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(04/24/08 12:00am)
Author: Michelle Constant On April 19-21, between 40 and 50 students from the College, local high school students and other community members united on campus for the Power Shift Vermont 2008 conference. On Monday, the group traveled to Montpelier to demand that the Vermont legislature and governor pass a strong version of the climate solution bill. Keynote speakers included Vermont State Representative David Zuckerman, chair of the House Agriculture Committee, and Betsy Taylor, co-founder and board president of 1Sky. Power Shift Vermont was modeled after the national conference Power Shift 2007. The national event was based on a global initiative to reduce carbon dioxide concentrations to 350 parts per million, while it is currently at an unsafe 383 parts per million. According to the organizers of the Vermont conference, there have been many other follow-up conferences, including Massachusetts Power Shift and Cascade Power Shift in the Washington and Oregon area.In order to work towards this goal locally, Vermont Power Shift supports cutting Vermont carbon admissions at least 75 percent by 2050, creating a green jobs program in the state of Vermont and encouraging the use of renewable resources and sustainability in all sectors, including heating and transportation"The name Power Shift shows how we want to literally shift how we get power," said conference organizer Lilly Corenthal '10, "but it also works in a political, social sense of how we want to shift power into the hands of the community."The objective of Power Shift Vermont includes giving Vermont college and high school students the necessary knowledge to take action in finding sustainable energy sources. The organizers were enthusiastic about the event's potential to share ideas and solutions among students and community members. "Our goal is to unify Vermont in this climate movement, bringing in lots of education aspects and getting people more in touch with what is going on with the environment," said Corenthal.Despite the diversity among those that attended the conferences, organizers felt that the common cause helped bring people together. "The climate movement really is diverse and impacts all sorts of people," said Erickson. "I hate to label it an environmental issue - it is really a social justice and economic issue. It is about everything integral to our economic system."The organizers of Power Shift Vermont aspire to be active in the community and appeal to a large base of individuals. As a result, the weekend included informative panels, interactive workshops, intense discussions and speeches by distinguished leaders. "Representatives from Vermont's agricultural department came to discuss the complexity of these issues," said Erickson. "It is great how accessible they are."Some of the speeches included "Cow Power" by Dave Dunn of Central Vermont Public Service Cow Power, "Justice and Diversity in the Climate Movement" by Middlebury students Becca Wear '10 and Kyle Hunter '11, and "Spirituality and the Climate Movement" by Reverend Paul Bortz. "We tried to focus on all of the issues, including diversity and race and how that connects to climate change," said Corenthal. In addition, conference participants attended the Town Earth Day Celebration, slept over in McCardell Bicentennial Hall all weekend, screened the TV series "Planet Earth," and ate their meals at Weybridge house and local restaurants. On Monday, the participants spent the day in Montpelier, meeting with legislators and rallying on the State House lawn. The organizers discussed with state representatives exciting ideas about creating sustainable energy, with Vermont acting as a leader in these progressive, environmental issues."I see this as an opportunity to change our current system and make it better," said Erickson, "I feel empowered by talking to legislators about real solutions such as transferring to clean energy sources. I like the idea of my children living in a world with local economy, clean energy and more justice."According to conference organizer Chester Harvey '09, the success of the College's previous efforts on carbon neutrality is a good indication for the future success of the goals of Power Shift Vermont. "The College worked intensely on carbon neutrality last year, which has since been embraced by the administration and given a certain amount of clout from the president and trustees," said Harvey.Organizers of the conference felt that the weekend's events highlighted an uniting force that can be used to address other pressing problems."Under the title climate we can achieve powerful things, though this title is not enough for what Power Shift represents," said Corenthal. "It encompasses political, social and economic issues of what we will face in the coming years."
(04/10/08 12:00am)
Author: Kelly Janis Thoughtful Vermonters, opposed to the tyranny of the United States government, corporate America and globalization, believe that Vermont should once again become an independent republic, as it was between 1777 and 1791, and that the United States of America should begin to peacefully dissolve," reads an excerpt from "The Green Mountain Manifesto: Why and How Tiny Vermont Might Help Save America From Itself by Seceding from the Union." The document was drafted by retired Duke University economics professor and author Thomas Naylor to encapsulate the ideals of a growing movement which advocates Vermont's peaceable secession from the Union.Though such ideology may at first register as outlandish, the prospect is not without a sizable contingent of supporters. In the 2006 Vermonter Poll conducted by the Center for Rural Studies at the University of Vermont, eight percent of registered voters expressed a favorable opinion of the proposal. Nor is such a movement without local precedents. In 2004, residents of the ski resort community of Killington, Vt. voted at their town meeting to secede from the state of Vermont and seek admission to New Hampshire. (The bill which would have paved the way for the town's exit died in the state legislature at the conclusion of the 2005-2006 season.)Among the proposition's most vocal proponents are author Kirkpatrick Sale - founder of the Middlebury Institute, a Cold Spring, N.Y.-based think tank dedicated to separatism, secession and self-determination and a self-described "anarchocommunalist" - and teacher, historian, writer and musician Dr. Rob Williams, editor of Vermont Commons, a quarterly newspaper which promotes non-violent secession and what the publication's mission statement describes as "a more sustainable Vermont future into which we can invest our time, energy and financial and spiritual resources."In interviews with The Campus, Sale and Williams discussed the nuts and bolts of secession, firmly asserting that the state's viability hinges on its ability to depart from what both deem "the U.S. Empire" in the interest of constructing an independent order.The Middlebury Campus: Do you believe the United States is a collapsing empire? If so, why?Kirkpatrick Sale: Yes. Isn't it obvious? It has botched every area it's involved in, and is unable to solve, much less even address, most of the multiple crises that assault the earth today. I shouldn't have to enumerate them, but off the top of my head I'll give you: extinction of species, climate change, pollution of air, water and soils, exhaustion of fisheries, desertification, disruption of the atmosphere, the emiseration of the great part of the world, the malignancy of capitalism and the stultification and dumbing-down of industrial society.TC: In "Our Mission: Imagining an Independent Vermont" in the Spring 2008 issue of Vermont Commons, you wrote that "the United States is no longer a republic governed by its citizens, but an empire that is essentially ungovernable." Can you elaborate on and provide evidence for this statement?Rob Williams: Sure. The U.S. possesses close to 10,000 nuclear weapons, maintains a military presence in more than 130 out of 193 countries globally, spends more money on our military budget than the next eight nations combined and is quite vocal about pursuing a policy of "full spectrum dominance" to control the entire world and outer space. At home, the size of the average Congressional district is roughly 620,000 citizens (the population of Vermont), while multinational corporations own - through extensive lobbying efforts over the past several decades - both major political parties at the national level. No one in her right mind could argue for a moment that maintaining a democracy or a republic is possible under these sorts of circumstances.TC: In what manner is the 21st century shaping up to be different from the 20th?Williams: Far-sighted thinkers suggest that we face a number of unique 21st century challenges that are unfolding before our eyes: a "perfect storm" involving global peak oil realities (the end of the era of the most magical discovery human civilization has ever made - cheap and abundant fossil fuel energy), climate change dilemmas and the collapse of "Petroleum Man" civilization. The U.S. Empire's response has so far been to deal with these emerging realities by invading other countries, making money by bombing and rebuilding and privatizing their assets (oil reserves and other forms of wealth - Iraq is now the perfect example of this process), all in the name of "democracy," "freedom" and a "war on terror" which, we are told, "will not end in our lifetimes." We suggest that this is a short-sighted and unethical approach - to put it mildly - to the 21st century problems that are emerging.TC: What are the most significant changes Vermont would incur in the event of successful secession?Sale: An independent Vermont would operate at a scale where real democracy would be possible, where it would be able to shield itself from the errors, incompetence and corruption of the federal government, where it could guide its own economy toward egalitarian ends and where its citizens would have essential control over the decisions that effect their lives.Williams: We'd have to restructure our economy and our political system to engage the rest of the world on our own terms, instead of as one of 50 states within the U.S. Empire. The list of questions is long - and we've been writing about solutions and answers in the newspaper for three years now.TC: How would Vermont's new government be arranged?Williams: This is a decision for the citizens of Vermont to make, but I imagine Vermont's new government will retain many of the elements that have made Vermont so successful to date: elected representatives from each town or region convening in a statewide assembly, with local elected officials doing the good work of town and school governance. We also have a perfectly good state constitution which would make a nice foundation for an independent republic.TC: Do you believe national and world opinion would be on Vermont's side in the event of secession? Sale: Without question. It is the overwhelming wave of world politics, and has been for half a century, so there are a great many secessionist states in the world. Moreover, if the citizens voted fairly and heavily for it, that would make it indisputably moral in the eyes of the world.Williams: Absolutely. I think that most of the world's nations and peoples recognize that the U.S. Empire is a hyper-power that has betrayed its own ideals. The U.S. has become similar to the Empire our Founding Fathers and Mothers seceded from back in 1776.TC: Do you see any disadvantages to secession? Sale: Not if it is peaceful and majoritarian. None at all.Williams: Certainly, there are risks involved. We advocate non-violence, and propose that we gradually "absent" ourselves from the U.S. Empire. But there is no telling how the U.S. government will respond to Vermonters' desire to leave the U.S.TC : Do you believe secession is a feasible goal? Do you see it coming to fruition? If so, within what time frame? Sale: It is certainly feasible, and as the empire collapses and things become a lot worse, it will stand out across the land as the only reasonable way to go. In the face of peak oil, for example, and climate disasters and rising oceans, it will be seen as not only feasible, but necessary for survival.Williams: Indeed, it is a feasible goal, just like the British colonies' desire to secede from the British Empire and form new and independent governments ultimately proved a feasible goal. Gauging the time frame is tricky. It really depends on how quickly Vermonters wake up to the fact that remaining in the U.S
. Empire is a high-risk proposition.TC: If secession does not pan out, what other means exist to remedy the problems you perceive to face Vermont?Sale: They can't be solved as long as the weight and errancy of the federal government falls so heavily on the state.Williams: We focus much of our Vermont Commons work on what we call "re-localization" efforts - how do we decentralize our political, economic and social lives to maximum effect? See, for example, our http://www.keepitinvermont.org campaign - an effort to urge Vermonters to re-invest their federal "rebate" checks of $600 to $1,200 back into the local Vermont economy over the next four months.TC: How do most people you encounter respond to the secession campaign? Do they take it seriously?Sale: Most people I talk to seem to feel it is a very good idea, but not attainable, until I tell them about the disasters we are in now and how they're only getting worse, and [that] the national government is the problem, not the solution. Then they begin to see the point. They don't all agree to become part of the movement, but you'd be surprised how many ask to be on the institute's mailing list, which has grown to several thousand in just two years.Williams: We get all sorts of responses, from anger to laughter to genuine interest. I think more and more thoughtful citizens are realizing that the days of the U.S. Empire are numbered, and that it is up to us to develop alternatives to empire here in Vermont.TC: What is at stake for you personally in this movement?Sale: Nothing. In fact, it's costing me a good deal of money. I don't even live in a state that has or is likely to have a secessionist movement. I do this because I think it is the only thing that can possibly avert the disaster of the American Empire.Williams: I have poured countless hours into this effort over the past four years. For me, it is really about creating a more hopeful 21st century world for ourselves and our children and their children. The future does not look very promising, but I am ultimately hopeful that we might "re-invent" ourselves here in Vermont as a more sustainable 21st century republic. Time will tell.
