Serving at Dawn: Bravo Company ROTC

By Alexander C. Dubois

EASTON – The orange light from the street lamps illuminates the camouflaged uniforms of the group gathering in the parking lot. They pass the time with small talk, checking their equipment as they begin to form into rank. At 6 a.m., the group is called to attention.

At 6:05, weapons are distributed. Each cadet takes a rifle from the back of a truck parked nearby, breaking the silence of the morning air as they call out the weapon’s number. The rifles, only replicas, are a strange sight against the backdrop of the sleepy Catholic campus behind them. 

 At 6:10, the cadets are given instructions and march from the library parking lot, past the tennis courts and up the hill leading behind Donahue Hall.

“When I get to Heaven, St. Peter’s gonna say, ‘How’d you earn your living, boy? How’d you earn your pay?’” The cadet leading the march begins a traditional Army cadence, or marching song, each line repeated by the group behind him.

In a few years time, these cadets at Stonehill College will march down the same hill as part of a graduation ceremony.

The best way to understand the experience of ROTC cadets is to spend a morning observing them. The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps – ROTC – is an Army program affiliated with colleges and universities around the country. The goal is to develop cadets who learn the leadership qualities of an officer while earning a college degree.

These cadets are part of Bravo Company of the Charles River Battalion. The company includes cadets from Stonehill, the host school, Bridgewater State University, Curry College, Massachusetts Maritime Academy and Massasoit Community College. Out of the entire company of 35, eight cadets are Stonehill students; one freshman, four sophomores, one junior, and two seniors.

As they move across campus one early morning, the camouflage of their uniforms seen next to the purple of their alma mater, the unique experience of these eight cadets is easily understood. As soldiers, they learn to salute, handle live firearms during select trainings, and must pass an Army physical fitness test.  As students, they must fulfill the same curriculum requirements as others. They must maintain a 2.0 GPA; for those who drop below 3.0, weekly study halls are mandatory.

“The Army is meant to be a profession,” said CPT Lindsey Elder, program officer and assistant professor of military science at Stonehill. “We’re big on education, but we try not to be in competition with it. It’s about finding a balance”.

Elder, an Army officer for the last 10 years, was a member of the ROTC program at UMass Amherst while serving in the Massachusetts National Guard.

“Being an ROTC cadet first and coming back, I think I’m a better assessor now of the ROTC program,” Elder said. “ROTC cadets have to be motivated. They have jobs and other real-life things. You prove to yourself how much you can handle. I think it helps you even more.”

John Smoot, 20, of Hingham, Mass., is a sophomore at Stonehill currently completing his second year in the ROTC program. For him, ROTC offers a number of opportunities.

“If you properly take advantage of it, you’ll get huge values out of ROTC your peers can’t get from regular school. In general, you learn how to take responsibility for yourself and, in my opinion, you’re much more prepared for the real world,” Smoot said.

ROTC also offered him a second chance at serving in the military.

Smoot initially tried to enlist in the Marine Corps. Due to a medical condition, he wasn’t accepted, Smoot said. A number of his friends entering into ROTC programs told him that the ROTC was looking for candidates, and, more importantly, would be willing to look into getting him a medical waiver. After applying, he was offered a three-year scholarship to Stonehill College through the ROTC program.

“It’s not about the free tuition for me,” Smoot said. “I love the Army and I’ve always wanted to serve my country.”

While an ROTC scholarship can help with tuition costs, for Smoot and many of his fellow cadets, the desire to serve preceded the possibility of financial aid.

Sophomore cadet Ryan Forte, 19, of Franklin, Mass., hoped to get into the Air Force Academy. When he didn’t, and when he didn’t hear back from the Air Force ROTC, Forte turned to the Army where he was offered a four-year Army ROTC scholarship to Stonehill. Like Smoot, the program offered him a second chance.

“I decided to select Stonehill,” Forte said. “I finally had the opportunity to serve my country as an officer.”

For other cadets, the decision to join ROTC came after college began.

