2016 vol 133 issue 4 by Vermont Cynic

BURLINGTON, VT

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VOL. 133 ISSUE 4

Humans of UVM

Men’s Soccer

Meet a handful of students around campus

Catamounts have one of the best season starts in program history

LIFE PG. 9

SPORTS PG. 14

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W E D N E S DAY, S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 6

FallFest artist picked by students by john riedel jpriedel@uvm.edu

The lineup for this year’s FallFest has been locked in and the genre is hip-hop, junior Jack Hockman, a concert committee member for UVM Program Board, said. Students will be working around the clock from Oct. 13 until after the concert has ended Oct. 14, he said. “I’ll be on call for 27 hours,” Hockman said. “We have six hours to drop the stage, and everything is done by students and Dark Star.” The artists for FallFest are selected by the concert committee of UPB, who reach out to different artists each year based on who’s trending, he said. “We literally locked in the opener yesterday [Sept. 16],” Hockman said. Dark Star is a Vermont-based audio-and-visual lighting company that provides technical support for concerts and shows. Concerts can often cost up to $60,000, and artists, such as Future, charge well over $100 thousand to do a show, he said.

“Jay Z doesn’t step on stage for less than $1 million,” Hockman said. “My budget is $25,000 [for a talent]... it’s hard to work with this budget; the pricing of artists is ridiculous.” SGA gives UPB $50,000 for SpringFest and the rest comes from UPB’s own budget, he

“

lected for UPB concerts are handpicked by students for students,” Katie Stango, assistant director for Campus Programs, said in an email. No advisers are involved when it comes to selecting artists to play, Stango said. “The members of our concert committee strive to select

Artists selected for UPB concerts are handpicked by students for students. KATIE STANGO ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR CAMPUS PROGRAMS

said. “We don’t break even from the revenue selling tickets,” Hockman said. FallFest tickets for UVM students sell for $10, while students from other colleges have to pay $20, according to UPB’s website. The artists chosen to play are based on who is trending and who accepts UPB’s offers, Hockman said. “I would like students to understand that the artists se-

artists that UVM students will enjoy, which is not necessarily in line with their personal taste,” she said. “They’re selected as a group to put the interests of UVM students ﬁrst.”

See students’ reactions to FallFest in Arts on page 12. Follow the Cynic on Twitter @VermontCynic and stay tuned for continued coverage of FallFest.

UPB concert committee member Jack Hockman sits in his SGA ofﬁce Sept. 17. He was one of four student committee members who were tasked with booking FallFest acts. DEAN WERTZ/The Vermont Cynic

Students bring conservative voices forward by john riedel jpriedel@uvm.edu

Conservative students have new outlets to share their thoughts and engage in discussions with other students on campus. Students for Concealed Carry announced their arrival on campus while Turning Point USA and Young Americans for Liberty tabled for student support in the Davis Center Sept. 16. “Our organization is nonpartisan, nonproﬁt that works to educate students about conservative issues,” Helen Heath, eastern regional director for Turning Point USA, said. Heath emphasized the importance of having dialogue between students of different opinions. Young people should be getting together to talk about the future, she said. Turning Point organizes students into chapters across campuses in America to discuss government issues with other student groups in an open dialogue, Heath said. “Often times what you’ll ﬁnd is different leaders are friends

Young Americans for Liberty tables inside the Davis Center Sept. 16. The group advocates for free speech and political discussion among students. PHOTO COURTESY OF Shane Quinn on campus,” she said. “It’s encouraging to see student leaders engage in conversation.” Senior Kate Lipman is the president of Turning Point’s UVM chapter and said the focus is to educate people on economic liberty. “We’re just starting out right now,” Lipman said. “It’s

really to give a place for conservative voices.” Some topics they focus on are student debt and corruption in government, she said. “I was expecting it to be difﬁcult and have a lot of pushback,” Lipman said. “People have come from other groups and congratulated us, though

they may disagree with us.” Though Turning Point is a separate group from Young Americans for Liberty, the two groups work together occasionally to help open dialogues on campus, she said. Sophomore Andrew Charlestream, the president of the UVM Chapter for YAL, said

the group is trying to open up a dialogue on campus. “I would encourage anyone in the exchange of free ideas on campus,” Charlestream said. “That’s how things move forward, not by shutting someone up.” This was YAL’s first tabling event and the group received positive feedback, he said. “Our goal is to fight and get a hold of what is called the regressive left,” Charlestream said. “Young Americans for Liberty is a little more focused on social issues because Turning Point is focused on economic issues.” Both groups said they will be holding events to register students to vote this semester. Students for Concealed Carry is a national group promoting legislation that would allow students to carry firearms on campus. Students from the organization did not respond to requests for comment. Firearms are banned on UVM campus, according to UVM’s explosives and weapons policy.

NEWS

Environmental Institute may replace Gund By michelle phillips & Olivia Bowman mphill15@uvm.edu/obowman@uvm.edu

A University-wide institute for the environment may soon replace the currently-standing Gund Institute. The Institute for the Environment will be a collaborative research facility based on the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Development goals, Taylor Ricketts, director of the Gund Institute, said. These goals include climate action, gender equality and eliminating poverty, according to the UN website. The Institute will fund speciﬁc research projects that stem from these broader themes and go beyond the Gund’s primary focus of ecological economics, Ricketts said. Sophomore Arielle Cheif-

etz, an environmental studies major, said replacing the Gund could be a change for the better. “If it’s going to be bigger and have more funding then it’s great,” Cheifetz said. If more students used this new institute, then it would be a beneﬁt, she said. “I never really used the Gund before, I always just heard of it,” Cheifetz said. The Institute has been in the works since its initial envisioning in 2012, according to the Provost’s website. The last steps that remain in order to launch the Institute include consideration from the Faculty Senate, Board of Advisers approval and an external monetary gift, according to the website. The staged ﬁve-year budget for the Institute includes exist-

ing funds originally supporting the Gund Institute, $2.2 million from UVM itself, according to the Proposed Resourcing and Governance Plan of 2015. $3.8 million in expected external grants will also fund the institute, according to Provost’s plan. “We haven’t found external funding yet, but we’re close,” Taylor Ricketts, said. “It’s been three to four years of planning led by faculty and we’re arriving at the ﬁnish.” This will be a “campus-wide resource open to faculty and students from all units,” according to the plan. “Undergraduate students will have exciting opportunities to conduct thesis projects, assist in faculty research, participate in symposia and interact with visiting scholars,” Provost Da-

Learn more at the Sept. 28 UVM Graduate Fair Davis Center, 2 to 4 pm

Taylor Ricketts, Environmental Institute director, sits down and describes the plan for the new University-wide institution. According to the plan, the organization will be open to the whole UVM community. OLIVER POMAZI/The Vermont Cynic vid Rosowsky said in a Sept.11 email. The Institute will provide competitive funding for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers as well as faculty. All departments within the University will be able to conduct research through the Institute, Ricketts said. Any undergraduate student, no matter their major, will be able to participate. Interdisciplinary work will be the main focus, he said. The Faculty Senate will review the proposal for the Institute Sept. 26 and the Board of Advisers will review it Oct. 21. “It sounds like it will truly beneﬁt my ENVS major,” sophomore Ryan Beattie said. “Any time we initiate a program that shines light on the University and the environment is a good thing, I think.” If approved, Ricketts, the current director of the Gund Institute, will serve as the director of the Institute.

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Basil Waugh, the current communications ofﬁcer of the Gund, will be the communications lead. Nora Shahoud, the current assistant to the director at the Gund, will be the administrative assistant. Two more positions, deputy director and policy lead, will need to be ﬁlled. “We want to keep the staff small so that the money can go toward the work,” Ricketts said. For now, there is no intended physical construction for the Institute, he said. The Gund was founded at the University of Maryland in 1993, but moved to UVM in 2002, according to the institute’s website. Recent studies done by the institute include calculating the price of cleaning lake champlain and testing for drug traces in local water resources, according to its website.

