Cornell University News Service Releases

August, 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.

A molecular motor's key role in cell birth
ITHACA, N.Y. --Cornell University biologists have shown how tiny molecular motors carrying target proteins help orient the spindle-like apparatus that transfers genetic material from the nucleus of a mother cell to the daughter. The research explains an essential mechanism in the birth of a new cell, and how failures of molecular motors can have dire consequences for new cell formation. The new model for mitotic mechanics, as reported in the latest issue of the journal Nature (Aug. 31, 2000, Vol. 406, No. 6799, pp. 1013-15), was worked out in budding yeast cells. But the study is expected to prompt further research into whether similar processes occur in the formation of cells of all higher organisms, including humans. mitotic_spindle.hrs (August 28, 2000)

Hoy Road to be closed Sept. 2 for generator lift
Portions of Hoy Road on the Cornell University campus will be closed temporarily Saturday, Sept. 2. From 6 a.m. to approximately 2 p.m., the section of Hoy Road that runs in front of Rhodes Hall will be closed off. Vehicles will have access to the parking garage and the temporary Hoy parking lot from the entrance to campus at Dryden Road. Hoy.closing.generator (August 28, 2000)

U.S. labor law is poorly enforced, has loopholes
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Workers' basic rights are routinely violated in the United States, asserts a comprehensive study by a Cornell University expert on labor law. U.S. labor law is feebly enforced, riddled with loopholes, and fails to meet the basic human rights standards that the United States demands of other countries, says Lance Compa, a senior lecturer at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR). Compa, who teaches courses in U.S. labor law and international labor rights, conducted the study for Human Rights Watch with support from that organization and the Ford Foundation. Compa.human.rights (August 28, 2000)

Top corporate strategist Orit Gadiesh to speak Sept. 7
Orit Gadiesh, an international expert on management and corporate strategy, will give a talk on that topic at Cornell University Thursday, Sept. 7, at 5 p.m. Her address is titled "Keeping Your Bearings in the Business World." It will take place in Schwartz Auditorium, Rockefeller Hall. The talk is part of the Johnson Graduate School of Management Park Leadership Speakers Series and is free and open to the public. Gadiesh.talk (August 28, 2000)

Upstate Farms of Rochester selected for best milk in New York state by testers at Cornell
Cornell University's Department of Food Science has selected Upstate Farms of Rochester as producer of the highest quality milk in New York state. The annual selection was announced today (Aug. 28) at the New York State Fair's Dairy Day. The selection is part of the New York State Milk Quality Improvement Program and sponsored by the New York Milk Promotion Order. The analytical tests are run at Cornell. Milk2000.bpf (August 28, 2000)

McCadam's cheddar judged top cheese in New York by state panel at Cornell
The young cheddar cheese at McCadam Cheese Co., Heuvelton, N.Y., has been judged the top cheese in New York state for 2000, beating out cheeses in all categories. The judging took place at Cornell University in mid-August and was announced today (Aug. 28) at the New York State Fair's Dairy Day. Cheese2000.bpf (August 28, 2000)

Actors' union leader Theodore Bikel is speaker Aug. 31
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Theodore Bikel, an Emmy award-winning actor and former leader of Actors' Equity Association, the pre-eminent U.S. union for stage actors, is the pre-Labor Day speaker at Cornell University Aug. 31. Bikel's pre-Labor Day public lecture is titled "The Artist as Laborer." It will take place Thursday, Aug. 31, at noon in the Biotechnology Building first floor auditorium on the Cornell campus. The talk, which is sponsored by the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, is free and open to the public. Bikel.prelabor.spkr.html (August 25, 2000)

100 Years of New York weather
GENEVA, N.Y. -- Researchers at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station have been measuring and logging New York weather for more than a century. The information is provided as a public service to growers and researchers, as well as to New York courts.

http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/pubs/press/current/100weather.html (August 16, 2000)

