December 12, 2002

Vol. 13, No. 22

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.

Carnegie Mellon hosted a Founders' Day celebration on Tuesday, Dec. 10, to honor Silicon Valley leaders who together have donated more than $1 million to support the establishment of the university's new West Coast campus. The event took place at Moffett Field, Silicon Valley, Calif., where the campus is located. More than 20 donors were honored, including some of Silicon Valley's most famous entrepreneurs. The list is posted on official.cmu-news, Dec. 9, and on the Web at www.cmu.edu

—The West Coast campus opened for classes in September 2002, with 56 students enrolled in two programs leading to a master of science degree in information technology. The course of study is built around project-oriented, apprenticeship-based and individually mentored activities that emphasize teamwork and collaboration.

UNIVERSITY TO CELEBRATE MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY ON MONDAY, JAN. 20

The university will host a series of events on Monday, Jan. 20, to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Classes will be cancelled from noon - 4:30 p.m. to allow students, faculty and staff to participate in the programming.

—Afternoon activities will begin with President Jared Cohon's address on the state of diversity at the university. Following his talk, the Creative Writing Department will present awards to local high school and Carnegie Mellon students for their narratives and poetry regarding their personal experiences with racial difference and discrimination. A panel discussion about Dr. King's "Six Steps for Nonviolent Social Change" will follow. Panelists include Vice Provost for Education Indira Nair and History Department Head Joe Trotter, director of the Center for African American Urban Studies and the Economy.

—At 4:30 p.m., members of the university community will participate in a candlelight procession from the Purnell Center to the University Center, where Dr. Michael Eric Dyson will deliver the keynote address, "Why We Can't Wait: The Need for Social Transformation." Dyson, a noted scholar, award-winning author and ordained pastor, is widely recognized for his insight into urban black popular culture.

—All events will be held in the University Center and are free and open to the public.

MAJOR RENOVATIONS PLANNED FOR HENDERSON HOUSE

The university will begin a major renovation of Henderson House, the wood-frame residence hall that sits below Gladstone Road and the Schenley Golf Club building, in January 2003. Henderson will close at the end of December. The projected cost of the project is $3.95 million.

—Henderson will be completely razed, except for its stonewalls, and rebuilt as suite-style housing for 60 residents. A third floor will be added along with an elevator. The project is part of phase I of the Hill Master Plan to improve landscaping and pedestrian circulation between Henderson, Hamerschlag and Welch Houses.

—Current Henderson residents have been reassigned to other campus housing for the spring semester. These students have priority to return to the "new" Henderson if they so choose.

—Mosites Construction has been awarded the construction contract. Henderson House will re-open in August 2003.

WOMEN VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED AS MENTORS

Carnegie Mellon's Women Supporting Women board is seeking participants for its Mentor Program. The program is designed to facilitate supportive relationships by identifying individual women staff willing to act as mentors, or to be mentored, and providing the opportunity for them to meet.

—Mentor relationships are expected to center on professional interests and aspirations, including, but not limited to, career advancement, educational opportunities and job-related issues. Since 1994 the project has matched more than 100 women with mentors.

—Applications for mentors and mentees will be accepted through Jan. 3. To join the program, go to hr.web.cmu.edu/wsw/index.htm and click on forms. Print and complete the application and mail it through campus mail no later than Jan. 3 to Women Supporting Women Mentor Program, Whitfield Hall.

STUDENT AFFAIRS OFFERS A MULTICULTURAL COOKBOOK

The Office of the Dean of Student Affairs solicited cultural and familial recipes from students, faculty and staff during the winter and spring of 2001-02. The result is a multicultural cookbook, "Savouring the World." The books sell for $5 each. Proceeds will be donated to Oxfam, an international organization seeking lasting solutions to poverty, hunger and social injustice around the world. Additional donations will be greatly appreciated.

