The Vermont Cynic Issue 13

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CAKE EFFECT

DJ sweetens Burlington music scene

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FOOD COLUMN

Alternative meals for the holidays

C YNIC THE VERMONT

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The University of Vermont’s independent voice since 1883

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NATIVE AMERICAN CEREMONY

w w w . v e r m o n t c y n i c . c o m | T h u r s d a y , D e c e m b e r 1 , 2 0 1 1 – Vo l u m e 1 2 8 I s s u e 1 3 | B u r l i n g t o n , Ve r m o n t

Help wanted: keep NBR safe By Morgan MacLeod Staff Writer Since the University administration will not be hiring security personnel for the Naked Bike Ride, some students are taking the safety of their peers into their own hands. Speaker of the Senate Dale Osef began a student safety initiative called the UVM Green Caps, which will work with police services to act as a universitywide safety patrol on the last day of classes. Although the University will no longer be funding the Naked Bike Ride, Osef said that he knows people will be celebrating and wants them to be safe no matter what. “Our paramount concern is student safety,” he said. “This is a great chance to prove to ourselves and the administration that we are both a caring and responsible student body.” The UVM Green Caps are reaching out to groups such as Volunteers in Action, Inter-Residence Association, Greek life and SGA for support, Osef said. At the SGA meeting Tuesday

Off and running

night, SGA Sen. Kyle DeVivo wanted to make it clear that the administration cannot cancel the Naked Bike Ride. “The Naked Bike Ride is not and cannot be cancelled because the premise of the event itself is legal,” DeVivo said. “In the state of Vermont it’s legal to be naked as long as you’re not having sex. “And it’s also legal to ride a bike,” he said. SGA President Julian Golfarini said that he thought the administration handled the situation poorly. “I thought they had very little foresight,” Golfarini said. “So when they came to me and they were like ‘please help us figure something out,’ I was like ‘no, you guys can handle that because you guys botched it up.’” The UVM Green Caps will be wearing green beanies to stand out in the dark and will be stationed in several locations on campus, Osef said The Green Caps will be provided with a list of resources, asked to keep an eye out for stu-

Men’s basketball nets quality wins against Old Dominion and Sienna, start season 4-2

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See NAKED on page 4

addresses UVM Negotiations fuel tuition fears Shumlin Stresses refocusing of state spending Students express concern about faculty mediations By Becky Hayes Assistant News Editor As contract negotiations between faculty and administration come to a close, some students are concerned that an increase in

faculty salary will result in a tuition increase. Interim President John Bramley said that the administration has been trying to support benefits for employees in a way that does not impose a burden on

student tuition — but it’s proven to be a balancing act. “People can’t expect to see 5 and 6 percent increases in salary because it’s not going to happen,” Bramley said. “It would mean 5 to 6 percent increases in tuition or big cuts in programs.” First-year Elizabeth MacNeill said that she would still be in support of the professors even if tuition rises. “Teachers [that] have been here for a long time do need to be rewarded for their work,” MacNeill said. “We want to keep them here, they’re great professors.” One student sent an anonymous letter to the SGA stating that he or she did not want to see an increase in faculty salaries out of fear for tuition costs. “I think it is time for you as members of SGA and us as stu-

JAMIE LENT The Vermont Cynic

Professor of English Nancy Welch explains the wheel of misfortune to students outside the Bailey/Howe Library on Nov. 14.

NEWS 1-6 This guy’s thirsty: one man’s quest

LIFE 6-7 — Holiday comfort comes to market

ARTS 8-9 — You’ll cry “Like Crazy”

Want to work for The Cynic? We will train you. Contact cynic@uvm.edu

See on TUITION page 2

DISTRACTIONS 11 Camp Morning Wood

By Johnny Herrick Senior Staff Writer Gov. Peter Shumlin visited UVM on Nov. 8 to deliver a speech stating the importance of the University’s affiliation with the state of Vermont. “Because the futures of UVM and the state of Vermont are inextricably linked, I believe it is both appropriate and timely to take a hard look at the relationship,” Shumlin said. The state’s limited resources must be invested in strategically focused ways that will have a maximum return on investment, he said. “Working together, we can devise strategies for spending state dollars that produce better results for UVM, our business community and the state,” Shumlin said. In an email sent out to the UVM community, Interim President John Bramley responded to

OPINION 12-13 Going to Wal-Mart? Watch out.

the governor’s remarks and said that he is optimistic that this initiative will be successful. “[Shumlin] emphasized the importance of ensuring that public funds received by UVM be invested wisely,” Bramley said. Shumlin has appointed a committee to examine the relationship between Vermont and UVM in all aspects, including governance, funding, economic development, access and affordability, he said. Bramley said to the Faculty Senate that it is important for UVM to become engaged with the business community in Vermont. “I have met with political, educational and business leaders [in Vermont],” he said. “I’m seeing that businesses are hungry to have more contact with us.” Some students said they felt See SHUMLIN on page 5

SPORTS 14-16 Ups and downs for men’s hockey

WE’RE ONLINE TOO! www.vermontcynic.com


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NEWS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

This guy’s thirsty Student stands up for Coke By Taylor Jones Staff Writer

NATALIE WILLIAMS The Vermont Cynic

Developmental officer Stacy Fender (center) addresses students including sophomore Kelly Lynch (left) at the Class Council meeting on Nov. 28 in the Mt. Mansfield Room in the Davis Center.

Seniors unveil new aid Scholarship seeks to lend helping hand By Amy Lipsitz, Cynic Correspondent Kyle KellyYahner, Cynic Correspondent Class Council has decided on the 2012 senior gift, a need-based scholarship for a non-first-year student. The 2012 scholarship is for students who would not be able to return to the University without financial assistance, Class Gift Committee member Elizabeth Pacy said. Assistant Director of Annual Giving Stacy Fender, who has been involved in planning the scholarship, says it would cover the difference between what a student should be able to receive from financial aid and what he or she did receive. A cap of $2,500 per student meant for 1-2 students a year was suggested in order to preserve the fund for coming years, she said. “Student Financial Services (SFS) is only going to offer this opportunity to certain students they know are going to fit,” Fender said. “It is not going to reduce their financial aid somewhere else and really is going to help them get past that hump and stay at UVM and graduate.”

There are questions that still need to be worked out regarding the scholarship selection process and if it will continue for years to come, Fender said. Fender — who is employed by the UVM Fund — has been a part of the class council’s process from the beginning and has recently been involved in figuring out the logistics of giving a scholarship, class gift committee member Kaila Thibault said.

“This year our goal was to choose a gift that improves the University in a practical way.” Kaila Thibault Class Gift Committee member In the past, Class Council has come up with class gift ideas and sent them out to the entire senior class to vote — this year they tried something different, Thibault said. “We chose representatives

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from 40 influential clubs on campus and personally invited them to a meeting to brainstorm ideas,” she said. The 2012 Scholarship was an idea that Class Council initially came up with, Thibault said. “This year our goal was to choose a gift that improves the University in a practical way and makes a difference for students in years to come,” she said. “This selection process was successful and we felt it gave a wider variety of students a direct involvement in choosing their class gift.” Senior Brian Hamel said he voted for the scholarship because he though it was the best way to give back to the campus. “There is no way I can afford paying over $45,000 a year for an education and I know I am not the only one in the boat by a long shot,” he said. “The scholarship that Class Council is trying to design is aimed at giving students that were turned away from UVM Financial Services a second shot at pursuing their dreams and ambitions.” Previous class gifts have included the catamount statue, additional outlets in the library, a glass sculpture and the clock in the Davis Center.

TUITION

UVMtv personality and former SGA Sen. Jonathon Lott may be the biggest Coca-Cola fan on campus. For the past month, Lott has been trying to single-handedly stop SGA’s goal of ending the exclusivity in UVM’s current beverage contract with Coke. “Almost every Tuesday I go in for public forum, and I will talk to them about a specific aspect of Coca-Cola,” Lott said. “Slowly, every week, I’m tackling one part of the argument against CocaCola.” The University’s contract with Coca-Cola will expire in June 2012 and will not be renewed, but put to bid among other beverage companies, a past Cynic article stated. An end to the exclusive agreement with Coke would have negative consequences for the school, specifically when it comes to funding, Lott said. “Coca-Cola gives to the University $482,000 per year,” he said. “You see big fusses and tantrums over Fogel’s severance package and salary. It is ridiculous that more people aren’t considering the financial aspect of this.”

“If Coke is on campus, we get Coke products. If not, Pepsi products will probably be in our beverage fountains.” Connor Burns SGA Senator

People that have been concerned about the financial state of the University due to overspending should really consider the financial impact of ending the contract, he said. “This year, The Cynic posted a front page article about a $600 chair that Fogel was getting,” Lott said. “The amount of money that

COURTESY PHOTO

Coca-Cola provides to the University is almost 700 times that. It’s almost 700 Fogel chairs.” SGA Sen. Connor Burns has heard what Lott has to say and said he sees no difference between Coke’s presence on campus and that of a competing brand of cola. “If Coke is on campus, we get Coke products. If not, Pepsi products will probably be in our beverage fountains,” Burns said. “The only difference between the two is the beverages and the taste of those beverages, despite what Jon Lott may say.” Burns said he believes that Lott isn’t seeing the whole picture. “The largest response from students by far was that they did not care whether or not Coke stayed on campus,” Burns said. Despite current efforts by Lott, the beverage contract issue has already been decided upon, Burns said. “Jon Lott likes Coke products, and therefore wants to keep Coke on campus,” Burns said. “This is an issue that is long past and is actually quite irrelevant to any work SGA is doing.” Though some students may disagree with Lott’s mission, others said they think his petition is beneficial. “I think it’s good to see student involvement,” first-year Hugh Randall said. “I’m glad that students have a voice on campus.” Randall also said that although he did not view Coca-Cola as a bad company, there would be more room for local companies without it.

