Textbook Requirements

Each spring the University Book Store asks faculty teaching fall quarter courses to forward their textbook requirements to the store before the end of May. Although this may seem to be an unnecessarily long lead time, there are two very important reasons for it.

First is the very significant benefit to students. At the end of the academic year in early June, many students want to sell their unneeded books back to the store. The store will pay them 50 percent of the new book price for all books needed for either summer or fall UW classes. This could amount to two-thirds of their purchase price if they bought used books in the first place. Each year the store saves UW students more than $4 million by buying used textbooks back from them and reselling the books to other students at reduced prices. Book store management estimates that additional savings to students could amount to several hundred thousand dollars if most textbook requirements were forwarded to the store by the requested due dates each quarter. Considering today’s high textbook prices and tuition increases, this could be extremely beneficial to UW students.

The second reason relates to the store’s ability to obtain needed textbooks from publishers. The period from mid-June through mid-August is the peak period of the year for college publishers. This is because bookstores serving both semester and quarter schools are placing their fall term orders at the same time. The probability of out-of-stock situations and lengthy shipping delays increases as the time period progresses. Clearly, the University Book Store prefers to place its orders early but it cannot begin to process those orders until it has the book requirements from instructors.

OTHER NEWS

Online English Language Courses

The UW English Language Programs (UWELP) offers quarterly online courses in business English, academic English, and English for science and industry. These courses are designed primarily for non-native speakers of English.

Because of the convenience of studying at home, our online courses are attractive to UW employees who want to improve their sentence-level grammar and vocabulary. All of the courses have online interactive exercises and short assignments to be completed each week. Instructors respond to assignments within two business days, giving detailed one-on-one feedback.

Potential students are encouraged to take the 10-minute self-placement test, available at www.uwelp.net/online, to know which courses would be appropriate for them.

For more information, call 206-543-6242 or e-mail uwelp@u.washington.edu 

Weekend Homestay

UW English Language Programs is once again looking for individuals and families to host Japanese university students for the Summer 2002 Weekend Homestay program. Volunteers host one or two Japanese students for one weekend.

It’s an excellent opportunity to…

• give your family an enjoyable cross-cultural experience
• learn about Japanese customs and beliefs
• learn some Japanese words and phrases
• make international friends

Hosts are needed for the following weekends: Aug. 9–11, Aug. 23–25, Aug. 30–Sept. 2 (Labor Day Weekend)

Apply online today at http://depts.washington.edu/uwsp/homestay, or, contact Jimi Evans, Homestay Coordinator (email: homestay@u.washington.edu , phone: 206-543-8933).

Summer Learning Guide

Looking for summer activities for your kids? Receive a copy of the new 2002 Summer Learning guide by Seattle’s Child Magazine. You will find information on all types of summer camps, classes and fun activities for your kids. For a copy: Call the Work/Life office at 206-543-6963 or email: worklife@u.washington.edu.

Blood drive

Monday, May 13, 10 a.m.–1 p.m. and 1:45–4 p.m. in 108 HUB.

DEGREE EXAMS

Members of the graduate faculty are invited to attend the following examinations. Chairpersons are denoted in parentheses.

General Examinations

• Peter Sung Choi, Public Health and Community Medicine - Pathobiology, Ph.D. 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 15. Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, Room 3, 4 Nickerson St. Suite 200, Seattle, WA. (Prof. Nancy Haigwood).
• Gayle Audrey Garson, Education, Ed.D. 9 a.m. Friday, May 10. 222 Miller. (Prof. James Antony).
• Robert Alfred Gitzen, Forest Resources, Ph.D. 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 15. 22 Anderson. (Prof. Stephen West).
• Ken Hashima, Education, Ph.D. 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 15. 112A Miller. (Prof. Kenneth Sirotnik).
• Victor R. Holtcamp, Drama, Ph.D. 11:30 a.m. Thursday, May 16. 150 Hutchinson. (Prof. Barry Witham).
• Helen Kim, Public Health and Community Medicine - Epidemiology, Ph.D. 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 15. H670 Health Sciences. (Prof. Karen Edwards).
• Ashish Sabharwal, Computer Science and Engineering, Ph.D. 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 14. 322 Sieg. (Prof. Paul Beame).
• Bryan Douglas Tilt, Anthropology, Ph.D. 9 a.m. Thursday, May 16. 402 Denny. (Prof. Stevan Harrell).

Final Examinations

• Robert Morris Black, Drama, Ph.D. 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 14. 150 Hutchinson. “Dionyusus and eros: The shape of intimacy in theatrical conceiving.” (Prof. Barry Witham).
• William James Burton, Asian Languages and Literature, Ph.D. 3 p.m. Friday, May 10. M230 Gowen. “In a perfect world: Utopias in modern Japanese literature.” (Prof. Davinder Bhowmik).
• Gregory John Crowther, Physiology and Biophysics, Ph.D. 2 p.m. Friday, May 10. G417 Health Sciences. “An analysis of metabolic fluxes in contracting human skeletal muscle.” (Profs. Kevin Conley and Martin Kushmerick).
• Diana Mae Greenlee, Anthropology, Ph.D. noon Friday, May 10. M40 Denny. “Accounting for subsistence variation among maize farmers in Ohio valley prehistory.” (Prof. Robert Dunnell).
• Maren Elizabeth Halvorsen, History, Ph.D. 1:30 p.m. Monday, May 13. 306 Smith. “The day of small things”: The Quaker understanding of conversion and the inner light in the writings of Isaac Penington the Younger.” (Prof. Robert Stacey).
• Kevin James Hamblett, Bioengineering, Ph.D. 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 15. 102 Chemistry. “Optimization of pre-targeted radioimmunotherapy.” (Prof. Patrick Stayton).
• Christopher David Meiering, Microbiology, Ph.D. 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 15. Pelton Auditorium, FHCRC. “The complexity of persistent foamy virus infection.” (Prof. Maxine Linial).
• Maria Nicole Perfito, Zoology, Ph.D. 10:30 a.m. Monday, May 13. 114 Kincaid. “Environmental control of reproduction along an altitudinal gradient.” (Prof. John Wingfield).
• Joseph Albert Roos, Forest Resources, Ph.D. 10:15 a.m. Tuesday, May 14. 22 Anderson. “Defining and analyzing innovators in the Japanese residential construction market.” (Prof. Ivan Eastin).
• Margaret Ann Spratt, Communications, Ph.D. 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 15. 126 Communications. “When police dogs attacked: Iconic news photographs and the construction of history, mythology and political discourse.” (Prof. Gerald Baldasty).
• Matthew Scott Wagner, Chemical Engineering, Ph.D. 9 a.m. Thursday, May 16. 230 More. “Characterization of adsorbed protein films by time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry and multivariate analysis.” (Prof. David Castner).
• Ozlem Yilmaz, Oral Biology, Ph.D. 10 a.m. Friday, May 10. T663 Health Sciences. “Epithelial cell sensing and respnses to P. gingivalis.” (Prof. Richard Lamont).

University Week
The faculty and staff publication of the University of Washington
uweek@u.washington.edu
Uweek Vol. 19, No. 26 - May 9, 2002