Issue 22, Vol. 138

THEVERMONTCYNIC ISSUE 22 - VOLUME 138 | MARCH 15, 2022 | VTCYNIC.COM

UVM to keep indirect investments in fossil fuels until contracts lapse Lila Cumming Cynic News Reporter

UVM will continue to invest in multiple private equity investments linked to fossil fuels for the next five years despite announcing divestment from direct fossil fuels nearly two years ago, according to the University website.

UVM announced its decision to discontinue renewal of four remaining private investments July 14, 2020, according to the University website. The University exited one private equity investment linked to fossil fuels so far, an action which the terms of that particular contract allowed, according to the email.

However, the University remains contractually legally obligated to remain in four indirect fossil fuels investments until the contracts lapse in 2027, according to a Feb. 25 email from UVM Spokesperson Enrique Corredera.

The remaining investments amount to a total value of $157,000.

A private equity investment consists of investing in a fund managed by a private equity firm and are often long-term investments typically of ten or more years, according to Investor. gov.

Information about the names of the fossil fuel companies and dollar amounts within each company’s contracts is not publicly available, according to a March 11 email from Corredera.

These remaining investments

now contribute to 0.02% of the endowment, according to the March 11 email.

“Unfortunately, when we were looking at precedents from other schools it does seem like these timelines are often not the most swift,” said Organize President David Sidelle, a senior. “They go for 10 to 15 years, which is really unfortunate.”

UVM community members formed Organize in 2019 with the initial goal for UVM to divest its endowments from fossil fuel companies and pushed for the change during an Oct. 25-26 2019 board of trustees meeting, according to an Oct. 23, 2019 Cynic article.

The University completely backed out of all direct fossil fuel investments as of Feb. 28, 2021, according to the email.

“I don’t see, or have yet to see, at this University, a serious commitment to addressing climate change,” said Paul Bierman, professor of natural resources.

“The divestment piece is a great start. It sends a signal, but I don’t see us moving aggressively in that direction,” In fall 2019, a few students from Organize approached Bierman after one of his climate classes and asked if he would help their goal of fossil fuel divestment and to attend an upcoming board of trustees meeting, he said.

After attending the board of trustees meeting in October 2019, Bierman noticed a lack of diversity

represented on the board, which he thinks could contribute to the University’s lack of motivation to divest, he said.

“I’m horribly cynical about this administration, they do what looks good,” Bierman said. “They put Enrique up in front of everything.

Some of my students would call it greenwashing. I don’t know if it’s quite that bad. But sometimes it is, they do things that look nice.”

Greenwashing refers to a company falsely displaying itself as environmentally friendly and sustainable to seem more appealing, according to an Oct. 17, 2015 New York Times article.

“I think at this point, the statement has been made by getting out of direct fossil fuels and that’s a good thing,” Bierman said. “But now it’s time for the University to roll up their sleeves and actually cut their fossil fuel use.”

Bierman said the change in carbon emissions should come from UVM trying to moderate its fossil fuel use, which includes upgrading buildings, efficiency and discouraging any excess travel of faculty and students.

Some buildings on campus, such as the Davis Center, are certified in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, which monitors the construction process of buildings to be more sustainable, according to the University website.

Sidelle suggests the University stick to its former Climate Action Plan and focus on reaching net

carbon neutrality by 2025, he said.

The University passed the Climate Action Plan in 2010, which pledged to reach carbon neutrality in electricity production by 2015, in thermal energy production by 2020 and commuting, business and air travel by 2025, according to an April 9, 2021 Cynic article.

The Office of Sustainability sent out an email with updated goals Oct. 2021, which are set to be finalized by the end of June, according to an Oct. 18 email.

Sidelle thinks UVM’s heating would need to move to a renewable source of energy, they said.

“I think the reason we have a problem with the board that doesn’t divest is that you have a bunch of older white males, mostly businessmen, on there,” Bierman said. “If we really want to divest UVM, the trick is to make the board look more like the world.”

The disproportionate representation on the board is a product of the way in which board members are elected, which is not by a democratic process, Sidelle said.

The Governor of Vermont and Vermont state legislature appoint five members and the board itself elects four each election cycle, according to the Vermont State College system website.

Trustees Coordinator Corrine Thompson declined the Cynic’s request for comment from the board of trustees in a Feb. 27 email.

Photo Illustration by ELLIE SCOTT and ERIC SCHARF

NEWS

2

Several colleges without diversity training

ABBIE KOPELOWITZ/The Vermont Cynic

The Waterman building sits on S Prospect Street.

