Cornell News Releases, October, 2000

Cornell University News Service Releases

October, 2000

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.

'Managing a Hispanic Workforce' conferences for dairy farmers
"Managing a Hispanic Workforce" is the subject of two one-day conferences designed for dairy farm managers. The conferences, sponsored by Cornell University and Pennsylvania State University, will be held Jan. 16, 2001, in Harrisburg, Pa., and Jan. 18, 2001, in Rochester, N.Y. Dairy producers employ an increasingly Hispanic workforce as well as workers from other cultures. "This conference will be a unique opportunity to learn from people who have experience with cross-cultural situations," says David Grusenmeyer, Cornell senior extension associate in animal science. Experts and workshop leaders will present information, and panel members will provide practical, employment-related examples, he says. (October 31, 2000)

Shortcut algorithms for X-ray crystallography
When a beam of X-rays is fired through a crystallized protein sample, the beam is scattered into a pattern that depends on the arrangement of atoms in the crystal. By decoding that pattern, experts can find the arrangement of the atoms and the shape of the protein molecule. But the decoding process is as much art as science, generally taking weeks or even months to find the structure of a large protein. Now a Cornell University researcher hopes to develop a much faster way to analyze the data on a computer. Veit Elser, associate professor of physics, has received a three-year National Science Foundation grant of $234,320 to develop new computer algorithms for X-ray crystallography. The grant comes from the agency's Information Technology Research initiative. (October 31, 2000)

David Stewart, director of community relations, to retire after 21 years at Cornell
David I. Stewart, who has been at Cornell University for 21 years, including the past 15 as director of community relations, will retire from that position in mid-November. "David leaves behind an unprecedented record that has been widely recognized, both here on campus and at many of our sister institutions around the country," said Henrik N. Dullea, vice president for university relations. "The director of community relations role here at Cornell can be challenging indeed." (October 31, 2000)

Cornell police report assault and harassment investigations are continuing
Cornell University Police are still actively pursuing investigations into the sexual assault of an Asian female student that occurred Sept. 16, as well as two reports of harassment of Asian females that happened during the following week. "We are following up on all the information we have on the assault, which is a bias crime, and the two bias-related incidents," said William Boice, director of Cornell police. "I urge anyone who has information to contact investigators at 255-1111." (October 30, 2000)

Parent education program helps prevent AIDS
A Cornell University parent-education program has shown it can triple the likelihood that parents will discuss risk reduction and related information about HIV, the AIDS virus, with their children. The program also significantly increases the likelihood that the parents themselves will make personal risk behavior changes and obtain HIV testing. Despite a popular misconception that the HIV/AIDS epidemic is under control in the United States because the rate of deaths from AIDS has flattened, infection rates continue to climb. A young New Yorker gets infected with HIV every two hours, on the average. Every year, 44,000 Americans become infected, and about one-fifth are New Yorkers. More than half of all new infections in the United States are among young people 25 years or younger. (October 30, 2000)

Surgery by most experienced surgeons not always the best
A surgical procedure to prevent strokes, involving the removal of plaque from the carotid artery, has a greater chance of ending in the death of the patient when the surgery is performed by surgeons who have been in practice the longest, according to a new Cornell University study. "We found that surgeons performing carotid endarterectomies who got their licenses 20 or more years ago had the highest mortality rate among their patients -- about one out of a hundred," says Liam O'Neill, assistant professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell. "We found about half that rate among other surgeons, even when we controlled for patient risk." (October 30, 2000)

Cornell to provide university-funded health insurance for majority of graduate students
For the first time, Cornell University will provide university-funded health insurance for the majority of its graduate students. The Cornell Board of Trustees at its regular meeting Oct. 28 approved the recommendation from President Hunter Rawlings to purchase the Cornell University Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) for fully funded graduate students, effective in fall 2001. The total cost of providing the coverage in the academic year 2001-02 is estimated to be approximately $3 million. (October 30, 2000)

Carol Nolan '73 of Glaxo SmithKline to deliver Thorpe Lecture Nov. 2
Carol L. Nolan, director of biopharmaceutical technical operations for Glaxo SmithKline, the multinational pharmaceutical concern, and a 1973 Cornell University alumna, will be on campus Thursday, Nov. 2, to deliver the seventh annual Raymond G. Thorpe Lecture in the Cornell University School of Chemical Engineering. Her talk, titled "Engineering Challenges in Biotechnology: Turning Bugs Into Drugs," will be at 4:30 p.m. in 255 Olin Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public. (October 30, 2000)

