VOLUME 26, NUMBER 10 | 12/4/2008 – 1/7/2009 | UWEEK.ORG

First World Report on Child Injury to be introduced at UW: Global experts to speak at forum Dec. 11
The World Health Organization, the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center and the UW Department of Global Health will host a forum to provide an overview of the problem of child injury with international injury experts and generate discussion of prevention strategies.

University Week takes a break
This is the last issue of University Week for fall quarter. We will return the first Thursday of winter quarter, Jan. 8.

Paul Yager named chair of bioengineering
Paul Yager, acting chair of the UW Department of Bioengineering since 2007, became department chair on Nov. 24. A bioengineering faculty member since 1987, Yager works on diagnostic technologies, including systems to improve diagnoses in the developing world.

Lauded Harlem Quartet to play Meany Hall on Dec. 9
The Harlem Quartet, the ensemble whose mission is to engage young and new audiences and to advance diversity in the world of classical music, will appear in Meany Hall at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9, as part of the UW World Series.

School of Music presents student works, women’s vocal jazz, organ music and guest cellist Julian Schwarz
Student compositions, a holiday organ recital, women’s vocal jazz and cellist Julian Schwarz are among performances offered by the School of Music in coming days.

University Symphony presents Beethoven, Schumann and Bruch works Dec. 5
Clarinet and viola solos will be featured as the University Symphony performs works by Beethoven Schumann and Bruch Dec. 5.

Etc.: Campus news & notes
Richard Ladner receives the 2008 Purpose Prize, Juliet McMains wins the Congress on Research in Dance Outstanding Publication Award, Robert Anderson and Paul Miller serve on Obama's transition team, and more accomplishments by your campus colleagues.

Newsmakers
UW faculty and staff comment on standardized tests, breast cancer in Africa, child abandonment, artificial limbs and a possible Obama baby boom in this compilation of quotes from the national media.

Peer Portfolio
A new veterans center at the University of Missouri, birth control for squirrels at the University of California, Davis, and more news from UW's peer institutions.

Official Notices
An information session for the Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship and volunteers sought for a study on stress and breast cancer.

Run, Nic, run! Staffer raising money with 13 marathons in 12 weeks
Why would anyone run three marathons in three days? Indeed, how could anyone run three marathons in three days? UW staffer Nic Plemel did it, all to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Six-year study: School finance systems work against student learning
Public school finance systems in the United States are outmoded and need overhauling if effective school finance is to be achieved, according to a national study led by the UW’s Center for Reinventing Public Education.

Scorelator: New virtual TA grades programming homework in seconds
Daunted at the notion of hundreds of student projects to grade in his Beginning Scientific Computing class, Nathan Kutz created a program to help him and his TAs grade all those assignments with computer-enhanced ease. And now it’s catching on.

Elementary school intervention increases mental, sexual health, economic status
Fifteen years after they completed an intervention program designed to help their social development in elementary school, young adults reported better mental health, sexual health and higher educational and economic achievement than a control group of young adults who didn’t receive the intervention, according to a new study led by UW Professor J. David Hawkins.

Final for freshman event planning seminar is an event itself
Freshmen learn by doing in a seminar about event planning. And their final project? Planning and executing their own event.

Students know a lot about computers — but knowledge is superficial, program shows
Adults often assume that young people — raised with a computer in the house — are fluent in information technology. But that isn’t necessarily true, as a new program that reaches out to high school students shows.

Terrorism: It’s not just Sept. 11, students learn
Students in a Comparative History of Ideas (CHID) focus group called “Perspectives on Terrorism” explored the controversial topic fall quarter with the help of several guest speakers from around the world, including a university student in Egypt who held a videoconference with them.

Soccer camp planned Dec. 26-28
The UW men’s soccer team is offering the annual Winter Husky Soccer Camp for boys and girls Dec. 26-28 at the Dempsey Indoor Center.

Spicy Puget Sound: Fish swim in ‘big, dilute latte,’ research shows
When those of us dwelling near Puget Sound eat pumpkin pie and snickerdoodles, the cinnamon level of the Sound’s water goes up. That’s what UW researchers have learned through sampling the water before and after holidays filled with spicy treats.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service is Jan. 19
Last January, 1,200 members of the UW community spent the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service helping others. The next Day of Service is Jan. 19, 2009, and there are 57 agencies awaiting your help.

Combined Fund Drive extended a week to Dec. 12
The Combined Fund Drive (CFD), Washington State’s workplace giving campaign, will be extended until Dec. 12, providing another week for the UW campus community to consider donating to the more than 2,600 charities supported by the campaign.

UW-WSU collaboration on animal-human health breaks new ground
Universities are now working on an animal vaccine to protect against E.coli.

Baker wins 2008 Sackler International Prize in Biophysics
David Baker, UW professor of biochemistry, has been selected to receive the 2008 prize for his discoveries in protein folding.

Chan and Coldwell appointed to endowed dentistry posts
School of Dentistry faculty members Drs. Daniel Chan and Susan Coldwell have been appointed to key academic appointments endowed by the Washington Dental Service.

Weber recognized for contributions to psychiatric pharmacy
Stanley Weber, associate professor of pharmacy, will receive the 2009 Judith Saklad Memorial Lecture Award for his contributions to the field of psychiatric pharmacy.

Harborview burn rehab manager wins international award
Merilyn Moore was honored for her leadership in burn injury rehabilitation.

Health policy interests converge at annual confab
More than 350 people attended the 23rd annual Washington Health Legislative Conference to discuss health care issues with state legislators.

What do you have in mind? Ethical questions in neuroscience
Advances in treating neurological and psychiatric diseases pose ethical dilemmas.

Harborview and UW Medical Center art on display at Seattle City Hall
Seattle City Hall art exhibition, "The Picture of Health," features art collections from Harborview Medical Center and UW Medical Center. The exhibit will be on display through Jan. 30.

Faculty honored for outstanding work
Drs. Carlos Pellegrini, Joanne Elmore, Christina Surawicz and Adrienne Fairhall have been recognized for their professional achievements.

Health Sciences Events
Highlights of upcoming events in Health Sciences

Yuja Wang. Barely in her twenties, this Bejing-born pianist has already made several important debuts in Europe. Her recent engagements have included performances with the New York Philharmonic and the Houston, San Francisco, and Chicago symphonies. Her appearance is part of the UW World Series.
8 p.m., Meany Hall.

Becoming bipedal. Patricia Kramer, UW research assistant professor of anthropology and adjunct curator of archaeology at The Burke Museum, presents Lucy Walks: Functional Morphology and the Evolution of Bipedalism, where she discusses discuss how anthropologists decipher clues from fossils to learn how and why our earliest hominid ancestors walked upright.
7-9 p.m., Eames Auditorium, Pacific Science Center.

Photo by Kristen DeGree

When MaryEllen Anderson, longtime School of Art staffer, won a Distinguished Staff Award in 2006, University Week erred in calling the car she "still proudly drives" a VW bus rather than a Bug. Anderson, who retired Aug. 27 on her 73rd birthday but still helps out occasionally, reminded us of that slip with this charming photo. She said she painted the EarthBall all summer in an unused faculty office: "It's my retirement gift to myself.”

Can you guess where this photo was taken? Guess correctly, and you might win a gift certificate to the University Book Store!