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Massachusetts couple carry the torch for love and equality

By: Yumi Araki yaraki@bu.edu

Amidst a crowd of colorful posters and young protestors chanting in syncopated unison, two silver-haired men stood boldly holding a hand-made sign that read, “53 Years Together!”

“We’re absolutely part of one another; this is my other half,” exclaimed Ralph Hodgdon, 74, as his hand rested on his partner, Paul McMahon’s, 76, shoulder, who interjected, “…and finish each others’ sentences.” Hodgdon and McMahon were honored as one of the most inspirational couples at the “Join the Impact” protest

on November 14 against the state of California’s vote to repeal Proposition 8, which legalized gay marriage in 2004.

“I was amazed that California, of all people [would vote against it], because they’re very liberal,” exclaimed McMahon who heard about California voters’ decision after the Presidential election.

When Hodgdon heard about the protest, he said that “nothing would stop us and we were so pleased that it was such a huge crowd.” Not a stranger to protests, Hodgdon said that McMahon had also been active during the Civil Rights Movement, during the time when they met in 1955. Despite living in an era hostile to minorities, Hodgdon and McMahon vowed to preserve the relationship that they had found.

“From the very beginning, Paul [had] said, ‘we must always talk it [their problems] over, work it out and love each other; hang in there, and don’t just give up,’” remembers Hodgdon.

Indeed, even after 53 years, Hodgdon and McMahon still possess the vivacious energy of newlyweds.

“I wasn’t interested in a one-night-stand or something; I was interested in finding someone to love and be with forever,” said Hodgdon as he remembered his first date with McMahon. “When I said no, he couldn’t believe it. Not anyone had ever said no to him. And by me doing that, he thought, ‘golly, I think I’m in love with his person.’”

A week after their first date, McMahon had rented an apartment in the East Side. As the excitement of having met each other began to settle, however, McMahon feared that his lifestyle might jeopardize the bond of their relationship.

“I was very much a party person; went out a lot,” said McMahon. “That’s not a good way to—”

“…get a relationship. To build a foundation,” Hodgdon finished.

To escape temptation, the two left New York and traveled to Maine where they found jobs as stand-ins in Henry King’s 1956 production of “Carousel”. However, as their movie debuts put a strain on their finances, the couple moved to Boston in 1960 to find better opportunities. Hodgdon and McMahon, however, found Boston less accommodating than they hoped.

“I remember around Halloween, we went to a gay bar and coming out, Paul said ‘run,’” said Hodgdon as his eyes flickered. “There was a gang behind us, and they attacked him and punched him.” When Hodgdon yelled for help, the police met Hodgdon with much of the same contempt as the gang that had been beating McMahon mercilessly.

“They did nothing. I went home and I was so sick. I realized at that time that if you were gay, the police were…not on our side.”

Hodgdon also recalled the terror he felt when he and McMahon were harassed by neighbors in South Boston where they lived during the 1980s.

“They would go by in gangs, and throw rocks at the windows. They would call us horrible names.”

“Some of those little darlings started showing up at the gay bars at night,” said McMahon as he explained that some of the people harassing Hodgdon and McMahon were themselves gay. McMahon recalled a similar instance where he was beaten badly by another gay man.

“[It] turns out that he was fighting his own leanings towards homosexuality,” McMahon said.

“It was a shock to me,” exclaimed Hodgdon. “It didn’t make any sense to me that they could be so violent and so terrible; so vicious.”

According to the California Secretary of State’s voter information guide, reasons against gay marriage predominantly stem from the notion that homosexual marriages alter the traditional definition of marriage and family. Arguments in favor of Proposition 8 also underscore the fact that the proposition is about “preserving marriage; not an attack on the gay lifestyle.” Bob Whetstone, an advocate for an evangelical organization who was at the Proposition 8 protest, emphasized that marriage is interpreted as solely a heterosexual act, according to the Bible.

