Drought advisory issued for Hopkins community

The state of Maryland is in a drought emergency, and although Gov. Parris Glendening has lifted mandatory water restrictions, he said that rainfall, stream flow and reservoir levels remain low. "I ask Marylanders to continue their extraordinary efforts by voluntarily conserving water, and making water conservation a daily part of their lives," the governor said.

During the four weeks that mandatory measures were in force, Marylanders were restricted from washing cars and watering lawns. Under the current voluntary conservation regime, you are asked to abide by these measures as much as possible.

There are extra measures you can take to conserve water. For example, you can save up to five gallons every day by turning off your faucet while brushing your teeth. When doing laundry use the load selector to match water level to load size; if there is no selector, do only full loads. Report all leaky faucets and running toilets to maintenance. A leaky faucet can waste 100 gallons a day.

President Brody announces office hours for students

President William R. Brody will hold office hours for students (undergraduates, graduates, medical) during the 1999-2000 academic year, September through April.

Students may sign up for 15-minute appointments by contacting the President's Office at 410-516-8068 between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays or by e-mailing Brenda Brockman at bbrockman@jhu.edu. You will be asked to leave your name, class year or department, phone number, e-mail address if applicable and the topic(s) you wish to discuss. To allow for the best possible discussion in the allotted time, students who wish to schedule appointments together should limit themselves to groups of no more than three.

The first session will be Thurs., Sept. 9, from 3 to 4 p.m. A complete list of times for 1999 can be found on the Web at http://www.jhu.edu/~president/hours.html.

The dates for 2000 will be posted shortly.

The President's Office is located in 242 Garland Hall on the Homewood campus.

Maryland has foundation for a boom in high technology

With a highly educated work force, intensive research and development and universities that are among the nation's best in science and engineering, Maryland has a solid foundation for a boom in high technology, according to a report written by a Hopkins researcher.

The report, commissioned by the Maryland Technology Alliance, compares Maryland with five other states in terms of high technology potential and performance. The first-ever report for Maryland was researched and written by Marsha Schachtel, a senior fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies.

Hopkins is a member of the Maryland Technology Alliance, an affiliation of universities, government agencies and private companies striving to improve the state's high technology sector. Theodore Poehler, vice provost for research, is a co-chair of the MTA.

"This is really a picture of opportunity," Poehler said. "Maryland already has a robust high technology economy, but the potential is there for tremendous growth in the future."

NEAR engine burn puts spacecraft on target for Eros

In August, a two-minute hydrazine engine burn put the NASA Discovery Program's NEAR spacecraft on a direct path to intercept asteroid 433 Eros early next year. Commands from the NEAR mission operations center at APL were carried out flawlessly by the spacecraft.

"The burn was a good test of the orbit correction process we will be using when we reach Eros," said Mark E. Holdridge, NEAR mission operations manager. "We'll be using the same flight software and systems to put us into orbit around the asteroid, so we're really pleased to see how well they worked." The burn was the last scheduled major trajectory correction of the mission. It slowed the spacecraft's velocity by just over 10 mph to about 188 mph relative to Eros.

Robert W. Farquhar, NEAR mission manager, said, "We had to complete this burn in order to reach Eros on Feb. 14, 2000. Without it we would have missed the asteroid by about 106,000 miles."

If any additional trajectory correction is needed, it will take place on Oct. 20.

Free screening for leg pain during National Screening Week

Hopkins is one of eight area hospitals participating in Legs For Life, a national screening week for peripheral vascular disease leg pain. PVD, which is caused by blocked blood flow in the arteries of the legs, can cause pain or swelling, difficulty walking, numbness and skin discoloration. The disease is most common in people over the age of 50, who smoke or have diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels. Because PVD starts gradually, many people simply think they are feeling the natural effects of aging.

A free screening for PVD is being offered on Tuesday, Sept. 14, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Outpatient Center, 601 N. Carolina St., JHMI campus. To make an appointment, call 410-614-2227.