when they undertook the project. Some elderly people, for example, have been forced to choose between heat and food this winter, thereby jeopardizing their own health. These concerns convinced administrators to act now. Since the induction of the 3SquaresVT program, hits on the program's official website, vtfoodhelp.org, have doubled to exceeding 10,000 per month. Applications to the program, said Heidkamp, have also risen substantially since the new program went into effect.This is due in part to an enthusiastic publicity campaign launched by the state of Vermont. There are five Community Action Agencies and five Agencies on Aging around the state working with their members to pass along necessary information about the new program. Physicians' offices, churches, elementary schools and multiple public institutions have also joined the effort to spread the information. Heidkamp noted that it is important that not just one group of Vermonters be targeted, but that the information be available to everyone."Households that previously did not need help are finding need of the program," she said.Vermont is the 13th state to make income and asset changes to food stamp programs.
(02/12/09 12:00am)
Author: Kelly Janis After months of deliberations by the Budget Oversight Committee, College President Ronald D. Liebowitz publicly announced the first set of a series of cost-cutting measures aimed at reducing expenditures by $20 million over the next several years to counter a mounting budget deficit. The College's endowment - upon which it relies to support 24 to 25 percent of its budget - has fallen to $684 million from a high of $936 million in June 2007, due largely to a decline in donor gifts amid the global financial crisis."Our wealth is at 2004 levels, but we're operating in a 2009 cost structure," said Chief Financial Officer Patrick Norton during an open meeting at which he, Liebowitz and Acting Provost Spears elaborated on the cuts and fielded suggestions, questions, praise and criticism from a packed audience in the McCullough Social Space.Emphasizing the manner in which the losses will compound, Liebowitz urged swift action. "The sooner we remove the budget deficit, the better," he said. When it was approved in 2006, the Strategic Plan projected a series of 4.9 percent annual increases in the comprehensive fee, which would bring the figure to approximately $51,621 for the coming year. In light of the current fiscal climate, however, Liebowitz said that when the Board of Trustees deliberates on the increase next week, it may be reluctant to adhere to that model for fear that it would impose too heavy a burden on many families already expected to require additional financial aid. Regardless, the financial aid budget will be cut by approximately $150,000, mostly by increasing the summer and academic-year work expectations for incoming domestic students, whose full demonstrated need will still be met."I don't think you can put a price tag on being need-blind," Liebowitz said, estimating that fewer than 30 colleges and universities in the nation truly abide by such a policy. "To go off need-blind would be to pay a huge price in the eyes of future applicants, especially if we seek socioeconomic and regional diversity."Dean of Admissions Bob Clagett agreed. "It's a luxury that we don't have to go to Student Financial Services and ask them - in the way that happens at thousands and thousands of other colleges - how much admitting a particular student is going to cost us," he said. "We can admit the most qualified applicants in the pool."Less aid will be available to international students, however, and their financial need will be taken into consideration during admissions. Liebowitz estimated that this will result in seven to eight percent of the class of 2013 being comprised of international students, rather than the typical average of 10 to 11 percent. He expects that, despite this, the College will still reach its goal of a student body compromised of 10 percent international students. The College will also eliminate the MiddView program for the class of 2013, dispensing with overnight camping trips in favor of a less expensive model that "takes advantage of resources closer to campus."While Liebowitz said MiddView is a "big loss" in terms of the "small group bonding experiences" it offers, "incoming students haven't experienced it, so they aren't going to miss it." Also under scrutiny are auxiliary operations such as 51 Main, the Snow Bowl, Ralph Myhre golf course, Juice Bar and Grille."They don't make money for the College," Liebowitz said. "They don't even break even."In an effort to mitigate this, the College has closed Rehearsals Café, and plans to reduce the discounts offered to employees and