Stories

Sandbags hold back water at the entrance to the Aquarium MBTA station during the March 2 nor'easter. Photo by Robin Lubbock for WBUR

How The New England Aquarium Seeks To Urge Visitors To Act On Climate Change

April 3, 2018

The Aquarium MBTA station was closed due to flooding, and the aquarium itself, nearby on Boston’s Central Wharf, was closed out of caution for its visitors.

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Marivelisse Acosta is from San Juan, Puerto Rico. She's now studying communications at CCSU in New Britain, Connecticut. Photo by Ryan Caron King for Connecticut Public Radio

Displaced By The Storm, Puerto Rican Students Settle In At CCSU

March 22, 2018

It’s lunchtime at Central Connecticut State University and 10 students converge on their usual spot in the dining hall. They start talking about the food — and it becomes clear that they don’t love the rice. They explain that it’s not as seasoned as the homemade arroz in Puerto Rico.

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Connecticut Has Given Private Schools Over $3M In Public Cash For Security Upgrades

March 12, 2018

Connecticut has spent over $50 million helping schools beef up security since 2013. Some of that money — $3.2 million — has gone to private schools, which are reimbursed at a higher rate than many public schools.

 

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Tackling The N-Word On Campus, After Her Famous Father Used It On Stage

March 9, 2018

In early February, students at Princeton University protested when a professor used the N-word in a class about hate speech. He ended up canceling the course. It’s hardly the first time this epithet has sparked a debate over racial sensitivity and freedom of speech, including last semester at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.

 

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University of Vermont students walked out of class in February 2018, demanding the school do more to address racial justice and inequity on the Burlington campus. Photo by Liam Elder-Connors for VPR

New England Colleges Try A Not-So-Quick Fix To Stop Rash Of Hate Crimes

March 7, 2018

It seems every few weeks there is a hate crime reported on a college campus in New England. The groups that keep track of these kinds of incidents say there is, in fact, a marked increase in the number of racist slurs found scrawled on campus walls and an increase in white supremacist group activity.

 

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After Threat at One N.H. School, Anxiety Takes Toll on Students, Parents, and Teachers

February 26, 2018

After the latest mass shooting at a school in Florida, there’s one idea most policy makers seem to agree on: If you see something, say something. But as NHPR’s Jason Moon reports, school officials and parents in one New Hampshire town are finding that’s a lot more complicated than it might seem.

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Julia Wilcox and Claire Rouge tend to a fire they made during BOW's winter survival skills class. Photo by Annie Ropeik for NHPR

Life Lessons From New Hampshire’s All-Female Winter Wilderness Training

February 23, 2018

Women are one of the fastest-growing demographics for outdoor recreation in New Hampshire. The state Department of Fish & Game has encouraged that for more than 20 years with its“Becoming an Outdoors-Woman” program, or BOW. It helps the department make money and cut down on preventable rescues.

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Sandy Hook Memorial Commission Releases Semifinalist Designs

February 22, 2018

Newtown, Connecticut, has released the first proposals for an official memorial to the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

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#Relationships: Teaching Sex Ed To Students With Disabilities

February 22, 2018

The title for today’s lesson is written on the whiteboard of this Hartford classroom: #Relationships.

 

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With ‘Ask A Muslim Anything’ Events, N.H. Man Hopes To Tackle Misunderstandings Around His Faith

August 15, 2017

Many Muslim-Americans will tell you that this is a tough time for them. From the 9/11 attacks to President Trump’s proposed travel ban, Muslims in America feel besieged by discrimination and misunderstanding.

So Robert Azzi, a Lebanese-American Muslim who lives in Exeter, New Hampshire, is hoping to clear up some of that misunderstanding by encouraging dialogue with an invitation to “Ask a Muslim Anything.”

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