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(09/23/10 4:09am)
The highlight of this week was undoubtedly the rhetorical season-opener given by President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz in Mead Chapel on Wednesday. Unfortunately, since The Campus goes to press on Tuesdays, I have yet to hear the heart-wrenching oratory of our great leader. The options for obtaining a transcript of the speech — breaking into Old Chapel or using a time machine — are both unpalatable and technologically difficult. Instead, I offer the speech Liebowitz should have given. Actually, since the evil despots of the Opinions section keep me on a strict 600-word diet, I offer you some important things I hope Liebs covered in his speech:
New Economic Initiatives for Seniors
I’m pretty confident that Ron’s speech will focus on the financial situation of the College. He probably reminded his rapt audience that no employees were laid off or fired in the “Big Staff Freeze of 2009,” that the College is still on its way to going carbon neutral in 2016 and other sober, yet cautiously optimistic statements on the economic progress of Middlebury. Despite the fact that the College has been pretty successful at navigating the recession internally, the truth remains that seniors are heading out into a scary world where you are lucky if you can snag a gig as a barista at Starbucks. CSO’s mandatory meeting last week, with its never-ending repetition of the dirtiest word in the English language — networking — was quite terrifying.
I recommend that Liebowitz follow in the footsteps of two of the greatest leaders of the modern age — Albus Dumbledore and Franklin Delano Roosevelt — in offering seniors a modicum of job security. If Liebowitz truly wanted to capture the hearts of the Class of 2011 yesterday, he would have unveiled a revolutionary initiative: Liebowitz’s Army. Combining the best features of the scholastic dark arts fighting brigade of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and the Civilian Conservation Corps, created as part of the New Deal legislation passed during the Great Depression, Liebowitz’s Army could recruit unemployed seniors, giving them temporary employment, the guarantee of three meals a day and the ability to go to bed knowing they did something idealistic and nominally important: spreading the Middlebury gospel to the masses. Also, the creation of such an army would make it much easier for my dream — the erection of a monument in the new traffic circle on Main Street of Liebowitz on a rearing horse, a sword in hand pointing defiantly towards the College — to come true.
More Opportunities for Us to Waste Money
No Juice Bar. Grille hours severely reduced. MiddExpress always depressingly dark when you walk by. A tragedy of this magnitude at the College can only be rivaled by such calamities as the disappearance of juice at dinner and the sudden end to Atwater Dining Hall, the cacophonous home of yelling diners and the weirdly verdant roof. The way to a Middlebury student’s heart is through their stomach, and they will protest most loudly when they are forced to scavenge for food. Not only are the auxiliary operations on campus hardly ever open, but it has become an exasperating game to find out exactly when you can buy a Dr. Feelgood or a cup of coffee. It is also frustrating that there is no place to get change on a Sunday when you desperately need to do laundry.
I advise Liebowitz to expand the operating hours of these businesses, not only to make sure that Middlebury students are not deprived of their God-given right to have whatever they want, whenever they want it, but also to increase cash flow in our little economic bubble. The College could also encourage a more vibrant economy by providing Panther Points tax breaks. Limited to the Bookstore, Panther Points are … pretty unremarkable. Earning a $10 gift card after four years at Middlebury isn’t something I’m liable to get hot and bothered over. Imagine a world though, where you earned Panther Points after buying deodorant at MiddExpress. Where you didn’t feel guilty after ordering cheese fries because you were earning … FREE MONEY!!! This is a world I want to live in, and it is a world that Ron Liebowitz has the power to create. I will be the first person to enlist in Liebowitz’s Army if he can provide change I can believe in. I’ll keep my fingers crossed, while desperately searching for somewhere to get my late night caffeine fix.
(09/23/10 4:07am)
Whether you rock out on the guitar or play a mean harmonica solo, whether you’re a seasoned pro or experimenting with a new hobby, whether you can belt out a song to break a heart or you just like to listen to some good-old fashioned blues, 51 Main has a place for you.
Starting last May, the first Wednesday of every month has seen the Blues Jam rocking 51 Main from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. The set-up is simple: two rhythm players and guitarist Dennis Willmott from Left Eye Jump riff continuously as back-up music for whoever wants a chance to show their chops on stage. And the place jams.
“This is a hard-rocking, in-your-face kind of blues,” said Paul McMahon, one of the original founders of Blues Jam. “The event started as a sideline thing because I have an interest in the blues, but now we’ve got a pretty decent clientele and a sizeable audience.”
As 8 p.m. approaches, musicians begin to casually enter the venue, each distinguished by the instrument he or she carries — the guitarists with large cases, the harmonica players with tiny cases and the singers with none. Musicians are of all ages and skill sets; the event attracts performers from all over Vermont, even north of Montpellier, as well as Middlebury students, professors and even some local high schoolers.
“We have a lot of professional musicians,” said McMahon, “but we also have a lot of good amateurs from the College.”
Professor David Bain, Lecturer in English and American Literatures, played his second Blues Jams this last Wednesday. Bain played the piano and sang. For Bain, the blues have always been a central aspect of his life, having played throughout high school and college and later professionally with such artists as Bonnie Raiett, Johnny Hooker and James Montgomery.
“Blues Jam is an answer from heaven,” Bain said. “It’s really remarkable. So many people have been professionals. They really know their stuff, and it’s consistently really fantastic music.”
But despite the amazing talent in the room, “There are no big egos,” assures Bain. “Everybody gives room to others and supports them. People really yell and clap and scream.”
Even though Bain is somewhat new to the event, he’s been captivated. “I will do it until I can’t do it anymore,” he said.
After Blues Jam’s success and popularity, McMahon has been contemplating starting a second blues event on a different day of the month, this one an acoustic event to balance out Blues Jam’s hard-rocking Chicago style.
Blues Jam only has room to grow. “We get about 40 to 50 people, but the place can hold more,” McMahon said. “We can always use more people.”
He especially wants to recruit more Middlebury students.
“We’re really hoping to get more college kids down for the event,” McMahon said.
Bain agrees. “The more students we get down there, the better it will be,” he said. “The environment is marvelous. It’s great to see everybody with a shared love of American roots.”
While Bain and McMahon both raved about the event, they both kept returning to one phrase: “It’s a lot of fun.”
And who doesn’t need a little fun on a Wednesday night, when various papers loom over our heads after we finally get back to the dorm after a long practice? Whether you’ll be up on stage performing or kicking back to enjoy the sound, Blues Jam is one way to let off some steam and enjoy an evening with interesting and talented people.
(09/22/10 3:52am)
BUENOS AIRES — I seem to understand my host family a little better every day. Sometimes they come to me with English questions, and they have even asked me about things on eBay. I have been to some unforgettable places here in Argentina, and I’ve eaten at some stellar restaurants, but most of my favorite memories so far are of sitting around the TV with my family eating Chinese take-out and watching soccer highlights or the Simpsons dubbed in Spanish. (Side note: the Simpsons are very popular in Latin America.) And now, a couple of lists:
Things that are in Buenos Aires/Argentina that aren’t in Middlebury/the U.S.:
People standing on the corner handing out pamphlets/ads/sales, etc. And a surprising number of people take them and look, and drop them on the ground.
The light changes to yellow after the red light to warn you green is coming next. Still haven’t figured out the benefits to this.
Good money. I strictly mean the physical paper. Bills from the U.S. government stay crispy for longer. Most of the bills down here are crumply and ripped. I now appreciate crisp.
A love for mayonnaise. I mean a serious countrywide love affair. Everyone eats mayo with everything. Mayo and ketchup is simply known as “Salsa golf.”
Dog crap. Everywhere. All over the sidewalks. At least half of it has been stepped on a few times. On warmer days the smell just permeates. I don’t wear my white Nikes anymore.
Constant ’80s music. In taxis, clubs, bars, restaurants, and McDonalds. They simply love their ’80s here. Pop, rock, it doesn’t matter as long as it had great hair and spandex.
Mate. Argentines love their mate — a kind of tea. They drink it all the time. Mate is usually a social drink with its own ritual and etiquette.
Night owls. Most clubs don’t even open until 2 or 3 a.m. and late-night food places are packed after sunrise. Someone should suggest this to the Grille.
Empanadas. Delicious. Really good.
Cigarettes. It’s very different to be in a place where a large portion of the citizens regularly smoke.
Military time. Why? Not sure. The only good thing is that you don’t accidentally set your alarm for p.m. Otherwise it only confuses me.
Ham. See mayo and ’80s music.
Strikes. Almost every day, local students take over a street with loud drums, chants and signs. Bus drivers don’t even blink an eye as they go around them.
Things that aren’t in Buenos Aires:
Hot food. Mexican, Thai, you name it, they don’t like it. It took me a few weeks to find some “hot” sauce down here. For whatever reason, Argentines don’t like much spice in their food. It’s a shame.
