Published in the Current; co-written with Kate Irish Collins
Dustin Perreault, a senior at Scarborough High School, wants to be a diesel engine technician. He already has a job waiting for him after graduation in June and credits the auto body program at the Portland Arts and Technology High School (PATHS) for getting him ready.
Perreault is among 26 Scarborough students and nine Cape Elizabeth students attending PATHS this year. These students are learning trades from video production to fashion merchandising to commercial art. Other programs include dance and music, horticulture and masonry.
Students at SHS have the opportunity to learn a skill or trade by attending either PATHS or the Westbrook Regional Vocational Center. “These two schools offer our students 27 different programs that we would not be able to produce locally,” said Scarborough schools Assistant Superintendent David Doyle. No students from Cape attend Westbrook Vocational.
Both Scarborough and Cape students attending vocational classes still earn their core credits in English, math, social studies, science and physical education at their hometown high schools.
Value for the dollar
Scarborough pays $140,533 for students to attend these vocational programs. The amount each sending school is assessed is based on a percentage of the average number of students that have attended over the past two years. “The amount we spend is less than one percent of the overall operating budget,” Doyle said.
Cape Elizabeth pays $84,124 for students to attend PATHS. “It’s really a bargain,” said Cape School Board member Kevin Sweeney, who is also chair of the PATHS general advisory council. “PATHS offers a huge number of programs,” Sweeney said. In the fall, the school will add a biotechnology program, in response to demand from Maine’s growing biotech sector for qualified workers. None of those programs, Sweeney said, could be offered in Cape. CEHS Principal Jeff Shedd wants students to consider PATHS more frequently. “I think our guidance counselors would like more students to go to PATHS,” Shedd said.
“It’s such a huge bargain for the buck,” Cal Chaplin, PATHS director, said. “Kids come here thinking they’re not students. At this school, they begin to see themselves as smart,” she said.
Westbrook offers programs in such trades as business and computer technology, driving commercial vehicles, automotives and the culinary arts. Westbrook has a restaurant that is open to the public and marketing students run the school store which brings in around $50,000 a year, said Westbrook Vocational Principal Todd Fields.
“We also offer medical occupations and students can graduate with a minimum of a certified nurse assistant’s training,” Fields said.
Student choice
PATHS serves 544 students from 23 high schools in Cumberland County and the town of Kennebunk in York County and was started in 1976. Westbrook Regional Vocational first opened its doors in 1963 and went through a renovation and addition project three years ago.
“Students at Scarborough self-select one of the two vocational schools to attend, depending on their talents and interests. Students are given a chance to tour each school and meet with perspective teachers,” Doyle said.
“This is a school of choice, which makes a big difference,” said PATHS guidance counselor, Frank Ingerowski. “The numbers are up in each program. We’re seeing a significant push towards learning a trade.”
“We do encourage our students to get a post-secondary education, mostly at the technical college level. We also have a number of students who do go into the work force after graduation and others choose the military,” he added.
“We encourage them to be in the business world,” Chaplin said. She is concerned that parents and students don’t think of PATHS when considering high school courses. “I think there’s a lot of educating we can do to attract more students,” Chaplin said.
Each of the school’s 24 programs has four or five business partners, who help make sure the skills students are learning are the ones they will use in the marketplace. Some businesses also offer internships or job-shadowing experience to PATHS students. “We’re constantly connected,” Chaplin said.
Learning skills
A food program also trains special education students to work in food service. “We cook here, we prep here,” said Cape Elizabeth student Paul Sandberg, gesturing to different sections of the kitchen. For the Thanksgiving harvest meal, the food workers served 700 people.
“I like it a lot. It’s more hands-on,” said Eddie Robbins, a junior at Cape Elizabeth High School in his third year at PATHS. He completed horticulture, and is now working on video production. The two and a half hours go quickly, he said. “It feels like a half-hour,” Robbins said.
“You get to really get involved with what you’re interested in,” said Derek Danie, a Cape sophomore in his first program, working with computers.
Scarborough senior Perreault would recommend the program at PATHS to others. “This is a great program if you like working with cars, especially restoration or collision work,” Perrault said. Perrault admits to missing some things at Scarborough High, but most of his friends are at PATHS.
Josie Hastings is a junior at Scarborough and is in the fashion-merchandising program at PATHS. She intends to go to Brooks College in California after graduation. “There’s more freedom here. I like it a lot better than Scarborough,” Hastings said.
Scarborough junior Joe Ellis is in the video technology program and is learning how to create professional video productions such as commercials and documentaries. “I love this place. I wish that I could take some of the basics here too,” Ellis said. “It was a little strange at first, traveling between the two schools, but now it’s easy. I would definitely recommend it here,” he added.
Thursday, April 18, 2002
Tuesday, April 16, 2002
Hyperwave funding to expand U.S. sales operation
Published in Interface Tech News
WESTFORD, Mass. ‹ Knowledge management company Hyperwave ‹ with headquarters in Munich, Germany and North American offices based outside Boston ‹ has secured its targeted $18 million in second-round funding, and plans to expand its sales force in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and California.
Its flagship product, eKnowledge Infrastructure, is aimed at government, media firms, financial businesses, and pharmaceutical and biotech companies, according to company spokesman Chris Gregoire. In November 2001, the company released a major upgrade to the software package, which integrates document management, e-learning, and employee collaboration applications.
"Collaboration for us is the big thing," Gregoire said, citing work within companies and between firms and clients.
Founded in 1997, Hyperwave does not expect to pursue a third round of financing, but instead, is planning for an IPO at an unspecified future date, Gregoire said.
That may be a way off, according to senior analyst John Hughes at Delphi Group. Hughes has been following Hyperwave for several years, and said the company is doing well in its market niche, but is suffering ‹ along with its competitors ‹ in economic conditions that are less than optimal.
Hughes expects the company to remain ahead of the curve and bounce back more quickly than some of its competition, due primarily to its strength overseas.
"They've got some real respect and a notable following in Europe," Hughes said.
He went on to say that Hyperwave's task now is to get some success stories in the U.S., so it can point to real dollar savings when courting new customers.
"They just need to get that value statement out there to people who control budgets," Hughes said.
That is exactly what Gregoire claims the company plans to do.
"We know that we need to put the U.S. market on the map," he said.
WESTFORD, Mass. ‹ Knowledge management company Hyperwave ‹ with headquarters in Munich, Germany and North American offices based outside Boston ‹ has secured its targeted $18 million in second-round funding, and plans to expand its sales force in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and California.
Its flagship product, eKnowledge Infrastructure, is aimed at government, media firms, financial businesses, and pharmaceutical and biotech companies, according to company spokesman Chris Gregoire. In November 2001, the company released a major upgrade to the software package, which integrates document management, e-learning, and employee collaboration applications.
"Collaboration for us is the big thing," Gregoire said, citing work within companies and between firms and clients.
Founded in 1997, Hyperwave does not expect to pursue a third round of financing, but instead, is planning for an IPO at an unspecified future date, Gregoire said.
That may be a way off, according to senior analyst John Hughes at Delphi Group. Hughes has been following Hyperwave for several years, and said the company is doing well in its market niche, but is suffering ‹ along with its competitors ‹ in economic conditions that are less than optimal.
Hughes expects the company to remain ahead of the curve and bounce back more quickly than some of its competition, due primarily to its strength overseas.
"They've got some real respect and a notable following in Europe," Hughes said.
He went on to say that Hyperwave's task now is to get some success stories in the U.S., so it can point to real dollar savings when courting new customers.
"They just need to get that value statement out there to people who control budgets," Hughes said.
That is exactly what Gregoire claims the company plans to do.
"We know that we need to put the U.S. market on the map," he said.
Thursday, April 11, 2002
Cape residents oppose user fees in schools
Published in the Current
Cape Elizabeth residents are against participation fees for school activities, but have few new suggestions for ways to cut the school budget this year.
At a School Board public meeting April 8, about 50 Cape residents met in the middle school cafetorium to address the question posed by School Board
member Jim Rowe: “Should the Cape Elizabeth school department consider implementing certain fees for extra-curricular and co-curricular activities at the high school and the middle school?”
If fees were implemented, participating high school students would pay $100 per year to cover all activities, and middle schoolers would pay $60 per year. There would be a family cap of $200. Activities affected would include all interscholastic sports and school activities that involve a lot of travel, including jazz bands and speech and debate clubs.
The majority of those attending the hearing opposed the fees, and e-mails sent in by people unable to attend were “running two-to-one against” fees, according to Superintendent Tom Forcella.
But the meeting brought renewed focus to Cape’s budget crisis, the worst ever. Cuts in state funding for Cape Elizabeth have resulted in a loss of nearly $450,000 in this year’s general purpose aid to education. Just making up that increase with property taxes would raise the tax rate 61 cents per thousand, hitting a homeowner with property valued at $200,00 with an additional $121 in property taxes.
“It’s the largest cut we’ve ever received from the state,” said Town Manager Michael McGovern.
The question, he said, is with a large number of homes in town without children, how much of the school budget should be passed on to taxpayers.
The School Board is expecting the Town Council to request a budget cut of an unspecified amount, Forcella said. The board is trying to sort out where cuts should be made.
Right now, the overall school budget is up 5.3 percent while the council had asked for a cap of 3 percent. At the meeting’s outset, Forcella, Rowe, board member Kevin Sweeney and Athletic Administrator Keith Weatherbie defended the budget and expressed frustration at state funding levels for education.
“For four years I have sat in January budget meetings and warned this community that we were getting killed by the state,” Sweeney said.
The situation now is so dire, he said, “we don’t know what else to do.”
“We are very near the bottom of our barrel of ideas,” Rowe said. Further cuts would hurt school programs, he said, so the question was “what’s going to be the least negative way” to handle the expected budget reduction.
“If not participation fees, then what?” Rowe asked.
Everything was discussed from raising money to increasing class sizes, and crossed the line into criticism of some town spending on recent projects.
Throughout the meeting, several people attempted a call-to-arms of Cape residents to fight Augusta for more school money.
Residents, concerned about rising property taxes forcing seniors out of town, searched for other ways to cut the budget without charging students fees, which many in the group felt didn’t belong in public education.
Among the suggestions were real - locating some funds from the town side to help the schools, providing fee exemptions for students participating in a small number of activities, and increasing class sizes.
Ken Johnson suggested cigarette companies, saying, “Philip Morris cannot give away the money that they have allocated for extracurricular activities.”
One resident asked what the impact would be on property taxes if the tax rate were used to make up the $50,000 participation fees are expected to raise for the district.
When told it would cost an additional $14 for a home valued at $200,000, she said, “Fourteen dollars a year is too much to ask Cape Elizabeth residents to pay?”
Derek Roy, a student at the high school, said he would not have joined the swim team if a fee had been required, and he thinks other students would also limit their activities to ease their family budgets.
“That closes a lot of doors for kids,” Roy said.
Allon Kahn, president of the high school’s Student Advisory Council, agreed. “Colleges these days almost require a great amount of extracurricular activities,” he said. Because figuring out what you’re good at takes time and a few tries, “it’s not right to close doors to kids that want to try things,” he said.
Town Council Chair Ann Swift-Kayatta appealed for help. “We need to keep the schools excellent in Cape Elizabeth,” she said. But at the same time, she wanted to keep taxes as low as possible. She warned of asking too much of Cape residents who are not parents.
Town Councilor Mary Ann Lynch asked how the board could be talking about cuts if the budget was projected to increase over 5 percent.
Sweeney explained that just by maintaining the current level of programs, without adding anything new, costs were rising, especially in the areas of salary and benefits.
Another resident asked if this would mean parents could spend less money. She had paid more than $200 each year for her kids’sports, in what she called “voluntary participation fees.” Forcella said booster fees would still be extras, and the school fees would offset the operation of the athletic program, rather than funding warm-up suits and training trips.
Sharlan Andrews owns a home in town but often travels with her husband on business. She said each time she returns to town she sees something new. Last year it was the town hall, she said, and this year it was the new police station. But now she hears there is pressure on the school budget. “Somewhere we’re having a budget breakdown in this town,” Andrews said.
Sweeney said it was citizen apathy that led to this problem. “We didn’t do anything,” he said, when the problem became clear several years ago. “Your Town Council and your School Board can’t do this alone. It’s up to you,” he said.
Sweeney admitted Cape can’t cry “poverty” with any kind of credibility, “but does that make it right to take money away from us?” he asked.
He suggested raising this issue with political candidates for statewide and national office. “Write to people who want to be governor,” he said.
High school English teacher Hannah Jones asked the community to be clear about its priorities, such as small classes and strong extracurricular activities, but warned that cuts were looming. “We are going to have to find some money somewhere,” Jones said.
“These are the budget years that really show a town’s commitment to the schools,” she said. “We need to make sure we don’t take (the shortfall) out of the kids’ hides.”
John Delahanty said he wanted to see more state support for Cape schools. “We’re paying a lot into the state, and we don’t get that much back,” he said. He wouldn’t want kids to have to make choices that would cost their parents even more money.
In response to a question about the Cape Elizabeth Education Foundation and its potential role in easing the budget crunch, Forcella said that is not the purpose of the foundation. Instead, he said, the foundation’s money is to cover expenses that are not normally in the operating budget, rather than items cut from the budget in a tight year.
Town Councilor Jack Roberts said he saw two main causes of the crunch. First, he said, “we wouldn’t even be here tonight if the state and federal governments were meeting their obligations.” And second, the lack of a business tax base in Cape means homeowners bear a high burden for school costs.
David Peary, a French teacher at the high school and also a Cape resident, said he would support the fees if only to set an example for the people in town who do not have kids in the school.
“This is the chance to tell the Town Council that parents care enough to pay even more,” he said. If the schools are asking everyone in town to “dig deep,” he said, parents should demonstrate their willingness to dig even deeper.
Cape Elizabeth residents are against participation fees for school activities, but have few new suggestions for ways to cut the school budget this year.
At a School Board public meeting April 8, about 50 Cape residents met in the middle school cafetorium to address the question posed by School Board
member Jim Rowe: “Should the Cape Elizabeth school department consider implementing certain fees for extra-curricular and co-curricular activities at the high school and the middle school?”
If fees were implemented, participating high school students would pay $100 per year to cover all activities, and middle schoolers would pay $60 per year. There would be a family cap of $200. Activities affected would include all interscholastic sports and school activities that involve a lot of travel, including jazz bands and speech and debate clubs.
The majority of those attending the hearing opposed the fees, and e-mails sent in by people unable to attend were “running two-to-one against” fees, according to Superintendent Tom Forcella.
But the meeting brought renewed focus to Cape’s budget crisis, the worst ever. Cuts in state funding for Cape Elizabeth have resulted in a loss of nearly $450,000 in this year’s general purpose aid to education. Just making up that increase with property taxes would raise the tax rate 61 cents per thousand, hitting a homeowner with property valued at $200,00 with an additional $121 in property taxes.
“It’s the largest cut we’ve ever received from the state,” said Town Manager Michael McGovern.
The question, he said, is with a large number of homes in town without children, how much of the school budget should be passed on to taxpayers.
The School Board is expecting the Town Council to request a budget cut of an unspecified amount, Forcella said. The board is trying to sort out where cuts should be made.
Right now, the overall school budget is up 5.3 percent while the council had asked for a cap of 3 percent. At the meeting’s outset, Forcella, Rowe, board member Kevin Sweeney and Athletic Administrator Keith Weatherbie defended the budget and expressed frustration at state funding levels for education.
“For four years I have sat in January budget meetings and warned this community that we were getting killed by the state,” Sweeney said.
The situation now is so dire, he said, “we don’t know what else to do.”
“We are very near the bottom of our barrel of ideas,” Rowe said. Further cuts would hurt school programs, he said, so the question was “what’s going to be the least negative way” to handle the expected budget reduction.
“If not participation fees, then what?” Rowe asked.
Everything was discussed from raising money to increasing class sizes, and crossed the line into criticism of some town spending on recent projects.
Throughout the meeting, several people attempted a call-to-arms of Cape residents to fight Augusta for more school money.
Residents, concerned about rising property taxes forcing seniors out of town, searched for other ways to cut the budget without charging students fees, which many in the group felt didn’t belong in public education.
Among the suggestions were real - locating some funds from the town side to help the schools, providing fee exemptions for students participating in a small number of activities, and increasing class sizes.
Ken Johnson suggested cigarette companies, saying, “Philip Morris cannot give away the money that they have allocated for extracurricular activities.”
One resident asked what the impact would be on property taxes if the tax rate were used to make up the $50,000 participation fees are expected to raise for the district.
When told it would cost an additional $14 for a home valued at $200,000, she said, “Fourteen dollars a year is too much to ask Cape Elizabeth residents to pay?”
Derek Roy, a student at the high school, said he would not have joined the swim team if a fee had been required, and he thinks other students would also limit their activities to ease their family budgets.
“That closes a lot of doors for kids,” Roy said.
Allon Kahn, president of the high school’s Student Advisory Council, agreed. “Colleges these days almost require a great amount of extracurricular activities,” he said. Because figuring out what you’re good at takes time and a few tries, “it’s not right to close doors to kids that want to try things,” he said.
Town Council Chair Ann Swift-Kayatta appealed for help. “We need to keep the schools excellent in Cape Elizabeth,” she said. But at the same time, she wanted to keep taxes as low as possible. She warned of asking too much of Cape residents who are not parents.
Town Councilor Mary Ann Lynch asked how the board could be talking about cuts if the budget was projected to increase over 5 percent.
Sweeney explained that just by maintaining the current level of programs, without adding anything new, costs were rising, especially in the areas of salary and benefits.
Another resident asked if this would mean parents could spend less money. She had paid more than $200 each year for her kids’sports, in what she called “voluntary participation fees.” Forcella said booster fees would still be extras, and the school fees would offset the operation of the athletic program, rather than funding warm-up suits and training trips.
Sharlan Andrews owns a home in town but often travels with her husband on business. She said each time she returns to town she sees something new. Last year it was the town hall, she said, and this year it was the new police station. But now she hears there is pressure on the school budget. “Somewhere we’re having a budget breakdown in this town,” Andrews said.
Sweeney said it was citizen apathy that led to this problem. “We didn’t do anything,” he said, when the problem became clear several years ago. “Your Town Council and your School Board can’t do this alone. It’s up to you,” he said.
