On the Campaign Trail: Merrimack Graduate Makes Local Impact

By Katie Thompson

Gordon College News Service

May 1, 2012

(This story appeared Sunday, May 13, 2012, on page 1 of the print edition and online of the Boston Globe North section.)

NORTH ANDOVER— When MaryRose Mazzola was in eighth grade, her parents drove her to Howard Dean’s presidential campaign rallies and around town to put up signs. But the Mazzolas weren’t campaigning for Dean; their 14-year old daughter was.

Now 21, Mazzola of Chelmsford, Mass., has been working for political campaigns ever since. Graduating May 20 from Merrimack College, she has deferred her acceptance to a master’s program at Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute. Why? So she can continue as campaign manager for State Senator Barry Finegold’s (D-Andover) re-election bid in November, a role she’s juggled with a full time class load since March.

“It’s a rare and invaluable opportunity,” Mazzola said. “I definitely wanted to take advantage of it with this gift Senator Finegold has given me.”

In a leadership position often reserved for staffers twice her age, Mazzola has spent her final spring semester working 35-40 hours a week on Finegold’s campaign while completing her course requirements. And as graduation celebrations end, she’ll continue to recruit volunteers, collect signatures, and plan events and community outreach opportunities for the senator.

Mazzola said her inspiration for public service came from her grandfather, William Hogan, former chancellor of UMass-Lowell who helped to revitalize the city during his 25-year tenure.

“The big strides that Lowell saw in the 1990s were my first hand experience of seeing state and local politics working,” she said.

She was hooked from then on. After Dean’s campaign, she went on to hold signs, make phone calls and report to campaign field directors from voting polls for U.S. Sen. John Kerry, Gov. Deval Patrick, Rep. Niki Tsongas and President Barack Obama in their respective elections.

Salem State Graduate Works for Change at Home and Abroad

By Kate Goodale

Gordon College News Service

May 1, 2012

(This story appeared Sunday, May 13, 2012, on page 7 in the print and online edition of the Boston Globe North section.)

SALEM—As many political science students focus on the country’s presidential campaigns, Kelsey Utne is looking overseas. After graduating from Salem State University (SSU) May 19, Utne, a political science, history and economics triple major, will spend her summer studying Hindi in India through a Critical Language Scholarship, a fully funded language immersion program supported by the Department of State.

For Utne, 26, of Marblehead, global issues are a natural extension of her political interests. A member of Salem State University’s Honors Program, Utne took a few years off before entering college. As a result, she dove into campus life with a candidate’s determination. This year, she is the current president of SSU’s Political Science Academy (PSA), a club that promotes international and domestic political awareness through panel discussions and voter registration drives. She helped form SSU’s first chapter of Amnesty International, an organization that fights social injustices worldwide.  And last month, Utne even launched a “Congress to Campus” event where retired Congress members visited campus for a forum, open to both local high school and Salem State students.

“Being older than most students graduating in my class means I approach things differently,” Utne said. “If I’m studying on a Friday night, or going to bed when my friends are ready to go out, I’m okay with that.”

Though she only recently focused her studies on Southern Asian politics, Utne says her international interest began in fourth grade when she read a book called, Zlata’s Diary. In it, a young girl describes the hardships she faced while growing up in the midst of the Bosnian war.

“The girl I was reading about was around the same age I was at the time,” Utne said. “I was struck by the idea that we have no say in the world we grow up in.”

From that point on, her global passions grew. While attending Marblehead High School, she participated in the Model United Nations, an event where students simulate the debates and decisions of UN ambassadors. One of Utne’s teachers there, Michael Horgan, challenged her to confront the wrongs she saw in the world.

Is a College Education worth it?

By Katie Thompson

May 9, 2012

Gordon College News Service 
(This opinion piece was published in May 15, 2012, in the Boston Globe, Beverly site.)

A recent story by the Associated Press* reported that 1 in 2 new college graduates is jobless or underemployed. As a senior preparing to graduate this month, it’s an understatement to say this is concerning. Did I just waste four years and an exorbitant amount of money for nothing?

