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
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | October 20
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | October 19
Pittsburgh Business Times | October 19
West Allegheny Record | October 19
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | October 17
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | October 16
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | October 16
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National News Stories
The New York Times | October 18
A well-publicized race in the desert earlier this month proved that
artificially intelligent robots can drive autonomously over rugged
terrain and long distances. But will the technology be relevant to
average Americans? If you ask the masterminds behind the robots, the
answer is "yes, it's just a matter of time." Vehicles powered
with artificial-intelligence software and sporting the ability to
"see" the road with external sensors will be a staple in
the U.S. military within 10 years, under a mandate from Congress that
spurred the desert robot rally. The underlying technology also will
find its way into popular cars with features like collision and lane-departure
warnings and adaptive cruise controls. The technology is also relevant,
experts say, for the disabled and for automating machines. "It's
not just about a bright idea. There's a lot of work to do. That business
of development and productization and building an enterprise is a
lot harder than creating a technology," said William
"Red" Whittaker, a professor of robotics at Carnegie
Mellon University. So much robotics research has been done
at Carnegie Mellon that Carnegie Mellon's hometown of Pittsburgh is jokingly called
"Roboburgh" in some science circles.
http://www.nytimes.com/cnet/
CNET_2100-11394_3-5897892.html | back
to top
The New York Times (AP) | October 17
The nation's murder rate declined last year for the first time since
2000, dropping to its lowest level in 40 years. Analysts said local
trends rather than national ones were mostly responsible. ... "The
declines are relatively small compared to larger, steady drops in
the 1990's, and the results are by no means the same across the country,"
said Prof. Alfred Blumstein of Carnegie Mellon
University. "We're not seeing important national trends like
the shrinking of crack markets in the 1990's," Professor Blumstein
said. "These are responses to local situations, changes in local
drug markets and shifts in gangs." He said Chicago, with a decline
of 150 murders, and Washington, with a decline of 50, accounted for
51 percent of the net nationwide drop. Of 19 large cities that had
more than 100 murders apiece in 2003, 13, including New York, saw
declines in 2004 while 6 recorded increases, he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/
18/politics/18crime.html | back
to top
San Francisco Chronicle | October 16
Since 1988, the world's largest retailer has opened an estimated 1,800
Supercenters across the United States, bundling its traditional discount
center with a grocery store to create -- as the name implies -- a
gargantuan shopping outlet measuring anywhere between 205,000 and
220,000 square feet. ... Vishal Singh, a professor
at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon,
said Wal-Mart began experimenting with the Supercenter format in 1988
in Independence, Mo., after Sam Walton stepped down as chief executive
officer and David Glass took over. ... Wal-Mart got into the grocery
business in order to generate even more store traffic than it already
had. "They saw an opportunity," Singh said, noting that
customers tend to stop by grocery stores more frequently than discount
stores. Supercenters follow the same model that supermarkets have
historically relied on, stocking popular items like bananas, milk
and soda to drive traffic into the store, even if it means selling
them at a loss.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/
c/a/2005/10/16/BUGH3F86LJ1.DTL | back
to top
The Washington Post | October 16
Parents who worry that video games are teaching kids to settle conflicts
with blasters and bloodshed can take heart: A new generation of video
games wants to save the world through peace and democracy. A team
at Carnegie Mellon University is working on an educational
computer game that explores the Mideast conflict -- you win by negotiating
peace between Israelis and Palestinians. ... Internet-based computer
games, in which players create characters in a virtual world and interact
to solve problems or win battles, are branching out from fantasy into
serious social issues. Academics recognize their power as a new form
of mass entertainment, and activists hope to tap into their enormous
worldwide popularity to reach a new generation used to interacting
through computers. ... Carnegie Mellon's project, called PeaceMaker,
is led by an Israeli citizen named Asi Burak, who has sought input
from both sides of the conflict for the game his team is building.
In it, players take a role as an Israeli or Palestinian leader charged
with bringing peace to the region. Use too much military force and
the region falls into violence -- but give too many concessions quickly
and a leader risks assassination.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/
2005/10/15/AR2005101500218.html | back
to top
The Wall Street Journal | October 15
In September 1999, Jon Lech Johansen enlisted the help of his online
discussion group, whose members went by pseudonyms. With their contributions
-- one of them figured out how to circumvent the encryption -- he
wrote a simple program that quickly ripped DVDs. After testing it
successfully on his own legal copies of "The Matrix" and
"The Fifth Element," he posted it on his Web site. ... Nine
days later, Norwegian police officers, acting on a complaint from
the MPAA's international affiliate, raided Mr. Johansen's house and
seized his computer. They brought the teen and his father to the station
and interrogated them each for about seven hours. ... In 2002, Jon
Lech Johansen was indicted on charges of gaining unauthorized access
to a DVD and causing damage by posting his program on the Internet.
