CMU’S news SOURCE FOR FACULTY & STAFF 4/12 ISSUE

2 W o l f e S h a r e s H o w P u b l i c T r a n sp o r tat i o n C h a n g e s W i l l Directing Success a f f e c t CMU

5 Book Focuses on Arab Women in Arab Media

M i n i C o u r s e H e l ps C a r n i va l b o o t h B u i l d e r s

9 G a r d e n e r T o O f f e r T i ps o n T a m i n g W i l d f l o w e r s Award-Winning Educators Make Personal Connections

n Piper Staff Faculty who exemplify the university’s standards of excellence in education are recognized annually as part of the Celebra- tion of Education, which this year will take place starting with a reception at 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 25 in Rangos 1 and 2 at the University Center. The events

are free and open to the public. Photo by Ken A ndreyo The Celebration of Education consists of five main awards: The Ryan Award, A w a r d - w i n n i n g d i r e c t o r R o b M a r s h all ( A ’ 8 2 ) o f f e r e d h i g h p r a i s e t o t h e c m u D r a m a S c h o o l a s h e t o u c h e d The Barbara Lazarus Award and The o n h o w c o ll e g e t h e a t e r t r a i n i n g a n d e x p e r i e n c e h a s b e e n a d r i v i n g a n d i n f l u e n t i al f o r c e i n h i s c a r e e r . “ I t w a s a n i n c r e d i b l e p r o g r a m , ” M a r s h all s a i d . “ I t w a s all h e r e . I w a s a c t i n g o n e m i n u t e , d o i n g Gelfand Award, presented annually, and v o i c e t h e n e x t . I t w a s a w o n d e r f u l c o m b i n a t i o n o f t h i n g s t h a t y o u c o u l d n ’ t f i n d a n y w h e r e e l s e i n t h e The Doherty Award and The Academic c o u n t r y . I t w a s r e all y p e r f e c t .” Advising Award, given every other year. In m a r s h all w a s a t c m u ’ s P i t t s b u r g h c a m p u s a s p a r t o f t h e S t e i n e r S p e ak e r S e r i e s , m a d e p o s s i b l e addition, the most recent recipients of the t h r o u g h t h e g e n e r o s i t y o f D a v i d ( E ’ 5 1 H ’ 1 1 ) a n d S y l v i a S t e i n e r . College Teaching Awards, the Graduate f o ll o w i n g w e l c o m i n g r e m a r k s b y c m u P r o v o s t a n d E x e c u t i v e V i c e P r e s i d e n t M a r k K a m l e t a n d Student Teaching Award and the Graduate S c h o o l o f D r a m a H e a d P e t e r C o o k e , M a r s h all j o i n e d t h e s t a g e a n d s a t d o w n t o a n i n f o r m al c o n v e r s a t i o n Student Service Award also are honored. w i t h C o o k e , f o ll o w e d b y a u d i e n c e q u e s t i o n s .

C o n t i n u e d o n p a g e s i x w a t c h t h e c o n v e r s a t i o n o n l i n e a t w w w . c m u . e d u / p i p e r . Autism Study CIC To Be Named For Former CMU President

Crosses n Teresa Thomas Six former Carnegie Mellon presi- and to technology commercialization at the university’s Information Networking Disciplines, dents have been immortalized with CMU. The building houses technology Institute and the CERT® Coordination university buildings named in their research and development offices for Center, Carnegie Mellon’s internation- Universities honor. Soon there will be a seventh. Apple, Intel and Disney. It also houses ally known cybersecurity team. Students, faculty and staff are Carnegie Mellon’s CREATE Lab — a Carnegie Mellon’s eighth President, n Shilo Rea invited to a ceremony at 11 a.m., robotics lab sponsored by Microsoft — Jared L. Cohon, said the Collaborative

While it’s well accepted that genetics Wednesday, April 18 in the Col- and space for Carnegie Mellon CyLab, C o n t i n u e d o n p a g e t h r e e play a strong role in autism disorders, the laborative Innovation Center (CIC) underlying causes remain a mystery. lobby, where the CIC will be named But, now for the first time, researchers, the Robert Mehrabian Collaborative including Carnegie Mellon’s Kathryn Innovation Center in honor of CMU’s Roeder and the University of Pittsburgh’s seventh president. Mehrabian, who Bernie Devlin, have identified three genes led CMU from 1990 to 1997, is now that affect a child’s risk for autism. chairman, president and CEO of Published in “Nature,” this series of Teledyne Technologies Inc. studies suggests that autism disorders are The dedication recognizes caused by variations in multiple unrelated Mehrabian’s contributions to

C o n t i n u e d o n p a g e t w e l v e economic development in Pittsburgh O n e Q&A With Ryan Wolfe: Public Transportation Changes Will Impact Carnegie Mellon Community

n Heidi Opdyke Ryan Wolfe, director of Campus Services, T o p 20 recently attended a Staff Council general body meeting to discuss Carnegie All of the top 20 Port Authority Mellon’s rising use of public transporta- Transit routes used by members tion and the impact of the proposed mas- of the CMU community are being sive Port Authority Transit service cuts, considered for service reductions expected to take place Sept. 2. The Piper or elimination. They include: caught up with Wolfe after the talk. 61D 54 P1 How will the proposed changes 61C 71C Light Rail at the Port Authority Transit (PAT) 61A 64* P3 affect members of the Carnegie 61B 28X 82 Mellon community? 71B 75 58* The proposed changes as they stand 71D 67 86 right now include an approximate 35 71A 69* percent reduction in their system. They *indicates proposed elimination are proposing an elimination of 46 routes, all of which are currently used by staff and students. With a new agreement, will the In addition to the proposed 35 university continue to pay for percent reduction, there’s a general fare faculty and staff to ride for free? increase that will take place in July. Yes. To clarify, the students do pay a While this does not directly impact our transportation fee, and the university community members that use Port through the benefits process funds Authority services, it will have a nega- faculty and staff participation. So while tive impact on the Pittsburgh region. there is not an additional charge to the Obviously, the route eliminations employee, there is money being col- are of the greatest concern to Carnegie lected centrally for both groups. Mellon. Ninety percent of our ridership is concentrated in about 20 routes. Is there anything people can do to If you look at the 61s, 71s and a few be involved? others, that’s a real big bulk of our Based upon the turnout and conversa-

ridership. Four of these top 20 routes, p hoto by heidi o dy k e tion we had at the town hall meeting

all heading east, are on the list for R y a n W o l f e as well as other presentations around possible elimination. 20 bus routes will continue to run after The other concern is the 10 p.m. S l i d e s f r o m W o l f e ’ s S ta f f C o u n c i l p r e s e ntat i o n service stop time. Only five of our top 10 p.m. under the proposed changes to a r e a v a i l a b l e at w w w . c m u . e d u / s ta f f - c o u n c i l / PAT’s schedule — 58, 61B, 69, 71A and 71D. Our shuttle and escort system rider- n e w s /2011-2012/PAT- u p d at e . h t m l ship has been steadily increasing and is up 30 or 40 percent. The PAT reductions L e a r n m o r e a b o u t p u b l i c t r an s i t f r o m a t w o - p a r t r e p o r t would put even further stress on that if p r o d u c e d b y CMU P h .D. E l l i s R o b i n s o n , K e v i n B r o w n there were essentially only five buses an d D an i e l T ka c i k f o r WRCT 88.3-FM serving students after 10 p.m. piper at h tt p :// t r an s i t r a d i o p g h . w o r d p r e s s . c o m . 4/12 Issue What is ridership like for Carnegie P u b l i s h e r Teresa Thomas Mellon? We’ve had conversations with the campus, it is clear that our community It has gone up over the years. Last year E d i t o r m ana g i n g E d i t o r University of Pittsburgh about what is aware and concerned. We will con- Bruce Gerson Heidi Opdyke we were at almost 1.8 million rides, and they’re thinking about doing to prepare tinue to communicate with both the Port I would expect our ridership to be at or W r i t e r s because Pitt is in a very similar situa- Authority and the campus concerning Jocelyn Duffy Byron Spice above that this year. tion. They have fewer parking places the proposed cuts. Bruce Gerson Chriss Swaney Between 2006 and 2011, we’ve had Heidi Opdyke Teresa Thomas per capita than we do and they rely Whether or not you use PAT, a ser- Shilo Rea Ken Walters 30 percent growth. heavily on the Port Authority. vice reduction of this size will impact Dennis Schebetta you. Please contact your local repre- Where is the impact going to be the What are some of the important sentative in Harrisburg, in the Senate D e s i g n e r worst? Melissa Stoebe dates to know? or the House, and let them know your Communications Design and Photography Specifically, with 26 of the proposed 46 On April 18 the PAT Board of Directors Group concerns via email or phone. All those routes to be eliminated, the east would is going to review the final committee messages start to add up. P h o t o g r a p h y be especially hard hit. If you look at the Ken Andreyo proposal and vote on it. Then the full The students are working with Tim Kaulen proposed route and park-n-ride elimina- board is scheduled to meet on April 27 Government Relations and the Dean Communications Design and Photography tions, it’s going to cause a great deal Group to vote on the fare increase and service of Students to plan a trip to Harrisburg of traffic to funnel into Wilkinsburg. It reductions. in early April to do a little lobbying on To contact The Piper staff, call 412-268- really would be a very challenging situ- 2900 or email [email protected]. behalf of the university. Carnegie Mellon University does not discriminate in admission, ation. employment, or administration of its programs or activities What is the university’s service The comment period is already on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, handicap or disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, We are very concerned about that. agreement with the Port Authority? creed, ancestry, belief, veteran status, or genetic information. over, and we tried to do our best to Furthermore, Carnegie Mellon University does not discriminate From a parking resource standpoint and is required not to discriminate in violation of federal, state, It’s a five-year deal that ends July 31. get that message out there. I know we or local laws or executive orders. Inquiries concerning the application of and compliance we can’t easily accommodate anymore Right now we’re talking with them with this statement should be directed to the vice president received more than 100 messages, and for campus affairs, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, telephone 412-268-2056. parking than we have right now. We’re about a new five-year agreement. Carnegie Mellon University publishes an annual campus we will summarize those and share security and fire safety report describing the university’s secu- looking at the idea of satellite lots, but rity, alcohol and drug, sexual assault, and fire safety policies We’re working to develop terms that them with the university’s Government and containing statistics about the number and type of crimes committed on the campus and the number and cause of that’s in the very early stages. are acceptable to both parties. fires in campus residence facilities during the preceding three Relations Office so they can use them years. You can obtain a copy by contacting the Carnegie Mellon Police Department at 412-268-2323. The annual in ways that would be beneficial to the security and fire safety report is also available online at www.cmu.edu/police/annualreports. Produced for Media Relations by The Communications cause. Design and Photography Group, April 2012, 12-492. T w o Library To Be Named for “Renaissance Man” Roger Sorrells n Bruce Gerson The library pays tribute to the man After retiring from A&M in 1992, he The late Roger Sorrells had an affinity for St. Clair met in 1984 at Texas A&M volunteered for the World Shakespeare university libraries. On April 17, he’ll have University, where they developed a close Bibliography and railroaded frequently to one named for him at Carnegie Mellon. bond, travelling together to work on Pennsylvania. When St. Clair joined Carnegie At a dedication ceremony from 4 to many digital library projects. Mellon in 1998, he became involved in 5:30 p.m. that day, Carnegie Mellon will A physicist and mathematician by university activities, including the Million name its Engineering & Science Library training, Sorrells taught at San Antonio Book Project. St. Clair and Sorrells were in Wean Hall the Roger Sorrells Engineer- College and Southwest Texas State founding members of CMU’s Highlands ing & Science Library thanks to a gener- University (now Texas State University) Circle, a society honoring those who have ous gift from his longtime partner, Dean in San Marcos. He later pursued a Ph.D. given $1 million or more to the university. of University Libraries Gloriana St. Clair. in Computer Science at Texas A&M. Besides the World Shakespeare Sorrells passed away last September. In 1978, Sorrells joined the Texas Bibliography, he worked with Mothers “One of Roger’s hobbies was visiting A&M Computing Center, where he eventu- Against Drunk Drivers, Compassionate different universities all over the world ally became head of the Help Desk, recruit- Friends and the Lions Club. He loved to — in China, India, New Zealand and the ing and training students to answer ques- bike, hike, spelunk and snorkel. United States — to see their buildings tions and solve problems. He was greatly In an email announcing St. Clair’s and libraries. If he were walking around admired by students, whom he assisted in gift and the library dedication, Provost p hoto courtesy o f gloriana st. clair Carnegie Mellon now, he would walk troubleshooting their computer programs. and Executive Vice President Mark into a library named after himself and see T h e la t e R o g e r S o r e ll s a n d For his exemplary service to the university, Kamlet called Sorrells a “quiet, renaissance this wonderful recognition of his life in G l o r i a n a S t . C la i r v i s i t e d Sorrells received Texas A&M’s President’s man who became a steadfast supporter of academia,” St. Clair said. l i b r a r i e s a r o u n d t h e w o r l d Meritorious Service Award in 1991. Carnegie Mellon.”

