2017 vol 133 issue 27

BURLINGTON, VT

VTCYNIC.COM

VOL. 133

ISSUE 27

APRIL 19, 2017

B-SIDE pg. 12: first friday brings flair to south end

BLM flag thief identified Sophomore FIJI pledge expelled from fraternity after fingerprint evidence confirms him as flag thief On Saturday, Sept. 24, sophomore J.T. Reichhelm stole the Black Lives Matter flag from outside the Davis Center, leaving his fingerprints for police to find.

UVM police began investigating the theft Sunday morning and later identified Reichhelm as the thief.

Reichhelm, who was then pledging Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI), said he stole the flag while “blackout” drunk, prompting a police investigation into the fraternity, according to documents obtained by the Cynic.

“It was my own stupid drunken decision,” he said. “I never meant to make anyone feel unsafe or unwanted.”

The Black Lives Matter flag at UVM made national headlines in Fox News, the Huffington Post and the Washington Post when it was raised, stolen and then raised again.

SGA flew the Black Lives Matter flag Sept. 22 alongside the Vermont state and U.S. flags following the shootings of black men by police in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Charlotte, North Carolina.

The night of the theft, FIJI members discovered Reichhelm had stolen the flag after he posted a photo

on Snapchat.

They called an emergency meeting the next evening and unanimously voted to expel him from the pledge class, the documents stated.

The following day, three unnamed FIJI members and their chapter adviser Peter Diederich reported Reichhelm to Pat Brown, director of student life, and Kim Monteaux De Freitas, director of fraternity and sorority life, the documents stated.

Pat Brown then reported the theft to UVM police, the documents stated.

Sgt. Mary Seller was dispatched to interview Reichhelm the morning of Sept. 28.

When Seller first asked Reichhelm about the flag, he denied involvement, according to her report.

“I explained to him I knew he had taken it, and there were two fingerprints lifted from the flagpole,” Seller stated in the report.

Reichhelm then confessed to stealing the flag, retrieved it from under his dorm room bed and helped Sgt. Seller fold it before she returned the flag to the police station, according

BLM Continues on pg. 10

Photo courtesy of Cameron Youngblood The second Black Lives Matter flag is pictured. The flag was made by Pat Brown, director of Student Life, and his wife.

Timeline of Events Sept. 23, 2016 An unsanctioned event including brothers and pledges. Alcohol is present.

facebook.com/ thevermontcynic

Sept. 25, 2016 7 p.m.

FIJI chapter votes unanimously to expel Reichhelm from the pledge class because of his involvement in the theft.

@vermontcynic

Sept. 25, 2016 2:30 a.m. - 3:30 a.m.

FIJI pledge J.T. Reichhelm steals the Black Lives Matter flag

instagram.com/ vermontcynic

Sept. 27, 2016 Three brothers turn Reichhelm in to Pat Brown, director of student life

youtube.com/ cynicvideo

Sept. 28, 2016 Reichhelm confesses after UVM police tells him they found his fingerprints on the flagpole.

vtcynic.com

NEWS

2

Candidates tie in SGA election

SGA supports bystander intervention training

For the first time in SGA history, there has been a tie between two candidates running for a position on the SGA Senate.

A special runoff election took place between the tied candidates, Sen. David Chapnick and first-year Cammy Schiller, April 17 and 18, Sen. David Brandt stated in an April 17 email.

The winner of this election will be an SGA senator for the 2017-2018 academic year.

There were 37 open seats on the senate, and 42 senators ran for election for the upcoming year, Sen. Zach Merson said.

“I’m extremely excited for the results,” Schiller said. “I am obviously hoping to make the cut, but it has been great fun to be a part of this.”

Schiller hopes to improve advising as well as the conservation of resources at UVM, she said.

Chapnick is a current senator serving on the Committee for Diversity, Inclusion and Equity, while Schiller is a firstyear student with no previous SGA experience at UVM, although she was student body president at her high school, according to her platform.

“Many of us are rooting for David since he’s a familiar face and a would be a welcome addition to the new senate, especially considering next year is his last at UVM,” Merson said.

Lauren Schnepf Senior Staff Writer

Lauren Schnepf Senior Staff Writer

David Chapnick Acton, Mass.

Junior

Cameron Schiller Duxbury, Mass.

First-Year

Photos courtesy of UVM Left to right: David Chapnick and Cameron Schiller are pictured.

The two tied in the recent SGA Senate elections.

In the past year, Chapnick has worked on an ad-hoc committee to reinstate reading days and plans to continue to do so in the upcoming year, according to his platform.

Chapnick also plans to take the reigns on outgoing Vice President Tyler Davis’ Safe Ride Home program, he said. “[Being a senator] really pulled back the curtain when it came to making the change I wanted to see in my surrounding environment,” Chapnick said.

The candidates will be informed about the results of the election before the final SGA senate meeting of the year, which will take place April 18.

Fast Facts about SGA Senate

42 37 2 8

Senators ran for election

Open seats on the senate

Senators vying for one seat

Standing committees

The SGA has ruled in favor of supporting a bill that provides bystander intervention training for employees of nightlife establishments in the Burlington area.

The Bystander Intervention Training for Establishments Serving Alcohol in Burlington was supported by SGA April 11. The initiative was proposed by city councilor Adam Roof .

If the bill is passed, bartenders and other nightlife staff will be trained in bystander intervention by HOPE Works employees and other experienced nightlife employees, according to the bill passed by the SGA. HOPE Works is a Vermont organization dedicated to ending all forms of sexual violence, according to its website.

Roof said he originally reached out to SGA because he felt it was important for students to be a part of the initiative, as sexual assault is especially prevalent among ages 18 to 24. He has been pleased with the response so far, he said.

“I’m floored by the level of support of the community,” Roof said. “It’s very impactful to show people how supportive the student body is.”

The SGA started a petition in support of the program is currently circulating UVM, SGA Sen. Reginah Mako said.

The petition currently has

Ending sexual violence through

Healing Outreach Prevention Empowerment • Serves the Chittenden County community • Provides crisis counseling and advocacy over 200 signatures, and SGA hopes to obtain at least 500, according to Roof . Roof feels the petition would be very helpful in convincing the city council to pass the initiative, he said.

“We hope that the support from UVM students emphasizes the importance of the initiative to City Hall,” Mako said.

Roof will be presenting at a city council meeting to request funding for the 18-month pilot program April 17.

NEWS

Newly elected SGA Senate for 2017-2018

Jamie Benson Waterbury, Vt. First-year

Victoria Biondolillo Barre, Vt. First-year

Will Corcoran Weston, Conn.

Sophomore

Mariah Cronin Sandwich, Mass.

Junior

Clark Deng Seattle, Wash.

First-year

Sarah Flaherty Cape Elizabeth, ME Junior

Ethan Foley Grove City, Pa. First-year

Rachel Frankenfield Sherborn, Mass.

Sophomore

Rachel Gladstone Smithtown, N.Y. Sophomore

Matt Golden Weston, Mass.

Junior

Brian Gomez White Plains, N.Y. Sophomore

Sam Howley Lake Oswego, Ore. Junior

Reginah Mako Sayreville, N.J. Sophomore

Larry McCarthy Walpole, Mass.

Sophomore

Maeve McDermott La Grange Park, Ill. Junior

Caitlin McHugh Nassau, N.Y. Sophomore

Zach Merson Sharon, Mass.

Sophomore

Stevya Mukuzo Nairobi, Kenya Sophomore

Gillian Natanagara Sophomore

Monika Nedeljkovic Newtonville, Mass.

First-year

Chris Niemczyk Glastonbury, Conn.

Junior

Bhumika Patel East Haven, Conn.

Senior

Simon Pavlow Schwenksville, Pa. Junior

Jared Percoco East Moriches, N.Y. First-year

Jack Peters Middletown, N.J. Sophomore

Evan Reilly Townshend, Vt. Sophomore

Jillian Scannell First-year

Heather Scott Tuckerton, N.J. Senior

Nichole Showalter Minnetonka, Minn.

Sophomore

Gretta Stack Hartland, Vt. First-year

Val Steffek Brookville, N.Y. Sophomore

Ben Steinlauf Philadelphia, Penn.

Sophomore

Isabel Stewart Lakeville, Conn.

Junior

William Sudbay Charlotte, Vt. Junior

Brandon Tracy Sharon, Vt. Sophomore

Carolynn van Arsdale Westport, Conn.

First-year

All photos courtesy of the SGA website

3

NEWS

4

Annual event confronts rape culture John Riedel Senior Staff Writer Joey Waldinger Senior Staff Writer The UVM community gathered to take a stand against gender-based violence April 13.

The 12th annual Dismantling Rape Culture conference, organized by the Women’s Center, was held on the fourth floor of the Davis Center.

During the conference, students listened to leaders of gender studies discuss the impacts of gender-based violence and solutions to end it.

Jeanne Kaczka-Valliere, outreach coordinator for the Women’s Center, said she hopes participants left with an increased awareness of rape culture in society and are better able to make change.

“Everything from ‘locker room talk’ to sexist jokes and rape jokes can perpetuate a culture of violence,” Kaczka-Valliere said.

Kaczka-Valliere hopes people left with a better understanding of sexism, she said.

“We all are impacted by rape culture,” Kaczka-Valliere said. “We all want to live in a violence-free society.”

At the conference, participants were given information packets with lists of terms and resources discussed.

“Rape culture exists when prevalent attitudes, norms, practices and media encourage sexual violence,” the packet states.

A common misconception about rape culture is that it just affects individuals when it actually affects everyone, Kaczka-Valliere said.

Rape culture is very misunderstood, and students wanted to make a change, she

AUTUMN LEE/The Vermont Cynic Muslim Girls Making Change performs at the 12th annual Dismantling Rape Culture Conference April 13. The conference was organized by the UVM Women’s Center. said.

“There are a lot of different ways we can affect change, and that’s why the theme came out also sensing that a lot of students on campus and in our community are charged,” Kaczka-Valliere said. “People want to make change on this campus and in this community.”

A major theme was to educate people on campus, said Alexandra Spannaus, UVM vice president of finance and member of the DRCC planning committee.

“The theme of this conference is resist, uplift, create, focus on activism through art and education,” Spannaus said. “Going back to what

Jeanne said raising awareness and having participants hopefully taking away action items to resist in their own circle.”

