The
Vermont Cynic OCTOBER 11, 2017
VOL. 134 – ISSUE 7
V TCYNIC.COM
STUDENTS CALL FOR GENDER INCLUSIVE BATHROOMS Highest Use Buildings at UVM
FEATURE Page 7: PILES
= 1 gender inclusive bathrom
Students call for LGBTQA support Lilly Young Staff Writer Though UVM is nationally recognized for LGBTQA inclusivity, students say there is still work to be done for the queer community. “There’s kind of an ongoing theme of UVM calling themselves progressive but not really doing enough,” said Bella Mezzaroba, officer of Free2Be said. The University is ranked on the Advocate and Campus Pride’s list of top-10 trans-friendly colleges and universities. Mezzaroba said the amount of gender-inclusive housing available to students is inadequate. LGBTQA students are pushing for gender-inclusive housing in every program on
Bailey-Howe Library Davis Center Waterman Old Mill / Lafayette Discovery Hall Billings Marsh Life Sciences
campus, Mezzaroba said. Another push is being made for mandatory diversity training for professors and Sodexo workers. There is currently optional training available at the Allen House, but not all attend, Mezzaroba said. “There’s been a lot of instances of Sodexo workers misgendering students. They don’t mean it out of maliciousness, they just don’t know,” Mezzaroba said. Workers often say “sir” or “ma’am” when referring to students, which may misgender students, Mezzaroba said. “I feel safer being openly queer on Church Street than I would some place in Philadelphia, but that doesn’t mean LGBTQA continued on page 2
Kalkin Dewey Stafford Given / Rowell Complex Patrick Gym / Gutterson
Sophomore Reginah Mako speaks at the Student Forum for Racial Justice Sept. 30 in the Davis Center Livak Ballroom. The forum was hosted by the students who presented a list of demands to President Tom Sullivan Sept. 27. NICK COLLIAS/The Vermont Cynic
Votey Data: Aug. 2016 UVM Gender-Inclusive Task Force Report
Students want new bathrooms John Riedel Senior Staff Writer Students are calling for more gender-neutral restrooms across campus. UVM-owned buildings have 1,473 restrooms, 253 of which are gender-neutral, according to UVM’s 2016 Lavatory Inventory. Access to these restrooms is a huge concern for students who use them, said Becky Swem, education and outreach professional of the LGBTQA Center. “One issue is a safety issue,” Swem said. “There are transgender students who might not drink water because they are concerned about using the bathroom on campus, and that can cause health issues.” Trans students who use gender-neutral bathrooms have to travel across campus just to use a restroom, she said. “Another issue is they can’t use the bathroom because they are worried if they will
be harassed for choosing the bathroom that they want to use,” Swem said. The LGBTQA Center is creating spaces for everyone to feel comfortable in, she said. UVM published the Gender-Inclusive Restroom Task Force Report Aug. 17, 2016. It studied access to restrooms on campus for LGBTQA students and made recommendations. The report suggested creating gender-inclusive restrooms in high-traffic buildings. It suggested adding restrooms to 13 buildings. Four of these still do not have gender-inclusive restrooms. Junior Z McCarron petitioned for the increase of more bathrooms in the Bailey/Howe library April 22, 2016, they said. “[The petition] ended up escalating to the point where we were sitting in the dean of libraries’ office refusing to leave during finals week,” McCarron said. Upon learning of the sit-in,
President Tom Sullivan met with campus leaders to discuss the issue and created the GIRT report as a result, McCarron said. “The GIRT report is suggestions,” McCarron said. “It’s not policy or a committee with power to change these issues.“ McCarron has continued to organize students to implement the report’s suggestions. “We’ve identified specific high-use areas and a lot of them don’t have gender-inclusive restrooms,” McCarron said. On the LGBTQA Center’s website is a map of all gender-inclusive restrooms on campus. Old Mill, Lafayette, Billings and Dewey Halls do not have gender-inclusive bathrooms, according to the map. The Christie-Wright-Patterson complex has only two gender-neutral restrooms. McCarron is hopeful UVM will increase these numbers in the long-term.
