Nibs

54-year-old Professor Robert Laughlin, 54, will be president of the Daejon-based institute for the next four years. A former Stanford University professor, Laughlin won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1998 with Horst Stoermer of Germany and Daniel Tsui of the United States for discovering a new form of quantum fluid. Laughlin is the first foreigner to become the president of a South Korean university. The American professor expressed his wish to make KAIST one of the world’s leading research-intensive educational institutions. Laughlin will become KAIST’s 12th president. According to South Korea’s Ministry of Science & Technology, Laughlin’s independence from the management board will help develop the national university into a research-oriented model and encourage KAIST professors to focus on creating value.
Verdict overturned

A dissident Iranian history professor whose death sentence for blasphemy triggered student protests has again had his sentence overturned by Iran’s Supreme Court. Hashem Aghajari was sentenced to death in 2002 for blasphemy, after delivering a speech in which he questioned clerical rule in Iran. On Tuesday, Iran’s Supreme Court for the second time lifted the death sentence against the Tehran University professor after a lower court had twice ruled that he should be executed. In June 2002, Mr. Aghajari delivered a speech in which he said that Muslims were not monkeys that blindly follow the teachings of senior Islamic clerics. A lower court said the speech was a direct attack on the Supreme Leader’s authority and sentenced Aghajari to death. But on appeal the Supreme Court disagreed, sending the case back to the same court that had initially convicted the professor. Again, Mr. Aghajari was found guilty. And, on Tuesday, the Supreme Court again overruled the lower court.
Smart Golf balls

The TU Delft group Parallelle and Gedistribueerde Systemen (PGS)

have developed, in partnership with TNO FEL, golf balls that can be placed in a field and detect intruders. Last month the TNO demonstrated the prototype. The golf balls contain sensors that register vibrations and sounds and then transmit this data via a communication system to a central computer. The balls are ideal for placing around an encampment, as then a fence would not have to be built. TU instructor Koen Langendoen developed the software for the system and, together with his PhD students, he will also devise a way for a network of golf balls to be linked to the central computer. He also plans to make the system more cost-effective. “The golf balls form a detection field that warns of intruders and is designed in such a way that the alarm won’t sound every time a rabbit passes by,” Langdoen said. The golf balls have a transmission range of 50 meters.
Exemption

Residents of Duwo apartments can, based on their income, receive an exemption from having to pay for rubbish removal, sewage and housing taxes (OZB). Duwo and Delft municipality signed an agreement to this effect this week. However, those who live in Duwo apartments must apply for the exemption themselves at the Delft Municipality building. You cannot apply for this exemption until October. Delft municipality is currently producing the application forms and brochures.
Tennis

Owing to the great success of the last year’s tournament, student society Virgiels’ tennis club Tenniphil is once again hosting the Tenniphil Open. The tournament runs from June 28 to July 4 and will be held on TU Delft Sports Centre’s courts. The organisers expect 150 players to register for the tournament this year. For more information, see www.tenniphil.nl/opentoernooi
Sorry, Mates

A senior Australian police officer apologized for the alleged abuse of American students by his drunken off-duty police officers. The officers allegedly followed an American student to his dormitory at Notre Dame University in the Western Australia town of Fremantle, and once there, several students were forced to kneel on the ground while being called Yankees. The off-duty police allegedly made jeering remarks to the students about Washington’s role in Iraq. Forcing them to kneel raised shadows of the U.S. military’s prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq.

Trans-Pacific

An American Nobel laureate has been named president of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). 54-year-old Professor Robert Laughlin, 54, will be president of the Daejon-based institute for the next four years. A former Stanford University professor, Laughlin won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1998 with Horst Stoermer of Germany and Daniel Tsui of the United States for discovering a new form of quantum fluid. Laughlin is the first foreigner to become the president of a South Korean university. The American professor expressed his wish to make KAIST one of the world’s leading research-intensive educational institutions. Laughlin will become KAIST’s 12th president. According to South Korea’s Ministry of Science & Technology, Laughlin’s independence from the management board will help develop the national university into a research-oriented model and encourage KAIST professors to focus on creating value.
Verdict overturned

A dissident Iranian history professor whose death sentence for blasphemy triggered student protests has again had his sentence overturned by Iran’s Supreme Court. Hashem Aghajari was sentenced to death in 2002 for blasphemy, after delivering a speech in which he questioned clerical rule in Iran. On Tuesday, Iran’s Supreme Court for the second time lifted the death sentence against the Tehran University professor after a lower court had twice ruled that he should be executed. In June 2002, Mr. Aghajari delivered a speech in which he said that Muslims were not monkeys that blindly follow the teachings of senior Islamic clerics. A lower court said the speech was a direct attack on the Supreme Leader’s authority and sentenced Aghajari to death. But on appeal the Supreme Court disagreed, sending the case back to the same court that had initially convicted the professor. Again, Mr. Aghajari was found guilty. And, on Tuesday, the Supreme Court again overruled the lower court.
Smart Golf balls

The TU Delft group Parallelle and Gedistribueerde Systemen (PGS)

have developed, in partnership with TNO FEL, golf balls that can be placed in a field and detect intruders. Last month the TNO demonstrated the prototype. The golf balls contain sensors that register vibrations and sounds and then transmit this data via a communication system to a central computer. The balls are ideal for placing around an encampment, as then a fence would not have to be built. TU instructor Koen Langendoen developed the software for the system and, together with his PhD students, he will also devise a way for a network of golf balls to be linked to the central computer. He also plans to make the system more cost-effective. “The golf balls form a detection field that warns of intruders and is designed in such a way that the alarm won’t sound every time a rabbit passes by,” Langdoen said. The golf balls have a transmission range of 50 meters.
Exemption

Residents of Duwo apartments can, based on their income, receive an exemption from having to pay for rubbish removal, sewage and housing taxes (OZB). Duwo and Delft municipality signed an agreement to this effect this week. However, those who live in Duwo apartments must apply for the exemption themselves at the Delft Municipality building. You cannot apply for this exemption until October. Delft municipality is currently producing the application forms and brochures.
Tennis

Owing to the great success of the last year’s tournament, student society Virgiels’ tennis club Tenniphil is once again hosting the Tenniphil Open. The tournament runs from June 28 to July 4 and will be held on TU Delft Sports Centre’s courts. The organisers expect 150 players to register for the tournament this year. For more information, see www.tenniphil.nl/opentoernooi
Sorry, Mates

A senior Australian police officer apologized for the alleged abuse of American students by his drunken off-duty police officers. The officers allegedly followed an American student to his dormitory at Notre Dame University in the Western Australia town of Fremantle, and once there, several students were forced to kneel on the ground while being called Yankees. The off-duty police allegedly made jeering remarks to the students about Washington’s role in Iraq. Forcing them to kneel raised shadows of the U.S. military’s prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq.