THE VERMONT
CYNIC Oct. 16, 2018
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Birding for change
Hockey profile
On Wednesday afternoons, this program aims to protect children from the ailments of an sedentary and screen-filled world.
From Olympic qualifiers to captaining UVM’s team, senior Sammy Kolowrat has played around the globe.
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CAPS 2 / Eating on a budget 4 / “A Star is Born” review 5
Renovated res hall still has problems ■ Residents of Converse Hall have had to deal with a number of problems in the building since the beginning of the semester. Lilly Young ehyoung@uvm.edu
Residents of Converse Hall, a Wellness Environment building, are frustrated about various problems in their building, including reports of flooding and pests. There was water in some rooms as well as the ground floor, where dehumidifiers and fans were set up to dry the water and prevent mold growth. Recent flooding in the dorm was due to heavy rain and backed up drains. There was no email sent out the day the building flooded. There was a stark difference between what residents anticipated when they signed up for the WE and the reality of Converse Hall, which is an old building, Residential Life Director Rafael Rodriguez said. “Most people were shocked it was happening because we were told they redid the exterior and interior,” Converse resident sophomore Nadine Marzouka said. An email was sent out Oct. 3 to the residents of Converse
with the subject line: “Converse Concerns and Updates.” The email addressed bathroom issues, temperature control issues, pest control issues and water intrusion possibly affecting the asbestos in the mechanical room. There were 12 reported pest issues; eight for ants, two for mice and two for bees and wasps, according to the email. People felt like the email was just an excuse, Marzouka said. “It would have helped if they sent an update earlier about the flooding and what was going on,” Converse residential advisor Anna Vitkin, a sophomore, said. Marzouka said Converse is an old building and the issues are not as suprising because of this, but the flooding during the first week was unexpected. The flooding was caused by a drain outside. It was clogged during the Converse construction project and caused water to seep into the building, Rodriguez said. “When they were renovating Converse they put a film under the drain and they didn’t re-
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Converse Hall residents are upset about various problems in their building, including flooding and pests. An email was sent out Oct. 3 to the residents of Converse addressing bathroom issues, temperature control issues and asbestos issues. move it when the construction was done, so because of that the drain was blocked,” Vitkin said. She became aware of the flooding when one of her residents texted her a picture of his room with water on the floor. “My residents were asking me what was going on and I wasn’t sure,” she said. There was a lot of miscommunication about the problem, Vitkin said.
“We didn’t get much until way after, when there were multiple complaints,” Marzouka said. Rodriguez believes that the people most concerned by the issues in Converse Hall are firstyears who did not realize how old Converse is, he said. “A lot of those individuals were able to find another community or potentially a space in CCRH,” he said.
Once the flooding issue was taken care of in the Converse basement, ResLife began to outfit the space with furniture. “Out of the list of issues that were shared, I think we are able to respond to every single concern,” Rodriguez said. Every place is going to have its problems, Marzouka said, so people have to work with what they’ve got.
Climbing Club derecognized for five years over debt Lee Hughes ehughes7@uvm.edu
Rachel Halpern rmhalper@uvm.edu
The Climbing Club was derecognized by SGA Sept. 25 after racking up a debt of $10,792.65. During the past fiscal year, the Climbing Club overused their allocated SGA budget by paying student employees to operate the climbing wall at the campus recreation center, SGA Treasurer junior Jared Percoco said. All undergraduates pay a student activities fee, which provides SGA funds, according to the SGA website. Senior Caleb Weathers, UVM rock climbing wall staff coordinator, said the club’s expenditures remained roughly
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Senior Caleb Weathers is the UVM rock climbing wall staff coordinator and former Climbing Club leader. The Climbing Club was derecognized by SGA due to a nearly $11,000 debt. the same from year to year and they requested approximately the same amount of funds each year from SGA. The issue came because the club was not fundraising, which
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put it in bad standing with SGA and caused them to get less funding, he said. “Climbing Club isn’t actually a club at all — it’s just a member-base of staff members,”
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Weathers said. “We kept going in this unsustainable fashion, and I think it just finally caught up with us.” Student Life Director Daphne Wells said that organizations that get funded by SGA have a responsibility of fundraising for a portion of their expenses. Weathers and other climbing club leaders are looking to get Campus Rec to fund the staffing of the wall, Weathers said. “It didn’t make sense that SGA was funding us and Campus Rec wasn’t at all,” he said. Campus Rec is working on a survey to assess if the climbing wall’s hours of operation should be reduced or eliminated based on student demand, Percoco said. Weathers hopes to have the wall up and running again with Campus Rec’s funding for the
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spring semester, he said. John Abbott, assistant director of outdoor programs, said there is talk of making the climbing wall self-service. “Students found it ridiculous that they were paying a general rec fee, and then on top of that being asked to pay to use the wall,” he said. Clubs do not pay wages with their SGA budget but an exception was made for Climbing Club when it was first established, Percoco said. The legislation to derecognize Climbing Club states that the club may not be re-recognized for five years or until it pays back its debt, he said. When the five years pass, the club’s debt is waived and they can get re-recognized, Percoco said.
