News Update- 11/29/06 3:30 p.m.

On Campus:
UML student, Folashade Bello, was arraigned in Lowell District Court on two counts of assault and battery when she stabbed her boyfriend in Donahue Hall Saturday night. Bello's boyfriend, who is not a student here, was visiting when the two got into a fight. Bello stabbed the boyfriend twice, and when police arrived at the dorm room, they found the room covered in blood. The boyfriend was treated at Brigham & Women's Hospital. Bello is due back in court Jan. 26.

There is still no sign of the body of Ron Wetmore, the student who fell to an assumed death from the University Ave. Bridge this past weekend. With the fifth student death of the semester, some administrators and members of the University community are beginning to wonder if the school is providing students with enough support and anti-drug/alcohol prevention. The closest comparable state school, UMaine Orono, has a staff of 9 full time counselors. UML only has 2 full time counselors. There is also now a push for more alcohol-awareness programs, since a recent report shows 50% of UML students participating in regular binge drinking.

UML head field hockey coach, Shannon Hlebichuk was named the National Field Hockey Coaches Association North Region Coach of the Year for 2006. She was also named Northeast-10 Coach of the Year for the fourth consecutive year. After only five years coaching the team, Hlebichuk has led the women to 81 wins, four Northeast-10 tournament titles and the 2005 Division II National Championship.

Local News:
As part of the city's Jackson/Appleton/Middlesex Urban Renewal Plan, Middlesex Street will be returning to the two-way road it used to be previous to 1986. The change is set to happen on April 1, 2007. Some local businesses fear that the two-way version will cause traffic backups, while other businesses are rejoicing, hoping that it will make it simpler to travel around Lowell and give directions. Flyers will be hung up and placed on cars to inform people and police will help direct the new traffic for the first few weeks.

The owner and an employee of North Chelmsford Auto Parts have been charged with receiving stolen property, including two Bobcat construction vehicles and a truck. The investigation has been going on for over two years now.

18 year old Sari L. Lelchook from Acton is facing charges for killing 13-year-old John Martin of Wayland. Lelchook allegedly did not see the boy as she was driving along, and as he was crossing a crosswalk on his bike, she hit him.

Popular:
The Yellow Wiggle will no longer be with the Wiggles, the popular music group that caters to children. The Yellow Wiggle, also known as Greg Page, is suffering from a mystery illness that causes him to faint and lose his balance. He will be replaced by his understudy, Sam Moran.

Verizon Wireless and YouTube struck up a deal Tuesday that will allow Verizon users to upload their videos from camera phones onto YouTube.

News Update- 11/27/2006 4:30 p.m.

On Campus:
There is still no new information regarding the death of Ronald Wetmore, the UMass Lowell junior who fell to his death from the University Avenue Bridge early Sunday morning. For the latest information, see the previous news update or visit www.lowellsun.com.

The UMass Lowell Physical Therapy Club raised $400 through a wheelchair-basketball-a-thon to help fund a new gazebo at the Lowell Health Care Center. The gazebo was the wish of Phyllis Gimbel, the sister of one of the patients. The project raised $6000 in total for the new gazebo.

Local News:
11 were left homeless after a fire broke out in their Princeton Boulevard home. Four adults and seven children were staying with family when an electrical problem between the two floors of the home sparked a fire. No one was injured, but the home was damaged from the smoke and water.

A 17-year old girl has been cited for crashing into a house in Westford. She was driving a Honda Accord and stopped at a stop sign. She did not look both ways before proceeding, and was hit by a carpet-cleaning van before veering into the side of a three story home. No one was seriously injured.

63-year old Daniel Mullane of Nashua is to be arraigned today on charges of child endangerment. Mullane was arrested this past Friday for attempting to lure a 13-year old girl to his home with the intent of having sex with her. Police say that he tried convincing her he would get her into modeling. Mullane was already convicted back in 1992 for kidnapping a child under the age of 18.

Popular:
To balance out all the negative news (I really did try to find some happy stories, but there are none!), here is a whole slew of some "pop culture" news, pick and choose!

