Sell a page from the 556-year-old Gutenberg Bible, one woman suggested. Charge a modest fee for library cards, said another, waving a $10 bill.

One man said that he was a prison librarian while serving time in Walpole and that closing any library branches would be far worse than any of his crimes.

“I may have robbed a bank, but I have never burned a book,’’ said the man, John McGrath. “And that’s what you do when you close a library branch, because they are never going to reopen.’’

Passions ran high yesterday as nearly 400 people packed a lecture hall at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square for an emotional and at times raucous public meeting about the fate of the constellation of library branches that dot the city.

When City Council President Michael P. Ross stepped to the microphone at one point, the crowd roared, and people shouted, “The public goes first,’’ and “Let the people speak.’’

Ross relented, and a constant stream of people took turns, many denouncing a proposal by library officials to close up to 10 neighborhood branches to consolidate resources and change how they provide services in the face of a $3.6 million budget shortfall.

WHEELOCK COLLEGE is without peer in diversity, with a tenured and tenure track faculty that is 23 percent black and Hispanic. A Globe survey found the percentage of such faculty to be between 3 and 8 percent at Harvard, MIT, Boston University, Boston College, Brandeis, Emerson, Northeastern, and Tufts. Not a single one of those private colleges and universities is even at the 9 percent national average for black and Hispanic faculty, in a nation that is 28 percent black and Hispanic.

Only UMass Boston, the city’s public university, offers Wheelock any competition with 13 percent black and Hispanic faculty. Boston University, the city’s largest private school, is only at 3.4 percent. Harvard may boast some black superstars such as Henry Louis Gates, Jr., but its faculty is only 5.8 percent black and Hispanic.

Wheelock proves that neither rocket science nor an undiscovered Dead Seas scroll is necessary to find the formula to achieve diversity. Wheelock President Jackie Jenkins-Scott, who is African American but says progress was underway well before her arrival in 2004, said that universities have to believe in diversity enough to have “a diversity officer with access to the departments [and] the ability to report situations to the leadership.’’

Grand jury hears claims coach abused teen in ’70s
By Michael Rezendes – Globe Staff / March 7, 2010

It was an overcast Saturday in the summer of 1976 and the Red Sox and Yankees were halfway through a doubleheader. Sam Albano, a New York television producer, was strolling down Lansdowne Street behind Fenway Park when he ran into a friend from home, Bob Oliva, and Oliva’s guest that day, a teenager named Jimmy Carlino.

It crossed his mind that it was odd to find Oliva with a 14-year-old, but Albano quickly dismissed the thought. And over the next 30 years, the two men became even closer friends, sharing a passion for sports as Oliva built a reputation as a standout coach for the powerhouse basketball team at Christ the King Regional High School in Queens.

Now, however, Albano is cooperating with Boston prosecutors presenting evidence to a Suffolk grand jury that Oliva repeatedly molested his teenage companion all those years ago, while staying at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. And in the aftermath of those allegations, Oliva has resigned from the job he held at Christ the King for 27 years, roiling the New York City high school sports community.

“This is a guy I looked up to, trusted, and had a lot of faith in, and even believed in when the initial allegations surfaced,’’ Albano said in a Globe interview. “However, because of his personal conduct there’s no way I can support Bob anymore.’’

Students have collected more than 500 signatures on a petition. Hundreds have joined a Facebook group. And their parents have been firing off letters to school administrators.

They are rallying behind a push to save honors classes at Boston Latin School, following the school’s announcement last week that it would scrap the classes and instead focus on expanding access to more rigorous college-level courses.

The move to drop honors classes next year has caused a stir at this most competitive of public schools, where even the slightest deviation in a grade point average is a cause of alarm for many students.

Supporters of the honors classes say the courses have served as a good middle ground for generations of students whose skills are above the level of standard courses but are not ready for college-level, or Advanced Placement, classes.

They also worry that the loss of honors courses will damage students’ chances of admission to top colleges. Grades in honors classes are weighted more heavily in GPAs than standard courses, but not as much as the college-level work.

