UW News and Information Web     |     UW News     University Week UW News+Community     John Stamets Heading to its new home Cunningham Hall is hauled up George Washington Lane to its new home near Parrington Hall late Wednesday afternoon after its progress was stalled earlier in the day by a vehicle breakdown. The building, one of few remaining from the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exhibition, was moved to make way for the construction of the new molecular engineering building. VOLUME 26, NUMBER 35   |   8/20/2009  –  9/30/2009  |   UWEEK.ORG University Week will return in fall This is the last issue of University Week for summer quarter. We will return in the first week of fall quarter, Oct. 1. From the Bering Sea to the Meany stage, federal stimulus funds support University’s work UW projects supported by federal stimulus funds include an investigation into water flowing from the Pacific to Arctic oceans through the Bering Strait, a study on seabird responses to large-scale and long-term environmental change in the Bering Sea and an educational program at Meany Hall for the Performing Arts. Summer symphony takes stage tonight, Aug. 20 UW School of Music students Lauren Roth and Toby Penk are featured soloists for an Aug. 20 performance by the UW Summer Symphony, conducted by Meena Hwang. Gotta sing? UW Women’s Choir seeking members again Last year, Jean-Marie Kent got more than 50 sign-ups when she opened up the UW Women’s Choir to faculty and staff. How many will sign up this year? Let there be light: Teaching magnets to do more than just stick around Researchers led by a UW chemist report in the journal Science that they have been able to train tiny semiconductor crystals, called nanocrystals or quantum dots, to display new magnetic functions at room temperature using light as a trigger. How does a blind person use technology? UW Tacoma researchers put devices to the test A study by UW Tacoma alumna Kristen Shinohara and Josh Tenenberg, a UWT Institute of Technology associate professor, has made the cover of the August issue of Communications of the ACM. Organic electronics a two-way street, thanks to new plastic semiconductor Plastic that conducts electricity holds promise for cheaper, thinner and more flexible electronics, but until now the charges would only run one way. That’s a two-way route now, thanks to UW research. New genome-analysis strategy passes initial test UW researchers have developed a new gene-analysis strategy that will save time and money in discovering possible gene-disease links. Recruitment of new neurons slows when old brain cells kept from dying Brain regions in many songbird species expand and shrink seasonally in response to hormones. Now, UW neurobiologists have interrupted this natural “annual remodeling” of the brain and have shown that there is a direct link between the death of old neurons and their replacement by newly born ones in a living vertebrate. Behavioral therapy effective in treating insomnia and osteoarthritis Michael Vitiello, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, has found that cognitive behavioral therapy is an effective treatment for older patients with both osteoarthritis and insomnia. Washington forests may be solution to state's green-energy quest Wood is a popular fuel for heating homes in the Northwest but few people might see it as an important source of liquid fuels for motor vehicles. However, a new UW report commissioned by the Washington Legislature suggests that woody biomass could represent the state's greatest opportunity to develop biofuels and reduce both green house gas emissions and dependency upon imported oil. You can see ocean data through APL Web portal A Web portal at the Applied Physics Laboratory now has more than 50 different kinds of ocean data being collected in Puget Sound and off the coast of Washington, Oregon and Northern California. Newsmakers Space dust, adapting to freedom, vertebroplasty and health during recession. UW people in the news. Etc: News and notes from around campus Shwetak Patel is among "outstanding innovators under the age of 35"; forest resources employees Duane Edmonds and Bob Edmonds honored; Capital Projects shares an award for excellent concrete use; June Morita honored by American Statistical Association; Sheila Edwards-Lange joins the Susan G. Komen for the Cure board; Norm Arkans joins the Higher Education Roundtable and volunteers head for the Experimental Education Unit. UW blog profile: New music, DVDs, wry commentary on Libraries Media Center Blog From discussion of trends and novelties in cinema to reports on recent additions to the music and video collections, the UW Libraries Media Center Blog makes a helpful bookmark for the campus community. Disaster tip of the month: Do you know how to shut off your home's gas, water and electricity? Your utilities can become dangers after a disaster. Learn how to shut them off on your own. Official notices Blood drives, amending policies on student education records, and Phi Beta Kappa at the UW seeks a part-time secretary. Nursing dean emeritus explores a new path as a poet UW School of