Institute of Food Science Opens Doors, Courts Students
GENEVA, N.Y. -- Four undergraduates from across the country are finishing up their projects at Cornell's New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, NY this August as a result of a research program initiated by the Cornell Institute of Food Science (CIFS). The Cornell University Food Science Summer Scholar program was designed to give undergraduates a chance to conduct independent research, an opportunity many don't get until graduate school, and to expose potential graduate students to Cornell's facilities and staff.

http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/pubs/press/current/FSscholars.html (August 18, 2000)

Big Red team ready to defend world title at RoboCup 2000 in Australia with improved soccer-playing robots
Brimming with confidence and armed with improved versions of last year's winning robots, eight Cornell University students left today (Aug. 23), for Australia, where the Big Red team will defend its title in the fourth annual World Cup of robotic soccer, known as RoboCup. The competition runs from Aug. 26 through Sept. 3 in Melbourne. At last year's competition in Stockholm, Sweden, the first time a Cornell team had entered, Big Red's robots easily walked -- or rolled -- away with the championship in the "small robots" league. Robocup00.bs (August 23, 2000)

Fall 2000 lecture series at Cornell Plantations covers valuable plants and worthless ones, too
From "million-dollar landscapes" to weeds worth removing, Cornell Plantations addresses a range of horticultural topics with its fall 2000 series of Wednesday night lectures, beginning Sept. 6. Highlights of the ten-lecture series, which continues through Nov. 8, are expected to be the 12th Annual Audrey Harkness O'Connor Lecture Sept. 13 and the 18th Annual William J. Hamilton Jr. Lecture Sept. 27. PlantationsFall2000.hrs (August 23, 2000)

Structural cues make 'six degrees of separation' work
We all know it's a small world: Any one of us is only about six acquaintances away from anyone else. Even in the vast confusion of the World Wide Web, on the average, one page is only about 16 to 20 clicks away from any other. But how, without being able to see the whole map, can we get a message to a person who is only "six degrees of separation" away? A Cornell University computer scientist has concluded that the answer lies in personal networking: We use "structural cues" in our local network of friends. "It's a collective phenomenon. Collectively the network knows how to find people even if no one person does," says Jon Kleinberg, assistant professor of computer science, who published his explanation in the latest issue (Aug. 24) of the journal Nature. kleinberg.small.ws (August 23, 2000)

Adhesive tricks to recycle old computers
WASHINGTON, D.C.-- A barrier to 100 percent recycling of outmoded computers has been overcome with the development of an environmentally friendly adhesive. Detailed studies of an epoxy compound developed at Cornell University and dubbed Alpha-Terp (or, more formally, (-Terpineol epoxy monomer), have revealed precisely the time and temperature required to make the seemingly indestructible adhesive "fall apart" during recycling of an outmoded computer or the remanufacturing of a usable one. ACS.thermosets.hrs.html (August 22, 2000)

Historic Icelandic sagas on view in rare Kroch Library exhibition
ITHACA, N.Y. -- One thousand years ago, a pioneering Icelandic woman came to the New World and gave birth to the first child of European descent in North America. She then returned to Iceland and later went to Rome on pilgrimage, very likely giving the Vatican a first-person account of her journeys. Her name was Gudr’dur Thorbjarnard—ttir, and her story is just one facet of "Living and Reliving the Icelandic Sagas," the fall exhibition on display in Cornell University's Kroch Library through Oct. 10. The Kroch Library exhibition gallery, on level 2B, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1-5 p.m. on Saturdays. icelandic.kroch.html (August 21, 2000)

Akwe:kon Press wins six first-place awards at NAJA ceremony
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Native Americas, the hemispheric journal published by the Akwe:kon Press at Cornell University's American Indian Program, won seven national media awards, six of them for first place, at the 2000 Native American Journalist Association's (NAJA) annual awards ceremony held in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in June. It marks the fifth year in a row that Native Americas received the top awards at the national convention of Native journalists. The magazine, published by Akwe:kon Press for more than five years, also has won numerous awards from Native nations and communities over its history. "We are honored, always, when our peers in community-oriented Native journalism commend our work," said Josˇ Barreiro, editor-in-chief of Native Americas. "There are hundreds of Native American newspapers and magazines being published in North America." native.am.awards.html (August 21, 2000)