The UVM administration was very financially supportive of the conference, she said.

“We’ve had support from President Sullivan and the administrators making a real concern to address campus wide violence,” Spannaus said.

The conference is a way to address the many ways sexual violence occurs on campus, she said.

Senior Alicia Gusan, committee member for the DRCC, helped plan the conference and said she felt it was a success.

“As an undergraduate sur-

vivor, it was really great to see other undergraduates working to create a healthy environment on campus,” Gusan said.

Residents from Castleton, Vermont and Plattsburgh, New York came to the conference in addition to people from UVM and Burlington, she said.

“Having people come in with so many different mindsets and understandings is overwhelmingly awesome to see,” Gusan said.

Everyone is encouraged to come regardless of their understanding and knowledge of sexual violence, she said.

Sophomore Mehanna Borostyan helped promote the event and said the workshops she attended were packed.

“We always have full attendance at the event and we cap it at 500 people,” Borostyan said.

There were a lot of students attending as well as running the workshops, she said.

“One of the most interesting workshops was the student survivor panel,” Borostyan said. “You needed no experience for that, just to be a human being and present.”

Students were able to indicate how comfortable they are with rape culture before the conference and select which workshops best suited them, she said.

UVM fundraises $45k for cancer research Greta Brown Staff Writer On Saturday, hundreds of students and members of the Burlington community filled the Patrick Gym track, cheering in support of cancer research.

Many UVM students from all types of organizations across campus, including members of fraternity and sorority life and ROTC, participated in the American Cancer Society’s “Relay for Life,” said Leslye Kenney, community manager for Relay for Life.

So far, the fundraiser has raised $45,000 of the University’s $57,000 goal to go toward cancer research, Kenney said.

“Cancer has affected everyone around us, and I want to be a part of finding the cure,” said first-year Grace Murphy, whose mother is now in remission from colon cancer and whose best friend is also a survivor.

Murphy is involved in the UVM branch of the Colleges Against Cancer club and participated in the relay, Kenney said.

The day was emotional and

Photo courtesy of Facebook UVM students and Burlington community members attend the Relay for Life event in the Patrick Gym April 7. Relay for Life raises money to help fight cancer. inspirational for Murphy, who remembers some of the best moments of the day: members of the UVM ROTC completed the entire marathon in full uniform, Murphy’s team raised $1,200 and survivors shared their stories throughout the event, she said.

“It’s amazing to see the community and students across campuses coming together to celebrate survivors and caregivers, and to support in the American Cancer Society’s mission to raise money and resources for a cure,”

Kenney said.

Murphy’s donations came from far and wide, but the most touching donation she received was from a boy she helped in Sunday school back home in Chicago, she said.

“He donated a portion of his weekly allowance toward my goal. When I received it, I got a little teary-eyed,” Murphy said. “This entire event gave me so much hope and made me realize how generous people can be.”

Food and nutrition sciences Professor Todd Pritchard,

the student adviser for Colleges Against Cancer, got involved with the organization last year, he said.

The club was in need of a new adviser, and with a sister diagnosed with stage four colon cancer in 2015, he decided to get involved, Pritchard said.

“For me, the best part of the event was when my wife and I walked the caregiver’s lap with my sister, who is currently in remission,” he said .

The event was initiated and organized primarily by the students involved with Col-

leges Against Cancer, Kenney said.

“They pretty much run on their own,” Pritchard said.

“They really did a great job working with the American Cancer Society to make Relay a possibility.”

Kenney is involved with making sure the event runs smoothly, but the students are a huge piece of the event’s success, she said.

“I provide support, but the students are at the core of the operation,” she said.

Kenney herself is a breast cancer survivor, and research funds provided the technology her doctor used to save her life back in 2001, Kenney said.

“I try to make someone else’s journey better than mine,” she said. “Everyone who is raising money is the unseen heroes helping doctors and researchers to do what they do.”

If students wish to get more involved, they can help plan next year’s Relay for Life for next by joining Colleges Against Cancer, fundraising or getting involved in the ACS in any other way possible, Kenney said.

NEWS

BRANDON ARCARI/The Vermont Cynic President Tom Sullivan is pictured. Sullivan, along with the rest of the Faculty Senate, implemented a quantitative reasoning requirement March 27.

Quantitative reasoning added to requirements Craig Pelsor Staff Writer A new general education requirement in mathematical problem solving will be added in fall 2017.

The proposal for the new general education requirement focused on quantitative reasoning was passed by the Faculty Senate March 27, becoming the fourth University-wide requirement needed to graduate.

The idea of adding five new University-wide general education requirements, in addition to the current diversity requirement, was issued

by President Tom Sullivan in 2014, according to the fall 2014 issue of the Vermont Quarterly.

Since then, two more requirements have been added: foundational writing and information literacy in 2014, and sustainability in 2015, according to their respective websites.

“I am pleased with the Faculty Senate’s leadership decision to implement quantitative reasoning as our fourth General Education requirement at UVM,” Sullivan said.

“It very much will be complementary to the other three requirements, and will round out our students’ educational experience.”

Quantitative reasoning is described as the ability to interpret and use mathematical models symbolically, visually, numerically and verbally, according to the Mathematical Association of America.

Joan Rosebush, a senior lecturer in the mathematics and statistics department, chaired the committee that designed the new requirement.

“This requirement is intended to assure that graduates of UVM possess the ability to think critically, evaluate information and reason quantitatively in order to excel in their chosen field and to perform as successful citizens in the world,” Rosebush said.

A single course in MATH 009 or above, STAT 052 or above, CS 008 or above or PHIL 013 would fulfill this new

requirement, according to a March 3 Faculty Senate memo.

There should be no additional staff, resources or budget needs to accommodate this change, as the University already offers enough courses to accommodate students fulfilling this requirement.

This requirement will not apply to current students, Faculty Senate President Cathy Paris said.

If approved by the board of trustees, the requirement will go into effect for the class entering in the fall of 2017, she said.

These courses are predicted to overlap with the general requirements of most existing majors, which will help a majority of students fulfil this requirement easily.

Human development and family studies, art education and music education are the only majors to not include specific quantitative reasoning courses, according to a curricular affairs committee memo.

All three majors have agreed to revise their programs to ensure students will be able to fulfill this requirement, the memo stated.

With the addition of this fourth requirement, a new committee on general education requirements is in the process of being formed within the faculty senate.

This committee will address requirement issues that arise, such as the transfer of AP transfer credits.

With the addition of more required courses, some raised concern over the limited freedom of students to explore other courses in their majors.

Plant biology professor Brian Beckage expressed fear that students will be continually limited by required courses and have less opportunity to decide what they want to do.

“It’d be tough adding another requirement that students have to take on top of everything else already required,” sophomore Jeff Schindler said. “But I think it’d add a lot for people who do not have that particular background knowledge.”

5

NEWS

6

Professor shares passion for robotics Chloe Chaobal Staff Writer

Josh Bongard, associate professor of computer science, spent a lot of time in high school thinking about robots and their usefulness to humans, he said.

“Why did everyone think it would be so useful to have them, but no one could build them?” Bongard said.

Bongard said his decision to pursue science was inspired by the science fiction of Issac Asimov,a popular science-fiction writer.

“I got interested in robotics because no one could do it,” Bongard said. “If everyone knew they were so great, why couldn’t they just do it?”

The heart of robotics is to make a machine that can think for itself, he said.

“Robots will have to think for themselves for the very simple reason that they’re going to live in the world with us,” Bongard said.

Computers are programed to perform certain actions, but they are not able to understand the social implications of their actions, he said.

For instance, Google’s self-driving cars will need to understand why they cannot drive through a group of people to get to a certain location, Bongard said.

Bongard started working at UVM in 2006. Since then, he has received numerous awards for his research, including an invitation to meet former President Barack Obama in 2011.

The praise for Bongard’s research started with his work with in evolutionary robotics, according to Bongard’s website.

Essentially, the robots are created with an approach like evolution, Bongard said.

Bongard and his students

Photo courtesy of Josh Bongard’s Twitter Josh Bongard, associate professor of computer science, is pictured. sit in a lab and run a computer program where different robots are “evolved,” he said.

Like natural selection, the robots that do not perform as well as the others “die,” he said.

As a teacher, Bongard tries to make students think outside the box, said graduate student Sam Kriegman.

After receiving a degree in mathematics and statistics from UVM and working as a data scientist for an insurance company, Kriegman decided to move to robotics, he said.

“I never thought I could work in robotics, but Bongard helped me realize my poten-

tial,” Kriegman said.

Kriegman said he attended weekly meetings with Bongard, slowly developing an understanding of robotics.

Bongard’s work has attracted students from outside the U.S. as well.

Frank Veenstra, an international student from Netherlands, came to UVM as a visiting doctorate student in evolutionary robotics.

“I read a lot of Bongard’s papers, and I was kind of a fan of what he is doing,” Veenstra said.

Like Kriegman, Veenstra had a background outside of evolutionary robotics: a bach-

elor’s degree in biology and a master’s degree in bionics.

“There are a lot of similarities between the fields of biology and robotics, but they use different words,” Veenstra said.

Bongard uses biology as an inspiration for his work in robotics, Bongard said.

As a kid, Bongard said he loved to draw animals. He was fascinated by social insects and animals with strong abilities, like the cheetah and the gibbon, a type of primate, he said.

“I bore the students in my class with videos of gibbons,” Bongard said.

Bongard called for lawyers, teachers and philosophers to participate in the discussion of robotics and AI. “I think right now is a great opportunity to bring together left brain thinkers and right brain thinkers from all aspects of society,” he said.

Creating safe robots that can think for themselves will require everyone in society, Bongard said.

“It’s not just going be the nerds who make robots,” he said. “It’s going to be society as a whole.”

Millions donated to institute by former NBA owner Brandon Arcari Staff Writer UVM announced that with a new $6 million donation, the Gund Institute will be expanded to the entire University.

Gordon Gund, billionaire and former owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers made the donation. Gund’s sons are UVM graduates.

The current Gund Institute for Ecological Economics will be expanded and renamed as the Gund Institute for Environment.

The expansion will involve more interdisciplinary work across departments and colleges, focusing on issues targeted by the United Nations in its Sustainable Development Goals, essentially the U.N.’s worldwide goals for the next 10 years.