John Russo, a representative of Mass Resistance, a pro-family action center for Massachusetts, contested that the homosexual family structure disrupts what he believes is the ideal family situation where “children should be brought up with a man and a woman.” Russo also argued that increased prevalence of homosexual family structures would force public schools to change their health education curricula.

“Public schools [now] teach sexual education between a man and a woman. They now [would] have to teach anal sex education.”

Still, Hodgdon and McMahon continue to resist such contenders of the homosexual lifestyle. McMahon and Hodgdon argue that same-sex marriage solidifies not only the bond between partners, but also the vision of equality for all.

“It’s one more victory; one more domino down. Inevitably, I think it’s got to all change,” asserted McMahon.

In their 48^th year of being together, the law finally worked in Hodgdon and McMahons’ favor when Massachusetts legalized gay marriage in November 2003.

“This is the night we got our license,” said McMahon as he pointed affectionately towards a picture on the back of their poster board of the two embracing shoulders. “We were watching television on the news and we saw that in Cambridge, at midnight, they were going to start issuing marriage licenses. We had not even discussed getting married at that point.”

“It was like love was sent there that night; a special kind of love, just for us,” added Hodgdon.

McMahon and Hodgdon were among the last couples who had managed to obtain a marriage license after the 250-people cutoff that night. The following June, the two were married at the Boston Public Garden.

“Getting married was just a euphoric experience; something that I never thought, never even fantasized about,” recalled Hodgdon. “People have said to us, ‘why didn’t you wait until 50 years?’ And I said, ‘c’mon now, who waits 50 years to get married?’ Plus, we thought, ‘what if something happens?’”

Indeed, 61% of Californians proved on November 4 that Proposition 22, which legalized gay marriage in California in 2000, would dissolve thousands of bisexual marriages.

“I had met…an older couple that was married twice there; once in San Francisco and had it annulled. I felt so sorry for them because they were around Paul’s and my age [now],” said Hodgdon.

Hodgdon agreed and remained hopeful that like the civil rights and women’s liberation movements, the stigma behind gay marriages will diminish with time. “I think in years to come, they’ll look back and say, ‘what was all the fuss about?’ [Marriage] is a bond and a foundation that is absolutely phenomenal. [It] will keep the gay people together longer, I think.”

While both admit that their relationship isn’t perfect, Hodgdon and McMahon share the hope that they can provide inspiration to other gay and straight couples.

“I must admit, that our relationship together, like everybody else’s relationship has its ups and downs,” Hodgdon said.

“It isn’t easy,” said McMahon. “We enjoy each other’s company. Every so often, we need a breather, but that’s human nature.”

“Despite highs and lows, we hung in there. And I’m telling you, it’s been absolutely phenomenal together. We can have such a good time.”

“Despite highs and lows, we hung in there. And I’m telling you, it’s been absolutely phenomenal together. We can have such a good time.”

Photo credits:

(First) BOSTON – Ralph Hodgdon (left) and Paul McMahon (right) stood boldly amongst a crowd at Saturday’s anti-Proposition 8 protest. (Photo courtesy of Marlena Flannery)

(Second) BOSTON – Paul McMahon describes that he decided to leave New York to preserve his relationship with Ralph. (Photo courtesy of Marlena Flannery)

(Third) BOSTON – Paul peeks at the poster board as Ralph points to a picture of the couple wearing “hippie attire” during the 1970s. (Photo courtesy of Marlena Flannery)

(Fourth) BOSTON – Ralph and Paul advocate for the repeal of Proposition 8 through their continued presence as an inspiration to many gay couples.

Bruins Continue to Offer Discounted Tickets for College Students

BOSTON-(Nov. 14, 2008)—Bruins’ fans Dan Reggiannini (left) and Matt Young (right) enjoy the B’s game versus the Montreal Canadiens in the discounted student section at TD Banknorth Garden on Thursday night.

By Margaret DeJesus (MargaretDeJesus88@gmail.com)

The Boston Bruins are working extra hard this season to win games and also to win over young fans by offering low priced student tickets on weeknights and granting media access to college papers.