President Bramley anticipates financial balancing act

...continued from page 1 dents to start asking United Academics why they feel they can ask students to pay their excess in salaries,” the letter stated. The letter also stated that while United Academics, the faculty union, has been pointing fingers at administrative overspending, it has been the faculty that has received high benefits in past negotiations. According to an email from Vice President of Finance Richard Cate to another board member, the faculty has gained a 15 percent raise over the past three years, while the administration has seen a 3.5 percent increase. The administration has taken a zero percent pay raise for fiscal year 2012, the email stated. However, some students have expressed concern that heavy administrative spending has a large

impact on their tuition. “I think more of it’s going to the administration than it should be,” first-year Matt Ashe said. According to the 2011 University budget, the combined salaries of the president, provost, vice presidents and deans make up less than 1.5 percent of the total budget. “You could fire the lot of us and it still isn’t going to make a huge amount of difference from a budgetary perspective,” Bramley said. Bramley said that it is his responsibility to make sure students know about administrative spending so that they can form their own opinions about the situation. SGA Vice President Will Vitagliano said other students have come to him and vocalized similar concerns to those identified in the letter.

“I greatly value the faculty and everything they do — they are essential to our education,” Vitagliano said. “But I would agree with the student that wrote this letter that an increase doesn’t necessarily make a better professor.” In response to the letter, Vitagliano met with UA President David Shiman and asked him if the faculty would take a zero percent salary increase if that meant a zero percent tuition increase. Shiman said that UA would have no power over whether or not the University would raise tuition. “We have gone on the record over the years of discouraging tuition increases,” he said. “But I don’t think you’ll see faculty out demonstrating and protesting.” Tuition increases come from changes in a whole lot of other expenditures, Shiman said.


N EWS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

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Harassment, racism on campus Two occurences push president to notify community By Lauren Drasler Staff Writer

MAX LANDERMAN The Vermont Cynic

First-year Paul Dubois works on his laptop in the Mt. Mansfield Room in the Davis Center on Nov. 29. Additional laptop thefts have not been reported on campus in the past two weeks.

Thefts die down

Suspect seen by library staff By Sarah Leidinger Staff Writer As the Bailey/Howe Library gets busier in preparation for finals week, no laptop thefts have been reported in the last two weeks. Although UVM Police have not identified a suspect, library staff members said that the thefts have died down ever since they almost captured a man they believed to be the thief. A man strongly suspected of committing these crimes was pursued by library staff but was not apprehended, said Angus Robertson, director of access services at Bailey/Howe Library. “[He] attempted to leave by a fire exit door down stairs in a nonpublic area,” Robertson said. “And when we approached him, he ran away.” Robertson said that he had reason to believe that this suspect was the thief because the crimes stopped immediately after the incident and two laptops had been stolen 10 minutes prior to approaching the man. “A couple of employees got a good look at him and I think that spooked him,” he said. This person did a fair amount of damage to some lockers upstairs and sawed them open, Robertson said.

Robertson said that the police have been impressively handling the situation. The police have not officially arrested anybody, but they are very eager to, Robertson said. They had several officers investigating and cruising the building up to the incident where this man fled the building. The occurrences have been scattered, but there had been a real increase at Bailey/Howe between Oct. 17 and Nov. 2, Sgt. Jim Phelps said. The police are working toward educating students to reduce the number of crimes on campus, he said. The thefts have affected students across the University such as junior Sam Grabel whose laptop was stolen out of his backpack in the library. “I went downstairs to grab coffee and have a cigarette,” he said. “When I came back, my laptop and charger were gone.” Grabel said he lost most of what I had been working on including a midterm paper with all of the sources and PDFs that he had searched for. “I lost all of my music, purchased movies and TV shows, as well as sensitive information such as my SSN and some credit card numbers,” he said.

For many, UVM is viewed as an accepting and welcoming place, yet the administration has heard of at least two instances where this is not the case. In an email sent out on Oct. 28, Interim President John Bramley and Chief Diversity Officer Wanda Heading-Grant expressed their concerns about the bias occurrences at the University. “We hold a genuine sense of pride in our learning community, which aspires to be a just place,” the email stated. “Which, in the words of Our Common Ground, rejects ‘bigotry, oppression, degradation, and harassment’ and challenges injustice toward any member of our community.” A bias incident includes those actions that are motivated by bias but do not meet the necessary elements required to prove a crime, according to the Bias Incidents Protocol for UVM. Heading-Grant said that Bramley was notified of the two incidents via email. “[Bramley] had gotten an email in regard to a person in uniform being spat at,” HeadingGrant said. “There was also an incident in the Davis Center where [someone not from UVM] was making inappropriate gestures to persons of color.” The email was sent to raise awareness about bias incidents on campus, she said. “We wanted the University to know that we were thinking about it,” Heading-Grant said. “We felt it was important to get this email out before other things started occurring, and we wanted to make it clear that the president and the University care.” Heading-Grant said that the necessary measures were taken in regard to these events. Chris Lucier, vice president for enrollment management, spoke at the most recent Faculty Senate meeting about bias instances. “Some students are having a great time,” Lucier said in a speech. “[And they] are very ap-

SHERRY ZHAO The Vermont Cynic

SGA Sen. Connor Burns addresses the Student Government Association meeting on Nov. 29. Burns was concerned with the lack of action in response to the recent bias incidents on campus. preciative of their interactions with faculty and staff, but there have been some students that have addressed being marginalized in their classroom by faculty.” For some students, the two events that happened in October were the first instances that they had heard of concerning bias. “I don’t think that racial bias is a problem here, but maybe if people weren’t so ethnocentric and had a zero tolerance policy about these incidents then they wouldn’t happen,” senior Carlyn Levy said. Levy is not the only student who feels that bias is not a prob-

Burlington mayoral candidates talk UVM Democrats discuss how to better relations between University and city By Keegan Fairfield Staff Writer The Democratic candidates vying to be Burlington’s next mayor have laid out plans to mitigate the growing animosity of Burlington residents toward UVM students. Candidates Miro Weinberger and Tim Ashe discussed plans to increase Burlington police presence on campus and keep more upper-class students from moving off campus at the Democratic caucus held on Nov. 13. UVM and the city are expected to revisit a memorandum of understanding (MOU) dating back to 2007 in the near future. The current MOU includes “fees-for-services” that UVM pays to Burlington. However, community pressure to lessen students’ impact on the community has been mounting. Both Weinberger and Ashe

said they hope to include such stipulations as increased housing and police presence in the new MOU. “The single best way to mitigate noise is for UVM and the Burlington Police Department to develop a formal relationship that beefs up staffing Thursday through Saturday,” Ashe said in a phone interview. “Police need to be well-located and ready to respond, and [UVM Police officers] need to be more present.” Ashe also said that he hopes the increased police presence will function primarily as a deterrence mechanism to make students more conscious of their actions instead of leading to increased criminal sanctions. “The ultimate goal is not to give fines and put people in jail but instead to be reminded that their behavior might have an influence on others,” he said. Weinberger made a similar

call at a forum held at Edmunds Middle School on Nov. 8, pledging to personally take to the streets in an attempt to establish an amicable relationship among students and the community. The increase of college students in Burlington without a proportional increase of onand near-campus housing has prompted students to infiltrate the downtown housing market. This integration has caused Burlington residents to become increasingly irritated with student disturbances, particularly at night and on the weekends. Ashe said that he would seek to work with UVM to develop Trinity Campus as a “student village” to relieve some of the pressure that students impose on the downtown housing market. “I look at that as an opportunity for UVM ... to house hundreds and hundreds of students who right now are fleeing into the

neighborhoods,” Ashe said at the Edmunds forum. Weinberger also said that he sees keeping students higher up the hill as critical to mitigating the tension. “There’s an opportunity to make real improvement in this area by pushing for further oncampus or near-campus housing that will start to bring more of the students living in the residential areas back onto campus,” Weinberger said. Through these stipulations, Ashe and Weinberger hope that the UVM and Burlington communities can coexist harmoniously. “The only interaction that some community members have with students is around nighttime noise,” Ashe said. “In the light of day, UVM contributes to the community in many ways. We need a balanced sense of UVM’s role in the city.”

lem at UVM. “I haven’t noticed anything or heard anything,” first-year Chris Young said. “If there was a problem, I’m not sure how something like that would be handled.” Though some students said that bias was not a problem, others felt that the events in October were common. “I’ve heard that UVM is accepting,” first-year Kristen Wade said. “But I have also heard of people having problems and having to move out of dorms due to bias. I think one way to combat instances like this is to keep sending out newsletters.”

Crime log By Lauren Drasler Staff Writer

Suspicious events

A sleeping person was reported in the Royall Tyler Theatre on Nov. 17. The person was determined to be a student who fell asleep while studying.

Theft

Dishes were stolen from a kitchenette in the Health Science Research Facility on Nov. 23. There was a possible theft of a ping pong table from University Heights South on Nov. 18.


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NEWS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

A call for all techies University to progress infrastructure By Chris Scott Staff Writer Today’s generation of college students generally rely on network and technological advancements in order to connect with the modern world. Now, the University is turning toward its students for help in progressing its technological infrastructure. Current students can apply to receive funding for a technological initiative through the Technology Innovation Fund (TIF), a press release from the Office of the President stated. As seen on the myUVM webpage, students can obtain grants of up to $250,000 for a proposal that would advance the use of information technology, multimedia and information resources at the University, the TIF website stated. Interested applicants must submit their proposals by Jan. 15, and decisions will be made by the TIF committee on Jan. 31, the

NAKED

Green Caps to volunteer time

...continued from page 1 seem to exist right now. “I don’t think there is a deep connection between the University and the state,” junior Jeremy Ebelt said. “There may be a connection to Burlington, but there’s not much connection to the greater Vermont community.” Given that UVM has been a

OUR DISCIPLINES YOUR FUTURE

Graduate Studies

website stated. Proposals will be evaluated based on their concurrence with the goals set forth by the TIF, their possible benefits to the UVM community, upgrade potential and ability to generate new funds, according to the website. Each proposal submitted must specify which goals and objectives of the TIF would be met and include a list of beneficiaries from the student population, the website stated. After a proposal has been accepted, and within three months of the project’s completion, a summary of the venture will have to be completed, which is to include an abstract and the expenditure summary of the project. Further information on applying for funds from the TIF, as well as project expectations, can be found on the TIF website at http://www.uvm.edu/~cems/ mathstat/TIF/?Page=policies. html.

public institution since 1956, it is important to begin discussing the University’s relationship with the state of Vermont, Bramley said. “I think that this will be a useful dialogue, and frankly, it is a dialogue that is 50 years overdue,” he said.


N EWS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

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Board concerned about faculty communications

Professors want a role in presidential search By Johnny Herrick Senior Staff Writer

NATALIE WILLIAMS The Vermont Cynic

“Tuna” Snider holding an award at the Huber Debate on Nov. 6.

