Issue 7 - Volume 137 by Vermont Cynic

THE CYNIC Est. 1883 | Issue 7 - Volume 137 | October 13, 2020 | vtcynic.com

TikTok quarantine

Reproductive rights

Sophomore TikTok’s his way through COVID-19 isolation at UVM.

State legislators work to further protect Vermonters’ reporductive rights.

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Justice for Kendall Ware

ERIC SCHARF/ The Cynic

Senior Kendall Ware stands in her Vermont Swimming and Diving shirt in front of the Patrick Gym, Oct. 9. Ware will be graduating this year to enter a Speech Pathology grad program at UVM. Hayley Rosen Assistant Sports Editor Emma Pinezich News and Sports Editor

Nearly two weeks after UVM Senior Kendall Ware came forward saying that she felt the UVM Athletic Department’s mishandled the investigation into her sexual assault, students are calling for systemic change, asking for the Director of Athletics to resign. Ware and seven other female athletes from other universities are suing the NCAA for failing to protect them from sexual assault. Though originally unnamed, Ware decided to come forward in a Sept. 23 Burlington Free Press article to be a voice for other survivors and to push for change at UVM. “The Athletic Department, just as a whole on this campus, has this culture that’s been created,” Ware said. “And they have this power, whether that’s like the male athletes on the men’s basketball, men’s hockey teams, or the actual admin.” Now, Ware and others are calling for change in what they see as a corrupt system that gives preferential treatment to some male athletes over other female athletes. “I felt really alone throughout my reporting experience, because I didn’t feel like this had happened to anybody else. But one of the key components of the lawsuit against NCAA is that this does happen to everybody else,” she said. “My story

is not uncommon.” Since the article about Ware’s experience was published, other student athletes and UVM’s Student Government Association have spoken up about how the Athletic Department needs to treat female athletes better. Sophomore Sofia Wittmann, a student-athlete on UVM’s track and field team, started posting on social media the day after Ware came forward, with resources for sexual assault survivors. “Stand behind Kendall,” one post from Sept. 24 read. “Reach out to the survivors, women and student athletes for whom this may have triggered previous trauma. We feel helpless, terrified and betrayed.” Wittmann said as a female survivor herself, her initial reaction to reading Ware’s story was fear. “We felt like our Athletic Department didn’t care about us,” Wittmann said. “We felt that we’re supposed to have this really strong support system through athletics and they did not do their job to protect a female varsity athlete.” Wittmann said she hasn’t had much personal experience

partment and knowing that basically, any men’s team is going to be protected over a female.” The Athletic Department did not respond to requests for comment. On social media, student groups and athletes voiced their anger alongside Wittmann. An Instagram page called “Justice for Kendall” was created after the article was published, asking students to ﬁll out a Google form to share their experiences with the Athletic Department and what changes they would like to see. “UVM wants our community to support a rapist,” a Sept. 7 post by the account stated. Other groups including UVM’s Union of Students, UVM Women in Business and UVM Leading Women of Tomorrow also signalled their support for Ware, commenting “We stand -Kendall Ware with you. #JusticeUVM Senior ForKendall,” on the newly created page. One student-athlete, Ware’s experience forced Madeleine Kovacs, who’s on her to reckon with the same the swimming and diving team with Ware, posted a screenshot questions. “I don’t know if it is just be- on Instagram of an email she cause they are such a revenue wrote calling on two Athletic producing sport that the Athlet- Department administrators to ic Department tries to do every- resign. “I am sure you have received thing they can to protect their players,” she said. “Or if it’s just multiple emails from distressed the culture of the Athletic De- students regarding Kendall with the Athletic Department to say whether they favor certain teams over others, but that Ware’s story raised concerns. “It makes me wonder if a person on a less proﬁtable team comes forward about an assault again,” Wittmann said. “Will our Athletic Department support them?”

“I felt really alone

throughout my reporting experience, because I didn’t feel like this had happened to anybody else. But one of the key components of the lawsuit against NCAA is that this does happen to everybody else,”

Ware and her coming-forward story,” the email stated. “Kendall Ware was raped by one of your athletes and you failed to protect her.” The email demanded the resignation of UVM Athletic Director Jeff Schulman and Krista Balogh, associate athletic director for external relations & communications. “We no longer feel safe under your jurisdiction. We do not believe in you,” she wrote. “I firmly believe that you can ensure your student athletes’ safety and well-being by leaving your job as Athletic Administrators.” Ware’s attorney, Karen Truszkowski, said Ware could not comment on whether or not she thought the two directors should resign because it is a “political issue that Kendall is not going to be involved with.” Neither Balogh nor Schulman responded to the Cynic’s request for comment. UVM’s Student Government Association came out in support of Ware in an email sent to students Oct. 1. The group said they condemn the actions taken by UVM’s Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity and included a link to resources for survivors. Ware and other students speaking up are hoping the Athletic Department will look to reform the way sexual assault investigations are handled going forward. Story continued on page 3

NEWS

Cynic News Reporter

It’s almost a normal weekday for Sophomore Sam Joyner, except today he’s sitting alone in a hallway of empty dorm rooms accompanied only by people in hazmat suits, making TikToks to offer a glimpse into his life during isolation. Although UVM has outlined some procedures online about what UVM’s isolation and quarantine conditions are like, Joyner started making TikToks to give his friends more information about what it actually looks and feels like, he said. “My biggest fear was that someone would be so worried about isolation that they wouldn’t come here and we would have a spike,” Joyner said. As the semester nears its halfway point and common seasonal colds resurface, some students have been apprehensive to report their symptoms to the school, unwilling to spend days alone in a lonely residence hall somewhere unknown on campus. An anonymous first-year said that despite experiencing cold-like symptoms, she did not report them to UVM because she said they felt similar to other colds she’s experienced, and that she felt at minimal risk for COVID-19 because of the precautions she’s taken. “I think that no one really wants to go into isolation because then they can’t go to their classes and they can’t, you know, get meals with our friends,” she said. The Green and Gold Promise that students signed at the

