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SJSU and the Governor's Office of Emergency
Services
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) and the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services
know the importance of minimizing the effects of disasters. Major
disasters such as earthquakes, floods or even terrorist attacks can
cause devastating injuries and loss of life, with physical damages
running into the billions of dollars. So when SJSU Professor of Engineering
Guna Selvaduray and local emergency services professionals proposed
an integrated emergency management approach that could significantly
reduce the impact of disasters and accelerate economic recovery, it
got FEMA's attention. |
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Selvaduray suggests that one of
the best ways in which communities can prepare for disasters, and
also reduce it effects, is by forming partnerships of academia, local
government emergency services organizations, businesses, and non-profits
such as the Red Cross. Working proactively and cooperatively, these
organizations can maximize relevant resources and expertise, minimize
duplication of effort, and leverage the vast technical and multi-disciplinary
capabilities of a university like SJSU. |
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"For example, because California
has put in place stringent building codes for seismic resistance,"
says Selvaduray, "communities are less vulnerable. But where
many businesses fall short is in protecting what's inside the buildings,
including expensive equipment and business infrastructure, which can
be damaged by the loss of power typically associated with earthquakes
and other disasters." On the recommendation of public and private
sector partners, Selvaduray developed a fully equipped "model
laboratory," complete with seismic retrofit, which has been toured
by various professionals to see first hand how equipment can be protected
from seismic forces. "The dollars that need to be spent on mitigation
are really minimal," says Selvaduray, "and the payback is
quite extensive." |
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The Collaborative for Disaster Mitigation
(CDM), a model academic-public-private partnership, was launched
with a $500,000 Hazard Mitigation Grant from FEMA through the California
Governor's Office of Emergency Services. CDM is the only disaster
mitigation collaborative of its kind.
For more information contact Professor
Selvaduray at gunas@email.sjsu.edu.
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SJSU and the National Institutes of Health
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AIDS research and treatment has
come a long way since the epidemic was first identified in
the early to mid-80s. In fact, with the help of advanced drug
research, in the United States the disease is now often
viewed as an acute chronic disease rather than a disease that
is acute and eventually fatal.
Though advanced drug treatment
is unquestionably saving lives, it is also creating a false
sense of security among individuals at risk for contracting
the disease, heightening
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the
importance of targeted preventions programs.
That's why the National Institutes of Health viewed with interest
the community-based research of SJSU social work professor Michael
Gorman on the possible ties between the use of methamphetamines –
speed, crank or meth – and other "club drugs," and
HIV on the West Coast. |
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"If
we are to mount effective prevention education programs," says
Gorman, "we need to understand at-risk populations and their
behaviors. People live in the context of a particular cultural,
social and economic system, not in a vacuum." |
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NIH policy makers know that the success of
AIDS prevention programs depends heavily upon their understanding
of the demographics and behaviors of each at- risk population. They
hope Gorman's work on the relationship between HIV and the use of
club drugs will help them better target this particular population.
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The National Institutes of Health
has provided support for Gorman's research through a 5-year, $900,000
grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
For more information, contact Professor
Gorman at emgorman@email.sjsu.edu.
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SJSU and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration
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Since the mid-80s,
the 65-million-year-old leatherback turtle population has decreased
by as much as 95% placing it on the list of endangered species.
While preservationists lobby the United Nations to place a moratorium
on fishing practices that are killing these gigantic creatures,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) marine
scientists, working out of Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
(MLML), are tagging and tracking the turtles from their feeding |
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Bay. What they are learning about the leatherbacks' habits as they
travel thousands of miles to their nesting beaches in the western
Pacific helps them teach fishermen how to fish smarter and to avoid
snagging this prehistoric species in their fishing lines. |
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"These turtles are part of
an important marine-life food chain that, if interrupted, will negatively
affect the fishing industry worldwide," says Scott Benson a recent
graduate from MLML's Marine Science Program. In the past three years,
Benson and his team have tagged 13 of these giant creatures and have
tracked them in some cases across the Pacific to tropical waters adjacent
to nesting grounds in Indonesia where they have historically been
a source of food for indigenous people there. |
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According to Kenneth Coale, Director
of Moss Landing Marine Labs and Professor of Marine Biology, Benson's
research reflects the lab's overall mission to protect marine environments. |
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"The more we study the oceans, the more we find ourselves
as forensic ecologists," says Coale. "What we're doing
is trying to get ahead of the destruction of these environments."