Street signs. Okay not really true, but a lot of corners in Buenos Aires don’t have both street signs up which makes being lost so much worse.
Cold winters. But that doesn’t stop locals from dressing like it’s Vermont in January. I’m serious. Full-length down jackets, scarves, hats, mittens on 40 degree days. They just don’t get it.
XXX vitamin water. I could list foods I miss, but I don’t want to be that kid. I do love XXX though.
Lax bros. Thank God.
(09/16/10 4:07am)
This column is written as a reminder that our community transcends the physical boundaries of the campus and encompasses a beautifully diverse group of people; it’s written under the conviction that the ‘Middlebury bubble’ exists only if we let it exist. In each column, I relay the stories of people we often forget about or don’t see in daily life as students in hopes that readers will get out and meet such people themselves. Before I start up again, I’d like to share some thoughts I had while studying abroad in Kunming, China last spring. They’re thoughts on the Chinese, our perceptions of the Chinese, and truth.
“The search and striving for truth and knowledge is one of the highest of man’s qualities.” Einstein’s words inscribed in marble at the center of Yunnan University’s campus in Kunming, China herald our invariable desire to seek the truth. Yet truth in China is nebulous given the taboo of public displays of criticism and pervasive censorship. The irony of Einstein’s quotation amid a land of closely monitored truth is ironic at best and haunting at worst.
The truth about China, however, is often just as unclear in the States as the truth about Tibet is in China. To so many Americans, China simply signifies an enigmatic juggernaut intent on upsetting American hegemony. This fear is unsurprising given our stark cultural differences and the potent subtext of threat inherent in so many American news articles on China.
I don’t claim to fully understand the laobaixing (Chinese common people) and a brief sketch based on my own experiences studying and traveling abroad certainly can’t capture their myriad complexities. However, perhaps my thoughts can broaden our understandings of these people.
Generosity is a capstone of Chinese character. Take this anecdote, for instance: While on a long distance bus in Jiangxi province, one young businessman struck up a conversation with me. He talked with me for over four hours (somehow unperturbed by my god-awful Chinese) and upon arrival, helped me purchase a train ticket, treated me to dinner with a colleague, and let me shower and check my email in his hotel room until my train left at 2:00 in the morning. This frank hospitality is a beautiful constant in this country and a rare phenomenon in the States. I bet there are very few New York City businesspeople that would give a random Chinese backpacker with toddler-level English the treatment I was given.
The openness of the Chinese to interconnection is not limited to foreigners. Strangers actually talk to one another on the buses, trains, and streets, a trend largely absent in the States I’ve found (even eye contact among strangers here is uncommon). They sing unabashedly in public parks. They are quite unconcerned with personal space and the youth are publicly affectionate; jostle your way down the streets and you’ll see cuddling couples, men with arms slung over the shoulders of other men, and women holding hands. It’s refreshing and overwhelming.
Despite this social openness, most Chinese balk at publicly criticizing authority in order to preserve societal stability. One Chinese friend confessed he believes that individual happiness is more important than family unity, an extraordinarily countercultural opinion. Later, he asked that I keep his views a secret from our peers so as to preserve the cultural status quo. These people are incredibly complex, anything but the unthinking, product-producing masses intent on world domination they are often assumed to be in the States.
So what do the laobaixing want, if not world domination? In a word – stability. I was told by a teacher that this means living without hunger, free of violence, and in passable material comfort. But to many Chinese, this simple and universal dream is mutually exclusive with investigating human rights violations, interfering in other countries’ affairs, and protesting unjust domestic policies.
Many Chinese do acknowledge that this stability must come at the sacrifice of others, such as the Tibetans. In the words of one of my teachers, “I can’t change it. I want to live a happy life. If I want to change something, I must lose my happy life.”
There is concern among many laobaixing that without censorship, the massive population would fall into chaos. One student told me that China’s contribution to the world was the fact that it’s not embroiled in violent mayhem; if China goes down, he implied, the world goes down. For the sake of their stability, most Chinese submit indifferently to censorship if they even know it exists. Many are unaware of their government’s Big Brother policies, however. And why would Chinese who can’t speak English (and thus can’t read uncensored foreign news) suspect their government is censoring them? They have access to (monitored) search engines, blogs (the ones that don’t propagate ‘lies’), and even (controlled) video sharing sites (e.g. youku.com). In many ways, China is an alternate information universe.
I couldn’t help but start considering existing parallels in the States. Fear politics and willful indifference manipulate truth here just as censorship changes truth in China. The likes of Glen Beck and Andrew Breitbart have created an alternate information universe right here in the United States whose inhabitants include but are not limited to ‘birthers’ and ‘deathers.’ As we judge China, we must also consider the woeful biases and failures of our own media, the human and environmental tragedies propagated by our own government, and the backwards perspectives of much of our own citizenry.
Fortunately, millions of Americans make it their life’s work to fight indifference or ignorance concerning these issues, many of whom live right here in Middlebury. This activism is one of America’s greatest virtues and one of the reasons I’m ecstatic to be back.
(09/16/10 4:01am)
They read page after page. At times, they have even feared they might drown in paper.
No, they are not the Middlebury Admissions Committee.
Literary magazines, which work as a kind of combination networking tool/self esteem booster for aspiring and established writers, are always overwhelmed with submissions. The College-affiliated New England Review (NER) receives roughly 4000 manuscripts annually, 2000 for poetry alone. The work must be sorted, weeded and pruned to fit the confines of a quarterly publishing schedule.
In a publishing landscape that is constantly changing, it is important to recognize the constants: writers published in NER have regularly received prestigious awards including the Pushcart Prize, O’Henry Prize, and selection for Best American anthologies.
NER is over three decades old. Along with the Breadloaf Writers’ Conference, it has put this College on the literary map. Even so, longevity and prestige do not necessarily equal sustainability; the magazine will need to meet its own financial needs by the end of 2011, when its subsidy from the College runs out. The ultimate goal is to raise $100,000 annually, thereby increasing the magazine’s endowment to $2 million. The staff remains optimistic.
For more than 30 years, the New England Review has published a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction pieces in their quarterly journals.
“We are in significantly stronger position now than we were a year ago,” editor and Fulton Professor of Humanities Stephen Donadio said. “Subscriptions are up 40 percent compared to last year. We’ve been actively engaged in fundraising and have made some real progress. Financially we’re on much more solid ground.”
Efforts have also been made to create greater visibility, with appearances this summer at a New York City book fair — think of a large room of publishers and writers shopping samples of as many literary magazines as they can get their hands on — and a reading at the Donald E. Axinn ’51, Litt. D. ’89 Center for Literary and Cultural Studies at Starr Library by faculty and alumni, including Jay Parini, D. E. Axinn Professor of English & Creative Writing, and Robert Cohen, Professor of English and American Literatures.
One change, long debated, is the move to an online submissions option, with a small fee attached. In many ways more efficient, not to mention a fundraising opportunity, the decision also represents another stage in NER’s ongoing exploration of the Internet, a technology that opens up as many doors as it closes. The magazine has made portions of each issue available online to read.
“Editors need to think about how much content to make downloadable without destroying the magazine so that there’s no reason to buy it,” Donadio said. “The work must be accessible to an audience at a price that is regarded as reasonable.”
Which is not to discount the magazine’s most basic function. “It’s sort of what they’re for,” managing editor Carolyn Kuebler said. “Once a writer either graduates from college or an MFA program they’re facing an entire world. They need to find a community to send work to and get it commented on. Literary magazines serve as a community for these people. Writers look to magazines for people to read their work outside friends and family.”
Donadio agrees, noting that it is rare for writers not published early in their career to go on to have a career at all.
“Editors at publishing houses can’t just publish manuscripts thrown through the window,” he said. “Appearing in a respected literary journal gives writers a kind of claim.”
It is possible to think of magazines like NER as incubators for the future big names on bookstore shelves.
As summer intern Juan Machado ‘11 puts it: “In class you read about writers who’ve been dead for a long time. But there’s a whole world of writers working right now who you can meet. Contemporary writers come from literary magazine backgrounds; it’s where they’re made and discovered.”
(09/16/10 3:59am)
When was the last time you used the word “awkward?” Was it to describe the time that random guy sat next to you in Proctor who started inquiring about the origins of your last name? Or was it when that other guy gave you a folded piece of paper in the lunch line and made enough muffled noises to convey that he wanted to go out with you? Regardless of the reason, I bet you remember the last time you dropped the awk-bomb, and I have a good feeling it was in the past 10 minutes.
