Campus Notes

Presentations, Conferences, and Lectures

Randy Albelda of the Economics Department and the Ph.D. Program in Public Policy gave the presentations "In Search of the Other America: Poverty in the 21st Century" at the New Jersey Project on Inclusion Scholarship, Curriculum, and Teaching Conference and "Working It Out? Welfare Policies and Poor Single-Mother Families" at Pennsylvania State University.

On October 23, Paul Atwood of the Joiner Center and American Studies Program testified for a second time for the Boston City Council on the toxic characteristics of dioxin and in favor of Resolution #0389 to explore ways to establish, develop, and implement a citywide dioxin pollution policy. On October 29, the Boston City Council unanimously approved the resolution.

Professor John Conlon of the Performing Arts Department presented "Shakespeare's Sounds and Noises" at the New England Theatre Conference, held in Providence, Rhode Island, on November 8.

Jay R. Dee, assistant professor in the Graduate College of Education, presented "New Systems Theory: Thinking Differently about Higher Education Leadership" and "Moving Too Fast for Efficient Organization? Designing Colleges and Universities for the 21st Century" at the Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education.

In October, Alexander Des Forges, assistant professor in the Department of Modern Languages, presented his papers "Beijing Styles in Shanghai, 1870-1900: The Metropolis as Identity Factory"(in Chinese) at Beijing University and "Pidgin Vocabulary and Unequal Exchange: Modernity and the Fetish" at the New England Conference of the Association for Asian Studies.

In November, Linda Eisenmann, associate professor of education, organized the annual meeting of the History of Education Society as its president. Doctoral students Susanne Conley, Ralph Kidder, Anita Miller, and Alan Stoskopf attended. Stoskopf also presented his dissertation research on the 1920s eugenics movement in the schools.

Joseph Gindhart, assistant professor of biology, with alumna Melissa Faulkner, presented "Role of Kinesin Associated Protein UNC-76 in the Drosophila Nervous System" at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Meeting "Neurobiology of Drosophila."

Oscar Gutierrez, professor of management sciences, and Deborah Boisvert of the Division of Corporate, Continuing, and Distance Education presented "Applying Skills Standards to the Development of Multi-Institution Information Technology Programs" at the 4th Conference on Information Technology Curriculum. Gutierrez also presented with colleagues "A Collaborative Model Using IT Skills Standards to Connect a High School, Community College, and University" at the 2003 Conference on Information Technology.

In October, Lawrence Kaplan, professor emeritus of biology, presented the lecture "Legumes in the History of Human Nutrition" at a symposium on Chinese dietary culture, held in China.

Peter Kiang, professor of education and director of the Asian American Studies Program, served as a panelist for the Massachusetts Coalition for Equitable Education's New Vision for Public Education Conference and the Children's Museum Annual Meeting. In November, Kiang led a workshop on "Diversity and Social Responsibility" at the Achieving Greater Expectations conference.

Esther Kingston-Mann of the American Studies Program, Rajini Srikanth and Caroline Brown of the English Department, and Jay Dee of the Graduate College of Education organized the October 18 conference "Toward a New England Center for Inclusive Teaching, Learning, Curriculum and Scholarship."

On November 6, Professor Mari Koerner of the Graduate College of Education presented research on adoptive families and how schools can best serve them at the conference for the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Mary Oleskiewicz, assistant professor of music, presented the paper "More Discoveries from the Archive of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin" at the International Symposium on the Composers and Compositions of the Berlin Sing-Akademie. She also presented "Quantz's Quatuors and Other Works Newly Discovered" at the National Meeting of the American Musicological Society.

Alexia Pollack, assistant professor of biology, presented the paper "Role of NMDA and AMPA Glutamate Receptors in the Induction and Expression of Dopamine-Mediated Sensitization in 6-Hydroxydopamine Lesioned Rats" at the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting. Undergraduates Jessie St. Martin and Alexa MacPherson were co-authors.

Nina Silverstein, professor of gerontology, presented "Improving Hospital Care for Patients with Dementia" at the Alzheimer's Association 31st Annual Professional Conference.

The Institute for Community Inclusion's Paula Sotnik, David Helm, director William Kiernan, and the Community Capacity Building team gave several presentations on diversity, disability, accommodations, and interdisciplinary training at the Association of University Centers on Disabilities annual conference.

M. H. (Behrooz) Tamdgidi of the Sociology Department presented the paper "Human Progress and the Fettering Marx: The Three Component Parts and Errors of Marxism" to the "Marx and Progress" panel of Rethinking Marxism's 5th Gala Conference and presented "Listen to How This Reed Is Wailing: Rumi in New English Verse Translation" at the 2003 Convention of the South Atlantic Modern Languages Association.

