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Survey seeks campus input for updated UHS mission statement

Students, faculty and staff are being asked to help shape a new mission statement for University Health Services by participating in an upcoming survey, according to James Sheehan, vice chancellor for Administration and Finance.
 
“The current mission statement is about 20 years old and health care has changed quite a bit in that time,” said Sheehan. “We’re asking the campus community to identify what’s important to them.”
 
Sheehan said a revised mission statement will help clarify the expectations for the scope and role of UHS, but will not lead to wholesale changes at the health center.

Study questions improved memorability of symbol license plates

Results of a new study by memory experts in the Psychology Department suggest that adding symbols such as stars or circles to license plates does not make them easier for adults to remember than the traditional plate with only letters and numbers.
 
Cognitive psychologist and memory expert Caren Rotello says, “We found that whether the license plate contained a symbol or not didn’t matter when people tried to remember details. There was no overall benefit to license plates with symbols in our study.

Faculty and Staff Campaign raises $764,238 as participation, gifts grow

More than 1,200 members of the campus community contributed $764,238 to the 2012-13 Faculty and Staff Campaign, according to Sarah Sligo, executive director of Annual Giving.
 
The gift total represents a 5 percent increase in donations over last year, while the number of donors grew 6 percent to 1,229, said Sligo.
 
“Our faculty and staff really stepped up for this year's campaign, illustrating in this most tangible way the depth of their support for moving UMass Amherst forward,” said co-chair Robert Feldman, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.
 
To help promote a culture

Researchers develop tools for discovering new species

For hundreds of years, naturalists and scientists have identified new species based on an organism’s visible differences. But now, new genetic techniques are revealing that different species can show little to no visible differences.

In a just-published study, evolutionary biologists at UMass Amherst and the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) combine traditional morphological tests plus genetic techniques to describe new species. Groups of morphologically similar organisms that show very divergent genetics are generally termed “cryptic species.”
 
Lead authors of an article describing

UMass Innovation Institute forging links between academic research and industry

The UMass Innovation Institute (UMII) is accelerating connections between advanced science and technology available in campus laboratories and private business. Its most recent initiative is a five-year strategic partnership with BASF, the world’s leading chemical company, to develop new advanced materials for the automotive, building, construction and energy industries. The new agreement was announced last week in Cambridge.
 
The agreement between BASF and the UMII along with Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is called the North American Center for Research

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