CIC Building To Be Named for Mehrabian C o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e o n e

Innovation Center was a particularly energy efficiency, was built in 2005 to indoor parking garage. The Intelligent A research facility at the Pittsburgh appropriate choice to honor Mehrabian’s provide office and lab space for tech- Workplace, the Purnell Center for the Technology Center and the George A. legacy to the university and to the region. nology companies wishing to partner Arts, and Posner Hall, also were com- Roberts Engineering Hall also were “During his presidency, Robert with Carnegie Mellon to create innova- pleted as part of the East Campus Project. completed during his tenure. Mehrabian was an ardent and effective tive new concepts and products for the advocate for the role of Carnegie Mellon marketplace. Many call the building, in generating prosperity for the city and developed in partnership with the Re- T h e M e h r a b i an F i l e the nation. It is fitting that his legacy be gional Industrial Development Corpora- Mehrabian, who holds bachelor’s and doctor’s associated with a building that so visibly tion, a “hub” of technological innovation degrees from MIT, spent nearly 30 years in academia, starting at MIT in 1968 and concluding links the university, its students and in Pittsburgh. It is the only building in as president of Carnegie Mellon in 1997. He left faculty to leading technology companies the world to have housed Google, Intel, MIT in 1975 as an associate professor, and from and the broader Pittsburgh community. Apple and Disney. 1975 to 1979 he was a professor of metallurgy “As an entrepreneur, a scientist and Mehrabian helped to lay the ground- and a professor of mechanical engineering at the leader on this campus, he defined new work for CMU’s successful technology University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. From relationships for Carnegie Mellon with commercialization efforts. Over the 1983 to 1990, he served as dean of engineering many business and community partners years that followed, faculty and students at the University of California, Santa Barbara. and helped our Pittsburgh campus to created more than 300 companies and In 1999, Mehrabian became president and CEO of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated grow gracefully and beneficially for its 9,000 jobs in the region. Building on following its spin-off from Allegheny Technologies. He became chairman of residents. It is an honor to attach the the Mehrabian legacy, CMU announced the board in December 2000. name of Robert Mehrabian to the Collab- earlier this year a Greenlighting Startups Mehrabian also spent four years in the Senior Executive Service of the orative Innovation Center,” Cohon said. initiative, a portfolio of CMU incuba- U.S. government. As director of the Center for Materials Science of the tor groups designed to speed innovation Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology, Legacy Includes from the research lab to the marketplace. he initiated numerous government/industry programs that became models Economic Development, for such cooperative efforts. Tech Transfer Improving Undergraduate During his UC Santa Barbara and Carnegie Mellon tenures, he spun-off a Mehrabian played a vital role in the Education and Quality of number of high technology companies. An internationally recognized authority on advanced technologies, Mehrabian served as senior adviser in manufactur- Regional Economic Revitalization Life on Campus ing and high technology processes for many Fortune 500 companies. Initiative, which in the 1990s developed During his presidency, Carnegie Mellon Mehrabian holds eight U.S. and more than 40 foreign patents. He has a plan for economic development in the continued to climb among the nation’s authored 139 technical papers and edited six books in the field of materials greater Pittsburgh area. Mehrabian also elite universities, making great strides science and engineering. is credited with stimulating the univer- in improving undergraduate education He has earned numerous honors and awards. A member of the National sity’s technology transfer operation and and the quality of life on campus for stu- Academy of Engineering, he was named a fellow and distinguished Life his efforts helped lead to the develop- dents, faculty and staff. Enhancements in Member of the American Society of Metals International (ASM), a fellow and ment of a Carnegie Mellon facility in the academic programs and student activi- Leadership Award recipient of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society, and a winner of the ASM’s Henry Marion Howe Medal. Pittsburgh Technology Center, a former ties helped student applications soar to He has received honorary doctorates from Carnegie Mellon and Chatham mill site that is now a vital stretch of re- more than 13,000 in 1996, more than University. search and development facilities along doubling the amount in Mehrabian’s the Monongahela River. inaugural year in office. P r e s i d e nt s i n P e r p e t u i t y Efforts like these eventually enabled Mentoring and advising initiatives Cyert Hall (Richard Cyert, president from 1972-90) university and government leaders to and efforts to enhance undergraduate Stever House (H. Guyford Stever, president from 1965-72) successfully obtain funding for the teaching helped to attract high-quality Warner Hall (John Christian Warner, president from 1950-65) creation of the Collaborative Innovation students and greatly improved the stu- Doherty Hall (Robert E. Doherty, president from 1936-50) Baker Hall (Thomas S. Baker, president from 1922-35) Center, a unique business incubator that dent retention rate. Hamerschlag Hall (Arthur A. Hamerschlag, president from 1903-22) contributed to Pittsburgh being named a Mehrabian oversaw the completion top technology city by Forbes.com. of the East Campus Project, an ambi- N a m i n g C e r e m o n y The facility, which received a Gold tious building plan that resulted in a 11 a.m., Wednesday, April 18 LEED rating from the U.S. Green Build- new University Center, two residence Collaborative Innovation Center lobby ing Council for its sustainability and halls, Gesling Stadium and a multi-level Students, faculty and staff are invited to attend. T h r e e “Bus Stop” Classic Romantic Comedy Bridges Gap Between 1950s and Today

