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Mulkey, Sanford among 5 named to NCSU's board of advisors
Board of Visitors
Kibble's
come a long way
Sally Bissett, clinical sciences
Wasps,
hornets, other bugs busy as summer nears end
Steve Bambara, entomology
Bombs
in teen's car not too powerful, experts say
James Martin, physics
Double
whammy heads this way
National Weather Service
Angier
man arrested in 2 sex assaults
crime near campus
Letter
to the Editor: Observer's blue bias overlooks Ford's DWIs
C.J. Hunter, athletics
Letter
to the editor: Characters at N.C. State keep program down
Chuck Amato and Lee Fowler, athletics
Letter
to the editor: Hunter not as bad as UNC selling soul to lure Roy
C.J. Hunter and Chuck Amato, athletics
Applied
Mathematical Models in Human Physiology
Mette S. Olufsen, mathematics
Conservative
College Group Holds Convention
James Lawrence
Video
gaming technology branching out, getting serious
The Army built this studio just outside Raleigh for its proximity to talent
produced by Duke University, North Carolina State University and the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Scientists seek a better way to measure rain
Ryan Boyles, state climate office
Mulkey, Sanford among 5 named to NCSU's board of advisors
Aug. 11, 2004
Triangle Business Journal
By reporter name, staff writer
© Copyright 2004
Barbara Mulkey, president and chief executive officer of Raleigh-based Mulkey Engineers & Consultants, and Jo Anne Sanford, chairwoman of the North Carolina Utilities Commission, are among five new members named to North Carolina State University's board of visitors.
Other new members named include:
Ken Maxwell, a business development executive in the economic development
department of Raleigh-based Progress Energy;
Susan Rabon, senior assistant for administration for Gov. Michael F. Easley;
David Fox, vice president for private wealth management for Goldman Sachs & Co.
in Philadelphia.
The 30-member board of advisors serves in a consulting role to NCSU's chancellor
and board of trustees.
Aug. 12, 2004
News & Observer
By THOMASI MCDONALD
© Copyright 2004
RALEIGH -- Forecasters say the storm twins Bonnie and Charley will unleash their rain-soaked fury over much of North Carolina in the next three days, but little else.
Charley was upgraded to hurricane status Wednesday, and tropical storm Bonnie was approaching hurricane status as it headed toward the already-wet Florida Panhandle.
A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when its maximum sustained winds reach 74 mph. As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, Charley had sustained winds of 75 mph, the National Weather Service reported.
Local weather officials were unimpressed.
"That's fairly minimal," said Susan Yeaman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service at N.C. State University's Centennial Campus.
Bonnie will cross Florida early today. Heavy rain and scattered thunderstorms are forecast in North Carolina for this afternoon. The brunt of Bonnie is expected to cross the central part of the state, including the Triangle, around 7 a.m. Friday.
Charley is expected to arrive in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Saturday morning before sweeping across the Tar Heel state.
The prospect of back-to-back hurricanes hitting Florida within a day caused Gov. Jeb Bush to declare a state of emergency. Some Florida schools and government offices have closed, and forecasters are warning residents to prepare.
By comparison, North Carolina officials have adopted a wait-and-see attitude.
Grocery and hardware merchants have not seen the customary run on emergency supplies that normally accompanies severe weather forecasts.
"We haven't yet, but we're certainly ready for it," said Alan Huggins, a spokesman for Lowe's home-improvement store. "Right now everyone is watching Florida. If they get hit, then we'll ship supplies down there. If [the storms] move up the coast we will have some ready for our stores here as well."
On Wednesday afternoon, the weather service issued a flash flood watch for 31 North Carolina counties. Amtrak cancelled service on several lines along the storms' tracks. State and county emergency officials say they are monitoring storms.
"The key thing is we're talking with all our counties' emergency operations centers about what the National Weather Service is predicting," said Ken Taylor, director of N.C. Emergency Management.
"No sir," said Wake County Emergency Management director Martin Chriscoe when asked if the county was making special preparations for the storms.
"We are well aware of what the weather service is forecasting, but it's too early to call, especially with Charley," Chriscoe said. "There's the potential for high winds, and there's the potential it will miss us."
Forecasters are predicting Bonnie will dump one to four inches of rain on the state, but any hurricane upgrade "won't affect" North Carolina, Yeaman said. "The strong winds are more of a problem on the Florida coast. But all that will have blown out by the time it's in Raleigh. We're mostly looking at several rounds of rain. "
Rainfall from the storm twins will continue through Saturday, forecasters said.