I have found that “awkward” is maybe the most versatile and heavily used word in the English language, trumped only by a certain expletive. It can describe any situation or person that we decide is “not quite right,” in a silly, annoying, funny, mean or weird way. It is stupid to try to define it (screw dictionaries), but I’m going to try anyway:
Awkward: (adj) considerably less smooth than desired.
With a little interpretation, this definition can be applied to any person or situation deemed appropriate.
Middlebury is the perfect breeding ground for awkwardness. We live in close quarters on a small campus and probably see at least half of the student body in one day. Aside from that, we are a bunch of weirdos who probably spent much more time getting into Middlebury than hanging out with our mad cool high school friends. The Campus’s lovely Managing Editor,????, puts it very well: “Middlebury is just a collection of 2500 awkward people.” And I hate to break it to you all, but its true. We are all awkward.
OK, maybe not everybody all the time, but everyone who causes situations similar to those discussed earlier certainly has the awkward gene. While you may not have been the person forming sentences as skillfully as a concussed baboon, if you used the word “awkward” to describe the situation afterwards, you probably had something to do with it. The point is, awkwardness is mutual.
Take, for example, the Pass. Everyone, every day (unless you’re one of those damn people who has Friday off and can sleep all day) has to walk past and make eye contact with someone else going the opposite direction. This is an issue for me (though I’m sure others can relate) when I’ve only talked to the person a couple times or seen them around. Do I say hi? They might not remember me. Do I wave? That’s stupid, they’re ten feet away. Do I wink? Stop doing shrooms, Ben. Or I could just pretend I didn’t see them. However awkward these choices are, the true awkwardness of the situation comes from the other person going through the same thought process. We both brace ourselves for awkwardness and we are often rewarded with one enthusiastic wave and one cold shoulder. The mutual expectation of awkwardness is all that’s needed to create it and if either of you do not think it’s awkward, it isn’t.
Even more important, though, than being aware of awkwardness is realizing that it is not that bad. In fact, it’s hilarious. Think about it, when you run off and share your latest awkward encounter with your friends, are you laughing or scarred for life? Bad awkwardness does exist and falls in a separate category, but usually its pretty darn funny. So if random Proctor guy from paragraph one starts asking about your family ancestry, skip the awkward “uhhhhhh…”. Just appreciate the silliness of the situation, laugh it off, and get that guy a freaking beer.
(09/16/10 3:53am)
Florida is underwater. People are standing on their roofs calling for help. In some areas the water has risen to 18 feet above the ground. 17 million people have been affected. 2,000 people have died. 700,000 people have been forced into makeshift camps after being displaced from their homes.
This is not true. At least, not in Florida.
Six weeks ago Pakistan experienced monsoon rains in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan regions of the nation. It has been reported that at the peak of the flooding, one-fifth of the nation was underwater. This represents an area of land just slightly smaller than the entire sunshine state. More people have been affected by this catastrophe than were as a result of the combined effects of the Asian Tsunami in 2005, Hurricane Katrina and the Haitian earthquake of 2010 combined.
Now that I have your attention, let’s review the response on the part of the international community. According to The New York Times, the United Nations has appealed for $460 million from the international community for relief. Thus far, only 20 percent of that figure has been donated.
In Canada, one week after a coalition of Canadian charities launched a fundraising effort for victims of the floods, they have received just $200,000. One week following the Haitian earthquake using a similar campaign, they had raised $3.5 million dollars.
Why the difference? Why the apathy on the part of the international community?
Many have been quick to use this incident as a clear indication of the Islamaphobia and racism that are present in the Western world. Analysts have argued that many in the West believe that Pakistan harbors terrorists. They say that Western citizens have decided as a matter of principle hat they will not aid a country that directly seeks to harm them.
While it is undeniable that this belief does factor in to the equation that has left Pakistan in a dire state, it is not the only reason why donations have been underwhelming. There are a host of other reasons that need to be examined to understand the whole story.
Firstly, it has been argued that the level of donations to Pakistan have been below those of the other aforementioned disasters because a flood is a slower building problem than an tsunami, hurricane or earthquake. These natural disasters are instantaneous events. The flooding in Pakistan occurred over many weeks, providing less dramatic headlines and photo opportunities.
The second proposed rationale is that fewer people have been killed by the flooding than were killed as a result of the other three disasters. While this is true, the number of people affected by the flooding is much greater than in those events. This means that there are still 17 million people alive, who have been directly affected by the natural phenomenon who still need to be helped. There is still time to prevent many deaths.
Furthermore, it has also been argued that the most potent effects of the flooding will be caused by disruption to the infrastructure in Pakistan. Hunger, disease and violence have all been worries of those close to the nation as crops have been destroyed, water has been contaminated and looting has occurred. This crisis will only get worse in the months to come.
Western donors have also witnessed the ineptitude of the Pakistani leader’s response to his own nations’ disaster. Articles have highlighted President Asif Ali Zardi’s week-long European voyage following the floods (cynically suggested as a trip intended to positively influence his son’s political career). It is probable that Western citizens have been reluctant to provide aid to a government that seems unable to help itself.
Finally, as The Globe and Mail argued, Pakistan is several time zones away, a fact that directly affects the rate of the distribution of information. It is also a non-English speaking country (unlike Haiti), directly affecting the difficulty of gaining reports from the region.
I want to be clear that I have not written this article in order to minimize the other disasters, nor to justify the lackluster level of donations, but rather to highlight the complex set of factors that one makes when they decided whether or not to give.
It is important to understand the other reasons why donations have been underwhelming so that that we, in the West, are not labeled simply as racists. With such hatred towards those of the Muslim faith being one of the main stories highlighted at present by The New York Times (in the reaction to a proposed Mosque at ground zero, and in the suggestion by a pastor in Florida that a Koran be burned to highlight his displeasure with this development) it is important to know that we do not all harbor resentment towards those of the Muslim faith.
After taking a trip to Pakistan, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon stated, “I have witnessed many natural disasters around the world, but nothing like this,” as he pleaded with the international community to increase their support.
Try and imagine — overand imagine- 17 million people have been affected by this disaster.
I am unable to picture that. I am however, able to visualize my family on the roof of my home, calling for help.
I just made my donation online. Maybe you should too.
(09/16/10 3:51am)
Average SAT scores remain steady
According to a report released on Monday, average scores on the SAT college entrance exam remained steady this year, in contrast to the falling trend of the past five years. The score remained stable in spite of the record number of students and minority students who took the exam this year.
High school students in the class of 2010 scored an average combined total of 1509 on the three sections of the exam. This average score was identical to last year’s average. Although the average writing score dropped one point, the math score increased by one point while the reading section results remained the same.
41.5 percent of students who took the SAT in 2010 were minorities. Except for Asian-Americans, most minority groups score lower than the average score.
Students who complete a core high school curriculum, which the College Board defines as four or more years of English and three or more years of math, natural science, social science and history, scored an average of 151 points higher than those who did not.
Since 2006, when the writing section was added and the test began scoring on a 2400-point scale, the average SAT score has fallen nine points. Most colleges, including Middlebury, accept either the ACT or SAT, and a growing minority no longer requires either one.
— The Huffington Post
College students edit Wikipedia
The Wikimedia Foundation, a nonprofit organization that oversees the popular Web site Wikipedia, has begun using university students to edit their online content.
Since its creation nearly a decade ago, the Web site has evolved into one of the most commonly used by students at ever level of education. It is also widely regarded as one of the least accurate sources in works-cited pages.
Professors from George Washington University, Georgetown University, Syracuse University, Indiana University at Bloomington and Harvard University opted to integrated Wikipedia-related assignments into their courses.
Dr. Donna Infeld, director of the Master of Public Policy program at George Washington University had “no clue if students would want to participate” when she introduced the extra-credit work in a graduate course on public policy this summer. About half of her class opted to participate.
“Students knew that their content might be criticized, and it was exciting for them,” said Infeld. “They gained confidence because they had something to contribute to Wikipedia’s marketplace of ideas.”
— The GW Hatchet
Northwestern begs for money to improve rankings
In a recent e-mail message titled "US News & World Report Rankings and Alumni Giving," the number 12-ranked university directly appealed to alumni by asking for contributions in order to secure a higher spot on the prestigious rankings list.
"If we, as undergraduate alumni, increased our giving to 40 percent annually, we could radically improve Northwestern's standing in the U.S. News & World Report rankings. ... Your gift of any size has a direct impact on these rankings," wrote administrators in an email.
Northwestern’s current rate of giving is about 31 percent.
Although Northwestern did receive responses from some alumni who stated that they didn't care about rankings, the e-mail was opened more than other electronic appeals and resulted in more gifts.
"I think the positive results outweigh any kind of negative feedback," said Sarah R. Pearson, vice president for alumni relations and development.
