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(10/09/08 12:00am)
Author: Tim O'Grady The 30th annual presentation of the "Paul Ward '25 Prize In Writing" to the Class of 2011 was held on Oct. 3 in the New Library, honoring 40 members of the Class of 2011. The esteemed competition recognizes current sophomores who have produced outstanding essays during their first academic year at Middlebury.Jessica Halper '11 won first prize for her essay entitled "A Romantic Dialogue: Frans Hals and Seventeenth Century Dutch Marriage Portraiture" that she wrote for her first-year seminar. Halper analyzed how Dutch painter Frans Hals revolutionized martial portraitures in the 17th century by emphasizing the intimacy and open friendship expressed between a Dutch husband and wife.Halper's professor, Assistant Professor of History of Art & Architecture Eliza Garrison, was unable to attend the event; however, she sent an e-mail that was recited."While all of Jessica's papers…were great, this final assignment was truly outstanding. A real 'A'" wrote Garrison.Zaheena Rasheed's '11 essay "Oblique I Am" and Moria Robinson's '11 piece "Last Hope: Fertility Preservation for Cancer Patients" won second place. Additionally, Alice Bennet '11, Erik Brooks '11, Xian Chiang-Waren '11, Emma Lennon '11 and Allison Wells '11 received "honorable mention" recognition for their works.The selection process for the Ward Prize begins with faculty members keeping an eye out for outstanding first-year writers during the year and then submitting their best papers to Kathleen Skubikowski, Director of Writing. Towards the end of the summer, Skubikowski forms an interdisciplinary group of faculty members to judge the submitted works. The panel this year was comprised of author and Lecturer in English and American Literatures David Bain and Associate Professor of Philosophy Martha Woodruff.The judges must read every submitted paper independently and afterwards rank their top ten works. After some discussion amongst the judges, they arrive at a consensus and designate selected works for recognition. "Often one paper just rises to the top," said Skubikowski.One of the most distinguishing aspects about this writing award is that it is not restricted to English essays. In fact, professors are able to submit essays with a wide range of topics. This year's nominated pieces included personal narratives, critical arguments, research papers and lab reports."We've committed ourselves to the idea of placing writing as the center of a liberal arts education" said Skubikowski. Every student nominated for the Ward Prize is also invited to train as a peer-writing tutor for the following year. Since a plethora of academically diverse works are nominated, tutors are well-versed in various disciplines and can assist students with any type of paper. Dorothy Ward '25, who wanted to commemorate her husband's successful career, established the Paul W. Ward '25 Memorial Prize in 1978. Mr. Ward was a journalist and diplomatic reporter, winning the Pulitzer Prize and the French Legion of Honor."It was the bequest of the family [to honor first-years]. This is the only award that recognizes the intellectual dimension and writing capabilities of first-year students," said Skubikowski.
(10/02/08 12:00am)
Author: Jeff Klein According to an old English proverb, "Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors." That quote certainly applies to the Middlebury women's golf team this past weekend. Washed out by rain on Saturday, the Panthers were forced to compete in a rain-shortened event, yet displayed the mental fortitude on Sunday necessary to capture first place at the first annual Ann S. Batchelder Golf Invitational hosted by Wellesley College. Several Panther participants put forth outstanding performances. First-year Flora Weeks '12 - who has played excellent golf in each of the team's first three events - shot a 79 on the day, which landed her in a second-place tie overall."Flora has been a great addition to the team, and she seems to adapting to college golf quite well," said captain Julie Ellenberger '09. "Her scoring has been solid and it should be fun to keep watching her develop as a player and a great teammate." The Panthers also got top-10 finishes from Courtney Mazzei '11, who tied for fifth overall with a score of 82, and Ellenberger, whose score of 84 was good for a ninth-place tie. All of this in conditions, that were, according to several Middlebury players, exceedingly difficult to play golf in."The conditions on Sunday were absolutely miserable," said Mazzei. "It rained throughout the entire round, which lasted close to six hours. There were 'lakes' in the middle of fairways, puddles on the greens, and mud everywhere."Weeks concurred, but admitted that these conditions may have given her an edge over her opponents. "The biggest thing about this tournament was who could survive in the rain and mud," she said. "I'm from Seattle and have played in those conditions before. It was easier for me to ignore the rain and just play golf."That attitude apparently did the trick for the Panthers, who banded together and edged out Amherst by five strokes, 335 to 340."Our team was able to keep a good attitude and persevere through the difficult conditions," said Weeks."I guess I didn't realize it before, but we're a pretty scrappy team," said Mazzei. "We are capable of adjusting to the conditions and fighting through them to bring in the low scores. I also think that each individual is consistent, which makes for a solid team score."Such consistency was epitomized Sunday by Mazzei herself, who shot a 41 on both the front and back nine. Instrumental to her success is taking a low-key approach to the game each time she competes."I am not one of those people who can play golf year round for five hours a day; that's just not me," she said. "When I play, I focus on shooting low and bettering myself. If I win, awesome. If I lose, that's OK too."The Panthers will host the Middlebury Invitational this weekend, and they head into the event a confident bunch. Ellenberger noted that while the team always expects to perform well in any tournament, the recent success can only help the collective psyche of the team."It always gives you an extra boost when you win," she said. "We know that we can do it and are really looking forward to the weekend."
(10/02/08 12:00am)
Author: Ken Lazo BLACK SHEEP BISTROBlack Sheep lures its visitors with its distinct small town grace and phenomenal ambiance that allows for a convivial and intimate experience. The precursor to arrival is a 20-minute journey north from Middlebury on Rte. 7, which serves to set the mood with evening views of Vermont autumn foliage and farmland patched like a well-knit quilt. At the restaurant, light music complements a dimly lit setting as diners indulge their appetites. The menu is simple in its arrangement of appetizers on one side and entrées on the other. All appetizers are fixed at $7 and entrées at $19. Boasting a medley of different sauces like coffee-infused sherry sauce, a citrus-glazed duck confit, gorgonzola and pine nut dressing on a bed of arugula and cubed beets, the meal is orchestrated in ornate colors, patterned on fresh greens and the utmost tender pieces of meat - sirloin, venison, duck and stuffed chicken, to name a few. Michel Mahe opened the restaurant six years ago. He also owns the Bearded Frog in Shelburne and the Bobcat Café in Bristol. From his small-town Breton heritage in France, Michel infuses his Franco rustique palette and meticulously garnishes each dish with a modest, yet intense and surprising flavor. The restaurant also offers an impressive wine list complete with Malbecs, Bourdeaux, and Cabs. Take advantage of your parents' car and have them drive you up to Vergennes to share this unique Breton/Vermont setting. If your parents can't make it this time, bring your special someone and the evening will surely be punctuated with a lovely smile and satisfied appetite. Reservations are recommended.PARK SQUEEZEPark Squeeze on Main Street in Vergennes has become a local favorite for a stress free lunch and nice Sunday Brunch. It's a small cozy place inviting locals to enjoy a charismatic meal for under $10.The "wrap-ture" wraps are inexpensive and filling with interesting flavor combinations like the "Wasabi Shrimp," "The Peanut," or the "Crispy Duck." But my personal recommendation is the stir-fry bowls. The "be the bowl" mantra allows diners to choose a stir fry bowl from a variety of spicy, sweet, and filling ingredients including ginger-miso sauce on basmati rice or chicken with Portobello mushrooms and tomatoes. The restaurant prides itself in local, fresh and healthy alternatives such as organic brown rice, organic tofu and your choice of five vegetables to go into your bowl.If you have younger siblings in tow, the menu features a substantial list of kids' favorites called the "Lil' Squeeze." Indeed, the restaurant website boasts, "Where do you go for good food to meet the needs of two eight-year-olds, a food snob, a vegetarian, a person who spent the whole day snowboarding and someone who doesn't know what to order? Park Squeeze." Betsy Vick, the proprietor of Park squeeze has built a formidable two story space for large parties and a talented staff. The staff once included Sanderson Wheeler, now chef at Bobcat Café. They serve a delightful meal whether it be brunch, lunch or dinner. The Park Squeeze is located on Main Street in Vergennes a couple of blocks north of Black Sheep Bistro.THE BOBCAT CAFEFor an over-21 crowd, definitely consider The Bobcat Cafe on your list of dining options. Aside from offering delicious American fare, the restaurant brews its own beer in 250-gallon fermentation tanks on site. Michel Mahe, owner of Black Sheep Bistro in Vergennes, recently acquired the Bobcat Café in Bristol, Vt. The restaurant maintains its nice and comfortable standard American pub feeling while still offering a smaller menu and a warm setting for a casual get-together in this beautiful Vermont town. Sanderson Wheeler (formerly of Park Squeeze) is the new chef at the Bobcat Café. Wheeler cooks up American comfort food favorites like chicken à la king, venison chorizo meatloaf with demi-glace, or bangers and mash.The prices are comparable to Black Sheep Bistro (entrées $18), however, the ambiance is much more lively. The wooden bar, well-known for its rich variety of beers on tap attracts a good crowd. With beers like Trout River, The Shed, Otter Creek, and Bobcat's own signature brews, the bar is sure to please everyone. Complete with a wooden old-fashioned English-style bar back, and intricately carved gargoyle heads, the bar adds to the homey vibe that makes Bobcat such a unique Vermont favorite. Try the Bobcat for the ultimate finale to a day of lounging and hiking by Bristol Falls. It offers a rare escape from the bustle of campus and the offerings are sure to please. The Bobcat Cafe is located at 5 Main Street in Bristol.