“It’s an exciting investment, and I think it will really help UVM’s prestige among environmental institutions,” said first-year Will Kelleher, who is in the Rubenstein School for the Environment and Natural

Photo courtesy of UVM Taylor Ricketts, director of the Gund Institute for Environment, is pictured.

Resources. “This kind of thing is exactly why I came to UVM.” The U.N.’s goals focus on increased climate change action and clean energy, according to the U.N.’s website.

These goals correlate with current UVM projects and the heritage of UVM’s environmental leadership in education and research, according to UVM’s website.

In the past, the Gund Institute has focused on combining disciplines from across the

MAX MCCURDY/The Vermont Cynic The Gund Institute, which is located at the Johnson House, is pictured.

University, with Gund chairs in many departments and across colleges, from the political science department in the College of Arts and Sciences to community development and applied economics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

“Satisfying human needs without destroying nature is

our generation’s defining challenge,” said Taylor Ricketts, the founding director of the Gund Institute at UVM and the Gund professor for RSENR. UVM also plans to take advantage of this development in order to become a highly productive place for research and promotion of environmental activity and sustainability, Pro-

vost David Roskowsky said.

“The Gund Institute for Environment brings the entire campus together to leverage these core strengths to accelerate research and solve the urgent environmental challenges facing Vermont, our nation and our world,” President Tom Sullivan stated.

OPINION

7

EXECUTIVE Editor-in-Chief Kelsey Neubauer editorinchief@vtcynic.com Managing Editor Bryan O’Keefe newsroom@vtcynic.com Assistant Managing Editor Mariel Wamsley newsroomassistant@ vtcynic.com OPERATIONS Operations Manager Ryan Thornton operations@vtcynic.com Advertising Manager Cole Wangsness ads@vtcynic.com EDITORIAL Arts Benjamin Elfland arts@vtcynic.com B-Side Margaret Richardson bside@vtcynic.com Copy Chief Lindsay Freed copy@vtcynic.com Enterprise Erika B. Lewy enterprise@vtcynic.com Layout Kira Bellis layout@vtcynic.com Life Greta Bjornson life@vtcynic.com Multimedia William Dean Wertz media@vtcynic.com News Olivia Bowman news@vtcynic.com Opinion Sydney Liss-Abraham opinion@vtcynic.com Photo Phillip Carruthers Max McCurdy photo@vtcynic.com Social Media Liv Jensen socialmedia@vtcynic.com Sports Eribert Volaj sports@vtcynic.com Video Molly O’Shea video@vtcynic.com Web Connor Allan web@vtcynic.com Assistant Editors Ariana Arden (Opinion), Bridget Higdon (Arts), Locria Courtright (Sports), Erika B. Lewy (News), Lily Keats (Layout), Karolyn Moore (Copy), Izzy Siedman (Life) Page Designers Tiana Crispino, Ed Taylor Copy Editors Brandon Arcari, Hunter Colvin, Michelle Derse Lowry, Rae Gould, Adrianna Grinder, Linnea Johnson, Kira Nemeth, George Seibold, Meline Thebarge ADVISING Faculty Adviser Chris Evans crevans@uvm.edu

We must carry the flag on our backs and in our hearts Staff Editorial

T

he Black Lives Matter flag became an emblem whose impact radiated beyond UVM’s campus and across Vermont state boundaries.

It was a symbol: the student body of a predominantly white university stood behind a movement to end slayings of black men and women in America.

The flag that was stolen was more than just a piece of fabric.

A white man was protected by a privilege given to those attending an institution of higher education.

Meanwhile, the names and faces of black men with majority non-violent crimes sit in prison cells, making up 60 percent of the prison population, according to The New Jim Crow.

One in eight black men are in prison at any given day, the book states.

Here lies a deadly double standard that the Black Lives Matter movement has tried to illuminate and eliminate.

The theft of this flag and subsequent silence around who stole it indicates systems of oppression present at many national levels are, without a doubt, present at UVM. Today, we call on the campus to contribute to this necessary healing process.

Healing will require a promise to debunk the myth of colorblindness. It will mean that each day we face the reality of racism in our peers, our nation and ourselves.

We must hold ourselves ac-

countable for educating ourselves about racism, from the institutional forms to the microaggressions that we commit everyday, blinded by a privilege we do not know we have until we teach ourselves to look through a veil.

Finally, healing will mean standing up when a member of the community decides to act in a system of racism. It means not protecting from exposure those who contribute to a racist society.

In order to heal, we must not only raise the flag; we must carry it and move it to be more than just a symbol.

We call on the student body to act against all forms of racism.

We call upon the student body to care enough about the community and people who commit racists acts to hold them accountable, just as FIJI did.

We believe hiding information regarding the theft of something so close to the heart of our community for nine months was fundamentally wrong.

Raising a flag is symbolic and powerful, but it is easy. The hard part is carrying the flag when it is taken down, on our backs and in our hearts.

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 let- ters to opinion@vtcynic.com.

8

OPINION

Financial services and earnings of refugees Gabriella Marchesi Sarang Murthy Access to Financial Services Access to low rate credit may be a hinderance to anyone with very little credit history.

Raising equity or debt capital may also not be the easiest for such individuals looking to start small businesses.

Some organizations in Vermont offer financial services to refugees and other low income communities. Their intention is to make seemingly daunting financial processes as smooth as possible.

One organization is the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity, serving more than 10,000 households annually, many containing refugees and asylees.

CVOEO helps people build stronger futures with the help of financial wellness programs, business development workshops and tax preparation assistance.

Their programs include housing advocacy — Vermont Tenants, Fair Housing and Mobile Home programs — and assistance with short and long-term solutions to poverty.

Other tax preparation services include the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance.

VITA is a program funded by the Internal Revenue Service that offers free tax preparation assistance to eligible low-to middle-income individuals and taxpayers with limited English, among others.

The AARP’s Tax-Aide Program provides tax assistance to taxpayers with low and moderate income.

They pay special attention to people 50 years and older who cannot afford a tax prepa-

GENEVIEVE WINN ration service, not necessarily for refugees although they do often qualify.

A Bird’s Eye Look at Earnings A recently concluded yearlong research project at UVM that has yet to be published sought to assess the breadth of Human Capital Theory.

This theory defines human capital as the amount of education, health and training that a person has which enhances their productivity as a worker, in order to increase economic output.

The paper analyzes the earnings and employment outcomes of working-age refugees in the United States.

The outcomes observed were stark but unsurprising.

Refugees face a penalty on their earnings when compared to a native-born individual with similar human capital traits — education, training and health care.

In other words, because

a refugee’s income is lower, it can be said that their human capital is less valuable than a native-born individual’s.

After calculating annual income for the two groups in a variety of combinations, it was found that the lowest spread between total earnings for refugees and native-born workers is roughly 10 percent and the highest spread is roughly 38 percent.

Also, refugees are more likely to see their incomes decrease during a recession when compared to the income of a native-born individual.

Added to this, the paper’s findings on poverty levels shed light on the fact that refugees are more likely to be closer to the poverty line than their native-born counterparts.

Conclusion: A Vibrant Vermont As has been the case throughout history, a community that is embroiled in a

public furore largely based on fallacies pushed by those who stand to gain politically.

The refugee community today, as a whole, has been the target of great scrutiny.

The “extreme vetting” that 45 calls for has little basis in reality but is a catch phrase that resonates with those who rely on headlines from Fox News and Breitbart for their source of world “knowledge”.

The process of being granted refuge in the U.S. is arguably the most onerous and scrutinized in the world.

Resettlement to the United States is a long process that can take months, or even years. U.S. resettlement processing involves a series of interviews with a number of agencies.

The Obama White House even said refugees undergo more rigorous screening than others allowed into the U.S. Nov. 20, 2015, according to the Obama White House Archives.

Amy Pope, deputy assistant to President Obama for Homeland Security, added that the screening process for refugee entry into the U.S. is a nine-step process, five of those solely being intensive examinations conducted by various security agencies.

To play into fears would be succumbing to rhetoric that is only meant to stir the carnal instincts of fear and protectionism.

The figurative spice in the figurative melting pot that is the U.S. will be enhanced by welcoming people who not only want to call our country their home, but are forced to.

This piece is written in the hope of further enlightening the already enlightened readers of this cornerstone of a publication about the current refugee situation in Vermont; there are challenges in the form of language barriers and human capital discounting.

Conversely, there are resources and agencies whose broad mission is to ensure the challenges associated with being a refugee can be overcome.

Let us transcend the pledge of allegiance to action and really be “one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

“Financial services and earnings of refugees“ concludes the three-piece series, “A better Understanding of Refugees in Vermont’s Economy.”

Gabriella Marchesi is a sophomore economics major who has been writing for the Cynic since 2016. Sarang Murthy is a senior economics major who has been writing for the Cynic since 2015.

Honeybees are all the buzz and they’re going extinct

I

Lily Spechler

think it’s about time we talk about the birds and the bees. Especially the bees.

Bees account for a third of everything we eat globally; 84 percent of the crops grown for human consumption, around 400 different types of plants, need bees and other insects to pollinate them, according to the Guardian.

Without bees, there would be a complete breakdown of the entire agricultural system as we know it.

Bees are considered “guardians of the food chain” because they pollinate plants that the majority of animals rely on for survival.

Without bees, supermarkets would have half the amount of food they have today, according to BBC. With increased stressors on production, food prices will continually rise, which will make healthy food inaccessible for huge portions of the population.

A quote commonly attributed to Albert Einstein reads, “If the bees disappeared off the surface of the earth man would only have four years left to live.”

Though four years might

be an inaccurate time frame, the logic behind this quote is rather alarming.

Forty percent of honeybee colonies in the U.S. are dying out each year, according to the Guardian.

Perhaps it is time we start paying attention to what the buzz is going on.

Why are the bees dying?

You guessed it: human impact and climate change.

The “colony collapse disorder” knocked out a third of all honeybee colonies in the U.S in 2007.

Although there is still much research to be done, it seems that pesticides were one of the leading causes, according to the Guardian.

Pesticides and insecticides can either kill bees on the spot, or they will come into contact with it and bring it back to their colony with contaminated nectar on their bodies.

Pesticides are a cornerstone of modern day agriculture because of modern day agriculture’s heavy reliance on “monoculture.”

The Online Dictionary definition of monoculture is: “the cultivation of a single crop in a given area”.

