Issue 5 - Volume 136

THE THEVERMONTCYNIC

HUNDREDS OF UVM STUDENTS PARTICIPATED IN THE GLOBAL CLIMATE STRIKE SEPT. 20.

FULL STORY ON PAGES 7-8.

MADDY DEGELSMITH/The Vermont Cynic

NEWS

New school year, new CAPS leader Julianne Lesch jleschi@uvm.edu

Last year UVM Counseling and Psychiatry Services was left running “very thin,” said the former interim director.

Now UVM has hired a new director, who has worked at five universities in the last 20 years.

The addition of Carrie Flieder as director of CAPS rounds out a time of transition for the Center for Health and Wellbeing.

Last year the center also hired a new executive director, Dr. Harry Chen, who is also the chief public health officer for UVM. Flieder is a licensed clinical social worker who has her master’s in social work from Tulane University.

She has over 20 years of experience in college counseling, and is now tasked with providing students with effective mental health services.

During the 2018-2019 academic year, multiple CAPS employees had to take on additional administrative roles due to understaffing, said John Paul Grogan, last year’s interim director.

“The goal for last year was keeping the ship on course knowing that administratively, we were very thin, and it has also been a very busy time for our mental health services on campus,” Grogan said.

Since 2013, the number of visits to CAPS has increased by 30%, according to a February

MARY MCLELLAN/The Vermont Cynic

New Director of Counseling and Psychiatry Services Carrie Fleider sits in her office on South Williams Street Sept. 19. By hiring Flieder as director of CAPS, the Center for Health and Wellbeing rounds out a time of transition.

2018 Cynic article.

Due to increased needs and visits, Former Director Todd Weinman said at the time students were having greater difficulty quickly accessing mental health services, according to the article.

When asked how CAPS is dealing with complaints about accessibility to students, Flieder said CAPS is partnering with Living Well and Student Health Services to incorporate more opportunities for students to

access mental health services.

CAPS is currently partnering with Living Well to have group drop-in workshops in the Davis Center throughout the week.

“The idea behind those drop-in workshops is that not everyone needs downstream, emerging help, but actually a lot of people need skills,” Flieder said. “Skills such as managing their emotions and life transition, and some of those skills can be received outside of a therapy environment.”

CAPS is also running a pilot program with Student Health Services which is expanding the typical 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. office hours of the CAPS Redstone office, Flieder said.

The office will now be open until 7 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays throughout the rest of this semester, and potentially the rest of the academic year, she said.

“We will have representatives and providers from Student Health Services over with

our providers to increase access for students, ” Fleider said.

Sophomore Bernadette Benn said with all of the different pressures and expectations students face, accessibility is to mental health services is a must.

“Just having the option for students to talk to someone, even if they don’t know them, who can tell them how to handle situations or what they can do to overall improve their mental state is important,” Benn said.

Students ask for more Campus Climate Survey data Lilly Young ehyoung@uvm.edu

A student activist group is calling on UVM to release all of the data from the 2019 Campus Climate Survey ahead of a rally.

In the winter of 2019, students, faculty and staff were asked to take the Campus Climate Survey in order for the University to assess how students and faculty feel about the social environment of UVM. UVM did not release the highlights of the survey on time due to an oversight, according to a Sept. 5 email from Vice President Gary Derr. The initial highlights were supposed to be sent to students and faculty Aug. 29, according to the email.

The highlights stated that 75% of students feel a sense of inclusivity at UVM, leaving 25% of the UVM community feeling excluded.

In response to the results, activist groups NoNames for Justice and Queer Student Action wrote their own statement in response and have called for community members to protest.

“The administration’s lack of transparency and well-constructed action steps for data dissemination have sparked

75%

OR MORE PARTICIPANTS REPORTED EXPERIENCING A SENSE OF INCLUSIVITY AT UVM

O f Fa c u lt y a n d sta ff:

want to learn more about identity groups that are not their own

try to avoid conflicts when discussing identity issues

agree that conflict enriches the learning process

O f St u d en t s:

want to learn more about identity groups that are not their own

try to avoid conflicts when discussing identity issues

agree that conflict enriches the learning process

Infographic by KATE VANNI/The Vermont Cynic

concern, frustration, skepticism and distrust within the student body,” according to a Sept. 20 statment from NoNames and QSA. NoNames and QSA have listed four main goals of their call to action including: 1. UVM allowing students to access all data collected for the

survey.

2. Allowing identity center staff to access all data.

3. Full disclosure statistical and personal biases that interpreters/statisticians hold.

4. A formal apology on behalf of President Suresh Garrimella and Interim Provost and Senior Vice President Patricia

Prelock and an explanation of how the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment determined the highlights.

“The fact that the administration is withholding such valuable data has caused students, faculty and staff to be skeptical, concerned and frustrated with the behind the scenes

workings/handlings of the proposed process,” NoNames and QSA stated.

NoNames and QSA want a response from Garimella and Interim Provost and Prelock by Sept 25 at 11 a.m.

A rally is scheduled for noon, Sept. 25, in front of the Davis Center flag pole, according to NoNames.

Junior Carolynn Van Arsdale, the chair for the SGA Committee on Diversity, Inclusion and Equity said she also wants more data.

“The thing I want to tackle is which identities don’t feel included here at UVM,” Van Arsdale said.

Van Arsdale said that she wanted more information than the UVM community was given about the survey.

Van Arsdale said her committee is going to write a resolution urging the administration to release more information from the survey.

“Over the course of the next several weeks, Vice President for Human Resources, Diversity and Multicultural Affairs Wanda Heading-Grant and her team will share summary data and discuss results of the survey with the colleges and units,” the Sept. 5 email stated.

NEWS

3

SGA to shut down Peer Advising Zoe Stern zstern@uvm.edu

SGA is shutting down the Advising Center as its four-year contract comes to a close, leaving thousands of students without peer advising programs.

