Of all the sights in Nantucket, the most astonishing may be skyward. One week ago, I sat with friends around a washed up log on Nobadeer and traded stories at midnight. Henry started that he once ate a heart. His statement ushered in the predictable, but necessary, questions, “What did you say?” “Really?” “So how did this happen?”
Long story short, he took a gap year to “quite basically travel around the world.” With his savings spent on air fare, his parents picked up the rest of the tab. It was the most difficult thing he has ever eaten, he said, because it was tough, muscle, and, rather unforgettably, an antelope’s once beating heart.
We sat against the log, knocking the sand from the bottoms of our Bud Light cans so the grains wouldn’t go down our fronts as we made our way through the supply. Looking only upward, left and right, up and down seem to melt in the face of infinity. In that darkness, I couldn’t be sure if I was focusing on the faraway star nestled in a Milky Way invisible to Fall River and Amherst, MA . It was hard to envision my next week, let alone something light years away.
Henry was working on a South African land reservation as a farm hand. There, he shot his first antelope for the lions kept there. His coworkers, citing ritual, said eating the heart was a coming of age experience: kind of like bungee jumping from the Rye field so many my age flirt around.
Back on the beach, we had no fire. It felt like there should have been one, but I nodded as if he could see me, agreeing that manhood is a tough concept to swallow.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Friday, June 6, 2008
Telling and Wasting Time
I’m a victim of Wednesday’s soaking rain. Everything is nearly dry now: everything but my watch. So I left it bedside while walking through town today and killing time at the Athenaeum.
I was drenched to the skin and sweating, somehow. I resigned to being wet, but my watch suffered more than I. Though still working, its band was saturated and peeling, so I didn’t wear it today while walking through town. After a brief stop to pick a book, I emerged from the old library’s colonial dimness to a typical Nantucket afternoon whitewashed by fog. I looked to my wrist for the time but saw only the reminder that a watch is usually there – the pink circle of dry skin constantly agitated by my watch’s main dial. Shrugging, I took several steps before a horn blasted. On the straight wharf, someone announces the whistle’s sounding before it’s blown so that others can block their ears. So from several blocks away, I knew it was four o’clock.
Though several churches on the island have bells, many residents here can tell time by these whistles. Those who work on the ferries themselves live by them. At school, time is told by those around me. The parade travelling through the hall signals it must be nearing a time at which I should go to class. When in class, their collective movement tells that I, too, should leave the room. At home, in Fall River, the city knew what time it was when the bells of B.M.C. Durfee High School sounded 23 times, each resounding tone signifying a year of young Durfee’s life.
Downtown, the people working in the shops and restaurants just out range of the announcement but close enough for the whistle remind themselves how much time remains before they are free to roam the street and spend time outside of the doors so many casually amble through.
Just another note.
I was drenched to the skin and sweating, somehow. I resigned to being wet, but my watch suffered more than I. Though still working, its band was saturated and peeling, so I didn’t wear it today while walking through town. After a brief stop to pick a book, I emerged from the old library’s colonial dimness to a typical Nantucket afternoon whitewashed by fog. I looked to my wrist for the time but saw only the reminder that a watch is usually there – the pink circle of dry skin constantly agitated by my watch’s main dial. Shrugging, I took several steps before a horn blasted. On the straight wharf, someone announces the whistle’s sounding before it’s blown so that others can block their ears. So from several blocks away, I knew it was four o’clock.
Though several churches on the island have bells, many residents here can tell time by these whistles. Those who work on the ferries themselves live by them. At school, time is told by those around me. The parade travelling through the hall signals it must be nearing a time at which I should go to class. When in class, their collective movement tells that I, too, should leave the room. At home, in Fall River, the city knew what time it was when the bells of B.M.C. Durfee High School sounded 23 times, each resounding tone signifying a year of young Durfee’s life.
Downtown, the people working in the shops and restaurants just out range of the announcement but close enough for the whistle remind themselves how much time remains before they are free to roam the street and spend time outside of the doors so many casually amble through.
Just another note.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Bus Trips and Darkness
I’m wondering how many of those I came on the ferry with returned later that day. They walked Main Street, browsed in Ralph Lauren, ate some fudge and maybe hit the beach. Great day. But I feel privileged to stay longer. Tourists can come away from a place with an impression, a summary of sorts. I’m hoping to soak in a bit more than the sun while here.
Already, I’ve learned quite a bit in my first half day here.
1. Walking back is always easier than walking there.
2. At night, rule one becomes more true.
I think I have a solid sense of direction. The skill is innate. But walking in near-complete darkness while looking for a bus stop at a rotary after passing a parade of rotaries first tested then laughed atmy skills. Mitigating factors include that there are no signs for bus stops here, just posts with a stripe of red reflective tape around them. Also, the street signs are brown in many areas. They give a great New England charm and seem to be painted on driftwood when seen from far away; but once the sun sets, forget seeing them outside of three feet without a cell phone to illuminate your surroundings.
