Top Students to Watch, Mid-Year Review

Every Fall, before classes start, I publish a “top students to watch this year” post (2007-2008 and 2008-2009). The list tries to pick out students who might be making big impacts in the non-academic world at Middlebury. Generally, I’ve been decidedly mediocre at picking so this year I’m doing a mid-year update to my list. Without further ado, here’s my revised list of students to watch this Spring (even if two will be abroad):

1. Alex Benepe ’09: Not quite sure how I missed him the first go around but his uber-successful Quidditch World Cup this past Fall earns him a spot here. Expect a little more out of Benepe this Winter with the IHC Masquerade Ball supported by VACA. Masks are in the making. Quidditch should return come Spring as well and who knows what kind of suprises that will bring. And if need be, Benepe relies on the other half of the power couple, Kate Lupo ’10, for support.
2. Hank Rosen ’09: As MCAB Concert’s Chair, Hank is subject to the ebbs and flows of student opinion. Just when Talib Kweli concert seemed a bit underwhelming, Hank pushed through “haus,” an electronica/rave party in Nelson with the support of a group of students and David Remondet ’09. What’s in store for the Spring? It’s anyone’s guess but definitely Hank will have a hand in it.
3. Vrutika Mody ’10: This pick is actually more for next school year. “Tika” is the behind-the-scenes gal that whips the SGA into shape. We all know Bobby Joe Smith ’09 and Hiba Fakhoury ’09 but this past semester Tika served as the “Speaker of the House” — basically the make-others-shut-up-and-listen appointment.  And that is how Tika rolls. Her agenda has one item: shut up and listen to what students are needing and feeling.
4. Brian Fung ’10: As the incoming editor of The Campus, Brian knows he’s got a few semesters to turn the newspaper around. Anecdotal evidence suggests this past semester has been a hard one for a newspaper just one step behind what was happening on campus. And even when it was making progress, it got hammered for coverage of stuff like the death of Matti Rudolph (a story purposely not covered here on MiddBlog). So it’s up to Fung. His credentials help with work for NBC at the Beijing Olympics and his plans are to bring the paper into the modern multimedia/blogging age. Check out his blog: SmartPwr.
5. Samantha Peaslee ’10: Sam, too, is going abroad like Tika but will be back next year. And her agenda is clear: cleanup the redtape for student organizations. As the chair of the SGA Constitution Committee, she is the gatekeeper for new orgs. She’s also been pushing for software to manage student organizations. Watch for her to have a big impact either from abroad or over the summer. Ooh, and you may have seen her as a bartender down at 51 Main.

MiddBlog wants to know: Who else should we be looking out for this Spring?