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(02/24/11 5:14am)
With his signature thick-rimmed glasses, grandpa-inspired sweaters, well-loved three-year-old J. Crew messenger bag and effervescent smile, Leo Moses ’14 isn’t one to blend in with a crowd.
Towering above most of his peers at 6’5”, this first-year has caught the eyes of students for being someone who avoids the Middlebury Patagonia fleece- and L.L. Bean Boot-wearing stereotype in favor of a more Brooks Brothers-inspired look; his own effortlessly dapper style is far more fitting.
Moses hails from Sacramento, Calif., but spent his high school years out east at Vermont’s St. Paul’s School. And while St. Paul’s may have had a lot to do with how he dresses now, Moses had already been dressing with his unique fashion for a while.
“I’ve probably dressed this way since ninth grade, although I hope there’s been some variation and maybe even some progression since then,” he said.
The self-described “friendly, liberal, church-going Episcopalian” cites the 1950s, dead people and “old things in general” as his sources of inspirations, expressing a nonchalant uncertainty by finishing off his list with an “I don’t really know.”
Moses’s glasses are arguably his most distinguishing accessory, which are made by Oliver People’s. He bought his current pair during the spring of his senior year of high school after losing a nearly identical pair by jumping in a lake.
In addition to his glasses, Moses says he would never leave his room without wearing a belt.
“No matter what the weather, you’re half naked if you’re not wearing a belt,” Leo said matter-of-factly.
With such a unique style, the question of his opinion on Middlebury dress was begging to be asked.
“I like the way people dress around Middlebury, in general. Flannel looks good in Vermont, and if people want to throw down over a hundred bucks for a colorful fleece, I’m certainly not going to stop them,” Moses said. He paused momentarily before adding, “I do hate it, however, when people wear sweatpants around campus. It drives me up the wall. They shouldn’t be worn outside.”
Also on the list of items of clothing Moses refuses to buy are expensive jeans and seersucker pants with patterns or embroidery.
As to whether his style actually reflects his personality, Moses is ambivalent.
“I’ll leave that one up in the air, although I will say my clothing makes me look a bit more put together and anachronistic than I actually am,” Moses said.
Despite his fervent distaste for sweatpants outdoors and WASP-y preppy pants, friends of Moses’s agree that he does not seem to have a bad bone in his body, likening him to a puppy due to his incessant smiling and general giddiness.
Moses sees this in himself as well, stating that he is “unintentionally often quite funny to [his] friends.”
His smile, when combined with his unique sense of style, makes it hard not to stare when Moses comes walking your way.
“I’m a smiley, really tall person. People tend to smile back, and I think they would regardless of what I wear,” stated Moses with his ever-present grin.
There is more to Moses than what most students know him for — his clothing. While he has yet to declare a major, Moses cites religion or English as his current top two choices, though he also finds German history interesting.
He has held a variety of odd jobs, ranging from working at a bakery to selling bikes. Moses’s summers are generally low-key, as he goes backpacking as much as possible during his time off from school.
The one question that has the ability to reveal the most about one’s personality is arguably the simplest: Why Middlebury?
“I chose Middlebury because it’s a really good school and seems to be filled with really friendly people,” said Moses without much hesitation.
Or, in other words, people just like Moses.
(02/24/11 5:05am)
Anne Hoover, recipient of Spirit in Nature’s 2011 Eco-Spirit Award, leads a life comparable to the busiest of Midd Kids. Though Hoover admits she has slowed down in recent years, her involvement and leadership in a myriad of causes is undeniable. Hoover, who lives in Middlebury, is currently a volunteer for the Green Mountain National Forest and a board member of the Watershed Center, a nonprofit organization that works to educate people about conservation practices and which is situated on land that used to house the town of Vergennes’ water supply. She helped to develop the Trail Around Middlebury (TAM), as well. After Sept. 11, 2001, she organized the peace vigil on the corner of Middlebury’s town green that continues to takes place every Saturday morning. In characteristic modesty, Hoover barely admits to her leadership role and active involvement.
“A little bit I got it going,” she said.
Her activism also extends back to her days working for the New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution, when she fought Vermont Yankee, a nuclear power plant located in Vernon, Vt. In the 1970s, Hoover worked with a group started by Ralph Nader in Connecticut to defeat a proposed pump storage site. More recently, she worked in Middlebury to successfully prevent International Paper, a paper company in Ticonderoga, NY, from burning tire fuel in order to cut costs. The company was restricted from doing so after years of hearings exposed the severe air and water pollution due to their practices.
Hoover’s deep love for the environment stems from a simple truth.
“It’s our home,” she said.
The Eco-Spirit award is given annually to a community member who shows a strong commitment to environmental initiatives and upholds the values of Spirit in Nature (SpIN), a non-profit organization that brings people of all faiths together to appreciate the Earth. Founded in 1998 by Paul Bortz, a since-retired Unitarian minister who wanted to create a group in which people of all faiths could unite and care for the earth, SpIN leases 80 acres of land in Ripton, Vt. from the College. Ten paths, each representing a different faith ranging from Christianity to Judaism to Muslim to Quaker, run through the wilderness; trees are marked with quotations from different religions. The network of trails is open to all people, and Carol Spooner, president of SpIN, urges students from the College to make the short trip to Ripton to enjoy the beauty of the site.
Spooner, who leads the group’s annual meetings and works with board members on a variety of fronts, said that the Eco-Spirit award honors an individual who show “awareness of both nature and spiritual connection to nature.”
“For many people … it [the Eco-Spirit award] is more a way of acknowledging achievements over a number of years,” said John Elder, College Professor Emeritus and 2002 Eco-Spirit award recipient.
Elder presented Hoover with her award at SpIN’s annual meeting, which was held the Isley Public Library on Feb. 20.
In his speech, Elder noted Hoover’s “high spirits, humor and enthusiasm,” as well as passion for travel, which has taken her to many unique environments.
Though her love for New England is unwavering, Hoover’s two favorite destinations (thus far) are New Zealand and Iceland. She loves New Zealand especially for its commitment to the environment.
“It’s beautiful and it’s very environmentally conscious,” said Hoover. “The people are wonderful. Everything about it is … paradise.”
Hoover traveled to New Zealand with a birding group; she recalled that when the guide led others off the beaten track to go birding, “I’d just absorb.”
“Whether it’s canoeing or snowshoeing, she’s led a very adventurous life,” said Elder.
A native of New York City, Hoover attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts, where she took a course about ecology that inspired many of her environmental efforts. After graduating with a degree in Psychology, Hoover went to secretarial school in New York City. Here, she worked hard to bring her skills up to speed, as she admittedly hates New York in the summer. Hoover began work as a secretary at the Rockefeller Foundation before coming to Middlebury a few years later and working at the Breadloaf School of English for over a decade. She has also worked in various administrative positions for the College. Hoover retired in 1992.
“Compared to John [Elder] and Bill McKibben [2001 EcoSpirit award recipient] … I’m not in that league,” said Hoover.
Yet among those in attendance at SpIN’s annual meeting, Hoover had a broad group of supporters and admirers. In addition to family members, including her nephew and niece, many of Hoover’s friends came to see her receive the award.
Elder, who has known Hoover for many years and kept up with her environmental interests, describes her as “a person who puts herself out there and expresses in her actions what she believes.”
After receiving the award, Hoover expressed her gratitude to the group and read the Mary Oliver poem, “Song of the Builders.” She noted that she learned of the poem in a class taught by Elder, which she audited.
“Many people in this area are huge admirers of Anne,” said Elder. “What she represents is a life of authenticity, bravery and joy in what she does.”
(02/17/11 5:06am)
One in seven families in the state of Vermont cannot provide three nutritious meals for their loved ones each day. Statistics like these are what motivated Hunger Free Vermont, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1993 that works to combat hunger, to adopt the 3SquaresVT program, Vermont’s federal nutrition program. 3SquaresVT is part of the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Sustainable Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP also runs in other areas of the United States.
Since the program’s founding in 2000, it has grown substantially. Families, senior citizens and disabled community members make up the core of eligible participants.
Angela Smith-Dieng ’00, who graduated from Middlebury with a BA in English, began her job at 3SquaresVT after working for other national advocacy programs. A native of the Adirondacks, Smith-Dieng worked in Washington D.C. with a national collation that extended aid to immigrants detained in the United States, and she worked behind-the-scenes to advocate for human rights. She also has past experience working in direct services, like the food pantry, which gave her experience interacting with people from different backgrounds.
“I wanted to come back to Vermont and to work in the anti-hunger world again. I wanted to do something that would combine my two past work worlds, and Hunger Free Vermont does that,” she said. “Now, I work closely with agencies who feed people and I do feel connected to these people.”
As advocacy manager for 3SquaresVT at Hunger Free Vermont, Smith Deing coordinates the program’s statewide outreach efforts. She works with the Vermont state agency, the Department for Children and Families and several community service providers, like Addison Community Action. These organizations help eligible individuals apply to 3SquaresVT.
Department of Children and Families contracts Hunger Free Vermont, located in South Burlington, Vt., to conduct outreach for 3SquaresVT. Its goal is to curb the effects of hunger. For more information, email the organization at http://www.hungerfreevt.org or contact the group at (802) 865-0255.
Data from the USDA showed that in 2008, 79 percent of the 66,000 eligible people participated in 3SquaresVT, an increase of six percent from 2007.
“The stats highlight some of the progress Vermont has made,” said Smith-Dieng. “We need to reach more eligible candidates though. There is still work to be done.”
Smith-Dieng said that only 65 percent of employed individuals, who nonetheless were eligible for food stamps, joined the program in 2008, which also represents a one-point percentage drop from 2007’s 66 percent. Statistics also show that currently a meager 34 percent of eligible seniors are part of 3SquaresVT, and that the state ranked 11th in overall participation rates, compared to the other SNAP programs.
“We have to try and reach out to more of these people,” said Smith-Dieng.
She believes there are three main reasons for the low participation rates. First, there is a lack of information and awareness, so many do not realize they are eligible for aid. Those who are employed question why they receive benefits, and families do not understand that local service providers, like Middlebury’s HOPE (Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects), also help people join programs, such as 3SquaresVT. Though an online application aims to boost current participation rates, Smith-Dieng sees the application process as another culprit plaguing Vermont’s involvement in the program.
“The process is long and daunting, and challenging to complete and fill out,” she said. “There is an interview and much documentation is needed as proof, which is difficult for those with limited English proficiency too.”
The final reason, according to Smith-Dieng, that explains the USDA’s results is that people have a hard time asking for help. This fact caused the program to change its name from the Food Stamp Program to 3SquaresVermont; it sought to lose the “food stamp” stigma.
“We want a more accessible and anonymous program,” said Smith-Dieng. “The program is also helping Vermont because federal money is being pumped back into the state. All benefits are spent in local grocery stores, so the program is a financial stimulus for the state.”
3SquaresVT uses this message to market its program, which in turn also helps Vermonters feel comfortable applying.
