December 4, 2008
Vol. 19, No. 21

In this issue:

• Carnegie Mellon, Sun Microsystems Collaborate to Support "Alice"
• $4.7 Million Granted To Advance Public Transportation for Disabled
• The "Sky" is Not Falling
• Carnegie Mellon Scientists Offer Explanation on "Face Blindness"
• News Briefs
• Personal Mention
• Calendar Highlights

Carnegie Mellon, Sun Microsystems Collaborate to Support "Alice"

Sun Microsystems, Inc., is teaming up with Carnegie Mellon to support the continuing development of Alice, the university's innovative, Java technology-based computer programming environment that teaches students to program Java software while having fun creating 3D animations, stories and video games.

Over the next three years, Sun Microsystems will work with Carnegie Mellon to globalize Alice, providing the tools to translate it into different languages and develop drag and drop artifacts unique to a variety of cultures. Sun will work with the Alice development team to bring the system to a worldwide audience of educators and students.

A team of researchers, headed by Associate Teaching Professor Wanda P. Dann and lead developer and Project Scientist Dennis Cosgrove, is working around the clock to release Alice 3. "Sun's participation will provide our team with the technical resources we need to bring the development of Alice 3 to completion over the next three years," Dann said.

For more: http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/November/nov19_alicecollaboration.shtml

$4.7 Million Granted To Advance Public Transportation for Disabled

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon and the University at Buffalo (UB), State University of New York, are collaborating on a five-year, $4.7 million effort to advance public transportation for people with disabilities by bringing together computer science technology and the principles of universal design.

Their grant from the U.S. Department of Education's National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) is funding a new Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Accessible Public Transportation. The center will develop ways to empower consumers and transit service providers in the design and evaluation of accessible transportation equipment, information services and physical environments.

The center's principal investigator and co-director is Aaron Steinfeld, a systems scientist at Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute who works on human-robot interaction and intelligent transportation systems in the university's Quality of Life Technology Engineering Research Center. Steinfeld will be co-directing the new center with his father Edward Steinfeld, a professor of architecture at UB.

For more: http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/December/dec2_publictransportation.shtml

The "Sky" is Not Falling

After swaying more than usual last week, the Walking to the Sky sculpture in front of Warner Hall has been stabilized with heavy-duty cables and the area surrounding the 100-foot-tall pole has been roped off with yellow caution tape. Engineers from California, who assisted in installing the sculpture in May 2006, traveled to Carnegie Mellon this week to investigate what caused the abnormal movement.

"The pole is not going to fall," Jonathan Borofsky (A'64), the artist who created Walking to the Sky, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Borofsky said the engineers will inspect the pole, base plate, anchor bolts and concrete foundation underground.

Walking to the Sky was donated to the university by Trustee Jill Gansman Kraus, a 1974 alumnus, and her husband, Peter.

Carnegie Mellon Scientists Offer Explanation on "Face Blindness"

For the first time, scientists have been able to map the disruption in neural circuitry of people suffering from congenital prosopagnosia, sometimes known as face blindness, and have been able to offer a biological explanation for this intriguing disorder. Currently thought to affect roughly 2 percent of the population, congenital prosopagnosia manifests as the lifelong failure to recognize faces in the absence of obvious neurological damage, and in individuals with intact vision and intelligence.

A team of scientists from Carnegie Mellon — including Psychology Professor Marlene Behrmann — Kings College in London, and Ben-Gurion University in Israel were able to show that there was a reduction in the integrity of the white matter tracts in the brains of individuals with the disorder, which could lead to further understanding of other neurodevelopment disorders. The results are reported in the Nov. 23 online issue of Nature Neuroscience.

For more: http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/November/nov25_behrmannstudy.shtml

News Briefs

• December flu vaccination clinics are scheduled at the Student Health Service in Morewood Gardens at the following times: Thursday, Dec. 4 from 1:30 to 4 p.m.; Monday, Dec. 8 from 1:30 to 4 p.m. and Thursday, Dec. 11 from 9 to 11:30 a.m. The cost is $15. Carnegie Mellon ID necessary.
• All PRS and HREM Administrators are urged to attend a brown bag information session from noon to 1 p.m., Monday, Dec. 8 in Warner Hall, Carnegie West, first floor. The session is regarding changes to the pay frequency of new full-time, non-exempt staff with a start date of Dec. 22 or later.
• Employees must use their floating holidays before Dec. 31, or they will be lost. All full-time staff are granted three floating holidays per calendar year. New hires may have fewer holidays during their initial year, depending on their hire date. For more: http://www.cmu.edu/hr/benefits/benefit_programs/time_off/holidays.html
• This year's Staff Council Food Drive collected 6,227 pounds of food and $1,456.50 in cash and gift cards. Last year the food drive collected 5,676 pounds of food and $844.51 in cash and gift cards. For more: http://www.cmu.edu/staff-council
• Nominations will be accepted through Jan. 7 for the Barbara Lazarus Award for Culture and Climate, awarded to an individual or group that has demonstrated extraordinary leadership and made substantial contributions to improving the culture and climate in the university community, with an emphasis on graduate students and junior faculty. For more: http://www.cmu.edu/hr/barbara_lazarus/index.html
• A recent Carnegie Mellon CyLab survey of corporate board directors reveals a gap in board and senior executive oversight in managing cyber risks. Based upon data from 703 individuals (primarily independent directors) serving on U.S.-listed public company boards, only 36 percent of the respondents indicated that their board had any direct involvement with oversight of information security. For more: http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/December/dec2_cylabsurvey.shtml
• Carnegie Mellon's men's cross country team finished 13th at the NCAA Division III Championships hosted by Hanover College in Hanover, Ind. Senior Brian Harvey, who placed first at the NCAA Mideast Regionals, finished ninth in the national meet to earn All-America cross-country honors for the second time in his career. Harvey led the Tartans over the 8K course with a time of 24:43.80. Junior Dario Donatelli, son of Head Coach Dario Donatelli, finished second for the Tartans and 54th overall with a time of 25:15.08.
• Dr. Bruce Rabin, medical director of the UPMC Healthy Lifestyle Program, will be providing a confidential 12-week program to help veterans of all wars and their families increase their ability to cope with stress and anxiety. This stress coping program, developed by Rabin, will help participants understand the mental and physical effects of stress and provide the skills to minimize these effects. This program teaches skills to increase the ability to be calm, think clearly, reduce the likelihood of depression and rage reactions, and improve overall health. The program is free and open exclusively to veterans and their families. Dates and times will be determined based upon interest. Interested participants should contact Rabin directly at rabinbs@upmc.edu.
• The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation is having an inventory reduction sale through May 29, 2009. All institute publications and posters will be 50 percent off the regular price. Please note that no additional discounts will apply, some quantities are limited, this offer does not apply to cards and stationery items, and that the institute will not ship to a third party. For more information, visit the institute on the fifth floor of Hunt Library or http://huntbot.andrew.cmu.edu/HIBD/Publications/Publications.shtml.
• The Allegheny County Health Department (ACHD) has offered free varicella (chicken pox) vaccine to the Student Health Service for distribution to students, staff and faculty who are interested in vaccination. This offer is in effect until Dec. 8. Two doses of vaccine are recommended. The second dose can be obtained from the ACHD for $88. If you have never had chicken pox and are interested in being vaccinated, please call the Student Health Service by 5 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 4 at 412-268-1394.

