Posted by: bethconnolly | July 9, 2009

Button Bay: Where Those in the Know Swim for Free

What could better punctuate the monotony of a sticky summer afternoon than a beautiful drive and a free swim? It’s worth the short drive to Ferrisburgh to check out Button Bay, a Vermont State Park and camping grounds with access to Lake Champlain. Just up Route 7, take the left for Vergennes and follow signage to Button Bay. For $3.00 per person, a picnic area and swimming hole await you in the park.

But drive just a moment beyond the official park entrance for the college student special: swim off of the boat launch. You’ll see a rutted dirt road on your right, and if you take it you’ll find a gravel parking area. From there, it’s a short walk to the modest lake access, which consists of a few large sun-bathing rocks and a piece of bench-sized driftwood. The water is shallow and warm with a great view of the Adirondacks.

Swimming is pleasant if you can ignore the overabundance of Eurasian water milfoil, a rust-colored plant that began invading Lake Champlain in 1962, according to the Lake Champlain Land Trust.   Certain areas of the bay were so congested with seaweed-like milfoil that swimming and even walking were nearly impossible. Still, in the less-congested areas of the shallows, it was glorious simply to float serenely and gaze out at the mountains across the shore.

For more information, check out the VT state park website , or for directions click here.

Posted by: Ryan | July 3, 2009

Video Roundup

Breadloaf is going strong this summer as evidenced by a video from a teacher to his students. Maybe this video also serves to demonstrate why we need a new Middlebury website…?

So this is how alumni party? And its in the Hepburn Zoo? Dang…reunion.

Any good language school video out there yet?

Posted by: Emily | July 2, 2009

The Scoop

Let’s face it. I’m busy. You’re busy. Middlebury is busy, too. There just aren’t enough hours in the day, even in the summer. So, for all of us that have been busy, here’s the scoop about all things Midd related that have happened in the last week or so. No frills, just the dirty details. Read this quick so you’ll be caught for when you see all your friends this weekend.

  • Middish: Middish is a new “context-based community translation tool” developed for Midd language schools and beyond by Midd’s own Matt Park and Wayne Shu from Columbia University. Basically, if you have something you want translated into Chinese, like “I’d like a Protuguese Egg Tart and a durian bubbletea please,” just type it in and the world will help you translate it into simplified Chinese and traditional Chinese. Legit.
  • A Million: Middlebury once again met the Alumni Participation Challenge. 60% of alumni have given gifts to the college so far this year, earning a matching donation of $1 million from an anonymous donor. Success.
  • English: Rumor has it that Midd summer employees are, gasp!, speaking English on campus and causing problems in the dining halls/dorms for those who aren’t even supposed to hear English.  Do we have any on-campus readers willing to dish on this? How weird is it to live day by day with signs that say “No English Spoken Here,” when, in reality, you have to speak it?
  • Reunion: I start hyperventilating when somebody says, “When you have children…” Please, stop. Mark Patinkin, ‘74, however, recently attended Reunion 2009 (which MiddBlog egregiously failed to adequately cover) and has decided to share with the world what Middlebury students think about after children and after our economy has fallen to pieces. If you read one random op-ed column this week, read this one.
  • Promotions: Middlebury students are everywhere these days, like in museums or in charge of car companies.
  • Projects for Peace: Dristy Shrestha, ‘11.5 won the Projects for Peace challenge this year and has headed off to Nepal to help finish a micro hydropower pipeline with two other students. They’re blogging their progress so you can follow along.

Know of any other awesome Midd-related news of late? Pass the info along to tips [at] midd-blog.com or leave a comment.

Happy 4th of July weekend!

I stopped Sunday Reading for the summer, partly because I’m now less likely to be near a computer and partly because so few people are reading. After the blockbuster week we’ve just had, however, I feel that it is my duty to give you “Sunday Reading, Special Edition: Sex, Rebellion and Global Warming.” Enjoy!

Posted by: Emily | June 26, 2009

How Much Do You Love Quidditch?

