PURDUE NEWS SUMMARY FOR WEEK OF MAY 7-12 This digest contains summaries of the following stories from Purdue News Service and Agricultural Communication Service. All these stories, and more, are available on the World Wide Web at http://news.uns.purdue.edu/html3month/3month.html (Instructions for retrieving stories and photographs via the Internet are at the end of this document.) 1. Purdue researchers track deadly foodborne bacterium 2. Wireless Net may require 'smart antennas' 3. Go fishing for fun, but eat more from the store 4. Eight junior faculty honored by National Science Foundation 5. Class of 1950 officers earn President's Medal, unveil artwork 6. Purdue Notebook 7. Economist says China's entry into WTO good for Indiana farmers 8. Vintage Indiana wine festival to feature Hoosier wines 9. Purdue offers credit for distance education in ag biotechnology 10. Sheep association sponsoring camp and show 11. Purdue commencement to be heard in live Webcast 12. Purdue conference focuses on home and family 13. Take your business online in Internet time 14. Best Bets for Journalists 15. Wireless technology experts 16. Inside Purdue and Perspective ------------------------------------- RESEARCH NEWS AND SPECIAL REPORTS ------------------------------------- 1. Purdue researchers track deadly foodborne bacterium Researchers at Purdue are developing new electronic sensors that should be able to detect the deadly pathogen Listeria monocytogenes in food processing lines. Just a week ago, President Bill Clinton announced that the federal government would require food processors to cut the rate of Listeria illnesses in half by 2005, instead of 2010 as was previously planned. Later this summer, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to propose that processors be required to test for Listeria monocytogenes in their plants and on equipment. The bacterium is the most deadly food pathogen of them all. It sickens more than 2,500 people each year in the United States, and one out of five of its victims dies. Arun Bhunia, associate professor of food science at Purdue who is part of the team working to develop the electronic sensors, says Listeria is a difficult pathogen to control. 2. Wireless Net may require 'smart antennas' Just as people hear better with two ears than with one, future wireless communications devices may have two or more antennas so they can outperform conventional, single-antenna versions. These ''smart antennas,'' when combined with sophisticated signal processing techniques, may enable a new generation of wireless devices to better access the Internet and download large amounts of data, including video files, says Michael Zoltowski, a professor in Purdue's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Zoltowski will present a research paper about smart antennas on June 9 at the International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing in Istanbul, Turkey. 3. Go fishing for fun, but eat more from the store If you're trying to add more fish to your diet, grab most of it from the grocery store shelves, says Charlie Santerre, a Purdue professor of foods and nutrition. According to his research, you're less likely to find contaminants in store-bought fillets than in fish pulled from local streams and rivers. In the most comprehensive study of its kind, published in the March issue of the Journal of Food Science, Santerre and researchers from seven other states tested farm-raised fish and crayfish for more than three dozen pesticides. In almost every case, contaminant levels in pond-raised fish were lower than levels of those same pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in wild-caught fish from similar studies, Santerre says. SOURCE: Santerre, (765) 496-3443, [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------- NEWS ABOUT PURDUE PEOPLE --------------------------- 4. Eight junior faculty honored by National Science Foundation Eight Purdue scientists and engineers are among 350 nationwide recently honored by the National Science Foundation with 1999 Faculty Early Career Development Awards. The award is the NSF's most prestigious honor for junior faculty members. Awards for 1999 range from $200,000 to $500,000 over four or five years. The recipients from Purdue are Jillian Buriak, Hicham Fenniri, Ananth Grama, Kihong Park, Chris Rasmussen, T.N. Vijaykumar, Carl Wassgren and David Yau. Career awards support exceptionally promising college and university junior faculty who are committed to the integration of research and education, said Rita Colwell, director of the National Science Foundation. 5. Class of 1950 officers earn President's Medal, unveil artwork The current and former presidents of the Class of 1950 have received the President's Medal for outstanding achievement and service to Purdue. President Steven C. Beering presented the awards to James Blakesley, the current president, and Maurice Williamson, the president from 1960 to 1990, during Gala Weekend activities. Blakesley and Williamson, both of West Lafayette, are the 13th and 14th recipients of the President's Medal. The Class of 1950 also unveiled new artwork April 29 in the main lecture hall of the building named for the class. 6. Purdue Notebook -- Personnel Services promotes Brent Bowditch to assistant director for compensation and benefits and Pam Nesbitt to assistant director for employment -- Matthew P. Stephens receives Frederick L. Hovde Faculty Fellow Award -------------------- AGRICULTURAL NEWS -------------------- 7. Economist says China's entry into WTO good for Indiana farmers Hoosier farmers stand to gain an average of more than $70 million a year over the next 10 years if China is admitted into the World Trade Organization, said Philip Paarlberg, a Purdue associate professor of agricultural economics. ''We would be looking for exports to increase in soybeans - particularly soybean oil - and corn, and we have some expectations for increased sales of pork,'' Paarlberg said. ''This is a positive for Indiana agriculture.'' Paarlberg estimates a 2 percent bump in Indiana farm income if China joins the WTO. That translates into an additional $3-$4 in cash receipts per acre, he said. Paarlberg based his estimate on an analysis of a U.S. Department of Agriculture report on China and the WTO. 8. Vintage Indiana