Ram involvement on campus
Make it work pg. 6
pg. 11
T he G atepost T he Inde pendent Weekly Student Ne wspa per of Framingham State College Since 1932
find us online at www.thegatepost.com volume
F
78 l number 17
e b r u a r y
1 9 ,
2 0 1 0
gatepost@framingham.edu
FSC residents, community minimize energy usage through campus-wide programs
By Tom O’Brien
Editorial Staff Though economic times are tough, the Framingham State College community is not abandoning its efforts to go “green.” Larned Hall residents won the first residence hall energy reduction competition. The contest took place from Nov. 1 - 30 in all of the residence halls on campus, and was sponsored by the Office of Residence Life and Housing, the Green Team, the Facilities Department and Sodexo. As a result of the competition, FSC students saved $8,915 in energy costs compared to their average in September and October. Total electricity consumption was reduced by 7,546 kilowatts per
hour (KwH) and water by 434,130 gallons. According to an e-mail sent to all resident students by Assistant Director of Residence Life Kimberly Dexter, the objective of this competition was to “reduce personal energy usage in the residence halls to reduce overall usage.” She said, “The Facilities Department will calculate energy usage according to number of residents in each hall and square footage of the residential space, then compare it.” Director of Capital Planning and Facilities Operations Warren Fairbanks said, “Between six dormitories, times two utilities each, [electricity and water], there were 12 opportunities to reduce and conserve, and we did that in 10 of -Continued on page 4
Drake McCabe/The Gatepost
Bridget Ghidoni, class of 2011, packs a snowball on the Dwight Quad Tuesday night.
Budget for faculty center expected to withstand cutbacks
Drake McCabe/The Gatepost
An enthusiastic future Ram celebrates Senior Night.
Ice-cold meltdown
pg. 10
By Sara Mulkeen Assistant News Editor Since the November 2007 opening of the Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching, Scholarship and Service (CELTSS), the center has become a favorite for faculty and a priority for funding. According to co-founder and current member of the CELTSS steering committee Dr. Elaine Beilin, “A number of us [faculty and administration] had dreamed of a faculty center for a long time.” Beilin said that with the support of Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Robert Martin and President Timothy Flanagan, she and CELTSS co-director Dr. Bridgett Perry-Galvin “put together a basic plan for the faculty center.” The center, formerly
Going green: Make it fun! pg. 12
a mail room in Hemenway Hall, now serves as a meeting place for faculty from all departments to discuss research and teaching methods. “It’s a place where faculty can meet both formally - that is that we have workshops and speakers - and informally. …That’s why we got comfy chairs, so faculty can come and read and talk to one another,” said Beilin. She added that there is a library located in the center, which includes reference books on teaching and scholarship, as well as faculty publications. English professor Dr. Lisa Eck said she values the opportunities available to faculty at CELTSS. She said CELTSS “creates a space where [fac-
Katsos remembers FSC, discusses success pg. 7
ulty members] can have roundtable discussions about teaching issues such as class, gender and race. Then we get to use those discussions in the classroom to promote class discussions.” Since its opening, CELTSS “has really taken off,” said Beilin. “At first, faculty weren’t really aware that we had this operation going, but I think that Dr. Martin finding the funds to support faculty travel costs and faculty scholarship and designating such a significant amount of money really helped to get us going.” Dean of Academic Affairs Dr. Ellen Zimmerman, said her role is to “help facilitate anything that they’re interested in … and act as a representative of
-Continued on page 3