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(11/11/10 5:15am)
“You have one favor, but think it through before you ask me.”
Looking through my dialogue options, I could ask for some money, extra items or become a member of the Kings, a gang whose members all dedicate themselves to talking, acting and dressing like the original King himself, Elvis Presley. After becoming a member, I asked if I could help cure the King’s sick robot dog Rex. My offer was accepted, and I found myself on a new quest to fetch Rex a new brain. Appropriately enough, the quest was titled “Ain’t nothing but a hound dog.”
This is just one of the innumerable memorable moments New Vegas has to offer. The game puts you in the role of the Courier, someone who has been enlisted to deliver a very important package across the Mojave Wastes to New Vegas, the remains of Las Vegas after an enormous nuclear war. But you’re intercepted by a classy gambler named Benny (voiced by Matthew Perry, no less) and shot in the head. The game starts as you wake up (thanks to a cowboy robot and a kind doctor) in the nearby town of Goodsprings where you create your character and begin your journey to find out who shot you and why. Just as in Fallout 3, character customization is totally up to you, as one can choose their base traits (Strength, Intelligence, Agility etc.) and can obtain a certain amount of “skill” points every level to upgrade certain aspects of your character. Like to break into things? Focus on lockpick. Are you more of a diplomat than a fighter? Put some of those skill points towards your speech skill. (Which, by the way, is easily one of the best and most useful skills in the game) Your efficiency using different weapons is also determined by your skills — for instance, three separate skills govern the use of guns and rifles, explosives and energy weapons.
As they travel the wastes, players will come across many different factions of people (such as the previously mentioned Kings), but the two main factions are the New California Republic (NCR) and Caesars Legion. The NCR likes to annex neighboring territories while providing supplies, protection and taxes. The Legion enjoys conquering neighboring territories, enslaving the survivors of their vicious assaults. One will also get to meet Mr. House, the disembodied Andrew Ryan rip-off and the de facto ruler of the Vegas strip (who is also the would-be recipient of your package).
While the “moral” choices of the above two factions are fairly obvious, the game does offer plenty of quests that will leave some major decisions to the player, and the consequences of some will result in tangible changes in your game world.
As one receives more and more quests and meets new characters, one cannot help but lose track of time. The world of New Vegas is so engrossing and so beautiful in its ugliness the phrase “just one more quest” will never come true. New Vegas isn’t one of those games where you play it and continue on with your life. This is a game where you can discuss all the actions you’ve performed, the decisions you’ve made or just all the really cool stuff you’ve encountered along the way with other players.
Sadly, developers Obsidian Entertainment (Knights of the Old Republic II, Neverwinter Nights) show their true colors yet again with the sheer amount of bugs found within the game — for instance, characters getting stuck inside walls, dialogue options sometimes not functioning correctly, many loading screens and the occasional system crash. All these silly technical problems should have been caught before release, and they seriously diminish the experience of exploring the Mojave.
However, despite these glaring problems, I’m willing to completely overlook them. The story, characters, environments and gameplay are just that good. New Vegas gets my highest recommendation and a perfect 10/10. As the game famously says, “War, war never changes.”
(11/11/10 5:05am)
In March of 1991, Laurence Miller brewed his first Copper Ale. The owner of Otter Creek Brewery, Miller opened his business at 616 Exchange Street, the current location of Vermont Soapworks. Four years later, the brewery expanded and moved down the road, where it resides today. With a 40,000-barrel capacity, Otter Creek Brewery distributes its year-round and seasonal beer to states across the country. Long Trail Brewing bought Otter Creek Craft Ales and Wolaver’s Certified Organic Ales, both of which are brewed in Middlebury, last January and has since invested $1 million into the brewery.
The partnership between Wolaver’s and Otter Creek formed in 2002 when Morgan Wolaver bought Otter Creek. Wolaver, who worked with fresh food, sought to brew quality beer, and he became the first USDA-certified organic brewer. At first a satellite brewer without a brewery of his own, Wolaver knew Vermont’s organic lifestyle fit the product he envisioned, so he bought Otter Creek. He worked with the organic barley and farmers in the area, and together they created an “organic beer market.”
Dale Becker, the assistant manager of the Visitors Center at the brewery, said that Long Trail beers rank as the fourth best selling brand of beer in Vermont, following Amstel, Busch and Miller Lite. In addition to the brewery’s four year-round ales (Copper Ale, Pale Ale, Solstice Ale and Stovepipe Porter), it also has seasonal varieties. This year’s fall flavors include Oktoberfest and Will Stevens’ Pumpkin Ale. Becker said the winter ales will be Otter Creek’s Alpine Black IPA and the Wolaver’s Alta Gracia Coffee Porter. At the Vermont Brewers Fest this July, Becker said everyone loved the Alpine Black IPA, as do the college students who have tried it; however, the ingredients needed to make the beer are expensive.
The four ingredients in any beer are water, malted barley, hops and yeast. If a beer is five percent alcohol, then the other 95 percent of the drink is water. Otter Creek uses the township water, which it later purifies and softens.
Malt (a type of grain that has been allowed to sprout) forms the basis for 80 percent of beer. Specialty malts, like roasted and de-husked barley, give some beer its burnt, smoky flavor and dark coloring, according to Becker. By de-husking the barley, the beer spice, commonly called hops, is not overshadowed.
Ales, first created by the British, are fermented at warm temperatures, so the yeast can rise. Said to have been a German improvement on an ale, lagers are fermented at cold temperatures, allowing the yeast to fall. These beers are cold-stored for long periods of time before being bottled or kegged.
A native Floridian, Becker enjoys the heartiness of the ale because it fills him up faster, but he prefers a lager when it is hot outside because of its “crisp, clear and refreshing” taste.
Otter Creek, located at 783 Exchange Street, is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Complimentary tours are also available to the public.
“We want more interaction with the College,” said Becker. “The students are diverse and politically-minded. The other day a group of girls were in here drinking beer and arguing about politics.”
This is an especially appealing idea because the brewery plans to open a restaurant in the next year. With a 90-person seating capacity and more than 21 bar seats, the eatery will start small and serve appetizers like chili and, of course, beer.
Becker admits that beer is more sophisticated and complicated than he ever thought, and the brewing process certainly reflects this complexity. First, the barley must germinate before it is kiln-dried and coated with sugar or caramel. The barley is also milled, which means that the husk must break open to expose its natural enzymes and starches. Becker said that up to five batches of milled malted barley are produced each day.
To start the brewing process, 148-degree to 154-degree water is mixed with the milled malted barley in the mash mixer for 60 minutes. The barley’s enzymes begin breaking down the starch into simple sugars. Next, the mixture is moved to the lauter tun, or settling tank. Here barley falls into the natural filter bed at the bottom of the tank, and the remaining liquid is easily pulled out. This substance, called “wort,” is a brown sweet liquid. If someone drank a cup of this clarified liquid, Becker said they would go into “sugar shock.” The remaining barley is picked up by a local farmer twice a week and fed to his cows, as the animals love the sugary taste of the grain. As much as 10 tons of barley are left over each day.
The wort is then transferred to the brew kettle where it sits for 60 minutes. Here boiling water is added to the wort, so it can be sterilized. If anything touches the wort while it is transferred from one tank to another, it becomes hard to contain. Hops pellets, which give the beer its bitter taste, are also added to the brew kettle. Otter Creek Brewery uses hops grown in Middlebury. Finally, the mixture is sent to the whirlpool tank where the solids move to the center and the liquid beer can be easily pulled out from the sides of the tank. The leftover solid is used as fertilizer.
“This is a trick on nature,” said Becker, who studied marine biology in college and has done much retail work in fly-fishing. “The process highlights our dedication to the company’s organic and natural label.”
The brewed beer is cold-stored at 32 degrees and generally bottled on the 19th day after the brewing has begun. This ensures fresh quality beer.
The visitor’s center is the “face of the brewery,” and Becker has several goals he seeks to accomplish here. He hopes to create an enjoyable experience and entice first time customers enough so that they will be more inclined to buy Otter Creek the next time they go to the grocery store, for example. Beer enthusiasts often embark on the Vermont Brew Tour, where they visit breweries, including Otter Creek, across the state. Becker challenges himself to find ways to make the Middlebury brewery the best spot on the trip.
“I have three textbooks with 700 pages of information each [on beer],” he said. “I want to learn everything.”
He yearns to make the visitor’s center a place all can enjoy because Becker believes Otter Creek customers are buyers for life.
“I have Middlebury alums that call me three to four times per month because they want Otter Creek beer at their weddings,” he said.
Stay tuned for events and activities at the brewery, especially as it gears up for the restaurant’s grand opening next year.
(11/11/10 5:05am)
This year’s Vermont Bookshop Authors Series starts off with a bang with the release of author (and D. E. Axinn Professor of English and Creative Writing)Jay Parini’s newest novel, The Passages of H.M. The novel’s release will be celebrated at Town Hall Theater on Tuesday, November 16. Parini will read from his new work and answer questions. Entrance to the reading is free of charge.
The Passages of H. M. tells the tale of one angry, drunken Herman Melville through the eyes of his weary wife, Lizzie. Melville is known today as the author of the classic novel Moby-Dick — however, Parini paints the famous writer’s story in a very different and darker light.
In Passages, Melville, once a celebrated writer of seafaring adventures, now finds his career in shambles; his newest novel Moby-Dick was meant to make him immortal and solidify his position among the great writers, but it fell short in both the critics’ and readers’ eyes. Now Melville has one last work in mind — one that could bring him back from the cold depths of literary oblivion.
