Three USC faculty members have been selected as 2000 Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars inductees. They are Hanna Reisler, professor of chemistry; Keck School of Medicine’s Thomas R. DeMeester, professor and chair of surgery; and Ronald E. Smith, Warren Professor and chair of the department of ophthalmology. They and 14 other distinguished scientists and clinicians who spent time at Johns Hopkins early in their careers will be honored during the society’s 31st induction ceremony on Wednesday, May 24, and again at the university’s commencement ceremony on Thursday, May 25. This year’s inductees will bring the total number of society members to 385.

Professor Larry Picus’ article “Setting Budget Priorities” was selected as the cover story for the May issue of the American School Board Journal. Picus writes in the journal that the dilemma facing public schools is not a lack of funding, but rather one of resetting budget priorities. He calls for school districts to move away from “incremental” budget processes to budget evaluations that focus on building effective programs and eliminating ineffective ones. His suggestions include doing away with teaching assistants in classrooms and outsourcing the maintenance and repair of school computers.

Two USC School of Dentistry post-graduate students will be honored by the California Society of Periodontists for outstanding research. Armen Mardirossian and Antonio D’Addona each received a $1,000 prize at a May 20 banquet in Westwood. Mardirossian was honored for his paper, “Herpes Viruses 6, 7 & 8 in HIV and Non-HIV Associated Periodontitis” and D’Addona for “Intramembranous Antogenous Osseous Transplants in Esthetic Restoration of Alveolar Atrophy.” The society gives the awards annually to four post-graduate students in the Western United States and Canada.

Josephine Tsai, currently finishing a one-year fellowship in colorectal surgery at the LAC+USC Medical Center, recently returned from a stint in Burundi with Doctors Without Borders/Medicins Sans Frontiers. During her five months in the war-torn African state, Tsai provided emergency treatment and served as the only surgeon in a remote township.

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