other "friends of the College" at the Snow Bowl and golf course. Moreover, beginning this week, the Grille and Juice Bar will delay opening until 11:30 a.m. on weekdays and 5 p.m. on the weekend. While the College is striving to preserve its academic quality, the Educational Affairs Committee is currently evaluating how to scale back the cost of Winter Term. Although this is mostly likely to occur at first by minimizing the number of visiting professors, Liebowitz expressed wider misgivings about the model at large. "Many students claim they applied to Middlebury because of it," Liebowitz said. "Cynics say it's a great time to ski."He said the faculty debates the merits of Winter Term every few years, typically culminating in a very close vote."Most of the people who support it are those who have never taught it," Liebowitz said. "At least from an energy and cost perspective, it would be easier to go to two semesters of 14 weeks."While there are currently no official discussions to this effect underway, Liebowitz said the possibility is not off the table."We might get there," he said. "If the economy keeps going down, I wouldn't be surprised if this comes up."Visiting Winter Term professors are not the only employees whose jobs are on the line. If the College is unable to cut staff 10 percent by attrition, it may implement an involuntary reduction of the work force, particularly in dining services.Spears said the College was making every effort to avoid layoffs, and was willing to explore "creative" strategies such as "lending staff members to various entities in town" while the College continued to pay their salaries. Among the questions which generated the most discussion at the meeting was whether members of the College community would be informed when areas with which they are affiliated had been evaluated and "passed," or whether "this feeling of being on the chopping block" would "persist indefinitely.""We're looking at everything," Norton said. "We still are. We've made a lot of progress, but we still have a long way to go."Norton said he and his colleagues were striving to operate as transparently as possible.Doug Perkins, Administrative Operations Manager at the College's Museum of Art, took issue with this assertion. He said employees at Rehearsals Café were blindsided by the news that the operation would close during a dining services meeting held the day before the decision took effect. "The people who were affected were never really considered, never really questioned as to how it might impact them," Perkins said. "The transparency just wasn't there." He asked whether staff members should constantly wonder whether their jobs will exist the next day. Liebowitz became visibly agitated in response."First of all, Doug, transparency doesn't mean putting everything up to a vote," he said. "That is not transparency. Transparency means being open about the process. As I said before, the goal here is to make changes as fast as possible to preserve jobs. All right? The bottom line is, the quicker we move to make our recommendations a reality and save budget dollars, the less we have to do down the road." Liebowitz said Rehearsals Cafe is "not a new issue." "Rehearsals has been losing money for years," he said. "We've been talking about closing Rehearsals for years. To act surprised that this might be on the block when we're looking to cut $20 million is something disingenuous, at least in my view." Liebowitz reiterated his stance that transparency cannot be equated with voting. "That way, we'll never reach $20 million," he said. "Never. So I appreciate the issue of the staff not knowing where they were going. Perhaps they should have been talked to before the meeting with dining. But transparency doesn't mean answering to the folks in the CFA about how this is going to affect their programs and whether or not we should do it."Liebowitz said the best way for students to be helpful is to "lower their expectations.""Their expectation is to have everything they've ever had and more," he said. "That's ambitious, but not realistic."Liebowitz
said he recently received an e-mail from a parent who resented the idea that her child would not have the same "Middlebury experience" as students who attended the College five years ago. He reminded her that the College and the economy at large are much different than they were even a short time ago - and that the changes are far from over. The budget will see an estimated $2.5 million in additional cuts before the end of the fiscal year. "Where's the bottom?" Norton asked. "January was a brutal month in the markets, and February isn't starting out much better.""Even if the economy turns around," Liebowitz said, "it will take time to rebuild what we've lost."
