November 22, 2009 9:33 PM
November 22, 2009 9:33 PM


	Online Media Toolkit Focused on Climate Change Dr. Mote Talks with Kojo About the New School Year Fall Semester Focuses on Peace UM's Economic Impact on the State


	In This Week's News -- November 14 to November 20 • Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities: New Shakespeare Archive Launched (Oxford University) • Incubator Would Bring 1,900 Jobs to Prince George's (Business Gazette) • Sapkota: Dangerous Bacteria Found in Cigarettes (Toronto Star)

Maryland Moments, January 2009

(Honors, Awards, New Programs)

Dr. Mote

History Day Gets $1.9M Gift, Smithsonian Partner
Associated Press: "A $1.9 million gift and partnership with the National Museum of American History will allow the National History Day competition to expand, organizers said Wednesday. Philanthropist Kenneth E. Behring announced the gift at the Smithsonian Institution where he has already pledged $100 million to promote history education. More than 600,000 middle and high school students compete in the yearlong History Day program at the local, state and national levels, conducting interviews and primary research on selected topics. Their work is presented through papers, Web sites, exhibits, performances or documentaries. 'This is a game changer,' Cathy Gorn, executive director of the National History Day program said of the gift, noting her staff is based in a dorm basement at the University of Maryland. The school donates the space to sustain the history program."
NOAA Names First Woman to Direct National Geodetic Survey
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: "Juliana P. Blackwell has been named the new director of NOAA's Office of National Geodetic Survey where she will oversee NOAA's responsibilities for the nation's spatial reference system. She is the first woman to head the nation's oldest federal science agency which was established by President Thomas Jefferson in 1807 as the Survey of the Coast. ... Blackwell is a 1988 graduate of Tufts University where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics. She received a master's in business administration from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business in 2007."
Protesting the Israeli Airstrikes Through a 'Facebook Page?'
Washington Examiner: "While some may argue that protesting the Israeli airstrikes through a social networking site is not really protest at all, many who use the site like Yasir Omar of Camp Springs, Maryland, argue otherwise. In his view, Facebook has not only effectively modernized how young people protest but has also enabled millions to show their support and alliance with the seemingly lone state of Palestine. ... Amira, Yasir's sister and a student at the University of Maryland, College Park, agreed with this point, saying that the site has enabled her to meet and discuss political issues with people her own age. 'Until Facebook I never really thought of myself as a politically active person. I saw things in the news but felt so disconnected from the political process that I often became disengaged and disinterested. With Facebook however, I have found a way to take meaningful actions in support of causes that I care about deeply.' "

