From October 27 to November 2, Carnegie Mellon Media Relations counted 252 references to the university in worldwide publications. Here is a sample.

National

Can electronic voting be trusted?
The Wall Street Journal | November 3
In addition to looking for a trustworthy candidate, many voters in next week's U.S. election will also be testing the reliability of new electronic voting machines. The Help America Vote Act, passed in the wake of the chaotic 2000 election, set aside billions of dollars for states to replace punch-card and mechanical-lever voting machines. States and counties have purchased a variety of new voting systems, including optical scanners that read paper ballots and, in at least 34 states, touch-screen machines. ... The Wall Street Journal Online invited Carnegie Mellon University's Michael Shamos, a computer science professor who has tested the accuracy of electronic voting machines and defended the method in high-profile legal cases, to debate the issue with Lawrence Norden, a lawyer at New York University's Brennan Center for Justice who published research alleging security risks with the machines many states are using. Their email discussion is below.
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116231596574509123-kZ9Ky0GtwfzcIC0ZomK1eDd3L2s_20061201.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top

 

Google, Intel, Microsoft researchers spur Pittsburgh startups
Bloomberg | October 31
U.S. Steel Corp., once Pittsburgh's dominant employer, now has just 4,590 workers in the region. Universities and hospitals employ more than 10 times as many. The colleges are benefiting from partnerships with three of the biggest names in computing: Google Inc., Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp. The companies, which operate campus labs in Pittsburgh, are contributing to the city's transformation from symbol of 20th- century industrial decline to high-tech hub. Microsoft said in June that it would help fund a robotics center at Carnegie Mellon University. Overall, technology companies and research employ 213,000 people in the region and generate a $10.8 billion payroll, the Pittsburgh Technology Council says. Last year, the research corridor near Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh attracted about $1 billion in public and private funding, twice the amount of five years ago. "Pittsburgh was hit harder than any other American city in the change from an industrial economy to the new economy," says Don Smith, vice president for economic development at the Mellon Pitt Corp., a partnership coordinating research at the schools. "And I think Pittsburgh accepted sooner than some other cities that it had to change, that we weren't going back."
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=angA.h0Dr6Ys&refer=us

 

A Halloween mask for Social Security
The Christian Science Monitor | October 30
Last week, President Bush promised to step, once again, onto the "third rail of politics" by renewing his call to partly privatize the Social Security system. Unless voters surprise pollsters by giving Republicans a clear victory in next week's congressional elections, his chances of success are slim."It depends on whether Bush retains control of both houses of Congress," says Stephen Spear, an economist at Carnegie Mellon University's business school in Pittsburgh. He figures that trimming Social Security is so unpopular that Mr. Bush will "run into the same [political] firestorm" he did in 2005, when he proposed letting Americans put a portion of their payroll taxes into individual savings accounts that might, or might not, provide a better return than Social Security.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1030/p17s01-cogn.html

 

Rage against the machine
CNN (Fortune) | October 30
Here's a five-step plan guaranteed to make an obscure company absolutely notorious. First get into a business you don't understand, selling to customers who barely understand it either. Then roll out your product without adequate testing. Don't hire enough skilled people. When people notice problems, deny, obfuscate and ignore. Finally, blame your critics when it all blows up in your face.  With missteps like those, it would be hard to succeed in the gumball business. But when your product is the hardware and software of democracy itself, that kind of performance gets you called not just incompetent but evil - an enemy of democracy. And that is what has happened to Diebold Inc. (Charts) of Canton, Ohio, since it got into the elections business in 2001. ... Therein lies the rub, says Michael Shamos, a computer-science professor at Carnegie Mellon University who has been testing election equipment since 1980. "Diebold doesn't fully get it about security," he says. "Their position every time somebody raises the prospect of insider manipulation of elections is, 'Are you telling me you think that these election officials would commit a felony?' And the answer is, 'Yes, that's what we're saying. They might commit a felony, and what is your system doing to prevent them?'"
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/11/13/8393084/?postversion=2006103014

 