Debaters triumph Students defend current drinking age of 21 at the Huber tournament By Mat Degan Staff Writer If students want the drinking age to be lowered to 18, the UVM debate team has some convincing arguments against it. Debate team members were assigned the duty of defending the current drinking age of 21 at the recent Huber Debates, a tournament held on campus and featuring teams from Regis University, Bard College and Claremont McKenna College. Arguing that the drinking age is best left alone, UVM debaters drew the most votes from the informal audience and sealed the victory along with the Claremont McKenna team, who argued with them. “There is considerable, empirical proof that when you lower the drinking age to 18, a lot of bad stuff happens,” said Alfred Snider, professor and debate team director, who teaches courses on argumentation and persuasive debate. Among the “bad stuff” is increased sexual assault, binge drinking and consequent increased drunk driving arrests, Snider said. One of the main arguments for lowering the drinking age comes from those who call into question the many other activities, perhaps equally dangerous, that one can legally do at the age of 18. “I think it would be a good move considering that we are allowed at 18 to be in the army and smoke tobacco,” junior Hannah Kitzmiller said. “There would be less underground taboo rituals, [and] drinking would be more accessible.” Opponents of the current drinking age often point to other countries where alcohol consumption is allowed at 18 — and sometimes even younger — as models of proof that less stringent drinking laws can be successful.

At the debate, opponents of the current drinking age said that many European countries have laidback tolerance as well as a culture centered on family and moderation where alcohol consumption is more permissible. A 2007 Bloomberg report found that for countries within the European Union, 20 percent of all road-accident fatalities were the result of drunk driving, whereas in the U.S., that number was at 32 percent in 2008, according to data released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. However, using these comparisons as evidence of a less dangerous drinking environment in Europe may be inaccurate, Snider said. “Actually, there’s a tremendous amount of binge drinking in Europe,” he said. “The U.K. has the highest amount of binge drinking in the world, especially among women. There’s not as much drunk driving in Europe because of mass transit. It’s a different transportation society.” UVM debaters also argued that lowering the drinking age to 18 would encourage more alcohol consumption for the younger high school population, the 15- to 16-year-old demographic. Lowering the age would result in a trickle-down effect, because 18-year-old high school seniors could lawfully buy for their peers while they are still in school, the team argued. UVM’s debate team has 30 active members divided into teams of two. Over winter break, the team will participate in the world championship held in Manila in the Philippines, with 400 teams from 67 countries hoping to articulate their way to a title.

The Board of Trustees is addressing a concern that the Faculty Senate has not been able to communicate with the Presidential Search Committee. Trustees have reported that they have not been receiving emails from the faculty, Professor of English Nancy Welch said. “Some legislative trustees have recently expressed concern that they aren’t getting fuller perspectives on what’s happening at UVM,” Welch said. Chair of the Board of Trustees Robert Cioffi said he has seen every piece of input that the Presidential Search Committee has received through the multiple channels that have been available. The faculty, staff and student body have had the opportunity to participate in the presidential search through forums, meetings, email and snail mail among others, Cioffi said. “We are working on a better system to see that trustees are able to access every relevant email, and we will have that sorted out in a few days,” he said. United Academics, the faculty union, is going to address the communication limitation between the board and the faculty by first gathering information to see if any action is necessary to take, UA President David Shiman said. However, some faculty mem-

bers have expressed concern about the relatively small role they are playing in the presidential selection process, Shiman said. Professor of engineering Douglas Fletcher said it would be useful for the Faculty Senate to have a longer discussion about UVM’s next president. “There are some issues that

“It would be useful for the faculty senate to have a longer discussion about UVM’s next president.” Douglas Fletcher Professor in the School of Engineering

the faculty feel are very important that may not have necessarily been communicated to the board despite their request for input,” Fletcher said. Associate professor of theatre John Forbes said that the importance of the arts and the humanities was not communicated to the committee.

“I urge the Board of Trustees to take this into serious consideration when they think about who will be the next president,” Forbes said. “I think that it is not an overstatement that the arts and the humanities make up the soul and the heart of the University.” The UVM Community will have more opportunities to provide feedback to the Search Committee in January, Cioffi said. “The final phase of the process will be on-campus interviews with candidates in January, which will be another opportunity for the UVM Community to give input and feedback before the new president is chosen by the board,” he said. President of the Faculty Senate Julie Roberts said that she has invited members of the Board of Trustees to attend the next Faculty Senate meeting. Cioffi said he will be attending the Dec. 12 meeting of the Faculty Senate. “I offered to attend their April meeting, but was told that was not necessary at that time,” Cioffi said. “I have spoken to the Senate in the past as well.” The Presidential Search Committee interviewed 12 semifinalists in Boston on Nov. 30, Dec. 1 and Dec. 2. “The pool is very strong; there is good alignment between [UVM and the candidates],” said Gary Derr, vice president for Executive Operations.

SHUMLIN

takes ‘hard look’ ...continued from page 1 dents who are in danger and contact the appropriate resources, he said. Volunteers will not be asked to intervene in dangerous situations. “The last thing we want to do is put our volunteers in danger,” Osef said. Osef said that he is looking for 200 volunteers to spread among all four campuses, and students that want to become a Green Cap can attend a meeting at 10 p.m. in the Silver Maple Ballroom on Dec. 7. SGA Sen. Connor Daley said that he is happy students are looking out for their peers. “I think the safety of students is our primary concern, so I really like that it’s not a Senateled initiative but a student-led initiative,” Daley said. Junior Allyson Kraus said she had found the event to be a fun and unique way to de-stress and was critical of the administration’s decision to cancel funding. “I think the way they are going about it is not the most effective way at all,” she said. “All they’re doing is taking away security. It obviously is still going to happen.” Students interested in volunteering can email Osef at dosef@ uvm.edu.

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LIFE

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

Gato’s mood, better than food

New restaurant brings lively setting to Mexican scene By Hillary Gilson Staff Writer

MACKENZIE JONES The Vermont Cynic

Sophomore Diana Biggs dines on steak and fish tacos at El Gato Cantina, a Mexican restaurant, on Main Street on Nov. 17.

Cynic Video EMMA HANSEN

Emma Hansen presents: BTV Beats Ever wonder what an ice wine is? Have you ever tried a freshly brewed batch of porter? This week on BTV Beats I show you three different ways to try out the unique wine and beer that Burlington offers. The team at Shelburne Vineyards has discovered a way to harvest grapes despite the intense winters in Vermont and offers a variety of wines in its eco-friendly winery. Vermont also has the most breweries per capita in the nation, so

what better way to celebrate this than to visit as many of them as possible by taking the Vermont Beer Challenge? Don’t have time to visit vineyards or breweries? Hold your own pub-crawl with your friends to visit as many pubs as possible. Check out the video online to learn more about the beer and wine that Vermonters love, how to host a pub-crawl and how Hurricane Irene as affected the harvest this year. You stay classy, Burlington.

http://www.vermont cynic.com/life

Nestled between Rasputin’s Bar and Lift Nightclub is a new Mexican restaurant that brings a lively vibe to lower Church Street. Jumping into Burlington’s existing Mexican scene, El Gato Cantina offers a large menu with reasonable prices for college students. Owner Tree Bertram named the resturant because of UVM’s mascot, the Catamount, and his desire to make the restaurant a kind of watering hole for people to come drink, eat and enjoy themselves, according to the El Gato Cantina website. This watering hole environment is apparent as soon as you walk through the front doors. The atmosphere begs for lively conversation and plates of food to be shared among friends. The sea-green walls and yellow ceilings are adorned with paintings and sculptures of El Gato’s namesake, the cat. The low lighting gives El Gato an intimate feel even though the floor is covered with high and low tables. One of El Gato’s major selling points is their tequila. In addition to their bottled tequila, they make three homemade infusions: jalapeno, orange and a seasonal variety. Since I’ve never been one to say no to a margarita, I made this

my starting point and ordered one standard house margarita and one El Gato margarita with triple sec, lime, simple syrup and the seasonal ginger-infused tequila. While both were good, the simple syrup made the El Gato margarita sweeter then a typical house margarita. If you’re put off by the flavor of traditional margaritas, opt for the sweeter El Gato margarita. However, if you like a slight sour taste, go for the cheaper house margarita.

Even though there was a lack of oomph in some of the food, the spirited environment still served up an entertaining evening with friends. Next up was an appetizer of guacamole. Like every other true Mexican food fan, guacamole is a must-have for me during the course of a meal. While deciding on what to get for the main course, El Gato provides a basket of chips and a bowl

of pico de gallo salsa to munch on. Their speedy and attentive service leaves little to no time for the conversation to fizzle. Both the salsa and the guacamole were delicious. The guacamole had chunks of avocado and clippings of cilantro, showing that it was freshly made for our order. For dinner, I opted to try a combo plate of tacos and tamales. I chose one taco de carne asada, an aguacate con queso taco and a pork tamale. Even though the plate came heaping with food, it was all a little underwhelming. The pork in the carne asada taco had a nice spice but was too tough and the pork tamale was drier then it should be. The aguacate taco was an interesting take on a vegetarian taco. Made only with avocado, cheese, black beans and pico de gallo salsa, it was refreshing but unfortunately lacked any real flavor. Even though there was a lack of oomph in some of the food, the spirited environment still served up an entertaining evening with friends. The vibrant colors and fastpaced setting make El Gato Cantina a fun place to get together with friends over a few plates of chips and tacos without breaking the bank.

Drums, dancing fill DC

Native American event honors tradition By Jordanna Goodman Senior Staff Writer Students, faculty and community members gathered to eat, sing and dance in honor of Native American Heritage Month on Nov. 16. The event was put together by Raven Wells-Scott, a sophomore on the UVM Program Board and also a member of the Seneca tribe. While most people at the event were dressed in modern clothing, some embraced Native American tradition and wore decorative shawls and headpieces. A woman named TK wore a multi-colored shawl, feathered headpiece and hair and face decorations. She danced to the music played by the Native American drummers. At the front of the room, a circle of Native American drummers played music while the people attending the event were encouraged by the members of the circle to dance. Chief Don Stevens, a member of a Native American tribe located in the Northeast Kingdom, said that his tribe is one of the recognized Native American tribes in Vermont. The members of the circle discussed inter-tribal dances. Stevens joined TK in doing a dance. He said that there is no right or wrong way of doing Native American dancing, as long as it is done

in a respectful manner. When no one from the audience joined Stevens and TK on the dance floor, four people from each table were asked to stand up and come do a friendship dance. He told everyone that came up to join hands and dance around in a circle to the beat of the drums. Wells-Scott, who is from New York City, said that it is hard to hold on to this part of her culture and that the drumming and rituals seen at the event are just ways that Native Americans celebrate, not a part of their everyday life.