The center was created in 2016 to act as a guide, encouraging UVM’s colleges to set up their own peer-to-peer advising, but only the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources and the Grossman School of Business have created their own programs.

That leaves about 7,586 students without a peer advising program.

Senior Meagan Cummins, chair of the SGA Academic Affairs Committee, said because the contract expires in June 2020, the end of this fiscal year, the center will not continue.

“The Peer Advising Center is closing because four years ago, that’s the contract they signed,” Cummins said. “If there was enough growth, we would consider renewing that funding, or they were supposed to be looking for funding coming from other places.”

The center was created in 2015 when a student came to SGA and voiced their concern of inadequate advising at the University, said junior Olivia Lopez, peer advisor and SGA senator. SGA came up with a plan to give $170,000 to the center each year.

Junior Emma Einhorn, a peer advisor, has been with the

BAILEY SAMBER/The Vermont Cynic

Senior Alexis Walker, a peer advisor, helps a student in the Advising Center, Sept. 19. Created in 2016, the center will shut down at the end of this academic year at the termination of its contract with SGA. center for two years and said she thinks colleges haven’t created their own programs due to the cost.

“We were a model for the colleges to follow with their own advising centers, but the colleges, from what I know, have not been receptive to that because everything costs money,” Einhorn said.

Center employees felt like

they didn’t have a chance at fighting the decision because by the time they found out about the closing, it was too late, junior peer advisor Matt Hagberg said.

Hagberg said if he had known the contract was ending, he would’ve reached out to the colleges to emphasize the importance and role of peer advising.

“In the end it’s a huge disservice to the students,” Hagberg said. “That’s why it’s so frustrating is that nobody seems to have an answer for me when I’m like ‘okay, but what are these students doing before colleges adopt the peer advising model?’”

Cummins said SGA’s only role was to fund the program.

“We just saw a huge gaping

hole in the administration’s responsibility to provide accurate and helpful advising on campus,” Cummins said. “Once we decided to fund and set up the model we handed it over to the advising center.”

Despite seeing that hole, it will remain unfilled as the remaining colleges are slow to answer the call for peer advising .

Trying to order Brennan’s? You need a different app Lilly Page lpage@uvm.edu

UVM students will have to download a new app to order meals from on-campus restaurants starting this semester.

Tapingo was acquired by Grubhub for $150 million Sept.

25, 2018, as reported by a Grubhub press release. Over 150 colleges partnered with Tapingo, including UVM, but now all students will use the Grubhub app.

Keith Waterfield, general manager of operations for UVM Dining, brought Tapingo on to campus two years ago, saying that Brennan’s inspired him to find a change.

“You come in [Brennan’s], stand in line, place your order, get your pager and you sit down and wait,” he said. “Now, I can be in a meeting with a break in 15 minutes, and when you go down, your food is waiting.”

Here’s how the app works: When using the app for the first time, after being shown a red screen with the “Grubhub” logo, you will be asked to sign up using an email. From there, you can explore restaurants around the UVM area, but have

SOPHIE OEHLER/The Vermont Cynic

A student picks up their Grubhub order in Brennan’s Cafe, Sept. 20. As of Sept. 19, the Grubhub app has a 4.7 out of 5 star rating, and 1.36 million reviews. to go further into the app to find UVM’s dining on campus.

Once you get into the “Campus pickup” page, which is located in the user settings, you can select UVM as your cam-

pus. If not, none of the campus options will be available, having you see restaurants off-campus.

Once you have selected UVM as your campus, there are options for dining at places

such as Brennan’s, New World Tortilla and the Cyber Café. It also saves your favorite meals and says the wait times for the different dining options.

Waterfield said that the

transition has been smooth but not without its technical difficulties.

“We haven’t had any problems other than some networking ones, where some of the printers go offline,” he said.

For the future of Grubhub at UVM, Waterfield said that good things are coming.

“We are going to try to do some deals and just try to get people to use [the Grubhub] app more.”

Sophomore Maxwell Workman says that his transition from Tapingo to Grubhub went smoothly.

“I didn’t even notice it had changed,” he says, “I could access Grubhub using the Tapingo app, which was great.”

As of Sept. 19, the Grubhub app has a 4.7 out of 5 star rating, and 1.36 million reviews, with many of them praising the app’s convenience in a busy world.

A review from Sept. 18 says that Grubhub is “always there waiting for me when I don’t feel like cooking, or my cupboards are bare,” highlighting the apps availability.

OPINION Staff Editorial

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Keep the Climate Strike going

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

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

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

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t the Global Climate Strike Sept. 20, we were struck by the messages written on the many handmade signs raised in the air.

A young girl, sitting atop a parent’s shoulders, held a sign written in crayon: “Are erth is grat.” Another held by a student, was painted in black and red on a Bernie 2020 poster. “Mad as Hell,” it read.

In the midst of all these messages, it’s easy to wallow in the negative. The house is on fire, but at the strike we saw the firefighters.

As the Cynic reported from the strike on Church Street, we felt empowered by the estimated 3,000 people in attendance.

As proven by the more than 600 students who participated, many students at UVM care about environmental justice and climate action.

We can see Camel’s Hump from our dorm room windows and Lake Champlain from the Waterman green.

We can be in a poetry class in the morning and on the ski slope in the afternoon.

In order to protect these natural wonders so close to home, we must carry Friday’s momentum into tomorrow.

Illustrations Noah Zhou illustrations@vtcynic.com Layout Kyra Chevalier layout@vtcynic.com Photo Stephan Toljan photo@vtcynic.com Assistant Editors Henry Mitchell (Opinion), Kate Vanni and Meilena Sanchez (Layout), Dalton Doyle (Copy), Allie O’Connor (Culture) Copy Editors Will Keeton, Caroline Jagger Page Designers Stephanie Hodel, Ed Taylor

ADVISING Faculty Adviser Chris Evans crevans@uvm.edu

If we want to teach our children how to ski, and to show them our favorite hiking spots, we must show up for the environment not just this past Friday but every day.