Portugal and MIT will collaborate on science and technology research
The Chronicle of Higher Education | October 27
The Portuguese government and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology signed a groundbreaking agreement this month that is designed to strengthen scientific and technological competitiveness in Portugal. ... For its role, MIT expects to receive $40-million from the Portuguese government over five years. Manuel Heitor, Portugal's secretary of state for science, technology, and higher education, said the government would pour additional money into fields related to the scope of the agreement, even as it cuts spending in other areas. "We will be doubling expenditure in science and technology in the coming three years," Mr. Heitor said, "and we are also trying to multiply private expenditure by three." He added that the MIT agreement will be followed in the next few months by the announcement of partnerships with Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Texas at Austin. The collaboration with Carnegie Mellon will focus on information and communications technology, and the one with the University of Texas on digital media.
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i10/10a04202.htm

Education for Leadership

District college roundup: Carnegie Mellon goes overtime to remain unbeaten
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | October 29
Carnegie Mellon won its first outright University Athletic Association championship since 1997 as Nat Greenstein kicked a 22-yard field goal in overtime to lift the visiting Tartans to a 10-7 victory at Washington (Mo.) University yesterday. Carnegie Mellon (8-0, 4-0) kept alive its hopes of receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Tartans finish the regular season against Bethany at home Saturday and at Thiel, Nov. 11. The previous time Carnegie Mellon went 10-0 and reached the playoffs was 1990.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06302/733959-134.stm

 

PSU's Posluszny, WVU's Henry among top scholar-athletes
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (AP) | October 27
Penn State linebacker Paul Posluszny, West Virginia linebacker Jay Henry and Rutgers fullback Brian Leonard are among 17 finalists for the Draddy Trophy, given to the top scholar-athlete in college football. The finalists are selected from all NCAA divisions and the NAIA. The winner will be announced Dec. 5 at the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame awards dinner in New York. The winner receives an $18,000 scholarship for postgraduate studies. ... Other finalists are Yale offensive lineman Ed McCarthy; St. Francis, Pa., receiver Luke Palko, Alabama A&M offensive lineman Kristian Smith; Ferris State linebacker Michael Klobucher; Pittsburgh State defensive end Ryan Meredith; Carnegie Mellon defensive back Aaron Lewis; St. Thomas receiver P.J. Theisen; and Ambrose center Brad Cook.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_476868.html

Arts and Humanities

River City celebrates with 'Happy Birthday'
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | November 2
Nancy Galbraith has written her own version of the "Happy Birthday" song for the River City Brass Band. And the band's music director, Denis Colwell, is certain the piece will take the cake at the series of "Birthday Bash" concerts that begins this evening. "It's a modern piece that will make the band stretch, and that is good," Colwell says. "It's the kind of music that will make us better as a band." Galbraith, a professor of music at Carnegie Mellon University, Oakland, says she tried to give "'Washington's Landing' a real city feel" to help the band celebrate its 25th. "I first called it 'River City,' but I thought that was sort of dumb, so I switched it to a part of the city that I like." she says.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/living/music/s_477742.html

 

Concert review: Miro Quartet, Fisk show flair for Spanish style
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | November 1
The Miro Quartet has been a leader for its generation of quartets, dating back to its salad days in the mid-'90s. Monday night at Carnegie Music Hall, the young group also showed it can brilliantly handle an accompanying role. In fact, the four musicians even showed they can portray decent mules. That is, they portrayed a pack of unruly burros in one movement of Leonardo Balada's new work, Caprichos No. 1, in a concert that opened the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society season with Spanish flair. In homage to Federico Garcia Lorca, Balada transformed seven of the poet's interpolated Andalusian folk songs into a colorful work for quartet and guitar, played by Eliot Fisk. ... Later movements depicted chanting pilgrims, a displaced native's nostalgia for Spain, a lullaby for an abandoned baby and several dances. While the work found the Carnegie Mellon University composer again combining modern techniques with folk music, the entire piece was shrouded in surrealism, as if episodes of a dream.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06305/734455-42.stm

 

