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(10/04/18 9:58am)
After Dr. Christine Blasey Ford made public her allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a high school party in 1982, more than 1,200 alumnae of the all-girls Holton-Arms School signed an online letter of support.
One of the catalysts behind the letter is Nahid Markosian, PhD., who graduated from the school two years after Ford in 1986 and is the parent of current Middlebury College student Leila Markosian ’21. Kavanaugh attended the all-boys Georgetown Preparatory School. Both are located in Bethesda, MD.
The letter, which garnered national attention as Ford prepared to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, can be found at www.standwithblaseyford.com.
In a phone interview with The Campus, Markosian discussed the letter, Dr. Ford and prep school culture.
Middlebury Campus (MC): What made you decide to try and organize support for Ford?
Nahid Markosian (NM): I graduated from Holton-Arms in 1986, so I didn’t know Christine Blasey Ford but I had heard on the news that she had wanted to remain anonymous.
One thing led to another and then she came out publicly. I was just thinking about how brave she is to do something like that and how much courage it takes. I felt for her and her family and really wanted her not to feel alone going through all of this. I wanted her to feel support from people who knew her way back then or were familiar with the culture of the school.
It all kind of started with me putting a post on our alumni page after asking, “how can we support our peer who has been so brave and courageous in sharing her story of the sexual assault?”
It really was the alumni group that picked it up and ran with it. They’re the ones who drafted the letter and it really sort of activated this solidarity among women.
When I was at Holton-Arms I don’t remember any conversations about date rape or sexual assault or anything. So I decided I didn’t want to keep the silence going. The petition started off with 15 people and it grew to 200 and I think now we’re at 1,100. It’s so important to remove the shame – to help people remove the shame from the experience. One woman said so eloquently, when she saw that we were all trying to help Dr. Blasey Ford not feel alone in this — she said “it gave me courage to know that I could say something and not be alone either.” This is about showing support for Dr. Blasey Ford, but also changing the norms around this [culture] in doing so.
MC: Could you speak to the atmosphere and the culture at Holton-Arms and how, in your opinion, it has changed (or not) since your time there?
NM: I had super protective parents and wasn’t allowed to do a lot of things so I feel like I can’t really speak too much about that particular social scene because I wasn’t part of it. I do know that there’s a lot of affluence and entitlement so in retrospect I think my parents were probably smart; what they were doing made sense. One thing I will say is that I don’t think it was just Georgetown Prep — I think that was the dynamic among a lot of those schools.
MC: In light of all the retroactive support the alumnae of Holton-Arms have given Ford, what advice would you give to current high school and college students to better have these sorts of conversations now? What can young people do now to help?
NM: I think that trying to have a community where it’s safe to share stories about what happened to you and share experiences and raise questions is crucial. Letting people know that they’re not going to be alone and that there’s support and help for them. Be vocal, be verbal. If you are getting close to somebody and things are moving along, it’s always a good idea to ask are you okay with this, are you comfortable with this?
MC: How might you respond to somebody who defends Kavanaugh by saying that his actions are excusable given how much time has passed and because he was a drunk high school student/college student? Essentially, how would you respond to the “boys will be boys” argument?
NM: I think actions matter. I think that kind of behavior was not normal then and it’s not normal now. It dismays me when people can’t look at what they’ve done and realize that maybe it wasn’t a big deal for them, but it really affected somebody else’s life. It’s troubling that adults now looking back at what they did during their teenage years are so quick to just brush it aside.
MC: Are there things that you think we, as college students, and more broadly, that the world should be paying particular attention to in all of this national drama? Are there things that we should be remembering?
NM: For centuries, women have not been believed. Women have very, very little to gain from disclosing these experiences in a public forum. And I think that when they do it’s really important to listen and take it seriously and understand what happened. I want to say that and I want to tell people who are going through this: talk to your friends, talk to your counselors, talk to police, and we need to listen and we need to hear. It’s not easy — it takes a lot of courage, and we need to respect people who speak up.
MC: Do you know at all what Ford’s response to the petition has been or if she’s made any sort of a response?
NM: I don’t know, I don’t believe she’s responded.
MC: I definitely imagine it would make her feel less alone.
NM: I really, really hope so. We want her to feel that we have her back. And I know that some people are trying to make this into a political issue, but I don’t think it is. I think she is speaking out about an atrocity that was done to her, and she wants people to know about this person’s character.
(09/20/18 10:05am)
When Koby Altman talks about his time at Middlebury, one of the first things he shares is how he once had a profound dislike for a centerpiece of the liberal arts curriculum.
“Thinking back to my Middlebury experience, I had to write like 500 papers,” he recalled during his visit to campus last weekend. “And at first, I hated that. I hated every second of writing papers.”
The Brooklyn, NY native weathered his early writing struggles, though. Now, in his role as the Cleveland Cavaliers’ general manager -- one of pro sports’ most visible positions, even after a certain big-name star departed for the bright lights of the West Coast earlier this summer -- Altman leans every day on the writing skills his liberal arts education gradually pounded into him.
“I eventually became a really good writer [at Middlebury],” he said proudly. “And that’s needed in any profession because at the end of the day you have to make arguments, support them with data and analytically drive home the points you want to make. Every day that we discuss players, I’m making an argument.”
The story of the former liberal arts student’s ascent to sports management stardom is one of facing challenges, like those droves of essays, head-on and passing them with flying colors. A Posse Scholar and hard-nosed point guard for Jeff Brown’s basketball program, Altman graduated from Middlebury in 2004 with a degree in sociology and anthropology. Afterward, he spent a few years working the treacherous New York City real estate market with no business background (where he “did very well” for himself), but then ditched the lucrative desk job to pursue his dream: a career in pro hoops.
That financial success in the sports world was improbable didn’t matter. He missed the game too much to stay away, and his corporate job just wasn’t doing it for him. Something was missing, he said.
So, he dove into basketball: for several years he coached at Amherst College as a graduate assistant while working towards a sports management degree at UMass Amherst. He then assisted with USA Basketball for a while, where, he jokes, “I was the best towel-washer around.” He rose through the ranks steadily, working as a graduate assistant at Southern Illinois University for the 2009-2010 season then as a full-time assistant at Columbia University.
At no point was it easy.
“Every step along the way, you certainly have to prove yourself,” Altman said of his early years in the world of professional basketball management. “For me, personally, I had to figure out if I had the confidence to do this. When I was with USA Basketball, [I was] working with some of the best Division I coaches in the country and some of the best players in the country that [were] going to be top ten draft picks at the time. That was when I really realized I can play in this space.”
