Updated on December 23, 2020 at 6:06 pm
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Vermont state officials are vowing to make conditions safe for women serving prison time and for those who work in correctional facilities.
The push follows the release of an independent review Wednesday that found a troubling number of sexual misconduct claims associated with the state s female prison. One incident is too many, said Tris Coffin, an attorney with the firm Downs Rachlin Martin, which was hired by the Vermont Agency of Human Serves to review Vermont s only women s prison.
Coffin said the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington had an alarmingly high number of claims of sexual harassment or assault in recent years, along with abuses of power. These have harmed both inmates and female employees of the facility, the report noted.
Enemy of the People, from left: John James, Bryan Parmelee, Diane Sullivan and Jeff Baron The outgoing president has called the press the enemy of the people. So naturally that became the name of the
Seven Days house band an occasional ensemble composed of musical employees plucked from the paper s production department. Pre-COVID-19, our designers worked together in a pod, surrounded by dogs and great music. They re already a creative bunch, tested by deadline pressure and the frustration of bringing up the end of an assembly process dependent on writers, editors and account executives. At some point, they started transforming our workplace shenanigans into songs that capture some of the craziness of creating a weekly newspaper.
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Seven Days is restarting its Fair Game column. Longtime Vermont journalist Dave Gram will author the weekly take on Vermont politics, sharing his observations about the maneuvering in Montpelier and life in the Green Mountain State. His inaugural column will appear on January 13, 2021.
Gram was an award-winning reporter for the Associated Press for more than three decades. More recently, he hosted “The Dave Gram Show” on WDEV radio, examining a variety of topics on the air for 10 hours each week.
To write Fair Game, Gram will turn his experienced eye to the state’s political scene but will also hunt for material beyond the State House, tackling both local and statewide issues. His work will supplement reporting by the paper’s existing news team.
Programs Over Profit The University of Vermont s decision to cut at least 23 programs of study due to low enrollment is troubling [Off Message: UVM Announces Plan to Eliminate More Than Two Dozen Academic Programs, December 2]. Administrators and trustees of public universities should go beyond enrollment numbers and consider how small programs support the public interest and enrich the region. For example, UVM s decision to cut the Historic Preservation master s program because it has averaged fewer than five students per year is folly: Isn t the continued preservation of Vermont s historic buildings and artifacts in the public interest? Niche programs such as geology, languages and culture also on the chopping block shouldn t be penalized for being unable to increase enrollment. Assuming that programs have value only if they can recruit more students inappropriately attaches a private corporate model to a public institution.