Spring 2015 at WCSUAlex Fogelberg, Senior Thesis

Table of Contents:

“The Merger Part I: A Program Worth Saving”……………………..……….……2

“The Merger Part II: Students Speak Up”…………………………………………4

“Stuck by the Pin”………………………………………………………..…..……9

“5 Survival Tips Every WCSU Commuter Student Should Know”………….......12

“Planetarium Show and Telescope Viewing at WCSU”…………………………15

“Fresh Check Day; Checking in on Western Students”………………………….18

“Comedy Hypnotist Eric Mina Leaves WCSU Wanting More”…………………20

“An Uncommon Bond Reveals the Healing Power of Forgiveness”………….....27

Writer’s Statement……………………………………………………..................39

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The Merger Part I: A Program Worth Saving

(24 March 2015) DANBURY, Conn. -- In the Fall 2014 semester, a plan was put in place to

merge Western Connecticut State University’s Department of Writing, Linguistics, and the

Creative Process with its English department.

Existing writing majors were assured that they would be grandfathered in in order to finish their

specialized professional writing degrees at Western, but that hardly satisfied them. The proposed

merger would eliminate some of the distinct professional writing degrees offered at the

university.

It would also result in the termination of all adjunct professors in the Writing department, among

which are professional journalists and public relations writers with valuable ongoing experience

and connections in a variety of fields.

Western’s writing department is unique in its independence from the English department. It is

focussed on the study of writing as a craft and a career. As stated in the department’s narrative

on Western’s website, “this philosophical and pedagogical approach has been highly successful,

as the dramatic increase in professional writing majors since 2001 attests.”

The program distinguishes itself from the Western’s English department, aiming to prepare its

students for careers in a variety of fields of professional writing. It offers Bachelor of Arts

degrees in professional writing with concentrations in business writing, creative writing,

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journalism and freelance writing, public relations writing, and general writing. It also offers

minors in journalism, broadcast journalism, and professional writing.

Another unique facet of Western’s writing department is the Master of Fine Arts in Professional

Writing, the first program of its kind. With an esteemed faculty of professionals in so many

fields of writing, the writing department provides a well-rounded program for aspiring writers.

The tight-knit network of writers in the department’s students and faculty is mutually beneficial,

where students have become as passionate about their professors as professors are about their

students. The department prides itself on being a community of writers, where faculty members

“see themselves as writers among writers,” as stated in the narrative.

It’s no wonder news of the proposed merger reached students so fast; writing professors refused

to keep their students in the dark about the future of their program. Though fighting the merger

could jeopardize their employment at Western, they knew over a hundred young writers who

were still free to speak up.

Once the students got ahold of the news, there was no stopping them. They grew determined to

save the unique department that drew many of them to Western in the first place.

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The Merger Part II: Students Speak Up

(24 March 2015) DANBURY, Conn. -- What began last semester in whispers from frustrated

writing department faculty to their students grew into a roar by February. Many had learned of a

change in store and were determined to stop it.

Western Connecticut State University’s Department of Writing, Linguistics, and the Creative

Process, the first of its kind among Connecticut state universities, was buzzing with the news that

it would soon be merging with the English department.

Professional writing majors feared for the future of their degrees and of their favorite professors

at Western. Even non-writing majors saw an issue with the merger. It was not long before

students began to speak up.

One of the sparks that started the wildfire of student response was a flier that appeared in

hallways and stairwells all over campus. Somebody had created a visual representation of the

merged departments, and it drew the attention of students and faculty.

The poster depicted the merger as a creature with the body of a dog and the head of a bird. The

bold blue caption warned, “this is what happens when the English and Writing majors merge.”

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“I was going to do a monster, but I thought it would be too dramatic,” says Carlos Jimenez, the

previously-anonymous artist behind the powerful poster.

Jimenez is a communications major at Western, which has apparently taught him a lot about the

power of publicity. Upon seeing the picture of what he calls the “dogbird” online, Jimenez was

reminded of the hot topic with many of his professors and peers; writing and English are very

different creatures.

“It’s like being a history major and being a political science major--they’re related, but I

wouldn’t mix the two,” said Jimenez.

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Though he is not in the writing program, Jimenez still viewed the impending merger as the kind

of issue that affected him and the entire university community.

In his opinion, while Western constantly encourages students to get involved and voice their

opinions about how the university could improve, the merger almost slipped through before

many students knew what was happening.

“They want this thing to happen but they’re not going to show it to us beforehand, you know?

What is it?” said Jimenez.

What he saw was an opportunity to increase transparency and invite conversation between

students and their university. This is what prompted him to create the simple but effective poster.

“The real reason I did it is because there was a lack of communication. Something was going on

that people didn’t want us to talk about. That bothered me more than the merger,” said Jimenez.

Next to the picture, Jimenez included a call to action that reads, “ask about the future of our

departments.” But it isn’t his contact information listed below.

Instead he chose to direct students to the woman in charge, boldly including the email, phone,

and fax numbers of Dr. Missy Alexander. Students quickly answered Jimenez’s call, facing their

concerns the best way they knew how; they started to write.

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Letters of support for the professional writing program flowed in, piling up on the desk of Dr.

Alexander. As Dean of the Macricostas School of Arts and Sciences, it was Alexander who

proposed the merger. She also had the sole power to stop it.

Between the dogbird poster and the article entitled “English and Writing Department to Merge?”

published in the Echo on March 9th, the attack on Dean Alexander’s proposal became publicly

visible and almost impossible to ignore. Dean Alexander, who continues to refuse to comment on

the merger, was apparently forced to reconsider.

On the morning of March 3, 131 writing majors and their professors received a long-awaited

email from Dr. Patrick Ryan, Chair of the Department of Writing, Linguistics, and the Creative

Process.

