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(09/19/07 12:00am)
Author: Daniel Roberts Earlier this summer, after picking up my Jeep from the repair shop - ironically - I was sitting at a red light and watched in amazement as a car accident happened right before my eyes. A woman on the other side of the street was attempting to take advantage of the "right on red" privilege, but she grossly mistimed the merge, and plowed into the back bumper of some angry Masshole's scarlet Nissan. Once I got my green light, I pulled out, and only 40 seconds later, I could see in my rearview that traffic was already slowing down, even though the accident victims were pulled over, out of everyone's way. Damn rubberneckers!What is it about a car accident that drives people (sorry for the pun) to slow down or stop? What could possibly be enticing about looking at an accident? I guess that maybe there is comfort in seeing a bashed-up car and some poor blonde (oops) stamping and screaming on the highway. The comfort would come from thinking, "I'm so glad that wasn't me."Yet, there is a chance that my interpretation is too simple. Maybe I just want to assume that most people are not sadistic. My pal Rohan told me he thinks the desire to check out an accident actually comes from something far more upsetting: a pleasure in the misfortune of other people.Urban Dictionary defines "rubbernecking" as "driving slowly by a car accident to turn the head and look for anything gory." Shocking! If people actually want to see something "gory" and disturbing, why don't they just google the video of Britney's recent MTV performance?Seriously, I think my boy Roheezy must be on to something. People actually get enjoyment from the destruction of others - whether it is their property or their sanity. Most people would not admit this, but I think almost everyone has at some point taken pleasure in another's poor luck. What about when we hear the shatter of a ceramic plate being dropped in Ross, and everyone applauds? We love it! Does no one stop to consider the fragile confidence of the first-year that committed the blunder in the first place?The same principle applies to many moments in our daily lives here at Middlebury. Think of how rewarding it is when you're playing Beirut on some random Tuesday night and you win before the two idiots playing you have even hit a cup. Naked lap! I love administering this punishment, but I can assure you it's not because I enjoy seeing some dude's hairy, white ass in the moonlight. It's because there is something satisfying in forcing a friend to strip and run around outside Hepburn on a cold, winter night. We "rubberneck" all the time. Personally, I find myself rubbernecking every time I walk into McCardell Bicentennial Hall and twist my head to the left to stare at the disaster known as the "Smog" sculpture.A more Midd-appropriate example is when you see some ballsy moron literally zooming down the Mead Chapel hill on a skateboard, swerving back and forth, looking more arrogant than Kanye West, as though nothing could stop him. Then, inevitably, the kid hits a crack in the pavement and goes flying headlong into the grass. I have already seen this happen four times in my Middlebury career. Everyone gathers around and asks, "Are you okay?" In truth, they just want to get a closer look and see if this doofus is bleeding.I guess my only advice is that if you find yourself messin' around with that dang iTrip and you raise your head to realize you're about to drive into a pole, make sure you are far from College Street and anyone you know.Daniel Roberts '09 is an English major from Newton, Mass.
(09/19/07 12:00am)
Author: Melissa Marshall Dressed in a cozy terry cloth bathrobe and armed with a cup of tea and his biting wit, Kevin Tierney '08 spent an hour of an overcast Saturday morning divulging his impressive theatre career to The Middlebury Campus. The joint Theatre and Italian major from Southborough, Mass. offered his views on theatre parents, the state of the Middlebury College Musical Players and even traumatic childhood memories during this exclusive interview. The Campus: When did you first decide that you wanted to sacrifice your social life, regular sleeping schedule and sanity for the sake of theatre?Kevin Tierney: I've been involved in theatre since the sixth grade, and I've always done all types of shows, from musicals to serious theatre. During high school it was all serious theatre, and then I got to Middlebury and I auditioned for MCMP because I wanted to try out for everything possible. So I did some work with them, but it wasn't until my third semester that I really jumped into the deep end and plunged head first into MCMP. That is when I decided that this was my club and this is what I wanted to be doing. I volunteered to direct Into the Woods by Steven Sondheim during the spring of my sophomore year. So that's probably the decision that most thoroughly annihilated my regular sleeping habits. TC: Being the busy bee that you are, you were one of the coordinators for the Middlebury-supported theatre group Middleground this summer. Can you tell us a little about that experience? How does the program benefit the children as well as the counselors? KT: Middleground was a very interesting experience. It's a camp for Addison County kids ages 7 to 14, and this summer we put on two shows after four weeks of camp. I think what was great for the kids was that we took theatre very seriously - we had high production values and high expectations for the kids. For the kids that ended up really getting into it, they had a great experience because maybe in the past they did theatre with a "whatever attitude." We made them try to really think about it and get deeply involved, more than just showing up at camp because it's something to do and a way for the parents not to have to deal with them for five hours a day. I definitely learned a lot about the whole organizational aspect and theatre parents. There are all levels of parental involvement, from those who don't even walk their kids to camp to the people who are calling twice a day trying to make sure that we're following their rules. You learn how to work with people but still maintain what you set out to do and not bend too much to the pressure of people who are older than you, but who are frankly not running the organization that you know how to run. You have to stick to your guns - I may be 21, but I know what's going on. TC: Now you and Laura Budzyna '08 are co-administrators of the Middlebury College Music Players - an organization that struggled a bit last year under inexperienced direction. What are your goals for the group this semester? KT: Last semester we had an exciting couple of months while I was abroad in Italy. When I got back I found out that we could no longer use the Zoo due to damages done in the last semester and that we need to rebuild our reputation. So that is my biggest goal for the year - to reestablish MCMP as legitimate, hardworking people - because we are. And we put on good theatre, that's always been my stance. MCMP does good theatre, and I don't want anyone to have to doubt that. I also want to cooperate a little more with the Theatre Department. It's hard to get the department to support us because often I feel that we're seen as this outsider group that's stealing resources, and they may think that we're not doing serious theatre. But through quality theatre, I want to prove that MCMP has what it takes - we're good and that we're going to keep on being good. Yeah, we've had some mishaps, but overall we're a strong group and I want to keep it strong. TC: What projects are in the works for this, your senior year?KT: For the fall semester, I am going to be directing another Steven Sondheim show, Merrily We Roll Along, that will be produced in McCullough from Nov. 8-10. And looking further into the future I hope to have my final thesis project: a translation piece. I would like to translate a couple work of Italian theatre into English. Those are my two big projects, and hopefully I'll have a big project in the spring - who knows.TC: What was your most embarrassing theatre moment?KT: Oh man, I need to think about that one. I need to go back into the reaches of the depths of beyond anything I really want to think about. I haven't really forgotten any major lines on stage or dropped my pants on stage. Pretty much an embarrassing show to do all together was in eighth grade we put on "Puberty: The Game Show." I was the contestant who lost at puberty. Use your imaginations - that was embarrassing.
(09/19/07 12:00am)
Author: H. Kay Merriman Few people could sum up their college experience from what they have eaten off the ground. New Cook Commons Dean Matt Carluzzo is an exception. Carluzzo tells the story of walking around Dartmouth College when he noticed thousands of acorns on the ground. After scooping one up, he walked into the English Library, took a bite and called it "the most disgusting thing." The experience typifies Carluzzo's undergraduate education. The latest addition to Cook Commons, Carluzzo hopes to become fully integrated into the College community, encourage the curiosity of the College's students and indulge his own sense of curiosity.Carluzzo graduated from Dartmouth in 1997 with a Religion degree before continuing his studies at Georgetown Law School. He then worked as a corporate lawyer in Washington, D.C. for three years for a law firm that he says was "founded in the spirit of nonconformity." Last year, Carluzzo came to Middlebury to work as a Volunteer in Service to America (VISTA) in the Alliance for Civic Engagement (ACE) office. Vistas work through Americorps to help low-income individuals and communities with the goal of ultimately helping them out of poverty. "I had always wanted to do some type of service work. I love this area of the country. I wanted to be on a good college campus," Carluzzo said. Middlebury met all three of these requirements for a place to work."The time that I got to indulge in everything was in college," Carluzzo said. "My mentor, Mr. Santarelli, once told me that all my important learning would happen outside the classroom." In keeping with that advice, Carluzzo said that he did most of his learning from his friends during late-night discussions. He particularly enjoyed learning about and participating in the traditions of Dartmouth, including acting as President of his fraternity, Psi Upsilon. Carluzzo's desire to uphold current College traditions is apparent. "Matt has struck me as being really excited about taking over as Dean of Cook, and he is particularly enthusiastic about learning the traditions that are part of Cook Commons' exceptionally strong identity," said Cook First Year Counselor Dave Ozimek '09. Carluzzo certainly already understands the importance of the Cook motto, "Pleasure and Intelligence." "I'd like to think that that could be my own personal motto. I do embody pleasure and intelligence," he said.Across campus, Brainerd also welcomes a new Commons Dean with a similar name who seems to typify his commons already. Matthew Pacholec, who wishes to be called "Dean Pacholec," is the new dean of Brainerd Commons. Coming from DePaul University in Chicago with a doctorate in Philosophy, Pacholec found it easy to represent the ancient symbol of philosophy, wisdom, and wit: the owl is Brainerd's mascot. A portrait of Immanuel Kant is prominently displayed in Pacholec's office as a reminder of the importance of philosophy to both the Dean and the Commons.However, Pacholec wishes to be seen as anything but an unreachable philosopher. "I would like to get to know each of you individually," he told the assembly of Brainerd first-years. Direct contact with students is one of Pacholec's highest values in academia. After his time at DePaul, Pacholec taught at Grinnell College in Iowa where he "enjoyed the few opportunities to meet with students outside of class." Seeking to become more intimately involved in students' lives, he then became a College Advisor at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts. Now at Middlebury, he hopes to "work closely with students in a variety of settings." Pacholec described the Commons Dean position as a "third way that is not simply faculty and not simply administrative," and it is this "third way" that he says as his way to direct interaction with students."Dean Pacholec is very open, accessible, and eager to integrate into Middlebury life. I'm looking forward to working with him this year, and I think Brainerd now has what it needs to best address student life needs," said Brainerd Program Coordinator Kris Wilson '08. Pacholec plans to be continually accessible to students by participating in Brainerd Upper Redfield Proctor Supper (BURPs) on Wednesdays and also by holding occasional Dean's lunches during which students can meet with him. "It is important that students look upon me as a resource in their neighborhood," Pacholec said.Outside of their work in the commons, both Deans have varied interests. "After work, I am either running or doing something on iTunes," Carluzzo said. "I enjoy reading, listening to chamber music and walking, the typical 'egg-head' things to do," said Pacholec. In or out of the office, the two new Commons Deans seem to fit comfortably in their new roles at Middlebury.