When there is limited or no

KIRA NEMETH crop variety in a given space, unwanted pests and insects that target those crops can come in and feast. This leads to the vicious cycle of increased pesticide application.

Our current global rates of consumption call for over 1 billion pounds of pesticides in the Unites States each year and approximately 5.6 billion are used worldwide, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

The Trump administration is threatening the existence of honeybees, which is threatening the future of humankind and the economy.

Against the advice of the

Environmental Protection Agency’s chemical safety experts, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt rejects a decade-old petition asking to ban all use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos, according to an April 3 National Geographic article.

Climate change is also one of the leading causes of the bees’ demise. Trump’s massive EPA cuts and promises to revive the coal industry will only expedite and intensify the impacts.

Bees need the flowers to survive and the flowers need the bees. Honeybees have coevolved with flowers for over millions of years.

However, the erratic weather patterns induced by climate change have caused changes in flowers’ blooming patterns, which confuses the bees.

Climate change has led to a disruption in the synchronization of flower opening and bee hibernation, according to The Guardian.

Humans are also destroying bee habitats through perpetual industrial development.

Since 1945, 97 percent of wildflower meadows in the UK are gone, according to the Guardian.

We are at a tipping point in time. The bees are not extinct yet, and there is still a chance to change our practices and sustain our future, both ecologically and economically.

This is a non-partisan issue. By promoting legislation that limits pesticide use and climate change mitigation, hope remains to rebound the honeybee population and avert this catastrophe.

We have to speak up now and spark a movement of change, or we will be facing some less than sweet realities.

Lily Spechler is a senior natural resources major. She has been writing for the Cynic since 2016.

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ENTER

10

BLM flag thief

Sophomore FIJI pledge expelled fingerprint evidence confirms

GENEVIEVE WINN

RPRISE

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Complete Timeline of Events

f identified

Sept. 23, 2016

Several brothers, without leadership consent, tell four pledges to go to 218 King Street.

from fraternity after s him as flag thief

An unsanctioned event which included alcohol occurs at 6:30 p.m. at the King Street house. They were not directly forced to attend. It was considered a pregame according to investigation documents. All brothers present were underage.

BLM Continued from pg. 1 to the report.

Bev Colston, director of the Mosaic Center for Students of Color, did not know the flag was stolen by a UVM student until last week, she said.

She was saddened, but not surprised, to hear the thief was a member of UVM’s community, she said.

“Learning that it was a former FIJI pledge was brand new to me,” Colston said.

Administrative bodies at the University, including those in student life and fraternity and sorority life, knew who stole the Black Lives Matter flag as soon within two days of the Sept. 25 theft, the documents stated.

Annie Stevens, vice provost for student affairs, said she participated in other conversations in February about whether or not to release information about the thief’s identity.

It was decided that there was no way to keep Reichhelm’s identity private if they released information regarding who stole the flag, Stevens said.

Nestor said that privacy laws, which prevent the University from identifying individuals in student conduct cases, sometimes put the University in a situation where it’s unable to comment on issues that impact the community.

“It puts us in a very awkward position time and again,” Nestor said. “Other people can talk about what they know about. We have to remain in this posture of no comment, which looks suspicious on the surface.”

After Sgt. Seller interviewed Reichhelm on Saturday’s events, she said she was able to gain information that there may have been some hazing at the fraternity that night, according to police reports.

During Seller’s interview, Reichhelm said he was “the most drunk he had ever been.”

He said he had gotten drunk because some FIJI members had pressured him to drink.

Reichhelm accused the fraternity of hazing, the police report stated.

Reichhelm walked down to

ISABELLA ALESSANDRINI

Sept. 24, 2016

5 p.m.

Brandon Ciaramitari ‘16, a FIJI brother, takes two pledges to the FIJI house tower, tells them an unspecified “ghost story” and encourages them to drink alcohol from a kettle.

Ciaramitari was banned from the house and all chapter activities for four years on Nov. 30, 2016 due to his involvement in the incident.

Sept. 25, 2016

2:30 a.m. - 3:30 a.m.

J.T. Reichhelm, a pledge who was in attendance, at the King Street home the night before, steals the Black Lives Matter flag from the Davis Center flagpole. Reichhelm takes the flag back to his dorm room in Wing Hall at around 3 a.m.

STAFF/The Vermont Cynic The Phi Gamma Delta house is pictured. the FIJI house Saturday with fellow sophomore pledge Mike Hoaglund, he said.

Reichhelm told investigating officer Denise D’Andrea that some members poured a large amount of alcohol into the cooking pot and told he and Hoaglund to drink it.

Reichhelm noted that he was not forced to drink, but that if he did not, another pledge would have to finish the drink for him, according to the police report.

“It would be like punishing ourselves if we did not drink,” Reichhelm said in the interview with D’Andrea. “You want to be friends with them and to be a part of them, so this is the way you do it.”

In his statement, Reichhelm told D’Andrea that the night before, he and nine other pledges had lined up in the basement of a FIJI member’s apartment and passed the pot of alcohol from pledge to pledge until it was empty.

A third pledge stated that members had “stressed that if anyone did not want to do this they did not have to,” according to documents obtained by the Cynic.

On April 14, Reichhelm said he acted alone in stealing the flag in September.

Reichhelm said he remembered getting a call from FIJI members after he stole the flag, he said. Later, they told him that they had to drop him, Reichhelm said.

Members told Reichhelm that turning himself in would help the fraternity, as the organization could not be tied to “the flag drama,” Reichhelm said.

After Reichhelm stole the original flag, Brown and his wife Amy sewed a new flag with the Black Lives Matter flag on a pan-African flag.

“I’m really proud of the response from the institution, from SGA, Pat Brown and his wife,” said Colston, reflecting on the University’s original decision to fly the flag and Brown’s replacement after the

first was stolen.

“I’m really grateful we did something that was groundbreaking and much more forward than any other institution in this country,” she said.

The University announced the results of the hazing investigation in a March 30 press release. FIJI was suspended for four years as a result of the police investigation.

If an establishment is using drinking games to distinguish membership, it is considered hazing, he said “Optional means nothing to us,” Dean of Students David Nestor said.

Nestor said the stolen Black Lives Matter flag and FIJI’s hazing violations were two separate issues.

The first issue which police investigated was an individual’s theft of the flag. The second issue was an organization that was hazing its members, he said.

Nestor said at the end of the investigation, it was clear the individual acted on his own and not as a part of a larger organization. Nestor said he was unable to identify the individual or comment on his punishment due to student privacy laws.

The University denied FIJI’s appeal to have sanctions removed.

SGA President Jason Maulucci said he was upset with the University’s decision to sanction the fraternity even after they had turned the pledge in.

“It doesn’t exactly send the right signal that in doing the right thing, they were punished,” Maulucci said. “What the individual did was despicable, but I’m thankful FIJI did the right thing.”

Reporting by: Erika B. Lewy, Kim Henry, Joey Waldinger, Mariel Wamsley and Lindsay Freed.

Additional Reporting by: Olivia Bowman, Ben Elfland, Max McCurdy and J.P. Riedel.

3 a.m.

A member of FIJI receives a Snapchat from Reichhelm of the BLM flag.

Other brothers confirm seeing Reichhelm downtown at Mr. Mike’s drinking with a fake I.D. and at a party on South Prospect Street prior to the flag theft.

7 p.m.

FIJI chapter votes unanimously to expel Reichhelm from the pledge class because of his involvement in the theft.

FIJI leadership contacts internal chapter graduate advisers and Fraternity & Sorority Life advisers to discuss incident and how to handle it.

Sept. 27, 2016

Chapter Adviser Peter Diederich and three FIJI fraternity brothers turn Reichhelm in for stealing the flag to Pat Brown, director of student life and Kim Monteaux De Frietas, director of Fraternity and Sorority life.

Diederich and the three brothers are granted anonymity by Pat Brown on the condition the event on King Street was not a sanctioned event. The agreement is verbal, with nothing in writing.

Sept. 28, 2016

UVM police services receive an anonymous tip from Pat Brown that Reichhelm stole the BLM flag.

After the tip, Sgt. Mary Seller confronts Reichhelm’s in his room about the incident. He initially denies involvement, but confesses after Seller tells Reichhelm UVM police had his fingerprints from the flagpole.

Oct. 26 - Nov. 16, 2016

Four FIJI pledges are picked at random from chapter roster by for police interviews. FIJI President and Rush Chair offer to assist UVM police with the investigation.

Jan. 19, 2017

Three brothers and Peter Diederich meet with Pat Brown to discuss the chapter’s interim suspension.

Jan. 23, 2017

1 p.m.

Three brothers meet with Center of Student Conduct Hearing Officer Laura B. Lee.

Feb. 10, 2017

Chapter receives their conduct decision letter.

An appeal deadline is set for 4:30 p.m. Feb. 17.

Feb. 13, 2017

The chapter emails Gary Derr requesting documents related to other student organization conduct hearings and all decisions relating to hazing or hazing allegations in the last five years.

The president files for an extension on the appeal to allow time for documents to be received. An extension is granted and a new deadline set for 5 p.m. March 6.

Feb. 16, 2017

Leadership of the chapter conducted an internal board of conduct to give sanctions to the members involved in the events.

B-SIDE

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First Friday: A look inside the artistic event sweeping the South End Bettina Cataldi

A

longside the Burlington waterfront lies a lesser-known land beyond creemees and sunsets; one populated by photographers, metal workers and painters alike.

I attended my first-ever “First Friday” event, where dozens of art venues and restaurants across the South End opened their doors free of charge to the Burlington community to promote local artists April 7.

Aptly named, the event occurs on the first Friday of every month from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Beyond enjoying the free brownies and viewing an impressive array of artwork, I was fortunate enough to speak with two women in the Burlington art community, both of whom are involved with galleries downtown.

My first stop was the HAVOC gallery on Sears Lane, one of the furthest galleries on the Burlington Art Map. HAVOC is a self-proclaimed “abstract contemporary gallery” featuring both local and international art.

When they’re not displaying international artwork, the local flavor of Vermont artwork is brought by metalwork artist Bruce McDonald; HAVOC also serves as his studio space.

The gallery is a single room with the exhibits in front and McDonald’s studio in the back. It’s only view of the outside being a large garage door behind heaps of metal and wire contraptions. “In the

summertime we put the bay doors up because you can smell the lake and it’s all green back there, which makes it an open air gallery,” said gallery director of HAVOC, Sarah Vogelsang-Card.