(09/25/08 12:00am)
Author: Dina Magaril I haven't slept in over three days. I have bags under my eyes, a pallid complexion, and I buy the ends of cheese at the supermarket because I can't afford the real thing. I've been working two jobs, applying for grants, calling in favors from family, friends and from friends of families that I don't really know. Is this really the life of a Middlebury student, one might ask? What about all the fun and games, the theme parties and hand-holding and intellectual stimulation? It's called, "I Have Four More Months Before I Graduate and I'm Absolutely Terrified." Some of my fellow peers will never quite get what I'm going through. Some of you will graduate with few worries because of a quaint little trust fund waiting for you at home. Maybe you'll take the year off and backpack through Europe like you've always wanted, or perhaps you're just trying to find yourself before you decide what you really want to do with your life. Or maybe you're putting off getting a job for grad school, studying for your MCATs and LSATs and GREs to give it another go for four more years. I envy all of you. If I could fall back on the padding that is my nonexistent savings, or ask Mommy and Daddy for help, I'd do it in a second. Give me a life where I don't need to make one more decision about the "next step," or how I'll support myself, and I'd take it in a heartbeat. But sadly, I didn't spend my time at Middlebury in an efficient manner. I pursued such fruitless efforts as writing stories, reading Renaissance plays, working on the newspaper, and frequenting Two Brothers. My parents have already told me that this is it. They're out. My first loan payment is due on Feb. 21. My rent check is due shortly after. If I could offer some advice to any of you first-years out there, it would be this.1. Don't be an English major. Contrary to what CSO might tell you to make you feel better, there really are no jobs out there for you.2. Ladies: Scope out those eligible life partners early on. You'll be able to easily identify them by the angle of their popped collars and the ease of their financially-backed smiles.3. If you're paying full tuition at Middlebury, take this first semester for writing some convincing transfer essays. $45,000 a year without the guarantee of a job? What?! Are they kidding me? Go to a State School, young man - or better yet, enroll at your local community college. Not only will you instantly become a stellar student, but you can live at home and eat out of your parent's fridge.4. If you don't already have one, develop an interest in law or medicine.5. Consider joining the army. Or the navy. Or just go get some government job already.6. Schedule all those doctor's appointments you've been putting off. Did you know our health plans stop covering us when we graduate?7. Apply for Medicaid.8. If your family has any European roots, now's the time to apply for that double citizenship. An E.U. passport might as well be a golden ticket.9. Make good on your reality TV aspirations. I hear those girls from The Hills make, like, $1,000,000 per episode - get to it!10. Be sure to adequately prepare yourself early for the inevitable sting of that last, terrifying kick in the ass that'll land you amidst a world with no guarantees, no economic stability and - oh yeah - the possibility that we're going to wipe out the world as we know it in the next few years. Good luck. We'll need it.
(09/25/08 12:00am)
Author: Roz Vara The Vermont Folklife Center was filled to capacity Friday night as it welcomed the opening of its newest exhibit, "The Golden Cage: Mexican Migrant Workers and Vermont Dairy Farmers." Through a combination of photographs and interviews, the multimedia exhibit offers a glimpse into the life of Vermont's dairy farmers and migrant workers - who they are and what they hope for. "We want them [migrant workers] to be seen as fellow human beings, ordinary brothers, mothers and fathers, not just illegal aliens," said Chris Urban, the man behind the project. Urban, who conducted and recorded audio interviews with farmers and migrant workers throughout Addison County, worked in conjunction with photographer Caleb Kenna to create the exhibit. Both Urban and Kenna insist that the exhibit is in no way political; rather it is only an attempt to raise awareness in the community and the state at large. "We want to humanize the situation, to show that they are real people facing real issues, crossing boarders, riding in vans for days and living with the fear of being deported," Kenna said. "I would see workers around town and I always wondered who they were, where they came from and what they were doing here. I hoped that this project would answer some of those questions for us."Today there are roughly 2,000 migrant workers throuhout Vermont and almost 500 in Addison County alone. The majority of the workers hail from Mexico and earn $7 to $8 an hour in the state's dairy industry where they fill critical jobs as farm hands doing the majority of the milking, cleaning and general farm maintenance. Because most of the workers are living in the United States illegally, they are forced to live in isolation at the farms. Few have drivers licenses or speak English and many are frightened to leave the safe confines of the farm for fear of being caught and deported. Greg Sharrow is the Director of Education for the Folklife Center and worked closely with Urban and Kenna acting as a "cheerleader, facilitator and mentor" as the duo turned its initial idea into a powerful exhibit. Sharrow emphasized the lack of understanding there is about Vermont's migrant population. "People involved in farming understand it but this exhibit brings everyone else some understanding of the issues," she said. "I've talked to many people who say, 'How can it be that there are 2,000 migrants in Vermont? I've never seen a Mexican here.' The beauty of this exhibit is the attention that it brings to this hidden issue." While the migrant workers live in constant fear of being caught and deported, the farmers have similar sense of fear as Vermont's dairy industry has come to rely heavily on the cheap, dependable labor that the migrants provide. These feelings are reflected in the exhibit in an interview Urban conducted with a farmer, who said, "I would definitely prefer something different than the scenario that is in place at this time. It is uncomfortable to me as an American citizen to have to feel that I'm doing something wrong." The farmers do not feel good about having to employ illegal immigrants, but are often faced with no other choice, as there are few people willing to do manual labor for long hours."It's difficult because the farmers don't want to break the law," said Kenna, "but they do need dependable labor." Cheryl Connor works for the Addison County Farm Workers Coalition, an organization developed to "make the lives of the migrant workers a little bit easier in Addison County." The Coalition formed in response to the growing number of workers who have very limited access to health care, transportation and who struggled with the language barrier. "People need to see that Vermont has diversity and that it's good. We want Middlebury and Vermont to understand the value the migrant workers are to the dairy industry. Vermont would not be the same without farms and Vermont can't run its farms without migrant workers," said Connor. Connor worked in conjunction with a Middlebury College MiddView trip this fall and has helped construct a link between the College and the migrant community. Many students volunteer their time to help teach English or even translate for migrant workers as they receive healthcare."Middlebury students bring so much value to our coalition," Connor said. "They come in force and are so extremely helpful."Middlebury College senior Sara Blaise Huddleston '09 is one of those volunteers. She speaks fluent Spanish and has often helped workers in Addison County by driving those without transportation to local grocery stores. "I remember driving out one day to pick them up and it was really snowy and they were living in this little trailer next to the barn in the middle of nowhere. They basically had to stay in their houses. When I drove them places I was always really nervous about being pulled over because something as little as that could get them deported. It's so sad because Vermont needs them or else the dairy industry would collapse, and yet they have to live in such isolation." In what is perhaps one of the exhibit's most powerful photographs, a Mexican woman is shown in a sunny milking room standing near a cow, her back to the camera. Next to the woman is her infant son sleeping in a pink and green mosquito net hanging from the ceiling. The caption accompanying the photograph reads, "That's the way things are. You are trapped, from the house to work, unless you have your papers in order."The exhibit will be on display until Dec. 18 at the Vision and Voice Documentary Workspace in the Folklife Center.