OLIVER POMAZZI/The Vermont Cynic Protestors moved into Waterman later in the evening, Feb. 23, 2018.

Skyeler Devlin Cynic News Reporter

UVM does not have mandatory diversity training for their faculty, which stems from the contractual inability of UVM’s deans to require additional faculty training, said Nancy Mathews, dean of the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources.

Although three deans promised in 2018 to mandate diversity training for all faculty teaching D1 and D2 courses, they did not follow through on implementing the promised training as a requisite for UVM faculty, as it is a union contract issue, Mathews said.

The deans and UVM’s faculty union negotiated a new contract on May 10, 2021, said Bill Falls, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Mandatory diversity training for faculty was not negotiated in the new contract, Falls said.

On Feb. 28, 2018, social justice group NoNames for

Justice asked the deans of UVM’s seven undergraduate colleges to sign a letter committing to the implementation of mandatory diversity training and to hiring and retaining more faculty and staff of color, according to a March 7, 2018 Cynic article.

Of the seven college deans at UVM, Mathews and Falls were the two who agreed to sign the letter, according to the article.

Scott Thomas, former dean of the College of Education and Social Services, did not sign the letter because he felt it was important to examine the letter more thoroughly but did commit to the requirement of training for all faculty teaching D1 and D2 courses, according to the article.

Thomas was hesitant to sign because he thought that mandatory training was an unworkable action from his position of dean, and he felt the specificity of the document was stifling to the preexisting needs, capacities and interests of the college, according to the article.

OLIVER POMAZZI/The Vermont Cynic Protesters, led by Harmony Edosomwan, move from the Davis Center to Waterman Feb. 23, 2018.

ALTERNATIVES TO MANDATORY DIVERSITY TRAINING IN CAS, CESS AND RUBENSTEIN Falls agreed with NoNames for Justice that all faculty could benefit from professional development in effectively managing challenging topics in class, but he has not mandated diversity training for CAS faculty, according to a Feb. 25 email from Falls.

“The expectation for mandatory training is a challenge for anybody but the [faculty] union to officially require, and that part of the discussion around what can we realistically tell faculty they must absolutely do, or their job depends on it, is really a union contract issue,” Mathews said.

The newly negotiated faculty contract from May 2021 included an addition that all of the guidelines for annual evaluations, promotions and tenure contains a commitment to diversity and equity inclusion, Falls said.

The new contract also introduced EVERFI training for students and faculty,

which targets problematic workplace behaviors and helps transform all employees into active bystanders, according to EVERFI’s website.

UVM faculty are encouraged, not required, to take part in EVERFI training, Falls said.

In place of mandatory diversity training, Rubenstein has two optional faculty and staff retreats a year during which University employees engage in diversity and inclusive professional development, Mathews said.

CESS offers development opportunities to its faculty focused on exploring inclusive teaching practices and strategies, which aims to lead to equitable classrooms that meet the needs of students from diverse backgrounds and identities, Dean of CESS Katherine Shepherd said.

CAS AND RUBENSTEIN HOPE RECRUITMENT PIPELINES IMPROVE FACULTY OF COLOR HIRING AND RETENTION for

Amer Ahmed, vice provost Diversity, Equity and

Inclusion, is eager to work with the colleges to develop the internal capacity to conduct faculty and staff hiring searches with a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion that is not just about recruitment, but also retention, he said.

Ahmed’s work centers around creating an environment where faculty of color, women and queer-identified folks feel valued and respected for who they are and what they bring to the table, he said.

“We don’t want to just recruit people into parts of the University in which people are not having inclusive and equitable experiences,” Ahmed said.

Hiring faculty has been a challenge for CAS because of persistent budget shortfalls, Falls said. Still, a recent infusion of funds from the Provost allowed CAS to hire three new faculty, two of whom are faculty of color.

Continued on page 3

NEWS

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FSL members form queer affinity space Isabelle Tanner Cynic News Reporter

A new affinity group for queer identifying people in sororities, the Queer Panhellenic Association, aims to create community for the LGBTQ+ students in UVM Sorority Life.

QPA hopes to become a place where LGBTQ+ panhellenic members can uplift one another and celebrate living a queer life in a heteronormative society, according to a Feb. 26 QPA Instagram post.

“The generic stereotype of a sorority person is a sorority woman, a cisgender straight girl, and that’s not necessarily the case for everybody in a sorority, especially here at UVM,” said junior Cassandra Uy, Panhellenic Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Chair, member of QPA, and member of Pi Beta Phi, who identifies as nonbinary and transgender.

