Briefs

EPL Young Scholar Conference: The program on Ethics and Public Life (EPL) at Cornell will host its Young Scholar Conference focusing on "Theories of Democracy" Saturday, May 1, in the Statler Hotel. The conference marks the annual presentation of EPL's Young Scholar Award. This year's winner is Corey Brettschneider, an assistant professor of political science and public policy at Brown University. Brettschneider was selected as Young Scholar following a national competition sponsored by EPL.

The Young Scholars Program, in its 11th year, is an integral part of the EPL, a universitywide academic initiative that promotes systematic study of the complex, and inescapably ethical, issues of public life.

The award was established to encourage promising young academics and promote discussion of ethical issues in social or political life. Each year a junior faculty member engaged in the study of contemporary social issues receives a cash award and is invited to Cornell for an intensive discussion of his or her research.

Directed by Cornell Professor Michele Moody-Adams, the EPL program fulfills its mission through teaching courses focused on ethics, assisting faculty with the integration of ethics into courses in other disciplines, and developing connections between Cornell and the broader public world through lectures, colloquia and conferences, such as the Young Scholar weekend.

Anime convention: If you spend a lot of time in a dark room hunched over video games, or think watching Japanese animated TV shows is a guilty pleasure, you can meet other people who share your interests at the First Annual Cornell Anime and Gaming Convention from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. beginning Friday, April 30, at Robert Purcell Community Center on North Campus.

The event is a joint project of Cornell Dance Dance Revolution, Games Club, Fight Club, Smash Brothers Club and Cornell Japanese Animation Society. A wide variety of games will be available for playing, and tournaments are scheduled. Organizers promise Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Capcom vs. SNK 2, Super Smash Brothers Melee, Soul Calibur 2 and others, and an entire room devoted to Dance Dance Revolution. In the upstairs auditorium, four hours of anime will be shown on a big screen.

Admission is free. For more information, contact Damien Ragsdale at cdr9@cornell.edu.