(03/20/08 12:00am)
Author: Derek Schlickeisen and Mary Lane The Target: Carbon Neutrality It's a race to zero: by 2016, Middlebury hopes to have eliminated its annual carbon "footprint" of over 30,000 metric tons of CO2.The commitment comes as part of the College's May 2006 Strategic Plan, which names "strengthening our environmental leadership and reputation" as one of the school's primary goals in coming years. It is a reputation which has already earned accolades. In September, the environmental news site The Grist named Middlebury as one of the nation's top 15 "green" colleges.Yet the new goal poses a financial challenge to the College. In the midst of a $500 million capital campaign aimed at funding priorities from increased student aid to adding up to 25 new faculty, the College does not yet have a large enough endowment to simply sink money into environmental initiatives. Instead, the hope is that many projects - like the biomass power plant now under construction - will pay for themselves over time through energy conservation.One particularly ambitious aspect of the carbon neutrality goal is already helping to shape the direction of campus planning. According to Sustainability Coordinator Jack Byrne, the College does not plan to rely primarily on carbon offsets - payments that support carbon-lowering activities, like tree planting and solar or wind power installation - to reach its goal, as peers like the College of the Atlantic have done. This limitation means that the College must make changes to its own infrastructure and practices rather than simply paying for those steps to be taken elsewhere."Our goal says that offsets are the last resort for us," explained Byrne. "We're going to try to achieve it by changing the way we operate, from the fuels we burn to the vehicles we run."The College to date has largely steered clear of buying the offsets because the market for them is unregulated. Some carbon-offset providers have been criticized for over-representing the carbon impact of their practices, including counting contributions to already-planned renewable energy facilities as "additional" carbon-offset measures. In short, the College believes that taking care of its own carbon neutrality will make its impact greater than colleges - like the College of the Atlantic - who simply buy offsets.The path to carbon neutrality officially began with the adoption of the Carbon Neutrality Initiative (CNI) into College policy by the Board of Trustees last May. The final product of a working group comprised of students and administrators, the Initiative was a victory for the Sunday Night Group, the student climate change organization whose members decided the year before to push for carbon neutrality on campus."By adopting carbon neutrality, the College is not only living up to its environmental mission, but its academic mission as well," said Jamie Henn '07, one of the initiative's organizers, at the time. "Middlebury prides itself on equipping its students with the skills they need to become leaders, whether it be in business, art, politics or academics. In a world where global warming is increasingly defining all of these fields, environmental literacy is just as important as knowing a foreign language."This week, The Campus profiles a few stops on that path to neutrality: the cutting-edge Hillcrest Environmental Center, the renewable biomass power plant, and the Organic Garden.Money Matters: The Greening of Middlebury's financesAs the anticipated costs of green projects on campus added up, the Class of 2007 decided to step up with a $92,000 founding commitment to the "Green Fund." Together with a seed gift of $2 million from former Board Chairman Churchill Franklin '71, the seniors' gift represented the first addition to a fund the Board of Trustees hopes will ultimately total close to $50 million.The fund will support not only carbon neutrality efforts, but also those to educate students and community members through the College's environmental studies programs and colloquia.One of the College's most prominent environmental projects, Weybridge House, will also soon draw support from the Green Fund. Members of the house frequently cook their own meals with foods obtained at the organic co-op in town, and Weybridge has teamed with the College's Organic Garden to host open feasts increasing the visibility of organic food on campus."We try to produce food for the College in a sustainable way by completing the food cycle on campus," said Jay Leshinsky, the Garden's advisor and a member of the Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op's Board of Directors. "The garden uses compost made by the College to improve the garden soil. Vegetables grown on that soil are sold to Dining Services, and then Dining Services sends waste to be composted by the College to complete the cycle."In addition to the Green Fund, the College's endowment overall may rightly be described as "greening," with investments being directed away from environmentally or socially irresponsible corporations. The College maintains a list of "do not touch" companies, such as PetroChina, which invest in obsolete energy technologies and have dubious human rights records. In PetroChina's case, the company has been accused of financially fueling the Darfur conflict with its investments in the region's oil market.On several occasions, this moral imperative has gotten in the way of profitable investments - in 2006, the Student Investment Committee, a student-run investment group tasked with managing a portion of the College's endowment, was forced to divest from companies with poor track record. Hillcrest: Beyond "LEED"You cannot step inside the Hillcrest Environmental Center without being reminded of its green features - and that is the point."Instead of constructing a new building for its environmental programs, Middlebury College created a model of resource conservation and energy efficiency with the adaptive reuse of Hillcrest," reads a plaque made of recycled roof shingle by the front door.The Center was renovated in 2007 using 80 percent of the old structure's building materials, and is registered with the U.S. Green Building Council's "Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design" (LEED) program, a national set of guidelines for environmentally sustainable building. LEED standards mandate certain levels of energy and water efficiency above and beyond state minimums. Features from lights that turn off in the absence of motion to extra insulation and double-paned windows help cut down both heating and cooling, while newer toilet designs flush with less than half the water used by their traditional counterparts.Yet the LEED certification does not stand out today quite as much as it used to."LEED standards are almost becoming common now," said Byrne. "What we do goes above and beyond the LEED standard in terms of our focus on local labor and materials. Our preference is always to look first to local forests for our wood, and anyone doing sustainable forestry we go to first."Buying local not only holds down transportation costs, but also pumps dollars into the Addison County economy - one of the poorest in Vermont."It keeps the dollars local, and when you spend dollars locally, they circulate about nine times before leaving Vermont," Byrne explains.That spending adds up. The College spent more than $3 million renovating Hillcrest, a boon to the local contractors and material suppliers hired for the project. And as with the biomass plant, Middlebury hopes that the energy and water savings from Hillcrest's LEED-level features will save money in the long term."So far, the building has performed about 23 percent more efficiently than if it were simply built to the state codes and standards," said Byrne. "We're getting close to one year of occupancy, and once we re
ach that milestone, we'll be able to see the impact over a whole year."If the 23 percent savings figure holds, the energy savings will amount to more than $20,000 annually - not quite enough to cover the cost of renovation, but a welcome statistic in light of rising energy prices.Plunging into biofuelBy the end of the calendar year, the large construction pit behind Parton Health Center will have slowly morphed into a biomass power plant capable of burning over 20,000 tons of wood chips annually. After an $11.9 million investment in the facility, the College is hoping its ability to replace expensive fuel oil with locally grown alternatives will save an even greater expense as gas prices rise.Of the College's entire carbon footprint, 70 percent is produced by the burning of number six fuel oil, an especially heavy grade of fuel used by the school's heating and cooling facilities. The two million gallons of this fuel consumed each year will be cut in half by the new plant.While the carbon savings may be immediate, the financial payback will come over time."The cost of number six fuel oil has increased by about 33 percent in the last year," said Campus Sustainability Coordinator Jack Byrne. "The price of a ton of wood has not increased at all. Particularly with the new price of fuel oil, it would have been nice to already have biomass on line right now."With the price of oil expected to rise even further during the foreseeable future, Byrne said that his office has reduced the biomass plant's estimated "payback period" - the number of years it will take for the savings from burning wood chips to cover the cost of building the plant - from 11 to nine years.Yet such a heavy investment in renewable energy comes with logistical drawbacks - a relatively new industry, biofuels are not often used on the scale that they will be at the College."There is a well established physical infrastructure, from refineries and trucking to heating systems, to support the fossil fuel industry," said Tom McGinn, project manager for the biomass site. "The infrastructure to support biomass energy is much less developed, particularly for applications like our project that go beyond simply residential use."Rather than tapping into the national oil market, the College will look to local producers to fill its need for 20,000 tons of woodchips annually. With an emphasis on keeping down transportation costs, plant managers will ideally look no further than 75 miles from Middlebury for their biofuels."I think that our local alternatives will develop over time as a part of the economic evolution of biomass energy," said McGinn.
(03/20/08 12:00am)
Author: Kelly Janis "Sugaring is part of Vermont's identity, culture and history," said Susan Folino, who owns and operates Hillsboro Sugarworks in Starksboro, Vt. with her husband, David. "I think when people hear the name Vermont, they make the association with maple syrup quite frequently, and quite quickly."According to the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association, Vermont is the largest producer of pure maple syrup in the United States, owing to its ideal climate and soil conditions, and strict guidelines governing the density, flavor and color of the finished product. In a typical year, approximately 460,000 gallons of syrup flow from the state's wealth of maple tree groves, from which sap is extracted during a four to six week season which may begin as early as February in southern portions of the state, and extend through late April in the northernmost regions."An air of romance associated with this long-established industry calls back many people each year to hear the roar of the raging fire, to inhale the sweet aroma of the boiling syrup and to partake of the unmatched flavor of Vermont maple syrup," the Association says on its "Maple Fact Sheet."Dakin Farm embraced this air at its annual Sugar on Snow Party, held on March 15 and 16 at its store and smokehouse in Ferrisburgh - 18 miles north of Middlebury on U.S. Route 7 - where it has boiled sap, smoked meat and sold a wide array of specialty foods for the past 48 years. Over the weekend, visitors were invited to indulge in a breakfast of buttermilk pancakes, bacon and sausage, sample this year's maple crop poured over snow or ice cream, watch sap-boiling demonstrations and enjoy live music."We're having a celebration of springtime in Vermont," said Dakin Farm's president Sam Cutter Jr., who joined his father in the family business immediately after graduating from the University of Vermont in 1980. "We're really proud of our maple syrup, and want to celebrate the season."Cutter fondly recounted the event's history as he donned a red apron bearing the slogan "What Vermont Tastes Like" and cooked sweet Italian sausage for a steady stream of revelers."We used to have a little shack out back where we made the maple syrup," he said."I remember that," a visitor interjected as she swiped a free sample off the table."We would drive up into the mountains and get tubs of snow," Cutter continued. "We would put it in these little boats and heat up maple syrup to a thicker consistency and pour it on the snow."The farm has adjusted its procedure in ensuing years."Sometimes the snow up in the mountains isn't so clean, so we've been crushing ice instead recently, and that actually works better," Cutter said.Cutter described this year's maple season as having great potential, but added that "it's very, very early yet.""The sap hasn't run very much," he said. "It's still very cold in the mountains. There's a lot of snow and a lot of ice up there. We need freezing cold nights and warm, sunny days - warm enough to thaw out the pipeline and get the sap flowing. We've had a few of those, but we need a lot more."According to Cutter, maple syrup is currently in short supply worldwide. "There used to be a big surplus in Quebec, and that surplus always sat there and kept prices down," he explained. "But that surplus is gone, and demand is really high for maple."Cutter attributes this increase in demand to the surging popularity of natural foods, and an influx in marketing industry-wide. "There's a lot of pressure on the crop this year," he said. "We hope to make a lot of syrup. We don't like to see the price go up too high, because then it's unattainable for some people." Addison County maple producers are confident they can rise to the challenge. Hillsboro Sugarworks, for instance - which, as of Monday, had already boiled syrup twice - is off to what Folino described as a promising start."I think it's going to be a good year," she said. "I'm really hopeful."Folino said other sugar makers with whom she has spoken are also pleased with the season's opening strains, and have reported yielding plenty of "light, fancy syrup" thus far.According to owner Paul Greco, Two Old Saps Sugarworks in Lincoln, Vt. produced 35 gallons of syrup on Sunday night, but was unable to proceed on Monday due to low temperatures. "It looks pretty promising right now, but we never know until we get to the month of May what we're going to end up with," said Gary Gaudette, president of Leader Evaporator - a Swanton, Vt. maple equipment supplier - and "guest boiler" at Dakin Farm's Sugar on Snow Party. "It's all controlled by Mother Nature, and we just hope she's going to work with us."Many local sugarers lend Mother Nature a hand as innovators in their field. Folino noted that Hillsboro - which, for the past 20 years, has made monthly deliveries of three and a half gallon buckets of maple syrup to each of the College's dining halls - maintains regular delivery routes and markets its products directly."A lot of the sugar makers in Vermont are hobbyists who operate on a smaller scale," Folino explained. "We do it as a full-time profession."In addition, Folino said Hillsboro is one of only five maple producers in the state to yield syrup by means of steam evaporation, which relies on large, stainless steel pans to expedite the process."The industry has changed a lot over the past 15 years," Gaudette said. "We've developed a lot higher technology."Despite such advances, the maple industry remains heavily rooted in tradition."We buy most of our syrup from large family farms which have been in the family for five or six generations," Cutter said. "A lot of these families still use teams of work horses to work in the woods and gather in the sap."Vermont sugarhouses will kick off the sugaring season officially during the Seventh Annual Maple Open House Weekend, to be held statewide from March 28 to 30. A list of sugar makers offering tours, demonstrations and free samples in conjunction with the event can be found at http://www.vermontmaple.org/open-house.html.