UVM students organize racial justice forum Alex Verret Cynic Correspondent
Following a march lead by student leaders and a meeting with President Tom Sullivan to meet, UVM students held a racial injustice forum. A group of students that presented a list of demands to President Tom Sullivan Sept. 27 hosted the forum Sept. 30. The Student Forum on Racial Injustice at UVM was held for students to voice their experiences and concerns directly to University, according to the event’s Facebook page. Sullivan’s public response, issued via the UVM listserv on September 29, to the September 27 list of demands, was “[a breach of ] our agreement that the administration would not email their response to the UVM listserv” said sophomore Harmony Edosomwan, president of the Black Student Union. “It was kind of like a slap in the face, saying that our negotiating is finished. ” To begin the forum, orga-
nizers asked students to sit on the left side of the Livak Ballroom in the Davis Center and faculty, staff and administration to sit on the right. “I came here today thinking we were going to be sitting at the same table, problem-solving together,” said Debra Leonard, chair of the pathology and laboratory medicine department and co-chair of the President’s Commision for Inclusive Excellence. “Instead, I feel like an adversarial relationship was established.” Student leaders represented the Black Student Union, Alianza Latinx, Free2Be, the Asian Student Union and other diversity, identity and advocacy groups. “[The setup was deliberate] not to build tension or to set up an ‘us-against-them’ dynamic [but to show that] the deans and the faculty of this University have failed students of color to stand up for our rights,” Edosomwan said. “Students of RACIAL INJUSTICE continued on page 2
NEWS
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The Vermont Cynic
Digital Content
Left to right: Abi Harris, Z McCarron and Grey Fahrner work in the LGBTQA center Oct. 5 in the Allen House. The Center’s mission is to support and serve the LGBTQA community on campus. OLIVER POMAZI/The Vermont Cynic LGBTQA continued from page 1 [Burlington] doesn’t have its problems,” Mezzaroba said. While there is talk of issues on campus, many positive things should be acknowledged, said Kate Jerman, director of the LGBTQA center. “UVM is a leader around inclusion for LGBT students nationwide,” Jerman said. “We don’t have a lot of peers that have done the kinds of things that we’ve done on an institutional level, such as gender-neutral bathrooms.” Queer and trans students at UVM have always advocated for themselves and supported each other socially, but the LGBTQA Center had to play a critical role in making changes on the institutional level, Jerman said. “The people who are working at the Center are amazing,” Mezzaroba said. “The funding
isn’t good enough, but they do a great job with what they’re given.” There should be more LGBTQA diversity in classrooms, sophomore Caroline Schryver said. “Professors still use predominately heterosexual examples during class, and overall it doesn’t really seem that the community has been embraced in the learning environment of UVM,” she said. Jerman says the Center must be a vehicle for student voices to be heard. “When I think specifically about queer and trans people of color, we’re a predominately white institution and issues of racial equity have always been an area of tension for the campus,” Jerman said. “And they don’t just get better on their own.” Part of what Jerman says the Center can do is focus on the intersectionality of gender,
sexuality and race. “I think one of the struggles we have on campus is a microcosm of what we have in larger queer communities and that is that whiteness has always been centered in queer identity,” Jerman said. “Now that our eyes are open to that, it’s our job to change that.” Jerman says the histories of queer and trans people of color need to be made more visible, so there’s not just a white understanding of queer identity. For National Coming Out Month, the Center will highlight the contributions of queer and trans people of color to queer history. “The idea that you’re either in or out and that there’s a binary there is a super white concept,” Jerman said. “There are so many things to unpack about who has the privilege to be out and to tell others they should also be out.”
