Grain & Chaff

Gretchen Dutschke-Klotz, mother of German Department honors student Marek Dutschke and widow of German revolutionary student leader Rudi Dutschke, talks to professor Harry Seelig's "Contemporary Germany" Course 379 on the subject "The Life and Legacy of Rudi Dutschke: A Personal View" on April 12. (Stan Sherer photo)

Cable guy

A presentation that Steve Tracy, associate professor of Afro-American Studies, made at the Langston Hughes Centennial Conference in February at the University of Kansas was broadcast on C-SPAN on April 4.

Expert advice

Fine Arts Center director Willie Hill, who is president-elect of MENC: The National Association for Music Education, was among a group of academic, professional and artistic experts who met recently with the 70-member House Education Caucus in Washington, D.C. to discuss new priorities in the wake of the new No Child Left Behind Act. The legislation defines arts and music as core subjects for the first time and authorizes funding for school music education. Organized by MENC and NAMM, the International Music Products Association, the briefing focused on greater measures to recruit and retain music teachers and more research and data gathering on the state of music education in schools.

Who's sorry now?

Some unfinished business of the 2000 presidential election campaign was cleared up this week as Green Party candidate Ralph Nader dropped his lawsuit against the Commission on Presidential Debates for barring him from an October 2000 debate at UMass Boston. Nader agreed to withdraw the suit in exchange for an apology and undisclosed payment from the commission.

Uneven finish

When gymnast Katie Teft finished fourth on the uneven parallel bars at NCAA Northeast Regionals in University Park, Pa. on April 6, the junior from Grand Rapids, Mich. likely wrote the final chapter for UMass women's gymnastics, one of seven teams being eliminated for budgetary reasons. Teft was the only Minutewoman to compete at the regional, with bars being her only event. The Minutewomen posted an overall record of 7-13 on the season and finished in second place at the Atlantic 10 Championship with a season-high score of 193.950. Coach Dave Kuzara capped his final season here by clinching his 100th collegiate coaching victory and earning coach of the year honors in the Atlantic 10.

Gem of a game

Junior righthander Kaila Holtz hurled the third no-hitter of her career and senior third baseman Scooter Wheeler hit two home runs last Sunday as the Minutewomen beat the Rhode Island Rams 6-0 in North Kingston, R.I. The win was the 18th straight for UMass and the team's 37th consecutive victory in Atlantic 10 Conference play. The no-hitter was the second of the year for Holtz, who allowed just two walks. No URI runners reached second base after the first inning.