Parini depicts Melville as a man both sympathetic and maddening, and he penetrates the mind and soul of this liter-ary titan, using the resources of fiction to humanize a giant while illuminating the sources of his matchless creativity.
The event is one of several planned for this year at Town Hall Theater. Vermont Bookshop owner Becky Dayton is working with the Theater to present authors who may draw crowds too big for readings in her bookshop.
Parini’s novels include The Apprentice Lover, Benjamin’s Crossing, and The Last Station, which is now a major motion picture. His fifth volume of poetry was The Art of Subtraction: New and Selected Poems (2005). He has also written biographies of John Steinbeck, Robert Frost and William Faulkner, in addition to such nonfiction works as The Art of Teaching (2005), Why Poetry Matters (2008), and Promised Land: Thirteen Books that Changed America (2008). Parini’s reviews and essays appear frequently in major periodicals, including The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Guardian.
(11/11/10 5:04am)
Families and friends from the town of Middlebury and its surrounding area gathered at the Middlebury Methodist Church on Nov. 6 for the 19th annual Empty Bowl Dinner. All proceeds from the $25 tickets are split evenly and go directly to two local food shelves: HOPE and the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO). All were also welcome to donate additional money when buying the ticket or at the dinner itself. The Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op hosted the event, and this is one of many Empty Bowl Dinners held throughout the country in an effort to end hunger nationwide.
“We [the Co-op] have several end statements and one is to provide healthy food for the whole community,” said Karin Mott, the Marketing Manager at the Co-op, who also organized the event. “This is one way we can fulfill that.”
The dinner’s set-up is simple: each attendee enjoys soup in a handcrafted bowl of their choice that local potters have donated. They are also served salad, rolls, desserts and beverages. As the soups are the main feature of the meal, however, there can be mild competition for who gets to make them, said Mott. This year’s options were vegetable soup with chicken and sweet sausage, squash and sun-dried tomato soup and black bean, aptly named “November Black Bean and Friends” by the Co-op employee who made it. At the end of the evening, volunteers wash all the bowls, and each person gets to take home their own bowl.
According to an article about the event in the Co-op’s November newsletter, “the bowl serves as a memento of the evening, reminding all in attendance that while our bowls are full, there are others in our communities in need of a nourishing meal.”
This year, approximately 72 people attended the event and about $2,000 was raised. While the Co-op works with food shelves and other nonprofits throughout the year by donating extra bread, dairy, meat and produce or by offering $25 gift certificates to the groups, this is by far the largest cash contribution, said Mott.
Some, like Lester, Vt. resident Jennifer Munger, have gone to the dinner for many years and she now boasts a large collection of ceramic bowls. Munger estimates she has six bowls at home.
Though the Co-op hosts the dinner, over a dozen other local businesses, nonprofits and individuals contribute resources to make the event possible. This year, for example, Champlain Valley Orchards and Happy Valley Orchards donated apple cider, and Middlebury Bagel and Deli donated rolls. Students at the North Branch School made tile centerpieces for the three long tables where the attendees sat. The Little Pressroom, a printing company in Middlebury, provided the tickets free of charge.
Asking groups for donations is the first thing Mott does when organizing the dinner, as all aspects of the event are donated in some way. Even the live music is free. Members of “Her Majesty’s Streakólean,” a local folk music band, spared their time and talent, and played throughout the dinner.
“[Donating my time] is part of being a community,” said Julia Wayne, who plays the banjo-uke in the band.
According to Mott, all of this year’s sponsors already had pre-existing relationships with the Co-op. The second step in organizing the event is to find volunteers, most of whom are employees, board members or shoppers at the Co-op, though the positions are open to anyone who is interested. Mott also works to advertise the dinner. There were ads on the radio and in several newspapers, including Seven Days and The Addison County Independent. Because the event is nonprofit, the Co-op does not pay to run the ads.
Though attendees differed in age (there were many elders, as well as families with young children), all who came to the dinner had the same goal in mind: support local initiatives to fight hunger.
“I see poverty as significant,” said one of the attendees, Elizabeth Stabler. “This can help some people.”
Pittsford, Vt. resident Amanda Beitzel agrees, noting that she sees evidence of poverty, especially at her office in Rutland, Vt. Like many, Beitzel found out about the event from family members. This was her second year at the dinner.
“It’s a pretty amazing way to give back to the community,” said Jeremy Ward, associate professor of biology, who attended the dinner with his wife and two daughters.
As attendees came in, they perused over the vast selection of handcrafted bowls. Glen Lower, general manager of the Co-op, welcomed everyone and explained the four goals of the event: raising money for two local food shelves, increasing awareness about hunger relief in Addison County, supporting local potters and bringing together members of the community.
Donna Rose, food shelf coordinator at the CVOEO, then spoke. After thanking those who were there, Rose made a brief yet powerful presentation that demonstrated the extent and proliferation of hunger in Addison County, particularly during the economic recession. Rose held up a large poster filled with cutouts of people’s heads, each of which represented the 305 individuals served each month at the CVOEO’s food shelves.
Rose’s presentation reinforced the need for aid, but did not dampen the joyful atmosphere of the dinner, as all seemed to enjoy a delicious meal for a worthy cause.
(11/11/10 5:03am)
Body piercer, bouncer, professional wrestler, actor, stand-up comedian, glass-eater and guest star on Tila Tequila. These are just some of the various professions that Pierre Vachon has held during his lifetime. Currently the co-owner of Frog Alley Tattoo and Leatherworks and a bouncer at Two Brother’s Tavern, Vachon clearly likes to keep busy.
Vachon, who has lived in Vermont since he was four, is a licensed body piercer. He has had an avid interest in tattoos since he got his first tattoo — a comedy and tragedy mask on his left arm — in 1994. At the time of the interview, Vachon was in the process of getting his 10th tattoo. While “poor drawing skills” led Vachon to choose to pursue a career in body piercing over tattoos, his decision has obviously not held him back. Vachon apprenticed with body piercers in New York City and Malden, Massachusetts before returning to Vermont open Frog Alley Tattoo and Leatherworks this past April.
On select nights, Vachon can also be found at Two Brother’s Tavern, where he has worked as a bouncer for the past three years. He had previously been a bouncer in other parts of the country and in Montreal, though the scene was much different than in Middlebury.
“Everyone here is pretty chill,” he said.
But in Montreal he “was stabbed a bunch of times, you know, with broken beer bottles and stuff.”
Yet Vachon sees himself as “a pretty easy going guy.” When he has to kick someone out of the bar, it is never personal.
“As long as you’re cool with me, I’ll be pretty cool with you,” he said.
Besides working as a bouncer and body piercer, Vachon is also a professional wrestler. Starting to learn at a young age, he has been wrestling full time for almost 14 years. One could say it is in his blood, as both his father, Paul “the Butcher” Vachon, and his uncle, “Mad Dog” Vachon, were famous wrestlers during the 1960s and 70s. In addition, his sister was a pro-wrestler in the 1980s with WWE.
Vachon has spent time traveling all over the world for many wrestling companies. However, he has recently toned down his wrestling career considerably — while he used to wrestle six days a week, he now only works about three shows a month. Vachon says wrestling requires intense cardio and weight training, as well as a high pain tolerance. His experience with wrestling is what “lets him get a tattoo and have a conversation at the same time without being phased by it.”
Vachon also uses his high pain tolerance for things other than wrestling. In fact, he used to do sideshows during his wrestling tours, in which he would lie on beds of nails, eat shards of glass, act as a human dartboard and have cinderblocks broken on him. “There are no tricks,” said Vachon. “It is simply mind over matter.”
Impressive bodily feats, along with his long wrestling career, earned Vachon a spot on “A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila” two years ago as a guest referee during a jello-wrestling competition. MTV paid for him to stay in California for a week.
Though Vachon is extremely busy with his tattoo shop, work at Two Brothers and wrestling career, he has not settled down. Still managing to find time to explore the entertainment world further, he has recently taken up stand-up comedy. Vachon has also acted in minor roles in many action films in which he often plays “warehouse thugs.”
It is clear that Vachon’s many professions have provided him with a myriad of rich experiences. He has continued to challenge himself throughout the years, building a long, unique resumé perhaps no other Middlebury resident can claim.
(11/11/10 5:02am)
As the festive glow of Halloween fades, one costume shop in Burlington, Vt. still relishes the success of its bustling fall season and prepares for the coming winter months. Old Gold, beloved by many loyal customers since it opened in 1973, is well known because it offers a vast variety of high-quality, eccentric costumes. The “oldest retail clothing [store] in Burlington,” according to its owner, who wished to remain anonymous, enjoyed yet another busy Halloween season.
“We couldn’t be luckier,” the owner said.
Old Gold, which receives postcards and pictures from happy customers after Halloween, can satisfy anyone’s costume craving. The store’s array of outfits ranges from fighter pilot suits to pirate attire.
“It’s a place where you can go and find anything,” said Nora Daly ’13, who shopped at Old Gold this Halloween season. “If you’re thinking, ‘Where in Vermont am I going to find this?’ go to Old Gold and they will have it.”
The owner did notice some specific trends this year, however, noting that pop culture references, such as Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, were particularly strong. Other popular choices were Native American costumes and food-related suits, like the taco, different vegetables, hot dogs and pizza. The owner also was pleased that many college-aged girls opted for more playful, fun costumes instead of wearing something short and seductive.
