New London Times

Special Service

2008-11-20T16:46:17Z

The Rotary Club of New London recently hosted a program devoted to Veterans Day during one of the club’s weekly luncheons at the Radisson Hotel in New London. For more information about the New London Rotary Club, visit www.newlondonrotary.org.

To see the story's corresponding photo album, click the photo.

Lessons Learned in the Military: Kente Center marks Veterans Day with special panel discussion

2008-11-20T16:44:16Z

Rev. Wade Hyslop was adamant this year. He did not want Veterans Day to be just another carefree day off from work or school.

“Kids should not be spending today at the mall,” he said.

So in a vacation-day-flanking maneuver, Hyslop and the Kente Cultural Center held a panel discussion at OIC last week about the role of black veterans in the military.

And, as it turns out, you don’t need to go too far to get some history.

Kente invited six local veterans whose lives span an era from World War II to the end of the Vietnam War, to tell their stories.

Of course, it’s not just military history—narratives of where they were stationed, where they sailed, or where they fought. The six vets—Roy Sebastian, Betty Davis, Fran Anderson, Frank Jarvis, Richard Vessells, and Ernest Danford—encountered racism and prejudice, learned lessons about themselves, taught plenty more to others, and offered hope to people in the audience that the good in people will, eventually, prevail.

Music From All Walks of Life

“There’s something about being on a submarine,” said Frank Jarvis, a Navy vet, now a detective in the New London Police Department. “You have to get along.”

Jarvis moved to New London from St. Maarten, and graduated from New London High in 1972 with average grades.

He did feel college was right for him, but had a friend who worked aboard submarines. After his parents signed a waiver, Jarvis was off to San Diego for basic training.

“You can imagine, not knowing anyone and being 3,000 miles from home,” he said.

Aboard a sub patrolling the Pacific during the latter stages of the Vietnam War, he met a fellow sailor who was from the Ozarks.

“I was the first black person he ever talked to,” Jarvis said. “That made me stop and think.”

It turned out at the Arkansan and Jarvis, who became friends, shared a common passion: music.

“I liked Isaac Hayes,” Jarvis said, “and he loved Charley Pride. We heard music from all walks of life.”

Box Cars

Roy Sebastian was working at Electric Boat in 1944 when his draft number was called, and soon he was off to Fort Devens in Massachusetts.

“I was a homeboy, you know,” said Sebastian, an Eastern Pequot. “I was there for two months.”

Sebastian served in the Army when units were segregated. Integrated units began in 1948, by virtue of President Harry Truman’s executive order, though the armed forces were not totally desegregated until 1954.

Word came that Sebastian’s unit was to be sent to Alabama to complete training at Fort McLennan.

“We rode all the way to Washington, D.C., in Pullman cars,” he said. “Once we were there, we had to get out, and they put us in box cars.”

Though, while stationed in Alabama, Sebastian frequented the PX, where he became entranced by the “pretty girl that worked behind the counter.”

The pretty girl became his wife, who Sebastian calls “his Southern belle.”

From Springfield, Mass.

Betty Davis’ parents wanted her to go on to higher education. She graduated from a two-year school in Worcester where she became president of the student council, though she still had an itch to see more of the country.

She eventually joined the Navy and became a medical corpsman, determined to make her mark.

“I thought no one could stop me,” Davis. “I was from Springfield.”

Davis added, “The military gives you the confidence to walk in any company.”

The First Thing I Asked

Fran Anderson decided on the Navy because she liked the uniform better than the Air Force dress.

She grew up in Louisville in the waning, but still potent, Jim Crow era.

“I was scared of white people,” she said. “I remember reading about Emmett Till.”

Once in the Navy and stationed on Treasure Island, a small island in San Francisco Bay, Anderson soon discovered that the beauty parlor on the base would not cut black women’s hair.

“Well, I raised a stink about that,” she said.

Eventually she was sent to Sub Base New London in Groton.

“The first thing I asked, was ‘Do you have anyone to cut our hair?’” Anderson said. “They went, ‘Sure, we have Al.’”

Anderson eventually stayed in the area and worked at The Day for more than 20 years.

Uncle Sam Will Train You

Richard Vessells joined the Marines in the early 1970s and jokingly admitted he “had fun blowing stuff up.”

“But I don’t want to talk about the bad stuff,” he said.

Vessells said he didn’t experience too many problems with race during his tour.

“You are all green in the bunker,” he said.

Vessells said he would recommend the military to any young people thinking about it as a career.

“Uncle Sam will train you to be the best you can be,” he said.

They Wanted To Free Me

Submariner Ernest Danford came to New London after he was drafted into the Navy in 1944.

He said the black sailors had to train at State Pier and learned what every part of sub was for, in case something went wrong.

Eventually, Danford was sent to California, and then the Pacific theater, serving on Papua New Guinea and in Australia.

Danford recounted a transcontinental train ride across Australia which had several stops along the way. At one stop, several Aborigines spied him on the train and tried to get him off.

“They wanted to free me,” he said. “They thought I was captured.”

By Stephen Chupaska
Times Staff Writer

New London Notebook

2008-11-20T16:41:46Z

Drug Test Vote Postponed

The Board of Education postponed its planned vote on instituting drug tests for new hires as a condition of employment.

School board Vice President Elaine Maynard-Adams said the board’s lawyers are still vetting language on the waiver positional employees must sign, acknowledging they must pass a drug test.

“The board is committed to having this policy in place by Jan. 1,” she said. The vote will most likely take place on Dec. 11, during the regular school board meeting.

The test will screen for the presence of Panel 5 drugs, which include cannabis, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines, and PCP.

Both Maynard-Adams and Superintendent of Schools Christopher Clouet said the drug test proposal has been under consideration for months and had nothing to do with recent arrest of a New London middle school teacher for crack cocaine possession.

“[The postponement] was not the result of recent events,” Maynard-Adams said.

The tests will cost $32 to process.

Awards and Recognition

At last week’s board meeting, the school administration named its
student, employee, and volunteer of the month for November.

Science and Technology Magnet School of Southeastern Connecticut (STMS) student Michael Grady was named student of the month.

“I’m taking advantage of the opportunities the magnet school has given me,” he said.

Grady, a senior, has completed internships with the technology department in the New London public schools and with the Coast Guard Academy.

“I’m taking these opportunities, and I’m going to run with them,” Grady said.

Justin Grabel, resident scholar at STMS, was named employee of the month.

Grabel uses his expertise in coral restoration and propagation to illustration scientific concepts.

“The students respond to it,” he said.

Also, Ed Natoli, a volunteer at STMS, was recognized but not present to accept his award.

Whalers Abroad

The school board approved a field trip sponsored by the New London High School Travel Club to Spain and Morocco.

The Travel Club is accepting donations to offset the cost of the trip.

Call 437-6400 for more information.

New Hires

The board approved four new positions last week—cafeteria managers for Jennings School, Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School, and NLHS.

Also, the board created a cook’s position for Jennings School.

Finance Director Maria Whalen said the funds for the positions are already marked in the 2008-2009 budget.

New London-Montville Football Rematch Strong Possibility: Minus two top players, Whalers miraculously remain unbeaten

2008-11-20T16:40:18Z

Amidst the hugs, chest bumps, and chants of “Whaler Pride” during a delirious post-game celebration of New London’s 27-26 last-play miracle victory over Montville, Whaler captain Rich Vitale took on a serious tone.

“I don’t care what anyone says, everything went against us,” Vitale said. “We were without our quarterback and tight end. Everything was against us, and the game should not have went like that. Yes, we hurt ourselves by fumbling a kickoff and the fumbled snap, but I’m not happy with how things went.”