Students can catch games between Monday and Thursday nights for as low as 23 dollars which is about half the price of a ticket in a regular section. Thirteen rows in sections 320 and 321 of TD Banknorth Garden are allotted for students to purchase.

Students in section 320 at the Montreal Canadiens game last Thursday gave the promotion a thumbs up.

“Absolutely it’s a great idea,” said Dan Reggiannini, a senior at Lasell College in Newton about the deal.

Reggiannini said he buys the discount tickets for at least 10 Bruins games a year along with his friend Matt Young. The pair said they’ve been going since they started college in 2006 when the promotion began.

The seats situated in the upper section to the side of a goal net aren’t too bad either and the opposing teams that come to town usually make for a good match according to the students.

“The corner angle is good because you can see the whole ice and play of the game,” said Reggiannini.

“This is what you want,” said Young about the type of teams the Bruins face on student nights.

“It’s Montreal and these are good seats for 20 bucks,” he said.

According to Matthew Chmura, the Bruins director of communications, one of Boston’s greatest attributes is “the students that are here.”

Another way the Bruins are trying to win over the college crowd is by granting aspiring sports reporters media access to the team.

Recognizing how influential student newspapers can be, Chmura said in a telephone interview, “it’s another way for us to make sure we get our message out about our games and how entertaining they can be.”

Once a hopeful journalist himself as a college student at Holy Cross, Chmura said, “It’s almost an obligation for the Bruins to give the students access. It can only help those people who have aspirations in the field and we’re hopeful that they’ll take part.”

Korin Hasegawa-John, the Inside NHL writer for the Tufts Daily, the university’s student paper, said he’s been given access to the press box, the locker rooms, and the post game press conferences at the Bruins games this season.

“For anyone considering a career in the print journalism field, the chance to talk to pro athletes without the additional pressure of being a professional reporter is a great developmental step,” said Hasegawa-John in an email.

VIDEO: Post game reactions following Boston Bruins 6-1 victory over Montreal Canadiens

BOSTON-(Nov. 13, 2008)--Montreal Canadiens' Captain Saku Koivu reflects on his team's 6-1 loss in the away team locker room at TD Banknorth Garden.
BOSTON-(Nov. 13, 2008)--Boston Bruins forwards and three star selections of the night Marco Sturm, Milan Lucic and Stephane Yelle talk about the team's big win.

(Videos by Margaret DeJesus)

Medical students challenge conflict policies at Harvard

By Andrew FitzGerald

BOSTON – (Oct. 20, 2008) A group of doctors-in-training is accusing Harvard Medical School of allowing drug marketers to push unnecessary and possibly unsafe medical products on its future practitioners, thanks to weak or nonexistent conflict of interest policies on campus.

At least 41 of those students gathered in front of the massive stone pillars facing the quad of HMS’ Longwood campus Friday afternoon to protest what they say is an unhealthily permissive atmosphere for pharmaceutical and medical device companies, which they accuse of seeking to influence medical students before they even begin practicing as residents.

Though the event focused on HMS policies, medical students from Boston University, Brown University and the University of Connecticut joined the demonstration. Davida Schiff, a first-year Boston University School of Medicine student, said any effort pharmaceutical companies take to influence future doctors ultimately hurts the people they treat.

“Whether that be a free lunch or continuing medical education or talks sponsored by drug companies, studies have shown that that kind of psychological influence actually impacts what you prescribe for your patients,” she said.

The American Medical Students Association publishes a scorecard of medicals schools’ conflict of interest policies as part of a nationwide initiative to build stronger safeguards against corporate influence at medical schools. Criteria include written policies on gifts and meals, oversight mechanisms to detect lapses and sanctions when instructors or administrators do not comply. Harvard received an F.

First-year Harvard medical student Simeon Kimmel said he and a group of classmates grew suspicious of their school’s policies last month when a specialist lecturing on the cancer drug Velcade suggested offhandedly that it could be prescribed before any other therapies, instead of as a “third-line” solution used when other treatments fail, a claim which he didn’t seem to support with any data.