-US marine scientists have found out that humpback whales have a type of brain cell that is also found in human brains.
-Princes William and Harry are planning a huge concert to commemorate the death of their mother, Princess Diana. The concert is going to mark the 10th year anniversary of her death, there is talk of Elton John, Sting, Beyonce, and other royal friends singing.
-Pamela Anderson is divorcing Kid Rock. This is just four months after they did their around the world weddings- 3 weddings in all.
-A flaw in Firefox may allow hackers to get log-in information and passwords from unknowing users. Hackers set up fake websites and when the users log in, the information is sent right to those sneaky hackers.
-Britney Spears went out in a mini skirt and no skivvies, and the press got some photos when she stepped out of her car and lifted a leg a little too high. A cry for attention, no?

News Update- 11/27/2006 11:30am

The UML Community mourns the loss of 21 year old, Ronald Wetmore, a junior at the university majoring in Business Administration. According to Police, Wetmore fell from the University Bridge early Sunday Morning. Foul play has been ruled out, and the incident is being investigated by Lowell Police, with assistance from the University Police. As of 10am Monday morning, his body is yet to be recovered. For more information, visit www.lowellsun.com.

As of this morning, The Dean of Students Office and the University's Counseling Center are identifying Ronald's friends on campus and will offer support services as needed. Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to call the Counseling Center at extension 4331 if they or anyone they know needs assistance in coping with this painful experience. Employees seeking confidential counseling services also may contact the Wellness Corp., offered through the University's Employee Assistance Program, at 1-800-828-6025.

Crime Report

Thursday- November 9

Bourgeois Hall: Room 316 reported a stolen IPod.

Tuesday- November 14

Rec Center: Stolen items from men's locker room.

News Update- 11/20/06 3:30 p.m.

On Campus:
Unless you've been living in a box or have been unconscious for the past several days, you know that this week is Thanksgiving "break," so just a reminder that there are no classes this Thursday the 23rd or Friday the 24th.

The new Interdisciplinary Lab is up and running in the basement of Coburn Hall. The lab is designed for all students and faculty to have a space where creativity can run wild. There are large work tables for students to work on projects, as well as craft materials, electronic devices, computer terminals and more. Stop on by sometime and check it out, it's a great place to just get some ideas for projects.

After going into overtime, the UML men's basketball team defeated Post University 75-70 this past weekend.

Kevin Wallack, a music major here at UML, is taking part in what started out as a small business and has quickly become a huge success in the Boston area. Wallack is the musical event instructor for "Backyard Jams," which is based in Stoughton. Backyard Jams was started by Matt Kaplan to allow anybody to live the life of a rock star. The group will help you create a band name, design merchandise, professionally and digitally record music videos, and you get to have a lot of fun doing it. Wallack gets to coach groups on musical performance.

Local News:
This year, the Lowell Humane Society on Broadway Street brought an early Christmas present for local pets. Pet owners could get a photo taken of Santa with their dogs, cats, goats, crocodiles or whatever animal they could bring along. For a small fee, you could get a Polaroid of your pet with the big cheese of Christmas. There was also a raffle of pet toys. All the proceeds went to the daily operation costs of the shelter, which takes in over 3,000 animals yearly.

Ayer Firefighters are hosting the second annual Thanksgiving Day 5K Road Race this Thursday. Check in begins at 7 a.m. and the race begins at 8 a.m. at the fire station on West Main Street. For more information, contact the fire department at (978) 772-8231.

Five people were taken to a hospital after being stabbed at a party in Windham early Sunday morning. Police got to the scene after receiving a 911 call. Three of the victims had fled the area, but were later found. None of the injuries were life-threatening.

Popular News:
The new James Bond movie has been pushed aside in the box office by a movie about penguins. The Bond film, "Casino Royale," took in a hefty $40.6 million in the first three days of release, but the animated comedy, "Happy Feet," made just over $42 million. A close race- who would have guessed that more folks would want to see penguins dance than Daniel Craig and nice cars?

News Update- 11/17/06 11:30am

Trash collector, Christopher McGowan was convicted yesterday, in the brutal rape and murder of fashion writer, Christa Worthington. Worthington was found stabbed to death in her Truro, Massachusetts home in January 2002. McCowen will serve three concurrent life sentences.

Sony's PS3 Release sparks violence. . .

*Early this morning, Boston Police responded to the Copley Place Mall where a crowd of 400 people, all waiting in line for the new PlayStation system, overwhelmed mall security. Luckily, the crowd dispersed and no one was hurt.

