The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 175

Boston Sunday Globe City Region tfoi MARCH 18, 2001 Latinos fill E. Boston church New art coming to MBTA "Most of the time I was crying for myfanifly." In 1987, he returned to them, but the 12-year civil war, especial-1 ly bad near his town of Agua Ca-1 liente, drove him back to East Bos-1 ton, this time to prepare for the i whole family's escape. Rosa took two jobs to save i money to have his whole family smuggled into the United States, On weekends, he worked for the church, taking up collections and becoming a eucharistic minister, i In 1990, when his family arrived, Rosa noticed that the Masses were i getting more crowded. "At that time, I was surprised," said Rosa, 44. Latinos are "not used to having these kind of tern- peratures here.

We never see snow or ice. But then I saw, we try to save our lives. We dont care how the temperature is. An we need is a i place to live and work and be safe." i I i 5 GLOBE STAFF PHOTODAVID LRYAN Artist Linda Lichtman will design the stained-glass windows at the $23.5 million Airport subwaybus depot, to open next year. Every Sunday, a long queue forms for Hennessey.

Congregants need baptisms, or help with bureaucratic red tape, or references, or blessings for new houses they have bought When Spanish Masses first began at the Most Holy Redeemer in 1983, most of the 50 people who attended the basement services had come to East Boston from Mexico. Back then, the church was also catering to Vietnamese and Brazilian immigrants, with Masses in their native languages. English Masses drew parishioners of Italian descent, though in smaller numbers, McLaughlin said. Some of the old congregants weren't happy about the church's expanding mission. In 1992, one longtime Italian parishioner said she had "no use" for Mclaughlin.

"I know his priorities are for the new immigrants. We're second on his list" she said. By 1990, McLaughlin said, the number of Latino parishioners had swelled beyond his wildest imaginings, the service had moved upstairs into the church, and the immigrants were coming from all over Central and South America. The Vietnamese Catholics had to move on to another church. Now, ifs mostly Salvadorans, Guatemalans, and Peruvians who fill the pews, following the well-worn paths of countless other immigrants.

"This church was built by Irish immigrants," Hennessey said. "Then the Italians came and sustained ft, and the new Latino immigrants are coming to revitalize it" Now, as before, Sunday's congregations are dominated by men. Some of the men stay for three or five years, said Hennessey, and work hard to send money home to their families. Or they settle permanently, arriving first to get jobs and the lay of the land, then sending for their families. That's what Francisco Rosa did.

He arrived in Boston from El Salvador in 1985, and he sent money back to his wife and three children. His first job, at a flower farm, paid $25 a day, cash. "It was not easy to be here alone," he said. which boasts six works of art, or the Ruggles Street Station on the Orange Line, which has four. Whafs more, the $90,000 set aside for the art at each station project must pay not only for the artisfs fee, but for all materials, transportation, installation, and insuring of the work, which will probably leave little for the artist "Since the 1980s, I feel like IVe been living in a cultural wasteland, the way arts funding has gone in Massachusetts," Lichtman said.

"Even the Airport Station job. It's a big commission, but I have to fly to Germany twice to produce it and pay fabricators to fire it I dont stand to make much financially from this, but it's a great project" Of course, the MBTA must consider that many of its 1.2 million daily riders think the authority's money would be better spent on ensuring that trains and buses run on time, and comfortably. As rider Patrick Maloney of Natick said recently, contemplating Richard Gu-bernick's abstract aluminum relief, "Ifs a question of fiscal priorities. I think they should spend more money to upgrade and modernize the system than on aesthetics." MBTA Continued from Bl "We haven't bought new artwork in a long, long time," said White, 35, who has managed the art program for a year. "It's not since the 1980s Red Line extension that we've really gone out there and brought in new works.

