The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 24

B4 City Region The Boston Globe SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2004 City, Turnpike move on parkland foundation A s- Jc i 7 siw' the Central Artery, and one question now is what to do with it. JTL opened up with dismantling of The Central Park Conservancy, considered one of the most effective private groups in the country to manage and maintain a large park, formed over many years and assumed its responsibilities as city funding dwindled. Some questioned whether Boston and the Turnpike Authority could duplicate that success. Fred Kent, president of the Project for Public Spaces, a New York-based group that tracks innovations in maintaining public parks, said that the Central Park Conservancy was a special case. 'You've got the richest people in the world surrounding a park," Kent said.

"It's a very different situation in Boston, and there would be an enormous onus on The proposal also prompted a measured response from the Artery Business Committee, a downtown business group that favors putting a more traditional government entity in charge of the land. "We understand the conservancy is still a work in progress, and we appreciate the effort involved with determining the appropriate public custodian of these invaluable park spaces," said ABC president Rick Dimino. "It's our belief that in the end, whoever is given that responsibility will need to work with a nonprofit partner to realize the full potential of these spaces." US Representative Michael E. Capuano, while declining to comment specifically on the plan, said an independent entity that can Romney lauds pupils' MCAS push Finneran says he will support civil unions FINNERAN Continued from Page Bl create civil unions and gay marriage. The amendment Finneran co-sponsored with Senate President Robert E.

Travaglini reads, in part: "Civil unions for same sex couples are established hereunder and shall provide entirely the same benefits, protections, rights, and responsibilities that are afforded to couples married under Massachusetts law." Finneran, in his first in-depth interview since last week's constitutional convention, said he adopted his position after many colleagues questioned his truthfulness when he vowed to back a civil-unions bill this spring if the Legislature would support his own amendment to define marriage as a union of a man and woman. That measure, which Finneran sprang as a surprise in the opening moments of the constitutional convention, was defeated, 100-to-98. "The reason for the movement on my part to this now-pending compromise is in my original proposal I lost by two votes and there was some sentiment in the convention that they had heard positive talk before but they had seen no action," Finneran said. "And so I think it's probably incumbent not just on me but on anybody who's acting in good faith on this issue to demonstrate some action to back up the words." Backers of gay marriage fear that Finneran, while a sponsor of the measure with Travaglini, actually prefers a more conservative measure backed by Representative Paul Loscocco, Republican of Holliston, whose plan mirrors one Finneran initially wrote. Meanwhile, Roman Catholic officials, and other gay marriage opponents, have said they will not be able to support the amendment plan that Finneran says he will now champion.

Ronald A. Crews, spokesman for the Coalition for Marriage, which advocates banning gay marriage, said, "My problem all along with the Finneran-Travag-lini-Lees amendment is that it has two subjects, marriage and civil unions, and tries to define both, and I believe it would never pass through the electorate." Gay rights groups have also panned the measure, saying that it would "write discrimination into the constitution." Senator Steven A. Baddour, a Methuen Democrat, said that, although activists may not like the idea, "Everyone we talk to in our district wants a balance, and I think the compromise amendment does that." In the WB56 interview, Finneran said he met yesterday with Travaglini, who was reportedly furious with the speaker after he offered the surprise amendment after Travaglini, who as Senate president runs the convention, gave Finneran the floor only to make opening remarks. Asked if his relationship with Travaglini was threatened, Finneran said, "I dont think so. I met with the Senate president today at great length.

We talked about the two days at the convention. We talked about what lies ahead. We talked about our shared determination to work on the pending compromise amendment. I did express to him that there is a history with the constitutional convention." "It's so unusual that you have House members being presided over by the Senate, and the parliamentary maneuvering that has oc-cured in the past has sometimes shut down opportunities for House members to be heard," Finneran added. Finneran said he was still chafing at the memory of the 2002 constitutional convention, when then-Senate President Thomas F.

Birmingham and Senate minority leader Brian P. Lees, a Longmea-dow Republican, quickly adjourned debate, rather than take up a vote on a proposed amendment to ban gay marriage, civil unions, and, potentially, domestic-partner benefits. The speaker, a Mattapan Democrat, said he took responsibility for the unwelcome surprise maneuver, but said he only did it to make sure that his own plan was voted on. The Finneran interview can be seen in its entirety at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow on WB56-TV.

