Weekly Bulletin

Departmental UCards

The selling of departmental UCards has moved to the UCard Office from Printing Services. Departments will be able to purchase Guest UCards that can only be used for making photocopies; they also may add value to their existing Guest Cards through the UCard Office.

The UCard Office is open weekdays 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. and is located on the campus side of Franklin Dining Hall. For information, call 5-0197.

Healthy women wanted to participate in nutrition study

Researchers in the Nutrition Department are looking for healthy postmenopausal women to participate in a study on the effects of dietary flaxseed consumption on hormone levels in blood and urine.

Participants must have undergone a natural menopause, and not have taken any hormones, including estrogen replacement therapy, for the past six months; be non-smokers and have no prior medical history of cancer, diabetes or bowel disease.

Qualified individuals need to plan on participating in the study for four months. Financial compensation will be provided.

Anyone interested in being part of the study should contact research manager Sara Sabelawski at 7-4298 or by e-mail (sara@nutrition.umass.edu).

Add-drop deadline

The last day for undergraduate, Stock-bridge and Continuing Education students to add and drop courses without record is Monday, Feb. 10.

Faculty Senate meeting

The Faculty Senate will meet Thursday, Feb. 13 at 3:30 p.m. in 227 Herter Hall.

'W' period begins

Undergraduate, Stockbridge and Continuing Education students may drop classes with a record of "W" from Feb. 11 to March 26.

EWC Counseling Services

The following weekly groups are being offered by Everywoman's Center Counseling Services. The groups meet for six weeks and are free of charge and open to women from the Five College and surrounding community. Registration is required. Call 7-0077 to register and for information.

"Express Yourself: A Constructive Approach to Anger for Women." Free yourself from destructive emotions and improve your relationships.

"Keepin' It Real With the One You Love: Pathways to Successful Relationships." Women of all sexual orientations are welcome.

"Coming Out: A Group for Lesbian and Bisexual Women." A safe space to explore the journey of coming out to yourself, family, friends and others.

Blood drive

The Hampshire County Chapter of the American Red Cross will conduct a blood drive on Monday, Feb. 10, 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. in 174 Lincoln Campus Center.

Cahoon, Lappas and Whipple to speak at Sports Luncheon

The next Weekly Sports Luncheon is scheduled for noon on Wednesday, Feb. 12 in 1009 Lincoln Campus Center. Featured speakers will be hockey coach Don Cahoon, men's basketball coach Steve Lappas and football coach Mark Whipple.

The cost for the buffet lunch is $6.50. Call 5-4289 for reservations.

HomeSharing looking for participants

The HomeSharing program is seeking participants who are interested in sharing space in their home in exchange for services, as well as people who would like to provide services in exchange for an affordable place to live.

If your home has extra space and you would like someone to help you with an overnight presence, childcare, elder care, yard work or housework, or if you would like to offer such services in someone's home, call a HomeSharing contact. Paulie Sicard (773-5555, ext. 297) organizes elder care, and Ashleigh Sullivan (5-4488) makes child-care matches. Either can answer general questions about the program. HomeSharing is funded in part by the town of Amherst, Franklin County Home Care Corp., Highland Valley Elder Services, and undergraduate trust funds.

Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology seminar

The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at the Medical School in Worcester is hosting a seminar with Lara Weinstein Szewczak of Yale University on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at noon in the 8th floor seminar room of the Lazare Research Building.

Szewczak, who is a faculty candidate at the Worcester campus, will discuss "RNA-protein Interactions in Small Nucleolar RNP Assembly."

TIAA-CREF counseling

TIAA-CREF is offering individual financial counseling sessions to University employees on Thursday, Feb. 20 and Wednesday and Thursday, March 12-13, 9 a.m.- 3:45 p.m. in the Treasurer's Office, 100 Venture Way, 2nd Floor, Small Library.

TIAA-CREF will also be offering a financial education seminar entitled "Save on Taxes, Invest in SRAs" on Tuesday, March 11, noon-1 p.m. in 903 Lincoln Campus Center.

Appointments may be scheduled on the TIAA-CREF Web site
(www.tiaa-cref.org/moc) or by calling Kathleen Maida at (800) 842-2004. Space is limited.