Vitale, an All-State running back-safety candidate, did his part, gaining 120 yards on 31 carries and scoring two touchdowns. Ultimately, Whaler Nation got the win and a legendary moment to last a lifetime when receiver Garrick McQueen’s catch of a Montville-deflected interception bid and subsequent 55-yard TD on the game’s last play.

So why was Vitale venting? Because he forecasted that Monday morning bloggers would say the Whalers were lucky to leave Canamella Field Nov. 7 as the area’s only unbeaten team. Some blogs and comments said Montville botched its time management unsuccessfully trying to run out the clock. That McQueen’s catch from freshman quarterback Casey Cochran should have been knocked down instead of sophomore Skyler McNair, sooner or later to be an All-Area player or better, trying to make his second interception of the game.

Both coaches agree McQueen’s catch was a gift on par with Franco Harris’ Immaculate Reception or a basketball half-court heave going in. Cochran called it a “one-in-a-million play.” Montville coach Tanner Grove said the Indians got beat “on a play you see once every 50 years.”

Down deep, Vitale feels under normal circumstances, New London would have been the team taking a knee to run out the clock. With a healthy Jordan Reed and Anthony Schiavone, or just Reed playing quarterback, New London would have handled the unbeaten Indians, Vitale believes.

Visualing a full-strength New London against Montville, it’s hard to argue that point. Hopefully, we may not have to speculate. The 3,000 in attendance and countless more ECC football fans may get another opportunity to see if that opinion pans out.

The Whalers and Indians stood first and fourth, respectively, in CIAC Class SS playoff rankings. If both teams win out—New London faces tough games against Ledyard Nov. 20 and NFA on Thanksgiving and Montville needs to beat St. Bernard with the Small Division title on the line Nov. 27—it’s quite likely they’ll return to Canamella for the state semifinals.

It’s impossible to expect Cochran, a freshman, to perform and attack defenses with the precision and talent of Reed, the Florida Gator-bound senior. Montville held NL to less than 200 total yards of offense. Reed’s presence would put triple the pressure on Montville’s secondary. The prospect of Montville single-covering Phil Singleton, McQueen, Schiavone, and Jeremy Dubose in the four-wide set would open up running lanes for Vitale, who is approaching 1,000 yards, and Reed, a dangerous runner himself at 6-3, 230 pounds.

Montville brought all of its thoroughbreds and still needed to force turnovers to ignite a furious fourth-quarter comeback, 19 points in less than seven minutes, against the Reed-less Whalers.

Conversely, Montville can gain confidence that its defense played very well against what was still a quality unit that blew out Windham the prior week. New London also received three major breaks to score: a Montville fumble inside the 10-yard line, recovering a kickoff that Montville failed to recover, and McQueen’s miracle catch.

Plus, Indian sophomore back Tyler Girard-Floyd was never fully exploited for various reasons. He served mostly as a decoy in the first half as Montville encountered blocking problems and center snap miscues. The area’s leading rusher (more than 1,600 yards) and scorer (21 touchdowns in nine games) carried just 10 times for 60 yards and still scored two touchdowns. If there is a rematch, everyone would expect Montville to make it a point to establish dominance early.

If the teams don’t meet again or play in opposite semifinals and either fails to advance, then at least we’ll have the privilege of “Lightning” McQueen’s game-winning play and the surreal atmosphere of the game’s final moments.

About 200 Montville students and fans were poised to charge Canemella Field after the game, walking out to the track behind the Indian bench. Chants of “9-0! 9-0!” grew louder and louder as Cochran (4 of 17, 79 yards) threw two incompletions and a 10-yarder to McQueen to set up a last play with four seconds left.

“I thought they had no time-outs, but when I knew they had one, I wanted to run the clock all the way down as far as I could, punt and make them go 80 yards in 12 seconds,” Grove said. “Those aren’t very good odds for them.”

But McNair and Montville safety Jesse Sutherland converged on Cochran’s heave, collided, and the ball somehow dropped in the hands of McQueen in full stride with open field ahead. In the matter of seconds, Montville’s magical moment of euphoria was kicked in the teeth by the sudden jolt of reality that the victory was snatched away. Montville’s fans froze and eventually dejectedly retreated to their cars instead of charging the field. Indian players dropped to the turf, some crying hysterically as if they had been shot. New London’s bench ran to the end zone to mob McQueen. Whaler fans emptied the bleachers and charged the field, rejoicing at the miracle play. Coach Cochran gave an audition for “Dancing with the Stars” prancing around the field while offering condolences and reassurance to Montville’s distraught players.

Vitale didn’t see the play, fearing the worst.

“I was blocking, saw the pass heaved in the air, saw the bobble, and then closed my eyes,” Vitale said. “I heard Montville’s fans scream and then ours scream. It was like Rudy or some other sports movie with an ending you’d never believe. Just an unbelievable ending. I’m not happy it came down to that, but we can take one thing out of it, never give up.”

By Larry Kelley
Special to the Times

A Special Debut at the Garde: Connecticut Lyric Opera performs classic eastern European tale in Russian

2008-11-20T16:35:32Z

New London’s Connecticut Lyric Opera will start its 2008-2009 season this weekend with a production of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at the Garde Arts Center in New London.

The performance, on Nov. 23, is the first in the state to be performed entirely in Russian, as it was performed at its premier in Moscow in 1879.

Connecticut Lyric Opera’s General and Artistic Director Adrian Sylveen Mackiewicz said the opera is widely regarded as Tchaikovsky’s greatest opera, and to his knowledge it has never been performed in Connecticut in its original language.

“Onegin represents many facets of the Slavic musical culture, Russian in particular, but it’s not limited to Russian only,” he explained.

Beyond the music and the language, Mackiewicz said that the piece reflects “a certain kind of nostalgia connected with deeply religious traditions held throughout eastern Europe and Russia.”

Mackiewicz said Connecticut Lyric Opera chose the piece because of the opportunity it presented to feature several people from that region of the world in the production.

“We have a team of people who could do it in a way that could reflect that cultural element,” Mackiewicz said.

Those include Russian baritone Maksim Ivanov (Marcello in La Boheme, Capulet in Romeo et Juliette) and Lithuanian soprano Jurate Svedaite (Mimi in La Boheme, Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro) who hold the title role of Eugene Onegin and his jilted love Tatyana Larina, respectively. Both are longtime Connecticut Lyric Opera performers and vocal instructors at Connecticut College.

“The story is a wonderful, wonderful piece of world literature,” Svedaite said. “It’s a beautiful work that’s starting to really get popular in the U.S.”

The story is based on Aleksandr Pushkin’s novel and follows Eugene Onegin as he finds himself in Russia’s countryside outside of St. Petersburg, where he meets Tatyana Larina, elder sister of Olga Larina, whom Onegin’s friend Lenski is engaged to marry.

Tatyana falls in love with Eugene Onegin and writes him a letter in which she confesses her love for him, which according to Svedaite is a “big no-no” in Russian society, circa the 1820s.

Onegin ultimately rejects Tatyana, and later flirts with her younger sister, which angers Lenski, who challenges Onegin to a duel. During the duel, Onegin shoots Lenski dead.

The third act takes place a few years later. Onegin is still remorseful over Lenski’s death and feels that his life is empty. He attends the ball of Prince Gremin, who enters the room with his wife—Tatyana.

Realizing his true feelings for Tatyana, Onegin writes her a letter, begging for her love. Tatyana asks him to leave, and remains faithful to her husband.

“In the plot we see a certain faithfulness to certain social systems and certain social values,” Mackiewicz said, an example of the deeply rooted traditions of the region.