Altman doggedly made connections during those early years, and by 2017 he had been hired by the Cavaliers as a scout and had worked his way up the ranks of the organization’s front office. Then, when David Griffin was let go as general manager that summer, Altman was tapped to take his place.
His peers and mentors say he accomplished it all due primarily to a skill that Middlebury preaches as a foundational part of its educational mission: the ability to sit down with anyone, look them in the eye and connect. Debbie Bial, President of the Posse Foundation, told Middlebury Magazine that Altman has the “unique ability to make people feel comfortable no matter what the topic of conversation is.”
Reflective and self-aware in tracing his development (both as a basketball executive and a human being), Altman remembers Middlebury as a place where his people skills were allowed to develop and shine.
“Being from Brooklyn, which is this dynamic, diverse place, coming here, getting an amazing education, meeting new people...helped me become the person I am and enlightened me,” Altman said. “I grew immensely in terms of my intellectual curiosity at this place. That’s helped me relate to so many different people and this place pushed that on me. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was really growing intellectually and in terms of being able to converse about a variety of topics.”
Altman’s penchant for human interaction was on full display last weekend when he visited campus, attending a variety of gatherings for student-athletes, sociology majors and Posse scholars. At a breakfast for student-athletes interested in careers in sports management, Altman walked around the room, introducing himself to every student present. He looked each attendee in the eye, asked his or her name, where they were from and what they were majoring in. When he came across students from the San Francisco Bay Area, he was quick to poke lighthearted fun at their Warriors fandom.
“He brings such a light and fun, positive energy to the room that was pervasive throughout all of the athletes,” said Kira Waldman ‘20, a varsity basketball player who attended a dinner with Altman and the men’s and women’s basketball teams. “He genuinely wanted to know what we were each interested in and a little bit about our backgrounds.”
Based on Altman’s weekend on campus, it seems he is as appreciative of creating moments of meaningful connection as he is adept at engaging in that process: he spoke to hundreds of students throughout the weekend and not once did his interactions appear anything less than sincere.
“I think what Middlebury gave me was a curiosity for all these different things and different people,” he said. “It’s great to be back.”
(09/14/18 4:02pm)
https://www.facebook.com/middleburycollege/videos/738810376466213
Koby Altman '04, the current general manager of the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers, will be interviewed today on Facebook Live by James Finn, The Campus' senior opinion editor.
Their conversation will air live on the Middlebury College Facebook page from 12-12:30. Altman has returned to campus to participate in a variety of events, including the "Field Guides" speaker series, hosted by the Middlebury College Center for Careers and Internships. For more information, visit: go.middlebury.edu/soanfieldguide
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(04/19/18 1:13am)
MIDDLEBURY —The Town Hall Theater is planning the installation of a so-called chain link gallery in Triangle Park that will add color to downtown Middlebury amidst construction set to begin in the area in the coming weeks. Through the help of a $75,000 grant provided by the Vermont Agency of Transportation, the THT is recruiting artists to create a rotating art exhibit that will fill a chain-link fence that might otherwise have been nothing more than an eyesore to passersby.
Triangle Park will become a construction site in the coming months as work begins to replace the Main Street and Merchants Row rail bridges with a new tunnel, according to the Addison County Independent. The new fence will be installed in the area in the next few weeks as a safety measure, and the Town Hall Theater aims to beautify the area by turning it into a dazzling public gallery featuring work by local artists.
Neighbors Together, an organization of local business owners focused on the well-being of the downtown area to which the THT belongs, tasked the Theater with developing a plan that would make the fence a more pleasant fixture in the downtown landscape. The Town Hall Theater has experience with public art projects in the past that made them well suited to the project, according to Theater executive director Douglas Anderson. “We kind of have a track record in big public art projects, so that’s why everybody looked at me and said, ‘what are you gonna do with that chain link fence,’” Anderson said.
The $75,000 grant was provided to Neighbors Together for the purpose of aiding the organization’s efforts to maintain the downtown area during the rail project, according to the Vermont Agency of Transportation.
The fence’s grid-like structure inspired the plan for the gallery. According to Anderson, each participating artist will be provided a section of fence that they will be able to make their own. “We thought, hey, a chain link fence is a grid, a lot of art is based on a grid, from weaving and tapestry to computer arts,” Anderson said. “So why don’t we treat the fence as a grid and ask artists to find creative ways to create imagery based on the grid using whatever materials they like?”
Artists will have complete freedom in deciding exactly what form their art will take as a component of the Chain Link Gallery. With the help of the Transportation Agency grant, Neighbors Together will even be able to cover the costs of materials and labor required to help with installation.
“[Artists] could use colorful plastic cups or they could use colorful ribbon or they could use fabric or whatever they like,” Anderson said. “Part of the fun of this is to see what different materials artists bring to us that will make amazing art there on the green.”
And the exhibits will rotate: new works by different artists will cycle in and out of each panel so that the Chain Link Gallery continues to provide the downtown area with a degree of colorful change as construction continues. “I think if even the most amazing art in the world were up there you would get bored with it,” Anderson said. “It’s a way of keeping that central corner of downtown Middlebury interesting and alive and fresh.”
Anderson hopes that artists from the Middlebury student body will get involved in the project as well. Any students interested in contributing should email executivedirector@townhalltheater.org.
(04/18/18 4:36pm)
Middfiles was intermittently unavailable to students between April 5 and April 9. Users on campus were unable to access and store their files until the Helpdesk restored access.
Chris Norris, the college’s IT director, said the issues stemmed from a system malfunction. Data security and privacy remained uncompromised.
The technology Helpdesk sent students several emails while Middfiles was down outlining the series of issues related to the service.
The first email from the Helpdesk, sent on the morning of April 5, notified students that the internet and technology services (ITS) staff were working to resolve recent issues with service availability. The email assured recipients that data saved to Middfiles remained safe and secure, but that the community’s ability to access data was “intermittent or otherwise impacted.”
ITS resolved the issues by the morning of April 6, but the access issues resurfaced on the morning of April 9. Middfiles became available again that evening.
“Our current priority is maintaining service availability in light of the past few days,” Norris said on April 11. “We have a test environment now that we are working with vendors to test changes and I think that we are going to be very cautious about applying further changes until we’re confident that they not going to cause service degradation.”
Senior economics students working on theses were among those affected by the access issues. Dan Buchman ’18.5, an economics major, was running experiments involving multiple survey participants for his thesis, a study exploring how language impacts gender discrimination, when Middfiles access suddenly went down. Buchman is also a services consultant at the Helpdesk, and is familiar with how Middfiles operates.
The system malfunction caused Buchman to lose some of his observation data and forced him to reschedule experiments.
“Because Middfiles was down, I probably lost a fair number of observations, which means that my results have suffered,” Buchman said. “They’re basically insignificant, which is not the worst thing because it’s an undergraduate thesis, but had I had like 40 more observations, I probably would have been a little better off.”
Beginning in the spring of 2017, ITS worked to have students move personal files stored on home directories to Microsoft OneDrive, which all students have access to through their college emails, or to other services they might choose to use such as Google Drive.
“When folks migrated their files to either Microsoft’s OneDrive or the Google Drive environment, they were then able to access those files remotely with much greater ease,” Norris said. “It offered some other options such as being able to share files with people, which is difficult to do with your personal home directory on Middfiles.”
Sites such as Canvas have provided professors other ways to share files with their students. But Middfiles course directories remain important to professors who wish to store large data files that must be accessible to students, particularly in the economics department.
Norris said when Middfiles experiences glitches, they usually involve difficulties with service availability, such as the recent issues, rather than data security. Challenges to availability occur frequently, but the ITS staff has been able to rectify the majority of glitches before they result in widespread issues that affect many users.
According to Norris, maximizing service access and improving data security will continue to be priorities as the services are innovated going forward. Privacy has always been the primary focus of the ITS team, Norris said, and very rarely do issues arise that compromise the security of digital content stored to Middfiles.
As a member of the Helpdesk team, Buchman felt that the ITS department did the best job it could have in attempting to remedy the access issues.
“I was affected by this, but I also 100 percent understand that a fire was burning and they did not know what the cause was,” Buchman said. “I was in a very niche group of students that were affected, at least among students, because I know faculty and staff rely on Middfiles a lot.”
According to Norris, the recent thread of emails was sent deliberately as part of the ITS staff’s mission to communicate openly and transparently in dealing with tech issues that affect the community.
“I think that one of the things that we’ve learned over the years is that it’s really best to communicate openly about availability status of critical services when there is an issue to keep the community informed,” he said. “There were a number of emails that came out, and that was deliberate. We wanted to make sure that the community was being kept aware of the situation.”
(02/22/18 2:22am)
Literatures and cultures librarian Katrina Spencer has collaborated with other staff and students to create a display in Davis Library celebrating Black History Month. The display has been in place since Thursday, February 1 and will remain in the library until Wednesday, February 28. It consists of books, DVDs, CDs and recommendations for podcasts created by and about black authors, artists and entertainers, according to Spencer. In addition to the physical display in Davis, user experience and digital culture librarian Leanne Galletly worked to curate a digital space for a series of interviews entitled “In Your Own Words.” Spencer held these interviews with members of the Middlebury community who “trace their origins to the black diasporas of the world,” according to the In Your Own Words web page.
Spencer began working as literatures and cultures librarian last February, on the first day of Black History Month, and immediately felt a need to do more than was being done to celebrate Black History Month at Middlebury. “Succinctly, I saw the need to do more, and once I was in a position to effect change, I did,” Spencer said. “I went all out, as I am wont to do.”
In creating the display in Davis, Spencer focused on contemporary work of individuals such as Kendrick Lamar and Issa Rae, as well as earlier works by Miles Davis, W .E. B. DuBois and others. The display also includes a collection of essays by James Baldwin, “Dear White People” by Justin Simien, Ernest J. Gaines’ “A Lesson Before Dying,” and many others. Spencer worked to balance the collection between the works of contemporary authors and artists and the works of earlier generations.
“My primary concern, I suppose, is to remind people of all colors that we have living black heroines and heroes,” Spencer said. “Celebrating black history needs to include celebrations of people who are impacting the world in our modern era and still have blood pumping through their veins. We are here. Despite what commemorative ceremonies will tell you, the black struggle did not end in the 1960s.”
Spencer said that one of her focuses in selecting the literature was selecting works that came from all over the world, as opposed to focusing solely on the United States. Consequently, the display includes works such as Mariama Bâ’s “Une si longue lettre” and music by Cuban singer Celia Cruz.
“My father is a black Costa Rican, so the concept of otherness, foreignness and the immigrant narrative has hovered about me all my life,” Spencer said. “If I want to tell my whole story, I must tell stories of Africa, the Caribbean, Central America, the Spanish-speaking world, the Americas and the legacies of both slavery and colonialism, too. I can only tell of who I am by engaging those narratives. And for many of the black and brown students on this campus, the same is true for them, as evidenced by the In Your Own Words oral histories project. So, I primarily drew from my knowledge base and experience and invited others to supplement any gaps. Every student should graduate from Middlebury with an understanding of the concept of ‘diaspora.’ The black diaspora is one of the richest and most diverse in the world, from Quebec City to Bahia, Paris to Windhoek, New Delhi to Brisbane.”
In addition to the physical books on display in Davis, students have the opportunity to engage with podcast recommendations, music and the In Your Own Words interview series. Galletly worked to ideate and curate digital components of the display. “I think it’s important that the work going into these doesn’t disappear after the display comes down, so the digital display allows people to see the resources anytime,” Galletly said. “ I think it’s valuable, especially for a largely white campus like Middlebury, to hear the perspectives and narratives of non-white people on campus. Learning the stories of those around us is a powerful way to empathize and build connections with our community.”
The In Your Own Words series (viewable at go/bhmdigital) is a collection of 11 interviews with members of the Middlebury community. In conducting the interviews, Spencer asked her guests questions regarding changing notions of race and ethnicity based on where they are and who they’re with, what her subjects wish others knew about race and ethnicity, and more. Spencer said that working on presenting student stories was equally as important as focusing on media and literature because focusing on abstract figures outside of one’s immediate sphere doesn’t have the same effect as celebrating the identities of those in one’s immediate sphere. “When we talk about Hollywood, we talk about an abstract conceptualization, as Denzel Washington is not my friend and Viola Davis is not my aunt,” she said. “We have to make blackness real, tangible, relatable, concrete and intersectional. Again, blackness is not just Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education. It’s right here. It’s everywhere. This will help us to understand that Sandra Bland is us. Trayvon Martin is us. And Eric Garner is us. We are still fighting to be seen as human. And if I can help one person to see that their black dorm mate is human, the black woman preparing food in the cafeteria is human or the black librarian who keeps putting up displays is human, I’m realizing a greater mission.”