“RE: The merger of the Writing and English Departments is off,” read the subject line.

In the email, Dr. Ryan thanked his students on behalf of all the writing faculty for their support

during the negotiations, celebrating the survival of an independent Writing Department at

Western. Dr. Ryan expressed his pride in the program and the students that represented

Western’s Writing majors so well.

“You are the best students I’ve had the privilege to teach. You’re creative, personable, and

engaged in your writing. I’m fortunate to be completing my career with you,” wrote Dr. Ryan.

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So, for now, Western’s iconic Department of Writing Linguistics, and Creative Process lives on,

having proved itself worthy of independence. The department’s stated mission to “make

Westconn a community of writers” has been fulfilled. Its promise to produce students who

“demonstrate strong critical thinking skills through writing for a variety of audiences, purposes,

and situations” was tested, and it passed.

Western’s growing reputation as a center for access to the arts will continue to include the

literary arts. The university will proudly hold its position as the “writing university” within the

Connecticut State University system, thanks to its dedicated and passionate students and faculty.

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Stuck by the Pin

DANBURY, Conn. -- The Student Government Association of Western Connecticut State

University has designed a petition to improve the academic process for students. The petition’s

main focus is the registration pin required for students to enroll in classes.

“When [SGA Senate President] Emily Olownia came to office in January we started looking

into, as an SGA, how we can be more engaged with the university,” John Board said. Board is

an SGA Senator for the Macriostas School of Arts and Sciences and the Board of Regents

Representative.

A big issue they found was with the notorious registration pin, which forces students to clammer

for email responses and appointments with their advisors twice a year when it’s time to sign up

for the next semester’s classes.

“The pin is this annoying thing that everyone needs to get to registered for classes,” says Board.

The SGA Senate set out to make this “annoying thing” go away, and started writing out a

petition. The first key aspect of this petition is to get rid of the pin for sophomores, juniors, and

seniors.

However, SGA favors keeping the pin for freshmen to use as a first year experience tool. They

acknowledged the original point of the pin: it forces students to meet with their advisors.

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The pin can be helpful to integrate first year students into the university by familiarizing them

with their academic advisors. It prevents students from enrolling in classes without meeting with

their advisor, meaning that first year students learn right away where, what, and who their

advisor is.

For freshman, this meeting is important as it assures that somebody helps them through their first

schedule-making process at Western. For upperclassmen, many of which don’t even meet with

their advisors to get their pin, it simply wastes time.

“It has delayed my registration every single time and caused me to miss out on classes that I

wanted to take,” says Janis Hubina, a senior Communications major at Western.

The second goal of the petition is to make class schedules available a year in advance so that

students can plan ahead academically. This would allow students to make a plan based on their

degree requirements to take the right classes in the right semesters and graduate on time.

The petition also encourages more transparency in the system, allowing students to have more

access to information. According to Board, students need to know more about their degree

program in order to plan for on-time completion of a four-year degree.

“A lot of students are taking five, six, seven years to graduate, transferring to other schools, or

not graduating,” says Board.

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This is why it is Board’s number one goal as Representative to the Student Advisory Committee

at the Connecticut Board of Regents for Higher Education to get additional funding for advisors.

Increased funding would allow universities to hire full-time advisors who are not advising

around busy teaching schedules. These advisors would be more available and able to focus on

getting students through their degree programs.

“All over the CSU system, this is a huge problem that we’re having,” says Board.

Increased funding for academic advisors is the fourth vital component of the petition. Copies of

the petition are available for students to pick up and sign in the Midtown Student Center, room

215.

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5 Survival Tips Every WCSU Commuter Student Should Know

1. Heed the Weather.

Living even a few miles away from school can make things difficult in Connecticut.

Some days you won’t make it out of the driveway or off the highway before class ends. Your

professors understand. Email them explaining what’s happening and leave way earlier next time

your car is buried in the snow. Then text your class friend and find out that almost nobody

showed up to class anyway, so you can relax.

Some days you’ll get to school alright, but you still have to tackle the treacherous walk to

class. Keep some waterproof boots in your car, as well as extra layers at all times. An extra pair

of pants is also important for all seasons, just in case you underestimate the muddy puddles or

desperately try to cut through the grass and don’t make it.

And on the coldest day of February, when you think walking to class might just make

you cry, go anyway. During the terrible walk, think of the warmest day in April, which will

eventually come, no matter how hopeless it seems, when you’ll be so swamped with work you

need to finish before finals and you just want to sit in the sun and get it done. You’ll be kicking

yourself on that day if you have to go to class because you skipped too many times in the

beginning of the semester.

2. Don’t stop for coffee.

If you think you have time to stop for coffee, you’re probably wrong. Even if the whole

way here all you can think is “I don’t think I can do this without my coffee,” don’t stop your car

until you’re all the way at school. The coffee in the student center is just as good and half as

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expensive. Plus, you won’t feel bad walking into class with a hot coffee and a snack in your

hands if you’re on time.

3. Find a parking space.

You could get ready and leave your house in perfect time, get on and off of I-84 without

hitting any traffic, arrive at the parking garage five minutes before your class, and still be late.

Your perfect timing is the same as everyone else’s, and you will end up following them in circles

around the parking garage looking for a spot.

Try to arrive right before the crowd, even if it means you have to brush your teeth or

finish your makeup in your parked car. On the days you do miraculously park your car 10

minutes early with your morning routine already finished, reward yourself with a snack from the

student center on your way to class.

For the days you just can’t pull it together, keep some quarters in your cupholder so you

can park at the meters on the street rather than wasting your time in the garage.

4. Get out of the car.

You did everything you could and you still didn’t make it. Your class started almost 10

minutes ago and you’re wondering if there’s even a point. Go to class.

You won’t be the only one walking in late, especially if you’re late because of traffic.

