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NC State University News Clips for December 3, 2003

Compiled by North Carolina State University’s News Services, a part of the Public Affairs Office. Listed below are the current news clips. Click on the headline of interest to be taken to the full text. Click on “Return to Headline List” at the bottom of each clip or use the scrollbar to be taken back to this location.

IN-STATE CLIPS

Raleigh, N.C.-Area Unemployment Rate Falls to 4.2 Percent in October
quotes Mike Walden

NATIONAL & REGIONAL CLIPS

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Raleigh, N.C.-Area Unemployment Rate Falls to 4.2 Percent in October

Dec. 3, 2003
News & Observer; Black Enterprise Magazine (NY, NY), CNNMoney
By David Ranii, staff writer
© Copyright 2003 News $ Observer

Dec. 3--The Triangle's job market continued to improve in October, although some industries are still shedding jobs.

The region's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point to 4.2 percent in October, the fourth consecutive month that the rate declined -- a sign of an improving labor market.

Local unemployment rates for October were released Tuesday by the N.C. Employment Security Commission. Sam Bullard, an economic research analyst with Wachovia Securities in Charlotte, adjusted the Triangle data to account for seasonal factors.

The unemployment rate for the six-county region -- Chatham, Durham, Franklin, Johnston, Orange and Wake counties -- remained significantly better than North Carolina as a whole. The statewide unemployment rate for October was 6.1 percent.

North Carolina's largest metropolitan areas, such as the Triangle and Charlotte, are doing better than the state's rural areas, many of which rely heavily on the hard-hit manufacturing sector, said Wachovia economist Mark Vitner.

The unemployment rates in Durham, Orange and Wake counties in October were 4.6 percent, 2.8 percent and 4 percent, respectively.

"The job report looks pretty good," said Michael L. Walden, an economics professor at N.C. State University. "We had an increase in the number of jobs, a decrease in the unemployment rate, and an increase in the labor force."

A growing labor force means that more people are encouraged enough about the economy to be actively looking for jobs. The labor force drops when people are so discouraged that they give up looking for employment.

Among the companies that have been hiring locally is AW North Carolina, a Durham manufacturer of auto transmissions that has grown to 600 employees from 350 in 2001. The company said it plans to add 200 workers during the next year.

Still, some local companies continue to cut jobs. Fresenius Kabi, which produces intravenous fluids for intensive-care patients, said last week it will eliminate 62 jobs at its Clayton plant by shifting production to Sweden.

Without adjusting for seasonal factors, the Triangle posted a net increase of 1,700 jobs in October. Leading the growth was 1,400 new jobs in health care and social assistance, and 1,500 new jobs in local and state government. On the down side, Triangle employers in the leisure and hospitality industry eliminated 1,800 jobs. Employment in scientific research and development, computer systems design and computer and electronic products fell by 200 jobs in each sector.

Overall employment in the Triangle in October, before seasonal adjustment, was up 1.2 percent from a year ago.

The job market is always a lagging indicator in times of economic recovery. But so far, the pace of job creation isn't as vigorous as it was after the last recession during the early 1990s, Walden said. He attributed the slower job growth to improved worker productivity, mild economic growth and the fast rise in costs of employee benefits, which makes companies more cautious in hiring new workers.

Walden expects next year will be much better on the job front. "I think the labor market ... is ready to fall in place with the economic numbers," he said.

Walden projects that Triangle employers will create 17,000 to 20,000 jobs next year, up from an anticipated 7,500 this year.

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UNC outlines plans for 'Carolina North'

Dec. 3, 2003
The News & Observer
By Anne Blythe, staff writer
© Copyright 2003 The News & Observer Publishing Company.

CHAPEL HILL -- First there was Research Triangle Park. Then N.C. State University started Centennial Campus. Now everyone can see the UNC-Chapel Hill model for a satellite research campus of its own.

Top UNC-CH administrators said Tuesday that they hope to start construction in 2005 of Carolina North, a mix of offices, labs, homes and stores that they hope will be the Triangle's next hub for research and academia.

"That at this point is my optimism and just my best guess," Tony Waldrop, the UNC-CH vice chancellor for research and development, said Tuesday.

The draft plan for Carolina North, rolled out in visual form Tuesday, calls for 8.35 million square feet of buildings on 240 acres nearly a mile and a half north of the main campus and the Franklin Street shops and restaurants.

The project would be built in seven phases over 50 years. The first phase, which would be built over five to seven years, would accommodate 1,500 to 2,100 employees, university officials say.

The notion is to provide space for research and private companies that spin off from it, to complement the 18 million square feet of classrooms, labs and other buildings on the 580-acre main campus.

Half a century from now, there could be as many as 18,000 employees and 1,400 to 1,800 homes at Carolina North.

"We're not looking for this to be a real estate development," Waldrop said. Businesses that want to locate in Carolina North must have a connection to the university.

Hurdles ahead

Many hurdles must be overcome before ground is broken.

The Horace Williams Airport, which is on a central part of the project site, would have to close. Chancellor James Moeser tried to close the in-town landing strip once already, but state legislators intervened and dictated that it stay open at least until Jan. 1, 2005.

The draft plan presented Tuesday by Waldrop and Mark Crowell, associate vice chancellor for economic development and director of the office of technology development, must clear another university committee and the UNC-CH board of trustees. The project would then be subject to approval by officials in Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

There also is a question about where the money will come from to build the project. Infrastructure alone -- the streets, water and sewer systems, sidewalks and other transportation corridors -- is estimated to cost nearly $100 million in today's dollars, according to Doug Firstenberg, a consultant with Stonebridge Associates Inc. who helped develop the economic model.

On Tuesday, when presenting the proposal to several advisory committees, Waldrop and Crowell got a taste of some of the flash points that might await them. There are concerns about traffic and the environment, for example.

Under the plan, the new campus would have 19,125 parking spaces. University planners tout the development as one that would encourage the use of bicycles and mass transit. But some say the university did not think futuristically enough.

Joe Capowski, a former Town Council member, encouraged the campus administrators to cut the number of parking spaces drastically to keep roads from getting clogged with traffic.

"As long as you have more parking spaces than you have employees, mass transit will never work," Capowski said.

The Horace Williams property, the state-owned parcel where Carolina North is proposed, is a wooded 963-acre tract. Although the plans call for developing less than a third of the property south of Municipal Drive, university officials have been reluctant to agree to put most of the undisturbed land into a legally binding conservation agreement.

