Cornell University News Service Releases

April, 2000

Index to all months

For the full text of any story, click on the filename at the end of the description. These stories are also available via anonymous FTP at cunews.cornell.edu. Electronic queries may be made to cunews@cornell.edu.

Biological terrorism to be discussed by Stanford biophysicist May 3
ITHACA, N.Y. -- "Living Nightmares: Facing the Growing Threat of Biological Terrorism" will be the subject of a talk to be given on the Cornell University campus May 3 by Steven M. Block, professor of biological sciences and of applied physics at Stanford University. The talk will be his first in the series of Bethe Lectures at Cornell. As a molecular biologist, Block has written about the parallel rise of biotechnology and terrorist activity, which, he says, arguably poses a greater threat to humankind than the nuclear menace that overshadowed the Cold War. Block.Bethe.deb.html (April 28, 2000)

Protein helps plants resist disease, insects
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted conditional registration for the first commercial agricultural use of harpin, a Cornell University University-discovered protein that induces a plant to mobilize its own defenses against pathogens and insects. The protein also enhances plant growth. "Treating plants with the harpin protein signals the plant to turn on its natural defense systems," says Steven V. Beer, Cornell professor of plant pathology and one of the protein's discoverers in 1991. "The plant must be treated before the pathogen attacks, and it takes several days for the plant's system to mobilize its own defenses." FireBlight.bpf.html (April 28, 2000)

Importance of math to science and technology to be spelled out by Cornell mathematician
ITHACA, N.Y.-- In an effort to increase public appreciation of the importance of mathematics, Cornell University's Department of Mathematics is sponsoring its first annual public lecture as part of the nationwide Math Awareness Month. On Saturday, April 29, John Hubbard, Cornell professor of mathematics, will give a talk titled "Chaos, Complication and Control." The talk will be given at 1:30 p.m. in Bache Auditorium, Malott Hall, Room 228, which can be reached through the north entrance, facing Bailey Hall. Hubbard.Math.deb.html (April 27, 2000)

Engineer-scientists cross-train in nanotech
ITHACA, N.Y. --The emerging field of nanobiotechnology could hasten the creation of useful ultra-small devices that mimic living biological systems - if only biologists knew more about nanotechnology and engineers understood more biology. They soon will. Starting in June 2000, the first 12 Ph.D. candidates will hit the laboratories of Cornell University's new W.M. Keck Program in Nanobiotechnology. The program has been inaugurated with a three-year, $1.2 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation of Los Angeles and is expected to receive other sources of support. Keck_nanobiotech.hrs.html (April 27, 2000)

Carnegie Mellon dean is nominated to be dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
ITHACA, N.Y. --Cornell University President Hunter Rawlings announced today (April 27) that he will submit to the Executive Committee of the Cornell Board of Trustees his nomination of Susan A. Henry, dean of the Mellon College of Science at Carnegie Mellon University, as the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Cornell's New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. CALS.dean.jp.html (April 27, 2000)

4th Annual Latino Street Festival in Ithaca April 29: ¡Un Sábado Gigante!
ITHACA, N.Y. --The Hermanos of La Unidad Latina/Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity Inc. of Cornell University and the Latino Civic Association of Tompkins County are hosting the Fourth Annual Latino Street Festival, Saturday, April 29, in downtown Ithaca. The event will take place in the 100 block of West State Street, between Cayuga and Geneva streets, from noon to 7 p.m. The day's activities will include music, games and learning activities for children, and a talent show with group and individual performers from Ithaca, Cornell and Ithaca College. Local vendors from Ithaca will sell typical Latino meals and local service agencies will have information booths. This year's festival also will feature live music by Mariachi Real de Mexico and by the salsa/merengue band Jig-E, both from New York City. Latino.Street.Fest.html (April 24, 2000)

Best images yet of Jupiter's inner moons
ITHACA, N.Y. --The Galileo spacecraft has taken a risky spin through Jupiter's lethal radiation belts to capture the highest-resolution images yet of three of the planet's four innermost moons, Thebe, Amalthea and Metis. In particular, two views of Jupiter's 250-kilometer-long (155 miles), irregularly shaped moon Amalthea, obtained by Galileo's Solid State Imaging camera (SSI) last August and November, show for the first time that a bright surface feature named Ida is a streak of bright material, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) in length. The images were obtained by Galileo's Imaging Science Team, led by Michael Belton of the National Optical Astronomy Observatories in Tucson, Ariz., working with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., the manager of the mission. The images were enhanced by a group led by Damon Simonelli, a research associate in Cornell University's Center for Radiophysics and Space Research (CRSR). Other members of the Cornell group were astronomy professor Joseph Veverka, CRSR researcher Peter Thomas and undergraduates Nirattaya Khumsame and Laura Rossier. Simonelli.moons.deb.html (April 24, 2000)