The article seems to say yes, and it only got worse when I read that while the science and health fields are flourishing, the arts and humanities are struggling. As a communication arts major, those odds aren’t in my favor either.  The story cited a report that said only three of the 30 occupations with the largest projected number of job openings by 2020 will require a bachelor’s degree to fill the position. Most openings were in professions like retail sales, fast food and truck driving.

Congratulations to me, I now own an approximately $150,000 diploma that will get me a job somewhere I could’ve worked without one.

But fortunately (or maybe unfortunately), I don’t feel as cynical about the situation as others might. For one thing, I don’t doubt that I’ll eventually find a job that I love. Secondly, I would argue that my college education was worth it even if it doesn’t get me the career it “should” right away.

I can hear the collective sigh of parents and those older than me who are thinking that I’m being unrealistic. “Wait until the bills start piling up and you won’t feel the same,” they might say. Maybe that’s true, and maybe I’m being naïve, but I’ve learned more life lessons during my four years on a college campus than I probably would have anywhere else.

North Shore’s Creative Culture Benefits Local Economy

Downtown Beverly is attracting more artists, and business. 

By Kate Goodale 
Gordon College News Service
April 5, 2012
(This story appeared April 9, 2012, in the Boston Globe, Beverly, Salem, Peabody and Danvers, sites, and April, 16, 2012, in the print and online editions of The Salem News.)

After moving from Seattle to take a position at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Lucas Spivey soon discovered something was missing for local artists: working exhibition space. So he created 17 COX.

“There is no shortage of artists or audience in Beverly,” said Spivey. “I saw a need for a private gallery space and there was a market for it. In a sense I found a niche within the community.”

Spivey is not the only one who has noticed the North Shore’s creative culture and opportunities. Despite the national economic downturn, the region’s creativity is on the rise, helping the local economy and enriching the quality of life. According to a recent study from the Enterprise Center at Salem State University, there are over 2,200 creative economy businesses on the North Shore bringing in over $3 billion dollars in revenue.

Spivey, 27, of Beverly, founded 17 COX in October 2010 with the intention of highlighting the experimental or underrepresented ideas of the struggling or established artist. Based in the warehouse of a former taxi dispatch on 17 Cox Court in Beverly, the gallery got its start with the help of numerous local volunteers, including Spivey’s landlord who provided rental credit for renovation supplies.

“It’s not a traditional gallery,” said Spivey. “I don’t even want to call it a gallery; it’s more a laboratory workshop, a mixing pot for local, regional, and national artists.”

But the creative economy is not constrained to the arts. It also includes any business using creativity to produce wealth and generate revenue for the community, according to Christine Sullivan of Salem, CEO of the Enterprise Center at Salem State University.

Local Cooking Store Helps North Shore Companies Spice It Up

Executive chef Liz Walkowicz (left) and chef instructor Alexandra Riccuiti (right)
 in the kitchen at Eurostoves. 

By Katie Thompson
Gordon College News Service
April 5, 2012
(This story appeared April 18, 2012, in the print and online editions of The Salem News.)

BEVERLY—Are things about to boil over at the office? Try taking it to the stove.

Eurostoves, a gourmet cooking store in Beverly, has a unique recipe for bringing the community into the store while helping businesses build better office dynamics at the same time. Through the sometimes difficult art of cooking and preparing a meal, the store offers corporate cooking events in their kitchen for team building and group exercises.

“In the office, people are not always collaborating as much as they should,” said Eurostoves’ chef instructor Alexandra Ricciuti, 37, of Beverly. “[Cooking classes] are a nice chance to work together and it’s fun to create something everyone enjoys.”

In early March, Linda McGrath, assistant to the head of controlling at EMD Millipore Corporation, a biomanufacturing company in Bellerica, took a team of 42 employees to Eurostoves for a chance to get out of the office and into the kitchen.

“I was looking for a fun, interactive team building event,” she said. “It was an all around great night.”

