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Grain & Chaff
Leading role
Mary Deane Sorcinelli, associate provost for Faculty
Development and director of the Center For Teaching, chaired a
review panel for Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement
Programs (CCLI) at the National Science Foundation in Washington,
D.C. from July 15-18.
Go with the flow
The Division of Fluid Dynamics of the American Physics
Society has chosen Jonathan Rothstein, assistant professor of
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, to receive its Frenkiel
Award for a paper he co-authored on polymeric fluids. The award
is given in recognition of significant contributions to fluid
mechanics that have been published in Physics of Fluids during
the preceding year by young investigators. Rothstein, who will
be presented the prize in November at the APS meeting in Dallas,
is being cited for his paper on "Non-isothermal modification
of purely elastic flow instabilities in torsional flows of polymeric
fluids."
Viewpoints
English professor Nick Bromell, who's teaching in
Thessaloníki, Greece as a Fulbright Scholar, reflects on
being an American in a new global culture in an essay published
in the Chronicle of Higher Education (Aug. 2). ... A commentary
on proposals to redevelop the World Trade Center site written
by assistant professor of Art Max Page appeared in the Christian
Science Monitor (July 30). Rather than spending billions of federal
funds to create a downtown office park, Page proposes investing
in schools and housing to "create the next generation of
immigrant geniuses and entrepreneurs who have long fueled New
York's economy."
More than curiosity to blame
Cats living with smokers are twice as likely to
contract feline lymphoma, according to a new study published in
the American Journal of Epidemiology by assistant professor Elizabeth
Bertone of the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology. Working
with researchers at the Tufts School of Veterinary Medicine, Bertone
found that cats exposed to second-hand smoke more than double
their chance of acquiring the cancer that kills 75 percent of
its victims within a year. The study, said Bertone, underscores
the risk second-hand smoke poses to children, who like cats, also
spend a great deal of time indoors. Both cats and children also
ingest spoke particles orally, she said, as cats lick their fur
and kids put things in their mouths.
Conference calls
Associate vice chancellor for Facilities and Campus
Services Theodore J. Weidner was among the faculty members at
a recent National Association of College and University Business
Officers (NACUBO) two-day seminar on "Financial Planning
in an Institutional Setting," held in Baltimore. Asserting
that "Facilities must be managed as strategically as money
including space, amount of maintenance, and the construction of
new facilities," he presented material focusing on facilities
as assets to attendees who represented institutions from around
the world. Weidner also participated in a meeting of the Boston
Consortium, a group of mostly private institutions in the Boston
area. He presented material on the management and analysis of
facilities as they return value to the institution and educational
mission. "Different from many private institutions, public
institutions typically have 10 or more times the value of their
endowment in the value of facilities. As a result, careful measurement
and management of those facilities is essential for the smooth
functioning of the overall campus," said Weidner.
It may look like cow parsnip...
Since the Chronicle and scores of other media outlets
announced the discovery of giant hogweed in Granville two weeks
ago, the state Department of Food and Agriculture has been fielding
calls faster than the operators after an episode of "America's
Most Wanted." More than 150 possible sightings of giant hogweed,
a plant that can cause blisters, burns and even blindness, have
been logged, with the most notable discovery coming from Boston's
Franklin Park Zoo, where two suspected patches of plants were
destroyed. As a zoo spokeswoman said, "We thought it was
cow parsnip, which is harmless."
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