9/19/2016 8:30:06 PM

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NEWS

Econ professor is recognized By craig pelsor cpelsor@uvm.edu

One of UVM’s most prestigious professorships has just been awarded, adding to the number of professors to bear the Green and Gold title. Jane Knodell, professor of economics, was awarded the Mark J. Zwynenburg Green and Gold Professorship for her dedication and hard work at UVM. The professorship is named in honor of UVM alum Mark Zwynenburg who was killed in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Scotland, according to the 2016-2017 catalogue of professorships. Zwynenburg was an economics major and went on to work in the financial sector, according to the catalogue. The nearly $400,000 professorship was raised by the efforts of former professor Tim Bates, who taught Zwynenburg economics and raised a majority of the funds by reaching out to his friends and family. “Often the fundraising is done by the president, the provost and the deans,” Knodell said. “This effort was more of a grassroots effort.” Knodell is a 30-year veteran of the University and was chosen through a rigorous vetting process. Bill Falls, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, was part of that process and approved the nomination. “We asked financial histori-

By bryan o’keefe bpokeefe@uvm.edu

Jane Knodell, professor of economics, was awarded the Green and Gold Professor professorship. Knodell was selected through a process that involved other universities. OLIVER POMAZI/The Vermont Cynic

ans at some major universities to evaluate Professor Knodell; they said she was fantastic... very deserving of the professorship,” Falls said. “It’s something that you get because of your worthiness for it, you’re a scholar; you’re an amazing teacher,” he said. Knodell was humble in her acceptance of the award. “It’s a huge honor,” she said. “There are lots of faculty at UVM that deserve this professorship because we have an

amazing faculty.” She also stressed the importance of this professorship. “It will give students the historical context when they’re actually out in the market, or working for a central bank, and help put UVM on the map,” Knodell said. Knodell’s students can attest to her teaching prowess. “She was an excellent professor that taught thorough lectures that were very detailed,” junior Michael Chambers said.

Environmental Program hires director By brandon arcari barcari@uvm.edu

For the fourth time in its existence the UVM Environmental Program has a new director. UVM has named Nathan J. Sanders as the new director of the UVM Environmental Program beginning January 2017. Sanders is its fourth director in its 44 year history, according to the Environmental program’s website. Sanders is currently a professor at the University of Copenhagen and chair of the biodiversity department, according to the website. He will oversee the University’s Environmental Studies major within the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Rubenstein Schools. Sanders is a global change ecologist, researching the causes and consequences of biodiversity loss at local, regional and global scales, according to the Rubenstein school’s website. “We are so happy to have such an acclaimed environmentalist coming to UVM,” lecturer Amy Seidl, the interim associate director of the program, said. “One of the things [Sanders] will be interested in is studying alpine diversity.” Sanders is a specialist in ant biology and alpine ecology, and has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers, with

UVM ethics center gets new name

more than 20 published with undergraduates as co-authors and has had grants totaling more than $8 million, according to the Rubenstein school’s website. At the University of Copenhagen, Sanders has a more administrative role doing budgeting, curriculum development, professional development, cross-disciplinary research and teaching Environmental Studies. Students have been supportive of Sanders filling the role of director. “ENVS 001 and 002 are good right now, and are great for incoming students figuring out what they want to do,” sophomore Erica Breault said. “I was really good to look at different case studies and see them through different environmental studies lenses like politics or sustainability.” Nancy Mathews, dean of the Rubenstein School, expressed enthusiasm for Sanders’ arrival in a Sept. 7 email to the ENVS community. “We are pleased to welcome Dr. Sanders to the [UVM] and the Rubenstein School,” Mathews said in the email. She highlighted Sanders’ accomplishments as reason for selecting him to fill the role. “His proven leadership and administrative experience in interdisciplinary settings position him well to be an inspiring

director of the Environmental Program, building on the legacy of prior directors, Carl Reidel, Ian Worley and Stephanie Kaza,” Mathews said. In the same email, Sanders commented on the accomplishments the Rubenstein school has made so far. “There are so many exciting things happening at UVM and in the Rubenstein School,” Sanders said, “and there is such an amazingly talented group of students, faculty, alumni and staff.” He follows former director Stephanie Kaza, who retired in 2015, and takes the place of Interim Director David Massell of the history department. “My several interactions with Nate Sanders suggests that he is a good listener, a clear thinker, and a nice guy,” Massell said. “He has both the leadership experience and the scholarly chops to take the Environmental Program forward.” Breault said she is looking forward to the possibility of a new curriculum with a new director. “I would like to see more ecological economics, considering that we don’t even have a concentration on it,” she said. “I want to see more options for those with emerging fields.”

“She was more than willing to provide extra assistance outside of the classroom to make sure students were grasping the material.” Knodell was formally awarded this professorship during an investiture ceremony Sept. 8, which was attended by President Sullivan, Provost Rosowsky and deans, as well as alumni and members of the Zwynenburg family, including Mark’s father John Zwynenburg.

Due to student confusion, the Center for Student Ethics & Standards has been renamed. The Center for Student Ethics & Standards has been renamed the Center for Student Conduct, director Kim Martin said. The name change occurred this past summer. The name change serves as an accurate umbrella for the Center for Student Conduct’s programs of Academic Integrity, Community Standards and Conflict Prevention, Martin said. “Sometimes people were confused by ‘Student Ethics & Standards,’” she said. Senior Lynden Prior said the new name seems trivial, but hopes it helps some students understand the goals of the center. “The old name was a little confusing,” Prior said. Senior Jordan Leabman said she doesn’t think the name is as important as the programs the center provides. “As long as they continue to provide the services students need, I don’t think the name matters,” Leabman said.

NEWS

First-years elected to SGA senate By Lauren Schnepf/Kelsey Neubauer lschnep@uvm.edu/kaneubau@uvm.edu

Jamie Benson

Waterbury, VT Biological Sciences major “Peter had a stick through his hand, Maggie was lost in the woods, we couldn’t find Jess...there was massive panic�. It was total chaos,” Jamie said of the time he became a leader.

Brian Gomez White Plains, NY Business/Political Science major “I am a first-generation Latino student.”

Reginah Mako Sayreville, NJ Political Science/Economics major Reginah hopes to bolster low-income inner city economies.

Callie Helfrich

Hingham, MA Business/Economics major “I didn’t have a specific moment that I became a leader, it was a process.”

Rachel Gladstone Smithtown, NY Environmental Science major Rachel’s goal is to use her position to make UVM more green.

OPINION

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

your Listen, don’t dismiss other opinions Living life through

ast Friday, a pro concealed carry organization tabled outside the Davis Center. On our undeniably liberal campus, the conservative voice is often lost in a majority population of pro-Bernie Sanders, social justice warriors. As a result, conservative students, who are clearly outnumbered by their liberal peers, wouldn’t be wrong to feel ostracized. The students tabling were not only representing the concealed carry group, but also Turning Point USA, a group who advocates for the use of free speech. We at the Cynic exercise ﬁrst amendment rights every week and we support others in doing so. An important part of the college experience, is learning to listen to both sides of an argument and being exposed to opinions that may not fall in line with yours. At UVM, this is unfortunately quite the rarity. Groups such as Turning Point USA are important for students to be exposed to, even though they might disagree. The ﬁrst amendment is ex-

the lens of social media Dear Editor,

I ALYSSA HANDELMAN

tremely vital, at a public University. We encourage you not to dismiss the motives and opinions of people representing different opinions immediately, and use opportunities like these to learn from your peers, speak your mind and exercise

your rights of free speech that, are not something to take for granted. 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 re-

sponse to anything you see printed as well as any issues of interest in the community. Please limit letters to 350 words. The Cynic reserves the right to edit letters for length and grammar. Please send letters to opinion@vtcynic.com.