Sweeney admitted Cape can’t cry “poverty” with any kind of credibility, “but does that make it right to take money away from us?” he asked.
He suggested raising this issue with political candidates for statewide and national office. “Write to people who want to be governor,” he said.
High school English teacher Hannah Jones asked the community to be clear about its priorities, such as small classes and strong extracurricular activities, but warned that cuts were looming. “We are going to have to find some money somewhere,” Jones said.
“These are the budget years that really show a town’s commitment to the schools,” she said. “We need to make sure we don’t take (the shortfall) out of the kids’ hides.”
John Delahanty said he wanted to see more state support for Cape schools. “We’re paying a lot into the state, and we don’t get that much back,” he said. He wouldn’t want kids to have to make choices that would cost their parents even more money.
In response to a question about the Cape Elizabeth Education Foundation and its potential role in easing the budget crunch, Forcella said that is not the purpose of the foundation. Instead, he said, the foundation’s money is to cover expenses that are not normally in the operating budget, rather than items cut from the budget in a tight year.
Town Councilor Jack Roberts said he saw two main causes of the crunch. First, he said, “we wouldn’t even be here tonight if the state and federal governments were meeting their obligations.” And second, the lack of a business tax base in Cape means homeowners bear a high burden for school costs.
David Peary, a French teacher at the high school and also a Cape resident, said he would support the fees if only to set an example for the people in town who do not have kids in the school.
“This is the chance to tell the Town Council that parents care enough to pay even more,” he said. If the schools are asking everyone in town to “dig deep,” he said, parents should demonstrate their willingness to dig even deeper.
Scarborough YMCA moves forward
Published in the Current
Cumberland County YMCA officials have agreed that plans for a YMCA in Scarborough should move ahead, though a location and the services to be offered have yet to be decided.
In a meeting with Town Councilor Mark Maroon and YMCA supporters and residents, Steve Ives and Gary O’Donnell, representatives of the YMCA national organization, released the results of a survey of Scarborough community members.
“The report is highly satisfactory,” said Dave Thompson, executive director of the Cumberland County YMCA, which would be the parent organization of a Scarborough Y.
The report indicates that not only is Scarborough in need of Y-type services, such as a pool, senior activities and children’s programs, but that the money-raising potential to support a Y is in place, Thompson said.
But he noted that the process is still in the very early stages.
“We’re not anywhere near saying where it’s going to be or what it’s going to look like,” Thompson said.
The next step will be for volunteers and Y board members, including Thompson, to come up with a timetable for the process.
“We’re going to take baby steps in it so we do it well,” he said.
Initially, some community programs will begin in the near future, at the same time as initial fund-raising efforts are made to raise the $250,000 needed to launch a major capital campaign.
Such a campaign would provide the money needed to build a Y, and could take three or four years to complete. Thompson is optimistic about the potential success of such an effort. “If the community wants (a Y), they’re going to be out in force to get it,” he said.
Part of that effort will be approaching people in town who could make major contributions to the effort. But he said the campaign would not include just the town of Scarborough. “The Y doesn’t belong to any municipality,” Thompson said.
Town Manager Ron Owens said, “it’s no surprise that there is enough interest and support here for a YMCA.”
“The critical next step is the need to raise the $250,000 to just get things underway. We’re just in the initial phases now, but I think that the town would be happy to provide the land,” Owens added.
“It will be up to the Y to do all the hiring and the staffing and the fundraising, including any use of corporate sponsors,” Owens said.
“I believe the Y could be the core for future programs whether for the youth, the seniors or the middle-aged. The town would definitely be interested in creating a partnership with the Y where we would try to meet most of the needs of those in town. My understanding is that the Y would offer exercise spaces, community meeting rooms, programming and of course the pool,” Owens said.
“Having a Y here would just be another thing that would keep the town an attractive place. We offer a lot here and the Y would add to that feeling that Scarborough is a good place to locate your business or your family,” he added.
Mark Maroon, a town councilor who made clear he is involved with the Y project as a citizen of Scarborough, and not as a councilor, said he was pleased to hear support not only for a Y but also for existing community services. “Most people believe that there could be a comfortable meshing between the two,” he said.
Maroon said he is opposed to spending town dollars on the Y project, preferring to let funds be raised from private contributions. He said it remained unclear how the town might contribute to the Y effort.
He added that people wanting to participate in the planning process should get in touch with him or Gary O’Donnell to express interest.
Cumberland County YMCA officials have agreed that plans for a YMCA in Scarborough should move ahead, though a location and the services to be offered have yet to be decided.
In a meeting with Town Councilor Mark Maroon and YMCA supporters and residents, Steve Ives and Gary O’Donnell, representatives of the YMCA national organization, released the results of a survey of Scarborough community members.
“The report is highly satisfactory,” said Dave Thompson, executive director of the Cumberland County YMCA, which would be the parent organization of a Scarborough Y.
The report indicates that not only is Scarborough in need of Y-type services, such as a pool, senior activities and children’s programs, but that the money-raising potential to support a Y is in place, Thompson said.
But he noted that the process is still in the very early stages.
“We’re not anywhere near saying where it’s going to be or what it’s going to look like,” Thompson said.
The next step will be for volunteers and Y board members, including Thompson, to come up with a timetable for the process.
“We’re going to take baby steps in it so we do it well,” he said.
Initially, some community programs will begin in the near future, at the same time as initial fund-raising efforts are made to raise the $250,000 needed to launch a major capital campaign.
Such a campaign would provide the money needed to build a Y, and could take three or four years to complete. Thompson is optimistic about the potential success of such an effort. “If the community wants (a Y), they’re going to be out in force to get it,” he said.
Part of that effort will be approaching people in town who could make major contributions to the effort. But he said the campaign would not include just the town of Scarborough. “The Y doesn’t belong to any municipality,” Thompson said.
Town Manager Ron Owens said, “it’s no surprise that there is enough interest and support here for a YMCA.”
“The critical next step is the need to raise the $250,000 to just get things underway. We’re just in the initial phases now, but I think that the town would be happy to provide the land,” Owens added.
“It will be up to the Y to do all the hiring and the staffing and the fundraising, including any use of corporate sponsors,” Owens said.
“I believe the Y could be the core for future programs whether for the youth, the seniors or the middle-aged. The town would definitely be interested in creating a partnership with the Y where we would try to meet most of the needs of those in town. My understanding is that the Y would offer exercise spaces, community meeting rooms, programming and of course the pool,” Owens said.
“Having a Y here would just be another thing that would keep the town an attractive place. We offer a lot here and the Y would add to that feeling that Scarborough is a good place to locate your business or your family,” he added.
Mark Maroon, a town councilor who made clear he is involved with the Y project as a citizen of Scarborough, and not as a councilor, said he was pleased to hear support not only for a Y but also for existing community services. “Most people believe that there could be a comfortable meshing between the two,” he said.
Maroon said he is opposed to spending town dollars on the Y project, preferring to let funds be raised from private contributions. He said it remained unclear how the town might contribute to the Y effort.
He added that people wanting to participate in the planning process should get in touch with him or Gary O’Donnell to express interest.
Thursday, April 4, 2002
Cape teacher up for top honors
Published in the Current
Kelly Hasson teaches first grade at Cape Elizabeth’s Pond Cove School, and the staff has recognized her for her work by nominating her for the Maine Teacher of the Year award. But she’s not getting a big head about it.
The 18-year veteran of Cape schools said, “I think of this honor as representing everyone here.” She added, “My colleagues are amazing.”
She is now one of 10 regional finalists, who will be narrowed down to four before the award is presented in a surprise ceremony in September.
“Teacher recognition is difficult,” said Tom Eismeier, the school’s principal. It’s hard to make sure all the people who do great work get noticed, he said. But the school’s teachers, at the request of several parents, nominated Hasson, the first such nomination from Pond Cove in recent memory.
“It means a lot more coming from parents and colleagues,” Hasson said.
At a recognition ceremony March 14 in the Hall of Flags in the Maine Statehouse, Hasson got to meet the other 22 nominees for the award. She also got to talk to legislators, and received a certificate from Gov. Angus King and state Education Commissioner Duke Albanese.
The wide range of students of each of the teachers didn’t seem to matter much, Hasson said. “There is a common thread to help children learn,” she said.
Hasson credits other teachers and the district’s administrators for their help in her work, including efforts for teacher professional development.
“There’s just an incredible amount of support for that,” Hasson said.
But she has had to work to get this far. She had to write essays on several aspects of education, taking time to reflect on what she does and why, she said.
“I had to really think about what I represent,” she said.
Colleagues, parents, and even a former student, now in third grade, wrote recommendations.
“The whole process has been really uplifting,” Hasson said.
She loves teaching first grade. “There’s so much growth that happens,” she said.
The big issue, she said, is literacy. “Reading and writing is integral to all aspects of learning,” Hasson said.
But larger than that, she said, is “my mission to instill a love of learning at a very early age. I believe everyone can learn.”
And she’s learning how much Cape values her, too. “I’ve been so touched by the support,” Hasson said.
Kelly Hasson teaches first grade at Cape Elizabeth’s Pond Cove School, and the staff has recognized her for her work by nominating her for the Maine Teacher of the Year award. But she’s not getting a big head about it.
The 18-year veteran of Cape schools said, “I think of this honor as representing everyone here.” She added, “My colleagues are amazing.”
She is now one of 10 regional finalists, who will be narrowed down to four before the award is presented in a surprise ceremony in September.
“Teacher recognition is difficult,” said Tom Eismeier, the school’s principal. It’s hard to make sure all the people who do great work get noticed, he said. But the school’s teachers, at the request of several parents, nominated Hasson, the first such nomination from Pond Cove in recent memory.
“It means a lot more coming from parents and colleagues,” Hasson said.
At a recognition ceremony March 14 in the Hall of Flags in the Maine Statehouse, Hasson got to meet the other 22 nominees for the award. She also got to talk to legislators, and received a certificate from Gov. Angus King and state Education Commissioner Duke Albanese.
The wide range of students of each of the teachers didn’t seem to matter much, Hasson said. “There is a common thread to help children learn,” she said.
Hasson credits other teachers and the district’s administrators for their help in her work, including efforts for teacher professional development.
“There’s just an incredible amount of support for that,” Hasson said.
But she has had to work to get this far. She had to write essays on several aspects of education, taking time to reflect on what she does and why, she said.
“I had to really think about what I represent,” she said.
Colleagues, parents, and even a former student, now in third grade, wrote recommendations.
“The whole process has been really uplifting,” Hasson said.
She loves teaching first grade. “There’s so much growth that happens,” she said.
The big issue, she said, is literacy. “Reading and writing is integral to all aspects of learning,” Hasson said.
But larger than that, she said, is “my mission to instill a love of learning at a very early age. I believe everyone can learn.”
And she’s learning how much Cape values her, too. “I’ve been so touched by the support,” Hasson said.
Injured owl released in Cape
Published in the Current
A barred owl, blinded in one eye after being hit by a car Feb. 17, was released into the wild in Cape Elizabeth March. 28 by a volunteer from the Center for Wildlife in Cape Neddick.
Also present at the release were Kathy Hewins and Laurie Littlejohn, who were the driver and passenger, respectively, in the car that hit the owl. The bird was released near where the accident occurred, as Hewins, Littlejohn and others cheered.
When the owl was hit, Hewins stopped the car and Littlejohn was able to pick up the owl and cradle it in her arms while Hewins drove home, where they called the Center for Wildlife.
That evening, the two drove the bird to the Scarborough home of center volunteer, Nancy Robinson. The following morning, Robinson took the owl to the center, where it stayed until the day of its release.
The bird was blinded in its left eye in the accident, but its other eye, also injured, healed fully, Robinson said.
When released, the bird flew out of Robinson’s arms and up into a nearby tree, where it stayed for a few minutes before flying a bit farther into a stand of trees. Over the next several minutes, the owl flew deeper into the trees and out of view of the road.
Owls hit by cars are not uncommon in Cape, Robinson said, and their territorial nature means they have a good chance of survival, if they are released in their home area, she said.
A barred owl, blinded in one eye after being hit by a car Feb. 17, was released into the wild in Cape Elizabeth March. 28 by a volunteer from the Center for Wildlife in Cape Neddick.
Also present at the release were Kathy Hewins and Laurie Littlejohn, who were the driver and passenger, respectively, in the car that hit the owl. The bird was released near where the accident occurred, as Hewins, Littlejohn and others cheered.
When the owl was hit, Hewins stopped the car and Littlejohn was able to pick up the owl and cradle it in her arms while Hewins drove home, where they called the Center for Wildlife.
That evening, the two drove the bird to the Scarborough home of center volunteer, Nancy Robinson. The following morning, Robinson took the owl to the center, where it stayed until the day of its release.
The bird was blinded in its left eye in the accident, but its other eye, also injured, healed fully, Robinson said.
When released, the bird flew out of Robinson’s arms and up into a nearby tree, where it stayed for a few minutes before flying a bit farther into a stand of trees. Over the next several minutes, the owl flew deeper into the trees and out of view of the road.
Owls hit by cars are not uncommon in Cape, Robinson said, and their territorial nature means they have a good chance of survival, if they are released in their home area, she said.
Final Mile prepares to double staff
Published in Interface Tech News
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. ‹ Final Mile Communications has relocated its headquarters from Newington, N.H. to the Pease Tradeport.
As a result of the new location's increased space, additional services, and simplified logistics, the company expects to double its staff this year, beginning in April.
A new network operations center (NOC) to be constructed at Pease should be operational in late summer 2002, according to company spokesman Frank Budelman.
The search for the space began in late 2001, and has only now concluded with the departure of another company from Pease. The location is good for the company's communications and travel needs, Budelman said, providing easier access to highways for service technicians and other transportation infrastructure for shipping and receiving.
Final Mile spun out of Cabletron in the fall of 1999 and serves schools, colleges, hospitals, law firms, and other clients with high-capacity data networks, by providing wiring, collocation, and network maintenance.
When the NOC is completed, Budelman said, the company should be able to offer more services to more clients, with increased efficiency. "We'll be able to do everything to the desktop," he added.
Increased IT services are the next target for Final Mile, as well as expanding the company's client base. Budelman said the privately held company's position is solid, with around $10 million in annual revenue.
"We're in business and we don't plan to go out of business," he said. Staffing increases, he said, would be incremental based on the size of projects in the works.
Reports from the Aberdeen Group released in 2001 indicate not only that IT spending will climb by about 10 percent annually through 2005, but that field service support will be increasingly important to companies, whether they outsource or provide in-house services.
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. ‹ Final Mile Communications has relocated its headquarters from Newington, N.H. to the Pease Tradeport.
As a result of the new location's increased space, additional services, and simplified logistics, the company expects to double its staff this year, beginning in April.
A new network operations center (NOC) to be constructed at Pease should be operational in late summer 2002, according to company spokesman Frank Budelman.
The search for the space began in late 2001, and has only now concluded with the departure of another company from Pease. The location is good for the company's communications and travel needs, Budelman said, providing easier access to highways for service technicians and other transportation infrastructure for shipping and receiving.
Final Mile spun out of Cabletron in the fall of 1999 and serves schools, colleges, hospitals, law firms, and other clients with high-capacity data networks, by providing wiring, collocation, and network maintenance.
When the NOC is completed, Budelman said, the company should be able to offer more services to more clients, with increased efficiency. "We'll be able to do everything to the desktop," he added.
Increased IT services are the next target for Final Mile, as well as expanding the company's client base. Budelman said the privately held company's position is solid, with around $10 million in annual revenue.
"We're in business and we don't plan to go out of business," he said. Staffing increases, he said, would be incremental based on the size of projects in the works.
Reports from the Aberdeen Group released in 2001 indicate not only that IT spending will climb by about 10 percent annually through 2005, but that field service support will be increasingly important to companies, whether they outsource or provide in-house services.
Friday, March 29, 2002
Innovation and adaptation keep Mac strong
Published in ComputorEdge
Five years ago, in early 1997, things were looking really bad for Apple and for Macintosh computers. That year, the company lost hundreds of milllions of dollars and Apple nay-sayers everywhere saw a company in its death throes. People I encountered in my daily life as a techie always asked me when Apple would go under.
What I tried to show them was a company that had already taken a major step along the road to its recovery. While 1997 wasn’t a year any Mac friend wants to repeat, it was the “getting worse before it gets better” part of a comeback story. For those who, like me, had done tech support for Macs since the early 1990s, there was a bit of faith and a lot of hope.
We only had to wait a year for something to point to. In 1998, the iMac was the best-selling computer in the world for four months, helping the company post four profitable quarters for the first time ever.
In an industry where corporate turnarounds had previously taken years, even decades, Apple moved quickly and decisively. The company retreated from an overextended development and marketing position, back to its core product line, and further solidified its technology. Then Apple took the battle to the PCs, offering for actual purchase processor speeds and device communications the Wintel world had been promising for years.
In1997, Apple enthusiasts saw several major housecleaning steps that paved the way for the company’s return. The new G3 chip was the catalyst. It startled everyone—including Apple—with its speed superiority over the Pentium II and Pentium MMX chips, released earlier that year.
Mac loyalists were thrilled. No longer were Mac-vs.-PC discussions limited to interface. We could brag that Mac processors handily outdid Pentium-series chips in computing speed tests, even as clock speeds remained very close.
And then Apple leveraged U.S. Justice Department action against Microsoft, scoring $150 million from Bill Gates to make sure Apple didn’t fail and leave Microsoft as an undisputed monopoly. Also part of the deal was a guarantee that Microsoft Office would be available for the Mac, ensuring easier file exchange between platforms.
Further simplification was in the air at Apple. In early 1998, the company cut its product lines, reducing the confusing array of printers, monitors and CPUs to a reasonable level. That move eliminated long explanations to budgetary bean-counters (all using PCs) when you were trying to outfit a lab.
With the release of the iMac in mid-1998, Apple again stepped far ahead of its Wintel competition with a three-prong, one-box attack. The iMac left behind the slow, low-capacity floppy-disk drive. It added Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectivity, with true plug-and-play, features PC makers had been talking about for years.
