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(10/17/13 12:49am)
As the College works to bring the Biomass Plant back up and running after it ran for 16 straight weeks — the longest, consecutive period to date — increased questions have been raised over the viability of carbon neutrality as the College races towards its 2016 goal.
In 2007, the College Board of Trustees approved a plan to become a carbon neutral institution by 2016. The College has since cut about 40 percent of its carbon emissions in six categories: heating and cooling, vehicles, electricity, travel, waste transportation and carbon offsets. This significant reduction in carbon emissions, which is expected to reach 50 percent by the end of the 2013 fiscal year, is largely attributed to the biomass plant, which burns woodchips to create a renewable energy source, an alternative to oil.
The initial plan for carbon neutrality was a student-led movement. Former Professor of Chemistry at the College Lori Del Negro and Professor of Economics John Isham led a winter term class in 2003 focusing on the scientific and institutional challenges of becoming carbon neutral. The class culminated in the production of a blueprint detailing how the College could reach this goal.
In January 2006, another group of students participated in the same course to make a more specific plan. They presented the plan to the Board of Trustees in February of that year. The board then made a commitment in May 2006 to use the student plan and pledged carbon neutrality by 2016.
“It was all [students] work,” President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz said. “They sold the trustees. It was not the administration. It came from students, and I think future innovations will come from students.”
The idea may have hatched by students, but it has quickly graduated to a booming administrative catch phrase primarily driven by the board and Old Chapel.
However, despite the College’s positive reduction of carbon emissions, neutrality seems to have become an increasingly complex goal, primarily because there are so many ways to define what exactly is included in carbon neutrality and whether true neutrality is even possible.
“I don’t think we can become truly carbon neutral according to the way that I would quantify it,” Professor of Geology Pete Ryan said. “There is the institutional way of quantifying carbon neutrality. And then there is the way I would quantify it. I think until we become basically a fossil free economy, true carbon neutrality is almost impossible.”
During fall 2009, Stafford Professor of Public Policy, Political Science and Environmental Studies Christopher Klyza taught an Environmental Studies class that looked at how the College was getting its biomass supply and if biomass was actually carbon neutral.
“The students were interested in this question, because it didn’t make sense that there is smoke coming out of the biomass plant,” he said. “It’s not obviously carbon neutral. So there must be more to it.”
“I think we’ve rethought biomass and how carbon neutral it is,” Isham said. “There were some critiques from faculty colleagues that proved to be true about overselling biomass as a carbon neutral process.”
According to Director of Sustainability Integration Jack Byrne, the reduction of carbon emission is defined within two boundaries: geographic and operational. The administration accounts for carbon emissions originating from the main campus, the Snow Bowl and the Bread Loaf School of English. Any place or product of which the College owns 50 percent or more counts toward its carbon footprint. For example, the College owns more than 50 percent of the recycling trucks that carry waste to and from campus, and therefore the emissions from those trucks are counted in the carbon emissions.
The accounting, nevertheless, can be tricky because many of the College’s daily activities emit carbon, which raises questions about what is included and excluded from the final tab. For example, the definition of travel is fluid as it only includes specific College-funded travel, while excluding travel funded through student activities or grants, according to the Climate Action Implementation Plan adopted in 2008. Even technology that moves us closer to neutrality is not carbon-free.
“Think about wind-turbines on campus and how they are made,” Ryan said. “They are made with tractors using dynamite to blow up rock to get metal out and the metal is finally refined into wind turbines that are driven here on trucks.”
The definition of carbon neutrality, however, is out of Old Chapel’s hands. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) officially defines what constitutes carbon neutrality and the official criteria for meeting this goal. Nevertheless, there still much variation in this definition.
Colby College recently declared carbon neutrality, but was only able to meet the IPCC’s criteria by buying a large number of carbon offsets. While some are willing to accept that carbon offsets are a reality in reaching neutrality, others argue that offsets are an imperfect solution.
“How do we feel about paying for other people to deal with our emissions? Because that’s what offsets are,” Ryan said.
Though Byrne could not say for sure, he predicted that the College would end up buying some offsets to reach its goal.
Regardless of the definition, the College has made tangible progress in carbon reduction. In the biomass plant, the College decreased its use of No. 6 Heating Oil — a cheap but dirty fuel oil — from 2.1 million gallons annually to 634,000 gallons last year alone.
Likewise, it has engaged in a bio-methane contract — a low-carbon renewable alternative to fuel — which, if successful, would contribute significantly to carbon reduction.
Bio-methane, which is produced by burning methane emitted from cow manure, would be used as an alternative to burning oil and would reduce the amount of methane, a far more potent greenhouse gas.
“The biomass plant has been instrumental in carbon reduction and the use of bio-methane would bring us 10 to 15 percent of our goal and would create jobs in the local community,” Byrne said.
When a local agricultural entrepreneur said he had the capital to create bio-methane, the College was eager to participate. However, the logistical issue of transporting the bio-methane to the College remains unresolved.
“The challenge is how do we get the bio-methane here,” Klyza said. “Which is where I think we’ve been drawn into this larger pipeline. The producer would have a facility about 3 miles from campus and a spur to the pipeline, which would replace our oil. We would then use no oil for heating the campus.”
Longtime divestment student-leader Greta Neubauer ’14.5 called the use of bio-methane “a step in a positive direction,” but remained skeptical about the big picture.
“My criticisms are based around what is not included in carbon neutrality,” Neubauer said. “I think it is pretty hypocritical of Middlebury to be building the biomass plant and other green buildings off of money from the fossil fuel industry.”
“I’m not as hung up on whether we are carbon neutral,” Klyza said. “We’ve made some great progress in reducing our carbon footprint. When I am thinking of the globe, we are not going to reach carbon neutrality, but what we want to do is reduce the amount of carbon we are putting in the atmosphere.”
“We are caught up in this accounting gig because we want to say we are carbon neutral. But in the end if we get to 95 percent, it’s still phenomenal.”
(09/26/13 1:26am)
Thirteen percent of students in the class of 2017 are the first in their family to go to college, according to data released by the College admissions office. This number is the highest percentage of first-generation students in a class on record and likely in the school’s history, said Dean of Admissions Greg Buckles.
“There are 92 first-generation students,” said Buckles. “We only began tracking [first generation] three years ago, and it is an attribute we assign to students, they do not self-identify. We feel confident, though, that in combination with other record numbers in this class that not only is [this] the highest number since we began counting, but almost certainly likely the most ever in a class.”
The class of 2017 has made College admissions-statistics history in other areas as well; they hold the record for the highest percentage of students on financial aid and have the highest number of international students and students of color ever.
In response to the rise in the number of first-generation students over the past three years, the Institutional Diversity Committee (IDC) has initiated a mentorship program for these students. The IDC is a Student Government Association (SGA) sub-committee comprised of 16 students that seeks to promote diversity on campus.
“The goal, most succinctly, is to better support first-generation college students so that they can fully be present at Middlebury and succeed academically, socially, and emotionally,” said IDC co-chair Michael Bernstein ’15.
“The purpose of this program is to ensure that first-generation students don’t feel alone on this campus,” added IDC member and first-generation student mentor, Daniel Pena ’16.
The idea for the mentorship program stemmed from Discover Middlebury, a recruiting program that brings high school seniors from traditionally under-represented socioeconomic or ethnic groups at the College to an on-campus open house each fall.
The IDC hosted a reunion dinner for Discover Middlebury students this past fall, inviting admissions officers and students from IDC to talk about their first year experience thus far.
“People kept saying as a first-generation student it has been particularly challenging because the path hasn’t already been forged for them, like it has for many of their counterparts at Middlebury,” said Bernstein, recounting conversations at the reunion dinner. “In the spring when [the IDC] got a lot of new members, there was a lot of passion surrounding first-generation programing.”
In response to these conversations, the IDC created a working group to focus on how to better support first-year students, which culminated in the establishment of the peer mentorship program.
There are currently 37 mentees enrolled in the program and 73 mentors, after an all-student email requested students apply to become student mentors.
“I initially expected there to be more mentees, which is why we accepted 73 mentors,” said Bernstein. “We thought we would get around two-thirds of the first-generation group, but I am satisfied with the number. It’s the first year and a lot of times in the beginning students may not know that they want or might benefit from extra support. I know coming into Middlebury, I might not have wanted to seek out help and identify myself any way in the beginning.”