Brookline pitch may hit Sox fans in wallet – Town ponders raising parking meter rates
By Brock Parker – Globe Correspondent / March 6, 2010

BROOKLINE – Red Sox fans may not get a free pass to park in Brookline on their way to Fenway Park this summer.

Officials in Brookline are warming to the idea of extending the hours that parking meters operate near Fenway Park and charging about $10 to park in the spots during games.

In past seasons, parking has been free at meters in Brookline after 6 p.m. Sox fans could hop on the Green Line to get to Fenway and avoid parking fees near the stadium that can cost up to $35. But as a result, customers at some businesses – such as those near the St. Mary’s MBTA stop on Beacon Street – often could not find a place to park.

“Our regulars will not come down here when it’s a game day,’’ said Paul Walsh, general manager of the Beacon Street Tavern, who said at least 50 percent of his patrons drive to the restaurant.

Brookline selectmen appointed a committee to consider hiking meter rates and extending the hours for metered spots until 10 p.m., said Bill Schwartz, a cochairman of the committee.

The changes could affect more than 100 parking spots around the St. Mary’s stop and the 1000 block of Beacon Street.

Where ideas can flow – MIT’s Media Lab moves into $90 million building designed by Pulitzer Prize-winning architect
By Hiawatha Bray – Globe Staff / March 6, 2010

CAMBRIDGE – It took more than 10 years, but the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s famed Media Lab has finally moved into its new digs.

The gleaming aluminum structure on Amherst Street in Cambridge officially opened yesterday. Media Lab director Frank Moss said its large central atrium and glass-enclosed laboratories are ideal spaces for the lab’s collaborative research projects.

“It delivers on the vision of a unique way of doing research,’’ Moss said. “No boundaries, no walls, a flow of interdisciplinary ideas, and plenty of space to build and invent.’’

The new lab’s Pulitzer Prize-winning architect, Fumihiko Maki, called it “one of the best buildings we ever produced in my long career, both in Japan and in the United States.’’

The plans for the new Media Lab were announced in 1999, as part of a major building campaign for the MIT campus. The most famous of the new buildings, a computer science center designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry, was completed in 2004. But Maki’s plans for the Media Lab were put in a drawer after the Internet boom of the late-1990s faded and corporate financing for the project dwindled.

WHEN: Now – March 28, 2010

Evenings: Tues. – Thurs. at 7:30pm; Fri. – Sat. at 8pm; Select Sun. at 7pm

Matinees: Select Wed., Sat., Sun. at 2pm; Thurs., March 18 at 10am (Student Matinee)

Days and times vary; see complete schedule at end of release.

WHERE: The Huntington’s second stage – Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA, 527 Tremont Street in Boston’s South End.

TICKETS: $20-$60. Available online at huntingtontheatre.org; by phone at 617 266-0800; and in person at the B.U. Theatre Box Office (264 Huntington Avenue) or the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA Box Office (527 Tremont Street in Boston’s South End).

$5 senior and military discounts.

$10 Subscriber and B.U. Community discounts.

$25 “35 Below” tickets for patrons 35 years old and younger (valid I.D. required).

$20 back row of the orchestra tickets.

$15 student rush seats (available 2 hrs. before curtain time for each performance; valid I.D. required)

(BOSTON) – Due to universal critical acclaim, record-breaking ticket sales, and a continued high demand for tickets, the Huntington Theatre Company has added the following performances to its run of Stick Fly:

• Sunday, March 7 at 7pm
• Sunday, March 21 at 7pm
• Tuesday, March 23 at 7:30pm
• Wednesday, March 24 at 2pm and 7:30pm
• Thursday, March 25 at 7:30pm
• Friday, March 26 at 8pm
• Saturday, March 27 at 2pm and 8pm
• Sunday, March 28 at 7pm

All seats at added performances are $60. Discounts listed above may be applied.

Stick Fly, a smart, moving, and funny portrait of a complex African-American family, is by Huntington Playwriting Fellow Lydia R Diamond. Kenny Leon, Tony Award-nominated Broadway director of A Raisin in the Sun returns to the Huntington this season following his much-praised production of August Wilson’s Fences (Sept. – Oct. 2009) before beginning rehearsals as director of the Broadway revival of Fences, starring Academy Award winner Denzel Washington and Tony Award winner Viola Davis in April 2010.