Police aim to serve and protect, not shoot alexander collingsworth ACOLLING@UVM.EDU

ast Wednesday night, I was woken up at about four in the morning by a pounding. I thought it was my door. I turned on the light and listened as the pounding continued. There were two men outside, pounding on the door. I opened the door and went outside. There, on my neighbor’s porch, were the Burlington police causing a ruckus in the middle of the night. I wanted to write them up for a noise violation. 300 bucks. Each. What were they doing there? Apparently one of my neighbors had been very drunk and had stumbled up the stairs of the wrong house and had attempted to gain entry. The funny thing was that the house wasn’t even on our street. We know that we have a massive problem in the United States. We know that blacks in particular and minorities in general suffer humiliation and grave bodily harm at the hands of our police. Just this week, a 13-year-old boy who was walking around with a BB gun in his neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio was shot and killed by the police, a story that we have heard echoed over and over again. We know that whites can get away with a hell of a lot when it comes to the police. Imagine if my white neighbor, a young woman who had drunkenly trespassed on someone’s property, had been a young black man.

Imagine if this wasn’t Vermont, a state that in 2015 had not one fatal shooting by a police ofﬁcer. (So far in 2016 the police have shot two people in VT, one in Winooski Sept. 16, according to multiple sources.) That young black man could have ended up dead, instead of carted home by the police. But what I want to write about is the idea of the police and why we need them, or don’t need them. Could we create a society where we don’t need the police, where we can police ourselves? Could we create a kinder, less militaristic, less belligerent, more honest police force? I think the solution to police shootings and to the gun

I think the solution to police shootings and to the gun violence we suffer in the United States lies in a disarmament on both sides. violence we suffer in the United States lies in a disarmament on both sides. When it comes down to it, people want guns not just for protection against the boogeymen of the night, but against the government. The principle that the Second Amendment stands for is not the right to keep and bear arms for one’s own protection, but to keep and bear arms in case one needs to overthrow the government. Without a highly armed body of civilians, we would not have been able to ﬁght a war, characterized by

guerilla tactics and resistance, against the British. Neither would the South have been able to rebel against the Union. But that principle is out the window. An AR-15 is no match for a drone. Or a tank. Does that mean people should be able to keep and bear tanks? People are afraid of the government, and the police are the main embodiment of government that we interact with on a daily basis. In 2015 the police in the U.S. killed about 1,000 people (according to the Washington Post and other sources). How many people did ISIS kill? We are one of the most highly armed populations in the world with 112 guns per 100 people, according to Wikipedia. It makes sense for the police to be afraid of getting shot. On the other hand, most of those guns are concentrated in the hands of a few people. Most gun owners own more than one gun. Apparently, gun ownership in the U.S. has dropped to a 40 year low, with just 42 percent of households in possession of a firearm, according to a study by the Washington Post. 42 police were killed in the line of duty in 2015 in the U.S.. (a lopsided figure––1,000 vs. 42). Maybe, if less and less people feel the need to own guns in the U.S. the police could do away with their own guns. One question I have is this: if the police killed 1,000 people last year, how many people did they save? Is there some figure, in dollars, or in lives, some cost-benefit analysis, that would justify the American blood the police sheds in the name of upholding the law and protecting

society? The fact of the matter is that the police force are no longer there to be your friend, as in the good days of Sheriff Bob who would give you a ride home if you were too drunk. I’m not sure if good ol’ Sheriff Bob ever really existed, but he’s certainly not around now. The police are now largely anonymous. They stay in their cars. They don’t walk the neighborhood beat anymore. They are there to make arrests, issue citations and pull over as many people as possible. They are playing a numbers game, and that game is costing lives. The only way to get people to get rid of their guns is to make the cops do the same. We need a bilateral disarmament. Sure, we’ll still have special police units, but the average cop should not need a gun. In Britain, for example, most police do not carry firearms. A widely seen video from the U.K. shows thirty British police hemming in a crazed man waving around machete, using their cars and riot shields to contain the man and ultimately disarm him. Not a shot fired. The police in the U.S. have seen too many police movies. Shoot first, ask questions later. There’s a quote by George Orwell, perhaps misattributed, that says, “people sleep peacefully in their beds because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” Could we sleep safe at night without the police?

Alexander Collingsworth is a senior English and history double major. He has been writing for the Cynic since spring 2016.

am having more fun than you. Can’t you tell from my Snapchat story? I go to brunch and eat crème fraiche. You are not doing that. You are eating eggs alone. Again. I am at bars gallivanting with attractive members of the opposite sex. What are you doing? Watching that show again? That must be fun... I am more popular than you. Just look at my Instagram post. It got so many more likes than yours and I didn’t even try. Mine was a picture I took earlier. I was saving it for a rainy day. Except that it’s not raining. It’s 85 degrees and sunny. But you can see that in my newest beach picture. Did you see that I am a better person than you? I posted about it on Facebook. Someone was in need, so I made a socially conscious action. Now everyone knows that I am altruistic. And magnanimous. People even commented. Lots of them. Where are your comments? You must not be doing good deeds. Tisk tisk, you shitbag. I am better traveled than you. Just look; I am moving to France. It says so right here. I am worldly. I have lots of flags and cities and arrows in my Tinder profile. Where are you traveling? To and from work? You won’t get any swipes without flags. Or elephant pictures. You will die alone. And no elephant will remember you. They will never forget me. I made a local take a picture of us. He won’t forget me either. I am foreign. Exotic. Did you see that this is published now? This is online. Maybe even in print. Forever in the databases to access. And love. I am symbolically immortalized. Indelible. You will be forgotten like dust in the wind. But not like the popular song. Literal dust. To become mud later. Not even loamy soil, fecund and functional. Slop to wipe off of old shoes. F*@k you. Sincerely, Daltrey Burris Class of 2016

CORRECTIONS We are committed to accuracy in all of our work. If for some reason there is an error, please email us at corrections@vtcynic. com.

OPINION

Why are we here, in philosophy class? makayla salas

SEBASTIAO HUNGERBUHLER

MSALAS@UVM.EDU

ith the ﬁrst few weeks of the school year wrapping up, the opportunity to easily drop and change classes has come to a close. Ideally, this means everyone is where they want to be and taking the classes they want to take. Personally, jumping from class to class didn’t resolve my discontent. Sensing hostility and apathy in both philosophy courses I attempted to add, I had to wonder – why the hesitation? Was there something intrinsic to philosophy that created this atmosphere? I decided to ask a few classmates why they enrolled in the course in hopes of discovering a common theme. It is a Tuesday at 12:55 p.m., and Intro to Philosophy: Selected Problems has just ended. With a hopeful attitude, I am standing outside the door with a clipboard to take notes. I stop the ﬁrst student rushing out the door, obviously intent on getting far, far away. “Excuse me,” I ask, touching his shoulder. “Could I ask you a quick question?” He wearily looks at me, neither objecting to nor accepting my request. I proceed. “Why exactly are you taking a philosophy class?” A look of dread and angst rises to his face;

apparently I asked a triggering question. “I am in the middle of an existential crisis and I’m looking for answers. The fact that all we’ve read so far is Descartes is only making it worse, because we learned he dealt with his own issues by hallucinating in an overheated room. Where does that leave me?” “Oh.” I become rather uncomfortable and, for my own sake, I interpret his last question as rhetorical. I stop another student, this time a female with brown hair and glasses, holding a coffee mug.