(01/22/09 12:00am)
Author: Katie Siegner With the renovations of the McCullough Student Center nearing completion, students are already seeing changes and improvements to the building. "While McCullough was closed, there was a noticeable lack of an all-campus social space," said Katie Horner '11. The project is on schedule to be completed by early spring. It features a new lower entrance as well as renovations to the Box Office, Midd Xpress and the Mail Center that aim to "make the building more accessible and really brighten up the lower level," according to Director of the Center for Campus Activities and Leadership (CCAL) Doug Adams. The color, flooring and new furnishings create an integrated and comfortable atmosphere that is designed to bring students in, because, as Adams repeatedly emphasized, "this is their student center." The second level has also been transformed by the addition of the new McCullough Center Gallery, which will display student artwork, and the redesigned McCullough Social Space. Adams has lofty goals for the revamped space, which he hopes will serve as a focal point of the campus. "It can be a lot of things," Adams said of the Social Space, noting that the seating capacity of the venue has increased from 300 to 400 people. The construction team also removed the balcony, replaced the floor, changed the stage, added sound, lighting and seating systems, added a dressing room for performers and enhanced climate control in the facility.Throughout the new building, Adams hopes to prominently display examples of Middlebury students' creativity. This endeavor hinges on the Gallery, which will feature the work of one Middlebury student-artist every few months. Sam Dakota Miller's '08.5 graphic art is scheduled to be the first exhibit. The walls of the first floor also present new opportunities for the visionary CCAL director. One wall will showcase student photographs and another will be the inspiration for a student-wide mural contest. Adams noted that there is a lot of empty space that needs to be filled and that he plans to do this in a way bring more students' interests into the building."It's only appropriate to have [student art] at the Student Center," he said.A combination of Middlebury staff and students initiated and supervised the project, the goal of which - according to Adams - was "to provide a more usable and attractive space for Middlebury College students." In order to accomplish this, a Program Plan Committee was created, with members drawing from a cross-section of student performing groups. Adams involved the committee in meetings with the architects in an effort to make the Social Space specifically tailored to student desires, essentially giving the committee the freedom to express "what they would want if they could have anything."Renovations meant some adjustments for McCullough inhabitants. Box Office Coordinator Debby Anderson pointed out that when the Box Office moved upstairs temporarily, it was "not in the path of people." However, now that it has returned to the first floor, the Box Office's prominent location has made it an "information center."The Mail Center was also transferred into a trailer for the duration of the project. Mail Center Supervisor David LaRose expressed frustration about the cramped space and the lack of a desk. "I like things in order," LaRose said. He said that life in the trailer was essentially business as usual, however, albeit a bit harder to find packages. The Service Building Warehouse was used as a secondary storage facility for packages, as the space in the trailer was 300 square feet smaller than the mailroom in McCullough. The Mail Center's move back to McCullough was completed in one day. The new Mail Center is brighter and offers considerably more space to LaRose and his staff. The new Midd Xpress will open after Feb Break in its new location - due to its increased visibility, sales are expected to go up 25-30 percent according to Steve Reigle, the general manager of Retail Dining Operations. Once the project is completed, Middlebury will have a Student Center that is more cohesive, attractive and versatile than its old one. The Social Space is already set to host concerts, dances, performances and many other events that will attract Middlebury students, including the Orange Crush concert during February's upcoming Winter Carnival. These improvements will all help to reestablish McCullough as the literal and figurative center of campus.