Currently, there are 90,566 people in the 3SquaresVT program, which has funneled about $11 million each month into the Vermont economy. In 2009, USDA studies showed that for every $1 the program gave to its participants, $1.84 was added to the Vermont economy. As the 3SquaresVT website states, “Eating healthier food is good for you and benefit dollars are good for Vermont’s economy.”
Those accepted by the program receive a “Vermont Express” or an “Electronics Benefits Transfer” card, which works exactly like a debit card and can be swiped. The amount of money on the card depends on the number of members participating in the program from each household. The card arrives in the mail on the first day of each month, and is used to purchase food. Alcohol, cigarettes, hot prepared meals, pet food, paper and household products, however, are not viable purchases. On average, participants save $250 a month through the program. Children are also eligible for free school lunches; currently, 97 percent of schools in Vermont serve both breakfast and lunch to about 94,000 students.
Eligibility, which is determined by the Department for Children and Families, is contingent on income. For example, a household of four must make less than $3,401 a month to qualify for the program.
Smith-Dieng admits that the USDA report is outdated, and that since 2008, there have been several changes in Vermont. 3SquaresVT has expanded its eligibility requirements by raising the maximum income, allowing more Vermonters to join, especially in light of the recent economic recession.
“What the rate will look like is tough to predict because there have been so many changes,” she said. “We are continuing to work hard to expand access and we are hopeful to improve.”
Once the census level from 2010 is published, the organization can better estimate current participation rates.
“In the future, I would love for there to be 100 percent participation,” said Smith-Dieng. “There are long-term health benefits to the program too. Our goal is to make sure all those eligible receive these benefits to really make a difference.”
Locally, Addison Community Action (ACA), located at 700 Exchange St. in Middlebury, partners with 3SquaresVT. The center, which offers services to those struggling to make ends meet, helps people fill out their application to the “food stamps” program.
Donna Rose, who has been working at ACA for over ten years, said she got involved with the 3SquaresVT program for Addison County because she “believe[s] in the mission of economic and social justice for all people.”
Rose also helps out at the center’s food shelf, which many families use to supplement their monthly benefit to 3SquaresVT.
“[3SquaresVT] is the safety net that prevents hunger and real starvation in this country,” she said.
Director of ACA Karen Haury has been with the organization since 1996. She feels 3SquaresVT is a “much needed and beneficial program to the residents of Vermont,” as she sees clear ties between a “healthy diet to a healthy life for adults and children.”
In January 2011 alone, Haury found that the ACA food shelf helped 217 households, about 501 people. Of these individuals, 75 percent were also members of 3SquaresVT.
The future is bright for 3SquaresVT, as it seeks to increase its participation rates for eligible, and especially working, candidates. The program also hopes to build on its partnerships with local organizations, like ACA, so individuals across the state of Vermont are guaranteed three nutritious meals a day.
Visit the 3SquaresVT program website at http://www.vermontfoodhelp.com to learn more and to find out about ways to get involved with the organization.
(02/17/11 5:01am)
One-World Library Project presentation
Feb. 17, 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Tonight, enjoy a presentation entitled “Not Lost in Translation: Yoko Ogawa’s The Housekeeper and the Professor,” at the Lawrence Memorial Library in Bristol. Steve Snyder, Professor of Japanese Studies, will discuss the challenges of translating Ogawa’s popular book from Japanese into English. The talk is part of the One-World Library Project, a rich collection of books and films about other world cultures, which is held at the library, located at 40 North St. in Bristol. Don’t miss this fascinating presentation from a Middlebury professor! Call (802) 453-4741 or visit http://www.oneworldlibraryproject.org for more information.
Presentation on Vermont Yankee
Feb. 18, 7 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Head down to the Ilsley Library this Friday to learn about Middlebury’s energy future and Vermont Yankee, a nuclear power plant in Vernon, Vt., which generates over one third of the state’s electricity. Meredith Angwin, director of the Ethan Allen Institute’s Energy Education Project, will give a presentation and lead a question and answer session. Angwin, a physical chemist, works to educate Vermonters about their energy options and helps them make choices based on the facts. The Addison County Republican Committee is sponsoring the talk.
Friday night movie
Feb. 18, 7:30 p.m.
Not feeling MCAB’s Free Friday Film this week? Head over to the Vergennes Opera House (VHO) to enjoy a free screening of Mamma Mia!, sponsored by Linda’s Apparel and Gifts. The movie, inspired by Abba songs, is sure to entertain all. Make the night into an off-campus adventure, and check out the great restaurants Vergennes has to offer too. Call the VHO at (802) 877-6737 for more information.
Performance at Town Hall Theater
Feb. 18 and 19, 8 p.m. – 10 p.m., Feb. 19 and 20, 2 p.m.
This weekend at Middlebury’s Town Hall Theater (THT), husband and wife acting duo Jim Stapleton and Diana Bigelow will star in “Henry and Emily: the Muses of Massachusetts.” This engaging play is based on the lives and work of writers Henry David Thoreau and Emily Dickinson. Tickets are $17/$15, and are available at the THT box office. You can also visit http://townhalltheater.org or call (802) 382-9222 to purchase tickets. Don’t miss this great event!
Author reading
Feb. 19, 2 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Join local author and College Archivist Bob Buckeye for a discussion of his recent work, a biography of Middlebury photographer hazel Dow Wood. The biography is the final installment in Buckeye’s Quarry Books series on important people in Addison County. The talk will be held at the Vermont Book Shop, located at 38 Main St.
(02/17/11 4:58am)
Many of the College’s 1,300 employees will find a different number on their paychecks in the next 18 months as Old Chapel restructures the staff salary program.
The Staff Resources Committee (SRC) in association with the Wage and Salary committee released their plan on Feb. 4.
Chair of the committee, Vice President for Administration and Professor of American Studies Tim Spears says the goal of the changes is greater equity.
“The question is, ‘How can we most fairly distribute the dollars that are available for staff salaries?’” he said. “The changes we are putting in place are not meant to save the College money.”
The Human Resources department (HR) takes local, regional and national salaries from similar jobs and finds the 80th percentile, which becomes the midpoint for that staff group at the College.
“The midpoints are meant to serve as targets,” HR wrote in the report. “They represent the salary that an accomplished employee should expect to make at mid-career.”
In order to fulfill the College’s goal of paying staff members in the top 20 percent of the market, the SRC plan has instituted a maximum salary cap to control the salaries of staff at the top of the ranges. The money retained from the cap will go to staff below the midpoint. Currently, 118 staff members are at the salary maximum.
This policy has left the 118 staff members at the maximum salary cap — many of whom are longtime employees — without the possibility for advancement in their current positions. Spears’ blog, which first posted the plan, has become ground zero for the backlash against a maximum salary cap, receiving over 25 posts.
“I personally find it disturbing and demoralizing to have the College enforce caps on individual salaries,” said one anonymous post. “Long-time employees who have been and continue to be strong performers should not be treated this way.”
Spears has faced the critics head on, responding to many of the inflamed posts on his blog. He insists that capping maximum salaries will help the majority of the staff, pointing out that there are 808 staff members who are at or below the midpoint whose salaries would benefit from restructuring.
“The changes that we are making in capping the maximum salaries will free up more resources to allow the staff members who are at or below the midpoint to advance,” Spears said.
But Sandy LeGault — a staff member at the Bread Loaf School of English — says that increasing new staff wages at the expense of long time employees sends the wrong message.
“I applaud Middlebury’s efforts to provide a livable wage for everyone, but regret that it’s being done on the backs of long-time staff, who used to feel that their experience and commitment were valued,” she said on Spears’ blog.
The economic downturn in 2008 and 2009, which left the College’s endowment $300 million short of its projected value before the recession, crippled the salary pool, forcing the College to reduce its staff by nearly 15 percent since the summer of 2008.
“I know so many people who are working harder than ever to make the staff reductions work, often by working uncompensated overtime because they feel an obligation to Middlebury students, to their colleagues, to the whole enterprise,” said LeGault. “The new system is erecting a brick wall.”
Vice President for Finance and Treasurer Patrick Norton explained that the new system will still offer financial incentives for staff members who reach the maximum.
“Staff at the maximum of their salary will be eligible for annual increases — however, these increases will be distributed as single sum payments,” wrote Norton in an e-mail.
Spears is also quick to point out that since the midpoint is based on the external market for jobs, if salaries increase away from the College, staff salaries will similarly increase.
“If past history is a guide, the markets for these particular jobs will increase,” he said.
Not everyone opposes the SRC plan. One commenter applauded the restructuring, saying that the staff members below the midpoint are the ones who need the salary increases to “make ends meet” the most.
“The few folks at the top should consider their position — that of relative privilege — and consider the fact that the majority of staff members somehow manage to make ends meet with less,” said the anonymous commenter. “The disappointment voiced here regarding how these changes will affect a minority of staff at the very top lacks perspective and reeks of entitlement.”
Staff raises will now be based on merit, which Spears says is largely supported.
“The staff has said in survey after survey that they strongly believe in merit pay,” he said. “Which means if they do really good work, they feel that the College should reward their efforts with a compensation program that distinguishes really good work from adequate work.”
Staff who “consistently meet expectations” will receive a one percentage point raise, while staff who “significantly exceed expectations” will receive a higher percentage raise. In addition, single bonuses will be given to five percent of the staff for exemplary work.
The SRC expects that 75 percent of the staff will “consistently meet expectations” while 25 percent will “significantly exceed expectations.”
More on staff salaries:
Tim Spears' Blog "Across Campus"
(02/10/11 5:58pm)
Six new administrative changes throughout the College this academic year have quietly shaken up responsibilities from the Health and Counseling Services to Cook and Brainerd Commons.
Five of the six changes fell under the responsibility of Shirley Collado, dean of the College and chief diversity officer. Collado explained the changes in a campus-wide e-mail Jan. 17.
As The Campus reported in the fall, Collado transitioned from her position as vice president of the office of institutional planning and diversity in December 2009 and returned to her new position the following year. Adding the title “chief diversity officer” to her new role as dean of the College emphasized Old Chapel’s commitment to prioritizing diversity initiatives.
“President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz strongly felt that diversity goals and initiatives at the College had to be a central part of the mainline functions of the institution,” said Collado. “We couldn’t think of a better place to put institutional diversity than the dean of the College area, which is at the heart of what students experience inside and outside the classroom.”
Gus Jordan — entering his 15th year at the College — is transitioning into his new role as executive director of health and counseling services. Jordan’s new position was prompted by the retirement of longtime professor and Executive Director of Counseling Gary Margolis.
Margolis’ retirement gave the College an opportunity to transition Jordan into an ideal role for health and counseling services.
“Gus’s appointment provided an opportunity for leadership oversight of Health and Counseling Services together and Gus is a clinical psychologist, a member of the psychology department and a very experienced clinician,” said Collado. “It made a lot of sense.”
Jordan is no stranger to new positions. After serving as the director of the Scott Center for Spiritual & Religious Life, he was appointed acting dean of the College in 2008. A year later, he became the dean of students in July 2009.
