News

Obituary: Stephen Constantine, senior lecturer in Computer Science and Engineering

Stephen M. Constantine, 58, of Florence, a senior lecturer in the School of Computer Science and the College of Engineering, died suddenly May 4 at his home.

Born in Racine, Wisc., he earned his undergraduate degree in economics at Harvard University, his master’s degree in mathematics at Cornell University, and his doctorate in English at UMass Amherst in 2006.
 
He joined the Computer Science Department in 1997, first with a graduate assistantship while completing his Ph.D. in English and later as a lecturer. He was promoted to senior lecturer in 2009.
 
Over his years on campus, he also

SPHHS researchers get $3.64m from state Gaming Commission to study gambling impacts

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) has selected a School of Public Health and Health Sciences (SPHHS) research team to perform a comprehensive, multi-year $3.64 million research project, believed to be the first of its kind, on the economic and social impacts of introducing casino gambling in Massachusetts. It will focus particularly on problem gambling, but also examine a wide array of social and economic effects of expanded gambling in Massachusetts.
 
Funding is expected to start with a one-year contract followed by a three-year extension.

Summer hours at dining commons

Worcester and Berkshire dining commons will be daily open this summer as follows:

Worcester, May 20 to July 27, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Berkshire, June 23 to July 3 and July 12 to Sept. 1, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Berkshire will be closed July 4-11).

More information

Ice-free Arctic may be in our future, say researchers

Analyses of the longest sediment core ever collected on land in the Arctic, recently completed by an international team led by Julie Brigham-Grette of the Geosciences Department, provide “absolutely new knowledge” of Arctic climate from 2.2 to 3.6 million years ago and show that with estimated atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) similar to today’s levels, the Arctic was very warm, with no ice sheets.
 
“While existing geologic records from the Arctic contain important hints about this time period, what we are presenting is the most continuous archive of information about past climate change

ICB3 offers ‘Big Data’ course for life sciences industry and academic researchers

Registration is open for the one-day, short course, “Data Sciences for the Life Sciences in a High-Performance Computing Environment,” sponsored by the Institute for Computational Biology, Biostatistics, and Bioinformatics (ICB3) to be held  Aug. 27 at the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center in Holyoke.
 
The course at the new state-of-the-art facility dedicated to research-oriented computing will offer a foundational curriculum in life sciences research using R, an increasingly important open source statistical programming language.

Doctoral oral exams for May 20-24

The graduate dean invites all graduate faculty to attend the final oral examinations for the doctoral candidates scheduled as follows:

Peter Fielding, Ph.D., Music. Monday, May 20, 9 a.m., 272 Music Department Conference Room. Dissertation: “The Traditional Vocal Repertoire of Nova Scotia: A Classification of Pitch Space.” Gary Karpinski, chr.

Elizabeth Cahn, Ph.D., Regional Planning. Monday, May 20, 10 a.m., 301 Hills North.

Hallock elected fellow of Massachusetts Academy of Sciences

Distinguished Professor Robert Hallock of the Physics Department was recently elected a fellow of the Massachusetts Academy of Sciences (MAS) along with 17 other Bay State scientists; all were recognized at a reception at Boston’s Museum of Science. Academy peers identify candidates for fellowship based on their significant professional achievement in scientific research or science education.
 
MAS president and founder, Biology professor Margaret Riley, said, “Our fellows encompass true passion for and expertise in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and we are thrilled to have

Western Massachusetts Writing Project celebrates 20th anniversary

The Western Massachusetts Writing Project will celebrate its 20th anniversary on May 16 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. with a program and reception in the Marriott Center of the Campus Center. Titled “Opening Doors and Re-Inventing Teaching Practices,” the program will feature remarks from Sharon Washington, executive director of the National Writing Project.

The project will also honor the newest Massachusetts Teacher of the Year, Anne Marie Bettencourt, of Hatfield, a co-director of the Writing Project and English teacher at Central High School in Springfield.

Obituary: Kathleen M. Prentice, former clerk in News Office

Kathleen M. (Wasielewski) Prentice, 61, of Trout Creek, Mont., alumna and former principal clerk in the News Office, died April 25 at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, Mont.
 
Born in Greenfield, she went to brown University, Boston University and UMass Amherst, where she earned a master’s degree in Special Education.
 
She began her campus service as a junior clerk and stenographer in the English Department and held clerical positions in language departments before moving to the News Office. She resigned in 1990 to pursue her graduate studies.
 
After obtaining her degree, she taught in

Rallis serves on faculty of national seminar for education doctoral students

School of Education professor Sharon Rallis of the Department of Educational Policy, Research and Administration, was an invited distinguished seminar faculty member at the David L. Clark National Graduate Student Research Seminar in Educational Administration and Policy Research in San Francisco on April 26-27.

The seminar, which originated in 1966 and is sponsored by Divisions A & L of the American Educational Research Association, the University Council of Educational Administration and Sage Publications, brings together selected doctoral students in educational administration and policy

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