In Brief
JHU scientists introduce city high-schoolers to brain
research
Science students at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute
explored the wonders of the human brain on March 14, due to
a unique collaboration now in its fourth year. Faculty
members and students from the Department of
Psychological and Brain Sciences at Johns Hopkins
brought a host of neuroscience-oriented activities to the
science and technology public high school in honor of Brain
Awareness Week, an effort started by the Society for
Neuroscience.
Organized by Amy Shelton, assistant professor of
psychological and brain sciences at Johns Hopkins, and
Lissa Rotundo, a science teacher at Baltimore Polytechnic,
this year's event included both talks and hands-on
activities, such as viewing brain slices with accompanying
microscopy images and conducting simple experiments on the
computer.
"Our goal is to show these science-oriented students
what scientists really do, and to get students interested
in neuroscience," Shelton said. By the end of the day, she
and her group had spoken with about 500 students in 17
science classes.
ESPNU lacrosse sculpture heads to Homewood Field on
Saturday
When a record-breaking 20,180 spectators showed up at
M&T Bank Stadium on March 3 for the inaugural Inside
Lacrosse Face-Off Classic, they not only saw Johns Hopkins
prevail over Princeton and UVA over Syracuse, they saw what
is described by its sponsor as an "interactive monument" to
the sport. The 24-foot-high sculpture version of the ESPNU
logo was created to allow fans to attach lacrosse
paraphernalia — sticks, jerseys, pennants, helmets
and other gear — to it, creating an ever-changing
memorial to the game.
Designed to take road trips, the monument will make
two appearances at Homewood Field — this Saturday,
March 24 (when the Blue Jays take on Virginia), and May 5
(vs. Loyola) — when fans can add their own personal
touches.
Middle school girls invited to special engineering
program
Middle school-aged daughters of faculty and staff are
invited to participate in Ready Set Design! a program for
the Greater Baltimore area organized by the Johns Hopkins
chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers to
introduce girls to engineering in a fun, noncompetitive,
all-female environment.
Three-hour workshops for 6th-, 7th- and 8th-graders
will take place on two Saturdays, March 24 and April 7, in
Homewood's Glass Pavilion. In the program, the girls will
be taught about engineering and the design process and then
divided into groups to design and build something specific
related to the day's topic — on March 24,
"Engineering Help for Injuries and Disabilities," and on
April 8, "Engineering and Climate Change."
Each day has two sessions, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and
2 to 5 p.m., and all girls receive free T-shirts and
snacks.
For more details and to register, go to
www.jhu.edu/~asme/readysetdesign.html.
High-schooler working in JHU lab finishes in Intel STS
top-10
Baltimore Polytechnic Institute senior Emma K. Call
received top-10 honors and a $20,000 college scholarship in
this year's Intel Science Talent Search for research
conducted in the Johns Hopkins lab of David Gracias, an
assistant professor of chemical and
biomolecular engineering.
In the prestigious national competition, which
involved about 1,700 high school students, Call placed
10th. The honor, announced March 13, marked the third year
in a row in which a Baltimore Polytechnic student working
in the lab of a Johns Hopkins professor, had been named a
top-10 finalist in the Intel contest, which is often
referred to as the "junior Nobel Prize."
Under Gracias' supervision, Call, 18, developed a way
to fabricate microcontainers at a low temperature, a
process that allows researchers to load them with
chemicals, gels and cells as they fold into their final
shape, rather than afterward, which is more difficult.
Get In On It! by putting your video about Baltimore
online
The Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association
has launched a new campaign that takes a cue from YouTube:
Participants are encouraged to create videos of their
favorite places to eat, visit and have a good time in
Baltimore and submit them online to
VisitMyBaltimore.com.
BACVA is hoping that Johns Hopkins students will be
among those taking up the challenge, sharing their college
experience with friends, family and everyone else
interested in their view of Baltimore. The concept plays
off of BACVA's new marketing slogan, Get In On It! To view
a sample video and learn more about how to submit your own,
go to
www.VisitMyBaltimore.com.
Six to be inducted into the JHU Athletic Hall of
Fame
A new cohort of Johns Hopkins athletes will be
inducted Saturday, March 24, into the Athletic Hall of Fame
and will be honored during the Hopkins-Virginia men's
lacrosse game, which begins at 1 p.m. on Homewood Field.
The new Hall of Famers are Luke Busby, basketball;
Jeff Cook, lacrosse; John Lang, lacrosse, football and
basketball; Stu Markley Jr., football and wrestling;
Rebecca Savage Keller, lacrosse, soccer and squash; and
Eric Steidinger, swimming.
Correction
A story about The Triple Helix that ran in the
Feb. 12 issue mistakenly included Stanford University as
one of the 28 universities with chapters producing their
own editions of the undergraduate science journal.
GO TO MARCH 19, 2007
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