The University

O'Malley Pushes for Tuition Freeze
Washington Post, State of the State speech, Jan. 29: "Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) urged lawmakers today to support a continued freeze on university tuition, an expansion of unemployment benefits and an array of other initiatives to help Marylanders in 'these very tough and challenging times.' During a 30-minute State of the State address during which O'Malley was at times partisan and pugnacious, he also forcefully restated his call to repeal the death penalty, calling capital punishment 'outdated, expensive and utterly ineffective.' Addressing a joint session of the General Assembly, O'Malley spoke at length about accomplishments of his first two years but acknowledged he could not 'sugarcoat' the financial challenges facing the state and its most vulnerable citizens, including struggles to pay winter heating bills. Among the initiatives he asked lawmakers to support is more energy assistance funding. ... O'Malley pulled no punches in advocating for several of his priorities, including a fourth year of no tuition increases at Maryland's public universities. Some prominent lawmakers, including Democrats, have questioned whether the initiative is affordable, given a $2 billion shortfall facing the state next year. Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) recently said O'Malley's plan was good politics but questionable policy. 'Is affordable college about politics?' O'Malley asked during his speech. 'You're darn right it's about politics. It's about the politics of inclusion. It's about the politics of prosperity. It's about the politics of opportunity. It about the politics of my kids and yours. It's about the politics of the hardworking people we serve.'"
UM Students Get Great Excuse for Tardiness
(WRC-TV, Washington) "If there has been a rash of University of Maryland students showing up an extra four minutes late for class, they may not be at fault. The chapel bells, which many students use to gauge how late they are, have been ringing four minutes late this semester after being broken for most of the fall semester, the Diamondback reported. The company that repairs the computer system that controls the bell's chiming is short-staffed, and thus, repairs will be tardy, as well. Most students are wise to the problem, so they should have adjusted by now. School officials said they received more calls about the bells not sounding at all last semester than they have about the bells ringing late this semester."
Academic Institutions, Navy Announce Engineering Education and Research Program in Southern Maryland
"A partnership of higher education and naval organizations -- the University of Maryland's A. James Clark School of Engineering, the College of Southern Maryland, the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center and the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division -- will undertake a program to explore joint education and research efforts and establish four -year aerospace and mechanical engineering bachelor of science degree programs in southern Maryland, in close proximity to the Patuxent River Naval Air Station. No such degrees are available in the region at present. The partnership seeks to increase the number of people in southern Maryland prepared to provide advanced engineering skills to the Patuxent River Naval Air Station and companies that work with it. Efforts are planned to publicize the educational opportunity to area high school students as well, in what is termed a STEM project (promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics as career options for young people). Increasing the number of highly qualified engineering graduates is important for national security, and our economic and international competitiveness,' said University of Maryland President C. D. Mote, Jr. 'The University is excited to be collaborating with our partners in Southern Maryland and the Patuxent River Naval Air Station towards this end. This is the right partnership at the right time.' "