(09/25/08 12:00am)
Author: Aylie Baker Two years ago, eco-visionary and human rights attorney Van Jones urged a packed Dana auditorium to consider the power behind inter-group collaboration in the environmental justice movement: "Who are you going to take with you?" he asked. "Who are you going to leave behind?"Saturday Sept. 20 marked the start of a two-day conference first inspired by Jones. At Middlebury's second annual Synergy retreat, more than 50 students, faculty and administration representatives gathered at Camp Common Ground in Starksboro, Vt. to discuss collaboration around the issue of food access.The retreat could not fall at a more pertinent time. The spike in global food prices over the last two years has sent many countries reeling, particularly those in the developing world. Just weeks after Eric Schlosser's talk on Fast Food Nation, food access isalso resonating with a variety of student interests here at Middlebury, including increased food demand in India and China, biofuels, and migrant workers in Vermont."Everyone relates to food," explained student organizer Dave Dolginow '09 of this year's topic, "it's an essential part of our common humanity and reveals a lot about our individual and collective cultures and communities."Indeed, one of the primary successes of the retreat was its ability to involve participants from different backgrounds and initiatives in a number of teambuilding activities. "People made some great connections with each other this weekend," remarked student organizer Deborah Wakefield '11, who described the retreat as "year-blind." Whether gathering around tables of local organic food or kicking back at the barn dance, the retreat was a great opportunity to get to know people that you may not typically interact with."Guest speakers from the faculty and community were eager to interact with students. On Sunday morning Jay Leshinsky of the Organic Garden kicked off his shoes to join the circle, offering advice when he felt pertinent, but by in large allowing the discussion to stay student-based."Student activists have become so effective today because they are not hampered by a rigid or hierarchical approach," said John Elder, Professor of Environmental Studies and English and American Literatures. "What I liked about the Synergy retreat was the deeply democratic nature of the process … Every voice can be heard, and a true consensus arrived at."In his speech on Saturday, Elder drew upon his experience donning a maple tree costume several years ago to stress the importance of inclusion
(09/18/08 12:00am)
Author: Tess Russell On Sept. 10, acclaimed author Eric Schlosser - most famous for "Fast Food Nation," his radical critique of "the All-American meal" - addressed a packed Dana Auditorium in which the student crowd overflowed onto the stage. Schlosser, who began his career at The Atlantic Monthly and has since written for Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair and The Nation, was on campus in connection with the Meet the Press Lecture Series. Co-sponsored by Brainerd and Atwater Commons and the Department of English and American Literatures, Meet the Press has brought reporters and other newsmakers to the College since its inception in 2003.Scholar in Residence Sue Halpern introduced Schlosser by invoking the tradition of muckraking, an early form of sensationalist American journalism that sought to expose the harsh realities of industrialized society and reached its peak at the beginning of the 20th century under forerunners like Upton Sinclair and Ida Tarbell. Halpern identified Schlosser and documentarian Michael Moore as possibly our most visible modern-day muckrakers.When Schlosser took the podium, he was quick to point out that there are many other contemporary investigative journalists doing good work that goes widely unread in today's harsh publishing climate, but not before good-naturedly chiding his audience for staying indoors on such a beautiful day. He soon explained that his lecture would be more concerned with his own process of writing in general than with any of his specific subjects."It's my old-fashioned aim to leave my familiar surroundings and explore worlds rarely depicted in the mainstream media," said Schlosser, "to bring to public attention the realities and the voices that you never hear. It's a great time to be a muckraker, because everywhere you look in society, the levels of corruption are extraordinary."He would come back to this theme again, noting Fast Food Nation's primary success among young people."I wasn't intentionally targeting the book towards young readers, but it has affected them the most," he said. "Your generation has been exposed to more disinformation, to more outright lies crafted by people trying to deceive you, than mine was. I see my work as a pushback against that and it is encouraging to me that the people who have been the most targeted by advertising have also been the most willing to question the practices of these [fast food] companies.Still, Schlosser maintained that even when his research has taken him to the lowest depths of misery - as with his current undertaking, an exposé of the nation's deeply flawed prison system - he has never felt depressed or begun to view our societal problems with a sense of futility. Instead, his work has made him "angry and energized.""I never bought into the idea of inevitability," he said. "If you don't believe things are inevitable, then they don't have to be the way they are. That's an empowering notion, that all problems have direct causes and can be changed. But it can be amazing how long it takes for that change to happen."Schlosser cited the recent agreement between Whole Foods Market and the Florida-based Coalition of Immokolee Workers, with which he is active, as an example of that sort of positive change. He criticized, however, the narrow, elitist approach of the Slow Food Movement in general."Slow Food dictates that food should be three things - good, clean and fair," he said. "That last component refers to social justice and that's where the movement has been less effective. Does it matter if a piece of fruit is local and organic if it's harvested by slave labor? The scope needs to be broadened to bring in ordinary working people and one of the big concerns is making food cheaper versus making sure Americans have a decent minimum wage. The stagnation of household wages has corresponded directly with the rise of the fast food industry in this country."Because his projects tend to make public information that powerful corporations and institutions have spent large sums of money trying to suppress, Schlosser has often found himself under attack. He stressed the importance of transparency in his work, referencing his time-consuming but necessary system of footnoting that allows readers to access his sources firsthand, if they are so inclined.In Schlosser's mind, the most important measure of success is how his work is received by his disenfranchised sources."One of the best lessons I've ever gotten is, 'There But For The Grace of God Go I,'" he said. "I've realized how thin the line is between privilege and devastation - between who is fortunate and who is miserable - and I've gotten a sense of our shared humanity. If the people I write about feel that I have accurately portrayed what they have to say, then I've done my job.Finally, Schlosser warned Middlebury students that, while we should enjoy our idyllic environment here, we should never become complacent and "mistake this for the real world.""I can't urge you strongly enough to use the knowledge you acquire here to leave your comfort zone," he said, "and to push yourselves into the real world. It is so fulfilling to see reality clearly and not to live in a state of denial and self-absorption, not just because of the effect that you have on others, but because the process of taking those risks is a pleasure in itself."
(09/18/08 12:00am)
Author: Lizzie Zevallos Tents sprout across the lawn of Marbleworks every Wednesday and Saturday morning from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30p.m., creating a one-stop-shopping enterprise for all of your gourmet desires. See if you can wake yourself up before mid-day this weekend and take a look at (and a taste from) five of our favorite vendors.C IS FOR COOKIE LOVESoftness is key at this friendly trove of baked delights. Sample one of its many delicious and wittily named flavors, including "Forbidden Love", "Addicted to Love" and "Mother's Love," and your love for cookies will reach a new height. Want more for later? No problem. Vermont Cookie Love also serves "DOUGH-ritos", frozen dough wrapped like a burrito, so you can savor these delectable confections in the privacy of your own home or dormitory. Ask co-owner and cookie expert Paul Seyler to demonstrate how to make a beautiful cookie with that textured "homemade" appearance so you can impress friends, hall-mates or that special someone. Using local natural ingredients and a mastery of the craft, Seyler and his wife, Suzanna Miller, hope to revolutionize their product the way American Flatbread and Ben and Jerry's did with theirs. So be part of the revolution while you scarf down a buttered, sugary disk of dough. SAY BYE TO AUNT JEMIMAIf you are looking for an authentic Vermont gift to send home to the family this season, there is nothing better than the sweet golden maple syrup of Addison County. Tell mom and dad to chuck Aunt Jemima out the window and replace her with Williams Farms' Grade A Medium or Dark Amber syrup. If you are not a pancake or waffle person, sample its maple jelly and maple cream which are both perfect spreads for crackers, toast, English muffins and bagels. Now the glistening, viscous sap that drips from Vermont's maple trees can find its place in almost every breakfast meal. And its just-right flavor comes from years of experience: Lucille Williams boasts of a time when she and her husband, Rob Williams, still used horses and oxen rather than tractors. Although both are nearing 80, their syrup is young in spirit, especially with the help of two more generations of Williams' family syrup makers. WINE & CHEESE PARTY - BLUE LEDGE FARMS STYLEOur image of Vermont outside of Middlebury tends to be a green pastoral landscape dotted with the robust black-and-white splotches of grazing cows. Consequently, Vermont's goats are often left out of the picture. Blue Ledge Farms, however, gives these delicate dots the credit they deserve with a popular array of award-winning goat cheeses. For pure simplicity, begin with the classic crottina, a white-mold ripened dainty cheese aged for three weeks, or go bold with the spreadable fresh pepper chevre, which goes wonderfully with crackers at your next classy, college wine party. Co-founders Greg Bernhardt and Hannah Sessions began their cheese-making endeavors in 2000 by reading books and using the scientific trial-and-error method. Their efforts proved successful when their cheese was chosen for the 100 Greatest Cheeses in Wine Spectator Magazine. They didn't let it get to their heads, though, and Blue Ledge Farm cheese remains entirely unique to the Northeast. THE ONE STOP FARM SHOPHere, you will find a one-stop emporium of certified organic vegetables, as well as fresh chicken, turkey and whole or half pork. With all products grown on rich clay soil, the Singing Cedars Farmstead prides itself in its high nutritious quality and exceptional taste. In 2006, co-owners, Scott Greene and Suzanne Young decided to use their veggies to create a mouth-watering homemade salsa made from six different kinds of tomatoes, three types of onions, six peppers, a hint of garlic, a touch of cilantro and a perfect amount of parsley. Sample this colorful concoction for a taste that beats anything bought in the store. NO POISON IN THESE APPLESDo you want a red, crisp piece of deliciousness to begin your Saturday morning? Look no further. The Stevens Orchard stand has the widest variety of apples at the market, even including those rare, "antique," varieties that you cannot find in the stores. It's most popular kind is Honeycrisp, of which it has been the largest producer in Vermont for several years. For only 50 cents a pop, the stand also serves "Honeycrisp Seconds," damaged apples which have nothing wrong with them except being "cosmetically ugly," according to co-owner, Bob Fields. Located in the Champlain Valley, Stevens Orchard dates back to the late 1800s when barges would pick up these fresh delights and take them en-route to New York City. Fields and his partner, Karen Blair, moved to Vermont from California in 2000 to restore the neglected orchard and plant 4,000 new trees. The duo does not see the orchard as an enterprise but instead a passion.
