December 7, 2012

Hockey working on special teams

Peanuts gang re-imagined

Flamenco returns to Ecumenical Center

Rams piling up penalties - p. 18

Hilltop Players perform adaptation of classic cartoon - p. 10

Spanish dance captivates at Midday Performance - p. 16

T h e G at e p o s t Framingham Sta te Unive r sity’s inde pe nde nt stude nt ne w s p a p e r s in c e 1 9 3 2

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gatepost@framingham.edu

Student forum held on tobacco-free campus proposal

By Rachellyn Makuch Staff Writer

Miss FSU winner Alison Epstein and her escort Christopher Hajeck rock out during the contest’s formal wear round.

Alexis Huston/The Gatepost

Club sports moved from SILD to Athletics Department

By Kerrin Murray Associate Editor

This fall, the men’s and women’s rugby teams, men’s lacrosse and women’s cheerleading transitioned from operating under SILD to the Athletic Department, causing difficulty for some of the teams.

Club Sports Coordinator Aynsley Rosenbaum said the changeover was intended to make operating the teams easier because the clubs now have a budget and “do not have to do as much

By Kärin Radock News Editor

fundraising.”

Director of Athletics Tom Kelley said, “It did not happen overnight. Every campus is different. … For this campus, it made sense [for all sports teams] to be under one roof.”

Director of SILD Rachel Lucking said in an e-mail, “Over the years, the face and scope of club sports has changed dramatically. The number of involved students had increased over the past 10 years, as well as the risk management and expertise required to effectively manage collision/contact

competitive sports. Given these changes, the decision was made to transition club sports to Athletics - an office with a pre-existing structure that works with these conditions on a daily basis.”

Rosenbaum said one of the Athletic Department’s goals was to treat the club sports more like varsity sports teams.

The department’s allocated budget for each team allows athletes to utilize services such as pre-game meal boxes in case the cafeteria is not open and coach buses so teams can travel to away games

A student forum was held on Dec. 3 by an ad hoc committee of the All College Committee for students to ask questions about the possibility of the campus becoming tobacco-free.

Vice President for Academic Affairs Linda Vaden-Goad, Economics Professor Francis Kemegue and Student Activity Treasurer Paul Manning were the members of the All College Committee who hosted the forum.

Approximately 20 students and faculty members attended the forum.

One student asked how campus police will be able to enforce the new policy if someone is walking or driving on State Street, a public road.

Campus Police Chief Brad Medeiros replied, “The road is a public way. … It is a technical issue and that would have to be addressed on some other level.”

Vaden-Goad announced that the All College Committee wants to send out a survey next week to get more feedback from students who didn’t attend the forum.

Freshman sociology major Ted Dobbert asked if the policy would be dropped if the feedback was overwhelmingly negative, or if it would be implemented anyway.

Najjar appointed new dean of graduate studies

Professor of Geography and Urban Planning Yaser Najjar has been appointed to the new position of dean of graduate studies at FSU, said President Timothy Flanagan in a school-wide e-mail on Nov. 29.

Following the reorganization of the Division of Graduate and Continuing Education (DGCE) into the two separate offices of Graduate Studies and Continuing Education at the beginning of the fall 2012 semester, Academic Affairs administrators hoped to hire a new dean of graduate studies so that there would be one dean for each office.

As a result of this change, former Associate Vice President of Aca-

demic Affairs and Dean of Continuing Education and Graduate Studies Scott Greenberg is now Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs and the Dean of Continuing Education. (For more information about the reorganization of these offices, see the Sept. 14 article “Enrollmentrelated offices reorganized to serve students better” at thegatepost.com.)

Vice President for Academic Affairs Linda Vaden-Goad said, “We wanted someone to start this year.

We were fairly flexible about that.”

She said that even though DGCE has been reorganized into two offices since the beginning of this semester, Greenberg has still been acting as the dean of both continuing education and graduate studies.

- Continued on page 4

“It’s too much for one person. … He needs the help,” she said.

According to Vaden-Goad, Najjar is officially scheduled to begin work as the dean of graduate studies on Jan. 15, 2013.

Greenberg said that as acting dean of continuing education and graduate studies, he is only able to maintain the status quo.

“So, I’m looking forward to the new dean coming on so we can really start expanding both graduate programs and professional development programs because there’s a tremendous future in that,” he said.

Greenberg explained that “more and more” people are going back to school, whether to earn a graduate degree, a graduate certificate, or

- Continued on page 7

“just to enrich their lives and meet some of their personal interests.”

He said the areas of non-credit courses and life-long learning continue to grow in society, and he would like to be able to meet those needs.

“I think it’s important for the college to have a dean of graduate studies, whose focus is on the graduate programs. That will give us the opportunity to really expand the graduate program and be responsive to developing programs that meet the needs of the workforce in the MetroWest region,” said Greenberg.

The qualifications for the new position of dean of graduate studies included that candidates were part of FSU’s current faculty, and had experience as a department - Continued on page 3

News

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Gatepost Interview

Police Logs

Friday, Nov. 30, 2012

12:36

18:19

Solicitation (unauthorized) - D. Justin McCarthy Center.

Report of females handing out religious pamphlets. Unfounded.

Vandalism - D. Justin McCarthy Center.

Report of graffiti in the bathroom. Report filed.

Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012

17:01 Alarm (fire/smoke) - Peirce Hall.

Alarm sounding. Burned food.

December 7, 2012

Monday, Dec. 3, 2012

18:20 Assistance - D. Justin McCarthy Center.

Report of a concert interferring with meeting.

Matter resolved.

Evgenija Garbolevsky History Department

By Kathleen McDonough & Kärin Radock News Editors Please provide a summary of your resume.

I always wanted to be a teacher and a scholar, and I found the academic profession particularly compelling. I received my B.A. in history from Framingham State University in 2003. In 2005, I received my M.A. in women’s studies and comparative history from Brandeis University, and in 2011, I received my Ph.D. in history from Brandeis and was able to rework it as a book during the same year. I taught the History of the Family at Brandeis and until the present, I teach at Framingham State. I have designed and taught on-campus and online courses in large seminar and individually based settings.

I have approximately eight years of teaching experience as a teaching fellow and instructor at Brandeis University and as a lecturer and online instructor at Framingham State University.

student myself, and then a professor. Therefore, I have strong connections, especially to our students. I love the campus, which is cozy and as somebody who comes from a small Eastern European country like me, it makes me feel at home. At the same time, this place is pulsating with life and energy. I think especially now, when so many events and projects are happening, it is a very exciting time to be here. As somebody who grew up during the Cold War era, I appreciate the creative freedom and opportunities that this community has to offer to its members.

Are you currently working on any projects?

Yes. After I published my dissertation “The Conformists: Creativity and Decadence in the Bulgarian Cinema 1945-89” with Cambridge Scholars Publishing, I complet18:31 Disturbance - Dwight Circle. ed a chapter dedicated again to

Report of a loud verbal argument.

Bulgarian Cinema during the

Gone on arrival.

Cold War era entitled “Mirrors Why did you decide to major of Death: Silent Subversions in history?

Monday, Dec. 3, 2012 and Marginality in the Bulgarian Cinema: 1960-1978.” This

I think that it is among the most chapter will be part of the book 07:40 Fire (building) - D. Justin McCarthy Center. diverse academic disciplines.

“Revisions: Cinema, State So Small fire in Ram’s Den Grille.

Since the 1960s, the field of cialism and Society in the Soviet history and historical inquiry Union and Eastern Europe 1917in general has undergone mas1989.” This book presents a resive transformation for good. examination of the cinemas of a Already during the 1960s, a range of countries in the Soviet group of historians started pubUnion and Eastern Europe in lishing books and articles on communist times. It argues that “history from below,” meansince the end of communism in ing the history of the common Kathleen McDonough/The Gatepost these countries, scholars of film Spencer Buell Carey Scouler people. On the other hand, the are able to view the cinemas of Editor-in-Chief Copy Editor cultural turn of the 70s led to the emergence those countries in communist times in a differof historical writings that dealt with several ent way - no longer bound by a Cold War outaspects of cultural history, such as the history look - an outlook which tended to view such Joe Kourieh Deanna Collins of arts, writing, mentalities, the family, the his- cinemas only in Cold War terms. At the same Associate Editor Staff designer tory of ideas and institutions. All those novel- time, with the opening of archives in Eastern Kerrin Murray ties in the field made understanding historical Europe and the former Soviet Union, much Associate Editor Patrick Carreiro change by assessing society in its totality pos- more is known about the state and society in Online Editor sible. For example, in order to explain a historic those countries in communist time. This re-exevent, such as the French Revolution, you must amination of cinema presents a rich, varied tapKathleen McDonough explore the period when it happened from all estry, relating specific film to specific national Staff Writers: News Editor angles, assessing cultural, economic and po- circumstances, and viewing these cinemas Kärin Radock Natasha St. Amand litical factors. History does not accept a single more as part of the diverse “world cinema” than News Editor Kaila Braley ideological or structural paradigm or a single as a single, monolithic “Cold War Communist” Michael B. Murphy Scott Calzolaio event. You really must examine every aspect cinema. The book is expected to be published surrounding an event and ultimately tell the with Routledge in June 2013.

Assistant News Editor Samantha Cusella story. We must make the past come to life and Adam Farah let it speak with the multiplicity of its own au- What was your best experience in college?

Talia Adry Ashley Kazijian thentic voices. I also tremendously enjoyed my Arts & Features Editor Stacia Kindler master’s program in women’s studies. As all When I took a class on historical research and Zachary Comeau Samantha Lockard of us know, traditional history is mostly “his” writing, and my professor found that my paper Arts & Features Editor Tom Lustig story - meaning the story of powerful kings and was publishable. It was a great pleasure editing famous politicians who, for the most part, are it, expanding it and finally seeing it in print. It Alex Shuman Rachellyn Makuch males. The history of women does not only tell was called “After the Fall: Xenophobia in ReAssistant Arts & Bryan McKenna what happened to this significant part of the united Germany - Renaissance or Status Quo?” Features Editor Craig Pease population, but it also addresses the history of and it appeared in the New England Journal of Sara Silvestro Kristen Pinto the dispossessed - the so called “people without History during the fall of 2002. After this exAssistant Arts & Cristina Valente histories” - minorities, immigrants, common perience, I became sure that I discovered my men and marginal actors who did not have the vocation and wanted to go to graduate school, Features Editor power to shape the political processes, but who continue researching and writing, work toward Staff ultimately made history by going to the streets the Ph.D. and become a professor.

Matt Cook Photographers: and demanding equal rights.

Sports Editor What are your hobbies?

Margaret Walsh Jess Thomas What courses do you teach?

Elizabeth Chauppetta Assistant sports I love spending time with my family - my husI teach mostly the Comparative History of band, daughter and our dog. I like to travel, go editor Dr. Desmond McCarthy World Civilizations and Europe and the World. to the movies, theater and classical concerts and Advisor I serve here also as a DGCE online instructor, I like cooking.

Samantha Rawson where I offer upper-level classes such as EuMeredith O’Brien-Weiss Opinions Editor rope since 1945 and the History of European Assistant Advisor Women.

[Editor’s note: An earlier version the article Alexis Huston “President Flanagan apologizes for ‘Storm What is the best part of your job here?

Photo Editor Troopers e-mail” from the Nov. 16 issue of The Danielle Vecchione Gatepost contained an attribution to “Fram100 State Street, McCarthy Center Room 410 Being able to be part of the entire community. ingham State Information Technology conPhoto Editor As an alumna, I have special bonds at FSU. I reFramingham, MA 01701-9101 tractor Gregg Sniklefritz,” a name provided to Allie Card ceived my undergraduate degree at FSU and in Phone: (508) 626-4605 Assistant Photo a way, I never went away. I started working as a The Gatepost by a third party claiming to be a Fax: (508) 626-4097 Editor visiting lecturer here already during my gradu- member of the ITS staff. Gregg’s last name is gatepost@framingham.edu ate studies at Brandeis University. I had the rare actually Merloni, and he is a full-time ITS staff opportunity to sit on both sides, being first a member. The Gatepost regrets the error.]

EDITORIAL BOARD 2012-2013

www.thegatepost.com

@TheGatepost

December 7, 2012

Continued from page 1

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Administration, faculty welcome new dean of graduate studies

chair and creating programs, said Vaden-Goad in the Sept. 14 article “Enrollment-related offices reorganized to serve students better.”

She also said the search committee wanted candidates to “have had a good amount of experience teaching graduate students.

“That makes a big difference,” she said. “They would understand the programs that we have, and the differences between undergraduate courses and graduate courses.

So, that’s a very important feature.”

Additionally, she said, the search committee wanted to hire someone who had administrative experience.

Vaden-Goad said Najjar was recommended to her by the search committee and that both she and President Flanagan interviewed him.

Najjar was hired, she said, because “he’s got a lot of experience.”

In the e-mail he sent to faculty, staff, students, the Board of Trustees, Alumni and Foundation Board members, Flanagan said Najjar earned his Ph.D. in geography at the University of Cincinnati in 1987 and joined the Framingham State College faculty as an assistant professor that same year.

He also chaired the Geography Department for 12 years and has served two terms on FSU’s graduate council.

“An active scholar in fields including spatial analysis, eco-tourism, transportation, economic development and housing policy,” said Flanagan, “Dr. Najjar was a Fulbright Scholar at Bahrain University in 2006, where he developed a master’s degree program in Urban Planning in the College of Engineering.”

Vaden-Goad said Najjar also has a lot of international experience working with people in and even bringing students to other countries.

She added that he speaks a number of languages and “has a lot of ideas about going to the community, and working with businesses, to kind of bring together the kinds of things we can do in the university, and in our community.”

Greenberg said Najjar will be responsible for scheduling graduate courses for the fall and spring semesters and the summer sessions, working with the program coordinators and advisors for each of the 26 graduate programs available at FSU to meet student needs, and developing new graduate programs in conjunction with faculty, based on the needs of the workforce in the region.

He said Najjar will also oversee the graduate certificate, post-baccalaureate and overseas master of education programs.

Greenberg said in an e-mail that there have been 1,430 graduate registrations in four-credit courses, with an unduplicated headcount of 1,057 this fall. These numbers do not include students enrolled in the international graduate programs overseas or in one-credit online graduate courses.

“In comparison to fall 2011,” he said, “our current fall 2012 enrollment reflects a 2.3 percent increase in graduate registrations and a 2.6 percent increase in graduate students.”

Najjar said that as dean of graduate studies, he will manage the existing graduate programs, which are focused mainly in the three areas of education, business and sciences, and have been run as continuing education programs.

