2016 vol 132 issue 19

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‘The Big Short’

Double standards

Movie focuses on the 2008 financial crisis

One student comments on gender stereotypes in bed

ARTS

BURLINGTON, VT

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VOL. 132

ISSUE 19

LIFE

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W E D N E S DAY, F E B R UARY 2 4 , 2 0 1 6

KAKE WALK

Alumni and faculty reflect on winter carnival tradition

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or 73 years, UVM fraternity members danced in blackface and satin tuxedos during the longest running winter carnival in the country. At its peak in the 1960s, this event, known as the Kake Walk, was held twice over a February weekend in the Patrick Gym in order to fit all 8,000 spectators, according to ticket sales reports. “It was like going to a world fair every year,” Mike Johns, who walked in 1961, said. The concept of the Kake Walk originated with slaves on northern plantations who performed in outrageous ways for their owners. The “most comical” slave won a piece of cake, sociologist James Loewen stated in the book “The University of Vermont: The First 200 Years.”

The Kake Walk began in 1893 to replace a canceled military ball at a time when Jim Crow laws were rampant and minstrel shows were becoming more popular in Vermont, Loewen wrote. In the years following the Kake Walk’s end, it wasn’t talked about, Ken McGuckin, who walked in 1965, said. “It was blacklisted – you couldn’t say the words on campus,” McGuckin said. Current SGA president Jason Maulucci said some students aren’t aware the Kake Walk existed, or that it was an institutional part of UVM. “It’s so important that we are reminded of what our past was, so that we know that we should never repeat that past,” Maulucci said.

ILLUSTRATION FROM THE 1961 KAKE WALK PROGRAM

ENTERPRISE

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UVM Rescue to have a new facility by caroline alkire calkire@uvm.edu

UVM Rescue is spending $1.6 million to build a new facility to house their ambulances and on duty student staff more efficiently. The current building, located on 284 East Ave, doesn’t meet their need to safely store their vehicles, UVM Rescue Director of Operations Mike Barnum, a senior, said. “We have two ambulances, yet we only have room for one in our bay, so we have to leave the off duty truck outside to face the harsh Vermont weather, which severely depletes the life of our $200,000 ambulances,” Barnum said. Additionally, the building doesn’t provide staff with a comfortable setting when they’re on the job. “We have one bedroom with two bunk beds in it yet we typically have six students on duty per night, leaving two members to sleep on couches in the common room,” he said. By working with Director of Capital Planning and Management Robert Vaughan and the architectural firm Freeman French Freeman, UVM Rescue has come up with a budget and design for their proposed facility, Barnum said.

A UVM Rescue ambulance responds to a medical call Feb. 21. The rescue squad secured funding through a private donation to build a new facility. OLIVER POMAZI/The Vermont Cynic “Our call volume is increasing every year and the new facility will allow us to increase our provided services if necessary to meet the demand of emergency requests,” he said. Funding for the new building will be paid half from funds UVM Rescue receives for their services, while the other half will be funded by a loan from the University that will be paid back over the next 10 years, Vaughan said. Barnum gave a presentation

to the board of trustees educational policy and institutional resources committee Feb. 5, Vaughan said. “The way any project works is we have a requirement to report to two different subcommittees on the board of trustees,” he said. The next step for UVM Rescue is to present the project to the budget and finance committee, Vaughan said. Once they approve it, the project is allowed to begin.

UVM Rescue is a student club and full-time advanced life support ambulance service staffed by about 20 student volunteers, Barnum said. UVM Rescue has been providing emergency services to UVM and the surrounding communities for over 40 years, he said. They have responded to more than 1,300 calls in 2015 alone, according to their website.

SGA objects taxation of Greek houses by kelsey neubauer kaneubauer@uvm.edu

Greek life has received new support from SGA in their efforts to remain tax exempt. SGA passed a resolution Feb. 16 in support of bill H725, which will allow Greek housing to be tax exempt, SGA President Jason Maulucci said. As such, he said he will be joining members of Greek life in Montpelier Feb. 23 to lobby in support of the bill. In passing this resolution, SGA is backing a huge portion of their constituency, not only in Greek life, but the student body as a whole, Maulucci said. “I believe that [the property tax] is not just a Greek issue, it is a UVM issue and a community issue,” he said. Greek houses would have to pay an additional $225,000 each year in property taxes if H725 is not passed, according to the resolution. Sophomore Lachlan Francis and junior Niki Brown, both SGA members, introduced the resolution. “I’m supporting H725 because I think removing [Greek life’s] tax exemption is a classic example of a solution looking for a problem,” Francis said. Additionally, “forcing,” students out of Greek housing would add to the strained Burlington housing markets, he said. Greek life at UVM is “thankful,” and “looking forward to working with SGA,” said president of the UVM’s panhellenic association, senior Jenna Nash. “I’m very happy that the SGA was able to support us by unanimously passing a resolution supporting this bill that will allow us to maintain affordable housing,” said August Siebs, the president of the Interfraternity Council at UVM. The bill was introduced in January 2016 after Chittenden County Rep. Barbara Rachelson saw the activism from members of the UVM community, she said. The tax has been a possibility for years, Director of Student Life Patrick Brown said. Student Life has worked alongside students and alumni to address the issue over the years, Brown said. “SGA, as a student advocacy organization, studied the issue and responded appropriately within their role of student advocacy,” he said.


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THE VERMONT CYNIC

NEWS

W E D N E S DAY, F E B R UARY 24, 20 1 6

CatCard to get a new look

FEB. 12 TO FEB. 19

CRIMELog by luke mcgreivy lmcgreiv@uvm.edu

by Katherine Smith ksmith59@uvm.edu

UVM will see a new CatCard design and system within the next year. The University is “beginning to migrate away from magstripe technology,” Mark McKenna, director of the CatCard Center said, which prompted the change. Additionally, after 10 years with the same design, “it seemed like a perfect time for a face lift,” he said. One of the biggest new features being added is the “dual technology design,” McKenna said. Each card will still have a magnetic strip on the back, but door readers will be installed in dorms and other faculty buildings that will allow students to enter by tapping their card rather than swiping it, he said. “The new cards are more secure,” McKenna said. “They won’t be foolproof, but you won’t have worn-out cards.” The reflective image over the center of the ID card will still be present, as well as an added se-

FEB. 14 10:49 A.M. A person saw a suspicious looking male standing in the bushes by Slade Hall. Police were called, but no one was found when they arrived. FEB. 16 2:29 P.M. Police received a report of a group of people destroying plants at Fort Ethan Allen. They were gone when officers arrived to the scene. curity feature of the UVM logo seal in order to prevent forgeries, he said. There were around 20 to 25 designs to begin with, but these have since been narrowed down to six, he said. “Two of the new designs are the Davis Center and UVM row,” McKenna said. “Another is a portrait shot of Ira Allen chapel with a vibrant blue background.” First-year Emma Fischer said she thinks the current sys-

tem works. “I like swiping, but I don’t like having to take it out every time,” Fischer said. “The new tapping technology is really convenient.” Sophomore Alexandra Quinn said she thinks the new system is interesting. “The cards are easy to use, but they fade out pretty quickly,” Quinn said. “The [new] system sounds cool, definitely.” The exact date of the change is still unclear, but McKenna

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH OLSEN

said he believes it will be soon. “The decision for the design should be made in the next couple of weeks, and we’re trying to use the new system by the end of the semester,” he said. “It might be a little ambitious because of the CatCard office move, but we had it planned before.” McKenna said he anticipates a positive reaction from students based on the input received from students, faculty and staff.