Katy Smith Abbott — associate dean of the College since 2007 — will assume the role of dean of students when she returns from academic leave on August 1. Abbott has also been assistant professor of history of art and architecture since she came to the College in 1996.
“Alongside the College’s judicial affairs officer, commons deans and the dean of the College, [Abbott] will work to identify and address community issues that will likely warrant attention and support,” Collado wrote.
Without an acting dean of students during Abbott’s academic leave, Collado and her staff have been forced to take on added responsibilities.
“We have a number of people wearing a number of different hats,” she said.
But Collado says Abbott’s leave will be beneficial in the long run.
“I actually see [Abbott’s leave] as an opportunity to be there front and center in ways that are critical for me in my first year as dean of the College,” she said. “I will be able to help Katy in her new role and better understand all the things our students need.”
When the Office of Institutional Diversity was assimilated into the dean of the College area, so was Jennifer Herrera, who had been coordinating and managing diversity programming and events since 2004.
In her new position as special assistant to the dean of the College and senior advisor for diversity initiatives, Herrera will help oversee the implementation of campus-wide diversity initiatives and projects. Herrera will also assist Collado in managing the College’s Posse Program, which awards scholarships to groups of outstanding student leaders from urban public schools who demonstrate academic promise. The College has successfully partnered with The Posse Foundation and recruited New York City students for the last 12 years.
Ian Sutherland has had big shoes to fill since the retirement of Karl Lindholm as dean of Cook Commons at the end of the fall semester. To assist the mid-year transition between deans, Sutherland shadowed Lindholm to learn the intricacies of heading a Commons.
“We usually don’t get that luxury where someone can shadow a Dean and see what the job is like,” said Collado. “He is going into the job with a full semester of sitting next to a dean, which is fabulous.”
Natasha Chang became the dean of Brainerd Commons at the beginning of the academic year.
“[Chang] is a longstanding member of the Italian department,” said Collado. “She has been here for several years and knows Middlebury students very well.”
James Davis — associate professor of religion since 2001 — assumed the role of assistant provost on Feb. 1.
“Davis served very effectively in two roles, as chair of the department of religion, and chair of the Institutional Review Board (IRB), and I felt that his administrative skills would be useful in the provost’s office,” wrote Alison Byerly, provost, executive vice president and professor of english & American studies in an e-mail.
Davis stepped down as the chair of the religion department and the IRB, but will continue to teach part-time.
Despite the flurry of changes within the administration, Collado says students should not notice any negative side effects.
“I don’t anticipate a Middlebury student feeling any ripples from [the changes],” she said. “In fact, I would hope this only enhances and strengthens what we are already doing.”
Asked when she would be fully transitioned into her new roll with her new team, Collado broke into a big smile.
“Any vice-president always has to face some transitions, but I am looking to create a solid, stable structure that won’t have to be changing that much in the future.”
(02/10/11 5:22am)
The uprisings in Egypt, along with similar demonstrations in Tunisia, Jordan and Yemen, have shaken the sociopolitical status quo in the Middle East. These revolts are, ostensibly, calls for reform and change in certain ‘corrupt’ governments; but the protests often become violent in nature. The five Middlebury students in attending the School Abroad in Alexandria witnessed this development firsthand.
On Saturday Jan. 29, criminals were released from Egyptian prisons and the looting, violence and fires broke out on the streets of Alexandria. The male students were sent to apartments and the women sent to dorms in an attempt to keep them safe. The situation was tense and perilous, but the ensuing effort to evacuate the students is a testament to the strength and scope of Middlebury’s network.
Middlebury’s original evacuation services, On Call International, are only redeemable when the State Department issues a statement for Americans to evacuate the country. The State Department did not issue said statement until well into the protests, so the administration’s initial plan proved ineffective. This problem reflects the company’s stringent policy and the State Department’s sluggishness more than poor choices on the part of the administration, however. We must applaud the administration for their effective and dedicated work in getting the students home.
Luckily, help came from our own when the outside company’s plan failed. Vice President of the Language Schools Michael Geisler and Dean of International Programs Jeffrey Cason promptly contacted Global Rescue — a company founded by a Middlebury alum — and agents showed up to secure the students’ location a mere three hours later. Several Middlebury alumni were involved, including Liz Huntley ’08, the resident coordinator of the school in the Middle East, who did some heroic improvisation to ensure that students were transported safely and fed. Senator Patrick Leahy’s office also worked with the State Department to get the plane in.
The crisis in Egypt proves a potent reminder that “Middlebury” stands for much more than a prestigious liberal arts college in Vermont. Middlebury stands for our Schools Abroad, located in 14 countries across the globe. Middlebury includes a international graduate program in Monterey, Calif. and an English graduate program spanning from New Mexico, to England, right back to what we call Middlebury here in Vermont. And Middlebury stands for all the people who took part in one of these programs and make up our Middlebury network, a network that proved an invaluable asset when we needed to evacuate the program in Egypt. Many undergraduates who choose not to or are unable to go abroad may not feel a direct link to these schools. But especially with the events in Alexandria, we should embrace our schools abroad and language programs as a core part of Middlebury College. To think of our college as Middlebury, Vt. is to ignore the multifaceted character of our school. It should not take a violent uprising to make us cognizant of our college’s global connections.
It may be hard to think of Middlebury as such an expansive behemoth when we are snowed in here in Vermont. But, for now, you can live vicariously through the international experiences of others. Instead of scoffing at your friends trying to describe their times abroad, listen to their stories and learn about our students’ and school’s presence overseas. Whether this means attending events to promote your study abroad experience or submitting stunning photos, sharing your overseas experience is one way we can celebrate the global community we are part of as Middlebury students.
(02/10/11 4:59am)
A remarkable number of metaphors for an improved understanding of the world involve physical expansion. Whether an opening of eyes, broadening of horizons, or widening of perspective, it seems that figurative growth is an integral part of a worthwhile experience. Through their Februrary Middlebury Alternative break (MAlt) endeavors, Middlebury students were able to burst the bubble, returning not only with bigger social circles but also a greater grasp on how they can improve their communities.
Oakland, CA
Even with uncertain expectations of the MAlt trip to Oakland, California students were never lacking enthusiasm.
“I really wanted a new experience where I could meet new people and do something together that we’re all interested in,” Ashley Guzman ’13 wrote in an e-mail of her decision to apply. The timing of the trip — just four weeks after a break she spent at home — made it ideal for a new destination. Ramin Pena ’13, who considered multiple MAlt trips, was drawn to this one for the service aspect.
In addition to fundraising, the group of 12 prepared for the trip by meeting weekly in order to learn about the Oakland area and the organizations with which they would be working. These organizations, based in Oakland and San Francisco, spanned a variety of causes, allowing the students to learn about and participate in what Pena called “efforts to help the environment — not nature,” he clarified, “but people who live in it.”
A number of these efforts were focused on empowering people to succeed in the business world. For example, the students sat in on an introductory course at CEO Women — an organization dedicated to helping women start up or expand small businesses. By providing training and grants, then following up periodically on participants’ progress, it aims to guide and foster their success. The students also learned about Women’s Initiative, which follows a similar model.
The group saw a success story in another organization: Wardrobe for Opportunity, whose executive director was a CEO Women graduate. The premise: provide women with the support and professional wardrobe required to make it in the business world.
“They may have the skills, but they may not have the clothes, and that makes all the difference,” Pena said.
The students helped to prepare the clothing for donations with tasks such as steaming suits and organizing shoes.
One Pacific coast bank provided them with background on how banks work; specifically, how this one, with a positive impact on the community at the core of its mission, differed from many larger corporate banks.
“They emphasized the importance of keeping capital within Oakland in order to lift people out of poverty and be able to offer small business loans and investments,” Guzman wrote.
A tour of San Francisco was also an eye-opening experience. Pena described a “sub-community” of the homeless population in the city defined by complacency.
“There are people who choose to be homeless,” he said, rendering shelter work a bit more complicated. “We’re just supporting their logic that they don’t have to work.”
For the most part, however, the students found their volunteer work at Youth Engagement Advocacy and Housing (YEAH!) to be worthwhile and rewarding.
“That was the best,” Guzman wrote, “because we really got to interact with people our age who are very much like all of us, but in less fortunate circumstances.”
The group’s duties included cooking and serving food and preparing supplies to be donated. They also learned about empowerment efforts through agriculture. The People’s Grocery in Oakland allows locals to grow and pick their own food near the once-luxurious California Hotel, now a haven for squatters.
In addition to improving the state of the surrounding area, according to Guzman, the farm’s long-term goal includes “promoting environmental and racial justice in West Oakland.” As part of their tour, the students learned of the historical context of injustice that continues to hinder these efforts. They were able to do some gardening of their own with Save The Bay, an environmental organization, planting flowers along the shoreline in San Francisco.
Residents can also obtain produce through the Alameda County Food Bank, where the students helped to bag three tons of oranges in a day (in fact, the first day that the facility was open to volunteers). They were also given a tour of the Bank, which feeds about 49,000 people in a week and works to support local producers in order to provide the freshest food possible.
The group members bonded quickly,, as evidenced by their reunion after the first day of working in smaller groups.
“We literally ran into each other’s arms because we were so happy to see each other,” Guzman wrote. Pena, who knew most members of his group before the trip began, agreed: “everyone got really close by the end,” he said.
If the “withdrawal” that Guzman felt during the first week back on campus is any indication, the friendships are likely to last.
Both Guzman and Pena, New York natives, felt that they had gained perspective on urban social stratification and its implications. During their time in Berkeley, where they were housed, Pena was taken aback by the contrast between students at the University of California and the city’s substantial homeless population.
“It was kind of crazy to see students okay with it,” he said. “I don’t know how you deal with that.”
Still, he was inspired and comforted by the generosity he witnessed.
“It definitely revived my faith in humanity,” he said. “I know that there are people who will sacrifice living lavishly to help people get out of the slums.”
Guzman was impressed by the initiative of the organizations’ beneficiaries even before they received any assistance. The catch with some of these programs, the students realized, is the need for some sort of prerequisite knowledge and often a referral. With regard to Wardrobe for Opportunity, for example, “You can’t get the clothes if you don’t have the skills,” Pena said.
While this type of system necessarily limits the number of people who can receive assistance at a given time —“They may not always be perfect, but they do what they do as much as possible,” Pena said of the service organizations — it meant that the students were meeting trainees who had already managed to stand out within their communities.
“I was able to see firsthand what it means to be from another country and not know English but be so passionate about a business idea that you are willing to work as hard as possible to achieve those goals,” Guzman wrote. Despite the organizations’ limitations, it seems that helping to create a network driven by such values is a worthwhile step toward a culture of social mobility.
Simply put: “If you help people, they help others,” Pena said.
The students move forward now with a new outlook on daily life. “I learned to appreciate the things that I have, and my circumstances,” Guzman wrote, “plus I made 11 new ‘besties’ who I’ll love forever and ever.”
Pensacola, FL
When it comes to this past year’s disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Lisa Luna ’13 decided to take a hands-on approach. Thus, the concept of MAlt Pensacola was born.