(09/19/07 12:00am)
Author: Ashley Gamell and Maddie Oatman syn∑es∑the∑sia from the Greek (syn-) union, and (aesthesis) sensation; is the neurological mixing of the senses. A synesthete may, for example, hear colors, see sounds - and taste tactile sensations.Volume 1: Best of Bread LoafBread Loaf Writers' Conference, infamously known as "bedloaf" and even parodied on "The Simpsons" as a hub for self-congratulating authors, actually featured some of the country's most exciting writers this August. Poets Sally Ball and Ilya Kaminsky were two of the conference's standouts. Annus Mirabilis and Dancing in Odessa are both debut books that foretell outstanding careers to come and attest to Bread Loaf's knack for drawing together promising contemporary authors. Stay tuned for next week's fiction edition.Annus Mirabilis, by Sally BallReview by Maddie OatmanYou'd be hard-pressed to meet a woman more graceful than Sally Ball. An eloquent speaker and thoughtful teacher, she crafts her sentences on the spur of the moment as seamlessly as someone who has rehearsed a speech for days. So it's no surprise that she executes her poems with even more grace. In exploring aspects of science and math in her new book Annus Mirabilis, Ball delves into the collision of knowledge and human experience. In the poem "Notebook," for example, she intertwines descriptions of nature - "The cracked sea floor / litters its horde of bones and scales / in the wind" - with a reminder of the human experience in the natural environment, "The ocean has turned/ to dust and passes over us." Often poems turn to Newton, mathematical formulas, and physics, but far from being dry or convoluted, they manage to resonate emotionally and intellectually with readers who are unfamiliar with scientific theories. Ball inquires about the world we use to explain ourselves and our condition. She also meditates on the gaps between these explanations. How does one describe love, loss, depression and art? Just as she writes in her poem "Slope," "Knowledge like oxygen unremarkable / until it's threatened," knowing may be the most pressing and necessary human goal. One of the book's few flaws is its ambitious inclusion of so many histories, theories and facts, which proves distracting at times, as if there are far too many scraps of knowledge to try to condense into a small collection of poetry. But this fact alone serves as a tribute to Annus Mirabilis's driving theme - that we have so much to learn, relearn and unlearn during our time on Earth. The way Ball mixes science with human caprice and reason with irrationality makes her poems essential for the contemporary intellect - if her scope is unreasonable, maybe it is justified by the vast quantities of information we are made to process day after day. Dancing in Odessa, by Ilya KaminskyReview by Ashley Anne GamellIlya Kaminsky, a poet prodigy at thirty, is almost wholly deaf and is further impeded by a thick Russian accent. This only partly accounts for his being on an entirely different plane than other authors at Bread Loaf. He is a strikingly large, baby-faced and relentlessly humble man who is destined to become an international giant of a poet. The otherworldly Kaminsky read from his 2004 book, Dancing in Odessa, as though it were a religious text, davening wildly and crying out desperately in an unintelligible falsetto. It was enough to convince an audience of atheist New Yorkers that God was listening.Kaminsky, who immigrated to America in 1993, writes in English, his language general and sensuous, as though translated from a Romance language. Dancing in Odessa is a book of simple, often biblical nouns - women, grapefruit, hats and coats. Kaminsky's subject is equally fundamental - he falls into the lineage of great authors who write about hope during civilization's medieval moments of "obscenity, fright and mud." Kaminsky haunts his hometown of Odessa like a rabbi in a ghetto, blessing daily life amidst depravity. In the poem "Maestro," a child caught in a school bombing whispers, "I don't want to die, I have eaten such apples." His sentences are regularly astonishing, though he relies too heavily on his talent for matter-of-factly extending a situation into the surreal. "Once or twice in his life," he writes, "a man is peeled like apples." He is at his best when he lovingly anoints his characters with personal details: "Nadezhda, her Yes and No are difficult / to tell apart."Kaminsky wants to portray a voyage - he points to his homelessness as an immigrant and calls upon The Odyssey (Odessa's namesake). However, the book spins like a top around a fixed point more than it travels. The very local, sometimes repetitive scope of the poems seems limiting at times. But, in the end, Kaminsky has created something more expansive than a voyage. With simple tools and with great compassion, he has made a prayer for the living.
(05/09/07 12:00am)
Author: Tamara Hilmes Former President of the United States William Jefferson Clinton addressed a record turnout crowd at the Middlebury College Commencement on May 27, reminding the Class of 2007 of the importance of community. Blue ponchos filled the lawn between the McCullough Student Center and Voter Hall as well over 5,000 graduates, family members and friends endured the rainy weather to celebrate the achievements of the graduating class. The highlight of Sunday's event was Clinton's much-anticipated address. Clinton, who received an honorary doctorate of humane letters, spoke briefly about Ron Brown '62, who served as commerce secretary during Clinton's first term and was the first person who introduced the former president to the College. "I loved Ron Brown," Clinton said. "His eyes would light up when he talked about Middlebury. Ö He found here what I want for everyone in the world.""A kid who grew up in a hotel in Harlem found a home here, because there's a community here, in the best sense," Clinton continued. "And that's really what we have to build in the world."Such a community, he said, has "a broadly shared opportunity to participate, a broadly felt responsibility for the success of enterprise, whatever it is, and a genuine sense of belonging." Acknowledging problems in the world ranging from resource depletion and climate change to illegal immigration and terrorism, Clinton stressed the necessity of strong communities in the face of such challenges. "I believe questions of community and identity Ö will determine our collective capacity to deal with all the problems.""Our differences are really neat," he continued. "They make life more interesting and they aid in the search for truth. But our common humanity matters more. So much of the world's difficulty today is rooted in the rejection of that simple premise."Clinton also pointed to recent discoveries related to human genetics to support his argument, touching on what he called the "stunning" Human Genome Project. "Genetically all human beings are 99.9 percent the same," he said. "Everything you can possibly observe about another that seems different is rooted in one-tenth of one percent of your genetic makeup.""I saw Rush Limbaugh the other night," he continued, "and I was tempted, after all of the terrible things he's said about me, to tell him that we were 99.9 percent the same. I was afraid the poor man would run weeping from the restaurant. And so I let it go."After speaking of an upcoming trip to South Africa, Clinton expressed his disbelief that he and Nelson Mandela, who he greatly admires, are ultimately so similar. "I can't believe that he and I are 99.9 percent the same, because he's so much greater in every way than I could ever be. But it's true." He went on to describe community within the context of South Africa, speaking of a word in Xhosa used to discuss the idea of community: 'ubuntu.'"It simply means, in English, 'I am because you are,'" he explained. Further north in the country, in the central highlands, he noted that "when people meet each other walking along paths and one person says, 'Hello, how are you? Good morning,' the answer is not, 'I'm fine, how are you.'" The answer in English is, 'I see you.'"Clinton concluded his speech by asking the over 600 graduates to go out into the world with eyes open to see one another. "As you save the world," he said, "remember all the people in it."Preceding Clinton's speech, graduating senior Vani Sathisan '07 delivered the student address, which was eliminated from commencement exercises 150 years ago but was revived for the College's bicentennial in 2000. Sathisan delighted her audience with a witty and energetic address."The last time I gave a graduation speech I had just completed two years of kindergarten," she began. "The only difference between then and now is that this time, I wrote my speech all by myself.""I remember back then when I would cling to my dad's shirt when it came time to leave for school," Sathisan continued. "I think we are all still clinging to our dads' shirts - and pockets."Sathisan praised her professors for their influence throughout her Middlebury career, and commended the Class of 2007 for its three Watson Fellowship winners as well its involvement with MiddShift, Middlebury's carbon-neutral initiative, and Step It Up, a country-wide initiative to address global climate change. Sathisan finished with a bit of advice to her peers. "We need to reinvent the world," she said. "We need to be the trendsetters. We must defy the gods by being quietly confident, and we must fulfill our duties as global citizens."In addition to honoring Clinton and the College's fleet of graduates, Sunday's ceremony also recognized six other individuals with honorary degrees: Robert de Cormier, director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra; Janet Tiebout Hanson, founder of Broad Impact; James Gustave Speth, dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; Marc A. and Dana Lim vanderHeyden, the president and first lady of St. Michael's College in Colchester, Vt.; and Huda Zoghbi, a professor at the Baylor College of Medicine. Valedictoria Olivia Bailey '07, a philosophy and French double major, and salutatorian Astri von Arbin Ahlander '07, a film and media culture and English double major, were also honored for their academic achievements at the College.Sunday's commencement exercises drew to a close after a rousing rendition of "Gamaliel's Painter's Cane," to which the graduates rapped and tapped their replicas of the former College president's cane to celebrate the end of their time at the College.