By that time, a federal judge in New York had already ruled, in a
civil case brought by Hollywood studios, that publishing or linking
to Mr. Johansen's program on the Internet violated U.S. law. ... David
S. Touretzky, a computer-science professor at Carnegie
Mellon University in Pittsburgh, says many professional computer
programmers "were outraged" over the prosecution of Mr.
Johansen, because they considered posting a program on the Internet
a matter of free speech. Dr. Touretzky says he continues to admire
Mr. Johansen, especially his latest campaign against Apple. "He's
still doing it. The guy's unrepentant," he says. "It's great."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB112933886505169569-
search.html?KEYWORDS=Carnegie+Mellon&COLLECTION=
wsjie/archive | back to top
The New York Times | October 14
The five robots that successfully navigated a 132-mile course in the
Nevada desert last weekend demonstrated the re-emergence of artificial
intelligence, a technology field that for decades has overpromised
and underdelivered. At its low point, some computer scientists and
software engineers avoided the term artificial intelligence for fear
of being viewed as wild-eyed dreamers. ... "The prior opinion
of many informed observers, based on decades of disappointing experimental
results, was that the problems were so hard that they would remain
unsolved for many decades yet," said Hans Moravec,
a Carnegie Mellon University robotics researcher
who was one of the nation's first developers of autonomous vehicles
during the 1970's. "But now everyone knows differently,"
he said. "The interest, effort and investment in the broader
field is sure to skyrocket."
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/14/
technology/14artificial.html | back
to top
Student Experience
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | October 19
With courses running the gamut of subjects -- literature to thermodynamics
and statistical mechanics -- choosing the right classes requires time,
patience and, as most counselors say, an open mind. "We are in
essence students' departmental home base until they declare their
home base," said Jay Devine, associate dean
of the Carnegie Mellon University College of Humanities
and Social Sciences and the director of the college's academic advising
center. Dr. Devine is in charge of navigating some 671 undergraduate
students through the academic terrain of finding a major and choosing
interesting classes. Most of the students his staff advises stay undeclared
until the first-term of their junior year. This means students have
an opportunity to decide a life course and then adapt when a class
dampens their interest or a course touches a nerve. "You have
to help them make choices that not only spark their interest, but
foster exploration as well," he said.
http://www.post-gazette.com/
pg/05292/590612.stm | back
to top
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | October 19
Students today face a wide range of choices. ... Making choices isn't
easy. And sometimes it's not very scientific. Some just go with the
gut. Some might use a combination of heart and logic. Others will
write huge lists of pros and cons. One of the problems is that while
it may be clear how much money or other factors are involved, it's
hard to quantify things like happiness and stress, said Julie
Downs, research faculty of social and decision sciences at
Carnegie Mellon University.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/
05292/590613.stm | back to
top
Arts and Humanities
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | October 20
The 24th [3 Rivers Film Festival], being presented by Pittsburgh Filmmakers
and Dollar Bank, will feature more than 40 films from Nov. 3-17 and
boasts a particularly strong, appealing mix. It will celebrate the
100th anniversary of moviegoing by re-creating the Nickelodeon experience
and spotlighting independent American movies, documentaries and international
films. ... "Dumpster": Poet and English professor Jim
Ray Daniels wrote and produced this film, about a janitor
who finds a wealthy frat boy hiding in his dumpster, in five days
on the Carnegie Mellon University campus. John Rice
directed, and cast includes David Conrad. Director, producer, cast
to appear.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/
05293/591526.stm | back to
top
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | October 15
An 800-square-foot solar-powered house designed by Pittsburgh students
took 10th place in the U.S. Department of Energy's second Solar Decathlon,
which ended yesterday on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. A team
from the University of Colorado took first place among the 18 teams
in the competition. Each team designed and built energy efficient
houses with solar-heated water and solar-generated electricity and
then transported them to the Mall for judging. The Pittsburgh entry
was developed by students from Carnegie Mellon University,
the University of Pittsburgh and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.
The house will be permanently installed on the Carnegie Mellon campus,
where it will become the home of the Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental
Education and Research.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/
05288/589134.stm | back to
top
Information Technology
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | October 16
Jide Komolafe, of Clairton, found it easy to get a debit card -- 68
of them. Komolafe bought identities from theft rings, complete with
Social Security numbers and birth dates, according to testimony at
his criminal trial in federal court in Pittsburgh in July. He acquired
personal information on 68 individuals and used it to open accounts
with stolen and bogus checks, then emptied those accounts of money.