Morris Dees, Founder of Southern Poverty Law Center, to address religion and human rights conference
Morris Dees, founder and director of the Southern Poverty Law Center and a noted fighter against violent hate groups, will deliver the keynote address for a conference on religion and human rights Wednesday, Nov. 8, at 7:30 p.m. in Sage Chapel at Cornell University. The talk is free and open to the public. Dees' talk is one of the highlights the conference, "Religion and Human Rights: Ideology, the Rhetoric of Hate and the Languages of Reconciliation," Nov. 8-11 at Cornell. The conference, sponsored by the Cornell Religious Studies Program in collaboration with the Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy and Cornell United Religious Work (CURW), focuses on the intersections of religious traditions and communities and the complex issues of human rights as a global concern. The conference will feature panels and workshops by scholars, activists, clergy and educators committed to genuine intervocational dialogue, from Cornell and from around the world, including as far away as Guatemala and Tibet. (October 30, 2000)

15,000 birdwatchers document avian whereabouts
ITHACA, N.Y. --After analyzing data from 1999-2000, the warmest winter in 105 years, researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology are looking to a continent-wide network of volunteers to answer the question: Where will North American birds turn up next? These volunteer "citizen scientists" are participating in Project FeederWatch, a winter-long (November through April) survey of birds that visit feeders throughout the United States and Canada. The survey is sponsored by the Lab of Ornithology at Cornell University, in partnership with Bird Studies Canada, National Audubon and the Canadian Nature Federation. Started in 1987, the project has grown to more than 15,000 participants. (October 30, 2000)

'VOTE!' exhibition of political Americana opens in Kroch Library
While pop singer Madonna created a whole generation of "material girls" in the 1980s, an earlier 20th century icon inspired the "political girls" of the 1950s. During the 1952 presidential campaign, "Ike girls," attired in red and white designer "Ike" dresses, toured the nation on six official Citizens for Eisenhower Bandwagons. One of these dresses, along with coordinating accessories, such as "I Like Ike" stockings and a rhinestone-studded brooch, is now on display in an exhibition of political Americana titled "Vote!" at Cornell University's Kroch Library. Organized in celebration of the 2000 presidential election, "VOTE!" is an exhibition of campaign memorabilia from the Susan Havey Douglas Collection of Political Americana in the library's Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections. The exhibition is on view in the Kroch Library gallery, level 2B, until March 16, 2001. An opening reception is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 2, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The gallery is open Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays, 1 to 5 p.m. (October 26, 2000)

Satellite-hunting team finds four new moons of Saturn
An international team of eight "satellite hunters," astronomers who pluck tiny specks of light out of the distant solar system, has discovered four new outer moons of Saturn orbiting at least 15 million kilometers (more than 9 million miles) from the surface of the giant planet. The discovery gives Saturn a total of 22 known moons, surpassing the 21 orbiting Uranus. Nothing is known about the four new moons except for their brightness. Estimates of their size -- between 10 and 50 kilometers (6-30 miles) across -- are based on assumptions of their reflectivity. Observed from Earth-bound observatories, the moons appear as faint dots of light moving around the planet. (October 25, 2000)

Web site shows environmental risk for breast cancer
Science-based information on the relationships between breast cancer and environmental risk factors -- including pesticides and diet -- is offered at a Cornell University-based web site: <http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/bcerf/>. In time for October's national Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the web site from the Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors in New York State (BCERF) has been expanded with several features: (October 25, 2000)

PECASE awards support IC and computer security research
Two Cornell University faculty members are among this year's recipients of a Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering (PECASE), the White House announced today (Tuesday, Oct. 24). Edwin C. Kan, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Greg Morrisett, assistant professor of computer science, were among 60 researchers who received the awards at a ceremony today in the White House Old Executive Building in Washington, D. C. The awards were presented by Neal Lane, the president's science adviser. (October 25, 2000)

Cornell community is being alerted about armed robbery
Cornell University police and Campus Life staff are alerting students and other members of the community on and off campus that an armed robbery occurred at the Trolley footbridge late Monday evening, Oct. 23, and they should take extra precautions. According to a report by Ithaca Police, a white female undergraduate says that as she was walking across the footbridge at about 11 p.m. Oct. 23, she was approached by two males who had been standing on the bridge, which connects the Cornell campus to Collegetown. One of the males displayed a handgun and ordered the victim not to move. The suspects took the victim's wallet and backpack and left the scene, walking north onto the campus. She was not injured. (October 25, 2000)