Kimmel said he and some classmates looked up the lecturer, HMS associate professor Paul Richardson, on PubMed.com, a medical journal database, and found he hadn’t mentioned his work as a consultant for Millenium, the company that owns the patent to Velcade.

“In peer-reviewed journals, you’re supposed to publish your conflicts of interest,” Kimmel said. “We found out that this guy had been paid by the company that made this drug Velcade, and hadn’t disclosed that in his class.”

Richardson said in an email he was surprised by the AMSA students’ response, considering he had delivered the lecture during the past two years without incident. Though he acknowledged his work as a consultant for Millenium, he said he is “very careful to declare this at any lecture in which this is required.”

In addition, Richardson said his lecture was clearly informal – he came to present a patient as a case study of the drug’s uses, not to deliver a formal lecture – and added his appearance was not paid for “by anybody.”

Randall King, the course director who invited Richardson, said he took the students’ concerns seriously and noted that the school adopted a new disclosure policy six days after the students made their concerns about the lecture known.

“I agreed with their assessment that the medical school needed to have a formal conflict of interest disclosure policy,” King said in an email. “As a result, I contacted all of our course faculty, and asked that they disclose any such relationships that might be relevant in subsequent lectures.”

Kimmel said the newly formalized policy on lecturing was “just the tip of the iceberg,” however, next to company-sponsored lunches and free samples, all permitted under an unenforced conflict of interest policy.

These efforts not only compromise students’ integrity but also influence patients’ care, said Allan Coukell, policy director for the Prescription Project, a Boston nonprofit group that collaborated with AMSA to develop the medical school scorecard.

“Often these drugs are no better than the older, cheaper drugs, and sometimes they’re less safe,” he said.

As for pharmaceutical companies funding or otherwise influencing clinical trials at research universities, Coukell said the project is choosing to focus on the companies’ influence on current and future practitioners. Research is simply too complicated an issue, he said.

“There are issues there, but there is no doubt at the present time we need collaboration between academic medicine and companies to develop new drugs,” he said. “Our issue is really with marketing.”

The Revs fight on despite the odds

By: Yumi Araki yaraki@bu.edu

FOXBORO, Mass. – Amidst the grey clouds that hovered over Gillette Stadium and the exhausted chants of weary supporters, Stefan Digregorio stood up in his red-white-and-blue jester hat and called encouragingly to the crowd. “C’mon guys, you gotta show your support to the team.”

It wasn’t so easy for the crowd as the New England Revolution were defeated 3-1 in the last game of the regular season last Saturday against the Kansas City Wizards. On the pitch, the Revs battled a hard first half as a steady rain began to settle in, and two players were given red cards. The crowd booed vehemently when defender Gabriel Badilla tackled Kansas player Claudio Lopez, and was ejected from the game.

“Are you even watching the game?” yelled angry fans as they cursed at referee Kevin Stott. “That was a clean tackle!”

A long moan of disappointment filled the stadium when Lopez made the penalty kick, making the Wizards the first scorers of the game. In the 42^nd minute, Stott gave another red card to Revs midfielder Khano Smith, leaving the team with only nine players against Kansas’ 11.

“We…wanted to have some confidence going into the playoffs but things went wrong,” said Revs defender Michael Parkhurst in a post-game interview. “We came out with a bad mentality again and a couple stupid tackles…combine that with the refereeing…it hurts.”

“To send Badilla off just shows a lack of understanding,” Revs head coach Steve Nicol said. He mentioned that Stott had previously ejected a key Revs midfielder, Shalrie Joseph, during a 2007 game against D.C. United.

FOXBORO (10/25/08) – Kansas City Wizard midfielder Lopez (left) stands in the corner kick area while a referee and Revolution forward Kheli Dube deliberate.

Both Badilla and Smith will not be able to play in the opening match against Chicago Fire in MLS Cup Playoffs this Thursday.

