Amherst

George Fox University center Hannah Munger's performance helped dethrone defending national champion Amherst in Friday's NCAA Division 3 women's basketball semifinal in Holland, Mich. Munger, a 6-foot-5-inch junior, dominated the inside with a career-high 36 points and 13 rebounds in the Bruins' 76-69 win over the Lord Jeffs, ending Amherst's 50-game winning streak, the third longest in Division 3 history. George Fox (32-0), which won the 2009 national title, advanced to Saturday night's final against Illinois Wesleyan (27-5)

Before publishing a paper regarded today as a great achievement of 20th-century evolutionary biology, Lynn Margulis faced rejection by over a dozen journals. Her tenacity — paired with an out-of-the-box way of thinking — defined the career of the renowned evolutionary biologist, who died late last year. It would have been ideal if the University of Massachusetts at Amherst could have honored Margulis by ensuring that her research is carried on. But after failing to find a new professor to fill Margulis's position, the university concluded that her work is too complicated to continue without her....

After two trips to the NCAA Division 3 Final Four without a victory, Amherst didn't want to face its third consolation game in four years. It won't have to after dominating early and then prevailing in a back-and-forth contest down the stretch for a 67-60 victory against Wooster last night in Salem, Va. "We've been here twice in similar situations and given it back," Amherst coach David Hixon said. "These are uncharted waters for us. " Tim McLaughlin scored 16 points and Andrew Olson had 15 for Amherst (29-2)

Can Sam the Minuteman help end the state's charity license plate drought? officials at the University of Massachusetts Amherst certainly hope so. UMass Amherst has begun marketing a new license plate to students, parents, and alumni featuring the tricorn-hat-wearing school mascot. If the plate passes muster with the Registry of Motor Vehicles, it will become the first charity plate in support of a Massachusetts university or college. But success is not guaranteed. It has been nearly two years since the last nonprofit organization was able to get a plate into production, in part...

AMHERST -- The state's biggest college campus is going to feel less crowded. After a five-year housing crunch that has forced hundreds of students to live in hotels until dorm space became available, the University of Massachusetts is opening a complex of four apartment-style buildings. Three of the five-story brickfaçade buildings will be ready for returning students. The fourth may need a few more weeks of construction, officials said. The North Residential Area, a $93 million construction project, marks the first new housing on campus in 35 years.

How to get there The University of Massachusetts at Amherst is about 100 miles west of Boston, about a two-hour drive. Where to stay The Campus Center Hotel 413-549-6000 www.aux.umass.edu/hotel Rooms $70-$115. Where to eat The University Club 243 Stockbridge Road 413-545-2551 www.umass.edu/uclub Lunch and dinner on weekdays. Friday nights by reservation. Grilled salmon salad ($10.95). What to do Your gateway to the university is www.umass.edu.

Middlebury may have had the higher ranking in the latest D3hoops.com poll, but after yesterday's loss to Amherst, it's the Lord Jeffs who secured the top seed in the NESCAC tournament. Sixth-ranked Amherst outdueled No. 2 Middlebury, 77-75, in overtime in Amherst. Pete Kaasila's putback of an Aaron Toomey 3-point attempt with 2.8 seconds remaining provided the final margin, while Toomey's ensuing steal clinched the win for the Lord Jeffs (22-2, 10-0). Toomey finished with a team-high 16 points, hitting all eight of his attempts from the line.

Massachusetts aspires to grow its reputation as a hub of the video-gaming industry, and an upcoming symposium in Amherst aims to make sure that the western part of the state isn't left out of those aspirations. As many as 75,000 gamers are expected to attend the big PAX East video game industry trade show in Boston next month. Meanwhile, organizers of the Amherst symposium are gearing up for their own event, which will focus on such topics as the best ways to build a video game company outside major urban areas.

With the NESCAC and Little Three titles hanging in the balance alongside a perfect season, Amherst played the part of a champion in a balanced 31-18 win over host Williams. The 8-0 Lord Jeffs, coming off what was essentially a conference-clinching victory over Trinity, scored on the game's opening drive and never looked back. Quarterback Brian McMahon put his team up early with a 15-yard touchdown run, and the visitors answered two field goals by Williams's Joseph Mallock by scoring the next 24 points.

For the second straight year, Harvard and Princeton universities share the top spot in the US News & World Report rankings of "America's Best Colleges. " Princeton earned at least a tie for the number one ranking for the fifth consecutive year of the rankings, which saw few changes among the highest-rated schools. The latest survey, which hits newsstands Monday, again has Yale at number three, followed by the University of Pennsylvania. The University of California at Berkeley, at number 21, was the top-rated public university.