RACIAL INJUSTICE continued from page 1 are not seen as full students on this campus.” Then, student leaders went on to present more detailed demands to the attendees. These included making BlackBoard Jungle, UVM’s annual diversity symposium, mandatory for faculty as well as increased funding for diversity and identity clubs and organizations, the renaming of the Perkins building, and removing the Bailey name from Bailey/Howe Library. The Perkins building is named after George Perkins, father of Henry Perkins. Henry Perkins is seen as the founder of the eugenics movement in Vermont, according to a Sept. 29 email from Sullivan. “You wouldn’t name a building after Stalin’s son,” said senior Angelica Crespo, cofounder of the Womyn of Color Coalition. “Whether it was the father who did it or the son, the name still carries weight.” The renaming of the Bailey/ Howe Library is due to former UVM President Guy W. Bailey’s involvement in funding the research of Henry Perkins as a member of the eugenics advisory board, Crespo said. With each demand listed, students were invited to share their own experiences of racial or societal injustice at the University. The stories ranged from classroom racism and misgendering to a lack of faculty of color to the theft of the Black Lives Matter Flag last year. One
Oct.10, 2017
Student cited for racist threats
Kate Jerman, head of LGBTQA Center
UVM police cited continuing education student Wesley Richter for making racist threats on the phone Oct. 5. The office of student conduct is also conducting an investigation to see if Richter violated UVM policies.
The LGBTQA Center hired a new director July 2017. Kate Jerman, who came to UVM from the University of California at Berkeley. Jerman talks about her experiences in California and her hopes for her role at UVM.
Singer spotlight: senior Kirsti Blow
Rocktober starts at WRUV
UVM senior Kirsti Blow has been busy with shows at Radio Bean, ArtsRiot, the Monkey House and the Light Club Lamp Shop this year. Blow talks about her musical inspiration, experience as an artist in Burlington and hopes for the future.
Following the success of live programming last spring, WRUV has announced it will co-host weekly live shows with ArtsRiot through in October. The station is bringing Milo, Sam Paulino and the Huntress and the Holder of Hands to campus.
Saying goodbye to Tom Petty
Recovery program faces stigma
When Tom Petty died Oct. 2 in a Santa Monica hospital, people across the country mourned. Editor Maggie Richardson recalls how his music became the soundtrack to her childhood.
Now in its seventh year, the Catamount Recovery Program is still without a physical home, Director Amy Boyd-Austin and students involved in CRP talk about the challenges the program faces and what’s next.
Get the full story at vtcynic.com.
Pregnancy...
Sophomore Harmony Edosomwan (foreground) speaks at the Student Forum for Racial Justice Sept. 30 in the Livak Ballroom. The forum acted as a discussion space for students to present more detailed demands to the administration. NICK COLLIAS/The Vermont Cynic student, junior Z McCarron, spoke of their experience as a non-binary student who uses they/them pronouns. “I have yet to be properly gendered by a professor at this University,” McCarron said. One issue raised was the lack of funding for diversity and identity clubs and organizations. “I went to three [appeals] meetings at [SGA], and still, we didn’t get the money we requested, but we were still required to do the fundraising, which was actually threefourths of what we requested,” said Maria Medina, former
Alianza Latinx president. SGA-recognized clubs and organizations are required to fundraise a maximum of 15 percent of their requested budget depending on which tier they fall into, according to the SGA club resources website. At the end of the forum, the organizers opened up the forum to administrators. “My shoulders are heavy,” said Wanda Heading-Grant, vice president of human resources, diversity and multicultural affairs. “I promise to give my body, my heart, my soul to you.”
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The Vermont Cynic The Vermont
CYNIC EXECUTIVE Editor-in-Chief Erika B. Lewy editorinchief@vtcynic.com Managing Editor Olivia G. Bowman newsroom@vtcynic.com OPERATIONS Operations Manager Ryan P. Thornton operations@vtcynic.com Advertising Manager Cole Wangsness ads@vtcynic.com Distribution Manager Brittnay Heffermehl distribution@vtcynic.com EDITORIAL Arts Benjamin Elfland arts@vtcynic.com B-Side Margaret Richardson bside@vtcynic.com Copy Chief Mariel Wamsley copy@vtcynic.com Life Izzy Siedman life@vtcynic.com Multimedia William Dean Wertz media@vtcynic.com News Greta Bjornson news@vtcynic.com Oddities Healy Fallon oddities@vtcynic.com Opinion Sydney Liss-Abraham opinion@vtcynic.com Social Media Liv Jensen socialmedia@vtcynic.com Sports Eribert Volaj sports@vtcynic.com Web Connor Allan web@vtcynic.com