The affinity space is currently only accepting female identifying and non-binary members in sororities. The group is assessing whether members feel comfortable with accepting male-identifying students into the group, said junior Eliza Ligon, QPA director of outreach and member of Kappa Alpha Theta, who identifies as queer and pansexual.

Sorority life can be difficult at times for a queer person, Ligon said.

An affinity space is important to allow for LGBTQ+ individuals to express their hardships Ligon said.

“The reason why the affinity space can exist […] is because there are really beautiful

Continued from page 2

“It begins at the recruitment phase,” Falls said. “It begins with creating pipelines to places we know that there are BIPOC holders of PhDs.” Rory Waterman, associate dean of CAS, oversees a diversity task force that works closely with college leaders and department chairs to figure out the best recruiting practices, Falls said.

CAS, one of the colleges that signed NoNames for Justice’s letter, saw a 1% increase in faculty and staff of color since fall 2021. The total number of faculty and staff of color decreased by one, said Alex Yin, director of the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment.

Mathews became dean of Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources in 2014 and said she hasn’t had issues with retention, with only one faculty of color retiring in her time as dean, she said. Mathews also hired four new faculty of color since 2014.

The majority of Mathews’s

moments of being a queer person in greek life,” Ligon said.

The idea came from a nonbinary member of Alpha Delta Pi who hoped to create a community where LGBTQ+ members of sorority life could come get to know each other and reaffirm their presence in the community, Ligon said.

“Greek life is a system that was built on a history of oppression,” Ligon said. “We weren’t the people who the space was built for.”

This is why members believe the affinity space is so important. It helps to reimagine what FSL could be with further inclusion, Ligon said.

“It’s not just the silencing of queer voices, which it’s not even necessarily intentional,” Ligon said. “It’s just a forgetfulness sometimes. It reminds us that we are here and to remind other people that we’re here too.”

The UVM College Panhellenic Association website stated the University’s Panhellenic recruitment is accessible for all who identify as women.

The website does not use any language inclusive of nonbinary or gender-nonconforming individuals.

There has been a lot of progress regarding inclusion made by the Jewish Council of Sorority Women and The Sisters of Color affinity space, Cassandra Uy said.

The Jewish Council of Sorority Women and the Sisters of Color organization have actively been pushing for progress, Uy said.

However, there has never been a designated FSL affinity space for queer people until now.

Up until fall 2021, Uy was work aims to improve hiring and retaining faculty of color through building recruitment and hiring pipelines, hiring faculty of color directly out of UVM’s graduate student body, she said.

“The greatest factor right now is our efforts to recruit graduate students and mentor them and prepare them for the academic pathway,” Mathews said. “So one point of emphasis is encouraging BIPOC folx to come into graduate programs to get them in the pipeline for faculty positions.”

Rubenstein, the only other college to sign the letter, had a 0.9% decrease in faculty and staff of color since 2018, with their total number also decreasing by one, according to Yin. Eighty-three percent of all UVM faculty and staff identified as white in fall 2018, according to OIRA. As of fall 2021, the percentage is now 81.8%.

PROGRESS IN COLLEGES THAT DID NOT SIGN NONAMES FOR JUSTICE’S 2018 LETTER The deans of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the Grossman School

Graphic courtesy of QPA the only member of their sorority that did not use she/ her pronouns, they said.

Uy found that gender inclusive language was not being used in group settings, they said.

After speaking with other members in their community, Uy said they found that the use of gendered language was an issue within the University’s Panhellenic community.

“My main challenge going into recruitment is implementing education on

gender inclusive laguage and taking a step back from the heteronormative structure within [FSL],” Uy said.

This work requires changing the language of recruitment guidelines and bylaws, all of which currently state someone must be a woman at UVM to join a sorority, Uy said.

Uy hopes to expand sorority spaces that traditionally only accommodate women to include all non-male identifying people, they said.

Uy also hopes to see queer

voices amplified within UVM sororities and for a community to form that allows for people to voice issues that the cisgender and heterosexual members of FSL would not understand, they said.

Uy wants to make the University’s FSL community a more diverse place where all voices are equally valued. They are excited to see the work QPA will do to further this endeavor, they said.

of Business, the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, the College of Nursing and Health Sciences did not agree to the demands levied by NoNames for Justice in 2018.

The Grossman School of Business formed an Inclusive Excellence Committee composed of administrators, faculty, staff and students who work on managing diversity, equity and inclusion activities for the school, including faculty and staff training sessions, according to a Feb. 27 email from Associate Dean Barbara Arel.