— The Chronicle of Higher Education
(09/09/10 4:45am)
On Sept. 7 at 7:30 p.m., only two days after the new first-years filed into Mead Chapel for Convocation, the pews filled once again with students, faculty, staff and community members to welcome a special guest: critically acclaimed fiction writer Ian McEwan. The English author gave a reading of his latest work at the behest of his friend and D. E. Axinn Professor of English & Creative Writing Jay Parini.
McEwan’s reading was part of what Parini called a “long tradition” of famous writers coming to the College, a tradition that has included the likes of Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Updike, John Irving and Joyce Carol Oates. McEwan, who lives in London, is a prolific novelist whose work has garnered him numerous awards including the 1998 Man Booker Prize for Fiction for his book, Amsterdam. Many of his books have also been adapted for film, with the 2007 film version of Atonement receiving seven Golden Globe Award nominations.
Parini, who has known McEwan since the 70s, said he has been trying to get McEwan to pay the College a visit for years, and in a flurry of good fortune, the author was able to come up for a reading while on the East Coast for a personal trip.
Though the event was planned very quickly, McEwan addressed a full audience, reading a selection from his latest book, Solar. Students and staff alike chuckled at the antics of the novel’s main character, Michael Beard — a somewhat hapless Nobel prize winner who lives in the shadow of his own former greatness — and those who stayed for the Q&A after the reading were treated to McEwan’s candid reflections on everything from e-books to climate change.
“I think what’s great is when the College comes together around a figure like this, it stimulates conversation and it becomes a shared experience,” said Parini. “I think these kinds of occasions are a very important part of a student’s memory bank.”
Leaving a lasting impression on the students in the audience is, Parini says, a primary goal with any speaker invited to campus.
“To get a writer of this quality here is terrific for us,” said Parini. “Whenever you can put a first-rate artist before students, you hope to inspire them, and that’s enough. That’s all we’re trying to do. I think putting an example of good writing before students is important to the writing program.”
Evan Masseau ’11 was one of many students for whom McEwan’s reading served Parini’s purpose.
“It’s no surprise I enjoyed the passage so much,” said Masseau. “His speaking, like his writing, was full of quick, dry wit. It certainly got me more interested in his writing and motivated me to improve my own for the sake of those who have to read it.”
Brittany Gendron ’12 was another student who left the reading more than impressed.
“[McEwan] has written so many incredibly beautiful books and the prose just seems to flow out of him like a river from a mountain, and I can only hope to aspire to write something that lovely someday, even when he’s talking about difficult things,” said Gendron.
McEwan’s writing moved Gendron to more than improving her own — she was one of several audience members who lined up to ask McEwan a question during the Q&A. She wanted to know if he could think of any must-read books for aspiring writers, and in a rare moment of unity, the award-winning author thought back to his days as a hopeful student much like those filling the room and listed four authors — Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett, James Joyce and Vladimir Nabokov — without whom his writing would not be the same.
Identifying with his audience made McEwan’s reading, especially for Gendron, all the more meaningful.
“He was much more down-to-earth than I expected,” said Gendron. “It’s very refreshing to see someone coming down from an ivory tower where a lot of other prominent writers seem to stay.”
(09/09/10 4:08am)
While most of campus packed up and left Middlebury in May, others packed their bags and moved all the way to… Battell?
For some Middlebury students, the dawn of summer meant back to school (and, for most, living in a modest Battell double). About 300 Middlebury students live and work on campus every summer, doing everything from working at the Help Desk to assisting professors with research projects.
For Whitney Obr ’13, working at Middlebury over the summer was an obvious choice. Obr, a native of Paris, knew that French labor laws making it difficult to fire workers also discourage employers from hiring students; practically none of her friends who returned to France over the summer found jobs. Obr found a job in admissions, where she worked with seven other paid interns in the Admissions Office, giving tours twice daily as well as performing typical office tasks.
As with Obr, for Cody Gohl ‘13 unfavorable job prospects at home were the initial motivation in choosing to stay at Middlebury over the summer. However, Gohl also saw it as an opportunity to work in a field he’d always planned to explore.
“I have always been super intrigued by the college admissions process,” Gohl said. “I’ve wanted to be a tour guide since I was a freshman in high school, so it was always my intention to work in admissions for a summer and the cards just kind of lined up for this.”
For Casey Mahoney ’11, spending the summer at Middlebury has become somewhat of a tradition. After working as an intern in Career Services after freshman year and attending Russian language school after sophomore year, Mahoney returned this summer to do research. The prospect of beautiful Vermont summers and few opportunities at home have drawn him to Middlebury for three summers in a row.
“I’m from Arizona, so summer just means sitting by the pool and trying to stay inside in air conditioning… and the summer in Vermont is so idyllic,” Mahoney said. “It’s hiking and swimming and going to Dunmore every weekend.”
Mahoney returned from his junior abroad in Russia to do research with Associate Professor of Economics Will Pyle. Although Mahoney had virtually no economics background, save an “Introduction to Economic Theory” class he had taken while studying abroad, Pyle was recruited through the Russian department because his research on post-communist enterprise land use in Russia required a student who could translate Russian. Mahoney was responsible for finding sources for different aspects of Pyle’s research and typing up the annotations and summaries of possible sources for Pyle. He also worked on translating a survey sent to 360 Russian firms regarding the economics behind the privatization and government ownership of land.
Whereas Gohl and Obr worked weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mahoney was able to choose his own work hours to complete his weekly projects, which Pyle would explain at their weekly debriefings. But even those with a rigid schedule found that they had plenty of downtime. Gohl and his friends took the opportunity to explore Vermont, visiting a swimming hole in Vergennes, a café in Bristol and Shelbourne Farms. Gohl visited Burlington about three times every month.
For the first time ever, the school hired an RA for Battell, Dan Khan ’11, whose specific responsibility it was to organize activities for student workers. Khan set up trips to Lake Dunmore, hiking expeditions and shuttles to various towns, making it even easier for student workers to discover the area.
“Even if you didn’t have a car, you’d be able to get off campus,” Gohl said.
John Montroy ’12, a German language school student, found that language schools worked hard to ensure that kids had enough to do in their spare time, scheduling well-attended dance parties at the Grille, a Frisbee tournament between German and Chinese school, clubs and groups for each specific language and various pickup sports games. They even planned a soccer tournament between all of the different language schools although Montroy said the language barrier tended to provoke some distrust between schools.
“Everyone got so suspicious of each other so fast because you’d yell something and point at someone and people would automatically think you were talking about them, when really you were just saying ‘Oh, isn’t the weather nice today?’” Montroy said.
Students who spoke second languages found that they had slightly more activity options on campus— like the ability to eat downstairs at Proctor if one spoke a romance language and attending foreign film screenings, for instance.
But with two tours per day and work all day in between, Obr and Gohl, who both attended language school events in their respective languages, didn’t always have time to take advantage of all the offered activities. Admissions interns have varied responsibilities; they entered incoming data from members of the class of 2014, answered questions for prospective students who couldn’t make the info sessions and were paired with an admissions officer for projects. For Gohl, this meant working with Manuel Carballo, the Associate Director of Admissions and the Coordinator for Multicultural Recruitment, in order to develop strategies to increase the yield from his home state of Texas.
Obr discovered that answering prospective students’ questions all day was surprisingly challenging and required deep knowledge of the school.
“Before I started there I was thinking, ‘Oh, this’ll be easy.’ I thought people would ask about distribution requirements or the dining plans or if people were allowed to have cars on campus —the kinds of questions I had or I heard when I went on tours,” Obr said. “But people have really specific questions about different majors and different study abroad programs. You could definitely tell that people came prepared and had done their research; they really had their game faces on.”
Although there were plenty of familiar faces at work, the campus had a distinctly different feel with an entirely new group of students.
“It was definitely not typical Midd Kid after Midd Kid; language schools are a lot more diverse … even in age, because there are people coming back to get MA’s,” Mahoney said. “It’s cool to see the diversity in terms of age and backgrounds.”
Although the language schools are decidedly college kid-dominated, the number of adults enrolled still struck students workers; there were even a couple of nuns and priests enrolled in classes this summer.
“It was interesting because during the year, you don’t know every face you walk past, but they’re kids you know you can relate to because you know that you both go to Midd, so you must have something in common,” Obr said. “On campus over the summer, you’re walking past people and don’t know whether they’re undergrad or grad or even out of school… The school definitely had a different vibe, so I guess it just goes to show that a lot of what makes Middlebury great is the people who go here.” “But at the same time it’s a little depressing when those people aren’t here,” she added.
Especially for Montroy, whose time in German school gave him little contact with Middlebury students during the day, it was always surprising to see a familiar face around campus.
“When you saw a Midd kid you kind of looked at each other like, ‘what the hell are you doing here?!’” Montroy said. “It felt like a totally different place in the summer.”
