News- WUML Lowell 91.5fm

FALL 07: Has Come To An End!

2007-12-19T12:11:00.000-08:00

CHECK BACK IN THE SPRING FOR ALL OF UML CAMPUS EVENTS AND INFO!
THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT,
Kate Watt
WUML News Dept

News Update 12-10-07

2007-12-09T17:45:00.000-08:00

Campus News

The River Ambassador Program here at UMass Lowell to advantage of All America Recycles Day to host its Environmental Expo. The youth-based environmental group got to spread its message correlating recycling with environmental benefits. The Expo taught the students all aspects of recycling and incorporated fashion into the cause. A guest at the Expo, Pat Howland, did her part by shrinking old adult-sized sweaters and redecorating them for use by children. Amy Glowacki, Park Ranger for the Lowell National Historical Park, taught the pros and cons of polyester. The Park Ranger Uniforms are made almost solely from polyester, a material that isn’t eco-friendly and a contributor to global warming. The main point of these lessons was to show innovative ways to recycle.

Chancellor Marty Meehan spoke at a science-based state conference a few weeks ago, and is working steadfastly on what he has promised. “This year is the 50th anniversary of the launching of Sputnik by the USSR. That tiny craft streaking across the night sky set off an international space race but, more importantly, it got America in gear,” Meehan said in his keynote address. “All of a sudden, it was a matter of national security to be at the top of our game in science and technology. “Today, it’s a matter of national economic insecurity when you look at how fast India, China and other nations are wearing down our edge in research, technology, inventions and development of talent.” The main message of the speech was that Science and technology are going to play a very big role in our economic future, and that our educational efforts in these areas need to be coordinated and accelerated.

This month, this Tuesday as a matter of fact, Chancellor Marty Meehan will speak to Dr. Fred Lewis's Political Science classes. He is inviting all students to attend his speech, which will be in O' Leary Library Room 222 at 12:30 PM.

Students will also get one more chance to get their flu shots before the end of the holiday season. Students will be able to recieve their shots on December 14th, from 9 AM to 1 PM in the West Wing meeting room of the Costello Gym on North Campus. Anyone with questions can send them by email to Joan_Lehoullier@uml.edu. This is being done before the winter and flu season kick into high gear.

National News

Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina has been forced to end its fall semester early last Friday, due to an outbreak of whooping cough. 16 students have been suspected to have the sickness so far. The outbreak appears to have started when one infected student returned to campus this fall, Keirstead said. Twelve students are confirmed to have the bacterial infection, while another four cases are suspected, Keirstead said. An additional 158 students were tested, isolated and given antibiotics, while 1,200 students who showed no symptoms were given antibiotics as a precaution. 4200 more students will be given a vaccination to prevent the sickness. About 2,000 have already been given the vaccine.

Lastly, from Cape Canaveral in Florida, NASA delayed the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis yesterday, until next January. The shuttle launch was delayed due to a gauge in the fuel tank failing for the second time in four days. With only a few days remaining in the launch window for the shuttle, senior managers have decided to stand down until next month so that the problem can be better understood. Shuttle managers had said they would halt the countdown and call everything off if any of the four hydrogen fuel gauges acted up. Three failed during Thursday's launch attempt; no one knows why. Launch director Doug Lyons said Sunday's failure was similar to what happened before, except only one gauge malfunctioned this time.

That pretty much does it for the news today on Monday, December 10th.

12/6/07 News Update

2007-12-06T06:32:00.000-08:00

National News
The 19 year-old gunman who, according to police, killed eight people and then himself at a Nebraska mall left a suicide note, recently discovered. The note stated that the 19 year-old gunman predicted that the shootings would make him famous. The note was discovered by the gunman's landlord, Maruca Kovac, who found the suicide note after receiving a phone call from him a few minutes before the shootings.
"He basically said how sorry he was for everything. He didn't want to be a burden to people and that he was a piece of s--- all his life and that now he'd be famous." Is what Kovac had to say about the note.
Chief Thomas Warren of the Omaha Police Department believes the shootings were "premeditated", but also "appeared to be very random and without provocation."
The gunman is identified as Robert A. Hawkins of Bellvue, Nebraska.

The weather forecast for Thursday afternoon in Cape Canaveral, FL, seems like it will be perfect for the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis, which will hopefully allow the continuation of on-time takeoffs. Fueling of the shuttle bean at daybreak. If the shuttle does launch on time today, it will make it the 4th on time launch in a row for Atlantis.
The shuttle will carry a crew of seven and Europes space station lab, named Columbus. NASA's Destiny lab went up in 2001, and Columbus will be the second laboratory added to the space station, Japan will follow with a huge lab Kibo, which will go up in three sections beginning with the next shuttle mission in February.
Scientific work in Columbus will start almost immediately.

Local News
A rollover accident on the Lowell Connector caused some problems during the commute this morning, around 8:05am. The motorist in the accident had minor injuries, and police were able to open the road to traffic at about 8:40am.

Lowell City Manager Bernie Lynch said last night that the average home in Lowell will see a $30 increase in taxes this year, amounting to a 1% increase. The state average for the tax hike is $170. "The city of Lowell only owing up $20 is a really remarkable achievement for us," Lynch said. He also mentioned that 40% of the nearly 23,000 residential properties in the city could see tax bills actually decrease this year.

Campus News
Beginning next fall, students who live within 20mi of UMass Lowell in Southern NH can save more than $6,000 per year on the cost of their education. For the 2007-2008 academic year, out-of-state tuition and fees total just over $20,000 annually. Under the new program, students who qualify will be able to pay just under $14,000 annually. The program, called Proximity Regional Rate Program is based on the New England regional program, which allows out of state students studying a major not offered at their home-state campus to receive a reduced tuition, and also provides a reduction of about $6,000 per year.
Participating students are also eligible for on-campus housing after their first semester.

Sports News
Five of the University's six varsity teams qualified for the NCAA championships this fall, which makes this a strong season for UML athletics. The field hockey team advanced the furthest, and competed in the Division II national championship game for the third time in five years.
The men's soccer team ended one of its bests seasons by losing to Franklin Pierce in the New England Region Championship game. The women's soccer teams were also qualified for the NCAA's, but were eliminated in the first round by Merrimack College.
The Menes cross country team finished 13th, and the women's cross country team finished 21st at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championship. Both were the top finishing team in the Northeast region, and Junior Ruben Sanca placed 24th overall to earn All-America status.

For all of UMass Lowell's sports details and schedules, visit GORIVERHAWKS.com

That's the latest on news and sports on WULM Lowell 91.5FM!

News Update 12-3-07

2007-12-02T18:16:00.000-08:00

Campus News

A new, fire-retardant paint has been introduced into campus buildings, due to a partnership with a local company dealing with fire safety. The paint is called PyroTarp, and is made by the company Bradford Industries. Since many of the on-campus buildings are almost a hundred years old, and thus are constructed primarily of wood and other flammable materials, many believe that the use of Pyro Tarp will help reduce risk of fire on campus. The paint reflects the heat and absorbs it. It is designed to stop combustion of materials, preventing fire from spreading and limiting smoke, according to Bradford Industries.

Victor Piper, a former undergraduate student here at UMass Lowell's Electrical Engineering Department, helped design a special computer keyboard for a man living in the area that has cerebral palsy. The man, Yeth John Kong, is a resident in Tyngsboro who loves to write poetry, but found it difficult due to his condition. He conducted a survey of commercial solutions already on the market, but found them unsuitable for Kong’s specific need. “Yeth needed a way to enter text more rapidly,” he says. “I decided to seek an approach that would combine hardware and software.” He was assisted by ZiCorp, a Canadian company dealing with intelligent interface solutions, in its development. The project cost less than $100 dollars.

Many scientific disciplines and institutions, including biologists, taxonomists and research institutions have been working quietly on a massive and ambitious project: to identify and catalog every living biological species on planet Earth. Called the Consortium for the Barcode of Life, or CBOL, the project, which was launched in 2004 by the Smithsonian Institution with funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, is committed to applying molecular barcode technology as a means of identifying every organism. Rick Hochberg, an assistant professor of zoology in UMass Lowell’s Biological Sciences Department, is involved in CBOL as an associate researcher for the Smithsonian. “A molecular bar code is a short sequence of DNA, or nucleotides, from a mitochondrial gene called cytochrome c oxidase I,” says Hochberg. “This gene varies by about 1 to 2 percent per species, which means that in theory, each species will have a unique DNA barcode.”

The UMass Lowell hockey team, the Riverhawks, have been enjoying a huge growth of popularity and attendance lately. This is believed to be a result of a strong season ticket sales effort and creative promotional activities that are attracting new fans. Despite playing teams that historically don’t draw big audiences — in months when baseball is more on sports fans minds than hockey — the River Hawks are averaging about 3,500 fans per game, including a large student fan base. “The buzz I’m hearing is about the change in the environment at the arena,” says Athletic Director Dana Skinner. “Coach Blaise MacDonald told me the UMass Amherst game (on Nov. 10) was the first time he could remember when the fans cheering actually picked the team up in the third period. There’s really a buzz at home games this year.” It's interesting to note that two of the first home games of the season were wins against the University of Alabama-Huntsville, a team without a local fan base or a well-known national reputation.

National and World News

Thousands of customers with without power in the Midwest Sunday, as a huge winter storm made its way across it and is currently affecting New England right now. At least 10 traffic deaths have been blamed on weather-related traffic accidents. Winter storm warnings were in effect into Monday in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine and into Tuesday in parts of New York state. On the other side of the weather system, warnings were issued for parts of Michigan, where freezing rain and sleet was predicted to turn to all snow late Sunday. As of now, the snow is expected to continue until 11:00 AM this morning.

Lastly, a pardon is being discussed by Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir and two British lawmakers for a teacher who is being charged with insulting religion in the region. The announcement came shortly after the two British lawmakers -- in Khartoum since Saturday to secure the release of Gillian Gibbons -- announced they were delaying their planned departure from the capital. Nazir Ahmed and Sayeeda Warsi, Muslim members of the House of Lords, have been working to persuade the Sudanese government that releasing Gibbons would create international goodwill toward their country. Gibbons is currently under fire for allowing her classmates to name a teddy bear "Mohammed," the name shared by a prophet of the Muslim faith. Some protestors have even gone as far to call for her execution. The pardon will be discussed for most of the day today.

That just about does it for the news for this Monday, December 3rd.

News Update 11-26-07

2007-11-25T17:33:00.000-08:00

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.

News Update 11/20/07

2007-11-20T05:14:00.000-08:00

National News

California Attorney General Jerry Brown is suing nearly two-dozen companies for manufacturing and selling toys that contain lead. The suit would force the companies, including Mattel and Toys R Us, to change the way the products are inspected. Michael Green with the Center for Environmental Health says he applauds the state for doing what the federal government won't. Some of the other toy sellers named in the suit include Wal-Mart, Target, Sears and Costco.

Nearly ten-thousand people in the U.S. were targets of hate crimes last year. FBI statistics show the number of hate crimes reported to law enforcement agencies rose eight percent, after hitting a decade low in 2005. ABC News cites the statistics as showing that more than half the reported hate crimes were motivated by a racial bias. Statistics also show that almost 20 percent of hate crimes showed a religious bias, 15-and-a-half percent involved a sexual orientation bias and 12 percent demonstrated bias based on ethnicity or national origin.

State News

Sixteen years, six governors, and 15-billion-dollars later the Big Big project is finally coming to an end. The "Boston Globe" reports the Big Dig office will officially close on December 31st. The largest public works project in the nation's history has brought years of detours,161 new highway lanes, tunnel leaks, lawsuits and a skyrocketing price tag that started out at under three-billion-dollars. At the height of the project the staff numbered eleven-hundred, in addition to five-thousand construction workers. By the end of the year just 38 people will remain on the project. Officials say it could take up to three years to wrap up all the financial and legal details.

Governor Patrick's life science bill has hit a roadblock on Beacon Hill. Despite a push by the administration, the legislature is not likely to act on it before they adjourn for the year tomorrow. Patrick wants the state to invest a billion-dollars in the biotechnology industry over ten years. The governor argues if the state doesn't make the commitment life science companies could decide not to expand in Massachusetts.

Sports

Around the majors, Mike Lowell is reportedly returning to the Red Sox with a new three-year deal, Tom Glavine agreed to a one-year pact with Atlanta, Mariano Rivera accepted the Yankees' three-year contract, and Greg Maddux agreed to a one-year pact with the Padres.

The Boston Bruins face off in Toronto tonight against the Maple Leafs. Game starts at 7pm.

