Colleges

Natalie Birch, a student in Dr. Ventura Perez's bioarchaeological and forensic anthropology class, pours water on the field school's mock skeletal remains to clean off the specimen. The students got the chance to hold their own mock dig at the University fo Massachusetts Amherst Taphonomy Lab field site on June 13, 2013.
AYRIKA WHITNEY

Reading remains: UMass students digging up ‘grave sites’ in Amherst to tell skeleton stories

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

AMHERST — The rectangular indent in the ground in a remote wooded area at the University of Massachusetts was the tipoff. Investigators dug in and, after a couple of false starts, found a shallow grave. The partially clad skeleton, they suspected, was the missing person they were seeking. On this day, a week later, in the midst of incessant rain, the job is to carefully remove it from the ground. The workers are students, the skeleton is plastic, but the circumstances are as real as they can be in this six-week course called Field and Lab Methods in Bioarchaelogy and Forensic Anthropology. Using trowels and … 0

Greenfield Community College trustees approve potential fee hike

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

GREENFIELD — Since it is still unclear how much state money Greenfield Community College will receive in the next fiscal year, the school’s board of trustees approved a potential hike in student fees Wednesday. In the best case-scenario, the college would receive $8.9 million from the state, plus about $550,000 to cover annual … 0

University of Massachusetts police officer Bob Waskiewicz, aka "Bicycle Bob", says his new Swiss-made Stromer 27-speed electric bike has effectively increased his range and reduced his response time.
KEVIN GUTTING

UMass bike patroller Robert Waskiewicz has power in his pedals

Thursday, June 13, 2013

AMHERST — Often the first official at the scene of a campus emergency at the University of Massachusetts is Bicycle Bob. “I usually get there first because I’m going cross country,” said Robert Waskiewicz, a 15-year veteran of the UMass police department’s bike patrol. “You can go everywhere on the campus: on road, … 0