 SBS Dean's Office Has Moved
In mid-January, SBS headquarters moved from South College to the second level of Draper Hall, allowing for all Dean's Office staff to occupy space together on one floor. Designed by Emory A. Ellsworth and John J. Kirkpatrick, Draper Hall opened in 1905 as a dormitory for women and a dining facility. It was dedicated to James Draper of Worcester, chairman of the Committee on Buildings and Grounds and a trustee of the institution from 1898 to 1910. New address: Draper Hall, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 40 Campus Center Way, Amherst, MA 01003-9244. Please make a note in your records. All phone numbers remain the same. Visitors are welcome!
New Development Officer Joins SBS Team
In mid-January Saige Reisler joined the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences team as Senior Associate Director of Development, bringing with her more than ten years of nonprofit development experience. Her forte: relationship building and generating revenue from individual donations, foundations, corporations, and events for regional and national organizations. Read more...
 Young Alum on Road to Leadership Recounts Campus Experience
Born in New York and raised in Arizona, Marisa Kanof ’06 (political science) had promised herself to return East for college. “I chose UMass Amherst—even though I’m an avid Yankees fan—because of the variety of majors available. You can even design your own with BDIC (bachelor’s degree with individual concentration). Read more...
 Students Take Note: Investment Banking Internships Available, Application Deadline Looms
For the first time, the international investment banking group Piper Jaffray is coming to UMass Amherst to recruit college juniors for its Summer Analyst program, thanks to the efforts of Chris McCabe '81 (political science), and Mike McCaffrey '89 (accounting), both of whom are affiliated with the company. But don't delay. The deadline for applications is coming up on February 8, 2007. Read more...
 Alumni Lawyers to Share Career Info with Students at Networking Event
On Thursday, February 15 from 5:30 - 7:30 in Memorial Hall, the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Commonwealth College will be hosting "Careers in Law: 8 Minute Networking." Numerous UMass Amherst alumni, who are practicing attorneys (or currently in law school) in diverse fields, will be on campus to network with students. Read more...
 Alum Torkildsen Eyes a State GOP Revival
Stung by its first gubernatorial loss in 16 years, the state's Republican party has turned to former Congressman and Danvers state representative Peter Torkildsen '80 (political science) to try to revitalize the GOP. "We have to start at the grass roots," said Torkildsen, 48, who is the third person with North Shore roots to lead the state's Republican party in recent years. Torkildsen succeeds Beverly's Darrell W. Crate and former Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey. Read the Boston Globe article by Steven Rosenberg.
 Heart Condition Doesn't Slow Miss America Contestant Michaela Gagne '04
When Miss Massachusetts competes Monday to become Miss America 2007, she will be showing pageant judges more than her talents and beauty.
During the swimsuit competition, Michaela Gagne '04 (psychology and art) also will display a scar on her upper chest. It's a distinctive mark Gagne views with pride because she says it embodies her accomplishments: surviving and thriving after learning that she was at risk of sudden cardiac arrest. Read article in USA TODAY...
Related article in fall 2004 UMass Magazine...
 Report on the Rising Cost of Higher Education
MassINC, whose mission is to develop a public agenda for Massachusetts that promotes growth and vitality
of the middle class, has published a report on the rising cost of higher education. Families are spending a larger percentage of their income to cover costs, and students are carrying a larger and larger debt load. And while the long-term value of a college degree might justify the cost, the reality is
that because of the costs many students drop out of school, leaving with debt that needs to be repaid without the advantage of the degree. In six chapters, this report addresses the issues head-on. Read the report...
 Economist Says Minimum Wage Rates Need Additional Increases
In the January 14, 2007 LA Times op-ed article, "A Living Wage We Can Live With:
Cities Have Shown It Can Be Done Without Hurting Employment Growth," Robert Pollin (economics; co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute) writes that supporting a national “living wage” can be accomplished without discouraging job growth. Opining that the rate needs additional increases, Pollin suggests that much can be learned from places like Santa Fe. Read the article...
 Political Scientist to Participate in International Environmental Conference
Last September French President Jacques Chirac announced before the United Nations General Assembly: “We all know that uncontrolled human activity is bringing about a sort of slow collective suicide. Disaster can only be averted if nations can come together to support jointly agreed commitments." Chirac proposed creating a United Nations Environment Organization (UNEO), "the expression of the world's ecological conscience." Acting on these words, France is hosting an international environmental conference in early February to convene some of the best known global evironmentalists, including Peter Haas (political science), an expert on multi-level governance and the role of science in international and environmental regimes. Actively engaged in the practice of global governance, Haas is co-author of the newly published Global Environmental Governance. Read more...