Sparks fly when Kent LeVay brings Taylor, his fiancée, to his family’s luxurious Martha’s Vineyard summer home to meet his parents. Taylor, under the microscope and unaccustomed to the LeVay’s affluent lifestyle, challenges the household dynamic. When Kent’s womanizing older brother arrives with his white girlfriend, long-hidden family secrets are revealed in this funny, moving and poignant portrait of a complex African-American family – an of-the moment look at sibling rivalry and the weight of parental expectations.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR THE HUNTINGTON’S PRODUCTION OF STICK FLY

“SHOUT FOR JOY! Stick Fly is brilliant and endlessly fascinating. Acutely observant, laugh-out-loud funny, and complicated as only real human stories can be. Lydia R. Diamond is one of Boston’s finest playwrights.” – The Boston Globe

“TOP-NOTCH AND MEMORABLE! A complex, funny, and moving play. It shows us a side of African-American culture seldom portrayed in popular entertainment. That’s refreshing. Even more refreshing is Kenny Leon’s production for the Huntington Theatre Company, as crisp and fresh as a fine pino grigio.” – Boston Herald

“AN ASTOUNDING ACHIEVEMENT! An All My Sons for a new generation. Director Kenny Leon and a cast that’s a joy from top to bottom makes Diamond’s script sing.” – TAB Newspaper

PRODUCTION CALENDAR and RELATED EVENTS

Stick Fly

by Lydia R. Diamond

Directed by Kenny Leon

The Huntington’s production of Stick Fly plays for 31 more performances. Related post-show events are free with ticket purchase to any performance.

Thurs., March 4 at 7:30pm Actors Forum

Fri., March 5 at 8pm

Sat., March 6 at 2pm and 8pm

Sun., March 7 at 2pm and 7pm Humanities Forum, a lively post-show talk with a leading local scholar about the historical/literary context of the play
(2pm performance)

Wed., March 10 at 2pm and 7:30pm Actors Forum (2pm performance)

Thurs., March 11 at 7:30pm

Fri., March 12 8pm

Sat., March 13 at 2pm and 8pm

Sun., March 14 at 2pm and 7pm

Tues., March 16 at 7:30pm

Wed., March 17 at 7:30pm

Thurs., March 18 at and 7:30pm

Fri., March 19 at 8pm

Sat., March 20 at 2pm and 8pm

Sun., March 21 at 2pm and 7pm

Tues., March 23 at 7:30pm

Wed., March 24 at 2pm and 7:30pm

Thurs., March 25 at 7:30pm

Fri., March 26 at 8pm

Sat., March 27 at 2pm and 8pm

Sun., March 28 at 7pm

Ongoing–
Post-Show Conversations

New this season, the Huntington offers post-show audience conversations with members of the staff after most Tuesday-Friday, Saturday matinee, and Sunday matinee performances. Free with a ticket to the performance. See huntingtontheatre.org/season/0910/stickfly/calendar-events.aspx for complete schedule.

Sunday, March 7, following the 2pm performance at the Calderwood Pavilion
Humanities Forum

A lively post-show talk with a leading local scholar about the historical/literary context of the play.

Ongoing–
American Stories Contest: Share your American Story

The Huntington Theatre Company’s 2009-2010 Season features seven windows into the American experience by American writers, and is filled with American stories. Join us by sharing your American story and enter to win VIP tickets to each of our opening night performances and post-show cast parties throughout the season. Enter in either category: 18 and under or General. We’ll name a winner from each per show, and a Grand Prize winner for the year.

Create a video or write an essay response to the following question – or simply tell us your American story. Send it with your name, address, and phone number to contest@huntingtontheatre.org. All entries will be posted on the Huntington’s blog and winners will be featured in our monthly e-newsletter.

In Stick Fly, a complicated African-American family gathers for a weekend at their vacation home on Martha’s Vineyard. How would you describe your family dynamic? What do you like most about your family?

