Story and Source Ideas for Journalists
04/27/2015
This is a notice of upcoming events, photo opportunities and story ideas at UMass Lowell, compiled by the Office of University Relations. 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 Please note that contact names below are for the media and are not for publication.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
UMass Lowell experts are available to discuss:
- What’s at stake for public education as parents across the country opt out of having their children take standardized tests;
- The arguments and potential outcomes as the U.S. Supreme Court this week considers the latest challenge to the constitutionality of gay marriage;
- Several food recalls this month due to listeria contamination, what the bacteria is and how you know if it’s the cause of an illness.
Contact UMass Lowell media relations if you need an expert source on any subject.
Kerouac Writer-in-Residence Reads Work, Shares Creative Process
University Concert Band Performs for the Public
Sign to be Dedicated for Nelson Mandela Memorial
Former EPA Official Presents Vision for Cleaner, More Efficient Cars
History Professor Launches Family Memoir of Life in China
Acclaimed Portuguese Novelist to Talk about Writing
Civil Rights Activists Reflect on Struggle at Event for Campus, Public
KerouacKerouac Writer-in-Residence Reads Work, Shares Creative Process
When: Monday, April 27, 5 p.m.
What: Award-winning poet and novelist Jennifer Tseng, UMass Lowell’s 2015 Kerouac writer-in-residence, will discuss her creative process and read her work at a free event for the campus and community. The author of two books of poetry, Tseng’s novel “Mayumi and the Sea of Happiness” will be released next month. The program is presented by UMass Lowell’s English Department.
Where: O’Leary Library Learning Commons, Room 222, 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
universityUniversity Concert Band Performs for the Public
When: Monday, April 27, 7:30 p.m.
What: More than 50 UMass Lowell students who are members of the University Concert Band will play an eclectic mix of songs written by composers from the 19th and 20th centuries, from Wagner to Leonard Bernstein. The performance, conducted by Music Department faculty member Blair Bettencourt, is free and open to the public.
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
SignSign to be Dedicated for Nelson Mandela Memorial
When: Tuesday, April 28, 8 to 10 a.m.
What: A sign that will mark the spot of a planned memorial to Nelson Mandela outside the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell along the Western Canal will be unveiled during a public dedication ceremony held by the Africa America Alliance and UMass Lowell. Designed by a team of UMass Lowell art students, the planned sculpture will pay tribute to Mandela’s legacy and commemorate the special connection between him and the city, a quilt given to Mandela’s wife by then-U.S. Sen. Paul Tsongas of Lowell and fellow lawmakers. The site of the memorial was selected to advance Mandela’s belief that sports can unite people and promote positive social change. The sign marking the memorial will match others placed in Lowell by the National Park Service denoting important historical sites.
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 Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
FormerFormer EPA Official Presents Vision for Cleaner, More Efficient Cars
When: Tuesday, April 28, 3 to 5 p.m.
What: UMass Lowell graduate Margo Oge envisions a world in which the cars of tomorrow drive themselves by networking with other vehicles on the road, produce no emissions and average more than 100 miles per gallon. She shares her hopes in her book “Driving the Future: Combating Climate Change with Cleaner, Smarter Cars,” which details her leadership role in the passage of the landmark 2012 Clean Air Act when she was the director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality. Oge has been honored by Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush for her environmental efforts. She will talk about her work and sign copies of her book during a free event for the campus and public.
Where: Alumni Hall, North Campus, 84 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
HistoryHistory Professor Launches Family Memoir of Life in China
When: Wednesday, April 29, 5 to 7 p.m.
What: UMass Lowell History Prof. Shehong Chen will share her family’s story in China throughout the Japanese occupation of the country during World War II, the Communist Revolution of 1949 and subsequent economic and social reforms of Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong during a book launch for “Daughter of Good Fortune: A Twentieth-Century Chinese Peasant Memoir.” Chen contributed to the story, which was written by her mother, Chen Huiqin.
Where: University Crossing, River Hawk Shop, 220 Pawtucket 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
AcclaimedAcclaimed Portuguese Novelist to Talk about Writing
When: Thursday, April 30, 3:30 p.m.
What: Internationally acclaimed novelist and philosopher Gonçalo Taveres, one of the most translated writers of contemporary Portuguese literature, will talk about his craft at a free event for the public and campus community. Taveres’ works include “Jerusalem” and “Learning to Pray in the Age of Technique” and his stories often explore the consequences of power and free will. The program is presented by UMass Lowell’s Center for Portuguese Culture and Research and the Jack and Stella Kerouac Center for the Public Humanities.
Where: O’Leary Library Learning Commons, Room 478, 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
CivilCivil Rights Activists Reflect on Struggle at Event for Campus, Public
When: Thursday, April 30, 4 p.m.
What: Charles Cobb and Judy Richardson, who were civil rights activists with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the 1960s, will talk about their experiences as participants in the Selma to Montgomery march and lunch counter sit-ins that helped define the era. Cobb is now an author and journalist, while Richardson is a leading scholar with the SNCC Legacy Project and a documentary filmmaker who worked on “Eyes on the Prize.” The program is one in a UMass Lowell series commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. UMass Lowell Honors College students from Bedford, Billerica, Brockton, Chelmsford, East Walpole, Groton, Lawrence, Lowell, Merrimac, Middleton, Saugus, Taunton, Waltham, Westford and West Newbury are working to present these events and are participating in a range of research and classroom programs. For a full list of events, see (http://www.uml.edu/FAHSS/VRA-Commemoration.aspx) www.uml.edu/FAHSS/VRA-Commemoration.aspx.
Where: O’Leary Library Learning Commons, 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