"There may be a brief lull before Charley comes in," Aiken said. "It all depends on the speed of Charley. If it speeds up any you won't see that lull."
As for how much rain Charley will bring, weather service official Rod Gonski said, "It's too early to pinpoint. Obviously, if there's a direct hit, we could get several inches of rain. But right now, there's a lot of uncertainty about Charley."
In 1999, the combined effects of Hurricanes Dennis, Floyd, and Irene in September and October resulted in two months of flooding and devastation throughout most of Eastern North Carolina.
Meteorologists say flooding caused by this weekend's back-to-back storm systems will not be as nearly dramatic, or traumatic, even though the coast was soaked by Hurricane Alex last week.
"Bonnie will saturate the ground before Charley comes in," said weather service official Ruth Aiken. "We may see some flooding at creeks and small streams and some street flooding and at poor drainage areas, but the rivers are capable of handling more water."
Even though the storms are not expected to pack much of a wallop in the Carolinas, state and county emergency officials are prepared for a worst-case scenario.
"The weather service predicts one to four inches of rain," Taylor said. "We're planning for four -- I hope it's just one."
Despite assurances from the state's weather officials, the twin storms forecast is particularly troubling for Wilson. Heavy rains routinely cause the city's stormwater system to overload, flooding homes and businesses.
"Even a small amount of rain can cause problems there because of the topography of the land," Taylor said. "It's a very flat county."
Aug. 12, 2004
News & Observer
By MARK MINTON
© Copyright 2004
Betsy Amos of Knightdale serves only the best: range-fed lamb from New Zealand flocks and seafood netted from the middle depths where the fish are less touched by pollution. It's enough to make you want to pull up a bowl and eat like a Weimeraner.
After all, it's dog food. Amos, who owns three of the silvery bird dogs, feeds them Solid Gold, a "human-grade" dog food that she buys at Canine Country Club & Pet Hotel in Raleigh. She is one of the ravening packs of pet owners buying foods with natural ingredients or additives aimed at health problems.
Consumers who scrutinize nutrition labels when buying for themselves are increasingly doing it for their pets as well. It has created a boom in premium foods -- gourmet, organic, low-carbohydrate, as well as breed specific (at $3 a pound, the Yorkshire Terrier kibble costs more than ground chuck).
Even Ol' Roy, the Wal-Mart house brand, is sold in multiple varieties, such as a weight-management blend and a formula for active dogs.
The most recent entries offer healthful additives that are supposed to soothe achy joints or repel fleas. There is cat food that dissolves hairballs and "power bar" supplements for active dogs.
Animal-nutrition experts, however, say it's not always clear that the touted ingredients add anything important to the balanced diet most pet foods provide. Reports from state regulators who test samples show that the nutrients don't always show up in the listed amounts.
Chuck Francis, president of Nutri-Vet Nutritionals, whose joint-healthful dog treats are sold at some Triangle pet stores, said his patented biscuits contain glucosamine for joint pain. Francis, who said he used to sell glucosamine supplements to help people with pains, said it is a $1 billion business -- and it's projected to hit that level for pets within two years.
One demographic driving the trend: baby boomers with empty nests who are now lavishing love and money on pets. "People have no problem spending their income on their new kids," Francis said.
The food can cost considerably more -- a 33-pound sack of Holistique Blendz Adult Dog Food from Solid Gold costs $38.72, compared with 50 pounds of standard Ol' Roy for $14.98. But price is little deterrent, according to a survey by Decision Analyst, a market research firm in Arlington, Texas.
Only 8 percent of shoppers considered price important, the company found. Most shoppers pick a food because their dog or cat likes it, said Bruce Crandall, a vice president at the company. But nearly 1 in 5 seeks out a specific ingredient, he said.
The ingredient boasts are all over the labels.
At a Raleigh PetSmart, Nutro Natural Choice Ultra adult dog biscuits claim to use "the finest, costliest natural ingredients." They included marigold extract, suggested as "a natural source of lutein to promote good vision" and tomato pomace containing lycopene, a "powerful free radical fighter to help fight the effects of aging."
The Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine says it regulates label claims alongside state agriculture officials. But the regulators are trying to catch up with the labels.
Although "natural" is often used on labels, the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine says it has no definition for the term. Likewise, "human grade" is nebulous, said Sheila A. Jordan, feed administrator for North Carolina. She is the state's chief pet-food regulator.