Layout Lily Keats layout@vtcynic.com Photo Phillip Carruthers Max McCurdy photo@vtcynic.com Illustrations Genevieve Winn illustrations@vtcynic.com Assistant Editors Henry Mitchell (Opinion), Bridget Higdon (Arts), Locria Courtright (Sports), George Seibold (Copy), Lauren Schnepf (News), Katie Brobst (Life), Aaron Longchamp (Web) Page Designers Kira Bellis, Kyra Chevalier, Tiana Crispino, Lindsay Freed, Carly Frederickson, Natasha Geffen, Sasha Hull, Caroline McCune, Katie Rearden, Grace Ross, Chloe Schafer, Meg Stevens, Isabelle Vogell, Helena Weisskopf Copy Editors Lindsay Freed, Isabella Abraham, Brandon Arcari, Anna Colfer, John-Luke Giroux, Max Greenwood, Rae Gould, Adrianna Grinder, Sabrina Hood, Sophia Knappertz, Michelle Derse Lowry, Karolyn Moore, Jacob Potts, Greta Puc, Isabel Rennick, Jill Reynolds, Meline Thebarge, Alex Verret ADVISING
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Still tough to be queer on campus
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Faculty Adviser Chris Evans crevans@uvm.edu
OPINION
Oct. 10, 2017
Staff Editorial
ven at what is recognized to be one of the most nationally accepting universities for LGBTQA folx, being queer is still hard. Members of the Cynic staff span the spectrum of genders, sexualities and identities. When many of us showed up to UVM, we were surprised not to feel as welcomed and safe as we’d hoped. We welcome and enthusiastically affirm all identities without question because so many of us have not found that affirmation elsewhere. Members of our staff are asexual, lesbian, straight, gay, bisexual, transgender and non-binary. While UVM does a lot instiutionally to support members of the queer community, it’s hard. When textbooks, class discussions and certain professors seems to live only in a world of heterosexual relationships with cis-gendered people, we feel tired. When roommates and lunchtime pals tell us that we aren’t asexual, just “picky” and that we “haven’t found the right person yet,” we feel tired. When we are told that we are not bisexual, but “oversexualized” and “attention-seeking,” we feel tired. When we overhear people on campus saying, “Everyone is transgender now; it’s a UVM thing,” we feel tired and angry and sad. But we are hopeful. And we are lucky.
Though it is painful, we are lucky to be in a community with people who are not like us. We are lucky to be living and learning in a community that is trying to do better for its queer members. We are lucky to have a community that has a place like the LGBTQA Center. We are lucky to have a Center director like Kate Jerman who is humble enough to say the University is not doing enough to meet the needs of queer students of color. To those of you who are queer on campus, who came to UVM because of its reputation for inclusivity and now feel confused and disappointed, we affirm and support you. The frustration and exhaustion and sadness that you feel is real. Some of us have felt it, too. Know that you are not alone. If you are seeking a space to feel welcomed and affirmed, the door of the Cynic office is open to you. 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.
GENEVIEVE WINN
Corrections An article in the Sept. 19 issue implied that professor Rachael Oldinski had been convicted of DUI and related charges; however, Oldinski has only been charged with the crimes, not convicted. The Cynic regrets the error. An article in the Oct. 3 issue of the Cynic stated that UVM ResLife fell short of its 100 per-
cent programmed housing goal. The 100 percent programmed housing goal, which has since been lowered to 8085 percent, was to go in effect in 2018. ResLife missed its 75 percent goal this year by 3 percent. The Cynic regrets the error.
Weakening Title IX could hurt University Madeleine Cary
U
.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced her plan to roll back the Obama-era Title IX guidance Sept. 22. Title IX is a statute which prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded educational institutions. The Supreme Court decided that Title IX protections extend to sexual harassment and sexual violence. Despite DeVos’s new guidance on Title IX, universities should continue to use the “Dear Colleague” letter when handling sexual misconduct cases. The “Dear Colleague” letter includes guidance from the Obama administration on how universities should use Title IX to handle sexual misconduct cases. Her current guidance will further complicate sexual misconduct cases and will harm survivors. DeVos’s new guidance will change the way some schools prosecute sexual assault. Currently, universities use a “preponderance of the evidence” standard of proof in which the decision is about whether the accused is more likely than not to have committed the crime. However, DeVos recommends schools use either a preponderance of evidence or a “clear and convincing” standard, where there is a firm belief that a crime was committed.