Novelist and screenwriter Richard Price, '71, reads Thursday, April 27, in Goldwin Smith
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Award-winning novelist and screenwriter Richard Price, Cornell University Class of 1971, returns to his alma mater to read from his fiction Thursday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m. in Goldwin Smith Hall's Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. Thirty years ago Price, then an undergraduate in Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, was enrolled in several writing courses and gave readings of his fiction in the old Temple of Zeus in Goldwin Smith Hall. Richard.Price.rel.html (April 21, 2000)

NYC schools Chancellor Harold Levy to speak at Cornell April 24
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Harold Levy, interim chancellor of the New York City Public School System, is coming to the Cornell University campus Monday, April 24. He will give a public lecture at 10:30 a.m. in 105 ILR Conference Center. The talk, titled "Urban Education Today," is free and open to the public. Levy, a Cornell alumnus (B.S. '74, J.D. '79), was appointed to the interim chancellorship in January by the New York City Board of Education after the preceding chancellor, Rudy Crew, was ousted following a series of stormy, public disagreements with New York City mayor and senatorial hopeful Rudolph Giuliani. Levy, who was described in The New York Times as a corporate lawyer and businessman with a proven interest in public education, has made it known publicly that he aspires to the permanent position. School.chancellor.Levy.html (April 21, 2000)

Venture Capital Fund will help students
ITHACA, N.Y. -- What moves a high-tech start-up company from an idea lightbulb flashing above someone's head to a record-breaking initial public offering? Despite news flashes about a new generation of under-30 dot-com millionaires, the ingredients for a successful IPO haven't changed all that much, according to David BenDaniel. BenDaniel, the Don and Margi Berens Professor of Entrepreneurship at Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management, says all that's still needed is the right idea at the right time, a thorough, well-thought-out business plan, an accurate estimate of how much money will be needed to launch the business and, sometimes hardest to find, the money itself. Now Alex Ivanov and John Kyles, two Park fellows at the Johnson School with an interest in venture capital, have come up with a plan to make it easier for people with a good idea to capitalize on it. Along with classmates Jean Mathews, Rich Ryan and Tim Krozek, and with a little advice from BenDaniel, they've started the Big Red Venture Capital Fund, a combined fund and business incubator for start-up ventures that will link the idea people with teams of Johnson School students, who'll help them create a solid business plan and, if the idea and plan pass muster, actually will help fund start-up costs. Venture.cap.fund.html (April 21, 2000)

Math lecture series honors Math lecture series honors minorities
ITHACA, N.Y. --Cornell University is establishing a lecture series to honor two of the nation's most eminent mathematicians, David Blackwell of the University of California at Berkeley and Richard Tapia of Rice University. The lectures will provide a forum for the research of African-American, Latino and American-Indian scientists working in the fields of mathematical and statistical sciences. On May 7 and 8, a conference will be held on the Cornell campus to inaugurate the series, to be called the David Blackwell and Richard Tapia Distinguished Lecture Series in the Mathematical and Statistical Sciences. math.lectures.rel.deb.html (April 20, 2000)

Craig R. Barrett, CEO of chip giant Intel, is 2000 Durland lecturer April 26
ITHACA, N.Y. --Intel Corp.'s strategy for diversification in education and technology in increasingly competitive and complex markets is the linchpin of Craig R. Barrett's Durland Memorial Lecture April 26 at Cornell University. Barrett is president and CEO of Intel, one of the largest manufacturers of computer chips in the world. The Durland lecture is the most prestigious invitational lecture at Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management. Barrett's talk, titled "Education and Technology in the New Economy," will be Wednesday, April 26, at 4:30 p.m. in the David L. Call Alumni Auditorium of Kennedy Hall. Barrett.Durland.talk.html (April 18, 2000)

Cornell offers spring beekeeping courses throughout New York State
ITHACA, N.Y. --The Dyce Laboratory for Honey Bee Studies at Cornell University is offering Master Beekeeper Program courses this spring at various locations throughout New York state. The apprentice level course provides a thorough theoretical and practical outline of bees and their keeping. Intended for new beekeepers and as a review for experienced beekeepers, this course emphasizes spring and summer management. The course consists of 12 hours of lectures and four hours of practical exercises. Participants will receive a manual and a textbook to complement the lectures and slide presentations. BeeCourseSpring.bpf.html (April 18, 2000)