Nursing Dean Emeritus Sue Hegyvary's chapbook of poetry chronicling her family's experiences as landowners in Eastern Washington will be published next week. Personal stories of connection shine in staffer’s book, 'Mentoring Moments' Susan Canfield tells stories of how mentoring has helped students in the Foster School of Business in her book Mentoring Moments. Proceeds will go to support the school. UW wins new honors for sustainability efforts The UW was ranked second in the country by Sierra Magazine for the its sustainability efforts, and it was also named to the 2010 Green Rating Honor Roll by the Princeton Review. Public health doctoral candidate named Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholar Kristin Beima-Sofie, a doctoral candidate in the School of Public Health's Institute for Public Health Genetics, will study how genetic factors influence HIV transmission and disease progression in women and children. Conrad honored for work in health care management education Douglas Conrad, UW professor of health services, has been awarded the Filerman Prize for Innovation in Health Care Management Education. Remodeled, retrofitted and ready: Savery Hall is open for business again The Restore the Core Project breathes new life into another building — Savery Hall, built in two phases in 1917 and 1920. The building has been remodeled and is open again to the sociology, philosophy and economics departments and the Center for Social Science Computation and Research. Medal of Honor memorial to be constructed near WW I and WW II memorials Work has begun near the campus flag pole on a new memorial honoring the eight UW alumni who received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for military valor. Dutch elm strikes: A dozen trees near Parrington Hall must be removed About a dozen elm trees between Parrington Hall and the William H. Gates Building will be taken down over the next two weeks because of Dutch elm disease. UW Club nominated for National Register of Historic Places As a prominent example of mid-20th-century architecture, the UW Club has been nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. The Governor’s Advisory Council on Historic Preservation will consider the nomination Oct. 23. ‘Truly a learning community’: the UW Summer Institute for the Arts & Humanities flourishes Participants in the UW’s Summer Institute for the Arts & Humanities will give presentations of their projects on Friday, Aug. 21, in Odegaard Undergraduate Library. The students have been working with a team of faculty on the theme, “Empire: Critical Imperial Studies in the Americas and Beyond.” UW Bothell to offer electrical engineering The UW Bothell has received approval from the state Higher Education Coordinating Board to launch a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering program in Winter, 2010. Radiology group uses internet to extend global influence and access Eric Stern, UW professor of radiology, answers questions about the new educational outreach initiative launched by the International Society of Radiology. Why a cat in a glass box? Help the library identify this week’s Lost and Found Film The Washington Public Opinion Laboratory is in there, and lecture hall scenes and bubbling beakers and dedicated, pipe-smoking researchers. Then it moves on to crushing wood and putting a cat in what looks like a highly scientific glass box (until he decides to jump out.) What’s with this week’s odd Lost and Found Film? Walking the walk: UW staffers to support Lifelong AIDS Alliance at annual Seattle AIDS Walk Want to take a walk with your UW colleagues and also raise money for AIDS education and care? Join the UW team for the Seattle AIDs Walk. Community premiere of animation by deaf and hard of hearing students planned Friday Students at the Summer Academy for Advancing Deaf & Hard of Hearing in Computing will show the results of their work in animation at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 21, in 125 Electrical Engineering. Hosts needed for international students as part of Homestay Program The Foundation for International Understanding through Students is looking for individuals and families who are interested in hosting an international student for his or her first week in Seattle. Hosts help the students learn about their new home and sometimes form friendships that last a lifetime. Clark Hall remodeling to be showcased in Sept. 3 open house Clark Hall returns to active duty, so to speak. A Facebook for poets? UW-connected Read Write Poem site is that and more Poetry and technology don’t work in tandem very often, but Read Write Poem, a new collaboration of one present and one former UWTV staffer, brings them together nicely. UW's new mobile app named 'm.UW' The organizers of last month's contest to name the UW's new mobile application have announced a winner. Out of more than 824 submissions, the winning one was sent in by Shane Bunker, a UW student majoring in Informatics who will enter his senior year this fall. Can you guess where this photo was taken? Guess correctly, and you might win a gift certificate to the University Book Store!