Svedaite has performed a number of roles with the Connecticut Lyric Opera, but has a special fondness for Tatyana. Growing up in Lithuania, “We discussed that novel upwards and forwards and backwards,” Svedaite said. And for the most part, she’d always thought of it as a love story. Now, however, it’s “the incredible strength” of Tatyana that really appeals to her.

“She found the strength and had to say no,” Svedaite said.

Svedaite said that over the course of the opera, Tatyana transforms from a “fragile, impressionable young girl to a strong woman.”

Other cast members include Andrew Drost (frequent New York City Opera soloist), who makes his Connecticut Lyric Opera debut as Lensky, and Valerie Nicolosi (Count Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus and Stephano in Romeo et Juliette) as Olga, Tatyana’s sister.

This production will be directed by internationally acclaimed Polish stage director Jaroslaw Strzemien, with sets and costumes designed by Broadway designer Ken Mooney. The opera will be fully staged with orchestra, chorus, and English super-titles projected above the stage.

Tickets for the 7 p.m. performance on Nov. 23 are available through the Garde Arts Center at www.gardearts.org, in person at the box office, or by phone at 860-444-7373.

Eugene Onegin is co-produced by the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Connecticut Lyric Opera’s resident orchestra. Two additional performances will follow on the orchestra’s home stage, the Trinity-on-Main Arts Center in New Britain on Nov. 28 and Dec. 7.

By Michelle Royce Williams
Special to the Times

For additional information about Connecticut Lyric Opera, call 860-440-3594 or visit CtLyricOpera.org.

Apathy Lost: A historic day in New London

2008-11-13T21:31:57Z

When Rev. Wade Hyslop learned that Barack Obama was elected president, his mind raced to something Robert Kennedy said in 1968.

“Remember,” said Hyslop, the deputy mayor of the city, “Robert Kennedy predicted in 40 years the country would have a black president. It was a bit of prophecy.”

Although the presidency had star billing on the ballot, city voters also decided against changing its form of government, resoundingly sent all incumbents back to Hartford, and overwhelmingly reelected Rep. Joe Courtney to Congress.

And voter apathy in New London was dealt a crushing blow, as people lined up at polls at 6 a.m. before many in the city had their first sip of coffee.

When the polls in the city’s seven voting wards closed 14 hours later, 85 percent of registered voters had cast ballots.

“This has been an historic day,” said Waldren Phillips, the head of the New London chapter of the NAACP, as his children volunteered at the polls.

For most of the morning, Phillips observed the polls at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School, where the third and fourth districts vote. Traditionally those districts, which encompass the urban core of New London, suffer from low turnout.

Not last week. Both districts were well over 500 ballots before 11 a.m., and had a constant flow of voters streaming in throughout the day, and were a bellwether for the rest of the city.

Connecticut College students also voted en masse at the first district poll at New London High School. The college ran shuttles from the campus to the polls from the early morning hours until 8 p.m.

“We had full vans all day,” Matthew Daskal, a student van driver who was idling outside City Hall, said.

No Mayor for New London

While commentators and pundits were heralding change as electoral votes piled up in Obama’s column, New London voters sent messages for the status quo.

Voters rejected the charter revision that would have replaced the city manager with an elected mayor, 52 percent to 48 percent.

This is the second time the city has staged a vote on a switch to an elected mayor in as many years, and leading political figures say the issue will be moot for some time.

“The voters said they didn’t want it,” said Anthony Basilica, the head of the Democratic Town Committee.

The Democratic Party was split over the issue and did not launch its formidable get-out-the-vote organization to sway residents in either direction.

The charter change went down despite City Councilor Michael Buscetto, the city’s top vote-getter in 2007, saying he would seek the mayor’s office should voters assent to it.

Buscetto, however, said he did not campaign for the change.

“The voters said it was not necessary,” he said. “They are happy with the city manager.”

Critics of the elected mayor position included Democrats such as City Councilor Margaret Curtin, as well as members of the Looking Out For Taxpayers lobby, who balked at the proposed increase in the number of signatures required to petition council decisions from 10 to 20 percent.

The move was seen as a way to make it more difficult to force referendums on the budget, which LOT does with regularity.

Hyslop, an advocate for the change, attributed the charter revision’s demise to a “fear factor” about the mayor’s broad powers.

“People were concerned about the mayor making appointments without the consent of the council,” he said. “The city manager does that now.”

And the charter revision debate is over for the time being, as Hyslop and other city councilors said they would not appoint another commission to study New London’s governing document.

Hewett Cruises To Third Term

Rep. Ernest Hewett had a bit of a cold and was a tad husky as he made the rounds thanking supporters at The Radisson, where many of Eastern Connecticut’s Democrats were attending Joe Courtney’s victory party.

So Hewett’s normal ebullience was muted, but the former ceremonial mayor of the city was pleased to head back to represent the 39th District for a third term.

“It’s always good when the people send you back,” he said.

Hewett garnered 4,542 votes, defeating Republican challenger Jason Catala who received 1,109 votes and Green Party candidate Kenric Hanson, who got 529 votes.

Hewett promised “two more years of hard work.”

“Everything I’m going to do is going to be about New London,” he said.

The Blue Wave

Word came shortly after 9 p.m. to those in the Radisson ballroom that Courtney won reelection in a romp over Republican Sean Sullivan, the former Sub Base New London commander.

Courtney swept the district, even defeating Sullivan in his hometown of Ledyard.

The win, while expected, was nevertheless sweet for Courtney’s supporters, who two years ago had to sweat out a re-count against Rob Simmons, in what was the closest Congressional race in the country.

After Courtney gave his concession speech, the campaign’s communications director Brian Farber informed the crowd that 4th District Rep. Christopher Shays, the lone New England Republican in the House, conceded to challenger Jim Himes.

So complete was the defeat of the GOP in New England that Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain won only one county in the region, Piscataquis County in Maine.

By Stephen Chupaska
Senior Staff Writer

New London Notebook: School Board Ups the Ante for Arson Information

2008-11-13T21:29:38Z

The Board of Education has agreed to increase the reward leading to an arrest of the arsonists responsible for last month’s fire at Jennings School.

Superintendent of Schools Christopher Clouet said the school board voted to add $500 to the City Council’s $2,500 reward for information in the Oct. 13 fire that caused $1 million in damage to the school.

Also last week, the City Council voted to provide $10,000 toward the deductible on the insurance claim for the fire damage at the school.

Clouet said much of the damage was sustained by the school’s kitchen.

“Insurance will cover all the damage,” he said.

The school is insured by Great American Insurance Company, a Cincinnati-based firm.

The 75,000-square-foot Jennings School is in its first year of operation and is home to the city’s Dual Language Academy.

Information regarding the fire may be left anonymously on the Connecticut Arson hot line at 800-84-ARSON (27766) or with the New London Police Department at 447-5269.

In Other News

Last week demolition commenced on the concrete pedestrian bridge connecting the Water Street parking structure to the Parade. Also, in the past two weeks, crews have removed the granite stones from the berm and removed all of the trees and shrubs from the area. Stop signs have replaced the traffic lights at the intersection of State and Bank streets, and left turns onto State Street from Bank Street have been suspended for this stage of the project.

The New London Police Department’s narcotics unit received an $11,000 donation from The Connection, Inc., a Middletown-based non-profit. The NLPD also formally accepted the federal COPS hiring grant secured in September. The department was awarded $225,000. Last year the Congress resuscitated the Clinton-era program that provides federal money to hire police officers.

