Colleges' safety chief moves to Princeton

SOUTH HADLEY - Paul L. Ominsky, director of public safety at Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith colleges, will leave the Valley in January to head up the public safety department at Princeton University.

College eating 2009: With an eye to healthy bodies and a healthy planet, college dining changes

In the University of Massachusetts dining commons, what students don't know could help them.

Report updates incidence of crimes on area campuses

Crime rates remained relatively stable on the Five College campuses from 2007 to 2008, according to the latest college crime reports.

The 2009 Clery Report, a compilation of campus crime statistics mandated by the federal government, was made available to the public this month. Individual campus reports provide information for 2008.

Area colleges graded for #green'

They may be draped in crimson, purple and blue, but the color of our Valley campuses is green.

According to the College Sustainability Report Card, an annual ranking of the nation's colleges' green efforts, Amherst and Smith colleges are among the most eco-friendly in the states.

Five-College library plan likely to spell job losses

AMHERST - About 340 employees at the libraries of the Five Colleges - Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith colleges and the University of Masachusetts - are stewards of more than 7.1 million academic items, including books, maps periodicals, specials collections, CDs and other media.

Flu shots run low on campuses

Ahead of a flu season that is expected to be harsh on the nation's college campuses, student demand for seasonal flu vaccinations- and a delay in their delivery- are exhausting local resources.

State and college officials said awareness of the H1N1, or swine flu, has encouraged more people to seek out vaccinations earlier in the flu season, further draining resources.

Research-ready: Smith College's $73 million Ford Hall melds science study, research

NORTHAMPTON - Rising above a divisive zoning controversy, after 2½ years and $73 million spent, Smith College's 140,000-square-foot Ford Hall is a couple of weeks and a punch list from completion. During a press tour Wednesday, a college official pointed to the "cutting-edge, state-of-the-art" features that the science and engineering facility brings to a science-loving campus that, he said, has "desperately needed" such an upgrade.
--New hall pushes frontier of science, design