Newsmaker: George Loewenstein
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | October 27
George Loewenstein. Age: 51. Residence: Highland Park. Occupation: Professor at Carnegie Mellon University since 1990. Education: Bachelor's degree in economics from Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass.; doctorate in economics from Yale University. Background: Teaches classes on behavioral economics and empirical research methods; previously taught at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Noteworthy: Named the Herbert A. Simon Professor of Economics and Psychology for his groundbreaking research of how emotions and psychology affect economic decision-making. The field of study is known as decision science and was pioneered at Carnegie Mellon by the late professor Simon.
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/rss/s_476909.html

 

Save Darfur
Pittsburgh City Paper | October 26
The numbers keep growing, and keep astounding: In the past three years, we're told, some 2.5 million people in Darfur have been forced to flee their villages because of attacks by the government and government-backed militias. And it's estimated that 200,000 more Sudanese have died in that time period alone. But civil strife in Sudan is an old story, and Simon Deng lived it. Some 30 years ago, when he was 12, soldiers attacked his village, took him prisoner and gave him away--as a "gift"--into slavery, to a family in the capital city of Khartoum. ... Deng will be a featured speaker at a literary and musical fund-raiser here on Fri., Oct. 27. Save Darfur: A Poetry & Music Benefit grew out of writersalliance.com, a Web site created by Pittsburgh-based poet Sankar Roy to solicit poetry about the Darfur crisis. Roy is a founding member of Poets for Humanity, which in 2005 published the international poetry collection Only the Sea Keeps: Poetry of the Tsunami, to benefit tsunami relief and rebuilding. The benefit was organized by Poets for Humanity and poet and Carnegie Mellon associate professor Anthony Butts. Deng will speak, along with Heather Robinson, the New York Daily News writer who chronicled his story. Poets reading include Butts, Liberian-born Patricia Jabbeh Wesley and Richard St. John. There'll also be music by Umoja African Arts.
http://www.pittsburghcitypaper.ws/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A19548

Information Technology

Carnegie Mellon, Intel see fantasy as the future
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | November 1
Imagine answering the telephone and a replica of the caller appears in front of you with realistic hair, skin texture, expressions and clothing. You speak to the replica, who not only replies, but moves, acts and even feels like the person on the other end of the phone line. The replica even mirrors the real person's weight. One might think the person had been beamed up, like Captain Kirk in "Star Trek." But, despite the convincing realism, it's only a precise model created by billions of speck-sized robots known as "catoms," short for "Claytronic atoms," that move by hydrostatic electricity to form whatever shape they're programmed to create. ... A research team created via a partnership of Intel, the computer processor giant, and Carnegie Mellon University, is working on many aspects of Claytronics or what Intel describes as "dynamic physical rendering" that would allow a computer system to replicate forms. But the process to create replicas of people will require loads of new technology and plenty of high-octane ingenuity. ... More immediate goals are creating technologies to fax three-dimensional forms, 3-D computer-aided design tools and even antennas that can grow or shrink depending on the size of signal to get better reception, said Seth Goldstein, a Carnegie Mellon computer scientist who is one of the creators of Claytronics.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06305/734448-115.stm

 

Digital TV offers opportunity for interoperability
FCW | October 26
The mandatory transition of TV to digital signals will open a door for change in public safety communications, but only if the right policy changes are made before the 2009 deadline, a Carnegie Mellon University researcher said. Jon Peha, associate director of the Center for Wireless and Broadband Networking at the university and a professor of electrical engineering and public policy, presented a new paper on the subject as part of a panel discussion today. The New America Foundation hosted the discussion, which also included speakers from industry and the Washington, D.C., government. Peha said local governments have the primary responsibility for public safety communications, which has led to the current patchwork quilt of systems and standards that make intercommunication difficult.
http://www.fcw.com/article96598-10-26-06-Web

Environment

County's green space dwindles
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review | November 2
Allegheny County expects 55,000 residential units to be built in the county over the next 10 years, which will eat up about 10,000 acres of what is now open space, Roy Kraynyk, executive director of the Allegheny Land Trust, said. ... Bob Bingham, a professor at the Center for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University, said he believes changing the environment starts with teaching its importance to kids as young as 5. He also advocates using empty public lots as green areas because they can serve the dual purpose of beautifying the area and being functional. Bingham said he recently oversaw a project where four city lots were planted with sunflowers that could then be used to create bio-diesel fuel. Bingham, who moved to the area in 1989, said all the watersheds in Pittsburgh's North Hills make it unique. "Pittsburgh has such an incredible environment," he said. "And my dream is to 'green' the urban environment."
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/today/s_477560.html

