1000 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(10/14/10 3:59am)
To The Campus,
In response to, “U.S. Military Orders Less Dependence on Fossil Fuels” by Elisabeth Rosenthal, published on Oct. 4 in the New York Times, I offer this opinion.
Michael Klare, in his book Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet, warns readers that growing scarcity and sustained worldwide demand for fossil fuels has created the new geopolitics of energy, which is putting many at risk. Risks to humans worldwide include increased energy prices and adverse environmental impacts, and the possibility of resource wars between powerful nations, fighting for control of these precious but few drivers of our modern economies. So, when Navy secretary Ray Mabus says that he wants 50 percent of the power for the Navy and Marines to come from renewable sources by 2020, steps are clearly being taken in the right direction. That the armed forces are reducing their heavy reliance upon fossil fuel-powered machinery can only help in transforming the psyche of the American consumer.
In a war zone where fuel is scarce and has to be trucked in to military camps at costs of as much as $400 per trip, such a transition makes sense economically and militarily. Sustainably powering base camps saves not only fuel cost over time, but also reduces risks to military convoys which transport fuel to rural Afghanistan over dangerous ground.
As political rhetoric of late has taught us, reducing our reliance on foreign oil coming from the Middle East can only improve our national security, and as history has shown us, the actions of the military, especially of the largest military in one of the largest consumer economies in the world, influence how the consumer sector reacts. Ironic as this decision may seem in light of Americans’ addiction to oil, the military is often the first to embrace technological development and implement it in machinery and weaponry. The military, by switching from coal to gas before World War I, propelled the U.S. into becoming the leading oil-consuming nation in the world. Now, with its investment in developing and implementing renewable sources, it can help us reduce our addiction.
Military leaders can “order the adoption of renewable energy,” bypassing lengthy congressional debates about energy policy and making renewable energy more practical and affordable for all. This is what we need. Instead of being directed to hunt and fight for “vital resources,” the military’s ability to stimulate development of new sources of energy will consequently stimulate social and economic demand for these resources from the vital American private sector. The means by which we pursue our ends in Afghanistan and militarily throughout the world must be conducted in a more sustainable fashion. Such sustainable means are smart and practical.
In the interest of national security and the future of the human race, thank you, United States Armed Forces.
Sincerely,
Evan Doyle '11.5
(10/14/10 3:59am)
On Forest lawn, with the fitting backdrop of fall trees with leaves of various hues, sit six tables. The first is for cider donuts. If, however, eating a donut off a table is not good enough, there are donuts hanging from strings on the trees behind the table. The second is for apple cider — both hot and cold. The third is set up for pumpkin carving. The fourth is for dipping caramel apples, and the fifth is for pie eating. The sixth is an information table set up by Middlebury’s Sustainability Council. And, at the focus of it all, is a band.
The event is the Cook Fall Family Festival.
Each year during family weekend, Cook Commons puts on an event to celebrate fall and welcome the weekend’s guests.
“It’s cute,” said Megan Nesbeth ’11. “It’s nice that they do the event every single year.”
Attendees of the event could move from table to table, enjoying different fall-themed food and activities. The pumpkin-carving table was particularly popular, where students created pumpkin masterpieces with their families and friends. While the pie table was originally set up to be a pie-eating contest, lack of interest allowed everyone to simply eat the pies. The Brooker Liquor Cooperative played music for the event.
The band includes five members: Natty Smith ’10.5, Elias Alexander ’12, Chloe Dautch ’13, Parker Woodworth ’13.5 and Matt Ball ’14.
“Last year, we were a bunch of friends who just enjoyed playing music together,” Woodworth said.
This year, they’ve begun booking more gigs.
“[Alexander] has a propensity for booking gigs and then telling us that we’re playing them after,” Woodworth joked.
In addition to providing fun and entertainment for its guests, the event also strove to provide information about new environmental initiatives at the College.
“We have a booth to tell people about Residential Sustainability Coordinators for Cook Commons,” said Cook Commons RSC Leslie Reed ’14. “Each commons has four first year RSCs and one head RSC. We want to promote green practices in the dorms and encourage people to live sustainable lifestyles.”
Many RSC activities are led by or are centered around first-years.
“There’s a focus on first-years because we want to instill good dorm-life practices that can last for all four years at Middlebury, and hopefully beyond,” she continued.
Between the food, the games, the music and the education, the event provided a pleasant way for students, families and friends to spend a couple of hours outside, enjoying the festivities and the fall.
(10/14/10 3:59am)
At last weekend’s TEDx talks, my friend Sierra Murdoch ’09.5 gave an unexpected piece of advice. “Stay away from screens,” she cautioned, “Be wary of social media. It’s an important tool, but if relied on to much if can trick us into believing change can happen quickly.” I looked up from my laptop on which I had been live-Tweeting the day’s events, appropriately embarrassed. I’ve spent years staying up to date on the latest “Web 2.0” tactics for political organizing, amassing a new vocabulary of “hashtags” and “bit.lys.” I pride myself on my ability to blog in bed. Was all my work for naught?
After all, web-based democracy is supposedly the tactic that helped enable some of the most stunning progressive political changes in my lifetime. Wasn’t it the power of the internet and the “meet-up” that drove Howard Dean’s presidential candidacy (with some help from Midd alum and TEDx speaker Michael Silberman ’01)? Wasn’t it the massive online fundraising that helped Barack Obama compile the largest campaign war chest ever? Didn’t Twitter and Flickr help spread word of the “Green Revolution” in Iran?
But, perhaps uncharacteristically, I decided to keep listening to Sierra rather than start to check out a new album on Facebook or hop on Gchat. The problem, she said, was that climate campaigners (and all other do-gooder types working on the web) aren’t putting our time and energy in the right places. Everyone’s so busy working to get “likes” on their Facebook page or to accumulate views on their Vimeo accounts that we’re forgetting the crucial core of grassroots organizing: human interaction. It is only through a long arduous process of actually talking to people that we’ll be able to build the movement we need to tackle this problem. We need to find out what the average American actually thinks about the state of politics, the wind turbines going up in her neighbor’s farm, and what worries or excites them most about the future. And we need to actually listen when they tell us they don’t give a damn about polar bears, the amorphous promise of “green jobs,” or the unfairness of the filibuster. It’s by meeting folks where they’re at and helping them get engaged on the political level where they feel most comfortable that we’ll achieve the sorts of radical transformation the world so desperately needs. Not by having them sign a web petition.
Where then does the “series of tubes” fit in? Is there no room for the interwebs? Midd alum and 350.org organizer Jamie Henn ’07 tackled this question in a post on the Huffington Post just this month. “All around the world, there's a new set of Young (twittering) Turks that are shaking up the status quo and offering a new way forward,” wrote Jamie, “You'll find them in places like China and India, where students there are building youth climate networks linking hungreds of colleges and universities. Or at campaigns like Avaaz.org, which has built a global activist network of over 5.5 million members in just three years. Or across Africa, where mobile phones are allowing young organizers to coordinate across the continent for the first time.”
