PURDUE NEWS SUMMARY FOR WEEK OF AUG. 27-SEPT. 1 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. Tiny coated particles smooth way for nanoscale technologies 2. Board of Trustees 3. Purdue WL enrollment steady, academic quality up 4. Krannert School embarks on new e-business initiatives 5. Purdue's management students hop on fast-track e-train 6. Careers in robotics explode through innovation and research 7. WBAA-AM to air monthly conversations with President Jischke 8. Purdue Notebook 9. McDonald's and egg producers say the chicken comes first 10. Purdue Agriculture sponsors 'Ag Tailgate 2000' 11. Purdue agriculture enrollment up slightly 12. 2,000 musicians to fill the field at Purdue Band Day 13. Lightning silences campus landmark 14. Talk to present new insights into birth defects, development 15. Purdue calendar 16. Best Bets for Journalists 17. Inside Purdue and Perspective ------------------------------------- RESEARCH NEWS AND SPECIAL REPORTS ------------------------------------- 1. TINY COATED PARTICLES SMOOTH WAY FOR NANOSCALE TECHNOLOGIES Purdue University chemists have devised a way to remove a major obstacle in designing new materials for use in the atom-size realm of nanotechnology. Nanoparticles - tailor made of selected metals or other materials and measuring just billionths of a meter in diameter - are the building blocks for this new generation of materials. Scientists are trying to use these to build new, stronger materials one molecule at a time for applications ranging from medicine to aerospace. But nanoparticles can be so fragile and unstable that if their surfaces touch, they will fuse together, losing their special shape and properties. Now, researchers at Purdue have found a way to stabilize nanoparticles made of metal by wrapping the tiny structures in a ''plastic coat'' of molecular thickness. The coating prevents the nanoparticles from fusing together upon contact and allows them to be easily manipulated. ------------------------ GENERAL INTEREST NEWS ------------------------ 2. BOARD OF TRUSTEES The board was meeting Friday (9/1). Because the board had not yet taken action when this digest was compiled, a summary of its actions was not available. The following stories about the board's actions will be available late Friday afternoon at the News Service Web site. -- $48 million plan to upgrade student dining on agenda -- Purdue seeks approval for state funding request -- Trustees to recognize Beering, Jischke 3. PURDUE WL ENROLLMENT STEADY, ACADEMIC QUALITY UP Purdue has met its goal of holding undergraduate enrollment steady on its West Lafayette campus while increasing the academic quality of the student body. The Office of the Registrar Tuesday (8/29) announced that total enrollment at the West Lafayette campus is 37,871 students, a difference of 109 students from last fall's enrollment. Undergraduate enrollment increased 64 students to 30,899 while graduate and professional enrollment remained about the same at 6,972 students. Enrollment at all Purdue campuses is estimated at 67,560. Systemwide Purdue enrollment was 66,455 a year ago. 4. KRANNERT SCHOOL EMBARKS ON NEW E-BUSINESS INITIATIVES Businesses today must have an e-strategy. The same can be said of business schools. Purdue's Krannert School of Management will receive $250,000 each of the next three years to integrate e-business fully into the curriculum and to serve as a resource in Indiana's high-technology development. Purdue is making the funds available as part of an agreement with IBM, which recently provided a supercomputer to the university. 5. PURDUE'S MANAGEMENT STUDENTS HOP ON FAST-TRACK E-TRAIN Trying to board the e-business train while it's moving at Internet speed is daunting, but professors at Purdue's Krannert Graduate School of Management have jumped on board first class. Starting this fall, Krannert School master's degree students will be able to study e-business in 13 classes across the whole traditional business curriculum: marketing, finance, operations, organizational behavior, accounting, economics, management strategy and information systems. In addition, there are three interdisciplinary classes offered in conjunction with Purdue's electrical and mechanical engineering departments. 6. CAREERS IN ROBOTICS EXPLODE THROUGH INNOVATION AND RESEARCH Robots to perform surgery? Mow grass? Vacuum carpet? Change tires? Make coffee? Even recognize individuals on sight? Purdue experts say that it is now possible to design robots to perform those and many other tasks. The trend points to a career field of limitless growth and imagination. ''There will always be an abundance of job opportunities in this field, because robots merely represent advanced automation,'' says Avi Kak, a Purdue professor of electrical and computer engineering. ''The technology is here for robots to do household chores such as vacuuming, but it is not economically feasible yet. However, I can foresee this becoming available in our lifetime.'' Those choosing to major in the robotics field will find career options in nearly every industry. 