KATI KIRSCH DeVos suggests schools use the same burden of proof for sexual assault that they do for other conduct violations such as plagiarism. The idea of comparing these two “conduct violations” is ludicrous. One is about academic integrity and the other is about human integrity — they can not be expected to be prosecuted in the same way when one is so repulsive. It’s sad yet true that we live in a world where out of every
1000 rapes, only six perpetrators go to prison according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. DeVos’s plans to make the litigation process for the accused more equitable is absurd. Sure, the accused need more protections in a world where Candice Jackson, the top civil rights official at the U.S. Department of Education, believes 90 percent of rapes are false accusations. Schools must continue to
use Obama-era guidance as they conduct Title IX investigations to ensure the safety and wellbeing of survivors. Universities have an obligation to protect students by standing up after years of ingoring campus sexual assault. Title IX is what needs to be protected, not rapists. Madeleine Cary is a junior English major. She has been writing for the Cynic since 2017.
OPINION
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The Vermont Cynic
Oct. 10, 2017
New club fee collection hurts club members Letter to the Editor
D
ear Editor, The Student Government Association has been asked, by higher-ups in the controller’s office, to make sure all money coming in to student clubs is routed through University Tickets, a third-party vendor. This includes club membership dues, merchandise sales and ticket sales to members of the UVM community and beyond. Cash sales are, for the moment, prohibited. University Tickets assesses a fee of $1 per transaction plus a 4 percent credit card fee. This fee is absurdly high for many clubs who sell tickets to events on campus (including the University Players, of which I am President); tickets are often in the range of $5-$15, and the fees would amount to up to an extra 24 percent of the cost of tickets going to this outside vendor. Should the clubs choose to subsidize this cost with their own funds, they will not bring in their expected income over the year, hampering their ability to support students’ extracurricular activities. The basis for this decision, besides the belief that student leaders are not trustworthy enough to responsibly care for their clubs’ funds, was an attempt to save money by reducing student clubs’ use of the Cashier’s Office. The office had
SAMANTHA GRAHAM
LILY KEATS apparently had to add a parttime employee to assist with the clubs’ needs. But the costs saved by moving to this system are not true savings. Instead, the costs are borne by the students who are involved with the clubs, ei-
ther as active members or as patrons. In addition, the SGA has had to hire its own parttime employee to assist clubs with University Tickets. This is another example of Incentive-Based Budgeting missing the larger picture. The
University of Vermont is an organization where administration loves to remind the faculty, “the students are the customers.” This move hurts the “customers” in order to make one unit’s budget sheet look nicer.
Perhaps the University could instead trim down its administrative ranks and salaries, which have ballooned in the past 15 years. Jacob September, Senior
Safe spaces prevent University diversity of thought Cammy Schiller
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ecently, it has seemed that higher education is just a way to delay adulthood. In resident adviser training, we were told to take Trump signs down because of their potential impacts. This is disregarding the First Amendment by censoring views that do not align with the University’s left-leaning political culture. It allows students to disregard reality if they are uncomfortable with it. In 1957, Sweezy v. New Hampshire went before the Supreme Court. A professor was fired for teaching Communist views. The case confronted academic freedom and argued that academic institutions should not conform to one thought. An institution should push for a diversity of thoughts to expand students’ minds. The case stated students should not be fearful to speak their minds, nor should they be condemned by faculty or the student body for doing so. The day after the presidential election students and faculty clumped half of America into a category, disregarding the opinions of those they oppose. Leading up to the election, professors discussed equality and free thought. Now, those discussions
LUCAS HILTZ seem hypocritical. For some time, both political parties have blamed the other when legislation doesn’t go its way. One political ideology should not be favored by an institution when both parties are flawed. The University cannot develop individual growth when free speech has so many oppnonents: professors, students
who hold the local majority’s opinion and the town of Burlington. Diversity is a pillar of this institution. But when professors discuss how “racist” Trump supporters are, it becomes believable that diversity of thought may not, in fact, be a pillar of UVM. Diversifying, not conform-
ing, thought should be the University’s goal. “The University of Vermont is an educationally purposeful community seeking to prepare students to live in a diverse and changing world,” according to Our Common Ground. How do you live in a diverse world when you are never exposed to one? Whatever side you are on,
you should have a voice; universities should be politically free, not politically biased.