Digregorio, however, believes that the Revs can perform well in the playoffs.

“The Houston victory will give us motivation. Plus, we have the experience. I’m confident that they can do it.”

Even after Kansas midfielder Davy Arnaud scored with assists from teammates Lopez and midfielder Roger Espinoza, Digregorio remained relentlessly supportive. Shortly afterwards when midfielder Sainey Nyassi made an unintentional pass to a Wizard player, Digregorio joked, “We’re not in our away jerseys, guys.”

Other fans were less sympathetic when Parkhurst scored an own goal in the 88^th minute, bringing the score to 3-0. Some supporters began to leave the stadium as all luck seemed to have exhausted for the home team.

“I don’t care what the score is. You gotta stay until the end,” said Digregorio as he tapped together his inflatable beaters to resurrect a dwindling “REVOLUTION!” cheer.

Digregorio’s attempt to regain supporter confidence reflects the Revs and the MLS’s efforts to increase soccer’s popularity over the

past few years. With the establishment of the Patriot Place shopping complex next to Gillette Stadium, the Revs’ name has been dwarfed by New England’s National Football Association (NFL) team, the Patriots until recently, when Mayor Menino announced in early July 2006 that he would call a task force that would determine the location of a new stadium for the Revs, according to the Boston Globe.

FOXBORO (10/25/08) – Season ticket-holder Stefan Digregorio shows his support for the New England Revolution.

“I am excited by the opportunity to showcase Boston to Major League Soccer and look forward to a long productive relationship moving forward,” wrote Menino to MLS Commissioner Don Garber.

The Boston Globe also reported that The Kraft Group, which owns both the New England Revolution and the Patriots, is leaning towards building the new pitch in East Somerville, encompassed in the Brickbottom and Inner Belt area. In his 2008 Inaugural Address, Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said that the area proposed for the stadium “represents the most exciting Smart Growth development project anywhere on the East Coast.” He also mentioned Governor Patrick’s approval of a development proposal of the Green Line to run from Somerville to Medford, which would embrace accessibility for fans. While some Somerville officials and businesses fear that the plan to build the new stadium might slow down other Brickbottom and Inner Belt redevelopment projects, Digregorio and other fans remain in accord that the stadium would boost supp

orter participation.

“It’s going to be big,” said Digregorio. “It’ll be good for fans who have to come from…far like me; I’m coming from the North Shore area.”

“It’ll be awesome to have a stadium that’s more centrally-located,” said Jon McCormick, a Somerville resident who became interested in supporting the Revolution after watching the 2006 World Cup.

However, the Revs have yet to gain popularity on the air. With highly-anticipated games like last night’s Boston Celtics season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers, MLS games prove difficult to rank high on Nielsen TV ratings.

The top cable TV program during the week of October 13 was the American League Championship Series Red Sox game against Tampa Bay. The NFL Regular season game on ESPN was the top syndicated TV program during the week of October 6.

Nevertheless, soccer-only networks have strategized to maximize the quality of their MLS playoff coverage.

According to the New

England Revolution Official Blog, ESPN2 and Fox Soccer Channel chose to cover their team of choice in a way that would “fully tell the playoff story.” The blog noted that “with ESPN2 selecting [the Revs’] series against Chicago…and Fox Soccer taking the Real Salt Lake [versus] Chivas USA series…it should make for great two weeks of soccer action on national TV.”

“The reason why soccer might not be as popular as football is because…football has so many breaks where advertisers can get air time,” McCormick mentioned.

Indeed, NFL breaks serve not only as commercial opportunity, but also, according to American football coach Howard Schnellenberger, current head coach of Florida Atlantic University, “the best thing about American football.” Aside from game play breaks, the NFL has allocated lucrative breaks exclusively for commercial purposes during games.