We discussed the gallery’s diverse displays of art from McDonald and global artists, and how their collection fits into Burlington’s art scene.

“We don’t show Vermont-type art work; we exhibit abstract work, a lot of minimalism, high-profile work,” Vogelsand-Card said. “t’s the kind of artwork you would find in New York City galleries.”

Although McDonald brings international work to the community, HAVOC prides itself on bringing a new outlook to the community.

“We want to be able to contribute new visions, new ideas, and we generally don’t show Vermont artwork so we try to bring in artists from California and Virginia so we’re infusing the community with more art,” Vogelsand-Card said.

“More art to see, more art to buy, and more art to enjoy.”

She emphasized the importance of introducing international work to Burlington.

“We’re always flushed with new work of Bruce’s, but to be able to show international artists is really fun for us,” Vogelsang-Card said.

There are currently two exhibitions in the HAVOC gallery along with McDonald’s permanent display year-round. Next on the agenda is their party in June celebrating McDonald’s piece, “Visible Indivisibles”

Photos courtesy of Kath Cummings Local art is displayed in part of the “First Friday” showcase April 7. Art venues and restaurants open their doors to the public for free to showcase local talent.

reaching completion.

Just up the road from HAVOC on Pine Street was my next stop, Brickwork Art Studio.

The space is home to fourteen studios featuring artwork of all shapes and styles.

“We’re primarily painters, printers, and I’m the only photographer,” said Jude Domski, Brickwork resident photographer. “We each rent our own spaces, but because of the close proximity, there’s always a bit of cross-pollination.”

The exhibits rotate monthly, as artists’ work alternates from the main gallery to small-

er corridors.

Domski’s residency at Brickwork has influenced her work beyond what she initially expected. Her newest exhibit, “Shape of Water,” illustrates her artistic evolution since her time at the studio.

“I usually do digital, mostly event photography,” Domski said. ”This [Shape of Water] is my first foray into more abstraction, which is not necessarily typical of what I do.”

This exploration began whilst looking for an art space, where Domski took into consideration multiple venues

throughout Burlington.

“One venue was Karma Birdhouse, which is more media-focused. Had I been there, I would have been more influenced in that direction,” said Domski. “It just happened that I chose to be here and I’m around more people doing abstraction.”

After speaking with Jude and Sarah on April’s First Friday, I can honestly say I’ll be back exploring the art map on the next one in May. Each venue offered me an different experience within the comforts of Burlington’s borders.

LIFE

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Event offers a second chance at prom night Kailey Bates Staff Writer The Mount Mansfield Room in the Davis Center transformed into an exciting space Saturday night, complete with bright lights, music and a dance floor brimming with members and allies of the LGBTQA community.

The LGBTQA Collaborative in Living and Learning put on UVM’s annual Queer Prom April 15. The event was free for all students.

First-year Carly Shapiro, a program co-director for the collaborative, contacted several organizations, including the Inter-Residential Association, LGBTQA Center, UVM Dining and Vermont’s Outright Center to raise $1,800 for the event.

Shapiro has been working on the event for the past four months in order to allow members to re-experience prom in a more accepting atmosphere.

“Queer Prom gives people the opportunity everyone should have: to go to prom comfortably,” she said. “In high school people from the queer community may not have gone with the date they wanted to go with, or dressed the way they wanted to dress.

Here, they’re among friends who accept them for who they are.”

This was Senior Miguel Reda’s third year attending Queer Prom.

“The dance floor is a judgement-free zone, and it’s not only members from the LGBTQA community that are here, but allies as well,” Reda said. “I think that speaks to

AUTUMN LEE/The Vermont Cynic UVM students dance during the annual Queer Prom April 15. The prom, which took place in the Mansfield Room, was hosted by the UVM LGBTQA Collaborative. how quickly our society is changing.”

Reda says that UVM is an inclusive campus.

“I think UVM is really progressive. We’re definitely pushing boundaries, especially with the gender neutral bathrooms,” he said.

LGTBQA Center, Free 2 Be and the LGBTQA Collaborative all aim to provide a welcoming space to those who don’t identify as straight.

Junior Corey Dew spoke of his experience being a program director for the L/L collaborative.

“The community has offered me a lot. I’ve learned more about the difference between gender identity and sexual orientation,” Dew said.

“As a leader, I’ve helped people emotionally — giving advice to those who haven’t ‘come out’ yet. It has been a life-changing experience.”

Shapiro applied to the Collaborative as a first-year because she wanted to connect with other people who have experienced living with a marginalized identity, she said.

“UVM is a very accepting place, but we don’t all come

from accepting places,” Shapiro said. “Some people in the collaborative have parents who don’t know they’re living there. For that reason, the outside of the room does not indicate that it’s a LGBTQA space.”

Queer Prom is one of the many LGBTQA events that occur in April every year at UVM. The dancing continued through till midnight, allowing all to, as Dew put it, “come out of their shells and express their truest selves.”

At ROTC, meeting the students behind the uniforms Kate Vesely Staff Writer For most students, Wednesday symbolizes the dreaded hump day and lack of sleep.

But for Kathleen Sebastiano, John Zanin and Cody Dolloff of UVM’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program, Wednesday is symbolic of pride and integrity that these students hold while wearing their uniforms.

ROTC is an elective curricular students take with required classes, giving students tools for future leadership and training, as well as paying for college tuition, according to the US Army website.

For some students, a future in the military has been a lifelong desire.

First-year Zanin grew up with West Point United States Military Academy in his backyard.

“The drive to do it was always there,” Zanin said, “but I decided I didn’t want to go to an academy, and ROTC was the next choice.”

Dolloff originally did not wish to be in ROTC, even though his father was in the army.

But at Admitted Students Day, he went to the ROTC tent, enlisting for six years with a

national guard contract.

Now, Dolloff holds responsibility as a Platoon Sergeant, taking on more of an administrative position, he said.

“I have 18 people that I have to take care,” Dolloff said, “part of being a good leader is being a good follower and learner, so you have to be able to do both.”

The ROTC Program is very good at accommodating these two commitments, Zanin said.

“You’re automatically thrown into a group that you almost have to be with, but that also means you have an automatic group of people that are there as a support system to help you out,” he said.

But being a part of ROTC has had its unique and challenging experiences, according to Zanin, especially on Wednesday’s when ROTC students wear their uniforms for their leadership classes.

“Occasionally you’ll get the one person who’s not a student who will come up to you and say, ‘thank you for your service,’ so that’s an interesting dynamic,” Zanin said.

One of his most memorable days spent wearing his uniform was after election day since ROTC students are not allowed to talk politics while in uniform, Zanin said.

“That was challenging because stuff came up and was discussed as it rightfully was, but you have to just sit back and be reserved through it,” he said.

Despite the time and energy spent on physical trainings every Monday, Tuesday and Friday mornings from 6-7 a.m., Sebastiano, Zanin and Dolloff are all still students at the University and live fairly normal lives.

“No one prevents you from doing normal college things, per se,” Zanin said, “but drugs are the one thing you cannot do because we get drug tested at least once a semester.”

ROTC can be very time-consuming, according to Sebastiano.

“In my case, I spread out and I still have friends outside of ROTC and make new friends through new classes and such,” Sebastiano said.

ROTC works hard to provide bonding experiences too; Dolloff said he loves Dining In, an ROTC event when all units do skits of the other ranks in classes.

“If anyone’s doubting going into ROTC, then they need to wait until they go to Dining In — it’ll be one of the best nights of your life,” he said.

There are many outlets for

MAX MCCURDY/The Vermont Cynic Senior Rob Motley talks about his experience with UVM ROTC April 17. ROTC is an elective with required classes, which gives students training, as well as economic help with tuition. those in ROTC to find themselves, and you make friends if you put yourself out there, Sebastiano said.

“Always try to push yourself yo do better — everyone likes to see that you have an out-

going drive and that you want to learn,” she said, “don’t be shy, try to talk to other people, even if there’s a junior, they don’t mind, just be comfortable and try to get out there.”

14

LIFE

Annual play promotes feminist discussion Anna Power Staff Writer One UVM club, College Undergraduates Not Tolerating Sexism, works to eliminate sexism on campus, an idea they helped spread with the production of Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues.”

Ensler interviewed over 200 women of all different ages, races, sexualities and backgrounds on their experiences with vaginas, and turned these interviews into monologues to be adapted by college campuses nationwide, first year and director Sophie Brenits said.

CUNTS put on their annual Vagina Monologues on the weekend of April 14, with one show that day at 6:30pm and two on April 15 at 2pm and 6pm.

It’s important to have them every year because there’s always new issues to talk about, director sophomore Gillian Tiley said.

The monologues ranged in tone from comedic to empowering and serious.

This year, women were given the option to write their own monologues, Tiley said.

“I was going to read one, but the night before auditions I realized I have so many stories I should share and this is part of who I am, so I wrote about the first time I got a brazilian wax because I also like humor,” sophomore Renee

PHIL CARRUTHERS/The Vermont Cynic UVM students, and members of CUNTS, present their annual performance of the “Vagina Monologues” April 15. This year, the performers were given the option to write their own monologues.

Hamblin said.

First-year Kirsten Jensen chose to read from the original play to step outside of her comfort zone.

“I thought it would put me in the shoes of someone else and help me see a perspective that I have never seen before,” Jensen said. “The monologue that I am doing is from a woman who quit her job as a lawyer to become a sex worker for women and it was just so out there for me, so I think that was a really good eye-opening experience and that’s why I chose to do so.”

The Monologues encompass various points of view on

feminism, she said.

The majority of the Monologues at UVM come from heterosexual white women, Jensen said, stressing the importance of continual conversation and empowerment.

“There were so many empowering girls coming together to work on things that are bigger than us to be a part of something that we were all so passionate about and through that we really developed great sense of community,” Jensen said.

Hamblin felt empowered being surrounded by so many women openly voicing their womanhood, she said.

Spring brings needed change Tell It Like It Izz Izzy Siedman

Vietnamese ceremony provides new experiences Hunter Tries

T

hanks to the sudden and glorious appearance of the sun, campus has become abruptly populated.

On April 10, the first true day of spring, the first day when the warmth was not haunted by patches of snow and looming clouds, my friend Libby burst through my suite door at 10 a.m. shouting, “skies out, thighs out!”