*In Putnam, Conn., a person was shot during a confrontation in a line of people waiting outside a Wal-Mart to buy the video game console. The victim was taken to the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester with a gunshot wound.
There was no immediate word on the victim's condition.

*In Palmdale, Calif., authorities wee forced to shut down a Super Wal-Mart after some shoppers got rowdy late Wednesday.

*In West Bend, Wisconsin a 19-year-old man was injured when he ran into a pole racing with 50 others for one of 10 spots outside a Wal-Mart.

Recently, Umass Lowell received 15 proposals to design and build its new eighty million dollar advanced nanomanufacturing and biomanufacturing building. The University submitted a request for proposals from developers and is considering five different locations, including two sites in downtown Lowell; the Hamilton Canal area and a site close to the Paul E. Tsongas Arena. Other possible locations include two Lowell campus sites and one on the University's Western campus in Chelmsford.
** Yes, there is such a thing! On 3A! **

UMass Lowell's Assistant Professor Fred Martin of the Computer Science Department, was recently awarded a six hundred thousand dollar, five-year CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation. CAREER grants are awarded to promising pre-tenure faculty researchers to support their early works. The grant will help Martin bring science education to nearby middle schools, in hopes that someday they will continue studying science at UMass Lowell.


Popular:
Sydney, Australia- Steve Spalding of Dallas, Texas recently caught one hundred and sixteen tossed grapes in his mouth in three minutes, hoping to win a spot in the Guiness Book of World Records. He has also set a personal goal of endurance grape catching. He believes he can catch one thousand two hundred and three grapes, thrown from a 15 foot distance, in his mouth in just over a half an hour. Guiness has yet to include an endurance grape catching record.

News Update- 11/16/06 11:30am

Lowell- Two suspects were arrested last night, and charged for possible distribution of a deadly form of heroin. This deadly batch has killed 3 people in the past month. Police fear that the tainted heroin is still on the streets and urge users to quit immediately! Speak to a drug counselor or seek help at the Methadone Clinic on Suffolk Street.

Did You Know that ....
Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death in the US? That more than 45 million Americans are addicted to smoking? That 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 5 teens in the US smoke?
In honor of the 30th annual Great American Smoke Out, the Community Health Education Club has set up booths around the UML Campus to spread the awareness of the dangers in smoking. Stop by the booths and exchange your pack of cigarettes, or adopt a smoker to recieve a free sunflower and a chance to win the raffle. Raffle items include: Free Dinner, Move Tickets, Hokcey Tickets, and much more!

Panic! At the Disco will perform a sold-out show at the Tsongas Arena on Saturday Nov. 18th, as part of the "Nothing but the Rhymes with Circus Tour"! This award-winning band from Las Vegas, sold more than a million copies of their debut album, "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out." They also won this year's "Video of the Year" at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Popular: Happy fifth Birthday to the IPod! In it's fifth year, Apple has sold more than eighty-one million IPods and controls more than 75% of the US MP3 player market!

News Update 11/15/06- 3:30 p.m.

Local:
The Riverside Community Council and Sacred Heart Neighborhood Improvement Group, both of Lowell, are banding together in a fight against the Pan Am train corporation. In the past, there have been several dangerous chemical spills from the train lines that run in Lowell neighborhoods. After a spill of ferric chloride last month, the groups went into action and held a meeting this week to discuss details. The hopes are to meet with the president of Pan Am soon and work something out to make communities safer.

Police in the Greater Lowell area are on the look-out for a locker room thief. So far, Tyngsboro, Wilmington, Dracut and Tewksbury have all reported thefts in their school locker rooms. Dracut had at least 10 lockers emptied of their valuables in one hit. Police are asking everyone to keep an eye out for suspicious activity.

Ayer woman Melissa Reynolds heads off to jail for a 2 ½ to 3 year sentence for the death of Evan Holofcenter in 2001. Reynolds apparently fell asleep at the wheel and swerved off the road, killing Holofcenter as he rode his bike to school. Reynolds just got married three days ago and was hoping to postpone serving her sentence until she could take care of guardianship papers for her daughter.

Popular:
Microsoft has announced that in early 2007, it will be doing an online test of the highly-anticipated, “Halo 3.” The test will be available through Xbox 360 consoles. Sony is releasing its Playstation 3 this Friday, and Nintendo will debut its Wii console this weekend.