In a visit to the University of Vermont’s campus Saturday, Dr. Deborah Birx, the Response Coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force praised the University and the states’ handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, while warning of how quickly low positivity rates can change if the state becomes complacent. Birx said that right now Vermont is 51 out of 51, with the lowest positivity rate in the country. “There were other states that shared that spot with Vermont. Montana, Wyoming, and you can see how quickly a virus can spread when the community doesn’t prevent the spread of that virus,” she said. “It does take all of us making that personal sacrifice of wearing a mask and physical distancing and taking that same philosophy, just like the students do into their dorm rooms and in their apartments.” Birx said that other states and universities should look

WHAT ’S

V TH

IS W E E K

Lila Cumming Cynic News Reporter

Image Source: TikTok Sophomore Sam Joyner posted a video on TikTok for his second day in isolation at UVM after going to his sister’s wedding, sharing what food UVM gave him. beginning of the year requires students to immediately report when they experience symptoms of COVID-19. According to UVM’s Return to Campus website, students must go into quarantine to “observe their health for the potential development of symptoms.” Students must go into isolation if they are awaiting test results for COVID-like symptoms or test positive for COVID-19. Another anonymous student said as temperatures drop, more students may get COVID19-like symptoms, but may not report them. “I feel like so many people are getting cold right now just because of the time of year,” they said. “Like I had a cold last week but I didn’t report my symptoms because it was exact-

ly like how all my colds usually feel.” Despite apprehension from some students to enter quarantine, Joyner said the 10 days he spent in isolation offered a break from his busy life on campus. “I just want people to know it’s not a scary NYU situation,” Joyner said, referring to earlier this fall when New York University gave quarantined students unsatisfactory meals, according to an Aug. 22, 2020 New York Times article. The Cynic reached out to UVM Strong to gain more information on quarantine, but they declined to comment. The Cynic also reached out to UVM Spokesperson Enrique Corredera for isolation and quarantine numbers to date, but he has yet

to provide that data. According to UVM’s website, students in quarantine will be checked on regularly by a nurse from Student Health Services, and students that test positive in isolation will get “daily health check-ins to monitor symptoms and care.” In an Oct. 8 email to the Cynic, UVM Spokesperson Enrique Correderra said UVM is not disclosing the location of student quarantine and isolation to protect their privacy. Although off-campus students are supposed to quarantine in their households and eliminate contact with housemates, they can request isolation housing if they don’t think they can manage these requirements.

White House COVID official praises UVM Alek Fleury Managing Editor

PPENIN HA est. 2019 G

SGA

Paige Fisher

THIS WEEK IN SGA

TikToks reveal UVM quarantine

at the University of Vermont and its students as evidence that staying safe while learning in-person and keeping positivity rates low is possible. “Again, I will tell you, every student knows how to be safe,” she said. “Because the lowest testing we’ve ever seen among 18 to 22-year-olds were entry test results, but here, they’ve learned how to stay safe during that fall semester.” In August, UVM conducted over 9,000 pre-arrival COVID-19 tests on students returning to campus. Since then, UVM mandated once a week testing for all students taking in-person classes. The University has received 70,000 test results since Aug. 7 with only 24 positive cases. Birx emphasized that the University has done a great job at empowering students understanding that they still can do certain things and that life during a pandemic is not about a bunch of “red X’s.” “I think creating physical distance, but social engagement is really critical as we all work through this together,” Birx

SAWYER LOFTUS/ The Cynic

Dr. Deborah Birx, the response coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, addresses gathered media in the Grand Maple Ball Room at UVM Oct. 10. Birx praised the University and Vermont’s response to the virus. said. “It was really important to meet with the students to be able to talk to nursing students and medical students and undergraduates, and to really see the leadership of the Greek life group here.” Birx said she was really impressed by the students she spoke with at UVM and how they spread a culture of pandemic safety not only to each other but at home as well.

“I was very struck talking to the students because the students reference their families and where they come from,” she said. “They come from across this country and they also are conveying those messages of physical distancing, mask-wearing, protecting one another back to their households that they come from.”

A fund for environmental projects has been revised to engage more students due to low levels of student involvement in the past, despite the fact that students’ tuition finances the fund. Formerly known as the Clean Energy Fund, the now Sustainable Campus Fund is a pool of money that finances projects to achieve energy efficiency, renewable energy and other sustainability projects. The mission of the fund was recently redrafted to “support student’s vision of enhancing a culture of sustainability, innovation, and research on campus,” to broaden the scope outside of clean energy projects. Undergraduate students pay $10 each semester through their tuition to finance projects. Any student can submit a proposal to the fund before Oct. 23. SGA also discussed student voting in the upcoming presidential election throughout the meeting. The group announced that the The Boulder and Tower societies will stand on South Prospect Street Nov. 2, the day before the election, holding up signs intended to motivate student voting. The Boulder Society is a group of senior men who work to vocalize issues and needs of the undergraduate student body to the administration and wider UVM body, and the Tower Society is a female-oriented group that works to bring together women and other traditionally marginalized gender identities that strive to make a difference in the community. Only 42.8% of undergraduate students voted in the 2016 election, 5% below the national voting average for college students, according to an Oct. 8 Cynic article. “Senators Lynch and Kane are collaborating with Club Affairs, working with clubs and voter registration,” said Aidan May, chair of the committee of legislative and community affairs. During committee updates, the Committee on Legislation and Community Affairs said that SGA has started planning a forum for the UVM Police Services where students can express concerns about policing on campus. The Committee on the Environment also announced there will be a climate strike Oct. 16 led by groups such as Sunrise, Eco-Reps, The Black Perspective and others. Around 600 students attended the strike last year.

