Maw opera 'Sophie's Choice' to have North American premiere

The Washington National Opera last week announced a 2006-2007 lineup that includes the North American premiere of Sophie's Choice by Peabody faculty member Nicholas Maw, a British-born composer. The opera, based on the William Styron novel of the same name, was first produced in 2002 by London's Royal Opera.

The production is scheduled for six performances in September and October and will be conducted by Marin Alsop, who this summer was named the next music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

 

University, hospital founder to be remembered on Dec. 24

Saturday, Dec. 24, is the 132nd anniversary of the day on which Johns Hopkins made Johns Hopkins possible.

Mr. Hopkins, the Baltimore merchant who died that morning in 1873, left $7 million in his will to establish the university and hospital that bear his name. It was at that time the nation's largest philanthropic bequest; it was a gift destined to revolutionize higher education and health care and, in many ways, to make the world a better place.

Each Christmas Eve, members of the Johns Hopkins family — descendants of his either by blood or by association with the institutions he established — gather at his grave to remember a great man and his great act of generosity.

All faculty, staff and students are invited to join the group when it meets this year at 10 a.m. on Dec. 24 in Green Mount Cemetery. The brief, informal ceremony, led by university Vice President and Secretary Emeritus Ross Jones, will include remembrances of Mr. Hopkins and a wreath laying. To reach the gravesite, enter at the main gate along Greenmount Avenue, about five blocks south of North Avenue; drive straight up the hill and park near the crest. For more information, contact dro@jhu.edu.

 

Moravia materials remain available during move to new facility

In a move that began Nov. 14 and continues through Dec. 16, all materials at the Moravia Park Shelving Facility are being relocated to the new JHU Libraries Service Center on the campus of the Applied Physics Laboratory. During the move all services will remain available, and readers should continue to submit their requests in the usual manner.

The new Libraries Service Center has the latest in environmental conditions for housing library materials along with an efficient new workspace to quickly process requests. Users can depend on the once-per-day delivery service to the Welch Library and on electronic posting of periodical articles shelved at the LSC. As materials are moved, their new location, "Libraries Service Center," will appear in the JHU Libraries online catalog, found at catalog.library.jhu.edu.

For more information, contact Deborah Slinghuff, associate director for library services and collections, at 410-516-8254.

 

Vernon Rice Memorial Butterball Turkey Program continues

Contributions to the university's Vernon Rice Memorial Butterball Turkey Program, which helps families in need during the December holidays, are being accepted until Friday, Dec. 16. A donation of $15 purchases a Butterball gift certificate, which is given directly to an agency-identified family; checks or money orders should be made payable to JHU Butterball and sent or delivered to the Office of Faculty, Staff and Retiree Programs, Evergreen House, 3rd floor, 4545 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21210.

For more information, go to www.jhu.edu/hr1/fsrp/butterball.html or contact Matt Smith at mattsmith@jhu.edu or 410-516-0345.

 

JHPIEGO sponsors global meeting on cervical cancer screening

Cervical cancer is the leading cause of death among women in developing countries, and last week more than 100 leading clinical experts and reproductive health professionals from the United States, Asia, Africa and Latin America convened in Bangkok, Thailand, to address cervical cancer prevention in low-resource settings. The meeting, "Preventing Cervical Cancer: From Research to Practice," was sponsored by JHPIEGO, in collaboration with the Chulalongkorn University Faculty of Medicine.

Hosted by the Royal Thai Ministry of Public Health and JHPIEGO President and CEO Leslie D. Mancuso, the panel of speakers — which included Paul D. Blumenthal, professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; Khunying Kobchitt Limpaphayom, JHPIEGO's Cervical Cancer Project director and a faculty member of Chulalongkorn University; and representatives from the World Health Organization — discussed innovative cervical cancer screening techniques and how to implement a high-quality, sustainable program.

JHPIEGO's Cervical Cancer Prevention Program has demonstrated that a "single visit approach" using visual inspection with acetic acid, linked with cryotherapy treatment, is safe, acceptable, feasible and cost-effective, therefore offering significant public health benefits in countries where no preventive efforts exist.

Funding for the meeting was provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Glaxo Smith Kline and Digene.

 

Deadlines are today, Dec. 12, for last 'Gazette' issue of semester

Because of the upcoming midyear vacation, The Gazette will not be published Dec. 26 or Jan. 9. Next week's calendar will include events scheduled from Monday, Dec. 19, through Monday, Jan. 9. The deadline for that issue's calendar submissions and classified ads is noon today, Dec. 12.

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