April 3, 2003

Vol. 13, No. 36

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.

2001 Editions are available online.

2002 Editions are available online.

Previous editions are available online.

The selection committees for the university's annual education awards have announced this year's winners. Peggy Knapp, professor, Department of English, has won the William H. and Frances S. Ryan Award for Meritorious Teaching. Arthur W. Westerberg, the Swearingen Professor of Chemical Engineering, has earned the Robert E. Doherty Award for Sustained Contributions to Excellence in Education. Annette Jacobson, principal lecturer, Chemical Engineering, received the Undergraduate Advising Award. —This year's Graduate Student Teaching Award winner is Dirk Schlimm, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Philosophy. Sarah Pressman, a graduate student in the Psychology Department, earned the Graduate Student Service Award. —The awards ceremony will take place at 5 p.m., Wednesday, April 9, in the Kresge Recital Hall, College of Fine Arts (CFA). A reception will be held in the CFA lobby at 4:30 p.m.

NEW BUILDING TO HOUSE POSNER FINE ARTS COLLECTION

Carnegie Mellon will hold a groundbreaking ceremony at 11:15 a.m., Monday, April 7, for a new building between Posner Hall and the College of Fine Arts. The new structure will house the Posner Family collection of rare books and jade and ivory carvings, and executive meeting rooms. The Posner collection is now on display in the fourth-floor Fine and Rare Books Room in Hunt Library.

—The new building, scheduled for completion in early 2004, will be mostly underground with a rooftop sculpture garden. The main entrance, featuring one-story-tall windows, will face Margaret Morrison Carnegie Hall and the tennis courts.

— Designed by WTW Architects, the 11,400-square-foot building is a gift of Henry and Helen Posner. Henry Posner is an emeritus life trustee of the university. The Posner collection includes one of only four copies of the Bill of Rights printed by Thomas Jefferson in 1792, Christopher Columbus' letter to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain describing his first voyage to America, Karl Marx's "Communist Manifesto," written in 1848, and original major works by Euclid, Copernicus and Newton.

TUITION GRANT FOR DEPENDENT CHILDREN OF STAFF INCREASED TO $2,450

The university's Benefits Committee has announced that the staff grant benefit for dependent children attending an institution other than Carnegie Mellon will be increased from $2,175 per semester to $2,450, effective this fall semester. The grant is for tuition charges only.

SOME STREETS CLOSED APRIL 11 - 12 FOR BUGGY RACES

The annual Sweepstakes Races, held in conjunction with Spring Carnival, will take place 6 a.m. - noon on Friday, April 11 and Saturday, April 12. Because Margaret Morrison, Tech, Frew and Schenley Drive are used early on those mornings, traffic will not be able to access campus via Schenley Park or Margaret Morrison Street after 6 a.m. Roads will reopen by 12:30 p.m. Vehicles parked on these streets after 6 a.m. on April 11 and 12 will be towed at owner's expense. Parking will again be available when the races have concluded.

—In case of inclement weather, the races will be held on Sunday, April 13.

UNIVERSITY POLICE TO ENFORCE WRISTBAND POLICY IN UC GYM

Beginning Sunday, April 6, University Police will strictly enforce the University Center's (UC) wristband policy. Unscheduled checks will be conducted of all persons using the recreational facilities. Persons not wearing a wristband will be required to leave the recreational facilities immediately. This strict enforcement action has become necessary due to increased violations and use of the facilities by non-university persons. Information: official.cmu-news, April 1.

NEWS BRIEFS

—A new session of Weight Watchers At Work will start Tuesday, April 15, in the University Center's Wright Room. To ensure that enough program material is available, those interested must preregister at www.andrew.cmu.edu/~jm5h/ww-top.html/

—Over the past four years, the Pittsburgh Symphony has made tickets available for purchase at the University Center Information Desk for graduate and undergraduate students. Beginning this week, faculty and staff may also purchase discounted tickets for Pittsburgh Symphony concerts at the Information Desk. See official.cmu-news, April 1.

—Note for PreferredBlue Health Plan subscribers: the newest PreferredBlue plan booklet published by Highmark erroneously states that occupational and speech therapy is covered with no deductible applied. It should have said that these services are covered at 100% after the deductible has been applied. Call Highmark at 1-800-472-1506 for questions about your coverage.

PERSONAL MENTION

—The U.S.-Israel Educational Foundation has selected John Gasper, a doctoral student in Social and Decision Sciences, for a nine-month student research award to Hebrew University or to Tel Aviv University during academic year 2003-04. His research is on game theory.

—Wilfried Sieg, professor and head, Department of Philosophy, will be in China May 4 - 12. He will give the keynote address at the International Conference on Logic and Cognition at Zhongshan University in Guangzhou. Following the conference, he will conduct three seminars at a workshop on Reasoning and Cognition. He will also explore opportunities for cooperation between his department and the Institute for Logic and Cognition at Zhongshan.

—Anna Hahn, a graduate student in the Graduate School of Industrial Administration's (GSIA) Computational Finance program, has won the title of U.S. Women's Chess Champion 2003. Hahn attends GSIA's New York campus while working as an analyst for Goldman Sachs. She was a member of the U.S. Women's Olympic chess team in 2000; earned her Women's International Master title in 1995 and won second place in the Junior World Chess Championships in 1993.

—Entertainment Technology Center co-director, Don Marinelli, will be honored on April 5 by his alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh, with inaugural membership in the school's Player's Guild. The award recognizes Marinelli's accomplishments first in theatre and more recently in the field of digital media and entertainment technology. Marinelli received his Ph.D. in theatre history, literature and criticism from Pitt in 1987, six years after coming to Carnegie Mellon as assistant head of Drama. The award ceremony will be held at the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Oakland.

—Chemical Engineering and Biology researchers at Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh have received a million-dollar Biotechnology Training Grant from the National Institutes of Health. An inter-institutional and interdisciplinary course program has been designed for participating graduate students, and collaborative research on cell-based, biotechnology process conception and system design and analysis will be fostered. The program co-directors are Mohammad Ataai (Chemical Engineering, University of Pittsburgh), Michael Domach (Chemical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon, and Saleem Khan (School of Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh).

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Friday, April 4: Mechanical Engineering Seminar, co-sponsored with the Robotics Institute. "Creating the Future of Aerospace." Robert Krieger, president, Boeing Phantom Works. 2:45 p.m., Scaife Hall 125.

—Monday, April 7: Annual Buhl Lecture. "Single Molecule Biology: It's More than Just Showing Off." Nobel Prize winner and Stanford University physicist Steven Chu. 4:30 p.m., Mellon Institute Auditorium, 4400 Fifth Avenue, Oakland. Free and open to the public. A reception follows at 5:30 p.m. in the Mellon Institute lobby. See www.cmu.edu/PR/releases03/030331_schu.html.

—Monday, April 7: The Center for Computer and Communications Security presents Washington Post investigative reporter and editor Marilyn Thompson, who will discuss her new book, "The Killer Strain - Anthrax and a Government Exposed." Noon, Hamerschlag Hall, 1112. Free and open to the public. See www.cmu.edu/PR/releases03/030319_anthrax.html.

-Back to the top-