In a recent L.A. Times Sports forum, reader Chuck Culpepper refutes Schnellenberger’s claim, and names the “top three complaints about American football

FOXBORO (10/25/08) – The End-zone Militia get ready to fire as Jeff Larentowicz scores in the 90^th minute of the game, bringing the Revs up 1 to Kansas’ 3.

heard or overheard during three years in the United Kingdom”. Too many breaks was the top complaint, Culpepper noted, but Schnellenberger argued, “it's that 20-to 30-second gap between plays…The inactivity not only leaves time for serial strategy adjustments from the sidelines, but allows the construction of anticipation, excitement, dread, hope and tension in the audience.”

The breaks also bring in huge dollars for NFL teams. Charlotte News’ Business Journal section reported that ad rates for a 30-second spot during Fox Carolina Panthers broadcasts range from $10,000 to $15,000, according to local media buyers. On a larger scale, the Super Bowl brings in an average of $2.7 million for a 30-second spot, according to Marisa Guthrie, a Broadcast & Cable correspondent. Soccer has one 15-minute break, where most is allocated to post-first-half coverage.

Sponsors have also tried to propel popularity. The New York Metro Stars changed their name to Red Bulls New York when Red Bull Company, which owns the successful Austrian FC Salzburg, acquired the team. According to the official Red Bull sponsorship website, Red Bull CEO Dietrich Mateschitz said that he took the next step to buy another team after Salzburg showed success when it qualified for the 2008/09 European Cup.

“18 million Americans actively play soccer in the US, up to 60 million follow the games every weekend as fans or players,” said Mateschitz. “Soccer is just about to make a big breakthrough in the US media. For us it is the logical consequence following the successful launch in Salzburg.”

Two minutes before the whistle blew to conclude the game, Revs midfielder/defender Jeff Larentowicz intercepted the ball from midfield and shot 30 yards from the goal to score a point for the Revolution. The game ended 3-1, bumping the Wizards up to fourth place, and securing the Revs’ third place position in the MLS Eastern league.

“Really, soccer’s about playing until the end,” Digregorio said. “After all, you’re paying for it, right?”

The New England Revolution will play on Thursday, October 30 against Chicago Fire in the 2008 MLS Cup Playoffs at Gillette Stadium.

See related video: http://bujournalists.blogspot.com/2008/10/video-new-england-revolution-fans.html

Doctors Prescribe Books

By CATHERINE MOORE, camoore@bu.edu

            BOSTON, Mass. (10/21/08)--The heavy, red-furred dog costume, worn by Dr. Perri Klass’s 13 year-old son, Anatol, was just one of several costumes donned by volunteers, Sunday. Story book legends came to life at the Seaport Hotel in Boston Harbor at the annual Reach Out and Read “Read and Romp” event.

            Norman Bridwell’s children’s book character, Clifford the Big Red Dog, was led around to greet youngsters on the arm of his mother, one of the early members of the Reach Out and Read organization.

            Dr. Perri Klass joined the Reach Out and Read (ROR) organization 16 years ago, with a passion to promote literacy. She said that today, according to Reach Out and Read statistics, 35 percent of children who enter kindergarten lack the basic language skills they will need to learn to read.

            These children come from mostly from low-income families. Without intervention, those children will have low literacy skills and poor economic potential in their adult lives. This is where Reach Out and Read comes in, providing books, while promoting literacy by educating parents on the importance of reading to children at early ages.

            A journalism and pediatrics professor currently at New York University, Klass returned to Boston this past weekend on her annual trip to Beantown for the Read and Romp. Despite relocating to New York City for her career, Klass continued her volunteer legacy as a Reach out and Read medical doctor on the Board of Directors.

            The Reach Out and Read organization, started in 1989, was an attempt by pediatricians and primary caregivers to become more involved in their clients’ lives. They went beyond conventional healthcare to give low-income children a chance. These doctors and nurses left behind tradition in order to tell parents about the importance of reading in child development. Upon each check –up visit, nurses and doctors provide parents with information on how to read to children at each developmental age as well as sending each child home from his or her appointment with a new book to keep as his or her own.