But was that a good or bad thing? Although student workers complained of having been “corralled into a small corner of Proctor,” to eat, said Gohl, and getting in trouble for speaking English in front of language school students, that tension appeared to be minimal. Even if there had been hard feelings between language school students and Middlebury kids, the language school students would not have necessarily been able to articulate them.
“When you can’t really speak a language, everyone becomes really pleasant and nice,” Montroy said. This meant that within language school, “Everyone got along really well.”
For the most part, students workers found summer at Middlebury over the summer to be idyllic and relaxing.
“[The best part is] having the stress level be next to zero. During the year you have classes, and afterwards you have homework and extracurriculars and the nagging “I should be studying” even when you’re done with work,” Mahoney said. “When you’re here over the summer, after you’re done with your work, you really do have zero responsibilities. You really get to enjoy Vermont and Middlebury and what the college has without all of the extra pressure that we have on us during the year.”
Mahoney also found that fewer people on campus means less crowding.
“It’s all the amenities of Middlebury, just with less people using them,” Mahoney said.
While exploring Vermont was a high priority on Gohl’s summer to-do list, what made the summer so special for him was doing something he has always loved: giving tours.
“[I enjoy] this knowledge that I’m making a difference in people’s lives,” Gohl said. “Whether I give a bad tour can affect whether or not people apply to Midd, which can affect their lives ten, twenty years down the line. It’s cool to say that after meeting hundreds of kids this summer and giving so many tours I’ve made a difference for them.”
So, whether working a job or learning a language it was undeniably a summer at Middlebury well-spent.
(09/09/10 4:06am)
Taking part in orientation meetings as a senior has been: hilarious, exciting, redundant, but above all else, eye-opening. It is surreal to be back on campus as an FYC to watch the sweaty move-in-day-goodbyes, the excitement of new connections, the awkward lulls in conversation, the name games and the far-from subtle emergence of Middlebury lanyards.
Even though I have been a part of ResLife for three years, this year’s orientation surprised me, probably because while at the University of East Anglia in England last year, I had the opportunity to experience another school’s take on orientation. When I arrived on campus, I had a few British students help me carry my bags to my flat, where I a “welcome” box with two candy bars, take-out menus, a pen and a map, and a few days later, a severe meeting with our Resident Tutor who went over the basics: no loud parties, no trashing the kitchen, the library is over here (but most likely none of you will read the books), here are emergency numbers to call should you need it, get out of the flat if there’s a fire, any questions?
At Middlebury, on move-in day, a CRA, a bunch of FYCs and in some cases a Commons Dean shuffle and sweat to move in all the first-years. Oh, and there is complimentary cranberry bread. There are hall meetings, icebreakers, theatrical performances, a scavenger hunt, apple picking excursions, a trip to Breadloaf, a square dance, various induction ceremonies, an academic information forum, group book discussions, diversity workshops, policy meetings, a photo booth, an extravagant dinner with a slideshow … the list goes on.
One could call this intensely structured schedule “hand-holding.” Maybe it is overdoing it. And yet, when I think about my experiences interacting with Midd kids versus my first few weeks in England, I see that, overdoing it or not, the orientation programs implemented by Old Chapel and the ResLife team truly cater to what this school is, and what this institution is striving to become, over and over, year after year. That is, a place full of the friendliest, most accepting, most engaging people I have ever met.
As the girls on my hall have all been getting oriented, I started to think about how I could prepare for this year, how I too, could become “oriented” in the right direction. The Oxford English Dictionary defines “orientation” as “the action or process of ascertaining the one’s position relative to the points of the compass, or other specified points; the faculty of doing this; awareness of one’s bearings or relative position.”
What is our relative position? Beyond name games and ninja, beyond “Stand” and other barrier-breaking activities, we have a real chance to know each other here.
After the start of our first year, we do not need name games and icebreakers. It is refreshing that we are willing to break the ice, though, to go deeper, and to make new connections and friends.
Our relative position is one of opportunity. Even though we have our own close friends and groups, it is not too late to invite someone to walk with us, to talk, to laugh with and learn from. We should be aware of our bearings: a half-empty table at Proctor, a long stroll from the Chateau to Bi Hall, the stairs outside of the library. We are in a place where we are all from different points on the map, but all of our compasses are pointing forward. Our relative position is here, it is now; it is a starting point every day.
(09/09/10 4:01am)
Since 1926, Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf campus in Ripton has played host to the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. Every year in mid-August, several hundred poetry and prose artists of varying notoriety flock to Bread Loaf’s secluded collection of egg-yolk-yellow buildings to hone their craft in the company of other writers. This year, the conference convened between Wednesday, August 11th and Saturday, August 21st, and 250 writers attended, twelve of whom were Middlebury students. Those students lucky enough to attend were Lea Calderon-Guthe ’11.5, Carla Cevasco ’11, Sean Dennison ’11, Liz Gay ’11, Seth Gilbert ’10, Kelly March ’11, Ellie Moore ’10.5, Elisse Ota ’11, Alex Russo ’12.5, Alicia Wright ’11.5, Chris Wood ’10 and Christian Woodard ’10.5.
During the program, contributors meet every other day with small groups in order to workshop their poetry, fiction, or nonfiction. Accomplished writers from around the country are always brought in to lead these workshops; this year, Jane Brox, Tom Bissell and Rebecca Solnit served as the nonfiction faculty; Marianne Boruch, Linda Gregerson, Jane Hirshfield, Yusef Komunyakaa, Carl Phillips, Alberto Ríos and David Rivard taught poetry, and Andrea Barrett, Lan Samantha Chang, Stacey D’Erasmo, Percival Everett, Amy Hempel, Margot Livesey, Kevin McIlvoy, Jim Shepard, Helena Maria Viramontes and Middlebury Professor of English and American Literatures Robert Cohen lead the fiction workshops.
The Writers’ Conference’s connection with a prominent lineup of writers is no recent phenomenon; The New Yorker once called it “the oldest and most prestigious writers’ conference in the country,” and authors such as Norman Mailer, Toni Morrison, John Irving, Truman Capote and Eudora Welty have been historically associated with the Conference. Robert Frost, whose Ripton home is just a few miles from Bread Loaf, was closely tied with the program for a great many years, and attended 29 of its sessions. In the words of Middlebury student contributor Liz Gay ’11, “it’s really exciting to think that although I probably won’t ever reach that level of fame, I’m now a part of that legacy.”
Typically, a number of other writers, agents and editors of prominent publications and publishing companies also attend the Writers’ Conference as guests in order to make connections and scout for talent. For many emerging (or established) writers, this is the moment for them to make that crucial deal that could catapult them to the next level of prominence.
Gay spoke for her fellow Middlebury students in saying that “although we’re all serious about writing, as undergrads at the conference we did not feel the same amount of pressure to come away from the conference with an agent and a book deal. We could enjoy the readings, lectures and workshops, and take advantage of all the conference had to offer without stress.”
(09/09/10 4:00am)
It doesn’t matter how much of a quinoa fanatic you are, how many red velvet cupcakes you’ve been hoarding nor how desperately loyal you are to That Special Panini, because there comes a time of year — right about when the ugly sweaters begin to replace shorts and when you’re really questioning whether using your awesome room draw number to get a suite was really such a good idea — when you realize that you must consume something that has nothing to do with the College campus.
Fortunately, the outside world has risen to the occasion. In the past three months, two new businesses have opened their doors and each promises to provide students with much-needed gustatory relief.
The most obvious change in Middlebury dining is the absence of Tully and Marie’s, the American dining stand-by overlooking Otter Creek. Jackson’s on the River, co-owned by Craig Goldstein and Chris English, who purchased the property in April, is now in its place.
In June, a new coat of yellow paint covered the walls and an — almost — entire overhaul of the menu was complete.
“We didn’t want to create a menu that was too evocative of Tully and Marie’s,” said English. “So we looked at the menu, saw what sold well, and asked people what they liked.”
English ensures that the Pad Thai is still there.
“We played with the recipe, and made it our own,” he said.
Though English hasn’t worked in the restaurant business before, his partner Craig Goldstein is a veteran. He has 35 years of experience in the food industry and English feels this is part of what makes Jackson’s unique, in addition to its beautiful location and its service concept.
That concept was born when Goldstein and English met as neighbors, and together decided to open a restaurant where customers would be served generous portions at reasonable prices. Both believe in the idea of “today’s comfort food.” English says Jackson’s prepares dishes that “people would recognize from growing up, presented in an updated way.”
The feeling of “upscale comfort” is easy to find in Jackson’s new menu. Favorites include the regular and veggie burger, the baked mac ‘n cheese with bacon, chorizo and four cheeses and a Mediterranean chicken Milanese called “Craig’s Chicken Modena.”