While the store benefits from its prime location near schools such as the University of Vermont (UVM), Champlain College (both of which are located in Burlington) and Middlebury, not all of Old Gold’s customers are college-aged. The store has a broad range of clientele, and maintains a steady base of older customers, too.
“It’s not unusual for us to help a 75- or 80-year old and then turn around and help a teenager,” said the owner.
To please its large variety of shoppers, the owner and other employees travel to trade shows throughout the year to buy the different outfits. The owner also employs a seamstress who makes specific costumes if needed.
“I generally buy on gut instinct more than anything else,” said the owner, though she acknowledged that she did try to keep up with current music and movies to please customers for this Halloween.
Part of what makes the store so successful is the tight-knit nature of the staff, most of whom are slightly older than college-aged. According to the owner, nearly all employees stay for more than a year, and one has been working there for 12. Some have stayed for a year, taken time off and then decided to return. They find a spot waiting for them at Old Gold, as the owner tries “to give them a little home.” Throughout the year, the store has five employees, but it triples the size of its staff in September and October to keep up with the quick pace of the fall season.
After Halloween, however, Old Gold changes its selections and offers attire for winter formals and high school dances. In the spring, the store revamps again, filling its space with Mardi-Gras costumes.
“[We] try to carve out these seasons for ourselves to keep business productive,” said the owner, who hopes to use the internet more effectively as a marketing tool for Old Gold in the future. Currently, the store’s website, oldgoldvermont.com, does not sell merchandise.
The success Old Gold has had is also due to its high standards, which promise to help customers find what they want and enjoy their experience at the store.
“It can be just as fun to come and get your costume as it is to go out,” said the owner.
While Old Gold does not have plans to expand, the store remains committed to a simple goal - it wants to help people find something they will feel great wearing.
“Someone once told me to do one thing and do it better than anyone else,” said the owner.
(11/11/10 5:01am)
A number of recent injuries to Brett Favre have led to questions about whether or not his streak of 292 consecutive starts will continue. The sports junkie in us is begging for comparisons and the obvious question to ask is: whose record is more impressive, Brett Favre’s 292 consecutive starts or Cal Ripken Jr.’s 2,632 consecutive games played? Let the debate begin.
Spencer: I think the best measure for comparing records across sports is to look at the player right behind the record holder. Cal Ripken played in 23 percent more games than Lou Gehrig; Brett Favre only played in 11 percent more games than former Vikings great Jim Marshall. But the debate doesn’t end there. Obviously football is a much more violent sport than baseball. You are much more likely to sustain a major injury playing football than you are playing baseball (although baseball still has concussions, shredded knees and every variety of arm injury known to humankind). What makes a consecutive start streak impressive is not the ability to avoid major injuries (which are mostly due to chance) but the ability to deal with the lingering, nagging injuries that are inevitable for any athlete in any sport. Maybe that type of injury is slightly more likely in football than baseball, but ask yourself: are they almost nine times as likely? Because Cal Ripken has played almost NINE times as many games as Brett Favre. Additionally, while Favre has six days in between each game to recover from any nagging injury, Ripken had to go back out there the next day and do it all over again (baseball players get about one day off for every nine games they play). Finally, because the football season is so short and the baseball season is so long, there is significantly more pressure to play every game in football. It is expected for Brett Favre to play in every game he can; he never really had the choice to miss a game so we don’t know if he would have, given the option (and judging by his love of missing training camp and preseason, his work ethic is questionable). Cal Ripken could have taken days off but he never did. He played every day knowing that he could (and perhaps should) have been on the bench resting. The mental toughness exhibited by Ripken in that sense sets him apart in my mind.
Brad: I’m simply not willing to concede that mental toughness is the determinate factor here in what is an inherently physical competition –– and that’s exactly why Favre’s record is more impressive. Favre is now at 293 consecutive starts and only three players in the history of football (not counting kickers) have even played that many games total. Just for argument’s sake, 32 baseball players have appeared in more total games than Ripken did during his streak. That’s not the point though, the point is that records are made to be broken and neither of these records likely will. Ripken’s however, will be due to indifference because there will be players physically capable of doing what he did, they just won’t put the same stock in missing what amounts to .06 percent of the season. Favre’s record won’t be broken because nobody will ever again have the luck of avoiding major injury through 19 years of the most athletic humans in the world throwing themselves at you full speed, and because nobody will have the determination to play though broken thumbs, separated shoulders, battered knees, torn muscles and (most recently) a twice fractured ankle. What this debate comes down to is the question of which of these streaks is more impressive and I’m far more impressed by Favre’s ability to tough out all of the serious injuries that he encountered than I am by Ripken’s ability to decide to just not sit one out.
–– Brad Becker-Parton ’11.5 is from Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. and Spencer Wright ’11.5 is from Burlington, Vt.
(11/11/10 4:59am)
I have been struck with a hyperawareness of awareness itself, and it has appeared in extremely polar forms. Please be warned, this is going to start with a bitter tone, but read on!
What I have noticed that should be considered, and corrected:
1) The unstoppable group walkers. Groups of people who walk in a row on the sidewalk, so engrossed in their own interactions that they fail to notice the solitary-opposite-direction-walker, continuing to walk without letting this person to pass. The solitary walker must stop and wait, suffer an unapologetic collision or duck into the grass, snow or sleety-excuse for snow. Be courteous. Let others pass.
2) The door slipper. We have all seen and experienced you, darting into the library or the dining hall. Preoccupied with your ear buds or intentions, you find it impossible to hold the door for the people walking immediately behind you. Stop darting responsibility. It may take a full two seconds, but your polite door-hold would be greatly appreciated, especially on a cold day.
3) The distracting unpleasant-habit pursuer. Especially in close quarters (like a library carrel, or a quiet row in a classroom), the distracting unpleasant-habit pursuer appears so aloof that he or she continues chewing gum disgustingly loudly, biting nails sloppily, listening to music or sighing dramatically and profusely. This isn’t Renaissance Drama, and this isn’t your own private room. Please stop popping your gum, and take pity on those who are trying to hear the lecture, but cannot fully appreciate the professor’s voice over the crunch of your cuticles.
4) The interrupter. Our education theoretically costs over $50,000. Please stop interrupting the professor to tell a personal anecdote. I am all for anecdotes in the right context, but right now I want to listen to the research-driven, career-built passion of a professor. So, please put your hand down and wait for discussion section. There I said it.
What I have noticed that outweighs the irksome unawareness of courtesy:
1) The friendly converser. Not only does the bridge worker, the custodian, the library-lobby-waiter move to the side when you are trying to pass by — he stops to smile, nod, and even ask you how you are. It is lovely when we acknowledge each other as humans, and treat each other with human friendliness!
2) The hand-washing-commiserator. Instead of sighing or shaking his or her head, the hand-washing-commiserator engages other bathroom-breakers in lighthearted conversation, complaining, or compliments an outfit or hairstyle. This person remembers that there are always chances to chat and enjoy others’ company.
3) The good-deed-doer. I recently saw a woman trying to tie her dog’s leash to a railing while she made an effort to dart into the library. A boy saw this and offered to watch her dog for a bit, and stood outside with the leash, petting the dog, smiling when the woman was done her errand. Good deeds are reminders of how genuinely caring people can be, not just in an isolated interaction, but to all onlookers.
4) The whistling line-waiter. Instead of groaning or standing stoically in line at Proctor, the line-whistler is cheerful. “Hey,” she seems to say, “here is pretty good food, and I can have as much of it as I want! Why not celebrate a bit?” The line-whistler is more memorable than the line, just as the good is more memorable than the bad. Luckily, I’ve sensed that the line-whistler’s tune overpowers the nail biter, but the tune will be even more resilient if we put away our gum and earphones and hum along, smiling courteously as we do.
(11/11/10 4:59am)
The Student Government Association (SGA) recently passed a resolution to seek financial and organizational support from the administration for an improved outdoor orientation program. The passing of this resolution gives a committee run by senior senator Anne Runkel ’11 the authority to take action on behalf of the student body.
The resolution, which was written by Runkel, passed almost unanimously.
“We outlined in the resolution exactly what we were looking for, the hope being that all students could attend if they wanted to, that there would be trips that would be outdoor as well as interest trips and that it could be pre-orientation,” said Runkel.
The main goal, however, is for the administration to resume funding of the program.
“The Middlebury Mountain Club (MMC) really stepped up,” said Runkel. “Lisa Luna [’13], Marty Schnure [’10.5] and Pier LaFarge [’10.5] were to my viewpoint some of the most integral people.”
Runkel emphasized that she was not solely responsible for this project, only for taking action in the SGA.
Middlebury has had an outdoor orientation program since the 1980s when Middlebury Outdoor Orientation (MOO) began. As a consequence of the financial crisis, College funding for an outdoor orientation program was cut in 2008. Outdoor Introduction for New Kids (OINK) ran for one year without official support from the SGA. In 2009, the SGA decided to provide funding for OINK from the SGA reserves starting in 2010.
“OINK is a program that was designed as kind of an in-between step,” said Runkel. “The SGA funded OINK for a total of three years including this year and the next two years. No matter what happens in the next couple months in working with the administration and trying to get them to fund the program later on, there will be OINK for two more years.”
Despite the lack of direct administrative support, “this year's OINK program was a big success,” said Marty Schnure ’10.5, head guide in the MMC. “It was exciting to be able to accommodate all new students who were interested.”
The OINK program this year had 165 available spots and 165 applications, resulting in a full program with no students turned away.
