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January
13, 2006
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 January 6 - 12,
Carnegie Mellon Media Relations counted 128
references to the university in worldwide publications. Here is a sample.
National News Stories
The Chronicle of Higher Education | January
13
The Chronicle of Higher Education | January
13
BusinessWeek | January 9
MSNBC | January 8
Student Experience
The Wall Street Journal | January 10
The Wall Street Journal | January 10
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | January 6
Arts and Humanities
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | January 12
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | January 3
Information Technology
MIT Technology Review | January 11
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | January 10
National Science Foundation News | January
6
Biotechnology
PhysOrg.com | January 12
Environment
The New York Times | January 8
Local News Stories
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | January 12
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | January 12
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | January 11
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | January 8
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | January 6
International News Stories
ITnews Australia | January 12
Financial Times | January 11
Trade Arabia | January 8
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National News Stories
The Chronicle of Higher Education | January 13
Are computer programmers from Mars? Is computer science a guy thing?
Some experts are wondering just that — at least, as it is taught
now. ... Some women who have been successful in computer science, however,
say that is nonsense. What is needed, they say, is more social support
for women in the discipline — and for peers and parents to stop
telling girls that computers are not for them. ... In response to such
findings, Carnegie Mellon changed the admissions policies
for its School of Computer Science in 1999. Instead of primarily looking
for students who had prior programming experience, the university broadened
its criteria to include students who had ambitious goals, who showed
leadership skills, and, of course, who had excellent grades. After 2000,
the number of women entering the computer-science program went from
below 10 percent to more than 30 percent and has held steady there since.
Lenore Blum, a professor of computer science, arrived
at Carnegie Mellon just as the admissions policy changed and as the
population of women in the program surged. ... She wanted to set up
a program that would foster the professional experiences and support
for women at Carnegie Mellon that are "implicit and often not acknowledged
for a majority in a population," she says. The program, called
Women@SCS, draws prominent female speakers from the world of technology
who can serve as role models for the students. It runs a mentor service,
in which women who are juniors and seniors can counsel freshmen and
sophomores, offering support for course work or for dealing with the
rigors of the major. Social occasions, like lunches, are set up to provide
opportunities for the women to network.
http://chronicle.com/weekly/
v52/i19/19a03501.htm | back to top
The Chronicle of Higher Education | January 13
Daniel H. Wilson builds robots that could one day rise up and kill us
all. But don't say he didn't warn you. Mr. Wilson, who last fall earned
a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University,
is the author of How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending
Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion (Bloomsbury). ... Mr. Wilson's
adviser at Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute and Human-Computer Interaction
Institute, Christopher G. Atkeson, warned him early
in the book's creation that other robotics professors might be the ones
rising up — against him and his book. Some researchers might see
the book as fueling popular fears about robots, the professor said.
"I told him that there are going to be issues, and that he needs
to think about what he's doing and tread carefully," said Mr. Atkeson.
"I think a lot of people in robotics are concerned about robotics'
public image. "If you go to the movies, you see movies like The
Terminator," said Mr. Atkeson, who specializes in designing humanoid
robots. "That leaves a very bad perception — that robots
are evil. "So far, though, robotics experts have reacted to the
book with calm, and even with appreciation. "Perhaps I was overly
cautious and negative in my early evaluation of the project," said
Mr. Atkeson. "I've received no complaints."
http://chronicle.com/weekly
/v52/i19/19a03901.htm | back to top
BusinessWeek | January 9
At Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business,
the median GMAT score for incoming students rose from 690 to 700 in
the last year. As applicants' credentials increase in quality, it becomes
more difficult to stand out from the crowd. ... If you want to find
out how to set yourself apart from the other applicants to Tepper, then
you don't want to miss this event. In a live chat on Thursday, Jan.
12, from noon to 1 p.m. (EST), we're heading straight to the source:
Laurie Stewart, executive director of masters admissions.
She'll take your questions and offer advice on everything from essays
to interviews. An alumna of Tepper, Stewart has led the MBA admissions
team since 1994. Her present role also includes admissions responsibility
for the master of science in computational finance (MSCF) program. Previously,
she was assistant dean for student affairs at Tepper. But she began
her professional career at General Motors in the product-engineering
department at Pontiac Motor Division, and she holds a bachelor of mechanical
engineering degree from Kettering University.
