PIPER6/07 Issue 8 A SK A NDREW All Smiles! 9 F A CULTY A W A RDS 1 0 N EWS B RIE F S 1 2 I NTERN A TION A L D ISP A TCHES “The Right Person To Lead This Great University” n Bruce Gerson He’s the right person, at the right O time, for the top job, again. That’s Y E the overwhelming consensus of the DR an Presidential Review Committee, which en recommended the reappointment of Carnegie Mellon President Jared L. B Y K oto H Cohon. The Board of Trustees approved P the committee’s recommendation at its C OMEDIAN AND EDU C ATION ADVO C ATE B ILL C OS B Y KEPT EVERYONE IN SMILES — IN C LUDING P RESIDENT J ARED L . C OHON May 21 meeting and appointed Cohon to — AT C ARNEGIE M ELLON ’ S 1 1 0 TH C OMMEN C EMENT ON S UNDAY , M AY 2 0 . C OS B Y TOLD THE 2 , 1 0 0 STUDENTS RE C EIV - a third five-year term, starting July 1. ING DEGREES TO J UST B E THEMSELVES . “ D ON ’ T TALK YOURSELF INTO NOT B EING YOU AT ANY TIME , ” HE SAID . “ Y OU “Jared Cohon has been, and will DON ’ T HAVE AN EX C USE THAT WORKS WHEN YOU SAY , ‘ B UT I WAS NERVOUS . ’ T HAT ’ S NOT YOU . ” O F C OURSE , C OS B Y continue to be, an exceptional leader GAVE THE SPEE C H IN HIS OWN UNIQUE STYLE , WITH LOTS OF J AZZ S C ATTING AND OTHER C OS B YISMS THROWN IN FOR of Carnegie Mellon University,” said GOOD MEASURE . F OR MORE ON C OMMEN C EMENT , IN C LUDING A FULL TRANS C RIPT OF C OS B Y ’ S SPEE C H , SEE PAGE 6 . C ONTINUED ON PAGE THREE Carnegie Mellon’s NavLab 5 Rides Into Robot Hall of Fame n Byron Spice carry the NavLab name. Its crowning achievement was “No Hands Across Carnegie Mellon’s own NavLab scored America,” a 3,000-mile road trip in another first last month: it became the which the vehicle did 98 percent of the first university robot to ride into the steering. Robot Hall of Fame®. Todd Jochem, who went along The modified 1990 Pontiac on that memorable ride in 1995 as a TranSport minivan was one of a doctoral student and is now president of series of 10 increasingly sophisticated Applied Perception Inc., was on hand autonomous vehicles developed at for the induction class announcement the Robotics Institute that would C ONTINUED ON PAGE FOUR T HIS YEAR ’ S C LASS OF INDU C TEES INTO THE R O B OT H ALL OF F AME IN C LUDES C ARNEGIE M ELLON ’ S OWN N AV L A B 5 , A MODIFIED 1 9 9 0 P ONTIA C MINIVAN THAT DID 9 8 PER C ENT OF THE STEERING ON A TRIP A C ROSS THE U . S . O NE For Bingham, It’s What’s on Top That Matters Most PIPER Eco-art, on one hand, is about approach, I executed the largest scale 6/07 Issue n Eric Sloss making statements and asking questions possible and I thought, maybe, the P UBL I SHER Teresa Thomas What’s the most important part of a about how we humans live on the university administration would go with planet, use its resources and pollute some of the ideas. With my architectural E dit OR building? The interior? The exterior? Bruce Gerson Neither, says Bob Bingham, professor its assets. But it is also about finding background I’ve learned to use the M ANAG I NG E dit OR of art and a fellow in the STUDIO for creative ways of looking at the problems power of an architectural plan. I used Susie Cribbs Creative Inquiry. For Bingham, it’s facing our increased degradation of these plans to make my case on what the W R it ERS what’s on top — the roof — that the environment. Eco-art raises our roof could look like. Jonathan Potts Eric Sloss matters most. consciousness about environmental In 2000, Diane Loviglio (BHA’05) Byron Spice Bingham’s ecological art practice issues and makes us look at problems Landis Kauffman (A’02) and Aria Ken Walters evolved from using public mixed-media from a different perspective. Thomases (A’02) came to me because D ES I GNER Melissa Stoebe installations to address the relationship they heard I worked with facilities Communications Design Group between the natural and built environ- How did you get involved management on a green roof idea for the P HO T OGRAPHY ments. This evolution directly affected in green roofs? Purnell Center. They received a SURG Ken Andreyo Communications Design Group his approach as a teacher, and in 1996 he I worked with soil scientist John Buck, grant to research green roofs, and I created a new environmental art course who was with a local environment firm became their second faculty