Taylor Viotto, 20, is a sophomore at Stonehill from Washington, N.J., who joined the program during the first week of his freshman year.

“I have always wanted to serve in some form of the military. Growing up it fluctuated between the branches until my senior year in high school,” Viotto said. “It was then that I decided I would attend college and go through Army ROTC. On the first day on campus I walked over to the detachment. I signed the papers right away.”

The Army ROTC program, alongside academies such as West Point and the Officer Candidate Schools, are meant to graduate commissioned officers. The goal of every cadet, including the eight currently attending Stonehill College and the 27 others in Bravo Company, is to graduate with both a college degree and an Army commission. 

The future of ROTC, however, may be towards a smaller program, said Elder.

“In the past, if we have 30 people that were healthy, happy and passing all the requirements, we would have 30 lieutenants,” she said. “Now, we can be even more selective.

Future classes could see a size cap, setting the limit of possible cadets. Until then, the program is being more stringent on allowing cadets time to bring things like their GPA or physical fitness scores up to the requirements.

“Now, knowing there is not the need for the amount of people we already have, they will just be disenrolled if they cannot meet a standard,” said Elder.

Last year the company commissioned 22 cadets. This year they expect to commission 24, Elder said.

For Stonehill cadets like Smoot, Forte, and Viotto, the future is full of possibilities.

“I don’t fully know how my Army career will turn out,” said Forte. “But I do know my experiences with ROTC will benefit me. I will develop the leadership skills needed to be an officer in the Army, in whatever field it may be.”

For them, graduation from Stonehill College will come with more than a degree and a walk across the stage. These select few, to be commissioned as Second Lieutenants in the United States Army, will have serve in the military for eight years.

“Getting commissioned at the end of my senior year is really only the beginning of my learning experience,” Smoot said. “When I get assigned my platoon I’m going to want to remember to know my place. I’ll be a young guy expected to lead guys that know more than me and have been through a lot more.”

Protecting Northshore Widlife at the Parker River Refuge

By Hanna Pattie

Newburyport, Mass-  The Plum Island refuge in northern Massachusetts provides protection to coastal wildlife and a recreation site of most areas while the rest is closed to nesting birds.

            At the Southern tip of Plum Island, runs a stretch long of untouched beach and dunes. “The 77-acre park is considered one of the state's most beautiful and popular coastal beaches,” according to  the Department of Conservation and Recreation.

            The Parker River Wildlife Refuge, in coastal Newburyport, hosts more than 350 species of birds and the small shore bird, Piping Plover, is one of the most protected on the refuge. They are monitored heavily during nesting season. These birds have pale tan backs with a yellow beak and yellow long legs. They stand 6 to 7 inches tall and eat small aquatic invertebrates and insects.  Their habit of nesting on the ground has made them vulnerable, and as a result human disturbance has put them on the endangered species list.

            Refuge leaders take their duty of protecting these wildlife species seriously. They know it is their job in order to revive or at least maintain population of these piping plovers in the area.

            “The refuge closes most of the beach during nesting season to provide undisturbed habitat for these birds. Wire cages called enclosures are often placed around plover nests to protect them from fox, coyote and other predators.”(Parker River Wildlife Refuge)

            Lee Yeomans walks on the Plum Island refuge often, and appreciates the feeling of closeness with nature. She and her husband own fishing vessel Erica Lee II, and run a marine education camp called Coastal Discoveries, which runs out of Newburyport, Mass.

            “Last summer there was a pair of nesting plovers on the northern end of Plum Island, just before the south jetty.  The nests were fenced off, the eggs hatched and the babies seemed to be fine.  People were walking all around the area and some of us were able to take photos of the hatchlings,” Yeomans said.

            Serving as a safe haven for coastal birds and other wildlife, the refuge is also a popular recreational sit for those who want an escape from the hustle of life.

            “While I understand the efforts of the U.S. National Wildlife Service to keep the refuge primarily for birds, I think that since the refuge also is home to some of the most beautiful beaches on the East coast,” said Lee Yeomans.

