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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
With a unanimous vote on February 9, the University of Rhode Island Student Senate expressed its strong and enthusiastic support for the Air, Land & Sea Heritage and Technology Park proposed for Quonset Point by the USS Saratoga Museum Foundation, Inc. Foundation President Frank Lennon was grateful for the student vote of confidence. "We have worked to include the educational community in the planning process from day one," said Lennon. "To us, 'educational community' means more than faculty and administrators. It must include the students, who represent the future generations to benefit from this project. Their input today is important for the young people of tomorrow," he concluded. Last spring, 160 students from the 7th and 8th grades at Davisville Middle School wrote letters to RI Governor Lincoln Almond asking for his support for the project, the centerpiece of which would be the supercarrier USS Saratoga, now mothballed at Pier 1 in Middletown. The effort has also received the endorsement of educators at all levels, to include URI's Dean of the School of Business Administration Edward Mazze; Robert Silvestre, Vice President of Academic Affairs for Community College of Rhode Island; and James Halley, Superintendent of Schools in North Kingstown. All three serve on the Foundation's Advisory Board, and Dr. Halley chairs the project's Education Committee. Mary MacDougall of Newport, Deputy Communications Director for the URI Student Senate and one of the sponsors of the Resolution, said: "The students at URI join with those in our faculty and administration who have already expressed their support for turning this vision into reality. "We are particularly pleased that the organizers of the Saratoga Museum project approached the student body and asked for our support and involvement," said MacDougall. "This attraction will be of great benefit to all Rhode Islanders, especially the future generations we students represent," she added. According to MacDougall, the unanimous vote of approval is an indicator of how interested and optimistic a younger generation is about the project. "I feel that the USS Saratoga Museum Foundation has taken an important step in reaching out to students. We appreciate the fact that our opinions and reactions mean something in planning for the future," she added. "Students, including myself, welcome the opportunity to give our input and suggestions, and we look forward to witnessing the progress in educational programming and other benefits for the region. "We hope that our Student Senate Resolution sends a message to other students and alumni, organizations, state officials, and to the general public of Rhode Island," concluded MacDougall. On September 27 Governor (and URI alumnus) Lincoln Almond and the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation board he chairs voted unanimously to conditionally endorse the plan to moor the carrier Saratoga at the carrier pier of Quonset Point Naval Air Station as the centerpiece of an Air, Land & Sea Heritage and Technology Park. On December 2, Congressman (and URI alumnus) Bob Weygand reported the Navy had agreed to place Saratoga in donation status, and on January 19 this action was confirmed by the Naval Sea Systems Command.
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