And the iMac declared the maturity of the computer as a product, by changing its color. Before a product reaches maturity, what it is matters far more than its appearance. But when iMacs were unveiled, with a new form factor and bright colors, computers became items to display in a home, rather than conceal in a drawer or under a desk. Buying peripherals was no longer just a question of finding the right speed for a CD writer. Now you had to match it to your computer, and even your curtains.
Apple’s 15th anniversary year, 1999, kept the upswing going, with the new PowerMac G3 desktop bringing internal design elegance into line with the sleekness of the exterior. The PowerMac G4 and September’s iBook launch made sure the world knew the Mac was growing and changing at the speed of its competition.
Apple also remained true to its art and media loyalists. With FireWire on the desktop, consumers had access to digital moviemaking. New software, iTunes, iPhoto, and iMovie, and now iDVD, made manipulating digital media simple for the first time ever. But these offerings were also becoming more desirable for basic-level consumers, who suddenly had MP3 files and digital still and video cameras to play with. No PC let folks do their own video editing, or make sound-synchronized slide shows as easily as a middle-schooler could do it on a Mac.
And the company kept moving. In 2001, MacOS X finally came out, promising increased stability and the possibility for the MacOS to run on Intel architecture. Mac folks liked the idea that Apple was again expanding its appeal to wider audiences, using existing standards. As wireless networking took off, Airport led the way, allowing schools and small businesses to save money on cabling.
The company has continued to innovate, making everyone curious with its new iMac design, a small dome and 15-inch flat-panel monitor on a movable arm. The reviews are good, indicating that an 800 MHz G4 processor and 40-gig hard drive with a CD burner, 128 megs of RAM and three USB and two FireWire ports just might be good enough for the next little while.
What next? Only Apple knows, and if the pattern continues, they’ll even surprise themselves.
Jeff Inglis is a Mac user and freelance journalist who runs a Microsoft-free computer. He has worked around the U.S., New Zealand and Antarctica. He is now based in Portland, Maine, where he works and hangs out with friendly people and dogs.
Five years ago, in early 1997, things were looking really bad for Apple and for Macintosh computers. That year, the company lost hundreds of milllions of dollars and Apple nay-sayers everywhere saw a company in its death throes. People I encountered in my daily life as a techie always asked me when Apple would go under.
What I tried to show them was a company that had already taken a major step along the road to its recovery. While 1997 wasn’t a year any Mac friend wants to repeat, it was the “getting worse before it gets better” part of a comeback story. For those who, like me, had done tech support for Macs since the early 1990s, there was a bit of faith and a lot of hope.
We only had to wait a year for something to point to. In 1998, the iMac was the best-selling computer in the world for four months, helping the company post four profitable quarters for the first time ever.
In an industry where corporate turnarounds had previously taken years, even decades, Apple moved quickly and decisively. The company retreated from an overextended development and marketing position, back to its core product line, and further solidified its technology. Then Apple took the battle to the PCs, offering for actual purchase processor speeds and device communications the Wintel world had been promising for years.
In1997, Apple enthusiasts saw several major housecleaning steps that paved the way for the company’s return. The new G3 chip was the catalyst. It startled everyone—including Apple—with its speed superiority over the Pentium II and Pentium MMX chips, released earlier that year.
Mac loyalists were thrilled. No longer were Mac-vs.-PC discussions limited to interface. We could brag that Mac processors handily outdid Pentium-series chips in computing speed tests, even as clock speeds remained very close.
And then Apple leveraged U.S. Justice Department action against Microsoft, scoring $150 million from Bill Gates to make sure Apple didn’t fail and leave Microsoft as an undisputed monopoly. Also part of the deal was a guarantee that Microsoft Office would be available for the Mac, ensuring easier file exchange between platforms.
Further simplification was in the air at Apple. In early 1998, the company cut its product lines, reducing the confusing array of printers, monitors and CPUs to a reasonable level. That move eliminated long explanations to budgetary bean-counters (all using PCs) when you were trying to outfit a lab.
With the release of the iMac in mid-1998, Apple again stepped far ahead of its Wintel competition with a three-prong, one-box attack. The iMac left behind the slow, low-capacity floppy-disk drive. It added Universal Serial Bus (USB) connectivity, with true plug-and-play, features PC makers had been talking about for years.
And the iMac declared the maturity of the computer as a product, by changing its color. Before a product reaches maturity, what it is matters far more than its appearance. But when iMacs were unveiled, with a new form factor and bright colors, computers became items to display in a home, rather than conceal in a drawer or under a desk. Buying peripherals was no longer just a question of finding the right speed for a CD writer. Now you had to match it to your computer, and even your curtains.
Apple’s 15th anniversary year, 1999, kept the upswing going, with the new PowerMac G3 desktop bringing internal design elegance into line with the sleekness of the exterior. The PowerMac G4 and September’s iBook launch made sure the world knew the Mac was growing and changing at the speed of its competition.
Apple also remained true to its art and media loyalists. With FireWire on the desktop, consumers had access to digital moviemaking. New software, iTunes, iPhoto, and iMovie, and now iDVD, made manipulating digital media simple for the first time ever. But these offerings were also becoming more desirable for basic-level consumers, who suddenly had MP3 files and digital still and video cameras to play with. No PC let folks do their own video editing, or make sound-synchronized slide shows as easily as a middle-schooler could do it on a Mac.
And the company kept moving. In 2001, MacOS X finally came out, promising increased stability and the possibility for the MacOS to run on Intel architecture. Mac folks liked the idea that Apple was again expanding its appeal to wider audiences, using existing standards. As wireless networking took off, Airport led the way, allowing schools and small businesses to save money on cabling.
The company has continued to innovate, making everyone curious with its new iMac design, a small dome and 15-inch flat-panel monitor on a movable arm. The reviews are good, indicating that an 800 MHz G4 processor and 40-gig hard drive with a CD burner, 128 megs of RAM and three USB and two FireWire ports just might be good enough for the next little while.
What next? Only Apple knows, and if the pattern continues, they’ll even surprise themselves.
Jeff Inglis is a Mac user and freelance journalist who runs a Microsoft-free computer. He has worked around the U.S., New Zealand and Antarctica. He is now based in Portland, Maine, where he works and hangs out with friendly people and dogs.
Thursday, March 28, 2002
Cape high realigns the science curriculum
Published in the Current
Starting next year, the high school science curriculum will change completely, reversing the traditional order of teaching earth science first to the youngest students, then biology, chemistry and physics, to a new order said by school officials to be more logical and better suited to the Maine Learning Results.
Next year’s ninth graders will take physics. The class also will include earth science material related to physics, such as plate tectonics. In tenth grade the students will take chemistry, with relevant earth, environmental and space science material integrated. And in their junior year, students will take biology, also including relevant concepts from earth science.
In their senior year, students will have a choice of science electives, including advanced physics and chemistry, geosciences, environmental science, marine biology and genetics.
The new structure solves several problems the high school’s science department has been wrestling with, and also provides more opportunities for seniors to take electives.
A major philosophical issue is that physics is often seen as the basis for all sciences, with chemistry dealing with the physics of interactions of various substances, and biology the chemistry of life. The three then are combined in various ways to address earth, environmental and space sciences.
“The current sequence puts the conceptual cart before the horse,” high school Principal Jeff Shedd told a School Board workshop Tuesday.
The science department, he said, now finds that earth science teachers have to introduce physics to explain some concepts, while biology teachers introduce chemistry. The new program will remove that reversal, Shedd said.
The Maine Learning Results, he said, have a physical science component students cannot pass without studying physics. At present, about three-quarters of the high school students take physics, Shedd said.
Also, based on what he hears from the school’s guidance department, “colleges like to see physics on a transcript,” Shedd said.
One concern Shedd said had been voiced by several teachers and parents was the math-intensive nature of physics. But, he said, about 300 schools around the country, including some of the country’s top science and technology schools, have been teaching science in this order with good success.
Science teacher Michael Efron said the planned curriculum will allow him and his colleagues to teach physics with no math, some math, or a lot of math, depending on the ability of the students and the plan for the course. He gave the board a demonstration of how he could introduce the concept of acceleration of a ball on an incline without using any math at all.
Efron said this also will help reinforce concepts students learn in math class. Shedd also said the physics class would reach more students more easily, with an emphasis on visual and hands-on learning.
Shedd said parents of current eighth-graders were asked to comment on the change in February and were receptive to it.
Also coming down the pike may be increasing the science requirement at the high school, from two classes to three. About 95 percent of students already take three science courses, Shedd said, so staffing would not be significantly impacted.
He said he would ask the School Board to discuss increasing the graduation requirement at some point in the future.
Starting next year, the high school science curriculum will change completely, reversing the traditional order of teaching earth science first to the youngest students, then biology, chemistry and physics, to a new order said by school officials to be more logical and better suited to the Maine Learning Results.
Next year’s ninth graders will take physics. The class also will include earth science material related to physics, such as plate tectonics. In tenth grade the students will take chemistry, with relevant earth, environmental and space science material integrated. And in their junior year, students will take biology, also including relevant concepts from earth science.
In their senior year, students will have a choice of science electives, including advanced physics and chemistry, geosciences, environmental science, marine biology and genetics.
The new structure solves several problems the high school’s science department has been wrestling with, and also provides more opportunities for seniors to take electives.
A major philosophical issue is that physics is often seen as the basis for all sciences, with chemistry dealing with the physics of interactions of various substances, and biology the chemistry of life. The three then are combined in various ways to address earth, environmental and space sciences.
“The current sequence puts the conceptual cart before the horse,” high school Principal Jeff Shedd told a School Board workshop Tuesday.
The science department, he said, now finds that earth science teachers have to introduce physics to explain some concepts, while biology teachers introduce chemistry. The new program will remove that reversal, Shedd said.
The Maine Learning Results, he said, have a physical science component students cannot pass without studying physics. At present, about three-quarters of the high school students take physics, Shedd said.
Also, based on what he hears from the school’s guidance department, “colleges like to see physics on a transcript,” Shedd said.
One concern Shedd said had been voiced by several teachers and parents was the math-intensive nature of physics. But, he said, about 300 schools around the country, including some of the country’s top science and technology schools, have been teaching science in this order with good success.
Science teacher Michael Efron said the planned curriculum will allow him and his colleagues to teach physics with no math, some math, or a lot of math, depending on the ability of the students and the plan for the course. He gave the board a demonstration of how he could introduce the concept of acceleration of a ball on an incline without using any math at all.
Efron said this also will help reinforce concepts students learn in math class. Shedd also said the physics class would reach more students more easily, with an emphasis on visual and hands-on learning.
Shedd said parents of current eighth-graders were asked to comment on the change in February and were receptive to it.
Also coming down the pike may be increasing the science requirement at the high school, from two classes to three. About 95 percent of students already take three science courses, Shedd said, so staffing would not be significantly impacted.
He said he would ask the School Board to discuss increasing the graduation requirement at some point in the future.
It’s play time again at Cape Middle School
Published in the Current
The Cape Elizabeth Middle School Drama Club will be putting on the musical, “Peter Pan,” this year, with a cast of 125 middleschoolers.
The show will be up April 5, 6 and 7 at the middle school cafetorium.
It’s the sixth musical and the seventh production the club has put on in as many years. It began when the middle school renovations were finished in the mid-1990s, putting in performance space along with the cafeteria. Before that, there was a stage at one end of the gym, but that was less than ideal, said teacher and Drama Club advisor, Stephen Price.
At that time, kids said they wanted to get involved in dramatic productions, even though there was not much equipment in the school – not even a curtain over the stage or a good lighting setup, Price said.
Price grew up around the theater, and did set work in college. He now works with the local stagehands union, working backstage at events at Merrill Auditorium and the Cumberland County Civic Center. And he’s an eighth grade science and math teacher.
Things have worked out well at the middle school, with a lot of help from parents and town residents.
“The wonderful thing about this community is the support for the arts,” Price said.
After the first year’s success with a small show adapting some of the stories of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table, Price was approached by student musicians who offered to play their instruments if the next performance was a musical.
“This was kid-generated,” Price said. The middle school’s principle of inclusiveness applied to the Drama Club as well: if you want to be a part of it, you can be.
This year there are 40 Indians and 30 “lost boys,” groups normally much smaller on stage but expanded to involve everyone who wanted to perform.
Parents volunteer to help supervise rehearsals, which are done in smaller groups to minimize disruption.
Teachers also get involved, helping with everything from printing programs and posters to rehearsing the musicians.
Several parents also have come in to help sew costumes, and equipment for the production is borrowed from local companies and schools, Price said.
“It’s got a community element that goes beyond the school,” he said. And the school budget has found room for the middle school play as well. Last year they bought a $35,000 lighting system. In the past, purchases have ranged from a curtain for the show to a large ladder to use while rigging sets.
Price also is getting a hand in his classroom. Last year was the first year the school’s principal, Nancy Hutton, hired a substitute teacher for two weeks to allow Price time to work on the show and clean up afterward.
This year, instead of a sub, three local parents will step in to fill Price’s shoes. Two medical doctors, Hector Terrazza and Robert Winchell, and Bob Harrison, a chemical engineer. It means Price won’t have to stay at the school all night working on the play after a full day in the classroom.
But neither can he take his students down to the cafetorium to help him out, while they work math problems dividing pieces of plywood into the right shapes for the set.
“I don’t get a chance to teach using the play anymore,” Price said.
The performance takes commitment from the students, too, and includes people in all the grades at the middle school. They sign up in December, audition in January and then start rehearsal in February.
“They’re kids who really care about doing this,” Price said. Including the cast, crew and musicians, the performance involves about one-quarter of the school’s population, Price said. Its pervasiveness is catching. Price said he sometimes hears kids walking down the hall singing songs from the play, and then realizes those kids aren’t even in the show—they’ve heard it from their friends.
He said he considers theater a “lifetime sport,” something the kids can do at any age in any community.
But, he said, the middle school drama efforts put pressure on the high school’s drama program, which has smaller casts. More kids are coming to the high school with acting experience, and are finding they don’t have outlets for that, Price said.
But Price sees in theater a chance for everyone to work together, in areas of their own expertise, from music to set building to sound, lighting and costume design. “It’s the perfect whole-school, whole-community project,” he said.
The Cape Elizabeth Middle School Drama Club will be putting on the musical, “Peter Pan,” this year, with a cast of 125 middleschoolers.
The show will be up April 5, 6 and 7 at the middle school cafetorium.
It’s the sixth musical and the seventh production the club has put on in as many years. It began when the middle school renovations were finished in the mid-1990s, putting in performance space along with the cafeteria. Before that, there was a stage at one end of the gym, but that was less than ideal, said teacher and Drama Club advisor, Stephen Price.
At that time, kids said they wanted to get involved in dramatic productions, even though there was not much equipment in the school – not even a curtain over the stage or a good lighting setup, Price said.
Price grew up around the theater, and did set work in college. He now works with the local stagehands union, working backstage at events at Merrill Auditorium and the Cumberland County Civic Center. And he’s an eighth grade science and math teacher.
Things have worked out well at the middle school, with a lot of help from parents and town residents.
“The wonderful thing about this community is the support for the arts,” Price said.
After the first year’s success with a small show adapting some of the stories of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table, Price was approached by student musicians who offered to play their instruments if the next performance was a musical.
“This was kid-generated,” Price said. The middle school’s principle of inclusiveness applied to the Drama Club as well: if you want to be a part of it, you can be.
This year there are 40 Indians and 30 “lost boys,” groups normally much smaller on stage but expanded to involve everyone who wanted to perform.
Parents volunteer to help supervise rehearsals, which are done in smaller groups to minimize disruption.
Teachers also get involved, helping with everything from printing programs and posters to rehearsing the musicians.
Several parents also have come in to help sew costumes, and equipment for the production is borrowed from local companies and schools, Price said.
“It’s got a community element that goes beyond the school,” he said. And the school budget has found room for the middle school play as well. Last year they bought a $35,000 lighting system. In the past, purchases have ranged from a curtain for the show to a large ladder to use while rigging sets.
Price also is getting a hand in his classroom. Last year was the first year the school’s principal, Nancy Hutton, hired a substitute teacher for two weeks to allow Price time to work on the show and clean up afterward.
This year, instead of a sub, three local parents will step in to fill Price’s shoes. Two medical doctors, Hector Terrazza and Robert Winchell, and Bob Harrison, a chemical engineer. It means Price won’t have to stay at the school all night working on the play after a full day in the classroom.
But neither can he take his students down to the cafetorium to help him out, while they work math problems dividing pieces of plywood into the right shapes for the set.
“I don’t get a chance to teach using the play anymore,” Price said.
The performance takes commitment from the students, too, and includes people in all the grades at the middle school. They sign up in December, audition in January and then start rehearsal in February.
“They’re kids who really care about doing this,” Price said. Including the cast, crew and musicians, the performance involves about one-quarter of the school’s population, Price said. Its pervasiveness is catching. Price said he sometimes hears kids walking down the hall singing songs from the play, and then realizes those kids aren’t even in the show—they’ve heard it from their friends.
He said he considers theater a “lifetime sport,” something the kids can do at any age in any community.
But, he said, the middle school drama efforts put pressure on the high school’s drama program, which has smaller casts. More kids are coming to the high school with acting experience, and are finding they don’t have outlets for that, Price said.
But Price sees in theater a chance for everyone to work together, in areas of their own expertise, from music to set building to sound, lighting and costume design. “It’s the perfect whole-school, whole-community project,” he said.
Cape schools look at possible staff, program cuts
Published in the Current
The Cape Elizabeth School Board has decided to look at cutting at least one teaching job at the middle school, and possible elimination of poorly attended extra-curricular activities, to deal with a state funding shortfall.
Board members expressed their frustration at cuts in state funding at a budget workshop Tuesday night. Board member Jim Rowe said he would vote against the budget in protest of the state’s acts, even though he thinks the expenses in the budget are responsible and should not be cut further. Another suggested town residents should make their voices heard in Augusta.
“The residents of Cape Elizabeth need to get off their fat and happy rear ends,” said board member Kevin Sweeney.
The school district had been looking at a $589,598 reduction in state funds, but $142,000 is expected to be restored by the state, though the figures were not final as of press time.
Superintendent Tom Forcella said there is not much more to cut in the budget. “(Cutting) anything else would have a significant impact,” he said.