“Emma Loizeaux and I decided to lead a MAlt trip to Pensacola [Florida] because we felt that the environmental effects of the Deepwater Horizon spill needed to be addressed and that it would be good to get Middlebury students down to the Gulf Coast to work on restoration,” she wrote in an e-mail.
Students like Janet Bering ’13 were eager to jump on board. “I thought it would be a great opportunity to apply concepts I’ve learned in the classroom as [an Environmental Studies and Biology] major, as well as help a damaged community,” she wrote in an e-mail.
The group began planning well before winter term, meeting regularly to discuss fundraising and learning about the problems facing their destination. The challenge of fundraising was partially alleviated by the Middlebury Environmental Council, which provided the group with a grant covering a substantial part of the costs.
As Luna admitted, the name of the trip “is a little misleading, since [they] did very little work in Pensacola itself.” In fact, the group stayed just east of Pensacola and worked in a variety of locations in northwestern Florida.
With the help of Community Collaborations International, an organization that directs volunteers to existing endeavors that need their help and match their interests, the students connected with the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance (CBA), the Muscogee Nation of Florida, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
“Most of our work actually ended up being in the realm of general ecosystem restoration in the area, rather than restoration explicitly related to the spill,” Luna wrote.
For example, oil did not actually infiltrate Choctawhatchee Bay, yet the group worked on restoration efforts there as part of a larger-scheme effort to improve the region.
“Everything in the region’s ecosystem is interconnected. The long-term impacts of the spill have yet to become apparent, so it’s important to support the health of the entire ecosystem, and I think that we helped with that,” explained Luna.
The group’s work with the Muscogee Nation of Florida (a Native American tribe working toward federal recognition) was the most directly focused on the region’s residents. The first day of the trip was dedicated to helping at a Muscogee food bank in Bruce, cleaning sheds to be used for storage. As Bering pointed out, the spill had a serious negative impact on the local economy, rendering the food bank even more critical. While in Bruce, they also volunteered an afternoon at an after-school program for “at-risk kids” organized by the United Methodist Church.
Later in the week, the students worked with the CBA on an invaluable undertaking for the bay: constructing oyster reefs.
“Oyster reefs are an incredibly important part of the bay ecosystem,” Luna wrote, “because they provide habitat for a variety of other species, help to control shoreline erosion, and filter water, which helps maintain the necessary water quality for other plants and animals.”
The reefs were one type of habitat that suffered tremendously as a result of the oil spill. In accordance with the CBA’s usual technique, students created artificial reefs out of mesh bags full of fossilized oysters that they had filled themselves, shoveling 30 tons over one and a half days.
Next, they met with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) on Eglin Airforce Base, where they learned about the detrimental effects of damming on endangered species.
“The whole ecosystem in the area needs work,” Luna wrote, “and building a new stream, while helpful, won’t solve the habitat problem for … any of the species that depend on the area.”
Their efforts involved planting, which can “help jumpstart ecosystem recovery.” The work took place both near the pond created by the dam and in a DEP greenhouse. This situation exemplified the delicate, complex, intertwined nature of the various systems in the region, and how easily the balance can be upset.
The group dynamic proved both lighthearted and indicative of serious commitment to the projects at hand.
“We were pretty silly most of the trip and got along really well,” Bering wrote. “One of the most fun aspects of the trip was the other people I was with, and I really hope we all stay in touch.”
Luna agreed: “Our group was totally awesome.” More specifically, “It was fun to be working outside with a group, learning a lot from local experts, and then sitting down and talking about what we had experienced. We all learned a lot about each other, or at least I did, and it was great to spend time with people that I otherwise may not have met.”
Both students valued the chance to get their hands dirty, using their theoretical knowledge on a real and therefore much more complex level. Ironically, what initially drew Bering to the trip also proved most challenging. “I learned the difficulties of applying conservation in the field,” she wrote.
One measure of a rewarding experience is that, nearly a week later, students are still grappling with the magnitude of the reward.
“I got a ton out of the trip,” Luna wrote. “I could go on for days, but I’m still sort of trying to figure all of that out.”
(01/20/11 5:06am)
For many, Winter Term can become a graveyard for grand schemes that never come to fruition. Among many people I know, “we’ll do it in J-Term,” (or just “J-Term.”) is the half-joking default response to good ideas that seem like too big of an undertaking during the busy semester. But every year, a few students take the opportunity provided by this funny little month to bring some of those schemes to life, receiving credit to create interesting art and media projects for which there just isn’t time on top of a normal class schedule in the spring and fall semesters. Here’s a selection of some of the creative production going on this month, which doubles as an argument that an extra one-month semester is the perfect complement to an open-minded liberal arts education.
"Just Like in the Movies" by Sean Dennison '11
Dennison received the Meyer Grant from the English Department to spend the month in Los Angeles, Calif. observing the influence of Hollywood on American culture and our day-to-day lives. Or, in Dennison’s words, “I’ve always loved movies, [so] I decided to focus on their place in American culture and watched an excessive amount of movies set in L.A. to see how they would affect my actual experience of the city.” He is visiting Los Angeles landmarks, Hollywood studios and Disneyland, and the project will culminate in three-part text (mirroring the three-act structure of a screenplay) studying the cultural significance of these sites and the cultural objects they produce.
"The Cabin in the Clearing (working title)" by Brad Becker-Parton ’11.5 (Director), Matt Cherchio ’11 (Sound Design and Music), Ian Durkin’10.5 (Director of Photography), Andrew Powers ’11.5 (Writer/Actor) and Ele Woods ’11 (Writer/Actor)
In this short film being shot at Robert Frost’s summer home at Breadloaf, the elements of a relationship drama meet the style of a suspense film. As a series of pranks and misunderstandings escalate, a couple’s relationship slowly begins to derail, even though they originally traveled to the woods with the hopes of escaping their differences. Despite shooting in the cold and being subject to “the very fickle weather patterns of Vermont,” said Becker-Parton, the project has been satisfying because of the aesthetic beauty of the location and the size of the crew, which creates an environment in which “anyone can speak of and contribute to any part of the creative process if something doesn’t feel right.”
"Public Safety" by Adam Benay ’13.5, Chris De la Cruz ’13, Greg Dorris ’13, Ken Grinde ’11 and Ben Orbison ’12.5 (all of Otter Nonsense)
These five students are all receiving credit from the Film and Media Culture department for their collaboration on a web series in the style of The Office and Reno 911. They and several other actors play the bumbling Public Safety officers and other characters at the fictional Corwin College. (They would also like to make it clear that they have no qualms with Middlebury’s Public Safety Department — they just liked the idea of putting their absurd characters in positions of power.) The one-ten-minute-episode-per-week production schedule has been taxing, but in the words of Grinde, “I spend 14+ hours a day with people that I really love and respect trying to create something that makes us laugh, and every week we turn out something that we’re proud of.” Their first two episodes are up right now; just visit go/citationnation.
"Untitled Project (Art and Nature)" by Brittany Lehnhart ’11
Brittany Leinhart, an environmental studies major with a focus in the creative arts has spent this month doing the preliminary work for an independent project that will culminate in the spring. She is attempting to illustrate (literally) the way that art can strengthen our bond with the places around us, and in turn, improve our relationship with nature as a whole. She has been lucky enough to spend the month hiking around in the woods, observing and sketching patterns that she finds in nature, from series of snowflakes to the difference in the textures of tree bark between one species and another. “Is there really anything better than spending a month hiking around and sketching?” she wondered, adding, “It’s been a good month.”
"Filmmaking with Limits", taught by Associate Professor of Film and Media Culture Chris Keathley
It is a counterintuitive but undeniable fact of the creative process that creativity can flourish when it has limitation imposed upon it; with too many possibilities, we are paralyzed by choices. In this FMMC class, 10 students are making short films under strict, highly arbitrary formal guidelines. “Can you make a one-minute video about a childhood memory with the lens zoomed all the way in and the camera in constant motion?” asks the course description. While not an independent project, this class showcases the exact kind of quirky creative work for which Winter Term allows.
"Cello/Piano Recital" by Shelsey Weinstein ’10.5 (featuring Ricky Chen ’13 on piano)
On Sunday at 8 p.m. in the Mahaney CFA Concert Hall, Weinstein will perform a series of pieces on the cello that will act as the culmination of her musical career at Middlebury, with Chen, the winner of last Spring’s concerto competition, accompanying her on piano. “Each piece,” she said (including works by Rachmaninoff, Faure and Casals), “is beautiful in composition and significant in the succession of my musical education.” As she will graduate at the end of the month, this performance will act as her senior recital.