So on Monday morning, in a fit of glee, we donned our shorts, skirts and shortsleeved shirts.

We dug sunglasses from the bottom of our drawers, purchased iced coffees on our way to class and found ourselves quite unexpectedly surrounded.

I don’t remember the last time I had seen that many people on campus.

Thousands of students were perched on rocks, splayed across benches, tucked beneath trees and lounged on patches of grass.

Every inch of open sitting space was occupied by clumps of kids and every walkway was filled with feet that no longer needed socks for Birkenstocks.

Where had they all been during the cold winter months? Did people simply not go to class when it was cold?

I can understand the occasional desire to stay in bed when the weather is frosty, but it was baffling how quickly the

Jensen explained the importance of the Monologues in normalizing conversations on experiences with vaginas.

“I tell people I am in the show they cringe at the word vagina,” she said. ”We are so much more apt to say penis because we’re so much more comfortable with the male experience because that’s the way our system is set up, and that’s what’s normalized.”

The monologues enable women to talk about their sexual health, producer junior Stevie Hunter said.

“Planting a seed for those voices I think is the most important thing I do with the

Hunter Colvin

I GENEVIEVE WINN

number of people who were out-and-about doubled just because of the weather.

The presence of UVM’s true 10,081 undergraduates was swollen not just by sunshine, but also by the tour guides leading groups of prospective students past key points on campus.

With an above average bout of vitamin D boosting my smile, I approached numerous parent-child pairs to ask, “do you need directions somewhere?”

In addition to the joyous antics of sun-deprived college kids, the budding sport of Dogspotting was at its peak as owners brought out their “doggos” and “puppers” for a frolic in the fresh air.

Outside the Davis Center, the temptation of tented displays with jewelry and cold lemonade almost made me forget the emptiness of my

wallet.

All in all, spring fever hit UVM hard.

People weren’t skipping classes for spontaneous ski trips anymore. Instead, they were tossing Frisbees and shirking homework to watch the sunset by the waterfront.

“I know it’s nice outside, guys,” mathematics professor Joseph Kudrle said to his fundamentals of calculus class, “but you can’t just stop doing work.”

As the above 60 degree weather continued throughout the week, I found myself wondering if the happy hype of heat would last, or if, being the capricious kids that we were, things would return to their usual mild monotony.

Izzy Siedman is a first year English major. She is assitant lif editor and has been writing for the cynic since fall 2016.

‘Vagina Monologues,’ because these voices may be cut out of regular conversation,” Hunter said.

Hunter hopes the production will draw more attention to women’s issues, because although many support social justice, they often don’t hear the research behind it, which is pretty problematic, she said.

The monologues help to spread awareness about how other people in the world are affected by genital mutilation, which is something we don’t usually think about in terms of feminism in a privileged society, Brenits said.

Hunter had personal experience working at a domestic violence shelter over the summer seeing the need for more resources to help victims of sexual and domestic violence get access to the help they need, she said.

For this reason, all proceeds from the show were donated to HOPE works, an outreach program, which supports ending sexual violence through healing, outreach, prevention and empowerment, according to the HOPE works site.

“By donating, I also hope that people look up HOPE works and educate themselves about what they offer, perhaps even volunteering,” Hunter said.

love babies—a lot.

Not in an “I want a baby right now” kind of way, but in an “I love cuddling babies and then returning them once my arms get tired” kind of way — basically, I’m a wonderful babysitter.

So, you can imagine how excited I was to attend my friend’s party, a Vietnamese birth blessing for her one month-old baby.

Since I wasn’t sure what the blessing was, I talked to my friend’s younger sister, who filled me in on some details.

In western traditions, we often have a baby shower before the baby is born. In Vietnamese culture, however, celebrating the baby before it is born is considered bad luck for the baby and the mother.

A newborn, or soon-to-be newborn, is vulnerable to bad spirits, so throwing a party draws attention to an infant that it can’t fend off, she said.

Waiting to celebrate the baby’s birth until it is a month old allows the infant to grow stronger and gives mother and baby time to bond.

Based on the Chinese concept of zuo yuezi, the Vietnamese believe in a one-month sitting period where the mother is confined to the house. This restores the balance to the mother’s yin and yang that the birthing process disrupted.

Zuo yuezi also includes dietary restrictions.

Childbirth causes your body to go into a state of yin or coldness, so new mothers aren’t allowed to eat or drink anything cold. Salty, spicy and fatty foods are allowed because they help return the yang, or heat, to the mother’s body.

After a month, mother and child are strong enough to handle a party where loved ones come to visit and bless the mother and child.

The Vietnamese also pray to ancestors to bless the child.

All of this work was behind the scenes, though. At the party, there were mountains of food and plenty of company as we celebrated.

While I was a little too preoccupied eating massive amounts of Vietnamese cuisine and whisper-arguing with my sister over whose turn it was to hold the baby to understand just how monumental an occasion this party was, I’m glad I know now.

I feel so honored to be a part of the blessing of such a sweet little boy who is going to grow up with the most amazing and doting parents, older brother, aunt, grandparents and extended family.

Plus, I will be there to write about all of his adventures, so I guess that’s pretty good too.

Hunter Colvin is a senior history major. She has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2015.

ARTS

15

Community comes together for chili contest From the assistant editor Bridget Higdon

M

y parents make the best chili. In fact, I love it so much that it’s the meal I ask to eat almost every year for my birthday.

So when I heard Nectar’s was holding its 5th Annual Queen City Chili-Cook Off, I knew I had to go.

The showdown took place on Saturday, April 15 from 12-4 PM. All proceeds from the event went to the Burlington Fire Fighters Association.

Queen City Brewery was the main sponsor of the event.

One-dollar from any Queen City beer purchased during the event also went to the Fire Fighters Association.

After making my donation at the door, I was given a plastic spoon and a ballot.

Fourteen teams stood around folding tables, ladling out their best chili from steaming crock pots.

Sean Riehl, Nectar’s Event Coordinator, has been helping to put on the Chili Cook-Off for the last three years.

“There is a lot involved in planning the event,” he said.

Advertising, staffing, and finding a band to perform are all part of his job.

The Tenderbellies was the band chosen to perform during the event this year.

They are a bluegrass band based in Burlington, according to the Nectar’s website.

Maybe it was the music, maybe it was the delicious aromas, but everyone in the room seemed to be having a good time as they walked from table to table trying each chili.

As I made my rounds, I discovered that many of the competitors were home cooks, as opposed to career chefs.

John Gallagher has been making chili at home for over 40 years he said, and it’s a

ANDRE PARISI/The Vermont Cynic Members of the Burlington community sample chili at the fifth annual Queen City Chili Cook-Off April 15. All the proceeds of the cook-off, which took place at Nectar’s, went to Burlington Firefighters Association. tradition he has passed down to his son.

“This event is for a great cause,” Gallagher said smiling, “and on top of that, you get to eat real good.”

Most of the teams were also repeat competitors, coming back to the Cook-Off year after year.

Eric Gray of 802 Que has entered the competition every year since the beginning, he said. “I have a competitive barbecue team that competes at events in the summer,” he said, “so this is a great thing for us to do in the spring.”

Many of the chilis went beyond the classic meat, beans and peppers.

The Pig Kahuna chili was made by sisters Amy and Melissa Jayne. They were inspired

by Hawaiian pizza, Amy said.

“We used pineapple, and coconut bacon bits,” she said.

“It also has chopped up Taylor

pork roll because we’re from New Jersey originally.”

Rene Young and Armina Medic, known together as the Spice Girls, made what they called a “Naughty but Nice” chili. “The dark chocolate will hit you first,” Young explained, “but the spice will hit you afterwards.”

My personal favorite was Angela Welch’s “Good Buckin’ Chili.” Her venison and chocolate chili was made without measuring ingredients. Instead, she said, she just “throws it together.”

“I like it spicy, but I’m a pastry chef so I have to make it a little bit sweet,” Welch said.

At three o’clock, the winners were announced by emcee Tim Kavanagh and judge Megan Carpenter.

Carpenter is a self-proclaimed gourmet food enthusiast, as well as a morning news anchor for Fox on local

Channel 44, according to her Twitter.

Paul Hale, the owner of Queen City Brewery, was also a chili judge. This was his first year judging, he said. In previous years, he had only attended the event.

The award for Best Overall Presentation went to team Os Toureirose. The two team members, wearing matching sombreros, cheered and hooted as they walked up to the stage to claim their award.

Most Creative went to the Spice Girls, and the prize for Best Overall Chili went to Sweet Kickin’ Chicken.

Finally, the People’s Choice Award, determined by guest votes, went to the Taco Truck All-Star’s Triple B Chili, which boasted bacon, beef and bourbon.

According to Kavanagh, over 250 total votes were cast throughout the event.

“Over the past four years, [the Cook-Off] has raised over $10,000 for the firefighters,” Kavanagh said.

Although after the event was over, I knew I had witnessed something wonderful: the community coming together around good food for a good time, and a great cause.

Bridget Higdon is a first-year English major. She has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2016.

UVM rapper balances his music with his class work Ben Elfland Arts Editor

PHIL CARRUTHERS/The Vermont Cynic Yung $eth discusses his roots and his plans for the future. Seth is currently a junior double majoring in economics and English literature.

College campuses are no stranger to aspiring musicians.

Yung $eth, whose real name is Seth King, is a rapper and junior at UVM. $eth began his journey in his parents basement in Fairfield, Connecticut.

His father, a musician himself, had built a primitive home studio which $eth utilized to create his own music at the age of 17, he said. $eth released his first mixtape, “Sometime’s It’s Too Late,” in the summer of 2015.

“I made it as a 17 year old,” he said in reference to the tape. “It was actually about my highschool girlfriend breaking up with me and I was like ‘yo I’m going to college soon, I better start making music, I’m gonna show this girl I’m actually about to be the most successful artist.’”

Since then, Yung $eth has begun to take his career more seriously as he discovers and refines his own sound, he said.

Last summer he released “Bape Boi,” which $eth de-

scribed as his first real project.

“It was the first time I actually took music seriously, like not being in a basement, and thinking ‘yo this is something I could actually do’” he said.

In the past year, $eth has remained prolific, releasing a handful of singles over the months and an EP titled “FUELED BY HATE” April 10.$eth said his sound is progressive and unique.

He raps over 808 bass drums and snares mixed with often melodic samples.

