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house of every one is to him as his castle and fortress, as well for his defence against injury and violence as for his repose.” — SIR EDWARD COKE
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2015
VOL. 84 NO. 052
“The
75 cents
Students band together to ‘Save the Globe’ By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer WESTFIELD – While the New England Patriots have been Super Bowl Champions for almost a month now, the student body at Westfield State University is still feeling the hangover effects from the victory party. During the raucous celebrations following the team’s 28-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks in The African continent represented on a Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1, the university’s landmark globe sculpture on the Westfield globe structure on the campus green was treated State University campus is semi-detached like a jungle gym by rowdy students, who after a Super Bowl celebration. (Photo ©2015 climbed inside and onto the structure, ruining the Carl E. Hartdegen) base and wiring.
Since the unfortunate vandalism took place and put a damper on the dramatic Patriots win, students in the school’s communication and geography/regional planning departments have banded together to raise funds to fix the broken structure, considered by students to be a beloved piece of the Westfield State experience. “A few days after the game, a few of us comm. majors got together and said we can definitely start fundraising for this,” said Victoria Landry, a senior communication major from Milford, who has helped create Facebook page called ‘Save the Globe at Westfield State’. “Today we’re going to set up a fundraising link through the Alumni
Westfield Little League coaches CPR-certified By PETER FRANCIS Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Westfield Little League baseball coaches took part in a training session in the use of automatic external defibrillators (AED) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with Westfield emergency medical technicians yesterday at Westfield Carpet Warehouse on Southampton Road In a partnership with a local nonprofit organization, KEVs Foundation, Westfield Little League received a donation of two AEDs last night, bringing the total amount of defibrillators at Westfield Little League fields to three. These additional AEDs will now be placed at Sadie Knox and Paper Mill fields and could save the life of an athlete on the field or a member of the crowd. Beth Lusteg, board member of KEVs Foundation, and Ken Diegel, president of Westfield Little League, were on hand to oversee the session, which had close to 30 coaches and community members in attendance. “Our goal this year is to get at least one coach on each team certified and with the showing tonight, we’ve exceeded that goal,” said Diegel. Founded in memory of Kevin J. Major, a young Westfield man who died suddenly in 2011 at the age of 19 from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart condition which is the leading cause of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) among young people, KEVs Foundation was established to help educate communities about the dangers of SCA. The foundation also sets up See CPR-Certified, Page 3
Foundation and the University Foundation.” According to Landry, the ‘Save the Globe’ initiative has gained the full support of university administration, faculty and staff, and is working on individual fundraisers. “We have students who are setting up different events. We have one student who is setting up a 5K (roadrace) in the fall,” said Landry. “We’re trying to get current students but also recentlygraduated alumni involved in the whole process.” Landry said that the school is trying to salvage significant portions of the structure and that a See Save the Globe, Page 3
Council acts on L&O proposal
Dogs play with a stick in the dog friendly area at Arm Brook Park. (Photo courtesy Westfield Dog Bark Friends)
‘Pasta for the Park’ going to the dogs By CARL E. HARTDEGEN Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The dogs of Westfield, and their owners, have had a playground in the city for months and the folks who provided it will be busy on Friday raising money to keep it open and make it better. The Westfield Dog Bark Friends have been working for more than four years to make the brainchild of their president, Edward J. Phillips, a reality and have succeeded in creating a “dog friendly area” at Arm Brook Park, a previously dormant property of the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission on Lockhouse Road. The road to Arm Brook Park has been circuitous with several other locations – Grandmothers Garden, Whitney Playground, Papermill Playground, and several others – being considered but none survived the close scrutiny and public discussion until the park on Lockhouse Road was considered. A thriving city park in the 70s, with pavilions and a beach, the park fell into disuse in the early 80s after vandalism and fires destroyed many of the amenities there.