International News

Oaxaca Assembly Defining Actions

Mexico, Nov 11 (Prensa Latina) The congress of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO) continues analyzing future resistance actions Saturday, aimed to achieve the resignation of local governor Ulises Ruiz.

After the APPO provisional leadership was dissolved in the meeting s inaugural session Friday, its members will delineate the statutes, the declaration of principles, and action program of the organization today.

About 600 delegates from different popular organizations and local leaders, as well as members forming the APPO barricades since June 17 are attending the forum.

Since then, the APPO has focused on the demanded resignation of Ruiz, Governor of Oaxaca, who is accused of instigating violent repression against the Oaxaca social movement.

Last week, two protesters and an independent American journalist and activist, Brad Will, who came here to support the teachers' strike were killed by gunfire. The shootings prompted Mexican President Vicente Fox to send in 4,500 federal police officers, who were met by a hail of rocks as they smashed through barricades and drove demonstrators out of the city square on Sunday. Protestors have maintained control of the rest of the city.


Former CIA Director is proposed to take over as Defense Secretary

Robert Gates, President Bush's nominee to become the new U.S. Defense Secretary, is a former CIA Director with decades of experience in the national security field. He has also served as the president of a major university in Mr. Bush's home state of Texas.

Gates has been a member of the board of directors for corporations and financial institutions, including NACCO Industries, Inc., Brinker International, Inc., Parker Drilling Company, Science Applications International Corporation, and VoteHere, a technology company which seeks to provide cryptography and computer software security for the electronic election industry.

Gates had initially been proposed by Ronald Reagan to become director of the CIA in 1987, but his alleged involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal caused him to remove himself from the senate hearings. He called the election of Marxist leader Daniel Ortega an“unacceptable” course, arguing that the U.S. should do everything “in its power short of invasion to put that regime out.” Gates was appointed Director of the CIA in November of 1991. Gates still needs to be confirmed by the Senate to become Secretary of Defense.

Ortega confirmed as president of Nicaragua

MANAGUA, November 7 — Daniel Ortega was confirmed as president-elect of Nicaragua after 91.48% of the ballots had been counted by the Electoral Supreme Court (CSE).

Ortega obtained 38.7% of the 2,244,215 valid votes counted as of that announcement, and was showing a lead of nine percentage points over his closest rival, which is why his victory was declared irreversible, PL reported.

Former banker Eduardo Montealegre, of the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance (ALN) received 29% of the vote, while José Rizo of the Liberal Constitutionalist Party (PLC) was in third place with 26.21%.

After the announcement following the fifth and last vote count by the CSE, Montealegre conceded defeat and congratulated the victor.

Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega, a former Marxist revolutionary who fought a U.S.-backed insurgency in the 1980s, returned to the presidency calling for reconciliation, stability and a renewed effort to pull Nicaragua out of poverty.

(From Human Rights Watch)
U.S.: Congress Should Reject Detainee Bill-
Denies Right of Habeas Corpus, Defines Enemy Combatant Too Broadly

The U.S. Congress should vote down the draft military commissions and detainee treatment bill, Human Rights Watch said today. In denying the fundamental right of habeas corpus to detainees held abroad, defining “unlawful enemy combatants” in a dangerously broad manner, and limiting protections against detainee mistreatment, the bill would undermine the rule of law and America’s ability to protect its own citizens from unjust treatment at the hands of other governments.

In its immediate practical impact, the most damaging of the bill’s provisions is clearly its “court-stripping” provision, which would bar detainees in U.S. custody anywhere around the world from challenging the legality of their detention or their treatment via habeas corpus actions, even if they have been subjected to torture. Innocent people could be locked up forever, without ever having the facts of their case reviewed by an independent court.

If held to be constitutional, the court-stripping provision would result in more than 200 pending cases being ejected from the courts, including the case that resulted in the Supreme Court’s landmark detainee ruling in June.

The bill has other dangerous provisions as well. The latest version of the legislation includes an extremely dangerous expansion in the bill’s definition of “unlawful enemy combatant” – a phrase used by the administration to justify holding a combatant outside of the usual protections given to combatants by the Geneva Conventions. It now explicitly deems persons who have “purposefully and materially supported” hostilities against the United States to be combatants, an unprecedented redefinition of “combatant” that could potentially cover a range of innocent people. Financing and support for terrorist activities are already criminal offenses in the civilian justice system. This definition would pervert any reasonable concept of what a combatant is.

