I was 11 years old, and it was my first time back to Israel since my family had left when I was five. We decided to visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem, and I clearly remember being surprised by how many soldiers there were, by the flood of olive drab around the ancient, cool sandstone. I asked my ...
J-Term is here! Ring the bells! Sound the alarm! It’s that most wonderful time of the year. As The Campus’ resident alcohol columnist, it probably comes as no surprise that I spend most of my year counting down to J-Term. For me, these four weeks of free time, outdoor recreation and binge drinking ...
President Emeritus John McCardell’s recent decision to leave Middlebury caused a wave of conflicting feelings and responses within the College community. On the one hand, it’s hard to watch someone leave who has contributed so much to the advancement and general success of Middlebury College. On ...
The first time I heard the name John McCardell was during my first couple days at Middlebury. My junior counselor (this dates myself) told our hall about the former president, who continued teaching a couple of classes annually. He’s a wonderful professor as well, she added. That was enough for me. ...
It is the purpose of this column, and a responsibility I take very seriously, to represent the conservative voice on campus (a voice which is sometimes sadly lacking from much of the discourse represented on this campus). However, this week I am going to stray slightly from my usual topics in order ...
Continuing in the trend of budget cuts that have dominated Campus headlines for over a year now, the introduction of new printing quotas — announced this week — is likely to elicit a variety of responses from the student body, including eye-rolling cynicism, apathetic indifference and indignant ...
I would like to continue the discussion my friend, Jeff Garofano, began in his Nov. 12 op-ed on the role of politics in our Middlebury education. In his piece, Jeff argues that institutions of higher education should remain as apolitical as possible. He takes Stanley Fish’s view that universities ...
Dear Middlebury Campus, As a part of Middlebury College’s 10 percent international student population, it was quite an unpleasant surprise to see barely any mention of the Annual ISO Show in the Middlebury Campus’ Nov. 18 edition. The Campus’ mention of the ISO Show was restricted to a corner ...
Last year, I offered my readers unsolicited advice on maintaining an acceptable public image through class participation. This year, I will apply my dubious expertise to the culinary practices that go into baking the cake on which class participation is the proverbial icing. (If you are a science major ...
Over this Thanksgiving break, my friends from high school and I got together in Boston for a “Boy’s Night Out.” Of course, we didn’t call it “Boy’s Night Out” — that would have been embarrassing — but as a graduate of an all-boys Catholic school, any attempt to hang out with friends ...
Audio produced by Amanda Pertierra I can see myself working within a quota because I can see myself paying for it after a certain point. It depends — if a class requires a lot of printing, I think that each class should have a certain quota. A professor should be given a quota too, so that we can ...
Dear Middlebury Campus, As a member of the community of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., the idea that the seas could rise with global warming is very distressing. After seeing the recent photograph of the government of the Maldives signing a petition underwater to promote climate change in Copenhagen, ...
Let’s name the animals no longer with us, except in language: start with the dodo, the Haitian long-tongued bat, the dwarf emu, the laughing owl, the eastern buffalo. And then animals like the nukupuu, the lorikeet, the broad-faced potoroo, whose absences don’t sadden me as much as I can’t put ...
It is a risky business to apologize to your daughter via a newspaper column. First, of all, she is likely to find it embarrassing. To be honest, since she was about 11, my daughter has found any public acknowledgement of the fact that I was her father to be more or less unbearable. I was even required ...
I’m packing for the trip to Copenhagen, site next month of arguably the most important international negotiations in the planet’s history. There will be big rallies, speeches to give, delegates from every corner of the world, grand conference halls, lots of press. But I’ll be thinking, often, ...