The Inauguration

4-D Imaging To Help Inauguration Tourists
NPR: All Things Considered: "Researchers at the University of Maryland have developed what they call a four-dimensional map that will help direct traffic away from hazardous road conditions and accidents. With more than 2 million people expected to flood into Washington this Tuesday, the software is a gift to the Washington , D.C. , Maryland and Virginia departments of transportation. At the university's Center for Advanced Transportation Technology, several large flat-screen TVs are hooked up to what looks like your average PlayStation 3 joystick. Taking hold of the controls, you can fly around 3-D images of the Capitol grounds, Georgetown and virtually every other part of the city. 'Some of it is satellite photography; some of it is aerial photography,' says CATT's director, Michael Pack. He points out, 'It's the same type of images you would see on Google Earth.'"

On Campus: Aspiring Student Leaders Kick Off Inauguration Week
Education Week: "D.C. isn't an easy place to get around this weekend, so I don't envy whoever is doing logistics for the Junior Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference. The group, which has been working on inaugurations since 1985, brought a record 15,000 students -- from grade 5 through college age -- to D.C. this week to be part of the inaugural festivities and participate in a sort of weeklong social studies class that will include discussions at the University of Maryland on leadership, government, and the presidency. Helping out will be almost 1,000 staff members, many of whom are teachers. The kids, who come from all over the country, will be able to hear from, and ask questions of, former Vice President Al Gore, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers, and others." UM Dining Caters Youth Inaugural Conference Food Management:"The University of Maryland hosted the Presidential Youth Inaugural conference over the three-day holiday weekend leading up to Inauguration Day on January 20. The responsibility for feeding the more than 15,000 junior high and high school students and accompanying adults fell to UM's dining services. It was a daunting task, given that the numbers for the 2009 conference were about five times greater than usual, because of the concurrent opportunity to be in Washington to witness Barack Obama's historic inauguration. The department's solution was to serve a combination of more than 23,000 bagged lunches and 14,000 hot served dinners."
Berlin: Slave History Part of Oath Site
USA Today:"Living in nearby huts, hundreds of African-American slaves worked six and sometimes seven days a week to build the U.S. Capitol. They felled trees to clear the site. They sawed logs and molded bricks. They quarried stone for the Corinthian columns. Tuesday, Barack Hussein Obama -- the USA's first African-American president -- will be sworn in as the 44th president on the west steps of the Capitol, a building that symbolizes freedom but was erected by those who had none. ... When the Capitol was first being erected in the late 1700s, the surrounding region was deeply rural. There were no nearby cities, and labor was scarce. It was difficult to recruit workers to the isolated, barren spot. The builders of the Capitol turned to slaves. At the time, the region had the nation's highest population of slaves, most of them working on large grain farms, says Ira Berlin, a University of Maryland expert on slavery. Conveniently for Washington officials, slave owners often 'hired out' their slaves, especially during the winter and in the slow season between planting and harvest. The use of slaves to build a structure that would soon be nicknamed 'The Temple of Liberty' would have excited little opposition or outrage, Berlin says. 'Slave labor (was) suffused throughout this society,' he says. Slaves were 'one of the main forces of labor. You (couldn't) do anything without slaves being involved in one way or another.'