Moreover, the provision also gives carte blanche to the Pentagon to call anyone an “unlawful enemy combatant.” All it requires is that the person be deemed an unlawful combatant by a Combatant Status Review Tribunal (the administrative bodies used at Guantánamo) or “another competent tribunal” established under presidential or military authority.

The bill does, however, narrow the scope of the War Crimes Act; it bars the Geneva Conventions from being invoked in any suit against the U.S. government, gives the president power to interpret “the meaning and application” of the Geneva Conventions, and prohibits the courts from relying on foreign or international law sources in deciding cases involving certain violations of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.

The bill’s court-stripping provisions have drawn critical congressional scrutiny. At Senate hearings on Monday, former diplomats and others underscored the damaging implications of such rules for the treatment of U.S. soldiers who are captured abroad. If the U.S. supports stripping captives of all legal protections, they emphasized, so might other countries.


WASHINGTON -- The Senate unanimously approved $70 billion more for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan Friday as part of a record Pentagon budget.

The bill, now on its way to the White House for President Bush's signature, totals $448 billion. It was passed by a 100-0 vote after minimal debate.

The bill passed on Friday night brings the amount spent by the US on wars and other military operations to $507 billion since September 11, 2001. Total defense spending has reached over $2.19 trillion dollars in the past 5 years, plus over $137 billion on homeland security. In the Federal budget, there are plans to cut over $7 billion dollars from education spending over the next 4 years.

Legislation to convene military trials to prosecute terror suspects was also passed by the house.

However, a program validating a warrantless wiretapping program has been postponed until after the mid-term elections.

The lower house passed the bill by a bipartisan 398-23 vote on Friday.

News Update 11/13/06- 3:00 p.m.

Local Headlines:
The Winter Parking Ban begins November 15th and will be effective through April 15th. Under the ban, cars and bikes are not permitted to park on the streets and sidewalks from 6:00 p.m. to midnight or during snowstorms.

UMaine Orono men’s hockey team crushed UMass Lowell this past weekend in a 4-1 match. Jason Bergeron scored the only UML goal. The loss brings UML down to 3-3-3 overall and 2-1-2 in the league.

A study by UML professor Richard Clapp just revealed that computer factory workers have a much higher chance of dying of cancer than normal folks. Not just a little higher, either. Computer factory workers have a 66% higher chance of getting brain cancer, 79% more likely to get melanoma, males are 62% more likely to get kidney cancer and females are 112% more likely to get kidney cancer.

Lawrence City Councilor Grisel Silva is being investigated by the state Ethics Commission. After Silva and her husband found a gun in their daughter’s bedroom, they called a police officer who happened to be a close friend. They wanted to keep the episode “low-key,” so low-key, in fact, that the gun was never turned in. Both the officer and the Silvas are being questioned.

The Lowell Philharmonic Orchestra will open its 19th season with a free concert on November 17th at 8:00 p.m. The concert will be at the Sullivan Middle School on Draper Street. For more information, visit www.lowellphilharmonic.org.

Popular:
Australian scientists have developed a t-shirt that allows its wearer to create music using an air guitar. With built-in sensors that track arm movements and finger picking imitations, the t-shirt sends the information to a computer that generates the music. The t-shirt can also play the tambourine.

Campus Crime Report

October 29

Donahue Second Floor. 12:40 am. EMTs were called to check the well being of a female in the shower, possibly intoxicated, who was being uncooperative. She refused care and was referred for a Judicial Referral for Minors in Possession of Alcohol.

Leitch Fourth Floor. 1:16 am. John Degou of Burlington, MA was arrested for trespassing and will be summoned to court.

Riverview Lot. 10:52 am. Student reported his car missing from the lot. A parent had moved it home without telling him.


November 1

University Avenue Bridge. 2:57 am. An officer was stopped by pedestrians who said that a person driving by had shouted racial slurs at them. Claims were unfounded.

November 2

McGauvran First Floor. 2:10 pm. Officers were called to investigate a claim of assault adn battery by Jason Scullin of Georgetown, MA. A report was taken and Scullin was taken to the station.