I felt stupid, blind and crazy walking up and down the deserted street looking for the sign. However, now that I’m back, it seems I’m no worse for the wear. I have the feeling the reflective tape is now so deeply supplanted into my subconscious that I won’t be missing any more. Same goes for grocery shopping in sandals -- great Nantucket beach shoes but not practical for marching on the cobblestone downtown. Sneakers: my back now agrees.
So I tell these hard learned lessons like war stories and resist taking cabs. I consider it cheating or at least taking a shortcut that keeps me from really understanding how to get around this place. If a day tripper can walk back onto the ferry with a general impression of this place, those who stay longer, I feel, should leave here with something a little more personal. People my age often dream of changing the world; but now, I’m holding on and waiting for this island to change me in some way instead.
Already, I’ve learned quite a bit in my first half day here.
1. Walking back is always easier than walking there.
2. At night, rule one becomes more true.
I think I have a solid sense of direction. The skill is innate. But walking in near-complete darkness while looking for a bus stop at a rotary after passing a parade of rotaries first tested then laughed atmy skills. Mitigating factors include that there are no signs for bus stops here, just posts with a stripe of red reflective tape around them. Also, the street signs are brown in many areas. They give a great New England charm and seem to be painted on driftwood when seen from far away; but once the sun sets, forget seeing them outside of three feet without a cell phone to illuminate your surroundings.
I felt stupid, blind and crazy walking up and down the deserted street looking for the sign. However, now that I’m back, it seems I’m no worse for the wear. I have the feeling the reflective tape is now so deeply supplanted into my subconscious that I won’t be missing any more. Same goes for grocery shopping in sandals -- great Nantucket beach shoes but not practical for marching on the cobblestone downtown. Sneakers: my back now agrees.
So I tell these hard learned lessons like war stories and resist taking cabs. I consider it cheating or at least taking a shortcut that keeps me from really understanding how to get around this place. If a day tripper can walk back onto the ferry with a general impression of this place, those who stay longer, I feel, should leave here with something a little more personal. People my age often dream of changing the world; but now, I’m holding on and waiting for this island to change me in some way instead.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Arrival
I’m convincing myself that a song didn’t bring me to this point. Most of what I own is in a backpack to the side of me and in a trunk in the boat’s storage bay. It’s funny. I’m surrounded by tourists wearing light windbreakers and top- siders on their way to Nantucket, and I think about the two hour ferry ride a lifetime in the making.
Like most of the songs I like, this one is about living a different way, as if a select group, me included, are privy to a secret, fresh perspective. It’s phrased like an enlightenment of sorts. The songwriter cites the typical rat race and what happens to the psyche when saturated with sunshine and surrounded on all coasts by water. But I’ve never acted like this before. I’m not sporadic; my moves are measured and planned. I don’t have an addictive personality, don’t get star-struck and have no real obsessions of which to speak. The lure of the island, though, has proved irresistible. There is no beeswax around nor rope or mast on which to tie myself. Besides, the song is pretty cheesy, and I don’t like music that much.
But I’ve stared at Nantucket for the past two summers. I lifeguarded at a large south-facing public beach in Westport, MA and at a tiny, private beach that sits adjacent. For eight hours daily, I watched those swimming in water that formed the horizon Nantucket lays just beyond.
We would put up red flags on the lifeguard stands when the water was too rough for patron swimmers. On hot days, the tossing waters would taunt those laying on scorching sand. But my perfect day was when it rained. Many New Englanders see their paradise on a deserted beach, but mine is in the water on these days. Then, the water is so rough that I would body surf and come out of the water red and burning – the result a millions collisions between grains of sand and my speeding, surfing form. Walking heavily from the water, a man walking along the water’s edge approached. He asked about the weather and the water and the tide. At this time, a peculiar slope had developed on the shore – the result of a March Nor’easter. The last wave of a set would retreat quickly and collide with another one coming toward shore, resulting a spectacular water display we had earlier dubbed, “The Belagio Effect.” We marveled briefly, and strangely enough, neither of us introduced ourselves.
But this man said he spent a summer on Nantucket in his 20’s. He talked of boarding with complete strangers who would evolve into friends – similar folks leaving friends and family to approach life from a different tact. He said that during storms a person could ride riptides out for hundreds of feet and ride the waves back in for the best body surfing experience imaginable. He said his lungs would burn because he wouldn’t want to come up for air.
So I have high expectations for this summer and this period -- speeding while wrapped in an experience so good that I’ll first have to remember then force myself to breathe.
Like most of the songs I like, this one is about living a different way, as if a select group, me included, are privy to a secret, fresh perspective. It’s phrased like an enlightenment of sorts. The songwriter cites the typical rat race and what happens to the psyche when saturated with sunshine and surrounded on all coasts by water. But I’ve never acted like this before. I’m not sporadic; my moves are measured and planned. I don’t have an addictive personality, don’t get star-struck and have no real obsessions of which to speak. The lure of the island, though, has proved irresistible. There is no beeswax around nor rope or mast on which to tie myself. Besides, the song is pretty cheesy, and I don’t like music that much.
