September 26, 2002

Vol. 13, No. 12

The "8 1/2 x 11 News" is published each week by the Department of Public Relations. News of campus interest should be sent to
Ed Delaney, 412-268-1609 (ed47@andrew.cmu.edu) or Bruce Gerson, 412-268-1613 (bg02@andrew.cmu.edu). The newsletter is available on the official.cmu-news and cmu.misc.news bulletin boards.

Last year's editions are available online.

Previous editions are available online.

The National Science Foundation has made a $9 million, five-year grant to a collaboration of researchers from Carnegie Mellon, the University of Pittsburgh, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University and the National Canadian Research Council to support their work with language technology tools to better understand the function of proteins in human cells and those of other organisms. The project's principal investigators are Raj Reddy, the Herbert A. Simon University Professor of Computer Science and Robotics, and Judith Klein-Seetharaman, assistant professor of pharmacology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School, who also holds an appointment at Carnegie Mellon's Language Technologies Institute (LTI).

—The use of computational tools, including statistical language modeling, machine learning methods and high-level language processing for understanding how proteins work inside cells represents a new field called computational biolinguistics.

—As in languages, where there are sequences of letters that fall into patterns that make them understandable, there are sequences of amino acids in proteins that can be read to understand their structure, dynamics and function. Sequences of amino acids and their constituents can be thought of as syllables or words that have particular properties.

—The computational biolinguistics project can help to extract information hidden in the gene sequences of genomes, which may, in turn, help develop drugs to fight disease. Today, there is great demand to understand and treat degenerative diseases, many of which are based on defective triggers for protein shape and interactions.

—Carnegie Mellon will be the central site for the project. Its scientists will supply all necessary computational and language modeling technologies. Other partners will provide the bulk of biological and proteomic research and the laboratories where experimental work will take place.

—Reddy and Klein-Seetharaman, together with LTI associate professors Ronald Rosenfeld and Yiming Yang, and LTI director, Computer Science Professor Jaime Carbonell, have been doing preliminary work in computational biolinguistics for nearly two years. They have been able to detect protein fragment signatures from pathogens, promising novel strategies in identifying and targeting such pathogens.

—The $9 million grant is part of NSF's Information Technology Research (ITR) program. This year, NSF awarded a total of $144 million to help fund about 350 projects nationwide.

THIRTEEN STAFF MEMBERS HONORED WITH ANDY AWARDS

Thirty-nine individuals and teams were nominated for this year's Andy Awards-the university's recognition program that honors staff in the categories of innovation, enthusiasm, citizenship and dedication. Winners are: —Andy Award for Dedication: Anita Barkin, director of the Health Services.

—Andy Award for Enthusiasm: Jane Ditmore, senior sales associate, Entropy.

—Andy Award for Innovation: The Heinz School's Morale and Motivation Committee. Dorothy Bassett, Ron Delfine, Debra Dennison, Janet Ford, Gary Franko, Bridget Jakub, Hope Markiewicz, Lynnette Morris, Kristen Niceswanger and Tara Trapani.

—Andy Award for Citizenship: Richard Pethia, director, Network Systems Survivability Program.

—Individual winners each received $750. The Heinz School team received $1,500 to be divided among team members.

HOMECOMING WEEKEND IS OCT. 4 - 6

Carnegie Mellon will welcome back alumni at this year's Homecoming Weekend, Friday, Oct. 4 - Sunday, Oct. 6. Many Homecoming events are scheduled throughout the weekend, including college and department receptions, the Alumni Awards ceremony, Saturday morning seminars, President Jared Cohon's "State of the University" address, the football game versus Franklin & Marshall College and reunion dinners and receptions. A complete listing of events is on the Web at www.cmu.edu/alumni/news-evts/homecoming/index.html

OPEN HOUSE FOR NEW LABS IN DOHERTY HALL SET FOR OCT. 4

The university community will have an opportunity to preview sophisticated new teaching and laboratory space in Doherty Hall for the Mellon College of Science at an open house from 2 - 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 4. The $26 million, eight-story addition will provide innovative teaching facilities for an interdisciplinary freshman lab, chemistry and physics, as well as studio and office space for the School of Art.

