Talking Points

Two alumnae recovering from injuries sustained in Boston Marathon attack

Two alumnae are recovering from injuries sustained during the April 15 terrorist bombing in Boston.
 
Brittany A. Loring of Ayer, a 2006 graduate, remains hospitalized but her condition has been upgraded from critical to serious, according to the Ayer News. Longmeadow native Ryan C. McMahon, 33, of Boston, a 2002 graduate, received a fractured vertebra and two broken arms when she fell as the crowd in the viewing stand fled the scene after the blasts, according to the Republican.
 
A recovery fund has been established for Loring.

Students organize run to raise money for marathon bombing victims fund

Just days after the Boston Marathon bombings, students are organizing a fundraiser to assist victims of the attack and demonstrate the campus community’s support for the people of Boston.
 
Christopher J. Weyant, a first-year Sport Management major from Wilbraham, is the lead organizer of a 2.62-mile campus run tonight. The runners are to gather at 6 p.m. on the plaza between the Mullins Center and the practice skating rink with the run starting off at 6:30 p.m.
 
Weyant says the event is designed to show the people of Boston that the UMass Amherst community supports them and “to show the

Ambitious ‘greening the campus’ goals announced

Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy recently accepted from his environmental advisory committee an updated Climate Action Plan that outlines ambitious goals for the campus, focused not only on energy efficiency and reduced emissions, but on raising sustainability literacy, student participation and integrating green principles into all of campus life, notably academic courses.
 
The 60-page report updates the campus’s first action plan released in 2010, which identified strategies for reaching carbon neutrality over the next 37 years, by 2050. That is the goal that former President Jack Wilson

University Chorale is finalist in WGBY choral competition

The University Chorale is a finalist in the WGBY Together in Song Choral Competition and will be one of the featured choirs in the competition’s showcase concert on April 28 at 7 p.m. at the Paramount Theatre in Springfield. 

The showcase will be hosted by Springfield Symphony Orchestra conductor Kevin Rhodes, and also will be broadcast live on WGBY. 

The University Chorale is conducted Stephen A. Paparo, assistant professor in the Department of Music and Dance. 

Together in Song, now in its third season, celebrates the living choral tradition in western New England by providing

Emergency Notification System test scheduled for April 24

The campus will conduct a routine test of its Emergency Notification System on Wednesday, April 24 after 10:30 a.m., according to Tom O’Regan, emergency preparedness and business continuity planning manager with Environmental Health & Safety.

The test will include emergency text messaging, broadcast e-mail and outdoor warning sirens.

The drill will help test, evaluate and improve the campus’s ability to disseminate timely and effective notifications and warnings to students, faculty and staff during an emergency.

Members of the campus community can sign up for emergency text messages by

New Rising Researcher awards given to 4 undergraduates

Undergraduates Tess Brickley ’15, Kelly Malone ’13, Alexander Borges ’14, and Ankur Sheel ’13 have been designated the first UMass Amherst Rising Researchers. The Rising Researcher award is a new program co-funded by University Relations and Research and Engagement to recognize campus undergraduates who excel in research, scholarship and creative activity.

Awardees are exceptional undergraduates identified by their faculty mentor/advisor who have demonstrated leadership and impact in their chosen area of study.

A double major in Neuroscience and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Sheel is

Chancellor expresses support, condolences for Boston Marathon bombing victims

In response to the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings, Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy sent the following message to the campus community:
 
Today marks a somber return to classes and work for the UMass Amherst community. Many of us have been glued to the news channels and social media outlets watching, searching for loved ones, and sending well wishes to the city of Boston and the victims of the Boston Marathon explosions.
 
We extend our sincere condolences to the victims, their families and friends and to the many people around the world impacted by this act of violence.

UMass Amherst license plates are a go

Production of the long-awaited UMass Amherst license plate is about to go forward after the needed 1,500th order was received by the Alumni Association.
 
“The Alumni Association has worked diligently over the past year to achieve this milestone on behalf of the university,” said JC Schnabl, assistant vice chancellor for Alumni Relations and executive director of the Alumni Association.

American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault named Commencement speaker

Kenneth I. Chenault, chairman and CEO of American Express Company, will address the 5,500 graduates and their families and friends at Undergraduate Commencement on Friday, May 10 at 5 p.m. in McGuirk Alumni Stadium.

Chenault will also receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at the ceremony. Chenault joined American Express in 1981 and became president and chief operating officer in 1997. He assumed his current responsibilities as CEO in 2001, and later that year became chairman.

Chenault serves on the board of corporate and nonprofit organizations including IBM, Procter & Gamble,

University leaders welcome House panel’s budget proposal

The House Ways and Means Committee voted unanimously April 10 to approve a $33.8 billion fiscal 2014 state budget plan that includes about $39 million in additional funding for the UMass system, a move that places the university on a path to a 50-50 funding formula and a freeze on tuition and fees.
 
The proposed spending plan, which increases UMass funding from $439.5 million to $478.7 million next year, drew praise from Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy and President Robert Caret.
 
“Investing in public higher education brings extraordinary returns in an increasingly competitive, international

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