“Excuse me, miss, can I ask you a silly question? Why are you taking a philosophy course?” She rolls her eyes and takes a long drink of coffee before answering, and I’m starting to wonder if the third time’s going to be the charm. “It’s literally just a graduation requirement, and a frustrating one at that. I’m failing to understand how it will help me with my astronomy major. Galileo is the only person I have remote interest in - and he was exiled for making a grand, revolutionary discovery. That’s completely inapplicable to me,” she snaps. “I’m three

years into my major and still don’t know exactly what I’m doing - there’s no way I’ll be making discoveries big enough to get me exiled.” “Yeah…I see how that’s kind of obnoxious.” The paper on my clipboard is still blank. I’m having difﬁculty weeding out what I should actually write down. “Well, don’t you want my reason for being here?” I hear behind me. I spin around to see a stocky male, with sweat stains on his shirt for no apparent reason. Did he just get out of philosophy or the gym? “Um, yeah, shoot, why?” “Well,” he puts his hand on

his hips, “it kind of feels like civic duty, in a way. I mean, here are all these – no offense – these morons, who are just so lost… they need me, you know? Who else is going to insist their God isn’t real twice a week? Who else is going to instill a sense of philosophical incompetence into them?” He is beginning to sweat some more, and now I get the deal with his shirt. “I have so many good things to share with them that sometimes it’s hard to ﬁt it into a 75-minute class, but I do my best. By the way, I don’t see you writing any of this down, and I don’t know why. This is no doubt better than what those two other people said – I’ve heard them speak in class.” It’s getting bleak, to say the least. Finally, I go inside the classroom to ask the professor what he thinks. He stares blankly at his computer screen. As I walk around to approach him, I see the blank screen. Dark. Nothing. “Excuse me?” There is no reply. He is in the abyss, overcome by feelings of his inadequacy in moderating discussions, and regretting his profession. It radiates and it consumes. I sit down next to him, joining the staring contest with my similarly blank sheet of paper. Makayla Salas is a ﬁrst-year psychology major. She has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2016.

Sexual education in the U.S. has to improve ariana arden AARDEN@UVM. EDU

he state of sexual education in the United States is disgusting. If you grew up in a town with a good sex ed program, congratulations. But chances are, most of you didn’t. In part, that’s because there are no regulations or standards put into place regarding sex ed. This is the only kind of education like this. We wouldn’t tolerate math, spelling or history with no standards. Many states do not even require having sex ed taught at all, and when they do, some don’t require the information taught be medically accurate. How are we tolerating this? For most of us, our sexual education programs were somewhere between comprehensive and incorrect. They were muddled. They gave some information, and most of it was probably accurate, but a lot of information was left out. This was how my sex ed experience was in high school. It was focused on how reproduction works and went over the anatomy of male and female reproductive systems. But that was pretty much it. They men-

tioned different birth control methods, but failed to even let us know what those methods look like or how they function. There was no putting condoms on a banana or anything. All the actual sex was left out of sex ed. While the things we learned were extremely valuable, they missed the important part of having a sex ed class. The things we were learning could have easily been included in a biology class, but there are certain questions related to sexual health that are difﬁcult to put into the curriculum of a biology or physiology class. For example, what happens when you do have sex? This is something most people will deal with in their lifetime; isn’t it worth educating students about? Here is some important information my school never taught: If you have a vagina, pee after sex or you might get a UTI. If you are having penile-vaginal sex and the condom breaks, talk about it with your partner, and do something about it sooner than later. Literally everything about abortions. Planned Parenthood is not evil and you should not be ashamed for going there. They also provide many services besides abortions, including general gynecological stuff and

breast exams. It is okay to have sex with someone the same gender as you. Literally everything about non-vaginal sex.

ELISE MITCHELL

Masturbating is ﬁne and everyone does it. The list goes on and on. These things are important to know. So why don’t we teach them to teens?

There are a host of arguments against comprehensive sex ed, one of the most prevalent being the notion that it will increase rates of premarital sex. Study upon study has proven this to be false. In fact, the current national average to start having sex is 17. Teenagers are going to have premarital sex no matter what. They just are. They had sex in Victorian times, in the 1950s and they have sex now, no matter what certain people want to believe. But instead of acknowledging this truth and offering sexual information, some people take this fact and try to use sex ed to stop it, which gives us the glorious “abstinence only” programs. These programs are disgusting. They mostly focus on shaming kids, especially girls, for urges that are totally natural, and make it seem like the world will come crashing down if they dare have a peek in their partner’s pants. They use metaphors like the dirty gum analogy, comparing sex to being chewed by different people, to persuade teens that if they have a lot of sex, no one will want them. They’re repulsive programs and they offer no information whatsoever on actual sex. There are lots of reasons we shouldn’t tolerate this, but one

of the most important is that we all have sex. Even if everyone were to wait for marriage, most people in their lifetime are going to have sex. Wouldn’t it be helpful to know what is going on, and to get some basic information about sexual health? Providing “abstinence only” education ignores the reality that people aren’t going to remain abstinent their whole lives. We can’t let people go without learning about sex. It is an extremely important element of life. And we really need to be taught about sex in school, because otherwise we are forced to seek other sources. Most teens don’t want to talk to their parents about sex, and most parents don’t want to either. The internet isn’t a great source, and porn is even worse. We want people getting accurate information, so we must turn back to school. We have to start teaching teens comprehensive sex ed, because there is a lot of misinformation that needs to be cleared up. We can’t have people running around taking ﬁction for fact. It’s irresponsible, dangerous, and we can do better.

Ariana Arden is a junior English major. She has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2015.

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LIFE

Interactive class teaches out-of-the-box thinking By GRETA BJORNSON gabjorns@UVM.EDU

It’s rare that lessons taught in the classroom can be directly applied to the real world, but one course at UVM is designed for this exact purpose. Design Your Life, a onecredit course only offered at Stanford University and UVM, is intended to give juniors and seniors a better idea of what to do with their lives post-college, and help them build skills applicable to everyday life and learn how to approach their future careers. Eugene Korsunskiy, UVM’s Coordinator of Design Initiatives and DYL course instructor, has firsthand experience with the course, as he took it while attending graduate school at Stanford and later taught it there before coming to UVM. DYL, which has no prerequisites, is a very group-centered and interactive course, Korsunskiy said. Students are assigned to “cohorts” of about six people at the beginning of the semester and work with this same group for the remainder of the course. He emphasized how integral these groups are to fostering the communal dynamic of the class. “The most important ingredient of how the class functions is the sense of community we’re able to build, because everyone

in the room commits to showing up all semester and helping each other think and talk through all of these important life questions we have,” Korsunskiy said, “which don’t necessarily get a whole lot of deliberate attention elsewhere.” Student assessments of the class have been posted on its website, most of them praising its life-changing elements. One student explained that taking DYL “gave me the power to decide what I want to do, and break away from my set-instone career plan. I now want to find me in what I do after college, not just settle.”

“

Life is not a ‘problem’ to ‘solve’ and there’s no ‘right answer’ to find... EUGENE KORSUNSKIY COORDINATOR OF DESIGN INITIATIVES

Before taking the class, most students often struggle with questions like “what do you want to be when you grow up?” and feel pressure to have a definite life plan after graduation. But Korsunskiy approaches post-grad life from a different lens.

Students in Korsunskiy’s Design Your Life class brainstorm about the different directions people can pursue post-college. PHOTO COURTESY OF EUGENE KORSUNSKIY “Life is “not a ‘problem’ to ‘solve’ and there’s no ‘right answer’ to find,” he said. “Instead, it’s a thing waiting to be built— by you.” “You don’t figure out what your passion is and then go do that thing,” he said. “You go out into the world and start doing things, driven by your curiosity, and then the passion is something that develops as a result.”

For those who are intrigued by the course but unable to enroll, its ideas can be found in the book “Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life” by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, with whom Korsunskiy taught the course at Stanford. Graduate Brett Gershkowitz took the class in his senior year at UVM.

“This class taught me to challenge myself and be okay with making mistakes,” Gershkowitz said. “I think it was important for me to take that class as a senior,” he said. The book became available Sept. 20.

LIFE

HUMANS OF

UVM

WILLA RICHMOND

WCRICHMO@UVM.EDU

Maybe it’s not evident, but diversity is real here at UVM. The diversity exists in personalities, upbringing, interests, religion, sexuality, you name it. In New York City, Brandon

Stanton of Humans of New York, roams the streets looking for hints of humanity to intertwine us all. At UVM, Willa Richmond is here to do the same.

JJ HU

“The story of my shoes: so I got those shoes from China, because they’re cheap. And I personally think they’re much prettier than anything I’ve got from America. Also, this pair of shoes always reminds me I need to buy a soda and popcorn before I go to theater.”

