And Justice For All?

Maria Geryk introduces Calvin Terrell to the crowd of about 100- 125 Middle School parents/guardians and a few hand picked students

No tears were shed, nobody puked and professional counselors were not required as "social justice" speaker extraordinaire Calvin Terrell paid a return visit to the Amherst Regional Middle School -- the scene of the crime -- to "reenact" his October 2nd routine that terrorized far too many impressionable young students.

This time around school officials told parents to keep their children at home, kind of like cops separating two partners in crime during questioning so they can't compare notes.

Although nine ARHS students, all members of IGET (Inter-Generational Equity Team), were trotted out to the front of the room to tell the crowd why they are "warriors".

ARPS Superintendent Maria Geryk, the highest paid public official in Amherst, announced at the outset that no video recording was allowed (while looking directly at me).

 Calvin Terrell displays a t-shirt from a racist group in his home state of Arizona

Over the course of the first two hours the affable Terrell put on a good show that was a cross between a pep rally and a religious tent revival meeting.

 Audience stands for one of many interactive exercises

But the last half hour became a bit more somber as he reenacted the "visualization" exercise that was the most traumatic aspect of his controversial October 2nd presentation.

He told the attentive audience that this would be the "exact same way I did this with your kids."

He asked us to close our eyes and envision heading into our school on a cool October night holding the soft hand of a five year old girl, with our most beloved adult accompanying us, walking on our left.

Suddenly people are running, shots are fired, and we're understandably scared and confused.

A man near us pulls a gun of his own and says he's going to end this, but he's cut down by the shooter who is yelling things indicating he had been bullied.  Another shot rings out, only this time it's the police doing the shooting and the perp is neutralized.

He then pauses ... and you can almost see the Hollywood-like cut to a new scene which he describes as a room in a funeral home with two coffins, one of them for a child.  It's a closed coffin because the child was shot in the face with the resulting damage too great for the mortician to repair.

We then take a brief break and he asks everyone to check on the persons sitting next to them to make sure they are emotionally okay.

But in the October 2nd version I heard from a half-dozen Middle School students (one of them my daughter)  there was a much closer more graphic visualization of the shooter killing the 5-year-old girl and your most beloved adult right in front of you while you helplessly watched in sheer horror.

No wonder they didn't want this talk recorded.

Terrell also made snide remarks about men who dress "in Brooks Brother suits and work in tall buildings" yet he claims the reason he doesn't want his talks recorded is to protect his intellectual property, which generates a decent income.

In this case $38,000 for ten visits to Amherst.  So even if tonight was "free," it was done to protect his $38,000 contract.  Kind of like a restaurant giving you a free meal because the one you paid for previously gave you salmonella.

 Calvin Terrell:  As photogenic as he is smooth talking

As I was taking video at the outset of the meeting (and no, I was not going to video the entire 2.5 hour presentation) a woman sitting behind me suddenly snatched my iPhone, reminding me that it was against the rules.

I was sitting in the front row seat of the PUBLIC Middle School auditorium, the same seat I have occupied over the past 24 years as an Amherst Town Meeting member.  It was well below freezing tonight so keeping the auditorium warm (and lit) cost the taxpayers a few dollars.

And this event was sponsored and promoted by the Amherst PUBLIC schools to try to atone for the October 2nd mishap that was widely covered in the local media.

Social Justice does not trump the First Amendment.




Editor's note: To her credit the woman who grabbed my Iphone did apologize to me; as did Calvin Terrell to the audience late in his reenactment for having upset some students at the original October 2nd presentation and badmouthing the town after the controversy erupted in the media. 

A New Age of Civility?

UMass/Amherst: the flagship of higher education

When I first started shining a spotlight on rowdy student behavior a few years ago, I never thought the day would dawn where a dramatic decrease in such bad behavior would become a "dog bites man" kind of news story.

But here we are, thankfully.

UMass released on Friday the box scores for this past fall's violations of the student code of conduct (now that it applies to off campus activities) and it was down a whopping 63%.

No surprise really since I published the Amherst Police Department noise/nuisance tickets and arrests back in late November showing they were down dramatically.  And the feeder system so to speak for the Dean of Students is APD, as every negative interaction is reported to their office.

But I still find some of the statistics interesting.  Out of the 107 students reported to the Dean's office only one was expelled, probably this guy.  (Assaulting and calling a black police officer the N-word will do that.)

