By Karrie Sue Hawbaker, Editor

Dear Readers,

Welcome back to a new semester and a new edition of The Photon. I hope you all enjoyed your holidays and are beginning yet another productive academic year. We have much to look forward to this year. In 2005, the Maryland Department of Physics will be contributing several exciting events to the international World Year of Physics celebration. Our featured faculty member this month, Professor Kara Hoffman, has much to look forward to with exciting work at the South Pole. Our February featured alumnus, George Shaw, in addition to expecting his eighth child, is blazing ahead with medical research that could better treat people who have strokes. And I'm sure each of you readers are up to something exciting too.

Enjoy our latest issue!