In addition to the In Your Own Words interview series, a digital rendition of the books on display in Davis can be found at go/bhmdigital.
(02/15/18 1:56am)
A focus of the college dining staff has long been providing students with allergies and dietary restrictions with appetizing food options that fit their dietary needs. The staff works to provide entrees, salads, side dishes and desserts for students with dietary restrictions ranging from vegetarian and vegan regimens to gluten allergies. Since the fall 2017 term, students in Ross Dining Hall have enjoyed new dairy-free ice cream developed by Ross Commons Chef Chris Laframboise in the hope of providing vegan and lactose-intolerant students with new, better dessert options.
While working around students’ allergies has long been a big part of the dining staff’s work, allergies and restrictions have become more common in recent years and have commanded more of the staff’s attention, according to Laframboise. “The last couple of years, more allergens are popping up in people’s lifestyles,” he said. “We take those really seriously, and we have to provide those students with sort of the same options [we provide the rest of the student body].”
According to Laframboise, the Ross staff began working on recipes for new dairy-free ice cream in the summer of 2017 after noticing that vegan students and students with dairy allergies had begun to constitute a larger percentage of the student body than in past years. “As things moved forward there were more people with dairy allergies, and we started looking at different options,” he said. “There was a group of students that were dairy-free too, and they weren’t really getting everything that they needed.... One of the things [we wanted to focus on improving] was desserts, and we decided to look into non-dairy ice cream.”
Laframboise said that the ice-cream recipe is actually quite basic. The dessert is made with a coconut-milk base and also includes sugar and vanilla extract. The ice cream comes in 17 elaborate flavors, including cinnamon, cherry chocolate chunk, caramel apple and Snickers, and additional ingredients depend on the flavor of the individual ice cream.
The dining staff brings on student help to aid in making the ice cream. Sara Santiago ’20.5 is one of these students. Santiago makes the coconut-milk base for the ice cream, combines it with the other ingredients and mixes the ice cream in a soft-serve ice-cream machine, which allows the staff to mix the ice cream with ingredients such as fruit and chocolate that would cause damage to normal ice-cream-making equipment. “I go to Ross once a week for three to four hours to make vegan ice cream,” Santiago said. “As someone with lots of dietary restrictions, it’s always exciting to have more options in the dining hall. We’ve gotten a lot of great feedback from a lot of vegan students as well.” Santiago added that it can be challenging to dissuade students who do not have dairy allergies, or aren’t vegan, from trying the ice cream.
Laframboise, who began working in Ross as a dishwasher in 1985, said that accommodating dietary restrictions has become more of a challenge than it’s been in years past. “Back in the ’80s, ’90s, there weren’t this many challenges,” he said. “[Developing a menu] was pretty straightforward: here’s a meat protein, here’s a vegetarian option, which wasn’t always a vegan option.... Now we’re just doing a lot more in trying to make sure that all the students are happy. In that, there’s a greater cost that’s associated. [In] this last year we’ve gotten a lot more non-dairy products—yogurts, cheesecakes, ice cream, cheeses, mayo, sour cream, cream cheese. There is a cost to that, and it’s quite a bit more expensive than other products.”
Across the board, students have been very happy with the dining staff’s efforts to accommodate their dietary needs. The dairy-free ice cream, particularly the cinnamon flavor, has been a hit. “Students are really grateful, I think, to have these options, especially the ones that need an option like that,” Laframboise said. “For most of us, we go through our lives and we eat whatever we want whenever we want, and we really don’t realize the impact that having a dietary restriction has. We try to understand how hard it is for them to actually go through the dining hall and find food that they can eat, especially if [they] have a peanut or soy or dairy allergy. Those are big, and if you take all of the dairy out of your life, see what’s left. There are many fewer options. So it’s important that we address these issues, and I think students are pleased to have it and they’re grateful to have it. That’s what we’re here for, and that’s what we like to see.”
(01/24/18 10:32pm)
During the winter months, snowy weather becomes embedded in the daily routines of students and staff alike. Snow opens up valuable opportunities, such as pursuit of popular winter sports and outdoor activities, and simultaneously creates challenges for those who live at the college. When a winter storm approaches many students anticipate the coming snow with excitement, preparing to make the trek to Sugarbush or the snowbowl after fresh powder has fallen.
But while students plan their winter sports excursions or hunker down in their dorms to avoid the cold, a huge team works quickly, efficiently and tirelessly to prepare the campus for approaching inclement weather. As a snowstorm approaches, an array of shovel and plow crews run by Facilities Services prepares to clear the campus of impending snowfall.
Clinton “Buzz” Snyder, the college’s landscape supervisor, and Luther Tenny, facilities maintenance and operations director, work together in order to oversee snow removal operations. Snyder has worked at the college for four years and drives a plow during snow removal operations. Tenny has occupied his position for the past 14 years. When word of an impending snow storm emerges, the two decide on the scale and logistics of initiating a removal operation.
“Luther and I stay in close contact because between the two of us, we make the decision and the call on snow,” Snyder said. “We both are constantly looking at the weather.”
Tenny said that he and Snyder consider an array of factors in evaluating how to tackle a typical “snow event.”
“Usually a snow event is when campus is iced over considerably or we’ve gotten more than an inch of snow and we have to check every entry and plow,” he said. “So Clinton and I work together taking all these factors into account. Do we have classes tomorrow? What do we have for events tonight? How many staff members are either unavailable or out sick can tell us how early we need to come in to be campus ready by the morning so folks can come in, park their cars, get to the buildings, get to the dining halls, stuff like that.”
When a typical winter storm hits (Tenny refers to a “typical snow event” as a foot of snow or less), 14 snow plows, each with its own route around campus, as well as ten crews of shovelers, mobilize. Tenny calls workers from a list organized by the distance that the employees live from the college — workers who live in New York are called in earlier than those who live in Middlebury, for example. Plow crews arrive early, around 4:00 a.m., and begin clearing roads and walkways. These crews include both “sidewalk plows” that work to clear walkways and larger plows that work to clear roads and parking lots, both on campus and surrounding campus buildings as far away as Weybridge, Homestead and the Mill. Shovelers arrive two to three hours later and begin clearing the doorways of over 120 college buildings. As ice builds up on walkways, salt has to be laid down.
Steve Santor, who operates a plow for a crew that works on the northern end of campus, said that the early start time allows the plow crews to function most efficiently.