Collegetown cleanup by residents and students is set for April 29
ITHACA, N.Y. --Cornell University students - including members of fraternities and sororities - and Collegetown residents will join forces Saturday, April 29, to clean up the streets of their Ithaca neighborhood. Volunteers will gather in shifts beginning at 10 a.m. in front of The Nines at 311 College Ave. From there, teams of students and year-round residents will begin their cleanup effort on the streets of Collegetown. Activities include cleaning sidewalks, streets and open spaces and removing posters that have been placed illegally on utility poles. Collegetown.cleanup.html (April 18, 2000)

Trustee committee to meet in New York City
ITHACA, N.Y. --The Executive Committee of the Cornell University Board of Trustees will hold a brief open session when it meets in Manhattan on Thursday, April 20, at 2 p.m. 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 University of New York (SUNY) budget. Exec.comm.jp.html (April 18, 2000)

Farm productivity is about tech, not age
ITHACA, N.Y. --In the agricultural world, the common belief is that a farmer's efficiency increases to its maximum in the middle years and then decreases with age. Not so, say Cornell University researchers. They have found that a farmer's productivity has less to do with efficiency decreases due to age and everything to do with using the latest agricultural technology. FarmerEfficiency.bpf.html (April 18, 2000)

NEH grant to preserve record of rural life
ITHACA, N.Y. --The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has awarded Cornell University's Albert R. Mann Library $865,845 for the preservation of books, family farm memoirs, land transactions and other published materials that depict the history of American agricultural and rural life. Mann Library, working on behalf of the U.S. Agriculture Information Service, will be preserving nearly 2,700 titles in 8,500 volumes published in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina and North Dakota between 1820 and 1945. This is the third phase of an ongoing project, the National Preservation Program for Agricultural Literature, that began in 1996. NEH.Mann.bpf.html (April 18, 2000)

Committee makes recommendations for West Campus housing
ITHACA, N.Y. --The West Campus Program Planning Group has recommended that Cornell University establish a living-learning council of faculty, students and staff to oversee five self-governed living-learning houses for upperclass students on the university's West Campus. The draft report by the West Campus Program Planning Group, "A Vision for Residential Life," makes nine specific recommendations that are designed to provide a programmatic plan for transforming West Campus into a supportive living and learning environment for approximately 1,800 upperclass students. The report is available electronically at . WestCampus.jp.html (April 13, 2000)

Cornell engineers and business leaders to discuss role of new broadband Internet technologies
ITHACA, N.Y. --As little as a decade ago "computer networking" meant watching words creep slowly across your screen; today's computer networks deliver photographs, engineering drawings, CD-quality audio, full-motion video and, for successful entrepreneurs in the new technologies, money. How these new technologies have been used by successful businesses, and what is coming next, will be discussed by a number of successful Cornell University engineering alumni at the annual conference of the Cornell Society of Engineers, this year titled "eConference @ Cornell, the Broadband Revolution: Changing Communications Technology," April 13-15 on the Cornell campus. CSEconference.ws.html (April 12, 2000)

'Science in the Supermarket: Consumer Issues with Genetically Modified Organisms' is topic of April 18 symposium
ITHACA, N.Y.-- The Cornell University Institute of Food Science and the Central New York Institute of Food Technologists will present a symposium, "Science in the Supermarket: Consumer Issues with Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)," at 1 p.m., Tuesday, April 18, at the Robert Purcell Community Center on the university's North Campus. The symposium speakers include: GeneticFoodSymp.bpf.html (April 11, 2000)

Committee is appointed to develop distance-learning plans
ITHACA, N.Y. --Cornell University President Hunter Rawlings has announced the formation of a new Provost's Advisory Committee on Distance Learning to help in the development of plans for distance-learning activities. The committee of eight includes seven faculty members and is chaired by William Arms, professor of computer science. The other members of the committee are Barry Carpenter, professor of chemistry and chemical biology; Donald Greenberg,the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Computer Graphics; Peter Lepage, professor of physics; David Lipsky, professor and director of the Institute on Conflict Resolution; Peter Martin, professor of law; Deborah Streeter, professor of agricultural, resource and managerial economics; and Robert Swieringa, the Anne and Elmer Lindseth Dean of the Johnson Graduate School of Management. Vice Provost Mary Sansalone is an ex-officio member. DL.committee.jp.html (April 10, 2000)

