Planting the seed for change
Speaking Frankly
Rams break scoring record
Mass. Congressman talks
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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O’Connell’s Pub offering Thursday night shuttle to FSU By Rachellyn Makuch STAFF WRITER This semester, local bar O’Connell’s Pub has been offering a free ride Thursday nights for students to and from their location
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Students take a break form studying to shoot hoops behind North Hall.
Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren making home-stretch push for student votes By Spencer Buell EDITOR-IN-CHIEF As part of a nearly yearlong effort to court student votes, senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren spoke to members of the Massachusetts college media Saturday via conference call. The Harvard Law Professor, a Democrat who helped the Obama Administration to create the new Consumer Financial publican Scott Brown, a political veteran from Wrentham running on a bipartisan
platform. “There’s a lot at stake in this election for college students, for young people all across the Commonwealth,” Warren said to representatives from The Gatepost, The MCLA Beacon, the Harvard Crimson and Northeastern’s Huntington News. Warren said her campaign works with over 300 interns on college campuses tasked with recruiting volunteers - over 1,500 of them so far - and helping students register to vote. The candidate stopped by the FSU campus last October, attracting few students, but many local Democrats for a campaign rally in DPAC.
Last Saturday, Warren held a rally at Northeastern featuring an appearance from actor Zach Braff, of “Scrubs” and “Garden State” - an icon for the twenty-something voters both candidates are after. Braff also appeared at Clark University and UMASS Amherst that same day. “I’m so proud of our efforts to reach out to college students, to engage young people in this campaign,” Warren said. “I’m in this race because I believe we need to invest in our future and create opportunities for the next generation. Having college students and young people all across the - Continued on page 3
The shuttle service, which began operation on Sept. 13, runs from 9 p.m.-1 a.m., picking up and dropping off students in front of the McCarthy Center, according to Co-owner Jen Madden. Thursdays are typically one of the most popular times for undergrads to get together and socialize. “It’s like the big night for O’Connell’s,” senior Danielle Landry said. Madden claims the shuttle isn’t being provided simply to transport inebriated students, and points to two other reasons for offering it. “Safety for everybody walking down here, number one,” Madden said. “Number two was the weather. Once it starts getting really cold and rainy, everyone is going to help everybody out up there?” Madden said the shuttles shouldn’t conhibits drinking and drunkenness on FSU property. Students who use the shuttle “shouldn’t [be in violation of the policy] because, regardless whether the students come here or another bar, or where they’re going to go, if they’re 21, they’re going to go out. … We’re just providing the shuttle for safety.” Framingham State University Chief of Police Brad Medeiros said so far, the shuttle - Continued on page 3
“Full-time man of principle” John Amaechi speaks about social awareness By Zachary Comeau EDITORIAL STAFF John Amaechi is a 6-foot-nine black man who weighs over 250 pounds. He is a psychologist. He is also a former NBA player. In a British grammar school, he was a “fat geek” who hid in the library. Oh yeah, he’s also gay. Despite all of these different categories ing the course of his life, Amaechi desires this “toxic” world has assigned him. Instead, Amaechi wants to be just a person - a stranger whom people know nothing about. Distinguished Lecture Series, Amaechi
opened the event last Tuesday with an acknowledgement of the peculiar difference between his appearance and his voice. “Some of you are going through a bit of a crisis in your brain because you’re looking at me and thinking, ‘How is this voice coming out of this body?’” he said with a thick, but eloquent British accent. Amaechi, who actually lived in Framingham during the early years of his life before moving with his family to Manchester, England, explained that in today’s supposedly post-racial world, people need to be increasingly aware of the impact they have on others - large or small. Just before arriving in New York, he played basketball. Longing to escape the - Continued on page 6
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Former Orlando Magic center John Amaechi challenged students to “live big.”
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Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012 15:20 Psychiatric emergency - F.S.U. police station. Party not feeling well. Transported to MWMC via ambulance.
Sunday, Oct. 14, 2012
October 19, 2012
Joseph Adelman Assistant History Professor By Scott Calzolaio STAFF WRITER
Please provide a brief summary of your resume and educational background.
MWMC via ambulance.
Monday, Oct. 15, 2012 suspicious male in the past. Suppliment report
Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2012 23:48 Fire (building) - Corinne Hall Towers. Fire alarm sounded. Caused by burning food. Alarm reset.
Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2012 20:29 Medical - May Hall. transport.