7. WBAA-AM TO AIR MONTHLY CONVERSATIONS WITH PRESIDENT JISCHKE Purdue President Martin C. Jischke will inaugurate a monthly series of live radio appearances on Purdue radio station WBAA-AM920 on Wednesday (9/6) afternoon. WBAA listeners will have the opportunity to listen and call in questions when Jischke is the guest on the station's ''AM920 Magazine'' during the 2-3 p.m. hour of Wednesday's program. Jischke will visit the WBAA studios for the live program on the first Wednesday of each month during the 2000-2001 academic year, except in November, when his appearance is set for Nov. 8. --------------------------- NEWS ABOUT PURDUE PEOPLE ------------------------------- 8. PURDUE NOTEBOOK - Stanley Mithoefer, director of real estate for the Purdue Research Foundation, was appointed president of the Association of University Real Estate Officials (AUREO) for the 2000-2001 calendar year. - ''Kristin's Story: A Story of Acquaintance Rape and Depression'' will be presented at 7 p.m. Sept. 11 in Loeb Playhouse, Stewart Center. - Callout for ''Weigh to Go,'' a seven-week weight-control program for students, will be Wednesday (9/6) at 3:30 p.m. in the Purdue Student Health Center multipurpose room. The program, offered by the Student Wellness Office, is designed to help students who are at least 10 pounds over their healthy weight range. The group will meet weekly. Registration is $30. - The Purdue Club of Cincinnati raised $4,200 for scholarships that will be awarded to future Purdue students from the Cincinnati area - The Purdue Alumni Association is accepting nominations for its annual Special Boilermaker Award. The program honors a person who has contributed significantly to the improvement of the quality of life or the betterment of the educational experience for a substantial number of Purdue students. - David R. Tree, professor of mechanical engineering, has been awarded the E.K. Campbell Award of Merit for 2001, issued by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. -------------------- AGRICULTURAL NEWS -------------------- 9. MCDONALD'S AND EGG PRODUCERS SAY THE CHICKEN COMES FIRST McDonald's USA's new requirements for hen-friendly eggs from their suppliers come partly from a program hatched by forward-thinking egg producers. McDonald's recently announced that laying operations will have to meet stricter animal-welfare requirements to qualify as egg suppliers for the company. While McDonald's should take some well-deserved bows, the landmark program was possible because egg producers, who were already working on their own guidelines, met the fast-food giant more than halfway, said Jeff Armstrong, Purdue animal scientist and chair of the United Egg Producer's welfare advisory committee. ''When McDonald's went looking for a way to address their concerns about laying operations, they were excited to find that the United Egg Producers had what they needed,'' Armstrong said. 10. PURDUE AGRICULTURE SPONSORS 'AG TAILGATE 2000' The Purdue School of Agriculture will play host to a schoolwide homecoming event called Ag Tailgate 2000 on Sept. 23 at the W.H. Daniel Turfgrass Research and Diagnostic Center on Cherry Lane, near Ross-Ade Stadium. Donya Lester, executive secretary of the Purdue Ag Alumni Association, said the event will unite the individual fall departmental reunions held for the past three years. 11. PURDUE AGRICULTURE ENROLLMENT UP SLIGHTLY Fall enrollment for the Purdue School of Agriculture stands at 2,479, up 33 students from one year ago. ''We are pleased with our fall enrollment,'' said Karl Brandt, associate dean and director of academic programs for the School of Agriculture. ''We are right around the optimum number of students we can handle, and still maintain high job placement.'' ------------------------------- ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT ITEMS ------------------------------- 12. 2,000 MUSICIANS TO FILL THE FIELD AT PURDUE BAND DAY Look for Kent State's Golden Flashes to be far outnumbered on Sept. 9, and not just by Boilermakers. Bison, Tigers, Cougars, Pirates, Panthers, Falcons, Cardinals, Eagles, Red Ramblers, Warriors and more will flood Ross-Ade Stadium with color and pageantry as a record-setting 31 high-school bands pack Purdue's annual ''All-American'' Band Day. In 1999, just 16 bands responded to Purdue's invitation to perform at halftime. The increased response this year, raising Band Day participation to its highest level in more than a decade, pleasantly surprised David Leppla, director of Purdue Bands. ---------------------- MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS ---------------------- 13. LIGHTNING SILENCES CAMPUS LANDMARK An intense thunderstorm on the evening of Aug. 23 is the apparent culprit behind the stopped clock and silent bells of the Purdue Bell Tower. Computerized control equipment sustained damage, and the manufacturer is dispatching a factory technician to campus to investigate further, said Greg Zawisza, director of special projects in the Office of University Relations. 14. TALK TO PRESENT NEW INSIGHTS INTO BIRTH DEFECTS, DEVELOPMENT William J. Scott, professor of pediatrics at the Children's Hospital Research Foundation in Cincinnati, Ohio, will be on the Purdue campus Sept. 14 to present new medical insights into birth defects. The talk, which is free and open to the public, will be held at 4:30 p.m. in Room G210 in Purdue's Lynn Hall of Veterinary Medicine. The event is sponsored by the School of Veterinary Medicine's Center for Paralysis Research, which is part of the Purdue - Indiana University Institute for Applied Neurology. 15. PURDUE CALENDAR This calendar lists entertainment events, lectures and meetings involving Purdue people during the next month. An online calendar of Purdue events is at http://www.purdue.edu/calendar/ 16. BEST BETS FOR JOURNALISTS -- Crash course helps the math afflicted ''Best Bets'' also has details about the Department of Philosophy's Fall Colloquium Series' Sept. 14 lecture on consumer concerns, and a Sept. 19 play sponsored by the Black Cultural Center. 17. 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. 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