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Maryland Moments, November 2007 (New Programs, Rankings) President C.D. Mote Jr. writes an op/ed for area newspapers supporting Gov. Martin O'Malley's plans to create additional revenues for higher education. "The legislature's Bohanan Commission developing the Maryland Model for Funding Higher Education is tackling the knotty problem of sustaining financial support so that Maryland can lead this knowledge economy. Governor O'Malley's plan for higher education is a major step in the right direction -- although as I write this, the General Assembly has yet to conclude its actions. Nonetheless, for the first time in Maryland history, its governor has proposed a dedicated funding source for public higher education. I applaud him. It may, in fact, light a path that other states can follow. I support Governor O'Malley and our other elected officials in carrying out their responsibility to close the structural deficit. I also support their simultaneous commitment to finding dedicated support for the state�s higher education system, the key to the state�s future." The Times of London Education Supplement ranks the world's universities, and UM advances from No. 111 a year ago to No. 79, eclipsing the standings of regional universities like Georgetown, Virginia, Penn State, Rutgers and North Carolina. Within the world rankings, the rankings of U.S. universities: UM is No. 7 among U.S. flagship campuses. UM is No. 11 among U.S. public colleges. UM is No. 30 among all U.S. colleges. From the Clark School: "The next big leap in advanced computing technology just got a new name. The University of Maryland's A. James Clark School of Engineering has revealed that the winning entry for its Supercomputer Naming Contest is 'ParaLeap,' submitted by Jaryd Malbin, a 21-year-old student from Westport, Conn., attending Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. ... 'I saw a double meaning in the name ParaLeap,' said (Uzi) Vishkin. 'First, the name refers to a leap forward for desktop computing using parallel computing technology. Second, the name implies a substitute for the real leap, which is yet to come, when the full-power computer based on the current prototype will be used and widely deployed.' " From the National Institute of Standards and Technology: "Four members of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) staff have been honored in the 2007 Presidential Rank Awards. The awards recognize exceptional long-term accomplishments in public service by career senior government executives. There are two categories of rank awards: Distinguished and Meritorious. This year's Distinguished category honoree is Charles Clark, of the NIST Physics Laboratory and the NIST-University of Maryland Joint Quantum Institute (JQI)." Amidst war talk between Iran and the U.S., The Washington Post publishes an article highlighting the beauty of the Persian language, a pleasant surprise to student Allison White: "Allison White began studying Persian because of a chance meeting: Before she started her freshman year at the University of Maryland, she wandered into an office and a friendly professor talked her into taking a class. But by now, she feels lucky that she got lost that day. 'I'm really glad that I took Persian,' she said. What once seemed obscure now seems increasingly important, with Iran constantly in the news; the U.S. imposed sanctions last month amid fears of a nuclear threat. 'It's really necessary in today's world -- and it's a beautiful, beautiful language.' Persian Studies is growing at UM, where students are speaking the language, reciting poetry by Rumi and other Persian writers, watching Iranian movies and, sometimes, debating the country's politics and its fractious relationship with the United States. The school hopes to add a major and a minor in Persian this year, according to Provost Nariman Farvardin." Roger Richardson, Maryland's Secretary of Agriculture, wrote an op/ed appearing in the Salisbury Daily Times: "The Chesapeake Bay Commission's report on biofuels suggests ethanol can be a benefit to the Chesapeake Bay, if we do things right. ... According to Cheng-I Wei, dean at the University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, researchers at the University of Maryland are responding to the current political and environmental climate to reduce our dependence on foreign fossil fuels. ... University faculty is exploring novel and diverse biofuels feedstocks, such as barley, hybrid poplars and algae. Others are examining economic implications and strategies for improving production. So what do we need to do? According to Robert Kratochvil, agronomist at the University of Maryland, corn is not as nutrient efficient as soybeans, but farmers are using best-management practices such as buffers or filter strips along streams and waterways, and planting fall cover crops to significantly reduce nitrogen runoff and leaching losses." The Washington Post: "If you turned five paintings into live action videos, you would have accomplished what composer John Musto and librettist Mark Campbell did in their vital new opera, Later the Same Evening: An Opera Inspired by Five Paintings of Edward Hopper. It was given its world premiere by the Maryland Opera Studio on Thursday night at the University of Maryland's Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. The tightly paced production -- really a tragicomedy -- is based on the American realist's oils, currently on view at the National Gallery of Art. Directed by opera veteran Leon Major (of the School of Music), the entire production re-creates the stark realism of Hopper's cityscapes