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Oct. 16, 2018
CAPS uses short-term model Ben Drape
Get the full story at vtcynic.com Opinion
The importance of protesting Opinion writer Jackson Schilling explores whether protesting matters in a nation where he feels the government doesn’t listen to the people.
Culture
New arts building opens up on campus Michele and Martin Cohen Hall, an integrated arts building on the corner of South Williams Street and Pearl Street, is new to UVM’s campus this semester.
Culture
bdrape@uvm.edu
UVM’S Counseling and Psychiatry Services are only meant to be used as short-term counseling, despite students desiring long-term services. CAPS uses a short-term model when counseling clients, Interim CAPS Director JohnPaul Grogan said, although many students use the services for longer-term counseling and being unaware that the services provided are meant to be shortterm. “I think that there’s probably some work to do around how we talk about our services and how students understand what that service looks like,” Grogan said. CAPS works to educate people about what CAPS services can provide, Grogan said. The most effective way for students to understand that CAPS primarily offers shortterm service is during their initial consultation, he said. Many students who use CAPS are unaware that this is the case, junior Alexa Hererra said, who uses CAPS herself. “Not a lot of people know that CAPS is only for a little bit of time,” Herrera said. “When they’re in these sessions, they’re having these breakthroughs and then they can’t do much.” The only reason that Herrera knew that CAPS was designed for short-term counseling was from being a Wellness Associate in Living Well, she
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The Jacobs House hosts UVM’s counseling and psychiatric services. CAPS services are only meant to be used as short-term counseling, but students are unaware of this, said junior Alexa Hererra. said. “CAPS is designed for shortterm counseling. When longer-term counseling is desired or recommended, your counselor will assist you in determining alternative services that will best meet your needs,” the CAPS website states. CAPS counseling is covered by the UVM student health fee, but services outside of CAPS are not, so alternative services could be too costly for some students, Grogan said. “We know that there is a myriad of reasons that students may have obstacles getting adequate care downtown,” Gr-
gan said. “So that’s where our model flexes and those are exceptions to the general way that our system works.” While CAPS uses a flexible model to accommodate students who might not have access to other mental health services, it can be difficult for some students to transition from CAPS to other services, Herrera said. “I feel like UVM and CAPS can do better about bridging students to actual long-term solutions,” she said. Regardless of the type of services CAPS provides, senior John Zambarano, who uses
App gives guidance to students Julianne Lesch lesch@uvm.edu
Review: Comedian Jen Kirkman Comedian Jen Kirkman, best known for being a regular panelist on “Chelsea Lately,” took over the stage at Vermont Comedy Club with plenty of stories to tell.
Podcast
Mak Baker and Crossroads This week on In the Raw, the host talks with senior Mak Baker about editing for Crossroads, a studentrun poetry magazine, and publishing written works.
UVM students now have a new app to track their academic work and all the activities UVM has to offer. The app, called the Guide, was created to better connect students and their academic pursuits, enhance advising and create more control over a student’s educational experience, said Sarah Warrington, vice president of enrollment management. Ninety-one percent of firstyear students have downloaded the app, Warrington said. The Education Advisory Board, a consulting and best practices firm, began developing the app last November. It was rolled out in June for firstyear student orientation, Warrington said. “[The app] gives advisers better access to information about how students are doing in their time here and [helps them] do a better job advising them,” she said. The Guide allows students to explore their own majors and possible careers, but also other potential ones too, said Alex
CAPS services, said CAPS does not provide enough service in total to the UVM student body. However, Zambarano considers CAPS short-term services effective in satisfying his mental-health service needs. “I think the quality of the services they offer, yes, but in the quantity they provide it, no,” Zambarano said. Hererra said she wished she could go to a counselor regularly. “Once you break down the barrier of being open with somebody like that, it’s really hard for it to get cut off,” she said.
Grant given for disease research Sawyer Loftus swloftus@uvm.edu
Photo Illustration by ALEK FLEURY
The new app, the Guide, allows students to track their academic work and all the activities UVM has to offer around campus. Ninty-one percent of first-year students have the app. Yin, director of institutional research at UVM. “I think what the Guide may actually do is help students transition if they change their minds,” Yin said. The Guide also helps keep students connected with campus events, Warrington said. Other features of the app include a to-do list and schedule, Warrington said. First-year Adrian Pastor uses the app every few days to
check his schedule, he said. Pastor first learned about the app when it was promoted at orientation, he said. Those involved with the app hope to see more use among returning students, Strotmeyer said. UVM has plans to promote the app through signs in the Davis Center and by working with individual colleges to spread the word, Strotmeyer said.