Your professor might give you a look and you might not get the seat you wanted, but showing up

always feels better than turning around and going home. You won’t regret it.

5. Make a friend.

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If you show up just in time for class every day and then leave right when it’s over, you

might not talk to many other students while you’re at school. You probably hang out with friends

at home so you don’t really mind not having friends in class with you. You may not think so, but

you could use a Western friend.

Having a Western friend that you can text or Facebook message when you miss class or

when you’re going to be late will eliminate a lot of the unneeded anxiety that comes along with

being an overly-independent commuter student. If you’re lucky, that person is in the same major

as you and will be in most of your classes, so you don’t have to make a whole bunch of friends if

you really don’t want to.

Find at least one person who can tell you what you missed in class and answer your late-

night homework questions. Even if all they say is “yeah, I didn’t get it either,” or “I’m late too,”

you’ll feel better knowing that you’re not alone.

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Planetarium Show and Telescope Viewing at WCSU

DANBURY, Conn. -- Western Connecticut State University’s Earth and planetary sciences

program will be sponsoring a planetarium show at 7:30 p.m. followed by a telescope viewing of

late spring sky objects from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 9.

As always, the event is free and open to the public. It will be held in the Westside campus

Observatory Planetarium, located on the hill between the campus and Pinney Hall dormitory.

The planetarium is a circular room with a domed ceiling. The audience is seated around the large

wooden pillar that holds up the star projector. The observatory’s model A3P star projector

contains a 500-watt light bulb that turns the white dome ceiling into a clear and geometrically

accurate night sky when the show begins.

Dr. Dennis Dawson, graduate coordinator of the Earth and planetary studies program and an

astronomy professor at Western, guides the show, which simulates the exact view one would

have of the sky from outside the planetarium if there was no light pollution. Dawson’s show

starts with the view of the sky at twilight and moves through the night all the way to sunrise.

Along the way, Dawson uses his arrow-shaped laser pointer to point out all the constellations and

planets that the group could expect to see in one night at that particular time of year. Of course,

his passion for astronomy means he can and does explain the story behind each constellation and

the origin of its name.

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While he brings the lights back up and allows everyone’s eyes to adjust, Dawson invites guests

to ask any and all space-related questions, answering each one thoroughly and enthusiastically.

After the planetarium show, guests move to the second dome-shaped room for the opportunity to

view the real stars, planets, and moons through the Observatory Planetarium’s 20-inch telescope.

At the most recent show on April 25, parents and children of all ages, as well as a handful of

Western students, filled the observatory for the planetarium show, and even more showed up to

participate in the telescope viewing afterwards. The group was lucky to have great weather that

night, which allowed for a clear view of Jupiter and the first-quarter moon, as well as some other

spring sky objects.

Observatory events are recommended for adults and older children. As Dawson often

demonstrates, the planetarium’s round shape is ideal for sound projection, so the audience must

be quiet. For this reason, the shows are not recommended for infants and toddlers.

It is recommended that guests arrive early for the events, as seating in the planetarium is limited.

While waiting, guests are encouraged to play with the hyperbolic wishing well in the

observatory’s lobby where guests can watch different-sized spare change race to the bottom of

the funnel. Dawson refers to the wishing well as the planetary studies program’s “piggy bank,”

as the program is dependent on the generosity of the public for funding.

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Western’s Observatory Planetarium is a feature of the university’s Earth and planetary studies

program, which offers a Master of Arts in Earth and planetary studies. This is one of five Master

of Arts programs offered at Western.

Some students of the Earth and planetary studies master’s program go on to careers in

meteorology, astronomy, oceanography, or geology in private or government sectors. Others

enter careers in secondary education or continue their studies to pursue a Ph.D. in atmospheric

science, astronomy, oceanography, or geology.

The planetarium shows and telescope viewings are held every semester, including summer. All

Observatory Planetarium events are contingent on clear skies and safe roads. Telescope viewings

cannot be held in cloudy or precipitating weather (planetarium shows may still be held).

For scheduling or other information, call (203)-837-8672 or go to www.wcsu.edu/starwatch.

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Fresh-Check Day; Checking in on Western Students

DANBURY, Conn. -- Western Connecticut State University will be hosting Fresh-Check Day on

Tuesday, April 21 from 12 to 3 p.m. on the Fairfield Hall Lawn on the Midtown campus as a

reminder that the university cares about its students and their well-being.

Fresh-Check Day is the signature program of the Jordan Porco Foundation (JPF). The event aims

to bring awareness of mental health resources and coping strategies to college campuses. It

features interactive expo booths, free food, entertainment, prizes, and giveaways.

There will be several booths with interactive activities that focus on subjects such as mental

health issues and stigma, positive coping and life skills, high risk populations, and suicide

prevention. The booths will be student-run.

The event intends to give students the opportunity to relax and enjoy some free music, food, and

fun while they learn about how programs at Western can provide students support when they are

feeling overwhelmed by the stress of college. This is especially important this time of the year,

when most students are pushing to complete final projects and study for final exams.

This is in response to the fact that one in ten students contemplates suicide. Through the games

and activities, students are encouraged to engage in conversations about mental health. The

program teaches students about mental health and suicide, especially the misconceptions that

often prevent individuals from seeking help.

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It also seeks to empower peers to help each other by understanding warning signs of suicide or

other mental health concerns and knowing how to respond.

Schools that host the JFP’s Fresh-Check Day work closely with the organization to plan and fund

the event in an effort to engage the entire campus community, reminding students that mental

health is just as important as physical health when it comes to academic success.

In case of rain, the event will be held in the Midtown Student Center. If you are interested in

volunteering, contact Clare Gelissen, Western’s Substance Abuse and Prevention Program

counselor, at gelissenc@wcsu.edu.