Another not at all surprising, but still notable when you see it as a stark statistic:  80% of the 107 student offenders were males.  Why is that?  Is it a testosterone thing where men are more naturally inclined to bad behavior?

Of course the other statistic UMass doesn't show is the involvement of alcohol in all of these sordid situations, which if I had to guess approaches 100%.  Perhaps alcohol and testosterone make for a bad mix. 

Speaking of which, another notable statistic, one that UMass will not tell you about, is reported rapes plummeted from 22 in 2013 all the way down to six in 2014. 

In his inauguration speech on Wednesday, Northwestern District Attorney Dave Sullivan credited UMass with helping to develop materials now used nationwide to address sexual assaults on campus.



That too is something to widely acknowledge.

ARPS: Sinking Ship?

Amherst Regional High School dealing with a cold reality

If ever a chart starkly demonstrated the treacherous waters that lay ahead for an education organization, this would be it:

Click to enlarge/read

Now keep in mind when a student is stolen away from a pubic school via Charter or Vocational Schools it costs the District the full amount of their average cost per student, which in Amherst is extraordinarily high.  This current Fiscal Year ARPS broke the $20,000 barrier, compared to state average of $14,000.

Less costly are the students who leave via "choice" for another public school at only $5,000 per student. But add them all up and it comes to a whopping $540,000 carved out of the FY16 $30 million operation budget. Yikes!

 PVCICS Death Star addition

The Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School looms as the Death Star, expanding into a full high school with a gleaming new building to show for it. In just the past two years PVCIC has gone from 68 ARPS students up to 83 for the upcoming FY16 year. Double yikes!

Interestingly before the Chinese Charter School was founded the Amherst Schools had the opportunity to offer their Chinese language curriculum via the same founders who were rejected by public school officials, so they went off and opened their own Charter School.

Amherst Public School officials are now considering a major reorganization by "repurposing" the Middle School building, which currently houses 7th and 8th grade.

 Administration report to Regional School Committee

The Regional Assessment Working Group, who are recommending their own major reorganization by having the four-town Region expand all the way down to pre Kindergarten through 6th grade, spent a lot of time discussing the "repurposing" of a building.

 Amherst Regional Middle School ... mothballed?

The RAWG Final Report states:

"The law is not entirely clear about whether such decisions are matters of educational policy (School Committee domain) or administrative operations (Superintendent).  To the extent that decisions are within the purview of the superintendent, the RAWG recommends that there will be a lengthy and open process before the use of a school is changed." 


Either way let's hope school officials take to heart the concept of a "lengthy and open process," something the RAWG certainly has not demonstrated over their three year tenure. 

Downtown Dining Options Expand

27 South Pleasant Street

Two new restaurants will grace Amherst center next month, although both of them will do business in a space previously occupied by dining establishments.

Yes Metacomet Cafe, the restaurant with that cool retro sign that went up 1.5 years ago is, finally, going to open in the former home to Chez Albert before they moved to the north end of town.

Brothers Spencer and Trevor Hopton appeared before the Amherst Select Board back in July for a required Common Victualler License, saying they would be open by September.

Better late than never.

28 Amity Street

Almost directly behind the Metacomet Cafe in a spot formerly occupied by Arise Farm to Table Pub and Pizzeria, a new Italian restaurant, Osteria Vespa, will arise from their ashes, having purchased all the surplus restaurant equipment except for the liquor license.

On Monday night the Amherst Select Board unanimously approved a new all alcohol liquor license for the business, located adjacent to the Amherst Cinema.

 Jonathan Welch (left) Tom Schnapp appear before Amherst Select Board

Small business start ups, even in the best of years, fight an uphill battle.  About 1/4 fail in the initial year of opening and by 5th year about half have failed. 

The key of course is having a good product, providing good service, and -- for a business requiring foot traffic -- a good location.  And they don't come any better than downtown Amherst.

Inauguration Present

 DPW Chief Guilford Mooring: rare good news for Public Works Committee last night

Even though he lost Amherst by a landslide to ultimate choke artist Martha Coakley, Charlie Baker gave our town -- and all the others in the Commonwealth -- a nice inauguration gift in his first act as Governor: releasing $100 million of the original $300 million Chapter 90 money for roads and bridges repair.

For our little college town that translates to an extra $400,000 on top of the original $817,000 already received.  And it raises hope the town will get another $1.2 million in Chapter 90 money for the upcoming Fiscal Year.

