Surveys for Sustainability Cultural Indicators Program go out this month
More than 20,000 U-M students and 7,000 faculty and staff members across the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses will be surveyed about sustainability and carbon neutrality in October as part of an ongoing initiative called the Sustainability Cultural Indicators Program. The upcoming survey will be the sixth in the series. SCIP is the most comprehensive program of its kind in the world. Results from past surveys can be accessed at graham.umich.edu/campus/scip. Two comprehensive questionnaires have been developed: one for faculty and staff and one for students. Questions cover three primary areas: knowledge and awareness, attitudes and dispositions, and behavior and actions. They also focus on the key sustainability priorities for the university, including carbon neutrality. The questionnaires are being sent to a representative sample selected on each of the three campuses. To learn more about this survey, contact principal investigators John Callewaert at jcallew@umich.edu or Robert Marans at marans@umich.edu.
DPSS publishes Security and Fire Safety report for 2020-21
The U-M Annual Security and Fire Safety report for 2020-21 is available online. The Division of Public Safety and Security publishes this comprehensive resource on campus safety each year to provide the university community with information about public safety and emergency services, safety tips, university policies, laws and support services. The report also includes three-year statistics of reported crime, including bias-motivated crimes, on the Ann Arbor campus and adjoining properties. It can be viewed online. Additional safety and security information, including crime alerts and the daily crime and fire log, can be found online at dpss.umich.edu. Questions about the report can be emailed to DPSS Clery Compliance Coordinator Erik Mattila at emattila@umich.edu.
Duo app to get new look for its login approval screen
The Duo Mobile application has been redesigned and the new version will be released over the next two weeks. If auto updates are not enabled, users may need to update the app manually. The updated app is available in the Google Play and Apple ‘s App Store, and auto updates will be pushed out on a rolling basis through Oct. 18. Information and Technology Services recommends auto updates to ensure the latest security updates are applied as they become available. The most significant change for Android and iOS is that the “approve” button is now on the right side at the bottom of the approval screen. The core functionality of Duo is not changing. Users can continue to receive a Duo Push, use passcodes, add, edit, reorder and remove accounts, and backup and restore accounts. “As with any app, Duo is constantly making improvements and modifications. What isn’t changing is the important role Duo plays in protecting U-M systems and data,” said Sol Bermann, chief information security officer and executive director of ITS Information Assurance.
Energy-conserving windows installed at Oxford Houses
During the summer, the Office of the Vice President for Student Life collaborated with Architecture, Engineering and Construction to replace the windows at Oxford Houses. The project, which involved approximately 16,000 square feet of windows, is expected to lead to reduced energy use and significant savings in heating and cooling costs. Oxford Houses is currently home to approximately 350 students, including those in LSA’s Sustainable Living Experience. Project specifics included replacing all exterior doors and windows, adding window film to limit direct heat gain while still allowing light, adding operable windows at the end of each corridor for natural cross-ventilation, insulating steel columns between windows to minimize heat transfer and reduce condensation. The project cost totaled approximately $2.45 million, and is expected to generate savings through decreased heating and cooling costs.
U-M gets $1.9M to help better detect weapons-grade nuclear material
Using neutrons to probe shipping containers could enable better detection of smuggled nuclear materials, but the signatures that weapons-grade uranium and plutonium will leave in radiation detectors under those conditions are unknown. The Department of Homeland Security is giving researchers at U-M $1.9 million to find out what to look for when neutrons slip through the shielding around nuclear contraband and induce nuclear reactions. DHS uses radiation detectors to inspect the millions of shipping containers that pass through U.S. ports and border crossings every year. They look for spontaneous radiation emissions from weapons-grade uranium and plutonium, also known as special nuclear materials. But this method doesn’t work well when special nuclear materials are “shielded” inside a heavy material like lead, which is good at absorbing radiation. Instead, the team intends to trigger the unstable uranium and plutonium atoms to split apart, or fission, by shooting neutrons at them. Neutrons are neutral particles that, together with positively charged protons, make up atomic nuclei. Read more about this project.
— Compiled by James Iseler, The University Record
(Update: The item about Oxford Houses has been amended from its original version to remove the time frame for the project cost to be recovered via energy savings.)