RUTH DOE

“To be honest, I’m not really a science person. I chose microbiology as a major because in my last year of high school, the teacher had us learn about anatomy and physiology. But there was this one unit on microbiology, and I was so interested in learning about the microbes and how some of them cause disease. So, one day I want to go abroad and work in developing countries because I’m originally from Burma [and] that is a developing country, unfortunately.”

NICK HOFFMAN JORDAN QUILES

ROZ ARONOW

“I wanted to be an environmental studies major because it’s a personal goal of mine to help the Earth. I know it’s being degraded over time. I try to focus on what makes me happy, but what makes me happy, the environment, is what stresses me out the most at the same time. ”

“Students, because of their race or sexuality or gender, might not feel welcome, but UVM gives them this opportunity to feel comfortable and have their voices heard. It also gives students who are not of those identities a chance to really learn about these issues and get involved. And what I really like is, it doesn’t necessarily feel awkward to be white at the ALANA Center; it doesn’t necessarily feel awkward to be straight at the Allen House. They really make you feel comfortable.”

“I’m not a sophomore or junior or any other class. If I had to choose, I’d call myself a returning student. I love the school, I always have since coming here. I kinda had to leave because my grades were shit. There weren’t many options and I was dismissed from the School of Engineering. I could have repealed it, but it was a good decision to leave. I didn’t know what to do with my life and didn’t want to drop into the next thing. I started here at 17, dove into engineering. My brother is an engineer. I like the concept of it, but I have the wrong mindset for it.” PHOTOS BY WILLA RICHMOND

Willa Richmond is a sophomore animal and veterinary sciences major. She has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2015.

LIFE

Not your mother’s brand of feminism

THE DAPPER VAGINA

SARAH HEFT

SHEFT@UVM.EDU

he summer before 11th grade I went to summer camp, like I had been doing year after year for the past seven years. Except this summer was different. I had one counselor who handed me a copy of Jessica Valenti’s “Full Frontal Feminism.” This book started me on a journey to ﬁnd my feminist identity. After four weeks, my parents came to pick me up from camp. I ran into their arms, hugged them both, put my hands on my hips and said, “Mom, Dad, I am a feminist.” They smiled and said, “That’s great honey, now where is your trunk so we can load it into the car?” That ride back from camp was a mix of me explaining all the great things I did at camp, along with facts about the patriarchy. It sounded something like this: “We got to dress up for the all-camp activity as pirates. Also, did you know women make 77 cents to every dollar a man makes?” As I rode home, happily in the backseat recalling my great

summer at camp, I felt a pit in my stomach. I had just identiﬁed myself as a feminist. Oh dear, what did I get myself into? Do I now have to forgo shaving my legs and wearing a bra? Can I still shower? Can I still take advantage of the Victoria’s Secret semi- annual sale? Do I now have to march topless on Capitol Hill while single-handedly slugging any abortion protester in my path? Maybe I wasn’t a feminist; or maybe, even worse, I was a bad feminist.

THIS is what a

FEMINIST looks like

Can I still take advantage of the Victoria's Secret semi-annual sale? Well now, what I was supposed to do? I had already stuck an “I stand with Planned Parenthood” sticker on my laptop. So I took a step back. What was feminism? I slowly realized that being a feminist isn’t about who can grow out their armpit hair the longest. Feminism was about making educated and conscious choices. I understand that body hair is natural, yet the beauty indus-

MARISSA LANOFF

try tells us it’s not so they can sell us pink razors and strawberry shaving cream. I get that. But that still doesn’t stop me from pulling out that razor before date night.

You do uterus. If anything, I feel more empowered shaving my legs be-

Yearly orgasm talk keeps them coming By IZZY SIEDMAN isiedman@UVM.EDU

A line curls out the door, down the stairs and through the hall, clustering eagerly around a table of sex goodies and the seats of the Grand Maple Ballroom. The UVM Program Board hosted a yearly tradition: I Heart Female Orgasm Sept. 14. The event manifests as a semi-educational, semi-comical program focused on exploring the subject of female pleasure. In a “tongue and cheek, humorous way,” IHFO teaches “sex ed with a new twist,” Katie Stango, assistant director for Campus Programs, said. The event uses laughter to facilitate conversations around sexuality and inform students about their health. “There’s always the question about how to talk about sex; you’re adults, and it’s different,” Stango said, “It probably won’t be your high school sex ed.” Speakers Dorian Solot and Connor Timmons broke down almost every barrier about sex create during the awkward teen phase. They discussed masturbation, the g-spot, female empowerment and included a few sensual tips from the superhero Clitora. The program was originally designed for a women-only audience, but quickly garnered

ALL ABOUT

ORGASMS

1. The average woman needs minutes to climax. 2.

cause I know I am shaving them for me, because I like it, not because I hate a naturally-occurring part of my body. Getting over this hump has led me to discover that there is so much more to feminism than whether or not I curl my eyelashes. There is sexism, homophobia, racism and cisnormativity that need to be tackled in order

for us to live in a more inclusive, equal and less hostile society. So go ahead and pierce your belly button, dab on some eyeshadow and shave your armpits. Just not all at the same time. You do uterus! Sarah Heft is a junior gender, sexuality, and women’s studies major. She has been writing for the Cynic since spring 2016.

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interest from all genders. It now includes anyone who wants to know a little bit more about getting those Os for themselves or the special girl in their lives. “Let’s take a moment to appreciate the diversity here tonight,” Timmons said. “A key to Wednesday’s program was that ‘every cookie is beautiful,’ Solot said. Diverging from the typical discomfort of the penis-vagina talk, “the best thing about it was that everyone in that room wanted to be there,” ﬁrst-year Julian Lathrop said. As part of the updated program, Solot and Timmons in-

cluded small gender-based group discussions in which ﬁrst orgasm stories, myths about what women like best and advice on keeping things safe were shared. Spreading the word through social media, resource links, merchandise and print copies of step-by-step pleasure instructions, IHFO didn’t miss a beat in creating a well-informed audience. As the ﬁnal smiling faces turned out the door for the night, Solot told them cheerily, “truth is, the best conversations will happen after you go home tonight.”

Sunday, Sept 25 Noon - 4pm Union Station at 1 Main Street

ARTS

Harry Potter fans find the magic once again Bridget higdon BHIDGON@UVM. EDU

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

erlin’s beard! For Harry Potter fans everywhere, July brought something unbelievable: an eighth installment in the beloved series. ‘‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’’ is not a novel, but rather the published script of the two-part play currently showing at the Palace Theatre in London’s West End. The creative team behind the script includes creator J.K. Rowling, playwright Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany. In scene one, readers find Harry as the over-worked head of the Auror Department and father of three children. His son Albus is having difficulty fitting in at school, struggling to find himself in the shadow of his famous father. As father and son strive to bond, a much more threatening problem arises: the past refuses to stay in the past. I found it incredibly fitting that as I prepared to begin an English major, I had the opportunity to re-visit the wizarding world that sparked my love of reading. As I delved into the book, I immediately felt

as if I had stolen Hermione’s time-turner. Suddenly, I was back in middle school, reading the series for the first time. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child contains all of the magic and suspense of the previous seven books, if only lacking the vivid detail and insight found only in a full-length novel. There are charmed bookcases, brewing polyjuice potions and many cameos from familiar faces. The book, set 19 years after the conclusion of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, has been met with mixed reviews from media sources and fans alike. Some say that because Rowling shares credit with Thorne and Tiffany, the play reads like poorly written fanfiction. However, script writing is an ideal medium for one of Rowling’s greatest strengths: characters that deliver hilarious and often extremely moving dialogue. For example, a portrait of Professor Dumbledore tells Harry, “those that we love never truly leave us… there are things that death cannot touch. Paint, and memory, and love.” No matter its flaws, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will forever rest on my bookcase, never to be obliviated. Bridget Higdon is a first year English major. She has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2016.

