The ceremonies at CenturyLink Field start at 2 p.m.  Graduates begin to line up in the CenturyLink Event Center at noon. The academic procession begins at 1:30. The ceremony takes 2½ hours and could be shortened in the event of inclement weather. Commencement exercises will be held this year and next year at CenturyLink Field, while Husky Stadium is under construction. The ceremony will return to Husky Stadium for 2014.

The ceremony will be broadcast live on UWTV starting at 1:30 p.m. on Comcast channel 27 throughout the Puget Sound region, and also online via simulcast at http://www.uwtv.org/simulcast/. UWTV will also archive highlights of the ceremony, including the keynote address, at uwtv.org. DVDs of the commencement ceremony can be pre-ordered at http://bit.ly/J7bUhK.

Commencement speaker is Lisa Jackson, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

An audience of about 40,000 family members and guests is expected. Degrees are awarded to those who have completed academic requirements some time during the 2011-2012 academic year. An estimated 12,320 degrees will be awarded – 7,900 bachelor's degrees, 3,180 master's degrees, 670 doctorates and 570 professional degrees.

Other recipients of special honors to be acknowledged at the Seattle commencement include: the Alumnus Summa Laude Dignatus Award winner, Distinguished Teaching Award winners and the President's Medal Award winners — presented to two graduating seniors (a four-year student and a transfer student) with the most distinguished academic records.

Members of the board of regents, deans and other representatives of the university's 16 colleges and schools will participate in the ceremony.

Many of the colleges and schools also have separate graduation programs and investiture ceremonies (http://www.washington.edu/graduation/other-ceremonies).  Complete information is available at http://www.washington.edu/graduation/.

UW Bothell will be celebrating its 21st commencement ceremony at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 10, in Hec Edmundson Pavilion, Alaska Airlines Arena. Capt. Wendy Lawrence, a veteran astronaut, will be the speaker.

UW Tacoma will celebrate its 22^nd commencement ceremony at 10 a.m. Friday, June 8 in the Tacoma Dome. Susan N. Dreyfus, the president and CEO of Families International, will be the speaker.

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Note to reporters:

Reporters and photographers should park in the lot at the south end of the stadium, off Royal Brougham Way. Permits are required for this lot and will be emailed to media in advance; please contact Bob Roseth with email addresses and other questions. The parking lot can be accessed from both the west (viaduct side) and east (I-5 side). From the west, take the ramp that leads up from intersection of Occidental and Royal Brougham. Turn left into garage. From the east, follow signs from 4^th Avenue S. and Royal Brougham. The signs lead the way up a curling ramp. Turn right into garage.

The UW's Burke Museum will host a booth at Science Expo Day at Science Center and will host behind-the-scenes events during the Seattle Science Festival.

Andrew Waits

What's it like to build a solar race car, measure an ocean wave or drive a Mars rover? How do our genes determine our traits? How will astronomers find new Earthlike planets? And oh yeah — how exactly do antacids work?

The answers, and more, will be revealed at Science Expo Day, a free, daylong, family-friendly celebration of science June 2 at Seattle Center. Lots of University of Washington programs and people will be featured among about 150 interactive experiments, games, exhibits and performances.

It's all part of the Seattle Science Festival, happening at various locations through June and into July — with much UW involvement — and including Science Festival Week June 3-10.

Children visiting Science Expo Day June 2 will get to build and race model solar cars such as this with the Center for Materials and Devices for Information Technology Research.

Center for Materials and Devices for Information Technology Research

Also, the five-lecture Science Luminaries series will feature UW computer science Professor Yoshi Kohno discussing cyber security. He's in excellent company, as other lecturers include theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, paleontologist Jack Horner and former astronauts Bonnie Dunbar and George "Pinky" Nelson.

This first-ever science festival roughly coincides with the 50^th anniversary of the Seattle World's Fair and the Pacific Science Center (which was called the United States Science Pavilion for the fair). It's all about making science accessible and fun.

Bryce Seidl, chief executive officer of the Science Center — which is the festival's main organizing agency — said that too often, young people perceive science, technology and engineering as "overly difficult, dry and devoid of creativity.

"It's difficult to imagine a more compelling force for reversing student disinterest in these fields than face-to-face interaction with dynamic, engaging, interested practitioners of these fields from all walks of life, backgrounds and education."

Science Expo Day's 130-some exhibitors will include a host of UW-related booths. Here are just a few:

• Animations and a computer game on the science and art of protein folding, from biochemistry and computer science and engineering.
• A demonstration of guiding a remote-controlled robot to view discoveries made on Mars, from the department of Earth and space sciences and the Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium.
• A hands-on experiment on how crushing pills — Tums, in this case — can affect how they work, from the School of Pharmacy.
• An exhibit showing how genes affect traits, and the making of a "genetic traits tree" showing traits common among participants.
• Hands-on activities showing how scientists can learn what planets' atmospheres are made of from afar, and how extrasolar Earthlike planets might be found.
• A Facebook-based interactive game about restoring wetlands from UW Bothell.
• An exhibit on how ocean waves are measured and the significance of the data. Also, taste the ocean and learn if your tongue is a good salinometer. Both from the Applied Physics Laboratory.
• Conservation Remix, a daylong event June 2 at Town Hall is meant to appeal to a mix of students, scientists and other citizens of Puget Sound and is organized by UW's Conservation Magazine and biology department.