The increase in different types of diversity is clearly reflected by the statistics of the class of 2017, with 26 percent identifying as U.S. students of color and 11 percent international students.
Buckles said that the reasons behind the increase of students within these demographics were two-fold.
“We are devoting considerable time and attention now to outreach, including work with urban outreach programs, access organizations, charter schools and other influential people and groups,” said Buckles. “The second reason has to do with the fact that you often see results come about almost organically once you begin to focus on an issue. We decided this issue was important, and that we were going to do something about it.”
The class of 2016 currently has 78 first-generation students and the class of 2015 has 81 first-generation students.
“Middlebury compares itself to the very best colleges and universities in the world, so the bar is set high for expectations,” said Buckles. “We can do better in comparison to those peer institutions regarding access and diversity. We’ve made great progress, though, especially recently.”
However, many students stress that diversity recruitment is not enough to solve this problem, and say that the administration has an obligation to help these students once they are here.
“If admissions is willing to recruit these from students of diverse backgrounds, who they know are not well-represented on campus, they should have a role in ensuring that students feel comfortable in this community,” said Pena.
“I’m proud that we were able to recruit a diverse class,” added Bernstein ’15. “But I think numbers are only one part of the picture. If Middlebury doesn’t feel like home when any student graduates then I don’t think Middlebury is doing its job, and I think that’s something that IDC has tried to tackle on a number of levels.”
According to Buckles, the class of 2017 is a result of broader, more effective outreach from admissions and more access for under-represented students.
“I believe that our success in shaping a community that includes so many more students that may not have previously been represented at Middlebury means we are beginning to look more and more like the best of the rest of the world,” said Buckles.
(09/19/13 12:35am)
On Wednesday, Sept. 11. after a group of five protestors pulled out the 2,977 American flags comprising a memorial to commemorate each of the lives lost in the 2001 terrorist attacks, Sasha Schell ’16, Noah Bakker ’15, and Andrew Catomeris ’15 took it upon themselves to rebuild the memorial.
The three met for dinner that night, and while discussing the incident Catomeris suggested the three of them rebuild the memorial together and called Aubuchon Hardware looking for American flags sold in bulk.
“They were super sympathetic to the idea,” said Catomeris. “They even agreed to stay open late for us.”
Aubuchon only had about 60 flags to offer the students and it cost them about $50, which the students paid for out-of-pocked. Catomeris emphasized, however, “we do not wish to be reimbursed for this sum.”
“At the time the money was not the issue but rather the fact that the memorial was gone,” said Schell.
College Republicans put on the memorial every year in collaboration with College Democrats. In 2007, the Young Republicans Club bought the 2,977 flags with extra funding from the administration. Each year the organization spends about $10 on a few replacement flags. The organization estimated that replacing all of the stolen flags would cost the Young Republicans $500. However, on Monday Sept. 16, the boxes of stolen flags were returned anonymously to the doorstep of the Public Safety office.
Ben Kinney ’15, co-president of College Republicans, worked with Catomeris and the other students that evening to replace the flags.
“That night I got a text message that people were back on campus rebuilding the memorial, so I drove to campus with the flags I had managed to get from the protesters and added the remaining ones to our memorial,” said Kinney.
“The most triumphant moment for us was all the enthusiasm we got from passersby eager to help rebuild the memorial and the unity we all felt,” said Schell.
As angered as students were by the protestors’ behavior, the students The Campus spoke to seemed to strike a balance between feeling angry and using that emotion to right a wrong by rebuilding the memorial.
“Rebuilding the memorial was, I think, a service to the community,” said Schell. “In the same way that the building of it in the first place was a service to those who had lost loved ones in the attacks, replanting them meant that we as a community, found the destruction of the memorial to be deeply offensive. We called our friends to come help, and many passersby simply stopped to help. I think to a lot of people in the community this was a way to remember the tragedy of 9/11 but also quietly voice their opinion that the destruction of the memorial was wrong and deeply offensive.”
The students primarily involved in the rebuilding were not a part of student groups responsible for the memorial, but were students who wanted to take action. Ben Kinney confirmed that since the event, he has received dozens of letters from alumni thanking him for the memorial.
View a Photo Gallery of the replanting or listen to their Thoughts that evening.
(09/12/13 12:51am)
Prescott House, former home to the members of the Delta social house (ADP), is currently serving as home to Cook Commons first-year students. President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz approved the Community Council’s decision to disband the social house last May, following the Residential Life Committee’s suggestion that the house be dissolved due to failure to comply with Inter-House Council and College regulations.
The decision, which was made official just after the conclusion of last year, forced the upperclassmen students who planned to live in Prescott during the 2013-2014 academic year to seek out alternative on-campus housing options.
The house’s availability provided a solution to over-enrollment, which has resulted in a first-year class of 629 students. However, it is unlikely that the house will continue to serve as first-year housing in years to come, confirmed Associate Dean of Students for Residential Life and Student Life Policy Doug Adams. In the future, it is likely that it will be converted into special interest housing or serve as home to a new social house after the conclusion of the 2013-2014 academic year.
“The decision was about cohesion,” said Adams. “ [The administration] wanted to keep first-year students in as cohesive an environment as possible, and Prescott offered that this year.”
Adams also confirmed that the members of Delta who were to live in Prescott during the 2013-2014 academic year were notified before room draw that their ability to live in the social house would be dependant on Liebowitz’s decision, and therefore they should all participate in regular room draw process.
“They followed the same process as everyone else and were able to live anywhere that their number allowed them to,” Adams said.
Luke Battle ’14, former president of Delta, and other members did not respond to multiple requests for comment. For the first-year students, the feelings about being placed in Prescott were mixed.
“Prescott is so nice with its high ceilings and patio out back, don’t get me wrong,” said Emma Decamp ’17, a first-year currently living in Prescott. “But I think it’s better for first-years to be in big dorms with the rest of the class, in the middle of campus. Prescott is better suited for upperclassmen because some want the off-campus feel, whereas most first-years want to be in the middle of things.”
Bailey Garfield ’17, another first-year resident, said he felt that he was in an uncomfortable position.
“On one hand, I love living in Prescott, because I can really get to know all of my housemates instead of being mixed into a larger, more impersonal residence hall. On the other hand, I feel a bit uncomfortable being placed in the center of the politics between ADP and the administration,” he said. “The first-years living in the house are selected randomly, and we should not be held to blame for what happened last year.”
But Adams contested that he was only doing the best he could.
“It was the best option in a tricky situation. The College had an unexpectedly high yield for this incoming class and the Prescott location offered the best opportunity for keeping first-year students together in an intact community.”
Currently, 28 first-year students live in Prescott, as well as two First Year Counselors (FYC). Two full seminar classes are in the house, which Adams felt would add to the cohesiveness of the group.
The administration’s decision to disband Delta last spring evoked a number of different responses from the student body, but the administration maintained that the decision was the right one.
“I think the dorm damage number itself demonstrates that Delta was not contributing positively to life on campus,” said Adams. “As well as numerous student responses we received. There is definitely a small group of students that wants that type of social interaction, but it is not everyone.”
“Students are responsible for creating opportunities for a positive campus social life,” Adams continued. “Only students can do that.”
(05/08/13 8:46pm)
Community Council had its last meeting of the year on Monday, May 6 and has spent the last two weeks wrapping up agenda items from the year as well as making a preliminary agenda for next year, when Luke Carroll Brown ’14 will serve as student co-chair of Community Council.
On Monday April 29, the Council met with Anna Shireman-Grabowski ’15.5 and Sam Koplinka-Loher ’13 to discuss the Vermont Gas Pipeline Project, a project the College endorsed in 2009. The pipeline, which would feed gas from Alberta, Ontario to Chittenden and Addison Counties in Vt., would use natural gas which is both cheaper and more carbon efficient. However, some of the gas being fed into the pipeline would be fracked gas, which is banned in the state of Vermont, because of the particularly disruptive techniques fracking uses. Two students spoke at a Student Government Association (SGA) meeting, which subsequently passed a resolution asking the administration to reconsider its endorsement of the project. The pair came to the Council asking that it produce a similar statement to encourage the administration to reconsider its endorsement of the project
“All of the gas comes through Alberta, Canada,” explained Shireman Grabowski, “and when they first presented on the project, it was established that most of the wells in Alberta were using vertical drilling techniques, but it has become clear that more and more of the wells they are drawing from in Canada are using fracking.”