PARKS Continued from PageAl family may play a role in appointing members. The land is named the Rose Kennedy Greenway, in tribute to President Kennedy's late mother. "This is a collaborative effort working with the City of Boston to have an organization in place that can maintain and operate the park system," said Sean O'Neill, spokesman for Amorello. "It has to be finalized, but it is exciting that we are talking about the details of maintenance and operation." Speaking for the city, Susan K. Elsbree, spokeswoman for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, said: "We do not have an agreement on the conservancy.

We're still in discussions." The Menino administration is eager to have a plan in place for design and management of the milelong artery corridor, in part so it can be showcased during the Democratic National Convention in July. The Turnpike Authority, meanwhile, wants to establish its presence on the artery parks, in response to the Romney plan to eliminate the agency. Authority officials see oversight of the parks as a major part of the agency's future mission. The conservancy would focus on the roughly three-quarters of the Central Artery corridor that will be set aside as public space and parks. The Turnpike Authority, in coordination with the city, would continue to make the key decisions on what will be built on the parcels in the corridor slated for development.

Proponents of the plan say it would not require legislative approval, because a 1997 state law puts the land under the control of the Turnpike Authority, leaving the agency free to manage the parks using whatever methods it chooses. A spokesman for House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran said Finneran would not comment, and a spokeswoman nor Senate President Robert E. Travaglini did Missing student sought in Vermont MURRAY Continued from Page Bl said Lieutenant Scott Davidson of the Burlington police. "We have her picture.

The South Burlington police are looking for her, too." New Hampshire State Police Lieutenant John Scarinza said yesterday that for several days police have been checking motels and hotels in several Vermont communities. Investigators know of no one Murray might know in the Burlington area, he said. "Vermont State Police, Burlington police, and other local agencies have canvassed motels in Burlington, South Burlington, Colchester, Shelburne, and surrounding towns to see if she checked in anywhere around," he said. Authorities used helicopters and dogs to search the area where Murray crashed last week and again on Thursday, but have found no indication that she fled into nearby woods or evidence of foul play. Nevertheless, her family and friends say they believe she was kidnapped.

What is clear is that Murray, a conscientious nursing student and former West Point cadet, was deeply troubled by something in the days preceding her disappearance. On Thursday, Feb. 5, Murray was working at her campus job at a security desk in a UMass-Am-herst dormitory when she received a phone call that made her cry, said her father and a high school friend, Andrea Connolly. She was so disturbed by the call that her supervisor had to escort her home. Two days later, she damaged her father's car in a minor accident Distraught over her fender-bender, she called her boyfriend, Army Lieutenant Bill Rausch, in tears the next day.

About 24 hours later, on Feb. 9, she lied to a professor and the campus art gallery where she worked, informing them through e-mails that she needed to return to her hometown of Hanson because of a death in the family, officials and family members said. fV I hum EimnniMi mi mi 1 'a LiMIV mmmmm Governor Mitt Romney congratulated students who completed a weeklong MCAS training session over their school vacation at the Agassiz Community Center in Jamaica Plain yesterday. Romney, who ran the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, also passed around the torch from the games and told the students that "the Olympic ideals are something you all can aspire to." About 40 of the 100 fourth-graders at Agassiz Elementary School gave up their breaks to prepare for the state's MCAS exam as part of a so-called boot camp this week run by Robert Bouvier, a teacher at the school. "Kids just wanted help," Bouvier said.

"They wanted to be here when there was no school." He founded the program a year ago and held two similar sessions in 2003, he said. Norberto Cabrera, 10, said the program helped him overcome his 3 TV Coveted parkland in Boston has not return a phone call seeking comment. In a speech last month, Finneran expressed the desire to settle the question of long-term management of the artery parkland. A proposal to establish a trust to oversee the greenway died in the Legislature in 2002. That proposal called for private property owners abutting the greenway to contribute to the maintenance of the land through special assessments or taxes, which required approval from the Legislature.

The conservancy proposal calls for no such assessments or special districts. The new entity would be a charitable organization that would solicit donations locally and nationally and would have an endowment. MAURA MURRAY Viewed driving directions Murray then withdrew $280 from an ATM, packed all her belongings as if she were moving out, and took off with some of them in her Saturn. A witness who offered Murray help after she crashed her car told police she appeared to be intoxicated, officials said. An open bottle of alcohol was found in the car, Rausch said.

