Issue 8 - Volume 137

THE CYNIC Est. 1883 | Issue 8 - Volume 137 | October 20, 2020 | vtcynic.com

March in Montpelier

Earrings for a cause

Two hundred people gathered for The “Womxn and Femme March” at the Vermont State House.

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A UVM junior is selling earrings where all proceeds go to organizations fighting to end domestic violence.

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“I’m simply stating the facts.”

Media adviser threatens to fire Cynic Editor-in-Chief Ella Ruehsen Cynic News Reporter

Cynic Editor-in-Chief Sawyer Loftus was interviewed as a source for this article. He had zero involvement in the editing process and has not read the article prior to publication.

The newly appointed student media adviser indicated that the Cynic’s Editor-In-Chief could be fired or lose his stipend if he holds firm in his decision not to meet with her this semester.

In light of recent changes made to the structure of student media at UVM, the Cynic’s Editor-in-Chief, Sawyer Loftus, and other student media leaders have pushed back against the redesign and expressed concern about what is to come.

In an Oct. 12 email to Loftus, the new student media adviser, Jenny Grosvenor, stated her intentions: to ask him to reconsider his refusal to meet with her. In this email, she quoted the language from his appointment letter.

“Your appointment letter also states: ‘In the case that the following responsibilities are not met, the compensation may be waived at the discretion of

the signers of this contract,’ she stated.

Grosvenor also pointed out that according to the letter, Loftus could be terminated prior to the end date of his leadership role, at the sole discretion of the University.

“Please know that this is in no way a threat to force a weekly meeting with you,” Grosvenor stated in her email. “I am simply stating the facts.”

Tensions between the Cynic’s EIC and the new adviser first surfaced when the former student media adviser, Chris Evans, left UVM last spring.

Wanting to align student media and other co-curricular activities more with academia, Provost Patty Prelock moved the student media adviser position from the Department of Student Life -- where all Student Government Assocation recognized clubs reside -- to the College of Arts and Sciences.

Prelock also said she hoped to connect independent student media organizations to the Reporting and Documentary Storytelling minor in CAS, according to a Sept. 8 email from her assistant.

The student media adviser now must teach courses for the RDS minor according to the

position description, and will report directly to the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, moving the independent newspaper’s oversight closer to top administrators.

Loftus was told by the former media adviser in a July 19 email, that as the EIC of the Cynic, he would be on the hiring committee for their new adviser. However, Loftus said he was left out of the hiring search process entirely.

The Cynic spoke with Sommer Dean, a staff attorney at the Student Press Law Center, which aims to protect freedom of the press for student journalists.

“That certainly gives rise to concern, that moves are being made to have more administrative oversight over the content of your student publications,” Dean said. “These are the sorts of things that make you concerned that they are trying to rein you guys in as student media.”

Loftus was democratically elected by his organization and has been acting as EIC, however he has yet to sign his official appointment letter, formally accepting the position in the eyes of SGA. Although Loftus is not car-

rying out the duty to meet with the adviser as outlined in his appointment letter, he does not believe Grosvenor actually has the power to withhold his pay or fire him, because his stipend comes from Cynic-raised ad revenue, not SGA. Loftus chose not to meet with Grosvenor, in part because his opinions were not considered during the student media redesign process, but additionally because he sees her as unfit for the position.

Leadership from other student media organizations are also concerned. Katie Masterson, the station manager of WRUV, shares similar feelings as Loftus regarding Grosvenor’s qualifications.

Masterson said she is concerned about Grosvenor’s lack of knowledge on Federal Communications Commission legalities and copyright law in broadcasting, which she uses everyday at the station.

“Within the technological aspect of my station, Jenny has never had any experience in that department,” she said. “It’s very frightening to not have that resource that we used to.”

Grosvenor admitted in an Oct. 2019 email to the Cynic’s former EIC Bridget Higdon,

when Higdon reached out to see if Grosvenor wanted to deliver a lecture to the newspaper staff at a general meeting, that she was apprehensive to speak about journalism because she had limited and dated experience working for any publication.

“I shifted into advertising copywriting before getting a by-line at either magazine,” Grosvenor stated in the email exchange. “Also, it’s been decades since I worked in ‘the business.’”

Loftus said that there is a debate over what constitutes experience with journalism, but that the Cynic draws a very hard line.

“Advertising writing is not journalism, that 100% has to do with raising revenue for a specific organization and does not belong in the newsroom and therefore it’s not a journalistic experience,” he said.

Loftus said he has also found Grosvenor’s communication style to be unprofessional.

During the reporting process for one story this fall, Planned Parenthood wanted to verify a Cynic reporter’s identity with a University official before participating in an interview.

Story continued on page 3

NEWS & SPORTS

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BIPOC lead Womxn and Femme March

SAWYER LOFTUS/ The Cynic TOP: Organizers and speakers of the “Womxn and Femme March” stand as Beverly Little Thunder gives the closing speech of the event Oct. 17.