NEWS

2020 grads await promised graduation Ella Ruehsen Cynic News Reporter Commencement for the class of 2020 has yet to happen, and despite promises from the administration to release a plan by August, the class of recent grads have been left in the dark. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, UVM was forced to close campus during spring break. As a result, UVM postponed the in-person graduation and held a virtual celebration May 17 instead. “In the first week of August, after we have a better sense of how things are progressing here and across the country, we will send details on the timing of your rescheduled Commencement ceremony,” President Suresh Garimela stated in an April 28 email. Now, five months after UVM was forced to cancel graduation ceremonies and two months after UVM was supposed to tell students about plans to reschedule, UVM refuses to say when recent graduates will get a much promised ceremony. “We’re really upset that it didn’t happen, but I think a lot of people are sort of losing hope that it will happen because we’ve had such little communication from the school,” said Graduate Hannah McDonald. The Cynic reached out to

SAWYER LOFTUS/ The Cynic Former UVM seniors watch a virtual graduation May 17. Two months after UVM was supposed to release students’ graduation plans, the University has refused to say when the ceremony will occur. Commencement Coordinator Kelly O’Malley for comment. However, she declined an interview, deferring instead to UVM’s Commencement website. “We had hoped to share news by now regarding an official, in-person commencement celebration for you, but given the continuing and rapidly evolving nature of the pandemic and its impact across the country, the future remains unclear,” the website

states. UVM will continue to monitor the situation and provide more definitive information as soon as possible, according to the statement. On Sept. 12, McDonald posted in the class of 2020’s facebook group: “Bets on how long it takes to hear about graduation?” she wrote. Two weeks later on Sept. 23, Justin Schimmel posted a screenshot of an email he received with the same

statement UVM posted to its website. Gabi Freeda, another recent grad, said she hopes to attend the ceremony if there is one in the future, but worries that UVM will never follow through with their promise. “I think ultimately if they were to have something that would be really nice to see people that I never got to say goodbye to, and kind of have a reunion, if it was safe and if it was feasible,” she said. “But like

I do feel like there’s a chance that nothing will happen.” Freeda said although she understands the administration had never dealt with something like this, she felt frustrated with how late in the spring the commencement delay was announced, because people had already made reservations. Garimella announced that in-person commencement had been canceled in an April 3 email to students, roughly six weeks before the scheduled date of the ceremony. Although Freeda and McDonald wish UVM was more transparent, she wants the University to focus on keeping campus safe. “I’m aware that this is simply the last thing that UVM has on their mind right now because they are caring for, you know, 10,000 or 12,000 kids who are on campus right now,” Freeda said. “And as far as I’m concerned, we got out in the nick of time.” According to UVM’s commencement website, this year’s graduation is still listed as a future undergraduate ceremony for May 23, 2021. However, O’Malley did not respond to a request for comment on whether this year’s commencement will be postponed as well.

Students demand change from Athletic Department Hayley Rosen Assistant Sports Editor Emma Pinezich News and Sports Editor

Story continued from page 1 “I really would love to see policy change at UVM and the Athletic Department having less involvement, if any, in the Title IX process,” Ware said. “Because I think that having them involved really just creates this barrier for survivors.” Ware said if the Athletic Department is involved in the process, they can’t have bias over one team or another, especially in situations that involve two student athletes. “So if the Athletic Department can honestly have no bias and just be there to support survivors, I think that’d be great,” Ware said. “But unfortunately, I don’t think they’re at a point right now, where that can happen.” Wittmann also hopes the Athletic Department will support survivors more in the future and actively listen to their student athletes. “We’re looking for policy change,” Wittmann said. “We’re looking for accountability. We want to see reassessment of our policies on sexual misconduct.” Ware first told UVM about her assault in October of 2019, roughly a month after it had happened, according to the

Burlington Free Press article. In the months that followed, Ware said she was misled by members of the Athletic Department, specifically because her alleged rapist was on the basketball team. She said UVM originally presented her with two options for an investigation: a formal and informal route. Ware decided to go with the formal route because the informal route, which both parties must agree to enter, did not include discipline for the player, she said. The formal route involves an investigation which can take up to 60 days and may result in disciplinary action. Several hours after meeting with members of the Athletic Department and telling them her decision, she received a call from an administrator from the office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity. “The moment I first realized that the Athletic Department probably was not on my side was after I had given my formal statement to [the Title IX investigator],” Ware said. “And then like an hour later, I got that phone call saying it doesn’t sound like you know what you want.” The next day, Ware met with the Athletic Department’s Title IX coordinator who told her the informal route could actually lead to game suspension and mandatory counseling,

in contrast to what she was originally told, according to the Free Press article. After deciding to pursue the informal route for this reason, Ware was again told something different, this time by an outside facilitator: the informal route could in fact not lead to game suspensions or mandatory counseling, according to the article. After Ware realized she had been misled, her mother, Marcie Ware, spoke with Balogh, who told Ware the informal resolution couldnt include game suspension because “that wouldn’t be fair” to the player’s teammates and “the community that comes out and watches him play,” the article stated. Ware said as a studentathlete even before her assault, she feels like the UVM Athletic Department values the men’s basketball team over other athletes, recalling one instance last year when student athletes were asked in a survey which athletic gear brand they wanted to switch to. “And there was like an ongoing joke throughout the Athletic Department,” Ware said. “Oh, everybody put that you’re on men’s basketball. So your opinion will really be valued.” Because she was formerly in a relationship with the basketball player, she said it had always been obvious how much the department gave the

ERIC SCHARF/ The Cynic

Junior Kendall Ware stands in her Vermont Swimming and Diving shirt in front of the Patrick Gym, Oct. 9. Ware will be graduating this year to enter a Speech Pathology grad program at UVM. team preferential treatment. Ware said she has witnessed the Athletic Department and greater community put the team on a pedestal, so she was apprehensive to choose the formal route which would lead to game suspension for the player and subsequently affect the team. “I felt like that backlash would come on to me,” Ware said. “And the community would see it as my fault that this person couldn’t play and my fault that the team was performing in whichever way they were doing.” However, Ware said she hasn’t received the negative response she expected, but rather has been overwhelmed by the positive response she has received since the article came out.

