ACM MemberNet - April 26, 2007
Welcome to the April edition of ACM MemberNet, bringing you the world of ACM and beyond. Explore the many facets of ACM with our newsletter of member activities and events. Read MemberNet online at http://membernet.acm.org/
Member Benefits
- New Offerings from ACM Online Books, Courses Programs
- Take Advantage of ACM's Lifetime Membership Plan
- Sharing Value of ACM Membership Has Its Rewards
Education
- Call for Community Review of Computing Curricula 2001: Computer Science
- Distinguished Speakers Program Launches New Web Site
Student News
- Upcoming ACM Student Research Competitions Call for Submissions
- ACM-W Student Scholarships for Attendance at Research Conferences
- Student Volunteers Needed to Help Teach High School CS Teachers
- Graduating Students Eligible for Special Transition Rate
Awards
- Call for ACM Senior Member, Distinguished Engineer/Scientist/Member, Fellows Nominations
- ACM SIG Awards Recognize Achievements in Diverse Fields
Public Policy
- Hope for E-voting Reform?
Conferences and Events
- CFP Conference to Explore "Autonomy on the Electronic Frontier"
- Registration Now Open for Federated Computing Research Conference
- Fran Allen, Jeannette Wing to Speak at New Conference for Undergraduate Women in CS
Publications News
- Communications of the ACM Celebrates ACM's 60th Anniversary
- ACM Queue Features Special Section on VoIP
- ACM Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage Call for Papers
- ACM Seeks Missing SIG Newsletters for Digital Library
In Memoriam
- Karen Spärck Jones, IR Pioneer, Winner of Two ACM Awards
ACM in the News
- "Siggraph: Three's a Charm"
- "Audit Finds Many Faults in Cleveland's '06 Voting"
- "Complexity Is Killing IT, Say Analysts"
Member Benefits
New Offerings from ACM Online Books, Courses Programs
ACM has added 2,200 SkillSoft online courses to its Online Courses Program. Access to these courses is free for ACM Professional and Student Members. New valuable features offered with the courses include:- Job Aids - tools and forms that complement and support course content
- Skillbriefs - condensed summaries of the instructional content of a course topic
- Mentoring via email, online chats, and threaded discussions
- Exercises - thorough interactive practice sessions keyed to the learning points covered in the course
- Downloadable content for easy and convenient access
ACM has also expanded and updated its Online Books Program. ACM Professional Members have access to 1,100 online books: 600 top quality selections from Safari® Books Online (including a large collection of books from O'Reilly, Addison-Wesley, Sams, Que, and Prentice Hall), and 500 online books from Books24x7®, including titles by leading authors from key publishers Wiley, Wrox, McGraw-Hill, Microsoft Press, and Jossey Bass. ACM Student Members have access to the Books24x7® collection. These virtual high-tech libraries give members free, unlimited access to an enhanced collection of books on cutting-edge IT/CS tools and technologies, and the newest books on practical business skills. You can search, bookmark, or read these references cover-to-cover.
Visit the Online Books and Courses home page for more information.
Take Advantage of ACM's Lifetime Membership Plan
ACM Professional Members can enjoy the convenience of making a single payment for their entire tenure as an ACM Member, and also be protected from future price increases by taking advantage of ACM's Lifetime Membership option. Pricing for ACM Lifetime Membership is based on age and current dues rates, and the option to include the ACM Digital Library is also available. ACM Lifetime Membership dues may be tax deductible under certain circumstances (please consult with your tax advisor).
Sharing Value of ACM Membership Has Its Rewards
ACM's 2006/2007 Member-Get-A-Member Recruitment Drive runs through June 30, 2007. For referral forms, recruitment tips and tools, prizes and rewards, and bonus gifts, visit the Member-Get-A-Member Drive page.
Education
Call for Community Review of Computing Curricula 2001: Computer Science
The ACM Education Board and the IEEE Computer Society have launched the Interim Review of the 2001 Computing Curriculum for Computer Science (CC2001). A Web site has been created to capture community comments and contributions. The review period extends to June 30, 2007. In 2001 the Computer Science volume was published as the first in a series of five curriculum guidelines that became known as the Computing Curricula Series. To provide timely guidance to the community in the fast-changing computing field, ACM and IEEE-CS directed that an interim review of each volume be conducted after approximately five years. A meeting will also be held on May 11 at the Stanley Hotel, Estes Park, near Boulder, Colorado. Anyone wishing to attend (at their own expense) should send their request to Alan Apt, ACM Education Manager.
