Issue 3 - Volume 136

THEVERMONTCYNIC THE Issue 3 - Volume 136 | September 10, 2019 | vtcynic.com

New president works to rebrand SGA Zoe Stern zstern@uvm.edu

When SGA President Jillian Scannell, a senior, learned there would be a photographer at her interview, she didn’t know what to wear.

She decided to go classic with a UVM T-shirt, showing support for the school.

Despite previously being an SGA senator, Scannell never imagined herself being SGA president.

“I didn’t really see myself getting into this role. But I mean I’m really thankful for it, and grateful for it, and I’m liking it so far,” Scannell said.

After winning the election that produced 2,861 votes, the biggest voter turnout seen in years, Scannell began her presidency with the intent of making herself more available to all students, she said.

During her presidency, Scannell wants to change the role of SGA. “We have a longstanding history, a lot of traditions and ways we used to do things but now it’s time to modernize SGA and almost rebrand it,” Scannell said.

A focus on climate Scannell is passionate about the environment and is an environmental studies major. She was once an intern who worked to put together the Vermont Youth Climate Summit.

She plans to incorporate the passion she has for the environment into her presidency.

Instead of waiting for new President Suresh Garimella to take action on climate change, Scannell put together a report of suggestions, so his job would be that much easier, she said.

Sustainability doesn’t just come from environmental groups, it comes from a number of groups that at times don’t seem to connect with each other, Scannell said.

“What I found [during my research] is that a lot of good things have been done,” Scannell said. “But departments don’t know about what other departments are doing.”

Based on her research, Scannell has helped create a climate strike for organizations to come together.

The strike is occuring Friday, Sept. 20. “[The strike is] more about holding a space to have a discussion about the climate,”

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SAWYER LOFTUS/The Vermont Cynic

SGA President Jillian Scannell, a senior, smiles while her photo is taken, Sept. 4. After winning the election that produced the biggest voter turnout seen in years, Scannell began her presidency with the intent of making herself more available to all students.

Scannell said. “We haven’t really been talking about it on campus and everybody’s been really siloed.”

Scannell also wants to help not only organizations but students and faculty to come together to solve issues. The climate strike is just one example of that.

“

have started, Scannell plans to continue the mission of getting a food pantry on campus and combining it with a thrift shop. “[Vermont Students for Environmental Protection] holds a thrift shop once a month,” Scannell said. “In an effort to sort of destigmatize the idea of a food pantry we’re gonna call it Rally Cat’s Closet and Cafe. It’ll be half food pantry, half thrift shop.”

The project was started in the winter of 2018 by senior Ethan Foley, former SGA presi- Jillian Scannell dent.

SGA President The project is a large task, but within that grew out of a growing concern role, she wants to finish work on over food insecuirty on UVM’s Safe Ride Home and Rally Cats’ campus, Foley said at the time.

In two surveys given to the Closet and Cafe.

Safe Ride Home, a pilot pro- UVM community, 17% to 25% gram, which would allow stu- of undergraduates identified as dents to call a cab within a four food insecure, according to a mile radius of UVM for a sub- November 2018 Cynic article.

Being in SGA allows Scansidized fee, is in the final stages nell to be part activist, part legunder Scannell.

The program has been in the islative body.

“We’re able to have a dual works since 2015.

As part of her goal to push role and now we can pass legisideas that former presidents lation and have that administraare you going to do about it?’”

There is the gap where SGA works with administration and SGA works with students, Scannell said. She wants to make it so students and administration are working together.

Bridging the divide between students and administration

We have a longstanding history, a lot of traditions and ways we used to do things but now it’s time to modernize SGA and almost rebrand it.

Bringing students back to the table Students and the administration have been struggling to see eye to eye for years, and Scannell wants to help bridge that divide, she said.

Despite achievements by both students and administration, the two groups still feel quite separate, Scannell said. “[So] being really intentional and taking that job seriously as in making sure that that gap is bridged,” Scannell said. “If students are not feeling heard, we should directly bring that to the administration and be like, ‘students are feeling hurt, what

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tive piece,” Scannell said. “But then we actually have the role and the ability and the power to do something about it.”

Changes to internal SGA structure Scannell wants to encourage senators to get involved with organizations and get their faces known to the student body, she said.

“When I was a senator nobody came to my offi ce hours.

I just took it as a time to do homework,” Scannell said. “So now we’re making them do those elsewhere. So I had a couple senators yesterday go with me to the Interfaith welcome back party and they talked to people.”

Visiting Interfaith gave senators one of their offi ce hours of the week and encouraged Scannell’s idea of “intentional engagement.”

“I’m really passionate about building relationships on campus,” Scannell said. “Which I think will then make it easier for my senators to get projects done because we already have a lot of built relationships.”

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vtcynic.com

NEWS

UVMMC faces increased loss of funds Emma Pinezich epinezic@uvm.edu

UVM Medical Center may lose more federal funding than originally expected, after a nurse was forced to participate in an abortion procedure, a violation of federal law.

The Office for Civil Rights, a sub-agency of the U.S. Department of Education, released a Notice of Violation Aug. 28 stating that UVMMC forced a health care worker to assist with an abortion against her will.

UVMMC could lose federal funds if it does not change its policies within 30 days, according to the notice.

The named funds in the notice at stake amount to $1.6 million that go to HIV/AIDS services through the Ryan White Grant, according to the notice.

UVMMC is also investigating if other money in addition to the $1.6 million is at jeopardy, according to a Sept. 6 email from Annie Mackin, UVMMC spokesperson.

“We are reviewing whether this [the Ryan White Grant] is the correct source of funding to be concerned about, and also reviewing whether any other funds could be at stake,” the email stated.

A law known as the Church Amendments prohibits organizations that receive federal funding from discriminating against workers who do not want to take part in abortion procedures for moral reasons.

The nurse filed a complaint in May 2018, prompting an investigation into the matter. The complaint was about an abortion that took place in 2017.

UVMMC said they do not discriminate against any employees for exercising their

MARY MCLELLAN/The Vermont Cynic

Pictured is part of the UVM Medical Center. The Office for Civil Rights, a sub-agency of the U.S. Department of Education, released a Notice of Violation Aug. 28 stating that UVM Medical Center forced a health care worker to assist with an abortion against her will. rights to opt out of procedures to which they object, according to an Aug. 28 statement.