“I think it’s really great that people are circulating resources and that people are starting to talk about it, because that was the whole point of coming forward,” Ware said. “Sharing my story was to start a conversation and for people to realize that this happens everywhere.”

Correction An Oct. 8 news story has been updated to correct an error. The article incorrectly stated that UVM will not continue to investigate off-campus incidents of sexual assault. UVM will continue to investigate off-campus sexual assault cases through the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity. The Cynic apologizes for these errors.

OPINION

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7D 1 883 | ISSUE

EXECUTIVE Editor-in-Chief Sawyer Loftus editorinchief@vtcynic.com Managing Editor Alek Fleury newsroom@vtcynic.com

OPERATIONS Operations Manager Katherine Izadi operations@vtcynic.com Distribution Manager Inquries email cynic@uvm.edu

EDITORS Copy Chief Will Keeton copy@vtcynic.com Culture Sarah Robinson cynicculture@gmail.com Features Greta Rohrer cynicfeatures@gmail.com News & Sports Emma Pinezich news@vtcynic.com sports@vtcynic.com Opinion Gabby Felitto opinion@vtcynic.com Podcasts David Cabrera vtcynicpodcasts@gmail.com Layout & Illustrations Kate Vanni layout@vtcynic.com Photo Bailey Samber photo@vtcynic.com

Fill these pages with your words Staff Editorial

t its core, the Cynic editorial pages have always meant to serve as the voice of the students and the surrounding UVM community. Each week our columnists work to provide you their takes on the world around them. But, we want to broaden that circle of writers even more. For some time now, the Cynic has accepted guest contributions, usually in the form of a letter to the editor. Now, we want even more for the UVM community to use our platform to share their stories. In our newly minted guest contributions subsection “Perspectives,” we encourage anyone to write about anything they feel strongly about, especially in the UVM community. The Cynic website garners upwards of 75,000 page views per month. This is your chance to get your voice heard by a large audience. Here is us, willing to share our platform with the UVM community.

Page Designers Will Guisbond, Ellie Scott

• Try to keep your content as UVM topical as possible, we will consider other content as well. • Please submit content by the Wednesday before we send the paper to print (which are Sundays). • When you submit your piece please include your ﬁrst and last name, a headshot or photo of your face as well as your year and major. Potential headlines ideas are also appreciated. • Send all of this to opinion@vtcynic.com, and keep your email handy in case we have questions or feedback.

Here are some parameters:

• All content will be reviewed for potential legal liabilities.

• Your column should be between 500-600 words. That word count range usually gives us enough to play around with when it comes to ﬁtting the piece in the paper.

See something in the news you disagree with? Have a strong opinion about a topic? Write! This new “Perspectives” space isn’t free advertising and doesn’t take the space of letters to the editors. It’s a space for

IZZY PIPA

people to use our platform to have their voices read and heard even further. The Cynic’s ultimate goal as a paper of record is to capture the moment and the culture of the University of Vermont through time. One of the best ways to do this is hearing directly from the students and community members themselves. These articles are a chance for the reader to offer a perspective that a news article might not be able to capture. A

personal experience, a personal perspective.

Staff editorials ofﬁcially reﬂect the views of the editorial board, which includes the Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor and Opinion Editor. 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. Please send letters to opinion@ vtcynic.com.

How to prevent a repeat of the first debate Jordon Spindel Cynic Columnist

Digital Media Mills Sparksman cynic@uvm.edu Assistant Editors Mac Mansﬁeld-Parisi (Layout), Cole Fekert & Izzy Pipa (Illustrations), Irene Choi (News), Hayley Rosen (Sports), Emily Johnston (Opinion), Sophia Venturo (Culture), Jacob Goodwin (Podcasts), Kyle Elms (Photo)

• Understand that we reserve the right to not publish any content we receive without notice.

“

That was a hot mess, inside a dumpster ﬁre, inside a trainwreck.” This is how not only CNN anchor Jake Tapper interpreted 2020’s ﬁrst presidential debate, but also millions watching across the country. And it’s clear that this is the result of virtually everyone involved being unprepared for a candidate who operates without restraint in what is usually an orderly affair. Normally, a presidential debate is a series of questions, answers and rebuttals by the candidates. There may some interruptions to correct statements, but generally don’t derail the debate. Even the 2016 debates, which featured Trump as a candidate, went fairly smoothly compared to what happened in 2020. What President Trump did on Sept. 29 was a continuation of his efforts to weaken and dismantle American institutions.

VALENTINA CZOCHANSKI

Trump talked out of line numerous times during the debate, interrupting Democratic nominee Joe Biden and moderator Chris Wallace. This got to the point where both men actively chided Trump for this, with Wallace being put in the unusual position of having to put a candidate in his place. But talking over others may have been Donald Trump’s strategy all along. He knew that he was heading for a likely defeat in the debate. He couldn’t afford to sink further than he already had with several nationwide crises in full swing.