“All 23 trips were successful and we heard nothing but stories of fun upon their return,” said Schnure.
The MMC and the SGA are taking action now in order to get administrative support for OINK before 2012, which will be the last year that the SGA funds the program.
“My biggest reason for jumping on it right now is that I am one of the last classes in which there was full fledged orientation,” said Runkel. “The fact that the student voice behind it is going to go way very quickly I think has made it a very important decision to be talked about right now … while we still have the people who know how to run these programs here.”
Runkel expressed concern that information on how to run the program will not be passed on once current leaders graduate.
“It just doesn’t seem like a viable system to me to have it run primarily through a student organization,” she said. “They have done a great job and the MMC is outstanding, but from an organizational and monetary perspective I think having the outdoor orientation programs funded via the school makes a lot more sense.”
Runkel pointed to the fact that the College’s peer institutions all have thriving outdoor orientation programs.
“The important point here is that no other school cut their outdoor introduction programs besides Middlebury,” she said. “Our financial situation is also far better than many of our peer institutions and to me there is no reason to continue with this particular cut. It maybe was fair and reasonable at the time, but at this point it is something that definitively needs to be brought back.”
One of the major changes that this resolution proposes is moving the trips to a time before orientation and making them longer. OINK currently runs during the first weekend of school and involves only one overnight.
“Our hope is that [the trips] will be three days and two nights; that would be the shortest duration,” said Runkel. “I think programs with longer trips produce a much better result as far as the interactions amongst people.”
Trips occurring before school begins also tend to attract and keep more students, according to Schnure.
“The biggest weakness of this year's program was participant attrition, which is high when the trips happen after school starts and low when they happen prior to orientation,” she said. “One-third of the trip participants dropped out of the program during the first week of school, just days before the trips went out.”
The improved orientation program will also feature some added “interest trips.”
Examples of past interest trips include meditation, yoga and cooking.
“The reason that is included is that there are students who come to Middlebury who aren’t necessarily wild about going hiking in the outdoors and sleeping in a tent,” said Runkel. “It is an important component to also include more community-based trips.”
Schnure noted that the students involved in the endeavor have not yet decided on the specifics about how the program would be run.
“There are elements of this year's program that worked better than past years and vice versa, so the next program will be a thoughtfully-designed combination of the best parts of each of the past iterations,” she said.
“At this point we have a lot of administrative support and support within the community of Middlebury,” said Runkel. “Most people think this is so important. I haven’t really come across anybody who doesn’t support it.”
Runkel’s next moves involve working as an ad hoc committee to set up meetings with administrative staff, she says. “Once that happens we will obviously have to have some pretty serious discussions about what the program is going to be like.”
The success of this initiative will have a considerable effect on students in the coming years.
“It is important to have the general student body aware if what is going on because having that will give a lot more push behind what the SGA committee and I have to say,” said Runkel. “We want it to be something the general student body is supportive of.”
(11/11/10 4:59am)
Every year since 1981, the members of the senior class have honored their time at Middlebury by giving a class gift to the College.
“The senior class gift is a way for seniors to show their appreciation for their time at Middlebury and also help support the College mission of challenging students to participate fully in a vibrant and diverse academic community,” said Catherine Kemboi ’11.
Kemboi, one of the gift co-chairs of The Senior Committee, is no stranger to the importance of giving back.
“I have been working the Phone-a-thon program for over a year and experience in the program really inspired me to get involved in fundraising for our senior class gift,” said Kemboi ’11.
Joyce Ma ’11, the other gift co-chair, is also experienced in working at the annual giving office as a fundraiser.
“After talking to people who give for different reasons, or who don’t give at all, I’ve learned that fundraising is not simply asking for money,” said Ma. “Rather, it is asking people to identify with the school and continue to support its institutions.”
As per tradition, the Senior Committee officially announced this year’s senior class gift at the 200 Days Party on Nov. 6 in Atwater Dining Hall. The class of 2011 and the Feb class of 2011.5 warmly received the announcement that the gift would contribute to the Solar Decathlon, a program to which both classes have been responsible for contributing and fundraising.
“The Solar Decathlon unites people with diverse interests,” said Kris Williams ’11. “All students will have the opportunity to actually help build the home. College students and community members will both be invited and encouraged to come down and swing a hammer. There is something uniquely satisfying about creating something tangible; and each senior will have the change to make a tangible difference by helping build the Solar Decathlon house.”
The 200 days party secured 200 donations, which represents 27 percent participation after one week of fundraising. The Senior Committee hopes that this momentum will build as fundraising continues over the year. The Solar Decathlon is something the whole senior class can rally behind because it reflects Middlebury values in many different ways.
“This project is truly an interdisciplinary effort that reflects the value of a liberal arts education,” said Williams. “We have English majors crafting our promotional materials and chemistry majors researching our building materials. After the competition, the home will become a permanent fixture on campus. We hope to finish construction at the final site by Homecoming 2011, so recent grads returning to Midd will be able to see the completion of the house and the impact of their senior gift.”
Beyond the monetary contribution to the project, the senior class gift is a symbol of student support. The Solar Decathlon team is honored by the enthusiasm of the senior class and eager to involve the class in making several key decisions such as, “Where should the home be located on the campus?” “How should it be used?” “What part of the project should the senior class gift support?”
“And how should the building memorialize our lost classmates, Nick [Garza], Pavlo [Lavkiv] and Ben [Wieler]?”
The Senior Committee, which consists of 19 seniors and three underclassmen, spearheads the fund-raising drive and is also responsible for planning events and activities that will build class unity and create a foundation for alumni participation. The Committee is also given the opportunity to hear from various speakers, such as Bobo Sideli ’77 from the Middlebury Alumni Leadership Speaker Series, and learn why they feel giving back to Middlebury is so important.
“The senior class gift is an amazing tradition that allows one generation of students to support the next one and provide seniors with a glimpse of the huge impact philanthropy has on their education,” said Ann Crumb, associate vice president for college advancement. It is the last opportunity as a student — and the first opportunity for a soon-to-be alumnus — to give back to the College and to be part of the greater Middlebury community.
Students can contribute to the senior class gift by going to go/giveseniors. Both seniors and non-seniors can work class gift tables to collect donations, and everyone can make a difference by speaking to other students about the gift and raising awareness.
“The Senior Gift provides an opportunity for us Middlebury seniors to give back to a place we’ve come to love,” said Williams. “After passing four formative years at this College, the Senior Gift allows us all to leave something meaningful behind. The Solar Decathlon home will enrich the experience of future Middlebury students; and we all can take pride in that as the class of 2011.”
A Brief History
The tradition of giving a senior gift began in an effort to educate students about the importance of philanthropy and is currently run through Middlebury’s Alumni and Annual Giving Offices. In the early years of the Senior Class Gift, classes contributed gifts such as trees, benches and the clock outside of McCullough Student Center. As the tradition progressed, match funds were set up which enabled students to raise even more for their Senior Class Gift, giving them the ability to choose more meaningful projects such as scholarships and environmental support. This year, a generous anonymous donor has offered to donate $100 per senior for each of the first 250 seniors who donate the suggested amount of $20.11 or more. These first 250 seniors will also receive a Class of 2011 pint glass as a thank-you gift. While all the senior class gifts have been memorable, there are a few notable gifts that stand out:
1997: The Nature Trail in Memory of Colin O’Neill ’97 was established in memory of a classmate. This gift includes a fund for trail upkeep.
2002: The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Memorial Fund was established to help with ADA access on campus
2007: The Green Fund was established to support environmental projects, and is a good example of the lasting impact of a Senior Class Gift. $95,000 was raised for this gift, and this fund is currently worth over $155,000.
2008: The Reading Room Restoration Project: The Class of 2008 was particularly interested in the historic value of the Reading Room in the Axinn Center at Starr Library. They wanted to make sure that even with the renovation happening at the time, the reading room would remain the same.
2009: A scholarship for international students.
2010: Funding the renovation of Woodstove Lounge in Proctor.
(11/11/10 4:59am)
In past years, students’ options for airport transport have been limited to friends’ cars and expensive local transportation services. Due to these conditions, the SGA will now be offering $5 airport shuttle buses for the upcoming Thanksgiving vacation, and it is planning to offer the same for every other major break. SGA President Riley O’Rourke ’12 and Transportation Director Matt George ’12 spearheaded the initiative.
“I felt that it was unfair for students to have to pay large amounts of money on top of their flights in order to get home during breaks,” O’Rourke said. “I heard a lot of students complaining and felt that the SGA had the ability and duty to alleviate this burden.”
George received countless complaints from students about costs upwards of $60 to use a one-way transportation service to the airport.
“For some, it cost more to get to and from the airport than the actual airline ticket did,” George said. “I’ve heard of students working two or three jobs just to pay for tickets and the added cost of transportation.”
O’Rourke and George brainstormed methods of offering low-cost shuttles and came upon the idea of a “package deal” contract. Local transportation companies were asked to name their best price — or bid — for 12 to 18 airport shuttles during the months of November and December. The company that was able to offer the lowest price won the bid, and the SGA extended them a contract. The cost of shuttles was further reduced when the SGA passed a bill to fund the shuttle program.
Bristol Tours, stationed in Bristol, won the package deal, and this was one factor that has allowed the seat prices to be so low. In addition, Bristol Tours’ buses run on biodiesel fuel and are the only buses in the state of Vermont to be powered by alternative fuels, eliminating the otherwise necessary added cost of gas taxes.