“The idea behind [the early start time] is it’s just less traffic,” Santor said. “We can get out on the sidewalks and roadways where the employees are parking their cars, get that parking lot clear, etc. We can get some of the main sidewalks clear so the shovelers can easily get started maneuvering around when they arrive later.”
The shovelers, who arrive two to three hours after the plow crews, have a grueling job: clearing all entryways by hand.
“Every door has to be cleared,” Snyder said of the shoveler’s work. “Every entry, every ADA ramp. The sidewalk tractors have about 11 miles of sidewalk to do if you want to get into detail. We also have the outside properties, so we’re not just doing the regular campus. We’re doing, you know, the houses down South Street, drives and homes.”
Plow operator Brian Paquette, who works with the north crew along with Santor, said that the snow removal operation has expanded as the size of the college has increased.
“Over just the last five years or so, the campus has grown quite a bit,” he said. “So our workload goes up and our standards go up as well. [Of] some other campuses and other things I’ve seen, we’re definitely up there as far as standards are concerned with safety, snow and ice removal. The first thing we check on every single morning this time of year during the winter is, is there ice? Is there snow? Is everything safe for everybody?”
Tenny said that storms that clash with warm temperatures, which bring ice on the ground and a resulting wealth of safety hazards, are the most challenging to deal with. Fresh, normal snow is much easier to handle.
“I will take a foot of fresh, fluffy snow — it’s so easy to move,” he said. “ The hard storms are the ones like this past Saturday [Jan. 13] where it starts off as rain. It was 57 degrees at 8 o’clock that night, and within a two hour window it dropped to below 32 degrees. And that’s when all of that rain then turns to ice and then sleet.”
Safety is a huge focus for the snow removal staff, which has been injury free for two years, according to Snyder. Snyder said that when a snowstorm hits, there are a number of steps students can take to increase their safety, the safety of those around them, and the ease of the staff’s job. It starts with simple spatial awareness.
“Students should just be aware of us out there,” Snyder said. “We’re driving equipment that’s got lights going, it’s loud, and we literally have to stop, which we should anyway. But there are so many students that will just come out of nowhere and come right around and it’s like, where did that person come from? Be aware, be cautious, stop when you see us working.”
(11/29/17 11:03pm)
The history department is instituting a number of changes to the requirements for the history major.
The department has transformed the history 600 writing seminar, added a number of 400-level seminars and is working towards offering an optional honors thesis as opposed to the current mandatory one, according to department chair Darién Davis.
Davis said that the changes are the product of several months of deliberation and discussion among the history faculty.
“The department voted last year to make these changes and we spent the summer and the fall semester discussing and debating these changes,” Davis said. “External grants and initiatives will help us offer new seminars, but the changes have also given the faculty an important opportunity to think about and discuss what we do as historians and what it means to be a historian in the 21st century.”
Davis said that the implemented changes were the result of faculty conversations about the evolving role of historians in present day.
“We are restructuring our curriculum to offer more flexibility and variety, thinking more broadly of the evolving role of the historian in the 21st century,” Davis said. “We believe that the craft of the historian, learning about the past and understanding how to craft narratives and arguments based on evidence remains critical to liberal arts education no matter what fields students pursue after graduation.”
According to Davis, the most substantial of the changes to the major requirements will be the transition from the honors thesis being a required component of the major to being optional.
Davis said that the required thesis has been in place in the department since the 1960s. “We have redesigned the thesis requirement so that students do not feel obliged to write a thesis,” he said. “Students with great ideas who find sources that they want to explore over two semesters can still propose to write a thesis after they have taken 600, and have had the experience of writing a paper which is the equivalent of a published historical article.”
The changes made in the history 600 writing seminar will lead to the seminar being open to all juniors and seniors. The seminar will be required by history majors. “In this CW course called Writing History, students learn about the craft of writing history and work on creating a historical narrative under the direction of a faculty member,” Davis said.
The department has also added new 400-level seminars, which are open to all students except classes designated for juniors and seniors. “These topically based seminars all involve reading and analyzing texts, discussions, student presentations and writing or producing a final project,” Davis said. “The history department will typically offers four types of seminars: seminars on a topic within a given country or region; global or transnational seminars, digital humanities seminars and public history seminars. Seminars are open to all students except those designated for seniors and juniors.”
“We hope to continue to question and refine our requirements and our pedagogical practices. We also want to continue to offer digital history courses and courses that deal with public history,” Davis said. “Yet our introductory courses and elective options on the 200 and 300 levels will continue to provide excellent opportunities for students to engage in history. Historians respond well to the present moment by asking questions about origins…. History is by nature multidisciplinary and so we will continue to offer courses on food, colonialism, popular culture [and] genocide as we trace the human experience,” Davis said.
(10/11/17 10:11pm)
Timothy Scarnecchia, an associate professor of African Studies at Kent State University, presented a talk at the Rohatyn Center for Global Affairs entitled “Zimbabwe as a ‘Race State’: The Troubled History of Racializing International Relations” on Friday, October 9th. Lunch was provided, Professor Scarnecchia spoke for half an hour and answered audience questions for another half hour after.
Scarnecchia has studied Zimbabwe extensively and published numerous works on the country’s development, most notably his 2008 book “The Urban Roots of Political Violence in Zimbabwe: Harare and Highfield, 1940-1964.” His other works include numerous articles published in African Studies journals such as Journal of Southern African Studies. He is currently working with professors and students at the University of Zimbabwe on a project surrounding Zimbabwean urban history.
Scarnecchia’s talk focused principally on the manner in which Zimbabwe’s position as a “race state” has affected its recent development and position. A race state is defined as an established state that is viewed primarily through the lense of race, often entailing an international image defined by a history of racial conflict and segregation. 20th century developments in Zimbabwe’s independence, economic challenges, shifts in political stability, and the manner in which Zimbabwe’s as a “race state” has affected its international position were the central topics that Scarnecchia covered in his talk. The way recent U.S. and British policy decisions have affected Zimbabwe’s development, political and economic status, and international condition were also featured in the talk.
Scarnecchia ultimately reflected on the manner in which these ongoing issues and challenges manifest themselves today. He spoke about the effects of the use of the U.S. dollar in Zimbabwe’s modern economy) and a subsequent lack of sufficient printed cash as factors in the country’s present economic struggles.
