Williams Senior Named Watson Fellow

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WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williams College senior Rob Hefferon has been named a Thomas J. Watson Fellow for 2017-18. Winners of the fellowship receive a stipend of $30,000 for 12 months of independent study and travel outside of the United States.

Hefferon joins 39 other students selected as Watson Fellows from among 152 finalists nominated to compete on the national level. The fellows, who hail from eight countries and 17 states and are selected from private liberal arts colleges and universities, will travel the world exploring a diverse range of topics and disciplines.

Hefferon, a Spanish and political science major from McLean, Va., will use his fellowship to pursue a project titled "Brewed Awakening: Ethical Dilemmas in Coffee Culture." His project aims to explore the inner workings of the coffee business, from farm to shop. Furthermore, Hefferon intends to use coffee as a looking glass into societal issues such as socioeconomic inequality, racism, elitism and climate change.


His research will take him to the Netherlands, Tanzania, Panama, Colombia and Japan, countries that each play an important role in understanding the coffee supply chain and culture. In addition, it will aim to provide a deeper understanding of the past, present, and future of coffee production and consumption.

Hefferon's interest in the coffee industry stems from both a passion for coffee and a desire to be a more conscious consumer. During his third year at Williams, he spent a semester studying in Bolivia, where he witnessed firsthand the direct impact of climate change on coffee farmers and the ways in which they found solutions to issues such as drought and pollution. A coffee enthusiast, he has worked as a barista and coffee shop manager. A community leader, he was awarded the college's Grosvenor Cup, given annually to the senior who has best demonstrated concern for the college community.

"I'm incredibly honored and humbled by the opportunity to undertake a Watson year," Heffernon said. "While I'm certainly nervous at the unknowability of what is to come, my overwhelming emotion right now is excitement for the growth and discovery that I'm hoping to get out of this process."

 


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Mount Greylock School Committee Votes Slight Increase to Proposed Assessments

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School Committee on Thursday voted unanimously to slightly increase the assessment to the district's member towns from the figures in the draft budget presented by the administration.
 
The School Committee opted to lower the use of Mount Greylock's reserve account by $70,000 and, instead, increase by that amount the share of the fiscal year 2025 operating budget shared proportionally by Lanesborough and Williamstown taxpayers.
 
The budget prepared by the administration and presented to the School Committee at its annual public hearing on Thursday included $665,000 from the district's Excess and Deficiency account, the equivalent of a municipal free cash balance, an accrual of lower-than-anticipated expenses and higher-than-anticipated revenue in any given year.
 
That represented a 90 percent jump from the $350,000 allocated from E&D for fiscal year 2024, which ends on June 30. And, coupled with more robust use of the district's tuition revenue account (7 percent more in FY25) and School Choice revenue (3 percent more), the draw down on E&D is seen as a stopgap measure to mitigate a spike in FY25 expenses and an unsustainable budgeting strategy long term, administrators say.
 
The budget passed by the School Committee on Thursday continues to rely more heavily on reserves than in years past, but to a lesser extent than originally proposed.
 
Specifically, the budget the panel approved includes a total assessment to Williamstown of $13,775,336 (including capital and operating costs) and a total assessment to Lanesborough of $6,425,373.
 
As a percentage increase from the FY24 assessments, that translates to a 3.90 percent increase to Williamstown and a 3.38 percent increase to Lanesborough.
 
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