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Moss
Landing Marine Laboratories is a consortium of seven California
State Universities including San José State. The Marine Laboratory
receives as much as $14 million annually in federal, state, and
private foundation funding for a wide range of research and education
projects in ocean sciences.
For more
information, contact Kenneth Coale at coale@mlml.calstate.edu.
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SJSU and the Ira F. Brilliant Center for
Beethoven Studies
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The data is clear.
According to the VH1 Save the Music Foundation, a non-profit
organization dedicated to sustaining music education in American
classrooms, studying music helps children develop skills such
as critical thinking and self-discipline. It improves early
cognitive development, basic math and reading skills, self-esteem,
and SAT scores. Researchers have also found that children involved
with music education have better school attendance records and
are more likely to graduate from high school |
and attend college. But in spite
of what we know, every year, financially strapped school districts
across the country are eliminating music and arts programs. |
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Since 1996, with the support of
the American Beethoven Society, the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven
Studies at San José State University has brought music education
to more than 7,000 elementary school children in Santa Clara County.
Taught by music educator, pianist and school psychologist John Boehm,
the program brings Beethoven's story and music to life through a variety
of multi-sensory learning activities in intensive three-day class
sessions. The results are impressive. In post-program evaluations,
teachers have consistently given high ratings to their students' participation
in the program and its overall effectiveness. |
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"Many of these children would
never have known the wonders of Beethoven," said one fifth grade
teacher. "You've opened a door that I know will never, ever close."
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The Ira F. Brilliant Center for
Beethoven Studies is the only study center in North America devoted
entirely to promoting the work and accomplishments of Ludwig von Beethoven.
The Beethoven in the Schools Program has been funded by the Valley
Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. |
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SJSU and Silicon Valley Business and
Government Agencies
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Since
1946, the University of Michigan's national Survey of Consumer
Attitudes has been viewed as the authoritative forecaster
of broad changes in our nation's economy. In fact, it's so
established that the U.S. Department of Commerce considers
it one of the nation's leading economic indicators.
While the University of Michigan survey is considered a benchmark
for economic forecasting, it does have one considerable shortcoming:
for businesses and
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organizations that depend on a local
or regional sales market, the UM consumer attitude barometer is simply
too global. |
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That's what Phil Trounstine, director
of SJSU's Survey and Policy Research Institute (SPRI) had in mind
when he launched the first Silicon Valley Consumer Confidence Survey
in 2001. Based on the methods used by the University of Michigan,
Trounstine's more locally-focused consumer index has quickly assumed
a position of authority among Silicon Valley and Bay Area government
leaders and business owners. |
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"The value of having this kind
of regional economic data is incredible," says John Kennett of
the San José Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce. "In particular,
the ability to add customized questions to the survey provides a very
cost-effective way for almost any industry to gather important marketing
and business planning data that they may not otherwise be able to
afford." |
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Trounstine, former Communications Director for California Governor
Gray Davis and former Political Editor of the San José Mercury
News, anticipates growing SPRI's client base one region or organization
at a time until decision makers across the state look to SJSU for
their market research and business forecasting needs.
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In addition to the Silicon Valley Consumer
Confidence Survey, SPRI has developed and conducted surveys for
such clients as the California Wellness Foundation, the San José
Mercury News, the City of Morgan Hill and the City of San José
on topics including youth violence, health care, the war in Iraq,
growth control, and the neighborhood impact of low and moderate
income housing.
For more information contact Phil Trounstine
at phil.trounstine@sjsu.edu.
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