“There is a new vision at Fram-

itan and the greater Worcester area.”

To achieve this, Najjar said he will be looking into creating joint graduate programs with other public institutions in central Massachusetts.

Najjar said that based on his educational philosophy that “learning should begin in the classroom as well

Alexis Huston/The Gatepost

Professor of Geography and Urban Planning Yaser Najjar has been appointed to the new position of dean of graduate studies. ingham - especially since we became a university - to build bridges between the graduate programs and undergraduate programs,” he said.

Because of that, Najjar said one of his main tasks will be to get departments more involved in graduate programs, in order to meet the needs of undergraduate students who might want to continue their graduate studies at FSU, or plan to have middle management positions with the stakeholders in the region.

“My position demands from me to be an open-minded, team-oriented dean who will listen, and listen and listen to students, faculty, staff and stakeholders,” he said.

Najjar said he will first focus on three tracks in his new role.

The first is providing stakeholders in the region with qualified master’s degrees or professional certificates. He said he believes this can be accomplished by developing new master’s programs, which could be joint five-year B.A./M.A. programs, or hybrid-type programs, which would “utilize the underlying learning opportunities.”

The second track is enhancing the global understanding of graduate students. He said that will be done by recruiting international students to “join our future proposed full-time master’s degrees,” and through creating partnerships between FSU and foreign universities, so that Framingham State can offer joint master’s programs.

The third track is to offer “unique” graduate programs that could attract students from the eastern and western parts of the state, “who will appreciate the rural type of setting in Framingham instead of being in the heavily populated regions, such as the Boston-metropol-

as in the real world,” he has been able to conduct successful field trips to countries in the Middle East and Latin America, and he has been encouraging his colleagues to conduct trips to other regions of the world.

As dean of graduate studies, he plans to continue these trips and open the opportunity to both undergraduate and graduate students, which he hopes can be conducted at the level of upper-level undergraduate and lower-level graduate courses.

He added that since he has worked at international universities in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain, where he taught and developed master’s programs, he knows how much international students appreciate the opportunity to be associated with American higher education - American graduate programs particularly.

He said students at FSU would also benefit from having an opportunity to interact with international students and visit foreign universities.

“I think I will utilize my personal and educational background with my previous experiences to enhance the concept of diversity at FSU, because diversity brings different views, ideas together, which will enhance our future vision,” said Najjar.

He said he will be leading a trip to Peru in January. If students are interested, he invited them to contact him within the next week.

He added that in the “near future,” he will enhance and enlarge FSU’s involvement in the overseas master of education program.

According to Greenberg, there are currently 15 different countries where students can study through this program.

Najjar explained that this program is designed to offer the gradu-

ate master’s degree for teachers mostly in developing countries.

In addition to that program, he said he would also like to try to enlarge the focus on high-tech, information technology and international business programs.

Najjar said due to the duties of his new position, he might not be able to teach in the classroom, but will continue to offer one online class and organize and lead field study courses to the regions of the Middle East and Latin America, which are his “original specialty.

“Or maybe,” he said, “after I will achieve working closely with departments and developing new full-time graduate programs, I might offer a similar type of graduate course, which would focus on research methods and global understanding.”

Najjar said he thinks having two deans will “give an opportunity for each dean to focus and spend maybe two-thirds of their time on their specific specialty … and reserve the other one-third for coordination, because we cannot separate totally the continuing education from the daytime graduate programs focus.”

Dr. Mary Rogers is the coordinator of the master of business administration (MBA) program offered at FSU, which according to the school website, framingham.edu, is “designed for mid-level managers and professionals in business and other organizations who aspire to greater leadership and management roles. Students learn to link theory with practice, and to understand the multi-disciplinary demands of a business environment that is increasingly global, technology-oriented, and diverse.”

Rogers said in an e-mail that the program is “relatively new” only five years old - and growing.

“It is now of a size where it requires more dedicated attention and will require more outreach,” she said.

Rogers said now that FSU offers a full-time MBA program, having “their own dean sends the message that full-time programming is possible and supported by the university as a whole.”

She said the new structure also “emphasizes the integration of the services offered to the MBA graduate students beyond just classes.”

Rogers said that will allow the program to focus on more holistic services to the student population and the new dean will serve as a liaison to assist in bringing those additional services to students as their numbers grow.

Dr. Lorretta Holloway is the coordinator and advisor of the master of education concentration in English program, which according to the school website, is “designed for students who are interested in furthering their knowledge in English at the graduate level, without regard to employment as teachers, as well as for those who wish to meet state or district requirements for advanced study by teachers.”

Holloway said in an e-mail that most students in the program are people who want to be teachers, and that - Continued on page 5

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News

December 7, 2012

Changeover creates a communication barrier for club teams

together instead of in separate vehicles.

He said the shift also caused some friction because, in years prior, the club sports teams were “in control of everything and I think it’s that releasing of control and Athletics being in control is where the change is difficult.”

Rosenbaum said another problem the teams faced when club sports were moved to the Athletic department was losing team members because they were either not full-time matriculated students or members were considered academically ineligible.

“I think there is sort of a carrot dangling on a stick saying, ‘Let’s get eligible, and let’s get the classes to graduate,’” said Rosenbaum.

According to the Framingham State Undergraduate Catalog, in order to be a part of any extracurricular activity, students must maintain a 2.0 GPA. Rosenbaum said the club sport student athletes do not have to meet National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) or Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) regulations, unlike the varsity sports team members under the department.

The MASCAC website states, “The purpose of the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference is to provide a uniform program of athletics for all state colleges. The objective underlying this purpose is to create a healthy atmosphere of competition and rivalry between the colleges and their student bodies while fostering the values of cooperation, leadership, courage, self-discipline, sportsmanship, diversity and self-reliance among the participating athletes.”

The NCAA website states, “Our mission is to be an integral part of higher education and to focus on the development of our student-athletes.”

The NCAA emphasizes that the athletic programs within the conference must “represent all of the United States and all of our complexity. We have to be committed in higher education and intercollegiate athletics to the philosophy of promoting diversity in our work.”

The NCAA uses the federal definition for Title IX: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

According to the NCAA publication, “Equity and Title IX in Intercollegiate Athletics: A Practical Guide for Colleges and Universities,” one of the major requirements for schools that are members of the NCAA is that equal “opportunities to participate in intercollegiate sports must be offered to members of each gender.”

The Title IX requirements do not obligate schools to have identical athletic programs for men and women or to have an equal number of men and women athletes.

The NCAA’s publication lists a number of criteria the organization uses to determine if a program is a “sport” for Title IX purposes, including: • Whether selection for the team is based upon objective factors related pri-

marily to athletics ability • Whether the team prepares for and engages in competition in the same way as other teams in the Athletics program with respect to coaching, recruitment, budget, tryouts and eligibility, length and number of practice sessions and competi-

applicable NCAA by-laws as well as Title IX requirements,” said Eggen.

She reported that for the 2012-13 academic year, there are a total of 185 men and 112 women who are members of a varsity or club sport.

According to Eggen, the total esti-

Alexis Huston/The Gatepost

FSU cheerleaders practice at Maple Field. tive opportunities • Whether the activity is administered by the Athletics department • Whether the activity is recognized as part of the intercollegiate athletics program by the athletics conference to which the institution belongs and by organized national intercollegiate athletics associations Kelley said the Athletics Department is an “NCAA umbrella,” and that club sports are not recognized as a varsity sport.

“It is pretty much for NCAA varsity sports. It’s a shame for us because cheerleading uses pretty big female numbers as well as women’s rugby.

“For example, let’s say they recognize women’s rugby, leaving out men’s rugby. … Recognition just depends on whatever school you are coming from,” said Kelley.

He said the addition of women’s rugby and cheerleading and men’s rugby and lacrosse does affect Title IX compliance.

Rosenbaum said, “It’s two men’s and two women’s teams, so my guess would be is that it’s balanced. It’s equal.”

Dean of Students Melinda Stoops said Title IX is a federal requirement which, “in a nutshell, prohibits gender-based discrimination in any educational setting that gets federal funding.”

She said Title IX does not require identical athletic programs, but is based on “equity.

“If you have a women’s basketball team, you do not have to have a men’s basketball team. You want to make sure both men and women have the same opportunities,” said Stoops.

Associate Director of Athletics and Title IX Coordinator Carey Eggen said in an e-mail that the transition was intended to provide “participation opportunities” and emphasized that the club sports are not “included in Title IX through the NCAA. “For varsity sports, we must meet all

mated budgeted amounts for the end of FY2012-13 men’s varsity sports is projected at $505,852. Men’s football is the highest budgeted amount at $234,506 and men’s ice hockey is the second-highest budgeted amount at $81,587.

Funding for women’s varsity sports are projected to cost a total of $313,658.

Funding for women’s club sports are projected at $71,816. Women’s rugby’s budgeted amount is at $22,114.

The cheerleading team, also a club sport, is budgeted at $49,072.

Men’s club sports are projected at $44,228. Men’s lacrosse and rugby teams are both budgeted for a total of $22,114.

Men’s varsity baseball, women’s varsity softball and the club sport cheerleading teams each take a preseason spring trip, which is paid through fundraising money, and which is also reflected in their budgets.

Eggen said, “The Athletic budget is a student fee-based budget approved annually by Tom Kelley, director of Athletics, Dale Hamel, executive vice president and the Board of Trustees. The sport portion of the budget is based on the very unique needs of each team.”

Before the teams were moved to Athletics, club sports teams were responsible for creating their own budgets and had to register through SILD, along with over 50 other clubs, in order to gain access to campus space, use various campus resources and apply for funding through the Student Government Association.

Rosenbaum said most of the club sports teams had a difficult time with the transition because before the change, the teams were “in control. The change was especially difficult for the ineligible [students].”

He said the teams responded positively to some of the benefits the varsity sports teams receive, such as trainers, field preference and rehabilitation clinics for injured players.

Kelley said although the club sports teams do not have to meet NCAA or

MASCAC regulations, the move was also meant to treat the four teams as varsity sports.

“The biggest pushback from student athletes is because there weren’t a lot of standards which they had to follow and the paperwork is cumbersome,” said Kelley.

Rosenbaum said, “I think it’s hard for the kids. We’ve got paperwork for them to do. They’ve got to sign our hazing policy, and we have to get all their insurance information and that’s always a headache doing paperwork, but we’re doing it the right way. In the end, it’s going to be a good thing.”

Casey DeGust, a senior on the men’s rugby team, said the transition was difficult at first, but has ultimately been more beneficial for the team.

There were a lot of new rules and regulations we had to abide by. I think as a club we were happy to do it, though. We were all very excited about the change,” said Degust.

He said the changeover caused the team to lose a few members because of their grades, but that “was something that most of us agreed with.”

With the new budget for his team, Degust said he and his teammates have hardly had to do any fundraising and were able to focus more of their time and energy on rugby.

DeGust said field time is also more available and “we were given access to facilities and staff that we had never had before, which served to help our team a lot.”

Kristie Bezreh, a senior on the women’s rugby team, said, “At first, I was excited to be managed by Athletics because it would make it easier on my teammates who had to do everything on their own before. But, I don’t think they made things much easier for us.”

Despite some disappointments, Bezreh said the ability to have access to the athletic trainers has been a major improvement.

“The fact that we can go to the athletic trainers is the best thing that could have happened - I can’t believe we never could before,” said Bezreh.

She said the move caused communication between team members and the department has become more difficult because a “middle man” is needed to do so.

She said the club still has to fundraise just as much as before the transition.

Bezreh added that finding a reasonable practice time has also been difficult.

“We practice pretty late, which I wasn’t thrilled about because at 7:30 p.m., the field got really cold, and it was kind of brutal to have to tackle and fall on the turf in those low temperatures.”

Sophia Peduzzi, a senior on the women’s rugby team said the switch to Athletics was very difficult since she has been a member for four years now.

She said there has not been clear communication between her team and the department.

Before the transition, Peduzzi said club sport members had to budget their own money and were responsible for every detail and decision for the rugby team.

“It was never communicated to us - Continued on page 5

December 7, 2012

Continued from page 4

News

Club sports now have to fundraise less

about what duties we would now have or not have as we made the switch to Athletics. This was really hard because scheduling games is such an important part of our season, and we did not know if that was still our responsibility or if Athletics was responsible now,” said Peduzzi.

She said the lack of communication between the team and Athletics delayed recruitment and the beginning of their season.

She added that the Athletics Department did not have a lot of knowledge about how the rugby season worked. She said since most members of the team were significantly involved in the process of running the team, “not being able to communicate or have any control” became a negative part of the move.

She said now that it is controlled by Athletics, the team does not have the burden of fundraising as much as when they were under SILD. “We were able to get equipment and food for lunches without any fundraising. We still do take part in fundraising for things such as our uniforms and more equipment for the spring.”

Peduzzi said she does not think it is fair that the team is held to the same standards as varsity sports, especially because they do not have to meet NCAA or MASCAC regulations.

“Because we are not technically a varsity sport and do not have to meet the same requirements, our sport did not get the same quality of time, attention and detail as the other sports. But, we were still told we had to meet the GPA requirement. If rugby is not seen as a varsity sport and therefore does not get treated as such, our team should definitely not be held to the standards of the other sports unless it is in all areas.”

She said the team has benefitted from new equipment, food for away games, coach buses and practice time on the turf

Deanna Collins/The Gatepost

5

field - all of which is budgeted for under Athletics.

However, she said trying to get field time to practice has been a struggle.

“We were pushed to one of the latest time slots at night, only two days a week, and had to fight to get slightly earlier times. We also never got to play a home game because the Maple turf field was booked for pee wee football the days our home games were scheduled. That was particularly frustrating,” said Peduzzi.

Leigh Morris, an alumni and former captain of the cheerleading team, said the change was especially difficult for the program this season.

“We had to postpone our tryout dates last minute and had a low number of girls try out for the team. We had to have tryouts less than a week before our camp date. At camp, we compete for a full paid bid to nationals. With such little time to prepare the team, it affected our performance greatly,” said Morris.

She said since the team is not obligated to follow NCAA or MASCAC regulations, she feels as though it is unfair that the team is held to the same standards as the varsity sports teams.

“Our season is twice as long as other sports teams and our limited practice schedule given to us by Athletics will hinder our progress this season,” said Morris.

She said one of the benefits from the move was that team members are no longer club officers, giving the responsibilities of budgeting and paperwork to the Athletics Department.

Morris said the team has to fundraise just as much as when they were under SILD. “I am disappointed to see our program suffer from this transition. I have high hopes for the girls as we try to rebuild our program under Athletics. It is a work in progress, and we can only hope for a successful season,” said Morris.

