Almanac

(Almanac lists facts, figures and miscellany of campus interest. Know something, or want to know? Call us: 262-3846, or e-mail: wisweek@news.wisc.edu.)

Trace demonstrates new access technology
The Trace Research and Development Center, in the College of Engineering, recently demonstrated its newly developed techniques for cross-disability accessible ATMs at the ATM Industry Association conference. The prototype accessible touchscreen-based ATM uses EZ Access, a set of features that can change the way electronic devices operate to make them easier to use for everybody. The EZ Access package includes features for people with low vision, blindness, reduced hearing, deafness, physical disabilities, reading problems, inability to read and more. EZ Access is not necessarily complex or expensive to implement, but does provide a standard way for people with disabilities to use all manner of electronic devices including microwave ovens, cellular phones and even coffee vending machines. More information about EZ Access may be found at http://trace.wisc.edu/world/ez.

Zoologists assess health of the flood plain
Flood plains serve as safety valves during high water and as efficient filters that are integral to the health of a river. Zoologists Monica Turner and Emily Stanley are taking a complete snapshot of the status of the Wisconsin River flood plain, from Merrill to Boscobel. The project, funded by the Environmental Protection Agency, will analyze aerial pictures of the watershed in nine concentrated areas. Researchers will study the level of development, amount of forest cover, prevalence of “invader” plant species, and other health variables. Stanley says the Wisconsin is the perfect river for this study because researchers can compare three distinct regions: flowages up north, reservoirs in mid-state and a free-flowing river in the south.

In search of pathogens
Civil Engineering Assistant Professor Greg Harrington is leading a project to identify “emerging pathogens” in drinking water before they become the next health threat. Many waterborne outbreaks of disease remain a mystery to public health officials, since the microbial culprit is never identified. Harrington’s research, together with the State Laboratory of Hygiene, sends “pathogen cocktails” through a pilot-scale water treatment system to find the best techniques for removing the bugs. Harrington is running a research consortium with Wisconsin municipalities, including Cudahy, Kenosha, Madison, Neenah, Oak Creek, Racine, Sheboygan and Waukesha, to seek collective solutions to water supply and pollution control problems.

Antidote to sprawl?
The Land Information and Computer Graphics Facility is helping plot a direction for smarter land use across Wisconsin. The facility is participating in a land-management prototype called Shaping Dane’s Future: The Verona Project, organized in concert with the city and town of Verona and the Dane County Board. Using Geographic Information System technology, this program puts sophisticated land-use tools in the hands of community planners. The GIS system can help Verona leaders develop complicated “what-if” scenarios regarding how different types of development can affect water quality, environmental corridors, storm-water drainage, farmland preservation, traffic patterns and other societal impacts. Stephen Ventura, director of LICGF, says he believes this high-tech program can be a statewide model for sustainable growth. It could be the ticket for complying with the state’s Smart Growth Initiative, a new law that requires municipalities to have comprehensive land-use plans by 2010.