“We believe our policy is correct and protects the patients who come to us for care and protects our employees’ ability to opt out of procedures which they are uncomfortable with for ethical and religious reasons,” said Dr. Stephen M. Leffler, interim president of UVMMC. “Today we are not changing our policy, but we are very willing to meet with the Office for Civil Rights to discuss that,” Leffler said.

“At this point, we see no impact to UVM from this action,” Leffler said, when asked if the

potential loss of funds would impact the University.

UVMMC has a partnership with the Larner College of Medicine and UVM’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

They provide annual financial support to UVM for expenses including salaries, benefits and facilities.

In the 2018 fiscal year, UVMMC provided approximately $60 million in financial support to UVM, according to a financial statement posted on their website.

Nursing major Riley Galgon, a junior, said she is concerned that if UVMMC loses funding, it could place a financial burden

on nursing students, who work closely with UVMMC staff.

“We already pay a ton of money for tuition, on top of that having to pay for our scrubs and our stethoscopes and everything,” Galgon said. “To have even higher costs on top of the equipment would be really stressful and make some people unable to be in the nursing program.”

The notice came from OCR’s division of Conscience and Religious Freedom, created in January 2018. The new division is part of an effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to address the priorities of religious conservatives, according

to an Aug. 28 New York Times article.

Leffler expressed concern over a new rule issued by the administration in May, expanding the protections of health care workers to opt out of certain procedures.

“One of the words that’s most concerning [in the new rule] to the Medical Center is the word ‘tangential,’” Leffler said. “It says people can opt out of the procedure or anything tangential to the procedure, and that is a very slippery slope.”

UVM does not expect to be impacted, according to a Sept. 5 email from UVM Spokesperson Enrique Corredera.

Chief remains on paid leave without any explanation Julianne Lesch jleschi@uvm.edu

The person in charge of UVM’s public safety has been on leave for two months, and those acting in her place refuse to clarify why she’s still being paid or when she’s coming back.

Lianne Tuomey, UVM Police Services Chief, went on a leave of absence beginning July 11. She still remains on an indefinite paid leave, according to UVM Spokesperson Enrique Corredera.

Tuomey’s leave was taken three days after a visit to UVM Police Services from a team of accreditation assessors, but Correderra said Tuomey’s leave was unrelated to the visit.

Tuomey has been apart of UVM Police Services for the past 19 years, serving as Police Chief since 2009, according to her LinkedIn. Tuomey received her masters at UVM and her bachelors degree from State University of New York Poly-

Image source: UVM/

UVM Police Services Chief Lianne Tuomey went on a leave of absence beginning July 11 and remains on an indefinite paid leave, according to UVM Spokesperson Enrique Corredera. technic Institute.

The Commission of Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies accreditation is external validation that Police Ser-

vices seeks voluntarily, Corredera said.

Other than commenting that the leave is unrelated to UVM Police’s reaccreditation

process, Corredera declined to comment further.

“We don’t discuss individual employees, and therefore we are not sharing any details

about the leave,” Corredera stated in a Sept. 5 email to the Cynic.

Deputy Chief Tim Bilodeau, who is currently acting chief for Tuomey, stated only that he is unable to discuss matters of employees.

“I am not in a position to discuss matters of employees.

I don’t have any additional information that I can share with you,” Bilodeau stated in a Sept.

3 email to the Cynic.

On the UVM Police Services website, each officer has a short profile.

Bilodeau’s profile includes his contact information, program area, education, areas of expertise and his affiliations.

Deputy Chief Mandy Wooster’s profile states her contact information, education, area of expertise and awards, which includes UVM Police Leadership and UVM Police Chief’s Award.

Tuomey’s profile contains only her picture and her contact information.

NEWS

3

‘They’re just bad news.’

Turning Point USA attempts to reemerge at UVM Sawyer Loftus news@vtcynic.com

Lilly Young ehyoung@uvm.edu

A conservative student group could be derecognized for breaking SGA rules, but as the group’s future is considered, national representatives have come to rebuild.

The group, Turning Point USA, is a national conservative nonprofit that was founded in 2012. The group seeks to promote ideas of freedom, free markets and limited government, with a focus on high school and college campuses, according to the group’s website.

SGA President Jillian Scannell said the group has not done any of the SGA requirements that all recognized groups must do.

Two men who are not students have been tabling around campus since the first day of classes.

One man identified himself as Sam and an employee of Turning Point USA. The other said his name was Matt, and that he worked for The Leadership Institute, a conservative youth action group.

They dress like other college students, aside from the body camera strapped to one of their backpacks. They have been trying to get prospective students to join so they can rebuild UVM’s chapter, Matt said.

A student said that as they passed by the table, they were asked if they support women.

“When I walked by the guy said ‘hey miss, do you support women?’” the student said.

Another student, who wished to remain anonymous, spoke with the group but grew uncomfortable after learning about their stances and history of racist staff members, the student said.

To protect the identity of the student over concerns of retribution from the group, their name and gender will not be used in this article.

The student identified themselves as someone who is conservative and was looking to join a group that shared similar views. But after doing some research, the student found the group didn’t sit right with their beliefs, they said.

The student said that through research, they discovered Turning Point had lied to donors about how many active chapters it had on college campuses and that in the past, some staff members and group members had been known to make racist comments.

“I’m not about that, and I don’t want to be involved in an organization that has racists in it,” the student said. “They’re just bad news.”

STEPHAN TOLJAN/The Vermont Cynic

Two self-identifying Turning Point USA representatives, one wearing a body camera, table on the Andrew Harris Commons, Aug. 27.

SGA President Jillian Scannell said the group could face derecognition due to their failure to follow SGA club rules.

Other UVM students took notice of the group’s presence on campus, like junior Asfar Basha, president of UVM College Democrats.

Basha said that he noticed people tabling for Turning Point with a sign that stated “socialism sucks.” At the time, Basha said he was not aware that they were a recognized group on campus.

Basha said that he accepts all forms of political expression, and it is good to have a diverse group of mindsets, but he does not support or condone anything Turning Point says.

“It is important all UVM students feel welcome,” Basha said.

Basha said that it is important that students are having proactive conversations, and he hopes that UVM College Democrats can set the standard at UVM by being open and civil with everyone.