TOP/BOTTOM RIGHT: Hundreds of people from across the state gathered in Montpelier Oct. 17 for the “Womxn and Femme March.” The event was intentionally held alongside women’s marches across the country to advocate that the movement needs to be more inclusive of BIPOC voices.

TOP LEFT: Burlington Ward 1 City Councilor Zoraya Hightower gives a speech to the attendees of the “Womxn and Femme March” led and organized by memebers of Vermont’s BIPOC community, Oct. 17 in Montpelier..

BOTTOM LEFT: Daniella and Greta D’Agostino, listen as organizers of the “Womxn and Femme March” in Montpelier Oct. 17 give speeches, advocating for racial and gender justice.

BOTTOM MIDDLE: An attendee of the rally flutters around the steps leading to the State House, adorned with cardboard butterflies Oct. 17.

Paige Fisher Cynic News Reporter

The granite steps of the Vermont State House filled with people Saturday afternoon, calling on Vermonters to vote for Joe Biden in the upcoming presidential election and to fight for a more inclusive feminism.

The “Womxn and Femme March,” held Oct. 17 in Montpelier, was attended by roughly 200 people to protest the threat to women’s rights, highlighting the experiences of women of color.

Although the Montpelier march happened the same day as the national Women’s March, it distinguished itself as a variation of the national event because the Vermont march aimed to be more inclusive of all gender, race and cultural identities.

“The ‘X’ in womxn is there for a reason,” said Organizer Jess Laporte. “The national Women’s March has taken a

number of politically and socially centrist stances that have hurt their relationship with communities that have been historically marginalized.”

Because Vermont is one of the whitest states in the U.S., speakers highlighted the pressing need for Vermont to make Black, Indigenous and people of color feel welcome.

Activist and UVM student Harmony Edosomwan, condemned Vermont’s racist history and culture as she took the stage to read her poem “Vermont Sucks.”

“These beautiful, large green mountains will no longer hide black pain,” Edosomwan said.

“The mask this white man’s paradise wears will surely fade.”

Edosomwan said Vermont’s racism is cloaked by performative activism, and that people here only pretend to care about race to maintain their personal reputation.

UVM Senior Caroline Hoge who joined the crowd at the march, said she thinks a lot of

UVM students also engage in performative activism.

Hoge, a student activist with The Black Perspective, encourages students to come to events like this, but feels that UVM students don’t genuinely care about the issues they are protesting.

“A lot of people show up because it’s trendy and they want to post on their Instagram story,” Hoge said. “But they don’t show up after that.”

Organizers invited women and gender non-conforming people to the microphone to share their personal experiences managing systems of oppression.

Zoraya Hightower, the first woman of color to be elected for Burlington’s city council, said that she is constantly fighting racism and sexism in both her personal and professional life.

“If I had known how hard it was going to be, I probably would not have run because it’s hard,” Hightower said. “It’s hard for me as a Black Ameri-

can, it’s hard for me as a Black woman.”

Another student that attended the protest, UVM Senior Sade Bolger, said that events like these have allowed him to de-center his voice as a white person.

“My own upbringing has been whitewashed to a large extent I think, and it’s been in showing up to these movements that I’ve kind of stepped back to listen to other people’s experiences,” Bolger said.

Other speakers shared their first-hand experiences with islamophobia, transphobia and the oppression of indigenous people.

As the organizers called on protesters to vote for Biden in the upcoming presidential election, they stressed the danger of Supreme Court Nominee Amy Coney Barrett, whose confirmation could put the legality of abortion and gay marriage on the line.

“My bodily autonomy, my life as a Black woman, the con-

tinuing republican-led assault on voting rights is an assault on my liberty as a gay woman,” said CD Mattison, another speaker at the event.

Lucy Leriche, Planned Parenthood’s vice president for New England public affairs, said republicans have been trying to scale back reproductive rights for decades.

“This has been a plan from people in the conservative community for a really long time,” Leriche said. “And we’ve been sitting back saying, ‘we’ve got a safe Supreme Court we’re earning all these rights. This could never happen in America.’”

Although speakers encouraged protesters to vote for Biden, they cautioned that there will still be work to do no matter what.

“When we vote out Trump, we need to work just as hard to ensure that we’re dismantling the structures and the systems that allow people to target people in the first place,” said Asma Elhuni.

NEWS & SPORTS

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EIC fears changes to Cynic oversight Ella Ruehsen Cynic News Reporter

Story continued from page 1 Although Planned Parenthood insisted on going through the adviser, Loftus felt this line of communication and identity confirmation should lie with him as the EIC, he said.

“Then [Planned Parenthood] went over my head and emailed Jenny,” Loftus said.

