Parking changes become reality in campus lots

By Jeff Trull

Parking passes, which are now placards displayed on rearview mirrors instead of stickers, have become a target of theft on the UMass Dartmouth campus. Already fifteen parking passes have been stolen from students’ cars this semester.

As students began the school year, the new parking fees and the accompanying parking changes dominated conversation around campus. Big adjustments were expected with the addition of fees, restrictions as to who can park where and potential security upgrades using the generated revenue. Now that we are two months into the school year, is anything really that different than it was a year ago?

As stated in my article “New fees: Consider yourself parked” earlier this semester, I have gotten over the new parking fees. It’s old news to students now and has become a typical fee that everyone will expect to pay from now on. Assuming that parking fees aren’t increased by outrageous amounts in the coming years, not a lot will be said about the existence of the fees themselves. However, parking passes have been in the news for another reason: theft.

Stolen parking passes have already been a huge issue this year. According to the Public Safety office, at least fifteen parking passes have been stolen this semester. With the change from stickers to a new placard that hangs from the rearview mirror, parking passes are no longer affixed to the car. Although stolen passes were not an issue in a past (considering they used to be free), theft of the new placards is much easier than trying to remove the older, adhesive decals. Most of the stolen passes this year have been taken from cars with unlocked doors. Although this is still a serious crime, it obviously hasn’t taken much effort for the thieves to commit the crime.

The most startling fact about these stolen passes is that the victims have been forced to pay for new ones. The parking decals are individually numbered, meaning that they should be traceable back to the original owner based on the information filled out when applying for the pass. Regardless, why should the victims be forced to pay the price for the stolen passes? In last week’s issue of The Torch, a student lamented that she is still without a pass after hers was stolen. I can’t say I really blame her for not wanting to shell out another $150 for another pass.

Campus police claim to be stepping up their effort in order to track down those responsible for the stolen passes. While I’ll admit that it’s a difficult task to track down fifteen parking passes out of several thousand, hopefully someone will be brought to justice for stealing these passes.

At the same time, campus police have been doing an adequate job enforcing the new parking rules. For the first few weeks, response was slow to ticket cars parked in incorrect lots. However, tickets are now being issued to those who fail to abide by the new lot designations. Also, tickets have been issues to cars that aren’t parked within lines, in illegal areas or in other spaces that are not designated for student parking. While fines for parking illegally often frustrate students, campus police are justified in doing so. Every student should be forced to park in the designated spots. If you can’t find a spot near your building, tough! Everyone else is experiencing the same problem.

Major changes to the parking system warranted by the half-million dollars collected by the university as parking fees remain unseen. Realistically, I did not expect to see any plans for additional parking on campus. While some have lobbied for a new lot or even a parking garage, the fact remains that these types of things require a lot of money. I do not see a dire need to build a parking garage on campus as of yet. Simple improvements are more worthwhile and affordable at this time.

As I mentioned last week, there are still no cameras in the parking areas or roadways. This could be a key addition in order to deter vandalism and crime, especially given recent armed robbery and the parking pass thefts. More security has been visible. The last few nights I have noticed security guards at the entrance of our school. While cars are still allowed to freely enter the school, there is at least some sense of increased security at the front entrance. While I’m not sure why this security was put in place or if it is only temporary, I think there should be consideration for stationing security at the front entrance on a permanent basis.

Around campus, emergency call boxes are still lacking. While new boxes have been ordered, they aren’t in place yet. Again, this could be an important safety addition. These boxes provide a quick and easy way for students to contact police in case of emergency. Students may not always know the telephone number for campus police, so call boxes alleviate this issue. Also, additional lighting has not been added as of yet, either. Certain areas of campus continue to be fairly dark, such as the areas around Ring Road and in parking lots. Anywhere where students typically walk at night should be well lit. I know all of these changes may take some time, but it would be nice to see something being done immediately. The addition of new police officers at the start of the year is one positive in this situation. However, I’m not sure I can say that I feel a lot safer on campus given the addition of these officers.

The new parking system has certainly brought some changes from that of the past. While I can’t speak for commuter students, I am fairly satisfied with the parking as a resident. Yes, I have to walk a few minutes to and from my car, but I don’t mind. There are always spots available somewhere nearby. The only shortcoming in my mind is the safety improvements. As a senior, I hope that the changes promised when instituting the parking fees are implemented before I leave and that future students will have a safer, less frustrating parking experience.

Stephen Colbert tests the presidential waters

By Lee Lukoff

On a recent showing of “The Colbert Report,” host Stephen Colbert dropped a bombshell. Early in the show he told the audience that he had “decided to officially consider whether or not I will announce” a campaign for the presidency. The announcement was a joke about how politicians who are considering a presidential run make their intentions known about seeking the presidency without officially announcing it. Colbert had decided that playing games with the idea of a presidential run for an extended period of time was fruitless, so he announced his candidacy stating, “After nearly 15 minutes of soul-searching, I have heard the call.” Soon after he entered his name into an already crowded presidential field, Colbert began to lay out his plans for the upcoming primary.