In the last two years, Turning Point USA has made national headlines. Multiple members of the group from across the country have made racist comments in texts, tweets and other social media, according to a December 2017 New Yorker article.

Shialee Grooman, a now former Turning Point employee, posted a number of tweets in 2013 that used racial slurs, according to an April 2017 HuffPost article.

In another example, Troy Meeker, who is still employed

by Turning Point USA according to his LinkedIn, sent a tweet

in 2010 that used a racial slur, according to the article.

More recently, Harvard University reversed their admission of Kyle Kashuv, a Parkland High School shooting survivor and president of the high school’s chapter of Turning Point, after it was revealed he also used racial slurs in texts and in one case a Google document, according to a June 18 NPR report.

Senior Victoria Biondolillo, chairwoman for Vermont College Republicans, said she noticed people tabling for Turning Point last week. To Biondolillo, the group does not help the Republican cause, she said. “[Turning Point] is not productive in the conservative movement,” Biondolillo said.

Biondolillo said that she is worried that the group will cause outrage on campus and undo everything the Vermont College Republicans have done to make the party more inviting.

“Any speech that is intentionally harmful has no place in my organization or my party,” Biondolillo said.

A staff member from UVM Event Services said Turning Point had not been given permission to set up a table outside the Davis Center.

Turning Point UVM’s Facebook page shows no activity since the spring of 2017.

Additionally the student listed as the president no longer goes to UVM. Turning Point USA did not reply to requests for comment.

Turning Point leaders speak The tweets below were featured in an April 25, 2018 HuffPost article about Turning Point USA employees using racial slurts. Shialee Grooman is no longer an employee of Turning Point USA and Troy Meeker is still an employee, according to his LinkedIn. These tweets have been censored as they contain racial slurs and other vulgar language. The Cynic does not endorse the language used in these tweets.

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OPINION

VERMO

Staff Editorial

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Give Pres. Garimella a chance

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EXECUTIVE Editor-in-Chief Bridget Higdon editorinchief@vtcynic.com Managing Editor Alek Fleury newsroom@vtcynic.com

S

ince the arrival of new University President Suresh Garimella, students, professors and activists have been on high alert.

This caution comes from high expectations, which aren’t a bad thing. However, we must put our loaded assumptions aside to give President Garimella a fair shot.

Former University President Tom Sullivan first created suspicion of Garimella by excluding students and faculty from the presidential search

process before announcing Garimella as the sole finalist, according to an April 19 Cynic article.

Besides giving the impression that the team behind Garimella’s appointment was not listening to students, Sullivan’s actions also gave the idea that the president was hiding something due to the secrecy behind

OPERATIONS Operations Manager Tim Mealey operations@vtcynic.com Marketing Daniel Felde cynicmarketing@gmail.com

EDITORIAL Copy Chief Liv Marshall copy@vtcynic.com Culture Sarah Robinson cynicculture@gmail.com Features Greta Rohrer cynicfeatures@gmail.com News Sawyer Loftus news@vtcynic.com

NOAH ZHOU

Video Jordan Mitchell video@vtcynic.com Social Media Sam Litra socialcyniceditor@gmail.com Illustrations Noah Zhou illustrations@vtcynic.com Layout Kyra Chevalier layout@vtcynic.com Photo Stephan Toljan photo@vtcynic.com Assistant Editors Henry Mitchell (Opinion), Kate Vanni and Meilena Sanchez (Layout), Dalton Doyle (Copy), Allie O’Connor (Culture) Copy Editors Will Keeton, Zoey Webb, Maddie Quill, Caroline Jagger Page Designers Stephanie Hodel, Ed Taylor, George Weed, Brandon Arcari

ADVISING Faculty Adviser Chris Evans crevans@uvm.edu

an engineering professor at the helm of a university known partly for its liberal arts.

In order to move forward and give Garimella the fair shot he deserves, we must recognize our own biases.

His outsider status may be an asset, helping him see solutions to problems that we haven’t considered. He had no control over the search process and should not be criticized for it.

Garimella is still figuring out the kind of president he will be.

We should not make that judgement for him.

Staff editorials officially reflect the views of the Vermont Cynic.

Signed opinion pieces and columns do not necessarily do so.

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

Correction An Aug. 27 staff editorial incorrectly stated that Interim Provost Patricia Prelock “has a nursing background.” Prelock does not have a nursing degree but multiple degrees in speech language pathology.

We apologize for the error.

It is time to take back the textbook market MEREDITH RATHBURN

Opinion Mills Sparkman opinion@vtcynic.com Podcasts David Cabrera vtcynicpodcasts@gmail.com

Garimella’s appointment, according to a Feb. 11 VT Digger article.

This is a controversial time in UVM’s history. Howe Library was renamed only last year to denounce UVM’s role in the eugenics movement, according to an October 2018 VT Digger article.

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences still lacks a dean, according to a September 5 Cynic article.

White nationalist stickers continue to appear on campus in what feels like a sinister start-of-semester ritual, according to an Aug. 28 Cynic article.

All this internal tension leads people to think an outsider like Garimella is ill-equipped to solve the University’s problems.

Garimella is the first president to come from outside of the University since 1833. His reputation as an engineering professor and a proponent of incentive-based budgeting precedes him.

Those who protested CAS budget cuts during Garimella’s first visit to campus questioned

Ari Kotler akotler@uvm.edu

B

eing a college student in the U.S. means frequent reminders that education is pay-to-play. We pay for a ticket into the “educated” workforce, and we pay a lot.

Rising tuition costs usually dominate the conversation around college affordability, but in recent years, textbooks have also become unaffordable for many students.

The cost of textbooks has risen by over 1,000% since 1977, according to a March 6 Vox article. Production costs and rising demand can’t explain the rise, which is three times faster than the rate of inflation, in book costs.

Although individual professors do play a role in burdening students by assigning expensive textbooks, the real culprits are publishing companies.

Four companies control over 80% of the textbook publishing industry: Pearson, Cengage, Wiley and McGrawHill, according to a 2016 Public Interest Research Group report.

Together, these companies have total control of the textbook market, avoiding competition by allowing each

other to dominate textbook publishing in specific subject areas.

In other words, these four companies have almost entirely captured the textbook market.