It's very exciting." The campaign so low-key that it has no name, no private donations, and no local matching money will make its most obvious impact at the new, $23.5 million Airport subwaybus depot on the Blue Line, set to open in the fall of next year. The station, a hypermodern swoop of perforated steel and blue glass, will be punctuated on both ends by two "Totems of Light" stained-glass windows that will stand 40 feet tail and 6 feet wide. The windows, which will combine abstract and representational elements, will grace the eastern and western entrances of the station, filtering sunlight onto visitors and commuters from dawn to dusk. In an interview in her Cam-bridgeport studio, Linda Lichtman, the artist who wfll create the windows, said the project offers the MBTA a chance to continue the long tradition of bringing stained glass to the public. "It's not an elitist art form at all," said Lichtman, who was chosen from five finalists and more than 650 submissions.

"In medieval times, the workers who created stained glass were either anonymous or monks, and the windows were in cathedrals, open for all the public to admire. I like the idea that this station will be a cathedral in a way." Lichtman's windows will reflect a democratization of the way artwork is chosen for the MBTA's collection, too. For years, the MBTA deferred to the expertise of private arts organizations to commission artists, with mixed results. While the sculptures and paintings were almost universally lauded for their artistic quality, many have proven too fragile for their exposed settings, and often require maintenance that costs as much as the works did originally. Armed with that information, the MBTA has formed its own selection committees.

The committees are made up of one member of the community where the art will go, one employee of the MBTA Barbara J. Boylan, theTs director of design and a group of critics and artists. The result, says White, is art that will stand up to often competing demands of aesthetics and time. "We had over 650 submissions from as far away as Croatia and Japan for the airport station," said White. "A lot of the submissions showed that artists understand what this kind of project requires.

Rosa and his family now have permanent residency. His maintenance job pays wen and has benefits. In 1996, he bought a condominium on the top floor of a triple-decker across from East Boston High School. Life is good. He has noticed the parish expanding even faster in the past few years, as more immmigrants arrive, and those who have been here a while have children.

Hennessey said he has baptized 2,000 children in the parish in six years. Rosa would never have thought, as he attended those i small services in the basement, that there would ever be enough I Latinos in his neighborhood to sustain four Spanish Masses, up- stairs, every weekend. When he first arrived in East Boston, he was afraid to walk around alone at night There were so few Latinos here then that he felt like a target. Now Maverick Square, home to Las Americas Travel and Rosticeria Cancun, belongs to him. "Now I feel comfortable," Rosa i said.

"I walk everywhere." And they're knocking out walls at Most Holy Redeemer. Yvonne Abraham's e-mail address isabrahamglobe.com, i to family She understands the world. But she has no motor skills," Sweet said Thursday. Jurors awarded her $1.1 mil- lion in lost earnings, $3.8 million for future care costs, $2.5 million for loss of enjoyment of life, and I $85,000 to reimburse past medi- cal expenses. Jurors also awarded her mother $1.5 minion for negligent infliction of emotional distress.

The ultimate damages that the Brunswick family receives win be smaller than the jury's award, Sweet said. That's because the amount exceeds the doctor's malpractice insurance, the lawyer said. yr A-. LATINOS Continued from Bl the Rev. Bernard McLaughlin, who was pastor of the church from 1983 to 1995, said of previous census figures.

"We knew the numbers were way off. We could see the numbers at Mass, and you've got to figure the tip of the iceberg." While many churches struggle to fill pews on Sundays, the Most Holy Redeemer strains to accommodate everyone. Hennessey estimates that 3,200 come to Spanish Masses each weekend, of which there are now four since he added an 8 a.m. Sunday Mass a few weeks ago. And 7 p.m.

weeknight Masses have gotten so crowded that a wall in the church's basement chapel wul be moved 20 feet this year to accommodate them "Ifs not hard work," Hennessey said of leading the parish. There's no need to evangelize, there's plenty of help when he needs it and the congregation is very well organized. Last Sunday, as parishioners sang loudly, corralled the toddlers, and piled collection baskets high with dollar bills, about 50 teenagers met in the basement at a spiritual retreat After Mass, community lawyers held a meeting to discuss the "temporary protected status" that President George W. Bush had just announced for Salvadorans who had arrived in the United States illegally before Feb. 13.

