Cartoon - Dylan Levy

Power Couples Series Part One: Ilaria Brancoli-Busdraghi and Pieter Brouke

What Middlebury student has never experienced the platonic professor crush? It’s hard not to become enamored with our various instructors’ talent, enthusiasm, kindness and quirks. And what is the only thing better than finding one great professor whom you admire? Discovering a faculty couple, a ...

To a basketball player - Wenbo Zhang

At the beginning of your journey, it might have been the glamour of the NBA that lured you into the game, or that exhilarating sound of a basketball swishing through the net. But not long after, what started off as a spurt of enthusiasm grew into a long-lasting passion. When other kids were at home ...

A letter on creativity

In a recent lecture on the connection between mind and body, Andrea Olsen said that after three days of drinking water at a conference in Korea she was 60 percent composed of that country. My encounters with the Proctor water tap have provided less inspiration. That’s not to say this place is lacking ...

Chili fest heats things up

Saturday, March 12 marked the third annual Winter Carnival and Chili Festival in the town of Middlebury. This year, over 3,500 people strolled down Main Street, 1,500 more individuals than last year. For three dollars, attendees could sample 85 different chilies from 54 vendors. Students and faculty ...

Good Point reflects on, celebrates 10 years

Good Point Recycling, an electronics recycling company in Middlebury, recently released its 10-year anniversary report, which re-capped the company’s growth in 2010 and highlighted its numerous accomplishments since its founding in 2001. Good Point’s business model is based on fair trade recycling; ...

Spring showers bring syrupy sweetness

The end of February and beginning of March mark the start of the tapping season in Vermont, the time for extracting as much sweet goodness as possible from maple trees. All over the state, and as close as right next door, Vermonters collect maple sap and turn it into syrup. College Professor Emeritus ...

Meet the farmer: Nola's Secret Garden

Nola Kevra leads a simple, quiet life in the woods near Ripton, Vt. The owner of Nola’s Secret Garden, a greenhouse that produces organically certified greens, is originally from New Jersey — “back when it merited the name ‘The Garden State’”­ — she has been living in the same house with ...

1 in 8700: Danielle Boyce

Danielle Boyce is ready for yet another adventure. On March 21, she and her husband, Steve, will become the owners of American Flatbread in the Marble Works. Having been manager of the restaurant for the past five years, Boyce is knowledgeable about the business and has worked closely with many of the ...

The pragmatist

Debate continues in Vermont over how to address the projected budget deficit, as lawmakers and citizens protest cuts to social services while refusing to support tax increases. Vermont is not alone — states and local governments across the U.S. are making decisions about how to balance budgets. Vermont ...

"Terminus" captivates audience

Hearing a man with an Irish lilt describe murder in rhymed verse is oddly captivating. As is hearing a young woman speak passionately of a body assembled of worms, the temporary home of a soul shucked of its body. Or the tale of a woman on a mission to prevent death, only to have her efforts rewarded ...

Local lowdown

St. Patrick’s Day happy hour March 17, 4:30 p.m. Two Brothers Tavern offers pints of Guinness coupled with tunes from Rick Klein and Peter Macfarlane, who are members of the band Atlantic Crossing. The group plays traditional music from New England, the British Isles and French and Maritime Canada. ...

Comedy unites College, town

Otter Nonsense performed their annual improv show at the Town Hall Theater on Friday, Mar. 11. The performance marked the Otters’ second community performance since their debut last year at the theater. The show was filled with hilarity and quick wit from all performers, both seasoned and new, and ...

For the Record - "Collapse Into Now"

About thirty years ago, R.E.M.’s debut single “Radio Free Europe” sparked a garage rock revival in the American underground, essentially marking the transition from post-punk to alternative rock. Over the next fifteen years, they tweaked and developed their signature jangle-pop sound, giving us ...

Policy violations shut down Bunker

As of Sunday, March 6, operations of the student group running the Bunker have been suspended for the year, but the space in the Freeman International Center will likely be available in the future for events similar to those it has hosted in the past. This administrative decision came as a result of ...

Hamlin premieres new song cycle

On March 13 the Mahaney Center for the Arts featured soprano vocalist Susanne Peck, accompanied by pianist Cynthia Huard, oboist Daniel Frostman and Deborah Sharpe-Lunstead on the viola de gamba, in an eclectic program titled “Sacred to Satire.” Highlights included works from such varied composers ...

Booking It - "Room"

Warning: don’t start reading this book if you have homework to do, because you won’t get anything done until you finish. Room, the latest book by Irish-born Canadian author Emma Donoghue, is an intense, fast moving story about a five-year-old boy named Jack and his relationship with his mother. To ...

Dorm damage increases

With $53,879.19 in dorm damage already billed and what are traditionally the most destructive months still to come, the 2010-2011 academic year is shaping up to be the most costly on record. This fall, the College saw over $16,000 of damage in both October and November, making the two months the second ...

"F Word" symposium opens

Discussion of feminist topics will take center stage on March 17 and 18 as the symposium “The F Word: Feminist Texts, Feminist Lives” comes to the College. The symposium, which hopes to rekindle interest in feminism by connecting it to many other disciplines and movements, is sponsored by the May ...