The Undergraduate Student Senate held Special elections on Wednesday and chose nine new members from a field of fourteen potential candidates. The newly appointed officials included three people from the College of Liberal Arts, two from the College of Science and Math, two from the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, and one representative for both the CPCS and the College of Management. The new student senators include Amy Ajounuma, Jason Chou, Spencer Lewis, Michael Herbert, Melchisedek Alce, Muna Kangsen, and Juana Matias. Paul Cottell Jr. and Chika Ogbo were automatically appointed due to two vacancies that needed to be filled by College of Nursing and Health Sciences students. ***The College of Public and Community Service (CPCS) at UMass Boston received the Access to Higher Education Award from the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC) as part of that organization’s 50th Anniversary Community Partnership Award ceremony on September 26, 2006. The MRC “promotes dignity for individuals with disabilities through employment and independent living in the community.” The award was given to CPCS for the College’s “advocacy, leadership, commitment, and dedication to improving the quality of life for people with disabilities.” According to Suzanne Allmendinger, Director of Community Outreach for the College, CPCS accepts the highest number of MRC referrals of any college in the Commonwealth.***AmeriCorps, the federal corporation which provides higher educational financial assistance to students in order to encourage community service throughout the country, awarded 16 scholarships to UMass Boston students attending the College of Public and Community Service. Recipients of the award must complete 300 hours of approved community service between now and September 2007 and turn in monthly records of their service projects.***The English Department moved ahead in its search last for a new Professor of Poetry to support the new Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing graduate program with a presentation by candidate David Barber, poetry editor of The Atlantic Monthly and sometime adjunct faculty member of Emerson College. Barber first read from his latest collection of poetry, Wonder Cabinet, then spoke about his teaching philosophy to a group of approximately 15 faculty and students. The Department will continue its search with similar presentations throughout the next couple of months. ***The Creative Writing program and the UMB Bookstore hosted two English students who’ve each published their first collection of poetry: The Mass Media’s own Shea Mullaney, an undergraduate, and M.A. in English graduate Carmella Roy Kearsley. Both poets read from their books at the UMB Bookstore. Kearsley’s book, Under the Mulberry Tree, won the David Kennedy prize for best work in poetry. Mullaney’s book was published by a small press in Colorado. Both authors reside on the South Shore. The event was the first in a series of author readings which will take place throughout the academic year. For information on upcoming events, contact the Creative Writing program at 617-287-6703.***The 2006 Tenure Track Faculty Colloquium began on September 28 with English Professor John Fulton reading from his latest collection of short stories, The Animal Girl. Fulton is a recent Pushcart Prize winner for fiction. He read excerpts from his story ‘Hunters,’ about a middle-aged single mother facing death, love, and loneliness. For information about upcoming events in the series check out www.umb.edu/academics/cla/faculty_info.***Google, the massive search engine, is hosting a competition for those interested in web programming and design. The Google Gadget Awards were designed to have students at universities, colleges and vocational schools create mini-applications to add on to personalized Google homepages. There are seven categories in which gadgets can place, ranging from the most intelligent gadget to the prettiest gadget, and even a category for the university that gets the most gadgets placed in the top 100. The deadline for submission is Nov. 1. For more information, including how to enter your own gadget, visit www.google.com.***Election results for the Graduate Student Assembly are in. Caroline Coscia and Craig Carroll have been elected as Co-Presidents and David Nieto has been elected as the Vice President. The position of Treasurer went to Alex Trachtenberg, the new Secretary is Rosaleen Greene-Smith, and Program Coordinator is Bandhavi Raj. The next GSA meeting is on Thursday, October 12 at 2:30 – 4:00 pm in the Student Life Conference Room. Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Patrick Day will be in attendance.