(05/02/07 12:00am)
Author: Matty Van Meter At the risk of seeming overcritical, I would like to remind a certain campus group of the final letter of its acronym: "A," as in alliance.MOQA, the Middlebury Open Queer Alliance, has been unusually visible in the past weeks, and with good reason. An active response to events like those that occurred during and after Spring Break is the unfortunate but necessary duty of groups like MOQA. The organization seemed to have little trouble responding, joining the chorus of outraged voices on campus and making itself heard above the crowd. A look around campus shows the fruits of its labors - it has certainly made itself heard. The real question, though, is not whether it has been heard, but what they have been heard saying. After reactionary and narrow-minded comments targeted at Middlebury's athletes were posted on an official MOQA display, Dean for Institutional Diversity Shirley Ramirez apologized to the athletic community. The apology was a graceful conciliatory gesture which, though greatly appreciated, does not erase the root of the issue: MOQA has become better at alienating than allying.The aforementioned display, housed in the library foyer in the library, is marked by a tremendous amount of wishing and complaining. In a patchwork of paper squares, the display calls variously for rainbow flags to fly from Mead Chapel, weekly columns in The Campus, a "gay festivities week," a distribution requirement in "structural oppression," a parade, "homosexual plays" and making "'popular' majors integrate -isms of all forms." These remarks betray a deeply engrained inertia, all the more insidious for its being hidden - despite the appearance of action, the display still asks for others to make changes. The administration, the faculty and the College are repeatedly invoked as the source of all desired change.In his 1956 New Yorker essay, "Bedfellows," E. B. White made a characteristically wise point which, though it refers to a specific issue of the time, I think has some relevance here. "Democrats do a lot of bellyaching about the press's being preponderantly Republican," he writes, "which it is. But they don't do the one thing that could correct the situation: they don't go into the publishing businessÖ. I'm afraid they haven't that kind of temperament or, perhaps, nerve." Should MOQA members, or anyone else, want "homosexual plays," the easiest way would be to put one on - as stage manager of Cabaret, I can attest that the Theatre Department has no prejudices about sexual preference. If they would like "popular" majors - meaning, one must suppose, English, Economics, International Studies and Psychology - to include courses which suit their ideological goals, they could go into academia with the goal of becoming a department head. However, I fear that, like the Democrats of 1956, they lack the nerve to do the work which will actually effect the changes they want, and are left with complaining as the only way to feel active. Unfortunately, in doing so, they have pushed away many who fight on their side.In an honest assessment of the Middlebury College community, MOQA would find many more allies than it seems to think it has. Yet, it is actively losing those who would support it and its members, losing them through inaction, through polemical and inflammatory rhetoric and through singling out broad groups to attack.Which brings us back to alienation and alliance. What athletes and other groups targeted by MOQA's indiscriminate display need is an assurance from the organization that it supports diversity, not like-mindedness. The group seems to have forgotten the O and A in its acronym. As a group ostensibly dedicated to promoting dialogue and friendship between "open" and "queer" community members, it has done a terrible job of allying those sides, preferring to push them farther and father apart.
(04/25/07 12:00am)
Author: Grace Duggan Jay Parini, D. E. Axinn Professor of English & Creative Writing, did not exaggerate by introducing Pulitzer Price-winning poet Phillip Levine last Thursday evening as a "permanent part of American literature." Levine, who was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1928, has written more than 16 books of poetry and has received significant recognition and numerous awards for his work. He was honored with the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1994 for "The Simple Truth." His visit, sponsored by Atwater Commons, the Creative Writing Program and the English & American Literature Department, included a short question-and-answer session during which Levine mused on everything from the validity of labeling him a political poet to the work of Charles Bukowski. Levine read a mixture of older poems and more recent ones, some of which have yet to be published. His poems were almost upstaged by his strong wit and modest, informal demeanor - he introduced several of his poems with humorous anecdotes or observations and made sure to thank Parini for his "generous and largely true introduction." Before reading "Philosophy Lesson," Levine addressed the crowd on the theme of logical positivism integral to the piece: "Like critical theory in literature today, it was aimed at both boring and destroying us all." In the poem the speaker is recognized by a waitress in a roadside diner he does not remember having visited before. He compared one of his pieces to "Rilke with a mean streak" and made fun of the British versions of some of his books before quickly telling the crowd, "I don't hate the English. I don't know them." Levine kept the audience laughing frequently throughout the reading, but was also able to maintain a solemnity required in reading his darker poems, particularly those about war. As much as he incorporated humor into his speech and poetry, he moved the audience with his frank admission of the haunting effect his cousin's death has always had on his life before reading "Before the War" and "After the War," both about World War II. Toward the end of the reading, done with his enjoyable jokes and stories about life in Detroit, he rejected his classification as a political writer. "Most of my political poems have no agenda whatsoever," he said. "When you see people you love and you see their lives come to so little because of the political system in which they live, and you write about it, you're considered a political poetÖBut I can't believe that America won't recover a little bit from the disasters it's in right now. I haven't lost hope yet."
(04/18/07 12:00am)
Author: Kelly Janis Whether as part of a bagpipe-led procession in Shelburne, a bike ride in Brandon, a ski-down in Killington or a trek from a sugaring shack to the statehouse in Montpelier, Vermonters turned out en masse on Saturday to "Step It Up" and demand that Congress pledge to cut the nation's carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050.Residents of the town that spawned the national movement proved no exception in their zeal. An estimated 300 people gathered on the Middlebury Town Green to enjoy live music and drumming before assembling on the footbridge near the Marble Works complex for a group photograph.An hour later, the crowd poured into the Middlebury municipal gym for an environmental fair, kicked off with a performance by the Ripton-based folk trio Bread and Bones.As the twang of a guitar and string bass dissipated, the fair's coordinator, Stacey Lee-Dobek, took to the stage to welcome revelers to the event, which featured presenters from a wide array of local organizations committed to curbing climate change. "I want people to leave learning something," Lee-Dobek said. "And if you already know something, tell someone else."Lee-Dobek introduced Professor of English John Elder, widely respected in the community for his environmental activism. "In my brief remarks, what I want to focus on is the relationship between what we need to do and how we feel," said Elder. He proceeded to address three distinct sentiments. The first was that of grief and loss."We all know that climate change is already a very serious fact, and it is going to become worse even if we do everything right," Elder said. "The carbon is already in the atmosphere." Such a reality, however, is not cause for hopelessness - a notion underlying the second feeling Elder expressed. "This is a moment in which I think we need to feel powerful. Powerful for change," said Elder.As a consequence of this power, Elder said, we ought to conjure celebratory feelings, and orient ourselves toward "inclusive, pleasure-oriented environmentalism."Elder's commentary was proceeded by that of Ron Slabaugh, president of the Addison County Relocalization Network (ACoRN), which, according to brochures distributed at the event, aims to "revitalize our local economy to help our communities provide sustainable sources of food, water, energy, employment and other essential resources, and to promote conservation and a healthy environment." The organization, which was established in late 2005, meets monthly to discuss actions pertaining to such issues as local food, renewable energy and idling."We need to fashion a future in which we live with less energy," Slabaugh said. "It is time to move from despair into empowerment."The program continued with a performance by musical guest Catch Betty. "This first song is dedicated to the largest contributor to global warming in our area," she said. "It's called 'We Must Breathe Free.' International Paper in Ticonderoga, this one's for you." "We will not close our eyes to your deeds Ö the air and sky belong to us all," Catch Betty sang as fair-goers milled about with buttons declaring "I love wind power" pinned to their shirts, and giggling youngsters ran in circles with construction paper kites and streamers in tow. The gym's walls were festively adorned with colorful banners bearing such messages as "we are all a part of this chain" and "good planets are hard to find."A clothesline hung along another wall, brimming with eco-friendly suggestions attached to clothespins: "repair old things Ö give something away Ö donate old cell phones Ö ride the bus Ö walk Ö build bike paths Ö turn down water heater Ö replace lawn with native plants Ö collect rain water Ö no topping off gas tank."Against this backdrop, the crowd circulated to a selection of entertaining and informative stations. Among them was Vermont Soap Works' Sudzy Putty Fun Center, where, alongside a selection of the company's organic products, an extensive offering of soap scraps were available to be molded into a flurry of forms. "Instead of throwing them away, we've turned it into a way for kids to learn about scent, touch and shape," said Soap Works employee April Marble."We're in the market of helping the environment," Marble said. "We're very pleased to be here." Also represented was Rutland's Central Vermont Public Service Corporation (CVPS). "We're beginning a new renewable energy project here in Vermont," said Senior Energy Consultant David J. Dunn. "This fair seemed like the perfect place to highlight that, and support others who are fighting global warming."The project, known as "Cow Power," entails "a voluntary service rider that promotes development and reliance on renewable energy in Vermont." Its aim is to craft a market for energy generated from the burning of methane from cow manure. CVPS customers can opt to contribute an additional monthly fee to facilitate the company's quest to "deliver renewable energy one cow at a time."Idle-Free VT coordinator Wayne Michaud also turned out to promote his cause. The non-profit, grassroots campaign addresses unnecessary vehicle idling in the state and works toward the enactment of an idle-reduction law.Michaud was inspired to pursue the issue after witnessing trucks idling at the Chittenden Solid Waste District's drop-off center in Hinesburg. "They would go on for ten minutes," he said. "Finally, I decided I was going to call Chittenden Solid Waste."Subsequent to his phone call, the center posted anti-idling signs."They took my concern and did something about it," Michaud said.Idling at the center, and in other locations, did not cease altogether, however. "It's a long, drawn out process to make change," Michaud said. In spite of this, he is optimistic that his "business idle-free" initiative - one which he calls a "win-win" situation for businesses and the environment alike - is capable of garnering the support of lawmakers.This optimism seems to be contagious.Representatives of SolarFest 2007 - a two-day summer event in Tinmouth which brings together over 90 renewable energy and sustainable future exhibitors for a music, theater and dance festival dedicated to environmental activism - said they were motivated in their cause by the work of Bill McKibben. "We're very excited that he's doing that work and raising awareness," said Hugh Coyle '83.Middlebury's rally registered as an apt venue for similar work. "This event brings together a community of like-minded individuals," said SolarFest's Bud Yost.Coyle and Yost are unique in their attitude and approach. "People like to talk about the problem, and we like to provide the solution," Coyle said. "It's not just theory, it's not just ideas. We can do this."In an event report on Step It Up's website, Middlebury resident Greg Dennis concluded that the environmental fair and rally's "amazing turnout [is] proof that many, many Vermonters are committed to doing what it takes" to salvage the ailing environment.Much of this turnout may be attributed to the event's upbeat atmosphere. "It's not merely a guilt-ridden, hand-wringing, dramatic crisis," Coyle said. "There are exciting, joyful, good things out there to celebrate. We want to show the positive spirit of this movement."Elder echoed this sentiment in his remarks. He noted that, in some years, the shift in the sugaring season from March to February has caused tree-tapping to coincide with Mardi Gras celebrations, which he compared to Middlebury's environmental rally."Mardi Gras is a wonderful festival for us to think about at this time of loss, aspiration and potential," Elder said. "All over the world, in different religious traditions, there are ways to express what I think is essentially a sp
ring ritual of partying. Winter is almost over. Put on your dancing shoes, walk around the streets with your friends wearing bright clothes and then get serious about renewal: personal transformation, community celebration, and, finally, transformation of our whole system into something not only more sustainable, but more festive and fun."
