News

U.S. Senate Debate at Springfield Symphony Hall

 
MEDIA ADVISORY
 
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Live Broadcast 7 to 8 p.m.
 
Candidates: U.S. Senator Scott Brown, Republican, and Elizabeth Warren, Democrat
Moderator: Jim Madigan, WGBY-TV
Springfield Symphony Hall
34 Court Street, Springfield, Mass.
Media Room open 4-10 p.m.
Symphony Hall doors close promptly at 6:30 p.m. for technical checks
Sponsored by the Western Massachusetts U.S. Senate Debate Consortium
 
Media Credentials
Contact: Ed Blaguszewski, UMass Amherst Office of News and Media Relations
Office: (413) 545-0444; Cell: (413) 695-4522; edblag@admin.umass.edu
The press will be

Massachusetts Academy of Sciences Names 2012 Fellows

AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts Amherst alumna and astronaut Catherine “Cady” Coleman is among the new class of Fellows of the Massachusetts Academy of Sciences (MAS) elected by their peers to its prestigious community of scientists, engineers, research physicians and others who are deeply concerned about science and science education in the Commonwealth.
 
University of Massachusetts Amherst biology professor Peg Riley, president and founder of MAS, announced the academy’s latest fellows.

UMass Innovation Institute Executive Director James D. Capistran Appointed to State Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative

AMHERST, Mass. – James D. Capistran, executive director of the UMass Innovation Institute (UMII), has been appointed to be a member of the executive committee of state’s Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative. The appointment was announced Sept. 11 by Gregory P. Bialecki, state secretary of Housing and Economic Development.
 
Capistran was appointed executive director of UMII in September 2011after serving as interim for three months.

UMass Amherst Study Tailors Exercise, Nutrition for Pregnant Latina Women, Aiming to Prevent Adult-Onset Diabetes

AMHERST, Mass. – Over the next five years, 300 Latina women in western and central Massachusetts with a history of diabetes while pregnant will receive personalized exercise, weight loss and other healthy lifestyle support to help them avoid developing type 2 diabetes after they give birth. This is thanks to a $2.56 million grant from the NIH’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases to Lisa Chasan-Taber, professor of epidemiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
 
Chasan-Taber will lead a team to study the effects of individually tailored, culturally matched,

UMass Amherst Fish Ecologist's Film 'Fish Meat' Will Show at Prestigious Blue Ocean Film Festival

AMHERST, Mass. – The prestigious Blue Ocean Film Festival will screen the documentary film, “Fish Meat: Choose Your Farm Wisely,” by eco-filmmaker Ted Caplow and featuring University of Massachusetts Amherst fish ecologist Andy Danylchuk, on Sept. 26 in Monterey, Calif.
 
Festival organizers say it honors the world’s finest ocean films through best-in-class film competition, promotes dialogue between filmmakers and scientists to inspire great films, connects ocean filmmakers with the latest technology, financing and distribution resources and engages the public internationally by sharing the

G.I. Jobs Magazine Names UMass Amherst a 'Military Friendly School'

AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst ranks among the 15 percent of schools that are the most “military friendly” in the country, offering the best education, value and welcome to service members and veterans, according to G.I. Jobs magazine.
 
Based on a survey of 12,000 universities, colleges and trade schools, the magazine selected schools that offer a range of academic programs, support services and policies that help veterans and their dependents achieve their educational goals.
 
UMass Amherst was cited for having full-time veterans counselors on staff, its Reserve

Prominent East German Movie Director Iris Gusner to Attend Film Retrospective in Five College Area

AMHERST, Mass. – East German filmmaker Iris Gusner will visit the Five College area from Sept. 25 through Oct. 1 for a retrospective of her films, including the premiere of the DVD release of All My Girls (1979) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a special screening of her unique semi-autobiographical film Were the Earth Not Round (1981) at Amherst Cinema.
 
One of very few women to succeed as a filmmaker at DEFA, the East German state-owned movie-making powerhouse, Gusner was one of the first filmmakers to focus on the role and emancipation of women in East Germany.

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet John Ashbery Opens Visiting Writers Series Sept. 20 at UMass Amherst

AMHERST, Mass. – This semester’s Visiting Writers Series at the University of Massachusetts Amherst kicks off Thursday, Sept. 20 with Pulitzer Prize-winning poet John Ashbery reading from his work at 8 p.m. in Memorial Hall.
 
Other scheduled speakers include James Salter (Oct. 11), Alice Oswald (Oct. 30), Junot Diaz (Nov. 1) and Noy Holland (Nov. 15).
 
For nearly 50 years, the Visiting Writers Series has brought renowned and emerging poets and writers to UMass Amherst for public readings of new work. All readings are on Thursdays at 8 p.m.

EEE, West Nile Mosquito Threat Cancels UMass Amherst Sunwheel and Sky Watching Events on Sept. 22

AMHERST, Mass. – The threat of two mosquito-borne illnesses, Eastern equine encephalitis and West Nile virus, has led University of Massachusetts Amherst astronomer Judith Young to cancel sunrise and sunset events planned to mark the autumnal equinox at the UMass Amherst Sunwheel on Saturday, Sept. 22.
 
Young said she is honoring Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy’s ban on dawn and dusk events to protect students and the public from gathering outdoors at times when mosquitos are most active. “The reality is that the sun will not quite have set by 6:30 p.m.

UMass Amherst Researchers Solve Long-Standing Mystery of How Cellulose Chains Break Down

AMHERST, Mass. – One would think that scientists had long ago cracked the secret of cellulose, the most abundant polymer on Earth, in order to break its chemical bonds and harness its wealth of energy. But in fact, only recently have theoretical chemist Scott Auerbach and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst discovered how cellulose chains break down with heat, which is critical information for efficiently converting cellulose to biofuels.
 
Reporting in the current issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Auerbach and chemical engineer Paul Dauenhauer, with

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