JHFCU's golf tourney raises $8,655 for Children's Center

Golfers from the Johns Hopkins community gathered on the greens with players representing credit unions and vendors to tee off for a good cause, when the Johns Hopkins Federal Credit Union hosted its second annual Golf for Kids tournament. Held July 20 at the Greystone Golf Course in White Hall, Md., the event raised $8,655 for the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

Proceeds will be used to provide beds for parents, toys for children and extra equipment. This year's donation almost doubled last year's, which was used to provide a mural in the fourth-floor elevator lobby.

Scott Garceau, sports director of ABC 2, joined players on the course and served as guest speaker after the tournament.

Discovery Channel offers viewers second chance to see 'Nurses'

Discovery Health Channel is scheduled to repeat several shows from the Nurses series, taped at Johns Hopkins, from 8 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 19, through 2 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 20. Additional repeats will air on Saturday, Aug. 25, at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.; Monday, Sept. 3, at 10 p.m.; and Tuesday, Sept. 4, at 1 a.m.

Homewood House Museum offers training for new guides

The university's Homewood House Museum, a National Historic Landmark built in the early 1800s on what is now the Homewood campus, is offering a five-week training course for anyone interested in becoming a guide.

Training sessions will cover the history of Homewood House and the Carroll family, which built it; the history of Baltimore in the early 19th century; and the furnishings and decorative arts popular in the 1800s. Learning diverse ways of presenting history will be part of the course.

In addition to giving tours, Homewood's volunteer guides have the opportunity to participate in special events at the museum and to join study trips to other historic homes.

Training sessions will be from 10 a.m. to noon on Oct. 17, 24, 31 and Nov. 14 and 21. For more information, call 410-516-5589.

NEAR movie features last footage from landing spacecraft

Stunning close-up views of asteroid 433 Eros from the descending NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft get top billing in a new movie from NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission.

The minute-long movie, released July 31 on the NEAR Web site at http://near.jhuapl.edu covers the final moments of NEAR's yearlong orbit at Eros. On Feb. 12 the orbiter became the first spacecraft to land and then operate on the surface of an asteroid. NASA extended the mission until Feb. 28 so the spacecraft could gather additional data on the 21-mile-long space rock.

Imaging team member Mark Robinson produced the movie from 64 detailed pictures NEAR Shoemaker snapped during the last three miles of its controlled descent. Pointed at the surface during the landing sequence and taking about two pictures a minute, the digital camera pans over cracked and jagged rocks, boulder patches, craters filled with dust and debris, and mysterious areas where the surface appears to have collapsed. The final frame, taken from 422 feet above Eros just moments before touchdown, shows features the size of a golf ball.

NEAR image processing is a joint project between APL and Northwestern and Cornell universities. APL built the NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft and managed the mission for NASA.

Baseball team wraps up a long road trip--to Italy

The baseball team took to the air in June for a post-season series of games in Italy. The Blue Jays, who finished the 2001 season as Centennial Conference champions with a 33-14 record, played games in five parts of the country, finishing up with 3 wins, 1 loss and 1 tie.

Thirty-two players made the trip, accompanied by more than 40 parents, friends and staff. Every position player and at least four pitchers played in every game. Hopkins opened with an 11-3 win in Rome, defeated Florence 9-4, lost at Godo 11-2, walloped Riccione 21-2 and tied Bollate 5-5. In addition to these cities, the team spent time in Anzio, Orvieto, Venice, Milan, Como, Italy; Lugano, Switzerland; and the independent mountain country of San Moreno.

Previously, coach Robert Babb and the Hopkins team played in Havana (1986), Moscow (1992), Prague (1995) and Sydney (1998).

University seeking employees involved with United Way

Are you currently volunteering or receiving services at a United Way agency, or know someone at Hopkins who is? If so, would you be willing to share some of this information with your colleagues so that many can better understand the importance of the United Way in our community? Local agencies including Baltimore Reads, the League for People with Disabilities and St. Jerome's Head Start are praiseworthy examples of your campaign contributions at work. To participate, contact Judy Peregoff at 410-516-6060 or jperegoff@jhu.edu.