(04/18/07 12:00am)
Author: Viraj Assar I write this week out of confusion and frustration, having woken up on Monday to early reports of serial violence on the campus of Virginia Tech in my hometown of Blacksburg, Virginia. In the same week as the eighth anniversary of the Columbine massacre, and after reports of bomb threats on the VT campus, news agencies reported by Monday afternoon that up to 33 were fatally shot in dorms and a classroom, including multiple faculty members, with around 30 others wounded. Specifics were tentative at best, but the event was quickly acknowledged as the worst mass shooting in this country's history. This, after an academic year whose first day in session was marred by the cancellation of classes due to a massive manhunt undertaken to apprehend William Morva, a convict who killed two security personnel in the Blacksburg area after escaping from police custody.Such events were without precedent in Blacksburg, which is recognized regionally as a quiet suburban haven of sorts. I walked the streets at night without the slightest worry. I came of age on the campus of Virginia Tech, where my mother was a graduate student through most of the 1990s. I discovered the internet in its library, learned to play pool in its student center, worked my first job at the campus bookstore, received tutoring from members of its community, and attended my senior prom in one of its ballrooms. As an intern at the university in 2004, I lived within sight of West Ambler Johnston Hall, where the first lives were lost this Monday. Many of my friends from Blacksburg High School have attended VT, which receives a tremendous percentage of our alumni.With this understanding of Virginia Tech, Monday afternoon was shattering. Just after noon, I heard the news from a friend who studies there. Immediately, I turned to the internet for more information.A quick survey of news coverage of the situation in the hours following the press conference held by VT President Charles Steger yielded front-page stories at the websites of the world's top news outlets: Reuters, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, BBC News, the Times of London, the Hindustan Times, and Al-Jazeera. However, the sites maintained by the most directly involved local parties, including Virginia Tech, the Blacksburg Police Department, the Blacksburg Town Council, and the offices of US Congressman Richard Boucher and Gov. Timothy Kaine were blacked out and unable to provide information. Local police, K-9 units, snipers, and agents from the FBI and ATF flooded campus, which was locked-down. Mobile phone networks serving the area were also jammed, making it difficult for those on campus to communicate beyond its limits. From Washington, White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino expressed the President's horror at hearing the news. An NPR correspondent monitored the reaction from Capitol Hill, where, as lawmakers bristled with anticipation over Tuesday's hearings on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' involvement with the US Attorney firings, Congress observed a moment of silence. This did not satisfy.On the security front, the VT Police had failed to notify the university community after responding to the first shootings, which were reported just after 7 am. This meant that students attended classes as usual. As many as 30 were subsequently gunned down in Norris Hall. Chief Wendell Flinchum appeared unable to offer more than projected casualty numbers, including whether the shooter killed himself or was successfully targeted by police. I learned from a friend that one of the victims, an acquaintance of hers now receiving care in an ICU, had been told not to discuss his experience. Police dogs had scoured the campus, and surrounding thoroughfares were re-opened as the worst was deemed over. Hunched over my laptop in Painter, frustration about the paucity of information and government reaction set in.I had written immediately to Senators Warner and Webb, concerned that there were too many questions and not enough visibility among political and law enforcement leadership immediately following the newsbreak. I thought immediately of 9/11, when Pres. Bush waited to comment on the day's horrors until the evening, and hoped to see a better effort in this case. I did see such an effort, but it originated from the ground--not from political heights or law enforcement.A friend called from Baltimore to let me know she had heard that VT students holed up in classrooms were at work writing news pieces to counteract the communications failures, while ROTC cadets helped to secure the campus. BBC video coverage included reports from student witnesses, volunteers, and a representative from the university's radio station, WUVT-FM. The website of the Collegiate Times, VT's student-run newspaper, had up-to-date postings and uncompromised accessibility, despite being run from an off-campus location. Student bloggers provided video and personal accounts of the insanity, as well as expressed outrage and confusion at the delay of the initial lockdown.Neither I nor anyone can predict at this early stage what the true fallout of this event will be, but I encourage members of the College community to ask questions and express their support for the victims, and I applaud those who, without waiting for the smoke to clear or for the political implications of this horrible day to sharpen into focus, tried their damnedest to supply information to those of us outside.Viraj Assar is a senior Political Science and English double major who now resides in Alexandria, Va.
(04/18/07 12:00am)
Author: Bridget Cummings Dorman "A girl that talks to animals. A cramped zoo. All the zoo animals going down the Mississippi in a houseboat. Fantastic!" writes local Middlebury resident, Lisel Peters-deCourval. The twelve-year-old critic is describing William B. Catton's new book, "Kathryn and the Runaway Zoo." Lisel's review represents an honest and animated impression of a book tailored to readers of her age. While "Kathryn and the Runaway Zoo" is his first book for young adults, Catton is no stranger to the world of writing. In addition to his 20 years spent teaching at Middlebury College, Catton also taught history at Northwestern University, The University of Maryland and Princeton University. He is the son of Civil War historian Bruce Catton, and is known for his collaborative works with his father, "Two Roads to Sumter" (1963), on the causes of the Civil War, and "The Bold and Magnificent Dream: American's Founding Years 1492-1815" (1979). Catton's love of history and nautical enterprises shines through in this recent book. It is a story about Kathryn, a thirteen-year-old animal lover, and her "runaway" zoo. Kathryn has the ability to speak with animals and together, she and her zoo friends plan an escape down the Mississippi River in search of a more suitable home for the animals. Catton conceived of the book as a tribute and memorial to his late daughter, Kathryn Cherry Catton, who died in 1978. As he explains, "[Kathryn] was an inveterate reader and lover of animals, so I wrote the kind of story she would have enjoyed about a young girl very much like herself, who befriended some zoo animals and had adventures with them." Kathryn's talent is woven into a story rich with history about the Mississippi River as well as descriptive introductions to animals across the globe. Catton's attention to the history and geography of the Mississippi and the detailed descriptions of Kathryn's animal friends make the story a balancing act between fact and fiction, or what we, the readers, believe is fictive or beyond imagination. Many young animal and environmental enthusiasts have discovered a "language" that exists between man and nature. Catton's story teases our awareness of this relationship and asks little of our imagination, as he makes the co-existence of man and beast, predator and prey, and fact and fiction believable. An encyclopedia, which offers pictures and descriptions of Kathryn's friends - "Griffon," the harpy eagle, "Erin," the peregrine falcon, "Karoonda," the Australian kookaburra, "Bandit," the raccoon and "Pedro," the coati (who Catton explains is Bandit's South American cousin), to name a few -would be a great accompaniment to this tale, enhancing the young reader's experience of Kathryn's journey down the Mississippi to New Orleans on her modern day ark. Catton makes great attempts to ensure that every detail of Kathryn's tale is justified. The narrator of her story assists the reader in understanding her otherwise far-fetched talent: "After some moments of this silent exchange of stares, [Kathryn] heard a low sound. It obviously came from the tiger, and the sound carried a meaning she suddenly understood: "Why so sad, Young Sister?" (What Kathryn actually heard, and just now began to comprehend, was in the animal language. She has supplied English translations for our convenience.)" As Kathryn said of her experience on the Mississippi, "there's always something you can hardly wait to see around the next bend." So too is Kathryn's adventure with her zoo animal friends a suspenseful and exciting journey. "Kathryn and the Runaway Zoo" excites the reader's desire for knowledge, satisfies one's love of history and encourages an appreciation of the environment.Bridget Citly, a fourth-year student at Breadloaf School of English, and lives locally in Monkton. Citly has worked at her family's restaurant, Rosie's, in Middlebury for the past four years. She writes for a local paper, The Valley Voice.