A Civil Rights Victory Party on the Mall
New York Times: "The outpouring is for a man who was rarely explicit about race in nearly two years on the campaign trail. He started out quoting King by name, but as his candidacy rolled toward the nomination, the words and cadences still reflected King, but the name vanished. Obama made implicit references to race, as when he won the Iowa caucuses. 'They said this day would never come,' he said in his victory speech. It was only when confronted with controversy over his former pastor that Obama addressed the subject directly. Ronald Walters, a politics professor (Behavioral and Social Sciences, Public Policy) at the University of Maryland, said many people, not just the Obama team, wanted to mute the issue of race during the campaign. 'There was this silent understanding on the part of a lot of blacks that you couldn't surface things in this campaign as they would be used against him,' Walters said. But now, he said, with Obama's election, many African-Americans feel safer expressing their pride. 'Some African-Americans feel we can put forward our claim on the campaign and it's not going to hurt Barack,' he said. 'The campaign is bowing to this as this is part of what made his election possible.' "

The Community

King, Shackel: New Philadelphia Earns National Recognition
Quincy, Ill. Herald
"New Philadelphia has earned national recognition for its archaeological resources and historical significance. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne on Friday designated the site near Barry and eight others as a National Historic Landmark, the second-highest honor given by the federal government next to becoming a national park. 'It provides a great future for New Philadelphia and this project,' New Philadelphia Association President Phil Bradshaw said. Charlotte King (graduate assistant, anthropology, Behavioral and Social Sciences) of the University of Maryland -- with help from Paul Shackel, director of the Center for Heritage Resource Studies (anthropology, Behavioral & Social Sciences) -- coordinated and drafted the nomination for the first community platted by an African American, former slave Free Frank McWorter, in 1836. McWorter family members, academic and museum officials and state and federal legislators, including then-senator and now President-elect Barack Obama, supported the nomination for the designation given to less than 2,500 sites across the nation."

Residents Can Trek to College Park Twice a Month for Observatory's Open House

Gazette Newspapers

Knaap in Annapolis: Environmentalists Fret Over Governor's Smart Growth Plans
Baltimore Sun
"After vowing to invigorate Maryland's toothless Smart Growth program, Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to ask the legislature for only modest changes - far short of the overhaul that activists say is needed to curb suburban sprawl and halt the decline of the Chesapeake Bay. ... The governor's legislative agenda follows the recommendations of a broad- based task force he appointed that has spent the past year studying Maryland's growth trends and policies. The 21-member panel of developers, local officials, environmentalists and others recommends 'corrective legislation' after a Court of Appeals decision last year. The court ruled that Allegany County did not have to follow its own master plan in approving Terrapin Run, a proposed 4,300-home community next to Green Ridge State Forest and far from public water and sewer. The ruling cast doubt on the value of communities' comprehensive plans, development blueprints that are updated every six years with extensive public input. ... The task force reported it needs more time to resolve many issues, particularly a thorny debate over revamping the 'priority funding areas' at the heart of the 1997 Smart Growth law. Environmental advocates urged the state to shrink the boundaries of those growth areas, and to impose a development tax on building outside them. Local officials argued that more state funding of parks and amenities is needed inside growth areas to make dense development there more attractive. Gerrit Knaap, a member of the task force and director of the National Center for Smart Growth Research at the University of Maryland, said the panel's efforts to find consensus caused it to sidestep controversy. 'I think we skirted the big issues,' he said."