The month-plus festival includes a number of UW-related events. Here's a brief look (learn more on the festival's online calendar).

• Lectures about Venus by UW astronomy professors in 120 Kane Hall on June 4, a day before that planet "transits" the sun. Woody Sullivan will discuss "Transits of Venus and the Quest for the Scale of the Universe" and Victoria Meadows will talk about "Venus: Our Modern Day Understanding of the Earth's Twisted Sister."
• Kohno will join national security expert Deborah Gracio and Pablos Holman, hacker and security expert, for "Hackers," a discussion of identity theft, viruses, worms and other cyber-perils June 9 at Town Hall.
• Visit the UW, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and other research institutions in the South Lake Union Science Trek for elementary and middle school students on June 8.
• Behind the Scenes at the Burke Museum: Tour the museum's various collections in a number of different tours June 3-7.
• Kids can build and race their own solar cars, and all can learn how chemistry and engineering research is making it possible to make solar cells from inexpensive plastic, for future use on buildings, windows and even clothing.
• Student RND, a Bellevue based-nonprofit dedicated to inspiring students to study science and headed by UW computer science undergraduate Edward Jiang will hold free classes on 3D printing, laser cutting and more June 4-9.

The UW is one of many area cultural, educational, research and business agencies collaborating to make the Seattle Science Festival a reality.

The festival may not exactly blind your family with science, as the song goes — but it might open their eyes a little.

Xiaodong Xu garners Department of Energy early-career grant
Xiaodong Xu, a UW assistant professor in the departments of materials science and engineering and physics, has been awarded an Early Career Research Program grant by the Department of Energy. The program, now in its third year, supports outstanding scientists early in their careers working in areas of interest to the energy department. Xu's was among 68 grants selected from nearly 850 applicants. The award covers up to $150,000 in research expenses annually for five years.

Xu's proposal concerning photon-electron interactions in Dirac quantum materials will investigate new materials at the quantum level. These materials display unusual interactions between incoming light, electrical charge transport and electron spin. His research seeks to better understand these interactions, potentially leading to new high‐speed electronics, memory devices and solar cells.

Ethnic Cultural Center's 'Raise the Roof' party Thursday
The Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center will host a "Raise the Roof" party Thursday, May 24, at 3 p.m., at the building’s renovation site on the corner of Brooklyn Ave Northeast and Northeast 40^th Street. Students, staff, faculty and community members are invited to sign a beam and watch as a crane lifts this beam to the top of the roof.

Food will be available courtesy Seattle’s first Native American food truck, Off the Rez. For more information, visit the ECC web site.

The new Samuel E. Kelly ECC is undergoing an extensive renovation and is scheduled to open in late fall of 2012. Check out photos of the building progress: April 5, 2012, Jan. 31, 2012, Dec. 2, 2011 and Oct. 12, 2011 - Groundbreaking.

New financial conflict of interest regulations
The UW’s policy on financial conflicts of interest is being revised so that it complies with new public health service regulations which go into effect Aug. 24.  Implementation processes to ensure compliance with the new regulations are still under development. Email communications will occur throughout the summer, and the new financial conflict of interest website will be updated frequently.

For all investigators, the monetary threshold for disclosing a significant financial interest will be lowered from $10,000 to $5,000, with no threshold for disclosure of equity in a non-publicly traded company. All investigators disclosing a significant financial interest will use a new electronic reporting tool currently under development.

Investigators engaged in public health service-funded research must complete online financial conflict-of-interest training prior to the expenditure of funds on any newly-funded projects; all significant conflicts of interest related to institutional responsibilities must be disclosed; the institution must make conflict-of-interest information publicly available prior to the expenditure of any funds; and investigators must disclose all travel reimbursement sponsored by (i.e., paid by an outside entity) or reimbursed by an outside entity for travel after Aug. 24, 2012.  Travel reimbursement from the following outside entities does not need to be reported:  an institution of higher education, a federal/state/local government, an academic teaching hospital, a medical center, or a research institute affiliated with an institution of higher education.

The staff in the Office of Research is available to assist and answer any questions.

'Cirque,' an activism traveling carnival, launches June 2 at UW Tacoma
UW’s Q Center is celebrating National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride with "Cirque," Washington state's first student LGBT arts and activism traveling carnival, with Tacoma, Spokane and Seattle events.

Cirque features live music, performances, slam poetry, speakers, carnival games, food and refreshments at 5 p.m. Saturday, June 2, in UW Tacoma’s Philip Hall. The event is free. Register at http://depts.washington.edu/cirque

Preceding the UW Tacoma program, at 2 p.m., Cirque presents a talk by David C. Ward, the curator of the Smithsonian-curated Tacoma Art Museum Hide/Seek queer art exhibit in its final week. Tacoma Art Museum offers a discounted rate and exclusive tour through Cirque that afternoon. The UW Tacoma events are sponsored by Office for Equity & Diversity, the Diversity Resource Center, Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences and the Arts and Lectures Fund.