Colbert’s political strategy is one that is highly risky. He has decided to run as both a Republican and a Democrat. He has decided that he will be on the ballot in only one state: South Carolina. To Mr. Colbert’s delight, a recent Rasmussen Poll shows that 13 percent chose Colbert as an independent candidate in a race against Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton and former New York mayor, Republican Rudy Giuliani. Colbert told the media that he had no intentions of becoming President; instead he just wanted to run for President. He said that if he were able to get enough votes in the South Carolina Democratic Primary to receive a delegate, he will feel that he has won.  

With such high poll numbers and a fanatical following of young college-aged voters, Colbert’s dream to receive a voting delegate may become possible. On Facebook, Colbert’s official campaign group surpasses both “One Million for Barack Obama” and “Stop Hillary Clinton: One Million Strong against Hillary.” Colbert’s group boasts the membership of over 1,000,000 members compared to a little over 300,000 for Obama and 500,000 in the Anti-Hillary group.

After he was a declared candidate, Colbert was invited to be a guest on the Sunday morning political talk show “Meet the Press.” Colbert elaborated his issue stances in the one-on-one format with host Tim Russert. He called for the abolishment of Medicare and Social Security saying “I just don’t understand pensions or Social Security. Why do you get paid after you stop working? That doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Colbert also made his intentions known that he would strongly consider asking Senator Larry Craig to be his Vice President. Asking the man who was recently arrested for the restroom sex scandal was absolutely hilarious in my opinion. But who knows, maybe it will help the dark-horse candidacy of Stephen Colbert in some strange way unprecedented in American political history.

While many young Americans are sick of politicians who lie and do not serve the interests of the people, Stephen Colbert would be a great change of pace for an electorate who give both President Bush and the Democratic Congress approval ratings under 30%. For Colbert there is historical precedent to show that television icons can win political races. Both Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger were actors before they entered politics. While voting for a comedian who lacks credibility may be tough, it would send a message to Washington if Stephen Colbert were to muster just a few votes even if he isn’t serious about taking the job as President.

Dorm false alarms wake students up

By Knottia Carrigan

Last Friday morning, I was awakened at 3 a.m. by a student who pulled the fire alarm in Maple Ridge Hall. My roommate and I didn’t know what was going on. Our first priority was to get out of the building, so we hurried out. We stood outside, as more and more residents followed. It was obvious that there wasn’t an actual fire, rather just another student who had nothing better to do than make us all suffer. It was cold, we were all confused and it wasn’t fair to those who had to get up in a few hours to go to class, such as my roommate and I.

Fire fighters arrived, as did police officers. They stood inside the building, while we stood outside with no answers. One resident banged on the door and said, “There’s no fire, let us in!” They just stared back at us. I looked around me and noticed that a lot of the residents thought the whole situation was a big joke. There were people singing songs. Some were chanting, “Go Red Sox!” Others were laughing, asking their friends if they were the ones who did it.

After about an hour or so, an RA came outside and told us that the next step for them was to call an electrician to repair the fire alarm. It was brought to our attention that the culprit also poured water into the alarm. We could not get back in until it was fixed. That’s when residents got on their cell phones and called friends of theirs in other resident halls to let them in their building to stay warm. My roommate and I did the same. While in Chestnut Hall, there were people lying and sleeping on the floor. We all just wanted to get back in our beds.

After about another hour or so, I noticed that the R.A.’s were beginning to let students back in. My roommate and I hurried back to our building. Others followed. The second I stepped foot in the building, I felt like I was about to go to prison. They told us to enter the building in a single-file line and proceed with our hands up. After pulling the fire alarm there is supposed to be evidence on the culprit’s hands. My roommate and I got in and ran upstairs to our room, trying to go back to sleep. I was able to wake up for my 9:00 class, but my roommate overslept and missed hers.

This wasn’t the first time someone pulled the fire alarm in a resident hall. It’s been occurring a lot lately. Why do we have to be the ones to suffer? This act was cruel, selfish, and immature. No one knows who committed this act, but I hope authorities will find out. There will be consequences. This has happened a few times last year, also. That is why these acts don’t seem random. There are questions that still arise: is it the same person? Why did they do it?

The school should do something to prevent students from pulling the fire alarm. Maybe installing cameras will prevent students from setting off false alarms. If students think twice about pulling the alarm, maybe this will keep them from choosing to do so.

I hope I won’t have to go through this foolish ordeal again. It isn’t fair to anyone. What if there was an actual fire? Someone could have gotten hurt. Anything could of happened. These are peoples lives were talking about. Next time I hope the culprit would take the time and think about what he/she did and have enough respect for everyone not to do it again.