UVM to offer minor in international politics by rachel peck rapeck@uvm.edu

A new minor in international politics will be available to UVM students starting in August. The political science department is offering the minor due to an increase in student interest in the subject, department chair Robert Bartlett said. The department is bringing in a new professor, Peter Henne, who specializes in Middle Eastern politics, he said. The current political science program is already very focused on international politics. However, it’s not labeled as “international,” which prompted the demand from students seeking that degree title, Bartlett said. Henne will teach courses in Middle Eastern politics, but there will be no other new classes created for the minor, he said. Historically, student interest in political science depends on the state of the national political scene, Bartlett said. Scandals like Watergate and President Bill Clinton’s impeachment have brought about an increase in American poli-

Executive

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Hannah Kearns editorinchief@vtcynic.com MANAGING EDITOR Hannah Morgan newsroom@vtcynic.com

tics, he said. However, new and prospective students are entering the college scene with a broader view of the world than before, Bartlett said. “Forty years ago, it was common for a student if they studied abroad that might be the first time they ever went abroad,” he said.

abroad, Bartlett said. “It used to be the case that some students read The New York Times, but most students, if they read a newspaper, read a local newspaper,” he said. Now students go online and read news that happens around the world, Bartlett said. The current generation of college students grew up in the

Before 9/11, there used to be this notion in the United States that we could be separated from the rest of the world ROBERT BARTLETT DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE CHAIR

“Now many of our students who do and don’t study abroad have already traveled to Europe, they’ve already been overseas, they’ve been in many other countries,” Bartlett said. This breeds a deeper interest in international issues and policies, he said. Increased media coverage of international issues also increases interest in politics

aftermath of 9/11 and are more interested in world issues outside of the United States, he said. “Before 9/11, there used to be this notion in the United States that we could be separated from the rest of the world, that we could avoid being dragged into the problems of the rest of the world, but not too many people think that anymore,” Bartlett

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said. Junior Alexa Platt said she chose political science as a major because the government’s choices directly affect our lives more than anything else. “I think it’s really cool how countries interact with each other,” Platt said. The College of Arts and Sciences is always interested in expanding degrees available to students, Interim Dean William Falls said. The college is focused on excellence when developing new options for students and won’t move forward with an idea unless they can provide a already fully developed degree, Falls said. New majors and minors need to grow from where there is already interest and faculty experience, he said. “We’re not going to create something out of thin air; we’re not going to create something where we really don’t have the scholarship and faculty expertise to make it truly excellent,” Falls said.

FEB. 19 10:07 P.M. A marijuana grinder and scales were found by ResLife in Harris Millis. The items were taken to police services and disposed of.

CRIME TIPS Do you know of crimes happening on campus? Send any and all crime tips to crime@vtcynic.com. F E B . 16

SGA Updates by alexandra shannon amshanno@uvm.edu

Dean of Nursing and Health Sciences visits SGA Patty Prelock, dean of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, spoke to the SGA about the accomplishments and goals of the college. One of the college’s objectives is to prepare the next generation of healthcare providers for statewide, national and worldwide issues, Prelock said. As such, the college encourages students to take courses in other colleges. Resolution Passed Supporting the Restoration of Reading Days SGA passed a resolution supporting the reinstatement of reading days. Sen. Bhumika Patel, a junior, wrote the resolution. She highlighted the negative impacts the removal of reading days may have on UVM and offered ways to get them back.

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Olivia Marelic, Ryan Thornton Nora Aronds, Hunter Colvin, Bridget Dorsey, Ben Elfland, Emma Hyatt, Linnea Johnson, Robert Kinoy, Emily Magoon, Brittany Miller, Drew Pizzo, George Seibold, Meline Thebarge, Margaret Turvey


LIFE

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24 , 2016 THE VERMONT CYNIC

Exposing the sexual double standard ANNA POWER AMPOWER@UVM.EDU

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espite progress towards gender equality, there are still many areas where men and women are held to different standards. One such place, even on our own campus, is the bedroom. 2013 studies by Susan Sprecher of Illinois State University have shown that “both men and women considered casual sex more acceptable for men than women,” as published in Psychology Today. Sophomore Christopher Bratkovics recalled a time in which he had experienced this double standard after having a one-night stand. The next day Bratkovics’ friends congratulated him “but the girl’s friends were all disgusted with her,” he said. Today’s music also influences the double standard in society. A line in Omarion’s song “Know You Better” states “Would you date me for a minute, girl before you let me hit it?” Let’s get one thing straight: sex is a consensual act between two people, not something a woman “lets” a man do to her. This line also implies that women should make a man wait, but the man is allowed to want sex right away. One woman that Buzzfeed interviewed about sex on the first date said, “After we had sex,

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY RYAN THORNTON

we were cuddling, and he literally says to me, ‘You know, if you’re looking to date seriously, maybe you shouldn’t have sex with them so fast.’ Even though he also engaged in the sex act, but managed to remain a really respectable person.” Sex should happen when the people involved feel ready. Men shouldn’t be pressured into the expectation of having sex right away. Similarly, women shouldn’t be expected to wait in order to be considered respectable.

Scientific evidence reveals why it’s important to have sexual equality by showing strong biological similarities between genders’ sexualities. Overall, “women and men experience sexual desire and arousal in much the same way and to the same degree,” according to a study from New York University. If we have such strong sexual similarities, why does a sexual double standard prevail in our society? Professor Michael Marks of

New Mexico State University conducted a study evaluating the differences in judgment between sexually active women and men. “When people evaluated the target in isolation, no evidence of a double standard emerged. While in the presence of others, however, people evaluated sexually active women more negatively than men,” Marks said. This evidence reveals that our social culture has a strong influence on the double standard.

Marks said the double standard has negative impacts on men and women in that it “undermines women’s sexual identities” and may cause men to “feel like sex is something they are owed or have a right to, possibly leading them to a higher incidence of sexual coercion.” Our society must overcome the sexual expectations of each gender and start spreading equality to the bedroom. We must stop condemning women for their sexual behavior while validating men for theirs. “Mutual consent should form the basis of sexual relationships and not our preconceived expectations of gender roles,” said Maria Powlowska, a healthcare analyst from the Good Men Project. Combating the sexual double standard on our campus begins with recognizing its existence and being more aware of the ways it prevails in our society. Marks says that spreading this awareness is most effective, since “ways that people exhibit the double standard are not obvious to them, and while making their biases known won’t change their implicit attitudes, they can at least change their explicit attitudes.” After all, sex is an intimate act between two people, not a social activity for others to judge. Anna Power is a sophomore English major. She has been writing for the Cynic since spring 2016.

EVIE'S OUTLOOK

One impromptu winter vacation in Florida EVA BARTELS EBARTELS@UVM.EDU

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he first time I was in Florida was a 2001 family Disney trip. At this point, I was around 5 years old and unaware of the aggressively raging “club” scene of Miami or the rampant racism found everywhere else in the state. Now that I’m older and more aware of these parts of Florida’s culture, I didn’t intend on returning. Over winter break, after spending time with genuinely unpleasant family friends and the high school friends that, yes, were still assholes after all this time, I blindly chose to accept my friend Kimia’s invitation to take a trip to Miami. We would be staying with her family as well as spending time with a girl we sort of knew in high school who now conveniently goes to the University of Miami and would know where we could go out at night. We arrived at a beautiful Georgian style house in Coral Gables where James, Kimia’s uncle, ushered us inside. To Kimia’s surprise, we learned that her aunt was actually in

Ghana working at an orphanage. On the first night we successfully went to all the Spanish bars along South Beach. Easily persuaded by the class and decadence of the bar that offered us a 64-ounce margarita for the price of a single, safely-sized one, we settled. The sugar itself made me stop drinking about five sips in, but my friend, who is 5-foot-1 and weighs 95 pounds, drank about half, got the number of every sleazy club promoter in the bar and danced to every Spanish song, despite the lack of a dance floor, before suavely passing out across the backseat of the Uber ride home. A beautiful first night in this tropical haven. The next night we sat outside at a restaurant and drank a bottle of wine. I sat swaddled in my cashmere wrap next to the heat lamp we had the waiter bring to our secluded table like the white, upper-middle class housewives we all are on the inside. Our final night we went out with our UMiami friend, and Kimia found something wrong with every place, insisting on leaving each one.

