The
G atepost
FSU hosts eighth annual Family Fun Day Page 5
Framingham State University’s independent student newspaper since 1932 volume
83 • number 17
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Smoking Ban said to reduce tobacco use on campus
By Alexandra Gomes News Editor
While the FSU campus is still not 100 percent tobacco free, there is a “dramatic difference” in the number of people smoking and cigarette butts on campus said Dean of Students Melinda Stoops. The smoking policy, put into effect during the fall of 2013, states FSU “seeks to provide a healthy, comfortable, and productive environment for its students, employees and visitors.”
Stoops said before the ban, the McCarthy Center patio had cigarette butts stuck between all the cracks in the tiles. “It was amazing how much trash would build up from it.” Before the smoking policy was implemented, there were several designated smoking areas, according to the smoking policy. Erin Nechipurenko, assistant vice president of Human Resources, was in charge of creating a task force to implement the smoking policy.
From her perspective, the ban has helped to reduce tobacco use, especially around the McCarthy Center, the Whittemore Library and Hemenway Hall. The Task Force will be sending out a survey in the spring to “access the efficiency of the policy,” according to Nechipurenko. Because enforcement of the smoking ban is up to the entire campus community, it can be difficult to en-
- Continued on page 4
Students voice suggestions, concerns to Bias Incident Assessment and Response team
By Phil McMullin Staff Writer
Students said they want more transparency from the administration at the Open Forum on Hate Crimes and Bias Incidents on Feb. 24. The forum, held in the Multicultural Center, was hosted by the Bias Incident Assessment and Response team in order to listen to student suggestions for the new protocol the team is designing. Director for Inclusive Excellence Kathy Martinez said, “I really want our community to just engage in constructive, forward thinking conversation. So, acknowledging things that have happened, but how can we take that energy to move us forward and build new systems and new things to help?” During the forum, students divided into three groups to voice their concerns and suggestions. Two members of the BIAR team facilitated each of these discussions. In each group, students said they wanted the administration to be more transparent about its response to bias incidents and hate crimes. Senior Jacqueline Boateng spoke on behalf of her group. “We were thinking about just getting notified when it happens, even though it’s going to be on the Melinda Stoops level of emails.” Other students said less frequent emails would be preferable. - Continued on page 3
Melina Bourdeau/The Gatepost
Students discuss a need for further transparency at open forum for bias incidents and hate crimes.
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Footbridge stairwell deemed unsafe
By James M. Sheridan Jr. Associate Editor
Earlier this semester, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation closed a stairway leading to the Route 9 footbridge after one of the concrete steps broke off. According to an email from MassDOT spokesperson Amanda Richard, MassDOT - which is responsible for the maintenance of the pedestrian crossing - closed the stairway after “inspection confirmed reports of the poor condition of concrete stairs, raising concerns with safety.” Junior Morgan Asta has started a petition that urging the DOT to replace the entire bridge. Asta said she has collected 200 signatures from both students and faculty. Asta said she believes that the bridge needs to be repaired because it does not seem safe. “You can feel the whole thing move when a car drives underneath,” she said. Asta added that she believes the bridge does not meet safety requirements for a structure of its type. In her email, Richard said, “MassDOT will recommend initiating a project for replacing the bridge” after replacing the stairs this summer. However, the proposal to replace the stairs is not the only plan the DOT is looking at to improve route 9 pedestrian traffic. Another proposal attempting to solve the problem suggests the installation of a pedestrian crosswalk further
‘Prevention is key’
- Continued on page 6
FSU alumna empowers students through self-defense workshop
By Sara Silvestro Editorial Staff
Inhale. My “attacker” approaches me. She wraps her fingers around my wrist firmly and pulls me toward her. My stance changes - shoulders square and immediately, my free hand shoots up and pushes forward, palm out, past her face as I twist my other wrist free. Three steps back, and both hands are up again in a defensive stance. Exhale. In theory, my palm would not have shot past my attacker’s face. The heel of my palm would have struck my attacker’s nose,
hopefully hurting him or her enough to prevent the assault from being carried out. My “attacker” is my partner in a selfdefense workshop of 10 students, including myself, and two faculty members at Framingham State University on Wednesday, Feb. 18. Instructors Jeanne Donnelly, a fourthdan black belt in Tai Kwon Do, and Erica Daloia, Donnelly’s daughter, taught the workshop. Donnelly started practicing martial arts in 1989, when Daloia was six months old. Prior to teaching martial arts, Donnelly said she was a rape crisis counselor, and that is when she first started teaching self-defense classes.
Daloia learned self-defense from her mother starting when she was five years old, later earning a second-dan black belt in Tai Kwon Do. Donnelly, an FSU alumna, and Daloia co-founded Makoto-Do, which, according to their website, offers classes in martial arts, healing and personal development. “Even if we can help one person not be a victim, it is worth it,” said Donnelly. “Anybody could be a victim,” she added. The self-defense workshop is coordinated by Campus Police’s Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.), a physical defense course designed specifically for women. - Continued on page 12
Inside Domestic abuse, an issue to be resolved and talked about 10
End of the Road: FSU women’s basketball loses semifinals 16
DPAC Divas 10
It’s time to recognize underrated figures in Black History 11