The University received a $12.3 million federal grant for a cross-college collaboration to develop ways to prevent and control infectious diseases. The grant was awarded to UVM by the National Institute of Health and is the 17th grant from NIH that UVM has received, according to an Oct. 11 press release. The funding will go toward creating a new biomedical research center named the Translational Global Infectious Disease Research Center, according to the release. The grant brings together scientists and experts from the College of Medicine, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, according to the release. Together, these experts will work to “decrease the burden of infectious diseases” across the world and specifically in low-income countries, the release stated.
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EXECUTIVE Editor-in-Chief Greta Bjornson editorinchief@vtcynic.com Managing Editor Ben Elfland newsroom@vtcynic.com Operations Manager Sorrel Galantowicz operations@vtcynic.com
EDITORIAL Copy Chief Sophia Knappertz copy@vtcynic.com Culture Bridget Higdon cynicculture@gmail.com Features Caroline Slack cynicfeatures@gmail.com News George Seibold news@vtcynic.com Opinion Sydney Liss-Abraham opinion@vtcynic.com Podcasts Chloe Chaobal Kim Henry vtcynicpodcasts@gmail.com Sports Sabrina Hood sports@vtcynic.com Video Ruby Bates video@vtcynic.com Web Connor Allan web@vtcynic.com
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Illustrations Holly Coughlan illustrations@vtcynic.com Layout Kyra Chevalier layout@vtcynic.com Photo Alek Fleury photo@vtcynic.com Assistant Editors Henry Mitchell (Opinion), Addie Beach (Culture), David Cabrera (Podcasts), Nickie Morris (Sports), Sawyer Loftus (News), Lee Hughes (News), Kian Deshler (Features), Caroline McCune (Layout) Copy Editors Elise Becker, Lindsay Freed, Isabel Coppola, Luke Zarzecki, Mariel Wamsley Page Designers Corttney Feldman, Lindsay Freed, Stephanie Hodel, Meilena Sanchez, Sarah O’Brien
Faculty Adviser Chris Evans crevans@uvm.edu
Staff Editorial
he polls open for many of our state and local midterms Nov. 6. As we enter this election season, people all over the country are starting to feel the pressures of voter turnout. But because news media covers presidential elections extensively, there is a general tendency for people to feel disinterested in state and local elections. In our increasingly polarized and tumultuous political climate, we are reminded that it’s more important than ever to take an active role in every aspect of our democratic system in an effort to facilitate change. We were warned by political theorists and journalists alike during the 2016 elections that our continued disinterest in politics would lead to a major shift in the presidency. Documetary filmmaker Michael Moore said disangagement is dangerous during an appearance on a July 2016 Real Time with Bill Maher episode. “I think one of the things I’ve been concerned about this week is ... that we’re sitting in our bubble having a good laugh at this shitshow, as you say, of a [Republican National Convention], but the truth is that this plays to a lot of people that he has to win to become the next president,” he said. He, like many other theorists, predicted the effects of Trump’s divisive political campaign. There is a sense that as
HOLLY COUGHLAN
this divisiveness infiltrated our government and mutilated basic moral values we took for granted. In three weeks, we will actually have the ability to make change. All 435 seats in the House and 35 Senate seats will be contested in this year’s midterms. Currently, the congressional majority is Republican. Democrats need to flip 24 seats to reclaim the House, according to a March 26 New York Times article. The empowering thing about electing our representatives is that each vote truly does count. We can’t blame our indifference on the possible
flukes of an Electoral College. This is the closest we get to a genuine democracy and we ought to take advantage of that. “Staying home is not an option. And being cynical is not an option,” President Obama said in a 2015 Miami town hall on MSNBC. We didn’t listen for years. We trusted that our government would take care of itself. But now we need to step up to the plate and participate. Our generation has a duty to take political action and be active in our democratic process. To register to vote, you can go to vote.org or look up your home state’s secretary of
state. And if you are from out of state, be sure to request an absentee ballot and to mail it in by the approriate date. In Vermont, students can register to vote in the Vermont elections if they wish but are unable to vote in two states. Make your voice heard this election season. 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. Please send letters to opinion@ vtcynic.com.
Society cannot tolerate sexual misconduct Olivia Stafford
Social Media Peter Hibbeler socialcyniceditor@gmail.com
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tudies show that 20 to 25 percent of women and 15 percent of men are victims of sexual misconduct at college, according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. Close to 90 percent of these cases go unreported. Sexual violence occurs at significantly higher rates than other crimes on college campuses, according to RAINN. But this country is continuously polarized by debates over the safety of individuals. Under Obama, sexual misconduct was defined as “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal, nonverbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.” His policies held schools at higher levels of responsibility and the definition coincided with the broad spectrum of sexual misconduct. The Trump administration has proposed to change the definition to “unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex that is
so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it denies a person access to the school’s education program or activity.” This would cause only the most severe circumstances to be acknowledged while ignoring the broad spectrum, which will prevent people from reporting. It is disgusting how the
leader of our country fails to acknowledge the severity of this problem; rather than sympathize with survivors he taunts them. Trump told reporters at the White House, “It’s a very scary time for young men in America.” Women fear for their safety when they walk alone at night.
