Should you need a lite, trite Christmas post graphic, I offer the attached of our everted “tree”.

Hil K

Hi everyone – sorry it’s taken me so long to put up pictures, but we have been so busy moving and we jut got our internet up in the new house.

Anyway, the riot was so crazy. I don’t really think we expected Umass to win the national title, we were the #3 team and Appalacian State was #1, but because of the riots following the Red Sox victory in 2004 there seemed to be a general concensus that current students wanted to do something even bigger. The riots took place in my section of campus, Southwest, where the towers are that house about half of all students who live oncampus – about 5,000 students. All during the day of the game there were extra police patrolling the campus and they even installed “riot lights” on the sides of the towers. which made it super bright at night.

When the game was over at 11:30 we looked out our window and saw people pouring out of the dorms into the quads below. It really didn’t seem to matter that we had lost. I went outside with my friends, but we stayed around the edges of the crowd, not wanting to get crushed in the big moshes. In the beginning of the riots people were cheering “Go Umass!” and it was as positive at atmosphere as a riot can be. Then, things started to go downhill.

The cops showed up around 11:45 in full swat gear. Nobody was really out of control at this point, but the police immediately began going to extreme measures to try to get everyone to leave. They started setting off flash bombs, which are so loud they make the whole ground shake and are so bright if you’re close to them you can’t see anything for a few seconds. They launched tear gas cans into the middle of the crowd, which sting your throat, lungs, and eyes and make you cough uncontrollably. Then, they started shooting rubber pellets out of what looked like paintball guns. Some of my friends got hit with those and they leave big bruises and really hurt. I managed to escape unscathed by those, but I inhaled a good amount of tear gas.

The riot then turned into an anti-police rally. Not that I am saying I support what my classmates were doing when they were lighting trees on fire, throwing rocks through windows, and throwing trashcans at the police, but i think the police responded inappropriately. They were shooting innocent onlookers and being overly-forceful. If they hadn’t been so harsh right off the bat, the students wouldn’t have responded in such a way and the whole situation wouldn’t have escalated so much.

It took the cops until 1:30am to dispurse the crowds. There were campus police, Amherst police, police on horseback, and state troopers called in to assist.

It was quite an experience to be a part of. My friends and I stayed right near the door of our building so we weren’t in too much danger of being shot at. I didn’t have my camera so I don’t have pictures, but there are many vidoes on UTube by students who were there.

This one I found is from the local news channel. Click on the “Watch the Video” link below the article.

This one was taken in front of my dining commons looking at my building. In the upper right-hand corner is my buliding. We were standing behind those bushes.

Here is the view from the tower next to mine.

Crazy, huh?

Eileen sent us a scrapbook of old photos taken at and near rakkity’s cabin in Gilsum. Here are two from her collection.

Gregory (Dan’s son), Dan and Eileen.

Eileen

Mike,

Last night Dominic and I had what may be (but maybe not) our last games. Dom started off by wiggling his right wrist under my face, saying, “My wrist isn’t quite back to normal. I can’t really bend this hand back as much as I used to.” That being said, we went on to split 4 very close games. No one got less than 11 points out of 15. Dom showed no sign of weakness.

Right at the end of the 4th, there was a knock on the door and there was Dom’s boss, Bob, and his son Jason. They wanted to play team racquetball, we said sure, and we warmed up a little. Jason was prone to smashing the ball as hard as he could, without finesse, but his reaction time was amazingly short. (Not surprising, him being half the ages of his doddering partners.) Bob, however, hit the ball carefully, favoring control over speed. He’s a veteran of league racquetball, and is a very tough player.

Not being used to the close quarters (after all, a court is a small place for 4 guys swinging racquets), one of my back swings swept off Bob’s googles, and another one tapped his nose lightly. No damage done, luckily, but instead of hovering behind me, he backed a little further away. Once when the ball was coming toward me with him in the way, I bumped into his left side, and swung my arm around his right side to hit the ball. He said, “Hinder!” and we had to replay that volley.