LIZZIE AMES

World-renowned art showcased at Fleming Museum By maddy freitas pimentel mmfreita@uvm.edu

This semester, students will have the opportunity to view world-class pieces by world-renowned artists right here on campus. “Sargent to Basquiat” opens Sept. 22 at the Fleming Museum. The exhibit features 60 works by renowned European and American artists from the early modern to contemporary time periods director and curator Janie Cohen said. A wide array of prominent artists will be showcased, she said, including Pablo Picasso, Kandinsky, Edward Hopper, Willem de Kooning, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. From cubism to abstract expressionism, these artists were pioneers in their movements Cohen said. “It’s not a full history of the period, but it does give you a sense of the tremendous arch art history has taken in the 20th Century,” she said. “You get a sense of the thrilling ride that that was.” While the collection is vast, various themes can be found. Mass consumerism is a theme present in the works by Warhol, Haring and Basquiat. There is a screen-print of former Chinese Communist Chairman Mao Zedong and a

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIS DISSINGER

photograph of the electric chair used to execute the Rosenbergs, both by Warhol, as well as a Haring drawing of a man with a television for a head. “There are nice conﬂuences between the works and some really cool content-wise connections,” Cohen said. There is also a wide array of mediums within the exhibit, including Polaroid pictures, screen-prints, sculptures and even crayon on paper. “This collection will have a lot of interest for students, especially the more contemporary pieces,” Cohen said. “That period is getting a lot of attention right now.”

“I’m pumped for the opening night,” sophomore Gracie Skillman said. “I want to take my family.” Students said the presence

“

seum,” sophomore Lily Sevin said. “I feel like there aren’t a ton of schools who have that.” Sophomore Madison Yates agreed about the uniqueness

From cubism to abstract expressionism, these artists were pioneers in their movements.

of the Fleming Museum on campus was a special opportunity. “It’s a really special thing to have on campus; a real mu-

JANIE COHEN CURATOR and value of the museum. “The Fleming is amazing,” Yates said. “It’s my favorite place on campus and [it’s] really well curated.”

This collection is composed entirely of pieces from the private collections of UVM alumni. “Art in private collections are such a treat because you never see them in museums,” Cohen said. “It’s a real opportunity.” These alumni come from a diverse array of fields, from law to real estate, yet all share a deep appreciation and enthusiasm for art, which she said believes was instilled at UVM. “It’s really valued here, the fact that the University has a strong fine arts museum,” Cohen said. “Not all universities do, and we have a lot of students at our openings.” Accompanying this exhibition is a line-up of lectures, films and tours that will bring in leading art experts to enhance the understanding and appreciation of the works on view. Among them is a series called “The Painted Word,” a collaboration between the Fleming Museum and the English department. It will be curated by professor Major Jackson. Cohen said she encourages students to visit the museum. “This early exposure to art is really important,” she said, “regardless if it’s a part of your studies, even if it’s just a place you go to get some coffee, peace and quiet or to see an exciting exhibition.”

ARTS

Ecological art: a more creative call to action By chloe foster cfoster8@uvm.edu

In the age of climate change and conservationism, ecological art is on the rise. Local artists and environmentalists came together to create a collaborative ecological art exhibit in Billings Library Sept. 4. The event consisted of exhibits including poetry, interactive media and a lecture from author Elizabeth Kolbert on her book “The Sixth Extinction” in Ira Allen Chapel. While some guests lounged on the “Stuffed Animal Therapy Sofa,” a piece constructed by artist Stella Marrs, others snacked on Ben & Jerry’s ice cream while perusing the show. Exhibits included an “Apocalypse Weather Report” created by artist Amelia Marzec, a “Peep Show” bug porn video featuring mating insects by ﬁlmmaker Rebecca Weisman and a collaborative insectarium with a symphonic recording of insect sounds playing overhead. One exhibit took place in the

apse of Billings. Audience members gathered to catch a glimpse of the Monarch Butterfly Release, an exhibit aimed at pointing out the decrease in population of Vermont’s state butterfly in the eastern United States. As a looped animated video of a butterfly’s journey and life played in the background, students dressed in orange and black spread out along the apse balcony, each holding their clasped hands out in front of them. All at once the air burst with dozens of fluttering plastic butterflies. Each butterfly fell to the floor, ending with lifeless plastic butterflies littering the ground. Brian Collier, the brain behind the exhibit, is an ecological artist who works in a variety of mediums. Collier said the goal of the exhibit was to “raise awareness about the decline of the eastern monarch population,” which has decreased by a staggering 80 percent in the last few decades.

Displays of milkweed pods surrounded the apse. Postcards informed viewers that research has shown the importance of milkweed in expanding monarch communities. Collier said the milkweed pods were important in giving viewers a solution to the problem raised by the exhibit, not only “[providing] a visual spectacle for people to connect with that information, [but also] a place for people to go with that information,” he said. The goal of gallery was ultimately to communicate to viewers the importance of connecting to our larger environment Collier said. Ecological art plays a key role in “directly addressing our ecosystem and how humans interact with that ecosystem,” he said. “It’s important for humans to understand that connection, [and] to know how to make educated decisions that are less destructive.”

A sign at the 6x Howl exhibit. The exhibit featured ecological art geared at promoting activism. CHLOE FOSTER/The Vermont Cynic

WRUV TOP TEN Tune into 90.1 FM or at wruv.org

Quick opinions: FallFest Students’ react to UVM’s annual Fall Concert

1 The Avalanches // “Wildflowers” 2 Mild High Club // “Skiptracing” 3 Frank Ocean// “Blonde”

"I went my ﬁrst year. I don't know who played but it was deﬁnitely a night I'll never forget."

Phil Arliss, senior

"I don't even know what that is."

Chelsea Young, ﬁrst year

"They could do a better job with the band selection. I was not a big fan of the Ying Yang twins last year."

Evan Greenwald, junior

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Of Montreal// “Innocence Reaches” Red Hot Chili Peppers// “The Getaway” Chance the Rapper// “Coloring Book” Broods// “Consciousness” High Waisted// “On Ludlow” Heaters // “Baptistina” Travis Scott// “Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight”

"I never knew anyone else who went."

Evan Jackson, junior

"I think UPB does a great job with the events they put on and the variety they have."

Kyra Fryling, sophomore

ARTS

West coast based band to share sunny tunes by molly duff meduff@uvm.edu

As the days become shorter and colder, one musician is set to bring a taste of the warm west coast to the Burlington area. Mild High Club, the brainchild of musician Alexander Brettin, will play at The Monkey House in Winooski Sept. 29. Brettin is based out of Los Angeles, according to the Stones Throw Records website, and brings a sunny influence into the psychedelic, 1970s-inspired sounds of his sophomore LP, “Skiptracing.” For Brettin, this ‘70s inspiration began at a young age. Brettin said he was inspired by both video game soundtracks and his parents’ music. “I remember being into the soundtracks of the Sega games I had at five years old,” Brettin said. “Also, my folks played some really great stuff growing up: Big Chill, Steely Dan and The Beatles.” He said he remains influenced by the same old-school bands, including “The Beatles, Bird, Miles, Steely Dan, XTC, R Stevie Moore, the Grateful Dead – the list goes on forever.” Creativity is a highly individual process for Brettin. “Music plays in my head and I do the best to retrieve it,” he said. “You could say I’m shazaming the music playing in the hypothetical ‘Mild High Club’ lounge of my mind.” Brettin’s first album, “Timeline,” which was released Sep-

Mild High Club is pictured. The band is playing at The Monkey House in Winooski Sept. 29. PHOTO COURTESY OF PITCH PERFECT PR. tember 2015, was deemed “easy-listening” in a Pitchfork review by Jonah Bromwich. However, the latest release, “Skiptracing,” has been met with more positive feedback. “While Brettin’s ﬁrst record seemed to run through depictions of [his] inﬂuences like cards on a rolodecks, he’s now synthesizing them together into an identity more uniquely his own,” in a Pitchfork review by Benjamin Scheim. “The writing process was

Dad band releases a reflective new album Alex Lerose ALEROSE@UVM. EDU

Schmilco

ads and rock fans everywhere can rejoice. Wilco’s 10th studio album, “Schmilco,” was released Sept. 9. While the album name suggests the kind of dad humor the band is known for, “Schmilco” is much more acoustic in comparison to the band’s previous albums like the 2015 “Star Wars” or 2002 “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” arguably one of their best albums ever. It’s as if they have taken a step back and lead singer Jeff Tweedy is rattling off all of the songs and riffs he’s been waiting to take out of the closet. A lot of the songs in the album have a more folksy tune and sound angry, dark and nostalgic. Wilco have become known for unique and intricate instrumentals, but Jeff Tweedy takes it a step further with his random and eccentric lyrics.