For more information about the event, call (860)-904-6041 or go to www.freshcheckday.com.

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Comedy Hypnotist Eric Mina Leaves WCSU Wanting More

DANBURY, Conn. -- On Thursday, April 23, the Ives Concert Hall on Western Connecticut

State University’s Midtown Campus filled with students eager to witness hilarious hypnotist,

Eric Mina’s annual performance. This year’s show was entitled, “I Dare You to Dream.”

The concert hall buzzed as the audience waited for the show to start. Many of the students in the

crowd were eager to volunteer to have their minds controlled by the notorious hypnotist. Others

went simply to sit back and laugh as their friends made fools of themselves on stage.

Scattered among the fools and their friends were skeptics, many of whom were likely dragged to

the event by the believers who insisted that Mina’s show would change their minds.

“In all honesty, I really hope this sucks,” said Sean Wiedl, one of the aforementioned skeptics

whose unnamed girlfriend brought him to the event so she could write an article on it.

Having never seen the performance before, I reserved my judgements and attempted to remain

an impartial witness. I planned to confront the volunteers after the show and uncover the truth.

Although, in all honesty, I wasn’t sure what I wanted the truth to be.

Did I want to find out if there really was a way to control somebody’s thoughts? I wasn’t sure.

Finally, the man of the hour jumped on stage.

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“God, I missed this place,” said Mina.

The crowd, a third of whom had raised their hands to indicate that they attended Mina’s show

last year, cheered enthusiastically.

Mina started by explaining that his performance was not magic, but science. A certified

hypnotherapist with a B.A. in Psychology from Penn State University, he claims to have

mastered the power of suggestion. Everybody in the audience was suggestible, he said.

“Your imagination controls your body,” said Mina.

He then illustrated this by asking everyone in the audience to stick out their left foot and move it

in a clockwise circle, then draw the number six in the air with their fingers. This proved to be

much more difficult than it sounded. I suggest you try it. Isn’t it incredible how much your

imagination impacts your ability to control your physical actions?

Mina stood in the center of the stage in front of two rows of empty chairs. When he invited

volunteers to the stage, the 22 seats were full in a matter of seconds. He told the participants the

rules: they couldn’t have injuries or severe asthma, they couldn’t be pregnant, and they had to be

“the fun people.”

Mina had his subjects close their eyes and strange trance music started to play, as he guided them

through a full body relaxation, moving from the muscles on the bottoms of their feet to their

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temples. He walked around the stage, observing his subjects one by one and slowly repeating the

phrase “warm and heavy.” The audience watched as the participants appeared to melt into their

seats, becoming less and less aware.

Every once in a while, he stopped in front of somebody who was either not relaxed enough or so

relaxed that they fell asleep. He tested them by snapping next to their ears and nudging their

shoulders. If they were not ideal candidates for hypnosis, he quietly told them to leave the stage.

After a few minutes, he had narrowed down his subjects to the 15 most controllable people in the

room and was ready for the fun to begin. Mina’s first instruction was that every time he said

“sleep,” they would return to the state they were in; their eyes closed and bodies in limp piles in

their chairs.

He told them to clasp their hands straight out in front of them. Then Mina informed them that

their hands were superglued together, and the harder they tried to pull them apart, the more they

would squeeze together. The audience watched the victims struggle against the imaginary glue,

their faces twisting up to express their hopeless frustration.

“Sleep,” said Mina.

Suddenly all of their hands fell apart, arms going limp and falling to their sides and heads

flopping forward. A few participants fell in piles together with the students sitting next to them,

arms and heads on each other’s shoulders and laps.

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Then Mina told the group that they were an imaginary orchestra and that when they woke up, the

curtains would be opening and they should start playing their imaginary instruments

immediately. When he gave the word, the imaginary orchestra--complete with a clarinet, a flute,

a trombone, a few violins, and even a triangle--began their passionate performance.

At Mina’s command, the orchestra transformed into a rock band, many of the musicians

becoming electric guitarists and drummers. The triangle player naturally chose the tambourine.

Mina then involved the audience, telling his band to play harder the louder the crowd cheered.

One rock star did a head-banging, foot-stomping dance as she played the most intense air guitar

solo the audience had ever seen. She really seemed to believe that she was somewhere other than

Western, and didn’t even face the crowd.

The zombie-like hypnosis victims obeyed as Mina instructed them to play their instruments

upside-down, then with their feet, then with their rear-ends. By this time, many of them had left

their seats to perform their talents and when Mina said, “sleep,” they collapsed all over the stage.

Mina went on to turn the stage into a sweltering desert, and his subjects started fanning

themselves and removing sweatshirts to cool off. Then suddenly, he dropped the temperature to

20 degrees and everyone put their clothes back and huddled for heat, one participant even

wrapping herself in the theater curtain to warm up.

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When Mina set the weather straight on the stage, he asked the huddled groups if they even knew

each other. Some looked at the people next to them, confused, while others stared at Mina,

shaking their heads slowly.

Mina then began putting the students back to sleep one at a time, using what he called

“hypnodust.” He extended his empty hand towards each person, opened up his fingers, and blew

the imaginary dust into their face. They immediately went limp, as before.

He even gave a handful of the hypnodust to one of the participants, who then put two others to

sleep before Mina instructed him to throw it in his own face. He immediately fell asleep as well.

Over the course of the rest of the show, Mina apparently managed to convince his subjects that

he was blue, that he was naked, and even that he was a gorgeous (also naked) woman. He made

them see a black mamba snake where there was really just a black leather belt.

Through Mina’s power of suggestion, the volunteers became models, cheerleaders, cats, dogs,

and the judges of “America’s Got Talent.” As the number of participants dwindled, Mina

sending those who became too aware back to their seats occasionally throughout the show, the

skeptics became convinced that those remaining were just playing along.

