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August 20, 2008 8:48 AM |
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H9N2 Avian Flu Strain Has Pandemic Potential Back To School Experts - 2008 Edition UM Wins International Robot Competition UM's Fall Semester to Focus on All Aspects Of War |
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Highlighted News Items, August 15
College Presidents Seek Debate on Drinking Age
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Maryland Moments, December 2004
University Initiatives
(New Programs)
Maryland leads a new, federally-funded research center designed to make freight transport more secure and efficient. The awarding of $700,000 to create the Center for Intermodal Freight Transportation Mobility and Security was announced by Congressman Steny Hoyer and Nariman Farvardin, dean of A. James Clark School of Engineering. Intermodal freight systems, which employ trains and trucks, is economically vital, but faces challenges in an age of terrorism. The center is a collaboration with the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Congressman Chris Von Hollen (D-Md.) speaks to the more than 2,600 mid-year graduates at the main commencement ceremony. Roll Call said Von Hollen is one of the "rising stars" in Congress. President C.D. Mote Jr. called him "a true friend of the University" and applauded his "understanding of the importance of education." Von Hollen represents parts of Montgomery and Prince George's Counties.
The Joint Institute for Food and Applied Nutrition (JIFSAN), a partnership between the Food and Drug Administration and UM (College of Life Sciences), hosts a December meeeting on campus to attack world hunger. The meeting features officials from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and FDA, and representatives of U.S. universities and non-governmental organizations.
Science & Technology
Avis Cohen, associate professor of biology, and Ralph Etienne-Cummings, engineering and computer professor at Johns Hopkins and associate adjunct professor in UM's Institute for Systems Research, are accomplishing remarkable research on an eel's spinal cord. Blending biology and robotics, the researchers are unraveling the circuitry in an eel's spinal cord to develop a microchip implant that may someday help paralyzed people walk again.
Eun-Suk Seo, associate professor of physics affiliated with the Institute for Physical Science and Technology, joins an international team looking for primordial anti-matter at the South Pole. U.K.'s The Guardian: "A balloon-borne experiment with a superconducting spectrometer (BESS) is a collaboration involving Japanese scientists, NASA and the University of Maryland. One of the goals of BESS is to detect any antimatter left over from the creation of the universe."
The promise of quantum computers is unfathomable in comparison with today's computers. The envisioned technology will solve very large problems many orders of magnitude faster than today's computers. Technology Review reports: "Researchers from the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Maryland have brought practical quantum computers a step closer by proposing a type of quantum bit that is relatively easy to build." Responsible are Sankar Das Sarma, distinguished university professor of physics and director of the Condensed Matter Theory Center, J. R. Delgado, faculty research assistant in astronomy, and Rogerio de Sousa, formerly of the Condensed Matter Theory Center and now at the University of California at Berkeley.
Maryland avian influenza virus researcher Daniel Perez posts a comprehensive Web site that offers information about the Influenza A virus and describes his Avian Influenza Virus Program (http://www.agnr.umd.edu/avianflu/). Perez, assistant professor of virology, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, is studying how the virus jumps from birds to other species, including humans.
The Robert H. Smith School of Business, the American Society for Quality and CFI Group USA author the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index dealing with customer satisfaction of federal government Web sites. Federal Computer Week: "On a scale of 0 to 100, the quarterly survey pegged the public's average satisfaction with federal Web sites at 72.1, almost a 3 percent increase from fourth-quarter results last year."
Society & Culture
Charles Wellford, professor of criminology and criminal justice, chairs a report from the National Research Council on gun control. The study leads the NRC to recommend a major research program on firearms. "Policy questions related to gun ownership and proposals for gun control touch on some of the most contentious issues in American politics," Wellford said. Among the major questions needing answers are whether there should be restrictions on who may possess firearms, on the number or types of guns that can be purchased and whether safety locks should be required.
Alfred Moss, associate professor of history, is among those picked for a scholarly committee affilated with an effort to establish the country's first comprehensive museum on African American life. The National Museum of African American History and Culture will be part of the Smithsonian.
A study by Alexander Triantis, associate professor of finance in the Robert H. Smith School of Business, and Smith Ph.D. student Tracy Wang is quoted in newspapers across America. Their research found many companies are delisting from the stock market after the 2002 passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley act, created to blunt corporate scandals like Enron and WorldCom. The legislation requires more rigorous public disclosure to investors.
Kent Norman, a psychologist who directs the Laboratory for Automation Psychology, and Melanie Killen, associate director of the Center for Children, Relationships and Culture, become techno-therapists for the holidays. Norman receives notice from media outlets across the nation for his tongue-in-cheek style that lightens the load for those who feel the inevitable computer/tech rage. His computer rage page was a Christmas hit (http://lap.umd.edu/computer_rage/). Killen advises parents to accept reality: "Technology is going to have to be a part of a kid's experience. We're all wired now. "
More December Maryland in the News
Massive devastation and a death toll of more than 160,000 occur following a massive tsunami in countries bordering the Indian Ocean in late December. University professors offer their expertise on subjects ranging from animal behavior to public policy. While in India to address the Indian Science Congress, Rita Colwell distinguished University Professor Emerita, says in an interview with the Indo-Asian News service: "Studies have proved it is then (Aug-Sep-Oct) that massive plankton blooms are seen in water bodies. The cholera virus thrives on this plankton, on the consumption of which the disease is caused.She explained why we are fortunate the tsunami occurred when it did instead of in August. The death toll would have risen due to massive outbreaks of cholera, likely to occur in those months.
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