UML Field Hockey Players; Michelle Harrington, Missy Seeley, and Jayne Vagenas, were named to the 2007 National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Division II All-American First Team. while Jaci Moulton was named to the All-American Second Team. The River Hawks finished the season 19-3 and made their fourth consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament, including winning the NCAA championship in 2005. UML captured the 2007 Northeast-10 regular season with a 15-1 regular season conference record. The River Hawks won the NE-10 tournament title for the fifth straight year.

For all of UMass Lowell’s sports details and schedules, visit goriverhawks.com.

That's the latest in weather, news, and sports on WUML Lowell 91.5 fm!

News Update 11-18-07

2007-11-18T17:39:00.000-08:00

Campus News

One million dollars was recieved from the state a few weeks ago, by UMass Lowell to renovate the Bellegrade Boathouse, and renovations are starting to go underway. The one million dollars will help to get the project started, however donations and other funds will help with most of the work, according to Marty Meehan. It has already been planned that the Boathouse, which is used by the UML and Lowell High School crew teams and the Merrimack River Rowing Association, will recieve a new roof, new windows, doors, gutters, trim, siding, bathrooms, boat docks, signs, and systems to prevent flooding at the boathouse, as well as repairs to fencing and the building's deck.

UMass Lowell is trying to establish a closer connection with the Lowell business community, and is doing so by forming a partnership with the Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank, along with the Aide Family. The Aides own some 25 area Dunkin Donuts restaurants. In 1968, Tom Adie's father, William, started the first store on Chelmsford Street in Chelmsford, just off I-495. Also, it is worth noting that Lowell Five is the city's oldest financial institution. It is speculated that there is much more to come out of this partnership, including a McDonalds on campus, among other businesses that will hopefully generate more money for the University.

For a brief story in sports, Riverhawks goal Nevin Hamilton is finally starting to hit his stride, even after recovering from an injury last season. So far, Hamilton has been started in the first seven games this season. Hamilton, 1-1-2 with a 2.89 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage in his starts, posted a career-high 36 saves in a 3-3 tie against UMass-Amherst last weekend.

National News

Debate over the use of force, perceptions of threats and police training have arisen this week, after there has been much discussion about an incident in New York where 18 year old Khiel Coppin was shot to death by NYPD officers on November 12th. Coppin was outside of his home, and had a hairbrush in his hand, which the officers believed was a gun. Police came to the home after a 911 call from Coppin was responded to, saying he had a gun. Coppin was mentally ill. It has been said by many debaters and analysts that sometimes on the field, candy bars, wallets, even baggy pants have been percieved as guns or other weapons. A candlelight vigil was held for the teenager Tuesday, and further investigation by the NYPD and federal and state authorities has commenced since the incident.

Lastly, according to a private research group's controversial analysis of annual FBI crime statistics, Detroit has been named America's most dangerous city. The data was published by CQ Press, a unit of Congressional Quarterly Inc. Supposedly, Detroit leads the nation in homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and auto theft. The study has come under a lot of fire by government officials lately, mostly by the FBI and the American Society of Criminology. Its accuracy and findings have been called into question, and criticized as "too simplistic."

That'll do it for the news on this Monday, November 19th.

2007-11-15T08:11:00.000-08:00

News Update 11/15/2007

National News

Last night in Washington, House Democrats pushed a $50 billion bill for the Iraq War, requiring President Bush to bring home troops in the upcoming weeks, and end combat by December 2008. President Bush had already begun reducing the amount of troops in Iraq, however was opposed to a congressionally mandated timetable on the war. The measure pushed through by the House Democrats is considered unlikely to pass in the Senate, however Democrats wanted voters to know that they refuse to give up. The White House did pledge to veto the bill, and republicans stated they would back up the president.

Oregon researches reported yesterday that they had cloned monkey embryos and extracted stem cells, which offers the strongest proof yet that the same can be carried out with human cells. The actual cloning of human embryos, however, remains some time away, due to technical as well as ethical concerns.

Local News

Two 14 year old Lowell boys broke into the Wang Middle School to steal musical equipment, and are currently facing charges. Police were alerted to the break-in by an alarm, and upon showing up at the school, found the boys walking away with the stolen equipment. The alarm sounded 11:34p.m., where the boys broke into the school’s music room. The boys were arrested at midnight and face breaking and entering charges, larceny over $250, possession of burglary tools, and a curfew violation.

Voters in Massachusetts will get a chance to give their opinion on Governor Deval Patricks casino plan as early as Feb. 5th. Primary voters will be given the question: “Do you support the establishment of up to three resort casinos in Massachusetts?”

Sports News

The future of UMass Lowell’s hockey tem has been secured, at least, for the next 2 years. The University has a two-year extension of the Lease of the Tsonga’s arena, which was announced Wednesday. The River Hawks will be traveling to Providence College on Friday, and Northeastern on Saturday, for two games on the road this weekend.

The Boston Red Sox will be raising ticket prices next season by 9%, adding more money to what is already the highest ticket price in baseball. This price raise will bring the bleacher seat price to $26, a $3 raise from this past season, and Field Box seats will raise to $125 a piece. The Upper Bleacher seats, which are the lowest priced tickets, will remain at $12, as well as the Standing Room Only tickets, which will remain at their current process.

For all of UMass Lowell’s sports details and schedules, visit goriverhawks.com.

That's the latest in weather, news, and sports on WUML Lowell 91.5 fm!

News Update 11/14/07

2007-11-14T05:56:00.000-08:00

National News

As Americans get ready for a big day of Thanksgiving feasting and football, the University of Illinois Extention Program at Urbana has some interesting information regarding turkeys. Americans will put away quite a bit of the bird over the upcoming holiday, on average, 675-million pounds of turkey are consumed every Thanksgiving. That translates to 45-million turkeys each Thanksgiving, while 22-million turkeys are eaten each Christmas. In 2005 the average American ate 16-point-seven-pounds of turkey. And for the record, male turkeys gobble, hens do not. They make a clicking noise.

State News

Already short of cash, the state is in for more problems. According to House Speaker Sal DiMasi the Lottery's revenue shortfall could top 200-million-dollars, or twice what was previously thought. Soon after DiMasi made those remarks in a speech, Lottery spokesman Dan Rosenfeld said the gap could be as much as 252-million-dollars. He says the Lottery is having near-record sales, but the executive branch has issued overly optimistic revenue projections for the last two years. Rosenfield says "there's no shortfall, just differing revenue projections." Proceeds from the Lottery go to the state's cities and towns.

More parents in Massachusetts are sending their children to school without the state's required vaccinations. The reason is they're afraid the various shots could have dangerous health consequences, including autism. However doctors say not getting those shots poses a greater danger. Legally, parents in Massachusetts can opt out of the shots for their kids two ways, through a health exemption or a religious exemption. Despite the growing trend, Massachusetts has one of the highest immunization rates in the nation.

Somerville Police are looking for a 13-year-old boy who didn't return home after school yesterday. Jack Shay is a student at the Kennedy School in Somerville. His parents say he has a slight learning disability and often likes to walk around sections of Somerville and Cambridge. Friends say they saw him leave school. He has no history of running away.

Sports

Paul Pierce led the way with 31 points, 11 rebounds and six assists as the Celtics stayed unbeaten with a 101-86 win over the Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse. The Celtics are back on the court tonight. They host New Jersey at the TD Banknorth Garden at 7:30 p.m.

The UMass Lowell Riverhawks take the ice twice this upcoming weekend! The puck drops at 7, Friday Night (away) against the Friars at Providence College and again on Saturday Night at 7 (away) against Northeastern University.

UMass Lowell head coach Shannon Hlebichuk was named the National Field Hockey Coaches Association North Region Coach of the Year for 2007. In six seasons at the helm of the River Hawk field hockey program, Hlebichuk has compiled 100 wins, five Northeast-10 tournament titles and the 2005 Division II National Championship. In addition to being named the NFHCA North Region Coach of the Year, Hlebichuk was also tabbed as the Northeast-10 Coach of the Year for the fifth consecutive year after guiding UML to an 19-3 season and its fifth straight NE-10 tournament title.

Freshman Jillian Hadder earned second team honors while Sophmore Elsa LeGrand was named to third team as the Northeast-10 All-Conference Volleyball Team was announced Saturday. The honor marked the second straight year for LeGrand, who was named to the second team in 2006, while Hadder enjoyed her first appearance on the teams.The River Hawks capped the season with a 12-22 record, including a 7-7 to clip the NE-10, good for sixth place. Hadder and LeGrand are two of 11 players returning next season for UML.

For all of UMass Lowell’s sports details and schedules, visit goriverhawks.com.

That's the latest in weather, news, and sports on WUML Lowell 91.5 fm!

News Update 11/12/07

2007-11-11T18:51:00.000-08:00

Campus News

State legislators had a hearing last week of a proposed legislation which calls for 750 million dollars in improvements over the next five years, and an additional $1.25 million over the following five years to help update old buildings on several Massachusetts college campuses, including UMass Lowell. Last year, a consultant estimated that 90% of the buildings on campus are outdated, and that $225 million in repairs are needed.

Chancellor Marty Meehan will be a keynote speaker at a major regional economic event this Tuesday. The event is called "Back to the Future: Regaining New England's Competitiveness," and is being sponsored by the New England Economic Partnership, or NEEP. The daylong event brings together leading public policymakers and economic analysts from around the region. The conference will also include a national economic forecast presented by Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Economy.com. It will take place at 12:30 next Tuesday at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Auditorium on 600 Atlantic Avenue in Boston.

Students will get the chance to meet artist Richard Metzgar on Thursday. He'll be holding a discussion in O' Leary Library at 3:15 PM on his exhibit "walkingposters," which will include digital prints, digital maps on vinyl, and audio-visual components. The gallery itself will be on display on the first floor of the McGauvran Student Union, and both the gallery and talk will be free of charge.

The Former Secretary of Transportation Fred Salvucci will be in Kitson Hall in room 309 on Friday, November 15th, to talk about the state of Public Transportation in Massachusetts. The talk is called “Transportation Challenges Facing New England: Where We Are, Where We Need to Be, and How to Get There,” and is a part of the Regional Economic and Social Development Center for Industrial Competitiveness fall seminar series. The talk will be held on that day at 12:30 pm. Mr. Salvucci is also a senior lecturer and research associate in MIT's Center for Transportation and Logistics.

America Recycles Day takes place on November 15th. An event on campus, in the Wannalancit Mills MIL Conference Room, from 4 to 5:30 pm, will be held in honor of it by the The River Ambassadors – 25 high school student volunteers committed to environmental stewardship. The event is meant to help raise awareness of global warming, and is being sponsored by several other organizations, including the Community Health Alliance, The Lowell National Historical Park, and other organizations.

National News

Arrests were made at a Veterans Day event outside Boston City Hall yesterday. Several anti-war protesters were demonstrationg outside the building, from a group called Veterans for Peace. 15 of it's members and supporters would not move away from the podium, and as a result several were arrested, but an exact number was not given. The protestors said that they are in opposition to the War in Iraq, and unfortunately many veterans view them as traitors because of this fact.

Lastly, here's an update on the WGA writer's strike from yesterday. It has ben conformed by the Fox network that the New Season of the hit show "24" will not air this year, mainly because the season is unfinished. This news has dissappointed fans of the show, and caused Fox to scramble its winter schedule. This has, however, presented the opportunity for Fox to debut some of its new shows, including the Terminator spin-off titled "The Sarah Connor Chronicles," as well as "New Amsterdam" and "The Return of Jezebel James." Also, network execs are hoping the continued success of "American Idol" will help fill the void money-wise.

That does it for the news today this Monday, November 12th.

News Update 11/8/07

2007-11-08T07:18:00.001-08:00

Weather

Found on Weather Blog.. attached to the right hand side of this page!

National News

The striking Hollywood screen writers have been told that they need to turn in unfinished projects by Friday, ensuring that they do not work for any studios during the walkout. On the East Coast, the writers will need to turn in their work as well, however the deadline has not been set as of right now.

The shuttle Discovery came to a safe landing in Cape Canaveral, FL yesterday, which ended the challenging construction on the International Space Station, and emergency repairs that faced the crew. The shuttle landed shortly after 1p.m., and had traveled more than 6.2 million miles since it left the launch pad on Oct 23rd.

State News

The University Ave bridge in Lowell currently has a weight limit of 13 tons, however soon the weight limit will likely be restricted to just 4 tons. This will allow only passenger cars and trucks to use the span. A hearing was scheduled on Nov 20th to discuss the increase in restriction, and the change needs approval from the Massachusetts Highway Department to take effect, however according to City Manager Bernie Lynch, city officials will be enforcing the restriction on an emergency basis almost immediately. Repair work on the bride is likely to begin in late winter or early spring, and may require the bridge to be closed for as much as a month.