Grossman also incorporated DEI content into their professional development series of courses for undergraduate students and their Sustainable Innovation MBA students are encouraged to take an annual privilege and bias workshop offered by Sherwood Smith, a doctor of education and lecturer at UVM, the email stated.

“Students have also formed a Diversity in Business club to foster supportive spaces for underrepresented students in GSB,” according to the email. “During our faculty

and staff recruiting process, all of our search committee members receive training on the best practices in affirmative recruiting.”

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences focuses on making diversity a valued criterion in the recruitment and retention of students, faculty and staff, according to a March 1 email from Dean Leslie Parise.

CALS search committees undergo training in affirmative recruitment and hiring.

“CALS has two diversity committees, one in our academic units and another in UVM Extension,” Parise’s email stated. “CALS recently sponsored a diversity-focused retreat for those involved in classroom instruction and are planning another for staff.”

The College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences started an office of Equity, Belonging, and Student Engagement led by Assistant Dean KC Williams.

The Office focuses on leadership training of student club leaders, programming for BIPOC students in STEM, and support of student academic

success, according to a March 8 email from CEMS Dean Linda Schadler.

CEMS also has a DEI committee that includes faculty, staff and sometimes students.

The committee is currently focused on a set of workshops and votes that would add questions about inclusivity to the CEMS student course evaluations, Schadler stated in the email.

CEMS added six people of color and six women to its faculty since 2018, according to Schadler’s email.

The College of Nursing and Health Sciences implemented the Committee on Inclusive Excellence which provides diversity education. They hold sessions led by speakers from organizations such as the Peace and Justice Center of Vermont, according to a March 10 email from Dean Noma Anderson.

Discussion for these sessions includes topics such as seeing and disrupting racism, working with individuals with limited English proficiency and microaggressions in healthcare and academia, Anderson stated.

4

NEWS

MARY MCLELLAN/The Vermont Cynic

Ali House holds up her campaign sign outside the Fletcher Free Library March 1.

MARY MCLELLAN/The Vermont Cynic Burlington resident shows support on Town Meeting Day.

Six UVM-affiliated candidates win seats Halsey McLaen Assistant News Editor

Senior Ali House is the first full-time student to be elected to City Council, said first-year Adam Franz, newly-elected Ward 8 Inspector of Elections, who worked on House’s campaign.

Burlington elected four UVM students and two employees for positions of city councilor, school commissioner and inspector of elections on Town Meeting Day, March 1. Seven UVM-affiliated candidates ran for office in Burlington, four of whom won elections in Ward 8 and two in Ward 7.

ALI HOUSE, WARD 8 CITY COUNCILOR (2-YEAR TERM) House, a senior studying social work and health studies, ran as a Progressive for Ward 8 city councilor against Democratic candidate and fellow UVM student Hannah King.

House ran on a platform of increasing the use of nonfossil fuel energy sources in the city, seeking just solutions for the housing crisis, holistic approaches to public safety and greater support of community mental health, she said.

“The biggest thing I want to see come out of this is that we have engaged people, we’ve engaged voters, [and] people are going to start paying attention to their local politics,” House said. “This is about engagement, this is about building movement.”

Student support is integral in electing viable candidates to City Council and addressing change meaningfully through that elected body, House said.

House is excited about her social justice vision in changing oppressive systems and enjoys engaging with others to generate energy and support for the activism her platform aligns with, she said.

“We’re never going to stop fighting for justice and the

things we believe in,” House said. “We’ve enriched an entire movement here.”

HANNAH KING, WARD 8 CITY COUNCILOR CANDIDATE Senior Hannah King ran as a Democrat for Ward 8 city councilor against Progressive candidate Ali House.

King’s platform was based on rent stabilization and fair housing, integrating restorative practices into public safety, establishing a $15 minimum wage and connecting students with long-term residents, according to the Hannah for Burlington website.

“I understand the struggles so many of my Ward 8 neighbors face because I’ve lived them myself,” King’s website stated. “I believe we can solve our deepest challenges through working together and listening to each other.”

King has previously served on the Community Development Block Grant Advisory Board as well as on the Wards 1 and 8 Neighborhood Planning Associations, the resident-run neighborhood advocacy groups for each ward, according to her website.

MONIKA IVANCIC, WARD 7 SCHOOL COMMISSIONER (2-YEAR TERM) Monika Ivancic, nuclear magnetic resonance facility manager in UVM’s chemistry department, ran uncontested for Ward 7 school commissioner.

School commissioners comprise the school board that makes decisions about Burlington’s school districts, according to the Burlington School Commissioners page on Town Meeting TV. This is Ivancic’s third term in this position, having held it since 2018, she said.