Lots of errant balls smashed into backsides, and there were many near collisions of moving bodies, and lots of “hinders”. Dom and I won the first game handily, and afterwards we stood around resting. Dominic looked at his “previously-used” right hand, and showed us his very red pinkie finger. He said, “I’m going to have to sit this game out and let my hand rest.”

So Bob, Jason and I played cut-throat. Bob really got into gear in this game, and beat Jason and me soundly (15-8-6). At the end, Dominic came back to the court, flexing his damaged hand. With a rueful grimace, he said that he wasn’t going to be able to play at all. The hand wasn’t feeling any better. So we said our goodbyes, and arranged for maybe, possibly, hopefully, one more game this coming Saturday. I shook Bob’s and Jason’s hands, and wished them a merry Christmas, and they wished me a wonderful life in Colorado.

Now it’s up to the gods to decide whether to heal Dom’s hand or not. Two days is a relatively short time for a bad finger to improve, so I’m thinking we may have played our last game.

–rakkity

Mike,

Last night Dominic and I had what may be (but maybe not) our last games. Dom started off by wiggling his right wrist under my face, saying, “My wrist isn’t quite back to normal. I can’t really bend this hand back as much as I used to.” That being said, we went on to split 4 very close games. No one got less than 11 points out of 15. Dom showed no sign of weakness.

Right at the end of the 4th, there was a knock on the door and there was Dom’s boss, Bob, and his son Jason. They wanted to play team racquetball, we said sure, and we warmed up a little. Jason was prone to smashing the ball as hard as he could, without finesse, but his reaction time was amazingly short. (Not surprising, him being half the ages of his doddering partners.) Bob, however, hit the ball carefully, favoring control over speed. He’s a veteran of league racquetball, and is a very tough player.

Not being used to the close quarters (after all, a court is a small place for 4 guys swinging racquets), one of my back swings swept off Bob’s googles, and another one tapped his nose lightly. No damage done, luckily, but instead of hovering behind me, he backed a little further away. Once when the ball was coming toward me with him in the way, I bumped into his left side, and swung my arm around his right side to hit the ball. He said, “Hinder!” and we had to replay that volley.

Lots of errant balls smashed into backsides, and there were many near collisions of moving bodies, and lots of “hinders”. Dom and I won the first game handily, and afterwards we stood around resting. Dominic looked at his “previously-used” right hand, and showed us his very red pinkie finger. He said, “I’m going to have to sit this game out and let my hand rest.”

So Bob, Jason and I played cut-throat. Bob really got into gear in this game, and beat Jason and me soundly (15-8-6). At the end, Dominic came back to the court, flexing his damaged hand. With a rueful grimace, he said that he wasn’t going to be able to play at all. The hand wasn’t feeling any better. So we said our goodbyes, and arranged for maybe, possibly, hopefully, one more game this coming Saturday. I shook Bob’s and Jason’s hands, and wished them a merry Christmas, and they wished me a wonderful life in Colorado.

Now it’s up to the gods to decide whether to heal Dom’s hand or not. Two days is a relatively short time for a bad finger to improve, so I’m thinking we may have played our last game.

–rakkity

Mike,

Don’t put this on your blog calendar please, but it looks like the last racquetball game between Patrick & me (and also the first since breaking my shoulder ligaments) will occur on Jan 3, 2007. That’s the first day the UMd gym re-opens and the last day before we pack up the Penske truck, so we are locked firmly into that date.

The last one or two rakkity-dominator games will be this week. I’m reminding the Dom right now, as he returns from a trip.

Stay tuned.

–rakkity

—————————–

On another subject: Now that I have X11 on my mini, I have also installed xv and the gimp. And they work! So I don’t feel quite so crippled now, and finally, the Mac OS is living up to my expectations. The next test will be to see if I can get a gui interface going between the UMd linux machines and my mini. With a slow connection, it won’t be useful, but if it works at all, it bodes well for Colorado, where I will have a fast connection, come hell or high water!