UVM students should show up for every climate march, not just the ones that gain global attention.

Show up for campus divestmest protests, and show up at the local ballot box.

Students should use their voices to back organizations that align with their

values.

Olympic snowboarder Alex Deibold visited UVM on behalf of Protect Our Winters, a nonprofit focused on systematic solutions to climate change, April 10.

“Climate change doesn’t have a summit,” Deibold said.

“We’re never going to get to the top and be like ‘okay, we’re good.’”

Deibold is right. No single protest or speech will stop the climate change that has already begun.

Only a sustained movement that faces the facts and demands action will save our planet.

Staff editorials officially reflect the views of the Vermont Cynic.

Signed opinion pieces and columns do not necessarily do so.

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

Pres. Trump cannot Sharpie out the truth Emily Johnston ejohnst2@uvm.edu

Podcasts David Cabrera vtcynicpodcasts@gmail.com Social Media Sam Litra socialcyniceditor@gmail.com

SAWYER LOFTUS/The Vermont Cynic

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o matter if President Donald Trump is right or wrong about climate change, he will force his beliefs on all U.S. citizens.

Immediately after his inauguration, Trump made this clear when all references of climate change were deleted from the White House website, according to a January 2017 Vice article.

Furthermore, 5,301 pages across all government platforms that mentioned climate policy or clean energy disappeared between 2016 and 2018, according to a July 22 report by the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative.

Currently, Trump attacks science through manipulating reputable scientific data.

During a White House briefing on Hurricane Dorian broadcasted on C-SPAN, Trump appeared to have doctored a National Hurricane center map from Aug. 29 to show Alabama in the path of the hurricane.

At one point, Alabama was in the path of Dorian, but meteorologists changed their predictions. Trump just

couldn’t accept that Alabama was no longer impacted.

This Sharpie-gate forced the National Weather Service in Birmingham to alert all residents, “Alabama will NOT see any impacts from #Dorian,” in a Sept. 1 Tweet.

Trump’s inability to admit his faults and understand changing predictions scared citizens throughout Alabama.

It also showed his tendency to disregard facts in favor of his doctrine.

These attacks on climate science, and in this instance meteorology, must stop.

It is easy to laugh at Trump using a Sharpie to correct his mistakes, but the scary thing is, he doesn’t face consequences.

Trump surrounds himself with people who work to make everything he says true, even going so far as to doctor an official map.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association put out an unsigned press release backing Trump’s claims from Aug. 28 to Sept. 2, even though its own forecasters didn’t have Alabama in the hurricane’s path.

NOAA’s Chief Scientist Craig McLean is currently investigating why the agency backed Trump over its scientists, according to a Sept.

9 NBC News article.

In a message he wrote

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to his colleagues on Sept.

9, soon made public on the NOAA website, he said, “My understanding is that this intervention to contradict the forecaster was not based on science but on external factors including reputation and appearance, or simply put, political.”

This is extremely dystopian.

If we continue to let the government control the facts, especially when considering variable things such as the weather, we are putting our

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freedom at risk.

When we let our president belittle scientists and research, we succumb to a government that will promote anything as truth.

In a working democracy, we can’t let the truth escape us.

The day we stop fighting is the day we lose our freedom of information.

Emily Johnston is a junior environmental science major. She has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2018.

5

OPINION

Closer to classes, far from community CH AR LO TT E

Tori Scala vscala@uvm.edu

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o you wish you could go back in time and tell your younger self to try something different?

If I could, I would have told myself not to live in Central Campus Residence Hall as a first-year.

I remember touring UVM in 2017, knowing that I wanted to live in CCRH. The residence hall was built in 2016 and is in its third year of housing the Wellness Environment first-year class, according to UVM’s website.

I am now a sophomore, and I still live on Central campus.

As a first-year, I lived in CCRH, and I am currently living in Converse Hall.

Living in Converse Hall was definitely not my first choice, and unfortunately was a last resort due to my housing lottery number.

My dream of living off of Central campus didn’t come true, but I am making do with what I have.

Both CCRH and Converse have an ideal campus location.

In under two minutes you can be at your 8:30 a.m. lecture in Old Mill.

Despite that, I believe by living on Central campus you are missing out on the typical college social experience.

As a first-year, I only knew the people living in my dorm.

For the first few months of college, I really believed that most first-years only lived on Central campus, which is far from the truth.

Personally, I found it quiet, unwelcoming and too brandnew. Before starting my first year at UVM I imagined the dorms to be rowdy and fun.

This was not what I found when I lived in CCRH. The first time I visited Trinity campus is when I realized I was missing out on the true college

experience.

On Trinity, everyone’s dorm room doors were open and everyone was hanging out together.

In this moment, I realized that Central wasn’t all that everyone made it out to be.

In a residence hall as big as CCRH, I never even met most

of the students.

One of my closest friends today lived a floor below me last year, and I didn’t meet her until April.

Sophomore Isabel Wilder looked back at her time living on Central campus.

“Living on Central campus my first year made me feel

very isolated. Even though I was living with 700 other firstyears, there was something about it that made me feel separated from the rest of campus,” Wilder said “I noticed myself staying in the small circle of Central campus. Now living on Redstone sophomore year, I am so much happier.”

Living in CCRH also means all of the essentials are at your doorstep.

Alongside Wilder, sophomore Sophi Ohler lived in CCRH her first year.

“When I lived in CCRH, you had the gym, dining hall and classes all in one place,” Ohler said. “It made you feel isolated from all other activities on campus.”

As a college first-year, isolation is an unpleasant feeling.

I came to UVM not knowing anyone, and living on Central campus surely didn’t help me meet different people.

In CCRH, the same group of people are sleeping, eating and working out with you on a daily basis.

This is sure to stunt your social growth while starting your journey at UVM. My main takeaway is that living in CCRH or Converse on Central campus seems nice on the surface.

However, once you live there for a while, you realize what you are truly missing out on.