(09/18/08 12:00am)
Author: [no author name found] From our bookshelves, iPods and laptops to your Thursday morning breakfast table, here are our recommendations for the best of pop culture. Click on, check out and press play on these favorites - because there is a world outside "the bubble.""After Dark"By: Haruki Murakami (2004, translated into English 2007)This is the first thing I've read by Murakami. The entire book takes place in real time over the course of one night. Eri is beautiful and withdrawn, Mari is her loner sister that we meet in a Denny's at midnight and Takahashi plays blues in a basement when he's not hanging out with the owner of a love hotel. It's got sex, violence, surrealism... it's like reading a Dali painting. - Grace Duggan"The Last Mistress"Dir.: Catherine Breillat(IFC Films, 104 mins.)Maybe the Rivkin gender theory is going to my head, but this female-directed, French period piece writhes and bewitches with a winning combination of frankness and emotionality. While occasionally crude, the intellectual friction Breillat crafts in her focus on the power struggle of masculine and feminine sexuality is way above "The Other Boleyn Girl." - Melissa Marshall
(09/11/08 12:00am)
Author: Aylie Baker Robert Frost's cabin is going to have a new resident. In the Breadloaf Inn, he regales visitors from his frame above the mantel. On weekends, Fire and Ice becomes the local haunt for college students and towns people alike. Indeed, in a town which was once the summer stomping ground of acclaimed poet Robert Frost, Middlebury's announcement of the Robert Frost Writer-in-residence seems no big surprise.The new position, to be filled in 2009, comes on the heels of the vandalism of Frost's cabin in Ripton, Vt. last winter - a case which shocked locals and drew international press attention. The cabin, which is located on the property of Frost's Homer Noble Farmhouse and is now designated a National Historic Landmark, was Frost's summer home from 1939 until he died in 1963. It was damaged last December by a group of local high school students who had selected the cabin for a party. As part of their sentencing for the vandalism of the cabin, the 28 offenders were required to take part in one of two classes taught by Professor of English and Creative Writing Jay Parini in a May workshop. "I'm not under any illusion that this will transform their lives," remarked Parini prior to the course, "but I do have a particularly strong faith in the power of poetry to transform minds."When Parini led a workshop for the students this past spring, he referenced one of Frost's most famous poems, The Road Not Taken. The first stanza brings readers deep into a yellow wood, where a fork arises in the path and the traveler is forced to choose between the two. To extend the metaphor, Parini insists that many high school students are at a point in their lives where they too find themselves in the woods. It is important not to dwell on the past, but rather to abandon any tendencies towards myopia for a more positive outlook towards the future."I agree with Robert Frost - poetry can be restorative," said Parini. The workshop was a chance for the students to reflect on their lives. "I think poetry clarifies experience," said Parini, who loosely defined poetry as "a language adequate to our experience."While the vandalism certainly contributed to the establishment of the fund, talk of adding a position for a poet was long in the works, explained Parini, who is also a Frost biographer. In its most basic function, the fellow would act as a caretaker of the property, preventing any future intrusions. But the fellow would also serve as a living presence in the house, said Parini, helping to reinvoke that very feel of Frost."Frost is the presiding genius of the area," expressed Parini, quickly adding, "I mean that in the Latin sense of the word - he is the presiding spirit in these parts, in all of the North Country." While he was undoubtedly "the dominant voice for Vermont ... he was also an immensely gifted naturalist." A true field guide to the region, Frost's poems contain references to various landmarks as well as local flora and fauna. Given Frost's legacy, the post has generated a lot of excitement. "I think it will be a tremendous addition to the Creative Writing department," said Parini. The selection committee is currently looking for a poet - preferably someone only just embarking on his or her literary career who will act as the cabin's caretaker and will teach classes at the Breadloaf campus. But most importantly, in a place that once inspired Frost, the hope is to inspire creativity in generations of future poets, young and old.
(09/11/08 12:00am)
Author: Rachael Jennings Throughout a seemingly endless winter sandwiched by a painfully shorter warmer season, Middlebury students spend hours upon hours working on schoolwork, attending classes and creating some fun in the utopian Vermont mountains. But come May, everyone is off for a trip with the family, a job at a summer camp, a backpacking trip, waitressing, a research position,, summer classes and countless other summer activities. When the College's professors (who also endure the winter and the work of the academic year) pack up for the break, they also find some of their own adventure …After demonstrating in front of the White House against the war in Vietnam on New Year's Eve, few of Nancy O'Connor's friends suspected that she would take up a job for "the man." O'Connor is now the Chair of the French Department at the College, but when she was 18, she interned for the Defense Department in Washington, D.C. at Buzzard's Point. Though she recalls the job as "not particularly funny, nor interesting, nor crazy," it was her first. To kill time, O'Connor read thousands of pages - The Grapes of Wrath and Magic Mountain, among other literature - and wrote lengthy letters to her friends. "They didn't give me much to do," commented O'Connor. The downsides? Waking up at 6 a.m. to catch the bus for the long ride and having to admit to her friends that she was working for the government.One of Assistant Professor of Education Jonathan Miller-Lane's most memorable summer job experiences was digging ditches for a construction company. Spending a year between high school and college in Yemen where his parents were stationed, he joined a group of workers from Eritrea that had come to Yemen for employment with the aim of sending its wages home to its families living across the Red Sea. As one of few American teenagers, he was able to overcome his inexperience and unfamiliarity and ultimately learn a lot in his position. Though Miller-Lane had practice at splitting firewood when he was young, nothing prepared him for the quickly blistering hands and eight-hour shifts under oppressively dry, hot air. "The heat was a little more intense than in New England," said Miller-Lane. Yet what he remembers most is the "absolute tyranny" of the supervisor, who would fire workers on a whim, and the fear of these workers who could be sent home so abruptly. "At any moment the unpredictable thug who was in charge could transform their lives for the worst," said Miller-Lane. Even with this fear, there was a silent solidarity among the workers and Miller-Lane remembered feeling very connected to the other men as they walked - shovels over their shoulders - toward the dump truck that took them home.Julia Alvarez, writer-in-residence, spent the summer after her junior year at Middlebury working at the snack bar in the barn at Bread Loaf. Given that she had not asserted herself as a writer yet, she figured that she should experience the next best thing - "hanging out around writers and people who loved writing" during the School of English and the Writer's Conference. What she remembers was not an unusual job experience, but an unusual experience for a somewhat pedestrian job. Amid the routine of making shakes and creative snacks - such as the "Angel on Horseback," which was a hotdog with a wedge of melted cheese in the middle - a strange looking man appeared in the Barn. He requested simply a glass of water. After a few refills, Alvarez's busy co-worker told the stranger that there was a faucet nearby and he could help himself, but Alvarez filled a few more glasses. That night he followed her to her room, insisting that she was his soul mate and asking her to look up at the stars and watch how he could "make them move around." She was scared but pretended to listen, thinking that he would hitchhike out of her life. He disappeared for weeks but always found his way back into the picture - even years later, when Alvarez taught in five different states. "I always thought, phew, that's over," said Alvarez. "But then he'd come back again, follow me around, saying that without each other, we were both doomed." Finally, Alvarez filed a restraining order against the stranger. Though startling, Alvarez noted, "that summer gave me a story to tell like no other job ever has, and for a writer I guess that counts for a lot."With a father from France and a mother from India, Director of Health and Wellness Educationi Jyoti Daniere's life has always revolved around food. When she was sixteen, she and her older sister Amrita decided to open a crepe stand in their quaint Vermont hometown. Underneath the staircase of a small antique shop they positioned a homey roadside stand and began their dream of owning a restaurant. Equipped with fine-tuned recipes, flour, eggs, fruit, chicken and the "start-up capital" their supportive father provided, Daniere and her sister were ready for an exciting summer. What the summer brought instead was hours in the heat with the inability to go swimming with friends, sisterly bickering and an insignificant amount of spending money. When her sister was ready to head off for college in the fall, the girls abandoned their restaurant ambitions. Sometimes, when the pair is searching for a good place to eat, they claim that they should leave their jobs and open a French-Indian fusion place. "All we need to think about is that hot, lonely and busy summer many years ago," said Daniere, "and we sigh and sit back down at our desks."
