Bit of rainH: L:55 38PAGE A6

PHOTOS BY BEN GARVER — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

Prospective Berkshire Community College Student Jessica Twing registers Monday at BCC.

BCC President Ellen Kennedy announces the awarding ofa federal grant Monday that will help BCC students fromregistration to graduation.

ByDickLindsay

rlindsay@berkshireeagle.com@BE_DLindsay on Twitter

PITTSFIELD» Over the nextfive years, Berkshire Com-munity College plans tospend nearly $2 million infederal funds to boost sag-ging enrollment, improvestudent retention in theclassroom and see moregraduates on the stage atTanglewood eachMay.The U.S. Department

of Education has awardedBCC a $1.98million Title IIIStrengthening Institutionsgrant.“I didn’t think we had

a prayer to get this grant,”said BCC President EllenKennedy during Monday’sannouncement on the WestStreet campus.Divine interventionaside,

U.S. Rep.RichardNeal citedthewell-writtengrant appli-cation by the BCC staff forsecuring the federal dollars.He noted the grant will en-sure the cost and conve-nienceof community collegetranslates into students re-ceiving diplomas.

“Equal opportunitydoesn’tmeanequal success,”he said.Since 2010, BCC has seen

the student population, cur-rently at 2,230, drop 25 per-cent, officials said. In addi-tion, student retention rateofwhat they learn fromyearto year is hovering around56 percent and the gradua-tion rate has been off by 19percent.“Too many students fail

to meet their goals,” saidMichael Bullock, BCC’s vicepresident for student affairsand enrollment services.“But we know we can im-prove success with Title IIIresources.”“This grant is a big deal,”

he said.Bullock outlined the

three-pronged approach toenhance student success atBCC:• Create a one-stop cen-

ter to meet all the informa-tion needs of new enrolles,redesign student orienta-tion programs and bettertrack struggling students toallow for early intervention.

BERKSHIRECOMMUNITYCOLLEGE

STUDENT LIFELINEFederal grant:Money goes to 3-pronged approach to enhance student success

TheU.S. Department of Educationhas awardedBCC a $1.98millionTitle III Strengthening Institutionsgrant.

By Steve Leblanc

The Associated Press

BOSTON» Political leaders from across New Eng-land met with business leaders Monday to dis-cuss ways to combat NewEngland’s deadly opioidaddiction problem, including tightening regula-tions around prescription pain-killers.Also Monday, Massachusetts’

top medical schools said they’vereached an agreement with thestate to better teach their stu-dents how to recognize, preventand manage prescription opioidabuse.Massachusetts Gov. Charlie

Baker, a Republican, and NewHampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat,were among the speakers at the event sponsoredby The New England Council.Baker said one area where New England states

are working together is sharing information fromtheir prescription monitoring programs.Baker said the goal is to “get to the point where

all of us are in the position where our data iscrossing borders so that people won’t be able tobasically drug shop from state to state.”Massachusetts had 1,089 opioid overdose

deaths in 2014, a 63 percent increase over 2012.Hassan said the opioid crisis has also hit New

Hampshire hard, claiming 258 lives so far thisyear in a state with one-fifth the population ofMassachusetts. She also called for amore efficientprescription drug monitoring process.

PRESCRIPTIONOPIOIDABUSE

StateleadersseeksolutionsBaker says goal is to sharedata, prevent people from drugshopping from state to state

By JimTherrien

jtherrien@berkshireeagle.com@BE_therrien on Twitter

PITTSFIELD » Approxi-mately 150 student ath-letes, parents, coaches andlocal officials gathered onthe Berkshire CommunityCollege campus Mondaynight to rally for an em-battled artificial turf fieldplanned for the site offWest Street.Standing in brisk tem-

peratures on the BCC soc-cer field — many hold-ing signs that read “SaveOur Turf” — those pres-ent cheered on speakerssupporting the $2.1 mil-lion project, which had

been planned for a ground-breaking in the spring butis now delayed.Permits for the all-

weather f ie ld , w ithlighting, seating, a con-cession area and otherfeatures, are being chal-lenged through the stateDepartment of Environ-mental Protection’s ad-ministrative appeals pro-cess, with a hearing onthe appeal by a group of12 residents set for lateFebruary.“I want to hear from

you,” state Rep. Tricia Far-ley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfieldsaid, drawing cheers andshouts of support.

PITTSFIELD

Supporters rally for BCC turf field

BEN GARVER — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

Supporters of a turf field at Berkshire Community College rallyin support of the project Monday.