Tori Scala is a sophomore business major. She has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2018.

UVM, take climate action and divest from fossil fuels Chris Harrell crharrell@uvm.edu

S

tudents around the world walked out of school Sept. 20 in a powerful display of action.

Over 4 million students

COLE FEKERT

particpated in the youthled Global Climate Strike, according to a Sept. 21 article from 350.org, a major environmental advocacy group and a co-organizer of the event.

The goal of the strike, spearheaded by 16-yearold climate activist Greta Thunberg, was to pressure adults to take

action about climate change for the next generation.

Thunberg, a Swedish highschool student, delivered more forceful leadership on climate than the Democratic Party has been able to accomplish thus far.

Thunberg is right about the youth’s role in solving the crisis. We have to take action to ensure an environmentally sustainable future.

Climate legislation is urgently needed to help transition away from our unsustainable patterns of consumption.

But the government isn’t the only place to target our efforts. Fossil fuel corporations lobby our legislatures against climate action, directly financing the destruction of our environment.

Local green advancement efforts are blocked all over the country by big moneyed interests.

The conservative Koch

donors killed public transit projects across the country by investing in political action against public transit expansion, according to a June 2018 New York Times article.

The U.N. says it will completely transition away from fossil fuels towards sustainable energy to avoid a climate apocalypse. But we can’t meet those goals if we keep giving money to fossil fuel corporations.

In a globalized world, the transportation and food industries alone account for 38% of carbon in the atmosphere, according to the University of Michigan’s Carbon Footprint Factsheet.

Giving these corporations extra money is a direct betrayal of our generation. It helps them destroy any chance we have to avoid a climate apocalypse.

Unfortunately, the University continues to give money to these corporations.

In 2017, students asked the University to divest from the

top 200 most carbon emitting corporations as indexed by the Carbon Tracker Initiative, according to an October 2017 Cynic article.

Students have asked the University to divest since at least 2013, according to a May 2013 VTDigger article.

The board of trustees’ subcommittee on investment is composed of only four individuals who have the most power to control our investment, according to the board’s membership page.

As the youth that will face the consequences of climate change, and as the student body of the University, we should demand divestment from fossil fuels.

We have the strength and power to force change in our communities, regardless of our young age or status as students.

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

“OUR HOUSE IS

NEW

ON FIRE

”

UVM students join global climate strike Emma Pinezich epinezic@uvm.edu

11:00 A.M. UVM STUDENTS WALK OUT OF CLASS

KYRA CHEVALIER/The Vermont Cynic

Hundreds of students gathered in the middle of campus Friday for UVM’s Climate Strike with a clear message for world leaders: our house is on fire. Sound the alarm.

Around 600 students attended the strike at 11 a.m. Sept. 20 on the Andrew Harris Green. There, environmental groups including Vermont Interest Research Group, the Sunrise Movement, Climate Communication Advocacy and Literacy Laboratory talked to students about how to get involved.

Following the gathering on campus,

other members of the community joined students and marched down Main Street to join the greater Burlington Climate Strike outside City Hall.

Although hundreds participated in the strike, some professors had to choose whether to cancel class or to not after the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences sent an email to professors warning them not to cancel regularly scheduled class.

CAS Dean William Falls sent an email Sept. 14. It stated that professors who want to participate must get permission from their supervisor or go on their own time.

Additionally, it stated that faculty who allow students to attend events must apply the same rules to all students, regardless of the event.

Some professors brought their classes

to the strike or made announcements that they would not take attendance Friday to encourage students to go to the strike.

However, some professors refused to cancel because of fear that there would be repercussions from the University.

SGA President Jillian Scannell planned the strike with the help of other organizations and individuals to create a space for conversation about climate change, and to stand in solidarity with the young people all over the world taking part in the climate strike, she said.

“This is really to show that students care and want to have these conversations,” Scannell said. “If we’re not having these conversations in the classroom, we’re just going to take up space and have them ourselves.”

Many students held signs protesting global warming, with messages like, “our house is on fire,” and, “there is no planet B.” They expressed concerns that individuals and people in power are not doing enough, including at UVM. “UVM needs to do more,” said sophomore Emma Page, who helped organize Friday’s protests as a leader of the environmental group the Sunrise Movement.

“We greenwash a lot, and a lot of the problems that need to be worked on are just not being talked about.”

Other students were angry about the email sent to CAS professors that discouraged them from going to the strike or telling their students to go to attend.

“I think that that’s infuriating and frustrating,” Page said.

“This is just such a bigger problem than missing one class, this is literally our future. If the people that are supposed to be caring for us and educating us do not respect that we’re fighting for our future, then that’s a serious problem.”

Junior Antonio Posada said UVM should be doing more to educate students about climate problems in the classroom.

He also believes the email sent from CAS was hypocritical of UVM. “That’s dumb as hell,” Posada said. “In this current political climate our president does not even believe that climate change is a real thing. If UVM is this supposedly liberal school, I just think that they should not be enforcing more controversial behavior.”

Falls did not respond to a request for comment on the email.

11:45 A.M. STUDENTS TAKE OVER MAIN STREET Following the UVM Climate Strike,

students and other members of the community marched down Main Street to join the greater Vermont Climate Strike Rally.

Led by environmental groups 350Vermont and the Sunrise Movement, over 1,000 marchers stopped traffic on Main Street as they walked towards City Hall, holding signs condemning fossil fuels and chanting for action against climate change.

An estimated 3,000 people gathered from noon to 2 p.m. Sept. 20, on Church Street outside of City Hall as part of a global movement to demand climate justice.

Many UVM students joined other members of the community outside City Hall to strike. Protestors filled Church Street from side to side, some flooding onto the steps of City Hall.

Junior Lily Seward, who helped plan the UVM Strike with VPIRG, attended the strike downtown to show lawmakers that Vermonters care, she said.

“Since we’re such a small state here in Vermont, when we organize together as everyday people we have a lot of power and ability to make change happen in the statehouse,” Seward said.