Several advisory board members urged Waldrop and Crowell to agree to such a preservation measure. "If you don't put a significant portion of it off limits forever, it will be developed," said Allen Spalt, a former Carrboro alderman.

But Waldrop said, "We don't know 50 to 70 years from now what the needs of our university will be."

Another unknown is how the university, which is exempt from property taxes, will pay for municipal services such as fire protection.

The presentation Tuesday was the kick-off for three public airings today and Thursday. The proposal will be presented to university faculty and staff at 3:30 p.m. today in Gerrard Hall. Community presentations are set for 7 p.m. today at Smith Middle School and 7 p.m. Thursday at Orange United Methodist Church off Airport Road.

Staff writer Anne Blythe can be reached at 932-8741.

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Campbell benefactor inducted into Business Hall of Fame

Nov. 30, 2003
Sampson Independent
By staff writer
© Copyright 2003 Sampson Independent

Campbell benefactor and advisory board member Annabelle Lundy Fetterman was recently inducted into the North Carolina Business Hall of Fame. Fetterman is the former chair and CEO of the Lundy Packing Company, one of the nation's largest pork producers. She has served on the board of directors of Premium Farms, the company that purchased Lundy Packing in 2000.

The Hall of Fame is sponsored by Junior Achievement and North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry (NCCBI). It recognizes business leaders who have made significant contributions to the state's economy and who have provided outstanding service to their community and state.

Campbell's relationship with the Lundy and Fetterman families goes back approximately three generations. Fetterman's father, entrepreneur Burrows T. Lundy, the founder of Lundy Packing, and his wife, Mabel, established the Lundy Chair of Business at Campbell in 1975.

Son Dr. Lewis M. Fetterman, Jr., is an associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences in Campbell's School of Pharmacy, and daughter Molly Fetterman Held received a Master of Business Administration from Campbell in 1982. Both Annabelle and Lewis Fetterman have served Campbell as members of the Presidential Board of Advisors for over 25 years and have helped lead many of the University's capital campaigns. She received Campbell's prestigious Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award in 1981 and an Honorary Doctor of Law degree from Campbell in 1987. In December 2000, Fetterman was awarded Campbell's Presidential Medallion, given to those individuals who have made meaningful contributions in their professional and personal lives.

During her tenure as CEO at Lundy, Fetterman was named to Working Woman magazine's list of top women chief executive officers in the country on several occasions. She has also served on the board of directors for American Meat Institute, the North Carolina Agribusiness Council, Inc., the National Right to Work Committee, and the North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry. In addition, Fetterman has served on the board of trustees of North Carolina State University and was appointed by Governor Jim Hunt to the North Carolina Business Council of Management and Development, Inc. In 1995, she was honored by the Tuscarora Council of Boy Scouts of America with the Distinguished Citizen Award.

Annabelle and Lewis Fetterman have established numerous academic scholarships at Campbell and their generosity and support helped to complete one of the centerpieces of the Campbell campus, the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business.

I was so proud and honored to attend the magnificent Hall of Fame Awards ceremony, said Dr. Shahriar Mostashari, acting dean of the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business. One of the criterion for induction into the Hall of Fame is that the laureate be a leader who has made outstanding contributions to his or her company, the industry, and the economy of the state of North Carolina. Not only has Annabelle Fetterman made all of that, her contributions to Campbell University and the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business are monumental. She has distinguished herself throughout North Carolina and the nation in shaping future generations of business leaders.

One of only three women to be inducted into the Hall of Fame since its establishment in 1988, Annabelle Fetterman shares the honor with the likes of James Buchanan Duke, founder of Southern Tobacco Company (now Duke Energy); William Henry Belk, Sr., founder of Belk Brothers Company; J. E. Broyhill, founder of Broyhill Furniture Industries; and Juanita Morris Kreps, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Lewis R. Holding, chairman of the board of directors of First Citizens Bank, Leon Levine, founder and chairman emeritus of Family Dollar Stores, and Ed O'Herron, Jr., former CEO of Eckerd Drug Stores, were inducted with Fetterman.

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Molecular memories prove durable

Dec. 2, 2003
Triangle Tech Journal; Newswise
By staff report
 © Copyright 2003 Triangle Tech Journal.

RALEIGH, NC - In the ongoing quest to create computing devices that are both incredibly small and incredibly powerful, scientists - envisioning a future beyond the limits of traditional semiconductors - have been working to use molecules for information storage and processing.

Until now, researchers were skeptical that such molecular devices could survive the rigors of real-world manufacturing and use, which involve high temperatures and up to one trillion operational cycles. But scientists at the University of California, Riverside and North Carolina State University have demonstrated that molecular memories are indeed both durable and practical - a finding that could spur development of the technology.

The scientists' results, in a paper titled "Molecular Memories that Survive Silicon Device Processing and Real-World Operation," are described in the Nov. 28 issue of the journal Science.

Dr. Jonathan S. Lindsey, Glaxo Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry at NC State and one of the paper's authors, said the team was faced with a very basic problem. "If molecular materials can't compete against semiconductor materials under the rigorous conditions of the real world," he said, "then trying to implement them in electronic devices would be pointless." Because our goal is to develop molecule-based memory devices, we first had to test their durability and stability."

Led by Dr. David F. Bocian, professor of chemistry at the University of California, Riverside, the team attached porphyrins - disk-shaped organic molecules similar to chlorophyll - with specific electronic properties to an electroactive surface, storing information in the form of the molecules' positive charges.

After a series of tests, the scientists found that the resulting molecular memories were "extremely robust" and offered clear advantages over traditional semiconductor-based technology.

"The porphyrin-based information-storage elements exhibit charge-retention times that are long (minutes) compared with those of the semiconductor elements in dynamic random access devices (tens of milliseconds)," the university chemists report in their paper.

In addition, their testing showed that such molecule-based information-storage devices "meet the processing and operating challenges required for use in electronic devices." In particular, they proved that "these molecules are stable under extremes of temperature (400°C) and large numbers of read-write cycles (1 trillion)."

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Opinion: Merry Christmas, Chapel Hill

Dec. 3, 2003
The News & Observer
By Rick Martinez
 © Copyright 2003 The News & Observer Publishing Company.

Most folks think voting or joining a campaign is the best way to express themselves politically. Not necessarily. Some of the most effective political statements are made with the wallet. That's why, this Christmas season, I intend to spend every nickel I can in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. And when possible I'm buying American.