Cirque will have an event later in June in Spokane at which it will honor individuals statewide who have advanced the Q Center’s mission of building and facilitating queer academic and social community though education, advocacy, and support services.

Details about the Seattle events are still in the works. For more information, contact: leoule@uw.edu or cirque@uw.edu

Buddy Ratner recognized for contributions to field of biomaterials
The European Society for Biomaterials has chosen Buddy Ratner, a UW professor of bioengineering and chemical engineering, for the 2012 George Winter Award, recognizing outstanding contributions to the field of biomaterials. The committee cited Ratner's excellence in research, his vision and his leading role in the promotion of biomaterials science worldwide. He will be honored at next year's society conference in Madrid, where he will present the award lecture.

Glaciology graduate student to discuss science behind SIFF film 'Chasing Ice'
Kristin Poinar, a UW graduate student in glaciology, will join director Jeff Orlowski following two screenings of the movie “Chasing Ice” to talk about the science behind melting glaciers. The documentary features stark video of vanishing glaciers, shot over years using time lapse cameras deployed in the Arctic. Inspired by National Geographic photographer James Balog, the film aims to shine a spotlight on the effects of climate change.

Poinar anticipates answering questions about moulins – kilometer-deep holes through the ice sheet bored by meltwater each summer – which figure prominently in the film. She may also share expertise on subjects including glacier acceleration and the use of satellite images to study glacier change.

The film, featured as part of the Seattle International Film Festival, screens on June 9 at 6:30 at Harvard Exit and June 10 at 1 at SIFF Cinema Uptown.

Jeff Hou named community builder
Jeff Hou, chairman of the Department of Landscape Architecture, has been presented a Community Builder Award by the Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority. Hou brought stakeholders together for improvements in the International District, including the recently re-opened International Children’s Park. Hou has also been a leader in the King Street Visioning Project, which aims to revitalize the core of the International District.

Organized by staff with Conservation Magazine and the University of Washington Department of Biology, the event is meant to appeal to a mix of students, scientists and other citizens of Puget Sound.

"We want people to come away from this event with a sense that conservation isn't just about stopping bad things from happening, but also about starting good things. They will get a glimpse of the kind of environmental innovations that are possible when we include engineers, architects, cooks and entrepreneurs in the environmental conversation," said Estella Leopold, UW professor emeritus of biology and an event host. "It turns out that environmental inspiration can be found in the most unexpected places."

The event will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 2, at Seattle's Town Hall and will feature 11 speakers talking about food, agriculture, built environments, energy, technology and business. Two are from the UW, the rest are with other U.S. and European institutions and organizations. Veteran science journalists David Malakoff with Science magazine and John Nielsen, a former environmental correspondent with National Public Radio, will guide discussions audience discussions.

"This event is not only about listening to the speakers – it’s also about listening to the audience," said Dee Boersma, UW professor of biology and co-organizer of the event. For example, Earthfix, a media project of Northwest public radio and television stations, will host a digital story booth where participants can share their thoughts and stories about environmental issues.

Now is the time for this kind of regional event, Boersma said.

"The Puget Sound region and the UW are emerging hubs for environmental innovation," she said. "We have a tremendous combination of interests and expertise here—environmental concern, technological know-how, and business entrepreneurship. This event mixes these communities up and brings smart people together to imagine a greener future."

Winter 2012 edition

Tickets can be purchased online for $50 – $25 for students– and include a catered lunch and a one-year subscription to Conservation Magazine, a quarterly UW publication distributed in 58 countries. There will be a limited number of tickets available at the door.

Major sponsors of the event with Conservation Magazine are the Bullitt Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, UW College of Arts and Sciences and UW College of the Environment. Fifteen other UW and community organizations are partners.

"Just as TED originally brought to the web ideas worth spreading about technology, entertainment and design, we hope to launch something similar for the environment," said UW's Kathryn Kohm, editor of Conservation Magazine and the other co-organizer of the remix event.

For more information contact Lindsey Doermann, doermann@uw.edu, 206-221-5292.

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For more information, news media can contact:
Boersma, 206-616-2185, boersma@uw.edu
Kohm, 206-685-4724, kkohm@uw.edu

It's 1963 again in our latest installment of Lost and Found Films, where readers help identify historic bits of film from the Audio Visual Materials Library, provided by film archivist Hannah Palin.

This time we take a look at the More Hall Annex and its nuclear reactor in a silent, black-and-white film a bit under two minutes long.

It begins with shots of the building's exterior as people file by, and then shows a man in a white lab coat and bow tie discussing and pointing to an elaborate diagram on the wall. He is then seen as one of three scientists measuring radiation levels, working panels of controls and looking at readouts.

But who is that scientist with the side part, greased hair, dark-framed glasses and lab coat? What is this trio measuring with an instrument that looks like a hair dryer? And what are they recording in that huge ledger?
This film is one of hundreds of reels that Palin is trying to identify for archiving purposes. She has clips from the late 1930s through the 1970s — some from research projects, some from campus events and some from commercial films or campus productions.

There's plenty of information about the nuclear reactor that operated on the UW campus until 1988. Palin dug up a 2006 Seattle Times article about the dismantling of the reactor, a 2009 blog about its history and an article by The Daily's Will Mari.

