September
16, 2005
This internal publication contains information about recent coverage
of Carnegie Mellon that appeared primarily in national newspapers, magazines
and online publications. Please note that some sources may require registration
or a subscription in order to access their information online.
Please send comments and suggestions to thomas@cmu.edu
The media coverage archive is available at www.cmu.edu/clips
From September 9-15,
Carnegie Mellon Media Relations counted 216
references to the university in worldwide publications. Here is a sample.
National News Stories
Popular Science | October 2005
The New York Times | September 14
USA Today | September 13
Student Experience
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | September 9
Arts and Humanities
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | September 14
Rutland Herald | September 13
Information Technology
InformationWeek | September 13
San Francisco Chronicle | September 12
Environment
The Wall Street Journal | September 12
Regional Impact
News 14 Carolina | September 13
Local News Stories
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | September 15
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | September 14
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | September 12
International News Stories
Gulf Times | September 15
Indian Express Newspapers | September 15
Brisbane's News 1 | September 13
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National News Stories
Popular Science | October 2005
People don't usually become scientists expecting fame, glory or to have
a line of sneakers named after them. But we at Popular Science believe
that scientists are the true celebrities of our time. Their contributions
enhance our lives and stretch our imaginations. For the fourth year
running, we conducted a rigorous search to identify some of the most
dynamic, promising young researchers at institutions around North America.
... A waterfall of plastic lawn chairs. A stampede of horses and elephants
through chess pieces. A hail of fish smacking a bridge. These animations,
created in hours instead of months, are the handicraft of Doug
James. James hopes to enable programmers to manipulate 1,000
objects in the same amount of time it now takes to handle just one or
two. ***James is an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon's
Robotics Institute. To see more of this article, pick up the October
edition of Popular Science.
The New York Times | September 14
It has been almost 18 months since the Pentagon's research arm, the
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, first attracted a motley
array of autonomous vehicles with a prize of $1 million for the first
to complete a 142-mile desert course from Barstow, Calif., to Las Vegas.
The most successful robot, developed by a Carnegie Mellon
University team, managed all of seven miles. ... Despite the added complexity,
there is a widespread expectation among robotics researchers that this
time the course will be completed. ... This year, the Carnegie Mellon
Red Team - led by the roboticist William L. Whittaker,
known to all as Red - is testing two robotic vehicles, Sandstorm and
H1ghlander, in the Nevada desert. With an array of sponsors including
Caterpillar, Intel, Boeing, Harris, Google, and Hummer's manufacturer,
AM General, Mr. Whittaker's team is once again the favorite.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/14/
business/14robot.html | back to top
USA Today | September 13
Examining ancient trees, probing black holes and observing cannibalistic
spiders are all part of the job for young researchers honored in Popular
Science's fourth annual "Brilliant 10" feature. The list recognizes
young minds who have pushed their fields in innovative directions but
remain virtually unknown to the public. The final 10 were selected based
on recommendations from award-dispensing organizations, university department
heads and editors of scientific publications. ... Computer graphics
animations of colliding objects used to take months to construct. Thanks
to [Doug] James' software tools and research at
Carnegie Mellon University, it now takes hours. Paid for in
part by animated film company Pixar, James' work makes animated collisions
look more realistic, meaning better special effects in movies and video
games. Real-time "virtual" surgery is a future application.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/
2005-09-13-brilliant-minds_x.htm | back to top
Student Experience
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | September 9
Kate Frankola's first days of class as a freshman at Tulane University
were spent evacuating from New Orleans with scores of fellow students.
Frankola, of Wilkins, arrived back home Aug. 31 after catching a flight
from Atlanta. Tulane first bused Frankola and other students to Jackson
State University in Mississippi, where they slept in a gym before some
of them continued by bus to Atlanta. The freshman, 18, began classes
Tuesday at Carnegie Mellon University in Oakland, where
she has enrolled for the semester. She is living in an Oakland flat
with two other displaced Tulane students, one of them from Seattle.