I'm going to help Chapel Hill and Carrboro merchants counter the dumbest boycott ever dreamed up in North Carolina. These business owners have been targeted by a group of misguided Orange County residents over an issue the merchants can't control -- disparate funding of the county's two school districts.

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro district is funded at a higher level than the Orange County school system. That's because the fine citizens of Chapel Hill and Carrboro long ago voted to impose a special tax upon themselves to provide their school district with extra money. That's unfair to the kids in the Orange County system, whine the boycott advocates.

But that's not unfair, it's self-determination. If people want to tax themselves to fund schools, bus routes, opera houses or search committees for football coaches, that's their business. They don't need ill-informed people from outside the town limits telling them how to spend their own money.

Particularly galling is that this ridiculous boycott is led in part by Orange County School Board member Dana Thompson, who says she's participating as a parent, not as an elected official.

Instead of providing leadership, she's abdicating her responsibility. Thompson is one of the handful of people who can actually fix this perceived problem. She has the power to help bring to the ballot box a tax proposal that would equalize funding between the two districts. But instead of making a case to Orange County school constituents on the need for a special and equalizing tax, she's off harassing merchants who can't do a thing about the funding level of a district in which they don't reside.

So to oppose this unjust boycott, I'm taking my Christmas shopping dollars to Chapel Hill and and Carrboro. My political statement won't be limited to Orange County. When I hit the stores, I'll do my level best to buy American-made products -- even though I realize it's fantasy to think the purchase of domestic goods will save one job in this state. It won't. And there's a good economic case that it shouldn't.

An open marketplace relatively free from protectionism is why this country has grown to be the strongest economic power ever known. By world standards, even our poor are rich. We may be the only country where, in some cases, only new clothing and toys are acceptable to charities helping the poor at Christmas time.

We didn't achieve this wealth by propping up industries whose time had passed. Slapping tariffs on countries that produce goods cheaper -- and, in more cases than we're willing to admit, of higher quality than we can -- only delays the inevitable. Artificial government market controls may provide short-term gains for a few but never long-term prosperity for all. Just ask a tobacco farmer. Our economic strength emanates from our investment in people and productivity, not in dying, politically favored industries.

So don't count me among the multitudes who despair each time a North Carolina factory closes. For many workers, that factory job kept them from prospering in our emerging information- and service-based economy. Dr. Michael Walden, an N.C. State University economist, has written that approximately 40 percent of the service-sector jobs created in North Carolina since 1990 pay better than the average manufacturing job, and about 20 percent pay the same. That explains why some former factory workers now employed in the service sector have told me that being laid off was a blessing in disguise.

Yet, despite overwhelming evidence that patriotic consumerism doesn't save jobs, I hold on to the romance of buying American-made products. "Made in U.S.A." carries a long tradition of quality and value, and with so much stuff stamped "Made in China" these days, our domestic manufacturers could use the support. I still enjoy voting with my wallet.

And thanks to school board member Thompson, I know where my financial polling places will be this Christmas.

Contact Rick Martinez.

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Letter to the Editor: Signs of U.S. strength

Dec. 3, 2003
The News & Observer
 © Copyright 2003 The News & Observer Publishing Company.

I was confused and puzzled by John Rogers' Nov. 30 Point of View article "U.S. trade, in a global mess." On the one hand he seemingly praised North Carolina for importing most of her natural resources, but then criticized the country for importing substantial amounts of oil, iron ore and metals.

Granted, the United States possesses large quantities of natural resources, but if foreign sources are less costly, importing is the smart thing to do. Why wouldn't we want to use cheaper foreign natural resources and conserve our more expensive domestic supply?

Rogers regrets our dependence on cheaper foreign oil and argues for more alternative domestic energy sources. But he ignores that the best way of accomplishing this is to significantly increase the cost of using gasoline by raising the federal (or state) gas tax. And we all know what most motorists would think about this strategy.

Last, Rogers called foreign investment in our country "selling pieces of America." Yet the fact is that foreign investment creates jobs and income in our country and is a sign of the strength and attractiveness of the U.S. economy. Why would foreigners invest here if the country is going downhill? Further, foreign ownership of total U.S. assets is still relatively small.

Michael L. Walden
Raleigh

(The writer is Reynolds distinguished professor in the department of agricultural and resource economics at N.C. State University.)

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Letter to the Editor:Double jeopardy

Dec. 3, 2003
The News & Observer
 © Copyright 2003 The News & Observer Publishing Company.

Regarding the Nov. 22 article "N.C. State places diving coach on leave":
The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution states "nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy." Yet this, in effect, is what we see being done to John Candler, longtime coach of N.C. State University's diving team. Candler is being penalized for a misdeed committed 37 years previous, for which he has already served his punishment and paid his dues.

Who is this woman who decided to surface after 37 years to make "public" a fact that was already available? Isn't it odd that a person would wait so long before providing such damning information? After all, it is not as if Candler was applying for a new position. It is not as if he hadn't been coaching for almost four decades already.

As I understand it, the entire N.C. State Athletic Department stands behind Candler, and so do I.

Dawn Huey Ohlsson
Raleigh

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Building starts on molecular tranny

Dec. 2, 2003
Electronics Weekly (Sutton,Serry,England)
By Harry Yeates, staff reporter
 © Copyright 2003

Researchers at North Carolina State University in the US are developing molecules in which they hope to demonstrate gain, in order to create a molecular transistor.

So far the molecular structures have been characterised, but project leader Dr Chris Gorman admits that it is still early days. "What we haven't yet demonstrated is their electronic properties, and that's of course going to be very important," he told Electronics Weekly.

Gorman refused to divulge details of the molecules, but said they were "a new class" and that they may not be entirely organic, but could also contain metal atoms. "These molecules are designed to attach into lithographically defined objects on surfaces, and that's how the measurement will be made," he explained.

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Many Unaware of Fees Paid to Firms Administering Retirement Accounts

Dec. 2, 2003
Kiplinger.com
By staff report
 © Copyright 2003 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc.

Nov. 30--When Ward Condelli learned recently that mutual fund companies were charging billions of dollars in unnecessary fees, he decided to investigate his 401(k) retirement account.

The research associate at Durham Public Schools combed through four years' worth of quarterly account statements, but found no mention of fees. He dug up his 401(k) enrollment packet, which had colorful charts describing the mutual funds offered in the plan. But still, nothing about fees.

"I know fees are lurking in here somewhere," said Condelli, 57, who lives in Raleigh. "I just can't find them."

