Story and Source Ideas for Journalists
12/02/2013
This is a notice of upcoming events, photo opportunities and story ideas at UMass Lowell, compiled by the Office of University Relations, 978-934-3224. For more stories about UMass Lowell, visit www.uml.edu and click on “Media” at the top of the page. Please note that contact names below are for the media and are not for publication.
Sources of the week are available to discuss:
- How the holiday retail season affects the economy;
- Why the holidays trigger so many emotions and how to cope with them in yourself and others;
- Egypt’s draft constitution and interim-government plan.
Contact UMass Lowell media relations if you need an expert source on any subject.
- ‘Hybrid Poetics’ Exhibit Features Mixed-Media Works
- Donation Drive Collects Goods for Children in Need
- Student Entrepreneurs Pitch Ideas for Marketplace
- Holiday Craft Fair Showcases Women’s Work
- ‘Rock for Tots’ Concert to Aid Local Families
- Gains in Nanotechnology, Engineering Highlighted at Symposium
- Community Celebrates Charles Dickens’ Ties to Lowell
- Student Research Scholars Share Cutting-Edge Projects
- Local Schoolchildren Perform Free Concert with String Project
Hybrid‘Hybrid Poetics’ Exhibit Features Mixed-Media Works
When: Artists’ reception, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 3 to 4:30 p.m.; exhibit runs until Tuesday, Dec. 10
What: UMass Lowell student artists will present “Hybrid Poetics,” a free exhibit that is open to the public and features pieces that combine literary passages with visual art, music theory, performance, memoir and reportage. Works by English Department students Shannon Rodrigues, DeAnna Rikeman, Benjamin Gale, Amalfi Reyes, Alexandra Derderian, Heather Turrell and Jonathan Barlam will be displayed. Each work in the show presents the artist’s unconventional approach to working with various media.
Where: O’Leary Library Learning Commons, English Department meeting room, fourth floor, South Campus, 61 Wilder St., Lowell
Contacts for media: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu or Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
CatieDonation Drive Collects Goods for Children in Need
When: Tuesday, Dec. 3, 7 p.m.
What: UMass Lowell women’s soccer players have teamed up with Catie’s Closet in Dracut to collect donations of gently worn sweatshirts for children in need throughout Lowell and southern New Hampshire. The public is encouraged to bring a donation of clothes or other items on the organization’s wish list, available here, www.catiescloset.org/current-drive/ , to the UMass Lowell River Hawks hockey game against the American International College Yellow Jackets. In return, donors will receive a free ticket to the game and a voucher for a free ticket to the UMass Lowell men’s basketball game against Duquesne University on Saturday, Dec. 21 at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell.
Where: Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell, 300 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Lowell
Contacts for media: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu or Christopher O’Donnell, 978-934-2306, Christopher_ODonnell@uml.edu
PitchStudent Entrepreneurs Pitch Ideas for Marketplace
When: Wednesday, Dec. 4, 4 to 6 p.m. and 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
What: UMass Lowell student entrepreneurs who have developed new ideas for businesses, nonprofit agencies, goods and services will present their innovations to expert judges and vie for cash prizes during two pitch contests. The Creative Venture Competition – presented by UMass Lowell’s College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences – will feature six teams of students who will pitch a business or nonprofit enterprise plan that addresses a need in the humanities or social-services sector. Eight other UMass Lowell student teams will square off in the DCU/UMass Lowell Manning School of Business Innovation Contest, which asks them to develop products and services for the banking and financial-services realms.
Where: Creative Venture Competition – O’Leary Library Learning Commons, Room 222, South Campus, 61 Wilder St., Lowell. DCU/Manning School of Business Innovation Contest – Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2), Wannalancit Mills, second floor, 600 Suffolk St., Lowell
Contacts for media: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu or Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
CraftHoliday Craft Fair Showcases Women’s Work
When: Thursday, Dec. 5, 2 to 7 p.m.
What: Women crafters and artists – many of whom are UMass Lowell graduates, faculty and staff – will sell their creations during “Women’s Works: A Celebration of the Creativity of Women.” The annual event, a prelude to the holidays, showcases handmade jewelry, knitted items, foods, paintings, bath and body lotions and more. The craft fair is presented by the UMass Lowell Center for Women and Work.