(01/20/11 5:02am)
10) Fang Island— Fang Island
Any band that takes its name from an article in The Onion about Donald Rumsfeld’s secret hideaway is bound to be a bit exuberant. Clocking in at only 31 minutes, Fang Island’s eponymous debut is a blood-rush of epic, carefree hullabaloo inspired by the likes of Los Campesinos! and Andrew W.K. How do they do it? Easy: By playing sunny, party-fueled guitar harmonies until their fingers combust. Sure, I might be a little biased after seeing their jaw-dropping live show in July, but there’s no doubt that Fang Island made the most fun album of 2010. Key Tracks: “Daisy”, “Sideswiper”
9) Janelle Monae — The ArchAndroid
With enough eclectic musical range to make Prince blush and a storyline about an android from the year 2719 sent to stop a time-traveling, love-suppressing secret society, The ArchAndroid is certainly one of the most ambitious albums of 2010. Combining elements of neo-soul (“Faster”), orchestral music (“BaBopBye Ya”), psychedelic rock (“Mushrooms and Roses”) and dance-punk (“Come Alive”), Janelle sails over an hour of genre-bending triumphs without ever collapsing into aimless mush. Ambition aside, the sheer funkiness, catchiness, and inventiveness of The ArchAndroid alone are enough to secure the number nine spot for 2010. Key Tracks: “Cold War”, “Oh, Maker”
8) The Tallest Man on Earth — The Wild Hunt
With only his dusty howl and lonesome guitar, Kristian Matsson, the young Swedish troubadour behind The Tallest Man on Earth, lays down ten of the most intimate, emotionally propelled songs of 2010. His lyrics, sometimes heart-wrenching, sometimes inspiring, could make Megatron shed a tear. The best part? Unlike many contemporary folk albums, this one doesn’t sound all old and crusty. It’s fresh and inviting, with swift-fingered guitar plucks and spellbinding melodies that are instantly unforgettable. Not to mention he went on to release one of the year’s best EPs. Key Tracks: “King of Spain”, “Kids on the Run”
7) The National — High Violet
As the successor to two albums of dark, world-weary, white-collar blues, High Violet risked sounding repetitive and, well… boring. But this is The National we’re talking about, so of course they manage to craft a set of epic, swelling tracks that teeter between the unsettlingly bleak, the darkly funny, and the heart-wrenchingly delicate. Flanked by ethereal guitars and pounding drums, Matt Berninger’s smoldering baritone and sometimes-bitter, sometimes-paranoid, always-elegant lyrics make for a pretty dark album. But that, of course, is what makes it one of the most beautiful and graceful albums of the year. Key Tracks: “Bloodbuzz Ohio”, “Little Faith”
6) Vampire Weekend — Contra
Contra sounds like summer vacation: its cool, breezy pop gems recall T-shirts and swimming pools, barbecues and the beach. But the album’s carefree feel and airy pop accessibility belie its brazen genre-bending and peculiar, Afro-pop-inspired arrangements reminiscent of Paul Simon’s Graceland or even The Rhythm of the Saints. Both tighter and more open to experimentation than its predecessor, Contra shows the band exploring new sounds (synths and wider vocal ranges) and more nuanced lyrical critiques of social status. But mostly I just like it cause of the whole summer thing. Key Tracks: “Giving Up the Gun”, “California English”
5) Arcade Fire — The Suburbs
If Win Butler were in a relationship with the suburbs on Facebook, it would be complicated. To quote his first few lines on The Suburbs, “In the suburbs I learned to drive / and you told me we'd never survive / Grab your mother's keys, we're leaving.” After only thirty seconds, the man’s already addressed themes of nostalgia, young love, escape, and a host of others. The beauty of the album, however, is in the way he develops these themes over swelling anthems and bluesy stomps, creating over an hour of melodious, emotionally-charged pop. Key Tracks: “Half Light II (No Celebration)”, “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)”
4) Robyn — Body Talk
Since when do people release two LPs and an EP over the course of a year, each of which contains some of the craftiest, catchiest pop in recent memory? Oh yeah, since 2010, when Robyn did it. Body Talk, the hour-long greatest-hits compilation of these three works, bursts at the seams with infectious electro-pop beats, glistening synths and more hooks than most artists will write in a lifetime. Not to mention her lyrics move from flippant to heart-broken, vulnerable to powerful over the course of just a few songs. Body Talk is simply pure pop genius. Key Tracks: “Dancing on My Own”, “Hang with Me”
3) Big Boi — Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son Of Chico Dusty
If there’s anything this album proves, it’s that Big Boi is not “the other guy” from Outkast. Packing in almost an hour of whomping bass, quirky productions, and more credits than a feature length film, Sir Lucious Left Foot displays Big Boi’s mastery of hip-hop. Boi’s head-spinning rhymes and uncanny flow (“Suicidal for a title, my recitals are vital and maybe needed for survival like the Bible”) ensure that there isn’t a weak track on the album. I’m still waiting on a new Outkast album, but Sir Lucious Left Foot will definitely hold my appetite for a while. Key Tracks: “Shutterbugg”, “Tangerine”
2) Sleigh Bells — Treats
You either hate it or you love it, and I love it. To get a sense of Treats, the debut album of Brooklyn-based Sleigh Bells, you’d have to know what it’s like to play double-dutch in a war zone. For thirty-two deafening minutes, Alexis Krauss’s ever-so-darling vocals nestle up somewhere in the middle of screaming guitars and exploding snares with only the softer, Funkadelic-sampling “Rill Rill” to offer respite. Sure, it’s extreme, but Treats is noise-pop at its finest, an unapologetic celebration of all things loud.
Key Tracks: “Rill Rill”, “Crown On the Ground”
1) Kanye West — My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Imma let you finish… but Kanye West had one of the greatest albums of all time. Ok, well, at least of 2010. MBDTF, the gargantuan, maximalist beast that is Kanye’s fifth studio album, confronts everything from maniacal power trips to haunting vulnerability, and everything in between. Over the course of thirteen impeccably produced, freshly imaginative glimpses into the twisted mind of Kanye West, we find everything from heroic boasts (“All of the Lights”) to distraught self-criticisms (“Runaway”). But despite its manic-depressive nature, the album still maintains a logical, cohesive flow, ensuring that you’ll never get too lost inside the best album of 2010. Key Tracks: “Power”, “Runaway”
(01/20/11 4:59am)
Natty Smith ’10.5 had just returned from a weekend camping trip in the Green Mountains’ Bristol Cliffs when I interviewed him on Sunday. With three of his friends, Smith had snow-shoed up and skied back down, having carried their skis on their packs. But while Smith describes himself as “on the periphery of the Mountain Club” and he lives in a house (Brooker) filled with skis, bikes, camping gear and with a full-sized canoe hanging from the ceiling, our conversation revolved almost entirely around something quite different: folk music.
Smith started playing the violin when he was five years old, and he picked up the fiddle when he was in eighth grade. Smith’s family had, “always been really into traditional music and dance,” Smith said — his parents met contra dancing, his mother played early medieval and renaissance music and his dad sang — so the fiddle proved to be the ideal instrument. Smith and his sister attended traditional music summer camps throughout their childhood, and Smith gained vocal training as part of a choir at the New England Conservatory.
When Smith arrived at Middlebury, he already knew a lot of people in Vermont because “Vermont tends to attract traditional music people a little bit.” Smith continued to play folk music, jamming with two other students who played the fiddle.
It did not matter that none of them had played together before since in the world of folk music “there are a countless number of tunes,” according to Smith, and they found that they knew many of the same ones.
Unfortunately, Smith’s Jam partners eventually graduated.
“There was kind of an empty space,” Smith said.
That’s when Smith met Elias Alexander ’12, who is probably best known on campus for his bagpipe playing. Since there are a lot of similarities between Scottish and English traditional music, Smith and Alexander found their music tastes were compatible. Soon, with Parker Woodworth ’13 on guitar and mandolin, Chloe Dautch ’13 on cello and now with Matthew Ball ’14 on Irish drum, they had assembled a band called the Brooker Liquor Cooperative.
“Bagpipes are kind of difficult to work into a band,” but with the addition of the cello, “all the music kind of took off,” said Smith.
The Brooker Liquor Cooperative has since performed on three occasions, the most recent performance being a Tuesday night show at 51 Main.
Probably in part because he has strengthened so many of his closest friendships through a shared love of traditional music, Smith sees folk music as the type of music that he will be most likely to continue his entire life.
“It’s interesting because I love being in SIM [Stuck in the Middle], it’s a great group of guys, but it’s such a very college thing,” Smith said. “And it’s sort of going to come to an end when we graduate. It’s a hard thing to replicate and to know if you even want to replicate five years out. But the band — that kind of music and that kind of performance — can continue for a long time.”
Smith has found other ways to bring traditional music to Middlebury: he and friend Ben Meader ’10.5 have lead Songs and Poems, a group singing session at Brooker every week for a year and a half. The group sings traditional folk songs by the fire, utilizing Smith’s vast knowledge of folk songs and sea shanties as well as other members’ individual folk song repertoires.
The group also welcomes poetry because Smith aims to create an environment in which “anyone who comes brings something to share,” even if they are not comfortable with singing.
They do not use instruments in the group because Smith feels an instrument shifts the power dynamic.
“When you have a guitar, the person with guitar becomes the leader and they have control … but if there’s no instruments involved, then the balance of power is a little more even,” said Smith.
Smith hopes this balance allows newer folk singers to explore the genre in the most laid-back setting possible.
“[The group] encourages other people who wouldn’t have had that background to learn songs, and it’s different when you sing it with a group of people without instruments,” Smith said. “It’s a safe space for people to try out new songs without having to perform.”
When Smith and Meader started the group the fall of their senior year, there were only six or seven participants. The next spring, the group attracted 20-25 people at each meeting, and it continued this fall.
Songs and Poems invites usually go out by word of mouth or to an e-mail list called “Folk Warriors,” but the time and place are rarely announced more than a few days in advance.
“We don’t want it to get very big … so it’s very under-publicized,” Smith said.
Although the singing session at Brooker may be scheduled, the bulk of Smith’s folk singing is informal; when back home for breaks, he often gathers with other folk-singing friends at bars and breaks into spontaneous song.
So for Smith, starting a group that allows him to share this particular passion and replicate for others what he has at home has been one of his greatest accomplishments at Middlebury.
“It’s one of the things I’m proudest of,” Smith said.
Now, in his final two weeks at Middlebury, Smith has a lot to look forward to. He is confident that the weekly singing sessions will continue without him, and many of his folk music friends will also be living in Boston when he moves back for his internship in Bedford this February, ready to rock. He looks forward to graduation, where he hopes to utilize his newfound telemark skiing skills to ski down Allen. But what he will miss most about Midlebury is the size.
“The atmosphere is such that if you’re walking around campus and have to walk by friend’s dorm, you can just knock on door and walk in and that’s not weird at all,” Smith said. “I think I’ll miss that aspect — being around other students so much and having so many conversations about so many different things. It’s a community here; you’re not really supposed to be alone ... Maybe this is the scale at which human beings are supposed to exist.”
(01/20/11 4:59am)
If you make your way over to Johnson Lounge, you might be surprised at what you’ll find. This month, the Winter Term class “Vermont Waters” has taken over the lounge and converted into a boat-building workshop, where they are building reproductions of two historic boats from the Lake Champlain valley.
The class, co-taught by Assistant Professor of English and American Literatures Dan Brayton and guest professor Douglas Brooks, a local boat-builder and researcher, examines the waters of Vermont through two sources: literature and material objects.
“I’m trying to introduce students to working with material objects and trying to show them what clues they have to history,” said Brooks.
Along with reading various types of literature looking at Vermont in its broadest sense — not just the lakes, but the watershed, rivers, even the water in the trees — Brayton is helping the class learn to use objects as sources. In the process, they are analyzing and documenting two historic boats and replicating them.
“It’s not just artifacts,” Brooks said. “I facilitated interviews with two local muskrat trappers. One was a man who’d been trapping every year since 1964. Ten years ago, he took a 12-year-old boy trapping with him, and that boy, now 22, came with him to our class. It was a really interesting interview.”
In the Lake Champlain area, trappers have traditionally built their own boats, which is unusual and offers a different view on the history.
“It turns boat-building into a folk art — a sort of untutored craft,” said Brooks.
One of the two boats that the class is building is a replica trapping boat. They will also be taking a field trip to interview Bud Smith, a man living in Middlebury who trapped 50 years ago.
“Part of the reason I picked muskrat trappers is that they are the furthest removed person from a college student here at Midd,” said Brooks. “But the kids have come to realize that there is common ground between them.”
“Interviews with the trappers were informative,” said Christian Woodard ’10.5, “though I think we could have learned more by walking on a piece of property with them.”
“The oral interviews are showing the students what a resource people are,” said Brooks. “A 68-year-old muskrat trapper knows incredible subtleties of the environment. The students were blown away by the wealth of knowledge these men have about the natural environment. What you learn in class and books is knowledge; what these men offer is wisdom.”
But it is a two-way street. The local people give to the students, sharing their experiences and wisdom, and the students give back in return, even if they do not realize they are doing so.
“Talking to the trappers was a powerful experience,” said Pier LaFarge ’10.5. “At the end of the interviews I went up to talk to Scott, the younger trapper who had been learning from his grandfather, and he told me that our comments and perspectives on trapping had taken him entirely off guard. He had been expecting opposition, and was even worried that some hippie would throw paint on his furs. Instead we were fascinated, totally wrapped up in their stories and their deep knowledge of these animals and the ecosystems they inhabit. I think the experience was eye-opening for both sides.”
