Get Your MBTA Semester PassBefore It’s Too Late

The MBTA offers a semester pass for UMass Boston students. The passes are good for unlimited rides from February 1 to May 31, 2003 and include an 11% discount off of regular monthly pass prices. Orders fro the semester passes begin November 18, 2002 and must be received no later than January 10, 2003, and must be prepaid. There are many different types of semester passes available, meant to reflect the various combinations of transportation that UMB students use to get to the harbor campus, including the commuter rail. For more information on semester passes visit the Office of Student Life on the fourth floor of the Wheatley Building. You may also obtain MBTA college discount information by calling 617-222-5218 or 617-222-6117 or visit www.mbta.com.

Research Symposium

The Institute for Asian American Studies (IAAS) is holding a research symposium with Gregory Kim, a post-doctoral fellow with the institute. The presentation, entitled “Crossing Cultural Borders: Lives and Identities of Koreans and Korean Americans,” will be held on the fourth floor of the Wheatley building in the student lounge, on Tuesday, November 12 from 1:00-2:30pm. The event is free and open to the public.

Fight the Flu

University Health Services (UHS) is offering flu shots to the university community at a charge of $5.00 for students and $15.00 for staff. The shots are available Monday through Thursday from 9am to 12pm and again from 1pm to 4pm. UHS is located on the third floor of the Quinn Administration Building near the Bursar’s Office. For more information visit their website at www.umb.edu/students/health. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the top three reasons to get a flu shot are:1.) It Prevents Death. (Each year over 20,000 people in the U.S. die because of the flu – most are over 65 years old. More people die from the flu than from any other vaccine-preventable disease.)2.) It prevents severe illness. (The flu puts about 114,000 people in the hospital each year in the U.S. Children younger than 2 years old are as likely to be hospitalized as those over 65.)3.) It protects other people. (People who live with or care for others who are at high risk of serious illness from the flu, need a flu shot. They can give the flu to these people if they get it themselves.)

Bulger Favors “full funding”

According to The Campus Chronicle, UMass Amherst’s newspaper, UMass President William Bulger addressed the issue of the still unfunded contracts of faculty and staff in the UMass system. The Chronicle quoted Bulger as saying, ” I am confident that the Commonwealth -when its fiscal picture brightens – will be able to reward our employees, and I will advocate for that. I have supported this cause in the past and will continue to do so in the future.” Bulger’s remarks and the opinion of the unions at various UMass campuses again seem to have a major rift between them. Last week, here at UMB, the Faculty Staff Union sponsored yet another tabling event with signs reading “Call Prez Bulger” urging members of the university community to tell Bulger to fund the contracts. A recent trustee meeting was the site of even more planned actions by Higher Ed Unions United. At press time, The Mass Media had no information on that trustee meeting and its outcomes.