All that YouTubing and Facebook poking are helping facilitate that real world interaction. We can’t afford to organize in some bizarre “SecondLife” reality, but we can use the new media and social networking tools to help facilitate in-person conversation and political movement building. That’s what 350.org did this past week as hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world organized “work parties” in their communities and synced their actions with others worldwide through the internet. A click of a mouse can’t put solar panels on your roof, but it can help you find other folks who will help you do it. And at the end of the day, isn’t that all that matters?
(10/14/10 3:59am)
To The Campus,
The bicycle need not be abandoned when we turn 16 and (finally) pass the drivers test. They are generally so beneficial to society. Heck, my college roommate rode her bike 300 miles in three days over the summer for the Make a Wish Foundation in Michigan.
Still there is a discrepancy in global access to bicycles. For many, riding a bike is recreational. For others, it’s an environmentally righteous decision to not take a car. For some, it’s an aid to survival.
Numerous non-profits exist to bring bicycles to impoverished villages that have no other means of transportation. “Wheels4Life,” “Bikes not Bombs” and the “World Bicycle Relief,” to name a few, see the practicality in providing bikes to schoolchildren and adults alike in poor, often rural areas. Young students are incentivized to stay in school if provided a bike, and jobs can be accomplished much more efficiently with faster transportation of goods. Additionally, jobs are provided with the necessity to service a community full of bikes.
Nicolas Kristof mentions the influence of a bike for a certain boy, Abel, in his Sept. 12 New York Times column. Abel’s village in Zimbabwe was visited by the “World Bicycle Relief,” a Chicago-based organization started to provide bikes for the 2004 tsunami refugees in Sri Lanka. Before receiving a bike, Abel walked barefoot three hours each way to school.
Abel and so many others can benefit at little cost to the environment through the spread of bicycles across boarders. There is tremendous opportunity for growth in such initiatives. Therefore, we need to spread awareness. Ride a bike, buy a child a bike, donate to a bicycle relief non-profit or visit a bike shop. They very well may bridge the seemingly insurmountable gap to global sustainable development.
Sincerely,
Elissa Goeke '12
(10/14/10 3:59am)
Almost every day at Middlebury College, I receive an influx of emails announcing the latest environmental initiatives and encouraging students to make their voices heard. Last weekend, climate change activism took the global stage by storm with the 10/10/10 Global Work Party organized by 350.org. The group inspired a groundbreaking 7,347 events across 188 countries. With such broad-based support, the case for change seems fairly clear: people are demanding a global transition towards a clean energy economy.
What remains less certain is the question of why so little has been accomplished in the political sphere here in the U.S., especially considering that change was a fundamental platform of President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. When even the military is taking strides towards reducing its dependence on fossil fuels — the Navy and the Marines plan to generate 50 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020, according to a recent article in the New York Times –– the impetus for government action is incredibly high.
While the world’s impending energy crisis has a technical solution, the fundamental driver of change has to come from an altered mindset within the global community and, more importantly, from the world’s leaders.
The Senate’s failure to pass an energy bill this past spring and Obama’s surprising lack of support for the bill’s sponsors reveal a startling disconnect between public opinion and the actions of our elected leaders. If the Maldives’ President Nasheed has installed solar panels on his roof in a token of the commitment to eliminate his country’s reliance on foreign fossil fuels, one would hope President Obama could demonstrate the political audacity to assume leadership of the necessary energy policy overhaul.
(10/14/10 3:59am)
Thanks to dogged efforts this month by leaders of “Race to Replace” — yet another inspired project of Middlebury’s Sunday Night Group — several hundred college students at University of Vermont and Middlebury are newly registered to vote. Whether from Vermont or out-of-state, these newly enfranchised young folks must now ask: how should I vote?
If they care about climate change (and a host of recent polls puts this concern at the very top among young voters), the answer couldn’t be easier: vote against the Republican Party. For in Vermont and around the country this fall, we are witnessing a historic moment in the American political tradition — a major party that is taking pride in being anti-science. In doing so, the party is risking its political future.
To illustrate, let’s start with Paul Beaudry, the Vermont Republican Party’s candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. Beaudry isn’t just casually anti-science, he’s a leading spokesperson. For years, he used his perch as the host of WDEV’s True North to pound home the idea that global warming is a hoax. On Aug. 13, during a pre-primary interview with Vermont Public Radio, he stated, “Global warming, manmade global warming in my opinion is nothing but a lie.” A lone voice for Vermont’s Republican leaders? Hardly. On the same show, John Mitchell, another GOP primary candidate for the House seat, declared that climate change science “is not a viable scientific process.”
This would be amusing if it were nothing more than Vermont’s quirky politics at work. In fact, Beaudry is part of a large chorus of House Republican candidates who dismiss the science of global warming. As recently documented at GetEnergySmartNow.com: Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) has called global warming a “fraud” and a “modern rain dance.” Candidate Ed Martin (R-Mo.) devotes part of his website to bashing “global warming hucksters.” Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) considers global warming a “farce.”
In the Senate races, it looks no better. Check out these recent whoppers from GOP candidates (thanks to Brad Johnson at The Daily Grist): Ron Johnson (Wis.) believes that global warming is “just sunspot activity.” Sharron Angle (Nev.) does not “buy into the whole ... man-caused global warming, man-caused climate change mantra of the left.” Pat Toomey (Pa.) believes that there is “much debate in the scientific community as to the precise sources of global warming.”
Might science have a better chance in the high-tech state of California? Think again. Even former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, contending for Barbara Boxer’s senate seat, has gone anti-science. Despite having once run a company that, according to Climate Counts, was an advocate for public policy that addresses climate change, Fiorina is now “not sure” that climate change is real, and she supports Proposition 23, the oil-company effort to overturn California’s climate policy. There’s more of the same from California’s GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, who recently declared that she would “probably” veto a global-warming law if she were California governor today.
I find this all to be terribly sad. At its best, the Grand Old Party has been truly grand. For 150 years, great American leaders carved the modern foundations of our republic while wearing the GOP mantle. What distinguished Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt and others was the courage to stand up for what was right, to embrace and lead the moral crusades of their day.
The current Republican leadership, faced with the great moral fight of our age, has extinguished courage. It’s true that the elections next month may bring them temporary gains; they may even succeed in convincing some voters that global warming is a hoax. But when they study the election data, I am sure that they will note an unmistakable trend: the hundreds-of-thousands of new young voters, from Vermont and around the country, will have none of it.
As these voters grow to dominate the political landscape, this could mean the end of the Republican Party as we have come to know it. Indeed the GOP leadership should ponder a menacing historical comparison — how the Whig Party disintegrated as the anti-slavery movement crested in the 1850s. Unless they reject Beaudry and his ilk for a new generation of pro-science candidates, the same fate might well await the current GOP.
What then? Maybe the Sunday Night Group is already working to start a new political party! It’s not hard to make the case that this is exactly what our nation needs.
Jon Isham is an Associate Professor of Economics.
(10/14/10 3:59am)
If Middlebury has taught me one thing, it’s that this planet is absolutely mind-blowing incredible. Think about it: Earth has created and supports countless forms of simple and complex life, including humans, which are (most likely) the most intelligent beings within five light years in any direction. In addition, it has the Amazon, Niagara Falls, the Alps, the Great Barrier Reef and this fantastic fall foliage. We absolutely need to protect this awesome and beautiful planet, and there is a whole lot more we could do than we are doing now.