ILLUSTRATION BY EVA BARTELS

At the final destination of the night, I found a horse mask and had both of them take several photos of me in it to ensure they came out well. On the plane ride home we hit some fun turbulence that

made us land in Baltimore instead of New York. A kid next to me threw up in a bag. Florida, I learned, is the place to go when you’ve realized you’ve moved away from your childhood days in Disney to

your adult days wearing horse masks in Spanish bars. Eva Bartels is a sophomore public communications major. She has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2015.


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THE VERMONT CYNIC

LIFE

W E D N E S DAY, F E B R UARY 24, 201 6

Ecuador trip sparks activism at UVM by Jackie flynn jflynn2@uvm.edu

After returning from a study abroad trip to Ecuador, two students are sharing what they learned with the campus community. Sophomore environmental studies majors Emma Trainor and Margaret Gish plan to start a club at UVM aiming to promote environmental alternatives they learned during their time abroad. The environmental studies course, “Policies of Land Use,” comprised a two-and-a-half week trip over winter break. The course was taught by lecturer Pete Shear, who currently lives in Ecuador. “The purpose of the class was a very hands-on way to observe different ecosystems and landscapes as well as economic alternatives to sustainable agriculture,” Gish said. An important focus of the class was Ecuador’s mining conflict, particularly copper mining. “Copper mining has been going on in Ecuador for 25 years, and a lot of local citizens have battled against big companies gaining rights to the mining concession and using these sites, which have caused prob-

Cotachi-Capayas Ecological Reserve is pictured Jan. 22. The policies of land use course was taught in Ecuador over winter break by lecturer Pete Shear. PHOTO COURTESY EMMA TRAINOR lems like sickness and water contamination,” Gish said. A Chilean company currently has a four-year mining contract in Ecuador and is causing serious impact on the surrounding environment, Trainor said. “The site [being mined] is one of the most biodiverse in the whole world. It’s very important to the organisms living in it but could all be gone,” Trainor said. The on-campus club Trainor and Gish are working to establish will address the important ecological issues in Ecuador.

“We’re in the process of working on a petition against copper mining in Ecuador and hope to start tabling at the Davis Center,” Gish said. “Going on this trip was such a privilege,” Trainor said. “Learning that these wonderful locals that we had met were struggling with their economy made us feel helpless,” she said. Besides raising awareness, the club will also work to implement environmentally friendly alternatives at UVM and in the

greater Burlington area. “The [leader] of Junin got out of jail right when we arrived, and we got the opportunity to speak with him,” Trainor said. “He went to jail for defending his town against copper mining,” she said. “It was amazing how calm and collected he was after such injustice.” They look to bring that change to campus. “Our professor grows his own coffee that’s fair trade and organic, and we’re looking to source it locally at Hender-

son’s,” Trainor said. In addition to sourcing Ecuadorian-grown coffee, the two sophomores are hoping to bring reusable Cabuya bags, handmade by Ecuadorian women, to Burlington “Our goal for not just the year but for the future is to raise awareness at UVM and all of Burlington,” Trainor said. For anyone looking to get involved, Trainor and Gish can be reached at ebtraino@uvm.edu and mgish@uvm.edu, respectively.

STUDY ABROAD COLUMN

Stuck in a Stockholm suburb Allie Parkin APARKIN@UVM.EDU

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ll college students know deep down that a month is not a long time. It certainly feels that way now, as I look out my window at snow-covered playgrounds in the bustling city of Stockholm. At least, the part of Stockholm I’m living and studying in – the quiet suburb of Bergshamra – boasts roomy sidewalks and a large magpie population. It was a month ago that I arrived in Sweden, sleepless and anxious and overwhelmed. Lugging three suitcases down a gravel-covered sidewalk by yourself is absolutely impossible, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I was on the verge of tears after dropping my smallest suitcase on the sidewalk for the 10,000th time and I had a moment of panic when a young woman picked it up before I could grab it myself. In my sleep-deprived state, I was sure she was about to steal it, but she gave me a smile and asked me – in English, bless her – if I was going far and if I needed help. She and her husband walked me and my bags to the hotel door, making friendly conversation. Before they left, they gave me one last “Welcome to Sweden!” and I nearly cried again. That kindness was everything I needed on my first day. On my second day, I took my first taxi ride. The driver was a small, good-natured Indian man with a thick accent and plenty of advice for a new-

ILLUSTRATION BY MARISSA LANOFF

A narrative of a full day devoid of animal products Hunter Colvin HCOLVIN@UVM.EDU

I The old town section of Stockholm, the capital of Sweden is pictured Feb. 10. PHOTO COURTESY ALLIE PARKIN ly-arrived student. He insisted on driving me to the door of my building, and when he accidentally drove me to the back rather than the front I resigned myself to the extra money the fare would gather when we drove back around. To my surprise, he didn’t even hesitate to turn off the meter – “Since I drove you to the back” – and drive back around to the front free of charge. He then insisted on walking me up the path to the door, carrying one of my suitcases and leaving his car running. He ran back with a final, “Take care!” and a wave. And so I found more unexpected kindness: the type of kindness that stays with you.

All things take time. As I learned to navigate this beautiful, snow-covered city, I found adventure and wonder replacing my anxiety. As I ran into friendly strangers, I gained a renewed sense of excitement. The world is an incredible place, and I’m ready to explore as much of it as I can reach. The amount of self-reflection one does when alone in a brand new place is far too much for an article (a novel would be better suited to the amount of thinking I’ve been doing), but one thing’s for sure: you can do a lot of growing in a short amount of time. Allie Parkin is a junior animal science major. She has been writing for the Cynic since spring 2016.

want to start off by saying I love cheese, more than is healthy for me. Which is why this week’s experiment was such a sacrifice for me. I followed a vegan diet for one day this past week. Of course, the day that I couldn’t have cheese or chocolate had to be the day people were giving away free pizza and chocolate in the Davis Center. Walking to class was basically torture. Beyond that, veganism wasn’t as hard as I expected it to be. Most of the things I ended up eating are all things that I eat on a regular basis. I just made sure to pick things without milk, eggs or meat. I also had to watch out for some sneaky additives among the ingredients. My vegan friend said there are some common ingredients to look out for if you are vegan. The big ones are casein (milk protein), confectioners’ glaze (made from bugs) and I-cystein (made from feathers). There are also some ingredients that could be made from

either animal or plant material, such as lactic acid and glycerin. For breakfast, I had oatmeal. I eat oatmeal every morning, so no big difference there. For lunch, I had a salad, hummus and carrots; the only thing different about this meal was the noticeable absence of cheese on said salad. For dinner, I had a black bean burger, an avocado and a coconut milk popsicle. I don’t have black bean burgers a lot, but if I’m buying frozen burgers I tend to choose veggie or black bean over beef burgers, which I find gross. Veganism was a bit more expensive than a conventional diet, but that was mostly because I splurged on the popsicles. I enjoyed following a vegan diet for a day. It felt cleaner, in a way, than the way I typically eat. However, I can hear the hunk of Cabot cheddar in my fridge calling my name and Lord knows I am not strong enough to resist temptation anymore. Hunter Colvin is a senior history major. She has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2015.


