News Briefs
CMU To Host Special Olympics Saturday
For the third consecutive year, Carnegie Mellon University Police and the Department of Athletics are hosting the Pennsylvania Special Olympics Western Sectional Spring Games on Saturday, April 14. The opening ceremony is scheduled for 9 a.m. at Gesling Stadium, where Gina Casalegno, vice president for Student Affairs and dean of Students, will welcome the athletes, coaches, families, friends and volunteers to CMU.
Approximately 600 special olympians, ranging in age from about 10 to 60, are expected to compete in basketball, track and field, swimming, tennis and golf. Basketball games will be played in Wiegand Gym, Skibo Gym and Central Catholic High School. Swimming will be in the Cohon Center pool and tennis at the CMU courts. Golf will take place at the Bob O’Connor Course in Schenley Park.
In addition to CMU police officers and about 350 CMU student volunteers, several local police departments will be represented. Helping to run the games will be officers from the University of Pittsburgh, the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Port Authority, Monroeville and the FBI, among others.
Carnegie Mellon Police support Special Olympics through various fundraisers during the year, including the Polar Plunge, an annual event in which members of police departments, organizations and groups take a winter dip into the Ohio River. For the second year in a row they will be hosting the Dunk-A-Dean tank during Spring Carnival. All seven deans and Interim Provost Laurie Weingart are expected to participate.
NIH Eyes New Use for Old Technology Developed at CMU
Technology created by Carnegie Mellon more than 25 years ago is having a resurgence.
The Laboratory of Cardiac Energetics — a research lab within the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute — is looking to revive a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology that could influence medicine, from preventative to prescriptive and everything in between.
Chemical Engineering Professor Michael Domach and former doctoral students developed the technology in the early 1990s in collaboration with former faculty members Alan Koretsky and the late Elizabeth Jones.
By using the NMR technology, the NIH lab hopes to better understand how the molecules within cells are used to transfer and store energy through analyzing a microorganism called Paracoccus denitrificans. What makes the microbe so attractive to researchers is how similar it is to the mitochondria, which regulates respiration and energy production within cells.
CMU Night at PNC Park is April 24
The third annual CMU Night at PNC Park will be Tuesday, April 24, when the Pittsburgh Pirates take on the Detroit Tigers at 7:05 p.m. Tickets are $25 for corner box seats and $17 for seats in the infield grandstand. Individuals purchasing tickets will receive an official Pirates/CMU baseball cap.
Volunteers Needed to Serve as Floor Marshals
The Environmental Health & Safety Department is seeking volunteers to serve as floor marshals where they work. Floor marshals serve the campus community by:
- Participating in fire and emergency evacuation drills;
- Assisting with evacuations to pre-designated emergency assembly points;
- Assisting University Police and emergency response personnel in preventing re-entry into buildings until it has been deemed safe;
- Reporting injured persons or those who need help to emergency responders; and
- Providing other assistance as needed.
Volunteers will take part in floor marshal training provided by EH&S staff. Continuing education and training also will be provided. Interested? Send email to safety@andrew.cmu.edu.
Last Day To Vote for Your Divisional Staff Council Reps
Voting for the Staff Council divisional elections for the 2018-2020 term will close at noon on Friday, April 13. You can select up to two candidates to represent your division/division combination.
You should have received a personalized invitation through SurveyMonkey to cast your vote. You can view the candidates’ biographies and photos at this link.
Cast your vote to be entered into the Staff Council raffle. Winners will be announced at the Staff Council Ice Cream Social at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, April 19 at the tennis courts.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact staff-council@andrew.cmu.edu.
Register Your Child for Take Our Daughters & Sons to Work Day
Registration is underway for Carnegie Mellon's Take Our Daughters & Sons to Work Day on Thursday, April 26. Find out more at the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work website, and register your child.
The Take Our Daughters & Sons to Work program introduces girls and boys between the ages of 8 and 15 to what a parent or mentor in their lives does during the work day. The program also aims to show children the value of their education and make them aware of some of the many professions and fields they can pursue.
In the morning, the children "shadow" their campus host. Lunch includes a welcome from the campus community and entertainment. In the afternoon, participants can attend a variety of short presentations in areas such as the fine arts, business, robotics and science and technology. Each presentation features engaging activities facilitated by faculty, staff and students.
Volunteers Needed:
Members of the campus community are needed to assist with registration, serve as lunch aides, chaperone guided tours across campus, and monitor the children waiting to be picked up from the gym. The time commitment for each role is detailed below.
- Registration: 10:45 a.m. through about 12:15 p.m.
- Lunch: 11:45 a.m. through 1 p.m.
- Guides: 1 to 3:30 p.m.
- Monitors at Pick-Up: 3 to 4 p.m.
Please email ggruber@andrew.cmu.edu for more information. Since these positions include direct contact with children as defined by the Pennsylvania Child Protective Services Law (as recently amended by "Pennsylvania Act 153") you will be required to obtain certain clearances prior to participating in the event. The university is prepared to provide you with the necessary information and assistance in complying with Act 153's requirements.