Deadline extended for survey on Best Places to Work in Baltimore

Anyone wishing to take the Baltimore Business Journal's "best places to work in Baltimore" online survey has an added week.

The weekly business newspaper has extended its deadline to Friday, Feb. 10.

Johns Hopkins faculty and staff can participate by going to www.qmrinc.com/bestplaces and entering organization code TJKR64271. Staff members at other Baltimore-area employers are also completing the survey.

You will be asked about your experiences at the university in 10 areas, including, for instance, team effectiveness, people practices and trust. The survey, which takes about 10 minutes to complete, is completely anonymous. No responses can be traced to an individual. The survey is open to all Johns Hopkins University faculty and staff.

Charlene Moore Hayes, vice president for human resources, said that the results of the survey will also be useful to the university, which will receive the compiled data. "Your feedback on your experience working at Johns Hopkins is important to the university, so I want to thank you for considering this opportunity," she wrote in a recent e-mail encouraging employees to participate in the survey.

 

'Hard Science/Soft Skills' is topic of upcoming lecture series

Next week, the Space Telescope Science Institute, the Civility Initiative at Johns Hopkins and the Whiting School of Engineering will kick off an innovative lecture series called "Hard Science/Soft Skills: Fostering Civility in the Scientific Workplace."

A lecture by Civility Initiative director P.M. Forni at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 7, is the first of six events designed to examine the connections among relationship skills, ethics, quality of life and productivity in the scientific workplace.

Forni's lecture — titled "Why Civility? Why Now?" — will take place in the STSci auditorium. For information on future events, go to www.stsci.edu/institute/conference/hsss or e-mail Lee Peters at lpeters@stsci.edu.

 

Kweise Mfume is the keynote speaker for Black History Month

Kweise Mfume, former U.S. congressman and CEO of the NAACP, will be the keynote speaker on the opening day of Black History Month.

Mfume, who led the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People from 1996 to 2004, will speak at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31, in Homewood's Shriver Hall. Opening ceremonies will be held earlier in the day, from noon to 3 p.m. in the Glass Pavilion.

The theme of this year's program, sponsored by the Black History Month Committee of the Black Student Union, is "Roots: Discovering Our Universal Heritage." Other scheduled events, which run from Jan. 31 to March 4, include a book discussion with author Bebe Moore Cambell, a gospel jubilee, the launch of a Web site for a project called "The History of African-Americans at JHU" and a talk by social activist Chester Wickwire, who launched the Tutorial Project in 1958. For details, check The Gazette's weekly calendar or the university's online calendar at www.jhu.edu/calendar.

 

President Brody is honored by the Fullwood Foundation

At its annual Benefit & Recognition Breakfast, held this month in Baltimore, the Fullwood Foundation honored President William R. Brody with its Lifetime Achievement Award.

The foundation raises funds to support educational initiatives designed to provide youth with scholarships for higher education, leading them to pursue successful careers.

Among the other event honorees were 2005 graduate Kyle Harrison, the three-time All-American lacrosse player voted best player in America in 2005, who was recognized as Athlete of the Year.

 

Former CIA director to speak about intelligence, War on Terror

R. James Woolsey, former director of central intelligence, will speak at SAIS at 5:30 p.m. today, Jan. 30. A reception will precede the event at 5 p.m.

Woolsey, currently a vice president with Booz Allen Hamilton's Global Resilience practice, will speak at the inaugural lecture of the SAIS Intelligence Forum, addressing the topic of "The Long War of the 21st Century: How We Must Fight It." He headed the CIA from 1993 to 1995.

The event, to be held in the Nitze Building's Kenney Auditorium, is co-hosted by the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at SAIS and the U.S. Army's Dwight D. Eisenhower National Security Series. Non-SAIS affiliates should RSVP to 202-663-5837 or ctownsL1@jhu.edu.

 

APL hosts Maryland Aerospace Workforce Summit 2006

Hundreds of aerospace industry leaders from business and government organizations convened at APL on Jan. 26 for the 2006 Maryland Aerospace Workforce Summit.

The purpose of the day-long event was to review the workforce needs and issues that had been identified by the Governor's Workforce Investment Board's Aerospace Steering Committee and to develop strategies identifying champions who will support implementation actions after the summit.

Among the federal legislators, Maryland elected officials and education administrators attending were James D. Fielder Jr., Maryland Secretary of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation; Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski; Rep. Steny H. Hoyer; and Norman R. Augustine, retired chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin.

 

Videotape of avian flu symposium will be online after event

A videotape of the avian flu symposium being held today at the Bloomberg School of Public Health (see Calendar, in this issue.) will be available online after the event at www.jhsph.edu/flu/symposium/index.

The daylong symposium was convened by Dean Michael J. Klag to examine the public health aspects of a potential pandemic.

Patrick Leahy, acting director of the U.S. Geological Survey, is the keynote speaker. His presentation will include animated mapping techniques used by the USGS to show migratory bird flyways and disease outbreaks around the globe.

Other presentations include epidemic history and modeling, an overview of avian flu, vaccine strategies for influenza, ethics framework, public health approaches to prevention, and transmission and tracking avian flu in hospitals and among poultry workers.

 

Local businesses partner to fight diabetic eye disease in Hispanics

In an effort to fight diabetes-related eye disease in Baltimore, 12 business owners have come together to provide educational activities for Hispanics who may be at risk of losing their sight.

The innovative ProVisión Amigos partnership — an eye health campaign financed by the National Eye Institute — was introduced last week at an event recognizing businesses that are giving back to the Hispanic community. Each ProVisión Amigos partner will donate space and time to educate its clients on the importance of annual eye exams for persons with diabetes.

"Community outreach through ProVisión Amigos is the key to reaching as many Hispanics as possible in Baltimore," says Sheila West, professor of ophthalmology in the School of Medicine and principal investigator of the ProVisión project. "Talking with members of the community in the places where they shop, eat and carry out their business transactions strengthens the message of caring for your vision."

ProVisión comprises the Hispanic Apostolate, the Wilmer Eye Institute and the Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Communications Programs.

The Amigos initiative partners are Super-mercado Sav-a-lot, Tienda y Restaurante La Guadalupana, the Market at Highlandtown: Great Valu, Tienda y Restaurante 5 de Mayo, Tortilleria Sinaloa, Tienda Value Express "Las Primas," Tienda Genesis, Restaurante Chicken Rico, Highland Laundry & Cleaner, State Farm and Restaurant El Salvador.

 

SAIS, ABA to co-host forum on foreign intelligence surveillance

In collaboration with the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Law and National Security, the SAIS International Law and Organization Program will co-host a forum titled "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance: Without a Warrant — Is It Legally Justified?" at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 31.

Participants include Suzanne E. Spaulding, managing director of the Harbour Group and former minority staff director of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; Eugene R. Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice; David Cole, professor of law, Georgetown University School of Law; Robert F. Turner, professor and associate director of the University of Virginia School of Law's Center for Law and National Security; and Ruth Wedgwood, director of the SAIS International Law and Organization Program.

The event will be held in the Nitze Building's Kenney Auditorium. Non-SAIS affiliates must RSVP to the ABA at 202-662-1035 or hmcmahon@staff.abanet.org.

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