But I’ve stared at Nantucket for the past two summers. I lifeguarded at a large south-facing public beach in Westport, MA and at a tiny, private beach that sits adjacent. For eight hours daily, I watched those swimming in water that formed the horizon Nantucket lays just beyond.
We would put up red flags on the lifeguard stands when the water was too rough for patron swimmers. On hot days, the tossing waters would taunt those laying on scorching sand. But my perfect day was when it rained. Many New Englanders see their paradise on a deserted beach, but mine is in the water on these days. Then, the water is so rough that I would body surf and come out of the water red and burning – the result a millions collisions between grains of sand and my speeding, surfing form. Walking heavily from the water, a man walking along the water’s edge approached. He asked about the weather and the water and the tide. At this time, a peculiar slope had developed on the shore – the result of a March Nor’easter. The last wave of a set would retreat quickly and collide with another one coming toward shore, resulting a spectacular water display we had earlier dubbed, “The Belagio Effect.” We marveled briefly, and strangely enough, neither of us introduced ourselves.
But this man said he spent a summer on Nantucket in his 20’s. He talked of boarding with complete strangers who would evolve into friends – similar folks leaving friends and family to approach life from a different tact. He said that during storms a person could ride riptides out for hundreds of feet and ride the waves back in for the best body surfing experience imaginable. He said his lungs would burn because he wouldn’t want to come up for air.
So I have high expectations for this summer and this period -- speeding while wrapped in an experience so good that I’ll first have to remember then force myself to breathe.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
My Trip to Hong Kong
Recently, I spent seven days in Kowloon, Hong Kong on a pre-summer vacation. Check out the photos.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Lobby Day and the Globe
On Wednesday, Apr. 16, about 80 UMass members of the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts -- or PHENOM -- and I took a bus down to the Statehouse. They were lobbying for Gov. Patrick's $ 2 billion capital bond bill that would pump money into the operating budgets of the 29 public institutions of higher learning in Massachusetts and $17 million into a fading MASSGrant program, the state's fundamental financial aid system.
And I went for the ride to cover for the Boston Globe, the Massachusetts Daily Collegian and the Daily Hampshire Gazette. Click each paper to read each article, and be sure to check out the video package I put together.
More multimedia stuff like this coming soon.
And I went for the ride to cover for the Boston Globe, the Massachusetts Daily Collegian and the Daily Hampshire Gazette. Click each paper to read each article, and be sure to check out the video package I put together.
More multimedia stuff like this coming soon.
Friday, April 11, 2008
We want a rally, a rally we want
For those interested in public education funding, stay tuned for a multimedia wrap of this coming Wednesday's "Lobby Day" that will feature hundreds of Mass. students rallying for a greater piece of the state's budget. Expect pictures, some video and maybe a slideshow if I get back in time.
I'll be on the bus with some rowdy protesters headed for Boston at 9:30 Wednesday morning.
Gov. Patrick's plan includes a little revenue bump, but it was banking on his casino plan. He rolled snake eyes on that one, and the state legislature shot it down.
This could mean more cuts to state higher ed. Tomorrow's Hampshire Gazette will feature Kristin Palpini's preview. I'll link to it tomorrow once it's published.
I'll be on the bus with some rowdy protesters headed for Boston at 9:30 Wednesday morning.
Gov. Patrick's plan includes a little revenue bump, but it was banking on his casino plan. He rolled snake eyes on that one, and the state legislature shot it down.
This could mean more cuts to state higher ed. Tomorrow's Hampshire Gazette will feature Kristin Palpini's preview. I'll link to it tomorrow once it's published.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Extra!
So here's some news for those journalism types who think it's dignified to stick to the older model of journalism, its "dead tree" editions, etc.
According to Josh Benton, a fellow at the Nieman Foundation and a reporter for the Dallas Morning News, those who bill themselves as media purist in the hopes of sounding studious and relating to editors have it wrong. According to him, editors are looking to the younger generation to lead the charge when it comes to innovative content, both on printed pages and especially on Web pages.
He's suggesting writers diversify their skill sets by writing for different forms of media but with the same old school integrity, truth and so on. Those looking for a safe position within established newspapers may find themselves in more jeopardy than they would wish. An entrepreneurial mindset is necessary when it comes to us media types too. Sure the old-school newsroom bulldog still has his place, but the litters are shrinking. That example might be the only of his kind left as staff across the country are shrinking. His advice in a nutshell: wake up and use the skills employers expect the youngest working generation to have already learned.
According to Josh Benton, a fellow at the Nieman Foundation and a reporter for the Dallas Morning News, those who bill themselves as media purist in the hopes of sounding studious and relating to editors have it wrong. According to him, editors are looking to the younger generation to lead the charge when it comes to innovative content, both on printed pages and especially on Web pages.