Though a variety of producers create the beats $eth uses, he has built a rapport with certain artists.

“I work with tons of different producers,” $eth said.”My number one producer is a guy who goes by Slight, his stuff is crazy. He’s my go to guy for nuts 808s and stuff.”

Despite his prolific release schedule, $eth is a full time UVM student.

He is currently a junior double majoring in economics and English literature and on track to graduate on time, $eth said.

$eth said he is probably the only one in the hip-hop world doing so.

“The balance is so hard,” he said.“My grades could be so much better if I didn’t make music; but at the same time the journey has just been so great.”

To make this all possible, $eth has created a small management team made up of fellow students first-year Sebastian Konecsny and senior Ben Fisher.

“Konecsny has done more with booking the studio, he helps me with executive producing the beats, choosing what songs work,” $eth said.

“Fisher is more of ‘I’m gonna handle all your shows and all the press,’ stuff like that.”

He is constantly creating new music and plans to consistently release singles leading up to the release of a currently unnamed mixtape this summer, $eth said.

His music is available on his Soundcloud and Bandcamp. $eth will be performing April 29 at Club Metronome and May 19 at ArtsRiot.

ARTS

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Group to return to Nectar’s with new sound Jack Carmody Staff Writer

For many bands touring the country, Burlington has left a particular impression.

The Heavy Pets are coming back to Nectar’s on Saturday April 22 at 7:00 p.m. as part of their “Heavy Planet” tour featuring Backup Planet.

Originally from the Northeast but now based in Florida, The Heavy Pets is made up of friends made throughout different points in life extending from childhood to college.

They blend a wide variety of genres ranging everywhere from funk to reggae, according to the band’s website.

The diversity of the band is something that fans appreciate, first-year Maggie Hallahan said.

“I love the different styles The heavy pets bring into their music. It’s nice to have different songs or albums I can listen to when I am in certain moods. I’m definitely going to try to go to the show,” she said.

“At the heart of it, it’s all just rock and roll music” lead singer Jeff Lloyd said. “We’ve got five different song writers in this band so with that right there you’re going to get a lot of different influences that are going to become part of the music”.

The band’s inspirations are as diverse as their songs.

Lloyd was inspired by a variety of artists ranging from Stevie Wonder all the way to Nirvana, he said. Lloyd also acknowledges the impact that UVM’s

own Phish has had on his writing and view of music.

“Phish really kind of expanded my musical views almost into a third dimension and went on to impact the way I played and the way I thought,” he said. “The limitations that I thought of for a rock and roll band were just thrown out the window”.

The band is currently working on their first self produced album in over 10 years. “We are really creatively hitting a new stride. We are working on a new record which has really been incredibly rewarding for us and inspiring. It’s been a huge creative catalyst,” he said.

The band has covered much of the Southeastern U.S. on their current tour and had particularly fun shows in Atlanta and Nashville but also look forward to coming to Burlington, Lloyd said.

“We definitely are playing music in the spirit of something that was created right there and putting our own little twist on it.There’s a long history of music that has come out of Burlington which has had a huge influence on us and we’re interested in trying to go back and pay our respects,” Lloyd said.

Heavy Pets will perform at Nectar’s at 7:00 pm on Saturday April 22nd.

“We are really feeling it right now and I think that that is coming across, at least from reactions we get. I think that they [the audience] get it,” Lloyd said.

ANDRE PARISI/The Vermont Cynic The Nectar’s Lounge and Restaurant is pictured.

On campus showcase to celebrate students’ work Isabella Alessandrini Senior Staff Writer Looking for new art to put in your dorm, good food to eat or local bands to listen to right here on campus?

Visual artists, musicians and vendors alike will gather for UVM’s annual Furious Festival on April 22.

This year, the day-long event organized by the Community for Artistic Development (CAD) is celebrating its fourth anniversary, program director Diana Franco said.

Furious Festival will take place in the Athletic campus amphitheater and the basketball courts adjacent to it.

At the amphitheater, a plethora of UVM bands and musicians will be playing, including Townsend Revenue, Jeddy, Apocalyptic Paradise, Another Sexless Weekend, Full Walrus, Amaal, Allie Mae, The Mules and The Gils, according to Furious Festival’s Facebook page.

The genres presented in this lineup is diverse, ranging from Full Walrus’s dreamy, ambient rock to Apocalyptic Paradise’s hard rock-reggae fusion, to the classic rock/experimental sound of Jeddy.

There will also be spoken poetry performed by senior Haley Quinn.

Apocalyptic Paradise has

performed at the festival every year since it was started under the name Seven Sounds.

“We’re pretty excited to play since all of us are seniors and this will be our last Furious Festival before graduation,” guitar player Dustin Keim said.

First-year Noah Schneidman of Full Walrus said that, “our music is kind of weird so I hope people will like it.”

The basketball courts will be transformed into a lively pop-up art market where students can buy art made by students and try some local food, said first-year Maria Pitari, a resident of CAD. All of the proceeds raised will go to the South End Arts and Business Association (SEABA), a trade association that seeks to promote and support the artists of Burlington’s South End, according to its website.

SEABA is also responsible for putting on Art Hop each year.

“The money will go to a really good cause for the development of art in Burlington,” Franco said.

Students will be able to wander between the amphitheater and the courts to enjoy a day outside filled with music, art and food from noon to 8 p.m. April 22.

ARTS

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Local festival features experimental music Bridget Higdon Assistant Arts Editor Vermonters looking to dance the night away should look no further than the Pushing a Brain Uphill music festival.

Not only will their bodies get a workout from moving and shaking, but their minds will as well.

Pushing a Brain Uphill is a not-for-profit festival of marginal music and politics happening in downtown Burlington April 19-22.

The event is organized by Burlington Gull, a non-profit group with a mission to encourage and highlight experimental music, according to Burlington City Arts. The group is currently finishing up a sixth-month residency at BCA. Senior Jack Braunstein is a co-organizer of the event, along with alumni Caroline DeCunzo and Harvey Bigler.

When DeCunzo is not working as a part-time event coordinator at BCA, she and Braunstein collaborate to book the festival’s acts and secure its venues, DeCunzo said.

Experimental music is difficult to define, she said.

“It’s basically anything that challenges the normal convention,” DeCunzo said.“There is a big misconception that

experimental music is obnoxiously loud and in your face, but it doesn’t have to be that way.”

This genre of music is typically dominated by cis-gendered males, she said.

This is the reason why Burlington Gull is invested in supporting femme, queer and trans-identifying musicians, DeCunzo said.

The three-day festival is called Pushing a Brain Uphill because it will challenge listeners to think differently, she said.

Wednesday’s event will be partly radical, partly political, Braunstein said.

The evening showcase will feature the musical artist Wolf Eyes, and take place at the S.P.A.C.E. Gallery on Pine Street, he said.

“Friday will be more of a dance party,” he said.

Babe Paradise, a group known for throwing queer-friendly dance parties, will be the main feature, according to the event’s press release.

Friday’s event will take place at the Speaking Volumes warehouse on Pine Street.

According to the press release, guests on Saturday will be exposed to a wide array of artists from around New England, including Burling-

ton-native Lauren Costello, who goes by the stage name “OUZKLYN.” “My music is comprised of loops made with guitar, cello, keyboard, vocals, field recordings and noise, all interwoven,” Costello said.

Costello is honored to be part of Pushing a Brain Uphill, she said.

“The festival celebrates the experimental and the avant-garde, and fosters both challenge and acceptance,” Costello said.

The festival is must-see because of its diverse and unique performances, according to organizers.

“You’ll hear everything from pop music to someone rolling pebbles around on a turntable,” Braunstein said.

“We hope people leave the festival with an expanded view of what counts as music.”

Tickets for Pushing a Brain Uphill can be bought online or at the door. Ticket prices for each day range from $10-20.

ELISE MITCHELL

Theater majors make use of talents in one act plays Kim Henry Senior Staff Writer After years of helping to create someone else’s vision, four seniors are ready to construct their own.

UVM theatre majors Summer Leppanen, Jace Jamason, Caroline Dababneh and Grace McLaughlin will stage their Senior One Acts, the capstone of their major April 22 and 23.

The Senior One Acts project allows graduating theater majors to move from assisting with specialized areas of a production to guiding a play in every aspect, said Dababneh, who will be staging “Why Do We Laugh?” written by Steven Gregg.

“This is the time when we really realize everything we’ve learned from acting classes, playwriting classes, costuming, lighting, scenic design, and really are able to employ all of those skills for one project,” Dababneh said.

McLaughlin, who has directed for UVM before, emphasized the importance of being able to create her own work.

“I directed ‘Toys Take Over Christmas,’ the Christmas show here, which was my own project, but it was sort of my version of something that was already designed and done five million times,” she said.

While the sets, costumes, and makeup came pre-designed in “Toys,” McLaughlin took pleasure in having creative reign with her own production of the one act play, “The Awful, Horrible, Tragedy of Enrico,” written by Jeanette

PHIL CARRUTHERS/The Vermont Cynic The Royall Tyler Theatre is pictured. The Senior One Acts project allows graduating theatre majors to direct a full production.

Paterson, she said.

McLaughlin is not the only senior excited to take artistic license with her one act.

Leppanen will be staging a production of “The Maker of Dreams” by Oliphant Down, a play about a woman desperately in love with her male best friend.

At least that was the case in the original. Leppanen decided to stage a genderbent

production of the play to explore the social connotations of gender and sexuality in a classic love story, she said.

“I basically switched all the genders around with the characters, so it is now a queer love story,” Leppanen said. “It just raised so much more questions about what is considered normal, and what is considered to be good love” Leppanen continued.

The right to creative freedom comes with a lot of work, she said.

For Jamason, who is directing “Feeding the Moonfish” by Barbara Wiechmann, “a lot of work” means constructing the physical reality of his production in addition to the creative vision.

“I’m building three-fifths of the costumes and I’m painting the sets,” he said.

However, the work is why the Senior One Acts are worth seeing, he said.

“The One Acts showcase all that the department can do,” Jamason said.

The seniors will be staging their one acts this weekend at the Royal Tyler Theater, Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

SPORTS

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9-10 OLIVER POMAZI/The Vermont Cynic Top to bottom: Sophomore midfielders Mark Marciano and Braiden Davis square off against University of Hartford April 1.