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/
trib/regional/s_372303.html | back to top
Arts and Humanities
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | September 14
A cockroach the size of a deer scampers across the wall in front of
you at the entry to "Animal Nature," an exhibition at the
Regina Gouger Miller Gallery in which 17 artists explore the ways humans
construct perceptions of the planet's other animals. The exhibition
at Carnegie Mellon University, co-curated by gallery
director Jenny Strayer and two of the artists, is among
several current shows that feature artwork inspired by some component
of man's relationship to his environment.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/
05257/570845.stm | back to top
Rutland Herald | September 13
Liam Conlon doesn't fit the profile of your typical classical concertgoer.
But when the high school sophomore recently discovered that a show featuring
music from the computer game "Final Fantasy" would be playing
near his suburban Chicago home, he could hardly believe it. ... He and
a friend snapped up a pair of fifth-row tickets to the Rosemont Theatre
concert and joined the cheering, sellout crowd of nearly 4,500 that
turned out to see the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra play. Above the stage,
images from the game — a theatrical and multichaptered quest to
save the world — played on giant video screens. ... [Some] in
the industry say it's a matter of orchestras losing their stuffy image.
"You don't want to make it seem like you have to be retired and
driving your Lexus in order to listen to classical music," says
Alan Fletcher, head of the School of Music at
Carnegie Mellon University.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20050913/NEWS/509130308/1027 | back
to top
Information Technology
InformationWeek | September 13
The World Technology Evaluation Center (WTEC) will release its International
Study of Robotics on Friday (Sept. 16) at a National Science Foundation
conference. ... Six different robot types will be studied: robotic vehicles,
space robots, industrial and personal robots, humanoid robots, robotics
in biology and medicine and networked robots. More than a dozen U.S.-developed
robots will be demonstrated at the NSF exhibition. ... Carnegie
Mellon University will demonstrate the results of its joint
venture with the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California
Berkeley to master multiple-legged locomotion.
http://informationweek.com/story/
showArticle.jhtml?articleID=170702821 | back to
top
San Francisco Chronicle | September 12
On a recent visit to Silicon Graphics Inc.'s Mountain View headquarters,
Carnegie Mellon robotics guru William "Red"
Whittaker highlighted some of the short-term spin-offs that
are likely to come from the sensing systems being developed for driverless
vehicles. "Red Team,'' he said, referring to the Carnegie Mellon
effort, "is actually using the Grand Challenge to build the algorithms
to take the technology out of the race world and port that into the
farms and the mines." ... Autopilots drive tractors in straighter
lines than humanly possibly, depositing fertilizers and seeds in precise
patterns. But today's auto-tractors have limits.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/
archive/2005/09/12/BUG3KEKQ1T1.DTL&type=tech | back
to top
Environment
The Wall Street Journal | September 12
The potential danger from junked computers lies in the monitors, according
to the Environmental Protection Agency. Like televisions, they contain
lead, and the newer flat-panel models also have mercury. These substances
are safe while the product is being used, but can pose a risk to sanitation
workers and the local environment if the device is improperly junked.
Exactly how much risk is open to debate. H. Scott Matthews,
assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and public
policy at Carnegie Mellon University, has been researching
electronic waste since 1991. He can't point to any example of damage
from junked computers in the U.S. But many environmental groups argue
that toxic-waste damage may take years to appear. So they urge consumers
to recycle their machines safely instead of simply throwing them away
-- even if it's not required by local rules.
http://online.wsj.com/article/
0,,SB112621160729235671,00-search.html | back to
top
Regional Impact
News 14 Carolina | September 13
A group of middle school girls is learning more about forensic science
thanks to Carnegie Mellon University and the University
of Pittsburgh. The two schools have brought together 83 girls to form
an elite team called Click. The girls will train for six weeks, using
all sorts of high-tech equipment, to solve fictitious criminal cases.
"It's a lot more high-tech than Nancy Drew ever was,” said
Janet Stocks of Carnegie Mellon. “We use a lot
of technology -- GPS devices, laptop computers and spy cameras, things
like that -- for the girls to gather information." ... The idea
is to interest girls in science at a time when academics and adolescence
are often at odds...."We are creating a new culture of learners.
It is exciting," [said Kristin Hughes, a Carnegie
Mellon professor.]
http://www.news14charlotte.com/content/living/
smart_woman/?ArID=102293&AC=True | back to top
Local News Stories
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | September 15
Mayor Tom Murphy said Wednesday the city should consider seeking the
$50 million license for a slots parlor -- an idea City Council already
endorses. ... Robert Strauss, a public policy professor
at Carnegie Mellon University, said it should be possible
for the city to get a loan with the dedicated profits expected from
gambling. The question is whether the city could issue tax-exempt public
bonds, he said. "It's not like putting up a new office building,"
Strauss said. "It's not a clear public purpose." Another consideration
would be the lost property tax revenue from a city-run casino, he said.