WEST COAST CAMPUS CELEBRATES FOUNDERS' DAY

Carnegie Mellon hosted a Founders' Day celebration on Tuesday, Dec. 10, to honor Silicon Valley leaders who together have donated more than $1 million to support the establishment of the university's new West Coast campus. The event took place at Moffett Field, Silicon Valley, Calif., where the campus is located. More than 20 donors were honored, including some of Silicon Valley's most famous entrepreneurs. The list is posted on official.cmu-news, Dec. 9, and on the Web at www.cmu.edu

—The West Coast campus opened for classes in September 2002, with 56 students enrolled in two programs leading to a master of science degree in information technology. The course of study is built around project-oriented, apprenticeship-based and individually mentored activities that emphasize teamwork and collaboration.

UNIVERSITY TO CELEBRATE MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY ON MONDAY, JAN. 20

The university will host a series of events on Monday, Jan. 20, to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Classes will be cancelled from noon - 4:30 p.m. to allow students, faculty and staff to participate in the programming.

—Afternoon activities will begin with President Jared Cohon's address on the state of diversity at the university. Following his talk, the Creative Writing Department will present awards to local high school and Carnegie Mellon students for their narratives and poetry regarding their personal experiences with racial difference and discrimination. A panel discussion about Dr. King's "Six Steps for Nonviolent Social Change" will follow. Panelists include Vice Provost for Education Indira Nair and History Department Head Joe Trotter, director of the Center for African American Urban Studies and the Economy.

—At 4:30 p.m., members of the university community will participate in a candlelight procession from the Purnell Center to the University Center, where Dr. Michael Eric Dyson will deliver the keynote address, "Why We Can't Wait: The Need for Social Transformation." Dyson, a noted scholar, award-winning author and ordained pastor, is widely recognized for his insight into urban black popular culture.

—All events will be held in the University Center and are free and open to the public.

MAJOR RENOVATIONS PLANNED FOR HENDERSON HOUSE

The university will begin a major renovation of Henderson House, the wood-frame residence hall that sits below Gladstone Road and the Schenley Golf Club building, in January 2003. Henderson will close at the end of December. The projected cost of the project is $3.95 million.

—Henderson will be completely razed, except for its stonewalls, and rebuilt as suite-style housing for 60 residents. A third floor will be added along with an elevator. The project is part of phase I of the Hill Master Plan to improve landscaping and pedestrian circulation between Henderson, Hamerschlag and Welch Houses.

—Current Henderson residents have been reassigned to other campus housing for the spring semester. These students have priority to return to the "new" Henderson if they so choose.

—Mosites Construction has been awarded the construction contract. Henderson House will re-open in August 2003.

WOMEN VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED AS MENTORS

Carnegie Mellon's Women Supporting Women board is seeking participants for its Mentor Program. The program is designed to facilitate supportive relationships by identifying individual women staff willing to act as mentors, or to be mentored, and providing the opportunity for them to meet.

—Mentor relationships are expected to center on professional interests and aspirations, including, but not limited to, career advancement, educational opportunities and job-related issues. Since 1994 the project has matched more than 100 women with mentors.

—Applications for mentors and mentees will be accepted through Jan. 3. To join the program, go to hr.web.cmu.edu/wsw/index.htm and click on forms. Print and complete the application and mail it through campus mail no later than Jan. 3 to Women Supporting Women Mentor Program, Whitfield Hall.

STUDENT AFFAIRS OFFERS A MULTICULTURAL COOKBOOK

The Office of the Dean of Student Affairs solicited cultural and familial recipes from students, faculty and staff during the winter and spring of 2001-02. The result is a multicultural cookbook, "Savouring the World." The books sell for $5 each. Proceeds will be donated to Oxfam, an international organization seeking lasting solutions to poverty, hunger and social injustice around the world. Additional donations will be greatly appreciated.

—You may purchase "Savouring the World" at the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs, 301 Warner Hall. Office hours: 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m., Monday-Thursday, and 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday.

NEWS BRIEFS

—Cyert Hall will be closed from 6 p.m., Dec. 27, until midnight, Sunday, Dec. 29, for installation of an emergency generator. All computing, networking and telephone services will continue during that time but access to the building and offices will be prohibited.