OPINION

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016 THE VERMONT CYNIC

Are we headed for another recession? Sarang Murthy

SMURTHY@UVM.EDU

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here is a plethora of indicators to look at when gauging the strength of the economy. Where one economist might be running to the hills, another may be optimistic. But facts are facts: exports have slowed and so has industrial production. Credit growth seems to be halting and the overall dismal performance of commodities that has led to tanking oil prices has not been followed by a rise in auto sales, or a jump in sales at the pump. There are disconnects everywhere, and there is a true disconnect between real economic activity and asset prices. The latter is rising and the former isn’t responding as expected. Domestic data follows the trend of inconsistency. The economy has added jobs in large numbers – thanks Obama – but the fourth quarter of last year saw a slowdown in GDP growth. Business and household spending weakened even as incomes reportedly rose

Illustration by ALYSSA HANDELMAN

slightly. Add all these road bumps to a Chinese economy that has been slowing down for two years and the road ahead doesn’t look too smooth. China’s economy has forked into production and retail. The reading of China can, therefore, be confusing. On one hand, you have a

booming retail sector that pushes western brands that are made in China to Chinese consumers. On the other hand, you have a manufacturing sector that has seen negative growth. The volatility of commodities does not bode well alongside the already huge credit bubble in China. Our interests are so closely

Scalia’s death causes backlash joey Brown

JBROWN33@UVM.EDU

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day after Scalia’s death, a sizeable segment of the so-called compassionate Left took to the Internet to celebrate the passing of one of the most prolific wits who has ever staffed the Supreme Court. Among them was Salon’s Katie Halper, who published a collection of his quotes for which she provided commentary, and – must have, because nobody is that stupid – took every single one of them out ocontext. She then authored “In defense of grave dancing: It’s true that Scalia was a human being, but I still refuse to mourn a-holes like him politely,” wherein it seems she congratulated herself on the process of writing her original anti-Scalia piece. It’s a progressive victory. To be fair, it’s not exactly new or newsworthy. When former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher died, a good deal of people took to the streets, channeling the Munchkins of Munchkinland and representatives from the Lollipop Guild: “Ding dong, the bitch is dead.” The song reached the UK top singles charts, showing that sexism is cool as long as certain ideologues practice it. Watch the original rendition on YouTube and you’ll find that most of the top comments are about Scalia. Nothing there has changed. What’s more curious is Sen. Bernie Sanders’ commentary, who found the entire

debate about whether or not President Barack Obama would nominate the next associate justice boring, likely because it wasn’t about income inequality, and that’s pretty much all he knows how to talk about with anyone he’s ever met: “The Constitution is pretty clear. The president makes the appointment, the Senate confirms. Let’s get on with that business.” No doubt it would be the case that if Obama chose an originalist, someone like Scalia, to send to the bench, the Republican

ed as front-page news that some people think Republican opposition to an Obama-appointee has been fueled by racial animus, demonstrating that the paper’s slogan, “All the news that’s fit to print,” is actually referring to the opinions of a few morons in the state of South Carolina: “I guess many of them are using this in the strictest construction that Barack Obama’s serving three-fifths of a term or he’s three-fifths of a human being, so he doesn’t get to make this choice,” said Bakari Sellers,

Well, Obama has already sent two associate justices to the bench, so it's not as if he's been robbed of the opportunity. But more importantly, this isn't a radical issue. Senate would gladly oblige. But where Sanders goes wrong is thinking that the Senate acts as a rubberstamp in the process. Send a liberal who vomits words like “dignity” and “compassion” as if they mattered as constitutional doctrine and expect the court to stay even in number. It’s that simple. Seemingly stuck in the year 2009, New York Times editorial writer Brent Staples lamented the unfairness on Twitter, not so tactfully employing the race card: “In a nation built on slavery, white men propose denying the first black president his constitutional right to name Supreme Court nominee.” Well, Obama has already sent two associate justices to the bench, so it’s not as if he’s been robbed of the opportunity. But more importantly, this isn’t a racial issue. On Feb. 18, the NYT report-

a former state representative from Denmark, South Carolina. It’s as coherent a legal interpretation as anything Justice Anthony Kennedy has ever authored. But Sellers needn’t take Republican opposition so personally. It’s in the conservative interest to staff the court with a legal scholar as competent and faithful as Scalia was, so he’ll understand why Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell believes Obama will likely fail in doing so. In the meantime, the Democrats can get over it. There’s a debate to be had, and Sanders’ boredom and others’ racial conspiracy theories aside, it’ll be a long one. Joey Brown is a senior political science major. He has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2012.

linked with China’s success that the soup we find ourselves in is bitter. More than ever, it is time to be cautious about China. The dirty float system that China uses, where the People’s Bank of China sells the Yuan and buys the dollar in order to cap appreciation, makes its exports more globally competitive. The Yuan is heavily under-

valued, market analysts say. Even if China devalues its currency, prints money and buys assets in order to reinstill confidence, the global financial scenario is in turmoil. The Federal Reserve currently remains uncertain about whether domestic economic growth would see a shock due to market turmoil. Janet Yellen, chair of the Fed, doesn’t believe this turmoil will have lasting implications on monetary policy. The Fed reports that it will not raise interest rates at these confusing times. The expectation is, however, that the interest rate rise will resume later this year. The 10-year treasury note and the 30-year treasury bond remain the safest place to put your money. If you have some greenback under your mattress, do the smart thing and lend it to the government – future you will be thankful.

Sarang Murthy is a junior economics major. He has been writing for the Cynic since spring 2016.

The petty partisanship games in judicial system Lindsay Freed

LAFREED@UVM.EDU

M

uch like the power Justice Antonin Scalia had during his life, the aftershock of his death will be immense. Contrary to how the Framers intended the government to work, our stagnant, uncooperative Republican-controlled Senate will likely do everything in its power to delay or block any attempts by the Obama administration to fill Scalia’s now empty seat. This will be done to buy time until President Obama has left office, banking on the possibility that the next commander in chief will be conservative and nominate at best another Scalia, or at worst another Justice Clarence Thomas, to the court. It is no secret the Supreme Court, a supposedly neutral body, is riddled with bias. Scalia was, after all, one of the stronger conservative voices on the court, and prior to his death the bench leaned further right with five conservative and four liberal justices. The Republicans want to ensure the five-to-four conservative ratio is not lost, and will continue the horseplay just as they did with many of the other nominations Obama has made during his presidency. The impending political hullabaloo over this is an outrage. Under Article 2 Section 2 of the Constitution, President Obama

has not just the right, but the responsibility to nominate a new associate justice. There should not be any room for politics when it comes to the Supreme Court. Yes, the individual justices are going to have their own interpretations of the Constitution, and interpretations differ between conservatives and liberals. This, however, does not mean the Senate has a pass to play its petty partisanship games in the judicial system. The court needs to have Scalia’s seat filled, and filled soon. There are a slew of cases SCOTUS has agreed to hear that cannot afford to be delayed any longer. One of these is abortion case Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, originally scheduled for March 2, according to the Supreme Court’s website. Whole Woman’s Health and the other cases scheduled for the remainder of the year cannot wait until after the election. In addition, if Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton becomes the next president, the childish and inexcusable behavior of the Republican Party will only have been done in vain. Just because the GOP is willing to wait around until next January to do something about this doesn’t mean the rest of the country has to put up with it as well.

Lindsay Freed is a first year political science major. She has been writing for the Cynic since spring 2016.


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ENTERPRISE

KAKE W

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016 THE VERMONT CYNIC

Exploring Race at UVM : Part one

Alumni, faculty and students LeRoy Williams, Jr.

Phi Sigma Delta

was discriminated against for the color of his skin while checking into a hotel in Burlington with his girlfriend after the 1957 Kake Walk.

became the first fraternity to not wear blackface in 1954 when they wore purple face instead. They had accepted two African American students as pledges that year.

1955

1954

1956

1957

1958

Michael Johns walked for Theta Chi in the 1961 Kake Walk.

