Volume 8, Number 51
Your Town, Your News
www.northhavencitizen.com
Local youngster a key SCSU team member By Ken Liebeskind The North Haven Citizen
The Southern Connecticut State University men’s basketball team’s qualification for the NCAA Division II tournament was aided, in part, by Jack Larsen, an 11-year-old North Haven resident who was “drafted” to join the Owls in December and was on the bench for most of their home games. Jack, a fifth grade student at Green Acres Elementary School, suffers from Mitochondrial Myopathy, a muscle disease. He joined the SCSU men’s basketball team through a program sponsored by Team IMPACT, an organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life
for chronically ill children through the power of “team.” Team IMPACT works with colleges around the country and has placed 633 youngsters on 295 teams. It placed Dante Chiappetta, a six-yearold North Haven boy, on the Yale football team last season. When SCSU learned of Jack’s interest in the basketball team, they invited him to join. “They held an official draft day, put together a press conference, made a Letter of Intent, and the players, coaches, women’s team and the cheerleaders attended,” said Erin MacNeil, of Team IMPACT. “It’s been awesome. It’s Jack Larsen, of North Haven, poses with Southern like he’s a regular recruit and Connecticut State University basketball player Jose Cruz. Jack, 11, was “drafted” to join the Owls this season. See Southern / Page 2
Fireworks erupt over Indian mascot By Ken Liebeskind
The North Haven Citizen
The Board of Education meeting on March 12 deteriorated into name-calling over the issue of North Haven High School’s Indian mascot. A few members of the audience yelled “racist” at supporters of the mascot, after the supporters frequently said the mascot was a symbol of civic pride. Talia Gallagher, a 2013 graduate of NHHS and a sophomore at Clark University, has launched a petition urging the board to change
the Indian mascot. She presented her case at the meeting, held in the high school auditorium to accommodate a large audience. “If we change our mascot, North Haven can participate in an ever-changing world,” she said. “The mascot is a symbol of people who experienced genocide, and the Indian head is an image of savagery. A race of people should never be used as a symbol for a town or a school, and the mascot creates a hostile environment for Native Talia Gallagher presents her petition opposing the Indian mascot at the March 12 Board of Education meeting. See Mascot / Page 2
| Ken Liebeskind / The North Haven Citizen
Friday, March 20, 2015
Turf talk at school meeting By Ken Liebeskind The North Haven Citizen
Nancy Alderman, president of Environment and Human Health, an organization of physicians and public health professionals dedicated to protecting human health from environmental harms, spoke at the North Haven Board of Education meeting on March 12 about the dangers of the artificial turf fields that have been approved for the middle school. Alderman was invited to speak and present her views even though artificial turf has been approved for two new soccer fields that will be built at the middle school and used to resurface South Field, which is used by the middle school and high school. She said the dangers of artificial turf come from the ground-up rubber waste tires that are used to form the surface. “Each field has 40,000 ground-up tires that create a toxicity and flammability problem and contain chemicals that are carcinogens that are linked to lymphoma and leukemia.” The fields are especially harmful to soccer goalies who dive to the ground and get pellets in their eyes, ears and mouth, she said. She said there are 11,000 t u rf f i e l d s a c ro ss t h e See Turf / Page 2