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/
content/jan2006/bs2006019_4646.htm | back to top
MSNBC | January 8
Electronic waste reuse has become a major growth industry, with computers
being recycled at three times the rate of those being dumped in landfills
worldwide in 2005, according to one study. ... Along with the obvious
environmental benefits of keeping items such as cathode ray tubes used
in computer monitors out of landfills - they each contain up to 10 pounds
of lead that can lead to brain and kidney damage - giving new life to
discarded technology has become a hot business opportunity. A study
conducted by Carnegie Mellon University's Green Design
Initiative projected that last year, nearly 150 million computers were
recycled compared to 55 million that were thrown into garbage dumps.
Many machines are tossed long before their useful life is over - simply
discarded to make way for updated technology.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/
10771281/ | back to top
Student Experience
The Wall Street Journal | January 10
In late November, this column talked about Alex Tew, a 21-year-old British
man who, in a quest to fund his university studies, had arrived at the
seemingly outlandish idea of creating a Web site and selling advertising
in the form of "pixels" -- the simplest graphical denominator
of a computer screen -- for a buck each. ... The attention inspired
rival sites. ... While none of these seem to have replicated Mr. Tew's
success, and it's unclear if they ever will, the sheer volume of attempts
and creative juice behind them paints an interesting picture of collective
online entrepreneurship around the globe. And at the very least, it
suggests there will be an eventual shakeout of what works, and what
doesn't. For instance, one site, www.worldofpersia.com, targets a single
ethnic group and purports to have sold 1,900 pixels in two days. Two
Carnegie Mellon students started www.nickelsforkatrina.org
to raise money for hurricane victims.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113685629830142277-
search.html?KEYWORDS=%22Carnegie+Mellon%22&
COLLECTION=wsjie/6month | back to top
The Wall Street Journal | January 10
As they stream back to campus from holiday break, first-year M.B.A.
students are gearing up to begin interviews for that all-important summer
internship. But the screening process actually started months ago --
at corporate presentations, cocktail parties and intimate dinners where
recruiters schmoozed with students and sized up the talent. ... Early-bird
recruiting makes some students feel shut out of careers before they
even sample the curriculum. Eric Silver, a first-year M.B.A. at Carnegie
Mellon University in Pittsburgh, loved his first finance course
but believes it is too late to pursue a finance career. "So many
students have formed relationships with recruiters," he says, "and
are already in the pipeline." Recruiters are focusing strongly
on first-year M.B.A.s because they hope to turn their star interns into
full-time hires. Bain & Co., for example, invites "the vast
majority" of summer interns to return full time.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113685303864142177-
search.html?KEYWORDS=%22Carnegie+Mellon%22&
COLLECTION=wsjie/6month | back to top
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | January 6
The Carnegie Mellon University men's basketball team
received national attention with a 51-46 victory against Princeton two
weeks ago, but the Tartans have a long history of playing -- and beating
-- Division I teams. But it was the kind of history Princeton would
like to forget. It was the Tigers' first loss in 28 games against Division
III teams. Although Carnegie Mellon followed the win against Princeton
with a 96-83 loss at Division III Bluffton, the Tartans (10-1) jumped
three spots to 19th in the D3hoops.com poll, for their highest ranking.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/
06006/633678.stm | back to top
Arts and Humanities
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | January 12
Andres Cardenes likes a varied musical diet, but given
that he's playing the violin six to 10 hours a day, he probably needs
it, too. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra concertmaster also rehearses
and plays concerti and chamber music, and teaches violin as head of
the string department at Carnegie Mellon University.
Tuesday, he'll be conductor and lead violinist at the Pittsburgh Symphony
Chamber Orchestra concert at the Jewish Community Center in Squirrel
Hill. The program is typical of the exemplary variety of this series,
starting with Maurice Ravel's "Le Tombeau de Couperin," featuring
Damian Bursill Hall and Jennifer Connor in Domenico Cimarosa's Concerto
for Two Flutes, and concluding with a double quartet by Ludwig Spohr
and a Divertimento ascribed to Franz Josef Haydn.
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/
entertainment/music/s_412562.html | back to top
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | January 3
To call an organization worldclass is to bestow upon it the highest
level of praise. The same goes for a city or region. Contrary to the
views of some local politicians, the quest by Pittsburgh and other cities
to achieve world-class status is enhanced, not threatened, by the assimilation
of people from outside the country's borders. ... On the arts front,
Elizabeth Bradley was running the show at the Hummingbird
Centre for the Performing Arts in her native Toronto five years ago.
But in 2001, she left the home of the National Ballet and Canadian Opera
to become the new head of Carnegie Mellon University's
world-renowned School of Drama.
