Williams Professor to Discuss Mathematical Approach to Fairness

03:20PM / Monday, March 15, 2010Print Story | Email Story

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williams College math professor Allison Pacelli will give the final lecture in the annual faculty lecture series on Thursday, March 18.

Pacelli’s lecture is titled "Fair is Foul, and Foul is Fair: A Mathematical Approach to Fairness." The lecture will take place at 4 p.m. in Wege Auditorium in The Science Center. The event is free and open to the public.

The idea of fairness is considerably more complicated when more than two people are involved, but according to Pacelli, mathematics can be surprisingly useful in these situations.

Pacelli’s areas of interest include algebraic number theory, class groups and class numbers, and global function fields. Her work has been published in a number of journals, including the Journal of Number Theory and the Journal of Pure and Applied Algebra. Her book, "Mathematics and Politics: Strategy, Voting, Power, and Proof," co-written with Alan Taylor, was published in 2009.

At Williams, Pacelli teaches Algebraic Number Theory, Abstract Algebra, Introduction to Number Theory, Galois Theory, and a tutorial on Mathematical Proof and Argumentation.

She received her B.S. from Union College, and her Ph.D. from Brown University.

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Williamstown Studying Major Overhaul for Main Street

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
05:14AM / Wednesday, July 29, 2026

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The town is working with a Worcester civil engineering firm to redesign Main Street with an eye toward a major project sometime in the next decade.

Community Development Director Andrew Groff was before the Select Board on Monday night to talk about Town Hall's use of a $500,000 state grant to do preliminary design on major improvements to that portion of Route 2 that runs from Water Street west to the Field Park rotary, through the middle of Williams College's campus.

Groff introduced the elected officials to Amanda Bazinet of Worcester's Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, who is helping the town to develop a plan for Main Street that would align with the commonwealth's Complete Streets Program.

"Our project goals, in addition to the increased pedestrian and bicycle accommodations, is just, in general, improving the sightlines and improving the intersection geometry," Bazinet said.

"Complete Streets … has a lot of different facets to it. As Andrew had mentioned, the goal is to improve the safety for all of the roadway users — not just the motorists. We're looking at improving it for pedestrians, bicyclists, anyone using a mobility device. We want to create streets that are safe for all ages and abilities to use. So, while bicyclists will still be allowed, legally, to use the roadway, we want to look at providing a separate bicycle accommodation along the corridor, whether it's a shared use path along both sides of the streets that is a little more accessible to young children or older people with disabilities to look at all transportation options."

One goal is to encourage "active transportation." The Massachusetts Department of Transportation, who the town hopes one day might fund the construction, has a "healthy transportation policy," Bazinet said.

That MassDOT funding would come through the Transportation Improvement Program, which is managed locally by the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. The design work underway now is being done with an eye toward going after TIP funding years down the road.

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