History Professor to Write Magnetic Book
A WVU history professor is penning a book that is bound to attract readers.
Greg Good, an associate professor of history in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded a $144,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to write Magnetic World. The book will be an account of global research activities that have made modern understanding of the Earth’s magnetism possible.
“The movements of the magnetic compass mystify most people,” Dr. Good said. “But through creative use of new detection devices, physical theories, and mathematical techniques, scientists have gradually built a better understanding of how Earth’s magnetism is produced.”
Good’s book will cover the period from around 1800, when advancements in science began to permit researchers to move beyond speculation about geomagnetism, to the late 20th century. By then, satellites, computers, and theoretical advances had made possible basic agreement on the causes of Earth’s magnetism. Scientists now understand events deep in the Earth’s core and far out in space that play important roles in this most elusive phenomenon.
Political Science Department Gains High Ranking
The Political Science Department in WVU’s Eberly College of Arts and Sciences has fared well in the latest Global Ranking of Political Science Departments.
WVU’s research program is ranked 124th among the world’s 200 elite political science programs. This position places it in a tie with Brown University and rates it higher than prestigious international institutions such as St. Andrew’s (United Kingdom) and Ulster (United Kingdom), and ahead of American programs at Boston University and the University of Florida.
The ranking is based on a study of faculty publication in 63 national and international journals.
Professor to Study Diplomacy
A WVU professor has received a $60,000 grant to help fund the research and writing of a book on the history of American public diplomacy in the Third World.
The Smith Richardson Foundation Grant awarded to Jason Parker, an assistant professor in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of History, is part of the foundation’s program for junior faculty in fields related to international security studies. The grant’s objectives are meant to fund a research project that culminates in a book relevant to contemporary policy making.
Dr. Parker’s research proposal is entitled “The Contest: Hearts, Minds, and the History of American Public Diplomacy in the Third World” and will lead to the production of a book by that same title. The book will include collections of case studies of Cold War era U.S. public diplomacy successes and failures. Parker will then analyze the collections to discover lessons concerning public diplomacy efforts in the present post-9/11 world.
Forensic Program Receives National Accreditation
WVU’s Forensic and Investigative Sciences Program notched another success in February when it was awarded a five-year accreditation through the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.
WVU’s program is one of about ten across the United States to be granted full accreditation by the academy.
“The thing that makes this especially heartening and gratifying,” said program director Dr. Clifton Bishop, “is that it’s coming from a whole host of people, from law enforcement professionals to academics.”
The accreditation process, Bishop explained, is especially significant in the field of forensic science education.
“Before the whole process was developed, crime lab directors were a little reluctant to consider candidates with degrees in forensic science,” he said. “That’s because there was no real standard to ensure that graduates had gained enough knowledge to actually work in the lab or in the field.”
Biometrics Saves Money
There’s the sexy scientific side to biometrics—analyzing distinguishing characteristics such as fingerprints and iris and voice scans to ascertain if people are who they say they are.
Then there’s the less glamorous, yet equally important business side—the spreadsheets, calculations, and bottom lines that will determine if the security system is as cost-efficient as it is technologically savvy.
For three faculty members in WVU’s College of Business and Economics, it’s all about the bottom line when it comes to the nation’s security.
Tim Pearson, associate professor of accounting; Richard Riley, associate professor of accounting; and Virginia Kleist, assistant professor of management information systems, recently conducted a cost-benefit analysis of a biometric system at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.
WVU’s researchers determined the biometric system at Scott AFB could potentially save about $412,000 over five years. They arrived at this figure by deducting the estimated $148,000 cost of the hand geometry system from the $560,000 in savings, primarily from the redeployment of security guards.
Besides cost savings, the WVU team saw potential for improved security at the base by relieving guards of mundane jobs and reassigning them to more challenging tasks.
WVU Economist: North-Central Economy to Outpace State
The economy of West Virginia’s north-central region will outpace the state during the next five years, according to a forecast issued in March at the North-Central Regional Economic Outlook Conference in Morgantown.
The north-central region has added jobs and population faster than the state since 2000 and is forecast to keep up the pace during the next five years, said George Hammond of the WVU Bureau of Business and Economic Research in the College of Business and Economics.
“The region added jobs at an average annual rate of 1.3 percent during the 2000–04 period, in contrast to net job losses for the state and the nation,” Hammond said.
The region added jobs in most sectors during the period, but the fastest growth was concentrated in professional and business services (call centers and high-tech), construction, health care, and leisure and hospitality. The region has also added new residents and posted growth in per capita personal income.
“Within the region, the fastest growth lately has come in the Morgantown metropolitan statistical area, with job growth in the combined Monongalia and Preston County area averaging 2.2 percent per year since 2000,” Hammond added.
“Overall, the north-central region is well positioned to grow faster than the state and in some cases the nation,” Hammond said.
WVU Joins Forces with Marshall on Water Resources
WVU is teaming with Marshall University and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to develop data so that policy makers can make informed judgments on how to manage the state’s water resources.
“In 2004, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 163, Water Resources Management Act, whose purpose is to manage the state’s water supplies, both surface and groundwater, to realize the maximum economic and environmental benefits for the state,” said Paul Ziemkiewicz, director of the West Virginia Water Research Institute (WVWRI) at WVU’s National Research Center for Coal and Energy.
To assist in this matter, WVWRI entered into a joint agreement with Marshall University to conduct research through a program called the West Virginia Center for Water Resources Management.
“In the future, water will make West Virginia a unique and valuable place to live and do business,” Ziemkiewicz predicted. “How the state’s citizens choose to manage our water will make the difference.”
Currently, such factors as proximity to interstate highways and the power grid determine where a company will locate a new facility.
“I can see the day where access to a reliable source of good water will be equally important,” he said.
Software Donation Boosts Groundwater Computer Modeling
A recent software donation to the Department of Geology and Geography will enhance WVU’s educational and research efforts in groundwater computer modeling capabilities.
The Groundwater Vistas software, a preprocessor/postprocessor for a number of major modeling codes in both public and private domains, was a gift from Douglas Rumbaugh and James Rumbaugh of Environmental Simulations International.
Widely used in private practice and one of the two most popular applications of its type in North America, the software is especially relevant to the professional careers of future graduates in the geology program.
The Department of Geology and Geography, housed in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, will install the software on 40 computers.
Eberly College officials say the generous donation increases the educational and research capabilities of the geology program in many different ways.
Described as “one of the backbones of the graduate research program,” the software is used not only for the teaching program in hydrogeology, but it is also used extensively in several classes, including Quantitative Hydrogeology, Groundwater Science using GIS, and Groundwater Modeling.
WVU Partners with EPA to Address Septic System Challenges
There are 25 million septic systems in the U.S. serving more than 70 million people. And, as many as one-third of all new housing developments in the country will be built with onsite waste disposal systems. Unless they are designed, constructed, and managed correctly, these wastewater treatment systems will be destined to join a growing number of septic system failures, currently estimated at between ten to 50 percent.
To address this problem, the National Environmental Services Center (NESC) at WVU and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have formed a partnership with seven other national organizations to improve septic systems across the country. The participants will combine forces to reduce pollution in the nation’s waterways and improve local community public and environmental health.
“Septic system failure is a serious concern in the United States,” says Rick Phalunas, NESC interim executive director. “It can negatively affect public health, the condition of our environment, property values, and the potential for community and economic development. When properly built and managed, though, failure rates drop to a level that permits repair and replacement before serious effects result.