December 7, 1998 Volume 88, Number 11 Prev | Next | Index Contents • How do trace metals affect ecosystems? • Seventy words for family relations • Berlind gives McCarter $3.5 million • Online courses begin with Balkans • The appointment of Peter Singer • Calendar • Nassau Notes • Athletics Update • Employment The Bulletin is published weekly during the academic year, except during University breaks and exam weeks, by the Princeton University Communications Office. Permission is given to adapt, reprint or excerpt material from the Bulletin for use in other media. Editor:    Sally Freedman Associate editor:    Caroline Moseley Calendar and production    editor: Carolyn Geller Photographer:    Denise Applewhite Contributing writers:    Mary Caffrey, Justin    Harmon, Peter Page Web edition:    Mahlon Lovett Subscriptions All members of the faculty, staff and student body receive the Bulletin without charge.     Anyone may subscribe to the Bulletin. Subscriptions for the academic year 1998-99 are $24 ($12 for Princeton parents and people over 65), payable in advance to Princeton University.     Send check and/or address changes to Princeton Weekly Bulletin, Communications Office, Stanhope Hall, Princeton University, Princeton NJ 08544. Deadline schedule Deadlines All news, photographs and calendar announcements for the Bulletin that covers the three-week period January 11 through 31 must be received in the Communications office no later than Thursday, December 31. Communications Office Stanhope Hall Princeton University Princeton NJ 08544 Tel 609/258-3601 Fax 609/258-1301

How do trace metals affect ecosystems? Winds scouring the continents carry dust laden with minute quantities of metals to the most remote reaches of Earth. In ocean waters far from land, that trace sprinkling of iron and other metals is one key to determining the productivity of marine ecosystems. The Center for Environmental Bio-Inorganic Chemistry (CEBIC) has received a $7.5 million grant to study how metalbased enzymes, called metalloenzymes, affect ecosystems. [>>more]   Seventy words for family relations If you happen to hear a couple of students greeting each other with "Namaste" instead of "How's it going?" don't be surprised. They are probably participants in Introductory Hindi a Student-Initiated Seminar being offered this year under the aegis of the Office of the Dean of the College. Student-Initiated Seminars may be developed in response to demonstrated student interest in an area that is not a regular part of the curriculum, according to Associate Dean of the College Hank Dobin. [>>more] Berlind gives McCarter $3.5 million New 350-seat theater to be named for producer of Amadeus, City of Angels Theater producer Roger Berlind '52 has made a $3.5 million gift to support a major expansion of McCarter Theatre and its educational programs. The centerpiece of the expansion will be the Roger S. Berlind Theater, a 350-seat proscenium theater to be used both by McCarter and the University's Program in Theater and Dance. [>>more] Online courses begin with Balkans Demonization of the Other: Ethnic Conflict in the Balkans is the title of the first online course from the Alumni Council. Taught by Professor of Near Eastern Studies Norman Itzkowitz, the free course is available to alumni and their families, students and parents, and the entire campus community. There are currently more than 550 people enrolled, according to Douglas Blair, the Alumni Council's associate director for special projects, who coordinates the course. [>>more] People • The German Environment Foundation has conferred the 1997 Reading for the Environment book prize to Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Andrew Dobson for his Conservation and Biodiversity. • The American Physical Society has named Darin Ernst, associate research physicist at the Plasma Physics Lab, winner of the Outstanding Doctoral Thesis in Plasma Physics Award for "elucidating the role of radial-electric-field shear in reducing local heat trans- port in supershot tokamak plasmas." • The Italian American National Hall of Fame has selected Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures Pietro Frassica as the "1998 Hall of Fame inductee." • Plasma Physics Lab physicists Guo-Yong Fu and Raffi Nazikian are the 1998 recipients of the University's Kaul Foundation Prize for Excellence in Plasma Physics and Technology Development. • Joanne Scillitoe, coordinator of undergraduate labs in the Chemistry Department, has achieved lifetime status as a Certified Scientific Materials Manager from the National Association of Scientific Materials Managers. • Professor of Sociology Howard Taylor has received the 1998 DuBois-Johnson-Frazier Award from the American Sociological Association. • The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers gave a Golden Jubilee Paper award to Sergio Verdu, professor of electrical engineering, for a 1986 article that pioneered the technology of multiuser detection for wireless communications.  Social sciences complex Architectural model of the new Wallace Social Sciences Building shows the placement of the building designed by architects Bohlin, Cywinski, Jackson, as seen from Prospect Street: a segment of Robertson Hall is at far left, Charlton Street at far right. The Wallace Building is in the center, behind Dial Club (c) and Colonial Club (r). Ground-breaking on the new building is scheduled for February 1999, with completion targeted for the summer of 2000. The model was on display in the Woodrow Wilson School during the week of October 19. (photo: Susan Geller)    Have a seat "Public Table," by the late Scott Burton, is the newest addition to the University's collection of outdoor sculpture. Designed to be interactive, it was installed over several weeks this fall between East Pyne and Murray-Dodge. The cone, which measures 13 feet in diameter, is surrounded by a base 20 feet across. The University originally purchased the design in 1980. (photo: Denise Applewhite)

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