Smokers and non-smokers arrived at Bangs Community Center Thursday to discuss possible new changes to the smoking laws of Amherst, which would prohibit smoking on town-owned outdoor properties and outside of restaurants.

According to Julie Federman, health director for the town of Amherst, the amendment is meant to protect the town’s workers from the potentially adverse health affects of second-hand smoke.

The room was filled to capacity by many University of Massachusetts students, local business owners, and Amherst citizens, most of whom opposed the proposed amendment to the law.

Members of the Board of Health notified certain organizations and businesses that they thought may be concerned about the amendment.\

Many members of the UMass Cannabis Reform Committee attended the meeting to oppose the measure.

President of the CRC Cory Gillis felt this change to the bylaws would adversely affect the Extravaganja event held on the Amherst Common each April.

Extravaganja is an annual festival which invites bands and members of the “smoking” culture to revel in good company and partake in herbal recreation very publicly.

According to Chris Pappademas, a sophomore plant biotech major, the event brings more than 1,000 people to Amherst Commons every year.

“Many people smoking on the common may not be aware that the law exists,” said Gillis, who is a Japanese major. “It feels like civil liberties are not being respected by the town.”

The proposed amendment would come in addition to the smoking bylaws passed in 1999, later amended June 1, 2009, which banned smoking in bars and restaurants.

Tony Maroulis, executive director of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce and also the organizer of the Taste of Amherst festival, voiced concern that the proposed amendment would potentially hurt attendance to such an event.

According to Maroulis, the addition of the new legislation is not necessary, and could potentially deter people from coming to civic events. Maroulis continued by stating that summer events on the Amherst common bring over 30,000 people, which helps to stimulate the local Amherst economy, and that he feels banning smoking at such events could dissuade some from coming out.

Amherst resident and Tabella’s Restaurant waiter Chris Powell, 20, echoed others who were worried about the potential impact on the local economy.

“Local businesses have haven struggling over the past couple of years,” said Powell. “Why are they trying to make [the town] unattractive to graduates and people who can rectify the situation?” Powell asked the board.

Cindy Walker, 45, also of Amherst, felt the public hearing was a success.

“I think a lot of good points were brought up by citizens [of Amherst],” said Walker. “I don’t smoke around my kids in the house or in the car,” continued Walker, “If I can’t smoke outside, then where can I smoke?”

David Ahfeld, a member of the Board, believed Thursday’s discussion proved fruitful.

“There were a lot of interesting comments,” he said

The law already in place imposes a fine of $100 for a first offense on the manager or organizer for smoking in a place where smoking is prohibited. The fine increases by $100 every time a person violates the policy, and runs to $300 per subsequent violations in a two year period between each violation.

Bobby Hitt can be reached at rhitt@student.umass.edu.

“The Making of a Picture Book: The Marriage of Text and Art” at the Du Bois Library showcases the life of a picture book from its inception to its publication.

An open reception for the exhibit and a talk with Corinne Demas, the exhibit’s curator and an English professor from Mount Holyoke College, will be held on Oct. 4, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Memorial Hall.

Nestled in the center of the learning commons (the lower level of the library), “The Making of a Picture Book” focuses on four children’s books by local authors and illustrators. Demas is also one of the authors featured in this exhibit.

Demas’ story “The Littlest Matryoshka” and Kathryn Brown’s illustrations are dissected and seen in “The Making of a Picture Book.” Displayed in the exhibit is a letter, from the author to the illustrator, describing the tale as, “a very sweet story about the littlest of a group of Russian nesting dolls who gets separated from her sisters, has many adventures and finally is happily reunited with them in the home their new owner, a thoughtful little girl.”

Within the display, the actual dolls that served as an inspiration for this story stand in front of Demas’ letter to Brown. The dolls were all named for characters in Anton Chekov’s works, and they were bought by the author for her daughter Artemis – who is pictured in the exhibit playing with them. Also, the exhibit presents the original rough sketches of “The Littlest Matryoshka,” and onlookers are able to compare these with the final print as it is showcased next the original sketches.

The details of what the illustrator and author did and why they did it to alter the story are all shown in this exhibit. Explanations are given about the work, from the doll maker’s beard being added to the exact placement of the dolls. The active process through which the story develops and how the images correspond with the story is completely outlined within this exhibit.

Additionally featured is the story of “The Perfect Wizard: Hans Christian Andersen.” Written by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Dennis Nolan, “The Perfect Wizard” is displayed with several pre-printing drafts.

