News Update, March 23, 2007

Campus News

Congressman Marty Meehan was selected to be the new Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts – Lowell last week, beating out a field of almost 100 candidates. Meehan has stressed raising funds for several science departments, including nanotechnology and biotechnology, according to reports. The seven term congressman has decided to leave his congressional post in order to pursue his chancellorship in a decision which he has called “the most difficult professional decision of [his] life. Meehan, a Lowell native and university alum, was best known in the House of Representatives for legislation on campaign finance reform and tobacco legislation.

The UMass Lowell Center for the Arts will present “Hansel & Gretel: A Puppet Opera” on Sunday, April 1, in the Durgin Concert Hall on South Campus. Performances will be held at 2 PM and 4 PM, and is intended for children ages six and up. The one hour show is part of the University’s Discovery series, and features the giant puppets of Theater Sans Fil, a puppet company from Montreal. The production’s soundtrack features an orchestral score, which will be sung in English. This production recreates the original opera written by Englebert Humperdink, which was originally based on the original fairy tale written by the Grimm Brothers.

Fourteen high school teams and two middle school teams will compete in this region’s “BotBall” tournament on Saturday March 24th from 9 AM to 5 PM in Costello Gym on North Campus. This national competition pits teams against each other to use automated robots in order to complete various tasks. This year’s competition has a Hawaiian theme, and has teams rescuing simulation homes and crops from an imminent volcano eruption. The teams had just eight weeks to build their robots, and program them to be completely autonomous. The competition features individual demonstrations, as well as head to head competitions.

Local News

A local elderly woman with Alzheimer’s disease was found just over the Dracut line after wandering away from her family on Aiken Ave. on Thursday. The family reported the woman missing at around 5 PM, reporting that she had been missing for about 6 hours. The police were planning on calling in a helicopter to help with the search, but this proved to be unnecessary as the woman was found just over the Dracut line by Dracut police at Pleasant and Bridge Sts. A Trinity Hospital Ambulance evaluated the woman and found that she was in good health.

A much acclaimed cycling race from Montreal to Boston will wind through the Merrimack Valley this summer, promoting economic growth and possibly bringing a national spotlight in the sporting world to the area. Early indications for the economic value of the race can be found in a similar race held in California last year, which brought in $100 million dollars in revenue. The 745-mile race will run through both Vermont and New Hampshire, with one of the tour legs ending in Nashua. The race is expected to bring a greater national spotlight to cycling, and is also scheduled to be a springboard for more area events.

Three Lawrence men were charged with trafficking cocaine and conspiracy to violate drug laws on Tuesday after their monitored car was stopped by vice detectives. The men were driving the same car as someone who had been stopped just a day before for possession of cocaine. Over 14 grams of cocaine and crack-cocaine were found after one of the men threw a bag containing them out of the car. The bust happened at 7:15 PM after police had been watching a residence on Middlesex Avenue, to which the car pulled into the parking lot of.

National News

Pakistani cricket coach Bob Woolmer was declared murdered in Kingston, Jamaica last night, following his death on Monday. The incident happened less than 24 hours after the Pakistani National team lost to the extreme underdog, Ireland, on St. Patrick’s Day. This loss prompted an immediate backlash from hardcore fans, and even promoted some effigy burnings in the streets. Woolmer was apparently strangled, but team members were aloud to leave the country without suspicion. Police have many leads as to the source of the murder, but the most likely one at this time, is that it was in connection to sports betting.

The Afghan government freed five Taliban terrorist suspects on Monday in order to free kidnapped Italian reporter, Daniele Mastrogiacomo (Dan-yil Mas-tro-zhee-a-co-mo). Mastrogiacomo was held in captivity for two weeks when the car he was in was ambushed. The driver was beheaded and the location of the second passenger in the car is unknown. This kidnapping happened in the Afghan province of Helmand, which is infamous for its lawlessness. The United States has publicly protested this deal, as it risks the security of every reporter or otherwise peaceful diplomat in the area. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, “Given the increased threat created for all of us who have people on the ground in places like Afghanistan, we expect that concessions will not be made in the future.”

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards announced on Thursday that his wife’s cancer has returned. A small tumor was found in Elizabeth Edwards’ right rib, and was said to be treatable, but not curable. Both Elizabeth and John expressed optimism about the cancer in a press conference on Thursday, noting that the tumor had “relatively little presence.” This announcement will not affect Edwards’ candidacy for president however, as Elizabeth had convinced John to keep running, despite her illness. Edwards said, “You can go cower in the corner and hide or you can go out there and stand up for what you believe in. We have no intentions of cowering in the corner."

Investigations have begun at the Armed Forces Retirement home in the nation’s capitol following complaints of rising death tolls in the facility, and complaints of rooms stained with blood, urine, and feces. One patient was found with a bedsore that was festering with maggots. This scandal comes just weeks after the mistreatment allegations at the Walter Reid Army Medical Center in Washington which forced many high level officials to resign. Officials at the retirement home said that these complaints were indicative of a typical rest home, but several workers were fired following the scandal.