Summer 2004 |
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Virtual
Vienna Beginning Autumn Quarter 2004, students in Germanics 201 will spend much of their time in Vienna, Austria, absorbing the region’s history and culture—without ever leaving Seattle. Their visits will be via a new multimedia computer module, “Virtual Vienna,” that brings Vienna to life.
“Virtual Vienna” is a set of five CDs (or one DVD) developed by Department of Germanics Professor Manfred Bansleben and funded through a Tools for Transformation grant. It has been designed for use outside of class to supplement—or inspire—class discussion. “It’s a way to make culture fun, interesting, and engaging for students so they want to read the texts, learn about the artwork, and discuss it,” says Bansleben. “It goes well with the general Austria and Vienna focus in our department, and prepares students interested in our ‘Spring in Vienna’ program.” The multimedia program focuses on three turn-of-the-century periods of Viennese history: around 1800—the classical Vienna of Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert; around 1900, a period shaped by Sigmund Freud, Gustav Mahler, Gustav Klimt, Arnold Schonberg, and other creative thinkers; and contemporary Vienna. To link these three periods, Bansleben created a modern story that leads back into the past. The modern characters are Georg, a Viennese professor of history, and Susan, an American graduate student whom he tours around the city. There is a mystery at the center of the story: Georg inherits items from a recently deceased grandfather, and strangers break into his apartment looking for one of the items. Many of Georg’s
adventures involve trying to learn what the intruders are seeking. The module includes 18 chapters that combine texts (letters, memoirs, interviews, essays, historical documents, and short stories), radio interviews, musical compositions, and film excerpts. Some texts are presented in English in the early sections; more German is used as the module progresses. Every section is interactive. “Whatever students see or do,” says Bansleben, “there’s always a quiz to check on their comprehension.” Colleagues at Harvard University are now designing in-class activities in conjunction with the DVD. “This has been a huge project,” admits Bansleben, who credits the UW’s Language Learning Center with providing extensive assistance. (Two other UW units, Catalyst and CARTAH, also provided help.) “We wanted to make it as technically advanced and interesting as possible. Our hope is that it will be used for years to come.”
Math Team Takes Top Honors for Third Year A three-member team of UW students has taken top honors in an international mathematics competition, beating teams from such math powerhouses as MIT, Yale, and the University of California, Berkeley—again.
It’s the fourth time in three years that the UW has placed an undergraduate team in the rarefied top tier of the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications’ annual Mathematical Contest in Modeling. (Last year, two UW teams placed in the top tier.) Of this year’s 599 participating teams, just seven, including one from the UW, were judged to be outstanding winners. “It’s just phenomenal that we had another winner this year,” says Jim Morrow, professor in the Department of Mathematics and adviser for the four UW teams that entered this year’s contest. “We’re very pleased to have such consistently good students. They’re top-notch mathematicians.” The winning team members—Tracy Lovejoy, Sasha Aravkin, and Casey Schneider-Mizell—are all seniors. For the contest, officials
posted two problems on the Web. Teams had exactly four days to select
one problem and devise a solution. Competitors could access sources
on the Web or in the library but could not consult with anyone outside
When the problems were posted, the team debated for a couple of hours before choosing the one that dealt with managing lines at amusement parks. The goal was to construct a model for managing lines that would be efficient and fair to customers. The team soon discovered that there is little useful data on amusement parks, probably because the owners don’t want competitors to know which rides are most popular and how crowds are managed. The group was in a spot and needed data—fast. So Lovejoy headed to the Husky Den cafeteria in the Husky Union Building to watch the lines at the Pagliacci Pizza and Subway sandwich franchises. “That was all I could think of,” he says. “I counted the number of people in line every minute. I was there for about 20 minutes.” When Lovejoy got back, they put the data in a graph and it jibed well with the theoretical models they had constructed. “That was more or less the only real data we had,” says Lovejoy. “The fact that we went the extra mile to get real data may have been one of the things that set us apart.” All three team members are mathematics majors, each with an additional focus: Schneider-Mizell and Lovejoy are also in the physics program, and Aravkin is studying computer science.
UW Observatory Named in Honor of Theodor Jacobsen It took 109 years, but the second-oldest building on campus finally has a name of its own.
Earlier this year, the Board of Regents agreed to formally name the astronomical observatory at the north edge of campus the Theodor Jacobsen Observatory, in honor of the man who for more than 35 years was the only person teaching astronomy at the UW. Jacobsen died in 2003 at the age of 102, four years after publishing a book, Planetary Systems from the Ancient Greeks to Kepler, that he had worked on since his retirement in the early 1970s. Jacobsen came to the UW in 1928 as an assistant professor of astronomy and mathematics. A decade later he became a full professor and “executive officer” of astronomy. For many years he kept an office in the observatory, though even back then the observatory was primarily for student use and public demonstrations. City lights have increasingly made it difficult to use the observatory’s telescope for scientific purposes. The observatory was built in 1895, from sandstone left over from construction of Denny Hall, the first building on campus. The six-inch refracting telescope is still used today for public viewing.
Tony Giffard recognizes a great opportunity when he sees it. So when the UW’s Rome Center became available on short notice, Giffard, professor in the Department of Communication, quickly proposed a program for communication students. Before long he was headed to Italy with a dozen undergraduates to teach what he describes as “by far the most satisfying and rewarding course I’ve taught in the 25 years I’ve been here.”