(01/15/09 12:00am)
Author: Margaret Moslander Volunteering at the Middlebury teen center. Teaching a workshop on the history of baseball. Visiting and volunteering in third world countries. While this may sound like a list of popular Winter Term activities, it actually illustrates some of what Middlebury's senior community has been up to. On Jan. 9, the Middlebury College Office for Staff Development, with Middlebury Elderly Services, hosted a lunchtime discussion on preparing for retirement. Sheila Andrus, a staff member in the Office for Staff Development, and Pat Carpenter, a social worker from Middlebury Elderly Services, invited five members of the Middlebury community who are at various stages in their retirement to share their experiences and wisdom with those who are preparing to retire. While one may expect that a discussion on retirement may revolve around finances, especially in today's economic climate, Pat Carpenter made it clear that this discussion would focus on the "social and psychological" aspects of retirement.Carpenter got the discussion started with questions for each member of the panel, beginning with their motivations for retirement. Marge, the most recently retired member of the panel, said that she retired because "the school board offered a bailout." The honesty of her response would set the tone for the rest of the discussion, with the panel being frank about the difficulties and rewards of retired life. There was a strong emphasis placed on how the patterns of life change with retirement. Because there is no strict schedule to follow after stopping work, participants suggested that it is important to get involved in other activities. Rudy, a former professor of sociology at the College, said that after retiring at 62 he "did nothing for two years." Other participants on the panel agreed with Rudy that it takes time to "recover" from the working world, but after that recovery takes place, it is important to rejoin the world in some other capacity. The other capacities in which members of the panel rejoined the world are many and varied. One of the most interesting stories was told by Jan, a long retired woman who had worked for Geiger of Austria. Upon retiring, she joined the Peace Corps and taught "small business development" in South Africa for two years. She was in South Africa when Nelson Mandela was elected president, and she talked about the excitement that swept the country at that time. After leaving South Africa she worked at an orphanage in Uganda. Her story was inspiring; she created a new, exciting life for herself after having worked the same job for most her life. Rudy, for his part, rejoined the community after retirement using the teaching skills he honed at Middlebury College. He now teaches classes at the Elderly Services College. His specialty is the history of baseball, and he is an avid baseball memorabilia collector. Mal and Pat, the only couple on the panel, are active participants in many Elderly Services activities and also volunteer at the Middlebury Teen Center. The members of the lunchtime discussion were inspired by the stories of these retirees - in fact, it is accurate to say that many of their views on what retirement can and should be were changed by the members of the panel. Pat Carpenter, in her closing remarks, reminded the participants that "some people retire to live, and others retire to die." The members of the panel certainly retired to live, and continue to inspire others in the Middlebury community in many different ways.
(01/15/09 12:00am)
Author: Jacob Udell Haven't you heard? You don't need to be a vegan, drive a Prius, or know how to compost to be an environmentalist! Of course, conservation in our daily lifestyle is incredibly valuable. But rather than immediate global warming solutions, things commonly associated with environmentalism currently serve as symbols - symbols which help us drive the global change we need.At this point, the only way we can possibly mitigate climate change to a safe level is through first national and then international legislation, and it needs to happen fast. Leading climate change scientist Rajendra Pachauri told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune that, "If there's no action before 2012, that's too late. What we do in the next two to three years will determine our future. This is the defining moment." Read that year again: 2012 - the last year most of us here will graduate.Influential legislation starts with grassroots political activism, and there is no better chance to do that as a college student than at PowerShift 2009. From Feb. 27 to March 2, thousands of young adults will converge on Washington, D.C. for PowerShift 2009, the second national youth summit committed to solving the climate crisis. Once there, we will be doing everything from lobbying our legislators to participating in workshops and career fairs.PowerShift '09 is the most important thing you can do this New Year. And it's not like you have to come to Sunday Night Group every week in order to feel like you can be passionate. If you care about international social justice issues, that is more than enough. Global warming has the potential to be the biggest humanitarian crisis in history. It will most devastatingly affect the rural poor, who have the least financial and technical capacity to adapt to its dangers and are most affected by fluctuations in worldwide food supply.All of us can understand the enormous number of injustices that the human race has committed in our history, and global warming is potentially the worst one yet. With great potential for destruction, however, comes great potential for good. Climate change is our first truly global issue, and its urgency will hopefully force us to transcend our national and cultural differences in order to overcome it. How do we make sure that we don't read this, lament for a few moments, and then go back to our breakfast? It's easy: commit to going to PowerShift. Let's make sure Middlebury sends well over 100 students, from all over the country and the world. We'll be down in D.C. at the beginning of Barack Obama's presidency, physically taking part in actualizing the change that he has promised. We need members of the College Democrats and College Republicans, the African American Alliance and the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, the International Student Organization and the Mountain Club, because this is a crisis that connects us all. Don't miss taking part in shaping our generation's, and the world's, defining issue.