Neither MiddTransit nor Jessica’s Vital Transit were able to offer the personalized shuttle service the SGA was looking for. In prior years, the two companies were the only local companies available for airport transit. Their monopoly allowed them to charge whatever they wanted for airport shuttles.
When contacted, both Jessica’s Vital Transit and MiddTransit claimed not to have spoken to the SGA regarding the Thanksgiving break shuttle buses, but said that they had been contacted about the December shuttles. A representative of Jessica’s Vital Transit commented on the shuttles, saying, “If we had been contacted [for the November shuttles], we would have offered a comprehensive sustainable program that would benefit and serve the entirety of the student body throughout the year.”
O’Rourke and George however, say there are several e-mail conversations to prove communications with both companies and that while Jessica’s Vital Transit offered small van transportation for the December shuttles — an offer O’Rourke and George say the SGA showed interest in — it ceased communication with the SGA without putting in a quote or formulating any sort of plan.
Despite high levels of interest in the SGA’s program, Jessica’s Vital Transit does not feel threatened by the $5 shuttles, as not every student will receive a seat for the upcoming break and such shuttles are not being offered year-round.
Conversely, MiddTransit acknowledged that they are not capable of meeting the SGA’s planned shuttle needs, as their largest vehicle can only carry 14 passengers. Bill Fuller, co-owner of MiddTransit, said that the company’s business model is designed to promote high-quality service, so they do not own large-capacity buses.
“[The $5 shuttles] will clearly have an impact on our business,” said Fuller. “If the transportation needs of the College change, then we will need to change. If we are excluded and the demand for our service is reduced, we will … reduce our service level to the College community.” Fuller also noted the difficulty of maintaining a ground transportation service in a small town in Vermont.
MiddTransit’s lowest per-student rate is $25 for groups of seven or more, and has been such since the business first began eight years ago. Though competing with the SGA program will be a challenge, Fuller impressed that one overriding convenience of his shuttle service is its ability to adapt to changing airline schedules, which is something that the $5 shuttles cannot promise to do.
Regarding future shuttles, the SGA plans to re-contract all break buses and shuttles for future vacations so they can be run at cost, which may ultimately result in a slight increase in ticket prices.
“I feel like I’ve built a system which is not perfect, but will advance over time — in cooperation with local businesses — to meet students’ needs and bring Midd a little closer to home,” said George.
Shuttles are being offered on Tuesday, Nov. 23 and Wednesday, Nov. 24 for students flying out of Burlington International Airport and on Sunday, Nov. 28 and Monday, Nov. 29 for those returning to campus. Round-trip buses to New York and Boston are also available for Thanksgiving.
Students are reminded to buy their tickets in advance, as selling tickets in airport pick-up zones is illegal. December and January shuttles have also been scheduled and tickets are available for purchase at go/boxoffice.
(11/11/10 4:59am)
The Independent Scholar is a rare breed at Middlebury. Each is passionate about a specific field that does not fit within one of the established majors and therefore has opted to design his or her own. If this sounds like an easy way out of unappealing classes, do not be fooled — blazing one’s own academic trail is no small feat. Without the stability of an existing department, hopeful independent scholars are required to construct support systems of multiple academic advisors to help plan and execute complex programs of study. After an interview with the Dean of Curriculum, each proposal, which includes a list of courses, ideas for an independent senior project and “the aim of the program” (including potential post-graduation plans) must be presented to the Curriculum Committee for approval. According to the College Handbook, “A successful proposal must articulate a fully developed program of study, and will demonstrate compellingly that the student’s academic goals cannot be met through existing majors.” For the few determined students who successfully design majors of their own, the rewards are plentiful. Here, four students — two of whom have been approved as independent scholars and two still in the process — weigh in on what it is like to be four in 2,400.
April Dodd '13: Linguistics
When it comes to her self-designed major, April Dodd ’13 is determination, personified.
“Whatever it takes, I’m going to graduate with a Linguistics degree,” she said matter-of-factly in an interview.
Her journey began serendipitously, as she arrived at Middlebury intending to study Spanish and playwriting. In choosing to pick up French, she stumbled upon a fundamental self-discovery.
“I realized it wasn’t just the Spanish language that I loved,” she said. “It was learning languages.”
Meanwhile, despite her love of theater, she was not particularly drawn to the courses required for a theater major with a playwriting focus and so decided to explore other possibilities. In what she described as “kind of a fluke,” her roommate suggested that she explore interdepartmental courses, and it was there that she found Introduction to Romance Linguistics.
“It was one of those things where everyone else knew what I should be doing, but I didn’t,” she said.
She quickly found linguistics to be not only fascinating but also complementary with her passion for languages (which would soon include Russian as well). Once she expressed interest in the subject, she discovered more support than she had anticipated.
“A lot of language professors also have linguistics backgrounds,” she said. “Now they’re coming out of the woodwork.”
Still, as she works through the details of her proposal, “seeing the forest through the trees” is both an inspiration and a challenge.
“When I think about the fields, the careers, the doors that linguistics will open … I get so excited,” she said, “but right now it’s a matter of editing sentences to convince the committee to approve my proposal.”
Dodd believes that Middlebury’s emphasis on languages and studying abroad makes it the ideal setting for a linguistics department.
“The study of specific languages informs your knowledge of language as a concept, and the study of linguistics informs your speaking of languages,” she said. “While they’re not one and the same, they are so related.”
While a select few have pursued Linguistics majors at Middlebury, as with any Independent Scholar program, “it’s a little unnerving to not have a department,” Dodd said. “If we had a department, it would open it up to people.”
She was sure to avoid defining herself entirely by her current academic focus. “I’m a linguistics major, but I’m also a writer and a member of my family, and I want to keep being in plays,” she said.
“It’s hard to put all of that into a proposal.”
Her post-graduation plans — possibilities, rather — are appropriately diverse. Fields discussed included translation for nonprofit organizations, treatment of neurolinguistic disorders, comparative research in sociolinguistics and teaching English as a second language, for which she is already certified. Dodd’s current undertakings include a children’s book and a role in Marisol, which opens tonight.
“I want to be a linguistics major,” she said, “but — quoting poet Elizabeth Alexander — ‘many things are true at once.’”
Carlisle Overbey '11: War and Peace Studies
“When you look at all the conflict we have in the world, what are the causes and remedies?” It is a daunting question, to be sure, but it is also the reason Carlisle Overbey ’11 decided to design a War and Peace Studies major at Middlebury.
“My view is that if you understand conflict, you understand how to get peace,” she said.
Initially, Overbey anticipated a major in political science or international studies. Unfortunately, she said, “both disciplines really limited what I wanted to take.” She then began collaborating with professors to develop her own program of study.
The result was an exercise in versatility.
“When you take courses along a broad spectrum of disciplines, your writing style and learning style isn’t always going to match up with every course and professor, and it’s difficult at times to adjust,” she said.
Overbey feels strongly that such an interdisciplinary major could suit a vast array of students.
“There’s room for people who are interested in so many different things,” she said, comparing her “conflict-centered” approach to possible literary, economic and philosophical angles. During her time at Middlebury, she has noticed more and more student interest in the study of conflict and anticipates further enthusiasm for the major.
“To be the first one approved and to realize that there are all these seniors, juniors and [first-years] who are so interested — that gets me really excited,” she said.
After graduation, Overbey plans to go to law school, where she will study international and national security law. Her senior thesis focuses on the latter.
“My thesis is on pirates, the international legal framework surrounding pirates and how that ties into the conception of terrorists as illegal enemy combatants,” she said. She is particularly interested in how the U.S. has referenced pirates as part of the legal justification for the torturing of terrorists.
“My goal is to break that down,” she said. “It seems problematic to say that there are people who don’t have any rights.”
While she would love to see students follow in her footsteps, she reminds them that the Independent Scholar program is not to be approached casually.
“It’s not as easy as it seems on the surface,” she said. “I think that there’s a perception that Independent Scholars are taking the easy way out.”
On the contrary, “You have to take it really seriously…but if you’re passionate about something, that’s what you should be learning about.”
Bianca Giaever '12.5 : Narrative Studies
For Bianca Giaever ’12.5, stories are an indispensable part of life.
“I always knew I wanted to do journalism,” she said.
After gaining acceptance to a variety of colleges, some of which are especially known for strong journalism programs, she chose Middlebury for the liberal arts experience and soon found herself wandering down a unique academic path.
“I was constantly choosing classes that were very narrative-oriented,” she said; these courses, from Nature Writing to Cultural Geography, spanned several departments. Giaever pointed out the pervasiveness of narratives in the media as well as in the academic curriculum, citing podcasts and The Moth as examples.
“I think people really respond to stories,” she said.
She realized that what she truly wanted to study (and the way she wanted to study it) would require a great deal of extra initiative and began developing a proposal for a major in Narrative Studies.
“I couldn’t get it from any other department,” she said. “That’s why I could do it — because it was so interdisciplinary.”
Giaever warns anyone considering becoming an Independent Scholar that it requires an intense level of commitment.
“You’re going to have to jump through a lot of hoops, really want it and work hard,” she said. “Often the hardest part can be finding an advisor who can be there for you.”
However, positive relationships with her professors greatly aided the process.
“My professors knew me and knew that I was passionate about it,” she said.
Even after finding a support system and developing an academic plan, Giaever still experiences occasional bouts of uncertainty.
“It’s kind of scary having your own major, in a way,” she said. “I don’t know if I trust myself to take classes I’ll be happy I took later.”
With four full semesters left at Middlebury, Giaever’s career plans are understandably up in the air.