“And then instead of looping me into the conversation, Jenny went over my head and dealt with the source directly, which is completely inappropriate.”

Even after the fact, Loftus and Grosvenor were unable to resolve the issue.

“Jenny and I had a meeting that was over Microsoft Teams, and it was supposed to be a meeting that was just going over organizational stuff and it turned into her telling me that I mishandled the situation,” he said.

Grosvenor also emailed the reporter with some critiques, which Loftus said should have come from the EIC and not from the adviser, because the adviser doesn’t run the organization.

“To her credit, afterwards, she did send me a follow up email that was like, ‘you’re right, I should be taking my lead from you,’” Loftus said.

“And you’ll notice that that’s kind of a pattern throughout this whole relationship where she shoots from the hip, and then apologizes afterwards.

And that doesn’t really work for me.”

Grosvenor has felt equally frustrated with how things have been playing out.

When the Cynic asked for an interview, Grosvenor sent back a 1,051 word email, copying Loftus and decrying the ways the EIC had iced her out.

“What a frightening trickle-down reflection and microcosm, if you will, of the current political climate and leadership of bullying, hatred, and negative tactics Americans are confronted with daily,” Grosvenor stated. “You can quote me on this fear related to current Cynic leadership; it’s honest and becoming scarier.”

Grosvenor stated that contrary to the concerns outlined by the EIC in his editorial, student journalism is not dead nor close to dying.

“Let’s be real with each other, please,” she stated. “The last thing journalism needs during its awesome global comeback during a deadly pandemic is newspapers like the Cynic decrying its death.”

However, as a student media law attorney for SPLC, Dean said otherwise.

“It seems to be, unfortunately, sort of a running theme that school officials think that the student, media publications belong to them as school officials, rather than to the actual students who are doing the work,” Dean said.

Grosvenor also expressed concerns when the Cynic reached out over the nature of this very article.

“I do hope your Editor-in-Chief has the courage and decency to respond directly to my recent email correspondence with him and does not depend on or ‘assign’ one of his staff writers to do that work for him,” she stated.

Loftus said since receiving this email from Grosvenor, he does not see a path forward.

Though initially she stated she was “excited to be given a chance to talk with any Cynic journalists,” in a followup Oct. 14 email, Grosvenor withdrew her agreement to an interview, backtracking on the first.

“I never should have reacted so intensely,” she stated in the email.

Loftus is not alone in his disapproval of the redesign and appointment of the new advisor. All twelve Cynic editors signed an unsent letter addressed to Grosvenor, stating that they do not recognize her as their adviser nor do they wish to meet with her.

Masterson said there is no clear path forward for either organization which has been aggravating and difficult for her to navigate.

“Sawyer has been much more vocal about his disapproval of the situation and the way things were handled and the communication levels between admin and student leadership,” she said. “But I do agree with him.”

Masterson was also equally disappointed that student voices were not brought to the table in the decision-making process of the student media restructure.

Before any students could give feedback, she found out that Grosvenor had already been hired.

“The meeting wasn’t about talking about the restructuring and collaborating. Nor was it about meeting a candidate,” she said. “It was about being introduced to our advisor who would operate in the capacity of this new position, that we do not have any say in, approve of, or get to collaborate on.”

Loftus said although the Cynic has not yet had to deal with prior restraint being imposed on Cynic articles, he worries that the Cynic’s independence may be put at risk of it in the near future.

Prior restraint, illegal under VT law, is when an external institution reviews an organizations’ content before it goes to print.

“The point is you don’t want to have to deal with the negative repercussions of a change like this after they happen, you want to prevent them from happening,” Loftus said.

Dean said that no developments as of yet seem to be illegal but that the future is unknown.

“I think it’s smart to be wary of this,” she said. “As sort of a slippery slope into prior restraint.”

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NEWS & SPORTS

Spring plans change for remote students Lila Cumming Cynic News Reporter

UVMStrong’s recently announced plans for spring semester have caused concerns about what a greater influx of students returning to Burlington next semester will mean for COVID-19 safety.

UVM administrators held a virtual Q&A session Oct. 12, discussing the University’s plans for the semester and cautioning students to consider bringing everything from their dorm room home over winter break.

In Spring 2021, upperclassmen will be able to opt for athome learning and still live in Burlington, unlike last semester, where at-home students were expected to live at their permanent address.

UVM Vice Provost Annie Stevens discussed the change in the meeting, and said juniors and seniors who wish to stay in Burlington will be able to either attend classes in person or entirely online.

However, any students who select the at-home option, even if they’re in Burlington, will be exempt from the testing pool and should not be on campus for any reason.

Aidan May, chair of the SGA committee on legislative affairs, said he anticipates a lot of upperclassmen taking the opportunity because a large portion of classes are already partially or fully remote.