For many of her employees, it was the first time they met face to face.

“Even though they’ve emailed and talked on phone, they had an opportunity to talk to each other in a more informal atmosphere,” McGrath said. “They got to know people on a personal side that you don’t always get to do at work.”

Ricciuti said that a few times a month different companies bring a group in, ranging from 10 to 50 employees, for a night of cooking. An event typically lasts for three hours, which gives teams time to prepare a meal and a dessert with a chef instructor and present their plate before a panel of judges.

Volunteers Give Back While Looking for Work

By Katie Thompson
Gordon College News Service
March 27, 2012 
(This story appeared March 28, 2012, in the Boston Globe, Beverly site, and April 7, 2012, in the print and online editions of The Salem News.)

After 23 years working on the switchboard and later in access services at Beverly hospital, Linda Riley lost her job in 2010. During the first five months of unemployment, she struggled to find full time work and eventually took a part time shift at Stop and Shop in the evenings.

“It’s one thing when you have a job and are looking for another job,” she said. “It’s another thing when you don’t have one and you’re looking for something before unemployment runs out.”

But Riley, 59, of Beverly wanted to stay productive while looking for work, so she started to volunteer. Since then she has been volunteering at the Beverly Council on Aging where she serves as a receptionist and as a teacher in the computer lab.

“I really love helping elderly people,” she said. “They so appreciate the company and the help.”

Riley is one of many in the area who are looking for ways to contribute while still searching for work. The benefits of volunteering are two fold, said Mark Whitmore, executive director of the North Shore Career Center. The Career Center—which has offices in Salem, Gloucester and Lynn—works with both job seekers and businesses to help both sides better understand what is needed and available in the job market. Whitmore said the Center constantly emphasizes the value of volunteering at job seeking events.

“As it gets further from the last job the individual had, they become somewhat unattractive to businesses,” he said. “Volunteering is a great way to fill that gap, to learn some additional skills, and to be able to contribute as an active member of that workforce.”

Whitmore said that besides helping to keep jobseekers marketable to potential employers, volunteering also has an intangible value.

Salem Dancers Jig to Belfast this March

Billy Petrocelli, center, with
Micoletta and Julianna Bremer at
the Bremer School.
(Photo by Kate Goodale)

By Kate Goodale

Gordon College News Service

March 8, 2012

(This story appeared March 9, 2012, in Boston Globe, Salem site, and March 15, 2012, in the Daily News of Newburyport.)

SALEM – This St. Patrick’s Day, keep an eye out for some of the world’s best Irish dancers here on the North Shore. Dancers from the Bremer School of Irish Dance in Salem will be performing locally to celebrate the holiday and six Bremer students will head to the World Championships in Belfast, Ireland.

Billy Petrocelli, 12, of Georgetown, has been dancing at the school, located on 87 Canal St. for seven years. Petrocelli has seen more of the world than most kids his age through his dance competitions, known as a feis (pronounced “fesh”) and he said Dublin is his favorite city he has visited so far. This year will be his third time competing at the World Championships (Worlds).

“I’m feeling excited mostly,” said Petrocelli. “It’s nerve-racking on the big stage, but it’s really fun. I like the sport and meeting people at the competitions.”

Maggie Osbahr, 19, of Nahant, Siobhan O’Neill, 15 of Lynn, Meghan Phelan, 15, of Lynn, Micoletta and Julianna Bremer, 11 year old twins of Swampscott are all students of the Salem school returning to Worlds.

Irish dancers compete for a regional title, in this case New England, before proceeding to the World Championships. Over 5,000 qualifying dancers ranging from ages 5-22 travel from all over the globe to dance and win the title of the world’s best. The 2012 Championships will take place in Belfast, Ireland, beginning March 31 and ending April 8.

“This is an extremely busy time for us,” said Sheila Bremer of Swampscott, teacher and owner of the school for 13 years. “We have St. Patrick’s Day performances, some of my students are trying out for a dancing documentary in Brooklyn and Worlds at the end of the month.”