n Dennis Schebetta movie starring Marilyn Monroe. York City and has directed for all the ma- Williams, according to Lehane, who The iconic American diner is an ideal “‘Bus Stop’ is one of those iconic jor television networks as well as PBS, said he hopes there might be resurgence setting for dramatic possibilities, which ‘bar room’ plays — a bunch of strangers TBS, Lifetime, Nickelodeon and The in Inge’s plays as he finds them so is why it’s been used for movies like who would otherwise not be together Disney Channel. He said he was attracted accessible. “Diner” and “American Graffiti” and socially are brought together because a to “Bus Stop” because of his interest in “He has a kind of intimate voice,” featured in paintings snow storm makes the bridging the gap between the culture of Lehane said. “That makes one feel quite such as Edward Hop- bus stuck overnight,” an earlier time and place, before tablet comfortable with him and knowledge- per’s “Nighthawks.” Lehane said. computers and smartphones connected us able about the characters — we hear our And on April 26, Inge’s characters tran- to the world. own voice in their articulation of joys the School of Drama scend stereotype. Cherie “The culture of the ’50s seems al- and sorrows.” will uncover the joys and is more than just a strug- most childlike compared to the culture of “Bus Stop” fits the classic mold of sorrows of 1950s diner gling nightclub singer the 21st century,” Lehane said. “There’s romantic comedy, but like most of Inge’s culture when it stages hoping for stardom and no computers, televisions are new, and plays the humor is tinged with an autum- William Inge’s classic Bo is more than just an rural and small town life are very much nal feeling. Even though the romantic American play “Bus American cowboy who still alive. Even our views on ambition couple seem to be heading toward some Stop,” set in the diner of thinks he owns everyone and money are completely different.” happy ending, you get “a slightly minor a small Kansas town. and everything, and In working with Lehane’s idea of key feeling,” Lehane said, “that life goes “There’s a kind of claims Cherie as his finding a bridge into our America, scenic on and not always full of laughs.” nostalgia for diners,” own. designer Josh Smith (MFA’12) chose not said Gregory Lehane, “There’s a bit of Wil- to capture any real-life “kitchen sink” director of “Bus Stop” liam Inge in all these ideas of a 1950s bus stop. Instead, the “Bus Stop” Performances and professor of drama and music. “All characters,” said dramaturg Michael audience will encounter on the stage an run April 26 – May 5 in the that chrome and Formica and the spirit Christie (BFA’12). Christie assisted abandoned field where the skeleton of Philip Chosky Theater. of the ’50s with all that stillness.” Lehane with research prior to the play’s a bus sits, looking as if its been sitting The diner’s primary purpose is to production as part of his senior thesis in there for 60 years. Ticket prices begin at $15 for be a bus stop on a two-lane desolate the Dramaturgy Program. “The characters will materialize adults and $10 for students. highway in an era that existed before Born and raised in Kansas, Inge from the past, relive the night quite viv- For more information and interstates and travel marts populated the struggled with alcoholism and depres- idly and go back into memory,” Lehane to purchase tickets, call the country. sion and most of his characters in his said. School of Drama box office The show debuted on Broadway plays (“Picnic” and “Come Back, Little Inge is one of this country’s most at 412-268-2407. in 1955 to critical success and ran for Sheba”) were inspired by real-life events. renowned playwrights but often is over- more than a year. It also was made into a Lehane has directed plays in New shadowed by Arthur Miller or Tennessee

Alumnus, University President N e w B o o k P r o f i l e s F i l m m ak e r Pledges CIT Fellowship an d t h e P o l i t i c s o f A m e r i c an C i n e m a

n Chriss Swaney n Shilo Rea Carnegie Mellon alumnus Nam Pyo Suh a new organizational program structure for John Sayles is a model of the contemporary and his wife, Young Suh, have pledged supporting research to strengthen engineer- independent filmmaker. Sayles functions more funds for a new endowed graduate fel- ing education and research throughout the independently than most directors because lowship in mechanical engineering. U.S. Prior to going to KAIST, Suh was a he raises the funds for his films himself. “We are extremely honored to have professor at MIT, where he is currently In the new book “John Sayles,” Carnegie such a prominent alum give back to the Ralph E. and Eloise F. Cross Professor, Mellon’s David R. Shumway profiles Sayles CMU in a way that will benefit future Emeritus. and how he has used his freedom to write and technology leaders,” said Nadine Aubry, “Young and I are honored to give back produce films with a distinctive personal style the Raymond J. Lane Distinguished to Carnegie Mellon, where I received such and clearly expressed political opinions. Professor and head of Carnegie Mellon’s rigorous graduate education, and we hope “Like Classic Era directors such as Mechanical Engineering Department. that this pledge will inspire other Carnegie Howard Hawks and Alfred Hitchcock, John Sayles is A longtime Carnegie Mellon Mellon alumni in Korea to give back to a great storyteller,” said Shumway, professor of English and direc- supporter, Suh received a Ph.D. in their alma mater and participate tor of the Humanities Center. “But unlike their films, his also ask us to think mechanical engineering from CMU in CMU’s capital campaign,” Suh said. critically about the world in which we live. He has been able to make such in 1964 and an honorary doctorate in Carnegie Mellon has 900 alumni films because he has not had to depend on entertainment conglomerates to science and technology in 2008. The living in Korea and more than 300 Korean finance them, and thus has retained artistic control of his work. His films teach latter recognized decades of innovative graduate and undergraduate students us about historical events we are unlikely to know much about — such as work, including his development of a currently enrolled at the university. In Baseball’s Black Sox scandal, the Stone Mountain Coal War, or the Philipine- novel process for production of plastic November, CMU President Jared L. Cohon American War — but they also, like a good teacher, raise questions about parts used in factories worldwide. Suh and Tepper School of Business Dean assumptions viewers are likely to hold before seeing them.” also has paved the way for joint graduate Robert M. Dammon addressed more than From “The Return of the Secaucus Seven” to “Sunshine State,” Sayles’ programs and synergies between CMU 200 CMU alumni and parents at a Seoul films have conveyed progressive political positions on issues including race, and KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute event. At that event, Jong Woo Kwak, gender, sexuality, class and disability. Shumway feels the defining character- of Science and Technology), where he CMU alumni chapter president and istic of Sayles’ cinema is realism, exploring his attention to narrative in films serves as president. Tepper School graduate, spoke eloquently such as “Eight Men Out,” “Passion Fish” and “Lone Star.” Innovative and dynamic, Suh ac- about the need for CMU alumni in Korea Shumway also provides details about the conditions surrounding the cepted a presidential appointment in to participate in the capital campaign. films’ production, distribution and exhibition. 1964 to the National Science Founda- Donors from outside the United States For more information about “John Sayles,” which was published by the tion (NSF), where he was in charge of have contributed $64.2 million of the University of Illinois Press as a volume in the Contemporary Film Directors engineering. During his NSF tenure, $1.02 billion that CMU has raised to date series, visit www.amazon.com/John-Sayles-Contemporary-Film-Directors/ Suh created a new direction for the as part of the Inspire Innovation Campaign, dp/025207856X. Engineering Directorate and introduced which ends June 30, 2013. F o u r Breaking Stereotypes Professor’s Book Focuses on Arab Women in Arab Media n Heidi Opdyke misunderstandings, I’m constantly mis- represented in the Western media and Being a Qatari professor at an American under-represented in the Arab media, university in Doha, Amal Al Malki is so I felt something had to be done.” used to breaking stereotypes. “People tend to see me as the rep- Al Malki and David Kaufer, a resentative of the culture, especially the professor of English, were granted a pri- female culture in Qatar, which could be ority fund in 2008 by the Qatar National misleading,” said Al Malki, an assistant Research Fund to investigate Arab teaching professor of liberal and social women representation in Arab media. sciences at Carnegie Mellon Qatar. Suguru Ishizaki, an associate profes- “There is a constant fight against peo- sor of English who also has a courtesy ple’s stereotypes of the others, and I hope appointment in the School of Design, that each time I prove myself worthy of created a system for the quantitative my position, I break a stereotype.” base for the study, and Kira Dreher, a With that in mind, Al Malki was visiting instructor at Carnegie Mellon the lead author on a new book, “Arab Qatar, assisted with the research. Dreher I mage C ourtesy o f A mal l M al k i received her master’s degree in literary Women and Arab News: Old Stereotypes A s s i s t a n t T e a c h i n g P r o f e s s o r A m al A l M alk i w a s t h e l e a d a u t h o r o f and New Media,” jointly published by and cultural studies from CMU in 2007. “A r a b W o m e n a n d A r a b N e w s : O l d S t e r e o t y p e s a n d N e w M e d i a .” Bloomsbury Academic Press in London The study looked at more than and Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation 2,300 articles and 100 Arab media en are indeed represented with a greater wider population of women who are Publishing in Doha. Al Malki said the sources from a 22-month time period. balance of positive and negative images seeking ways of taking the next steps in book is a personal and academic attempt Kaufer said 44 percent of the mentions than have been found in older Western an active, productive life.” to offer a new interpretation of who Arab for women came from four liberal and studies of Arab women in Western me- Kaufer said that Arab women have and Muslim women are without being transnational Arab presses based in dia, especially in the liberal pan-Arab made the same kinds of gains and defensive or emotional. London. newspapers.” experience the same kinds of challenges “As an academic, I feel that it is my Al Malki said that Arab women While focusing on the Arab media that women in every region of the world duty as someone who belongs to differ- voices have been an integral part of the for the study, Al Malki and the other face, including the United States. ent cultures to work on bridging the gaps construction of the news, whether in authors said the research is important to “Women in both America and Arab between our part of the world and the traditional media or through new share with Western audiences. regions want education and advance- West,” she said. “There is a long history methods such as social media. “I would be more than happy if after ment, rewarding careers, and happy and of cross-cultural and linguistic adapta- “Compared to social science stud- reading the book a stereotype is broken healthy families,” he said. “It sounds tion, the Islamic civilization has helped ies of the portrayal of Arab women in about Arab and Muslim women,” Al trivial when you put it this way, yet it’s Europe in setting the grounds in different Western news conducted during the Malki said. “We believe our book will be surprising how many Western belief fields, and now we have adopted the 1980s and 1990s, Arab women have of interest to women around the world systems think Arab women (and English language as a medium of come a long way as a unified force and invested in enforcing human rights for families) are fundamentally different education and communication. a powerful voice in hard news in the women. We have written this book for than American women and families in “As a woman who lives amid these Arab press,” Al Malki said. “Arab wom- the women of Qatar but also for this these respects.”