Ivancic’s main priority is ensuring Burlington’s new high school is built properly, she said. Ivancic believes this is imperative to the city’s future in attracting families and future generations.

It will also affect her daughter personally, as she will begin high school in the fall.

Burlington High School closed in September 2020 after air quality testing revealed polychlorinated biphenyl contamination, according to a May 4, 2021 VTDigger article.

Since then, the school has occupied a renovated Macy’s building.

“It’s an existential crisis that the biggest city in Vermont has no high school,” Ivancic said.

The school commissioner position is volunteer-based and candidates receive no compensation for their work, Ivancic said.

She views this as a barrier to diversifying the board and hopes to implement a wage or stipend for the role to achieve greater diversity.

The newly-elected school board now includes three BIPOC members who also recently graduated from Burlington High School, bringing in young student voices, Ivancic said.

SAJA ALMOGALLI, WARD 8 SCHOOL COMMISSIONER (2-YEAR TERM) Saja Almogalli, a junior studying biology and health and society, ran uncontested as a write-in candidate for Ward 8 school commissioner.

Almogalli is a firstgeneration student at UVM who previously attended Burlington High School, she said.

Her personal experience with the difficulties of language barriers between her family and her high school drove her to run for school commissioner, Almogalli said.

She wants to work to increase accessibility by means of making translators available for students.

“We need people who understand the issues, we need people who have experienced things,” Almogalli said.

It was challenging to run as a write-in candidate, but Almogalli is thankful to have been elected, she said.

“It really means a lot to me, because this community welcomed me when I came first to the U.S.,” Almogalli said.

“It’s my time to give back to the community.”

TRISH O’KANE, WARD 7 INSPECTOR OF ELECTION (3-YEAR TERM) Trish O’Kane, a senior lecturer of environmental studies, ran as a Progressive for Ward 7 inspector of election, against Republican candidate Michael McGarghan.

“Local democracy is maybe the most important level of our democracy, and it’s where we can really make a difference,” O’Kane said.

The inspector of election position includes three people, O’Kane said. After her election, each of Ward 7’s inspectors will be from separate parties, O’Kane said.

“It’s so important to have several layers of people from different political parties and perspectives,” O’Kane said.

“That’s how you maintain people’s trust in the system.”

O’Kane feels empowered in this position, and is looking forward to educating people in her community about the political system and its functions, she said.

“I’m deeply honored [...] and I want to learn more to serve my community better,” O’Kane said. “I also think it will help with my teaching, because I am teaching students about citizenship, and I feel like if I don’t do it, how can I teach it?”

SINÉAD MURRAY, WARD 8 INSPECTOR OF ELECTION (3-YEAR TERM) Sinéad Murray, a senior studying political science, ran uncontested as a Progressive for Ward 8 inspector of election.

“I had known that [the Progressive party] needed some names to put down and I thought it would be a great way to immerse myself more in the politics that I like to organize within,” Murray said.

Murray hopes to use this

position to encourage more students to vote and engage in Burlington’s rich political life, she said.

“For a place like UVM, which considers itself a very political and progressive campus, it’s important to transcribe those views into real policy,” Murray said. “We should have the people that make our policy decisions and weigh in with our voices on City Council be students or student-aged.”

Running for office as a student was an enriching experience, she said.

“When I got to UVM as a freshman, I didn’t know what a progressive party was,” Murray said. “To now [be] running with the Progressive [party’s] endorsement as inspector of elections has been very, very exciting.”

ADAM FRANZ, WARD 8 INSPECTOR OF ELECTION (2-YEAR TERM) Adam Franz, a first-year studying political science and history, ran uncontested as a Progressive for Ward 8 inspector of election.

Franz ran to get more involved with the local governance scene and meet other people in the party, he said.

Franz wants to see greater student voter turnout in Ward 8, he said.

This election, 606 Ward 8 residents voted out of a total 3,621 registered, a turnout rate of 16.74%, according to the statement of votes cast from the City of Burlington website.

“If [students] don’t participate in elections, in politics, then the people in charge won’t think they have to pay attention to what we think,” Franz said.

While unsure of his decisionmaking power, Franz wants to work to put ballot drop-off boxes on campus as well as an additional polling place closer to campus, he said.

