Midd Briefs

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Helping the Homeless and Hungry
by Andrea Gissing

Over fall break, five members of Middlebury's Volunteer Service Organization (VSO) attended the 15th Annual Conference of the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness held this year at the University of Pennsylvania. The group, consisting of VSO Campus Co-chair Laurel Houghton '04, Community Co-chair Christine Gould '04, Susannah Patty '06, Sheena James '06 and Publicity Chair Anywhere Sikochi '05, brought back many ideas concerning hunger and homelessness and how those problems can be addressed at the College.
Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week is a week of coordinated educational events held each year in the week prior to Thanksgiving. Its main purpose is to raise awareness of the problems of hunger and homelessness, domestically and internationally.
VSO has organized a food drive with a donation table set up outside Ross Dining Hall. They are looking for donations of non-perishable food items and money, and ask for volunteers to help with activities related to hunger and homelessness. Collection boxes are also in commons offices and at many other locations on campus. Collected items will be donated to the Addison County Community Action Group, which then distributes the goods to those in need around Addison County.
In addition, VSO has posted fliers around campus with a series of facts about hunger and homelessness. The fliers, which especially target hunger issues in the United States, serve to raise awareness of the prevalence of these problems to members of the College community.
The Awareness Week is just one way to address these issues facing the world today. "We'll provide food today," said Sikochi, "but how will that help in the future?" Looking ahead, VSO plans work to support the National Coalition for the Homeless' bid to allow a debate on the National Housing Trust Fund, a fund designed to allocate funds to be spend on permanent supportive housing. Also, it plans to work with Heifer International, an organization that raises money to buy livestock, which is then given to poorer communities internationally.
"The most important thing we learned [at the conference]," said Sikochi, "is that eradicating hunger is well within our grasp, as a nation and in our grasp as students."

First-Year Prize
by Pierce Graham-Jones

Andre Estanislao '05 received the First-Year Achievement Prize last Thursday.
As its name implies, the award recognizes a single student who, according to Karen Guttentag, assistant dean of student affairs, "has demonstrated academic excellence and the ability to relate well to others" in his or her first year at Middlebury College.
The presentation of the prize was a surprise: Early last week, Estanislao received a call informing him that his presence was required at a meeting, the purpose of which was left ambiguous. When he arrived at the meeting last Thursday, he found himself surrounded by all five commons deans and the heads of various departments. Estanislao's first reaction was fear: in his own words, "I had to be given a glass of water I was so scared."
The prestigious prize, however, is nothing to be scared of. The sole recipient is chosen from a pool of nominees by a selection committee, chaired by Ann Hanson, dean of student affairs. Students may be nominated by student services staff, commons administration staff, first-year seminar faculty and athletics staff.
The recipient, said Guttentag, receives a "modest monetary stipend."
As a first-year, Estanislao, maintained a very high GPA, contributed to orientation initiatives and was actively involved with Wonnacott Commons. The latter is reflected by his current role as a co-chair of Wonnacott Commons.
Estanislao is a glowing supporter of Middlebury in general. As he said, "the more you give yourself to Middlebury, the more it gives back."

Dining Facts
by Lindsey Whiton

Last week Peter Napolitano, director of dining services and Matthew Biette, associate director of dining services, spoke with the Student Government Association (SGA).
They introduced dining related figures, including the fact that 65 percent of classes currently occur in Bicentennial Hall, the reason why meal service was initially focused more on Freeman International Center (FIC) than Proctor Hall.
In the first few months of this semester, Middining serviced 900 people in Ross Dining Hall, a space designed for a maximum of 600 occupants. "The staying power of Ross was more than we expected," Napolitano said. "We sort of thought that people would get tired of the lines."
Now, however, "customer counts are leveling off," he continued. During an average meal, Ross serves 700 students, Proctor serves 800 (a significant step down from the 1,400 people served during a meal last year) and FIC serves 250 to 300 people.
Sixteen-thousand pounds of compost are generated from Proctor and the FIC in a two-week period, and missing cups and glasses cost the College $900 a week. Ann Hanson, dean of student affairs, suggested that maybe an award, such a donation to a service organization, could be offered for a better cutlery return rate.