(03/20/08 12:00am)
Author: Alex Garlick In the spirit of the brilliant "Stuff White People Like" blog, I'd like to provide a guide for any outsiders that encounter Middlebury people.1. John McCardell - McCardell is not just liked - he is loved, nearly four years since his assumption of "Emeritus." In terms of notable figures from the 1990s, it goes Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Michael Jordan and John McCardell.2. Not caring about the U.S.News Rankings - The best item on the Middlebury Web site is an annual variation of "Middlebury moves up three spots, not that we give a flying f---." 3. An Advisor - A professor is just a professor, unless at some point during sophomore year he or she is elevated to advisor, which is a rank above spiritual mentor but below guru. 4. Hiking Boots - This especially applies to tenured professors. Middlebury people need to be prepared at all times if there is a blizzard on the way to Bicentennial Hall or an impromptu hike up Snake Mountain breaks out. 5. Abbreviations - Bi-Hall, WAGS, Proc. Middlebury people are much more comfortable with abbrevs.6. Proof that you play for an Athletic Department-sanctioned team - All that is required is a pair of sweats that list your clothing size and the year it was first issued and maybe an oversized ice pack that is affixed with saran wrap. It helps if you don't show up at Atwater until 10 minutes before closing time.7. Study Abroad - This is number 72 on the original blog, but Middlebury people freaking love study abroad. The new being on-campus is being off-campus. Study abroad is the closest way for Middlebury people to get closer to God or total enlightenment.8. Not going to Dartmouth - If ever stuck in an uncomfortable discussion with Middlebury people about college admission or SAT scores, use the following phrase - "Getting deferred (or rejected) at Dartmouth was the best thing to ever happen to me." Nodding and a discussion of the pratfalls of Greek life will ensue.9. Complaining about the administration hampering social life - That's right, it is Liebowitz's fault that no one can - insert: get hammered, get laid, have fun, or socially climb - anymore.11. Taking a year off - It doesn't matter if you do it before or after college, taking a year off makes you a better person. A year off plus studying abroad - number seven - will get Middlebury people laid, regardless of what Liebowitz does.10. Dropping Pre-Med - Middlebury people realize that the world already has plenty of doctors, and that they don't want to spend this entire decade in med school. However, a year off could remedy this situation.12. Carhartts - There is no social situation in which it is inappropriate for Middlebury people to wear Carhartts. A nice black pair would do well for both weddings and funerals.13. Raising Awareness - This is a biggie. If you want to have a true impact in this world, raise the awareness of people who already pay $50,000 annually to learn about the world. Climate change and the UN Millennium Development goals are good places to start. 14. Nalgenes - Middlebury people who do not use Nalgenes support global warming and may have stock in Exxon Mobil. It's preferable for Middlebury people to decorate their Nalgenes with stickers proving that they took a year off and/or studied abroad. The only acceptable alternative is a metal bottle with a screw top, which is like driving a Prius. 15. Dropping IP&E - The IP&E program is like making out at McCullough - many Middlebury people start there, but it's not where anyone ends up. 16. Dispatch - The only thing that would have made them better is if John McCardell had been on percussion. Finally, if you're ever in distress around Middlebury people, discuss your love for Barack Obama.Alex Garlick is '08.5 is a Political Science and Economics major from Needham, Mass.
(03/13/08 12:00am)
Author: Austen Levihn-Coon Paul Loeb, author of "The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear," winner of the Nautilus Award for the best social change book, is speaking this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. in Mead Chapel. Loeb has spent over 30 years working on citizen empowerment and responsibility. His talk will focus on citizen involvement, how individuals get involved in social issues, what prevents involvement and how people keep at it for the long haul. He will also touch on what the presidential election holds for civic engagement in this country and what the global-warming movement demonstrates. In a preview interview, Loeb revealed some of his thoughts on the current state of affairs in student involvement and how to create a culture of civic responsibility.The Middlebury Campus: How do you see the current climate of student involvement and civic engagement in this country?Loeb: Well, it's complicated and there are a bunch of ways to look at it. One is that there are a number of people that are enormously involved. Obviously, with Step It Up coming out of Middlebury, if it weren't for Middlebury there wouldn't have been the 1,700 rallies all over the country. There's also the Obama campaign, for instance. There are a number of younger voters coming out, and not all of them are students. Of all the generations that are oriented in changing the direction of this country from the way Bush has taken it, 18 - 29 year olds are leading the way. I find this very helpful, because something that is historically true is that people who get involved early on tend to stay involved. So for me that is very exciting for the short term, but also very exciting for the long term.But at the same time, on the typical campus there are still a lot of people who feel like it's all too overwhelming and aren't going to get involved because it's just going to break their hearts. Then there are also a lot of people who say, 'Well, I'm not going to sully myself with it, I'm going to hold myself above it.' MC: Now do you just see that as cynicism or is it a difference in personal goals?Loeb: I think cynicism pervades our culture, so even a school that is pretty active is still going to have some resistance. There is a phrase that I use in some of my writing, and it's called the perfect standard. Basically it's the notion that in order to take a stand on something you need to know every fact, figure and 17th decimal place - that you need to be as eloquent as Martin Luther King and as saintly as Gandhi. It gets applied by people on the inside who say 'I don't know enough about this.' But then it equally cuts in as some snootiness towards the people that act. I mean, they are global-warming activists, but they are driving a car, so they obviously must be hypocritical. As opposed to what the activists are doing, which is saying 'We live in a muddy world, and we deal with that the best we can and not everything aligns.' Part of being engaged is that you have to let go of that standard.MC: How do you see schools and especially colleges and universities playing into promoting citizen involvement? Should the students create this culture of involvement or should the administration and the faculty and staff have some role in it?Loeb: Well, I think obviously if it comes from both it's stronger. If I look at the most active college in Seattle, it's not the University of Washington and it's not Seattle University - it's Seattle Central Community College. And the reason is that the faculty is really engaged, and they are really involved in all kinds of political causes, and students see that and they take it as a model. I remember years ago a Dartmouth student who said, 'Armchair liberal faculty create armchair liberal students.' A much more powerful model is the teacher who says, 'This is hard, I don't have all the answers, I'm not certain that our efforts will matter, but I also think that there is a chance that they will, so I'm going to try to do this and I hope that you will too.' MC: What would you say to the skeptical professor or administrator who says they need to keep their distance to remain unbiased?Loeb: I would say that you want to make this an inclusive community - that's critical at both the institutional level and the classroom level. You don't want to be saying 'If you believe with me you're going to get an A, if you disagree you're going to fail.' What you can do is fully expect that not everybody is going to agree with you, and encourage the people that disagree with you, and that itself is going to be a really good lesson. A friend of mine who teaches and happens to be very politically liberal, quite outspoken and teaches freshman English. The head of the campus' Young Republicans was telling me, 'Well there are probably 100 issues that Glen and I disagree on, but Glen has redeemed my faith in humanity - he's my favorite professor.' So what happened? Basically Glen had encouraged the student, reached out in friendship, and they disagreed, but that's okay.Loeb has been brought to Middlebury College by The Alliance for Civic Engagement, People of Addison County together and the United Way of Addison County. The event is co-sponsored by The Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life, Wonnacott Commons and the Center for Campus Activities and Leadership.
(03/13/08 12:00am)
Author: Andrew Fuller A faculty and student research symposium on climate change took place on March 10 to discuss issues related to the problem from the viewpoint of different academic disciplines. Organized by Mead Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies Steve Trombulak, the symposium consisted of presentations by seven faculty members in front of a packed room about their respective research. After the symposium, audience members viewed an exhibition of student researchers' work in the Great Hall in McCardell Bicentennial Hall.According to Trombulak, the idea for a symposium came from faculty members researching climate change."A group of us realized that a lot of climate change research goes on here. There is a lot of experience on the subject at Middlebury College. I thought that we could come together and invite the public and discuss it," said Trombulak.The faculty presented research on aspects of climate change relating to physics, biology, economics and geology. The presentations also explored the nature of climate change in different eras of history. Topics varied from Benjamin F. Wissler Professor of Physics Rich Wolfson's discussion on the impact of variations in the sun's energy output on climate change to Associate professor of Biology Andrea Lloyd's research on how climate change has irreparably altered the Arctic. In his presentation, Wolfson explained that "over the long scale, the sun is the main driver of earth's climate" but that "solar variability's effects on climate change are almost completely negligible compared to anthropogenic effects" because of the shorter time frame involved. Because of this, Wolfson argued, those who deny global warming are mistaken when they claim that climate change is due to changes in the sun's output.Lloyd explained how global warming promotes vegetation growth on tundra in the Arctic, and how that in turn accelerates global warming. "When you decrease the amount of time that ground is covered with snow, you increase the amount of solar radiation absorbed," said Lloyd. Because global warming and its effects promote each other, it is unlikely that changes in the climate that have already occurred can be reversed, said Lloyd.The symposium aimed "to focus a discussion around the theme of climate change [and] to illustrate the wide range of climate change expertise that Middlebury faculty bring to this discussion from the diverse disciplines within a liberal arts education," said Dean of Environmental Affairs Nan Jenks-Jay.Those participating included Wolfson, Lloyd, Trombulak, Professor of Geology Patricia Manley, Assistant Professor of Geology Jeff Munroe, Associate in Science Instruction in Biology Matt Landis and Professor of International Economics Jon Isham.Faculty presenters also mentioned the need for legislation dealing with climate change. In the beginning of her presentation, Lloyd expressed frustration with policymakers handling of the climate crisis. Isham argued that Washington should raise the costs of polluting by "auction[ing] off the right to put fossil fuels into the air." According to Isham, companies that release carbon emissions should have to pay to be able to do so. Isham also recommended, in response to an audience member's question, that those in favor of tackling global warming should highlight the jobs that could come from a more environmentally friendly economy.Student research on climate change was also placed on display in Bicentennial Hall. Student research displayed included projects by Drew Walker '08 on "the feasibility of nuclear power as an alternative to coal in China" and by Austen Levihn-Coon '08 on "climate change activism in the United States." Organizers of GoLoco and the 1 Sky Campaign also displayed material."One of the things that made this [event] different is that all of the speakers are on the faculty. This was a nice forum and served a great educational purpose," said Trombulak.
