TheOnlineBeacon.com
Thursday, October 3, 2019
Volume 90 • Issue 3
Vape Ban Pressures Local Business
BY NATHAN BIRON SENIOR NEWS EDITOR
SSI: Absence of Students at 1st Information Session
Governor Charlie Baker announced Tuesday, Sept. 24, the implementation of a four-month-long ban on all vaping products including dispensary sales that sell to medical patients as well. This ban comes from recent reports of vape users are becoming very ill and even dying. Baker has stated that the reason for the ban is for his team to look into the issue more and figure out what is making people sick. According to the Centers For Disease Control, there have been a total of 10 cases statewide and eight of those sick have been admitted to hospitals. Uniq Vape Owner Syed Jamal has been challenged with keeping his business afloat during the statewide ban on all vaping products throughout his three stores located in North Adams, Lanesborough, and Pittsfield.
MCLA hosted the first of two Information Sessions on the SSI Survey Results last Wednesday night, Sept. 25, in response to the challenges surfaced in a recent student satisfaction survey. The event, ran by Catherine Holbrook, vice president of student affairs, was scarcely attended. The only ones in attendance included: this reporter; Julia Teixeira ‘20, Beacon Web News (BWN) executive producer; and Dianne Manning, director of residential programs and services. In spite of the absence of student attendees, Holbrook continued with her presentation, explaining the survey itself, what the results were, and the College’s plans to rectify the challenges students found within the institution. “I don’t think anyone was surprised with students not being satisfied for a lot of areas,” Holbrook said, adding that MCLA is on trend with other student satisfaction
Vape, Page 10
BY TESSA SESTITO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
PHOTO BY KENNY OLCHOWSKI
Matt Freeman, resident of Greenfield, Mass, who has been vaping for several years, is one of many consumers that will be affected by Governor Baker’s ban on electronic cigarettes.
SSI, Page 10
SVC Radiology Smoothly Transitions to MCLA BY BRIAN RHODES STAFF WRITER
Southern Vermont College’s (SVC) Radiological Sciences major has seen a stable transition to MCLA, according to students and faculty in the program. The Radiological Sciences program is made up of 28 students, consisting mostly of juniors and seniors, along with four faculty members, according to Linda Lippacher, director of the program. Lippacher, who began the radiological technology program at SVC through a collaboration with Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in 2003, said that most of the major, including the curriculum and professors, is the same as it was at SVC. “In a sense, the only thing that changed was where the venue was happening,” Lippacher said. Lippacher noted the incredible speed at which MCLA staff were able to transfer critical facilities of the major from SVC to North Adams. This transfer included office equipment, file cabinets, and an entire X-ray room filled with devices crucial to the major, all of which the
program would have lost if it wasn’t taken in time. “All of our parts and pieces, MCLA came, put it into trucks in the period of about two days, and took it here before graduation,” Lippacher said. “If we didn’t get it out by graduation, it would have been gone.” The radiological equipment was relocated to a room at the Berkshire Health North BMC satellite campus in North Adams, site of the former North Adams Regional Hosptial. Julie Walsh, clinical coordinator for the radiology program, said that the closure of SVC was a distressing experience for students. “It was a traumatic ending to SVC; it was very sudden,” Walsh said. “[Students] were very happy and lucky that MCLA decided to do the teach-out.” Lippacher agreed, adding that the difficulties for students are probably coming from outside of the classroom. “For most of them, there is still this feeling of loss,” Lippacher said. “I think they are all grateful to be here.” Lippacher added that student involvement at MCLA
PHOTO BY NATHAN BIRON
SVC’s Radiology rooms where students learn how to use X-ray equipment, located at Berkshire Medical Center North Campus. As previoudly reported by Maya McFadden, there will be a total of 21 students in the program who planned on coming to MCLA before the closure of SVC. can help fill in the void for things lost by leaving SVC. “They all [students] talk about how many more things are available here [MCLA] that we never had at SVC,” Lippacher said. “You guys do so many different things that involve students, and we didn’t do a lot of those.” The suddenness of SVC’s closure was a surprise to students and faculty alike, according to Lippacher. Lip-
pacher said that in January, SVC’s administration had spent money repairing some of their equipment and had hired several new faculty members. “If they [the administration] were thinking the College was in dire straights you wouldn’t have thought that they would have done all that.” Lippacher said. While there are no concrete plans yet for the future of the
program at MCLA, Lippacher said continuing the program after current students graduate would be a huge opportunity for MCLA and the state. Currently, there are only two Radiological Science bachelor programs in the state of Massachusetts. “It’s a process that is being investigated,” Lippacher said. “This was my creation and I don’t want to see it die.”