However, nobody got the satisfaction of saying “I told you so” on their way out of the show.

About an hour in, just as Mina was about to showcase a new act involving a rubik’s cube, the fire

alarms in White Hall sounded.

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“Is this part of the act? Should we leave?” asked confused members of the audience.

Mina assured the crowd that the alarm was unplanned and urged everyone to safely make their

way out of the building. But first, he called all the participants back to the stage, apparently to

un-hypnotize them.

“Everyone else go ahead. I have some business to take care of first,” said Mina, turning to face

the group of volunteers.

The sound of friends arguing over the possibility of such total mind control was heard all the

way back to the parking garage and, I’m sure, all the way home. Everyone was left with

unanswered questions.

If this type of hypnosis is possible, isn’t it strange that Mina uses it for entertainment purposes

when he could be saving the world? Is this the power one learns in an undergraduate psychology

program? Does mind control count as a biological weapon?

It seems the believers will just have to drag their pessimistic friends back to Mina’s show next

Spring if they ever hope to prove their point. I, for one, choose to believe and will be back next

year to figure out why.

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For now, everything I saw lead me to believe Mina really did it. I saw people who avoid eye

contact in the hallway pretend to be sexy kittens on stage. I have a hard time believing that there

are 22 students at Western that would volunteer to consciously embarrass themselves the way

Mina’s victims did. They must have been in a trance.

“Well, there are a lot of performing arts majors here, you know,” said Wiedl.

True, but, in case of a possible fire, wouldn’t they all have dropped the act?

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An Uncommon Bond Reveals the Healing Power of Forgiveness

DANBURY, Conn. -- On the evening of Wednesday, April 22, students, faculty, and members of

the public gathered in the Campus Center Ballroom on Western Connecticut State University’s

Westside Campus to hear a talk entitled, “Restorative Justice: Healing for both Victim and

Offender.”

Dr. George Kain and Professor Marilyn Kain, of the Justice and Law Administration Division,

welcome Reverand Walter Everett and Mike Carlucci to Western every April to speak with JLA

majors and other interested members of the community. The story of their unique relationship

began almost 30 years ago.

On the morning of July 26, 1987, Everett got a call from his son, Wayne, saying that his other

son and Wayne’s brother, Scott, had been murdered the night before. Scott, who was 24 at the

time, was the oldest of Everett’s three children.

At the time, Everett was a pastor at a church in Virginia. His church group immediately put him

on a plane back to New York to be with his family. The Everetts spent that night planning

Scott’s funeral.

The next morning, Everett and his brother went to the apartment complex where Scott had lived

and where the murder took place to find out what the other residents had seen. When Everett

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asked his son’s neighbors if they had told the police what they told him, they said the police had

not asked.

Everett and his brother brought the information they had gathered to the police station in

Bridgeport. The two detectives assigned to the case were reluctant to speak with them, and said

that what Everett was doing was unnecessary, since they had already made an arrest. When

Everett insisted that they should try to build as tight a case as possible, the detectives argued that

there had been four homicides that weekend, and they were burnt out.

“I said ‘one of them was my son. His name is Scott Everett. He’s not simply one, two, three, or

four.’ I stormed out of there angry at the police,” said Everett.

Two days later, the Everett family had a funeral for Scott.

Soon after, Everett started trying to find support to try to deal with his grief and was directed to a

group for family members of murder victims. He recalls a woman at his first meeting who said to

the group that she thought anybody who committed murder deserved to die.

“I understood her anger, but then I found out that her son had been killed 14 years earlier and she

was still living with that rage,” said Everett.

Everett has never been a proponent of the death penalty. In fact, he now works with Dr. George

Kain, Corrections and Offender Rehabilitation Concentration Coordinator in the JLA Division of

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Western’s Ancell School of Business, to do away with that sentence. They successfully

abolished the death penalty in the state of Connecticut in 2012.

“There are too many things wrong with it, including the fact that people change,” said Everett, “I

believe that if we execute somebody, for instance, we may be executing a different person from

the person who committed the act.”

The anger Everett felt was impacting his relationships and his ability to do his work as a

Reverend, but he continued to attend meetings and pray that God would give him an answer.

A few months later, the state attorney called Everett in and told him that they had come to a plea

bargain. The offender, Mike Carlucci, had been charged with first-degree murder and they were

reducing it to second-degree manslaughter. He would plead guilty and accept a sentence of 10

years in prison, suspended after five.

“I almost flew out of my chair. I wanted to throttle him,” said Everett.

He was told that, as a bystander, he had no say in the matter. The state was the injured party and

besides, they didn’t have as tight a case as they would have liked. He thought back to the

detectives who dismissed his efforts to gather more details about the murder.

“I walked out of there angry at the prosecutor, angry at a state that allowed for a plea bargain,”

said Everett.

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But two months later, at the sentencing of the offender, Everett received the answer he had been

praying for.

The judge opened by asking if the offender had anything to say to the victim’s family. Everett

still remembers every word Carlucci said.

“Against his lawyer’s advice, he stood and said, ‘I’m sorry I killed Scott Everett. I wish I could

bring him back. Obviously I can’t. These must sound like empty words to the Everetts, but I

don’t know what else to say. I’m sorry,’” said Everett.

“At that point, I felt a nudge from God,” he said.

Feeling as though God wanted him to respond to the apology, Everett eventually decided that he

would write his son’s murderer a letter. He committed to picking a certain day and time when he

would sit down and write the letter.

As many in the audience then guessed, Everett chose the anniversary of his son’s death, three

and a half weeks after Carlucci’s sentencing. At 8 a.m., precisely the time he had received the

phone call telling him of his son’s death, Everett sat down and wrote the letter that would turn

both his and Carlucci’s lives around.