Other students hoped that the Burlington rally would bring more attention to the issue of climate change with more people coming together to strike at the Burlington event.

“In activism it’s all about being there and having numbers, so we want a lot of people to show up today,” Page said. “We need to get people excited and passionate about the problem of our generation.”

Many businesses including Ben & Jerry’s, Patagonia and Burton were closed on Friday to encourage employees and cus-

WS SAWYER LOFTUS/The Vermont Cynic

on Sept. 23 in New York.

Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old activist from Sweden, called the global strike to action. She has made appearances on talk shows and on stages across the U.S. encouraging people to act.

To learn more about the history of climate strikes at UVM, head to www. vtcynic.com and check out “Cynic History: a decade of UVM climate rallies.”

Cynic History is a new editorial series that celebrates the Cynic archives and considers current campus events within a historical context.

SAWYER LOFTUS/The Vermont Cynic

SAWYER LOFTUS/The Vermont Cynic

tomers to participate in the strike.

High schools and middle schools in the Burlington area also excused students from class to attend the strike.

The climate strike rally in Burlington was only one of many that took place Friday.

In cities across the globe, people walked out of schools and jobs to demand action on climate change before it’s too late. Over 2,500 strikes took place in 163 countries, according to a Sept. 21 Vox article.

Friday’s protests begin a global week of action called the “Week for Future,” intentionally scheduled to overlap with the U.N. Climate Summit, which will be help

(FRONT PAGE) A protester stands amid countless others during the Climate Change Protest, Sept. 20.

(TOP RIGHT) A group of protesters chant and display signs on Church Street in front of City Hall. An estimated 3,000 people gathered on Church Street outside of City Hall from noon to 2 p.m. on Friday.

(ABOVE LEFT) Senior Ellie Sovcik writes a letter to the future. Environmental groups including Vermont Interest Research Group and the Sunrise Movement talked to students about how to get involved during the strike on the Andrew Harris Green.

(ABOVE RIGHT) SGA President Jillian Scanell addresses an assembled crowd outside the Davis Center. “If we’re not having these conversations in the classroom, we’re just going to take up space and have them ourselves,” Scannell said.

(BOTTOM LEFT) Sophomore Henry Schaer sits on the shoulders of sophomore Keilan Barber during the walk down Main Street. Friday’s protests begin a global week of action called the “Week for Future.”

CULTURE

Student podcasters bring NYC to BTV Marjorie McWilliams mmcwilli@uvm.edu

Three friends and roommates from the Bronx, New York, gather around a mic once a week to let loose.

No Cap is a podcast created by senior engineering majors Keven Borges, Rafael Peralta and Antonio Jackson.

No Cap is a weekly podcast that has recently reached 1,000 listens and has 17 episodes to date. It began in February 2019 after the Black Student Union Fashion Show at UVM. “We wanted to do something,” Borgas said. “We started off with a YouTube channel before switching to a podcast.”

The trio uses free recording equipment from Howe Library to record the podcast from their home.

No Cap is full of humor, lively debate and occasionally serious commentary.

Borges and Peralta said the laid-back feel of the show makes it so that they feel like they can be themselves.

“When we’re talking, the mic’s not there,” Borges said.

No Cap covers questions from “What is popularity?” to discussing the Avengers movies to the college admissions scam.

“We talk about issues back home as well as issues around the world,” Peralta said.

Jackson and Borges have been roommates for all four years at UVM, and Borges explained how the dynamic for the podcast existed long before the idea was put into action.

“We would stay up all night talking,” Borges said. “We once debated about whether or not Applebee’s is fast food.”

Although their description

STEPHAN TOLJAN/The Vermont Cynic

Seniors Rafael Peralta (LEFT) and Kevin Borges (RIGHT) talk about their podcast, No Cap, in the Davis Center atrium, Sept. 19. Although advertised as mostly jokes, No Cap tries to find a balance between humor and serious topics. on Spotify says the podcast is entirely jokes, Peralta said they try to find a solid balance between humor and seriousness.

“Our friends at home that listen said it’s all jokes, but it gets serious at the end, and they like that,” Peralta said.

The hosts of No Cap also expressed the unique situation of being three men from the Bronx at an institution like UVM where they are a significant minority.

“No Cap gives people of color unification and a voice,” Peralta said. “It’s good to know No Cap is spreading and we hope it helps people understand where we come from.”

Borges said that No Cap gives him the freedom to talk naturally and without code-switching or changing the quality of one’s voice to match that of the other speaker.

“I find I change the way I talk automatically when speak-

ing to a professor or a person of a different background, and it’s good to be able to talk the way we do at home,” Borges said.

The creators of No Cap also emphasized that they welcome feedback and different opinions when making the podcast. So far they’ve had six guests on the show.

“You should always understand both sides even if you don’t agree,” Peralta said.

While this is Peralta’s first

semester as a senior, Borges and Jackson are both graduating this December. Their post-graduation plans include continuing the podcast despite no longer being roommates.

“I want to keep doing No Cap, no matter where I am next year,” Borges said.

No Cap can be listened to on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Burlington’s Father Figuer opens at Higher Ground Griffin Jones gjones@uvm.edu

The lights faded and the crowd gathered as the music blared into the cold night.

Higher Ground, a music venue in South Burlington, hosted the Virginia based band Illiterate Light and UVM’s own rock band Father Figuer, Sept.

16.

The UVM student band consists of four members: David Roche on bass, senior Elise Albertini on drums and seniors Caroline Franks and Erin White on guitar.

“We started playing as Father Figuer in the beginning of Spring semester my sophomore year,” Albertini said.

A few of the members have been playing music since childhood.

“I started playing guitar when I was five,” Albertini said.

“But I picked up the drums when I was in fifth grade.”

Roche said that he has taken private guitar lessons in middle school but switched to bass in

Image source: Facebook

Father Figuer performs at Artsriot, May 2018. The UVM rock band performed at Higher Ground, a music venue in South Burlington, Sept. 16. high school.

