Report addresses campus violence
One year after sophomore Rex Chao's shooting death, allegedly at the hands of a classmate, the 14-member Committee on Campus Violence has issued a report calling for new initiatives to address such threats to student and staff safety as harassment and stalking, firearms, and dating violence.

The committee, which met regularly for seven months and included faculty, administrators, and two students, was commissioned by interim President Daniel Nathans in the wake of Chao's death in April 1996. Though Chao and his alleged murderer, Robert Harwood, had once been close friends, the friendship eventually deteriorated to the point that Harwood was "bothering and pestering" Chao with e-mail messages and up to 20 phone calls per day, according to Dean of Students Susan Boswell, who twice instructed Harwood to refrain from contacting Chao. Today, Harwood remains awaiting trial, most recently postponed until July.

In surveying 13 other peer institutions, the committee determined that Hopkins has experienced comparatively few major violent incidents in the past 10 years: two Hopkins students have suffered violent deaths (including an off-campus murder that remains unsolved), while four have committed suicide.

The committee looked closely to see whether there were environmental factors at Hopkins--such as the oft-cited intense academic pressure--that may have played a common role in these incidents, and concluded that "each seemed to involve either random violence or behavior that could not have been predicted."

Nonetheless, "the consequences are so serious and tragic that one incident is one incident too many," says committee member Paula Burger, vice provost for academic affairs at Homewood. "What this report said is that we need to have a sensitivity and awareness-- and a level of preparation--so that even one incident of violence might be prevented by our extraordinary vigilance."

Among its list of 33 recommendations, the committee called for:

Giddens says he took on the Engineering deanship in 1992 with the understanding that he would devote "an incredible amount of energy" for five to seven years in an effort to "accomplish something significant."

"I think we have done this," the 56-year-old said in April. "Returning now to a faculty position, being more involved with research and with students, is something I will enjoy. While being dean has been wonderful, that's a piece of academic life I've missed."

Under Giddens's leadership, the School of Engineering has seen growth in two key areas: the number of faculty has jumped 29 percent, from 86 to 111, and annual research expenditures have nearly doubled to almost $30 million. The dean goes out on another high note as well: this year the Whiting School made its debut in U.S News & World Report's "Best Graduate School" engineering rankings, earning a spot at No. 17.

On the undergraduate front, Giddens worked to improve the advising and teaching evaluation programs; initiated a new major in computer engineering; and helped in launching internship programs in central and Eastern Europe and a new minor in entrepreneurship and business.

The Elite Eight berth was just the icing on the cake in what turned out to be a season of firsts for the Hopkins women. Hot-shooting co-captains Julie Anderson and Angie Arnold became the first female players ever to break the 1,000-career-point mark as juniors. Anderson, who was named Centennial Conference Player of the Year, also set new school records for career points (1,427), rebounds (1,031), and free throw attempts (493).

"Julie can rebound the ball on the defensive end and get down the floor and into scoring position before you can blink," says Blank, "and Angie is very good at finding her in traffic--they're a great inside/outside combo." Both women were named Kodak honorable mention All-American.

The team finished the regular season with a 25-5 record, recording their first-ever undefeated Centennial Conference regular season (the five losses all came against NCAA teams). In the NCAA Tournament, the Blue Jays knocked off Cabrini College, Elizabethtown, and Western Connecticut State before falling to University of Scranton, 65-54, in the quarterfinals.

Given the relative youth of the Hopkins team (two of the starters were freshmen and all five will be returning next year), Blank says there's every reason to expect an even stronger showing from her Blue Jays next season.

"The freshmen didn't just get experience, they got quality minutes," says Blank, who was named Women's Basketball Coaches Association Division II, District 4 Coach of the Year. "That places them in a different class as sophomores; they'll be coming in with savvy and confidence. This year we had young depth; next year we'll have experienced depth." --SD

Look Who's Talking
Though the June issue of the magazine goes to press too early to include Commencement coverage, we can tell you who's slated to speak at the 10 graduation ceremonies scheduled to take place across the university on May 21 and 22:

Krieger School of Arts & Sciences and G.W.C. Whiting School of Engineering Undergraduate Ceremony
Timothy Johnson, MD, ABC News medical editor and lecturer at Harvard Medical School

Whiting School of Engineering Master's Ceremony
Frank L. Hubbard, executive director, American Society for Engineering Education

Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Master's Ceremony
Joel Achenbach, editor, writer, and nationally syndicated columnist at the Washington Post

School of Continuing Studies Undergraduate and Graduate Ceremony
Christian Poindexter, CEO of Baltimore Gas & Electric Co.

School of Hygiene and Public Health Diploma Award Ceremony
Charles Clements, MD, president of Physicians for Human Rights

School of Medicine Ceremony
Mary Ellen Avery, Thomas Morgan Rotch Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical Center and physician-in-chief emeritus of Children's Hospital, Boston

Nitze School of Advanced International Studies Ceremony
Hillary Rodham Clinton, first lady

Peabody Diploma Award Ceremony
Barry Tuckwell, French horn virtuoso

School of Nursing Ceremony
Diane Carlson Evans, RN, founder of the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project in Washington, D.C.

RETURN TO JUNE 1997 TABLE OF CONTENTS.