Still, Palin says, "We're not nuclear scientists, so we're looking for details about who exactly is in this film clip, and exactly what they are doing."

So, if you have expertise in this area and can help, put down that Geiger counter and write a comment below.

Previous Lost and Found Films in 2012.

•    "University Parking," from 1960.
•    "Inaugural," from 1958.

“Our program has come a long way since its early beginnings,” said Micheal Meyering, manager of Housing & Food Services.

“We started our first front-of-the-house compost pilot at the Eleven 01 Café in February 2007. The 70,000-plus members of our campus community are the real winners. They make it happen every day by participating as environmental stewards.”

In addition to waste management, the association also recognized sustainable dining practices in four other operational categories: procurement practices, energy and water conservation, materials and resources, and outreach and education.

New book explores creating, supporting livable communities
What is a livable community? How do you design and develop one? How can government support and nurture the cause of livable communities? A new book co-edited by Fritz Wagner, UW research professor in urban design and planning, studies such questions using case studies from North America, Brazil and the United Kingdom.

"Community Livability: Issues and Approaches to Sustaining the Well-Being of People and Communities," co-edited by Wagner and Roger Caves of San Diego State University, is published by Routledge Press. Wagner, who also has an adjunct appointment in landscape architecture, manages the UW's Northwest Center for Livable Communities.

Using a blend of theory and practice, experts in the field look at evidence from international, state and local perspectives to explore what is meant by the term "livable communities."

Chapters examine the effect and importance of transportation alternatives to the elderly, the significance of walkability as a factor in developing a livable and healthy community, the importance of good open space providing for human activity and health, the importance of coordinated land use and transportation planning, and the relationship between livability and quality of life.

'New Directions' award to UW anthropologist
Danny Hoffman, a UW associate professor of anthropology, is one of 15 faculty members around the country to receive a New Directions Fellowship from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation this year.

An expert on African warzones and militarization, Hoffman will use the fellowship to study architecture and urban planning through the UW College of Built Environments and in South Africa with scholars of postcolonial cities.

"The U.S. and allied militaries always came at the idea that fighting in cities was the last resort," Hoffman said. "There was little specific thinking of how one would do security in urban environments or what it would mean to fight in an urban environment. That has changed in the last few years."

How cities are put together and how people move through them are now being considered by military thinkers. It has implications for urban military operations, including how a military could isolate parts of a city if a mass pandemic broke out.

In addition to supporting advanced interdisciplinary training for individual scholars, the Mellon Foundation hopes the New Directions program will contribute to the development of interdisciplinary courses and cross-disciplinary teaching collaborations.

Disability, Law, Policy and the Community poster session May 24
Students from the class Disability Law, Policy and the Community will present their research on the effects of various policies on individuals with disabilities in a poster session from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., Thursday, May 24, in the Allen Library Research Commons.

Students from this class in the Law, Societies and Justice Program will present on topics such as the Involuntary Treatment Act, the Community First Choice Act, Shaynan's Law, the Seattle Police Department's Crisis Intervention Team Program, elimination of the death penalty, acquiring accommodations in postsecondary education, standards for Washington state educational interpreters and more. The event is free and open to the public.

Minority Affairs and Diversity hosts undergraduate research conference
More than 70 undergraduate McNair scholars and colleagues representing 14 universities will converge at the UW for a research conference, May 17-19.

Students will present year-long collaborative research in the social science, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and humanities fields at the 20^thannual Pacific Northwest McNair/EIP/GO-MAP Research Conference, held in conjunction with UW's Undergraduate Research Symposium.

The event will feature the work of 32 UW students who are affiliated with the McNair Scholars Program, the Presidential Scholars Program and the Early Identification Program.

Gas Works Park in Seattle.

In 1962, a parcel at the northern tip of Lake Union was a toxic waste dump, the result of an industrial plant that turned coal to natural gas. By 1976, however, it was Gas Works Park, the result of a gutsy experiment in landscape architecture led by Richard Haag, a University of Washington emeritus professor of architecture.

Gas Works and subsequent projects established Seattle as one of the first American cities willing to recast industrial sites into places to celebrate.

Thaisa Way, a UW associate professor of landscape architecture, and several of her design students have curated “Experimenting in Public Space,” on exhibit May 9 to June 24 at the American Institute of Architecture design gallery in downtown Seattle. The exhibit explores Gas Works and 11 subsequent parks and public spaces in a series of sketches, photographs and architectural renderings.

“Gas Works was a radical move, especially since Rachel Carson’s book, ‘Silent Spring,’ had just been published, and people were alerted about environmental pollution,” Way said.

Haag convinced the city that not only could unusual and sometimes polluted land be reclaimed but that it should be. Instead of the wide, rolling vistas of trees and flowers created across the country by the Olmsted brothers in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, however, Haag celebrated the city and all its right angles. The gas works boiler house eventually sheltered grills and picnic tables, and the gas compressor became a play barn, all with a water’s edge view of Lake Union and the downtown Seattle skyline.

Among the projects featured in the exhibit are Freeway Park, Waterworks Gardens and the Olympic Sculpture Park.

Landscape architects Lawrence Halprin and Angela Danadjieva created Freeway Park over a stretch of Interstate 5 in downtown Seattle, viewing the road as a sort of urban gorge, the winding paths of the park a river of people and a 30-foot waterfall a way to muffle the roar of cars below.

