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Talking Points

Campus closes in advance of Hurricane Sandy's arrival

With forecasters predicting heavy rain, strong winds, power outages and flooding in the region due to Hurricane Sandy, university officials announced that UMass Amherst and its off-campus facilities around the state will be closed Oct. 29.

The closing notice was communicated to students, staff and faculty through broadcast e-mails, text messages, the recorded emergency closing telephone line and via the campus's website. The notice was also distributed to local television and radio outlets.

The closure decision came after Gov.

Stockbridge student awarded new GreenDependence Scholarship from National Grid Foundation

Derek Silva, a second-year Stockbridge School of Agriculture student from Lowell studying sustainable food and farming, is the first recipient of a new scholarship established by the National Grid Foundation to encourage minority students to pursue green-related careers.

 
Funded with a $10,000 gift from the foundation, the GreenDependence Scholarship provides financial assistance to a qualified student interested in sustainability who wants to apply knowledge and skills through a community service-learning project.

Libraries launch Digital Scholarship & Consultation Services

The Libraries are now offering Digital Scholarship & Consultation Services (DSCS) to support the creation, curation, management and long-term access and discovery of digital content.

The consultation-based service is targeted to faculty and researchers, but is open to the entire campus community. Library staff will advise on digital collections in support of instructional and research activities and are available to answer questions, help strategize on projects, and outline options to meet goals.
 
The scope of Digital Scholarship & Consultation Services ranges from one-on-one consultations

Civil and environmental engineers to dedicate new structural testing facility Oct. 27

Campus officials will dedicate the Robert B. Brack Structural Testing Facility on Tillson Way behind the campus police station on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 3 p.m. Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy will lead the ceremony, joined by various leaders from the College of Engineering.

The new test facility will allow researchers from the Civil and Environmental Engineering department (CEE) to test full-size structural elements such as beams and girders. It is also intended to help the department by attracting top-flight students and sponsored research.

The roofed testing center contains a “strong floor”

Helfer receives $1.3 million to study hearing and aging

Karen Helfer, associate professor of Communication Disorders, has received a five year, $1.3 million grant from the NIH’s National Institute for Deafness and Other Communication Disorders to conduct a series of studies to determine what is going on in difficult listening situations where hearing aids often don’t help, and explore ways to assist millions of older Americans to do better.

Though most people with hearing loss are treated with hearing aids, the devices are not very helpful in situations where many people are talking at once or there is background noise, says Helfer, an expert in

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