"We don't have that defined as a term," she said. "We're working on it, but it's hard." Manufacturers may say the ingredients they use are good enough for people to eat, but Jordan maintains a professional reserve.
"I guess there's people who would eat a Milk Bone, too," she said. "But I wouldn't."
Even though products may be labeled as "premium" or "gourmet," they are not required to contain higher-quality ingredients or meet higher nutrition standards, according to the FDA.
And while additives such as Omega-3 fatty acids may help dogs or cats, they also may not, regulators and animal-health experts said.
As with health claims for human products, some get ahead of the research to back them up, said Sally Bissett, assistant professor of small-animal internal medicine at N.C. State University.
"Usually, there's at least a theory behind it," Bissett said. "It may well be good, but a lot of these things haven't gone through specific trials."
She recommended consumers look for an assurance on the package that the food meets standards of the Association of American Feed Control Officials, a self-regulatory industry group.
Regulators also require makers to list the guaranteed percentages of protein, fat, fiber and moisture in their foods.
The percentages don't always prove out in the lab, however.
About 8 percent of the time, the guaranteed levels on the labels are wrong, Jordan said.
Her office also examines other label claims. But with about 850 registered pet-food makers selling some 15,000 products in North Carolina (including livestock feeds) she acknowledged the difficulty of keeping up.
"It is overwhelming," she said. "Maybe you're getting something you don't need, I don't know."
Melissa Kipp of Clayton, who owns five Pomeranians, said she discounts most of the claims as overheated marketing.
"I go by the ones that say they promote the long life, and the weight control because I have some chunky Poms," she said.
She said she once tried food for fresh breath. The Pomeranians protested. "The ones that didn't taste good, it would just sit around," Kipp said. "Then I'd go buy a cheap one and they'd eat it."
Wasps, hornets, other bugs busy as summer nears end
Aug. 12, 2004
Durham Herald-Sun
By JIM SHAMP
© Copyright 2004
DURHAM -- Technically, they're Hymenoptera, but realistically, they're the oft-annoying, sometimes frightening wasps, yellow jackets, hornets and bees that may live in colonies and earn reputations for their decidedly unsociable stings.
If you can wrap your imagination around the concept, put yourself in their shoes, suggests Steve Bambara, N.C. State University extension specialist.
The entomologist points out that one of the biggest branches of the family tree, called social Hymenoptera, consists of busy buzzers working from birth to death building and caring for the family nest -- home to their single stay-at-home mom, aka "The Queen." So those of us with brains capable of abstract thinking and thumbs capable of opposition should be able to cut them some slack if one of their workers does a high-speed fly-by off our starboard earlobe, signaling our uncomfortable proximity to his family sanctuary.
This is the time of year when these critters are maximizing their family size, Bambara says. They're feeding and protecting their queens, whose job will be to leave the nest, mate, and find a nearby attic or shed for the winter while the rest of the brood succumbs to the deepening cold and disappears into insect oblivion.
Come spring, each new queen will emerge and lay an egg or two to get things rolling. Those will hatch into the first worker "babies," who will stretch their wings and start the cycle of nest building and protection all over again. They're quickly joined by hundreds of siblings. Honeybees may have as many as 60,000 individuals in one colony.
Bambara says they all seem to be out in force this time of year because their numbers are peaking.
But true to the awesome nature of nature, these insects have a value that transcends their propensity to occasionally sting a hapless person who steps on the yellow jacket hole, swats at the signal corpsman or wanders into the wasp nest.
The fact that they're predatory and parasitic pollinators can be a good thing. That means they help maintain the balance by pollinating flowers and trees, and if it weren't for some of them devouring other insects -- even their own cousins -- we might be overrun with caterpillars, cicadas or the meanest of wasps.
"It's all in the eye of the beholder," Bambara says. Bald-faced hornets eat houseflies. Paper wasps eat caterpillars. European hornets eat many other flying insects. And people who get annoyed by the noise from annual cicadas might be glad there are wasps that target cicadas around.
The cicada killer looks to the untrained eye like the European hornet, although it tends to be far less aggressive.
"Cicada killers dig burrows and grow pretty big and look scary, but they really represent a very minor threat," Bambara says.
The wasps sting the cicadas to disable them, then take them underground and lay an egg on them, Bambara says. After hatching, the larvae feast on the cicada carcasses.
Then there are velvet ants, or "cow killers." Those are wingless wasps that, fortunately for milk lovers, tend to be far more likely to prey on cicada killer wasps than cows. The red- to orange-colored velvets look like a medium to large ant. "And they'll sting the heck out of you if you handle them, I'm told," Bambara says. "I haven't tested that theory yet."