—Richard D. McCullough, dean of the Mellon College of Science, said the labs and classrooms "create a flexible environment where our faculty and students can make the undergraduate experience as interdisciplinary and exciting as current scientific research. These labs will allow us to train the scientists of the 21st century, who must work at the intersection of many disciplines."

PERSONAL MENTION

—Harry Franklin, former head of the School of Music and pianist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, died on Sept. 20 from congestive heart failure. He was 85. Franklin joined Carnegie Mellon's School of Music as a professor in 1957 and retired in the mid-1990s. He was one of Pittsburgh's premier pianists and performed with famous musicians such as Lorin Maazel, William Steinberg, Pablo Casals and Igor Stravinsky.

—The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) has named GSIA Professor Allan Meltzer recipient of the first Irving Kristol Award. The award recognizes Meltzer's pioneering academic work in monetary policy, political theory and economic history, his many practical contributions to improved economic policy, and his unswerving devotion to individual liberty and government reform. The Kristol Award recognizes individuals who have made extraordinary intellectual or practical contributions to improved government policy or social welfare. It replaces the AEI's Francis Boyer Award, which was awarded between 1973 and 2002. Previous recipients of the Boyer Award include Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Dick Cheney, Alan Greenspan, George Will, Clarence Thomas and Henry Kissinger.

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Friday, Sept. 27: "Get Connected: A Community Service, Arts and Cultural Organization Fair." More than 60 campus and local organizations will showcase their service, arts and cultural opportunities to help you connect to the Pittsburgh community. Sponsored by Student Activities and the Office of the Assistant Dean. 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., Kirr Commons, University Center.

—Friday, Sept. 27: Second annual Quarter Mile of Quarters (QMQ), sponsored by the sisters of Kappa Kappa Gamma and brothers of Kappa Delta Rho. 4:30 - 6:30 p.m., CFA lawn. Music and free food. QMQ celebrates the money earned by Carnegie Mellon students for the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Free Care Fund. The QMQ event will be surrounded by a path of quarters in a quarter-mile circle.

—Monday, Sept. 30: University Lecture Series. "Turkish Arts Through the Ages." A live documentary with color slides. Talat Halman, director, Center for Turkish Literature, Bilkent University, and Defne Halman, radio producer, United Nations. 4:30 p.m., Chosky Theatre, Purnell Center.

—Thursday, Oct. 3: School of Computer Science Second Annual Bruce Nelson Memorial Lecture. "A New Kind of Science." Stephen Wolfran, creator of Mathematica, author of "A New Kind of Science," and chief executive officer, Wolfram Research, Inc. 4:30 p.m., UC. Further information: official.cmu-news, Sept. 19.

—Thursday, Oct. 3: University Lecture Series. "Michelangelo's Two Double Self Portraits." Edith Balas, professor of art history. 4:30 p.m., Adamson Wing, 136A Baker Hall.

—Thursday, Oct. 3: Intellectual Property Briefing. Christine R. Ethridge, Partner Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP. Noon - 1 p.m., Mellon College of Science, Boardroom 434. An opportunity to hear a presentation by an experienced intellectual property attorney and to get answers to your trademark, copyright and patent questions. A box lunch will be provided. RSVP: 412.268.5443 or bhetrick@andrew.cmu.edu.

—Friday, Oct. 4: Heinz School Frontiers in Public Policy Lecture Series. John D. Graham (HNZ Ph.D. '83.) "Presidential Management of the Regulatory State: Can it Work?" 2 - 3:30 p.m., Hamburg Hall 1000. Graham is administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs an agency estimated to have a $700 billion annual impact on the U.S. economy. It ensures that regulatory policies proposed by federal agencies are in the best interest of the general public and are supported by cost and benefit research.

—Friday, Oct. 4: Mechanical Engineering Seminar. "The SAE 'Formula Car' Program." John Wiss, Mechanical Engineering. 2:45 p.m., Scaife Hall 125.

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