■Lawrence Fink, chairman of the department of education and child study, Smith College, has been appointed a consultant to President Nixon’s Committee on Mental Retardation. Fink will advise the committee’s members and staff on pre-school, child development, educational and related field needs, programs, trends and problems.
■Mrs. Margaret “Peggy” Hobbie Beckman was nominated for “Military Wife of the Year” at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. She is the wife of Col. Kenneth N. Beckman, director of the C-5 System Program Office at Aeronautical Systems Division. Mrs. Beckman is a native of Northampton and a graduate of Smith College.
■The City Council last night approved a resolution seeking to change the status of Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School to a regional school district. Mayor Mary L. Ford said the resolution is the same as one passed by the City Council a year ago and sent to the state Legislature – but not acted upon there.
■Kollmorgen Corp.’s Electro-Optical Division says it has received a contract valued at about $500,000 for the development and demonstration of a high-definition television camera. The contract with the Advanced Research Projects Agency includes options valued at an additional $3 million.
■Roger Johnson, the new director of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Leeds, says he plans to focus on outreach, both to veterans already enrolled in the system and those in western Massachusetts who haven’t signed up. A longtime Leeds resident, Johnson worked at the medical center from 1988 to 1991 as associate director.
■The Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School will increase from 150 to 200 students next fall and will add four classrooms this summer to its building on Russell St., said Rich Alcorn, chairman of the board of trustees. The renovation will involve putting a second floor on the former Kidsports building, which the school bought last fall.