In the sea of anti-aging creams, serums and lotions that floods stores everywhere, choosing what to buy can be dizzying. Rows of products boast ingredients such as retinol, hydroquinone and alpha and beta hydroxy acids, but the new Easeamine Skin Care Collection is bringing a breakthrough ingredient to anti-aging skin care: adenosine.

Adenosine is a naturally-occurring compound found throughout the body that increases the skin’s production of collagen and elastin, proteins that reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines. James G. Dobson, Jr., Ph.D., discovered adenosine’s skin-repairing qualities at the University of Massachusetts Medical School while researching how aging affects heart function. Through Easeamine’s Adenosine Skin Technology, adenosine is delivered to the lower layers of the skin, where it also increases blood flow to the skin’s outer layers and increases cell size, making the skin look smoother and fuller.

The company behind Easeamine, Carmel Laboratories, Inc., reports that the skin line also decreases roughness, dryness and sallowness of the skin. In clinical trials conducted by International Research Services, Inc., participants experienced a 38 percent improvement in skin dryness, a 26 percent improvement in skin elasticity, an up to 48 percent improvement in skin firmness, a 22 percent improvement in skin tone, a 40 percent improvement in fine lines and wrinkles and a 42 percent improvement in overall appearance.

“Scientists and dermatologists have long sought topical treatments that stimulate collagen production in the skin,” Dobson said. “But until the use of adenosine in Easeamine, the products available were limited to invasive treatments or chemical solutions.”

Not only is its breakthrough ingredient naturally-occurring, but Easeamine, unlike many of its competitors, is formulated without parabens, preservatives, mineral oils, artificial fragrance, artificial colors or dyes. Even better? It’s American-made, and it’s not tested on animals.

Easeamine is sold exclusively online at www.easeamine.com. A portion of the profits — “nearly all,” according to the product website — goes towards the Teresian Carmelite, a monastic community in Millbury, Mass., and its charitable programs benefiting the underprivileged through education.

The Easeamine Skin Care Collection

Easeamine Cleanser, $26, soothes, moisturizes and removes impurities from the skin with aloe, marshmallow root extract and grapefruit seed extract.

Easeamine Revitalizing Toner, $29, detoxifies and refreshes skin with witch hazel, chamomile and aloe.

Easeamine Day Crème, $76, is a lightweight, antioxidant-packed moisturizer  with Vitamins A, C and E.

Easeamine Night Crème, $138, helps moisturize, regenerate and restore the skin.

Easeamine Eye Crème, $98, reduces puffiness, dark under-eye circles and crow’s feet.

As families around the nation struggle to afford college — and as graduates struggle to make the minimum payments on their student loans — the University of Massachusetts Amherst plans to introduce a 3-year degree program this fall, according to the Boston Globe.

Dozens of other colleges around the country have made this step already. As tuition and other costs climb in public and private schools, many students are left with six-figure loan packages when they graduate. Money has become more important in many respects than having a traditional 4-year education — and having the social development that comes with that.

“As the state backs out of support for public higher education, and families take on a bigger chunk of the burden, we need to try to mitigate that,” James Staros, UMass Amherst provost, told the Globe. “We thought, ‘What can we do to shorten the time and cost for a UMass education, without diluting the degree?’”

Lesley University in Cambridge will also add a 3-year option next year. Southern New Hampshire University already offers a 3-year program.

Amherst plans to allow students with significant Advanced Placement credits to meet with their advisers this year and craft out a 3-year graduation plan if they wish.

You may think that having attractive girls pose for pictures is a pretty clich© thing to do to make money, but not when it’s a part of a large entrepreneurial networking project. Jesse Barack, 21, and Daniel Forberg, 26 teamed up and created the Zoomass calendar for their company, Popular Campus entertainment, a student run talent agency and production company. Their first project, the calendar, became much more than an opportunity to photograph girls.

"I was trying to think of interesting ideas to work with a lot of different people," said Barack. "I thought, why not do a calendar and sell it."

This young entrepreneurial pair from The University of Massachusetts Amherst held a photo competition for the 12 models featured in their calendar. They sent out ads in Facebook and MySpace to get contestants. They also had some other, more traditional methods.

"I got a flier under my door," said cover model Erica Cohen, "I went online and checked it out and it looked really interesting. Then I got paid. It was definitely a plus."

To pay for the models, Barack persuaded sponsors to buy ad space on the monthly pages. And some companies could buy the photograph itself — Barack put product placement plugs inside the purchased photos. One model did a yoga pose for a yoga studio’s ad in a photo that also featured the studio’s logo.