“There are ongoing economic issues that present serious challenges for many in Zimbabwe,” Scarnecchia said when asked what he hoped his audience took away from the talk. “There is the issue of lack of formal employment, the dollarization of the economy since 2009 that is currently resulting in severe liquidity problems, and the uncertainty of political stability given the question of succession in the ruling party.”
Middlebury Professor of African Studies Jacob Tropp invited Professor Scarnecchia to speak. “I was generally interested in having Scarnecchia come to campus to put in historical perspective Zimbabwe’s dire political situation,” Tropp said. “[I also hoped to put in perspective] ...the status of Robert Mugabe’s long-running regime, particularly as the country faces important national elections in 2018.”
Scarnecchia said that he hopes that students who attended the talk gained broader understanding of Zimbabwe’s international image. “[I hope] mostly that students... look beyond the simple characterizations of Zimbabwean and African politics and realize that there is a long history of racially defining Zimbabwe in international relations,” he said. “The post-2000 occupations of white farmers and the violence in this period created a negative racial image of Zimbabwe in international relations, but with the defense of a racialized notion of sovereignty seen as a positive by many, for example in South Africa.”
Scarnecchia added that the lessons pertaining to Zimbabwe’s status as a race state can be extended to the United States as well. “I would say the best lesson of this race state’s history is to recognize that the USA is also fundamentally a ‘race state’ whose international relations are largely defined through a history of slavery, racial conflict, and a projection of our own racist history on other states,” he said. “Given that notion, students should be careful not to project misconceptions about what another state is or isn’t in relation to its own complex history of racial conflict and struggle. I also hope students at Middlebury will get involved in shaping a more realistic U.S. foreign policy toward Zimbabwe.”
(09/27/17 10:42pm)
The SGA sent students a survey via email on Wednesday, Sept. 20, seeking opinions about the changes to the dining system implemented at the start of this semester. SGA senators Maryam Mahboob ’18 and Hannah Pustejovsky ’18 sent students the survey in anticipation of a meeting between members of the SGA and food service director Dan Detora on Friday, Sept. 22.
According to the Mahboob and Pustejovsky’s email, the goal of the meeting was to discuss student responses to the recent changes and work to improve the system. Mahboob, Pustejovsky and other SGA members at the meeting wished to be informed about student opinions prior to the meeting.
The survey asked students which dining halls they attend most frequently, whether they engage in activities besides eating (such as socializing and studying) in the dining halls, and whether they have concerns or suggestions for improving the new swipe system. Responses were recorded in short-answer format. In response to the survey, students generally suggested that the swipe system either be made faster or eliminated altogether.
Short-answer responses to the survey generally included complaints revolving around the time students have to wait in line as their ID cards scan upon entering the dining halls. Many students wrote that they are bothered by the lines created as each person entering the dining hall has to pause to scan their card.
“Dining is something that I have been concerned about since last year when Dan Detora came in to the Senate to discuss his new ideas on a swipe system,” Pustejovsky said. “I have been deeply concerned with the possible ramifications these changes will have on campus life and how students have been shut out of the conversation.”
Some students objected to the logistical changes that came with the new plans, such as in Proctor, where students now have to enter and leave the dining hall through two separate sets of doors.
“I do think that it’s annoying that you have to walk all the way around by the plate clearing station in Proctor to get out if you want to sit outside or in [Proctor Lounge],” Jack Decker ’20.5 said. “I hope the system proves that it’s not necessary to institute a swipe plan and we can go back to the way things were last year.”
In an email sent to the student body on Thursday, Sept. 21, Dan Detora said that the dining team is working to make the swipe system faster.
“We are currently working on trying to speed up the swipe time,” Detora said in the email. “We are averaging 1.4 seconds per transaction, but would like to cut that in half.” Detora also noted that wait times are inevitable during busy meal hours, with or without a swipe system in place.
“Keep in mind, on Tuesday and Thursdays there is a common lunch hour with the current class schedule,” he said. “So when 800 students show up in the dining hall you will be waiting in line for food no matter how quickly you swipe.”
Mahboob pointed out that the new swipe system will bring positives in terms of reducing food waste, an issue she and Pustejovsky discussed with Detora during their Sept. 22 meeting.
On the plus side, the changes in Dining will reduce food wastage, and result in a financial surplus for Dining to spend elsewhere,” Mahboob said.
While many student responses to the survey generally included complaints, some students are satisfied with the new system.
“I’m not at all bothered by the changes,” Rose Adams ’18.5 said. “I read that the swipe system will lower food waste and allow the college to reassess the dining hall budget, which was apparently unreasonably high. It’s not too much to ask for students to swipe a card.”
Pustejovsky said that she will continue to communicate with Detora with regards to future changes in the dining system.
“I would like a conscious effort to be made to listen to the complaints and concerns of the students,” she said. “Dining is one of the most central things on campus. It is super important that we agree with the way things are being changed.”
(09/20/17 11:49pm)
Each September, the student mail center sees its highest volume of incoming mail items, processing close to 13,000 packages and pieces of general mail in just one month.
These packages often containing supplies sent to students as they move in, according to Jennifer Erwin, a facilities manager.Erwin said that the center on average processes 7,000 items during the other months of the school year.
While the excess of packages poses challenges for the staff, a number of steps are taken to prepare for the back-to-school rush. Student workers are trained, special storage accommodations are made, and staff work special hours.
“We prepare for this increase in many ways,” Erwin said. “We utilize the student package warehouse during September to help with processing all oversized packages such as mattress pads, bikes and TVs, thus freeing up much needed space in the mail center.” The warehouse is located behind the student center on South Service Road.
Erwin said student workers also help with the rush.
“By doing their routes and helping at the window, it allows the mail center staff to focus on processing the high volume of incoming mail and packages,” Erwin said. “We also work Saturday mornings during the month of September, allowing us to get a jump start on processing mail and packages that have been received on Saturday, and it allows students a window of time to pick up their packages on the weekend.”
According to Erwin, a large part of keeping the mail center running smoothly during September is communicating with the student body about how to best navigate mail pickup process during the September rush.
Erwin said that students waiting to receive an email from the center and reading these emails carefully is key in keeping the pickup process running smoothly.
“We try hard to educate the student body to review the proper information which is included in their email message from the mail center to help us deliver their packages,” she said. “This information being how many packages they have and what type they are.”
“And we also encourage the students to wait to receive an email from the mail center and not to come down when they receive an email from the sender telling them their package has arrived,” Erwin said. “Only when they receive the email from the mail center has their package been received and processed and ready to pick up.”
Students generally pick up school supplies and items forgotten at home during September.
