Cool Stuff on Campus: The Center for Women and Gender

There are certain places, like Alliot, the freshman quad, the library, and the academic buildings, that make up every student's experience at SMC in some capacity. Of course everyone has different experiences in college, which is why I'm psyched to share the awesomeness that is the Center for Women and Gender, which has been a huge part of my experience at SMC thus far.

First of all, the Director of CWG, Julia, is the coolest ever. She's nice, cares a lot about CWG, is easy to talk to and is overall an awesome representative of the SMC Faculty. And on top of that, she's behind all the awesome stuff that goes on with the CWG.

One such example is the Clothesline Project and Red Flag Display, which consists of a clothesline of t-shirts made by victims and others affected by sexual assault, as well as red flags which each represent someone who has been helped by HOPE Works this year in Chittenden County. CWG got the display from HOPE Works, which created it in collaboration with Women Helping Battered Women and RU12?. The display is intended to raise awareness of sexual violence, and also offers information about local resources related to the issue. I've personally found this and other events like Take Back the Night to be really important, because it's hard to realize the sheer diversity of people and situations that are affected by this issue; and because SMC is a campus that is so tuned into issues of social justice, having displays like this is very fitting. Other events that I've been able to participate in related to this issue (thanks to CWG) include the Take Back the Night rally in Burlington, as well as other various lectures.

Another reason the CWG has been a big part of my SMC experience is that I went there weekly for Common Ground meetings. Common Ground is a group on campus that focuses on issues of and related to the LGBT community, and it's a very active club! I did a post early in the spring semester about the It Gets Better video they made, and then in March we managed to bring LZ Granderson to speak on campus. If you're interested, it's a great group to be involved in, and I highly recommend it.

(Sorry for the plug ;p)

One more reason the CWG is awesome is because there are a kitchen and lounge there for student use. Some friends of mine had a "family breakfast" there last semester, and during finals there are a ton of emails advertising the space for studying. It is really cozy in there and makes for a chill environment (say, for club meetings? ;p).

The CWG has a lot to offer, and if you hear about something  going on there that interests you, definitely check it out! You won't regret it. :)

Thanks for reading!

Introducing APPetite: An Original Play by SMC Students

Saint Mike's theater students put plenty of large and small-scale shows on throughout the academic year. Unfortunately I hadn’t seen any so far, until a week ago Friday.

The show, APPetite, was an original "devised" piece of theater, and it explored the modern obsession with technology. In it, after having come back from studying abroad in Italy, the main female character struggles to reconnect with her sister and friends who seem to be enslaved by their iPhones, deals with her uncooperative boyfriend, and eventually is driven to try to find love in a robot. The show is audience interactive, where at one point audience members can text questions to a character on stage. The plot was well developed, the characters were interesting, and the content led one to reflect on one's own relationship with technology. I, for example, having recently gotten an iPhone, would struggle if for some reason I suddenly didn't have it, and seeing this show made me consider what my own appropriate balance with technology should be.

 I was so impressed with the show that this past week I sought out an interview with two of the show’s participants, Liz and Amanda (it’s their senior seminar), and we had the opportunity to talk this past Friday during the Undergraduate Research Symposium.

We sat down in a row of chairs off to the side so I could record the interview on my phone (ironic?), and I began by asking what the inspiration was behind the piece, and what made them decide to do a show on technology:

Amanda: "Well it was really our director Kathy's idea. She wanted to do a show about technology, a devised piece; and... do you know what devised theater is? (I did) You do? Ok. So basically we started meeting back in September with the whole cast and all we had was one idea to go off of and we just started shooting off ideas and we had lists and lists of different plot lines, of different ways in which technology influences our lives; and it kind of all just stemmed from this one idea, and we picked some things that we thought people could relate to as well as some new things about technology that would interest people as well.”