“Given this economy, a return to things that are familiar and comfortable is a theme you see over and over again,” said English.
The co-owners hope to attract college students, and the restaurant will soon offer a promotion on the Midd Kid website, as well. Jackson’s price range is student-friendly, lower than Tully and Marie’s and many other restaurants in town.
“We think that there’s a place in the market, especially in Middlebury, for good, casual food served at a great price,” said English.
About half of Jackson’s menu, which includes lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch, is also vegetarian. Many items are vegan, too, as most food is made to order.
If you are in the mood for casual dining instead, then cross the street into Frog Hollow Alley, and you’ll find Green-Go’s. This is Middlebury’s one and only burrito cart, owned and operated by Kristin and Damian Bittrolff. For over two decades, the pair has worked in the restaurant business, and the husband and wife team recently decided it was time to open something of their own. Damien’s expertise as a chef and Kristin’s as a manager have merged and created delicious and unabashedly “gigantic” burritos, as Kristin describes them.
“We make them [the burritos] to order, individualized to exactly what you want,” she said. “All [the] ingredients are fresh.”
The dishes includes hydroponic tomatoes, Vermont cheddar and chicken from Greg’s Meat Market, and this is part of what makes the chicken burrito the most popular item on the menu.
Green-Go’s is also a green business. All of its packaging is either recyclable or compostable, and the couple plans to continue their environmental efforts if they expand their menu to include salads, quesadillas and tamales.
“I’m in love with the beef burrito,” Kristin said.
Both the chicken and beef burritos are spiced with Green-Go’s special seasoning, a secret concoction that the pair formulated together. The Green-Go bean burrito is a blend of black beans with a choice of vegetable toppings and it is the final item on the lunch menu.
Catch the team before 11 a.m., and Damian will make you one of his delicious breakfast burritos, on a choice of spinach, flour or wheat wraps or a corn tortilla. The couple is currently experimenting with gluten-free rice wraps, blends of local peppers and they add as much heat to the burrito as one desires.
“We’re willing to try just about anything,” Kristin said.
Drooling yet? It gets better. The prices are reasonable; lunch burritos cost between six and eight dollars plus tax. However, given the size of the burrito, Bittrolff thinks one can often last for two meals. To top it off, Green-Go’s delivers free of charge, so you can still put in those five hours in the library.
(05/06/10 4:00am)
On Friday, April 30 Assistant Director of the Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference Jennifer Grotz gave a reading of her work in the Abernethy Room of the Axinn Center at Starr Library.
The event was sponsored by The New England Review, Cook Commons and the Department of English and American Literatures. Grotz, an alumnus of the writer’s conference herself, entertained her audience with witty interjections dispersed between poems of cool meditations and introspective connections.
After completing her BA at Tulane Univerity in 1993, Grotz continued her education, receiving her MA in English from Indiana University and then her PhD in literature and creative writing at the University of Houston. Since then, a seemingly never ending series of fellowships and grants have allowed her to work abroad, translating poetry from the French and exploring Polish writing.
Fulton Professor of Humanities and editor of the New England Review, Stephen Donadio, introduced Grotz with reverent words that touched upon her accomplishments as a writer and her qualities as a respected colleague.
“You know more about me than my last boyfriend!” Grotz joked as she took the podium and applause faded into laughter.
Through some Hollywood-induced manipulation, poetry readings have taken on a certain stereotype: bongos, mood lighting, the poet dressed in all black, a theatrical reading, and finger snapping. True, Grotz was wearing black, but the experience of listening to her read could not have been any more different from the cliché.
As the poems began to fill the room, it became clear that Grotz’s work is the product of her own sincere way of interpreting the world around her. “You can write a poem about anything,” Grotz commented between “object poems,” or pieces that focused on a single item and yet, true to her style, expanded far beyond the object that instigated them into life.
The manner in which she read her work offered the poems objectively and allowed the audience to take them as they were and impose its own inflections. Grotz made her poetry accessible by offering honest insights about her creative process that punctuated her serious poetic musings with humor.
Her straightforward manner assured spectators that there was no “catch” to what they were hearing but that her poems were her uninhibited reactions to a certain provocation.
Following the current of Grotz’s poetry is, in a way, what makes it most interesting. She expresses a mind that can draw connections between objects and experiences that normally exist unassociated, breaking down conventional categories and defamiliarizing readers to their surroundings.
Grotz’s writing exudes a fearlessness that comes from her ability to allow a poem to explore all of the different paths of thought a source of inspiration can spark, lingering on a subject but in no way staying still.
Grotz’s first book of poetry titled “Cusp” won the Katharine Nason Bakeless Prize and the Natalie Ornish Best First Book of Poetry Prize from the Texas Institute of Letters and her second publication, “The Needle,” is forthcoming in 2011. Grotz focused her reading on poems that have been published by The New England Review to pay tribute to the event but also included poems from
“The Needle.”
Her newer writing retains her characteristic train of thought as well as the rich cultural references found in “Cusp.” However, an investigative, more playful tone veils her more recent poetry, which prompted her to describe them as “weird” in that they were created out of a process unfamiliar to her.
“I was getting bored with myself,” she explained. Later she admitted, “I honestly felt a little embarrassed reading those to you just now,” proving the intimacy of her work.
On a similar key of bashfulness, Grotz tried to deflect the attention from herself at a dinner held in her honor later that evening. During a round of introductions she cried, “You all already know everything about me!” and finally offered, “I’m recently interested in boxing. I love boxing — not playing, just watching.”
Grotz’s poems are the composite of a woman who is just as comfortable befriending a peacock at a monastery in the French countryside as she is at a feral boxing match.
(05/06/10 4:00am)
Somewhere in rural New Mexico the dinner bell rings. An Israeli student and Palestinian student linger in the indoor swimming pool, dynamically conversing between laps. They look up to see a former investment banker glancing around. He first asks them their names, where they are from, and he is startled to hear the answer. He asks, “Well, your countries are essentially at war with each other. What are you doing in the pool together?”
The reply: “Well, we’re friends.”
By the end of that first visit at the United World College (UWC) in Montezuma, New Mexico, Shelby M.C. Davis was mesmerized.
“Every religion, every culture, every circumstance, and here they were, working as a team. I didn’t have to be sold, it sells itself,” she said last Thursday at the 10th anniversary celebration of the Davis United World Colleges Scholars Program, held in McCullough Social Space. The program provides scholarships for 113 students at the College and a total of 2,007 students from 140 countries at 92 American colleges and universities.
During the celebration, Middlebury Magazine editor Matt Jennings held public interviews with co-founders Shelby Davis and Phillip Geier, and three alumni who attended Middlebury through the scholarships, Helene Songe ’04, Yohanne “Kido” Kidolezi ’05 and Livia Vastag ’07.
Davis pointed out that it was the drive and academic talent of UWC students that led him to establish a scholarship fund. UWC students come from over 180 countries, and the fact that they could excel academically in schools that taught in English, a second language, left a deep impression on him.
“If they can get into these five schools, [including Middlebury], where my family had gone ... then why shouldn’t I invest in them or support them to come to America and continue their education?” she said.
Kidolezi ’05, now a MBA candidate at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, talked about how attending a UWC changed his life.
“Had I not gone to UWC, I probably would be married with two, three kids in rural Tanzania, growing rice and bananas and corn and having my own hut in a village where I was raised,” he said.
He plans to apply his knowledge in developing markets to the educational system in his home country.
Rhubini Kunasegaran ‘13 reflected on her UWC experiences, noting the personal growth she underwent at Pearson UWC of the Pacific, “We’re just a bunch of kids who’ve had this amazing opportunity to experience living with a bunch of other kids from different ends of the world. It’s like the world’s your neighbourhood. How do you come out of an experience like that?”
Though it has made unparalleled differences in the life of scholarship recipients, the Davis UWC program was also intended to positively influence the entire student body at each participant university.
“We can provide ongoing scholarships for amazing kids, which would in turn will further help internationalize the undergraduate experience at a place like Middlebury,” said Geier.
“Through their daily and personal contact with students from many different countries and cultures, all our students become much more knowledgeable about world affairs or understanding of the needs and concerns of people in other parts of the world,” remarked President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz at the ceremony.
Students also addressed the actual significance of international students in broadening perspectives on campus.
James Stepney ’10, a student from New York City said, “I’m interested in their stories, and just overall the vibes and the positivity that they can bring, not just [in] college but in life.”
However, the stereotype that international students are “antisocial” or “insular” has acted as a hindrance to bringing out the unique experiences they have to share.
“It’s so easy to be perceived as a group that doesn’t interact with any other group if you’re easily identifiable,” said Harry Magotswi ’11. “Take any of the sports teams — it’s a group that’s difficult for anyone from outside to be in. You don’t just walk up to the football team and sit down and have dinner with them.”