He warned of the danger of delaying planned expenses, such as classroom furniture replacements. “At some point we’re going to have to pay,” Forcella
said.
The next step could be staff cuts. The board was reluctant to revise its policy on class sizes, but may reassess staffing needs for classes that are below the
numbers in the policy.
“We have no choice but to have a very conservative budget this year,” said board member Marie Prager, suggesting the district administration look at what impact cutting a teacher at the middle school would have on the classroom experience.
Board Chairman George Entwistle warned, “Class size is not something that you determine when you’re doing a budget,” but said that a stricter adherence to the class size policy could be a way to keep costs down.
Forcella said one fifth-grade teaching position has been questioned since the beginning of the budget process.
Sweeney, who has been requesting a lot of information from Forcella about the possible impact of special education staff cuts, said he does not see room for reductions in that area, especially with what he sees as a lack of professional development support for special education teachers.
“We have not spent a dime of our professional development money on our goal of reaching all students,” Sweeney said.
He also said he was reluctant to cut staff if he didn’t have to. “Given the choice of anything and a teacher, the teacher wins hands down,” Sweeney said.
Board member Susan Steinman asked if there was room to cut the stipends for school staff involved with extra-curricular activities.
Entwistle said the people are paid for the work they do. Forcella said it might be possible to eliminate some activities that have low participation.
Activity fees also were discussed, with the board requesting a public hearing be held on the issue. No hearing date was set.
If introduced, the fees would be there for the long term, rather than a quick funding fix in a tight budget year, Prager said. Most members of the board expressed their philosophical objections to the fees, seeing them as barriers to participation in valuable activities.
“The community is a better community because these programs are available to the kids,” Steinman said.
Rowe raised the issue of fiscal responsibility. “Sometimes you can’t afford to continue things that you have been doing,” he said. He expressed disappointment with the state legislators who represent Cape Elizabeth, for voting for a budget that was projected to significantly cut funding to Cape schools.
“We’re in a mess right now,” Rowe said. He said he would vote against the budget not as a protest against the expense side of the budget but to protest the revenue side, in which state funds were decreased significantly.
Other board members agreed with Rowe that the state funds were unsatisfactory, but didn’t see that voting against the budget would make that statement effectively.
The Cape Elizabeth School Board has decided to look at cutting at least one teaching job at the middle school, and possible elimination of poorly attended extra-curricular activities, to deal with a state funding shortfall.
Board members expressed their frustration at cuts in state funding at a budget workshop Tuesday night. Board member Jim Rowe said he would vote against the budget in protest of the state’s acts, even though he thinks the expenses in the budget are responsible and should not be cut further. Another suggested town residents should make their voices heard in Augusta.
“The residents of Cape Elizabeth need to get off their fat and happy rear ends,” said board member Kevin Sweeney.
The school district had been looking at a $589,598 reduction in state funds, but $142,000 is expected to be restored by the state, though the figures were not final as of press time.
Superintendent Tom Forcella said there is not much more to cut in the budget. “(Cutting) anything else would have a significant impact,” he said.
He warned of the danger of delaying planned expenses, such as classroom furniture replacements. “At some point we’re going to have to pay,” Forcella
said.
The next step could be staff cuts. The board was reluctant to revise its policy on class sizes, but may reassess staffing needs for classes that are below the
numbers in the policy.
“We have no choice but to have a very conservative budget this year,” said board member Marie Prager, suggesting the district administration look at what impact cutting a teacher at the middle school would have on the classroom experience.
Board Chairman George Entwistle warned, “Class size is not something that you determine when you’re doing a budget,” but said that a stricter adherence to the class size policy could be a way to keep costs down.
Forcella said one fifth-grade teaching position has been questioned since the beginning of the budget process.
Sweeney, who has been requesting a lot of information from Forcella about the possible impact of special education staff cuts, said he does not see room for reductions in that area, especially with what he sees as a lack of professional development support for special education teachers.
“We have not spent a dime of our professional development money on our goal of reaching all students,” Sweeney said.
He also said he was reluctant to cut staff if he didn’t have to. “Given the choice of anything and a teacher, the teacher wins hands down,” Sweeney said.
Board member Susan Steinman asked if there was room to cut the stipends for school staff involved with extra-curricular activities.
Entwistle said the people are paid for the work they do. Forcella said it might be possible to eliminate some activities that have low participation.
Activity fees also were discussed, with the board requesting a public hearing be held on the issue. No hearing date was set.
If introduced, the fees would be there for the long term, rather than a quick funding fix in a tight budget year, Prager said. Most members of the board expressed their philosophical objections to the fees, seeing them as barriers to participation in valuable activities.
“The community is a better community because these programs are available to the kids,” Steinman said.
Rowe raised the issue of fiscal responsibility. “Sometimes you can’t afford to continue things that you have been doing,” he said. He expressed disappointment with the state legislators who represent Cape Elizabeth, for voting for a budget that was projected to significantly cut funding to Cape schools.
“We’re in a mess right now,” Rowe said. He said he would vote against the budget not as a protest against the expense side of the budget but to protest the revenue side, in which state funds were decreased significantly.
Other board members agreed with Rowe that the state funds were unsatisfactory, but didn’t see that voting against the budget would make that statement effectively.
Cape speeding tickets add up
Published in the Current
If everyone who has received a traffic ticket in Cape Elizabeth this year pled guilty and paid the fines, the money heading into state coffers would be $5,907.
Of that, Cape residents would pay $3,792, or 64 percent.
The town does not get any of the money from traffic tickets, according to Town Manager Michael McGovern.
The Violations Bureau in Lewiston collects the ticket money, and a spokeswoman there said nearly all of the money collected goes into the state’s general fund.
Two-thirds of Cape’s traffic tickets are for speeding, according to police records. Other summonses are issued for offenses like driving without a current inspection sticker, failure to register a motor vehicle and failure to produce insurance.
Traffic stops occur most often on the town’s major roads, including Route 77, Mitchell Road, Spurwink Avenue, Scott Dyer Road and Shore Road. And the police watch certain areas.
“There’s regular spots that we have problems with continuously,” said Police Chief Neil Williams. “We try to concentrate on residential areas.”
But the fact that there are only so many officers on duty at once means most of the stops happen while they’re just driving around town.
The cars are equipped with moving radar, which means police can check your speed without having to stop their own cars.
“It makes us mobile,” Williams said.
The town has problems with speeding especially during spring and when school starts again, but there are always people driving too fast, Williams said.
Nobody really knows what towns are the toughest on speeders. The Violations Bureau does not compile statistics of which towns send in the most tickets or the largest number of fines. The Maine State Police said they have no idea.
At the Scarborough Police Department, they asked around the office and came up with Saco and Biddeford as tough towns. But the Biddeford Police Chief was surprised to hear it. He did say his patrol cars have front and rear radar that can catch speeders ahead of or behind a police car.
A web site called the Speed Trap Exchange (speedtrap.org) lists user submissions identifying Falmouth, Yarmouth and Oakland, near Waterville, as towns not to speed in.
Most Cape Elizabeth ticket recipients reached by the Current did not want to talk about it. “Why would I do that?” asked one Cape man when he was asked if he would speak about his ticket.
But Jeff Curran of Mitchell Road is a ticket recipient who was willing to talk. He got pulled over for speeding on Route 77 in February. Curran has lived in town all his life and has a landscaping business that takes him all over town with his truck and trailer.
“I almost feel I have the right (to speed), but I know I don’t,” he said. Part of it comes from familiarity with the surroundings.
“Most people that live here know the streets,” Curran said. But he knows people complain on residential roads, where houses are closer to the street.
And part of the urge to speed comes from seeing other drivers. “I know all the cops. I see them going fast too,” Curran said.
But traffic has increased in town, and that means speed limits have to be more strictly enforced. “Now that there’s more traffic, you have to slow the traffic down,” Curran said.
If everyone who has received a traffic ticket in Cape Elizabeth this year pled guilty and paid the fines, the money heading into state coffers would be $5,907.
Of that, Cape residents would pay $3,792, or 64 percent.
The town does not get any of the money from traffic tickets, according to Town Manager Michael McGovern.
The Violations Bureau in Lewiston collects the ticket money, and a spokeswoman there said nearly all of the money collected goes into the state’s general fund.
Two-thirds of Cape’s traffic tickets are for speeding, according to police records. Other summonses are issued for offenses like driving without a current inspection sticker, failure to register a motor vehicle and failure to produce insurance.
Traffic stops occur most often on the town’s major roads, including Route 77, Mitchell Road, Spurwink Avenue, Scott Dyer Road and Shore Road. And the police watch certain areas.
“There’s regular spots that we have problems with continuously,” said Police Chief Neil Williams. “We try to concentrate on residential areas.”
But the fact that there are only so many officers on duty at once means most of the stops happen while they’re just driving around town.
The cars are equipped with moving radar, which means police can check your speed without having to stop their own cars.
“It makes us mobile,” Williams said.
The town has problems with speeding especially during spring and when school starts again, but there are always people driving too fast, Williams said.
Nobody really knows what towns are the toughest on speeders. The Violations Bureau does not compile statistics of which towns send in the most tickets or the largest number of fines. The Maine State Police said they have no idea.
At the Scarborough Police Department, they asked around the office and came up with Saco and Biddeford as tough towns. But the Biddeford Police Chief was surprised to hear it. He did say his patrol cars have front and rear radar that can catch speeders ahead of or behind a police car.
A web site called the Speed Trap Exchange (speedtrap.org) lists user submissions identifying Falmouth, Yarmouth and Oakland, near Waterville, as towns not to speed in.
Most Cape Elizabeth ticket recipients reached by the Current did not want to talk about it. “Why would I do that?” asked one Cape man when he was asked if he would speak about his ticket.
But Jeff Curran of Mitchell Road is a ticket recipient who was willing to talk. He got pulled over for speeding on Route 77 in February. Curran has lived in town all his life and has a landscaping business that takes him all over town with his truck and trailer.
“I almost feel I have the right (to speed), but I know I don’t,” he said. Part of it comes from familiarity with the surroundings.
“Most people that live here know the streets,” Curran said. But he knows people complain on residential roads, where houses are closer to the street.
And part of the urge to speed comes from seeing other drivers. “I know all the cops. I see them going fast too,” Curran said.
But traffic has increased in town, and that means speed limits have to be more strictly enforced. “Now that there’s more traffic, you have to slow the traffic down,” Curran said.
Tuesday, March 26, 2002
N.H. PUC opens copper to ISPs
Published in Interface Tech News
CONCORD, N.H. ‹ Bringing closure to a three-year-old controversy, the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission has ordered Concord-based Verizon New Hampshire to provide so-called "dry copper loops" to the state's Internet Service Providers on a trial basis.
The case arose in 1999 as a result of telephone network congestion that prevented residential phone customers from dialing 911 in an emergency. The cause for the congestion, which appears to no longer be a problem, was believed to be increased use of dial-up Internet connections.
One proposed solution to the congestion was giving ISPs access to copper circuitry already installed throughout the state, over which they could deliver high-speed Internet service off the telephone network.
The state's ISPs are happy about the development, with Brian Susnock, president of the Nashua-based Destek Networking Group, trumpeting "a landmark decision" that is "a major turning point" in the abilities of ISPs to offer high-speed Internet accesss at low prices.
"We're very excited about it," said Jeff Gore, CEO of Londonderry-based FCG Networks. Gore said he expects to participate in the trial as soon as it begins.
The new product will be part of a revision to the Verizon's existing Series 1000 tariff, governing BANA or alarm circuits, which currently cost $32 per month. Susnock said he hopes the dry copper offering will cost less.
CONCORD, N.H. ‹ Bringing closure to a three-year-old controversy, the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission has ordered Concord-based Verizon New Hampshire to provide so-called "dry copper loops" to the state's Internet Service Providers on a trial basis.
The case arose in 1999 as a result of telephone network congestion that prevented residential phone customers from dialing 911 in an emergency. The cause for the congestion, which appears to no longer be a problem, was believed to be increased use of dial-up Internet connections.
One proposed solution to the congestion was giving ISPs access to copper circuitry already installed throughout the state, over which they could deliver high-speed Internet service off the telephone network.
The state's ISPs are happy about the development, with Brian Susnock, president of the Nashua-based Destek Networking Group, trumpeting "a landmark decision" that is "a major turning point" in the abilities of ISPs to offer high-speed Internet accesss at low prices.
"We're very excited about it," said Jeff Gore, CEO of Londonderry-based FCG Networks. Gore said he expects to participate in the trial as soon as it begins.
The new product will be part of a revision to the Verizon's existing Series 1000 tariff, governing BANA or alarm circuits, which currently cost $32 per month. Susnock said he hopes the dry copper offering will cost less.
Monday, March 25, 2002
Cerylion draws investors, eyes customers
Published in Interface Tech News
WOBURN, Mass. ‹ Surpassing its own expectations for second-round fund-raising, Cerylion raised $7.6 million ‹ $2.5 million more than it had projected ‹ from investors supporting its development of what the company calls "personal Web services" for wireless communications networks.
The new funding will be used to increase marketing efforts and continue research and development, according to company CEO Ilan Rozenblat. The company's R&D section is primarily in Israel, where Rozenblat got his start in the technology sector.
The basic thrust of the company's services are connections between specific events and activities. The company's example is that booking a flight could trigger automatic rental-car and hotel reservations and e-mail notes to people at the destination asking for meetings.
Cerylion's major customer prospects are mobile telephone companies, but the company has only one major customer at present, Africana.com, an AOL-TimeWarner subsidiary based in southern Louisiana.
Rozenblat said the company is hoping for an "upsell" to other AOL-TimeWarner companies, and is also targeting Verizon Wireless in the tier-one range of mobile services companies. But most of the prospects, he said, are tier-two, in keeping with the company's philosophy of moving in small steps.
"We are building a sustained business for the long run," Rozenblat said.
The challenge, according to Delphi Group senior analyst Larry Hawes, is two-fold. The space is ill-defined, Hawes said, and may be heading in another technological direction: wireless Web services.
"Web services is quickly becoming more accepted," Hawes said. That makes Cerylion's technology harder to sell, even though Hawes thinks it is actually better at relating objects to each other.
Hawes said the company primarily needs customers, and needs to expand its growth beyond the word-of-mouth means it has relied on so far.
With an early-March launch of a new version of its suite, and with the additional capital injection, the company said it is ready to take on the marketing challenge.
WOBURN, Mass. ‹ Surpassing its own expectations for second-round fund-raising, Cerylion raised $7.6 million ‹ $2.5 million more than it had projected ‹ from investors supporting its development of what the company calls "personal Web services" for wireless communications networks.
The new funding will be used to increase marketing efforts and continue research and development, according to company CEO Ilan Rozenblat. The company's R&D section is primarily in Israel, where Rozenblat got his start in the technology sector.
The basic thrust of the company's services are connections between specific events and activities. The company's example is that booking a flight could trigger automatic rental-car and hotel reservations and e-mail notes to people at the destination asking for meetings.
Cerylion's major customer prospects are mobile telephone companies, but the company has only one major customer at present, Africana.com, an AOL-TimeWarner subsidiary based in southern Louisiana.
Rozenblat said the company is hoping for an "upsell" to other AOL-TimeWarner companies, and is also targeting Verizon Wireless in the tier-one range of mobile services companies. But most of the prospects, he said, are tier-two, in keeping with the company's philosophy of moving in small steps.
"We are building a sustained business for the long run," Rozenblat said.
The challenge, according to Delphi Group senior analyst Larry Hawes, is two-fold. The space is ill-defined, Hawes said, and may be heading in another technological direction: wireless Web services.
"Web services is quickly becoming more accepted," Hawes said. That makes Cerylion's technology harder to sell, even though Hawes thinks it is actually better at relating objects to each other.
Hawes said the company primarily needs customers, and needs to expand its growth beyond the word-of-mouth means it has relied on so far.
With an early-March launch of a new version of its suite, and with the additional capital injection, the company said it is ready to take on the marketing challenge.
Thursday, March 21, 2002
Planning board approves Cape community center
Published in the Current
The Cape Elizabeth Planning Board unanimously approved the plans for the town’s new community center, adding three minor conditions to its approval.
The community center will be in the old Pond Cove Millworks property on Route 77 in the town center.
The site plan, developed by Oest Associates and SMRT, both Portland architecture firms, needs only small revisions, according to a review by the Planning Board Tuesday night.
The main concern of the board were the light fixtures in the parking lot that will be created just south of the community center building. On the original plan, they were similar to the ones at the high school parking lot.
The board, especially member Andy Charles, wanted them to be more like the lighting along Route 77 in the town center. The lights there are not as tall and therefore spread light over less area. To compensate for the change to shorter lights, the parking lot will require about six additional light fixtures, which would cost between $5,000 and $10,000 more.
Charles was concerned about the progressive improvement of the lighting around the school area, which he said was one of the most highly trafficked areas in town.
Board member John Ciraldo said he felt parking lot lights could be different from the town center lights.
Board Chairman David Griffin said he, too, wanted to see the nicer light fixtures. “I certainly would like to see the continuation of that style of fixture if I could,” he said.
Town Manager Michael McGovern said the town, acting as the applicant in this case, would do what it could to make the board happy as long as approval of the community center happened at the meeting and was not delayed. McGovern said bids already were coming in and action was needed.
Board member Karen Lowell suggested that the lights be upgraded, but proposed a trade to help pay for them, which became the second condition of the project approval.
The plan called for a small grassy island in the parking lot to the north of the community center, where school buses now are parked. The exact placement of the island within the lot had rankled Charles and board member Barbara Schenkel.
Charles wanted to move the island slightly, to be closer to the specifications in the town’s ordinances.
Schenkel said that even the moving of the island would not bring the parking lot up to code, and suggested the lot be treated as an existing condition and exempted from requirements to install any island.
Lowell proposed that the island be omitted and the money saved from that part be applied to the lighting upgrade.
In response to a question from the board about whether the project’s bid could be changed, McGovern said bids had already been accepted, but had not yet been awarded. He said negotiation on smaller issues could take place with bidding companies.
The third condition was proposed by Patty Flynn, representing SMRT. At the last meeting, it had been noticed that the site plan contained a small clerical error indicating where azaleas would be planted along the main walkway into the front of the building. Flynn said the error would be corrected in a final site plan.