(11/20/08 12:00am)
Author: Grace Duggan Most people probably would not take their last semester off from Middlebury to spend several months working in West Virginia to promote the nationwide prioritizing of alternatives to clean coal technology, but Sierra Murdoch - now a member of the Class of 2009.5 - is doing just that. Following an internship she will complete on campus with seven other Middlebury students this Winter Term, Murdoch, who has been hired in part by Project 350, expects to remain in West Virginia through July facilitating continued discussion of the issues surrounding the ominous consequences of the continued use of coal as an energy source. The impetus for this internship - as well as the continuation of Murdoch's efforts through the spring - grew out of a fruitful conference held this past April and attended by Luce Professor of International Environmental Economics Jon Isham at the Garrison Institute. These three inspiring days looked to the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and prompted Isham to consider how Gandhi - whose grandson attended the conference - may have approached the current climate crisis. Following his return to campus, Isham continued the dialogue started at the Garrison Institute with other Middlebury faculty, including Associate Professor of Religion Rebecca Gould, Professor of English and American Literatures John Elder and Scholar-in-Residence in Environmental Studies Bill McKibben, along with a number of Middlebury students who showed interest in participating in what is already an important national and global issue.Though still in the preliminary planning stages, the internship marks a collaborative effort between Murdoch, Eleanor Horowitz '11, Michaela O'Connor '11, Lois Parshley '11, Katelyn Romanov '11, Peter Spyrou '10.5, Matt Vaughan '09 and Ben Wessel '11, each of whom brings to the table varying levels of familiarity with this particular component of the overall climate movement. The students will tackle the complex web of issues surrounding coal, one that includes learning about mountain top removal, alternative energy sources and the possibility of facilitating the development of a green economy in coal country.Given the magnitude of success Middlebury students have had participating in past initiatives, both locally and nationally, standards for Murdoch and the other interns are high. Isham hopes that efforts from environmentalists, including Middlebury students, will also feed into legislative measures, both in the United States and abroad. Once in West Virginia, Murdoch will build off of her internship by working with organizations like the Alliance For Appalachia and iLoveMountains. Following successful models from history as well as recent initiatives like Step It Up and an internship 10 Middlebury students had with 1Sky last Winter Term, at least one meeting has been set before January to plan for the upcoming internship and Murdoch's continued involvement through the spring.The issue of coal is already on the national radar, having received attention from a number of activists, including Al Gore and both 2008 presidential candidates. As recently as Nov. 9, Gore published an op-ed in the New York Times emphasizing how unrealistic "clean coal" technology is as a viable component for solving the current climate crisis."It's a wonderful idea," said Isham, "but as Al Gore pointed out, it's not yet anywhere close to being valid. 'Clean coal' is just hype right now."The term "clean coal" obscures the magnitude of the issue, as the technology does not currently exist. Both Isham and Murdoch cited a profound lack of research into the idea and asserted that it cannot be viewed as a sensible option given the current speed of climate change."Clean coal is not a possibility within the timeline we have to act on global warming," said Murdoch. "We have to do something else. We need to look to wind, solar and innovative technologies we've already developed, and integrate these into an economic system that creates new jobs and lifts a lot of communities out of poverty."Noah Brautigam '12, who recently wrote a piece on carbon capture and storage for Isham's first-year seminar - titled "Can We Really Do This? Finding Global Warming Solutions" - had similarly mixed feelings about clean coal."The way I see it is that clean coal is a political construction. Politicians need to appeal to Appalachia, and to do that they can't say, 'Moratorium on coal' to get elected. I don't think [clean coal] is the most viable option right now. It's not a permanent solution … it's a band-aid until there are better solutions found."Isham emphasized the urgency and importance of engaging the problems of coal in the United States as well as on the global level. With over half of the electricity produced in the United States coming from coal and a rising number of coal plants opening in China - the origin of approximately 25 percent of all current greenhouse gases - coal's status as a cost-effective, readily available energy source will be hard to change."Coal is an exceptionally difficult challenge," he said. "The alternatives are to ban using coal for reasons associated with the injustices of it, figure out some technological fix or move as quickly as you can away from coal. But of course you have to have the clean energy alternatives … By some estimates up to half a million people in China die every year because of the burning of coal. In the United States it's certainly in the tens of thousands."With language colored by earnest references to other movements, such as abolitionism and Gandhi's movement against British colonial rule, Isham acknowledged the formidable task that lies ahead, one that involves framing coal use as a moral issue."If it's not seen as a moral issue, it's just going to be one more in a list of things that we should be doing, and the key is to make it a moral issue that one can't ignore," said Isham. "A great analogy is the abolitionist movement … The reason they succeeded is because they made [slavery] a moral issue. It's hard for us to imagine that slavery wasn't a moral issue, but it wasn't until they came along … We want to use the climate change story to say, just as abolitionists did over 200 years ago, that this core engine of our economy can't be defended because of the injustices associated with it."