“[The major]’s been really useful,” she said. “Hopefully I can get paid for it later.”
Fortunately, the combination of a versatile focus and an open-minded attitude gives her a wide array of options.
“I’d do anything in journalism, radio, marketing,” she said. “Stories can be used for fundraising, raising awareness about causes … they can just be used for so much.”
She currently works for the Communications Office, which, as she said, “uses true stories for fundraising.” Despite the obstacles, Giaever is proud of her unique place in the academic community.
“It’s been kind of fun,” she said. “I like to refer to myself as the Narrative Studies department.”
Elias Alexander '12: Bardic Arts
If you had asked the high school version of Elias Alexander ’12 where he would be today, “majoring in Bardic Arts at Middlebury” would have been an unlikely answer. In fact, the Oregon native enrolled at Northwestern for his freshman year. Despite being “super dedicated” to theater, he soon realized that he wanted to broaden his academic pursuits. After a year of traveling in the United Kingdom, he came to Middlebury and began to consider a major in Environmental Science. Finally, however, “I managed to admit that I wanted to be a creative artist.” From his lifelong background in Scottish folk culture to his more recent travels, the major was a natural choice.
Alexander defines Bardic Arts as “the performance of myth and folk culture.” To elaborate, “it’s based on the ancient Irish triad of things that make a bard: playing the harp, knowledge of ancient lore and poetic power.”
Through the Independent Scholar program, he is constructing his own set of related courses in music, literature, anthropology, poetry and theater. Though he was initially discouraged from applying to be an Independent Scholar, his stubborn resolve eventually gained him the faculty support he needed.
“Once I indicated that I would do it no matter what, then they got behind it,” he said.
In order to take the opportunity seriously, he said, being passionate about a specific topic is crucial.
“You shouldn’t do it just because there’s no major that attracts you,” he said. “You should do it because you have a concept that you really want to explore.”
His homeschooling prepared him well for the initiative required for this undertaking.
“I was used to controlling my own education,” he said.
He is confident that the Independent Scholar opportunity will help him to maximize his “short, precious few years” at Middlebury.
“There are so many opportunities here. It’s amazing,” he said. “I want to use this time to take classes that will prepare me for what I want to do afterwards.”
Middlebury has already helped him to implement his passion in a real-world setting. Last spring, as one of four winners of the College’s Stonehenge Idea Competition, he was granted $3,000 to produce a performance of traditional folk tales and songs in his hometown. “Long Way Home: Traditional Stories and Songs of Our Ancestors and the Rogue Valley” allowed him to demonstrate the power of music in raising environmental awareness. The program finished with “Land on Shore,” a traditional American song with verses composed by Alexander.
And we’re coming home now…
We’re going to teach our children…
We’re gonna love this valley…
(11/11/10 4:59am)
Proposition 19 did not pass in California. However, if it had been put to a vote here at Middlebury, it seems it might have found more success.
On Nov. 1 — the night before the election — a group of 33 Middlebury students and two professors congregated in Gifford Annex Lounge to debate California Proposition 19 (Prop 19. This act would have made personal possession and marijuana usage legal for those over 21-years-of-age and allowed the local and state government authorize other marijuana-related activities such as retail sale.
The event was initiated by Daniel Pulido ’11, who wanted to spur interest in the act. When asked why he was so interested in proposition 19, Pulido responded simply: “Because I am Columbian.”
The main cause for the war in Colombia is the cocaine trade,” said Pulido. “While Americans complain about gangs founded by drug dealing, in Colombia we have whole armies that control parts of the country and have their ranks full with child soldiers. I grew up with fear in a country terrorized by the violence fueled by the international drug trade.”
According to Pulido, Prop 19 is a step in the right direction to defeating the war on drugs.
“The only definitive way to finish the violence related to drug trade is with legalization,” Pulido said. “The war on drugs is a euphemism that actually means the war on the drug producers. The veracity of American nostrils for Colombian cocaine has destroyed my country. This is an especially unjust war considering that only a tiny little percentage of Colombians are drug dealers, but the country as a whole is affected by this ‘war on drugs.’”
While the war on drugs in the US is fought with posters, in Colombia [it] is fought with M-16’s and napalm,” said Pulido.
Even in America, some feel the law would not have done much to stop the drug-dealing business.
“This business attracts risk-takers,” said Professor of Political Science Mark Williams. “These are not people who are going to be deterred. It’s the same type of people who like to jump out of planes.”
Many see a law like Prop 19 as something that could do more harm than good, and think that making marijuana illegal is not stopping people from smoking it. The marijuana grown legally in California, for instance, has found its way to every state except Alaska.
“The enforcement, time and money keep the police busy,” said Williams, “but it won’t do anything to eliminate the black market.”
At Middlebury’s debate, 31 of the 33 students supported marijuana legalization.
“Middlebury is this bubble of liberalism where most people supported Prop 19,” said Pulido. “We had a hard time finding people against it.”
However those who did oppose the legalization dealt with one main issue: morality. Because marijuana is considered a gateway drug, grouped with cocaine, heroine and other “hard drugs,” people worry about the effects of its legalization. However, proponents of Prop 19 think marijuana, when legal, would be appropriately separate from these drugs.
“I think marijuana is considered a gateway drug because it is grouped with other illicit drugs,” said Lynn Nobel ’11.5. “If it was regulated by the government, these other drugs would no longer be available in the same places.”
Supporters also illuminated the contrast between marijuana’s effects and those of alcohol.
“Alcohol causes birth defects and addiction,” said Nobel, “but marijuana is not addictive.”
“I would group alcohol in with cocaine before marijuana,” said Leah Welch ’11. “But whether or not it’s a moral problem, maybe we shouldn’t care.”
Student proponents of the act are not ignorant of the importance of for morals in society. However, they believe that the effects of the law would have been more positive than negative.
“I am convinced that marijuana is indeed very dangerous, especially if consumed before the age of 18,” said Pulido. “I fully understand people that are against the legalization of marijuana based on moral arguments. But laws should not be judged purely on their intentions; they have to be considered also on their practical consequences.”
While discussion group attendees acknowledged that it seemed unlikely that Prop 19 would be passed, they reveled in the discussion that the act induced.
“Proposition 19 may be the best thing in that it could prompt discussion in Washington and Californian legislature,” said Charles A. Dana Professor of Political Science Murray Dry.
“It’s the only way to gain a national stage,” said Ben Blackshed ’12. “It can initiate the process.”
Even though Prop 19 failed in California, there is hope for further discussion and initiatives to fight the war on drugs.
(11/11/10 4:59am)
“He’s really curious,” said Ada Santiago ’13. “He likes to be in the know. When new people come, he likes to meet them. He’s playful and funny and smart. He knows when he’s in trouble and he’s good at getting out of trouble. He knows how to get where he wants to go. He likes to eat tree bark.”
Wondering who this is? You’ve probably seen him on campus before, and although he’s often wearing a leash, Santiago isn’t describing her dog. Santiago is talking about her two-and-a-half-year-old rabbit named Fugu.
Ada and Fugu go a long way back. She first got him when a high school friend of hers whose two rabbits had babies needed to give them away. Ada’s family had a history of having pets, and they especially liked rabbits. The fact that Fugu needed a home badly convinced Santiago’s family they needed to take the rabbit in.
“If I hadn’t picked him up when I did he would have been sent to the pound the next day,” Santiago said. “He was the black sheep that I loved very, very much. I just liked him because he was different. His siblings were all white or white with brown spots. He was the only black one.”
When it was time to come to Middlebury, Ada knew she would have to bring Fugu with her. Her family supported her, and Ada made sure Fugu would be allowed by checking the College’s pet regulations and e-mailing Ross Commons Dean Janine Clookey. Most importantly, Santiago had to make sure her new roommate, Maggie Khuu ’13, would be okay with an extra roommate freshman year. Khuu’s responded affirmatively, so Fugu was set to come to college.
Now, Santiago and Fugu have become a common sight on campus. Santiago takes Fugu on walks three to four times per week, weather permitting. On sunny days they can be seen walking along College Road or outside Gifford’s north entrance.
“That’s what I call his forest,” Santiago said. “He loves walking around there.”
Last year, Fugu even got a chance to see the Quidditch World Cup Finals on Battell Beach. Fugu has also embraced the “Midd Kid” culture.
“He has more Middlebury apparel than I do,” Santiago said.
Among Fugu’s Middlebury wardrobe are two Middlebury T-shirts, a Middkid T-shirt, and a Breadloaf School of English T-shirt. Additionally, Fugu sports an angel-wing Valentine’s Day sweater, a Halloween costume, and some new winter gear: a raincoat. For last year’s Halloween, Fugu wore an angel costume Santiago made herself. This year, he joined the Halloween celebrations in town dressed as a pumpkin.
Having Fugu on campus has made Santiago’s life at Middlebury slightly different from the average student’s. Santiago finds that although Fugu is a big responsibility, he is also a stress reliever and a constant companion.
“He’s my kid,” Santiago said. “He gives me something to look forward to. I mean, who doesn’t want to come home to a rabbit?”
Santiago has plans in place for Fugu in case of emergencies, having communicated with her three suitemates to come up with a fire escape plan.
“If it’s at night, because I would have to go down the stairs and turn away from the door to get him, the friend would get him and transfer him to me when we’re outside and safe,” Santiago said. “Otherwise I grab him and run. But I won’t leave without him.”