In other business, the board:
Delayed further discussion of the Blueberry Ridge development until April 22, at the request of developer Joseph Frustaci.
Approved a request by Romeo’s Pizza owner Dimitrios Mihos to relocate the propane tanks behind his building. The original location was legal, but would have become illegal upon installation of a cooling unit, which Mihos plans to do within the next few months. The new location of the tank will still be behind the building, and will have appropriate concrete shielding to prevent cars from colliding with the 1,000-gallon tank. Mihos also said the pizza restaurant is expected to open in late May.
The Cape Elizabeth Planning Board unanimously approved the plans for the town’s new community center, adding three minor conditions to its approval.
The community center will be in the old Pond Cove Millworks property on Route 77 in the town center.
The site plan, developed by Oest Associates and SMRT, both Portland architecture firms, needs only small revisions, according to a review by the Planning Board Tuesday night.
The main concern of the board were the light fixtures in the parking lot that will be created just south of the community center building. On the original plan, they were similar to the ones at the high school parking lot.
The board, especially member Andy Charles, wanted them to be more like the lighting along Route 77 in the town center. The lights there are not as tall and therefore spread light over less area. To compensate for the change to shorter lights, the parking lot will require about six additional light fixtures, which would cost between $5,000 and $10,000 more.
Charles was concerned about the progressive improvement of the lighting around the school area, which he said was one of the most highly trafficked areas in town.
Board member John Ciraldo said he felt parking lot lights could be different from the town center lights.
Board Chairman David Griffin said he, too, wanted to see the nicer light fixtures. “I certainly would like to see the continuation of that style of fixture if I could,” he said.
Town Manager Michael McGovern said the town, acting as the applicant in this case, would do what it could to make the board happy as long as approval of the community center happened at the meeting and was not delayed. McGovern said bids already were coming in and action was needed.
Board member Karen Lowell suggested that the lights be upgraded, but proposed a trade to help pay for them, which became the second condition of the project approval.
The plan called for a small grassy island in the parking lot to the north of the community center, where school buses now are parked. The exact placement of the island within the lot had rankled Charles and board member Barbara Schenkel.
Charles wanted to move the island slightly, to be closer to the specifications in the town’s ordinances.
Schenkel said that even the moving of the island would not bring the parking lot up to code, and suggested the lot be treated as an existing condition and exempted from requirements to install any island.
Lowell proposed that the island be omitted and the money saved from that part be applied to the lighting upgrade.
In response to a question from the board about whether the project’s bid could be changed, McGovern said bids had already been accepted, but had not yet been awarded. He said negotiation on smaller issues could take place with bidding companies.
The third condition was proposed by Patty Flynn, representing SMRT. At the last meeting, it had been noticed that the site plan contained a small clerical error indicating where azaleas would be planted along the main walkway into the front of the building. Flynn said the error would be corrected in a final site plan.
In other business, the board:
Delayed further discussion of the Blueberry Ridge development until April 22, at the request of developer Joseph Frustaci.
Approved a request by Romeo’s Pizza owner Dimitrios Mihos to relocate the propane tanks behind his building. The original location was legal, but would have become illegal upon installation of a cooling unit, which Mihos plans to do within the next few months. The new location of the tank will still be behind the building, and will have appropriate concrete shielding to prevent cars from colliding with the 1,000-gallon tank. Mihos also said the pizza restaurant is expected to open in late May.
Youthful steps lead to Scotland
Published in the Current
A Scarborough seventh-grader is on his way to the World Irish Step Dancing Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, this week. Alexander Schelasin, 12, is taking his first trip to Europe for the competition, in which his biggest triumph, according to his mother, will be not making any mistakes.
But his challenge up until now has been to practice hard while entertaining a growing number of media interviews, including one with the Current. He has been on television twice, the radio once and in the local section of the Portland daily.
“I’m not used to all the attention, but it’s really cool,” Schelasin said.
His mother, Jacqueline Seguin, said the moment an article ran in the Portland Press Herald, the media frenzy began. “That day, the phone started ringing,” she said.
He deserves the attention he gets in Maine, but getting this much press in Scotland is unlikely. He’s largely unknown in the Irish dancing world, and his teacher isn’t well known either, Seguin said.
The Irish dancing world is an intensely competitive one, with parents spending hundreds of dollars and kids dozens of hours to perfect their technique. Teachers, like martial arts instructors, can trace their instructors back several generations. And competition judges are often related not only to the teachers, but to the dancers themselves.
In Ireland, kids start dancing very early and are sent to intensive dance schools and camps to improve their skills. The dancing itself is demanding, requiring a ramrod-straight upper body and stiff arms above rapidly moving legs and fast-tapping feet.
Dancers are judged on such diverse criteria as the sound their feet make, posture, complexity of the steps they do and fluidity of movement.
Schelasin has been dancing for just over four years, since he saw “Riverdance” and “The Lord of the Dance.”
He has performed on stage with Cape Breton fiddler, Natalie MacMaster, and one of the dances he will perform at the worlds was choreographed for him by a member of the original production of “The Lord of the Dance.”
When he dances, his whole body is tense but somehow relaxed at the same time. And while his head barely moves up and down, his feet kick above his waist, and then hit the ground in rapid staccato.
Schelasin’s success so far is due to his dedication and to his skill on stage. “He’s just a performer in every way,” Seguin said. But he’s not just a dancer.
“I play almost any sport you can name,” Schelasin said, listing an impressive array of team and individual athletics.
He dances both solo and in group step dances, and will be competing as an individual in Glasgow. His mother, who will be accompanying him, hopes they will be able to visit her grandfather’s birthplace near Glasgow.
He has another teacher helping him now, Karen LaPointe, who has just moved to the area from Australia, where she was a world-class Irish dancer as well.
After placing third in the New England championships in November, he has been preparing for the worlds. And after he returns from Scotland, he has to start learning new steps for the North American competition, to be held in Boston in early July.
A Scarborough seventh-grader is on his way to the World Irish Step Dancing Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, this week. Alexander Schelasin, 12, is taking his first trip to Europe for the competition, in which his biggest triumph, according to his mother, will be not making any mistakes.
But his challenge up until now has been to practice hard while entertaining a growing number of media interviews, including one with the Current. He has been on television twice, the radio once and in the local section of the Portland daily.
“I’m not used to all the attention, but it’s really cool,” Schelasin said.
His mother, Jacqueline Seguin, said the moment an article ran in the Portland Press Herald, the media frenzy began. “That day, the phone started ringing,” she said.
He deserves the attention he gets in Maine, but getting this much press in Scotland is unlikely. He’s largely unknown in the Irish dancing world, and his teacher isn’t well known either, Seguin said.
The Irish dancing world is an intensely competitive one, with parents spending hundreds of dollars and kids dozens of hours to perfect their technique. Teachers, like martial arts instructors, can trace their instructors back several generations. And competition judges are often related not only to the teachers, but to the dancers themselves.
In Ireland, kids start dancing very early and are sent to intensive dance schools and camps to improve their skills. The dancing itself is demanding, requiring a ramrod-straight upper body and stiff arms above rapidly moving legs and fast-tapping feet.
Dancers are judged on such diverse criteria as the sound their feet make, posture, complexity of the steps they do and fluidity of movement.
Schelasin has been dancing for just over four years, since he saw “Riverdance” and “The Lord of the Dance.”
He has performed on stage with Cape Breton fiddler, Natalie MacMaster, and one of the dances he will perform at the worlds was choreographed for him by a member of the original production of “The Lord of the Dance.”
When he dances, his whole body is tense but somehow relaxed at the same time. And while his head barely moves up and down, his feet kick above his waist, and then hit the ground in rapid staccato.
Schelasin’s success so far is due to his dedication and to his skill on stage. “He’s just a performer in every way,” Seguin said. But he’s not just a dancer.
“I play almost any sport you can name,” Schelasin said, listing an impressive array of team and individual athletics.
He dances both solo and in group step dances, and will be competing as an individual in Glasgow. His mother, who will be accompanying him, hopes they will be able to visit her grandfather’s birthplace near Glasgow.
He has another teacher helping him now, Karen LaPointe, who has just moved to the area from Australia, where she was a world-class Irish dancer as well.
After placing third in the New England championships in November, he has been preparing for the worlds. And after he returns from Scotland, he has to start learning new steps for the North American competition, to be held in Boston in early July.
Security increased for Beach-to-Beacon race
Published in the Current
With less than five months before the starting gun, Cape Elizabeth already is planning for the Peoples Beach to Beacon race, to be held Aug. 3, and security will be tighter this year than in the past, probably including assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard.
Police Chief Neil Williams said there is a greater focus on security this year in light of Sept. 11, the increased number of racers and fans expected and the international makeup of the field.
Top-ranked runners come from all over the world.
“We are going to tighten up security a little bit,” Williams said.
He said he will ask for the assistance of the Coast Guard to help boost security along the shoreline near the race course.
This will be the first time the Coast Guard has participated in Beach to Beacon security,Williams said.
He also has asked for assistance from the Portland office of the FBI, specifically any tips or suggestions they may have to improve security.
An initial planning meeting was held Feb. 25, and a second meeting will happen later this month, said Williams. The race director again will be Dave McGillivray, who heads the Boston Marathon.
This year is the fifth anniversary of the race, founded by Olympian and Cape Elizabeth native, Joan Benoit Samuelson. The field of racers will be expanded to 5,000, up from 4,000 last year, on the 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) course stretching from Crescent Beach to Portland Head Light.
Williams did not want to go into specifics on security, and pointed out that the planning is only in the preliminary stage. He did say he expects security to be tighter at the start and finish areas, and there will be a greater police presence along the course.
In past years, Cape police have been augmented by officers from South Portland and motorcycle officers from Portland, Williams said.
He expects to ask for a few more officers from each of those departments and may approach Scarborough for some additional help as well.
Other procedures, which he described as “technical aspects,” also will be expanded, Williams said.
Of particular concern is traffic at the corner by Spurwink Church, Williams said. “There’s a lot of traffic that comes in at that particular point.”
He recommends all racers leave their homes early and get to the starting line early. There also will be a shuttle service for racers who want to park at the high school or the middle school and take buses to the start.
Williams stressed the security will be precautionary, and that he plans for it to be fairly unobtrusive, “not take away from a fun event,” he said.
Roads will be closed along the race route, and traffic will be diverted, as in the past, Williams said, adding that carpooling to the race and planning ahead for road closures can reduce delays for everyone.
Signs will be posted in the weeks leading up to the race, reminding residents about traffic changes for race day.
With less than five months before the starting gun, Cape Elizabeth already is planning for the Peoples Beach to Beacon race, to be held Aug. 3, and security will be tighter this year than in the past, probably including assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard.
Police Chief Neil Williams said there is a greater focus on security this year in light of Sept. 11, the increased number of racers and fans expected and the international makeup of the field.
Top-ranked runners come from all over the world.
“We are going to tighten up security a little bit,” Williams said.
He said he will ask for the assistance of the Coast Guard to help boost security along the shoreline near the race course.
This will be the first time the Coast Guard has participated in Beach to Beacon security,Williams said.
He also has asked for assistance from the Portland office of the FBI, specifically any tips or suggestions they may have to improve security.
An initial planning meeting was held Feb. 25, and a second meeting will happen later this month, said Williams. The race director again will be Dave McGillivray, who heads the Boston Marathon.
This year is the fifth anniversary of the race, founded by Olympian and Cape Elizabeth native, Joan Benoit Samuelson. The field of racers will be expanded to 5,000, up from 4,000 last year, on the 10-kilometer (6.2-mile) course stretching from Crescent Beach to Portland Head Light.
Williams did not want to go into specifics on security, and pointed out that the planning is only in the preliminary stage. He did say he expects security to be tighter at the start and finish areas, and there will be a greater police presence along the course.
In past years, Cape police have been augmented by officers from South Portland and motorcycle officers from Portland, Williams said.
He expects to ask for a few more officers from each of those departments and may approach Scarborough for some additional help as well.
Other procedures, which he described as “technical aspects,” also will be expanded, Williams said.
Of particular concern is traffic at the corner by Spurwink Church, Williams said. “There’s a lot of traffic that comes in at that particular point.”
He recommends all racers leave their homes early and get to the starting line early. There also will be a shuttle service for racers who want to park at the high school or the middle school and take buses to the start.
Williams stressed the security will be precautionary, and that he plans for it to be fairly unobtrusive, “not take away from a fun event,” he said.
Roads will be closed along the race route, and traffic will be diverted, as in the past, Williams said, adding that carpooling to the race and planning ahead for road closures can reduce delays for everyone.
Signs will be posted in the weeks leading up to the race, reminding residents about traffic changes for race day.
Friday, March 15, 2002
CWRP invests in wetlands
Published in Interface Business News
PORTLAND—Taking advantage of federal grant money and their own corporate resources, about 15 Maine companies have invested nearly $500,000 in cash and services for the Maine Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership (CWRP), to protect, rehabilitate and protect Maine’s wetlands. The benefits are not just for the environment, but for the businesses themselves.
Jeff Simmons, senior environmental scientist at the Yarmouth office of Bedford, N.H.-based Normandeau Associates, said he gets to work with firms he might otherwise compete with or not interact with very much.
“From a business perspective, it’s a smart thing to do,” Simmons said. But it also has personal and professional payoffs.
“As a resident of Maine and as a wetlands scientist this is something that’s near and dear to my heart,” he said.
The CWRP is part of larger regional and national efforts to protect wetlands, and is supported by large federal grant budgets, matching every private dollar with up to $3 in federal money.
While a good matching deal, currently worth $2 million overall, the private dollars can be hard to come by.
The lead company in Maine is Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, based in Boston, Mass. Patrick Hester, senior vice president and general counsel for Maritimes & Northeast, said the program started in Massachusetts in the past couple of years, and expanded to Maine shortly thereafter.
Hester was able to raise support among companies Maritimes & Northeast has worked with in Maine.
They have started with the “easy wins,” projects Hester described as nearly complete. “If we or somebody else didn’t come along, the project would still be sitting there,” Hester said.
“It is good community involvement and good corporate stewardship,” according to Bill Hubbard of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, one of sixteen federal agencies that are involved in wetlands preservation under the federal Coastal America program.
David Warren, managing partner of Verrill & Dana in Portland, agrees. “We have a very strong desire to contribute to the community,” Warren said.
Gil Paquette, senior manager of Duke Engineering and Services in Portland, said not only does it feel good too do a project like this, but through contact with agencies and regulators, “it strengthens our ability in the permitting arena as well.”
Even Verizon Maine, based in Portland but a subsidiary of New York-based Verizon, got involved, though the environmental nature of the CWRP falls outside its normal commnunity focus on literacy programs.
Dan Breton, director of public affairs for Verizon Maine, said the company’s employees and customers care deeply about the environment, providing a major impetus for the company to spend money on wetlands.
Cito Selinger, managing partner of Curtis Thaxter Stevens Broder & Micoleau, a law firm in Portland, said that not only are they able to use their firm's specialization, but they can simultaneously support a major initiative of a client company, Maritimes & Northeast, and do some good as well.
“Development has got to be done sensibly,” Selinger said. “We don’t want to see the state developed in a bad way,” Selinger said.
Charles Hewett, vice president of Pittsfield-based Cianbro, agreed with Selinger.
“It’s something that we’ve done to be a good corporate citizen,” Hewett said.
Companies wanting to get involved in the Maine Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership should contact Marylee Hanley at Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline at 1-617-560-1573.
PORTLAND—Taking advantage of federal grant money and their own corporate resources, about 15 Maine companies have invested nearly $500,000 in cash and services for the Maine Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership (CWRP), to protect, rehabilitate and protect Maine’s wetlands. The benefits are not just for the environment, but for the businesses themselves.
Jeff Simmons, senior environmental scientist at the Yarmouth office of Bedford, N.H.-based Normandeau Associates, said he gets to work with firms he might otherwise compete with or not interact with very much.
“From a business perspective, it’s a smart thing to do,” Simmons said. But it also has personal and professional payoffs.
“As a resident of Maine and as a wetlands scientist this is something that’s near and dear to my heart,” he said.
The CWRP is part of larger regional and national efforts to protect wetlands, and is supported by large federal grant budgets, matching every private dollar with up to $3 in federal money.
While a good matching deal, currently worth $2 million overall, the private dollars can be hard to come by.
The lead company in Maine is Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline, based in Boston, Mass. Patrick Hester, senior vice president and general counsel for Maritimes & Northeast, said the program started in Massachusetts in the past couple of years, and expanded to Maine shortly thereafter.
Hester was able to raise support among companies Maritimes & Northeast has worked with in Maine.
They have started with the “easy wins,” projects Hester described as nearly complete. “If we or somebody else didn’t come along, the project would still be sitting there,” Hester said.
“It is good community involvement and good corporate stewardship,” according to Bill Hubbard of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, one of sixteen federal agencies that are involved in wetlands preservation under the federal Coastal America program.
David Warren, managing partner of Verrill & Dana in Portland, agrees. “We have a very strong desire to contribute to the community,” Warren said.
Gil Paquette, senior manager of Duke Engineering and Services in Portland, said not only does it feel good too do a project like this, but through contact with agencies and regulators, “it strengthens our ability in the permitting arena as well.”
Even Verizon Maine, based in Portland but a subsidiary of New York-based Verizon, got involved, though the environmental nature of the CWRP falls outside its normal commnunity focus on literacy programs.
Dan Breton, director of public affairs for Verizon Maine, said the company’s employees and customers care deeply about the environment, providing a major impetus for the company to spend money on wetlands.
Cito Selinger, managing partner of Curtis Thaxter Stevens Broder & Micoleau, a law firm in Portland, said that not only are they able to use their firm's specialization, but they can simultaneously support a major initiative of a client company, Maritimes & Northeast, and do some good as well.
“Development has got to be done sensibly,” Selinger said. “We don’t want to see the state developed in a bad way,” Selinger said.
Charles Hewett, vice president of Pittsfield-based Cianbro, agreed with Selinger.
“It’s something that we’ve done to be a good corporate citizen,” Hewett said.
Companies wanting to get involved in the Maine Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership should contact Marylee Hanley at Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline at 1-617-560-1573.