By JimTherrien

jtherrien@berkshireeagle.com@BE_therrien on Twitter

PITTSFIELD » Mayor-elect Linda Tyer said Mon-day she will step down from her role as clerk ofthe City Council during its meetings, beginningwith a scheduled 7 p.m. session today.Tyer, the city clerk since2009,was electedNov. 3 to

become Pittsfield’s next mayor, defeating incumbentMayorDanielL.Bianchi.ShewillbesworninonJan.4.In order to avoid any possible conflicts during

council meetings through the rest of the year, Tyersaid shehasasked twostaffmembers,AssistantCityClerk Malia Windrow-Carlotto and Senior ClerkCatherine VanBramer, to take over as council clerk.Tyer said she is paid a stipend to record meet-

ing minutes and perform other tasks for thecouncil, which she will forfeit for the rest of theterm. In addition to ameeting Tuesday, the coun-cil has scheduled meetings on Nov. 24 and Dec.8, along with a special meeting Nov. 18 to estab-lish the tax classification rates.

PITTSFIELDCITYCOUNCIL

Tyer steppingdown frommeeting role

OPIOID»PAGE3

TYER»PAGE2

Baker

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If they can make it therewith a little help fromsupporters, they’ll make itanywhere. PAGE B1

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BEN GARVER — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

Supporters of a turf field at Berkshire Community College rally in support of the projectMonday.

BEN GARVER — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

State Sen. Ben Downing, state Reps. William “Smitty” Pignatelli, Gailanne Carriddi, TriciaFarley-Bouvier and U.S. Rep. Richard Neal at Berkshire Community College Monday, asBCC President Ellen Kennedy announces the awarding of aw federal grant Monday thatwill help BCC students from registration to graduation.

Hassan also pointed toefforts in Massachusetts tocrack downon the powerfulnarcotic fentanyl,which canbemixed with heroin or co-caine— sometimeswithoutthe user’s knowledge.“We know that we need

to bring the laws and pen-alties inNewHampshire forthe distribution and sale offentanyl in line with thosefor heroin,” Hassan said.U.S. Sen. EdwardMarkey

also spoke at the event.Markey said the country

needs a national strategyto stop the over-prescrip-tion of painmedication andguarantee that doctors andothermedical professionalsare educated in responsibleprescribing practices.“The prescription drug

and heroin crisis is wearingfamilies down to the bone,”Markey said. “We need togive them hope.”Also Monday U.S. Rep.

Katherine Clark, a Massa-chusetts Democrat, urgedthe federal Drug Enforce-mentAdministration toper-mit the partial filling of opi-oid prescriptions, which she

saidwould reduce surplusesof opioid medication.Massachusetts recently

launched a public educationcampaign driving home thepoint that addiction is an ill-ness, not a moral failure.Medical schools said

standards unveiledMondaywere developed by the statepublic health commissioner,the Massachusetts MedicalSociety, and the medicalschools at the University ofMassachusetts, BostonUni-versity, TuftsUniversity, andHarvard University, whichhave about 3,000 studentscombined.Under the 10 “core com-

petencies,” students willlearn how to evaluate therisk of opioid addiction, totreat patients at risk of sub-stance abuse before they be-come addicted, andmanageaddiction as a chronic dis-ease.Each school will tailor

the standards to comple-ment existing curricula toensure they are deliveredto all students.Also Monday, a group of

sheriffs met with Baker toexpress support for his opi-oid bill.Baker’s bill would restrict

patients to a three-day sup-ply of painkillers the firsttime they are prescribed anopioid drug, or when theyreceive a prescription fromanewdoctor. Patients couldseek refills after the three-day period and exceptionswould be made for certainchronic conditions.Top legislative leaders

have said they’re not soldyet on another of Baker’sproposal which would letdoctors commit a person in-voluntarily to a drug treat-ment facility for up to 72hours if they’re consideredan immediate danger tothemselves or others.

OpioidFROMPAGE 1

ByColinA.YoungState House News Service

BOSTON»More than half ofthe state’s sheriffs on Mon-day threw their support be-hind Gov. Charlie Baker’ssubstance abuse preventionlegislation, saying that whatthey see at their correctionalfacilities proves the state’songoing opioid epidemic isan issue that “desperatelyneeds attention.”“Wearenotdoing enough

to deal with the issues ofopiates,” Middlesex CountySheriff Peter Koutoujiansaid. “These go from thetony communities to thepoorer communities, to therural to theurbancommuni-ties, to white and black andLatino to everything. It hitsus all. This is something weneed to do now.”After meeting privately

