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Center hosts conference on economic impact of cultural heritage

Delegates from around the world will be participating in “The Past for Sale? New Perspectives on the Economic Entanglements of Cultural Heritage,” a conference being hosted May 15-17 by the Center for Heritage and Society.
 
The conference garnered 120 abstracts from participants representing 30 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Panama, Syria and Zimbabwe.

Nuclear physicist, with hundreds worldwide, tracks huge magnetic ring across country for muon experiments

Nuclear physicist David Kawall is among scientists from 26 institutions worldwide who are waiting patiently for an electromagnet 50 feet in diameter to be transported from New York to Illinois, where they plan to launch an experiment in 2016 that could open new realms of particle physics.
 
Kawall’s responsibility will be to measure very precisely the magnetic field inside the ring-shaped magnet when it arrives at its new home sometime in late July. “It’s definitely new territory,” he says, “because we need to measure the field accurately to 70 parts per billion in this huge magnet.

Flags lowered for Peace Officers Memorial Day

In accordance with President Barack Obama’s proclamation, Gov. Deval L. Patrick has ordered that the United States and Commonwealth flags be lowered to half-staff at all state buildings from sunrise until sunset on Wednesday, May 15 in honor of Peace Officers Memorial Day and Police Week.

Obituary: Judith Todd, former assistant controller

Judith (Wilkinson) Todd, 71, of Amherst, alumna and former assistant controller for grants and contracts, died May 9 at the Hospice of the Fisher Home in Amherst, after a long illness.

She was a graduate of B.M.C. Durfee High School in Fall River and received her bachelor’s degree Mathematics from UMass in 1963. She married Robert Torla later that year.
 
After teaching in Somerset, she earned a master's in Accounting from UMass and then joined the Controller’s Office, where she worked until 1988.

In 1981, she married David Todd.
 
She leaves her husband, David, her sons Michael Torla of

Student awards presented by Libraries

The Department of Special Collections and University Archives recently presented the fourth annual Emily Silverman Book Collecting Award and the fifth annual Friends of the Library Undergraduate Research Award (FLURA).
 
The first place recipient of the Emily Silverman Book Collecting Award in the undergraduate category was senior Sonia McCallum of Ashby, for “Vampires Don’t Sparkle: Vampires Outside the Romance Genre.” McCallum received $750 and a $250 gift certificate to the Brattle Book Shop in Boston.
 
The recipient of the FLURA first place prize of $750 was senior Ken Lefebvre of

Activist Laura X speaks on combating marital and date rape

Human rights activist Laura X will discuss her work combating marital and date rape in the United States and internationally on Thursday, May 16 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Center for Women & Community (CWC) in the second floor reading room in New Africa House.
 
Laura X will also present her groundbreaking interview on “60 Minutes” and join a panel of local experts from the CWC and Safe Passage to discuss contemporary strategies to end “rape culture” and sexual violence, including addressing human trafficking and the international sex trade in girls and women.

Stockbridge School of Agriculture salutes 80 graduates

At the 91st Commencement for the Stockbridge School of Agriculture on May 11, speakers told graduates they will become stewards of the world through their chosen professions as well as the latest addition to a long standing family of graduates who support each other. The students in six majors received associate of science degrees and bachelor’s degree of science in Bowker Auditorium.
 
Degrees were awarded to 14 graduates in Arboriculture and Community Forest Management, 12 in Equine Industries, seven in Sustainable Food and Farming, 12 in Sustainable Horticulture, 15 in Landscape

5,500 awarded degrees as Class of 2013 graduates

Under partly sunny skies, 5,500 students received bachelor’s degrees at Undergraduate Commencement on May 10. A crowd of 20,000 heard commencement speaker and American Express CEO Kenneth I. Chenault advise, that in a world permanently disrupted, graduates may not “find” a job but that “21st century technology makes inventing a job much cheaper and easier.”

Chenault, who also received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at the ceremony, told the graduates, “When you take a risk, expect others to question you, and they should. Your employer. Your colleagues. Your friends.

Graduate School Commencement honors tradition and innovation

The Graduate School conferred more than 1,200 doctoral and master’s degrees at May 10 Commencement ceremonies that drew nearly 1,000 graduates, along with family members and friends to the William D. Mullins Memorial Center.
 
Distinguished Professor John J. McCarthy, marking his first Commencement as vice provost for Graduate Education and dean of the Graduate School, said that well over 1,700 students earned graduate degrees at UMass Amherst during the just-completed academic year.
 
During a ceremony that repeatedly highlighted a spirit of academic innovation and daring, Chancellor

Applications open for Jazz in July summer workshops

The Fine Arts Center is now accepting applications for the 32nd annual Jazz in July Summer Music Programs, to be held July 8-19.
 
Jazz in July is a summer intensive workshop examining the technique, history and culture of jazz. Every summer for the last 30 years, the all-stars of jazz have come together to school the next generation of up-and-coming jazz musicians.
 
Students work with cutting-edge artists to hone their musical and performance skills through one-on-one sessions, lectures, group clinics, jazz theory and improvisation training, ensemble coaching, style explorations, jam

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