Around the Campanile: Fall 2007
- University faculty and alums keys to statewide casino debate
- SMAST marks 10 years of achievements
- University history book published
- New Ombuds office seeks to "ensure every voice is heard"
- UMass Dartmouth Theatre Company celebrates 40th year
- U.S. awards $5.5 million for university, K-12 partnerships and research
- Senior poli-sci major crowned Miss Massachusetts
University faculty and alums keys to statewide casino debate
By: Paul Kandarian
Whether you think a proposed Mashpee Wampanoag casino in Middleborough is a good thing or a bad thing, one thing you can bet on: UMass Dartmouth has had an impact on the debate.
"We've studied the issue since 1995 when the Aquinnah Wampanoags negotiated with then-Governor William Weld to put a casino in New Bedford," said Clyde W. Barrow, director of the UMass Dartmouth Center for Policy Analysis. "It became clear to us that this would be a perennial debate in states around the country and a major debate in New England that could have far-reaching impacts on our economy and communities."
"Massachusetts residents accounted for 40 percent of those going to gambling establishments in Rhode Island at the time, so we decided at the time to go ahead and keep studying gambling issues," Barrow said. "We've consistently released studies since that time, and took a big step in 2005 when we launched the New England Gambling Research Project."
The purpose of the project is to provide policymakers, the general public, and the media with independent and objective research on the economic and fiscal impacts of gaming in the New England region. The Center's data was cited by Governor Patrick's administration in proposing three casinos in Massachusetts, one each in Southeastern Massachusetts, north of Boston and the western part of the state.
Meanwhile, 1987 alumnus Scott Ferson, president of the Liberty Square Group, a Boston- and Washington-based strategic communications firm, has been advising the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe on its casino endeavor.
Ferson started working for the Wampanoags, not to land a casino in the state, but to get the tribe sovereign nation status. The federal government granted that recognition to the 1,500-member tribe last year, opening the door for a run at casino gambling.
"But at the time, it wasn't about casinos at all, it was about recognition," Ferson said of his coming aboard to publicize the tribe's contribution to history. "We crafted a plan. They were the tribe that met the Mayflower. When you say that, their impact takes on a whole new meaning."
As to the studies done at his alma mater, Ferson said it is pleasing to see the Center for Policy Analysis taking such a large role in the casino issue.
"It's really been nice to see UMass-Dartmouth take such a part in this, it's nice that the media knows about it and that it's not Harvard all the time getting the press," he said.
Campus affiliations to Wampanoags
For two instructors at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth - one a Wampanoag tribe member and the other with perosnal connections to the tribe - siting an Indian casino in Middleborough is about economics and justice.
"As a sovereign entity, we need a large-scale economic base to meet the needs of the tribe, which are many, and a casino seems to be about the best way to do it," said Morgan Peters, a Wampanoag himself, an Assistant Professor of English at UMass Dartmouth, and chairman of education for the tribe. "But the thing is, I see it more as a means to an end than an end itself. A lot of us are below the median income line and Cape Cod housing is just through the roof."A lot of our tribal members have had to relocate off the Cape because of it."
"For me, the casino is not about making tribe members wealthy; It is about justice," added Elizabeth Lehr, part-time lecturer in the English Department whose partner is a tribe member and who participates in tribal events. "Considering the almost 400 years of contact, the tribe's success at maintaining itself as a tribe is amazing. But the long history of contact carries with it many serious inequities that remain today."
Peters, articulate, outspoken and not at all shy, hosts a blog - www.mwalimwordlounge.blogspot.com - on which he voices a variety of opinions on a tribal and societal topics, including the casino issue. The biggest benefit of a casino's income would be to provide housing for the Wampanoag people (there may be up to 2,000 Mashpee Wampanoags in all, he feels).
He strongly believes that at least some of the anti-casino sentiment some feel is based on economic racism.
"There's a resentment, stated or unstated, of economic prosperity of people of color," he said. "Some believe Indians should be poor because we're spiritual. Why do we need money?"
Though the majority of people polled in Massachusetts favor a casino, the anti-casino sentiment is strong and occasionally racially tinged, Peters said.
"If Donald Trump or MGM wanted to build a casino here, people would be up in arms, but would they be this up in arms?" he said.
Lehr said one of the most serious issues facing the tribe is the continuing loss of land through "economic pressures and officially legal, but not always ethical, tactics. I support the casino because it will help tribe members who struggle daily for basic resources, such as housing, food, education for their children, and health care."
