Slade Hall
Battle of the bands
Students petition to keep sustainable living community on campus
Student bands compete with each other to play SpringFest
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W E D N E S DAY, M AR C H 2 3 , 2 0 1 6
SpringFest lineup announced by Greta Bjornson gabjorns@uvm.edu
The University Program Board announced the folk band The Head and the Heart will be headlining this year’s SpringFest. The annual concert is scheduled for April 30 and is set to take place in the Jeffords parking lot with local band Madaila opening. The Head and the Heart was chosen for the event because of the band’s musical style and popularity, Senior Angela Russo, a member of the UPB Concerts Bureau, said. “A lot of the students at UVM really like folk music and we rarely bring that to Spring Fest … we thought that they’d be a really good fit for this event,” Russo said. “They’re also one of the bigger names that we’ve been able to bring recently, so we’re really excited about that,” she said. To begin the process of choosing a performer the Concerts Bureau members brainstorm musical acts they think would be a good fit and then collaborate with Burlington concert venue Higher Ground in scheduling a band. “We all have our own list and we compile them and get
by alexandra shannon amshanno@uvm.edu
Seattle indie folk band The Head and the Heart is pictured. The group will be performing at SpringFest along with student band Bison April 30. PHOTO COURTESY OF CURTIS MILLARD our pricing from our agent we go through at Higher Ground,” Russo said. The agent then determines how budget-friendly an act is or whether they are available for the date SpringFest is scheduled. The band’s tickets are typically upwards of $40, so the SpringFest price tag of $10 of-
fers a substantial discount and makes the show “affordable,” Russo said. Students like first-year LeAnn Gove are eagerly anticipating this year’s event as a culmination of the second semester and a concert to count down to. “I’m excited for SpringFest,” she said. “It gives me an event
to look forward to in the midst of school-related stress.” Attendees of this year’s concert can look forward to a different style of music and a “really fun show,” Russo said. “We’re going to culminate the year on a nice, mellow, fun note,” she said.
UVM seeks to cut ‘40 percent rule’ by ian lund, jacob holzman & Nora Kittell ilund@uvm.edu,/jholzman@uvm.edu/ nkittell@uvm.edu
The University of Vermont has tried to increase its state funding for eight years with no luck. Now, the school is pursuing new options by pushing the state to eliminate what many call the “40 percent rule.” The law, established in 1959, requires UVM to set instate tuition to no more than 40 percent of out-of-state tuition. Wendy Koenig, director of state and federal relations, said she has been getting “positive feedback” from lawmakers on removing the rule in a time of high budget pressure for the state. “[Removing the rule] provides the University with an opportunity to try to control costs without the state appropriating us extra dollars in a year where it’s a very tight budget,” Koenig said. If UVM has to stick to the rule it can never lower out-ofstate tuition, she said.
SGA execs will have no opponents in elections
In 2015, U.S. News and World Report listed UVM as one of the most expensive schools for out-of-state students in the country. With the rule gone, the University would be able to predict what would happen to its budget if out-of-state tuition was lowered, Koenig said. “If the rule were repealed, we would be able to think about maybe not increasing out-ofstate tuition this year,” she said. “And see how that plays out with our enrollment and number of applications and that sort of thing, but until we’re able to lift that rule we can’t really model.” Sen. David Zuckerman, D-Chittenden, said he has “reservations” about removing the rule if it leads to higher in-state tuition but “understands the economic goals” of UVM lowering out-of-state tuition. “I am trying to find a happy medium where we might allow for the removal the of 40 percent rule but only so long as the in-state tuition is not dis-
The Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier is pictured March 16. PHO-
TO COURTESY OF HEADWATERS MAGAZINE
proportionately raised in order to cover expenses,” Zuckerman said. Sen. Dustin Degree, R-Franklin, said the 40 percent rule serves an important role in ensuring that Vermont students will only pay a fraction of out-of-state tuition. “My concern, and the concern of many of the members
of the Senate education committee, is that [removing] it will lead to higher in-state tuition for Vermonters,” Degree said. The idea of the rule being removed and UVM increasing in-state tuition is “ludicrous,” said Richard Cate, vice president for finance and treasury. “That is definitely not going to happen,” Cate said.
Current SGA President Jason Maulucci and Vice President Tyler Davis are the first pair of students to run unopposed on the same ticket for SGA elections since 1941. Election packets were due at 4 p.m. March 18 and Maulucci and Davis were the only people who signed out an election packet, Maulucci said. The election packets contain the rules and regulations for the elections and space for the signatures needed in order to run. “I hope we ended up being unopposed because people have thought that we’ve done a good enough job to not warrant a challenge,” he said. Sophomore Luke Young said he thinks they are running unopposed due to student apathy. “At least to my knowledge there’s no public campaigning going on,” Young said. Maulucci and Davis want to enhance the student experience at UVM by using their experience and commitment, according to a description on Maulucci and Davis’ Facebook group. One of the bigger projects the two want to tackle in their second term is having the administration post course syllabi online. “It’s something people have been pushing for 25 years and there was very little, if not any progress,” Maulucci said. “And we’re going to be in a position next year having built all of these relationships with all of these people to really make a push on these kind of things.” As this will be their second term, Maulucci and Davis said they will be able to work on bigger projects because they not only have already established relationships with people throughout the community, but also have more time. “The fact that we have two years allows us to kind of look bigger at the entire scheme,” Davis said. Though they are running unopposed, Maulucci said voting will still take place March 28 and 29. Elections must take place five weeks before the last day of classes, according to SGA’s constitution.