BREAKING AND ENTERING ON HEMENWAY
Police reported a breaking and entering at 38 Hemenway St. on Feb. 25. According to the reports, an unidentified person(s) broke into the apartment through the side door entrance between 4:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. The door’s locking mechanism was damaged and paint and wood chips were found on the floor, suggesting a forced entry. All four of the resident were not home so no one was hurt however $1,440 worth of property was stolen.

MAN ARRESTED FOR LARCENY
On Feb. 27 police responded to a call at 5:04 p.m. for larceny in progress at the corner of Boylston Street and Massachusetts Avenue. Upon arrival police observed a man walking into Tedeschi’s Convenience, pointing to the suspect inside the store.

According to the victim, the suspect flagged down his cab and opened the rear passenger door of his cab to ask if he took credit or debit cards. The suspect then picked up an unknown object from the seat, closed the door and walked away with a wallet in his hand. The cab driver saw the man removing money from the wallet and exited the vehicle to demand that he return the money that he said belonged to the previous passenger. When the suspect refused to return the money the cab driver followed him and pushed him to the ground.

Police spoke with a Tedeschi Convenience employee who confirmed this story. They then conducted a pat frisk on the suspect and felt a small stack of money in his pocket. When the victim was unable to identify how much money he had, he was placed under arrest for larceny over $250. Officers found a total of $610 on the man. The owner of the wallet was located and police returned the money to him.

MORE BREAKING AND ENTERING ON HEMENWAY
An apartment at 26 Hemenway St. was broken into on Feb. 22 between 5:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. One of the victims said he found muddy footprints on his bed near an unlocked window. The victims believe this to be the entrance point for the intruder. An Apple computer valued at $1,500 was the only item stolen from the apartment.

STUDENT CAUSES MAJOR DISRUPTION AT MCKINLEY
On Feb. 22, an officer assigned to McKinley Prep High School was called to address a physical altercation between two students that resulted from one student making an unnecessary comment about the other. The student who made the comment was removed from the classroom and sent to the planning center.

While in the planning center, the student became more agitated and began to scream at staff members. He began yelling profane language at the officer who asked him to correct his behavior. The student was asked to stay in the planning center however repeatedly attempted to leave. His behavior escalated to the point where he was issued a suspension and instructed to leave the building immediately.

The student continued to yell at the officer and refused to exit the building. His disorderly behavior caused students to stop and watch. The officer informed the student if he did not leave it would be considered trespassing. The student eventually left on his own terms and will be summoned to court for trespassing.

STUDENTS COMPUTER STOLEN AT MFA
A student reported his computer was stolen out of his backpack while visiting the MFA on Feb. 25. The victim said his computer was inside his backpack and kept in a blue bin in an unlocked side room inside the museum. He did not notice the computer missing until he returned to his dorm room. The computer is valued at $1,500.

PERSON ARRESTED FOR UNLICENSED FIREARM
On Feb. 27, police along with the assistance of a State Trooper placed a suspect under arrest for underage drinking, drinking in public, carrying a firearm without a license, carrying a loaded firearm, and using another person’s identification card to purchase alcohol.

Police first approached the suspect when he exited the Who’s On First nightclub (19 Yawkey Way) with a beer bottle in hand. The suspect was informed of the violation of Drinking Alcoholic Beverage in Public. When an officer removed the bottle from his hand, the suspect placed both hands towards his waistband. Worried for their safety, police put the suspect in handcuffs and conducted a pat frisk in which they found a loaded Colt 25 caliber.

The suspect was not of legal age to drink alcoholic beverages or posses a license to carry a firearm. The suspect was arrested and will be charged as an Armed Career Criminal Level 1 based on a prior guilty conviction of assault and battery.

Police also arrested two other individuals who repeatedly disrupted them as they tried to gain control of the scene. While being booked, an officer found marijuana in one of the suspect’s pockets as well as a Massachusetts ID that did not match his identity. The suspect was issued a violation for possession of one ounce or less of marijuana.