He was convicted of bank fraud and identity theft. ... Can't banks
and other custodians of card-holders' information do more to protect
people's personal data? Yes and no, experts say. ... "Overall,
the security side is getting better," said Chenxi Wang,
a research professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie
Mellon University, and a member of the university's consortium
for cyber security. "But because systems are so large and fast
and have (older) legacy components, it's very hard to update them
completely," Wang said. "So, there will be security flaws
here and there."
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/
business/s_383146.html | back
to top
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | October 14
The telephones were ringing almost nonstop yesterday at the Apple
Computer store in Shadyside. Consumers wanted the latest incarnation
of the iPod, the new video version of the portable digital music player
that's taken the world by storm. ... Apple is an example of successful
companies that are introducing new products more oriented toward what
consumers want rather than just evolving existing technologies, said
Peter Boatwright, co-author of the book, "The
Design of Things To Come." "You might have thought of them
pre-iPod as Apple computer and lo and behold, they didn't bring out
the next computer, they brought out something [else] that consumers
wanted," said Dr. Boatwright, an associate professor of marketing
at Carnegie Mellon University. "They are transforming
not just Apple, but the iPods have really helped people recognize
a better definition of innovation. It is not about advanced technology,
but increasing consumer value."
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/
05287/588471.stm | back to
top
Environment
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | October 17
Curbside recycling is not the most environmentally friendly way to
collect items headed for recyclers, said Carnegie Mellon University
economics professor Lester Lave, who has studied
Pittsburgh's recycling program. He recommends replacing curbside recycling
with stationary bins at convenient locations. Refundable deposits
could be placed on items that people should recycle but frequently
don't, such as batteries or construction materials. "If you're
really going to worry about the environment and the earth, then you
need to worry about a system where things can be recycled efficiently,"
Lave said. "Think about how you recycle and how you can do it
better."
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/
trib/regional/s_384807.html | back
to top
East Valley Tribune | October 16
More than $2 million in initial funding from the National Science
Foundation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is going to
the effort that partners engineers at ASU, Carnegie Mellon University
in Pittsburgh and the University of Texas. Their mission is to push
the field to think beyond bottomline economics and pay attention to
the environmental and social impacts of the way everything from consumer
products to urban development is designed and built. ... Getting public
leaders to face environmental challenges will be the ultimate measure
of the center’s success, said Carnegie Mellon
professor Cliff Davidson. Some people don’t
like to hear about climate change and limited resources, and that
these things mean it can’t be business as usual anymore,"
Davidson said."The longer that thinking continues, the longer
we’re going to have problems."
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/
index.php?sty=50747 | back
to top
Regional Impact
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | October 20
Andy Roxby has always been fascinated by robots. ... So when he learned
that the A.W. Beattie Career Center would be starting a robotics curriculum,
he was thrilled. ... The new curriculum, which will start in January,
has four courses. Each class will run for two hours and 20 minutes,
five times a week. ... The new curriculum was the brainchild of David
Landis, vice president of the Technology Collaborative, a statewide
economic development initiative that supports the growth of the commonwealth's
robotics, cyber-security and digital technologies industries. The
program, which is a collaborative between Beattie, California University
of Pennsylvania and Carnegie Mellon University, received
a $200,000 grant from the state Department of Community and Economic
Development.
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/
trib/tribnorth/s_385308.html | back
to top
Local News Stories
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | October 20
The U.S. economy should continue solid growth next year, said Federal
Reserve Board Governor Donald Kohn on Wednesday, despite the effects
of recent hurricanes Katrina and Rita on energy prices. Those trends
also mean the Fed should not waiver from its measured policy of raising
key interest rates to control inflation, said Kohn during a speech
at Carnegie Mellon University, which hosted its annual
Carnegie Bosch Institute economic outlook conference.
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/
business/s_385893.html | back
to top
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | October 19
Older adults living independently at home receive an occasional assist
from new technology, but tomorrow's seniors can expect a lot more
to make life safer or easier. More health monitoring, medication assistance,
mobility help, computer links to medical professionals, automatic
reminders of necessary tasks, and other aids still germinating in
science labs will be designed to help people through their daily lives.
The scope of the future assistance is the focus of the "Technology
for Life and Living" conference Friday, hosted by the University
of Pittsburgh's Institute on Aging at the Holiday Inn Select in Oakland.