She said that the Seneca tribe that she is a member of is part of the greater Iroquois tribe. WellsScott said she enjoys the powwows in her culture, which are celebrations with drumming, dancing and traditional food and clothing. Dancing, eating and singing continued throughout the evening as more people continued to show up to celebrate not only their own heritage, but the heritage of the greater Native American population of the United States.

NATALIE WILLIAMS The Vermont Cynic

Takara Matthews scarf dances at the Native Harvest with the Silvercloud Singers on Nov. 16 in the Silver Maple Ballroom.


LI F E

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

Holiday comfort comes to market By Ann Chatham Staff Writer With winter fast approaching, local markets are providing the opportunity for students to take a break from studying with a seasonal cooking class. In preparation for winter festivities, City Market and Healthy Living Market are sponsoring many cooking events to bring out the chef in students. Nina Lesser-Goldsmith, director of learning at Healthy Living Market, bases her classes on holiday themes and what’s in season. “I ususally base classes on seasonal ingredients or on topics that customers tell me about,” she said. “I’m holding cookie baking classes [for Christmas].” Other holiday themed classes include: Saturday, Dec. 3 From 10 a.m. until noon, City Market will host “Warming Foods for Winter with Betzy Bancroft.” Bancroft, who teaches at the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism in Montpelier, will teach class members which winter foods are warming to bodies and why, according to the City Market website. The event will also teach attendees what foods release phytochemicals that help increase vitality. Recipes for vegans, vegetarians and omnivores ,including the essential Immune Tonic Soup, will be available.

Thursday, Dec. 8 From 6-7:30 p.m., City Market will introduce festive Italian biscotti cookies. Adele Dienno will guide students to baking easy Italian cookies as well as demonstrating variations to the traditional dough, according to the City Market website. This event will take place at the Sustainability Academy, 123 North St. Monday, Dec. 12 Feeling under the weather? At City Market from 5-6 p.m., learn about simple herbal recipes for both preventing and treating common illnesses of winter. Attendees will also learn strategies to prevent “lingering” symptoms. This class shows how to incorporate useful plants into soup stocks and teas, according to the City Market website. Wednesday, Dec. 13 From 5:30-8 p.m., learn how to cook for someone who eats no sugar, dairy, or wheat at Healthy Living Market. On the menu, students will learn to cook: roasted delicata squash stuffed with wild rice, plump cherries and toasty walnuts; spiced no-sugar cranberry-apple compote with dried fruit; roasted brussel sprouts with bacon, apples and onions; and potato and zucchini fritters with curry oil, according to the Healthy Living Market wwebsite.

SARAH ALEXANDER

Students switch up celebratory cooking It’s that time of the year again, when you’re bringing that special person home for the holidays. This is a big move and, in the midst of the awkward, drunken dinner table scenarios running through your head, you made a big whoops — you forgot to warn Mom that your lady friend became a vegan upon arriving at UVM, where, Urban Dictionary claims, “hippies reign freely and the ’70s will never die.” In Vermont, we have a skewed perception that these lifestyles are of the norm, but in the Mid-Atlantic and the South we are reminded that the population of people with alternative diets is incredibly dense here. Fortunately, people have been accommodating various diets for years and a large database of vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free dishes exist. The holidays have a shrine to which all foodies bow down — the

dinner table. For this, we don’t want anyone to be left out of the gluttonous enjoyment. A great resource is “Vegan Holiday Kitchen: More than 200 Delicious, Festive Recipes for Special Occasions” by Nava Atlas or “How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food” by Mark Bittman, one of my all time favorite writers and clever New York Times food columnist. Even Martha Stewart, goddess of all things domestic, is onto this trend. She is posting vegan and vegetarian recipes on her website. Some simple tips and tradeoffs include: Don’t put all the stuffing inside the turkey: Put some in a casserole dish to avoid all the turkey’s juices. The vegs will appreciate this big time. Avoid making piecrusts with lard or butter. Use vegetable oil instead. Pies are generally safe, so go pastry crazy and bake the classic pumpkin, apple and pecan varieties. If you’ve got a vegan on your hands, you can opt for a tofu pumpkin pie: Replace the condensed milk with silkened tofu, coconut milk or cashew cream. Crust also becomes an issue for those avoiding gluten — pumpkin pie with a coconutpecan crust is a safe, delicious gluten-free option. Give vegetables a prominent presence at the table. Think leafy greens — spinach, kale and colorful Swiss chard are great sautéed with onions and garlic and provide a healthy side dish. Hearty root veggies are in abundance this time of year

and are so earthy and wholesome that you’ll instantly feel grounded. And lastly, how could we forget the Pilgrims’ favorite — squash. Winter squash varieties are perfect steamed or roasted and teamed with sweet or savory flavors. A personal favorite is butternut squash soup, with a hint of ginger and jalapeño pepper for a kick. Pair that with some warm sourdough bread and you’ve died and gone to taste bud heaven. I also asked some fellow UVM peers about their gastronomic plans for the season. Sophomore Danielle Desroche responded with her intention to whip up some of her favorite Thanksgiving treats. “Sweet potato black bean casserole, cranberry squash millet and pumpkin spice dough balls ­— all vegan and all delicious,” Desroche said. Sophomore Nick Loeb said he stands firmly with his turkey choice. “I love meat … that’s not going to change,” Loeb said. “What the hell is ‘tofurkey’ anyway? That’s ridiculous.” Senior Kristina Zontini said, “I’ll be foraging for all my Thanksgiving food.” Whatever style of holiday meal you’ll be enjoying, it’s essential to remember the purpose of our festivities and reflect on how much we have to truly be thankful for. The accumulation of warm smiles on the faces of family and friends, a bountiful feast and fascinating conversation account for absolutely everything. So let the food coma-inducing laughter and family sing-a-longs begin.

7


8

ARTS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

From a studio to the stage

Book review

Dancers showcase their talents, choreography By Natalie Slack Senior Staff Writer The dance program is showing off some new moves. Seniors Dylan Friedman, Carlyn Levy, Erin Duffee, Chelsea Ryll, Samantha Ethridge, Kaleigh Mulpeter and junior Tierney Munger put on a recital showcasing their own choreography on Nov. 13. This showcase is one of two that students in professor Paul Besaw’s choreography class are required to perform. For one of the showcases, the students must choreograph their own solo. For the other, they must choreograph a group dance that is performed by other dancers. The second showcase will take place on Dec. 11 in the UVM Recital Hall. For a few of the students, the showcase on Nov. 13 was their first time performing a solo. At the question and answer session following the showcase, the students agreed that this was a nerve-racking experience. “Getting feedback in the class setting was really helpful for preparing for the performance,” Duffee said. The showcase included a wide variety of pieces. The first, choreographed and SARAH PFEFER The Vermont Cynic performed by Friedman, was Tierney Munger performs her choreography at the Choreography titled “Box Dance.” Friedman Showcase on Nov. 13 at the UVM Recital Hall. performed the entire dance from inside a cardboard box on stage. from which she drew inspiration. Ethridge said that the quote While this piece was not perThe first was a favorite quote got her “interested in the reccurformed to music, other pieces by Wangari Maathai that reads: ring theme of time in the piece.” were. “There comes a time when huA YouTube video called “The The piece that Duffee choreo- manity is called to shift to a new Time is Now” was her second graphed and performed, titled level of consciousness. To reach source of inspiration. “Something Between Seasons,” a higher moral ground. A time “There have been numerous was performed to Bon Iver’s song when we have to shed our fear eruptions of change in our his“Skinny Love.” and give hope to each other. That tory,” Ethridge said. “That feeling Ethridge’s piece, titled time is now.” of empowerment and realizing “Changemaker,” was her first your own potential to create positime choreographing her own tive change was my inspiration.” “Seeing everyone’s solo. The showcases are a way for “I really wanted to try and disstudents to gain performance expieces evolve from cover how dance could be used perience and share their work. as a form of activism,” Ethridge the studio to the stage The student choreographers said. “As an environmental studwere happy with the outcome of was my favorite part.” their performances. “Seeing evies major and dance minor, their point of intersection has always eryone’s pieces evolve from the been very intriguing to me.” studio to the stage was my favorCaryln Levy ite part. The transformation was “Changemaker” was a very personal piece for Ethridge. Senior really exciting,” Levy said. There were two major sources

Movie review

EMILY BARTRAN

You’ll cry ‘Like Crazy’ Grab a glass of wine and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and prepare yourself for a good cry. “Like Crazy” is a love story made for the 21st century, and one that anyone who has ever been in a long-distance relationship can relate to.

Felicity Jones plays Anna, a college student from the U.K. who is in Los Angeles on a student visa. She falls for a fellow student, Jacob, played by Anton Yelchin. Their love is incredibly believable on screen. Unable to say goodbye, Anna violates her visa in order to spend a few more months with Jacob — an act that ultimately results in her inability to re-enter the U.S. Struggling with a relationship across continents, their onagain off-again love and failed attempts to temper the sting of loneliness are true to life and painful to watch. Even more painful to watch are the continuous rejections of the couple’s attempts to get Anna back in the states. Their last-ditch attempt and final rejection — don’t worry, the movie has not been spoiled — is

enough to melt the coldest of hearts. The movie has simple, realistic dialogue and the scenes are shot in about four locations. This simplicity makes for some slow moments, but ultimately is what makes this film a realistic portrayal of love and loss. You will not be rolling your eyes at another clichéd Hollywood ending. In fact, you will probably stare at the screen, mouth slightly agape, regretting every time you wished for a movie that didn’t have a cookiecutter storyline. By answering the questions we always ask but never really want to know the answers to — Is love really enough? How much are you willing to give up for the one you love? Is long distance really that bad? — This movie will either serve as a life lesson or a painful reminder of love lost.

