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Talking Points

Toys for Tots drive nets 445 donations

The Toys for Tots drive led by Veteran Services and the student organization VeteranOne collected 445 toys for needy children in the area with the help of several other student groups and organizations, reports Judy Gagnon, coordinator of Veteran Services.

The toy drive was conducted in coopeartion with the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Belchertown and received a boost of support from Alpha Phi Omega, a coed service organization, the Joint Student Engineering Societies, the Student Nurses Association and the Off Campus Student Center.

VeteranOne single-handedly collected more than 230 toys

Biochemists trap chaperone machine in action, opening path to possible new cancer treatment

Molecular chaperones have emerged as exciting new potential drug targets, because scientists want to learn how to stop cancer cells, for example, from using chaperones to enable their uncontrolled growth. Now a team of biochemists led by Lila Gierasch has deciphered key steps in the mechanism of the Hsp70 molecular machine by “trapping” this chaperone in action, providing a dynamic snapshot of its mechanism.
 
She and colleagues describe this work in the current issue of Cell. Gierasch’s research on Hsp70 chaperones is supported by a long-running grant to her lab from NIH’s National Institute

Kinesiology students promote health and fitness at county jail

Always looking for opportunities to offer students a way to practice their new skills into real-life settings to broaden their experience and increase their comfort in unfamiliar situations, Judi LaBranche, a lecturer in Kinesiology, recently took eight juniors and seniors majors to the Hampshire County Jail in Northampton to participate in the correctional facility’s health fair. The health and fitness specialist supervised students as they carried out health testing for about 80 minimum- and medium-security inmates during the three-hour event.
 
“It was an excellent learning opportunity not

Innovation Challenge awards $10,000 in prizes to 7 teams of entrepreneurs

Seven teams of aspiring entrepreneurs shared $10,000 in prize money from the initial phase of the Innovation Challenge competition held Dec. 4. The awards were based on executive summaries that each team submitted in advance to a panel of judges plus an elevator pitch followed by questions from the judges during the competition.
 
Two teams received $2,500 awards. Joe Nuts is planning to manufacture and sell a doughnut hole with a liquid coffee center that can be produced on an industrial scale and VideoConversation’s technology will enable smoother, more conversational video conferencing.
 

Landscape Management, Stockbridge students spread a little holiday cheer

Poinsettias are springing up in offices across campus, but they’re not being brought by elves — the holiday plants are part of a new horticultural program launched by Landscape Management and employing the skills of students from the Stockbridge School of Agriculture.
 
Late last week, Landscape Management began distributing the first of some 220 poinsettias to various departments.

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