“I certainly could see that being an issue,” May said. “If I was in charge of testing I would

still encourage at-home students who are in Burlington to continue to get tested.”

The city of Burlington, however, expressed optimism about UVM’s spring plans, despite the possibility that students may be in Burlington but not getting tested regularly.

“UVM has already committed to continue the weekly testing with the Broad Institute, to use the VAULT pre-tests for returning students prior to their arrival on campus, and to eliminating spring break this academic year,” said Brian Lowe, interim chief innovation officer for the city of Burlington.

Lowe did however caution that the future still remains unknown.

“This reflects the model for the fall semester that has worked well so far, but of course the city, state and institutions are also carefully tracking what is happening both locally and across the country,” he said. “So these plans could evolve over the coming weeks and months.”

The administrators also discussed the longer Winter break, and suggested students should bring all their belongings home for the break due to the possibility that UVM will not be returning in person right away in the spring semester.

Despite UVM’s low positivity rate of 0.03%, administrators are preparing for the potential dangers of students returning to campus from all across the country after winter break.

Raf Rodriguez, executive director of Residential Life, said if

Screenshot from Teams Executive Director of Residential life, Raf Rodriguez, presents options for student wishing to stay on campus during Spring Break, over Teams Oct. 12. an outbreak occurs and in-person school for the spring semester is canceled, students will need to make plans to retrieve their belongings themselves and ResLife will not ship them as they had in the past.

“If I can be very honest, this is going to be up to you to decide,” Rodriguez said. “There is a slight possibility that we will not be able to begin on time or begin in-person. Think about what it would mean for you to come back to campus to retrieve your items.”

He also noted that as outlined in the housing contract, if students do not retrieve their belongings from their room within 30 days, they become

UVM property and will be donated.

However, Rodriguez also noted that UVM will not allow anyone on campus until mid-January, and did not elaborate on how students would then be able to get their belongings.

Additionally, the University is offering winter break housing for students who are either housing insecure or international students who are unable to travel home.

Rodriguez said students who plan on staying through Thanksgiving and for winter break are expected to continue to participate in weekly testing, continue to uphold the Green

and Gold Promise and the COVID-19 policies.

Students will have to go through an application process that will be reviewed to determine whether or not their request is granted.

“If you’re requesting emergency break housing you need to stay on campus through †hanksgiving for the entirety of the semester which ends on Dec. 12,” Rodriguez said.

Between Thanksgiving and the spring semester, students must be at home for at least 58 days. Students can quarantine the 14 day period at home, as long as they come directly to campus.

Athletic Department meeting ignores student concerns Irene Choi Assistant News Editor

The UVM Athletics Department continues to receive high praise from community members despite student outcry over their alleged mishandling of a sexual assault investigation and racial justice activism from student athletes.

Community members commented on the department’s “resilience” and “commitment” in reintegrating student athletes into their programs during the pandemic at a Oct. 13 virtual meeting with department panelists, including Athletics Director Jeff Schulman.

The virtual meeting, held over Microsoft Teams, was hosted by the UVM Alumni Association to “provide an update on the status of the Athletic Department,” according to an Oct. 9 invitation email. Students, alumni, parents and other community members were invited.

However, during the meeting, neither Schulman nor any of the other panelists responded to the Cynic’s requests for comments regarding student accusations that the department mishandled the sexual assault investigation of UVM

Senior Kendall Ware, a student-athlete on the swimming and diving team.

The meeting also did not mention the concerns of the Student-Athlete of Color Affinity Group, a student organization that promotes “awareness, change, and action for racial injustice for all minorities,” according to the UVM Athletics Inclusive Excellence Committee website.

Instead, Schulman discussed the financial status of the department, giving updates on new renovations made to the Gutterson ice rink and continuing construction of the multi-purpose center.

Ware, along with other student athletes, accused the Athletics Department of using a corrupt system that gives preferential treatment to male athletes over female athletes, according to an Oct. 13 Cynic article.

“We felt like our Athletic Department didn’t care about us,” said UVM sophomore Sofia Wittmann, a student-athlete on UVM Women’s Track and Field.

“We felt that we’re supposed to have this really strong support system through athletics and they did not do their job to pro-

tect a female varsity athlete.”

The Student-Athlete of Color Affinity Group has also been active since the semester began.

The group wrote a letter to the University with a list of demands regarding racial justice for Black students after they raised the Black Lives Matter flag outside Patrick Gym Sept.

12.

“We raised the flag to make sure that anyone who walks in the gym would have no doubts as to the values of UVM Athletics,” the letter stated.

Though Schulman said he was proud of UVM’s student-athletes for being politically active, he did not go into specifics.

“The social issues and the social justice conversations that we’ve had in our department have been really powerful,” he said. He did not respond to the Cynic’s request for specifics in the chat.

Over the course of the meeting, comments praising the Athletics Department from community members filled the chat.