For Peter Holland-Recine, a senior in music production and engineering at Berklee College, getting his band onto Berklee’s student-run record label, Heavy Rotation Records,has been a boost.

“The most important things that we have gained from Heavy Rotation are recognition and exposure, which then give us validation in the [music] industry,” he said of his Black Lettle band.

The label recently sold out its 10th annual release concert for its latest album, Dorm Sessions: 7 at the college’s 1,200-seat performance center, where all nine of the artists featured on the album performed.

Many agreed that the label has given their musical careers a terrific jump start.

Black Kettle is one of nine local artists featured on Dorm Sessions. 7 Others include Ann Driscoll, Jordan Tarrant, Liz Longley, Tin Soldier, Julia Easterlin, Liptease, Tais Alvarenga, and KR & the Future. The album features a compilation of rock, pop, Latin, folk and hip-hop genres.

Commonly known as HR, the label has released 12 albums since 1995, which have featured artists such as Big D and the Kids Table, The Click Five, and Emerson’s own Passion Pit. Heavy Rotation Records is run by students participating in the music business and management practicum at Berklee.

“The label serves as a springboard for careers in the music industry,” said Berklee’s website, which cited HR alumni as current Interscope, Capitol Records, DreamWorks, Live Nation, and Universal employees.

The faculty advisor of the label, Jeff Dorenfeld, who is also the former manager of the band Boston, said that the practicum gives students the opportunity to work with realities of the music world.

“The students must apply what they’ve learned in a practical sense, take risks, and do the work of a true label. The result isn’t a test score, it’s the record itself,” he said.

Heavy Rotation student director Cierra Walker, a senior music business and management major, said the best part of running the practicum as a “true label” is that it helps the artists focus on their music. “We take care of all the business aspects so that the artists don’t have to. That way, they can focus on putting their best work forward, creating the best show possible and getting the most exposure they can,” she said.

Heavy Rotation produced 2,000 copies of Dorm Sessions: 7, which was given away to those who attended the release concert.

Berklee junior music production and electronic production design double major Julia Easterlin said the album and its release performance have given her a broader audience and acknowledgement in the Berklee music scene.

“I have received a lot of positive feedback from not only the Berklee community but from the Boston community as a whole. People recognize me and are so enthusiastic about and supportive of my music,” she said. “I’ve gained lot more listeners than I ever could have on my own.”

Holland-Recine, Black Kettle’s guitarist, said that the band had put a lot of work into promoting themselves but that it was Heavy Rotation that sparked the band’s exposure.

“All of a sudden things just exploded for us with the release of the album and after the performance. It all happened much faster than ever before,” he said.

Both Easterlin and Black Kettle agree that Heavy Rotation’s support has been the most beneficial to them. Black Kettle vocalist and guitarist Kailynn West, a Berklee senior music production and engineering major, said the band’s collaboration with the label has given it the reputation it needs to continue on in the business.

“We’re not sure where we’ll be headed next, but we know that our relationship with Heavy Rotation will extend beyond Berklee and we will be able to continue to work together,” she said. “That kind of support is really encouraging.”

Easterlin said Heavy Rotation has helped her become more secure in her musical style and identity. “It makes it so much easier when you’re booking a gig to have someone there to back you up and say, ‘She really can do this,’” she said. “Their support really boosts my faith in having a musical career.”

Heavy Rotation is currently working with four of its recorded artists and will be attending the “South by Southwest” music festival in Austin, Texas, which Dorenfeld described as one of the largest independent music events in the country. “The music never stops at South by Southwest, it is 24/7,” he said. “A lot of artists get discovered there.”

The festival will begin on March 17 and end March 21. Attending the event will be Black Kettle, Ann Driscoll, Jordan Tarrant, and Nini & Ben, a Heavy Rotations alumni group.

“We’re driving down and checking out all the major music cities along the way,” Holland-Recine said. “We’re going to see where we fit in.”

Editor’s addendum:  I went to the last Dorm Sessions concert, which is why I asked Rheanna to write about this.  It was the night of the ‘blizzard that wasn’t,’ and a meeting had been cancelled, so I decided to celebrate by asking for a press pass to this event – I have never been happier with a blizzard in my life.  This year more than 300 individuals and groups auditioned, so the nine who were finally selected all totally feel like “top of the heap” performers.