Waterworks Gardens in Renton is the work of artist Lorna Jordan, inspired by Herbert Bayer’s Mill Creek Canyon Earthworks, which serve as flood controls in Kent. For the Renton sewage treatment plant, Jordan created a series of garden rooms where visitors see water being cleaned. On both of these projects, designers worked side-by-side with engineers, hydrologists and other professionals.

“It’s pretty amazing,” Way said. “These artists got the public to believe in water cleansing and flood control designed by an artist.”

The Olympic Sculpture Park, opened in 2007, is a later example of Seattle turning a toxic waste site into a park. “It’s really a legacy from Gas Works,” Way said. “Seattle willingly pushes the edges, pioneering new technology.”

Part of the “Experimenting in Public Space” exhibit is in the window of the AIA gallery. The exhibit also includes a section seeking public input on proposed changes at Waterfront Park, as a deep-bore tunnel replaces the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

The Washington State Alliance for Child Welfare Excellence, publicly announced May 10, unites social work education resources from the UW School of Social Work, the social work program at UW Tacoma, Eastern Washington University School of Social Work and Children's Administration, which is part of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services.

"The alliance is a groundbreaking collaboration designed to strengthen the professional expertise of social workers, enhance caregiving skills of foster and adoptive parents, and create better futures for Washington state children and families," said Eddie Uehara, dean of the UW School of Social Work.

“This comprehensive effort will, for the first time, generate a statewide road map for social work training and education,” Uehara said. She added that it will also "leverage substantially more federal dollars for professional development and harness the deep expertise of Partners for Our Children, a School of Social Work-sponsored child welfare and policy analysis group."

Previously, professional development for the state's social workers involved in child welfare has been coordinated by Children's Administration, which provides services to approximately 9,500 children and 7,800 families each month. About 800 to 1,000 of those children receive services while living at home, and the rest receive services while in foster care.

"Our intent is to use the combined expertise of all the partners to design a comprehensive training and professional development system that is seamless as social workers move from school to practice," Denise Revels Robinson, assistant secretary at Children's Administration, said in a news release. “Ultimately this will help us to better serve the children and families involved with public child welfare.”

A memorandum of understanding is signed by Connie Ballmer, Partners for Our Children; Robin Arnold Williams, DSHS; Rodolfo Arévalo, Eastern Washington University; and Michael K. Young, University of Washington. Denise Revels Robinson of Children's Administration is in the top row fourth from left, and Eddie Uehara, dean of the UW School of Social Work, is in the top row far right.

UW

Uehara, Revels Robinson and UW President Michael K. Young joined educators, state legislators, child welfare professionals and philanthropists on May 10 to celebrate the partnership. They signed a memorandum of understanding to guide the activities of the professional development program.

"Now, more than ever, the people of our state need a social welfare work force that is fully equipped to guide our children and families through the challenges of life in the 21st century," Young said. "This partnership is an opportunity to leverage UW research and education expertise to improve our communities and enhance social well-being in our state."

Washington state will now join the majority of child welfare systems in the country that have a professional development program in partnership with the state universities. What makes the Washington system distinctive is that it includes a research component intended to evaluate social work training programs and design curriculum based on which programs work best.

That aspect of the alliance will be led by Partners for Our Children, a policy and analysis group that works in collaboration with UW School of Social Work, DSHS and private philanthropy.

The alliance aims to:

-          Provide a single, coordinated training system that pulls together professional development resources that work. Through a mix of online training sessions, webinars and in-person training, Washington state social workers can be better prepared to work with vulnerable families around the state.

-          Provide social workers in Eastern Washington, through the participation of Eastern Washington University in the partnership, with greater local access to training opportunities. Currently social workers attend training sessions held only in Seattle.

-          Have Children's Administration work with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to identify how to maximize federal funding for social work training and professional development.

The enhanced training and professional development system should be in place by July. The first stages will focus on supervisor and new social worker training with other components, including foster and adoptive parent training, to be added later.

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For more information, contact Uehara at 206-685-2480 or sswdean@uw.edu.

MathAcrossCampus showcases applications of mathematics, with a special emphasis on the growing role of discrete methods in math applications.

Geography "legend" announces last doctoral committee defense
A bittersweet moment transpired in the geography department May 1. At the end of a dissertation exam, Emeritus Professor Dick Morrill announced that it would be his very last doctoral committee.

He has overseen 28 dissertations since 1966. His last dissertation defense, which occurred May 1 for geography graduate student Elise Bowditch, took place in Room 409 – the same room where Morrill defended his own dissertation in 1959.

In a tribute that describes his contributions and lists the dissertations he's supervised, Morrill's colleagues in the UW geography department thank him for "inspiring so many aspiring geographers" and call him a "legend" and "one of a kind."

Education and research timeline stretches back 150 years
In honor of the UW's 150^th anniversary, the Office of Research has created a timeline of education and research at the UW. Take a tour of UW's beginnings from a small university of 30 students in the territory of Washington to the university it is today.

The timeline is a research-focused look at UW history with facts and photos about such things as the first open-heart surgery in the Pacific Northwest to the development of the first ultrasound instrument sold in the U.S.

