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Dietrich College News
Marianna Brown Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Carnegie Mellon University

July 2012
  
Parents Less Likely To Develop Colds
Parents Less Likely To Develop Colds

There is no question that being a parent is, at times, challenging both physically and mentally. However knowledge of the actual effect parenthood has on health has been inconsistent at best, until now.

 

New research led by Carnegie Mellon University's Sheldon Cohen and Rodlescia S. Sneed shows that being a parent influences health in a positive way.  

 

Published in Psychosomatic Medicine, the research provides the first evidence that, when exposed to a common cold virus, parents are 52 percent less likely to develop a cold than non-parents.

 

Read more. 

Arts Greenhouse Project Hosts Mixtape Release Party

Arts Greenhouse Mixtape Release Party
Not many people ever question the importance of music for young adults. Yet, the availability of programs has decreased around the country.

Since 2002, Carnegie Mellon University has given Pittsburgh teens an outlet for music expression and exploration with Arts Greenhouse, a hip-hop music education program that provides students with music technology classes, recording opportunities and access to experts in the field.

The 2011-12 Arts Greenhouse students presented "Arts Greenhouse Volume Four: A Mixtape," an album of 14 original songs, at the Arts Greenhouse Mixtape Release Party on Saturday, May 26 at the Shadow Lounge in East Liberty. Every track on the mixtape is the result of collaboration between Arts Greenhouse students and staff.

Startup Uses Neuroscience To Improve Online Video Clicks 

Startup Uses Neuroscience To Improve Online Video Clicks

When grabbing a coffee mug out of a cluttered cabinet or choosing a pen to quickly sign a document, what brain processes guide your choices?

 

New research from Carnegie Mellon University's Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC) shows that the brain's visual perception system automatically and unconsciously guides decision-making through valence perception.

 

To transfer the research's scientific application to the online video market, the research team of Michael J. Tarr, Sophie Lebrecht, Babs Carryer and Thomas Kubilius are in the process of founding the start-up company neonlabs through the support of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovation Corps (I-Corps).

 

Read more.  

 

Watch a video. 

Senior Awarded Prestigious Pickering Fellowship
Ema Woodward

Senior Ema D. Woodward has been awarded a prestigious Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellowship.  

 

The fellowships, administered by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation for the U.S. Department of State, aim to develop a source of well-prepared men and women whose academic backgrounds fulfill the skill needs of the State Department and who are dedicated to representing America's interests abroad. Woodward is the first Carnegie Mellon student to receive this fellowship.

 

One of 40 students selected, Woodward, a Carlisle, Mass. native, will receive financial support toward tuition and other expenses during her senior year and first year of graduate school. She also will participate in two paid internships, one domestic and one overseas.

 

Read more. 

New Grad Caroline Kessler Gives Commencement Address 
Caroline Kessler
Even after her first year at Carnegie Mellon, Caroline Kessler knew that she wanted to be more than just a black gown filing into the stadium when she graduated - she just wasn't sure how to make that happen. 
 
Fast forward three years and Kessler now has a role in the pomp and circumstance as the student commencement speaker. 
 

More Dietrich College News 

Knowledge Of Fractions and Long Division Predicts Long-Term Math Success

Joseph B. Kadane Authors "Principles of Uncertainty"

Rethinking Research Ethics: Researchers Challenge Post-marketing Trial Practices

Who's Stressed in the US? Researchers Study Adult Stress Levels From 1983-2009

Jim Daniels Wins Three Book Awards

Marcel Just Receives Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award

CIA Director Visits

Relatively Speaking: Researchers Identify Principles That Shape Kinship Categories Across Languages

George Loewenstein Documents Pitfalls of Personal Loans

Carnegie Mellon Names Kiron Skinner University Adviser on National Security Policy

CMU Premieres New Film Aimed at Reducing Risky Sexual Behavior Among Teens

Mindfulness Meditation Reduces Loneliness and Inflammation Levels in Older Adults

Researchers Find Physicians Are Biased When Evaluating Medical Conflict of Interest Policies

Baruch Fischhoff Leads Conference on the Science of Science Communication

Timothy Haggerty: Carnegie Mellon Today Last Word Column

Spring 2012 Dean's List (pdf)

Dietrich College Multimedia 

Photos
Staff Appreciation Lunch

2012 Communication Symposium

Arts Greenhouse Mixtape Release Party

Department of Psychology Diploma Ceremony

Videos
Startup Uses Neuroscience To Improve Online Video Clicks

Caroline Kessler: Student Commencement Speech

Robert Siegler: Early Knowledge of Fractions and Long Division Predicts Long-Term Math Success

Charles Kemp: Researchers Identify Principles That Shape Kinship Categories Across Languages

J. David Creswell: Mindfulness Meditation Reduces Loneliness in Older Adults

Dietrich College is on YouTube! View the most recent videos.
Class Notes

Please note, due to the college's name change to the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the indicia is now "DC."   

 

Find out what's going on with Dietrich College alumni, such as Evan J. Segal (DC'82), Susan (La Fiandra) Reid (DC'90), Shirli Brautbar (DC'94) and Michael Szczerban (DC'07).

 

Read alumni announcements.

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Personal Mention
Dietrich College Personal Mention shares news and accomplishments from the college's faculty and staff.  Included this month are Paul Fischbeck, David Shumway, Kristina Straub and more.

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Dietrich College
in the News
Recent news coverage highlights:

Post-Gazette: CMU Student Wins Steeltown Film Factory Award for Coming-of-Age Comedy

NPR: What's Different About the Brains of People With Autism?

BBC: Stress and Illness: The Decades-Long Search for a Link

Post-Gazette: CMU Prof's Book To Focus on Ernest Borgnine's Blue-Collar Portrayals

Washington Post: Friends, Loans and Consequences

The
"Shapira Challenge" To Benefit
Dietrich College
David Shapira, a Carnegie Mellon life trustee and former board chairman, along with his wife Cindy, and in collaboration with the Giant Eagle Foundation, are giving approximately $2.8 million to the Dietrich College via the Inspire Innovation Campaign.

Of this gift, $2 million will be used to endow the Humanities Scholars Program, and $800,000 will be used to provide a pool of matching funds as a means to encourage additional donors to the college.

Read Dean Lehoczky's full announcement.

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Class Notes
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