News Briefs

CMU Celebrates 10 Years in Qatar

Carnegie Mellon celebrated the first decade of its Qatar campus in Doha this past Tuesday.

To mark the significant milestone, the university welcomed a number of distinguished international guests to its official anniversary ceremony. Key leadership from Carnegie Mellon and Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development gathered at the university's campus in Education City, alongside alumni, students, faculty and staff. The celebration highlighted key achievements.

"Higher education and governments are awakening to need for greater educational opportunity, and many are taking action. But I can think of no other nation that has responded as vigorously and imaginatively as has Qatar," said Carnegie Mellon President Subra Suresh. "The story of Education City has been a powerful example for the entire world, and the world has taken notice of this success."

Read more about the celebration. Watch the celebration on YouTube.

UPDATE: Parking Discussion Today

At today's Staff Council meeting (Noon - 1 p.m., in Cyert Hall B6A and B6B) Parking and Transportation Services will NOT be able to provide any specific information regarding future plans for campus parking as it relates to the University Center and Tepper Quadrangle construction projects. What will be provided is information on the upcoming parking open enrollment period and parking arrangements for this year's Spring Carnival. Staff Council apologizes for any confusion that may have occurred following last week's announcement.

Showcase Fundraiser Features School of Drama Actor

Come see School of Drama student and Pittsburgh’s own Carter Redwood, who appears as the supporting lead role in “Underdogs,” a fall 2013 release that’s now available on DVD. Redwood appears as Damian Taylor, and you can see him in the film at 7 p.m. tonight (Thursday, March 20) in the Chosky Theater of the Purnell Center for the Arts. Admission is $10 for the general public or $5 with a student ID. Proceeds benefit the 2014 School of Drama Showcase. Larger donations will be accepted. Make checks payable to: Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. Notation: Showcase 2014. For a trailer of the movie, go to http://www.underdogsthemovie.com/.

Edward Snowden's Lawyer Among Cybersecurity Panelists

Ben Wizner, the lawyer for Edward Snowden, will be among the expert guests on March 24, when Carnegie Mellon's College of Engineering plays host to two panel discussions on "The Future of Cybersecurity and Global Journalism," sponsored by the Overseas Press Club (OPC) of America. Wizner will appear live via Skype.

The discussions will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. in the first-floor DEC (Distributed Education Center) Room of the Robert Mehrabian Collaborative Innovation Center. Supported by the Ford Foundation, the panels will address the world of hackers and the ramifications of Snowden's leaks regarding the conduct of the National Security Agency. The panels are free and open to the public.

Jim Cuddy Jr., managing editor of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, will moderate the first panel, titled "Hackers Everywhere — Is the Internet Really Our Friend?" That discussion will begin at 5 p.m.

The second panel, titled "The Big Picture: The National Security Agency After Snowden," will be moderated by David Shribman, executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the 1995 Pulitzer Prize winner for political reporting. That panel, which will include Wizner via Skype, will begin at 6:30 p.m.

Learn more about the panel discussions. 

Simon Initiative Distinguished Lecture Series Presents Khan Academy Founder

Sal Khan, founder of the Khan Academy (http://www.khanacademy.org), a nonprofit that claims to have the most widely used library of educational lessons on the Web with more than 10 million unique students per month, will give a Simon Initiative Distinguished Lecture Series lecture titled “Education Reimagined” at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, April 3 in the Rashid Auditorium of the Hillman Center for Future Generation Technologies. The lecture will be also be webcast live. President Suresh will introduce Khan, who will share his thoughts on how he intends to make his dream of “providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere” a reality.

Later that evening, Khan will receive a Heinz Award from the Heinz Family Foundation for his work to improve the human condition. Khan Academy, founded in 2009, provides self-paced, guided learning experiences covering everything from basic math to college level science and economics. It is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Google Inc., among many others. Khan has been profiled on "60 Minutes," featured on the cover of Forbes Magazine and has been recognized as one of TIME Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World.”

The Simon Initiative Distinguished Lecture Series is a new forum for thought leaders focused on both incremental scientific advancement and disruptive innovation in education. Last November, President Suresh announced the creation of The Simon Initiative, which aims to harness and leverage decades of cross-disciplinary research at the university linking cognitive models of learning with computational tools to improve learning outcomes for students of all ages. Read more about The Simon Initiative.

Partnership To Improve Professional Development for Teachers

Working Examples (WEx), an online knowledge-sharing community for projects, expertise and resources supporting innovation in education, has partnered with BloomBoard, a Silicon Valley-based technology startup, to increase teachers' access to professional development resources.

WEx, based at Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center, will provide infrastructure and support to creators of professional development offerings, and a pipeline for their ideas to BloomBoard's marketplace. BloomBoard is an online platform and individualized marketplace for educator professional development.