Science & Technology

UM Scientists Publish 1st Ever Evidence of Asteroids with Earth-like Crust
Two rare meteorites found in Antarctica two years ago are from a previously unknown, ancient asteroid with an outer layer or crust similar in composition to the crust of Earth's continents, reports a research team primarily composed of geochemists from UM. Published in the January 8 issue of the journal Nature, this is the first ever finding of material from an asteroid with a crust like Earth's. The discovery also represents the oldest example of rock with this composition ever found. These meteorites point 'to previously unrecognized diversity' of materials formed early in the history of the Solar System, write authors James Day, Richard Ash, Jeremy Bellucci, William McDonough and Richard Walker of the University of Maryland; Yang Liu and Lawrence Taylor of the University of Tennessee and Douglas Rumble III of the Carnegie Institution for Science. "What is most unusual about these rocks is that they have compositions similar to Earth's andesite continental crust -- what the rock beneath our feet is made of,' said first author Day, who is a research scientist in Maryland's department of geology. "No meteorites like this have ever been seen before."
Mystery Roar from Faraway Space Detected
Space.com: "Space is typically thought of as a very quiet place. But one team of astronomers has found a strange cosmic noise that booms six times louder than expected. The roar is from the distant cosmos. Nobody knows what causes it. ... Of course, sound waves can't travel in a vacuum (which is what most of space is), or at least they can't very efficiently. There is 'something new and interesting going on in the universe,' said Alan Kogut of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. A team led by Kogut detected the signal with a balloon-borne instrument named ARCADE (Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Diffuse Emission). ... ARCADE's mission was to search the sky for faint signs of heat from the first generation of stars, but instead they heard a roar from the distant reaches of the universe. ... Detailed analysis of the signal ruled out primordial stars or any known radio sources, including gas in the outermost halo of our own galaxy. Other radio galaxies also can't account for the noise -- there just aren't enough of them. 'You'd have to pack them into the universe like sardines,' said study team member Dale Fixsen of the University of Maryland. 'There wouldn't be any space left between one galaxy and the next.' The signal is measured to be six times brighter than the combined emission of all known radio sources in the universe."
TECCO Awards $727K to Tech Startups
Baltimore Business Journal :"The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) gave a total of $726,710 to 10 high-tech startups from the organization's technology transfer fund. The fund is meant to encourage partnerships between Maryland businesses, universities and federal laboratories to bring new technologies to market. 'The Maryland Technology Transfer Fund plays a vital role in facilitating commercialization of groundbreaking technologies as demonstrated by the collaboration with these ten promising companies,' said Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley. So far the fund has supported 119 companies that have completed each of their projects. Those companies, backed by a total of $6.9 million in state dollars, also have received follow-on investments from angel and venture investors, federal awards and other resources worth more than $264 million. Each of the 10 companies most recently awarded tech transfer funding received about $75,000.They include:
1. AccuStrata Inc., College Park, Md. (Technology Advancement incubator, MTech, Clark School)
2. American Dynamics Flight Systems Inc., Jessup, Md. (Maryland Industrial Partnerships, MTech)
3. Applied Sensor Research and Development Corp., Arnold, Md. (Maryland Industrial Partnerships, MTech)
4. CCC Diagnostics LLC, Baltimore, Md. (Maryland Industrial Partnerships, MTech)
5. Resensys LLC, College Park, Md. (Maryland Industrial Partnerships, MTech)
UM Hosts Cybersecurity Competition
Campus Technology: "The University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business has launched a competition that invites participants to ponder how best to protect sensitive data on networks and online. The $1,000 Gordon Prize in Managing Cybersecurity Resources will be awarded to the best essay submitted that provides and describes a clear, innovative solution to the problem associated with managing cybersecurity resources. 'Cybersecurity is critical in today's global economy that is so interconnected by technology,' said Lawrence Gordon, a professor of managerial accounting and information assurance, after whom the competition is named. 'Individuals, organizations, and governments must shore up vulnerabilities and have the ability to fight off cyber crime, fraud, and even terrorists. Cyber attacks can result in direct financial loss via theft or embezzlement, data breaches, business and government disruptions, poor customer relations, legal liabilities, and in some cases infrastructure failure.' "
U.S., ACS Are Hosts Of 2012 International Chemistry Olympiad
(Chemical & Engineering News) "The U.S. will host the 44th International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO), which will be held in July 2012 at the University of Maryland, College Park. The campus, which will provide laboratory space and lodging for nearly 300 high-school-age competitors and their mentors, is just eight miles from Washington, D.C. ACS, which has its headquarters in Washington, is the national scientific organization that administers the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad Program and will host the 2012 international competition. As host, ACS will be financially responsible for most of the program's expenses in 2012. According to ACS Education Division Director Mary Kirchhoff, the society expects costs for 2012 will amount to approximately $3 million. ... The competition will consist of two five- hour exams that test the students' knowledge in both chemistry theory and practice. But plenty of time is also available for sightseeing and cultural activities. When talking about the
2012 IChO, Cecilia Hernandez' eyes light up. Hernandez, the ACS staff manager of the Olympiad Program, tells C&EN, 'The University of Maryland is perfect; I can already visualize the opening ceremony!' "

