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Framingham State University’s independent student newspaper since 1932 volume
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By Kristen Pinto Editorial Staff
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FSU hopes to begin new dorm construction in the spring
Residence halls over capacity, new dorm to be built Framingham State administrators have been pushing the housing capacity limit in an effort to get more resident students on campus, creating non-traditional living quarters for some students. The residence halls on campus are designed to hold 1,931 students. At the opening of the semester this fall, there were 1,940 resident students living on campus, according to Associate Dean of students and Director of Residence Life Glenn Cochran. FSU began converting the study lounges in Corrinne Hall Towers into makeshift double rooms for students by blacking out the windows in order to exceed this capacity limit and allow more students to live on campus. Cochran said there are currently eight lounges in Towers set up as doubles. There were supposed be nine, but due to a leak, the last one is now inaccessible for the year. Temporary space is also being offered in other dorm buildings. The goal of creating these rooms is to get students off of the wait list and into actual living quarters on campus, even
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By Lauren Campbell Editorial Staff
Melina Bourdeau/The Gatepost
Construction of a 1.66-acre parking lot on Salem End Road has begun.
Salem End Road parking lot to be completed in October
By Lauren Campbell Editorial Staff
Framingham State University has been awarded $2.15 million from the Massachusetts State College Building Authority to construct a new parking lot on Salem End Road. The lot was formerly the site of the six-building Salem Court Apartments, as well as a Japanese restaurant - all of which were torn down. There were two additional buildings, both of which have been retained by the University. Executive Vice President Dale Hamel said, “The fur-
thest one up Salem End Road … that is what’s known locally as the 1812 House. We are retaining that to create a college planning center.” The Board of Higher Education awarded FSU $280,000 last year and $240,000 this year. The state budget also included $400,000 to pay for the cost of renovating the 1812 House. Hamel said the college planning center is being created in partnership with Massachusetts Bay Community College. “It’s going to provide guidance to predominantly underserved audienc- Continued on page 3
Framingham State is awaiting approval for $44 million in financing in order to build a new dorm which will be located in the Maynard Street parking lot. Executive Vice President Dale Hamel said the declaration of intent, which he said is “essentially the approval for financing the project,” was accepted at the Board of Trustees meeting on Sept. 30. The new residence hall will provide 316 beds. When it opens, O’Connor Hall, which houses 241 students, will become an academic building. “It represents a four percent increase in capacity,” Hamel said. The capacity increase includes what will be lost from O’Connor. Referring to the $44 million in financing the school is requesting, Hamel said, “That includes about $37 million in construction costs. That’s the one you often focus on.” The construction estimate for the new dorm recently came in at $36.4 - Continued on page 4
FSU professors reflect on research from latest publications By Sara Silvestro Arts & Features Editor
Framingham State University offered its fifth annual fall authors event that celebrated two of their own scholarly innovations. Each year the fall author event reminds colleagues of the bond they have with scholars and writers across the world and throughout history, said Linda Vaden-Goad, vice president of academic affairs. Kelly Kolodny, associate professor of education, spent ten years research-
ing and writing her novel “Normalites: The First Professionally Prepared Teachers in the United States.” In an evolving country, three women left their families behind at the ages of 15-17 to partake in a powerful movement for the first state normal school in MA. It has been 175 years since the school opened. Kolodny centered her novel around three young women, Lydia Stow, Mary Swift and Louisa Harris, who were pioneers in education. After having traveled to 20 histori-
cal societies, reading diaries, poetry books and a number of other historical records, she researched and wrote her novel. Kolodny said she relished in the connection she had with these three determined students. “In my research I feel like I came to know them,” Kolodny said with a smile. The girls strayed from their families to better the learning experience for children despite the war being waged against them and the fierce scrutiny of 19th-century Americans. In a union of 26 states in 1839,
walking this path was “anything but certain” for Stow, Swift and Harris, said Kolodny. These noteworthy women are “what made” her book. Kolodny explained that reading and writing about these strong women “evoked a sense of mission and sense of duty that shaped their life path.” This provided a platform to understanding the complexity of the 19thcentury educational movements. Kolodny was able to grasp and picture the transformations these women - Continued on page 10
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