Student life at MCLA

By Brian Szczerbinski and Glenn DrohanPrint Story | Email Story
NORTH ADAMS — It’s Saturday night at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Chris Figueroa, a senior from New Bedford, is deciding whether to do homework for his physical comedy class or to work on his rap music. In the Church Street Center, Tom Coppola, a freshman from Richmond, prepares to sing and dance in the Harlequin Club’s cabaret performance. A few of his friends plan to go to a party afterwards, but he says he’ll probably just hang out or watch movies. Singing, acting, studying, watching movies and, yes — partying — are just a few of the myriad activities students at MCLA participate in over weekends and often during the week. Many students, faculty and administrators said they were upset with a front-page article published on Nov. 20 in the North Adams Transcript that gave an impression that about the only thing students can find to do is ingest drugs, have sex or talk about drugs and sex. That left a bad taste with Jennifer Garcia, a freshman from Norwalk, Conn., who works as an assistant in the college library to help meet her bills. “I like it here,” Garcia said Tuesday. “It’s a small community where everyone knows everyone else. You look around, and there’s so many activities on campus and in the community — so many free things.” She added, “I’m so sick of the idea that all college students do is sex, drugs and rock and roll. It makes college seem trivial and a bad thing. We’re here to get an education, and the people here are doing all they can to make sure we get that education.” Will Gelinas, a junior from central Massachusetts who participated in the cabaret Saturday and Sunday, agreed. But he asked, “how horrible is it?” that many students might drink and party over the weekends. “Is it really wrong for them to have a beer or two after completing a research paper or a performance?” he asked. Bonnie Bishoff, fine and performing arts professor, said MCLA and the local community offer a variety of activities, particularly in theater. At the college alone, there is a main play each semester, one act plays, Harlequin Club musicals and the newly created Yorick Club, dedicated to performing Shakespeare. “The students I know work hard — and they do party and celebrate once their performances are completed,” Bishoff said. Performing is certainly not all MCLA offers for activities. On Tuesday, for example, the college hosted a holiday fair featuring craftspeople from throughout the region. Freshmen Valerie Hope from Oxford, Sarah Buckley from North Attleboro and Tiffany Welsh from West Brookfield were among those checking out the wares. “On campus, there’s a lot to do — especially if you’re into clubs and activities,” Buckley said. “They have all kinds of trips for us,” Hope said. “We just went to Northampton and New York City on shopping trips — for free. That was the best!” Also in the campus center, student volunteers manned a table outside the cafeteria asking people to sign a pledge not to drink and drive over the holidays. They had plenty of takers. Spencer Moser, coordinator of MCLA’s Center for Service and Citizenship, said many students find volunteer work in the community, usually working through the center. Students have helped out the Louison House homeless shelter in Adams, youth programs for the Church Outreach to Youth program and coat and food drives, just to name a few. According to statistics provided by Moser, during the 2003 school year, MCLA recorded 6,100 volunteer hours from 1,100 faculty, staff and students, ranging from working a blood drive and collecting canned food to traveling to Washington, D.C., on alternative spring break to work with the homeless. Students have also participated in community clean-ups. Moser said students are generally like other people, in that they find a variety of things to do with their time. “Despite all of these activities, some students go home to work, while most study — and of course, some choose to party,” he said. With the fall semester at MCLA due to end in less than a week, students are finding less time for volunteering or for partying and devoting more time to study for finals or complete term papers. “I’ll be spending most of the weekend at the library,” Ben Metz, a junior from Melrose, said Friday. He added he would manage to find some time to play poker and watch movies. Poker is proving a popular diversion, as it is elsewhere in the country. About 40 students attended a Texas Hold’em event at Sullivan Lounge in the campus center on Dec. 2. Several students said they planned to take breaks from studying to prepare for the holidays. Allyson Hurlburt, a junior from Greenfield, and her roommate went home for the weekend to buy a Christmas tree and to attend a Christmas work party. Also keeping with the holiday spirit, Jennifer Thomas, a sophomore from Fall Rivers, said she planned to go Christmas shopping and play with her new puppy. Although the students will soon return home for the holiday break, some, like Gelinas and like seniors Audrey Moran and Jessica Sheehan, both of Pittsfield, will have to work when they get there to meet college costs and expenses. For them, the weekend may mean some partying, but it also means work. “We’re both commuters, and we both work as bartenders at night in Lenox, so we don’t get a chance to participate in a lot of activities up here,” Moran said. “Because we’re 21, it’s easy for us to go out and have a drink or two when we want,” Sheehan said. “But even though it’s a dry campus, you know there’s drinking going on here. That’s always going to happen.” They said they planned to spend this Thursday night taking in the new Julia Roberts movie, however. Mike Gentile, a junior from New York, said a large number of students work on weekends. “College students are poor, and the weekends are really the only free time that a lot of them have to work,” he pointed out. Most students interviewed for this article said they believe drugs, sex and partying, while ever-present, take a back seat to studying and to community or campus events. “Some students choose to drink or do drugs, but a recent statistic shows that, on average, 67 percent of MCLA students only have one drink or none at all during their week,” said David Ortendahl, a senior from Fredonia, N.Y., and the student member of the college’s board of trustees. He referred to a spring 2000 survey presented by a college club, Students Taking Abusive Risks. “That means over two-thirds of our student body chooses not to binge drink,” Ortendahl said. “Thankfully, we have freedom of choice to enjoy.” While there are still “keg parties” and heavy drinking at certain social events, not all parties center on alcohol or other drugs. Last Friday, many students went to Sullivan Lounge for “Fire and Ice,” a dance party hosted by the African American Society club. A day before that, about 100 students ate and danced at the “Snowball,” a social hosted by the junior and senior classes. Both parties were alcohol-free. College sports happen every week and are attended by students