October 26, 2006
Etc: Campus news and notes
A CAT PROBLEM: If a single female cat is left unspayed, how many offspring can she produce in seven years? That’s the problem Math Professor Jerry Folland was presented with recently. The query was the result of a statistic that had been frequently cited — one that gave the answer to the question above as 420,000. But was it true? The Humane Society, among others, had used the number to promote cat spaying campaigns, and someone had submitted it to the Wall Street Journal’s “Numbers Guy” column. Columnist Carl Bialik had sought out experts to help find the answer, and Folland was among them.
After noodling about with the numbers, Folland reported his answer to Bialik — about 99 cats. Why the great disparity? Largely because the earlier, larger number assumed that a female cat would have two litters of six kittens every year, and that every kitten would survive to reproduce. That scenario is theoretically possible, but highly unlikely. The numbers Folland worked with assumed, on the advice of some cat experts, that the female cat would have only one litter a year and that three-quarters of the kittens would not survive to reproduce. Still, from one cat to almost 100 in seven years — it’s still a good argument for spaying.
CONFEDERATES IN SEATTLE: Marjorie Ann Reeves, a graduate of the masters in library and information science program and a staff member at the Joint Institute for the Study of Atmosphere and Ocean, has joined the realm of published authors. A Chapter in Pacific Northwest History was recently published with a foreword by Junius Rochester, 2006 American Association for State and Local History award winner. The book records the 100-year history of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Robert E. Lee Chapter #885 in Seattle and their contributions to the State of Washington.
LIBRARY LEADERS: Three UW librarians have been selected as fellows in the prestigious 2007-2008 Leadership and Career Development Program sponsored by the Association of Research Libraries and the Medical Library Association. The fellows are Joanne Rich, information management librarian at the Health Sciences Library; Deepa Banerjee, South Asian studies librarian; and Angela Weaver, head of the Drama Library. The selection of three fellows from one institution is unprecedented in program history.
The 18-month program prepares mid-career librarians from underrepresented groups to take on the challenges of leadership in research libraries. As part of the program, fellows will be matched with a library director or senior staff member with similar professional and/or research interests for one-on-one career coaching. In addition they will participate in a leadership institute at the American Library Association Midwinter meeting to be held in Seattle this January, as well as two strategic institutes hosted by ARL member libraries.
ALL THINGS CHINESE: Taiping Chang Knechtges traveled to Beijing and the Great Hall of the People earlier this month for a celebration of Chinese Sculpture. It’s the latest volume in the Culture & Civilization of China series for which she is the American editor. Knechtges is affiliated with Yale University Press and also an affiliate assistant professor in Asian Languages & Literature at the UW. The series is a joint project between Yale University Press and the China International Publishing Group, each volume published in English and Chinese.
In 1997, when 3000 Years of Chinese Painting was published as the initial volume in the series, China President Jiang Zemin presented a copy to President Bill Clinton during Zemin’s state visit to Washington. Previous volumes in the CCC series include Chinese Architecture, which in 2005 won the National Book Award in China. Three volumes will be published in 2007 and 2008: Chinese Textiles, Chinese Ceramics and Chinese Calligraphy.
PLANES OF WAR: UW viewers of the PBS series Warplane may recognize one of the people and locations featured. Scott Eberhardt, until recently a professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, is prominently featured in the upcoming series, which airs at 9 p.m. Wednesdays, Nov. 8 and 15. Eberhardt is integral to the series, illuminating early aerodynamics with the aid of the campus wind tunnel in the series’ first episode, “Airplane to Air Force.” Narrated by Stacy Keach, Warplane tells the story of the evolution of air power, tracing the bold technological leaps that hastened victory and changed the face of aerial combat forever.
KUDOS: Jeremiah Trammell, assistant manager for cafes at Housing and Food Services, is the illustrator of a recently-published children’s book by Cherie Stihler, The Cabin that Moose Built: An Alaskan Tale.
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.