ALEXA REILLY

‘The Magician King’ by Len Grossman When an unknown author writes a book that does well, he or she is encouraged to create more books with the characters that the publisher knows will sell. Publishing, after all, is a business. It doesn’t even matter if the subsequent series is up to par with the first novel; the publishers know you will buy it, because they know from the sales of the first one that the characters or the story has you hooked. Fortunately, series are usually rather decent. Usually, when a novel is published, the author has enough sense to plan for the possibility of more books to follow the first one. Usually. “The Magician King” by Lev Grossman is the disappointing sequel to “The Magicians” (2009). Grossman’s previously reviewed novel was hailed as original and refreshing. This

sequel was a serious literary letdown from his prior success. While “The Magicians” tells the tale of Quentin Coldwater’s evolution through the magical world, “King” seems to revert to the beginning. While the story picks up where “Magicians” left off, Quentin is no longer the sagacious wizard we leave at the end of the adventure. Rather, he has reverted back to the angst-ridden child he was when introduced. It’s as if the trials of the first book had never happened. In the first book, Quentin was another fantastic piece of the magic that Grossman weaved into his novel. In this one, Grossman obliterates our expectations for progress while wiping out the history of his characters. Not only is his characterization at fault, but the plot is ludicrously simple. Grossman goes from a creative idea to yet another interpretation of the oldest plot line of all time: a quest. A quest for golden keys. Follow Quentin as he makes convenient mistake after mistake until the keys are found, the deus ex machina makes its entrance and a minor character from the first book gets her story told in tormented prose. “The Magician King” is a 400page epilogue, and while consistent with Grossman’s enjoyable style, it is entirely not worth the time spent reading it.

Power surges on album Earth-shattering tracks fill ‘Ceremonials’

By Jake Dougher Staff Writer Florence and her machine take their majestic blend of folk, soul and pop to new heights on “Ceremonials.” As one of 2009’s breakout successes, Florence + the Machine has seen its popularity soar, thanks to the power of singles “Dog Days Are Over” and “Cosmic Love” off 2009’s “Lungs.” The collective is led by Florence Welch, a fiery singer with an air-raid siren voice and an ear for melody and composition. At first glance, she is the latest in a long line of British soul divas. Yet there’s something that sets her music apart from the classic soul beltings of Adele or the pop stylings of Ellie Goulding. Welch is closer to an indie songstress such as Regina Spektor or Neko Case, albeit one that blows up her songs into gorgeous alt-indie-soul creations. “Ceremonials” doesn’t stray much from that formula. The album reflects her newfound ambitions as well as experience touring with stadium rock giants U2. At the start of the album, the listener is lulled in by joyous church bells, only to be jarred out of the tranquil scene by piano hits and Welch opening her lungs and heart with the simple phrase “I had a dream.” It certainly must have been a big dream, for “Only If for a Night” is a behemoth. Throughout, Welch wails about practical ghosts and secret ceremonials over thundering drums, minor-key piano, strings and a choir. The song is a powerhouse, infecting Welch’s somber themes of loss and remembrance with the bombast and elevation of the ’80s pop that has influ-

enced her. It’s been done before, but it’s rarely been done this well. The album’s breakout single “Shake It Out” follows with a similar feel to the previous song, yet with a much more uplifting tone in both lyrics and melody. Though it isn’t the best song on the album, “Shake it Out” perfectly exemplifies the sound and strengths of the group. “What The Water Gave Me” carries the momentum of previous tracks, building to a conclusion that displays the range and power of Welch’s voice. From here, the album diverges into gorgeous ballads — “Leave My Body” and “Never Let Me Go,” ’60s soul — Lover To Lover, and pop gems — “No Light, No Light,” all propelled by the arrangements and instrumentation. Commendation must be given to The Machine — throughout the album their playing allows the songs to fully take flight. An extra nod should be given to Isabella Summers — the original “machine,” when the band was just a two-piece of her and Welch — who plays the keys and directs the choir and string sections, two important aspects of this album. The album isn’t perfect, as there are a few songs such as “Breaking Down” and “Seven Devils” that can’t compete with the rest of the album. The album also lacks a sense of dynamics. Every song is an epic, and the album is constantly firing on all cylinders with little to no room for subtlety and nuance. Yet in the end, Florence + the Machine shoots for the stars and succeeds, creating a standout record that unites everyone from “Twilight” fans to cynical hipsters under its banner.


THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

ARTS

9

DJ sweetens Burlington music scene Cake Effect talks about stage name, student life and what’s next By Julia Wejchert Arts Editor Mike Scaturo, aka Cake Effect, has big things ahead of him. The group he performs with — Electrode Entertainment — just got a regular gig at Metronome on Thursday nights, he’s playing a show at Webster Hall in New York City next semester and he’s opening for Burlington’s Barstool Blackout Tour shows in January. Scaturo, now a junior at UVM, stumbled into making mashups by chance. “Freshman year one of my roommates showed me this program [to mix music],” Scaturo said. “I started messing around with it.” He said he did not plan on doing anything more than making a few mixes. “I never really intended it to go bigger than for fun, but over time it kind of just blew up,” Scaturo said. The name Cake Effect that Scaturo performs under also came about largely by chance. “Me and my friends were talking and they said, ‘You need a name. You can’t just go by Mike,’” Scaturo said. In hindsight, Scaturo said that he has not always been happy with the stage name he chose. “I kind of wish I’d come up with something better,” he said. “People make frosting references sometimes, like a cupcake. Now I can’t really change it, though. I guess I don’t hate it too much.” As Cake Effect, Scaturo has re-

leased a number of mixtapes and plays shows with some regularity, but he is also a full-time student. “It can be tough at times [to balance music and school], in terms of the workload,” he said. “It’s a lot more fun to work on a new mashup than study for a statistics exam. [But] it usually ends up all balancing out in the end.” When Scaturo spoke about coming up with new material, it seemed that making music could live in harmony with daily student life. “I’ll hear a song I like — on the way to class or in the shower — and I’ll go home and download the a cappella version of it,” he said. Scaturo said that after combining the song with other music, if he likes the result he’ll show his friends and see what they think. This may sound simple, but the attention Cake Effect has gotten speaks to Scaturo’s knack for making music. The Barstool Blackout Tour is coming to Burlington on Jan. 19 and 20. Originally, only one show was planned, but the first show sold out so quickly that another one was added, according to the Higher Ground website. Both shows are now sold out. Scaturo will be opening for both shows. “We heard they were coming to Vermont, and I was really excited,” Scaturo said of Barstool Blackout. “I think that’s what our campus really needs.”

COURTESY OF DAMIR ALISA PHOTOGRAPHY

Junior Mike Scaturo, also known as Cake Effect, playing a show at Club Metronome on Oct. 25. He is scheduled to perform at the Barstool Blackout Tour, which is coming to Burlington in January. Scaturo’s manager contacted the people in charge of the show and sent in some of Scaturo’s music, Scaturo stated. “They said they’d like to give me a spot,” he said. “I’m really excited. Barstool is one of my favorite websites.” Burlington has been a good place for Scaturo to work on his music, both with opportunities to play shows like Barstool Blackout and a community of fellow DJs. “[It’s great] how tight-knit all

the UVM DJs are,” he said. “The music scene is pretty thriving. Good shows come here; [there is] good inspiration.” Besides getting inspiration from shows that come here, and national electronic dance music (EDM) artists — such as Super Mash Brothers, the group that Scaturo called his favorite — Scaturo expressed appreciation for a fellow Burlington artist or two. “Pierce Fulton is someone locally who I aspire to,” he said.

Scaturo further participates in the local EDM community as a member of UVM’s EDM club. Looking to the future, in addition to playing more shows, Scaturo wants to advance his music itself, he said. “Mainly [I want to] actually start producing original music,” he said. “I played a lot of instruments in high school. I miss reading sheet music. Mashups can only get you so far. Producing my own tracks is the next step.”


10

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11 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

DIST RACT IONS Camp Morning Wood by Scott Womer

Camp Morning Wood by Scott Womer

Cat Tales by Emma Cipriani

College Life by Rodney Rhea

Crossword

brought to you by bestcrosswords.com

Across 1- A pitcher may take one 5- Well-founded 10- Tabula ___ 14- Baseball family name 15- Small antelope 16- What there oughta be 17- Golda of Israel 18- Red Bordeaux 19- Massive wild ox 20- North Star 22- Majestic 24- Except 25- Al Jolson’s real first name 26- Gold coin 29- Greek letters 32- Light on one’s feet 36- Oil of ___ 37- Birthplace of St. Francis 39- Honshu honorific 40- Direct 43- Be human 44- Land 45- “Othello” villain 46- Authority 48- “Rushmore” director Anderson 49- Cockeyed 50- 6, on a phone

52- Pipe down! 53- Karyokinesis 57- Healed over, like a scrape 61- Black-and-white cookie 62- Coherent light beam 64- Air France destination 65- Diplomacy 66- A-list 67- Appoint 68- New Age musician John 69- Actress Witherspoon 70- Freudian topics Down 1- Genie’s home 2- Bread spread 3- Dirty 4- Seaport on NE Java 5- Throw up 6- Ancient Athens’s Temple of ___ 7- Cover 8- Native Nigerians 9- Judicial rulings 10- Disheveled 11- Winglike parts 12- First king of Israel 13- Askew 21- Furrow

23- Light ___ 26- Medicine measures 27- Extreme 28- Transport 29- Balderdash! 30- Cordage fiber 31- Uses a sieve 33- Singer Chris 34- Big 35- Equip 37- Bio bit 38- Non-dairy milk 41- Decreases? 42- Furcula 47- Not rough 49- Bingo! 51- Crude carrier 52- Rocky debris 53- Feminist Lucretia 54- Dies ___ 55- Gumshoes 56- Ad word 57- Complete collections 58- Boast 59- Patron saint of sailors 60- Changes color 63- Sprechen ___ Deutsch?