            “The books hold so much meaning, so much pleasure, and so much possibility,” said Klass. “It is so much fun for parents to see their child enjoy a book. It’s inspiring. It’s what we want all children to have. We want every child who comes into the office for medical care, to leave with a book in hand.”

            The Read and Romp is a Reach Out and Read event, co-sponsored by the Cabot Corporation, Walden Media, and Scholastic Inc. The event brings in over 80,000 dollars each year that is used to buy books for more than 4,000 ROR programs nation wide. The Read and Romp has helped more than 3.3 million children explore their favorite books.

            This year the Seaport Hotel Plaza conference room was transformed into a storybook land, featuring 11 stations, each focusing on a favorite children’s book with an activity to accompany it.

            Margaret Wise Bloom’s The Runaway Bunny station gave children the opportunity to coddle live baby bunnies. Next door at Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar station, children make their own butterflies out of clothespins and coffee filters. Laura Joffe Numeroff’s book If you Give a Mouse a Cookie station was in the center of the room and children could decorate their very own cookies. The timeless book Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, by Virginia Lee Burton, recreated a “construction zone” in one corner of the room, with trucks and blocks scattered all over the floor.             Throughout the afternoon, the storybook characters literally came to life for the children to enjoy. Clifford the Big Red Dog was joined by Frog and Toad from Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad are Friends as well as several other characters. The children and their parents were busy as bees, moving from station to station as they share each other’s pleasure.

            “I think for all of us that work for the program in any capacity,” said Klass. “It’s all about the pleasure that parents and children get together, from reading.”

            More than 60 volunteers spent time and energy planning this year’s Read and Romp. Co-chair of the event committee, Kirke Hall from Westwood, MA, said that she has been involved with Reach Out and Read for more than 12 years and she has been working at the Read and Romp for all five years of its existence. “A friend got me involved,” said Hall.

            With her husband and both of her children present at the event, Hall said that she got her whole family involved. “ROR can offer its full five year program for a mere $40 per child,” said Hall. “That means that by the time the child enters kindergarten, he or she will have a home library of at least 10 books, and parents who understand the great importance of reading aloud.”

            One of a handful of paid employees working the event, Matt Ferraguto has only worked as the communications director for ROR since last December, but he already says that promoting literacy is the “best job ever.” Before ROR, Ferraguto worked as the public relations representative for Senator Kennedy and Congressman Lynch on their political campaigns.

            Ferraguto explained that ROR’s crusade is not to teach reading, but to let parents know of their responsibility to read to their children, far before the kids are actually learning to read by themselves.

            “I’m about to have my first baby,” said Ferraguto, referring to his wife’s pregnancy. “If it were not for ROR, and if I did not work here, I would never have known that you should read to a 6 month old baby.”

            Ferraguto said that studies have shown that spending time talking to a child from infancy to the toddler years can prove to be a much more effective form of preparation for kindergarten than planting children in front of the television.

            Abbie Bloom, the event coordinator employed by ROR, said that she thinks the best part about the event is that it is “impossible not to have fun.” Bloom, who has helped to plan the past three Read and Romps, is also planning an ROR fundraiser for adults in the springtime.

            “The ‘Read, Romp and Rock’ event is a non-traditional gala fundraiser for adults that will be held on April 3^rd this year.” Bloom said, “It’s at The Estate venue, and it will feature dinner by the bite, music, dancing, and games.”

            “It’s the perfect night out for, parents, many of whom have brought their children here today and will continue to show their support for ROR by attending the gala in the spring,” she said.

            Michael and Joy Surprenant were not only in attendance at this year’s Read and Romp, but they were also sponsors of the event. The Surprenants said that their monetary donation to the event is a reflection of their investment in the importance of reading. They have been bringing their five year-old son to the event since he could walk and he has come to look forward to it.

            “We started to support ROR and attend the Read and Romp while we were still reading out loud to him,” said Mrs. Surprenant. “Now he’s starting to read on his own; beginner books. He loves it. That’s part of why we want to promote ROR, we want to let everyone enjoy reading.”

By CATHERINE MOORE