By Stephen Chupaska
Senior Staff Writer

‘ABC’s of Life’ in New London High School and Beyond

2008-11-13T21:27:40Z

“The high school dropout rate in the top 50 cities in our nation today is more than 51 percent. We have a current generation at risk. It’s an epidemic,” says Al Serio, vice president of business development at the Mystic-based ABC’s of Life, which strives to “bring solutions through the development and implementation of education and life skills training.”

Serio notes that “without any further education, by the time they are 25, 58 percent will be at risk and unemployable.”

“That is staggering when you think that the next generation that is sitting in the junior high schools and high schools today is, number one, your community tax base and, number two, your labor work force for the future. They are the ones who are going to buy the houses, generate the GDP, and fill the job positions left open by my generation, the Baby Boomers.”

ABC’s of Life has been working in many communities since 2007 doing ethics, behavior, leadership, and career guidance education with teens. The primary focus is to reach the “at risk” population by helping them develop “school to work” life skills.

“Our motivation is social responsibility and community ownership of the tremendous problem that faces our national workforce coming in the next generation,” Serio explains.

ABC’s of Life operates through grants and self-funding.

The company started in the business of ethics, leadership development, and communication training for corporate America. Along the way, Serio said, the team discovered a passion for helping the next generation.

“Our vision is to impact the next generation’s culture by transforming their behavior, choices, and outcomes educationally. Our mission is to partner with others in the business community and in local communities to bring excellence to school to work and social ownership. We work to change expected outcomes in the next generation,” he explains.

With 76 million retired or on the verge of retirement, “All of a sudden you have this huge gap,” Serio notes. “When you look across the landscape, what you see is a nation at risk because we have an emerging generation that is totally at risk and unprepared for entering the workforce.”

Thus, the team—now numbering roughly 15—became involved with the school to work guidance process.

When they looked closer they discovered another major issue: Lost time in the schools is out of control.

“In 2005, the amount of lost time in the schools was equivalent to 2,080 students missing school for one year in Connecticut. It’s mind-boggling,” Serio says.

According to a Connecticut State Board of Education study, Connecticut ranked approximately 45th out of 50 states “between high school graduation preparedness to go to work and the professional skills required to be an effective contributing member in the workforce,” according to Serio.

While the schools are working hard toward the CAPT [Connecticut Academic Performance Test] requirements, “There isn’t much time nor are the curriculums geared toward life skill training,” he adds.

Thus, ABC’s of Life steps in with character, leadership, and communication development as well as career guidance education. The company commits resources to a school community and then looks to see what funding is available through grants within that community or through the school system. “Some schools have funding in place while others have no funding in place,” Serio explains. “The more high-risk communities like New London, Hartford and New Britain…in those communities we self-fund and fund-raise.”

Serio is now in the process of fund raising for New London County and raising money for the work already started in New London High School.

“Our goal is to go to local businesses, local community leaders like city councils, Rotary clubs, the chamber of commerce, the Kiwanis, and to build that strategic relationship. We tell them what we’re doing and tell them how they can participate as a strategic partner,” Serio says.

Presently, trainers are in New London a minimum of three days a week. They are involved in two separated one-year programs: a freshman mentoring program and an alternative discipline program.

Serio explains, “In the mentoring program we train juniors and seniors to be mentors to the incoming freshmen. The other is the alternative discipline program. In New London, if a young person has behavior issues, they can opt out of suspension in a classroom and make up for lost time. The young people in the discipline environment are getting their homework accomplished, and we’re working with the school administrators in providing behavior and leadership development.”

There are several ways that communities can help—among them, individual donations, corporate donations, joint grants, and fund-raising events.

“We’re coming into a community to help the community have a better workforce for the future and a better tax base for the future. In the process, what we are really looking hard at is culture change and behavior change,” he says. “We teach them the things like the decisions you make today affect you all along the way in life. We show them with training material, video, and group breakout sessions. We really go through with the kids so they understand there really is an impact with the choices they make.”

This past year ABC’s of Life conducted an after-school program training in New London High School with Central Connecticut State University. In the spring they were involved with career guidance training in Old Lyme with ninth- and 10th-graders. And, they just completed a six-week school-to-work mentoring program in New Britain “which taught all about behavior in the workplace, leadership, life experiences, and career paths.”

“The outcomes and the level of expectation goes up so much for the young people that, number one, it’s compelling. Number two, it’s encouraging to them because they discover they have value beyond anything they would have ever recognized. They recognize that they can be positive, contributing members of the community which is a huge plus for all of us.”

By Susan Cornell
Special to the Times

For additional information, visit www.abcoflife.net. Al Serio can also be reached by e-mail at aserino@roili-ne.com or phone at 978-771-2781.

Fatal Film: Thrill Ride

2008-11-07T16:31:00Z

The first 35 seconds of “First Step,” the lead cut on Fatal Film’s latest album Thrill’r, shocks your heart into action.
A snarling built-in Detroit garage-rocker, “First Step” grumbles to a start, then careens along with the get-the-hell-out-of-my-way confidence of a boy racer in a 1970 Dodge Challenger with a rumble pack and full tank of leaded, tree-killing gas.
As much as it is a thrill-ride start to Thrill’r, the song is a reminder to both New London and, now the world, that Fatal Film is alive and well.
The band—Matt Potter, vocals/guitar; Dave Freeburg, bass; Sebastian Coppotelli, guitar; and drummer Michael Winslow—has been through several lineup changes since forming in 2004.
“We’ve been a two-piece, a five-piece, a trio,” Potter said. “Now it’s a four-piece and it’s been going well.”
The often mirthful Potter, the main songwriter and only constant member of the band, jokingly called the changes in personnel, “editing.”
While the band’s former members read like a Who’s Who of the area’s indie rockers, this incarnation of Fatal Film has been stable for about a year.
It was this lineup that recorded Thrill’r, which was released on the local label, Cosmodemonic Telegraph. Recorded earlier in the year by Scott Amore at Innerspace Sounds in New Haven, the record is the band’s serious push to extend its reach beyond New London and environs.
For local fans of Fatal Film, Thrill’r is something of a greatest hits, of songs on the band’s various CD-Rs and EPs, such as last year’s Sisterwife.
For instance, the band’s signature “Rocks,” a death-march of Gang of Four-style agit-pop, makes an appearance on the full length, despite the fact the band has played it live for years.
But Thrill’r, the band’s first full length, is not meant strictly for the merch tables at The Oasis and the Bank Street Café.
“We’re looking to venture out,” Freeburg said.
And that means a concerted effort to get the record to both satellite and terrestrial radio, and to influential publications, both in print and online.
Last month, the band scored a coup by getting a favorable review in the indie-journal, The Big Takeover, which called Thrill’r, “confident, boisterous wild music…shot full of adrenaline.”
Fatal Film also realize that they need to get out on the road in the wake of the record. But the band has run into that constant stumbling block for many of the local combos.
“We all have day jobs,” Freeburg said.
That said, Freeburg noted that the band hopes to head out on long weekends in the coming months.
The band provided further evidence that it is hoping to break out of New London by playing a residency at Piano’s, a trendy bar on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Fatal Film headlined every Sunday night there in August, with audiences growing in number at each successive show.
“Great shows, great shows,” Potter said. “It got progressively better and better.”
Potter said at the fourth and final show, the band was besieged by rather zealous Christians.
“We’ve now become vessels for the Lord,” he said, drily.
Fatal Film also wrapped one of the Piano’s dates around a short tour of the Midwest, hitting indie-friendly cities such as Minneapolis and Chicago.
Touring also offers Fatal Film the opportunity to play Bank Street-tested songs for entirely new audiences.
“For them, those songs are not old,” Freeburg said. “It’s not like here where people have heard ‘Rocks’ 100 times.”
In the coming months, Freeburg said that the band will be hitting cities along the eastern seaboard, such as Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and points south.
They are also hoping for another excursion to the Midwest in the new year.
As much as they like getting out on the road, they continue to call New London home and arrive back here under sometimes bizarre circumstances.
“Well, the last time we came back,” Coppotelli said, “we blew a tire right underneath the Frontage Road sign off of I-95.”
The lesson then: Maybe they shouldn’t have come home. After all, as newly minted “vessels of the Lord,” they’ve got some proselytizing to do.