A private casino would pay taxes.
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/
trib/pittsburgh/s_374315.html | back to top
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | September 14
Union Switch & Signal Chief Executive Officer Ken Burk is making
a big bet that the Pittsburgh railroad products company can boost the
average speed of the nation's largest freight railroad by 2 to 4 mph.
If that doesn't sound so fast, consider that a 1 mph increase in average
train speed can save large railroads such as Union Pacific Corp. an
estimated $200 million a year. ... Union Switch recently signed a contract
to design and maintain a rail dispatching system for Union Pacific that
aims to help do just that. The technology, initially developed some
10 years ago with a Carnegie Mellon University research
team and refined since then, is designed to give railroads "real
time" information on train movements and help automatically route
traffic around problem areas such as impassable tracks.
http://www.post-gazette.com/
pg/05257/570899.stm | back to top
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | September 12
By last Friday, Google Earth had amassed more than 7,100 post-Katrina
aerial images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
and used them to create overlays for its geographic database. Aligning
those aerial images with Google Earth's satellite imagery and maps was
accomplished with special software developed by NASA and Carnegie
Mellon University. As Randy Sargent, the project
lead at Carnegie Mellon's West Coast campus, recalls it, Google officials
contacted him at midday on Sept. 2. "We actually had the first
[post-Katrina] photos out by 6:30 p.m.," he added, though admitting
"it's all a blur to me now." ... Carnegie Mellon has been
working on an enhancement to Google Earth, to be called Global Connections,
which will tie aerial photography and cultural information to elements
of the Google Earth map, said Illah Nourbakhsh, associate
professor of robotics and the principal investigator for Global Connections.
http://www.post-gazette.com/
pg/05255/569722.stm | back to top
International News Stories
Gulf Times | September 15
Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar has conducted orientation
for its second class of incoming business and computer science students
(Class of 2009), it was announced yesterday. There are 48 students in
the Class of 2009, bringing total enrolment for the programme to 88
students. The new class includes 10 students who graduated from the
Academic Bridge Programme in Education City. There are six students
who transferred from other universities, including one from outside
Qatar. “The numbers tell the story-we’ve doubled the size
of our student body,” director of admissions Bryan Zerbe
said.
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/
article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=52902&version
=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16 | back to
top
Indian Express Newspapers | September 15
Visa restrictions imposed by the United States after 9/11 may have deterred
many foreign aspirants from pursuing an MBA programme in America, but
not Indians. The number of Indians taking the G-MAT (test required for
admission in American business schools) increased by 19 percent reaching
7,123 last year, a Business Week report said. ... Tepper School of Business
at Carnegie Mellon University, which usually receives
close to 2000 applications, the number of Indian MBA applicants rose
by 16 percent. ... "Just a decade ago, the Indian population was
lamenting a brain drain. Now, it is heralding a renaissance,"
R. Ravi, a professor at the Tepper School said.
http://www.expressindia.com/
fullstory.php?newsid=54680 | back to top
Brisbane's News 1 | September 13
Computer scientists who helped pioneer online search on Tuesday unveiled
a Web crawler called Truveo that one analyst called "a step ahead"
of what Yahoo Inc. and Google Inc. have accomplished in video search.
The company is rolling out its product amid competition from well-established
players and growing copyright concerns related to video posted on the
Web. Truveo finds relevant video clips often overlooked by text-based
search engines, such as Google and Yahoo, by "seeing" visual
elements on a Web page that indicate the presence of video clips, Chief
Executive Officer Tim Tuttle said on Tuesday. ... Truveo‘s advisors
and investors include Microsoft Corp. senior researcher Gordon Bell,
who developed the minicomputer; Stanford University‘s Rajeev Motwani,
a technical advisor for Google; Raj Reddy, former dean
of Carnegie Mellon University Computer Science department;
and Vince Vannelli, former senior vice president of Inktomi.
http://www.leadingthecharge.com/
stories/news-0071959.html | back to top
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