Newspapers, not TV, move the educated to civic action
You are what you read. In our culture of mass media and information bombardment, it is the daily newspapers -- and not the nightly television news programs -- that motivate highly educated people into civic participation, according to researchers at Cornell University and Ohio State University. And this is creating a civic-participation gap between people with high and low education levels. "People with a higher education not only tend to read newspapers but they can process the information more carefully," says Dietram Scheufele, Cornell assistant professor of communication. "The highly educated know where to look to find information, and they have the skills to read a newspaper more effectively. As a result, mass media has a stronger influence on their civic participation. Less educated people participate less in the first place, but they also benefit less from information presented in newspapers and a participation gap is being created." (October 25, 2000)

Biocomplexity study in Lake Ontario bays and lagoons
A $3 million biocomplexity grant announced by the National Science Foundation (NSF) last week will enable a five-year study of how physical, biological and human interactions shape the ecosystems of Lake Ontario's freshwater bays and lagoons. The study will be carried out by a team affiliated with the Cornell Center For the Environment consisting of biologists, engineers and planners from Cornell University, the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse and Syracuse University. The faculty researchers and students at Cornell and Syracuse will be supported by one of 16 grants chosen from 300 proposals to the NSF, to foster a better understanding of the interrelationships that arise when living things at all levels interact with their environment. (October 23, 2000)

Sister Helen Prejean, author of 'Dead Man Walking' to speak at Cornell Oct. 24
Sister Helen Prejean, the author of Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the U.S., will give a public lecture in Statler Auditorium on the Cornell University campus Tuesday, Oct. 24, at 8 p.m. Tickets to the event are free and they are being distributed at the Willard Straight Hall ticket office on campus and at the Catholic Charities Office at 324 W. Buffalo St. in Ithaca. (October 20, 2000)

Cornell Trustees and council members to gather Oct. 26-28
Members of the Cornell University Board of Trustees and Cornell University Council will arrive on campus Thursday, Oct. 26, for their joint annual meeting, which this year celebrates the 50th annual meeting of the council. The annual meeting of the more than 700-member council and a quarterly meeting of the Board of Trustees is scheduled on campus every fall so that the groups can attend joint meetings and hear President Hunter Rawlings' State of the University Address. The council is an advisory body made up of alumni and friends of the university who are elected by the trustees. (October 19, 2000)

Director of Tribal Law and Government Center to speak on Iroquois land claims
Robert B. Porter, professor of law and director of the Tribal Law and Government Center at the University of Kansas, will present a lecture, "Resolving Iroquois Land Claims," Monday, Oct. 23, at 4:30 p.m. in 290 Myron Taylor Hall at Cornell University. Porter will also participate in a roundtable discussion about land claims to be held at Akwe:kon Residence House Oct. 22 between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. The public is invited to both events. (October 18, 2000)

Cornell scholars to examine Hillary Clinton's Senate run in panel Oct. 23
Whether or not she wins New York state's hotly contested U.S. Senate seat in the upcoming November election, Hillary Rodham Clinton's historic campaign will be examined by scholars not only for its electoral outcome but for what her candidacy and commentary about her reveal about American culture and values. Cornell University scholars will provide analysis of Clinton's meaning and significance at a panel Monday, Oct. 23, from 4 to 6 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall. The program is free and open to the public. (October 18, 2000)

First Amendment advocate to talk about school vouchers and religious liberty, Oct. 23
ITHACA, N.Y. Vincent Blasi, a law scholar and advocate and defender of the First Amendment right to free speech, will deliver this years annual Frank Irvine Lecture at Cornell University Law School Monday, Oct. 23. His talk is titled "School Vouchers and Religious Liberty." The talk will be at 4 p.m. in the MacDonald Moot Court Room of Myron Taylor Hall and is free and open to the public. (October 17, 2000)

Corning Inc., Cornell's Johnson School form partnershipto develop e-business curriculum
A $1 million grant from Corning Inc. to Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management will enable the school to develop a total-immersion curriculum in "e-business" and other components of an extensive electronic business program. The Corning-supported e-business immersion will be offered at the Johnson School in spring 2001. It will involve students and faculty from across campus as well as executives from Corning and other leading-edge companies. The students will learn to leverage the Internet as a tool for making and marketing products globally. (October 17, 2000)

