October 2007

Environmental journalist Bill McKibben on the links between global warming & the California wild fires: “As we continue on this issue of global warming, what does global warming have to do with the fires raging in Southern California? More than a half a million people in San Diego County have been ordered to evacuate. Over 900 homes have been destroyed. At least one person has died. Another thirty-seven people have been reported injured, including seventeen firefighters. The fires extend from the Mexican border to Santa Barbara, the most devastating fires in San Diego County.

“Bill McKibben [scholar in residence at Middlebury College] is a leading environmentalist and one of the leading forces behind Step It Up. In 1989, he wrote the book The End of Nature, one of the first books to describe global warming as an emerging environmental crisis.”

Link to StepItUp 2007.

Middlebury one of just six schools to earn top grade from Sustainable Endowments Institute: “College campuses across the United States and Canada are stepping up green practices and policies, with more than two out of three schools showing improved performance over the last year, according to the new College Sustainability Report Card 2008. . . .

“Only Harvard, Dartmouth, University of Washington, Middlebury, Carleton, and University of Vermont performed well enough in all categories to merit the highest overall grade of “A-,” earning them the distinction of College Sustainability Leaders.”

Update for College community on train derailment in Middlebury: “A train derailment occurred near downtown Middlebury at about 2 p.m. on Monday, October 22, and involved several cars full of gasoline, according to reports from police and fire departments. No injuries have been reported, but schools, homes and businesses near the derailment scene were evacuated. Included in the evacuations were parts of the town center as well as areas near the College campus, including all or parts of South Street, Green Mountain Place, Chipman Park, South Main Street, Franklin Street, Storrs Avenue, Shannon Street, Weybridge Street, College Street, and the College’s Twilight Hall.”

Panel: Harness higher ed on climate change: Times Argus Online: “A report expected as early as Thursday from the climate change commission established by Gov. James Douglas will call on policy makers to make [Middlebury and] the state’s [other] colleges and universities the center of that effort, according to a draft of the document. The Vermont Governor’s Climate Change Commission was created by Douglas in December of 2005 to chart a course for the state as it attempts to address climate change issues. The group’s final report, originally scheduled for completion by early October, is expected to be released soon, perhaps as early as the group’s next meeting on [October 18].”

Faculty update: NSF grant aids professor’s research on Alaska’s forests: “Courtesy of the president’s office, here’s a look at recent accomplishments and publications by Middlebury’s faculty, and in some cases their students. Andrea Lloyd (Biology) and colleagues involved in the Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research site in Alaska have received funding from the National Science Foundation for a project titled The Dynamics of Change in Alaska’s Boreal Forests: Resilience and Vulnerability in Response to Climate Warning. “

Two with ties to Middlebury College among MacArthur Fellows for 2007: “The MacArthur Foundation recently named two people with close ties to Middlebury College as recipients of its renowned ‘genius grants.’ Deborah Bial, the founder and president of the Posse Foundation who received an honorary degree from Middlebury, and Peter Cole, the publisher, translator, and poet who attended the Arabic School and taught at Middlebury, were among the 24 recipients of the 2007 MacArthur Fellowships — five-year, unrestricted grants awarded to individuals who exhibit exceptional creativity in their work and the prospect for more innovative accomplishments in the future.”

Middlebury launches $500 million campaign — largest ever by a liberal arts college: “MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — Middlebury College President Ronald D. Liebowitz announced October 6, 2007, that the college is launching a five-year campaign to raise $500 million — the largest fundraising campaign ever undertaken by a liberal arts college. Liebowitz also said that during the planning phases $234 million has already been raised. The campaign, which the college is calling the Middlebury Initiative, will extend and expand the range of opportunities available to students.”

Environmental sculpture ‘So Inclined’ rises in front of Center for the Arts: “More than 230 volunteers — students, faculty, staff, and members of the community — joined artist Patrick Dougherty in the creation of an environmental sculpture in front of Middlebury College’s Mahaney Center for the Arts.”

Visit the Dougherty project web site and see the live web cam.

Butch Varno Initiative gets a boost as SI re-runs Reilly column: “On March 16, 2007, the apartment that Butch Varno shared with his mother, Helen, was flooded in ankle-deep water. With help from Butch’s friends at Middlebury, the Varnos were able to find transitional housing, supported by the Middlebury Congregational Church. … The effort by his friends to help continues, with the Butch Varno Initiative.”

Read the original column, “Picking Up Butch,” by Rick Reilly in Sports Illustrated.

See the award-winning Butch Varno video by ESPN in Windows Media or QuickTime.