APL develops aerial technology for Homeland Security

The Maryland State Police Aviation Command, which regularly inspects important structures such as bridges, dams and power facilities as part of its homeland protection mission, is field-testing an APL-developed technology that will help personnel more accurately locate and evaluate target structures.

The Critical Infrastructure Inspection Management System, or CIIMS (pronounced "sims"), is a pilot project designed to help aerial law-enforcement personnel efficiently manage and prioritize inspections through structured monitoring, data collection and information sharing within federal, state and local intelligence communities.

The computer-based tool allows inspection teams to visualize their location and proximity to property being inspected, and provides them with a series of questions to guide them through the inspection process. The system is being designed so any law enforcement aviation unit could use it, and for a potential expansion to patrols by car, boat or train, or even on foot.

CIIMS is funded by the Command, Control and Interoperability Division of the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate.

 

Commemoration of Nursing's Victoria Mock to be held today

A ceremony honoring the life of Victoria "Vicki" Mock will be held at 4 p.m. today, Jan. 14, in the School of Nursing's Alumni Auditorium. A reception will follow the service. The program, planned in collaboration with Mock's family, will celebrate Mock's major contributions and the impact she had on colleagues, students and trainees.

Speakers will include Dean Martha Hill; Ted DeWeese, chair of the School of Medicine's Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences; Jane Fall-Dickson, National Institute of Nursing Research; Deborah Gross, the Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Chair in Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing at the School of Nursing; Alva P. Hutchison, American Cancer Society; Sharon Krumm, director of Nursing, JHH Oncology Center; Gayle Mallory, Oncology Nursing Society; Joan McClure, National Comprehensive Cancer Network; Sister Callista Roy, Boston College; Theresa Swift- Scanlan, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; and Jennifer Wenzel, Center for Collaborative Intervention Research, JHU School of Nursing.

Mock served as professor, chair of the Department of Health Systems and Outcomes, and director of the Center for Collaborative Intervention Research. She also directed nursing research at the Kimmel Cancer Center and held a joint appointment in Oncology at the School of Medicine.

The school has established a fund in Mock's honor. The Victoria Mock Research Fund will support pilot studies and enhance the work of the Center on Collaborative Intervention Research. Contributions should be sent to Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, the Victoria Mock Research Fund, 525 N. Wolfe St., Room 529, Baltimore, MD 21205. For more information, contact the Office of Development at 410-955-4284.

 

'American Indian Lacrosse' reissued by JHU Press

Today's legions of lacrosse fans can now delve into the history of the sport's aboriginal roots. Thomas Vennum's American Indian Lacrosse, originally published by Smithsonian in 1994, has just been published in paperback by the Johns Hopkins University Press (January, $24.95).

Vennum, senior ethnomusicologist emeritus at the Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies at the Smithsonian, explores the early years of the sport, which began as a spiritual way of life used to resolve conflicts, heal the sick and develop strong men. Readers will learn why players sewed inchworms into the innards of balls, bits of bat wings were twisted into the stick's netting and famous players were buried with their sticks.

 

Counting Crows' Duritz to sing at Pediatric Epilepsy benefit

Grammy-nominated artist Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows will play an acoustic set at next month's Carson Harris Foundation Feel Good Fest, whose proceeds will benefit the John M. Freeman Center for Pediatric Epilepsy at Johns Hopkins, where Marylanders Mike and Gerry Harris' young daughter, Carson, was treated. The event will be held Feb. 1 at Rams Head Live in Baltimore. Duritz, the lead singer of Counting Crows, will perform with Dave Gibbs from the band Low Stars, following the opening act, the Flood. Tickets, $125 ($75 is tax-deductible), are available at www.ramsheadlive.com or by calling 410-244-1131.

 

Nominations sought for student employee of the year

In celebration of National Student Employment Week, the university is looking for the 2008 JHU Student Employee of the Year. Full-time undergraduate or graduate students from all schools are eligible. Nominees are judged on reliability, initiative, disposition, contribution and quality of work. The nomination deadline is Feb. 22.

All nominees and their supervisors will be invited to the annual Student Employment Services Awards Ceremony during National Student Employment Week, April 7 to 13. Winners will be announced and prizes awarded at that time. For more information and to submit your nomination, go to www.jhu.edu/stujob and click on National Student Employment Week.

 

Evergreen Museum offers training for new docents

Evergreen Museum will offer a five-week training course, led by museum staff, for volunteers interested in giving tours of the historic property. The course, to be held from 10 a.m. to noon on Mondays from Jan. 28 to Feb. 25, will give future docents an overview of Garrett family history, Evergreen's collections and tour-guide techniques.

For more information or to register, call 410-516-0341.

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