H&SS eNews, August 2006

Greetings from H&SS.

Whether you are a member of the media looking for a faculty expert on deadline, a student who wants to learn about the latest H&SS events, or an alumni who wants to catch up on campus news, this is a one-stop shop for H&SS news and events.

The H&SS eNews is a monthly electronic publication of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. The eNews is compiled and edited by Kelli McElhinny, director of media relations for H&SS. She can be reached at 412-268-6094 or kellim@andrew.cmu.edu. Contact Kelli to submit news about yourself and your fellow alumni, and to sign up for our newsletters.

For past eNews publications, please visit the H&SS eNews archive.

For news about the entire university, be sure to check out the university’s home page or the Carnegie Mellon Today website.

Announcement

Once again, we are inviting you to become part of Baker Hall history by purchasing a commemorative engraved brick, which will be installed in the sidewalk next to the main entrance of Baker. For only $100, you can have a brick engraved with your name or a short message. The bricks will be laser engraved so that your message will endure a lifetime of wear. Each brick has space for up to three lines of text. The bricks will be installed in time for Homecoming weekend, October 12 - 15. In order to install your brick in the fall, we will need to have your order by September 12, 2006. You can order a brick by going to http://www.hss.cmu.edu/pressreleases/brickform.pdf.

Alumni News

--Justin Hakuta (B.S. Decision Science, 2004) has received a prestigious Fulbright scholarship that he will use to fund his field study in the Philippines as part of the Fulbright exchange program. Sponsored by the U.S. government, the Fulbright is awarded to exceptional graduate students, educators and professionals who travel abroad to promote a greater understanding between the cultures of the world. Hakuta wants to pursue a career in human rights investigations, and in the Philipines he will be conducting a study on human trafficking.

College/Faculty News

--“Dumpster”, a feature-length film written by Jim Daniels, director of Carnegie Mellon’s Creative Writing Program, received first place in the drama/comedy category by the Indie Gathering film festival, which will take place August 4-6 in Cleveland. The film also was featured recently at the Big Island Film Festival in Hawaii. “Dumpster” was shot on and around the Carnegie Mellon campus over Easter weekend 2005 for $10,000. “Dumpster”tells the story of a university custodian who befriends a troubled college student who is living in a dumpster outside a campus building. The film stars David Conrad, who appeared in “Return to Paradise” and “Wedding Crashers” and is now on the CBS series “Ghost Whisperer.” For more information about the film festival, go to http://www.theindiegathering.com/index.htm.

--In a pair of groundbreaking studies, brain scientists at Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh have discovered that the anatomical differences that characterize the brains of people with autism are related to the way those brains process information. Previous studies have demonstrated a lower degree of synchronization among activated brain areas in people with autism, as well as smaller size of the corpus callosum, the white matter that acts as cables to wire the parts of the brain together. This latest research shows for the first time that the abnormality in synchronization is related to the abnormality in the cabling. The results suggest that the connectivity among brain areas is among the central problems in autism. The researchers have also found that people with autism rely heavily on the parts of the brain that deal with imagery, even when completing tasks that would not normally call for visualization. The papers were co-authored by Psychology Professor Marcel Just and Rajesh K. Kana, Timothy A. Keller and Vladimir L. Cherkassky of Carnegie Mellon’s Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging; and Nancy Minshew of the departments of Psychiatry and Neurology at Pitt. For more information go to http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases06/060712_autism.html.

Events

--The Homecoming schedule is starting to take shape. We'd like to draw your attention to the faculty presentations, which take place from 1 to 4 p.m. Friday, October 13. Three are being led by H&SS faculty: "So You Want to Make a Movie" from 1 to 2 p.m.; "Five Lessons from Chocolate" from 2 to 3 p.m.; and "Estimating the Risks of Avian Flu" from 3 to 4 p.m. Or, there's the Campus Art Crawl, a tour of Carnegie Mellon's public artwork--followed by an informal discussion--sponsored by the Center for the Arts in Society. It gets underway at 1 p.m. and goes until 3 p.m. (A Saturday tour may also be offered, depending on demand.)

-- Don't forget the Maggie Murph Café Dedication and Margaret Morrison Tea from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Friday in Hunt Library. That leaves time to attend the H&SS Homecoming reception, which starts at 4:30 p.m. Friday in the H&SS Coffee Lounge in Baker Hall. Refreshments will be served.

More information about Homecoming is at http://alumni.cmu.edu/homecoming/index.html. We look forward to seeing you there. For a complete list of upcoming alumni events, go to http://alumni2.tepper.cmu.edu/cmuEvents/.

In Memory

--We are saddened to report the deaths of alumni Jonathan Milikowsky (B.S. History and Policy and Computer Science, 2006) and Frederick Mosteller (B.S., M.S. Mathematics, 1938 and 1939).

Milikowsky died June 25. He was 23. Memorial contributions may be sent to the Foote School, 50 Loomis Place, New Haven, CT 06511 or to the Crew Team Jonathan Milikowsky Memorial Fund at Carnegie Mellon Gift Administration, 6 PPG Place, 11th Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.

Mosteller, 89, was the founder of Harvard University's statistics department and, according to Carnegie Mellon Statistics Professor Stephen Fienberg-one of Mosteller's doctoral students-one of the giants in the field of statistics. Mosteller used statistics and mathematical theories to solve problems from a wide range of fields, including history, medicine, education and even sports. He helped to solve a longstanding historical mystery over the authorship of 12 of the 85 Federalist Papers, determining that James Madison had written them. In 1961 he taught a course in probability and statistics that aired on NBC's "Continental Classroom" program. He retired from Harvard in 1987 as chairman of the department of health policy and management, and was living in Falls Church, Va. More about Mosteller is available from the Washington Post.

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