Opinion

Cone~oisseurs

Requiem for Proposition 19

Daniel Pulido ’11 is from Bogota, Columbia. It feels strange to say that in Middlebury College the war on drugs has been lost. It makes a lot more sense when you go to the Bronx in NYC, or Baltimore in Maryland. But it is strikingly clear when you think about northern Mexico or my home country: Colombia. Some ...

A prayer to the bicycle gods

Cori Hundt ’11 is from Warren, NJ. I think I offended the bicycle gods. Perhaps I was a bicycle thief in a previous life? Or maybe I burned bicycles in political protest? After all, these explanations are the only ones I can find as to why my bike has been vandalized not once, not even twice, but ...

First impressions of Middlebury from an international graduate student

Ramune Pansa is  from Kassel, Germany Answer me one question: What are the first six things that come to your mind when you think about Middlebury? The first things that I see of Vermont are a lake, lights of a town and clouds. That is all I can see at 6 p.m. out of a small plane, while Canadians, ...

Left or right?

Andrew Torre ’13 is from Landgrove, Vt. In extreme economic circumstances such as those that prevail today, before any remedies can be applied, it must be acknowledged that the economic system has failed. Obviously, if economic misery exists, there must be a system-based cause. This is true whether ...

On douchebaggery and the like

Danil Rudoy ’11 is from Moscow, Russia The problem of douchebaggery at Middlebury College, a proud educational institution with a long history full of copious resonant episodes, is something that, despite its obvious relevance, has not yet been addressed on the pages of this periodical. Your humble ...

Emoticons ftw :)

This past week, Middlebury joined Williams and Bowdoin as the third NESCAC institution to enact gender-neutral housing legislation. Starting in Fall 2011, any sophomore, junior or senior will be allowed to live with whomever they choose, regardless of either party’s gender. While College policy already ...

Sarah Palin and How to Ruin a Family Get-Together

Discussing politics is one of the easiest ways to ruin any family gathering. In my past I have managed to spoil visits from several of my relatives. One time involved my lobbyist uncle and his “artist” wife — who, depending on the incident, either would not stop complaining about how they could ...

Editorial

This past week, Middlebury joined Williams and Bowdoin as the third NESCAC institution to enact gender-neutral housing legislation. Starting in Fall 2011, any sophomore, junior or senior will be allowed to live with whomever they choose, regardless of either party’s gender. While College policy already ...

Editorial

Most students at Middlebury are athletes. Just over one in four students participate in varsity sports, and the percentage increases dramatically if we include JV, club and intramurals. In fact, if you don’t participate in an organized sport of some kind, you are in the minority on campus. Even then, ...

Rulers and the ruled

Last December hopes were high, and expectations soared as 197 countries sent representatives to the city of Copenhagen to take part in the United Nations sponsored talks on greenhouse emissions and global climate change. Despite President Obama’s comment that these talks were “meaningful,” these ...

Balance and the pass/fail system

This past week, we once again awoke in the early hours of the morning to stare at the lifeless blue screen of BannerWeb. Typing in those CRNs we made choices — we chose the shape of our spring semester, our possible majors and perhaps our future careers. Some of us registered for classes like The ...

Aid appreciation

I was excited to get an email in my inbox with the words: “You are the 2010-2011 recipient of the Anonymous Scholarship, a donor-funded scholarship that supports your financial aid. Congratulations on this special honor!” But when I looked at my new financial aid balance, my joyful bubble popped: ...

Cuddle for carbon neutrality

The Vermont winter makes a solid argument against the existence of global warming, especially when gusts of icy snow get involved. Admittedly, this time of year provides some evidence for climate change — from chilly to colder to Winter Term — but except for a few strangely sunny days, Middlebury ...

“Line by line and point by point”

When the woman in the most significant position of international climate policy power says that she does “not believe we will have a final agreement on climate change … in [her] lifetime,” one would approach work in this sphere with precious little hope. The woman is Christina Figueres — a 53-year-old ...

Midd Quidd!

To the Middlebury Campus, My family drove from New Hampshire to New York City this weekend to attend the Fourth Annual Quidditch World Cup. This was our third cup. Our son is a senior at Middlebury and has played quidditch all four years. In fact, he saw someone in a Middlebury Quidditch t-shirt on ...

Dressing up your subconcious

In the HBO series, Bored to Death, Ted Danson’s magazine-editing character hears that the board of his publication has voted to cut his column — to which he responds, “I am my column.  I mean, I’m writing it in my mind, all the time.” Similarly, I too write my column in my mind, all the time.  ...

“Keep Affolter”

Last fall I had the tremendous benefit of arriving on this campus and beginning my Middlebury journey in the classroom of Visiting Assistant Professor of Education Studies Tara Affolter. I was immediately challenged in numerous ways to critically analyze the complexities of systems of oppression and ...

Remembering a fellow sports editor

Technically speaking, Jeff Klein ’09 and I were co-editors of The Campus Sports section for three semesters in 2008, but that distinction doesn’t do justice to either our friendship or the weekly lessons he gave me in sports reporting. A small and somewhat sterilized office, the Hepburn basement ...

MacGray conspiracy

How many times have you had your laundry in the washer and ready to go, having snagged a precious available washer on a busy Sunday afternoon, only to find that the balance on every one of the five MacGray laundry cards you had lying around your room is a quarter short of the price of a wash? Or had ...