August 18, 2005

Vol. 16, No. 7

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.

Morewood Avenue, between Fifth and Forbes avenues, Margaret Morrison Street and Tech Street will be closed to through traffic from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 21, to accommodate approximately 1,400 Carnegie Mellon first-year students who will be moving into their residence halls for the start of Orientation 2005, a weeklong series of programs and activities designed to introduce incoming students to each other, the campus and the local community. President Jared L. Cohon will welcome parents and their families at 4 p.m., Sunday in the Baker Hall Tent. The annual Convocation, which celebrates the beginning of students' academic careers at Carnegie Mellon, will be held a 4:30 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 25, in the Baker Hall Tent. For a complete schedule of Orientation 2005, visit http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/first-year/orientation/2005/

— Freshman Facts: This year's freshman class of 1,422 students includes 885 men, 537 women, 340 Asian-Americans, 216 international students, 79 African-Americans, 67 Hispanics and 4 Native Americans. Students represent 47 U.S. states and 22 foreign countries. The class has an average SAT score of 1,360 (650 verbal, 710 math) and an average score of 29 on the ACT. Their average GPA is 3.61 and they ranked in the top 9% of their high school class.

EMOTIONS CONTINUE TO INFLUENCE AMERICAN REACTION TO 9/11

The release of the transcripts of New York City emergency communications from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks brought back the flood of emotions that Americans experienced during the worst attack in the nation's history. A recent Carnegie Mellon study demonstrates that intense emotions have a powerful effect on how Americans continue to perceive the risk of terrorism and their memories of 9/11. The study was published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied.

—The researchers surveyed a national sample of Americans late in 2001, and then again a year later. Overall, the respondents in 2002 believed future attacks were less likely than they had the previous year. However, when asked to recall their predictions from 2001, people remembered being more optimistic than they actually had been. That is, they remembered having seen a safer world than they actually had shortly after the attacks--a clear demonstration of hindsight bias. Reliving emotions colored their view of the past. Those who were made angrier remembered being more optimistic, whereas those made more fearful remembered being more pessimistic. Reliving emotions did not, however, reduce hindsight bias.

—"The study raises two cautions for citizens thinking about terror or other hot topics. One is that they need to monitor their emotions. If they allow themselves to be angered, they may exaggerate the probability of success in anti-terror programs," said Baruch Fischhoff, the lead author and the Howard Heinz University Professor of Social and Decision Sciences and Engineering and Public Policy. "The second caution is that they need to look for historical records when judging the wisdom of past decisions, rather than relying on their own memories."

—The research was also conducted by Roxana Gonzalez and Jennifer Lerner, both in the Department of Social and Decision Sciences, and Deborah Small, now at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. The study was supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health and the American Psychological Association (Division 9).

—Further information: http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases05/050816_911.html/

CYLAB RESEARCHERS WORK TO DEVELOP NEW RED TIDE MONITORING SYSTEM

Carnegie Mellon CyLab computer scientist Yang Cai is working with NASA's Earth-Sun System Technology Office (ESTO), the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop new software for detecting and tracking toxic algae plaguing North American waters. "We are developing software that will monitor dangerous algae and various biochemical anomalies for public health," said Cai, who noted other applications for this software might range from studying cancer tumor growth to tracking serial killers. "The other very important part of this research is to adapt our findings to homeland security where we may use this method to track the bioterrorism activities pertaining to the nation's waterways."

—Cai said his research team is developing a spatiotemporal data mining system to track harmful ocean objects from NASA's SeaWiFS satellite images and NOAA's oceanographic data. These harmful ocean objects, known as red tide, include a naturally occurring microscopic algae, Karenia brevis, which form only in the Gulf of Mexico and release toxins deadly to fish and marine mammals. The red tide algae are also potentially harmful to humans if ingested through unmanaged shellfish.

—Nationwide, all forms of red tide algae cause commercial fisheries to lose $18 million a year. More than $20 million was spent on public healthcare to handle thousands of cases in which humans ingested shellfish poisoned by red tide between 1987 and 1992. Information: http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases05/050815_cylab.html/

NEWS BRIEFS

—On Aug. 18, Human Resources Total Compensation moved to the first floor of the UTDC on Henry St. Phone/FAX numbers and email addresses remain the same, but mail should be sent to the UTDC, 4615 Henry Street.

—Many of the My Andrew Web services are available on the Carnegie Mellon Web Portal. These services include the software download function, cmuname and directory information, the spam filter utility, vacation notices, mail forwarding, Mulberry preferences reset, Webmail and mailing list subscription. Until further notice, the My Andrew Web services noted will reside in both locations: on My Andrew at http://www.cmu.edu/myandrew/ and on the Carnegie Mellon Web Portal. To access My Andrew services on the portal, select the My Accounts tab. Later this year, once all My Andrew services are available on the portal, My Andrew will be decommissioned.

—The new issue of Carnegie Mellon Today is online with stories and video clips you won't want to miss. Read about how students in the Integrated Product Development course worked with the trucking industry to help create more "homey" cabins for cross-country drivers; how Carnegie Mellon researchers are creating "smart" technology for the automobile industry; pioneering university partnerships and initiatives around the world; the Chemical Engineering Department's 100th Anniversary, and much more. Visit http://carnegiemellontoday.com.

PERSONAL MENTION

—Richard D. McCullough, dean of the Mellon College of Science, will be honored on Oct. 29 with a 2005 Alumni Achievement Award from the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD). The award is for his scientific research on the "self-assembly and synthesis of highly conductive organic polymers and oligimers, conjugated polymer sensors, nanoelectronic assembly and other areas." McCullough, who received his bachelor of science from UTD, has pioneered the development of conducting polymers that form the basis of a Carnegie Mellon spin-off, Plextronics, Inc. (www.plextronics.com). Plextronics is commercializing these novel-conducting polymers for next-generation devices including light-emitting diodes and solar panels.

—Patricia Bellan-Gillen, the Dorothy Stubnitz Professor of Art, will hold a solo exhibit, "(not really) Animal Stories," Sept. 7-28 at the Bruce Gallery at Edinboro University.

—Associate Professor of Art Andrew Johnson will install "Pressed: When Words Become Earth" in "Disasters of War: From Goya to Golub" for the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. The exhibit will open Sept. 9 and run through Dec. 11.

—Novelist Kate Christensen will kick off the 2005-06 Adamson Visiting Writers Series Oct. 27. Other writers scheduled to speak this year are U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser (Nov. 16) and Diane Gilliam Fisher, Larry Smith and Lolita Hernandez (March 29). The Adamson Visiting Writers Series is run by the Creative Writing Program and is supported by the Pauline B. Adamson Fund. The events are free and open to the public.

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Thursday, Aug. 25: Carnegie Mellon blood drive and marrow typing. 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., Mellon Institute Social Room (Bellefield Entrance). To participate, contact blood drive coordinators Anna Mosesso (aam@sei.cmu.edu/ x8-6166) or Francine Pugsley (fj10@andrew.cmu.edu/x8-7699) to schedule your appointment, or register online at http://appointment.bcentral.com/storefront/storefront.asp?MerchID=3243. Further information: official.cmu-news, Aug. 16.

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