This year, 42 million Americans will contribute a portion of their paychecks to 401(k) retirement plans, largely because of the tax benefits. Yet many have no idea how much they are paying in fees to the companies that administer the accounts and to the mutual funds offered in them. Even those who bother to check frequently cannot find the information.

Fees were not a large concern when 401(k) accounts were generating double-digit annual returns, thanks to a booming stock market. But average fund balances have declined each of the past three years, and workers are increasingly worried whether they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement.

In addition, it has become increasingly clear that mutual funds, which are offered through 401(k) accounts, were not keeping their noses clean. Several of the nation's largest mutual fund companies, including Alliance Capital and Janus, have been accused of giving their large clients special trading deals, while overcharging individuals.

This year, mutual fund investors will pay an estimated $18 billion more in fees than they should, according to an analysis by John Freeman, a professor of business law at the University of South Carolina in Columbia.

Workers who participate in 401(k) plans can usually find out how much they are being charged, but it requires some effort. In some cases, the only way to get information is to request it directly from the 401(k) plan administrator. Relying on quarterly account statements is not enough.

"As far as fee disclosure is concerned, 401(k) plans are still in the dark ages," said Martha Sadler, director of national retirement consulting at RSM McGladrey, an accounting firm based in Bloomington, Minn. "Companies are, more often than not, disclosing the bare minimum."

For instance, many 401(k) plans charge fees to cover the cost of setting up and administering an account. Most companies pay these charges on behalf of their workers. But about one-third of all companies that offer 401(k) accounts deduct these fees directly from the accounts of their participants. Depending on the size of the plan, employees can pay $10 to $50 a year in administrative fees.

Yet many employees are unaware these fees even exist, largely because companies rarely disclose them on account statements, Sadler said.

Most of the fees paid by 401(k) participants go directly to the giant mutual fund companies, such as Fidelity Investments, that offer mutual funds within the plans. And these fees are increasing. Last year, for every $100 invested in their funds, mutual fund companies collected $1.43, up 20 percent from $1.19 per $100 in 1994, according to Morningstar, a Chicago-based research company.

But here, too, information is difficult to find. Most 401(k) plan providers update their participants each quarter on the size of their account balances and how much they have contributed. The fees paid, however, are subtracted from the returns of the funds and are usually not itemized.

"Companies do a great job disclosing performance" data, said Stewart Gooding, vice president of client service at Plansponsor.com, a retirement plan consulting firm based in Greenwich, Conn. "But it's up to the individual to get information about fees."

In addition, a growing number of 401(k) plans have begun offering "life cycle funds," which automatically shift toward a more conservative investment mix as an investor's retirement date draws closer. These funds are designed for people who don't want to take the time to regularly tweak their portfolios.

Investors, however, are paying for the convenience. Most life cycle funds actually consist of a basket of mutual funds managed by an investment company. Investors must pay that company a fee on top of existing fees for the underlying funds. Charges on some of these funds can eat up 2 percent of annual returns.

Even a slight increase in fees can have a big effect on an investor's retirement balances.

A person who invests $50,000 in a 401(k) account with an average annual return of 8 percent and annual fees of 0.5 percent will retire after 30 years with $437,748, according Hewitt Associates, a human resources consulting firm based in Lincolnshire, Ill. If that person invested the same amount in a 401(k) plan that charged 1.5 percent a year, the amount saved would be just $330,718 -- a different of $107,030.

Because mutual fund fees are based on a percentage of the amount invested, older workers with more in savings have the most to lose. The average 401(k) account balance of investors in their 60s was $106,689 in 2002, compared to just $15,035 among participants in their 20s, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute in Washington.

"People frequently underestimate the importance of fees," said Charles P. Jones, a finance professor at N.C. State University and author of "Mutual Funds: Your Money, Your Choice" (Financial Times Prentice Hall, $23.95).

When account statements are inadequate, workers should not be afraid to ask their employer for information about fees, Sandler said.

Most companies will provide employees with copies of mutual fund prospectuses, which list the fees and returns of funds offered in a 401(k) plan. And employers should be able to describe how much the plan provider is deducting in administrative fees from individual accounts.

"You ought to be able to get answers," Sadler said. "And if they can't get you an answer, keep asking."

Investors who are frustrated with 401(k) fees would be hard-pressed to find a better investment alternative, say financial planners. Contributions to 401(k)s can be deducted from annual income reported on federal and state taxes. And the plan grows tax-free until the money is withdrawn, typically after retirement, when the investor is in a lower tax bracket.

Investors should stick with their 401(k) plans but search for fund families, such as The Vanguard Group, that charge low fees, Freeman said.

"Sometimes, you're trapped and you might only have a few fund options" in a 401(k) plan, Freeman said. "But when you do have a choice, you should try to go with the fund with the lowest fees."

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Universities Embrace RightNow Customer Service Solutions To Answer Students' Questions Via Web, Email and Phone

Dec. 2, 2003
Yahoo News, PRNewswire
By staff report
 © Copyright 2003 PRNewswire

BOZEMAN, Mont., Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- RightNow Technologies, the world's leading provider of hosted customer service and support solutions, today announced more than 50 leading universities across the world are adopting RightNow's award-winning solutions to optimize student recruitment and retention, while reducing administrative costs. By implementing RightNow solutions, these universities built centralized and responsive information centers that answer current and prospective students' questions quickly, accurately and cost-effectively via the web, email and phone.

Leading universities adopting RightNow include Azusa Pacific University, the Dallas County Community College District, Fordham University, University of Montana, New York University, North Carolina State University, Rice University, Stevens Institute of Technology, the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Houston, the University of Michigan, the University of South Florida, and numerous others.

"With RightNow, we are able to get quality information to people where and when they need it," Betty Roberts, associate vice-chancellor and associate vice president of technology support services at University of Houston, said. "And we are doing it at less cost to the university than ever before."

A variety of factors have historically prevented universities from delivering responsive service. Foremost has been their decentralized structures. With the information they need dispersed among multiple, independent departments -- including admissions, financial aid, registrar, bursar, athletics, housing and various academic departments -- students typically have to look in several places before finding answers to their questions. In the absence of formal call centers and a shared knowledge base, the information students receive can often vary, depending on the individual university staff member giving the answer. Limited budgets have also hampered universities' efforts to improve their responsiveness to students' queries.