Where: UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center, 50 Warren St., Lowell
Contacts for media: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu or Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
Rock‘Rock for Tots’ Concert to Aid Local Families
When: Thursday, Dec. 5, 8 p.m.
What: Up-and-coming musicians will band together to raise awareness and support for local families in need during the 10th annual “Rock for Tots” concert, hosted by WUML-FM, UMass Lowell’s student-operated radio station. Performers are scheduled to include A Great Big Pile of Leaves, I Kill Giants, Pile and more. Proceeds will benefit The Wish Project, which provides appliances, furniture, clothing and other household goods to formerly homeless people who are moving into permanent housing. Tickets may be purchased at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/510277 for $10 in advance or for $12 at the door the night of the show.
Where: Cumnock Hall, North Campus, 31 University Ave., Lowell
Contacts for media: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu or Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
SukantGains in Nanotechnology, Engineering Highlighted at Symposium
When: Friday, Dec. 6, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
What: Leading researchers advancing the fields of nanotechnology and plastics engineering will come together to share their successes and challenges during UMass Lowell’s annual Tripathy Memorial Symposium. Speakers are scheduled to include Assistant Prof. Prakash Rai, whose work at UMass Lowell is focused on developing a targeted treatment for breast cancer that does not harm healthy tissue. The event is held in memory of Sukant Tripathy, a chemical engineering professor and founder and former director of UMass Lowell’s Center for Advanced Materials. From 1994 to 1996, Tripathy also served as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs.
Where: UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center, 50 Warren St., Lowell
Contacts for media: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu or Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
DickensCommunity Celebrates Charles Dickens’ Ties to Lowell
When: Friday, Dec. 6, 4 p.m.
What: UMass Lowell and Lowell National Historical Park will unveil a permanent public marker that memorializes Charles Dickens’ visit to Lowell in 1842 and his connection to the city. The event is part of the nationally acclaimed Dickens in Lowell festival, which last year explored the author’s travels in America through a variety of public events and the exhibit “Dickens in Massachusetts: A Tale of Power and Transformation,” the brainchild of UMass Lowell English Prof. Diana Archibald. The exhibit recently won a national Award of Merit from the American Association for State and Local History. In tandem with the marker unveiling, Dickens in Lowell will launch two websites: a virtual Dickens exhibition, located at http://library.uml.edu/dickens/exhibit/virtualtour.html and a Dickens walking tour of Lowell, http://library.uml.edu/dickens/VWT/WalkingTour/. Dickens in Lowell is presented by UMass Lowell in collaboration with Lowell National Historical Park, the Charles Dickens Museum of London, the Tsongas Industrial History Center, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Lowell civic and cultural organizations.
Where: Lowell National Historical Park Visitor Center, 304 Dutton St., Lowell
Contacts for media: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu or Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
ScholarsStudent Research Scholars Share Cutting-Edge Projects
When: Thursday, Dec. 12, noon to 1:30 p.m.
What: From exploring the impact of international trade on the labor market to finding better ways to train caregivers of children with autism, UMass Lowell students in the Emerging Scholars Program are at work finding solutions to society’s problems. Students, who conduct their research alongside UMass Lowell faculty members, will discuss their projects at this event. The program – offered to academically qualified juniors and seniors in the university’s College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences – provides participants hands-on experience beyond the classroom and a stipend for their work.
Where: Health and Social Sciences Building, Room 150, South Campus, 113 Wilder St., Lowell
Contacts for media: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu or Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
StringLocal Schoolchildren Perform Free Concert with String Project
When: Sunday, Dec. 15, 3 p.m.
What: The UMass Lowell String Project, comprised of 88 local schoolchildren ages 8 to 18, will present a free concert for the public. Three ensembles featuring students playing violin, viola and cello, as well as the UMass Lowell Youth Orchestra will perform during the Winter Showcase. The String Project, directed by John-Morgan Bush of the UMass Lowell Music Department, provides instrumental music lessons to Lowell public school students with master teacher Donna Nagle and UMass Lowell student teachers. Through the support of UMass Lowell and 2013-2014 season sponsor Johnson String Instrument of Newton, the project plays an integral role in local arts culture and music education for children. Free parking is available.
Where: Durgin Concert Hall, South Campus, 35 Wilder St., Lowell
Contacts for media: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu or Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu