Education briefs
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UH professor wins high honor
Peter Gorham, an associate professor of physics at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, has been awarded the Outstanding Junior Investigator award by the U.S. Department of Energy for his work involving high-energy neutrinos.
"This is an important milestone for physics at UH," said Steve Olsen, principal investigator of the UH High Energy Physics Group. "Of the 80 or so applicants each year, usually only about six awards are made — and these almost always go to highly promoted faculty at MIT, Harvard, Princeton and the like."
High energy neutrinos originate from cosmic sources throughout the universe and are difficult to detect. What Gorham's research team did was confirm an early 1960s proposal by Russian scientist Gurgen Askaryan — known as the Askaryan Effect — which is a method of observing neutrinos.
Gorham received his bachelor's degree in physics from the University of California-Irvine and his master's and doctorate in physics from UH-Manoa.
Students perform 'The Mikado'
Honolulu Waldorf School will present Gilbert & Sullivan's operetta "The Mikado" at 7 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday.
Admission is free and the public is welcome. The performance features sixth- and seventh-graders under the direction of Ulrike Scherer.
For more information, contact Beth-Ann Kozlovich, 377-5490.
Net safety group sponsors festival
A nonprofit group that advocates Internet safety for children will sponsor Sunset on the Beach on Saturday in Waikiki.
The I-SAFE America Foundation, based in San Diego, is sponsoring the event as part of its community outreach program.
I-SAFE, which partners with law enforcement and schools, is bringing an Internet safety curriculum to Hawai'i public and private schools this fall. Materials will be available to children, parents and educators.
The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team will make an appearance, and the movie will be "Spiderman."
The goal of I-SAFE is to empower kids with knowledge on how to act responsibly and be safe online. It teaches children to recognize some of the techniques predators use so they know when to tell their parents, teachers or the police that something seems wrong.
The event starts at 4 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
Mauna Loa briefing set
OCEAN VIEW, Hawai'i — Hawaiian Volcano Observatory staff will show a slide presentation on their monitoring of Mauna Loa at a meeting from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 17 at the Ocean View Community Center.
The observatory's Don Swanson, Frank Truesdale and Peter Cervelli will answer questions, and a Civil Defense representative will discuss evacuation procedures should they be necessary.
Officials at the observatory said earlier that Mainland media exaggerated the threat from a possible eruption after the agency reported that Mauna Loa was inflating. The officials said the inflation "will likely, but not certainly, culminate in an eruption, but it is impossible to say when that eruption might take place, where it might take place, how large it might be, how long it might last, or whether it might send lava into populated areas."
The scientists said eruptions of Mauna Loa are not of an explosive nature, and that there have been no fatalities from any of the 33 recorded eruptions since 1843.