Students will present their projects at 4 p.m. and a brief program of student stories will begin at 5 p.m. in 210 Kane.

UW undergraduates are involved in numerous civic engagement projects.

“As the Carlson Center celebrates its 20^th anniversary and the Mary Gates Endowment for Students celebrates its 15^th anniversary, we want to take a moment to remember the stories of student and community transformation that all of our community-engaged programs are built on,” says Rachel Vaughn, the new director of the Carlson Leadership and Public Service Center.

Undergraduates are involved in numerous community issues ranging from early literacy to mentorship, agriculture to women’s health awareness, youth identity and leadership to global climate change.

More than 50 projects that illustrate the breadth of undergraduate service and leadership will be presented in the Gallery of Student Projects including:

• The Neah Bay Project: Telling Your Story
• Establishing a Disability and Deaf Cultural Center
• Outreach Coordination at People for Puget Sound
• Manic Mouth Congress: Envisioning an Arts Activism Community
• Lambda Phi Epsilon: Saving Lives through Bone Marrow Transplant

Last year more than 5,000 UW students participated in university-sponsored public service, including service learning, public service internships and volunteer work, devoting 523,020 hours to public service.

“Service-learning is a wonderful component to my social problems class,” says Alexes Harris, assistant professor of sociology. “Every quarter the student service-learners tell me what a great eye-opening experience they have had at their sites, that they would have never understood the issues in such depth had they not participated as a service-learner, and how they learned how much more complex society is from a sociological viewpoint. I couldn’t ask for a better learning experience for my students.”

The Spring Celebration of Service and Leadership is co-hosted by the Carlson Leadership and Public Service Center, Jumpstart, the Pipeline Project, and the Mary Gates Endowment for Students, all programs housed within Undergraduate Academic Affairs’ Center for Experiential Learning and Diversity.

As most caregivers would predict, it was a rough year. "I got so desperate, I read my own book," Lustbader, an affiliate associate professor at the School of Social Work at the University of Washington, said of "Taking Care of Aging Family Members," her 1994 work on caregiving co-authored with Nancy Hooyman, professor in the UW School of Social Work.

A part of the book on loneliness had particular relevance. Lustbader's mother-in-law had her rich community of friends back home, and Lustbader and her husband had been trying to make up for that loss by spending all of their leisure time with her.

"I read in the book that no matter how hard you try, no matter how much of your life you give up, you can't take away another person’s loneliness," Lustbader said. "The guilt that kept getting in the way of our going out on our own Saturday nights lifted. We were released."

Lustbader is a nationally known speaker on how to cope with aging, disability and end-of-life issues. She draws upon her caregiving experience and her expertise as a counselor to give lectures and workshops for caregivers around the United States and Canada.

She'll speak at the Washington state ''Challenges in Caregiving: Giving Care, Taking Care" conference, to be held June 4 in Tukwila, Wash. (Pre-registration is required and space is limited. See sidebar for more details.)

"No one understands like a fellow caregiver, and this event will be a chance for people to experience an incredible community of family caregivers," Lustbader said of the conference. "It's a marvelous relief to be with others who really understand how you feel.”

Lustbader will give practical advice on how caregivers should take care of themselves, something caregivers often neglect. One caregiver proudly told her, "I kept a slice of selfishness for myself." Lustbader agrees. "I'm going to advocate for people to keep that slice. That reduces bitterness and resentment," she said. "And, who wants to be taken care of by someone who is resentful?"

She suggests that at least one day a week caregivers should set aside time when they're "back in life somehow." It could be a weekly card game, a part-time job or something else. "We get patience from the perspective which comes from getting away," she said.

Caregivers should also hold on to their hopes and dreams, which is the topic of Lustbader's keynote talk at the June 4 conference. To this end, she advises caregivers to understand how guilt and resentment can bubble up when people have to put their own lives on hold.

"It helps people be honest with themselves, that it is natural to feel thwarted and captive when they can't pursue their own aims. Everything is for the sake of the person whose illness has taken center stage," Lustbader said.

Wendy Lustbader

Grief can arise during situations of giving and receiving care, stemming from many sources, she added. Spouses of people with Alzheimer's often yearn for the personality their partner once had. Sometimes people coping with chronic pain turn inward and become entirely self-oriented, leaving family caregivers bereft with the feeling that the person they love and have depended upon has vanished.

Lustbader urges caregivers to attend support groups where they can grieve openly and receive comfort.

In her 1993 book "Counting on Kindness: The Dilemmas of Dependency," Lustbader describes caregiving from the recipient's point of view and gives insights on what ill people wish their caregivers knew. One caregiver gave the book and a yellow highlighter to her mother, asking her to highlight anything that expressed how she was feeling.

"It spurred them to talk deeply, for the first time in their lives," Lustbader said. "Many people use this book as a tool of understanding. Some even read it long after the person they took care of is gone, and it helps them comprehend what went on during those difficult times.”

Lustbader will use humor and storytelling to convey her knowledge at the caregiver conference. “People don’t remember didactic material,” Lustbader explained. “They remember stories, and then the wisdom contained in the story comes to mind when they need it the most.”

