Nobelist Agre shares experience with educators, students

Since he returned from Sweden with his 2003 Nobel Prize in chemistry, Peter Agre has been taking his passion for science on the road.

Last month, as part of SPSBE's Professional Development Day, he met at Dunbar High School with city science teachers, and this week he'll present a lecture to high school principals and outstanding students. The audience also will hear from SOM professor Andrew Feinberg about Hopkins' new Center of Excellence in Genome Sciences from the National Human Genome Research Institute, which includes a Minority Action Plan that will provide select minority high school students opportunities to learn about genetics through the Center for Talented Youth (starting in 2005) and to do genetic research at the medical school.

Also on tap for Agre, a professor of biological chemistry, is a May 5 visit with first-year Baltimore City schoolteachers who have completed SPSBE's teacher preparatory program. This event will be held on the Homewood campus.

To hear Agre's talk at Dunbar, go to www.jhu.edu/news_info/news/audio-video/agre.html.

 

Professor emeritus John Barth to read from just-published work

John Barth, professor emeritus in the Writing Seminars, will read from his latest collection of fiction, The Book of Ten Nights and a Night, at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 27, in the Clipper Room of Shriver Hall, Homewood campus. The book was published this month by Houghton Mifflin.

Barth has published 14 books of fiction, including The Floating Opera (1956), The Sot-Weed Factor (1960), Giles Goat-Boy (1966), Chimera (1972, winner of the National Book Award), On With the Story (1996) and Coming Soon!!! (2001).

He also has compiled two books of nonfiction, The Friday Book and Further Fridays, and the highly regarded essay pair The Literature of Exhaustion and The Literature of Replenishment.

 

Local man, his attorney to speak about his false imprisonment

Baltimore resident Michael Austin, whose murder conviction was overturned after 27 years of false imprisonment, will recount his story along with his attorney, Larry Allen Nathans, at noon on April 28 in Homewood's Shriver Hall Auditorium.

The title of the Wednesday Noon Series discussion is "The Michael Austin Story: An Innocent Man's 27-Year Quest for Freedom."

In 1975, Austin was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a grocery store security guard despite evidence pointing to his innocence, such as the physical description of the killer and the fact that Austin had barely left work when the crime was committed. The only witness against Austin was represented by the defense as a clean-cut college student on an academic scholarship and turned out to be a ninth-grade dropout and drug dealer. Austin was pardoned in 2002 by Gov. Robert Ehrlich.

This event is co-sponsored by the Center for Social Concern at Johns Hopkins and the university's Office of Special Events. For more information, call Special Events at 443-287-9900.

 

Men's lacrosse team scores two victories with historic jerseys

The men's lacrosse team's April 24 victory over the University of Maryland netted not only a win for the Blue Jays but also $10,883 for the Johns Hopkins Children's Center, thanks to an auction of the jerseys worn by the players. In honor of the 100th matchup of the two lacrosse powerhouses, the two teams had worn throwback jerseys, and the 38 light-blue tops worn by the Jays went on the auction block after the game. All jerseys received bids, and uniform No. 4, worn by senior Corey Harned, generated an auction-high eight bids.

"We established an internal goal of what we wanted to donate, and we were able to far exceed that goal," said Tom Calder, director of athletics.

The Hopkins men's team has had a close tie with the Children's Center since Chris Gardner, a member of the 1996 team, received treatment there before losing his battle with cancer in 1997. Every year since, the Blue Jays have hosted a game with a part of the gate receipts going to the Children's Center. This year's benefit is the May 1 game against Towson University.

The Maryland Terrapins also auctioned their anniversary gear; the nearly $7,000 raised will go to the Ronald McDonald House of Baltimore.

 

Rare books in astronomy, physics on display at MSE Library

An exhibit of rare books in astronomy and physics titled "Celestial Harmony: Four Visions of the Universe" opens today, April 26, on the M-Level of Homewood's Milton S. Eisenhower Library.

The books, from the collection of Johns Hopkins alumnus Elliott Hinkes (A&S '64 and SOM '67), represent 2,000 years of the evolving knowledge and vision of the universe, from the works of Aristotle and Euclid to Einstein and Hubble.

"The night skies appear more or less the same today as they did a millennium ago," wrote Hinkes in the brochure accompanying the exhibit. "Our understanding of what we see is more enlightened now and more complete because of this long chain of scientific discovery."

Winston Tabb, dean of university libraries, will host an opening reception for the exhibit from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Friday, April 30. The exhibit will run through May 30.

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