Najjar to begin as new dean of graduate studies in January

Continued from page 3

the state of Massachusetts requires that teachers get master’s degrees.

She said she thinks the coordinators and advisors of the master’s degree programs at FSU will be able to have a more concentrated effort on improving the academic quality of their programming by having someone whose primary focus is on graduate studies.

“We have had very committed people. However, they were responsible for more than one job - enrollment, graduate studies, PBTL [post baccalaureate teacher licensure] programming, and all continuing education services,” she said.

With the separation of enrollment management to student services and the separation of graduate from continuing education, she said, the university and the people who work for the master’s degree programs will “be able to concentrate on using the strengths of each program to address programmatic weakness.”

Holloway said there will now be someone in charge of overseeing program review and helping program coordinators with the concerns they have about course offerings, course rota-

tions and program growth and quality.

She said because there will now be a new dean of graduate studies, she is hoping students will “be able to see a streamlined process from admission to their exams, so that they can spend more time studying and researching and less time trying to figure out the system.”

Coordinator of the master of arts concentration in counseling psychology Deborah McMakin said in an e-mail that the program provides academic and field experiences for students to become licensed mental health counselors in Massachusetts.

Graduates work in a number of settings, including hospitals, schools and correction facilities. She said it is not uncommon that they become field supervisors for current students.

“Our students and faculty bring diverse professional and personal experiences to the classroom, yielding a dynamic and supportive learning community,” she said.

McMakin said she thinks a position with a primary focus on graduate students will “likely bring new opportunities to continue to assess and strengthen our program

to better meet students’ needs.”

She said it is always beneficial for any program to be represented directly and advocated for at the higher levels of administration.

McMakin said students will benefit indirectly from the support the new dean of graduate studies will provide for program coordinators, advisors and faculty. She added that students will benefit directly from having an “advocate promoting their programs and being there for students when they have questions or concerns.”

Sophomore English major Kira Crocker said in an e-mail that she thinks it makes sense that DGCE was separated into two separate offices.

She said she thinks graduate studies should prepare students for their “immediate immersion into the ‘real world,’” and that continuing education should help those who are remaining in a school setting, because “school’s only a microcosm of the real world.

“I personally grinned from ear to ear when I saw the school-wide email,” said Crocker, “as I had Dr. Najjar last semester (spring 2012) for World Regional Geography, a class in which I learned a lot and Najjar dem-

onstrated his vast knowledge. He’s a friendly, helpful professor who often encouraged our class to look into upcoming international trips because he wants students to experience as much of the world as possible. That alone qualifies him, I think, to be the new dean of graduate studies.”

Sophomore fashion major Olivia Harvey said she’s not sure what the job of the new dean of graduate studies entails, but based on Najjar’s resume, said she’s “sure he’ll do a great job.”

Sophomore English major James Lindsay said, “If this [hiring of a dean of graduate studies] allows for each dean to focus more on fewer students, then it sounds good to me!”

Sophomore sociology major Angelique Bouthot, sophomore fashion major Amanda Bonaccorso and sophomore elementary education major Taylor Dean all said they wish Najjar luck in his new role.

Najjar pledged to students, faculty and the administration that “I will carry this trust with full capacity and with full cooperation and coordination with everyone within our FSU community.”

6

News

December 7, 2012

Board of Trustees approves dining and parking expansions

By Kathleen McDonough News Editor

The Framingham State University Board of Trustees approved dining commons and parking expansion projects at last week’s meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 27.

The board approved borrowing up to a maximum of $2,750,000 for the McCarthy Center Dining Commons expansion that will start in April and hopefully be completed by fall 2013, said Executive Vice President Dale Hamel. This expansion will add around 250 seats and will also be able to function as a separate forum, he added. [See “Cafeteria expansion expected to start in April” in the Nov. 30 edition of The Gatepost online.]

The board also approved the school borrowing up to a maximum of $15 million in support of parking expansion and land acquisition projects.

Hamel updated the board on the ongoing Hemenway science project that, four months in, is “significantly over budget.”

In June, Hamel said, the administration had a balanced budget for the project that included the new addition, the renovation of the existing building and its infrastructure. However, the budget overrun is due to the fact that projects from the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAM) are coming in significantly higher than the cost estimates in the budget.

As a result, Hamel said administrators did “value engineering to identify reductions in cost for the projects - some of which eliminate the programmatic scope,” or basically cut out anything nonessential. This resulted in eliminating the renovation of the existing facility, which is “something we could come

back and address over time.” He said FSU has also requested additional funding from the state to add more of the programmatic scope back to the project if it is awarded the money.

Eric Gustafson, executive director of development and alumni relations, said his team, as of Nov. 13, has raised $2,563,000 toward the $10 million capital campaign goal, “so we’re off to a good start.” The goal in this second year of the campaign is to raise an additional $1.2 million in cash and pledges, which they are “well on pace for.” Gustafson said his department is in a position to have all three of Framingham State’s boards 100 percent committed by December 31.

President Timothy J. Flanagan reported that this year, the administration has taken the crime reporting on campus a step further than the Clery Act requires by law. They have started e-mailing students in addition to posting safety bulletins, which Flanagan said students have appreciated.

Vice President for Academic Affairs Linda Vaden-Goad reported that the academic subcommittee of the board approved 16 professors for sabbatical leave in the next two years.

Susanne Conley, vice president for enrollment and student development, said it has been a “banner year” for early action for fall 2013, with 1,116 applications, up from 966 last year and 657 in the fall of 2011. Conley added that her department’s target enrollment for fall 2013 is 825 freshmen and 425 transfer students, which she is “confident” will be reached.

FSUPD Chief of Police Brad Medeiros, at the request of the board, gave an update of the process of providing

Danielle Vecchione/The Gatepost

The Board of Trustees approved the borrowing of up to $2,750,000 for the expansion of the Dining Commons at Tuesday’s meeting. firearms to campus police. He said there have been “no problems, concerns or issues” so far.

Medeiros said FSUPD officers attended additional training with the Framingham Police Department and the Middlesex Sherriff’s Department last month that everybody passed. “Each officer spent eight hours in a state-of-the-art scenario trailer where it was a live fire situation specifically geared on school shooters with classroom situations that would then turn into barricaded subject situations and potentially a hostage situation.

It was an enhanced program specifically geared toward this type of environment.”

The next training will be a “requalification program” in the beginning of the summer, said Medeiros.

Trustee Chair Joe Burchill asked

whether the two recent resignations of officers were connected to the fact that FSUPD has “new skills,” referring to their firearms training.

Medeiros said the officers took civil service exams two years ago and hadn’t heard anything back until now. “Of course, they are well trained, so when they leave here, they are being picked up or chosen over somebody that isn’t trained.”

He added that the department has changed the application process to require applicants who have already been through training.

The department received 168 qualified applicants in ten days for the two open full-time positions. “We’ve got quite the pool. I’ve never seen so many applicants come in so fast.”

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News

December 7, 2012

All College Committee holds student forum on tobacco-free campus proposal

Continued from page 1

Vaden-Goad replied the feedback has not been overwhelmingly negative. “At the last open forum [a faculty forum], it was actually in the other direction. It was mostly positive.”

Kemegue said so far, the feedback which the committee has received has been about 85 percent positive.

Another student asked when the policy would be put into effect if it were passed.

Vaden-Goad answered, “The president has asked that we be prepared for something effective September first.”

Senior English major Talia Adry asked about the rule of how close one can smoke near a building.

Medeiros said, “It is 30 feet … but legally, a police officer cannot enforce the health law violations.”

Student Activity Treasurer Paul Manning said Bridgewater State has designated smoking areas off campus where students can go to if they would like to smoke.

Manning said he spoke with a few members of Bridgewater State’s residence life staff, who are responsible for enforcing BSU’s smoking policy. “It puts it onto the university and the community members, basically.”

Freshman SGA Senator Mike Reda said it’s hypocritical to ban tobacco substances and then sell energy drinks.

Another student said, “Students should have alternatives, so they look at it from a psychological point of view, saying, ‘They’re completely cutting it out, not giving me anything,’ or, ‘They’re cutting this out but they’re giving an alternative.’”

Vaden-Goad said if the campus is tobacco-free, all cigarette receptacles will

Alexis Huston/The Gatepost

Administrators are considering making the FSU campus tobacco-free.

Alexis Huston/The Gatepost

Students may no longer be able to smoke on campus if the new tobacco-free policy is enstated.

be removed.

Another student said, “You can’t just put the hammer down and expect it to be enforced. At least if they have a safe place to go, but they’re still smoking outside of one of those locations, and they have an alternative, then they won’t have that much of a proverbial leg to stand on when they get busted other places.”

Vaden-Goad said that once FSU is a tobacco-free campus, “The goal would be to create a program that would assist people in not smoking because in the long run, for them and others around them,” that would be helpful.

Lizz Gilmore asked about commuters

who drive through campus smoking, and what happens in the parking lot when they get here.

Kemegue said the new policy would ban smoking in cars in the parking lots.

Another student asked, “What if somebody was on State Street sitting on the curb smoking a cigarette? Is that against policy?”

Medeiros replied, “It’s no different than the alcohol policy. … If a student decides to go out on the curb and crack open a beer, he can’t sit there and drink it. Legally, he’s in violation of the university’s policies.”

Dobbert said, “If we’re looking at this

from a public health issue standpoint, and we ban tobacco, do we ban sugar? I mean, where does it end?”

Graduate student Lizz Gilmore said, “If I was a parent and I was helping my 17 or 18-year-old chose a college, I’d say, ‘Oh, Framingham State - it’s a dry campus, so there will be less alcohol abuse. Oh look, and it’s also smoke and tobacco-free. Sounds like a safer environment for my kid.’”

Adry said she has not noticed many cigarette butts on campus or anyone abusing the 30-foot rule.

Vaden-Goad said that the facilities grounds crew works very hard to clean the campus and they had to buy a new machine this year that is specifically designed to pick up cigarette butts.

Another student said she was going to bring her child to day care on campus.

Then, when she went on the tour through the back yard, she could smell cigarette smoke. “That was one of the deterrents.

I was like, ‘Nope - he’s not coming here.

I’m not going to have him exposed. He’s three years old.’”

Reda said he does not agree with a tobacco-free campus policy because “We [FSU] shouldn’t be enforcing our moral values on other people. That’s not what an educated society is about.”

Dobbert said, “I believe that people have the right, if they don’t push it onto others, to practice their personal habits. I feel like this kind of goes against that.”

Vaden-Goad said the school would not benefit financially by having a tobacco-free campus.

“This is something happening across the nation … trying to promote a healthy lifestyle,” said Vaden-Goad.

[Edtor’s note: Talia Adry is a member of The Gatepost editorial board.]

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Op/Ed

8

The Gatepost Editorial

Keeping Donahue’s memory alive

December 7, 2012

Op/Ed

Letters to the editor One year later

It has been one year since Ashley Donahue’s accident on December 3, 2011, and Framingham State has continued to show support in unbelievable ways.

Within the past year, there have been many fundraisers and events that have contributed to her scholarship foundation at Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School, and helped keep her memory alive. Ashley’s accident was tragic, and could have been prevented, so This week, the Framingham State community is in light of that, blue ribbons have been placed around reflecting on the life and legacy of a beloved student, whom campus to remind students to make safe decisions, and we lost much too soon, but whose memory lingers now to remember that it only takes once.

The tremendous support shown by Framingham

State students over the past year has only brought comfort to Ashley’s parents, family and friends. It is clear that Ashley was loved, adored and is truly missed on campus. Her story has hit home to many students on campus because of her positive outlook on life and ability to relate to everyone, and it is clear that she has not been, nor will she ever be, forgotten.

A year ago, an overwhelming amount of students showed their support for Ashley and her family at her vigil shortly after the accident.

as much as ever. After Ashley Donahue’s tragic passing Courtney Durant Kelli Hudson in a car accident that fateful night in early December Jess Tabaczynski Class of 2014 Class of 2013 Class of 2013 of 2011, her friends and family, classmates and fellow Dance Team members came together in heartwarming, inspiring ways to commemorate the person she was. They attended a prayer vigil in astounding numbers. They filled a remembrance book with loving words. They performed “If tears could build a stairway, and memories were a lane, I would walk right up to heaven to bring you brilliantly at the annual dance show, even without Ashley home again. No farewell words were spoken, no time to say goodbye. You were gone before I knew it, and only by their sides. They roared as one at that week’s men’s God knows why. My heart still aches in sadness and secret tears still flow. What it meant to lose you no one will -Anonymous basketball game, packing the home team bleachers with ever know.” a sea of white T-shirts. They reminded everyone, with a When thinking about what to write in memory of looked at some of her pictures, and said to my parents, vengeance, what it truly means to be an FSU Ram. our beautiful Ashley Donahue, I could not sum all of “She looks nice, I know I’ll get along with her.” I was That week, turquoise blue ribbons dotted the campus my emotions up into a quote of my own because I just right. We immediately clicked and a friendship was on fences and door handles, as reminders of Ashley’s have too many. This quote explains exactly how I have formed. Her contagious personality and beautiful smile eternal presence at FSU. Once again, many of those felt every day since that night. I will never forget every that could brighter your mood instantly. The impact who loved Ashley have tied those symbolic ribbons in second of that night leading up to the tragic event. A that Ashley has made on the FSU community is truly every corner of Framingham State. And once again, at year has gone by and the memories of you still stay incredible. Ashley’s passing has touched the hearts of fresh in my mind. Although I forever hold the memo- so many and, hopefully, saved the lives of many oththis solemn time, when, for those who knew her, the most ries of that night, I have learned to replay the wonder- ers by instilling the importance of life and safety into painful of memories re-emerge once again, we at The ful memories shared with her before that night instead everyone. I truly believe that her stunning smile is still Gatepost could not be more proud - proud of our fellow of dwelling. shining from ear to ear, watching down, letting all of students’ reverence, their sense of community and their I’ll never forget the day I found out who my random us know that we are never alone. I love you and miss commitment to ensuring that Ashley’s memory lives on. roommates we’re going to be my sophomore year. I you forever.