and still lifes of New York in the wake of the Great Depression. ... Conductor Glen Cortese led the singers and the National Gallery Orchestra in an exciting performance." The Washington Post: "The forthcoming production of How Long Brethren?, choreographer Helen Tamiris's 1937 slam against racism, is brought to you by the Jena Six, with additional support from whoever hung that noose on a tree outside the African American cultural center at the University of Maryland. It turns out that, in learning to perform this overlooked masterpiece about the miseries and defiance of Southern blacks during the Depression, the student members of the university's Maryland Dance Ensemble got more than a history lesson; they got a reality check. ... [S]omething far more powerful than memory or muscle has pumped life into this relic of the Depression, which will be part of a student concert ... at the university's Clarice Smith Center. (It will also be performed Dec. 3 on the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage ... ." The Street: "How much money did you manage in college? With the Lemma Senbet Fund, undergraduate students at the University of Maryland's Smith School of Business have the opportunity to manage over $100,000. ... Now in its second year, the student-run Senbet Fund was designed to be the undergraduate version of the Smith School's $1.2 million MBA-run Mayer Fund. Smith Professor Sarah Kroncke, the faculty advisor for both funds, explained that the Senbet Fund is managed by a 12-member team (two portfolio managers and 10 equity analysts) of senior finance majors who represent the school's top tier of students. Becoming a member of this fund is no small task. What's involved? Most students spend around 10 hours developing their application package, which includes an analyst report offering a buy, sell or hold recommendation on a stock. Once selected, fund members are required to serve for one year in the fund, including meeting on a biweekly basis. At the end of their one-year run, fund members earn six undergraduate credits toward their degree." Maryland hosted 5,000 students from across the country attending Power Shift 2007, a conference of "green" activists organized by the Energy Action Coalition. Following two days of meetings, attendees emigrated to Capitol Hill to visit with Congress. Policitico: "The conference highlights a burgeoning university initiative to address global warming, with a goal of reducing carbon emissions and raising environmental awareness among students. Last June, university President Dan Mote signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment. That plan requires the university to take steps to reduce carbon emissions, eventually resulting in an 80-percent reduction by 2050. University officials hope to eventually make the university 'carbon neutral,' or bring net carbon emissions to zero. The commitment includes completing an emissions inventory, setting a plan to become carbon neutral and integrating sustainability into university curriculum." Maryland Daily Record "After the shootings last April at Virginia Tech, many colleges instituted text message systems to send emergency alerts to the mobile phones of students, faculty, staff or even concerned parents, no matter how far-flung. But those systems only work if the intended recipients are registered to receive the messages -- and encouraging them to do so has proven to be a challenge, according to officials at local schools." This story canvasses other Maryland universities and UM, which leads in registrations. "This year, the University of Maryland, College Park, vowed to be proactive about getting students registered to the $60,000 Roam Secure system it launched in May. It closed the last school year with just a few thousand users. Now, though, about 15,000 have signed on, including users from its 36,000 students and 12,450 faculty and staff. ... The school held a campus-wide Emergency Awareness Week last month, including the distribution of educational materials about the service and booths set up throughout campus where students could learn about the service and register on the spot." The A. James Clark School of Engineering and the Robert H. Smith School of Business unveil a collaborative executive education series, the Certificate in Innovation Management Program. Faculty from both schools will jointly teach the five-module series of daylong sessions geared to help entrepreneurs, small-business owners and executives use innovation to excel in the global economy. Society & Culture CBS News/Associated Press: "Concern over climate change will have a profound effect on clothes and fashion, changing styles, fabrics and laundering habits, a University of Maryland expert says. 'Remember Jimmy Carter's sweaters from the 1970s energy crisis? With Seventh Avenue proclaiming that "green is the new black," we can expect a surge in fashion innovations in response to climate change,' says Jo Paoletti, an American Studies professor at the University of Maryland. An expert in apparel design and the history of textile and clothing, Paoletti has spent more than 25 years researching and writing about clothing in America. 'As the impact of global warming is felt, we can anticipate debates over cotton versus polyester, and increasing concern about the water and energy needed to launder clothing,' Paoletti adds. 