Latino studies is focus of conference April 14-15
ITHACA, N.Y. --The Latino Studies Program (LSP) at Cornell University will host a two-day conference on campus titled "Emerging Trends and Interdisciplinary Discourses in Latino Studies" Friday, April 14, and Saturday, April 15. The conference, which is open to the public, explores four salient themes in the Latino studies field: (1) contributions to the disciplines, influence on new academic discourses and new perspectives on research and public policy; (2) research priorities and recent intellectual trajectories; (3) constructions of Latino identity and rethinking the discourse on race relations in the United States; and (4) institutional responses to the inclusion of Latino-related research and instruction. LSP.conf.rel.html (April 10, 2000)

Robert Moog, Ph.D. '64, honored at Smithsonian exhibit, April 14-15
ITHACA, N.Y. --Electronic music synthesizer inventor and Cornell University Ph.D. Robert Moog will be honored at a special exhibit and concert titled "The Keyboard Meets Modern Technology" at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., April 14-15. As part of a two-day event, David Borden, director of Cornell's Digital Music Program, will perform with Mother Mallard's Masterpiece Co. and Keith Emerson, formerly of the rock music trio, Emerson, Lake and Palmer. The concert will be held Saturday, April 15, in the Smithsonian's Carmichael Auditorium. The two-day event, sponsored by the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian, is part of "Piano 300," a much larger exhibit celebrating 300 years of the piano. Trevor Pinch, a professor in the Department of Science and Technology studies, is writing a book about the Moog synthesizer and has helped organize the special exhibit, which includes a panel discussion and videoconference with Emerson, Moog and Borden - among other pioneers of the synthesizer. The videoconference will be linked to a Cornell classroom and provide students with an opportunity to talk with and ask questions of these legendary figures in the history of the synthesizer. moog.release.html (April 10, 2000)

David Pingree, expert on ancient origins of astrology, astronomy, science and math, will deliver two public talks in April
ITHACA, N.Y. -- David Pingree, professor of the history of mathematics and of classics at Brown University, will deliver two public talks during his April visit as a Cornell University A.D. White Professor-at-Large. Pingree's first talk, "The Earliest Version of Jagannatha's Siddhantakaustubha," will be offered as part of a Southeast Asia Program seminar Monday, April 17, at 12:15 p.m., in G08 Uris Hall. Pingree's second public lecture is titled "Rhetorius, the Last Greek Astrologer of Alexandria," to be held Wednesday, April 19, at 4:30 p.m., in 165 McGraw Hall. Pingree's earliest work in ancient Hellenistic and Indian astronomy/astrology led him to trace the specific mathematical techniques and terminologies of magic and astrology across the literature of different ancient civilizations. His expertise and mastery grew to include the textual traditions of Mesopotamian cuneiform, Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian and medieval Latin. Through his investigations, Pingree documented the roots of Persian, Arabic and medieval European science in the Sanskrit texts of India. Pingree has devoted himself to cataloging, and often editing, all Sanskrit manuscripts on ancient astronomy, astrology, divination and magic. Recently, he has begun to organize an international consortium with the goal of cataloging and preserving all the Indic manuscripts in the world. Pingree.PAL.rel.html (April 10, 2000)

Senior Alexandra Vinograd awarded $23,000 Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship to study public health in Lima, Peru
ITHACA, N.Y. --Cornell University senior Alexandra M. Vinograd has received a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship for $23,000 to pursue studies in public health at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru in Lima, Peru. Vinograd, who majors in history and German studies, will spend one academic year in the Peruvian capital serving in both scholarly and informally diplomatic capacities. rotary.vinograd.rel.html (April 10, 2000)

'Armpit effect' distinguishes kin from strangers
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Animals - and probably humans, too - can distinguish strangers from unfamiliar kin by comparing body odors to their own, Cornell University psychologists have shown. Their experiment is the first unequivocal demonstration of what researchers call "the armpit effect" - even when that particular part of the anatomy is not involved. Long suspected but never seen, the phenomenon known as "self-referent phenotype matching" occurs when golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) use their own scent to distinguish unrelated hamsters from their biological siblings, Jill M. Mateo and Robert E. Johnston report in the April 7, 2000, issue of Proceedings: Biological Sciences of the Royal Society of London (Vol. 267, issue 1444). Johnston is a professor and Mateo is a research associate in Cornell's Department of Psychology. armpit_effect.hrs.html (April 4, 2000)