SBS in the News
 American Public Radio, Marketplace, 1/16/07. In the segment "U.S. Census: Single Women Outnumber Married," Professor Nancy Folbre (economics) comments on a report that more American women are now living without a spouse than with one. Folbre says current Social Security policy, which essentially subsidizes married women with high-earning husbands, may come under review. Read the article (which includes downloadable RAM audio)...
 ABC News, 1/15/07. In the article "Nuclear Blast on TV's '24' Causes Fallout for Fox," by Susan Donaldson James, Professor Sut Jhally (communication), criticizes the Fox television network for airing a segment of the show “24” that includes detonation of a nuclear bomb. Jhally, co-producer and co-director of the film "Hijacking Catastrophe," says in part that the dramatic action in the show creates a dangerous climate in which the public loses some of its perspective on what's real and what's not—perhaps a minority opinion given the show's enormous popularity. Read the article...
 Los Angeles City Beat, 1/25/07. In the article "Don’t Mess With Jack," columnist Mick Farren says criticism of Fox’s “24” show, which included a fictional nuclear attack on the United States, implies that the network should somehow rein in its writers. A critique by Sut Jhally (communication), he says, is “in essence, an argument for censorship.” Read the article...
 Southernstudies.org, 1/10/07. In the article "As Protests Mount, N.O. Officials Offer (Superficial) Crime Plans," Michael Kane, an organizer of a march against violence in New Orleans, quotes Ervin Staub, emeritus professor of psychology, on the origins of human destructiveness. Says Kane, "It might behoove all of us who care about violence in New Orleans—and our nation in general—to ponder what Staub wrote in his paper, "Notes on Cultures of Violence, Cultures of Caring and Peace, and the Fulfillment of Basic Human Needs." Read the article...
 Inside Higher Ed, 1/3/07: In the story "New Strategy for Small Ph.D. Programs," Sara Lennox, professor of languages, literatures and cultures and director of the interdisciplinary STPEC program, comments about how professors who teach German at UMass Amherst have maintained a strong doctoral program by working with other departments at the university. She says this came about after several language departments were merged. Read the article...
 Keysnews.com [Fla.], 12/29/06. Karen List, director of the journalism program, is cited in a column by reporter Nancy Klingener '89 (English) discussing the need for balanced local news coverage. Says List, who teaches courses about law and ethics and has a doctorate in communications and a law degree, "I applaud your effort to cover all of your community—not just the good news, but all the news. The great Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black once said newspapers that were aggressively covering the government were performing the job the Founding Fathers had imagined for them. Such reporting helps citizens inform themselves and make the decisions that democracy demands. You're fulfilling your ethical responsibility to your readers by doing such coverage. The powers-that-be might like you to be a stenographer for their viewpoints, but you've chosen to reflect opposing viewpoints in your reporting as well. Good for you. Such reporting is not destructive, but in fact adds to a vibrant marketplace of ideas in the Keys." Read the article... (requires registration)
 National Review, 12/20/06: In the article "Grossed Out Yet?
Salvaging Civilization" by Candace de Russy, Janice Irvine (sociology) says tolerance for debased public actions is a kind of perverse holier-than-thou hedonism. She maintains that the public’s reaction to socially sensitive issues such as O.J. Simpson’s thwarted book “looks like rage, but there’s a lot of pleasure bound up in it. There’s incredible excitement in being publicly outraged.” Read the article...
A Word from SBS
This e-letter has been created for alumni and friends of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. SBS includes the departments and programs of Anthropology, Communication, Economics, Journalism, Labor Studies, Legal Studies, Neuroscience and Behavior, Political Science, Psychology, Public Policy and Administration, Social Thought and Political Economy (STPEC), and Sociology. With 38,000 alumni, 5,000 current undergraduate majors, and 500 graduate students, SBS is the largest of UMass Amherst’s colleges. In addition to its departments, it is home to numerous programs and research institutions. Through the general education courses that SBS offers, the College’s 150 faculty members teach one quarter of the nearly 20,000 undergraduates on campus in any given semester.
Gifts from alumni and friends are vital to the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Your investment allows us to create remarkable opportunities for today’s—and tomorrow's—students. If you are already a donor, please accept our sincere thanks. If not, please consider a donation to SBS for your department, student financial aid, or a purpose that speaks to your personal experiences and priorities. To make a gift online, click here. Questions? Contact:
Eric Yates, Director of Development
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
236 Draper Hall
University of Massachusetts Amherst
40 Campus Center Way
Amherst, MA 01003-9244
(413) 577-1700
We welcome feedback related to this newsletter, the college in general, specific concerns, or topics of interest. Please address all correspondence, including story ideas, to Sabine Cray, marketing and communication specialist. If you wish to add your name to the mailing list, or if you wish to unsubscribe, please write to the SBS Newsletter. If you have had a change of address, email or other personal information, you can update it online. The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences respects your privacy. Your contact information will not be shared with anyone unrelated to the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
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