Distinguished Speakers Program Launches New Web Site
ACM's Distinguished Speakers Program, which began as an outreach program bringing lecturers to local chapters, has updated its topic list and recruited new speakers from academia, industry, and government. Another initiative is to facilitate access to these talks by providing them in alternative formats, such as streaming video. If you want to learn more about the program, or nominate a speaker, please visit the DSP site.
Student News
Upcoming ACM Student Research Competitions Call for Submissions
ACM Student Research Competitions take place at ACM-sponsored conferences throughout the year. The following Student Research Competitions have open calls for participation. Undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to submit abstracts by the stated deadlines. Students must have valid ACM membership at the time of submission.- Hypertext 2007, September 10-12
Submission deadline: May 7, 2007 - Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing, October 14-17
Submission deadline: June 22, 2007 - SIGGRAPH 2007 (Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques), August 5-8
Submission deadline: TBD - OOPSLA 2007 (Object-Oriented Programming), October 21-25
Submission deadline: July 2, 2007 - ASSETS (Computers and Accessibility), October 14-17
Submission deadline: July 13, 2007 - MOBICOM (Mobile Computing and Networking), September 9-14
Submission deadline: August 10
A program launched by ACM's Committee on Women in Computing (ACM-W) provides support for undergraduate or graduate women students in Computer Science programs who are interested in attending research conferences. It is not required that the student present a paper at the conference she attends. High school students will also be considered for conference support. Initially, up to 12 scholarships of up to $500 each will be awarded annually. ACM-W also encourages the student's home department to match the scholarship award and recognize the student's achievement locally within her department. Applications will be evaluated in four groups each year, in order to distribute awards across a range of conferences, with two to three awards given each quarter. For application form, notification dates and more information, please visit the scholarships page.
Student Volunteers Needed to Help Teach High School CS Teachers
The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) is seeking Computer Science college students proficient in Java and other new programming languages and environments to train high school CS teachers in these technologies. Java Engagement for Teacher Training (JETT) and Teacher Enrichment in Computer Science (TECS) are one- and two-day workshops for high school teachers, hosted by college and university CS students and faculty. Hosting a JETT or TECS workshop is a great volunteer experience for individual student ACM members, as well as student chapters. For more information please contact Jennifer Wroblewski, the JETT and TECS workshop coordinator.
Graduating Students Eligible for Special Transition Rate
ACM offers a special ACM Professional Membership for $49 USD (regularly $99) to help graduating students make the transition to professional careers, and take advantage of continuous learning opportunities. This one-year-only transition rate includes all the benefits of Professional Membership plus the option of purchasing a Digital Library subscription for $50. Recent graduates can access this special transition offer through ACM's convenient online renewal, or by following the instructions on the paper renewal form.
Awards
Call for ACM Senior Member, Distinguished Engineer/Scientist/Member, Fellows Nominations
ACM now has three member grades to recognize achievement:
Senior Member recognizes ACM members with at least 10 years of professional experience and 5 years of continuous ACM Professional membership who have demonstrated performance and accomplishment that set them apart from their peers. Nominations are accepted on a quarterly basis. The next deadline for nominations is May 31, 2007.
The Distinguished Engineer/Scientist/Member designation recognizes ACM members with at least 15 years of professional experience and 5 years of continuous ACM Professional membership who have demonstrated significant accomplishments or made a significant impact on the computing field. The deadline for nominations is July 31, 2007.
Fellows are outstanding ACM members with at least 5 years of continuous ACM Professional membership who are recognized for their technical, professional and leadership contributions that advance the objectives of ACM and the field as a whole. The deadline for nominations is September 9, 2007.
ACM SIG Awards Recognize Achievements in Diverse Fields
ACM's Special Interest Groups (SIGs) regularly cite outstanding individuals for their contributions in more than 30 distinct technological fields. Some awards presented at recent conferences were:
SIGAda Outstanding Contributions and Distinguished Service Awards
Public Policy
Hope for E-voting Reform?
For the past few years Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ) has taken the lead on legislation to reform electronic voting. Each year his efforts have garnered deep support from the Democratic Party, but each year the legislation stalled with no Congressional action. With the Democrats now controlling Congress, Representative Holt has high hopes that he will be able to shepherd it into law. If you are interested in e-voting issues, this legislation is the bill to watch. Read the full column by Cameron Wilson, Director of ACM's Public Policy Office.