1959

1960

1961

PHOTO COURTESY OF UVM SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

AN ‘OVERWHELMED MINORITY’

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ne of the first records of any objection to the Kake Walk came from Constance Motley, who at the time was working under Thurgood Marshall as a member of the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund, according to a Sept. 29, 2005 New York Times article. In 1950, Motley sent a letter to then-President William Carlson expressing disapproval of the Kake Walk. “It is difficult for us to conceive of any group of enlightened Americans in this day and age sponsoring and presenting such shows,” she stated. In the 1954 Kake Walk, Phi Sigma Delta “shattered” the tradition of wearing blackface by wearing purple makeup, their fraternity color, according to a Feb. 25, 1954 Cynic article. The fraternity made the decision to forgo blackface because two of its members, LeRoy Williams, Jr. and Richard Dennis, were black, Williams said. “Those of us who spoke out against the blackface … were resented because we were going against the tradition of the Kake Walk,” he said. “Tradition can be the enemy of common

sense and progress,” Williams said. In 1957, the Friday of the Kake Walk weekend, Williams, captain of the 1956 football team, took his date to the Rest Haven Motel downtown, where they were denied service “because [they] were negroes,” he said. Following this incident nearly 400 students met to protest the actions of the hotel employees, according to a March 7, 1957 Cynic article. By the time the Kake Walk came to an end, the ratio of white students to black students was 500 to 1, said Garrison Nelson, professor of political science and judge of the 1969 Kake Walk. “[The University] said, ‘Well, the blacks aren’t complaining,’” Nelson said. “Well there were only seven [black students], they weren’t going to complain; they’re already feeling like an overwhelmed minority.” Nelson remembered speaking with one student who argued that the walking segment of the Kake Walk, called “Wokin’ fo’ de Kake,” celebrated the athletic ability of blacks, he said. “I said, ‘Wokin’ fo’ de Kake’ does not celebrate the intellectual achievements of the blacks,” Nelson said. The dialect used during Kake Walk was a “textbook example of racism” as it specifically distinguished between black and white speech by portraying the former as uneducated, Loe-

wen stated. At the time of Kake Walk, students were pivotal to its removal, Wanda Heading-Grant, vice president of Human Resources, Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, said. “I am hopeful that the current generation of students, at UVM and at other schools, will play an equally important role in helping create a society that is free of the painful effects of racial discrimination and insensitivity,” Heading-Grant said. Drew Cooper, who is black, sees a relation between both the Kake Walk and modern American appropriation of black culture. “Everybody wants to be black, but nobody really wants to be black,” Cooper, a junior, said. Junior Addy Campbell, a member of ALANA, said the apparent lack of diversity in Vermont has an effect on the way people see race. “In a place of overwhelming whiteness, it is very easy for white people to think that we don’t have problems with racism,” Campbell said. “This just isn’t true.” She also said the University shouldn’t forget its past. “It is a shameful part of UVM’s history,” she said, “but it’s an event that every student on this campus should know about.”


WALK: THE VERMONT CYNIC

ENTERPRISE

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W E D N E S DAY, F E N R I ARY 2 4 , 2 016

reflect on a 73-year tradition Roger and Warren Kaplan was the coach of Larry Roth and Ron Allbee for Acacia Norm Coleman, walked in 1965 and 1966. John Maley who both

walked for Gamma Psi in 1964 and 1965.

Larry Miller

played in the band during the Kake Walk in 1963 and 1964.

1962

1963

1964

A MATTER OF PRIDE

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or Burlington native John Maley ‘65, participating in the Kake Walk ran in the family; his parents, Donald Maley ‘41, and Rita Maley ‘39, participated in the event, and John walked for Gamma Psi in 1964 and 1965. As a child, Maley used to drive around with his parents and seven siblings looking at the fraternities’ ice sculptures, part of the Kake Walk tradition, and judging which ones were best, he said. “I don’t think it had dawned on us that it was a historical thing when we were watching it growing up or when I was doing it until the Civil Rights movement stepped in and then people started realizing it was more than just a physical activity,” he said. “There’s a lot of history behind it and the history wasn’t good, as it turned out.” Larry Roth ‘66, and Norm Coleman ‘65, represented Alpha Epsilon Pi as partners in the 1965 Kake Walk, developing a friendship that has lasted over 50 years. “Whatever we did together, it’s built a foundation,” Roth said. The walkers would begin training four times a week, as early as nine months prior to the event, he said. Walkers could kick their legs as high as the Rockettes, Roger Allbee ‘66, said. They were expected to dance in synchronization, their hands and feet lining up perfectly with their partner’s, Coleman said. “We finished each workout running a mile and a half on the track in total unison so we looked like the same person from the side,” Roth said. He said while the rest of the school participated in a “four day, fairly serious party,” the walkers gave a performance in front of thousands of students, faculty and alumni. The Kake Walk wasn’t a low-budget event. According to financial records, the final event in 1969 cost the University roughly $36,000. Adjusted for inflation in 2015, that’s about a quarter of a million dollars, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index Inflation Calculator. Alumni would flood Burlington every year for Kake Walk weekend, Coleman and Roth said. “The day after Kake Walk, the hotels would fill up for the next year,” Coleman said. Roth said he could recall times after graduating when someone would pay his bar tab simply because he was a walker. UVM later attempted to replace blackface with “light green face,” which was met with widespread disapproval from audience members, according to a 1965 UVM announcement. In another attempt to better mask the identity of the walkers while keeping blackface out of the event, they switched to a “dark green and gold” face in 1965, according to the an-

Ken McGuckin walked for Sigma Epsilon Pi in 1965 and 1966.

walked in the 1965 Kake Walk for Alpha Epsilon Pi.

1965

1966

nouncement. Jeff Blais ‘71, walked for the Acacia fraternity in the final Kake Walk of 1969, and said he remembers one team of walkers who wore whiteface that year in protest. “That sort of told everyone, I think, that this was going to end,” Blais said. Nelson also said it was clear in 1969 that the Kake Walk “had run its course.” “Martin Luther King had been murdered,” he said. “Civil rights really had taken a hold.” The Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, in an Oct. 30, 1969 letter to the Burlington Free Press, called the Kake Walk “a degrading activity.” “The Brotherhood empathizes with the feelings of the black community,” they stated. The following day, the would-be directors of the 1970 Kake Walk declared it was canceled, according to their statement at an Oct. 31, 1969 press conference. Following the decision, “the alums went ballistic,” Nelson said. In a letter sent to then President Lyman Rowell Nov. 12, 1969, Leo Spear ‘49, wrote, “If the University proposes to permit the militant minority to direct the path of this University then, in my opinion, an unrestricted gift will be supporting something in which I don’t concur.” Warren Kaplan, ‘65, who coached Roth and Coleman, said he understands why it had to end, but was still sad to see it go.

1967

Jeffrey Blais walked in the 1969 Kake Walk for Acacia.

1968

PHOTO COURTESY OF UVM SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

Cooper said there is still a lack of diversity that makes it difficult to see the complexity of the black experience. “UVM likes to masquerade as a progressive school,” he said, “but the reality is that the administration is predominantly run by white people who haven’t the slightest idea of how to handle issues of race.” It took a while for UVM to erase the tradition of the Kake Walk from their reputation, Nelson said. “You can certainly see that in the statements of recent presidents who have made a point of championing the amount of diversity that’s on campus today,” he said. “I see that as a sort of belated response to the hangover of Kake Walk.” Heading-Grant said UVM has had a “bittersweet” history with diversity like other colleges and universities in the U.S. JOHN MALEY “However, we have worked GAMMA PSI KAKE WALKER, 1964 AND 1965 steadfastly and hard to move further away from a painful history of “Everyone busted their ass to do this thing,” discrimination and bias seen during the Kake Kaplan said. “You look back and think that it’s Walk era to one that today advances a positive such a shame that they got rid of it.” climate of diversity and inclusivity through Over the next eight years, there was specvisible leadership, resources and institutional ulation over whether or not Kake Walk would commitment,” she said. return, Nelson said. In an open letter to President Lattie Coor This is the first part of a three-part series Feb. 24, 1977, Brian Bluff, president of the regarding the past, present and future of racGreek Coordinating Council at the time, and ism at UVM. Marjorie Read, president of the Panhellenic Reporting by: Bryan O’Keefe, Kelsey Council, stated their overwhelming opposition Neubauer, Cole Wangsness, Ryan Thornton, to a revival of the Kake Walk. Meghan Ingraham, Craig Pelsor and Rachel Nelson said Coor then made it clear that Peck. “there are three K’s in Kake Walk and it’s not All photos and art procured from docucoming back.” ments in UVM’s Special Collections.

There’s a lot of history behind it and the history wasn’t good, as it turned out.