City Split on Mayor Question: New Londoners to vote on whether to change the city’s government structure

2008-10-31T17:37:30Z

Mark Twain wrote that the past does not repeat itself, but it rhymes.

And so, next week at the polls New Londoners will decide, as they did in 1921, to exchange one form of government for another.

In 1921, the voters, egged on by The Day, with publisher and Republican town chairman Theodore Bodenwein at the helm, approved a switch from an elected mayor form of government to a city manager-council.

It was considered a leap forward, and in 1923, using language usually reserved for barkers selling foot powder, the newspaper praised the new government as “scientific.”

Now, nearly 90 years later, voters will have the opportunity to switch the form of government yet again, to an elected strong mayor, with a four-year term at a $100,000 salary. (See info box for details on the proposal.)

This time, the buzz words are “accountability” and “direction.” And adding to the symmetry, the daily newspaper is seen as one of the catalysts behind the strong mayor. Indeed, the newspaper’s editorial page has long desired a change in the form of government.

But among the political movers and shakers and workaday people in New London, the prospect of the first elected mayor since Woodrow Wilson was in office has the city equally excited and filled with trepidation.

John Fleming, a registered independent, is in favor of an elected mayor but will be voting no, because under the proposal the City Council would not get oversight over mayoral appointments to the city administration.

“That is not in the best interests of the city,” he said.

Republican City Councilor Rob Pero, who despite some reservations is in favor of the charter revision, countered that the City Council does get to vote on the city manager’s appointments in the present charter.

Sandra Kersten Chalk, the executive director of New London Landmarks, said the modern city should have a city manager.

“In the 21st century running a city is a professional job,” she said.

Susan Munger, a resident, is fearful of the disruption that could potentially happen if a mayor keeps on getting elected every four years.

“It would be automatic upheaval,” she said.

Some in the audience at a recent informational session sponsored by the Republican Town Committee wanted to keep the city manager’s office apolitical, which raised Pero’s eyebrows.

“[Former City Manager] Richard Brown was a better politician than all of us,” he said. “He knew how to keep five people happy.”

Munger also worried that New London does not have “the talent pool” from which to find a suitable mayor.

Thus far, only one person, freshman Councilor Michael Buscetto, has announced an intention to run for mayor should the measure pass.

Munger noted that Buscetto has the ability to raise “a huge amount of money.” As in the 2007 municipal elections, a mayor’s race featuring the 36-year-old developer would bring his financial largesse to bear. In one quarter of fund raising for the City Council race, Buscetto raised more than $25,000 in donations, a sizable figure for a New London political contest.

Some, such as resident and council meeting regular David Hayes, fear a strong mayor would result in an emboldened Democratic hegemony.

“It would be a dictatorship of Democrats,” he said.

The Democratic Party, which has held a majority on the City Council for most of the past 50 years, has been keeping mum about its official position on charter revision. Mirroring the city, the Democrats are split over the issue.

Democratic Town Chairman Anthony Basilica, while not a public critic of the strong mayor, is nevertheless opposed to it.

Among the Democratic councilors, Margaret Curtin, twice the mayor of the city, is opposed to it, while Deputy Mayor Wade Hyslop, once a member of a past revision committee, favors a strong chief executive.

Asked last week for a prediction on the vote, Buscetto was typically sanguine.

“I think it’s going to pass,” he said.

Despite Pero’s stature as the leading figure of the New London GOP, the Republican Town Committee is not taking an official position on the charter revision. GOP Chairman William Vogel, however, allowed a peek at his cards.

“If the stew is done, eat it,” he said. “If it’s not done, let it cook some more.”

Councilor Adam Sprecace has been the council’s leading critic of the current charter revision.

“I’m going to be voting no,” he noted.

Sprecace foremost disagrees with the increase in the percentage of petitioners needed to reconsider a City Council decision. Both Sprecace and Pero voted against raising the percentage of those who voted in the previous election from 10 percent to 20 percent.

“It passed because [the Democrats] said it was the same 600 people who are signing the petitions,” Pero said. “I say it’s the same 600 people who pay taxes in the city.”

Though he voted against the measure, Pero agrees with Buscetto’s view that if a council decision creates an uproar, the 20-percent threshold ought not to be a problem.

Because the charter revision vote will take place during a presidential election year, turnout is expected to be high, leading many to think that the mayor question, after nearly a decade of debate, will be settled.

“We’ll know once and for all,” said Pero.

The Mayor Question in Depth

If approved:

• Creation of a directly, elected mayor with broad powers, who will serve as the city’s chief executive, with a four-year term.

• City manager position will be eliminated.

• Creation of a director of administrative services, appointed by the mayor to oversee day-to-day operation of the city.

• Mayor will appoint city administration. Currently done by the city manager.

• Mayor will submit an annual budget. Currently done by the city manager.

• Mayor may veto City Council measures. City Council may override with a 5-7 vote.

• Require that 20 percent of those signing a petition to reconsider a council action voted in the previous city election. The threshold is currently 10 percent.

• The Board of Finance’s powers to set a budget cap and to approve bonds will be eliminated.

A “No” vote is in support of the status quo.

New London Notebook: Better Insurance, Voting Info, and More

2008-10-31T17:36:37Z

The City Council directed the personnel department to explore changes to the health insurance plans for municipal employees.

Councilor Rob Pero asked Bernadette Welch, the director of personnel, to report back to the council in the new year to see if the city could save money by insuring its employees directly, as opposed to using an outside carrier.

“There could be some savings in the next budget,” Pero said.

The report is expected in January.

• Councilor Margaret Curtin asked the city manager to draft a letter to the National Association of Railroad Passengers, requesting the organization’s assistance in bringing more Shore Line East trains to New London.

The organization wrote the city, thanking New London for its support of rail travel in the Northeast.

• The City Council approved $40,000 in spending for the New London Police Department’s Urban Crime and Safety Grant Program. Also, the Public Safety Committee will deliberate the findings of an independent assessment of the NLPD at its next meeting.

• The City Council voted to renew the copyright on the city’s iconic logo, featuring a sailing ship and New London’s motto, “Mare Liberum,” or “freedom of the seas.”

Voting Information
for Nov. 4

Polls in New London’s seven voting districts will be open from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. Nov. 4 Contact City Hall at 447-5201 to find out in which district you live.

Districts One and Two: New London High School, 490 Jefferson Ave.

Districts Three and Four: Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School, 36 Waller St.

Districts Five and Seven: Harbor School, 432 Montauk Ave.

District Six: Nathan Hale School, Beech Drive (off Ocean Ave.)

On the Ballot

President:

Barack Obama and Joe Biden,

Democratic

John McCain and Sarah Palin

Republican

Congressional

Joe Courtney, Democratic

Sean Sullivan, Republican

G. Scott Deshefy, Green

20th State Senate

Andrea Stillman, Democratic

Thomas Simones, Republican

39th State House

Ernest Hewett, Democratic

Jason Catala, Republican

Kenric Hanson, Green

40th State House

Edward Moukawsher, Democratic

Ballot Questions

State: “Shall there be a Constitutional Convention to amend or revise the Constitution of the State?”