 

Engineering team pictures tomorrow's polymers
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | November 1
If polymers are the building blocks of creative science, then a Carnegie Mellon University professor and his research team are genies who can make consumer wishes come true. ... Using sugars and vitamin C to reduce the amount of copper catalyst in his "atom transfer reactionary polymerization" process, Dr. Krzysztof Matyjaszewski has made the creation of new polymers "at least 100 times more efficient and much more amenable to industrial processes." Dr. Matyjaszewski--Carnegie Mellon's J.C. Warner Professor of Natural Sciences and director of the Center for Macromolecular Engineering in the Mellon College of Science--developed the ATRP process in the mid-1990s. It's still being used to produce specialty polymers for coatings, adhesives, lubricants, cosmetics and electronics, among other uses.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06305/734451-115.stm

Biotechnology

Computer Center gets $8.5 million
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | November 2
Understanding how a cell works is important for medical research, but watching one under a microscope doesn't reveal its tiny secrets. Computer models of cells that react like real ones can, however, provide "the holy grail" of cellular research. But such cell models require behemoth supercomputing systems that use many thousands of processors to do trillions and even quadrillions of calculations per second for a month or longer. That's why the National Institutes of Health has awarded the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center $8.5 million to continue building computer models of cells, among other biomedical projects. ... One ongoing experiment is designed to show neurotransmitters between nerves and muscle cells and how nerves make muscles move. "We can put components into a 3-D model and predict how it works in disease," said Joel Stiles, the biomedical program's science director. "But it needs a lot of software." Dr. Stiles also is a medical doctor and computational physiologist with faculty appointments at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06306/734954-96.stm

Local

Carnegie Mellon's Web site gets smart new look
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | October 30
The shoemaker's child has new footwear. After years of being one of the highest-ranked computer science schools in the nation, Carnegie Mellon University is finally getting a Web site that is designed to match its reputation. The new home page at www.cmu.edu, which debuts today, was created by university staff and Ripple Effects Interactive, an Oakland Web design firm with several Carnegie Mellon graduates. ... After interviewing students, alumni and prospective students, "we were told that our aesthetic and design, which was ahead of its time when it was launched, needed to be updated," said Marilyn Kail, assistant vice president for marketing communications. Sofia Mirza, a graduate student in Carnegie Mellon's School of Design, put the issue more bluntly. There was a big disconnect between the advanced research being done at the school and the look of its Web site, Ms. Mirza said. ... The challenge, said Carnegie Mellon design school dean Dan Boyarski, is to create a site that looks good and is easy to use. "You can have things that look gorgeous that are not very usable, and on the other hand you can have things that are very well organized in terms of the information but have a very ordinary look.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06303/734041-96.stm

 

Carnegie Mellon gets $42.6 million from Portugal to create joint educational programs
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | October 28
Carnegie Mellon University yesterday announced a partnership with Portugal and some of that country's largest companies to educate and provide research in collaboration with a dozen Portuguese universities. A group of top Carnegie Mellon administrators, including President Jared Cohon, were with various representatives from the Portuguese government and companies in Aveiro to sign a five-year agreement to establish the Information and Communication Technologies Institute. Carnegie Mellon will receive $42.6 million from the Portuguese government as part of the agreement. ... The Carnegie Mellon program will play to the college's strengths in information technology and innovation management to help train the next generation of students to work in high technology businesses in Portugal and other countries, said Dr. Pradeep Khosla, dean of Carnegie Mellon's College of Engineering. "They have recognized Carnegie Mellon as the leader in [these areas] in this country and they're working with the best of the best," he said from Portugal.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06301/733688-298.stm

 