“Thanks for getting the students and student athletes back on campus,” stated parent Randy Buffenbarger. “Thanks Team

Screenshot from Teams Members of UVM Athletics and the community discuss changes to sports at UVM in light of COVID-19 Oct. 13 over teams.

UVM! Great job!”

Community member Jen Bouquot also complimented the Athletics Department.

“Thank you for everything you are doing to keep everyone safe,” Bouquot stated.

Schulman also discussed how the Department will be taking a financial hit because of the costs of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“With not having spectators at games, not having facility rentals, NCAA revenue being down and marketing revenue being down, the need has nev-

er been greater for our department and our student athletes,” he said.

However, UVM Men’s Hockey has hired two new coaches with a combined salary of over $150,000 despite COVID-related financial hits and a University-wide hiring freeze and budgetary shortfalls.

A new scoreboard has also been added to the Gutterson hockey rink, Schulman said.

The construction of the new multi-purpose center has also resumed in the early part of May, Schulman said.

OPINION

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

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

EDITORS Copy Chief Will Keeton copy@vtcynic.com Culture Sarah Robinson cynicculture@gmail.com Features Greta Rohrer cynicfeatures@gmail.com News & Sports Emma Pinezich news@vtcynic.com sports@vtcynic.com Opinion Gabby Felitto opinion@vtcynic.com Podcasts David Cabrera vtcynicpodcasts@gmail.com Layout & Illustrations Kate Vanni layout@vtcynic.com Photo Bailey Samber photo@vtcynic.com Digital Media Mills Sparksman cynic@uvm.edu Assistant Editors Mac Mansfield-Parisi (Layout), Cole Fekert & Izzy Pipa (Illustrations), Irene Choi (News), Hayley Rosen (Sports), Emily Johnston (Opinion), Sophia Venturo (Culture), Jacob Goodwin (Podcasts), Kyle Elms (Photo) Page Designers Will Guisbond, Ellie Scott, Maggie Adams

Be consistent with your praise Staff Editorial On Saturday Oct. 10, we wrote and published a story about Dr. Deborah Birx, the Response Coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, and her visit to UVM’s campus.

The doctor had some nice things to say about how the University has been handling the virus and returning to school while warning about future outbreaks and becoming complacent.

The article was largely positive.

Within the span of 24 hours, UVM administrators praised the Cynic for its good reporting.

“Good job covering the press conference, Alex and Sawyer!” tweeted UVM President Suresh Garimella with a link to the article.

“Just wanted to congratulate you on the excellent article you wrote for both the Cynic and the Digger on Dr. Birx’s visit. Really well done,” wrote Provost and Senior Vice President Patty Prelock in an email to Managing Editor Alek Fleury who wrote the article.

In reality, the article was... fine.

It was something we threw together in the span of three hours and to be completely honest, it doesn’t really set itself apart from any other breaking news story we’ve written this year or in past

COLE FEKERT

years.

The article was something that every single writer on the Cynic’s staff could pull together within the same time frame and involved zero real reporting. Just sitting there, watching a press conference.

The only difference between this article and others was its subject matter.

We accept the praise of our articles from the president and the provost and thank them for reading them and sharing them.

We find it odd however that when we publish articles pointing out real problems on UVM’s campus, some of which take us months, administrators are largely silent.

If there is anything that the

Cynic is not, it is an ad for the administration.

There was no congratulatory email for writing about the strike of Davis Center employees when the Hispanic Heritage Month Flag was taken down.

There was no congratulatory email for our coverage of the epic protests in Battery Park that students took part in.

There was no congratulatory email for reporting on custodial staff throwing up from heat exhaustion and students in emergency housing this summer spending the night outside because the heat in their building was turned on.

And this is not us asking for

that. We know our reporting is solid and don’t need any positive affirmations.

We are simply asking that when administrators want to publicly point out excellent articles and good reporting, that they actually do so.

Staff editorials officially reflect the views of the editorial board, which includes the Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor and Opinion Editor. Signed opinion pieces and columns do not necessarily do so.

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

Please send letters to opinion@ vtcynic.com.

Children shouldn’t have to save the world Emily Johnston Assistant Opinion editor

A teenage girl is staring at a dictator and his media foes and friends; her eyes locked on the target of her anger.

She has people lined up behind her; the spearhead of the resistance against a government not for its people but for the elite.

This isn’t the “Hunger Games,” this is America in 2020.

Claudia Conway, the 15-year-old daughter of Kellyanne Conway, is at the head of national news for consistently being a whistleblower of sorts on her social media.

Kellyanne Conway and several other officials in the Trump-close-knit crowd attended an event for Judge Amy Coney Barrett to officially nominate her to the supreme court on Sept. 26.

Claudia was the one who broke the news of her mother having COVID-19, which confirmed that the Judge Barret event was in fact a super

spreader.