He's suggesting writers diversify their skill sets by writing for different forms of media but with the same old school integrity, truth and so on. Those looking for a safe position within established newspapers may find themselves in more jeopardy than they would wish. An entrepreneurial mindset is necessary when it comes to us media types too. Sure the old-school newsroom bulldog still has his place, but the litters are shrinking. That example might be the only of his kind left as staff across the country are shrinking. His advice in a nutshell: wake up and use the skills employers expect the youngest working generation to have already learned.
Hello from Harvard!
This weekend's Nieman foundation conference at Harvard University featured 12 college newspapers from throughout the Northeast region. Harvard, Yale, BC, BU, Cornell, Columbia and UMass Amherst were represented amongst others.
The conference featured a number of prominent journalists representing all forms of media from revered Wall Street Journal politics reporter Jackie Calms to Politico.com's John Harris and narrative journalist Constance Hale.
Be on the lookout for former Boston Globe staff member and UMass alum Charles Sennott's new "Global News Enterprises, which looks to employ journalists with the itch to travel by Jan. 09. He's focusing on Second World international news. Long way off from the Collegian's arts section.
Also, the Wall Street Journal's former Managing Editor Paul Steiger. He offered me some great tips on career development and explained his new Web site Propublica.org that will soon put a group of reporters to work who will focus solely on investigative pieces from a not for profit format.
For like minded young journalists out there... none seemed to support the doom suggested by others. Their innovation hints that there may just be different forums from which to do it.
More to follow in my next post.
The conference featured a number of prominent journalists representing all forms of media from revered Wall Street Journal politics reporter Jackie Calms to Politico.com's John Harris and narrative journalist Constance Hale.
Be on the lookout for former Boston Globe staff member and UMass alum Charles Sennott's new "Global News Enterprises, which looks to employ journalists with the itch to travel by Jan. 09. He's focusing on Second World international news. Long way off from the Collegian's arts section.
Also, the Wall Street Journal's former Managing Editor Paul Steiger. He offered me some great tips on career development and explained his new Web site Propublica.org that will soon put a group of reporters to work who will focus solely on investigative pieces from a not for profit format.
For like minded young journalists out there... none seemed to support the doom suggested by others. Their innovation hints that there may just be different forums from which to do it.
More to follow in my next post.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Kristol on Race
In Bill Kristol’s column, “Let’s Not, and Say We Did,” he asserts that a national conversation will do little to promote racial tolerance, and that my generation is closest to sharing Dr. King’s dream of judging on character rather than color.
But while Senator Obama speaks of bringing together both sides of the political aisle, so too must we bridge the aisle between generations.
Many older people simply will not vote for Senator Obama because he is a black man or because they cannot pronounce his name. We have consistently seen record voter turnout among members of the youngest voting generation – an advantage largely benefiting Democratic candidates, especially Senator Obama. But his grandmother, and those of many others I’m sure, hold deeply-rooted prejudices that evolved because they never discussed them. I say a national conversation on race should take place, if not in schools and on television, then in retirement communities, VFW halls and bingo parlors.
But while Senator Obama speaks of bringing together both sides of the political aisle, so too must we bridge the aisle between generations.
Many older people simply will not vote for Senator Obama because he is a black man or because they cannot pronounce his name. We have consistently seen record voter turnout among members of the youngest voting generation – an advantage largely benefiting Democratic candidates, especially Senator Obama. But his grandmother, and those of many others I’m sure, hold deeply-rooted prejudices that evolved because they never discussed them. I say a national conversation on race should take place, if not in schools and on television, then in retirement communities, VFW halls and bingo parlors.
Yo-yo tourney puts new spin on competition
AMHERST - South Hadley native Marian Matheson told her daughter to watch for the yo-yos swirling and looping around her, but Caroline, 6, needed no reminder as she wandered transfixed by the tricks executed around her.
The two came for a Sunday afternoon of entertainment, but 78 contestants found themselves in the Cape Cod Lounge of the University of Massachusetts Student Union building pitted against one another for prizes and bragging rights in the forth annual Massachusetts State Yo-yo competition. Sponsored by a host of yo-yo industry companies and organized by UMass grad student and former yo-yo player Andre Boulay, individuals spent the afternoon comparing Suicide Catches, Eli Hops and Kurukuru Milks. Other players have come from as far afield as Virginia to compete in the event that for the first time features cash prizes, enough to attract top yo-yo players.
But the prizes are not the only thing they are going for. While Eric Koloski, of Easthampton, national champion and ranked fourth in the world, said the prize is a motivator, he added that being around people with similar interests is a reward in itself. Koloski, 18, has been practicing for 10 years and said, 'It's great because you have this hobby that you love to do and being here with other people doing the same thing gives you the opportunity to interact.'
