July 22, 2004
Peer Portfolio
DIGITAL EVOLUTION: A professor at Michigan State University is turning evolution into a computer teaching tool.
Robert Pennock, an assistant professor in MSU’s Lyman Briggs School of Science, is using grant of about $255,000 from the National Science Foundation to work with a computer program that speeds up evolutionary processes for use in college, and even high school classrooms, according to the university’s press office.
The software, created by another MSU professor, uses digital organisms that are like computer viruses and allows them to replicate, mutate and vary while the students watch their progress.
“They aren’t growing an arm or a head,” Pennock said of the evolving digital organisms. “Instead, they are growing code which allows them to do various tasks they couldn’t do before.” He said his team’s challenge is to make the process “visually intuitive” to students. His is a three-year project to create model lesson plans to adapt the software to the classroom.
“We’re hoping students will have an ‘ah-ha’ moment as they experiment with these digital organisms,” Pennock . “They’ll say, ‘hey, evolution really works.’”
ARIZONA RESHUFFLE: The state of Arizona may restructure its university system, even to the point of creating new universities by combining elements of existing ones.
The Arizona Board of Regents discussed the proposed redesign in its recent meeting. The idea began in 2002 with the announcement of an initiative from the regents called “Changing Directions” that was borne of increased enrollment and reduced state support, that institution’s news office says.
The resulting regional universities would be named Northern, Central and Southern Arizona University respectively, and would be headquartered in Flagstaff. The regents believe the restructuring would enable the University of Arizona and Arizona State University to reduce enrollment demands and expand research efforts.
Public comment in the June meeting of the Board of Regents, however, revealed strong opposition to the plan. The board agreed to extend a deadline for alternative reorganization plans from July 1 to Aug.1.
DUAL ADVOCACY: Poverty and illness too often go hand in hand, especially among children. The University of Michigan is planning a new clinic and program for the fall to connect medical and legal advocacy services for low-income families, according to the U-M news office.
The Pediatric Advocacy Clinic, one of the few law school-connected pediatric clinics in the nation, will open in the fall. The clinic is part of the larger Pediatric Advocacy Initiative being developed by the law school as part of its community outreach work with the Michigan Poverty Law Program.
The initiative will bring together legal advocates with an area health center and the U-M’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. Students will be trained to help families apply for food stamps and assistance, deal with landlords of substandard housing that causes health problems, provide referrals and representation for victims of domestic abuse and advocate for the families in dealing with school and government offices.
Clinical Professor Anne Schroth, who helped create the program with associates in the law school, said, “The clinic will not only serve a community need that has not been previously met, but it will also provide a unique entry point for students interested in poverty law and the legal issues that can complicate the health of low-income children.”
Peer Portfolio is a compilation of what’s news at the UW’s peer institutions.
