Johns Hopkins Gazette: January 3, 1995

Newsbriefs


Al Gore praises business, university collaboration
     In a Dec. 12 speech at the White House Conference on
Technology for a Sustainable Future, Vice President Al Gore
praised the collaborative effort of a chemical firm and a Johns
Hopkins University professor in developing an environmentally
friendly industrial spray painting process.
     Marc Donohue, chairman of the Department of Chemical
Engineering, has worked for a decade with scientists at Union
Carbide on his spray paint and coating technology that replaces
toxic paint thinners with supercritical carbon dioxide. The
result, via a process called UNICARB, is a reduction of solvent
emissions of up to 80 percent in spray applications. It is
estimated that each of the 500 million gallons of paint sprayed
each year using conventional methods produces over 4 pounds of
pollutants.
     Gore hailed UNICARB, which is gaining widespread use in the
automobile and furniture manufacturing industries, because it
also offers such benefits as lower labor costs and improved
quality of the final product.
     "I was especially pleased to have this process chosen by
Vice President Gore as an example of how partnerships between
industry, government and universities will be the new paradigm
for advancing technology in this country," Dr. Donohue said.
     For his work on UNICARB, Dr. Donohue has been honored by the
Environmental Protection Agency, and has received the National
Society of Professional Engineers Outstanding Engineering
Achievement Award and the Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering
Achievement Award.


Winter weather hotline for students, faculty and staff
     For the second year, Johns Hopkins students, faculty and
staff can call a recorded hot line to check whether winter
weather has caused any change in the university's schedule.
     Callers from the eight academic divisions can call 516-7781
in Baltimore; from outside the region, call (800) 548-9004
toll-free. 
     APL employees have their own weather emergency hot line
number: (410) 792-6101.
     The system for the academic divisions can handle hundreds of
callers an hour, depending on the complexity and, therefore, the
length of the message. The university attempts to reduce
confusion by reaching a single decision that applies to all
campuses and all academic divisions. But that is not always
possible, since weather conditions in Baltimore and Washington,
for instance, can be wildly different.
     Because of the university's patient care and teaching
commitments, its  policy is to remain open unless a closure or
delayed opening is essential. Evening and weekend classes for
part-time students are canceled somewhat more frequently than
weekday classes, because of the long distances many students and
faculty in part-time programs must travel.
     On most snowy mornings, decisions about daytime operations
of the campuses are recorded on the hot line shortly after 6 a.m.
Decisions about evening classes are usually recorded by
mid-afternoon. Word on the university's operations is relayed to
radio and TV stations and posted on the JHUniverse computer
system at about the same times.


Hopkins Press adds two journals to program
     The Johns Hopkins University Press has added two literary
publications to its journals program: MFS: Modern Fiction Studies
and The Yale Journal of Criticism.
     MFS has a long and distinguished record of publishing
quality articles on prominent works of modern and contemporary
literature. Devoted to criticism and scholarship of fiction of
the 20th century, the journal emphasizes theoretical, historical,
interdisciplinary and cultural approaches to narrative.
Forthcoming special issues include "Autobiography, Photography
and Narrative," "Postmodern Narratives," "Sexuality and
Narrative" and "Narrative and History."
     The Press will begin publishing MFS with volume 40, no. 3.
Although the journal, which will continue to be sponsored by the
Department of English at Purdue University, is several months
behind schedule, it should be caught up by the end of next year. 
     The Yale Journal of Criticism, which is published twice a
year, in March and September, features work of interest to
readers in the humanities, including scholarly articles, original
art, review essays, polemical interventions, and conference and
symposium papers.  Experimental and performative critical genres
such as memoir, confession and fable have also been featured.
Named best new journal by the Conference of Editors of Learned
Journals in 1989, work from YJC has appeared in Best American
Essays. Its editorial offices will remain at Yale University.


Real Estate Development Office gets a new name
     The Office of Real Estate Development has been renamed the
Office of University Real Estate, a more accurate reflection of
the office's responsibilities in managing the university's
property transactions.
     John L. Davis, previously real estate development officer,
has been promoted to director of the renamed office, said Robert
Schuerholz, executive director of Facilities Management.
     Jeffrey H. Koenig has joined the office as a real estate
officer. Koenig has worked for 10 years as development associate
with a Baltimore commercial developer and previously was director
of economic development in Anne Arundel County.



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                            Happy New Year! 
                         From the Gazette staff
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