Many parishioners from El Salvador and these days, about half of the congregation comes from there have sent money back to the war-wracked, earthquake-beset country for years. "The thing that unites people, no matter where they come from, is their faith," Hennessey said. "It roots them back home." It roots them in East Boston, too. The church has been helping immigrants ease into American life for years. After Communion every Sunday, someone tells the congregation about parishioners needing rooms or jobs.

At the end of the service, supplicants stand before the Sacred Heart of Jesus statue, as is the custom at the Most Holy Redeemer, and people with rooms and jobs to offer find them. Maine jury ASSOCIATED PRESS PORTLAND, Maine A jury has awarded damages of nearly $9 million to a girl who suffered oxygen deprivation at birth and to her mother. "I think ifs the biggest malpractice verdict ever in Maine. I dont know of one that even approaches it" said Julian Sweet lawyer for the family. Jurors awarded the damages to Victoria Queally and her mother, Caroline Queally, who sued their doctor in Cumberland County Superior Court Testimony indicated that Victoria was either partially or fully deprived of oxygen for about 40 understands the rules, I believe, but he does not like the consequences of his actions." The boy's mother said the school's blanket policy on threats, and consequent public discipline of her son, have done irreparable damage, far exceeding the offense he keenly regrets.

She said he was humiliated, and now dreads going to school. "It just changed his life," the mother said of her son, who returned to McCall on Thursday. "Ifs putting brakes on his childhood. His body movements have changed. Ifs like he's frightened by anybody, by the whole system.

He's so afraid something wul be misinterpreted. My son is going to be watched. I cant imagine that my son win have very much room to make mistakes during his next five years there." Gloucester Police Chief James M. Marr, who dealt with three threats of violence in schools in three days last week, knows he and others win be accused of overreacting. "I think in some sense, we probably are," he said.

"But unfortunately, we are seeing the shootings occur, so we know ifs reality. Our job is to try to figure out whafs real and what tsnt I'm not sure how we do that in today's society. We know that some kids make these statements and dont mean it But what if there's one that does mean it and we havent responded? We have to jump on an of them." Sandy Coleman of the Globe Staff contributed to this stSrry. But we also got a submission that was pieces of painted toast. It might've been very cool, but it wasnt very practical." Ricardo Barreto, director of the UrbanArts Institute at the Massachusetts College of Art, said the Ts reentry into the art world is most welcome.

He also praised the MBTA for bringing members of the community into the process. "If the best way to avoid problems later on, and there's a sense of participation that's vital," he said. "If we've learned anything over time, if that the committee needs to be aware of what's happening in the community." When confronted with the demands of a neighborhood known for its feisty approach to large public works projects, Lichtman said she was only too happy to incorporate the desires of East Bostonians into her windows. The final product, she said, will reflect not only the topography of East Boston, where the station will sit, but also the local sense of pride. "That is sort of a contentious area, and the presence of the airport there at all is really a sore point," she said.

"This thing is going to be plunked down in their neighborhood, so it seemed natural to include things like clipper ships and wetlands images as a kind of reminder of what was there before." Of course, if the MBTA's return to the art world is designed to please riders and community residents alike, it is a far cry from the 1980s, White admits. When the Red Line and Orange Line were extended, one-half of 1 percent of each station's budget was set aside for artwork. To put that in perspective, that percentage would amount to $117,500 devoted to art for the new Airport Station $27,500, or 31 percent, more than what it will receive. The result was an embarrassment of artistic riches at several stops along those routes, such as Alewife Station on the Red Line, classmate and blow up Methuen High School is too dangerous to release before trial. And last week, Governor Paul Cellucci announced the state would be cracking down on students who bring weapons to school, extending their time in the Department of Youth Services from six months to a year, and expanding the definition of "weapon" to include knives and razors.

Few educators were willing to take chances across the region last week, which will probably go down as one of the worst ever for threats from students. In some cases, the evidence more than justified their fears. On Monday, Arlington High School student Adam Aloise put an unloaded pellet gun to a teacher's head. Despite his assertions that he had only been joking, the 18-year-old, who had not been in trouble before, was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon. On the same day, a 15-year-old Taunton High School student was arrested for threatening to shoot a teacher.