Some members of the Council felt that they did not have enough information to recommend the administration change its position.
“I think it would be premature for us to act on this before we hear from [Vice President for Finance and Treasurer’s Office] Patrick Norton or Environmental Council on why the College endorsed this project in the first place,” said Professor of Film and Media Culture Leger Grindon.
Eventually the Council proposed a resolution reading, “We, Community Council, ask that President [of the College Ronald D.] Liebowitz takes into account new information that has come to light since signing the endorsement of the Vermont Natural Gas Project.” The resolution passed with 13 members voting in favor, two members voting in opposition and three abstentions.
Likewise, the Council framed a proposal that the parking fine for vehicles on campus be moved from $50 to $25, noting that with the exception of Williams College, no other New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) school has parking fines this high.
Eight members voted in favor of this proposal, seven in opposition and one abstention.
Lastly, the Council met with Liebowitz on April 2 to go over the decision to disband Delta house.
“I think he was interested in getting more background on how we came to our decision,” explained Dean of Student Doug Adams. “[He is] seriously considering what ramifications the decision would have for the College.”
Since the Council has recommended the disbandment of Delta, Liebowitz has met with members of the house, administrators and most recently with Community Council to discuss this issue. It seems that two options are seriously being considered at this point: suspension and disbandment. Suspension of the house would result in a loss of residential status, but Delta would still be considered a student organization, while disbandment would result in the loss of residential status and recognition of the organization.
“President Liebowitz has said that the final decision should be reached very soon,” explained Dean of the College Shirley Collado.
(04/24/13 4:32pm)
On Monday, March 22, Community Council met to go over a few transportation recommendations that Leger Grindon, professor of film and media culture, outlined for the Council’s review. The proposal, broken into four parts, seeks to address certain transportation issues on campus and ultimately make the campus more pedestrian and bike accessible.
The first portion of the proposal outlines the need for a system of bike paths throughout campus, especially to “expand the bicycle paths along Routes 30 and 125 by expanding the bicycle lane onto college property wherever possible.” The group acknowledged that there are pedestrian walkways that need expanding as well.
“Facilities is working to expand walks each year, and this year we chose to work on the path from Route 125 across Sunderland and from Battell towards Bicentennial Hall,” explained College Horticulturalist Tim Parsons. “All of our walks are too narrow, but we don’t have the funding to fix them all.”
The proposal to implement more bicycle paths throughout campus passed, with all 15 present members voting in favor.
The second section of the proposal urges the College to build covered bicycle parking adjacent to buildings.
“We are doing covered bike racks as a part of the new field house,” explained Parsons. “One thing I hope this proposal does is encourage the College, especially facilities, to target areas of campus and begin to build covered bike racks around buildings.”
This portion passed with 14 in favor and one abstention.
The third portion of the proposal urges the College to give priority funding towards the construction of the promenade on Old Chapel Road. This proposal is currently a part of the College’s long-term campus plan and would make Old Chapel Road a pedestrian walkway.
“It would tie these two quads together in a way that would make this feel like a more cohesive campus,” said Parsons.
Billy Sneed, senior network administrator for Library and Information Services (LIS), agreed with the initiative.
“I work in Voter and really appreciate the parking right out front, but would give up my parking for this,” said Sneed.
This section passed with 15 in favor.
The last section of the proposal, which evoked an outspoken response from many students, was the proposal to initiate car-registering privileges beginning sophomore year, in order to minimize the car culture on campus. As the system stands now, first-year students are allowed to register cars on campus. According to Public Safety, 82 first-year students currently have registered cars on campus.
“I think it creates a problem where there isn’t one,” said Student Government Association (SGA) President Charlie Arnowitz ’13 on the proposal. “We are talking about 82 students, which is not a huge amount.”
Some members of the Council acknowledged how rural Middlebury is and that having a car on campus can save students hundreds of dollars when trying to get home. And while certain members were concerned with the car culture on campus and the number of students who drive to class, most members felt that first-years were not the ones driving through campus during the class day.
“Parking favors upperclassmen and first-years park in [the CFA], which is so far away that these students are not the ones driving through campus everyday,” said Council member Olena Ostasheva ’16.
This part of the proposal did not pass with 12 members voting in opposition, two in support and one abstention.
The three recommendations that did pass will move along to President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz for final review.
(04/17/13 4:27pm)
An article published in The Huffington Post on April 9 titled “Why Tina Fey Should have taken a Gap Year,” cited a study conducted by former Dean of Admissions Robert Clagett, which examined the success of Middlebury students who had completed gap years and found that those students went on to have overall higher GPAs in college.
Several recent articles published in the The New York Times, Businessweek and Time have paid some sort of homage to the gap year, and the notion of taking a year off between high school and college has become increasingly popular. Recently, parents, professors and students have noticed a correlation between having a gap year experience and academic motivation and success once in college.
The College has openly endorsed students taking time off between high school and college, both through the February admissions program and through allowing and supporting students admitted in September admissions to defer their admission in order to take a year off from school before college. According to the Admissions Office, about 35 students defer their matriculation at the College each year to take gap years.
In a letter to the recently admitted members of the Class of 2017, Dean of Admissions Greg Buckles encouraged the high school seniors to “step back and think about what your education is really all about.”
In the letter Buckles spoke to the benefits of the Feb experience and encouraged students admitted in the regular September class to take time off before college as well.
“The students who enroll here in February bring more to their college experience and, as a result, derive more from it. They also hold a disproportionately high number of leadership positions on campus and, on average, perform better academically,” wrote Buckles. “Every year some students who are admitted for September choose to defer their enrollment for an entire year and step off the academic treadmill. Many benefit greatly from the opportunity to travel, work or pursue other interests, and all of those options can help contribute to an even more enriching college experience, much as happens for our Febs.”
Other universities seem to agree with Buckles. In 2011, the University of North Carolina received $1.5 million to help students finance gap years. Likewise, Princeton University promotes gap years through the Bridge Year Program where students live with other Princeton students in a community abroad.
“I’ve watched this whole concept go basically from its inception to present day,” said Holly Bull, president of the Center for Interim Programs (CIP) in an interview with Time. The CIP has worked to create gap year opportunities for more than 5,000 students. “I wouldn’t call it mainstream, but there’s way more awareness and support and colleges are now beginning to endorse it as really positive thing.”
Though many people do endorse taking a gap year, some students still find the opportunity inaccessible.
“While the benefits are probably true, taking a gap year is a privilege, one that many students cannot afford to take,” explained Daniel Pena ’16. “It’s another year away from entering the work force with a college degree.”
“Taking a gap year helps you put things into perspective, but while it may be financially feasible for some to take time off, others can’t afford to put their lives on hold for a sake of an experience,” explained Zeke Caceres ’15.
On campus, Winson Law ’16 is in the process of creating a group of students who have all taken gap years, allowing them to share their experiences and give students information and resources to be able to take a gap year. Law spent eight months living in Brazil before returning home to intern at a non-profit, Rwanda Partners.
“I have a better perspective of myself and the world by taking a gap year,” said Law. “I became a lot more curious about things and I felt really ready to hit the ground running and a drive to do something really meaningful with my college experience.”
Similarly, Peter Kiley-Bergin ’16 spent the year as an exchange student in Switzerland.
“I was able to just live for a year. I didn’t have to try things I didn’t care about and only had to learn what I wanted to,” said Bergin. “All of us are on what is, at times, a ridiculous academic treadmill and to have a year in the middle of my youth without any academic stress is very special.”
The American Gap Association estimates that five percent of American universities have programs that enable students to defer admission — an increase, they say, since past years. While it may be an increase, the College remains in the national minority of educational institutions supporting gap years. But as that number grows, maybe so will the students who are able take gap years.
“I will say the majority of the programs I looked at were very homogenous, but I kept looking and found a diverse program,” explained Law.
“I hope that the student group on campus can help reduce some of the financial and cultural barriers students face when they want to take a gap year.”
