greylocknews

An international Christmas dinner

Nine Williams College students, including a Fulbright scholar, gathered for dinner on Christmas Day at the home of Williams College special academic programs coordinator Molly Magavern and political-science professor Mark Reinhardt. The students are staying in Williamstown over the holiday break.  They discussed how they chose Williams, the perception of the United States in their countries and their future plans. To hear them say hello in their nation's language, click on the QuickTime video download (10megs) below. (click on photo above to enlarge)

Download 100_2422.MOV

New Spielberg film, "Munich" may be relevant to MGRHS incident

A posted comment to review via AlterNet of the new Steven Spielberg film, "Munich" contains a reference perhaps revelant to understanding the discussions which may need to occur at Mount Greylock Regional High School about tolerance and diversity. The movie review is linked HERE. Here's the relevant sentence in the first posted comment to the review: "... to many of these people there isn't a whole lot of difference between a Jew and a Muslim."

INTERVIEW: Travis says judge to visit MGRHS, state grants sought, upper classes help with bullying issue

LINK/UPDATE: MGRHS adjustment counselor's letter to the editor

LINK: Debora Cole-Duffy's statement to parents

A visit by a juvenile court judge and the potential for one or more state grants to teach tolerance, diversity, anti-harassment and anti-bullying tactics are being planned by Mount Greylock Regional High School in the wake of two incidents at the school in which one child voluntarily withdrew and others were suspended. The school maintains it can’t discuss either incident publicly because juveniles are involved and because, in one case, there may be court action. News accounts have reported that in one case a child felt threatened by a series of incidents culminating with the uttering of an anti-semitic remark and some physical bullying. Berkshire County Juvenile Court Judge Judith Locke is tentatively scheduled to visit the school on Monday, Jan. 9. And in a third initiative, the school is asking a group of juniors and seniors to provide peer assistance and advice to middle-schoolers during lunch periods.

CLICK HERE TO READ FULL INTERVIEW WITH SUPT. WILLIAM TRAVIS

Mount Greylock teachers ratify new contract

The Mount Greylock Educators Association has approved a new labor contract for the approximately 70 teachers and covered staff at Mount Greylock Regional High School.  Approval came today (Thursday) at a closed faculty meeting. Tonight the school committee is scheduled to meet to consider ratifying the same language.

Here's the statement this afternoon from Rose-Marie Pelletier, a math teacher who is the union's president:

"Today, December 22, 2005 the Mt. Greylock Educators Association voted to accept the school committee's contract
offer.  While we are glad that this protracted contract dispute is finally resolved (provided that the School Committee also votes to accept the contract), we know that there will be other difficult issues to grapple with in the future to ensure that this district remains competitive. We are relieved to be going home for the holidays with a new contract.  "We would like to extend our thanks to the many parents and community members who supported us during these difficult negotiations, and especially to the members of the MGEA who spent countless hours in bargaining or supporting the bargaining team."

EARLIER STORIES:
http://newshare.typepad.com/greylocknews/2005/11/union_mount_gre.html
http://newshare.typepad.com/greylocknews/2005/10/update_oct_28_m.html

Jiminy Peak dedicates $7M base lodge to "JJ" Filiault

HANCOCK, Mass. -- Between 200 and 300 employees and invited guests turned out Dec. 19 when Jiminy Peak Rsort dedicated a just-finished $7-million condominium complex and base lodge to 30-year veteran chief financial officer John J. "Jack" Filiault, of South Williamstown.  Jiminy President Brian Fairbank noted the ski resort began about 15 years ago naming buidlings after employees with more than a quarter-century of service. "Ninety-nine percent of the people I care about are in this room tonight," Fairbank told the crowd in the new "JJ Lodge." Filiault, in his own remarks, recounted the story of how Filiault became "JJ" to co-workers. He said he was baptized as "John" but when he arrived to work at Jiminy Peak, Fairbank insisted on light-heartedly rechristening him as "Jack" because there were so many other people named John at the ski area. Later, others started calling him "JJ." Said Filiault: "I'm the only christian I know of that was baptized three times."  The lodge represents completion of a 20-year master plan for the base of the Jiminy Peak mountainside, and it replaces a structured razed over the summer that he been standing since the 1970s. Most of the new buildings at the resort have been built with other people's money -- with pre-sold condominiums on upper floors financing lower-level public amenities.  Today, said Fairbank, Jiminy employees 980 full- and part-time workers in the winter and 150 in the summer. It manages over 100,000 square feet of commercial and lodging space which can sleep 1,900 people. Two real-estate partners, Fairfield Communities and Vacation Village, have  built adjacent vacation communities housing 750 people each and Jiminy itself houses another 1,400 time-share or condo owners. All told, says Fairbank, the real-estate development has added $185 million in valuation to the Hancock town tax roles. "And it's taxation without representation because virtually nobody is a full-time resident," he says. The resort's operations generated $22 million in revenues in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, he said.

(PHOTO: From left, Paul Mahoney, vp operations; Jack Filiault, and Brian Fairbank. Click on photo to enlarge.)

The Greylock region's China correspondent lands in Beijing

America's trade with China is mushrooming, and so is our debt to the world's most populace nation. But how much do we really know about China? A year 2000 graduate of Hoosac Valley High School, daughter of Deborah Foss, of Williamstown, and William Goodman, of Pownal, Vt.,  is now in a position to help us learn. Last week Lauren Foss Goodman, 24, took up residence in Beijing, where she is beginning an open-ended exploration of China in a self-directed learning experience. She'll be learning Chinese at Beijing Language and Culture University.  A 2004 summa cum laude graduate of UMass Amherst and former editor-in-chief of the Hoosac Valley student newspaper, Lauren has also been a news intern at WFCR, Five College Radio, the NPR affiliate in Amherst. And for the last year she's been staff director at Clean Water Action, in Northampton. But most importantly, she is now a web "blogger." And you can read her frequent updates on life in Beijing at this URL: http://www.lookingforsomething.wordpress.com/  with accompanying photos. A couple of samples from her Dec. 15 post: "I love China because it.s like an onion. It.s smelly and delicious and there are so many layers for me to peel away; and I'm sure at points it will make me cry . . . the weather here is cold and dry, with a moderate to heavy dose of pollution, which I've begun to consider weather."

Passionate Pinter's devastating assault on U.S. foreign policy

Playwright Harold Pinter delivered a devastating assault on U.S. foreign policy in his acceptance speech delivered on Wednesday to Stockholm.Pinter won the award for literature -- the world's highest honor for a writer -- in October. He taped the video message from Britain, where he is being treated for cancer. He says: "The invasion of Iraq was a bandit act, an act of blatent state terrorism demonstrating absolute contempt for the concept of international law. The invasion was an arbitrary military action inspired by series of lies upon lies and gross manipulation of the media and therefore the public." Pinter is author of such plays as "The Caretaker" and "The Homecoming".

Here is a link to the full text (and video) of Pinter's speech: http://nobelprize.org/literature/laureates/2005/pinter-lecture-e.html Delivered: Wed 7 Dec 2005 4.30pm-5.20pm; rpt 8.30pm-9.20pm

Here is a review from The Guardian of London: Passionate Pinter's Devastating Assault on US Foreign Policy http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1208-05.htm

Williamstown Holiday Walk schedule -- download and print from here

This weekend is the annual Holiday Walk weekend in Williamstown. For a handy rundown of all the events, click on each of the images below, then print the window in which they open!

OR DOWNLOAD THIS MSWORD VERSION:
Download holiday_walk.doc