October 2, 2008
Etc.: Campus news & notes
POWER PICNIC: Staff of the UW’s Health Promotion Research Center (HPRC) enjoyed a picnic Sept. 24 courtesy of American Cancer Society (ACS) staff after beating the latter at, what else, health promotion. ACS staff challenged the HPRC staff to a health and fitness competition, using the Web-based ACS Active for Life program. (See www.fightcancer.org and Active for Life). The losers of the challenge agreed to host a picnic for everyone. The rules were simple: Participants got one “point” for every minute of moderate or vigorous exercise and earned bonus points every week by doing health-related activities. Everyone set his or her own goals, and the team that achieved the highest percentage of its goal won the challenge. Participants received weekly e-mails from the captain (Barb Williams was the HPRC captain) encouraging them to exercise and record their points on the Fight Cancer Web site. The 21 HPRC staff members won the challenge with 127 percent of their campaign goal met; the 15 ACS members met 91 percent of their goal. HPRC staff exercised a total of 65,393 minutes during the 10-week campaign!
JOY OF JAPAN: Kenneth Pyle, professor of international studies, has received the Japan Foundation Award for 2008. He was recognized for “the dissemination and development of Japanese Studies in the U.S.A. through his achievements in modern Japanese history, and through the promotion of intellectual exchange between Japan and the U.S.A. as a founder and chief editor of the Journal of Japanese Studies.” He will present a special lecture in Japan and will have an audience with the Japanese emperor and empress.
EXCELLENT EMERITI: Two UW faculty members are among 21 nationally to be awarded Andrew W. Mellon Emeritus Fellowships. Jere Bacharach from history and Paul Brass from political science were chosen for the awards, which are intended to “support the scholarly activities of outstanding faculty members in the humanities and humanistic social sciences who, at the time of taking up the fellowships, will be officially retired but continue to be active and productive in their fields.”
CARING COPS: When a Louisville police officer contacted the UW Police Department about a little boy named Max — a patient at Children’s Hospital — they responded as if summoned by a 911 call. It seems young Max’s father had said it would thrill Max if a uniformed officer would pay him a visit at the hospital. So, Interim UW Police Chief Ray Wittmier and Officer Tanesha Van Leuven gathered up some goodies and headed out. They presented Max with some toys and his own police badge and patch. Said his father, “After what I can describe as a torturous time of bandage removal from his dialysis tubing, this was just what Max needed to cheer him up.”
OLD GROWTH GURU: Pioneering forest ecologist Jerry Franklin, a professor of forest resources at the UW, has received the Sequoia Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Pacific Forest Trust. The group’s praise of Franklin includes the following: “With monikers like the ‘guru of old growth forests’ and the ‘father of new forestry,’ Franklin has increased the scientific understanding and application of a new forest management paradigm that promotes ecological as well as economic objectives. Franklin has been a frequent adviser to the Pacific Forest Trust, providing research and expertise to inform the organization’s ongoing forest conservation, stewardship and climate policy work.”
CELEBRATING SUCCESS: Harborview Medical Center employee Bruce Taylor is cheering the “starred” review the collection of novellas called Alembical received recently in Publishers Weekly. That’s because his own work, 13 Moles to Paradise, appears in the collection. He invites everyone to a celebration of the feat from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14, at the Tougo Coffee Co., 1410 18th Avenue.
Do you know someone who deserves kudos for an outstanding achievement, award, appointment or book publication? If so, send that person’s name, title and achievement to uweek@u.washington.edu.