(09/11/08 12:00am)
Author: Melissa Marshall A fan from Córdoba, a lamp from Egypt, a wine bottle from France, a scarf from Ecuador, a rug from Sweden - while first-years scramble to assemble rooms as well-rounded as their applications, mine glows as diverse and glossy as a Middlebury pamphlet. Unfortunately, just as I do not have memories of smiling interracial groups lounging in the perpetual sunshine, I also have no memories of these exotic locales - minus my carpet hunt in a Conshohocken Ikea. No, I am a stay behind, a senior who did not go abroad. Though privy to jealousy-inspiring interior designings, stay behinds are also subjected to epicly-portioned narratives of hypothermia in Edinburgh and street-sign swiping shenanigans in Alexandria while my most interesting tale involves the discovery of an abandoned table on Battell Beach. And since one's room is such a reflection of one's self, I figured that my music collection should play vicariously and give the impression of worldliness as well. I mean, my iPod would keep me company in lieu of a collected boy on walks back to Starr on Saturday nights so I am sure that it is up to the task of increasing my pretension level. So, whether you are prepping to blow off the bubble for a year or would prefer confusion to the inanity of English lyrics, pin these international artists to your playlists. Ever since reading "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and the curb stomping of the dollar by the euro, I have wanted to visit Prague. But instead of paying $721 for a ticket, I can be transported to the Czech Republic for $10.99 with the alt-art quintet Miou Miou. Framed around the girlish, barely-there vocals of Karolina Dytrtova, the Prague-based promenade poppers released their first album in the U.S. on April 29th. While she calls Prague home, Dytrotova's laces the band's sunny arrangements with French lyrics - the incomprehensibility of the music for most Americans as well as Czechs adding an ethereal quality to the already light La La Grande Finale. While occasionally Stereolab-like in their stylings, Miou Miou interweaves inventiveness through their impressive roll call of instrumentation. From the driving force of clapping in "A Lete de la Saint Martin 68" to the bongos in "Dans Le Miroir de Tes Yeux" to the sublime synthesizers in "Le Petite Punk," this freshman effort shines clean and gauzy while still straddling the prog-rock divide. Navigating the maze of cardboard laden SUVs on Saturday, I was transported across the pond as the bass line of "Violet Hill" seemed the common conversation between vehicles. However, the Anglo-adult contemporary rock of Coldplay's newest album was heavily influenced by the Mali based band, Tinariwen. Formed in 1982 in a camp of Tuareg rebels, the quartet's French and Tamashek lyrics serve societal change and politically charged messages that translate equally as well for afternoon contemplation as they do for social gatherings. From the reflective and nostalgic guitar-picking of "Izarharh Tenere" to the persistent percussion and layered vocals of "Assouf," Tinariwen's 2007 release Aman Imam is as cohesively catchy as it is politically conscious. While I may still snuggle up to my returned travelers in the hopes that their Steven Spielberg script worthy adventures may rub off in osmosis, the rescued coffee table turned common room centerpiece already bears the nicks and stains stating that maybe Vermont is a veritable abroad experience in itself.
(05/08/08 12:00am)
On the surface, Fulton Professor of Humanities and Director of Literary Studies Stephen Donadio seems to fit right into the academic archetype. He looks just as you would expect a person to look who has been a professor for four decades, serves as the founding director of the College's Literary Studies Program and is currently the editor of a prestigious literary magazine, the New England Review. He wears a wreath of white hair and dresses in the cardigans and tweeds of cold-weather university life. His sentences are elegant and deliberate, appearing unhurriedly and in perfect form as though Strunk and White themselves were composing them backstage.
In actuality, Donadio is a veritable cowboy of academia. He is probably the only professor on earth who instructs his students to ignore everything that has been written about "Ulysses" and pick it up as though they have found it in a hotel room. He does without the fanfare of critical literature, preferring "encounters that are without training wheels," in which "you don't have anything to rely on and you have to figure it out for yourself." This is literary study of the off-roading variety.
Perhaps one of the reasons Donadio will always be a bit of a rebel among academics is the unlikely place from which he hails. Raised in Dyker Heights, a working-class neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y., he didn't see college as a possibility until Brandeis offered him a scholarship. After this initial plunge, he would never really reemerge from the collegiate world - from Brandeis he went on to get a PhD at Columbia University, where he then taught for many years. It was there that he met his future wife, Emmie, now the chief curator of the College's Museum of Art. Donadio began teaching at the Bread Loaf School of English while still on the Columbia faculty. In 1977, he made the full-time transition to Middlebury College and created the Literary Studies Program, in which for the first time students could study global literary traditions at Middlebury.
Needless to say, Donadio's real education happened outside of the classroom. At Brandeis, he enjoyed the camaraderie of a handful of transplanted New York intellectuals like Phillip Rahv and Irving Howe, as well as the poet JV Cunningham. Later, he would say admiringly of his studies with Rahv, "intellectual argument was a kind of contact sport"- perhaps this was the inspiration for Donadio's unorthodox teaching style.
After Brandeis, the young Donadio won a Fulbright to France. He happily reported that he spent this time in its entirety attending the French cinémathèque. After returning to New York, he became very close with Lionel Trilling. Trilling virtually got Donadio through graduate school, for which he had little patience. Today, Donadio's position as editor of the New England Review puts him in constant contact with the goings on in the literary world beyond the ivory tower.
I sat down with Donadio for a talk about life, literature and really great jazz. After all, according to this professor, learning is all about having a conversation.
Middlebury Campus (MC): Were there any formative books or teachers that pointed you in the direction of literature?
Stephen Donadio (SD): I think that the first authors that I read that allowed me to conclude that literature was something that might occupy the attention of serious people were Joyce and Hemingway. They made me think that it wasn't just about being good in school. It was about addressing first things in some fundamental way. And that making literature wasn't just a sign of one's sensitivity - there was more at stake.
I had a range of teachers, but probably the teacher who influenced me the most was someone who had moved on to another high school, but still had a following of students. He arranged evenings at his house when he would invite high school students to have dinner with students who had gone on to college, and there would be a lot of arguing about books and reading and so on … it made the idea of going to college thinkable to me. There was actually some place to go, there were actually people who did it. He was a terrific reader, a prodigious reader, he read everything, so he always knew about what was going on and what was being published. A lot of great conversations. And he meant a lot to me.
MC: How did you first come in contact with authors like Joyce and Hemingway?
SD: By poking around in the library, following the scent. Not because they were taught. I wasn't taking any courses in high school in which those would be the authors taught. And I had a friend who had gotten to be keen on Hemingway. It was something we shared, a kind of keen sense. But it was precisely because these were outside of the curriculum that they mattered. The curriculum was the curriculum - that was what you did in school, but that didn't really make you a reader or someone who was interested in literature on a certain level. It was what you read outside, what you chose outside, what you found outside.
I would say that a lot of my education came from finding things in bookstores, just picking up things and finding out what existed, with one thing leading to another. When I started buying books, I bought a lot of books that were remaindered. If you want to know about my early education just find out what was remaindered in New York in those years, and that's the stuff that I read. I got a book of Wallace Stevens poems. I had no idea. I think I got it for about 59 cents, and I thought "this is interesting."
MC: Is teaching a calling for you?
SD: Teaching for me has always been a way of keeping alive possibilities of conversation. Those possibilities don't exist everywhere. They certainly don't exist in every institution. But I knew from very early on that I wanted to spend my life reading and thinking about literature and thinking about literature really requires talking to other people. That's the way you bring your sense of something into focus. Writing is a way of doing that too, but you can't write in isolation - it has to be part of a conversation.
MC: I've heard you talk about viewing literature outside of the academic context. It seems to be a theme of your teaching.
SD: It has always been important to me to think about literature as having some connection, not a simple connection, but some connection, to your life, and the deepest aspects of your experience. I've always resisted programmatic readings of literature, which I find very tedious and reductive - the isolation of particular themes and the endless harping on those themes I find boring beyond belief.
MC: If you could have tea with any thinker or author of the past, who would it be?
SD: Well, sometimes I think I'd like to be at the table with Henry James and Turgenev and Flaubert and Conrad, assuming that we could get them all together. I'd be interested in an argument between Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh - I'd like to be there for that. And I'd like to have an extended conversation with Norman Mailer-I spoke to him once or twice but not at any length - whose recent death is a source of great sadness for me.
MC: Which author would you choose as your bowling partner?
SD: I don't bowl.