He further emphasized the importance of meeting these people on an individual basis and realizing “that they’re not antisocial” but that they are “some of the most welcoming and warm people.”
Stepney also emphasized that stereotyped students had to actively break down toxic misconceptions.
“Generally, somebody who feels like they are submitting themselves to the stereotype, if they become aware of that, they should ask themselves things like, ‘What can [I] do to be more proactive and [get] outside of that social stereotype?’” he said.
Another issue of importance to students was the decrease in financial assistance the Davis UWC scholarship program could provide for UWC graduates coming to the College, beginning with the class of 2014.
Originally, the scholarship program provided $40,000 a year for four years, but that amount has decreased by 50 percent due to the recession. A New York Times article last spring reported that the administration has tried to cope with this new change by trying to “attract more affluent applicants by stepping up its recruitment efforts in areas such as Western Europe and Hong Kong.” While many students found this move necessary in light of other budget cuts, several students believe it contradicts the College’s ideals of globalization.
“Although I understand the reasons, I am sad that the Davis Scholars program cut back on financial aid,” said Jakob Terwitte ‘13. “It [makes] it tougher, if not impossible, for many very talented UWC Scholars to come to Middlebury. I think the Davis Program has been incredibly successful in bringing international students from all socioeconomic backgrounds to Middlebury, and the cuts will necessarily cause the socioeconomic diversity of international students to decrease.”
Stepney agreed, expressing hopes that a post-recession Middlebury would take steps to preserve both the socioeconomic and cultural diversity that “makes Middlebury what it is.”
(05/06/10 4:00am)
Local playwright shows “My Ohio”
May 6 and 7, 8-9 p.m., May 8, 2-3p.m. and 8-9 p.m., May 9, 2-3 p.m.
Come down to the Town Hall Theater for a few laughs this weekend. Local Middlebury resident and playwright Dana Yeaton presents her new musical, “My Ohio.” Tickets are $24 for the general public, but only $12 for students from the College. Call the Town Hall Theater’s Box Office at (802)382-9222 or go to
www.townhalltheater.org to get tickets.
Shop till you drop!
May 7, 10 a.m. - 5p.m.
Looking for some summer flare at low prices? Mendy’s Clothing and Accessories is holding its first annual sidewalk sale on Friday. There’s no better way to celebrate the end of the semester than to head down with some friends and find brand-name clothes for great prices. Support a local business and come away with a new wardrobe! Call 802-388-3434 and ask for Addy if you have questions.
Champlain Philhamonic Orchestra
May 7 and 8, 7:30-8:30 p.m.
Celebrate spring with classical music! The Champlain Philharmonic Orchestra, led by guest conductor Paul Gambill, will perform at the Vergennes Opera House. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. Take advantage of the discount and contact the Vergennes Opera House at (802) 877-6787 or www.vergennesoperahouse.org Happy listening!
Apple Blossom Derby
May 8, 9:30 a.m.
The 28th Annual Apple Blossom Derby offers a 10k and 5k run, a 5k walk and a Family Fun Run. A gorgeous setting is guaranteed as the trail offers a view of beautiful Lake Champlain. Food will be available to all participants after the race.Sound like fun? Registration is $20 for adults and $10 for participants under 18. Call (802) 922-0681 for more information, or visit www.shorehamschool.org/derby to download a registration form.
Jay Parini lecture
May 12, 5 p.m.
Jay Parini, poet, novelist and Donald E. Axinn Professor of English and Creative Writing, will share and discuss his work at The Lodge at Otter Creek. He has written Apprentice Lover, Benjamin’s Crossing and The Last Station, which has been made into a motion picture. Call The Lodge at Otter Creek at (802) 388-1220 for more information.
Wildlife walk
May 13, 8 - 11 a.m.
Feel like a walk in the woods? Come enjoy nature and take a stroll! Meet on the corner of Pulp Mill Bridge Road and Weybridge Street to spend the morning meandering through Otter View Park and Hurd Grassland. Otter Creek Audubon and the Middlebury Area Land Trust have organized the event. For more details, call (802) 388-1007
(04/29/10 4:00am)
“I’m distrusting of everything around me, yet extremely perceptive,” said Chris Wood ‘10. “I’m a professed cynic.”
Surrounded by the trappings of an affluent East Coast culture where the number of BMWs seems to exceed the population of students on financial aid, Wood provides a much needed reality check for many Midd Kids.
“This place is Disneyland. I feel poor and ostracized, yet, in reality, I’m no different from 90 percent of the American population,” explained Wood. “If I have to be an outcast here, f*** it, so be it.”
Wood, who’s known for breaking more than just the typical Middlebury student stereotype, is also a football player with an incredible talent for creative writing.
“I’m not a trust fund baby and I have very little knowledge of white New England culture. I came to Middlebury from a shitty public school in south Jersey and wanted to be an econ major — making money was the bottom line,” reflected Wood. “I was a good writer in high school, but I was smarter than most of my teachers, so I felt the need to validate myself in college to see if my writing held up at a higher level. I walked into Hector Vila’s class first semester of my freshman year and he gave me a look like ‘what the hell are you doing here?’” Wood went on to explain, “As soon as I found literature, poetry and art, I moved away from the money and on to creativity instead.”
When presented with more awkward questions like “How do you view yourself within the Middlebury community?” and “Which stereotypes bother you the most?” Wood took the opportunity to just continue telling the story of how he got to Midd and the evolution of his interest in literature.
“Football recruiting was a major part of my senior year, but I was known as a high achiever throughout high school,” said Wood. “I came to Middlebury because it was an opportunity for a great education with a good financial aid package, but friends at school had never heard of it. They all just assumed I’d go to Harvard or Penn.”
Turning back to the topic of football, Wood explained “English in college has become what football was to me in high school — an outlet. Football was my only chance for honor and fighting with my brethren, but at Middlebury it’s for fun as opposed to what it was when I was younger.”
In an attempt to concisely convey the power of literature to me in the span of ten minutes in the Grille, Wood said “Real life doesn’t occur symbolically. It’s the job of the writer to derive its meaning. Literature requires a background in not only English, but in history, art and philosophy. All of these components create good writing.”
With the completion of his creative thesis, Wood must now turn his attention to life after Middlebury.
“I’m 100 percent terrified to go back where I came from. When I walk in my front door at home, ideas outside everyday domestic concerns are irrelevant. Down in south Jersey it’s a different world, but I am going to take an entire year off to just write,” said Wood. “If I fall on my face, that’s life. I will be forever haunted if I don’t attempt to be a writer. I’m nothing but a man in the world trying to make a way. I look at things very viscerally.”
Delving further into his decision to “go home and take a breath” after graduation, Wood admits that he’s in for “long periods of silent contemplation.” Knowing full well the risks he will be taking in order to pursue his passion, or as he puts it, “taking a huge risk by not getting on the ‘conveyor belt,’” Wood gears up for the next step in his life.
“I realize that, after four years at Middlebury, I am supposed to excel economically, to take on the challenge of the parental order, but once you catch a glimmer of what life can be through a passion, you’re never turning back,” warned Wood. “Writing to me is not an easy release. You doubt everything. You don’t know if God is real, or even if you’re real.”
For a guy who likes to mess with societal preconceptions by going to Barnes & Noble wearing a jersey and sitting down to read Faust for hours on end, Wood appears to break another Middlebury stereotype, one of adhering to social cliques.
“If you’re trippy as hell and have interesting ideas that you can talk about, I’m attracted to you. I’m pissed that I get lumped in with bros,” said Wood. “I don’t care who you are as long as you have things to say worth discussing.”
As the senior class prepares to leave our convoluted system of stereotypes and misnomers that is Middlebury College, Wood sees no real direction before him except for a chance to write. While many students head off to work tiresome hours on Wall Street or bury themselves in grad school studies in order to reach individual goals of monetary success, how many students can honestly say they have found a true passion? Chris Wood may not be hopping on that “conveyor belt,” but time will tell whose success in life will mean the most.
(04/29/10 4:00am)
“Letting Go: Dancing with Rivers” ran in the MCFA Dance Theatre last Saturday, April 24. The show was part of a series honoring College Professor John Elder as he retires from the College this year.
Elder, revered by faculty and students alike, taught at Middlebury for 37 years. His vivacity and love of nature affected everyone around him, both the faculty with whom he interacted and the students he taught.
“Dancing with Rivers” was a stunning and evocative mix of speech and dance presented in five scenes. Each act flowed from one to the next, uninterrupted by audience applause or introductory narrations. It began with a reading from Jefferson Hunter, which was overlapped by a primal dance duet from Jeremy Cline ’11 and Christian Woodard ’11 and accompanied by Elder’s son, Caleb, on viola. Novelist Scott Russell Sanders read next, a prelude to a whirling solo dance from Lisa Gonzales ’94.