Former New York Times columnist Tom Wicker will lecture Oct. 25
"Privacy in the Age of Media" is the topic of a lecture at Cornell University by Tom Wicker, retired political columnist for The New York Times and one of America's most respected journalists, Wednesday, Oct. 25, at 4:30 p.m. Wicker's talk is free and open to the public and will be in the Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium of Goldwin Smith Hall. It is sponsored by the Daniel W. Kops Freedom of the Press Fellowship Program. "In the past decade, the series has brought to campus some of the country's best-known journalists," said Laurence Moore, director of the American Studies Program, which hosts the annual Kops series. "The integrity of Tom Wicker is legendary, and his appearance will interest all members of the Cornell community." (October 17, 2000)

Texaco Inc. diversity officer, Angela Vallot, to speak Oct. 26
Angela Vallot, director of corporate diversity initiatives at Texaco Inc., will deliver a talk at Cornell University Thursday, Oct. 26, at 4:30 p.m. in 305 Ives Hall. Before beginning her position at Texaco, Vallot was a Washington, D.C., lawyer and a member of the Clinton-Gore transition team for the U.S. Department of Commerce under the department's late secretary, Ronald H. Brown. Her talk is titled "Leadership and Management in Corporate America: Diversity at Texaco" and is free and open to the public. (October 17, 2000)

TCAT proposes fare and service changes; public meetings scheduled
Faced with unprecedented increases in the cost of fuel as well as the doubling of its liability insurance premiums, the board of directors of Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT) has proposed a 25 cent basic fare increase and two service reductions, both of which would go into effect Jan. 1, 2001. o The TCAT adult cash fare would increase from 75 cents to $1 for single zone trips and from $1.50 to $2 for multizone trips. There would be proportional increases to ticket and pass prices. (See fare comparison chart, last page.) (October 17, 2000)

Learn about 'Tarantulas: Terrific or Terrible?' Oct. 28 at Ithaca Sciencenter
Just in time for Halloween, spider expert Linda Rayor will be showing and telling all about certain scary arachnids, in her talk "Tarantulas: Terrific or Terrible?" Saturday, Oct. 28, at 2 p.m. at Ithaca Sciencenter. Spiders are the most important land predators, killing many tons of insects every year, says Rayor, an instructor on the Cornell University faculty. "Because of their large size and hairy bodies, tarantulas have a fearsome reputation even though they are largely harmless," she says. (October 17, 2000)

Fact sheet on radon in schools for parents and administrators
It has become fairly commonplace for homeowners to test their houses for radon, the colorless, odorless and tasteless radioactive gas that seeps from the ground and can cause lung cancer. But schools, where a child can spend 14,000 hours by the time of high school graduation, often are overlooked, two Cornell University housing experts report. "Children in schools are particularly vulnerable to radon's effects," says Joseph Laquatra, associate professor of design and environmental analysis at Cornell, who has published numerous articles on the dangers of radon in housing. "Children are more sensitive to air pollution than adults. They breathe more air relative to their body weight and are more likely to breathe through their mouths than adults, which bypasses the nasal cavity's protective functions." (October 17, 2000)

Novelist Loida Maritza Pérez, '87, to speak at Latino Studies Unity Dinner and give reading --
Dominicana author Loida Maritza Pérez, a 1987 Cornell University alumna, is the keynote speaker at the Latino Studies Program's eighth annual Unity Dinner Friday, Oct. 20, at 5:30 p.m. in the Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased through the LSP office in 434 Rockefeller Hall. On Saturday, Oct. 21, Pérez will read from her acclaimed novel, Geographies of Home at 3:30 p.m. in the A. D. White House on campus. (October 17, 2000)

Digitizing the history of home economics
To preserve and make available worldwide the most important and influential volumes on the history of home economics, Albert R. Mann Library at Cornell University will digitize the top 1,500 documents -- some 450,000 pages -- in the field, making them easily available on the World Wide Web. The library has received a $277,000 two-year national leadership grant for preservation or digitization for libraries from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The institute is an independent federal agency that fosters leadership, innovation, and a lifetime of learning by supporting the nation's 15,000 museums and 122,000 libraries. The grant to Cornell acknowledges the importance of the history of home economics with other grants the IMLS has funded this year, such as for digitizing materials on historical and cultural aspects of the Virgin Islands, the era of the Louisiana Purchase and political campaign biographies from the 1800s. (October 17, 2000)