(04/18/07 12:00am)
Author: Tom Brant Thirty-three people were confirmed dead and more than a dozen wounded in the wake of a shooting rampage that occurred Monday morning at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. By Tuesday afternoon, Virginia Tech Police identified a student, Cho Seung-Hui, 23, as the gunman responsible for multiple fatalities before killing himself, but would not rule out the possibility that Cho had an accomplice.Cho was an undergraduate student at the university in his senior year as an English major, according to Virginia Tech.Witnesses at the campus called the shootings mass chaos and indescribable horror. They said that some students were lined up against a wall and shot, while others jumped out of windows to escape, or crouched on floors to take cover."It was a total shock for 32 students and faculty members to be killed," junior Teresa Lau told The Campus. "A lot of people jumped out of buildings as they tried to escape. Some people broke bones, and some were shot as they jumped."Television images on CNN and other networks showed police officers with assault rifles ordering students off the streets and walkways as a voice on a loudspeaker warned people to take cover in buildings and avoid going near doors or windows. University officials and police in Blacksburg, Va., told national news media that the first call to police was at 7:15 a.m., and over the next several hours, 32 people were killed in two rounds of shooting, before the gunman killed himself in an engineering building full of students and professors. University president Charles Steger issued several statements about the shooting on Virginia Tech's Web site. "I want to repeat my horror, disbelief, and profound sorrow at the events of today," Steger said. "People from around the world have expressed their shock and sorrow and endless sadness that has transpired today. I am at a loss for words to explain or understand the carnage that visited our campus."Steger faced an immediate barrage of questions from reporters on Monday relating to the university's initial handling of the situation. According to students, there was little sense that the campus was in immediate danger until it was too late."I was in my room earlier this morning and I got an e-mail saying there was a shooting incident in one of the other dorms," said first-year Perry Graham. But Graham said that the e-mail didn't give any information about whether the culprit had been caught, nor did it tell students to stay inside."Maybe 15 or 20 minutes later I got another e-mail saying that the gunman was still on the loose and that everything was to be locked down and that people had to stay inside," Graham said. At Virginia Tech, classes were cancelled through the end of the week and counselors were brought in to meet with students. Students and administrators at colleges across the country showed solidarity yesterday for those affected by the most deadly shooting rampage in American history. As the magnitude of the disaster became clear, many campuses announced their commitment to reviewing and improving security procedures for dealing with violent threats. President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz issued a written statement saying that Middlebury was already improving procedures to communicate dangers to students before the Virginia Tech tragedy occurred, and will continue to do so."No campus anticipates the kind of terrible tragedy that occurred yesterday at Virginia Tech," wrote Liebowitz. "However, we are currently in the process of updating and clarifying the procedures we use to respond to a variety of campus crises and emergencies. A major goal of that process is to make sure that we are prepared to make and communicate decisions quickly in times of crisis."The Chaplain's office also organized a prayer service on Tuesday afternoon in Mead Chapel, where community members could light a candle in memory of the victims and sign a condolence book, which will be sent to the Virginia Tech Student Government Association. Chaplain of the College Laurel Macaulay Jordan sent a statement to students, faculty and staff late Monday night. "Some members of our community have close ties to that part of the country or friends who are students or faculty at Virginia Tech," wrote Jordan. "But even if these connections did not exist, all of us as members of an academic community and as members of the human family share a portion of the grief that has now cast its shadow over the Virginia Tech campus."Additional reporting by Brian Fung.
(04/11/07 12:00am)
Author: Aylie Baker, Features Editor "I've been hearing about Midd forever," said Dave Eggers upon ascending the podium to read an excerpt from his new novel, "What is the What," this past Monday night. "Good Lord," he said. It's no wonder. Eggers met his wife Vendela Vida '93 through a mutual friend who also attended the College. Vida, an English major graduating Phi Beta Kappa, dabbled in several disciplines, including theatre and Italian. She received scholarships to attend the Breadloaf Writer's Conference for two summers and had the opportunity to work closely with Rob Pack, Dave Price, David Bane and Julia Alvarez.On Monday April 9, Eggers and Vida read excerpts from their new novels, "What is the What" and "Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name," to an animated audience in Mead Chapel. While their recent works were the main focus of the event, they also framed a subsidiary moral initiative - their unconventional non-profit tutoring centers which are popping up across the nation. In her reading, Vida openly decided to "skip an embarrassing sex scene," while in the presence of her former professors. Setting the context for her novel, "Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name," Vida described how she had been "inspired [both] by her heritage" in Lapland of Northern Sweden and "her love for fairytales." The excerpt, brimming with colorful images and an honest sincerity, captured the main character, Clarissa, at the beginning of her quest to Lapland to unearth her true identity. Eggers' "What is the What" broached a very different topic. The book highlights the life story of Valentino Achak Deng, who was dispossessed from his village during the 1980s as a refugee of the Sudanese civil war. One of some 20,000 "lost boys," Deng eventually made his way to the United States, where Mary Williams met him and first wrote to Eggers regarding his story. Since he first met him in 2001, Eggers unraveled Deng's history through a series of interviews.Shifting to a lighter subject, Eggers and Vida led the audience through a slideshow that charted the evolution of their non-profit tutoring centers. Eggers began by recounting the startup of his independent press, McSweeney's, in Park Slope, Brooklyn. McSweeney's began in the backdrop of a store devoted to both amateur taxidermy and show-animal grooming supplies. Despite its shortcomings financially, Eggers described how the store became a conduit for middle school students.This breakthrough became instrumental in the founding of 826 Valencia Street, the couple's first tutoring center in San Francisco. The building the couple purchased to house the center, while inexpensive, was zoned for retail. They decided to open a "Pirate supply store - for the traveling buccaneer." The store supplies an array of accessories including peg legs, hook protectors ("for nighttime"), and replaceable eyes. It even includes its own fish theatre that according to Vida, "was voted the most popular place in San Francisco for breastfeeding."Moving beyond the multicolored eye patches, one stumbles upon a very different venue - 826's tutoring center. Eggers and Vida attribute much of the tutoring center's success to its offbeat faÁade. Kids are "more likely to stop at it," explained Eggers. "It's not a sterile atmosphere."Originally starting with 20 volunteers the program now has 1400 tutors on its roster and has expanded to include "in school" tutoring in addition to its after school sessions and evening workshops. 826 Valencia Street's successes have led to the opening of more tutoring centers across the nation such as The Boring Store in Chicago, The Space Travel Supply Company in Greenwood and The Superhero Supply Company in Brooklyn, which all provide community services in addition to their wacky commodities.It's not everyday that one gets the chance to hear two of the nation's most celebrated contemporary writers read from their novels in such an intimate setting as Mead Chapel. Yet, as evidenced by Vida and Eggers' closing slideshow, it's equally rare that one gets to venture into a "Capery" equipped with industrial fans en route to a tutoring session.
(04/11/07 12:00am)
Author: Neil Waters It seemed like a no-brainer. Several students in one of my classes included the same erroneous information in final examination essays. Google whisked me immediately to Wikipedia, where I found the source of the erroneous information in under a minute. To prevent recurrences of the problem, I wrote a policy for consideration by the history department, in less than two minutes: " 1)Students are responsible for the accuracy of information they provide, and they cannot point to Wikipedia or any similar source that may appear in the future to escape the consequences of errors. 2)Wikipedia is not an acceptable citation, even though it may lead one to a citable source." I brought up this modest policy proposal, suitably framed in whereases and be it resolveds, at the next meeting of the department, and it was passed within about three minutes, and we moved on to more pressing business. And that, I thought, was that - a good six minutes worth of work, culminating in clear guidelines for the future. Some colleagues felt I was belaboring the obvious, and they were right. The history department always has held students responsible for accuracy, and does not consider general encyclopedias of the bound variety to be acceptable for citation either. But Wikipedia seemed worth mentioning by name because it is omnipresent and because its "open-source" method of compilation makes it a different animal from, say, the Encyclopedia Britannica.The Campus published an article on the departmental policy, and the rest, as they say, is history. Alerted by the online version of The Campus Tim Johnson of The Burlington Free Press interviewed me and a spokesman for Wikipedia who agreed with the history department's position, and published an article. Several college newspapers followed suit, and then Noam Cohen of The New York Times interviewed Don Wyatt, chair of the History Department, and me, and published the story. Within a day it received more online "hits" than any other New York Times feature. Another interview followed with the Asahi Shimbun in Tokyo, and additional articles appeared in El Pais in Spain, The Guardian in England, and then in literally hundreds of newspapers in the US and abroad. Along with other members of the History Department, I found myself giving interviews almost daily - to radio stations, newspaper reporters, inquisitive high school students, WCAX television news in Burlington, and even to the NBC Nightly News, which sent correspondent Lisa Daniels to Middlebury to interview me and students in my History of Modern Japan class. A stream of phone calls and e-mails from a wide range of people, from Wikipedia disciples to besieged librarians who felt free at last to express their Wikipedia misgivings, continues to the present. Somehow the modest policy adoption by the History Department at Middlebury College hit a nerve. Why this overwhelming spate of interest? I can think of three reasons immediately: 1) Timing. Wikipedia has existed since 2001, but it has expanded exponentially, and reached a critical mass in the last couple of years. With over 1.6 million entries in its English language edition, Wikipedia has something to say about almost everything. Its popularity has soared with its comprehensiveness and ease of use, and its ease of use in turn has been enhanced by popularity-driven algorithms; Google lists a Wikipedia article in first or second place more often than not. 2) Passion. There is something exciting about the growth and development of an entity to which anyone can contribute.At its best, Wikipedia works wonders. Anonymous editors actually improve entries over time, including new material, editing away mistakes, polishing the writing. Accordingly, some of Wikipedia's defenders approach their task with near-religious zeal. But Wikipedia at its worst excites similarly intense passions, because anonymous, non-accountable editors can include, through ignorance or malice, misinformation that may or may not get "fixed." Further, thousands of high school teachers as well as college professors who try mightily to induce a measure of critical thinking in their students' approach to sources for research grow quietly furious because the very ubiquity of Wikipedia tempts people to use it in lieu of other, more reliable sources of information. 3) Scandals. The Wikipedia entry for John Siegenthaler, Sr. in 2004 contained spurious accusations that he was a suspect in the assassinations of both John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy. The entry was unaltered for four months (thereafter authors of new entries, but not editors of existing entries, had to register their names with Wikipedia). A Wikipedia "policeman" turned out to have bogus credentials. Sinbad was declared dead (he has since risen again). All this keeps the pot boiling.In the final analysis, Wikipedia's greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. Anonymous, unaccountable, unpaid, often non-expert yet passionate editors built Wikipedia, but their anonymity and lack of accountability assures that Wikipedia cannot be considered an authoritative source. And yet it is frequently used as if it were, Wikipedia's own disclaimers notwithstanding. College professors and high school teachers alike need to remember that the impressive computer acumen of their students does not automatically translate into impressive levels of critical thought, particularly when it comes to evaluating the reliability of the new tools at their disposal, and of the information those tools provide. The internet has opened up new highways of information, but we need to know how to spot the potholes. Neil Waters is Professor of History and Kawashima Professor of Japanese Studies at Middlebury College.