To prevent this, he turned the debate into a circus where Biden simply couldn’t say what needed to be said. Biden may have done better if this debate was more orderly. As a result, his highlights were not directed at the president. Instead some were telling the president to “shut up,” which only made Trump supporters more volatile on social media. His notable statements were mostly directed to the American people, where he hammered on the severity of the COVID-19 crisis and urged Americans to vote as soon as they could. This, and his relatively

calm nature compared to the president’s is why post-debate polls show him as the “winner” of the debate. Meanwhile, Trump’s interruptive nature turned off many more than the center-left opinions of Biden. Many of his own supporters disapproved of this approach in the debate. One supporter said “There were times he went overboard,” according to a Sept. 30 New York Magazine Article. This experience should be learned from in order to not be repeated. The Commission on Presidential Debates is doing the right thing by adding new rules for future debates, including possibly the ability to mute candidates’ microphones if they interrupt. 2020’s ﬁrst presidential debate was a disorderly affair unlike any other. From the constant interruptions to the general unproductivity, this is an experience that shouldn’t be replicated. Let us hope the next debate, if it ever happens, actually resembles those of the decades before it. Jordon Spindel is a Junior environmental science major. He has been a Cynic since spring 2020.

OPINION

UVM needs to help us keep our promise Sophie Oehler Cynic Columnist

The French have a saying: con comme ses pieds. It means “stupid as the feet,” and it essentially encompasses my personality. I forgot to take my COVID test. It was a lapse in brain function, and will surely join the ranks of regrettable moments in my life that I wish had gone very different ways. But, I took care of what I was supposed to, filled out an exemption form and went to get a make-up test as soon as possible. Imagine my surprise when I checked my email Monday afternoon and saw a letter from the Provost of UVM. I had broken the Green and Gold promise, and therefore would be fined $250 and put on academic probation until further notice. After crying to my father for longer than a functioning adult should, I sent a strongly worded email to the Center for Student Conduct, pleading my case. And since you all aren’t on that board, I figured I’d share my experiences so that you can avoid having similar

interactions in the future. At risk of sounding like Draco Malfoy, I want to point out that UVM is doing a spectacular job keeping campus running smoothly during these unprecedented times. It’s not easy keeping track of 12,000 largely uncontrollable students during a pandemic, and UVM does deserve credit for their hard work to keep us all happy and healthy. I do, however, think there are things they could be doing better. The way the process works is every student has an assigned testing day. Mine was Thursdays. If you miss your testing day, you have 24 hours to make it up, or risk being ﬁned $250; a steep sum for the most expensive state school in the country, but I digress. So for a student who’s day seven lands on a Thursday or Friday, there’s little time to make up a missed test without going past the 24 hour mark. For lack of a better word, you’re screwed. The school also offers an exemption form, allowing students to place a temporary hold on their testing status, until they can take their test. You have to provide the reason you can’t take the test, and the school will email you back to let

SAVANAH TEBEAU-SHERRY

you know if your request has been accepted or not. Well, I never got a response from the CSC to approve the form. But when I called Troy from the CSC ofﬁce, on the verge of tears, to demand the meaning

of this, he informed me the UVM Strong ofﬁce was so swamped with forms, appeals and emails that they probably just lost my form. With no offense to Troy, that rubbed me the wrong way. It seems counterintuitive

for the school to offer this, and then fail to follow through. The point of this form is to prevent students from being unjustly ﬁned. It can only do its job, however, if both sides complete their part. If UVM can’t keep up with the amount of appeals and correspondence going through, I‘d urge them to hire more volunteers or workers. There’s no excuse for a handful of workers to be handling the affairs of thousands of students, especially right now. It’s inequitable to those individuals, and to the students. UVM would see less ﬁnes if they offered a few slots of testing appointments over the weekends, allowing these students to have some extra time to take their test. If we have to agree to the Green and Gold promise, and uphold it for fear of expulsion, the least UVM could do is make it easy to do so. Hire more people, extend testing appointments past 5:30 p.m. and offer some on the weekends. We’re setting the example for the country. Let’s make sure we’re living up to it. Sophie Oehler is a Juniorpolitical science and French major. She has been a Cynic since fall 2019.

TikTok needs to stop romanitzing eating disorders Emily Johnston Assistant Opinon Editor

icture Cassie Ainsworth, the character from “Skins,” not eating for three days for an arbitrary reason and teaching her classmates how not to eat. She was the quintessential thinspo, or thinspiration, as her frail frame was used relentlessly to show the “ideal” body. On TikTok, it seems that everyones’ for-you-page has been taken over by videos that romanticize disordered eating or thinspo; these videos should not be posted. Among these popular videos on TikTok are those in which people share what they eat in a single day, promptly titled, “What I eat in a day.” This trend originated on YouTube and should have stayed there, as these videos often promote calorie deﬁcient diets. Often in these videos, whoever is showing off their food will either eat less or only eat vegetables. These are usually lies. I am sure no one eats perfect food for all three meals every single day. Everyone eats sweets and everyone has cheat days.

KATE VANNI

These damaging videos are dangerous for the young demographic on the app; 32.5% of TikTok users are between 10-19, according to Statista. When exposed to content like this at a young age, kids may grow up with an unhealthy relationship to food-- they will assume unhealthy eating patterns are normal. On TikTok, comments typically praise the creator for their ability to eat so healthy or so little. Responses range from “Wow! I wish” to “No wonder your ﬁgure is amazing!” The sad thing about food issues is they stick with you for life. My childhood friend Anna Brown was diagnosed with

an eating disorder early on in life. I remember as early as 5th grade she stopped eating lunch. I tried to help. I tried to bring food and make her eat, but this disease is bigger than an 11-year-old. Brown sadly passed from complications of the lifelong struggle against food on Sept. 29, 2019. She died knowing she was going to. Her ﬁnal wish was for those in her life to talk about eating disorders and their aftermath. She was embarrassed to die from an eating disorder, but one year after she is gone I ﬁnally feel ready to follow through with her wish and talk about eating disorders and the