RightNow specifically addresses these issues by consolidating all information from all university offices and making it readily available to students and university staff alike via the web, email, and phone. This ensures questions can be answered quickly and accurately across all communication channels. By optimizing the usefulness of the web as a self- service information resource, RightNow also drives down service costs.

RightNow's growing popularity in the university market can be attributed to several factors, including:

-- Sophisticated knowledge management functions that let universities
identify frequently asked questions and author appropriate answers;

-- Powerful search functions that make it easy for students to pinpoint
the specific answer they need on the university web site, even as the
total number of available answers grows; and

-- A proven hosted application delivery model that enables universities
to enjoy the benefits of RightNow's solutions without having to
shoulder the infrastructure costs and workloads associated with
internal deployments of enterprise applications.


" RightNow enables higher learning organizations to achieve excellence in customer service without investing additional human or capital resources," Sean Forbes, vice president of Marketing and Business Development at RightNow, said. "That makes it an ideal solution for today's universities as they seek to improve their competitive position within their existing budget constraints."

About RightNow Technologies

RightNow Technologies is the leading customer service and support solutions company that radically and rapidly improves the effectiveness of service and support operations with easy-to-implement/easy-to-use technology, replicable best practices drawn from the industry's broadest base of successful implementations and engagement terms that create accountability for delivering quantifiable results.

RightNow has delivered these benefits to more than 1,000 customers worldwide such as: Air New Zealand, Ben & Jerry's, Briggs and Stratton, British Airways, Cisco, Dolby Laboratories, Inc., Electronic Arts, Pioneer, Raymarine, Remington, Sanyo, Specialized Bicycles and more than 150 public sector clients including the Social Security Administration and the State of Florida.

Founded in 1997, RightNow has offices in Bozeman, Dallas, San Mateo, New Jersey, London and Sydney, with an associated office in Tokyo. RightNow's products are available in 17 languages worldwide. For further information visit http://www.rightnow.com/.

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Vox Populi and Public Policy: Why Should We Care?

Dec. 1, 2003
Truth about Trade & Technology
By Henry I Miller, staff report
 © Copyright 2003 Truth about Trade & Technology

In 1897, the Indiana House of Representatives unanimously passed House Bill 246, a measure that redefined the calculation of the value of , the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter 1. Fortunately, the bill died in the state senate. Although this anecdote might appear a historical curiosity to scientists today, nonexperts are becoming more and more prominent in formulating public policy decisions that require an understanding of subtle and complex scientific and technological phenomena.

Britons had their say last summer, for example, on whether they want biotechnology-derived, that is, recombinant DNA modified (known widely as genetically modified or GM) products in their fields and their food. To gauge public opinion in advance of a decision scheduled for late in the year on whether to allow commercial planting of GM crops, at great expense the UK government sponsored a series of public discussions (ironically termed 'GM Nation') around the country, as well as using more conventional methods, such as focus groups. Local authorities and various organizations held hundreds of additional public meetings on the subject.

The head of the United Kingdom's debates' organizing committee, Malcolm Grant, called them a "unique experiment to find out what ordinary people really think once they've heard all the arguments" 2. But the reality argues otherwise. Mark Henderson, science correspondent for The Times (London) newspaper, offered this view of the half-million-pound initiative: "The exercise has been farce from start to finish. I'm not sure I want the man in the street to set Britain's science, technology and agriculture policy. One of the six meetings...spent much of its time discussing whether the SARS virus might come from GM cotton in China. It's more likely to have come from outer space" 3. Henderson went on to say that the meetings were dominated by anti-technology zealots, the only faction that was well enough organized and cared enough about the issue to attend.

Jan Bowman attended three of the events -- including one in Stourbridge, "where both invited speakers opposed biotechnology" -- and offered an assessment similar to Henderson's. "At all of them, the audience numbered no more than 60, and was overwhelmingly middle class, white and already anti-biotech" 4.

The urge not only to sample, but also to respond to, public opinion flourishes on the other side of the Atlantic as well. The US National Science Foundation (NSF; Washington, DC, USA), whose primary mission is to support laboratory research across many disciplines, is funding a series of "citizens technology forums," at which average, previously uninformed Americans come together to solve a thorny question of technology policy. According to the NSF's abstract of the project, being carried out by researchers at North Carolina State University under a 2002 grant, participants "receive information about that issue from a range of content-area experts, experts on social implications of science and technology, and representatives of special interest groups"; this is supposed to enable them to reach consensus "and ultimately generate recommendations"5.

The project, first funded in 2002 to support two panels and expanded this year under a continuing grant, calls for eight more panels, each comprising 15 citizens (who are "representative of the local population")6. Their deliberations will be overseen by a research team "composed of faculty in rhetoric of science, group decision-making, and political science" that will test both "an innovative measure of democratic deliberation" and "also political science theory, by investigating relationships between gender, ethnicity, lower socioeconomic status and increases in efficacy and trust in regulators"6.

At a time when federal budgets are under pressure and laboratory research funding is tight, the NSF has seen fit to spend almost half a million US taxpayer dollars on this politically correct, but dubious, project. Getting policy recommendations on an obscure and complex technical question from groups of citizen nonexperts (who are recruited through newspaper ads) is similar to going from your cardiologist's office to a café, explaining to the waitress the therapeutic options for your chest pain, and asking her whether you should have the angioplasty or just take medication. (It might help, of course, if there were specialists in the rhetoric of science and in group decision-making having lunch at a nearby table.)

The first of these NSF-funded groups tackled regulatory policy toward agricultural biotechnology, and recommended that the government tighten regulations for growing GM crops, including adding a new requirement that the foods from these crops be labeled to identify them for consumers. Both of these proposals are unwarranted, inappropriate and contrary to the recommendations of experts, including those within the government and in the scientific community7, 8. The output of the citizens' panel illustrates that such undertakings have limitations both in theory and practice: nonexperts are too much subject both to their own prejudices and to the specific choice of materials and advocates to whom they are exposed.

Although involvement of the public is critical to their understanding of government policy, it is less useful for the formulation of policy. This is particularly true when complex issues of science and technology are involved. Science is not democratic. The citizenry do not get to vote on whether a whale is a mammal or a fish, or on the temperature at which water boils, and legislatures cannot repeal the laws of nature. However, on questions to which there is no scientifically 'right' answer (e.g., at what age can persons drive and vote, or whether we should carry out more manned exploration of the moon), public opinion can play a critical role.

