MASSPIRG fights for affordable textbooksThe Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group, students, faculty and administrators packed a State House hearing room on Oct. 3 as the Joint Committee on Higher Education heard testimtony about the high cost of college text books. Those testifying were calling in lawmakers to support the name of bill to lower text book prices HB 500 , filed by Representative Steven Walsh of Lynn, which would make Massachusetts the leading state in protecting students against the unfair practices within the textbooks publishing industry which drive up book prices. MASSPIRG, a state wide public interest group with student chapters at colleges across Massachusetts, released a report earlier this year highlighting the many problems within the publishing industry. The report, Exposing the Textbooks Industry, found that students are spending about $900 on books each year, and that the prices of textbooks have been rising at about four times the rate of inflation over the last decade.

Grant Awarded for Exchange ProgramThe Graduate Program in Dispute Resolution at UMass Boston has been awarded a grant by the US Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, to host an exchange program with Nigerian youth leaders. The program will connect the leaders and members of civil society organizations who are working to bridge the gap between Muslims and Christians with American experts in conflict management and resolution. Nigerian youth will spend three weeks in Boston. Six months after their visit, American conflict resolution practitioners will go to Nigeria. The first phase of the program begins June 2008. For more information, visit www.disres.umb.edu/.

UMass President Gives Big Cash to Science and Creative EconomyUMass system President Jack Wilson announced on Sept. 27 that a total of $1.42 million from the President’s Science and Technology Initiatives Fund and Creative Economy Initiatives Fund. The Science and Technology Initiatives Fund, including two that involve UMass Boston as collaborators, funded seven proposals; seven proposals were also funded by the Creative Economy Initiatives fund, including three that are being worked on at UMass Boston.