Thursday, March 14, 2002
Cape parents asked to fight substance abuse
Published in the Current
The Cape Elizabeth School Board bid farewell to a longtime teacher and asked parents to assist with the enforcement of substance-use bans for athletes at its regular monthly meeting March 12.
Superintendent Tom Forcella noted the resignation, effective at the end of this year, of longtime teacher and coach Anine Burgess, who has been out on medical leave all of this school year.
Middle school Principal Nancy Hutton described Burgess as “a great question-asker.” Board member Kevin Sweeney remembered Burgess’s efforts to promote civil rights and diversity. Board chair George Entwistle said of her, “There was just so much energy and excitement, and certainly she’ll be sorely missed.”
The board also gave first readings to several athletic policies, and suggested adding a new contract for parents and students to sign which would include a promise not to use drugs and alcohol.
It would be similar to the one presently required, but would include reference to abiding by the rules and supporting their enforcement, rather than a simple acknowledgment that they had been read and understood.
Other new policies laid out the philosophy and beliefs behind the athletics program, codified existing practices, set rules for booster clubs and admission charges at sporting events, and defined the framework for coaches’personnel records.
While budget discussions did not play a role in the business meeting, at the finance committee meeting preceding it, some members of the board indicated their sense that there was too much cut, while others said they may need to do more.
In other business, the board:
– heard a report from the high school representatives that the student government is working on a new policy for spectator conduct at sporting events, following inappropriate behavior by three Cape students at a hockey game in Yarmouth last week. There is also a new study hall policy under development.
– heard a report from the middle school representatives that the eighth grade band has been asked to perform for the state Legislature in Augusta later this school year.
– heard and praised a presentation from the organizers of Cape Play to improve the playgrounds at Pond Cove and the middle school.
– heard a report from middle school Principal Nancy Hutton that several parents have volunteered to teach Steve Price’s classes for a couple of weeks so he can work on preparing the school play. Also, the Wonder Years day was a big success.
– heard from Pond Cove Principal Tom Eismeier the school has nominated second-grade teacher Kelly Hasson for the Maine Teacher of the Year 2003 award.
– heard from high school Principal Jeff Shedd that he is expecting high demand for the new Latin course at the school. Shedd also noted that the Cape one-act play will continue to statewide competition, as will the jazz band.
The Cape Elizabeth School Board bid farewell to a longtime teacher and asked parents to assist with the enforcement of substance-use bans for athletes at its regular monthly meeting March 12.
Superintendent Tom Forcella noted the resignation, effective at the end of this year, of longtime teacher and coach Anine Burgess, who has been out on medical leave all of this school year.
Middle school Principal Nancy Hutton described Burgess as “a great question-asker.” Board member Kevin Sweeney remembered Burgess’s efforts to promote civil rights and diversity. Board chair George Entwistle said of her, “There was just so much energy and excitement, and certainly she’ll be sorely missed.”
The board also gave first readings to several athletic policies, and suggested adding a new contract for parents and students to sign which would include a promise not to use drugs and alcohol.
It would be similar to the one presently required, but would include reference to abiding by the rules and supporting their enforcement, rather than a simple acknowledgment that they had been read and understood.
Other new policies laid out the philosophy and beliefs behind the athletics program, codified existing practices, set rules for booster clubs and admission charges at sporting events, and defined the framework for coaches’personnel records.
While budget discussions did not play a role in the business meeting, at the finance committee meeting preceding it, some members of the board indicated their sense that there was too much cut, while others said they may need to do more.
In other business, the board:
– heard a report from the high school representatives that the student government is working on a new policy for spectator conduct at sporting events, following inappropriate behavior by three Cape students at a hockey game in Yarmouth last week. There is also a new study hall policy under development.
– heard a report from the middle school representatives that the eighth grade band has been asked to perform for the state Legislature in Augusta later this school year.
– heard and praised a presentation from the organizers of Cape Play to improve the playgrounds at Pond Cove and the middle school.
– heard a report from middle school Principal Nancy Hutton that several parents have volunteered to teach Steve Price’s classes for a couple of weeks so he can work on preparing the school play. Also, the Wonder Years day was a big success.
– heard from Pond Cove Principal Tom Eismeier the school has nominated second-grade teacher Kelly Hasson for the Maine Teacher of the Year 2003 award.
– heard from high school Principal Jeff Shedd that he is expecting high demand for the new Latin course at the school. Shedd also noted that the Cape one-act play will continue to statewide competition, as will the jazz band.
Thursday, March 7, 2002
Cape blames state for budget woes
Published in the Current
The Cape Elizabeth School Board projects its budget increase will be twice the amount requested by the Town Council, and councilors and board members alike are blaming state funding cuts for the fiscal crunch.
Town Council Finance Committee Chairman Jack Roberts delivered a letter to Superintendent Tom Forcella March 1 stating the town budget would be
capped at a 3 percent rise in expenditures, and expressing the hope that the School Board would exercise “similar restraint.”
The School Board, at its workshop March 2 and in prior meetings, has characterized its budget – up 5.7 percent – as “responsible” and “conservative,” and blames a lot of the budget pain on a loss of $589,598 in state funds.
The state funding formula takes into account a town’s property value increases and the number of students in a district. The state cuts are particularly painful for cities such as South Portland, which is projected to lose nearly $2 million in state aid.
Cape’s school budget request is up $815,583, and includes no new programs. Several planned staffing increases also have been cut, with the only remaining personnel increases related to enrollment increases or additional needs for special education students.
“Some people think we cut the budget too much,” said School Board member Kevin Sweeney.
“We made every effort to keep a tight hold on spending,” Forcella said. The letter from the Town Council, he said, “just reinforces the tight budget climate that we’re in.”
At the budget workshop, Forcella said, a major concern was about the items that are not in the budget, including the district’s Future Direction Plan and five-year staffing plan.
“There’s a lot left out of this budget,” he said.
Sweeney is among the most outspoken of the critics of the state government, saying the education funding system is designed to cause problems.
“Because of the way the state funding formula is set up, it creates divisiveness,” Sweeney said. He added that while representatives in Augusta are working hard for their constituents, “they are not working hard for education in the state of Maine.”
Board member Jim Rowe also voiced his concern. “Anytime you have something like that pulled out from under you, it really affects what you’re doing,” he said.
Rowe and Forcella both wish the state cuts could have been phased in, rather than coming all at once this year. Forcella said he doesn’t see much of a cushion coming from Augusta to soften the blow, and expressed concern that the legislature had “never funded education as much as they said they would.”
Rowe sent an e-mail to state Sen. Lynn Bromley, D-Cumberland, and got a response that indicated to him “nobody in Augusta wants to hear about” the problems in Cape Elizabeth, Rowe said.
“I think they have to hear that we have needs,” Rowe said.
Bromley said she has trouble getting sympathy for Cape Elizabeth in Augusta, and said she has been called a “thief” by at least one senator from the northern area of the state, who was opposed to her efforts to bring more money to her district.
Bromley said she and other senators have promised to vote against the governor’s budget unless it is revised to give more funding to schools in their districts. “The formula does not work,” she said.
“I encourage people to make their voices heard,” Bromley said, suggesting that people describe exactly what will happen if funding cuts continue.
But, state Rep. Janet McLaughlin, D-Cape Elizabeth, said, there must be perspective. “I cannot sit here in the house chamber and cry ‘poor’ for Cape Elizabeth,” McLaughlin said. She said she is trying to increase the amount of money to be spent on schools, no matter what method is used to determine how much each school gets.
Several of the town’s councilors, too, blame the state for the hardship and are stuck trying to make up the difference from the property tax.
Councilor Jack Roberts, who attended the budget workshop, said the drastic cut is too much. “It’s just wrong, wrong, wrong,” Roberts said. “We’re getting hammered by the state.”
He said he was hoping the schools could keep expenditures below 3 percent, regardless of revenue. The state cuts only make things worse.
“Obviously (the School Board has) no control over the $600,000,” Roberts said.
Making things especially hard this year is the increase in special education spending in the school district, Roberts said. The federal government pledged to pay 40 percent of the cost of special education, but is actually only paying 12 percent, Roberts said.
He said there will certainly be a tax increase in town, though he declined to predict specific figures.
“We’re going to try to keep it as reasonable as we can,” he said.
Councilor Mary Ann Lynch, who also attended the School Board’s budget workshop Saturday, said she was glad to get at least an informal look at the budget, but declined to comment on the specifics until she saw a formal document.
Council Chair Anne Swift-Kayatta was at the budget meeting as well, and though she declined to comment on specifics, said she looks forward to working with the School Board and the Town Manager to put together a successful budget.
But the bottom line, many say, is just that: the bottom line, and the effect of the state budget on local spending.
“When you pull that much money in one fell swoop, it causes problems,” Rowe said.
The Cape Elizabeth School Board projects its budget increase will be twice the amount requested by the Town Council, and councilors and board members alike are blaming state funding cuts for the fiscal crunch.
Town Council Finance Committee Chairman Jack Roberts delivered a letter to Superintendent Tom Forcella March 1 stating the town budget would be
capped at a 3 percent rise in expenditures, and expressing the hope that the School Board would exercise “similar restraint.”
The School Board, at its workshop March 2 and in prior meetings, has characterized its budget – up 5.7 percent – as “responsible” and “conservative,” and blames a lot of the budget pain on a loss of $589,598 in state funds.
The state funding formula takes into account a town’s property value increases and the number of students in a district. The state cuts are particularly painful for cities such as South Portland, which is projected to lose nearly $2 million in state aid.
Cape’s school budget request is up $815,583, and includes no new programs. Several planned staffing increases also have been cut, with the only remaining personnel increases related to enrollment increases or additional needs for special education students.
“Some people think we cut the budget too much,” said School Board member Kevin Sweeney.
“We made every effort to keep a tight hold on spending,” Forcella said. The letter from the Town Council, he said, “just reinforces the tight budget climate that we’re in.”
At the budget workshop, Forcella said, a major concern was about the items that are not in the budget, including the district’s Future Direction Plan and five-year staffing plan.
“There’s a lot left out of this budget,” he said.
Sweeney is among the most outspoken of the critics of the state government, saying the education funding system is designed to cause problems.
“Because of the way the state funding formula is set up, it creates divisiveness,” Sweeney said. He added that while representatives in Augusta are working hard for their constituents, “they are not working hard for education in the state of Maine.”
Board member Jim Rowe also voiced his concern. “Anytime you have something like that pulled out from under you, it really affects what you’re doing,” he said.
Rowe and Forcella both wish the state cuts could have been phased in, rather than coming all at once this year. Forcella said he doesn’t see much of a cushion coming from Augusta to soften the blow, and expressed concern that the legislature had “never funded education as much as they said they would.”
Rowe sent an e-mail to state Sen. Lynn Bromley, D-Cumberland, and got a response that indicated to him “nobody in Augusta wants to hear about” the problems in Cape Elizabeth, Rowe said.
“I think they have to hear that we have needs,” Rowe said.
Bromley said she has trouble getting sympathy for Cape Elizabeth in Augusta, and said she has been called a “thief” by at least one senator from the northern area of the state, who was opposed to her efforts to bring more money to her district.
Bromley said she and other senators have promised to vote against the governor’s budget unless it is revised to give more funding to schools in their districts. “The formula does not work,” she said.
“I encourage people to make their voices heard,” Bromley said, suggesting that people describe exactly what will happen if funding cuts continue.
But, state Rep. Janet McLaughlin, D-Cape Elizabeth, said, there must be perspective. “I cannot sit here in the house chamber and cry ‘poor’ for Cape Elizabeth,” McLaughlin said. She said she is trying to increase the amount of money to be spent on schools, no matter what method is used to determine how much each school gets.
Several of the town’s councilors, too, blame the state for the hardship and are stuck trying to make up the difference from the property tax.
Councilor Jack Roberts, who attended the budget workshop, said the drastic cut is too much. “It’s just wrong, wrong, wrong,” Roberts said. “We’re getting hammered by the state.”
He said he was hoping the schools could keep expenditures below 3 percent, regardless of revenue. The state cuts only make things worse.
“Obviously (the School Board has) no control over the $600,000,” Roberts said.
Making things especially hard this year is the increase in special education spending in the school district, Roberts said. The federal government pledged to pay 40 percent of the cost of special education, but is actually only paying 12 percent, Roberts said.
He said there will certainly be a tax increase in town, though he declined to predict specific figures.
“We’re going to try to keep it as reasonable as we can,” he said.
Councilor Mary Ann Lynch, who also attended the School Board’s budget workshop Saturday, said she was glad to get at least an informal look at the budget, but declined to comment on the specifics until she saw a formal document.
Council Chair Anne Swift-Kayatta was at the budget meeting as well, and though she declined to comment on specifics, said she looks forward to working with the School Board and the Town Manager to put together a successful budget.
But the bottom line, many say, is just that: the bottom line, and the effect of the state budget on local spending.
“When you pull that much money in one fell swoop, it causes problems,” Rowe said.
Monday, March 4, 2002
Convergent ready to serve RBOCs
Published in Interface Tech News
LOWELL, Mass. ‹ Moving to offer its products to a wider market of larger companies, Convergent Networks has put its ICS2000 broadband switch through the testing process in order to assure buyers it will properly integrate with new and legacy telephone network equipment.
"Now we can plug-and-play," said Carl Baptiste, Convergent's director of product marketing.
The process, designed by Telcordia (formerly Bellcore) and called OSMINE, is a nine-month sequence of testing and documentation designed to ensure equipment functions reliably as part of the telephone system.
Convergent is now engaged in talks with Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), and is confident of making sales soon.
Other Convergent customers ‹ about 30 CLECs around the country ‹ are in the process of installing the switches in their systems, Baptiste said.
"We certainly have customers who have money and are spending with us," he said. "Next-gen equipment is one of the bright spots."
The privately held company does not release much financial information, but it has 200 employees and revenues in the tens of millions of dollars, Baptiste said. The company's existing customer base bills three billion minutes per month of telephone traffic on Convergent equipment, he said. But the prospect of a major carrier as a customer has the company thinking bigger.
"Winning one of those networks could be as big as all of the business we've done, over time," Baptiste said. Finding a small bit of Verizon's $17 billion annual capital expenditure budget is one target, he said.
The company hopes to draw big customers not only with standard-compliant equipment, but also with next-generation telephone features and continued inter-working between packet and PSTN voice systems.
Yankee Group senior analyst Mindy Hiebert said the company knows what it is talking about. "Convergent is serious about going after these service providers," she said. The company has been buckled down in the testing phase for several months now, and the company may have to wait until later this year for marketing efforts to really pay off.
Also, Hiebert said, the RBOCs might not make big moves until they are challenged by smaller competitors. But, she said, the possible buyers are big companies that have real money to spend, when they open their checkbooks.
LOWELL, Mass. ‹ Moving to offer its products to a wider market of larger companies, Convergent Networks has put its ICS2000 broadband switch through the testing process in order to assure buyers it will properly integrate with new and legacy telephone network equipment.
"Now we can plug-and-play," said Carl Baptiste, Convergent's director of product marketing.
The process, designed by Telcordia (formerly Bellcore) and called OSMINE, is a nine-month sequence of testing and documentation designed to ensure equipment functions reliably as part of the telephone system.
Convergent is now engaged in talks with Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), and is confident of making sales soon.
Other Convergent customers ‹ about 30 CLECs around the country ‹ are in the process of installing the switches in their systems, Baptiste said.
"We certainly have customers who have money and are spending with us," he said. "Next-gen equipment is one of the bright spots."
The privately held company does not release much financial information, but it has 200 employees and revenues in the tens of millions of dollars, Baptiste said. The company's existing customer base bills three billion minutes per month of telephone traffic on Convergent equipment, he said. But the prospect of a major carrier as a customer has the company thinking bigger.
"Winning one of those networks could be as big as all of the business we've done, over time," Baptiste said. Finding a small bit of Verizon's $17 billion annual capital expenditure budget is one target, he said.
The company hopes to draw big customers not only with standard-compliant equipment, but also with next-generation telephone features and continued inter-working between packet and PSTN voice systems.
Yankee Group senior analyst Mindy Hiebert said the company knows what it is talking about. "Convergent is serious about going after these service providers," she said. The company has been buckled down in the testing phase for several months now, and the company may have to wait until later this year for marketing efforts to really pay off.
Also, Hiebert said, the RBOCs might not make big moves until they are challenged by smaller competitors. But, she said, the possible buyers are big companies that have real money to spend, when they open their checkbooks.
Friday, March 1, 2002
Owning a wooden boat
Published in PortCity Life
Being the owner of a wooden boat isn't easy. It requires constant work and a lot of energy. Fiberglass boats are for folks who want to go out on the water, come back and go home. Not so the wooden boat owner, who is so in love with the boat that hard labor becomes fun.
Marty and Sue Macisso own a 1971 48-foot Egg Harbor flush deck motor yacht, Invincible IV, which they keep at their slip at DiMillo's on the waterfront. They laugh about their efforts to have a life and still give the boat the attention it needs. "You can spend all day stripping it down to bare wood," Marty said, holding a scraper in his hand on a sunny summer afternoon. "You've got to stay focused."
He spent years in the boat business, as an owner's representative to shipbuilders, and knows how rare a good ship's carpenter is - and how expensive. Rather than spend the $50 an hour it can cost to have someone else do it, he takes on a lot of the tasks himself.
They do pay a diver for help with the anodes, making sure the screws holding the boat together remain intact. "You keep (the anodes) up, they'll last a long time," Marty said.
But diving is just part of the maintenance schedule for Invincible IV.
"You can't leave a boat unattended in Maine," Marty said. He and his wife live aboard the boat in the summer. They're both originally from Munjoy Hill, so being close to Portland's downtown is a real benefit, and a good change from their Scarborough winter home.
They take the boat out several days a week. On the days the boat is in its slip, though, Marty is at work somewhere aboard. "It's like doing body work on a car," he said.
But like a car, the key is paint. Keeping the wood protected from the elements is a challenge, and Marty spends more of his time inspecting the exterior of the boat, looking for chipping paint or bare spots. Then he scrapes away any loose paint before going in with bucket and brush.
For bigger projects, Marty and Sue network with their neighbors in the marina. Somebody is handy around motors, while another might be a wizard at on-board plumbing or wiring. It's an informal barter system, in which Marty and Sue get help in exchange for future or past help on other boats.