Cammy Schiller is a sophomore math and secondary education major. She has been writing for the Cynic since 2017.
The Vermont Cynic
ARTS
Oct. 10, 2017
FallFest lineup revealed
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BCA hosts annual show
Carolyne Sandoval Staff Writer An affinity for live music seems to flow through Catamount veins. UVM Program Board will host FallFest at 7 p.m. Oct. 14 in Patrick Gym. Snakehips, a British electronic music duo, will be headlining this year’s concert. The group is best known for its 2015 single “All My Friends,” which features Chance the Rapper and Tinashe. Group members Oliver Lee and James Carter have been making smooth, mesmerizing, trap-inflected songs for five years, according to a November 2015 Rolling Stone article. Snakehips is also known for their remixes of popular pop tunes. The duo’s version of Sam Smith’s new single “Too Good at Goodbyes” is catchy and sensual, according to a September 2017 Billboard article. Vundabar, a rowdy rock band from Boston, will open for Snakehips. They will be preceded by UVM’s very own Kudu Stooge. Playing at FallFest is great exposure for Kudu Stooge, bassist senior Zach Lewellyn said. “We participated in the UVM Battle of the Bands last spring and didn’t win, so getting another chance to do something like this for the school is really incredible,” Lewellyn said. Most of Kudu Stooge’s band
British electronic music duo Snakehips. Snakehips will be headlining FallFest this year with openers Vundabar and student band Kudu Stooge. Photo Credit: Twitter members are seniors, so the group is excited to participate at a campus event for one of the last times, he said. The planning process for FallFest begins months before the event, sophomore Taylor Magda said. Magda is UPB’s head of ticketing for FallFest this year, and is the only sophomore on the 2017-18 concerts committee, she said. “We meet in April to think about general vibes for the concert,” Magda said. “Then we brainstorm different ideas for headliners and start reaching out to bands.” The UPB concerts committee is made up of six people: four students, an adviser and a student marketing liaison, she said.
“The whole UPB family works together the day of the event,” Magda said. “Thirty-40 student volunteers are involved in organizing, setting up and hosting the event.” UPB has been hosting concerts on campus since the 1970s, she said. The first FallFest concert took place in 2009 with headliner ‘o’f Montreal, Magda said. “The goal of FallFest is to bring different groups of UVM students together,” she said. “Music is a great way to create bonding.” Tickets for FallFest are on sale now. Students can purchase tickets for $10 at tickets. uvm.edu.
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Carolyne Sandoval Staff Writer As the recent hurricane season has shown yet again, the environment is a powerful force. In the upcoming exhibit “Of Land and Local: Watershed,” Burlington City Arts highlights how this force plays out in the Vermont community with a special focus on water. This year’s exhibit is the second part of the watershed exhibit. The first took place last year and was inspired by the flooding caused by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, according to the BCA website. The entire “Of Land and Local” series is designed to initiate a dialogue about issues surrounding the Vermont landscape, the website states. For “Watershed,” BCA has selected pieces for the exhibit mainly from artists who specialize in environmental art, like Georgie Friedman. Friedman’s work focuses on how violent natural events, like storms or tsunamis, interact with human fragility, she said. Friedman usually works with video, occasionally incorporating sculpture and photography into her pieces, she said. The work on display in the BCA center will mostly be projected footage of water, spanning the gallery walls. One of these pieces nicknamed “Rorschach Water” focuses on not only the symmetry and motion of water, but also the different images and experiences people may draw from it, Friedman said. “It reflects back on us,” she said. “[It forces us to think] about our individual relationships with nature.” Rebecca Hutchinson’s work will also be shown at the exhibit. Hutchinson is creating large-scale sculptures out of ceramics and handmade paper. “I’ve been trying to use the material in ways that are conscientious, but also beautiful,” Hutchinson said. The paper used in the exhibit is made from old garments. she said. “It makes you think about and reflect on the environment as a fragile state of affairs,” Hutchinson said. “There’s a lot of what looks like fragility, but not actually fragile.” She has also been looking at the way these themes of na-
Vermont community members admire the art at the fifth annual “Of Land and Local” art show Oct. 6 at Shelburne Farms. This year’s exhibits focus on watersheds and their impact on the environment. MOLLY PERRY/The Vermont Cynic ture and sustainability intersect with gender, using women’s handicrafts as inspiration, Hutchinson said. While she doesn’t think the art process is about dictating a message, Hutchinson hopes people will reflect on the beauty of the art and the experience of viewing nature-inspired art, she said. “I know within me is the passion, and I hope that passion is passed onto the viewer,” Hutchinson said. Art helps the audience reflect on their experiences, Friedman said. “Exhibits like this help us pay attention to things we might not normally notice, and they help highlight those small moments,” she said. Kylie Fleming, a UVM student currently on leave, also said art connected to social issues can be valuable. “Art helps people see the beauty in the everyday,” Fleming said. “When they see something on a day-to-day basis, they don’t think about how awesome it is.” “Of Land and Local: Watershed” will be held at Shelburne Farms Oct. 6-29 with an opening reception the first night from 5-8 p.m. It will open at the BCA Center Oct. 20 with a reception from 6-8 p.m. and will stay until Jan. 7.