Holly Benson Over the course of this year, Framingham State was e-mailed her name and, obviously, the first thing I did was look her up on Facebook. I went to her page, Class of 2013 students, administrators, faculty and staff have nominated their peers for the “Inspiring Student Award,” created in Ashley’s memory, given to a student who embodies the woman they remember for being “a fun-loving, At Framingham State University, students have paper for their accounts, but it is not advertised or caring, friendly, honest, loyal person and friend.” They access to a wide range of materials and activities that encouraged. On the Information Technology Services have bought stickers, bracelets, lanyards and T-shirts to improve their overall learning experience. Students branch of the school website, the ability to ask for new support a scholarship bearing her name at her hometown’s have a library, various studies and computer labs - but pages is offered only in a small footnote. It seems as if Bridegewater-Raynham Regional High School. When their paper supply is severely limited. somebody did not want students reading it at all. administrators Ben Trapanick and Lauren O’Donoghue At FSU, student printing is limited to 350 pages per To make matters worse, once students go to won the “Dancing with the Staff” competition in March, account each semester. Unfortunately, this just isn’t Hemenway Hall to request their new pages, the requests they donated their winnings to the cause. They have enough to satisfy students’ needs. must go through a process that could take days. This shared tears and laughs recounting stories about Ashley. In writing-heavy classes, for which students may can be very inconvenient for students with unexpected have to print out multiple drafts, page counts can reach assignments that require more paper than usual.

And they have done all of it together.

In short, students have the ability to get the paper Many of those who knew Ashley have already crossed triple digits. Professors may also ask students to print the graduation stage, and even more will be doing the out lengthy reading material, meaning that full-time they need, but the lengths they must go to in order to same this year. But after all of us leave Framingham State students taking four classes are likely to reach the page obtain such a basic resource is absurd.

It is true that technology allows us to read and write behind and pursue our careers, we need to keep Ashley limit long before the semester’s end.

This is not just a slight inconvenience. At a school on the computer without printing at all, but realistically, in our hearts and minds. We should remember her as we - a hub promoting growth and knowledge - the first grading and editing is easier to do on paper, and spend the holiday season with loved ones, cherishing priority should be to supply students with the equipment reading a long document on a screen can be tiring and each passing moment for the blessing it is. and materials they need to develop their skills in their harmful to the eyes. Also, because of computer crashes We should also remember her when it’s time to make respective fields of study. and Internet connection problems, using technology safe decisions about driving home after celebrations For most students, paper is a top priority. By instead of paper just isn’t feasible. which include alcohol - when we suspect we, or our discouraging students from using paper, the school’s The strict paper limit is not just a minor friends, may have had a few drinks too many. It is at administration discourages students from using inconvenience for students. For centuries, paper has moments like these we acknowledge the strength of the everything they need to succeed. been the lifeblood of education. A modern university bonds we, as members of the FSU community, share, but Students should not be afraid to print their work that does not make paper readily available is clearly also come to terms with the fragility of human life, and because of a penny-pinching page limit. They should doing something wrong. feel that they are supported in their pursuit of knowledge our collective responsibility to protect it.

As we said in the Dec. 9, 2011 Gatepost Editorial, just rather than constrained.

Jacob Aldrich one week after Ashley’s passing: “Ashley Donahue will Students do have the ability to request more Class of 2014 always be a part of Framingham State, and her presence will be felt here long into the future.”

The Gatepost welcomes submissions from students, faculty and staff for the Op/Ed page.

It has, and it will.

Please send submissions under 300 words to gatepost@framingham.edu.

Memories of a friend

FSU’s paper jam

The Gatepost editors reserve the right accept or reject submissions, and to edit spelling and grammar as is deemed necessary.

Op/Ed submissions reflect the opinions of their authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of The Gatepost or its staff.

Op/Ed

December 7. 2012

Tis the season...

Deanna Collins/The Gatepost

Well, it’s December. The holiday season is just around the corner (though the greeting card and retail industries have been shoving it down our throats since October), and everyone is happy, merry and jolly.

Or are they?

I am a Grinch. It’s not something I have a problem admitting. It’s not that I don’t love Christmas - I do really.

I enjoy spending a nice day in with my family, and not having to go anywhere or worry about having to do anything. It’s every single day leading up to Christmas that I can’t stand.

I worked in a mall for four Christmases. And let me tell you, nothing kills your holiday spirit faster than having to deal with grouchy mall patrons weighted down by hundreds of dollars worth of presents who yell at you because they don’t want to pay three dollars for a slice of pizza (which I understand, but do you have to yell at me over it?).

Christmas, to me, has basically turned into Valentine’s Day - a commercialized holiday that, in the end, only the stores and malls benefit from. I’m not going to be all high and mighty and pretend I don’t like getting presents - I do

9

- but where’s the spirit if that’s the only part of the holiday that matters? Even just going to the mall as a customer is frightening to me, because everyone is rushing around, trying to find “the perfect present,” and sometimes being quite rude about it. I’m a very short, very anxious person if someone pushes me out of the way for something (which has happened before), I’m just going to apologize and run away (which I’ve done).

I just don’t understand - does everything have to be about how much money you can spend? What about just being able to spend time with people you love? Or if nothing else, a whole month off from school is always nice. It’s not all about the presents, is the point I’m trying to make.

Happy Holidays!

Samantha Rawson Opinions Editor

At smoke-free campus debate, do empty seats mean no opinion?

The proposal would limit our civil liberties, but students remain silent

Deanna Collins/The Gatepost

While I am not a smoker, I went to the recent open forum for FSU to become a “tobacco-free” campus because I was interested in hearing more about the proposal and how the administration plans to enforce it. The suggested proposal not only prohibits smoking on campus, it bans any tobacco products - including hookah and chewing tobacco. It also bans students from wearing clothes which promote smoking/tobacco or endorse it any way - which, to me, is an extreme policy which infringes on our civil liberties.

Although not technically a state initiative, many state colleges and universities in Massachusetts have jumped on the bandwagon. Bridgewater State and Salem State are

currently tobacco-free, with UMass Amherst set to have a tobacco-free campus by 2013, according to an article in the Boston Globe last year.

Currently, FSU’s policy on smoking is the “30-foot rule,” which states that smokers must stand at least 30feet away from entrance ways at all times. Police Chief Brad Medeiros said that the rule is more of a “code of conduct,” and that “legally, [FSU] cannot enforce a health code violation.”

This forum was an open forum for students to come, ask questions or share personal opinions on the proposal. I was one of 25 people in the room, and maybe 10 of those people were students. Where are the students on this issue?

My intention is not to promote smoking, but to promote student participation in important decisions that have a monumental effect on our campus.

I care about our campus. I care about student livelihood and involvement. I also care about healthy living and a change in the current culture that accepts smoking as the norm, but that is beside the point: I care about civil liberties and the right to smoke. Do I think it is a bad habit?

Do I think smoking kills? Do I have members in my own

What the Bush-era tax cuts really cost

Republicans have defiantly maintained there shall be no new taxation in their negotiations with the Democrats, but as the so called “fiscal cliff” ticks closer to sequestration one must wonder whether Republicans are oblivious to the fact they are committing political suicide.

President Obama campaigned on the promise that those who earn over $250,000 would not see the Bush-era tax cuts extended for them, arguing it would have the “least positive impact on our economy” and “blow up the deficit” because they are tax cuts for the “wealthiest 2 percent that we can’t afford.”

Mind you, these aren’t the people who own yachts and private islands. But that’s beside the point. Americans agreed and voted the man back into office. Furthermore, a recent Pew Research Center poll found that 58 percent of Americans believe the wealthiest Americans do not pay high enough taxes.

In other words, Republicans are losing ground.

You can thank demagoguery for that because the notion that George W. Bush wrecked the economy is a bunch of malarkey. Here’s why.

President Bush instituted the largest tax cut in May of 2003 since the Regan

years, and, not surprisingly, the consequent strengthening of the economy coincided with increased government revenue. According to Paul Sperry from Investors Business Daily, the expanded tax base brought in so much revenue that Bush “halved” the deficit gap from $377.6 billion to $160.7 billion.

When people are taxed less, they spend more. Increased economic activity results in more revenue for the government because their investments are taxed, thus why the deficit per GDP fell from 3.5 percent in 2004, to 2.6 percent in 2005, to 1.9 percent in 2006 and finally 1.7 percent in 2007.

According to Sperry, the collapse of the housing market caused the deficit-toGDP ratio to shoot up to 10 percent and has lingered there ever since.

Moreover, the average deficit-to-GDP ratio for the entire Bush administration was 2 percent. That’s below the 50-year average off 3 percent, Perry said.

Obama’s average has been 9.1 percent largely because of newly rectified entitlements such as Obama’s $1.9 trillion takeover of healthcare.

So whose policies are really blowing up the deficit here?

Vincent Hayes Staff Writer

family who have gotten cancer or other terrible illnesses because of smoking? The answer is, of course, yes, to all of these questions.

Everyone understands the health risks associated with smoking. Everyone has read the Surgeon General’s warning on the side of packages. Smokers know that the cost of a pack of cigarettes has skyrocketed over the last few years. This is, to many people I know, a great deterrent to smoking - it’s too expensive a habit to keep up. But people have the right to choose what to do with their own health. At the forum, the issue was not so much one of second-hand smoke - it was about living a “healthy life,” which is not a decision the school should be making for students, faculty, staff or visitors on campus.

While I disagree strongly with the proposed policy, I also find it absolutely absurd that, although plenty of students on this campus have diverse sets of opinions on this issue, very few cared enough to show up and voice them. Where were you?

Talia Adry Editorial Staff

Make Ram Tram work Last week, I took the Ram Tram to the mall. I knew the first shuttle to bring people over is usually the busiest, so I arrived early to get in line. By the time the Ram Tram came to pick people up, there were about 50 people waiting. I was the third person to arrive at the stop - however, I was pushed out of the way by people who arrived two minutes prior to its arrival so they could get on. On top of that, the trip back to campus was 45 minutes longer than expected, which made me late for my evening plans. I. Was. Furious.

Do people have patience at this school? Is getting to the mall that necessary that people physically push one another out of the way to get there first?

There are clearly several problems here. First, tram operates on a first-comefirst-served basis, but many students here do not get that system. I know that, because of the need to get holiday shopping completed, it’s important to get to the mall, however, there is more than one tram that comes to pick people up if there are several people waiting. It would seem to be simple enough to wait your turn, but clearly, this is not the case.

Is there a way to ensure people who arrive early to get to work, or who have

a strict schedule to get their shopping done, get on the tram first? There should be.

The second problem is the fact that, for people who need to get to work, but don’t have a car, the tram is the only transportation option. With no more taxi vouchers, students don’t have much of a choice. It’s not their fault, but I feel that the tram service should accommodate them accordingly. Why not provide an early shuttle for students who work off campus to use in order to arrive at their job on time?

The last problem I have is safety. I already feel slightly uncomfortable with the fact people don’t wear seat belts on the Ram Tram, but it’s especially unsettling to see people sitting on the ground in the empty space in the back where there are not any seats. I know that, with so many people wanting to use the shuttle, it can be frustrating for students to wait longer, but safety should definitely come first.

If the school doesn’t want to pay for vouchers, they should make their own system run as smoothly as possible.

Alexis Huston Editorial Staff

Op/Ed submissions reflect the opinions of their authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of The Gatepost or its staff.

10 10

The peanut gallery

Danielle Vecchione/ The Gatepost

Alexis Huston/ The Gatepost

December 7th,2012 December 7, 2012

By Alex Shuman Asst. Arts & Features Editor

Have you ever wondered what happened to your favorite cartoon characters when they grow up?

The Hilltop Players hosted “Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead” Nov. 29 - Dec. 1, which showed us exactly that.

The play is a satire of the classic Peanuts cartoon, which ended with a dark twist about high school bullying and struggles with sexuality, peer pressure and suicide.

The 22-scene performance opened with CB (Charlie Brown), played by Andy Lincoln, sitting atop the lovable Snoopy’s grave.

CB verbalizes a letter to his pen pal, who is given no description or name. He explains that one day, he found Snoopy had brutally murdered Woodstock because he had contracted rabies. CB was forced to put Snoopy down after he was attacked himself.

The moment was heartfelt. No one except for CB’s rebellious and mercurial sister (Sally), played by Colleen Leary, attended Snoopy’s funeral.

Each classic Peanut character broke the original image of innocence and childhood that made the cartoon attractive to children and adults alike. Now, we see that all the characters have grown up. They are smoking cigarettes and marijuana, throwing raging parties, having sex and getting belligerently drunk.

In one scene, CB and his pal Van (Linus), played by sophomore Tyler Demoura, are sitting on Snoopy’s grave passing a joint. Van, who has become an obvious stoner, tells CB that he rolled up his old dirty blanket into a joint and smoked it.

Matt, played by Norman Dubois, is the grown up version of Pigpen. The notoriously filthy child has become physically clean, but mentally, his mind is in the gutter. He’s fixated on getting himself and CB laid. He tells CB to use “my dog died” as an excuse to get girls into bed.

The spunky Tricia (Lucy), played by Sam Palmer, and her brilliant, or more or less know-it-all friend Marcia (Peppermint Patty), played by Rachel Lyon, swear like sailors, get wasted in the school cafeteria and rage on jealously over “Fatass fucking fuck Frieda.”

CB’s sister is constantly changing her image, dressing one minute all in dark colors, praying as if she were a Wiccan, the next wearing brighter clothing and working on her one-woman show, where she narrates her metamorphosis from a caterpillar into a platypus.

Next we see Beethoven (Schroeder), played by Cameron Zamagni, a skilled pianist who in high school has become ostracized from his childhood friends, particularly CB and Matt.

In one of the most memorable scenes, CB decides to sit in on one of Beethoven’s piano sessions and vents to him about Snoopy. Outraged by his lack of concern for any harm CB has caused in the past, Beethoven snaps.

We find out the reason Beethoven was ostracized was because his father got arrested for molesting him as a child.

“Things became awkward,” said CB. “We didn’t know what to do.”

Once the tension subsides, the confused and vulnerable CB sits beside Beethoven on the piano bench. They play a sentimental and passionate tune together, which ends with a kiss.

Continued on page 14

Arts & Features

December 7, 2012

11

My name is Owen

One transgender student’s journey into manhood

By Spencer Buell Editor-in-Chief Two years ago in early October, Owen is a sophomore, and he is standing out in the hallway on the fifth floor of the McCarthy Center, script in hand, poring over his lines.

He has never been in a play before, but he is about to audition for “The Vagina Monologues.”

His monologue - called “Coochie Snorcher,” written from the perspective of a young woman overcoming sexual abuse, and experiencing her first foray into lesbian sex - is one of the longest in the “Vaginas” catalogue. And like most of the production, it deals fairly candidly with sexuality. The character’s “coochie snorcher? That’s her vagina. At one point, she vividly describes being raped.

Owen isn’t all that nervous, at least not for the audition. It is the thought of eventually being vulnerable on stage and confronting the sea of eyes watching him that is his real concern.

He had missed the first round of auditions, but a slot opened up when one of the cast members dropped out of the show, and his friend Meghan Earle pushed him to try out. “She dragged me,” Owen says. “I enjoyed going to the shows and everything, but it never crossed my mind to actually try out for them.”