Written by ASHLEY GAMELL
(05/08/08 12:00am)
Author: Ashley Gamell and Maddie Oatman "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"by Jonathan Safran Foer Review by Maddie OatmanIn "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," Jonathan Safran Foer creates a remarkably convincing portrayal of nine-year-old Oskar Schell, a slightly annoying, lovable and insatiably curious boy dealing with life after losing his father to the collapse of the Twin Towers on Sep. 11, 2001. Treading the line between the tender and the bizarre, Foer's novel captures a wide range of characters with indelible precision and compassion. His novel contemplates grief while never being overly morose, and is told through the eyes of a child dealing with adult matters. By incorporating photographs and manipulating conventional textual aesthetics, Foer also reinvents the form of his novel, so our understanding is based not only on his persuasive renderings of people but on the dynamic and unusual style with which he portrays their thoughts and experiences. Oskar spends his days dreaming up peculiar yet practical inventions, memorizing encyclopedic factoids wearing only white, and exhausting the adults in his life with a perpetual barrage of questions regarding the hows and whys of his Manhattanite existence. Oskar's breathless narrative voice realistically depicts the meandering mind of a hyper nine-year-old - "I could invent a teakettle that reads in Dad's voice, so I could fall asleep," Oskar excitedly thinks, "or maybe a set of kettles that sings the chorus of 'Yellow Submarine,' which is a song by the Beatles, who I love, because entomology is one of my raisons d'être, which is a French expression that I know." After finding a set of clues he thinks may lead him to more information about his father, Oskar embarks on a journey through New York City, meeting a host of eccentric individuals along the way. Foer intersperses this journey with letters and flashbacks from Oskar's grandparents who, after fleeing Europe, are dealing with their own grief and renewal. The text may seem choppy and fragmentary to the less adventurous reader, but it is all part of Foer's postmodernist strategy of incorporating multimedia in an imaginative and very contemporary story. Written in 2005, it was also one of the first novels to deal directly with 9/11. Foer does not shy away from the emotional intensity of the subject, and yet his multi-dimensional novel is not overly sentimental, but provides a refreshing and rewarding read"Grendel"by John GardnerReview by Ashley GamellYou're probably familiar with "Beowulf," that bloody classic of early English Literature. However, you may not have read John Gardner's parallel 1971 novel "Grendel," and you should. This modern riff on the Old English story has become a modern classic of nearly equal proportions. Re-writing the "Beowulf" myth nearly 1,000 years after the original, Gardner tells the tale from the perspective of the ultimate anti-hero. Grendel, the main character and narrator of the novel, is a man-eating monster renowned in literary history for disemboweling the good citizens of Hrothgar's medieval kingdom.In line with his choice of protagonist, Gardner's book is deliciously outrageous and utterly refined. The author dishes out throaty, stinging mouthfuls of consonants in keeping with the English language's Germanic roots. Daily monster life becomes alliterative and elegant - even Grendel's most gory banter is expressed with sensitivity, wit and style. "She tasted of urine and spleen, which made me spit," says the title character on consuming an old woman. "Sweet mulch for yellow blooms. Such are the tiresome memories of a shadow-shooter, earth-rim-roamer, walker of the world's weird wall." Gardner's prose is also brimming with philosophy - the parable includes a nihilist Dragon and several confused theologians. In the hallowed tradition of writers writing about writing, Grendel is concerned with the way words shape the world. He is repulsed by his oafish mother, who has lost her command of language, and fascinated by the harpist and storyteller of the human realm. In fact, for a man-eater, Grendel is surprisingly obsessed with human affairs. We wonder if he is a monster at all.With the help of Gardner's delightfully casual characterizations, we see that the heroes and beasts of Beowulf are not so different from ourselves. Grendel himself could be any one of us on a surly day - "'Why can't these creatures discover a little dignity?' I ask the sky. The sky says nothing, predictably. I make a face, uplift a defiant middle finger, and give an obscene little kick." Gardner, like his protagonist, is often reckless and incensed. The result is a mix of brutality and brilliance, a man-eating monster of a novel.Synesthesiac's Summer Reading List:"Nightwood," Djuna Barnes"The Beauty of the Husband," Anne Carson"The Body Artist." Don DeLillo"Pilgrim at Tinker Creek," Annie Dillard"Anecdotes of Destiny and Ehrengard," Isak Dinesen "Unaccustomed Earth," Jhumpa Lahiri"The Time-Traveler's Wife," Audrey Niffenegger"Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found," Suketu Mehta"Sputnik Sweetheart," Haruki Murakami"Everything that Rises Must Converge," Flannery O'Conner
(05/08/08 12:00am)
Author: Dina Magaril "Here's the deal. I'm looking for some help. You'll need to be up at five in the morning and working till six o'clock at night and it's going to be dirty, dusty, smelly dangerous work for about 10 dollars an hour. So how many of you want to do this. Just raise your hands please."Sheryl Connor, a co-founder of the Addison County Migrant Workers Coalition often begins discussions regarding issues faced by migrant workers in Vermont with the above-mentioned speech. Her plea for help reflects the serious issue of securing workers who are willing to work under less than desirable conditions for as many as six days a week. No one ever raises their hands, a fact that doesn't surprise Connor, and would not surprise the majority of the farmers in Addison County."No one wants to do this job," said Connor regarding the day-to-day job description required of dairy farm work. Connor and her husband own a dairy farm with nearly 250 cows that need to be milked twice a day, fed and washed. "Without these migrant workers, dairy farming would not be able to survive," she said. Four years ago, Connor's husband was involved in a serious farming accident, requiring him to be hospitalized for several weeks. Connor recalled hiring some workers temporarily, but to her dismay they lasted for less than a week before they left for less-stressful climates. It was at this point that Connor began employing migrant workers, many of whom had come from Mexico looking for work. "Our first Mexican workers were just like family to us," said Connor, referring to the husband-wife pair who came to work on the Connor's farm along with the young woman's brother for over a year. Associate Professor of Spanish Gloria Gonzalez-Zenteno has been working with Connor and other members of the coalition in conjunction with her independent book project entitled "Invisible Mexico." Through a compilation of interviews Gonzalez hopes to tell the story of the Mexican migrant worker population living in Vermont, or as she said, the pioneering immigrants in Vermont. "I say pioneer because in Vermont we are seeing the beginnings of the process of a new, very young immigrant community being formed," said Gonzalez-Zenteno. But like with any new community, this one too comes with its own set of issues regarding stereotypes and prejudice."People are distrustful and afraid of others when they have had no personal contact with them," continued Gonzalez-Zenteno, referring to the often-homogeneous nature of the racial breakdown of the Addison community. "Five, 10 years ago, the distrust was much less," she said, adding that negative depictions of this population on the news is one of the main factors that is propagating prejudice. A fabricated image coupled with little interaction of with members of the community is a disheartening fact that Gonzalez-Zenteno, as well as other members of the coalition, is hoping to address.Laura Budzyna '08 was one of the students in Gonzalez-Zenteno's 2006 class "The New U.S. Latino Writings," who was deeply affected by the community service aspect of her coursework. The class' service component involved student involvement in accompanying workers to medical appointments and offering their translation services wherever necessary."I was visiting a pregnant woman whose husband worked on a dairy farm that basically needed companionship," said Budzyna, who went from visiting the woman once a week to bi-weekly meetings, including one during the summer. "We were very connected." While studying abroad in Chile, Budzyna received an e-mail from her former professor offering her a research assistant position and language coordinator responsibilities for Gonzalez-Zenteno's independent project. Budzyna accepted and spent this past year going from farm to farm conducting interviews with workers who had been in Vermont anywhere from several months to several years. Through her research, Budzyna saw a clear need in the migrant worker population that could not be adequately serviced in one class semester. During Winter Term Budzyna decided to take matters into her own hands and started a group on campus that would assist migrant workers in various areas including teaching English and offering interpretation services. Budzyna teamed up with Michael Fletcher '08 and the two applied to the Tree House Fund for a grant that would enable the group to purchase supplies to aid in teaching, including such basics as notebooks, dry erase boards and reimbursement for gas. Additionally, Fletcher is one of several students who visit a farm weekly, where he meets with a 23-year-old Mexican dairy farm worker. While Fletcher, as well as almost any other volunteer involved in teaching English, has seen tremendous improvement in his student's language ability, he cites the social aspect of the Middlebury program as his main reason for staying involved."Many of these guys are working 80 hours a week with no contact with Americans or the opportunity to integrate into American culture. We talk to them and teach them English but we're also providing a social outlet and friendship," said Fletcher.The student group cites the help they have received from the Alliance for Civic Engagement (ACE) as integral to their survival. "They're really the people that facilitate the link between the students and the outside community that is involved [with these migrant workers]," said Fletcher.When Gonzalez-Zenteno came to Middlebury in 1996, she estimated that there were no migrants workers living in Vermont. Then, in about 2005, Gonzalez-Zenteno began to hear from various acquaintances that a small community of Mexicans was living in Vermont. Gonzalez-Zenteno, who is Mexican, made it her mission to find these people and speak to them about their experiences."For me, personally, going from a situation where I am living in a community that doesn't resemble me at all to having people I can communicate with in my own language and culture was really exciting for me," said Gonzalez-Zenteno. She said she recognized her unique position as an ambassador between the students she was teaching and the Mexican workers that she wanted to teach and the farmers they were working for, nearly all of whom speak little to no Spanish. Gonzalez-Zenteno envisioned her community service project based class as an ideal opportunity for students at Middlebury to use their Spanish outside the classroom setting. "[These students] didn't have to wait to go abroad to advance their language skills," said Gonzalez, who added that the students were an integral part of the project, whose services were invaluable to working with migrant workers. As an educator, Gonzalez-Zenteno felt personally responsible for combating the negative rhetoric that exists about these groups both through community awareness and by providing the workers she visits with the tools they need to express themselves in a culture that is often impatient with foreigners. "There's always a need for something," said Gonzalez-Zenteno regarding her work. While Gonzalez-Zenteno and Budzyna are confident that the service projects they are involved with will continue to grow and reach more people, the two admit that there are still many loose ends that need to be addressed."We should be reaching the farmers too and teaching them Spanish," said Gonzalez-Zenteno, adding that time constraints of the job often do not make this a very viable option.The Coalition's future plans center around securing documentation for workers so "they're not fearing for their life in prison when they're out in the street or in a car or anywhere," said Connor, being quick to add that while Middlebury is a generally safe place from local police, state police and border police pose the greatest threats to many of these workers' security.And while
Budzyna may be graduating this year, she is confident the younger members of the group will continue her enthusiasm and expand both in size and scope. "[The group] has become really relevant and popular, and students are finding the prospect of using Spanish in a real life context to be very appealing," she said.
