A brutal winter welcoming

I spent the entire weekend living a nomadic lifestyle seeking out warm places to sleep. My house was one of the many in central Massachusetts that fell victim to the severe power outage due to the ice storm on Thursday, Dec. 11.

At about 9:30 p.m. the night of the storm, while in my living room, I hear what sounded like a gunshot as the lights went out. (Later I found out the "gunshot" was most likely the wires breaking from the pressure of the ice.) I summed it up to just a typical temporary outage and resumed my Christmas card making by candlelight.

But listening to branches breaking as I drifted to sleep, I knew this was more than an ordinary storm. On my drive to work in the morning, mangled, icy tree branches looked like bony fingers trying to crawl onto the roads. The sun peaking out from the gloomy clouds cast rays onto the frozen trees creating deceivingly picturesque winter images.

Here are a couple photos I took in Auburn, the town I cover.



My mom kept saying stuff like this happens because, "God is mad at the world." While, I don't think that is an explanation for this, I do wonder if natural disasters are mother nature's way of telling us to take better care of her?

Infidelity now made easy

While reading the Boston Herald during my lunch break today, the sandwich I had just finished eating almost revisited my mouth when I came across this article.

The Ashley Madison Agency is a dating service devoted to assisting married men and women cheat on their spouses. A classy concept, isn't it?

The slogan "Life is too short, have an affair," is featured in their ads. To enter this world of digital deception all you have to do is create an account, specify your relationship status and your on the road to secrets and lies.

According to the Herald, as of last week local radio stations such as WAAF 107.3 and WBCN 104.1 have started to air the agency's ad and T.V. commercials as expected to debut next month. The Herald also reported that the site has 2.7 million members.

I'm all about free will for everyone, but this pushes the limit. A few comments on the article that agree with the idea argued things like, "It's no one's business what others do." Well, truth being, it could very well be anyone's business. After all, The Ashley Madison's mission is to keep affairs secret, so how is anyone to know if their spouse is seeing someone else on the side? So, anyone could be subject to the turmoil it may bring.

Aside from the fact the site is an ethical mess, what does this say about our culture?

It's unfathomable the creators of this internet filth feel the need to feed into the hunger of the selfish and careless portion of the population. Something like this is as lethal as giving a junkie all the free drugs they desire. A drug addict will never kick their habit if they're given what's hurting them all they wish.

What ever happened to fixing problems?

A New Era: Barack Obama on the path to the White House

Everyone, no matter who they voted for - or if they even voted at all - should feel at least partially at peace after the results of last night's election. An African-American is on his way to the White House for the the first time ever. Something that had been deemed impossible by many in the past.

This was my first election as a reporter and I am pleased that is has been such a historical one. I spent the day running around, interviewing local politicians and getting voters' opinions on the presidential election. Though my part is microscopic compared to others around the country, it still felt nice to be somewhat a part of it.

Obama's victory was a head-on tackle to racism. I hope Obama as president starts to blur the racial lines are society is divided by.

Penguin Love

Last night my father held up the book he just read to my six-year-old brother and said: "This is an interesting book."

The book, called And Tango Makes Three, is about two male penguins who raise a baby penguin together. An egg was placed in the nest the two had made by the zoo keeper after he noticed the penguins were trying to hatch a rock. The last page of the book states the book is based on two real-life penguins in the Central Park Zoo.

In May of '07, a librarian from Southwick, MA told the School Library Journal she felt her job was threatened after reading the book to a group of elementary age children. In November of 2006, parents in Chicago wanted the book banned from the shelves.

It's understandable parents would feel uneasy about a subject such as this being showcased their children at such a young age. It is a sensitive and difficult subject to talk about. But we're getting to a point, a child being raised by a same sex couple is becoming more frequent.

Same sex couples can provide the same loving environment for a child that heterosexual parents do, and this book displays that.

These instances of people wanting the book banned show that some people are not fully adapt to the idea of same sex couples. What a book like this can do is make others more open to the idea and most of all, make members of families with same sex parents feel accepted by society.

Book Munchies

I've been a bookworm since graduation. While in school I would want to bury my nose in a good book occasionally, but my studies destroyed my motivation to read leisurely. Now that I have no more academic required readings I decided to participate in "book mooching" via bookmooch.com. My sister - queen of the bookworms - introduced me to the website last summer. Despite her constant pleas for me to join, I did not have the time or patience to give it a chance.