The exhibit houses a “book dummy,” a black-and-white copy of the text of “The Perfect Wizard,” attached in the shape of a book, with Nolan’s sketches. It also shows a copy of the “F & Gs,” the “Folded and Gathered Sheets,” an unbound pre-production draft and a set of the book’s first color proofs. For this historical biography, Nolan explains that he “used a combination of watercolor washes to ‘antique’ the paper and colored pencils for the drawing.”

“Ten Times Better” is a counting book gone on African safari also found in the display. Award-winning printmaker, painter, sculptor and illustrator Leonard Baskin created a bright red background and a watercolor zebra to highlight the exactness of author Richard Michelson’s wording.

A spare painted zebra torso lays beside the book with the explanation that, “the stripes in the original illustration were the wrong number because there needed to be 99. An assistant painted a new zebra body to cover the original.” 

This book underlines how the text influenced the images, and vice versa, or how images can shape a story.

Next to the painting of a single, watercolor bee, Michelson has written, “Basking painted one bee. I made photocopies of the bee and laid them out in a pattern … They looked better swarming towards the text.”

The final picture book on display is a collaboration between mother-daughter writing duo, Patrician MacLachlan and Emily MacLachlan-Charest, and painter Katy Schneider. “Once I Ate a Pie” is a book of dogs the authors and illustrator “know, or have known and loved.”

The illustrations for this story began as an oil painting of actual dogs. Schneider, who was able to “sneak in” two of her own dogs, writes that, “Researching took the longest. Once I have my source material, the actual painting is pretty quick.” A standalone cutout of an intrigued-looking pug overlooks the exhibit.

On a short study break, sophomore Sam DiNardo stops by to admire the picture books. Glancing over the myriad of colors and techniques, he said “I think the exhibit is really great. I really like seeing the artwork.”

Handwritten notes in the exhibit’s comment book seemingly take the same tone, ranging from “wonderfully informative” to “fascinating” and also “Inspiring! I want to go write my own picture book right now!”

“The Making of a Picture Book: The Marriage of Text and Art” can be viewed on the Lower Level of the Du Bois Library through Dec. 18, 2009.

Rachel Tumin can be reached at rtumin@student.umass.edu.

She’s not a sure bet, but she is about as close to one as there is in college softball.

Following her shutout last weekend over defending national champion Arizona State, the three-time Easton All-American, Brandice Balschmiter continued her dominance as she pitched two more shutouts in the rain shortened NFCA Leadoff Classic for the Massachusetts softball team.

The No. 17 Minutewomen (8-4) were scheduled to play five games over the weekend (Nebraska, No. 15 Nebraska, Mississippi State No. 22 Southern Illinois, and No. 3 Alabama), but due to severe rain and thunderstorms, the schedule was revised. UMass instead played two games, against Nebraska on Friday and against No. 13 DePaul on Saturday.

While DePaul may have possessed a higher national ranking than UMass, it was clear who the better team was by the end of the game. The Minutewomen came out on top 2-0, behind a one-hitter by Balschmiter.

The senior held the Blue Demons (9-4) hitless through the first 6 2/3 innings before she surrendered her first hit with one out left in the game. Balschmiter had a perfect game, entering the seventh inning.

After getting the first batter of the inning to fly out to center field, Purdue’s Becca Heteniak drew Balschmiter’s only walk all game. After a fielder’s choice that got Heteniak out at second base, Balschmiter gave up her only hit of the game, a single by Annie Demas.

Balschmiter finished off the game by striking out Simone Ashkar, her seventh strikeout of the game. The Minutewomen’s ace did this all while her coach thought she had a B-minus game.

‘It was a B-minus night,’ Sortino said. ‘She has been thwarted by an arm injury and has been sick.

‘She has to come at them with more movement to think she dominated them instead of them just having a bad hitting day.’

At the plate, UMass managed seven hits and none were bigger than Carly Normandin’s in the sixth inning. With the Minutewomen up 1-0 and the game still in the Blue Demons reach, Normandin led off the inning with a solo home run to right-center field. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ UMass found itself in a similar situation Friday against Nebraska before winning 3-0. The Minutewomen had a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning before Normandin created some separation.

With two outs, the Cornhuskers’ (7-4) Molly Hill first walked Jessica Serio. Normandin followed with another home run to right-center field giving Balschmiter a three-run lead to work with.

Williams led off the bottom of the first by getting hit with a pitch and advanced to second base two batters later on a sacrifice bunt by Whitney Mollica. Salato followed with her first hit of the game, a single to centerfield off Nebraska’s Molly Hill, to give UMass the early 1-0 lead.

Normandin finished the weekend with a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate and a walk. The centerfielder also drove in three runs, all from her two home runs.