Survivors replay the horrific images in their heads of their sexual assault while trying to go about a normal life. And our president continues to overlook the severity of the issue. As women, we are still held to unfair standards and our opinions are overlooked, but now is not the time to stop the fight. We deserve to feel safe at college and we deserve the right to report sexual misconduct without fear. We are living in an era of the #MeToo movement, where people are coming forward to share their stories. We are in a time of change; it is our responsibility to rise up and fight to progress the country into a place where women are respected and sexual misconduct is taken seriously.
Olivia Stafford is a junior public communications major. She has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2018. EMMA PINEZICH
CULTURE
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The Vermont Cynic
Oct. 16, 2018
Budget eating: tasty tips for cheap food Isabella Alessandrini ialessan@uvm.edu
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here are food cues all around campus: appetizing aromas of stir fries, tacos, popcorn and pizza waft out of dining halls, Brennan’s, the Marketplace, food trucks and the Marche. Snackand-soda-filled vending machines sprinkled all over campus beckon students with their convenient confections. We’re in an environment that is constantly sending us signals to eat, yet it excludes
many from coming to the table. For students that have to pay for meals on campus with more than just the swipe of a CatCard — while also thinking about covering rent and bills — getting enough to eat can burn through their savings. “I’ve been spending so much of my money on food here on campus this semester, it’s kind of ridiculous,” junior Will McCarthy said. “Lunch at the Marketplace is so easy but has seriously been adding up.” If you’ve ever tried to focus on an exam when you haven’t had breakfast or tried listening to a professor while hangry, you know that fullness can feel
like a luxury. Foraging for free food around campus can keep you from getting hungry, but being full is not the same thing as being well-nourished, and snacks like Brennan’s popcorn and handouts from Davis Center tables are usually high in calories but lacking in vitamins and nutrients. Those free, fun size candies, chocolate chip cookies and Krispy Kreme donuts are enticing lures, but tend to pack high amounts of added sugars, sodium and saturated fats. A little planning can make your grocery money go a long way. Here are a few tips:
LILI TRAVIATO
Shopping Shop in the bulk section and bring your own containers to stock up on whole grain pastas, lentils, rice, beans, tofu, oats and more. City Market takes 10 percent off everything bought in bulk on Thursdays. Sign up for member perks when grocery shopping. Become a “Member with Benefits,” a City Market member, to get up to 12 percent off by volunteering in the community. Get the AdvantEdge card at Price Chopper or sign up for SavingStar at Hannaford. Subscribe to a Community Supported Agriculture (like the Intervale’s college package) to get deliveries of fresh produce to your door each week. Split between three roommates it averages to $10.17 a week. Shop for seasonal and hardy produce, which tend to be cheaper but also last longer, like root veggies, dark leafy greens and fruits such as apples, pears and oranges. Always check the reduced price bin first for perfectly edible yet inexpensive produce. Commodities Market in Winooski has an “ugly but tasty” section. As a rule of thumb, avoid the center aisles of grocery stores because all those packaged foods tend to be overpriced and hard to resist. You can buy baked goods for a bargain at City Market every night by the coffee station, including bags of discount-
ed bagels from Willow’s Bagels and reduced price vegan scones from the day-old shelf at Zabby & Elf’s Stone Soup.
Cooking Choose one day each week to spend time prepping meals in big batches to bring for lunch instead of buying on campus. Label foods so they won’t go bad before you can get to them.
Foraging Stay in touch with free food events from the Free Food UVM page on Facebook. Every second Thursday of the month there’s a vegan and gluten-free friendly dinner served by the Old North End Community Center on 20 Allen St. Donations are accepted. Check out Seven Days’ From Burlington With Love magazine for coupons and other deals. Sign up for Dinner and Dialogue at the Interfaith Center to get a good meal and great conversation about themes like philosophy, resilience and joy. Bring Tupperware everywhere, as well as a reusable fork. Make a dish to share at Slade Eco Co-op. Isabella Alessandrini is a senior dietetics, nutrition and food scienes major. She has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2018.