ECOS doctoral graduate R-J Tang and Professor Emeritus J.J. Cooney presented the paper "Tributyl Tin-Resistant, Biofilm-Forming Bacteria from Boston Harbor, MA" at a Society for Industrial Microbiology meeting.

Brian Thompson, chair of the Modern Languages Department, gave a workshop on French song for the annual meeting of the American Association of Teachers of French at the Massachusetts Foreign Language Association Convention. He has also given a public lecture on André Malraux for the centennial celebrations of Rivier College and a paper on François Mauriac at an international conference at the Sorbonne.

Udaya Wagle, lecturer in the Political Science Department and Ph.D. student in the public policy program, gave two presentations: "Defining and Measuring Poverty: Comparative Analysis of Unidimensional and Multidimensional Approaches in Kathmandu" at the International Studies Association–West Conference and "The Estimates and Characteristics of Poverty: Comparative Analysis of Four Poverty Measurement Standards in Kathmandu" at the International Studies Association–South Conference.
Publications

James Bierstaker of the Accounting and Finance Department cowrote the articles "The Impact of the Adoption of a Business Risk Audit Approach on Internal Control Documentation and Testing Practices: A Longitudinal Investigation," which was published in International Auditing Journal, and "Students' Perceptions Regarding the 150-Hour Rule," which was published in Issues in Accounting Education.

Jacqueline Fawcett, professor in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, published "Conceptual Models of Nursing: International in Scope and Substance? The Case of Roy Adaptation Model" in Nursing Science Quarterly.

Joseph Gindhart, assistant professor of biology, published the paper "The Kinesin Associated Protein UNC-76 Is Required for Axonal Transport in the Drosophila Nervous System" in Molecular Biology of the Cell. The paper "The Drosophila Kinesin-I Associated Protein YETI Binds Both Kinesin Subunits," written by Gindhart and biology graduate students Tiffany Wisniewski and Courtney Tanzi, will be published in Biology of the Cell.

Oscar Gutierrez, professor of management sciences, published the coauthored article "A Strategy for the Development of Reusable Learning Objects in the Boston Area Advanced Technological Education Connections Partnership" in Issues in Information Systems.

On October 23, the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies and Random House celebrated the release of Visiting Fellow Nigel Hamilton's last book: Bill Clinton: An American Journey, Great Expectations.

Eric W. Hayden, professor of finance, published the article "Non-profit Health Care Regulation Does Make a Difference: One State's Experience" in Clinical Research and Regulatory Affairs.

Esther Kingston-Mann of the American Studies Program published two articles: "Deconstructing the Romance of the Bourgeoisie: A Russian Marxist Path Not Taken" in Review of International Political Economy and "The Transformative Powers of Research: A Diversity Research Initiative at UMass Boston" in Transformations: A Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy.

Michael Novak, associate professor of management and marketing, published the article "Joseph Abboud: His Way" in Global Business and Economics Review: Anthology 2003.

Stephen Silliman, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology, recently had a chapter, titled "Using a Rock in a Hard Place: Native American Lithic Practices in Colonial California," published in the University of Alabama–edited book Stone Tool Traditions in the Contact Era.

Nina Silverstein and William Holmes, professors of gerontology and sociology respectively, published an article cowritten with colleagues, "Environmental Correlates to Behavioral Health Outcomes in Alzheimer's Special Care Units," in The Gerontologist.

Exhibits, Readings, Performances, Shows

Professor Janet Kenney of the Performing Arts Department performed one of her ten-minute plays, The Way a Tulip Fades, as part of HER-RAH, an international celebration of women playwrights, held at the Cambridge Library on November 8.

In November, Mary Oleskiewicz, assistant professor of music, performed as flute soloist in concerts at the International Symposium on the Composers and Compositions of the Berlin Sing-Akademie in Memphis, and also at the American Musicological Society, in Houston, where she also performed in and directed the chamber concert "The Newly Discovered Quartets of Quantz" for the Society for Eighteenth-Century Music.

Appointments and Honors

Jacqueline Fawcett, professor in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, was appointed a manuscript reviewer for the Journal of Clinical Nursing, an international journal published in the United Kingdom.

Barbara Jean LaRosa has been appointed benefits manager for the Department of Human Resources. LaRosa joins UMass Boston from the Department of Public Health.