The consequences of this arrangement are huge: professors have little choice selecting textbooks and students are forced to sacrifice either finances if they buy their books, or their education if they don’t get a textbook.

Publishing companies have acknowledged the increased cost of textbooks and offered “affordable” options for students, but their responses to the problem are just exploitation disguised as solutions.

E-books, although cheaper than print books, often can’t be resold or passed down to fellow students. As a result,

publishing companies can ensure that students are buying their books at full price every single time.

The introduction of subscriptions, where students pay a flat fee to access books from a publisher, or inclusive services, where students get textbooks at full cost, operate via the same principle: limiting the books that can be shared or resold, and maximizing the amount of new, full-price sales.

The few decent alternatives that exist, such as open-source textbooks, represent Band-Aids rather than real solutions.

Open-source textbooks are cheaper books created by faculty, meaning that instructors are forced to spend extra time and work in order to make class materials more affordable for students.

Open-source options also

introduce a two-tier system wherein wealthy students have access to expensive, highquality materials while their lower-income classmates are forced to utilize free and sometimes inferior textbooks.

Student and faculty groups should focus on pressuring elected officials to identify the greed of publishing companies.

The government has the power and responsibility to utilize antitrust and antimonopoly measures to break up total controls of markets that are harming Americans.

This is what we should be demanding when it comes to making textbooks more affordable.

Ari Kotler is a junior political science major. He has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2018.

6

OPINION

Policing won’t solve community issues Chris Harrell crharrell@uvm.edu

S

GA recently sent out an email detailing their initiatives to increase student and community safety over the next year.

SGA is unfortunately wrong in their efforts.

For a representative organization of a liberalminded student body, these initiatives are a betrayal of their most vulnerable peers.

One of their initiatives centers around increased UVM and Burlington Police patrols downtown.

These patrols target public drinking, underage drinking and noise.

Patrols will include walking, biking and driving in addition to a strict noise ordinance, according to the Aug. 29 SGA email.

In their email, SGA refers to “quality of life” policing initiatives.

Quality of life patrols are designed to “lessen disorder” to reduce overall non-desirable behavior, according to a November 2015 Washington Post article.

These patrols involve stopping as many people as possible in order to set a tone of what is and isn’t allowed to occur, according to the article.

Quality of life crime patrols were a signature part of the

right wing solution to the crime hysteria of the 1990s and were first coined by Rudy Giuliani when he was mayor of New York City.

According to the activist network INCITE!, which is dedicated to ending state violence against vulnerable groups, this approach leads to an increase in arrests and police confrontations in the community.

This is particularly felt in communities of color.

According to recent data from the American Civil Liberties Union, 90% of all people stopped and frisked by the New York Police Department so far in 2019 are people of color.

Similarly, Vermont police stop and search black drivers at four times the rate of white drivers, and Hispanic drivers at three times the rate, according to a January 2017 Seven Days article.

Students are attracted to neighborhoods with lower rental rates, which can also attract Burlington’s growing immigrant community.

For many, college involves drinking and parties, and that’s unlikely to change.

Students will be no safer getting home if they are worried about running into trouble with the law.

All these patrols will do is increase risks that students take when they’re out.

Instead, of encouraging these patrols, SGA should be

KELLY TURNER

focused on harm prevention.

Increasing bus service off and around campus would be a more effective use of University resources and increase the safety of our community.

These new patrols are an effort to make the residential neighborhoods more “peaceful” and “safe,” according to the email.

UVM students are a part of these neighborhoods and have an equal interest in the well-being of the community

at large. Students should be part of community solutions to these issues.

By introducing these policing measures, UVM students are further alienated from the community and told that rather than being part of the solution, they are the problem.

Encouraging students to reach out to neighbors and pay attention to community concerns and issues is the best way for the conflict at hand to

be resolved.

Instead, we create more tension and confrontation in our community by seeking to use a strong police presence to push these issues under the surface.

Chris Harrell is a senior political science major. He has been writing for the Cynic since spring 2019.

Alone, Walmart’s new gun policy can’t stop shootings Meg Trogolo mtrogolo@uvm.edu

T

he idea that our current gun violence epidemic is unacceptable has been more prominantly expressed since three of the most recent mass shootings.

Those that speak out vary, from elected officials to journalists to concerned civilians, but the message is the same.

After every mass shooting, including the one that took place Aug. 31 in Odessa, Texas, political discussions and social media fill with tributes to victims and calls for change.

The shooting in Odessa killed seven and wounded at least 21, according to an Aug. 31 New York Times article.

On Sept. 3, Walmart, Inc. CEO Doug McMillon wrote a memo to Walmart employees across the nation.

In the memo, McMillon said, “it’s clear to [Walmart leadership] that the status quo is unacceptable.”

Walmart finally announced that it will stop selling types of ammunition that can be used

in handguns and assault-style firearms, according to a Sept. 3 CNN article.

The company also requested that customers in open carry states not bring their guns into Walmart stores.

However, Walmart has no plans to stop carrying shotguns or other types of ammunition, and no way to enforce their “request” in states where openly carrying a gun is legal, according to the article.

Shotguns and ammunition will remain on sale at all of those stores.

If you chose a random location from a list of every Walmart in America, there would be more than a 50% chance the location you chose sells guns, according to the article.

Even if they don’t, most areas with a high enough population to need a Walmart are also likely to have other options for prospective gun owners.

Think of the Walmart in Williston, VT. That Walmart doesn’t sell guns, but they do sell ammunition.

There are multiple gun shops and private sales in the Burlington area where a potential shooter could just

MADDI EVANS as easily find a future murder weapon.

Vermont is also a state where the only places guns are banned are school grounds, school busses and courthouses, according to the Vermont Department of Public Safety’s website.

Anywhere else, open and concealed carry of firearms is

legal; permits are not required, according to the VDPS website.

Even if every Vermont gun owner knew that Walmart now asks customers not to openly carry in their stores, not everyone can be expected to follow the new rule.

It’s unlikely that someone who is used to shopping with a gun on their hip would actually

think to put that gun away before walking in.

Gun law reform is by far the most effective way to drive down gun violence.

From 2009-13, states with more restrictive gun laws had an average of 8.05 gun-related deaths per 100,000 people, according to a 2017 National Institutes of Public Health study.