However, one thing gets in the way of these good intentions: some of us are just a little bit lazy. For some reason, the ideas of ditching the personal printer, boycotting solo cups and hanging clotheslines across the room do not sound very appealing to everyone. Middlebury has ways to deal with these people and coerce them to partake in more Earth-friendly practices. Unfortunately, collateral damage in the war against environmental laziness comes in the form of environmental awkwardness.
Undoubtedly the most disruptive environmental initiative was the elimination of trays from dining halls. None of us, except for a few super seniors, have ever held a tray on campus, and we have all adapted surprisingly well to carrying all of our food in two hands, two forearms, two armpits and one set of teeth. It’s ironic if you think about it: the one skill Middlebury teaches to all of its students is the ability to wait tables. But it can turn awkward really fast when gravity wins; there’s no better way to capture the attention of hundreds of judging eyes than to drop a plateful of falafel in the entryway of Ross. I will surely never forget the infamous tower-of-ceramic-bowls incident of a couple years ago, nor will I forget the person responsible.
Other issues with environmental policies stem from confusing trash-sorting bins, the champion of which is the Grille. Dealing with a leftover food plate or fresh Odwalla is pretty self-explanatory for the average lazy environmentalist, but it’s the paper cups and napkins that cause problems. The sign above says that they go in the compost. That makes sense, because paper is biodegradable. But why don’t we just put them in the paper bin, then? And why can’t we put other paper in the compost if it’s biodegradable? I sometimes peek into the compost bin in an attempt to justify my confusion, and I am rarely disappointed.
Notable finds have been packets of ERes notes, small books and, my personal favorite, a ghastly number of Peeps. I guess the Peeps were in the correct bin, but the image of a little boy morosely relieving himself of about 300 tiny yellow marshmallow chickens is too much for me to handle.
Middlebury’s greatest environmental assets, however, are its students — particularly the not-lazy ones. These people will take any amount of awkwardness for the good of the environment, and we need them to whip us lazy folks into shape. We need them to loudly remind us how much starving children in Burundi would appreciate the tofu scramble we are about to throw away. We need them to sneak into our rooms when we’re away to turn out the lights and make sure the trash is properly separated from the recyclables. And, without them, we would never know that an eco-friendly, packaging-free hair conditioner can be made by mixing simple ingredients such as avocado, honey, raw eggs and yogurt.
So thank you, Middlebury College, for your devotion to protecting this wonderful planet, and we will do our best to deal with all the humiliation, confusion and weirdness that goal entails.
(10/14/10 3:59am)
When Senator Michael Bennnet (D-Colo.) was the superintendent of Denver schools — a public school system at the very bottom of national rankings — he spent his first summer on the job going door-to-door in Denver’s most underprivileged neighborhoods, engaging kids on the importance of a high school education and convincing them to show up come September. His efforts turned the system around; thousands of kids stayed in school having shaken his hand; thousands of kids believed for the first time in the power of education, and of the government to deliver it.
I hate that Michael Bennet represents an island of integrity amidst a Congressional ocean of corruption. I abhor the way he battles for progressive change within a democracy that has been bought and sold by the exploitative forces of capitalism. I am fed up of being surprised when politicians other than him truly deliver on campaign promises or operate on time scales beyond their electoral terms.
But I do not hate any of these systemic flaws nearly enough to abandon them.
I believe that every form of governance is dynamic — be it Marxism, socialism, capitalism, totalitarianism or democracy. Every system carries the potential to descend into an abyss of oppression and despotism, or to justly and effectively meet the needs of those for whom it is responsible. Just as the Communist experiments in Russia, Cuba, North Korea and China have resulted in regimes that Marx would hold in contempt, so too have modern conceptions of democracy led to corrupt bureaucracies that are failing their constituents. Just as Communism could potentially work, so too could democracy.
As an embodiment of this potential for unadulterated (albeit incremental) political good, Senator Bennet is what must keep us from abandoning our own system in place of another. Even when democratic administration after democratic administration has manhandled the notion that universal health care is a right, punted on environmental issues time after time, pursued fiscally irresponsible policies that have left social security an uncertain mess and financial markets in collapse and been responsible for violence and conflict the world over, we must remember that another world is possible as long as we are fighting to keep people like Michael Bennet in the public sphere.
Of course, it would be nice to throw our hands up and say it just is not working; that democracy facilitates capitalism and economic freedoms that then undermine that very democracy we speak of. But it is a politicized version of the “grass is greener” mentality, when in reality, the grass is only as green as we make it; a political system is only as compassionate or responsible as the people we put in charge of it.
In the end, we may need to elect wave after wave of Michael Bennets and Barack Obamas before we ever achieve our desired ends within our own system, be they environmental or otherwise. We may need to go door-to-door for candidates that represent the lesser of two evils and for legislation that is only incremental in nature and we may need to one day consider putting ourselves on the ballot. Most of all, we may need to defend a flawed system and fight to recognize the slightest change as change nevertheless.
There is nothing that claws at my heart more than accepting moderation in a world that demands dramatic reforms. People and the planet are suffering and it is undisputed. But advocating abstinence from political engagement destroys the possibility that we will see wave after wave of committed progressives — it represents giving up when we have no right to give up.
Overthrowing the current system and instituting a new one will take decades, if not centuries — in the process however, we would sacrifice untold amounts of progressive reform that would do much to improve both the human and natural environments today.
No system is perfect; certainly not the one we currently uphold. But if we so choose, we have the power to make it the best it can be. The question is, will we?
(10/14/10 3:59am)
To The Campus,
It has been nearly five years since President George W. Bush’s explicit remark on ‘America’s addiction to oil’ in his fifth State of the Union address. Despite the consensus shared by many of us to cut U.S. dependence on foreign oil, this addiction has remained the same — if not intensified. The consequences of this continued reliance on foreign oil have been severe. The environmental damages aside, it has inadvertently strengthened petrodictators, tarnished U.S. reputation abroad and increased the likelihood of conflicts with other powerful energy-consuming nations — most notably Russia and China — over the remaining energy reserves.
The need for clean, sustainable energy that can support long-term growth of our nation is more apparent than ever before. The traditional U.S. energy policy must be revamped so that it pays close attention to developing clean energy sources. As Thomas Friedman proposes, clear price signals and regulations should be established and enforced with consistency. As Michael Klare suggests, the promise of tangible gains in exploring new energy alternatives must be present for any partnerships — local, state or international — to embark on a transformative clean energy regime.
Some progresses are taking place: in September, the 2010 International Environment-Energy Industry Exhibition featuring 200 corporations from 11 countries was held in Busan, South Korea. In Berlin, RENAC (renewables academy) that teaches the public about the viability of renewable, environmentally friendly energy will take place throughout November and December. Perhaps most significantly, the U.S. military has recently announced its plan to vault into clean energy. Incremental, and yet significant steps toward sustainable energy — these are what we need.
Sincerely,
Kevin Beck '11
(10/14/10 3:59am)
It’s not easy being green.
