Veterans flock to UMass: Campus on track to meet new needs

AMHERST - The number of veterans at the University of Massachusetts grew by almost 35 percent this year, a gain driven in part by improved education benefits. To accommodate these new students - who come to campus with different needs - UMass is implementing a host of programs.

Health care coverage change upsets UMass grad students

AMHERST - The high cost of health care is taking its toll on University of Massachusetts graduate students.

In an email survey of 500 graduate students, 66 percent of respondents said increased costs and changes to their health care coverage have dissuaded or inhibited them or family members from seeking care this fall.

Grants may bring back New WORLD Theater back

AMHERST - There is still some life left in the New WORLD Theater at the University of Massachusetts.

After its closing in July, Fine Arts Center administrators said several grants they received for the contemporary, multicultural theater will allow them to consider a possible revival.

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.

Police add patrols at UMass library after assault

AMHERST - University of Massachusetts police have increased patrols in and around the W.E.B. Du Bois Library following a sexual assault in the library's bathroom last week.

Deputy Chief Patrick T. Archbald declined to quantify the increase, but said it includes uniformed officers and student cadets. More library staff have also been added to monitor suspicious activity, he said.

UMass prof seeks to buoy middle class

AMHERST - With worker productivity on the rise and wages struggling just to stay level, University of Massachusetts professor Ralph W. Whitehead Jr. went to Washington, D.C., this month to discuss the state of the American middle class with Vice President Joe Biden.

Levasseur's talk on roots of terrorism might find new venue

AMHERST - Proponents of a planned talk by a former member of a radical group that was canceled by University of Massachusetts officials this week decry the cancellation as an affront to free speech. Meanwhile, there is a move afoot to find another venue for the talk by Raymond Luc Levasseur, a convicted domestic terrorist.