NEW AWARDS...The National Science Foundation has awarded a $1,900,000, 3-year grant, to the LTI for their KDI program proposal, "Universal Information Access: Translingual Retrieval, Summarization, Tracking, Detection and Validation." Under the direction of Yiming Yang (LTI), Jaime G. Carbonell (LTI/CSD), John D. Lafferty (CSD/LTI),and Eric Nyberg (LTI), the "ultimate goal of the project is to enhance the democratization of information and knowledge access, by reducing educational, linguistic and socio-economic barriers to effective information use." Eric Nyberg adds, "in addition to basic research in component technologies (retrieval, summarization, etc.), the project also seeks to combine these technologies in an integrated user interface, which will be the focus for real-world user studies and evaluation." In any language, we all say Bravo!

EDS BOOK SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS...SCS is delighted to announce the winners of this semester's $300 Textbook Scholarships, sponsored by Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS). Seniors Jason Almeida and Igor Radovilsky, Juniors Christy Horner and David Wilke, and Sophomores Vishal Rao and Brennan Sellner were each awarded $300 by EDS based on their outstanding academic performance during the Spring 1998.

ALUMNI AWARD RECIPIENTS...Congratulations are due! A hearty round of applause to two members of the "family". David Parnas (CS/ECE '75) and Jim Tomayko (yes...Coach!) are this year's recipients of an Alumni Merit Award and Alumni Service award, respectively. Both will be honored at a reception/awards presentation on Friday evening, October 16 (homecoming weekend). The recipients, selected by the Alumni Awards Committee/Alumni Association, are recognized for their outstanding scientific contributions and achievements, and/or service to the CMU community. Like we didn't already know :-)

CAPITAL ONE HONORS UNDERGRADS...Capital One honored eight CS undergraduates with $250 book scholarships (and dinner), in recognition of their academic and work accomplishments. The Spring/Fall term recipients include: Ross Knepper, Kenn Kumpf, Tim Martin, Matthew McHenry, Patrick Nelson, Jessica Smith, Jonathan Wildstrom, and Andrew Zimdars. Include your wild applause here...

IN DEFENSE...Tra-la! LORIN GRUBB presents "A Probabilistic Method for Tracking a Vocalist" at his CS thesis oral on Tuesday, September 29 at 10:00 am in Wean Hall 4601. His well-tuned committee includes: Roger Dannenberg (Chair), Tom Mitchell, Jack Mostow, and Shuji Hashimoto, (WASEDA University, Japan).

UNDERGRADUATE TOWN HALL MEETING...Allan Fisher and Mark Stehlik will host the next Undergraduate Town Hall Meeting on Thursday, October 1 from 3:00-4:00 pm in Wean Hall 7500. "While most of the agenda items are of particular import to sophs and juniors, we welcome all SCS undergrads" notes Mark. The discussions will include: CS curriculum revision (what happened to 18-240/15-347?), CS curriculum review committee update - what's next?, OLR issues for the next registration cycle. Feedback is encouraged on all the above. Contact stehlik@cs for additional information.

LIKE A ROLLING STONE...And speaking of Mark Stehlik. He has been quoted in this month's issue of Rolling Stone Magazine. Is this cool or what! He was cited for his opinions on corporate recruiting practices.

THEY'RE BACK...Sleeping Baggers will be roving the campus on Sunday and Monday, October 4-5, as part of the first fall Sleeping Bag Weekend. Bedecked with enthusiasm, anticipation, and sleeping gear, prospective undergraduate students will experience a slice of campus life: crashing out in dorms, hanging out with CMU students, visiting classes, and attending information sessions on curriculum, finances and other "need to know" issues. Watch for them!

GRASP THE FUTURE...TelFair '98, hosted by the Office of the President and the Division of Computing, will introduce faculty and staff to the University's Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) initiatives on Thursday/Friday, October 1-2 in the University Center. The program begins Thursday at 1:30 in McConomy, with two panel sessions: "What We Have Learned About Learning", followed by "Recent Trends in Technology (Development)" at 3:00 pm. On Friday, Courseware Demonstrations, drawn from faculty across colleges and departments, are scheduled from 9:30 am to 6:00 pm in Rangos Hall. Judging by past years, this is an ideal opportunity to see what new technologies/course innovations your colleagues are introducing into the CMU environment.