harmful content online that leads to them. I am not blaming her death on the media, but I am trying to illustrate that what is shared online has impacts beyond going viral. Eating disorders affect more than just the person with one: parents, friends and even acquaintances feel the impact of the disease. Brown’s death impacted everyone who knew her. Even though I hadn’t talked to her since we were about 13, I still grieved. According to the Eating Discovery Center, an organization providing programs for patients and families struggling with

eating disorders, the rate of children under 12-years-old being hospitalized for eating disorders rose 119% over the last decade. In addition, anorexia is the third most common illness among adolescents behind obesity and asthma. This is in large part due to the rise of social media use among teens and young people. Social media has a tendency to romanticize mental illness, which is a problem in and of itself. When Tumblr was popular, lots of teens fell into this mindset of skinniness, and I see the same pattern repeating with TikTok. I am tired of pretending like this content is okay and that it is not impacting thousands of children, teens and adults. Being big, small or any size does not make a difference in how beautiful a person is, as beauty comes from the inside rather than the outside. Apps and social media need to stop promoting content that favors disordered eating and unhealthy behaviors. Content like this can kill. Post wisely.

Emily Johnston is a Junior environmental science major. She has been a Cynic since fall 2018.

CULTURE

Nursing students, senior citizens and Zoom Emma Adams Culture Staff Writer

very week, volunteers aged 65 or older log in to Zoom to be greeted by the smiles of nursing students from the comfort of their kitchen tables. Junior nursing students were looking forward to their first experience working in assisted living facilities for their Gerontology course, but the pandemic has changed the course of their learning. Professor Jason Garbarino has been the Clinical Associate Professor of Gerontology since 2013. Garbarino developed the “Aging Is Very Personal” program in 2018, which allowed students to visit assisted living facilities in order to build a one-on-one relationship with an older adult. “Older adults like working with students of a younger generation,” Garbarino said. “They find a sense of purpose in being able to instill knowledge and expertise.” Last spring, Garbarino knew he had to transition from an in-person model to a remote one. He recruited volunteers from the community via word of mouth and an online forum called Front Porch. “Students learn life lessons and what’s important as you age whether you’re working

at an in-patient or out-patient facility,” Garbarino said. Garbarino said that nursing students can excel at procedures yet struggle with communication, and interaction with the community can help to benefit their skillset. “Being such a rural state, we have the ability using Zoom technology to expand the people we serve,” Garbarino said. “Once you get out of Chittenden County, there aren’t many opportunities for older adults to find people to interact with.” Senior nursing student Kylie Beausoleil assisted Garbarino in extending the course to a remote program. The program consists of a series of 75-minute Zoom conversations centering around healthcare, the aging process and advice older adults would give to younger generations or their younger selves. Students are either partnered up or work individually to talk to an older adult over the course of a few weeks. Beausoleil received a research grant from the Simon Family Foundation to study older adults’ experience with the pandemic, technology and isolation, and is using survey feedback from older adults to collect data. Beausoleil said that amidst the pandemic, older adults can feel isolated and are eager for an opportunity to interact with others. “I fell in love with the care of geriatrics,” Beausoleil said.

MAC MANSFIELD-PARISI/The Cynic

Juniors Tasha Kalra and Sophie Tom stand in front of Rowell Hall, Oct 9. Kalra and Tom are both a part of the nursing program at UVM. “In nursing school, some people want to do pediatrics or labor and delivery, not many talk about geriatrics.” Junior Tasha Kalra did the Zoom meetings individually. “Older adults are the most vulnerable population but when I think of nursing my mind doesn’t automatically go to older adults,” Kalra said. Junior Sophie Tom said that service learning helps individualize a person to realize that every patient has their own story.

“This project wasn’t a one way street,” Tom said. “My partner and I were both able to reflect on our perspectives and compare and contrast. I would do it all again if I could.” Marion Cushner of Williston was one of the volunteer participants and worked with two nursing students. “I learned from their questions the kind of things they were learning about,” Cushner said. “They had great probing questions about healthcare, my medical providers and the

quality of care.” Cushner said that the students asked questions like: Do I think about the end of life? What are my worries as I get older? Will I have enough money to last into my 90s? “We all opened up to each other in this process,” Tom said. “You told them so much.” Emma Adams is a Junior Nursing major. She has been writing for the Cynic since Fall 2019.

Students react to a unqiue first presidential debate Cyrus Oswald Culture Staff Writer

he first presidential debate of the 2020 presidential election on Sept. 29 between President Donald Trump and former vice president Joe Biden was a shocking historic departure from the typical progression of a political debate, leaving most of the country worried and speechless. Junior Erin Bucchin watched the debate live. She said she has somewhat mixed feelings about how it went. “It was both not surprising at all and also kind of shocking just because I think people still had a little bit of hope just to the way discourse happens in the United states,” Bucchin said. Senior Jonah Goldberg watched the debate with his housemates. While the rest of his housemates ignored a lot of the debate, he tried to listen to both sides, considering that both candidates have huge followings throughout the country. Goldberg said that even if you disagree with the pres-

ident’s policies or rhetoric, it’s important to know what’s happening in the country. “I think the debate was really important, mainly for the fact that Biden was coherent enough to drive home some of the key points hammering at Trump,” Goldberg said. Not all students agreed that there were important points made during the debate. First-year Evelyn Stearns saw the debate as centered around things much less important than policy. “The debate was just about scandals and public image, they weren’t even talking about their platforms at all,” Stearns said. Other students saw politics generally as a distraction from more pressing current events. “Trump said something stupid, and it’s a whole news cycle. Meanwhile there’s people detained at our borders and being forced to have hysterectomies,” first-year Eamon Dunn said. “That’s really scary and no ones talking about it.” Dunn mentioned concentration camps in China, wildfires in the United States and mass extinctions of animal species as topics that should demand more attention. First-year Rachel Vanderven, agreed that politics and