(05/08/08 12:00am)
Author: [no author name found] To the Editor:In 1968 several friends and I were taking a very taxing yet worthwhile English literature course and it came time to take a pre-A. (I have no idea whether there still are pre-As at Middlebury. They were "previously announced examinations" - scheduled tests.) This one wasn't easy - it took each of our smarts to come up with the unique individual response this course demanded. After class, over coffee in the Crest Room, one guy asked, "What did you get for Question 5?" "Jeff," my friend Goldie said, "there were four questions." "You know," Jeff said, "the one that started, 'Affirm your integrity by affixing your monicker...'" Mind you, Jeff had been up for several days cramming himself full of knowledge and various apothecary products in order to perform at his finest. "I got into this great riff about integrity and affirmation. Wrote half a blue book on it." "Uh, Jeff," said Goldie, "you answered the Honor Code." In that moment Jeff cemented his place in '60s Middlebury community lore.Sincerely,Peter Knobler '68To the Editor:To any victim of sexual assault my article traumatized - I am deeply sorry. I would especially like to apologize to the victim in the case I cited. I meant absolutely no harm, nor did I in any way want to exonerate a sexual offender or belittle the suffering you went through. I was unaware that the case I used to begin my article was real, and had I known that, I would not have used it as evidence in my piece of what I still feel to be a valid point, one which I stand by. I never meant to say that sexual assault was not a big issue in any case, nor did I mean to imply that it should not be addressed. I merely suggested that the methods of spreading awareness about these important issues used on this campus alienate the very people who are needed to help resolve them.Sincerely,Nate Ackerly '10To the Editor:I am an officer of the Middlebury Musicians' Guild, and I was recently informed that MCAB has decided not to let student bands play the all-campus picnic this Friday, save the already well-established Market Zero. Last year's well-attended festival featured a variety of student bands, so I was dismayed to learn of the change to this year's event. But MCAB's decision is part of an ongoing trend of a lack of support for Middlebury's music scene - including the reluctance to book student bands for Pub Night, the refusal to let an on-campus act open for Cake and the overall scarcity of events promoting Midd's musicians. The prevailing sentiment on campus is that our music scene is dead, but is it really the fault of the bands? Commons Crawl (organized by the Commons co-chairs) was a smashing success, demonstrating not only the talent of the College's bands, both prominent and lesser-known, but also the enthusiasm of the student body to listen and have a great time doing it. By booking off-campus acts for the all-campus picnic, MCAB sends the message that student bands are not even worthy of being background music for a few hours, which is ludicrous and insulting. Midd's music scene will never thrive unless the event organizers let it. For the future, I humbly request MCAB to recognize the talent here on campus before turning to expensive off-campus acts - give our musicians the respect they deserve.Sincerely,Charlie Henschen '10To the Editor:I am writing to express my concerns about the newly launched Web site, Middlebury Confessional, and to tell you what many of you already know - that the derogatory, highly personal comments that have appeared on this forum are at odds with the values of Middlebury College.For those of you unfamiliar with Middlebury Confessional, it is an independent Web site with no official connection whatsoever to the College. Still, it invites members of our community to share observations and thoughts that they would ordinarily keep to themselves. Although much of the commentary on this forum seems to have been written with good intentions, many posts, written under the guise of anonymity, target specific individuals and groups. These "confessions" are presumably aimed at revealing truths that could bring students together, but in this context they actually have the opposite effect.Educational communities like ours are built on trust and mutual respect. Thus, I urge all Middlebury students to exercise good judgment and refrain from personal attacks when posting on this forum.Finally, with regard to the free speech rights implicit in this matter, I should note that the College has no interest in censoring student speech. However, the College does have an interest in fostering an atmosphere in which all members of the College feel free to participate in the open exchange of ideas so vital to an academic community. If you have any questions about the policies governing "verbal conduct" at the College, please consult the Handbook.Sincerely,Tim Spears, Dean of the CollegeTo the Editor:As a retired university professor, I was surprised by the confrontational attitude adopted by the students to preserve the Honor Code at Middlebury. I remember the first time I caught a student cheating. I was devastated, hurt and felt terribly sorry for the student. There was only one appropriate option - dismissal. Subsequent encounters in academia and as an advocate for ethics legislation has taught me that most people are honest and self-impose high moral standards and some few do not. Faculty monitoring of exams does not destroy faculty-student trust, it preserves it. More importantly, if a faculty monitor prevents cheating it benefits the students who do not cheat. Faculty and students are not equal. The faculty is there to teach and the students are there to learn. The very nature of the relationship is and should be unequal. Teachers demand preparedness, and provoke challenge. Student's responses should be grounded in logic, not bull-s---. As a teacher, I found there is nothing more rewarding than a student challenging conventional wisdom. The issue is not trust but respect. Trust is an attribute associated with relationships between individuals who have something of value to share. Students and teachers should respect each other. In fact if you think about it just a little, you will recognize that mutual respect is the essential element for a teacher to be effective, and for a student to learn and mature.Sincerely,Hugh Spitzer '58
(05/08/08 12:00am)
Author: Rachael Jennings From noon until 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 4, a white tent near Coffrin Lounge was host to delicious food, exquisite costumes and cultural celebration during the College's first-ever Haru Matsuri - or Japanese Spring Festival. Traditionally, the College has celebrated Yuki Matsuri - a Japanese winter festival - but after taking part in the annual Haru Matsuri at St. Michael's College the previous year, the Japanese Club (with the help of the Japanese Department, Japanese House and Wonnacot Commons) decided to bring the cultural merriment to the campus and it proved a great success.With over $800 of catered sushi, face-painting booths, calligraphy, anime, karate and Aikido demonstrations, Japanese food and a tea-tasting station, the slightly dismal weather did not damper the excitement of the celebration, which was attended by a large crowd. "We had the students as well as faculty from the Japanese, English and Theatre Departments come with their children," said Christine Chung '10, a key planner of the festival. "The event was opened to the community, so some members of the community brought their children wearing cute Japanese clothing. We had various students come, and not just from our club membership."The attendees were fortunate to take part in some of the added features to the format of Middlebury's Japanese Winter Festival. To begin with, the idea to hold the event outside was not part of the original plan - the event scheduled to be held inside Coffrin Lounge.Furthermore, groups from outside the campus were brought in - the Taiko Drumming Group from Burlington provided wonderful rhythms and extra flavor to the spirited event. Also, a Soba - a Japanese buckwheat noodle - eating contest brought much amusement. "I was very pleased with the turnout, all the booths and how the board members and other volunteers cooperated and helped out in terms of preparation, and during the event itself," said JeeYeon Park '08, one vital member in the planning and execution of the event. This event is one of many that the Japanese Club has hosted this year. Last semester, the organization teamed up with the Korean Club for a very successful Asian Dolci Night. This semester, the Japanese Cub held a shabu-shabu lunch event in the Freeman Dining Hall where over 200 people attended. Additionally, this spring semester brought out some members of the Club to Mary Hogan Elementary School, where they taught Japanese classes.Another old favorite that reappeared this year was Izakaya Night - a Japanese-style bar night at the Japanese House. "We made finger foods that would be served in Japanese bars," explained Park, "and concluded the night with a successful dance party."Even with such an active agenda on campus, the members of the Japanese Club devoted countless hours to planning such a colorful Spring Festival. Preparation began three months beforehand. "Nothing beats the satisfying feeling that comes after arduously planning each event and seeing how pleased all the guests are with the final product," said Park. Indeed, the content of the crowd was proof of a job well done for the Japanese Club. As Lecturer in Japanese Kyoko Davis beautifully played a Japanese string instrument with her friend and Professor of Japanese Studies Nobuo Ogawa and Associate Professor of Japanese Studies Stephen Snyder provided the harmonious sounds of the Japanese flute, little children ran around giddily with kites and bubbles. "My favorite moments were when I looked out into the crowd and saw so many culturally diverse people enjoy the cultures of Japan," said Chung.