            Stephen Hugel, 21, is a regular visitor to the Plum Island beach refuge and appreciates the refuges efforts. He recognizes the change the park is making with diminishing local species.

            "I think it is a great thing, because we need to save the endangered animals while we still can", he said.

                        The beach is open from dawn till dusk. Visitors must stay clear of any fenced areas on the property, in order to ensure protection of the wildlife.

Ultimate Frisbee on the Rise

By Paul Cina

          

            Frisbee is what you play at the beach with your friends or at the park with your dog. Ultimate Frisbee is the intense, competitive game played by thousands nationwide.

            Ultimate is one of the top three fastest growing sports in North America. The number of people playing increased 20 percent and since 2008, thousands of local club teams and millions of people are participating, according to the Sport Goods Manufacturing Association. CBS Sports considers it the most popular rising sport nationwide.

            It is now showing up at schools in Bristol County, and other high schools and colleges in the area. Oliver Ames High School in Easton, Mass. acknowledged Ultimate as a club sport after a unanimous school committee vote in March, 2010. Other high schools in the area, including Mansfield, Bridgewater-Raynham, and Sharon, also have Ultimate programs.

            “People at all talent levels and age groups can be successful, and with spirit of the game, there is a lot of encouragement,” said Pat Babbitt, one of the founders of Ultimate at Oliver Ames High School.

            “I think the most appealing aspect of the sport, and the reason why it is so popular is really simple: It’s just wicked fun,” said Tom Crawford, CEO of Ultimate Players Association (UPA), the national group for Ultimate Frisbee.

            Ultimate Frisbee is a competitive sport requiring athleticism, strategy, and dedication, Crawford said.

            “Athletes are training year round and are very dedicated,” Crawford said. “It’s become really competitive and players are training really hard to play at the national level.”

            Since the first Frisbee was invented in California in 1948, it’s estimated there has been more than 200 million sold worldwide. That is more than footballs, basketballs, and baseballs combined, according to the Ultimate Handbook.

            The rules are simple. Two teams play seven on seven with the goal to score points by catching a pass in the opponent’s end zone, and the first team to 15 points wins. You cannot run while holding the disc, so the only way to advance is by passing it to other teammates. Dropping or intercepting a pass results in a turnover.

            The game is self-officiated- players make their own calls. That is what makes the game so interesting because officials can’t mess up any calls like basketball and football referees do, Crawford said.

            Many people view Ultimate as an uncompetitive, casual game which doesn’t require much skill or athleticism, which mostly comes from those who have never played it on a club team, said Matt Hawes, sophomore at Loyola University in Baltimore, Md. Hawes didn’t play Ultimate for his high school team because, he said, it was perceived as “un-cool” and only attracted non-athletes who never participated in traditional sports.

            “I thought that it would be much less competitive, and I thought people played more for fun than to win,” Hawes said.

            Hawes isn’t the only one who, at first, saw Ultimate as an uncompetitive hobby.

            “I used to think it wasn’t a real sport and that it was basically a joke,” said Charles Bradford, a sophomore at Stonehill College who recently started playing for his college club team.

            That changed when his roommate persuaded him to play for the Loyola Ultimate club.      “After being on the team I have now realized that Ultimate is very competitive and how many serious athletes play the sport,” Hawes said. “Prior to playing I thought the game was soft, but I’ve seen people tackle other players and confrontations break out like any other major sport.”

            Bradford found the same thing after playing for the Stonehill College club team.

            “When I joined I realized it’s actually really intense,” Bradford said. “It’s definitely not as easy as most people think it is.”

            Ultimate wasn’t recognized on the high school scene until recently, which may be the reason for its sudden growth in popularity, said Pat O’Neil, junior at the College of the Holy Cross and former student at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Mass.