“Bud Smith stopped me on the street and began to tear up,” Brooks said. “He told me how moved he was that those students cared about his life. The students have a powerful role to play. They can really impact the lives of the local Middlebury residents.”
And it is not just the personal connections — the students’ end of the term projects, many of which encompass more local interviews, will be archived at the Vermont Folklife Center, where they will be available for anyone to view.
“Most of these projects are completely original research,” said Brooks. “I told the students, this project has a life beyond the paper due in this class. It’s an amazing and powerful thing for Middlebury students.”
And of course, do not forget the boats in Johnson Lounge. The students are completely replicating, to exact measurements, a historic trapping boat and another historic boat from Panton, Vt.
But they need help — the class is asking the college community to suggest names for their boats. To submit a name, just e-mail the name and explanation to LaFarge at plafarge@middlebury.edu. The class plans to collect the entries and pick two names for their boats.
The boat building would not have been possible without the help from two local businesses: R. K. Miles Lumber in Middlebury and Lathrop’s Maple Supply in Bristol.
“The class has been really amazing, and I’m learning a lot of the hands-on woodworking skills that I wanted to when I signed up,” said LaFarge. “Dan and Douglas are both incredible teachers, and bring a lot to the classes and labs. Both of them are just doing what they love to do, and that makes all the difference in a class.”
(01/20/11 4:57am)
According to data released by the Office of the Registrar, grades at the College have steadily increased over the past 10 years.
The data tracked the grade point average (GPA) in every department from the last decade and found that the overall GPA has risen from 3.27 in the fall of 2000 to 3.45 in the spring of 2010.
After students and faculty members first raised concerns in 2004, the Educational Affairs Committee Ad Hoc Committee on Grading was formed to look into the possibility of grade inflation at the college. The committee considered faculty opinions, student polls and the significance of grades for students post-graduation before releasing a final report in December 2005.
The report found that while there was no single reason for rising GPAs, grade inflation was not a major contributor.
“Changes in the characteristics of incoming students and changes in the methods of teacher, assessment and educational environment probably combine to explain much of the observed rise in grades over the past 15 years,” the report concluded. “We were unable to conclude, from the analysis we have conducted, whether grades have risen in an inflationary fashion.”
But Professor of Economics Paul Sommers says that even if increasing grades do not necessarily signal grade inflation, they do raise concerns. Sommers pointed out how a higher average GPA among Middlebury students might make it harder for a committed student to stand out.
“The main question the campus community has to ask itself is whether we are comfortable with an overall average GPA good enough to make Dean’s List,” he said.
In order for a student to be eligible for Dean’s List, he or she must achieve a 3.30 GPA or higher with no grade lower than a B-, for students taking four or more courses. Last spring’s 3.45 average GPA, if maintained over four years, would have been high enough to earn graduation honors — cum laude with a minimum GPA of 3.40.
Now in his 35th year teaching at the College, Sommers says that the increase in grades can be seen in the use of the C grade. Once considered an average grade, the C has become the marker of a poor student.
Sommers’ gradebook distinctly shows this trend. In his fall 1976 introductory Microeconomics course (ECON 0155), Sommers gave a C+ or lower grade to 40.5 percent of his students, but when he taught ECON 0155 in 2003, only 10.8 percent of students received a grade lower than a B- in his class.
In the spring of 2010, 55.3 percent of the grades given were either As or A-, with 94.1 percent of the grades given at the college in the A or B range. Only 5 percent of grades given were in the C range.
Professor of Biology Andrea Lloyd chaired the committee in 2004 and says that determining whether increasing GPAs is due to grade inflation or a host of other factors is nearly impossible.
“I’ve been here for 15 years and if my standards have remained the same, and if admissions tells us every year that the incoming class is the smartest yet, than you’d expect grades to be going up,” she said. “We [the committee] found that the rise of grades tracked the rise in other measures like SAT scores so the cause remained murky by the end.”
According to admissions office data cited in the report, between the fall of 1990 and the fall of 2004 increasing GPAs paralleled an increased number of applications and a decreased admittance rate. In addition, the percentage of students graduating in the top 10 percent of their high school class increased from 61 percent to 77 percent, which the committee’s report says is evidence that students were getting smarter and producing higher quality work.
Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee Georgia Wright-Simmons ’12 agrees that it is difficult to say where the changes come from.
“It is hard to say whether the increase comes from better students, different standards or concerns about the competitive job market,” she wrote in an e-mail. “[Nevertheless,] I do believe that if students stop taking their work seriously, then grade inflation needs to be addressed, but that cannot necessarily be quantified by a specific GPA.”
As part of the report, over 100 faculty members were organized into discussion groups at the annual Breadloaf faculty meeting in 2005 to discuss rising grades. Professors agreed that while students were producing higher quality work, other factors also played a role in the higher grades.
Faculty discussions and student polls show that the culture at the College is becoming increasingly grade-driven, which some faculty members say is creating unwanted side effects.
“Middlebury College has a ‘service for fee’ feeling,” said one professor in the report. “Stories abound about parents’ wealth and how it has helped poor-performing students escape the evaluation they really deserve — the expectation is that we, as producers of a product, should do what they, the consumers, expect.”
According to the report from the meeting, junior faculty members expressed a feeling of pressure to give good grades in order to receive good course evaluations, in which each student fills out a questionnaire evaluating the professor’s performance and which form an important component in determining tenure.
“The ‘system’ should support tough grading, but the perception to junior faculty is that it doesn’t,” noted another professor in the report.
Lloyd says that with the increased importance placed on grades over the last 20 years, pressure on junior faculty members has become a real concern.
“I’ve certainly seen that pressure,” she said. “There are teachers who are notorious for being tough graders and still manage to get students’ respect, but that’s a scary thing to do for junior faculty members.”
Faculty members also said they felt empathy for the cutthroat job market their students were going to enter upon graduating and did not want to jeopardize the student’s future.
“Students have to compete to get into graduate school, medical school, law school, to get jobs, and faculty don’t want to put them (students) at a disadvantage by giving lower grades,” said a faculty member in the report.
Teachers who give students either a D or an F must fill out reports as to why the student is receiving that grade. Faculty members widely agreed that these reports acted as a disincentive to give low grades even if they were deserved.
“They (the reports) created a situation where faculty felt very defensive about giving low grades,” said Lloyd. “I don’t think the reports were ever intended as such, but when that form exists in a culture where grades are so important, faculty feel beleaguered about giving low grades.”
Provost and Executive Vice President of the College and Professor of English and American Literatures Alison Byerly also suggested a faculty-based change as a potential contributor to Middlebury’s rising GPA. Instead of simply giving out more As, professors may be giving students more opportunities to earn an A with a diverse array of assignments.
“A change in grading standards, here and elsewhere, over time may be one explanation,” wrote Byerly in an e-mail. “It is also the case that a major trend in pedagogy over the last decade has been an increased emphasis on creating multiple opportunities for assessment of student performance, which reduces the risk to students of getting a low grade due to a single unsuccessful assignment … This may mean that a motivated student — and most Middlebury students are highly motivated — can attain a good grade through consistent hard work even in a field that is not in an area of strength.”
While the report discounted grade inflation as an explanation for increased GPAs, it did recommend policy changes to address issues of grade inflation, grade compression and discrepancies in GPAs among departments.
One recommendation was to only require faculty grade reports for Fs, since a D still gives the student credit for taking the class.
“The requirement that we (the faculty) submit documentation before assigning a grade of D seemed to send a clear message of discouragement to faculty assigning low grades,” stated the report.
In addition to eliminating the A+, Lloyd says that the College has increased support for incoming junior faculty members since the report was published five years ago.
“There is a mentorship program now where junior faculty are paired with a senior faculty member,” she said. “Now junior faculty members can say, ‘Kids are saying this about my grading practices, should I be worried?’ and be given context for this feedback from senior faculty members.”
Of the six recommendations made by the committee, two have been adopted in some form. In the future, Lloyd says she would love to see median grades published on students’ transcripts for courses above a certain size to combat grade compression.
“Reporting median grades on transcripts would give people the additional information to know that a 3.14 in this department means this and a 3.8 in another department means this,” she said. “It allows a future employer to look at a student relative to their peers.”
For now, according to Byerly, departmental GPAs are circulated annually at the fall faculty meeting each September.
Looking back on the committee, Lloyd says the greatest accomplishment wasn’t a recommendation or change in policy, but the committee itself.
“Even if nobody acted on any of our recommendations,” said Lloyd, “probably one of the most important things that could come out of it was having a conversation about grades, because they tend to be off-limits here.”
As for the future of the grade inflation investigation, Byerly asserted that the issue has not been forgotten.
“The Educational Affairs Committee is aware that the report recommended a review of the issue [of grade inflation], and may put discussion of grade inflation on their spring agenda,” wrote Byerly.
(01/13/11 4:54am)
On Jan. 9, citizens of South Sudan began the seven-day process of voting for their independence. The vote represents the culmination of a desperate 50-year struggle of South Sudanese citizens to secede from their neighbors to the North. Government officials from both sides will continue to discuss the terms under which the largest country on the African continent might be divided in two.
South Sudanese liberators have had to overcome a series of unthinkable obstacles. In the earliest days, the freedom fighters clashed militarily with much more heavily trained soldiers from the North. They had no money for proper equipment, as many in the region live on less than 75 cents per day, so they began fighting with their hands. As the unlikely rebel force continued to regain territory from the Northern government, they amassed machetes, Molotov cocktails and guns. This guerilla warfare resulted in the death of over two million Sudanese citizens.
While the independence vote became popular cause in recent years, for many decades the international community largely ignored the plight of the South Sudanese liberators. Though humanitarian groups attempted to provide aid to the struggling citizens of the region, diplomatic aid remained largely absent.
This tide has shifted in recent years however, with American government officials, Christian rights groups and celebrities alike taking up the cause.
In 2005 the Bush government mediated negotiation between North and South officials. The talks proved successful, and a peace treaty was signed. Such diplomatic actions have halted the fighting between the two opposing forces and paved the way for current talks.
Christian rights groups worldwide have also taken up the cause of the South Sudanese people. Citing the religious persecution of their fellow spiritual devotees, they have called on the primarily Muslim, northern population to cease fighting with their Christian neighbors from the south. Though the religious and ethnic lines throughout the region seem much more blurred than Christian rights groups claim, such pressure has proved successful in bringing attention to the cause of the South’s liberation movement.
Celebrity involvement has also helped bring this issue to the attention of a wider audience. As The Globe and Mail noted, “Film star George Clooney flew into Southern Sudan this week to monitor the referendum, with moral support from Hollywood pals such as Brad Pitt and Matt Damon.”
In order for the north to recognize the legitimacy of the vote, there must be a turnout of at least 60 percent of registered voters. The majority of these citizens must vote for secession.
In order to try and encourage south Sudanese people to vote, their government officials have tried to make the process as simple and accommodating as possible.