Society & Culture

For D.C., This Time Feels Different
New York Times: "Presidents come and go from this city. Hosting inaugurations is nothing new. But for Washington residents, over 92 percent of whom voted for President-elect Barack Obama, his inauguration this month is special. The day ushers in hopes and expectations for a president who speaks to local residents and brings with it the excitement of a predominantly black city welcoming the nation's first black president. With the inauguration scheduled for the day after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, the timing also strikes a chord for a city that was torn by riots after King's assassination. 'For D.C., this inauguration is less like hosting a visiting official and more like throwing a homecoming party for a family member,' said Ronald Walters, a professor of government and politics (Behavioral & Social Sciences, Public Policy) at the University of Maryland. Walters added that normally the inauguration was an exclusive black-tie affair. 'This time,' he said, 'it feels like the city has taken ownership of what is becoming a people's party.' "
'Jesus, Mama, and the Constraints of Salvific Love'
National Post (Canada): "Great stories about salvation and second chances are found throughout the ages. The New Testament story of the Prodigal Son, the father who welcomes back his wayward child, has permeated the larger culture; at the other end of the spectrum is country music. 'Country songs are about suffering and broken hearts; they are also about the relief of suffering through redemptive love,' wrote Maxine Grossman, a professor of religious studies, in an essay called 'Jesus, Mama, and the Constraints of Salvific Love' in Contemporary Country Music. She listened to a lot of country music on the car radio while driving a stretch of highway between North Carolina and Virginia every weekend. In those songs, she heard about Jesus, about pastors and hookers, about women scorned and men forgiven, and a woman beyond redemption because she cursed at a man's mama. 'It's the transformed sinner who is the root of all this,' said Prof. Grossman, who teaches Jewish studies at the University of Maryland. Even in the secular songs, she found that the themes echoed the Christian story, where salvation comes only when a human connection is made. In country music, she said, that can be between a man and Jesus, a woman and a good man, or a fallen man and his mother."
Economists See Jobless Surge, Deeper Housing Hole
Reuters: "The worst financial crisis in more than a half century is going to get even worse, putting further pressure on U.S. home prices and driving the unemployment rate above 11 percent, according to two prominent academic economists. Carmen Reinhart, from the University of Maryland, and Kenneth Rogoff, of Harvard, suggested housing might not bottom until 2010, which bodes poorly for struggling banks that still hold trillions in mortgages. 'Financial crisis are protracted affairs,' Reinhart and Rogoff wrote in a paper presented at this weekend's annual meeting of the American Economic Association, in San Francisco. The two emphasized that, despite the best efforts of governments and monetary authorities around the world to stem the crisis, policy measures can only do so much to contain the aftermath of the largest debt bubble in modern history. 'Some central banks have already shown an aggressiveness to act that was notably absent in the 1930s,' they said. 'On the other hand, one would be wise not to push too far the conceit that we are smarter than our predecessors.'
Obama Enigmatic on Mideast Crisis
Inter Press Service: "At a panel on the Middle East held Monday at the Brookings Institution, observers paid particular attention to the remarks by Martin Indyk, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel and assistant secretary of state for Near East Affairs under the Bill Clinton administration. He is considered a likely candidate for a top Middle East position under Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton and therefore a possible bellwether for the views of the Clinton State Department. ... Also at the Brookings panel, University of Maryland political scientist Shibley Telhami praised Obama's decision not to speak out about the Gaza situation before the inauguration. 'The president is not going to have a second chance to make a first impression,' Telhami said. 'If you say something about this crisis first thing... then you're tying your hands in a way that's consequential. I think it's a big mistake for him to intervene in this crisis, as much as many of us want to see some nuanced policy.' "
College Park: City-University Partnership Looks to Increase Number of Homeowners
(Gazette Newspapers): "College Park officials hope the College Park City-University Partnership obtain a share of federal grant money from the state of Maryland, to help raise home ownership within the city. The state was awarded $26.7 million from the federal government, to split up and distributed to various municipalities, for the Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative. The initiative enables the cities to purchase and re-sell foreclosed homes. The College Park Housing Authority will purchase the foreclosed properties and sell them via realtor. According to a report by the Department of Housing and Community Development, there are 52 foreclosed homes in College Park, which is why Councilwoman Stephanie Stullich (Dist. 3) said it is important for the CPCUP to seek the grant money. ... Sen. James C. Rosapepe (D-Dist. 21) of College Park said the city will be able to target University of Maryland, College Park employees and others who work within the city when homes are placed on the market. 'There are 500 new employees at the university every year,' said Rosapepe, who also chairs the CPCUP. 'If people live and work close by, it cuts down on traffic and people's transportation costs.' Sen. James C. Rosapepe (D-Dist. 21) of College Park said the city will be able to target University of Maryland, College Park employees and others who work within the city when homes are placed on the market. 'There are 500 new employees at the university every year,' said Rosapepe, who also chairs the CPCUP. 'If people live and work close by, it cuts down on traffic and people's transportation costs.'"