A multi-vehical wreck in Lowell has left seven people injured. A Ford F-150 pickup truck crossed lanes on Willard Street, hit the curb, and launched itself on top of a red Chevy Blazer stopped at a red light on Bridge Street. This caused the Checy Blazer to then hit the gray Honda Civic, stopped behind it at the light. The man driving the f-150 was speeding to leave the scene of an accident he had just caused a few minutes earlier, where he rear-ended another vehicle and hit an LRTA bus. We await news of if the man driving the F-150 will be facing criminal charges, as he was taken to the hospital still unconscious after the accident.

Sports

The Boston Celtics faced the Denver Nuggets last night, and remain undefeated after 3 games. The win was 119-93, and they managed to score 77 points by halftime, and kept that lead throughout the game. The Celtics field goal percentage of 64.5 was their best since November 24th, 1993, where they shot 65.1 percent.

UMass Lowell Field Hockey was selected as the No. 1 seed in the North Region and host of the 2007 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championship. UML will host the semifinal Friday, Nov. 9 and championship Sunday, Nov. 11 at the Cushing Field Complex. The NCAA championship match is slated for Sunday, Nov. 11 at 1:00. The full schedule for the 2007 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championship is available at GORIVERHAWKS.COM!

For all of UMass Lowell's sports scores and information, visit GORIVERHAWKS.COM !

That's the latest in weather, news, and sports on WUML Lowell 91.5 FM !

News Update 11/07/07

2007-11-07T06:41:00.000-08:00

Weather

Found on Weather Blog.. attached to the right hand side of this page!

National News

The use of birth control pills could endanger the heart. That's according to a new study that links the popular contraception devices to plaques that could clog heart arteries. The study, reported in "USA Today," says that for every ten years of pill usage, the likelihood of finding plaques in key arteries increases by between 20 and 30-percent.

Weather shouldn't be a factor later today when the Space Shuttle Discovery lands at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. Sunny, cool and breezy conditions are expected for the 1:01 p.m. Eastern Time landing. The shuttle is landing after a successful 15-day mission that saw the installation of a new module on the International Space Station.

State News

Three communities had nonbinding casino questions on their ballots yesterday. Voters in Worcester, Pittsfield, and Chicopee all said yes to the possibility of having casinos built in their cities. Voters in each of those communities voted by more than 50 percent in favor. Governor Patrick's casino proposal currently before the legislature calls for three casinos in the state.

The Massachusetts Lottery hasn't been doing very well in recent years. But they've finally had one big score! Red Sox fever, and their World Series win has proved to be a grand slam for the Sox themed scratch ticket. The Red Sox-branded five-and-10-dollar Lottery tickets have produced 220-million-dollars in sales so far this year, with seven weeks left to go. The ticket was introduced last year, and it had just 120-million-dollars in sales for all of 2006. The Lottery says fans shelled out more than three-million-dollars during the week of the World Series for Sox lottery tickets.

Sports

UMass Lowell Field Hockey was selected as the No. 1 seed in the North Region and host of the 2007 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championship. UML will host the semifinal Friday, Nov. 9 and championship Sunday, Nov. 11 at the Cushing Field Complex. The NCAA championship match is slated for Sunday, Nov. 11 at 1:00. The full schedule for the 2007 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championship is available at GORIVERHAWKS.COM!

Curt Schilling has agreed to a one-year deal to return to the World Series Champion Red Sox. General Manager, Theo Epstein made the announcement on Tuesday. Financial terms were not released, but Schilling said on his web site... 38 pitches... that the contract is worth $8-million-dollars in guaranteed base salary, and includes $2-million-dollars in bonuses for six weigh-ins. Schilling, turns 41 next Wednesday.

The Celtics go for win number 3 tonight, when they host the Denver Nuggets at the TD BankNorth Garden and the Bruins face off with the Sabres tonight in Buffalo.

For all of UMass Lowell's sports scores and information, visit GORIVERHAWKS.COM !

That's the latest in weather, news, and sports on WUML Lowell 91.5 FM !

News Update 11/5/07

2007-11-06T05:03:00.000-08:00

Weather

Found on Weather Blog.. attached to the right hand side of this page!

National News

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to vote on President Bush's nomination for the nation's new attorney general. Bush said his nominee Michael Mukasey is, quote, "plenty qualified to be attorney general." Mukasey is expected to breeze through the voting process.

At least one late night talk show host is showing his support for the Writers Guild of America strike. Jay Leno, the host of NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, came out to the picket lines yesterday with boxes of Krispy Kreme doughnuts for the writers. Leno's head writer, Jim Shaughnessy, said they just want fair residual payments. Shaughnessy said the studios are just being hard liners about not giving residual payments on Internet run shows. The "Tonight" show plans to air reruns during the walkout.

State News

Full coverage of citywide WiFi in Boston is not likely until sometime in 2009. Officials say Boston's push for citywide Internet access is delayed by technical challenges and slower than anticipated fundraising. Those in charge had hoped to have it operating by the end of next year. Mayor Thomas Menino unveiled the city's plan in July 2006.

Lawmakers are debating how much money should be spent to update the state's college campuses. Governor Patrick has proposed spending two-billion-dollars over the next decade to upgrade them. Officials at Fitchburg State say they need to replace antiquated lead pipes. Salem State College has closed its library because it's not structurally safe. And Bunker Hill Community College needs space, as it hasn't added a building since it opened in 1973. Massachusetts has been called by college officials one of the cheapest states when it comes to spending money on campus improvements.

Sports

Nate Jenkins, a native of Templeton, MA and resident of Lowell, who starred at UMass Lowell from 1999-2004, placed seventh at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trial Saturday afternoon at Central Park. Seeded 20th among 130 runners, Jenkins significantly eclipsed his seeding by running the course in a personal record 2 hours 14 minutes 56 seconds. Though he fell short of automatically qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Games, the showing placed Jenkins among the country's elite marathoners. Jenkins, currently in his third year as an assistant coach with the UML cross country and track and field teams, is expected to run the U.S. Half Marathon Championship in Houston on Jan. 13.

UMass Lowell received the No. 3 seed and will face Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) in the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Tournament Thursday, hosted by Franklin Pierce University. The invitation marks the third-ever appearance in the NCAAs for the River Hawks, who also advanced in 2003 and 2004. The River Hawks and Owls meet Thursday, Nov. 8 at 4:00pm at Sodexho Field while Franklin Pierce and Le Moyne battle at 7:00. The NCAA regional final is slated for Saturday at 1:00.

UMass Lowell was named the No. 5 seed and will face No. 4 Merrimack Friday in the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Tournament in Albany, NY, the NCAA announced Monday afternoon. The College of Saint Rose earned the No. 1 seed and will host the UMass Lowell-Merrimack winner on Sunday. Bryant University earned the No. 2 seed and hosts the winner between No. 3 Franklin Pierce and Holy Family University. The River Hawks and Merrimack will play the match at the Albany Academy for Girls in Albany, NY, Saint Rose's home pitch. Franklin Pierce and Holy Family meet Friday in Smithfield, RI. All match times have yet to be determined.

Curt Schilling may be coming back to Boston for another season. The "Boston Herald" reports, the Red Sox are close to completing a one-year deal with incentives for the soon-to-be 41-year-old to return to Beantown. Schilling was 9-and-8 with a 3.87 ERA this year.

For all of UMass Lowell's sports scores and information, visit GORIVERHAWKS.COM !

That's the latest in weather, news, and sports on WUML Lowell 91.5 FM !

2007-11-05T10:49:00.000-08:00

Athletic Report

In Men’s Cross Country action, the Riverhawks placed second at the NCAA Northeast Region Championship on Saturday, advancing them to the NCAA Championship for the eighth straight year. Graduate student Stephen Dewitt placed second in the race, finishing the 10K course with a time of 31:56.9. Junior Ruben Sanca finished in a tight third with a time of 32:08.1. Seven UML runners finished in the top 18 positions, making a successful day for the Hawk’s overall. The final contest of the season for the team will be at the NCAA Championship in Joplin, Missouri on November 17, with race time to be determined.

The UMass Lowell Women’s Cross Country also finished second at the NCAA Northeast Region Championship on Saturday. The team was led by freshman Lyra Clark, who finished the 6K course eighth overall with a time of 23:17.7. Junior Christina DaLomba placed ninth and senior Amanda Sousa placed tenth. The five placing runners finished with positions of 8, 9, 10, 19, and 28, giving the team a score of 74 overall. The win qualifies the team for the NCAA championship in Joplin, Missouri on November 17, with race time to be determined.

The Riverhawks Men’s Hockey team lost both contests of last week, with a 3-1 loss to Merrimack College on Thursday and a 7-3 loss to Boston University on Saturday. In both games, the Hawk’s squandered early leads, with a 1-0 lead against Merrimack and a 3-1 lead against BU. Against Boston, goalkeeper Chris Auger saved 35 shots, with the Terriers shooting an unprecedented 42 shots on goal. With the two losses, the Hawks drop to 2-2-1 on the season, with an 0-2-1 record in the Northeast-10. The boys next take to the ice on Friday at the University of New Hampshire. Game time is set for 7 PM.

The Riverhawks Men’s Soccer Team lost in the semi-final round of the division tournament against Southern Connecticut University on Wednesday, and await their fate following the NCAA pairings this evening. Junior Defensman Ancil Farrier of Southern Connecticut scored the only goal in the 1-0 contest on a penalty kick in the 34^th minute of the contest. UML outshot their opponents 12-7 overall and 6-4 on target, but still dropped the contest. Junior midfielder Matias Pietropinto came close to drawing the game in 52^nd minute, but his rebound attempt was blocked by the opposing goalkeeper.

In local national sports news, the Patriots remained undefeated after a hard-fought game with the also undefeated Colts. The final score of 24-20 was reached after the Pats scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to overcome a 10 point deficit. Tom Brady threw for 255 yards and three TD’s in the contest, while also throwing for 2 INT’s. Randy Moss led the receiving corps all day, but Wes Welker provided the extra support on the game winning drive and on several key punt returns. The Pat’s are on bye next week, but will return on November 18 when they take the road to face their divisional rival Buffalo Bills. Game time is set for 1 PM.

Campus News

2007-11-04T16:46:00.000-08:00

Campus News

$250,000 in state funds was proposed by Chancellor Marty Meehan at a recent press conference, to be used for an initiative that investigates the links between breast cancer and the ties it has to environmental causes. UMass Lowell is partnering with the Silent Spring Institute and the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition on this initiative. Massachusetts has taken the lead among states to investigating the causes of the disease, and reducing the use of carcinogenic chemicals.

Dean David Wegman of the School of Health and Environment has started many new interdisciplinary projects, and they are getting plenty of funding. Known as Signature Initiatives, research, service, and teaching will be combined in these projects. The first two projects are funded on a budget of $28,000 dollars. Based on the results of surveys and focus groups, strategies such as walking and bicycling will be implemented by project leaders, and collaboration with the administration will be necessary to improve the campus environment to support such activities. Awareness of worker health and safety issues, chronic diseases, and obesity will be the primary focus of these projects media-wise.

Professor Mark Hines, chairman of the Department of Biological Sciences, and his colleagues have recently been investigating the emissions of methane and other non-ecofriendly gasses from marshes and wetlands. Hines recently came back from a five-week trip to Switzerland, where he worked with other colleagues at the Swiss Federal Research Institute to quantify the relationship between methane formation and the distribution of vegetation in Swiss wetlands. Hines' research will be expanded upon later this month, when further studies will take place in the Adriondacks in New York with funding from the National Science Foundation.

A collection of UMass Lowell researchers are developing a new decive that will help to revolutionize airport and general homeland security. The device is basically an electronic nose that sniffs for explosives. The researchers say that the nose will be as sensitive as that of a bloodh0und, and will detect and eliminate the threat of explosives with much more accuracy and precision. This multidisciplinary collaborative effort recently recieved a three-year, $800,000 dollar grant from the National Science Foundation. Researchers hope to come up with a product prototype by 2010.

Energetic particles in space that are a danger to astronauts and satellites are being heavily investigated by the UML Center for Atmospheric Research. The effort is being spearheaded by a group of researchers, led by atmospheric scientist Quiang Xong, co-director Paul Song and researcher Xuzhi Zhou. The European Space Agency's CLUSTER spacecraft is where most of the data was collected for the initiative. The generation of the killer electrons, as well as the velocity at which they move through space, was heavily investigated, and will continue to be expanded on by the team of researchers.