I won’t try to say something intelligent about every single act, although I really liked every single one.  But I was especially moved by Liz Longely and Julia Easterlin.  When they sing about love it’s easy enough to imagine being in love with them, if you’re inclined that way.  But what they really accomplish is to model a version of love that you want to adopt as your own.  For a few minutes they make what should be seem like what actually is.  That’s what makes us want to listen to them over and over again.

I also appreciate that the concert organizers topped it off with KR and the Future – they were a great band to climax the evening with – sent us back out into the faux storm with a little extra energy.
- Stephen Brophy

Stick Fly. the latest production of the Huntington Theatre Company at the Calderwood Pavilion, is a play about examining other people. The play takes place in a well-to-do house on Martha’s Vineyard, a vacation home belonging to the LeVays, an upper class African American family. It captures a few days in the lives this family; after which family dynamics will never be the same.

Kent “Spoon” LeVay, the son of Dr. Joseph LeVay, has brought his fiancee Taylor to meet the family. Taylor, who’s also African American, grew up in less affluent circumstances than the LeVays, and her self-consciousness in the upper class household is palpable. Meanwhile, Spoon’s older brother Flip shows up with his girlfriend Kimber. A self-described WASP. Kimber is from the same economic class as the LeVays; one of the running jokes in the first act is Flip’s attempt to make his family overlook this racial difference by introducing Kimber to them at “Italian.” Also present is the African American high school aged housekeeper Cheryl who’s filling in for her mother, the long-time housekeeper who called in sick.

These characters don’t balk when conversations that start out light reveal underlying assumptions about race and class, they respond with more assumptions, setting up many of the very funny lines in the play. But there’s clearly more going on: Dr. LeVay arrives without his wife and is evasive about her absence. Despite supposedly being sick, Cheryl’s mother keeps calling, and Taylor is strangely awkward about the subject of her father, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Various secrets are revealed during the course of the play, some secrets resulting from assumptions made much earlier than this weekend at the Vineyard.

The conversations between the characters are significant in that they mirror what often happens when real people discuss race and class: offense, often unintended, is given and taken. In some ways these characters serve as models for such conversations; despite conflicts they continue to interact, and some end up liking each other despite trying not to. Much of the play is laugh-out-loud funny, in part because the characters clearly articulate familiar cliches usually clouded behind metaphor. Ironically, the most hurtful and potentially unresolvable conflict is not the result of anything anyone says, but the result of something too long left unsaid.

The play gives the audience many questions to ponder. Is an elite education an automatic entrée into a higher social class? To what extent does family confer social status? How does financial support compensate for a lack of emotional support?

The set depicts the living room, kitchen, and porch of the LeVay home, and captures the feeling of a well-appointed vacation home. By virtue of the open design, some separate scenes cleverly play out simultaneously. The characters are all likeably affable and the players seamlessly slip into their roles. This play is very enjoyable as both a comedy and thought-provoking drama and will undoubtedly be a spark to many post-theater discussions.

Editorial addendum: I also saw this play and want to commend the entire cast for its excellent ensemble work. Playwright Lydia Diamond has constructed a narrative full of serious interaction (so much so that even the absent parents have quite a bit of stage presence), and the Huntington actors really make it work. It would be impossible to single out one of them as more powerful than another, but I still want to put in a special word for Amber Iman, who plays Cheryl, the “maid.” I found myself expecting to laugh a little harder every time her character had something to say. Except of course when things got serious…

The Huntington Theatre Company has just added several performances to the schedule because of the play’s popularity.
Stephen Brophy

Follow this link to find out about tickets and times.

On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the theft of masterpieces from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the FBI is resubmitting evidence taken from the crime scene for DNA analysis in hope of gaining a long-sought break in the case.

Because of advances in DNA analysis since the 1990 robbery, the lead agent in the case, Geoffrey Kelly, decided to send evidence to the FBI’s scientific laboratory in Quantico, Va., a spokeswoman in the FBI’s Boston office said.

