SPIRE weathers major test
SPIRE, the campus's new online registration tool, had its first workout between Nov. 14 and Dec. 3 when nearly 15,500 undergraduates and more than 1,800 graduate students registered for spring classes.

New awards to recognize top seniors
Chancellor John V. Lombardi is calling for nominations from the faculty for a new set of awards to recognize outstanding seniors, according to the Provost's Office.

Taking a virtual spin on the Big Dig
Nervous about negotiating the Big Dig when it opens early next year? Through the efforts of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering professor Donald Fisher and his assistants, drivers can test-drive their routes through Boston before ever pulling out of the driveway.

Turnaround has Minutewomen fans cheering
What a difference a year makes. At the end of the fall semester in 2001, the wo-men's basketball team had won one game and lost eight, this year they are 8 and 1, riding a six-game winning streak and showing no signs of slowing down.

Library staff pitch in for Jessie's House
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus - dozens of them, who work in the tall brick building in the middle of campus.

Environmental Institute director named
David Reckhow, professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has been appointed director of The Environmental Institute by interim Vice Chancellor for Research Frederick W. Byron. The appointment is retroactive to Sept. 1.

Professor Vladimir Haensel dead at 88
Vladimir "Val" Haensel, 88, of Amherst, an award winning ground-breaker in petroleum-products research and a professor emeritus of Chemical Engineering, died Dec. 15. He held nearly 150 U.S. patents and more than 400 foreign patents.