News highlights 2/28-3/7

The Campus 3/3

• Where are they now? Squabbling.  A feature on two Midd alums who have started Squabbler, a site that allows people to take their disagreements online.  From US intervention in Libya to whether orange juice should have pulp, debates are posted in video form, and the hive mind gets to make comments and vote on who’s right. One of the former MiddKids is the same brilliant person who founded Awkward Family Photos.
• WRMC. Another fantastic feature, all about the history and ambiance of Midd’s radio station. Especially interesting to me were the comments on the station’s former status as a huge news provider.
• Mmmmmm. The Grille will now be open 7 days a week! David Cannistra, Midd’s new general manager of retail foods, discusses the strategy of keeping the Grille Grilling.

The Addison County Independent

• The results are in.  Following up on a story we mentioned in our last post, the AddyIndy sums up all the decisions from Addison County’s recent Town Meeting Day. Hyper-local coverage at its most thorough.
• Healthcare from the horse’s mouth. Wendell Potter, a former big-name healthcare exec, quit his job in 2008 and started working against and reporting on the industry’s biggest failures. The local paper interviewed him after a talk at Burlington’s City Hall.
• Large farms feel left out. A group of Addison County farmers, mostly dairy farmers with relatively large operations, took their concerns about being ignored in recent ag reform efforts to Montpelier. Issues discussed include GMOs, job creation, and pollution management.

Midd Blogs

• Om nom nom. Wow! What began as a J-term independent project has turned into an awesome resource: two students visit, photograph and review local restaurants. Fantastic work.
• Tim Spears and Tim Parsons want to know what you think about the proposed facelifts to the space between the two sets of Atwater Suites. The “Turf Battle” proposals are all there. One is called “The Garden of Scholarly Delights.”
• Treehugging. The Arbor Day Foundation named Midd an official “Tree Campus” for its “excellence in campus tree management.”