The latest news from the UW

The University of Washington Center for Human Rights will hold a daylong conference Oct. 5 at the UW School of Law, underscoring a crucial international theme even with its title: “Access to Information as a Human Right.” The conference springs from the center’s partnerships with communities and organizations struggling for truth and accountability in postwar El Salvador. Panels will include conversations with international experts in human rights, access to information, and international law; and with Salvadoran human rights defenders and…

The share of Washingtonians living in poverty dropped from 14.1 percent to 13.2 percent between 2013 and 2014, according to new U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday. Washington was one of 12 states with significant declines in their poverty rates during that period. Among the remaining states, the vast majority saw no change in their poverty rates or the number of people in living in poverty. “We are finally seeing a drop in the poverty rate six years after the…

The University of Washington and Oregon State University have won a $4.5 million, five-year grant from the National Science Foundation to advance nanoscale science, engineering and technology research in the Pacific Northwest and support a new network of user sites across the country. The regional partnership was selected as one of 16 sites for a new National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) program. That network is designed to give researchers from academia, small and large companies and other institutions open access…

If you’ve ever wanted to travel north of the Arctic Circle in early fall, when the expanse of water dotted with ice floes reaches its greatest extent, this is your chance. Follow the ArcticMix website or on Twitter at @_following_seas through Sept. 26 A University of Washington oceanographer is one of three principal investigators on a monthlong research cruise to the Beaufort Gyre. The researchers are posting updates, photos and videos of their study of Arctic Ocean mixing through Sept….

The University of Washington and city of Seattle have joined a new national network of university-city partnerships that will work on “smart city” solutions as part of a new White House Smart Cities Initiative. The MetroLab Network, announced by the White House on Monday, consists of partnerships between research universities with expertise in engineering, robotics and computer science and cities looking to be test beds for 21st century solutions. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and UW Interim President Ana Mari Cauce…

The University of Washington is the 7th-largest contributor of college graduates to the 2015 Teach For America corps, according to the annual list of top contributors released today by the national nonprofit organization. Graduates who join Teach For America commit to teach for at least two years in under-resourced schools. Among large schools, the University of California–Los Angeles contributed the highest number of alumni to the corps, with 65 graduates beginning as teachers through the program this fall. The University of Washington’s Seattle campus…

The UW’s indoor alert system will be tested Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. in buildings across the Seattle campus. The indoor alerts are part of the campus emergency notification system. The test will last about 15 minutes and could include voice announcements, tones and horns, depending on the building. The purpose of this system-wide test is to make sure each building is receiving the alert broadcast and that alerts are clear and understandable to the people inside. Campus building coordinators will…

University of Washington psychology professor Marsha Linehan has been chosen to receive the 2015 Scientific Research Award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). The award, given annually since 2005, honors excellence in research for mental illnesses. Linehan, who is also an adjunct professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the UW, is the director of the Behavioral Research and Therapy Clinics, a research center that develops and evaluates new prevention measures and treatments for suicidal behaviors and other…

Government finance is a bit like Italian opera, writes Justin Marlowe, professor in the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance: It’s beautiful and elaborate, sure — but it’s also in a foreign language full of “traditions, customs and unspoken rules most casual fans don’t understand.” And though local, county and state government officials don’t need to know Verdi from Wagner, they do need to know about public finance and how to keep the offices they represent solvent and successful….

As a subarctic, seasonally ice-filled ocean that produces about 40 percent of the nation’s annual fish catch, the Bering Sea is of particular interest to researchers as the climate changes and forces wildlife and fishing practices to adapt. The UW is a partner in a new effort to understand how changes to the Bering Sea’s biophysical environment — such as temperature, salinity, currents, nutrients and plankton — may impact fish stocks and fishing practices as the climate warms. Scientists from…

The University of Washington is among the 2015 Campus Pride Top 25 LGBTQ-Friendly Colleges & Universities list released Monday. For seven years, the list has highlighted the most LGBTQ-inclusive colleges and universities around the country. But this is the first year Campus Pride has released a Top 25 list based on new higher LGBTQ benchmarks in its Campus Pride Index. The list is based on responses to the index, a national benchmarking tool which assesses LGBTQ-friendly policies, programs and practices. The…

Though the number of mixed-race couples in the United States has nearly quadrupled since 1980, relatively little research has been done about where those couples live — and specifically, the level of poverty within their neighborhoods. That dearth of data prompted Ryan Gabriel, a doctoral student in sociology at the University of Washington, to look at where mixed-race couples live as an indicator of their standing in the broader culture. Gabriel analyzed data on a representative sample of mixed-race couples…

A public celebration of the life of writer Ann Rule will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 23, in Room 130 of Kane Hall on the University of Washington campus. The gathering, under the title “Ann Rule, Our Tribute to a Life Well Lived,” will feature friends and colleagues remembering the writer’s life and work. Among these will be CBS News reporter Peter Van Sant, KOMO TV reporter Elisa Jaffe, journalist Anne Jaeger and Ben Benson, homicide detective with…

Protecting African-Americans from state-sanctioned violence remains “an unmet challenge for civil rights groups committed to racial equality,” writes Megan Ming Francis, UW assistant professor of political science, in a much-read post at HistPhil, a blog launched in June to cover the history of philanthropy. Why is preventing racial violence not a higher priority? In part because of money, Francis writes. Journalists and scholars cite discriminatory policies and racist policing among contributing factors, Francis notes in her Aug. 17 post, “Do…