Arts & Features:
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Haitian author Edwidge Danticat offers wisdom to students.
With their victory over UMass Boston on Wednesday, the Men’s Soccer team improved to five games over .500.
Students must be involved
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Editorial:
Saturday 10/16
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T he G atepost O
79 l number 5
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gatepost@framingham.edu
Framingham State College’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1932
PHENOM marchers rally at FSC
By Julie Ann Giebler Interim Assistant News Editor
Lauren Byrnes/The Gatepost
Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray announced official funding for the Hemenway Hall science project.
Hemenway Hall construction to begin spring, 2011 By Lauren Byrnes Editor-in-Chief On Tuesday, Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray announced that the college has received the funding to move forward with its $63 million science project, which will remodel Hemenway Hall and update the science facilities. Senior Vice President of Administration, Finance and Information Technology Dr. Dale Hamel said he hopes construction will begin this spring at the earliest. If the project remains on schedule, it is expected to be completed in 2015. The construction project will include an addition to Hemenway Hall, which will mainly consist of new stateof-the-art teaching labs. Renovations will be made to the vacated spaces and laboratories, and infrastructure and accessibility issues will also be addressed, Hamel said. Windows will be replaced and the entire building will have air conditioning when the project is completed. The replacement of the chiller unit for Hemenway Annex will take place this spring and summer “to get the annex back up and running for this cooling season,” Hamel said. Framingham State will fund $10 million of the $63
million project and that money will come out of the college’s five-year operational budget. Hamel said it would equate to approximately $650,000 annually “in debt service costs” and the administration is considering using Build America Bonds, which were used for financing the new residence hall. A portion of the $10 million debt “will come down to fees. If you’re spending money, the money has to come from somewhere and a portion of it has to be fees,” Hamel said. However, “there is already a planned fee increase.” Although the college is currently the least expensive state institution, Hamel said, “There isn’t an expressed goal to remain the lowest [priced state institution]. … If we don’t end up being the lowest in a certain year, that’s not something that we’re shooting for, I guess.” According to Hamel, the other portion of the $10 million Framingham State will owe will come “from a reduction in expenditures on plan operations.” Aside from Framingham State’s contribution, $51.4 million was authorized by the higher education bond bill, which the college will not need to repay, said Hamel. -Continued on page 4
Supporters of the Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts (PHENOM) stopped at FSC last Tuesday during their march for the “For a Great State of Mind Campaign.” A small group arrived at Framingham State’s Dwight Auditorium Tuesday evening at 5:30 to talk to the campus community about their mission and to generate support for public higher education in Massachusetts. One of the marchers entered the auditorium with a hiking stick because the marching started to take its toll. PHENOM supporter Alex Kulenovic said, “Nothing traumatic - just some wear-and-tear. I’ve been doing so much marching that right around Worcester, it started to hurt.” Members of PHENOM started their march at Berkshire Community College on Saturday, Oct. 2, 500 yards from the New York Border. The march ended at the State House in Boston on Thursday, Oct. 7. Student Trustee Max Morrongiello was approached by PHENOM and was asked to host an event promoting the walk. “I think Framingham is a good spot, because we really are affected by this. Much of our funding comes from the state. We used to receive more in the past,” said Morrongiello - who only had a few weeks to round up speakers for the event. Morrongiello recruited local State Representative Tom Sannicandro to speak, as well as Green Party gubernatorial candidate Jill Stein. Psychology professor Dr. Robert Donohue, president of the Framingham State College Professional Association (FSCPA) spoke as well. The march’s purpose was to support PHENOM’s “For a Great State of Mind Campaign,” a multi-year state-wide grassroots initiative which started in January, 2010. The campaign includes a petition, which urges Massachusetts’ government officials to increase investment in public higher education and lower student costs. Max Page, vice president of PHENOM, said, “The question I hear the most is, ‘Why the hell are these people walking across the state? Why would anyone do that?’” Manuel Pintado, another PHENOM speaker, who is a graduate of Holyoke Community College and currently a -Continued on page 3
This week’s issue of The Gatepost is dedicated to breast cancer awareness month. •
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In 2010, an estimated 207,090 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 54,010 new cases of non-invasive breast cancer. About 1,970 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in men in 2010. About 39,840 women in the U.S. are expected to die in 2010 from breast cancer, though death rates have been decreasing since 1991. See www.breastcancer.org for more information.