With full deference to Jack Kerouac, the View took to the highways this week for a two-day trip to North Central Massachusetts, to the banks of the Nashua river where my alma mater, Fitchburg State College basks in the shadow of old Wachusett Mountain. I serve on the Board of Directors of the FSC Foundation, an honorable position where the absence of financial remuneration is offset by long hours and limited prestige. A labor of love if there ever was one. But the love is significant for this tiny college that sometimes gets overlooked here in a state containing so many prominent institutions of higher learning. One of our current projects is a fundraising campaign that will seek to have the school’s many alumni and friends express that love in a more tangible way, but more on that later.
I was barely out of Plymouth, heading west on Rte 44 in Middleboro, when I noticed a KOA campground on the north side of the road. But what is of interest here is rather the lush forest land lining the south side of the road. This pristine woodland sheltered by a verdant tree canopy is the closest thing we have to a forest primeval and it is exactly where the Sovereign citizens of Wampanoag Nation and their financial backers are planning to build the thirty-something-story casino complex that will change forever the face of sleepy little Middleboro. Rte 44 is a dusty two-lane road and as I continued on my way, I wondered how it will look in a few years, widened to freeway dimensions and lit up so as to obscure the distinction between night and day, all to whisk the gamblers to the casino’s door. The good citizens of Middleboro have voted for the casino in the expectation that the Town’s share of the revenues will lower their property taxes, and for a while they probably will. Casinos separate money from gamblers the way my Orrick vacuum separates the dirt from my rugs. There will be plenty of money taken in. But by the time they realize that their share has been seamlessly absorbed into the municipal budget and the need for tax money arisen anew, it will be too late to turn back the clock to what the town used to be before it became a magnet for high-rolling low life. And, not to be that way, but the Wamps, holed up in their new gated communities in Mashpee (new town motto: a Benz in every garage and a Rolex on every wrist) won’t be spending a lot of time worrying about the quality of life in Middleboro.
I was barely out of Plymouth, heading west on Rte 44 in Middleboro, when I noticed a KOA campground on the north side of the road. But what is of interest here is rather the lush forest land lining the south side of the road. This pristine woodland sheltered by a verdant tree canopy is the closest thing we have to a forest primeval and it is exactly where the Sovereign citizens of Wampanoag Nation and their financial backers are planning to build the thirty-something-story casino complex that will change forever the face of sleepy little Middleboro. Rte 44 is a dusty two-lane road and as I continued on my way, I wondered how it will look in a few years, widened to freeway dimensions and lit up so as to obscure the distinction between night and day, all to whisk the gamblers to the casino’s door. The good citizens of Middleboro have voted for the casino in the expectation that the Town’s share of the revenues will lower their property taxes, and for a while they probably will. Casinos separate money from gamblers the way my Orrick vacuum separates the dirt from my rugs. There will be plenty of money taken in. But by the time they realize that their share has been seamlessly absorbed into the municipal budget and the need for tax money arisen anew, it will be too late to turn back the clock to what the town used to be before it became a magnet for high-rolling low life. And, not to be that way, but the Wamps, holed up in their new gated communities in Mashpee (new town motto: a Benz in every garage and a Rolex on every wrist) won’t be spending a lot of time worrying about the quality of life in Middleboro.
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Pause for breaking news. This just in: State Senate President Therese Murray (D. Plymouth) has endorsed Hillary Clinton for President. In acknowledging Murray’s support, Clinton cited Murray’s efforts at helping pass health care coverage for all in Massachusetts. Putting aside the question of whether or not this magic wand solution to a major problem will ever work, it tells us that imposing a system of socialized medicine on the citizens of the USA continues to be one of Hilary’s pet projects. Murray, on the other hand, is predictably backing a candidate who is fully committed to having the government dictate to the people on issues large and small, just as she and her cronies in the Massachusetts General Court, decided that the issue of gay marriage was best decided by themselves in spite of the 170,000 citizens who petitioned for a popular vote. If Hilary is elected, we will all have plenty of time to discuss this as we wait in line at the government medical clinic. And we still have fourteen months to go!
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Once I reached I-495 in Middleboro, I went north, across the Mass. Turnpike to Rte 2, which leads westward to Fitchburg and beyond. Had I continued north on I-495, I would have soon passed the City of Lowell where Jack Kerouac was born in 1922 and where my son, Mark, was also born forty four years later. As near as I can tell, they remain two of Lowell’s more famous native sons.
Next week, 3,150 full-time day students will begin the fall semester at Fitchburg State. The college was founded in 1894 as a Normal school to prepare teachers. Today it provides educational opportunity through fifty undergraduate programs including: Nursing, Communication Media, Education, Business Administration and Industrial Technology. Another two thousand or so will pursue graduate studies. Historically, the Commonwealth funded the bulk of the operating budgets of the college, but over time, this has changed to the point that today, public funds account for less than fifty percent; the balance coming from student tuition and fees. Following a nation-wide trend among public colleges, the college has ramped up its quest for private donations to enhance the educational experience of the student body through financial aid and other programs. Currently, we are in the early phases of a capital campaign where we have been approaching friends and local businesses seeking financial support. As time goes on, we will announce the public phase of the campaign as we broaden out our appeal to our 35,000 alumni and friends across the country. I am proud to be associated with this effort to raise the quality of an FSC education to new heights.
Next week, 3,150 full-time day students will begin the fall semester at Fitchburg State. The college was founded in 1894 as a Normal school to prepare teachers. Today it provides educational opportunity through fifty undergraduate programs including: Nursing, Communication Media, Education, Business Administration and Industrial Technology. Another two thousand or so will pursue graduate studies. Historically, the Commonwealth funded the bulk of the operating budgets of the college, but over time, this has changed to the point that today, public funds account for less than fifty percent; the balance coming from student tuition and fees. Following a nation-wide trend among public colleges, the college has ramped up its quest for private donations to enhance the educational experience of the student body through financial aid and other programs. Currently, we are in the early phases of a capital campaign where we have been approaching friends and local businesses seeking financial support. As time goes on, we will announce the public phase of the campaign as we broaden out our appeal to our 35,000 alumni and friends across the country. I am proud to be associated with this effort to raise the quality of an FSC education to new heights.
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