On the road to discovery
Rozalin Davoodnia, a senior natural sciences/public health major, knew in theory that a successful health care model was a relative beast. She heard often enough in class that an effective clinic in Chicago, for example, cannot simply be duplicated elsewhere, say in a Third World community, and be expected to yield the same results.
   Still, to really understand this concept Davoodnia thought she needed to experience it firsthand. Fortunately, she was given the opportunity to do just that when her research proposal was selected for a 1999 Provost's Undergraduate Research Award.
   Since 1993, about 50 students each year have been awarded up to $2,500 to propose and conduct original research, some results of which have been published in professional journals. The awards, begun by then provost Joseph Cooper and funded through a donation from the Hodson Trust, are an important part of the university's commitment to research. In fact, about 80 percent of the university's undergraduates engage in some form of independent research during their four years here, most alongside top researchers in their fields. Full story...

Committee looks at mail service
Despite the proliferation and widespread use of electronic mail these days, the paper variety is hardly in danger of extinction. In fact, each day thousands upon thousands of letters and packages--the equivalent of those pouring into a small town--are handled, sorted and delivered by the various university divisions.
   In 1999, for example, JHMI received some 8.6 million pieces and sent out roughly 2 million; at the Homewood campus, an estimated 10 million pieces of incoming and outgoing mail were handled.
   As such a vital cog in the university machine, mail services were deemed overdue for a much-needed checkup. Since September, a 13-member work group has been developing a plan to streamline and improve the performance of university mail services. Specifically, the group has been given the task of assessing customer satisfaction with university mail services, identifying user concerns and examining intra- and inter-campus mail policies, procedures and technologies in an effort to provide recommendations aimed at creating a faster, more reliable and more cost-effective service. Full story...

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