Launch of MESSENGER is rescheduled; July 30 earliest date

The planned May launch of NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft, the first designed to orbit the planet Mercury, has been rescheduled for no earlier than July 30. The new launch period, a backup to the May plan, extends from July 30 to Aug. 13. The spacecraft was designed and built by APL, which manages the mission for NASA's Office of Space Science.

Several factors led to NASA's decision to postpone the launch, including a desire to perform more testing of the fault-protection software that allows the spacecraft to check its own health and, when necessary, switch between alternate backup systems.

 

Cal Darden, UPS executive, to give SPSBE's Ginder Lecture

Cal Darden, senior vice president of U.S. operations for United Parcel Service, will discuss sustainable business practices as a key to expansion of the global economy in a talk titled "The Sustainable Promise of Globalization."

The talk, part of the Ginder Lecture Series presented by SPSBE, will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 30, in Homewood's Hodson Hall. Darden will discuss how UPS plans to be an integral player in the world of synchronized commerce.

At UPS, Darden is responsible for all U.S. operations, which include more than 320,000 employees, annual revenues of $24 billion and the pickup and delivery of more than 13 million packages every day.

The Ginder Lecture Fund was established in 1989 by alumnus William M. Ginder and his wife, Katherine B. Ginder, to bring speakers to campus to discuss economic issues affecting the region and the nation. Previous speakers have included Peter G. Peterson, former U.S. secretary of commerce; Ralph Shrader, chairman and CEO of Booz Allen Hamilton; FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan; and U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes of Maryland.

 

Sociologist/author explores the Victorian perception of insanity

Sociologist and author Joel Peter Eigen will discuss his book Unconscious Crime: Mental Absence and Criminal Responsibility in Victorian London at noon on Wednesday, March 31, in Homewood's Shriver Hall Auditorium.

Unconscious Crime, published by the Johns Hopkins University Press, is based on Eigen's research on Victorian-era trials in London's Old Bailey Courthouse. The book explores cases in which defendants displayed evidence of mental aberration but were not classified as insane by the Victorian legal system. Eigen's examples include a sleepwalking homicidal nursemaid, a juvenile poisoner and a man who committed arson by a "lesion of the will."

Eigen is the Charles A. Dana Professor of Sociology at Franklin and Marshall College. Copies of Unconscious Crime will be available for sale and signing. This discussion, part of the Wednesday Noon Series presented by the Office of Special Events, is co-sponsored by JHU Press. For more information, call the Office of Special Events at 443-287-9900.

 

Continuum, contemporary ensemble, to perform at Shriver Hall

Contemporary ensemble Continuum will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 4, on the Homewood campus as part of the Shriver Hall Concert Series. Winner of the Siemens international prize for distinguished service to music and four ASCAP/Chamber Music America Awards for Adventuresome Programming, the New York-based Continuum is now in its 38th season.

The group's name embodies its philosophy that new and old music form an unbroken tradition. Continuum has performed in Washington at the Kennedy Center and Library of Congress, at colleges and community series throughout the United States and has made 35 tours in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

Sunday's program will include Stravinsky's Septet; Ursula Mamlok's Die Laterne; Mario Davidovsky's Romancero; Chen Yi's Near Distance; Lawrence Moss' Suite for Flute, Clarinet and Piano; Alfred Schnittke's Piano Quartet; Conlon Nacarrow's Trio for Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano; and the world premiere of Elliott Sharp's No Time Like the Stranger.

Tickets are $33, $17 for students; student rush at 4:30 p.m., $8. For more information, call 410-516-7164 or go to www.shriverconcerts.org.

 

Help Sheridan Libraries choose a look for its revamped Web site

Give the Sheridan Libraries your opinion — and you could win an MP3 player. The libraries' Web site is undergoing an overhaul, and three design prototypes have been posted at www.library.jhu.edu.

Faculty, staff and students are asked to take a look and fill out a survey between noon on Friday, April 2, and noon on Friday, April 9. One participant chosen at random will win a Rio Karma MP3 player. Library staff (except students) are not eligible for the drawing. The winner will be notified by 5 p.m. on April 9.

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