(03/21/07 12:00am)
Author: Katie Washburn On a drizzly morning in downtown Middlebury, several customers lounged at Carol's Hungry Mind CafÈ. Shortly after 8 a.m., a familiar customer, Axinn Professor of English & Creative Writing Jay Parini, enters, proceeds to order a coffee and drifts toward the back of the room. "For the past 40 years I've come to a cafÈ everyday to write," explains Parini. "I only like to write for a couple of hours in the morning, and I often start very early."This daily ritual has produced poetry collections, novels, biographies, literary critiques and now the inspiration for a Hollywood film starring Meryl Streep and Anthony Hopkins. "The Last Station," Parini's novel based on the last year in the life of Russian author Leo Tolstoy, is currently being made into a movie by director Michael Hoffman. The evolution of "The Last Station" has been a lengthy process for Parini, who began working with renowned actor Anthony Quinn to adapt the novel into a screenplay after it was published in 1990. Quinn had planned on playing the lead role of Tolstoy until he passed away from complications of throat cancer in 2001. Parini then went back to work with Bonnie Arnold, associate producer of "Dances with Wolves," to set the film in motion. When director Michael Hoffman picked up the project, he completely rewrote the screenplay, basing his work on the original novel. After sending out the script, movie stars Anthony Hopkins and Meryl Streep signed on as leading actors."I am delighted to have such major figures of today in the film," says Parini. "I'm especially interested in the lesser known figures, like Paul Giamatti."Giamatti will be playing the emotionally rich character of Vladimir Cherkov, Tolstoy's apprentice. Parini also anticipates James McAvoy's performance with excitement. McAvoy recently starred in "The Last King of Scotland.""The Last Station," will begin shooting in Russia later this year, but is only one of many different projects in which Parini is involved. He is a multi-faceted writer, not strictly adhering to or favoring a certain type of work."I think of poetry at my center, [but] I would not give up anything," he says. "It works better to shift among genres, [as] one genre informs another."In 2005, Parini's "The Art of Subtraction: New and Selected Poems" was published. "The Art of Teaching" was also released two years ago and, as Parini says, "was surprisingly successful." The work used anecdotes from his experience as a professor to tackle many classroom issues. This past fall, Parini finished a book called "Why Poetry Matters," which he describes as a "history of how poets themselves justify their work." In it, he emphasizes the importance of correctly using metaphor. "Like Frost said, if you're not educated in metaphor, you're not safe to be let loose in the world," says Parini. He used President Bush as an example. "The misuse of metaphor leads us into dangerous places, such as Iraq."A recent event at the Center for the Arts featured a reading of one of Parini's newest works, "Mary Postgate," based on a short story by Rudyard Kipling, which Parini describes as a "story [he'd] been brooding on for the past twenty to thirty years." Parini is currently writing "Promised Land: Thirteen Books That Made America."Yet Parini notes that his true love is teaching. He sees the profession as "an active conversation" between him and his students. "I love to meet with students and talk to them, and guide their reading," he says.Though he has been teaching for the past 35 years, he still insists, "It seems to me I just started yesterday."
(03/14/07 12:00am)
Author: Daniel Roberts The Oscars happened two weekends ago. They were pretty sweet, right? Or, I guess not, according to America; it was the lowest-rated Oscars telecast in decades. I see your point cinema buffs, so let me say touchÈ - at a droning more than 4 hours, who cares enough to stay up until Best Picture is announced?So, I feel you. I really do. Yet, the truth is that for those of us who watch the Oscars each year, last Sunday's ceremony was the best Academy Awards Night in a long time. Why, you ask? For once, the movies that were good simply because they were entertaining and well done, not because they advanced some political agenda or message of tolerance, took away the trophies. That is why it was a delightful four hours, even if the Academy did sneak in numerous excessive montages, creepy costume re-enactments and unfunny speeches galore.Last year was a perfect example of my gripe about the Academy. Brokeback Mountain, Munich and even Capote were all great movies characterized by outstanding performances and gripping plots. Any of these would have satisfied me if they had earned Best Picture. But no, the prize went to Crash, a jumbled collage of race-inspired incidents strewn together with the simple goal of impressing voters because they dealt with a touchy topic. Crash did not deserve Best Picture, just as Alan Arkin should not have earned Best Supporting Actor this year, just as Scorsese should own five statues by now.The problem with the way the Academy chooses its winners is that it allows external biases and influences to tarnish its decisions. The way I see it (and call me crazy), the winner in each category that begins with "BestÖ" should be the film or performance that was of the highest quality, regardless of any political or otherwise irrelevant fact. The choice of Crash in 2005 for Best Picture illustrates the fact that in America we are becoming so increasingly guilty of our past sins (slavery, segregation, etc.) that these voters suddenly feel they have to make up for it by handing out an Academy Award to any film that "breaks boundaries," or "tackles a delicate issue" or any other clichÈ phrase of political correctness you can dream up. Crash was chosen because it was a movie that dealt bravely with race tensions in Los Angeles, despite the fact that the film itself did not actually say anything compelling about these issues, and was the least well-done of the five Best Picture nominees that year.Finally, this year, the film which strove for no political statement of any kind, but worked solely to keep you on the edge of your seat - The Departed - took home the prize. Hooray. In addition, the other front runner for the big award, according to rumors, was Little Miss Sunshine, which was equally entertaining and devoid of any lofty aspirations toward advancing a pedantic political message. Good work, Academy. Of course, Alan Arkin, with a grand total of maybe twenty minutes of screen time in this "little dramedy that could" stole the Supporting Actor statue from the far more deserving hands of both Mark Wahlberg and Djimon Hounsou. Let's be honest, sorry to offend, but this was because the guy is old. He is a veteran of Hollywood and probably won't be putting out too many more nomination-worthy performances. I know, I know, Peter O'Toole proves this wrong, but his nomination this year was really just a parting gift, since the guy looked like he was at death's door, and his role in Venus was really just a parody of his own life. Anyway, the Alan Arkin win is another example of the voters allowing outside forces to influence their decisions. They figured, well, Wahlberg is commanding and bold, and Djimon Hounsou is gripping and moves you to tears, but hey, they've got their entire careers in front of them. Let's give a little gift to good 'ole Alan. I may stand alone, but in my insignificant, common moviegoer eyes, I see a film's worth as being judged only by the film itself. A movie should not be judged by the time period it came in or by the external forces it alludes to, no matter how bold or revolutionary its political statement is announced. Honestly, watch out, because some day soon a film is going to come out in which two gay cowboys, one black and one asian, journey on horseback to the land of intolerance (let's say New Jersey) with pink Polo sweatshirts wrapped over their shoulders and courage in their hearts. By the film's end, Brett and Taylor will have turned the cold stares of their formidable new neighbors into loving embraces, and softened the frowns of intolerance across the globe. "Oscar buzz" will begin to circulate immediately, but, you know what? My vote will be cast for the movie that simply entertained me the most. In other words, I'll be rooting for Harold and Kumar Go To Amsterdam, seiously.Daniel Roberts is a member of the Class of 2009 and hails from Newton, Mass. He is an English Major.