Earle had given him a copy of the script a few days earlier, and he had read through it a few times, but it took some prodding during their afternoon class together to get him actually walking across State Street to the McCarthy Center, where the auditions were being held. When he finally gave in, Owen says he was just being a good sport.

Close friend and “Vaginas” cast member Samantha Palmer remembers watching him practice, his five-foot-eleven-inch frame dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a buttonup shirt, mouthing the words over and over again as he waited for his turn to try out.

He is laying on a fake southern drawl - the monologue is based on the story of a southern African-American woman - but Owen knows his accent is not all that convincing.

As Palmer recalls that night, “I don’t think he thought he was going to get in at all.”

He has never liked the mustard yellow paint on the walls of Club Room 3, where the production’s co-directors, who will be analyzing his performance, are sitting, and he is thinking about that when his name is called.

“Amanda,” he hears. He opens door to the room, faces the directors where they are seated at the end of a long, oval-shaped wooden table, and gives it a shot.

Back then, Owen went by a woman’s name, the one his mom and dad gave him when he was born in October of 1990 in a female body. But since the start of this semester, he is Owen. He came up with the name while writing a short story for a creative writing class. The main character, a man named Owen Alexander, he says, is “the kind of character that I know in every way. I know what his apartment looks like, how he would act in every situation.”

Owen asked that his last name not be published here, not because he cares whether Framingham State students know he is a transgender man - he doesn’t - but for other reasons. He worries that potential employers, co-workers, or, anyone, really, might Google search his name and find out about his sexual identity before they even have the

en from discrimination when it comes to getting a job or a loan, or renting an apartment, among other provisions. But still, Google searches make measures aimed at preventing prejudice all the more complicated to enforce, so, for the sake of this story, Owen is Owen.

Besides, he says, “It’s not the first thing you want people to know about you when they meet you, you know?”

It was a few minutes before midnight when he got the call. He nailed that “Vagina Monologues” audition, and he got the part.

“I genuinely could not believe it,” he says.

He called Earle. She screamed. “If she were near me,” he says, “I think she would have tackled me to the ground.”

It wasn’t until he hung up the phone that it hit him. “Great,” he thought. “Now what have I gotten myself into?”

Cut to about five months later, and Owen is standing alone on the stage of the Forum

Owen joins fellow “Vagina Monologues” cast members on stage in the Forum before a 2011 production. chance to get to know him.

There are laws which limit what kinds of questions employers can ask job applicants during interviews, such as how old they are or whether they are married or have kids. In Massachusetts, whether their chosen genders match up with their biology is one of them. This year, Gov. Deval Patrick signed into law a bill that updated civil rights legislation to protect transgender men and wom-

in the McCarthy Center giving a smooth, sensual rendition of the “Coochie Snorcher” monologue with confidence and a relaxed swagger. He stopped performing it with a drawl months ago. He is doing this one like Owen. He delivers the monologue’s final lines, “You know, I realized later, she was my surprising, unexpected, politically incorrect salvation. She transformed my sorry-ass coochie snorcher, and raised it up into a kind

All photos provided to The Gatepost

of heaven,” and, to rousing applause, steps back behind the curtain.

That year, he became a Vagina Warrior, a title he says he will carry with pride for the rest of his life. “I am so thankful for ‘Vaginas,’” he says, looking back. “It’s, like, a community, or a sorority, I guess.” He says by this point, he could probably recite about 80 percent of the play from memory.

“The Vagina Monologues,” though, is strictly an all-female operation. Just as important as the rehearsal itself, every meeting includes a “Vagina Happy Time,” in which members talk about high and low points from the past week in a judgment-free zone.

They also discuss women’s issues and relationship struggles, and often share deeply personal stories. Understandably, they prefer to do so without men around. “Sometimes, things get serious,” Owen says.

“It is probably one of the most unique shows ever,” says Earle. “It’s not just one of those shows where you show up, you read your lines and you go home. … It kind of forces you to self-reflect a little bit. Its really empowering, too, because it really makes you re-evaluate, like, ‘OK, who am I? What is my sexuality, really?’”

Despite two years of intimate involvement with the group, and the development of close relationships with many of its members, Owen presented Palmer and Earle, codirectors of this year’s production, with a conundrum: Owen is now a man, and men aren’t allowed.

Earlier, Owen, Palmer and Earle had even talked about directing the show together. But Owen’s transition changed everything.

When it comes to “Vagina Happy Time,” however, he says, “The thing is, I know exactly what they’re talking about. I know what it’s like to be raised as a woman. …

I’m a total feminist. There is no way I can undo all the things that I am.”

For Owen, the key underlying existential questions he will spend the rest of his life answering have become: What does it mean to be a man? What kind of a man does he want to be? What does this journey into manhood mean for him, his friends and his classmates?

In the end, at least in the context of “The Vagina Monologues,” they settled on a solution. Despite his being a man, Owen could stay.

“We knew he wanted to be there, and we wanted him there,” Palmer says, “and the -Continued on page 12

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-Continued from page 11

rest doesn’t matter.”

His days performing monologues, however, are over. “I couldn’t be on stage for that,” he says. “That would contradict, like, everything I’ve done.” Nevertheless, he has found other ways to contribute, drawing on his experience from years past to help make rehearsals run as smoothly as possible by collecting papers, taking notes and helping the cast members run through their lines.

During auditions this semester, he often took the job of holding doors open for people as they walked by, and, in the process, earned the moniker “manservant,” which he doesn’t mind at all.

But for much of the cast, many of them new first-year recruits who know him only as Owen, he still had to explain what he was doing there. At this point in his life, he is doing what he can to blend in as “just another guy,” but in that moment, being just another guy would mean giving up a part of his life that he loved. So, during one meeting in midOctober, he addressed the “Happy Time” crowd as its 45 members gazed back at him.

“Listen,” he said to them. “I’m sure some of you are wondering why I’m here. My name is Owen. I have been in the ‘Vaginas’ show for two years now. My best friend is directing the show. I’m transitioning, and ‘Vaginas’ helped me find this out about myself.

So I can’t actually be in the show, but I will be here with you.”

While most people he knows have been accepting of Owen’s transition, a few have questioned his decision to begin living his life as a man.

“I’ve had people say, ‘Oh, it’s just a selfesteem problem - that you don’t love yourself,’” he says. “And I’m like, ‘No, that’s not the thing. I think I’m great. I have no problems with my self. It’s the body that comes with it that causes me the problems if I think about it.’”

For years, Owen has looked at pictures of himself and thought his physical appearance didn’t match up with his internalized conception of his identity. His jaw was too round.

His hair wasn’t right. He had breasts. He would catch a glimpse of himself in reflective surfaces - bathroom mirrors, computer screens or the gigantic windows leading up to the entrance to the student center - and not like what he was seeing. He felt like a man, yet looked so unmistakably like a woman.

“I would think, ‘Who let me go out in public like that? Why didn’t anyone tell me that what I was thinking was not right?’ he says. “But no one knew about that discrepancy but me.”

On his worst days, he worried he would one day wake up and realize he was schizophrenic - that the woman he had been seeing in the mirror could not possibly be him, that all this time, he had been “seeing something that wasn’t there.” Now, though, when he shows up at school or work and looks most like Owen, he feels most like Owen, and that helps.

“Sometimes,” he says, “I’ll look in the mirror and be like, ‘Dang. You look good.’”

He felt comfortable interacting with guys at his high school, but since he arrived at college, he has felt much more at ease with his group of female friends. These days, though, he finds he freezes up in situations in which he is surrounded by men. “I don’t even know what to say or what to do,” he says, sighing and throwing up his hands. “I just feel like they can see right through me.” He hopes that, one day, he will be able to make and sustain friendships with guys to whom his masculinity is not inexorably linked to his sex. As much as he wants to, Owen has yet to experience that priceless feeling of being welcomed and included by a group of men.

“I feel completely feminine when I’m with biological males,” he says. “It’s horrible. It’s really horrible, actually.”

He has a habit of studying people’s faces when they meet him for the first time - watch-

My name is Owen Arts & Features

ing them scan his face and torso searching for visual cues about who he is as a person.

“Their eyes give them away,” he says. He tries not to, but he can’t help it. Every encounter is different, but sometimes, people take his gender at face value. He will walk into a room, introduce himself, and no one thinks twice about his name or his appearance. It’s called “passing” - when his gender identity and people’s perceptions of it line up. “It’s a big thing for him,” says Kimmi Awiszio, Owen’s girlfriend.

Over Thanksgiving, Owen met a group of Awiszio’s relatives for the first time. Her parents and sister know all about his transition, but her aunt and uncle had no idea. To save himself the disappointment later, he has to be careful not to assume people will see him as a man. But after an afternoon of sharing turkey and mashed potatoes at the same table, Awiszio had some good news for

she has seen plenty of the comedy and drama that emerges along the way. When Owen was a first-year, a time in students’ lives often characterized by turmoil and drastic reassessment, she remembers him being exceptionally calm and calculating, poised and self-aware.

“He never seemed to be the kind of person who made hasty, emotional decisions,” Holloway says. “If I got an e-mail where he had said, ‘You know what? This is my e-mail to say goodbye. I’ve decided to become a Buddhist monk,’ I would be like, “Oh, OK,’ because I know that this is something that has really been thought through.”

So, in preparation for the first day of their British Literature II class together, Holloway scanned the list to the middle where the name “Amanda” was printed. She crossed it off, for good. That day in September, she stood at the front of the class, the list in her left

Sophomore Kimmi Awiszio (left) has been Owen’s girlfriend for the past eight months.

Owen. “Just to let you know,” she told him, “the people you just met? They didn’t have any question about it whatsoever.”

He had passed.

Among the high points of Owen’s life now are those moments when he sees the body he wants to, and the tiny victories that come with them. It is about more than just “passing,” he says. It is about feeling as if he can participate in the world around him without any social barriers. It is about being present.

Before starting the fall semester this year, Owen sent an e-mail to his professors ask-

hand, a pencil in her right, and began calling out names. Present. Check. Present. Check.

Holloway had not yet passed out the syllabus for that semester, but Owen had one on his desk next to his notebook. He knew he would have a rigorous course load this semester, so he wanted to get started early.

More names. Present. Check.

The class consists of a combination of people who knew Owen by his old name, but knew he was transitioning, people who were hearing the new name for the first time, and people who didn’t know him at all. But everyone, in that moment, was about to learn what they were to call him.

“I think I’m great. I have no problems with my self.

It’s the body that comes with it that causes me the problems if I think about it.” ing if they would, please, from that point on, call him by his chosen name and refer to him with male pronouns - that is, “he” instead of “she”; not “her” seminar thesis, but “his.”

This was it. He was coming out to the FSU community at large. The classmate and student his peers had once known as a woman would now be living as a man. No more persistent auditory reminders of a gender that wasn’t his. No more daily dissonance in those moments he would answer a question, hand in a paper or have one passed back to him. Owen would be Owen. “It didn’t seem real,” he says.

Dr. Lorretta Holloway of FSU’s English department remembers the day Owen’s email popped up on her computer screen. Her first thought was, “Why ‘Owen,’ of all the names in the world?” Apparently, Holloway thought he looked more like a “Jeremy.”

After years of teaching and raising two daughters, Holloway knows what transitions look like, and remembers not being fazed.

Rarely do students walk across the graduation stage much resembling the people they were when they first arrived at school, and

- Owen

He and Holloway briefly made eye contact, and she said it.

“Owen,” he heard. He was present.

Holloway admits that, after almost four years of knowing Owen as a woman, she has struggled sometimes to remember which pronouns to use. “He teases me all the time because I spend a lot of time saying ‘Owen’ and not using the pronoun because I’m so concerned that I’m going to mess up,” she says. She has encouraged him to remind her when she slips in a stray “she” here and there, which is a particularly obvious mistake in their four-member, all-male Seminar in Literature class. He makes sure that he does.

Using the correct pronoun when speaking about him takes only a quarter of a second, but it is in those quick, fleeting moments that he faces either acknowledgement of his identity or nullification of it. People make mistakes all the time without meaning to, though, and he tries to brush it off when it happens, even on those tough days when it hurts more than people realize. Holloway,

December 7, 2012

who Owen considers to be among the two or three professors with whom he is closest, is trying. “I give her props,” he says.

Some problems still come up, though. For example, in FSU records, as well as the ones held by his health care provider Harvard Pilgrim, the DMV, and just about everyone else, he is still referred to by his birth name. His school-provided e-mail address still bears his old name, as does his profile on electronic learning tool Blackboard, on which a lot of work for classes is carried out, which sometimes generates confusion among some of his classmates, many of whom didn’t know him before his transition.

Changing his name, legally that is, will be a costly, time-consuming process. “It’s just a lot of paperwork and a lot of paying for paperwork,” he says. First, as a resident of Millbury, he will have to fill out a form, appear at Worcester County Probate and Family Court and pay a $185 fee. On the line where he is asked for his “reason for name change,” he will write “personal.” Then, he will have to get a new social security card, driver’s license and so on - and fork over more fees. “Then it’s going through all those other things - dentist, credit card company - and basically anything else that has your name on it,” he says. “Just pick up the phone and keep calling people.”

He has copies of most of what he will need on file, and all the necessary steps are on his to-do list. But his friends and family know who he is, and so do his teachers.

His nametag at the hotel where he works as a housekeeper says “Owen.” The people he sees on a regular basis know who he is and what to call him. So for now, he’s just saving up some money and working on finishing off this semester before he straightens things out with official record-keepers in the state of Massachusetts, who, as far as he is concerned, do not know him at all.

Time is running out, though. Owen is graduating this spring, and when he is called to walk across the stage on the Village Green in May, he wants to hear his name.

Owen’s FTM, or female-to-male, transition really began a few years ago, when he started coming to terms with the fact that the body he had been born with did not accurately represent his gender. Before he had ever taken his first steps officially coming out as a transgender man, Owen’s transition was a step-by-step process of expressing his feelings to college friends and relatives, often one at a time.

This would not be his first time coming out, though. During his junior year of high school, Owen came out as a lesbian. At Millbury High, his graduating class was about 150-strong, and most already knew him pretty well. “A lot of people weren’t surprised,” he says. “They were just like, ‘OK, good.

I’m glad that you finally said that because we just got tired of you prancing around and pretending that you’re not.’”

He stopped wearing typical women’s clothes by about sophomore year, after realizing he felt much more comfortable in baggy jeans or basketball shorts than in more feminine choices. At his school’s semiformal dance senior year, when most women were donning gender-specific dresses and skirts, he wore a dark gray pair of pants and a vest, a teal dress shirt which matched his girlfriend’s outfit, and a white tie.