Lastly, the fairly new Technology, Engineering and Math-Sciences, or TEAMS, program has marked its first year anniversary this month, although it still needs lots of support. The program has allowed 270 regional high schools in Massachusetts to take UMass Lowell courses part-time. As it stands right now, 32 specially-selected 11th- and 12th-grade students from 12 local school districts are enrolled in UMass Lowell courses. The four courses being offered — environmental biotechnology, interactive robotics, bat engineering design, and assistive technology and electronics — developed through a collaboration of UMass Lowell faculty and regional high school teachers, are designed to supplement, rather than to replace, advanced high school courses, according to the people running the program. The program has State Senator Steve Panagiotakos to thank for its existence, who offered $650,000 dollars to fund the program, and continued student enrollment for its year-long success. The program is a collaboration of the University’s deans of Education, Engineering and Sciences, and is being overseen by coordinator Donald Rhine, who is also a Tyngsboro High School physics and math teacher.

News Update 10/30/07

2007-10-30T05:37:00.000-07:00

Weather: Needs to be added by forecaster!

National News

Charges are expected today in the slaying of a 24-year-old woman who responded to an online ad for a nanny on a popular community website. A 19-year-old man was arrested in the death of Katherine Ann Olson in what has been dubbed as the "Craigslist murder." Olson was found dead Friday night in the trunk of her car at a local nature preserve. Police have not discussed a motive for the slaying.

It's been more than two years since Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans levees and many of the city's police and firefighters are still working out of temporary trailers. But according to the city's recovery director Ed Blakely all of that is about to change. Blakely told reporters yesterday that the recent approval of 200-million-dollars in state-issued bonds will help push repairs on police buildings and firehouses into full swing. He says the goal is to complete the repairs before the third anniversary of Katrina.

Instead of canceling her concert in San Diego due to wildfires in the area, singer Gwen Stefani has decided to perform and donate all proceeds to the fire victims. E! Online reports in a recent radio interview, Stefani said she initially thought about cancelling her concert out of respect, but decided donating would be more useful. She is scheduled to perform tonight at Cox Arena. Meanwhile, Los Angeles Galaxy star David Beckham is also pitching in to aid the wildfire victims. He will join his team for a fundraising match against Hollywood United FC on November 4th.

Campus News

The Counseling Center staff and Health Educator, Tracy Moore, invites all students to attend an informal, “drop in” gathering in McGauvran Student Center, 2nd floor, on Wednesday, Oct. 31 from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. The Counseling Center staff and interns will be available for questions and information about their services, which are free and confidential. Tracy Moore and UML student members of “Active Minds,” will be present also. Active Minds is a national organization formed by college student Alison Malmon, who after losing her brother to suicide, developed a passion for promoting awareness of mental health. New members are welcome to join. There will be Snacks and possibly some giveaways!

The Student Veterans' Organization needs help, sending care packages to US Troops over-seas. Help send them a bit of home for the upcoming holiday season with cards, candy, toiletries, coffee, books, magazines, CD's, DVD's... the list goes on! The packages will be collected from Nov. 1st to Nov 21st at multiple collection sites on campus; including in McGauvran near the SIC booth, Campus Rec Center, and Southwick Food Court. For a complete list of donation items and collection sites contact Michael Peeples at michael_peeples@student.uml.edu. Or visit the Current Students page on the UML website!

The UMass Lowell English Department and the Barnes and Noble Bookstore at UMass Lowell will host a reading by Augusten Burroughs (author of Running with Scissors and Possible Side Effects) and John Elder Robison (author of Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s). Burroughs and Robison will appear on Friday, Nov. 2, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. in the Comley Lane Theater at Mahoney Hall on UML's South Campus. This program is part of the 2007 Concord Festival of Authors, funded in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. The event is free and open to the public.
For additional information, contact Melissa_Pennell@uml.edu or 978-934-4198.

Sports

In 2004 it had taken the Red Sox 86 years to win another World Series! This time it was just four seasons in between wins! But this new time frame didn't stop fans from jamming Boston streets today for another victory parade. The streets were lined with adoring fans as the city celebrated the World Series champions: "our" Boston Red Sox today. Similar to 2004, the city held a Rolling Rally that began at Fenway Park and concluded near City Hall Plaza, with the team aboard Duck Boats. The team returned from Denver yesterday afternoon, after beating the Rockies in four straight games.

UMass Lowell Field Hockey, fresh of its fifth straight Northeast-10 Conference Tournament Championship, was selected as the No. 1 seed in the North Region and host of the 2007 NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championship, the NCAA announced Monday afternoon. UML will host the semifinal Friday, Nov. 9 and championship Sunday, Nov. 11 at the Cushing Field Complex. The NCAA championship match is slated for Sunday, Nov. 11 at 1:00.

That's the latest in weather, news, and sports on WUML Lowell 91.5 fm!

Campus News

2007-10-28T16:41:00.000-07:00

So far, UMass Lowell's REACH, or Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals, policy has been a big success. The policy implements elements of the European Union's chemical regulations policies, and for the last two years the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production has been using the policy to educate business on how to work with chemicals in a way that makes it more sustainable for the environment. The policy took effect June 1st as part of the University's Chemicals Policy initiative. Last month, Joel Tickner of the Lowell Center presented training workshops, “Turning REACH into an Opportunity: Implementing the European Union’s New REACH Legislation,” in Michigan and New York to more than 150 companies and government organizations. The Center held four similar workshops last year.

Last Wednesday, Chancellor Marty Meehan announced to the public plans to build a 97,00 square foot Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center, which will be devoted to researching manufacturing processes for nanotechnology and biotechnology. Construction is projected to be completed by the year 2010. Merrimack Valley Economic Development Council Director Bob Halpin said the project would help existing companies, while attracting new ones to the area. Most nanomanufacturing companies in the area are looking forward to continue their work with UMass Lowell and the Emerging Technology center.

The public plans that Meehan announced Wednesday also include much more plans for University expansion, including two new academic buildings, a 500-space parking garage, additional student housing, and a doubling of the number of undergraduate students living on campus. The University currently has 8,500 undergraduate students, which Meehan believes the new residence halls will be able to accomodate much better, as well as the newer students Meehan hopes to pull in. The new parking garage is projected to cost 15 million dollars. On top of that, there are also plans to move the art department closer to downtown Lowell to take advantage of the creative economy in the area, as well as plans to renovate an existing building to esablish an Innovations Center for Life Sciences, which will house the Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center, a collaboration with the UMass Medical School in Worcester that helps companies turn ideas into products.

Lastly, as a part of the Hunger-Homeless Awareness Week, students at UMass Lowell unveiled their annual Cardboard City Project. The event was sponsored by Kappa Sigma, and challenged students to spend the night ina cardboard box on the front lawn of Smith Hall in order to raise awareness for the homeless. The event generated a lot of donations, and donations will continue to be accepted by the Hunger Homeless Commission of Lowell.

SOX WIN ALCS

2007-10-21T21:16:00.000-07:00

I would just like everybody to know that the Boston Red Sox have just defeated the Cleveland Indians 11-2, earning the title of American League Champions. The Red Sox will now be facing off against the Colorado Rockies in the 2007 World Series, the first game being Wednesday Night at 8:00 PM on the Fox network. Congratulations to Pedroia, Lowell, Ortiz, Manny, Youkilis, Schilling, Beckett, and all the rest for making this baseball season one of the greatest we've seen in a while.

Campus News

2007-10-21T16:08:00.000-07:00

UMass Lowell's Baseball Research Center has been getting mass media coverage lately during World Series season. The Bat Lab is the official certification site for all NCAA and Major League Baseball bats. Baseball testing services are also provided by the Bat Lab to Major League Baseball. The Boston Globe, The Lowell Sun and the Lawrence Eagle Tribune have all ran stories on the lab, and WBZ, WFXT and WBUR have all featured it n their TV news programs. The Bat Lab was also featured on October 17th, on the show "Wired Science," which will also be re-run twice in November. This has generated great publiciy for the Bat Lab, as well as the University in general.

UML Alumni Patrick Kaplo, a high school science teacher in Litchfield, New Hampshire, has experienced the opportunity to teach a physics class in Hyderabad, India, which he has been doing since the summer because of the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program. He teaches the class at K.V. Tirumalagiri High School, which is about 750 miles south of the city of New Delhi. Dr. Ananda Vardhana Telapakalle Sharma is the teacher who he exchanged classes with, and both have found the experience enjoyable. Since there is tremendous social and competitive pressure to do well in school in India, behavioral problems have almost been nonexistent, making the job easier for Kaplo than here in the US. Of course, this is just one of the many cultural differences between the US and India that Kaplo has noticed since the start of his stay there. Kaplo will return to his home school in January. You can read about his adventures at http://kaploinindia.blogspot.com.

Business and Liberal Arts students got the chance to explore job opportunities at the Office of Career Services' Business and Liberal Arts Career Fair. At the fair, the students were able to meet with a large selection of employers, as well as schedule on-site interviews and get a larger perspective of the post-college job market. An Engineering and Technology Career Fair will be held by the Office of Career Services on October 24th in the Rec Center, from 1 to 4 PM.

The accounting firm of Vitale, Caturano & Co. recently made a donation of $25,000 to UMass Lowell. The money is intended to open up a discretionary fund to assist the faculty and students in the Accounting Department. The Public Higher Education Endowment Incentive Program added more money to the gift, making the overall award add up to $37,500. The company is recognized as one of the fastest growing companies in the nation.

Campus News

2007-10-14T18:07:00.000-07:00

The funding goal for a Honors Fellows fund-raiser has more than doubled their goal as Marty Meehan welcomed more than 200 guests at the Allen House and the Comely-Lane Theatre earlier this month. the contributions amounted up to $117,000, the largest amount ever donated by the University at a single event. The money will be used to support the educational pursuits of exceptional students. Six student honors scholarships were awarded to Jennifer Fernandes, Sarah Fischer, Curran Kelleher, Paul Litchfield, Timothy Watts, and Scott Walfield.

The Universtiy's Toxic Use Reduction Institute, or TURI, and the Work Environment department have formed a grassroots partnership to help make a safer work environment for Vietnamese immigrants in Lowell who are in the floor-finishing business. Thanks to the efforts of the partnership, several distributors have stopped stocking flammable sealants, and others have provided training for the immigrants. Through a $12,000 and second year $15,000 grant, the two organizations were able to test floor sealants for flammable materials, as well as provide hands-on training for workers and educate them as well as the rest of the Vietnamese community on the dangers of lacquer floor finishing products. The partnership is now working with Viet AID in Dorchester to host another training session in November and to include floor-finishing product information in it's First Time Home-Buyer's Guide.

The Lowell Center for Sustainable Production is spearheading an initiative to detect toys for large amounts of lead, making them safer for children to play with as well as the environment. Concern over this issue has risen in recent months due to many children's toys made in China being recalled due to large amounts of lead being detected in them. Research associate Sally Edwards, along with co-director Ken Geiser are developing the Sustainable Toys Initiative. Their goal is to engage toy manufacturers, designers, vendors, non-governmental organizations, researchers and government policy makers on ways to improve toy safety and sustainability. The hope is that this will lead to toy innovation in the areas of design and production, reduce product liability and boost public knowledge and confidence in these products.

The Computer Science Department at UMass Lowell has formed a new program called "Performamatics: Connecting Computer Science to the Performing, Design, and Fine Arts." Professors involved in this brand new program include Jesse Heines, Fred Martin, Karen Roehr, Jim Jeffers, Gina Greher, Nancy Selleck, and Sarah Kuhn. The case for the program is that most art created today involves the use of a lot of high technology, and that this course will show students the relationship Computer Science has with these seemingly non-technical fields, as well as educate them on how to implement their ideas in real-world environments. The National Science Foundation awarded the two-year program with a $368,162 grant, and is supported by a group of project advisors that include representatives from museums, theaters, and engineering and computer science professional organizations in Lowell, the Merrimack Valley region and beyond.

Dave Lewis, a professor of manufacturing and information systems in the University Management Department, raced, with a friend, 3,728 miles acros Africa in a 1966 Volkswagen beetle this past summer. The friend that he brought with him was Associate Professor Tim Shea of UMass Dartmouth. Nine cars took part in the event, which began and ended in Durban, South Africa, and the course passed through Namibia, Botswana and Swaziland. A man in Cape Town, who owned more than 500 Beetles, sponsored the event. There was a $1,200 entrance fee for the race, which covered the car rental, two nights in a hotel, campground charges, prizes and other expenses. The race went for 18 days, and benefited two local charities, a local school and a plant nursery. Lewis is now considering participating in a 14 day rickshaw race in India sometime later this year.

The October 18th Fall Faculty Conversation Dinner will have a special guest this time. That guest will be the University of Illinois director of the Office of Technology Enhanced Learning Ray Schroeder, who will be making his appearance at the dinner to discuss the issue of Web Education in the onset of Web 2.0. Schroeder has taught more than 30 online classes, published numerous articles on the application of technology to education, and presented at conferences throughout the United States. The dinner will be held on October 18th, in Alumni Hall at 3:30 PM. It is being sponsored by the Faculty Development Center, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and the Council of Teaching, Learning and Research.