Koloski is generous in saying the others are performing similar tricks. Koloski is sponsored by YoyoJam and has his name on his own yo-yo model, the Eric Koloski Extreme K-OS. His mother, Teri Koloski, still describes him as a 'quiet kid,' despite the fact that he often takes the stage for packed rooms and performs. Eric is an employee of Northampton's A2Z Science and Learning Store, which doubles as a dojo of sorts for local yo-yo players. There, he teaches and participates in classes and offers expert advice in all areas of the activity.
Teri Koloski said the network of yo-yo players is a supportive group. They compare tricks and get excited about learning from one another, and she credits the dynamic to A2Z's yo-yo guru, Jack Finn.
While watching one of his students, Nate Gendron, accept a raucous round of applause mid-performance, Finn said it was great to watch the youngsters he teaches grow and develop.
Nate started competing four years ago and has since won the world championship in the 11 and under division of sports looping.
He allowed only a quick smile to the crowd, choosing instead to focus on the yo-yo spinning around his leg in a premeditated and well-executed web of string.
Finn holds classes in his King Street shop three times a week for people of all ages and has done so for the past 10 years. Finn started practicing at age 50 and often marvels at how quickly his younger students pick up on more advanced tricks.
Don LaPlante is the captain of Team LaPlante, but only because he has a driver's license. He and the other members of his team, who happen to be his grandchildren, went to compete but to be together, as well. His team is a model of the A2Z store with players of different ages helping one another through trick sequences.
'It's great because with other sports, like baseball or soccer, they are out on the field. With this, they are right there, and you can interact with them directly,' said LaPlante, sporting a Team LaPlante T-shirt.
Boulay said the competition is a great opportunity for people to come out and compete as the season is a slow one for Massachusetts players.
Judges furiously clicked on counters held under the tables in front of them as they kept track of the positive and negative aspects of each performance, but LaPlante wasn't too distracted by that during his chance to compete. With little competition in the Beginners 65 and over competition, he sat back amused by his grandchildren on what he said was for him 'a perfect day.'
The two came for a Sunday afternoon of entertainment, but 78 contestants found themselves in the Cape Cod Lounge of the University of Massachusetts Student Union building pitted against one another for prizes and bragging rights in the forth annual Massachusetts State Yo-yo competition. Sponsored by a host of yo-yo industry companies and organized by UMass grad student and former yo-yo player Andre Boulay, individuals spent the afternoon comparing Suicide Catches, Eli Hops and Kurukuru Milks. Other players have come from as far afield as Virginia to compete in the event that for the first time features cash prizes, enough to attract top yo-yo players.
But the prizes are not the only thing they are going for. While Eric Koloski, of Easthampton, national champion and ranked fourth in the world, said the prize is a motivator, he added that being around people with similar interests is a reward in itself. Koloski, 18, has been practicing for 10 years and said, 'It's great because you have this hobby that you love to do and being here with other people doing the same thing gives you the opportunity to interact.'
Koloski is generous in saying the others are performing similar tricks. Koloski is sponsored by YoyoJam and has his name on his own yo-yo model, the Eric Koloski Extreme K-OS. His mother, Teri Koloski, still describes him as a 'quiet kid,' despite the fact that he often takes the stage for packed rooms and performs. Eric is an employee of Northampton's A2Z Science and Learning Store, which doubles as a dojo of sorts for local yo-yo players. There, he teaches and participates in classes and offers expert advice in all areas of the activity.
Teri Koloski said the network of yo-yo players is a supportive group. They compare tricks and get excited about learning from one another, and she credits the dynamic to A2Z's yo-yo guru, Jack Finn.
While watching one of his students, Nate Gendron, accept a raucous round of applause mid-performance, Finn said it was great to watch the youngsters he teaches grow and develop.
Nate started competing four years ago and has since won the world championship in the 11 and under division of sports looping.
He allowed only a quick smile to the crowd, choosing instead to focus on the yo-yo spinning around his leg in a premeditated and well-executed web of string.
Finn holds classes in his King Street shop three times a week for people of all ages and has done so for the past 10 years. Finn started practicing at age 50 and often marvels at how quickly his younger students pick up on more advanced tricks.
Don LaPlante is the captain of Team LaPlante, but only because he has a driver's license. He and the other members of his team, who happen to be his grandchildren, went to compete but to be together, as well. His team is a model of the A2Z store with players of different ages helping one another through trick sequences.
'It's great because with other sports, like baseball or soccer, they are out on the field. With this, they are right there, and you can interact with them directly,' said LaPlante, sporting a Team LaPlante T-shirt.
Boulay said the competition is a great opportunity for people to come out and compete as the season is a slow one for Massachusetts players.
Judges furiously clicked on counters held under the tables in front of them as they kept track of the positive and negative aspects of each performance, but LaPlante wasn't too distracted by that during his chance to compete. With little competition in the Beginners 65 and over competition, he sat back amused by his grandchildren on what he said was for him 'a perfect day.'