Santiago has also collaborated with friends in order to ensure that Fugu always has someone to look after him; given the complications of transporting him back to Brooklyn for breaks, he often needs babysitters over shorter breaks.
Santiago and Fugu became a recognizable campus duo soon after Santiago’s arrival freshman year, and she has found that there are always people ready to stop and talk when they see her and Fugu on walks.
“I don’t mind when people ask questions but it’s weird when you’re walking down the street and people start recognizing you as ‘the girl with the rabbit,’” Santiago said. “That’s not the name I expected to make for myself at Middlebury.”
Ada feels very strongly about the fact that some students identify her as “the rabbit girl.” While she is open to people asking about Fugu, she wants people to recognize that there is more to her persona than the cute rabbit by her side.
Ada and Fugu have a lot to look forward to in the future. Fugu’s specific breed of rabbit, called the Netherland Dwarf, usually lives up to 10 or 12 years. Ada is planning on studying abroad in Brazil next year and will be taking Fugu with her.
“Well, Fugu’s pretty much going with me wherever I go,” she said. “When I go to graduate school he’s coming with me. My hope would be that he would be around to see the birth of my first kid. But that may be pushing it. It’s possible, but not definite.”
Whatever the case, Santiago and Fugu have made a home for themselves at Middlebury and are here to stay.
(11/11/10 4:58am)
Starting Nov. 29, Atwater Dining Hall will open again through special dinners sponsored by Middlebury College Activities Board (MCAB).
Old Chapel closed Atwater’s regular dining hours in fall 2009 in an effort to reduce costs and respond to the economic downturn. Today it is used for a continental breakfast and for Language Tables every weekday, but it does not have regular dinner services.
The College community does however have the option to utilize the Atwater space and culinary talents of its staff for special dinners and events.
“It is a great space and it has been crying out for more use,” said Director of Dining Services Matthew Biette. “Atwater has been in use last year and this year [for these types of events].” The idea of a student organizations utilizing Atwater is “a concept new to some, but not new to others.
One organization that has jumped at the opportunity to use Atwater dining services is MCAB. Led by MCAB Social Committee Chair Nadia Schreiber ’12, MCAB will be hosting special themed dinners periodically in Atwater. After going to an information session about how the College community can make the most of Atwater dinning, Schreiber decided that MCAB should try and utilize the space.
This new initiative proposes bi-monthly themed dinners held at the Atwater Dining Hall. During this year’s Winter Term, the goal is to start with one of these themed dinners per week. Schreiber hopes to continue the dinners through the spring semester as well.
The dinners will be completely free for all students.
“The idea is that students will go [to the themed dinners] instead of another dining option on campus,” said Schreiber. The food provided for these meals will be included in the student meal plans; the only extra cost to having these student dinners in Atwater is for the staffing of the event. The fees for the extra charges will be covered by the MCAB Social Committee budget.
“We want the theme to be visible in the food, music and maybe even the decorations,” said Schreiber. The Social Committee has already started looking forward to planning out many of the upcoming themes.
“We are going to do Indian, Mexican, Chinese and we are thinking of trying to do a Hawaiian themed night with the Hawaii club,” said Schreiber.
Due to space restrictions, there will be a limit to the number of students who can attend each of the dinners, and tickets must be obtained in advance. MCAB Social Committee will send out an e-mail sometime before the day of the event. The first 200 students who respond to the e-mail will get one of the tickets for the dinner.
Schreiber is eager for the dinners to start.
“I think it will be very exciting, and I hope people will enjoy them,” she said. “It is the first time something like this has happened.”
The first dinner will be held on Nov. 29 and will have an Indian theme. The e-mail for the dinner will be sent out to the student body a little before the day of the dinner.
(11/11/10 4:57am)
Vice President for Administration Tim Spears, working alongside Facilities Services landscape horticulturalist Tim Parsons, has recently launched a student design contest, known as “The Atwater Landscape Design Competition” or “Turf Battle,” in which students will submit design proposals to re-landscape the Atwater Commons outdoor space. The College will implement the winning proposal in the spring and summer of 2011.
The contest was announced in a Nov. 2 all-campus e-mail from Spears, which explained how the landscape design concept for the Atwater residential area, completed in 2004, has not been realized. As a result, the College is inviting students, by means of Turf Battle, to re-design the space.
“There’s a tradition at Middlebury for students to be involved in certain Facilities projects, especially those that have a direct bearing on residential and student life,” said Spears in an interview. “Given the location and potential use of this open space, this
project seemed like a natural fit.
“As the growth of the Architectural Studies program suggests — and the success of the Solar Decathlon project makes clear — some Middlebury students are very interested in design work, whether it be connected to buildings or landscape,” Spears continued. “These students are talented, they’re passionate and they’re eager to get involved in College projects.”
Parsons has established a Turf Battle blog, accessible at blogs.middlebury.edu/turfbattle, in which he detailed the scope of the competition. Parsons and Spears have both publicized the contest and its guidelines on their personal blogs, “The Middlebury Landscape” and “Across Campus,” respectively.
Both Spears’s e-mail and the Turf Battle blog emphasize that the administration does not have a set plan for the space, and welcomes student innovation and creativity.
“At present, the Atwater landscape seems like a vast unfinished open space,” Parsons’s guidelines on the Turf Battle blog read. “We would like to see the landscape become almost a livable outdoor room, an area more welcoming and usable to the campus population.”
However, the winning proposal will need to meet certain expectations. A successful design must hew to the College’s Master Plan as well as its Sustainable Design Guidelines. To this end, the Master Plan Implementation Committee (MPIC) the organization responsible for insuring that any future campus development is consistent with the College’s design standards, will review all proposals.
MPIC members include many individuals who are also available to work with students as mentors as they develop their proposal. Spears chairs the committee, which also includes Parsons, Visiting Assistant Professor of Architecture John McLeod, Professor of History of Art and Architecture (HARC) Pieter Broucke and Director of Sustainability Integration Jack Byrne. Other MPIC members include College Advancement Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations Jennifer Bleich and HARC major Bente Madson ’11.
“We really are trying to make this inclusive, so, for example, if a, say, economics major has a great idea, there is help available for some of the more technical drawing they may need to do to present a proposal,” Parsons wrote in an e-mail.
On Nov. 5, Parsons guided a group of interested students, faculty and staff on a tour of the site. McLeod and Assistant Director of Facilities, Maintenance and Operations Luther Tenny assisted Parsons in fielding questions from students. Tenny, a civil engineer who was involved in the original site planning and permitting and is also available as a resource for students developing proposals, answered technical questions.
“We did a soup to nuts tour,” Parsons wrote on the Turf Battle blog on Nov. 9. “It’s a big area, and I feel like to get to know a site, you should also know the area around it. How you approach a site, the route you take, or what you see for views, or what views are blocked, or where the water goes; all of that is important information in drawing a landscape plan for the area.”
Parsons is continually updating the Turf Battle blog with additional resources. On Nov. 9, he added links to five maps that student designers will find relevant, including the Campus Base Map for the site, which details the steam, electrical, communications and other lines present underground.
“No project on campus begins without a trip to the campus base maps,” Parsons wrote.
Both Spears and Parsons emphasized the benefits of having students in particular design this residential space.
“We’re talking about an outdoor recreational space in which students more than perhaps any other constituency on campus have a vested interest,” said Spears.
Parsons echoed Spears’s sentiment, noting some problems with the space since its original 2004 construction, such as drainage along the west sidewalk next to Atwater Hall B.
“It’s a tricky space, so having students design it will hopefully guarantee better functionality for student use,” he said.
Proposals, the contents of which are detailed on the Turf Battle blog, are due to Spears’s office in Old Chapel by Feb. 7. The MPIC will choose three finalists to present their plans at a campus forum to be held in early February, and the competition winner will be chosen, according to the guidelines, “based on strength of design, sustainability and feedback from the college community.”
(11/11/10 4:56am)
The Middlebury College Activities Board (MCAB) Speakers Committee has awarded funding for the Spring Symposium to a proposal entitled “Communities and Justice: Inequality and Innovation in America’s Justice System.” The symposium will take place from Sunday, Feb. 27 to Friday, Mar. 4 of 2011 and will analyze multiple aspects of the American justice system.
“A few of the major themes we’ll be examining include inequality, race, immigration, holistic public defense and the role of prisons and prison reform in our society,” said Nora Hirozawa ’11, who is organizing the event along with Danny Loehr ’13.5, Hanna Mahon ’13.5 and Hannah Postel ’13.
Hirozawa explained that the idea for the symposium originally came from a discussion of immigration policy at a meeting of the student group JUNTOS, which works with the integration of the local Hispanic migrant community.
Hirozawa explained that after this initial discussion, the organizers met and “started with a brainstorming session.”
The students then contacted people they personally knew in the field and also reached out to departments on campus for contact recommendations. Throughout the process, the organizers worked to accommodate topics and speakers to represent a variety of opinions and event types.
“Sometimes we organized around speakers, sometimes around topics,” added Postel.
Hirozawa hopes that the symposium’s “support from multiple departments” will create interest among different groups in the College community. The symposium is sponsored by the political science, American studies, geography and sociology departments as well as the Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity and the Chellis House Women’s Resource Center.
“We really want to demonstrate that justice is not just an academic issue,” explained Mahon.
The symposium will feature the traditional lineup of lecturers and panelists as well as interdisciplinary events. Professors from the College, professors from other institutions, experts in the justice field and even former inmates will deliver lectures on varying topics. The weeklong event will also include dinners hosted by the Commons, multiple film screenings and a performance by the student dance troupe Riddim.