(04/10/13 4:25pm)
On Tuesday, March 9, Community Council met with the Mill’s administration to discuss whether to continue to allow the social house to serve Purple Jesus, a mixed drink with vodka and grape powder served at Purple Jesus Night, a long-standing Mill tradition. The Mill hosts Purple Jesus three times a year, during which the drink is made in front of Public Safety, and the ingredients are posted in the Mill for anyone to see. The drink has the same amount of alcohol as a 5.4 percent beer.
As it stands now, the Mill is the only social house that is allowed to serve hard alcohol during registered parties.
This policy came out of a 2006 pilot program that offered social houses the option to host longer parties (an increase from four to five hours) with more registered alcohol (the amount of beer that could be registered increased from 4 to 5 kegs), but they would only be allowed to serve wine and beer. The Mill opted out of this program, but the other four social houses joined the pilot program.
The talks focused on whether the 2006 pilot program should remain a “pilot” or be made official college policy. The council also discussed whether the Mill should continue to be an exception to the rule.
“We wanted to have a wider review of the presence of hard alcohol on campus,” explained Dean of Students Doug Adams. “Community Council seemed like a good place to have that wider discussion.”
The catalyst for the conversation, however, was largely due to this past fall’s Purple Jesus Night, during which a student was transported to the hospital. Mill President Nate Brown ’13 clarified that the student was marked as under-aged at the door and did not consume any alcohol, to his knowledge, at the Mill. He also commented on what he feels has been a largely successful job on the part of the Mill administration regarding to hard alcohol.
“We have found, in comparison to other parties, that we’ve been able to keep control just as well as any other group,” said Brown. “Even [compared to] those who are serving beer while we are serving hard alcohol.”
Brown also said that the Mill is the only social house that has had no alleged sexual assault reports from It Happens Here on its premises.
“We are providing [alcohol] in a safe environment and serving it like you would serve wine at a function,” he said. “It is a big tradition to us and for many students, and this party is what people associate the Mill with. Our only goal is to keep hosting a party that we have been hosting for 20 years.”
Many members of the council seemed to agree with Brown’s sentiment that the Mill has been doing a good job in keeping students safe while serving hard alcohol.
“I’m impressed with how the Mill has handled this,” said Kate Logan ’13. “I don’t see any catalyst to change the policy for the Mill.”
“Up until now I haven’t heard any reasons why the Mill should not be able to continue to serve alcohol,” added Luke Carroll Brown ’13.5.
Other members of the council, however, did express concerns. Dan Gaoitti, the associate director of Public Safety, explained that Public Safety has to spend much more time at the beginning of the night at the Mill because regulating a mixed drink is a larger task then regulating keg beer. Likewise, inconsistencies among social houses can create problems.
“When you are outlining the guidelines for students in party workshops on how to register parties and be within the lines of college policy, inconsistencies often create confusion,” explained Gaoitti.
Other members of the council thought about what other schools are doing.
“Most of our peer schools do not allow for the registering of hard alcohol,” said Adams.
Dean of Students Shirley Collado agreed with Adams.
“When we did research nationally, it was general consensus, based on health and safety, that open containers of hard alcohol are prohibited on many campuses,” she added.
Despite being able to serve hard alcohol, the Mill has been under the watchful eye of the administration.
The council agreed to vote on a motion that would make the 2006 pilot program into official college policy and let the Mill remain an exception.
A clause will be added detailing that if a social house wishes to switch from the pilot program to having hard alcohol, they could petition it as a group with the Inter-House Council (IHC).
The motion passed with 14 in support,, two in opposition and three abstentions. In the weeks to come, Community Council will likely continue to look at the role of hard alcohol on campus.
(03/20/13 4:57pm)
On Monday, March 18, Community Council went into executive session to continue the discussion from last Tuesday on whether to accept the Social House Review Committee’s recommendation to disband Delta, the social house organization currently residing in Prescott house. By 5:50 p.m. the Council had voted on a motion to approve the Committee’s recommendation. The majority of the Council felt that this course of action was the most appropriate, with 13 members voting in favor of the disbandment of Delta, four members voting against and one member abstaining.
Community Council’s formal recommendation will now be passed to President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz, who will make the ultimate decision on the fate of the house.
Both co-chairs of Community Council emphasized that multiple factors were weighed during the decision-making process.
“We considered the input from Delta and input from the Residential Life Committee,” explained Student Co-Chair of Community Council Barrett Smith ’13.
“All letters, emails and comments that were either submitted to the Council or made at the open session last week were considered during the Council meeting,” wrote Dean of the College and Co-Chair of Community Council Shirley Collado in an email.
“[Our recommendation] is on President Liebowitz’s desk. He can sign it tomorrow; he could sign it at the end of the year. It is really up to him from this point on,” added Smith.
Regardless of Liebowitz’s decision, the students who currently reside in Prescott will continue to do so until the conclusion of this academic year.
If the organization is officially disbanded, those students will be dealt with on an individual basis should disciplinary issues arise, whereas in the past, they faced disciplinary action as an organization.
“Prescott house residents will continue to live where they have been living, they don’t have to move out at this point in the year … but they will need to abide by college policy,” said Associate Dean of Students and Chair of the Residential Life Committee Doug Adams. Violation of policy in the event of disbandment, Adams explained, could potentially result in removal from the house and placement in any other available space on campus.
“One of the huge benefits of being a social house is that you have collective responsibility,” said Smith. “The Inter-House Council (IHC) reviews information from Public Safety and recommends action against the house, but not against individuals.”
"Clearly the choice of Community Council is not what I wanted the outcome to be,” wrote President of Delta Luke Battle ’14 in an email. “That being said, we did not follow the wishes of the administration.”
However, Dan Lungo ’13, former president of Delta, explained that the organization will continue working to fight the recommendation by meeting with Liebowitz this week and ultimately appealing the decision, if it comes to that.
“We are going to tell [Liebowitz] why we should stay together as a social house and what Delta means to the community at large,” said Lungo. “We had a petition of approximately 750 signatures of students supporting us and managed to get that in a week. The student body, at least a large portion of the student body, loves what Delta provides and it would be a shame to see it go away.”
“I think the best solution would be to allow our members who planned to live there next year to continue to do so, without the title of a social house,” wrote Battle. “This would allow the social benefits of the house to continue while also keeping tighter control of the issues the house has had in the past.”
Lungo also expressed concern over the potential length of the appeals process; if it extends beyond the housing draw period students who are currently slated to live in the house next year may be forced into summer draw. He noted that the timing of this decision is “hard.”
Collado and Adams confirmed that, pending Liebowitz’s approval of the recommendation to disband Delta, Prescott would likely be offered as open doubles and singles for draw next year. In the years to come, though, the house could be used as a social house once again.
Adams explained that if students chose to re-form the organization in the future, and potentially petition for Prescott house, Community Council would be heavily involved in the process.
“Community Council would need to give some direction around what it felt was appropriate [for the space], and I think we [Community Council] would want to hear from Inter-House Council and what students would like to see in that space.”
“I think that its imperative that both Palmer and Prescott are social houses in the future,” said Smith. “The houses were built to be social houses and I would urge students to step up and form social houses. Students create the social life here and all it’s going to take are the right students to step up, organize and create new social houses.”
This decision comes on the heels of an extensive biennial review process of the social houses conducted by the Residential Life Committee, a body made up of students, faculty and staff that holds the dual purpose of conducting the review process and providing a forum to address residential issues on campus. Delta leadership participated in three separate meetings with Adams and other members of the Residential Life Committee before the final recommendation was submitted to Community Council.
Adams emphasized the issues of dorm damage and unregistered parties as a prominent concern during these meetings.
“It didn’t seem to the committee that there was a clear direction [from the Delta leadership] when it came to addressing the dorm damage issue,” said Adams. “The methods that they decided to change [around addressing dorm damaged led] to the second issue, which was unregistered parties.”
“Generally there is going to be a lot of vocal heat for the decision, but I think that there is a diversity of opinion,” explained Smith. “I think the supporters of Delta are more vocal, while people who do not support them have been more tacit.”
Though this diversity of opinion made the decision difficult, Collado is confident in the integrity of the process.