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He wrote about his anger and what he’d gone through in the year since his son’s death. He told

Carlucci how it was hurting his family and his work, and then went on to respond to what

Carlucci had said at his sentencing.

“I told him something of God’s love and forgiveness, and then I said ‘if you want to write back,

I’ll welcome your letter. If you don’t want to write back, I’ll understand that, too,’” said Everett.

Until this point, Carlucci had been sitting next to Everett at the front of the ballroom with his

hands folded over his chest, listening. Everett handed him the microphone.

“I come here because I’m not the same person I used to be. I’ll tell you a little bit about myself,”

said Carlucci.

Growing up, he said, he didn’t have much supervision. His mother left when he was an infant

and he was raised by his physically abusive father and, for a few years, his strict Italian

grandmother. He didn’t learn until late in life how to make or be a friend.

“I would beat you down bad enough to make you scared of me so you would be my friend. You

would rather be my friend than my enemy. Or, I’d buy your friendship with drugs,” said

Carlucci.

Carlucci doesn’t blame his upbringing for the mistakes he made. He has two sisters and a

brother, none of whom have ever been arrested.

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“They lived a normal life; I could have lived a normal life. I don’t blame nobody but myself,”

said Carlucci.

He says that he always considered himself a “tough guy,” and gladly did whatever needed to be

done in the neighborhood in order to hang out with the older kids. For years, he was a drug user

and a drug dealer, and he was in and out of jail a number of times.

“Everybody I was hanging out with was already locked up so when I got there, it was like a

home for me. Everything I needed was there,” said Carlucci.

In 1980, he was doing time in Bridgeport and he started going to Narcotics Anonymous

meetings. Having been surrounded by drug addicts his whole life, Carlucci refused to believe

that he had a problem. Now quite a sizeable figure, Carlucci noted that he weighed barely 155

pounds at the time, as a result of his addiction.

“I was the last person to know that I was sick,” said Carlucci.

He said that to him, stealing and doing drugs seemed normal. It was the only way of life he

knew. He attended every NA meeting, refusing to participate in readings or discussions, for the

sole purpose of getting a cup of coffee and a cigarette afterwards.

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“Everything that I learned at these meetings, I’d throw in the garbage on my way out the door. . .

I went on to suffer for another seven years and ended up taking somebody’s life,” said Carlucci.

The night he killed Scott Everett, Carlucci had already been awake for days, but took his cousin

from New York out as a favor to his father. Carlucci and a friend picked her up and went out

drinking, Carlucci selling drugs at the bar while his friend and cousin danced. Before heading to

New York, they stopped at Carlucci’s Bridgeport apartment so he could change and pick up

more drugs.

While inside his apartment, Carlucci heard a disturbance in the hallway and went outside. He

saw a man he didn’t recognize running up the stairs. He had no idea that the man lived down the

hall in the same building. The intruder was Scott Everett.

They got in an argument, and Carlucci took out his gun and put it up to Scott Everett’s head,

attempting to scare him away.

“I always knew I was capable of hurting somebody. I never thought I was capable of killing

somebody,” said Carlucci.

“I thought ‘if I pull this trigger, he’s gonna die and I’m gonna go to jail for the rest of my life.’

See, at that point, my life was so bad that I pulled the trigger,” he said.

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He went back inside his apartment and unloaded the rest of the bullets before calling 9-1-1 to say

he had killed Scott Everett.

Carlucci went back to prison. At the suggestion of a friend, he started going to NA meetings

again for coffee and cigarettes. Eventually, he was told he had to have one-on-one sessions with

a counselor if he wanted to keep attending meetings, and he agreed.

Not long after he met his counselor, he received the letter from Walter Everett. He brought it to

his counselor, enraged that Everett was contacting him.

“Remember how I said I was a tough guy? I was scared to read that letter. I was scared to hear

what somebody had to say about me,” said Carlucci.

He asked his counselor to read the letter first. As he watched his counselor reach the bottom of

the page, flip the paper over, and start to cry, Carlucci realized he needed to read it himself.

He read about where Everett was when he found out his son had been murdered. He read about

how Everett felt about the death of his son, what it did to his family and his ability to function.

“Then I get to the bottom of the page and it says, ‘as hard as these words are to write--I flipped it

over--I forgive you.’ It blew me away. Nobody in my life ever told me it was going to be okay.

Nobody in my life ever told me that they forgave me. I didn’t know what to do with that, and I

started crying like a little baby,” said Carlucci.

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Carlucci asked what he should do and his counselor suggested he ask God for forgiveness. Late

that night, alone in his cell, he knelt by his bunk and prayed for the first time.

“I heard this little quiet voice say, ‘if you like your life now,’ and I dove into bed. There was

nobody in that room but me. I do what I do today because I want to hear the end of that

sentence,” said Carlucci.

After his spiritual awakening, Carlucci was determined to learn about himself so he could make a

change. The next NA meeting he went to, he participated in the conversation for the first time.

He told the group that he wanted to write back to Everett, but could barely read or write and was

afraid to make a fool of himself. After the meeting, a group member approached him and offered

to write the letter for him.

Everett and Carlucci continued writing to each other, Carlucci eventually writing the letters on

his own. One day, he asked if Everett would visit him. Everett got permission to visit and came

to the prison a few months later.

According to Everett, the first time they spoke in person was uncomfortable initially. Not

knowing what to say, he broke the ice by commenting on Carlucci’s weight gain since the

sentencing.

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But by the end of the hour-long visit, Everett and Carlucci had begun to develop their unique

bond. As they said goodbye, they began to shake hands, then instinctively embraced.

“Any major traumatic event that brings two lives together, you can’t just walk away with a

handshake,” said Everett.