I then asked Liz about her own character in the show (the sister of Amanda’s character), who was iPhone addicted because of her fast-paced career in the technology business, and did portraying that character make her reflect on how she used technology in her own life:

Liz: “Absolutely, and something Kathy really wanted to get across were the positive aspects of technology as well as the negative, and I think I've definitely discovered in my own life how negatively I use technology, I mean, I'm kind of glued to it all the time.” (I indicated a similar sentiment)

When I told them that the show had led me to think about how I used technology in my own life, they were pleased because that was one of their clear objectives. And it was a long, arduous process; at one point they had to cut a chunk of the cast because the show was growing too large and lacked direction, they said. They didn’t enjoy cutting people, but some left voluntarily which made it a little less painful.

Another obstacle Liz and Amanda faced was, since it was their senior seminar, having to shape and concentrate on other characters in the show while still working on their own. “There was a lot of tears and frustration,” they agreed. And the show went through a lot of transformation. “Amanda’s character was a drug addict at one point,” Liz said, laughing.

And because of the nature of the piece, they had the opportunity to integrate experiences from their own lives into the show. For example, Amanda’s character studied abroad in Italy, and so did she. “All the pictures [in the show] were real,” she said; and when her character in the show is experiencing a post-study abroad withdrawal, she took that from her own life.

Like Liz mentioned earlier, though, the show was intended to highlight the positive aspects of technology as well as the negative. In APPetite, Amanda was able to stay connected with her friends from study abroad via skype, and everyone in the show was connected in some positive way via technology. So the show begs the question of moderation; because yes, it’s cool that you can order joke books online to impress girls, but it becomes consuming when getting things or doing things online are the only ways you can impress girls.

Before we ended the interview, I asked Liz and Amanda if they had any advice for incoming theater majors. They agreed that the best way to start as a freshman is to be willing to “start from scratch”, because acting in college is a whole new ball game. “You might come into your freshman year after having gotten leads as a senior in high school, but that may not happen your first year of college,” they said. But they encouraged incoming students to get involved in any way possible, because the department has tons of opportunity to do so; whether they’re on the main stage or a smaller venue, and the department is always willing to support a pitch for smaller shows. Also, they said, be willing to just listen and learn, because that's the best way to learn and grow in the theater.

APPetite ran 11-14, 18-21 of April, 2012.

Photo credit goes to Keelia Liptak (Thanks Keelia!). Also, check out these blog posts from Keelia (who designed lighting for the show) and Brendan (another participant):

Keelia

APPetite: SMC Spring Mainstage

Lighting Design for Appetite

New Play: APPetite in Rehearsal!

Brendan

APPetite: A Saint Michael's Production

APPetite Halfway



Thanks for reading!

Cool Stuff on Campus (actually, online); Epic Knights.

So I just recently got an iPhone; and I went app crazy. Social media, music, games and all that fun stuff. One of these games, though, is out if the ordinary. It's called Epic Knights, and it's SMC's very own video game! Check out some screen shots:

Woot! Epic knights!

High scores.

Action shots.

Basically, the story of the game is that you're Mike the Knight and you have to battle these guys to move on to the next level. Simple, and very addictive; needless to say I'm not getting much done for the next few days.

Thanks for reading!

12 Unofficial/Official Weird/Awesome/Unexpected Things at SMC

I love Saint Mike's! But it's easy for me to say that, since I've been here for almost a year and have had time to soak in all that the college has to offer. Of course I'm talking about things like the $30 Smuggs Pass, the location, the academics; but all this is stuff you can learn on a tour. There's so much more beneath the surface that you can only learn from being a student here or talking to a student that goes here; and that's where I come in. I thought it would be cool to make a list of all the Weird/Awesome/Unexpected things that I've found here, so here goes nothing!

