Congratulations to John Blondin and Michael Owen, whose computer generated image of the accretion disk around a black hole was featured in the Spring 2003 NC State Alumni Magazine, as well as in the January issue of Discover magazine.

Congratulations to Chris Gould, Diane Markoff, Albert Young, and Jason Messimore, whose work on the mass of neutrinos was featured in the Spring 2003 NC State Alumni Magazine.

Congratulations to Marco Buongiorno Nardelli on his recent NC State News Release:

The ability to make atomic-level changes in the functional components of semiconductor switches, demonstrated by a team of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, North Carolina State University and University of Tennessee physicists, could lead to huge changes in the semiconductor industry. The results are reported in the June 13 issue of Science.

"Spotlight on..." Physics Staff. Our continuing series for recognition of the SPA staff in Physics. Every two months we'll feature another staff member on a poster in the glass cases near the Cox elevators and the "Physics News" bulletin board outside the main office toward Dabney.

June-July's featured person is

Ina has been with the Physics Department since 1998. Take a look at her "Spotlight" when you pass by the bulletin board in June and July.

Important note about "Rush" grant proposals from the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research Administration:

Following is a re-iteration of the policy on submitting RUSH proposals through SPARCS. This does not reflect a change to the procedures in place prior to the implementation of GAMS:

(1) A GAMS Proposal must be in process and routed with appropriate approvals through the college level.

(2) A copy of the proposal summary sheet from GAMS must be included with the proposal copies.

The underlining procedures prior to GAMS-EPF still apply with regard to rushes. Rushes should be limited to the most critical emergencies and may not include contracts or proposals with terms and conditions.

There appears to be some mis-understanding that the implementation of GAMS may have altered these procedures. This is not true. SPARCS remains committed to take every measure to ensure proposals are submitted on time but we must not through [sic] too much caution to the wind.

The Graduate Physics Student Association (GPSA) is meeting again. We have had two very successful meetings so far and have several interesting talks planned.

The GPSA would like to celebrate its new beginning by bringing back an old tradition. We will host a cookout at Pullen Park on Wednesday July 9 at 5:00 p.m.

Faculty, staff, students and families are invited. The GPSA will provide picnic food and drinks. Please bring a side dish or dessert to share. Look for sign up sheets in the mailroom. Please sign up so we know how many people to expect.

Officers for the 2003-2004 year are:

Eric Adles - President
Matt Highland - Vice President
Lin Ding - Treasurer
Joshua Smith - GSA Representative
Matt Walker - GSA Rep. Alternate

At that time Mars will be a mere 34,646,418 miles (55,758,006 kilometers) away from Earth.