September 1, 2005

Vol. 16, No. 9

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.

During September and October, an international team of earth and space scientists will search for microbial life forms in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile, 4,000 miles away, partly through the use of technology developed by the EventScope Project at Carnegie Mellon's STUDIO for Creative Inquiry. This technology enables the scientists to control a robotic exploration rover from a great distance, providing a window into Chile's Atacama Desert and invaluable experience with robotic life-seeking techniques that can be applied to both Earth and planetary exploration. This effort is part of the NASA-sponsored Life in the Atacama project at the Robotics Institute, now entering its third and final year.

—"We've developed interfaces that scientists will use to guide the rover and receive science data returned from the rover," said Peter Coppin, research fellow at the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry and director of the EventScope Project. "The goal is to enable scientists at our lab here in Pittsburgh to remotely experience the Atacama as if they were there physically." Further information: http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases05/050829_eventscope.html/.

NSF GRANT SUPPORTS TRUSTWORTHY COMPUTING

A team of Carnegie Mellon researchers, headed by Carnegie Mellon CyLab's Lorrie Cranor, has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant of more than $1 million for their project entitled "Supporting Trust Decision." The grant is part of the NSF's 2005 Cyber Trust program, which seeks to improve the dependability and security of computer systems and networks. Cranor's team, which includes CyLab researchers Norman Sadeh, Sven Dietrich and Alessandro Acquisti; Julie Downs from the Department of Social and Decision Sciences; and Jason Hong from the School of Computer Science, seeks to help Internet users make the best "trust decisions" possible. Trust decisions include things such as whether to open an email attachment and whether to provide personal or confidential information to certain parties. After studying how people make trust decisions, the team will develop and evaluate new software and design patterns to help users make these decisions.

PROFESSOR GOODMAN'S FILM TO AIR ON WQED LABOR DAY WEEKEND

Paul S. Goodman's latest documentary, "Escola de Samba," has been picked up by PBS and will air nationwide beginning this weekend. It will premiere at 10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 1, on WNET in New York City. It will air on WQED in Pittsburgh at 4 p.m. Sept. 4, and 10 p.m. Sept. 5. PBS stations in other cities around the country will broadcast the documentary through 2006.

—"Escola de Samba" explores the Brazilian carnival and how one samba school prepares to compete against other schools in San Paulo. The process, from selecting a theme and music to designing costumes, floats and rehearsals, takes more than 10 months and 4,000 people. In the spotlight is how such large-scale work systems operate at high levels of effectiveness without technology or modern management practices. For the past 12 years, Goodman, the Richard Cyert Professor of Organizational Psychology at the Tepper School, has produced some 20 educational films and documentaries. "Escola de Samba" is the second film in a series about work in developing countries. For more, visit http://www.cmu.edu/cmnews/extra/050831_pbs.html/.

NEWS BRIEFS

—The University Center (UC) is expanding its hours of operation. The center and all the recreation/athletic venues in the building will now be open from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 2 a.m., Saturday and Sunday.

—The electronic bboard, official.cmu-news, which publishes the latest items of university interest as soon as they are available, is the third most-read bboard on campus. First and second place go to cmu.misc.market and official.computing-news.

PERSONAL MENTION

—Condolences are extended to family and friends of Victor J. Mizel, professor of mathematical sciences, who died this week. Born in 1931 in New York City, Mizel received his Ph.D. from MIT in 1955. He joined the Mathematical Sciences Department as an assistant professor in 1959 and was granted tenure as a full professor in 1967. He was an active faculty member at the time of his death, continuing to teach and conduct research in the area of control theory and the calculus of variations. Professor Mizel received the Richard Moore Education Award in the spring of 2000 in recognition of "outstanding contributions to curriculum design and instruction...including... long-standing, active support of the Analysis sequence and the Math Studies program."

—Carnegie Mellon has appointed Cornelis (Kees) Johannes Overbeeke to the 2005-2006 Nierenberg Chair of Design in the School of Design. Overbeeke has taught industrial design for 17 years at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. In 2000 he served as a founding faculty member for the Industrial Design Department for the Eindhoven University of Technology. The Nierenberg Chair of Design is considered one of the most important and prestigious appointments in design education in the United States.

—In her new book: "I-deals: Idiosyncratic Deals Employees Bargain for Themselves," Denise Rousseau, the H. J. Heinz II Professor of Organization Behavior and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Organizational Behavior, challenges the traditional notion that standardization is the way to create workplace justice. Instead, she argues that employees with valuable skills and a sense of their own worth can make their jobs, pay, perks, and career opportunities different from those of their co-workers in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. Negotiated arrangements like flexible hours, special projects or telecommuting, can be a valuable source of flexibility and personal satisfaction, but risk creating inequality and resentment by other employees. Rousseau explains how such individual arrangements can be made fair and acceptable to coworkers, and beneficial to the employee and the employer.

—Barbara Freed's film, "A Model for Matisse: The Story of the Vence Chapel," will be screened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City as part of their exhibit, "Matisse: The Fabric of Dreams: His Art and His Textile," which runs through Sept. 25. Freed is a professor of French Studies and Applied Linguistics. The film will be shown at the Danish Louisiana Museum of Modern Art on Oct. 26 as part of their show "Matisse: A Second Life" and on Nov. 5 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. WHYY in Philadelphia will broadcast the television version of the film on Sept. 1 and Sept. 25. Wisconsin Public Television will broadcast it in January.

—Mark Baskinger, assistant professor of design, will have one of his works featured in the October show at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The piece is a prescription medicine bottle design created three years ago. The work will be part of a show called "SAFE: Design takes on Risk." This will be the first art exhibition in the new MoMA building, which opens Oct 16.

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Friday, Sept. 2: Welcoming reception for Carnegie Mellon's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender students, faculty, staff and friends. 4 - 6 p.m., Peter/Wright/McKenna Room, UC.

—Saturday, Sept. 3: Football: Carnegie Mellon vs. Hiram College. 1 p.m., Gesling Stadium. Free admission with valid Carnegie Mellon ID.

—Tuesday, Sept. 6: Graduate Support Programs' annual "Welcome Back" wine and cheese reception for women faculty, administrators and graduate students. 5 - 6:30 p.m., Connan Room, UC. Register at http://gposerver.as.cmu.edu/registration/multiregis.html/.

—Thursday, Sept. 8: University Lecture Series. Screening of the DVD "TransGeneration" followed by a discussion. 4:30 p.m., Adamson Wing, 136A Baker Hall. Sponsored by SoHo, Carnegie Mellon's Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center.

—Monday, Sept. 12: Center for the Arts in Society Arts Histories Lecture Series. Filmmaker Trinh T. Minh-ha will kick off the lecture series "Aesthetics out of Bounds" at 4 p.m. with the screening of her new film "Night Passage" at the Chosky Theater, Purnell Center, UC. At 5:30 p.m., she will discuss the film and her career. This series is free and open to the public. Further information: http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases05/050815_cas.html/.

—Wednesday, Sept. 14: Nash Distinguished Lecture. "Portfolio Theory: Past, Present and Future," Harry M. Markowitz, financial expert who won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1990. 4:30 p.m., McConomy Auditorium, UC. Free and open to the public.

-Back to the top-