Home economics was a historical gateway for women
As the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University celebrates the centennial of the field of home economics with events throughout the year, its faculty and administration are reflecting on the college's role as the gateway for women into higher education and scientific careers over the past century. "Home economics was the major pathway for women into public education in the late l9th and early 20th centuries, providing entry to a wide variety of careers for women in academia, business, public education, government and health care up until the l960s," says Joan Jacobs Brumberg, Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow and professor of human development at Cornell. (October 17, 2000)

Migrant-related photos, tools and artifacts wanted for traveling exhibition
Have you any photographs, tools, folk art, clothing or other objects concerning migrant farm laborers that you can lend to Cornell University for a traveling exhibition? A team of museum professionals working with the Cornell Migrant Program is collecting materials for a 2,000-square-foot exhibition to inform general audiences about the historic and continuing use of migrant labor in the Northeast from a variety of perspectives. The exhibition, "Coming Up On the Season," will explore the use of migrant labor for specific crops and regions of the Northeast as well as from the perspectives of migrants, former migrants, growers, wholesale buyers and retailers. Opening at the Hammond Museum in North Salem, N.Y., in October 2001, it will travel to five museum sites in the Northeast until December 2003. (October 13, 2000)

Ion microscopy pinpoints drugs inside cancer cells
Chemical biologists at Cornell University have pioneered a new imaging technique that offers researchers a new way to observe the working of therapeutic drugs within single cancer cells. The technique, called ion microscopy, promises to open new avenues of cancer research because it offers a high sensitivity for detecting isotopes of elements -- atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons. (October 13, 2000)

Walter R. Lynn named to head Cornell Center for the Environment
Walter R. Lynn, professor emeritus of civil and environmental engineering and of science and technology studies at Cornell University, has been named interim director of the Cornell Center of the Environment (CfE). Lynn, who will continue to serve as university ombudsman, succeeds Theodore L. Hullar, director of CfE since 1997. Hullar resigned, effective Oct. 1, to become the director of higher education for Atlantic Philanthropic Service Co. (October 13, 2000)

Cornell signs agreement to provide graduate studies for Lockheed Martin employees
Cornell University's College of Engineering and Lockheed Martin have established a partnership to provide specialized graduate education specifically for Lockheed Martin employees. The arrangement, the first of its kind for Cornell, is part of Lockheed Martin's Engineering Leadership Development Program (ELDP). Under the agreement, selected technical professionals at the company's Lockheed Martin Systems Integration division in Owego, N.Y., will earn a Cornell master of engineering degree over a three-year period. The curriculum provides for six semesters of both on-campus studies and credit classes taught at Lockheed Martin by experts in various subjects. The academic program will culminate with a yearlong design project intended to reinforce the practical application of engineering principles learned in the classroom. (October 13, 2000)

Dual-earner couples follow traditional gender roles
Dual-earner couples might seem to have new-millennium marriages. But for the great majority, strategies to manage work and family demands turn out to be, in fact, a variant of the traditional breadwinner/homemaker gender division. Except, the new version includes two careers but only one on the front burner. This "neotraditional" model helps couples in their effort to "have a life" in a world in which the organization of work and career paths presumes that workers have no family responsibilities. And it's still the husbands' career that is given priority, says a new Cornell University study. (October 13, 2000)

Conference on ag biotech and GMOs Nov. 15-16
The controversy over genetically engineered crops and the foods derived from them will be examined by speakers from organizations ranging from Greenpeace to Monsanto Nov. 15-16 at a Cornell University conference on agricultural biotechnology and genetically modified organisms. The event, hosted by the university's New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), will be held at the Biotechnology Building on campus. The two-day conference also will feature speakers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, food-processing companies and from Cornell and several other universities. (October 11, 2000)

MIT's Neil Gershenfeld to speak on 'Things That Think' Oct. 20
How about shoes that extract information from the carpet, or clothing that reminds you of appointments? Cuff links that actually link to something and bring back data? Glasses that actually see? Such things might be in our future, according to Neil Gershenfeld, director of the Physics and Media Group of Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab and co-director of the Things That Think research consortium, who believes the world has become cluttered with useless objects that need to be made smarter. (October 11, 2000)