This article is available in the January 3 edition of the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette. | back to top
Information Technology
MIT Technology Review | January 11
William L. "Red" Whittaker is director of
the Field Robotics Center and founder of the National Robotics Engineering
Center at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
His expertise includes developing robots for hazardous duty and for
performing 3-D mapping and remote sensing in environments such as coal
mines and volcanoes. Soon after a near-fatal mine disaster at Quecreek,
PA, in mid-2002 (in which nine miners using an outdated map mistakenly
broke through a rock wall, flooding their tunnel), interest grew in
his center's subterranean robotics and its mapping capabilities. A prototype
machine they'd built, an autonomous, four-wheeled robot with heavy-duty
tires, called Groundhog, was sent into an abandoned coal mine near Pittsburgh
in May 2003, and was able to create accurate three-dimensional maps
of its surroundings. It proved the ability of a robot to map the rooms,
pillars, and corridors left by generations of mining. In the aftermath
of the January 2 disaster at the Sago Mine in West Virginia, which cost
the lives of 12 miners, Technology Review asked Whittaker to discuss
the possible role of robots in aiding and rescuing miners. Whittaker
did not discuss the specifics of the Sago disaster, but instead spoke
about the potential of underground rescue robotics.
http://www.technologyreview.com/
NanoTech/wtr_16136,303,p1.html | back to top
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | January 10
Cellphones to PDAs, iPods to PSPs are making it possible for us to never
leave home without access to entertainment and/or information. "Mobile
content" was the buzzword at last week's Consumer Electronic Show
in Las Vegas. Major players like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft along with
untold numbers of smaller companies are trying to carve out a slice
of this ever-growing iPod-inspired pie. However, the proliferation of
handheld devices, and the rush to provide nonstop content for them,
leads not to the question: If you provide it, will they access it? Ringtones,
a $3 billion business last year, answered that. No, the question is:
If you provide it, should they access it -- all the time? Do we have
control over the technology or does the technology have control of us?
... "You access what you want, when you want it and how you want
it," said Ralph Vituccio, director of Media Development
in Communications Design and an instructor in the Entertainment Technology
Center at Carnegie Mellon University. "In my age
group, you don't see people who are accustomed to that kind of viewing,"
said the 55-year-old instructor. "They'd rather sit down in a passive
way and do it."
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/
06010/635142.stm | back to top
National Science Foundation News | January 6
In time for the 300th anniversary of Benjamin Franklin's birth, a Web
portal (http://ben.clusty.com) based on clustering technology is offering
a new method to separate useful Franklin facts from the normal flood
of online information. Developed and curated by Vivísimo, Inc.
of Pittsburgh, Pa., the portal uses the company's unique clustering
search engine. The underlying algorithms filter and index results to
create clusters that are easier to navigate than numerous pages of "hits."
... Carnegie Mellon University computer scientist Raul
Valdes-Perez and graduate students Chris Palmer and Jerome
Pesenti created the underlying clustering algorithms in the early 1990s
- with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Pa.'s
appropriately named Ben Franklin economic development initiative. The
researchers founded Vivísimo and improved upon the technology,
furthering the engine's development with NSF Small Business Innovation
Research grants.
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?
cntn_id=105705&org=olpa&from=news | back
to top
Biotechnology
PhysOrg.com | January 12
Carnegie Mellon University's Mark Bier
has received a $546,000 grant from the National Science Foundation's
Instrument Development for Biological Research program to build a heavy-ion
mass spectrometer. This one-of-a-kind mass spectrometer will characterize
with unprecedented sensitivity large biomolecules, such as intact proteins,
protein complexes, virus particles and DNA. It may also provide a new
tool for analyzing large man-made polymers used in nanotechnology. ...
"This is a new frontier in mass spectrometry research," said
Bier, associate research professor and director of the Center for Molecular
Analysis in the Department of Chemistry in the Mellon College of Science.