(03/06/08 12:00am)
Author: Thomas Phillips Last Saturday, Vermont landowners, businessmen, and homeowners gathered at the College's McCardell Bicentennial Hall to participate in the first Addison County Green Energy Exposition, "Building Sustainable Homes and Businesses." The exposition featured ideas and projects involving alternative and environmentally friendly means of home-living, transportation and energy consumption.Individuals and representatives from a variety of energy-conscious businesses and organizations presented their ideas and products in 30 separate booths scattered across the Great Hall. Brian Hurley, a senior employee of Building Energy: Building Solutions for a Sustainable Future, which is based in Williston, gave a presentation on energy-efficient products that can help businesses and homeowners live "green." Solar water-heating systems, wind generators and alternative fuel boilers are among the products Hurley and his company market to customers. According to Hurley, having these products in place can increase the property value of a residence. "The solar hot-water system will essentially pay for itself over a 10-year period," said Hurley. "It's these types of renewable energy solutions that we need to continue to implement." Businesses have an additional incentive to be "green," namely the impact of energy reduction on production costs. John Beeman, who works for Mermin Windows & Doors, said that efficient energy use is essential to running an efficient business. "Once you start receiving utility bills and taxes, you start looking at things differently," she said. "These concepts are fairly basic. If you can make the cost situation better for yourself and your business, then why wouldn't you?"In addition to businesses, many organizations focused on climate change were present. Efficiency Vermont, Making Vermont Idle-Free and CVPS Cow Power were just a few of the organizations there to present at the exposition. Laura Asermily, the coordinator of Middlebury Global Warming Action Coalition (MAGWAC), gave a presentation that pinpointed environmental issues on both the local and federal levels. She kicked off her presentation with a documentary film titled "Too Hot Not to Handle," describing some of the consequences of global warming across the country. Raising the issue of dependence on oil, the film notes the problem of food transportation and its stress on scarce resources. According to the film, most foods travel to locations more than 1,000 miles from the farms where they originated. The cost of such transportation is not just in dollars, but also in the damage caused by pollutants to the environment. Opportunity costs are also at stake. Money used towards food transportation could instead be used for global-warming research and media advocacy. The documentary also states that efforts to protect the environment should begin at the federal level and then move to the local level. In the film, Tom Potter, mayor of Portland, Ore. stressed the importance of individual involvement. "Everybody can do something," he said. "It makes dollar sense as well as common sense." Asermily brought this point about local involvement to the forefront of her presentation. Quoting a statistic from her organization's pamphlet, Asermily said, "a 2002 study shows that transportation sources are responsible for almost half (46 percent) of the greenhouse gas emissions in the Town of Middlebury." Clearly, the dangers of environmental harm are present even here in Middlebury. To address such dangers, many presenters at the exposition shared ways to contribute to climate change on an individual level. Paul Schmidt, a local homeowner, produces his own form of bio-diesel and has experimented with using vegetable oil in his car and heating tanks. According to Schmidt, "bio-diesel is an incredible solvent. By using this, there will be less of a need for Saudi Arabia." Schmidt emphasized how simple it is to utilize bio-diesel forms of fuel in our everyday lives. But Schmidt acknowledged that bio-diesel users especially need to frequently check and clean home filters, which can gradually become blocked over time. "It's all about filters, filters, filters," he said. "So far, everything's been pretty good."Ellie Buechner '08, one of the handful of students present at the exposition, gave her perspective on the importance of individual action in the climate change movement."I try to recycle, turn off the lights when I leave my dorm and be energy conscious," she said. "I try to do my part. However, we are part of a divided campus where some care about the environment and others don't even recycle." Buechner felt that the lack of student attendance at the exposition was a reflection of many students' apathetic attitude towards climate change. "It is really great that so many people from town showed up, but I am disappointed with the low college turnout," said Buechner.Added Kira Tenney '09, "Everyone should be exposed to what's going on and be involved in the cause. There is interesting stuff going on in the local area, but we need more students to attend these kinds of events."So what more can students do to shake the reputation for apathy? According to Asermily, "Students can do a lot to help out. Buy a fuel-efficient car, walk and bike more, take the bus, switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs (preferably 15 watts) and go door-to-door with pamphlets describing these issues."
(02/14/08 12:00am)
Author: Tess Russell For the past two years, incoming Middlebury first-years have received - among a myriad of other orientation materials - an offer from the College's Office of Environmental Affairs to purchase an "offset" for their individual carbon emissions. This year, 156 students participated in the program, most of those coming from the classes of 2010 and 2011.In nine months (roughly the length of the school calendar), a typical student releases about three tons of global warming gases into the atmosphere just from using heat and electricity in his or her dorm room. This can be neutralized for 36 dollars through Native Energy, a Vermont-based offset provider that invests the money in environmental projects to create new sources of clean, renewable energy.The offset market, which has experienced rapid growth over the past few years, is virtually unregulated - thus, not all providers are created equally. Clean Air Cool Planet, a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding and promoting solutions to global warming, recently commissioned a study of 30 companies and identified eight of those (Native Energy included) as providing the highest caliber offsets. Three major factors determine the quality of an offset project: permanence, "additionality" and verification that the project is being carried out as intended. A forestry project, for example, is not ideal because the impact is not necessarily permanent - the trees planted could succumb to fire or pestilence and would no longer be able to perform their offset function of CO2 absorption. Jack Byrne, the sustainability coordinator for the College, elaborated on the concept of additionality in an e-mail. "Additionality means that the money used to purchase offsets makes a real difference in whether or not the project would take place," Byrne explained. "For example, a wind turbine project on an impoverished reservation to displace electricity being purchased from coal-fired power plants would [make a difference], while a solar array designed as part of a building as normal practice would not."Michael Kadish, the communications director for the San Francisco-based provider TerraPass, agreed that an initiative must be additional in order for it to represent a valuable offset. "We evaluate different projects to make sure they are designed and implemented with carbon credits in mind," Kadish said. "For example, we would not fund something that had been initiated because of a state regulation."As Middlebury approaches its 2016 carbon neutrality deadline, the administration (in conjunction with student activists like Bobby Levine '08) is pursuing various new strategies to reduce its emissions. Last year, the College's footprint, which is calculated based on carbon explicitly paid for with school funds and thus does not include student vehicle emissions, added up to 30,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. A staggering 89 percent of that inventory comes from the two million gallons of Number 6 fuel used to heat dormitories, so that figure will be cut in half when the biomass plant currently under construction is completed next December.Levine, the Student Government Association Director of Environmental Affairs and one of two students on the MiddShift Implementation Working Group Steering Committee (MSIWGSC), stressed the importance of student-administration cooperation in reaching the goal of neutrality."The College is doing the big things that it needs to behind the scenes - like investing 11 million dollars in the biomass plant - but that doesn't necessarily mean that students are waking up and thinking, 'I'm glad my heat is coming from wood chips and not oil,'" Levine said."There's still a lot to be done as far as engaging students as members of the community and showing students that they do have a serious investment in the College's energy future," said Levine. "For the most part, the administration is very receptive to students' ideas, but they can't make kids stop using dryers and driving and doing the other little things that increase our carbon footprint. It takes students to do that kind of grassroots organizing and I think that's really the ideal - student-led initiatives, by students for students." To that end, Levine and others have helped bring Zipcars to campus, coordinated shuttle buses to Boston and New York over breaks and pursued a variety of other service learning projects. These sort of school-wide efforts, combined with individual students' striving to reduce their carbon emissions in traditional ways, are the most important elements of the neutrality campaign. Offsets should be something of a last resort, used to account for the final remainder of already scaled-down emissions."We know that once we do everything else possible to directly reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases, we will still have some left, mostly in the employee travel category since we will still be taking planes, trains and automobiles to get around in 2016 and they won't be carbon neutral," Byrne wrote.Most providers also put a lot of emphasis on reducing consumption before bringing offsets into the equation."Offsets are just one of many tools that people or companies use," Kadish said. "It really makes the most sense when employed as part of a broader green strategy or platform, so that's what we look for in our dealings with businesses."In this way, the concern that offsets are a sort of "Get Out of Jail Free" card, whereby people can declare themselves "carbon neutral" while making few changes in their daily routine, seems to be inconsequential."It's hard to imagine that Middlebury students who purchased offsets would be content to rest on their offsets and wouldn't be actively seeking other solutions to climate change," Byrne wrote. "Evidence abounds that they are going way beyond offsets in how they live and how they are working to cause positive change for a more sustainable future."
(02/14/08 12:00am)
Author: Samantha Michaels In an effort to expand the College's environmental initiatives, students met with a Vermont State Climate Panel on Jan. 21 in McCardell Bicentennial Hall to discuss new policies and opportunities for activism. The dialogue was part of Focus the Nation, a teach-in movement across America to promote global warming solutions. Guests at the event included Vermont State Representative Steven Maier, as well as local activists Laura Asermily and Ron Slabaugh.According to Ben Wessel '11, the dialogue had a very specific purpose. "[Sunday Night Group] SNG has been talking about conquering the campus, but I'd love it if the student body would turn outward into the town, the state of Vermont and Addison County with climate activism and environmental policy," said Wessel.Wessel's desire was realized within minutes of the Jan. 21 discussion, as Maier, a Middlebury resident and six-year state legislator, began by sharing a recent history of environmental legislation in Vermont. Next, Asermily, a member of the Middlebury Area Global Warming Action Committee, spoke of driving efficiency and the need to promote alternate forms of transportation and fuel in the local community. Slabaugh, of the Addison County Organization Network (ACORN), then closed with warning of an energy crisis, explaining that his nascent renewable energy cooperative is promoting locally-made bio-fuels as well as a source for locally-generated electricity. With the presentations completed, students expressed a strong desire to aid the speakers in their efforts. Maier proposed an internship project to create an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions at the College, and Asermily suggested that students help coordinate environmental committees at nearby high schools. Maier also welcomed students to join her in endeavors to expand ACTR shuttle services, make Middlebury more pedestrian-friendly and enhance driver education programs, while further inviting students to design energy-efficiency workshops as part of a Green Energy Exposition - which comes to the College on March 1. It is likely that SNG will pursue these invitations. As explained by Wessel, the student organization has already forged a relationship with Aurora School, an alternative elementary school in town, working with a small group of students in an "Anti-Global Warming Group" to create reusable shopping bags for the community. Made from old, ripped or donated parachute material, the bags will be compactible and portable - small enough to fit effortlessly inside a purse or jacket. Wessel also expects that SNG will aid Asermily in the upcoming Green Energy Exposition, and he hopes to contact Slabaugh about future ACORN projects. "People forget that we're in a place, like in a town and in a county and in a state," said Wessel. "It's not just a bubble. We've done so much stuff at the College that it feels like we have no one to rebel against here in terms of environmental stuff. It's now a matter of finding bigger foes and tougher fights."Bonnie Frye Hemphill '08, a member of SNG who attended the Jan. 21 discussion, reiterated the need to reach out and link environmental activism on all levels. In an e-mail interview, she wrote that Focus the Nation encourages this connection. "It's about democracy, it's about ordinary folks from all walks of life realizing we have a lot to gain - together - in stepping up against global warming and for a clean-energy future," she wrote.The student meeting with the Vermont State Climate Panel successfully began to narrow the gap between climate initiatives of the College and wider community. Hemphill expressed her hope that this important relationship continues to grow. "Locals have a lot of perspective and expertise that we lack, while we've got energy and academic resources to offer," she wrote. "Working together will make a far stronger local movement for adapting climate change, and [the Jan. 21] presentation was the first step to bridging campus and town. That said, it's only a first step, and everyone's excited to build that connection much further."