10/1/07 News from the Show

2007-10-02T17:51:00.000-07:00

In Campus News:
Curran Kelleher, a junior computer science major, is spending this year in Germany where he will continue to study computer science and work in the Computer Graphics Center at Darmstadt. He recently received a Scholarship of Excellency to TU Darmstadt, a technical university in Darmstadt, Germany.

UMass Lowell’s Homecoming 2007 is this Saturday at the Lester Cushing Complex on North Campus. Homecoming features Jennifer’s 5K Run, a performance by the marching band and welcome by Chancellor Meehan, pony rides, inflatables, student club tables, and the crowning of homecoming king and queen at the evening social. Bring your pom-poms!

UMass Lowell will once again host an electoral debate. Chancellor Meehan has announced the campus will hold the 5th district general election debate on Tuesday, October 9. The debate will be hosted by Chancellor Meehan and moderated by Gary LaPierre on WBZ.

Alison Dischino, a senior plastics engineering major, has been named a recipient of the John P. Davis Jr. Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship is an award based on grades and extracurricular activities for students involved in the rubber industry. It was given on behalf of the New England Rubber and Plastics Group.

Chancellor Meehan recently announced the establishment of the Dana McLean Greeley Endowment for Peace Studies, which totals five hundred and eleven thousand dollars. Each year, the endowment will bring a distinguished peace advocate, humanitarian or faith leader to campus to teach and lecture about peace issues. The hope is to have the first Greeley Peace Scholar on campus by the spring of 2008.

Reynaldo Santana, a sophomore studying music education, recently got to play a trumpet solo for David Amram and his band in a concert at Boardinghouse Park. Santana had been sitting in on Amram’s rehearsal when he struck up a conversation with the musician. Amram asked Santana to stop by the concert, and Santana ended up performing a solo. Santana, at Amram’s request will also be performing at several concerts around Lowell this upcoming weekend.

Chancellor Marty Meehan has scheduled two open forums for the campus community. The chancellor will provide an overview on the state of the campus and his plans for the future, followed by a question-and-answer session. The forums will be on October 4 at 11 a.m. in O’Leary 222 and 1:30 p.m. in Cumnock Hall.

This Thursday and Friday the Jack and Stella Center for American Studies will be hosting the 2007 Jack Kerouac Conference on Beat Literature. This year’s keynote speaker is Professor Matt Theado of Gardner-Webb University. His presentation will be Friday at noon in O’Leary 222. There will be over a dozen speakers at this year’s conference, for a full schedule check out their link on the UML webpage, www.uml.edu.

UMass recently announced the creation of the ten million dollar Charles J. Hoff Scholarship, which is the largest privately financed scholarship program in the University’s history. Although the program benefits all the UMass campuses, the largest number of scholarships will be available to UMass Lowell, Hoff’s alma mater. Hoff and his wife, Josephine, donated three million dollars to the program.

Campus News

2007-09-27T17:19:00.000-07:00

Nanotech efforts are being furthered here at Umass Lowell. Thanks to a $2.7 million dollar grant awarded by the National Science Foundation in July and August to the university, more projects are being created for the use of nanotechnology here in Umass Lowell for a variety of purposes, including detecing explosives and chemical agents and searching for structural damage in buildings. The primary recipients of the award were Co-Director of the Nanomanufacturing Center and Mechanical Engineering professor Julie Chen, along with 14 other researchers. The money will mainly be used to fund an $80 million dollar project to build a new nano and biomanufacturing center, named the Emerging Technology and Innovation Center. Development of the site will begin sometime this week.

On September 25th, Chancellor Marty Meehan announced the establishment of Dana Greely McLean Endowment for Peace Studies at a special lunch. The endowment came to a total of $511,000 dollars, including a grant from the Greeley foundation and matching state funds. The Greeley Scholar for Peace Studies will be hosted soon at PASCI (Umass Lowell's Peace and Study Conflicts Institute), with the goal being to bring the first Greeley Peace Scholar to UMass Lowell in the spring of 2008. The Greeley Foundation for Peace and Social Justice awards grants to socially conscious organizations dealing with subjects such as youth gangs, intimate partner violence and child abuse, civil rights, and various other conflicts that threaten the peace and stability of the world.

That will just about do it for this week's latest news update.

Campus News

2007-09-25T16:19:00.000-07:00

UMass Lowell has sold over 1000 hockey season tickets, thanks to Marty Meehan's challenge to bring more people to the Tsognas Arena. With the goal set at 2000 tickets, support for the hockey team between students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends has been extraordinarily strong, thanks in part to the hockey team staying in the Division 1 Hockey East conference and to the "See You At The Tsongas...Or Else!" advertising campaign. The initial 375 top tier club seats sold out in two weeks, and that number grew to 850 at the beginning of September. In addition, 260 regular season tickets have been sold as well.

Dean of students Larry Seigel, Director of Transportation Marie Gaine, and Escort Services Coordinator Josh Conover have devised a new plan for the school's public transportation system, which will be put into effect on October 1st. This system splits into four lines, Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow. The Red line will carry students between South and East Campus, the Blue Line will carry students between North and South, the Green Line will go between North and East, and the Yellow Line will go between Pleasant Street and North. The new system is projected to reduce travel time between campuses by 40%. The buses will run from 7 AM to 6 PM, with additional buses used during peak hours, and the Escort Service will run from 10 PM to 1 AM. Transportation to Gallagher Street, East Meadow Lane, and Tsognas will be available upon request.

On one last note, I'd just like to remind everyone that UML's Homecoming Ceremony takes place on Saturday, October 6th from 10 AM to 4 PM in the Lexter Cushing Complex on UML North. Have a good time!

SPORTS UPDATE

2007-09-21T06:24:00.000-07:00

UMass Lowell Field Hockey
9/21/07 9:00am

C.W. Post sweeped UMass Lowell, 3-2, in overtime yesterday, in a non-conference field hockey clash at Hickox Field. The River Hawks made a comeback with a pair of goals less than four minutes apart midway through the second half. The lead was short-lived as CW Post struck from five yards out in the 59th minute to force the extra session. The loss halts a five match winning streak.

SPORTS UPDATE

2007-09-19T06:33:00.000-07:00

September 19, 2007
10:00 am

The Red Sox lost three in a row and had their lead in the American League East cut to two and a half games over the Yankees. They lost to the Toronto Blue Jays last night 4-3. They face off against Toronto again tonight in Toronto.

UMass Lowell Sophomore Ryan Richards was named the Men's Soccer Goalkeeper of the Week while Junior Mark Garcia was named the Men's Cross Country Athlete, Monday as the Northeast-10 Conference announced its weekly
honors. Freshman of the Week was awarded to Angus MacDonald for his performance at the UMass Dartmouth Cross Country Invitational.

UMass Lowell Senior Likica Grceva (Likisha Grceva) had 11 kills and 13 digs as Bryant University defeated UMass Lowell,
3-0 Last night in a Northeast-10 Conference volleyball tilt at the Chace Athletic Center.

2007-09-18T07:25:00.000-07:00

Campus News

More than 1,000 incoming students gathered for Convocation in the Rec Center. Life Is Good co-founder Bert Jacobs was just one of many speakers to appear at the convocation. Chancellor Marty Meehan made his first convocation speech as chancellor telling the students that he could relate to their nerves and excitement as he is a UMASS alumni. The students were also given "See You At The Tsongas...Or Else" tee shirts in an effort to promote the Hockey Team. Students were also give a barbeque and events fair afterwards where many registered to vote.

A quick note, today is the last day to return unused textbooks at the Campus Bookstore! Be sure to bring in your receipt in order to do the refund or exchange!

The career services team is holding an event where students can learn more about their services and programs! The event will be help on the South Campus Quad from 10-2pm today, September 18th! Don't miss it!

2007-06-08T11:30:00.001-07:00

CHECK BACK IN THE FALL FOR THE LATEST UML NEWS, WEATHER, AND EVENTS!!
~Kate Watt
WUML News Director

2007-05-09T04:39:00.000-07:00

Campus News

The Intramural Sports Program here at UMASS Lowell allows over 1,000 different students to compete against in each other in a variety of sports. Each sport, which includes basketball, wiffleball, kickball, floor hockey, badminton, ice hockey, racquetball, and nine ball, has a five-week season, followed by championships in which teams try to best one another for the top spot. Congratulations to all the Spring Champions! Division A Basketball: Alaskan Firedragons, Division B Basketball: Romance Explosion, Wiffleball: Balls Deep, Kickball: F.C. Fox Hall, Division A Floor Hockey: The Beers, Division B Floor Hockey: Silver Snakes, Ice Hockey: LTD! If you want to see how to join up the Intramural Sports Programs, contact Justin Lawler at intramural@uml.edu.

Michael Darish, an electrical engineering senior delivered his capstone project to little 5-year-old Anna in March. Darish flew over to Italy to introduce her to the device that would hopefully change her life. Darish created a device that would allow the little girl, who is paralyzed from the next down, to click and drag a cursor on her computer, using only her voice. Darish is just one of the 60 or so assistive technology projects that senior electrical engineering students complete each semester as a graduation requirement. The projects help physically or mentally challenged people improve their quality of life, and can range from a simple toy to a complicated wheel chair depending on the commitment and skill of the student.

The UML Center for Women and Work (CWW) celebrated its ninth annual meeting with “Who Cares? The People, Policies and Politics of Carework” to address issues on eldercare with specific concerns for the careworkers. The panel comprised eminent speakers including State Rep. Alice Wolf; Rebecca Gutman, SEIU 1199; Marian Weisenfeld, Greater Boston Interfaith Organization; Mignon Duffy, CWW associate; and guest speaker Lisa Dodson, a research professor at Boston College. Dodson does field research about the lives of low-income careworkers in the expanding care labor force. The panel discussed the needs of the elderly, their needs for a community, and the needs of careworkers in general. Campus Chaplain Imogene Stulken ended the session with a call-and-response reading. After each statement of need, Stulken asked, “Who cares?” The audience shouted together, “We Care!”

2007-05-02T06:21:00.000-07:00

On Campus

On May 3rd, Allan Roscoe will give a 20 minute lecture answering the question: "If this were the last lecture or reflection you would give, what would you say?" Free lunch is included! "Last Lecture" Series is sponsored by the Multi-faith Council and Protestant Campus Ministry.

12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. McGauvran 410, UML South

As part of Asian-American History Month, A documentary film, "Sentenced Home", will be shown. A panel discussion will follow with community leaders. Free Food!! The even takes place May 3rd, 3 p.m. in O'Leary Library.

May 3rd - May 5th, the Comley-Lane Theatre will play host to A Night of One-Act Comedies by David Ives and Richard Snee. The plays, also directed by Snee, is performed by the Off-Broadway Players along with special guest artist, celebrated Boston actress Paula Plum. Tickets at the door, $5 Students and Seniors, $8 Adults. Special $1 tickets for Students on opening night. Produced by UML's Off-Broadway Players, Department of English, and Theatre Arts program. Thursday-Friday 8 p.m.; Saturday 7 p.m.

UML is playing host to kids this summer when they launch their variety of summer camps! From music to sports, science to adventure, the University offers a wide range of experiences for children of all ages.

Information on all of the camps can be found at http://uml.edu/summercamps. The camps offered this summer include:

Athletic, Band, DesignCamp, The Tsongas Industrial History Center, hoping to give a start to a bright future for kids and students.

2007-04-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

On Campus

April 18th - Reception for an interactive video installation by Brian Knep, in conjunction with the 2007 Boston Cyber Arts Festival. Special Events: Slide Presentation at 3:15 p.m. at O’Leary 222; Gallery Reception 4 – 6 p.m.

April 18th - Acting Chancellor David MacKenzie holds "Open Hour" for all interested students.

3 p.m. - 4 p.m. McGauvran 345

April 19th - UMass Lowell welcomes guest speaker Imam Siraj Wahaj to come and speak about the history of Muslims in America. As a convert, he is a supporter of Islamic causes in America and currently the Imam of the Mosque in Brooklyn, NY, where he was also born and raised. Dinner and dessert will be provided!

6:30 p.m. Coburn Hall 205

News Update 04-13-07

2007-04-13T06:13:00.000-07:00

Campus News

Kurt Vonnegut, American novelist, soldier, and lifelong cynic, died on Wednesday at the age of 84 in New York City. Vonnegut was born in Indiana in 1922 and was held in a POW camp during German bombings in World War II, which was the subject of his most famous novel, Slaughterhouse Five. Vonnegut’s science fiction novels generally made profound social references, and often had pessimistic views on the future of society. Vonnegut fell in his home in Manhattan, suffering brain damage, and died on Wednesday. Vonnegut is survived by his wife and seven children.

