Most races uncontested for SGA

Nathan Gregoire has been elected student trustee on the SGA's executive board.

By James Paleologopoulos

After a month of political posters and social-media messages, the Student Government Association’s online election has concluded and results have been announced at Fitchburg State University.

One of the more high-profile races during the election was for the job of student trustee on the SGA’s executive board, the chief council of the organization. Phil Sandy and Nathan Gregoire waged expansive campaigns of posters and meet-the-candidate-style events to get their names out and visible on campus before the final day of voting.

The race between the two longtime SGA members ended with Gregoire winning the seat in a “close race,” according to SGA officials, despite poll numbers not being released with the results.  

“They [Sandy and Gregoire] both had a lot of qualities … that would help the student body as a whole,” said Mallory-Anne Perron, the new treasurer.

“I think it went very well,” said Mary Piskule, graduating secretary of the e-board. “Neither said anything disrespectful and it was a very professional race. Either one of them [is] more than qualified and would have done an awesome job.”

Meanwhile, Matthew Costello was successfully elected president of the executive board after making posters, and his unopposed

Spring Week sweeps across campus

By Nathan Burns

With only a few weeks remaining, students at Fitchburg State University are feeling the weight of the semester pressing on their shoulders. Already hard at work, they know that final examinations loom ever closer, ready to deluge the campus with the stress of bizarre schedules and late-night cram sessions.

Fortunately, the Fitchburg Activities Board is giving students a week full of events and activities to take their minds of finals.

“Spring Week is our final hurrah of the year,” says Julie Fontana, president of FAB, “to give students a week of fun before the stress of finals come about.”

For members of FAB, who work all year long to bringing event to campus, Spring Week is the swan song. To ensure that it is all it can be, for both students and FAB, planning begins well in advance, and continues until the appointed week.

“Typically the committee starts meeting in November,” Fontana says. “However, we began planning for Spring Week this year in February and met

The technology of writing

By Katherine Conroy

Jay Krieger (Photo by Kenny Kelly)

When purchasing a video game magazine several years from now, the name Jay Krieger just might catch your eye. Krieger, a sophomore professional writing major at Fitchburg State University, hopes to one day write for a magazine about film, video games, or technology.

“I have always liked video games and journalism,” said Krieger, “and I would like to blend video games and writing together into a career.” Krieger currently writes videogame reviews and demo impressions for several technology websites, which he began doing in 2009. In addition, Krieger keeps a blog, mostly about

Making the grass greener on our side

New construction on campus has been certified by green-energy professionals. (photo by Kenny Kelly)

By Kareem Woods

As our society evolves, it has become apparent that cleaning up our environment is a necessity. Fitchburg State University is taking steps to join the fight against environmentally disruptive behavior. This institution has been around for decades and now with the renovation of the campus, upper administration is moving toward a greener direction.
The administration is not the only part of our campus community that is helping to make this city more eco-friendly. There is an organization on our campus that goes by the name of MassPIRG, which “works on behalf of the students fighting to reduce student debt, alleviate global warming,

Professors team up to talk about warm-up

(photo illustration by Andrea Zeppilli)

By Shawna Paul

One of the most hot-button political issues of the last 15 years has been the debate on the effect that humans have on global climate change.

Two professors at Fitchburg State University are trying to make the issue a little less foggy.  Dr. Benjamin Lieberman of the history department and Dr. Elizabeth Gordon of the geo/physical sciences department are teaming up next fall to teach Climate Change and Human History, an interdisciplinary elective course that will merge both history and science.

On his motivation for developing the course, Lieberman said, “I’m struck by the extent to which some seem to assume that our society is disconnected from climate.  Past climate change shaped the very rise of human civilization and now

‘Inside’ Leominster Access Television

By Kevin Boudreau 

Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella

Leominster Access Television, the award-winning local-access channel for Leominster, is home to a wide variety of shows that cover a plethora of different subject matter. One of the most successful shows on LATV to date is Mayor Dean Mazzarella’s talk show, “Inside Leominster.”

But before “Inside Leominster” began broadcasting on LATV, it actually premiered in 1994. “It (‘Inside Leominster’) was originally run by Montachusett Cable,” says LATV Executive Director Carl Piermarini. In 2000, Piermarini says, Cable Vision bought out Montachusett Cable and then the Comcast Cable Network in turn bought out Cable Vision.

This posed a problem for ‘Inside Leominster’ because the Comcast Cable Network didn’t want to continue broadcasting the show. So, to

Special Olympics: Let the games begin!

Athletes compete for medals at the Special Olympics. (photo by Kevin Chauvin)

By Tim Thibeault

 The 5th annual Special Olympics Track and Field Games will come to Fitchburg State University’s Elliot Field on Friday, April 27. The event will launch at 8:30 a.m. and run until approximately 1:30 p.m.

 The games will be directed by Danielle Mutrie and her co-director, Michelle Cree, who was the head director of last year’s games. “This is my fourth year volunteering and I definitely plan to come back … for future events,” Cree said. Fitchburg State continues the tradition by hosting for the fifth time.

 The event is being sponsored by the Fitchburg State education department; the Xi Psi chapter of Kappa Delta Pi honor society, and donations from all over the city of Fitchburg.

 “It takes over $2,000 to successfully run this event and we raised every penny,” Cree said. “We wouldn’t have been able to do

Bringing some magic to campus

By Becka Dooley
It was the story that defined a generation: J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter.” Now, the best-selling series is uniting fans across the nation in a social club called the Harry Potter Alliance.
Fitchburg State University has its own chapter on campus, called Amortentia, which meets every other Monday at 3:30 p.m. in Conlon 212.

Patience Morrow, an avid fan of the series, decided the Fitchburg community needed a little magic and started the campus chapter.

But don’t let the Harry Potter affiliation fool you – Amortentia has plans that cover more than being fans of the series.

“The HPA is designed to encourage its members to be involved in community service,” Dr. Kisha Tracy, the club’s advisor, says. “It’s a worthy cause, and one the organizer and officers are particularly dedicated to. We can always

Horoscopes: Week of April 23

Hello! These horoscopes are tweaked especially for the students of Fitchburg State University. Courtesy of Yahoo! Horoscopes, they’ve been summarized to meet the needs of each astrological sign, while maintaining an air of scientific validity.

Enjoy!

By: Megan Dineen

 

That isn’t rape

By Karlesha V. Hewitt

Karlesha Hewitt

“ An isolated, cocooned caterpillar
metamorphoses to a butterfly
it soon realizes quickly it is trapped
in a jar with no hole poked in the lid
for air, unable to flutter, it is still.
The captor pleads innocence
he did not hunt the insect, he only
placed the cocoon inside a jar, and
shut the lid .”

SHE was drunk, but she consented. She said no, but she didn’t mean it. She pushed me away, but she was smiling. She wasn’t sure, but I convinced her. She wasn’t in the mood, but she is my girlfriend.

Unfortunately, some people have no clue that the above mentioned statements can constitute rape in a given situation. The month of April is Sexual Assault Awareness month (SAAM), still there is so much people