‘We dropped [Normandin] down in the order to take some pressure off of her,’ Sortino said. ‘And she responded really well.’

Balschmiter dominated Nebraska as well, holding the Cornhuskers to just four hits, gave up two walks while striking out six.

The Minutewomen will take the field again in two weeks when they head to Clearwater, Fla. for their final five non-conference games of the season before they begin to defend their Atlantic 10 championship.

Jeffrey R. Larnard can be reached at jlarnard@dailycollegian.com.

The light spring breeze fluttered abortion rights posters on hangers suspended on a rope line outside of the University of Massachusetts Campus Center.

“The Hanger Project” was created by VOX: Students for Choice, an organization that brings awareness to pro-choice activism by educating the UMass community on reproductive health and rights. VOX, Latin for “voice,” is a UMass chapter of an international organization allied with Planned Parenthood.

Last Thursday, numerous students saw colorful posters with statements like “Giving birth is much more dangerous than having an abortion.”

“Our entire generation has grown up with abortion rights and having that right taken away is not fair,” said VOX president Irene Ushomirsky. “This is not just a ‘women’s issue’ because the right to reproductive health affects everyone.”

According to Ushomirsky, there is one abortion clinic in all of Mississippi. Due to the split between federal and state law, legal access to abortion continues to vary by state.

“I believe that abortion is the choice of the woman and it should be protected,” said VOX member and sophomore Stephanie Luke. “The most effective way to protect this right is to keep fighting restrictions and spreading awareness about reproductive rights.”

VOX tries to promote abortion rights through different events. These events are planned by the 15 or so regular members of VOX and the three executive board members, president Irene Ushomirsky, vice president Shannon Demas, and secretary Kate Fontaine.

Yesterday evening, VOX sponsored “Take Back the Night,” a live discussion speaking out against sexual assault, rape, and domestic violence at Memorial Hall from 7 to 10 p.m. After the discussion, a candle light vigil brought remembrance to victims of sexual and domestic violence.

Other sponsors of “Take Back the Night” included the Everywoman’s Center, Graduate Women’s Network, and Women’s Health Project.

On Saturday April 26, VOX organized a “Live Action Camp” starting at 10 a.m. with a teach-in on emergency contraception on the 19th floor of Kennedy Tower in the Southwest Residential Area. Then there will be a presentation on a newly discovered way of stopping HIV transmission to women and demonstrations in Amherst.

“Live Action Camp” attendees will then go into the community and participate in a pharmacy sting, where local pharmacies will be checked for offering sufficient emergency contraception. Next is the Burma-Shave, where signs sporting single words are held up in a line to form an abortion rights sentence.

“The Burma-Shave lets both sides know that there is activism going on, and we usually get more of a positive response than negative,” Ushomirsky said.

Lastly, people will go around Amherst to attain signatures for abortion rights lobbies.

VOX will further educate the UMass community on what it says is the importance of reproductive health on May 8 during “Sex on the Lawn.” On the library lawn, VOX members will set up different tables with information and brochures from other organizations.

This past February, VOX hosted the Vagina Monologues, a performance celebrates the female body, power and sexuality. The majority of VOX’s funding comes from this performance, and earning $1160.50 was an improvement from the previous year.

“Considering we only performed for one night because of the snow storm, we did really well,” Ushomirsky said.

As a registered student organization, VOX receives some funding from the Student Government Association.

VOX member and senior Sahar Barfchin have been attending the VOX meetings since her freshman year.

“I really like the activism,” Barfchin said. “I think getting the word out and educating people about reproductive rights is really important.”

PHILADELPHIA – Struggling through “Intermediate Arabic” may do much more than fulfill graduation requirements. The Committee for Economic Development, an independent reorganization that studies ways of promoting economic development in America, released a report Feb. 9 with recommendations on how to enhance diplomacy, national security and economic growth.

The report calls for increased foreign-language and culture study at all levels of education and for more study-abroad opportunities at colleges and universities.

“Among the reasons that the U.S. has gotten into so much trouble in our activities abroad is lack of knowledge — our ignorance of the cultures, the histories, the languages,” said Committee Trustee John Brademas, president emeritus of New York University and a former Indiana congressman, who co-chaired the effort.

Finance professor Jamshed Ghandhi said that while foreign-language and culture education do not directly affect the economy, Americans must understand the thoughts and behaviors of others to succeed in global relations.

Ghandhi added that studying abroad, which the report encouraged, is central to this.

“You cannot hope to understand a culture … effectively unless you have lived in it on a day-to-day basis, not as a tourist who wanders in and out of international hotels,” he said.