Even though he inherited a budget gap of $500 million from his Democratic predecessor the new Republican Governor made good on a campaign promise to protect local aid, citing the spin off benefits of job creation and public safety.

Bumper stickers available at Cushman Market

As any North Amherst resident can attest, Pine Street is the BIG project yet to be completed, which still requires a finish coat this coming construction season.  The extra $400,000 will go a long way towards covering that.

Pleased to follow through on our commitment to local infrastructure by releasing $100 million in Ch. 90 funds today: http://t.co/vvze3OLSPO
— Charlie Baker (@MassGovernor) January 8, 2015

Shock Therapy Déjà Vu

Calvin Terrell Amherst Regional Middle School (among angry parents) 10/3/14

Okay parents be sure to bring a box of tissues to the presentation this Sunday when Calvin Terrell sneaks back to Amherst to "recreate" the presentation that traumatized so many of our children back in October.

Although adults are probably a lot less prone to his emotional manipulation.

 click to enlarge/read

Interesting that school officials do not want any children at the presentation this time around.  If parents had gotten an advance peek at his act back in September, the sorry episode could have been avoided.

By firing him.

Regional School Report Ready (Almost)

Regional Agreement Working Group 7:05 PM

After three l-o-n-g years of mostly under-the-radar meetings, the Regional Agreement Working Group voted unanimously last night (11-0 with 1 absent) to support the draft report to the Regional School Committee outlining the purported benefits of e-x-p-a-n-d-i-n-g the current four town Region (grades 7-12) all the way down to Pre-K through 6.

The 12-page sales pitch extols standardization of curriculum, time savings for the Superintendent who will no longer have to deal with three separate budgets & School Committees, and better efficiency in assigning students to schools without regard to town boundaries.

But cost savings is pretty far down on their list of reasons, citing only a 2% overall savings for the Region as a whole (And that is probably based on everything going perfectly, which things never do).

   RAWG Final Report Draft

A few minor tweaks were voted to this draft

The final report will be discussed at the upcoming January 13 Regional School Committee meeting as RAWG member Trevor Baptiste, who is also Chair of the RSC, said he has set aside 30 minutes on the RSC agenda for the presentation.

School Superintendent Maria Geryk handed out a draft "timeline" that shows the Regional School Committee voting on the matter at their March 10th meeting where it will require a two-thirds vote to pass.

Then it will be up to the four member towns -- Amherst, Pelham, Leverett, and Shutesbury -- to pass at their annual spring Town Meetings two questions:  Should the Regional Agreement be amended to allow for this new expanded Regional entity?  And if this new entity is allowed to form do we wish to join?

Interestingly enough, Amherst, who makes up the vast majority of the Region, will only vote the first question because in the body of the amendment it states that the new Region can only be formed if Amherst and one other town decide in favor.

But if even one of the other three towns votes No to the first question the issue is dead, because to amend the current 50+ year old Regional Agreement all four towns have to vote yes.

The only two Amherst residents in attendence last night both spoke about the lack of transparancy and outreach to the citizens of Amherst over the past three years, and another spectator, Dan Hayes from Shutesbury, complained, "I've had no information or input over the years, even though I requested it -- and I'm a school committee member!"

It is odd of course that this process has dragged on for over three years with little to no public relations efforts and yet now they want it voted up-or-down within the next four months.  

Regional Agreement Working Group 9:45 PM

Cowards die 1,000 deaths, Heroes But 1

Stephane Charbonnier:
"I'd rather die standing up than live on my knees."

A Good Day For Amherst

Amherst Town Manager John Musante, Governor Patrick, Stan Rosenberg 10/21/14

Today was a good day for local government: Dave Sullivan took his oath of office as Northwestern District Attorney, our "top cop" so to speak, and Amherst's own Stan Rosenberg ascended to President of the 189th Massachusetts Senate.

The Eastern centric State Legislature will have a hard time ignoring Western Massachusetts over the next few years.

And since Stan is a proud UMass graduate, good news for our flagship of higher education and the town they call home.

Unfortunately Stan's ceremony was marred by the collapse of his long time friend, well known UMass Journalism Professor Ralph Whitehead.

Fortunately staff on hand knew how to use a defibrillator and it sounds like they got him to Mass General Hospital in time.

Journey For Justice

Northwestern District Attorney Dave Sullivan kicks off his 5th year as DA

If Dave Sullivan had not pursued a career in the pubic sector legal system he would have made a formidable journalist.

