■In a lecture entitled “Life in the Year 2001,” at the University of Massachusetts Monday, Dr. Arthur C. Clarke made the prediction that man’s future may include ultra-intelligent machines designed to perform virtually all of man’s physical and intellectual tasks, leaving him to develop into a purely intellectual being.
■”Bloodstone,” a group of five young men fresh from the production of the original rock musical “Heavy” at Smith College, will give a free concert at Childs Park here beginning at noon this Saturday. “Bloodstone” describes their sound as “mongrel music,” a mixture of jazz, blues, classical and hard rock.
■A new report on academics at the University of Massachusetts suggests changes that include program cuts, consolidation and the “reallocation” of resources — ideas that have many on the faculty nervous. Though nothing in the report suggests swift change, some faculty members are already ringing warning bells about what the document could mean for the flagship campus in Amherst.
■A long list of building ills at Northampton High School, some urgently in need of attention, raises a large question, the school department’s maintenance chief told officials this week. Does the committee want to commit to renovating the school, or building a new one, John Hamel asked School Committee members, before reciting a litany of problems.
■The developer who still hopes to build a hotel downtown is suing the city for more than $2 million for pulling the plug on the project. The Pioneer Valley Hotel Group filed suit in Hampden Superior Court claiming the city breached its contract and violated the company’s civil rights when it let a purchase-and-sale agreement expire two months ago.
■Matthew Behnke, the principal at Wildwood Elementary School for the past two years, announced Tuesday that he will resign from his position when the school year ends. Behnke cited two factors — a desire to spend more time with his family and a wish to be a teacher again — as the primary reasons for his resignation.