Two years later, sometime over winter break during their sophomore year at FSU, Earle and Owen, then “Amanda,” had planned to go dancing at Mirabar, a gay club in Providence. Earle’s first memory of Owen is from first-year orientation, when the new arrivals to FSU were introduced, split into groups and, as Earle puts it, made “to do all these stupid skits” together. Owen was assigned the role of a fairy tale character, and, Earle says, he was hilarious. “That person is so funny,” she thought. She had to meet -Continued on page 13

December 7, 2012

-Continued from page 12

Amanda. They ended up being lab partners, and by luck, happened to be in at least one class together for three straight years. They hit it off even before they had technically started their college careers, she said. “It was one of those immediate friendships.”

So, in addition to hanging out during the school year, the pair started getting together over breaks, going to dinner at each other’s houses and so on. This night, they were going to Mirabar. When they arrived, Owen realized he had forgotten his driver’s license, so they couldn’t get in, and what followed was a long drive home and lots of time to talk.

At around 11 p.m., just a few minutes from home, Owen and Earle were sitting in Earle’s car, the upbeat pop rock of Andre 3000 coming through her speakers, waiting for a stoplight to turn green.

“I don’t know how to tell you this,” he heard himself say, “but I don’t feel like a girl.

I picture myself with a beard, and I want to be able to shave my face.”

Sitting in the commuter cafeteria in December, a few minutes late for her Monday night “Vagina Monologues” rehearsal, Earle is smiling and fluffing some imaginary facial hair as she recalls the moment. At that stoplight, they shared a laugh. “I said to him, ‘You know, if you grow a beard, you need to let me, like, touch your face. It’s going to be so much fun.”

They ended that night sitting on Earle’s couch shopping for binders - special clothing otherwise known as “compression garments” designed to help reduce the visibility of breasts. Owen didn’t have a debit card at the time, so Earle offered to buy one for him.

The beard was out of his control, at least for now, but his chest? He could start taking care of that immediately. They could take care of it together. “He just seemed really relieved,” Earle says.

Two weeks before his first therapy session with Diane Ellaborn, a gender identity specialist, Owen met Kimmi. Awiszio was a first-year at the time, and while both were going to “Vaginas” meetings in January, she developed what she calls a “stupid crush” on him. She was too nervous to approach him, but after some friendly intervention from Earle, she learned Owen had a “stupid crush” on her, too.

At that point, Awiszio identified as a lesbian, and she still does today. Labels, she says, have a way of making people a lot less complicated than they really are. She has had boyfriends in the past, but by her eighth grade year at a “hardcore Christian school,” she knew she was attracted to girls.

She knew Owen as “Amanda” then, and she really, really liked Amanda. They started talking and hanging out more and more often, and soon, they were a couple. When he broke the news about his identity, though, her heart sank. Did this mean she was attracted to guys now? Would this mean she wasn’t a lesbian anymore? What would her label be?

Today, the two are all but inseparable.

Awiszio spends at least half of the week staying at Owen’s home in Millbury. She doesn’t own a car, but Owen happily drives her everywhere in his 2003 Saturn Ion - to work, to school, to her house, to his. They take time out of marathons of homework to appreciate the simple pleasures of playing Lego Star Wars on his Wii. They feel a mutual disdain for his turtle, named “Turtle,” whose glass terrarium they reluctantly take turns cleaning. Their relationship, she says, just works.

She can’t even remember the last time they had an argument. “We have this thing where we can just feel each other,” she says. “Like, when he’s having a bad day, I can feel it in my stomach, and when I’m having a bad day, he can feel it, too.”

They have learned to communicate without having to use words, but that day, just

My name is Owen Arts & Features

a few weeks after the start of their relationship, words mattered. “I’m doing this,” he told her. I’m transitioning. And he wanted Awiszio to be with him on this journey. She understood.

Owen is currently on the hunt for an apartment - this summer, they will be moving in together. It’s a big step, but why not?

Kimmi likes Owen for Owen, and that, she says, is all she needs to know.

It’s a Friday morning in mid-July, and Owen is sitting on a hospital recliner chair at the Amherst Medical Center, a needle hovering two inches over his right thigh. He is

tending to, at least, and patting his cheeks with scented white lather.

Then came the questionnaire, the one produced by his insurance provider as a way to peek into his psychological state and, later, to track his progress. In the past year, had he ever felt as if he had been born in the wrong body? Easy. Yes. The work Ellaborn does with her clients, though, extends far beyond the conversations that take place in her office three miles from the FSU campus on Edmands Road. Her circle of contacts includes a group of healthcare professionals who have undergone sensitivity training with her. She is on a first-name

Senior Michelle Beebe (left) poses with Owen before his performance in “The Vagina Monologues” sophomore year. wearing a green UConn sweatshirt, a black fitted hat on backwards and what appears to be an expectant smile. His mom frames him up in the viewfinder of a Canon digital camera. She clicks the shutter. For the next four-and-a-half months, that image would be his Facebook profile picture - a place of prominence in the Digital Age, where users showcase the version of themselves they think best represents who they are at a particular time and place. In it, Owen is about to take testosterone, .25 milliliters of it, for the first time.

The night before, Awiszio had been staying at his house, helping him get ready for his appointment. They had to be up at 5 a.m.

- an hour-long ride on the Massachusetts Turnpike awaited them. It was going to be an early night. To her surprise, Awiszio was crying. “I am scared this is going to change you,” she said to him.

Getting to this point had not been easy.

Just to get an appointment, Owen had to take

basis with them, and she makes sure they attend to the small, but important details, such as not assuming that a patient’s name is reflected accurately in their medical records.

“A gender specialist, to me, should really be looking at the whole person and their overall health,” she says. “I’m very hands-on.”

Ellaborn would eventually fax a letter to Dr. Stuart Chipkin’s endocrinology clinic in Amherst. “It is my professional opinion that, although biologically female, Amanda aka Owen meets the DSM IV criteria for Gender Identity Disorder,” it said. The discomfort Owen had felt for years finally had an official diagnosis, and with it, a “cure.”

That term, “identity disorder,” will be stricken from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM, when the next edition comes out over the summer.

In its place, the manual will list “dysphoria,” the opposite of “euphoria,” and the scientific term for the feeling Owen gets in the pit of his stomach on the days he feels least like

“I don’t have to spend that much money to get something that no one’s going see besides my partner, who is obviously going to love me no matter what.”

- Owen, on sex reassignment surgery

the required first step to set the process in motion. He had to start seeing Diane Ellaborn, a therapist and advocate with 30 years of experience working with trans people, about a tenth of them college students for whom the transitional experience of being an undergraduate includes a newly discovered dissociation with their biological gender.

With Ellaborn, Owen had to start from the very beginning. For four months, he talked about his childhood - what kinds of movies he liked, what kinds of toys he played with, what he wore at Halloween, what his relationship was like with his sister. He told Ellaborn that among his fondest early memories was “shaving with my grampy” - pre-

himself. Someone calls him “she.” He has to do group work with male classmates. He remembers that his e-mail address starts with an “A,” for “Amanda.” Dysphoria.

Currently, however, in order to get the drugs he needs - a monthly one milliliter supply of testosterone, or “T,” for short - he had to be diagnosed with a “disorder.” He is not completely comfortable with that reality, but, he says, “You know what? It gets me what I need to get. So if they want to call it a ‘disorder,’ OK. Fine.”

Hormone replacement therapy will have some so-called “masculinizing” effects on Owen. His larynx will become enlarged. His voice will drop by about an octave. His jaw

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line will start to tighten up. He will develop some extra muscle mass and body hair. And hopefully, he says, he will get his beard.

Before he could get started, though, he had to start making regular trips back and forth to appointments around the state - all with Ellaborn’s help. On top of everything else on his plate this semester, he has had to switch his primary care physician, get frequent blood tests to monitor his cholesterol levels, which can spike once people start taking “T,” and meet with a nutritionist. He stores the dozens of prescriptions, letters and lab results he has amassed over the last year neatly organized in a three-ringed binder, but keeping track of all of his new medical responsibilities can sometimes be overwhelming, and he can’t imagine doing it alone.

“I’m just really glad that I have Diane,” he says. He would have to get over the next major obstacle, however, without her.

Owen has a crippling fear of needles. Before his appointment, he had to track down a special, smaller one with a gauge, or needle width, of 25, the second-smallest available - just wide enough for the oily hormone to fit through a tiny hole at its end. After repeated trips to other pharmacies, he finally tracked down a set of them at a Walgreens in Worcester, and they were with him as he drove to Chipkin’s clinic, dreading what was to come. His cat Hailey has diabetes, and he can give her the insulin shots she needs without flinching. However, there is something about injecting himself that causes him to panic.

Back on the hospital chair, a specialist is walking him through the process. His mom is there with the camera, waiting for the moment to come. Owen slowly pulls back the plunger, filling a syringe, bit by bit, with about half the amount of liquid one might use to clean contact lenses, making sure no bubbles get inside. An instructional sheet of paper tells him to pick one of a few fatty areas for the injection: just above the knee, the back of his arm, in one butt cheek. He doesn’t have to find a vein, but the trick is to avoid hitting any nerves. He picks the knee. Holding the syringe in his right hand, he stretches the skin tight with the thumb and index finger of his left. His mom thinks he is about to do it, so she takes the picture.

But he can’t. He keeps imagining the tip of the needle breaking through each individual layer of skin, then scraping up against his bone. He knows he is being irrational, but he is frozen. Months and months of soulsearching and planning, trips to doctors’ offices, blood tests, check-ups, late-night confessions and last-minute tears, and only two inches separate him and his medicine. He feels a nurse’s palm against his hand, gently moving it down toward his leg. He holds his breath. In it goes.

“It’s been four months now, and he’s still the same guy,” Awiszio says. The “T,” so far, has not made Owen any less like Owen.

He has yet to get over his needle phobia, and after weeks of watching him struggle to inject the “T,” Awiszio decided to start doing it for him - every Friday, just before they leave for school together. “I’m still afraid that I’m going to hurt him,” she says, “but I’ve gotten used to it now.” He will have to become accustomed to self-administering eventually, though. Because the human body doesn’t absorb and store testosterone, hormone treatments have to be undertaken regularly for life.

Occasionally, because of the high levels of hormone in his system in the days just after he takes his “T,” Owen will feel a brief rush of energy surge through his body. His heart races, and he immediately feels the need to get up and move - jump around, hysterically clean his room, anything. Fast. Two days after that first appointment, he literally ran laps -Continued on page 14

My name is Owen Arts & Features

14

-Continued from page 13

around his house, then lifted Awiszio off the ground in a giant bear hug. The euphoria comes in a wave, which eventually recedes.

By the time Thursday rolls around, he finds that “I’m just getting slower and grumpier.”

By Friday night, he starts feeling better.

Each month, his prescription provides him with one small vial holding one milliliter, or four doses, and four needles. The needles are $13 each - “which doesn’t make any sense,” he says - but the hormones are covered entirely by his insurance provider Harvard Pilgrim. And that’s a big deal, says Dr. Lori Girshick, author of “Transgender Voices: Beyond Women and Men.” In her book, she chronicles the many ways in which people have historically procured hormone treatments - paying for big bills out of pocket, buying vials on the street, finding it on the Internet and flying it in from other countries - when insurance companies won’t cover it. Owen is very much aware of how lucky he is. Regardless of how difficult everything else will be, getting his monthly “T” is easy.

Testosterone therapy, however, is just the first in what could be many, potentially costly, steps. A significant number of serious decisions will need to be made throughout Owen’s adult life based on how he answers two fundamental questions: What will it take to make Owen the man he wants to be?

To what lengths is he willing to go to become himself?

He has begun setting his sights on breast reduction, also known as “top surgery,” but, he says, that won’t be for a while. “It’s, like, the cost of a car,” he says, somewhere in the neighborhood of $6,000 - $7,000, depending on the surgeon, and as an elective, cosmetic surgery, it is not covered by insurance. The use of breast binders works for now, though, and he says they are much better than the old-fashioned Ace bandage method. The

terone levels in his body were at 396 nanograms per deciliter and rising - up from 44 before he started hormone replacement therapy. Typical levels in males are somewhere between 300 – 1,100. Chemically, technically, he is in the biological range. He doesn’t make too big a deal of this, though. Of all the components that make a man, chemistry is just a minor element. Social roles are more important.

Last month, his sister Heather gave birth to a baby boy named Benjamin, and just after he was born, Owen held him in his arms.

This was his nephew. Benjamin will have an uncle.

And just last night, at the first-annual Miss FSU contest, Owen was Monique Vacon’s escort for the formal wear portion of the event. He wore a slick black suit and a white tie, and casually walked Vacon across the broad stage of the Dwight Performing “In the end, I just want to take all the good things about Arts Center. His role, he says, was to make her look good. both genders, and make them into one.”

Owen is coming to understand that he - Owen can define manhood on his own terms. His identity, he says, “is about being a good to spend that much money to get something The prefix “trans” in the word “trans- person and holding doors open and caring that no one’s going see besides my partner, gender” means “across,” “beyond,” or about people. In the end, I just want to take who is obviously going to love me no matter “through.” “It’s not a static term,” says Gir- all the good things about both genders, and shick. “It means movement.” make them into one.” Owen wants to be all what.”

For Owen, it is a state of being, a journey, the things that he is. He wants to be Owen.

His profile picture - the one of him holdOwen still has hundreds of old photos of the beginning and end of which are nearly himself and records of conversations with impossible to pin down. He is still coming to ing the “T” needle? He changed it just after the Miss FSU contest concluded last night. friends posted all over social networking terms with what it means to be a man.

So what, finally, does that mean?

In the new photo, he is leaning forward in sites - years and years of memories from be“I think that I’m doing it already,” Owen the front row of the DPAC auditorium, a fore his transition - and the question now is says, with finals on the horizon and the se- wide grin across his face. His jaw line looks what to do with them.

Trans men and women respond differ- mester coming to a close. “I just don’t think tight. His chest is flat. He looks different, ently to the challenges Facebook poses, that other people see it. It’s just that I feel and he knows it. He spent four months with some of them doing away with their old the need to have that physical representation the same Facebook picture up, and last night sites completely, starting new ones as soon - the beard, the deeper voice and everything was as good a time as ever to change it, and show himself to the world the way he wants as they begin going by their new names. - not to be misgendered all the time.

After his latest round of blood tests in to be seen.

