Playing back her dramatic fire rescue – ‘I was just lucky, so lucky,’ she says
By Milton J. Valencia – Globe Staff / April 9, 2010
They found her engulfed in black smoke, on her knees, her face against a door, as if she were gasping for any air she could get through an opening. She was no longer breathing, had no pulse, and firefighters feared their rescue effort was too late.
Kelly Graling, 26, a doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts Boston, was the woman shown in dramatic television footage being rescued from her burning Back Bay apartment building Wednesday afternoon. Yesterday, she recalled hearing the firefighters and their radios as she slipped into unconsciousness.
“I remember trying to get out on the roof deck and not being able to and thinking, ‘That’s it,’ ’’ she said, minutes after her release yesterday from Massachusetts General Hospital, her voice raspy from the effects of smoke inhalation. “I was just lucky, so lucky.’’
Her father, Don Graling, stood by her side. “She was within minutes of passing away,’’ he said. “The Fire Department saved her.’’
One of her rescuers — Firefighter Scott Coyne, a 16-year veteran also brought to a hospital for smoke inhalation — said in a phone interview yesterday that seeing photos of Graling after she was rescued “was the highlight of my career.’’
The fire at the Beacon Towers condominium building was the largest and most complicated firefighting operation the city has seen in recent years. Nine alarms were sounded, and a majority of the firefighters on duty were dispatched. They fought through record-setting 90-degree temperatures to climb 10 flights of stairs. They plowed through billowing smoke, up narrow staircases, knocking on doors and evacuating residents.
They saved at least three lives.
See also the photo gallery.
Cyclists urging safety measures after fatal crash
By Peter Schworm – Globe Staff / April 9, 2010
A fatal cycling crash involving an MBTA bus at a busy Boston intersection has sparked an outpouring of sympathy and frustration from cyclists, who say the accident underscores the risks of navigating busy, narrow city streets and the need for greater safety measures.
Eric Michael Hunt, a 22-year-old from Mission Hill, was killed in a collision with a bus traveling east on Huntington Avenue on Wednesday evening. Investigators from both the MBTA and Boston police said Hunt was trying to pass the bus when he hit its left rear section, causing him to lose control of his bike and fall under the 60-foot-long vehicle.
Hunt, who was not wearing a helmet, suffered severe trauma and was pronounced dead at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Transit officials said they have found no evidence to suggest the bus driver was at fault, although the cause of the accident is under investigation. The accident occurred on a stretch of Huntington Avenue, just after the South Huntington split, that cyclists described as a dangerous free-for-all.
“The Green Line, cars, buses, and cyclists all share that patch of road,’’ said Shane Jordan, director of education and outreach for the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition. “It’s a difficult place to ride, especially in heavy traffic.’’
Getting students to make their mark – Fewer bothering to grade professors as systems go online
By Tracy Jan – Globe Staff / April 7, 2010
It’s an end-of-semester ritual: A class of college students, armed with 3-inch pencils, scribbling critiques of their professors and what they learned. The evaluations help shape important decisions, like which professors get tenure, or what courses students choose.
But as colleges start to abandon traditional paper evaluations for an online, do-on-your-own-time format, more and more students are ignoring the surveys altogether.
Colleges are so worried about the sudden drop-off in feedback that some recently began enticing students with incentives. Northeastern, where participation dipped to 54 percent online compared with 80 percent on paper, is offering iPods and meal vouchers in lotteries held throughout the two-week window allotted for online evaluations. Some departments at MIT, which tested the online method this year and will fully adopt it next year, award pizza to the class with the highest return rate.
Boston University, which will begin trying online evaluations in the fall, and other colleges are considering a harder line — withholding students’ grades until they submit evaluations.
Elderly feel pinch of state budget
By Kay Lazar – Globe Staff / April 8, 2010
The Patrick administration has failed to follow through on key commitments to help older citizens avoid nursing homes and stay in their homes and communities, actions that could save the state significant money, advocates for the elderly and legislators said yesterday.
This year’s state budget includes $2.5 million to expand a pilot program that provides free counseling to frail seniors about alternatives to nursing home care, which the administration’s own analysis showed kept more than 300 people living at home in one year.
But the administration has not expanded the program, and Elder Affairs Secretary Ann Hartstein acknowledged last night in an interview with the Globe that the money was diverted to other community-based programs for the elderly that were facing budget cuts.
Hartstein said the administration did not think it wise to expand the counseling program when it was unclear whether it would be funded beyond this year.
She said the governor did not include money for an expansion in his budget proposal for the 2011 budget year.
The two legislators who chair the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs have filed bills demanding that the governor spend the money as directed and provide a written explanation of the status of the funds.
Northeastern wins award for globalizing university
By Bill Shaner, Huntington News Staff – 4/08/10
Northeastern was one of five colleges and universities awarded the Senator Paul Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization by the Association of International Educators last month.
The award, released March 9, assessed 50 to 70 schools on both their accessibility to international students and the international programs they offer, according to members of the award’s selection jury. The schools submitted an application and essay for the jury to consider.
“It’s a great honor, and if you look at the universities that have gotten this award in past years, we are in good company,” Director of Communications Renata Nyul said. “I think it says a lot about the commitment the university has made toward global initiatives.”
She said the Dialogues of Civilization program, international co-op and the newly created Global Scholars Initiative – a scholarship designed to fund students’ international experiences – were among the programs Northeastern highlighted in its application.
Sophomore international affairs and anthropology dual major Janine Guarino touted the university’s Dialogues of Civilization program as a justification for Northeastern winning the award.
“I personally have only done the dialogue, but I think that’s a really neat program and it really puts us above other schools,” she said. “It’s a short time you go away and it’s faculty lead and it’s a little less nerve racking. I think students like that kind of atmosphere.”
Atheist org wants recognition
By Laura Mueller-Soppart, News Staff – 4/08/10
A Northeastern atheist student group known as NU Free Thought Society said it has waited for official university recognition for the past year and a half, but university officials say after two attempts from the group, they haven’t tried a third time for recognition.
In fall 2008, the group requested official recognition from the Office of Student Activities to function with all the resources granted to other organizations.
Their original name was the Student Atheists at Northeastern (SANE).
Director of Communications Renata Nyul said the Office of Student Activities gave them preliminary approval to begin working with the Student Government Association (SGA).
“Once they got the preliminary approval from Student Activities, they elected to use the acronym SANE while they were working with SGA on the construction of their constitution. When they presented their idea to the Student Affairs Board, the students denied the group based on the acronym and its connotation,” said Nyul.
The Student Activities Board is composed of students from throughout the university that make final recommendations on student organization recognition.
Beehive boasts eclectic mix
By Jillian Saftel/The Huntington News – 4/08/10
As a music venue, restaurant and gallery space, The Beehive serves as a melting pot for the arts with a distinctly bohemian atmosphere.
What was once a boiler room now combines three components, culinary, performance and decorative art, to develop what is referred to as “The Beehive
Experience.” It is located at 541 Tremont St. below the Boston Center for the Arts.
The music at The Beehive is diverse, ranging from jazz, salsa and blues to African and World Music. You may even find yourself there on a night when a
Burlesque show is featured. Many local artists and musicians perform, including students and professors from nearby Berklee College of Music, along with many
national and international acts; and at The Beehive, there is no cover for nightly entertainment.
The Beehive has won several awards for its musical line-ups including The Boston Globe’s “Best of the New Award” and was named as one of the Top 100 Jazz Clubs in the World by Downbeat Magazine.
The Beehive also serves as a gallery space and is as varied as the music; on any given night the audience may be made up of celebrities, tourists and local students.
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