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Oct. 10, 2017
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Oct. 10, 2017
FEATURE
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Post-hardcore rocks Burlington Nick Vidal Cynic Correspondant This has been a big year for Pile. Since the March release of their latest studio LP “A Hairshirt of Purpose,” the Boston band has been busy delivering their unique brand of frenetic and asymmetrical post-hardcore across Europe and North America. The band was recently presented Boston Magazine’s Best in Boston award for Artist of the Year. As the magazine’s blurb boasts, “Maguire’s drawl and octave yawps soar over a cacophony of compulsively listenable tunes” – a glowing review for a band depends on word-of-mouth promotion and seemingly deliberate cult status. “A Hairshirt of Purpose” is Pile’s fifth full-length record and third official release with their current label, Exploding in Sound. Pile, however, was originally conceived as the solo project of guitarist, lead vocalist and primary songwriter Rick Maguire. An Acton, Massachusetts native, Maguire spent time living and working around Boston after graduating from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell with a degree in music performance. Though he admits feeling somewhat discouraged by professors from playing in bands, Maguire said he considers his time at UMass formative and ultimately beneficial. “But, I really learned more about myself there than any of the things they were trying to teach me.” Maguire went on to devote his post-collegiate years to playing in bands around Boston and, particularly toward the end of the 2000s, to his own solo material, self-releasing a handful of albums under the name Pile, including 2006’s “Demonstration” and 2009’s “Jerk Routine.” Around late 2009, while working at a local grocery store, Maguire was introduced to Kriss Kuss, his coworker and future drummer. With the addition of bassist Matt Connery and guitarist Matt Becker later that year, Pile officially became a collective project and followed quickly with the release of their self-produced 2010 LP, “Magic Isn’t Real.” Maguire has since quit his job at the grocery store following the release of 2015’s “You’re Better Than This.” Maguire used his freedom as an opportunity to become fully devoted to the band and its endeavors, moving out of his apartment and converting the band’s practice space into his bedroom.