Tents, trailers make quick office fixes
ITHACA, N.Y. -- When Monsanto needed a fast solution to building space for 40 researchers, it erected a tent. Or, more accurately, it turned to a temporary tentlike structure that took only 28 days to erect. A year later, to Monsanto's surprise, 89 percent of employees in the tent said the building was just as attractive or better than a conventional building, and 92 percent said the interior was just as good or better. new.workscapes.ssl.html (August 18, 2000)

Five faculty members receive NSF early career awards
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Five assistant professors in Cornell University's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering have received Faculty Early Career Development Program grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). They are Mark Heinrich, Edwin Kan, Rajit Manohar, Bradley Minch and Norman Tien. All of the grants are for more than $200,000 over four years. All eight of the electrical and computer engineering school's assistant professors have received NSF Early Career awards since 1997. Career.awards.deb.html (August 17, 2000)

Gas pipeline earthquake-simulations
ITHACA, N.Y. -- In many recent large earthquakes -- such as in Northridge, Calif., in 1994 and in Kobe, Japan, in 1995 -- some of the most alarming damage was to buried natural gas pipelines, most of them curving along rights-of-way using vulnerable elbow joints. The danger from a ruptured high-pressure gas pipeline can be an explosion or even a fireball. To test the effects of earthquakes on gas pipelines, Cornell University and Tokyo Gas Co. have teamed up in the largest experimental facility of its kind ever constructed to see exactly what happens when the earth moves violently against an underground line. quake.facility.deb.html (August 17, 2000)

Cornell is named a 'College of the Year' by TIME Magazine and The Princeton Review
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University has been named a "College of the Year" by TIME magazine and The Princeton Review for its successful and innovative writing program, the John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines. "It's a great honor for Cornell to be recognized by TIME as a national leader in developing the kind of discipline-specific approach to the teaching of writing that lies at the core of the Knight Institute's philosophy," said Jonathan Monroe, director of the Knight Writing Program, professor of comparative literature and the George Reed Professor of Writing and Rhetoric at Cornell. "TIME's recognition attests to the sustained commitment and effectiveness of the many Cornell faculty, graduate students and administrators who have helped make writing such an integral part of learning, and to the growing influence over the past several decades of writing-in-the-disciplines (WID) and writing-across-the-curriculum (WAC) approaches to writing instruction in higher education generally." Time.jp.html (August 17, 2000)

The attitudes of gratitude that affect gratuities
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Michael Lynn worked his way through college hustling for tips as a waiter, then turned the study of tipping into an academic career. Lynn, associate professor of consumer behavior in Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, has published his 16th study on tipping, titled "Gratitude and Gratuity: A Meta-Analysis of Research on the Service-Tipping Relationship," recently published in The Journal of Socio-Economics. This latest study is co-authored with Michael McCall, professor of business at Ithaca College, and is based on seven published and six unpublished studies involving 2,547 dining parties at 20 different, mostly casual dining establishments. In it Lynn finds that while tips are rewards for services rendered, there remains an element of unpredictability, even mystery, about tipping that makes it an unreliable measure of server performance. tipping.release.html (August 17, 2000)

Ozone threatens Long Island plants
NEW ORLEANS --For at least the past two summers, high amounts of ground-level ozone -- a pollutant commonly called "smog" -- have seriously retarded the growth of ozone-sensitive white clover in agricultural areas of Long Island, N.Y., according to a plant pathologist at Cornell University's Horticultural Research and Extension Center in Riverhead, N.Y. APS.Ozone.bpf.html (August 14, 2000)

Stress makes St. John's wort more effective
NEW ORLEANS --Here's a botanical twist: The more stress that is placed on wild populations of St. John's wort, the more effective the plant might be in warding off human depression. Plant pathologists from Cornell University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have found that hypericin (pronounced hi-PARIS-in), an active ingredient in St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum) -- a popular herbal remedy for depression-- might be increased when the plant is attacked by predators such as insects. APSWort.bpf.html (August 14, 2000)

