Cutting the Cord
The cover of the fall 2006 Middlebury Magazine reminded me of the perfect gift my friend Chip received on his 18th birthday. He and I were working at a summer camp when he turned 18. On his birthday, he had the usual cake and ice cream. His mother (who worked there as an assistant director) presented Chip with a small box, wrapped in masculine paper. He opened it to find two long, narrow strips of patterned cloth tied in a neat bow. The symbolism of his mother giving him neatly cut apron strings has stayed with me for almost 50 years. That revealed a special relationship between Chip and his parents. More parents should develop that kind of relationship and cut the apron strings, the earlier the better.
David J. Bahn ’62
Jacksonville, Florida
How Close?
As a retired secondary school English teacher, I’m aware of a gradual escalation in parental participation in the writing and proofreading of high school papers. In order to receive written work created by our students without assistance from either the Internet or a family member, some of us increased the amount and weighting of in-class writing. But conversations with former students and parents of college students suggest that parental collaboration on papers and projects, all made possible by the magic of e-mail, continues unabated at the college level.
Back in the dark ages of the late 1950s, my friends and I never even conceived the possibility of such collaboration. Given our habit of last-minute writing, we would have had no way to send drafts back and forth anyway. But leaving that detail aside, our newfound independence and academic machismo would never, ever permit us to write home for that kind of help (financial, yes; scholarly, no).
And even in the late 1980s, my own son and daughter would never have stooped to such an exchange, despite Dad’s academic credentials.
I’m curious whether Elena Kennedy ’06 or Barbara Hofer has investigated this aspect of family ties at Middlebury; if so, how widespread do they feel the practice has become? I won’t take a moral position in this letter beyond suggesting that parents who help work on their daughters’ and sons’ projects should certainly add their own names to the work.
Dutton Foster, M.A. English ’68
Saint Paul, Minnesota
True Value
Thank you for the article on the cost and value of a Middlebury education (“The $44,000 Question,” fall 2006). One way of reducing cost would be to have students do more campus service work in exchange for reduced tuitions. Students now work in food services and other areas, but more could work in places like the athletic equipment room (see “Life in the ER” in the same issue). An extensive student work program could lower College labor costs and thus ease the tuition burden. Such a program might promote a stronger community ethos, which also has potential for reducing College prices.
A strong community ethic would foster sharing and cooperation, which could reduce College costs by promoting more efficient use of books, computers, and other resources. Middlebury scholar-in-residence Bill McKibben in recent issues of The New York Review of Books and Sierra Magazine has attributed today’s “hyper-individualism” to our fossil fuels technology, which makes us independent of neighbors and community and requires ever-greater expense to maintain. The implication of that analysis is that we need more cooperative social structures if we are to free ourselves of the immense expenses of fossil fuel dependence. The point applies, as well, to lessening college costs. Cooperation presents opportunities for efficiencies and savings needed to lower college expenses. And teaching kids how to work together for the common good gives them one more way of contributing to society, enriching their own lives, and deepening the value of their educations.
It is true that one cannot measure the value of a liberal education in widening the spirit, stimulating interests, or sharpening curiosity. But colleges can measure how well faculties promote student writing skills, improve speed and span of their intellectual grasps, and sharpen their abilities to analyze and synthesize. The Collegiate Learning Assessment and the National Survey of Student Engagement are two testing programs that indicate how well students learn essential thinking techniques. Middlebury should have its students participate in these. While testing can determine neither value nor personal merit, aggregated test results can show where skills are strong or weak and point to areas for improving teaching. If a liberal education includes development of a thinking mind, evaluation of student thinking skills and actions for improving teaching based upon evaluation will add value to that education.
Dave Corkran ’57
Portland, Oregon
Don’t Diss the Midd Music Scene!
