With students heading back to Amherst for the start of classes next week, the campus is taking preventive measures to manage further outbreaks of the flu.
Dr. Alan Calhoun, director of University Health Services, in an e-mail message sent to students Monday said, “Before returning to campus, please get a flu vaccination since it can take up to two weeks for it to build up your body’s defenses. See your local healthcare provider, go to a community clinic or stop by one of the many retailers offering flu vaccines. The Centers for Disease Control website includes a vaccine finder tool at
Ercole Canale-Parola, 83, professor emeritus of Microbiology, died March 29 in Amherst, following a brief illness.
Dogs and wolves are genetically so similar, it’s been difficult for biologists to understand why wolves remain fiercely wild, while dogs can gladly become “man’s best friend.” Now, doctoral research by evolutionary biologist Kathryn Lord suggests the different behaviors are related to the animals’ earliest sensory experiences and the critical period of socialization. Details appear in the current issue of Ethology.
Tim Anderson, Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Florida, has been named dean of the College of Engineering. His appointment is effective March 1.
Despite modern designs intended to allow migratory fish to pass, hydropower dams on major Northeast U.S. waterways, including the Merrimack and Connecticut rivers, have failed to let economically important species such as salmon, shad and river herring reach their spawning grounds, say a team of economists and fish ecologists including Adrian Jordaan of the Environmental Conservation Department. 
In partnership with Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECo), the campus recently completed an energy efficiency project expected to save more than $220,000 in energy costs per year and reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by 1,000 metric tons in 2013 and beyond.