with Baker and Lt. Gov.Karyn Polito, sheriffs fromBarnstable, Bristol, Essex,Franklin, Hampshire, Nor-folk, Middlesex and Plym-outh counties said theywholeheartedly support thegovernor’s bill.“The problem is so obvi-

ous, so many people are dy-ing. Everybody has to do ev-erything they can and wehavetostartdoing itnow.Wedon’t need to wait any lon-ger, let’s get going on this,”Barnstable County SheriffJames Cummings said. “Tobe honest with you, I’m get-ting tired of talking about itand would like to start do-ing something about it, andI think this governor’s legis-lation is afirst step ingettingsomething done.”The legislationBakerfiled

lastmonth proposes to limitfirst-time opioid prescrip-tions to a 72-hour supply

and to give doctors the au-thority tohospitalize addictsagainst theirwill forup to 72hours if theypresenta risk tothemselves or others.Both ideas quickly en-

counteredresistance, but thesheriffswhometwith BakeronMondaywereunanimousin their support forbothpro-visions.“One thing we find very

clearly when people comeinto the house of correctionis (they’re) addicted toPerco-cets, Vicodin and it’s a gate-waydrug theygetprescribedto them to get toheroin,” Es-sex County Sheriff FrankCousins said. “There’s noquestion that there has tobe limitations on those pre-scription medications.”On the governor’s civil

commitment proposal, Kou-toujian said, “Wedon’t thinkit’s controversial. It’s neces-sary.”The governor defended

his proposal Monday, re-counting a conversation hesaid he had last week inwhich he explained the in-tent of the involuntary com-mitment proposal to anemergency room doctor.“I think this one is not as

complicated as some peoplemight think it is,”Baker said.“Allwe’re talking about hereis giving emergency roomdoctors the ability, based onbest clinical judgement, tomake the samecall they cur-rently make with respect tomental health around some-bodywho isdealingwithad-diction.”Already, 11 county prose-

cutors from the Massachu-setts District Attorneys As-sociationhave signaled theirsupport for the governor’sbill, as have other law en-forcement officials.

Also Monday, follow-ing up on a similar meet-ing Baker had in Septem-ber with the leaders of thestate’smedical schools, Bak-er’s office announced thatthe medical schools and theMassachusettsMedical Soci-ety have developed a set ofprinciples to teach their stu-dents about pain manage-ment and safe prescribingof opioids.The 10 “core competen-

cies” — which will be tai-loredby eachmedical schoolto compliment their exist-ing curriculum — will en-sure that the 3,000 enrolledmedical school students inthe state are trained in pre-scription drug misuse pre-vention strategies, the gov-ernor’s office said.“These educational stan-

dards represent an innova-tive and forward-thinkingcontribution to the state’smulti-faceted strategy tocurb the opioid epidemic,”Baker said in a statement.“Massachusetts is again set-ting a new standard by pro-viding ourmedical studentswith a strong foundationin treating those with sub-stance use disorders.”Baker’s opioid bill is

slated to be the only legis-lation considered before theJoint Committee on Men-tal Health and SubstanceAbuse on Monday, Nov. 16,at 10 a.m.The Senate approved leg-

islation this year targetingsubstance abuse preventionand education, while theHouse is taking additionaltime to review all the op-tions.HouseSpeakerRobertDeLeo has said it’s unlikelythe House will consider theSenate’s or governor’s billuntil sometime in 2016.

BOSTON

Sheriffs back governor’s opioid bill

• Provide structured path-ways to graduation via aca-demics andfirst-year experi-ence opportunities.• Use engaged learning

and faculty online assistanceto ensure students graduate.The Title III grant pro-

gram is intended to help in-stitutions of higher learningbecome self-sufficient andexpand their capacity toserve students of all socio-economic and ethnic back-grounds through a qualityeducation, stronger admin-istrative management andfiscal stability.GladysGarcia-Rijos, a stu-

dent representative on theBCC board of trustees, be-lieves the grant will benefitall who attend the commu-nity college.“It doesn’tmatter if you’re

right out of high school orgoing back to school later [inlife], the college process canbe challenging,” she said.In recent years, BCC has

spent roughly $34 millionin state capital funds to ren-ovate the Hoffmann Envi-ronmental Center, the gymfloor and lighting at Pater-son Field House, upgradethe Hawthorne andMelvillebuilding and soon begin im-proving the roadways andparking lots on campus.The Title III grant is seen

as the first step to focus onthe betterment of what goes

on inside those buildings,according college, city offi-cials and the Berkshire del-egation to the state Legisla-ture.Pittsfield Mayor Daniel

L. Bianchi highlighted howthe local business commu-nity has and will continueto work closely with the col-lege to create a more highlyskilled workforce.And Berkshire state Sen.

