DC Office - continued
from pg.1
include a seminar series
on "How Government Works" in which speakers from Congress, Federal agencies,
and private-sector policy organizations will present seminars in the
EPP Washington Office which will be viewed by an audience in the EPP
conference room in Pittsburgh over a videoconferencing link. In
addition, the office is being used as a meeting place for EPP faculty,
graduate students, and other contacts coming to Washington for events
such as the upcoming Annual Meeting of the Society for Risk Analysis
in Decem- ber. Plans are also underway to have presentations
from selected EPP Project Courses made in Washington.
Reports From the First
Two Tom Johnson Fellows
Timothy Drews (Sophomore, EPP/ CEE) and Gautam Srikanth (Sophomore,
EPP/ECE) spent last summer in the new EPP Washington Office as
the first two Tom Johnson fellows. Tim studied non-point source water
pollution in the Chesapeake Bay and worked part-time with the Natural
Resources Defense Council. Gautam explored issues of public access
to on-line information and worked part-time at Farnet, a consortium
of research universities working on policy issues involving
the information superhighway.
Tim writes: "I examined sustainable agriculture,
total maximum daily loads, and water markets to control agricultural
nonpoint source water pollution into the Chesapeake Bay. In an
internship with the Natural Resources Defense Council I compared State
303(d) lists and the EPA reports to find States that were not properly
addressing water quality problems. While in Washington I also
attended environmental workshops at the Environmental Law Institute
and a Congressional hearing on agricultural education."
Gautam writes: "I studied measures taken by
the Federal government to promote Internet development. National
projects to enhance supply of Internet services, such as Next Generation
Internet, were compared with similar initiatives from educational institutions
(like Internet2) as well as State and local efforts. These were
analyzed with respect to their effects on deployment, accessibility
and usability of Internet services. Further, efforts by 'people-centered'
institutions, particularly schools and libraries, were studied in an
attempt to better understand what is needed to make Internet usage as
commonplace and easy-to-use as other backbones of our information infrastructure."
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Above: Alexandra
Carr (EPP BS 1981), Office Director for the new EPP Washington Office, works
with EPP Department Head, Granger Morgan, to prepare a briefing.
Left:
While only 495 square feet, the office has been designed to be flexible
and accommodate a wide range of use. Three to four people can work
at built-in desk space in the office section. The conference room
can accommodate 8-10. Conference tables can be broken into three
additional work spaces.
Green Design Project Addresses
Mobil Energy Sources
With
support from Texaco and EPA, Lester Lave (GSIA/EPP), Francis McMichael
(CEE/EPP), Chris Hendrickson (CEE) and co-workers are investigating the
life cycle implications of alternative automobile fuels and power systems.
The work began two years ago with a life cycle analysis of lead-acid batteries
for electric vehicles. It has moved on to an analysis of the life
cycle implications of alternative automobile fuels.
"Good intentions are not enough to improve environmental
quality," says Lave. Without careful analysis, environmental programs
can be costly at the same time that they lower environmental quality.
For example, the U.S. Car program has settled on a direct injected diesel
engine. While this engine will deliver much of the desired fuel
economy, it will emit more NOx and small particles. Even a small
amount of additional morbidity and mortality from the increased PM2.5
and ozone would outweigh the fuel savings of $120 per year that would
result from increasing the fuel efficiency from 28 to 75 mpg. "Additional
fuel economy is desirable only if there is a net social benefit after
accounting for environmental degradation," Lave says.
Arunachalam Recognized
Prof.
V.S. Arunachalam (EPP/ Robotics/ MSE) has been awarded the first Kothari
Memorial Gold Medal by the Indian Science Congress Association for his
contributions for the advancement of science and technology. Prof.
Kothari was a distinguished physicist, educator and builder of S&T
institutions in India. The Indian Prime Minister will present this
medal to Prof. Arunachalam during the 85th Session of the Indian Science
Congress in January 1998. Before joining EPP Prof. Arunachalam was
a Science Advisor in the Indian government. At EPP he works on issues
related to energy options and information technology in growing economies.
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