INSIDE
BURLINGTON, VT
VTCYNIC.COM
VOL. 132
Monkey House
Debate team
Winooski venue gives students alternative to Burlington nightlife
UVM’s champion debate coach takes skills to the Middle East
page 11 arts
ISSUE 11
page 7 life
Hockey Profile First-year Mike Lee keeps up with the men’s hockey veterans page 14 sports
W E D N E S DAY, N O V E M B E R 1 1 , 2 0 1 5
Is saying ‘too’ sexist? First-year’s column for the Huffington Post receives national attention
Headlines from around the web
The National Review Oct. 27
Squash Club member uses racial slur in email BY alexandra shannon amshanno@uvm.edu
BY bryan o’keefe bokeefe@uvm.edu
Although first-year Cameron Schaeffer has written for the Huffington Post before, she has not received anywhere near as much attention as her most recent column. The Oct. 26 editorial, titled “The 3-Letter Word That Cuts Women Down Every Day,” focused on how the use of the adverb “too” deprives women of self-satisfaction and appreciation, currently has over 12,000 likes and 2,000 shares, as well as responses from multiple conservative media outlets.
The
Word
THEWORD@VTCYNIC.COM
Come watch the Democratic debate 7 p.m. Saturday in the Davis Center Grand Maple Ballroom Class registration starts Nov. 17 for seniors, Nov. 18 for juniors, Nov. 19 for sophomores and Nov. 20 for first-years
Men’s hockey goes up against the University of Connecticut at 7:05 p.m. Friday at Gutterson Fieldhouse The Word is a weekly collection of reminders, interesting events on campus, news items and more. Submit suggestions or comments to theword@vtcynic.com.
facebook.com/ thevermontcynic
@vermontcynic
instagram.com/ vermontcynic youtube.com/ cynicvideo
Daily Wire Nov. 2
Infowars.com Oct. 28 (Right) Headlines from Internet columns reacting to first-year Cameron Schaeffer’s column about sexism that was published by the Huffington Post. (Left) Schaeffer discusses her article and the debate it started. COLE WANGSNESS/The Vermont Cynic Schaeffer has written two columns for the Huffington Post, but her first column did not garner nearly as much attention as her most recent article. “I’m just a college freshman,” Schaeffer said. “I’m not a full-fledged journalist or a PR specialist, so it’s been weird to try to manage this and figure out what my next step is.” Schaeffer’s editorial highlights the constant scrutiny women face to meet societal standards, while specifically pointing out damage she believes is caused by the word “too.” “I have determined that ‘too’ means you’re calling a woman ‘too’ far away from your idyllic version of what a woman should be,” she writes in the op-ed. “Something as small as calling a woman’s dress ‘too’ long or her muscles ‘too’ built has a much larger social construct.”
“
It’s been weird to try to manage this and figure out what my next step is CAMERON SCHAEFFER FIRST-YEAR
Schaeffer said that her inspiration behind the editorial came from a passion for combating intolerance, but she only feels comfortable speaking from her own voice and about issues she has experienced firsthand. Some students agree with Schaeffer’s point, but many also see flaws in her piece. “Although I agree with her that society’s view regarding
women is fucked, words don’t have any power and people need [to] change first,” junior Kelly Costello said. “I’m still paid less. I’m still far more likely to get killed by my male partner than vice versa. The word ‘too’ is honestly the least of my fucking problems as a feminist.” Junior Sandy Halbing had a similar reaction toward the piece. “I see the message she is trying to get across, and it’s important,” she said. “But I don’t think scrutinizing the use of one common adverb is the right approach to tackling the issue.” Nancy Welch, an English professor at UVM, said she feels Schaeffer’s article is powerfully written and important. “I don’t hear Ms. Schaeffer arguing that the word ‘“too’” is the cause of sexism and misogyny,” Welch said. “I do hear
SEE ‘TOO’ PAGE 2
The UVM Squash Club is on probation after SGA officials received word of an email that a club member sent out to the club which used a racial slur. A member of Squash Club sent an email to over 60 students through the club’s listserv Nov. 2, according to the email. The subject line: “Club Squash? Nah, it’s a squash team my nigga.” SGA President Jason Maulucci and Chair of Club Affairs Niki Brown were forwarded the email Nov. 3, Maulucci said. Within an hour of receiving the email, the club signers, senior Grant Robin and Will Vincett, were told that Brown and Maulucci were aware of the email and that the team was was being placed on interim suspension that night, he said. SGA is handling the matter internally and not giving out the name of the student who wrote the email, Maulucci said. They took immediate action by putting the club on interim suspension until the club signers could meet with them, he said. “That night we put them on interim suspension on the grounds that when we recognize every SGA organization the
SEE SLUR PAGE 4
Fund struggles to complete review BY michelle phillips mphill15@uvm.edu
The UVM Office of Sustainability is reviewing its progress in completing one of the University’s green initiatives. However, this project is behind schedule. The office is using the Clean Energy Fund, made up of $10 paid from every student’s tuition, to fund an evaluation of its own track record to make sure it can reach the Climate Action Plan commitment of carbon neutrality by 2025. This process started in May and is projected to be finished by December. However, it is only 20 percent done, according to the CEF website. When the CEF was created in 2008, the plan was to evaluate the fund every four years,
according to the CEF’s contract. However, they have yet to complete one, said Gioia Thompson, director of the Office of Sustainability. “It has been more than four years, and we haven’t done one,” Thompson said. “The language [in the contract] was unclear, though. Would it be every four years after 2008 or after projects started? It also hasn’t been at the top of our priority list because we have had staff shortages this year and STARS to deal with.” STARS stands for Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System. The Office of Sustainability is in charge of determining how well UVM does on this scale. “We will publish the [CEF evaluation] report in a few months. I think it’s better
to publish a report that says something about the future and doesn’t just look back,” Thompson said. “The next step we’re taking is our graduate student intern will be looking at pastprojects and how well they fit with the Climate Action Plan.” The SGA Committee on Diversity, Equity and Environmental Ethics will be working with the Office of Sustainability to evaluate the CEF, said Senior Dylan Letendre, the chair of the committee. “We have met twice with them but we’re definitely in the beginning stages,” Letendre said. “I think so far the CEF has done a good job of raising awareness of environmental issues. The [Energy Action Seminar] lecture series is really good, I’ve been to a few and
they have a pretty good turnout,” he said. “They’ve made some progress with campus infrastructure for renewable energy but maybe renewables might become more of a priority after the evaluation.” The CEF employs a number of interns to help with outreach and education. $25,000 of the CEF budget goes to employing these interns, according to the fund’s 2010-2011 report. “This year has been about revamping, redefining and restructuring the CEF’s strategy [toward gaining renewable energies,” said senior Patrick Mathon, a CEF intern. “We’ve been researching other schools’ CEF equivalents to see how we can make ours better.”
SEE CEF PAGE 4