1. Secret Room 

I frequent Durick Library. It's where I get most of my work done, and a great resource (for obvious reasons). But one time, my friend and I were going there to meet for a group project, when we noticed from the outside a room we had never seen before (this was towards the end of last semester). We took a peek through the window, and this room looked NOTHING like the rest of the place; it was older, kind of creepy and looked like it belonged in a Scooby-Doo mansion. Intrigued, we walked inside and slyly made out way over to where the secret room should have been; but being the inexperienced freshmen we were; we hadn't anticipated the door to the room would be locked. Not being able to get inside, we drew the most obvious conclusion; that it was password-protected and most likely contained top-secret FBI material. But to this day we'll never know... 

(Just kidding, no FBI happenings here; but you do need permission and a key to get in, and we hear it contains rare/valuable/important documents and things like that).

2. Professors 

You hear that Professors are awesome at every college you visit, but SMC has its share of exceptional ones. For example, Prof. Delaney, who is currently doing fieldwork in south-east Asia (in fact, I hear the entire Anthropology/Sociology department is fantastic), Prof. Haloj, who speaks fluent Swiss French and dabbles in languages like Breton, and a few my friend Tarah mentioned to me, such as her "awesome Indian professors (Tara Natarajan, Reza Ramazani, Shefali Misra...)," as well as Professors Walsh (economics, who gives Harry Potter problems sets and invented products and kumquats) and Mindich (through his course, Tarah got to meet the 2012 Republican Candidates in NH). SMC Profs for the win!

3. Sex Survey 

Last Spring, SMC's newspaper, The Defender ran an article about Sex and Relationships with a survey of SMC students about sex and related topics. Check out the article here, definitely an interesting read and well-written; plus, it's been the subject of student debate on several occasions since it's been published, both inside the defender and out.

4. Holy Shift 

(Disclaimer, this publication has no affiliation with the college) This independent student-run publication has caused a bit of a stir since it's debut at the end of last semester. Under the title, the magazine claims,"The f is silent; you shouldn't be," and its mission is the open discussion of social justice issues and related topics. Anyone on campus is invited to submit work, and I hope to by the end of the semester. For anyone into social justice, activism or the like, Holy Shift is definitely something worth checking out; and if you're not interested in these things, reading this magazine might lead you to be.

5. Dragon Slayer 

In February, during the wikipedia blackout, the SMC Twitter account tweeted that "St. Michael originally founded #smcvt as a training center for dragon slayers. It was converted to a college in 1904. #factswithoutwikipedia." Whether this is true or not... I hope so.

6. Ghosts 

This isn't something I tend to buy into, but a few of my friends do, and it's at least interesting. Apparently, there are certain parts of campus that are haunted by ghosts. The only two I know of are Joyce 4th (J4) floor, which is where I live, and Founder's Hall. Like I said, I'm not into the supernatural, but I have a friend who lives down the hall and claims to hear noises in his single at night that he can't explain, and another who claims he actually saw the J4 ghost walking down the hall. Pretty creepy :p

7. Egg Station at Breakfast 

This just goes to show you how awesome the people are who work in the dining hall. I'm a regular at the Egg Station in the morning, and so is my friend Carlos. We each get the same thing every morning, and at the end of last semester, all I had to do was walk up to the counter and they would start on my order without me saying it (so awesome!). Even better, my friend Carlos got his egg whites so often, that they would start making his order when they saw him walk in the dining hall. 

As an aside, another reason why the people who work in the dining hall rock, is that they're super accommodating.  Some people worry about dietary restrictions when they make their college choice, so this is for you guys! They keep a fridge stocked with vegan/gluten-free products, and are good about labeling things as vegetarian or not. And I've replaced meat with tofu at the stir-fry station so many times. If you need it, they'll get it; seriously!

8. Fair Trade 

This is another awesome fact; SMC recently became the 6th Fair-Trade University in the country! I knew that Vermont was kind of crunchy, but this is outstanding (especially since we did it before UVM). Basically being Fair Trade means that we pledge to use Fair Trade products (which are also organic) as much as we can on campus and in the dining hall (and we already had things like local VT soy milk). Also, this resolution goes hand-in-hand with the social justice crowd on campus. Yay activism!