If I have learned anything about living a sustainable lifestyle (and I have learned a lot while at Middlebury), it’s that going truly green requires a significant level of self-awareness and effort. Making small changes is a great idea, and the more of us who make those changes, the bigger the impact they will have. But as I have become increasingly aware over the last four years, what really needs to happen is a paradigm shift, a change in our fundamental values and habits as a society. I won’t comment on the nature of that change because the Opinions section is already full of people better qualified than I am to do so, and besides, this is a sex column, and you came here to read about sex. So how do we apply environmental sustainability to our sex lives?
In last year’s green issue, I told you about proper condom disposal (please don’t flush them!), petroleum-free lubes and choosing the most environmentally friendly sex toys. This year, I want to look at sex through the lens of sustainability and move past the small changes toward some personal paradigm shifts. But the shifts I want to talk about don’t really have anything to do with the environment — short of refusing to have sex in anything except an adobe yurt that you built yourself, or at the very least practicing good birth control to keep our population from skyrocketing further, I’m not so sure there are sex-specific values to be altered, at least not when trying to be eco-friendly. I think the process of seeking big changes for the better, though they might not be easy, is still useful even if it’s not saving the environment, however. So let’s talk about positive climate change in the climate of the climax — change in the environment of sex, as opposed to change in sex for the environment.
You have read through all of my contrived setting up of this grand extended metaphor, and really all I want to tell you is to talk. Talk about sex. Talk during sex. Talk after sex. Get naked and then get vocal. My biggest bad habit in the bedroom — bad in that it wasn’t serving me, my partners or the friends who then had to deal with my anxiety — was not communicating well regarding sex for the first, oh, two years of having an active sex life. That’s a long time not to voice what you want, how you want it, if you want it. Just like the first step to saving the planet is starting an open dialogue on what needs to be saved in the first place, the first step to saving yourself from silent suffering and bad to mediocre sex is to say something.
The most important thing to speak up about is obviously whether or not you want to have sex. Developing self-awareness is just as important in protecting yourself as it is in reducing your carbon footprint. If you don’t feel good about getting down, DON’T DO IT. If we can learn to call out people for driving to the gym when they could walk, we can learn to call out others for pressuring us into sex when we don’t want it. It is our responsibility to take care of the environment, and I think it is equally our responsibility to take care of each other, to be gentle with each other in such a vulnerable state as practicing procreation.
If you get it out there that you do want to get sexual, and so does your partner, don’t clam up now! Your bodies shouldn’t be the only things speaking to each other in the dark of your dorm room. Making the first peep can be a challenge — it can feel less nerve-wracking to let your partner gnaw your nipples off than to risk turning him or her off by speaking up (unless biting is your thing). But isn’t it so validating to know you’re giving your partner what he or she wants (and not giving what he or she doesn’t want)? You can both have the kind of sex you enjoy the most. I really think the biggest problem facing Middlebury’s sexual environment today is the lack of communication — if we don’t change, neither will the climate.
(10/14/10 3:59am)
For most four-year-olds, a major accomplishment might be a successful count to 10 or a particularly imaginative finger painting. For Sierra Young ’12, it was her first solo spin on a toddler-sized unicycle.
Since long before Young was born, unicycling has been a family affair. Her father, known to fiddle with bicycles as a child, founded a unicycle club at MIT and later in Cle Elum, Washington, where Young would grow up. On occasion, he would visit her elementary school to teach his skills to local students.
“A lot of my classmates knew how to ride, or at least who my family was,” she said.
With a community of enthusiastic cyclists back home, Middlebury students’ reactions to her cycling were initially surprising.
“Here it seems way more of an oddity than it did at home,” she said.
Though she herself has little recollection of the learning experience, Young’s family tells her that she could cycle on her own before her fourth birthday. Her first unicycle featured a 12.5-inch wheel and a block of two-by-four attached to each pedal to allow her feet to reach. Outfitted with knee and elbow pads and a helmet, she was well-equipped to learn from the rest of the family.
“My brother and sister were riding as far back as I can remember,” she said.
Though older riders often find the learning curve challenging, Young experienced a smooth transition.
“I don’t remember it being frustrating,” she said. “It was more like my dad just put me on it, and I was striving to be like my older siblings.”
Since coming to Middlebury, she has dabbled in activities from tutoring to the meditation club. Her summer job résumé includes leading hikes as an interpretive park ranger and teaching English at an elementary school in Paraguay. The joint Geography and Environmental Studies major and active member of the DREAM mentoring program can often be seen wheeling around campus on her mountain unicycle.
While it serves as an effective mode of transportation to her classes and activities, it also provides a great deal of recreational opportunities. Young and her family have traveled all over the country for trail rides and unicycling competitions, including UNICON, an annual national convention that was held in Washington in 2002. Events include the long jump and the slow board, where riders try to take as long as possible to cross a ten-meter plank while maintaining forward motion. Depending on the event, cyclists can enter competitions individually, in pairs or with full club teams.
(10/14/10 3:59am)
Anyone looking out upon the green hills and dusky red vistas of Middlebury College would be aware of the beauty of the world and the importance of keeping it that way — Republicans and conservatives included. Like most people at this school I grew up with the golden rule of Green living: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. I still believe these to be goods, prefer to know where my food comes from (and what chemicals are on it) and would like to live in a place not covered, like Beijing, in the smog of industrialization.
However, real environmentalism cannot be restricted to wind farms and solar panels (much less to reusing, reducing and recycling) and it cannot be confined to America, much less Middlebury College. There is no issue that shows the global nature of modern politics so much as the environmental movement because, by definition, it is a worldwide problem that cannot be contained within sovereign boundaries or fixed by the action of one government.
There is a commonly repeated saying that each one of our breaths contains a few molecules of the dying breath of Julius Caesar. Whether or not the stale breath of Caesar is a scientifically verifiable phenomenon, the underlying fact that air disperses around the world is true. In effect, this fact shows the problems of solving environmental issues within the bounds of a nation state. Environmentalism has to do not only with air but with water, soil and seeds — its issues are everywhere and affect everyone. Although a clean world may be in the interests of all, it is in no one’s interest to be the only one taking measures to preserve the natural environment. In a world where survival is inherently completive, where economics, security and power are all in some degree dependent upon outdoing one another, real environmental change demands enormous sacrifice.
Nation-states are always concerned, first and foremost, with their own interest. They protect their people, their borders and their own economies before being concerned with those of other countries. In order for governments of nation-states to protect their citizens, their sovereignty must be assured. This works in national security, foreign policy and trade relations but it cannot work with the environment.
To protect the environment of America, the U.S. government must be concerned with the environmental practices not just of its territory but of the rest of the world. Such concerns are direct threats to the sovereignty of all other nations. Additionally, every country is stuck in what political scientists might call the “prisoner’s dilemma.” Each country’s environment would be better off if everyone would abide by the same rules of green living. But as this comes at a major cost to industry, efficiency and the economy, each nation-state must weigh the pros and cons of an environmental protocol. Since no country can be assured that the others will side with the environment, they cannot do so in isolation for by cutting their industry so as not to pollute they would be at a disadvantage in competition with any country that refused to be environmentally friendly. The only way to break out from the prisoner’s dilemma is to have complete trust in the other parties — in international relations such trust is exemplified by international treaties and organizations.
