January 5, 2006

Vol. 16, No. 24

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)

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Fresh off the heels of an agreement between Carnegie Mellon and the Australian government to establish a branch of the Heinz School in Adelaide, Australia, next year, comes Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) Australia. On Monday, Dec. 19, ETC Australia was officially approved by the South Australian government, paving the way for an extension of the ETC next year in Adelaide, where the Master of Entertainment Technology (MET) will be offered. Entertainment technology is a rapidly evolving and high-growth sector that includes gaming, special effects and computer animation.

—"We are very excited by the addition of the world-renowned ETC because it will fit so well into our burgeoning film and entertainment industries," said South Australian Premier Mike Rann. "Companies like Rising Sun, Midway Games (formerly Ratbag), Kukan, Kojo and m.Net will be among the many businesses and organizations expected to benefit from the ETC's presence in Adelaide."

—Today, the ETC is not only developing innovative videogames, it is creating videogame technology to help solve some of the biggest problems facing the nation--and the world. PeaceMaker, a videogame simulation based on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is designed to teach young people to resolve conflicts peacefully.The ETC's HazMat Training Simulator is being used by the New York City Fire Department to supplement its hands-on HazMat training program.

—For more information on ETC Australia, visit http://www.etc.cmu.edu/

TARTANS UPSET PRINCETON, TRAVEL TO BOSTON, NEW YORK THIS WEEKEND

Carnegie Mellon's men's basketball team upset Princeton University over the holiday break, 51-46, to run its record to a perfect 10-0. The Tartans were led by senior forward Clayton Barlow-Wilcox, who tallied 15 points, nine rebounds and three steals in the game. Barlow-Wilcox was named the Eastern College Athletic Conference Player-of-the-Week. Head Coach Tony Wingen called the victory one of the greatest basketball wins in school history. The Tartans became the first NCAA Division III team to defeat Princeton, an NCAA Division I member, in 23 years. The last time Carnegie Mellon defeated a Division I opponent was March 1, 1969, when the Tartans defeated the University of Pittsburgh, 68-64, in Skibo Gym. Carnegie Mellon continues its seven game road trip traveling to University Athletic Association opponent Brandeis University on Friday, Jan. 6, for an 8 p.m. start and New York University Sunday, Jan. 8, for a 1 p.m. tip.

—For more information, visit http://www.cmu.edu/athletic/basketball_men/basketball_men.htm

NEWS BRIEFS

—In connection with the relocation of various university offices due to the Gates Center project, University Police has moved its headquarters to Room 199 of the former Vision Services Building at 300 South Craig Street. The Faculty Senate Office has also moved to Wean Hall, Room 4701.The Computer Store in A-64 Cyert Hall will move to the lower level of the Campus Bookstore, University Center, around Feb. 1.

—Undergraduate summer employment at Carnegie Mellon is available with the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Sciences (PGSS), a five-week school for extremely talented high school students. Teaching assistant/counselor positions are available in the areas of biology, chemistry, physics, computer science and mathematics. Applicants should have finished their sophomore year by the start of the program. Preference will be given to applicants with outstanding academic records and strong social skills. Employees will be expected to live in the same dormitory as the PGSS students, see that the PGSS disciplinary rules are adhered to, provide tutorial help in the academic program and conduct program and social activities. Further information is available at www.pgss.cmu.edu. PGSS is in session June 25 - July 29. Application deadline is Jan. 31.

—A new Weight Watchers at Work program starts Tuesday, Jan. 10. The cost of the 12-week session is $144. Meetings are on Tuesdays from 11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m., usually in the Dowd Room (University Center). Fifteen paying members are needed before Jan. 10 for the new meetings to begin. If you plan to sign up, or have questions, contact Rita Motor at rita@andrew.cmu.edu by Jan. 9.

PERSONAL MENTION

—Cristina Amon, director of Carnegie Mellon's Institute for Complex Engineered Systems (ICES) and the Raymond J. Lane Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has been named the new dean of the University of Toronto's Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, effective July 1.

—Stephen E. Fienberg, the Maurice Falk Professor of Statistics and Social Science, has been appointed a co-chair, with former Attorney General Janet Reno and former CIA and FBI Director William Webster, of a newly created National Commission on Forensic Science and Public Policy created by the American Judicature Society (AJS). The commission will advise AJS on the research agenda for its new Institute of Forensic Science and Public Policy and periodically consider national standards for forensic science, such as those used for the collection, testing, preservation and admissibility of evidence. Alfred Blumstein, the J. Erik Jonsson University Professor of Urban Systems and Operations Research in the Heinz School, is a commission member.

—Baruch Fischhoff, the Howard Heinz University Professor of Social and Decision Sciences and of Engineering and Public Policy, testified Dec.14 before Democratic members of the U.S. House Committee on Science about preparations for a possible avian flu pandemic. For more, see: http://www.apa.org/ppo/issues/pandemicflubrf05.html

—Edoardo M. Airoldi, a doctoral student in the School of Computer Science, has won the John Van Ryzin Award for the best student paper contributed to the spring meeting of the Eastern North American Region of the International Biometric Society. The winning paper, "Mixed Membership Stochastic Block Models for Relational Data with Application to Protein-Protein Interactions," is a joint work with David Blei, Stephen E. Fienberg and Eric Xing from the Center for Automated Learning and Discovery and the Department of Statistics.

—Eunice Keem, a School of Music senior, recently won second prize in the string division of the Sorantin International Young Artist Competition, which took place in San Angelo, Texas.

—The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) has named Music School Head Alan Fletcher to be its next president and chief executive officer, effective March 1. The AMFS is a high-level training and performance ground for the world's next generation of professional musicians. It is also a premier classical music summer festival that presents more than 350 musical events in nine weeks and serves as a summer retreat for many of the world's great musical practitioners.

—Carnegie Mellon junior defensive back Aaron Lewis has been named to the D3football.com 2005 All-America Team. Lewis, a second-team All-America selection, led the Tartans and University Athletic Association (UAA) with 115 tackles (61 solos) and ranked second in the UAA with six interceptions. He is a business administration major with a 3.95 grade-point average.

—Alex Hills, Distinguished Service Professor of EPP and ECE, has been appointed Erskine Fellow at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. He will spend January, February and March in New Zealand, where he will lecture on his pioneering work in Wi-Fi technology.

—Chemical Engineering Ph.D. students Yang Yun and Donggun Kim won poster awards at the World Tribology Congress in Washington, D.C., this past fall. Yun's poster, "Vapor Phase Lubricant Adsorption on Magnetic Data Storage Media," was judged to be the best paper in the student poster program. Kim's poster, "Activation of SiC Surfaces for Vapor Phase Lubrication by Chemical Vapor Deposition of Fe," was judged best student poster on applied research and best practical paper in the student poster program. Yun and Kim are advised by Chemical Engineering Department Head Andrew Gellman.

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Monday, Jan. 16: Martin Luther King Day. In recognition of Dr. King and to foster engagement from all sectors of the campus community, the university will cancel classes scheduled after 12:30 p.m. Members of the university and surrounding community are invited to participate in a variety of programs and events in the University Center intended to stimulate discussion and reflection about the contributions of Dr. King. Activities include President Cohon's State of Diversity Address, presentation of the Martin Luther King Jr. Writing Awards, a panel discussion entitled "King's Dream in the Wake of Katrina's Nightmare," a candlelight vigil and the keynote address by Derrick Bell, visiting professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. The schedule of events is posted at http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/first-year/mlk/2006/.

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