States with less restrictive gun laws had an average of 13.76 per 100,000 people.

With information and public outcry against these preventable tragedies, you might think corporations would use the power they have to make larger, more significant changes to their policies around firearms.

But they are not.

Keeping shotguns, rifles and most types of ammunition available in stores while dropping some other products keeps customers shopping at Walmart.

Meg Trogolo is a sophomore political science major. She has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2017.

PHOTO

Students show off their sunglasses around campus Stephan Toljan stoljan@uvm.edu

It’s no secret that when it comes to winters, Vermont has a reputation of bringing cold temperatures, strong winds and lots of snow.

A joke shared among students is that during the winter time, it’s more than easy to forget what sunshine looks like, not to mention what it feels like.

It’s precisely that unfortunate reality, of the sun never shining during the winter, that was the inspiration for this photo series.

For a campus that spends a lot of time underneath cloud cover, its students sure have some cool sunglasses which deserve to be noticed.

Each student was given an odd prompt, such as, “Your mom just called to tell you that you and your whole family are

STEPHAN TOLJAN/The Vermont Cynic

(COUNTER-CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) Senior Karin Rand sports wayfarer style sunglasses made by Prime Shades, a Burlington based company.

Senior Marisa Cigliano wears rectangle shades from an unknown store in Manhattan, New York.

Sophomore Liz MacMannis blocks the sun’s rays with cat’s eye sunglasses from Forever 21.

Junior Nora Brown wears oval Ray Ban sunglasses when the sun is shining.

Senior Ethan Langlois (Left) and Junior Brooke McIntyre (Right) wear clubmasters from H&M and prescription Ray Ban Marshalls, respectively.

Sophomore Andrew Greenberg sports Ray Ban clubmasters when it’s sunny outside.

Illustrative elements by KATE VANNI.

going on vacation in Australia,” to be the inspiration behind their expression.

All of these students were caught off guard and had no idea that a Cynic photographer would come up to them asking to take their photograph.

A variety in both sunglass manufacturers and styles are represented in this photo series. Students even sport shades from Prime Shades, a Burlington based company.

Styles like wayfarers, cat’s eye and clubmasters are all seen here, as well as a selection of others.

I hope this page will remain with students through the tough winter months, reminding them that the sun will come out again, hopefully sometime soon.

For now, enjoy both the nice weather and the photos of these students protecting their eyes in their own unique ways.

CULTURE Student-run barn combines equestrians and education

Keely Lyons klyons12@uvm.edu

The smell of hay, freshly mowed grass and barn animals mingled with the early morning breeze.

Riders comfortably settled into the hustle of barn life that began at 9 a.m.

Located at 430 Spear St, the Ellen A. Hardacre Equine Center houses the UVM Horse Barn Co-op.

The UVM Horse Barn Co-op is made up of 12 student owned horses, four horses that belong to the dressage team and six horses used by the animal science department, said Chrissy Rohan, faculty advisor for the co-op and a lecturer in the department of animal and veterinary sciences.

The co-op serves a purpose outside of just boarding horses. It is a place of experiential learning for animal science students.

In her role as faculty advisor and professor, Rohan spends about one-third of her hours at the barn.

“I’m kind of overseeing the health of the horses. We’ll have to meet the farrier or vet if they need those services,” Rohan said. “I’ll tend to hold class down here because I prefer to do the stuff hands-on rather than in a lecture format.”

The barn staff is made up of student co-op members, animal science majors in equine classes and the dressage team.

The barn is completely student-run and relies on the chores co-op members to perform, Rohan said.

“For each student-owned horse, the student is responsible for cleaning that horse’s stall every day, emptying, cleaning

MADDY DEGELSMITH/The Vermont Cynic

TOP: A horse at the UVM Horse Barn Co-op greets a Cynic photographer Sept. 5. The co-op serves as a place of experiential learning for animal science students.

LEFT: A UVM student rides a horse.

RIGHT: A horse stands in a field. and refilling their water buckets and setting up their morning and night grain,” Rohan said.

While most boarding facilities in the Burlington area could cost up to $800 a month, co-op members pay $325 a month to house their horses.

Rohan said the trade off is that all of the work normally done at a more expensive boarding facility is done by coop members.

For many students, the co-op is an affordable way to bring a horse to campus. Maya Whitaker is a junior on the coop’s executive committee.

“I joined the co-op barn because I could not imagine going to a school where my pony couldn’t come with me,” Whitaker said. “When I visited I fell in love right away.”

Helen Bohn, a junior psychology major, boards her horse, Ritz, at the co-op.

“I joined the horse barn coop at the start of my sophomore year. This is my second year as a member, and I am so happy

that I made the commitment,” Bohn said. “It was a great opportunity for my horse to receive excellent care, and I knew I could trust her in the hands of other passionate horse owners and riders.”

Membership in the barn does not just require day-to-day care for a member’s own horse, but general chores as well as participating in the co-op community through meetings, according to the co-op’s website.

“When you’re in the barn, because it’s part of the University, everything has to have an educational mission, so if you’re in co-op, you take a one credit co-op class,” Rohan said.

“We meet once a week and that way we have time to connect to make sure everything is running okay.”

A co-op is much different than a typical boarding environment.

“At a regular barn everything is done for you: your stall, feed, water, etc. All you have to do is show up and ride,” Whita-

ker said. “At co-op, you are in charge of everything for your horse. I think you really have to love spending time with your horse to be in co-op, and not just riding the horse.”

Since the barn is run entirely by students, part of Whitaker’s role, along with two other students, is to operate like a barn manager would at a typical boarding facility, Whitaker said.

“They each have specific responsibilities in the barn like ordering feed, collecting board, that kind of stuff,” Rohan said.

The co-op’s educational philosophy is reflected through its annual community events.

On Saturday, Oct. 5 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the coop will have open barn hours.

The co-op will also have limited openings for new members in the fall and spring semesters.

Part of Rohan’s mission as an educator is to not only train horse-keepers, but also to develop real-world practices.

“You get these great life skills by being here,” Rohan said.

CULTURE

Minority gamers deserve a voice Allie O’Connor aoconno8@uvm.edu

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love the gaming community, I really do. I think it’s full of amazing people who are able to appreciate innovative games and experiences.