Pile performs at Club Metronome Oct. 5. They released their fourth studio album, “A Hairshirt of Purpose,” in late March. NICK VIDAL/The Vermont Cynic Now, as the band’s chief songwriter and lyricist, Maguire generally supplies the group with the raw material that is later transformed into what we hear on record. Maguire admits, with an air of frankness and humility, that “if I did a good job, there’s not a whole lot to alter,” but “if I haven’t, we need to do some work.” This often proves stifling when done in a group setting. “When you labor over a song so much in practice, it’s pretty tough to garner the same enthusiasm the next time around,” he said. Although, he candidly admits, “it usually helps if there are few a beers involved.” But when cracking open a cold one with the boys isn’t enough to get Pile’s collective creative juices flowing, the band has a set of routines that help tremendously with maintaining a healthy creative output, Maguire said. Maguire’s own process generally involves working in the morning with a cup of coffee, a book and a guitar, while strategically avoiding the internet, he said. As a rule, he tries to “either be writing or reading,”
in order to access creat. The majority of this time constitutes what Maguire considers to be “direct” work – that is, the actual substantive processes of practicing, writing and recording his music – though he is careful to note the importance of more “indirect” processes like going to the gym regularly and getting enough sleep. When pressed to provide a similar overview of his recent listening history, Maguire takes a momentary pause to collect himself. “I listen to a lot of mellow stuff,” he says, breaking the silence, “a lot of piano-based music and electronic music like Aphex Twin and Mount Eerie - basically music with sonic textures that are sort of uncommon for rock music.” Given the ambiguity of what constitutes “rock music”, Maguire offers his own working definition. “In general,” he says, “rock music is some sort of vocalist talking about their feelings against some kind of melody - either singing or yelling or screaming - underlain by some sort of a pulse,” he stops short before adding, “and there’s usually a guitar involved at least somewhere.” As for the rest of the group’s musical interests, Maguire admits, “Our tastes are growing somewhat more disparate.” – be it Connery’s unique preference for crust punk or Maguire’s own love for mellower, less conventionally rock music – “but I think that ultimately it’s a good thing in that it allows us to all be able to bring something new and exciting to the table when we sit down to write.” With technical prowess that borders on the obscene, Kuss commands authority from behind the kit and provides a crucial backbone to the band’s
often dizzying arrangements, themselves performed diligently by Becker and Connery. When not on tour, Maguire said that he and the rest of the band stays busy, each member choosing to work part time at their local movie theaters, guitar shops, or used book stores. “But ideally,” Maguire says,“ if the whole Pile thing didn’t work out, I’d hopefully be doing something to make the world a better place.” With that, Maguire grows slightly sentimental and the tone of our conversation be-
gins to hush. Posed with the question of what advice he might offer the average struggling DIY musician, he muses, “Always be willing to do it yourself until there’s something that comes along that seems like a better deal.” “But ultimately,” he finishes, considering his words for a moment, “don’t expect anybody to do anything for you.”
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The Vermont Cynic
SPORTS
First-years shine in alumni weekend Libby Camp Staff Writer Starting strong is key to any hockey season. Men’s hockey did just that Friday at Gutterson Fieldhouse. Backed by a shutout from sophomore goaltender Stefanos Lekkas and a pair of goals from first-year defenders, the Catamounts defeated Colorado College 3-0 in their regular season opener. The Catamounts found themselves at an early disadvantage. Halfway through the first period, junior forward Liam Coughlin received a five-minute game misconduct for checking from behind. Vermont killed off the penalty, aided by the visitors taking a two-minute minor break themselves. This was the game’s turning point, head coach Kevin Sneddon said. “I thought we did some good things on that kill to spark our energy a little bit,” Sneddon said. UVM opened the scoring in the dying seconds of the period. Following a penalty to Colorado, sophomore forward Derek Lodermeier won the faceoff. Sophomore forward Ross Colton beat Colorado goalten-
Oct. 11, 2017
UVM SCOREBOARD Week of Oct. 2 - Oct. 8
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Sophomore Ross Colton fires a shot against the University of Waterloo Oct. 1. Colton scored his 13th career goal against Colorado College Oct. 6, helping the Catamounts past the Tigers, 3-0.
Photo courtesy of UVM Athletics
der Alex Leclerc for his first goal of the season. UVM opened the second with a goal as well. First-year defender Owen Grant fired a shot from the blueline. The puck pinged off the post and beat Leclerc to double Vermont’s lead to 2-0, and scoring Grant his first career goal. Two and a half minutes later, another first-year got on the scoresheet. First-year forward Bryce Misley, working below the goal line, found first-year defender Christian Evers with a pass,
and Evers beat Leclerc with a one-timer to extend the lead to 3-0. Lekkas made 33 saves, earning his second shutout in his last three non-exhibition games at Gutterson Fieldhouse. Sneddon credited Lekkas with making huge saves to keep the shutout intact. “I think they had a lot of Grade-A [scoring chances], and Stef was sensational tonight,” he said. Their next home game is Oct. 28 against University of New Hampshire.
Men’s ice hockey vs. Colorado
3-0
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Men’s soccer vs. Albany
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Women’s soccer at UMass Lowell
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