It's a nice concept. You post books you want to give away and in return you receive points to "mooch" other books. The only fee is the postage to mail books to moochers. Yet I'm debating whether to continue with it since my first mooching attempt was successful, but not so pleasant. I got a request for my book Up High in Trees by Kiara Brinkman from a woman in Illinois. I kindly sent it to her and was quite miffed when my feedback comment from her was "Thanks, though the book was really bent because it wasn't packaged well."

The remark put me right back in the classroom and made me feel like a teacher was scolding me on a barely passing grade. Though I am suspicious of this moocher (the book was thick so it couldn't have been that bent and points are refundable, if the giver agrees to do so... just think about that) it angers me. This is a recreational activity that's supposed to be fun, not something to be graded on.

Catholics for Obama

I usually don't like to immerse myself into political and/or religious controversy, but this video needs to be seen. Is shatters the notion that all catholics are raging liberal hating conservatives. If only all catholics could see it this way.

Hustle and Bustle

Yesterday, stuck in the usual clog of traffic getting onto 95/128n off the Mass Pike I passed by irritated drivers, slumped over their steering wheels in agony. There was the usual battle to of who can merge first where drivers ignore the attempts of those beside them to get into the lane. I am guilty of being a passive-aggressive participant in this game from time to time.

I started wondering to the tune of angry horn honking: Is all this negative energy worth it? If we are granted our wish of surpassing the cars next to us we're only .08776 seconds ahead then we would have been. What's the point of getting stressed out over something that is, for the most part, out of our reins?

Annoyance is inevitable. But why bother fan the flames when we can use the time to, oh I don't know, relax?

Oh, but who relaxes anymore? Everything nowadays is push, push, shove, shove, bitch, bitch, moan, moan.

Barbie Categories: Princess or Hooker

For nostalgia's sake and ha-has my boyfriend and I ventured to a Toys R Us the other night. Expecting to be overcome with the nauseating cheesiness of stuffed animals and silly figurines, a trip down Barbie doll aisle shattered my presumption.

I came face to face with what appears to be a new brand of Barbie. Her new look - heavy applied black eyeliner, gigantic hoop earrings and cherry red puckered lips.


This Barbie looks like she belongs outside a sleazy bar, chain smoking, batting her eyes lashes to goo-goo eyed greasy men - not stacked on toy store shelves serving as a beauty icon to young girls. If it's not bad enough to see woman walking the streets in this makeup montage, I fear 12 year olds will soon sport the getup.

It's a drastic change from my Barbie doll collecting days, about 13 years ago. The dolls then had an angelic touch. Long, flowing locks, shiny pink gloss and sparkling eyes. The dresses so wide and fluffy they look like over sized flowers.

Sadly, even a Barbie is not exempt from the battle many women in the media face of trying not to fall into the two demeaning categories of the hooch or the angel.

School's out... forever?

As summer fades into fall and my siblings are frantically finishing up summer reading and shopping for dorm accessories before another nine months of academia I'm trying to comprehend that, for the first time since preschool, I will not be returning to the land of learning.

Yes, I am happy about this. I've successfully earned a degree. It still is strange ending something that has been so constant. It's like removing training wheels off a bike. For the majority of my life, I've had teachers and textbooks to guide me.

But as I learned (the hard way) as a child, keep those training wheels on too long and there will be that kid who notices and gets the whole neighborhood chanting "SCAREDY CAT, SCAREDY CAT!"

And I am no "scaredy" cat.

Cancer threats really are everywhere

It is common knowledge that certain electronics, such as cell phones, are thought to transmit harmful, cancer-causing radiation.

A story on Boston.com today states the Director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, urged his staff to limit their cell phone use because of his unpublished study that suggests cell phones are linked to cancer.

The article says that studies have been done in the past that disprove this theory, but Herberman insists his findings reveal a correlation between the two.

As if this information isn't enough to make you want to ditch your digital digits, in today's nytimes.com's health section there's a story about granite counter tops and how they are thought to be guilty of radiating cancerous rays responsible for lung cancer.