Frank DiSalvo named director of Cornell Center for Materials Research
Francis (Frank) DiSalvo has been named director of the Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR), one of 29 such national centers supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF). DiSalvo has agreed to serve for five years. DiSalvo, the John A. Newman Professor of Physical Sciences at Cornell since 1996, succeeds Neil Ashcroft, the Horace White Professor of Physics, who has held the post for the past three years. Ashcroft, who is returning to research and teaching, says of DiSalvo: "He is a very distinguished physical chemist with broad and far-sighted interests in materials research and with a strong background in industry." (October 11, 2000)

Global capital mobility stifles union organizing
A rise in threats to close plants and move capital investments elsewhere is effectively keeping U.S. workers from organizing and, by implication, from making real economic gains in a booming economy, a study by Cornell labor experts shows. The study concluded that international trade and investment policies, combined with ineffective labor laws, have created a climate that has emboldened employers to threaten to close, or actually close, their plants to avoid unionization. The result is that many workers are experiencing no real wage gains and more job insecurity today, during the longest economic boom in U.S. history, than they were during the depths of the 1980-91 recession. By examining the relationship between capital mobility, worker insecurity, union organization and wages, the study offers insights into why the average American worker has shared so few of the gains of economic expansion. (October 11, 2000)

Cornell to host one site of World Food Day teleconference
Cornell University will serve as one of the viewing sites for the 17th annual World Food Day teleconference, "Poverty and Hunger: The Tragic Link," featuring a conversation with Amartya Sen, winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics. This year's teleconference examines the complex relationship between hunger and poverty. The program is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 16, from noon to 3 p.m. in the Martha Van Rensselaer Hall Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. The teleconference will highlight Sen's theory of global economic development and welfare economics, for which he won the Nobel Prize. In awarding the prize, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said that "Amartya Sen has made extensive contributions to the development and application of social-choice theory. His work has been a source of inspiration to many other researchers. He has also been highly instrumental in restoring an ethical dimension to economics and related disciplines." (October 10, 2000)

Public is invited to opening of 'new' Lincoln Hall, Oct. 26-28
Cornell University's Department of Music will celebrate the opening of its refurbished and expanded Lincoln Hall, Oct. 26-28. Events during the official opening include a formal dedication Friday, Oct. 27, three days of music and a composers' symposium and an open house Saturday, Oct. 28. Lincoln Hall, which was built in 1888 on the northeast corner of the university's Arts Quad, now has a new 18,640-square-foot wing on its east façade to house the music library's voluminous collections as well as state-of-the-art practice studios and classrooms. The $19 million renovation of Lincoln Hall was funded entirely through alumni gifts, as evidenced by the proliferation of named spaces throughout the renovated structure. (October 10, 2000)

Researcher Geoffrey Coates awarded Packard Fellowship
Geoffrey Coates, a Cornell University assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology, has been awarded a David and Lucile Packard Foundation Fellowship for Science and Engineering, designed to support young researchers. The fellowship will support research in Coates' laboratory directed toward the discovery of catalysts for the synthesis of biodegradable polymers from bio-renewable resources, such as carbon dioxide. (October 10, 2000)

Student in critical condition following fall from window
Cesar Munera, 18, a Cornell University freshman, of Stamford, Conn., is in Cayuga Medical Center in critical condition following a fall from the window of his campus room in Mary Donlon Hall, Friday, Oct. 6. Cornell University Police is investigating the incident. At 5:13 a.m., Oct. 6, Cornell Police was notified by a resident in a nearby North Campus residence hall of a person near Donlon Hall who sounded sick or hurt. Officers responded to the scene and found Munera, a student living in 533 Donlon Hall, lying on the sidewalk on the northeast side of the residence hall's loading dock. Munera, who was semiconscious, was bleeding and covered with scrapes and bruises. Bangs Ambulance was summoned to the scene, and Munera was stabilized and transported to Cayuga Medical Center for evaluation and treatment of his injuries. (October 10, 2000)

Alyce Faye Cleese to give public lecture on 'How to Manage Your Mother,' Friday, Oct. 13
Psychotherapist Alyce Faye Cleese will deliver a lecture co-sponsored by the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center and the Family Life Development Center at Cornell University Friday, Oct. 13, noon-1 p.m. at the Faculty Commons, Martha Van Rensselaer Hall. The lecture, free and open to the public, is based on Cleese's best-selling book with Brian Bates: How to Manage Your Mother: Understanding the Most Difficult, Complicated, and Fascinating Relationship in your Life. Cleese is a well-known psychotherapist with degrees and training from Oklahoma State, Baylor and London universities. She has treated adolescents at the Tavistock Clinic in England and works with a wide range of adult patients at her private practice in London. She is married to actor John Cleese, a Cornell A.D. White Professor-at-Large, and they live in London and Santa Barbara, Calif. (October 9, 2000)