(03/14/07 12:00am)
Author: Ben Salkowe Several weeks into the 1918 fall semester, a number of out-of-state students began to develop colds. The colds soon led to fevers and chills, but the symptoms did not initially raise alarm and there was little worry on the campus. Little worry until one of the students, Charles Thompson of Maplewood, N.J., became "severely prostrated" and died suddenly on Sept. 26. A week later a junior, Charles Dana Carlson of Peacham, Vt., died suffering the same symptoms.By mid-October, local papers were reporting that the global epidemic of influenza, which would affect 25 percent of the U.S. population and kill 20-40 million people worldwide, had reached Middlebury.Carlson was the first person at the College or in the town to perish from the 1918 Pandemic Flu. The administration responded by quarantining students and prohibiting them from leaving the campus. The quarantine was not unusual, as an English class of forty students had been locked in for three days earlier that spring, when Gertrude Burditt '19 gave them all scarlet fever. Beyond the two young men, the College escaped the virus with minimal tragedy and student comments in The Campus described an effective health system. One female student complained to her mother, "since morning I have had six doctors." Now, nearly nine decades after the influenza pandemic, College administrators are bracing themselves for the prospect that it could all happen again. But this time, with a global Middlebury community and a larger student population, the response in planning would abandon the quarantine approach. Instead, students would be given 24 hours to leave campus, dorms would be locked, and the College would shut down indefinitely. Planning for a pandemicIt is late afternoon on a Friday and six members of the Emergency Planning Committee are gathered around a conference table in Old Chapel discussing the next pandemic. The administrators - including representatives from the academic program, Library and Information Services, College Communications and the President's staff - speak not in terms of "if," but "when." "We have a pandemic every 30 to 50 years," says Director of the Health Center Dr. Mark Peluso. "This is overdue."The committee is battling two dangerous misconceptions: that healthy 20-year-olds are less likely to suffer from an influenza outbreak, and that the best place to be with a global epidemic would be isolated Middlebury College.The irony is that the 1918 pandemic flu most affected 20-40-year-olds with strong immune systems. The disease caused the body's immune system to overreact, leading to acute respiratory distress syndrome - victims literally drowned inside their own bodies as their lungs filled with fluid. Because the disease preyed on the immune system, those with stronger immune systems suffered more aggressive symptoms.When the last pandemic flu struck, the world was in the midst of World War I and many college-age students suffered the disease in trenches and other military realms. "These men start with what appears to be an ordinary attack of LaGrippe or Influenza, and when brought to the hospital they very rapidly develop the most vicious type of pneumonia that has ever been seen," said a World War I physician quoted in John Barry's The Great Influenza. "Two hours after admission they have Mahogany spots over the cheek bones, and a few hours later you can begin to see the cyanosis extending from their ears and spreading all over the face, until it is hard to distinguish the colored men from the white."Now college administrators across the country worry that students packed in dorm rooms and dining halls could be a modern corollary to the young soldiers who suffered the 1918 pandemic in the barracks of World War I. "Back then it wasn't so much the colleges as the military barracks," says Peluso. "Today we are the military barracks of 1918."The other counterintuitive is that, however isolated, Middlebury could be one of the worst places to be in the event of a pandemic flu. "The Middlebury community is an amazingly global community," says Secretary of the College John Emerson. "With all the people that study abroad, all the people that have contact with the summer Bread Loaf programs on four different campuses, our schools abroad and our international students traveling back and forth across the world, we are potentially at risk despite being in rural, isolated Addison County."Compounding the risks of that global network are intense, regular interactions between members of the community on a regular basis."We all live together, we all eat together, we all go to classes together," says Peluso. "The school population today is significantly greater than it was in 1918, causing greater and closer interactions between people and making it harder to isolate people and to find enough spaces to house any and all who might fall ill," says Susan Miranowski '07, a pre-med student working with Peluso and the Committee.The 1918 pandemic flu went away as mysteriously and suddenly as it had arrived, leading health officials today to conclude that the best national strategy for responding to a pandemic outbreak would be to slow its spread while scientists attempted to find a vaccine and hoped it died off on its own. But slowing its spread requires scattering dense populations, like communities of college students, before infection can occur.Evacuating a campus"The key concept is social distancing," explains President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz in an e-mail. "Dorms, large dining halls, and classrooms do not promote this concept, and for this reason, we decided that closure would be the safest course of action."Whereas the College in 1918 quarantined students and prohibited them from leaving the campus, the College in 2007 would implement an enforced evacuation if it faced a pandemic flu. The campus community would have 24 hours to evacuate, and the Committee suggested dorms would be padlocked to secure valuables and prevent students from returning."It's the opposite of what they did in 1918 in the sense that everyone would leave campus," says Miranowski. "But it makes sense under the changed circumstances."Peluso expects the pandemic would enter the United States through a major port such as Los Angeles or New York, giving the College a limited amount of time to select a course of action, warn the community and implement an evacuation if necessary.The most recent response protocols drafted for the Committee are based on a staged, six-level plan. At low risk levels where a pandemic flu was still abroad or only apparent in isolated cases within the United States, the College would remain open, limiting travel to affected areas and possibly postponing the arrival of visitors from those areas. As the Director of the Health Center, Peluso would monitor the pandemic situation and, if necessary, advise the campus of a possible closure.But if the situation became more severe, with clusters of human-to-human transmission in the United States or even cases or pandemic in the immediate area, the College would cancel events and evacuate the campus. And the closure, according to the Committee, would not be a matter of days or even weeks, but more likely months or semesters."It's a hard thing to imagine actually happening," says Miranowski. "I've sort of come around to the feeling that this is the best and really only option."The evacuation would be based on students implementing their own personal preparedness plans. These plans, which students will soon be required to have, include two possible locations they could get to and a strategy for how they would get there. Next week the College will notify students that in order to register for spring classes in November, they will be
expected to enter two evacuation plans into BannerWeb. "Given the student body, it's probably the only way to get a response from everyone," says Miranowski about blocking course registration for students without plans. "It's a guarantee that everyone will have to be aware and involved."The two plans students devise must be based on geographically distinct locations in case one is at the center of a pandemic flu or a student is unable to find transportation to a specific area. Parents will receive copies of the plans their student has entered, but the College will not check the validity of any personal preparedness plan."It is not a comfortable position for a college to be in," says Peluso, acknowledging that the College would essentially be leaving students on their own. "But we've looked at lots of other ways to do it and this is the best way. Students know what's best for them and they are in the best position to make their own plans."Ultimately, the committee plans to work with Geography professors to design GIS systems that would allow them to identify major travel patterns and help students find rides. But the technical complications of such a system make it a long-term goal.For now, the administrators hope they can inspire students to prepare, without raising unnecessary concern."It's a thin line to walk," says Emerson. "We don't want to alarm people and be alarmist. On the other hand we want people to be informed and smart and take this seriously." "We may not have a pandemic for years," says Peluso, "but we'll have a plan and students will have plans."The reality of the situationGiven the isolated nature of the College, the Committee is aware that telling students to flee the campus sounds counterintuitive. And given the length of time since the last pandemic, the Committee is also aware that the scenario they are planning for seems unlikely.But they are convinced that a pandemic flu scenario is not so fantastic as it sounds."The public health officials told us to pay attention to this and plan for it," says Peluso, referring to a presentation he attended by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt. "This is an illness that affects young people who live in groups, so we are taking time away from other things to plan for it."Middlebury was among the first schools to adopt an evacuation-based response plan for a pandemic flu. According to Peluso, schools like Dartmouth that have teaching hospitals, have more medical staff and resources to rely on before an evacuation would be imperative. Other schools with smaller endowments have more concerns to face from the financial implications of a long-term shutdown."Initially our strategy could have been viewed as extreme," says Liebowitz, "but now more schools are recognizing that evacuation would be the best course of action."Coming off of the College's recent closure several weeks ago due to a blizzard, the planning is also addressing identified weaknesses in current emergency response systems."I'm not sure that we did that all that well," acknowledges Emerson about how the decision to shutdown the campus was reached on Feb. 14. "We weren't organized initially to do it in a way that was routine. There almost needs to be a recipe for what you do and how you do it, rather than having to sort that out on the fly through e-mail and telephone conversations.Along with the pandemic flu scenario, the Committee now oversees other response plans for a wide array of emergency scenarios."What we're trying to do right now is figure out what questions need to be asked," says Emerson. "We're also planning for an ice storm, or a flood or a catastrophic failure of the communications system. But the one that's getting the most attention and pressure right now is definitely the pandemic flu."
(03/14/07 12:00am)
Author: Kristin Ward PARIS - When I first arrived in the French third grade classroom where I volunteer, the students immediately jumped out of their seats to say "Bonjour." "Say it in English," the teacher insisted, and there came a chorus of "Allo." I have volunteered in numerous American elementary schools, and have never received such a welcome. My first interaction with the French school gave me an overwhelmingly positive impression of the French education system. The classroom was a model of order, with posters on verb tenses and English vocabulary lining the walls. A dictionary sits on every student's desk and their trousse, or pencil case, sits beside it. Pencil cases are fundamental for French students; even at the university I've rarely seen a student without one. When it comes time for the teacher to start the lesson, it becomes apparent why a case filled with colored pens and pencils, whiteout pens and rulers are necessary. Every third-grader used these tools to underline and highlight even the simplest thing. Watching the kids write their names and the date showed me where the French students learn their meticulous note-taking skills. During lectures the French students scribble furiously, essentially transcribing the professors' words. At any given moment they are using at least three different colored pens, plus a highlighter, a ruler and a whiteout pen that gets used immediately to avoid scribbling out mistakes. Unfortunately, I have trouble reading any French student's notes, because French handwriting is so different. Prior to coming here, I na'vely assumed that since we used the same alphabet, French and American handwriting would be the same. Unfortunately, many hours of trying to decipher what my French professors wrote on the board has taught me otherwise. One day in my third grade classroom, a student wrote "Monday" on the board, and the teacher made him rewrite it in "American handwriting." Handwriting differences only begin to get at the cultural differences we have come across during English lessons in Mme. Ratarin's classroom. Yesterday she found a rhyme on the Internet intending to teach children numbers. Although I had never heard the rhyme before, I recognized the expressions such as "six, pick up sticks" from classic children's rhymes. However, when it came time to explain certain words, my language skills, both English and French, failed me. I couldn't figure out how to define "jive," and wound up dancing awkwardly in front of the class. The students watched and giggled and asked me if the word meant "to dance." With no better way to explain it, I agreed. I successfully translated "number seven, go to heaven," but could not explain why such a silly-sounding phrase was part of a rhyme that the students were supposed to act out. The idiom's meaning got lost in translation.Despite the cultural and linguistic differences between American and French schools, many of their qualities are similar. In the French classes, like the American ones, there is always a troublemaker and students who doodle instead of taking notes. The language is a constant barrier for me in the French school, but Ecole Las Cases provides a sense of familiarity that I seek and truly appreciate while here in Paris.
(03/14/07 12:00am)
Author: Melissa Marshall "Thanks for saving me from a career in Wall Street," reads a note attached to a poster advertising the 2003 action thriller "Out of Time." The poster hangs outside the office of Don Mitchell, lecturer in English and Film and Media Culture, and Dave Collard '94 is not the only one grateful to Mitchell. In fact, college dorms across the country are appreciative that Collard is writing toilet humor for animated characters instead of crunching numbers in Dockers and a tie. Best known for his two and a half season stint as a staff writer for Fox's animated comedy "The Family Guy," Collard traded the tropical warmth of Los Angeles for the frigid weather of his alma mater in order to give a talk to screenwriter hopefuls and pop-culture junkies alike last Sunday evening. Collard immediately put Dana Auditorium at ease with his casual attire and even more relaxed attitude, reminding students that a benefit of a liberal arts education is "the opportunity to have a happy accident," even if that accident is a career path more stigmatized than the dreaded English major. Collard, who first discovered the possibility of screenwriting in a book while shopping for his economic class, demystified a field that seems harder to gain access to than the Freemasons. "I'm not going to lie and say that it's easy. But if there's nothing else pulling you, I say do it," said Collard. "If there's something else you're just as interested in, go do that, it'll be easier. There are a lot of days I hate my job, but I can't imagine myself doing anything else. I guess even Ben and Jerry's ice cream tasters get tired of their job some days." His focus on maintaining realistic expectations continued throughout his talk as he even underplayed the ideal of complete freedom in creative expression, drawing examples from the numerous changes made to his scripts for "Out of Time" and the 2006 military drama "Annapolis." "I had originally planned for 'Out of Time' to be set in Buffalo, write what you know, but they immediately changed it to Miami," said Collard. "Nobody wants to see a movie set in Buffalo, even people who live in Buffalo." Collard continued to outline the life of a screenwriter, the depiction becoming less glamorous with every reference to unappreciative actors, intense competition and compromised creative control. "Right now, I sell out. That's my job," said Collard, displaying an honesty that defined his presentation. Earlier in his talk, he fielded a question from his mentor Mitchell concerning the socio-economic hypocrisy of mainstream values presented in "The Family Guy," responding, "That's more on Seth McFarland [the show's producer]. I don't know, my favorite joke was the fart-box."Despite some of the negative aspects he broached, Collard encouraged aspiring writers further, even offering to act as patron to some. "Have any good ideas for a thriller?" asked Collard. "I'll take down names and hand out checks. I'm serious." While Collard did show the 2001 episode of "The Family Guy" titled "Screwed the Pooch" as well as a ten minute clip from "Out of Time," he delivered a presentation structured more like a question and answer session than a lecture, seeming more interested in hearing students' voices than his own. And students did not hesitate to call on Collard for advice, gaining valuable insight into the inner-workings of the Hollywood industry. "I've been pretty interested in screenwriting for a while, but I did not know a lot on the technical end," said Peter Hoffman '10. "I found it interesting how often the script was altered. Whether it is through the communal effort of television writing or the administrative decisions in the film world, it is surprising to see how much a script differs from its original conception."Through a mix of humor, honesty and candid storytelling, Collard's informal lecture shed light on a profession shrouded by uncertainty. "Dave Collard's talk was enlightening in the way that so many of the visits by successful alums are: it offered some perspective on what it means to go out into the 'real world' and try out one's dreams," said Astri von Arbin Ahlander '07. "Even though Dave was realistic about the poor odds for succeeding as a writer in Hollywood, his encouragement and the example he himself has set serves as inspiration to go out there and give the impossible a try."