INKLINGS

The only thing we have to fear is...

By Allison Reitz

Fear is a funny thing. When we’re younger, especially around Halloween, our fears manifest themselves in fantasy, in the things we’re told are unreal but are so vivid in our imaginations that we have to wonder, “What if...?”

I remember going trick-or-treating as a young child with my older brother and either one of my parents (depending on the year). As I walked through the streets, pillowcase of goodies in one hand and a parent holding the other, I was terrified of the creatures that surrounded me. There I was, dressed like an itsy-bitsy spider (with a top hat — how cute!) or Minnie Mouse (with rosie cheeks — how cute!), but all around me were monsters and goblins and devils with flashing eyes and plastic pitchforks. Oh my!

Being young, I couldn’t separate what was “real” and what was “pretend.” Part of me knew that the grotesque creatures that wandered the streets were children just like me — with eyes and ears, instead of vacant skull sockets and horns. But another part of me was still frightened by the unknown, by the “what if” possibilities of one real monster being so cleverly disguised among all the fake phantasms. All I could do was cling to my parents and trust that they would help protect me.

Growing older, I’m not scared by the same things anymore. Thankfully, small children in Halloween masks don’t make me quiver with fear. I’m not afraid of what might be hiding under my bed, in the closet or in the dark. However, at times I wish my fears could be so outlandish and unrealistic. At least when I was afraid of the make-believe, I could always fall back on the realization that what scared me wasn’t real.

On campus, we’ve had some of our own scares recently, but in a very adult way. In recent weeks, we’ve dealt not only with an armed robbery that hit uncomfortably close to the Woodland Commons, but we’ve also been on the edge of our seats with the revelation that one of our fellow students has gone missing.

Walking across campus at night, many of us may not be afraid of the dark so much as we are afraid of what it might be hiding. And in this world, who can tell what kind of masks people wear and what sorts of monsters might be lurking in the crowd?

What do we do when, as adults, the things we fear are very real? We can’t always have a parent to walk at our side, hold our hand and guide us through the streets, just as we can’t have the comfort of a pillowcase filled with candy awaiting us as the end of the day. What we do have is trust.

We can trust in our friends to watch out for us and want what’s best for us. Whether they’re walking by our side across campus, keeping an eye on us at parties or knowing when to save us from ourselves, we can breathe a bit easier just knowing they’re there.

We can trust in Public Safety to keep this campus safe. They can never be all-knowing and all-seeing, but so much goes on behind that scenes that the typical student never gets to see how much hard work the men and women of the department put in. We can also trust that they will always be available to us — just a phone call away at x8107 or x9191 (for emergencies).

By knowing who to trust and by staying alert to the environment and people around us, we can lessen our fears just a little bit. And, of course, if you’re still afraid of the dark, there are always flashlights and nightlights.

Anyone with information regarding missing student Neo Babson Maximus, a.k.a. Charles M. Allen Jr., is urged to contact the Dartmouth Police at 508-910-1735 or 508-910-1776.

Allison Reitz is the editor-in-chief of The Torch. Send your questions, compliments or complaints to her at u_areitz@umassd.edu.

SOUL SIGHTINGS

The Jewish calendar explained

The Jewish holidays began long before electric clocks. So how did people determine when a day began? A day in the Jewish calendar begins when the sun sets in the horizon. Thus the new day begins with sunset and night. This is the reason that all Jewish holidays begin in the evening before the first day of observance. As it says in the Book of Genesis, “It was evening and it was morning, the first day.”

The Jewish calendar also functions in a lunar cycle. Each month is determined by the four phases of the moon. The months are either 29 or 30 days, and we have 12 lunar months. A lunar year is approximately four days shorter than a solar year. Strict adherence to the lunar calendar would mean that eventually the holidays would occur in the wrong season. Because Jewish holidays are very much tied to the season (spring, summer, winter or fall), there is a 19 year cycle with leap months put in every seven years. This is now fixed in the third, sixth, 11th, 14th, 17th and 19th years of the cycle. Thus the holidays fluctuate by a month or so on the commonly used Gregorian (solar) calendar, but they always fall in the same season.

The names that we use for the Jewish months (Tishrei, Cheshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Sh’vat, Adar, Nisan, Iyyar, Sivan, Tamuz, Av, Elul) are actually Babylonian in origin and adopted by the Jews as of the time of the Babylonian exile in the sixth century before the common era. The Bible indicates that until then the months were oftentimes called simply by their position in the year (First Month, Second Month, etc). The Jewish calendar also numbers years differently from the secular calendar. The 2007-2008 academic year corresponds roughly to 5768. Those who invented it believed they were calculating dates from the birth of the world.

For more information on the Jewish Calendar and other Jewish topics, contact the Center for Jewish Culture, or check out www.myjewishlearning.com

Rabbi Jacqueline Satlow,
Director
Center for Jewish Culture