Caregivers who seek Lustbader's counsel frequently have these questions:

I feel so guilty thinking ahead to when the caregiving will be over; does this mean I’m insensitive or unloving?

Lustbader says that caregivers should keep thinking about their own lives. "Think about how there will be life after caregiving, and don’t feel guilty about it." She encourages caregivers to think about what they will do after the responsibility is over, even though that time will bring sadness. "Looking forward to when you're free is totally natural and people should indulge quietly in this; it brings perspective. Lift your head from your labors and see life as a whole."

Why does my mom yell at me when I'm being so good to her?

"Don't take it personally when a dependent person takes out their anger and frustration on you. This is a universal problem: we bite the hand that feeds us," Lustbader said. "We do it because the caregiver is the safest person. We have nowhere else to let out the frustration of being dependent."

I'm resentful toward family members who aren't helping – what do I do?

Emotions often run high between siblings in caregiving situations, especially when old rivalries and resentments present themselves. Lustbader says, "You never regret the care you give, but people do regret the care they didn't give." She points out that research shows that the grief process is relatively simple for those who have provided care to a loved one, but it's more complicated for those who weren't involved. Also, there is solace in knowing that our children are learning from our caregiving. "I think that's why the Fifth Commandment says you will get length of days when you honor your father and your mother," Lustbader said. "Caregiving gives you hope that when your time comes, people might go out of their way to help you."

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For more information on Lustbader's work: www.lustbader.com.

Clay Schwenn, adviser in Undergraduate Academic Affairs, wins national award
Clay Schwenn, lead academic counselor for undergraduates, has won an Outstanding Advising Award from the National Academic Advising Association.

According to the nominating letter from Undergraduate Academic Affairs Advising, Schwenn is best known for innovative use of technology in academic advising. In 2007, he won an award from the association for his advising podcasts.

Schwenn also spends significant time supervising peer advisors, 10 undergraduates who help fellow students with quick questions on matters such as registration and course scheduling.

The National Academic Advising Association has approximately 10,000 members in the U.S.

Tower Green Fair May 15 with campus, off-campus groups
The second annual Tower Green Fair, 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, May 15, will bring UW people and units involved in green initiatives – such as Professional and Continuing Education, Commuter Services and Recycling & Solid Waste – together with local nonprofit groups and businesses that also think green.

The fair, conducted at the UW Tower, is open to the entire campus. Visitors should be sure to bring their UW Husky cards for entrance to the tower.

UW Housing and Food Services and four private vendors will be providing treats to sample. Nonprofit groups that will be represented at the fair are Washington Trails Association, EarthCorps, Seattle Tilth and the Washington Toxics Coalition.

Visitors to the fair can have a Sustainability Passport stamped as they move from table to table to enter a drawing for  green gift baskets and other prizes to be given away.

Visitors? Relatives here for commencement? Check Campus Tours Central
The UW Information and Visitors Center recently launched a new online resource called Campus Tours Central that offers downloadable self-guided tour publications, online tours and tour-guide tips.

"Campus Tours Central provides tools and information so that everyone will have a better campus experience whether they are visiting us online or in-person.  Since groups sometimes need a tour leader, and you may know your area of campus best, we’re providing tips so that you can be better trained to lead a group. We encourage everyone to be a tour leader," said Linda Hanlon, Information and Visitors Center manager.

The UW Office of Admissions Visit Program offers guided campus tours twice a day on weekdays and once on most Saturdays, but throughout the year many campus departments and units may need to lead their own tours, and groups coming to campus are sometimes not able to be matched with a guide through the Admissions Visit Program, Hanlon said.

"With these tools, anyone can be a well-prepared guide. You – yes you – might make an excellent campus tour guide," says Linda Hanlon.

Seth Cooper, chief architect of Foldit, wins national doctoral dissertation award
The Association for Computing Machinery has given recent UW doctoral graduate Seth Cooper its Doctoral Dissertation Award, recognizing the best thesis published in 2011 in the field of computer science.

Cooper's thesis, "A Framework for Scientific Discovery through Video Games," explored how computer games could be used to solve difficult scientific problems. He was advised by Zoran Popović, professor of computer science and engineering. Cooper was chief architect of Foldit, a computer game in which players help to solve the structure of proteins that play a role in HIV and other diseases. He is now creative director at the UW's Center for Game Science.

The association will honor Cooper on June 16 in San Francisco.

The film is a finalist in a contest where the top 10 vote getters each receive $10,000 for tree-planting projects from Odwalla Inc.

The Restore the Montlake Cut project would use trees to shade out invasive plants, according to Hillary Burgess, UW graduate student in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences and a staff member for UW Grounds Management.

The video is among the 20 posted on the Plant a Tree website. Voting ends May 31.

The video stars Burgess, Teos Bisbee, a UW undergraduate and chair of the outdoor committee for Students Expressing Environmental Dedication, or SEED; Steve Kryszko, a gardener for UW Grounds Management; Lee Harrison-Smith, a local arborist; and Noca, the dog.

It was produced by Jennifer Leach, a UW alumnus of environmental and forest sciences.

Two other Seattle-area projects are also among the finalists.

People are especially receptive at the breakfast table, according to David Gordon, here with his morning cereal and one of the milk cartons carrying tips about keeping Puget Sound clean.