In a way, the album is a channel for Tweedy to rid himself of all of the angry and bittersweet memories from his past. “Happiness” is a song that clearly builds upon this theme. Tweedy sings, “It’s absolutely nothing, so sad it’s nothing, happiness depends on who you blame.” The lyrics refer to his mother and how her perceptions of her son do not match up with his own. “Cry All Day” is an angrier tune. Tweedy sings, “I’m sick of your afﬂiction, but you’re just as smart as you’re blind, How would you like? Now be kind.” The instrumentals in this song pick up more than other tracks on the album and Tweedy delivers the lyrics in a matter-of-fact tone. In a mellower ballad, “Shrug and Destroy,” the listener hears a slow kind of dread as Tweedy sings, “Sometimes I wish to set free the things that still matter to me”. Tweedy clearly has a lot to get off his chest with this album, but he’s having fun doing it. Overall, “Schmilco” isn’t the most exciting album, but it is deﬁnitely one full of raw, unapologetic emotion.

different in the sense that for ‘Timeline,’ I was trying to ﬁll up a record-worth of songs, and in “Skiptracing” I was trying to make one long song,” Brettin said. “Performance-wise, the new stuff is more challenging and we’ve brought more instruments into the picture to help us get there,” he said. “No room for slack on that end.” Brettin said the new record has excited some of the most memorable concerts.

“The best show was probably our sold-out record release show at the chapel in San Francisco this past week,” he said. “I never thought this music would reach this many people. We got to pop champagne in celebration on the stage.” While Brettin is touring a new record at the Monkey House, he is not new to the Burlington area. Mild High Club performed previously at the Monkey House in Sept. 2015 while touring the debut album

“Timeline.” “Last time we came through Winooski, I tweeted at Mike Gordon [of Phish] to see if he would show up,” he said. “I guess we’re still looking forward to meeting him!” In the future, Brettin said fans can expect “more jazz, more harmony, more poetry, more comedy.” Tickets are on sale now starting at $18.

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SPORTS

Men’s soccer jumps to national stage By anthony clark aclark20@uvm.edu

Coming off an America East Championship last year and starting the 2016-2017 season by receiving a national ranking, the UVM men’s soccer team is once again a force in Division I soccer. The Catamounts are currently having one of the best starts in program history, having won seven out of their first eight games since the season began in late August, according to UVM athletics. Senior midfielder Jackson Dayton attributes a lot of the recent success to the team’s experience. “I think the fact that we can skip the adjustment process to the Division I game that most younger teams have to deal with has been a big advantage,” Dayton said. “Last year’s performance has been great for our confidence this fall,” he said. Dayton stressed the importance of confidence, which he said helps the Catamounts “keep our standards high every time we step on the field for practice and games.” The season’s start led UVM to a brief NCAA Top 25 ranking. However, since their recent 2-1 loss to Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond Sept. 11, they have taken a dip to

Arnar Steinn Hansson, a first-year defender from Iceland, fights off an LIU Brooklyn player in Vermont’s win Sept. 4. The Catamounts are now ranked No. 31 overall in the nation and No. 2 in the America East Conference. OLIVER POMAZI /The Vermont Cynic a rank of No. 31 in the country. The record is also good enough for the No. 2 spot in the America East Conference, right behind the University of Massachusetts Lowell (6-0-1), a team currently ranked No. 27 in the country, according to the NCAA

Coaches Rankings. Dayton highlighted the fact that the UVM attack boasts some of the most effective players in the country. “[Senior forward] Brian Wright currently leads the country in assists and [senior

forward] Bernard Yeboah is tied for first in goals,” Dayton said. In addition, Dayton pointed out that strong team chemistry is part of the team’s identity, especially for the attackers. “[Our] front four guys who are all seniors have developed

great chemistry over the last four years that is pretty unstoppable,” Dayton said. Yeboah said he has high hopes and expectations for the team after the Cats’ hot start. “After last year’s loss in the NCAA Tournament, a lot of us felt that we could have made a deeper run,” Yeboah said. “Returning players set a goal in the beginning of the year to try and make a run for the National Championship,” he said. The only year a Catamount team made it past the first round of the NCAA Tournament was in 2007 under current head coach Jesse Cormier, according to UVM athletics. Yebaoh said he feels that this year’s team is up for the challenge. “We want to become one of the best UVM men’s soccer teams in school history,” Yeboah said. “It’s going to take a lot of work to get there, but I believe with hard work and focus we can achieve this goal,” he said. Yeboah and Dayton both agree UVM’s biggest strength is their ability to turn defense into offense with a strong counterattack, citing the speed that their team possesses, especially on the offensive end. The Catamounts will begin a four-game home stretch starting Sept. 21, as well as a showdown at UMass Lowell Oct. 12.

Catamount hockey adds nine new first-year players By locria courtright ccourtri@uvm.edu

Catamount men’s hockey is welcoming nine first-years to the team for the 2016-2017 season. Joining the returning Catamount players will be first-year goaltender Stefanos Lekkas, first-year defenders Max Daigle, Matthew O’Donnell, Jake Massie and Corey Moriarty as well as first-year forwards Matt Alvaro, Cameron Klein, Derek Lodermeier and Ross Colton.

Stefanos Lekkas Lekkas joined the Catamounts from the United States Hockey League’s Sioux Falls Stampede, with whom he won the Clark Cup in 2015. Last season, the native of Elburn, Illinois posted a .924 save percentage in 45 games for the Stampede, earning a spot on the USHL’s Third All-Star Team. He credits some of this to the playoff run from the prior year. “That year helped my game a lot,” Lekkas said. “Those situations get you ready to play big games. You learn to play your best hockey when it’s needed, and you learn how to win mustwin games.”

Max Daigle Daigle, a native of St. Lambert, Quebec, arrived from Islanders Hockey Club of the

United States Premier Hockey League Premier Division, a team based in Tyngsborough, Massachusetts. He produced 27 points in 43 games for the Islanders. Sneddon said he believes Daigle will bring “skill, mobility, intelligence and character to our team.”

Matthew O’Donnell O’Donnell fought injury for most of his 2015-2016 season with the New Jersey Hitmen of the USPHL Premier, playing only 15 games, but producing 15 points from the blueline in the process. He previously captained the Loomis Chafee School in Connecticut and played a season with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the USHL. Sneddon said O’Donnell is “healthy and ready to go this season.”

Jake Massie Massie, a sixth-round draft pick of the Carolina Hurricanes from the USHL’s Omaha Lancers, was a late recruit. He had originally committed to the University of Massachusetts Amherst, but switched to UVM in March after the Minutemen fired head coach John Micheletto and their new head coach, Mike Carvel, “didn’t see a fit” for him.

Massie’s NHL rights were traded to Chicago in September 2015, and these two factors have helped motivate him. “I would say it’s got a little chip on my shoulder,” Massie said. Originally an offensive defender, he is working on reinventing himself as a defensive defenseman, a role that he says the Blackhawks want him to play.

He credits this to RoughRiders head coach Mark Carlson and his teammates in Cedar Rapids. “[Carlson] just had a lot more confidence in me,” Colton said. “I was a first line guy and out there in different situations, and the guys I played with made me a better player, so I give a lot of credit to them,” he said.