Benjamin B. Downing viewsthe federal funds as possibleleverage to help bolster stateinvestment in higher educa-tion, especially BCC.“This will underline the

community in communitycollege,” he said.

Contact Dick Lindsay at413 496-6233.

GrantFROMPAGE 1

Officials in Boston nowconsidering the permit ap-peal need to hear from thecommunity that the fieldhas solid support, she said.“Don’t be quiet about this;let people know.”Farley-Bouvier said the

project was developed overthe past several years as acooperative effort betweenBCC, the city and a com-munity group interested inbringing to Pittsfield a turffield for public school youthand college sports.“We worked really hard

on this,” the lawmaker said,referring to collaborative ef-forts to address concernsabout wetlands protectionand to correct environmen-tal issues caused when thecurrent grass field was cre-ated.“This is a good thing for

our environment, and don’tlet anybody out there makeyou think it isn’t, becauseit is,” she said, prompting aloud cheer.High school athletes who

spoke describedmuddy, wetconditions on existing lo-cal fields that often causedelays, postponements orvenue changes, as well asthe disadvantage they feelwhen they play elsewhere inthe state on turf fields.“It’s really hard to com-

pete with teams fromSpringfield or other placesin Mass.,” said PittsfieldHigh athlete Shawn Mor-gan. “Playing on a turf fieldreally is different and it’sforeign to us. ... A turf fieldwill really help us grow asathletes.”Jill Scussel, of Taconic

High, said many times lo-cal players are at a dis-advantage having neverplayed on a turf field. Theball bounces differently, shesaid.JakeMcNiece, of Taconic,

said he believes the BCC lo-cationwould be amuch bet-ter location for many rea-sons.Jim Abel, athletic direc-

tor in Pittsfield schools, saidthe turf field represents “anenhanced athletic experi-ence” that would be avail-able to public school teams.The Berkshires now “lacks aquality athletic facility thatis accessible to our commu-nity,” he said.Abel praised members of

the large crowd for turningout to show support on achilly night, adding, “Thisis something I don’t believewe can afford to pass up.”Through the efforts of

local state lawmakers, theproject secured a $1 millionenvironmental bond ear-mark, and the city chippedin $200,000 in funding. Thecommunity group is rais-ing the remaining amountthrough ongoing fundrais-ing efforts.Opponents have ques-

tioned the potential healthrisks from the controversial“rubber crumb” used as in-fill on the fields, which ismade from used vehicletires. However, the DEP ap-peal is focused on possi-ble stormwater runoff intonearby wetlands areas andon delineation of the sensi-tive areas.Supporters contend there

is no conclusive evidence ofa health risk from the rub-ber materials and that thewetlands protections de-signed into the project aremore than adequate and animprovement over the cur-rent situation.Football coach Gary Bi-

anchi remembered whenthe field was first conceivedabout five years ago duringa period of wet weatherthat had disrupted scho-lastic sports schedules. “Itwas one of those years whenthe weather was horrible,”Bianchi said.But a number of volun-

teers soon got onboard with

the idea for a turf field, hesaid, and BCC President El-len Kennedy and collegestaff members were imme-diately supportive.Referring to the recent

Taconic High-PittsfieldHigh football game atWah-conah Park, Bianchi askedthe crowd to consideredwhat playing that game ona turf field on the BCC cam-pus would have been like.“Think of how much

more fun it would havebeen out here, with thelights, a bigger crowd,” hesaid. “That’s what you guysdeserve.”Bianchi also noted that

many school tournamentgames must be played atvenues elsewhere for thelack of an available turffield in the county.“We are doing this you,”

said Ward 6 City CouncilorJohn Krol.A turf field, he said,

would be “a piece of” whatwill make Pittsfield a moreattractive community foryoung families to raisechildren. The field wouldbe “making sure that youknow we care about athlet-ics for our young people,” he said.

The appeal has becomea long process but support-ers are committed to see-ing it to a successful con-clusion, Krol said, addingthat the planning has beenthorough and collaborative.“This is the way you are

supposed to do a project,”he said.“We are going to be per-

sistent,” Krol said, “and weare going to get to that goalline and get this done.”John Law, vice presi-

dent for administrationand finance at BCC, said heknows from personal expe-rience, with a son who hasplayed soccer at differentlevels for 15 years that “it [aturf field] is essential for thegrowth of our athletes.”

Contact Jim Therrien at413-496-6247.

TurfFROMPAGE 1

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