Author Henry Petroski to Give
2010 Distinguished Lecture
What do the Cavs have to do with Case Western Reserve University's 2010 Distinguished Lecture by renowned author and engineer Henry Petroski? From the hoops to LeBron James' shoes, basketball evolved into a high-powered sport from James Naismith's game idea for two peach baskets and a soccer ball.
Basketball is among topics Petroski tackles from an engineer's perspective on the design of products and ideas. Petroski will address these issues during his free public talk, "Engineering and Civilization: Bridges, Infrastructure and Sources of Success and Failure," on Wednesday, March 24, at 5:30 p.m. in Severance Hall.
"Desire, not the necessity, is the mother of invention," Petroski said in the opening of his book, Success through Failure: The Paradox of Design. It's the drive for something better or newer than what's available, he adds.
Free tickets to the lecture are available through the Severance Hall Box Office. Read more.
Campus News
Case Western Reserve's Relay For Life event will take place this spring. The Relay For Life team will sell luminaries for $10 every Friday beginning Feb. 5 in Thwing Center and in Nord Hall from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and in Fribley and Leutner commons from 5 to 7 p.m. Campus members can buy luminaries and light candles in honor of a friend or loved one who has battled cancer.
The Office of Student Affairs in the School of Medicine seeks nominations for the 2010 Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Awards, sponsored by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. The award recognizes the value of humanism in the delivery of care to patients and their families. The foundation wishes to honor one graduating medical student and one faculty member for exemplifying outstanding humanism in medicine, along with scientific excellence, by awarding each with a $1,000 prize. Nominations are due Friday, Feb. 5. Contact Celena Howard or Jennifer Hawkins.
The Weatherhead Tax Assistance Program is offering a free tax preparation service for Case Western Reserve staff and students. Staff and students can reserve a time to come to the Peter B. Lewis Building and receive tax preparation help from noon to 5 p.m. on the following dates: Feb. 5 and 19; March 5 and 19; and April 2. Send an e-mail to rby2@case.edu with questions or a preferred time slot.
For Faculty and Staff
A Supervisory Briefing Session on the topic of "Legal Update for 2010" will take place from 9:30 to 11 a.m., Tuesday, Feb. 9, and from 3 to 4:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 11, both sessions in Nord 310A. All supervisors are encouraged to attend one of these sessions.
For Students
All undergraduate students who plan to attend law school are invited to contact Terri Mester, pre-law adviser for undergraduate studies. Mester is updating the pre-law database.
The Engineers Week 2010 committee seeks volunteers to assist with planning. This year's theme is "Gearing Up for the Competition." Several activities are in the works, including friendly competitions between faculty, staff and students. Contact Jane Backus.
Events
Renowned contemporary composer Pierre Boulez will participate in "A Conversation with Pierre Boulez" at 4:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 5, in Harkness Chapel. The talk is presented by the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities. Boulez will be in dialogue with Mary Davis, chair of the Department of Music. The program is free and open to the public. Online registration is recommended. Read more.
The English department's Journalism and Media Lecture Series kicks off on Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. with the first of four free, public talks. Lawrence Wright, New Yorker staff writer, will discuss his Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. Light refreshments and a book signing will follow each talk. All four lectures will take place in the Garden Room at the Cleveland Botanical Garden. There is no admission charge and free parking is available. Call (216) 721-1600 with questions. The lecture series is coordinated by Charles Michener, lecturer and former editor at Newsweek and The New Yorker.
The views and opinions of those invited to speak on campus do not necessarily reflect the views of the university administration or any other segment of the university community.
Et al.
The biomedical informatics core of the Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative (CTSC) is hosting visitors from Ohio State University on campus this week to introduce the TRanslational Informatics And Data (TRIAD) management system for research data and information sharing. This National Institutes of Health-funded initiative aids in developing research infrastructure to provide a sophisticated set of tools and methods to enable investigators to collaborate with others within their own institution, or as authorized under a TRIAD license and data use agreement, between investigators at other institutions. To arrange a meeting with the visitors for for more information about TRIAD, contact Carolyn Apperson-Hansen, CTSC research concierge.
The Consumer and Patient Health Information Section of the Medical Library Association (MLA) recently released its "Top 100 List of Health Web sites You Can Trust." NetWellness, a nonprofit consumer health Web site that provides high quality information created and evaluated by medical and health professional faculty at the University of Cincinnati, Case Western Reserve University and Ohio State University, is on the list.
