Talking Points

Libraries honored by ALA for Sustainability Fund campaign

The Libraries have won the Gale Cengage Learning Financial Development Award, presented annually by the American Library Association to a library organization that exhibits meritorious achievement in creating new means of funding for a public or academic library. 
 
The Libraries developed the Sustainability Fund to engage philanthropic support from faculty, students, alumni and friends who recognize the value of the rapidly growing field of sustainability studies. One of the award jurors noted that “The initiative is a strategic fundraising program serving as a model for other libraries.”
 

Communication Disorders students awarded fellowships to attend research symposium

Communication Disorders graduate students Alisson Reber and Abigail Wilkins have been awarded travel fellowships by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communicative Disorders (NIDCD) to attend the Research Symposium in Clinical Aphasiology (RSCA) in May. The RSCA is embedded in the schedule of the 43rd annual Clinical Aphasiology Conference (CAC) in Tucson and is organized around cutting-edge theory and data.
 
Reber and Wilkins, along with 12 other graduate students from around the world, will be reimbursed up to $1,500 for travel and conference expenses.

Chancellor proposes joint hiring of consultant to advise on town-gown development issues

Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy has proposed to Amherst town officials that they jointly hire a consultant to assess key community development issues, including ways to strengthen boundary neighborhoods and bolster the local economy.
 
Subbaswamy proposes splitting the estimated $60,000 cost with the town, and said he would gladly speak at Amherst’s upcoming Town Meeting in support of the idea and to answer questions.
 
“UMass Amherst is an engaged and committed member of the Amherst community,” Subbaswamy said.

Campus and town officials, area landlords discuss spring weekend planning

Campus officials hosted a meeting of local landlords, town and campus representatives and public safety officials on April 4 to discuss strategies for handling busy spring weekend activities.
 
Ten local landlords were on hand to hear about plans for on-campus activities, new neighborhood initiatives aimed at limiting late-night disturbances in residential areas near the campus and general preparations to deal with off-campus parties in Amherst.

Student discipline report details extensive sanctions, including suspensions

Campus officials released an updated report April 2 on student discipline for off-campus incidents, noting that more than eight out of 10 students in cases reviewed this academic year have been found responsible and sanctioned for a violation of the Code of Student Conduct.
 
Dean of Students Enku Gelaye said, “We are sanctioning misbehaving students consistently, including suspensions, and moving students more quickly to deferred suspensions, which means they are on notice that one more violation results in immediate departure from the university.

'Green Monstah' gulps recyclable electronics

It’s far from Fenway Park, but the Du Bois Library has its own “Green Monstah,” an electronic waste recycling center that opened this week in the building’s vestibule.
 
A joint project between the Campus Sustainability Initiative  and the Libraries , the centralized center has been in the works for several.

Earth is ‘lazy’ when forming faults like those near San Andreas, says geoscientist

Geoscientist Michele Cooke and colleagues take an uncommon, “Earth is lazy” approach to modeling fault development in the crust that is providing new insights into how faults grow. In particular, they study irregularities along strike-slip faults, the active zones where plates slip past each other such as at the San Andreas Fault of southern California.
 
Until now there has been a great deal of uncertainty among geologists about the factors that govern how new faults grow in regions where one plate slides past or over another around a bend, says Cooke.

Phallacies wins video contest

Phallacies, the Center for Health Promotion’s men’s health theater and dialogue program, is a winner in this year’s White Ribbon Campaign video contest, sponsored by the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office.
 
High school and college students were invited to submit videos in support of the campaign to end violence against women and girls.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hotel and Conference Center awarded One-Stop Shop certification

The UMass Hotel and Conference Center has achieved One-Stop Shop Certification through the Association of Collegiate Conference and Events Directors-International (ACCED-I).
 
One-Stop Shop Certification recognizes collegiate operations that deliver one contact, one contract and one bill to meeting planners. This streamlining of conferencing and events coordination is intended to more closely match the practices of convention facilities and finer hotels.
 
The Association of Collegiate Conference and Events Directors-International was founded in 1980 and currently has a membership of over

Campus sends messages to students emphasizing importance of responsible behavior this spring

As part of a campaign to improve public safety in the community this spring, the campus administration on March 28 sent messages to all undergraduates as well as their parents emphasizing the importance of responsible behavior and the consequences for violating the law or the Code of Student Conduct.
 
Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy said the messaging is part of a multi-faceted campaign that reflects his commitment to address unacceptable behavior by some students. “I and my leadership team will redouble our efforts to find solutions to this problem by working closely with leaders in Amherst.

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