Grain & Chaff

Literary light

English professor John Edgar Wideman heads to New York City next week to accept the O. Henry Award for the best short story of the year. Wideman will be honored at the 92nd Street Y during ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of the O. Henry Awards. He is also scheduled to give a reading at the event. His prize-winning story, "Weight," appeared in Callaloo, a literary journal published by the University of Virginia.

Winging it

Interim Vice Chancellor Fred Byron is in Germany this week for talks with MAN Technologie AG, the firm designing the large millimeter telescope for installation in Mexico. ... Deputy Chancellor Marcellette Williams returns this week from South Africa, where she was a presenting member of an 18-person delegation on the role of language and culture in the transformation of higher education. The trip was sponsored by the People to People Ambassadors Program.

College bowl

Gay and lesbian employees at the University of Vermont have been told they must legalize their long-term relationships under the state's new civil union law or forfeit their domestic partner benefits. UVM officials said the change was made to avoid discriminating against heterosexual couples who must be married to be eligible for spousal benefits. About 30 UVM employees are affected by the change. They have until Dec. 31 to enter into civil unions to retain their domestic partner benefits. New employees seeking domestic partner benefits will have to provide proof of a civil union to qualify.

Around the Five Colleges

"Making Democracy Work" will be addressed by a panel of experts on Oct. 18 at Gamble Auditorium, Mount Holyoke College. Moderated by Preston Smith, associate professor of politics and chair of the college's African American and African studies program, the panel will include Mount Holyoke professor of politics Douglas Amy; Frances Moore Lappe, co-founder of the Center for Living Democracy and visiting researcher at MIT; and Micah L. Sifry, senior analyst at Public Campaign. ... Rutgers University philosophy professor Colin McGinn discusses "Can We Explain Consciousness?" on Oct. 12 at 4:30 p.m. in the Cole Assembly Room, Converse Hall, Amherst College.