(01/24/08 12:00am)
Author: Daniel Streitfeld In a recent political piece in this paper, Alex Garlick denounced two presidential candidates - John Edwards and Barack Obama - for their campaign promises to reduce the power of special interest groups and lobbyists in Washington. I found his arguments to be unconvincing and his general stance overly pessimistic. There are several specific points that I would like to contest here.After outlining the anti-special interest group positions of both candidates, Mr. Garlick goes on to lament their na'veté at believing anything could actually be done to change the influence of K Street in Washington. Indeed, it is certainly true that both special interest groups and lobbyists are entrenched institutions in American politics, if not in pluralistic democracy itself. However, any presidential candidate must strike a balance between the realities of the status quo and the creation of an ideal to be strived for. Inasmuch as certain special interest groups do have a negative influence on our society as a whole, it seems to me an admirable thing to speak out against such institutions. Speaking like a true jaded insider, Mr. Garlick instead writes that "Washington is built to resist change …[and] is structured to maintain the power of the people in power". Even if these statements are largely true, does that mean that we should collectively throw up our hands and say, 'Shucks, let's just give up on this whole idea of betterment and positive change'? That seems to me like a rather pessimistic and resigned attitude.Mr. Garlick next goes on to assure us of the benevolence of special interest groups, claiming that they simply represent the interests of 'Americans'. In fact, special interest groups by definition represent only the interests of some specific subset of Americans - be they gun owners or tobacco companies or handicapped people or California avocado growers. It follows that the lobbyists who represent these groups are only concerned with the narrow interests of their clients, as opposed to the greater good of society. This might not be a problem were all interest groups represented equally, but unfortunately the dynamics of some special interest groups lead to overrepresentation in the political process. The most obvious examples are large corporate interests: corporations, awash with cash and organizational skills, donate heavily to political campaigns, hire expensive lobbyists and expect to exert much influence on the political process. The problem is not that corporate interests are a negative force in American society per se, but rather that they by definition have only their interests at heart, not the greater good of society. Thus, their overrepresentation may well lead to socially suboptimal outcomes. Other important causes may receive little to no representation. Consider children stricken with cancer or many environmental issues. These are extremely important causes that society should be concerned with, yet they are not necessarily conducive to well-organized and well-funded interest groups. Thus, a system that places a high value on campaign donations and lobbyists might indirectly shun these sorts of interests.The political philosopher John Rawls, in his monumental treatise "A Theory of Justice," posits that if a group of individuals were to create an ideal hypothetical society, they should do so behind a 'veil of ignorance', meaning that each individual would have no idea of his place in society, whether he would be a poor farmer, a struggling artist or a wealthy businessman. The purpose of this thought experiment is that each individual is forced to think about creating the ideal society from a completely impartial point of view, not being biased by the societal role he or anyone else will take on.I personally think that politicians such as Edwards and Obama have tapped into a similar line of thought. I personally want a leader who makes his decisions based on increasing the greater good of all of society, as opposed to favoring some small privileged subsection of it. Certainly, minority voices need to be represented in a democracy and special interest groups can serve this purpose. But on the other hand, these interests can be selfish and shortsighted - many unions are economically inefficient, powerful corporate interests such as Exxon Mobil have lobbied against action to prevent climate change and the NRA consistently lobbies for the continued legality of devices such as body armor-piercing, Teflon-coated bullets. While I certainly agree with Mr. Garlick that from a practical point of view even the most ambitious of candidates might only have limited results in actually reducing the power of some of these special interest groups, assuming the candidates are sincere in their promises (and perhaps, as Mr. Garlick points out regarding Edwards' Trial Lawyers of America interests, they are not), I applaud them for taking such a stance and seeking to better politics in Washington, rather than simply being satisfied with the status quo.Daniel Streitfeld '08 is a Philosophy and Economics major from Dallas, Tex.
(12/06/07 12:00am)
Author: [no author name found] Snow is on the ground, twinkles of light already adorn the College holiday tree on McCullough Lawn, and finals are just around the corner. Yes, the holiday season is here, and that means the end of 2007 is upon us. For Middlebury, the Year of the Boar included both valleys and peaks. The opening of a new campus in Alexandria, Egypt, a record 7,500 applicants for the class of 2011 and three athletic national titles all gave the College community cause for celebration. At the same time, several incidents of homophobic graffiti, an alleged sexual assault at Brackett House and reverberations of the Virginia Tech shooting reminded us of the challenges that Middlebury faces as its forges ahead into its third century. The Campus has searched through the biggest headlines from the past 12 months in order to revisit the events that have defined college life in 2007. As super-seniors prepare for the last finals of their undergraduate careers, and first-years anxiously await their first, a bit of reflection is just what the doctor ordered. -Thomas Brant, Focus EditorNote: the Focus layout is best viewed in Acrobat Reader with the "facing" option selected under View--Page LayoutJan. 18 The foundation of the C.V. Starr-Middlebury School Abroad in the Middle East marked the first such language school to be opened by any American institution, the College announced on Jan. 18. The school, located in Alexandria, Egypt and affiliated with Alexandria University, offers courses to an estimated 15-20 students per semester beginning in the fall of 2007."The fact that we will have this sort of program - as far as we know, the only of its kind - will put Middlebury out front of other institutions when it comes to demonstrating the seriousness with which we take engaging the rest of the world in general, and the Middle East in particular," said Jeffrey Cason, dean of International Programs.One of the most hotly contested topics this year in The Campus was the College's History Department's decision to ban the citation of Wikipedia on papers.Jan. 24: First article appearsFaculty members of the College's Department of History passed a resolution forbidding students from using online interactive encyclopedia Wikipedia for academic assignments. The motion was passed unanimously on Tuesday, Jan. 9 after brief debate.Kawashima Professor of Japanese Studies Neil Waters, who grew increasingly concerned with the reliability of the online encyclopedia after students began to cite it on essays and final exams, developed the new policy. "Students are responsible for the accuracy of the information they give," said Waters. "They can't say, 'I saw it on Wikipedia and therefore that shields me.'" The departmental statement, which was initially drafted by Waters, also forbids students from including Wikipedia in lists of bibliographic sources."To me, it was a sort of self-evident issue, and then I realized this wasn't the case," said Waters. "I'll be talking about it in the first week of classes so there isn't any doubt or confusion about the whole thing."Feb. 14Record snowfall fell on the College, closing school for the first time since 1998."The size of the storm, and the impact of what was the largest single 24-hour amount of snow to fall on central Vermont, revealed holes in our planning and assumptions," said President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz. "That said, our staff did remarkable work to ensure both safety and services that were essential for students."Feb. 14: Chandler Koglmeier's Op-Ed"What are you professors scared of? Please tell me an open source online encyclopedia doesn't actually threaten you. Are you really that scared of general commentary? Are you really arrogant enough to say that the opinions of the general public, albeit a general public who cares enough to get on Wikipedia and post about a specific topic, don't matter? To me, this stinks of the beginnings of censorship. According to Wikipedia, censorship is the removal of information from the public, or the prevention of circulation of information, where it is desired or felt best by some controlling group or body. I always thought the point of academia was that there was no censorship. Ideas, no matter how crazy, were embraced and allowed to circulate. Isn't that one of the reasons we grant tenure to our beloved professors?"Feb. 21: James Davis' response "Koglmeier describes the ban as an attack on "general commentary" and "the opinions of the general public," but Wikipedia doesn't purport to be a chat room for the expression of "views." It claims to be a depository of facts, and the accuracy of factual information is not simply a matter of popular opinion.For example, it is legal fact that Professor Morsman spells her last name with one "o," and even if Koglmeier can find a thousand people to spell her name the way he insisted on penning it -"Moorsman"- that doesn't alter the fact that they'd be spelling her name wrong."Feb. 28: Wikipedia debateAfter sparking a wide debate that was picked up by The New York Times and a number of blogs, Assistant Professor of Film and Media Culture Jason Mittell defended Wikipedia.org against Asistant Professor of History Amy Morsman, who defended her department's position.Morsman suggested that though justified for broad background research, the citation of a tertiary source such as Wikipedia on major assignments was inappropriate given professors' expectations of their students' work."I actually think that Middlebury College students, especially History majors who are taking 300- or 400-level courses, are beyond making Wikipedia the starting point of their research," said Morsman.Mittell urged the skeptics to think about their position against potentially exciting technological developments."When you have any critical dialogue about the site," said Mittell, "you have to understand [Ö] whether your attitude is formed by the 'wiki-' part or by the '-pedia' part."March Over Spring Break, homophobic graffiti was found in the hallways of Ross Commons, prompting President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz to send a campus-wide e-mail over the break condemning the acts."We are a strong, open and resilient community, but we cannot tolerate actions that threaten the safety of community members and target individuals because of their differences," Liebowitz wrote in the e-mail. "We should also remember that the Ross incident, however egregious, is connected by attitude to other recent expressions of homophobia on this campus."However, only two days after a forum held to discuss the acts, another instance of homophic graffiti was found written in permanent red marker on the white board of a student's door in Starr Hall. The incident underscored concerns that an earlier case of homophobic graffiti in Ross Commons was indicative of a larger problem at the College.March 3 Paul Rusesabagina, who survived an ethnic bloodbath in Rwanda that would claim more than 800,000 lives in 100 days, spoke in Mead Chapel on March 3. While Hutu militiamen roamed the capital killing at will, Rusesabagina sheltered Tutsi refugees in his hotel with his charm and persuasive style."I took what I call my black binder, where I used to have a lot of phone numbers, and started calling all the generals I knew in the country," Rusesabagina said. "In life, I believe in the power of words. With words, you can kill, but with words, you can also civilize. The most important thing at that time was to open my mouth and open up a dialogue."March 11: Waters' Op-EdWaters recaps the madness he created after what he says he thought was a simple, no-brainer move."The Campus published an article on the departmental policy, and the rest, as they say, is history. Alerted by t