The majority of possible voters are nomadic herders for whom it will take over one day to walk to a polling station. In light of these facts, South Sudanese officials have decided that the vote will occur over seven consecutive days.
Political officials have also tried to simplify the actual process of voting to combat illiteracy. Ballots are not written in English, Arabic or any native dialects, but will instead use symbols to illustrate state unity or schism. The first symbol shows two hands clasped together in solidarity, representing a unified country; the second symbol will show two hands open, with one hand directed away, as if weaving goodbye. In order to voice their option voters need only dip their finger in ink and draw a circle over the symbol they wish to select.
Although this vote for independence has generated much excitement, many remain unsure of the fate of the Sudanese people if they are successful in the secession movement.
The Southern half of the state has a much less developed infrastructure than its northern region. There are very few roads within the South’s territory, and levels of sanitation and education are lower than in the North. On average the southern part of the state also has higher levels of infant mortality and greater food insecurity.
The unequal distribution of natural resources has also been a point of contention in recent years, as the two sides have struggled to reach consensus during peace talks. Though the South contains more of the oil fields within the state, the North claims that 50 percent of the resources within these reserves are theirs for the taking.
The former rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) government that has taken control over Southern Sudan is largely inexperienced. Evidence of this fact was seen last year when the government unveiled plans for new southern cities shaped in the form of animals and fruit. As one BBC report seems to sarcastically note, “The reason for these shapes is not entirely illogical — they match the symbols that appear on the flags of southern Sudan's states.”
If initial plans are carried out, the new capital city of Juba will be shaped as a rhinoceros, with the office of the regional president situated where the rhino’s eyes should be.
Humorously, the BBC also noted, “In Wau, the sewage treatment plant is appropriately placed under the giraffe's tail.”
While a vote for the independence African citizens, so illogically grouped together during de-colonization seems progressive endeavor; such actions could spell disaster with such a weak infrastructure in place. Intervention from abroad, though effective in certain instances, must be wary of being heavy-handed. This vote represents a movement undertaken by south Sudanese citizens for their own independence — the popular will of the people must be allowed to decide the nation’s fate.
(11/18/10 5:05am)
When Jeanne Brink enrolled as a business student at the Vermont College of Norwich University in her late 30s, she never thought she’d graduate to become an Abenaki basket weaver. Balancing her job as a full-time secretary and mother of three children, Brink soon found her business courses unfulfilling.
“Even in my late 30s I didn’t know what I wanted to be,” she said. “It’s never too late to change your focus.”
A contemporary Native American literature course led her to do exactly that. Upon taking the class, Brink, a 66- year-old resident of Barre, left the business track to embrace her Abenaki heritage and become one of Vermont’s most active preserverst of Abenaki culture.
“Before I went back to college, I was a person who sat in the corner and didn’t say anything,” Brink said. “I went back to school and found I had a voice. Going to college changed my whole focus, so that my life now is totally Abenaki.”
Before this life changing turn, Brink’s only connection to her Abenaki background was her grandmother. Born on the Odanak reservation in Canada, a cultural hub home to almost 500 Abenaki, Brink’s grandmother was a master basket-maker and one of the last fluent speakers of the Abenaki language. Despite the immediate contact she had with her roots, Brink was discouraged from publicly identifying as a Native American.
“I knew that basket-making had been in my family, but it skipped my mother’s generation,” Brink said. “My grandmother wanted them to be acculturated. It was not a good thing to be a Native American. A lot of Native Americans hid the fact that they were Native Americans. A lot of the Abenaki married non-native so their children could pass for white.”
The Vermont eugenics movement, a social and political campaign that came to a head in the 1920s with the Eugenics Survey of Vermont led by University of Vermont Professor of Zoology Henry Perkins, inflicted much of this pressure. Eugenics, the pseudo-science made notorious by the Nazis, advocates the use of practices meant to improve the genetic composition of the human species.
Such practices have included human experimentation, racial hygiene (a.k.a. selective breeding) and extermination of “undesired” groups. Vermont eugenicists advocated sexual sterilization, colonies for the “feeble-minded” and institutionalization of the bearers of “bad genes.”
One of Vermont’s darkest legacies, the eugenics movement sought to maintain what one proponent called the “quality of the human stock” by managing Vermont’s “underclass” through social planning, education and reproductive control. Several Abenaki families, considered “gypsies,” were one of the targeted groups of the survey, according to several sources.
Brink is a part of a new generation of Abenaki who take pride in their heritage and spread public awareness of their traditions, a 180-degree switch from the perspectives of past generations.
After earning her master’s degree, Brink immersed herself in language study. Seeking guidance, she turned to Dr. Gordon Day, an ethnologist who had spent 40 years documenting the dying Abenaki language.
Brink spent six months in Ottawa helping compile an Abenaki-English dictionary and ultimately co-authored an Abenaki language guide with Dr. Day. Today, Brink’s work documenting and teaching the language is critical for its survival as there are currently only about 10 fluent speakers.
Brink then began pursuing her family’s traditional art and trade: basket making. “At first, I was trying to teach myself, which is not a good idea,” Brink said.
However, the Vermont Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, an opportunity offering intense study with masters of various arts from a spectrum of cultures, provided the guidance she needed.
Brink spent two years as an apprentice to a master basket-maker and master pow-wow dancer. Now a master in both of these arts herself, she dedicates her time to passing on her expertise to her own apprentices. She has mentored over 15 students over the past 15 years, and she conducts language studies with about 20 students and leads workshops on traditional dance.
“What I’m trying to do is to educate people about Abenaki culture and traditions, so that they might see that Abenaki are not scary people,” Brink said. “We’re trying to preserve our culture and our language. If you don’t do any educating, no one’s ever going to know.”
Brink has shouldered a daunting task. The Abenaki community is not only geographically fragmented, spread across the northeast and Canada in isolated pockets; they are also politically divided.
Many groups are currently embroiled in a fiery controversy over the rights to claim legitimate genealogical connection to the Abenaki. Some parties claim that the heritage of many Abenaki is not Abenaki at all, but rather French-Canadian or a different branch of the Algonquin nation. What it means to be Abenaki has become unclear and arguable.
“It’s not all this movie stuff,” she said. “[Abenaki living on the reservations] have their own problems and their own disagreements within the community. It’s not all cohesiveness.”
The fact that the federal government does not recognize the Abenaki as a discrete Native American tribe further complicates the situation.
Despite the controversies, the geographical obstacles and the ever-shrinking elder generation, Brink fights on, connecting with Abenaki groups in weekend workshops and week-long retreats.
“I feel very hopeful,” he said. “I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t. I can say there are 15 more basket makers now than there were 15 years ago.”
Brink had a bit of advice for any soon-to-be-graduates clueless as to what they want to do after college: “There’s a saying: you can’t know where you’re going if you don’t know from where you came. And that’s very true. Look into your cultural background, you’re cultural history and it can help point you to where you need to go in the future.”
(11/11/10 5:45am)
According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, a syzygy is “the nearly straight-line configuration of three celestial bodies in a gravitational system.” One of more obscure words in the English language, when typed into a Microsoft Word document it comes up as a misspelled version of “sizing”.
It was also the winning word in the Third Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Over two decades later, the euphoria of winning has not worn down for master-speller turned realtor Rona Lisa Perretti (Nejla Calvo ’12); along with Vice Principal Douglas Panch (Danny Powers ’12) she oversees the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
The result is the Middlebury College Musical Players (MCMP) fall production, an infectious musical that brought the highs and lows of pre-teen spelling bees to the Town Hall Theatre Nov. 4-6.
Equal parts improvisational comedy and musical, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” thrives on the quirks of its principal characters. The production is unusually short for a musical, clocking in with only one act. All the action is contained within the event of the spelling bee itself. As each contestant takes center stage to spell their first word, we meet an eclectic cast that runs the gamut of every form of middle school awkwardness imaginable.
From braces to nasal irregularities, each of these spellers is thoroughly entrenched in the daily agony of pre-adolescence. In no particular order: Marcy Park (Killian White ’13) wins us over as the classic over-achiever driven to the brink by demanding parents and too much Mozart and Chopin. Logainne SchwartzandGrubenniere (Abigail Borah ’13) has her dads to thank for her unique last name and extensive political knowledge, unusual among the pre-voting set. William Barfée (Santi Zindel ’13) and Olive Ostrovsky (Rachel Goodgal ’13) conduct a not-quite romance with all its awkward playground fits and starts. William’s “Magic Foot” method of spelling has catapulted him to bee history, while Olive is an impressive speller hindered by an absentee father and a globe-trotting mother who has spent the past few months finding herself in an Indian ashram. Leaf Coneybear (Eric Bartolotti ’11) assures the audience he’s “not that smart”, but aces all his words — mostly South American rodents — while in a trance. Chip Tolentino (Cody Gohl ’13) is a Boy Scout destined for greatness, before disaster strikes in the form of Leaf’s attractive sister in the audience. He bemoans his fate in “My Unfortunate Erection.”
The musical does an excellent job moonlighting as an improvisational comedy sketch, with references to class president “Ronnie Liebowitz” and Middlebury town sponsors. Audience members are given the opportunity to sign up for the spelling bee, and are called on stage during the first part of the play to give words like “hao” (Vietnamese currency) and “mizzle” (misty drizzle) their best shot. Brief impromptu introductions play off stereotypes associated with the participants’ names — one volunteer was simply the “whitest kid ever” while another was “fresh off the boat” with a difficult accent to match.
But never fear — at the Putnam County Spelling Bee even losing is sweet. A former convict looking to finish up his community service hours, Mitch Mahoney (Khalid Tellis ’13) plays the role of Comfort Counselor, escorting volunteers and contestants off stage for a compensation juice box.
It’s too bad his services could not be offered to audience members forced to contend with an end to this production that left them wanting more (M-O-R-E) of this raucous spelling sensation.
(11/11/10 5:45am)
My dream is to find a career where I can be a hybrid of Tina Fey, Jon Stewart and Sam Seaborn. So far, I am found wanting in embodying the characteristics of all my role models. My shortcomings thus far haven’t caused my enthusiasm to wane, and I continue to prove my worth by studying my heroes in their native habitats. This academic endeavor involves a rigorous diet of The Daily Show, The West Wing and 30 Rock. Useful secondary sources I have found are Saturday Night Live episodes from the nineties, C-SPAN and FDR’s first inaugural address. The Oct. 22 episode of 30 Rock was especially helpful in providing guidance on how I can achieve the laundry list of goals I have for the rest of the semester and beyond. I just need to do some serious Reaganing.
“To Reagan,” as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, is to have a 24-hour period in which you solve every problem that comes your way with efficiency and creative flair. I’m not sure I agree with the etymology, seeing as our 40th president presided over the Iran-Contra scandal and co-starred in a movie with a chimpanzee. I say we popularize a regional derivative of this expression, in order to inspire all members of the Middlebury College to be a little more type A and obsessively perfectionist the rest of the semester. Middlebury, it is time for us to engage in intense Liebowitzing.