(05/08/08 12:00am)
Author: James O'Brien Thank God the school year is over! And what a year it's been … etc. … Now I can enjoy myself for a couple months before hitting the proverbial wall at the beginning of August when I start to fantasize about Middlebury. Then I'll get to Middlebury and start to fantasize about August. I'm currently looking for a summer job. I haven't had any takers, which is surprising given my stellar resume. My past summer jobs include working as an ice-cream technician at a local establishment and serving as lieutenant of the activities department in a nursing home. I was fired from the ice cream gig after about a month because my boss told me, "You don't seem to care about ice cream." I told her that if she was insinuating that I should somehow be treating ice cream as if it were my autographed Backstreet Boys poster, then she was a loony. No, I did not care very much about ice cream, nor did I very much enjoy crushing the hopes and dreams of many children by informing them that we did not offer sprinkles or flavor samples.For my next summer job, I wheeled elderly people into and out of elevators, called Bingo and tried to get them to reminisce about their glory days. A typical morning would consist of me reading the morning paper to a crowd of 15 eccentric senior citizens whom I'd assembled in front of me in three rows. Dottie S. had to sit near me in a special chair with a buckle. I made sure that she was restrained so that she wouldn't wander off in search of her past while I was trying to get her to reminisce. Phyllis, a former schoolteacher, was far too mentally capable to be grouped in with the others, and, unfortunately, she knew it. She only came to a few morning groups and usually left her room only to smoke cigarettes and her fellow residents in Bingo. I was glad that Phyllis usually stayed in her room, because she was the only resident who was aware enough to notice what a crappy job I was doing. There was an elderly couple - Dr. Bill and Emily - who would eat sugar, salt and ketchup packets during the morning group. I can't imagine that this was very healthy for them, but, since Bill was a doctor, the staff didn't seem too worried. After two years of this type of work, I need to find something else. I surveyed my friends about their jobs and learned that there are several ways Middlebury students will choose to spend their time this summer. A few are listed below.The Resume Builders. These people wear suits to their summer jobs. They probably work in the financial sector.The Desperate Resume Builders. Have you accepted a position working at an independent ant evaluation plant in Arkansas? Then you have the distinct title of "Desperate Resume Builder." Unfortunately, your job does not involve receiving the wisdom of Midas. It involves telling people whether you think certain ants will get along with the other residents in their ant farm. You will spend an entire three months doing something you hate so that you can write "INTERN" on your transcript.Saving the World. A few of my friends do something like this every summer. They parachute into the Congo to bring Rice Krispie Treats and cell phones to the technologically impaired. Then they teach those same grateful peoples how to read before handing them condoms and booking it back to the U.S in time to get a tan. The Abroaders. These clever bastards have somehow convinced someone somewhere to subsidize their vacation in Europe. They travel to France or Prague and come back culturally enriched with simple, yet exotic, STDs.Campers. You have been going to camp for the past 11 summers, and you are not about to stop just because you might be a bit too old for capture the flag. Yes, you are a counselor, and they do pay you, but it may be time to move on. You should probably listen to your mom and become a Resume Builder.Lazies. I more or less fall into this category of people. We refuse to look for jobs because working for pay is not only scary but somehow against our moral codes. I will spend my days trying to recover my lost childhood by wandering shirtless around the Medfield town square muttering to myself about my hatred of ice cream.James O'Brien '10 is an English major from Medfield, Mass.
(05/01/08 12:00am)
Author: James O'Brien I've decided to begin this week with two moralizing haikus.Some animals watch The other animals fall,Happy it's not them.The frog eats the fly.The frog is suddenly scared-Prays for its frog soul.These haikus, besides being quaint and amusing, are meant to illustrate a topic that has been on my mind for awhile - individuality. Please, do not be an individual. I care about you.Remember the story of George Washington and his honesty regarding that felled cherry tree? Or the Boy Who Cried Wolf? As children, these stories taught us lessons about honesty. They taught this lesson, which our society thought we should know - if you tell the truth, your Dad will hug you. If you lie, wolves will eat you. As we got older, we realized that these scenarios were a bit over the top, but they did teach us a general rule about how society feels about lying. Today we still learn from certain books, but we mostly just sop up the culture around us. We receive a loud and clear message that we are individuals in constant competition for a pot of gold.This pursuit of an end goal can tire us out, and sometimes we just want to take the weight of being an individual off of our shoulders. When people want to feel like part of a whole rather than a single human being, I think the first thing that they turn to is religion or spirituality (and when I say spirituality, I mean some sort of activity that tends to give us a sense of relative insignificance, and subsequently, peace). It probably seems paradoxical that insignificance can bring us peace, but I think it is a sense that we are part of some greater system at work takes a bit of the pressure off.Often spirituality can take the form of practicing music or basketball. It could be taking a walk with a mentor. But whatever it is, it helps us to put ourselves in the context of the world as a whole. It helps us to feel small for a moment and still be happy. In terms of my own spirituality, when I was younger, it took the form of Roman Catholicism. Consequently I've come to find how Church teaching can inadvertently lead toward a goal-oriented life. While Catholicism certainly promotes helping your fellow human beings, it also emphasizes that your reward for doing so is individual salvation. We are trained to look for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and completely overlook the rainbow itself. I'm not sure exactly who decided it and when, but American culture, like my Sunday school books, seems to teach us that we need to invent a pot of gold because the rainbow just isn't good enough.We might just be willing to say, "Oh well. That's the way things are. Plus, I like gold, because it is shiny, and I hate rainbows, because I once had a bad experience I don't want to talk about." Fair enough. But I think many of us have bought into the idea of being individuals without even knowing it. It doesn't exactly have to be this way. It would be just as easy to see ourselves as part of a whole if that was the way our culture operated. Rather than the spotlight always being on you, perhaps it could shift to others in your life. Your focus could truly be on the idea of the people themselves rather than what you get from them and what they get from you, physically and emotionally. You may think that you do this already, but think about it for a second. There are times when people lose their humanity in our minds only to become a means to an end. If we could only view our school and our world as one whole entity, this almost-innocent selfishness we've fallen into could be thrown out the window. The idea of going through life as a solo journey is an unsatisfying one. Granted, we are physically confined to our own individual minds and bodies. We are unable to truly understand what another person is thinking, but the communication aspect of living, that act of crossing the divide, is life. Communication is not a means to something else, and we are not individuals but an interconnected whole. It is not an idea that can be proven, I assume, but try thinking about life in that way for a second just to see how our ideas about individuality, no matter what they are, are not intrinsic. They are contingent on our upbringing and the essence of competition around us. What if we all exist as one living, breathing entity? Maybe this is what my old friend Jesus meant when he said, "Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do to me." The world may be static, but it is our perception of it which affects our actions. So if we view ourselves as individuals responsible for achieving status, money or most poor people served, we've actually learned our lesson well. We can, however, choose to be poor students and reject that lesson. We can choose to consider ourselves part of a whole. Believe it or not, there is a way to enjoy the rainbow, and it tastes just as good as it looks. Just ask Skittles.James O'Brien is an English major from Medfield, Mass.
(05/01/08 12:00am)
Author: Jaime Fuller Robert Levine '08 and Katy Smith Abbott, associate dean of the College and visiting assistant professor of Art History, won the run-off elections to determine this year's Senior Awards ceremony speakers who will address the Class of 2008 on May 24 during Commencement Week. The student candidates on the ballot included Levine, Ezra Axelrod '08 and Ellen Grafton '08, while the faculty candidates were Abbott, Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science Murray Dry and D.E. Axinn Professor of English and Creative Writing Jay Parini.Unlike the Student Government Association (SGA) elections, the candidates for this position were not required to engage in any rigorous campaigning, which was lucky for Abbott, who was on a research trip last week. She stated in an e-mail that she was "very honored to have been considered for this role."Even though only Levine and Abbott will be able to share their knowledge with the Class of 2008, the remaining candidates also have lessons and experiences they wish to share with their peers and former students. "I would simply urge whoever gives this talk to ask students to go into their life beyond Middlebury as citizens of the world," wrote Parini in an e-mail, "ready to look beyond the narrow confines of their own circumstances, and to understand that a great deal needs to be done to help others who are less fortunate." Grafton would share lessons she has learned that do not have to do with the academic side of college life."Keep the people you love close, because they're the ones that will get you through the hard stuff," wrote Grafton in an e-mail. "Appreciate the moment you're in, because once it's gone, it's gone for good. And don't go bathing suit sledding in front of Mead Chapel. It's a lot colder than it looks."These elections signal the approach of Commencement Week, which for seniors represents just a tinge of melancholy, as they must forge their own path in the real world. "Leaving Middlebury is definitely a bittersweet feeling - it's been a great four years and I will miss everything Midd has to offer," wrote Levine in an e-mail. "That being said, I'm excited to be off on the next stage of the adventure."