Corey Moriarty

Derek Lodermeier

Matt Alvaro

Lodermeier, who last year captained the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Brooks Bandits to a league title, shows talent both on and off the ice. He posted 60 points during the regular season and a teambest 24 more during the Bandits’ AJHL playoff run, and was not only named to the AJHL South All-Star Team, but also to the Canadian Junior Hockey League’s Academic All-Star Team. “We haven’t had a big center in several years, so it will be nice to have Derek’s size [6 feet 3 inches] and skill centering one

Alvaro captained the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms last season, posting 30 points in 60 games in the process. He had previously spent two seasons in the Ontario Junior Hockey League, being named to the Second Team All-Prospect in both seasons. Sneddon said he sees Alvaro as a future leader. “He has exceptional speed, good hockey sense and leadership potential down the road for us,” he said. These nine players will get their first taste of college hockey Oct. 1 when UVM hosts Concordia University in an exhibition game. The Cats will then travel to Potsdam, New York to play Clarkson Oct. 7 before returning to Burlington to play Clarkson in the second game of the set Oct. 8.

Moriarty joins the Catamounts from the Boston Jr. Bruins of the USPHL Premier, where he was an All-Star defender, posting 24 points in 44 games. Sneddon sees the native of Palm City, Florida as a player who “moves very well and can make plays at both ends of the rink.”

Ross Colton Colton was drafted this summer by the Tampa Bay Lightning and finished No. 2 last season in the USHL in scoring as a member of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders. He jumped from 33 points in 2014-2015 to 66 last season. This performance earned him a spot on the USHL FirstTeam All-Star team as well as a spot on the United States national team at the World Junior A Challenge.

of our lines,” Sneddon said.

Cameron Klein Like Lodermeier, Klein also brings size to the table, standing at 6 feet 3 inches. Last season, he posted 27 points in 29 games for the PAL Junior Islanders of the USPHL

Premier. The Alpine, New Jersey native spent the majority of the previous season at Avon Old Farms prep school in Connecticut. “It may take some time for [Klein] to get used to the speed of the game at the college level, but his work ethic and attitude will help him get there,” Sneddon said.

SPORTS

This week in the NFL: picks, outlooks By nick sullivan nssulliv@uvm.edu

WHO I LIKE

WHO I DON'T LIKE

MY SLEEPERS

QB, Matt Ryan (ATL) Last weekend, Ryan torched a weak Raiders defense, and who says he can’t do it again this week against the Swiss cheese that the Saints calls their secondary?

QB, Josh McCown (CLE) Until Josh Gordon returns from suspension, you can’t trust McCown. The primary offensive focus for Cleveland is the run right now, making him borderline startable.

RB, Matt Forte (NYJ) Fitzpatrick heavily relied on Forte against the Bills carrying the ball 30 times for 100 yards and three scores. Their matchup against Kansas City, a team Melvin Gordon embarrassed, bodes well for Forte’s owners.

RB, Todd Gurley (STL) It’s crazy to consider the idea of benching Gurley, but until his lineman make gaps for him, Gurley will not be able to produce points.

QB, Ryan Tannehill (MIA) Regardless of Miami’s loss to the New England Patriots, Tannehill looked good. The Texas A&M alum runs the ball well, and has Devante Parker and Jarvis Landry running down the sidelines. The Dolphins play Cleveland this weekend who has one of the weakest pass rushes.

TE, Martellus Bennett (NE) If Gronkowski has to miss another game, the former Chicago Bear and Pro Bowler Bennett is a strong start for your lineup. WR, Marvin Jones (DET) A disappointing loss to the Titans overshadowed Jones’ breakout performance since leaving the Bengals. Receiving for over 200 yards already this season, this is the second week in a row that he’s gotten 10+ looks from Stafford.

WR, John Brown (ARI) It seems apparent that Carson Palmer’s clear No. 1 target is Larry Fitzgerald, thus making Brown a boom-or-bust situation at best each week for now. D/ST, Oakland Raiders On paper, the Raiders’ defense looks good, but it’s the total opposite on the football ﬁeld right now. The Raiders have been lit up the past two weeks, and nothing is stopping Mariota after a big win against the Lions.

RB, LeGarrette Blount (NE) Patriot running backs are normally hard to start in your lineup due to their inconsistency to start for their team. With a third-string QB to potentially start for them, New England could turn to Blount a lot this Thursday night. WR, Sterling Shepard (NYG) You’d think Odell Beckham Jr. would take away from Shepard’s fantasy value, but it hasn’t. With coverage focused on Beckham, the rookie has already managed to score and eclipse over 100+ yards this season. WR, Mike Wallace (BAL) Wallace has now scored 3 times in two weeks, and serves as a key vertical threat to Joe Flacco’s cannon of an arm. Consider him a waiver wire option if he’s still available.

76933 Photos courtesy of ESPN

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SPORTS

NCAA’s actions send a message john suozzo

JSUOZZO@UVM.EDU

ollegiate athletic championships will need to ﬁnd a new home this season after the NCAA removed all championship games from North Carolina, in response to the HB2 “bathroom bill.” HB2 is a law mandating that all people must use the bathroom of the gender they were assigned at birth, as opposed to the gender with which they identify. The NCAA followed the lead of the NBA, who stripped the Charlotte Hornets of their right to host the 2017 NBA All-Star Game because of the “bathroom bill.” The NCAA pulled seven championship events from the state this season, which will all be rescheduled for different locations. These events included the men’s and women’s soccer championships, the NCAA women’s golf championships, and, most notably, the ﬁrst and second rounds of the NCAA men’s basketball championship. In a basketball-crazed state like North Carolina, the removal of the NCAA tournament will prove to be the most painful consequence of the NCAA’s actions. Basketball powerhouses such as the University of North

Carolina and Duke University rely on playing games in front of their home crowds during the NCAA tournament. After these national events were removed from North Carolina, the Atlantic Coast Conference quickly followed their lead. The ACC moved their championship game from Charlotte, a game that will most likely be contested between two football powers, and will determine a berth in the College Football Playoff.

The NCAA had taken a similar stance against an anti-LGBT law in Indiana, where the 2014 Final Four was scheduled to take place. The law was changed and weakened before the games took place, allowing for the championship games to be played in Indianapolis. Additionally, the UVM women’s basketball team made headlines for refusing to travel to play UNC, a premier opponent on their schedule, because of HB2.

These series of moves by the NCAA, NBA and ACC are all commendable to take a public stance against the law and to try to punish North Carolina economically by pulling these big-money events from the state. This move is signiﬁcant because the ACC is a traditionally southern conference, where this bill may not seem as controversial as it is elsewhere. The ACC is headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina. Arguably, their most successful and most prominent members are all North Carolina colleges: UNC, Duke , Wake Forest University and North Carolina State University. It is promising to see the NCAA take a stand against an abhorrent and egregious law that marginalizes the rights of the transgender community in North Carolina.

These series of moves by the NCAA, NBA and ACC are all commendable to take a public stance against the law and to try to punish North Carolina economically by pulling these big-money events from the state. Hopefully these developments will bring change to North Carolina after they have been publicly villainized for enacting this law. John Suozzo is a sophomore history and political science double major. He has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2015.

scoreboard

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

LAST WEEK

3-2

Men’s Soccer at Bryant

Field Hockey at Dartmouth

Smithfield, RI Sept. 14

2-1

4-1

Hanover, NH Sept. 16

4-2

Men’s Soccer at Marist

Field Hockey vs Bryant

Poughkeepsie, NY Sept. 17

HOME Sept. 18

THIS WEEK Men's Soccer vs UMass

Field Hockey vs Siena

HOME Sept. 21 4 p.m.

HOME Sept. 23 3 p.m.

Men's Soccer vs Dartmouth

Women's Soccer at Maine

HOME Sept. 24 2 p.m.

Orono, ME Sept. 25 1 p.m.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK: Women’s soccer junior midﬁelder Colby Snyder was tabbed as the TD Bank Student-Athlete of the week Sept. 18.

RECORDS Men’s Soccer 7-1 Women’s Soccer 5-2-1

Women’s Field Hockey 5-3

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