‘The Antithesis of Vermont’
[Re “Goddard College Will Become Online Only — Temporarily, at Least,” January 20, online]: I was taken aback by Goddard College president Dan Hocoy’s callous response to the financial disaster that has occurred under his “leadership.” Something struck me while reading his quotes, and I wanted to make sure other Vermonters are listening.
He mentioned the difficulty of getting to Goddard’s campus as if that were a hindrance the college cannot overcome. The horror! Cue eye rolls all around. He is the last person who should be heading up a Vermont college.
Hocoy is the antithesis of Vermont. A city-slicker do-nothing who is afraid to drive on dirt roads, he considers our beautiful campus a problem to be done away with.
How could a Vermont college that honors hard work — whose original president, Tim Pitkin, shoveled the sidewalks and went to every single graduating presentation — be safe under the leadership of someone who believes that he is not here to babysit the campus?
Should we be surprised? Is anyone shocked?
My question to my friends and neighbors becomes: Do we lose a Vermont institution to outsiders? Do we lose another Vermont college? Or do we step up and fight back? My children deserve more, and so do yours.
Elle Oille-Stanforth
East Montpelier
Good Match
A quick thank-you to the writers and editors to say that last week’s “Talk of the Towns” cover story [January 24] was phenomenal.
I have shared this piece with many family members and friends outside Vermont to give them a succinct snapshot of community life in this state.
Seven Days meets Front Porch Forum is a wonderful match, and the ability to listen to Rachel Hellman reading the article just took it all to another level.
I would loyally listen or subscribe with rapt attention to a program covering stories like these from the forum — and hope there’s enough positive feedback on this article that you all (and FPF) might even consider this as a recurring feature for Seven Days?
Paul Warne
Hardwick
Better Animal Oversight
Eva Sollberger illustrates some of the fallout of the failing animal welfare system [Stuck in Vermont: “Neglected Animals Find a Home with Era MacDonald at Merrymac Farm Sanctuary in Charlotte,” November 30; “Home Sweet Home,” December 6]. Vermont’s animal welfare system is currently seen by leading animal welfare groups in the Northeast as weak to nonexistent.
After seven years of work by an advisory board appointed by the legislature to report on Vermont’s inadequacies and recommend solutions, there is now a bill to create a new, functional framework ready to be considered by the legislature: H.626.
Until 2016, the responsibility for animal neglect and cruelty cases was the responsibility of the Vermont Department of Agriculture. Since then, towns have had no clear county or state resources to turn to for help. Variously, the Vermont State Police, Vermont League of Cities & Towns, local animal control officers, and now the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department’s game wardens have been tasked with handling complaints. Many Vermonters have been frustrated by this patchwork system.
Proposed in H.626 is a new, dedicated division within the Department of Public Safety, responsible for oversight and regulation of domestic animal welfare. It is supported by enforceable and appropriate regulations based on USDA best practices.
There are so many examples of neglect, cruelty and hoarding in our nature- and animal-loving state. This bill creates the oversight and penalties needed to make Vermont a safe home for our domestic animal residents.
Jill Halstead
Charlotte
I Love Cumby’s
[Re “Market Value,” January 10]: Charlotte Barrett is so wrong when she says of the rapport between convenience store owners and customers: “You don’t find that at Cumberland Farms.” Apparently, Barrett goes to Cumberland Farms as often as I go to the slew of convenience stores featured by Seven Days, which is never. I only go to Cumberland Farms.
There’s a reason for that: The friendly and efficient service is second to none. The prices are very reasonable. The food quality and number of selections are top-notch. There are several kinds of freshly brewed coffee. If you ask an employee to heat up a refrigerated item, they wonderfully insert it into the pizza oven and not a microwave. It’s my favorite diner and convenience store!
Dan Cohen
Burlington
The Goal Is Peace
Robert Alper’s letter [Feedback: “Complete Destruction of Hamas,” December 20] implies general agreement that bombing Japan in 1945 was the right move. I believe it was the most morally abhorrent wartime act in American history. No amount of counterfactual argument can justify the decision to drop a nuclear bomb on a densely populated city, twice.
As for the war in Gaza, I’ll share this passage from a 2017 article by Amnesty International: “As a result of [Israel’s] continuous restrictions, many Palestinians in the West Bank have no choice but to purchase water brought in by trucks … In some of the poorest communities, water expenses can, at times, make up half of a family’s monthly income … Israeli settlers living alongside Palestinians in the West Bank — in some cases just a few hundred meters away — face no such restrictions and water shortages, and can enjoy and capitalize on well-irrigated farmlands and swimming pools … In Gaza, some 90-95 percent of the water supply is contaminated and unfit for human consumption. Israel does not allow water to be transferred from the West Bank to Gaza … Water consumption by Israelis is at least four times that of Palestinians.”
Such conditions are unlikely to produce peace. Instead, enforced poverty is bound to produce rage — and, occasionally, someone only too willing to commit their own morally indefensible acts. The only mystery here is why anyone believes that treating people like stray animals will make them disappear.
Sonia DeYoung
Burlington
Related Stories
Talk of the Towns: Neighbors Seek Plumbers, Lost Pets and Community on Front Porch Forum
Market Value: Burlington’s Remaining Corner Stores Double Down and Evolve
This article appears in Jan 31 – Feb 6, 2024.
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