MIDDBRIEFS

Author: KATHRYN FLAGG AND LISIE MEHLMAN

College hosts multiple environmental speakers
An institution known for its environmentalism, Middlebury College will host two environmentally-minded speakers next week. Essayist and acclaimed environmentalist Scott Russell Sanders will speak in Dana Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. on May 4. A professor of English at Indiana University, Bloomington, Sanders will read from his recently released memoir. On Friday he will host a discussion on community, sustainability and the writing life in the Middlebury College "Slow the Plow" student organic garden. Sanders is widely known as a renowned American essayist, and his work has appeared in the Georgia Review, Orion Magazine, Shenandoah (The Washington and Lee University Review), Arts Indiana, the Minnesota Review and the Kenyon Review.
Also on May 4, New York Times science and environmental report Andrew Revkin will speak on media coverage of climate change. His lecture, part of the "Meet the Press" series hosted by the College, will be held at 4:30 in Room 220 of McCardell Bicentennial Hall. Revkin will present a lecture titled "The Daily Planet: Why the Media Stumble When Covering Climate Change and Other 21st-century Environmental Issues." Revkin has been a reporter at The New York Times since 1995. Previously he was senior editor at Discover magazine, staff writer at the Los Angeles Times, and senior writer at Science Digest.

Midd 8 hosts final panel featuring Bernie Sanders
Marking the end of a month-long series of discussions on global awareness and the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals, Midd 8 will host an event tomorrow including a panel discussion on "Global Partnerships for Development" featuring Bernard Sanders. Sanders, Vermont's lone representative in the U.S. House of Representatives, will be joined by Middlebury graduate Parker Diggory of the World Conference of Religions for Peace, Amil Husain, the global youth coordinator for the U.N.'s Millenium Campaign and Alex Neroth van Vogelpeol, Northeast regional organizing fellow of Bread for the World. The event will take place from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Robert A. Jones '59 House conference room.
The panel discussion, which is free and open to the public, is the last of April's Midd 8 symposium events. The symposium was named with the U.N.'s eight Millennium Development Goals in mind, which include the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, the achievement of universal primary education, the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women, reduction of child mortality, improvement of maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other infectious diseases, ensuring environmental sustainability and global partnering for development. The event was inspired by the "Live 8" concerts held world-wide last summer, merging activism and popular culture. The symposium included a number of panel discussions, lectures, a four-nation videoconference on preserving the global environment, a "Millennium Party" with live music and united activities from groups throughout the community that related to the Millennium Goals.

MCAB aims for record ticket sales and turn out
The Middlebury College Activities Board (MCAB) is expecting a huge turn out at this year's annual spring concert featuring Jurassic 5, Naughty By Nature and Rahzel. According to MCAB Concert Committee Chair Caroline Brewer '06, as of Tuesday night the box office had sold about 650 tickets. Brewer explained that "I've gotten a lot of emails from people at other colleges asking about tickets, and apparently the box office has gotten tons of phone calls as well. They are even printing more tickets because we are expecting such a big turnout." MCAB has committed itself to branching out to the wider community and has been advertising in Burlington and at other colleges around Vermont. They "are expecting a large off-campus turn out as well," Brewer explained. MCAB has received great feedback from people on campus and at other colleges and is looking forward to sponsoring a highly attended and spirited event.