Eastern Languages and Civilizations professor Joseph Lowry said that foreign language proficiency is not necessary for the U.S. economy because English is so widely studied in other nations. However, he noted its importance for those involved in international business dealings.

At Penn, Lowry said, there is a rising number of students studying Arabic, and these students are more likely to be interested in the language for potential careers in government, intelligence and foreign policy.

College sophomore Suleyman Saleem said that he is learning Arabic because it is applicable to current and future politics and economics.

“In a post-9/11 world, it’s very important that the West and the Middle East get along and everyone focuses on how to keep peace,” he said.

The report cited Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Farsi, Russian and Turkish as critical languages for national security.

“Certainly, the ability to utilize foreign languages and understand foreign cultures enhances the capability of anyone doing foreign-intelligence gathering,” East Asian Languages and Civilizations Chairman Cameron Hurst said.

Hurst agreed with the committee that foreign-language and culture education can boost the economy.

“We’ve outsourced our entire economy, practically, to China, and clearly it’s much better if people who go to China have some understanding of the history of the culture and the area … the business practices and certainly the language,” Hurst said.

Brademas said he hopes colleges and universities will respond enthusiastically to the report, but noted that he will also be observing the reactions of Congress and the Bush administration.

“You have an administration in Washington that is not very sympathetic to education, so one has to push,” Brademas said.

The effects of the report on higher education will largely depend on the reactions of school officials in foreign languages, world history and foreign policy, he said.

He added that these groups, as well as international business leaders and students, should urge their congressional representatives to vote to allocate more money for foreign study.

The Campus Center Auditorium was humming with the voices of students and recruiters Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the annual Community Service Learning Fair.

Students roamed freely between the dozens of tables set up in the auditorium for the wide variety of non-profit, volunteer-based organizations. The types of organizations present ranged anywhere from animal shelters to children’s programs, from the Red Cross, to the Peace Corps. Although the students that came were from a mix of major backgrounds, all shared one thing in common – a desire to volunteer.

Many of the students that were there began their volunteer work as part of class requirements and liked it so much that they decided to continue volunteering on their own.

Nicholas Demas, a senior sociology major, was among the students at the fair. Demes had a table set up for the University’s Alternative Spring Break program, which is part of the anthropology department. Last year, as part of the program, he helped set the foundation for a new building in a small southern town. He said he enjoyed the program so much that he chose to co-facilitate it this year.

Sean Laurent, a senior psychology major, started volunteering as part of a practicum for a psychology class.

“Now I want to volunteer regardless of whether it’s attached to a class or not,” said Laurent, who got information from many of the booths. “Working for these organizations is kind of addictive.”

Some of the students came with only one interest in mind, or one organization in particular.

Sunitha Menon, a senior, said she wanted to join the Peace Corps after graduation, and an advisor told her she should have some volunteer experience first. Menon said she was mostly interested in volunteer work involving children.

Jen McNaught, a sophomore animal science major, said she came to sign up at the Everywoman’s Center. She said she had done some work with issues of dating violence in high school and wanted to continue along this path.

Nancy Condon, who represented The Zoo in Forest Park, said that she has been coming to the fair, which used to be held in the Student Union Ballroom, for several years now. She said that this year the space was smaller and it seemed like there were fewer students than usual.

An attendant at the Tobacco-Free Network said that although fewer people were signing up, the participants were all enthusiastic.

University of Massachusetts students spent their days refurbishing and demolishing houses, caring for the children of the community and talking to those associated with the Concerned Citizens of Cape Charles during an alternative spring break program.

The 22 anthropology students learned the basics of grassroots organizations and lent support in rebuilding a community in Cape Charles, Virginia.

“I’ve really started to see the difference between social justice work and community service and can better understand their relationship now,” Sarah J. Davis, a senior politics major at Mount Holyoke College, said. “I’ve also been able to experience how grassroots organizing helps people empower themselves.”

Students stayed in a vacant house across the road from the construction site of a $2.5 million summer home. They met with members of the Concerned Citizens of Cape Charles to gain a better understanding of the area and situation in Cape Charles. The group formed a coalition because the land has been developed into upper class housing.

“I suppose that most problems facing communities are inter-connected,” said UMass student Nick Demas, a member of the class. “These problems are top-down. They are caused by someone at the top, be it government, the rich, realtors, whomever, and trickles down to affect the less wealthy.”

According to residents, Cape Charles has become a “hot spot” for real estate. Real estate agents first bought small plots of land, turning it into high cost housing. The value of the land increased along with that of the homes, increasing property taxes. With taxes rising, those of lower wealth were unable to pay for the homes that often had been in they’re family for generations. Many decided to leave their community.