12

Opinion

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

STAFF EDITORIAL

THE VERMONT

C YNIC

EDITORIAL BOARD

Editor-in-Chief Natalie DiBlasio cynic@uvm.edu

Managing Editor Jeff Ayers

cynicnewsroom@gmail.com

News

Brent Summers

cynicnews@gmail.com

Opinion

Zach Despart

vcoped@uvm.edu

Sports

Will Andreycak

vcsports@uvm.edu

Life/Feature Katie Ida

cyniclifeeditor@gmail.com

Arts

Julia Wejchert

jwejcher@uvm.edu

Layout

Matthew Kuperman

vermont.cynic.layout@gmail.com

Web

Danielle Bilotta vermontcynicweb@gmail.com

Photography

Michael Chaucer-Torello cynicphoto@gmail.com

Copy Chief

Stephen Hudecek shudecek@uvm.edu

Illustration Dana Ortiz

cynicsketches@gmail.com

Video

Colleen McClintock, Jon Polson cynicvideo@gmail.com

STAFF Assistant Editors

Emily Kokoll (Copy), Becky Hayes (News), Natalie Williams (Photo), Mike Eaton (Sports)

Page Designers

Emily Kokoll, Danielle Bilotta, Corrie Roe, Devon Meadowcroft, Lilly Xian, Grace Buckles. Meg Ziegler

Copy Editors

Jason Scott, Amanda Santillan, Stephanie Nistico, Kate Piniewski, Jenny Baldwin, Jasmine Hughes, Devin Karambelas, Emily Bartran, Natalie Slack, Jess Schwartz, Kaitlyn Green, Abbey Dunn, Shelbie Ladue, Allie Sullivan, Molly Philbin

OPERATIONS Operations Manager Claire Danaher

cynicoperations@gmail.com

Distribution Manager Kyle DeVivo kdevivo@uvm.edu

ADVISER Faculty Adviser Chris Evans

crevans@uvm.edu

Big shoes left empty for security at Naked Bike Ride The student body is stepping up after the administration announced that they would not fund security for the Naked Bike Ride. SGA Speaker of the Senate Dale Osef is offering a way to fill some of the void left by the lack of funding: the UVM Green Caps, a volunteer student safety group. We appreciate the effort — just as we appreciate those thousands of students who have vowed to keep our unique tradition alive. But in this case, the measure might just fall short. Osef’s intention is noble. However, there is a difference between what is noble and what is necessary to keep this event safe. The gap between what the volunteers can provide and the security necessary to keep the Naked Bike Ride safe will be large. A lack of structure and lesser trained staff will create the potential for chaos. While the lack of organization may foster a more creative, free, fun and ridiculous experience for the majority of the naked bike riders, it also increases the potential for harm, the same harm the administration cited in the email to the student body. By announcing that they would not fund the bike ride only three weeks before the event, the administration has left no opportunities for the student body to seek external funding or to come up with an alternative plan. The administration pulled out of funding this event because of liability issues, but they have created the potential for anarchy. Is the risk worth it? Did they believe that students would just stop this celebrated UVM tradition? Judging by the almost 2,000 accepted invitations on Facebook, this Naked Bike Ride will unite students on a common ground: Don’t tread on me or my traditions. The administration has fueled the fire, giving cause for students to rally and save this event through showing up in even larger numbers. The Cynic encourages students to volunteer and we encourage participants to act responsibly. We hope UVM students keep this tradition alive while practicing safe nakedness. The administration should join us in that hope.

DISTURBING QUOTE OF THE WEEK

COLUMNISTS

Going to Wal-Mart? Watch out.

ZACH DESPART

Black Friday, an annual event that celebrates greed, depravity and a Hobbesian view of mankind was again marred by violence nationwide. Yet from the rubble a similar theme emerged — a lot of these incidents occurred at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart on a good day is sketchy — if you haven’t already, check out www. peopleofwalmart.com. Add thousands of sleep-deprived shoppers and ridiculous discounts, and you’ve created a recipe for disaster. Several stabbings and a shooting were reported across the country last Friday. NBC News noted the arrest of a woman who pepper sprayed fellow shoppers so she could get an Xbox. The Los Angeles Times noted that several fights, injuries and “at least one shooting” had occurred at Wal-Marts across the nation on Nov. 25. The publication quoted a Wal-Mart spokesman who assured “It has been a safe event at thousands of Wal-Mart

stores. These have been a few unfortunate incidents.” CNN reported that in Myrtle Beach, S.C., a woman was shot in an attempted robbery in a Wal-Mart parking lot. The assailants fled when another shopper pulled out a gun. I don’t know what is more disturbing — that a woman was shot while shopping or that someone knew well enough to pack heat at Wal-Mart on Black Friday. Another man was shot outside a San Leandro, Calif. Wal-Mart. In 2008, an employee was trampled to death at a Long Island Wal-Mart. In the last five years there have been shootings, stabbings, fights, armed robberies and stampedes that have resulted in dozens of injuries and the death of an employee, yet Wal-Mart has done nothing to change the conditions in which these incidents occur. Wal-Mart isn’t telling you to shank someone over a Tickle-Me-Elmo — they’re just creating a situation that increases your likelihood of being shanked. Certainly, customers share the blame when it comes to Black Friday. A 50 percent off television does not give you license to shed all sense of decency. What started as bargains the day after Thanksgiving has expanded to stores opening at well before dawn, and even starting the night before.

The result is that hundreds of thousands of Americans who work in retail have to alter their holiday schedules, meaning less time spent with family. There are a few professions where it is legitimate to have to work on a holiday — hospital staff, emergency personnel, etc. Working at a box store is not one of them. But Wal-Mart employees are left with little recourse — the company has long taken a hard line against labor unions. I don’t buy into the excuse that Black Friday is “competitive shopping.” It’s not an excuse to act like a moron. You can’t drive 90 mph on the highway and tell the officer it was just “competitive driving.” Black Friday may reap huge profits for huge retailers like Wal-Mart — it is estimated that the holiday season accounts for more than 20 percent of annual sales at these stores. How many more shoppers and employees need be injured or killed before Wal-Mart concedes that “a few unfortunate incidents” is really widespread violence? Don’t contribute to the mayhem when Black Friday comes around again — wait around for similar deals online. But if you do decide to venture to Wal-Mart, it’s not a bad idea to bring that switchblade. Zach Despart is a senior political science major. He has been writing for The Cynic since fall 2009.

“ALL THE SUDDEN THEY CUT THE THING AND THERE’S 200 PEOPLE ON TOP OF MY MOM.” — Terry Addison, describing how Black Friday crowds trampled his mother in an Oneida County, N.Y. Wal-Mart.

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OPINION

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

COLUMNISTS

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

UVM health care is inadequate The last few times I’ve gone to the Davis Center, I have been asked for spare change by students who are raising money for breast cancer research. I applaud these students; I have a relative currently fighting breast cancer. It is a horrible disease that has — for far too long — been generally ignored and poorly understood. That being said, I can’t help but wonder what their reaction would be if I told these students the real reason I can’t give them money — I am a chronically ill student who is only covered by UVM’s student insurance. I wonder also how many people at UVM are aware of how laughably inadequate UVM’s student health insurance really is. Most students are relatively healthy. They are young, active and do not require much medical treatment. But there is a small subset of us who do not fit this description.

We are the chronically ill. Through no fault of our own, we have cancer, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, cystic fibrosis and/or some other incurable illness. We have diseases we did nothing to deserve, and we require constant medical supervision and medication. Our lives literally depend on the quality of health care we receive. And we are terribly underserved by the student insurance available through UVM. Few people realize just how limited student insurance really is. How many students know that their prescriptions are only covered to an annual cap of $2,500? For the average student this is not a problem. But for those of us whose monthly prescriptions run from $500-$1,000, this is totally inadequate. Unfortunately, those of us in this situation are also disqualified for most private or public prescriptionaid programs because we are technically insured. I’ve lost count of the number of medical aid programs for which I have

been rejected. Once again, I give my heartfelt thanks and commendation to those students seeking to raise money and awareness for breast cancer research. But I would like to turn the spotlight of public awareness onto the students here at UVM who are struggling to pay for our own prescriptions, tests and specialist appointments. We are stuck in a terrible situation that sees us having to pay thousands of dollars a year on medical bills. Until or unless the student insurance policy is changed so that it actually covers students who need long-term health care, we simply won’t have the money to donate. We support breast cancer research, but are too overwhelmed with our own soaring medical costs. Sincerely, Sam Hyde, M.S. Ph.D. candidate College of Medicine

Every vote can count... literally I met Miro Weinberger — a Democratic candidate in the Burlington mayoral race — at a meet and greet in his home about two weeks ago. Being arguably the most politically apathetic person in the United States, it was no surprise that when my good friend, an intern for his campaign, asked me to go, I used every excuse I could think of to avoid attending. As he made his proposal, I was astonished. For some reason, I was engaged with what he was saying. I was agreeing. Most importantly, I understood the words coming out of his mouth. For the majority of my life, I felt like political speeches were such manipulative and calculated veils that I stopped bothering to listen at all. But Miro’s words were a refreshing change; I could hear the sincerity in his voice, and he was addressing issues that personally affected me as a UVM student. I could relate to this man. It was in that moment I

13

realized not all politics are bad, and that there are good people out there that rely on students like myself to help them make a difference. I decided that night to attend the Democratic caucus two weeks later and vote for him.

Don’t skip voting to go to a girl’s lacrosse game — even I agree that it’s not a particularly exhilirating sport. I play for the UVM women’s club lacrosse team, and we had a game at the same time. My first instinct was to skip the game, because I had already mentally committed myself to the caucus. Unfortunately, my guilt grew over the weekend, and I couldn’t bear to skip my last game of the fall season. I received updates about the caucus all afternoon, but it wasn’t until around dinner that

I received some final news. I was checking Facebook and noticed something about Miro’s campaign. I clicked it and read, “Recount is in of 1,085 votes; both Tim [Ashe] and Miro earned 540 votes! Even tie!!! Amazing. Next vote is TBD within one month.” I couldn’t believe that I, who only two weeks prior considered myself politically handicapped, could have been the person to decide the outcome of this election. I felt both powerful and at fault; I know in theory that every vote counts, but I have never witnessed how true that can be. So, bottom line: You’re welcome. Use my ironic blunder to better your life. Don’t skip voting to go to a girl’s lacrosse game — even I agree that it’s not a particularly exhilarating sport in any way — because you might just be that one out of 1,086 that makes all the difference. Sincerely, Laurel Ganem Class of 2013

Quick Opinions Zach Despart “I still don’t care about the NBA. Maybe I would if the players’ defense of their earnings translates into playing some actual D on the court. But probably not.”

