University of Massachusetts Amherst - Office of News & Information

Saturday, November 22, 2008

 An Online Resource for Journalists
Daily News Summary

Each weekday morning, the Office of News and Information compiles a summary of news coverage about UMass Amherst and trends in higher education.
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Headlines

UMass Amherst Sophomore Leah Maio to Perform in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as Baton Twirler

November 20, 2008

AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts Amherst sophomore Leah Maio has been selected as a USA Baton Twirling All Star and will perform in the 82nd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, which will begin at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 27. More...



Budget Task Force Begins Work on Difficult Choices

November 20, 2008

AMHERST, Mass. – The Budget Planning Task Force, chaired by Professor John McCarthy, received its charge from Chancellor Robert Holub this week. The Chancellor wants recommendations on strategic choices that the campus must make as it weathers $11 million in state budget cuts this year and anticipated reductions next year. More...



UMass Amherst Podcast Examines Tinkerplots, Software That Makes Data Analysis Fun for Kids

November 20, 2008

AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst’s podcast series about breakthrough discoveries of campus researchers focuses this month on Tinkerplots, an innovative software program that turns data analysis into fun for schoolchildren. More...



UMass Amherst Kinesiology Department Partnership to Provide Cybex with Science about Exercise Machines

November 19, 2008

AMHERST, Mass. – The kinesiology department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is working with Cybex International, a leading manufacturer of exercise equipment based in Medway, Mass., to provide research data on how the company’s machines affect the human body. The partnership offers UMass an opportunity to work with advanced prototypes of exercise equipment and gives the company a better scientific foundation for developing new equipment, says Patty S. Freedson, department chair. More...



UMass Amherst Spinoff SunEthanol Raises $25 Million for Cellulosic Ethanol Breakthrough; Name Changed to Qteros

November 19, 2008

HADLEY, Mass. — SunEthanol, a spinoff company from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has raised $25 million in Series B financing from a consortium of funders including BP and Soros Fund Management LLC, and is changing its name effective immediately to Qteros. The new name refers to its breakthrough Q Microbe™ technology for producing sustainable liquid fuel from non-food plants and wastes. More...



New Video: George Huber, Biofuels Researcher, Shows Off His Green Gasoline in UMass Amherst Lab

November 17, 2008

George Huber, a chemical engineering researcher at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is a national leader in the development of "green gasoline." In this video, he explains the biofuels conversion process that he has developed at UMass Amherst. More...



Anna Symington Named Executive Director of UMass Amherst Alumni Association

November 17, 2008

AMHERST, Mass. – Anna Symington has been named executive director of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Alumni Association. More...



UMass Amherst Anthropologist Laurie Godfrey Assembles and Copies Skeleton of Extinct Subadult Lemur

November 14, 2008

AMHERST, Mass. – Scientists in Madagascar, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York and the Vienna Natural History Museum and at the University of Massachusetts Amherst now have a nearly complete skeleton of a rare species of extinct lemur to study thanks to a century-long discovery and reconstruction effort. Laurie R. Godfrey, professor of anthropology at UMass Amherst and lemur expert, played a key role in the process in which contemporary researchers were able to match newly found bones with those discovered in a cave in Madagascar in 1899 to construct much of the skeleton. More...



Public Invited To Network for a Green Job at Opportunity Fair and Clean Energy Conference in Springfield on Nov. 22

November 14, 2008

AMHERST, Mass. – Participants will hear what’s hot and what’s only hype in green jobs, financing and investment strategies at a Clean Energy Connections Conference and Opportunity Fair in Springfield on Saturday, Nov. 22, organized by the University of Massachusetts Amherst. More...



German Director Rainer Simon to Introduce Film Screenings during Visit to Five College Area

November 12, 2008

Tour organized by DEFA Film Library at UMass Amherst

AMHERST, Mass. – Movie director Rainer Simon will introduce and discuss three of his films next week during a visit to the Five College area organized by the DEFA Film Library at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. More...

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UMass Research

UMass Amherst Sociologist Suzanne Model’s New Book Examines Why West Indian Immigrants Succeed

AMHERST, Mass. – A new book by Suzanne Model, a sociologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, examines why West Indian immigrants enjoy more economic success than native-borne African Americans and finds that the key factor in this outcome is their self-selected immigrant status. The findings of the book, “West Indian Immigrants: A Black Success Story,” are summarized in the November/December Issue of the journal Society.

UMass Amherst Engineer Designing a Portable Breast Cancer Screening Device for Use in Remote Clinics, Hospitals

AMHERST, Mass. – To bring modern breast cancer screening to Third World countries without the danger, high cost and access problems of X-ray-based machines, a researcher at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is building a portable alternative that uses low-power microwaves. It should be affordable and adaptable even for remote locations, and could be useful as a “second opinion” to complement conventional mammography in any setting, says Anatoliy Boryssenko, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering.

New Research on Darwin's Finches Offers Rare Glimpse Into How Species Diverge, Says UMass Amherst Biologist

AMHERST, Mass. – Some of the latest research on Darwin’s finches of the Galapagos Islands shows an unexpected pattern of natural selection that is allowing researchers “a rare glimpse into what the early stages of speciation might look like,” and emphasizing the central role of environmental conditions, according to Jeff Podos, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Speciation refers to the way new species arise from a common ancestor.

Old Bridges Give UMass Amherst Engineering Students Hands-On Education in Structural Mechanics and History

AMHERST, Mass. – Alaska may have its bridge to nowhere, but two University of Massachusetts Amherst professors of civil engineering want to put this campus on the map as the only school where structural engineering students can gain hands-on professional experience by rebuilding historic bridges, with the added benefit of preserving significant pieces of New England’s technological past.

UMass Amherst Geoscientist and His 14-Year-Old Son Report a Glacier-Nesting Finch in the Peruvian Andes

AMHERST, Mass. – In an unusual research collaboration, a University of Massachusetts Amherst geoscientist, Douglas Hardy, and his son Spencer, 14, recently reported what is believed to be the first well documented evidence of a bird other than a penguin nesting directly on ice, in the Andes Mountains.

Grant to UMass Amherst Engineers Aims to Improve Cyber Trust For Embedded Electronic Identification Tags

AMHERST, Mass. – Three engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have received a $200,000 National Science Foundation Cyber Trust grant to develop more secure and less expensive radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology. The tags are found in everything from driver’s licenses and toll passes to inventoried commercial products and military supplies, according to Wayne Burleson, professor of electrical and computer engineering.

For Nonscientists, UMass Researcher Will Describe Immune System Studies at Jones Library in Amherst On Nov. 9

AMHERST, Mass. – The first talk in a series designed to bring outstanding scientific ideas from University of Massachusetts Amherst laboratories to local citizens will be given by Harry Bermudez, assistant professor of polymer science and engineering, on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 9, at the Jones Library, 43 Amity St. The program begins at 2:15 p.m. and his topic will be “The Locks and Keys of the Immune System: Opening the Right Door.”

UMass Amherst Biochemists Light Up Correctly Folded Proteins to Assist Medical Research

AMHERST, Mass. – Biochemists Lila Gierasch and Beena Krishnan at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have found a way to slip a fluorescent marker into one of a cell’s molecular machines so it lights up when it has formed the proper shape to carry out the cell’s “work orders.” The new technique should allow labeling of correctly folded proteins in a living cell or similar natural environment to study the origins of protein-misfolding diseases such as cystic fibrosis, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

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