“I was disgusted at the way the people of Cape Charles were being treated by wealthy developers,” said Marc Armenti, a senior psychology and anthropology major. “On one side of the street there were low income housing, and on the other a multimillion dollar house.”

Alternative Spring Break Grassroots Anthropology began six years ago with the work of Professor Art Keene of the UMass Anthropology Department. Beginning with about 20 students, the project has expanded to include an application process, a minimum of two student facilitators to each classroom, and a required retreat before spring break. With these elements, along with hundreds of pages of reading and hours of contemplative thought, the program is designed for students to hone their skills and talents to tackle issues of social justice and reform.

“I applied for the class because I had been active in community service on the Mount Holyoke College campus since my first year, but never really had a chance to reflect on my experiences,” Davis said. “I also wanted to have the opportunity to meet more people who where passionate about creating social change.”

Meeting once a week, the students and their peer facilitators laid the groundwork with a deconstruction of the modern cultural, sociological, and anthropological approaches to social reform.

With students doing mostly independent work, the classroom is used mainly for discussion and application of the knowledge gained. Set up in a nontraditional manner, each trip is lead by a team of student leaders, alumni of past Grassroots Anthropology trips.

Spring break became a time for the students to put what they were learning into practice. Students made the 12-hour trek to Cape Charles, a town just a few miles away from Arlington.

“For me specifically, on an emotional level, I learned a great deal from the women in Virginia,” continued Liz Hartunian, a sophomore anthropology major. “Lenora Miller (a prominent member of the community as well as the only paid staff member of the Concerned Citizens of Cape Charles), said to us, ‘ some people do not choose, they are chosen.’ Social action is almost more powerful than ourselves, and something that we need to keep doing. The most important insight I have gained is as simple as that…that I have to keep going and working for the social and political changes that I believe are necessary.”

For more information on the course visit: http://courses.umass.edu/anth397h/resources/general/index.html or

http://courses.umass.edu/anth397h/index.html

After a year of demonstrating and work, the Resident Assistants Union had its first negotiation with University of Massachusetts administrators on Friday, Nov. 15, to discuss a union contract. The negotiations came after nearly two years of trying to get the UMass administration to recognize the RAs as workers and not just as students. The RAs decided to join the United Auto Workers Union in order to gain security in their jobs as well as pursuing economic improvement. The RAs are paid $50 for 20 hours of work, as well as receiving a free single room.

“It began in the spring of 2001 when the RAs came to talk to us, along with the help of graduate students who were already part of the union,” UWA Local 2322 President James A.W. Shaw said. “We had conversations and decided that the forming the union would be a good course of action, but the University of Massachusetts opposed our union and refused to recognize it.”

The RA union became official on March 5, 2002, as the RAs voted 138-88 to form their union.

However, the University still refused recognition to the newly formed union, which led to a series of protests, demonstrations and a standoff between police and students. On April 29, police arrested 35 students after a two-hour sit-down by 15 students in the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Office in the Whitmore administration building. Fifteen other students were arrested for refusing to move after blocking a police bus for the detainees.

Six days after the incident, another group of students picketed in front of Associate Provost Susan Pearson’s home.

The breaking point came in July when the UAW sat down with administrators and worked out an agreement to set up a bargaining table. In September, the RAs laid out the groundwork and elected officers representing all of the major housing areas to handle the negotiations. The team came together in September and worked throughout the fall to come up with proposals. Those in the committee include Nicholas Demas, Michael Gridley, Michael Travis, Bill Knaus, Anne Marie Watt, Mike Salamone, Pat Hernon, Neil Nugent, and David Synnott.

“It was the first chance for us to meet the University administrators and we mostly went over the ground rules for this bargain,” Demas said. “It’s going to be a long process, but it feel that we’ll accomplish what we started a year ago. I hope at this point that the University can come to an agreement that benefits both sides.”

The second of the two meetings was held on Nov. 22. There will be two more meetings during the semester. Negotiations will go into the spring, until both parties can come to an agreement.

“UMass was feeling pressure to block out the union, saying that the RAs were nothing more than role models and peer leaders,” Shaw said.

One of the central issues for the RAs is the susceptibility to losing their job for any reason. In unions, workers have the protection of an impartial arbitrator, not connected to any of the involved parties, and this person is used to assess the reasons for firing a worker and makes a fair decision.

“The RAs want more control over their job and not to be on the chopping block,” Shaw said. “The RAs want a reasonable deal, and they’ve been making very intelligent demands and they’re not greedy. They just want to improve the RA position by setting up standards through unionizing.”