Hi

Funny you should ask. Until yesterday, the CMU policy was:
   any faculty member or research associate who wanted to go
       to a conference, was allowed to go no questions asked
       once a year, all expenses paid. Any additional trips
       would have to be justified by the person's actually
       presenting a paper at the conference.
   any grad student who was going to a conference just as a
       spectator was given $50 (plus registration fees) for
       each conference he actually went to. If he presents a
       paper, the department will pay his expenses in almost
       all cases.

The funny part is that yesterday we learned that 7 (count them seven)
students want to go to Hawaii this May, and all have papers submitted
(although only one was actually  invited like we were). In this case,
for  the first time,  we will  probably only provide  1/2 funding for
them. The money comes right out of our travel budget, so if we funded
them all fully we'd have  to cut back somewhere else: probably in the
number of outside speakers we could afford to fly in for seminars and
colloquia.

By the  way, this  "budgeting"  is done  within the  AI part  of  the
department, even though the  general policies are the same throughout
the department. I.e.,  if we want to pay for them,  it will be the AI
seminars which have to cut back expenses.

The reason  for the  generous  support policy  is quite  simple:   it
encourages CMU people to foray out into the world and make CMU better
known as a good CS  dept. Secondarily, CMU tries harder than Stanford
not just because it's No. 2, but because it's much more isolated from
any nearby CS centers than  Stanford is. There is not much within say
6 hours drive, whereas you have  all of SF, SC, LA,... All we have is
us  (surprisingly little interaction between  us and Pitt).  Finally,
the  policy is  built on  a factor  which Stanford  doesn't have: the
money is  available. This  department  is resting  on a  much  firmer
monetary  base than  Stanford's.   E.g.,  our budget  for  AI  travel
(speakers brought  in, CMU AI people  sent to conferences, honoraria,
etc.) is several tens of thousands of dollars per year.

---------- (end of bragging) ------------

Merle is  still in  the "almost-got-a-job"  state. Sigh.  This  time,
she's been told that she has a "250%" chance for a certain counseling
position  which will  open up  in about 2  weeks. Last  month she was
assured  of a  99% chance  for a  really great  positiion, which then
simply went  away when insufficient funds  were available. We'll give
you a call when Merle does get the job.

Could you ship the clock to  us? Is that expensive?  Tell me how much
it will cost  (plus the clock price) and we'll  mail you a check now.
Even if we decide to wait  on the shipping, we'd like to pay you back
for the clock soon.

Will Linda be going to Hawaii with you, or is once a year enough? How
is everything going? Is there any acitivity re my thesis? How are you
coming (will you be going around to other schools this winter?)

Keep in touch. Regards, Doug