Kathleen Golden McAndrew, executive director of University Health Services and associate adjunct professor in the College of Nursing and Health Science, was appointed to the Governor's Emerging Drug Trend Task Force.

The Institute for Community Inclusion's Employment Services Group was recently awarded the highest level of certification in the Massachusetts Department of Mental Retardation's comprehensive quality–enhancement survey. ICI is one of only a few organizations in the state that have received the "Two Year Certification with Distinction" four consecutive times.

Grants and Research

Françoise Carré, research director for the Center for Social Policy, received a $70,000 grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation for the project "Enhanced Marketing and Sales Capacity: Impacts on the Business of Alternative Staffing," an 18-month study of innovations among alternative staffing services. 

The Institute for Community Inclusion received a five-year, $1,250,000 grant from the Federal Office of Special Education Programs for the New England Regional Orientation and Mobility (O/M) program, led by Robert McCulley at the Graduate College of Education.

In October, the Center for Social Policy released its report "Characteristics of Homeless Individuals Accessing Massachusetts Emergency Shelters 1999 - 2002."

The Environmental Business and Technology Center (EBTC) in the College of Management has received a $135,000 grant from the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust. EBTC will evaluate company investments, provide business assistance to renewable energy firms, and continue to develop the Trust's Industry Support Program.

Visiting Lecturers

William Novelli, executive director and CEO of AARP, spoke to gerontology and public policy students, alumni, faculty, and staff for an October event sponsored by the Gerontology Program and Academic Programs and the McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies.

On October 27, the McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies hosted Dean Daniel Mazmanian of the School of Policy, Planning, and Development at the University of Southern California, who shared his experiences in managing an interdisciplinary school.

In the News

In a November 9 article on New England's niche in asset management, the Boston Sunday Globe cited research from the report "Down But Not Out: The Future of Financial Services" by College of Management faculty Arindam Bandopadhyaya, Miranda Detzler, and Mohsin Habib.

Research on high levels of carcinogen present at Boston-area playgrounds by Robert B. Beattie, director of the undergraduate Environmental Studies Program, and colleagues was reported by the Associated Press and the Boston Globe.

Alan Clayton-Matthews, professor of public policy, was quoted in the Boston Business Journal on October 17 on the impact of outsourcing of employment on current economic conditions.

Research and commentary by Jeffrey Dukes, an incoming member of the biology faculty, on the consumption of fossil fuel and its finite supply was published in recent issues of Science and Technology, Science, and The Economist, and covered on ABC's Nightly News.

Lawrence Franko, professor of finance, was quoted on the economic impact of Bank of America Corp.'s acquisition of FleetBoston Financial Corporation in an October 28 article in the Associated Press.

"Time to Prepare for the Work Force of the Future," an op-ed by Institute for Community Inclusion director William Kiernan and James Brett of the New England Council, appeared in the October 20 Boston Business Journal.

In November, a study by Kyle McGinnis, professor of exercise science, on the benefits of moderate walking for those who are overweight was carried by Scripps Howard News Service, the Boston Herald, American Health Line, the Daily Record, the Halifax Daily News, and the Biloxi Sun.

Articles on A.P. "Rusty" Simonds appeared in the Boston Sunday Globe on October 26 and Dorchester Community News on November 7. Simonds passed away on October 20.

On November 12, research on poverty and hunger in Massachusetts conducted by the Center for Survey Research was cited in Boston Herald and Patriot Ledger articles.

The Wayland Town Crier featured the Institute for Community Inclusion in a story about local improvements in transportation for people with disabilities on October 9. ICI analyzed data that helped the town win a $28,000 grant from the state Mobility Assistance Program of the Executive Office of Transportation and Construction.

The Center for Social Policy's report "Characteristics of Homeless Individuals Accessing Massachusetts Emergency Shelters, 1999–2002" was featured in the Boston Herald on November 10. The article focused on the report's finding that a rising proportion of educated people are using emergency shelters.

The New England Women's Political Summit, held on October 26 and 27 and presented by the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy, received coverage in the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Telegram and Gazette, and Commonwealth Magazine, and on WCVB-TV, WLVI-TV, and WBZ Radio.

The New Majority Conference, sponsored by the Trotter, Asian American, and Gastón Institutes, received coverage in the Boston Globe and the Bay State Banner.

Correction

In the November University Reporter, an editorial error was made in the opening line of the article "Gastón, Trotter, and Asian American Institutes Mobilize New Majority Conference." The paragraph should have read "Minorities have become the majority in Boston."

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