'Student Strike' nets results but no fee rollbacks
AMHERST - After months of negotiations, University of Massachusetts students who organized a two-day "student strike" over the fall semester may have won a hand in shaping some police policies.
In addition to university officials' agreeing to a newly formed Community/Police Advisory Board, students will assemble an advisory committee on diversity issues. Students also won some added diversity funding for outreach programs and additional faculty hires.
Students were unable to make much headway on their third gripe with administrators - the high cost of mandatory student fees. Fees will not be rolled back as students had requested. This week, trustees recommended a 3.1 percent tuition and fee increase for the next academic year.
However, UMass administrators have agreed to fund a "lobby day," an opportunity for students to head to Boston and petition lawmakers for increased funds, which could alleviate student fees. The event is expected to cost $5,000--$10,000.
Also, Edward F. Blaguszewski, director of news and information at UMass, said meetings between the administrators and students forged during negotiations will continue, allowing administrators to stay in closer and more consistent contact with students.
The continued conversations and the establishment of advisory committees is being hailed by student leaders as a good first step toward improved administration-student relations.
"The main thing is that we institutionalized these negotiations," said student trustee Ruth Thompson. "Never before have students had a voice like they do now, and we aren't done. There is still a lot about the university that can be improved, and these meetings with the administration will help to do that."
Board's duties
The Community/Police Advisory Board will be charged with making recommendations on safety and police matters to the vice chancellor for student affairs. Work will also be done to make the complaint process against police officers more accessible and less intimidating to students, said Heather McCormack, a student negotiator.
The board will consist of four undergraduate and two graduate students as well as the vice chancellor for student affairs, the dean of students, the chief of police, the director of housing and residential life and three faculty members.
During the strike, students complained about intrusive police patrols in their dorms. Police administrators denied that officers were patrolling residential hallways.
Another committee that will be formed under the new student-administrator agreement will bring student voices to issues on diversity programs.
A diversity council will be created to advise the chancellor on related issues. Administrators also agreed to put $25,000 toward a faculty adviser for the student bridges program, which is designed to reach out to low income, area high school students.
Some $160,000 will be allotted to fund the hiring of more teaching assistants for general education courses that customarily consist of the most diverse mix of students. The university is currently reviewing personnel and programing in campus diversity organizations like the Everywoman's Center and the Stonewall Center to ensure adequate funding.
During the strike, which took place on Nov. 15 and 16, approximately 800 students rallied and effectively shut down the university's administration building as they lined the its hallways chanting slogans demanding a rollback of student fees, an increase in diversity funding, a stop to police presence in private areas of student dormitories and the restoration of student control over areas of the campus the group deemed theirs.
In the following days student leaders presented their demands to administrators and the two groups have met every other week to come to a compromise.
Students and administrators agreed that the inclusion of students on boards that oversee key areas of the campus will improve communication.
In addition to university officials' agreeing to a newly formed Community/Police Advisory Board, students will assemble an advisory committee on diversity issues. Students also won some added diversity funding for outreach programs and additional faculty hires.
Students were unable to make much headway on their third gripe with administrators - the high cost of mandatory student fees. Fees will not be rolled back as students had requested. This week, trustees recommended a 3.1 percent tuition and fee increase for the next academic year.
However, UMass administrators have agreed to fund a "lobby day," an opportunity for students to head to Boston and petition lawmakers for increased funds, which could alleviate student fees. The event is expected to cost $5,000--$10,000.
Also, Edward F. Blaguszewski, director of news and information at UMass, said meetings between the administrators and students forged during negotiations will continue, allowing administrators to stay in closer and more consistent contact with students.
The continued conversations and the establishment of advisory committees is being hailed by student leaders as a good first step toward improved administration-student relations.
"The main thing is that we institutionalized these negotiations," said student trustee Ruth Thompson. "Never before have students had a voice like they do now, and we aren't done. There is still a lot about the university that can be improved, and these meetings with the administration will help to do that."
Board's duties
The Community/Police Advisory Board will be charged with making recommendations on safety and police matters to the vice chancellor for student affairs. Work will also be done to make the complaint process against police officers more accessible and less intimidating to students, said Heather McCormack, a student negotiator.
The board will consist of four undergraduate and two graduate students as well as the vice chancellor for student affairs, the dean of students, the chief of police, the director of housing and residential life and three faculty members.
During the strike, students complained about intrusive police patrols in their dorms. Police administrators denied that officers were patrolling residential hallways.
Another committee that will be formed under the new student-administrator agreement will bring student voices to issues on diversity programs.
A diversity council will be created to advise the chancellor on related issues. Administrators also agreed to put $25,000 toward a faculty adviser for the student bridges program, which is designed to reach out to low income, area high school students.
Some $160,000 will be allotted to fund the hiring of more teaching assistants for general education courses that customarily consist of the most diverse mix of students. The university is currently reviewing personnel and programing in campus diversity organizations like the Everywoman's Center and the Stonewall Center to ensure adequate funding.