Thus, one should be wary of the attempts in various countries -- in recent years, these have included the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom -- to sample public opinion as a prelude to setting policy on biotechnology. Even if such opinion-sampling exercises were better organized, widely attended and more representative, their purpose should not be to translate the vox populi into policy on subjects highly dependent on an understanding of the subtleties of science and technology. Such undertakings would founder on the principle that something not worth doing at all is not worth doing well.

The goal of policy formulation should be to get the right answers. For biotechnology, just as for critical decisions about medical interventions and the design of airplanes and bridges, the best insights are likely to come from experts. And although it may be useful, as well as politic, for governments to consult broadly on high-profile public policy issues, after the consultations and deliberations have been completed, government leaders are supposed to lead. If democracy must eventually take public opinion into account, good government must also discount heuristic errors and prejudices.

The 18th century Irish statesman and writer Edmund Burke emphasized the government's responsibility to make such determinations. He observed that in republics, "Your Representative owes you, not only his industry, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion"9. This commentary is modified from an article first published in the Washington Times on October 16, 2003.

References

1. http://www.snopes.com/religion/pi.htm

2. http://www.highland.gov.uk/cx/pressreleases/2003/jun03/gm_crops.html.

3. Henderson, M. The Times (London), June 13, p. 24 (2003).

4. http://techcentralstation.com/081803N.html.

5. http://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/servlet/showaward?award=0080810

6. https://www.fastlane.nsf.gov/servlet/showaward?award=0242994

7. Institute of Food Technologists. IFT Expert Report on Biotechnology and Foods. (Institute of Food Technologists, Chicago, IL, USA; 2000). 8. Editorial. Nature 356, 12 (1992).

9. Elofson W.M & Woods, J.A. (eds.). in The Writings and Speeches of Edmund BurkeVolume III: Party, Parliament, and the American War 17741780 pp. 64,69 (Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 1996).

--

Henry I. Miller is at The Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-6010, USA. e-mail: miller@hoover.stanford.edu.

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Scientists Speed Up Tree Growth in N.C.

Dec. 2, 2003
Associated Press; Belleville News-Democrat, IL; Duluth News Tribune, MN; Grand Forks Herald, ND; Times Picayune, LA; Washington (DC) Post; The Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, WA); Syracuse (NY) Post-Standard; Sacramento (CA) Bee; Morning Call (Allentown, PA); Island Packet (Hilton Head, SC); Bakersfield Californian; Tacoma (WA) News Tribune; Spartanburg (SC) Herald-Journal; Rock Hill (SC) Herald; Penn Live (Harrisburg, PA); Oregonian (The) (Portland, OR); Miami (FL) Herald; Lycos Finance - Raging Bull (Andover, MA); KTAR-Radio 620 AM (Phoenix, AZ); Findlaw Legal News (Palo Alto, CA); CNews (CN); Austin (TX) American-Statesman; Atlanta (GA) Journal-Constitution; Anchorage (AK) Daily News; Lawn & Landscape (Cleveland, OH 12/1/03); Polk News Chief (Winter Haven, FL 11/28/03); Pittsburg (KS) Morning Sun Online 11/28/03; Kenai (AK) Peninsula Clarion 11/28/03; Holland (MI) Sentinel 11/28/03; Florida Times-Union 11/28/03; Athens (GA) Daily News/Banner Herald 11/28/03; ABC Online (NY) 11/28/03; IWon.com (Irvington,NY 12/3/03)
By staff report
 © Copyright 2003 Associated Press

REIDSVILLE, N.C. - Scientists say they have found a way to boost tree growth but so far there they haven't found a practical use for the fast-growing plants.

A tree species at N.C. State's Upper Piedmont Research Station in Reidsville grew up to 20 feet in a single year, about double its usual rate. A typical tree in the area grows about 18 inches in a good year.

The experiment uses paulownias, a naturally rapid-growing tree from China whose thin stalks are covered in purple blossoms during the spring.

Researchers bred seven varieties of the trees, the quickest of which can grow about 18 to 20 feet in a year, said Ben Bergmann, who was in charge of the project. Bergmann now is the head of the Tropical Research Studies Department at Duke University.

The unusual growth was discovered during experiments to lessen animal waste in groundwater and soil, he said. Because of the trees' rapid growth, their roots absorb nutrients and prevent ground and surface water contamination.

So far, researchers have no immediate plans for the paulownias.

"It's a catch-22. There's no demand so people don't grow them," Bergmann said. "And there won't be any demand until people start growing them."

The trees produce a light weight wood that can be used for furniture and musical instruments, Bergmann said.

Gene Stewart, the arborist at New Garden Landscaping and Nursery in Greensboro, said it's hard to believe a tree can grow that fast.

"If they managed to do that, every wholesale nursery in the country would like to know about it," Stewart said. "It would be huge."

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Professor receives award from national institute

Dec. 2, 2003
Charleston (SC) Post & Courier
By staff report
 © Copyright 2003

A Coastal Carolina University professor received the 2003 Dannon Institute Award for Excellence in Community Nutrition for her "innovative and impactful" program on nutrition education.

Sharon Thompson, associate professor of health and health promotions coordinator at Coastal, received a $5,000 award for her project to educate young female athletes about the benefits of changing their eating behavior early enough to prevent osteoporosis and boost bone health.

The Dannon Institute recognized five programs in nutrition education and communication throughout the nation.

Thompson's "Osteoporosis Prevention for Female Athletes in High Risk Sports" project has been delivered to more than 300 female athletes who have learned how to make nutrition and lifestyle changes that can build bone density and prevent injury.

The other awards went to the "Color Me Healthy" program from the faculty from N.C. Cooperative Extension Service at North Carolina State University; the "EatFit Intervention" program at the University of California-Davis; the "Cornell Farm to School" project in Ithaca, N.Y., that links schools and farms to help children develop healthy eating habits and improve farmers' incomes; and the "Promoting Healthy Activities Together (PHAT)" program in Berkeley, Calif., created by California Adolescent Nutrition & Fitness.

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White, Manning, Rivers named O'Brien finalists

Dec. 2, 2003
Cox.net (Phoenix, AZ); Long Beach (CA) Press-Telegram; Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram; Dallas (TX) Morning News; CNN Sports Illustrated
By staff report
 © Copyright 2003

Fort Worth, TX (Sports Network) - Jason White of top-ranked Oklahoma, Eli Manning of Ole Miss and North Carolina State's Philip Rivers were named finalists Monday for the Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's best quarterback.