Campus-wide symposium combines art and science Anna Kolosky akolosky@uvm.edu
In a world that is constantly facing new political, environmental and social issues, Burlington and UVM are working together to figure out how to tackle these issues. The Feverish World Symposium will happen all over UVM and Burlington Oct. 20 through Oct. 22 and will showcase artists, lecturers, activists and others who want to bring communities together to discuss these
issues. Feverish World was initially crafted by Adrian Ivankiv, a professor in the Rubenstein school. “The seed for this idea began three years ago when I formed BASTA — also known as Bridging the Arts, Science and Theory for the Anthropocene, Ivakhiv said. “It was a space where academics and activists could come together, discuss the anxiety surrounding human influence on the environment and
Courtesy of Feverish World
The Feverish World Symposium will be happening all over UVM and Burlington Oct. 20 through Oct. 22.
debrief.” The Anthropocene is the suggested name for the period in history of human existence and influence on the environment, Ivakhiv said. Ivakhiv wanted to do more with this idea and get more people involved. He received the Steven Rubenstein Professorship, which provided him with funding. “The small budget I received then evolved into the EcoCultureLab, a blog where we could connect with people from other departments, colleges and positions in the community and discuss these issue in even more depth,” Ivakhiv said. Ivakhiv applied and received grants for the Gund Institute and then sent out a call on EcoCultureLab for anyone doing transdisciplinary work around the art and humanities, he said. Senior art lecturer Cameron Davis said she was called in because she had been doing work about art and ecology since 1998. “We all got together and the idea of forming a symposium came out of our conversations,”
Davis said. In addition to art and humanities, scientists and engineers that are concerned about the environment were also called to join. “The idea we had to get together and have conversations around all these issues really resonated with people and their sense of the world, whether it’s their connection to climate change or social movements like Black Lives Matter,” Ivakhiv said. What should have been a two-year-long project was created in six months, and includes people from across colleges, cities and countries, according to the symposium’s website. Some well-known people giving talks will include philosopher Bruno Latour, artist Torkwase Dyson and artist and engineer Natalie Jeremijenko. Everything is free and open to the public, according to the symposium’s website. In addition to these speakers, students from multiple art, dance and film classes will be presenting projects that they have been assigned in class. Students that aren’t involved
but are interested should send an email to Volunteer Coordinator Dan Cottle at dcottle@ uvm.edu. Senior Madison Yates, Davis Center art curator, said the symposium will also have a tent city at the Davis Center and on the Andrew Harris Green, which will be set up to look like a refugee camp to bring awareness about this topic. “Never before have we been tasked with the installation of tents,” Yates said. “It’s both a challenge and a delight to work with new kinds of art, as all artworks require their own specific considerations for display.” The goal of Feverish World is to have conversations about how to foster “ongoingness” in a world with numerous challenges that hold us back, Davis said. “Where do we find our courage, our strength, our joy?” Davis said. “Where do we firmly say no? Where do we generate possibility?” After Feverish World, Ivakhiv hopes that its impact continues to have an effect on the community.
The Vermont Cynic
CULTURE
Oct. 16, 2018
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Gaga amazes in “A Star is Born” Cynic Cineaste Hunter McKenzie hmmckenz@uvm. edu
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f you don’t want to spend a Friday night catching another dull superhero flick, the new “A Star is Born” is the kind of the movie — at least for the first 2/3 — that one needs to see when the brain and the heart need a reboot. Here’s what happens when you go catch “A Star is Born:” you’ll buy a ticket, you’ll go to a respectably packed theater and you’ll have a good time for roughly two hours. But then you’ll leave that theater and go off to your next activity — whether that be the bar or the bed — and you’ll probably recall it fondly, consider it a nice little escape, a bubble from which you have already come out of, though it was nice while it lasted. “A Star is Born” follows a veteran performer as he helps a budding singer-songwriter find fame despite his own battles with age and alcoholism. A remake of a remake of a remake, the newest iteration finds movie star Bradley Cooper in the male protagonist role — where he’s just fine — but also in the director’s chair for
the first time. Cooper’s performance is nice. It is at times drunkenly gleeful, easily adorable but also cruel. His gravelly voice, his greasy hair and his rugged masculine demeanor become more confused and desperate as it breaks down over the course of the film. But it is his careful, self conscious directing that makes the film work. The titular role — the reason why you bought that ticket in the first place — is what makes the film not just work, but a delight. Lady Gaga not only fills the role appropriately — possibly necessarily — but also exceptionally. A mega star herself, Gaga turns in a performance that is full of fervor and excited energy, the kind of shaky desire that comes from a debut role, the desire to please the camera, the script and the role. A makeup-free Gaga naviges the kitchen of a restaurant she works at, arguing about whose turn it is to take out the garbage. She holds back hurt in one of the most physical and captivating performances. It is total famous-girl-playing-normal-girl heaven. Even when she has become the star, her face plastered up on a billboard in the middle of Los Angeles, she is not the Lady Gaga we know.
NOAH ZHOU Gaga channels a pop star vibe slightly different than the unexpecting art-glam rock she portrays in her own music career. The auburn hair, so neon and upsetting, and the music, so trashy and dancy: “Why’d you come around me with an ass like that?” This is also a deeply conflicted movie. It’s not quite sure which to be: a smart film about
how the entertainment industry and capitalism commodify art, or an unsatisfying, arguably dangerous film about addiction and depression. It works better when it is a sweet Hollywood melodrama in perfect little throwback fashion. As a result of this tricky balance, Cooper succeeds in straddling the line between both film concepts.