(11/20/08 12:00am)
Author: Jaime Fuller Though much has been done in the 18 months since the College announced its commitment to carbon neutrality in May 2007, new innovations will hold the key to upholding that promise by 2016 given current economic conditions, according to faculty and students already searching for creative ways for the College to meet its environmental goals. The development that has had the biggest impact on reducing the College's carbon footprint was the decision to build a biomass plant to replace the old #6 oil-fueled heating plant. Once the biomass plant goes into operation beginning in Jan. 2009, it can potentially cut the College's greenhouse emissions by 12,500 metric tons per year. Benjamin F. Wissler Professor of Physics Rich Wolfson, who specializs in global warming research, believes this development is the biggest step that Middlebury will take in going carbon neutral. "The heating plant is the single largest producer of carbon emissions by a factor of 10," Wolfson said. "The biomass plant, once in operation, will cut the College's carbon emissions in half."The next largest carbon emitters are the buildings on the periphery of campus, which are not heated by the main heating plant. Because these buildings will not be aided by the new biomass plant, the administration is thinking of other ways to make the outskirts of campus conform to the College's environmental ambitions. The solar panels to be installed at 107 Shannon Street are a prime example, but Wolfson believes that solar and wind power, though admirable, are not going to considerably affect the College's carbon footprint."People think that by putting up lots of solar panels and windmills for electricity we'd solve a lot of problems," he said, "but Vermont gets most of its electricity from nuclear and hydroelectric energy, which has virtually no carbon emissions. If we were in Ohio, it would make a big difference because we would be getting most of our electricity from coal."The source of carbon emissions that will prove most troublesome for the College to neutralize is faculty travel, which because of Middlebury's remote location will be impossible to completely eradicate. Wolfson said travel will most likely be cut, but in order to become carbon neutral the College will need to buy carbon offsets to atone for trips to locations far from the Green Mountains. Wolfson said the next step the College planned to take in its quest towards carbon neutrality by 2016 was to duplicate the biomass plant, but these plans were made before the financial crisis made the administration more budget-conscious. "It's going to cost," Wolfson said. "It's not as economically feasible as it was two months ago. We're going to have to be innovative if we want to do this by 2016."Although Wolfson believes Middlebury is a pioneer among the nation's liberal arts colleges in its commitment to carbon neutrality, he wishes that there were another way to get there besides the woodchip-fueled biomass plant."Frankly, I'm a little disappointed that we need to burn something else to become carbon neutral," he said. The nine-acre willow farm planted on College lands seeks to make the biomass plant more palatable and more sustainable. When 1200 acres of willows are fully grown, they should be able to provide a quarter of the College's heating fuel supply, which in effect replaces 500,000 gallons of the carbon-rich #6 oil.The Sunday Night Group (SNG) has also been busy trying to deal with carbon reductions, albeit on a much larger scale. Chester Harvey '09, who was a main actor in the push to get Middlebury carbon neutral, is pleased with what the College has achieved so far, but unsure of how SNG should progress."We've been struggling since the carbon neutrality proposal was passed with what we should do next," he said. "We almost accomplished our goals too well, we didn't leave anything for the students to do afterwards." He then said that since carbon neutrality was mostly in the administration's hands as far as Middlebury College goes, SNG was now focusing on the climate crisis on a larger scale. "We've been trying to branch out beyond campus, to bring carbon reductions to the community and the state, and further out nationally," said Harvey.As part of this branching out beyond the bubble, Lois Parshley '11 has been leading an effort to draft policy proposals that she hopes to present to Vermont legislators, using her research on Oregon's business energy tax credit program as the starting point. "Like Oregon," Parshley wrote in an e-mail, "the state of Vermont could stimulate capital investment, conservation savings and renewable