After that, they spoke twice a week. Carlucci recalled a time when he called Everett to ask if he

would send him a bible for a bible study he was joining. After attending a few bible study

classes, Carlucci realized it wasn’t what he needed, and the negativity of the other inmates in the

group was bringing him down.

When he called Everett a second time to tell him he was going to stop attending bible study,

Carlucci expected it to be the end of their friendship. According to Carlucci, Everett’s response

was his first lesson in unconditional love.

“His response to me was, ‘Mike, do whatever gets you closer to God.’ He didn’t judge me. . . He

accepted what I had told him and told me he loved me anyway,” said Carlucci.

When Carlucci became eligible for parole, he called Everett to ask what he thought. Everett

replied that Carlucci was no longer the man who killed his son, and that he should go home.

Everett continued to support Carlucci after he left prison for the last time. He even loaned

Carlucci a suit to wear to his father’s funeral.

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“We have this bond, and it’s like no bond that I could ever think about. We have a friendship. I’ll

say this correctly; Walt helped save my life,” said Carlucci.

Their story began to appear in newspapers around the world, and they received a number of

phone calls from talk shows wanting to interview them.

Everett went on to officiate Carlucci’s first and second marriages, and their families are very

close. Everett’s wife, Nancy, and Carlucci’s daughter, Colleen sat in the front row of the

audience. Carlucci is now a maintenance supervisor, a husband, and a father.

“The point is, I have a life that’s worth living today. I have a lot of beautiful things in my life,”

said Carlucci.

Carlucci reached out to every person in the audience at Western--the students, faculty, and

members of the community--urging them to ask Professor Kain for Carlucci’s phone number if

they needed help.

“If you’re having a problem with drugs or alcohol, I’m not the cure-all, but I have two ears and I

could listen to you, just like somebody did to me,” said Carlucci.

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The personal growth of Carlucci and Everett is a valuable testament to the importance of

forgiveness for both victims and offenders. Everett insists that he is no saint; he forgave Carlucci

in an effort to heal himself.

“I can never forget what happened to Scott. It forever changed my life. When I look at Mike, I

don’t see someone who harmed Scott. I see somebody whose life has been changed by God, and

I celebrate that,” said Everett.

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Writer’s Statement

Deciding I wanted to be a writer, or rather, realizing that I was a writer, wasn’t exactly

an event for me. It was more like a slow roll from the peak of undecidedness to the valley I

somewhat reluctantly settled in.

I have always loved to write, but I have always loved a lot of things. So for a long time, I

denied that my future career would be the thing I’d been doing all along. When I finally accepted

the fact that I am, above all things, a writer, I was scared.

When I started college at Northeastern University in Boston, I was sure I would be a

psychologist. The human brain fascinated me. I wanted nothing more than to learn how it

worked and become a master of solving psychological mysteries. I felt I had a knack for

understanding people--who they were, how they worked. I was right, I did. I still do.

The thing that never sat right with me was the math. I rejected the straightness of it all;

the graphs and charts, the diagnosing and categorizing. It discouraged me. I felt the wonder

disappearing from the psychological world that once thrilled me, like I was learning a magician’s

secrets. I poured over case studies about patients with multiple personalities and voices in their

heads, ignoring the sections that defined and plotted them on a graph. Where I was supposed to

see a problem, I saw a character. The reports read like poetry, and inspired night after night of

sleeplessness, during which stories, songs, and poems flowed out of me. Then the lectures and

practice brought me back to reality.

I stopped going to school. Most days I would get on the T to go to class but I couldn’t

make myself get off at my stop. I’d ride it back and forth for hours, just watching students and

workers and tourists get on and get off. I filled notebooks with them. I loved all of Boston’s

assorted strangers.

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As for friends, I didn’t have many. I felt disconnected from my peers. They all had

ambitions to be and do great things, and I had no ambitions to be anything at all.

There was something wrong with me. I started seeing a therapist on campus. I was

diagnosed a few times; bipolar, manic depression, ADHD. It’s surprising how many thoughts

become symptoms when you say them the right way. The treatments numbed me, and I spent my

days roaming around Northeastern’s campus or the city streets. I didn’t write or read anything for

months.

When my freshman year ended, I came home to Sandy Hook for the summer, destroyed. I

felt like a fool having wasted a year on what I thought was my passion, only to end up back

where I started. My mother noticed I was, for the first time in my life, truly unhappy, and was

afraid to send me back to Boston. I didn’t fight it. I got better, though I’m not sure I was ever

really ill, nursed back from numbness by my family and my baby grand piano.

I started school again at WCSU in the fall. I was comforted by the fact that I no longer

had tens of thousands of dollars a year pushing me to make a decision about my future. I entered

the university undecided and eventually resolved to try for a nursing degree.

I was always interested in medicine and in helping people. I also thought that job security

would ease my anxiety and was interested in the flexibility of a nurse’s schedule. I figured that

many nurses are working mothers, and since I didn’t want kids, I would have time for other

things. My babies could be my songs and poems and books. I was smart and sympathetic and not

too squeamish; I could have made a great nurse.

I continued working my way through the general education requirements, taking art and

writing courses where I could. At this point, I still believed writing and music were just my

hobbies. I was so blessed to have encountered the professors that I did in my first year at

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Western. The small classes and the comfort of being home opened me back up and the color

returned to my life. I started writing again, piecing together lines and ideas that I read and heard

at school into poems. I drifted away from diagnoses and towards inspiration, remembering what

parts of me were still alive and well, though the psychologist in me had died.

If I had to choose one moment that decided my path, I would say it happened in Dr.

Ingrid Pruss’ Introduction to Poetry class. Dr. Pruss is one of the most inspiring and unusual

people I have ever met. She can also be a little scary.

