Biology and Agriculture
The College of Biology and Agriculture is undergoing major reorganization. The six departments within the college will be combined into five, the number of classes offered will be reduced, and the student-teacher ratio will be improved. The changes are being implemented gradually and will not be fully in place until fall 2003. Students already in the current programs will not be adversely affected.
WEB: newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/36005
Education
Adjunct professor of audiology and speech-language pathology Samuel G. Fletcher and a team of BYU students and faculty are advancing the technology and cutting down the costs of Fletcher’s invention, the “palatometer,” a device designed to help the deaf and those with speech disorders to better articulate sounds. The sensing mechanism of the palatometer, the pseudopalate, is a retainer-like device that senses the movement of the tongue and mouth. Information gathered from electrodes in the pseudopalate becomes a computer-generated diagram, where it can then be compared to a diagram of the correct tongue movement for the sound.
WEB: newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/38880
Engineering and Technology
A team of faculty members from the Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering Departments has received a $1.15 million government grant to develop robots for use in disaster-area searches. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the research and development arm of the Department of Defense, funded the grant as part of an ongoing initiative.
WEB: newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/39280
Dan R. Olsen Jr., ’76, a computer science professor, has been awarded the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction Lifetime Service Award. Also, in a Supreme Court case debating the Child Online Protection Act, Olsen served as an expert witness and spoke out against Internet pornography.
WEB: byu.edu/news/releases/archive02/Aug/computer.htm
Family, Home, and Social Sciences
The School of Family Life has created a new Web site, “Forever Families,” based on The Family: A Proclamation to the World and research by BYU family scientists.
WEB: foreverfamilies.net
Stephen D. Houston, a professor of anthropology, has been named a recipient of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship. He is one of 184 fellows chosen from among 2,845 applicants and one of only two professors in Utah to receive the fellowship.
Fine Arts and Communications
At the annual meeting of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre, Harold R. Oaks, ’60, associate dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communications and a theatre and media arts professor, was invested as one of three fellows for his work in advancing educational and professional theatre for young audiences. Oaks is presently developing a series of puppet plays on AIDS to be presented in areas of Africa where populations are most affected by the disease.
Health and Human Performance
Assistant dance professor Pamela S. Musil, ’78, and dance professor and associate dean of the College of Health and Human Performance Sara Lee Gibb, ’59, are involved in a three-year nationwide research project called Research in Dance Education. The project is an initiative of the National Dance Education Association and is being funded with a $673,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
Rosemary Thackeray, assistant professor of health sciences recently received the President’s Award by the Utah Public Health Association (UPHA) for outstanding service in public health. She recently ended her term as vice president of UPHA.
Humanities
The National Foreign Language Center awarded the BYU Center for Language Studies a $200,000 per year grant for a three-year pilot program to increase study of the Chinese language. The grant will make possible smaller upper-division classes, advanced specialty classes, closer cooperation between BYU and Chinese universities, and more affordable study abroad.
Law School
The Law School hosted the Rex E. Lee Conference on the Office of the Solicitor General on Sept. 12 and 13. All former, living U.S. solicitors were invited.
Marriott School
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a four-year Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) grant to the Marriott School of Management. The grant provides $355,000 per year through 2006. With this funding the Marriott School has expanded its CIBER program to create the Global Management Center, which will internationalize faculty, students, and curriculum and facilitate global outreach.
WEB: www.byu.edu/news/releases/archive02/Aug/global.htm
Gary C. Cornia, ’70, professor of public management and current president of the National Tax Association, was recently invited to discuss state and local tax policy at The Reilly Center for Media and Public Affairs at Louisiana State University. Cornia presented the results of studies on decreasing state sales-tax revenues due to electronic commerce.
WEB: byu.edu/news/releases/archive02/Jun/Internet.htm
Nursing
The College of Nursing has announced that it will offer a new graduate program—Adult Medical Surgical Clinical Nurse Specialist. The two-year program will begin in spring 2003.
Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Using the recently completed map of the human genome, assistant professors of chemistry and biology Barry M. Willardson, ’84, and Craig D. Thulin have identified a key protein interaction in a physiological process that often runs amok in cancers, heart disease, and addictions. Their research was reported in the June issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
WEB: byu.edu/news/releases/archive02/Jun/willardson.htm
Geology professor Thomas H. Morris, ’81, assisted by graduate student Vicki Wood Manning, ’01, and producer Glenn L. Anderson, ’77, has created a new educational video, The 275 Million Year Story of Capitol Reef. The video, used in BYU undergraduate courses and sold at the Capitol Reef National Park Visitor Center, won a Bronze Telly Award.
Religious Education
Professor of Church history and doctrine Douglas E. Brinley, ’75, and Mark D. Ogletree, ’87, have written a new book, First Comes Love, to help young people prepare for marriage.
WEB: www.byu.edu/news/releases/archive02/Aug/Marriage.htm
College Updates