How to leverage the Internet to succeed in business
ITHACA, N.Y. --A look at how the Internet is changing the basic business paradigm, with a special focus on the hospitality industry, is the topic of a special panel discussion that is a key event in this year's Hotel Ezra Cornell (HEC) at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration. The discussion, featuring four of the world's foremost experts on understanding the Internet, will take place Saturday, April 8, from 9 to 11:30 a.m. in Statler Auditorium and is free and open to the public. "The web is fundamentally altering the way the industry does business, reshaping every aspect, from marketing to managing multiple properties to taking room reservations," said Roy Alvarez, a lecturer in hospitality information management at the Hotel School. Panelists will help the audience understand where the new business paradigm shift is heading and will show, by example, how companies can capitalize on it. HEC.Internet.panel.html (April 6, 2000)

Volunteers spend month on diet for a smaller planet (Mars)
ITHACA, N.Y. --In a remote corner of Cornell University, 16 volunteers recently dined exclusively on space food for 30 days. As if they were marooned in a Martian space colony, the volunteers ate nothing but extraterrestrial cuisine: sweet potato pancakes, lentil loaf sandwiches, seitan tacos, carrot drumsticks and chocolate soy candy. To stick to the space food regimen, one volunteer had to forgo her wedding banquet and a taste of her wedding cake, while another brought a cooler with his soybean loaf to eat at one of Ithaca's finest restaurants so he could take his girlfriend out for Valentine's Day. spacefood.diet.ssl.html (April 6, 2000)

Kenneth Brown, Skidmore, Owings president, to give Bovay Lecture
ITHACA, N.Y. --Kenneth Brown, president of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the leading international architectural, planning, engineering and interior design firm, will give the annual Bovay Lecture at Cornell University on April 13. The lecture, sponsored by the Bovay Program for the Study of the History and Ethics of Professional Engineering and by the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell, will be given at 4:30 p.m. in McManus Lounge, first-floor conference center, in Hollister Hall on campus. Brown.Skidmore.deb.html (April 4, 2000)

Daniel Klessig named president of Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research Inc.
ITHACA, N.Y. --Daniel F. Klessig, associate director of Rutgers University's Waksman Institute, has been named president of the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) for Plant Research Inc., located on the campus of Cornell University, effective Sept. 1, 2000. Klessig succeeds Charles J. Arntzen, who will take a year's leave to do research at the Maricopa Research Station at Arizona State University and then will return to BTI as emeritus president and project leader. BTIPresident.bpf.html (April 4, 2000)

College students count in local census; Cornell effort continues
ITHACA, N.Y. --While April 1, the official census day all across the United States, has come and gone, the count continues on and off campus. There's still time to get counted and help local communities get their fair share of federal funding. Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau attempts to get an accurate count of everyone in the nation, including college students. According to census procedures, students must be counted where they attend college. Here in Ithaca and Tompkins County, every student in Cornell University residence halls, small living units and fraternity and sorority houses, as well as in apartments off campus, is being asked to complete a Census 2000 questionnaire. Census.2000.students.html (April 4, 2000)

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer to speak at Cornell's Convocation May 27
ITHACA, N.Y. --United States Sen. Charles E. Schumer will present the Convocation Address during Cornell University's Commencement weekend May 27-28. Convocation will be held Saturday, May 27, in Barton Hall at noon for graduating seniors, their families and guests. convocation.schumer.html (April 4, 2000)

Marshall Frank of Chem Systems to present Thorpe Lecture April 18
ITHACA, N.Y. --Marshall E. Frank, president of Chem Systems, a unit of IBM Corp., will deliver the Raymond G. Thorpe Lecture at Cornell University on Tuesday, April 18. His talk is titled "So You Want to Be a Consultant?" and will be presented in 155 Olin Hall at 3:30 p.m. The lecture is free and open to the public. Chem Systems is an international management consulting firm that assists businesses in the global energy, chemical, plastics and process industries. He has overall responsibility for the company's consulting activities in North and South America and the Asia-Pacific region. Frank.lecture.fk.deb.html (April 4, 2000)