Lauret Savoy then read, followed by a performance from Kathleen and William F. Truscott Professor of Dance Andrea Olson that was beautifully interspersed with remarks on human passion. Peter Schmitz’s reading led into Paul Matteson’s ’00 performance done not to music, but to a quirky recording of a child’s voice layered over a musicbox tune.
The show’s spectacular finale ended with a reading from Dane Springmeyer ’02 and a joyful final dance number with 37 vividly dressed dancers, each representing a year that Elder taught at Middlebury. For the finale, the dancers emerged from various places in the theatre, some from the audience, others from the wings, as each year of Elder’s Middlebury career was called out.
“One … two … three…” Somewhere between the 33rd and 34th year, Elder himself danced his way onstage to join the celebration.
The show was followed by a reception catered by the Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op, as well as visual art displays in the CFA including works by Louisa Conrad and Lucas Farrell ’04, Xander Manshel ’09, Angela Evancie ’10 and Charles A. Dana Professor of History of Art and Architecture Kirsten Hoving. Afterward, the audience was invited to a dinner at American Flatbread to continue the celebration of Elder’s career.
Professor John Elder joined the Middlebury faculty in 1973. Originally hired in the English Department, he received a split-appointment with Environmental Studies, and he is now a non-departmental College Professor.
During his career at Middlebury, he chaired the English and American Literatures Department as well as directed the Program in Environmental Studies. Elder also taught at the Bread Loaf School of English over the summers, on the campuses in New Mexico, Alaska, North Carolina, as well as close to home in Ripton.
He has written numerous books including Imagining the Earth: Poetry and the Vision of Nature, and his essays have appeared in publications ranging from Vermont Life to Wild Earth to Orion.
His interests include American nature writing, Japanese haikus, Wordsworth and Robert Frost. Elder was named Vermont Teacher of the Year in 2008.
Many of Elder’s friends and colleagues who attended
“Dancing with Rivers,” as well as his past and present students, agreed that it was a stunning performance truly fitting of Elder’s love of nature and creativity.
The College may be “letting go” of Elder this year, but his legacy at Middlebury will never fade.
(04/29/10 4:00am)
The audience shudders with laughter, some riotous and some nervous, and the teenage couple next to me swig from their brown-bagged cylinders.
Damon Macready, a.k.a. Big Daddy, (Nicholas Cage) has just fired a handgun directly at the wee chest of his daughter Mindy, a.k.a. Hit Girl (Chloë Moretz) and we are spellbound. She’s alright — thanks for asking — being strapped in a bulletproof vest. The father has prepared his child for the pain of a bullet.
This is the profane, violent, ridiculous and above all, gratuitously fun superhero movie that is “Kick-Ass.”
David Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), our titular hero, professes to be an average high schooler. He hangs out with friends at the comic store. He dreams about the girl next locker, Katie (Lyndsy Fonseca). And in these hard economic times, he keeps Kleenex in business, filling his trash can with the tissued fantasy of his well-endowed English teacher. A superhero he is not.
But nevertheless, sick of the bullying and delinquency he and his friends face day after day, Lizewski decides to don a scuba suit and mask (courtesy of eBay) and teach the criminals a lesson. Enter crime kingpin Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong) and other inspired costumed vigilantes, and this adaptation of Mark Millar’s comic series is soon owning its R-rating entirely.
Kick-Ass’ first fight is against two vandals trying to break into a car. In a real world where superpowers don’t exist and Bruce Waynian technology isn’t easy to come by, our hero is inevitably pummeled. Brutally. The movie takes a pistol to the myth that superheroic fantasy is a form of empowerment and blows its brains out.
Costumed vigilantism is absurd, if we think about it. The Batman is dressed like a bat. The concept is apt, as Big Daddy himself takes after the campy 1960s version of the Dark Knight. Here Cage is returned to good form, his character assuming the quick speech patterns and awfully unstylish handmade outfit with such honesty that it’s both amusing and disturbing.
With the help of YouTube and MySpace, these crimefighters are able to arrest the attention of adoring fans, quickly reach those in need, and revel in their own fame and egos. In part, “Kick-Ass” is a spoof of the modern media frenzy. Yet the goofiness of our obsession with popular culture stands in stark contrast to their sobering quest to take down Frank D’Amico.
But then we come to our shining star, who — to be honest — makes it look pretty easy. Sit down, Kick-Ass. Child heroine Hit Girl steals the show, being one part bloodthirsty ninja, one part foul-mouthed lionness, one part uncomfortably sexualized parody and one part playful young girl.
Chloë Moretz plays her part with perfectly reckless abandon. Through her, director Matthew Vaughn creates an homage to the vulgar fast-talking of Quentin Tarentino and the balletic martial action of John Woo.
Yet for all its critique of pop culture and rollocking action fare, I’m not sure whether “Kick-Ass” succeeds on the level it hopes for. I want to gush for it. As far as sheer entertainment goes, “Kick-Ass” is undoubtedly up there. I can’t help but think that the movie, at times, becomes exactly the kind of movie it attempts to parody in the first place.
(04/22/10 4:00am)
A sense of wonder, a reverence for nature and an understanding of humanity have driven Professor John Elder in 37 years of devoted teaching and ravenous learning at Middlebury College. When a man that “has all the human qualities that you think of defining virtue” is leaving a professorship after almost four decades, “we’re going to really really miss him,” said Christopher Shaw, associate director of the Fellowships in Environmental Journalism.
Shaw first met the renowned scholar at a lecture Elder gave in 1995.
“I haven’t heard anybody who could speak so clearly about the then-current issues in enviromentalism and conservation that was so clear and sharp but was also so grounded in scholarship,” said Shaw. “I dont remember a thing he said that day, but I do remember the feeling he left with me, which was, I have to get to know this guy.
Elder will now be retiring from the College, to innumerable expressions of profound affection from students, faculty, and alumni. Originally appointed as a professor in the English department in 1973, John Elder was later given a dual appointment in the Environmental Studies department to reflect his burgeoning interest in the environment. Over his career, Elder has offered courses on topics as diverse as local Vermont towns, modernist literature, Shakespeare, food justice and Wordsworth and Basho.
In an interview, Elder reminisced on his early days as professor and his instant love for Vermont upon arrival, “I loved the combination of natural environment — woods, wildlife, the beauty of the mountains and the lake — with the high quality of the cultural environment, little compact villages with library and music and a chance to know your neighbors … Fairly early on, I decided ... that I wanted to stay and make my career here.”
Elder expounded on a sense of wonder that propelled him “to study literature and to study the earth … we are drawn forward by wonder that motivates us [and] goes out ahead of us.” This gift of attentiveness has inspired Elder in his pursuits of an impressive range of disciplines, as he led English departments around the country to embrace a new environmental literature movement.
Daniel Brayton, associate professor of English and American literatures, also praised Elder for his “profound and ebullient” influence among academia. “John is one of the pioneers of ‘ecocriticism,’ or environmental literary scholarship, said Brayton.
Though his academic prowess has dazzled fellow literary scholars for many decades, it is Elder’s passion for teaching and personal interest in his students that endears him to the Middlebury community, winning him the Vermont Professor of the Year award in 2008.
Jue Yang ‘11.5 reflected on Elder’s enthusiasm for both academic and personal development as she wrote on her experience in his nature writing course, “I realized from talking to John that I am in a trusting community where I grow, not only intellectually, but also in a broader spectrum ... I will walk away from this class not only with a deeper appreciation of my surroundings and the relationship between them and myself, but with hope that life would be more meaningful than ever.”
Simone Dinshaw ‘11 acknowledged Elder as “a light” to those who knew him. “He inspires you, he teaches you, and he helps you find the stories that are buried inside of you ... I feel honored to have had the opportunity to have been in his class this semester, to have basked in his light for a while.”
Brayton shared a cherished memory of what he called “John’s puckish side” on a hike up Mount Abe.
“We walked and talked at a fast pace, and he told me many things about how animals survive the Vermont winter,” said Brayton. “After a quick snack at the summit, John turned to me and said, ‘This is how we get down!’ He then took a flying leap onto the steep, icy trail we had come up and slid on his seat for about fifty yards down the mountainside. I had no choice but to follow.”
Elder will spend his free time finishing a book on the future of Vermont’s communities, sugaring with his two sons in Starksboro and practicing the whistle, flute and bagpipes with his wife, who plays the concertina.
John Glouchevitch ‘10.5 could only say this much: “I’m pretty sure that when I die, I’ll wake up somewhere beautiful and go for a long, long walk with John Elder. That is the best I can say it.”