People

Five UM Scientists Named AAAS Fellows in 2008
Five University of Maryland, College Park faculty are among the 486 new fellows recently named by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as a fellow of AAAS, the world's largest general federation of scientists and the publisher of the journal Science, is an honor bestowed upon members by their peers, and, according to AAAS, was awarded to the new members 'for their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.' The new AAAS fellows for 2008 will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue (representing science and engineering, respectively) rosette pin on Saturday, Feb. 14, at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2009 AAAS Annual Meeting in Chicago.
The awardees
Avis H. Cohen, founder and former director of the Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program at University of Maryland.
Nathan Fox, Distinguished University Professor and Director of the Child Development Laboratory at the University of Maryland. Nicholas J. Hadley, professor of physics and the Associate Chair for Undergraduate Education of the University of Maryland Physics Department K.J. Ray Liu is a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher and Associate Chair of Graduate Studies and Research of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Maryland. V.S. Subrahmanian, professor of Computer Science and director of the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS)
Busalacchi: Md. Experts in Climate Study
Maryland Daily Record: Antonio Busalacchi, director of UM's Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, is one of seven Maryland residents named to participate in a major study on climate change by the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering. The congressionally mandated study, America's Climate Choices, will investigate the serious, sweeping issues relating to global climate change and make recommendations regarding strategies that must be adopted in response.
The Influential 50
Palo Alton Online: Electrical and computer engineering's Carol Espy-Wilson is among 50 of the most important African Americans in technology honored in display at San Jose's Tech Museum of Innovation. She is Included among 16 "Educators" on the list. "Since the 1950s, African Americans have made their mark in every sector of information technology, including semiconductors, magnetics, VM, 3-D workstations, software and networking, according to John William Templeton, a business commentator, journalist and historian and author of books and writings on the role of African Americans in California history and technology. In 1998, Templeton, a former editor of the San Jose Business Journal who has studied African-Americans in technology since 1992, was asked by two Silicon Valley pioneers, Roy Clay Sr. and Frank Greene Jr., to mount an exhibition of the top 20 black technologists for the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose. Now in its ninth year, the exhibition and list, which is has expanded to 50 of the most important African Americans in technology, will be displayed at Palo Alto City Hall, starting with an opening reception on Monday at 5 p.m."
UM Professor Richard Good Leaves Large Legacy for Project Next
(Mathematical Association of America) "The MAA has received one of the largest donations in its history: a $400,000 bequest toward the support of Project NExT. It came from mathematician Richard A. Good, who had taught at the University of Maryland and died on Nov. 24, 2008, at the age of 91. Started in 1994, Project NExT is an MAA professional development program for new or recent Ph.D.s in the mathematical sciences. Participants attend workshops and other events and develop a network of peers and mentors as they assume academic careers that encompass teaching, research and scholarship, and professional activities. ... Cordial and gracious, Prof. Good grew up during the Depression. He graduated from Ashland College, Ohio, as valedictorian in 1939, and earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Wisconsin in 1946. He then moved to University Park, Md., and stayed there the rest of his life. Teaching at the University of Maryland for 43 years, Prof. Good was known for his sense of humor, his innovative teaching methods, and his interest in mathematics education. He co- authored 'new math' approaches to teaching high school students. One of his graduate students won a Nobel Prize."
Bush Trade Rep: China Policy Was 'Right on Target'
(U.S. News & World Report):The return of Susan Schawb is marked by USN&'WR: "Throughout her two-and-a-half-year tenure as U.S. Trade Representative, Susan C. Schwab absorbed shots from Democrats who believed she spent too much time futilely trying to negotiate new free-trade agreements while not aggressively enforcing existing rules. Under Schwab's watch, efforts to revive a new round of global trade talks failed, free-trade pacts struck with Colombia and South Korea stalled in Congress, and America's trade deficit -- especially with China -- soared to record heights. Now Schwab, who is returning to academic life at the University of Maryland, has some advice for the new Obama Administration. In a nutshell: Keep up the momentum on free-trade deals. Pick your fights with Beijing carefully. And spend a lot of time on Capitol Hill to make sure Congress doesn't do anything crazy. Given the growing frustration in Congress as the U.S. slides deeper into recession, she warned that the risk of unwise U.S. moves on trade will grow. 'Depending on what policies the Administration takes,' Schwab says, 'it could get pretty rocky.'"