One day in Dr. Pruss’ class, we were watching a video, the subject of which I can’t

remember now, and she caught me writing something down. Our eyes met and I put my pencil

down. We weren’t supposed to be writing, just watching, but I had thought of something that I

wanted to remember. When class ended, she asked to speak with me. I immediately began to

apologize, saying that I wasn’t working on other assignments but I was sorry, I should have been

listening.

She told me to stop. She said she knew what I was doing, she watched me do it every

class. She said she knew I couldn’t stand to let words get away. She said, “do you know that

you’re a writer?”

It wasn’t until that moment that I realized it was unique, the way I always kept a separate

paper underneath the one I was using for class notes, in case the professor said something

inspiring, or in case something inspiring happened in the hallway or in my head. Dr. Pruss saw

that I was, in any environment I was placed in, a collector of experiences. It clicked. And though

the weight of knowing I was likely destined to struggle financially for the rest of my life was

permanently placed on my shoulders, I felt so relieved. The mess of notebooks and loose scraps

that cluttered my everyday life were finally valid.

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I realized that the reason I could never decide what I wanted to do with my life is that I

was interested in almost everything. As a writer, I am able to explore a wide variety of interests,

adding the knowledge I collect along the way to my library of potential subjects. I could never be

satisfied being anything else. I had landed on my final diagnosis; my name is Alex and I’m a

writer.

Once I committed to the writing program and started taking required courses, I knew I

was in the right place. Western’s Department of Writing, Linguistics, and Creative Process has

an unbelievable faculty of professors who are highly experienced professional writers in a

number of fields. Learning from them has allowed me to confidently picture a future where my

passion and my career can be one in the same. The Writing faculty is so dedicated to and

enthusiastic about the craft of writing and the future of the field. They truly create environment

within the program where young writers thrive with the support of a strong network of peers and

professors with similar goals. I certainly began thriving as soon as I became a part of it.

My passion grew with every class I took. Dr. Hagan’s infectious enthusiasm got me

excited about the literature I studied in his Craft of Writing classes. Dr. Ryan’s linguistics class

made me realize how truly nerdy I can be when it comes to words, that they were my building

blocks and I loved knowing exactly how to use them. Professor Bascom urged me never to stop

thinking of new things, and taught me that it’s never too late to throw out a bad idea. Finally, Dr.

Casey Rudkin showed me how to network and market myself and encouraged me to put my

work out there as soon and often as possible. Her Writing About Specialized Subjects and Thesis

classes forced me to combine everything I’ve learned into a skill set that I will turn into a career.

Not only was I inspired and encouraged by the professional writers who taught me in

class, but by the young, aspiring writers that surrounded me. The assortment of people who

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became my peers are all so unique, with such unique goals, yet we share a similar passion for

writing. We all think in words on paper. Many who started out as my classmates became my

friends, and our community of writers has become so important to me. They are the reason I go

to school every day. They are the ones I reach to in moments of panic or doubt, who remind me

that I want this more than anything.

The friendships I have made through the Professional Writing program at Western are

like none I’ve ever had before. I am as excited for their success as I am for my own, and

watching them grow fuels the furious pace I need to keep so I don’t lose them. I am a writer

among writers who I truly love.

Connecting with others who share my passion has been the most meaningful part of my

time at Western. We make each other and each other’s work stronger. We encourage and

criticize, help and celebrate one another. The most valuable thing I have learned in my college

career is that I am not alone.

One of the happiest moments of my college career happened late one night in the White

Hall computer lab. Jenita Richards, Kristopher Burke and I were working on a group project for

our Publication, Production & Design class. As we sat there, Jenita and I making suggestions

while Kristofer designed the logo of our hypothetical publication, Emily Carney burst through

the door. She excitedly dropped her things on a spinning chair and announced that her poetry

was going to be published. She had submitted some of her work to poetryfoundation.org and

they wanted it. They wanted her to fill out tax forms and write a short personal biography. They

wanted to pay her ten cents a word. We were all nearly as proud and overjoyed as she was. It

gave me such hope for poetry and for all of us. We were really doing it. I submitted some of my

own work the following week.

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When I graduate WCSU Class of 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing, I

plan to continue nannying for rent money while I build my portfolio of published writing. I

expect to struggle. I expect to suffer through times when I don’t love my work. But thanks to the

skills I’ve learned from my courses at Western, I’m confident that I can freelance my way into a

career as a professional writer. If someday I find myself still in Connecticut and financially

stable enough, I would love to return to Western for the Master of Fine Arts program.

I have to admit, I’m still not sure what kind of writer I am. I chose the

journalism/freelance concentration because to me, it sounded like the most practical path (as far

as a writing degree can be considered practical). I have always written creatively, so I feel it was

valuable for me to gain experience in journalism and public relations writing. My passion has

always been poetry, but now my craft is well-rounded. I can’t think of anything that I couldn’t

write if I put in enough time and effort, with the help and support of my WCSU writing family.

My education at Western has given me every tool I need to go out and find a way to live the

writing life, and I know that no matter where I end up in the future, it has been well worth it.

I was fortunate enough to have already been in the perfect place when I decided that I

wanted to write. Not only is Western the best place to explore different academic interests early

in the undergraduate process, but for me, it offered the exact program I was looking for when I

committed to my major. The Professional Writing program is so unique and I feel blessed that it

is offered by a school that I don’t have to leave home or gather major debt to go to.

This is a major reason I chose to explore issues surrounding Western, both its students

and faculty, from a journalistic point of view for my thesis project. I believe that Western is

highly underrated and widely thought of as a stepping stone or last resort by many students.

However, I have learned from experience that it can be the perfect place for many potential

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students if they take advantage of all that the university offers. I hope that my articles will give

the university a greater presence and more credibility in the local community and within the CSU

system. I aim to publish as many as possible in the Echo and other local newspapers to contribute

what I can to the school that has given me so much.

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