And among other benefits, she said, "the casino will help tribe members house themselves in Mashpee, keeping the tribe cohesive. This is justice."
Paul Kandarian is a local freelance writer
SMAST marks 10 years of achievements
New School for Marine Science and Technology Dean Frank Muller-Karger came aboard just as the school is marking its first decade of existence. He joins a school that has helped sustain the New Bedford fishing industry, manage fragile coastal areas, and is fast-becoming a catalyst for the development of the marine technology industry.
"One thing that is clear to me is that SMAST can continue to grow in its public role of supporting New Bedford and adjacent communities,'' Dr. Muller-Karger said. "Our faculty, staff and students can make significant contributions in technology and in the science needed for proper resource management in and around Massachusetts."
Since 1999, SMAST researchers, led by former Dean Brian Rothschild and Professor Kevin Stokesbury, have conducted studies and surveys of Georges Bank and the Mid Atlantic continental shelf, resulting in a clearer understanding of the unique conditions that allow the growth of large numbers of scallops and fish in this ecosystem. As a result of their findings, federal regulatory agencies have reopened beds that had been closed years ago because of a lack of information to properly manage the resource. The sea scallop industry generates as much as $300 million annually for the New Bedford economy.
SMAST has also been working jointly with the Department of Environmental Protection and numerous other agencies and communities for five years to restore and protect estuaries, stretching from Duxbury to Fall River. The project has saved Massachusetts communities $2 million.
Muller-Karger said top level work is also being done using underwater robotics to learn more about the weather and climate. "We develop technologies to improve our understanding of the way we use the ocean and how we are linked to it," he said.
University's history of "Trials and Triumph" now available
A 416-page history of the university, UMass Dartmouth, 1960-2006: Trials and Triumph, is now available.
Written by Dr. Fred Gifun, professor emeritus of history, this is the first general history of UMass Dartmouth, tracing its growth over the last 46 years from the New Bedford and Fall River schools that were the university's founding institutions.
The book delineates the university's expansion-physical and programmatic-through narrative text in nine chapters, with extended explanatory footnotes and appendices, enhanced by 500-plus vivid images that provide a visual history to complement the text. Trials and Triumph covers a variety of topics, from the 1960 merger legislation that launched what would become UMass Dartmouth, to public higher education's struggle for adequate funding and recognition, to the university's impact on the region's economy and residents.
Gifun, a History Department member from 1973 until his retirement in 2002, is a former associate vice president for academic affairs and associate dean of arts and sciences. In retirement, he was the university's representative to the Connect partnership, and has devoted the past three years to the history project.
Debra Smook is the book's designer and photo editor. An accomplished print-maker who has exhibited in the United States, Canada, and Korea, she has a master of fine arts degree from Cran-brook Academy of Art. During production of the book, she was an art education graduate student at the university, and she has initiated an art program at the Bristol County House of Corrections.
The book is $49, with a 10 percent discount for alumni, retired and current university employees, and students. It can be ordered online at www.umassd.edu (use "umass" in discount code box); or by calling the campus store at 508.999.8190. It is also available at some local bookstores, such as Baker Books in Dartmouth, and Partners, Westport.
New Ombuds office seeks to "ensure every voice is heard"
The Ombuds Office is now available to help students, faculty, and staff to resolve disputes in an informal, confidential setting.
Ombudsperson William King said, "The purpose of the Ombuds Office is to ensure that every voice at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth can be heard. We listen to people, offer information about policies and procedures, and help individuals examine options. We attempt to help individuals resolve their concerns fairly. We do not act as an advocate for either side in a dispute."
Confidentiality is an important aspect of the Ombuds Office. The Office does not disclose who utilizes its services. Even when a concern grows into a formal complaint or legal proceedings, the Ombuds Office will not breach its confidentiality policy.
The Ombuds Office, located in the Dion Building on the UMass Dartmouth campus,also gives presentations to classes, making students aware of its existence and potential to help them.
UMass Dartmouth Theatre Company celebrates 40th year
Jarrad Nunes ( '04, English with Film/Drama Studies concentration), recalls looking out into the audience during a 2002 production of "Cabaret," and seeing a group of Holocaust survivors in the front row reduced to tears.
Nunes, playing the Master of Ceremonies role in the play that examines the underbelly of Berlin during the Third Reich recalled, "I was proud because I knew then that we had done justice to what can be a very difficult topic to deal with theatrically. It also drove home the intensity and immediacy of theatre as an art form. It was a powerful moment that I'll probably never forget."
