January 13, 2005

Vol. 15, No. 25

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)
  Bruce Gerson, 412-268-1613 (bg02@andrew.cmu.edu)
  Susan Cribbs, 412-268-7521 (cribbs@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.

2003 Editions are available online.

2004 Editions are available online.

Previous editions are available online.

The university will honor the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, Jan. 17, with a series of afternoon activities. There will be no classes that afternoon to allow students, faculty and staff to participate in the programming. Events include an address by President Jared L. Cohon on the state of diversity at the university, a writing awards program in which both area high school and Carnegie Mellon students will read narratives of their experiences with racial difference and discrimination, and a keynote address by Darlene Clark Hine, the Board of Trustees Professor of African American Studies and Professor of History at Northwestern University. Her address, "Freedom Is Our Business: Black Professionals Before the Modern Civil Rights Movement," will demonstrate how a generation of black professionals built bridges across gender, class and regional divides to create the foundations for the modern civil rights movement.

—Activities begin in the University Center at 12:30 p.m., Monday, Jan. 17, with President Cohon's address. The writing awards program will take place at 1:30 p.m., followed by the Community Conversation at 2:30 p.m., the candlelight procession at 4:30 p.m. and Dr. Hine's address at 5 p.m.

—For more, visit http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/first-year/mlk/2005/

DEBORAH MOON APPOINTED CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Deborah J. Moon, acting chief financial officer (CFO) since last April, has accepted the post of vice president and CFO for the university, and will manage budgeting, financial operations, treasury, financial systems and campus services. Before becoming acting CFO, Moon was assistant vice president for finance and controller.

—Some functions that previously reported to the CFO have been reorganized. Human Resources and Risk Management will report to the Office of the General Counsel, headed by Vice President and General Counsel Mary Jo Dively. ACIS and Computing Services will be integrated into a single organization, reporting to Vice Provost and Chief Information Officer Joel Smith. The engineering, facilities maintenance and operations functions for the university will report to Vice President for Enrollment William F. Elliott.

—The areas of capital projects, facilities design, construction, and renovation will become part of a new organization within the Office of the Provost. Vice Provost and CTO Christina Gabriel will assume responsibility for these areas and oversee the establishment of the new structure.

PRESIDENT COHON URGES HELP FOR VICTIMS OF RECENT DISASTERS

In a message to the university community earlier this week, President Cohon underscored the importance of supporting those whose family and friends have been most directly impacted by the recent earthquake and tsunami in Asia and Africa. He also noted that Carnegie Mellon Service, part of the Student Development Office, has compiled a contact list of organizations that are serving as clearinghouses for many relief-rebuild efforts. In addition, he announced that various individuals, departments and campus organizations would be collecting donations for relief and rebuilding efforts in the University Center through Monday, Jan. 17. For more information visit http://www.cmu.edu/cmnews/extra/050110_tsunami.html

HUMAN RESOURCES LAUNCHES REDESIGNED WEB SITE

Human Resources' newly redesigned Web site (http://hr.web.cmu.edu) includes many functional and aesthetic enhancements. New features include: simpler navigation, Bobby-compliance for the visually impaired, a search function, a forms access menu and password-protected content. While the home page URL remains the same, please note that internal links have changed. If you have a bookmark to the HR site, be sure that the link does not include extra characters. If it has "default.asp=..." text in the URL, it will result in a non-functioning link.

NEWS BRIEFS

—The Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center (PSLC), founded by Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh, is offering an independent study course program for undergraduates this semester on the Principles of Learning that will enable students to help disadvantaged youth in Pittsburgh and become involved in the science of learning while earning course credit. The course will encompass learning strategies, peer tutoring and tutor learning. As part of the course, students will be required to tutor high school juniors once or twice a week starting in early February through the end of the semester at Pittsburgh's Westinghouse High School. Transportation will be provided. To register for the course, contact Maxine Eskenazi (max+@cs.cmu.edu), Micki Chi (chi@pitt.edu) or Kurt VanLehn (vanlehn@cs.pitt.edu).

—Over the past several weeks, many users have experienced an increase in SPAM. The unfiltered email is primarily finance related (e.g., stock tips). Computing Services is working closely with Sophos, the vendor who provides our email filtering software, to expedite a solution that will filter these unwanted messages.

—The Undergraduate Research Initiative has a new name: the Undergraduate Research Office. Its new URL is www.cmu.edu/uro. It is still located in 531 Warner Hall. Small Undergraduate Research Grant proposals for summer and fall 2005 are due on March 16.

—Reiki services will be available at Student Health Services beginning Jan. 17. Students, faculty and staff can schedule individual appointments with Key Stone Reiki practitioners by calling 8-2157. Thirty- and 60-minute treatments are available for a fee of $25 and $45, respectively. Reiki is a gentle, non-invasive form of energy transfer that activates the body's own natural healing powers. The treatment involves the Reiki practitioner placing his/her hands on select areas of the recipient's body.

PERSONAL MENTION

—Klaus Sutner, a teaching professor in the Computer Science Department, has been named associate dean for undergraduate education in the School of Computer Science. Sutner, a member of the Carnegie Mellon faculty since 1995, replaces Peter Lee, who stepped down as associate dean last September to concentrate on research and pursue new efforts in computer science education.

—Martin Griss has joined Carnegie Mellon's West Coast Campus as associate dean for education and professor of the practice of software engineering. Griss was a senior scientist at Hewlett-Packard for 19 years, providing vision and technology leadership on agent-based applications and software engineering methods, architecture and technologies. Most recently, he was an adjunct professor at the University of California and a consultant to Carnegie Mellon.

—Kavan Ratnatunga, associate research professor of physics, helped with tsunami relief efforts in Sri Lanka. His account of the devastation was printed in the Jan. 9 Sri Lanka Sunday Times and is also available at http://lakdiva.org/tsunami/arugambay.html.

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Jan. 14 - March 13: The Regina Gouger Miller Gallery presents three exhibitions: "Point of View: An Anthology of the Moving Image," "Michal Rovner: Recent Work" and "Ice Cream Social: David Robbins." An opening reception will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 14. The gallery is free and open to the public. Further information: official.cmu-news, Jan. 6.

—Tuesday, Jan. 18: Department of Chemical Engineering Seminar. "Systems Engineering Approaches for the Analysis and Design of Complex Metabolic Networks." Vassily Hatzimanikatis, professor of chemical engineering, Northwestern University. 10:45 a.m., Doherty Hall 1112.

—Tuesday, Jan. 18: Inter-university Graduate Students of Color Dinner. 6 p.m., William Pitt Union, University of Pittsburgh. Subject: "Know Your University: Institutional Profile, Resources and People." Speakers: Everett Tademy, director of Equal Opportunity Services at Carnegie Mellon, and William Savage, assistant to the Chancellor and director of affirmative action, University of Pittsburgh. Register by Jan. 13 at http://gposerver.as.cmu.edu/registration/multiregis.html/

—Wednesday, Jan. 19: Heinz School Convocation Lecture Series, co-sponsored with the Tepper School of Business. David Bornstein, journalist and author. "How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of Ideas." 12:15 p.m., McConomy Auditorium, UC.

—Wednesday, Jan. 19: Professional Development Seminar hosted by Graduate Support Programs. "Negotiating Job Offers." Laurie Weingart, professor of organizational behavior, the Tepper School of Business. 1p.m., Rangos 3. Lunch will be served. Register at http://gposerver.as.cmu.edu/registration/multiregis.htm.

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