Personal Mention

• Southern Illinois University Press recently published Professor of Rhetoric Linda Flower's book, "Community Literacy and the Rhetoric of Public Engagement." For more: http://www.siu.edu/~siupress/
• Don Smith, director of economic development for Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh, will be leaving his post in January to become president and CEO of the Regional Industrial Development Corporation of Southwest Pennsylvania. A member of the Carnegie Mellon community since 1988 as a graduate student, Smith played a key role in the development of the Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse, the Life Sciences Greenhouse and the Collaborative Innovation Center. During Smith's tenure, Carnegie Mellon was named one of the nation's top 10 universities in supporting economic development and was cited as a "savior" for its efforts to revitalize Pittsburgh.
• Carlos Guestrin, assistant professor of computer science and machine learning, has been appointed the Finmeccanica Chair in Computer Science for 2009-2011. Recently named by Popular Science to its 2008 "Brilliant 10" list, Guestrin's long-term research interest is developing efficient algorithms and methods for designing, analyzing and controlling complex real-world systems. Awarded to outstanding young faculty members, the chair has been held by Guy Blelloch, Manuela Veloso, Hui Zhang and Srinivasan Seshan.
• Caroline Jean Acker, associate professor of history, will receive the 2008 Benjamin Rush Individual Public Health Award from the Allegheny County Medical Society (ACMS) at the ACMS Gala on Saturday, Jan. 31. Established in 1947, this award honors a layperson who has made an outstanding contribution to the betterment, health and welfare of citizens in Allegheny County. In 1995, Acker co-founded Prevention Point Pittsburgh, a needle exchange program aimed at reducing the risk of HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C and other blood-borne infections in intravenous drug users.
• Anne R. Humphreys, a faculty member at the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), died Tuesday, Dec. 2, at the age of 45. For nearly a decade, she battled breast cancer but never let it get in the way of her tireless devotion to family, college teaching, hobbies and helping others. Humphreys received a master’s degree in professional writing from Carnegie Mellon in 1994. Two years later, she received a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon in Communication Planning and Design and joined the technical staff of the Learning Systems Architecture Lab, becoming co-director in 2000 until April 2006, when she joined the ETC. To view the Post-Gazette’s complete obituary, visit http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08339/932585-122.stm.

Calendar Highlights

• Dec. 3-6: "Mill on the Floss." Tuesday-Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m. Helen Wayne Rauh Studio Theater. The School of Drama presents Helen Edmundson's interpretation of the George Eliot novel.
• Saturday, Dec. 6: Madrigal Dinner. Reception at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner at 7:30 p.m., Rangos Ballroom, UC. Entertainment includes Carnegie Mellon Choir students under the direction of Robert Page, juggling, mime, a harpsichord player, bagpipers and more. Chemistry Professor Karen Stump will perform "chemical magic." Tickets are on sale at the University Center Information Desk. For more information, call 412-268-4886 or 412-268-2107.
• Friday, Dec. 5: Holiday Concert. Noon, Rangos Ballroom. Robert Page conducts the Concert Choir, Repertory Chorus and Philharmonic. For more: http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/December/dec1_holidayconcert.shtml
• Monday, Dec. 9: Behavioral Interviewing. 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., McKenna/Peter/Wright Room, UC. Michael Nee teaches how to conduct effective behavior-based interviews and how to effectively use interviewing tools to make better hiring decisions. The course is intended for faculty and staff who interview job applicants for employment at Carnegie Mellon. To register: https://acis.as.cmu.edu/gale2/servlet/HRLearn2
• Wednesday, Dec. 10: "Voices of Democracy: Citizenship and Public Art - Millennium Park." Noon, Baker Hall 255-B. The Controversy Initiative of the Public Art Cluster at Carnegie Mellon presents Fred Evans, philosophy professor, Duquesne University.
• For more events, visit http://my.cmu.edu/site/events.