energy sources through the introduction of energy conservation and renewable energy income tax credit programs." Parshely's goal is to finish drafting her proposal with the help of the Middlebury chapter of the Roosevelt Institution, and raise awareness among local representatives, senators and business leaders, which she hopes will lead to passage of her idea in the 2009 state legislative session. However, recent events in national politics have spurred her to make much more ambitious goals regarding her policy proposal. "Since Obama's win last week, I have also been discussing with Professor [of International Environmental Economics] Jon Isham and [Scholar-in-Residence] Bill McKibben the possibility of taking my proposal national," she wrote in an e-mail. "I am beginning to network on the national level towards that goal."Other nationally oriented SNG-supported initiatives include Middshift, 1Sky, 350.org and PowerVote, which all seek to make climate change a more central part of the national agenda. At the SNG meeting Nov. 9, Bill McKibben had no fears that the College would not be able to achieve its environmental goals."Middlebury has been the most activist college campus on climate change for about a decade," he said. "[This college] has a legacy and historical commitment to the environment and is in the lead for college campuses in the march towards carbon neutrality."
(11/20/08 12:00am)
Author: Richard Wolfson "Buy an SUV instead of a car," says Bill McKibben, and you'll waste so much energy that "it's like you've decided to leave your refrigerator door open for the next seven years." Shut down the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, you say, and we can replace it with wind turbines. Both of these statements sound reasonable, and both would garner nods of agreement from Middlebury environmentalists. Both statements are also quantitative, explicitly in the first case and implicitly in the second. Could you justify either statement?Being an authoritative environmentalist means being able to grapple with quantitative issues. "How rapidly are we humans raising atmospheric CO2 concentration?" "What's exponential growth and how does it affect our projections of future environmental conditions?" "What percent of species are threatened with extinction?" "What's the imbalance in global energy flows and how does that drive anthropogenic climate change?" "How much power is available from wind, and how's that compare with our total energy consumption rate?" "What change in stratospheric temperature should we expect from an enhanced greenhouse effect, and how's that provide evidence for anthropogenic global warming?" "At what rate is sea level rising, and how's that compare with historical rates?" "What's 'tipping point' behavior, and how does its mathematical description differ from 'normal' behavior?" The list of quantitative environmental questions is endless.The College community is rightfully proud of its commitment to the environment. We're green in so many ways, and we're activists who inspire others beyond the small world of the Champlain Valley. We're even aiming to become carbon neutral by 2016 (By how much must we reduce our carbon emissions? What's Middlebury's greatest source of carbon? How do our other sources compare?). Yet I'm not sure we're always willing to be as quantitative as we might be. Last year's Environmental Studies colloquium series featured a session on the many voices that need to be heard in the environmental movement. Missing was the quantitative voice. We need that voice, not only to sound - and to be - authoritative, but also to help guide our own environmental decisions. Wind and solar photovoltaics are great for the environment, but understanding Middlebury's electrical energy mix quantitatively shows that they can't help much with carbon neutrality. Buying local chicken reduces our carbon footprint and other environmental impacts, but, as a recent ES colloquium showed, we can't do that without exhausting the local poultry population (How many free-range chickens are there in Addison County?). And switching to hybrid cars will help the environment in many ways, including making a significant dent in our carbon emissions. But only a quantitative assessment can show that hybrids alone won't get us to "80 percent by 2050" or to 350.org's goal of an eponymous atmospheric CO2 concentration. Understanding all this requires quantitative thinking and the quantitative voice. It's a voice we environmentalists should use proudly, forcefully and often.(Richard Wolfson is professor of Environmental Studies and the Benjamin F. Wissler Professor of Physics.)