OPINION RM

Keep the dining halls open later

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Grace Visco

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Assistant Opinion Editor

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EXECUTIVE Editor-in-Chief Kate Vanni editorinchief@vtcynic.com Managing Editor Greta Rohrer newsroom@vtcynic.com

OPERATIONS Operations Manager Emma Chute operations@vtcynic.com

EDITORS Copy Chief Dalton Doyle copy@vtcynic.com Culture cynicculture@gmail.com Features Liz Roote cynicfeatures@gmail.com News Ella Ruehsen news@vtcynic.com Sports Matthew Rosenberg sports@vtcynic.com Opinion Emily Johnston opinion@vtcynic.com Podcasts Paige Fisher vtcynicpodcasts@gmail.com Layout Ellie Scott layout.cynic@gmail.com

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VM’s dining hall hours complicate students’ abilities to eat on campus.

UVM has four dining halls: Central Campus Dining on Central campus, Redstone Dining on Redstone campus, Harris-Millis Dining on Athletic campus and Northside Dining on Trinity Campus, according to UVM Dining.

Harris-Millis Dining stays open the latest, 9:30 p.m.

Monday through Friday, while Central and Redstone close at 8 p.m. and Northside closes at 7:30 p.m., according to UVM Dining’s website.

These hours are not late enough for students to eat when they need to.

Some students have labs that end too late for them to be able to eat at the dining halls.

Students who live on Trinity have to walk to other dining halls after 7:30 p.m. if they want or need food.

On Wednesdays, I leave my dorm room at 8:15 a.m. for my classes and do not typically get back until around 7:30 p.m. when my classes end.

Fortunately, I live in HarrisMillis, which allows me to easily get dinner.

However, I had to attend a dance performance after my

Assistant Editors Grace Visco (Opinion), Ella Farrel (Layout), Halsey McLaen (News), Catie Segaloff (Copy), Tanner Loy (Photo) Pages Designers Nicole Bidol, Molly McDermott, Sabrina Orazietti Copy Editors Lauren Bentley, Kate Betz, Jacqueline Kelly, Maya Pound

last class a few weeks ago, so I didn’t get back to my dorm until 9:30 p.m.

After a long and grueling day of classes and homework, all I wanted was some Grundle grub. However, all of the dining halls were closed before I got back to my dorm.

I felt tired and cranky, and my lack of food did not help.

The Unlimited Access Plan, which costs $2,284 per a semester, gives students unlimited entries into the dining halls in addition to 150 retail points and three guest swipes, according to UVM Dining.

Students pay a lot of money for bad hours.

These bad hours are due to staffing issues that arose during the pandemic, according to an Aug. 19, 2021 memo.

Before COVID-19, dining halls were open until midnight, according to an Aug. 14, 2020 Cynic article.

As the school opens up, dining hall hours should go back to their original times.

UMass Amherst has a total of four dining halls, with two always opened until midnight, according to UMass Dining’s website.

This allows students to get

food when they need it at their convenience.

It is unfair to assume that all students have time to eat with these limited hours.

Not every student eats dinner before 9:30 p.m. and we should make sure all students feel included.

UVM should add additional hours to the dining halls to allow for students to get their adequate nutrition in a stressfree manner.

Grace Visco is a sophomore spanish and secondary education major. She has been writing for the Cynic since spring 2021.

City Council needs more parties represented

Illustrations Izzy Pipa cynicillustrations@gmail.com Photo Eric Scharf photo@vtcynic.com

ANGELIKA HILLIOS

Alexander McMurray Opinion Columnist

B

urlington City Council needs more politically diverse elections.

Burlington City Council comprises Progressives, Democrats and Independents, according to the City of Burlington website. There are no Republicans.

The problem with

Progressive versus Democratic elections is the lack of major differentiation between candidates.

The City Council needs more diverse candidates, parties and beliefs to accurately represent the city as well to provide a choice.

In 2020, Republican incumbent Governor Phil Scott lost Burlington to his Democratic opponent by 52 votes, yet won the state with 68.8% of the vote, according to a Feb. 17, 2021 NBC news article.

ADVISING Andy Elrick cynic@uvm.edu

IZZY PIPA

There is a discrepancy in party representation between governor elections versus City Council races. This results from a lack of candidates.

In the 2022 election, every ward except Ward 3 and Ward 7 saw a race between Democrats, Progressives or Independents, according to the City of Burlington’s candidate resources.

In Ward 3, Republican Christopher-Aaron P. Felker challenged Progressive Joe Magee, according to the City of Burlington. In Ward 7, Republican Michael F. McGarghan Jr. ran.

A democracy needs challengers because they give voters a chance to voice their discontent with an elected official.

The Ward 8 election helps highlight the problem with only running candidates and parties of similar platform and beliefs.