9. Open Academic Buildings 

You'd expect the library to be a good place to concentrate when you need to get work done, but I was surprised when, during finals week, my friends and I discovered that the classrooms in the academic buildings are open for student use outside of class hours. So far I've only used them to study when we first found them during finals week, and on a few weekends since then, so I don't know the official times when they're open for student access. But they're great for group projects, or if you need lots of whiteboard to work out a calc problem; and there's projectors in the rooms if you need them. Definitely another great resource.

10. Alliot Crush 

Any current SMC student knows what I'm talking about. Online, there's a formspring account called Alliot Crush where students go to post about their crushes, or unnamed someones they saw and found attractive while at Alliot (Alliot is the building where the Green Mountain Dining Room is). It can be entertaining and distracting; posts are often funny, sometimes sweet (sometimes suggestive), and rarely boring. On campus, it's notorious as a go-to website for two-minute study breaks.

11. Crosses 

At least in the freshman quad (Joyce, Lyons, Ryan and Alumni halls), each dorm room has either a crucifix, or the outline of where a crucifix used to be above the doorway. I don't know why some rooms have them and others don't, but I've heard plenty of outrageous and unlikely reasons why people think so; most of them supernatural (like we need more ghosts).

12. Massive DVD Collection 

Finally, one last awesome fact to wrap up this twelve-part list; Durick Library has a MASSIVE movie collection. Favorites of mine are the Scream movies and other horrors. These movies can be a great way to unwind on the weekends, as well as useful (i.e documentaries and foreign-language films). It's basically like Blockbuster on campus; except it's free and still exists.

Twelve things, there you have it! Thanks for reading!

Cool Stuff on Campus; Common Ground.

So far at St. Mike's I've been pretty involved in a few clubs and activities on campus, and I didn't think I was going to check out any new ones this semester; I'm pretty busy! But I've been hearing great things about Common Ground (the LGBT group on campus) and this past Monday decided to give it a go.

They meet on Monday nights in Eddie's Lounge at 5pm (shameless plug). Like I said, my first meeting was just this past week, and I was even late because of ski practice. That aside, it was a great experience! Definitely something I plan to be involved in this semester. While I was there I got to hear about stuff they've done as a group, as well as their plans for this coming semester; and they seem like a cool group of people!

One awesome part of going to this meeting was watching the SMC Athletics/Common Ground "It Gets Better" video. If you don't know what that is, check out the website here. But basically people have been posting videos on the internet under the title "It Gets Better" since the massive amount of gay teen suicides in the fall of 2010, with the objective of giving hope to anyone who might be having struggles; whether it be with gender/sexual identity, or any other issues that cause people to think about suicide. A variety of people have made them; tons of celebrities from Obama to Ke$ha, as well as people who just want to share their stories and help someone out who needs it. Check out the one SMC made below! 

There are tons of these videos to browse on youtube and other websites, and I recommend it if this is an issue you care about. They can be really moving (this is my favorite one; it's long, but if you've got the time it's worth watching).


Thanks for reading!

Cool Stuff on Campus (and online): LLRC

This edition of "Cool Stuff on Campus" (because apparently I'm making that a thing) is about the Language Learning Resource Center, or LLRC (website pictured above). The LLRC, located at 215 St. Edmund's Hall, is a lab that can be used for projects, training and other academic purposes, and it's managed by the SMC's IT department, so as well as offering technology and resources for language-learning, they also offer in-house technology and cameras, microphones, and things of that nature for circulation.

I've never been to the language lab myself, but I discovered LLRC online this past week. I'd remembered hearing about it at some point during the few months since I've been at school, so I started poking around the SMC website to see what I could find.