International law is one of the most complicated and loose legal areas because there is no authority to which all parties look. This fact makes trust almost impossible to maintain so that national interest still rules and nation-states comply and refuse to comply as they see fit. Today we can see this behavior in organizations such as the United Nations. Like the League of Nations before it, the UN has showed itself to be far less useful than its creators had hoped. The interests of its members are so diverse (and often even in opposition to one another) that it is unable to come to real decisions in any reasonable amount of time or to take any real action.
An environmental treaty or organization would have the same problems. It would erode the sovereignty of any nation-state without making any real progress. It would become merely another stage upon which nation-states can posture for the TV cameras and recorders of the international press.
In the end the only way to have real environmental progress would be to abolish borders, nation-states, and sovereignty create a world-wise government. But no such government could exist and even if it could abolish national sovereignty it is still a ridiculous idea. The UN is corrupt. Its bureaucrats favor certain national interests over others. They tend to favor authoritarian governments over liberal democratic nations. Authoritarian governments in turn are notoriously indifferent to the environment.
The environment is important. Here at Middlebury College we have the luxury of living in a beautiful place, of eating organic food, of caring about recycling and of being general environmentally conscious. But we should be equally conscious that this is a luxury that not everyone enjoys here in America or in the rest of the world, and that it does come at a price. Discouraging development of industry in the United States comes at the price of asking some of our fellow citizens to live in poverty while increasing pollution world wide.
(10/14/10 3:59am)
Statistical evidence from student/faculty research has shown that the College’s biomass gasification plant is running to its full capabilities and will help Middlebury remain on track for its goal of carbon neutrality by 2016.
Over the past year, students working under Director of Sustainability Integration Jack Byrne calculated the inventory of the College’s greenhouse gas production. The inventory counts emissions from energy used to heat and cool buildings on campus; College-funded travel, such as flights and cabs for professors to attend conferences; waste put into landfills; electricity the College purchases; and College-owned vehicles, such as 15-passenger vans and Midd Rides.
Next year, these calculations will include the inventory from the Monterey Institute.
Middlebury’s carbon footprint has been reduced by 35 percent, and much of this is thanks to the successful running of the biomass gasification plant.
Byrne believes that the biomass plant has helped the College maintain its goal for carbon neutrality and will improve in productivity in the next fiscal year.
“We were expecting that we would be, once we got our biomass up and running at full speed, at 40 percent reduction of our carbon footprint,” Byrne said.
“We didn’t quite have a full year of full wood burning in the fiscal year. The people who operate the plant are really pleased with where they are now. They’ve really figured out how to make it work well, and this coming year I’m sure we’ll do really well, even better than this year.”
The explanation for not meeting the 40 percent reduction goal lies in the changes that had to be made to get the biomass working to its full potential.
“Simply stated: the biomass plant did not come with an ‘off-the-shelf’ start-up and operating manual,” said Assistant Director of Facilities Services Mike Moser.
“We quickly realized in the early months of 2009 that we were on our own, and needed to chart new waters to realize a successful operation of this new technology. The individuals that operate this plant have effectively done that, and done it well.”
Moser says the plant was built in order to displace one million gallons of #6 oil with 20,000 tons of biomass — wood chips — annually. From January through September 2010, the plant burned 15,000 tons of chips, which has displaced over 80,000 gallons of oil. It has realized an 82 percent availability rate since January 2010 — 223 days out of 273 days.
Despite the imperfect performance, the biomass staff remain optimistic about the results for the upcoming fiscal year and firmly believes that there will be an increase in productivity for the plant.
Byrne in particular has faith in the capabilities of the plant and those who manage it.
“Those guys who run the biomass plant, they deserve Ph.D.s in biomass gasification,” he said.
Future plans for the biomass plant include harvesting and burning a test willow crop this winter, which will produce up to 200 tons of fuel.
Byrne said that an additional benefit to the biomass plant comes from the money the College has saved by using it.
“We’ve saved about a million dollars in fuel costs since the biomass started up,” he said, “so the money we originally used to buy oil from all over the world, we’re now spending that money within 35 miles of the campus to put money into the local economy for loggers and truckers. They have been having a tough time because both the recession slowed down building and the paper industry in the northeast has shrunk a lot in the past few years, so there’s been a lot less demand for wood. We’ve been able to help those people.”
Byrne also noted that the College’s location in Vermont, a very “green” state, has been helpful. Middlebury buys its energy from the Central Vermont Public Service Corporation, which has proven to be instrumental to reducing our carbon footprint.
“Two thirds of the energy we buy is generated from nuclear and hydroelectric,” Byrne said.
“Those don’t have much carbon emission associated with them, and that makes the electricity part of our carbon footprint quite small, which is unusual. Once you get outside of Vermont or New England, the rest of the country has pretty high carbon electricity, because a lot of it comes from coal.”
Other factors have also contributed to the substantial decrease in the College’s carbon footprint. Missy Beckwith, the head of Waste Management, noted that last year’s overall waste was less than in years past.
“With the economic situation the College was faced with and the prudence practiced in many areas of the College, departments and students were and still are consuming less,” said Beckwith.
The reduction in waste could also be due to the fact that the College now requires outside caterers to take waste from events away with them. This prevents Middlebury from recording this waste for the inventory.
However, the increased student body this year, due to especially large classes of 2011 and 2014, will likely also increase the overall waste tonnages.
“How to Recycle” flyers were handed out to students and staff this year in order to help continue the trend of lessening consumption and reducing waste. The goal is to improve the quality of the materials entering the recycling center, because this decreases handling and sorting times and makes the overall process more efficient.
Some projects in the works include compost buckets, which will be placed in residence halls, as well as an attempt at a carpet-recycling project. Both of these projects are being funded by an Environmental Council grant.
(10/14/10 3:59am)
When Elder Simeoli was 19, he left his home in Las Vegas to serve his two years as a Mormon missionary in Maine. After teaching and proselytizing there for his first year, he moved to Middlebury and has lived here for almost eight months.
Elder Covington, 19, arrived in town two weeks ago from his home in Orem, Utah to begin the missionary work encouraged of all qualified Mormons of the Church of Latter Day Saints.
“It’s a lot to take in at first, but I love the work. There’s so much peace that comes from it,” he said.
Elder Simeoli remembered his first day as a missionary almost eighteen months ago, shaking his head and smiling.
“It’s kind of like shell-shock. Everything changes. I was a very laidback person back home. I kept to myself most of the time,” he said. “As a missionary, it’s really hard to do that, seeing as we’re here to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Elders Simeoli and Covington are two of over 50,000 Mormon missionaries proselytizing in 344 missions all over the world. They are the two impeccably dressed young men you may have seen on the streets of Middlebury, Bristol and Vergennes talking with or running from local residents, depending on the temperament of the latter.
“There’s really no telling who will listen and who won’t,” Elder Simeoli said. “I’ve had what seemed to be nice old ladies chase me away with sticks, whereas I’ve gone up to big hairy bikers and they’re more than happy to talk about Jesus Christ.”