But even yellow jackets will eat a lot of other stinging insects, Bambara says.
"So unless they're next to your back door, or under the seat of the privy, you could choose to leave them alone," he says.
And one of the nice things about Hymenoptera is they don't re-use their nests, Bambara says, so patience with where this year's nest is located doesn't mean you'll have another brood hanging in the same neighborhood next year.
Some people even encourage paper wasps to set up housekeeping around the yard or garden by building nest boxes for them.
"A few pieces of scrap lumber -- maybe that birdhouse where the bottom or front fell out -- that'll work," he says. "They just need a little shelter to pay you back with insecticide-free pest control."
However, one increasingly common Hymenoptera sighting that doesn't please even entomologists is the accidentally introduced giant resin bee, which has been taking up residency in North Carolina for the past decade, Bambara says.
The giant resin bee sometimes crawls into those perfectly round carpenter bee holes chewed into decks and porches by the original bumble bee-like occupants, which hatched earlier in the season and then moved on. The problem is that even though the giant resin bee hasn't been deemed destructive to native populations, it just doesn't belong here.
In spite of their benefits, Hymenoptera can cause painful stings and, in people who are allergic, potentially deadly shock. But Bambara suggests that people consider the ecological effects before spraying nests with insecticides.
"If one does decide to remove a nuisance nest," he says, "they could wear gloves, long sleeves, long pants and a hat and even mosquito netting if they need that to feel more comfortable."
And although honeybees are known to "respond defensively" to people wearing dark colors, Bambara says he doesn't have information about color preferences among wasps or most other insects.
"They do see movement better than shapes, though, so if you have one buzzing around your face, flailing your arms might not be the best protective tactic," he says. "Just remove yourself from the area as quickly as possible."
Then call the exterminator.
Letter to the editor: Observer's blue bias overlooks Ford's DWIs
Aug. 11, 2004
Charlotte Observer
© Copyright 2004
Your column ("Hunter's role in controversy bad for Pack," by Jena Janovy, Sunday) was a prime example of why so many in the Charlotte area believe the Observer has a pro North Carolina bias.
Why should N.C. State fire an employee who has done absolutely nothing wrong while employed at N.C. State? C.J. Hunter was caught in his wrongdoing and has been punished accordingly.
Why didn't I ever see any editorials regarding Phil Ford's alcoholism? After being convicted of two DWIs, he remained on the men's basketball staff at North Carolina. What would you think if you were a parent in this situation?
BRYAN TURNER
Harrisburg
Letter to the editor: Characters at N.C. State keep program down
Aug. 11, 2004
Charlotte Observer
© Copyright 2004
I'm still trying to figure out if (N.C. State) could have hired anyone with a worse reputation, and the answer is no.Until Amato and Lee Fowler stop bringing into their program people of questionable character, they will never be regarded at the same level as North Carolina, Duke, Notre Dame or Stanford.
JIM LEE
Charlotte
Letter to the editor: Hunter not as bad as UNC selling soul to lure Roy
Aug. 11, 2004
Charlotte Observer
© Copyright 2004
If you don't like football coach Chuck Amato or N.C. State, just say so. If you really want to write about wrongdoing, write about North Carolina's decision to give Roy Williams a king's ransom for a salary and basically sold their souls to try and win again in basketball.
PATRICK ROGERS
Spring Hope
Bombs in teen's car not too powerful, experts say
Aug. 12, 2004
News & Observer
By OREN DORELL
© Copyright 2004
FUQUAY-VARINA -- The pipe bombs discovered earlier this week in an Apex High School student's car and bedroom would have caused no more harm than a large firecracker, said two experts who based their opinions on a police description.
Jarrett William Brown, 17, of 705 Pepperstone Court in Fuquay-Varina was scheduled to be feted today at a breakfast for honors students in Apex. Instead, he is being held in the Wake County jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Brown was charged with 24 counts of possession of a weapon of mass destruction -- one charge for each pipe bomb or bomb part.
The rising high school senior is alleged to have fled the scene of an accident. When a Cary police officer stopped him, the officer found six of the devices in Brown's convertible.
Cary Lt. Tony Godwin said the pipe bombs were of various sizes up to 6 inches long and made of copper pipe and gunpowder.
"Something like that is going to be not a whole lot different than something like an M-80," said James Martin, a professor of physics at N.C. State University. An M-80 is a large firecracker.