Middlebury students have a very profound love/hate relationship with quidditch. In other words, they love it or they hate it. No matter what side of the debate you’re on, however, you can’t deny that THIS MTV VIDEO is pretty kick-ass…I mean, awesome.

Spot your favorite MiddKid or read more.

Posted by: Emily | June 21, 2009

Bathing is not Optional

Earlier today I was reading this summer’s “The Best of New England,” by New England Travel to see what I would learn about the greater Massachusetts-Vermont area. This is what I learned:

In Vermont, “Every person is required to bathe at least once a week, Saturday night.”

Upstanding citizen that I am, I needed to verify this information because, well, I’ve definitely broken the law a couple of times. I mean, the bathing Saturday night part I’ve violated a few times, not the whole not bathing for a week thing.

Unfortunately, I have yet to find a codified source. I did find this list of other Vermont laws though. Whistling under water? Really?

Also listed in the New England Travel Magazine that pertains to Middlebury are the Swift House Inn and Tully and Marie’s,

Posted by: Emily | June 16, 2009

A Card Carrying…Drinker?

Former Midd President and head honcho of the org. Choose Responsibility, John McCardell has an article in this month’s issue of The Atlantic, the Big Ideas issue.

For the most part, he gives his standard stats on how binge drinking amongst 18-26 year olds has increased since the drinking age changed to 21 nationally. His big idea here, however, is none other than a sort of alcohol license, granted upon finishing high school and completing an alcohol education. He proposes:

“So what might states, freed from this federal penalty, do differently? They might license 18-year-olds—adults in the eyes of the law—to drink, provided they’ve completed high school, attended an alcohol-education course (that consists of more than temperance lectures and scare tactics), and kept a clean record.”

A license to drink that parallels my license to drive? Hmmm….interesting. I’m completely on board with Choose Responsibility, but something about this proposal just isn’t clicking for me. Is it really worth the extra paper work and red tape and the need to carry yet another ID with me everywhere? Although, since alcohol and driving are so frequently brought up in the same conversation, I suppose it makes sense to carry the connection just a little further.

Thoughts?

[via The Atlantic]

Posted by: Jean-Mark Scribbleton | June 15, 2009

Poisoned water supply? Dead bodies? Excavation underway?

Water outage. Check.
Bulldozers. Check.
Rotting, reeking carcasses of campus intruders? Uhh.. no. (That would be cool, though.)

’twas a week ago when an emergency excavation site popped up in front of the Wright Theatre. That’s June 8, Monday morning to be exact.

That’s a week ago, if it helps you.

Battell, this year’s infamous summer employee residence hall, along with Johnson and Sunderland, had their water supply cut off for approximately 5 hours due to the finding of “another bed section of water” for these buildings.

Students that were completely unaware of the situation were especially dumbfounded after they:

- Finished their businesses in the bathrooms
- Tried to cook instant ramen for breakfast
- Tried to cook instant ramen for brunch
- Tried to cook instant ramen for lunch
- Got ready to take a quick shower in the shower stalls

So far, I have yet to find out what exactly happened to the water source/pipes; however, if you have absolutely nothing to do during the day, you can go check the place out in front of Battell.

Yeah, it’s still there. Amazing.

Posted by: Emily | June 11, 2009

Internet

The Internet before the “the”. Weird

What will be next to gain a definite article? The Google? The Twitter? The Hulu?

Posted by: Emily | June 10, 2009

Web Makeover: Monterey

One major project that Middlebury has undertaken for 2009 has been a complete makeover of its websites: Middlebury.edu and MIIS.edu (Monterey Institute of International Studies).

The project began with brainstorming and focus groups, eventually led to the hiring of White Whale, a CA based web design firm, to help with the construction and design of the sites and will officially finish around Jan 4, 2010 with the official roll-out of Midd’s website.

Yesterday, however, MIIS.edu was unveiled to those interested in a special presentation/online conference. While I have no official snapshots of the new site, I can give you this:

MIIS.edu through the years, courtesy of the Wayback! machine at archive.org. Watch the web progress!

What will the new one be like? Well, for that, you’re going to have to wait until the August 15 Beta lunch or the official launch on September 1.

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