'In the future, smart clothing that monitors and adjusts to body temperature may help us reduce our need for air conditioning and heating.' " The New York Times: "It's hardly earth-shattering news when a particular stock performsetter in one month than another. But what if those standout months -- of especially strong or weak performance -- remain the same, year in and year out? This pattern occurs for many stocks, according to a new study. Though its authors couldn�t explain why stocks would adhere to such monthly rhythms, they believe that the pattern is strong enough to influence the timing of investments. ... The study, called Seasonality in the Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns, was written by two finance professors, Steven Heston of the University of Maryland, and Ronnie Sadka of the University of Washington. ... Professor Heston said he distrusted his findings at first, suspecting that the monthly patterns were caused by a programming error. He would have expected an astrologer, not a rigorous econometrician, to claim that stocks show distinct monthly rhythms, he said, but he began to believe they were genuine after Professor Sadka, his co-author, independently reached the same result." Foreign Policy: "While George Bush and Vladimir Putin squabble about the location of missile defense sites and ramp up the rhetoric about a new cold war, a new poll indicates that the public in both countries broadly support measures to reduce their countries' nuclear arsenals. According to the poll, conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org and the Center for International Security Studies at the University of Maryland, healthy majorities in both countries support taking nuclear weapons off of high alert, participating in the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, sharing information on weapons stocks, and using nuclear weapons only if attacked first. Remarkably, 73 percent of Americans and 63 percent of Russians believe that all nuclear weapons should be eliminated, assuming that a proper verification procedure were in place. The poll results indicate that the public is broadly in favor of the kind of deep arsenal cuts outlined by elder statesmen George Shultz, William Perry, Henry Kissinger, and Sam Nunn in a Wall Street Journal editorial earlier this year, which partly inspired the poll. The issue of nuclear disarmament has fallen from the public eye since the end of the Cold War." CIRCLE releases a benchmark study on the youth vote. "College students in the United States are hungry for political conversation that is authentic, involves diverse views and is free of manipulation and 'spin,' according to a new report released today by the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE) and The Charles F. Kettering Foundation. The report provides important clues to political candidates running for all offices about how to mobilize young voters, who by all accounts will make up a quarter of the voting population in the 2008 elections. 'We know students want information -- but from sources they trust,' said CIRCLE Director Peter Levine. 'We also know the generation of emerging adults is more engaged than Generation X and more likely to appreciate an authentic opportunity for reasonable discourse. Our research shows there are opportunities for candidates to connect with and motivate them to vote.' " ABC Radio Australia: "A spokesman for the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, Zhang Zhongjun, has told Radio Australia's Connect Asia program food safety and contamination is not a new issue for China. ... As part of China's efforts to improve its overall image ahead of next year's Olympic Games, Beijing has launched a tracking system to monitor food production, processing and delivery, as well as hygiene. But Professor Meng Jianghong from the Joint Institute for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the University of Maryland, says China's food security system is still at an early stage, and that many areas of the sector will need attention. 'They want to make sure their suppliers ... meaning the raw materials and raw ingredients...use good food safety standards in the first place,' he said. 'Law enforcement is another important factor -- the government has a food safety law, but...you can't just have a law and don't do anything.' " Christianity Today: "The latest issue of the Journal of the Scientific Study of Religion includes an article by Stanley Presserof the University of Maryland and Mark Chaves of Duke University about whether there has been a linear decline in church attendance. Presser and Chaves take a different route to tracking religious attendance in their study. They think that when asked directly about attending church, people tend to overreport their presence in the pews. In this study, the two sociologists pay more attention to time-use studies in which individuals say what they did on days of the week to avoid asking participants directly about church attendance. According to the time-use studies, Presser and Chaves conclude that religious attendance did decline slightly in the period between 1950 and 1990. ... However, Presser and Chaves determine that attendance has been stable (at about 25%) since the 1990s. That finding challenges the idea that our society is increasingly secular, or that the changes since the 1990s�technological improvements, the increase of scientific knowledge, and urbanization� have any impact on church attendance." Science & Technology Baltimore Examiner: "Plastic has been around more than 75 years, but many grades and consistencies of the wonder material remain undeveloped, University of Maryland professor Larry Sita told a gathering of venture capitalists at his schools first Bioscience Research and Technology Review ... . Some, like baby bottles that leach toxic phthalates into the formula, sent researchers back to the drawing board, Sita said. 