Rachel Maines' book on 19th-century female sexuality garners two top awards
ITHACA, N.Y. --Rachel P. Maines, an independent scholar who is employed as a technical processor in the NestlŽ Library in Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, is the recipient of this year's Herbert Feis Prize in recognition of her scholarly book, "The Technology of Orgasm 'Hysteria,' the Vibrator, and Women's Sexual Satisfaction" (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999). The prize is awarded annually by the American Historical Association, the pre-eminent professional society of historians. and was presented to Maines at its annual meeting in Chicago Jan. 7. The prize is named after Herbert Feis (1893-1972), a public servant and historian of recent American foreign policy, and is intended to recognize the recent work of public historians or independent scholars. Maines.Feis.Prize3.html (April 4, 2000)

NSF research fellowships are awarded to 14 Cornell students
ITHACA, N.Y. --National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships have been awarded to 14 Cornell students, five of them undergraduates in their senior year. The 14 are among 850 outstanding college and university students named in this year's fellowship program, which is one of the NSF's oldest and currently provides a stipend of $16,200 per year for full-time graduate study. The NSF also provides an annual cost-of-education allowance of $10,500 in lieu of all tuition and required fees at U.S. institutions. NSF.CUfellows.deb.html (April 4, 2000)

Winners of 2000 Perkins Prize will be introduced at ceremony April 5
ITHACA, N.Y. --The annual James A. Perkins Prize for Interracial Understanding and Harmony at Cornell University will be awarded during a ceremony Wednesday, April 5, 4:30-6 p.m. in the Memorial Room of Willard Straight Hall on campus. Cornell trustee Thomas W. Jones, Cornell Class of 1969, MRP '72, established the $5,000 Perkins Prize in 1994 to promote efforts for the advancement of campus interracial understanding and harmony and to honor the "historic decision" by the late Cornell President Emeritus James A. Perkins, who was president from 1963 to 1969, to increase the enrollment of minority students during the unsettled 1960s. Jones, the chair and CEO of Citigroup's SSB Citi Asset Management Group, one of the largest asset management firms in the world, and vice chair of its parent company, Travelers Group, was a Cornell undergraduate and participant in the student takeover of Willard Straight Hall in 1969. He will attend the ceremony and congratulate the winners. Perkins.Prize.2000adv..html (April 4, 2000)

Second Annual Pow Wow and Smoke Dance Competition April 9
ITHACA, N.Y. --The Native American Students at Cornell (NASAC) organization will host its Second Annual Pow Wow and Smoke Dance Competition Sunday, April 9, in the Ramin Room of the Field House on the Cornell University campus. The event begins with a "Grand Entry," similar to a formal procession or parade, at 11 a.m. and continues until 7:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public. The event features a variety of Native American foods, dancing and arts and crafts. Among the day's many activities will be performances of Iroquois social dancing as well as a smoke dance competition. pow.wow.rel.html (April 4, 2000)

Visiting physicist Sir Michael Berry delivers four public lectures as A.D. White Professor-at-Large
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Sir Michael Berry, the Royal Society Research Professor at Bristol University, returns to Cornell University in his role as an A.D. White Professor-at-Large to meet with students and faculty and present several lectures that are free and open to the public. Berry will deliver the following talks on campus: Sir.Berry.PAL.rel.html (April 4, 2000)

New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer will deliver Korn lecture at Law School April 6
ITHACA, N.Y. --New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer will deliver the 2000 Henry Korn lecture at Cornell University Thursday, April 6. His talk is at 6 p.m. in the MacDonald Moot Court Room of Myron Taylor Hall at the Law School. The event is free and open to the public. Before becoming state attorney general, Spitzer served as assistant district attorney in Manhattan from 1986 to 1992, where he became chief of the office's labor racketeering unit and successfully prosecuted organized crime and political corruption cases. Following that, he practiced law in New York City with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom and became a partner at Constantine and Partners. Earlier he was an associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison, also in New York City, and a clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Robert W. Sweet. He is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. Spitzer.talk.html (April 4, 2000)

Bruce Turnbull named chair of statistics department
ITHACA, N.Y. --Bruce Turnbull, Cornell University professor of operations research and industrial engineering, has been named chair of the university's Department of Statistical Science. He succeeds Charles McCulloch, professor of biometrics. Turnbull was educated at Cambridge University (B.A. '67) and Cornell (Ph.D. '71). Following appointments at Stanford University and Oxford University, he joined the Cornell faculty in 1976. In 1979 he was awarded the Snedecor Memorial Award by the American Statistical Association in recognition of his research. Turnbull.chair.deb.html (April 4, 2000)