The Conways and several other notable families were exposed to the virus at this event.

It’s a sad state of affairs when government officials who are supposed to protect their citizens from enemies like disease instead spread it themselves.

It is also a sad state of affairs when the most accurate information about who is infected and where they got infected comes from the teenage daughter of an elite.

The fact that so many online are now hailing Claudia

SAVANAH TEBEAU-SHERRY

as a sort of heroine, for simply posting that she was scared of getting the virus from her mom, is wrong.

Claudia Conway is not a heroine. She’s a child living in an abusive household with narcissists who care more about public image than the safety of their family.

She is not the left’s newest hero. She is currently fighting the coronavirus given to her by someone who is supposed to protect her.

Claudia sought emancipation from her parents in August this year, leading to her moms resignation. She stated in her resignation letter, “less drama, more mama.”

More mama, to her, means infecting her daughter with the

new plague and quarantining together.

Children shouldn’t be in charge of the resistance movement and social media needs to stop wishing for Claudia Conway to break more information.

Instead of putting children at the forefront of movements, we should focus on changing policies to help the many.

Claudia should be protected by her government, and by her parents.

It’s not fair to these kids to put large pressure on them, knowing that they are political puppets for those actually in charge.

I know most dystopian novels have a young hero, but every teen in those novels were left with trauma.

Fiction should remain as fiction.

It’s inspired by the real world but shouldn’t become reality, especially when the given fiction is about children at the forefront of battles.

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

OPINION

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Male rappers are more than their music Sophie Oehler Cynic Columnist

M

ay, 2017. Rapper Lil Peep is due to take the stage at his concert in Los Angeles. Well, if he can find it.

He’s disoriented, reaching out through a drug induced haze to anyone who can guide him towards the screaming crowds, muttering, “Where are we going?”

Once he makes it on stage he’s hunched over, black and pink hair hanging over his face like the girl from “The Ring.”

He turns towards the screen behind him, mumbling his intro song.

Months after this concert, he died from an overdose of fentanyl, cocaine and opioids strong enough to put an elephant on his knees.

Peep’s death was followed

by Mac Miller in 2018, who overdosed on counterfeit Percocet pills swapped with fentanyl. Then came Juice Wrld in 2019, who suffered drug induced seizures.

In today’s emo rap scene, rappers share a common aesthetic: tattoos, lyrics laced with themes of depression and heavy drug use that inevitably leads to young deaths.

The problem lies in the hiphop industry.

These musicians, many of whom are less than 20-yearsold, are pumped through the system with little regard to their mental wellbeing or stability.

Many spiral into depression and anxiety, fueled by pressure from their industry to succeed, and the looming fear of being used for fame.

Their labels don’t help.

Rappers are a dime a dozen, and with the help of streaming services like SoundCloud, talent agencies have thousands of new artists at their fingertips. To fans, Mac, Juice and Peep might be irreplaceable, but to their labels, they’re moving pieces in the quest for a hit.

So, they turn to self medication -binge drinking, marijuana, cocaine and pillsto cope.

Depression sells. It’s shocking and relatable. So, artists dig themselves deeper into addiction and depression, hoping they’ll find inspiration for the hit single.

Here’s where people, inside and outside the industry, forget who we’re dealing with.

Rappers aren’t tools. They’re men who the system has been failing for generations, whose problems have been overlooked or passed off as creative liberties.

During quarantine, I got really into Machine Gun Kelly,

IZZY PIPA another tortured rapper who uses drugs to save him from an abusive childhood.

Most of his songs are depressing, but “Glass House” is one of the worst. It’s about 2018, the worst year of his life, and how he felt like the whole world could see him at rock bottom, and yet no one had tried to help him.

We have the privilege to watch from the sidelines as artists evolve as musicians.

But it’s time to stop being

bystanders. Of course it is difficult as fans to make changes in the industry.

But we can do smaller things, like change the stigma around mental health, especially surrounding men.

We can work to end the glamorization of suicide and addiction.

We shouldn’t have to lose someone to recognize the severity of a problem. We saw it coming.

Months before his death,

when asked how he’d been doing, Mac Miller said, “I speak through my music. So when people say, ‘How’s he doing?’

I can just say, ‘Listen to the music.’ That should be able to tell you.”

Sophie Oehler is a Juniorpolitical science and French major. She has been a Cynic since fall 2019.

Try not listening to music, your mood may improve

Sam Jefferson Cynic Columnist

I

t was a Friday morning, and it looked like I was going to be late to my international relations class. I grabbed my water bottle, notebook and Dentyne spearmint gum and rushed out the door, only to realize I had forgotten *gasp* my earbuds.

With no time to spare, I continued my awkward walkjog to Marsh Life, my eyes staring at Spotify wondering how the hell I was going to bear the next 10 minutes of silence.