USA accepting nominations for officers, delegates

The University Staff Association is calling for nominations for seats on its executive board and delegates to the Massachusetts Teachers Association annual meeting and the National Education Association representative assembly.

Nominations are being accepted for president, vice president, general secretary, treasurer, grievance officer, membership secretary, parliamentarian and four at-large slots on the executive board.

Approximately 19 delegates are needed to attend the MTA meeting to be held May 30-31 in Boston.

About six delegates will be sent to the NEA meeting to be held July 1-6 in New Orleans.

Any USA member in good standing may submit nominations and more than one candidate may be nominated. Self-nominations are allowed. Candidates may run for both the MTA and NEA conventions.

Nominations close at 9 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 14.

Nominations may be made orally, in writing or by e-mail to USA office manager Jane Litwin Taylor at 5-0165 (usa@external.umass.edu) or Elections Board chair David Litterer at 5-4503 (litterer@admin.umass.edu). Taylor can be reached weekdays 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. or nominations may be by voice mail.

Voting is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 28 in 163C Lincoln Campus center from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Absentee ballots may be arranged.

ESL workshops offered through Continuing Education

Three non-credit, 10-week English as a Second Language workshops are being offered during spring semester by the Division of Continuing Education.

Not intended for beginners, the workshops are aimed at students who wish to improve their English skills.

The sessions are:

"Spoken English for Everyday Life in America" (ESL 25), offered Tuesdays and Thursdays 7-9 p.m. from Feb. 25 through May 8 (except for March 18 & 20). The cost is $300.

"American English Pronunciation Improvement" (ESL 35), which meets Mondays, 6:30-9 p.m. from Feb. 24 to May 12 (except March 17 and April 21). The cost is $250.

"English as a Second Language: Writing for Academic Purposes" (ESL 40), offered Wednesdays, 6-8:30 p.m. from Feb. 26 to May 7 (except March 19). The cost is $250.

All students who wish to register for ESL workshops must have an interview before classes begin. Students interested in ESL 25 also must take a placement test.

The placement test will be given on Thursday, Feb. 13, 6:30-9 p.m. in 101 Continuing Education Building, 358 North Pleasant St.

To schedule an interview or to register for the test, call 5-2484.

Nominations for 2004 honorary degrees

The Advisory Committee on Honorary Degrees will meet later this semester to consider nominations from the campus community for honorary doctoral degrees to be awarded at the 2004 commencements.

Candidates for an honorary degree may be nominated by any faculty, staff, students or alumni of the Amherst campus. To ensure full consideration by the committee, nominations should include a cover letter explaining why the candidate should be considered and detailed biographical information, such as a resume or an article drawn from a standard biographical reference publication such as Who's Who in America or the Directory of American Scholars. In general, candidates for an honorary degree should be individuals of exceptional distinction. Factors considered in the deliberations of nominations include outstanding intellectual, social or creative achievements in a specific field of endeavor and/or extraordinary contributions to the University or to the Commonwealth.

Address nominations to Ernestine Kulon, Chancellor's Office, 374 Whitmore. The deadline for nominations for this round of consideration is Friday, March 28.

Graduate add-drop deadline

The last day for graduate students to add or drop courses without record is Monday, Feb. 10. The "DR" period runs from Feb. 11 to March 10.

Pass-fail deadline

The last day for undergraduate, Stockbridge and Continuing Education students to submit a pass-fail option is Monday, Feb. 10.

Men needed for diabetes study

The Energy Metabolism Laboratory is currently studying different methods of screening and diagnosing people with either pre-diabetes or Type-2 diabetes.

Men who have or who are concerned about Type-2 diabetes are needed to serve as subjects.

Participants will receive a free diabetes screening with results that may be taken to a doctor; a bone density scan and body fat analysis.

For information, contact Carrie at 5-0331 or by e-mail (csharoff@excsci.umass.edu).

Exercise Science study seeking pregnant women

The Exercise Science Department is seeking pregnant women in all trimesters to participate in a research study validating a physical activity questionnaire.

Participation involves two meetings lasting about 30 minutes. Subjects will be paid $50 for their participation.