Free Republic

The investigation continues. That’s the official word from the University of Massachusetts about their very thorough investigation of some racist emails, a probe that was announced with such fanfare and righteous indignation earlier this fall but now appears to be sputtering out, with no suspects. No suspects? How can that possibly be?..., I saw that ZooMass had decided to get ahead of the curve with “An Update into the Investigation of Racist Emails.” “To date no perpetrator has been identified,” the statement read. “It is not uncommon for the results of a cyber inquiry to be inconclusive and it is...

Just when you think you know a state ... Hours after an outpouring of support for gay basketball player Derrick Gordon had sent a message that tolerance reigns in Massachusetts, John Ashcroft came to Amherst on Wednesday. The former attorney general of President George W. Bush spent his University of Massachusetts visit fending off hecklers who called him a hyprocrite and a war criminal among other things. I am not here to defend Ashcroft. I am here to dispute hypocrisy, a label that becomes attached to university communities such as UMass when freedom of speech and opinion is treated as...

AMHERST, Mass. - A pre-St. Patrick's Day celebration near the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts on Saturday spiraled out of control, pitting police in riot gear against thousands of drunken and unruly revelers at the annual "Blarney Blowout." There were more than 70 arrests and four officers were injured in the clashes that included some students throwing beer bottles, cans and snowballs, officials said.

BOSTON- The UMass Board of Trustees Committee on Administration & Finance today voted to advance a policy called the "Welcome Home Waiver Program," to the full Board for a vote on June 12. The proposal would extend a partial fee waiver to Massachusetts veterans who have served in the Iraq and Afghanistan combat areas since September 11, 2001. Under the program, Massachusetts veterans who gain admission to degree programs at UMass would be eligible for an annual mandatory fee waiver of up to $2,000 for a maximum of eight semesters (total value $8,000). The program targets the same combat veteran...

IT'S WELL KNOWN that innovation is the lifeblood of the Massachusetts economy. At every period of stagnation or decline over the past 400 years, someone's bright ideas have turned the tide. Too little valued, however, is the central role played by minorities and women in helping Massachusetts thrive. This morning, the state's political, business, and civic leaders will spotlight the contribution of a diverse workforce to the region's success, and challenge each other to do more. Much more. A 2006 report by the Boston History and Innovation Collaborative found that of 64 game-changing innovations in Massachusetts - from wiping out...

The University of Massachusetts appears poised to “rescind” an honorary degree that it issued to Robert Mugabe more than two decades ago, a degree, with all due respect to the university, that the Zimbabwean dictator probably has forgotten all about. But it’s an important symbolic gesture to many students and faculty and to one prominent state lawmaker, and UMass President Jack Wilson has agreed that the connection between Mugabe and the university, however tenuous it might be, ought to be publicly severed. In a statement Wilson said the degree was issued at a time when Mugabe appeared to be “a...

TO HIGHLIGHT China's repressive policies, protesters are attacking the Olympic torch as it wends its way to Beijing and the summer games. It's embarrassing for the moment, but China knows the real score. In the long run, the drive for human profit always beats the drive for human rights. Massachusetts offers a tiny but telling glimpse into that broad economic reality. On April 1, University of Massachusetts president Jack M. Wilson announced an agreement with Chinese officials to offer government-sanctioned online classes in the communist nation of 1.3 billion. The deal, UMass officials said, could generate up to $5 million...

AMHERST - Investigators have determined the Friday morning death of a 20-year-old University of Massachusetts student was a suicide. Liam O'Donnelly of Hingham died of multiple trauma, Terrel W. Harris, communications director for the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, said of the autopsy finding. UMass Amherst Police responded to a report of someone jumping from the 17th floor of the John Quincy Adams residence hall around 3:30 a.m. that day O'Donnelly was a sophomore studying resource economics at UMass. Campus spokesman Edward F. Blaguszewski said O'Donnelly lived in a single-person room. The case was investigated by campus...

There are plenty of stakeholders with plans riding on Gov. Deval Patrick's proposed $1 billion state investment in life sciences -- from the people for whom life-saving innovation is being developed to the scientists, educators, entrepreneurs and businesses depending on state support to thrive and commercialize. Yet for all of the political wrangling, public discussion and media attention since Patrick introduced the bill in May, the bill has yet to move through the state Legislature, receive funding or prompt state officials to name a new executive director to the agency slated to manage the bulk of funding associated with the...

Members of the University of Massachusetts Republican club spoke out against today's planned student strike during a rally on the steps of the Student Union at noon yesterday. Standing below a display advertising the two-day student boycott of classes in the window of the Student Government Association [SGA] offices, Republican club leaders called the strike a "politically motivated stunt" and the grievances filed by the SGA and Graduate Student Senate [GSS] "ridiculous." "These two misguided and self-interested student organizations do not care about the best interests of all students," said club President Brad DeFlumeri. "Rather, they are calling a strike...

Plans for an embryonic stem-cell bank at the University of Massachusetts Medical School for researchers around the globe took a major step forward last week when the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center authorized more than $8 million for the bank and an associated registry. It is a significant step in Central Massachusetts’ evolution as a major center of biotechnology and biomedical research. Interim chancellor Michael F. Collins said the bank should be operating within eight to 12 months, the registry even sooner than that. That is in keeping with the fast pace at which Gov. Deval L. Patrick’s life sciences and...

AMHERST - University of Massachusetts student Brian C. Marquis may have to settle for the "C" he received in a philosophy course. A judge in U.S. District Court, Springfield, has determined Marquis failed in his effort to prove grounds for a civil rights case against the university over the letter grade he contended didn't match the numerical rating he'd received. Marquis sued the university last winter, claiming UMass officials violated his rights. The lawsuit was dismissed recently by Judge Michael A. Ponsor, but Marquis says he might not be finished. "Grades are very serious, and they should be taken seriously...

SPRINGFIELD, MA - The University of Massachusetts will no longer award points to applicants based on their race, but it will still consider a student's minority status when deciding whether he or she should be admitted to the Amherst campus. Michael Gargano, vice chancellor for student affairs and campus life, said the campus decided last month to change its policy because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that struck down the University of Michigan's point system for undergraduate admissions. The system gave more weight to an applicant's race than to some measures of academic performance. The court said...