I’ve made lifelong friends with fellow gamers through our shared passion for video games.

However, it has been made abundantly clear that most of the time, the culture surrounding the game industry does not love me back.

The conversation of women in gaming, both as consumers and developers, is one that goes hand in hand with the poor treatment we face. Recently, this conversation has shifted from complaints of exhaustion and exclusion to straight-up abuse.

In recent weeks I’ve seen two conversations being rekindled. One being the attempts of women to name their experiences and abusers in a public forum, the other being the onslaught of harassment and criticism they receive in response.

Game developer Nathalie Lawhead posted a blog post to Twitter Aug. 26 detailing her experiences of rape and abuse at the hands of score composer Jeremy Soule.

In the days that followed, several other female and nonbinary game developers and designers took to Twitter to share their stories of sexual assault and brutality.

There is a lot of hatred and discrimination to be found at the intersection of the #MeToo movement and the gaming industry — a corner of the internet that already rests in the shadow of a past controversy titled “Gamergate.”

Gamergate refers to an internet movement that claimed to champion ethics and transparency in videogames journalism but quickly devolved into a harassmentbased campaign characterized by aggressive threats and attacks against numerous women and minorities.

One of the movement’s primary targets, Zoe Quinn,

was accused by a former boyfriend of cheating on him with other men, several of which were involved in games journalism.

In response, Quinn’s personal information was spread across the internet, and they were forced to leave their home for their own safety.

Threats of death, rape and torture followed these women and nonbinary folks for months. Many who spoke out in support of Quinn were similarly attacked, including members of Quinn’s family.

The Gamergate movement morphed into a series of attacks against anything that

didn’t cater to the stereotypical white male gamer.

What made things worse was the refusal of many men in the gaming industry to speak out in support of their female and nonbinary colleagues and consumers.

In refusing to address it from their inherent position of privilege, the movement festered, strengthened and worsened.

Throughout the, as gamergaters put it, “anti-socialjustice-warrior” campaign, one thing was made very clear. We, as women, as minorities and as allies are not welcome.

As a queer woman with a

9

deep passion for games, these messages of exclusion were heartbreaking— how could a community I cared so much for be so driven by hatred? How could developers and creators that I looked up to refuse to address the struggles of their victimized colleagues?

While there has been an outpouring of support for victims, it would be impossible to scroll through Twitter today and not see several tweets discrediting and further harassing Lawhead, Quinn and other victims.

Gamergate did not exist in a vacuum. It spawned from a culture of bigotry and inequality that the video game industry was, and still is, not free from.

Just as it was five years ago at the height of the Gamergate movement, women are still being told not to name their trauma, to place the careers of their abusers before their actions, to remain silent.

I do believe things are getting better.

In response to these accusations, men are being held responsible for their words and actions. The culture of believing and respecting women that spawned from the #MeToo movement is slowly making its way to the games industry.

Regardless, the shadow of hatred and anger of Gamergate still remains, and we have a long way to go to get out from under it.

Allie O’Connor is a junior public communication major. She has been Assistant Culture Editor since fall 2018

Medical Center’s Harvest Cafe exceeds expectations Cyrus Oswald coswald@uvm.edu

W

alking into UVM Medical Center’s Harvest Cafe, I wasn’t expecting anything great. After all, hospital food isn’t known for its quality.

But the setting itself wasn’t exactly hospital-like. It wasn’t the most beautiful space, but it didn’t seem too sterile either.

In fact, the cafe was quite reminiscent of the Living/ Learning Center Marche.

For the price, Harvest Cafe is hard to beat. For under $7.50, I got a small iced coffee, home fries, a sausage patty and an omelet with cheese and veggies in it.

The food was pretty tasty.

It’s hard to find individually cooked eggs on campus, and they had them in the “fresh off the grill” section.

The eggs were cooked well, the home fries tasted salty and

just greasy enough but the sausage was just a bit tough.

They also had a “crusts and such” area, think pizza, and a spot called “chef’s concoction.”

Nothing was there the morning I went, but the menu outside said something about mac and cheese being served that day.

Although I didn’t try them, they also had freshly made egg sandwiches, which cost $4.05 fully loaded: sausage, cheddar cheese and of course egg.

They also offer them with cheese and vegetables for $2.30 and plain with egg and cheddar cheese for $2.05.

Besides made-to-order food, they had a salad bar, ice cream freezer, bagels and other pastries, plenty of Speeder and Earl’s coffee dispensers.

Don’t let anyone tell you they have a small selection.

The coffee was pretty cheap.

A refill was $1, and a large cup was $2. They also had hot tea and Oregon chai, $1 and 95 cents respectively.

A scrambled egg is 75 cents: and with cheese and veggies it

Photo Illustration by CYRUS OSWALD/The Vermont Cynic

A small iced coffee, a sausage patty, homefries and an omelet cost less than $7.50 at Harvest Cafe. is $2.10.

The staff was very friendly, if caught off guard by my presence. I asked the chef working the grill what the best thing on the menu was, and she didn’t know what to say.

Nonetheless, after a little digression the eggs were decided the most popular. In the evenings, she said the burgers are the thing to get.

The man behind me chimed

in to say that the home fries were the most popular.

If the cafe took them off the menu, he figured there would be a riot.

Harvest Cafe was not very crowded. At most there were 15 people present. Most of the patrons were clearly affiliated with the hospital: doctors, medical students or other professionals.

I only saw two other people

who looked like undergraduate students.

For how sparsely populated with students it was, I have heard some buzz around campus about it.

“It’s on my UVM bucket list to eat there,” sophomore Mokoto Burlage said.

The atmosphere was surprisingly comfortable. The paper plates, no nonsense presentation and workers and patrons joking with one another helped make it very homey.

Pictures line the walls, which are painted a warm yellow. In fact, you wouldn’t know you were in a hospital if it weren’t for the uniformed nurses and doctors.

Harvest Cafe is located on the north end of the hospital, right by Fleming Museum.

Their hours are from 5 a.m. to 3 a.m Monday through Saturday.

Cyrus Oswald is an undeclared sophomore. He has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2018.

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CULTURE

Interfaith Center hosts Pride service Jean MacBride jmacbrid@uvm.edu

Sometimes a forbidden symbol in religious institutions, a rainbow LGBT flag covered the back wall of the Interfaith Center as attendees sat together in unity.