Owen says he can’t change the fact that he Dang, he thought. I look good. lived most of his life as a woman, nor would September, Owen learned that the testosproblem with using the medical wrap is that it can be kind of clunky and way too tight, so much so that using them for too long can do damage to the user’s rib cage and make it hard to breathe. Binders from websites like Underworks.com are tailored to an individual’s specific breast size, and are just tight enough to flatten out his chest without hurting him. They will have to do.

Sex reassignment surgery, on the other hand, is less of a big deal for him. When he was younger, he remembers thinking, “I have to do all of it, or I’m not going to be a real man.” But after all that he has learned about himself and about the transience of gender, whether he has a penis has started to seem inconsequential. The procedure is also tens of thousands of dollars more expensive than top surgery, and, he says, “I don’t have

Dog sees God

-Continued from page 10

The next scene is the start of Marcy’s party, stocked with booze and teenage hormones.

When Beethoven walks in, everyone’s eyes become fixed on his unwanted presence. Matt tells him that he has to leave and aggressively approaches him.

Seeing this, CB interrupts the scene, and plants one on Beethoven in front of all of his friends.

Dumbfounded with homophobic thoughts, the gang does not handle the scene well.

“My parents would kill me if there was a homo in the house!” shouted Marcy.

“I think I’m going to puke,” said Tricia.

CB and Beethoven then leave the party and have sex.

After leaving the party, Beethoven is embarrassed by the public kiss and said that he now hates CB and that he doesn’t want feelings or a relationship to develop.

“This is all just weird,” he said.

Realizing that he has genuine feelings for Beethoven, CB goes to a mental hospital to visit Van’s sister, played by sophomore Tori Dost.

Van’s sister was put in the hospital after lighting a girl’s hair on fire. She said that she did it because she had to get an abortion and she reached a breaking point after hearing the girl brag about “being a virgin.

“Charles Manson is so damn persuasive!” she said. “It was a political statement.”

The two discuss CB’s feelings for Beethoven and their kiss.

“When I kissed him, I didn’t care or wonder what anyone was going to think,” said CB. “I couldn’t stop think-

ing about him.”

Van’s sister replied, “It’s hard to believe that you did something different. … You are so predictable.”

Van’s sister is the only person who offers genuine condolences to CB for Snoopy’s death. She makes CB promise that he will not apologize for the kiss.

Back at school, the kiss at Marcy’s party bothers Marcy, Tricia, Van and Matt.

“I hate that kid for fucking with my best friend’s head!” said Matt. Outraged, he goes to find Beethoven.

“If you look at CB again, I will kill you,” said Matt after confronting Beethoven. For the first time in his life, Beethoven defends himself and stands up to the bully and they fight.

In the next scene, we discover that Beethoven had intentionally overdosed on medication. All of the cast members show up, pretending to be his friend. CB was the only one who didn’t attend the funeral.

In the last scene, CB is talking to his pen pal once again about the death of Beethoven.

“How does his death make me feel stupid?” he asks rhetorically.

His pen pal writes him back with reassuring and kind words to help him in his moment of grieving.

“I was really surprised by the show,” said sophomore art major Leslie Connor. “It was such a great twist on all of the characters and I enjoyed how serious and comical it was.”

The whole performance was an emotional drama that touched upon many sensitive subjects. Overwhelming and heart-grabbing, this was one of the most sensitive and developed storylines and performances by The Hilltop Players.

he. But he can’t help but feel that some of those pictures just don’t look like him. He hasn’t come to a decision about what to do with that years-long catalog of his life, but Owen the Vagina Warrior, Owen the poet, the writer, the actor, the feminist, the friend, is embracing them for the time being. He is leaving his Facebook site as it is.

He is looking more and more like a guy as the weeks go on, tracking his progress on a Tumblr blog called “A Gentleman’s Beard,” where he posts periodic picture updates. The site was Awiszio’s idea. Owen’s physiological changes are significant, but she says they can be subtle for those who see him every day, and might not notice his evolution otherwise. He does look different, and Awiszio wants him to recognize it.

December 7, 2012

Arts & Features

December 7, 2012

15

May Hall Monthly A snapshot of on-campus artistic happenings

By Joe Kourieh Staff Writer

A

t the end of this academic year, FSU’s art department will lose one of its most talented student artists. Senior Ryan Severance, winner of the spring 2011 juried student art show, will be graduating, and he is currently working on his final pieces for his senior seminar with Professor John Anderson.

The senior thesis project will feature about five of Severance’s works in its final incarnation in the senior show. This is after careful editing and selection from upwards of 30 individual works. The show will in-

clude one particularly impressive piece, titled “Anesthesia,” which is the single work that Severance has spent the most time on in his artistic career so far. Severance said he has been developing it over the course of the last eight months.

“Anesthesia” tells a story of childhood, with a human figure’s silhouette done in acrylic paint and charcoal on a canvas, which is the foundation. However, the figure, and its story, has since become obscured from view by panels and clippings of cardboard pasted over the painting by an acrylic medium called heavy matte gel. The cardboard covering is complete with rips, tears, and an eye-

catching red sticker reading “fragile.” Besides being a lengthy piece in its construction, it is also one of great conceptual complexity, originally designed as a representation of presences and absences.

“This piece is bringing together a lot of concepts that have been on my mind, but that I hadn’t been able to figure out how to express yet,” Severance said.

This piece is a testament to Severance’s artistic foresight, as it is made of cardboard, a “non-archival” material, and will fall apart as the years go on. Severance did this intentionally, describing how he wanted to create a piece that would eventually de-

cay and be lost like the memories of youth. There is a kind of tragic irony in this choice, as it is, as mentioned, Severance’s most time-consuming project. “[Childhood] is so fleeting and fragile. The cardboard is in a way the same,” he said.

This piece and Severance’s other selected works will appear in this spring’s senior show, along with those of 18 other seniors, who will be showing off their most loved and most lasting works of art.

Those interested in seeing more of Severance’s work can visit his website at www.ryanseverance.com or by scanning the code below.

“Anesthesia,” part of Severance’s senior thesis exhibit, will be on display this coming spring in the Mazmanian Gallery

All photos by Talia Adry/The Gatepost

Arts & Features

16

Film review - “Flight” (2012)

Attention Class of 2013!

Check your email for the Senior Class Newsletter Get information on: • Important senior dates • Commencement speaker information • All the things you need to know about graduation

Photo courtesy of www.paramount.com/flight

By Thomas Lustig Staff Writer

R

obert Zemeckis’ “Flight” is the story of commercial airplane pilot Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) who is flying a plane, after a night spent without sleep with an airline stewardess (Katerina Marquez), and a morning full of alcohol, marijuana and cocaine. The movie opens up with Whip flying the plane through some excessively rough turbulence that frightens his copilot Ken Evens (Brian Geraghty). After navigating through the turbulence the flight seems like it is going to be just another flight as Whip continues to drink even more after the autopilot is engaged.

Towards the end of the flight the plane begins to fall apart in midair causing Whip to awake from his drunken stupor. He immediately takes control of the plane and with some “Top Gun” styled maneuvers is miraculously able to crash land it in a field away from civilization, saving most of the passengers on board. After that, Whip blacks out and later wakes up in the hospital. This introduction to Whip is paralleled by another story about a Heroin addict named Nicole (Kelly Reilly) who overdoses on her last needle and meets whip in the hospital. These two stories overlap as Whitaker is investigated for drug and alcohol use the day of the crash and must deal with his own substance addictions.

“Flight” is not really the story of a hero but a referendum on the morality of addiction. Denzel plays Whitaker perfectly.

Can’t find the email?

• Stop by SILD (McCarthy Center, 5th floor, Room 510) for a copy • Email fsuclassof2013@gmail.com and have another copy sent to you

In the beginning of the film Whitaker is someone who, despite his large collection

of issues, the audience just can’t dislike. As the movie continues despite the heroism of his actions Denzel plays Whitaker with the right amount of deception, desperation and depravity that make it harder and harder to root for his success.

John Goodman is fantastic as Harling Mays, Whitaker’s drug dealer who is the first person to visit him in the hospital.

Other notable roles in the film are Charlie Anderson, the pilots union representative played by Bruce Greenwood, and Whip’s lawyer Hugh Lang played by Don Cheadle.

Both characters are tied to the vested interests of Whitaker and seem to ignore the moral plight he is going through, and yet judge him for most of the movie.

The film at times could be a little rough and seemingly ridiculous, but for the most part was relatively entertaining even when it went to the extreme as it often did. The special effects during the scene of the crash are realistic and terrifying enough to stop people from flying for a while. The real strength of the movie was in the cast of actors, although unfortunately great acting cannot always overcome a mediocre script.

“Flight” is a relatively entertaining film that suffers from a few hiccups. The acting in the film is fantastic, which is able to cover up some of the other deficiencies in the film. Overall, “Flight” is an interesting yet sometimes overly moralistic movie that is not necessarily worthy of seeing in theaters.

The Gatepost would like to wish our readers a safe and happy holidays.

See you in the spring!

Flamenco returns to Ecumenical Center

By Adam Farah Staff Writer

T

December 7, 2012

he Heinemann Ecumenical and Cultural Center was full of energy last Monday as vivacious dancers Lauren O’Donnell and Anastasia Yendiki performed the Flamenco dance in front of an eager audience.

Accompanying O’Donnell & Yendiki, was Antonio Tiriti on guitar, Victor Ocana on bass and Nate Tucker, who played a unique percussion instrument called the cajon, which is a crate-shaped Peruvian drum made of plywood.

Before the dance began, O’Donnell addressed the audience and asked them to shout “olé,” rather than clap, to show they were enjoying the performance as it is more customary.

The first segment began with a delicate sequence, followed by guitar playing that grew louder and louder as the dancers clapped them on.

O’Donnell began singing in Spanish with a powerful yet soothing voice that echoed throughout the center.

As the music played, Yendiki rose from her seat and started her dance.

She swiveled majestically across the

stage with her feet stomping and her arms flowing through the air. The beat intensified with nearly every stomp of her foot until finally it softened.

to breathe, but a smooth transition to O’Donnell.

O’Donnell entered with even more flare as the beat remained up tempo for

Adam Farah/The Gatepost

Flamenco dancers and band performed Monday, Dec. 3 for an enthusiastic audience.

The fading of the drum and guitar povided not only a chance for Yendiki

a few minutes. She moved with such grace and kept constant eye contact with

audience. Chants of “olé” rang throughout the center as she exited the stage.

Yendiki rose once again as Triti struck the guitar for her last dance. The sound held a steady pattern while the bass provided an undertone which complimented the song. She moved swiftly back and forth on stage with constant awareness of her surroundings.

O’Donnell left the stage to return with a new flowing, vibrant purple dress that followed her movements. To some, the length of the dress might have proven to be a challenge to her dance routine, however, she moved perfectly without any hindrance from the gown.

The crowd’s reaction to the performance was very positive considering the cheers that encapsulated the center. Joanna Garcia, a freshman, said “I thought they were amazing. The way she moved was beautiful.”

Lorenzo Giovanella, a sophomore, said, “There was definitely a lot of energy. Everyone in the crowd had fun watching.”

Freshman Anthony Garcia said, “It was dope. The performance was good plus those ladies looked good.”

17

Arts & Features

Campus Conversations

December 7, 2012

What would you want to do if t h e w o r l d e n d s o n t h e 2 1 s t ? By Scott Calzolaio “Skydiving, bungee jumping, and I’ve always wanted to spend the night in jail.”

-Anthony Martel, freshman

“I would eat as much guacamole as I possibly could.”

-Hannah Bruce, senior

“Tell everyone in my life that I love them.”

“I would just go to an End of the World party.”

-Jen Wong, junior

-Kyle White, sophomore

“I would make some holiday sweets.”

“I would want to free fall off the top of Towers.”

-Stephen Supernor, senior

-Sterling Pina, freshman

Edited by Timothy E. Parker December 3, 2012 DON’T GO! By Henry Quarters ACROSS 1 6 11 14 15 16 17 19 20 21 22 23 27 29 30 32 33 34 36 39 41 43 44 46 48

Straitlaced sort Lawn ball game Turtledove’s remark Panorama Brother in Genesis Having had many birthdays Deal with a problem Start for “day” or “night” Artist Jean Day light?

Forbidden fruit sampler Great praise Lath clinger Trilling twosome Shells out money Foot feature Furnish with firepower Throat disorder Produces dividends Slapstick-movie missiles Typo, for one Agitate NativeAmerican pole Avoids detection Take habitually

49 51 52 53 56 58 59 60 61 62 68 69 70 71 72

73

Ran up a tab Manicurist’s tool Word from Beaver Cleaver “National Enquirer” fodder Blimp, e.g.

Cartoon baby cry Likable prez?

Mr., in India Org. for doctors Regardless Gibson of Hollywood Observe Yom Kippur MissAmerica’s headgear Flower holder Oscar winner for “Tootsie” and “Blue Sky” Great-grandfather of Noah

DOWN 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Common pipe material, briefly Next Summer Olympics host Real attachment?

Violate a Commandment Ancient Persian governors Word with “punching” or “sleeping” Kayaker’s accessory Like iceberg lettuce Grammatical connector Draw into a trap

Last issue’s solutions:

11 12 13 18 23 24 25 26 28 31 35 37 38 40 42 45 47 50 53 54 55 57 63 64 65 66 67

Deliver Martini orb Comparatively peculiar Addictive drug Adjust to something new Antique shop item Stop suddenly Gold and frankincense partner Villain in “The Lion King” Letter flourish Lecterns Some Japanese-Americans Fail to stay awake No longer bursting at the seams?

Hot dog topping Kind of care Make a jagged edge Territory that became two states Overwhelm, as with work Small role for a Hollywood star Dud on wheels Type of college protest Twin with a connection Willie Winkie description Longtime Chinese chairman ___ de Triomphe Oft-repeated word in “Fargo”

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December 7, 2012

Sports

Ice hockey’s shorthanded woes continue Rams allow six-unanswered goals at Salem State

By Matt Cook Sports Editor

The Framingham State Ice Hockey team stands at 1-8 overall, with a 0-4 mark in the MASCAC and a 0-3 record at home as they prepare to face UMass Dartmouth on Saturday night.

On Tuesday, the Rams lost to the Stonehill Skyhawks, 6-4 on the road. Both Framingham and Stonehill were 2-for-6 with the man advantage. The Skyhawks outshot FSU 46-39. Stonehill was able to take 29 shots in the first period alone, but only three during the final frame of regulation. Their first three goals were scored in the opening 12:15 of the contest.

Junior forward Dan Miressi had a goal with a pair of assists. It was his eighth goal of the season.

“I think the team is close,” Miressi said. “I have never been a part of a group of guys with more talent since I’ve been here. I think we’re still putting it together, but when it does happen, we will be a dangerous team.”