(03/14/07 12:00am)
Author: Ceara Danahar When asked about the best sugaring winter he's ever seen, Steve Fisher is quick to reply: 1980, hands down. That year, Fisher recalls, he boiled down enough sap to make 500 gallons of maple syrup. He accomplished that feat by using about 1,500 taps, one per tree. Now, a couple of decades later, the native Vermonter has decreased the number of taps he puts out and produces-on average, 150 to 200 gallons of syrup each year. Does he think the warmer winters Vermont has experienced in recent years have had an effect on syrup production? "They certainly have," Fisher replies without hesitation. Fellow sugarmaker and Professor of English John Elder echoes Fisher's sentiments. On sabbatical this year, Elder is studying food, conservation and climate change. He is writing "with a special emphasis on sugaring in Vermont.""Sugaring off"-as the pros call it-is often a family act. The Williams Farm of Middlebury, which sells its goods on Route 30, is a family-run business that began in 1976. Williams runs a slightly larger production than Fisher, who works as a stonemason full-time and calls syrup-making "mostly hobby, part business." However, the affable 50 year-old has been tapping maple trees since childhood and his family has been involved in the practice for nearly a century now. The sugar house that he operates out of was built during the late 1800s. His grandfather purchased it in 1945. It is located in nearby Grafton, where he lives with his wife Gail Ann. Fisher sells his products under the label "Wright Orchard Sugar House," and describes his setup as a "mid-size" production. He explains that "a lot of backyard makers put in 10 to 30 taps," while "some of the bigger outfits have 10,000 or more," or even up to 50,000. In the past few years, he has put out 600 to 800, while the Williams family has a few thousand taps.In the case of quantities of syrup that number in the hundreds of gallons and are obtained through thousands of taps, to create a single gallon of maple syrup, it is necessary to boil down approximately 40 gallons of sap. Fisher points out that "generally, if you can get a quart of syrup for ever tap you have, you've done good." In 1980, he and his family far exceeded that. Their remarkable outcome that winter prompted a televised tour of his sugar house on Good Morning America with Julia Child. The most ideal conditions for tapping trees depend on the levels of frost, snowfall, temperature and buds on the maple trees, which means that warmer winters have serious consequences for syrup producers. The goal, Fisher said, is to have deep frost coupled with temperatures around 40 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and 20 degrees Fahrenheit at night. It is imperative that the trees do not bud during sugaring-once they begin to grow buds, the sap starts running freely and can freeze by nightfall. Winters with abnormally warm temperatures can cause this sort of unfavorable early budding. Deep frost is desirable in its ability to prevent this occurrence. Typically, Elder says, these conditions occur "in March and April, with many sugarmakers in Vermont traditionally tapping the day after Town Meeting." However, Elder points out that "the transitions from winter to spring become even more erratic and unpredictable than usual" as a result of global warming. The dilemma of early budding, Elder said, involves the germination of maple seeds, which occurs at 34 degrees Fahrenheit. In an early thaw, these seeds can sprout. They will subsequently freeze and die when cold temperatures return, "thus endangering the regeneration of the forest," Elder said.Again in 1980, "the best year we ever made syrup," Fisher described the winter as having been very cold, totally lacking snow and having frost that extended four feet into the ground. This created a prolonged season where "the sap ran so pure and so fast, we made syrup that looked like water." Besides early budding, another result of unnaturally warm winter weather is the possibility of disease entering the maple trees. Insects that are generally killed off by cold temperatures may survive. Some, like pear thrips, can eat away at a tree's buds, thereby affecting its foliage. Others can enter the tree through the holes left by the syrup taps. Fisher said that he has already noticed changes in the trees. He warned, "I think a lot of diseases would come into play the warmer it gets."Lucille Williams of the Williams Farm said she was most concerned with the present. Fisher offered hopeful predictions for this sugaring season, noting February's frigid temperatures and their resulting frost. When asked about her expectations, Williams cautioned, "You can't tell until the season's over."Williams asserted that her family's previous year of sugaring off "wasn't a great year. It was an average year." When asked about the future of her livelihood, she, however, responded with deference, "We just take it as it comes. Mother Nature determines what we do."It is with an uncertainty about the future of his craft that Fisher spoke of the challenges which face today's maple syrup industry. "I read some articles saying that in 50 years, the maple trees will be gone," he said. "It's kind of a sad thing to think. I see it already." Elder spoke with equal anxiety. "Some experts estimate that unless we reverse the current climate trends, maples could largely die out in Vermont by 2050," she said. "As a person for whom sugaring is an important way to be rooted in this region, I find such a prospect devastating."However, Elder was adamant about the potential for change. "Global climate change will not be reversed," said Elder. "But it can be significantly mitigated with concerted action on a national and international scale. We have inspiring leadership in our community from people like Bill McKibben, John Isham and members of the Sunday Night Group. It's time for sugarmakers, Middlebury students and others who love this landscape to be creative and determined activists, too."
(03/07/07 12:00am)
Author: Melissa Marshall It was a problem that I could no longer ignore: my hips did lie, and they were laying completely and utterly still. When I would go to parties, I would try to drop like it was hot, but the closest I could get was lukewarm. I did not have an answer for what I was going to do with all that junk, all that junk up in my trunk, and my humps were most certainly no competition for the excess of cheap beer in terms of intoxicating the masses. I had backed my thang up against a wall of boredom and musical apathy. Fortunately, the help I need seems to be on the horizon. In their infinite wisdom, the International Students Organization has planned a Global Underground Party, which is to take place this Saturday evening. With the promise of lucid techno rhythms and grammatically incorrect lyrics, I now harbor the dream of becoming an expatriate of Cristal-coated poetry and repetitive beats that short-wire the brain, causing the listener to simulate mating. With these artists, you too will be inspired to bust moves that shine brighter than P Diddy's neck at a Grammy after-party. Brazil has finally given America something joyful enough to neutralize the pain and suffering introduced by the Brazilian wax: Cansei de Ser Sexy. Their 2006 self-titled release has wormed its way into the head and hearts of ragers and indie-boppers alike - their single "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above" solidifying itself as a mainstay on many self-proclaimed DJs' playlists. Although the band sings almost entirely in English, their often quirky and sometimes bizarre lyrics seem to mock the pompousness of the American music scene. All thirty-four minutes of the art rock act's virgin disc are rooted in danceablity. From "Music is my Hot Hot Sex" to "Off the Hook," Cansei de Ser Sexy will certainly exhaust your feet and hips, but don't worry, there will still be an excess of sexy. And if CSS doesn't convince the masses of the miracles that can occur when the genders unite, then Sweden's own, The Sounds, will easily convert the few disbelievers. Their 2003 release Living in the America plays like a collection of A-sides and their single "Dance with Me" even enjoyed a few seconds of fame as a float in the parade of omnipresent background music employed by VH1. Even though their sound swirls like a throwback to such 80's darlings as Blondie and the Cars, Maja Ivarsson's powerfully throaty vocals over multi-layered tracks more than compensate for the comparisons. Their 2006 sophomore effort, "Dying to Say this to you," manages to evoke the same feel good euphoria as their debut, however, it fails to capture the catchy cohesiveness cemented throughout Living in America. On one track, Ivarsson croons, "I've got a nasty habit called rock n'roll," and after a few spins on the dance floor, The Sounds will become your new favorite addiction. Now that you've wiggled and gyrated your way from the cusp of the Euro-trash to treasure genre, you're ready to cross the language barrier. Introduced to the states during the regrettable Latino invasion in the late 90's (my bon-bon was all shook out after three weeks of constant Catalan clones) Columbian-born Juanes produced music whose beats need no translation. Gaining critical acclaim, including five Grammy awards, for his 2002 release Un DÌa Normal, Juanes' music is slightly hackneyed yet heartfelt. While his third full-length album, Mi Sangre, lacks the same teeming tempo as Un DÌa Normal, tracks such as "La Camisa Negra" and "Amame" compete with such classics as "La Noche" and "Fotografia" in terms of arousing manic-maneuvers. So tell Justin Timberlake to concentrate on patching things up with Cameron, sexy has been brung, and inform Missy Eliot that the only "dutch" I'll be passing will be in the form of Doe Maar records. Thanks to ISO's dedication, overseas is no longer under-exposed, and neither will be your dance moves. I may have ninety-nine problems, but now rhythm ain't one.