"We anticipate that this work will help to advance research in
proteomics, virology, molecular biology and nanotechnology."
http://www.physorg.com/
news9771.html | back to top
Environment
The New York Times | January 8
Colleges have long marketed their campus amenities, their rosters of
scholars, their selectivity and study-abroad programs. To that list,
add one more thing: their green credentials. ... But it's one thing
to put up a trophy of recycled glass and brick that relies on the sun,
the wind or other renewable resources for power. It's another to build
a curriculum - and to get students to look at the world differently
- with green buildings as a centerpiece. In Pittsburgh, students at
Carnegie Mellon study the weave of grass, dirt and
bugs atop its new "living roof" at Hamerschlag Hall. In class
projects they study how the building design can reduce storm water drainage
and improve water quality. ... Elsewhere on campus, the energy-saving
gadgets and systems of New House - the first green dormitory to open
in the country, according to Carnegie Mellon officials - have also become
teaching tools. ... "This is very much a living laboratory,"
says Tim Michael, director of housing and dining services
at Carnegie Mellon. "The building is constantly being studied by
students, architects and engineers." ... Beyond the well-insulated
walls of New House, Carnegie Mellon has been trying to integrate sustainable
theory in many aspects of campus life and curriculum. Teachers at the
new Center for Sustainable Engineering, in collaboration with like-minded
colleagues at the University of Texas and Arizona State University,
want to revolutionize teaching at the nation's 1,500 engineering programs.
Supported by a $1.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation,
the center holds workshops and develops educational materials meant
to get students to think about energy efficiency and recycled material.
"The whole purpose of this is to take some of the ideas of sustainability
out of the fringes and put them into the mainstream," says Cliff
Davidson, a professor in civil and environmental engineering
and a co-founder of the center.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/08/
education/edlife/egan_environment.html | back to
top
Local News Stories
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | January 12
One of the legacies of James E. Tomayko's teaching
career at Carnegie Mellon University was the trust
he placed in his students. "Jim had the students in his software
engineering class design and develop robotic surgery that Dr. Tony DiGioia
used in replacing Jim's hip," said his wife, Laura Tomayko. "Jim
was so confident of his students' ability to produce the system, that
he allowed himself to become their guinea pig and to be the first to
undergo the procedure." Dr. Tomayko, of Marshall, the first director
of the Master of Software Engineering program at Carnegie Mellon, died
of a neurological disorder on Monday, Jan. 9, 2006, at UPMC Montefiore
in Oakland. He was 56. During his 16 years at Carnegie Mellon, Dr. Tomayko
initiated an extensive program in distance learning that now includes
140 students who live around the world. He also served as a part-time
senior member of the technical staff at Carnegie Mellon's Engineering
Institute in the Product Line Systems Program.
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/search/
s_412678.html | back to top
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | January 12
Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh
each received $700,000 in state money Wednesday to help turn research
into business ventures. Carnegie Mellon and Pitt will focus on life
sciences, nanotechnology and specialty chemicals. Each school will allot
about a third of their grants to their offices of technology transfer,
which facilitate licensing and commercializing of intellectual property
created by faculty members and students. The rest of the money will
be used to attract top-notch faculty from outside the state. Carnegie
Mellon plans to hire researchers in medical robotics and biosensory
technology, and Pitt will recruit in the biophysics and pharmaceutical
fields, said Tim White, coordinator of the Greater Oakland Keystone
Innovation Zone.
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/
search/s_412701.html | back to top
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | January 11
Like Elvis, Madonna or Cher, he's a one-name celebrity -- a performer
with an instantly recognizable (if not borderline annoying) voice, a
media empire and legions of adoring fans. We're talking about Elmo.
... Veteran Muppets, such as Bert of Bert-and-Ernie, have been pushed
aside in favor of "younger" characters like Elmo and his friends,
Baby Bear, Telly and Zoe. But regardless of the faces on the screen,
the lessons of "Sesame Street" have remained consistent through
its 37-year-run, said Sharon Carver, a professor of
child development at Carnegie Mellon University. While
there are better ways parents could spend time with their children,
Elmo and company are a top choice for screen time at home, she said.
"If parents are letting their children watch television, 'Sesame
Street' is a darn good choice," Carver said. "They are so
intentional about specific things they want to teach, and they get at
things children don't pick up naturally," especially in households
with very harried parents.
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review
/tribpm/s_412445.html | back to top
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | January 8
Prognosticator: Frank Demmler, director of
entrepreneurial services at the state-supported tech support agency
Innovation Works in Hazelwood. Credentials: As consultant and
professor of entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University,
he has been involved with a number of emerging technologies and growth
companies. Demmler's take: While security takes a front seat
nationally, Mr. Demmler suggests that Pittsburgh boasts several companies
that could be part of the growth. Among his companies to watch are Bid
Armor, which is focused on data protection, and Hob Nob, a local firm
focused on institutions of higher education that allows people to join
an existing computer network without jeopardizing its security. He also
thinks that Pittsburgh companies, aided by ground level development
from Carnegie Mellon, will be able to take advantage of the impending
Web 2.0, which is getting a lot of buzz on the West Coast but remains
roughly undefined. It would represent the sort of second generation
of the World Wide Web that weaves together several technologies to make
the Web not only faster and easier to use but more integrated than ever
into our everyday lives.