State: Shall the constitution of the state be amended to permit any person who will have attained the age of 18 years on or before the day of a regular election to vote in the primary for such regular election?”

City: “Shall the amendments to the City Charter proposed by the Charter Revision Commission, and accepted by the City Council, be approved?”

Election: Connecticut

2008-10-23T19:30:41Z

At once urban and suburban, the 20th State Senate district covers a lot of ground. It sprawls from Old Saybrook and East Lyme in the west, north to Salem and Montville, and southeast to Waterford and New London.
Incumbent Democrat Andrea Stillman, the co-owner of J.Solomon, Inc., a stationary store that has been in New London for 106 years, has held the seat for four years and is seeking a third term.
A native of New York, Stillman is a former state representative who now lives in Waterford. She has risen to Deputy Majority Leader in the Senate, chairs the Public Safety and Security Committee, and serves on the Finance, Revenue and Bonding, Public Heath, and Regulations Review committees.
Republican challenger Attorney Thomas Simones works and lives in Waterford, not far from where he was born at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital in New London.
A graduate of New London High School and Connecticut College, Simones is a partner in the firm of Simones and O’Brien, specializing in workers compensation, personal injury claims, and Social Security disability.
Simones is member of the bar in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Federal Courts.
This is his first campaign for public office.

Andrea Stillman
Party: Democratic
Occupation: Small Business Owner
Age: 60
Factoid: Has a degree in Speech from California State University, Northridge, in Los Angeles.

Thomas Simones
Party: Republican
Occupation: Attorney
Age: 44
Factoid: In 1985 was an intern for then New London City Councilor Jay B. Levin.

What is the most important issue that you will address should you be elected?

Stillman: Obviously it’s the economy. What’s happening in this country and around the world certainly affects Connecticut. It is what we are being told by folks, not just when I go door to door, but also the experts.
What can we do to secure the state as we struggle over the next few years to adjust to the economic changes? The first thing we can do is create jobs. Jobs help create a stable economy. We also have to make sure we spend our tax dollars wisely, and do all we can to ensure a safety net for folks in need of government help. The economy is going to have to be the focus and all those issues revolving around the budget.
The budget is a document that lays out our plan for the next two years, to make sure that the Connecticut economy is stable.

Simones: It’s a tie between jobs and energy—both are fixable. In 1996, we deregulated the energy companies. It’s simply re-enacting that legislation that regulated the monopoly. We need to be fair to people. We can’t allow companies to practice predatory practices. I’m talking to you from a cell phone. They are an example of competition that works. [In the past] if I were to call Europe, it would be $4 or $5 a minute. Now, they advertise 15 cents a minute. That’s true competition.
When they broke up the Baby Bells, it didn’t do much for competition. It was more expensive intrastate than interstate.
The bottom line is we need to re-regulate it. They were regulated before, the laws are still there with black lines through them. Get the black lines out and make them law again.
On jobs, we’ve got to work on Pfizer. It’s easier to deal with companies that are taxed instead of ones that are not. The casinos are independent nations; the Congress is empowered to deal with them. It would be incumbent upon me as senator to talk to the folks at Pfizer and say, “How much of a corporate tax do we need to roll back to keep people employed?”
My goal would be to make Connecticut one of the top five destinations for corporations; we’re at the bottom five. The issues I’ve talked to corporate people about are the fact that medical costs are going up 33 percent every two years. It’s a huge impediment to them.
We’re not practically corporate-friendly, and we have a lot to offer. We need to create good paying jobs.

Did you support the Connecticut Supreme Court decision state that same-sex marriage must be allowed under state law?

Stillman: I was not surprised by the ruling in the respect that in Massachusetts and California, their judicial process had come to the same decision. I think that the issue that [the Massachusetts and California courts] rose about equality is probably one that factored in to their decision. Certainly, we’ll have to address it in the upcoming session after the decision goes to the appellate court, then the legislature will act, unless there is a constitutional convention. What we do next has to do with that ballot question.

Simones: I support civil unions between same-sex people. They should have all the same rights under the law. The word “marriage” should be set aside for a heterosexual couple. I was shocked by the decision. I think it falls to the legislature. I’m not belittling the subject. I think people get upset that this institution that has gone on for thousands of years is now being legislated upon by courts. It’s the legislature’s job to change the law. [I favor] a simple designation of civil unions for same-sex people and marriage for people of a heterosexual background.

District 39

The 39th State House district has been a Democratic stronghold for more than two decades, and it would be the shocker of the season if that changed. But, as the saying goes, that’s why they play the game.
Incumbent Ernest Hewett, a former City Councilor and mayor first elected to Hartford in 2004, is seeking his third term in a rematch with Republican former City Councilor Jason Catala.
This is the second time Catala has sought the 39th seat and hopes to fare better than two years ago, when Hewett took 71 percent of the vote.
In 2006, Catala was a fill-in candidate when Allyn de Vars, the initial nominee, dropped out of the race.
The wild card in the race is Green Party candidate Kenric Hanson, a member of the city’s sustainability committee and frequent speaker at City Council meetings.
Hanson will attempt to be the third party’s first elected official in New London. In the previous two municipal elections, the Green candidates narrowly missed getting on the Board of Education.

Ernest Hewett
Party: Democrat
Occupation: Carpenter
Factoid: Member of the New London City Council and mayor

Jason Catala
Party: Republican
Occupation: Teacher
Factoid: Served Three Terms on the New London Board of Education.

Kenric Hanson
Party: Green
Occupation: Property Owner
Factoid: President of the New London Sustainability Committee.

What is the most important issue that you will address should you be elected?

Hewett: Healthcare is the number one thing. It’s one of the hardest things we had to do. We were pretty close with the municipalities this year, where we pooled healthcare together. That was a fair way, but the governor vetoed it. [Also] More money for PILOT [Payment in Lieu of Taxes] in the city of New London because a lot of our property is off the tax rolls due to non-profits, hospitals, and colleges. Those would be the priorities.

Catala: The first issue I will address if elected will be to make sure that unfunded mandates that are passed down to cities and towns [are funded.] I will make sure that education mandates are funded and in turn lower taxes for citizens in New London. I will do this by putting a tax on millionaires, using lottery and casino dollars.

Hanson: It’s hard to pick, being a third party candidate, without a party coalition in place. I want to promote a future focus on sustainability and define and determine our future actions. Having said that, there is one issue I want to pursue—property taxes. I’ve been working with Green New London, a group that started after the [2007 municipal] campaign and we’ve been working for a land value tax. It needs to be enacted on a state level. A lot of the conversations throughout the state, have been about doing something about property tax burdens on residents. Working with Green New London, we’ve started doing outreach to build a coalition throughout the state. We’ve reached out to Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Waterbury, and other cities, and we’re getting positive responses. That is one of my priorities. What I’ve offered to people as a reason for running is that governments—local, state, and federal—lack a long-range view of things and what we should be doing now to lessen our burdens in the future.
If we keep to the status quo, we are going to experience some great failures. The land value tax legislation is going to come up, and it is something I would work strongly on.

Did you support the Connecticut Supreme Court decision stating that same-sex marriage must be allowed under state law?

Hewett: I supported civil unions, but gay marriage is not before us. I don’t know where I am with that. All I know is that if we had to vote on it, I don’t know where I’d be at this point. I’d be in support of civil unions, which gave gays in the state the right to have insurance purposes and legal documents, things like that. The decision has not been out long enough for me absorb what’s going on.

Catala: I support the Supreme Court decision. I believe we need to respect everyone and the choices they make. I am firm believer that this decision will allow people to feel they are respected and will allow for all married individuals to have equal benefits.

