september 13, 2012 | Vol. 111 no. 1 | middleburycampus.com MTV site features FIRST-YEARS ARRIVE ON CAMPUS Otter comedians By Jess Berry shot “Worst Driving Instruc- On Thursday, Sept. 5, a video tor Ever” and sent it to mtvU, produced by students from the Orbison was contacted over improv comedy group Otter the summer by the company. Nonsense debuted on mtvU, an Out of over 1,000 clips sent in online offshoot of MTV that fo- by groups across the country, cuses on college life and inter- mtvU offered to license their ests. video. Groups from New York The video is part of a series University and Northwestern mtvU calls “College Quickies,” University were also offered the which features a different com- same deal from mtvU. edy sketch produced by college The group was paid $100 for students each week. The Ot- the licensing agreement, which ters video, featuring Ben Orbi- has been put into funding for son ’12.5 and Greg Dorris ’13, is the Otters. called “Worst Driving Instruc- “[Associate Dean of Students tor Ever.” for Student Activities and Ori- MtvU discovered Otter Non- entation] J.J. Boggs helped us sense when they competed at out a great deal and got the right the College Improv Tournament people [at the College] to look at COURTESY of reslife last year. They won the region- the agreement and make sure it Stanis Moody-Roberts ’11, a member of ResLife, talks with first-years and family members the al tournament in Boston and was all cool,” said Orbison. first week of September. A new batch of about 600 first-years moved into their respective com- went to Chicago to compete in “The Otters seem to have mons to gear up for orientation, which began on Sept. 4th. the national tournament. MtvU launched themselves into the judged the competition in Chi- national spotlight over the last cago and afterward contacted year,” wrote Boggs in an email. Policy changes course evaluations “I think this latest agreement the Otters and various other By Jess Berry that the policy changes will give “As a task force we really schools, asking them to submit with mtvU is an exciting op- professors greater freedom to ex- wanted to think about removing portunity for them to showcase This past May, administra- video clips for a series they were tors approved a new policy that periment in the classroom. as many barriers to innovation looking to put together. their work to a global audience.” Former Provost and Executive as possible, and this seemed like Dorris said that in addition offers professors the opportunity Dorris, Orbison and Adam to teach courses in which student Vice President Alison Byerly, who a pretty simple place to start,” to Bogg’s help, various admin- Benay ’13.5 had already made a evaluations are not given to ad- is on academic leave this year as a wrote Lloyd in an email. istrators had to also watch the few shorts together, which they ministrators for review. visiting scholar in literature at the She cited her own experience video in order to give approval, submitted and then began to The policy, effective this fall, Massachusetts Institute of Tech- in reworking her biology class, as it is presented on the website make more. allows professors to teach one nology, spearheaded the policy with the predictable bumps and representing the College. The “It became this thing where course every two years with this change. Last year, Byerly appoint- adjustments that had to be made we realiZed we can just grab a same process must be followed option at their disposal. ed the Task Forces on Curricular afterward, as an example for why couple of cameras, and go to for every video the Otters sub- Traditionally, evaluations are Innovation to consider pedagogy she believes this policy change is the gym and goof around for an mit in the future. - and decisions related to the over- important. hour and a half and bother ev- In “Worst Driving Instructor cluding a promotions committee all curriculum at the College. “That experience is not un- “In listening to faculty discus- common: teaching takes some eryone in the gym,” said Dorris. Ever”, Dorris is a nervous teen and reappointments committee, sion … it became clear to me that trial and error,” wrote Lloyd. “It was this great opportunity trying to get his license and Or- and then given to the professor to for many faculty, fear of the pos- “There is no way around that — where we had the three of us all bison is a drowsy, gaseous and read over. The policy change elim- sible negative consequences of it is really something inherent to together, and we began produc- potentially homicidal driving inates these steps. Though stu- taking chances in the classroom the art of teaching. But that trial ing a lot more videos.” instructor. dents will continue to complete The group explained that the evaluations, only