It is rousing, it is the world’s biggest movie star trying to have his music moment and arguably succeeding. It is the world’s biggest music star having her movie moment and unquestionably succeeding. Hunter McKenzie is a senior English major. He has been writing for the Cynic since spring 2018.
Girl band to rock FallFest Sarah Robinson srobin14@uvm.edu
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The UVM Program Board announced that artists Dr. Dog, Frankie Cosmos and UVM band Father Figuer will be performing Oct. 5 at FallFest. It is the job of UPB’s concert planning committee to find bands for FallFest and SpringFest that they think students will recognize. Junior Max Greenwood is on the committee. Greenwood said the committee thought Father Figuer would compliment the sounds of Dr. Dog and Frankie Cosmos. Father Figuer is an all-female student band who celebrates “the ubiquity of sadness,” according to its website. Juniors Erin White, Elise Albertini, Caroline Franks and Charity Beckert make up the group. White said she and Franks took a songwriting class together and that the group blossomed from there. Beckert, the band’s bassist, learned her instrument for the band and Albertini joined in to play the drums. The group used to call themselves Bad Posture, but White said the name didn’t quite fit the music they were writing. “It felt like a completely different band,” White said.
Courtesy of Father Figuer
Father Figuer, a band of four UVM students, has a sound that compliments those of Dr. Dog and Frankie Cosmos, according to the UPB concert planning comittee. The band will be performing Oct. 5 at FallFest.
Father Figuer has only been playing in the Burlington scene since this past January, but four days before the lineup was announced, the band was asked by UPB if they were interested in playing FallFest, White said. When Father Figuer got the news of who they would be performing with at FallFest, White said they had to take a few seconds to get over their excitement. Read the rest online at vtcynic.com/fallfest
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The Vermont Cynic
Oct. 16, 2018
Birding for Change One class brings students young and old together in nature Gordon Coates gcoates@uvm.edu
Ostrich ferns brush the ankles of 4th and 5th graders as they run amongst the huge silver maple forest and sink knee deep into mud on the banks of the Winooski River. On Wednesday afternoons, Trish O’Kane aims to combat the ailments of an increasingly indoor, sedentary, screen-filled world through an after-school mentoring program, Birding for Change, with UVM students, O’Kane said. The kids in the program walk from Flynn Elementary School along the bike path to Derway, a protected peninsula on the shores of the Winooski River rich with birds, wildlife and new ways for the kids to explore their world. Experienced birders and naturalists itch to get to Derway. “A lot of the kids could not care less if we get there,” O’ Kane said. “The important part for them is the journey.” Along the way the kids play made up fantasy adventure games with their mentors, who share facts about the natural world. The field trips are about “letting the kids take control of what they can and can’t do,” junior Madeline Guild, a mentor in the program, said. “A scrape here and there allows the kids to explore their own limits.” The idea for the program was spawned eight years ago in Madison, Wisconsin, and has been running in Bur-
lington for the past three years. From the outset, the program has been about connecting children with nature and providing them with a college-aged mentor, O’Kane said. Flynn Elementary School students can sign up for this after-school program.
The kids are paired with a college mentor from O’Kanes’s Birding for Change class at UVM who has a similar personality, hobby or experience. “We could not do this without the wonderful staff of Flynn,” O’Kane said. The elementary school helps her pair students and run the whole program on the Flynn side, she said. The staff at Flynn are the only people who know the wide variety of backgrounds and home lives that the kids are coming from. This allows the pairing to be intentional and mentors have to be open to different perspectives. The kids don’t care about anyone’s background, O’Kane said. The program for them is about having someone consistently giving them undivided attention every week. This framework and program has caught the interest of Middlebury Land Trust, Brown University and Hunt Middle School in Burlington. “I don’t believe in taking a model somewhere and imposing it,” O’Kane said. The philosophy and mission are still the same across all the locations: “lead by following” and “get kids and college students outside,” she said. The program at Hunt Middle School, is run by Gracie Harvey ’18, a previous
student in O’Kane’s class. The program and birds both “change someone’s perspective of nature,” she said. Harvey took the class for two semesters, worked with Hunt for her senior capstone and got a job in the school district all because of the program, Harvey said. Since graduating, three of O’Kane’s students have been hired specifically because of the experience they gained from the class. Birding for Change inspires students and provides them with experience they can take into future career paths, O’Kane said. Junior Cira Fagan is currently taking O’Kane’s class for the third semester in a row. “I want to work on kids’ access to nature, and the majority of what I learn is from this class,” she said. The Birding for Change program started with the mission to provide elementary school children with access to nature and change the culture of education and freetime. It has since evolved into a pipeline for both elementary school and college students to further their future.