The group’s next step in the organizational process will be finalizing contracts with the visiting lecturers and then working to publicize the event.
“We hope professors can include [the symposium] on their spring syllabi,” said Postel.
The organizers are also looking for students with experience in the justice system, either through an internship or job, to speak on a student panel.
The MCAB Speakers Committee funds both individual speakers and symposiums and has two separate funds for each category. The proposals heard last week fall under the category of
symposiums, which involve multiple events held over the course of several days.
The Speakers Committee approved the proposal after hearing three presentations in total.
Catilin Ludlow ’13 and Colin Gibson ’11, co-chairs of the MCAB Speakers Committee, worked
with other committee members to approve the proposal last week.
“We heard two other proposals from student organizations,” explained Gibson. “[General procedure is that] students give 30 minute presentations and then we ask questions about any issues that raise a red flag.”
Gibson and Ludlow explained that the committee tends to have the most questions about funding issues, as members want to ensure that the funding is spent with discretion.
“Approval is contingent upon [the organizers] continuing to demonstrate goals,” added Ludlow.
The Speakers Committee will continue to meet with the symposium organizers throughout the process.
Students can propose both lectures and symposium ideas to the MCAB committee up to three weeks before the proposed event. Students are required to complete a speaker training session through the Events Planning Office before approval.
(11/11/10 4:55am)
During its meetings on Nov. 2 and 8, Community Council reviewed the Public Safety Department’s role on campus, as well as policies surrounding student print quotas and the party registration process.
On Nov. 2, the Council hosted Associate Dean of the College and Director of Public Safety Lisa Boudah along with Assistant Director of Public Safety Dan Gaiotti to address concerns about vandalism, party registration and parking, among other topics.
They also discussed the sober friend policy, which is now in its second year. The policy states that if an intoxicated student cannot care for him or herself but an officer determines that the student does not require immediate medical attention, the officer will then encourage the student to reach out to a sober friend to offer care. Boudah and Gaiotti felt that this system has been working well.
The officers emphasized the importance of the awareness of this policy among Residential Life staff in the wake of the closing of the Health Center at night.
In order to address the problem of vandalism, the Council expressed a need to emphasize peer-to-peer responsibility among students. The Council stressed the importance of students notifying offices about any issue both to maintain the integrity of the community and to avoid fines to a large group of students.
During its Nov. 8 meeting, the Council hosted Dean of Library and Information Services (LIS) Mike Roy to discuss the financial concerns surrounding student print quotas. Under the current policy, first-years, sophomores and juniors can print 500 pages per semester free of charge, while seniors are allotted 1,000 pages. After exceeding their quota, students are charged five cents per single-sided page. All unused pages are rolled over from the previous semesters.
Roy explained that these quota numbers were developed to cover 80 percent of a student’s printing.
“We built it around the premise that students would pay for 20 percent of their printing, assuming they printed at the same level,” said Roy.
Roy estimated that this would average a student cost of $10 per semester. However, since implementing the policy last spring, pages printed dropped from eight million in the 2008-2009 academic year to six million 2009-2010 academic year, thereby shrinking LIS’s estimated student contribution to 10 percent.
Students on financial aid can contact student financial services to seek approval for supporting additional printing costs. The awarded aid is handled on a case-by-case basis.
“I think it’s good that we don’t keep it that cut-and-dry and that we try to treat each case carefully,” Dean of the College and Council Co-Chair Shirley Collado remarked. “We want students to feel comfortable reaching out to student financial services for help and approval if they need it.”
The Council then consulted Associate Dean of Students Doug Adams on the issue of party registration. Council member Zach Hitchcock ’13 expressed concerns over the reoccurring issue of Public Safety often breaking up parties on campus. The Council also sought to clarify the specific nature of the shared responsibility between Public Safety and the party host.
“Significant responsibility is placed on the student hosting the party,” explained Adams.
Social hosts, students responsible for hosting a registered party, must complete a Party Registration Workshop. These workshops must be completed annually and are held weekly during the first six weeks of school and every other week afterwards. In accordance with Vermont state law, hosts must live where the parties are being hosted and maintain a guest list. Crowd Management training is necessary for hosts of parties with 50 or more students.
Adams pointed out that the College is the only higher education institution in Vermont that allows students to host registered parties on campus, as all other campuses are officially dry.
Adams expressed a desire to make the party registration system more accessible to students, and explained that he was currently working on this with Residential Programs Coordinator Lee Zerrilla. Adams also mentioned that they were examining the possibility of an online party registration system.
Dean Collado expressed an interest in centralizing the party registration process, which is currently spread across the Center for Campus Activities and Leadership (CCAL), Event Management and Public Safety.
The Council’s upcoming agenda includes discussion of a campaign to address the problem of disappearing dishes from the dining halls, College hazing policy, sexual harassment policy and gender-neutral housing.
(11/11/10 4:53am)
Author and journalist Ted Conover will give a talk today at 4:30 p.m. in Dana Auditorium entitled “Sending Myself to Prison (and Other Places I was Not Invited).” Cloe Shasha ’11 originally invited Conover to the College to speak at the TEDx event on Oct. 2, but he was in a minor accident and could not visit campus that day. Today’s rescheduled venue will allow Conover more time to speak than the TEDx talk would have.
“He’s a really great storyteller,” said Shasha. “I think his books would appeal to Middlebury students because they feature adventure, exploration, travel and a really strong narrative.”
Conover is the author of five books of narrative nonfiction, most recently The Routes of Man: How Roads Are Changing the World and the Way We Live Today. In 2000, he published Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing, which chronicles his experiences working for 10 months as a corrections officer at New York’s Sing Sing prison and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The book went on to win the 2000 National Book Critics Circle Award in General Nonfiction.
Conover has previously written about his experiences traveling in freight railroads across the western United States with migratory workers and homeless individuals; traveling with Mexican nationals throughout Mexico and across the Mexico-U.S. border three times; and working various jobs in Aspen, Colo., while studying the culture of that city.
Conover is a distinguished writer-in-residence in the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute of New York University, teaching graduate and undergraduate courses. He also is a frequent contributor to The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, National Geographic Magazine, Travel + Leisure, among others.
(11/11/10 4:35am)
Artist |Deerhunter
Album |Halcyon Digest
From the opening bass rumbles of “Earthquake,” we are shaken (how much depends on how loud you crank the volume) out of ourselves and brought to the idyllic past: Deerhunter’s “Halcyon Digest.” The album’s title is satire, though; Bradford Cox, Deerhunter’s frontman, comes from a past that is far from idyllic, and he isn’t afraid to paint this past with disturbing details.
In fact, Cox is so eager to involve the listener in his earlier days that he opens the album with a question, “Do you recall waking up on a dirty couch in the grey fog?” Well, I don’t. But I still get the point: Cox paints an exceptionally gloomy, grey vacuous youth, and I feel for him. And how couldn’t I? The production on the album is so careful, the sonic expanses so full, that I am struck by the juxtaposition between the beautiful cyclicality of the music and the haunting images embedded in the lyrics.
This dynamic — the unrelenting tension between lyric and music — makes the album a success. In this way, “Halcyon Digest” shows Cox accepting a feeling of nostalgia no matter how bad things actually were. He is coming to grips with the halcyon days of youth — the good ol’ days, an era of no responsibility. Indeed, Cox bluntly expresses this coming to terms in “Sailing,” a song that features only the front man: “Learn to accept whatever you can get.”
“Sailing” plays as one of the more intimate songs on the record, as Cox speaks to us without overwhelming bass, textured loops and big drums. The song only uses a repetitive guitar riff and whispering, bubbling electronics to emphasize Cox’s personal and incredibly honest emotional account. These slow moments are at odds with songs like “Coronado,” which features an upbeat pop ensemble complete with flamboyant saxophone solos. The lyrics, though, remain dark. In the opening line, Lockett Pundt, the other singer/guitarist in Deerhunter, belts, “I was sick, I was dead.” The contrasting moods combine to make some eerie pop.
At the meeting point of upbeat pop and lyrical sadness, Cox emerges as an ultimately despondent and apathetic figure — a troubled rocker with a good sense of melancholy. In “Memory Boy,” Cox uses a blaring harmonica and looped guitars to achieve a hypnotic, psychedelic pop sound. And, again, the lyrics remain at odds with the halcyon days: “It’s not a house anymore.” Our comfort — the home — is lost as we identify with Cox’s sometimes frail and sometimes assured lyrical delivery.
At other points in the album, we are lost in the whirled loops that Cox spontaneously creates with bright guitars and breathy croons. “Desire Lines” especially creates this whirlwind of sound, peaking noisily towards the end of the track like “Nothing Ever Happened,” off Microcastle. Though the crescendo of guitar licks isn’t as profound as in that career highlight, the song still achieves a big sonic landscape out of repetitive melodies. And “Earthquake,” the album opener, has a groovy bass riff that, coupled with vocal and guitar loops, makes for the most ethereal moment on the album.
The incredible dreaminess in “Earthquake” serves as proof that Halcyon Digest is Deerhunter’s most carefully produced album to date. This quality, though, comes at the cost of less guitar experimentation. Still, the album is the band’s cleanest and most accessible effort. Short pop tunes like “Revival” and “Fountain Stairs,” for instance, are upbeat and fun to sing along to. They also add the stylistic variety that keeps the album fresh — making it easy to return to for repeated listening. And drawn by this freshness, Halcyon Digest is becoming my favorite Deerhunter album the more I listen to it.