Tuesday, December 27, 2005
"THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGING"
How quickly our world spins! One minute we are a sleepy backwater old mill hick town situated in a remote, can't get there from here, region of the North East, then the next minute we are on every map in bold letters listed as a "Must Go" destination. Why?....The INTERNET and WiFi. Finely all those anti North Adams, anti technology, naysayers have been overshadowed by those with real vision. I have to laugh at how quickly the BAND WAGON fills up when the wheels start to turn. Seems all those old tired excuses against progress just seem to blow off the back of the wagon like so much loose hay. Maybe there will even be a real since of pride in our City. Maybe MCLA will even bring back their real name, "North Adams State Teachers College", instead of trying to distance themselves from the City and hide behind a phony, sounds good, name..... MCLA WHO?...............................What do you think..... IT's YOUR DIME
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8 comments:
I believe there were many reason why NA State changed to MCLA, but one thing is for sure, the college is much more than a teacher's college now. But then again, maybe it was nothing more than wanting an acronym that would resemble Mass MoCA's?
I don't know how much WiFi had to do with increasing the popularity of NA, but it could go a long way in keeping NA on the rise from the ashes of Sprague Electric.
You are right da snoop, but the first and formost reason for the name change was to distance the college as far as posible away from any association with the hickums of North Adams. Why not NACLA? Insted of substance they are using a phoney appellation to try and draw in students. No pride in their heritage. Hell it is all about the money again! And as for rising from the ashes of Sprague Electric and Urban Renewal, unless ALL ideas are considered and implemented, not just those the mayor favors, we will remain nothing but a backwater hicksvill with only a few reaping the benifets...and they don't even live here or hire local people!
Southview, I believe the "M" in MCLA was required in order to receive some designation of the college being "the" college in the Massachusetts state college system. I do believe in was dollar related, not only in grants for infrastructure upgrades, but also in tuition dollars from an expected increase in enrollment.
Given the structure of government in NA I believe it would next to impossible to get ideas the mayor doesn't favor into existence. The key is to show the benefits of a project to get the mayor on board. Some groups need to step forward on the WiFi and webpage ideas, such as Mass MoCA and maybe Boxcar Media respectively, to take the lead and show what can be down and at what cost.
NACLA is too close to NAMBLA for my liking. If you remember, then -President Thomas Aceto figured that the college was having an identity crisis, and along with toughening standards for admission, the new name was meant to weed out the "last-chance, party school attending" applicants. A "Williams Lite" , if you please. Has it woprked? I don't know. I still wish it had kept the "Mohawks" mascot.
That might have part of it Mr. Etman, but there was also a push from the state to establish an elite state school in mass. Many colleges were in the running. What made NASC stand out, I don't recall.
Well, let's hope they don't go back to calling it the "Normal School"! Anyone remember that?
Oh boy would the ACLU have a field day with that.
Commonwealth College was the "elite" honors college designation that NASC?Aceto was seeking--- as I predicted on my TV show at the time-- no way Jose-- not with Bully Bulger and UMASSS Amherst in the hunt--- Aceto wanted to totally revamp the colleges image-- name- mascot- curriculum---and blodmaster is correct-- Willams Lite----we raised entrance standards - and one year later trhe Board of Higher Ed-- made them system wide----with the name change we lost our biggest draw- the Business administration program--- because many possible students thought we were Mass College of Art-or weren't interested in the "liberal arts" which thay thougfht we were limited to--all in all a bone-head play---chbpod
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