For 40 years, the UMass Dartmouth Theatre Company has moved and delighted audiences, surviving a number of changes and hardships in its evolution, most significantly, the 1999 death of founder/director Angus Bailey.
Today, the company operates as an entirely student-run, 40-member group. Nunes serves as its staff liaison. He is also staff associate for the College of Visual and Performing Arts, working as the graduate and arts events coordinator. Senior Retha Charette is theatre company manager.
Recent productions have included, "The Mousetrap," "The Marriage of Bette and Boo," and "The Diary of Anne Frank."
During 2007-2008, Terry Berliner, whose credits include Broadway's "The Lion King," will oversee the fall musical, "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown." It runs December 6-9. Nunes will direct "The Laramie Project," showing April 24-27, 2008. The drama chronicles life in a small town following a hate crime/murder.
Launched in 1967 as the SMTI Dramatic Society performing "Kiss Me Kate" and "The Crucible," at the Dartmouth High School auditorium, the company expanded in subsequent decades, putting on nine-full scale productions per year on campus throughout the 1960's and 1970's before paring down to seven plays per season in the 80s.
Dean of Students Emeritus Donald Howard worked closely with Bailey during those early years, "Angus made the theatre come alive for students who previously had no background in that area,'' Howard said. "He truly helped to form their minds and heighten their awareness so that they became captivated by the value of theatre."
Many feel that the company's best years are yet to come. "The students' enthusiasm, commitment and sense of humor have made every show I've done with them very enjoyable," Monte said.
U.S. awards $5.5 million for university, K-12 partnerships and research
UMass Dartmouth's Center For University and School Partnerships has received two U.S. Department of Education grants totaling $3.5 million to attract, retain and support K-12 teachers in high need subject areas as identified by partner districts Fall River, New Bedford and Wareham.
"I'm absolutely thrilled to be given this opportunity to provide alternative pathways into teaching to individuals who may never have thought about teaching as a profession," said Karen O'Connor, director of the Center for University, School and Community Partnerships (CUSP), which will coordinate the grant programs.
Earlier this year, the James J. Kaput Center for Research and Innovation in Mathematics Education received a $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to examine new strategies to excite students about learning math, and increase the number and diversity of students in the math, science, and engineering pipeline. The combined total of the Kaput Center and CUSP grants is $5.5 million.
One CUSP grant -- $1.9 million over five years - will support the SouthCoast Partnership for the Journey into Education and Teaching (JET). It was one of nine such grants awarded across the country. The grant's purpose is to prepare paraprofessionals (teacher aides) in partner schools for full-time classroom teaching positions in elementary and special education.
The second, the Teacher Quality Enhancement-Recruitment Program (TQE-R), totals $1.6 million over four years and is designed to attract math, science and foreign language teachers to middle school classrooms in Wareham, New Bedford and Fall River.
"Each of these grant programs will attract students to UMass Dartmouth who may not have thought about teaching as a profession, but who possess valuable skills and experience combined with a strong desire to teach. Engineers, business executives, retired bankers and retired military personnel are examples. The teacher candidates will gain authentic and relevant urban teaching experience during a one-year residency that will help them be successful once they get a full-time job," O'Connor added.
Senior poli-sci major crowned Miss Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth senior Valerie Amaral of Acushnet was crowned Miss Massachusetts 2007 and will be competing this for the MIss America crown next semester.
An English and political science major, Valerie's competition platform is "Inspiring Youth to Volunteer." She has raised more than $30,000 for non-profit and scholarship organizations and started an organization that encourages young people to share their time and talents with others, especially senior citizens in nursing homes. She will continue that work during her year-long reign as Miss Massachusetts.
"I have grown so much from doing that volunteer work,'' Valerie said. "Right now, I'm just very excited and looking forward to the work I'm going to be doing as Miss Massachusetts...I love UMass Dartmouth and I'm looking forward to representing it."
She also won the Miss America Community Service Award and the Children's Miracle Network Award for being the contestant who raised the most money for the charitable organization.
Valerie will receive more than $8,000 in scholarships and will compete at the Miss America Pageant later this year. A 2004 graduate of New Bedford High School, she was selected from among 17 contestants.
Valerie is the daughter Keith and Susan Amaral of Acushnet. Her grandfather, Conrad Richard, is a retired UMass Dartmouth professor of engineering. Her brother, Bradley, is a current UMass Dartmouth engineering student.