EDITORIAL BOARD 2012-2013 Spencer Buell
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I’ve had a little bit of a varied background, but I’ll go through it. So I grew up in the New York City suburbs. For undergrad, I went to Harvard College. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do when I graduated. I was starting to think about graduate school, but I was not entirely sure. So I went and worked for two years for a state legislator representative in the New York state assembly, and then decided I wanted to come back to go to grad school and be a historian, and so went to Johns Hopkins for graduate school. I taught at Johns Hopkins for a year. I had a few research fellowships doing work at archives this past year, and now I’m here.
tion. What was your best experience in college? The two best experiences I had: one was writing a senior thesis and getting to do my own research project and really dig into sources and to reading up on an issue. I wrote it about an issue in the American ally just get into the period and try and practice what it was like to be a real historian, because I was starting to think about going to graduate school and becoming a historian. And the other actually was singing in a chorus as an extracurricular activity. I
a chorus that traveled around the country, and so I got to go some new and exciting places and sing some fantastic music. It’s a different kind of comradery when Why did you Photo courtesy of framingham.edu you’re singing decide to matogether with 50 jor in history? other people and producing a sound like When I was in college, I was trying to de- that. cide between history and political science. I was interested in both and interested in Do you have any hobbies? the processes of politics and history, and so I took a couple of classes in each. His- I still enjoy singing, and when I moved up tory is a long-time love since I was a little to Massachusetts, I joined a chorus in the kid, and that won out. It’s the area of my area. I also follow baseball pretty closely. greatest interest. It’s the thing I can’t live When I moved to Baltimore, I started following the Orioles, though there wasn’t without. much to see for many years. So it’s been nice to see them rebound this season. What courses do you teach here? Do you have a role model? U.S. survey, so United States history up teaching that again and I’ll be teaching a course on Native American history from contact to the age of revolutions, so a survey of Native Americans between about 1500 to 1800 in both North and South America.
I don’t really have any single person I describe as my individual role model, but I have a group of about six or eight or 10 or so friends and colleagues and mentors whom I look to in various ways as models for teaching and scholarship and as writers and they are the people I go to for advice when I need it.
What’s the best part of your job at FSU?
Do you have any advice for students?
Getting to talk about history and getting to interact with students and explain the past and get students to think about the past in different ways - hopefully, in more critical ways and to appreciate it. Are you currently working on any projects? I am. I’m writing a book on the business and politics of publishing, especially
@TheGatepost
Take advantage of the opportunity. Especially engage with the faculty when you have the chance. I know it’s true for me, and I think it’s true for everybody - we’re here because we want to work with students and so take advantage of the opportunities offered to talk to people, to exthat have no job prospects after college, and interests that might have job prospects after college.
October 19, 2012
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Fashion Club happy with second-choice speaker, TLC’s Sondra Celli By Kärin Radock NEWS EDITOR SGA allocated money to FSU Fashion Club to fund a November guest speaker, to the Dance Team for its fall performances and to The Onyx for its spring 2013 edition. The FSU Fashion Club came before senate with a club request of $854 to fund guest speaker Sondra Celli, a designer from the TLC show “Bling It On” and a Waltham native. The motion to allocate the full amount passed unanimously. SGA Vice President Larry Liuzzo said Celli will showcase three dresses she has created in addition to screening DVD clips of her show. “It’s to get students educated about the fashion industry,” he said. “She’ll possibly talk about her rise to celebrity status and what steps she took to further her career - how she ended up where she is now.”
Liuzzo said the club members are happy with their second choice for a guest speaker after their request for $53,607.60 to bring TLC’s Clinton Kelly failed to pass at last week’s meeting. “I think Sondra is going to bring a great message to not only the fashion students or people interested in fashion - but whoever goes, I think, will get a nice message,” he said. The FSU Dance Team came forward with a club request for $1,344 for its “Just Dance” fall show and a separate request for $397 for its November “So You Think You Can Dance” event. Motions made to allocate the full amount for both requests passed unanimously. The Onyx came forward with a request for $6,281.57 for its spring 2013 edition. The motion made to allocate the full amount for the request passed unanimously.
Alexis Huston/The Gatepost
SGA Secretary Carly Granville, Student Trustee Molly Goguen and Vice President Larry Liuzzo.
Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren making home-stretch push for student votes - Continued from page 1
community of Massachusetts as partners in this race is critical. It’s what this race is about.” Warren reiterated many of her go-to
students’ concerns about the job market awaiting them after graduation. She also cial reform as key issues for undergrads, highlighting the differences between her-
self and her opponent. way they’re going to build a future is to cut taxes for those at the top and let everybody else pick up the pieces. That means less investment in infrastructure, in education, in basic research,” she said, adding, “Investment in research is what creates opportunity on down the line, so these two different visions play out in very real ways.” of legislation she would work to pass as a cial reform to reign in student loan debt would be a close second.
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things I want to do is work on how we pay for college. This is a critical part of how we build a future as a country. Students now owe more than a trillion dollars in student loan debt, and it is crushing them. It has long-term implications for this economy. We can’t keep going in this direction.” Warren will be holding a rally Saturday at the Laborer’s Training Center in Hopkinton at 2:30.
Elizabeth Warren is reaching out to college campuses around Massachusetts in an appeal for votes.