The Sept. 16 concert didn’t go off without mishaps.

“I forgot my drum seat,

and the other band was using a standing drum set, funny enough,” Albertini said.

She had to make do with a

folding chair as a replacement that night.

The band said opening for Illiterate Light was a pleasure.

“I hadn’t played out in a band for over two years, and now I’m opening for two guys that busted hump to get out of the basement scene,” Roche said.

Albertini said she has a love for almost all types of music and has many inspirations.

“A lot of what I play and how I play is almost mimicking artists that I really like,” Albertini said.

Father Figuer has plans for the future, a following and have made a name for themselves.

As the band jammed and music filled filled the room, the crowd cheered. T-he lights roared overhead.

First-year Grace Hasselbach said that while she wasn’t planning on seeing Father Figuer, she enjoyed the show.

“I didn’t know what to expect at first, but I was really impressed by their talent.” Hasselbach said.

Father Figuer has shows coming up on Sept. 30 at Arts Riot and Oct. 30 at The Fryer.

CULTURE

9

Visiting dancer talks art and activism Sarah Robinson cynicculture@gmail.com

The class chanted in unison as the instructor took it all in: “Self-consciousness is the illusion that this is only happening to me.”

Contemporary dancer and choreographer Miguel Gutierrez came to UVM Sept. 18 as a visiting performer. The artist was there to speak to a class and to give a talk about his essay, “Does Abstraction Belong to White People?”

Gutierrez, who identifies as a queer latinx man, is focused on the intersection between performance and politics, he said.

Selene Colburn is the assistant to the dean of libraries at UVM as well as the dance subject specialist at Howe Library.

Colburn and Gutierrez have known each other since the early ’90s when they were both living in San Francisco.

Colburn introduced Gutierrez to the “Drugs, Demons and Dancing” class which focuses on the intersections between neuroscience, religion and movement.

A choreographer and dancer, Colburn said she is attracted to work like that of Gutierrez.

“I’m really drawn to artists like that who are working with really complex questions in the form of dance,” she said.

In a piece called “This Bridge Called My Ass,” Gutierrez choreographed six latinx dancers in an effort to explore the relationship between race and representation.

“Six Latinx performers map an elusive choreography of ob-

STEPHAN TOLJAN/The Vermont Cynic

Contemporary dancer and choreographer Miguel Gutierrez addresses an audience in the Livak Ballroom, Sept. 18. During his talk, Gutierrez discussed his recent essay, “Does Abstraction Belong to White People?” sessive and perverse action within an unstable terrain of bodies, materials and sound,” according to his website.

The dancers progressively strip naked, while telling a story with their bare bodies.

“I grew up from a point of view where I was always thinking about who is not at the table,” Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez’s style of dance strays from what most are used to when they think of contemporary dance. His work relies heavily on improvisation, and he recognized that some might

not “get” his style of art.

“I understand that it’s hard to be exposed to live art,” Gutierrez said. “[Viewers] are ‘getting it.’ They just don’t necessarily know what ‘it’ means.”

In other words, simply by taking in the art in front of them, skeptical viewers are understanding the performance.

“I think the idea that somehow a certain field of knowledge should just somehow be native to your experience is a really naive idea about how learning happens,” Gutierrez said.

Colburn echoed this senti-

ment, reflecting on the ways in which we as a people are uncomfortable with ambiguity.

“We’re in a time when there’s not a lot of appreciation, tolerance or willingness to be in the unknown,” Colburn said.

“It’s hard for people to spend much time in ambiguity.”

Senior Annabel Diestel is a dance and neuroscience double major and is a teaching assistant for the class. She said she was familiar with Gutierrez’s work before his visit to UVM. “My first impression of him was that I loved his incorpora-

tion of political and emotional ideas,” Diestel said.

Disrupting the boundaries that most people are used to in dance is undoubtedly a political endeavor, Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez, successful and well-known in the contemporary dance world, said that finding an accepting and loving community is the secret to exceeding the expectations of those who discriminate against queer performers of color.

“Look for your community,” Gutierrez said. “Look for your people.”

Grand Point North attracts artists from near and far Ella Ruehsen iruehsen@uvm.edu

Local musicians took the stage on the waterfront, bringing the community together downtown.

The ninth annual Grand Point North music festival, organized by musician and Vermont native Grace Potter, took place Sept. 14 and 15 at Waterfront Park in Burlington.

Junior Lili Traviato opened for the festival on the second day under her stage name Princess Nostalgia.

“When I was about 10 I had GarageBand and I started just messing around on there and making beats, and I’ve been teaching myself how to produce ever since,” Traviato said.

GarageBand is an amateur music-recording application.

After her recent accomplishment of performing at such a major festival, Traviato said she is excited to continue growing as a musician, both next year as a senior at UVM, and to pursue a lifetime of making music.

She performs all around Burlington at small venues, but

this has been her biggest gig to date, Traviato said.

“It was an awesome experience to be in such a professional environment,” she said.

The lineup featured acts such as Grace Potter, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Gov’t Mule and Lucius.

Burlington-based punk rock band, The Bubs, use live performances like this festival as a way to show some personality as a band.

Derek Proulx and Lydia Kurn are two members of the local band, The Bubs.

Proulx said Kurn came up with the idea of playing a cow’s jaw bone with a drumstick as a part of the ensemble.

“It is a glittery, golden, magical, mystical cattle bone,” Proulx said. “It’s running out of teeth, every show there’s like one or two less molars in there, but I think it’s gonna go into a collection of abused animal parts years down the road.”

The festival helps promote the arts and small businesses that enrich the Burlington community and draws in tourists to promote economic growth at

ELLA RUEHSEN/The Vermont Cynic

Burlington based music group, The Bubs, performs at Grand Point North, Sept. 15. The festival hosted 17 musical acts, including UVM junior Lili Traviato under the stage name Princess Nostalgia. the local level.

