LIEBERMAN FAN: Watching this week’s Democratic convention with more than academic interest was Joel Migdal, professor of international studies and political science and chair of Jewish Studies. Migdal’s daughter Ariela got married last year to the stepson of Sen. Joseph Lieberman, the Democrats’ vice presidential nominee. The Migdals and Liebermans have spent a lot of mutual quality time. “We had to plan a wedding together,” says Migdal, who pronounces his in-laws “the most wonderful people.” Migdal’s daughter and son-in-law, Ethan Tucker, spent this summer in Seattle but immediately left for Tennessee to join the Liebermans for Al Gore’s formal announcement. As for Migdal, the only special trip he’ll take, he says, will be “for the inauguration.”

LOVE CHRONICLES: Who’d believe that a University professor would have a leading role in a program with that title, but it’s true. Last Saturday evening the one-hour “Love Chronicles” program that Arts & Entertainment taped in April was broadcast, including interviews with Psychology Professor John Gottman and research scientist Sybil Carrere. The program included a segment in Gottman’s “love lab,” where married couples are recorded while discussing issues in their marriage. The segment title was “The Marrying Kind.”

MONEY MODEL: Law Professor Anita Ramasastry, recently served as the official reporter (drafter) for the Uniform Money Services Act. The Model Act was approved and released to the states at the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws’ (NCCUSL) annual convention. Model Acts like this one serve as “models” for state regulations, and are often adopted by most every state. Ramasastry, who is associate director of the UW’s Center for Law, Commerce, and Technology, called the act “a giant step forward into cyberspace. In our changing world, it recognizes that just like the decline of ancient barter, cash payments are now being rapidly replaced by innovative types of electronic currency transactions.”

SUPER ADVISER: The UW Adviser of the Year for the year 2000 is Dick Newcomb of the Gateway Undergraduate Advising Center. Every year three or four UW advisers are nominated by their peers in the Association of Professional Advisers and Counselors to be Adviser of the Year. The winner is chosen by a vote of all advisers. Newcomb was honored at the group’s annual luncheon.

KUDOS: Forest Resources Professor Gordon Bradley and two landscape architecture students, Rob Harris and Shawna Micic, won a Washington American Society of Landscape Architects student award for a site plan revision for Stovepipe Wells Village . . . The Japanese garden in the Washington Park Arboretum made the top-10 list of Japanese gardens outside of Japan. The garden was ranked eighth in the listing, compiled by the Journal of Japanese Gardening . . . New College of Education Dean Patricia Wasley has been named to the newly formed Professional Educator Standards Board, created by Gov. Gary Locke to ensure high standards for all educators certified by the state. ¶