“I’ve picked up two packages and am expecting to get two more this week,” Hannah Gokaslan ’20.5 said. “They’ve mostly been books and stuff for my dorm that I forgot to bring with me.”
Students also said that mail pickup at the center has run smoothly, despite the rise in processing in September.
“I don’t think it’s been that much more crowded than usual, although I went to pick up my mail on a Friday, which is always kind of busy,” Gokaslan said.
Erwin said that, overall, the mail center staff looks forward to September, despite the high processing volume.
“While there is a huge increase in the volume of mail and packages, and this in itself brings challenges, we look forward to this time of year and prepare for it,” she said. “We enjoy what we do and look forward to getting the packages and mail to the students in a timely manner.”
(09/14/17 4:02am)
Welcome back to college. As the school year ramps up, we would like to share with you an upcoming project we are really excited about. One of our many goals this year is to write long-term, in-depth pieces that look at student life on campus, in addition to our weekly coverage. In that spirit, we have already started to put together the first in a series of articles that will examine sexual assault and misconduct at Middlebury.
We believe that the conversation about sexual assault on college campuses — which is often part of our national dialogue — needs to be a larger part of our everyday life here at Midd. We believe that thoughtful journalism can change discourse within a community, and that we, as the student newspaper, have a part to play in this conversation. We are committed to putting the necessary time and energy into this reporting — to elevate voices that often remain unheard.
Over the course of the semester, we will write about different aspects of this issue. We will talk to student groups like MiddSafe and It Happens Here to learn about the organizations on campus that do work surrounding sexual assault. We will speak with the Title IX office about enforcement, and look into programs like Green Dot. Our first story, scheduled to come out next week, will cover the changes to Title IX policy Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced last Thursday.
We also hope to speak to survivors that are willing to share their stories, anonymously or otherwise. If you have story you would like to share as part of this project, or if there is a topic you would like us to cover, please do not hesitate to reach out to campus staff. We are happy to meet with you and talk you through our process if you are interested in participating.
The features team can be reached at features@middleburycampus.com.
(05/11/17 1:12am)
The Middlebury Maple Run, an annual half marathon, took place in and around Middlebury on Sunday, May 7, beginning at 9 a.m. The race covered 13.1 miles that started on South Street, passed the University of Vermont Morgan Horse Farm, passed down Weybridge Street for a section and looped through Middlebury’s campus before ending behind Porter Hospital, according to the Maple Run website.
Co-race director Sue Hoxie said that the race organizers have tried to add new components each year. “We try to add something new or different each year to keep the event fresh,” Hoxie said. “Over the years we’ve added the 2-person relay race, the 3M Fun Run, [which is] new this year, finishers’ medals, the pancake breakfast [and] music along the course from student bands. There are other things we’ve added that are less apparent to the runners such as improved safety measures, sag wagon, signage along the course, potties along the course.”
Conditions were favorable, although runners did have to endure a brief spell of light rain early on in the race, according to runners who participated. In addition to the individuals’ half marathon, the Maple Run offered a relay covering the same distance and a 3-mile “Fun Run” that traversed a shorter portion of the course.
Middlebury students were well-represented in the field of runners in the half marathon, with multiple students completing the race among the top ten of all finishers. Ben Arquit ’20 took first out of the entire field, finishing the course in 1:21. James Lumley ’19 took third, finishing in 1:25, and Jacob Brady ’17 finished sixth with a time of 1:26, according to the race’s results page.
Runners in the half marathon showcased a range of ability and experience level. Allison Stevens ’20.5 hadn’t had much competitive running experience prior to training for the Maple Run.
“I had never run a half marathon, but it has always been on my bucket list,” Stevens said. “It gave me a goal to work towards.”
The race does have a time cut-off that, according to the website, encourages an overall competitive field. Runners had to maintain a rough 13-minute mile pace to avoid their times being discounted.
“The majority of the people were running a very decent pace,” Stevens said. “The cut-off time was two and a half hours, so no one could really walk or run much slower.”
The Maple Run’s course took runners on packed dirt roads for about half of the race and cement streets for the other half. Traffic in and around Middlebury was slowed due to road closures on South Street and South Street Extension. Runners said that conditions were decent overall, with light rain falling for some of the race.
“The weather was ideal for a race since it wasn’t too hot and slightly rainy,” said Julia Sinton ’20.5, a Middlebury native who ran the race.
The Maple Run has historically attracted hundreds of runners from around Vermont and the greater New England area. As in years past, participants from Vermont comprised a majority of runners who competed. Middlebury, Burlington, Salisbury and Montpelier were particularly well-represented in the field. The race drew about 700 runners total among the three races offered. The race was sponsored by an array of local organizations and businesses such as Cabot cheese, Two Brothers Tavern, the Addison County Chamber of Commerce and the National Bank of Middlebury, among others.
Hoxie said that the race has had a significant impact on the Middlebury community, from fundraising goals achieved to a tourism uptake.
“When it was founded in 2009 the goal was strictly fundraising and creating an event during tourism’s ‘shoulder’ season to bring people to town during a down time of year,” she said. “We’ve achieved both of those goals. The race has donated about $60K out to local non-profits [since it was founded] and typically 40 percent of the runners come from out of state."
Sinton shared that the race had a positive, supportive feel that was enhanced by bystander cheering as well as runners cheering for each other. “Running through campus around mile 7 was ideal because that’s when I needed a boost, and a lot of my friends and other community members were there yelling with signs,” Sinton said. “At one point I saw my first grade teacher cheering runners on and it made me smile.”
(04/27/17 2:41am)
The Global Health department held a screening of Poverty, Inc., a 2014 documentary about the state of global aid and charity, at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 18, in Dana Auditorium. A panel of political science, education, food studies and religion professors spoke and answered questions after the film ended.
Written, directed and produced by Michael Matheson Miller, Poverty, Inc. criticizes the prominent “aid”-based response to poverty that wealthy countries, particularly the United States, push on poor regions around the world. Focusing on relief efforts in Haiti, Peru and parts of Africa, the film showcases many of the cultural and economic challenges communities face when NGOs and relief organizations begin to flood their economies with outside funds and resources.
Coordinator of Global Health Programs and Professor of the Practice of Global Health Pam Berenbaum suggested the film and organized the screening.
She said that one of the reasons she chose the film was that it focuses on the role that U.S. economic interests play in the ways aid is provided to countries in need.