A 24-year old student at the University of Massachusetts – Lowell has plead guilty to charges of assault with a deadly weapon and faces possible deportation after stabbing his professor late last year. The student allegedly followed the professor to her home in Cambridge to confront her about a failing grade. He then dragged her by her hair and stabbed her on the neck. The student allegedly had enormous pressure from his parents to succeed in education, and faced a revocation of his student Visa if he failed, which were two factors of his violent behavior.

CBS announced yesterday that it would release its radio personality Don Imus after he said racial and sexist slurs over his morning show. The slurs were aimed at the Rutgers women’s basketball team, which is a predominantly black team. Imus was initially suspended for two weeks after the comments were made, but was released from his job just yesterday. Imus has been in hot water before after making insensitive comments about minorities. Imus’ show is broadcast over 61 radio stations nationwide, and Imus has declined to comment.

Studies have shown that college students need to practice healthy sleep habits in order to function normally, and with finals approaching, the problem is becoming more and more problematic. Students between the ages of 15 and 25 are at high risk for sleep deprivation and negative side affects of lack of sleep. Lack of sleep generally causes a lack of quality in work of students and a general drop in grades. Campus Buzz would like to remind all of its student listeners to get some sleep this finals season!

2007-04-11T05:24:00.000-07:00

On Campus

April 19th is the annual UML Date Auction. Students can bid on other students to win time with them. The event will be held at the Campus Recreation Center at 7p.m. Those who wish to be auctioned off should send an email to UML.programs@gmail.com with your name, a short description of yourself, and the name of the song you want when you are introduced. The selections are first come first serve so be sure to get it in by April 12th! Those who do not have a valid UML id will not be able to participate in this event. The even benefits the American Cancer Society.

Governor Deval Patrick visited campus Tuesday to pledge support for the new nano- and bio-manufacturing research and business assistance center. Patrick toured the available labs that housed equipment for the two programs. With quick lessons on how to use some of the equipment, Patrick described his tour as "nanotechnology 102".

Pepsi-Cola Bottlers of the Merrimack Valley will create scholarships for woman athletes for the university. As part of the agreement, Pepsi will have bottling rights for the university as well as various marketing and sponsorships. Two scholarships will be awarded each year in the amount of $5000 on the basis of excellence in both academics and community outreach.

UMass Lowell's track and field finished the winter season ranked in a tie for 10th place in the United States Sports Academy (USSA) Directors’ Cup Standings, and ranking #1 in the Northeast Region and Northeast-10. The points are awarded through the NCAA performances. In the NCAA Indoor Track-And-Field competition, the River Hawks distance medley and men’s 4X400 meter relay teams were awarded All-Americans where the woman placed 18th, and the men placed 24th.

2007-04-04T05:55:00.000-07:00

Campus News

The Registrar's Office has released the Final Exam schedules and have also posted on Isis the registration dates for the Summer and Fall 2007 Semesters! Be sure to know when your finals registration dates are!

Final Exam : Click Here
Registration Dates: Click Here

On April 4th, today, Durgin Hall will play host to Hindustani classical music featuring Indrajit Banerjee. The concert will feature music with sitar. Admission is free and open to all students and the public. The concert is sponsored by Office of Student Activities and Multicultural Affairs and the Council on Diversity and Pluralism.

The Enrichment Task Force, a subcommittee of The Council on Teaching, Learning and Research as Scholarship, is meeting today, April 4th. The committee sponsors conversation dinners and faculty institutes in January and June.

2007-03-28T04:19:00.000-07:00

Campus News

The UML Lowell Center for the Arts will present Hansel & Gretel: A Puppet Opera in Durgin Hall on Sunday April 1st. The show will run for an hour and will be a part of the University’s Discovery Series. Show times are at 2pm and 4pm. Tickets are $12. For more information call ext. 4444.

A 3 year, $100,000 grant from the Lowell National Historic Park has set into motion a study that will try to uncover and highlight Lowell’s global history and its contemporary cultural geography. They plan to do this by tracking immigration patterns starting with Native Americans. Professor Robert Forrant is principal investigator of the project.

UMass Lowell’s School of Health and Environment kicked off a seven week walking program yesterday. It's partnering up with the Greater Lowell Health Alliance with a seven week challenge to promote physical health. To learn more about the challenge contact Jennifer_Hanson@uml.edu.

Today at 3:30 in O'Leary 500M Dr. Philip Gura speaks on behalf of the ack and Stella Kerouac Center for American Studies. Gura plans to address how he chose the field of American Studies and his current research projects.

News Update, March 23, 2007

2007-03-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-03-21T05:31:00.000-07:00

Campus News
Auditions are being held Tuesday March 27th from 4:00pm - 6:00pm in the Mahoney Auditiorium for "One Act Comedies" by David Ives. The show will be directed by UML's own Richard Snee and will feature 7 one act comedies. The show will run May 3rd, 4th and 5th!

Marty Meehan was chosen as the next UML Chancellor yesterday. Meehan was selected from 80 candidates by promising that he would dedicate his time to fundraising teaching and scholarship on nanotechnology. When on Capitol Hill Meehan raised over $200 million for UML and hopes to continue his efforts for the university.

Local News
Two school busses collided yesterday on Andover street leaving 19 Middle School students injured with whiplash and other minor injuries. All but two students were taken to the hospital. All of the injuries were head, neck, and shoulder injuries. Officials are now contemplating on whether or not the safety belts should be installed on busses to prevent further injuries.

A protest of sorts was held in Kearney Square yesterday to bring home the troops from Iraq. One of the organizers, Chris Offerman said the goal for the protest was to remind people that the war is now 4 years old and more than 3,000 soldiers have perished while thousands and thousands more have been injured. This protest was one of several thousand that took place yesterday and last weekend marking the war's 4th anniversary.

Popular News
Apple Inc. stated on Wednesday that it is going to start shipment on the new Apple TV Box which lets viewers take music and video stored on their computer and run it on the television. The box can store up to 50 hours of video, 9,000 songs or 25,000 photos, or a combination of the three formats. Apple said its suggested retail price for the device is $299.

News Update 3/19/07

2007-03-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

Campus News
Welcome to the new UMass Lowell Chancellor, Marty Meehan! On the recommendation of UMass President Jack Wilson, the UMass Board of Trustees selected the congressman to be the next chancellor. Meehan is a UMass Lowell alumnus, who received his bachelor's degree in education and political science. Meehan is expected to begin his duties as chancellor on July 1 this summer.

Get ready for baseball season with the UML Riverhawks! This April, the baseball team is hosting a four day baseball clinic for boys and girls ages 6 to 12. The kids will get to practice and play at LeLacheur Park, and the team hopes the week will be both fun and instructional.

UML is helping to sponsor a new Cambodian opera, "Where Elephants Weep." The opera, which is the first known contemporary Cambodian production, makes its debut this April. Lowell has the country's second largest Cambodian population, so UML joined with groups throughout the city to provide support. The opera is a love story following Cambodian refugees returning to their country after a 30 year absence.

Local News
The first Lowell resident to lose his life in Iraq died this past weekend. Pfc. John Landry Jr., 20 was killed while on duty. He was a graduate of Lowell Catholic High. The flags throughout the city have been lowered in his honor.

As many UML students are finding out, the university is cracking down on parking issues by instating a monthly parking fee, beginning this fall. However, UML isn't the only school to have problems. The city of Lowell and Middlesex Community College have come to an agreement that will double what MCC must pay to use city parking garages. The new agreement also requires students at MCC to purchase monthly parking permits, so UML students should no longer feel lonely in the fight for cheaper, convenient parking.

Popular News
Fashion model Naomi Campbell has begun to serve her sentence of community service for assaulting her housekeeper. Campbell was ordered to mop floors and clean toilets at a New York garbage depot. She apparently wanted to muck garbage in style, since she showed up in stilettos.

Emma Watson, who is famous for her role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter films, has reportedly refused to sign a contract to continue her role in the remaining films. Watson, who was recently stalked at her high school, has said she is tired of being only known as Hermione Granger, and would like to pursue other projects.

Friday, March 9, 2007

2007-03-09T09:58:00.000-08:00

Campus News

The UMass-Lowell baseball team will be travelling to St. Petersburg, FL this weekend to take on Dominican College. The team enters with a 2-2 record after sweeping Adelphi University in a double-header last Sunday in which Junior Anthony Santos drove in 6 runs on three hits and scored 3 times. The Hawks were swept on Saturday by Adelphi, but evened the score with great play on Sunday.

UMass-Lowell senior Nicole Plante was named the Division II Northeast Region Women's Track Athlete of the Year by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Monday morning. This is the fifth straight Athlete of the Year award that the standout Plante has recieved, and follows her second best time in 5000m. UML head coach Gary Gardner also earned the honor of Northeast Region Women's Coach of the Year for the fourth consecutive time.

Local News

A three car wreck in Tyngsboro sent four people to the hospital on Thursday morning, one of whom was in critical condition. Two students of the Greater Lowell Technical High School were driving away from the school when they narrowly avoided the SUV of a councilor at the school and crashed head on into another car. The SUV rolled off of the road after a swerve, and both other cars were totalled. The students were not believed to be wearing seatbelts, which may have cause their injuries to be greater than need be. There were no other serious injuries as a result of the crash, but traffic was disrupted for about 2 hours.

A bomb threat emptied the Tsongasa Arena of all workers late Thursday morning. Employees had stay out of the building until just before 2 PM, when police determined that there was no bomb in the building. The arena's general manager, Craig Gates, was cited saying' "This is the first time in the eight years that I've been here that it's happened." The threat is still under investigation, but the Arena will be functioning as normal over the weekend.

National News

Zach Arend, an 18 year-old baseball player from Bluffton University, died on Friday morning as result of injuries follwing the crash of the teams charter bus. This death raises the toll to 7 following the crash off of a highway overpass last Friday. The crash happened early in the morning on an urban Atlanta highway, and the cause of the crash is yet to be determined. Memorial services for the driver, his wife, and the four other baseball players were held on Thursday in Ohio, as hundreds gathered to mourn the loss.

Eddie Van Halen, famed axe man of the band Van Halen, checked himself into rehab on this past week for unspecified reasons. Van Halen was quoted saying, "...at the moment I do not feel that I can give you my best." This recent development furthers the already dim possibility of a reunion tour with original lead singer, David Lee Roth, and also makes his appearance at Van Halen's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame seem doubtful.

2007-03-07T07:29:00.000-08:00

Local News

Lowell Women's Week - UMASS Lowell is participating in Lowell's Womens Week. The annual event takes place from March 3 through March 11 and is themed “Women of the World: “Lifting as We Climb.” Tonight the MEISA sponsored MOTHERS OF ROCK concert will take place in the Durgin Concert Hall with half the proceeds benefiting Girls Inc., of Lowell. For more information on the upcoming events and to learn more about Lowell Women's Week in general go to http://www.lowellwomensweek.org/.

UML 'NANO QUEENS' - The three women who run the nanomanufacturing center are going to overhaul the program. First off, UMASS Lowell and the state are planning on building a $80 million nano- and biomanufacturing center each splitting the cost. The building will give the center labs large enough to do large scale manufacturing. The trio of women, Chen, Mead and Barry have been dubbed the "nano queens" for being able to put together a plan that will benefit the program immensely.

Local News

A virus of some sort has been plaguing the city of Lowell and its surrounding areas for the past few days. Suspected of being norovirus, the virus infects the tissue of the intestines causing cramping, diarrhea and fever. Though the virus is said to last only a few days, schools in the area are taking extreme caution towards this infectious virus. One Dracut school had a "disinfecting day" a few weeks ago and numerous other schools are posting signs to contstantly remind students to wash hands and keep clean.

Yesterday the House of Representatives put the okay on a parking plan that was requested by the Lowell National Historic Park. With this they are able to purchase five small properties in order to make parking easier for Lowell residents. All the properties combined amount to a little less than an acre and are valued at $200,000.

Popular News

Captain America has died. The venerable superhero of the comic books completed his last mission in issues that hits news stands today. The hero was created in 1941 to portray a patriotic mascot for the soldiers of World War 2 and since then has estimated over $210 million dollars in sales. Though the hero has had his last stand, Marvel says that it may not be the last for Captain America. Works are in progress to develop a movie based on the superhero.

News Update 2/26/07

2007-02-26T06:06:00.000-08:00

On Campus
Meehan Speaks on Iraq- This afternoon, Congressman Marty Meehan, who graduated from the UML Political Science program, will be presenting his views on the situation in Iraq. The event is open to all students on campus, and questions are encouraged. Meehan, who has always played a very active role in the University community, has also recently been named one of the candidates for school chancellor.