The heist, which included three Rembrandts and a Vermeer, remains the world’s largest art theft in dollar value.

Kelly said he could not disclose the type of evidence to be reviewed, but others familiar with the case said it would probably include long strips of duct tape used to tie up the museum’s two night watchmen, whom the thieves overpowered to get access to the artwork.

“If they left any sweat on that duct tape, a sample could be drawn, and with that sample there’s the possibility of a result,’’ said Dr. Bruce Budowle, former senior scientist of the FBI’s Quantico lab.

Former Beth Israel employee convicted of embezzling more than $1m
By Globe Staff – March 3, 2010

A 42-year-old Boston man was convicted today of embezzling more than $1 million from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, federal prosecutors said.

Richard P. Webb pleaded guilty before US District Judge Joseph L. Tauro to one count of health care theft and embezzlement, the US attorney’s office said in a statement.

Prosecutors said Webb worked as a practice assistant in the ear, nose and throat department. From January 2006 through April 2009, he embezzled more than $1 million by stealing checks written to the department and by seeking fraudulent refunds for hearing aids and other items.

Webb and the government have agreed to recommend a 42-month sentence, restitution and forfeiture of more than $1 million, the statement said. A sentencing hearing has been set for June 9.

MIT graduate student wins prize for work in genomics, linguistics
Carolyn Y. Johnson/, Globe Staff -  March 3, 2010

A graduate student who developed a method for sequencing the genome in 3-D, invented a shoe insole to help detect balance problems in the elderly, and studied the evolution of language was awarded the $30,000 Lemelson-MIT student prize today.

Erez Lieberman-Aiden, a graduate student in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, is one of four winners of the prize, for a body of work that includes math, linguistics, and polymer physics.

As an intern at NASA, Lieberman-Aiden invented the iShoe — an insole with sensors that could be used to diagnose balance problems and reduce the risk of injury due to falling among senior citizens. He and his collaborators are currently testing the technology in clinical trials.

More recently, he and collaborators developed a method for 3-D genome sequencing, a technique that helps to explain how the genome folds up to fit into the nucleus of a cell.

He has also studied the evolution of language, finding that irregular verbs are disappearing from English in a predictable way.

Merman’s star power lifts ‘Phantom’
By Sandy MacDonald – Globe Correspondent / March 1, 2010

Ryan Landry and his Gold Dust Orphans are experts when it comes to sending up the grand old theatrical tradition of backstage backstabbing (consider their recent “All About Christmas Eve’’). Funny thing is, the company itself seems to operate without ego. When a drag star of international renown such as Varla Jean Merman happens to make herself available for a monthlong run, everyone graciously takes a step back, the better to showcase the visiting luminary.

In “Phantom of the Oprah’’ (yet another inspired pop-culture mash-up penned by Landry), Merman is very much front and center – and brilliant – as ingenue soprano Christine Daaé: amid bouts of brayed coloratura, she nails a few high notes that could strike fear in Sarah Brightman. From the moment Merman appears (in a pleated plaid parochial-school skirt, besequined and scandalously short – kudos as always to costume designer Scott Martino), she makes an ideal ingenue-in-distress, primping and pouting when not engaging in crude come-ons or suddenly zombified by some unseen force.

That would be Oprah (company regular Andre “Afrodite’’ Shoals), who during her final show – seen in flashback – announces her candidacy for the 2012 presidential race, only to have a mysterious veiled woman hurl acid in her face. Oprah takes refuge in the depths of a moldering historic theatre that she’d intended to turn into the Oprah School of Broadcasting, and the rest of the story you probably know – though not with these hilarious twists.

A gentle “pack rat” who stuffed his Back Bay brownstone with mounds of clutter had his home condemned yesterday a day after firefighters couldn’t get inside to investigate an oil leak.

The owner, 73-year-old Herbert Hamilton, had to crawl through the debris Monday and out the back door of 32 St. Stephens St., a block from Symphony Hall, authorities said.