            “I know that if my high school had a team I probably would have played, which would have allowed me to hone my skills earlier on,” O’Neil said. “The earlier we can get kids playing the better. It has definitely been exciting to see the sport catch on, and I hope this is just the beginning of it.”

            Ultimate has exploded at colleges and universities across the country, with more than 10,000 college students and over 600 teams nationwide, according to the UPA. Every college team competes in what’s called the “college series” which includes three levels: sectionals, regionals, and nationals.

            Qualifying for the national championship is the overall goal for almost every college club team in the country, and, according to Stonehill College Ultimate captain Michael Caruso, is his team’s main focus as well.

            “Last year we made it to regionals but didn’t have as good of a showing as we were hoping for,” Caruso said. “We’re hoping to make it past that this year and qualify for nationals like our team has done in the past.” This year, the Ultimate national championship tournament is hosted in Wisconsin in the spring.

            Some of the tougher Division 3 club teams the Stonehill Skyhawks must face in the tournament include Bryant University, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and Brandeis, according to Caruso. However, he is confident in the team this year with the contributions of first season standouts.

            “All the rookies have a real lot of potential which will certainly help us in the college series this spring,” Caruso said.

            Interest in Ultimate is growing in North America, and worldwide with over 30 countries with Ultimate teams. The UPA is working with the International Olympic Committee for Ultimate to be recognized as an Olympic event. This process requires a large international following.

            CEO Crawford said he knows the sport will gain a large international following.

            “The U.S is the international world leader in sports and the rest of the world is watching,” Crawford said. “The more popular it grows here, the more popular it grows around the world.”

Frisbee Youtube Video

Students and Lenten Sacrifice

By Andrew Young
           During Lent, some college students are looking anew at personal sacrifice and giving up things they enjoy as fellow classmates take notice.

“I gave up meat because that’s what is traditionally given up. I bought six containers of peanut butter to keep my protein up until spring break,” said Ernest Zezze Stonehill College Class of 2014, a Unitarian raised Catholic.  “During the fast itself you feel good, you feel like you’re accomplishing something, I do it to challenge myself and my abilities.”

“I gave up soda for Lent, I’m trying to reduce my high-fructose corn syrup intake,” said Richard Valeri Stonehill Class of 2013. “I gave up dessert because I felt like it was something I would miss,” said Kiera McNamara Stonehill Class of 2014. 

 “I gave up soda. It's not something that I have all of the time, but it's something that I think I can certainly go without for 40 days,” said Brendan O’Connor Stonehill Class of 2014.

Some students find it difficult to give something up while dealing with a heavy scholastic workload. “While I think that it's a good thing to give something dear to you up for lent, as a college student, I hardly have any time for myself as it is. Any time I do have, I want to enjoy it,” said John Broderick a sophomore at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y. "I'm a confirmed Roman Catholic, but I use their teachings more as guidelines rather than set in stone."

A modern understanding of the Lenten season focuses on Easter, the upcoming passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

 “Lent has been part of the Christian tradition for centuries and recreates the forty days Jesus spent in the desert to prepare himself. Recreating in prayer and remembrance, the death of Christ who died for us.” said the Rev. Richard Gribble, a Catholic priest and religious studies professor at Stonehill College.

The traditions of observing a preparation period and self-sacrifice are rooted in other ancient religious practices that competed with early Christianity, Nate DesRosiers, professor of religious studies at Stonehill College, said.

 “Greek cults had rituals that had self sacrifice as preparation. In actuality 90 percent (of the ancient population) could never afford a big sacrifice (animal sacrifice) and instead would give something personal to God,” said DesRosiers.

 Personal sacrifice for the sake of God was a common practice in ancient times. Lent is rooted in the early church when Christian traditions were not fully formed.  

 “There is an understanding of some sort of preparation before Easter, more prayer and thought” said DesRosiers, “Some people (in ancient times) observed either forty days or forty hour segments(of fast), it varied from place to place.”

 Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten period. “The concept of ashes, are that we are created from nothing and return to dust. Ashes remind us of our mortality” said Gribble.

