News Update October 11, 2005

• 10/11/05

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News for Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2005
* Indiana Informatics School Forms ‘Collaboratory’ For R&D

* NSF Funds Center for Nanotech In Society at UC Santa Barbara

* Va. Tech: Emotional IQ Predicts Success In Computing Studies

* Ohio U. to Provide RFID Platform for Education and Training

* Ball State CIO: Campus Wireless Boom With No End in Sight

* RateMyProfessors.com Reaches 4.3 Million Evaluations

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Indiana Informatics School Forms Collaboratory For Med R&D

The Indiana University School of Informatics received
a $500,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health
to establish the “Chemical Informatics and Cyberinfrastructure
Collaboratory,” a project to spur collaboration and creativity
in solving medical problems. The center will be dedicated to
improving ways for medical scientists to sift through mammoth
amounts of data to treat disease. Collaborators will share
expertise in fields ranging from infomatics, medicine,
computer science, chemistry, and biology.

The lab wants to create an integrated “cyberinfrastructure”
composed of diverse and expandable databases, simulation
engines and discovery tools such as PubChem, the NIH’s small
molecule chemical and biological database. They will use
high-capacity computer networks and data repositories as
well as develop grid and Web technology for chemistry research.

“The tools and infrastructure we build will be tested in
real-world industries and academic institutions and tested
by practicing scientists,” said Geoffrey Fox, IU professor
of informatics and director of PTL’s Community Grids Lab.
“Ultimately, our work will help chemists better understand
the mechanisms applicable to new methods of drug synthesis
and lead to new therapies for cancer, Alzheimer’s disease
and other devastating disorders.”

For more information, visit http://www.informatics.iupui.edu
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NSF Funds Center for Nanotech In Society at UC Santa Barbara

The National Science Foundation chose the University of California,
Santa Barbara, for a new National Science and Engineering Center
to study the societal implications of nanotechnology. The NSF will
provide $5 million in grant funds to support the Center for
Nanotechnology in Society -- UCSB in its first five years of
operation.

The center will help scientists and scholars, policy makers,
and the public better understand the social implications of
nanotechnologies, particularly as they unfold over the next
decade. The center also will play a role in stimulating
collaboration among faculty members and students in the
social sciences, humanities, physical and life sciences,
and engineering.

Bruce Bimber, a professor of political science and of
communication and head of the Center for Information
Technology and Society at UCSB, was named lead investigator
for the new CNS-UCSB. "A revolution in science and technology
is going on around us, and most people are only dimly aware
of it," said Bimber. "Our job at this new center is to try
to understand how these technologies are affecting societies,
and to influence the direction of innovation in positive ways."

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Va. Tech: Emotional IQ Predicts Success In Computing Studies

The emotional intelligence of students indirectly contributes
to academic success in information technology studies, according
to preliminary results from a study led by Virginia Tech researchers.
The research team, led by Pamplin College of Business faculty members,
measured how well students in computer science and information systems
coped with stressful situations and their levels of emotional
intelligence, defined as "the ability to perceive, assess, and
positively influence personal and others' emotions."

The researchers then examined the effects of these intrapersonal
factors on their grades. "One of the study's premises was that
meeting the challenges of demanding curricula often requires more
than innate intelligence," said France Belanger, an associate
professor of accounting and information systems and a member of
the research team. "To explore this assumption, we measured
coping strategies and emotional intelligence--two intrapersonal
variables that are rarely studied in the computing field."

The researchers found that although students' emotional
intelligence was not directly linked to academic success,
students with higher levels of emotional intelligence had
more self-efficacy (self-confidence and knowledge that one
can handle any problems or challenges effectively)--and that
having more self-efficacy in turn enhanced their academic
performance.

Ohio U. to Provide RFID Platform for Education and Training

Ohio University's College of Engineering and Technology is
studying how to advance auto ID applications (AIDC), which
include bar coding, magnetic stripe and radio frequency
identification, as well as voice data entry. The College
will work with GlobeRanger, an AIDC vendor whose iMotion
technology will be used in courses, labs, and workshops.
The collaboration will enable the school to research the
AIDC field more deeply as well as to teach the technology
to students.

One professor is already planning courses and hands-on
labs using the software this academic year. "We'll also
use iMotion technology during our annual Automatic
Identification and Data Capture Technical Institute (AIDCTI)
and upcoming seminars to model workflows and show
infrastructure and data management examples for
enterprise-wide, multi-site, global deployments," said
Todd Myers, RFID researcher at the center.

Ball State CIO: Campus Wireless Boom No Sign of Abating

Wireless usage as grown at least 300 percent at Ball
State University over last year, school officials told
the school newspaper the BSU Daily News. O’Neal Smitherman,
vice president for information technology, attributed the
surge in laptop use to students’ increased proficiency with
digital technologies, as well as the convenience of having
a mobile computer constantly connected through wireless
access.

“I expect the usage of wireless technology to increase,”
Smitherman told the News. “In such a dynamic environment,
we must continue to add services and respond to needs as
they evolve.” To cope with the uptake in usage, Ball State
will implement a new security tool for wireless computer
log-ins this semester. The new Cisco authentication system
will provide faster service as well as improved security
features.

The system will eventually alert students about whether an
anti-virus product is installed on their computer or where
to get the software. The product will also prevent infected
computers from infecting other machines, as well as detect
spyware, said Loren Malm, assistant director of Security,
Policy, Systems and Assessment with University Computing
Services. The university’s current Bluesocket authenticating
system cannot handle the rise in the number of laptop users,
Malm said.

RateMyProfessors.com Reaches 4.3 Million Evaluations

RateMyProfessors.com, the website that lists student evaluations
of college professors, now has 4.3 million ratings of professors
from 5.200 schools, according to the web site’s founder. About
a thousand new ratings are added daily. "Every semester, millions
of students use RateMyProfessors.com to plan their class schedules,
which in turn improves the quality of their educations," said John
Swapceinski, the site's founder.

Richard Lightner, the site's senior IT development manager, predicted
the site would surpass 75 million page views by December. The site’s
reach has doubled every year for the past three years, he said.
Kenneth Westhues, a sociology professor at the University of
Waterloo, who completed a study of the rating site last year,
said many professors dislike the site. "By and large,
RateMyProfessors is unmentionable in university administrations,"
he said.

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Online Resources

Microsite: Security Solutions for the Campus Enterprise
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Solution Center: Wireless Technologies for the Campus Enterprise
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White Paper: Benefits of Dynamic Signage in Higher Education
Sponsored by NEC
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White Paper: Mapping Information Technology Strategies to Answer Today's Agenda
Sponsored by Campus Management
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More Resources
http://www.campus-technology.com/resources/index.asp

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