The UVM Interfaith Center held a religious service Sept. 5 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising and LGBT resilience.

The event was led by a variety of local religious leaders and included a tea ritual, songs and a closing blessing.

Senior Anna Cataldo thought the idea of a service celebrating LGBT resilience and Stonewall was great.

“I think that a lot of people mistake religious people for hateful people. It’s hard, my religion was built on a lot of hateful things, but I think spirituality can be really beautiful,” Cataldo said. “I also think that being queer and being religious shouldn’t have to be seperate things.”

Deacon Stannard Baker gave the final blessing before the service ended.

He explained that the first UVM pride service was held in 1985 in the Presbyterian Church, in the same building as the Interfaith Center.

“Blessed is consent, blessed is respect, blessed are those who I didn’t describe,” Baker said.

Religious leaders like Baker want to bridge the divide between queer identities and spiritual affiliations.

“Our purpose was to recog-

TAYLOR EHWA/The Vermont Cynic

An attendee of UVM Interfaith Center’s Pride Service holds a program before the beginning of the ceremony Sept. 5. The service was held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising as well as LGBT resilience. nize the wounds the churches have done to many queer people, help churches open up to them and help people explore their spirituality,” he said.

Baker also explained his role as a plaintiff in the case that led to the legalizing of gay and lesbian civil unions in Vermont.

Baker is the named plaintiff in the Vermont Supreme Court case Baker v. Vermont in 1999 that determined Vermont’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.

“Our goal is to expose the institutional homophobia of some of the churches, but also

show the queer community that many churches are welcoming and want them involved,” he said.

Baker said it was important to heal the divides between LGBT and Christian people. He cited how some LGBT people had been dismissed or hurt by religious groups.

“My sense is one of the most radical things you can do is create change and openness in the fundamentalist institutions of our society,” he said Rev. Laura Ingelken, the head pastor at the Interfaith Center, said she sometimes

found it hard to be understood in mainstream queer spaces and some Christian spaces. Ingelken led the tea ceremony during the service.

“For me, it’s being at home with who I am and who I am called to be and being centered in that,” she said.

Ingelken explained that she was rejected by her childhood church from pursuing leadership because she is a woman, and by the church in general for being a lesbian.

She said that religious or philosophical fundamentalism of any kind fails to understand

how different people within a group can be from each other.

“I think because my experience of life has been being outside of the norm, I have more space for other people who are outside of the norm,” she said.

Rev. Josh Simon felt his connection to God was more important than what others thought of him.

He said he could not see God disapproving of LGBT people if he created them.

“I just live my life, if other people have issues with it then it’s their problem, not mine,” he said.

A musician’s necessary hiatus causes fan heartbreak

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’m in mourning. Grief, loneliness and isolation surround me. Why, you ask? Mitski has deleted all her social media accounts and announced an “indefinite” break from touring.

In reference to a Sept. 7 concert in New York City, Mitski tweeted: “This will be my last show indefinitely, and I’m glad it’s ending in NY where I came up.”

If you know me at all, you know that indie singersongwriter Mitski Miyawaki is one of my favorite musicians of all time.

Since 2016, her music has been a constant in my life. I’ve been fortunate enough to see her live three times and have enjoyed a steady stream of new music coming out every two years or so.

The Japanese American musician has been touring for

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srobin14@uvm.edu

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Sarah Robinson

the past five years and living completely on the road. Of course she needs a break; she deserves one. But that didn’t relieve the pit in my stomach.

She quickly soothed the minds of listeners with a tweet directly stating that she was not quitting music, but rather that she needed to stop touring and take a break.

Artists do this all the time.

We could say that

JU

Rhythm and News

Frank Ocean was taking a hiatus in the four years between his two masterful albums, but he didn’t announce it as such.

We patiently took his absence from the public eye to mean he was perfecting forthcoming music.

So why did the word “indefinitely” in Mitski’s tweet send fear and panic through the minds of those who adore her?

The simple answer is the ambiguity.

“Indefinitely” is a word that is meant to be vague.

Since I’ve always had the promise of new Mitski, it has never been a possibility in my mind that I would someday have to say goodbye.

But I think my discomfort lies deeper. I think I’m more disturbed at my immediate reaction of “No, I need more Mitski, now!” than the news of her hiatus.

The ease at which we can live through our favorite artists because of social media has provided us with the inability to exist without it.

If I can’t see her selfies or see that she’s spending time in the studio, I guess that means she’s gone forever, right?

Of course not. As a musician myself, I know that you have to put 110 percent of your being into the project.

It is physically and creatively draining. Living in the public eye to that extent and trying to supply a never-ending demand sounds like hell.

I want, for Mitski’s sake, for her to recharge and reenergize because she deserves it. But God, I will miss her so.

How do I reconcile my feelings of sympathy and understanding of her needing a break with my instinctual need for more material?

I know that if she were to continue like she has, the material would likely be weaker, and her mental stability would surely crack.

No one wants either of those to happen.

“I’ve been on non-stop tour

for over 5 years, I haven’t had a place to live during this time, & I sense that if I don’t step away soon, my self-worth/identity will start depending too much on staying in the game,” Mistki tweeted shortly after her announcement.

I know that I need to accept her hiatus and continue on my search for more music.

But I’ll never forget when I heard “First Love / Late Spring” for the first time, and it felt like someone was hearing my thoughts. I’ve never connected with music that way; I’m not sure I will with another artist again.

So my sadness at the situation isn’t just selfish and exaggerated. It’s temporary.

Take a lollipop away from a child and they will cry, but they can’t cry forever. Oh Mitski, my lollipop, take the time you need. My heart will move on, and I will be waiting for you when, and if, you choose to return.

Sarah Robinson is a junior English and Spanish major.

She has been the Culture Editor since fall 2019.

SPORTS

SPORTS PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Men’s soccer midfielder Frosti Brynjolfsson, a first-year, narrowly avoids getting kicked in the crotch during a match against Iona College, Sept. 5.

Brynjolfsson hails from Akureyri, Iceland, and joins cousins: defender Ivar Orn Arnason, a senior, and goal-keeper Aron Runarsson, a senior, on the field this season.