During the strike, which took place on Nov. 15 and 16, approximately 800 students rallied and effectively shut down the university's administration building as they lined the its hallways chanting slogans demanding a rollback of student fees, an increase in diversity funding, a stop to police presence in private areas of student dormitories and the restoration of student control over areas of the campus the group deemed theirs.
In the following days student leaders presented their demands to administrators and the two groups have met every other week to come to a compromise.
Students and administrators agreed that the inclusion of students on boards that oversee key areas of the campus will improve communication.
Promising season for maple sugarers
Quebec may produce more than 80 percent of the world's maple syrup, but breakfast at a Valley sugarhouse should prove there's plenty to be had right here at home.
And for those who haven't joined others dining out on pancakes, French toast or waffles smothered with syrup, the time to act is now, as a strong sugaring season gathers steam.
Tom McCrumm, who oversees the Massachusetts Maple Association and makes syrup in Ashfield, said the season has 'started out with a bang.
'Everyone's real happy. Some people have made a third of their crop in four days,' he said. 'If the rest of the season goes well, we'll have a good crop. But it's agriculture, so you never know.'
The season so far is a welcome change from last year, which featured a bitterly cold March that forced a late start to sugaring in mid-month.
In contrast, recent days have brought temperatures above freezing during the day and then a return to freezing at night - the recipe for strong sap flow.
Kathryn Vreeland, a climatologist with the Northeast Climate Center, projects below-normal temperatures for the Northeast region. 'We tend to lean toward the cooler scenarios of the forecasts,' she said. 'I guess it just depends on how high those daytime temperatures are for the maple people.'
In full swing
Joe Boisvert of the North Hadley Sugar Shack said his operation is in full swing as he and his family produce the syrup that almost instantly lands upon his customers' plates. He started boiling sap March 2 and has no complaints about the season so far.
He said production is about average when compared to years past. His breakfast tables attracted around 480 people on a recent Sunday.
'It's the farming way of life,' Boisvert said. 'You have to put up with the weather, hope it lasts at least into the first week of April and hope people come out for this great Massachusetts tradition.'
Anita Aloisi of Hanging Mountain Farm on North Road in Westhampton made her first batch of syrup last Friday and is getting good results from her 1,100 taps. She too sees significantly improved results over last year, but added the yield has been lower since the early 1990s.
But it's more of an observation than a complaint. She said hundreds have been crowding into the farm's Strawbale Cafe. Though open year round, her business over the sugar season has seen a significant increase compared to other months.
Massachusetts produced 30,000 gallons of maple syrup last year, amounting to a harvest with an estimated value of $1,960,000, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
Brian Rowe of High Hopes Farm Sugar House on Route 112 in Worthington said he hopes to make 300 and 600 gallons of syrup this season. He added it's hard to count your gallons before they drip out of the tree.
'We started off great,' he said, 'and as long as the weather holds, we'll hold in there and keep making syrup.'
According to Rowe, overnight temperatures should reach around 27 degrees with daytime temperatures varying between 37 to 42 degrees, with little wind.
When the outside temperature swings back and forth over the freezing point, it creates a pressure within the tree that helps force sap through the plastic lines that connect each tree in his sugarbush to the sugarhouse.
Rowe said maintaining the lines has been easier this year, though buried or lost lines are inevitable. He said the snow not only aids in creating continuous moisture, but a hard crust allows for him to walk on its surface when in the woods, rather than trudging through heavy snowfall.
However, the snowpack is deep in the Hilltowns - and in three layers. It is proving difficult to traverse for some. 'It makes it hard to get out there (and it) knocks a lot of limbs and lines down that then get buried in the snow,' said McCrumm, who operates South Face Farm in Ashfield.
McCrumm said the region's maple trees appear to be healthy. 'We had an insect problem a few years back, but like any insect problem, they come and go. Nothing reported this year. ... You can never predict a crop ahead of time.'
'I love managing the forest and expanding. A forest with a crop like this is like a garden. You need to cultivate it, take out weeds, cut brush and give them room to grow without competition,' McCrumm said. 'You have to make them the most productive for your target, a lot of work with snowshoes.'
Bringing it in
Gravity aids in the process of gathering sap, as the network of tubes resembles ancient aqueducts, bringing tree sap from far away to be boiled down to syrup.
Maple farmers use evaporators to change the sap to syrup. According to Mass. Maple, once the temperature reaches 7.5 degrees above the boiling point of water, the sap has reached the proper density to become syrup. It take around 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. Maple sap is 98 percent water and 2 percent sugar; the syrup is 33 percent water and 67 percent sugar.
Syrup is divided into two grades: A and B. Grade A is divided into light, medium and dark ambers, each having different flavors and viscosity. Grade B is a cooking syrup usually made toward the end of the five-week season, just before the 'off flavors' settle in and the outside temperatures cease to cooperate.
