Daily Jolt

Each year, the Smith College Community Service Office holds a fund drive to benefit a local cause. This year's fund drive, themed "From Hardship to Hope: African Refugees in Our Community," is working to raise $2,000 to support the needs of African refugees participating in English language classes at the Gray House, a non-profit organization in the North End of Springfield. (March 11)

Smith's MassPIRG chapter collected almost 50 petitions with student signatures this Tuesday, in an event titled "Take a Hit at Sallie Mae." The organization intends to deliver the petitions to Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown to encourage passage of a federal student loan bill in the Senate. (March 11)

Russian is not a department you often hear about. With only three full-time faculty members, it is the smallest of Smith's language departments. And with all three of those professors nearing the age of retirement and no plans to replace them, rumors have circulated that Smith's Russian department could soon transition to a Five College department. (March 11)