Democrat

Hannah King ran against Progressive Ali House in Ward 8, according to the City of Burlington website.

King’s platform includes rent control, community policing, mental health investment and a guaranteed income, according to the Hannah for Burlington website.

House’s platform includes increasing climate change regulations, rent control, community policing and mental health investment, according to the Ali House website.

The two candidates’ platforms do not differ significantly.

Without challengers from diverse parties, there is little point in holding an election.

People with new perspectives and ideas need to run for office for the good of Burlington and for the betterment of our democracy.

Burlington is a politically diverse community, and the City Council should reflect this.

Alexander McMurray is a first-year history major. He has been writing for the Cynic since spring 2022.

6

SPORTS

Women’s hockey’s historic season ends

TOP: First-year Evelyne Blais-Savoie and UCONN’s Claire Peterson jockey for the puck in the first period of the game March 2.

BOTTOM LEFT: Danika Pasqua and Schafzal face off near the UCONN goal.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Senior Theresa Schafzal drives the puck towards the UCONN goal March 2.

Matthew Rosenberg Sports Editor

UVM women’s hockey’s historic season came to an end on March 2 with a 3-1 loss to the University of Connecticut in the Hockey East semifinal.

The loss ends a recordbreaking season for the Catamounts. Vermont won the most games in a season in program history, finished in second place in Hockey East for the first time and hosted a Hockey East semifinal for the first time, according to UVM athletics.

“This has been a transformational year for our program,” head coach Jim Plumer said. “The players who played their last games for us have transformed this program and we all simply didn’t want it to end.”

The Catamounts finish the season with a 22-11-3 record and a 18-7-2 record in Hockey East play. Those marks surpass previous program records of 18 wins and 13 conference wins

in 2013-14, according to UVM athletics.

UVM earned a spot in the national top 10 rankings for the first time in program history after defeating thenNo. 1 Northeastern University on Jan. 28. It was Vermont’s first-ever win over a top-ranked opponent, according to UVM athletics.

In addition to team success, UVM players and coaches earned individual awards.

Plumer unanimously won Hockey East’s Coach of the Year award and senior forward Theresa Schafzahl won the Cammi Granato Award as Hockey East’s Player of the Year, according to UVM athletics.

“Seeing what kind of players have won [the award] before, being on that list is incredible,” Schafzahl said. “Shout out to the whole team but especially my linemates Kristina [Shanahan] and Alyssa [Holmes], they make it so easy to play with [them].”

Schafzahl is the first player in program history to earn the award. She is also one of 10

finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award given to the best player in Division I women’s ice hockey. She is the first Catamount to be named a finalist, according to UVM athletics.

“Theresa has had an incredible season and this is another example of the recognition she has earned throughout the NCAA hockey world,” Plumer said. “She has elevated her game and our program to new heights and I’m so happy for her to be the first player from our program to receive this prestigious honor.”

Schafzahl set program records for goals in a season with 25 and points with 46.

She is also the first player in program history to lead Hockey East in scoring.

Graduate forward Alyssa Holmes earned recognition as Hockey East’s best defensive forward and senior defender Maude Poulin-Labelle became the first Catamount honored as the league’s Co-Defender of the Year. First-year forward Reagan

Miller earned a spot on the AllRookie team.

Poulin-Labelle shared the award with Northeastern’s Skylar Fontaine. Poulin-Labelle said she was excited to be honored alongside Fontaine.

“I was surprised,” PoulinLabelle said. “Since I’ve been here, I’ve always been looking up to Fontaine. She’s always been two steps ahead of me so getting it with her was awesome.

I’ve always looked up to her and always wanted to be as good as her.”

Schafzahl and PoulinLabelle were First-Team Hockey East All Stars. Shanahan earned Second-Team honors and sophomore goaltender Jessie McPherson was an honorable mention.

“It’s great to be on the All-Star team with some teammates,” Poulin-Labelle said. “It shows how far we’ve come. We worked so hard for it and since freshman year everything has been building up to that.”

Three current UVM players

ERIC SCHARF/The Vermont Cynic

participated in the 2022 Winter Olympics. Sophomore forwards Natálie Mlýnková and Tynka Pátková represented the Czech Republic and senior defender Sini Karjalainen represented Finland.

Karjalainen won a bronze medal with Finland. She is the second player in program history to win an Olympic medal after Amanda Pelkey ‘15 won a gold medal with the U.S. in 2018, according to UVM athletics.

More than 1,500 fans attended the Hockey East semifinal. Plumer hopes the fans were inspired to support the team next season, he said.

