Issue 26

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C YNIC THE VERMONT

GOLFARINI PASSES THE TORCH

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FEELGOOD RAISES AWARENESS

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ONE NBA TEAM WILL BE CHAMPIONS

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The University of Vermont’s independent voice since 1883

STUDENT DJ WHOLE-Z WINS SPRINGFEST SET

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www.vermontcynic.com

T h u r s d a y , A p r i l 1 9 , 2 0 1 2 – Vo l u m e 1 2 8 I s s u e 2 6 | B u r l i n g t o n , Ve r m o n t

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Town responds to rising thefts Students are often victims By Mat Degan Staff Writer The rise in local crime has residents worried and law enforcement talking. Burlington’s Neighborhood Planning Assembly conducted a special panel about the increase in crime and ways to prevent becoming a victim at Edmunds Middle School April 12. Burlington Police Chief Mike Schirling opened the meeting by saying that increased crime is no longer just a threat now, as it might have been a year ago, but a serious problem. Local burglaries have increased over the past three years, with 247 reports in 2009, just fewer than 300 in 2010, and a jump to 380 in 2011, Schirling said. “We’ve seen a little more recklessness the past few months with burglars,” he said, including breaking into homes in broad

CATAMOUNT LACROSSE SUFFERS BAD WEEKEND

daylight without checking to see if people are inside. While Schirling noted that other crime is “relatively flat,” the police department is seeing a similar trend in the number of mental health responses per year, which rose from 328 in 2010 to 447 in 2011. The biggest challenge is a concurrent increase in substance abuse, especially opium, he said. Another issue is that many of the crimes are perpetrated by career criminals who max-out of corrections and go back to the streets. Schirling acknowledged that college students are a target for burglars because so many of them own electronic gadgets and adhere to a laid-back lifestyle. He said officers tell students one simple tip to keep valuables protected: ‘Like it, lock it.’ Matt Young works at the nonprofit Howard Center in BurlingSee CRIME on page 3

Senator pushes to make college affordable By Devin Karambelas Assistant News Editor More affordable and more available — these are two things that Sen. Bernie Sanders would like to see a university education become. The New England Education Opportunity Association gave Sanders the Claiborne Pell Award to recognize his commitment to higher education at a ceremony in Stowe April 4. The award, which is the association’s top honor, is given “to those rare individuals whose pioneering leadership and vision have made an indelible mark on the struggle for equal education opportunity,” a press release stated. Sanders said the challenge facing policymakers today is how to make colleges more affordable to the working class. “The sad reality facing us right now is that college education is increasingly unaffordable,” he said. “A lot of people are not going to college because they don’t want to be in debt.” In 2007, Sanders supported and helped create higher education legislation that included increasing Pell grants and a loan forgiveness program in which students entering the public service sector would see their loans canceled for a decade.

NEWS 1-3 Course evals go viral

The legislation amounted to $17 billion in additional financial aid, with $26.7 million of that allotted to Vermont students, according to Sanders’ website. The following year, he also supported the creation of a new G.I. Bill, as part of the 2008 Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act, which provides the equivalent of in-state tuition to any university in the veteran’s state based on undergraduate tuition. Still, according to the latest figures released by the Institute for College Access and Success Project, the average Class of 2010 graduate owed $25,250.

“We have a long way to go.” Bernie Sanders Senator “We have a long way to go,” Sanders said. “We should look to some other countries where colleges are either free or inexpensive.” There was a time when a public education in the U.S. was good enough, Sanders said. “We need to understand that a college degree is what a high school degree was 50 years ago,” he said.

— LIFE 4 — HIV positive speaker talks love

DISTRACTIONS 5 Camp Morning Wood

First-year Kara Ciambra said that a college education was necessary for today’s competitive job market, but UVM’s relatively high cost of in-state tuition was frustrating. “As a Vermonter, it’s frustrating to go to a school known for the highest in-state tuition,” Ciambra said. “It’s a great school and I’m glad to be here, but I often times think about the fact that I could go out of state for less money, and it’s disappointing.” The Claiborne Pell Award, named after the U.S. senator from Rhode Island — who created the Pell grants used to provide financial aid to students — is a testament to the dedication to education that has become a major part of Sanders’ political platform. Past recipients include Sen. Ted Kennedy, Sen. Susan Collins and Sen. James Jeffords. In Sanders’ view, the importance of education extends beyond just earning a degree. Rather, he said he sees higher education as an integral aspect of being an active American citizen. “It is the future of America,” he said. “We are a democracy, and democracies do not flourish unless young people receive a good education to be good, participating citizens.” Administrators such as federal relations director Wendy Koe-

ARTS 6-7 Ziggy Stardust: a retrospective

JAMIE LENT The Vermont Cynic

Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks in the Davis Center last spring. nig commented on what Sanders had specifically contributed to the UVM community, saying that Sanders had made a “concerted effort” to help students attend college. “Be it through garnering federal resources to maintain Pell grants, or increasing the amount of loan forgiveness funds for Vermonters who choose to stay here and practice medicine after school, the senator has been a real champion for students,” Koenig said. In October, Sanders released a newsletter called the “Bernie Buzz: College Edition,” which

OPINION 8 Employees get company online

featured commentary from current UVM students about tuition issues and information on legislation that would aid students in affording college. He said the response to the newsletter was strong, and he plans to release another edition so that students stay informed. “My job as a senator of Vermont is to hear from all the young people across the state,” he said. “I think it is no great secret that young people are not as engaged in the political process, which is unfortunate because it is this generation that is going to be paying the price.”

SPECTACLE 9 Take back the night

SPORTS 10-12 Where and how: cricket in Vermont


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