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The Westfield News Serving Westfield, Southwick, and the surrounding Hilltowns
www.thewestfieldnews.com
VOL. 83 NO.108
75 cents
Road repair, paving slated
Retiring professor fondly remembered
See Paulmann, Page 3
John Paulmann, retiring professor of Communication at Westfield State University. (Photo provided by westfieldalumni.org)
Paulmann reflects on WSU journey By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The corner office is among the most coveted for professionals of all types in America, a symbol of authority, commanding the utmost respect. There may be no corner office-occupier quite as unique as John Donoghue Paulmann, a professor of Communication at Westfield State University, whose impending retirement marks the end of an era for a department and an institution. Long a fixture in the third floor corner office of the Ely Campus Center, the sight of the bald, bearded and jovial professor, decked out in his uniform – vest, woven tie and grey New Balance sneakers – has been a source of great joy and inspiration for students at the university since he arrived in the mid ’80s, dishing out thousands of coughdrops and ‘cheers’ along the way. “My grandmother and her sister, who was born in Ireland, went here and went back to their hometown, Great Barrington, to teach,” said Paulmann, who grew up outside New York City and holds communication degrees from Fordham, Columbia and New York University. “They spent their whole lives taking Westfield State values into the classroom.” A native of New Rochelle, the 66-year old Paulmann’s upbringing in a tight-knit Irish Catholic family only a trainride from The Bronx imparted upon him the demeanor and wisdom which he has passed down to his students for over 25 years. “It was an audio-visual job south of Yonkers in Riverdale on the Hudson called the College of Mount St. Vincent, and I was there for about three years,” he said of his humble beginnings prior to
Westfield. “This wonderful nun, Sister Mary Byrne, asked if I wanted to teach a class. So she gave me a book and I did a chapter a week, and I got to like it very much, enough that I decided to go back to school.” Paulmann’s odyssey toward receiving his doctorate from NYU lasted over 12 years, as he would alternate working for a year and attending school the next. “It ended in April of ’86, but April is too late to apply for a teaching job,” said Paulmann as he recounted the months leading up to his arrival in Westfield. “I just blasted a bunch of resumes out, didn’t even bother to look where they may be openings, and there was one here.” “I didn’t seek it out – I was looking for a job, but I didn’t realize where it would be – and then I realized this is the school my grandmother went to,” he said of one of the many kismet moments of his life. “My first apartment, on Day Avenue, half a block from the corner of Court Street, I could see the City Hall – the building my grandmother went to school in.” When asked how the department has evolved since he began at the university, Paulmann stated that a sea change has occurred in a variety of aspects within the department and that it’s not done. “If you’re starting out now, you’re going to use social media, all kinds of online sites, maybe even have pre-selected learning modules online,” he said. “I think it’s going to be pretty stable like that for awhile, but it may also go in a direction of minimodules, which people can kind of custom connect See WSU Journey, Page 3
June start set for Gas Light District By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The Water Commission voted last night to approve their portion of a $5.9 million infrastructure project to improve facilities in one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods. The $5.9 million
contract has been awarded to Gagliarducci Construction Inc. of Springfield to replace water and sewer lines, as well as to bury overhead utilities and repave streets in the neighborhood designated as the Gas Light District. The Gas Light District is the area
of downtown located between Elm and Washington streets and between Franklin and Court streets. City Engineer Mark Cressotti presented details of the contract, which is being financed through several funding sources, to the Water Commission. The
board voted 3-0 to authorize $2.33 million for the water main replacement component of the project. The City Council approved a bond last year for that work. Cressotti will request the Board of See Gas Light, Page 3
MARK CRESSOTTI
Preschool to stay in Granville another year By Hope E. Tremblay Staff Writer SOUTHWICK – The Southwick-TollandGranville Regional School District preschool program will spend a second year in Granville. The program was temporarily moved to Granville Village School (GVS) for the 20132014 school year while Woodland Elementary School underwent renovations to the preschool wing. Last night the STGRSD School Committee approved continuing the program in Granville for one more year. Superintendent Dr. John Barry said the move was a cost-saving measure. “There was a change order in the construction
a library burns down.” — African proverb
WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 2014