Who would have thought something like chopping vegetables on your counter top is as risky as smoking a half a pack a day?

Neither of these studies are a hundred percent determined nor do either say the risk (if there is one) is very high. Yet, a questions still arises - should we waste away our lives worrying and obtain full body bubble suits to repel harmful substances from festering our bodies or enjoy our lives without woes and take our chances?

Mt. Etna: Sicily's Friendly Volcano

From afar, Mt. Etna, an active volcano on the northeast edge of Sicily, looks a though it’s embedded into the skyline. The faint outlines of the mountain against the cloudy sky resemble a page in a coloring book, waiting for a child to scribble in its colors. My ears pop from the pressure as the bus carries us up the mountain. Now Etna, looks like a giant sundae oozing with chocolate syrup as we travel up the windy roads. Black rock peeks through the blanket of snow covering the rocky terrain.

The song “Somewhere over the Rainbow” playing from the ipod on the tour bus fits the scenery. Traveling through Etna’s evolving landscape is like visiting another planet. Brightly colored lemon and orange trees at the base, rich from the volcanoes ash, give way to thin and bent looking trees destroyed from past lava flows. Every so often, a small village appears.

Etna stands 10,991 feet tall on the edge of the city of Catania and it has been estimated that she has been active for over two million years. The inhabitants of these villages do not live in fear of Etna, but rather admire her for her power and beauty. To them, she is their queen and they are her obedient loyal subjects.

The higher part of Mt. Etna is much cooler than the temperature at the base. Mounds of harden lava cover the area and a small gift shop, that looks more like a log cabin, stands among the rubble. Patterns of trees march up the vast valleys. Green pines stand out against barren meek trees with windy white branches. The sun silhouettes the trees and makes the snow sparkle. Beauty this overwhelming makes it hard to believe that the mountain is capable of spewing hot lava.

“When it erupts, we’re drawn to it,” says Rosa Rizza, a Sicilian tour guide. “You stop. You figure out which mouth it’s coming from. If lava is heading to your house you wait until the very last minute. You wait for a miracle.”

Rizza explained that during an eruption in 1992 a priest who lived on the mountain took out a statue of the Madonna, set it on the ground facing the direction of the lava flow and knelt down to pray. Miraculously, the lava stopped 15 meters from the statue and only water was found under it.

Unlike Hawaiian volcanoes, there have been very few deaths from Etna’s eruptions. An article in National Geographic said the reason for this is that the lava moves slowly, so residents have enough time to evacuate. Explosive eruptions are not frequent and when they do occur they are closer to the peak. Etna has even been nicknamed “friendly giant” by the Italians.

Sicilians not only see Etna’s lava flows as non-threatening but welcome the event as a gift. The ash from eruptions fertilizes soil and is even thought to make hair grow.

“We love her because she spews ashes on our plants,” says Rizza. “It is the best fertilizer from the earth, which is energy. If you have a plant that’s dying and you sprinkle some ash on it then that plant is going to look right up at you and say ‘Ciao!’”

The amount of energy released from Etna’s eruptions is astounding. A report in Science Daily said Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is continuously erupting.

“If man could capture the energy from eruptions we would be able to light up the entire earth continent for 30 years,” says Rizza.

The lava flows are unpredictable, but there is one warning sign. Before an eruption Etna starts puffing black smoke. The closest scientist have ever come to a prediction is four days. The last lava flow was in 2001. Harden lava still remains on the premises of the volcano in the form of black rocks.

“There is no pattern. When it erupts, it erupts,” says Rizza. “The volcano never ceases to surprise us.”

Rizza says erupting volcanoes are nothing to worry about, it’s actually a good sign that the earth is functioning just fine.

“As long as volcanoes keep erupting we’re ok,” she says. “It means our planet is still alive, Volcanoes are part of life. We relate Etna to life - not death.”

Sicily

Last Sunday I returned from my nine day excursion of Sicily, a little drop of paradise off the coast of Italy. I spent the week with my photojournalism and travel writing class capturing the character and culture of Sicily and its people. My eyes are still sore from being wide with awe everyday.