“As Seen on TV” New Mini Course Helps Carnival Booths Rerun Favorite Show Moments n Abby Simmons communication for students with Delta Force. Donora will open the concert, which is Midway visitors may see some professors,” said Spring Carnival For a full preview of this year’s free and open to the public. The concert unexpected architectural features on Committee Chair Meg Hayes (DC’11). competitive slate, fans can read Buggy will take place on the CFA Lawn and booths at this year’s Spring Carnival and “Some organizations are now Alumni Association Head Mechanic does not require a ticket or wristband. Reunion Weekend, April 19-21. introducing more sophisticated booth Sam Swift’s weekly “Rolls Reports” at In the event of inclement weather, the To help bring this year’s “As Seen design features like curved walls and http://cmubuggy.org. WRCT 88.3-FM concert will move to Wiegand Gym, and on TV” theme to life, a new optional cantilevers.” will provide live race-day interviews and wristbands will be distributed on a first- one-unit mini course, Realization and “Shark Week,” “Looney Tunes” and play-by-play commentary, and cmuTV come, first-served basis at the University Building of Themed Environments, was “Mythbusters” are just a few of the pop will stream coverage at www.cmuTV. Center Information Desk. offered by School of Drama faculty culture references that will go into some org/buggy. Students involved in planning these members Kevin Hines and David of the designs, she said. time-honored campus traditions said Boevers. Hayes, a graduate student in the Carnival Finale they appreciate the guidance they have Hines and Boevers are technical Heinz College, said Madelyn Miller, The Activities Board has moved its received from Student Activities staff. directors and have served as booth director of Environmental Health and headlining concert, previously held on “I’ve visited our adviser, Taylor judges in the past. Hines said that the Safety, and Larry Cartwright, a College Friday of Spring Carnival weekend, to Grabowsky, nearly every day since process of building a booth is similar to of Engineering faculty member, also 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The concert will end Spring Break,” Hayes said. what is done in theater. are lending equipment and expertise to with fireworks. Sweepstakes adviser Kaycee “We’re probably going to do it make sure student builders and Midway “We made this change so that the Palko said fellow staff members from again next year, and we hope to see visitors are safe. show is similar to the Guster concert we the Division of Student Affairs and more people take advantage of it,” helped organize last fall,” said Activities volunteers from other divisions are Hines said. Sweepstakes Buggy Races Board Executive Chair Adam Kriegel, essential to the success of the weekend. The class offered new techniques Two new teams will compete in this referring to the grand finale of Carnegie “Many people have told me they and methods for designing and building year’s Sweepstakes buggy races. A Mellon’s celebration of William S. Diet- look forward to Spring Carnival, because booths with a focus on safety. Hines group of students who first met while rich II’s historic $265 million gift to the it’s an opportunity for them to interact said they also discussed material options living in the Residence on Fifth have university. directly with our students,” Palko said. and suppliers, which may have been formed team APEX, and Delta Delta The concert’s main act, Passion Pit, Alumni Relations also has been busy unknown to students previously. Delta Sorority and Delta Tau Delta is an electropop band from Cambridge, planning reunions with the assistance “It opened up the line of Fraternity have partnered to form team Mass. Pittsburgh-based indie rock band C o n t i n u e d o n p a g e s e v e n F i v e Awards Celebrate Educators Who Make Personal Connections C o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e o n e

said Susan G. Polansky, head of the “Thanks to Yueming Yu’s dedication Modern Languages Department. “Yuem- to program development and her expert ing’s passion and dedication have been teaching, Carnegie Mellon now boasts major factors in our explosive growth. one of the largest programs in Chinese in She has found effective ways to teach the eastern United States,” said Chris- complex material while guiding her tian Hallstein, director of undergraduate students to accomplish their best results.” studies for the Department of Modern Yu has taught all levels of Chinese Languages. classes over the past 16 years — from elementary to advanced and two special Barbara Lazarus Award fourth-year offerings: Topics of Contem- for Graduate Student and porary Culture of China and Studies in Junior Faculty Mentoring Chinese Traditions. In addition to teach- ing, Yu coordinates the Chinese program, Lofty goals: pursued and achieved. designing the curriculum and developing That has been a decade-long mantra syllabi and teaching materials. She also for Dena Haritos Tsamitis, the scrappy, p hoto by k en andreyo has been the adviser to Chinese minors sharp-eyed innovator who turned a fledg- K a y v o n F a t a h al i a , ( c s ’ 0 3 ) w h o i s n o w a n a s s i s t a n t p r o f e s s o r since 1998 and majors since 2005. ling Information Networking Institute a t t h e u n i v e r s i t y , t alk s w i t h M a r k S t e h l i k . Her students — current and former (INI) into an educational leader and aca- — uniformly praise Yu for her teach- demic home to happy, thriving Carnegie Robert E. Doherty Award for science in which I would eventually ing manner and effectiveness, as well as Mellon students and alumni worldwide. become interested,” he recalled, “even Sustained Contributions for her roles as a mentor and adviser. In Perhaps that’s why this Pied Piper of before I could recognize that interest to Excellence in Education 2010, she won the Dietrich College of student dreams and success stories was myself.” Humanities and Social Sciences Elliot chosen as the 2012 recipient of the Bar- Mark Stehlik, assistant dean of under- Dunlap Smith Award for Distinguished bara Lazarus Award for Graduate Student graduate education in the School of William H. and Frances S. Teaching and Educational Service. and Junior Faculty Mentoring. Computer Science, is the recipient of Ryan Award for Meritorious Not only does she build relation- this year’s Robert E. Doherty Award for Teaching ships and cultivate a sense of community, Sustained Contributions to Excellence in INI alums say she is a leader when it Education. When Professor Yueming Yu joined comes to the art of decision-making. Stehlik has been “the heart and the Carnegie Mellon faculty in 1992, “Although I graduated almost three soul” of SCS’s undergraduate program she taught the Chinese language class years ago, I still go back to my emails since its inception in 1988, said Randal offered by the Department of Modern from Dena to give myself rejuvenated E. Bryant, SCS dean. “He has taught Languages. Now, thanks to Yu’s dedica- confidence and enthusiasm to make the introductory programming, advised over tion to developing the program, the Chi- most of my life,” said Aditi Pendharkar, 2,500 students, served as the leader of nese Studies Program has grown from (INI’09), a senior business consultant for our introductory programming education an initial five students to more than 500, London-based Grant Thornton. group, and been an inspiration to all of with both a major and minor available. And the formula of success con- us.” For her role in establishing Chinese tinues to grow. Students, alumni and The honor comes at a pivotal time Studies at CMU and for her excellence junior faculty praise Tsamitis for leading for Stehlik, who this summer will begin in the classroom, Yu has won the 2012 interdisciplinary technology programs in a five-year stint as associate dean of William H. and Frances S. Ryan Award a department that continues to distin- education at Carnegie Mellon Qatar. He for Meritorious Teaching. guish itself by the quality of its students taught computer science at the Doha “Yueming Yu has established the and faculty and its caring mentorship of campus during stints in 2006, 2007, 2008 foundation of our successful Chinese p hoto by k en andreyo minority and women students. and 2011, and organized its annual high program and has played a key role in Y u e m i n g Y u l e c t u r e s i n o n e o f It is not uncommon for her to pen school programming contest. cultivating its extraordinary strength,” h e r c la s s e s . notes or inquire about the health of a Stehlik, who joined the faculty in 1982, has been a national leader in computer science education. He has been involved in the Advanced Placement T h e C o l l e g e T e a c h i n g A w a r d s Computer Science course from its incep- tion in 1984, organized numerous train- Below are the College Teaching Award recipients recognized in 2012. ing workshops for high school teachers and co-authored “Running on Empty,” Carnegie Institute of Technology The H. John Heinz III College School of Computer Science a 2010 study of the nation’s neglect of Benjamin Richard Teare, Jr. Teaching Martcia Wade Teaching Award Herbert A. Simon Award for Teaching computer science education. Award Wilpen L. Gorr Excellence in Computer Science As assistant dean, he is known for James F. Hoburg Professor David Kosbie setting high educational standards, but Professor, Department of Electrical Assistant Teaching Professor, also for making a personal connection & Computer Engineering Mellon College of Science Department of Computer Science with each student. Julius Ashkin Teaching Award College of Fine Arts Tepper School of Business Henry DeYoung, who earned his Danith H. Ly bachelor’s degree in 2008, noted Steh- Henry Hornbostel Teaching Award Associate Professor, Department Gerald L. Thompson Teaching Award lik’s office is famously crammed full of Ingrid Sonnichsen of Chemistry in the B.S. Business Administration books. Yet, “Mark always has room for Associate Teaching Professor, Program everyone,” DeYoung said. “Even though School of Drama Richard Moore Award for Sustained David Tungate only the front half of my wheelchair and Substantial Contributions to Edu- Associate Teaching Professor of Law cation could barely squeeze between the stacks The Dietrich College of Humanities & Social Sciences M.B.A. George Leland Bach of books, Mark always had room for me, Jonathan Minden Excellence in Teaching Award too.” Elliott Dunlap Smith Award for Professor, Department of Biological Sciences Willem-Jan van Hoeve DeYoung, now a Ph.D. student, said Teaching and Educational Service Assistant Professor of Operations Stehlik’s knowledge of computer sci- Bonnie L. Youngs Research ence and his insight into students make Teaching Professor of French, him an invaluable mentor. “Mark had Department of Modern Languages the uncanny ability to guide my course S i x selections toward the area of computer Kathryn McKissick (HNZ’08) “As Seen on TV” is worked with Ashesi University College in Ghana and conducted a needs analysis Carnival Theme

with the United Nations Development C o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e f i v e Program’s Equator Initiative. “This willingness, on Professor of academic departments, student Mertz’s part, to go above and beyond organizations and other campus groups. just being a professor to his students, Highlights from Alumni Relations and is what sets him apart. Not only is he a its partners include Friday’s All-Campus fantastic teacher, but he actually cares BBQ and “The Costumes of Downton about the world. He walks the walk. Abbey,” hosted by School of Drama cos- He is willing to give his time and energy tume shop manager Ken Chu (HNZ’12). Saturday’s lineup includes the Cyert to students who elicit his expertise,” Center for Early Education’s 40th Anni- she said. versary Open House, a chance for parents Brandon Loughery (HNZ’09) and alumni to reminisce, tour the cen- worked as a student consultant for the ter, and meet current staff and families. Ministry of Health in Palau and as a non- Scotch‘n’Soda, one of the nation’s oldest profit partner when he was the Pittsburgh student theater organizations, will present Food Bank’s IT Outreach Coordinator. “The Drowsy Chaperone” throughout the