“He’s a nice guy, but he’s a pack rat,” said Jeff Maccora, a 27-year-old neighbor, pointing to a mound of debris behind Hamilton’s building, including an old Volkswagen covered by a brown tarp and surrounded by plastic cat-litter cartons. “It’s an eyesore, but it’s his property. I don’t know what you can do.”

Firefighters responding to an oil leak shortly after 6:30 p.m. Monday decided to force their way into the building when no one answered the door or the phone, police said. But they were stopped by stacks of debris behind the door.

It’s the least wonderful time of the year for MBTA riders, when the T sorts out how broke it is for the coming budget year in July.

The good news for passengers is that Governor Deval Patrick promised in November that the T would not raise fares this year. But his pledge does not guarantee commuters will be held harmless.

It’s looking like the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority will have a substantial deficit, which could mean cuts in service in the short-term, more debt restructuring, or both. The debt restructuring is a concern because growing interest payments on the T’s multibillion-dollar debt is a major reason the T keeps getting into this bind every year.

Last year, when service cuts were being deliberated, the T was looking at serious measures: cutting night and weekend runs on the subways in half and eliminating them on commuter rail. No one who takes a bus, boat, trolley, or train would have been spared the damage from the broad range of cuts, which were put off by a last-minute bailout from the Legislature.

Finding their voice and that old confidence, too – With age, vocal cords weaken, but these seniors show how singing can help
By Carolyn Y. Johnson – Globe Staff / February 27, 2010

Gathered around a piano with 15 other Bostonians of a certain age, Dory Tobias was trying to find her voice.

“Come to your life like a warrior,’’ she sang out, joining in the lilting lyric of the “Song of the Soul’’ with a boldness often lacking when she talks.

Tobias has a soft voice, and she said she is often asked to speak up – requests that fill her with doubt and twist her tongue. Now, in this singing for seniors class, she is learning to breathe deeply to support her voice, open her mouth wider, and warm up – basic singing techniques that she can integrate into her speaking voice, too.

A collaboration between Longy School of Music and the United South End Settlements, the class focuses on ensemble singing and harmony, but also on techniques that can strengthen voices that are naturally changing with age.

“I’m not much worried about being a singer,’’ the 63-year-old Tobias said during a break. “I just want to speak with confidence.’’

Museum spotlights ‘Devotion’ to terracotta
By Carly Thornell / Boston Herald – February 28, 2010

For centuries, collectors of Renaissance art and museums alike have focused on marble and bronze. A new installation at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, “Modeling Devotion,” highlights the often-overlooked medium of terracotta – or underlooked, as the case may be.

“These things are actually very difficult to see in the museum,” said curator Alan Chong. “They’re often (placed) high up, in dark corners, or seen against the light.”

The early-Renaissance pieces comprise the last show in the special-exhibition gallery before the completion of the Gardner’s new wing, which is slated to open in early 2012. It will almost double the museum’s space – and natural lighting.

But the shadow cast on Jesus’ face in the relief-like “Deposition of Christ and Carlotta of Lusignano” seems to magnify His suffering. Extensive restoration and research has cast new light on the work’s creator, Giovanni de Fondulis, finally identified after 530 years.

Fallen Bay State ‘Idol’: It’s ‘just the beginning’ – Berklee grad ready to dream on
By Tenley Woodman/Boston Herald – February 27, 2010

Ashley Rodriguez has no regrets.

The Chelsea native and Berklee graduate was among the first four contestants to be eliminated from Fox’s “American Idol” Thursday night.

“I went in to this competition as happy as I’ve been in my life. I fought to get here, and I (was) going to fight to stay regardless of whether it’s ‘American Idol’ or not. I came into this competition ready to fight for my spot. That was my mindset,” said Rodriguez during a one-on-one phone interview yesterday with the Herald.

Country singer Janell Wheeler, rocker Tyler Grady and warbler Joe Munoz also made their involuntary exits Thursday.

But Bay Stater Siobhan Magnus, 19, survived the cuts to sing for another week.

From the start of the season, Rodriguez showed promise. At her audition in Boston, judge Simon Cowell told her she had “it.”