If it ignited "right next to your person, you'd be in bad shape," Martin said. "But it's not going to bring down a building. ... More likely than not, those things take off a person's own finger rather than hurt a bunch of people."
Packed with shrapnel, they would be more dangerous, but copper is so soft that it would rip in a blast and not shatter, he said.
Steve Rainwater, a demolition expert who brings down buildings with explosives for the Missouri office of Demtech Inc., said a pipe bomb made with standard household copper pipe would not hold much explosive material. He was surprised that Brown was charged with having "weapons of mass destruction."
Under North Carolina law, "weapons of mass destruction" are defined as a bomb, grenade, rocket, missile or mine containing explosive, incendiary, poison gas or radioactive material. The definition also includes a sawed-off shotgun, automatic weapon or a silencer.
The incident raised eyebrows with police, Godwin said Tuesday, in part because of the timing. Brown was stopped one day before the start of school. But Wednesday, investigators still had no information that he intended to harm anyone.
Godwin said investigators are also trying to find out how Brown obtained his main ingredient.
Gunpowder is commonly sold in area gunshops for making ammunition for rifles, pistols or shotguns and for muzzle-loading firearms. It is not as highly explosive as dynamite, so restrictions are not as great.
Bobby Simpson, a manager at Hill's Inc., a gun shop on Capital Boulevard in North Raleigh, said federal law allows gunpowder sales to anyone 18 or older.
"We get people come in here sometime we never seen before and [they] don't know what kind of powder they want -- we generally don't sell it to them," he said.
Brown's father, Greg, declined to comment Wednesday. On Tuesday, he told reporters that he thought his gifted son was bored and curious but never set off any of the bombs.
Jerry Phillips, interim chief at the Fuquay-Varina Police Department, said his officers have never had any dealings with the youth.
Martin, the chemistry professor, said he was not surprised by how authorities reacted, but he added that "kids will always play with things that go 'boom.' "
He lamented that society tries to make things too safe and that now his students would rather play a video game than experiment with sometimes volatile chemicals in a controlled environment.
"Most great discoveries were made by people pushing the limits, not by being too cautious," he said. "Chances are very high that this is a prankster kid."
(Staff writer Andrea Weigl contributed to this report.)
Angier man arrested in 2 sex assaults
Aug. 12, 2004
News & Observer
By JENNIFER BREVORKA
© Copyright 2004
DNA evidence left at a July crime scene linked a 23-year-old man with two separate sexual assault cases in Raleigh and led to his arrest Wednesday, according to authorities.
Otis Williams Ray Jr., of 57 Planters Glenn Drive, Angier, was charged with two counts of first-degree kidnapping, two counts of second-degree sexual offense, first-degree burglary, and breaking and entering. The arrests stem from incidents in March 2002 and July and August of this year, according to arrest warrants.
Authorities arrested Ray after a 25-year-old woman walked into her apartment at 3512 Mill Tree Road about 4:30 a.m. Sunday and discovered a man snoozing on a bed, according to arrest warrants and police.
The woman quickly left her northwest Raleigh apartment and called police, who arrived before the man could flee, said Jim Sughrue, police spokesman.
Investigators thought the man matched a description of a suspect from an attack July 17 at Ivy Chase Apartments near N.C. State University, said Sgt. Stacy Deans. In that incident, a man broke into a ground-floor unit about 4 a.m. and forced a sleeping resident to engage in a sexual act, according to arrest warrants and police.
It is the policy of The News & Observer not to identify victims of sexual assault.
The woman, 20, called police after the attack and provided officers with a physical description of her attacker, Deans said. DNA evidence left at the scene was analyzed by the State Bureau of Investigation. This week, the state lab returned results that linked Ray to the July crime, Deans said.
Deans declined to elaborate on what type of evidence was left at the scene. The charges filed against Ray indicate he did not use a weapon during the attack.
The case had a sense of urgency for investigators because random sexual assault attacks are not a common occurrence in Raleigh, Deans said.
"Investigative means" linked Ray to a March 2002 attack on Pine Ridge Place, Deans said. He declined to elaborate on the investigation. In that incident, a North Raleigh woman was confined by her attacker and forced to engage in fellatio, according to arrest warrants.
Ray was convicted on three misdemeanor charges of secret peeping and two charges of indecent exposure in 1998, according to the N.C. Department of Correction. He was convicted on a charge of indecent exposure that year. In 2002, he was charged with second-degree rape, but court records are unclear of the outcome of the charge.