Echoing the sacred mission of journalism to "give voice to the voiceless," Dave Sullivan noted his office gives voice to children who are victims of sexual abuse, and gives voice to all the other most vulnerable members of our community: elders, disabled, battered women and victims of violent crime.

 APD Chief Scott Livingstone (far left) in attendance

Taking note that the legal system must not just be one of punishment, Sullivan pointed out that we have to effectively deal with the "root cause of crime" -- poverty, racism, substance abuse, mental health issues and "just plain ignorance."

But by far his strongest criticism for crime contributors was directed squarely at drug companies like Perdue Pharmaceuticals (maker of OxyContin) who market pain medication like "M & Ms at the local convenience store."



Dave Sullivan was first elected Northwestern District Attorney four years ago, moving up from his position of Hampshire Register of Probate, where he was credited with increasing the efficiency and transparency of that office.

While he had no experience as a prosecutor his highly respected managerial style is to bring in the best and then let them do their jobs.

 Assistant District Attorneys sworn in

In a 15 minute post swearing in speech this morning at the Franklin County Courthouse in Greenfield Dave Sullivan exuded his passion for justice, crediting and thanking his deceased parents for instilling in him that family value.

And he also publicly thanked his wife, Catherine Hancock, humbly noting,"without that kind of support, you really can't be where you want to be in life."

Not often you get hugged by a Judge in Superior Court (let alone four of them)

Party House of the Weekend

Christian Rivera stands before Judge O'Grady

No matter how much you like "Stand By Me," if a police officer tells you to turn it down, you should probably turn it down.

 Click to enlarge/read

Mr. Rivera, age 21, did not -- and as a result was arrested by APD for violation of Amherst noise  bylaw.

In Eastern Hampshire District Court on Monday he took the standard "diversion" program, having the criminal matter diverted to a civil matter in exchange for paying the $300 noise ticket and promising to stay out of trouble in the near future.

Although, since he's a UMass student, Rivera will also have to answer to the UMass Dean of Students Office as all arrests and/or Noise & Nuisance tickets issued by APD automatically get referred to Enku Gelaye for review.

Had the violation occurred on campus UMPD probably would have issued Mr. Rivera one of the new tickets they are using to speed up the process of dealing with Student Code of Conduct violations.

Click to enlarge/read

 UMass violation ticket

Only in the past few years did UMass e-x-t-e-n-d the Code of Conduct to include off campus activities such as noise and nuisance complaints handled by the understaffed Amherst Police Department.

The Electronic Age

Jim Pistrang pitches his electronic voting idea to Amherst Select Board

256-year-old Amherst Town Meeting could amble into the 21st Century if a majority of the 240+ members support the recommendation of the newly announced Amherst Town Meeting Electronic Voting Committee this coming fall.

The seven member group is the brainchild of Town Meeting Moderator Jim Pistrang, and he will be joined by Town Clerk Sandra Burgess, an IT staff person, one member of the Town Meeting Coordinating Committee and three at large members (not necessarily current Town Meeting members).

According to Mr. Pistrang electronic voting will serve to facilitate three equally important crucial things: accuracy, accountability and efficiency.

The committee will research the best system to fit the needs of Amherst, determine the total cost, and come up with wording to revise current bylaws governing Town Meeting to allow for electronic voting.

And they will draft a warrant article for the 2015 Fall Special Town Meeting to purchase the gadgets, which, if approved, would then go into full use at the 2016 Spring Annual Town Meeting.

As a sales pitch the committee will also put on a demonstration for the Fall Town Meeting showing how the system works prior to their vote (taken in the old fashioned manner -- either voice vote, standing vote, or tally vote).

 Standing vote 5/7/14 Town Meeting

The Select Board unanimously supported the idea to form the committee.

Now if we could just downsize Town Meeting by w-a-y more than half, to say 60, we could save money on the new system, increase accountability even more, and actually make members compete for their seats.

Don't Do The Crime

Thomas F. Bridges stands before Judge William O'Grady (from the lock up)

If you're going to break into the same house to commit a crime for the second time in less than a week you should think twice about wearing an item of clothing stolen in the original Breaking & Entering, as the owner may recognize it ... even something not normally all that visible:  underwear.

A neighbor on Lincoln Avenue called Amherst police early Saturday night to report a suspicious party in dark clothing "pacing and back and forth" at the rear of the house next door.  The first officer on scene noted fresh tracks in the snow leading to a basement door.