On our first full day we ventured to the ancient Greek city of Selinunte. We were blessed with a sunny day, perfect for exploring and taking photos. Even though the temples are now in ruins, the architecture is still a work of art in its tragic beauty. Curiosity lead me and a few friends to journey up the hills surrounding the ruins. The trail is so white it could pass for pure marble. Once at the top I was able to enjoy the scenery with the only sound being the distant hum of bees pollinating.

We spent a entire day in the city of Cefalù, located on the northern coast of Sicily. During my time there, I became enamored with the place. It has friendly residents, peaceful beaches and culture meshed together. Every person I conversed with was patient with my novice Italian speaking skills. Hand gestures and warm smiles helped with the communication process too.

The beaches here weren't crowded with the beauty queens roasting themselves found in the states. The beach goers appeared to be enoying the natural beauty surrounding them. Not acting like a sun sponge face down in the sand.



We were fortunate enough to witness the mesmerizing sight of Mt. Etna, an active volcano. Even though Etna spills out lava every so often, those who live at the base love her. They love how fertile her ash from eruptions make their soil. The last big eruption was in 2001-2002, and there are piles of hardened lava everywhere on the mountain as a result. My only disappointment with the visit to Etna is that we didn't get to stay long enough.

This is only a brief summary of my time in Sicily. I'll post more about my trip later. As hard as I try though, no words can do the wonderful sights and experiences of the country any justice.

From out of the ashes

The summer of 2007 I interned at Worcester Magazine. This is one of the many stories I wrote during my interning period. From out of the ashes Written by Teresa Franco Thursday, 16 August 2007 Artists regain strength — and art — after the Bernat Mill fire By Teresa Franco During the final hours of the fire, the artists of the Bernat Mill complex huddled in a roped-off area and watched their second home burn down to a skeleton of metal poles. A majority of work by these artists became nothing more than a pile of ashes in front of them on Saturday, July 21, when flames took possession of the Mill that had once been an epicenter of a diverse range of activities. "Variety is what made us a great business," artist Laura Cenedella says of the mill. "You could drop your kid off at gymnastics lessons and then walk down the hall to the café and have something to eat." Karin Knapik (second from left) with students from the after-school arts program. Cenedella spent her days at the Mill teaching disabled adults through The Rainbow Pallette TLC program. Her passion for painting began about seven years ago when she was forced to stop working due to a disability, which she discovered to be multiple sclerosis. After a few years of physical therapy, Cenedella's therapist recommended she try painting as a means of easing the symptoms of her illness. "I realized it helped not only physically but emotionally," she says, "I had forgotten who I was. Painting helped me find myself again." Like most of the artists at the Mill, Cenedella lost all her art supplies and the majority of her work in the fire — the exception being four paintings she had been keeping in her house. One of Cenedella's students, fresh out of high school, who was just about ready to start teaching classes of his own, lost a substantial amount of his work to the fire, too. Living only a block away from the Mill, Cenedella witnessed the fire first-hand from her porch after a friend phoned. "I opened the door," she says, "and noticed a huge amount of smoke. I broke down immediately, I started screaming." Cenedella describes the Bernat community as being one big family. "We spent almost every day at the Mill," she says, "so everyone's family got to know everyone else's family." The brick walls of the Mill still stand, but the inside has turned to gray dust and rubble. "Lots of people are still lost," Cenedella says of her fellow members at Bernat, "they don't know where to go or what to do. It's still a shock." Karin Knapik, who lost years of art and journals full of poetry, is trying to conjure up some positive spirit from the unfortunate situation. "It's certainly given me motivation to create more work," she says, "I had two pieces I had been working on that I really wasn't happy with. Since the fire I've revisited the pieces, because it's all I've got now." Knapik, like Cenedella, held classes for low costs through the TLC program. Both women are anxious to find new places to hold their classes, but they are not expecting to get studios with rent as low as Bernat's. Cenedella's and Knapik's surviving paintings are being displayed in an art show that is raising money for those who lost their creative pieces in the fire. Pamela Murphy and Johl DeLorey also feature what is left of their collections. Empty canvases are displayed in tribute to the lost art as well. The show, called Art from the Ashes, is at Alternatives Art Gallery in Uxbridge through September. Those who are willing to help are encouraged to drop off donations of art supplies at the gallery. Currently, the Alternatives Art Gallery has a collage of pictures of what remains of the mill hanging in its windows. Debra Johnson, an employee at Alternatives, says the pictures have captured the attention of the community. "The pictures are really bringing in people," says Johnson, "We've had so many people come in asking what they can do to help." A Web site, www.helpuxbridge.com, has been created in the aftermath of the fire, which lists ways people can get involved in helping out the community. It includes an "Adopt a Business" section, where individuals and organizations can give new supplies and spaces for those affected by the Mill fire, to help them get back on their feet. Links and contact information to hotlines and helpful organizations are also listed. Despite the positive response from the community, the artists still mourn their losses. Knapik points out that she is fortunate enough to not have been financially dependent on her artwork, but empathizes with those who are. "That is the most heart-wrenching," she says of those who make a living from their artwork. "This is their life, this is what they create. It's disheartening."