By Peter Francis Staff Writer WESTFIELD – The retirement of professor John Paulmann marks the end of an era for Westfield State University’s Communication Department, a program that has evolved by leaps and bounds during his tenure. Over the past week, fellow faculty and friends of the loquacious and ubiquitous professor have reflected fondly upon their time spent with him at Westfield State. “He makes this place very happy and warm, which is one of the reasons I’ve thought this is a wonderful department to work in,” said Makoto “Max” Saito, a fellow Communication Department professor. “He always reminds us that, when in doubt, always decide what is best for the students, and we are keeping that tradition very strong.” Other figures in the department have also spoken of Paulmann, the portly pillar of the Communication Department, which began as a small offshoot of the English Department. “If there was ever a superb example of the old adage, ‘he’ll give you the shirt off his back,’ it exists with John Paulmann,” said colleague Kate Lemay-Miller. “Since the day I met John, he has been the kind of supportive colleague and friend whom a person hopes to find in life.” “It is almost impossible to imagine the Communication Department without John Paulmann,” said another professor, Maddy Cahill. “The cheerful hallway greetings that set the tone for the department, the sound of his voice when he talks to students…” Generous almost to a fault, Paulmann’s selfless nature has rubbed off on his colleagues over the years. Professor Tom Gardner recalled getting caught in a snowstorm early in his tenure at the school and, being unable to get home to Amherst, spent the evening on a colleague’s couch. “When I came back into school the next day, John Paulmann greeted me with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and brand-new underwear and socks,” Gardner said. “What a gift that was and what a gift he is!” Paulmann’s influence was never more apparent than last Friday evening, when the Communication Department honored him at their annual spring dinner. Westfield State alumnus and State Senator Don Humason, Jr. stopped by the give the departing professor a citation from the State Senate. “When I was a student, I never had him, but he was one of my favorite professors,” said
“When an old man dies,
project to change the electrical power supply to the portable classrooms at Woodland,” Barry said. The estimated cost of the change order is $13,000, plus the cost to heat the portable classrooms. “I spoke with Mrs. Christofori (GVS principal) and Mrs. Sasso (Woodland principal) and the preschool teachers, and there is plenty of room at Woodland for the (non-preschool) students without the portables.” Barry added that he was “a little disappointed” that the program would continue in Granville another year because he had promised the staff it would only be a one-year, temporary situation. “The staff understands and this will save us
money and make the change order go away,” said Barry. The shift in location was planned in order to continue work at Woodland while school was in session, which would result in less construction time and lower cost. “We were looking at the construction time stretching out close to three years,” said Barry. “And, we had construction starting on campus for a period of time, then having to stop for class time.” In order to expedite the renovations, which included system updates, the preschool was moved temporarily to Granville. The plan is to return the preschool to Woodland for the 2015-2016 school year.
By Dan Moriarty Staff Writer WESTFIELD – City officials plan to use a number of funding sources to initiate an aggressive road improvement effort to repair deteriorated roads following one of the worst winters in recent memory. Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said Tuesday that he plans to use Chapter 90 funds remaining in the current budget to begin road repairs before June 30, the end of the fiscal year. Knapik then plans to use the one-time state “pothole funds” and Chapter 90 funds, both of which will become available on July 1, the start of the 2015 fiscal year, to continue road improvements throughout the summer. The state has allotted the city $180,000 for a pothole grant, money that must be expended before September, as well as about $300,000 current in the FY 14 Chapter 90 account and $1 million from the FY 15 Chapter 90 allotment to the city. Knapik said that priority is being given to the streets most damaged this past winter; Shaker Road, See Road Repair, Page 3
Gate, wall stops cops By Carl E. Hartdegen Staff Writer WESTFIELD – Stymied by a locked gate and the wall around Stanley Park, officers responding to a caller’s late-night report of a gathering inside the park watched from a distance as a gathering of persons around a small fire dispersed. When a key arrived and the officers entered the park they found the trespassers had left, leaving behind a large number of beer cans and other alcohol containers and the mostly extinguished remains of a fire in one of the picnic grills. “They must have had a good party” said Bob McKean, the park’s managing director, as there were a lot of liquor containers left behind. He said that, in addition to beer cans, park workers found the remains of fire in the barbeque grills set up in the picnic area and found that leaves had been burned. McKean said “the police department has a key to all our gates” and said that security video will be reviewed. He said “all we want is to have a safe place” at the private park and stressed that his concern is the burned leaves which could spark a spreading fire. He said that a fire at the park could go unnoticed until it reached one of the park’s many nearby neighbors. The responding police officers had reported that they had seen a small fire and seen that people with flashlights had extinguished the fire as they left. The officers had reported that, See Gate, Wall, Page 3