he online version of The Campus, Tim Johnson of The Burlington Free Press interviewed me and a spokesman for Wikipedia who agreed with the history department's position, and published an article. Several college newspapers followed suit, and then Noam Cohen of The New York Times interviewed Don Wyatt, chair of the History Department, and me, and published the story. Within a day it received more online "hits" than any other New York Times feature. Another interview followed with the Asahi Shimbun in Tokyo, and additional articles appeared in El Pais in Spain, The Guardian in England, and then in literally hundreds of newspapers in the U.S. and abroad. Along with other members of the History Department, I found myself giving interviews almost daily - to radio stations, newspaper reporters, inquisitive high school students, WCAX television news in Burlington and even to the "NBC Nightly News," which sent correspondent Lisa Daniels to Middlebury to interview me and students in my "History of Modern Japan" class. A stream of phone calls and e-mails from a wide range of people, from Wikipedia disciples to besieged librarians who felt free at last to express their Wikipedia misgivings, continues to the present. Somehow the modest policy adoption by the History Department at Middlebury College hit a nerve."April 27 Max Nardini '08 and Eric Hoest '08 were elected President of the Student Government Association (SGA) and Student Co-Chair of the Community Council (SCCOCC), respectively, for the 2007-2008 academic year after online polls closed on April 27.Because his election race was uncontested, Nardini believed there was a tendency for students to write off the election by choosing not to vote, a significant problem Nardini hopes to counter for next year's elections."Most people want to get involved in the community somehow," said Nardini. "It's a matter of getting the opportunity out there and publicizing it well. SGA is more than a one-man job, [and] I look forward to working with talented and engaged members of the College community."MayThe senior work of Sally Swallow '07 and Bill Army '07 brought a full-scale musical to Middlebury. With a production too irreverent and too interactive for Wright Theater, the cast and crew decided the only option was to literally turn CFA's Seeler Theater into the seedy Kit Kat nightclub in late 1920s Berlin. The result was decidedly provocative and seriously sexy.Distraught and alone, Swallow's gritty rendition of "Cabaret" was among her stronger and more serious moments on the stage. Its simplicity was juxtaposed with the equally moving "Finale," which included the entire company and used Barsalona and Beeman as powerful symbols for the Jewish and gay communities respectively. Army slowly opened a suitcase and popped up wearing a gas mask before the end of the show, capping off a truly remarkable production that had the audience laughing, thinking and on its feet for a standing ovation.May 5The Middlebury men's rugby squad captured its first national title Saturday, May 5 at Stanford's Steuger Stadium. Led by Pascal Losambe '07 and Ari Silverman '09, the club team beat Arkansas State 38-22 in a match that the Panthers controlled from the outset to the final seconds. Coach Ward Patterson described it as the greatest rugby game in which he had ever been involved."This day was one of those perfect days of college sports," said Patterson. "The parents, the weather, everything was perfect. The harmony was absolutely wonderful, and the honor we gave our opponents and that they gave us was spectacular. Everything from the bagpiping beforehand to the post-match celebration went flawlessly. There wasn't even a single foul for foul play."It was not an easy road for the Panthers to reach the national championship field. They had to go through adversaries such as Northern Colorado and Yale that were significant tests. Moreover, those games came after countless hours of determined training."The factor that everything turned on was the decision made in February of last year that we were going to earn the right to play in this game," Patterson said, "and that we would do everything that came with that. After that, all the wheels started to turn in the right direction."May 27Former President of the United States William Jefferson Clinton addressed a record turnout crowd at the Middlebury College Commencement on May 27, reminding the Class of 2007 of the importance of community. Blue ponchos filled the lawn between the McCullough Student Center and Voter Hall as well over 5,000 graduates, family members and friends endured the rainy weather to celebrate the achievements of the graduating class.The highlight of the ceremony was Clinton's much-anticipated address. Acknowledging problems in the world ranging from resource depletion and climate change to illegal immigration and terrorism, Clinton stressed the necessity of strong communities in the face of such challenges. "I believe questions of community and identity ... will determine our collective capacity to deal with all the problems."Clinton concluded his speech by asking the over 600 graduates to go out into the world with eyes open to see one another. "As you save the world," he said, "remember all the people in it."Oct. 26 The annual Vitality of the Artistic Community Association (VACA)-sponsored Halloween party required the presence of the Middlebury Police Department (MPD) for the second consecutive year as police arrested two people in connection with an altercation with officers from the College's Department of Public Safety at the Christian A. Johnson Memorial Building. The incident underscored student perceptions of an increased police presence on campus this semester, perceptions that the MPD claimed to be nothing but rumors.Oct. 28A freight train derailed in the middle of downtown Middlebury, spilling gasoline into Otter Creek and prompting the evacuation of the village center and some areas of campus. While no one was injured, 400 Middlebury residents were forced to leave their homes. In addition, numerous businesses in the vicinity were forced to close up shop. Among them was Carol's Hungry Mind CafÈ, which boasts a view of the tracks from its back window on Merchants Row. Although he was not working at the time, Carol's employee Greg Keebler said co-workers later described the event to him as sudden and jarring. "Someone told me it felt like 10 different earthquakes when the cars went off the track," Keebler said. The derailment registered as a figurative earthquake to a small town unaccustomed to being poised on the brink of catastrophe. By all accounts, Middlebury rose gracefully to the challenge, though it was no small undertaking. "It bodes well for us that the community has a lot of confidence in the emergency services here, because they were wonderful," Middlebury Chief of Police Thomas Hanley said. "The people in this town responded very well to us."Nov. 11As the sun rose on a crisp, fall day, students took to Battell Beach, otherwise named "the pitch," with the goal of leaving the Muggle world. On Nov. 11, college students from all over entered the world of "Harry Potter" during the first annual Intercollegiate Quidditch World Cup Festival.Twelve Middlebury teams battled during the first portion of the competition for the right to play the squad from Vassar College. The festival featured Quidditch matches interspersed with entertainment from various students groups, food and souvenirs. Alex Benepe '09, an organizer of the event, estimated that over 300 people attended the festival, which featured 143 College students. The Molly Wobbles won the Middlebury portion of the event before defeating Vassar 120-0.Nov. 24For the first time in school history, the men's soccer team captured the Division III NCAA National Championship, edging Trinity University (Tex.) in pena
lty kicks at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. on Nov. 24. It was the 28th national title for Middlebury since 1994 and the eighth different sport to bring the trophy home to Vermont.After earning a much-deserved bye in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Middlebury knocked off each of its next three opponents with relative ease. A 5-0 rout of Wheaton kicked off the tournament and secured home field-advantage for the sectionals.
(12/06/07 12:00am)
Author: H. Kay Merriman A few weeks ago, during lunch, a friend of mine performed a monologue that he had been writing and rehearsing for a class. The speech described different moments in his life in which he had been ridiculed, rejected or simply sad. His words were raw, real and deeply personal. I was near tears over my Proctor salad. I wanted to probe, to ask questions, to continue the experience - but instead, after sharing a brief but powerful moment, we scurried off to our respective schoolwork and activities. When I got back to my room, I asked my roommate how often do we experience true emotion at Middlebury? When do we take the time to reflect on past experiences and how we have dealt with them? Do Middlebury students have soul?On Nov. 29, former Dean of Harvard College Harry Lewis spoke to an overflowing room of Middlebury students, faculty and staff about his book "Excellence Without a Soul: Does Liberal Arts Education Have a Future?" The book explores the current trend among universities of emphasizing academic achievement over personal growth. According to Lewis, universities have lost sight of "the big point of undergraduate education." Lewis compared the collegiate education system to a large shopping mall."You are required to buy something from every store, but that's not the way to come out well-dressed," Lewis said.In Lewis' opinion, there are a number of factors contributing to the decline of liberal arts institutions. These problems include placing a greater value on "intelligence," as opposed to true "wisdom." At the same time, he believes that universities have a tendency to appease students, even if academic standards must be sacrificed in the process. Lewis attributes a lot of these problems to the increase in research funding for sciences after World War II. As a result of the funding increase, universities are now judged on the quality of research they produce instead of the quality of the overall academic experience. Although only research universities received this funding, liberal arts colleges, according to Lewis, are also altering their priorities. Lewis referred to the lack of "instructional" teaching and the propensity to focus on "educational" teaching that largely benefits only students who pursue a career in academia."There is little reward for thinking holistically," Lewis said.Lewis also noted that the faculty, or the administration's choice of faculty, are largely responsible for the changing focus and environment of a college. He pointed to 1970s as an era in which women, Jews, homosexuals and African-Americans, among others, were denied jobs purely because of their sex, lifestyle or ethnicity. The effort to end discrimination by depersonalizing the criteria for judgment, in Lewis' opinion, also ended the evaluation of professors' integrity.College Professor of Humanities John McWilliams left Lewis' lecture somewhat unsatisfied."It was an engaging title for a lecture that proved to be incisive in defining current problems in academia, but quite lacking, even timid, in proposing any solutions for them," McWilliams said.Lewis did not offer any possible remedies in his lecture, but instead reiterated that the lack of "soul" at liberal arts schools is the reflection on the universities' internal structures. "I don't hold students responsible for anything," Lewis said. "If they are not doing something right, it is because they are reacting to flaws in the system."This comment drew criticism from many audience members."I was surprised and dismayed by Lewis' belief that the moral climate among adolescents was solely the product of institutional competition and bad moral exemplars among teaching staff," Lauren Vollmer '10 said. "To refuse to hold young people accountable for their moral failings is equivalent to simultaneously denying them adult status and preventing them from achieving it."Ari Silverman '09 also thinks that students are responsible for their own "soul," or lack thereof."I feel like students at Midd are sometimes too turbo and don't stop to breathe and appreciate the present moment," Silverman said. He also noted the importance of an administration that consults students before making changes that could impact students' personal lives. "Decisions concerning student life need to be made by the College community as a whole rather than by the ruling oligarchy of the administration," Silverman said, citing the changes to the residential life staff this year as an example of this type of decision.Has Middlebury lost its soul? If so, what can we do to ensure that it is recovered? Visiting Assistant Professor of English and American Literatures James Berg believed that both students and faculty should actively engage in maintaining Middlebury's "soul.""Liberal education should never be presented primarily as something to be bought and sold," said Berg. "It should be considered a duty to the larger public, a civic duty for both students and teachers." "As for Middlebury itself," he continued, "I am hopeful. I am relatively new here, but I believe that, at my first faculty meeting a little over a year ago, I heard our administration repeatedly articulate a commitment to such principles."