LDS Mormons often bear the brunt of stereotypes that target Mormon fundamentalists even though they are unassociated with the more radical sect. They also receive the critiques from the non-religious aimed at followers of any highly dogmatic, proselytizing religion.
“A lot of people think we’re brainwashed robots or polygamists,” Elder Simeoli said. “I don’t practice polygamy. No one I know practices polygamy. And I’m not brainwashed. But it’s not something I can prove to them. People will believe what they want to believe.”
Although they were raised in Mormon families, Elders Simeoli and Covington both found truth in Mormonism through individual prayer.
“For a while I didn’t really have a testimony. I just kind of went along with it,” Elder Covington said. “Finally, I prayed to God to ask if the Book of Mormon was really true and I received the answer that it really was true. I just felt really peaceful.”
“It’s through multiple good feelings that we can receive answers to our prayers,” Elder Simeoli said. “When I prayed to know if the Book of Mormon was true, I just felt a great sense of peace. I’d always generally felt good about it. But it was in that instance that I had a strong confirmation. I felt warm and peaceful. I felt love, and that’s how I knew.”
As missionaries, every day is regimented by myriad rules. They do not ever use their first names, only the respectful title, “Elder.” They can call home only on Mothers’ Day and Christmas. They can use e-mail once a week.
“I don’t think an hour could cover [all the rules],” Elder Simeoli said. “The point is to keep our minds centered on the work, to limit as many distractions as possible.”
The strict schedule made for missionaries in the Book of Mormon sees to that.
At 6:30, they rise, pray, exercise for 30 minutes, prepare for the day; at 7:30, they eat breakfast; by 8:00, they must be studying the scriptures; at 9:00, they companion study The Bible; they begin proselytizing at 10:00 and get a one-hour break for lunch and dinner throughout the day, only returning at 9:00 to plan for the next day’s activities. They generally retire at 10:30. Elder Simeoli had an enthusiastic take on this exhausting schedule.
“It’s a lot easier when you have restrictions, when you have things to limit your time,” he said. “There is no room for error. There is no time to go do something other than what we’re doing.”
I asked Elder Simeoli if he ever accidentally refers to himself with his first name, skips the morning exercise or slips up somehow with so many rules to follow.
“Well, no one’s perfect,” he said. “I find joy in trying to be as obedient as I can because it’s through obedience that we receive blessings.”
Elders Simeoli and Covington are in a unique position as missionaries whose mission includes a college with a student body of relatively few practicing Mormons. Although they are not authorized to proselytize on campus, they talk with as many students as possible, as their target audience is “anybody and everybody.”
“I’ve found that unfortunately a lot of college students either don’t know what they believe or they have no belief in a higher power at all,” Elder Simeoli said. “So it’s kind of sad at times because being a member of the Church of LDS has brought me more peace and happiness than anything, and I know it can do the same for each and every one of them, but if they lack that crucial foundation that there is a God it’s a lot harder to teach someone.”
Students are not the only skeptics. “Most of the time people are ‘All set.’ That’s how they like to put it,” Elder Simeoli said. The Elders have had success converting some ‘investigators,’ however. One formerly clinically deaf woman regained the ability to hear while reading the Book of Mormon after studying with the Elders. She now meets with the Elders regularly.
“It was a small miracle. It’s not everyday that something like that happens,” Elder Simeoli said, shaking his head reverently.
Both Elders said it will be bittersweet to end their missionary work and return home. “Leaving here will be hard because being a missionary does bring a lot of happiness,” Elder Simeoli said. “I’m happiest when I’m making other people happy.”
Elder Covington was unsure what he’d like to do after his two years are up. Elder Simeoli would like to go to culinary school and start up a restaurant with his father.
“It will be a bar and grille type thing,” he said. “Without the bar.”
(10/14/10 3:59am)
Americans tend to dislike regulations. We don’t like being told what to do, much less how or why to curb our appetites. Yet we are in the midst of a social transformation based on rethinking the value of local and organic foods that is both market-driven and ethically compelling. Consumers want to know where their food comes from and what’s in it. Shoppers want grass-fed, not feed-lot beef, eggs from free-range hens, seasonal vegetables, organic milk, micro-brews — and even Vermont wine. The demand for foods like these is driven not only by health concerns (burgeoning obesity, high rates of heart disease and cancer) but also by the fact that organic and local foods taste better. Investing in them supports our community in all kinds of ways.
But while we are busy being green, we too readily forget that this is a blue planet. One of the ingredients of our gustatory lives often left out of the conversation is seafood. The many kinds of fish available at local grocery stores and specialty shops hide a simple, horrifying fact: the oceans are being overfished dramatically, emptied of life at a rapid rate. Overfishing has destroyed once-abundant stocks of groundfish (cod, flounder), billfish (swordfish, marlin), several species of tuna, Patagonian Toothfish and too many others to mention here. Rapacious resource extraction by humans has caused entire marine ecosystems to collapse (in the Black Sea, on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and elsewhere).
Consider sashimi — a particular vice of mine. This popular (and largely urban) fare is made possible by industrial fishing (pelagic fleets, flash freezing) and distribution. It is also unsustainable. Many fisheries experts consider the eating of large marine predators, such as Bluefin Tuna, the equivalent of eating Bengal Tigers or Snow Leopards. Should we really be consuming the top-level predators that regulate marine ecosystems, especially now that we know that their populations are a tiny fraction of their historical abundance?
Aquaculture (farmed fish) seems an easy answer. But most farmed fish, such as Atlantic Salmon, require enormous amounts of feed from species lower on the food chain and all kinds of chemical and medical additives to be safe and appealing to eat. The meat of a farm-raised salmon isn’t naturally orange. It’s grey. To make it look orange (like it should), fish farms use oil-based dyes. The meat contains relatively high levels of pollutants. Do you really want to be eating fish laced with petrochemicals, PCBs and antibiotics? The canard of “organically farm-raised fish” is simply a marketing ploy: there is no FDA organic standard for fish. There is no such thing as organic or environmentally sensitive farmed salmon. Tilapia is a much more environmentally friendly option. So are mussels.
The tension between food choice and eating locally (not to mention ethically) is a tough one. Should we really limit ourselves to root vegetables in the winter because fresh greens aren’t locally in season? Maybe not. Should we pay attention to what kind of fish we eat and where we get it? Absolutely. If you want to be blue as well as green, keep up to date with the Seafood Eaters’ Guides from the Monterrey Bay Aquarium and Blue Ocean Institute. And skip the Orange Roughy, please!
Daniel Brayton is an Assistant Professor of English and American Literatures.
(10/14/10 3:57am)
The Brooklyn-based indie rock band Yeasayer will play in Nelson Recreational Center on Nov. 13. DOM, the Worcester, Mass.-based electronic pop group, will open.
For Middlebury students, tickets are available online now: until Oct. 18, tickets cost $7; until Oct. 31, they will cost $10; from Nov. 1 through Nov. 13, they will cost $12; and at the door they will be $15. Tickets for non-Middlebury students will go on sale Nov. 1 and will cost $25. The Middlebury College Activities Board (MCAB) adopted this graduated pricing system for tickets after concerns that not enough tickets were available for Middlebury students for the Kid Cudi show in the spring.