the media often focus on the wrong topics. She noted the ongoing conflict between Armenians and Axerbaijans in the Nagorno-Karabakh asiatic region as a more pressing issue. Vanderven identified UVM as a very liberal school. She said that she doesn’t often come across someone with different political views than her. She doesn’t see that as a good thing. “I feel like it’s always healthy to talk to people who have different political opinions than you,” said Vanderven Students identified their fellow undergrads as political people. However, they don’t think that UVM is representative of the country as a whole. “I think that people here are so passionate, which is great, I love that about people. Everyone wants to have an opinion and let their opinion be known, but we are so far [left] on the spectrum,” said Senior Amelia Luke Luke remarked that as a more moderate person, she can sometimes be put in an uncomfortable position with her peers. Junior Zoe Silverman sees the liberal slant of UVM as a not ideal situation. She wishes there was more room for

JULI BALDICS

discussion. “Everyone shares similar opinions,” Silverman said. “I think that prevents any real conversations or discourse from happening, which I think can be a disservice, when everyone has the same opinion.” Other students identified the pace of current events as an area of concern. First-year Keelan Boisvert characterized the news cycle as not only fast, but repetitive. “I also think it moves so quickly because it’s the same thing over and over again from the same people,” said Boisvert. “There’s no real variety coming from different parties, it’s just the same rhetoric over and over again, so it’s really hard to keep track of.”

Junior Sam Heilbronner also perceives the current

pace of events as faster. But, he doesn’t necessarily think of it as repetitive. “I think during a presidential race, everything feels faster. The debate was an event within itself, then Trump got COVID, and everyone he’s working with has COVID, but I think everyone’s pretty used to it right now, things happening right after another after another,” Heilbronner said. Students at UVM seem to be engaged in the current state of politics. However, they are really only engaged in one half of the aisle. Cyrus Oswald is a Junior environmental science major. He has been a Cynic since fall 2018.

CULTURE

Studio art classes face remote challenges Marjorie McWilliams Culture Staff Writer

Williams Hall, home to the Art Department and Anthropology Department, the brick red focal point of UVM’s picturesque campus facade, is missing the usual swarms of students on the front steps this Fall. While most students are struggling with the challenges of dysfunctional breakout groups and less than tech savvy professors, studio art students shared their unique experiences transitioning to remote and socially distanced learning in light of the pandemic. Online, in-person and mixed classes have their advantages and disadvantages according to various studio art students. Senior studio art major Nora Brown said there were some distinct discrepancies in effectiveness between in-person art classes and online, especially in her mixed digital photography class. “Online critique is really challenging,” Brown said. “Oftentimes the photo isn’t zoomed in correctly or the professor is accidentally showing the unedited version.” Senior Cole Thornton echoed this sentiment with his experiences with his Advanced Drawing class. “We are taking pictures of our art with our phones and the scale isn’t communicated,” Thornton said. “It makes it harder to observe and I’ve noticed the critique conversations have more pauses when we are

MAC MANSFIELD-PARISI/The Cynic

Senior Cole Thorton shows one of his drawings via Zoom call, Oct. 9. Thorton is enrolled in a fully online advanced drawing course along with a hand building hybrid course. online.” Brown also described the dynamic aspect she is missing in her current art classes where she is required to sit at a specific easel and use supplies assigned specifically to her. “We used to do a lot of still lives and move around the room to change perspectives but we don’t do that anymore,” said Brown. In addition to the logistical challenges of art classes in remote or distanced settings,

Thornton said he misses the social aspect of art classes. “The part I miss more is being with other people to socialize and get to know who they are and the person behind the art they create,” said Thornton. Senior studio art minor Keely Lyons said she enjoys the privacy of painting in her apartment instead of the classroom or studio. “Now I listen to music while I draw, I also like not having to be paranoid about drawing in

public that people are watching and judging,” Lyons said. “Now that it’s just me I don’t have to worry.” While some, like Lyons, choose to do their online work at home, the art studios in Williams and Cohen are still open 24 hours for art student use with a limited capacity of 10 people. “It’s very zen at night,” Brown said. “A lot of people tend to work at night and play music. I’ve definitely pulled an all nighter there before.”

For Thornton, working at home can be inconvenient but a necessity when studio space runs out. “If I’m working from home then I am working on my floor and it can get pretty crowded when I’m using a lot of materials,” Thornton said. “It’s nice to have flexibility with when to do my work but I find I have a lot of time and space constraints.” Brown noticed that her painting class has been working on a much smaller scale to make it possible to bring their art home to work on while previously she would create much bigger pieces. Brown acknowledged the effort by her professors to continue classes as traditionally as possible in a distanced in-person classroom setting. “My professor has done a really good job making sure we can still interact with each other’s art. We mill around the room, six feet apart to observe other people’s work for critique,” Brown said. Lyons said she would not enroll in another online or socially distanced art class in the future if given the choice. “It’s so important to see work up close and in person,” Lyons said. Lyons said that the University and the world was unprepared to move to online forums. “For a generation of people criticized for constantly being on their phones, we were incredibly unprepared for an online world,” Lyons said.