and community members. Other recent events included a coat drive to benefit the needy in the region and an X-box tournament on Friday. CC’s Café featured Kris Delmhorust on Saturday and has provided musical entertainment on a weekly basis throughout the semester. "Today at MCLA, there seems to be an upsurge of social life surrounding the robust array of clubs and organizations that put student interests forward, such as the Ski Club, the Dance Company, the Political Science Club and over 40 others,” said Dean of Students Charlotte Degan. “There is frequently such a broad complement of opportunities on campus that the larger student body must make choices in which events to attend." Clubs and organizations at MCLA are required to raise money to help support their events, which has led to many more student-sponsored activities. Students who acknowledged taking drugs or drinking alcohol on a fairly regular basis said they did it because that is what they wanted to do, not because of a lack of activities offered on campus or in the community. “I think you could offer 10 times as many events, and students would still be doing drugs, having sex and going to parties,” said Jennifer Bell, a senior from Woodstock, Conn., who oversees all clubs and organizations affiliated with the Student Government Association. “As clichéd as this sounds, it’s just what some people enjoy.” On Tuesday, Bell had to find time to “enjoy” putting the finishing touches on a 20-page paper on The Great Depression, which was due the next day for her class with Professor Paul LeSage. Mary K. Grant, MCLA president, has worked with college students during her entire career, and she graduated from the institution in 1983, when it was known as North Adams State College. At that time, it had a somewhat disreputable — and many say undeserved reputation as a “party school.” Yet then (as now), many students went on to graduate school or to distinguished careers in any number of fields, ranging from teaching and social work to business and communications. Grant offered the following perspective: "MCLA has a diverse population of students with many different interests. Because we are a small institution, students have the opportunity to explore a range of interests through clubs and organizations, service learning, athletics or hands-on academic experiences, such as running the camera in the television studio or presenting during the undergraduate research conference. “Many of our programs are open to the public as well — taking in basketball game or attending a student play or concert is a great community venue. I am so impressed by our students. They have great energy and enthusiasm and play an active role in the life of the institution — they make us a better, stronger college and help us develop deeper ties to the community." Yes, at MCLA, as at Williams College, the University of Massachusetts, Smith, Mount Holyoke, Harvard and virtually every college or university in the land, students drink; they have sex; they do drugs. But they also learn and mature, share a diverse and often complex student life, study and play hard, help out the community, participate in its events and help create some of them. At MCLA, they have been doing it for 110 years. MCLA senior Brian Szczerbinski just completed an internship with The Advocate, during which he worked 18 hours per week over the fall semester, writing stories, editing news releases and learning about newspaper production. Distinguished MCLA grads The following is a partial list of graduates of note from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (formerly North Adams State College), provided by the college’s alumni office. If anyone knows graduates they think should be added to the list, The Advocate (and the alumni office) would like to hear from you. Mary K. Grant, ’83, MCLA president John Barrett III, ’69, mayor of North Adams Daniel E. Bosley, '76, state rep., North Adams Paul Kujawski, ’76, state rep., Webster Kevin Barbary, '85, principal of Office Resources Inc., Boston Jeff Benedetti '76, former vice president and co-owner, Electronic Manufacturing Systems, Maine Jim Clemmer, '86, president, Medical/Surgical, Tyco Healthcare/Kendall Anne Crowley, '77, senior vice president, Fidelity Investments, Boston Diane Sammer, '82, former president and chief executive, Systems/Link Corp., New Jersey P. Michael Fairweather, '80, president/CEO, GN Netcom Inc., (international company) Michael Kupstas,'79, senior vice president, chief franchise officer, Panera Bread William McAlister, '83, president & CEO, Media Enterprises, Pennsylvania. Ted McNaught, '78, president, Northeast Tele-Communications Group, Maine Michael Christopher, '73, president & CEO, Lenox Savings Bank Frank Lazarczyk, '73, vice president of investments, A.G. Edwards, Pittsfield The Hon. Paul Perachi, '63, presiding justice, Berkshire Trial Court, Martin Perlmutter, '60, retired guidance counselor, Pittsfield School District David Hathaway, '63, principal planner, city of Pittsfield JoAnn McDermott Burke, '70, assistant section chief, chemistry, Berkshire Medical Center Karen Reynolds Streeter, '87, assistant controller, Crane & Company, Dalton Christopher Vincent, '91, manager of policy services, Berkshire Mutual Insurance. Co. Steve Smachetti, '69, retired principal, Adams-Cheshire School District, (now in the Education Department at MCLA Galeb Maher, '62, president, MRA Labs, North Adams Margaret Skowron, '71, teacher, Pittsfield Public Schools Dan Caritey, '77, athletic director, Adams-Cheshire School District Robert Underhill, '75, executive vice president & chief operating officer, Channing L. Bete Co. Inc., Deerfield Robert Mudge, '82, senior vice president for Northeast at Verizon's Network Services Group Peter Jones, '66, owner, Peter Jones Trophies Joseph J. Joseph, '50, retired superintendent, Northern Berkshire School Union Robert Maroni, '53, retired superintendent, North Adams School district Sister Barbara Faille, SSJ, '59, pastoral associate, St. Charles Borromeo Church Robert Burg, '82, president, Burg Communications Maria Chambers, '91, program director, VH-1, New York City Carol Cushinette Corrigan, '76, director, Boxcar Media Inc., general manager of The Advocate, North Adams Gail Ellis Esq., '80, dean of admissions, Suffolk Law School, Boston Daniel Murphy Esq., '77, partner, Murphy & Michaels, Boston Lawrence Gennari Esq., '86, partner, Gadsby & Hannah LLP, Boston Joseph McCue, '76, owner, Cue Data Services Inc. Cristina Scalet, '87, science photo editor, Time magazine Jim McCabe, '78, sports editor, Boston Globe Nancy Alsing Stewart, '58, owner and president, Stewart Olds, Calif. Dr. Karen Sullivan, '66, professor of medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine Michael Zeppieri, ’01, owner, RCI Real Estate, Williamstown and North Adams Carl McKinney, '85, president, Stateline Realty Dorothy Giusti Ransford, '64, entrepreneur Mike Reopell, '85, director, Advancement Information Systems, Williams College
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Bicycle Film Festival Comes to The Berkshires

