Christian Avard
‘The future looks bright’
It took some doing, but there was youth baseball this summer here, albeit of a different sort because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The takeaway from this abbreviated season? The local baseball pipeline looks promising.
Fred Rogers’ enduring lessons for life
Many of us yearn for a society that values kindness, compassion, understanding, and love — the values that the public television host tried so hard to instill into generations of children
Television can be a force for positive change, as can the movies. Recently, at the Latchis Theatre, my son, Hayden, and I saw the new documentary about Fred Rogers - or, as we all know him, Mister Rogers - titled Won't You Be My Neighbor? after the famous song...
‘All this hate rhetoric and all these stereotypical images poison people’s beliefs’
An interview with Jack Shaheen on the images that drive our perceptions of Muslim-Americans and Arab-Americans
The Commons: It seems like we've come full circle with regards to people's opinions on whether a Muslim should be president of the United States. We saw and heard Islamophobic remarks toward President Barack Obama during the 2008 election, and now it's come back to haunt us in the...
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Brattleboro 12-year-olds move on to Vermont State Little League World Series
Brattleboro 12-year-old Little League All Stars defeated arch-rival Bennington in the seventh and deciding game on Tuesday by a score of 3-1. Brattleboro now moves on to the Vermont State Little League World Series this weekend in St. Johnsbury. The game was scoreless for four innings, but Brattleboro broke through in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 2-0 lead. Brattleboro scored their third run in the bottom of the fifth with Tyler Millerick's home run over the...
Colleges pressed to invest in ways that reflect values
Students at the School for International Training are campaigning to have SIT divest itself from fossil fuels. The students are talking with administrators and board of the school's parent nonprofit, World Learning, to get the institution to divest the portion of its $48.5 million endowment that is invested in fossil fuel companies. World Learning is a nonprofit corporation that includes the SIT Graduate Institute, SIT Study Abroad, and the Experiment in International Living in Brattleboro, as well as the International...
Happy birthday to SIT
“¡Hola! Bonjour! Ciao! Saluton! Goededag! Guten Tag! Salut! Zdravo! Dobrey Dyen! Merhaba! As Salam 'Alaykum! Habari! Neih hou! Annyeong-hasimnikka! Konnichiwa! Bondjou! Namaste! Aloha! Hello!” * * * Those were the first words I heard at orientation on a hot August day 11 years ago. Retired School for International Training Professor Alvino E. Fantini made such an impression on me with his ability to say “hello” in several foreign languages. I was one among 162 students attending SIT's Program in intercultural...
When in Sochi...
I'm quite surprised how American journalists are acting in Russia as they cover the Winter Olympics in Sochi. They're taking it out on Twitter about poor hotel conditions, dirty water, dual bathrooms, rudeness, and this, that, and the other thing. It doesn't matter what kind of international sporting event this is. It's going to be chaotic and unpredictable. It's in Russia. Don't expect things to go smoothly. What is happening is no different from what happened in Beijing, Sarajevo, Athens...
Breaking free from win-lose
I've been following the controversy over the proposed Brattleboro Skatepark for years now. I never made it to any of the Planning Board, Development Review Board, or Selectboard meetings, but I have still kept up with the latest developments due to my family's growing involvement in wheel-based sports. My two children, Hayden, 5, and Forrester, 8, are avid skateboarders. Because no park has been built yet, we travel to Carinthia Snow Park at Mount Snow Ski Resort. We travel to...