UVM lost the match 3-1, putting their record at 1-2 overall.

Photo by Maddy Degelsmith/ The Vermont Cynic Maddy Degelsmith is a junior. She has been with the Cynic since fall 2018.

MATCHES TO LOOK FORWARD TO THIS MONTH WEEK OF SEPT. 8-14 Field Hockey

Women’s Soccer

Men’s Soccer

Swimming

vs. Brown 4 p.m. Sept. 13 at UVM Moulton Winder Field

vs. Colgate 4:30 p.m. Sept. 13 at UVM Virtue Field

vs. Harvard 7 p.m. Sept. 13 at UVM Virtue Field

CSCAA Open Water Championships 10 a.m. Sept. 14 KS Lone Star Lake

WEEK OF SEPT. 15-21 Women’s Soccer

Field Hockey

Swimming & Diving

Men’s Cross Country

vs. Bryant 3 p.m. Sept. 15 Away Smithfield, RI

vs. Stanford noon Sept. 15 Away Durham, NH

vs. Northeastern 10 a.m. Sept. 21 at UVM Forbush Natatorium

Middlebury Aldrich Invitational 10 a.m. Sept. 21 Middlebury, VT

WEEK OF SEPT. 22-29 Women’s Soccer

Men’s Soccer

Women’s Ice Hockey

Women’s Soccer

vs. Binghamton 1 p.m. Sept. 22 Away Vestal, NY

vs. Stony Brook 7 p.m. Sept. 28 Away Stony Brook, NY

vs. University of Ottawa 4 p.m. Sept. 29 at UVM Gutterson Fieldhouse

vs. Maine 1 p.m Sept. 29 at UVM Virtue Field

FEATURE Illustrative elements by MEILENA SANCHEZ

Find your [state] park

Exploring the beauty of Vermont’s state parks Nina Loutchko nloutchk@uvm.edu

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ucked away behind the shadows of the state’s tallest peaks, blue waters, sandy shores and luscious greenery are the natural spectacles of Vermont State Parks.

Vermont currently maintains 52 developed state parks and 21 undeveloped properties spanning from the Northeast Kingdom to the islands of Lake Champlain.

Aside from hiking and camping, the parks encourage a wide variety of outdoor activities like mountain biking, fishing and boating.

According to the Vermont State Parks website, over 1 million people visited the parks system in 2018.

Park attendance has seen an overall increase in the past 10 years.

Standard day-use fees start at $4 for adults age 14 and older. Camping fees vary in cost depending on vehicle and site type, but most parks charge $18 per night at a standard tent and RV site.

In need of a weekend away from the mountain summit crowds, I took to the trails of two state parks to catch a glimpse of Vermont at a lower elevation.

Niquette Bay State Park Colchester, Vt.

Though Niquette Bay State Park is only a 25 minute drive from downtown Burlington, the ride pulled me out of the city’s concrete and traffic.

As I coasted down the interstate to the Milton and Colchester exit, I was surrounded

by Vermont’s greenery, just a passing tease of the park’s lush canopy.

A drive down a quiet residential road gently guided me to the entrance of the park on the left.

Adorned with the familiar green and yellow lettered state park sign, Niquette Bay State Park provides hiking trails through a green and densely wooded forest with stunning views of Lake Champlain.

As I stood under the towering oak trees, my eyes traced the Allen Trail’s leisurely descent down to a natural valley to the glimmering lakeshore.

When I approached the sandy beach, the sailboats dotting the water in the bay came into view.

The picnic tables provided me a welcoming seat to enjoy the calming atmosphere of the lapping waves and cooling breeze of the lake.

Nearby, the Cedar Island Loop spanned over rocks and roots to the park’s peninsula and spectacular views of shoreline’s 60-foot cliffs.

Hikers swam in the brilliant blue waters of Calm Cove, which is nestled between cliffs of limestone rock.

Several trails wind through the oak and beech forest across beautiful overlooks that eventually led back to the gravel parking lot.

The park’s restrictions on biking and the lack of camping make this park perfect for a quiet stroll on weekday evenings or weekend mornings.

Niquette Bay is a great place for beginners.

The diversity in trails allow

SAWYER LOFTUS/The Vermont Cynic

TOP: A small stream leads to a cove at the Niquette Bay State Park in Colchester, VT. The park offers sweeping views of Lake Champlain from its cliffs and a number of trails to explore.

BOTTOM: Nina Loutchko stands in front of a Niquette Bay State Park trail sign. hikers to choose their difficulty and break a sweat without needing to drive very far into the mountains.

Little River State Park Waterbury, Vt.

Little River State Park is one of the most visited parks in Vermont, but its wide array of trails can make visitors feel like they have the park to themselves, even on weekends.

Visitors can take in the scenic views of Waterbury Reservoir by paddling the calm waters or swimming at one of the two beach areas.

The main road leads visitors to three different trailheads that send hikers off to the miles of trails and loops around Ricker Basin.

In the History Hike and Dalley Loop Trailhead parking area, I passed mountain bikers as they carefully secured their gear and packed their belongings before they flew up the gravel path.

Interactive signs along the trail informed me that in the 1800s, settlers cleared the hillside of Ricker Basin and developed a small network of farms.

I soon became immersed in the leftover evidence of former settlements.

The History Hike goes through old farmland that previously dominated the landscape.

Old stone walls that once divided the land line the trail, and the path itself used to be a road connecting the farms.

Eerie signs of life emerged as rusted metal and old farm equipment pile up along the trail.

Round cellar holes lined with moss-covered stones outline where structures used to stand tall.

Along the way, delicate birch trees huddle around community cemeteries and the tops of headstones peak over the low lying vegetation.

Though the hike mainly

focuses on the historical aspect of the landscape, the park is rich in natural beauty.

The rest of the hike pleasantly weaves through a secondary forest and provides an insight into how vegetation is recolonizing the once cleared land.

The surrounding land fosters the growth of eastern white pine, white birch and quaking aspen.

Upon returning to the trailhead, I was pulled out of the past as I approached the car-filled parking lot.

After meeting their dogs, I chatted with other hikers about their own adventures of the day.

Driving away from the park felt bittersweet, as though I didn’t have enough time to explore every inch.

Nina Loutchko is a senior environmental science major. She started writing for the Cynic in spring 2019.