September 11, 2003

Vol. 14, No. 10

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.

As part of the university's effort to foster a welcoming and nurturing environment for the campus community, the Office of Student Affairs is sponsoring a series of talks called "Speak Your Mind: Diversity Discussions and Dinner." The sessions, scheduled for 5:30 - 7 p.m., encourage community members to discuss important diversity issues in a comfortable and non-threatening atmosphere. The gatherings are facilitated by a university expert on the topic who begins with an informative introduction of an issue and then leads the discussion. Dinner will be served, featuring different ethnic foods at each session.

—This semester's events, topics and facilitators are:

—Sept. 30: "Homosexuality in a Machista Society," Therese Tardio, lecturer in Spanish, New House Mulitpurpose Room.

—Oct. 28: "Between the Lines: Multiple Racial and Ethnic Identities," Marian Aguiar, assistant professor of English, West Wing TV Room.

—Nov. 18: "The Current State of Affirmative Action," President Jared Cohon, New House Multipurpose Room.

Prior registration is required by contacting Emily Half at ehalf@andrew.cmu.edu.

—The 8 1/2 x 11 News will be highlighting events, issues, people and programs relating to the university's diversity initiative throughout the year. Submit items of interest to the editorial staff listed at the top of the newsletter.

PROFESSOR WILL DISCUSS BUDDHISM AND SCIENCE WITH DALAI LAMA

Psychology Professor Marlene Behrmann will be a panelist this weekend with the Dalai Lama, the leader of Tibetan Buddhism, at the Investigating the Mind conference in Boston.

—The conference's goal is to identify the common ground between Tibetan Buddhism and biobehavioral science. Behrmann, an expert in visual perception and cognition, and the Dalai Lama will be members of the mental imagery panel which meets Saturday. "(The Dali Lama) wants to blend Eastern and Western perspectives.... The Buddhists have a lot of intuition that we don't have access to," Behrmann said. The conference is sponsored by the McGovern Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Mind and Life Institute.

—Behrmann is a member of the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition.

NSF AWARDS $1 MILLION RESEARCH GRANT TO PROFESSOR QIAO LIN

Qiao Lin, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has received a four-year, $1 million research grant from the National Science Foundation to head a Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Team (NIRT) that will explore nanoscale polymers as applied to miniature bioanalytical systems. In addition to Lin, the NIRT consists of Krzysztof Matyjaszewski and Tomasz Kowalewski (Chemistry), James Schneider, Robert Tilton and Lee White (Chemical Engineering).

—The multi-disciplinary nature of the NIRT will facilitate cross-fertilization of ideas between participating graduate and undergraduate students, who will work closely with other students and faculty from each of the three participating departments.

"CAUSE" SPEAKER SERIES DISCUSSES CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST'S LEGACY

The Center for Africanamerican Urban Studies and the Economy (CAUSE) in the Department of History will launch its 2003-04 Speaker Series at 4 p.m., Sept. 19, in the Giant Eagle Auditorium, Baker Hall. Barbara Ransby, a longtime political activist, freelance journalist and scholar, will give a talk titled "Ella Baker's Legacy: Remembering the Black Radical Democratic Tradition." Ella Baker (1903-1986) was a civil rights activist and intellectual. Her biography was written by Ransby, who is an associate professor in the departments of African American Studies and History at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

HONORARY DEGREE NOMINATIONS DUE BY OCT. 30

The university community is invited to submit nominations for honorary degree recipients at the 2004 commencement. Honorary degrees may be awarded in the fields of business practice, fine arts, humane letters, public policy and science and technology. Nominations can be submitted at www.cmu.edu/advancement/honorary/ The deadline for nominations is Oct. 30. Paper nomination forms can be obtained from the Office of the President (8-2200), 6th floor, Warner Hall. Completed paper nominations should be sent to Edna Jackson, Office of the Provost, Warner Hall 607, and to the Honorary Degrees Committee c/o Chairman Harry Paxton, Wean Hall 3315.

HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH BEGINS SEPT. 15

The Office of the Dean of Student Affairs presents Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept. 15 - Oct. 15. Highlights for the month include a lecture by author Cristina Garcia; a panel presentation with food focusing on Hispanic culture in Pittsburgh; a diversity town meeting, tango, salsa and flamenco dance workshops; discussions on Puerto Rico and Colombia; a film festival, gallery show and more. The schedule is posted on official.cmu-news, Sept. 9.

NEWS BRIEFS

—A memorial service in honor of Annaswamy Gopal will be held at 1 p.m. (note new time) on Friday, Sept. 12, in Newell-Simon Hall 3305. Gopal, director of business development for the Institute for Software Research International, died suddenly of a heart attack on July 4. At the service, colleagues, friends and family will share reflections on his contributions to the university. For further information, contact Jane Siegel at 412-268-6764 or jals@cs.cmu.edu.

—In last week's 8-1/2 x 11 News, Jeffrey Pencosky, user services consultant, Computer Services, was mistakenly left off the list of Andy Award nominees. He has been nominated for the Enthusiasm award.

—"A Model for Matisse: The Story of the Vence Chapel," a documentary film by Barbara Freed, professor of French Studies, will have its first major showing on Nov. 5 at the Musee Matisse in Nice, France. An English-narrated and subtitled version will be shown at 5 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 23, in the Baker Hall Giant Eagle Auditorium, and in the original French at 5:15 p.m. in the Baker Hall H&SS Auditorium. The film presents the relatively unknown and tender relationship that existed between Henri Matisse and the woman he called "the true initiator" of the revolutionary chapel he considered his masterpiece, The Chapel of the Rosary in the French Mediterranean village of Vence.

—NPR will broadcast a live interview with Chemistry Professor Terry Collins from 3:40 - 4 p.m. this Friday, Sept. 12, as part of its "Science Friday" show. Collins will discuss his work in Green Chemistry. While local NPR affiliates don't carry the show, several other NPR stations offer live streaming online. A list of stations where you can find the interview is at www.sciencefriday.com/streaming.html/

PERSONAL MENTION

Janet Stocks, director of the Undergraduate Research Initiative, has been appointed Assistant Vice Provost for Education. She will be responsible for programs that support student academic interests outside the classroom and will serve as the Carnegie Mellon liaison to the Pittsburgh Teachers' Institute and to the Pittsburgh Consortium for Higher Education.

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Monday, Sept. 15: Romanian-born Swiss artist Valentin Lustig will speak at 4:30 p.m. in the Singleton Room in the Roberts Hall of Engineering. He will discuss "Hoka-Néni: Seven Paintings by Valentin Lustig," an exhibit of his work that is opening this month at the Frick Art & Historical Center in Point Breeze. The exhibit is curated by Art History Professor Edith Balas. Lustig's talk is free and open to the public.

—Tuesday, Sept. 16: Poets Lisa Fishman and Richard Meier will kick off the 2003-04 Adamson Visiting Writer Series at 8 p.m. in the Adamson Wing of Baker Hall. Fishman is author of "The Deep Heart's Core is a Suitcase" and "Dear, Read." Meier's first book of poetry, "Terrain Vague," won the 2000 Verse Prize. Both authors are assistant professors of English at Beloit College in Wisconsin. The event is free and open to the public.

—Sept. 17 - 18: Jill Watson Festival Across the Arts. Details: www.cmu.edu/cfa.Watson/

—Thursday, Sept. 18: Cuarteto Latinoamericano. 7:30 p.m., Kresge Recital Hall, College of Fine Arts.

-Back to the top-