Although there was initially some opposition to establishing a dog park there, the property was found to still be under the control of the Park and Recreation Commission, and at the end of 2013, the commission gave the Friends the green light to start creating dog playground there with the support of Mayor Daniel M. Knapik. The property is largely wooded and the western part is bordered by the St. Joseph’s National Catholic Church cemetery and by the shore of the Arm Brook flood control reservoir. The Friends discussed establishing two areas for dogs at the park: a large area where dogs could run in the woods with their owners and a much smaller corral near the entrance where dogs could play together under the eyes of their handlers. Although the larger area could be achieved by connecting each end of the existing cemetery fence to the reservoir, the steep and tangled terrain makes that a much more ambitious project than the playground so the play enclosure was the first project tackled by the Friends.
different classrooms and build an entire technology classroom in a new high school (which was fully funded by Westfield State fundraising), build an entire community center, and a technology classroom for the elementary school with an updated water system and new latrines. Students were asked to raise $300 each to pay for building supplies, but Patrick Bartel ’15 of Groton, Mass. decided to double the amount and collected $1,250 with his twin brother John. Bartel completed the course in 2013, but decided to return this year as a student leader. “When I first traveled to Nicaragua, I was embraced by the community we worked in and I felt completely welcome,” Bartel said. “I just wanted to help out again.” Westfield State students worked with local construction crews to revamp the
See Recommendation, Page 3
Humason, caucus file MBTA reform package
water system in the elementary schools. While students have the option of repeating the course for credit, the construction crew is the same each year, including Mario, a Nicaraguan worker who was so dedicated to the project that he would often sleep at the work site while students were in town to ensure that the supplies weren’t stolen. Student Drew Belskey, ’15 of Wilbraham, noticed that Mario’s bike, his main form of transportation, was worn down and in rough shape. He had experience working and fixing bicycles, so he examined Mario’s bike to see if he could get it to run better. “I just saw a man who was in need and wanted to do what I could to help him,” Belsky said.
BOSTON – Responding to weeks of repeated performance failures by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and partner Keolis Commuter Services, Senator Don Humason (R-2nd Hampden & Hampshire District) announced that the Senate Republican Caucus has filed legislation that will provide tools for the beleaguered public transportation system that will financially DONALD stabilize the MBTA and HUMASON JR. restore public confidence in the system. The bipartisan measure authored by the caucus would create a fiscal recovery trust fund, require the Secretary of Administration and Finance to identify funds to assist the MBTA, and would create a new seven member MBTA finance control board that could ultimately be dissolved in favor of a receiver that would take over the board’s responsibilities as a last resort if sufficient progress hadn’t been made. “Even here in western Massachusetts our news is filled with reports of the failures of the MBTA and the dire and negative impact it is having on the lives of eastern Mass. commuters, businesses, and the metro-region economy.” Humason said. “My colleagues and I recognize that the MBTA is highly subsidized by taxpayers across the Commonwealth and so we all have a stake in how the T is funded, run, and managed.”
See WSU Service, Page 3
See MBTA, Page 3
See Pasta, Page 3
WSU students continue international community service tradition WESTFIELD – Seventeen Westfield State University students cut their winter breaks short to engage in international volunteer work. Students traveled to Nicaragua in January for the fifth consecutive year as part of a Global Service Learning course led by faculty leaders Kathi Bradford, director of Alumni Relations, and Kelli Nielsen ’04. Each year, the students travel to Granada, Nicaragua to assist La Esperanza Granada, a local nonprofit that focuses on bettering children’s education. The organization aids more than 2,000 children in poverty-stricken areas. In the five years that Westfield State has traveling to Nicaragua, students have raised more than $30,000 for the organization. With that money, and the help from student and faculty volunteers, the groups were able to lay the foundation for three
By DAN MORIARTY Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The City Council voted last night, on a recommendation from the Legislative & Ordinance Committee, to remove a motion relative to term limits for the mayor and City Council members from committee without action. Ward 2 Councilor Ralph Figy, chairman of the L&O, said that the three-year term limit was a compromise position offered by former At-large Councilor Agma Sweeney because of the resistance to seek a four-year term by some council members and that another motion, to create fouryear terms, is still pending in RALPH FIGY that committee. Ward 1 Councilor Christopher Keefe, an L&O member, said the four-year term would “save the city a few bucks by piggy-backing (local elections) with state elections” which occur on a four year cycle. “Towns have three ayear terms, but that could not
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