Midd Briefs Falling Glass, Ritter Fallout, Parking Falls in Line

Author: Leyla Kattan

Shattered Window
by Leyla Kattan

Last Thursday, at 10:45am, a window in one of the Twilight Hall classrooms fell from its frame and smashed into the room. Students who were taking philosophy in room 110 had just been dismissed, and consequentially no one was injured.
Evidently, it was a rather unexpected occurrence. Contemporary Moral Issues had just finished and the class's twenty-five students, mainly seniors, were handing in their assignments as they left the room. It was at that moment that the window fell in, and the broken glass littered the floor. As one senior who wished to remain anonymous noted, they were all "pretty stunned." For this student in particular, it was a fairly unpleasant shock. She watched as the glass shattered over the desk that she had just left. "I had just gotten up from there," she noted, thankful that no one had been hurt.
Facilities management replaced the glass and carried out an inspection. Jon Woodbury, director of facilities management, explained what they discovered to be the cause of the accident: The jam, which is what the window sits in, came lose, thereby allowing the window to fall. A clip that secures the window into the jam had broken, but the break was not noticeable. Furthermore, a chalkboard eraser was discovered at the bottom of the frame, therefore loosening the jam even more.
Nevertheless, swift action was taken to ensure that all windows in the building are safe. Facilities Management responded immediately, inspected all windows and placed safety clips on them. In the future, windows are to be monitored so as to identify ahead of time any future problems. Through these measures it is hoped that any future repetition of this incident may be averted.

Scott Ritter Aftermath
by Caroline Straufer

Crowds gathered outside the Center for the Arts Concert Hall as it quickly filled to capacity. Mobs of disappointed students were turned away.
The occasion for this chaos was a guest lecture by Scott Ritter, former chief inspector of the United Nations Special Commission to Iraq.
"We were quite surprised by the turnout, which I believe was fueled by Mr. Ritter's multiple television appearances the week prior to his Middlebury visit," said Allison Stanger, associate professor of political science and director of the Center for International Affairs.
To accommodate the "larger-than-anticipated" interest and to appease turned-away students, two screenings of the videotape of Ritter's lecture took place in Dana Auditorium last week.
"The screenings were both well attended, so it seems to have been a good call, but even if they had been attended by an audience of one, it still would have been the right thing to do under the circumstances," Stanger said.
The Middlebury College Model United Nations and the Center for International Affairs also co-sponsored an open forum to further facilitate interest in policy towards Iraq on the evening of Thursday, Sept. 26. Taking place in the Robert A. Jones House Conference Room, the forum was the first in what is to become a monthly event entitled, "Dessert and Politics."
Approximately 25 students attended the forum, moderated by Associate Professor of Political Science Mark Williams. A panel of voluntary student speakers presented three diverse plans of action towards Iraq, including unilateral action, multilateral action and alternatives to invasion. Informal debate, discussion and questioning followed the presentation of views.

More Parking Soon
by Ed Pickering

The construction of a new parking lot behind the CFA will be completed by the end of this week. When finished, the lot will provide 99 new spaces for faculty, staff, and event parking.
In accordance with the permit issued by the Town Planning Commission, student parking will not be allowed in these spaces. Additional student spaces were added this year at the expanded ridgeline area (95 spaces) and the C-lot (40 spaces).
"The goal of all of these projects," says Mark Gleason of Facilities Planning, "is to minimize the impact of parking spaces lost as a result of Atwater and Library construction."
Several items remain to be completed, including the installation of new light fixtures along the parking lot's outer rim, the seeding of new topsoil areas, the transplantation of 12 Linden trees and the implantation of 67 new trees. In conjunction with the new lot, improvements are being made to two crosswalks, those at the intersections of Route 30 and Porter Field Road and Route 30 and Stewart Hill Road. A sidewalk, parallel to Porter Field Road, will run from Route 30 to the new lot, making it easier and safer for people to reach their cars.
The College intended for construction of the new lot and crosswalks to be completed by the beginning of fall term. A delay in permitting, however, resulted in a later start date than anticipated.