3/29/2002

Jenny Allen,
Lisa Barefoot,
Crissy Brown,
Patricia Bucklad,
Jeffery Cable,
R. Michele Clark,
Merronda Cline,
Janice Gaddy,
Carol Gilbert,
April Jackson,
Peggy Morris,
Cherlynn Tchir.

We also have one group nomination in the SPA category, which includes Eddie Barefoot, Leonard Page and Tony Radford.

The EPA nominees are:

Susan Cady,

Joyce Hilliard-Clark,

Dolores Knight,

Sabapathy Sankar,

Dean Solomon will introduce the nominees and announce one SPA and one EPA winner at the College reception on Thursday, March 28 from 3:00 to 4:00 PM in Dabney 210. Each winner will receive a plaque, a $250 check, and 8 hours of leave. These winners will represent PAMS in the University Awards for Excellence Program.

The NC State University Awards for Excellence Program is divided into 16 units including PAMS. The university level winners will be announced at the 2002 Awards for Excellence luncheon on May 30 at the McKimmon Center. At this luncheon 5 nominees will be selected as University nominees for the Governor's Award for Excellence. Tickets for this luncheon can be purchased from Denise Seabrooks, 3-2300.

Congratulations to Marty DeWitt and Yuriy Mishchenko, recipients of the SURA/JLab Graduate Fellowships for 2002-2003. Marty received the same fellowship for 2001-2002. Both are students of Chueng Ji.

Congratulations to Ed Su of Enloe High School on his selection to the 2002 Research Science Institute. The Research Science Institute (RSI) is a prestigious international summer program for high school science students sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Education (www.cee.org). The program is cost-free to all participants and each of the past few years has been held at the MIT campus. Activities include one week of intensive lectures in physics, biology, chemistry, and mathematics; guest evening lectures from many prominent scientists; and five weeks of scientific research under the supervision of mentors from MIT, Harvard, Boston Univ., and other Boston area researchers. Thanks to Dean Lee for mentoring Ed.

The selection process for RSI attendees is highly competitive and so be sure to congratulate Ed when you see him!

Please note that the date for the Faculty Retreat has been changed to Monday, May 13.

The annual Physics Faculty Retreat is scheduled at the conference room at Lake Wheeler Park. All faculty and EPA Staff with teaching duties are invited to attend.

The first two hours will feature a mini research symposium (limit of 5 minutes and 1 transparency per person.) Send suggestions for topics to Chris Gould or any member of the advisory committee.

Please let Becky Savage know by May 8 if you will be attending. A map to the retreat will be distributed at a later date.

In the Everyday Applications of Physics area, we've been informed that a short article written by Robert Egler for The Physics Teacher in 1990, "The Physics of Firefighting" (Physics Teacher, vol 28, p 599), is required reading at the Fairfax County (VA) Fire Training Academy, considered one of the best fire academies in the US.

Be careful of what you put in recycling! A recent incident in the Department where students acquired a earlier version of a test that had been placed in the recycling illustrates that we must be careful of what we recycle.

Please destroy papers that have student ID numbers or personal information rather than place these in recycling. Also destroy tests, answer keys, or similar documents when appropriate for security reasons.

NO tests in the last week of class. University policy prohibits faculty giving tests during the last week of class. Exemptions must be approved in advance by the Department Head and the Dean. (NC State University Handbook for Advising and Teaching, p 5-14.)

Posting Grades: Faculty may post grades (test or final) by social security number, provided that they have written permission from the student. Without such written permission, neither the grade NOR the social security number with a blank grade may be posted. Students may give permission on a test by test basis, or at the beginning of the semester. If they give permission at the beginning of the semester, that permission should be revocable at any time during the semester. Grades may also be posted by some number other than the student's ID number without getting student permission. Additional information is in the NC State University Handbook for Advising and Teaching, p 5-18.

Happy Easter!

Sunday, March 31

Easter Trivia: Ever wonder how the date of Easter is determined?

Easter is the first Sunday after the first Full Moon on or after March 21 (The usual date of the Vernal Equinox). The earliest possible date for Easter is March 22, and the latest possible date is April 25.

This method of determining Easter was set by the Council of Nicaea in AD 325.

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