Giffard, who specializes
in news media in Europe, has traveled to Europe many times for his
own research. But he had never contemplated creating a study “The UW did not want to leave the Palazzo Pio [the Rome Center facility] empty and was asking for proposals, so I volunteered,” says Giffard. “Someone had to do it, and I have this sense of duty,” he adds with a grin. The program included a course on Roman civilization from earliest times through the Renaissance, taught by UW architecture professor Trina Deines; Giffard’s course on media systems in Europe; and an Italian language course taught by local teachers. All students and faculty were housed in Palazzo Pio. Deines, director of the Rome Center, took full advantage of the setting, planning frequent field trips in Rome and surrounding areas. Toward the end of the quarter she assigned students to study different neighborhoods and lead a class tour. “It was amazing to see how the students quickly learned to identify and discuss intelligently the various architectural styles, the work of renowned artists, the significant historical sites,” says Giffard, who enthusiastically attended all of the classes and field trips.
For his own course, Giffard focused on print and broadcast media in Europe, exploring how national media systems are influenced by politics, economics, culture, and other factors, and how European Union policies impact media and the emerging information society. Although Giffard has taught the course many times before, he found it was a different experience in Rome. “We could buy and study local newspapers, watch television programs, and see movies in the vernacular,” he says. “The students learned a lot from the whole immersion in a different culture.” Giffard is planning to repeat the program next winter quarter, this time with a limit of 20 students. He’s already looking forward to it. “One of the best features of the program was getting to know the students individually, not merely as faces in a large lecture hall,” says Giffard. “They became our friends. It made a huge difference.”
Korean Community Shows Suupport for UW Program Last year, the UW’s Korean Studies Program was in jeopardy. Budget cuts and a key faculty retirement were threatening the future of the program. But thanks to the support of the Korean community in Seattle and in Seoul, an endowment for Korean Studies is in the works. The Korean community has always supported Korean Studies, but the fundraising effort went into high gear last December when the Korea Foundation in Seoul presented a challenge, offering to match all gifts to the program through December 2005, up to $500,000. Since that challenge, gifts and pledges totalling more than $430,000 have poured into the University from the local Korean community, supporters in South Korea, and even the UW’s own matching gift fund. UW supporter Ick-Whan Lee has led the volunteer effort in Seattle, giving generously and working tirelessly to solicit gifts from local businesses, churches, and individuals. The Korean Times, published in Seattle, has also been instrumental in publicizing the Korean Studies Program; the newspaper ran a front-page article and raised $25,000 through small donations from readers. “The Korean community has galvanized behind this project,” says David Hodge, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “It has been a wonderful model for public-private partnership.” The long-term goal is to establish a Korean Studies endowment that will provide a permanent position in Korean history, plus program and staff support.
In 1860, Washington Territory residents set aside ten acres for what would become the University of Washington. From those early days through World War II and beyond, the UW has been shaped by the defining moments in our region and our country. Those moments are the focus of the 2004 UW Fall Lecture Series, “University of 1,000 Years: Defining Moments at the UW,” with the dynamic Jon Bridgman, professor emeritus of history, returning as lecturer.
“As an historian and professor who has spent more than 43 years at the UW, I’m happy to be sharing the University’s extraordinary evolution through this series,” says Bridgman. “The institution’s history is compelling. It tells us a lot about our region.” In conjunction with the series, an exhibit of University of Washington historical items dating back to the early 1900s—including songbooks, clothing, a freshman week program, exams, and more—will be on display in Suzzallo Library during Autumn Quarter 2004. The lecture series is open to the public. It will run from September 30 through October 28, with the weekly lectures beginning at 7 pm. For details, visit www.washington.edu/alumni/activities/lectures/2004fall_main.html .
It’s Thursday
morning. Nearly 20 students are gathered around tables in the Statistics
Tutor and Study Center in McCarty Hall, reviewing material for
an upcoming exam. Three tutors—two statistics graduate students
and a faculty member—roam the room helping students who have
questions.
The Center was the brainchild of June Morita, acting associate professor in the Department of Statistics, and statistics graduate student Rebecca Nugent. “We saw a real need for assistance beyond what we could offer in a classroom setting,” says Morita, the Center’s director. “Some students could afford to pay for a private tutor, but most could not. It didn’t seem fair. We felt that all our students should be able to get help.” Morita and Nugent researched other tutoring centers at the UW and surveyed statistics students to learn about their study habits. They quickly realized that they would need a dedicated space for the Center. And they eventually found that place in an unlikely location: a UW dorm. “We were looking for space for quite a while,” recalls Morita, “and everyone we asked said there was no space. Then we spoke with Janet Ward-Worthington at Housing and Food Services (HFS) and her face just lit up.” HFS saw the Center as both a valuable service for students and an excellent use for the underutilized library in McCarty Hall. The Center opened for
20 hours a week during Spring Quarter 2003, with The Center is still open 20 hours a week—plus extra hours prior to exams—but now there are as many as three regularly scheduled tutors at any one time, plus more at peak periods. Most visitors are students taking Department of Statistics courses, but the facility also welcomes students taking statistics courses in other disciplines, such as business or psychology. “Since statistics is taught all over campus, it made sense to be inclusive,” says Morita. “It’s a sharing of our subject matter.”
It’s clearly subject matter that is hard for many students to grasp. “Statistics is one of those subjects where students can have a hard time,” Nugent admits. “It’s another language, a different way of thinking about things.” Fortunately, all of the Center’s tutors are skilled teachers with previous UW teaching experience. In addition, most statistics faculty choose to hold some of their office hours at the Center. “When faculty are there, they can get a feeling for what students are comfortable with and what they are struggling with,” says Morita. “They get valuable feedback they won’t get in other ways. It’s just one more way in which the Center benefits the department.” [Summer 2004 - Table of Contents]
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