p hoto courtesy o f dena haritos tsamitis “Joe’s program and mentorship has weekend. D e n a H a r i t o s T s a m i t i s c u l t i v a t e s a s e n s e o f c o m m u n i t y a t t h e I n f o r m a t i o n had an enduring and positive impact More information about Spring N e t w o r k i n g I n s t i t u t e . not only on my academic life, but in my Carnival and Reunion Weekend is professional and personal life as well,” student’s family. “She was the first per- Service Award for Educational Outreach. available at http://springcarnival.org son to call after my mother’s kidney sur- Since 1998, Mertz has taught “Tech- Loughery said. and alumni.cmu.edu. gery,” said Tyelisa C. Shields (INI’10). nology Consulting in the Community,” a Steven Andrianoff, an associate “She continues to make a difference.” course in which nearly 400 students have professor at St. Bonaventure University Carnival Highlights Alumni and students from the helped nearly 300 nonprofit organizations, in New York, said Mertz was an inspira- United States, Portugal, Rwanda, Greece schools and businesses in the Pittsburgh tion for starting his own consulting class. Thursday, April 19 and Japan echo those sentiments. region. “I have no doubt that Joe’s efforts Sweepstakes Design Competition Making things happen is a daily Similarly, Mertz directs an interna- have had a positive impact on hundreds 10 a.m.–2 p.m., Wiegand Gym ritual. Like a high-speed sunrise, tional program, “Technology Consulting of Carnegie Mellon students,” Andri- Opening Ceremony Tsamitis works tirelessly to guide and in the Global Community” (TCinGC), anoff said. “I attest to the positive impact 3 p.m., Midway (Morewood help students, alumni and junior faculty that has sent dozens of students to help his work has had on me, on St. Bonaven- Parking Lot) push their limits. government ministries and nongovern- ture University students, on community Pradeep K. Khosla, dean of the mental organizations in developing coun- leaders in the greater Olean area and on Kiltie Band Performance College of Engineering and the Dowd tries improve strategic uses of technology. St. Bonaventure University as a whole.” 4 p.m., Midway Tent University Professor, praised Tsamitis for her positive influence. Friday, April 20 “She emulates what it means to Preliminary Sweepstakes Races be a mentor, and she instills leadership 8 a.m.–noon, Course is on Tech and Frew qualities in students and alumni through streets and Schenley Drive

her dedicated and personal involvement,” Alumni Association Khosla said. All-Campus BBQ 11:30 a.m.–2 p.m., Merson Courtyard Mark Gelfand Service Award (Rain Location: Wiegand Gym) for Educational Outreach Mobot Races Not every teacher sends students to the Noon, Course in front of Wean Hall

Cook Islands, Sri Lanka or the Pittsburgh The Costumes of Food Bank for assignments. “Downton Abbey” But that’s what makes Joseph Mertz, 1:30–2:30 p.m., Lobby of the

an associate teaching professor in the p hoto by k en andreyo Purnell Center for the Arts Heinz College and the Dietrich College, J o e M e r t z o f f e r s l o c al a n d i n t e r n a t i o n al t e c h n o l o g y c o n s u l t i n g this year’s winner of the Mark Gelfand p r o g r a m s t o h e l p s t u d e n t s a n d n o n p r o f i t o r g a n i z a t i o n s . Saturday, April 21 Sweepstakes Final Races and KidZone Activity Area F u t u r e E n g i n e e r 9 a.m.–noon, Course is on Tech and Frew streets and Schenley Drive N a d i n e A u b r y , h e a d o f c m u ’ s

M e c h a n i c al E n g i n e e r i n g D e p a r t m e n t , Cyert Center 40th Anniversary Open House d i s c u s s e s engineering c a r e e r s

w i t h M i c h a e l B r a n c h , a s e n i o r a t Noon–3 p.m., Cyert Center/

W i lk i n s b u r g H i g h S c h o o l . B r a n c h ’ s Morewood Gardens

s c h o o l p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h e N a t i o n al Spring Carnival & Sweepstakes S o c i e t y o f B la c k E n g i n e e r s ’ Awards Ceremony c o n f e r e n c e , w h e r e n e a r l y 9 , 0 0 0 6 p.m., Midway tent c u r r e n t a n d f u t u r e e n g i n e e r s

g a t h e r e d a t P i t t s b u r g h ’ s D a v i d Concert and Fireworks Finale

L . L a w r e n c e C o n v e n t i o n C e n t e r 7:30 p.m., CFA Lawn (rain location:

i n e a r l y A p r i l . c m u ’ s C o ll e g e o f Wiegand Gym)

E n g i n e e r i n g h o s t e d a n i n f o r m a t i o n Scotch’n’Soda Production of b o o t h a t t h e c o n f e r e n c e , f e a t u r i n g “The Drowsy Chaperone” i n t e r a c t i v e r o b o t s a n d c m u ’ s 8 p.m., Thursday, April 19 a u t o n o m o u s C h e v y T a h o e “ B o s s , ” 2 and 11 p.m., Friday, April 20 a n d c o - s p o n s o r e d c o n v e n t i o n b a g s 2 and 7 p.m., Saturday, April 21 t h a t w e r e g i v e n t o all c o n f e r e n c e All performances are in Rangos Hall p a r t i c i p a n t s . p hoto by chriss swaney S e v e n China’s “Soft” Censorship Carnegie Mellon Study Looks at Deleted Messages on Chinese Microblogs

