News

'Home Drone' opens March 1 at Hampden Gallery

The exhibition “Home Drone” by Heather Layton and Brian Bailey will be on view March 1-26 at Hampden Gallery. An opening reception is planned for Friday, March 1 from 3-5 p.m.
 
“Home Drone” is a multifaceted exhibition that combines on-site installation, a public intervention act across Massachusetts, a history of the U.S. drone program and a timeline for the series of events that brought two artists from their home in Rochester, N.Y., to a conference in Pakistan and back.

Gallery hours are Tuesday to Friday, 1-6 p.m., and Sundays, 2-5 p.m.
 

NOW president speaks on challenges facing feminists

Terry O’Neill, president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), will discuss the past, present and future challenges facing feminists at the 2013 Rossi Lecture on Tuesday, March 5 at 12:30 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom.
 
The event is free and open to the public, and a reception will follow.
 
O’Neill, a feminist attorney, professor and activist for social justice, was elected president of NOW in June 2009. She is also president of the NOW Foundation and chair of the NOW Political Action Committees, and serves as the principal spokesperson for all three entities.

Obituary: L.Z. Moulder, former power plant engineer and technician

L. Z. Moulder, 74, of Leverett, a former power plant engineer and professional technician, died Feb. 16 at Cooley Dickinson Hospital.

Born in Camdenton, Mo., he served in the Navy during the Vietnam War and continued to serve in the Army National Guard for a total of 20 years combined.

He worked as a steam power engineer at several state facilities including Belchertown State School and the Holyoke Soldiers Home. He worked on campus from 1976 until 1983.

He leaves his wife of 50 years, Elizabeth A. "Betty" (Field) Moulder of Leverett; a daughter Mary J.

Family Science Day programs, faculty speakers raise campus profile at AAAS

Student teams, faculty and staff were among more than 8,000 participants at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting held Feb. 13-18 in Boston. In addition, Maria Santore, Polymer Science and Engineering, and Danny Schnell, chemistry, were officially honored as newly elected AAAS Fellows during the meeting.
 
On Feb.

New course proposals

The following new course proposals have been submitted to the Faculty Senate Office for review and approval and are listed here for faculty review and comment. Comments on any new course proposal should be submitted to Ernest May, secretary of the Faculty Senate, at senate@senate.umass.edu.

ANTHRO 452, “Indigenous Archaeologies,” 3 credits; Instructor: Dr. Sonya Atalay; Hybrid Seminar/service learning course examining theories, methods, and ethics related to Indigenous archaeology.

Polish biographer Agata Tuszyńska to read from new book

Polish biographer Agata Tuszyńska will read from her new book, “Vera Gran – The Accused,” on Tuesday, Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m. in 601 Herter Hall.  

Vera Gran was a sultry contralto headlining at the Café Sztuka in the Warsaw Ghetto. The café and her accompanist are remembered in Roman Polański’s film The Pianist, but she is not.

Irwin receives $461,434 CAREER award from NSF to study energy efficiency in buildings

David Irwin, assistant professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has received a five-year, $461,434 grant from the National Science Foundation to fund research on energy efficiency in houses and buildings. The grant is from the NSF’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program.
 
Irwin says understanding how and why individual electrical devices consume electricity is critical to improving a building’s overall energy efficiency. Irwin plans to create a “Wikipedia-style” website to collect electricity use data from thousands of specific brands and models of appliances.

Zoeller's Distinguished Faculty Lecture focuses on endocrine disrupting chemicals

Biologist R. Thomas Zoeller will discuss ways in which chemicals in the environment may disrupt the body’s endocrine system in a Distinguished Faculty Lecture on Monday, Feb. 25 at 4 p.m. in the Massachusetts Room at the Mullins Center. His lecture, titled “The Brain on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals,” will be followed by a reception. All lectures in the series are free and open to the public.
 
Zoeller’s research laboratory has pioneered the study of the role of thyroid hormone in brain development of the fetus.

Dasgupta speaks on how female experts, peers act as ‘social vaccines’ in STEM

Psychology professor Nilanjana Dasgupta will speak on “STEMing the Tide: How Female Experts and Peers Act as ‘Social Vaccines’ for Girls and Women in STEM” on Thursday, Feb. 28 at 4 p.m. in the Campus Center Auditorium.

In her presentation, Dasgupta will propose that individuals’ choice to pursue one career path over another is not really a free choice, but rather is constrained by subtle expectations in achievement environments that send the message some individuals “naturally belong” in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers and others don’t.

Obituary: William K. Price, retired assistant professor of Communication

William K. Price, 82, of South Deerfield, retired assistant professor of Communication, died Feb. 8 at home.
 
Born in Hagerstown, Md., he attended Allegany High School and graduated from the University of Maryland in 1954. He served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force from 1954-57. He received his M.S. and his doctorate at the University of Wisconsin in 1960 and 1964, respectively.
 
He also served as presiding officer of the Faculty Senate in the early 1990s.
 
He joined the faculty in 1963 and retired in 1996. He continued to teach until 2001.

He leaves his wife of 24 years,

Pages