In an effort to streamline and centralize statistical consulting activities on campus, a new Applied Statistics Laboratory (ASL) will launch July 2011. The main objectives of this venture are to provide improved statistical services to groups preparing grant proposals, direct faculty involvement from the Departments of Statistics and Biostatistics for study design and data analysis throughout UK, foster collaborative research between scholars who develop quantitative methodology and those who use such methodology in their work, and to become a resource which may be referenced in institutional support for larger grants, in addition to direct statistical support typically included in such grants.

A few years ago, before the explosion of the Web into popular culture, and especially before Facebook and social networking brought the concept to surface in a directly personal concept, few outside mathematics were interested in graphs.  Today, however, they have become extremely popular for intuiting the vast weave of interconnected, but irregular or incomplete, data that's become so prevalent.  Graph databases such as Neo4j have risen in the space known as NoSQL to replace traditional relational databases for solving certain types of problems with incredible speedups.  However, tools like this require a certain level of technical arcana that make them inaccessible or uninteresting to many.  A higher level tool, and the subject of this post, are the graph visualizers.

Click this blog post, unplug your headphones, spread the sunshine.

Clive Tanaka y su orquesta "Neu Chicago" Rockmaster Rus B Vocal Edit by rockmasterrusb

Please join the College of Arts & Sciences Diversity Committee as they host a coffee and tea reception on June 16. This college-wide event is a great way to meet fellow staff members from other departments as well as discuss issues that are important to you and your workplace.

The reception will take place in 245 POT from 3:00pm – 4:00pm on June 16. We hope to see you there!

The Novel Electronic Materials conference is going international after two workshops were held at UK in 2005 and 2008. Wuhan University in China is the new host of the conference which will be made up of scientific representatives from around the world, including Gang Cao, UK physics professor and Director of the Center for Advanced Materials. The meeting is intended to provide an opportunity to communicate recent developments, tackle challenges and establish possible collaborative research in multiple fields of science, including physics, chemistry, and engineering. The group of approximately 350 participants and 65 scheduled speakers will discuss topics ranging from orbital physics and spin excitations, to magnetism and organic semiconductors.

Cao and his global scientific colleagues will meet in China June 10-15 for the UK organized workshop.

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I walk to work. Everyday. I realize that not everyone has this opportunity, and even when presented with it, often times it is not the most logical or efficient means of commuting. Fortunately for me, walking to work is the best way to commute. Stepping out my door, I stick in my ear buds and within 15 minutes or so, I'm at the office. Walking to work gives me a chance to clear my mind and commute peacefully, not having to deal with rush hour traffic. With the morning sun shining down on me, I know it's going to be a good day - and I haven't even had my first cup of coffee.

UK sociology professor Shannon Bell and University of Oregon sociology professor Richard York received recognition for the Best Article by the Rural Sociological Society. Bell’s work currently focuses on the barriers to local participation in the environmental justice movement in response to mountaintop removal in Central Appalachia.

The article, “Community Economic Identity: The Coal Industry and Ideology Construction in West Virginia,” was published in the March 2010 issue of Rural Sociology. Using the Appalachian coal industry as a case study, the article explores the relationship between capitalist modes of production and ecological destruction, chronicling the ways in which declines in industry jobs and the rising tide of protest against mining practices have challenged the coal industry’s hold on political power.

In an exciting victory this past weekend, the UK Women’s Softball Team advanced past Michigan to seal the program’s first NCAA Super Regional bid. With UK down by one, senior Meagan Aull hit her tenth home run of the season to put the Cats back in the game. Junior Rachel Riley’s pitching performance also played a major role in the win – Michigan only got one hit and walked four. The full recap is at the UK Official Athletics Site.

While Aull and Riley are talented players on the field, they are also outstanding students in the classroom. Both are A&S biology majors and have received All-SEC Academic Team Honors during their time on the field. Aull will be applying to dental school this summer and Riley to medical school next summer.

Congratulations to both of our student athletes and to the UK Women’s Softball Team!

I am pleased to note that two distinguished A&S professors recently received honorary degrees. Gurney Norman, English professor, Kentucky Poet Laureate in 2009-2010, and director of UK’s Creative Writing Program, received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Berea College. With a career spanning over 30 years at UK, Norman is a respected authority on the literary culture of Appalachia. He is the author of several works, including Divine Right’s Trip and Kinfolks. Norman has also written and presented documentary films for KET and been involved with three short films based on his stories.

A frequent lecturer in Appalachia and senior writer-in-residence at Hindman Settlement School's annual Appalachian Writers Workshop, Norman was honored in 2002 by the Eastern Kentucky Leadership Conference and in 2007 with the Appalachian Studies Association Helen M. Lewis Community Service Award for his work in the region.