MiddNews
Middlebury's newest students will participate this fall in orientation activities designed to help them learn more about their Middlebury College surroundings while building bonds within the class and with others in the community. Orientation runs from Sept. 1-8.
The Middlebury Outdoor Orientation (MOO) program, which was started by the Middlebury College Mountain Club in 1988, offers new students excursions for backpacking, trail maintenance, mountain biking, canoeing, rock climbing, and fly-fishing. Each group consists of eight first-year students and two experienced student leaders.
Two other orientation options for students include "This is Vermont," which provides an opportunity to learn more about Vermont by visiting nearby Burlington and other points of interest, and "Volunteer Preview," in which participants get to know one another and the local community by teaming together and engaging in community service projects, helping to maintain hiking trails, or enjoying cookouts and other activities.
New students also enroll in a first-year seminar taught by a member of the faculty, for academic credit. Among seminars this year are "Roads Less Traveled: Literature and Culture in Northern New England," "Age of Michelangelo," and "Mind and Brain."
Fall convocation takes place on the final day of orientation, and includes a faculty procession in academic regalia, welcoming remarks by a member of the faculty, the singing of traditional College songs, and an address by President McCardell.
Slate Magazine has been running a daily diary entry by Dave Koch, who attends Middlebury's 2002 Bread Loaf Writers' Conference on a "waitership"—work-study scholarships awarded to promising writers, who work as waiters. Koch is a founding editor of the Land Grant Review. You can read the entries at Slate's Web site, providing the link still lives when you read this. Check: http://slate.msn.com//?id=2069571&entry=2069635.
Warm, dry summer weather has enabled the College to make substantial progress on construction projects. Here's an update:
Library: Helping to keep the hot weather from making Middlebury College a sleepy summer campus, workers at the library site blasted away bedrock ledge over a period of several weeks. Stone removed during blasting is being crushed on site into gravel to be used as backfill at the library as well as for road base for parking lot projects around campus. The foundation is currently being poured, and the steel framework will start to go up in early September. The College is working with Vermont wood manufacturers to produce library carrels and book stack end panels from sustainably harvested Vermont lumber.
Ross Commons: The LaForce Hall dormitory and Ross Dining Hall are completed and ready for use in the fall. The associated road-widening project on College Street is complete, permitting additional on-street parking and the creation of two new crosswalks opposite Hillcrest and Adirondack View. A dedication ceremony for Ross Commons will take place on Sept. 13.
Atwater Commons: Work on designs for the two new Atwater dormitories and the new dining hall is now complete. State permits are in hand and an expansion of the nearby parking lot has begun.
The Bubble: Fletcher Field House has been demolished and erection of the air-supported structure, or "bubble," that will serve as its replacement is complete. The bubble with its new squash courts is ready for use at the beginning of the fall semester. Many of the laminated wooden beams and concrete panels from Fletcher were salvaged and are being re-used locally.
Recycling Center: Construction of the College's new materials recycling facility is now complete. This new structure, located on Route 125, enables the College to move the recycling operation away from the central campus to a facility built for the purpose that offers sufficient sorting space, room for trucks, and a screened work yard.
Rehabilitation of Starr Library: A planning committee chaired by Professor Glenn Andres has begun space planning with the intention of adapting Starr Library for many potential uses. Preservation studies for the building are going forward. Rehabilitation work on this structure will begin when library operations are transferred to the new library in 2004.
Recent Middlebury media mentions include several faculty members. David Colander, Christian A. Johnson Professor of Economics, was featured on NPR's "All Things Considered" on July 24. The segment was dedicated to answering listeners' questions about recent corporate scandals and the plunging stock market. Colander joined Smart Money senior writer Lauren Young and host John Ydstie. This was Colander's second appearance as a guest on "All Things Considered." To listen, go to http://search.npr.org/cf/cmn/cmnpd01fm.cfm?PrgDate=07/24/2002&PrgID=2. Scroll down the list of stories until you find "Your Financial Questions Answered." Click on the title to hear the audio file.
Michael Katz, dean of languages and schools abroad, was quoted in a July 10 Los Angeles Times story about language institutes at the University of California. He describes Middlebury Langauge Schools' immersion program and the language pledge, in which students agree to speak only the language they are studying for the duration of the school session.
Professor of French Edward Knox is quoted in a July 6 New York Times story about American attitudes toward the French. Referring to American and French culture, Knox noted that "These are the two civilizations that think they have lessons to teach the whole world…which makes them rivals."
Three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright for drama Edward Albee will be the first of a number of prominent speakers and artists who will participate in The Nicholas R. Clifford Symposium for 2002. Albee will deliver the keynote address for the symposium in Mead Chapel on Thursday, Sept. 19 at 8 p.m.
Entitled "Art Matters: Visions for the Arts in the 21st Century," this year's Clifford Symposium will run from Sept. 19-21, kicking off the 10th anniversary celebration of the Middlebury College Center for the Arts.