Ed

Fine Art (QT) and not as finely rendered the youtube version.

Michael,

For the blog…

While Hilary remained unscathed, she did have her first experience with pepper and flash bombs. She took photos and they will go right in her baby book next to the pictures of first steps. There is still a spot in there for her first arrest report.

Jen

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

As most of you have heard, this past Friday night, following the televised NCAA Division I Football Finals, students surged into the Southwest residential area of campus and engaged in extreme uncivil behavior, resulting in damage to property and injury to members of the police force. At the end of this letter, you will find a link to the press release which was distributed related to this event.

While the majority of our students possess the maturity and academic focus appropriate – and required – for a successful career at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a cohort of approximately 200 students actively engaged in the violence and destruction on December 15th. These students do not have a place on this campus.

I am writing to each of you today to assure you that those students who participated in this riotous behavior will be held accountable for their actions. Following due process, consequences may include loss of fall semester academic record; loss of the fall cost of attendance; permanent documentation of discharge in their file; and expulsion from the University. Where appropriate, students will also be charged with the full replacement cost for destruction of University property.

I am also writing to you, as I have in the past, to ask for your continued help in communicating with your son or daughter. Specifically, please emphasize to your student that while he or she may not have actively engaged in the violent and destructive behavior witnessed last Friday night, the additional presence of students as bystanders exacerbates the situation in two ways: 1) students who are participating in destructive behavior are fueled by the attention of student bystanders and 2) campus law enforcement attempts to apprehend the offenders and mitigate the duration and intensity of the behavior is stymied by the presence of hundreds of bystanders. I appreciate your partnership in discussing these points with your son or daughter.

Again, I write to you knowing that most of our students have been focused on finals and preparing for a well-earned winter break. I did, however, want to touch base with each of you and assure you that we will continue to address any instances of uncivil and destructive behavior swiftly and definitively.

Sincerely,

Michael Gargano, Ed.D.
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Life

Michael,

For the blog…

While Hilary remained unscathed, she did have her first experience with pepper and flash bombs. She took photos and they will go right in her baby book next to the pictures of first steps. There is still a spot in there for her first arrest report.

Jen

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

As most of you have heard, this past Friday night, following the televised NCAA Division I Football Finals, students surged into the Southwest residential area of campus and engaged in extreme uncivil behavior, resulting in damage to property and injury to members of the police force. At the end of this letter, you will find a link to the press release which was distributed related to this event.

While the majority of our students possess the maturity and academic focus appropriate – and required – for a successful career at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a cohort of approximately 200 students actively engaged in the violence and destruction on December 15th. These students do not have a place on this campus.

I am writing to each of you today to assure you that those students who participated in this riotous behavior will be held accountable for their actions. Following due process, consequences may include loss of fall semester academic record; loss of the fall cost of attendance; permanent documentation of discharge in their file; and expulsion from the University. Where appropriate, students will also be charged with the full replacement cost for destruction of University property.

I am also writing to you, as I have in the past, to ask for your continued help in communicating with your son or daughter. Specifically, please emphasize to your student that while he or she may not have actively engaged in the violent and destructive behavior witnessed last Friday night, the additional presence of students as bystanders exacerbates the situation in two ways: 1) students who are participating in destructive behavior are fueled by the attention of student bystanders and 2) campus law enforcement attempts to apprehend the offenders and mitigate the duration and intensity of the behavior is stymied by the presence of hundreds of bystanders. I appreciate your partnership in discussing these points with your son or daughter.

Again, I write to you knowing that most of our students have been focused on finals and preparing for a well-earned winter break. I did, however, want to touch base with each of you and assure you that we will continue to address any instances of uncivil and destructive behavior swiftly and definitively.

Sincerely,

Michael Gargano, Ed.D.
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Life

Debbie,

I’m almost but not quite done, and I won’t be finished until tomorrow.

Okay, here’s the Quicktime version.

Southwest is late – again – but this time hirsute Matthew arrives in a much better mood.