n Byron Spice Bamman said. An alternative is to allow Researchers in the School of Computer access to sites, but police the content, Science analyzed millions of Chinese eliminating messages deemed objec- microblogs, or “weibos,” to uncover tionable. Automated methods may be a set of politically sensitive terms that used to eliminate some messages, while draw the attention of Chinese censors. others are deleted manually, he noted. Individual messages containing the Seldom are all weibos with a sensitive terms were often deleted at rates that term deleted, but anecdotal evidence is could vary based on current events or overwhelming that certain messages are geography. targeted. The study is the first large-scale “You even see some weibos where analysis of political censorship in social the writer asks, ‘Is this going to be media, a topic that drew attention and deleted?’” O’Connor said. In late 2010, controversy earlier this year when Twit- New York Times columnist Nicholas ter announced a country-by-country Kristof opened an account on a Chinese microblog site; within an hour of send- I mage C ourtesy o f N oah S mith, D avid B amman and rendan O ’ onnor policy for removing tweets that don’t T h e i ll u s t r a t i o n i n d i c a t e s t h e d e g r e e o f c e n s o r s h i p i n e a c h p r o v i n c e . comply with local laws. ing a message about Falun Gong, his In China, where online censorship account was shut down. of railways. state-instigated censorship, the research- is highly developed, the researchers To study this “soft” censorship, the Censored terms are not always ers noted. Spam and pornographic found that oft-censored terms included CMU team analyzed almost 57 million political. Following the March 2011 messages also are subject to deletion, well-known hot buttons, such as Falun messages posted on Sina Weibo, a do- Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, just as they are in the United States. Gong, a spiritual movement banned mestic Chinese microblog site similar to weibos containing such politically in- By establishing a methodology for by the Chinese government, and hu- Twitter that has more than 200 million nocuous terms as iodized salt and radio- studying soft censorship in China, the man rights activists Ai Weiwei and Liu users. They collected samples of weibos active iodine had high deletion rates. The researchers say they now have a means Xiaobo. Others varied based on events; from June 27 to Sept. 30, 2011, using researchers believe these deletions were for actively monitoring social media Lianghui, a term that normally refers to an application programming interface the result of government efforts to quash censorship as it changes over time. a joint meeting of China’s parliament (API) that Sina Weibo provides to devel- false rumors about the nuclear accident They also may have the means to probe and its political advisory body, became opers so they can build related services. causing salt contamination. deeper, identifying code words and subject to censorship when it emerged Using the same API, they later Not all deletions are necessarily metaphors used to sidestep censors. as a code word for “planned protest” checked a random subset of weibos during pro-democracy unrest that began to see if they still existed and another in February 2011. subset that included terms known to The CMU study also showed high be politically sensitive. If a weibo was SafeSlinger rates of weibo censorship in certain deleted, Sina would return what the re- provinces. The phenomenon was par- searchers came to regard as an ominous New CyLab App Provides Security message: “target weibo does not exist.” ticularly notable in Tibet, a hotbed of n Chriss Swaney In late June and early July, for secure communications and file transfer political unrest, where up to 53 percent even if the servers involved are tainted instance, rumors began circulating of the We all want to be protected from cyber- of locally generated microblogs were with malware.” death of Jiang Zemin, a former general criminals and unsafe communications deleted. As more and more consumers ac- secretary of the Communist Party of while on our smartphones. The study by Noah Smith, associate cess the Internet from an ever-expanding China who came to power during the We want the confidence that the professor in the Language Technologies pool of mobile devices, including smart- people on the other end are who they Institute (LTI); David Bamman, a Ph.D. Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. On phones and tablets, Web-based threats claim to be. student in LTI; and Brendan O’Connor, July 6, at the height of the rumor, 64 of continue to become more frequent and SafeSlinger, a new mobile app from a Ph.D. student in the Machine Learn- 83 messages containing his name were increasingly sophisticated. Carnegie Mellon CyLab researchers, ing Department, appeared in the March deleted; on July 7, 29 of 31 such mes- “We increasingly lose control over provides that confidence and more. sages were deleted. our data. But SafeSlinger’s user-centric issue of First Monday, a peer-reviewed, “With SafeSlinger, users can gain As another check, the researchers security design includes an advanced online journal. control over their exchanged informa- compared the frequency of such mes- protocol, which incorporates elements “A lot of studies have focused on tion through end-to-end encryption, sages on Sina Weibo with those on the of several cryptographic schemes and censorship that blocks access to Inter- preventing intermediate servers or ser- Chinese language version of Twitter, factors in the prevention of numerous net sites, but the practice of deleting vice providers from reading their mes- which officially is blocked by China types of attacks,” Perrig said. individual messages is not yet well sages or other sensitive stored data in but can still be accessed by net-savvy Perrig is a 2006 winner of the Sloan understood,” Smith said. “The rise of their smartphones,” said Adrian Perrig, Research Fellowship for securing sen- domestic Chinese microblogging sites people. On July 6, Jiang’s name ap- technical director of Carnegie Mellon sor networks and a 2004 recipient of a has provided a unique opportunity to peared in one out of every 75 tweets, but CyLab and a professor of electrical and Career Award from the National Science systematically study content censorship just one out of every 5,666 messages on computer engineering. Foundation for work on secure and in detail.” Sina Weibo — another indication that Perrig along with Michael W. Farb, resilient sensor network communication The so-called Great Firewall of the Jiang conversations on Sina Weibo a CyLab research programmer, Jon infrastructure. are suppressed. China, which prevents Chinese residents McCune, a CyLab research systems “SafeSlinger gives end-users the Many weibos with high deletion from accessing foreign websites such as scientist, and CMU students Gurtej opportunity to secure their communica- Google and Facebook, is China’s best rates included terms and names known Singh Chandok and Manish Burman tions with a state-of-the-art, easy-to-use known censorship tool. Other countries to be politically sensitive, such as Fang developed SafeSlinger to help mobile Android smartphone app, without rely- also are known to block Web access, Binxing, the architect of the Great Fire- phone users safely and privately retrieve ing on obscure mechanisms,” McCune such as when Egypt shut down Twitter wall of China, and references to state information from trusted sources. said. “SafeSlinger provides users with and other social media sites during last propaganda. Others reflect sensitivity to “SafeSlinger provides you with the an easy way to securely exchange mes- year’s Arab Spring protests. events; a term meaning “to ask someone confidence that the person you are com- sages for free, finally providing people But blocking access to all sites and to resign” became subject to deletion municating with is actually the person with control over their own informa- services is impossible if China or any following the high-speed rail crash that they have represented themselves to be,” tion.” other country is to harness the Web’s killed 40 people in Wenzhou last July Farb said. “Perhaps the most impres- SafeSlinger is available for Android sive feature is that SafeSlinger provides 2.1 and iOs 5.0 devices. E i g h t commercial and educational potential, and apparently referenced the minister Lecture Spotlight: Gardener To Offer Tips on Taming Wildflowers n Heidi Opdyke One way to spend your Earth Day is by learning more about plants in your own W h o : John Totten backyard. W h a t : “W i l d f l o w e r s i n t h e h o m e g a r d e n ” Gardener John Totten will be delivering a lecture titled “Wildflowers W h e n : 2 p . m ., S u n d ay , A p r i l 22 in the home garden” at 2 p.m., April 22 at the Hunt Institute. W h e r e : Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, “Gardening with native plants can f i f t h f l o o r o f t h e H u n t L i b r a r y be not only of interest to gardeners, but even people who don't think of them- selves as gardeners,” Totten said. “To populations, many located on federal many beautiful examples of native plant someone that enjoys the outdoors and lands, and responsible gardeners should combinations that urban and suburban wild places, the opportunity to live with always insist on nursery-propagated homeowners can learn from. “If small these wild plants close at hand daily is children and pets can make gardening Photo courtesy o f j ohn totten natives that have spent their entire a special treat.” J o h n T o t t e n lives in a nursery setting. If this is not a challenge think about thousands of Totten said that many homeowners designated on the packaging, ask. If visitors and hundreds of hooves, beaks are looking to make landscapes more forest you saw along Slippery Rock they don’t know, go elsewhere.” and paws.” sustainable and natives serve an impor- Creek, where you might have noticed He said two of his favorite places Totten holds bachelor’s and mas- tant role in things such as rain gardens. how Virginia Bluebells flowered there in to purchase responsibly grown natives ter’s degrees from the University of He said it’s important to know which the spring and were followed by Turk’s from nearby seed sources are the Michigan’s School of Natural Resources plants would be found in similar condi- Cap Lilies in July,” he said. “When Audubon Center for Native Plants at and the Environment. He is an adjunct tions in the wild and called his most we only grow geraniums or tomatoes Beechwood Farms in Fox Chapel and faculty member in Chatham Univer- important tool a pair of hiking boots. we never develop this natural curiosity Sylvania Natives in Squirrel Hill. sity’s Landscape Architecture graduate “This is what makes developing about the wild places around us, and Some of the groups Totten has program and Penn State University’s a landscape with native plants such an we begin to be less connected and value consulted with include the Audubon Sustainable Landscape program. He all-encompassing form of gardening. wild places less.” Society, The Pittsburgh Zoo and also teaches classes in the Sustainable There is both art and science involved in Attendees will learn to evaluate Fallingwater. Horticulture and Landscape and Garden this process of distilling, intensifying and their properties with an eye toward “We all know that Fallingwa- Design certificate programs through translating the observations you make in selecting suitable plants, purchasing ter showcases the flora of the Laurel the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical the wild to your own backyard.” them responsibly and growing them Mountains, but one of the best kept Gardens. Plus, by growing native plants, they successfully. botanical secrets in Pittsburgh is the The lecture is part of a series of allow people to learn more about their “It is important to know that many display of Western Pennsylvania plant free talks by the Hunt Institute on region. vendors sell plants that are collected communities at the Kids Kingdom of Pennsylvania’s native plants as part “That damp spot in the shade in the from the wild,” Totten said. “This the Pittsburgh Zoo,” Totten said. He said of its current exhibit, “Native backyard can remind you of a floodplain practice has decimated wild plant the gardens throughout the zoo have Pennsylvania, A Wildflower Walk.”

Slapshot Science Fonseca Shares the Math Behind Hockey in Video Series n Jocelyn Duffy As the hockey playoff season begins, of classroom exercises. If we show kids fans across Pittsburgh and Carnegie that math is much more than pencils Mellon’s campus will be tuned in to and paper — it’s hockey or it’s music watch as the Pittsburgh Penguins battle — they’ll be excited to learn more,” said for the Stanley Cup. Fonseca, the Mellon College of Science When Professor Irene Fonseca Professor of Mathematical Sciences. watches hockey, she sees things from a The videos first aired during NBC’s mathematical perspective. coverage of the NHL All-Star Game National Science Foundation- in January, and are being shown on the funded researchers, including Fonseca, NHL Network in the United States and and National Hockey League (NHL) Canada. They also appear during games players are highlighting the scientific on the Jumbotrons in select arenas principles at play in “Science of NHL throughout the league. Hockey,” a series of video tutorials The series of 10 videos also are produced by NBC Learn, the educational arm of NBC News, in partnership with the NSF. The videos use concepts in T o w at c h t h e v i d e o s , hockey to illustrate fundamental science. v i s i t c m u . e d u / p i p e r . In one video, Fonseca explains the role vectors play when two players pass the puck to one another, and in another available for free at NBCLearn.com she talks about how rink managers take and Science360.gov, where they will mass, volume and density into account eventually be accompanied by lesson if it’s total fun for him’ … and it was and NBC Learn project that continues as they create the ultimate skating plans developed by the National Science for me,” said Morris Aizenman, senior our effort to make science total fun for surface. Teachers Association. scientist for the NSF Directorate for students. We hope, after watching these “Math is everywhere, but kids “Wayne Gretzky once said, ‘The Mathematical and Physical Science. videos that students will also want to often think of math only in the context only way a kid is going to practice is “‘Science of NHL Hockey’ is an NSF learn and practice science.” N i n e Travel Breaks Faculty, Staff, Alumni Link Students With Short-term Study Abroad Opportunities