On Tuesday, two students were suspended in Sharon for making gun threats. On Wednesday, State Police removed bomb-making chemicals from the home of a 13-year-old Lowell middle school student And an 18-year-old at Gloucester High School wrote a note threatening a Columbine-scale massacre, and was arrested. On Thursday, police found a sawed-off shotgim in the basement of a awards $9m minutes while nurses at Parkview Hospital in Brunswick tried frantically to reach Dr. J. Donald Burgess.

It took two calls to Burgess's office, where he was seeing patients, before he came to the hospital to perform an emergency caesarean section to deliver the baby on Dec 1, 1993. But the damage was already done, Sweet said. Victoria, who is now 7, suffered cerebral palsy that has left her intellectually intact but unable to walk or talk. She has served as a poster child for Pine Tree Society for Handicapped Children Adults. "She knows whafs going on.

A SPECIAL VACATION FEATURE IN THE BOSTON GLOBE SUNDAY, MARCH 25TH Family It requires months of polling, planning, Response questioned But to riders like Keara Lane of Cambridge, getting there is indeed only half the point To do so in an environment that nourishes the eyes and soul, she said, is just as important "I don't think they spend so much on it that it takes away from anything else," Lane said. "And look at what we get in return. Ifs important" Architectural renditions of the new Airport Station can be found on the Internet at www.waUacefloyd- For a complete listing of the MBTA's art collection, and where each piece is located, point your Web browser to www.mbta.com- newsinfogeninfoarts. Raphael Lewis can be reached by e-mail at rlewisglobe.com. 15-year-old New Bedford boy after he told another student he wanted to shoot his teacher.

And a 12-year-old Rockport boy who threatened to shoot students at a school dance was charged by Rockport police. On Friday, a 10-year-old at Gloucester's Fuller Elementary School threatened to shoot his entire class. He is being disciplined by the school. Vermont and New Hampshire saw similar incidents. However, what seems like an epidemic might not be one, said Ron Stephens, executive director of the national School Safety Center, in California.

"After the Columbine incident in 1999, we noticed a fivefold increase in threats around the country," he said. Part of the increase came from children copying shooters who carried through with their threats, he said. But more threats have been reported since 1999 because schools are now so acutely aware of the potential for student violence that they're more likely to report anything that seems suspicious, he said. Winchester's McCall Middle School has a clear policy on threats. School Superintendent Carol Eaton did not return calls seeking comment but in an e-mail to the mother of the 11-year-old who was suspended, she said: "Students need to realize we cannot laugh off the verbal threats that are spoken as if they are meaningless." "I believe the events of the last two weeks alone attest to that" Eaton wrote, referring to the recent school shootings.

"Your son SCHOOL VIOLENCE Continued from Bl the mid-1990s, educators have been less and less willing to gamble on any threats from students. "Principals and teachers hear kids making threats every day of the week, and they've been doing on-the-spot assessments for 300 years," said Elliot Feldman, director of alternative education for Boston public schools. "And for the last 295 years, they've been mostly empty threats. But the pendulum has swung rather dramatically. If gone from people using their own judgment in each situation to them not wanting to take a chance any longer that this one case might be reaL" In the last two years, Feldman said, Boston public schools have seen a 30 percent increase in the number of students expelled from the city's schools, an increase he attributes to heightened fears of violence in classrooms.

In a sign that school and law enforcement authorities are taking the threat of violence more seriously, prosecutors are asking judges to decide whether teenagers who have done nothing more than threaten violence are too dangerous to remain free. Until now, "dangerousness hearings" have been reserved for adults arrested and charged with serious crimes. But in the latest example, Essex County prosecutors tomorrow wQl argue before a judge that a 14-year-old Methuen boy who allegedly threatened to kill a female and preparation: the family vacation. But before any destination is decided, before rooms are reserved or suitcases stuffed, successful family vacations start in the same place: The Boston Globe's Family Travel section. From day trips in New England to overseas adventures, national parks to theme parks, Family Travel goes over all the vacation ground that can be covered by both parents and kids.

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