Summer 2003

Departments

Exchange

Around the Pond

Extended Family

Great Sport

Arts

Books

Freeze-frame

Contributors

North 40

Features

Dear Master

The Vast Area of Small

Tiny couch potatoes

Pumped-up Roosters

The pervasive presence of microbes

At-risk Native Talk

Our giant in hedge funds

Exchange: To and from the editors

FROM THE CHANCELLOR

John V. Lombardi

RESEARCH DEFINES THE FLAGSHIP university in every state in the nation. The research imperative for these institutions also sets a standard of nationally competitive performance in teaching and outreach, and it creates an academic environment that constantly incorporates both the process and the results of research into the undergraduate academic program. Research at nationally significant universities like ours exists in one of the most competitive environments in America. Whether in the sciences, fine arts, humanities, social sciences or professions, academic research measures its achievements against the best in the nation. When our humanists publish their research, they do so in competition for a limited number of spaces in prestigious scholarly journals or scholarly book publishing programs. When our scientists receive grants from the NIH, the NSF or other such sources, they compete against faculty from every major university in America, public and private. When our faculty succeed, as they continually do, it tells us that they are among the best in the nation because the competition for these scarce resources of publication and grants draws the best scholars from every university in the country. UMass Amherst, with its remarkable record of competitive research achievement, engages its students in a level of performance not available in other institutions. Our undergraduates not only have the privilege of studying with faculty whose intellectual range reaches the most advanced level in the nation, but here they find many opportunities to become directly involved with research close to their academic interests by working with faculty on major, nationally competitive projects. When our students graduate and apply to graduate or professional school, or seek employment, they come to that competition with the enhanced skills and practical experience that only participation in the demanding work of research can provide. This university’s academic imperative requires that our students, faculty and staff all measure the success of what we do against the best in the nation. While we struggle with issues of resources and similar practical matters, nothing we do has more importance than the constant comparison of our undergraduate, graduate and research performance against our competitors among America’s top research universities.

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ALL THE LETTERS ALL THE TIME

LETTERS IN PRINT, SUMMER 2003

FROM THE CHANCELLOR