The latest news from the UW

The University of Washington’s nationally ranked Department of Bioengineering has established its first endowed professorship, a move that will help the department maintain its leading role in the fast-paced field of bioengineering, officials announced today.

Thanks to work by a group of University of Washington engineers, mass transit riders can keep tabs on nearly 1,000 King County Metro Transit buses with the punch of a few buttons. All they need is a cellular telephone that can access the World Wide Web.

The tear gas and barricades are long gone from the streets of Seattle, but the history of the World Trade Organization protests nearly one year ago is only starting to be written.

With a small but growing number of male-to-female transgender clients, the need for consistently effective voice feminization therapy has increased in the United States.

Three prominent judges were honored Nov. 9 by the University of Washington Law School Alumni Association.

A survey conducted by Dr. Maria Silveira and her colleagues showed that while patients in Oregon have had extensive exposure to arguments about assisted suicide, and voted on it twice, many do not understand their basic rights regarding end-of-life care.

A University of Washington scientist has used statistical modeling to determine that there was only a 1-in-10,000 chance that the vote total for Pat Buchanan in Palm Beach County, Fla.

— Treatment with a combination of statin and niacin can slash the risk of hospitalization for chest pain or a heart attack by 70 percent among patients who are likely to suffer heart attacks and/or death from cardiovascular problems, according to a study presented here by researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

A new set of unique archaeology kits will be available next month to help Puget Sound students travel back in time to learn about how people lived in the region during the last 4,200 years.

Most people do not think of kissing as a way of spreading serious sexually transmitted diseases. But kissing between men may be what spreads human herpes virus 8 (HHV-8), the cause of Kaposi’s sarcoma, according to researchers at the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

Lizabeth A. Wilson, associate director of libraries at the University of Washington since 1992, has been chosen to succeed Betty Bengtson as director of university libraries.

Some of the finest living Northwest Coastal Native artists will demonstrate their carving, weaving and musical talents at the third annual Native American Arts Celebration at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture.

In her new book “With Malice Toward All? The Media and Public Confidence in Democratic Institutions,” University of Washington communications professor Patricia Moy says there’s a relationship between media use, knowledge and confidence in government.

An optical telecommunications breakthrough developed by a
University of Washington chemistry professor has spawned a
new company to develop and market the technology, and could
lead to establishment of a center at the UW for the growing
science of photonics.

A $4 million dollar grant to create a co-operative research center on hepatitis C has been awarded to the University of Washington by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, with the support of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Most parents and children dread the time when they sit down and have “the talk.

With surveys showing a rise in political apathy among the young, educators are studying new techniques to engage youngsters in the spirit of democracy before they reach voting age.

The arrival of a couple’s first baby is a time of great joy that is frequently followed by a sharp decline in the wife’s marital satisfaction. Social scientists have known this for some time, and that this dissatisfaction can propel couples toward divorce. University of Washington marital researchers studying first-time parents have uncovered a “prescription” for maintaining and even improving marital satisfaction.

Two University of Washington professors – one developing new methods to combine disparate digital information and another studying ways to heal damaged hearts – were named by President Clinton today as winners of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

Scientists have known for years that birds’ ears do something human ears cannot: when hair cells in the avian ear are destroyed, the bird goes deaf only temporarily. Now, research at the University of Washington is showing why.

Researchers at the University of Washington and The Insitu Group this week announced plans to attempt the first unmanned flight across the Pacific Ocean

A run of salmon facing new environmental conditions diverged into two populations in as few as 13 generations – a time span of only about 60 years – according to research conducted at the University of Washington with sockeye salmon in Lake Washington and the Cedar River near Seattle.

Paul Boardman, who has represented Washington state and the nation’s forest-products industry in Japan since the early 1990s, has been named director of the Center for International Trade in Forest Products at the University of Washington’s College of Forest Resources.

Members of the news media are invited to preview the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture’s new exhibit, “Entwined with Life: Native American Basketry,” next Monday and Tuesday afternoons, Oct. 23 and 24, at the University of Washington.

Dr. William A. Catterall, professor and chair of the University of Washington (UW) medical school’s Department of Pharmacology and Dr. Paul G. Ramsey, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the UW School of Medicine, are among the 60 new members elected to the Institute of Medicine.

Engineers at the University of Washington and The Insitu Group, who collaborated in 1998 to make the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by an unmanned aircraft.

Couple the re-release of “The Exorcist” and the up-coming Halloween broadcast of “Possessed,” a TV documentary about a purported exorcism in a mental hospital, and you’ve got a prescription for a sudden jump in the number reported demonic possessions.

A $10 million grant will allow researchers at the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to conduct an unprecedented study of genetic variation and how it may affect the function of human genes — and, ultimately, our susceptibility or resistance to disease.

Seattle Campus Information regarding University of Washington enrollment for Autumn 2000.

Four decades after President Kennedy tapped student idealism by proposing a Peace Corps, the University of Washington is announcing a new master’s degree program that combines volunteer service overseas with management training on campus.

About 800 people from the University of Washington and the community are expected to attend the Sixth Annual “Bridging the Gap” Diversity Breakfast, whose theme is “Forging Ahead: Diversity in the 21st Century.” The event will be held from 8 to 11 a.m. Oct. 21 in the HUB Ballroom.

Psychologists trying to understand the factors that put athletes and performers at risk for injuries have found that professional ballet dancers get hurt just as often and suffer just as serious injuries as athletes in contact sports.

A University of Washington survey has found that studies about human sexual activity leave out an important factor: the sexual activity of prostitutes.

Dr. Maynard Olson, director of the University of Washington Genome Center, professor of genetics and medicine and adjunct professor of computer science, is one of three scientists who will receive the annual City of Medicine Award on Oct. 5.

The University of Washington has received the first national award for excellence in campus-wide programs in information technologies that support teaching and learning.

Investigators at the University of Washington UW School of Medicine, will receive $5.3 million over five years to investigate the molecular biology of the stem cells that produce blood.

Amid public concern over a recent local crime wave, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske will appear Monday at the University of Washington Law School to discuss proposals for reducing gun violence

WHO: Between 150 and 200 6-to-12-year-olds from around Puget Sound.

Will the Internet dissolve the nation-state? Three major research universities located in hubs of high-tech innovation are uniting to explore this question and others concerning the impact of the Internet on economic and political systems.

For older people with mild depression, antidepressant medication improves symptoms better and faster than counseling or placebos, concluded the authors of an article published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.