But most of the effort has to come from their dedication to the boat. They've owned Invincible IV for a year (and bought it with that name, so they have no idea what happened to the first three Invincible boats), but owned a 38-foot Egg Harbor and wanted more room. They knew what they were in for, and signed up cheerfully.
"A wooden boat requires self-sufficient owners," Marty said, "They're a special breed."
Being the owner of a wooden boat isn't easy. It requires constant work and a lot of energy. Fiberglass boats are for folks who want to go out on the water, come back and go home. Not so the wooden boat owner, who is so in love with the boat that hard labor becomes fun.
Marty and Sue Macisso own a 1971 48-foot Egg Harbor flush deck motor yacht, Invincible IV, which they keep at their slip at DiMillo's on the waterfront. They laugh about their efforts to have a life and still give the boat the attention it needs. "You can spend all day stripping it down to bare wood," Marty said, holding a scraper in his hand on a sunny summer afternoon. "You've got to stay focused."
He spent years in the boat business, as an owner's representative to shipbuilders, and knows how rare a good ship's carpenter is - and how expensive. Rather than spend the $50 an hour it can cost to have someone else do it, he takes on a lot of the tasks himself.
They do pay a diver for help with the anodes, making sure the screws holding the boat together remain intact. "You keep (the anodes) up, they'll last a long time," Marty said.
But diving is just part of the maintenance schedule for Invincible IV.
"You can't leave a boat unattended in Maine," Marty said. He and his wife live aboard the boat in the summer. They're both originally from Munjoy Hill, so being close to Portland's downtown is a real benefit, and a good change from their Scarborough winter home.
They take the boat out several days a week. On the days the boat is in its slip, though, Marty is at work somewhere aboard. "It's like doing body work on a car," he said.
But like a car, the key is paint. Keeping the wood protected from the elements is a challenge, and Marty spends more of his time inspecting the exterior of the boat, looking for chipping paint or bare spots. Then he scrapes away any loose paint before going in with bucket and brush.
For bigger projects, Marty and Sue network with their neighbors in the marina. Somebody is handy around motors, while another might be a wizard at on-board plumbing or wiring. It's an informal barter system, in which Marty and Sue get help in exchange for future or past help on other boats.
But most of the effort has to come from their dedication to the boat. They've owned Invincible IV for a year (and bought it with that name, so they have no idea what happened to the first three Invincible boats), but owned a 38-foot Egg Harbor and wanted more room. They knew what they were in for, and signed up cheerfully.
"A wooden boat requires self-sufficient owners," Marty said, "They're a special breed."
Thursday, February 28, 2002
Cape teachers become students
Published in the Current
Cape Elizabeth students had an extra two days off this past week, and though the teachers had to work, they had a luxury too: professional development time.
The district has set aside five days from this school year for teacher development work. Two were in November, before Thanksgiving vacation, two were last week, extending February vacation, and one will follow spring break in April.
In the two-day sessions, the first day is filled with district-related work, primarily curriculum mapping and organization.
The second day is a “building day,” when teachers in the separate schools can work in small groups or independently on their own, on projects relating to professional development.
The district work this year is called “curriculum mapping,” drawing up a detailed picture of what material teachers cover, and when they do it. The idea is to get a full report of what students are learning, and when. It lays the groundwork for future plans, including curriculum changes\ and new standardized tests or other assessment methods.
This sort of planning is something many districts are without, but Cape Superintendent Tom Forcella sees it as a necessity. The schools did get some e-mail and telephone complaints from parents about the extra time off, though school officials said there were not many.
“This work needs to be done,” Forcella said. Making sure the teachers talk to each other about teaching, principles and educational continuity is basic, he said.
“That’s the foundation of the work that we do,” Forcella said. And the district is committed to not only asking teachers to take the time, but also to give teachers the time they need to do it.
“It’s a lot of work,” Forcella said.
This year, in particular, is a lot of detail work for the teachers, who have to enter all of the units they teach into a centralized database.
“We want to be able to see the scope and sequence K through 12,” said Sarah Simmonds, the district’s professional development coordinator. The position is a new one this year, and is part of the district’s efforts to help teachers grow and learn, as well as streamlining the schools’curricula.
The inventory teachers are building will help as the district goes through a state-mandated process of developing a “valid, reliable” local assessment method by the 2006-2007 school year.
As teachers enter the information into the database, they also are asked to select specific areas of the Maine Learning Results standards addressed by each unit. Next year’s project will be the next step, examining how well the teaching meets the state standards.
“We’re saying, ‘Here’s what we do. Here’s what the learning results say,’” Simmonds said.
It is a custom-designed database, in which teachers can see all the information pertaining to the grade levels they work with, though they can only change or update information relating to classes they teach.
They also can search on keywords, so a teacher could, for example, see what other teachers talk about Egypt or Native American tribes in their classes. This could be an excellent resource for new teachers as they are hired, Simmonds said.
In the process, teachers are having good conversations about their work, and about ideas affecting education.
“You see lots of light bulbs going off” in teachers’heads, Simmonds said.
In many districts, Simmonds said, a real curriculum analysis doesn’t happen until assessment is the topic at hand. Removing assessment from the inventory process, she said, makes things easier for the teachers and streamlines the process of developing assessment as well.
“You’re not learning two things at the same time,” Simmonds said. “Every time you take a step, you learn something new.”
On Tuesday, the “building day,” teachers did more work individually or in small groups.
Pond Cove teachers focused on reading and writing, lesson study, new organizational techniques for material to be taught, and also discussed the educational principles that might influence the addition to the building.
Middle school teachers worked on their individual professional development plans, reviewing and refining their teaching. Some designed new units to teach, and others worked with technology, improving their familiarity with digital video, PowerPoint or web site design.
Teachers at the high school continued their work from Monday, and did some work in their departments and in their own classrooms.
Cape Elizabeth students had an extra two days off this past week, and though the teachers had to work, they had a luxury too: professional development time.
The district has set aside five days from this school year for teacher development work. Two were in November, before Thanksgiving vacation, two were last week, extending February vacation, and one will follow spring break in April.
In the two-day sessions, the first day is filled with district-related work, primarily curriculum mapping and organization.
The second day is a “building day,” when teachers in the separate schools can work in small groups or independently on their own, on projects relating to professional development.
The district work this year is called “curriculum mapping,” drawing up a detailed picture of what material teachers cover, and when they do it. The idea is to get a full report of what students are learning, and when. It lays the groundwork for future plans, including curriculum changes\ and new standardized tests or other assessment methods.
This sort of planning is something many districts are without, but Cape Superintendent Tom Forcella sees it as a necessity. The schools did get some e-mail and telephone complaints from parents about the extra time off, though school officials said there were not many.
“This work needs to be done,” Forcella said. Making sure the teachers talk to each other about teaching, principles and educational continuity is basic, he said.
“That’s the foundation of the work that we do,” Forcella said. And the district is committed to not only asking teachers to take the time, but also to give teachers the time they need to do it.
“It’s a lot of work,” Forcella said.
This year, in particular, is a lot of detail work for the teachers, who have to enter all of the units they teach into a centralized database.
“We want to be able to see the scope and sequence K through 12,” said Sarah Simmonds, the district’s professional development coordinator. The position is a new one this year, and is part of the district’s efforts to help teachers grow and learn, as well as streamlining the schools’curricula.
The inventory teachers are building will help as the district goes through a state-mandated process of developing a “valid, reliable” local assessment method by the 2006-2007 school year.
As teachers enter the information into the database, they also are asked to select specific areas of the Maine Learning Results standards addressed by each unit. Next year’s project will be the next step, examining how well the teaching meets the state standards.
“We’re saying, ‘Here’s what we do. Here’s what the learning results say,’” Simmonds said.
It is a custom-designed database, in which teachers can see all the information pertaining to the grade levels they work with, though they can only change or update information relating to classes they teach.
They also can search on keywords, so a teacher could, for example, see what other teachers talk about Egypt or Native American tribes in their classes. This could be an excellent resource for new teachers as they are hired, Simmonds said.
In the process, teachers are having good conversations about their work, and about ideas affecting education.
“You see lots of light bulbs going off” in teachers’heads, Simmonds said.
In many districts, Simmonds said, a real curriculum analysis doesn’t happen until assessment is the topic at hand. Removing assessment from the inventory process, she said, makes things easier for the teachers and streamlines the process of developing assessment as well.
“You’re not learning two things at the same time,” Simmonds said. “Every time you take a step, you learn something new.”
On Tuesday, the “building day,” teachers did more work individually or in small groups.
Pond Cove teachers focused on reading and writing, lesson study, new organizational techniques for material to be taught, and also discussed the educational principles that might influence the addition to the building.
Middle school teachers worked on their individual professional development plans, reviewing and refining their teaching. Some designed new units to teach, and others worked with technology, improving their familiarity with digital video, PowerPoint or web site design.
Teachers at the high school continued their work from Monday, and did some work in their departments and in their own classrooms.
Cape prepares for budget fight
Published in the Current
The Cape Elizabeth School Board is ready to fight the Town Council to keep its budget.
While an all-day workshop scheduled for this Saturday, March 2, could change the 2002-2003 budget total, at press time the proposed budget stood at $15,091,234 – a 5.7 percent increase over this year’s, or an addition of $815,583.
That equals an additional $1.27 per thousand on the tax rate, or an estimated $250 on a home valued at $200,000. The current town rate is $21.70.
At a budget workshop Tuesday night, board members characterized their request as “conservative” and “responsible,” and suggested that town spending be cut in other areas.
“If the Town Council is really serious about cutting the budget, maybe they would consider giving back their salaries,” said board member Jennifer DeSena.
Each councilor gets $350 a year, plus Social Security, according to Town Manager Michael McGovern, making the total annual cost to the town $2,637 for the seven councilors.
There are three major factors behind the budget increase: salary raises and increased expenditure for benefits for existing staff; increased staffing
to keep class sizes optimal and adequately serve students in special education programs; and a 24 percent cut in state funding to the district. “Eighty cents of the tax increase is due to the loss of state subsidy,” said business manager Pauline Aportria.
The district will add 2.5 full-time-equivalent positions among the regular staff, and 3.9 full-time-equivalents in special education.
Benefits for existing staff will not be expanded, but continue to become more expensive, said Superintendent Tom Forcella, and will cost 17 percent more next year than they do this year. This year’s budget included a 7 percent increase in benefits spending over last year.
The personnel expenses will cost $838,583 in combined salary and benefits, and services and portable classrooms, related to the planned construction projects at the high school and Pond Cove, will cost $80,000. The district also will spend $59,500 to purchase a bus – an expense budgeted for but not spent this year.
While the budget increases total $978,083, the overall increase is less than this amount, because of energy conservation and lower energy costs, reductions in debt service and smaller cutbacks throughout the district.
The district will get $589,598 less in state funding than it did this year, a decrease of 23.64 percent. Reserve money from this year’s planned bus purchase and additional state funds held over from this year will carry over to offset some expenses.
A proposal to charge student activity fees at the middle school and high school, projected to raise between $50,000 and $60,000, was tabled. Board members expressed “philosophical objections” to charging such a fee.
Spending has been reduced throughout the district, including in the professional development program, which had been slated to include additional resource staff in each building. Other additions also have been eliminated, including a computer lab technician for the high school, athletic support at the middle school and world language at Pond Cove.
“There are no new programs in this budget,” Forcella said.
Instead, 76 percent of the budget will be dedicated to salary and benefits. He said the district is remaining true to its plans for the future. “We are addressing our strategic goals with this budget,” Forcella said, but warned against continuing cutbacks and neglecting programs that already are planned or even begun.
“How much can we afford to put it off?” he asked.
The School Board began to prepare its defense of the budget Tuesday, anticipating questions from the Town Council and suggesting changes to PowerPoint presentations and other documents that would help clarify the issues when they are presented to the council.
One assumption in this budget proposal is that class sizes stay within the district’s limits, as set in 1987 and largely unchanged since then.
“It’s based on some pretty solid quality education principles,” said board Chairman George Entwistle.
Entwistle, like Forcella, noted the danger of not funding programs begun in previous years. “We begin to not realize the full value of the investments that we’ve made earlier,” he said, making specific reference to slower-than-planned increases in technology support staff. The computers and other equipment are already in the schools.
One hidden bugaboo not addressed in the budget is disposal of old computer equipment, now stored in closets and spare space throughout the district. Computers are frequently classified as hazardous waste, because some components contain mercury or other heavy metals, according to Gary Lanoie, the district’s technology coordinator.
The athletics budget also includes $5,000 for a new pole-vault pit, needed to replace the current high school pit, “which may be illegal,” according to high school Principal Jeff Shedd.
The Cape Elizabeth School Board is ready to fight the Town Council to keep its budget.
While an all-day workshop scheduled for this Saturday, March 2, could change the 2002-2003 budget total, at press time the proposed budget stood at $15,091,234 – a 5.7 percent increase over this year’s, or an addition of $815,583.
That equals an additional $1.27 per thousand on the tax rate, or an estimated $250 on a home valued at $200,000. The current town rate is $21.70.
At a budget workshop Tuesday night, board members characterized their request as “conservative” and “responsible,” and suggested that town spending be cut in other areas.
“If the Town Council is really serious about cutting the budget, maybe they would consider giving back their salaries,” said board member Jennifer DeSena.
Each councilor gets $350 a year, plus Social Security, according to Town Manager Michael McGovern, making the total annual cost to the town $2,637 for the seven councilors.
There are three major factors behind the budget increase: salary raises and increased expenditure for benefits for existing staff; increased staffing
to keep class sizes optimal and adequately serve students in special education programs; and a 24 percent cut in state funding to the district. “Eighty cents of the tax increase is due to the loss of state subsidy,” said business manager Pauline Aportria.
The district will add 2.5 full-time-equivalent positions among the regular staff, and 3.9 full-time-equivalents in special education.
Benefits for existing staff will not be expanded, but continue to become more expensive, said Superintendent Tom Forcella, and will cost 17 percent more next year than they do this year. This year’s budget included a 7 percent increase in benefits spending over last year.
The personnel expenses will cost $838,583 in combined salary and benefits, and services and portable classrooms, related to the planned construction projects at the high school and Pond Cove, will cost $80,000. The district also will spend $59,500 to purchase a bus – an expense budgeted for but not spent this year.
While the budget increases total $978,083, the overall increase is less than this amount, because of energy conservation and lower energy costs, reductions in debt service and smaller cutbacks throughout the district.
The district will get $589,598 less in state funding than it did this year, a decrease of 23.64 percent. Reserve money from this year’s planned bus purchase and additional state funds held over from this year will carry over to offset some expenses.
A proposal to charge student activity fees at the middle school and high school, projected to raise between $50,000 and $60,000, was tabled. Board members expressed “philosophical objections” to charging such a fee.
Spending has been reduced throughout the district, including in the professional development program, which had been slated to include additional resource staff in each building. Other additions also have been eliminated, including a computer lab technician for the high school, athletic support at the middle school and world language at Pond Cove.
“There are no new programs in this budget,” Forcella said.
Instead, 76 percent of the budget will be dedicated to salary and benefits. He said the district is remaining true to its plans for the future. “We are addressing our strategic goals with this budget,” Forcella said, but warned against continuing cutbacks and neglecting programs that already are planned or even begun.
“How much can we afford to put it off?” he asked.
The School Board began to prepare its defense of the budget Tuesday, anticipating questions from the Town Council and suggesting changes to PowerPoint presentations and other documents that would help clarify the issues when they are presented to the council.
One assumption in this budget proposal is that class sizes stay within the district’s limits, as set in 1987 and largely unchanged since then.
“It’s based on some pretty solid quality education principles,” said board Chairman George Entwistle.
Entwistle, like Forcella, noted the danger of not funding programs begun in previous years. “We begin to not realize the full value of the investments that we’ve made earlier,” he said, making specific reference to slower-than-planned increases in technology support staff. The computers and other equipment are already in the schools.
One hidden bugaboo not addressed in the budget is disposal of old computer equipment, now stored in closets and spare space throughout the district. Computers are frequently classified as hazardous waste, because some components contain mercury or other heavy metals, according to Gary Lanoie, the district’s technology coordinator.
The athletics budget also includes $5,000 for a new pole-vault pit, needed to replace the current high school pit, “which may be illegal,” according to high school Principal Jeff Shedd.
Finding the road to health
Published in the Current
Fourteen years ago, Caryn Treister had a 1-year-old daughter and a son on the way. But her body was racked by headaches and nausea, and she knew something was wrong. The doctors told her she was having a rough pregnancy and sent her home.
“It really bothered me,” she said. The doctors weren’t helpful, and Treister, who had been a top model in Chicago for 12 years and was still living in Chicago with her family, didn’t know where to turn.
She gave the doctors one last chance to figure out her problem, and a stomach specialist asked her the key question: which was first, the headaches or the vomiting? It was the former, and she was in for a brain-scanning MRI two days later.
Before Treister was ready to go home after the scan, her husband had already been paged and had raced to the hospital. She had a massive brain tumor, and went into surgery that evening. Doctors doubted her fetus would survive, if Treister herself did.
But she was a health-conscious woman who had tried to stay fit, so she pulled through and so did her baby.
“It was really a wake-up call,” she said of her survival. The tumor was benign and hasn’t returned, but she still feels its effects in how she lives her daily life, she said.
She got even more into fitness, and started teaching swimming and water aerobics part time, spending the rest of her time at home with her children. She also began paying more attention to nutrition.
“I really really tried to eat well,” Treister said, reading labels, choosing whole grains, and doing research on dietary supplements.
“If I didn’t do it, nobody else would,” Treister said.
When she and her family moved to Cape Elizabeth in 1996, she was thrilled. She had grown up in Exeter, N.H., and her parents and four siblings live near there now.
“For me it was really coming home,” Treister said. “We can all get together.”
“I also wanted to give my kids the mountains and the ocean,” Treister said.
They had a few health problems, too. Her daughter, now 14, had chronic fatigue syndrome, and her son, now 13, had asthma.
As Treister set up a gym in her basement and began to study toward her fitness trainer’s certification at USM, she felt like she was missing something.
“I always felt there was something more,” Treister said.