My name is Ted Parker ’08. I am the president of the Middlebury Musicians’ Guild (MMG), which for two years has been striving (quite successfully, thus far) to represent the interests of musicians on campus. I have read Bob Gulla’s article in the fall 2006 issue entitled “Dispatch Is Dead! Long Live Dispatch!” and I respectfully must take issue with Mr. Gulla’s treatment of the music scene at Middlebury—specifically: “With apologies to the D8 and the Mischords, Middlebury is hardly a musical hotbed.” On the contrary, I believe that a look at the activities of the MMG over the past two years, and the huge amount of musical activity on campus this semester, demonstrates quite the opposite of Mr. Gulla’s assertion.
Most notably, in January the MMG opened a humble recording facility in the Freeman International Center, filling (at least partially) a previously gaping hole in the musical community at Midd. Students have already produced a number of recordings, and many more are on the way. Furthermore, the MMG has collaborated with the Dean of the College’s office and the music department to create the weekly TGIF Music Series in the library atrium, highlighting on-campus talent, in addition to a new weekly series of MMG shows by student performers at the Grille. It is my understanding that Middlebury has always had a slew of talented musicians—Philip Hamilton ’82 comes to mind as a dynamic performer whose time at Midd would have coincided with Mr. Gulla’s—and rather than invigorating a dead music scene, the MMG is bringing Middlebury’s musicians the attention they have long deserved. The payoff is that we’ve seen an explosion of new music groups on campus in the past semester, which are happily devouring all of these new opportunities.
Rather than treating Dispatch like an anomaly, I believe strongly that we must continue to encourage musicians at Middlebury, with Dispatch’s success as a prime example of the rewards that can follow hard work and dedication. A recording studio, in particular, is something for which Middlebury’s musicians had petitioned for decades. We are very proud of our facility, but it is indeed humble—suited only to small-scale, amateur-quality projects. Alumni should know that their support could do much to promote this project, and perhaps encourage lightning to strike a few more times at Midd.
Ted Parker ’08
Middlebury, Vermont
Who Was First?
In reference to the article titled “Safi’s Choice” in the fall issue of the magazine: The author refers to Zohra Safi as “the first female student from Afghanistan to attend Middlebury.” There has been at least one other that I know of. She was a member of the class of ’72, and her name was Rona Kayeum. I’m not sure where she went from Middlebury or when. I don’t believe the class secretaries know her address either, nor has Rona been heard from in a long time. I seem to recall that her father was the interior minister for Afghanistan—no doubt in the 1960s. Rona was a lovely, quiet, gentle person. I hope she’s well and happy, wherever she is today.
Tom Chesrown ’72
Chicago, Illinois
Editors’ Note: Mr. Chesrown is correct. Rona Kayeum ’72 was the first female student from Afghanistan to attend Middlebury. We apologize for the error.
Then and Now
In the fall 2006 issue of Middlebury Magazine, I read the fact that Middlebury was recognized as one of the best campuses for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered students. As a student at Middlebury in the mid-1980s, I started to come to terms with my differences in what felt at the time to be a very scary place. My first year, I befriended a gay man who feared for his life because of the bullying that was unofficially tolerated. He chose to leave Middlebury because there seemed to be no alternative. At that time, there were no out lesbians, no role models—certainly not anyone who could be seen as publicly supportive.
I came from a religious family when I was growing up never even hearing the word “lesbian.” I did feel very fortunate while at Middlebury to be able to go to a counselor where I could talk freely, but it took me years to come to terms with being different.
Today, I live in Canada. I feel a great sense of gratitude that I live in a country that recognizes me as an intelligent human being, capable of choosing the person I want to marry.
Middlebury College has since become more open to diversity both visible and invisible. It is my hope that students at Middlebury today no longer have to feel fear for being who they are, one of God’s children.
Lisa Van Buren ’90
Ottawa, Ontario
Happy Trails
I just read Jay Heinrichs’s wonderful story “Walking George to School” (fall 2006), which instantly took me back to my days with the Middlebury Mountain Club and our time spent hiking the Long Trail.
When we were students in the 1930s, the Mountain Club was in its infancy, but was easily the most popular extracurricular activity on campus. (I had long suspected this, but recently proved it while scanning the 1938 Kaleidoscope, which lists all the activities of our class when we were seniors. Of the 136 students in our class, 100 participated in the Mountain Club, which—if my math is correct—accounts for more than 73 percent of our class!)
