WSU Digest – for the week of Aug. 25 On the Calendar

Classes start today

It’s WSU Week in Seattle — In recognition of Washington State University’s contributions to the state of Washington through its teaching, research and thousands of alumni, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and Gov. Gary Locke have designated Aug. 25-30 “Washington State University Week” in Seattle and throughout the state. The week culminates with the Cougars’ first game of the football season against Idaho at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Seahawks Stadium. For a complete schedule of events, visit https://www.wsu.edu/index-files/seattle-game03/index.html

Shock physics and national security — The role that university research and education plays in national security will be the subject of a panel discussion of distinguished scientists at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday (Aug. 27) in the Kimbrough Concert Hall. U.S. Rep. George R. Nethercutt Jr. and WSU Provost Robert Bates will moderate the session. The discussion is part of a day of public events that will mark the inauguration of the new home for WSU’s Institute for Shock Physics. For more information, visit https://wsunews.wsu.edu/detail.asp?StoryID=4019

In the news

The price of Spam: Spam, the universal bane of e-mailers, also poses a problem for reputable Web-based marketers who must overcome the suspicion of all e-mail created by these mass mailings.  But U.N. Umesh, a marketing professor from WSU Vancouver who was among the presenters at the Web Visions 2003 conference in Portland, believes e-marketers can still be successful by determining the needs of the customer, designing the products and services to meet these needs and delivering their message to the targeted groups in a cost-effective way. Umesh can be reached at 360.546.9760, umesh@vancouver.wsu.edu 

Look. Up in the sky:  On Wednesday (August 27), Mars will be 34.6 million miles from Earth, the closest it has been in 60,000 years. While the resulting interest hasn’t matched that greeting the arrival of a comet, WSU assistant professor of physics Guy Worthey says this unusual event definitely has caused a surge of public curiosity about Mars and sky-gazing. Worthey can be reached at 509.335.4994 or gworthey@wsu.edu

West Nile news: Washington State University Cooperative Extension has created a Web site to help citizens find answers to questions about West Nile virus. The WSU site at https://wnv.wsu.edu links users to many resources across the nation, according to Tom Platt, coordinator of extension’s West Nile virus education project. For more information, Platt can be reached at plattom@wsu.edu.