Letters to the Editor

Author: [no author name found]

Protests at Roberts' Lecture

To the Editor:

"Roberts Holds Court at Mead" (October 26) failed to provide adequate background information regarding the peaceful demonstration that occurred outside Mead Chapel prior to the Roberts lecture. While the article did make passing mention of the Middlebury students who posed as prisoners at Abu Ghraib, the U.S.-operated extra-legal detention facility in Iraq where American soldiers tortured and sexually abused Iraqis, it didn't mention the other two students who posed as Guantanamo Bay prisoners.

The Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detainment facility, since its inception in 2002 under the guise of the USA Patriot Act, continues to house hundreds of prisoners from all over the world in sub-human conditions and without access to fair trial. Amnesty International confirms that "three detainees have died at the camp, after apparently committing suicide. Others have gone on prolonged hunger strikes, being kept alive only through painful force feeding measures."

Fawzi al-Odah, a Kuwaiti detainee who arrived at Guantanamo in 2002, offers a disturbing testimony of life at the facility: "The real problem is being here without reason, without hope, without a hearing. . . [The American government is] making the decisions. We need to be released or have the opportunity to show that we are innocent."

In 2005, while a member of an appellate court in Washington D.C., John Roberts voted in favor of the U.S. government's right to use "military commissions" to try prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. He will almost certainly revisit that decision in the coming years as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Sincerely,
Mike Ives '06.5
Larchmont, N.Y.


Rehnquist Professorship

To the Editor:

As a fairly recent graduate (class of '00), I applaud President Liebowitz for standing behind the College's decision to establish a professorship in honor of the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. Middlebury should be proud that it is an institution that is secure enough in its intellectual foundations to honor and remember public servants from a wide range of political and legal thought. Regardless of your views of constitutional interpretation, it is indisputable that those who knew and worked with Chief Justice Rehnquist respected and admired him as a dedicated and principled judge and as a man who served his country with honor.

One would hope that professors of all people would understand that one can disagree strongly with another's views, but still respect the other person for arriving at those views in an honest, principled and rigorous fashion. The attempts by some to equate Rehnquist's name with an act of physical violence was particularly sad. Middlebury deserves better.

Sincerely,
Darin Sands '00
Seattle, Wash.


Studying Abroad at Middlebury

To the Editor:

I am writing in response to an article in last week's Campus: "There's a fly in my crème bruleé." The author alleges that Middlebury College "traps" students "into feeding $8,000...into their prized summer language schools" by "forcing" students who wish to study abroad to attend in the summer and that the College is "sneaky" by not "posting this information all over first-year handouts."

This is not true. On the Schools Abroad website, under each School, there is a prominent link to "Admissions Requirements," listing the language requirements for going abroad. Furthermore, at the Academic Forum, the Off Campus Studies Office hands out an FAQ sheet to any students interested in studying abroad. The first item on this list addresses the language requirements!

The author also feels that our language proficiency requirements are excessive. Middlebury students enjoy a maximum of cultural integration and interaction with native speakers because they are able to interact with them in their native language. This immersion level would not be possible if we lowered our standards.

It is true that the Language Schools are not cheap. Our overhead costs are higher than others' because we house faculty in our dorms to facilitate close personal interaction between students and faculty as well as the 24/7 environment that enables Middlebury Language Schools students to learn as much in 7 or 9 weeks as others do in a year.

Sincerely,
Michael Geisler
Dean of Language Schools and Schools Abroad


Women's Rugby Coverage

To the Editor:

The sun had set at 6:12 p.m. The dewy rain continued falling at 6:46 p.m., two hours and fifteen minutes after mandatory practice had begun and three hours after optional running practice met. We were the only team left on the field behind Kenyon, and our voices dominated the cold air. Our coach yelled that we would remain on the field until we perfected the drill, and as we strained to see the ball and our fellow teammates, I smiled at the beauty of the scene. Sure, this may be a somewhat clichéd and dramatic image of our team, but our success had been dramatic. Last year we did not win a single game.

This year we have yet to lose one. And even though this has been the best season Women's rugby has seen in a long while, it has been the worst covered season since I have been at Middlebury College. This weekend we play not to win our division (we already did that), but for the New England Championships. And yet we've had only one article published about a game we have played. My frustration stems not from a selfish want for recognition, but from the fact that the 2006 women's rugby team has a compelling and remarkable story. From nail-bitingly close games, to games played on flooded fields and feet of mud, to injuries ranging from broken knuckles to torn ACLs, the trials, tribulations and ultimate success of this team are captivating. Despite under-funding and under-appreciation, these women show up every single day ready to work as hard as any other student athlete.

Even if the College does not recognize the equal endeavors of these many athletes, it is my hope that The Campus will take note of our sport and the stories of other under-covered sports. If Middlebury College students are able to read about the games as well as the stories of the players behind these wins, they will not only be more appreciative of the incredible efforts of their friends, but of club and women's sports in general.

Sincerely,
Ashley Clark '07
Haddonfield, N.J.