“I have been deeply impressed by the thorough and thoughtful work of Community Council members as they made an important decision for the Middlebury campus community,” said Collado. “In the end, I believe this decision was guided by strong data, serious reflection and a commitment to the College’s Community Standards.”
Lungo confirmed that he felt that the process was fair and professional, but that disbandment was not a solution to the larger issues on campus.
“[Community Council] failed to see the larger implications of shutting us down, and they wanted to blame us instead of looking at the larger culture of the school,” said Lungo. “What was happening [at Delta House] was a product of the culture here at Middlebury, not us creating this culture at the school.”
“I think that over the next few months and years the administration will see that they have not solved the problem, they have only displaced it to locations that are not suited to handle it,” added Battle. “It could show very quickly that they have made the issue of the lack of social scene on this campus even worse.”
(03/13/13 4:56pm)
On Tuesday, March 12, Community Council met to vote on the fate of Delta, formerly known as ADP. After a 30-minute open meeting and an hour of deliberation in executive session, during which only members of the Council were present, the motion to vote came to 8-8-1, thereby tabling the decision until the next meeting on Monday, March 18.
“We were not able to come to a decision today because it is a very complex issue, but I am confident that taking extra time to deliberate further will allow us to craft a decision that is ultimately best for the community,” said Student Co-Chair of Community Council Barrett Smith ’13.
Following the meeting’s adjournment, Doug Adams, associate dean of students and chair of the Residential Life Committee, a subcommittee of Community Council, emphasized that during the coming week, Delta will continue its operations as normal.
Tuesday’s meeting was packed to standing room-only, with a large student audience filling all corners of the Axinn Center’s first-floor classroom. Smith led the meeting, during which Council members were given the opportunity to ask members of Delta any questions or clarifications. Delta members were then given an open floor for five minutes.
During this time, leaders of Delta outlined changes that they would like to introduce in the future.
“Our most important point is to try and change the image of the house to the student body,” explained former Delta President Dan Lungo ’13. Current President Luke Battle ’14 was unable to attend the meeting as he was out of town for an interview.
In an interview after the meeting, Lungo clarified the challenges of changing the student body’s perception of Prescott house.
“We’re seen as this vital social scene on campus, but we also want people to understand that this is a residence — this is where we live — and we do more than just throw parties,” said Lungo.
Tuesday’s meeting convened in order to vote on the Residential Life Committee’s recommendations regarding the status of the College’s five social houses. The Council voted to continue Tavern, Xenia, the Mill and KDR for the next two academic years.
Delta’s fate, however, remains undecided. The Residential Life Committee’s biennial report recommends discontinuation of the organization due to several violations of College and IHC policy, including damage done to Prescott house, Delta’s 29-person residence; a continued pattern of throwing unregistered parties and failure to meet sexual assault training and hazing education requirements for the membership.
Although it was reported during the Feb. 25 Community Council meeting that Delta’s damages for this academic year had reached $1,800 with work orders pending, according to the report, Delta has now accrued a total of $2,592 in dorm damage, which puts Delta in violation of the $1,500 annual dorm damage limit that Community Council placed on the house after it accrued over $8,500 in damage during the 2011 - 2012 academic year.
During the meeting, Assistant Director of Custodial Services Linda Ross and Lungo both acknowledged the need for better communication between Facilities Services and Prescott house. On March 5, Delta received a $288 charge for clean up, yet Lungo explained that this was unexpected.
“The house spent over two hours cleaning on Sunday,” said Lungo. “We thought the job was done. Apparently it wasn’t, and going forward we’re going to make sure this doesn’t happen again. We were really surprised by that charge.”
Ross, who is also a member of Community Council, clarified the situation her team faced.
“The charge came from the six hours needed to finish cleaning the house in addition to the normal customary process that Facilities provides,” said Ross. “There was broken glass and the floors were very sticky.”
In the hours following the meeting, Lungo reached out to Public Safety and Facilities Services, proposing to meet as soon as possible to facilitate a stronger working relationship. The leadership also plans to work toward finding a faculty adviser, as the organization currently does not have one. In addition, Delta has thrown two registered parties since the leadership was informed of the committee’s recommendation, and Lungo also described Delta’s plans to host more daytime events in the near future.
“We want to show Community Council that we’re taking the initiative to actually enact what they recommended,” said Lungo after the meeting.
Emma Kramer ’13, a member of Delta, highlighted to Council members the difficulty of crowd control, proposing that Delta could hire Green Mountain Security or work more closely with Public Safety to help monitor party attendance. Party attendance numbers are continually high for Delta; the Community Council report describes “a large unregistered party with between 400-600 students present.”
“I can’t control a rowdy population,” explained Kramer, who has often been in charge of crowd control at the door to Delta’s parties. “We want to change the situation and control the problem before it [becomes] a real issue — before people are in our house that we don’t want to be there, [because] they might not be in a right state of mind.”
In an interview after the meeting, Lungo emphasized that the behavior of non-members at Delta functions also has an impact on the organization’s reputation.
“We need [the student body] to cooperate with us if we’re going to stay as an organization,” said Lungo. “It’s important for the student body to understand that when they come to an event, they have to be respectful to Public Safety.
Immediately following Delta’s remarks, the Council moved into an hour of executive session while a handful of members of Delta waited outside. Council members emerged from the room at 6 p.m. to announce that the decision had been tabled until its next meeting on Monday, March 18 at 4:30 p.m.
(03/13/13 4:21pm)
On Monday March 5, Community Council met to review a set of recommendations that will be proposed to Gus Jordan, executive director of health and counseling services, and the administration. The recommendations propose providing greater access to health services and education to students, expanding sexual assault training to students, hiring a Health and Wellness Director, increasing Parton Health Center’s hours of operation and providing sports medicine to all club sports.
“This is just a reiteration that health and wellness services at the College are very important to us,” explained Barrett Smith ’13, student co-chair of Community Council.
Some of the Council’s proposed suggestions have been met with resistance. When the Council spoke to Jordan about the idea of increasing funding to Parton, specifically to increase the number of hours that the center is open, it was established that there was not enough money in the administration’s budget to make this feasible.
In response, the Council proposed that the Student Emergency Response Team (SERT), comprised of about 30 EMTs, have walk-in hours as a service to students.
The proposal suggests for the College to “consider the feasibility of drop-in hours for the Student Emergency Response Team to meet current unmet student medical needs through basic informal assessment and referral.”
“We happen to have the greatest concentration of EMTs of any part of Vermont, and could use that to provide a service to the student body,” said Tyler Pepin ’13.
Another recommendation that the Council has proposed is expanding the availability of sports medicine to all club sports.
“There is a pretty strong consensus, especially with club sports, that students need more access to sports medicine,” explained Smith.
“The women’s water polo team had four concussions last year during the spring season, and yet it doesn’t meet the school’s standards to receive sports medicine,” he continued. “I think we are crossing into a serious health and wellness issue.”
The Council then voted on the proposed recommendations. The vote was unanimously in favor of formally proposing the recommendations to Jordan, Associate Director of Health Services Terry Jenny and President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz.
The Council also briefly discussed procedure for its meeting the following week. Coverage of the Council’s meeting on Tuesday, March 12 can be found on pages 1 and 4.
(02/27/13 11:09pm)
On Monday Feb. 25 at their weekly meeting, the Community Council discussed the honor code review process, judicial board membership and the social house review process.
The Council has been asked to nominate two members from its group to sit on the committee that reviews student applications for the Academic Judicial Board (AJB) and the Community Judicial Board (CJB) this April.
This position brings with it enormous responsibility as the boards oversee sensitive issues involving academic and behavioral misconduct, including sexual assault.
“The Academic Judicial Board hears cases involving academic dishonesty of some kind, and the Community Judicial Board hears non-academic disciplinary issues that warrant the College’s response,” explained Associate Dean of Judicial Affairs Karen Guttentag.
“These boards have the authority to review the incident that occurred, determine if what happened violates college policy and to give sanctions when the party is found guilty,” she said.
The committee will be comprised of five members including Guttentag, two AJB members who are not returning and two nominated Community Council members.
Assistant Director of Custodial Services, Linda Ross and Olena Ostascheva ’16 were nominated from Community Council to sit on the committee.
“I think it is a really beneficial process for students because the kind of questions we are asking are about this community, on how students observe their peers and the kind of qualities they place value on in this community,” said Guttentag.