"BloomBoard will give the WEx community an expanded audience for those users who are building professional development tools and research," said Anna Roberts, WEx director. "At the same time, WEx can provide invaluable feedback to BloomBoard's content creators and users, helping them build better tools and develop better resources."

Learn more.

Presenters, Volunteers Needed for Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work Day

Staff Council’s Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work committee is looking for activity leaders/presenters and general volunteers to contribute their time and enthusiasm to this year’s Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day event on Thursday, April 24. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the national Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work program, and the theme is “Plant a Seed, Grow a Future.”

Faculty and staff are encouraged to bring their children between the ages of 8 and 15 to campus to give them a glimpse of the wide range of career and learning opportunities that exist at CMU. After a group lunch program, the children can attend two activity sessions for which they have pre-registered. The Staff Council committee is looking for individuals on campus who would like to create and lead an activity or presentation for one or two sessions in the afternoon. The commitment of presenting a program has been streamlined in order to minimize the impact to your regular academic schedule.

Each session will run roughly 45 minutes. If you volunteer for both sessions, your total commitment will be from approximately 12:40 – 3:20 p.m., including set-up and tear down. Depending on the nature of your activity/presentation, you will have either a smaller group of children (15 maximum) or a larger group (30 maximum).

If you are interested in leading an activity or presentation, please go to https://cmuprecollege.wufoo.com/forms/todastw-presenter-registration-form-cmu/. For more information about presenters, please contact M. Shernell Smith at mssmith@andrew.cmu.edu or 412-268-2075. 

If you would like to volunteer as a general assistant to serve as a chaperone, lunch server or monitor at the end of the day (3 -4 p.m.) for the parental pick-up in Weigand Gym, please contact Gloria Gruber at ggruber@andrew.cmu.edu or 412-268-9685.

If you are interested in either leading an activity or volunteering generally, please express your interest by March 24.

Dry Cleaning Services Offered

Housing Services offers professional dry cleaning for members of the campus community. Faculty and staff can have dry cleaning picked up and then delivered to their office when completed.  Students are asked to drop off and pick up their items to the Margaret Morrison laundry room between 11 a.m. and noon, and 1 and 2 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Please call 412-268-6939 or email dry-clean@andrew.cmu.edu to arrange for dry cleaning services. For rates, please see http://www.cmu.edu/housing/utilities-and-services/dry-cleaning/index.html.

Tartans Offer Swimming Lessons for Kids

Carnegie Mellon’s swimming team is offering one-on-one swimming lessons for children ages 3 and up every Tuesday and Thursday in April in the CMU pool.  Lesson times are 4:30 – 5, 5 – 5:30, 5:30 – 6 and 6 – 6:30 p.m. The cost is $20 for one session, $70 for four lessons, $100 for six and $140 for all eight half-hour sessions.

For more information and to register, contact Kellie Ayres at klayres@andrew.cmu.edu or 412-268-6082.

Free Fridays at Warhol Museum

The Andy Warhol Museum and UPMC Health Plan present free Fridays for the month of March. The museum is free and open to the public every Friday from 5 – 10 p.m. The events also feature a cash bar in The Warhol’s newly renovated entrance space, and DJ Shawn Watson specializing in an all-vinyl set of funk, punk, reggae and rock. For more information, visit http://www.warhol.org or call 412-237-8351.

Buggy Practices Continue

Buggy practice sessions will continue every weekend through April 5-6. Tech Street, Frew Street and Schenley Drive will be closed to traffic and parking from 5 - 9 a.m. on the following dates:

• March: 22, 23, 29, 30; and
• April:  5, 6

This year's 100th anniversary of Spring Carnival is April 10-12. Learn more about Spring Carnival.

Student Employee Appreciation Lunch Registration Deadline is March 28

Registration is now open for the Student Employee Appreciation Lunch from 12 – 1:30 p.m., April 2 in the  University Center’s Rangos Hall. Campus supervisors can host their student employees, and join them for lunch to celebrate the great work they do. Entertainment will be provided by musical theater students in the School of Drama. Registration deadline is March 28. Register at http://www.cmu.edu/career/student-employment-experiential/.

Responsible Conduct of Research Seminars Continue

The Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Seminar Series continues. Upcoming sessions are scheduled from 12 – 1 p.m. in the University Center. Dates and topics are:

• Wednesday, March 26: Data Security
• Tuesday, April 8: International Research Considerations: Foreign Travel and Foreign Collaborators
• Tuesday, April 15: Ethical Issues with Research Involving Human Subjects
• Tuesday, April 22: Research Data Management

More information is available on the RCR website. Space is limited, so please register early.