Washington Sea Grant

Washington Sea Grant has partnered with Smith Brothers Farms of Kent, to produce a milk carton featuring "Cows for Clean Water" and offering a selection of simple steps for protecting Puget Sound such as:

• Taking your car to a commercial car wash
• Using compost in your yard instead of chemicals
• Planting trees and native plants

The half-gallon milk cartons started arriving last week at 40,000 homes, nine PCC Natural Markets and other local outlets in the region.

The idea for the carton came from science writer David George Gordon.  As a member of Washington Sea Grant’s communications team, Gordon was looking for an inexpensive way to share information with a broad audience, without relying on conventional brochures or leaflets.

"I've found that people are especially receptive at the breakfast table," Gordon said.  "Their minds have yet to be filled with the dozens of other messages they read or listen to throughout the day."

Along with the specific tips, the cartons also direct consumers to Puget Sound Starts Here for additional ideas about helping the Sound.

The milk carton design was created by Washington Sea Grant, from print specifications provided by Smith Brothers Farms.  The only project expense was a $200 fee for making the metal plates for printing the water quality-themed panel.

"That’s really a good deal, considering how many people we’ll be reaching," says Gordon.  "We’re grateful to the people at Smith Brothers Farms for being so supportive of our efforts to protect the health of Puget Sound."

Evans School Faculty roundtable on education May 2
Some urban school districts use a portfolio strategy as they seek to improve education. This means developing a diverse mix of schools and granting them autonomy over budgets and hiring, while holding them accountable to performance standards.

But what are the effects of such reforms on student achievement? What counterarguments are made, and what are the challenges facing these pioneering districts?

Join the Evans School of Public Affairs for "Strife and Progress: Transforming Public Education in Big Cities," its third and final faculty roundtable in celebration of the school's 50^th anniversary. The roundtable will be 5:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 2, in Kane Hall's Walker-Ames Room. RSVP to esevents@uw.edu or call 206-221-7779.

The opening lecture by Paul Hill, founder of UW Bothell's Center on Reinventing Public Education, will present results of a three-year study of six cities using the portfolio strategy. The lecture will be followed by a discussion with Evans School faculty Mark Long, William Zumeta, alumna Edie Harding of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Evans School doctoral candidate Katharine Destler.

Political cartoonist Aislin to speak May 10
For Terry Mosher and cartoonists like him, the joke’s the thing that tells the truth.

Mosher, best known as Aislin, the political cartoonist whose work is published in The Montreal Gazette, will speak at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, May 10 in 210 Kane Hall on “The Arctic and Inuit in the Hearts and Minds of Editorial Cartoonists.”

An exhibit of Canadian political cartoons about the Arctic and the Inuit people, including several by Mosher, will be exhibited in  the Allen Library North Lobby May 5 to 30.

In a late-April interview, Mosher said the Inuit and the Arctic are featured in lots of Canadian editorial cartoons because of tremendous national concern for precious land and the 50,000 members of the tribe. “The Inuit have survived phenomenal hardships, and the north is really our last frontier,” Mosher said.

Mosher, who’s president of the Association of Canadian Editorial Cartoonists, said he didn’t so much choose his profession “as back into it.”

“I like to draw. I pass comment on the public parade, things that concern us,” Mosher said. The reward, he said, is to cause reaction. “The society that can laugh at itself is a healthy society indeed – and the Inuit are very, very good at laughing at themselves,” Mosher said.

His visit and the exhibit are sponsored by the Canadian Studies Center, the Jackson School of International Studies, the UW, the Consulate General of Canada Seattle, the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (the national Inuit association in Canada) and the UW Libraries.

Bob Morgan receives leadership award
R.L. “Bob” Morgan, senior technology architect for UW Information Technology, has received the Internet2 President’s Leadership Award. The award recognizes individuals from the Internet2 membership for their exemplary service to the national and global research and education community. Internet2 is a member-owned advanced technology community founded by the nation's leading higher education institutions.

Entrepreneurs share insights with UW researchers
The University of Washington’s Center for Commercialization has added four additional industry experts to its Entrepreneurs-in-Residence program. Through the program, entrepreneurs with specific subject expertise and industry experience become acquainted with UW faculty who are translating fundamental research results into practical applications.

The entrepreneurs help identify UW technologies with commercial promise and consult with researchers, providing expertise about target markets, product development and fundraising.

Students An, Woelfer garner awards
Jonathan An, a first-year student at the School of Dentistry, has won a Hatton Award from the American Association for Dental Research. An will represent the U.S. in the International Hatton Awards competition in Brazil in June, said Dr. Linda LeResche, the school’s interim associate dean for research.  His winning presentation was titled “Modulating Alcohol Effects on the Midface by Vitamin A Derivatives,” and his preceptor was Dr. Timothy Cox, pediatrics and oral health sciences.

Jill Palzkill Woelfer, a doctoral student in the Information School, has been awarded the 2012 Graduate School Medal. The award, which is given to one UW student each year, recognizes Woelfer’s commitment to homeless young people and dissertation research about ways such people use technology. Read the iSchool story about Woelfer:http://ischool.uw.edu/feature/jill-woelfer-awarded-graduate-school-medal