On average, the committee receives 50-70 applications each academic year to fill the 12 spots that comprise the AJB and the CJB.
On a similar note, Community Council met with the Honor Code Review Board earlier in the year to outline goals for upcoming academic year. The group concerned itself with educating students on the Honor Code and dealing with alleged violations.
“What we have been really focusing on is how we can make sure the institution, specifically the administration, can better promote an environment of academic integrity and give students all the tools they need to succeed while ensuring that we are responding to alleged violations in a way that is consistent, fair and transparent,” said Guttentag.
During the 2008-2009 review process, the Honor Code Review Board recommended that the College not continue with the policy of un-proctored exams, out of concern that students were not meeting their responsibilities to uphold the code.
The Student Government Association (SGA) however, made the case that students were ready to uphold these responsibilities.
What emerged was a compromise that un-proctored exams would continue, except in situations where a professor was particularly concerned with cheating in a classroom and could then formally request to proctor exams.
“I get about three requests a year from faculty members asking for proctored exams,” said Dean of the College Shirley Collado. “The economics department has been one department making these requests out of concern for some of the things happening in that particular department.”
On the Council, the effectiveness of the Honor Code seems to be just as relevant an issue to students as it is to faculty members.
“It bothers me a lot,” said SGA President Charlie Arnowitz ’13. “I think there should be a better student culture of self-proctoring. I think that would be the ideal situation.”
The Honor Code Review Board has proposed that the SGA create an ad-hoc committee. They suggested that it be comprised of students who care about academic integrity issues and those who are willing to do research, asking questions about ways to move toward an environment that is more optimal to academic honesty.
“If it doesn’t happen from and by the students, then it really doesn’t have power, no matter how much review we [the administration] do,” said Collado. “That is the hard part.”
The meeting concluded with an update from the Residential Life Committee who has had the task of reviewing the five social houses on campus this year. There will be a meeting on March 12 to follow up with social houses Delta (ADP) and Kappa Delta Rho (KDR).
(02/20/13 9:37pm)
On Wednesday, Feb. 13 from 10 p.m. to midnight, the College celebrated Middlebury Rises, one of many events worldwide dedicated to ending violence against women through the One Billion Rising movement.
The vision of the Feb. 13 dance parties, which took place in over 197 countries, was created by Eve Ensler, a 1975 Middlebury graduate and writer of “The Vagina Monologues,” a 1966 play that deals with issues such as sex, love, rape and other aspects of the female experience.
The College has been putting on “The Vagina Monologues” for several years to raise money for WomenSafe, an organization founded to help stop domestic and sexual violence in Addison Country.
Karin Hanta, director of Chellis House has been at the forefront of organizing Middlebury Rises, and described “The Vagina Monologues” as “a play that has spawned global movement.”
This became especially apparent in 1998 when out of the momentum created by “The Vagina Monologues,” Ensler and others created V-Day, a non-profit organization that has raised over $75 million to end violence against women worldwide.
“This year, [Ensler] is asking one billion people around the globe to stomp out violence against women by getting together in giant dance parties on Feb. 13,” explained Hanta. Middlebury joined in that one billion.
The event featured DJ Mariam; Poor Form poets Cheswayo Mphanza ’16, Debanjan Roychoudury ’16, Anna Stevens ’13.5; and the a capella group the Bobolinks. “The Vagina Monologues” were read, rap-sung and poetry-recited.
Light refreshments of red velvet cupcakes and sweet potato fries were served.
To prepare for the event, groups that are close to this issue on campus such as the Sexual Assault Oversight Committee, It Happens Here, Feminist Action at Middlebury, Women of Color, Sister-to-Sister, VOX and Amnesty International lent helping hands.
Rabeya Jawaid’s ’16 role in the process involved making a video about the event, depicted different people holding signs that read, “I RISE BECAUSE...” Some of the reasons given in the movie are “because my body is mine, and mine only” or “because one billion dancing is a revolution.”
“It brought me up close to the reality of this matter: that a lot of people were in fact afraid to take any action and speak against violence inflicted on women,” said Jawaid.
Because of their passion for the cause, many people were willing and enthusiastic about participating in the video, but others, Jawaid noticed, remained shy and in denial.
“Some of the comments I got to hear were ‘Are we supposed to be doing this? Is this allowed?’ but other brave ones replied, ‘We live in the USA, we have freedom of speech right?’” Jawaid said.
What especially struck Jawaid was the reaction to the signs by Middlebury students. “The reality may be quite removed from them, and violence may be going on in countries other than theirs,” said Jawaid. “But I think everyone should realize that this is a global concern, and inevitably does affect each and every one of us.”
Alexandra Strott ’15, a monitor at the Chellis House, also helped to organize the event.
“One Billion Rising is so crucial because so often we dance around the issues of rape, assault and other forms of sexual violence,” she said. “We need more events like this that expose these problems, put them out in the open and invite everyone of every gender and sex to face the facts and learn how to deal with them.”
The event took place at Crossroads Café, and an enthusiastic audience gathered to watch the many student groups perform to support this movement.
Attendees enjoyed hearing about this important message.
“They were effective in communicating and supporting their cause, an important cause, through poignant performances,” said Carly Andersen ’16.
(02/13/13 10:38pm)
During the Feb. 11 Community Council meeting, tensions ran high as members discussed attendance issues, faculty and staff representation on the council and the overall role of the Community Council on campus.
Student Government Association (SGA) President Charlie Arnowitz ’13 expressed his concern for continuing attendance issues.
“If we want to get anything done and be useful, we need to be here,” said Arnowitz.
Arnowitz followed up with an amendment that outlines general attendance expectations which reads, “If a council member cannot attend the meeting, he or she must designate a proxy, or be considered absent. A member missing three or more meetings, without proxy, shall be removed from the council.”
Faculty and staff members of the council agreed that the amendment is insensitive to the fact that most of them face challenging schedules and are generally overextended.
“I appreciate what is being said here, however I urge you to consider that there are reasons that faculty and staff cannot be at some meetings for other college obligations and the chance of us getting a proxy to fill in for us is slim to none,” explained Associate Professor of Psychology Kim Cronise.
Professor of Film and Media Culture Leger Grindon went on to suggest that the council reduce its faculty and staff representation to one or two people at most and have a pre-designated faculty proxy for when the permanent members cannot make a meeting.
“I would suggest that we reduce the number of faculty and staff members on Community Council, because a large amount of issues that we deal with are student and residential life,” explained Grindon.
Other faculty members echoed their concerns that the majority of the issues the council deals with are student and residential life issues.
“I am new to the campus and I think the idea of Community Council is great, but I have been disappointed that the majority of the issues we have dealt with are student and residential life and not so much broader community based,” expressed Senior Network Administrator Billy Sneed.
Tensions continued to run high as many faculty and staff members expressed their issues with the amendment dealing with attendance. At the same time, many students, including Arnowitz, felt that the dwindling attendance number was and continues to be “disrespectful” to the purpose of the council.
The discussion ended with the agreement to formally discuss and look into decreasing faculty and staff representation on the council.
The council also discussed the implementation of community standards that would be introduced to first-years and Febs during the orientation process. Students would sign the community standards, as they do the honor code, to ensure awareness of their existence.
“It is more a cultural shift,” said Kate Logan ’13. “If we have an honor code that we teach, why don’t we have a social code to go along with that? If we introduce these to incoming [first-year] classes, then we may see a cultural shift in the next five years.”
The College has had official community standards for three years, which are outlined as cultivating respect and responsibility for self, others and our shared environment; encouraging personal and intellectual courage and growth; manifesting integrity and honesty in all decisions and actions; promoting healthy, safe and balanced lifestyles and fostering a diverse and inclusive community committed to civility, open-mindedness and finding common ground.
The council is calling for a more specific “social honor code” that students would learn about and sign as a part of matriculation.
“This would go beyond the umbrella of the original community standards and be more specific,” said Associate Dean of Students Doug Adams. “It would cover the many aspects of student culture. It is not a list of things you can’t do, but an aspirational message: what do you want this community to look like?”
