JHU particle physicist to host 'Next Big Bang' TV show

Particle physicist David Kaplan, assistant professor in the Henry A. Rowland Department of Physics and Astronomy, will host a one-hour History Channel program called "The Next Big Bang" at 8 p.m. on Sunday, March 16. (The program will air again that night at midnight and at 8 p.m. and midnight on Tuesday, March 18.)

The program focuses on what has been called "the biggest science experiment in history": the Large Hadron Collider located at CERN, near Geneva. The LHC, scheduled to be tested in May and begin operation in October, costs on the order of $10 billion and has the potential to answer many questions about the universe and its origins when it smashes protons together at the speed of light in an attempt to re-create the conditions that happened in the nanoseconds after the Big Bang.

The History Channel tells visitors to its Web site that the show will take viewers on "an amazing journey involving the struggles to plan and to build the LHC, how it was constructed and what are its mechanics."

Kaplan says that the show was conceived as a companion piece to a documentary he has been working on that "follows a handful of theorists and experimentalists up to the point when the LHC turns on." That project is ongoing.

 

Maryland nonprofit universities, colleges release joint publication

A culmination of a three-year effort by Maryland's nonprofit colleges and universities to provide "Solutions for Maryland" is a just-released joint publication called Maryland's Colleges and Universities: United for Our Future, which addresses changing demographics, creating partnerships pre-K to PhD and fueling an economic engine. Earlier joint initiatives included an opinion poll to gauge public perceptions on higher education qualities and needs, and listening tours in every region of the state to seek input from businesses, industries and governments.

The publication was produced by the Maryland Association of Community Colleges, Maryland Higher Education Commission, Maryland Independent College and University Association, Morgan State University, St. Mary's College of Maryland and the University System of Maryland.

The state initiative is part of a larger national effort coordinated by the American Council on Education — "Solutions for Our Future" — to raise awareness of higher education as one of America's greatest resources.

To view the publication, go to www.micua.org and click on News.

 

Daffodil Days to raise funds for American Cancer Society

On Thursday and Friday, March 13 and 14, daffodils and teddy bears will be sold at sites across Johns Hopkins to help fund the American Cancer Society's cancer prevention, treatment and patient advocacy efforts. Bouquets or potted bulbs are $10; the Bea R. Hope bear with a bouquet is $25.

For a listing of Daffodil Days sale sites, or to help out, go t www.jhu.edu/~hr1/fsrp/daffodil.html or contact Sondra Ponzi at sponzi1@jhu.edu or 410-516-0338.

 

SoN students head to Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans

A group of students from the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing are heading to New Orleans during spring break to volunteer their time to help the community.

The 13 students, who banded together as Team NOLA (for New Orleans, La.), are working eight days with Lowernine.org, a nonprofit organization committed to training residents and volunteers to rebuild the Lower Ninth Ward, an area badly damaged in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina. Lowernine.org is providing food and lodging for the group.

Although the student nurses will devote most of their efforts to residential rebuilding, they also will work with nurses to conduct outreach screenings and assist residents who still have limited access to health care.

The Johns Hopkins Nurses Alumni Association and School of Nursing Student Government Association donated funds for the trip, and Team NOLA solicited medical and building supplies to take with them. The students also raised more than $900 through a bake sale and Cajun-style lunch they prepared.

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