T-Shirt is No Sweat
Massachusetts
1st in Baseball
1st in Football
47th in Support of Public Higher Education(Article taken from the April 1, 2005, MSCA Perspective)
"It was a nice collaboration," said Derrick TePaske, chairperson of the Communication Arts Department at Framingham State College.
He was referring to a meeting of minds with colleagues Jennifer Dowling and Leslie Starobin about how to raise awareness of the state's paltry support for public higher education.
The result was a red-white-and-blue T-shirt bearing the message above on the front and a large 47 on the back. The initial order of T-shirts is currently in production and will be on sale through the MSCA Treasurer's office (see order form).
TePaske contributed the concept; Dowling designed the T-shirt; and Starobin connected them with a union shop that made good quality clothing, No Seat Apparel in Waltham. "This proves," TePaske said, "that a company can pay employees real wages and still make a go of it."
Dowling found getting the shape of Massachusetts into the T-shirt a challenge, but enjoyed working on it, especially choosing the type font and colors, which suggest a Boston sports motif.
Although they didn't realize it at the time, their T-shirts would coincide with the release of the Senate Task Force for Higher Education. In this report (see page 1 of the MSCA Perspective, April 2005), the Senate Task Force acknowledged the state's 47th ranking, and called for a dramatic infusion of state money to stabilize and strengthen the state's colleges and universities.