Pa. professor shares prize in criminology
The Philadelphia Inquirer | October 27
Alfred Blumstein, a former chairman of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, was recognized yesterday as a cowinner of the 2007 Stockholm Prize in Criminology. The announcement was made in a video conference linking Sweden's Stockholm University and the Jerry Lee Center of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania. Blumstein, a professor of urban studies at Carnegie Mellon University, was awarded the prize (to be presented in June in Stockholm), for pioneering research into criminal behavior.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/new_jersey/15860782.htm

 

Altmire, Hart race heats up in weeks before the election
Sewickley Herald | October 26
The Melissa Hart versus Jason Altmire race is now considered one of the most important congressional showdowns in the country. So much so, in fact, that Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean made a trip to Murrysville on a national DNC party movement day in July to support Altmire. On that day, Dean said he thinks Hart is vulnerable this time around. Her record shows that vulnerability wasn't a concern in past elections. ... Not only is the race big in Pennsylvania, but is becoming big on a national level, said Jon Delano, a political analyst with the Carnegie Mellon University Heinz School of Public Policy and Management. Delano said the National Republican Campaign Committee last week pumped tens-of-thousands of dollars into the Pittsburgh media market. The Democratic National Committee followed with a similar move Tuesday.
http://www.yoursewickley.com/newspaper/article/67216/Altmire,-Hart-race-heats-up-in-weeks-before-the-election/

Regional Impact

Heinz Endowments awards grants to city schools, South Side center
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | October 27
The major Pittsburgh Public Schools reorganization and the North Side's struggling Sarah Heinz House community center were the big winners as The Heinz Endowments awarded 220 grants totaling nearly $26 million yesterday. ... Grants totaling $600,000 will go to Carnegie Mellon's National Robotics Engineering Consortium for the Robotics Corridor Project, which encompasses several programs for middle school through two-year community college and four-year university programs. An additional $100,000 will go to support the nationally popular US FIRST Robotics competition. ... Another $500,000 will support the advancement of green chemistry through Carnegie Mellon.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06300/733437-85.stm

International News Stories

Qatar Education City roadshow in Abu Dhabi
Trade Arabia | October 29

Qatar Foundation's Education City's promotional tour to introduce its world-class university facilities will reach Abu Dhabi on November 1, following successful events in Doha, Manama and Oman. The universities will showcase their programs at Le Royal Meridian Abu Dhabi from 6 pm to 9 pm. ... Commenting on the standard of education and life on campus, Laith Algaz, freshman student at Carnegie Mellon University, said: "The branch campuses at Qatar Foundation offer exactly the same degrees and programs as their main campuses and provide a unique learning experience that is replicated nowhere else. I chose Carnegie Mellon University because of its reputation and its worldwide ranking of undergraduate business university and for its quantitative focus, but at Qatar Education City I can also study programs in engineering, art and design, international relations and premedical and medical degrees all in the same place. Also, coming from the Gulf region, I find it great to stay in contact with the Gulf atmosphere and not have to travel to Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh for my degree."
http://www.tradearabia.com/tanews/newsdetails_snEDU_article113494_cnt.html

 

Tech-based innovation drives financial services: Seetharaman
Gulf Times | October 29
Doha Bank deputy CEO R. Seetharaman has said technology is the driving force behind today's financial services industry. Addressing students at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar at a function hosted in his honor, Seetharaman said globalization, consumerism and deregulations are the key drivers of change. ... Dr. Sham Kekre, professor at Carnegie Mellon Qatar said, "The students are exposed to theory and case studies in their regular lectures. Bringing senior industry executives in to the classroom gives them a chance to appreciate and understand current business challenges in a real world setting. It brings to the classroom additional energy, motivation and excitement. Seetharaman's lecture gave students an insight into the financial services sector and what competitiveness is all about." said Dr. Charles E. Thorpe, dean of the Carnegie Mellon Qatar, while thanking Seetharaman for the stimulating lecture, said, "the dynamic economy of Qatar is providing ample opportunity for the young generation. It is Carnegie Mellon University’s endeavor to equip each and every student to emerge as a successful entrepreneur and professional. The interactive sessions with respected business professionals who are active in the community will provide an insight into the successful business stories to our students and will motivate them to be part of this success in their future professional career," he added.
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=114870&version=1&template_id=48&parent_id=28