1969


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THE VERMONT CYNIC

OPINION

W E D N E S DAY, F E B R UARY 24, 20 1 6

S TA F F E D I T O R I A L

Illustration by ALYSSA HANDELMAN

Kake Walk: Time to right our wrongs

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orty-seven years ago, the University ended a tradition that involved fraternity members dancing in blackface and satin tuxedos. It was called the Kake Walk, inspired by mid-19th century minstrel shows in Vermont. It ended in 1969, the year after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated and during the height of the civil rights movement. Most people believe the civil rights movement of the 1960’s eradicated institutional racism. Though it made great steps toward doing so, recent demonstrations over race, such as those by the Black Lives Matter movement, show that race is still a contentious issue in the United States. This is something we must address even here at UVM. As junior Drew Cooper said, our University lacks diversity, making it difficult to see the complexity and nuances of the black experience. The Kake Walk is a sensitive topic for many people, particularly black Americans, but we also must learn from our past. As such, we can’t ignore the Kake Walk by relegating it to the depths of UVM history, forgotten and brushed off as a relic from a different era. The Kake Walk was the longest running winter carnival in the country.

Though some may write off the participants as naive students, unaware of the implications of their actions, it also engaged and was supported by faculty, staff and administrators. This wasn’t a small event hosted by an insensitive few. It was part of a twoday winter festival that regularly drew more than 8,000 people, encouraged and endorsed by the University and alumni that came back, year after year. It wasn’t until 1969 that the tides turned enough so that parading in blackface was finally seen as unacceptable. As such a large part of our history, the burden falls to us to understand why it happened. This isn’t to place undue blame on those who participated, but rather to examine the social and cultural norms that made the Kake Walk an acceptable, and even celebrated, event at UVM. The Cynic has taken a strong stance on issues affecting our campus in the past, particularly in regard to institutions like the Kake Walk. In a 1954 staff editorial, the Cynic wrote, “While we do not advocate the destruction of tradition solely for the sake of seeing it destroyed, neither can we allow its perpetuation when it is based exclusively on action of the past and when, in the name of ‘tradition,’ a grave social injustice is being commit-

ted.” We still hold that to be true and, as we wrote then, “hope enlightenment will replace tradition.” As one student said in our article, it’s an event that every student should know about. We agree – spotted though it may be, we need to acknowledge our past, and come to terms with what that means for us today, and for any students who walk this campus in years to come. The University has come a long way since then, but the effects of discrimination linger long after the displays themselves have ended, and we have a responsibility to address them. This is why the Cynic will be publishing a three-part series examining the history of race at our University, current diversity issues and what steps UVM will be taking in the future. Staff editorials officially reflect the views of the Vermont Cynic. Signed opinion pieces and columns do not necessarily do so. The Cynic accepts letters in response to anything you see printed as well as any issues of interest in the community. Please limit letters to 350 words. The Cynic reserves the right to edit letters for length and grammar. Please send letters to opinion@ vtcynic.com.


ARTS

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2016 THE VERMONT CYNIC

Indie artist mesmerizes at local venue Allie osorno

Kurt Vile

AOSORNO@UVM. EDU

F

eb. 19, Higher Ground sold out for Kurt Vile and The Violators. With the will call line out the door, a sold out coat check and a full parking lot, Higher Ground was flooded with people. The venue was so jampacked that audience members were forced all the way back near the entrance doors, making it nearly impossible to move. Kurt Vile and The Violators took the stage shortly after 9:45 p.m., debuting Vile’s new album, “b’lieve I’m goin down…” As the band appeared, the crowd pushed toward the front rail. Wearing all gray, Vile waved and smirked as he took his place next to center mic. Not long into the show, Vile played his recent hit “Pretty Pimpin.” The crowd sang along to the lyrics, “I woke up this morning and didn’t recognize the man in the mirror.” The bass from the song vibrated off the rear wooden bar, creating a rock and roll atmosphere that amped up the crowd.

“This song is about me,” Vile said just before playing “KV Crimes” from his 2013 album “Wakin On A Pretty Daze.” The groovy rhythm of the electric guitar made it nearly impossible to stand still. Crowd members raised their drinks to Vile’s guitar solos. It was mesmerizing to watch Vile’s fingers graze across the guitar strings.

for slower songs like “Stand Inside” and “Walking on a Pretty.” His ability to change instruments and create new environments with each song was amazing. Vile succeeded in engaging the crowd with both his slow intimate songs and his more intense guitar songs. After playing a short hourlong set, the crowd cheered for an encore. Vile returned to the stage alone with only his acoustic guitar, encoring with “Baby’s Arms.”

As the band appeared, the crowd pushed toward the front rail. Wearing all gray, Vile waved and smirked as he took his place next to the center mic. Illuminated by a spotlight and the surrounding blue stage lights, he repeatedly pushed his long brown hair away from his face in a quirky way. As the concert went on, Vile switched guitars between songs. He used an electric guitar for the upbeat songs “Freak Train” and “Pretty Pimpin” and then switched to an acoustic guitar

It was amazing to see Kurt Vile live, however the set was far too short and left his fans wanting so much more.

Allie Osorno is a junior English and Spanish major. She has been writing for the Cynic since spring 2014.

Singer-songwriter Kurt Vile plays a set at Higher Ground Feb. 19. JEN RAMIREZ/The Vermont Cynic

Boston horn duo returns to steal Nectar’s spotlight By Ben elfland belfland@uvm.edu

Burlington-based psychedelic progressive trip-hop band Binger practices Feb. 18.

Vermont Cynic

JEN RAMIREZ/The

Trio takes on new horizon Maddy FreitasPimentel

A

MMFREITAS@ UVM.EDU

n experimental trio whose sound lacks conformity, Binger formed effortlessly over a discussion about Pink Floyd and Radiohead during a chemistry lab back in 2013. The group is a trio of alumni from the class of 2015. They’re self-described as “psychedelic prog-hop” and “couch surf rock,” but their sound ultimately resists labels. “Naturally, being from Burlington, we come out of a jam scene,” bassist and vocalist Shakir Stephen said. “But we’re kids; we listen to so much stuff on the Internet and try to stitch it all together.” Binger’s music is also marked by their collective interests. It features casual allusions

to literature, philosophy and relevant social issues. They keep their lyrics open-ended. “We write the lyrics by virtue of questioning one another,” guitarist and vocalist Braden Winslow said. Their lyrics also reference other inspirations like comedy, cartoons and video games. Effortless enthusiasm comes across in Binger’s live shows as well, engaging the audience in a way that makes it hard to lose interest. “It’s important to feel like there’s humans onstage,” Winslow said, “rather than just listening to robots.” Each Binger concert experience is unique, featuring special guests, improvisations, comedic transitions, singalongs, covers and original material. Audiences have even described them as “a comedy show interrupted by live music,” according to band Winslow.

As students, Binger practiced in the Living/Learning Center and won the University Program Board’s Battle of the Bands. “We have a good student influence since we only graduated last May,” Winslow said. However, Binger has transcended college band status. Having frequented Nectar’s and Radio Bean, and touring parts of New England and New York, they’re now anticipating a European tour later this year. The members all share sense of gratitude for the Burlington music scene. “Burlington is a special place,” Stephen said. “People seem to invest a lot of their identity in music.” Maddy Freitas-Pimentel is a first-year English and history major. She has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2015.

