Karen Brown

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Smith College in Northampton is one of the nation’s most academically rigorous women’s colleges — and alma mater to several notable feminists, including Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan. So one thing people don’t expect to find on campus… is a cheerleading squad. The Smith “Spirit Squad” is bucking that stereotype and raising questions about women’s roles in athletics and who owns the definition of feminist.

This story aired on WFCR on Nov. 13, 2009.

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Thanks to the federal G.I. bill, the number of veterans on American college campuses is expected to jump by 30 percent this year — some estimates put it at 100,000 people nationwide, with about 400 at Umass-Amherst alone. But even with financial help, the transition from combat to campus can be tough.

Story first aired on WFCR, Sept. 30, 2009. A version also aired on NPR’s Weekend Edition, Oct. 10, 2009. Click here for national story.

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After the foreclosure notice….comes the rescue scam. Homeowners in financial crisis have been finding

Debra Avezzie, rescue scam victim

themselves the victims of hucksters who claim to help….but often end up running away with a person’s home AND equity. This piece first aired on NPR’s Justice Talking on November 11, 2007. (The story hit more mainstream media outlets, such as the New York Times, in late 2008 and early 2009.)

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Kristin Brennan and Daniel Staub are an unusual breed of “live-off-the-land” homesteaders. They bought 3/4 of an acre of land in the middle of an urban neighborhood in Springfield, MA that’s been known for drug dealing and occasional gang activity. And that’s the point, they say — that low-impact living with minimal use of fossil fuels (they have no car) is possible anywhere.

Story aired on NPR in May, 2006