“I like the film because it reveals aspects of aid and development that are not readily apparent,” she said. “One theme that I wanted to showcase is that the United States’ aid to other countries is largely connected to our own strategic and economic interests. This was true decades ago as well, yet many people cling to the comforting idea that our aid to other countries is purely selfless and benevolent.”
The film first focused on aid efforts in Haiti, where American rice companies flooded the country with cheap rice after the devastating 2010 earthquake, as an example of the trend that U.S. foreign aid efforts tend to perpetuate. The film uses interviews with activists and workers to argue that while provisions of rice may have been helpful in the immediate wake of the earthquake when food was scarce, the continued shipments eventually ruined the portion of the Haitian economy devoted to rice production. Meanwhile, U.S. rice sellers profited.
The film also focused on Tom’s Shoes’ “One for One” program, when the company promised to provide a free pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair sold in the U.S., among other examples of aid initiatives that have hurt local economies for someone else’s benefit. Through these same interviews, the filmmakers argue that people living in poverty possess the desire and ability to pull themselves out of their circumstances, and that aid efforts should provide these people with stepping stones with which to do this, rather than just handing them food or supplies they lack in the moment.
Berenbaum said she hopes that the film helps dispel stereotypes about the people who live in the countries that receive U.S. aid. “Many of the voices in the film were from people in countries that receive our aid, and I hope viewers would agree that the film helps to combat stereotypes about people in these countries,” Berenbaum said. “We have this cherished belief that aid is benevolent, but that belief rests on an assumption that our aid is needed by people who are otherwise desperate or helpless without it.”
Both Berenbaum and Food Studies Professor Molly Anderson, another member of the panel, had criticisms about aspects of the film’s argument. Anderson felt that the film wasn’t effective in distinguishing between emergency aid meant to help in the wake of a specific disaster and longer-term aid.
“The film showed the failure of charity, but it didn’t distinguish between types of interventions, such as humanitarian crisis interventions [immediate responses to disasters such as the Haiti earthquake] versus dumping,” Anderson said. “By not doing that, it perpetuated a misconception that foreign aid ... is ineffectual.”
Berenbaum hopes that, despite the film’s sometimes negative outlook, viewers can recognize that the desire to provide aid almost always comes with good intention.
“I hope that viewers heard the message in the film that people who work for aid agencies or NGOs, by and large, are people who really do want their efforts to improve human welfare – even critics of aid acknowledge this in the film,” she said. “I think it’s important to recognize the human element and avoid demonizing people in the industry, even if you disagree with its end results. Most criticism has the benefit of 20/20 hindsight.”
Berenbaum and Anderson hope that the film’s themes feed into wider discussions about aid and how to partake in it. “I’d like to see a cohesive concentration in development and ample opportunities for students to explore and reflect on how to intervene in communities in useful rather than high-handed or blind ways,” Anderson said. “This could be done through experiential education that has preparatory and debriefing opportunities before and after the experiential component.”
Berenbaum expressed similar sentiments.
“I would like to see us entertain the question of what we, as citizens, should do,” she said. “Aid is an enormous juggernaut, and it is difficult to understand what our individual roles in it can or should be... How can we become part of the solution, rather than part of the problem, and how will we know the difference?”
(04/21/17 1:30am)
A Vermont state senate committee voted unanimously on March 22 to pass a media “shield” bill. The bill will protect Vermont journalists from having to disclose sensitive information obtained in interviews in court cases, particularly confidential information obtained from sources off the record, according to Seven Days Vermont. In order to become law, the bill will have to pass before the second chamber of the Senate, according to Seven Days.
In the past, Vermont journalists could face steep daily fines and potential jail time if they failed to disclose information provided to them by sources in court, even information obtained off the record, according to Seven Days. Judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys and other court officials could file subpoenas to obtain any information obtained by reporters, including sensitive off-therecord material, that they deemed pertinent to court cases.
Prior to the bill passing, Vermont was one of only 10 states that lacked significant shield law protection for its reporters. Most states have laws in place that provide significant protection against courts seizing information obtained by journalists in interviews, according to USA Today.
In a story for Seven Days, Ken Picard wrote that the shield law will help journalists continue to hold government accountable.
“Journalists contend that when the legal system coerces them into testifying, it makes them appear to be acting as an investigative arm of law enforcement,” Picard wrote. “As a consequence, they lose the independence they need to carry out their constitutionally protected role of holding government accountable.”
“Reporters really shouldn’t be seen as arms of the police or the prosecution,” Vermont Public Radio news director John Dillon told USA Today.
The bill provides journalists with new protections against having to give up confidential information, specifically surrounding off the record interviews. Per the bill, information obtained by reporters on the record will still be accessible via subpoena, but only in extreme or extenuating circumstances. Confidential interviews obtained off the record will not be accessible, even in extreme circumstances, according to VPR.
Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan said that this bill presents a significant step forward in advancing Vermont’s freedoms of the press.
“From a principled standpoint, we want a free and unfettered press in this state, and this bill goes a long way in supporting that,” Donovan said in testimony before the Senate.
Some parties expressed concern about ambiguity of some of the bill’s language, which they say could lead people who are not necessarily journalists to claim protection under the new law. Executive Director of the Vermont Department of State Attorneys and Sheriffs John Campbell was one of them.
“We have to point out some of the darker sides here,” Campbell told VPR. “Wherever there is a keyboard or a recording device, there is a potential for someone to claim that the source from where they got the information was in fact protected.”
Recent prosecution of Seven Days and VPR journalists played a role in newfound support for the bill. In 2016, VPR and Seven Days reporters were subpoenaed while reporting on a sexual assault case involving former Vermont State Senator Norm McAllister, according to USA Today. While several of the subpoenas were later dropped, two remained in place until the passing of the March 22 bill.
Past cases played a role in the bill’s advancement. Rutland Herald reporter Susan Smallheer was subpoenaed in 1992 while investigating Charles Gundlah, a suspect in a murder case at the time. Smallheer refused to disclose what she had found even after being subpoenaed and faced time in jail as a result, according to Seven Days. “[I didn’t disclose the information] because my life as a reporter would have been over if I had to testify for the prosecution,” she told Seven Days. “No one would trust me.”
Seven Days Political Editor Paul Heintz expressed similar sentiment surrounding motivations for the bill. “To do our job, we have to have the trust of our sources,” Heinz told VPR. “Our sources will not trust us and will not speak to us if they believe that we are going to end up on the stand talking about what it is they’ve told us, whether it’s on the record or off the record.”