Save New World Theater
I am writing in response to the announcement of the planned suspension of New World Theater [Art in Paradise, August 6, 2009]. The University of Massachusetts has been my neighbor since I entered first grade at Mark's Meadow Elementary in 1996. I have always believed Amherst was a great place to grow up and that the Five-College community made it that way. A wealth of knowledge was always at my fingertips and the knowledge was shared through all mediums.
I urge the university to search for alternatives to closing a theater that brings artists, academics, and activists into our community. New World Theater has taught me history, geography and writing skills through workshops and performances. I have also learned dances and taken voice lessons from great artists to whom I would have never been introduced if it weren't for New World Theater.
I feel that what I learned as a youth participant in Project 2050 should be assigned the same value as the education I receive in a classroom. I stepped onto the NWT stage for the first time as a 16-year-old girl who hadn't decided who she wanted to become, and stepped off as a confident young woman with a presidential scholarship to Endicott College and a plan to be the first member of my family to graduate from a four-year college.
They say it takes a village to raise a child, and my village was comprised of NWT staff, performers and audience members. I am one of many youth who have grown up with the NWT family. The suspension of New World Theater would be a great loss to the university, the town of Amherst, and the Five-College community. I always dreamed of working for the theater after I graduate, and I know there are ways that dream can remain a possibility. Let's work together to make sure that New World Theater can continue.
Moriah Glasgow
via email
Thanks to Advocate
I wish to thank Maureen Turner for those kind words about my service to the community [Between the Lines, July 23, 2009]. I also hope the Advocate will continue to fight the good fight for what you believe to be the truth.
In my defense I would like to comment on the assertion that I am not known for taking stands and making tough decisions. During my time on the Council I've taken 1,000 tough votes on zone changes, special permits, school construction, 150 new police officers, baseball stadiums, ward representation and needle exchange, just to name a few. Perhaps the fact that I don't make them personal is the reason you don't remember them. I'm proud of the fact that I only have one mortal enemy as a result of politics.
One of my strongest political beliefs is that "what happens in the neighborhoods of Springfield is just as important as what happens in City Hall, and it's important to be there and show your support." It's hard to do that if you're constantly looking over your shoulder.
Bill Foley
Springfield City Council