NASA's Neil Gehrels for Science Contributions
(NASA)
"Astrophysicist Dr. Neil Gehrels of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., has been awarded the Henry Draper Medal by the National Academy of Sciences, Washington. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) will honor 18 individuals in 2009 with awards recognizing extraordinary scientific achievements in the areas of biology, chemistry, geology, astronomy, social sciences, psychology, and application of science for the public good. One of those recipients is NASA Goddard's Neil Gehrels who is the recipient of the Henry Draper Medal. Gehrels, chief of the Astroparticle Physics Laboratory at the NASA Goddard, is being honored for his pioneering contributions to gamma ray astronomy. His leadership of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory and the Swift Mission has led to new insights into the extreme physics of active galactic nuclei and gamma ray bursts. The Henry Draper Medal and a prize of $15,000 are awarded for an original investigation in astronomical physics. Gehrels earned his Ph.D. in physics from Caltech in 1981, and came to Goddard as a postdoctoral researcher in the same year. Among his many other honors, Gehrels and his Swift Science Team won the 2007 Rossi Prize from the American Astronomical Society's High-Energy Astrophysics Division. He is also the 2005 recipient of Goddard's John C. Lindsay Memorial Award for Space Science. Gehrels was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2008. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and an Adjunct Professor of Astronomy at the University of Maryland (Computer, Mathematical & Physical Sciences) and of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Penn State University."
NASA Goddard Astrophysicist Peter Serlemitsos Wins Joseph Weber Award
(NASA)
A Maryland alumnus gathers in an award named for Joseph Weber, a long-time member of the physics department a half-century ago."The American Astronomical Society recently announced prizes for distinction in astronomy and astrophysics for 2009, and an astrophysicist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. was the recipient of the Joseph Weber Award for Astronomical Instrumentation. The Joseph Weber Award for 2009 was conferred on Dr. Peter Serlemitsos in late January in recognition of his innovative contributions to X-ray detector and telescope designs that have enabled decades of scientific advances in high energy astrophysics. The full citation for the Joseph Weber Award gives details of two landmark inventions by Serlemitsos, in detector design and thin-film X-ray optics and mentions many space missions that his advances have benefited. ... After graduating from the University of Maryland in 1966, Serlemitsos has worked as an astrophysicist at the X-ray Astrophysics Laboratory at NASA Goddard, joining Elihu Boldt, the founder of the group. Peter spent most of his active career in X-ray astrophysics with emphasis in the development of space-borne instrumentation. He has pioneered two types of instruments which have since been used extensively in the field: the large area multi-wire gas proportional counter and lightweight conical foil X-ray mirrors."
Lebanese Cuisine Finds Home in College Park
Gazette Newspapers
"When Seifed-Din Abdoun and Christina Campo-Abdoun met at a performance venue five years ago, they spoke of how much they would enjoy having a place in the Washington, D.C., area where people could meet to enjoy good food, music and art. After marrying three years ago, the Silver Spring couple opened Mosaic Caf� Lebanese Cuisine and Shisha Bar in College Park last November, hoping to give their peers a place to spend their time. 'We wanted it to be like Paris in the late 1800s and early 1900s,' Campo-Abdoun said. ... Abdoun, who moved to the United States from Jordan in 1995, said he thought the food from his region of the world would be welcome in College Park, especially with the University of Maryland, College Park, close by. Abdoun and his wife are both working on graduate degrees in music from the university -- Abdoun plays violin and the oud, an Arabic instrument similar to a lute, and Campo-Abdoun plays the flute."

UM Students: Gaza Conflict Hits Home for Local Israeli, Arab Students
Baltimore Examiner
"The division runs deep through bloodlines, crossing oceans and leaving Israeli and Palestinian students in Maryland to grapple with conflict in their homeland as Israeli forces advance deeper in the Gaza Strip, killing hundreds of civilians in their path to weaken Hamas militants. 'Every time something like this happens, we expect a backlash toward Israel,' said Omri Arens, 21, past president of the Pro-Israel Terrapin Alliance at University of Maryland, College Park. 'Our goal is to have a unified voice as students and bring together people that are pro-Israel and pro-Palestine to clear up any misunderstandings and work toward peaceful events.' Arens said he wants Israeli and Arab students to put deep-rooted sentiments aside and organize a joint prayer for peace on the campus Mall when classes resume at the end of this month. Arens, who was born in Tel Aviv, said he worries for his family members in the Israeli police force and friends in the Israeli military reserves who are waiting to be called for combat. 'It's such a small country that everybody's affected by it, and some Hamas rockets can reach more populated cities now, putting about 1 million Israelis in range of these rockets,' he said. 'It's scary. They're just attacking civilians and the rockets are so inaccurate, they can cause damage to the infrastructure.' "

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