This semester, the MCAB Concerts Committee has aimed to arrange more programming more frequently, rather than one large show per semester, as is often the case. The Yeasayer event will be more of a “mid-sized show,” said MCAB Concerts Committee co-chair Hannah Wilson ’11.
However, holding the concert in Nelson will bring the large show feel to the event, said Wilson. The band, which has released two albums since 2007, describes its sound as “Middle Eastern-psych-snap-gospel.”
“We’re trying to bring a variety of genres to campus,” said Wilson, noting that for the past three semesters, the large concerts have been hip-hop acts. “While we appreciate hip-hop, it’s not our job to exclusively feature hip-hop.
“We’re trying to bring concerts that have more atmosphere,” Wilson continued. “We’re making our budget go as far as we can.”
“It’s going to be a fun time, said Cathy Ahearn ’11, the other Concerts Committee co-chair. “Yeasayer’s music is very eclectic and danceable.”
For more information about the event, visit go/yeasayer.
(10/14/10 3:56am)
Sunday, Oct. 10 — the serendipitously timed 10/10/10 — saw a profusion of environmental activism under the auspices of 350.org, the campaign to reverse climate change spearheaded by Scholar-in-Residence in Environmental Studies Bill McKibben.
In an effort to catalyze the global reduction of green house gases, McKibben created a “global workday,” in which volunteers from around the world agreed to physically do something that promoted environmentalism. Projects included installing solar panels, riding bikes, planting organic gardens or picking up trash, and 350.org-organized events took place in locations all around the world.
In Middlebury, the events were lively and varied. The Student Government Association Environmental Affairs Committee aimed to promote the often unseen and unnoticed recycling center. The group, headed by Rachel Callender ’12, gathered numerous bags full of clothes, pillows, shoes and other items and set up a three-hour-long thrift shop on the Proctor Terrace. The items comprised handmade scarves, Tommy Hilfiger polos and even Columbia jackets. Each item, regardless of intact price tags reading upwards of $95, was priced at $1.
“The purpose of the project was to expose students to the reality of wasting that takes place on even one of the most environmentally friendly campuses in the region,” said Callender.
The group successfully sold over 100 items and donated all proceeds to the Recycling Center. The initiative’s participants expressed great enthusiasm for their project and for the 350.org events in general.
“Being that 350.org is such a relatively new organization, I see a lot of hope and potential for the environment through it in the future,” Callender said.
The Sunday Night Group participated in 10/10/10 as well, traveling door-to-door in the town of Middlebury to create a list of signatures of people who agreed to vote for Patrick Leahy, the incumbent Democratic U.S. senator from Vermont who supports many environmental issues.
McKibben, who is off campus currently, expressed great enthusiasm for the work being done on Oct. 10.
“It meant, ‘game on,’” he wrote in an e-mail. “Far from being discouraged about the failure of the Copenhagen talks and congressional inaction, people were energized — ready to show their leaders how to do what needed doing.”
The 10/10/10 events comprised “the most widespread day of civic engagement in the planet’s history,” McKibben continued. 7,347 events were held in 188 countries, everywhere but North Korea, Equatorial Guinea and San Marino.
“I think that by itself [10/10/10] accomplished a lot of good in a lot of places,” said McKibben. “But more than that, it is a key step in helping build a movement — the kind of movement we’re going to need to take on the financial power of the fossil fuel industry. This will not be an easy fight, not in any way.”
(10/14/10 3:55am)
The Solar Decathlon team continues this fall to work on the design, fundraising and community outreach for their project in preparation for the competition held in Washington, D.C. on the National Mall in late September through early October of 2011.
According to the United States Department of Energy (DOE) website, the DOE holds the Solar Decathlon to challenge participants to design and build a house powered by solar energy that is simultaneously attractive and affordable. Middlebury is the first small liberal arts college selected as a finalist for the competition.
Although the project relies on the central leadership of Project Manager Addison Godine ’11.5 and Faculty Advisor and Visiting Lecturer in Architecture Andrea Murray, the team is also supported by approximately 13 sub-teams that each focus on a different aspect of the project. Most of these sub-teams have their own student leaders in addition to advisors, who are comprised of faculty, staff, administration and even community professionals.
This fall, the team will focus on producing the required materials for their next deliverable, which is due Nov. 23. Deliverables are planning materials that must be submitted at various stages leading up to the competition. November’s deliverable includes three separate components: a project manual, a building integrated model (BIM), and a health and safety plan.
The project manual includes drawings of the house design as well as plans for the construction of the house upon arrival at the Mall.
The BIM, which lays out the specifics of the building plans, is designed on the software program Autodesk Revit Architecture.
“This has presented a particular challenge because [as] a liberal arts college, we don’t actually teach [students how to use this program]” said Godine. “We have an outside consultant coming in every week teaching the team the ropes.”
The health and safety plan outlines plans for construction surround evacuation plans, fire plans, etc.
“[We need to] think of everything that could possibly go wrong and make a plan for what to do,” explained Godine.
To jumpstart the efforts of the fall, approximately 10 students worked on the project on campus this summer.
“We had people doing fundraising, outreach, architecture and a little bit of engineering,” explained Godine.
The students were working on developing web content for an Aug. 17 deliverable.
“We set up our blog, our video account, our Twitter account and Facebook,” said Godine.
The team’s summer work also developed the community outreach component of the project.
Godine emphasized that the team is “engaging more with the community … we talked to schools in the area and we have presentations at high schools lined up for this fall.”
Godine also added that many community members involved in businesses or projects with overlapping interests have approached the team with ideas for the competition.
At the end of the 2009-2010 academic year, the team was awarded the Harris Farmhouse as project headquarters. The Harris Farmhouse is located at 803 College St. near the College Recycling Center.
Godine explained that the house is an “ideal spot … we’ve got the wind turbine, the recycling center and the Organic Garden. It’s like a theme park for environmental things.”
In addition to student volunteers, the team is also supported by two interdepartmental courses offered this fall, Construction Management and Design and Development, which provides the support of 25-30 students.
The fundraising sub-team for the project, led by Kris Williams ’11.5, has been working this fall to find funding for the competition.
“We have people writing grants, we will be pitching to corporations and then we have alumni, trustees, parents and students [who will be working to fund the project]” explained Godine.
Godine added that the team has received tremendous help from College Advancement Office. They have also presented their project at the Alumni Leadership Conference, held Sept. 24-26, and during Fall Family Weekend. The team has plans to present during Homecoming weekend as well.
“We have raised $60,000 so far and we have $440,000 left to go,” said Godine.
When asked about the feasibility of raising this sum, Godine explained that many of the teams from the 2009 competition had not finished fundraising by the time the competition was over.
Godine hoped that the team’s fundraising would not have to continue after the competition, but added that it was a “possibility.”
Actual construction of the house on campus will begin in early April of 2011, right after Spring Break. Due to the size of the house, construction will take place outside in a roped-off portion of the parking lot of the Mods. The team is considering investing in a tent to protect the project from the Vermont weather.