—WQED-FM 89.3 will rebroadcast the Carnegie Mellon Holiday Concert at noon, Tuesday, Dec. 24.

PERSONAL MENTION

—Professor Gary L. Miller of the Computer Science Department has been selected as an Association for Computing Machinery Fellow. The official induction will be Saturday, June 7, 2003.

—Jim Garrett, professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Han Kiliccote (E '94, '97), senior software engineer for Atoga, were recently awarded the 2001 Best Paper Award for the American Society of Civil Engineers Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering. Their paper is entitled "Standards Usage Language (SUL)."

—Computing Services Help Center Consultant Dolores Heagy has been named one of five finalists for the Pittsburgh Help Desk Analyst of the Year Award by he Pittsburgh Chapter of the Help Desk Institute. She was chosen from a field of 12 nominees from the greater Pittsburgh area for her work in streamlining and improving the Help Center's wireless networking support process, and for her friendly and helpful attitude with customers and co-workers.

—Sarosh Talukdar, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has received the Steven J. Fenves Award for Systems Research for his contributions to interdisciplinary systems research and his pioneering work on the introduction, analysis and use of autonomous asynchronous teams of computer agents to solve complex engineered problems. Talukdar is founding co-director of the Engineering Design Research Center—the precursor of the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems.

—Computer Science Professor Manuel Blum and Ph.D. student Luis Van Ahn were featured in an article on the front page of the Science Section in the Dec. 10 New York Times for their work on developing Captchas, an acronym for Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart (on the Web at www.captcha.net). The New York Times article is at www.nytimes.com/2002/12/10/science/physical/10COMP.html

The December issue of the 12-page Carnegie Mellon News is online at www.cmu.edu/cmnews/021121/021121_main.html You may purchase "Savouring the World" at the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs, 301 Warner Hall. Office hours: 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m., Monday-Thursday, and 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday.

NEWS BRIEFS

—Cyert Hall will be closed from 6 p.m., Dec. 27, until midnight, Sunday, Dec. 29, for installation of an emergency generator. All computing, networking and telephone services will continue during that time but access to the building and offices will be prohibited.

—WQED-FM 89.3 will rebroadcast the Carnegie Mellon Holiday Concert at noon, Tuesday, Dec. 24.

PERSONAL MENTION

—Professor Gary L. Miller of the Computer Science Department has been selected as an Association for Computing Machinery Fellow. The official induction will be Saturday, June 7, 2003.

—im Garrett, professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Han Kiliccote (E '94, '97), senior software engineer for Atoga, were recently awarded the 2001 Best Paper Award for the American Society of Civil Engineers Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering. Their paper is entitled "Standards Usage Language (SUL)."

—Computing Services Help Center Consultant Dolores Heagy has been named one of five finalists for the Pittsburgh Help Desk Analyst of the Year Award by he Pittsburgh Chapter of the Help Desk Institute. She was chosen from a field of 12 nominees from the greater Pittsburgh area for her work in streamlining and improving the Help Center's wireless networking support process, and for her friendly and helpful attitude with customers and co-workers.

—Sarosh Talukdar, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has received the Steven J. Fenves Award for Systems Research for his contributions to interdisciplinary systems research and his pioneering work on the introduction, analysis and use of autonomous asynchronous teams of computer agents to solve complex engineered problems. Talukdar is founding co-director of the Engineering Design Research Center—the precursor of the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems.

—Computer Science Professor Manuel Blum and Ph.D. student Luis Van Ahn were featured in an article on the front page of the Science Section in the Dec. 10 New York Times for their work on developing Captchas, an acronym for Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart (on the Web at www.captcha.net). The New York Times article is at www.nytimes.com/2002/12/10/science/physical/10COMP.html

The December issue of the 12-page Carnegie Mellon News is online at www.cmu.edu/cmnews/021121/021121_main.html

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