Gribble said Ash Wednesday seemed to have an allure for the Catholic students at Stonehill College. “I celebrated Ash Wednesday in the dorms and the service was filled with students. Something deep down about the day brings people out to church. It’s significant because a lot are not Sunday going” Gribble said.

            Lent is viewed differently by those outside the Catholic faith. “Wednesday afternoon I went to mass and got my ashes,” said Katie Finnell, a Stonehill graduate now a graduate student at Emerson. “That night I had class and had completely forgotten about my ashes. I was sitting in the newsroom, next to a big glass wall and two students walked by. One of them looked at me and said "Oh yeah, it's Ash Wednesday." And they proceeded to talk all about it as they walked down the hall, I was little surprised at their reaction since I was so used to going to a Catholic school where walking around with ashes on your head is completely normal.”

Non-Catholic students are sometimes surprised to see ashes. “There were only a few people on the street that had ashes, I didn’t even remember it was Ash Wednesday until I saw them” said Faye Haley, an Episcopalian and senior at Bishop Fenwick High School a Catholic school in Peabody, Mass.

Ryan McGrath, an atheist and sophomore at Boston College said Ash Wednesday is obvious.  “It’s hard not to remember Ash Wednesday when there are people with ashes. It has a strange aesthetic to it, like everyone has a third eye looking directly at me.”

McGrath, raised Catholic, said around one third of the Boston College student body had ashes.

Lent doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone. “It’s still a special season, but it is optional to give something up,” said Robert Jarrard, Stonehill Class of 2013, a Lutheran. “It’s supposedly based on more free will and is more of an act of faith if not imposed by a religion or society.”

      

Adults bully online more than survey projected

By Michael Cronin             

Both Nancy Frates and Judith Cronin encountered situations where adults were bullying others online.

                Frates, a real estate manager, patrols facebook too see what her employees may say about the company.

                “I decided to create a Facebook page after one incident involving rude and unnecessary comments written online by one of my former employees,” she said. “I was shocked when I was shown what was posted. It was completely inappropriate. He was saying very nasty things about the company.”

                The employee was fired.

                Business owner and managers such as Frates are turning to social media sites to check on what workers say outside office hours.

                “After that incident, I made a page, just in case we have another incident like this,” Frates said.

                Pew Internet reports that only about five present of adults on social networking sites say they see hateful things posted, but according to few, the percentage is much greater.

                Cronin, the executive director of the Beverly Sterling Center YMCA and recent Facebook user, said her organization got rid of a worker off of an incident through e-mail.

                “We had to let go of an employee that was not particularly holding the standards of our company,” Cronin said.

                The employee sent three e-mails to parents of the children in her gymnastics program. making negative comments on the parents overall attitudes during their gymnastics’ meets.

                “She sent one during the morning, one during the afternoon and one around closing,” said Cronin. “Once we got wind of the first email, we were going sit her down and talk to her, but she kept sending more and more progressively angry e-mails throughout the day.”

                After the third e-mail, Cronin fired the gymnastics instructor.

                “She was quite angry about being let go,” Cronin said.

It didn’t stop there. The woman ranted about the YMCA on Facebook, and wrote on the young gymnasts’ pages about employees and how the organization was run.

Overall, Cronin and Frates said most people are respectful online.

“I am treated very well, said Frates “My generation uses Facebook to catch up with old friends, reconnect and talk about each other’s families. I also use Facebook for my business by advertising people and products.”

 In another study by Pew Internet, 88 percent of teenagers 12-17 have seen people saying hurtful things and bullying on social networking sites.

                Alex D’Alfonso, a sophomore at Beverly High School, recalls fellow students making a Facebook page to say mean and hurtful things about another student.

                “The school shut it down very quickly,” said D’Alfonso.

                Morgan Turnbull, a senior at Needham High School, has also seen some online bullying in her school. Unlike D’Alfonso, they were just passing comments and not a group singling out one person.

                “They would just call each other names on Facebook,” said Turnbull.

