The Campus 2/26

In an effort to deepen MiddBlog’s coverage of campus issues, this is a recurring column that comments on selected Campus newspaper articles, published most Thursdays of the school year. This allows a place for the Middlebury community to comment, expand, and discuss important issues in a dynamic way.

This Week in The Campus:

• Dairy king to address seniors: Gary Hirshberg, chairman of Stonyfield Farm (think yogurt), will address the Class of 2009 as their commencement speaker. I think seniors will not be particularly happy with this pick. No one will protest like they did for Ben Stein over at UVM but an essentially no-name will again bring about complaints of: “I’m celebrating four years of blood, sweat, and tears for Gary Who?” That’s not to say Hirshberg won’t give a good address but it’s going to be an uphill battle trying to convince envrio-oriented kids that this guy is as good as the tens of big-name speakers for Powershift 2009 and hard to convince non-enviro kids that this guy isn’t hippie-dippie. In a year with Paul Farmer, Al Sharpton, and constant rumors of Greg Mortensen, what do you expect?
• SGA leader resigns following discipline: Moving beyond MiddBlog’s op-ed about the SGA, the Campus fills in the details of Bobby Joe Smith’s departure. I find it unfortunate that The Campus went with the initial plagiarism angle more than anything else in their lengthy article. It took guts for Bobby Joe Smith to write an email to the entire study body explaining his inadvertent plagiarism and suspension.
• Editorial: A leader in sustainability by any other name: The Campus Editorial Board brings up legitimate points about the business practies of Stonyfield Farm and Hirshberg. Their conclusion is to encourage “critically evaluating our speakers.” I agree. Students should have a background of balanced information on important speakers on campus. That said, there is nobody that is without some fault.