'Our product basically allows us to take one catalyst and make many different varieties of polypropylene materials just by manipulating the process.' The venture capitalists Tuesday judged his presentation Best Inventor Pitch for Bioscience Day 2007. Graduate students in running suits mingled with suited venture capitalists and sport coat-clad professors focused on bringing the latest thing onto the market. 'This campus has a long and distinguished history of technology transfer,' said Norma Allewell, dean of the School of Chemical and Life Sciences. 'We've spun off something like 40 different businesses from research done here.' " Electrical Engineering Times: "Perpetual motion is forbidden by the laws of classical physics, but in the quantum realm frictionless motion is possible. For instance, a closed loop of superconducting wire can exhibit perpetual motion, albeit only for electrons traveling around the frictionless loop of wire. If only such frictionless motion could be demonstrated for a fluid, then 'superfluidity' could realize the frictionless motion of atoms around a torus, thereby enabling ultra-sensitive rotational sensors to be built. Now the frictionless motion of superfluidity has been demonstrated at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Joint Quantum Institute at the University of Maryland. True perpetual motion is still years away, but the agency recently demonstrated a proof-of-concept--what it called 'persistent' motion--using an ultra-cold form of matter called a Bose-Einstein condensate. NIST predicts that eventually it will harness the quantum effects of superfluidity for the frictionless motion of matter, much like the frictionless motion of electrons in superconductors. Such superfluids could enable NIST to build ultra-sensitive navigation sensors not possible using classical materials." Entomology professor Raymond St. Leger discovers how to use scorpion genes to create a hypervirulent fungus that can kill specific insect pests, including mosquitoes that carry malaria and a beetle that destroys coffee crops, but does not contaminate the environment as chemical pesticides do. In the November issue of the journal Nature Biotechnology, St. Leger and Chengshu Wang, a colleague from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, describe how they were able to bioengineer a new version of the fungus Metarhizium anisopliae to inject specific insects with the scorpion toxin Androctonus australis insect neurotoxin (AaIT ), and kill them within a few days. "Scorpions have toxins that are superbly adapted to killing insects," says St. Leger. "A scorpion kills by stabbing its prey, so we were looking for a way to get the toxin into the insect without the scorpion." New Scientist: "The trouble with biochemical weapons detectors is that they generate an unacceptable number of false positives, says Benjamin Shapiro, an aerospace engineer at the University of Maryland, US. This is because existing detectors are unable to distinguish between all the subtle ways in which pathogens interact with the biological systems and so are easily fooled. So, why not use biological systems that use real cells to spot the pathogens instead, he asks. The system that Shapiro and colleagues have come up with uses cells that die when exposed to a particular pathogen, which provides the early warning. The cells are also engineered to produce a signal, such as fluorescence, when attacked. They are stored on a chip that keeps them alive and that also monitors the light they produce. The cells can be exposed to pathogens in the air via a semi-permeable membrane. When the cells die and emit light, the system should know within minutes that pathogens are present � just like the canaries that were once used to warn miners of a build-up of toxic gas." Live Science interviews UM's Dinomeister. "A new dinosaur encyclopedia explains what these engaging extinct reptiles can teach us about evolution and the effects of climate change, while inspiring fans to move beyond memorizing tongue-twisting species names. Dinosaurs, The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages (Random House Books for Young Readers, 2007), by Thomas Holtz, University of Maryland paleontologist, is designed for kids and adults who want to sink their teeth into paleontology, dinosaur family trees, fossilization and the accuracy of dinosaur art. The book is illustrated by well-known dinosaur artist Luis V. Rey. But for classic dino trivia, an appendix features basic information on about 800 genera of dinosaurs. Holtz talks about how dinosaurs compare to mammals, the future of dinosaur paleontology and his favorite dinosaur." Researcher Ray Phaneuf, associate professor of materials science and engineering, comes up with a method that he says could one day be used by companies to build nanoscale computer and cell phone components faster and less expensively. Phaneuf has built a photolithography- and etching-based template that nature can use to assemble atoms into predefined patterns for creating things like laptop semiconductors, wearable device sensors and cell phone components. His work has focused on silicon, typically used for computer components, and gallium arsenide, which is common in cell phone parts. "While we understand how to make working nanoscale devices, making things out of a countable number of atoms takes a long time," Phaneuf says. "Industry needs to be able to mass-produce them on a practical time scale."
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 Information provided by the Office of University CommunicationsEmail University Communications at emailum@umd.edu |
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