Conferences and Events
CFP Conference to Explore "Autonomy on the Electronic Frontier"
The 17th annual Computers, Freedom and Privacy Conference (CFP2007), taking place May 1 to 4 in Montreal, will address the growing threats and opportunities for autonomy in cyberspace. Featured speakers will include Whitfield Diffie of Sun Microsystems; Ron Rivest of MIT; Simon Davies of Privacy International; Michael Geist of University of Ottawa; Bruce Schneier of BT Counterpane; and Kim Cameron of Microsoft. Sessions on the Digital Divide, wiretapping, airline passenger data, health information, RFIDs, spyware, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and more are on the scheduled program.
Registration Now Open for Federated Computing Research Conference
Registration is now open for the 2007 Federated Computing Research Conference (FCRC), to be held June 8-16 in San Diego, California. FCRC brings together more than 15 affiliated conferences, facilitating communication among researchers in different fields in computer science and engineering. Turing Award winner Frances Allen will deliver the Turing Award Lecture at HOPL III, one of the conferences at FCRC.
Fran Allen, Jeannette Wing to Speak at New Conference for Undergraduate Women in CS
Opportunities for Undergraduate Research In Computer Science (OurCS) is a new research-focused conference for undergraduate women in CS to be held at Carnegie Mellon University October 5 to 7. The roster of dynamic women leaders will include speakers Frances Allen, 2006 ACM Turing Award winner; Jeannette Wing, ACM Council member and head of CMU's Computer Science Department; and Jennifer Tour Chayes, Co-founder and Co-manager, Microsoft Theory Group. The conference will provide opportunities for undergraduate women to network and work on exploratory problems in teams led by researchers from industry and academia. Registration is now open and submissions are being accepted.
Publications News
Communications of the ACM Celebrates ACM's 60th Anniversary
ACM's History Committee recruited historians, archivists, and early ACM pioneers and volunteers to contribute their memories, findings, and accounts to a special section of CACM commemorating ACM's 60th anniversary. The section, coming in the May issue, is freely available online. Check the CACM home page in the Digital Library to access the articles.
ACM Queue Features Special Section on VoIP
Everyone seems to be switching to VoIP these days, as its low cost and broad feature set make it an attractive telephony option for corporate and home users alike. Many popular VoIP services use Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for signaling. SIP is also used for instant messaging and will be used as the primary signaling technology in the next generation of mobile phones. The March issue of Queue offers a suite of articles covering many aspects of SIP, from basic signaling to P2P to micropayments.
ACM Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage Call for Papers
ACM's new Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage (JOCCH), slated to launch in spring 2007, is seeking papers on the use of information and communications technology in support of Cultural Heritage, such as on-site and remotely sensed data collection; metadata, classification schema, ontologies and semantic processing; and intelligent tools for digital reconstruction. Visit the JOCCH Web site for more information.
ACM Seeks Missing SIG Newsletters for Digital Library
ACM is seeking to complete its Digital Library archive of Special Interest Group (SIG) newsletters. Please review the spreadsheet of missing SIG newsletter issues and, if you have any of the ones on the list, contact Craig Rodkin with your list and for shipping details. Be sure to let Craig know if you'd like the newsletters returned to you.
In Memoriam
Karen Spärck Jones, IR Pioneer, Winner of Two ACM Awards
Karen Spärck Jones, recently named as the recipient of ACM/AAAI's Allan Newell Award and ACM-W's Athena Lecturer Award, passed away on April 4.
ACM in the News
"Siggraph: Three's a Charm"
Hollywood Reporter, April 24, 2007
ACM SIGGRAPH has announced the Best of Show, Jury Honors, and Award of Excellence winners for the 2007 Computer Animation Festival at SIGGRAPH 2007.
"Audit Finds Many Faults in Cleveland's '06 Voting"
New York Times, April 20, 2007
Former ACM President Barbara Simons says there is no excuse for Diebold's using an insecure and unreliable database, and points out that there were far more reliable databases available over 20 years ago.
"Complexity Is Killing IT, Say Analysts"
IDG News Service, April 13, 2007
RISKS Forum editor Peter Neumann says old mistakes are often repeated, such as the buffer overflow issue.
Read more ACM in the News.
Copyright © 2007, ACM, Inc.