advisor. The To contact The Piper staff, call 412-268-2900 or email [email protected]. as part of the university’s Environment when I participated in the Nine Mile idea to green Hamerschlag Hall’s roof Across the Curriculum Initiative. In Run Greenway Project. For the project, evolved with an interdisciplinary team 2000, as a member of the university’s we were trying to plant a green space of students, faculty and staff through Carnegie Mellon University does not discriminate and Carnegie Mellon University is required not to discriminate in admission, employment, or administration of its programs or activities Green Practices Committee, he advised on the slagheap on the Squirrel Hill side the Green Practices Committee. They on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex or handicap in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of a student project to design and assist the Educational Amendments of 1972 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or other federal, state, in the implementation of the first green or local laws or executive orders. I S TART E D S T U D Y I NG ARCH it EC T URE WORK I NG AS A ROOFER I N In addition, Carnegie Mellon University does not discriminate roof on campus — Hamerschlag Hall’s in admission, employment or administration of its programs on the basis of religion, creed, ancestry, belief, age, veteran status, CONS T RUC ti ON OW M AN ARti S T CO mi NG BACK T O WORK ON sexual orientation or gender identity. Carnegie Mellon does not south roof. N I’ discriminate in violation of federal, state, or local laws or execu- tive orders. However, in the judgment of the Carnegie Mellon Some art practitioners call ROOFS US I NG SO M E OF T HOSE SA M E ARCH it EC T URE AN D Human Relations Commission, the Presidential Executive Order directing the Department of Defense to follow a policy of, “Don’t Bingham’s work eco-art. But if you look ask, don’t tell, don’t pursue,” excludes openly gay, lesbian and CONS T RUC ti ON SK I LLS I LEARNE D BEFORE I S TART E D M Y E D UCAti ON . bisexual students from receiving ROTC scholarships or serving at his work on a larger scale, he’s really in the military. Nevertheless, all ROTC classes at Carnegie Mel- lon University are available to all students. Inquiries concerning application of these statements should mastered the art of collaboration. be directed to the Provost, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, telephone 412-268-6684 or the Vice President for Enrollment, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, telephone 412- What is eco-art? of the Monongahela River across from researched a variety of issues about the 268-2056. Carnegie Mellon University publishes an annual campus Homestead. design and implementation of green security report describing the university’s security, alcohol and I like to talk about eco-art the way drug, and sexual assault policies and containing statistics about the number and type of crimes committed on the campus Newton and Helen Harrison, eco-artists, We had a trailer as our laboratory roofs, including how much a living roof during the preceding three years. You can obtain a copy by contacting the Carnegie Mellon Police Department at 412-268- implement their artwork. They would and community resource center, and we project would cost and what aspects 2323. The security report is available through the World Wide Web at www.cmu.edu/police/statistics.htm. create huge architectural maps and plans needed to test a plant material that holds of planting would work on top of the Obtain general information about Carnegie Mellon University by calling 412-268-2000. solid on steep slopes. So we decided roof. I helped them navigate through Produced for Media Relations by the Communications accompanied with a poetic dialogue Design Group, June 2007, 07-448. designed to begin conversations about to use it on top of the trailer and grow Carnegie Mellon administration and ecological change all over the world. it for two years. It grew 12-feet high. connect with professionals in the field. These plans are so ambitious they may The time with Buck was an important Over a five-year process, the planting moment for me. I started to research of Hamerschlag Hall’s living roof came growing light medium on roofs.