Regression of Rights

This is a column of mine that was published in UMass-Amherst's newspaper the Daily Collegian in April 2007. The published version of the story can be found here.


Purity Balls, a fairly new phenomena in the evangelical community, take the term "daddy's little girl" a little too literally. The ball is a practice in which fathers vow to protect their daughters' virginity until the day they hand her over to her husband on her wedding day.

With the time, money and effort put into the ornate décor of the ballroom, it could easily be mistaken for a high school prom except the girls are escorted by their fathers rather than teenage boys. The girls dress up in princess-like outfits including satin gloves that go up to their elbows. Their hair is pinned up in intricate up-dos with a few curls loose and a tiara holding the ensemble together.

If you are to wander onto the Web site of the founders' of this event, you will see a video of delicate looking ballerinas prancing around in angelic tutus around a giant cross while the fathers watch from the side. Images of girls doing the tango and being spun and dipped by their fathers also appear in the video.

The evening begins with the host of the event shouting "Are you ready to war for your daughter's purity?" to the men in the crowd. During the ceremony the fathers and daughters sign a contract that starts off "I (daughter's name)'s father choose before God to cover my daughter as her authority and protection in the area of purity."

This tradition was started in Colorado about nine years ago, and a few other states - mostly in the conservative south - have started to host these ceremonies. This summer, these Purity Balls will spread their Victorian-age venom all the way to the northeast. In June, New York City will hold its first annual Purity Ball.

Though the intentions of fatherly love are a bit endearing, a large portion of the girls who participate in these Purity balls are barely old enough to understand what sex is. Therefore, they are in no way ready to agree to something they do not comprehend. Their fathers have got their morals completely warped. While they are trying to prevent young men from taking advantage of their daughters' bodies, these dads are doing the same to their daughter's underdeveloped minds. The fathers use the fact that if given a pretty dress, a crown and a night to be treated like a princess, a little girl will agree to anything as bait for girls to go along with the agreement. These men are not realizing a girl's sex life is personal - to have those rights as a sexual being taken away from her at a vulnerable age is an utter disgrace.

Teaching young girls to make wise decisions sexually is one thing, but to hold a ceremony where she signs off her sexual choices as a woman for her father to decide reeks of oppression. It's understandable that it's a masculine urge for a dad to want to shelter his daughter from the cruel intentions of boys, but to completely strip away a freedom women in the United States are fortunate enough to have is pure discrimination.

The followers of these pledges believe this is a way for girls to have more self respect for themselves than girls who go sleeping around. However, a girl who agrees to the pledge could possibly grow up thinking she is to have no sexual desires at all. It implies that her husband has full control of her sexual urges and she is to only participate in sexual relations under her husband's will. Her life as a sexual being will be protected by her father as a girl and then owned by her husband when she weds. How is this self-respect?

This Puritan-like practice is a punch in the stomach to all the women warriors who have made their lives into a mission for us to have as many equal rights as possible. It's a stumble backward in the progress that has been made for in the area of women's rights. This does not mean a woman who wants to save herself for her husband on her wedding night should be looked down upon - as long as the decision is something she truly feels strongly about. One she is choosing on her own.

What these fathers do not realize is that not only are they putting restrictions on their daughters' sex lives but her role in society in general. A father who makes this vow to keep his daughter pure wants his daughter to grow up to be a strong-willed and independent woman. How can she believe this if one of the most important decisions for her body as a woman is not hers to make?