She had begun taking in individual clients for fitness training. “I love motivating people, I love helping people,” Treister said.
Then her aunt told her about a line of nutritional supplements that fit her needs and those of her family, friends and clients.
“It was like the final piece,” she said.
Her daughter’s fatigue disappeared. So did her son’s asthma.
One of her clients suffered terribly from fibromyalgia, a disease of unknown cause that gives a patient near-constant pain throughout the body.
But after using the supplements, “she’s 100 percent now,” Treister said. “It’s almost like a fairy tale.”
Treister, who wanted to be a social worker when she was in high school, has now found her calling.
“I really wanted to make a difference,” Treister said.
She teaches water aerobics for adults three days a week at the Cape Elizabeth town pool, and has become a distributor for the supplement line. She also is the holder of three state records in corporate track competition, as a member of the USM corporate track team.
But the satisfaction she takes from her job is the wonder she has truly found. “I have changed a person’s life,” Treister said.
Fourteen years ago, Caryn Treister had a 1-year-old daughter and a son on the way. But her body was racked by headaches and nausea, and she knew something was wrong. The doctors told her she was having a rough pregnancy and sent her home.
“It really bothered me,” she said. The doctors weren’t helpful, and Treister, who had been a top model in Chicago for 12 years and was still living in Chicago with her family, didn’t know where to turn.
She gave the doctors one last chance to figure out her problem, and a stomach specialist asked her the key question: which was first, the headaches or the vomiting? It was the former, and she was in for a brain-scanning MRI two days later.
Before Treister was ready to go home after the scan, her husband had already been paged and had raced to the hospital. She had a massive brain tumor, and went into surgery that evening. Doctors doubted her fetus would survive, if Treister herself did.
But she was a health-conscious woman who had tried to stay fit, so she pulled through and so did her baby.
“It was really a wake-up call,” she said of her survival. The tumor was benign and hasn’t returned, but she still feels its effects in how she lives her daily life, she said.
She got even more into fitness, and started teaching swimming and water aerobics part time, spending the rest of her time at home with her children. She also began paying more attention to nutrition.
“I really really tried to eat well,” Treister said, reading labels, choosing whole grains, and doing research on dietary supplements.
“If I didn’t do it, nobody else would,” Treister said.
When she and her family moved to Cape Elizabeth in 1996, she was thrilled. She had grown up in Exeter, N.H., and her parents and four siblings live near there now.
“For me it was really coming home,” Treister said. “We can all get together.”
“I also wanted to give my kids the mountains and the ocean,” Treister said.
They had a few health problems, too. Her daughter, now 14, had chronic fatigue syndrome, and her son, now 13, had asthma.
As Treister set up a gym in her basement and began to study toward her fitness trainer’s certification at USM, she felt like she was missing something.
“I always felt there was something more,” Treister said.
She had begun taking in individual clients for fitness training. “I love motivating people, I love helping people,” Treister said.
Then her aunt told her about a line of nutritional supplements that fit her needs and those of her family, friends and clients.
“It was like the final piece,” she said.
Her daughter’s fatigue disappeared. So did her son’s asthma.
One of her clients suffered terribly from fibromyalgia, a disease of unknown cause that gives a patient near-constant pain throughout the body.
But after using the supplements, “she’s 100 percent now,” Treister said. “It’s almost like a fairy tale.”
Treister, who wanted to be a social worker when she was in high school, has now found her calling.
“I really wanted to make a difference,” Treister said.
She teaches water aerobics for adults three days a week at the Cape Elizabeth town pool, and has become a distributor for the supplement line. She also is the holder of three state records in corporate track competition, as a member of the USM corporate track team.
But the satisfaction she takes from her job is the wonder she has truly found. “I have changed a person’s life,” Treister said.
Verizon-ISP battle may be nearing conclusion
Published in Interface Tech News
CONCORD, N.H. ‹ Continuing a case opened in 1999, the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has received closing briefs from all parties concerned in the increasingly contentious network congestion-dry copper broadband access dispute, but a timetable for further action remains unclear. There may also be broader repercussions, affecting Verizon New Hampshire's rates for all services in the state, and its ability to offer long-distance telephone service to New Hampshire customers.
In 1999, all parties agree, 911 access was unavailable in certain New Hampshire communities due to network congestion, which was blamed on the wide use of dial-up Internet service. In response, the PUC opened a case to figure out how to solve the problem.
One proposal, put forward by the New Hampshire Internet Service Providers Association (NHISPA), was to allow ISPs access to so-called "dry copper" (copper wire pairs with no equipment attached to them) so the ISPs could offer low-cost broadband Internet access, reducing the load on the telephone network.
Verizon New Hampshire now claims that the network congestion problem has been solved through the installation of additional equipment. Some PUC officials agree, adding that there have been no reports of this type of network congestion since June 2001.
"The network congestion issue has been solved," said Verizon New Hampshire spokesman Erle Pierce. As a result, he said, the discussion over whether his company should offer dry copper loops to ISPs is now moot, although he admits the ISPs could bring it up in a separate PUC case if they choose.
At least one ISP disagrees that the congestion is solved, and insists that dry copper is the way out.
"Lines are busy all the time," said Brian Susnock, president of the Nashua, N.H.-based Destek Group, which also has a federal suit pending against Verizon New Hampshire, alleging the company engaged in improper procedures regarding exceptions to standard tariffs.
Susnock said the PUC changed the reporting standards to allow more congestion, a charge PUC telecommunications director Kate Bailey denied.
Other allegations of PUC staff problems can be found in the filings.
From the NHISPA: "(The) staff's position is totally unsupportable and has no basis in fact, experience, or technology."
And from the Town of Northampton Cable TV-Broadband-Telecom Committee: "I suggest to you that your staff does not understand what is going on out in the real world of telecommunications, and that this lack of knowledge is problematic."
Bailey denied those charges, and protested their inclusion in official documents. "It was extremely rude to say the things that they did," she said. "I don't believe (our) staff said anything technically wrong."
She added that the ISPs could become CLECs ‹ regulated entities ‹ and gain access to dry copper loops that way. The ISPs would then have to offer some service that the FCC describes as "telecommunications," but not necessarily voice, Bailey said.
Susnock asserts that there would be high costs associated with becoming a CLEC, such as a sizable monthly fee charged by Verizon for access to its infrastructure database. However, Bailey claims the PUC disallowed that fee last year, and that no CLEC in New Hampshire is charged that fee or pays it.
Susnock describes Verizon's operating requirements as "anti-competitive," and vowed to continue his efforts to change them.
There may be more than just 911 access at stake with these allegations. New Hampshire's Office of the Consumer Advocate has called for a full study of Verizon's services and costs statewide (called a "rate case").
Separately, Verizon has requested permission to offer long-distance telephone service in New Hampshire under the provisions of section 271 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act.
But a decision on the network congestion case is not on the PUC agenda yet, and officials did not disclose when it might be.
CONCORD, N.H. ‹ Continuing a case opened in 1999, the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has received closing briefs from all parties concerned in the increasingly contentious network congestion-dry copper broadband access dispute, but a timetable for further action remains unclear. There may also be broader repercussions, affecting Verizon New Hampshire's rates for all services in the state, and its ability to offer long-distance telephone service to New Hampshire customers.
In 1999, all parties agree, 911 access was unavailable in certain New Hampshire communities due to network congestion, which was blamed on the wide use of dial-up Internet service. In response, the PUC opened a case to figure out how to solve the problem.
One proposal, put forward by the New Hampshire Internet Service Providers Association (NHISPA), was to allow ISPs access to so-called "dry copper" (copper wire pairs with no equipment attached to them) so the ISPs could offer low-cost broadband Internet access, reducing the load on the telephone network.
Verizon New Hampshire now claims that the network congestion problem has been solved through the installation of additional equipment. Some PUC officials agree, adding that there have been no reports of this type of network congestion since June 2001.
"The network congestion issue has been solved," said Verizon New Hampshire spokesman Erle Pierce. As a result, he said, the discussion over whether his company should offer dry copper loops to ISPs is now moot, although he admits the ISPs could bring it up in a separate PUC case if they choose.
At least one ISP disagrees that the congestion is solved, and insists that dry copper is the way out.
"Lines are busy all the time," said Brian Susnock, president of the Nashua, N.H.-based Destek Group, which also has a federal suit pending against Verizon New Hampshire, alleging the company engaged in improper procedures regarding exceptions to standard tariffs.
Susnock said the PUC changed the reporting standards to allow more congestion, a charge PUC telecommunications director Kate Bailey denied.
Other allegations of PUC staff problems can be found in the filings.
From the NHISPA: "(The) staff's position is totally unsupportable and has no basis in fact, experience, or technology."
And from the Town of Northampton Cable TV-Broadband-Telecom Committee: "I suggest to you that your staff does not understand what is going on out in the real world of telecommunications, and that this lack of knowledge is problematic."
Bailey denied those charges, and protested their inclusion in official documents. "It was extremely rude to say the things that they did," she said. "I don't believe (our) staff said anything technically wrong."
She added that the ISPs could become CLECs ‹ regulated entities ‹ and gain access to dry copper loops that way. The ISPs would then have to offer some service that the FCC describes as "telecommunications," but not necessarily voice, Bailey said.
Susnock asserts that there would be high costs associated with becoming a CLEC, such as a sizable monthly fee charged by Verizon for access to its infrastructure database. However, Bailey claims the PUC disallowed that fee last year, and that no CLEC in New Hampshire is charged that fee or pays it.
Susnock describes Verizon's operating requirements as "anti-competitive," and vowed to continue his efforts to change them.
There may be more than just 911 access at stake with these allegations. New Hampshire's Office of the Consumer Advocate has called for a full study of Verizon's services and costs statewide (called a "rate case").
Separately, Verizon has requested permission to offer long-distance telephone service in New Hampshire under the provisions of section 271 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act.
But a decision on the network congestion case is not on the PUC agenda yet, and officials did not disclose when it might be.
Wednesday, February 27, 2002
Intellicare combines call center software, services
Published in Interface Tech News
SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine ‹ Expanding its offerings to health care organizations, call-center specialist Intellicare is now offering a unified messaging service combining telephone, fax, e-mail, Internet chat, and voicemail in a single desk workstation.
The system, which the company calls a "blended media contact center" and sells under the product name Intelliview, can route incoming traffic to several destinations, based on several criteria. For example, a Spanish-language e-mail message would be routed to a Spanish-reading assistant, or a fax from a patient inquiring about cardiac care would go to a representative with special knowledge about cardiac issues.
It offers a solution to a problem hospitals, insurance companies, and large medical practices are having: How to prepare for providing Internet customer service at a time when most people still use the phone?
One criterion is real-time handling, according to Victor Otley, chairman, CEO, and president of Intellicare. "Live agent interaction is extremely important," Otley sai d.
But phone traffic is by far the most common means of seeking customer service, Otley said, and he doesn't see that changing quickly.
"We believe that (migration to e-mail and Internet chat service) will happen over a period of years, not months," he said.
Intellicare itself operates call centers, and can augment a client's own customer service or do it entirely, on an outsourced basis, while remaining in compliance with federal privacy laws governing medical records.
The privately held and venture-funded company has 75 full-time equivalents spread across between 100 and 200 people, Otley said.
The firm grew 45 percent last year and is expected to grow 80 percent this year, as the company steps up marketing and sales efforts to get the product out the door.
One buyer has already bitten and been pleased. Kara Goodnight, the call-center supervisor at Texas Health Resources in Arlington, Tex., said her company, which operates 13 hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and handles 200,000 customer calls per year, conducted a massive research effort before deciding to go with Intellicare's combination of software and outsourced service.
"We felt that their software was the best product to meet our needs," Goodnight said.
In addition to the advantage of sharing a support platform between Texas Health Resources' call center and Intellicare, which will handle some calls, she said that a particular hurdle was privacy.
"We were very concerned about having our data reside on somebody else's server," Goodnight said. But Intellicare was able to assuage that concern. "We feel very comfortable that they're housing our very important data," she said.
SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine ‹ Expanding its offerings to health care organizations, call-center specialist Intellicare is now offering a unified messaging service combining telephone, fax, e-mail, Internet chat, and voicemail in a single desk workstation.
The system, which the company calls a "blended media contact center" and sells under the product name Intelliview, can route incoming traffic to several destinations, based on several criteria. For example, a Spanish-language e-mail message would be routed to a Spanish-reading assistant, or a fax from a patient inquiring about cardiac care would go to a representative with special knowledge about cardiac issues.
It offers a solution to a problem hospitals, insurance companies, and large medical practices are having: How to prepare for providing Internet customer service at a time when most people still use the phone?
One criterion is real-time handling, according to Victor Otley, chairman, CEO, and president of Intellicare. "Live agent interaction is extremely important," Otley sai d.
But phone traffic is by far the most common means of seeking customer service, Otley said, and he doesn't see that changing quickly.
"We believe that (migration to e-mail and Internet chat service) will happen over a period of years, not months," he said.
Intellicare itself operates call centers, and can augment a client's own customer service or do it entirely, on an outsourced basis, while remaining in compliance with federal privacy laws governing medical records.
The privately held and venture-funded company has 75 full-time equivalents spread across between 100 and 200 people, Otley said.
The firm grew 45 percent last year and is expected to grow 80 percent this year, as the company steps up marketing and sales efforts to get the product out the door.
One buyer has already bitten and been pleased. Kara Goodnight, the call-center supervisor at Texas Health Resources in Arlington, Tex., said her company, which operates 13 hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and handles 200,000 customer calls per year, conducted a massive research effort before deciding to go with Intellicare's combination of software and outsourced service.
"We felt that their software was the best product to meet our needs," Goodnight said.
In addition to the advantage of sharing a support platform between Texas Health Resources' call center and Intellicare, which will handle some calls, she said that a particular hurdle was privacy.
"We were very concerned about having our data reside on somebody else's server," Goodnight said. But Intellicare was able to assuage that concern. "We feel very comfortable that they're housing our very important data," she said.
Thursday, February 21, 2002
Jenny’s Chickens: No fowl, just spice
Published in the Current
It’s not quite hidden, but there’s no sign out front. The only giveaway is the noise of chickens clucking and the occasional rooster’s “cock-a-doodle-doo!” Jenny’s Chickens is a small, home-based business, one of many just below the surface of Cape Elizabeth’s business community.
But the product has nothing to do with chickens, despite the ones she keeps in the garage, and in fact the business isn’t named after poultry. Instead, Jenny Campbell has borrowed the name of a Celtic reel her husband plays on the bagpipes. And she makes sofrito, a green, salsa-like sauce that is the basis for many Caribbean dishes.
“In Puerto Rican food, it just goes in everything,” Campbell said. A native of Brooklyn with a Sicilian background—Italians have a version of the sauce they call soffritto—Campbell has been making sofrito for her own use for 15 years.
She and her family moved to Cape Elizabeth seven years ago, and she always had some in the fridge. Her new friends and neighbors were always asking about the green stuff, she said.
In 2000, when her youngest son went to kindergarten, she decided to make a business of it. She chopped and cooked and her husband, a graphic designer, made the labels. She took the first case to the Pond Cove IGA, where it did well, though not in the way she would have thought.
“Everybody eats it out of the jar,” Campbell said. She also sells at the Higgins Beach Market in the summer, the Whole Foods Market in Portland, and is on the tables at Gritty McDuff’s and the Great Lost Bear, both in Portland.
In 2001, she won a Scovie “Fiery Foods” award for the sofrito, and will have a table at the New England Products Trade Show in Portland March 10-12. It’s a big jump from one of her previous jobs, making and selling felafel from a street-vendor’s cart in New York City.
She makes “under 500 cases” a year, each of which contains twelve 12-ounce jars. Each batch of 12 jars takes just under five hours, starting with cleaning the kitchen before she begins work. The process involves industrial-size food-processing machines, washing the big stockpot out, while wearing gloves and a mask to protect her from the juice of the habanero peppers that are a key ingredient in the sauce, and ending with the labeling of the jars.
She can start when her kids head off to school—two are at Pond Cove and one is at the middle school—and be done before they get home, which suits her perfectly.
“I do this so I can spend time with my kids,” she said.
It’s not quite hidden, but there’s no sign out front. The only giveaway is the noise of chickens clucking and the occasional rooster’s “cock-a-doodle-doo!” Jenny’s Chickens is a small, home-based business, one of many just below the surface of Cape Elizabeth’s business community.
But the product has nothing to do with chickens, despite the ones she keeps in the garage, and in fact the business isn’t named after poultry. Instead, Jenny Campbell has borrowed the name of a Celtic reel her husband plays on the bagpipes. And she makes sofrito, a green, salsa-like sauce that is the basis for many Caribbean dishes.
“In Puerto Rican food, it just goes in everything,” Campbell said. A native of Brooklyn with a Sicilian background—Italians have a version of the sauce they call soffritto—Campbell has been making sofrito for her own use for 15 years.
She and her family moved to Cape Elizabeth seven years ago, and she always had some in the fridge. Her new friends and neighbors were always asking about the green stuff, she said.
In 2000, when her youngest son went to kindergarten, she decided to make a business of it. She chopped and cooked and her husband, a graphic designer, made the labels. She took the first case to the Pond Cove IGA, where it did well, though not in the way she would have thought.
“Everybody eats it out of the jar,” Campbell said. She also sells at the Higgins Beach Market in the summer, the Whole Foods Market in Portland, and is on the tables at Gritty McDuff’s and the Great Lost Bear, both in Portland.
In 2001, she won a Scovie “Fiery Foods” award for the sofrito, and will have a table at the New England Products Trade Show in Portland March 10-12. It’s a big jump from one of her previous jobs, making and selling felafel from a street-vendor’s cart in New York City.
She makes “under 500 cases” a year, each of which contains twelve 12-ounce jars. Each batch of 12 jars takes just under five hours, starting with cleaning the kitchen before she begins work. The process involves industrial-size food-processing machines, washing the big stockpot out, while wearing gloves and a mask to protect her from the juice of the habanero peppers that are a key ingredient in the sauce, and ending with the labeling of the jars.
She can start when her kids head off to school—two are at Pond Cove and one is at the middle school—and be done before they get home, which suits her perfectly.
“I do this so I can spend time with my kids,” she said.
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