Nobel Prize Winner to Visit Campus April 6

Rigoberta Menchú Tum, winner of the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize for her human rights work, will give a talk entitled, "Human Rights and Social Justice in the New Millenium: How We Can Make A Difference," on Monday, April 6, at 3 p.m. at the UMass Dartmouth Woodland Commons Community Center. This is a free event that is open to the public, however, reservations are strongly suggested because seating will be limited. To reserve seats, please call the Office of Public Affairs at 508.999.8015 or email publicaffairs@umassd.edu. More.

Two University of Massachusetts Dartmouth head coaches achieved milestones within a few days of each other recently. Head hockey coach John Rolli won his 500th career game when the Corsairs won at Johnson & Wales in the final game of the regular season last Saturday evening, and head men's basketball coach Brian Baptiste earned the 500th win of his collegiate coaching career when UMass Dartmouth defeated UMass Boston in the first round of the Little East Conference tournament at the Tripp Athletic Center Tuesday evening. Rolli is now 500-135-23 in his 25th season at UMass Dartmouth, while Baptiste is now 500-213 in his 26th year. Read more.

UMD Named to Presidential Honor Roll for Community Service

The Corporation for National and Community Service honored UMass Dartmouth today with a place on the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts and service to America's communities.

"UMass Dartmouth takes great pride in the service that its students, faculty and staff provide to the community," Chancellor Jean F. MacCormack said. "I want to congratulate all of our students, faculty and staff who have tirelessly served in so many ways -- from inspiring children to read to protecting our fragile coastline to incubating new businesses and so much more." Read more.

UMD profs create virtual ancient city

With the help of three UMass Dartmouth professors, students will explore the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacan without the need for a passport or plane ride.

An approximately $25,000 UMass Strategic Initiative Grant has Scott Ahrens, associate professor of design, constructing a virtual pre-Columbian site that arose in the second century (A.D.) on the UMass Dartmouth island in Second Life.

"Our Teotihuacan project is the largest and most ambitious use of a MUVE (multi-user virtual environment) in the UMass system to date," Ahrens said, noting that UMass Boston is creating a virtual psychiatric clinic and other MUVES are becoming increasingly popular in the academic world such as Harvard's River City project and Vassar's Sistine Chapel. Read more

Southern Poverty Law Center founder to speak at UMD Feb. 6

Morris Dees, co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, will be the keynote speaker at the 7th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast at UMass Dartmouth on February 6.

The event will also feature the presentation of the university’s Drum Major Awards to individuals and organizations who have answered Dr. King’s 1968 call for citizens to be “drum majors for justice.” This year’s honorees are:

Dr. Irving Fradkin, a Fall River native who founded Dollars For Scholars, which has blossomed into a nationwide scholarship program that has distributed more than $1.5 billion to more than 1.5 million students.

Carol Spencer, Director of the UMass Dartmouth College Now program, an alternative admissions initiative which has helped more than 1,000 students navigate the challenges of higher education and recently celebrated its 40th anniversary.

“It is our honor as a university to recognize these individuals who have dedicated their lives to creating opportunities for people,’’ UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Jean F. MacCormack said. “These are individuals who have put Dr. King’s words into action. They are indeed drum major for justice, examples for us all to follow.”

(This article was first published by the Standard-Times of New Bedford on December 26, 2008)

By PEGGY AULISIO

Standard Times correspondent

NEW BEDFORD — Nursing students from UMass Dartmouth made a stop at the Boys & Girls Club of New Bedford earlier this month to teach young people how to avoid germs by washing their hands.

"Hand washing can prevent so many infections," said Julianne Duarte.

She and Erica Pine, both seniors at UMass, said they also promoted hand washing when they held a flu clinic a few weeks before that. They said it is especially important for people to wash their hands often and thoroughly during flu season. More.

UMD Physics Professor Builds Supercomputer from PlayStation 3

(This article was first published in the Standard-Times of New Bedford, MA on Dec. 26, 2008).

By PHIL DEVITT
Standard-Times Correspondent

DARTMOUTH — First he stunned the science world by building a supercomputer for only a few thousand dollars, using parts from the Sony PlayStation 3.

Now he's sharing the secret.

In a new online manual, UMass Dartmouth physics professor Gaurav Khanna explains step by step how to retool the popular video game system into a sophisticated computer capable of solving complex equations in seconds.

"I hear from people who say it's nice to see that something they spend time entertaining themselves with you can do real science with," Dr. Khanna said. More