TheOnlineBeacon.com
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Cell Tower Close To Completion BY NATALIA GIACOMOZZI STAFF WRITER Despite a nearly two-month delay, installation of the new Verizon cell tower on top of the Amsler Center Campus is almost complete. In September, The Beacon reported that installation was scheduled to be finished by the end of the month. Ian Bergeron, associate dean of information technology, said in an email that complications with Verizon had briefly delayed the progress. “[That] was due to the difficulty Verizon faced locating an ideal path to run the fiber optic connections,” Bergeron said. “The route of these cables passes overhead, underground, and through many different properties, requiring use agreements from multiple entities.” According to Bergeron, the installation will be completed by the end of November. “We will make an announcement as soon as the towers are activated,” Bergeron said.
Bergeron explained that cell coverage should be “more than adequate” throughout campus after installation is complete. “[MCLA] is a full cell site in a relatively small area,” Bergeron said. “If service is inadequate, then I expect Verizon will remedy it.” Bergeron noted that the installation of the cell tower has been in development for more than three years. “It was initiated due to campus interest in a more robust cell signal,” Bergeron said. About three years ago, MCLA sent out a request for proposals (RFP) to the closet major cell carriers to gain interest in bringing better cell service to campus. The only response to the RFP came from Verizon. According to Bergeron, MCLA is not paying for the installation and annual repair fees. “Companies that were to respond to the RFP would need to install a cell tower at their cost,” Bergeron said.
Cell Tower, Page 8
Volume 90 • Issue 9
Cops Raise Funds For Special Olympics
PHOTO BY COREY MITCHELL-LABRIE
Mark Dunn, Special Olympic Althete, volunteered at the North Adams Cop On Top! event, collecting money from passersby at Walmart. See story on Page 2.
Day of Dialogue
Workshops Educate Campus Community On Diverse, Inclusive Ways Of Learning BY COREY MITCHELL-LABRIE MANAGING EDITOR MCLA’s second annual Day of Dialogue on Thursday, Nov. 7, saw an expanded schedule over last year and packed sessions run by students, faculty, and staff throughout the day. “The day of dialogue is a suspended day of classes where students, faculty, staff, community members and alum, can come together and participate on workshops and sessions that really allow us to come across differences to learn about diversity equity and inclusion,” Chief Diversity Officer Christopher McDonald-Dennis said. “It’s really for the en-
tire community,” McDonald-Dennis added. “It’s for students especially this year, [themed] around ‘Educating for a Diverse Community.’ I really want students to know about the different opportunities that exist on campus to learn about diversity and diverse ways of learning.” Dominique Stevenson-Pope ‘20 was one of three students who ran the morning workshop “Black Feminism Then & Now.” “In feminist history, and in the history of females in America specifically, black women leaders tend to be left out of the conversation,” Stevenson-Pope said. “They [older white feminists] had black women rarely in their rallies
[suffrage and otherwise] and when they did they were segregated from the rally.” “In the aspect of discrimination especially towards black women, it is more than just a one-on-one interaction,” Stevenson-Pope added. “We see this a lot especially recently, hair discrimination, in the workplace or in education saying, ‘Oh, you can work for our company; but you can’t have dreads, you can’t have braids, you can’t wear your hair natural.’” Keynote speaker Tracey Benson, assistant professor of educational leadership at University of North Carolina – Charlotte, discussed “Leading for Racial Equity in Schools” during the lunch
PHOTO BY COREY MITCHELL-LABRIE
Students in “Black Feminism Then & Now” engaging in group discussions during the talk.
PHOTO BY COREY MITCHELL-LABRIE
Guangzhi Huang adresses audience in “Teaching Diversity From A Global Perspective.” and keynote event that took place in the Campus Center Gym at noon. “Along racial lines, the demographics of the population in North Adams and Pittsfield, Lanesborough, Williamstown, they’re shifting and changing but there hasn’t been a lot of attention, real deep attention, to how to make it a more welcoming and inclusive space,” Benson said. During his talk, Benson prompted several small group discussions including sharing the first times audi-
ence members learned about sociological differences and how they have learned to cope with outside opinions. Benson considers Berkshire County as a second home after moving here in 2008, serving as an administrator in Pittsfield and then a principal at Pittsfield High School. “Being a person of color living here I’ve experienced lot of overt and covert racism throughout the time I was here [and] in Pittsfield
Dialogue, Page 8