“I need to thank the 1,500-plus fans who came out to support us and created an awesome and special atmosphere,” Plumer said. “We will be back next year and I hope that the fans who discovered our team this year will return to the Gut and support us.”

FEATURES

7 Caroline Hess

A look into student-run small businesses

Julia Lenz makes a pair of earrings in her dorm March 3.

Features Staff Writer

GILLIAN SYMOLON/The Vermont Cynic

GILLIAN SYMOLON/The Vermont Cynic An earring rack with a variety of pieces showcases Lenz’s work.

In Harris Hall, hobbies are becoming businesses as three students sell homemade products right out of their dorm rooms.

Sophomores Sabine Love, Julia Lenz and Murphy Roberts create and sell unique art and clothing. They each advertise, design and market their creations all on their own to other students at UVM. Sophomore Sabine Love runs a business selling original art, primarily black-and-white ink prints. Students from all across campus have bought her creations, which allows her to greater connect with the community, she said.

“People I don’t know come and buy a piece of my art and have that art sitting in their rooms,” Love said. “It’s insane to think about.”

Love has been drawing and making crafts her whole life, and after years of perfecting her craft, she was able to turn it into a business, she said.

Love is a part of the Vermont Students Toward Environmental Protection club, which gives students the opportunity to sell their art at its sustainable pop-up thrift store in the Davis Center, Love said.

It is a great opportunity to be a part of a space that is interested in buying studentmade goods, Love said.

“I never thought I’d be selling prints and people would be buying them,” she said. “I’m enjoying it.”

Selling her creations allows her to develop entrepreneurship skills at her own pace, Love said. “[After selling the prints] I’m able to see what people like and what sells the best,” she said.

Sophomore Julia Lenz makes and sells earrings on campus.

“I started making [earrings] in fall 2020,” Lenz said. “It’s a fun hobby.”

Lenz went into a local jewelry store looking for earrings and they were all very expensive, she said.

“But they had rocks in the back [of the store],” she said.

“So I decided I’m just going to make them myself.”

She makes them with a kit in her dorm room, she said. The rocks she buys have holes in them and she uses wire to turn them into earrings.

Initially, Lenz just made earrings for herself, but she decided to start her business after suggestions of selling them, Lenz said.

“People stop by [my dorm] or message me on Instagram,” she said.

Lenz’s business runs by demand. She tries to have extra earrings to have on hand, and also makes them specifically for custom orders, she said.

“When I’m out of earrings I go to the jewelry store and buy more beads and then make them,” Lenz said. “[I do this]

probably every two months or so.”

Lenz makes multiple pairs at a time and then posts them on Instagram, she said. She posts every couple of months and has 114 followers.

Sophomore Murphy Roberts makes hats, neck gaiters, pants and convertible neck gaiters.

He uses multiple fabrics but generally prefers fleece, he said.

Roberts uses what he would wear as his style inspiration and purchases his fabrics from Joann Fabrics, he said.

“I see what I would wear and if I would wear it, I get it,” he said. “I think most people would wear the things I got.”

It’s nice to see people embracing his style, Roberts said.

He made his first hat during the fall 2021 semester just for fun, Roberts said.

“I started sewing in middle school and then over Thanksgiving break I thought I’d pick up sewing again,” he said.

Roberts’s business started after his friends noticed his homemade hats and wanted some of their own, he said.

“Then their word of mouth carried it to other people,” Roberts said. “Now I have people messaging me wanting to buy hats.”

While it’s nice to know that people like the things he makes, making clothes was not meant to turn into a business, Roberts said.

“I just wanted to have a hobby, but I’m glad it has turned into what it’s turned into,” he said.

For Roberts, making hats and pants is something fun to do outside of school, he said. He sews the hats with a machine and then does a hand stitch in each one to make sure they can be turned right side out.

“I didn’t think I would be making money but I am,” Roberts said. “It’s nice to see people enjoying the things I make and wanting to buy them.”

Sophomore Emily Taylor bought from both Roberts and Lenz and supports student businesses, she said.

“It’s something to be really impressed by when students have a great hobby that they make a fun side hustle out of,” Taylor said.

In Taylor’s experience, the students have always been very professional. They are especially approachable to a consumer who’s also a college student, she said.

“It feels so incredible to help them with their business,” Taylor said. “While also knowing that you’re helping a great person work on their hobby and craft.”

Love sells her art prints at the VSTEP table in the Rosa Parks room on the first floor of the Davis Center from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. every Friday.

Roberts sells his clothing @muz_gear on Instagram.

Lenz sells her earrings @earringsby.juliaa on Instagram.

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