By the time Haverhill police arrived at the accident scene, Murray, who had asked the witness not to call authorities, was gone. Fred Murray said he had planned to talk to his daughter that night about filling out a police report in the earlier accident. In her car was a blank accident form from the Amherst police. "I'm convinced she was going to call me Monday night and was going to make out the form," he said. "If she wasn't going to do it, why go to the Amherst police and get the form? That makes me think she was unable to make the call.

That's why I think she's been physically harmed and is in danger." New Hampshire officials, respectful of her family's concerns, caution that Murray may have simply gone away for a few days without informing anyone. "I totally appreciate the family's frustration in not knowing where she is or what has happened," Scarinza said. "But it's also true that she was apparently leaving Massachusetts without telling her family or friends or her boyfriend. That indicates to me that perhaps she wanted to get away on her own." Murray's family has offered a reward for information and has created a website, Material from the Associated Press was used in this report. GLOBE STAFF PHOTODAVID L.

RYAN pursue various sources of funding was a good idea for the greenway. He said he doubted that the state could afford to maintain new parks when it cannot handle upkeep for existing parks. The Romney administration is preparing its own initiative, which would put the state Department of Conservation and Recreation, the former Metropolitan District Commission, in charge of the greenway and other parkland created by the $14.6 billion Big Dig. The administration would also set up a nonprofit organization to assist with fund-raising and management and involve the city and Legislature in the process. Anthony Flint can be reached at flintglobe.com.

GLOBE STAFF PHOTOJANET KNOTT Jamaica Plain, said the program was intensive and beneficial. MATTHEW RODRIGUEZ point in Massachusetts, because Driscoll said he won't require students who don't speak English to be included in the state's tally. States could wait two years to include the exempted students. Until then, students with limited English skills would be tested only in how well they know English. Stephen Mills, Worcester's deputy school superintendent, said the old policies were punitive.

"It's a form of child abuse to require students to take this test when we know they're going to fail," he said. Mills said it's inevitable that Worcester's scores will improve because of the change. Neill and others aren't so sure. The option that allows districts to delay including English learners' scores will mean that scores will fall the third year a student is enrolled. "They will no longer be considered" to have limited proficiency in English, said Raul Gonzalez, legislative director of La Raza, a national Hispanic civil rights organization.

"That will deflate schools' overall scores. Schools that do a good job helping kids learn English will look bad on their reading and math." Megan Tench of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Suzanne Sataline can be reached at satalineglobe.comt Donte Moreno, 10, posed with Governor Mitt Romney for a photograph taken by the student's mother, Karen Moreno. fear of the MCAS exam. "I'm not scared like I used to be," he said.

His mother, Maria Morales, 32, of New immigrants get language-test break TESTS Continued from Page Bl Until now, test scores for those learning English were included with the total for their schools. The result was that schools with large Immigrant populations consistently scored poorly on the English portion of state tests, undermining the school's ability to make "adequate yearly progress," required by the federal No Child Left Behind law. The law, signed by President Bush in 2002, requires annual testing of children in grades three to eight and penalizes schools that fail to make annual progress. Failing schools can lose funding and risk state takeover. It's unclear how many children could be affected, but statewide, 193,030, about 20 percent of students, are learning English as their second language.

In Worcester, nearly half of those who do not speak English are new immigrants. Boston public schools have 5,800 students whose first language is not English. School officials could not say how many children are new to the country. "I think it's a change that contains a lot of common sense," said state Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll.

"When we went through our review, I strongly objected to the idea that we were required to test all kids, even kids who just came into the country." But educators say that the changes don't fix some of the most unfair requirements of the federal education standards. The law does not require states to test children in their native language, nor does it give students the five to seven years educators say is needed for most students to become proficient in English. 'You will still have a group that, by and large, will be labeled failing" when compared with their US-born peers, said Monty Neill, executive director of Fairtest, a Cambridge group that opposes using results of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests as the sole criteria of educational success. Catherine A. Boudreau, the president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, said the US Department of Education's new policy is a "baby step in the right direction." Under the new policies, which take effect immediately, the new immigrants will have the option of taking the reading and language part on their state exams or not taking them at all.

If students take the tests, states may, but don't have to, count the results as part of their report to the federal government, according to the US Education Department. Offering that option is a moot.