First-year Andrew Connelly attended the festival both days.

He spent time with Benny Yurco, the guitarist from Potter’s band after the first day of the festival.

Connelly met Yurco through

his uncle, Scott McMicken who is a member of the band Dr. Dog, who performed at UVM FallFest last year.

Though he was in high school for FallFest 2018, Connelly attended to see his uncle’s band perform.

“The Grand Point North festival is cool because it brings people together to enjoy good music, but it also helps smaller artists grow,” Connelly said.

10

CULTURE

The cynic culture section presents:

Culture Staff Hot Takes or: all our spiciest takes on all the things we have feelings about

KATE VANNI

R

ather than our usual “Culture Staff Recommends,” this week the Culture section brings you our hottest takes. From fashion to food to music, our writers held nothing back. So pick up some sardines, make sure your eggs are over-hard, find some new sneaks and give SiR a listen.

:

Cyrus Oswald on

Ella Ruehsen on: YT LL

KE R

NE

UR

Sardines People really don’t like it when I crack open a fresh tin of sardines. All people say is, “Ew, Cyrus, those are nasty,” or “Man, you said on our housing contract you wouldn’t do this again.”

They should be saying, “Wow, look at all those nutrients you’re about to gobble up,” or “May I have one?”

Sardines are great food for college students. They’re cheap: you can get a tin at Hannafords for a dollar and change. They’re full of omega-3s, B12 vitamins, calcium and protein. And most importantly, they taste good. Most people I ask about their disdain for sardines haven’t even tried them in their adult life.

Sardines only eat plankton, making them very low on the food chain. This not only means they have lower levels of heavy metals, but eating them has a lower environmental impact than other fish.

So please UVM, give the salmon’s smaller friend a chance.

If you like good food, a healthy lifestyle and environmentally conscious eating, buy a tin or two of sardines.

HOLL Y CO

UGHL

AN

Kellyn Doerr on:

Chunky white Filas When did your dad’s pure, ivory white New Balances stop being a meme and start becoming a trend?

The classic chunky Fila shoes have been the holy grail for many acclaimed Instagram models and top-of-the-line VSCO photographers for a few months now, but their razor-sharp pattern and cutting-edge trend seem to have gone dull.

With the impossibility of keeping them clean as well as the outrageous prices ranging from $60-$100, these new generation clown shoes can make even the smallest of feet look like a size 15.

Time to turn off the Billie Eilish, put on your big girl mom jeans and find some new staple stompers.

runny egg yolks

IPA

IZZY P

Eggs are not meant to be eaten with runny yolks. Would you eat a slab of raw meat? Chances are, you probably wouldn’t. Then why would you eat the yolk of a chicken egg in practically the exact form it was in its shell in the wild — a slimy, dribbling, gag-inducing, uncooked, unfertilized mess of liquid fats?

The fact of the matter is, one should never ingest a yolk that has not yet been scrambled or popped and hardened over the head of the stovetop. It is simply not becoming. Nor is it enjoyable.

Katie Germain on:

Sir

(or: how to get over frank ocean) Three years and 28 days later, Frank Ocean has yet to release a full album. But really, who’s counting? Although it is easy to long for a fresh set of sweet, psychedelic R&B ballads, we can’t sleep on the artists that are running the game in Ocean’s absence.

Up and coming artist SiR blends R&B and soul to create rhythmic sounds that ignite the senses. SiR just dropped a new album in August, titled “Chasing Summer.” The album features big names like Kendrick Lamar and Lil Wayne, but owes its greatness to its creator.

Unlike so many other albums I’ve loved, I can’t find a single song on this album that I wouldn’t play until I hated it. Even then, I would still probably bop to each song six months from now.

If you’re looking for a way to fill the void, give “Chasing Summer” a listen and see if the blissful sounds of SiR can distract you from your yearning.

IZZY PIPA

SPORTS

Timbersports fosters inclusivity Irene Choi ichoi2@uvm.edu

MADDY DEGELSMITH/The Vermont Cynic

First-year Ally Heinrich saws through a log at a Timbersports club practice, Sept. 18. Formerly known as UVM Woodsmen, SGA passed a name change bill Sept. 17, changing the club name to UVM Timbersports.

YOU’VE READ THE NEWS.

NOW IT’S TIME TO HEAR IT.

GREEN MOUNTAIN SHOWER THOUGHTS

Introductions and Unique Ideas Welcome to the first episode of Green Mountain Shower Thoughts. In this episode, your hosts Jacob and Nate discuss their experience at orientation, the Democratic debate and some other interesting ideas.

THE DIG Interview with professor Sean Field In Episode 1 of The Dig, Jean MacBride interviews history professor Sean Field about studying medieval Europe and what the topic means for today.

UVM Woodsmen, the University’s only club for competitive lumberjacking, has changed its name to UVM Timbersports in an effort to encourage inclusivity and diversity.

SGA passed the name change bill Sept. 17. Timbersports has been a club sports team at UVM since 2013.

Junior Grace Parker, chair of the SGA Club Affairs Committee, said she thinks the change better represents the team.

“I think changing their name... was a great thing for them to do,” Parker said. “Their organization has always been inclusive of all genders... and now it’s a little bit more representative.”

Sophomore Nicole Evans is a member of the team and a supporter of the name change, as the Woodsmen didn’t represent everyone on the team, she said.

“Woodsmen didn’t represent me, but now I can say I’m on a Timbersports team. It rolls off the tongue better and makes more sense,” she said. “Women definitely have a place, and we’re definitely not unheard.”

The name also tells people more accurately what the team

does, Evans said.

“Not a lot of people understood what Woodsmen was, which makes sense... it could mean a ton of different things,” she said.

Timbersports is a sport in which athletes chop down wood with axes, saws and hatchets competitively. Events include ax throwing, wood splitting and burling, in which two athletes try to make the other fall off of a log floating in a pool of water.

Timbersports isn’t the first club to change their name in favor of a more inclusive one.