the profes- could stand in the way of curricu- and error can be nerve wracking After producing and submit- lar experimentation,” wrote Byer- — particularly for junior faculty — ting many clips, mtvU asked while most of their videos are sor will read them. Professors are made with the three of them to- not obligated to inform students ly in an email. if you feel like you are going to be them to make a video that fol- Dean of Faculty and Philip Bat- gether, inspiration occasionally that their evaluations will not be lowed a very specific set of tell/Sarah Stewart Professor of do something new and different.” guidelines. strikes when one, in this case read by the administration. Supporters of the policy hope Biology Andrea Lloyd chaired one While Byerly said that many After Orbison and Dorris SEE OTTERS, PAGE 3 of the task forces. SEE WORRIES, PAGE 4 COLLEGE REMEMBERS SEPTEMBER 11 Restrooms open to every gender By Bronwyn Oatley formerly women’s-identified restroom has also been changed Renovations are underway to indicate an all-gender facil- to convert two formerly single- ity. gender, multi-stall restrooms in “We wanted to do the wash- the McCullough Student Center rooms in a pair,” wrote Special into gender-neutral facilities. Assistant to the Dean of the The McCullough pilot proj- College, Senior Advisor for Di- ect, an initiative designed to versity Initiatives and one of create more universally acces- the key administrative voices in sible facilities for all members the project Jennifer Herrera in of the college community, will an email. cost the College approximately “If we just changed the signs, $10,000. and kept the urinals in the In the formerly male-des- men’s washroom, it’s likely that ignated multi-stall restroom the bathrooms would have kept across from Midd Express, tiles their gender designations,” she and urinals have been removed wrote. and large partitions have been The changes represent phase erected between stalls in order two of the gender-neutral hous- to convert the formerly single- photo by jiayi zhu ing project, an initiative de- The College arranged a 9/11 memorial in front of Mead Chapel, honoring the 11 year anniversary. gender facility into a gender- neutral space. The sign on the SEE MCCULLOUGH, PAGE 3 IRENE: TAKING 2012 OLYMPICS: POTOMAC THEATER STOCK OF THE MIDDLEBURY PROJECT BRIDGES STATE, ONE YEAR COMPETITORS EDUCATION AND INTO RECOVERY AND SPECTATORS EXPERIENCE PAGE 5 PAGES 12-13 PAGE 16 inside 2NEWS | september 13, 2012 Eight professors receive honor of tenure BEYOND By Elizabeth Fouhey effort,” said Davis. “The College wants to now is a good time to do some exploration Eight members of the College fac- have as much data as possible before the and take intellectual risks.” THE ulty were granted tenure by the Board of Promotions Committee, so their recom- Tim Spears, vice president for academ- Trustees at its meeting in July, following mendation to [President of the College ic affairs and professor of american stud- the recommendations made by President ies, acts as an administrative support dur- BUBBLE can be.” ing the tenure process and helps aid the BY DANNY ZHANG the board’s Educational Affairs Commit- “I think it’s healthy for the College to Promotions Committee. tee. regularly evaluate whether our standards “The review process itself can be quite The newly promoted professors are stressful,” said Spears. “The stakes are Associate Professor of Music Jeffrey valuable in a Middlebury faculty mem- high, and candidates go through a period As per American political tradition in a Buettner; Associate Professor of Chem- ber,” he said. of months when they are under scrutiny general election year, the two major political istry, Biochemistry and Environmental There is an emphasis on research in the and must await the outcome.” parties kicked off the 2012 presidential con- - tenure process; however, recently tenured Buettner, a recently tenured professor, test after holding their respective national sociate Professor of Psychology Kim Professor Star said, “I’d say the culture conventions in the last two weeks. Cronise; Associate Professor of Spanish at Middlebury does a good job balancing calling tenure “an honor in its own way.” The Republican Party held its second con- - teaching and research. Having a full year The tenure system is not only an im- secutive weather-shortened convention in sor of Theatre Cláudio Medeiros; Associ- of research leave before tenure is very portant topic at the College, but also Tampa, Fla. from Aug. 28-30 while Demo- ate Professor of Mathematics Emily Proc- helpful.” throughout the world of academia. crats held theirs from Sept. 4-6 in Charlotte, tor; Associate Professor of Philosophy It is the Promotions Committee who “In my own opinion, at a time of un- N.C.