But according to a weather.com extended forecast, farmers can expect much more of what they've seen so far, with daytime temperatures averaging 46 degrees and overnight lows at 27 degrees.
In the meantime, Boisvert said he and his staff will be working hard.
'We're hoping to get to the first week of April, at least,' he said. 'But it all comes down to the temperatures, so you have to cut the hay while the sun shines.'
And for those who haven't joined others dining out on pancakes, French toast or waffles smothered with syrup, the time to act is now, as a strong sugaring season gathers steam.
Tom McCrumm, who oversees the Massachusetts Maple Association and makes syrup in Ashfield, said the season has 'started out with a bang.
'Everyone's real happy. Some people have made a third of their crop in four days,' he said. 'If the rest of the season goes well, we'll have a good crop. But it's agriculture, so you never know.'
The season so far is a welcome change from last year, which featured a bitterly cold March that forced a late start to sugaring in mid-month.
In contrast, recent days have brought temperatures above freezing during the day and then a return to freezing at night - the recipe for strong sap flow.
Kathryn Vreeland, a climatologist with the Northeast Climate Center, projects below-normal temperatures for the Northeast region. 'We tend to lean toward the cooler scenarios of the forecasts,' she said. 'I guess it just depends on how high those daytime temperatures are for the maple people.'
In full swing
Joe Boisvert of the North Hadley Sugar Shack said his operation is in full swing as he and his family produce the syrup that almost instantly lands upon his customers' plates. He started boiling sap March 2 and has no complaints about the season so far.
He said production is about average when compared to years past. His breakfast tables attracted around 480 people on a recent Sunday.
'It's the farming way of life,' Boisvert said. 'You have to put up with the weather, hope it lasts at least into the first week of April and hope people come out for this great Massachusetts tradition.'
Anita Aloisi of Hanging Mountain Farm on North Road in Westhampton made her first batch of syrup last Friday and is getting good results from her 1,100 taps. She too sees significantly improved results over last year, but added the yield has been lower since the early 1990s.
But it's more of an observation than a complaint. She said hundreds have been crowding into the farm's Strawbale Cafe. Though open year round, her business over the sugar season has seen a significant increase compared to other months.
Massachusetts produced 30,000 gallons of maple syrup last year, amounting to a harvest with an estimated value of $1,960,000, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
Brian Rowe of High Hopes Farm Sugar House on Route 112 in Worthington said he hopes to make 300 and 600 gallons of syrup this season. He added it's hard to count your gallons before they drip out of the tree.
'We started off great,' he said, 'and as long as the weather holds, we'll hold in there and keep making syrup.'
According to Rowe, overnight temperatures should reach around 27 degrees with daytime temperatures varying between 37 to 42 degrees, with little wind.
When the outside temperature swings back and forth over the freezing point, it creates a pressure within the tree that helps force sap through the plastic lines that connect each tree in his sugarbush to the sugarhouse.
Rowe said maintaining the lines has been easier this year, though buried or lost lines are inevitable. He said the snow not only aids in creating continuous moisture, but a hard crust allows for him to walk on its surface when in the woods, rather than trudging through heavy snowfall.
However, the snowpack is deep in the Hilltowns - and in three layers. It is proving difficult to traverse for some. 'It makes it hard to get out there (and it) knocks a lot of limbs and lines down that then get buried in the snow,' said McCrumm, who operates South Face Farm in Ashfield.
McCrumm said the region's maple trees appear to be healthy. 'We had an insect problem a few years back, but like any insect problem, they come and go. Nothing reported this year. ... You can never predict a crop ahead of time.'
'I love managing the forest and expanding. A forest with a crop like this is like a garden. You need to cultivate it, take out weeds, cut brush and give them room to grow without competition,' McCrumm said. 'You have to make them the most productive for your target, a lot of work with snowshoes.'
Bringing it in
Gravity aids in the process of gathering sap, as the network of tubes resembles ancient aqueducts, bringing tree sap from far away to be boiled down to syrup.
Maple farmers use evaporators to change the sap to syrup. According to Mass. Maple, once the temperature reaches 7.5 degrees above the boiling point of water, the sap has reached the proper density to become syrup. It take around 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. Maple sap is 98 percent water and 2 percent sugar; the syrup is 33 percent water and 67 percent sugar.
Syrup is divided into two grades: A and B. Grade A is divided into light, medium and dark ambers, each having different flavors and viscosity. Grade B is a cooking syrup usually made toward the end of the five-week season, just before the 'off flavors' settle in and the outside temperatures cease to cooperate.
But according to a weather.com extended forecast, farmers can expect much more of what they've seen so far, with daytime temperatures averaging 46 degrees and overnight lows at 27 degrees.
In the meantime, Boisvert said he and his staff will be working hard.
'We're hoping to get to the first week of April, at least,' he said. 'But it all comes down to the temperatures, so you have to cut the hay while the sun shines.'
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