When the officer spotted a dark figure through the window he drew his service revolver and asked the person to come out, but he promptly fled deeper into the house.  Another officer ran into him trying to sneak out the back door, but he again withdrew back into the house.

Amherst police called for backup from UMass PD who arrived with two patrol officers and two detectives and Hadley PD also assisted with their K9 unit.  Officers stormed the house but the perp was nowhere to be seen, having climbed into the attic damaging the ceiling in the process (thus garnering the "destruction of property" charge).

By this time the owner of the home arrived and recognized the underwear worn by the intruder, as having been stolen on the New Year's eve break in.  Police arrested Thomas Bridges, age 25.

Thomas Bridges (mugshot)

Click to enlarge/read

In Eastern Hampshire District Court this morning the Commonwealth asked Judge William O'Grady to set cash bail at a whopping $10,000 because Mr. Bridges was on parole for two different criminal cases and the Assistant DA also pointed out he had 60 items on his criminal record.

Judge O'Grady set cash bail at $5,000 and continued the case until later this month.  Thomas Bridges was transported back to the Hampshire County Jail & House of Corrections to await trial.  

APD Statement of Facts filed in Court

APD on scene Lincoln Avenue  with Hadley and UMass PD Saturday night 8:45 PM

2015 Goal(s) #1

AFD Central Station

Once again the important issues I plan to cover with gusto in the New Year, even as it becomes an old year, will come as no surprise to my regular readers.  And once again we have a tie for #1 -- both of them related to public safety:

New South Amherst Fire Station:  Short of immolating myself on the town common I plan to do everything possible to ensure the town, finally, gets off its lazy bureaucratic ass and breaks ground on the badly needed new fire station.

Yes, maybe my major structure fire in South Amherst 27 years ago unduly influences my preoccupation with fire safety.

But I'm sure that's the same for anyone who has dealt with The Beast up close, smelled its stench, choked on acrid black smoke, and listened helplessly to the demented crackle as your home was rapidly being consumed. 

The needs of a 21st century fire department have outgrown the iconic 85 year old Central Fire Station.  Neither of the ladder trucks will even fit into the building and the electrical systems and HVAC were state of the art back when our troops were fighting in South East Asia. 

The first "study" identifying the need for a new station was issued back when President Dwight D. Eisenhower occupied the White House, while the most recent study, issued in 2006, collects dust in historic Town Hall (renovated in 1997 at a cost of $3.2 million).

 Amherst DPW, 586 South Pleasant Street

A Request For Proposals is almost ready to hire a consultant to start the process of building new DPW home, the Jones Library is on their way to a $10 million renovation/expansion project, and Town Meeting recently approved a $1 million study of Wildwood Elementary School for a mega-expensive school building project that looms in the near future.

 Last year's AFD capital request (ignored by town officials) included $8 million one year and $4 million the next for new South Fire Station

Just remember who will protect all these expensive new buildings (not counting all the new construction projects at UMass).

Maybe I'll print bumper stickers:  "Fire Safety Comes 1st, As Should a New South Fire Station!"

And of course a new building or new equipment is pretty useless unless you have an adequate number of staff to operate it.  Last year AFD Dispatch had to issue public pleas over the radio 200 times for off-duty personnel to report in for "station coverage".

Meaning not enough on-duty firefighters were available to do their job of protecting the public.  What if The Beast came calling again in deep South Amherst at any of those precise vulnerable moments?

 DHG 11/13/87 back when they had the staff to cover breaking news on page 1

The Town Manager seems to (sort of) understand the serious issue of low staffing at APD, pointing out to the Select Board last year how police staffing has decreased 10% since 2007 while UMass/Amherst has expanded student population 16% during that same time frame.

But he didn't let that motivate him enough to include any extra police (or firefighter) staffing in his budget that year.  On January 15th Town Manager Musante will present his 2016 budget to his bosses the 5-member Amherst Select Board (and the Finance Committee).

Let's hope this time his $70+ million budget includes increased public safety staffing for both police and fire.

And let's hope while we're waiting, no one dies a preventable death.

Last night APD called in "mutual aid" from UMass PD and Hadley PD K9 unit to assist bagging a perp for Breaking & Entering at at Lincoln Avenue house (which was hit by a B & E two nights ago).

AFD: A Barnburner of a Year

AFD Engine 2 on scene UMass Berkshire Dining Commons 12/11/14

My regular readers will find this a "dog bites man" story, or as we brazen Catholic kids used to say growing up, "no shit Sherlock": Amherst Fire Department had its second busiest year on record (but busiest for medical calls) with a total of 5,914 calls, an increase of 3.94% over last year's busy tally of 5,690.