(01/17/13 2:33am)
Sunday, Jan. 13 marked the beginning of a campus wide, Human vs. Zombies competition with over 200 participants fighting to become the last human standing. The game, organized and run by the Youthful Alliance of Merrymaking (YAM) is designed to last 10 days, but could potentially end early if the humans do not “survive.”
The game will feature a series of high intensity missions that require escorts and protection of an important school official. The Humans vs. Zombies is the largest event to date that YAM has organized.
To start the game, one participant was designated the zombie, with the rest as humans. The goal of the zombie is to tag a human. If tagged, a human becomes a zombie. Tagged humans must also hand over their I.D. cards, made uniquely for the game, and zombies must register with YAM whom they have tagged to make the transition official.
To be protected against the zombies, humans carry Nerf guns, and if a zombie is hit, they must remain inactive for 30 minutes. To mark the difference between humans and their zombie counterparts, zombies wear red handkerchiefs around the neck, while humans don the handkerchief around the upper arm.
“Essentially the humans try and survive and complete missions designed to cure the diseased, while the zombies are trying to eat all the humans,” explained YAM president Luke Greenway ’15.
This project is being funded by the Wonnacott Commons Council and MCAB social committee who have covered food and materials needed for the event, while YAM has the responsibility of organizing and advertizing to interested participants. A core group of five members that have been previously involved with YAM completed the majority of the planning to make the event possible. Greenway hopes that the hard work of these students will make the game part of future winter term activities.
“This is the first time we’ve done it, and if it’s really successful then we will be looking at making it an annual J-term thing,” continued Greenway. “It’s taken a lot of time and energy to organize, so J-term is the most feasible for that.”
YAM, a relatively new club, was created only two years ago. But in this short amount of time, the student organization has put on a few very successful events, including the building of the “The World’s Largest Block Fort” earlier this fall.
Greenway states that the club’s mission is about having fun.
“It’s about an attitude towards accepting that we are not too young for creative play,” explained Greenway.
“It’s not about not wanting to grow up and about continuing to play as we grow up and looking at our environment as a way to play.”
(12/05/12 9:41pm)
Continuing the streak of students on reality television, David Elper ’15 was a contestant on Double Your Money Week of the long-running show, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” that aired this past Tuesday, Nov. 27. Elber, who left the show with $1,000 in winnings, answered five questions correctly, skipped the sixth and got the seventh wrong.
“I had accumulated $12,600 until the seventh question, but if you get one question wrong in the first 10 questions then you drop down to $1,000” explained Elper.
It was seventh question that challenged Elper and the audience and led to his early loss. When asked about the “Toonoki Suit” in the popular Super Mario video game, Elper opted to use one of his “lifelines” and polled the audience. The audience narrowly provided the wrong answer and lead Elper to believe that the “Toonoki Suit” is made of fur from a flying fox.
“It’s a raccoon dog, apparently” laughed Elber. “I asked the audience, but they had no idea either.”
Despite the challenge at the end, Elber demonstrated remarkable knowledge during his time on the show, including the fact that the mythological figure Achilles’ death is thought by medical experts to have been caused by a punctured posterior tibial artery or that Vulcan was a hypothetical planet that 19th century scientists were convinced was real, until Einstein proved it didn’t exist.
The show, which was filmed back in September, goes through an elaborate screening process to choose potential contestants. Elper and other potential contestants have to go to a “Millionaire” testing center for a written exam. If the candidates pass the exam, they are immediately sent to do a subsequent interview and audition. If potential contestants pass all of these steps, they are put into a contestant pool and are then selected based off of their results from the exam, audition and interview.
“They record you answering questions as if you were on the show as a part of the audition process,” explained Elper, “and are ultimately looking for people who would come across well on television, as opposed to people who would get questions right.”
Elper received a postcard indicating that he had made it into the contestant pool and was informed some time after that he would be on the show. He then travelled to New York City in September for the filming of the show and was the youngest contestant on the show that evening.
Elper said being a contestant was a positive experience and so was talking to “Millionaire” host Meredith Viera about the College.
“She actually knew about Middlebury, so that was nice,” laughed Elper. “But, it all went by really fast and was all kind of surreal”
(11/28/12 11:23pm)
On Monday Nov. 12, Community Council met with Administrative Programs Coordinator Ellen McKay and Mark Stefani, assistant professor of psychology, about stress on campus. Both McKay and Stefani spearheaded the Stress Committee.
Since its 2007 creation, the committee has focused on examining causes of student, faculty and staff stress, as well as possible solutions for a seemingly rapid increase in stress levels.
“From the beginning, the goals of the committee were to try to come to some understanding of what was driving student perception of very high levels of stress,” said Stefani. “And perception is reality in this case, because our students are very stressed, and we wanted to look at what was causing that.”
During the 2010 and 2011 academic years, the committee received funding from the Sloan Foundation to sponsor programs designed to help members of the community gain a better sense of work-life balance. Last year the committee merged with the Optimal Health Committee on campus, which was established for faculty and staff, and now shares a budget with them to put on activities, workshops and sponsor speakers on stress management.
On the agenda this year is to continue to sponsor yoga and meditation classes. The committee is also interested in bringing in Cal Newport, a computer science professor from Georgetown University, who would speak on how to get the most out of your time while still operating at a high performance level.
These activities aside, the Stress Committee faces a difficult task, because identifying the exact cause of student stress has proven difficult and finding solutions can be even more challenging. The committee took on the task of looking at academic syllabi from the past 20 years in search of the answer to what exactly is causing stress.
“We have found it very, very difficult to get reliable data that confirms or disconfirms the causes of stress,” said Stefani. “Is it that workload has increased or are syllabi more challenging? The general consensus was that workload had not increased dramatically over the past 20 years, but student involvement in extracurriculars has increased significantly.”
Doug Adams, associate dean of students, confirmed that extracurricular involvement among students is at an all-time high.
“How do you do more while actually doing less?” asked Adams. “And the willingness to say ‘no’ to certain activities and opportunities is a hard life choice to start making.”
Members at the meeting also discussed the idea that stress can be beneficial when managed correctly and that the College should not discourage hard work or extracurricular involvement. However, they said, there is a limit to both of those things.
Professor of Film and Media Culture Leger Grindon cited the nature of students at a school like Middlebury as part of the problem.
“You’re caught in a tough dilemma,” said Grindon. “Because anyone who is ambitious, which most of our students are, experience a lot of stress. And stress can be positive and create high levels of performance, but I think it is about stress management.”
Student Co-Chair of Community Council Barrett Smith ’13 agreed with Grindon’s sentiment.
“Middlebury in the last 20 years has been at the forefront of small liberal arts colleges,” said Smith. “As a result of that, a lot of our students come from the top 10 percent of their high schools and want to assume that position right away when the get here. And isn’t that process an inherent part of being an elite institution?”
The Stress Committee seemed somewhat at a loss for what had changed in student culture and work habits that caused such high levels of stress. Though the Stress Committee claims course syllabi are not significantly more demanding than they were 20 years ago, some members of the community have discussed the possibility that students are being asked to do unreasonable amounts of work.
“In a meeting a few years ago, my colleagues and I in the film and media studies department had a conversation about what is a reasonable amount of work to ask from students,” said Grindon. “Multiple members in the meeting felt that they should assign more than what they thought was reasonable for students to complete so some very diligent students would approach this expectation and the rest would fall on a curve downwards, but it would create an ambitious environment. I don’t think there is a standard among our faculty about the reading that should be required.”
The consensus of the committee seemed to be that stress could be mainly attributed to increases in extracurricular involvement, as well as student culture that facilitates an environment of academic excellence.
Dean of the College Shirley Collado thought that the work students have to do in order to get to a prestigious college helps to explain how those habits continue once they arrive at Middlebury.
“Our students come here after being developmentally on a treadmill for years and we are asking them to un-do the coaching and molding that has taken place for years in life,” said Collado. “Some kids have been coached for years to get to the ‘Middleburys’ of the world and now we ask them to try new classes and new things. And I think developmentally that is very hard to undo.”
The Stress Committee will continue to examine stress on campus and offer mediations, which will be reviewed by Community Council.
In meetings on Nov. 12 and Nov. 26, Community Council also began to finalize its prioritized agenda. At the top of the list of issues to address are sexual assault on campus, communication and the social house review process. The council has already met with members from KDR, Xenia and Tavern in an effort to get to know the philosophies of the respective houses before the review process begins.