n Abby Simmons ment experience when they return. but we are villagers,” Kats said. “See- extension of the Small Undergraduate With fresh spring break memories and Hedden, a music composition and ing people, talking to people helps to Research Grant program called iSURG. summer just ahead, travel is on many viola performance double major, studied destroy stereotypes of the Cold War.” Stephanie Wallach, assistant vice provost students’ minds. Irish culture, music and dance at the Steven Quinterno (E’13) said the for undergraduate education and director But, while some may be thinking University of Limerick. She jumped trip, which also included a stop to Stock- of the Undergraduate Research and Fel- of studying abroad, not all students have at the chance to take a course from a holm and its city hall, included visits to lowships and Scholarships offices (FSO), room in their schedule for a full semes- world-renowned Irish fiddler. the former Russian capital’s St. Isaac’s said students can apply for iSURG grants ter away. Faculty and staff can assist “It was abso- Cathedral, the State of up to $500 to conduct research while these students in finding creative alterna- lutely amazing to Hermitage Museum, studying or traveling abroad. tives during academic breaks. hear Martin Hayes and the apartment of The FSO also facilitates the Jennings According to data published in No- talk about music “Crime and Punish- Brave Family Companions Fund. Trustee vember 2011 from the Institute of Inter- and perform,” ment” author Fyodor Larry E. Jennings Jr. (S’84 TPR’87) national Education, nearly 57 percent of Hedden said. “He Dostoyevsky. and his wife, Katherine, established the U.S. students who studied abroad from wasn’t afraid to Kats said fund to allow students to visit develop- 2009 to 2010 completed experiences talk about things Galbraith and fellow ing countries to study, travel, conduct lasting fewer than eight weeks during in music that are study abroad coordi- research and volunteer during summers. the summer or academic year. really important — nator Chris Menand Last year, Kimberly Josephson Alysia Finger (TPR’13) and Chris- like playing from were important (DC SHS’13) and Prisca Ohito tine Hedden (A’13) earned funding from your heart — things that I feel a lot of resources for the trip. They helped (BHA’13) traveled to Argentina and a program for undergraduate women times in an intellectual world get looked students fill out paperwork, hosted a Brazil, respectively. without international experience for trips over or taken for granted.” pre-departure orientation and promoted Ohito said, “During those five weeks to Italy and Ireland, respectively. This summer, Leah Yingling (E’13) a post-trip presentation. of travel, I volunteered to teach eight The Vira I. Heinz Scholarship will study education in South Africa, and “We’ve posted a guide for fac- Brazilian young men supplementary Program for Women in Global Leader- Natalie Severson (BHA’13) will study ulty members interested in organizing English lessons. This experience cer- ship annually selects up to three students arts and culture in France through the international trips on OIE’s website,” tainly changed and sometimes reinforced at each of 10 participating Pennsylvania program. Menand said. “It covers the behind-the- ideas I had about national, gendered and universities. scenes work needed to organize the trip, class-based divisions.” Jaycie Galbraith, coordinator of Spring Break Studies make sure it qualifies for CMU credit The Jennings family increased its study abroad and international pro- Another path to short-term study abroad and provides forms for gathering ‘in commitment in 2012 and will provide gramming in the Office of International is through faculty-organized trips. case of emergency’ information.” up to $6,000 for each of the following Education(OIE), said the program is Naum Kats, undergraduate adviser students’ international experiences: facilitated by the University of Pitts- and adjunct faculty member in the Histo- Grants Abroad Adelaide Agyemang (A’14), Ghana; burgh and funded through the Heinz ry and Modern Languages departments, The Fellowships and Scholarships Ashley Brienza (E’13), Zambia; Vivian Endowments. Participants attend leader- returned from his fourth spring break trip Office also offers funding for Chang (SHS’13), Costa Rica; Sara ship retreats, receive up to $5,000 for for his Culture of St. Petersburg course. international experiences. Faradji (DC’13), South Africa; and Sara expenses and plan a community engage- “We are living in a global world, One of those programs is an Mouhktar (DC’13), South Africa.

N e w s B r i e f s ers from CMU’s various academic programs. CMU Cited for Business MBA student from Pittsburgh; and All sessions take place in the University Center. Community Service Farhad Farahmand, a Heinz College master’s For more information and to register your degree student in public policy and Grant Expands Crowd- For the fifth consecutive year, Carnegie Mellon child, go to www.andrew.cmu.edu/org/todtw management from Berkeley, Calif. sourcing of RNA Design has been named to the President’s Higher or contact Chris Nolin at [email protected]. Researchers at CMU Education Community Service Honor Roll. The edu. Volunteers are needed for the event, and Bohman Named Head of and Stanford are selection by the Corporation for National and times can be just for an hour. If interested, Mathematical Sciences expanding EteRNA Community Service and the U.S. Department contact Gloria Gruber at ggruber@andrew. — a unique research of Education recognizes CMU’s commitment to Tom Bohman has been cmu.edu. project that taps online community service and service learning. named the new head Judith Hallinen, assistant vice provost of the Mellon College of game play to create CMU To Aid Pittsburgh for Educational Outreach and director of the Science’s Department of RNA designs that are on IBM Smarter Cities then tested in a laboratory — thanks to a $1 Leonard Gelfand Center for Service Learning Mathematical Sciences. Challenge Grant million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation. and Outreach, said nearly 5,000 students spent Under this appointment The additional funding will allow scientists The City of Pittsburgh was selected as one of more than 143,000 hours engaged in commu- he also will receive the to test thousands of player-designed molecules 33 worldwide recipients for the IBM Smarter nity service in 2010-2011. Alexander M. Knaster each month. Until now, only about 32 of the Cities Challenge grant. The award, Professorship, which was established in 2006 designs could be evaluated monthly. which was announced Carnegie Mellon Wins to recognize the departmental leadership. March 15 by Mayor Luke Better Building Challenge Bohman succeeds Roy Nicolaides who Ravenstahl, will provide served as department head from 2002 through Staff Council Hosts A team of graduate students won “best pro- Pittsburgh City Planners May 2011. During the interim, Bill Hrusa served Children to Work Day posal” in the U.S. Energy Department’s 2012 with IBM analysts who will as acting department head. Registration for this year’s Take Our Daughters Better Building Challenge, a prestigious national live in Pittsburgh for at least and Sons to Work Day (Thursday, April 26), competition that challenges college students three weeks and provide sponsored by Staff Council, is open until April to develop novel solutions to boost energy- “intelligent technology” services worth the Programs Retain No. 1 20. The event is for girls and boys between efficiency of buildings nationwide. The CMU equivalent of $400,000. IBM analysts will aid Rankings in US News the ages of 9 and 15. “Building Opportunity” team won for developing an energy-efficient the city in developing its first 25-year compre- is this year’s theme and the format has been plan for a case study involving Walter Reed Two Carnegie Mellon graduate courses of study hensive transportation plan called MovePGH updated. Army Medical Center. — information and technology management at through researching data generated by urban Following the lunch program, sessions Team members included: Enes Hosgor, the Heinz College and multimedia/visual com- interactions and transactions. Carnegie will be held at 1:15 and 2:15 p.m. For the a Ph.D. candidate in engineering and public munications at the College of Fine Arts — have Mellon’s Traffic 21 Initiative, funded by the first session, students can choose a “Mind” policy from Istanbul, Turkey; Erica Cochran, a held on to their number one rankings in U.S. Hillman Foundation, will work with IBM and or “Body” session, featuring “MadScience,” a School of Architecture Ph.D. candidate in build- News & World Report’s 2013 “America’s Best the city on the blueprint and on deploying Pittsburgh company specializing in fun educa- ing performance and diagnostics from Brook- Graduate Schools.” Both tracks were ranked solutions that the team recommends. For tional science programs, and activities with the lyn, N.Y.; Colleen Lueken, a Ph.D. candidate in No. 1 in 2009, the last time U.S. News & World more: www.pittsburghpa.gov/mayor/article. Athletics Department staff. The second session engineering and public policy from Bethesda, Report rated programs in these categories. htm?id=1329. is a choice of “College Stations” with present- Md.; Donald Johnson, a Tepper School of In other 2013 graduate rankings, CMU’s

T e n “Mathletes” Place Second Mapping the Universe In Putnam Competition Buhl Lecturer To Discuss “Dark Energy” n Jocelyn Duffy bears the imprint of those sound waves. n Jocelyn Duffy Scientists can measure relics from these Much of what we know about the uni- A team of first-year students from the Mellon College of Science placed second in sound waves and use their wavelength as verse comes from observing radiation the Mathematical Association of America’s William Lowell Putnam Competition, a standard ruler to precisely measure the given off by astronomical objects in the the premier mathematics contest for undergraduate students. expansion of the universe to high preci- form of x-rays, light waves and radio This year, the Putnam Competition engaged 4,440 American and Canadian sion and to sort out different explanations waves. But a different type of wave — undergraduates from 572 institutions in a six-hour math marathon. During the of why the expansion is accelerating. a kind of sound wave generated in the competition students attempted to solve 12 complex mathematical problems using a combination of concepts taught in college mathematics courses and creative W h o : David Eisenstein, Harvard professor of astronomy thinking. “This remarkable success is a reflection of the high caliber of students in W h a t : B u h l L e c t u r e Carnegie Mellon’s Department of Mathematical Sciences, as well as a reflection on W h e n : 4:30 p . m ., T u e s d ay , A p r i l 24 the students’ hard work and dedication,” said Po-Shen Loh, assistant professor of W h e r e : Mellon Institute Auditorium mathematical sciences and the team’s coach. “At Carnegie Mellon we have devel- oped an innovative undergraduate program, which leads the brightest undergraduate early universe — is quickly becoming Eisenstein is the director of the third mathematicians to achieve their full potential.” a very important tool for increasing our phase of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, The three students on the second-place team, Michael Druggan, Albert Gu and understanding of the universe. which is making the largest three- Archit Kulkarni, are all first-year students and Knaster-McWilliams Scholars. The Daniel Eisenstein, a professor of dimensional color map of the universe to Knaster-McWilliams Scholars program, which has been fully funded by a physics astronomy at Harvard University, is date. Carnegie Mellon joined the survey alumnus and a mathematics and electrical engineering alumnus, is one of only a few investigating the traces of these sound last year, and a number of researchers scholarship-supported programs in the country that is also paired with an honors pro- waves, called baryonic acoustic oscilla- from the Bruce and Astrid McWilliams gram that features increased access to faculty and early research opportunities. The first tions, to understand the cosmos’s large- Center for Cosmology are contributing five participants entered the program at the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year. scale structure and test theories about the to the project. Mellon College of Science Dean Fred Gilman, who was a part of Michigan dark energy that drives its accelerating “The Sloan Digital Sky Survey is State University’s first-place Putnam team in 1961, said, “Congratulations to the expansion. one of the premier projects in astrono- team and to John Mackey, Po-Shen Lo, and others whose years of effort have Eisenstein will deliver Carnegie my. It stands to make many fundamental created an outstanding undergraduate program in mathematical sciences and made Mellon’s annual Buhl Lecture at 4:30 measurements and teach us much about this result possible.” p.m., Tuesday, April 24 at the Mellon the past and future of our universe,” said The second-place finish marks CMU’s highest showing in the 73-year history of Institute Auditorium. Fred Gilman, dean of the Mellon Col- the Putnam Competition. The university’s team has placed in the top five three other His lecture, “Dark Energy and lege of Science and the Buhl Professor times, ranking third in 1987, third in 1949 and fourth in 1946. CMU’s Department Cosmic Sound,” is free and open to the of Theoretical Physics. of Mathematical Sciences will receive $20,000 for the second-place finish, and each public. It will be followed by a reception The Buhl Lecture is sponsored by team member will receive $800. in the Mellon Institute lobby. Carnegie Mellon’s Department of Physics. In addition to the three members of the second-place team, more than 100 After the Big Bang, the universe The lecture is funded under the auspices students from CMU participated in the Putnam Competition. Individually, Druggan was a dense cloud of cosmic plasma of the Buhl Professorship in Theoretical and Gu ranked among the top 10 and Benjamin Alpert, another first-year student at that contained primordial sound waves. Physics, which was established at Carnegie CMU, ranked in the top 25. To this day, the universe’s structure Mellon in 1961 by The Buhl Foundation.