Hanson: Yes I do. As a civil rights issue, marriage is ultimately a legal right and economic issue. I find it incredulous that someone else’s marriage has an effect on my marriage. I don’t see that at all. I’ve been married for more than 16 years, and I imagine there have been millions of people who have been married in that time, and I haven’t felt anything from that. I see [marriage] as being a legal and economic benefit that is important to people. Not that relationships are built for those reasons, but those are benefits of the ultimate expression of love under, ultimately, law. If people want to separate what the church does from what the state does, we can have some designation, but what the state does cannot be diminished.

The Shoo-Ins: Four Local Candidates Running Unopposed

It’s one thing to shout at a political rally that “We’re going all the way! We’re going to win in November!”
It’s quite another to know you’re going to win at the polls on Nov.4.
Four local candidates—all incumbents and all Democrats—are running unopposed for the General Assembly, and they know for certain that they will be sent back to Hartford.
State Sen. Edith Prauge, 19th-Columbia; Rep. Betsey Ritter, 38th D-Waterford; Rep. Ted Moukawsher, 40th D-Groton; and Rep.Tom Reynolds, 42nd D-Ledyard, are all assured of two more years in the legislature by virtue of being the only candidate on the ticket.
Prague, whose district includes Montville, was sort of mystified by her lack of an opponent. This year marks the first time in her political career in which she is unopposed.
“How do you like that?” she said. “I can’t believe it myself.”
Ritter said running unopposed for the first time has been “less stressful.”
“My family appreciates that,” she laughed.
“I have been working hard to go around and talk to as many people as I can,” Ritter continued. “I don’t know what else to do around election time.”
Moukawsher took it as a reflection of the job he’s been doing in Hartford.
‘Not having an opponent has allowed me to concentrate on that job instead raising money,” he said. “I didn’t do any of that. I did want to ask people for money if I did not have an opponent.
Ritter said she’s been working for colleagues on their campaigns.
“It has been a good experience,” she said.
Prague said that not having an opponent to debate or compete against for votes is “a double whammy.”
“I’m delighted I’m running unopposed,” she added. “But, by the same token, the campaign is dull and boring.”
Prague said she spends most of her time helping her Democratic colleagues with their races.
She has eschewed going door-to-door, and is instead using radio and cable-access television to get her message out.
“But wherever I go, I allow extra time for people to ask their questions,” Prague said.
Prague and Ritter said the lack of a campaign has allowed them the time to prepare their agendas for the six-month regular session that begins Jan. 7.
Not surprising, given the recent turmoil on the international financial markets, the economy, healthcare, and jobs are on their minds.
“We need to give businesses a tax break if they increase the number of jobs in their business,” Prague. “Jobs are going to be the biggest issue.”
Ritter is also anxious to revisit the healthcare partnership bill Gov. M. Jodi Rell vetoed.
Moukawsher is planning for a difficult budget fight in the legislature.
“The $300 million deficit,” he said. “I think its going to get worse.”

Electoral (Conn) College

2008-10-16T18:24:45Z

For those of us with some regard for frivolity and mischief, it is disconcerting when a college campus is quiet on a Friday night.
But when Sen. Barack Obama debated Sen. John McCain on Sept. 26, Connecticut College was, according to one student, “dead silent.”
William Ball, the head of the Conn College Democrats, said the majority of the school’s 1,500 students were in common rooms, huddled around televisions, watching the debate.
“There is a genuine interest in this election,” he said.
When the polls open in three weeks, many young people across the country will be voting in their first election.
And every election cycle since the 26th Amendment was ratified, lowering the voting age to 18, young voters have been a sought-after, but unreliable, lot.
In 1972, with Vietnam in the headlines and Richard Nixon on the ballot, 52 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds turned out to vote.* Four years ago, with Iraq in blogs and George W. Bush on the ballot, that figure dipped to 47 percent, though that was an 11-point increase from America’s last peacetime election in 2000.
In Connecticut, 57 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds turned out in 1972, substantially more than the 41 percent who showed at the polls in 2004.
The state actually saw a 2-percent downturn at the polls from 2000 to 2004, however, it could be argued that the 2006 congressional race between Rob Simmons and Joe Courtney turned on towns with colleges, such as Mansfield, Windham, and New London.
Both Ball and Matt Sterett, the head of the Conn College Republicans, sense something different about young people this election, but for different reasons.
Economics major Sterett, a soft-spoken Texan with closely cropped blond hair, is a member of the counterculture at Connecticut College. But these days, counterculture at the college on the hill has nothing to do with marches, sit ins, or tight-fitting Che Guevara T-shirts.
In 2008, the loyal opposition is more the crowd at ease in chinos and think nothing of casually name dropping F.A. Hayek and prefer Gary Wills’ early stuff.
Sterett is a conservative and caretaker of the Connecticut College Republicans, who in past years rallied to support Bush and Simmons, numbering just eight members.
“Recruitment has been down this year,” he said. “There is not a lot to be excited about.”
Conversely, the Connecticut College Democrats have been humming with activity.
Ball’s 30-member group has been busy with voter registration drives and organizing students to campaign for both Obama and the Democratic candidates in and out of state.
“We’re really trying to get out the vote,” the bearded philosophy student said.
Ball said the student Democrats have been trying to get people who live in states where races are close to register at home, instead of Dem-leaning New London.
Some students, Ball said, also want to vote on ballot initiatives that might be taking place.
For college Democrats, the main catalyst for the enthusiasm has been Obama.
“He’s a viable candidate,” Ball said. “He’s not John Kerry.”
Sterett, like many Republicans, is lukewarm about McCain, citing the divisions in the GOP during the protracted nominating season.
“I would have gone with [Rudy] Giuliani or [Mitt] Romney,” Sterett said.
Not surprisingly, the budding economist cited the experience Giuliani and Romney would have as the financial markets remain unstable.
Despite the twinkle many students have in their eyes for Obama, Ball said the left-leaning college voters are not a monolithic bloc.
“We have members who are more mainline Democrats,” he said. “Then we have members who take more libertarian views on issues such as civil liberties.”
Sterett said that many in his camp are focusing on the financial crisis that led to the federal government bailout of investment banks two weeks ago.
“We used to get people from Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers looking to recruit students for good-paying jobs,” Sterett, who supported the bailout, said. “That is obviously not happening.”
The financial crisis also has been a sobering experience for Conn students, whose past political passions have been stoked in recent years by march-worthy issues such as American foreign policy and immigration.
But this year, students have been paying closer attention to wonkish issues such as health care and the economy.
“I’ve been teaching a class on health care and the economy,” said Monkia Lopez-Anuarbe, an economic professor at Conn. “There has been plenty of interest.”
Lopez-Anuarbe was one of several professors who took part in a recent mock debate *** lecture on the top issues in the presidential campaign.
Organized by one of the environmental awareness clubs on the campus, more than 70 students attended the Friday night event.
Two students, Chad Stewart and Travis Lynch, portrayed Obama and McCain, respectively, and answered questions on the candidates’ environmental policies. A tough task, as the environment and energy is one issue where Obama and McCain tend to be in relative harmony, save for nuclear power.
Melanie Bender, 20, from Sudbury, Mass., said though she’ll be voting for Obama, she doesn’t mind McCain.
“It’s Sarah Palin I don’t like,” she said, going on to speak with concern about the Alaska governor’s anti-abortion position.
Still, some Conn students are
still learning about the candidates’ positions.
“I came to [the mock debate] because I wanted to find out more about health care,” said Lindy Nash, 19, from Providence.
Afterward, Nash had a better idea about the issue, and she, like most of the campus, knows that the final exam is on Nov. 4.
*Source: Center For Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, University of Maryland.

