April 2009
In Every Issue
Today's feature
With a remarkable array of faculty members addressing networks of all kinds, from trade networks to financial systems to the spread of disease, the provision of health care and the inner workings of the human brain, IU is at the forefront of studying how networks operate. More »
Headliners
It's a double braid of sorts for IU's Douglas Hofstadter this week: he's been elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences and seen the publication of his new "double book" -- his translation of a Françoise Sagan novel and a provocative essay on the paradoxes of translation.
Research
IU has received $7.83 million in collaboration with Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center since 2007 to design improvements and upgrade equipment on a linear accelerator that will be used at the IU Cyclotron Facility to test the effects of radiation on space and missile systems. The accelerator is also expected to support life science research, including the rapidly expanding area of nanobiological systems.
Technology
IU scientists have been involved in the GlueX experiment for more than a decade, studying exotic hybrid mesons, the particles that may hold the key to unlock how quarks bind together to form matter's building blocks. A groundbreaking at the DOE's Jefferson Lab in Virginia this week is a milestone for the 10 IU scientists, staff and students currently working on the GlueX experiment as well as for emeritus professor Alex Dzierba.
Outreach
IU's Center for the Study of Global Change's project, Voices and Visions: Islam and Muslims from a Global Perspective, is certainly a teaching initiative, but it's also a way to demystify and bring people together, countering misperceptions and improving understanding of the second most practiced religion in the world.
Health
A new study from the IUPUI campus suggests that the diagnosis of any disorder associated with impulsivity -- such as attention deficit disorder or bipolar disorder -- is cause for concern about an individual's future problems with alcoholism.
FYI
IU's new agreement with SurveyMonkey provides discounts on professional account subscription rates.
Arts & Humanities
The Jacobs School of Music Opera and Ballet Theater's next season offers two takes on young love, two new opera productions, a ballet tribute to Sergei Diaghilev's Ballet Russes' 100th year and an American evening featuring the works of choreography icons George Balanchine and Agnes de Mille, and more.
Events
IU commencements statewide begin May 9 in Bloomington with Justice Michael Kirby of Australia delivering the commencement address, and end with an evening ceremony for IU East grads in Richmond.