Despite the chilly weather, one band is sure to heat up the night this Friday. The Hornitz will be performing Feb. 26 at 10:30 p.m. at Nectar’s, a stage they said is one of the best in the country. The duo, made up of Stoobaka Dashiki and Friendship, boasts, “the biggest, baddest party-funk experience you’ve never heard in your life,” according to their website. Hailing from Boston, the band had its humble beginnings back in 2006 as a two-man horn section for hire. “We were horn prostitutes,” Dashiki said. “We were into the festival scene, and this gave us an in to pretty much every festival.” But in 2008, the group moved out of the background and into the spotlight and began writing and performing their own original music, Dashiki said. Their musical repertoire has expanded to include beatboxing, trombone, saxophone and keyboard, all combined with a looping machine to mimic the sound of an entire funk ensemble, he said. While Dashiki plays the tenor sax and keyboard, Friendship plays bass trombone and beatboxes, according to the band’s website. “Our main goal is to create a really fun dance party,” Dashiki

said. “We go about that in a couple traditional ways and some non-traditional ways,” he said. The band has played alongside funk acts such as George Clinton, Guster and State Radio according to their website. Though the group has had much of its success out of the spotlight, Dashiki said they use the extensive knowledge gained from those experiences to create unforgettable, genre-blending shows. “Our main cause has become fun, whether [that means] to enjoy music, escape from the world, rock out or shake your body parts,” Dashiki said. The Hornitz have three shows booked in Vermont, according to their website. After Burlington they will go on toplay in Jeffersonville, followed by West Dover. Dashiki said they are excited to come back to Nectar’s, and hope to see some familiar faces in the crowd. “Playing at Nectar’s is by far one of our favorite places to play,” he said. “A lot of fun, fond memories. One of the most fun nights we had there was playing horns with Deadset.” The Hornitz will be playing at Nectar’s Friday Feb. 26 at 10:30 pm. Tickets are $5.


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THE VERMONT CYNIC

ARTS

W E D N E S DAY, F E B R UARY 24, 201 5

Comedy couple cracks business code By molly duff meduff@uvm.edu

Comedy found its Burlington home this past November in Vermont Comedy Club, located at 101 Main St. The club, owned and operated by Nathan Hartswick and Natalie Miller, hosts a wide array of standup and improvisational acts from local, regional and national comedians. It seems to have popped up overnight, but the club has been many years in the making, Hartswick said. “The comedy community around here has really paid their dues over the last five or six years, getting comedy to be accepted and desired,” he said. Hartswick said venues like the Flynn Center hold comedy shows every so often, but the only other Burlington club dedicated to comedy, Levity, went out of business in 2013. From tiny coffee shops to loud restaurants and busy bars where the crowd may not even know there is a comedian performing, it’s been difficult to find a consistent venue for comedy in Burlington, he said. This is in part due to the fact “there hasn’t been a market for it up until this point,” Hartswick said. “We had to build the market from scratch and it took six years.” A key part of creating the market was the couple’s first business venture, Spark Arts. Located in Burlington’s

Vermont Comedy Club owners Natalie Miller and Nathan Hartswick thank supporters at the club’s grand opening in November. COURTESY VERMONT COMEDY CLUB

South End, the studio began as a general community art space and eventually narrowed its focus to solely comedy, he said. “It gave people a safe space to feel like they can experiment and fail and get better at comedy and meet other people who are into it like them,” Hartswick said. Vermont Comedy Club is “an extension of that, a much bigger, a much more high risk,

much more high profile extension of that,” he said. The club has taken on the comedy classes formerly found at Spark Arts, Hartswick said. “We sort of built the curriculum from the ground up as sort of ‘what do we think people need to know,’” Hartswick said. “We created it by sort of Frankensteining all the best parts together that we wanted from all the different places that we’ve

learned stuff.” Just three months after the opening in November, the club is packed Wednesday nights for their weekly free open mic. These open mics are important to beginning comics like alumna Carrie Shamel, who said she comes to the club at least once a week to practice her act. She started doing standup after taking a class at Spark Arts, Shamel said.

PHOTO

“I thought I was just gonna take the class and then move on with my life, but I just fell in love with it and I’ve been doing it ever since,” she said. There will be more to look forward to, “but right now, we’re just honing this machine so that it can perform the best it can,” Hartswick said.

Oscar Previews

‘The Big Short’ sells out big banks’ behavior siobhan o’flaherty

T

The Big Short

SBOFLAHE@UVM. EDU

he Big Short” is a whirlwind of numbers, huge amounts of money, financial terminology and raging testosterone. The premise of the film is simple: it explains how the 2008 financial crisis occurred, introduces the men who predicted the disaster and reveals how they profited from it. “The Big Short” illustrates how the downturn in the American housing market in 2008 was the result of a complicated web of fraud and manipulation of unsuspecting and often underprivileged Americans. The film features an allstar cast: Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt. Bale and Carell are the clear standouts. Cameos from celebrities, such as Selena Gomez and Anthony Bourdain, add a human element and break up the film’s incessant financial terminology. These celebrities speak directly to the camera and use metaphors to describe terms, such as subprime loan or housing bubble, and explain how they triggered the Great Recession. Although the film makes

great efforts to simplify the topic, it is still two hours of complicated ideas and mathematical terms that are difficult to grasp. The camera work is delib-

erately sloppy at times and the film is reminiscent of a quirky “mockumentary.” Many characters break the fourth wall at times, speaking directly to viewers in a sarcastic tone. These techniques emphasize that the crisis is unfolding in real time, but is also an annoying distraction at times, taking

away from the flow of action. The film is directed and co-written by Adam McKay (“Anchorman”) and Charles Randolph, and is based on the 2010 book by Michael Lewis. The film is nominated for best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay and best supporting actor for Bale.

WHAT’S MORE

IMPRESSIVE GRADUATES. THAN OUR ST STATS? OUR

At Quinnipiac University, our students are our main focus. It’s why we offer graduate degrees in fields ranging from business to health sciences. It’s also why Quinnipiac is ranked among the best master’s-level universities in the North by U.S. News & World Report.

To find out how Quinnipiac can help you succeed in your career, call 1-800-462-1944, e-mail graduate@quinnipiac.edu or visit www.quinnipiac.edu/gradprograms.

1-800-462-1944 | Hamden & North Haven, Connecticut

Education Elementary Secondary Educational Leadership Instructional Design* Teacher Leadership* Communications Interactive Media* Journalism Sports Journalism Public Relations Health Sciences Biomedical Sciences Cardiovascular Perfusion Occupational Therapy (post-professional)* Pathologists’ Assistant Physician Assistant Radiologist Assistant Social Work Nursing Adult Gerontology or Family Nurse Practitioner Care of Populations* Nurse Anesthesia** Nursing Leadership*

Overall, the film does an excellent job simplifying a dizzying array of complex terminology and exposing the villainous behavior of big banks. Siobhan O’Flaherty is a senior sociology major. She has been writing for the Cynic since spring 2016.

Business MBA*** MBA - Chartered Financial Analyst®*** MBA - Health Care Management*** MBA - Supply Chain Management*** JD/MBA Business Analytics* Organizational Leadership* Arts & Sciences Molecular & Cell Biology Law JD – Juris Doctor JD/MBA JD/MELP LLM in Health Law Medicine MD – Doctor of Medicine Anesthesiologist Assistant * Program offered only online ** Specific program tracks offered either on campus or online *** Program offered on campus and online


THE VERMONT CYNIC

SPORTS

W E D N E S DAY, F E B R UARY 24, 201 6

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Seniors honored but BC prevails By Alex benoit apbenoit@uvm.edu

The men’s hockey team dropped both games in their senior weekend series against Boston College Feb. 19 and Feb. 20. These games were the Catamounts’ last two home games of the year and the last time the UVM seniors would play a regular season game at Gutterson Fieldhouse. UVM came into the game with a record of 12-16-3 while BC boasted a record of 21-4-5, according to each team’s website. BC boasted 13 NHL draft picks on their roster — seven of which were picked in the first two rounds — while UVM dressed their only NHL draft pick, sophomore forward Liam Coughlin, according to College Hockey Inc. UVM senior forward Jon Turk got the action started when he streaked down the right wing boards and fired a wrist shot that went past the BC goaltender Thatcher Demko a mere 15 seconds into the game before he jumped into the boards in celebration. The momentum was shortlived, as BC forwards Austin Cangelosi and Zach Sanford scored back-to-back goals — Cangelosi’s during five-on-five play, Sanford’s on the power play — to put the Eagles ahead during the middle of the second period. The second period saw BC’s captain, defenseman Teddy

Junior forward Brendan Bradley fights for the puck against Boston College during UVM’s weekend series against the Eagles Feb. 20. PHIL CARRUTHERS/The Vermont Cynic

Doherty, score his 10th goal of the season on the power play. The goal increased BC’s lead to two over the Cats. After Turk’s goal, Vermont went 0-35 on shots. They hit four pipes and went a combined 0-7 on the power play, according to UVM athletics. Head coach Kevin Sneddon said he was “very proud of the way our guys played tonight, I can’t ask for a better effort.” But in a season where the of-

fense has struggled to put points up on the board, scoring a mere 2.22 goals per game while allowing 2.62 goals per game, according to UVM athletics, the effort needs to turn into execution. Prior to game two on Saturday night, the Catamounts’ seniors were honored with a pregame ceremony. The players honored were Turk, captain and defenseman Yvan Pattyn, and defensemen Dan Senkbeil and Alexx Privitera.