Court officials placed Ray under $250,000 bail, according to court records. He is scheduled to appear in District Court today.
Point of view: BC is caught between the past and the future
Aug. 12, 2004
Richmond Times Dispatch, VA
By BOB LIPPER
© Copyright 2004
With several meandering teleconferences, some tense ballots and one subdued welcoming ceremony, the ACC accomplished quite a bit last summer. It sent Hokies into rapture and Mike Krzyzewski into a funk. It raised the bar for football. It diminished basketball rivalries on which the league was constructed.
It made lame ducks out of Eagles.
Boston College flies the unfriendly skies of the Big East these days - turbulence that'll remain in the forecast till next July 1. That's when BC shifts gears and officially joins the ACC. Between now and then, it'll experience more discomfort than Nomar in a Red Sox uniform.
"In a perfect world, they would be here this year," said ACC boss John Swofford. "But LIPPERthat didn't happen in that way. We'll all move forward and look forward to the day we're totally settled at 12."
In the real world, BC will spend another good-riddance year in the Big East - one foot out the door but both held to the fire. The school audits ACC gatherings, taking notes but casting no votes. It is, on the other hand, banned from Big East meetings. It's also contesting that league's $5 million exit fee - raised from $1 million in the aftermath of the ACC raiding Mike Tranghese's territory for Miami and Virginia Tech.
The 21-month delay for the Eagles began last October. That's when they (finally) got the thumbs-up signal from those wacky CEOs of the ACC who'd back-and-forthed themselves into a snarl three months earlier.
BC, originally in, was out in June, displaced at the altar when N.C. State's president, Marye Ann Fox, reportedly joined anti-expansionists from Duke and North Carolina and voted against the school's inclusion.
Fox has since switched to UC-San Diego, a Division II entry that neither offers athletic scholarships nor sponsors football. Her field of expertise is chemistry. The idea of a balanced equation maybe escaped her notice when the ACC membership roll was stalled at 11.
As for Boston College, it's segued from Big East charter member to league pariah. UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun has vowed never again to schedule the Eagles once they've moved to the ACC. BC's athletic director, Gene DeFilippo, and its football coach, Tom O'Brien, returned the salvo, saying they had no interest in booking the Huskies past this season's matchup.
Is O'Brien expecting farewell bursts of hostility when the Eagles hit the road? "Oh, yeah," he replied. "It's left to the host school's control. Hopefully, they'll do better than some schools did last year."
BC's second-chance acceptance by the ACC - too late for 2004 delivery - was announced last Oct. 12. Six days later, the Eagles traveled to Syracuse. No visitor was tarred or de-feathered, but shouts of "Traitors!" and flutterings of dollar bills rained from the upper stands punctuated BC's 39-14 loss. Similar taunts greeted them at other Big East venues.
O'Brien, who's entering his eighth season at BC and previously spent 15 years with George Welsh at Virginia, has 11 starters back from an 8-5 squad that looms as a contender in the Miami-less Big East. On the flip side, BC hits the road for games at West Virginia and Pitt and faces up-and-comer UConn six days after meeting Penn State. O'Brien hopes for a memorable swan song. For now, he's working on his parting shots.
"The Big East has always wanted to be a basketball conference, and now they are," he said.
Them's fightin' words. Not that any are necessary in this relationship.
Applied Mathematical Models in Human Physiology
Aug. 12, 2004
Medical News Today, UK
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
Applied Mathematical Models in Human Physiology, by Johnny T Ottesen, Mette S Olufsen, and Jesper K Larsen, introduces mathematicians to real applications from physiology. Using mathematics to analyze physiological systems, the authors focus on models reflecting current research in cardiovascular and pulmonary physiology. In particular, they present models describing blood flow in the heart and the cardiovascular system, as well as the transport of oxygen and carbon dioxide through the respiratory system and a model for baroreceptor regulation.
Applied Mathematical Models in Human Physiology is the only book available that analyzes up-to-date models of the physiological system at several levels of detail. Some are simple "real-time" models that can be directly used in larger systems, while others are more detailed "reference" models that show the underlying physiological mechanisms and provide parameters for and validation of simpler models. The book also covers two-dimensional modeling of the fluid dynamics in the heart and its ability to pump, and includes a discussion of modeling wave-propagation throughout the systemic arteries.
The models presented can be used as case studies in courses on mathematical modeling or as an inspiration for the study and development of physiological models. The first two chapters of the book provide an excellent introduction to the physiologic concepts necessary for understanding the modeling assumptions and methodologies. The remaining chapters describe six different models of the cardiovascular and pulmonary system. Each model is introduced by a case study and can be studied individually.
This book serves as an excellent introduction for researchers in the study of blood flow in the heart and can be used as a source of case studies for graduate students in the areas of mathematical biology or biomedical engineering.
Johnny T. Ottesen is a Professor of Mathematics and Physics at Roskilde University, Denmark. His main research interests include mathematical modeling of biological systems, biofluids, optimal control, scientific computing, and dynamical systems. He is a leading researcher in the area of modeling of physiological systems, especially in modeling the cardiovascular system and its control mechanisms. He has also contributed to research in the teaching of mathematical modeling at all university levels. He has been a Visiting Researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara and at RIMS, Kyoto, Japan.
Mette S. Olufsen is a Professor of Mathematics at North Carolina State University. Her research is in the fields of biofluid dynamics, computational neuroscience, scientific computation, and interdisciplinary research in mathematical biology. In particular she is interested in multiscale modeling including models from detailed fluid dynamics models to lumped compartmental models.
Jesper K. Larsen is Director of Math-Tech and an applied mathematics educator at the department of Mathematics and Physics at Roskilde University, Denmark. His research areas include applied mathematical modeling, and he was one of the founders of the simulation project SIMA (SIMulation in Anesthesia), which was the project that brought together all the contributions documented in this book.
Additional contributors are Permille Thorup Adeler, Viggo Andreassen, Tine Guldager Christiansen, Michael Danielsen, Claus Draeby, and Jacob M. Jacobsen.
Conservative College Group Holds Convention
Aug. 12, 2004
Family News
By Keith Peters
© Copyright 2004
Advice, encouragement offered to conservative students on campus.
College-age conservatives were in Washington recently to hear about the sanctity of life and other pro-family issues as part of the Young America's Foundation National Student Conference.
Among the speakers were former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese and former U.N. Ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick.
James Lawrence of North Carolina State University said he can't hear discussions from such conservative activists on campus.
"Part of the reason is the . . . fear of being labeled and excluded and sort of vehemently criticized and attacked by counter-cultural forces at our university," he said.
Kristin Rychalsky, who attends the University of Connecticut, agreed that there's a lack of conservative voices on her campus. She said she'll to take what she learned at the conference home with her—and fill the void.
Events like the convention are important because conservative students need encouragement, according to Laurie Wood, who attends Texas Tech. She said their views are constantly attacked in lectures and textbooks.
"People need to be praying that students become more aware and sharpen their skills at understanding what's being told and become better at discerning what is true and what is false," Wood said.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: College campuses are overtly hostile to the Christian faith, and many Christian students give in to defeat. But Professor J. Budziszewski, in his book "How to Stay Christian in College," will help prepare students and parents for the challenges you will encounter, and how to successfully overcome them.
Video gaming technology branching out, getting serious
Aug. 11, 2004
USA Today; Beaufort Gazette Online
By Emery P. Dalesio
© Copyright 2004
CARY, N.C. — On a flat-panel computer screen the size of some televisions,
video game producers populate an unnamed Islamic land where Special Forces
troops have dropped in and are being challenged to learn their way around.
The room in a nondescript office park in North Carolina's technology hub is
full of ex-soldiers and former commercial video game developers who have redeployed
to the U.S. Army's effort to design video games that train soldiers for their
life-and-death missions.
"This is a little bit different from the game industry, where most of the time I could fake it, kind of like a movie," said James Cowgill, the lead designer for the America's Army Government Applications Group. "When you see a tank or gunfire in a movie, most people have never fired the real thing and don't realize it's nowhere near feeling real. The people who use our products on the government side, they know what's real."
The Cary team is building on technology developed and lessons learned from the Army's own video game, called America's Army.
Designed as a recruiting tool that would appeal to youngsters raised on XBoxes and PlayStations, the two-year-old online game has attracted more than 3 million registered users. Players assume the role of a new recruit learning Army life and working his — or her — way up to online battles against terrorists.
Now, the Army wants to use the same tools to develop videos that can trim the U.S. military's $8.5 billion training budget. Elsewhere, video wizards believe the same skills at work in Cary can be used to stake a claim in the enormous market for corporate employee development.
Training Magazine estimates U.S. companies will spend $51 billion this year on employee development. In a survey published last October, the magazine found that companies are eager to shift from classroom-based training — which currently eats up about two-thirds of training budgets — to interactive education, or "e-learning."