“I’ve definitely seen more organizations change their names to be more gender inclusive,” Parker said. “Ther organizations have been making sure to be as inclusive in their naming as possible.”

Similarly, UVM’s Womxn of Color Coalition changed their name from the Women of Color Coalition. “Womxn,” a modern-day respelling of “women,” explicitly includes transgender women and women of color, making it more inclusive especially for commonly isolated groups.

Timbersports practices Monday through Friday at the George D. Aiken Forestry Sciences Laboratory and Sunday at the Forbush Natatorium.

A FREE INVESTOR EDUCATION FORUM

What Every Investor Needs to Know Smart Investing in Today’s Environment October 10, 2019 | 5:30 – 8:00 p.m.

Delta Hotels by Marriott Burlington Featuring Special Guest

A CLOSER LOOK UVM Police Search for More Employees In this episode of A Closer Look, David interviews Emma Pinezich, who wrote last issue’s story on UVM Police Services and their search for more employees.

Photography and Summervale with Taylor Ehwa In this episode, Cynic photographer Taylor Ehwa talks about her recent work, her most memorable photo trip and more.

Vermont Financial Regulation Commissioner Mike Pieciak Register at: www.finra.org/investorforum/south-burlington or call (202) 728-8137 There is no charge for the program or dinner.

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www.finra.org/about

F E A T U R E

STEPHANIE HODEL

H O

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E

NOAH Z

Like

HOU

No P lace

A look at UVM’s dorm party culture

Jenny Koppang vdavis@uvm.edu

T

he neon glow from LED strip lights illuminate a pong table, and every knock on the door throws the room into anxious anticipation of the dreaded, “RA on duty.”

Vaguely recognizable faces, uncomfortable small talk with the kid who sits four rows behind you in your sociology class and mysteriously sticky floors are just a few defining characteristics of UVM’s dorm party culture.

These parties may be lighthearted, but they can come with consequences.

UVM students who misuse and abuse alcohol “constitute a threat to the educational mission of the University, a violation of federal and/or state law and a violation of University policy,” according to UVM’s website.

Sophomore Matt, a pseudonym, and his suitemates are infamous for hosting parties in their room most weekends.

“We know that there could be consequences,” Matt said. “We try to be careful and usually have people who warn us if we have to shut it down.

“We understand the risk but we don’t really have any fear big enough to make us stop.”

More importance is placed on the social aspect of the dorm party than limiting the quantity of students in the space.

“We have a good setup in our

room, so it’s nice to have people over,” he said. “We invite our friends, but they bring their friends, so we end up meeting a lot of new people.”

The nonchalant perspective of hosts extends to attendees as well.

Sophomore Samantha, a pseudonym, enjoys the convenience and accessibility of dorm parties and attends them regularly.

“I don’t really think about [getting caught] at a dorm party,” Samantha said. “Like I’ve heard horror stories, but once 11:30 p.m. comes around I’m out anyway.”

The culture of drinking and use of illegal substances in dorms persists despite the inherent risk associated with it.

The University poses weighted threats such as “a range of disciplinary sanctions, including suspension or permanent separation from the University, in addition to potential criminal sanctions,” according to UVM’s website.

Though these policies are strongly upheld by UVM’s administration, some students continue to explore their recreational options in residence halls.

Junior Resident Advisor Isaac, a pseudonym, does not share his peers’ enthusiasm for dorm parties.

He provides a sobering approach to the subject, grounded in his accountability for the students around him.

“You really can’t have [a dorm party],” Isaac said. “The rule is that there can only be [a maximum of] six people in the room, and obviously you can’t be loud or drink or use drugs.”

RAs are responsible for reinforcing UVM’s policies and procedures in the

dorms and ensuring the safety of their residents.

They are in charge of maintaining a healthy and respectful environment, and sometimes that entails putting an end to dorm parties.

“I understand why people do it, but it makes my job harder,” Isaac said.

Despite efforts to combat underage involvement with illegal substances, this rowdy pastime does not seem to be suppressed.

For many students, the intimacy and accessibility of dorm parties provide an environment that’s worth the risk of getting caught.

Matt’s parties exemplify the spontaneity and carefree nature that pull so many UVM students away from UVM’s rules against drinking in dorms.

“One time, we were playing Fear Pong, and my friend had to switch clothes with one of the girls,” Matt said, remembering the image of his friend in a crop top and leggings.

In contrast to traditional house parties, these on-campus gatherings tend to facilitate more personal conversation.

“It’s much different from a frat party, where there’s people you don’t know in a dark basement,” Samantha said. “I mean, there’s not many opportunities for talking there.”

The foundation of dorm parties is their communal dynamic, where students can bond over a game of beer pong or the passing of a Juul.

Logistically, a dorm room can fit a limited amount of people. The lack of square-footage ensures a rare form of intimacy.

Many turn to dorm parties as a

more safe and relaxed alternative to other forms of Burlington nightlife.

“My friend even came out [as gay] to me at a dorm party,” Samantha said.

Sophomore Veronica, a pseudonym, relates to the feeling of refuge fostered by parties held in the residence halls.

“Dorm parties are a more familiar environment than parties at random houses, which makes me feel a lot safer, especially since I usually know the majority of people there,” she said.

Veronica said that this level of familiarity also allows students to feel more comfortable with their appearance.

“There’s a lot less pressure to dress up for a dorm party,” she said. “They feel really laid-back and casual.”

Instead of getting dressed up, jamming the squad in an Uber and heading downtown, students can simply throw on a sweatshirt and walk down the hallway.

The uniquely intimate atmosphere, social network building and casual fun that accompanies dorm parties provides incentive for students to undermine authority.

The backlash and dangers surrounding partying on-campus only seem to bolster its popularity.

As long as UVM’s dorm culture retains its carefree mindset and plenty of Pabst Blue Ribbon, the party will go on.

Jenny Koppang is a sophomore global studies major. She has been writing for the Cynic since fall 2019.