(11/29/07 12:00am)
Author: Kevin Redmon Your front page coverage of Middlebury's participation in Power Shift 2007 was encouraging to see ("Students aid D.C. green looby," Nov. 8). Despite being one of the smaller colleges represented, Middlebury sent nearly 80 students (in a bio-diesel bus, no less) to the conference - the largest representation from a single school. What concerned me was the dominant, eye-catching photograph that you chose to accompany the story. Of the 200 photos I took at Power Shift, the one that ended up above the fold in the Campus was perhaps the least representative of the events that transpired over the long weekend. The issue is not that the photo showed no Middlebury students. Instead, it showed a scene that I am afraid will reinforce common stereotypes and assumptions - however apparently harmless - about the climate change movement. In the photo, set against the Capitol, are a dozen raucous students, holding spray painted signs, flashing peace symbols and looking unruly. Someone is holding a sign displaying the American Indian Great Circle symbol, while a costumed, bipedal polar bear dances nearby. I fear that this is how Middlebury students - and society at large - view the climate change movement, and I would like to vehemently challenge that vision. The photograph in question was taken at a culminating outdoor rally, and represents about five percent of our time at Power Shift. Otherwise, the three-day weekend was essentially a long policy conference, where we attended seminars, workshops, speeches and panels alongside our peers. These classes were taught by some of the leading environmentalists, economists and politicians in the nation, all of whom volunteered their time and knowledge with the goal of empowering and educating students like us. Under the overarching topic of "climate change" there were classes concerned with legislation, biochemistry, media and messaging, race, environmental justice, journalism, political science and international relations. Whether you wanted to explore the evangelical Christians' efforts to mitigate climate change or understand the mechanical engineering behind carbon sequestration, the options were myriad and diverse. Further, they were representative of the true challenge we face when we speak of climate change. Climate change is no longer - if it was ever - an 'environmental' issue. In our rapidly shrinking world of globalized politics and economics, there can no longer be an issue that is exclusively environmental. To label a threat like climate change as such is to diminish and deny its importance. Recognize first that carbon emission is the definition of a market failure - it does not obey the fundamental rule of economics that the party deriving the benefit from an action is the same party bearing the cost. In the case of carbon emission, the developed and rapidly developing world derives the overwhelming majority of the benefit, but the entire global community bears the cost. What's more, lesser developed countries often pay a disproportionately higher cost. From there, understand that climate change is not about saving polar bears or Arctic glaciers, despite what the mainstream media might have you think. It can be - and is - partially about these issues, but it is equally about resource allocation and conflict, national security, a fundamentally new 'green' economy and market stability, climatology, the future of progressivism ≠≠- the list is virtually endless. Climate change is neither 'Weybridge House' nor 'the Sunday Night Group.' It is not about party politics, short term solutions or Kyoto. Climate change is about developing radically new and innovative technologies that rethink the way we understand energy. It is about integrating 'sustainability' into our lexicon, our built environment, and our consciousness. It is about economic revitalization through 'green jobs' and a rethinking of environmental and social justice. Mark this: climate change - and our approach to understanding and mitigating it - will be the largest single force in every one of our lifetimes. It will affect the politics, economics, and conflicts of our global generation and of the many generations that follow. A better picture for The Campus might have been one of Middlebury students sitting in a small group, engaged in discussion about the role of climate change in the 2008 elections, or the impact of China and India's carbon emissions on worldwide levels - we spent a lot of time thinking about these sorts of issues that weekend, and we intend on spending much more time engaged in similar discussions. The face of climate change does not resemble the WTO riots of Seattle, the ROTC burnings during Vietnam or race riots of the late 1960s. Climate change is not a chaotic, violent battle waiting to be won in the streets by marginalized and disillusioned youth. Rather, it is an issue that will be addressed in board rooms, on Wall Street, by Fortune 500 companies and on every level of scale from the grassroots to the transnational. It is time for all of us to recognize it as such. Kevin Redmon '09.5 is from Minneapolis, Minn.
(11/15/07 12:00am)
Author: [no author name found] Students gathered Tuesday in Ross Dining Hall to make their voices heard as the U.S. Marine Corps recruited on campus. Outraged at the College's decision to allow an organization that discriminates against homosexuals to come to Middlebury, protestors focused their efforts on the College's recruitment policies and called for President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz to make good on his promise earlier in the semester to encourage discussion about the issue. The lunchtime protest was staged in front of the small table where a lone Marine Corps officer was stationed. Tuesday's protest was a heartening example of students' ability to mobilize quickly around an issue they care about. This sort of mobilization is all too infrequent on a campus where students complain perennially that Middlebury's student body is apathetic. When the relative merits or evils of intercollegiate Quidditch incites more heated debate than the war in Iraq or climate change or the American health care system, such accusations of apathy ring true. The ailment is not unique to Middlebury, however, as Thomas L. Friedman suggested in an op-ed last month in The New York Times. Friedman termed ours "Generation Q, calling us the Quiet Americans. " "I am impressed because they are so much more optimistic and idealistic than they should be," he wrote of students our age. "I am baffled because they are so much less radical and politically engaged than they need to be."What's at the root of Middlebury's apathy? While our geographic location does lend itself to isolation, students have countless opportunities to engage with the outside world, but we choose too often to ignore these chances. The same faces appear again and again at lectures or open forums on campus, and most students only gaze half-heartedly - if at all - at the national newspapers littering our dining hall tables. Is it our seemingly insurmountable workload keeping our protest signs tucked away in our closets? From our carrels in the library or our labs in McCardell Bicentennial Hall, we gaze at our full date books and wonder where a bit of activism will fit in between class and sports practices and interviews for internships and work-study jobs. We join a Facebook group or sign an online petition and hurry off to stand in line for Chicken Parmesan at Proctor.Is the problem more endemic? Are the problems facing our "quiet" generation so daunting that protest seems impossible or ineffective?Ultimately, the causes of our collective apathy are less important than the ways in which we choose to combat this apathy. As it turns out, the best answer is the tried and true one. While students mobilized this summer virtually - and effectively - to express their discontent at the College's new logo, this sort of online mobilization pales in comparison to the effect warm bodies and raised voices can have on a community. Students who put aside their books two weeks ago to make the trek to Washington D.C. for Power Shift understood the necessity of real and not virtual activism. So did members of the Middlebury Open Queer Alliance (MOQA) who, on relatively short notice, organized Tuesday's protest. A little old-fashioned activism can go a long way, especially on a campus inundated by e-mail.In an encouraging gesture, members of the College administration responded in kind to Tuesday's gathering. Rather than post to their blogs, administrators put in a little much-needed face time at the Ross, speaking both with students and the Marine recruiter. Most students piling into the dining hall were looking for lunch and little more. Those who paused to look on, though, noticed that a few Quiet Americans were opening their mouths.
(11/08/07 12:00am)
Author: Kelly Janis On Nov. 3, local residents equipped themselves with hats, gloves, hiking boots, cameras and the odd Robert Frost poem to join forces for the Town of Middlebury's effort as part of Step It Up's National Day of Climate Action.Step It Up is a nationwide campaign spearheaded by Bill McKibben, scholar-in-residence in Environmental Studies at the College, and a team consisting of several Middlebury alumni. The organization urges Congress to support legislation to cut carbon emissions 80 percent by the year 2050 as part of a larger effort to curb climate change.This November's day of action was intended to reinforce the message imparted by participants upon political leaders and civilians alike during April's undertaking - which, by sparking more than 1,400 events in all 50 states, secured for itself the distinction as the largest global warming event in U.S. history. It also promoted the newly established "1 Sky Campaign," whose chief science-based priorities include creating 5 million "green jobs" aimed at environmental conscientiousness and the conservation of energy, cutting carbon emissions and enacting a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants.In Middlebury, Step It Uppers boarded the Addison County Transit shuttle to Ripton, where they embarked on their choice of a guided reflection at the Robert Frost cabin or an exploration of the Spirit In Nature trails. As the day wore on, participants were moved to espouse their motives for attendance.Event organizer Laura Asermily was drawn into issues surrounding climate change while doing coursework at the Vermont Earth Institute. After six years of working with Middlebury's Earth Day Environmental Fair, the transition to Step It Up came naturally. "When we learned about Step It Up, we just converged with them because we saw them as aligned with our own mission to educate and rally people to take action locally," Asermily said. Asermily believes that this local action is vital. "I can't think of anything that affects us more profoundly and deeply," she said.Local resident Fran Putnam shared this sentiment. "I just think it's really important for people in our generation to take some initiative," Putnam said. "We helped create this mess, this problem of global warming, unwittingly, not knowing what we were doing for a large part of our lives. And then suddenly we've begun to realize that this is critical, that this is a terrible situation we're in." She deemed such efforts as Step It Up apt ways of beginning to rectify this situation."People in our generation are used to being activists because of the Vietnam War and civil rights and things of that nature," Putnam said. "So this is second nature for us to come out here and do something."Participant Anne Hoover suggested that as the direness of environmental circumstances mounts, so too will the public's concern. "It has to get to the point where the whole thing starts to hurt," she said.Hoover was not convinced that the general population has begun to feel the pain. "I'm no judge, but I think most people are off in the clouds someplace," she said.When asked whether Step It Up's goals were feasible, Hoover was blunt. "Well, we've gotta work at it," she said.Putnam agreed. "I think we're in a serious trouble if it isn't [feasible]," she said. "I think we have to set a really high goal. If we set a high goal and only get to three quarters of it, that's better than not setting any goal and not getting anywhere."Upon returning to Middlebury, participants gathered on the Town Green to honor local leaders in climate change and reflect on Step It Up's goals. Asermily read a letter from Bill McKibben. "A year ago, our central goal - 80 percent reduction in carbon emissions - was seen as a fringe and radical idea," McKibben wrote. "Now, it's near the center of the political debate, influencing every piece of legislation that is proposed. We haven't seen a perfect bill yet, but we're definitely getting closer, thanks to you. Because only people power can stand up to the enormous economic power on the other side."At the event's conclusion, ralliers were urged to "give the green finger" by rubbing their left index finger in green ink, scrawling that which they were most intent on protecting ("diversity" or "family" or "the forests," for instance) on the palm of their hand and unfurling the message in a group photograph in the pavilion.Behind the group lays the resolve of numerous highly motivated individuals.Despite his young age, North Branch School ninth grader Kelsey McGlashan is already heavily involved in issues of climate change. Subsequent to McGlashan's participation in Step It Up in April, McKibben - who McGlashan referred to as "a good friend" - urged him to take on a larger role this November. As a consequence, McGlashan served as one of the rally's co-leaders."It's important because this could be the end of the world - well, maybe not that," McGlashan said. "But this is a good action that is really going to address the problem."While energized by their efforts, many who comprised Middlebury's Step It Up crew lamented the fact that their neighbors had not joined them."I was a little disappointed at the numbers, because in April there were a lot of people," McGlashan said.Participants reminisced about the inaugural Step It Up rally, at which so many individuals assembled for a photograph on the Otter Creek footbridge that they were allegedly urged to disperse, for fear that the bridge would collapse. The estimated two dozen participants last Saturday did not pose a similar threat."There are not as many people out here today as there were in April, that's for sure," Putnam said. "And that does distress me, because I think there should be more, not fewer.""Right," Hoover said. "More, more."Conspicuously absent was the college-aged contingent. Two College students traveled to Bristol, while three more trickled in later in the afternoon to attend the event on the Town Green.Hannah Rabinovitch '09 characterized this scarce showing by her peers as disappointing. Though she suspected that many of the campus's most diehard environmental activists were justifiably detained by the weekend's related Power Shift conference in Washington D.C., she said that many students she had spoken to that morning were reluctant to add another engagement to a day already consumed by schoolwork. "It's crazy that people say they have too much work and can't come out for a day, because, when global warming hits, that mark on a paper isn't going to matter much," Rabinovitch said. "We need to re-evaluate our priorities, because this is really serious."Despite students' absences at this particular event, community members were still enthusiastic in their praise of the College's broader efforts."Keep on with this," Putnam said. "I am thrilled to see what students are doing. For years, we weren't seeing a lot of activism coming from the College. Now, in the last five to 10 years, it's just been bubbling up, and bubbling up. It's really inspiring.""This is going to become the big movement of your generation," Putnam said. "There's just no doubt about it."