Twenty years after video flight simulators first introduced most gamers to the idea that video games could be used to learn real skills, advances in computer graphics and the ready availability of broadband lines have spurred interest in a new generation of "serious" video games.
Advocates say training with games works because — as generations of video game players can attest — it's fun and engaging to be plopped into a virtual world. That creates the desire to repeat the experience, and the student returns to train again and again.
In America's Army, players are drawn in by vivid details. In a firefight, bullets whiz and crack behind a player's ear, slam into a wall and split off concrete and glass fragments. Shell casings clink into a wooden door frame and ring off the concrete floor.
"What we're best suited for is creating a virtual sandbox where people and equipment can move, communicate and act in their environment very realistically," said Chris Chambers, the deputy director of the Army's efforts to develop training games. "This is about getting real humans in this virtual sandbox."
The Army built this studio just outside Raleigh for its proximity to talent produced by Duke University, North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It also is close to Epic Games, the company which provides the game engine for America's Army, said the executive producer for the Goverment Applications Team, Jerry Heneghan, who is a West Point graduate and former Apache helicopter pilot.
The team is now working on an interactive program to help Green Berets practice negotiating alliances with indigenous fighting forces, as they did with Afghan warlords during the 2001 campaign to overthrown the Taliban. The game will allow Special Forces soldiers to practice dealing with merchants and militiamen in marketplaces crowded with cafes and donkey carts.
Rehearsing such scenarios on the computer allows soldiers to learn from their mistakes. Where real-life errors can be fatal, a soldier who messes up in a video game can simply replay the game.
Virtual training also allows soldiers or surgeons to repeat their training over and over. The lessons can be monitored and graded.
The Army's Special Warfare Center and School at Fort Bragg declined an request to discuss the potential advantages of video game training over interpersonal role-playing games.
"We are always looking for ways to improve training and do it in the most cost-effective way possible. The negotiation simulation software is one of many initiatives we are looking at," said Maj. Kathleen Devine, a spokeswoman for the school where Green Berets are trained.
Serious games are serious business elsewhere.
The Institute for Creative Technologies in Marina Del Rey, Calif., has been working with the CIA on a role-playing computer simulation to train analysts on how to think like terror cell leaders, cell members and operatives. The institute was formed by the Army five years ago to connect Los Angeles-area academics with the local entertainment and video game industries.
At Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, the Entertainment Technology Center has developed a game to prepare police and fire departments for terrorist attacks involving biological or chemical hazards.
And the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is studying how to use video games to teach math, science, engineering and other subjects.
Besides excitement over the range of potential uses, game developers are hoping serious games mean new employment options outside a consolidating entertainment gaming industry, said Ben Sawyer.
Sawyer is organizing an October conference sponsored by the Serious Games Initiative, based at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.
"What I work on is not only that this game stuff can help other organizations, but that this can help a very vital industry," said Sawyer, who also heads Digitalmill Inc., a Portland, Me.-based consulting company that produces market research on the games industry.
Scientists seek a better way to measure rain
Aug. 11, 2004
CNews
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - Meteorologists at North Carolina State University are working on a way to more accurately measure rainfall in small areas.
They're developing software programs that use radar readings in combination with measurements taken from ground gauges to more accurately estimate where it rained and how much rain fell.
Rainfall can vary greatly over short distances, so the new measuring tool will provide a better understanding of how wet or dry an area is. Filling in these information gaps will make water-management decisions easier should drought threaten.
The reliance on only a handful of well-monitored gauges for the region's rainfall history makes it difficult to see patterns, said Ryan Boyles, an associate state climatologist at the State Climate office at N.C. State.
"If it doesn't fall on the airport, it's like it didn't fall," Boyles said.
Boyles and student assistants are still working out problems with the software, but he expects it to be available to the public through the state climate office's Web site sometime this fall.
Radar systems have long been used to detect approaching storms, but these projections aren't always accurate, Boyles said.
The estimates become much more reliable when the calculations are adjusted to include rainfall totals recorded at collection stations.
Instead of relying on spots 30 miles apart to paint the region's weather portrait, the program will make it possible to determine within a two-and-a-half-mile square area.
The program should help meteorologists answer questions about local weather patterns, Boyles said.
"Does the flow of rivers like the Yadkin affect weather patterns? Can the moisture present in large bodies of water or even smaller lakes cause storms to develop? These are the types of questions we hope to answer," Boyles said. "How do we then use that information to improve forecasting models? That's the ultimate goal."