Briefs

John Ashbery reading: John Ashbery, considered one of America's greatest living poets, will give this year's Robert Chasen Poetry Reading today, April 10, at 4:30 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium in Goldwin Smith Hall. The reading, sponsored by the Department of English, is free and open to the public. Ashbery is the Charles P. Stevenson Jr. Professor of Language and Literature at Bard College and the author of 20 poetry collections, including Girls on the Run (1999), Your Name Here (2000) and Chinese Whispers (2002). His Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror (1975) was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, the first time a book of poetry was so universally acclaimed. A winner of a MacArthur Fellowship, two Guggenheims and the Ruth Lilly Prize, Ashbery is considered the major transformative voice in contemporary poetry. The Robert Chasen Reading is supported by the English department's Creative Writing Program and the Cornell Council for the Arts. For more information on the Ashbery reading or the Chasen series, contact Marianne Marsh at 255-6799.

Trustees meet Friday: The Executive Committee of the Cornell Board of Trustees will meet in Manhattan on Friday, April 11, instead of today, April 10. The change was made so that university trustees and administrators can support the Cornell men's hockey team in the national semifinal Frozen Four game at noon today in Buffalo, N.Y. The committee will hold a brief open session when it meets Friday at 12:15 p.m. in the Fall Creek Room at the Cornell Club of New York, 6 E. 44th St. The public session will include a report from President Hunter Rawlings and an update on the state budget.

Romance studies lecture: Carlos J. Alonso '75, professor of Romance languages at the University of Pennsylvania, will deliver the inaugural John W. Kronik Lecture in Romance Studies. The lecture is Monday, April 14, at 4:30 p.m. in the Guerlac Room of the A.D. White House. It is titled "The Two Tales of Borges" and is free and open to the public. Kronik, a professor emeritus in Romance studies at Cornell, taught courses in 19th and 20th century Spanish fiction and drama and modern Latin American theater and also has conducted seminars on Hispanic metafiction and on contemporary literary theory. He has lectured and published extensively in these fields. Alonso is the Edwin B. and Leonore R. Williams Professor of Romance Languages at the University of Pennsylvania and current editor of the Publications of Modern Languages Association. The lecture series is endowed by Scott Koenig '73, Ph.D. '79, and Robin Michael Koenig '75.

Apparel exhibit: A sampling of apparel from the prominent Langdon family of Elmira -- whose daughter, Olivia, married Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) in 1870 -- is on exhibit in the Elizabeth Schmeck Brown Gallery on the third floor of Martha Van Rensselaer Hall until May 1. "Titled 'A Langdon Portrait,' the exhibit portrays the Langdons as well-dressed, well-educated and reform-minded. Besides dresses, the exhibit features a man's wedding suit and Turkish clothing," said visiting fellow and guest curator Susan Greene in the Department of Textiles and Apparel in the College of Human Ecology. Most items were donated to the Cornell Costume and Textile Collection by the Langdon family in the 1930s. Also included on loan from two neighboring institutions are a spectacular lilac satin and velvet visiting dress and a rare example of a wool wrapper and drawers of the sort that the Langdon ladies would have worn when in residence at the Elmira Water Cure, said Greene. The gallery is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

Business camp for girls: Camp $tart-Up, at the Johnson Graduate School of Management takes place this year July 12-19 in Sage Hall on campus. The program empowers young women, ages 14-19, to take charge of their lives -- and have fun in the process -- both in school and in business by learning business and leadership skills. In addition to lessons in those areas and in networking and business plan building, campers will visit companies in the Ithaca area owned by women, participate in LPGA-taught golf and attend a business etiquette luncheon. Camp $tart-Up is designed by Independent Means Inc., a leading provider of education for girls' financial independence, http://www.independentmeans.com. An initiative of the Johnson School and its Office for Women and Minorities in Business, Camp $tart-Up is staffed in part by Johnson School faculty and recent MBA graduates, who share their own real-world experiences and perspectives with the young women who enroll. Tuition is $1,000 per camper. Scholarships are available to qualified applicants. Members of minority groups are particularly encouraged to enroll. The deadline for camp applications is May 31. This year's Camp $tart-Up at the Johnson School is sponsored in part by Cigna, Citigroup and Playtex Products Inc. For more information, call 255-1437, or visit http://www.johnson.cornell.edu/owmb/campstartup/.