Three recent stories from the campus of the University of Massachusetts Amherst that we find worthy of comment:
Kudos to Patricia Vittum, the associate dean of the Stockbridge School of Agriculture for being the first woman to win the Golf Course Superintendent Association of America Col. John Morley Distinguished Service Award.
That’s a mouthful, but Vittum puts it more simply: “It feels like the hall of fame of golf course management.”
The award, which Vittum will receive in February, honors someone “who has made an outstanding and significant contribution in both substance and duration to the advancement of the golf course superintendent’s profession.”
Vittum, 65, plans to retire in March after 37 years at UMass and a career in turfgrass entomology. Her specialty is the bluegrass weevil, which each can kill 10 to 12 grass plants during their lifetime.
Her research on the life cycle of the weevils has been useful for golf courses to know when to spray chemicals to control them in the least invasive way.
Vittum got her start when she took a summer job in the turfgrass program at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. She earned a doctorate in turfgrass entomology from Cornell in 1980, and since has worked only at UMass.
Vittum hopes that by being the first woman to receive this award, she opens the door for others of her gender in this field.
We echo Vittum’s sentiment that the recognition, just before her retirement, “is a heck of a way to go out.” Thanks to her good work, the grass is undoubetedly greener.
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We’re glad that UMass has committed to continuing support of its Labor Center, a nationally recognized program that trains undergraduate and graduate students in workers’ rights, collective bargaining and labor law. It was created after a 1964 commencement address by George Meany, then the president of the AFL-CIO.
The center was roiled by conflict in September after a critical letter written by former director Eve Weinbaum was posted on several blogs. Among the issues was the decision to eliminate teaching assistant positions which helped graduate students pay the $60,000 cost of the two-year master’s program.
Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy announced this month that UMass will provide nearly $110,000 to restore six teaching assistant positions for graduate students, which include tuition waiver and stipend. UMass also will waive tuition for up to 12 graduate students doing internships.
The university hopes to double within three years the current undergraduate enrollment of about 100 students, and wants 12 new, full-time students to enroll annually in the Labor Center’s residential master’s program.
The agreement did not meet all the requests made by Labor Center leaders, including a new faculty position.
Nevertheless, the six-members of the Labor Center Committee, including Weinbaum, wrote in a letter to alumni and supporters, “… while we didn’t get everything we asked for, we got a commitment from the University about the importance of the Labor Center to the mission of the University, and significant support for our graduate students to build a new foundation for the Labor Center.”
That’s good news for UMass and labor organizations.
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We sympathize with Ken Jacobson, a UMass professor emeritus of anthropology who is doing research for a book at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library. Jacobson, 73, has spinal disorders and runs out of breath when he must walk more than 200 feet.
The problem for Jacobson is that the handicapped parking spaces closest to the library at the neighboring South College building have been eliminated as part of its renovation and expansion. Jacobson and others now must find handicapped spaces farther away in a new parking lot next to the Goodell building.
Jacobson says that UMass has refused his request to restore handicapped parking closer to the library. University officials respond that the handicapped spaces now provided are adequate because they comply with federal and state standards.
Jacobson is not satisfied. “Legally they may be able to get away with it, but morally it’s deplorable,” he says. “No one wants to walk in the moccasins of anyone who needs accommodation.”
We agree. The Du Bois Library is an important public building, and UMass must find a way so that it is easily accessible to everyone.