White has anchored the nation's No. 1 ranked scoring offense to a perfect 12-0 record this season and a berth in the Big 12 Championship game against Kansas State. Oklahoma, which is currently the top-rated team in the BCS standings, will likely play in the Sugar Bowl for the national championship on January 4.

For the season, White has completed 238-of-364 passes for 3,446 yards with a school record 40 touchdown passes and just six interceptions.

Manning helped lead the 17th-ranked Rebels to a 9-3 mark this season and a 7-1 record in the Southeastern Conference. The senior completed 253 of his 410 attempts for 3,341 yards, while throwing 27 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Rivers completed 311-of-438 passes, throwing for 4,016 yards and 29 touchdowns for the Wolfpack this season. The senior was recently named the ACC Football Player of the year and will guide North Carolina State in the Tangerine Bowl against Kansas.

The 27th O'Brien Award winner will be announced on Thursday, December 1.

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10 tips to beat old man winter

Nov. 1, 2003
Progressive Farmer; Southeast edition
By Boyd Kidwell
© Copyright 2003 ProQuest Information and Learning Company

Dr. Henry Poore, M.D., has 150 hungry mouths to feed. In a typical winter, his beef herd consumes 173 tons of hay, 20 tons of cottonseed and 1.5 tons of minerals. Dr. Poore's winter feed bill runs $85 to $108 per cow (around $15,000), making it the top expense on his Virgilina, Va., farm.

Fortunately, he receives excellent advice from his son Matt, who just happens to be the North Carolina State Extension animal nutritionist. He helps his father develop a winter plan.

Matt and two veterinarians-Dawn Capucille, D.V.M., of NC State and Peter Moisan, D.V.M., of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture-have written a bulletin on winter cow care. Here are their top 10 tips:

1. Make a feed inventory. Count your bales of hay and weigh enough bales to know how many pounds of feed you have. Plan to have 27.5 pounds of hay per day for each 1,100-pound cow.

2. Analyze your hay. A lab analysis can measure the energy, protein and major minerals in hay. Adequate energy (in the form of high-quality forage, grain or high-energy byproducts) is required to convert crude protein to usable protein in the cows' rumens. Most state agriculture departments offer hay analysis.

3. Keep hay or forage available at all times. If a storm is forecast, put out hay for at least three days so that cattle rumens don't run empty. Also, store some round bales on the edge of your pasture behind portable electric wire in case weather makes it difficult to move hay.

4. Determine the body score of your cows. A body condition scoring system based on a scale of 1 to 9 helps determine the energy reserves of a cow. Keep cows in the 5-to-7 range. A moderate body condition (5) is where the last two to three ribs are visible and little fat is evident in the brisket or around the tailhead. There's a 50- to 75-pound range between body scores, and it takes time to move a cow into the next level. Keeping animals in moderate condition is better than allowing them to become thin and trying to increase their weight during winter.

5. Separate heifers from the main herd; separate lactating cows from dry ones. Cows with nursing calves require more feed than dry cows. Yearling heifers, in particular, should be grouped away from older cows because they are still growing. Underfed heifers have a higher incidence of calving difficulty. Also, protein and energy deficiencies lead to weak calves.

6. Regroup your cattle part of the way through winter and give thin animals better rations.

7. Control parasites. Regrouping is a good time to apply endectocides. Lice suck blood and cause hair loss, which increases the energy required to maintain body temperature.

8. Cull thin cows and those with tooth problems. Animals with worn front incisor teeth are usually the thinnest. Sell them before they become gaunt.

9. Adjust rations to provide more energy and protein as calving approaches. Increased protein and energy are required for the growing calf fetus in the last eight weeks of pregnancy. Save your best hay to feed in the weeks before calving. Whole cottonseed and soybean hulls make excellent supplements.

10. Provide minerals at all times. They should be formulated to overcome deficiencies in your area. Trace-mineral supplementation is especially critical during winter.

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"No offense, buddy"

Nov. 1, 2003
Occupational Hazards
By Minter, Stephen
© Copyright 2003 ProQuest Information and Learning Company

A NIOSH research symposium offers insights, surprises and at least one confirmation of what we already knew.

How much of what you know about occupational safety and health is based on hard, scientific evidence? Are your safety and health programs founded on good research or a gut feel?

In a business environment where success or failure gets measured by the quarter, it may seem like a luxury to examine an issue for years. But when you attend an event such as the National Occupational Injury Research Symposium held last month in Pittsburgh by NIOSH, you are met with the reality that good research takes years to complete. Not to mention it runs into many of the same maddening snags we all encounter, such as funding, communications, paperwork and personnel changes.

But when the research does emerge, it offers a powerful tool for shaping our understanding of safety and for directing our private and public resources to the issues that most need attention. A few examples:

Workplace safety interventions: Alison Vrendenburg, a consultant in California, studied the effectiveness of six management interventions designed to improve safety culture: communication/ feedback, management support, hiring practices, rewards, training and employee participation. Her fieldwork centered on hospitals, where fatigue, stress, employee shortages and many hazards are reflected in high injury rates. She found that while most of the hospitals she studied fixed safety problems once they occurred, "what differentiated the best performers was that they also employed proactive measures to prevent accidents." Vrendenburg found that employers were best served putting their resources into the "front- end hiring of new personnel and verifying that skills gained through training are being employed in the work areas."

Teenage construction workers: Professor Michael Schulman of North Carolina State University interviewed 300 teens (age 13-18) working in house building and commercial construction. They performed tasks such as cleaning work areas, acting as watchers, getting tools and equipment and lifting and carrying heavy objects. "They are the unskilled gofers on a construction site," he noted. These teens faced a wide range of hazards - heavy equipment, motor vehicles, saws, drills, nail guns and jackhammers as well as exposure to fumes and odors, falling objects, dust, noise and falls. Most employers interviewed provided the teen workers some safety training upon hire, but it was usually less than 3 hours. Schulman observed that it was important to recognize construction as a male occupational culture "characterized by gender norms of bravery, daring, strength and confidence." It is also a craft where workers "control the job, tools and pace of work" and where skill is based upon experience. The combination of these cultural norms in construction, said Schulman, helps to create a phenomena he calls the "normalization of injury." In other words, injury is part of the job. That may be one of the major lessons young workers learn from older workers.