http://www.post-gazette.com/
pg/06008/634026.stm | back to top
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | January 6
Despite widespread sex education in schools, adolescent girls don't
learn about sexually transmitted diseases other than HIV/AIDS until
it is often too late, according to a study by Carnegie Mellon
University and Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh researchers published
in this month's edition of the Journal of Adolescent Health. These findings
came from a survey of 300 sexually active teenage girls in the Pittsburgh
area. With the exception of HIV/AIDS, girls who reported having been
diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease such as genital herpes
or syphilis knew more about their particular disease than other girls,
but remained uninformed about other types of infection. ... "Our
schools have decided to focus on AIDS, and that has come at a cost,"
said Carnegie Mellon social and decision sciences researcher Julie
Downs, the study's lead author, in a statement. "Teens
just aren't being taught about these other diseases, and so they may
come away with a false sense of confidence."
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/
trib/regional/s_410841.html | back to top
International News Stories
ITnews Australia | January 12
The Sago Mine disaster in West Virginia is shining new light on the
use of search and rescue robots underground and in other disaster areas.
Carnegie Mellon University robotics professor William
"Red" Whittaker is one of several robotics experts
featured in a handful of US news accounts highlighting the potential
for using technology for mine rescues. Whittaker, one of the top team
leaders at Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Grand Challenge
last [US] fall, said there are no technology barriers to prevent the
use of subterranean robots for mine rescues. In an MIT Technology Review
account, the once-named Pittsburgh's Man of the Year in Technology,
said the barriers are cultural, economic, and policy oriented. He pointed
to the use of robotics on bomb squads as an example of how similar technologies
have been deployed. Even more recently, Whittaker's team and others
demonstrated major advances in robots' ability to navigate an unknown
course through rugged terrain and avoid obstacles with the use of sensors
and software. Before that, robotics experts built a prototype called
the Groundhog that proved its ability to enter and map mines. Since
then, they have developed Cave Crawler, a newer and faster version and
Ferret, which can be lowered into narrow openings. Two more, Helix,
and Minefish are under development.
http://www.itnews.com.au/newsstory.
aspx?CIaNID=21731&src=site-marq | back to top
Financial Times | January 11
Competitiveness is back on the Congressional agenda for the first time
since the Japanese juggernaut of the 1980s produced a decade of soul-searching.
Even in an extremely tight budget environment, bipartisan consensus
is emerging in favor of priming the pump of US innovation through increased
funding for basic research and development and scholarships in maths,
engineering and the sciences. But top-down federal spending alone will
not win the race for global leadership in science and technology. It
will take a hands-on commitment from all involved in the US innovation
enterprise to build world-class talent from the bottom up. ... The crown
jewels of US education - research universities - bear a particular responsibility
in developing home-grown talent. Having attracted the best and brightest
from around the world for decades, they must now redouble their efforts
to strengthen primary and secondary maths and science, reduce undergraduate
attrition in technical majors and sustain graduate enrolments in the
physical sciences and engineering. Georgia Tech's success in producing
African-American engineers and Carnegie Mellon's in
increasing the number of women in computer science show what can be
achieved. Equally, more US companies should treat their investments
in education as rigorously as they do investments in product development
and marketing. Many businesses view contributions to education mainly
as an aspect of community relations. What a difference it would make
if they made grants conditional on program effectiveness and aligned
their efforts around programs that work.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/bd062630-8246-
11da-aea0-0000779e2340.html | back to top
Trade Arabia | January 8
Lorenz "Larry" Biegler, a Carnegie
Mellon University professor, working with industry scientists
in Chile, is hoping that computer models will identify the traits of
good wine to help vintners produce more of it. The professor who teaches
chemical engineering at the university, is working on mathematical formulae
to automate the fermentation process, adjusting ingredients and conditions
to ensure robust flavors and higher yields from grape harvests, said
a media report. Biegler's research focuses on yeast, which consumes
sugar and produces alcohol. "We would like to come up with a reasonably
good model of how this yeast cell behaves ... then control this fermentation
process so we can make better-quality wines," he said.
http://www.tradearabia.com/tanews/
newsdetails_snAGRI_article98986.html | back to top
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