Pizza is a vegetable? It is time to wake up and smell the spinach. We are becoming a nation of fatties. BIANCA MOHN

Greasemongers rejoice! In an epic battle of knives and forks, Congress emerged victorious as it slashed the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s proposal to add more fruits and vegetables to school lunches. The National School Lunch Program is obliged to meet the federal nutrition requirements. This bill would have halved the amount of sodium served in schools. Additionally, it would have increased whole grains, greens and necessary vitamins. Thanks to Congress, french fries and pizza still count as vegetables. I may not have an advanced degree in nutrition, but where I come from, pizza and french fries are junk. Oozing with salt, sugar and preservatives, this is hardly what students should be consuming every day at lunch. “Wait!” the conservatives sputter. “The government can’t tell our children what to eat. Their liberty is being violated!” Sarah Palin can sashay through the school halls holding cookies and preaching the Constitution, but it does not change the fact that we have a national epidemic on our hands. It is time to wake up and smell the spinach. We are becoming a nation of fatties — according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than a third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. Growing up overweight leads to a plethora of health issues down the road, including heart disease, diabetes, strokes, cancer and more. Why on earth would we want this for kids? Schools are designed to be places of education. Teaching does not have to be confined to the classrooms, and learning to eat and live healthily is a part of a general education. A study conducted by the

National Institute on Aging in 2005 concluded that “over the next few decades, life expectancy for the average American could decline by as much as five years unless aggressive efforts are made to slow rising rates of obesity.” Let’s look at the situation from a big-picture perspective. We have schools serving disgustingly unhealthy lunches, rampant childhood obesity, expected lifespan decreases and a bill to improve all three major issues by only raising lunch prices by 14 cents. Clearly our dear friends in Congress are on an extended vacation. Instead of trying to improve the U.S. schools in any way, they chose to cave to special interest groups. Oh yes, the makers of french fries and frozen pizza had reason to celebrate before heading off to their jolly Thanksgiving holidays. Kraig Naasz, president of the American Frozen Food Institute, said “[This agreement to fail the bill] recognizes the significant amounts of potassium, fiber and vitamin A and C provided by tomato paste, ensuring that students may continue to enjoy healthy meals such as pizza and pasta.” You can only imagine my fury when I read this quote. For one thing, when tomatoes are turned into a paste they are boiled down and lose a large part of their nutritional value. After factoring in the sugar, sodium and calories in the paste, it would be better to eat fresh, raw tomatoes. And yet Congress remains convinced that tomato paste in pizza constitutes a sufficient serving of veggies. Congress is not acting in our best interests. It’s time to call it a day and throw the scumbags out of Washington. Bianca Mohn is a first-year business administration major. She has been writing for The Cynic since fall 2011.

Jeff Ayers “I am glad I am 21 years old so I can go vote for Rick Perry. Too bad by the day he wants me to show up it won’t count.”

Bianca Mohn “Finals?!? What, when, where, why?!?”


14

Sports

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

Sports in short By Julia Dwyer Staff Writer

Vermont swimming and diving beats Bryant, continues winning streak On Sunday, Nov. 20, the swimming and diving team defeated Bryant 168.5-108.5. This win puts UVM at a perfect 7-0 for the start of the season, the best record in team history. UVM saw multiple 1-2-3 finishes that day. Junior Kailey Gardner won both the 500 and 1,000 freestyle events, with two teammates closely behind in both events. In the 500, second went to Abby Dorfman and third to Taylor Slone. For the 1,000, Slone came in second and Katie Heenan third. Records were also set for UVM as sophomore Claudia Etherington came in with a time of 57.12 in the 100 backstroke event. With this time, Etherington set a new pool record. In the final home meet of her career, senior Avery Pittman swept the butterfly events. In the 200, Pittman came in with a time of 2:08:24 and led another 1-2-3 finish for UVM as teammates Chelsea Krisanda and Dorfman followed closely behind.

Women’s basketball tops Houston Baptist, earns Husky Classic title The women’s basketball team earned two wins against Houston Baptist last weekend in competition for the Husky Classic. The first win came on Friday with UVM earning a 6047 gain over Texas Southern. In the second and final day of the Husky Classic, Vermont earned a 72-60 win with the help of a strong second half. The first half was a back and forth battle between the Catamounts and the Houston Baptist Tigers. Vermont took a quick lead at the beginning of the first quarter, but the Tigers answered back with a 21-8 run. This run pushed the Tigers to the front with a 21-14 lead. The Tigers maintained their lead heading into halftime with a 27-22 advantage. The game changed in the second half. Vermont went on a 19-3 run to take an 11-point lead with 13:07 remaining in the game. The Tigers quickly responded by cutting the lead to three points, but a 15-2 run by Vermont and a three-pointer by first-year Kayla Burchill gave Vermont their biggest lead of the game. With 6:40 left to

play, Vermont overpowered the Tigers 56-40. In the final three minutes of play, the Catamounts pushed their lead for the win. Catamount secured their victory by going 9-for-11 from the foul line. The final score came to 72-60 with Vermont on top. The women’s basketball team will be back in action on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at Brown University.

America East releases indoor track and field coaches’ preseason rankings On Nov. 30, America East announced its 2011-12 indoor track and field preseason coaches polls. The UVM women’s team was predicted to finish fifth, while the men’s team was picked seventh in the polls. The University of Albany was picked to finish first in both the men’s and women’s polls. The Albany women’s program has won two consecutive America East titles while the men’s program is seeking to win its seventh straight America East Title. Both teams open the 201112 season this Saturday when they host Hartford.

NFL notes: Week 13 By Jake Bielecki Staff Writer

Tim Tebow is a hell of a competitor — it’s hard not to root for the guy. His will to win is second to none and he shows great mental toughness as he keeps his cool while the entire sports community breaks down his every ineptitude. And no, I’m not helping that situation in any way. I also give him credit for uplifting a team that seemed hopeless and putting them on track to contend for a division title. With that said, I still don’t think he’ll be considered a quality NFL starting quarterback when his career is done. I’ve heard the “he just wins” argument, but people aren’t putting his wins into perspective. Look at the teams he beat and the state those teams were in when they played — it’s not impressive. He’s also had the benefit of a Broncos defense holding opponents to 15 or less points in four of his five wins. There is not a big enough sample to say that Tebow’s early success in the win column is grounds for saying he’ll be a good NFL quarterback. I’m not discounting those wins, I’m just waiting for the Broncos to play more teams that can score before making any adjustments to my opinion. The Lions are the only team the Broncos played that have a good offense and they beat the Broncos 45-10. I expect a similar outcome when the Patriots play the Broncos and Tebow is forced to pass when the defense expects it. Moving back to campus on Sunday disrupted my weekly 10-hour football coma, but I make up for that with an abundance of thoughts on the Saints game and an overall charming demeanor. The Saints are clearly the second-best team in the NFL right now, and they’re also the only team I could see upsetting the Packers in the playoffs. Drew Brees is probably one of the most underappreciated future hall-of-famers in the history of the NFL. Often overshadowed by Brady, Manning and now Rodgers, Brees would get the respect he deserves if he takes out the Packers and wins a second Super Bowl. Jimmy Graham is the type of talent that could rewrite history books. He is an agile monster with the ability to reach up with an unfair wingspan and effortlessly snatch the ball out of the air. Jon Gruden pointed out that teams will start drafting cover linebackers and safeties to combat the surge of young, talented tight ends. I agree with this, but what I really think will change on draft day is when tight ends are drafted. In recent years, one, maybe two tight ends have gone in the first round. I’d expect that number to climb significantly in the next 10 years. People give the Packers’ defense a lot of respect despite the fact that they give up a lot of points. This is fair because teams are passing the ball more against them when they fall behind, but the same consideration is not given to the Saints’ defense. When I watch the Saints, they’re always flying to the ball and rarely pass up an opportunity for a big hit. Their defense as a whole makes big plays. As for the Giants, they need to scrap the run or find a better running back. Brandon Jacobs needs a five-yard alley before he picks up enough steam to run with any authority. They need to become a one-dimensional passing team if they expect to sneak into the playoffs. Keep an eye on Da’Rel Scott. He ran a 4.34 40-yard dash and is a built guy. He returns kicks now and shows a lot of burst and the ability to break arm tackles. He was in on a 3rd and 1 and got a direct snap, showing that the coaching staff wanted the ball in his hands on a big play, but fumbled the ball lunging for first down yardage. Knowing the troll that is Tom Coughlin, the young running back won’t be heard from again until training camp next season.


S P O RT S

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

15

NFL Picks Ups and downs for men’s Week 13 hockey over Thanksgiving Initials indicate

the author of the pick:

(WA) — Will Andreycak (ME) — Mike Eaton (JK) — Jeremy Karpf

By Will Andreycak Sports Editor

Illustrations by Stephanie Feinberg

scoreboard WA ME JK

16-18 18-16 21-13 Unanimous

New Orleans Saints vs. Detroit Lions — Sunday, Dec. 4, 1 p.m.

It was 3rd and goal for Green Bay early in the second half of their last game. If the Lions’ defense stopped the Packers, they would be faced with a 10-0 deficit instead of a 14-0 deficit. Aaron Rodgers’ pass flew out of the end zone — an incompletion and a victory for the Lions’ defense. That is, until Ndamukong Suh decided to put himself before the team. Suh was kicked out of the game and his penalty allowed Green Bay a new set of downs, which they did not squander. They went up 14-0 and the Packers never looked back — the Lions were deflated. Not only did Suh’s penalty cost the Lions the game, it may have cost them the season. After their game at New Orleans, they still have games at Oakland and at Green Bay. It’s hard to win games when your most important defensive player is off the field. By the way, New Orleans hasn’t lost at home this year and Drew Brees is on pace to break the single-season passing yards record.

Houston Texans vs. Atlanta Falcons

Unanimous

— Sunday, Dec. 4, 8:20 p.m. It really is a shame that Matt Schaub is out for the season, because this game would have been extremely intriguing had Schaub been leading Houston to their first playoff run in team history. The Texans will still make the playoffs, barring a collapse, due to their formidable defense and their two-headed running attack. If Atlanta can beat Houston this weekend they should have a pretty time with sowing up the NFC wildcard — other than a week 16 matchup at New Orleans. A loss to a team led by starting quarterback T.J. Yates would be a devastating for an Atlanta team that has won five of their last six games.

Unanimous

New York Giants vs. Green Bay Packers — Sunday, Dec. 4, 4 p.m.