First number is fire calls, second number medicals calls, third number is total

With no staff increase of course.

In fact there has not been a staff increase since 2005 when the town received a $500,000 federal SAFER grant to hire five additional firefighters.

But even with those additional five our current 1.16  ratio of firefighters per 1,000 residents is well below what the International City Managers Association considers a minimum threshold for safety of 1.65 firefighters per 1,000.

Yes the minimum on-duty shift increased to 8 from 7 (the first increase since the 1970s), and UMass kicked in $80,000 in 2014 to fund the "impact shift" where an extra four firefighters geared up for Thursday night through early Sunday morning -- the bewitching hours for the alcohol fueled zombie herds.

Tom Valle, Secretary Amherst Firefighters Local 1764

But even then (with as many as 13 on duty)  there were times last fall -- especially in September -- when we had to rely on "mutual aid" ambulances from surrounding towns for medical emergencies because all of our staff were tied up dealing with preventable substance abuse cases.

Northampton FD responding to Amherst College via mutual aid for intoxicated student, as all five AFD ambulances are now occupied.

— Larry Kelley (@amherstac) September 28, 2014

In all last year there were 46 occasions when a medical emergency had to be handled by an out-of-town ambulance, thus requiring precious extra time for a patient to be safely delivered to a hospital.

Something you probably don't think about ... until it's your spouse, or child.  

Car vs tree Potwine Lane 12/10/14

#1 Business Story of 2014

 Landmark Properties retreated from their upscale student housing project in N. Amherst

Once again we have a tie with both business related stories involving housing, the #1 "overall issue" of the year -- if not the entire decade. A serious issue we probably share with many "college towns" across the country.

After more than a year of heated packed public meetings, with hundreds of ugly lawn signs polluting the landscape for most of that time and with the developer, Landmark Properties, sinking almost $1 million in initial costs, the demise of "The Retreat" was a BIG story.

 Kendrick Place, north end of downtown

But the rise of Archipelago Investments LLC, fittingly symbolized by their five-story, mixed-use developments, was certainly an equally m-a-j-o-r story.

In fact their three projects combined that have garnered Planning Board approval -- Olympia Place with 75 units, Kendrick Place with 36 units, and One East Pleasant Street with 80 units -- almost make up for the 641 beds that The Retreat would have produced. 

 Carriage Shops:  Future home of One East Pleasant Street

One East Pleasant Street as seen from historic West Cemetery

And with the very recent legal action taken against Archipelago by a tired old-school competitor desperately trying to maintain market share, safe bet that  One East Pleasant Street project will continue to be a BIG story in the new year.

 Olympia Place site work  near UMass

#1 Unreported Story of 2014

Besides being trapped in a major structure fire or a sunken ship, or enduring every parents worst nightmare, the loss of a child, I can't think of anything worse than being physically raped.

I'm probably in good company, so maybe that's why you never seem to see routine coverage of the horrific act in our local media.

But, as a result -- the old "out of sight, out of mind" routine -- we forget that it can happen here.  Yes, even in Amherst.

In FY14 twenty two rapes were reported to the Amherst Police Department, up from seventeen in FY13.  That number is more than three times the rapes reported to them in FY2005 (seven).  The average over the past ten years is twelve.

Those numbers do not include our institutes of higher education.

In 2013 Hampshire College had twenty reported rapes, UMass had twenty two, and Amherst College had nine.  Thus adding in the seventeen reported to APD makes a total of 68 for the entire town, out of a population of 38,000 or 1.8/1,000.

Department of Justice statistics show rape reported at rate of 1.3/1,000 nationwide, so we're well over average.

Unfortunately college aged women report rape at a much higher rate than "average":  6.1 per 1,000 female students, but this is slightly lower than the rate reported for college aged females who are not students, 7.6 per 1,000 females.

Since UMass has around 13,000 female students the 22 reported rapes in 2013 are well below the 6.1/1,000 nationwide average (which would have resulted in 79 reported rapes).

This year that just ended, 2014, will be exceedingly better for the state's flagship of higher education.  The number of rapes reported to UMPD as of two weeks ago is only (and I hate to use that word) six.

But you probably will not see the UMass Office of News & Media Relations issuing a press release heralding that.  Although they probably should.