PROCESSORS

High school science and social studies educators from around the state will learn about global issues—from arms control to weather phenomena—through a symposium titled "Science, Technology, Society: Issues in Today's World" from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1. The symposium is designed to help educators incorporate global issues into their classrooms, enhancing their students' education. Teams from high schools across Illinois will learn about global issues from leading experts and will have the opportunity to network with their peers via the Access Grid, a state-of-the-art teleconferencing system. Teachers can participate from three locations: * The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), 1901 S. First St., Champaign * The Technology Research, Education and Commercialization Center (TRECC) at the DuPage County Airport, 2700 International Drive, West Chicago * The Electronic Visualization Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago Fifty teachers have registered for the program, with 10 teams scheduled to participate from NCSA. Participating schools include Bloomington, Carbondale, Champaign Central, Chicago Career Academy, Evanston, Glenbrook South, the Global Chicago Center of the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, Herrin, the Illinois Math and Science Academy, Joliet West, Kenwood Academy, Northside College Preparatory High School, Peyton, Urbana, Vienna, and Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center. "Today's emerging technologies offer educational opportunities to build collaborations across the globe. By linking these technologies with programs like the Illinois International High School Initiative we are able to prepare teachers and students to think globally and to increase critical thinking skills," said Edee Norman Wiziecki, an education specialist in NCSA's Education, Outreach and Training Division. The symposium's expert speakers are: Greg Cole, director of the Center for International Networking Initiatives, University of Tennessee. He is involved with the operation of a joint U.S.-Russian high-performance network that provides next-generation Internet services to collaborating U.S. and Russian scientists, educators, and students. Steven Goldstein of the National Science Foundation. Among the important connectivity and networking projects in which Dr. Goldstein has been involved at NSF, he assisted in connecting approximately 25 countries—including Mongolia—to the Internet. Earl Kellogg, associate provost for international affairs at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Kellogg has done extensive research related to the economics of agricultural development, technology development and transfer, and the effect in the U.S. of agricultural advancement in developing countries. He has worked in more than 15 countries for various international and U.S. institutions. Clifford Singer, director of the Program in Arms Control, Disarmament, and International Security & Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois. His research interests include plutonium production and reprocessing in South Asia and arms control in India, Pakistan, and China. Donald Wuebbles, Department Head and Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois and professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Dr. Wuebbles directs a number of research projects oriented toward improving understanding of the impact man-made and natural trace gases may be having on Earth's climate, with emphasis on concerns about global ozone. Evgeny Velikhov, president of Russia's Kurchatov Institute, the country's top research institution. Dr. Velikhov has been one of Russia's primary arms control negotiators for many years, is a leader of high energy physics projects, and was a driving force in the development of the Russian Internet. He oversaw the cleanup of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and has been active in environmental issues. Each team attending the symposium will also receive a $200 stipend for their school, as well as curricular resources and other materials. This Emerging Global Technologies Leadership Symposium is sponsored by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), the Technology Research, Education and Commercialization Center (TRECC), both the Chicago and Urbana-Champaign campuses of the University of Illinois, the Illinois International High School Initiative, the Illinois Science Teachers Association, and the Center for International Business Education and Research at UIUC. For more information about the program, see http://www.friends-partners.org/inikolov/symposium.html. NCSA (National Center for Supercomputing Applications) is a national high-performance computing center that develops and deploys cutting-edge computing, networking and information technologies. Located at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, NCSA is funded by the National Science Foundation. Additional support comes from the state of Illinois, the University of Illinois, private sector partners and other federal agencies. For more information, see http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/. Other partners TRECC: http://www.trecc.org/ University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: http://www.uiuc.edu/ University of Illinois at Chicago: http://www.uic.edu/ Illinois International High School Initiative: http://www.friends-partners.org/inikolov/ Illinois Science Teachers Association: http://www.ista-il.org/ Center for International Business Education and Research: http://www.ciber.uiuc.edu/