I was 2 minutes and 45 seconds late to work today. My brisk walk up Highland Ave. from Cedar House has me walk past two “detour” signs and a half dozen construction vehicles placed Tetris-style in the turnaround between Miller and Percival Hall, which, almost poetically, was constructed last summer.

I can’t seem to remember where they parked their cement mixers before that was there.

I’m almost there when the sun peeks out from behind a cloud. Immediately I’m sweating, even in the breathable polos us tour guides are honored to wear. The temperature drops dramatically as I step into Anthony, timecard in hand, and then I’m taking a seat behind the desk where I’ll be until the 11:30 tour.

Our summer orientation has two remaining sessions, with each session lasting for two days.

Session III runs June 20 & 21 and Session IV runs June 22 & 23.

Below is the two day orientation schedule.

Official check-in starts at 8:00 a.m., but feel free to arrive any time after 7:00 a.m. Checking in covers registration with the Office of Student Development (OSD), and also Housing, Parking, Food, and the One Card.

Fitchburg State nursing student Kayla Hall was driving home from the mall with her sister in Quincy last Wednesday when she noticed something strange: a car stopped in traffic at a rotary. She asked her sister to drive around the stopped car so she could see the driver. “We saw a man looking straight ahead, like in a trance,” she said.

Eighteen Fitchburg State students joined faculty members Jon Amakawa and Jeff Warmouth for spring break in Japan, visiting landmarks in Japanese art and game design. The nine-day trip was part of a course on games and arts in Japan, offered through the game design program.

“The trip came together better than I could have imagined,” Amakawa said. “Although short—just nine days—it combined a diverse survey of both contemporary media in Japan in the form of games, manga and anime and traditional arts and culture in Japan.”

How did climate change affect the rise of the Homo Sapiens? Why did people start to farm? Why did the Vikings die out in Greenland? How are humans remaking climate change today? 

These questions, and many others, will be addressed in an upcoming course offered in our Fall 2016 semester. Today, we're excited to tell you a little more about it.   

Our "Meet the Faculty" blog series kicks off 2016 with an introduction to Dr. Natalie Karagodsky from our Biology and Chemistry Department. Dr. Karagodsky is relatively new to Fitchburg State, having joined our faculty last fall, and we want to give you the opportunity to know her a little better. 

Fitchburg State Univeristy welcomed a host of new faculty to campus at the start of the 2015 fall semester, and today we're happy to introduce you to one of our most recent additions. Our ongoing "Meet the Faculty" series presents Dr. Katharine Covino from our English Studies department.

Tell us where you completed your academic studies.

With Mars in the news this week after researchers described evidence of liquid water on the Earth’s nearest planetary neighbor, we look at some Martian research taking place on our own campus.

Kayla Kress spent her summer vacation on Mars. The budding interplanetary scientist, a junior majoring in Earth Systems Science, worked under the guidance of Assistant Professor Reid Parsons on his NASA-funded geospatial technology project analyzing topography data and satellite images of the red planet.

Welcome to Fitchburg State University! Who am I? I don’t mean that philosophically; there’s enough of that going around. So who am I? My name is Brian, and although that doesn’t mean anything to you, I’m going to continue.

I’m a junior living it up here at Fitchburg State. I am an English Studies major with a concentration in professional writing. I started working with the Burg Blog last year, and it was a nice way to get my feet wet. This blog was really my first official opportunity to write.

As the fall semester begins, Fitchburg State welcomes our students back to campus for the start of another academic year.

It’s great to have everyone back, but today we extend a special courtesy to our freshman students who are about to take their first Falcon steps.

The first two days of September are jam packed with events for you, and this guide will provide a little more information about them.