SGA and SILD register 137 students to vote By Kärin Radock NEWS EDITOR The Student Government Association and ership Development have registered 137 students as part of a voter registration drive this fall. SILD and SGA have also aided 180 students complete and submit absentee ballots this fall. “On Tuesday, 98 people alone registered to vote,” said SGA Vice President Larry Liuzzo, “which is an unbelievable number.” Liuzzo commended SILD Outreach Coordination Intern Kendra Sampson and Student Trustee Molly Goguen for spearheading the effort to help students register to vote. He said, “Even working the table a few times, I was excited with the numbers. “I think it’s an important issue - to not only register - but to take part in our society. It’s an important thing, and not too many kids our age may see it that way.” Liuzzo said he thinks voter apathy is an issue that needs to be addressed. Goguen said, “I’ve been inspired by the amount of people who have registered to vote on this campus. There seems to be a genuine interest among students in this year’s election. Students realize that they can make a change.”
O’Connell’s Pub starts shuttle to FSU Thursday nights
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service operation has not caused any problems. “We’ve had no incidents yet where we’ve been told a person came off the bus intoxicated, but we have had incidents where students came back intoxicated and stated the last place they were was O’Connell’s,” Medeiros said. ting there waiting for the bus” to arrest students who use the shuttle, and will only be present at the drop-off in front of the McCarthy Center if the department receives a call. “The only way they’re [O’Connell’s] breaking the rules is if they’re knowingly sending people back here intoxicated,” Medeiros said. In general, though, he said, “It’s always a good idea to give someone a ride if they’re intoxicated. … It’s a common sense thing.” But some students aren’t sure about whether to use the service due to worries about the potential for backlash from the school. “I feel like it’s giving mixed messages,” said Junior Maura Kaldas. “We are a dry campus, so why offer that service? I feel like it’s a trap.” Speaking outside of O’Connell’s on Sept. 27, senior Bryce Lipscomb said, “Half of the college students are going to bring their own cars [to the bar]. They’re going to be driving drunk tonight.” Junior Kelly Ann Kerrigan, also speaking at O’Connell’s on Sept. 27, said she supports a shuttle system to cut down on drunk driving. Without such a service, she said, “How are people who are of age going to get to the bar? Their cars. Then how are they going to get back after drinking
too much? Their cars.” Senior Nick McWilliams, also interviewed outside O’Connell’s on Sept. 27, said, “[The shuttle] is giving people a safe way home. It’s not going to hurt anyone.” Campus police say they will follow the dry campus policy if any students come back to campus intoxicated, regardless where they came from. “It doesn’t matter if they’re coming back from O’Connell’s. If we get a call, were not going to bust them. We’re going to check them out and make sure there O.K., if they’re stable, and can care for themselves. … When Campus Police receives a call about an intoxicated student, they’re aware of their surroundings - ‘do they know their name or where they are,’” Medeiros said. Campus police will then administer level of impairment by giving the ‘heel to toe’ test, ‘alphabet’ test, ‘one-legged stand’ test, and a portable breath test (PBT) that gives a digital reading of what the level of intoxication is,” said Medeiros, adding that FSUPD purchased two of the PBT devices this year. In Massachusetts, .08 is the legal blood alcohol content limit for impairment. “If [the student] can’t care for themtective custody, and transfer them to the Framingham Police Department. They are not under arrest - no record is attached to it.” Students can be held up to 12 hours or “can be released into the custody of their parents. “If their level of intoxication does not make them a candidate to be placed in protective custody, but they’re emanating -
Michael Murphy/The Gatepost
Students who visit O’Connell’s Pub on Thursday nights can now take free transportation to and from campus. pus police senses they need medical attention, an ambulance will be called and they will be transported to the hospital.” Punishments for students who violate the school’s alcohol policy by possessing handbook. one-week restriction from residence halls, varsity or club sport athletic contests, performances or exhibits on campus, university sponsored events, participation in nizations and campus committees. Under some circumstances, students can avoid the res hall restriction by paying a $175 fee. Sanctions become more serious for second offenses, and a third offense results in a 16-week suspension from campus. The punishments are different for students who do not live on campus. Senior Meagan Boissonneault said,
cause so many people [students] live on campus, or around it, that go to O’Connell’s and now it’s giving them a safer way than driving themselves.” Junior Lauren Carlson said, “I think, you know, as long as you’re 21 years old or older, and are responsible, that’s great that people have safe transportation so we don’t have any more accidents.” Sophomore Taylor Dubé said, “It’s stopping kids from driving themselves while intoxicated. That’s a good thing.” Sophomore Marc Amedee said the local bars. “I mean, it was what, last year a girl [FSU student] died because of drunk driving. The school should put posters up promoting it [the shuttle], because I didn’t know about it.” [Editor’s Note: Assistant News Editor Michael Murphy contributed to this article.]
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This Week In Photos Alexis Huston/The Gatepost
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Residents of Peirce Hall decorate mugs and plates. Alexis Huston/The Gatepost
Students enjoy the mild fall weather all around campus.