Culling lessons from his own newspaper experience, Howard Ziff taught a generation of students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst the craft of journalism and, not incidentally, how to reach for lives as riveting as his celebrated classes. "He was on stage in the classroom," said Larry Carpman, a former student of Mr. Ziff's who now runs Carpman Communications in Boston. "He had this incredible ability to teach not just the mechanics of journalism, but the benefits of having passion in life.

The University of Massachusetts announced Monday that a physicist who is provost at the University of Kentucky will be the new chancellor of its flagship Amherst campus. UMass trustees voted unanimously for Kumble Subbaswamy, the choice of system president Robert Caret, who called him "a man who has devoted his life to pursuing excellence, to opening doors and to serving others. " "Dr. Subbaswamy is a proven academic leader who will guide the Amherst campus to new heights," Caret said in a statement announcing the vote.

George Fox University center Hannah Munger's performance helped dethrone defending national champion Amherst in Friday's NCAA Division 3 women's basketball semifinal in Holland, Mich. Munger, a 6-foot-5-inch junior, dominated the inside with a career-high 36 points and 13 rebounds in the Bruins' 76-69 win over the Lord Jeffs, ending Amherst's 50-game winning streak, the third longest in Division 3 history. George Fox (32-0), which won the 2009 national title, advanced to Saturday night's final against Illinois Wesleyan (27-5)

WASHINGTON -- A UMass Amherst sustainability manager, Ryan Harb, will be honored at the White House on Thursday as one of five "Champions of Change" recipients for their outstanding leadership on campus, the White House announced Tuesday. Harb, a certified permaculture designer, coordinates the university's permaculture initiative, a sustainability program that transforms grass lawns and neglected landscapes into edible, educational and ecologically designed gardens. "It's great to bring this recognition to UMass Amherst because we are doing something so innovative and...

Massachusetts aspires to grow its reputation as a hub of the video-gaming industry, and an upcoming symposium in Amherst aims to make sure that the western part of the state isn't left out of those aspirations. As many as 75,000 gamers are expected to attend the big PAX East video game industry trade show in Boston next month. Meanwhile, organizers of the Amherst symposium are gearing up for their own event, which will focus on such topics as the best ways to build a video game company outside major urban areas.

Charmingly Ghetto doesn't go to Boston University, which makes his decision to meet at the school's campus in Kenmore Square - at 1 p.m. on a Sunday no less, the time most students are still in bed recovering from the previous night - an unusual one. The usually packed sidewalks on Commonwealth Avenue are barren and the cold late-winter air quickly chills any exposed skin; CG, as his friends call him, pulls a long scarf tight around his neck...

Quarterback Donald McKillop turned in a record-setting performance and Middlebury’s defense shut out unbeaten Amherst for the first 30 minutes. The end result: Another win for the Lord Jeffs. Amherst scored on every possession but its final clock-killing drive in the second half, stunning the host Panthers, 38-31, yesterday to extend its winning streak to 11 games. Amherst’s Alex Vetras was 26 of 49 for 278 yards and two touchdowns and Eric Bunker rushed for 88 yards and two scores, including the winner from a yard out with 2:32 left.

A year from now, Mike Baran hopes to be playing professional hockey in Europe. For the near term, however, he is focused on leading Amherst to the New England Small College Athletic Conference championship. Amherst (20-3-1, 17-1 NESCAC) closed out the regular season with wins at Williams (3-1) and Middlebury (2-1) last weekend, earning the top seed in the conference tourney. The Lord Jeffs, ranked third in Division 3, will host eighth-seed Hamilton in a NESCAC quarterfinal game on Saturday.

A search committee has whittled down the number of candidates vying to replace the outgoing chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst to four finalists, the state university system said Wednesday. In a statement, UMass said the finalists are Sona Karentz Andrews, vice chancellor for academic strategies for the Oregon University System; Susan D. Phillips, provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Albany, State University of New York; Carlos E. Santiago, chief executive of the Hispanic College Fund in Washington, D.C., and former chancellor of...

Basketball The Lakers said Kobe Bryant saw a neurologist yesterday and he diagnosed the All-Star guard with a concussion from the broken nose he suffered in Sunday's All-Star Game when he was fouled by the Heat's Dwyane Wade. Bryant will see Dr. Vern Williams again today, and his status for tonight's home game against Minnesota is unknown. Wade, who was criticized for the foul, said he has apologized to Bryantmultiple times, first during the game and afterward when he sent him a message . . . Lamar Odom wasn't with the Mavericks for their first game after the All-Star...