Distinguished lecture series will focus on nanoscale science
Ken Dill, a professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of California, San Francisco, will be the first speaker in this year's Norman Hascoe Distinguished Lecture Series on the Frontiers of Science. He will speak on "The Protein Folding Problem: Sightseeing on Energy Landscapes." The lecture will take place in the Edward V. Gant Science Complex, Room 20, at 4 p.m.

The precise structures of proteins are encoded in their one-dimensional amino acid sequences, but this folding code is not yet known. Dill will discuss how simple mechanical models have given some insight into the nature of the folding code and the nature of the energy landscapes that dictate the folding kinetics, and are now beginning to contribute to the development of computational protein folding algorithms that aim to predict the three-dimensional structures from the one-dimensional sequences.

On November 9, Won Tsang of Multiplex Inc. in South Plainfield, N.J., will give a lecture on "Advanced Devices for Wavelength Division Multiplexing Transport Networks: Telecommunications in the 21st Century."

The third speaker in the series will be Ray Baughman of Allied Signal Research and Technology in Morristown, N.J., who will make a presentation on "Opal Based Photonic Crystals: From Opal Jewels to Photonic Crystals."

The Norman Hascoe Distinguished Lecture Series, organized by the Department of Physics, is intended for undergraduate students with an interest in science and for other members of the University community. This year's theme is nanoscale science, the science of things with dimensions less than one hundredth the width of a human hair.

Dodd Center to host area archivists at two-day conference
The Thomas J. Dodd Research Center will host more than 175 archivists, curators, and record keepers from throughout New England at the fall meeting of the New England Archivists October 30-31. Sessions will be held in the Dodd Center and Homer Babbidge Library.

Friday activities include workshops on the preservation of scrapbooks, digital imaging technology, and the preservation of historical records. Saturday sessions cover such issues as documenting hazardous waste in the environment, developing institutional information policies, preserving archives in secondary schools and the confidentiality of legal and political papers.

UConn participants include Fred Carstensen, professor of economics, who will speak on the use of business records; William Uricchio from the Dodd Center, who will talk about the use of New Haven Railroad Records for environmental research; and Cornelia Dayton, an associate professor of history, who will give a luncheon address on the historian's use of archives.

Get ready for winter with a flu shot from Health Services
Faculty, staff and students can receive flu shots on Wednesday, October 28, and Thursday, October 29. There is a $5 charge for faculty and staff; the shot is free for students. A UConn I.D. must be shown.

The shots will be administered by nurses from Student Health Services, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Asian American Cultural Center, now located in a temporary building between Hall Dormitory and the William Benton Museum of Art. Appointments are not necessary.

Flu season runs from October through February or March. Symptoms of the flu include the sudden onset of high fever (101 degrees or more), muscle aches, headaches and a dry cough. It is very contagious.

Save a life - give blood during the UConn blood drive
This semester's UConn Blood Drive will be held in the Student Union Ballroom this week. Please give blood.

To make an appointment, call (800) 448-3543. Free lunch provided. The drive is sponsored by the American Red Cross.