College of Engineering was rated seventh Computerworld Honors drills also can be arranged. To schedule and is working with Professor Red Whittaker overall, the College of Fine Arts ranked seventh HCII’s MILLEE Project such a drill or training session, contact and his team to design and implement part of overall, the Heinz College ranked ninth overall Jim Gindlesperger at 412-268-3760. the propulsion system of the lunar lander for The Human-Computer Interaction Institute’s in public affairs and the Tepper School of the Google Lunar X Prize Team. (HCII) Mobile and Immersive Learning for Business’ full-time MBA program ranked CMU To Host Ultimate Literacy in Emerging Economies, or MILLEE, 18th overall. Read more about rankings at Hurdler Earns All-America project has been named a 2012 Laureate in the Frisbee Camp www.cmu.edu/about/rankings-awards/rank- Computerworld Honors Program. This summer, CMU will again play host to Honors ings/index.shtml. The program honors visionary applications Camp Spirit of the Game, Pittsburgh’s Ultimate CMU sophomore of information technology promoting positive Frisbee camp for kids. Professionally run by Jacqueline Guevel earned Computer Science Faculty social, economic and educational change. Andy Norman of CMU’s Philosophy Depart- All-America distinction Recognized Assistant Professor Matthew Kam leads the ment, Camp Spirit features an introduction with a fourth-place finish Three faculty mem- MILLEE project, which is using educational to this exciting sport and a fun assortment of in the 60-meter hurdles at bers in the Computer mobile phone applications to help children in swimming, games and lessons in constructive the 2012 NCAA Division Science Department — the developing world acquire language literacy conflict resolution. For boys and girls between III Indoor Track and Field Lenore Blum, Manuela in a game-like environment. MILLEE is now the ages of 7 and 14, Camp Spirit has sessions Championships last month Veloso and Depart- completing a yearlong pilot of its second- that run from June 18 to July 27. To sign up or at Grinnell College in Waverly, Iowa. Guevel ment Head Jeannette generation English literacy games with 250 learn more go to www.campsog.com or call crossed the finish line in a school-record time Wing — are among 55 children in four low-income schools in India. 412-242-7117. of 8.76 seconds. Guevel, earned All-America women in an initial list honors in the indoor 55-meter hurdles and the of “Famous Women EH&S Offers Emergency Soccer Captain Awarded outdoor 100- and 400-meter hurdles last in Computer Science” Response Video Training NCAA Scholarship season. She is the 28th All-American under compiled by the Anita Head Coach Dario Donatelli. Last month’s shootings at Western Psychiatric Senior captain Nick Borg Center for Women Institute and Clinic emphasize the need for all Gianopoulos of CMU’s and Technology. The of us to be prepared should there be an active men’s soccer team has list includes computer gunman on campus. Environmental Health been awarded an NCAA scientists who are tech- & Safety has placed a video on its website Postgraduate Scholar- nological pioneers, as at https://www.cmu.edu/ehs/emergency- ship. Gianopoulos will well as those who are response/restrict/index.html that provides receive a $7,500 grant leaders or founders of potentially life-saving information on how to to be used for post- technical companies respond should a similar situation arise at CMU. graduate study. The scholarships are awarded and who have achieved All members of the university community are to student-athletes who excel academically success and recogni- strongly encouraged to view this video. and athletically and who are in their final year of tion beyond their home EH&S also will come to your department to intercollegiate athletics competition. The me- organizations. provide additional training if you’d like. Training chanical engineering major carries a 3.91 GPA

E l e v e n Future Founders

J e r r y C o l t i n ( f a r l e f t ) , f a c u l t y a d v i s e r o f t h e M a s t e r o f A r t s M a n a g e - m e n t ( M A M ) P r o g r a m , a n d B o b B i n g h a m , p r o f e s s o r a n d a s s o c i a t e h e a d o f t h e S c h o o l o f A r t , h e l p e d c e l e b r a t e F u t u r e T e n a n t ’ s 1 0 t h a n n i v e r s a r y d u r i n g i t s f u n d r a i s e r o n M a r c h 3 0 a t B ak e r y S q u a r e , w h i c h f e a t u r e d t h e m a s t e r o f f i n e a r t s ( m f A ) s t u d e n t s ’ e x h i b i t i o n “ E x t r a F a n c y .” c o l t i n a n d B i n g h a m e a c h h a d a h a n d i n c r e a t i n g t h e d o w n t o w n P i t t s b u r g h a r t s p a c e k n o w n a s F u t u r e T e n a n t , w h i c h i s r u n b y M A M s t u d e n t s . i n 2 0 0 2 , m f A s t u d e n t s i n B i n g h a m ’ s “ C o n t e x t u al P r a c t i c e ” c o u r s e w o r k e d w i t h M u r r a y H o r n e , c u r a t o r o f v i s u al a r t f o r t h e C u l t u r al T r u s t , t o i d e n t i f y a n d n a m e a n a r t s p a c e . W i t h t h e s u p p o r t o f M A M s t u d e n t s i n m a n a g e m e n t r o l e s , t h e c o u r s e s u c c e s s f u ll y m o u n t e d a s e a s o n o f e x h i b i t s . S i n c e t h e n , t h e j o i n t c o lla b o r a t i o n h a s c o n t i n u e d w i t h M A M s t u d e n t s c u r a t i n g m f A e x h i b i t s a m o n g o t h e r s a n d c o n t i n u i n g t o m a n a g e t h e s p a c e . f u t u r e T e n a n t i s a j o i n t p r o j e c t o f t h e P i t t s b u r g h C u l t u r al T r u s t , Photo by Katy Pearce Photo by Katy Pearce im Kaulen Photo by T im Kaulen t h e C o ll e g e o f F i n e A r t s a n d t h e H e i n z C o ll e g e .

Autism Study Crosses Disciplines, Universities C o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e o n e locations within the genome. mutations were more frequent in “From a statistical perspective, their genomes, perhaps twentyfold higher These findings provide a basis for children born to older fathers. these kinds of data give us a roadmap than the general populations.” future gene discovery, diagnostics and Yet not all de novo mutations, as for developing analytical methods for Devlin added, “The region contains therapeutics. they are called, affect risk. Results from even deeper inference, including further over 20 known genes, and which ones — “Prior to the advent of new DNA a second study found that most newly investigating functionally related genes if any — affect risk for autism is sequencing technology, we were largely arisen mutations seen in autism patients together with the de novo sequence to unknown. We are developing statistical wandering around in the dark, lucky have no impact on risk. redefine the neurobiology of autism.” methods to use de novo events falling to pick up one autism gene at a time,” Most people likely carry a de novo Devlin said, “For example, there is a in those regions to identify even more said Matthew State, lead author of one mutation somewhere in their genes, a 500,000 base-pair region on chromosome autism risk genes.” of the studies and the Donald J. Cohen striking result seen across the studies. 16 that is susceptible to deletions and The Simons Foundation, the Professor of Child Psychiatry, Psychiatry When new mutations do confer risk, duplications, and these events affect National Institute of Mental Health and and Genetics at Yale University. they don’t pile up in a few genes, risk for autism. About one percent of all the National Human Genome Research “Now we are getting a much better showing that there are hundreds of individuals diagnosed with autism carry Institute funded this research. sense of what the genetic landscape autism genes scattered across the human deletions or duplications of this region in looks like and have the tools in hand genome. to find many more autism genes as we Roeder, professor of statistics and continue these experiments.” computational biology at CMU, and A p r i l i s N at i o na l A u t i s m In the first study, sequencing all Devlin, associate professor at Pitt’s a w a r e n e s s M o nt h of the genes of families with healthy departments of Psychiatry and Human parents, who have one child affected Genetics, worked on the statistical April is National Autism Awareness month, and Carnegie with autism and another not, shows that analysis of the gene sequencing. spontaneous mutations at conception “A major implication of identifying Mellon has provided explanations for some of autism’s contribute to risk in nearly 15 percent of the de novo mutations is that it provides mysteries. Read more at www.cmu.edu/homepage/ autism cases. These results complement a clear path forward for genetics health/2012/spring/leading-autism-research.shtml. previous findings. research into the underpinning of The study also revealed that the autism,” Roeder said.

Rally for Trayvon Martin Photos by T im Kaulen

L e f t : A c t i v i s t K i m b e r l y E ll i s , a s c h o la r o f A f r i c a n -A m e r i c a n

s t u d i e s , u r g e d p e o p l e n o t t o o v e r l o o k l o c al communities ,

w h e r e t h e y c a n i m p a c t c h a n g e t h e m o s t t h r o u g h t h e i r a c t i o n s .

A b o v e : C a r n e g i e M e ll o n B la c k G r a d u a t e S t u d e n t

Students, faculty, staff and community members gathered at the fence on Monday, March 26 at O r g a n i z a t i o n V i c e P r e s i d e n t B r i t t a n y C la u d a n d P r e s i d e n t the Justice Rally for Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old shot to death in Florida by a neighborhood R i c k y B u r g e s s h e l p e d o r g a n i z e t h e r all y . watch volunteer on Feb. 26. Speakers at the rally urged attendees to discuss the role of ethnic/racial profiling, stereotypes and judicial bias and called for further investigation by law enforcement. A voter registration drive followed the rally. T w e l v e