2004 | UW News

June 24, 2004

Artificial cornea implanted

A UW eye surgeon performed the Pacific Northwest’s first artificial cornea implant June 9 at UW Medical Center-Roosevelt.

Mary-Claire King to receive Gruber Genetics Prize

Dr.

Students GEAR-UP for summer sessions

For five weeks this summer, the University will be home to about 1,000 middle school and high school students from throughout Washington State, here to soak up atmosphere, see the sights and begin considering their college options.

Mystery photo

Where are we? The photo above was taken somewhere on campus.

Broken chimneys: Is Seattle fault to blame?

When the Nisqually earthquake struck western Washington in 2001, brick chimneys in parts of West Seattle and Bremerton were left looking like so much straw after the Big Bad Wolf had gone huffing and puffing through.

Welcome mat is out: ‘U Dub Club’ emphasizes open-door policy with new name

Quick quiz: Which members of the campus community get to use the UW Faculty Club?

You could hardly be blamed for answering only “faculty.

Departments innovate to help people with disabilities

The Internet has opened up Distance Learning to a whole new level, with courses once offered through the mail being delivered instantaneously online — across town or worldwide.

A harvest of fun: Staffer works in technology, plays in a garden

Shortly after Ian Taylor arrived in Seattle in 1975, he got a job at the UW.

Reducing pain: Virtual reality changes brain response, not just perception

Virtual reality appears to dramatically change how the brain physically registers pain, not just how people subjected to pain perceive the incoming signals, according to a new study by a group of UW researchers.

Health Sciences News Briefs

A regional National Institutes of Health (NIH) seminar on program funding and grants, the first of these seminars to be presented in Seattle, has drawn more that 600 registered participants.

Industry Relations offers Harborview program on working with companies

The series on “Things Your Mother Never Taught You,” sponsored by the School of Medicine’s Industry Relations Office, will present “Working with Companies: Corporate Research and Material Transfer Agreements” at noon on Tuesday, June 29, in Harborview Medical Center’s Research and Training Building.

Norris named vice dean for academic affairs

Dr.

Young UW researchers win two of 16 Burroughs Wellcome Awards worth $500,000

Two researchers in the School of Medicine have won 2004 Career Awards in Biomedical Sciences from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

Some patients will get blood transfusions with fewer white cells

While physicians are able to treat patients who suffer blood loss after major injuries, a large number of these patients go on to develop infections or multiple organ failure, in which the functioning of the body vital organ systems, such as the lungs, heart, kidneys of liver, go awry.

Notices

English Language Courses
The UW English Language Programs (UWELP) offers quarterly online and on-site courses designed primarily for non-native speakers of English.

A special thank you

On behalf of state employee Jeff Ott, we, his family and friends, would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you at the UW for your generous donations of sick leave through participation in Washington State’s shared leave program.

Campus news and notes

JAMMERS JAM: Allow us to be boastful for a moment and note that University Week’s parent department, News & Information, is home to the current champs of the Walk-in Challenge.

Bothell, Tacoma medalists named

The UW Bothell and the UW Tacoma have announced the recipients of the President’s Medalist Award at their institutions.

Direct deposit, computer access now easier for new UW employees

Attention new employees and those who help them get started at the University: Signing up for direct deposit just got a whole lot easier.

Wott named acting director of urban horticulture

John Wott, professor of forest resources and director of the Washington Park Arboretum for more than 10 years, has been named acting director of the UW’s Center for Urban Horticulture in addition to his duties as arboretum director.

Parlez-vous Francais? Study shows 14 hours to think in French

Adults often struggle trying to learn a second language, but the process may not be as tedious and slow as commonly believed.

Innovative programs win support from fund: Total of $1.2 million goes to 11 projects from a variety of units

Innovative programs ranging from English language classes for UW employees to an interdisciplinary degree program in humanitarian relief received support from the Fund for Innovation and Redesign.

Wott acting director, Hinckley steps down at Urban Horticulture

June 22, 2004

USDA study to address obesity and poverty

The major trends in the American diet can be described as more calories, more refined grains, more added sugars, and more added fats. The reasons behind these trends are largely economic, says Dr. Adam Drewnowski, director of the Nutritional Sciences Program in the UW School of Public Health and Community Medicine

Brick chimneys can double as strong-motion sensors in earthquakes

When a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck western Washington in 2001, hundreds of brick chimneys in two neighborhoods were seriously damaged or toppled. New research suggests the shaking in these areas might have been intensified by the Seattle fault, even though it was not the source of the earthquake.

June 21, 2004

Virtual reality significantly reduces pain-related brain activity

June 17, 2004

A celestial surprise: Comet Wild 2 unlike any other body in solar system

Scientists expected the Stardust spacecraft to send back pictures of comet Wild 2 showing a chunk of rock and ice coated with dust, obscuring any interesting features. Instead, they got images filled with sharply defined mesas, craters, pinnacles and canyons.

June 16, 2004

Banks in Pacific Northwest, Hawaii prove to be a boon for shareholders

Banks located in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii did a better job of managing operating costs in 2003 than the national average, yielding investors a healthy 12 percent return on equity.

June 15, 2004

Light trucks pose greater injury risk to pedestrians

Although pedestrian injuries have decreased in recent years, they still remain a significant health problem, accounting for 13 percent of traffic fatalities in the U.S. The growing popularity of light trucks, a category that includes sport utility vehicles (SUVs), has presented a new challenge for pedestrians and raises an important question: Do light trucks increase the risk of severe injury and death for pedestrians?

Monkey business: Studies show tiny callimicos have unusual characteristics

New findings indicate that the endangered callimicos are not a missing link between small and large New World monkeys.

June 14, 2004

Brains at work: Learning a second language may not be as laborious as believed

Adults often struggle trying to learn a second language, but the process may not be as tedious and slow as commonly believed.

June 8, 2004

Certain symptom patterns may provide clues for presence of ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer has often been called the silent killer because it’s so hard to detect. New UW research indicates that ovarian cancer may not be silent, and both women and their health-care providers should be alert for symptoms.

Top astronaut Bonnie Dunbar visits campus as UW alum of the year for 2004

Bonnie Dunbar, one of the world’s most experienced women astronauts and a 1970s-era engineering graduate, will be honored this week as the UW’s Alumna Summa Laude Dignata winner for 2004.

Seventh Annual University of Washington Faculty Field Tour: Five-day journey connects new faculty to Washington’s communities

Thirty new UW professors and librarians will venture on a five-day tour of Washington in order to discover the culture, geography and economics of the state as part of the seventh annual Faculty Field Tour.

June 3, 2004