Sharps injuries: Marion Gillen of the University of California San Francisco reported on a study that examined the rates of sharps injuries in California hospitals before and after implementation in 1999 of the California bloodborne pathogens standard. Her team found that the injury rate per 100 staffed beds fell from 17.51 in 1997 to 14.97 in 2001. "The rate of sharps injuries appear to be declining in California following widespread adoption of safer devices," said Gillen, though she found the rates higher than she would have anticipated given widespread adoption of the engineering control. Gillen added that in observations of health care workers, needles were removed, broken or recapped in 66 instances and blood was transferred unsafely from a syringe to a avacutainer or bottle in 152 instances. The team also witnessed safety syringes being incorrectly activated in 22 percent of the observations. Only 14 percent of the hospitals had a procedure for involving employees in safety device selection and testing.

Small business: Businesses with less than 100 workers make up more than 50 percent of the U.S. work force, so we can ill afford to ignore this segment. NIOSH's John Palassis described a study of occupational safety and health programs in small businesses. Researchers observed that businesses with fewer than 20 employees have a lack of occupational safety and health awareness and tended not to have written safety programs, while those with more than 20 workers often had programs because of contractual requirements with larger companies, and because of a fear that they would be cited by OSHA.

Researchers found two common barriers to better safety in small businesses: time was scarce, so owners did not see the benefits of written OS&H programs, and these owners did not perceive themselves as operating a risky business.

While small businesses lacked safety expertise, they showed little interest in free help from OSHA consultation services. Nor were they particularly eager to talk to NIOSH about this issue. Despite the enticement of $100 and a free meal, one small business owner told researchers, "There is nothing you can give us that would make us discuss safety and health with you; no offense, buddy."

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New Look At Layered Material Lends Insight To Silicon

Dec. 2, 2003
ScienceDaily
By staff report
 © Copyright 2003

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Engineers at Ohio State University and their colleagues have taken an unprecedented look at the interface between layers of silicon and other materials in electronic devices.

What they have learned may help traditional microelectronics remain vital to industry longer than most experts expect. It may even aid the design of other devices where one material meets another -- including medical implants.

Using computer simulation, the engineers demonstrated for the first time how a previously known means of creating thin films of materials – a process known as "snowplowing" -- actually works. The results suggest that snowplowing could be used in a new way to create high-quality electronics, said Wolfgang Windl, professor of materials science and engineering at Ohio State.

They have also viewed -- again, for the first time -- a perfect interface between layers of the common semiconductor materials germanium and silicon dioxide. Known as an "atomically sharp" interface, such a perfect interface could be used to boost the speed of computer chips. As computer chip makers continue to build more and more circuits onto every chip, traditional silicon electronics are quickly approaching a limit beyond which enhancements in speed and efficiency will no longer be possible, Windl explained.

Engineers across the industry are scrambling to develop new technologies that will be ready to replace silicon before that limit is reached. Windl's research group is trying to buy them more time.

"Our goal is to keep traditional devices useful for a few more years," he said. "We want to squeeze all we can out of the technology."

The engineers combined materials data with computer simulation to gain new insight into atomic-level interactions at the interface between silicon and other materials.

Tao Liang, a doctoral student at Ohio State, presented the results in a poster session December 1 at the Materials Research Society meeting in Boston. Coauthors on the poster include engineers Sergei Lopatin and Gerd Duscher, both of North Carolina State University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

This research grew out of a coincidence: Windl and Duscher grew up on the same street in Germany, and they recently ran into each other in the United States.

"We hadn't seen each other since we were children," Windl said, smiling. "When we discovered that we were working in similar areas, we knew we had to do something together."

As a leading electron microscopist, Duscher could view and often identify individual atoms in materials, but he needed someone to interpret his data. Windl could provide that interpretation through his computer simulations, but he lacked the data to show whether his simulations reflected true material behavior.

"It was a match made in heaven," Windl said.

At Oak Ridge, Duscher recently found 15-year-old materials samples that had been produced by colleague Dariush Fathy and co-workers, containing a layered structure of silicon, germanium and silicon dioxide. Since Windl and Duscher's new collaboration included studying such samples, Duscher examined the structure with the electron microscope.

After comparing the data to their computer simulations, Windl and Duscher found to their surprise that the interface between the germanium and silicon dioxide was perfect down to the atom -- a condition known as "atomically sharp," which to Windl's knowledge had never been seen before in semiconductor devices.

Such an ideal interface is highly desirable, Windl explained, because it increases the speed of computer chips.

"Semiconductor companies have put considerable effort into making the interface as sharp as possible, without ever reaching the ultimate limit -- which unknowingly had existed for 15 years in a sample in a box in the corner of a lab at Oak Ridge," Windl said.

After they used the data to develop accurate models of how silicon, oxygen, and germanium atoms interact, they also tried something else: they modeled "snowplowing," a technique for creating a thin film of a material. This technique had been used to create the sample in the study.

Snowplowing exploits incompatibility between atoms, in this case between germanium and oxygen. Given a piece of material made of silicon and germanium, engineers add oxygen from the top, which penetrates into the material to form silicon dioxide. Since oxygen repels the germanium atoms, it literally pushes them down into the silicon. A layer of germanium becomes densely packed within the silicon, like a pile of snow ahead of a snowplow. Oxygen in turn cannot penetrate into the germanium pile, and so the separation between oxide and germanium becomes as sharp as possible, without any mixing around the interface.

One unexplained effect of snowplowing is that some germanium atoms escape the snowplow and emerge within the silicon dioxide.

The computer simulation clearly showed how this can happen. When the germanium atoms become too crowded in front of the snowplowing oxide layer, some atoms can't fit, and they are left behind.

"It's like they fall over the upper edge of the snow shovel," Windl said.

The germanium in the oxide is in principle bad for the electronic properties of the material, but Windl suspects that chip manufacturers can now use this knowledge to create high-quality layered materials.

"They could just peel off the silicon dioxide layer, which has some germanium inclusions, and then put on a fresh layer of silicon dioxide that does not contain germanium," he said.

Windl said engineers can use virtual tools like his models to test out new material "recipes" much more quickly than they could otherwise. From his days of creating computer models for electronics maker Motorola, Inc., Windl knows that a prototype material can take months to create, before testing can even begin. In contrast, a computer model can tell designers what they need to know in days or even hours.

That faster pace for innovation, plus the increased knowledge of material behavior at interfaces, could help electronics manufacturers get all the performance they can out of silicon chips, Windl said.

The same combination of modeling techniques and electron microscopy could also work for many other applications where material interfaces are important. One application would be medical implants, such as the titanium-coated joint replacements that contact bone in the body.

This research was funded by the Semiconductor Research Corp.

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