New London Youth Whalers Get Pride Back: Seniors upset first-place Groton-Mystic

2008-10-14T15:57:58Z

By Larry Kelley
Special to the Times

The New London Senior Whalers’ youth football team’s demise, in the words of Mark Twain, has been greatly exaggerated.
The four-time defending Super Bowl champ Whalers lost their opener to Norwich, 6-0, and dropped another game to Ledyard to fall to 1-2 in early September. Scuttlebutt around the Southern New England Youth Football Conference reverberated sound louder than whispers that the Whalers were uncharacteristically down this season.
While New London broke out of the gates slowly, Groton-Mystic emerged as the acknowledged league power, rolling to a 5-0 record which included a 38-8 blowout of Norwich in a week 5 first-place showdown. Falcons coach Darryl Sebastian, however, proved to be prophetic when assessing his next game against New London.
“It’s a rivalry game, so when we play New London, you throw records out the window,” Sebastian said.
And now no team is undefeated in the Senior Division. New London rallied for a 19-18 win over Groton-Mystic, scoring the winning points on Sammy Miranda’s 8-yard touchdown pass to end Khary Tompkins and Joe Quinn’s conversion run with two minutes left Oct. 4 under the New London High lights at Canamella Field.
New London improved to 4-2 to tie three others, while Groton-Mystic stands tied with Griswold and Windham at 5-1 with three regular season games remaining before playoffs in the 14-and-under, under 180-pound league.
“We changed the look of the Senior Division,” New London coach James Singleton said. “We started hearing rumors from outside of town that coach [Ken] Stanley and I were overrated. Groton-Mystic was alone in first place and had the best back in the league, Saffwan Davis, so we were motivated. We were picked to lose, but I told the kids this was our house. We took it up to another level against them.”
Groton-Mystic, behind Davis, who has rushed for nearly 1,000 yards in six games, scored first before New London scored twice to lead, 12-6. Groton-Mystic answered with two touchdowns to lead 18-12 before New London’s final score. In the SNEYFC, touchdowns count for six, conversion runs or passes count for one, and kicks count for two. New London stopped Groton-Mystic on all three conversions.
“Davis is a great running back as well as linebacker,” Singleton said. “He reminds me of our Kyle McKinnon, who was the league’s best player last year. But we contained him pretty well. New London is coming together. The team started out slow, and key penalties hurt us in our first loss to Norwich. We have a fairly new team so we had to start out from the beginning.”
New London’s youth teams have dominated the regional league recently, winning all three divisional regular season titles last year and the Micro and Senior division championships. New London’s Junior Division team and Micro team are currently undefeated.

Election 2008: A Look at NL's Voting Profile

2008-10-10T02:27:06Z

Forgive the slang, but this ain’t Ohio.
We don’t need Sunday morning insights and analysis from talking heads and politicos to tell us that Connecticut is not exactly a battleground state.
According to a Sept. 28 poll from Real Clear Politics, Barack Obama has a 16 percent lead over John McCain in Connecticut.
So, unless something completely unexpected happens, the Nutmeg State will cast its seven electoral votes for Obama, and we’ll be colored blue on the election night map.
The last time the Republicans won Connecticut was in 1988, so if the state appears to be in the Dems’ column, what about the region?
Perhaps no bordering towns in southeastern Connecticut are as drastically different as Waterford and New London. The former is an ex-farming community with suburban malls and cookie-cutter housing developments. The latter is a small New England town that fancies itself a city and has all the challenges of an urban setting, complete with a small tax base and little to no room for expansion. So, it’s not surprising that Waterford and New London don’t exactly vote the same way all the time.
Although both of the towns have voted for the Democratic candidate in every presidential election since 1992, Waterford tends to be more of a bellwether for how the state, and sometimes the nation, leans. New London, on the other hand, has not voted for a Republican for president, the Senate, or the House in at least two generations.
“Waterford votes like a typical New England suburb,” John Sheehan, a member of the Waterford Board of Finance and a regular blogger on Connecticut Local Politics, said. “New London votes like a city.”
Jane Glover, a former New London city councilor and director of the Kente Cultural Center, said the towns have something of a symbiotic relationship, as many families have moved back and forth between the two towns.
New London is the hub of Democratic politics in the region, as the party has held near dynastic control of the city since the end of World War II.
“Just look at the ethnic makeup of the city,” Glover said. “Earlier it was the Irish and the Italians who voted for Democrats, then later the black vote.”
Glover also said New London has a working-class identity, but then again, Sheehan claims the same for Waterford, sort of.
“It’s a blue-collar town, with pockets of high-end residents,” he said. “Most of the people that live here work in the place where most of the region works—the casinos, Millstone.”
But Waterford tends to be more independent minded than its neighbor to the east.
“Waterford is mostly unaffiliated voters,” Sheehan said. “They don’t always go by party.”
True to form, locally, Waterford has a Republican first selectman, Dan Steward, while the Democrats hold one-vote majorities on the Board of Finance and the Board of Education. The Representative Town Meeting, however, has a Democratic majority, 14-8. Out of the 14 electable seats in New London, the GOP controls only three of them.
New London’s leading GOP figure, Councilor Rob Pero, is hardly surprised at Democratic dominance in the city.
“Add to that the colleges, who tend to vote for the Democrats,” he said.
Pero, however, does not rule out GOP victories in New London in the future, though he said it would take an issue voters would rally around.
“Look at what happened after the [Fort Trumbull decision],” he said. “The Democrats were 20 votes away from losing their majority on the City Council.”
Unlike New London, Sheehan said Waterford has a reputation for ticket splitting, or voting for a president of one party, while voting for a senator or representative in another.
Glover thinks New London is becoming more of a haven for independent voters.
“If you look at the number of young, creative people moving here, they don’t usually join political parties,” she said.
Waterford and New London had their greatest separation in which candidate they backed in the 1980s.
In the 1984 election, Ronald Reagan won every electoral vote in the country except Walter Mondale’s home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia.
Waterford voters went with Reagan by nearly 1,300 votes, while they voted to send liberal Democrat Sam Gejdenson back to Congress for a third term over the GOP’s Roberta Koontz. And it seems the Waterford Democrats that year, were not exactly sold on Mondale, as Colorado Sen. Gary Hart won the town in the primary.
In 1984, New Londoners were not sold on the Reagan Revolution, as Mondale won by close to 500 votes and Gejdenson lapped Koontz 6,334 to 3,517.
Four years later, the two towns also differed on the presidential ballot, as George H.W. Bush eked by in Waterford by 400 votes, while Michael Dukakis trounced his GOP rival by 2,000 votes in New London.
The year 1988 was also a seminal one in Connecticut politics, as the state’s liberal Republican Sen. Lowell Weicker was denied a fourth term by Joe Lieberman.
Waterford, however, went with the status quo, while New London voted enthusiastically for Lieberman by more than 600 votes.
And both of the towns endorsed Gejdenson by wide margins.
New London has been lockstep with the Democratic candidates, while Waterford went for Edward Munster in 1992, while voting for Bill Clinton for president.
In 1996, Waterford fell to Gejdenson by six votes, setting the stage for Rob Simmons’ capture of the town in 2000. Simmons, in fact, never lost Waterford in his four election bids, though his margin of victory in 2006 was just 84 votes.
This year, Sheehan and Glover think Obama will take each of their towns. Sheehan sees Waterford falling in line with most of New England, save New Hampshire.
Glover sees Obama winning New London, especially since the addition of vice presidential candidate Joe Biden.
“That’s helped Obama,” she said.
In 26 days, we’ll know for sure.