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August 12, 2004 Vol. 15, No. 6
The "8 1/2 x 11 News" is published each week by the University Advancement Division. News of campus interest should be sent to one of the following editors:
Ed Delaney, 412-268-1609
(ed47@andrew.cmu.edu) 2001 Editions are available online. 2002 Editions are available online. 2003 Editions are available online. Previous editions are available online.
TWO STAFF MEMBERS KILLED IN AIRPLANE CRASH Quinn Peyton, 31, a technical staff member of the Networked Systems Survivability Program at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), and his uncle, Kenneth Meyer, 54, machine shop foreman in the Department of Chemical Engineering, were killed at approximately 5:45 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 9, when the private aircraft they were flying crashed along U.S. 50 near Monarch Pass in Gunnison County, Colo. According to news reports, Meyer, who had a private pilot's license, was flying the Cessna 172 aircraft from San Diego to Kansas when it crashed approximately 200 miles southwest of Denver. — Meyer was the shop foreman chemical engineering for 20 years and earned his master's degree in physics from Carnegie Mellon in 1982. Peyton had been a member of the technical staff at the SEI since 1998. —Funeral arrangements have not yet been finalized. AUTONOMOUS ROBOT TO SEEK LIFE IN CHILE'S ATACAMA DESERT This morning (Aug. 12) Carnegie Mellon robotics and life sciences researchers demonstrated Zoë, an autonomous rover being groomed to seek and identify life in hostile environments, at the former LTV site off Brownfield Road in Pittsburgh. The researchers, who are part of a team that includes scientists from NASA's Ames Research Center (Mountain View, Calif.), the University of Tennessee and Universidad Catolica del Norte (Antofagasta, Chile), will soon accompany Zoë to the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, where they will perform experiments focused on seeking and identifying forms of life. —The team will spend nearly two months in the Atacama, described as the most arid region on earth, working on the second phase of a three-year program whose results may ultimately enable robots to look for life on Mars. The Life in the Atacama Project is part of NASA's Astrobiology Science and Technology Program for Exploring Planets, which concentrates on pushing the limits of technology in harsh environments. —David Wettergreen, associate research professor in the Robotics Institute and project leader, will be in the desert with his colleagues from the end of August to mid-October, conducting experiments in rover perception, mobility and autonomy during long-distance traverses. "Our goal is to make genuine discoveries about the limits of life on Earth and to create technology that can be applied to future NASA missions," Wettergreen said. For more, visit: www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/atacama COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCH BOOSTS STUDENTS' SCIENCE TEST SCORES A Carnegie Mellon project to improve middle school science education is already showing promising results at strengthening students' understanding of key scientific concepts and raising their standardized test scores. Researchers have completed the first year of a three-year program that trains teachers to apply cognitive models of scientific reasoning to their lesson plans in order to raise students' performance. —"There does seem to be a way to bridge what we know in cognitive psychology to what happens in the classroom," said postdoctoral fellow Junlei Li, principal investigator of the project along with Psychology Professor David Klahr. —The project is being conducted at the schools funded through the Extra Mile Education Foundation: Holy Rosary in Homewood; St. Agnes in Oakland; St. Benedict the Moor in the Hill District; and St. James in Wilkinsburg. Nearly all the students at the four schools are African American and come from low-income families. —To evaluate the students' progress, researchers administered their own tests to students before and after they received lessons that taught them to design controlled experiments. Less than 20 percent of fifth- and sixth-grade students were proficient before the lessons; afterward, 80 to 90 percent had mastered the concept. Sixth-graders learning from the new lesson plans made as much progress in two weeks as middle school students at an affluent Pittsburgh school made in four years following the school's normal science curriculum. —During phase two of the project this fall, researchers will design and teach lesson plans, and train classroom teachers to incorporate psychological research into their own lessons. —For more visit: http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases04/040810_test.html INVESTORS: DON'T IGNORE TAX IMPLICATIONS OF ASSET ALLOCATION, LOCATION Investors risk sacrificing as much as 15 percent of portfolio value by failing to consider the tax implications of where assets are held, according to a study in the June issue of the Journal of Finance. —In "Optimal Asset Location and Allocation with Taxable and Tax-Deferred Investing," Robert Dammon, professor of financial economics, and Chester Spatt, Mellon Bank Professor of Finance and director of the Center for Financial Markets at the Tepper School of Business, present compelling advice on ways to maximize long-term returns through a combination of tax sheltering and thoughtful portfolio allocation. Results of the study, which was co-authored by Harold Zhang, associate professor of finance at Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina, contradict common investment practices. According to the authors, many financial planners and self-directed investors routinely fail to consider the split of wealth between taxable and tax-deferred accounts at the time they determine their overall asset mix. —Further information: http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases04/040809_tax.html STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN INTERDISCIPLINARY PROGRAM IN SPARTA, GREECE This summer, 11 Carnegie Mellon students participated in an educational study program in Sparta, Greece, that combined the fine arts, humanities and natural sciences. The program, "Sparta, Greece: Inquiry and Vision," was offered by Carnegie Mellon's Bachelor of Humanities and Arts and Bachelor of Science and Arts programs. Students explored a topic in Greece and will present their final projects in the fall. —Program leader Patricia Maurides, director of interdisciplinary degree programs, supervised the undergraduate students in Sparta, along with Lowry Burgess, professor of art, and Dionysis Rigopoulos (E'84, E'91). NEWS BRIEFS —Benefits-eligible faculty and staff can ride free on PAT buses, inclines and the T by showing a valid Carnegie Mellon ID with a current bus pass validation sticker. Faculty and staff may request a 2004-05 bus pass sticker through HR Connection starting Aug. 16. To request a sticker, follow the Bus Pass link from the Human Resources Web site at http://hr.web.cmu.edu. Select the Bus Pass module in HR Connection, then choose whether you will pick up your sticker or have it mailed to you. Call 8-4747 if you've forgotten your PIN number, but then be sure to change it to something you'll remember in the future. Stickers are valid through Aug. 31, 2005. PERSONAL MENTION —Takeo Kanade, the U.A. and Helen Whitaker University Professor in the Robotics Institute, has received an Accomplishment Award from the Japanese Society of Artificial Intelligence for "Outstanding Contributions to the Research on Vision and Robotics, as Well as Foundation of Digital Human Research." —Marta Sanchez, retired professor of music, and Annabelle Joseph, professor of music and head of the Carnegie Mellon Dalcroze Training Center, are teaching at the Dalcroze International Conference in Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 11 - 14. Carnegie Mellon was the first school in the country to establish Dalcroze Eurhythmics (the study of music through rhythmic movement) as part of the curriculum for all music students. The Dalcroze Training Center attracts students from all over the world. Satellite programs have been established in Taiwan, Japan and Korea. CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS —Aug. 20 - Oct. 3: The Regina Gouger Miller Gallery presents "A Fiction of Authenticity: Contemporary Africa Abroad," an exhibition that provides an in-depth look at new work created by 11 contemporary African and African Diaspora artists who work and live in Europe and the United States. The exhibit presents the artists' responses to social, cultural and aesthetic attitudes developed throughout history, particularly the Western fabrication of an "authentic" Africa. For the events schedule, visit http://artserver.cfa.cmu.edu/~miller/ —Tuesday, Aug. 24: Orientation picnic for Class of 2008. 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., College of Fine Arts lawn. The picnic is an opportunity for new students and their family members to meet and interact with faculty and staff. For a complete orientation schedule visit www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/first-year/orientation/
—Monday, Aug. 30: First day of classes for the 2004 fall semester.
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