Distance Team Races to Top- UML's distance medley track team recently placed fourth, setting a school record at 11 minutes and 56.31 seconds. The team went on for the NCAA qualifying match, with results TBA.

Local News
Fire at Franco American School- Over 300 students get an early vacation this week at the Franco American school, located on Pawtucket Street. Over the weekend, a fire started in a second floor closet, quickly destroying a computer lab, spreading to a nearby classroom and causing smoke damage. Firefighters got control of the blaze after only half an hour, and no one was in the building at the time of the fire. Investigators are still looking for a cause.

Man Fined for Housing Drugs- Kevin McIver was recently ordered by a judge to forfeit $200,000 and pay a $10,000 fine for housing marijuana in his warehouse in Billerica. From 2002 to 2004, McIvers allowed his warehouse to be used in offloading truckloads of marjuana. He spent three months in jail and will now remain under house arrest for three years.

Popular News
Academy Award Results- For everyone out there who missed the Academy Awards, here are some of the highlights. "The Departed" won Best Motion Picture of the Year, Achievement in Directing, Achievement in Filming, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Pan's Labyrinth also received a number of awards, including Achievement in Art Direction, Achievement in Cinematography, and Achievement in Makeup. As expected, Helen Mirren won for best actress, and Forest Whitaker won best actor for his role in "The Last King of Scotland."

Razzie Awards- To counter the glitz and glam of the Oscars, we have the Golden Raspberry Awards, which award the worst of Hollywood. This year, the Razzie award for worst actress went to Sharon Stone for her work in "Basic Instinct 2." M. Night Shyamalan won both worst director and worst supporting actor for his work in "Lady in the Water." Robin William's movie, "RV" won the award for worst excuse for family entertainment.

2007-02-23T11:22:00.000-08:00

Campus News

The Independant University Alumni Association gave away $125,000 in scholarships in grants this past week at an awards banquet at Princeton Station. Among these awards is the prestigious Alumnus Award, which this year was given to Dr. Robert S. Smith. Dr. Smith graduated from Lowell Technical Institute in 1961 in its first graduating class of mechanical engineers. He then worked at Army Quartermaster Research and Development Center where he became the youngest laboratory director in the center's history at 40. He retired from the Army Natick Laboratories at 48 and worked at reasearch jobs subsequently.

The Office of Student Activities and Multicultural Affairs, The Council on Diversity and Pluralism, and the Association of Students of African Origin are offering several events on campus in honor of Black History Month. These events will be concluded on Wednesday, February 28th with "A Night of Soul," a night of music, poetry, and thoughts in Fox Hall on East Campus.

Local News

A former executive at a trust fund firm has allegedly laundered 58 million dollars from the descendants of a 19th century local mill owner. The descendants of Fredrick Ayer have filed a civil suit against the firm, which the accused is said to have spent on private jets and upscale condominiums. The former executive, his wife, his son, his mistress, and several of his extended family members are listed as defendants in the case. The family members allege that his high status at the firm was how he gained access to the money. The executive was fired and escorted from the Beverly business last year following the accusations.

14 illegal immigrants were taken into custody on February 6th when the truck that they were in broke down on Interstate 93. One of the men driving the truck shouted out "My friends, My friends," in Spanish as a tow truck was pulling away with their vehicle. Upon examination, the state trooper who had pulled over to assist found 12 illegal immigrants in the bed of the truck, 6 from Mexico, and 6 from Guatemala. The two men in the cab of the truck were also illegal, and all were held in custody without bail until trial.

Popular News

A 13 year old boy who was abducted at gun point at a bus stop on Friday morning has been found. Clay Moore of Parrish, Florida was allegedly found on a ranch 20 to 30 miles away from the bus stop. An extensive manhunt of the area is being conducted to find the would be kidnapper. Police say that Moore was not targetted specifically, and that this was a random abduction. The boy was discovered without serious injury and was reunited with his parents on Friday evening.

An 80 year old law prohibiting dancing in New York City ordinary bars and restaurants has been upheld by a New York court. The law does not prohibit dancing in establishments with dancing liscences. The law came into question when several individuals and one club sued for denying free expression, but the the appeals were denied as the dancing causes safety hazards during an emergency, and disobeys noise ordinances. The law was enacted in the 1920's to battle speakeasies during prohibition.

2007-02-21T06:02:00.000-08:00

Campus News

Contact: Robert P. Connolly, 617-287-7073

SEARCH PANEL NAMES THREE FINALISTS FOR UMASS-LOWELL POST

The UMass-Lowell Chancellor Search Committee today named three finalists, concluding a key phase in the process of selecting a permanent leader for the University’s Lowell campus.

Selected as finalists were: David C. Chang, chancellor of the Polytechnic University; Nabil A. Ibrahim, vice chancellor for academic affairs and chief academic officer at Purdue University, Calumet; and Martin T. Meehan, who represents the 5^th congressional district of Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The search committee conveyed the slate of finalists to UMass President Jack M. Wilson, who will ultimately appoint a new Chancellor, subject to the approval of the University’s Board of Trustees.

William T. O’Shea, chairman of the 21-member search committee, said: “We are very pleased to be advancing the names of these three candidates, any one of whom could be a distinguished and dynamic new leader for UMass-Lowell.”

O’Shea added: “This search attracted candidates from across the nation and the quality and depth of our candidate pool is indicative of the high esteem in which UMass-Lowell is held. Candidates were clearly aware of UMass-Lowell’s nationally prominent academic programs and its impressive and burgeoning research agenda. In the end, our distinct challenge was to narrow a very strong field of candidates to this small number of finalists.”

The committee began its search process last September after receiving its charge from President Wilson and then held six business meetings and a series of interviews of candidates. The charge was to produce for the President’s consideration a slate of finalists comprised of candidates possessing a passion for higher education, an understanding of the public research university, and the experience and ability to lead the campus and community.

President Wilson lauded the committee for its “diligence” and “unselfish service to the University.”

“For the past six months, the members of this search committee have spent countless hours studying the Lowell campus and forming a vision for its future, and evaluating the candidates who seek to be UMass-Lowell’s new leader. This committee has worked efficiently and effectively and the entire UMass System is in its debt. In particular, I would like to express my gratitude to Bill O’Shea for his distinguished service as chairman. Bill is a UMass-Lowell alumnus and a member of our Board of Trustees and guided the search committee with great skill and with an abiding commitment to the task. This stellar slate of finalists is reflective of the singular commitment Bill O’Shea and his colleagues made to the search process,” President Wilson said.

It is expected that the finalists will come to UMass-Lowell for campus visits as the search process moves forward. The search will culminate with President Wilson recommending a candidate to the 22-member UMass Board of Trustees, which must vote on the President’s recommendation.

The new Chancellor will be the permanent successor to William T. Hogan, who retired last year after leading the Lowell campus for 25 years. David J. MacKenzie has been serving as Interim Chancellor since Dr. Hogan’s retirement.

ABOUT THE FINALISTS

David C. Chang is chancellor of the Polytechnic University, located in Brooklyn, NY, and has also served as president of that institution. Additionally, Dr. Chang has served as dean of the College of Engineering and Applied science at Arizona State University and held several academic positions at the University of Colorado. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the National Cheng-Kung University in Taiwan, as well as a master’s and a PhD from Harvard University.

Nabil A. Ibrahim is vice chancellor for academic affairs and chief academic officer at Purdue University, Calumet. He previously served as chief research officer and dean at San Jose State University, and also held academic positions at Bradley University and the University of Manitoba. Dr. Ibrahim holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cairo and a master’s and PhD from McMaster University.

Martin T. Meehan represents the 5^th congressional district of Massachusetts in the U.S. House of Representatives, an office he has held since 1993. He has also served as First Assistant District Attorney in Middlesex County and as the Commonwealth’s Deputy Secretary of State for Securities and Corporations. Rep. Meehan has taught at UMass-Lowell and at Harvard University Law School. He holds a bachelor’s degree from UMass-Lowell and MPA and JD degrees from Suffolk University.

Local News

A New Hampshire man is accused of abusing his son after the baby was found with 24 broken bones. The incident, which happened six months ago has been under investigation and the man was indicted last week with 5 counts of assault. The baby suffered fractures of the spine, arm, leg, rib and skull that were not the result of shaking, but of assault.

A routine drug bust led to Lowell Police Officers to uncover 8 pounds of marijuana, $4000 cash, 28 grams of what is believed to be opium, psychadelic mushrooms and a loaded .22 caliber pistol. The man was taken under arrest and charged with drug trafficking and intent to distribute in a school zone.

Popular News

Tom Brady is happy to becoming a father. After the recent split with his longtime girlfriend Bridget Moynahan rumors started to buzz about pregnancy however Brady has been spotted with supermodel Gisele Bundchen. Despite the new woman in his life, Brady's publicist released this statement: "Tom and his family are excited about the pregnancy, and want to thank everyone who has shown support, and particularly for their consideration of Tom's privacy."

Want MORE Grey's Anatomy? A spin-off pilot episode of the award winning series will air in May featuring the neonatal surgeon Dr. Addison Shephard. ABC is hoping the spin-off will add millions of dollars in revenue for the company however a spokesperson for the company could not be reached.

News Update for Friday, February 15, 2007

2007-02-15T17:27:00.000-08:00

Campus News

UMass Lowell will be presenting Jack Kerouac with a posthumous honorary degree this June, in coincidence with a three month long exhibit marking the 50th anniversary of the publishing of "On The Road," thought to be his most famous work. During this time, the original manuscript of the book will be on display at the Boott Cotton Mills. Kerouac, a Lowell native, died 37 years ago in St. Petersburg, Florida from liver damage.

Jerry Beck from the Revolving Museum, along with professors John Warner and Amy Cannon, landed in Cape Town, South Africa on January 16th in order to meet with over 50 scientists from the continent. This meeting is intended to instill what is known as "green chemistry" in up-and-coming countries, such as those in Africa. Green chemistry aims to direct scientists toward using cleaner methods of chemistry in industrial processes. Beck is also setting up public art projects in order to bridge the gap between science and art in the African nation.

Local News

A 50-year old man was arrested in Tyngsboro on Tuesday night for publically exposing himself through the front windows of his house. Police set up surveillance equipment following complaints by neighbors. The man was arrested on seven counts of open and gross lewdness, fourteen counts of indecent exposure, one count of accosting/annoying a member of the opposite sex, and one count of criminal harrassment.

Schools reopened across the area on Thursday following a heavy Nor'easter that swept most of the country. Plows ran all day on Wednesday in order to clear out the ever falling powder. The storm dumped several inches of snow on the area, which quickly turned to sleet. Officials advise caution when driving, as road are still very slippery.

Popular News

Two passengers on an Air Mauritanian flight subdued a would be hijacker on Thursday night. The Boeing 737, which was intended to fly from the capitol city of Mauritania, Nouakchott, to Nouadhibou, also in Mauritania. The plane landed in the Canary Islands after the hijacker had directed the plane toward Paris, France. The plane was reported to be carrying 71 passengers and 8 crew members.

Tainted peanut butter could be the cause of a massive outbreak of Salmonella poisoning. The outbreak has been reported in nearly 300 cases in 39 states since last August. No one has yet died from the infection, but about 20 percent of the people afflicted have been hospitalized. The brands affected are Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter with the product code beginning with the numbers "2111." These products have been recalled, and the company is overseeing inspections on its entire, Georgia based production plant

News Update 02/09/2007 1:55 PM

2007-02-09T09:36:00.000-08:00

Campus News

Members of the UMass Lowell Chancellor Search committee recently met with representatives from Korn/Ferry International, an executive recruiting firm, in order to narrow the search for the next Chancellor. It has been reported that the recruitment field has been reduced to about 100 candidates. While they are currently decreasing the field of elligible candidates, the committee is still accepting applications from hopeful's both in and outside of academic fields. Following the retirement of Chancellor Hogan, interim Chancellor David J. McKenzie has held the post until a new, permanent replacement can be found.

The UMass Lowell Men's Hockey team chalked up another win on Thursday night against Northeastern University at the Tsongas Arena. Senior Clive Kinley scored the only goal of the night as freshman goalie Nevin Hamilton recorded a shutout to end the game at 1-0. The River Hawks improved their record to 5-19-6 on the season, bringing them within two points of Providence College who currently hold the final spot for the Hockey East Tournament. The River Hawks' next game is on Friday, February 16th against Merrimack.

Local News

In Nashua, a severed gas line forced many residents to leave their homes early Thursday morning. A Nashua native crashed her car into the side of a local machine shop at around 1:45 AM, severing the gas line, which also caused traffic delays into the morning commute. The woman was arrested on charges of leaving the scene of an accident and resisting arrest.