Senior Day comeback falls short for lacrosse Eribert Volaj Sports Editor

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Lacrosse resumes losing spell Eribert Volaj Sports Editor •

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• PHIL CARRUTHERS/The Vermont Cynic Top to bottom: Junior midfielder Courtney Cole, senior attacker Alex Bernier and first-year midfielder Molly Little face off against Stony Brook April 14.

Women’s lacrosse continued their losing streak with a defeat to No. 4 ranked Stony Brook University.

This was Vermont’s 13th loss of the season, with their only win coming in a non-conference game against St. Bonaventure University.

The Stony Brook Seawolves earned a 6-1 lead early in the first half and never looked back from there.

Kylie Ohlmiller, the nation’s leading point-scorer, led Stony Brook with five goals and six assists, according to UVM athletics.

Sophomore attacker Jenna Janes and senior midfielder Alison Bolt led Vermont with two goals each.

Sophomore goalkeeper Catherine Green recorded 20 saves, a new career-high, according to UVM athletics.

The Catamounts travel to Lowell, Massachusetts for their last away game of the regular season April 23, before hosting UMBC in the final regular season game April 29.

Men’s lacrosse suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of Stony Brook University, despite a brave comeback effort from the Catamounts.

On Senior Day at Virtue Field, Vermont suffered its fourth conference defeat, with the only conference win coming against UMass Lowell April 8.

Senior attacker Cam Milligan notched one goal and three assists in his final regular season home game, according to UVM athletics.

This was the final regular season home game for seven Vermont players, including Milligan, senior defender Ben Cox and midfielder Andrew Duffy, according to UVM athletics.

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Vermont travel to Baltimore, Maryland to play their final regular season game against University of Maryland Baltimore County April 29.

SPORTS

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Hockey players impress on the world stage Locria Courtright Assistant Sports Editor Two current Vermont women’s hockey players, as well as one alumnus, participated in the International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championships from March 31 to April 7 in Plymouth, Michigan.

Sophomore defender Sammy Kolowrat represented the Czech Republic, while sophomore forward Saana Valkama wore the blue and white of Finland.

In addition, forward Amanda Pelkey ‘15 represented the U.S. After failing to qualify for the Olympics, Kolowrat and the Czech team looked to bounce back with a strong World Championship, but that was not to be.

The Czechs opened the tournament with a 2-1 shootout loss to Switzerland, followed by a 2-1 loss to newly-promoted Germany.

They wrapped up group play with a 4-2 defeat to Sweden, setting up a relegation round matchup with the Swiss.

The Czechs opened with a 4-2 win, but Switzerland won back-to-back games to win the best-of-three relegation round 2-1. Kolowrat was named one of the Czech team’s three best players, despite not posting a point in six played games.

Repeatedly playing against the Swiss makes them more difficult to defeat, Kolowrat said.

“I think it’s really hard once you get really familiar with a

OLIVER POMAZI/The Vermont Cynic Left to right: Sophomore forward Saana Valkama and sophomore defender Sammy Kolowrat face off against Boston College Jan. 20. team because although you might know their game plan, they definitely know yours,” Kolowrat said. “It’s easy to go into the game nervous and apprehensive when you know the team has beaten you before in games with big consequences.”

Valkama and Finland fell short of the podium in the 2016 Women’s World Championships, but were able to make it back in 2017; an early setback came when they were

defeated 2-1 by Russia in their opener.

However, they responded by stunning Canada 4-3, snapping their 52 game losing streak to Canada in IIHF competition and the 4 Nations Cup, becoming the first team ever outside of the U.S. to defeat Canada in IIHF play.

They wrapped up the group stage with a 5-3 loss to the U.S. In the quarterfinals, they defeated rival Sweden 4-0 before falling to Canada 4-0 in

the semifinal.

Finland did rebound with an 8-0 victory over Germany in the bronze medal game, their second bronze medal in three years.

Valkama had one goal in the tournament, finishing off a cross-ice pass from Noora Tulus in the bronze medal game.

Pelkey, Vermont’s all-time leading scorer, played in every game for the U.S. as they won their fourth consecutive gold medal at the women’s world

championships.

They defeated Canada 2-0, Russia 7-0, and Finland 5-3 in the group stage, followed by a 11-0 rout over Germany in the semifinals. In the gold medal game, the U.S. defeated Canada, 3-2, in overtime.

Pelkey had one goal in the tournament, scoring off a rebound in the semifinal against Germany.

Three high school seniors signed to basketball team Sabrina Hood Sports Writer The UVM women’s basketball’s head coach recently announced three new signees for the next season.

Josie Larkins, Kianna Funderburk and Carmen Handy are joining the team starting in the 2017-2018 season, according to UVM athletics.

“The incoming first-year players will see that if they work hard on their game, they could get a chance to play a lot as a true freshman”, head coach Chris Day said.

Funderburk sees the promise in this program as she sees playing basketball at UVM as a great opportunity, according to UVM athletics.

“The big recruiting month is July. That’s when we’re out 14 days recruiting”,Day said.

“We get a chance to really evaluate them and pick them apart to make sure they’re a fit for the program”.

They sometimes watch prospective players during their high school games. This is more difficult since the coaches need to be at UVM for their own season, he said.

These signees all are well skilled in scoring and passing, which is needed to further improve the program; for example, incoming guard Josie Larkins is a tremendous three-

point shooter and a strong defender, he said.

Larkins played at Red Bank Catholic High school in Lincroft, New Jersey. She scored 1,138 points during her career and ranked second with 163 career number of three-pointers, according to UVM athletics.

Funderburk is a play-making guard that can pass and score all while going to the basket. Her strengths include attacking the rim, which the team was lacking during the previous season, Day said.

Funderburk played at Myers Park High School in Charlotte, North Carolina. She helped her team win a state championship in 2014-2015 and won the SW4 All-Conference Honors as a junior and senior, according to UVM athletics.

Handy played at Northern Collegiate Institute in Sarnia, Ontario, according to UVM athletics.

Handy is 6’3” and has great versatility. She can create havoc defensively by having the ability to defend every position; on offense, she’s a mismatched nightmare, Day said.

Her sister, sophomore Lauren Handy is also on the team.

“This really helps Lauren get that extra focus on basketball so she can be that leader

Photo courtesy of UVM Athletics Left to Right: New women’s basketball recruits Josie Larkins, Carmen Handy and Kianna Funderburk are pictured. by all examples for her little sister,” Day said.

The new signees will start practicing with the rest of the team in July, while starting to take UVM classes, he said.

Working with the rest of the team in July will allow the signees to integrate into the team’s chemistry, which is what Larkins enjoyed about the UVM team, according to

UVM athletics.

In addition to practicing with the team, the strength and conditioning coach will work with the signees an hour a day, Day said.

The other coaches will get two hours per week, with the signees on the court, he said.

The instruction the signees get on the court will allow them to adjust to what the

UVM team expects of them during the season. Each signee will get individualized instruction on ball handling, shooting and learning the team’s terminology for plays, Day said.

“They’re really skilled player and we are excited about their game,” he said.

SPORTS

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Golf rules need to be updated Views from the Fairway

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John Suozzo

he outcome of the 2017 ANA Inspiration, the first major championship of the season in women’s golf, was ultimately decided by fans at home — not the players on the course.

On the 17th hole of the tournament’s third round, Lexi Thompson, who was leading the tournament by two strokes, allegedly improperly marked her ball on the green.

Although it was not noticed by any rules officials or fellow players at the time, a spectator who was watching the event on television the

following day – called in to the LPGA to accuse Thompson of a rules violation after the third round had been completed.

The LPGA was notified of the possible infraction when Thompson was halfway finished with her fourth and final round, nearly a full 24 hours after the infraction took place.

The LPGA rules committee looked into the issue during Sunday’s final round, and ruled that Thompson tried to gain an advantage by marking her ball improperly, and should be penalized for it.

Thompson was given two concurrent two-stroke penalties.

The first penalty was for placing her golf ball at a wrong spot, while the second twostroke penalty was for signing an incorrect scorecard, even though the question over the issue was not realized by the rules committee until well after the third round was completed.

With six holes left in one of the biggest tournaments in women’s golf, Lexi Thompson, the leader by two strokes, was informed that she was penalized four strokes, and now trailed the leaders by two.

Sounds pretty ridiculous, right?

Thompson was able to fight back from her newly-created two stroke deficit to tie the tournament and force a sudden death playoff, which she eventually lost to So Yeon Ryu.

A playoff, of course, that should never have occurred - Thompson would have won the tournament by four strokes if not for the meddling of fans watching at home, and the general incompetence of the rules committee.

The absurd rules that golf refuses to change with the times only make it more difficult to gain more public interest in the sport.

It’s become more common for spectators to call in rules violations because high-definition TVs have become commonplace; the slightest movement of the ball could cause the player to be penalized if they fail to report the violation on their own.

Golf was created in the 1500s without television coverage in mind.

All of the added “surveillance” that comes with following the tournaments closely on a high-definition television takes away from the focus on integrity that golfers love to pride themselves on.

Taking away a hardearned victory for something so trivial, like replacing a golf ball inches away from where it should be, gives the sport a terrible reputation of sacrificing using common sense in favor of rigidity in upholding outdated rules.

John Suozzo is a junior History and Political Science major. He has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2015.

UVM Scoreboard

Visit vtcynic.com for more coverage and uvmathletics.com for schedules, tickets, score updates and additional information

LAST WEEK

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6-20

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9-10

Women’s lacrosse vs #4 Stony Brook

Men’s lacrosse vs Stony Brook

2nd

3rd

Home April 14

place

154.5

Women’s track and field at Dartmouth Inv. Hanover, New Hampshire April 14

Home April 15

place

140.5

Men’s track and field at Dartmouth Inv. Hanover, New Hampshire April 14

THIS WEEK

• Track and Field at Albany Invitational Albany, New York April 22 at 11a.m.

• Women’s Lacrosse at UMass Lowell Lowell, Massachusetts April 23 at 1p.m.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK

Sophomore Taylor Kracher recorded a time of 1:51.42 in the men’s 800 meter run at the Mt. SAC Relays, breaking a 23-year old school record.

RECORDS

Men’s Basketball 29-6 Men’s Hockey 20-13-5 Men’s Lacrosse 5-7

Women’s Basketball 9-20 Women’s Hockey 15-14-9 Women’s Lacrosse 1-13

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