Accounting scandal colors career option

By Stephen Hochbrunn 0 Comments Dec 1, 2002

A recent New Yorker cartoon says it all: A woman looks longingly at a man sitting at a bar and tells her friend, “Being an accountant gives him that extra aura of danger.” Thanks to Enron, accountants have become more than stodgy number-crunchers. But for those who try to attract much-needed new blood to the(...)

Uncategorized

The CALL doesnt stop at job placement

By Robert Preer 0 Comments Dec 1, 2002

For many years, Jewish Vocational Service of Greater Boston was a small agency that helped Jewish immigrants find jobs. The organization was founded in 1938 to accommodate the influx of Jewish refugees from Eastern Europe. In 1981, it had about 10 employees and a budget of roughly $200,000. That was the year the agency hired(...)

Uncategorized

Contested legislative races

By CommonWealth Staff 0 Comments Dec 1, 2002

When they go to the polls this November, two-thirds of Massachusetts voters will see only one candidate for state representative on the ballot. Only South Carolina has less competition for seats in the lower legislativebody, the one designed to be closest to the people. Massachusetts also stands out in potential for a par-tisan reversal of(...)

Uncategorized

Adams wants more than mowed lawns at Greylock Glen

By Mary Carey 0 Comments Dec 1, 2002

ADAMS — Hard times and failed dreams aren’t new in the North Berkshire town of Adams. Since 1940, the picturesque hamlet has lost nearly one-third of its population as its paper and textile mills have moved out or closed, leaving Adams without an economic base. But the state government has tried to help the town(...)

Politics

Does it matter if the governors race severs our last bond with the GOP

By Michael Crowley 0 Comments Dec 1, 2002

When Massachusetts voters choose a governor on November 5, they’re more likely to be thinking about, say, tolls on the Turnpike than the balance of power in Washington, DC. But they might want to pause a moment to consider the question of party labels and power politics on the national level. After all, if Mitt(...)

Uncategorized

Dispelling the myths about Shays Rebellion

By Joseph J. Ellis 0 Comments Dec 1, 2002

Shays’s Rebellion: The American Revolution’s Final BattleBy Leonard R. RichardsUniversity of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 216 pages. Residents of western Massachusetts find it difficult to avoid regular encounters with the legacy of Daniel Shays. When I drive my youngest son to school, we cut diagonally across South Amherst on Shays Street. When I take visitors on(...)

Uncategorized

A botched experiment in this laboratory of democracy

By Robert Keough 0 Comments Dec 1, 2002

At this writing, the general election campaign for governor has just gotten underway, and it’s looking like a barn-burner. And with the first post-primary poll putting the race at a statistical tie, it’s going to be quite a sprint to the finish. But it’s not too early to be disappointed by the election of 2002,(...)

Uncategorized

Beacon ill

By Michael Jonas 0 Comments Dec 1, 2002

It’s a steamy afternoon in late July, and you might expect the temperature to be rising even higher beneath the golden dome of the Massachusetts State House. The state Senate is getting ready to vote on the biggest tax increase in state history, a $1.2 billion tax package designed to plug a gaping hole(...)

Uncategorized

Misdiagnosis

By David S. Bernstein 0 Comments Dec 1, 2002

Jennifer Stokes had a problem. Earlier in the day, a pediatrician outside Springfield called her child advocacy center about a 3-year-old girl in his office who had vaginal bruising and bleeding. The child’s caregivers claimed she fell on a piece of gym equipment; the girl said that wasn’t what happened, but would not say what(...)

Uncategorized

A top campaign stop in Codman Square

By Michael Jonas 0 Comments Dec 1, 2002

When gubernatorial candidate Steve Grossman needed a campaign backdrop to roll out his plan to save the state money on prescription drugs, the Codman Square Health Center seemed as logical a choice as any. That’s evidently what fellow Democrat Robert Reich figured as well when he announced his crime-fighting plan a few weeks later from(...)

Fall 2002