In recent years—in an attempt to generate more news for our class notes column—I have asked my classmates to recall their favorite memories of life at Middlebury. Several have referred to the Mountain Club.
“In April of our sophomore year,” Alice Crosby Loomis ’37 wrote, “the Mountain Club climbed up Camel’s Hump. It was warm and sunny on campus, but we encountered six to eight inches of snow before we reached the summit. Then it began to rain.”
Gladys Caldroney ’37, in her final note to us before her death, spoke of “the beauty of the hills” and her enjoyment of the Mountain Club hikes.
For me, I count one personal experience as probably the most memorable outdoor event of my life—an overnight hike up Mount Abe, in which we found ourselves above the clouds in bright moonlight, while the world around us was wrapped in white ice.
What a memory. Thanks for prompting it.
Marshall Sewell ’37
Whiting, New Jersey
Corrections, Please
I want to thank you for printing in the fall edition an obituary for my sister, Michele Whitney ’63, who died this past July. However, I do want to correct some misinformation which you included when you changed the obituary that I sent to you. You state that Middlebury survivors include Michele’s uncle, Julius W. Whitney ’35. He died in 1995. Her cousin Barbara Whitney Wilson ’51 died about three years ago. I have no clue who Eileen Whitney Wilson ’37 is; she is not a relative of ours. Shirley Whitney Juneo ’58 is, indeed, alive and well.
As an American literature major, Michele learned from Doc Cook, Howard Munford, and Horace Beck that you “always check your facts.” That served her well as a writer-researcher for Time and Money magazines. Might I suggest that when you choose to change an obituary someone has sent to you, that you contact that person and check your facts?
I hope you take this suggestion in the spirit of helpfulness that is intended.
Pat Whitney Messler ’69
Rockport, Maine
Editors’ Note: Due to omissions in our database, we had incorrect information for Barbara Whitney Wilson ’51 and Julius W. Whitney ’35. We regret the errors. It is our understanding that Eileen Whitney Wilson is a distant cousin of the Whitney family, but if that is not true, we regret that error as well.
Remembering Sarah Smith Vuillet
My classmate, Sarah Smith Vuillet ’56, passed away in April. Her obituary in your summer issue gave the “nuts and bolts” of her life.
Perhaps a few lines from a eulogy given by a colleague at Friends Academy, where she taught and was an administrator for 30 years, will tell you why Sally made such an impact on others’ lives. “She was someone central to the school’s life in every imaginable way… She had a mix of sophistication and genuineness balanced by a wry sense of humor.”
After work and family, Sally’s dogs were her love. A lifelong golf champion, she was a fierce competitor. In building her English garden from scratch, she consulted books and catalogues, and visited nurseries in three states to find just the perfect plants to add to her garden.
Her life was so full, and she touched so many people. She was a credit to the Middlebury College community. “Sweet Sal,” as her husband called her, is missed by all who knew her.
Karl A. Brautigam, Jr. ’56
Norwalk, Connecticut
Weddings Plus...
I wonder if you would consider giving at least a page each in the magazine—with photo captions and historical comments—to the 25th and 50th year reunions? Although wedding pictures are nice, I believe it would also be nice to see how classmates have weathered the years and include a little history. For instance, 50 years ago we had great hockey teams under Duke Nelson, great ski teams, and great teachers, such as Cook and Munford in American literature, “Beowulf” Brown, Cubeta in Shakespeare, and former Lafayette Esquadrille aviator Heinrichs among other distinguished faculty. Also, of course, fraternities and sororities.
Bill Simpson ’58
Pleasanton, California
Correction
In the fall 2006 feature story “The $44,000 Question,” we reported that Middlebury’s comprehensive fee of $44,000 per year is $13,600 less than the actual cost to educate a Middlebury student. That differential is incorrect. It should have been $29,000 less than the actual cost.
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