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Posts tagged ‘health’

Apr 30

The Campus 4/30

campus430In 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:

  • White Whale revamps Web site: White Whale Web Services, tasked with redesigning the Middlebury website, hit the dining halls to talk to students on Monday and Tuesday. Students overall were receptive to not only sharing their feeling as to what can make the institutional website better but also their general feeling about what makes Middlebury special. The visit from White Whale is part of a discovery process of what themes to highlight on the website.
  • Four crew athletes treated for CA-MRSA bacterial infection: Confirms the rumors around campus, the article outlines both what CA-MRSA is and the story of the students involved.
  • Panzer prevails in run-off election: Well, it looks like my endorsement of Vrutika Mody ’10 failed to make a difference. The Campus, however, called it. Curiously, the after-the-jump headline reads: “Deloach, Sohl supporters aid Panzer in SGA contest.” The article fails to talk about this interesting detail of pre-runoff candidates encouraging their supporters to switch over to support Panzer. Also, rumors are that Tik Root (who came in third in the primaries) will not seek re-election as a Senator next year. Instead, he may be pondering a switch to a cabinet position, if one is offered to him. It is unclear whether Mody will run for Senator again or move on to new projects.
  • Op-ed: Mike Waters: Waters takes Director of Dining Services Matt Biette to task for the steamlining plan to create the same entree in both dining halls next year. He points some of the same challenges mentioned in this MiddBlog post last week while also offering a novel idea: let students wait in line for food.
  • Op-ed: Adam Irish: The perils of Club Midd: His opening line: “I am happy the recession has come to Middlebury College.” I love it when a student legitimately and intelligently adds to the conversation on campus with a challenging point of view. I think a lot of administrators and many students will agree with Irish on this, perhaps without saying stuff like “Club Midd is a crusie ship.” Still, this Editorial of the week is a little bit of a cop-out citing this not as a Midd-exclusive problem and that they look forward to “seeing students’ innovative approaches to saving money.” Students saving money? Yea right. No more than a handful show up to the school’s open financial meetings and we still have no idea what happened to the SGA Crisis Contest…

Feb 28

Paul Farmer Speaks at Middlebury


Principle

Paul Farmer spoke at Middlebury College’s McCullough Social Space this afternoon. The talk was broadcast to two overflow seating areas.

What’s next? The Healing Humanity Symposium is happening soon!

Below is audio recording from Paul Farmer’s talk. Check it out. It’s long but worth it.


Jan 2

2 Comments

Where Do You Eat?

A negative comment in response to Ryan’s post about the Farmers Diner coming to Middlebury prompted me to check out the Vermont Department of Health Food and Lodging Program Inspection Report. Restaurants undergo a 44-item inspection. Of the 44, 31 items measure non-critical aspects of a restaurant, such as construction (flooring, plumbing, etc.) and overall cleanliness (proper garbage containers, clean bathrooms, etc.) However, 13 items are critical, meaning “there is a high likelihood of illness if left uncorrected.” Restaurants can score a maximum of 100 points; scores of 70 are lower mean a restaurant will be asked to close until its violations can be addressed.

Although I was on a quest to see how Middlebury-area restaurants fare health-wise, I discovered Middlebury College’s dining halls and other food establishments have also been inspected by the VT DoH. Below is a summary of the reports:

51 Main Street: 95/100 points on 3/28/2008 – lost points on 4 non-critical items.

Freeman International Center: 90/100 points on 1/16/2008 – lost 5 points on 4 non-critical items; lost 5 points on 1 critical item: Necessary toxic items must be properly stored, separated, labeled, and used.

The Grille: 87/100 points on 1/16/2008 – lost 8 points on 6 non-critical items; lost 5 points on 1 critical item: Potentially hazardous food meets time and temperature requirements during storage, preparation, display, service and transportation.

Kirk Alumni Center Dining: 94/100 on 6/5/2008 – lost 2 points on 2 non-critical items; lost 4 points on 1 critical item: Adequate, convenient and properly maintained toilet facilities are available.

Atwater Dining Hall: 87/100 on 1/16/2008 – lost 3 points on 2 non-critical items; lost 10 points on 2 critical items: Potentially hazardous food meets time and temperature requirements during storage, preparation, display, service and transportation. Personnel must wash hands and use good hygienic practices, be free of jewelry and have nails trimmed.

Proctor Dining Hall: 87/100 on 1/16/2008 – lost 8 points on 5 non-critical items; lost 5 points on 1 critical item: Necessary toxic items must be properly stored, separated, labeled, and used.

Ross Dining Hall: 87/100 on 1/16/2008 – lost 8 points on 5 non-critical items; lost 5 points on 1 critical item: Necessary toxic items must be properly stored, separated, labeled, and used.

Although all of Middlebury’s dining halls and other food establishments have a few improvements to make, I think Middlebury students can rest assured that they–and especially their food–are in good hands. It is important to note that many of Middlebury’s food inspections occurred approximately one year ago; I am confident that Matthew Biette and our dining hall employees have worked hard to correct the problems. Moreover, Middlebury dining halls tend to fare better than other popular Midd Kid hotspots like the China House (76), Mr. Ups (75), Steve’s Park Diner (85), and Taste of India (84).

MiddBlog will keep an eye out for the upcoming DoH inspections and will report on all of Middlebury’s improvements.

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