President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz was a perfect model of the verb that I have decided should share his name yesterday during his office hours. I’m guessing he solved the problems of 12 students, changed the lives of five first-years and probably gave at least two hugs.
How do you know if you can claim that you are Liebowitzing? I have provided a handy guide below — if you manage to accomplish every item on this list, in the space of 24 hours, Congratulations. You have joined the elite group of people who have Liebowitzed, which is currently limited to three people: Tim Spears, Bob Jansen and Vincent A. Jones.
Save seven people: I figure the average Middlebury student, involved heavily in three extra-curricular activities and caring deeply about the fate of humanity and the environment, probably saves two to three people a day. Got to step up your game in a day of Liebowitzing.
Get to the dining hall early enough to eat pumpkin bread: One of life’s little pleasures. And oh so tasty. Nom nom.
Say something witty to your Proctor crush: I know it’s hard to think of something intelligent to say when you’re standing over pesto made from cabbage, but when you do, it is truly magical.
Complete the crosswords from The Boston Globe, USA Today and The Middlebury Campus in the dining hall: Even Liebowitz himself couldn’t get to the dining hall at the exact time necessary to snag a New York Times, so you’ll have to be content with defeating three of the four newspapers.
PWN Discussion: Extra points if you don’t use the words dialectic, globalization or the Oedipus complex.
Never wait to cross the road: Not actually that exciting. Stopping traffic in Middlebury doesn’t mean you are Chuck Norris. It just proves that people in Vermont are way too nice.
Solve world hunger: Or at least alleviate the hunger of everyone waiting in line at Ross during lunchtime by acting as a traffic cop. The minority who just want spaghetti do not want to wait in line behind the mountains of people waiting for burgers.
Find $5 on the sidewalk: Don’t spend it on a Love Me Tender though. Donate it to the Middlebury Initiative. That’s what Liebowitz would do.
(11/11/10 5:05am)
This year’s Vermont Bookshop Authors Series starts off with a bang with the release of author (and D. E. Axinn Professor of English and Creative Writing)Jay Parini’s newest novel, The Passages of H.M. The novel’s release will be celebrated at Town Hall Theater on Tuesday, November 16. Parini will read from his new work and answer questions. Entrance to the reading is free of charge.
The Passages of H. M. tells the tale of one angry, drunken Herman Melville through the eyes of his weary wife, Lizzie. Melville is known today as the author of the classic novel Moby-Dick — however, Parini paints the famous writer’s story in a very different and darker light.
In Passages, Melville, once a celebrated writer of seafaring adventures, now finds his career in shambles; his newest novel Moby-Dick was meant to make him immortal and solidify his position among the great writers, but it fell short in both the critics’ and readers’ eyes. Now Melville has one last work in mind — one that could bring him back from the cold depths of literary oblivion.
Parini depicts Melville as a man both sympathetic and maddening, and he penetrates the mind and soul of this liter-ary titan, using the resources of fiction to humanize a giant while illuminating the sources of his matchless creativity.
The event is one of several planned for this year at Town Hall Theater. Vermont Bookshop owner Becky Dayton is working with the Theater to present authors who may draw crowds too big for readings in her bookshop.
Parini’s novels include The Apprentice Lover, Benjamin’s Crossing, and The Last Station, which is now a major motion picture. His fifth volume of poetry was The Art of Subtraction: New and Selected Poems (2005). He has also written biographies of John Steinbeck, Robert Frost and William Faulkner, in addition to such nonfiction works as The Art of Teaching (2005), Why Poetry Matters (2008), and Promised Land: Thirteen Books that Changed America (2008). Parini’s reviews and essays appear frequently in major periodicals, including The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Guardian.
(11/11/10 5:00am)
“Thoroughly Modern Milly”
Nov. 11-13, 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Make a trip to Vergennes Union High School (VUHS) to see a fantastic musical comedy. Presented by the VUHS Music Department, “Thoroughly Modern Milly” is sure to delight audience members of all ages. Tickets, available at Linda’s Apparel in Vergennes and in the VUHS lobby, are $10 for adults and $8 for high school students and seniors.
Origami workshop
Nov. 12, 3:30 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Looking for a new artistic hobby? Join Barrett Ogden this Friday at the Ilsley Public Library to learn origami! It’s the perfect way to unwind after a long week of class. Decorate your dorm room with the intricate paper creations, or give them to lucky friends. For more information, call (802) 388-4095.
Board game marathon
Nov. 13, 7 a.m. – 9 p.m.
For over 12 hours on Saturday, the Ilsley Public Library will host a board game extravaganza. Participants of all ages are welcome to stop by and give the games their best shot. There will be a raffle with various prizes given away throughout the day as well. If you are interested in volunteering, email Eric at gatheringofthegamers@yahoo.com. Happy gaming!
Craft fair
Nov. 13, 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
With the holiday season approaching, now is the perfect time to pick up some great gifts at the annual craft fair in Bristol. The event, held at Mount Abraham Union High School, benefits Project Graduation 2011. Browse through dozens of hand-crafted items from artists from Vermont and New York, and satisfy your appetite with the homemade lunch and bake sale. There will also be a silent auction and raffle.
Metropolitan Opera showing
Nov. 13, 1 p.m.
The excitement of a big city opera comes to Middlebury! The Town Hall Theater (THT) will screen Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale” live in HD on Saturday afternoon. Relax and enjoy a high-quality performance on the THT’s big screen. Tickets ($10 for students, $22 for general public) are available at the THT box office, online at http://townhalltheater.org or by calling (802) 382-9222. Can’t make this showing? The THT is holding an encore screening on Nov. 15 at 7 p.m.
Jay Parini Reading
Nov. 16, 7 p.m.
Join author and D.E. Axinn Professor of English and Creative Writing, Jay Parini, as he reads from his novel “The Voyages of H.M.,” a story recounting the life and career of Herman Melville. The reading will be held at the Town Hall Theater as part of the Vermont Book Shop Author Series. Admission is free, and there will be a cash bar at the event. Be sure to visit the THT’s website at http://townhalltheater.org for more information.
(11/11/10 4:59am)
Every year since 1981, the members of the senior class have honored their time at Middlebury by giving a class gift to the College.
“The senior class gift is a way for seniors to show their appreciation for their time at Middlebury and also help support the College mission of challenging students to participate fully in a vibrant and diverse academic community,” said Catherine Kemboi ’11.
Kemboi, one of the gift co-chairs of The Senior Committee, is no stranger to the importance of giving back.
“I have been working the Phone-a-thon program for over a year and experience in the program really inspired me to get involved in fundraising for our senior class gift,” said Kemboi ’11.
Joyce Ma ’11, the other gift co-chair, is also experienced in working at the annual giving office as a fundraiser.
“After talking to people who give for different reasons, or who don’t give at all, I’ve learned that fundraising is not simply asking for money,” said Ma. “Rather, it is asking people to identify with the school and continue to support its institutions.”
As per tradition, the Senior Committee officially announced this year’s senior class gift at the 200 Days Party on Nov. 6 in Atwater Dining Hall. The class of 2011 and the Feb class of 2011.5 warmly received the announcement that the gift would contribute to the Solar Decathlon, a program to which both classes have been responsible for contributing and fundraising.
“The Solar Decathlon unites people with diverse interests,” said Kris Williams ’11. “All students will have the opportunity to actually help build the home. College students and community members will both be invited and encouraged to come down and swing a hammer. There is something uniquely satisfying about creating something tangible; and each senior will have the change to make a tangible difference by helping build the Solar Decathlon house.”
The 200 days party secured 200 donations, which represents 27 percent participation after one week of fundraising. The Senior Committee hopes that this momentum will build as fundraising continues over the year. The Solar Decathlon is something the whole senior class can rally behind because it reflects Middlebury values in many different ways.
“This project is truly an interdisciplinary effort that reflects the value of a liberal arts education,” said Williams. “We have English majors crafting our promotional materials and chemistry majors researching our building materials. After the competition, the home will become a permanent fixture on campus. We hope to finish construction at the final site by Homecoming 2011, so recent grads returning to Midd will be able to see the completion of the house and the impact of their senior gift.”
Beyond the monetary contribution to the project, the senior class gift is a symbol of student support. The Solar Decathlon team is honored by the enthusiasm of the senior class and eager to involve the class in making several key decisions such as, “Where should the home be located on the campus?” “How should it be used?” “What part of the project should the senior class gift support?”
“And how should the building memorialize our lost classmates, Nick [Garza], Pavlo [Lavkiv] and Ben [Wieler]?”
The Senior Committee, which consists of 19 seniors and three underclassmen, spearheads the fund-raising drive and is also responsible for planning events and activities that will build class unity and create a foundation for alumni participation. The Committee is also given the opportunity to hear from various speakers, such as Bobo Sideli ’77 from the Middlebury Alumni Leadership Speaker Series, and learn why they feel giving back to Middlebury is so important.
“The senior class gift is an amazing tradition that allows one generation of students to support the next one and provide seniors with a glimpse of the huge impact philanthropy has on their education,” said Ann Crumb, associate vice president for college advancement. It is the last opportunity as a student — and the first opportunity for a soon-to-be alumnus — to give back to the College and to be part of the greater Middlebury community.
Students can contribute to the senior class gift by going to go/giveseniors. Both seniors and non-seniors can work class gift tables to collect donations, and everyone can make a difference by speaking to other students about the gift and raising awareness.
“The Senior Gift provides an opportunity for us Middlebury seniors to give back to a place we’ve come to love,” said Williams. “After passing four formative years at this College, the Senior Gift allows us all to leave something meaningful behind. The Solar Decathlon home will enrich the experience of future Middlebury students; and we all can take pride in that as the class of 2011.”
A Brief History
The tradition of giving a senior gift began in an effort to educate students about the importance of philanthropy and is currently run through Middlebury’s Alumni and Annual Giving Offices. In the early years of the Senior Class Gift, classes contributed gifts such as trees, benches and the clock outside of McCullough Student Center. As the tradition progressed, match funds were set up which enabled students to raise even more for their Senior Class Gift, giving them the ability to choose more meaningful projects such as scholarships and environmental support. This year, a generous anonymous donor has offered to donate $100 per senior for each of the first 250 seniors who donate the suggested amount of $20.11 or more. These first 250 seniors will also receive a Class of 2011 pint glass as a thank-you gift. While all the senior class gifts have been memorable, there are a few notable gifts that stand out:
1997: The Nature Trail in Memory of Colin O’Neill ’97 was established in memory of a classmate. This gift includes a fund for trail upkeep.
2002: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Memorial Fund was established to help with ADA access on campus
2007: The Green Fund was established to support environmental projects, and is a good example of the lasting impact of a Senior Class Gift. $95,000 was raised for this gift, and this fund is currently worth over $155,000.
2008: The Reading Room Restoration Project: The Class of 2008 was particularly interested in the historic value of the Reading Room in the Axinn Center at Starr Library. They wanted to make sure that even with the renovation happening at the time, the reading room would remain the same.
2009: A scholarship for international students.
2010: Funding the renovation of Woodstove Lounge in Proctor.
