Career Exploration Workshops -- The Counseling Center is offering two career exploration workshops, beginning in January. Titled "The First Step: Discovering Careers That Fit," these workshops will each consist of three sessions.

The first series will be held Jan. 12, 17 and 19, from 10 a.m. to noon.

For information, contact Bill Bercaw, Alicia Clarke or Rosa Kim at 410-516-8278 or visit the Counseling Center in Merryman Hall and ask about the First Step workshops.

Hospice Volunteer Opportunities -- Johns Hopkins Home Hospice provides support to patients and families during end stages of a terminal illness. The hospice is looking for volunteers for direct patient service, bereavement care and administrative/office support. Volunteer training is provided.

The next volunteer training and orientation program will begin in late January. For more information, contact volunteer coordinator Jean McHale, at 410-288-4692.

ESOL Classes -- Registration for the ESOL classes sponsored by the Johns Hopkins International Society will be held January 11 and 12, from 9 a.m. to noon in 3 Reed Hall on the East Baltimore campus. Beginner, intermediate and advanced levels are taught. Emphasis is on conversational skills and American culture.

Classes will begin the week of Jan. 29, and end the week of April 23. Cost is $45 for the semester. For more information, go to bgormle@jhmi.edu.

Occupational Health Services Classes -- The Department of Occupational Health Services is offering the following classes for Hopkins faculty and staff:

Yoga will be offered on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings beginning Jan. 8. The cost for the eight-week session is $25/ $45.

Muscle conditioning and toning will be offered Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from 12:15 to 1 p.m. beginning Jan. 9. The cost for the eight-week session is $20/$40.

Seated massages will be offered on the Homewood and East Baltimore campuses. The 15-minute seated massage is given by a certified massage therapist for a reasonable fee.

For additional information and/or to register, contact Occupational Health Services at 410-516-0450. The classes are offered in conjunction with the Office of Benefits Administration.

Provost's Undergraduate Research Awards -- The 2001 Provost's Undergraduate Research Awards will provide a number of grants to current freshmen, sophomores and juniors in the schools of Arts and Sciences, Engineering and Nursing, and in the Peabody Conservatory.

The money may be used to pay the costs of the winner's research or creative projects. Winners may choose to receive up to $1,500 of the total award as a cash stipend or to receive academic credit for their work.

Applications are available from the office of Theodore Poehler, vice provost for research, at 275 Garland Hall on the Homewood campus, or by phone at 410-516-0146. Completed applications for summer projects must be submitted by noon on March 9 and by April 6 for fall semester proposals.

Hazard Communication Training -- The Office of Health, Safety and Environment offers training programs to educate Hopkins personnel about maintaining safe work environments. Two programs are offered on a routine basis on the Homewood campus.

Hazard communication training helps employees find information associated with any material in their workplace. The training is required by federal and state law for all employees on a onetime basis. Employees hired in 1998, 1999 and 2000 received the training if they attended new employee orientation. All other employees should attend one of the hazard communication training sessions, scheduled to take place on the second Wednesday of each month at 3 p.m. in the Arellano Theater in Levering Union.

JHU employees who handle or are exposed to materials containing blood or body fluids as part of their normally assigned duties must attend a bloodborne pathogen training session once a year. This training is also mandated by federal and state law and Johns Hopkins University policy. The training is offered on the second Wednesday of each month at 3:30 p.m. in Arellano Theater in Levering Union.

The next scheduled date for the hazard communication and bloodborne pathogen safety training programs is Jan. 10.

For more information, call the Office of Health, Safety and Environment at 410-516-8798.

Alternatives to Animal Testing -- The Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing is soliciting projects that will focus on investigating and developing alternative methods to the use of whole animals for safety/hazard evaluation, risk assessment and efficacy. In vitro approaches to evaluate cellular and target organ toxicity are encouraged. CAAT does not currently fund projects relating to carcinogenicity or mutagenicity.

To apply, complete a preproposal form, following the instructions on the form, and return no later than March 15. The preproposal should be mailed to: CAAT Grants Coordinator, Suite 840, 111 Market Place, Baltimore, Md. 21202-6709. Preproposals may also be submitted online through the following Web sites: http://altweb.jhsph.edu or http://caat.jhsph.edu.

No other materials are required for this stage of the application process. Only abstracts using the appropriate format will be reviewed. Appropriate applications will be invited to submit a complete grant application package. All responses will be forwarded by e-mail or U.S. mail. No telephone responses will be given.

Versata Software Presentation -- The Versata Corporation will make an executive and technical presentation of their system software on Jan. 23, in the Garrett Room of the Milton S. Eisenhower Library, Homewood campus. The executive presentation, which begins at 10 a.m. and ends at 11:30 a.m. will be a high-level overview of the corporation. The technical presentation will begin at 11:30 a.m. and end at 1 p.m.

The university has purchased the Versata software and is presently developing the budget and account setup information system (BASIS) using the Versata rule-based tool. The Versata software provides a complete standards-based system that reduces the time and resources required to implement, manage and change complex transaction-based e-business applications such as business-to-business commerce sites, dealer service portals, internal operations and packaged applications.