View the slideshow online at vtcynic.com/birding
(TOP) Patricia O’Kane, leader of the Birding For Change program, admires the wildlife of the Derway Island Nature Trail Oct. 3. (CENTER) The program takes kids from Flynn Elementary School and walks them to Derway, a protected peninsula on the shores of the Winooski River. The kids can admire the birds and wildlife and learn new ways to explore their world.
GORDON COATES/The Vermont Cynic
(BOTTOM) Sophomore Ciara Fagan and her mentee search and appreciate the nature around them. Birding for Change is a program that aims to combat the ailments of an increasingly indoor, sedentary, screen-filled world through an after-school mentoring program with UVM students.
The Vermont Cynic
Oct. 16, 2018
SPORTS
7
A tale of two teams Senior plays hockey for both Czech Republic and UVM Ashley Miller Ashley.E.Miller@uvm.edu
Prior to joining the UVM women’s hockey team, senior defense captain Sammy Kolowrat liked playing against boys’ hockey teams, she said. “In terms of dealing with boys, I loved beating them,” Kolowrat said. “Any time I had the chance to, I was completely stoked,” Kolowrat said. She played on boys’ hockey teams in her native Prague until she was 18, Kolowrat said. This year, she began her final season for the UVM women’s hockey team and possibly for her career, Kolowrat said. She began playing hockey at eight years old because of her brother’s influence, but also had previous figure-skating experience, Kolowrat said. Head coach Jim Plumer first saw
Kolowrat play at the 2014 U-18 World Championship, where she represented the Czech Republic, he said. “The way she played, I knew that she’d be a great Division I player,” Plumer said. After speaking with Plumer at the U-18 Championship, Kolowrat visited UVM and fell in love with the campus, she said. “I knew that even if I were to have a season-ending injury, I’d still enjoy my time here,” Kolowrat said. Kolowrat has played all over the world throughout her hockey career.
“Sammy is one of the most wellspoken and natural leaders that has come through our program.” -Senior Alyssa Gorecki “Even though it’s hard sometimes, it’s an important part of my perspective and development in terms of playing and on my view of hockey,” she said. Kolowrat said UVM and the Czech Republic are two different worlds. She took a gap year in the U.S. after finishing high school in the Czech Republic, attending Choate Rosemary Hall, a boarding school in Massachusetts. “In high school I basically played every sport, but ended up choosing hockey,” she said. “You can’t really go half into the game; it’s either all or nothing.” Kolowrat said that travelling back and forth from Prague to Vermont to play for her country’s team has been difficult at times because of missing school and Catamounts games that conflict with her schedule. In 2016, as a member of the Czech national team, she competed in the Women’s World Championship. Her team made it to the quarter finals, where they played in a qualifying game for the Olympics. They lost the game, but Kolowrat was named the top defensemen in the tournament out of all of the participating
Photo Illustration by ALEK FLEURY
teams, she said. In her time playing for UVM, she has accumulated 90 shots, 12 assists and six goals, according to UVM athletics. In UVM’s Sept. 29 home opener, Kolowrat scored the winning goal in the Catamounts’ victory against McGill. During Kolowrat’s collegiate hockey career, Plumer said she has evolved as a player on the ice and as a teammate. “She’s so much more of a confident player than she was, Plumer said. “We had Taylor Willard here for Sammy’s first three years, who was sort of our go-to defenseman, and I think that Sammy is definitely stepping into that role now.” Kolowrat was elected assistant captain her junior year. This year, she was again voted co-captain alongside senior forward Alyssa Gorecki. “Sammy is one of the most well-spoken and natural leaders that has come through our program,” Gorecki said. “I am very lucky to call her a friend, a co-captain and a teammate.” Plumer said Kolowrat has successfully managed to balance her studies, being a Division I athlete and her current position on the Czech national team. “Sammy is very much a self-starter. She’s a responsible kid,” he said. “She’s very good about making sure she sleeps enough, eats right and she does very well in school.” Sammy’s biggest fan throughout her career has been her father, who constantly keeps up with her team’s stats, latest updates on twitter and coach Plumer’s blog, she said. “I try to always do my best so my parents can say that all the times they had to wake up at 5 a.m. to drive me to practice or drive me some crazy distance for a tournament or game that it was all worth it,” Kolowrat said. Her commitment to studying and hockey doesn’t leave a lot of room for hobbies, she said. In the free time she does have, she enjoys playing the guitar, hanging out with friends and painting with her roommate, Kolowrat said. She is a biological science major andwill be getting her master’s degree at UVM. Kolowrat hopes to apply to medical school, she said. “I’m not sure if hockey is in my future,” Kolowrat said. “I could see myself doing some coaching, but whether I’ll be playing hockey is still up in the air.” The Catamounts’ next game will be 5 p.m. Oct. 6 at Gutterson Arena vs. University of Connecticut.