"If there is a logo, it’s up in every dorm room and it’s entered the customer’s living space," said Barack. "And that month completely revolves around the business."

The calendar has been flying off the shelves with the help of the models showing up at events to help hawk them. They’ve had to order more.

"We are printing in bulk because now we selling our calendars wholesale to businesses to sell themselves," Barack said.

Popular Campus Entertainment made a mark with their Zoomass calendar, but now these young entrepreneurs are using what they learned to go to the next level with a new film production company called Films Royale. During this period of uncertainty in the job market, Barack and Forberg decided to go off on their own and launch a business.

"For me, it was an opportunity to make money," said Forberg, "but networking was high on the list."

"This has become more than a fun project," added Barack. "It began as a networking opportunity and it evolved a lot more than I thought. The most important part about this whole thing was learning so much about running a business, about advertising, money managing and accounting, costumer relations, and working with real employees."

So be sure to get your 2010 Zoomass calendar available now. And stick around for the 2011 men’s calendar.

"Our new business will help students enhance themselves," said Barack. "We would help them get (talent) auditions and get bands a place to play. We would help them through the steps to get real representation and market themselves. Its going to launch in the summer of 2010."

The student body president at the University of Massachusetts Boston was arrested and charged as a repeat drug dealer last week after the Boston Police Drug Control Unit raided his Dorchester apartment.

Terral Ainooson, 25, was arrested along with roommate, Ryan Oshima, 23, on November 11, when police found more than a dozen plastic bags of marijuana, and seized cash, a grinder and a scale after searching their Sudan Street apartment.

Each was charged with drug possession with intent to distribute.

Ainooson, elected student body president in fall 2008, is a senior International Management major, according to the school’s student senate Web site. He has a criminal record. Jake Wark, spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office, said records show Ainooson had faced similar charges at least once before. The records did not indicate other details about the charges except to say they were not brought in Suffolk County, Wark said.

Oshima is a former UMass Boston student, a school spokesman said. The school’s official athletics Web site says he’s from La Jolla, Calif. and played baseball at Umass for three years.

In the raid, police knocked on the apartment door, but when no one responded officers forced their way in. They found the suspects in a bedroom, detained them and read them their Miranda rights, according to a police report. After officers showed them a search warrant, the pair volunteered the locations of the drugs, some of which were hidden in a Cheerios cereal box, and paraphernalia. The report also indicates that Ainooson and Oshima had been under investigation by the drug unit prior to the raid.

Oshima faces up to two years in jail or a fine or both. Ainooson, as a repeat offender, faces at least one year in prison or a fine or up to $10,000, or both.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst student newspaper reported that former United Freedom Front leader Raymond Luc Levasseur said he was denied permission to travel to the University of Massachusetts for the event by the U.S. Parole Board.

Here is a statement released by organizers of the event that Levasseur was scheduled to speak at:

The U.S. Parole Commission has unexpectedly denied Ray Luc Levasseur permission to travel to Massachusetts tomorrow. Though Ray Luc Levasseur will not attend, the talk and forum entitled "The Great Western Massachusetts Sedition Trial: Twenty Years Later" will nonetheless take place on Thursday November 12 at 7:15 p.m. at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in School of Management Room 137. Participants will include sedition trial defendant Pat Levasseur, members of the 1989 Springfield sedition trial legal defense team, and a juror from the trial.

The union representing the UMASS Amherst campus police announced Wednesday that officers who work overtime details required for security if/when Ray Luc Levasseur speaks on campus November 12 will donate all of their pay from that day to a memorial fund set up for a New Jersey state trooper killed in a wave of violence between 1976 and 1984 by a radical group Levasseur was involved with.

Levasseur was released from federal prison in 2004 after serving 18 years for his involvement in United Freedom Front. The group was linked to shootouts with police, bank robberies, and a series of bombings. He was invited to be part of a panel Thursday night speaking about terrorism. The news has sparked outrage from law enforcement and political leaders and very little defense from freedom of speech advocates.

As is with any controversial, or even outwardly unpopular event, police have to be present to maintain peace. This happens all the time — even black officers have been forced to work security details protecting Ku Klux Klan members marching down city streets across the country.

“The (International Brotherhood of Police Officers, Local 432) union leadership wishes it to be recognized that the Local, on behalf of the Officers who will be forced to work this event for public safety concerns plan to donate all proceeds obtained for working this
paid over-time detail to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund in the name of Fallen New Jersey State Trooper Philip Joseph Lamonaco,” said Gerald Perkins, a union spokesman.