It’s this constant yearn for my favorite tunes that makes me wonder if I listen to music too much. I have started to fill every activity with it. If I’m running, studying, laundry folding or cereal eating, I’m most likely listening to music.

This isn’t anything to truly stress over, but I do think there is something interesting happening here with my reliance. Whenever I feel bored, whether that’s doing homework, sitting in my room, folding laundry, I always put music on, and feel deprived when I don’t.

It’s this problem with boredom I’ve substituted music with. My brain finds it especially hard to go without stimulation.

This reliance simply can’t be healthy, as I’m sure you’ve heard before you can always have too much of a good thing and I believe music falls into that category.

One of the most powerful things about music is certain songs and playlists can take you back in time.

When I listen to Jack Johnson, I’m flooded with memories of road tripping with my family in the summer of 2007 to Martha’s Vineyard.

Or, when I listen to my Spotify playlist called “BRO” (filled with Katy Perry and Lady Gaga) I remember my first prom in which I really did dance like no one was watching. I also learned I kinda kickass at ski ball but that’s unrelated.

Those are two positive examples, but this effect works the

other way too. Certain playlists for people can remind them of tough times, break ups, high school drama, season ending injuries, etc.

And I think this is something as listeners we need to be conscious of.

COLE FEKERT

I’ve been keeping a journal for the last two and a half years or so, and have noticed my entries are much more clear and helpful when I do them without music.

I’ve found that the songs I listen to while journaling affect what I write about.

If I’m listening to “Clocks” by Coldplay, even after having a magnificent day at North Beach, I might end up entering something about the vanilla “creemee” that fell from my waffle cone staining my new Snoopy socks. Music is always changing my mood, and I think this is something to be wary of.

I recently made a music playlist that has a more somber tone than what I usually listen to, and I really enjoyed it. I started to listen to it all the time, no matter what mood I was in.

I found that a happy mood could so easily

change by playing “Tommy’s Party” by Peach Pit, or really any Boy Pablo song.

The tone of the songs lead me to times that weren’t so great. I remember moments that don’t help to be dwelled on, which inevitably can change my mood from upbeat to feeling blue.

It wasn’t until recently I realized this playlist had this effect on me. I think this is because we are under the assumption all music is good, music will help us feel, help us think, help us forget. But, as much as music helps it can also control.

The constant stimulation from music is addictive. I would advise next time you study, go for a walk or relax in your room, try it without the comfort of Apple Music or Spotify.

Without something guiding your thoughts you’ll be more at ease, and more in control.

Something our phones and tech strip from us day in and day out.

Sam Jefferson is a fist year with an undeclaried major.

He has been writing for they Cynic since Fall 2020.

CULTURE

7

Crafting earrings to end domestic violence Willow Scherwinski Culture Staff Writer

The world sat inside their homes for months avoiding the apocalyptic reality that was the Spring of 2020 and got crafty.

Amidst her time in quarantine, junior Jacenda O’dwyer, decided to use her downtime to put her own spin on her longtime love of crafting earrings.

Shortly thereafter, her creative outlet became a small business that she is using to contribute to the Burlington community.

“I have always been pretty crafty,” O’Dwyer said. “I have always loved earrings and been an earring fanatic. So then I started thinking, oh it would be really cool to make some of my own!”

O’Dwyer began with the basic jewelry making materials of wire and beads. Soon she began to explore other mediums and her interest was piqued by polymer clay.

Enthusiastic interest from her friends and peers paired with a desire to create gave O’Dwyer the idea of selling her product through @J.does.earrings on Instagram.

“I realized if I started selling them I would be able to continue making them,” O’Dwyer said. “I started putting some of my earrings on Instagram if people were into it then they could let me know and I would make them a pair.”

O’Dwyer’s roommate and

KATE VANNI/The Cynic

Junior Jacenda O’Dwyer works on a pair of chili pepper earrings for a recent commission, Oct. 13. “I want to continue helping out local organizations with my sales if I can and improve my skills working with the clay and the wire,” O’Dwyer said. customer, junior Isabella Wolfsdorf, was one of the first people to support the business.

“I drew up a little design and she made them perfectly, just how I had imagined,” Wolfsdorf said.

After a successful couple of months doing sales and commission work, O’Dwyer wanted to shift the focus of her jewelry to helping others. O’Dwyer dedicated all of her sales during the month of October to Steps to End Domestic Violence VT. October is Domestic Vio-

lence Awareness Month. Since its establishment in 1981, it has been a month committed to ending domestic violence and abuse that plagues the country, according to BreakingTheCycle. org O’Dwyer developed a passion for this issue while volunteering with The Catherine’s House while in highschool.

During her time there, she would cook and then share the meals and conversation with women that were on the road to recovery from drug abuse,

substance abuse or domestic violence.