Game two started off with a bang as junior forward Mario Puskarich rifled home a power play goal in the first period that gave the crowd a wake-up call and got the Cats going. As they did the previous night, BC tied it up with a powerplay goal of their own. In doing so, BC forward Adam Gilmour shot home his 11th goal of the season. The second period saw UVM attempt three power plays without making a goal.

The score remained tied at one going into the third period. However, the third period was all BC. BC’s Cangelosi and forward Ryan Fitzgerald each scored, before Fitzgerald scored an empty net goal. The Cats will finish up the regular season with two games at Merrimack College Feb. 26 and Feb. 27.

UVM falls in conference matchup at Patrick By ben steinlauf Benjamin.Steinlauf@uvm.edu

Coming off a 66-52 loss to Binghamton University, the women’s basketball team lost 74-60 against the University of Maryland, Baltimore County Feb. 20. UMBC had a 7-6 conference record at the start of the game, and recently beat the University of Hartford 58-51 Feb. 17., according to the team’s website. UVM, on the other hand, has struggled to find consistency in the league, starting the game with a 2-11 conference record according to UVM athletics. The first quarter began slowly for Vermont. UMBC opened the game with nine straight points until first-year forward Candice Wright scored a layup to start Vermont’s day. UMBC dominated the first quarter, led by Taylor McCarley and Pandora Wilson. “The first quarter for us was definitely difficult,” sophomore guard Sydney Smith said. By the end of the game Wilson had scored 21 points, hitting eight of 15 attempted field goals. McCarley led the Retrievers with 26 points, shooting five of 15 from the field and making 14 of her team high 19 free throws, according to UVM athletics.

Sydney Smith attempts a three-point shot in the Catamounts’ 74-60 loss at home to UMBC Feb. 20 RYAN THORNTON/The Vermont Cynic

In the dying seconds of the quarter, the Catamounts scored on a jump shot to bring the score to 22-11. While Vermont had trouble moving the ball and finding open looks in the first quarter, the second quarter was the complete opposite. Smith came off the bench

and made a few three-pointers to rally the Catamounts. For the game, Smith scored 19 points while shooting six of 10 from the field. “The bench always provides that extra bit of intensity that we need to push forward to make shots and good defensive plays,” Smith said. “It goes for

the entire team.” “When we come in and we have that energy is when we do great things and make runs.” This intensity showed at the end of the first half, when UVM brought the game to 39-32. The bench played a role in this, scoring 42 of the Catamounts’ 60 points according to

UVM athletics. No points were scored by either team after the break until about four and a half minutes into the second half. Despite the loss, Smith had some optimistic words after the game. “We saw a lot of improvements today,” she said. “The past couple weeks we’ve done a really good job of working more as a team, becoming more like one unit.” Smith said she thought the game was another step forward. In addition, she stressed the importance of the Catamounts making use of their last few games to improve. “Although the game didn’t go in our favor, we still have two or three regular season games left,” Smith said. “We really just need to go out there and utilize the time we have left and just put forth everything we’ve done this entire year and get some wins.” The team will next play a home game against the University of New Hampshire at 7 p.m., Feb. 25. New Hampshire sits one place in front of Vermont in the America East standings, according to the league’s website. UVM is 2-12 in conference play while New Hampshire is 5-9, according to the website.


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THE VERMONT CYNIC

SPORTS

W E D N E S DAY, F E B R UARY 24, 201 6

scoreboard Neck guards are essential

Visit vtcynic.com for more coverage and uvmathletics.com for schedules and tickets

LAST WEEK

Locria Courtright CCOURTRI@UVM. EDU

J

an. 14 of 2016 seemed to be a normal day for a hockey game in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk. The under-18 teams of Metallurg Novokuznetsk and Sibir Novosibirsk were battling it out in a Russian Youth Hockey League match. All was going well until late in the second period. As the game came to an end, a Sibir player took a shot that struck Metallurg captain Alexander Orekhov, one of Siberia’s most promising talents, in the neck just below the ear. Orekhov suffered a ruptured carotid artery, fractured vertebra and went into cardiac arrest, according to Russian sports site Sport-42. CPR was performed immediately, but Orekhov had fallen into a coma from which he would never awake. He passed away Feb. 2 at the young age of 16. Though Orekhov was wearing a neck guard, the incident caused massive debate in Russia over neck protection in hockey. UVM equipment manager Charles Mackey said neck protection is not mandated by the NCAA, Hockey East or the University. This must change. Not only should neck protec-

tion be mandatory, it needs to be improved to prevent further accidents like Orekhov’s. When it comes to neck protecton, blunt force trauma isn’t the first issue thought of by most people. The biggest fear tends to be skate blades catching players in the neck, particularly the jugular vein. The infamous image of former Buffalo Sabres goalie Clint Malarchuk from a 1989 game comes to mind.

garments to maximize protection, primarily around the groin area, according to Mackey. Despite this, nothing has been done about neck protection. Only UVM’s goalies wear neck protection, largely because players find them uncomfortable, Mackey said. There has to be a way in which throat and neck protection can marry both protection from blunt force trauma and skate blades and comfort.

This must change. Not only should neck protection be mandatory, it needs to be improved to prevent further accidents like Orekhov's. Malarchuk was playing in a game against St. Louis when forward Steve Tuttle’s blade caught the goalkeeper in the neck, severing his carotid artery and injuring his jugular. Malarchuk survived, but the scene was so awful that, according to ESPN, 11 fans fainted. Cuts in other parts of the body are protected through mandatory cut-resistant gear, but not the neck, Mackey said. “What we mandate for our kids is cut-resistant gauntlets and socks,” he said. “Next year, we’re looking at taking it a step further.” If budget permits, UVM will be introducing cut-proof under-

It wasn’t until the 1967 death of Minnesota North Stars forward Bill Masterton that the NHL mandated helmets, and since then helmets have become protective enough to shield from some injuries while still being fairly comfortable. Hockey Canada mandates neck protection at the youth level, while USA Hockey does not. It’s time to change that. Otherwise, another young player is going to end up like Orekhov: gone far too soon from a preventable injury. Locria Courtright is a sophomore computer science major. She has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2015.

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11-7

Women's Lacrosse vs Bryant HOME Feb. 15

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3-1

W 78-64 Men's Basketball vs Binghamton HOME Feb. 17

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74-60

Men’s Hockey vs Boston College

Women's Basketball vs UMBC

HOME Feb. 19

HOME Feb. 20

THIS WEEK Men’s Basketball vs UNH

Women’s Basketball at UNH

HOME Feb. 24 7 p.m.

Durham, NH Feb. 25 7 p.m.

Men’s Hockey at Merrimack

Men’s Basketball at Stony Brook

North Andover, MA Feb. 26 8:30 p.m.

Stony Brook, NY Feb. 27 7 p.m.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK: University of Vermont men’s basketball player Cam Ward was named the America East Player of the Week. In the Cats’ two games last week, the sophomore guard averaged 20 points per game.

RECORDS Men’s Basketball 17-12 Men’s Hockey 12-18-3 Women’s Swim 6-3

Women’s Basketball 7-20 Women’s Hockey 8-23-3

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