WHAT'S HAPPENING AT THE PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE...a special half-day workshop will be held on Tuesday, October 6 from 1:30-5:00 pm at the Carnegie Library Lecture Hall in Oakland. Sponsored by the Science and Technology Department at the Carnegie Library, the seminar features Martha Sneed, Manager of the Patent and Trademark Depository Library Program and Members of the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) staff. Included will be an update on the PTO and their products that are now available through the web; the patent examiner's role in the flow of the patent application through the PTO; trademarks, business names, domain names, tests for confusing similiarity and grounds for refusal; and a Q&A session. Registration is required. Contact 622-3138 to sign-up.

PLANNING YOUR CAREER? CHECK OUT...
*MICROSOFT COMPANY PRESENTATION, Tuesday, September 29, 6:00 pm, Doherty Hall 2210. Pizza will be served. Questions will be answered. Win a FREE Palm-size PC running Windows CE!
*HEWLETT-PACKARD INFO SESSION, Tuesday, September 29, 7:00 pm, Wean Hall 5409. Pizza will be served. Technical staff will be on hand for discussion. Sign-up for an interview at the Career Center this week!
*THE THEORY CENTER INFO SESSION, Wednesday, September 30, 6:30 pm, Scaife Hall 324. Refreshments will be served.
*CISCO SYSTEMS INFO SESSION, Wednesday, September 30, 6:00-8:00 pm, Scaife Hall 125. Pizza and free stuff!

COMING SOON...@PGH.CAFE will be held Tuesday, October 13 in a campus university center near you :-) Watch for details!

29TH ANNUAL CARNEGIE SYMPOSIUM ON COGNITION... "Mechanisms of Cognitive Development: Behavioral and Neural Perspectives", is scheduled for October 9-11 at the University Center and Adamson Wing. Organized by James McClelland and Robert Siegler, and sponsored by the Dept. of Psychology and the CNBC, the symposium consists of three topical areas: Studies of the Microgenesis of Cognitive Development (Oct 9), Studies of Change Over Long Time Scales (Oct 10), and Developmental Disorders (Oct 11). Among the speakers are Susan Goldin-Meadow (Univ of Chicago), Michael Merzenich (Univ of California, San Francisco), Richard Haier (Univ of California, Irvine), Esther Thelen (Indiana Univ), Alan Galaburda (Harvard Medical School), Deanna Kuhn (Columbia), and Patricia Carpenter and Marcel Just (CMU). For details and a complete schedule of events, visit /www.cnbc.cmu.edu/carnegie-symposium/index.html.

SCS FAMILY ALBUM...BUD MISHRA (CS '85) is the proud father of a new daughter, Kimberly Indira Mishra, born September 23. Ma, pa, and two brothers are doing well. If she should attend CMU, she'll be a graduate of the Class of 2019 :-)

WORDS FOR THOUGHT...
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
**AI SEMINAR: Sebastian Thrun, "When Robots Meet (and Lead) People", 3:30 pm, Wean 5409.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
**HCII SEMINAR: Albert Corbett, HCII/CMU, "Cognitive Tutor Technology: Results-Based Design Changing Education Practice", 3:30 pm, Wean 5409.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2
**ROBOTICS SEMINAR: Steven Seitz, RI/CS, Carnegie Mellon University, "Toward Image-Based Modeling of Complex Environments", (Special Time) 4:00 pm, Adamson Wing, refreshments 3:45 pm.
**SCS STUDENT SEMINAR: Will Uther, CS, "CM-Tril Traiing Camp: The Inside Story..." 12:00 pm, Wean 4601 (Refresments!).

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5
**COMPUTER SYSTEMS SEMINAR: Greg Papadopoulos, Sun Microsystems, "Billions and Billions of Devices Served: Fundamental Challenges for the Network Age", 4:30 pm, Doherty Hall 2315 (watch for possible time/location change).

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