wine festival to feature Hoosier wines Vintage Indiana, a wine and food festival designed to acquaint more Hoosiers with Indiana wines, will be from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. June 10 at Military Park in downtown Indianapolis. ''The festival will showcase what Indiana has to offer in both variety and quality of wines,'' said Sally Peart, marketing and public relations specialist for the Indiana Wine Grape Council based at Purdue. ''We will also provide education on food and wine parings, wine making, and wine appreciation.'' Advance tickets can be purchased at a discount all Marsh Supermarkets, participating wineries, Thomson Newspapers and online at http://www.vintageindiana.com. Tickets at the gate will be $15 for adults age 21 and over and $13 for designated drivers and those 18 and older. Tickets for youths age 17 and under cost $5, and children age 5 and under are free. For more information, visit http://www.vintageindiana.com or call (800) 832-WINE. 9. Purdue offers credit for distance education in ag biotechnology High school teachers who want a crash course in biotechnology, as well as materials to help teach their students, can earn one or two hours of credit while they learn. Purdue's School of Agriculture has teamed up with Purdue Extension to offer ''Introduction to Agricultural Biotechnology,'' a one-week distance education course taught using the Indiana Higher Education Telecommunication System. Participants will be able to listen to lectures from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. EST each day June 19-23 at any IHETS location. They will need Internet and e-mail access to reach supplemental course materials and assignments on the World Wide Web. The course costs $134 for one credit (pass/fail), $268 for two credits, plus a textbook fee, due at the time of registration. 10. Sheep association sponsoring camp and show The Indiana Junior Sheep Association will conduct a lamb camp and market lamb and breeding stock show May 27-28 at the Hamilton County Fairgrounds, Noblesville. The lamb camp will begin at 10 a.m. May 27 and will conclude with a showmanship contest at 7 p.m. Cost of the camp is $25 per youth. Lunch and dinner will be provided. Exhibitors between the ages of 8 and 24 are eligible to enter the market lamb and breeding stock show on May 28. ---------------------- MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS ---------------------- 11. Purdue commencement to be heard in live Webcast The second of four commencement ceremonies at Purdue this weekend will be broadcast live on the Internet at 9:30 a.m. Saturday (5/13). The live audio Webcast is Purdue's prize as one of nine winners among U.S. colleges and universities that received the most online votes as a favorite college or university in the first Commencement Cup Challenge sponsored by Eddie Bauer Inc. and powered by Yahoo! Careers. Contest voting was held from April 7 to May 1. For instructions for ''tuning in'' the Saturday morning ceremony, surf to this Web site: http://www.webevents.broadcast.com/eddiebauer/voting0400/winners.asp 12. Purdue conference focuses on home and family Keeping the home fires burning sometimes requires a little stoking. That's what Purdue 's 87th Annual Home and Family Conference is intended to do. Motivational speakers, workshops, field trips and entertainment are the order of the day at the conference, which runs June 6-9 on the West Lafayette campus. The conference is sponsored by Purdue's Consumer and Family Sciences Extension. 13. Take your business online in Internet time A one-stop, two-day conference at Purdue will provide participants with the e-business strategies they need to decide whether and how to take their businesses or business ideas online. Patrick Duparcq, assistant professor of management at Purdue's Krannert School whose area of research is e-business marketing strategies, will present ''Creating Successful E-Business Strategies for the Future,'' on Monday and Tuesday, June 12 and 13. The conference will be at the Krannert Center on the West Lafayette campus from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. The program fee is $1,350. 14. Best Bets for Journalists -- New training for pesticide applicators ''Best Bets'' also has details about the ''All-American'' Marching Band performances at Indianapolis 500 Race festivities, a June 1 board of trustees meeting, and a June 12-13 executive education program about ''Creating Successful E-Business Strategies for the Future.'' 15. Wireless technology experts Here's a list of five Purdue experts who can discuss wireless technologies and devices. 16. Inside Purdue and Perspective Check the online versions of Inside Purdue, the faculty/staff newspaper, and Perspective, a quarterly publication for alumni, parents of students, faculty and staff, for other news about Purdue, at http://www.purdue.edu/PER/Periodicals.html. How to retrieve stories and photographs electronically Releases, publication-quality photographs, and a searchable database of Purdue and Big 10 experts are available at the PurdueNews Web site at http://news.uns.purdue.edu. Faculty and staff may register as experts at the Web site. Publication-quality photos also are available at the PurdueNews ftp site at ftp://ftp.purdue.edu/pub/uns/. Purdue News Service also produces e-mail digests of stories on five topics: agriculture; business, finance and technology; lifestyles, education and careers; science, engineering and health; and weekly Purdue News (that's this digest). To subscribe (or unsubscribe) to this service: -- Address your request to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Use a mail form with no text or graphics -- Leave the subject line blank. In the body, indicate which digest(s) you want: subscribe agnews subscribe biznews subscribe lifenews subscribe scinews subscribe pu-news (Purdue subscribers) subscribe puweek (non-Purdue subscribers) To unsubscribe, just substitute ''unsubscribe'' for ''subscribe.'' Problems? Contact Mike Willis, Purdue News Service, (765) 494-0371, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Jeanne Norberg, director Purdue University News Service 1132 Engineering Admin. Bldg. West Lafayette, IN 47907-1132 Phone: 765-494-2096 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
