News Update 11-26-07

Campus News

On November 30th, the memory of the late Prof. Sukant Tripathy will be honored this Friday at the Wannalancit Mills from 8:15 AM to 4:30 PM. Several top scientists, in the fields of semiconductors, metals, ceramics and polymers, will speak at the 2007 Sukant Tripathy Annual Memorial Symposium. Tripathy was a renowned researcher and was the fromer director for the Center for Advanced Materials. Colleaguse from both university and industry will be brought together at this event, and many topics concerning scientific study of materials will be discussed.

Also this Friday, the UMass Lowell Center for Women and Work will be celebrating its 10-year anniversary. From 11:30 AM to 7 PM in Cumnock Hall, a ceremony called "Women's Works: A Celebration of Creativity and Schlarship" will be held. It will primarily feature women with ties to the university displaying and selling their own creations. Things that will be available there will include crafts, art, poetry, food, and publications, including Meg Bond's new book, "Workplace Chemistry: Promoting Diversity through Organizational Change." The center is an interdisciplinary institution that has worked to advance knowledge about the relationship between gender and work through research, enhance understanding through education and training, and challenge inequalities through institutional change for the past decade.

In Health news, it is once again flu season, and people are already scrambling to get flu shots. It is said that starting November 27th, UMass Lowell will be offering flu shots to students on campus and commuting. You can get your flu shot at Cumnock Hall from 10 AM to 2 PM on the 27th, as long as you flash your UML ID and pay $15 dollars in cash or credit.

The entire University of Massachusetts system set a record this year, with all UMass schools combined spending well over $400 million dollars on research and development for all the schools. According to National SWcience Foundation figures released last week, this makes the University of Massachusetts in general the third largest academic research institution in the state, behind MIT and Harvard. Of total spending, 60 percent went to life sciences, 20 percent to physical sciences and engineering, 6 percent to mathematical and computer sciences, and 5 percent to environmental sciences. UMass Lowell took part in this massive spending effort by spending $29 million dollars over the fiscal year.

3,035 high school students in the Boston region won John and Abigail Adams Scholarships this fall, around the South Boston region. Hull, Middleborough, Pembroke, Brockton, Scituate, West Bridgewater, Holbrook, and Rockland high schools were the ones that had the biggest increases of winning students, at least over 20 percent. To win, students must be in the top 25 percent in their district and score Advanced on one MCAS exam and either Advanced or Proficient on the other. Students must also maintain a grade point average of 3.0 or better while in college to keep receiving aid. This scholarship awards free tuition for state colleges, including UMass Lowell. It is speculated that some of these scholarship winners will be onsidering UMass Lowell as their school of choice.

Investigation continues over the case of a woman who was found dead in the home of a motorist who crashed his car in Methuen on November 20th. Jeffrey McGee, 36, was injured in the crash along with a 4-year old passenger. The woman was found in his home in Chelmsford, her throat slashed. Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. has stated that this incident of violence is an isolated case, and is not a cause for public alarm. The woman is speculated to be 31 years old, and to be McGee's wife and mother to the 4-year old. Elizabeth Stachowicz, a 20-year-old student at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell who lives there, said the residents are quiet and trouble is rare at the apartment complex where the murder is said to have taken place. This news comes within weeks after a series of burglaries took place at UMass Lowell, which is partially the reason why Leone had to state that this was not a cause for public alarm.

National News

In New York City, homelessness has been on the rise, with some homeless families unfairly being denied shelter. While the number of homeless single adults has declined 19 percent since then, officials acknowledge that the number of homeless families is at an all-time high, with more than 9,500 in the shelter system. The Legal Aid Society has been taking city officials to court, saying that some families have unfairly been considered ineligible for aid, but the city has vehemently denied this. For example, recently a family of five, the Rosas, were denied shelter by the city because it was believed that they had relatives in Puerto Rico with whom they could stay, and because of a new city policy, social workers also denied the family emergency one-night shelter. Last year, 51.6 percent of homeless families that were deemed to be ineligible for shelter in the city were found later to be eligible. The City Council of New York is trying their best at this time to resolve the situation.

Lastly, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney had some pessimistic comments about this week's upcoming Middle East Peace Conference in Annapolis, Maryland. His reply to a question in an audience yesterday when asked about it was "I always like people to talk to each other and I'm hopeful, but I'm not terribly optimistic about it." At this time, Romney does not currently believe that the Palestinians are at all capable of forming a secure and stable government in Israel. "It's very difficult to establish peace when you don't have somebody across the table who has responsibility and can manage their side of the table," he said. "My expectations are modest because of their inability to really follow the road map." This is not the first time that Romeny has expressed this sentiment about Israel or the Middle East.

That'll do it for the news on this Monday, November 26th 2007.