“I was about 15 when I volunteered with Catherine’s Place and since then I have been passionate about working with women in recovery. When I came up here to VT, I realized I was missing that engagement with the community,” O’Dwyer said.

O’Dwyer then researched different organizations that she could become involved in while in Burlington. Steps to End Domestic Violence VT was the one

that she connected with and chose to join.

The organization works to promote a culture that fosters safety, equity and justice for all people, especially those who are transitioning to a safe and independent life away from domestic abuse.

“I want to continue helping out local organizations with my sales if I can and improve my skills working with the clay and the wire,” O’Dwyer said. “I would love to reach more people.

FEATURE

8 MAC MANSFIELD-PARISI

Ski resorts grapple with COVID restrictions

Liz Chadwick Feature Staff Writer

Last March, Vermont’s ski mountains were suddenly empty.

As the coronavirus pandemic took hold across the world, crowds of skiers made their last descent and packed up their gear, unaware not only of their ski season’s abrupt end, but of the next season looking fundamentally different.

Many of these skiers were students. The UVM Ski and Snowboard Club is “the largest ski and snowboard collaborative in the country,” according to Ben Jerome, UVM SSC’s Director of Communications.

Even the pandemicinduced changes to UVM’s academic schedule, including an especially long winter break, had a silver lining.

“We actually have the opportunity to put on trips in that time, knowing that we’re gonna have such a long section of time,” Jerome said. “When we have such a long break like that… we have some wiggle room with what we’re able to do.”

The SSC hopes to host more events in the spring, depending on the circumstances.

At the club’s first meeting for

the 2020 fall semester, which was split into four groups for social distancing, Jerome said that the energy was different than in years prior.

Nevertheless, Jerome is trying to emphasize his own enthusiasm to members.

“Look, skiing’s on, the mountains are open, there’s gonna be snow, it’s gonna be great.”

The surrounding ski resorts certainly agree.

Jeff Wise, the Senior Manager of Communications for Vail Resorts, Northeast Region, explained that Stowe Resort has a plan in place that prioritizes the safety of guests, staff members and the resort community.

Key to this plan is Stowe’s reservation-only policy for ski passes, preventing disappointment for skiers planning last-minute trips.

“Going online and reserving your spot, that really sets us apart because we will have complete control of capacity levels at our mountains,” Wise said.

Holders of Stowe’s Epic pass, also sold through the UVM SSC, will have priority access to reserve their spots on the slopes for the first two weeks of the season.

MAC MANSFIELD-PARISI / The Cynic TOP RIGHT: A sign at Stowe Mountain reads “Gondola closed for the season” in front of parking lot access to the Gondola, Oct. 14.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Multiple cars pull up to the front entrance of Stowe’s Spruce Creek Lodge, Oct. 14. Spruce Creek is in the process of adjusting their operations to ensure a safe environment during COVID-19.

LEFT: Stowe’s Gondola skyride stands empty and unused, Oct. 14. The Gondola will remain closed for the rest of the season.

Student skiers are an important customer group for the mountains, Wise said.

“Here in Northern Vermont, a significant number of our pass holders are college students,” Wise said.

Despite UVM’s extended winter break until Feb. 1, 2021, Wise believes that Stowe will continue to host many students this season.

“Fewer people, including college students, are going to plan a ski trip out west where they would have to buy a plane ticket and fly,” he said. “I think more Northeastern skiers and riders, including college students on break, are going to stay here in the Northeast where they could drive to the mountain.”

Over at Bolton Valley, Scott Pellegrini, Director of Sales and Marketing, has seen similar changes in this year’s plans.

Pellegrini said that

executives have undergone “a pretty crazy technological revolution” over the last six months, including transferring most ticket orders online.

“Our strategy is to remain agile, be reactive, and be proactive, but some things are beyond our control,” Pellegrini said.

The size of Bolton may make it easier for these changes to be implemented, as larger resorts in the local marketplace have to worry about 20 different government entities, according to Pellegrini.

“I think for some of the bigger consolidated resorts, it must be a much harder thing to do. We only have to worry about the State of Vermont guidance,” Pellegrini said.

For Bolton, this means limited aprés-ski nightlife and modified ski lesson formats, but Pellegrini also said that for UVM students, less time spent

in in-person classes could mean more time on the slopes.

He suggested that students could join remote classes from the lodge and take laps between their classes.

“People have more flexibility with their jobs,” Pellegrini said.

“Students might be able to get in and join their class by Zoom from the property and take laps in between classes.”

UVM sophomore Beatriz Altura is certainly considering the idea.

“I’ll sit in the lodge and do class if it means that I can ski the rest of the day,” Altura said.

Between resort reservations and limited club events, Vermont’s ski season may look quite different this year.

Yet, everyone involved seems optimistic.

“I’m incredibly excited to ski in Vermont again,” Altura said.