“It’s a great site, actually — it’s flat, it’s concrete and there are lights,” explained Godine.
Godine explained that one of the strengths of the project comes from the emphasis on collaboration, which is due in part to the team’s recruitment policies.
So far the team has “welcomed anybody who wants to work on this project with open arms,” explained Godine.
However, this welcoming attitude has also presented a challenge in properly allocating new, enthusiastic volunteers to sub-teams that best match their skill level.
In the fall of 2011, the Decathlon teams will begin unloading their trucks on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. at midnight on Sept. 14. The team will have seven and a half days to construct the house. Construction culminates in the opening ceremonies of the competition held on Sept. 22, the autumnal equinox. The opening ceremonies kick off the 10-day competition during which the judging takes place and the houses are open to the public. At the conclusion of this period, the team will have three days to deconstruct the house and must be off the Mall by Oct. 5.
(10/14/10 3:53am)
One of ten early career journalists to have received the Middlebury College Fellowships in Environmental Journalism this year, Sarah Harris ’11 plans to “tell the story of cement” through the mediums of print and radio.
Harris will spend her J-term semester and part of December in Midlothian, Texas – roughly 25 miles southwest of Dallas – and Kansas reporting on the issue of cement production using the $4,000 granted to her by the College.
“I first learned that there’d been a cement plant in southwest Dallas, and then I started learning that there were actually cement plants all over Dallas and that this community of Midlothian had three of them … It grew into this really interesting story that I wanted to pursue,” said Harris, a Texas native.
Harris furthered her interest in the Midlothian cement plants after learning about the scandals that had taken place there in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
“What happened in Midlothian was that the cement companies had been burning hazardous wastes in their kilns and turning a huge profit from it [as] it was cheaper,” Harris said. “They didn’t apply for a permit or go through the channels they were supposed to [in order to] dispose of hazardous waste properly, and it went completely unchecked.”
Fellowship applicants were required to send in two-to-three-page pitches outlining their stories as well as their plans of research.
“I’ll go through public records; I’ll interview people; I’ll use the contacts I have to get in touch with community activists … people who have worked with plants, regular everyday citizens, people in the cement industry, people with knowledge of the cement industry, [and] people who are working on ideas of green cement,” said Harris. “That’s how I’ll gather information on the ground in those communities.”
Based on data compiled by the Canadian non-profit organization EcoSmart Concrete, cement production accounts for seven to eight percent of carbon dioxide emissions globally.
“[Cement production] hasn’t gathered [enough] attention from environmentalists and the media,” she said. “It produces a lot of mercury and dioxin which can get into water supplies, which can [also] affect air quality.”
Having already accumulated experience producing stories for North Country Public Radio, a station based in Canton, New York, Harris hopes to use this fellowship as a means to break into print journalism.
“I think it’s a really exciting field to be getting into,” she said. “I certainly think [environmental journalism] has a place in our world. I’ve always really enjoyed writing and reading, and I’ve always wanted to figure out how I could make writing really work for me.”
Harris and the nine other recipients of the Middlebury College Environmental Fellowship are scheduled to meet twice a year: in California at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in the spring and on the Middlebury campus itself during the fall. Her finished project will be a 3,000-word print story in addition to a radio narrative of four minutes length, both of which she will pitch to local media outlets in Texas.
“I’m really interested in nonfiction,” said Harris. “I’m interested in journalism as a way in which to put relevant information into the world and a way in which to process the way we see our world. I think environmental journalism is enormously, enormously relevant.”
(10/14/10 3:52am)
On Oct. 9, hundreds of Vermont college students were registered to vote as part of an effort through the Race to Replace campaign. Teams of environmental advocates across the state organized in this “dorm storm” to help promote clean energy resources.
The Race to Replace campaign was created by a group of Middlebury students in spring of 2010 after the Vermont Senate voted 26-4 against relicensing Vermont Yankee, a controversial nuclear power plant in Southern Vermont which produces about a third of the energy used in the state. Vermont Yankee faced widespread discontent among residents after lawmakers found out about radioactive tritium leaks as well as inconsistencies in testimonies by officials running the plant, and the College-based movement encourages the Vermont legislature and residents to replace Vermont Yankee with cleaner and more sustainable sources of energy.
“The way that we choose to replace these plants that are coming up for relicensing or shutdown, especially coal plants, will determine an enormous amount of the energy and climate future in the United States for the next 40 years, so the time is now to get engaged,” said Pier LaFarge ’10.5, a founding member of the movement.
Other initiators of the movement explained the recent activity led by the Race to Replace, as they celebrated 10/10/10, Global Work Day, with 350.org, the environmental organization led by Scholar-in-Residence in Environmental Studies Bill McKibben.
“We decided the best way for us to ‘get to work’ would be to register young voters at Middlebury and across the state,” said Ben Wessel ’11.5, another key leader of the Race to Replace effort. “Since the governor’s election this year is so close, and since it has such huge ramifications for clean energy development in the state, we thought registering new voters who pledge to vote for clean energy candidates was the best way for us to make a concrete difference in tackling climate change.”
The team pointed out that all students at Middlebury or at any school in Vermont are considered Vermont residents by state law, and are therefore able to participate in all Vermont elections. Wessel and Olivia Noble ’13, another key member of the Race to Replace team, emphasized how Vermont’s small size makes it possible for motivated students to make a substantial difference in Vermont’s energy future.
“We’ve actually switched a lot of students’ voter [registrations] to Vermont from states that don’t have significant races this year,” Noble wrote in an e-mail.
The Race to Replace campaign is also working alongside the College Democrats and the College Republicans in order to encourage students to register to vote.
“Middlebury students have incredible resources at our advantage that we can use to help advance the clean energy cause among the Vermont populace,” said Wessel. “Not only do we have some financial resources available at the College, but the respect that the Middlebury brand carries can help get press and get people to pay attention. Political organizing in such a small state is particularly rewarding because each individual voice is taken seriously.”
Noble agreed, pointing to how Middlebury students have already had an impact on the community through interaction over the last summer.
“We’ve really made it a priority this summer and throughout the campaign to tie our efforts in with those of the people already here,” she said. “Race to Replace had a lot of conversations with Vermont residents this summer, making sure that the policies we were pushing were initiative[s] that Vermonters cared about. From that, we’ve been able to find common ground and work together with Vermont residents to achieve our goals.”
LaFarge also spoke in depth about potential energy replacements should Vermont Yankee be permanently decommissioned, emphasizing “wind, biomass, microhydro and solar energy” technologies. According to LaFarge, there are also massive economic benefits to reap for the state should these emerging industries be established in place of the current nuclear plant.
Race to Replace will continue to be visibly active on campus over the next few weeks and will be registering more students at the College to vote, as the Vermont gubernatorial elections approach. It has been working with the Vermont League of Conservation Voters, which endorses the gubernatorial candidate Peter Shumlin as the best choice for voters concerned about green issues and climate change.
“There are a lot of important state representative and state senate seats in Vermont that are coming up that could determine the balance of how future votes on something like relicensing Vermont Yankee could go,” said LaFarge. “So there a lot of smaller ballot races that are important, but the governor’s race is definitely the key — it’s also the closest of all the races.”