Why do so many people choose online sites in order to express outrage?

“Bullying is common when parents raise their children with very little boundaries or limits. They feel like they can do whatever they want without permission. They could also learn it from parents if they grow up in that environment, or to do it for a sense of power and control in their lives.” said Matthew A. Portadin a Doctor of Psychology at North Easton Psychological Associates. “People choose to bully online because it’s just easier. So many young people are good at technology and it is a way to boost your own social status amongst peers. It is also safe, because you can do it without saying it to their face. Someone could make a fake account so it can’t be traced back to the person. ”

Animal Shelters Suffer as the Economy Struggles by Caroline McBride

By Caroline McBride

            Cats and dogs across the country may be feeling the effects of recent economic woes.

            Due to both a rise in unemployment and the high costs of owning a pet, many families are abandoning their animals. 

Shelters and animal rescue groups in Massachusetts are struggling with the increased number of strays, while it is estimated that donations have decreased by around 25% since 2008.  Most clinics noticed the number of stray animals entering the clinics nearly doubled, while the number of adoptions was cut in half.  These factors make it difficult to care for the animals. 

“Since about 2008, when the economy really took a turn for the worst, our adoption clinics noted an increase in the amount of people listing ‘foreclosure’ as the reason for turning over their pets to us,” Jennifer Wooliscroft, Spokesman for the Animal Rescue League of Boston said.

The Animal Rescue League turned to social media to save money and seek donations. 

“We realized that mailing letters to past clients and supporters in order to seek donations can be expensive,” Wooliscroft said.  “We tried to save money by enhancing our website and making use of social media to encourage donations.”  

It is difficult to correlate the increase in pet abandonments and the economy because not all these animals wind up in animal shelters.

“The ARL has noticed a lot more cruel abandonments during last winter,” Wooliscroft said.  “We found many dogs out on the coldest days of the year and it was clear that they had been starving.”

            Sue DiMeo, President of PAWS (Protection of Animals in Wakefield Society), said that the number of abandoned pets increased in recent years. 

            “Many of the cats we have found are very friendly, which points to the fact that they were once indoor cats and were not born into the wild,” DiMeo said.  “They don’t know how to fend for themselves outdoors.” 

            DiMeo said PAWS tries to find the owners of these pets, in case they were lost and not abandoned. 

            “Most of the time we never find the animals’ families,” DiMeo said.

PAWS is a foster network, where the animals are kept with a foster family, not in a shelter, until they are adopted.

“This system is nice because the animals are not caged and get to be in a normal environment,” DiMeo said.  “We only have so many foster families in our network, and each home can only take so many pets.”   

            Kathleen Durham, a volunteer at various local animal shelters, sees firsthand how the economy effects the animals.

            “There’s been a dramatic increase in the number of stray pets being found and brought into the shelters,” Durham, the Stonehill College student said.  “People aren’t able to afford to care for their pets so they’re throwing them out on the street.”

            Durham, a pet owner, admits owning a cat or dog can be expensive.

“My family has two dogs and a cat,” Durham said.  “Between the food, grooming and veterinary costs, owning pets isn’t cheap.” 

Molly Kalla, a sophomore at Stonehill, said pet costs can add up. 

“It’s so crazy how a normal appointment for pets can so quickly cost up to $1,000,” Kalla said. “It must be so expensive for animal shelters to take care of all the animals so they rely heavily on donations and volunteers.” 

             Since families cannot afford the pets that they have, it is no surprise that adoptions and donations have been scarce. 

“Last year we had the lowest number of adoptions in quite a while,” DiMeo said.  “We were finding a lot of strays and very few people were willing to take them in.” 

            Many shelters in the area encourage spaying and neutering outdoor pets, in hopes of decreasing the stray population.  February 28 is World Spay Day.  For more information visit the Animal Rescue League website at http://home.arlboston.org/.

For more information about the PAWS foster network visit http://pawswakefield.rescuegroups.org/.