On the fringe: UMass brings taste of famed Scottish theater festival to the Valley

Imagine you're an actor, stepping onto the stage of a packed theater with no idea what the play is about. While this may seem like a nightmare to some, audiences at a performance of "An Oak Tree" will watch theater faculty from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in that very position.

Music in Afghanistan survives despite many years of repression

In Afghanistan, the Taliban attempted to ban all music, movies and creative television, but art and the need to create are not easily expunged from the human spirit, said John Baily, an ethnomusicologist who will be lecturing in the Valley this week.

Eureka!: UMass researcher puts camera on plant reproduction

Peter K. Hepler, a researcher at the University of Massachusetts, recently made a novel movie that would be far too hot for TV, if it weren't about plants.

Light, canvas, action: Robert Sweeney retrospective at Eli Marsh Gallery

Giving the Cook's tour of his 10-year retrospective exhibition of paintings at Eli Marsh Gallery has put longtime painter and Amherst College art professor Robert Sweeney in reflective mode. Retrospectives do that. Like the visitors to the show, the artists see things they've never seen before.

Area Zipcar programs affected by Toyota recall

AMHERST - The effect of Toyota's massive vehicle recall has spread to area college campuses through their Zipcar programs.

Some Toyota Zipcars, vehicles available through a car-sharing program, have been removed from fleets on the Amherst and Smith college campuses, according to officials. Although the cars primarily serve students, they are also available to area residents.

Five Colleges respond to Haitian earthquake

Local institutions of higher education, including Smith, Amherst, Hampshire and Mount Holyoke colleges and the University of Massachusetts, offer links on their Web sites providing their communities suggestions for ways to help with Haitian relief efforts in the wake of the Jan. 12 earthquake. The following additional efforts are also under way:

UMass

Amherst College holds to no-loan financial aid

AMHERST - Although rival Williams College will get rid of its no-loan financial aid policy, Amherst College this week recommitted to the rare scholarship program.