Award-winning documentary to be shown on World AIDS Day

In recognition of World AIDS Day, the School of Public Health will host a viewing on Wednesday, Dec. 1, of HIV Positive Voices, the Emmy Award-winning, 29-minute documentary that examines the lives of four people living and coping with HIV. The event will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. at the school's Feinstone Hall.

Jim Williams, associate director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, co-produced the film, which features individuals who have become positive voices for AIDS prevention, treatment and action. Following the film, Williams will moderate a panel discussion. For more information, call 410-955-6878.

 

Chair of Economic Advisors to give talk in MSE Symposium

N. Gregory Mankiw, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, takes up the topic "Big Jobs, Little Jobs: The Tugboat of the American Economy" at 8 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 6, in Homewood's Shriver Hall. His talk is part of the Milton S. Eisenhower Symposium, whose title this year is Rebuilding America: Peace and Prosperity at What Price?

Mankiw was appointed to his post by President Bush in 2003. He is on leave from Harvard, where he is a professor of macroeconomics, microeconomics and statistics. He has authored two seminal textbooks, Macroeconomics and Principles of Economics, which have sold more than 1 million copies and have been translated into 17 languages. He is also a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and is an adviser to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Congressional Budget Office.

 

New SPH endowed professorship promotes quality of teaching

The Bloomberg School of Public Health has named Marie Diener-West as the inaugural Helen Abbey and Margaret Merrell Professor in Biostatistics Education, which was established to promote the quality of statistical teaching and learning for public health scientists and professionals.

The new endowed professorship is unique because it is among the first to promote teaching rather than scientific research. It honors the late professors Margaret Merrell and Helen Abbey, both of whom were renowned as pioneers in biostatistics and for their dedication as educators. Their work helped establish the School of Public Health's Department of Biostatistics — created by Johns Hopkins in 1918 as the world's first department of its kind — as a center of statistical learning for public health professionals and scientists.

Diener-West will be officially installed during a ceremony on Dec. 6 at the Bloomberg School.

 

O'Connor Recreation Center honored by sports-facility pros

The Homewood campus's Ralph S. O'Connor Recreation Center has received a 2004 Facilities of Merit distinction from Athletic Business magazine. The annual award, selected by a panel of sports-facility architects and design consultants, recognizes facilities that "set a higher industry standard of design and functionality." The Johns Hopkins facility was one of 10 chosen from a field of 98 entries that included college recreation centers, professional stadiums and arenas, health and wellness centers, joint-venture facilities, military recreation centers, municipal recreation projects and high school athletic complexes.

The judges called the O'Connor Recreation Center a "model example of renovation and addition to an existing facility."

The 63,000-square-foot building, which opened in January 2002, abuts the 40-year-old Newton H. White Athletic Center. Clad in brick, glass and limestone, the three-story building was said to seamlessly blend the old with the new. One judge simply called it "a sophisticated statement for a sophisticated campus." The architects were Sasaki Associates of Watertown, Mass.

The university received its award plaque this month at the Athletic Business Conference, held in Orlando, Fla.

 

Men's lacrosse team gets in the holiday spirit of giving

The Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team has begun a holiday campaign for underprivileged children in the area. Seth Tierney, the team's assistant coach, is spearheading the effort that seeks to collect toys and money, which will be used to purchase gifts.

The team has already received donations from the STX lacrosse company and Lax World lacrosse store. Tierney and the players plan to deliver the gifts personally, just before the holidays. The team is currently working with Campus Ministries to identify agencies and homes in need.

To make a donation, contact Tierney at 410-516-7969 or stierney@jhu.edu. Checks can be made payable to Blue Jays Holiday Magic.

 

Nobel Prize-winning physicist to give lecture on Wednesday

Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman is giving a free lecture at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 1, at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Lederman, who will be speaking to city school students the next day, was invited to give his talk by the educational outreach arm of the Whiting School of Engineering.

He will speak on "Particles and Galaxies: The Inner Space/Outer Space Connection" and take questions afterward. Lederman won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1988. For more information, call 410-243-5006.

 

Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers to hold banquet

The Johns Hopkins student chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers will hold its first banquet from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 4, in Homewood's Glass Pavilion.

The event, which is expected to become annual, will include a buffet dinner, award presentation and dance.

Admission is $5 for SHPE members, $8 for students who do not belong to SHPE and $30 for faculty, staff and professionals.

For tickets and more information, contact Grace Gonzalez, SHPE chapter president, at ggonzalez@jhu.edu.

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