... Officials from Pitt and Carnegie Mellon University
are joining forces on the conference, just as they have on certain
research that pairs interest in advanced computer work and elder needs.
In one of those, which has been known as the Nursebot project, researchers
are trying to develop a robot that could be a full-time, in-home monitor
that could also assist with various tasks.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/
05292/590722.stm | back to
top
Pittsburgh Business Times | October 19
The Regional Industrial Development Corporation has landed its first
tenant at the Chocolate Factory, part of its effort to redevelop industrial
space in Lawrenceville into industrial space for fledgling robotics
and tech firms ... SEEGRID Corp., a privately held company that provides
automated handling technology, will lease approximately 3,500 square
feet in the 71,000-square-foot building, which in a former life was
a chocolate factory. The Chocolate Factory is part of a larger RIDC
development that includes the 14-acre former Heppenstall plant that
stretches for about eight blocks nearby. Both parts of the development
seek to leverage the nearby presence of the Carnegie Mellon
University National Robotics Engineering Consortium building, a hub
of robotic research and development within the region. RIDC hopes
to make the new development a major hub for robotics research and
development.
http://pittsburgh.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/
stories/2005/10/17/daily23.html | back
to top
West Allegheny Record | October 19
There's no crystal ball available in West Allegheny School District
to predict the effects of the abundance of new housing developments
in the area and the flurry of others projected in years to come. ...
In June, the school district received the results of demographic study
put together by Dr. Shelby Stewman, professor of
demographics and sociology at Carnegie Mellon University.
The school board hired him to find out, as close as possible, just
what kind of growth with which the district will faced in the next
10 years. He based his findings on enrollment history of the last
several years, the number of building permits over the last several
years, and projected development through the next 10 years.
http://www.gatewaynewspapers.com/
westalleghenyrecord/53810/ | back
to top
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | October 17
OK, so you want to send a message to somebody in Pittsburgh. Now,
let's say that all 2.4 million people in the metropolitan area are
listed in the phone book. And let's say every person selects three
names at random from the book and calls each of those people, exchanging
numbers. The result, according to mathematician Alan Frieze,
would be a complete phone-pal ring -- every person in the metro area
could be contacted through this ring. It would be possible to send
a message through this ring and, by one person calling the next person
on their contact list and then that person calling the next person
and so on, have the message reach everybody once before circling back
to you. Maybe -- no, definitely -- this is not the best way to send
a message. But there's a bit of magic in those numbers, said Tom
Bohman, an associate professor of mathematical sciences at
Carnegie Mellon University, and that's why scientists
from around the world will gather in Pittsburgh this weekend to celebrate
the career -- and 60th birthday -- of Dr. Frieze. A math professor
at Carnegie Mellon, he has been a leading force in the area of discrete
mathematics known as probabilistic combinatorics, which can be used
to optimize business operations and improve information networking.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/
05290/589728.stm | back to
top
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | October 16
Oil prices hit $70 per barrel and have remained high because we want
what we want and don't much care what it costs. The rise from $1.50
to $3 per gallon shows that the demand for gasoline isn't responsive
to price. Traffic jams from New York to New Delhi prove that we want
cars, buying them as soon as we have a bit of money. We are more upset
about traffic jams than gas prices. ... Americans buy almost as much
gas at $3 per gallon because we need to get to work, to school, to
the doctor's or to church, and we can't (or won't) walk or use public
transportation. Higher gas prices motivate us to buy more fuel-efficient
vehicles, but they don't reduce our gas purchases much until we trade
in the current vehicle. The market does react to higher prices, but
it takes years. *** This article was written by Lester B.
Lave, the Harry B. and James H. Higgins professor of economics
at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of
Business, director of Carnegie Mellon's Green Design Initiative and co-director
of its Electricity Industry Center.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/
05289/589017.stm | back to
top
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | October 16
Making glow-in-the-dark bacteria. This simple, visually arresting
experiment is one of several commonly performed with high school teachers
and their students at a Saturday afternoon workshop at Carnegie
Mellon University. While the experiment is fun to do, it
also tells you something important: Bacteria can -- and do -- pick
up and express new genes. This adaptability can help explain things
such as drug resistance or how a normally benign bug may come to infect
you this winter. From across the region, high school teachers and
their students routinely come to Carnegie Mellon for these weekend workshops.
Why? Because many simply don't have the lab space or the equipment
to do experiments. ***This article was written by Elizabeth
Jones, Ph.D., Dr. Frederick A. Schwertz distinguished professor
and head of biological sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. She
directs the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Biological
Science Education Program at Carnegie Mellon.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/
05289/589021.stm | back to
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