October 20, 2005

Vol. 16, No. 16

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.

Members of the university community are encouraged to participate in the nomination process for honorary degree recipients at next year's commencement. Nominees must be distinguished individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to society; represent prominent fields and values of Carnegie Mellon, particularly those that support work in the arts, humanities, and science and technology; have connections to the university (i.e. alumni, former faculty, friends or collaborators); and represent diversity and the university culture. Nomination forms can be accessed and submitted at http://www.cmu.edu/advancement/honorary/index.html.The Honorary Degree Committee should receive them by Oct. 31. Send nominations to University Professor Emeritus Guy Berry, head of the Selection Committee, at gcberry@andrew.cmu.edu.

PITTSBURGH AND QATAR STUDENTS TAKE WEB SIMULCAST HISTORY COURSE

Imagine a course on current events that students in the Middle East and the United States could take at the same time. Carnegie Mellon is making it happen. An innovative history course on U.S. - Arab relations is being taught on Carnegie Mellon's Pittsburgh and Doha campuses via Web simulcast. The idea for such a course came to Indira Nair, vice provost for education and professor of engineering and public policy, after she learned of a Web-based discussion forum, offered by the Boston-based company Soliyah, which was being used by several American and Middle East universities. "This got me thinking about how we could connect our students on two continents," Nair said. "Two faculty members, Laurie Eisenberg and Ben Reilly, then developed the course to bring students together in direct dialog about American and Arab relations."

—Eisenberg and Reilly, from the Pittsburgh and Doha campuses respectively, have worked together to overcome the distance obstacles and create a seamless classroom experience for the students. Via theater-sized video screens, students in classrooms in Pittsburgh and Doha discuss materials at the same time.

—Further information: http://www.cmu.edu/cmnews/extra/051014_qatar.html

THIS YEAR'S UNITED WAY CAMPAIGN HAS BEGUN

Carnegie Mellon's United Way Campaign began Oct. 12 and continues through Dec. 16. You can contribute online at http://www.unitedwaypittsburgh.org/uwac/carnegiemellon or contact Courtney Bryant at cbryant@andrew for a paper form. Everyone who donates online by Oct. 31 will be entered to receive a $250 American Express Gift Card. "This year we are encouraging everyone to donate online," says Barbara Smith, Chief Human Resources Officer. "Contributing online is convenient, secure, saves time and is more accurate than using a paper pledge form. Of course, paper forms are available by request to anyone who would like one."

—The United Way supports programs and services that help people in our region and around the country deal with many health and human service problems. Thus far, 65 members of the Carnegie Mellon community have given nearly $12,000.

PITTSBURGH SYNERGY PLACES IN TOP 10 AT SOLAR DECATHLON

The Pittsburgh Synergy Team, a collaboration between students in Carnegie Mellon's schools of Architecture and Design, the University of Pittsburgh's School of Engineering and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, placed in the top five in the juried events in the recent Department of Energy Solar Decathlon on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Pittsburgh Synergy, one of 18 teams to construct a solar energy house, placed third in the electric lighting category; fourth in architecture, dwelling and energy balance; and fifth in daylighting. Overall the team placed in the top 10.

—"Our goal was to make a passive solar house that required minimum external energy to be livable," said Steve Lee, School of Architecture faculty advisor. "To that end, we never turned on the heating or cooling systems and our house remained in the expanded thermal comfort zone for 100 percent of the competition. Overall, the level of design and innovation was an order of magnitude better in this competition than 2002."

—Further information, visit http://www.arc.cmu.edu/sd/index.html

THE 2005 BENEFITS AND FITNESS FAIR WILL BE HELD NOV. 2

The Annual Benefits and Fitness Fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 2, in Rangos Hall. It's an hour longer this year to accommodate the needs of faculty, staff and students. You will receive a postcard via campus mail regarding the fair. Bring it with you for easy entry into all of the raffle prizes. Benefit specialists and vendor representatives will be on hand to answer any questions about benefit options, how they work and what they cover. You can also receive various health screenings, such as bone density or DermaView skin cancer screenings, and a free flu shot if the vaccine is available. However, at this time, delivery of the vaccine is not confirmed.

UNIVERSITY HOSTS SCIENCE WRITING CONFERENCE

Carnegie Mellon will welcome nearly 300 national science writers and journalists to Pittsburgh when it hosts the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing's (CASW) 43rd Annual New Horizons in Science Briefing Oct. 22-26, at the Omni William Penn Hotel downtown. The annual meeting brings the world's best science writers together for an exploration of recent developments in science, medicine and technology. At this year's briefing, attendees will hear first-hand about Carnegie Mellon's world-class research in fields ranging from neural connections to anger's impact on judgment and decision making. Conference presenters from Carnegie Mellon include Psychology professors Marcel Just and David Rakison, Thomas Longstaff of the SEI, and Psychology and Social and Decision Sciences Professor Jennifer Lerner. Many other faculty members will participate in various roundtable discussions and laboratory tours throughout the course of the event. The conference is sponsored by Carnegie Mellon with support from the University of Pittsburgh. For more information, see http://www.casw.org or http://www.cmu.edu/cmnews/extra/050630_casw.html.

NEWS BRIEFS

—The second annual Shoe boxes for Shelter Drive started Oct. 10 and continues through Nov. 23. Information can be found at http://www.ece.cmu.edu/news/events/shoebox.html.

PERSONAL MENTION

—Scientists from around the world will visit Carnegie Mellon to celebrate the remarkable career of Professor Alan Frieze and present their latest research at Frieze Fest 2005. This workshop, which marks Frieze's 60th birthday, will be held Friday, Oct. 21, and Saturday, Oct. 22, at the University Center. A professor of mathematical sciences, Frieze is widely acclaimed for his central role in the rapid advances in the fields of randomized algorithms, random structures and combinatorics over the last 30 years.

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Thursday, Oct. 27: Carnegie Mellon and the University of Karlsruhe's joint International Center for Advanced Communication Technologies (InterACT) will hold an international videoconference at 9 a.m. to demonstrate new breakthroughs in cross-lingual communication. The conference will take place in Newell-Simon Hall 3305, and simultaneously at the University of Karlsruhe. Information: http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases05/051013_alex.html.

—Thursday, Oct. 27: Alumni Award recipients Barry Frank (A'54) and Robert Summer (PM'55) will lead a discussion on "Management Skills in the Sports and Entertainment Industries." 4:30 - 5:30 p.m., Alumni Concert Hall, CFA. Frank has negotiated television contracts for Major League Baseball, the NHL and NBA. Summer, chairman of iMesh, a peer-to-peer music service, was formerly president of Sony Music International, RCA Records and chair of the Recording Industry Association of America.

—Thursday, Oct. 27: Novelist Kate Christensn will kick off the 2005-06 Adamson Visiting Writers Series at 8 p.m. in the Adamson Wing, Baker Hall.Free and open to the public.

—Oct. 27- 30: Carnegie Mellon Homecoming. For the schedule of events, visit the Web at http://alumni.cmu.edu/homecoming/index.html.

—Thursday, Nov. 3: ICES Open House. 3 - 6 p.m., Singleton Room, Roberts Hall. The event is intended to allow industry participants, faculty and students to informally learn about research, education and outreach initiatives sponsored by ICES and the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance (PITA). Register online at http://www.ices.cmu.edu/openhouse or contact Dana Hilinski at hilinski@andrew.cmu.edu.

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