By Diana Giunta Senior Staff Writer

While most UVM students were enjoying break, the student-athletes of the men’s hockey team played five games over the week. The games yielded mixed results for the team, as they played mostly Hockey East teams at home and on the road. Vermont suffered losses against Boston University, Northeastern University and Colgate but won games against UMass and Dartmouth. The week started off with a road trip against BU and Northeastern on Nov. 18 and 19. UVM lost both games, the first 4-3 and the second 4-1. The Cats began a comeback in the third period against BU, as junior Sebastian Stalberg knocked in a rebound to bring the score to 4-3 at 16:42. The hope was short-lived, though, as time ran out on Vermont’s chances. A similar story could be told of the Northeastern game. “We didn’t battle tonight and we just didn’t engage,” head coach Kevin Sneddon said of the Northeastern game. “We’ve had some good growth games without results, but today was a step back, and a lot of that is credit to [Northeastern]. They were the much better team.” Returning home on Nov. 22 to face UMass, the team delivered a win, defeating the Minutemen 2-1.

JONATHAN POLSON The Vermont Cynic

Junior Sebastian Stalberg fends off a UNH skater as he chases down the puck in UVM’s game on Nov. 13. First-year Kyle Reynolds scored twice in the win, and secured Vermont its first Hockey East win of the season. Victory was short-lived for the Catamounts, as Colgate came to Gutterson the day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 25, and shut down the Cats in a decisive 4-1 victory. Though the Catamounts scored first in the game, they were not able to muster another goal or hold off Colgate. Despite this, Sneddon was pleased with the team’s work ethic. “We had way too many chances to only have scored one goal,” Sneddon said. “That to me was disappointing because I think our guys deserved a lot better; they worked extremely hard.”

Vermont bounced back just two days later when they beat Dartmouth in another highscoring game, this time winning 5-3. Though Dartmouth held the lead in the third period, Vermont scored three unanswered goals to wrap up the win. Twelve different Catamounts recorded a point in the contest. “Today wasn’t the prettiest game, but we’d rather come away with the win,” Stalberg said. “We have to grind it out and make sure that we get the wins.” Vermont will wrap up their long five-game homestand on Dec. 2 and 3 when they face Maine, another Hockey East foe. The puck will drop at 7:05 p.m. for both games.

MFA IN EMERGENT MEDIA

The Giants are no stranger to defeating teams striving for perfection. This time, however, the game is far less important and the Giants are far less talented. Ravaged by injury and a brutal schedule, the Giants are looking at a four-game losing streak and a .500 record. We saw last week that Eli Manning can rack up yards with the best of them, but the Giants’ defense, for years anchored by their pass rush, is failing them. That is a recipe for disaster against Aaron Rodgers and his 34-4 touchdown-interception ratio.

FOOTBALL

Cats fall in title game

...continued from page 16

our teammates.” Another senior, Nate Dolan, who transferred from the Division II football program at Saint Anslem to play for UVM, termed his transition as different, but “a good different.” “Playing on the UVM team didn’t consume my whole life, like it did at Saint A’s, but we still managed to have good practices and that translated when it came to games,” Dolan said. Dolan said he had a lot of fun playing for UVM and that the players and coaches were great, adding, “I wish I had another year left to play.” Bluto echoed Dolan’s sentiments, adding his comfort with the team he has to leave behind. “I feel as though the base of underclassmen on our team

is great,” Bluto said. “They are great guys, and players, who are really going to bring this team places that I don’t think club founder Doug Deluca could ever imagine.” That’s what it’s all about for these guys. Making plays and winning games are great, but what’s more important to these players is growing and developing — growing as a team and program, but also as people. The beauty of club sports is the ability to just have fun. Coincidentally, UVM happens to dominate the field as well, but they are happy to be having fun in the process. “My three years of playing for this team have been more than I ever could have imagined,” Bluto said. “I am infinitely grateful for the opportunity that I had to continue playing the game that I love.

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10/25/11 2:18 PM


16 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2011

S P O RT S

The end of a season, the start of a team By Mike Eaton Assistant Sports Editor

A last-second touchdown, followed by a scoreless second half, led to a Southwestern Connecticut championship trophy while, for the first time this year, the club football team did not find their way into the end zone. Strong defensive efforts by both teams contributed to the soccerlike final score of 6-2, while offense seemed lackluster and ineffective. It was early in the first half when UVM decorated the scoreboard with a pair of points coming off of a safety. The rest of the half remained a clash of the defenses, with Southwestern’s only points coming from a snap that occurred with only seconds left and a hail mary pass finding the end zone with zero seconds left on the clock. UVM regained momentum by stopping a twopoint conversion attempt before the half. The second half saw only fourth downs and punts, as both teams proved why they belong in the top three nationally. It was not until UVM’s final drive in the last minutes of the fourth that head coach TJ Sawyer fell back onto his passing game — yet it was a little too late. Sophomore wide receiver Jake Bielecki caught a Jack Leclerc pass as UVM made their way down the field, the LeclercBielecki combo racking up more than 50 yards on the drive. From there, Southwestern’s defense took over, triple-

MICHAEL CHAUCER-TORELLO The Vermont Cynic A UVM running back gets gang-tackled to the turf in their 6-2 loss to Southwestern Connecticut in the Yankee Conference Championship on Nov.19. The championship loss is the second straight year UVM has fallen one victory short of a conference title.

covering Bielecki and allowing no further passes inside the red zone. The final seconds ticked away after a Southwestern knee as they defended their spot as Yankee Collegiate Football Conference champions for the second year in a row. The loss marks UVM’s only defeat this season as well as the last game for seven seniors. One of the most notable losses will be team captain senior Chad Foley. He has fond memories

Athlete spotlight of the week By Taylor Feuss Staff Writer

#34 Roxanne Douville Women’s hockey

Class: Sophomore Position: Goalkeeper Height: 5’5” Hometown: Beloeil, Quebec High school: Cypress Creek High School COURTESY OF ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

Previous team: College Edouard-Montpetit

Accomplishments at UVM: Douville made 29 saves and earned the third shutout of her career as UVM triumphed over Colgate 3-0 this past Sunday. Even though Colgate outshot the lady Catamounts 21-3 in the past two periods, none succeeded in passing by Douville. In her first year at UVM, Douville started in 22 games, finishing the season with a 5-11-6 record, 1.91 GAA, .931 save percentage and two solid shutouts.

Previous accomplishments:

THIS WEEK

Before becoming a Catamount, Douville skated for two years at College Edouard-Montpetit, winning consecutive championships with the team. In 2009, Douville earned the silver medal at the IIHF U-18 Women’s Ice Hockey World Championship in Fussen, Germany. While at the World Championship, Douville received one of the three Canadian Best Player Awards.

Friday 12/2

Saturday 12/3

Men’s hockey vs. Maine Gutterson Fieldhouse 7:05 p.m.

Women’s hockey vs. Connecticut Gutterson Fieldhouse 2 p.m.

of his time with this more-thanextracurricular activity. “No one joins the club to just have something extracurricular to do in the fall,” Foley said. “We all join to compete, get better, develop the program, and win football games.” And that’s just what they’ve succeeded in doing. This season marked the best for UVM club football as it powered through an undefeated regular season and gained the nation’s top spot.

After three years with the team, another senior captain, Shane Bluto, has also noticed this improvement, citing the coaches as a large influence. “Our coaches all put an emphasis on playing well together and working together as a team,” Bluto said. “They arranged events where we could see each other outside of practice and just hang out as a team, which really helped in working together.”

He feels as though it is less of a team full of great football players and more of a group of friends who just happen to be great football players. “Playing for this team for three years now, I feel as though this is the first time that the team really just seems like a bunch of friends flying around and making plays on the football team,” Bluto said. “We all love

...continued on page 15

Men’s basketball fills up on wins over Thanksgiving Break By Will Andreycak Sports Editor

Despite playing four games in just eight days — three of which were on the road — the men’s basketball team was able to take three out of four and improve their record to 4-2 on the year. Vermont was able to beat Marist, Old Dominion and Siena, with the lone loss against Long Island University. The eight-day marathon began at the Hall of Fame TipOff in Uncasville, Conn., where Vermont played games on backto-back days. In the opening game of the tournament, UVM defeated Marist 84-75 behind 22 points from first-year Four McGlynn and 19 points from sophomore Luke Apfeld — both are career highs. Sophomore Brian Voelkel filled the stat sheet, recording nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Vermont advanced to the championship game where they were defeated by Long Island University 80-75. Voelkel once again led the way for the Catamounts, recording 13 points, nine rebounds and seven

assists. McGlynn once again scored in double figures with 11, while senior Matt Glass and junior Ben Crenca each scored 10 points apiece. Overall six different Catamounts scored eight or more points in the contest. After three days off, the Catamounts returned to action against Old Dominion in Norfolk, Va. on Nov. 23 where they were able to defeat the Monarchs 65-63 in overtime. Led by Apfeld’s 15 points, the Catamounts were able to accomplish a task that few opponents of Old Dominion have been able to achieve in the last few years: winning in their gym. Old Dominion had won 31 of its last 34 and 47 of its last 53 games in their building before the Catamounts’ overtime victory. In an interview with Athletic Communications, head coach John Becker appreciated the significance of the victory. “That was a great win for our program — we have a lot of respect for Old Dominion and their coaching staff,” Becker said. “I give our players a lot of credit — we battled after getting down 12 early in the second half,

and we were fortunate to make a couple shots late.” After a five-game road trip to open the season the Catamounts returned home to face Sienna on Nov. 26. In a back-and-forth contest, UVM needed every second on the clock to put away the Saints 64-62. The game was tied with 25 seconds left as UVM ran their offense and were able to get junior Brendan Bald a good look from the right wing. The shot rattled off the rim high into the air where Matt Glass was able to tip in the game-winning bucket as time expired. Glass, whose would-be game-tying tip-in against South Florida was discounted weeks earlier, finished the game with 13 points to lead Vermont scorers. Voelkel had another typical game, finishing with seven points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. The Catamounts now stand at 4-2 with victories over prestigious mid-major programs such as Old Dominion and Siena. UVM will look to continue their out-of-conference success as they host Harvard on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m.

Sunday 12/4 Men’s basketball @ Yale New Haven, Conn. 2 p.m.

Women’s hockey vs. Connecticut Gutterson Fieldhouse 2 p.m.

Wednesday 12/7 Men’s hockey vs. Maine Gutterson Fieldhouse 7:05 p.m.

Women’s basketball @ Brown Providence, R.I. 5 p.m.


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