Miressi also said he thinks the Rams are making the right steps, and they just need to focus on playing complete games.

“We’re a team that can’t take a period or a shift off,” he added. “When we played Southern N.H., everyone from the drop of the puck set a tone for the game and carried the play. We had every line contribute on the score sheet, and got production all the way down the lineup in every facet of the game. We played a full 60 minutes and played as a team.”

Junior defenseman and team captain Bo Driscoll said that when the Rams won that game against SNHU, they played an all-around solid game.

“We stuck to our system and got a great effort from everyone in the lineup,” he said. “We showed up.”

Sophomore defenseman Dylan Cosford said the team played well together in their first victory of the season, not getting off track.

“When we got a lead, we didn’t let up and instead kept attacking, making it much more difficult for SNHU to come back,” Cosford said.

Junior forward Eric Ward said he agrees the team came together and was all on the same page.

“Some guys that don’t usually play that much were in the lineup, which paid off and some younger guys stepped up their games which was good to see,” he said.

Alexis Huston/The Gatepost

Junior forward Dan Miressi (16) has eight goals on the season. He led the Rams in that category last year.

N ov . 17

Nov. 2

N ov.

N ov 0 . 15 N ov. 2 D ec. 1

7

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Dec. 4

But the most difficult aspect of Framingham’s play has been the penalty kill.

Through the first eight games of the season, the Rams had 48 total penalties. Opponents have been able to score on 19 of their power plays, or 39.5 percent overall.

“We just need to cut back, be disciplined,” said Miressi. “Our penalty-kill guys work hard and will get better. It comes down to accountability. If we all play our role, play as a team and are accountable to the sweaters we’re wearing and the guy next to us, we’re going to be

Nov. 12 Deanna Collins/The Gatepost

fine.”

He added that he has full confidence in the group of guys, and that they’re not done this year.

“It will be a good year to be a Framingham hockey fan,” Miressi said.

Driscoll said he feels the team needs to work on communication better with each other on the penalty kill.

“When we get away from playing our system, that’s when mistakes happen and we give up shorthanded goals,” he said.

Cosford noted the Rams need to stop

taking so many penalties, but that when they do get one, they need to hold their ground because “we have a tendency to get off track and run around too much, giving them more opportunities.”

Ward praised head coach T.J. Brown on his penalty-killing system, but said the team just needs to work a little harder at it.

“I think you will definitely see it improve as the season goes,” Ward added.

“The season is still very young, and I think we are moving in the right direction for a playoff spot.”

On Thursday, the Rams traveled to Salem State for a MASCAC game and lost 7-2.

Early on, Framingham had a few oddman rushes, with a 3-on-2 opportunity that was deflected and a 2-on-1 that was shot wide. The Rams were also generating turnovers, but weren’t able to convert it to goals early on.

The Vikings broke the scoring drought in the first period off a turnover. Down 1-0, the Rams applied more pressure.

There was a scrum in front of the net, but Framingham wasn’t able to tie it.

Salem deflected a lot of shots in the first 20 minutes of play, as they held the 1-0 lead after the first frame of.

Early in the second period, junior goaltender Dale Adams made an excellent somersault save to keep it a 1-0 game.

Junior forward Roy Monson tied the game win an impressive shot that went top shelf and found the back of the net to make it 1-1. It was a 4-on-4 goal as there were a multitude of penalties in the game.

Shortly after, still in the second period, sophomore forward Ryan McDonald made it a 2-1 game. However, after taking the lead, the Rams would surrender sixstraight goals as the Vikings exploded.

The Vikings made it 2-2 after nice moves to fool Framingham’s defense. Salem State made it 3-2 off a deflection, and less than a minute later, it was 4-2 after a shot was tipped.

Salem State kept the pressure and managed to kill a five-minute major. After two periods, it was 4-2 in favor of the Vikings.

They scored three more in the final period to make it 7-2. McDonald missed a wideopen one-timer.

The Rams fell to 1-8 on the year and 0-5 in the MASCAC. Framingham will play UMass Dartmouth on Saturday. Dartmouth is undefeated in regulation at 3-0-1. They are first in the conference and 4-1-2 overall.

What’s Cookin’

NIU sneaks into bowl game while Oklahoma, others snubbed spot in BCS

By Matt Cook Sports Editor On Sunday night, the college football bowl games were announced on ESPN’s Bowl Selection Show, with the alreadydecided national championship game being confirmed. Notre Dame, the best team in the nation and the only remaining undefeated (12-0) will look to win its first BCS title since 1988, the year Lou Holtz coached. The Fighting Irish are set to face the Alabama Crimson Tide, which narrowly defeated No. 3 Georgia in the SEC Championship game on poor clock management by the Bulldogs.

But the most controversial announcement that came from Sunday’s revela-

tion was the fact that Northern Illinois University would be playing against No. 12 and ACC Champions Florida State University in the Orange Bowl on New Year’s Day. NIU is ranked 15th at 12-1. And for the first time in BCS history since 1998, a team from a non-AQ (automatic qualifying) conference that’s not undefeated will make it into a BCS game.

Students of Northern Illinois will be offered free tickets to the game in Miami provided they can make the trip on their own.

NCAAF analyst David Pollack on the show said he doesn’t agree with it.

“I don’t think that they should be

there,” he said. “My first thought process for this matchup is Cincinnati. They [NIU] lost to Iowa. If you play a tough schedule and go undefeated, maybe you have no problem.”

The Huskies were ranked 16th in both the coaches poll and the Harris poll, but were 19th in the computers. They had only one win against current ranked teams.

ESPN analyst Jesse Palmer also had a problem with NIU making it to a BCS bowl game, particularly in their resume.

“NIU lost to Iowa, a team that had two wins in Big Ten play,” he said. “The most impressive win this year is the MAC title game against No. 17 Kent

State, if you believe Kent State was really the 17th-best team in the country. I don’t think they should get to go. I think Oklahoma is more deserving to play.”

What brought even more controversy into the mix was the way that ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit responded to the announcement.

“The fact that NIU is in the BCS in 2012 is really a sad state for college football,” he started. “They don’t deserve to be in the BCS this year. Are you kidding me? Nobody even knew they were playing until they got to the Toledo game a few weeks ago. You’re going to leave Oklahoma out to put NIU in? Are you Continued on page 19

December 7, 2012

Sports

19

Women’s basketball 3-3 overall

Park, Hoffman shine as dynamic duo for Rams

By Jess Thomas Asst. Sports Editor The Framingham State Women’s Basketball team has begun the season with a 3-3 record, all non-conference play, so far in the 2012-13 campaign.

The team started out the year with two losses in the Babson Invitational Tournament but have since come back to win three of the next four games.

The first opponent this year was Babson College on Nov. 16, a game that Framingham lost 73-59, as Babson pulled away in the second half. Senior guard Madeleine Park and junior guard Kristen Hoffman led the team with 15 and 14 points, respectively.

The team struggled from the field, getting outshot 45.3 percent to 33.8 percent, as well as getting outrebounded by 17. The Rams were unable to contain Babson’s Sarah Collins, who had a monstrous effort with 25 points and 16 rebounds.

The next afternoon, the team played Bowdoin College for the second and final game of the tournament.

Bowdoin won 50-37 as Framingham struggled to put points on the board. Neither squad shot higher than 31 percent from the field, but Bowdoin won because they dominated the rebounding margin 5329.

FSU’s leading scorer in this game was Hoffman who netted 17 points, with senior forward Kia Minor scoring 10 of her own to go along with eight rebounds and five steals.

After nine days off and some time to think about their play, the Rams took on Coast Guard in their home opener at the FSU Athletic Center on Nov 26.

Despite getting outshot and outrebounded, the Rams squeaked out a 7675 victory in an overtime thriller with a pair of free throws by sophomore guard Nicole Bostic with 30 seconds left in the overtime.

Framingham State had all five starters reach double figures in points in the game, led by Park who scored 20.

Sophomore guard Margo McCarthy pulled down nine rebounds, Park grabbed eight, and Minor collected seven boards in the one point victory.

The team headed to Suffolk University on Nov. 29 for their fourth battle of the season.

Suffolk took care of FSU as they won 82-66 led by Iliana Quadri, Jacqueline Vienneau and Jennifer Ruys, scoring 26, 20, and 18 respectively.

Park did everything she could to attempt to catch up to Suffolk, scoring 24

When looking for quality wins that the Huskies pulled out, there really aren’t any. They beat Tennessee-Martin 35-7, barely won a 41-40 game against Army and blew out Massachusetts 63-0. The only ranked opponent they played was No. 17 Kent State in the conference title.

They beat Kansas by a touchdown and beat Toledo by seven. They dominated Eastern Michigan, 49-7. But the Kent State victory took double-overtime.

When looking at the schedule just for what it is, there is nothing that pops out that says Northern Illinois should be going bowling in the BCS. Oklahoma, the team that many believe should be playing in the Orange Bowl instead, are ranked No. 11 with a 10-2 record overall. Their two losses came against Collin Klein and No. 15 Kansas State on Sept. 22 and to then No. 5, now

No. 1 Notre Dame. Not a bad resume so far.

As for wins, they escaped rivals Oklahoma State, No. 21 at the time, 51-48. They also downed Texas, No. 15 at the time, 63-21. Those two wins alone should place them in the Orange Bowl.

They squeaked by Geno Smith and West Virginia 50-49.

What do the Huskies have that the Sooners don’t? I agree NIU is impressive at 12-1, but isn’t Oklahoma better? They are 2-2 against ranked opponents, and their two loses were against teams that have Heisman candidates.

Instead, Oklahoma will be facing No. 9 Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl. It should be an entertaining game, but not indicative of what Oklahoma has been able to do when matched up against NIU in the rankings.

Matt Cook/The Gatepost

Junior guard Kristen Hoffman led the Rams with 19 points on Thursday.

points, 17 in the second half, on 10-17 shooting. She also shot 4-8 from the threepoint arc. Hoffman also added 14 points and 4-6 from downtown.

Suffolk outrebounded the Rams by 20 to continue FSU’s rebounding troubles early on in the season.

Rams dismantled Lasell 68-47.

Framingham shot their best percentage yet this season at 43.9, while holding Lasell to 31.7 percent.

The Rams also outrebounded Lasell by seven and had a whopping 17 steals, six of them by Hoffman.

Women’s Basketball’s Road Ahead ------------------------------------------------------------Saturday at Curry, 1:00 p.m.

Dec. 11 vs. Nichols, 6:00 p.m.

Dec. 15 vs. Saint Joseph’s, 1:00 p.m.

Jan. 2 vs. Wellesley, 6:00 p.m.

Jan. 5 at Worcester State, 3:00 p.m.

Jan. 8 vs. Bridgewater State, 6:00 p.m.

Jan. 12 at Fitchburg State, 1:00 p.m.

Park talked about how the team is working to improve this season.

“We are a young team, but we are learning with every practice and game. We most certainly have the dedication, heart, and pride to compete throughout the season. We are solid fundamentally and are currently working on our intelligence, intensity, and tenacity, three components that will help us close out games.”

The team had their best performance on Saturday against Lasell College. The

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kidding me? Putting NIU in the BCS this year would really be an injustice to these teams.”

Herbstreit continued by saying teams need to “dominate” in order to earn spots in the BCS bowl games.

“You have to be a team that stands out,” he said. “What has NIU done this year to remember them? To put them in the BCS is an absolute joke to the rest of these teams that are more deserving.

I can’t even believe we’re having this discussion.”

Understandably, Herbstreit was criticized and called out via Twitter by many analysts and college football fans alike.

But let’s take a minute to focus on Northern Illinois’ resume, and you can decide

Once again, Park led the way with 22 points on 10-18 shooting. Minor shot 8-11 and scored 19 points as well.

No player on Lasell scored more than eight points except Molly Lauver who scored 12.

Park leads the team in scoring with 17.6 points per game through six games after also leading the team last season as well with 15.0 points per game.

Park elaborated on her leadership, saying, “I have always been one to lead by

example; having experience at the collegiate basketball level is a key component to success. To be able to share that with the younger players on the team is both a driving and motivating force especially towards our teamwork and bonding.”

She also pointed out that a leader should have commitment and confidence to the team.

Park and Minor are each looking to improve on last year’s play, especially in the conference, where they were a poor 3-9.

Conference play begins in January.

Minor said, “It’s going to take a lot of mental toughness and contribution from our bench to win games consistently. 3-9 is a tough set of numbers to look at, but if we continue to work hard like we have been and push ourselves and each other I really think we can go far this year.”

Park added, “Our team as a whole is quite different than last year; we have an entirely new frame in concerns to philosophy, players and composition of coaches.

This year we are looking to be more upbeat and aggressive.”

On Thursday, the Rams defeated Anna Maria, 64-60 on the road.

It was FSU’s lowest scoring output in a victory. It was their second win in a row after losing the first two games to start the season.

The game was relatively close throughout. Framingham scored 28 in the first and 36 in the second. Anna Maria scored 25 in the first and 35 in the second.

Framingham shot 32 percent from the field, but struggled from beyond the arc, making only five shots on 26 attempts.

Hoffman led the way with 19 points, nine steals and six rebounds. Park was right behind with 17 points and six rebounds. Minor had 15 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and five steals. Eleven of her 15 rebounds came from the offensive glass.

Framingham had only six points from the bench.

Despite shooting 50 percent from the field and 33 percent from the arc, Anna Maria wasn’t able to overcome Framingham.

Kayla Cummings led Anna Maria with 23 points.

Combined, the teams accounted for 57 turnovers - 32 for Anna Maria and 25 for Framingham. It was the most turnovers by the Rams in a single game this season.

Up next for the Rams is a trip to Curry Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.

The Rams don’t open up conference play until Jan. 5, during winter break, when they travel to Worcester State. After that game, Framingham plays conference games for the rest of the season until the finale on Feb. 14 against Rivier.

Northern Illinois will face Florida State in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 2013. for yourself it they are deserving.

For starters, the Huskies finished 9th in rushing yards and points for. They were 18th in points against and 60th in passing yards.

As for their schedule, NIU lost the first game of the season to Iowa, 18-17.

Iowa would go on to finish 4-8 overall and last in the Big Ten at 2-6.

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NOVEMBER 30,2012

This week in photos Alexis Huston/ The Gatepost

Students in Peirce Hall make homemade bracelets.

Alexis Huston/ The Gatepost

Angel Seto raises the most money to donate to Hurricane Sandy Relief.

Alexis Huston/ The Gatepost

SUAB hosts first-ever Miss FSU event in DPAC. Danielle Vecchione/ The Gatepost