Middbriefs

Author: Lisa Zaval and Derek Schlickeisen

Adragna '10 snags single contested Senate seat

Winning the position of Ross Commons' Senator, Anthony Adragna '10 secured the only contested position in the 2006 Student Government Association (SGA) Senate elections. The SGA announced the results of the elections Friday. After struggling to recruit candidates to fill the ballot, which included only 16 candidates for the 15 open seats in the Senate, a total of 782 individuals logged in on Friday to cast their votes online, with 44.7 percent of Ross voting for Adragna.

"I'm really quite thrilled about my victory and that the residents of Ross thought me worthy of being their representative," said Adragna.

Adragna is currently working on his agenda for his new role as Ross Commons Senator. He would like to improve communications between students and the SGA and hopes to serve as a resource to students. He would also like to make some minor improvements to the appearance of Ross and hopes to work with different commons in order to build a sense of pride for students regarding their home commons.

"That may come from 'capture the flag,' 'tug of war' or something like that."

On running in the only contested Senate race Adragna remarked, "That was kind of a surprise to me. However, it makes the win all the sweeter. I'm thrilled."


Nobel laureate to lecture on financial future

Nobel Prize-winning economist William F. Sharpe will deliver the Carpenter and Alan R. Holmes Lecture in the Robert A. Jones '59 House Conference Room on Friday, Oct. 6, at 4:30 p.m. The title of his lecture is "Financing Retirement: Saving, Investing, Spending and Insuring." The event is free and open to the public.

Sharpe is a professor of Finance, Emeritus at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business who, in 1970, joined the Stanford faculty, having previously taught at the University of Washington and the University of California. In 1996, he co-founded Financial Engines, a firm that provides online investment advice and management, and currently serves on its board. Sharpe is past president of the American Finance Association. In 1990, he received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.

Sharpe was one of the originators of the Capital Asset Pricing model, and created the Sharpe ratio for risk-adjusted investment performance analysis. He has published articles in a number of financial and academic journals, and is also the author or coauthor of six books, including "Portfolio Theory and Capital Markets," "Asset Allocation Tools" and "Fundamentals of Investments."

The Carpenter and Alan R. Holmes Lecture is sponsored by the Middlebury College Economics department.


Democrats push House action on climate change

Vermont Congressional candidate Peter Welch (D) and U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) will join Bill McKibben, the College's scholar in residence in Environmental Studies, today in the Twilight Auditorium to discuss global warming in the context of the 2006 elections. The event is sponsored by the Middlebury College Democrats.

During the event, Blumenauer will outline his work on the issue of climate change, focusing on "global warming in today's political environment."

Blumenauer, a fifth-term member of Congress, recently called for hearings in the House Committee on International Relations on the effects of climate change.

Welch has also made Congressional action on global warming a central focus of his campaign. In a Sept. 26 debate in Mead Chapel, Welch criticized what he called an unwillingness by the Republican leadership to address the issue.

"We have no excuse for inaction," said Welch. Literature on his campaign site calls for complete U.S. energy independence by 2020.

The discussion will take place from 4 to 5 p.m.