Dance marks 10th anniversary of first performance Laura Meyer Culture Staff Writer

Last Friday evening, golden light shined through the trees of the Fleming Green as an audience gathered around its perimeter to watch the dance performance, “Moving Through the Flood.” “Moving Through the Flood,” directed by Dance faculty member Julian Barnett, is a site specific outdoor performance that brings together live dance, music and theater to convey the metaphor of water’s movement. It was the 10th year anniversary of the site performance. Dancers portrayed water’s flooding, rippling and waking effects through their movement to express living in the turmoil of 2020. The dancers in the performance were students in the Site Performance Practicum class, offered once every other year. A live cellist also accompanied the dancers. Junior Emma Askew was one of the live dancers. “‘Moving Through the Flood’ is about working through this year, learning about yourself and moving through all the obstacles that are coming right

now,” Askew said. Like water, the performance flowed smoothly through seven sections. Three dancers taking Barnett’s advanced choreography class choreographed some sections of the performance. “I was really interested in the metaphor of the flood acting as the context for where we are,” Barnett said. “This notion that water has this profound ability to wash away, to wake us up, to engulf us. It has this full spectrum of positive and negative.” A bed of amber leaves became a stage as 17 dancers entered, all wearing accents of yellow clothing and street sneakers, forming a large circle around the statues to begin the show. Chole Schafer, a senior dance major, choreographed the first section, which was about emotional flooding and how individuals hold that within or around them. “That proximity of touch is not available, so how can you spatially still hold all of this?” Schafer said. The dancers ran and jumped through trees, distantly interacting with one another while the breeze beckoned the leaves

KYLE ELMS/The Cynic

A group of UVM students partake in a live dance performance on the Fleming Green, Oct. 9. The performance, titled Moving Through the Flood was directed by UVM lecturer and choreographer Julian Barnett. to dance along with them. Water’s engulfing nature was visible at the climax of the performance, when dancers ran to one end of the green, screamed and collapsed to the ground. They stood up, and started to speak in unison, saying “I woke up this morning. I washed my hands. I called my family in California. I ate alone.” Then, several dancers broke

off into their own personalized monologues as they danced away from the main group. Askew explained how this section was to express students’ new daily routines amidst the complications of 2020. “It’s a very unique opportunity for the audience to hear different stories based on where they were sitting,” she said. For the closing section, dancers gracefully carried light

blue curtains and laid them on the ground to represent the current of a flood. They slowly walked through the metaphorical flood to exit. “I feel so grateful that I’m able to perform,” Askew said. “We have the professors who are more than willing and excited to use different environments to perform in.”

FEATURE

Protecting Vermont reproductive rights

ELAINA SEPEDE /The Cynic Tully Hescock Feature Staff Writer

Currently, Vermont has some of the most unrestricted abortion laws in the country. After Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in September, reproductive rights have been at the forefront of people’s minds. In 2022 Vermonters could have the chance to vote on a referendum known as Proposal Five. The Vermont Legislature just needs to pass Proposal Five again during the 2021-2022 legislative session to ensure it appears on a ballot, according to state law. The goal is protect the reproductive rights of Vermonters despite future Supreme Court decisions with potentially less progressive justices. In 2018, State Representative Jill Krowinski knew that reproductive rights needed more attention at the state level. She cites Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s hearing as a wake up call to Vermonters who care about reproductive rights. Previously, State Rep. Krowinski was the vice president of community affairs and education at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. Her work at Planned Parenthood helped to lay the groundwork for the recent legislation regarding birth control accessibility. According to Krowinski and Representative Ann Pugh, Vermont has always had the mentality that reproductive health was up to the individual and their doctor, resulting in no legislation regarding reproductive rights, including abortion. “A group of us felt like this wasn’t enough, and we had to get a short term and a long term plan in place to ensure those rights were protected no matter who was on the supreme court,”

Krowinski said. There was a chance Vermont’s progressive views on reproductive health could be challenged if the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, opening up the possibility of a state decision to ban abortion. “It was clear to me and others that with the current administration in the White House and the direction of the Supreme Court, that it was time for us to act,” Krowinski said. Vermont did act. In 2019, legislators passed H.57, a bill that became a law under Governor Phil Scott, that preserves the right to an abortion in the state of Vermont, defining abortion as a “fundamental right.” Representative Pugh, Chair of the House Human Services Committee, co-sponsored H.57 by adding her name in support of the bill. “Vermont’s policy had long recognized that decisions in reproductive rights and healthcare are deeply personal and private and are best left to the individual and their healthcare provider… the law codified what had been in practice,” Pugh said. According to Pugh, the legislation is hoping to take this law a step further, by adding it as an amendment to the Vermont constitution. This amendment bill is known as Proposal Five. “If something is in a state’s constitution, it would prevent future state governments from restricting reproductive rights without a compelling state interest. It functions as an umbrella that all other state laws on reproductive rights would stand under,” Pugh said. Pugh said that this amendment will be voted on by Vermonters in the 2022 election. She urges everyone to vote in that election as well as in cur-

Image Source: State of Vermont TOP: Vermont Representative Ann Pugh began her career in Vermont as a social worker. RIGHT: Representative Jill Krowinski was first elected 2012 and is the House majority leader rent local elections in order to elect legislators that will help pass this amendment in the senate. If this amendment fails to pass, H.57 would continue to stand. Abortion is only one aspect of reproductive health and lawmakers are not done acting. Now in 2020, Krowinski is working with other legislators on two bills that would increase access to birth control. “One would make it more affordable and ethical to get access to birth control, and then the other policy is to get some forms of birth control over the

counter though a pharmacist,” Krowinski said. Krowinski said the goal of the bills is to increase accessibility and eliminate barriers for those trying to access birth control. Krowinski said she wants all Vermonters to know that despite Supreme Court rulings, their state representatives are working for them. “The majority of legislators in this state have been working tirelessly to ensure that they [Vermonters] have access to the method that works best for them without barriers,” she said. “We are very fortunate to

be in this state where we have those values to protect access to abortion care and birth control, no matter what.” And increased reproductive rights and protections in Vermont could not have come sooner, said UVM Junior Liv Collender. Colander said she didn’t suspect she would have to think twice about reproductive rights until Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. “I never thought it would be an issue. I think with the upcoming election and RBG’s passing, it kind of makes you wonder what’s going to happen,” she said.