DOYLE TIME? PAGE 8
THE PUNISHER COMES TO LIFE IN FAN FILM PAGE 5
THE QB BATTLE RESUMES
THE MASSACHUSETTS
DAILY COLLEGIAN DailyCollegian.com
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
WORLD
US, Russia embrace Syria deal Proposal to avoid U.S. missle strike By HannaH allam, mattHew scHofield, and anita Kumar
McClatchy Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON – With Congress on the verge of considering whether to authorize President Barack Obama to launch a retaliatory attack on Syria, the United States and Russia on Monday embraced a proposal that would allow Syria to avoid a U.S. missile strike by relinquishing control of its chemical weapons. Obama called the proposal a “significant breakthrough” in an interview with ‘NBC Nightly News,” and he said on PBS’s “NewsHour” that he had discussed the plan with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Group of 20 summit last week in Russia. But after two weeks of pressing for the need for a U.S. strike, Obama also said he remains skeptical that Syrian President Bashar Assad would agree to the idea. If he does, Obama told ABC News, he would “absolutely” hold off on a military strike. “This may be a first step in what potentially could be an end to terrible bloodshed and millions of refugees throughout the region that is of deep concern to us and our allies,” Obama said on “CBS Evening News.”
The diplomatic advance came as evidence mounted that Obama’s request for congressional approval for a strike remained widely unpopular, both in Congress and with the American people, despite a public push that has included impassioned presentations in recent days by Secretary of State John Kerry, National Security Adviser Susan Rice and United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power. Informal counts found House members who said they planned to vote “no” far outnumbering those willing to say they would vote “yes,” and a new McClatchy/Marist poll of U.S. public opinion showed nearly 3–to–1 opposition among registered voters to military action. The Senate postponed its vote on a resolution that had been scheduled for Wednesday. Democratic aides said the delay was intended to give the Russian proposal time to come together. “I don’t think we need to see how fast we can do this,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D–Nev., said Monday night. “We have to see how well we can do this.” The sudden possibility of a diplomatic solution came as Assad launched a public relations campaign of his own, granting an interview to American television, and new information emerged that raised questions about the see
SYRIA on page 3
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New email receives mixed replies Switched server surprises students B y eleanor H arte Collegian Correspondent After weeks of email reminders and tips, the University of Massachusetts officially transitioned its undergraduate email system from UMail to Google Mail in July, a system already used by many for their personal emails. The change included a shorter email address for undergraduate students, with a domain of umass.edu as opposed to the previous student. umass.edu.
According to the UMass Office of Information Technologies in a May 1 press release, the change to Google Mail is part of a bigger initiative called Apps at UMass Amherst, “Google’s suite of collaborative tools for educational institutions.” Undergraduate students now access their email slightly differently than before, but in return they can utilize tools created by Google to work with other students, such as Google Calendar, Google Sites, an online websitecreation, and Google Drive, an online file storage facility where users can upload documents that can then
be accessed anywhere their Google account can be accessed.. UMass switched to the Google Mail and Apps system mainly because of storage issues, according to Christopher Misra, associate chief information officer for security at OIT. “Limited storage was one of the most frequent complaints about UMail,” Misra said. “If we had kept our old UMail system, it would have required a major upgrade which would have been expensive and time-consuming.” Google provides over 10 gigabytes of email storage to students. Many students have
praised UMass and OIT for changing the email, despite initial concerns that the switch would be complicated. “I’m very happy with the change,” said Liz Muenzen, a junior psychology major. “UMail was ugly and very inconvenient. I like that I can add the school’s Gmail onto my regular Gmail account.” “I like that it’s readily available, meaning the emails come instantly, where with UMail there was a lag,” said Richard Pho, a junior biology major. “I like that it’s umass. see
EMAIL on page 3
Root-ing aRound foR snacks
DELIAH BARTH/COLLEGIAN
Roots Cafe, located in the newly-constructed Commonwealth Honors College Concourse, is open and serving food 24 hours a day beginning this semester.
Study finds intensive care Hampshire DC to hold treatment to be costly, futile ribbon-cutting ceremony Survival rates grim for those treated By melissa Healy Los Angeles Times
Nearly 1 in 5 patients in a hospital’s intensive care unit gets care and treatment judged by physicians in charge to be ineffective, needlessly aggressive or pointless given the patients’ dire state, a new study says. And the financial costs of that care are steep as well, adding up to $2.6 million over three months at a single academic medical center. The study, conducted at an unidentified academic medical system in Los Angeles, found that of 1,125 patients who spent time in the ICU during a threemonth period, 98 received treatment that their physicians perceived as “possibly futile,” and 123 received
treatment that their physicians considered futile. Written by a group of researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, the study followed patients and their physicians and surveyed the doctors daily on their view of treatments provided. That ruled out judgments of futility that were colored by a physician’s knowledge of a patient’s outcome. The study was published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine on Monday. In 58 percent of the 221 cases judged to be possibly futile or futile, the physician in charge believed the burdens of the treatment he or she was providing “grossly outweighed” any benefit the patient would probably get. Just more than half deemed treatment futile because they believed it would “never reach the patient’s
goals.” In 37 percent of cases, a patient’s imminent death was cited as the basis for judging treatment provided to be futile. And in 31 percent of the cases, physicians deemed their treatment futile because they believed a patient would never survive outside a hospital’s intensive care unit. The survival rates of those who were given treatment judged to be futile were grim: 68 percent died while still in the hospital, and 16 percent died within six months of leaving the hospital. Identifying how often treatment judged as futile is given and adding up its cost are first steps “toward refocusing care on treatments that are more likely to benefit patients,” wrote the authors, led by UCLA pulmonologist and criticalsee
CARE on page 3
By Jaclyn Bryson Collegian Staff
The newly renovated Hampshire Dining Commons will be recognized with a grand re-opening celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony this Tuesday, hosted by the University of Massachusetts Dining Services. The ribbon cutting will take place in the Southwest Residential Area at 6:30 p.m., with three guest chefs there to help provide food for the celebration. Chef Mai Pham of Sacramento, Calif., will be preparing South East Asian style dishes; Chef Jehangir Mehta of New York will be cooking Indian cuisine; and Chef Bruno Wehren of Orlando, Fla., will be serving meals with a Mediterranean flare. About 3,500 students are expected to attend the grand re-opening, which
Toong added that there is no competition between the dining halls. He said in the release that Hampshire and Berkshire should complement each other. marks the end of a two year, $15.5 million project to renovate the 46,000 square foot facility, originally constructed in 1966. Besides refurbishments, Director of Auxiliary Enterprises Ken Toong added that the goal of the refurbishment project is to make Hampshire one of the healthiest dining commons in America. “This can be accomplished by serving minimally processed foods and more plant-based items at peak season, less red meat, more sustainable seafood and healthier oils, fats and beverages,” Toong said in a UMass press release.
The newly renovated space is expected to reduce student traffic at Berkshire Dining Commons and give the 1,500 students living in the new Commonwealth Honors College dorms more dining options. Toong added that there is no competition between the dining halls. He said in the release that Hampshire and Berkshire should complement rather than compete with each other and strive to provide students in the Southwest Residential Area with a more varied and exciting eating experience. Jaclyn Bryson can be reached at jbryson@umass.edu.