Contractual disputes with teachers at the Greater Lowell Technical High School have finally been resolved. School Committee members approved a draft that would allow for a three percent retroactive raise for this years contracts, and another three percent raise for the next three years. The contract will be singned once all of the legalities have been ironed out.

Popular News

Former television star and Playboy Bunny, Anna Nicole Smith, died on Thursday at the age of 39. Smith was found unconscious in her hotel room in Hollywood, CA at 1:38 PM. She was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 2:10 PM. Smith had allegedly been suffering from flu-like symptoms for the past few days, and an autopsy is scheduled for Friday.

Harvard University is expected to name its first female president, following an extensive search. Historian Drew Gilpin Faust has been the Dean of Havard's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study since 2001, and is also a teacher in the history department. If selected, Faust will succeed the controversial Lawrence Summers, a former Treasury Secretary under President Clinton. Faust obtained her doctorate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, where she had taught for many years.

News Update 1/24/07 4:15 p.m.

2007-01-26T13:11:00.000-08:00

On Campus
Well, it's the start of the Spring semester and there have been a few changes. If you haven't noticed, parking lots have changed designations, so make sure you check the sign before parking. Ticketing will begin in the next few weeks. The new parking garage on UML East has opened up, but make sure you have your ID. It is open to all students and faculty and is first come first serve.

If you've found you have way too much free time on your hands, or if you're already ripping out your hair from too much homework, the last day to add or drop a course without a permission number is January 29th. February 5th is the last day to add/drop with the instructor's permission.

The UML track team had a very successful season, and five of the teammates were recently awarded for their wins in the New England division. Lawrence Aidoo won "Male Track Athlete of the Week," Nichole Plante won "Female Track Athlete of the Week," Toni-Marie Henry won "Female Field Athlete of the Week," Robert Liekweg won "Men's Track Freshman of the Week," and Jacqui Barrett won "Women's Field Freshman Athlete of the Week." Dashon Harper was also named "Northeast-10 Men's Basketball Player of the Week." Congratulations!

Local News
In Dracut, a 4 year old boy who played with matches is to blame for a serious fire. The boy accidentally started a fire on his bean bag chair, which quickly spread throughout the Princeton Reserve Apartments. Eventually, firefighters were able to control the fire, but not before there was over $100,000 dollars in damage done.

Nashua is dealing with the first reported murder of this year. Ian Delmore, 21, was reportedly being held at an unnamed medical facility Thursday after stabbing his 57 year old father. Delmore then stabbed himself. Police are still collecting evidence.

Popular News
A 65 year old woman named Nell Hamm saved the life of her husband, Jim, when he was attacked by a mountain lion. The couple had been hiking in the Prairie Creek Redwoods Park, when a lion pounced on Jim. Nell started beating the lion with a stick, but when it wouldn't release her husband, she grabbed a pen and tried stabbing the lion in the eye. The lion let go, and Jim was taken to a hospital where he is recovering from multiple injuries.

Legendary blues artist B.B. King has been hospitalized with a fever after recently battling the flu. Although fans have been worried and anxiously awaiting his return to the stage, doctors say he is in stable condition and is recovering.

New York City health officials are debating on printing city maps on condoms which would be handed out for free. They believe people would be more apt to use the condoms if they have interesting and useful things printed on the package.

News Update- 12/13/06 2:30 p.m.

2006-12-13T10:29:00.000-08:00

Another slow day in the world of news...

On Campus:
The Amazing Kate Watt Gets MEISA Grant- WUML's own Kate Watt won a large grant for MEISA, the Music and Entertainment Industry Students Association. Don't forget to show your support by checking out the MEISA Gingerbread House fundraiser at McGauvran on Thursday from 6-8 p.m. Congrats Kate!

Deval Patrick to Speak on Campus- Governor elect, Deval Patrick, will join Representative Marty Meehan this Saturday to present "Climate Change: Local Solutions to a Global Crisis.” The event is Dec. 16, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in the Mahoney Hall Auditorium. All are welcome!

Local:
Merrimack River Body Search Postponed- The Lowell deputy Fire Chief decided to postpone the latest scheduled search for the bodies of Ron Wetmore, the UML student who fell into the river on November 26, and Helena Fells, who went missing on November 28 and is believed to have fallen into the river. A valve had been opened up, diverting some water from going over the Pawtucket Falls in the hopes of lowering the water level enough to explore the rocks below the bridge. Unfortunately, the water has yet to go down enough to safely bring divers, dogs, and boats close to the rocks.

Groton Teens Caught Dealing Drugs- Three teenaged boys from the Groton-Dunstable High School were caught dealing drugs in the school parking lot by the school's assitant principal. The boys were detained and are being referred to Juvenile Court in Lowell. The issue has prompted police officers to resume surprise searches using drug-sniffing dogs.

Popular:
Another Ripper In England? England is experiencing yet another "Ripper" case, this time 5 prostitutes have already been found murdered in only 10 days. This latest killer, dubbed the Ipswich Ripper, has caused the biggest manhunt since the Yorkshire Ripper's killing spree 20 years ago. The biggest difference is the Yorkshire Ripper took 6 years to kill his 5 victims. The speed of the latest murders has police frantically looking for information, but they fear the killer will be striking again soon. Both of these modern Rippers have been named after the infamous Jack the Ripper, who killed five prostitutes in 1888.

Arctic Ice Will Disappear Much Sooner Than Expected- Scientists once predicted that the Arctic would lose its summer ice by the year 2080, however, recent studies show it is melting much faster and will be ice-free by the year 2040. The loss of the ice will result in thousands of indigenous people losing their home and source of food, and there is a big fear that the change will disrupt the North American current and effect climates around the world.

News Update- 12/11/06 3:30 p.m.

2006-12-11T12:21:00.000-08:00

Sorry this took so long, everyone! Changed the format again slightly, let me know if you have any better suggestions!

On Campus:

Online Tutoring Comes to Campus- For the first time, UML students can use an online service to get help with physics and math. From 7 p.m. to midnight, Monday through Thursday, students who are having trouble with late night homework or studying can receive assistance from one of the live tutors. Physics and math are the first two departments to try out the new program, since they have been identified as the two biggest problem areas for students. All of the tutors have a minimum GPA of 3.5 and have been recommended by professors, so ask all the tough questions you need to!

Cardboard City Event Raises Money- 14 UML students recently participated in an event to raise awareness about the needs of the homeless. Phi Kappa Sigma organized the on-campus event, which raised $1200 to go towards the city's Hunger/Homeless Commission. Students had to spend the night out in front of the rec center, with cardboard boxes as their only shelter. It got so cold that they resorted to trash can fires to keep warm. PKS has been organzing the event for 16 years.

College Bowl Winners- This year's results for the College Bowl are in. Individual winners were: Paul Nutter, Steve Holstrom, Martin Gray, Damon Orsi, James Blatchford, Ryan Beaven, Tiffany Avilla and Ryan Grant. The first place team was: "Team SGA," whose members were Damon Orsi, Steven Holstrom, Francis Cannata, James Blatchford and Louis Devito.

Riverhawks Tie Things Up With St. Lawrence- This weekend, the Riverhawks men's hockey team made a 3-3 tie with St. Lawrence. UML goals were scored by Jason Bergeron, Paul Worthington and Barry Goers. This was Goers' first goal of the season. Keep it up Riverhawks!

Local News:

Teens Arrested For Attempting to Rob Pizza Shop- Why you would want to rob a pizza shop is beyond me, but Ariel Hernandez and Juan Ramirez, both of Lowell, were arrested after someone caught them hiding in bushes near a Lowell pizza shop. The two had just placed bandannas over their faces and were preparing to run in with a BB gun. The arrest took place after a brief chase into a wooded area. Some people just really like their pizza.

Lowell Police Make $300K Drug Bust- This weekend, Lowell officers busted three men in possession of over $300,000 in marijuana. Police believe the marijuana was imported from Canada. The three men were caught Friday night, after a month-long investigation and surveillance of the area, a municipal parking lot on Leroy Street. The police also confiscated a number of firearms, including automatic handguns, and several cell phones they are now using as part of the investigation.

Man Dies After Barfight- After being punched in the head once, William Peters died at Captain John's on Westford Street last Wednesday. This was the second death from a fight at the bar since May. The man who did the punching, Alexander Adorno, apparently had some long-term money issues with Peters. The issues escalated to the fight at the bar, which ended in Peters being knocked unconscious by a single punch, and later being pronounced dead by emergency personnel.

Popular News:

Gibson's Newest Movie Ranked #1- 'Apocalypto' brought in $14.2 million after opening this weekend. Critics are surprised, since Gibson's movie has subtitles and has a very unique storyline- it explores the final days of the Mayan civilization. Reviews are good, but it has been called a very "gory" and "brutal" film.

Mariah Carey Sues Porn Star- Singer Mariah Carey is suing the porn star Mary Carey, trying to prevent the busty woman from trademarking her name. Mary Carey is best known for running for California governor against Arnold Schwarzenegger, and of course for her roles in movies like "Double Air Bags 11" and "Boobsville Sorority Girls."

Campus Crime Report

2006-12-06T17:46:00.000-08:00

November 22

IPI Lot. 12:56 am. Officer called to report slashed tires. While filing the report, another car with slashed tires was found.

Rec Center. 2:58 pm. Report of stolen wallet with money in men's locker room. Wallet was found two lockers down without the moeny

November 25

Donahue Hall. 9:09 pm. Domestic Disturbance. Shade Bello, student, reportedly stabbed her boyfriend, Nicholas Shay, after he hit her in the face.

November 26

University Ave Bridge. 1:28 am. Call to assist LPD in blocking off the bridge after a male went over the side.

News Update

2006-12-01T08:38:00.000-08:00

On Campus:

The UMASS Lowell Technology, Engineering, and Math-Science Academy are part of a project that will help test potential courses for TEAMS Academy next year. The courses are going to be such topics as crime scene investigation, and robotics in hopes to get students excited about math and science. The schools participating are Those participating in the experiment are from Andover, Bedford, Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut, Haverhill, Lawrence, Littleton, Methuen, North Reading, Reading, Tewksbury, and Tyngsborough.

UMASS Lowell is granted a $21, 500 scholarship from The Shaw Group in Stoughton Massachusetts. Through this scholarship the company hopes to promote the company's growing nuclear engineering and design operations in Massachusetts.

UMASS Lowell has received a $130,000 grant to promote after school engineering programs. The California-Noyce Foundation, who sponsored the program hopes to support the development of invention workshops' course materials and curriculum. Private donations of $95,000 are also to be used for the program.

Local News:

Joann Weber, the co-owner of the Lowell Spinners has died. Weber, who was only 58 years old had pancreatic cancer and was diagnosed in the spring of 2004. A beloved member of the community, people remember Weber for her generosity and fun-loving spirit. The Weber’s also own a minority share of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, a Manchester, N.H.-based affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays.

In Ayer, a mother, with her baby next to her crossed the double yellow lines and collided head on with a tractor-trailer truck. Sarah Bonaldi, 21 died in the crash and her 6 month old son Tyler Brooks seriously injured. They were both taken to Nashoba Valley Medical Center, and Bonaldi to UMASS Medical Center in Worcester where she was later pronounced dead, and her son to Children’s Hospital in Boston where he was listed in critical condition.

Pop Culture:

One of Norman Rockwell’s most famous paintings was found behind a fake wall in a house Vermont. The painting was then auctioned off and sold for $15.4 million dollars. A neighbor purchased the painting; entitled “Breaking Home Ties” from Rockwell while the two were neighbors in Arlington, VT. The price set a record for Rockwell, breaking the previous sale of $9.2 million last May.

Two weeks after this Friday’s release of “10 Items or Less,” it’ll be available for download on a website called Clickstar. Morgan Freeman’s production company teams up with Intel to bring movies to the website for people who do not live close enough to cinema’s. Freeman, who also stars in the movie, says that his town does not have a movie theatre, thus being his reason for being so avid.

Eva Longoria is now officially off the market. She and beau basketball player Tony Parker announced that they were engaged after two years of dating. The couple plans for summer 2007 wedding in France with friends and family. How’s that for some happy news? =D

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

2006-11-29T11:52:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-11-27T12:16:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-27T08:47:00.001-08:00

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

2006-11-22T12:55:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-11-20T12:00:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-17T06:45:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-16T08:27:00.001-08:00

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.

2006-11-15T12:40:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-14T18:56:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-11-13T12:13:00.000-08:00

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

2006-11-09T18:15:00.000-08:00

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.

Welcome!

2006-09-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the News forum! Here you will be able to access news briefs and editorials from the UML community and the Greater Lowell Area. I urge you to read on and find out what's happening and what's being thought about, around the world today. Each post will be "brand spanking new" and ready for broadcast or for a quick review.
Read on!
~Kate Watt
WUML News Director