VIRTUAL MEDICINE: Imagine a world in which the borders between medical practice and virtual reality begin to blur: physicians hone their surgical skills by suturing a virtual wound, feeling the resistance when needle meets skin and the give when it punches through. They practice removing a gall bladder using laparoscopic instruments - and repeat the procedure until they get it just right. They immerse patients in virtual worlds to treat phobias or provide distraction during painful therapies.

Theodor Jacobsen, the UW Astronomy Department for 37 years, is celebrating his 100th birthday by helping to create a fellowship fund for graduate students in the department.

It’s already happening in The University of Washington’s Human Interface Technology Laboratory, which received an international award for its work using virtual reality for medical applications. Last weekend, HIT Lab Director Tom Furness and his associates accepted the seventh Satava Award at the annual Medicine Meets Virtual Reality conference in Newport Beach, Calif., an international gathering of medical professionals and virtual reality gurus.

“It was rather unusual because the award is usually presented to an individual, not a group,” said Suzanne Weghorst, assistant director for research at the HIT Lab. “It’s a real compliment to all the talented people we have working at the lab.”

JACOBSEN CENTENNIAL: Theodor Jacobsen was the only member of the Astronomy Department for 37 of the 43 years he taught at the UW. Now it’s been 30 years since he assumed emeritus status but he’s still having an impact. On the occasion of his 100th birthday on Tuesday, the department mounted a drive to raise money for the Theodor Jacobsen Fellowship fund, which pays stipends to graduate students.

In 1928, Jacobsen came to the UW as an assistant professor of astronomy and mathematics, and a decade later he became a full professor of astronomy and “executive officer” of the department, keeping an office in the observatory near the Burke Museum. He remained the sole member of the department until 1965, when George Wallerstein and Paul Hodge arrived as astronomy professors and Wallerstein became department chairman.

When Jacobsen took emeritus status in 1971, his work didn’t stop. In 1999, with support from several current faculty members, he published a book, Planetary Systems from the Ancient Greeks to Kepler, on which he had been working since he left teaching. Pledges to the fellowship fund can be made at office@astrol.washington.edu and donors who match Wallerstein’s gift of $1,000 receive an autographed copy of the book.

TAILGATE TRIUMPH: First the Huskies beat the Cougars on the football field. Then they beat them in the parking lot. This past Saturday, the UW was presented with the Buckle Up Award by the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission. The award was made as a result of a survey of seat belt usage by fans attending the Oct. 21 home football game at Husky Stadium, and comparing the results with a similar survey at WSU’s game. The result: 77 percent of Husky fans were found to be wearing seatbelts, compared with just 70 percent in Cougarland. The award was presented at halftime of the UW-WSU basketball game - another Husky victory, by the way.

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