Letters to the editor

Author: [no author name found]

To the Editor:

In 1968 several friends and I were taking a very taxing yet worthwhile English literature course and it came time to take a pre-A. (I have no idea whether there still are pre-As at Middlebury. They were "previously announced examinations" - scheduled tests.) This one wasn't easy - it took each of our smarts to come up with the unique individual response this course demanded. After class, over coffee in the Crest Room, one guy asked, "What did you get for Question 5?"

"Jeff," my friend Goldie said, "there were four questions."

"You know," Jeff said, "the one that started, 'Affirm your integrity by affixing your monicker...'" Mind you, Jeff had been up for several days cramming himself full of knowledge and various apothecary products in order to perform at his finest. "I got into this great riff about integrity and affirmation. Wrote half a blue book on it."

"Uh, Jeff," said Goldie, "you answered the Honor Code." In that moment Jeff cemented his place in '60s Middlebury community lore.

Sincerely,

Peter Knobler '68



To the Editor:

To any victim of sexual assault my article traumatized - I am deeply sorry. I would especially like to apologize to the victim in the case I cited. I meant absolutely no harm, nor did I in any way want to exonerate a sexual offender or belittle the suffering you went through. I was unaware that the case I used to begin my article was real, and had I known that, I would not have used it as evidence in my piece of what I still feel to be a valid point, one which I stand by. I never meant to say that sexual assault was not a big issue in any case, nor did I mean to imply that it should not be addressed. I merely suggested that the methods of spreading awareness about these important issues used on this campus alienate the very people who are needed to help resolve them.

Sincerely,

Nate Ackerly '10



To the Editor:

I am an officer of the Middlebury Musicians' Guild, and I was recently informed that MCAB has decided not to let student bands play the all-campus picnic this Friday, save the already well-established Market Zero. Last year's well-attended festival featured a variety of student bands, so I was dismayed to learn of the change to this year's event. But MCAB's decision is part of an ongoing trend of a lack of support for Middlebury's music scene - including the reluctance to book student bands for Pub Night, the refusal to let an on-campus act open for Cake and the overall scarcity of events promoting Midd's musicians. The prevailing sentiment on campus is that our music scene is dead, but is it really the fault of the bands? Commons Crawl (organized by the Commons co-chairs) was a smashing success, demonstrating not only the talent of the College's bands, both prominent and lesser-known, but also the enthusiasm of the student body to listen and have a great time doing it. By booking off-campus acts for the all-campus picnic, MCAB sends the message that student bands are not even worthy of being background music for a few hours, which is ludicrous and insulting. Midd's music scene will never thrive unless the event organizers let it. For the future, I humbly request MCAB to recognize the talent here on campus before turning to expensive off-campus acts - give our musicians the respect they deserve.

Sincerely,

Charlie Henschen '10





To the Editor:

I am writing to express my concerns about the newly launched Web site, Middlebury Confessional, and to tell you what many of you already know - that the derogatory, highly personal comments that have appeared on this forum are at odds with the values of Middlebury College.

For those of you unfamiliar with Middlebury Confessional, it is an independent Web site with no official connection whatsoever to the College. Still, it invites members of our community to share observations and thoughts that they would ordinarily keep to themselves. Although much of the commentary on this forum seems to have been written with good intentions, many posts, written under the guise of anonymity, target specific individuals and groups. These "confessions" are presumably aimed at revealing truths that could bring students together, but in this context they actually have the opposite effect.

Educational communities like ours are built on trust and mutual respect. Thus, I urge all Middlebury students to exercise good judgment and refrain from personal attacks when posting on this forum.

Finally, with regard to the free speech rights implicit in this matter, I should note that the College has no interest in censoring student speech. However, the College does have an interest in fostering an atmosphere in which all members of the College feel free to participate in the open exchange of ideas so vital to an academic community. If you have any questions about the policies governing "verbal conduct" at the College, please consult the Handbook.

Sincerely,

Tim Spears, Dean of the College



To the Editor:

As a retired university professor, I was surprised by the confrontational attitude adopted by the students to preserve the Honor Code at Middlebury. I remember the first time I caught a student cheating. I was devastated, hurt and felt terribly sorry for the student. There was only one appropriate option - dismissal. Subsequent encounters in academia and as an advocate for ethics legislation has taught me that most people are honest and self-impose high moral standards and some few do not. Faculty monitoring of exams does not destroy faculty-student trust, it preserves it. More importantly, if a faculty monitor prevents cheating it benefits the students who do not cheat.

Faculty and students are not equal. The faculty is there to teach and the students are there to learn. The very nature of the relationship is and should be unequal. Teachers demand preparedness, and provoke challenge. Student's responses should be grounded in logic, not bull-s---. As a teacher, I found there is nothing more rewarding than a student challenging conventional wisdom.

The issue is not trust but respect. Trust is an attribute associated with relationships between individuals who have something of value to share. Students and teachers should respect each other. In fact if you think about it just a little, you will recognize that mutual respect is the essential element for a teacher to be effective, and for a student to learn and mature.

Sincerely,

Hugh Spitzer '58