(11/14/12 11:13pm)
Mountain Film, a travelling film festival, visited the College on Wednesday Nov. 7. The organization screens independent documentary films, often focusing on adventure film and outdoor lifestyle, from all around the globe.
“Mountain Film is dedicated to educating and inspiring audiences about issues that matter, cultures worth exploring, environments worth preserving and conversations worth sustaining,” explains the organization’s mission statement.
Students crowded into Dana Auditorium at 7 p.m. last Wednesday to enjoy the under-20-minute short films. This was the second time that the organization has come to the College. Both the event’s attendance and subsequent response were impressive.
“The films inspired me to overcome any obstacles I may encounter in my life and showed me how something amazing can come out of adversity,” said Caroline Spencer ’16.
One film documented the life of a famous freestyle skier, Josh Dueck, who became paralyzed in both his legs after a bad ski accident and how he was able to continue his passion for skiing by learning to ski on a sit-ski. Another film explored the benefits of living small, as a man downsized from a massive house to a 150-square-foot structure.
Besides organizing the Mountain Film visit, Middlebury Mountain Club (MMC) has been busy this fall arranging off campus trips for students, planning upcoming events and evolving a boating program. Co-President of MMC Tess Sneeringer ’14.5 explained that MMC is constantly trying to expand their programming.
“The evolution of the boating program has been a new, exciting program for the club and shows its commitment to growth as an organization,” she said.
The new boating program has done several things this fall to jumpstart the year. MMC organized a white river trip to Sharon, Vt. earlier in the fall. The club also now offers kayak-rolling lessons in the pool and equips novices with the skills to kayak through the rapids right near Otter Creek.
The club also offers student-run workshops for students of the college in skills ranging form hiking, climbing, boating and winter trips. The club has a gear room that is trained to fit students with the proper attire and gear for the trips (funded by SGA and alumni donations).
Upcoming MMC events include Northern Lights and Flaming Flamingo. Northern Lights is a winter carnival event where teams compete in sprint events such as snow shoe relays, tug of war and sled pull.
“This year we’re especially eager to reach out to other clubs on campus and encourage them to field a team,” said Sneeringer.
Flaming Flamingo is the annual celebratory barbeque held at Lake Dunmore. The event gets it name from the tradition of building a flamingo and subsequently setting it on fire at the event.
“When I first came to Middlebury people often said that extracurricular activities will sometimes become a bigger part of your life than classes, and I didn’t believe them. But through the Mountain Club I have had the opportunity to really dedicate myself to this club and have gained a lot from that experience,” Sneeringer.
(11/07/12 10:11pm)
On Monday Nov. 5 the Community Council met to finalize the creation of the Residential Life Committee and speak with representatives of the Honor Code Review regarding its plans for this year.
The constitution of the Honor Code mandates that a committee be created every four years with the purpose of reviewing the language and effectiveness of the Honor Code, making appropriate alterations when necessary.
This year the committee is comprised of Karen Guttentag, associate dean of judicial affairs and student life, Holly Allen, assistant professor of American studies, Steve Abbott, professor of mathematics, and students Amy Schlueter ’13, Jackie Yordan ’13 and Matt Ball ’14.
The 2012-2013 Honor Code Review Committee is considering four honor code related issues: turnitin.com, orienting new students to the honor code policy, faculty support and communication of expectations.
Turnitin.com is a service that checks written work for plagiarism — a service that could make the process of checking student work much less time consuming for faculty members.
“One of the issues that is really challenging for faculty members when checking student work for plagiarism is that it is a very onerous process. We are exploring if [turnitin.com] is a reasonable resource to invest in,” explained Guttentag.
“I’ve come across some fairly egregious cases of academic dishonesty and I know faculty members who won’t take the time to track down plagiarism because it is overwhelming,” said Allen.
“But having these practices and knowing there is consistency among the faculty that shows we are all on the same page may help create a climate of academic honesty,”
Some student members of Community Council were less supportive of the online tool, explaining that they felt as though such tools undermine the trust between students and faculty, so central to the Middlebury experience.
“The reason in my mind that we have an honor code is trust. Professors trust students to do their own work and students feel and recognize that,” said Barrett Smith ’13, student co-chair of community council.
“Turnitin.com and tools like it undermine that trust. This is a system that is built entirely on respect that is built between faculty and students.”
Aside from Turnitin.com, the Honor Code Review Committee is looking at ways to successfully orient first year students with the honor code. The committee has suggested creating an honor code video comprised of student interviews in which current students describe what the honor code means to them.
The group would also like to create an online tutorial for citations — one of the most common sources of academic honor code violations for students.
Lastly, the committee would like to review and expand on the language of the code.
“We are looking to create broad enough definitions so that they encompass the many forms of academic dishonesty,” explained Allen.
“I have been charged with the task of looking at how different schools define academic dishonestly. And many schools do have more comprehensive definitions.”
The introduction to Middlebury’s honor code outlines three prohibited activities: plagiarism, cheating and duplicate production of work. Yet Guttentag believes that other forms of academic dishonesty may be worthy of consideration.
“There is also the fabrication of data, having someone sign you into to a lecture that you did not attend, or lying about when you turned a paper in,” she explained.
The Honor Code Review Committee will continue to examine the code through the year and Community Council will review any proposed changes.
“If we are giving the students the tools they need and it is being expanded on in classes, especially first-year seminars, I think it would make a huge difference” concluded Shirley Collado, dean of the college.
(10/24/12 9:40pm)
The weekend of October 12-13 brought with it much excitement as the College welcomed His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. However, behind all of the excitement of his visit lay a logistical challenge that took just under a year to plan.
The planning process was handled by a number of committees including the logistics committee comprised of Associate Dean of the College and Director of Public Safety Lisa Buchard, Director of Public Affairs Sarah Ray and Director of Event Management Lisa Ayers, among many others. These groups were responsible for choosing and handling the venue, accommodations and security of the event. Likewise, the student advisory committee and the faculty advisory committee helped develop a campaign to promote the event.
“We had done some research even before he had accepted the invitation and already knew that there were going to be some pretty major security issues,” explained Chaplain Laurie Jordan.
The U.S. State Department guided the College on logistical security and provided the the Diplomatic Security Service, DSS, whose primary job is to make sure that foreign diplomats and heads of state are safe while on American soil. In addition, the Dalai Lama brought his own “entourage” of about 11 people.
“I was impressed by how thorough security was and they seemed to have the best interests of both the welfare of the students and of the Dalai Lama,” Daniel Amar Pena ’16 said.
Jordan travelled to another Dalai Lama speech in San Diego last April to gain insight into the security measures that other organizations were taking. She did notice differences between security measures taken at these venues and what Middlebury was asked to provide.
“I think the fact that we are in a rural area allowed the DSS to be more confident that we could just have the wands as opposed to walk through metal detectors,” she explained.
However, though this was not the Dalai Lama’s first visit to campus, security was clearly more prominent than during his visit 22 years ago. The press had to arrive several hours early to have their equipment screened by electronic means as well as trained security dogs. Likewise, students, faculty and other visitors were required to go through security and could not bring large bags and backpacks into the venue.
“For a number of reason, for example, that he is older and we have to take more care in planning. And because he is even more of a global figure then he was before, the security was intense. And I think for the people who lived here before and worked here during the last visit, it was kind of surprising,” said Jordan.
Besides security, other parts of the visit provided logistical challenges. Lodging was difficult, because many hotels within the town of Middlebury are very limited in capacity. His Holiness stayed at the Middlebury Inn with his own entourage of people as well as some DSS agents. The rest of the DSS agents were housed by the College.
Another big question was the date. Some students found the date of the event to be a challenge because it fell at the beginning of fall break.
“It was a little disappointing that the Dalai Llama was scheduled for the long weekend, because it did not give me and a number of students the opportunity to see him,” explained Annie Borque ’15.
The official invitation for the Dalai Lama went out from the College in August 2010. “It wasn’t until November of last year that we were given a date from them and we subsequently gathered our logistics committee in December” Jordan said.
“That aside, I had fabulous colleagues, amazing people that we could trust who worked really hard before-hand and during — people who make this place work deserve a lot of credit,”Jordan said.