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Bicycle Film Festival (BFF) has traveled to London, Tokyo, and Melbourne – in total 100 cities around the globe. 
 
Now, for the first time, this acclaimed festival celebrating the bicycle in all its forms lands in the Berkshires at The Stationery Factory in Dalton on June 16. 
 
Experience a day-long festival featuring two curated screenings of short films accompanied by family-friendly rides and bicycle-related vendors. The festival is hosted by the Pittsfield Community Design Center and the Berkshire Chapter of New England Mountain Biking Association (NEMBA). 
 
The festival's inaugural sponsor is Housatonic Heritage with more to come.
 
According to a press release:
 
BFF: Berkshires is designed to appeal to cyclists of all ages and interests from mountain bikers to long-distance racers and everyone in between. BFF: Berkshires offers an international window into the passionate cycling movement by presenting films of a caliber that speak to film connoisseurs and avid cyclists alike. These films celebrate what makes bicycling special and showcase why bicycling is attracting a growing following worldwide, including in the Berkshires.
 
"I wanted to bring the excitement I experienced watching the virtual Bicycle Film Festival over the past few years in person to my community in Western Massachusetts," BFF: Berkshires' co-producer and Pittsfield Community Design Center organizer Nick Russo said. "This festival promises to kick off a true bike renaissance that builds on work being done countywide from the expansion of the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail to encouraging more students to bike to school."
 
With an Adventure Shorts screening at 2 pm and Select Shorts at 6 pm featuring 16+ films in total, BFF: Berkshires will bring local audiences a full range of documentaries, narratives, and animations by award-winning directors and emerging talents – all sharing equal billing. 
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