(11/08/07 12:00am)
Author: Theo May Nearly 80 Middlebury students, of 6,000 in total attendance, travelled to Washington, D.C. last weekend for the Power Shift 2007 conference, marking a significant milestone in the growth of the climate movement. Most of the Middlebury students drove down to Washington in a bio-bus sponsored by the Environmental Council and Environmental Quality. "I wanted to carry the excitement with us," said trip organizer Sierra Murdoch '09 about her decision to hire a bus. Getting Middlebury students to attend "turned out to be so much easier than I expected," continued Murdoch. Students from the College represented the largest out-of-state delegation in attendance.The conference gained notoriety for its high level of attendance, its practical focus on building a climate movement and its high-profile speakers. In another significant moment, the much-anticipated 1 Sky Campaign launched its three major initiatives at the conference."It was an unprecedented opportunity," Jeff Garofano '10.5 said on his decision to attend, "with 5,000 college kids and such a pressing issue."Students spent Nov. 3 in panel sessions covering topics ranging from methods of movement building to ways of approaching the 2008 elections.The day culminated in a series of keynote addresses from leaders of the climate movement. Speakers included Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Middlebury Scholar-in-Residence Bill McKibben, 1 Sky Chair Betsy Taylor and environmental activist Van Jones.Several Middlebury students stood behind McKibben and, after McKibben's call to action, stepped forward and added brief statements.In her speech, Taylor unveiled 1 Sky's three-pronged initiative which includes reducing U.S. carbon emission by 80 percent in 2050, creating 5 million new green jobs and building no new coal-powered plants. The most inspirational moment of the evening for students came as Jones, founder of the new movement Green for All, rallied the crowd around its common cause.It was the "most electrifying speech of the weekend, by far," said Garofano. "We're going to hear more from this man in our lifetime."Jones argued that the U.S. should be creating "jobs not jails," by promoting a program wherein lower-income citizens are trained to work in climate movement-friendly jobs. By teaching people to install double-paned windows, for example, they will be able to earn a higher income in order to deal with the increased costs associated with a clean energy campaign. This issue arose as one of the focal points of the conference.The conference took a unique turn on Nov. 4 as nearly 3,000 students descended on Capital Hill to attend a Congressional hearing and lobby legislators. The students met with a handful of senators and senatorial staff members to discuss environmental issues. Trained ahead of time on how to deliver a message, students presented the legislators with the principles of the 1 Sky initiative and asked them to sign on. Pier LaFarge '10.5, who met with a legislative assistant to Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), found that the Power Shift proposals got a "fairly open reception." However, LaFarge was wary of expecting immediate results in the Senate. "[Graham's] acceptance of the goals is different from his acceptance of the means," LaFarge said.To the majority of attendees, the conference far exceeded expectation. "I came in unsure of the extent to which the movement could be organized," said LaFarge. "But over the course of the weekend, they changed my opinion on the ability of the climate movement to harness the economic and political issues."In an attempt to grasp the significance of the Power Shift conference, Murdoch considered the conference's implications. "I thought that students would focus on the nitty-gritty, but I started to see students articulating a bold vision for what we want our country to be," she said.
(11/01/07 12:00am)
Author: Dan Streitfeld Alex Garlick, Campus columnist, has, in a rather hastily written piece, spilled some ill-advised ink regarding Al Gore's recent receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize. The raison d'Ítre of the column is that Gore does not deserve the award because his actions cannot truly be seen as directly promoting world peace in a meaningful way, as has been the case with previous prize winners.As Mr. Garlick reminds us, Gore (and the U.N. Panel on Climate Change) were given the award for, in the words of the Nobel committee, "their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."Mr. Garlick challenges none of this, but writes that "[d]ue to the unpredictable nature of climate change [the Nobel Committee's rationale] is a very speculative reason for an award that is traditionally given for retrospective action. What if climate change brings rainfall to water-starved arid regions?"Anyone who studies climate change knows that there is indeed a tremendous amount of uncertainty involved in predicting its effects. Yet Garlick seems to fallaciously presume that the probabilistic effects of climate change amount to something akin to spinning a roulette wheel, randomly bringing positive outcomes in some cases and negative outcomes in others.In fact, had Mr. Garlick done any research into the matter, he would have discovered that, despite the uncertainty, there are models that attempt to systematically predict the effects of climate change. It is true that many of the more prosperous countries of the north, such as Canada, the U.S. and northern Europe might experience net benefits from climate change, mostly due to frigid regions being warmed enough to host increased agricultural production and human habitation. On the flip side, however, there is a general scientific consensus that the regions most negatively affected will be those around the equator - the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. This is the case because a rise of only a few degrees Celsius could have cataclysmic effects in those already heat-baked regions - higher temperatures and decreased precipitation levels (due to less snow melt, changed weather patterns, and others causes) would be even more mal-suited to agriculture and human habitation. In fact, many have postulated that climate change could cause wars over fertile land and water supplies, eventually leading to a mass exodus of humans from those regions towards less adversely affected areas. Ban Ki Moon, secretary general of the U.N., has in fact already speculated in an article he wrote that part of the conflict in Darfur (largely a war over water) is due to global warming. He writes that "[scientific evidence] suggests that the drying of sub-Saharan Africa derives, to some degree, from man-made global warming."As these areas tend to have the weakest political and physical institutions of any on the globe, they are particularly ill-equipped to deal with the seismic changes that climate change will bring. Beyond these direct effects to equatorial regions, climate change could also cause unpredictable and extreme one-time weather events, long-term changes in ocean currents (such as the Gulf Stream) and dramatic rises in sea level. All of these factors could cause scarce resources, mass emigration and chaotic conditions in general - if these conditions are not conducive to war and conflict, then I don't know what are. One of the crutches of Mr. Garick's argument is that the prize should be awarded for tangible past contributions as opposed to hypothetical future ones. I would argue that, despite the uncertainty, when we take into account the magnitude of the changes as well as the scientific consensus concerning their general character, there is almost no question whatsoever that climate change will cause great conflict in the future, if it has not already begun to do so today. When we take this into account, I have to wonder whether Mr. Garlick discounts lives in the future (who will be dramatically affected by climate change) so heavily that they matter insignificantly compared to lives today? In his conclusion, Mr. Garlick has the audacity to believe that the Nobel Committee's modus operandi is being the gadfly to the Bush administration. As much as we Americans would like to believe that the entire world revolves around us, other countries are in fact able to progress on important issues, in spite of our country's inaction. It seems to me a rather na've display of hubris to immediately assume that the Nobel Committee must have been making a political statement directed at U.S. politicians when they award the prize to probably the most well known advocate in the entire world for action against climate change. I applaud the Nobel Committee for taking a progressive stance on global warming by recognizing the calamitous (though indeed partially uncertain) impact to world peace non-action has not just today, but for the long-term future, as well. Dan Streitfeld '08 is from Dallas, Texas.
(10/18/07 12:00am)
Author: Zamir Ahmed I've been at Middlebury for over three years now. In that time, I have met students who have planned fundraisers, mentored local children, volunteered their time to put out a newspaper, organized marches to raise awareness of climate change and persuaded this College to commit to carbon neutrality by 2016. These students are also all connected by one thing, and it's not just their lack of free time. It's the fact that none of them can consume alcohol because they're under 21.Despite all their incredible accomplishments, these students are not mature enough to drink beer, wine and liquor - at least not in the eyes of the law. They may smoke cigarettes, buy pornography, get married, join the military, get drafted into the military, pay taxes, choose which college to attend and vote for the "leader of the free world," but touch a drop of alcohol and they risk being busted by the liquor inspector when dancing under the influence at a party in Pearsons.Are we to believe that students mature enough to spend their time working to help others are not mature enough to drink, a pastime that has ingrained itself, for good or bad, into American culture? I know "adults" - in this case, those 21 and older - who are not mature enough to drink. Yet they still go out, consume enormous amounts of alcohol and then climb behind the wheel of a car with the intention of driving home.I'm well aware that not everyone over 18 is a mature, responsible human being. I understand that drunken driving claims a significant number of underage drinkers every year. However, drinking and driving is not a problem restricted to those underage. One look at a newspaper reveals the DUI arrests of celebrities, athletes, teachers, doctors, lawyers, parents and, yes, even presidents. Instead of making stupid choices, maybe these supposedly respected members of society can set a better example for future generations.Some opposed to lowering the drinking age argue that the brain does not fully develop until age 25, and thus alcohol impairs neurological growth. Even if this is true, alcohol does not stop having detrimental effects on the human body after someone turns 25. Research has shown that prolonged use of large quantities of alcohol can lead to permanent damage to vital organs, certain types of cancer, sexual dysfunction, lowered resistance to disease and high blood pressure. Wouldn't educating about the dangers of alcohol be better than prohibiting it entirely until age 21 and then thrusting alcohol on people without their full knowledge of its effects? Instead of treating alcohol as a taboo subject in society, wouldn't teenagers benefit from being talked to about drinking by their parents and taught shown how to drink responsibly?Like it or not, alcohol is part of the American culture, even if it's not talked about. Go to a wedding and alcohol is served. Go to a memorial service and you may find alcohol. Go to fundraising initiatives and step up to an open bar. Individuals between 18 and 21 are allowed to do everything but drink. Rather than enforce a double standard, why not educate about responsible drinking and making informed choices? Why not allow parents to share a beer or wine with them over dinner so that someone who cares for them can show how to enjoy alcohol in a social setting. And while you're at it, maybe "adults" can learn how to set a better example through their drinking so that the next generation may learn to follow in their footsteps. Until that happens, I raise my glass to you, my underage brethren, and drink to a better future.Zamir Ahmed is from Las Cruces, N.M. and the Managing Editor.
(10/18/07 12:00am)
Author: Cloe Shasha Members of the Community Council convened on Oct. 15 to review the College's sexual harassment policy, which, according to Council officials, will be updated to help protect the privacy of individuals filing a harassment complaint. Gus Jordan, associate dean of the College, led the discussion and spoke of new methods for creating an overarching policy with a single judicial process for sexual harassment and assault. The Human Relations Grievance Board currently serves as a supportive resource but is not trained in the judicial process for filed complaints. Since the judicial board members already possess the skills for legal intervention, the Community Council initiated the training of the judicial board to address the same harassment and assault issues raised through Human Relations. "Abigail Blum ['09] made the key point here - People who are being trained to serve at judicial boards have experience to deal with these hearings," said Community Council Co-Chair Tim Spears. "But most Human Resource Advisers do not even go into the judicial process. The work they do is really important, and I think mixing the two is a problematic conflict of interest. We would not be using people's expertise and talent in the best way we could."One product of a change in the overarching policy regarding sexual harassment and assault is the potential disintegration of privacy. "If I wanted help but wanted to keep my name a secret," asked Canem Ozyildirim '10, "would I only be able to ask for help from those that are sworn to confidentiality rather than those that may be more professionally capable?" Jordan said ending the harassment would remain the first priority. "If you bring a complaint of harassment, your privacy will be protected, but the institution is required by law to stop the harassment," he said. "It is important that the person bringing the concern understands that if they bring the story, they might lose confidentiality in a serious situation." As a part of an effective intervention program, some Council members approved the idea of publishing filed complaints of sexual harassment and assault in The Middlebury Campus. "It would help a great deal to cut through the gossip and misunderstandings and create a climate of clear understanding," said Student Co-Chair of Community Council Eric Hoest '08.Several students raised objections to the suggestions."There are some situations in which cases should remain anonymous," Peyton Coles '08 said. "If the information is really painful for the people involved, maybe it should not be published in The Campus." Currently, there are few filed records of sexual harassment or assault on campus. The goal of implementing the College's policies is to recognize "a pattern" in the actions of harassers or assaulters. "Right now, we have no policy whatsoever to follow anyone," said Jordan. "We have no records of something that happened two years ago. So at least [with this proposal] we have a chance of identifying repeat offenders." Currently, in the College handbook, harassment policies apply to all members of the College, but sexual assault policies apply only to students.
