ABCC investigates local liquor stores

By Katie Bresnahan

Early last week the Alcohol Beverage Control Commission (ABCC) charged County Street Liquors in New Bedford with eight counts of selling liquor to minors.

Over the past two weekends, investigations of County Street Liquors located at 113 County Street, New Bedford and Town Liquors located at 511 State Road, Dartmouth occurred. The purpose of these investigations was to find out if either of the liquor stores were vending to minors.

According to a September 16 article by Brian Boyd in the “Standard Times,” “Frederick Mahony, ABCC chief investigator, said the investigation into County Street Liquors alone identified 70 minors allegedly possessing, transporting or trying to buy alcohol — mostly UMass Dartmouth students.”

County Street Liquors would sell liquor to anyone carrying a UMass Dartmouth ID, which does not show the owner’s date of birth.

An article by Curt Brown, which was published the following day stated, “Matthew Van Do, owner of County Street Liquors, 113 County St., is facing disciplinary sanctions and possible criminal charges because he allegedly sold alcohol to [minors] last week as part of an ABCC investigation.”

For selling liquor to eight UMass Dartmouth minors, Van Do will stand before the ABCC in Boston, at the Commission’s offices. The board has the choice to suspend, modify or revoke the store’s liquor license. If found guilty of selling alcohol to minors, Van Do could face a fine of up to $2000, a year in prison or both. The hearing will be held “as soon as possible,” according to Brown’s article.

A number of adults who purchased alcohol for underage UMass Dartmouth students will also be summoned to the New Bedford District Court. They will be charged with delivering alcohol to minors.

In Brown’s article he writes that according to UMD spokesperson John Hoey, “The students who allegedly purchased alcohol or were found in possession of alcohol will likely face internal discipline by the university.”

According to the article, possible punishments for these students include probation and alcohol abuse education for first-time offenders, resident or university “jeopardy” and counseling for second time offenders and, for the third offense, suspension from a student’s residence hall or UMD and the necessity to submit to a chemical test in order to return to school. These students, however, will not face criminal charges, said Mahony.

In an article by Brown from this Monday, Mahony said there were no violations found at County Liquors this past weekend.

UMass Dartmouth entrepreneurs design their future

By Chris Donovan

Lester Sydney and Evan Wondolowski, shown above, are UMass students who are starting up their own t-shirt design business — Royaltee Clothing Company.

You may be seeing some new apparel around campus in the next few weeks. A group of young entrepreneurs from UMass Dartmouth have started their very own clothing company.

Royaltee Clothing Company is described as “a designer tee shirt company with a mission to provide designer clothing that is distinctive, stylish but still affordable,” by CEO and senior marketing major Lester Sydney. The concept of Royaltee clothing was created in 2006 by Evan Wondolowski, President and junior illustration major, while looking at shirts that were being sold by online stores and thinking to himself, “I can design better shirts than what I am seeing.” He then partnered with junior art education major Brian Brunell to help design some shirts. From there, Sydney became the primary investor in the company and now handles the business end of the company.

Starting a company from scratch has been a lot of work for this young group, “I knew I could create intriguing designs and make a presentable website,” Wondolowski noted. The designs and the website were only the beginning. “Everyday there was a new obstacle,” he admits. They have, however, been able to overcome their obstacles with the help of their UMass Dartmouth education, and get the business running off the ground. Sydney proclaimed, “Our UMass Dartmouth education has definitely helped us a lot with starting this business. For example, our designers wouldn’t be as skilled and as talented as they are and I know that I personally wouldn’t know as much as I do without my education from UMD.”

The company has already seen some success in the local area. The company attended an art and music festival in Worcester, Ma this past weekend and sold over 50 of their shirts. They even are already planning on expanding their clothing line to include a series of girls shirts available in mid October.

You can have a chance to check out more of Royaltee at www.royalteeco.com or attend their release party that will be starting at 10pm on September 28th at After 5 bar and grille. There you can meet the Molson girls from 10pm ń 12am, get some drink specials, buy some shirts, and have a chance to get some free promo shirts.

Sydney has this piece of advice for anyone who has a similar dream of starting their own business, ěnetwork and utilize every person you meet in life.

Peer Health Educators program searches for new interns

By Jennifer Masztal

Last Wednesday a meeting for students interested in becoming Peer Health Educators, or PHEs, was held in the Oak Glen conference room.

Beth-Anne Vieira, Coordinator of Health Education and Promotion at UMass Dartmouth, led the meeting in conjunction with the current members of the PHE program.They explained what the PHE program is all about and what it takes to be a Peer Health Educator to an audience of over 20 interested students.

According to their website, Peer Health Educators are “student leaders who are recruited and trained to provide the UMass Dartmouth student community with educational, interactive programs on health issue, raise awareness about health and wellness, refer students to appropriate resources and advocate for policy, procedural, and environmental changes that support the health and well-being of the campus community.”

The residents of UMass Dartmouth may have seen them doing programs in the residence halls. The PHE currently offer workshops on sexual health, alcohol, sexual assault and consent, and dating and relationship violence.

Vieira says of the popularity of the programs, “The Peer Health Educators had a very busy start to the school year. We are only a few weeks into the semester and we have already received the same number of workshop requests as we did all last semester!”

The students at the interest meeting, who are applying for this PHE position, if accepted, will be developing a similar health-related program during their 3-credit internship. During that internship they will also “[be required to] attend weekly staff meetings, present outreach programs, and participate in the planning and implementation of health awareness events,” according to their website.

They accept applications and set up potential interviews for Peer Health Educators at the beginning of each semester. The accepted applicants will then have to complete the 3-credit internship and devote at least a year to the program.

Vieira and the PHE present at the interest meeting went on to explain that while it is a lot of work and requires dedication, they do have fun.

Last spring the group took a trip to the Bacchus Network Peer Education Conference at the University of Maine, Orono.

Vieira said about the trip “The Peer Health Educators had the opportunity to meet other student leaders from colleges [and] universities across the northeast, attend workshops, and share program ideas. I know that several of the Peer Health Educators had reservations about giving up an entire weekend and the five-plus hour car ride [each way]. But, they had such a good time that we decided to make the conference an annual tradition.”

This trip marked a milestone for the Peer Health Education program. It started in the fall of 2004 when Vieira was hired as the university’s Health Educator. From there she developed the PHE program with the help of volunteers and, unfortunately, no budget.

The next year the program received funding from the Student Fee Allocation Committee, and it was able to expand.

As they enter into their fourth year, some of the original volunteer PHE still remain with the program.

In addition to recruiting new interns into the program, Vieira and the PHE have other plans for this semester. Vieira states, “The Peer Health Educators are becoming more involved in advocating for policy, procedural, and environmental changes to support the health of the campus community. Currently, the focus of those efforts is on the adoption of a Good Samaritan Policy and the expansion of hand sanitizing gel to dining areas.”

The accepted interns will be involved with these new proceedings in addition to attending different events the PHE will sponsor on campus, such as the Great American Smokeout and World AIDS Day.

And what else can the campus and applicants expect to see from the Peer Health Education program in the future?

They plan on expanding the audience for their programs in addition to more promotion of their workshops. They also want to get more organizations on campus, such as Greek life, to request their services and programs.

Vieira explains their future goals for the program, “My long-term goal is the establishment of a Wellness Center on campus, which would include a dedicated ‘home’ for the Peer Health Education program.”

For more information on the Peer Health Education Program, visit www.umassd.edu/livewell or contact Beth-Anne Vieira, Coordinator of Health Education & Promotion, at bvieira@umassd.edu or 508.910-6965.