Now, I wouldn't say I'm a language freak, but I speak a few and enjoy dabbling. So you can imagine my excitement at discovering the sizable collection of online resources offered to SMC students for free from the LLRC. Here's a snapshot of what I found on the website:

Holy Languages!

Pretty cool, amiright? 

As you can see, that's not all of them. And in some cases, there isn't much (all I could find for Bosnian was an English-Bosnian dictionary), but I'm sure that's only because certain languages don't have an overwhelming demand (Bosnian, for example). By any means, there's no way I can say I was disappointed by what I found. All the "big-name" languages (for lack of a better phrase) are covered; they offer Rosetta Stone in Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and Spanish, as well as an awesome program called Mango, which has a TON of languages. Feast your eyes:

Already counted; there are 37.

Mango has been a treat for me, because like I said, I enjoy dabbling. Ever since I found this I've basically tried out every language they have just for fun, but I've had a great time learning some Dutch, and can now say 'Hallo, Ik heet Ben. Leuk je te ontmoeten!' That's, 'Hello, my name's Ben. Nice to meet you!'

Also, the lay out of Mango as a program is pretty sweet. It's set up like online flashcards, and you run through lessons at your own pace, plus there's audio and you can compare a recording of your pronunciation to the Mango recordings. Another screen shot:

Didn't mean to go image-crazy there; sorry about that. But it's so much cooler if you can see it all! 

Students here should definitely check these resources out if they have any interest in a language! Or if you're a prospective student, I'd be happy to answer or direct any questions on twitter, formspring, or by email at brosbrook@mail.smcvt.edu! I'm also on the facebook!

Thanks for reading!

Cool Stuff on Campus: The Shack

This week is Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week and students at SMC have been observing it in a few different ways, including an Oxfam Hunger Banquet, fasting, canned food collecting, vigils and The Shack.

The Shack is set up in the lawn outside the academic buildings, and students can sign up to stay in it for various amounts of time; both throughout the day and overnight. Last night, my Shack Buddies and I took on the challenge, and stayed in the shack from 8pm to 8am (except myself, I have a bad cough and was having trouble in the cold so I went back to my dorm around 1am; but it was cool while it lasted!). We had some visitors, including Father Brian, who came over to say hi and asked if we knew what day yesterday was (the Feast of St. Edmund). Anyway, it was a cool experience and *hopefully* was helpful in raising awareness of the fight against Hunger and Homelessness!

Here are some pictures!

Fellow Shack-Buddies Sophie, Emily and Kelly.  

Brendan playing the Ukulele. 

One big, happy Shack family!

Photo Credit goes to Brianna Coughlin.

Thanks for reading!

Cool Stuff on Campus: Addicted to Plastic

On any given night at SMC, it's more likely than not that you can find some lecture, speaker or film showing on campus. Tonight, Green Up hosted a viewing of the movies "Story of Stuff" and "Addicted to Plastic" in honor of recycling week (the first is a link to the film on Youtube, the second is just a trailer).

I highly recommend checking both of these out; the first one looks at the economics of what's called the "Material's Economy", addresses the flaws of the system, and then then tells what's being done to change it, and what needs to continue to happen. It's literally a story of our "stuff"; where it comes from, how it gets into our stores and homes, and then where it goes after we throw it out.

The second is a documentary about plastic and its impact on the environment. A lot of the time it looks at where plastic ends up in the world after we throw it out. This one you might be able to find online, but we had a DVD.

There's always cool stuff happening on campus!

Cool Stuff on Campus: College Radio Day

Today, everyone on campus got a taste of SMC's college radio station, WWPV. And I say everyone, because they were DJ-ing from a table set up outside Joyce Hall in the freshman quad, so literally everyone could hear them.

My friend Dominique DJ-ing the 5 o'clock slot.

In my opinion, "Happy College Radio Day!!!" It rocked. They played all sorts of music (literally; I heard the Recess TV show theme song at one point). Also, it made for nice background noise while I was doing homework on the quad.

Rock on WWPV!