Cornell student makes NASA Mars video
ITHACA, N.Y. -- When NASA today announced its intention to send two rover exploration vehicles to Mars on its previously announced 2003 space shot, it introduced the ambitious venture with a two-minute, computer-generated video that dramatizes the mission with startling clarity and accuracy. The video is the work of Dan Maas, a 19-year-old undergraduate at Cornell University enrolled in the university's College Scholar program for independent, interdisciplinary study. DanMaas.Mars.deb.html (August 11, 2000)

Former Cornell Dean Francille Firebaugh receives alumni award
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Human Ecology Alumni Association of Cornell University has awarded former Dean Francille Firebaugh the annual Helen Bull Vandervort Alumni Achievement Award for outstanding professional and volunteer services. Firebaugh, who received her doctoral degree in household economics and management from Cornell in 1962, served as dean of the College of Human Ecology from 1988 to 1999. She was instrumental in launching a master plan for facilities that reflects the commitment to improved classrooms and more sophisticated and interdisciplinary research and outreach endeavors in the College. Firebaugh is a specialist in family resource management and author or co-author of more than 50 scholarly articles and two books. She is now professor and dean emerita. She has returned to Cornell as director of special projects in the Offices of the President and Provost. Firebaugh.award.ssl.html (August 11, 2000)

Greater range of jobs for upstate communities, Cornell report shows
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Investments in upstate New York's Canal Corridor communities are generating a much broader range of jobs, among them high-skilled, high-paying jobs throughout the region, a Cornell University study released today shows. Cornell projected the creation of 10,600 new jobs beyond the tourism sector as a result of federal investments and leveraged funds. Those new findings are part of its Phase II report on Canal Corridor revitalization efforts by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Canal.corridor.phase2.html (August 8, 2000)

D.C. minority teens team with Cornell planning students this week
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Twenty-six black and Hispanic high school students from Washington, D.C., will learn that a university education is within their reach when they are hosted by Cornell University urban planning students and professors this Aug. 9--13. In turn, they will share with their hosts their own very real perspective on what it's like to live in a rough-and-tumble urban neighborhood. The students are from Cesar Chavez Charter High School for Public Policy in the nation's capital, an inner-city school that encourages young people to excel academically, attend college, then go on to play a role in shaping public policy to improve their communities. They are being hosted by students and faculty in Cornell's Department of City and Regional Planning (CRP) in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning. Their visit is the second in what the college hopes will be an ongoing, mutually beneficial friendship. Cesar.Chavez.students.html (August 8, 2000)

Incoming students participate in a week of community service
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University has announced the fifth annual Pre-Orientation Service Trips (POST), a community service project coordinated by the university's Public Service Center. POST gives new students an opportunity to participate in hands-on community service in Ithaca, learn about the local community and make a group of new friends in the week before Cornell's official new-student Orientation. Beginning Aug. 13 and ending Aug. 17, 40 incoming Cornell students -- both first-year and transfer students -- will spend their days and nights exploring the Ithaca community through service and educational programming. Daytime hours will be devoted to participating in service projects in the community. The projects, developed by the Public Service Center, will include having the students participate in volunteer work with the Ithaca City School District, 4-H, the Reconstruction Home and other local agencies. POST.program.html (August 8, 2000)

Beebe Lake to be dredged
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Beebe Lake will be a lake largely without water this month when Cornell University Grounds Department, at the request of Cornell Plantations, undertakes a partial dredging of the lake to remove sediment from the east end. To do this, the lake's water level will be lowered through a drain in the chilled water plant on the south side of the lake. At the same time, Cornell engineers will install cooling pipes to serve the new North Campus residence halls. By combining the two efforts, the lake will have to be emptied only once and for a shorter period of time. This minimizes environmental impacts and more quickly brings the lake back to its normal appearance. Beebe.dredge.ssl.html (August 7, 2000)