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News for faculty and staff

January 3, 2008

FEATURED NEWS FOR EMPLOYEES

Open forums slated to discuss Purdue strategic plan

Purdue faculty, staff and students and the Lafayette-West Lafayette community are being asked to help chart the course of the university at three strategic plan open forums in January.

People also can contribute their ideas through a new blog on the strategic plan Web site at https://www.purdue.edu/strategic_plan/2007-13

Small Animal Teaching Hospital offers discount on tracking devices for current patients

Purdue faculty and staff whose pets are active patients at the Small Animal Teaching Hospital can get a discount on microchip implants for their pet at a special clinic on Jan. 12. More

UHC, St. Elizabeth Regional Health reach agreement

UnitedHealthcare (UHC) and St. Elizabeth Regional Health have come to an agreement that will keep St. Elizabeth Medical Center and Home Hospital in the UHC network for 2008. More

MEMO

Re: Nominations sought for Flora Roberts and G.A. Ross awards

This memo and nomination form are from the Office of the Dean of Students.

CAMPUS NEWS

New fellowship will bring math, science teachers to rural Indiana

A new fellowship program funded by the Lilly Endowment will help Purdue train and support future math and science teachers for work in rural high schools. More

RESEARCH NEWS, SPECIAL REPORTS

Scientists find missing evolutionary link using tiny fungus crystal

**Barbara Golden**

The crystal structure of a molecule from a primitive fungus has served as a time machine to show researchers more about the evolution of life from the simple to the complex.

By studying the three-dimensional version of the fungus protein bound to an RNA molecule, scientists from Purdue and the University of Texas at Austin have been able to visualize how life progressed from an early self-replicating molecule that also performed chemical reactions to one in which proteins assumed some of the work. More

Purdue wind tunnel key for 'hypersonic vehicles,' future space planes

**Model of advanced aircraft**

By using the only wind tunnel capable of running quietly at "hypersonic" speeds, Purdue engineers have conducted experiments to yield critical data for designing an advanced aircraft called the X-51A, powered by engines called scramjets.

The X-51A test vehicle is expected to evolve into missiles capable of flying at Mach 6 - or six times the speed of sound - enabling them to hit mobile "time-critical" targets. More

Model is first to compare performance of 'biosensors'

Researchers have developed a new modeling technique to study and design miniature "biosensors," a tool that could help industry perfect lab-on-a-chip technology for uses ranging from medical diagnostics to environmental monitoring. More

GENERAL NEWS

Indiana electricity rates are projected to increase 20 percent by 2012

Indiana electricity rates are projected to increase about 20 percent over the next five years because of new federal air-quality standards, coupled with increasing construction and fuel costs. More

Expert predicts 2008 corn crop won't be enough; need to ration

The ethanol industry's appetite for corn will surge in the coming months and producers will likely lower corn acreage for the 2008 crop, said a Purdue expert. More

CALENDAR AND EVENTS

Events this week

Here is a list of events happening Jan. 3-6 at the West Lafayette campus. More

Several Purdue seminars to take place at Fort Wayne Farm Show

Biofuels, property taxes, new regulations and a chance to interact with the new director of the Purdue Cooperative Extension Service highlight the seminars to be offered by Purdue during the Fort Wayne Farm Show, Jan. 15-17 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum Expo Center in Fort Wayne.More

Purdue Galleries to exhibit small prints, art of suburbia

**"House with Exposed Interior"**

In January, Purdue Galleries will open a pair of exhibitions that present contemporary small printmaking from North American artists and examine the identity of modern American suburbia.

Galleries' biennial "Sixty Square Inches" competitive exhibition of small-scale contemporary printmaking will be on display from Jan. 7 to Feb. 17 in the Stewart Center Gallery. This year's exhibit will provide the 16th review of North American graphic artists working in an intimate format. Works in the exhibit are limited to 60 square inches in image size. More

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