News Briefs

• In a Bloomberg Businessweek survey of 2010 MBA graduates, Carnegie Mellon ranked 10th among schools that produce undergraduates with the highest GMAT scores. Read more: http://buswk.co/oK3QqN
• A new Doctoral Student Status Policy has been approved by the President’s Council, Faculty Senate and Graduate Student Assembly. The Doctoral Student Status Policy, which can be found online at http://www.cmu.edu/policies/DSS.html, replaces the previous All But Dissertation Policy. Questions about the policy should be directed to John Papinchak at jp7p@andrew.cmu.edu or Suzanne Laurich-McIntyre at slaurichmcintyre@cmu.edu
• Chatham University’s Baroque Ensemble, in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon’s School of Music, is soliciting submissions for the first Chatham Baroque Composition Contest. Three finalists will each receive a $2,000 commission to write a new five- to 10-minute instrumentation composition for the Chatham Baroque Trio. The three new compositions will debut at a Chatham Baroque concert in the fall of 2012. Winning composers will be announced Aug. 8 via the group’s website, www.chathambaroque.org. Judges for the contest include CMU’s Noel Zahler, internationally recognized composer, professor of composition and head of the School of Music. 
• The Oakland Farmer’s Market is open for business. Located on Sennot Street (between Atwood and Meyran) in the Oakland business district, the Farmer’s Market features local produce, baked goods and prepared foods from noon to 4 p.m. every Friday. For more, go to http://oaklandfarmersmarket.org/
• Just in time for the beach, the Universal Digital Library has donated six new Kindle readers to the University Libraries, and the library has loaded them with classic and popular fiction and non-fiction. You can check out a Kindle by showing your CMU ID at the Hunt Library, Engineering and Science Library or Mellon Institute Library circulation desks.
• Roberts Hall Road — from Scaife Hall to the Wean Hall loading dock — will be closed from 6:30 a.m. until dark on Saturday, July 30 for resurfacing. The Gates Garage will be accessible from the lower half of Roberts Drive. Questions should be directed to Kyle Tomer at 412-268-6332 or kt2n@andrew.cmu.edu
• Carnegie Mellon, with financial support from the National Science Foundation, will host the International Linguistics Olympiad July 24-30. This is the first time the Olympiad has been held in the U.S. with 80 to 120 high school students expected to participate. Lori Levin, an associate research professor in the Language Technologies Institute (LTI), is heading the local committee. The Olympiad helps identify an aptitude in analytical skills and math.