SPORTS
8
The Vermont Cynic
Oct. 16, 2018
Men’s hockey loses to strong defense Regan Sebolt Regan.Sebolt@uvm.edu
UVM men’s hockey lost their first home game of the season Oct. 11 against Laurentian University 4-1. A Lauretian goal deep in the third period ended UVM’s chances to win the game. UVM’s offense began the first period by winning the majority of faceoffs, having good possession of the puck and getting 26 total shots on goal. However, it was the Voyager’s forward William Gignac who scored the first and only goal of the period. The Catamount’s offense failed to capitalize on the majority of their shots all night, with 44 total shots into the hands of Laurentian goalie but only one in the back of the net. First-year forward Bryce Misely scored Vermont’s only goal late in the third period. UVM played No. 4 nationally ranked University of Michigan Oct. 6 and won 5-2, according to UVM athletics. “[This goal] was closest we came to doing anything close to what we did against Michigan,” head coach Kevin Sneddon said. The Voyagers maintained a tough defense throughout the game, Sneddon said. “They had an absolute beast back there on the blue line,” he said. “They were tough down low and I thought they protected their goalie very, very well.” UVM first-year goalie Tyler Harmon let in four goals, but
PHIL CARRUTHERS/The Vermont Cynic
First year Nick Hamre gets tripped up by a defender in the UVM Men’s Hockey team’s first home game against Laurentian University Oct. 11. The team lost 4-1. the score was not indicative of his performance, Snedden said. “It’s not Tyler’s fault at all,” he said. “Tyler is still relatively inexperienced, but he thinks he gained some good experience tonight and will be ready and better for next time.” The loss could not be pegged on the shoulders of any one player, Sneddon said. “It was a collective loss from
the head coach down,” he said. The Catamounts did have good offensive rushes and speed during the game, but there are many ways the team can improve, Sneddon said. “We made some mistakes and forced things and need to work on power plays,” Sneddon said. “We were 0 and 7, which is not a good night for us.” The level of play varied
throughout the game, he said. “Each line did something well at different times in the game,” Sneddon said. “I don’t think that anybody on the roster had a 60 minute game.” First-year Eriks Ziedins said this was a surprising loss considering their previous win. “It was a pretty tough loss, but the boys beat Michigan so hopefully they can ride the en-
ergy of that big win,” he said. UVM lost again Oct. 13 against Quinnipiac 3-2, according to UVM athletics. The players could not be reached for comment. UVM’s next game is Oct. 27 at the University of New Hampshire, according to UVM athletics.
Swim and dive faces tight competition in UNH meet Stephan Toljan Stephan.Toljan@uvm.edu
Fans filled the bleachers around the pool in the Patrick gym to watch the UVM women’s swimming and diving team compete against the University of New Hampshire. UVM won the first event, the 200-yard medley relay. That relay team included first-year swimmer Amelia Baxley, senior swimmer Haley Gula, senior swimmer Julia DeGregorio and junior swimmer Sierra Sexton, finishing with a time of 1:49.74. UVM also pulled out a victory in the second event, with senior swimmer Kristina Posnick finishing with a time of 10:48.62. Even though the Catamounts lost in the next event, they were victorious in the fourth event, the 100-yard backstroke, where Baxley placed first with a time of 0:59.50. The Catamounts led the Wildcats for the first half of the meet. After nine of the 14 total swimming events, UVM was winning 94-75. First-year Tucker Menzies
was a competitive swimmer prior to attending UVM, he said. “I’m here to cheer on my friend Sarah Meyer,” Menzies said. Meyer, a senior, along with DeGregorio and junior swimmer Sophia Smith, are the captains this season. While UVM’s lead in total points lasted for much of the second half, UNH slowly kept catching up with each event. UNH managed to take the lead following the second-tolast event, setting the score to 139-144. This meant that a UVM victory rested on the results of the last event, the 200yard freestyle relay. The last event was extremely close, driving everyone in the crowd to their feet by the last lap. “It’s good fun,” first-year Mateo Rodriguez said. “I’m a big fan of all of the yelling.” The Wildcats’ relay team beat UVM by a tenth of a second, making the final score 145155. “[There’s] a lot of room for improvement,” head coach Gerry Cournoyer said. “The goal is to get better.”
View the slideshow online at vtcynic.com
STEPHAN TOLJAN/The Vermont Cynic
Swimmers from the University of New Hampshire and UVM women’s swimming and diving teams dive into the pool to start the race Oct. 13. UVM won five out of the 14 swimming events. This included wins in the 50-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke by first-year swimmer Kira Parker and junior swimmer Morgan Montgomery. First-year diver Brenna Ce-
trone placed first in the 1-meter dive with a final score of 252.82. In the 3-meter dive, she placed second with a score of 221.17. Senior diver Ashley Branagan placed fourth in both diving events, with final scores of 210.82 and 198.07, respectively.
None of the swimmers or divers were available for comment. Their next meet is 1 p.m. Oct. 20 at home against University of Massachusetts Amherst, according to UVM athletics.