John Cleese returns to present 'Life of Brian' film and lecture Oct. 13
Actor-comedian-writer John Cleese will make his second appearance at Cornell University in his role as an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large and will present a screening of Monty Python's "Life of Brian" followed by a public lecture Friday, Oct. 13, at 7:30 p.m. in Bailey Hall. The screening and lecture are free and open to the public, but tickets are required. Tickets will be available starting Wednesday, Oct. 11, at 9 a.m. at Cornell's Willard Straight ticket office. (October 9, 2000)

Pandolfi and Sansalone to lead eCornell
Cornell University today (Oct. 9) appointed the principal officers for eCornell, the university's new distance learning subsidiary, according to an announcement by Peter C. Meinig, chairman of the board of directors of eCornell. Meinig also is a trustee of the university and chairman of its Executive Committee. Francis P. Pandolfi was named president and chief executive officer (CEO) of eCornell, Meinig said. Mary J. Sansalone was named vice president and chief academic officer (CAO). (October 9, 2000)

Student charged in Sept. 1 assault
Today, Oct 6, following a month-long investigation into an alleged assault in the parking lot of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity at 109 McGraw Place, Cornell University Police arrested a Cornell student, Ian Christopher Clark, 29, of 204 Dryden Road, Apt. C, on a charge of second-degree assault, a class D felony. Clark was charged in connection with the Sept. 1, 2000, assault in which, police allege, Clark recklessly struck another 19-year-old Cornell student in the face with a glass bottle following a disagreement in the SAE parking lot, causing serious physical injury. Clark was arraigned today in City of Ithaca Court, after which he was released on his own recognizance. He is scheduled to appear before Ithaca City Court Judge John Rowley on Oct. 17. Clark also has been referred to the Cornell judicial administrator. (October 9, 2000)

Snow possible this weekend in N Y & New England
ITHACA, N.Y. --New York's northern tier and the northern parts of New England could see snow on Saturday and Sunday. But the wet white stuff may not accumulate enough to qualify as the earliest snow in the region, according to climatologists at Cornell University's Northeast Regional Climate Center (NRCC). "I wouldn't be surprised to see snow in the air," says Arthur DeGaetano, a senior climatologist at the center. "The surface temperatures will be above freezing for most of weekend. Aloft, however, the air will be cool enough for it to snow, and it won't melt before it hits the ground. It won't last long on the ground." (October 6, 2000)

Snow possible this weekend in NY & New England
ITHACA, N.Y. --New York's northern tier and the northern parts of New England could see snow on Saturday and Sunday. But the wet white stuff may not accumulate enough to qualify as the earliest snow in the region, according to climatologists at Cornell University's Northeast Regional Climate Center (NRCC). "I wouldn't be surprised to see snow in the air," says Arthur DeGaetano, a senior climatologist at the center. "The surface temperatures will be above freezing for most of weekend. Aloft, however, the air will be cool enough for it to snow, and it won't melt before it hits the ground. It won't last long on the ground." (October 6, 2000)

'Visualizing Blackness' conference at Cornell, Oct. 12-15
A celebration is in order: Thirty years ago, the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University opened its doors, ushering in a new era in higher education for black students and scholars. The center's creation remains one of the remarkable, lasting accomplishments of the Black Power struggle of the 1960s and 1970s. To honor its 30th anniversary, the Africana Studies Center is hosting a public conference titled "Visualizing Blackness," Thursday, Oct. 12, through Sunday, Oct. 15, on the Cornell campus. It is being held in conjunction with the "Blackness in Color" exhibition at the university's Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. (October 6, 2000)

Architect Richard Meier and scientist Edward M. Scolnick of Merck Labs appointed first Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 Professors
The Cornell University Class of '56 has inaugurated a newly endowed professorship honoring Cornell President Emeritus Frank H.T. Rhodes that is aimed to enrich the undergraduate experience at the university. Architect Richard Meier, a 1956 alumnus of Cornell, and biomedical scientist Edward M. Scolnick have been appointed the first Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 Professors through 2005. Meier will visit Cornell Oct. 30-Nov. 3 and again in April 2001. Scolnick will be visiting campus Feb. 6-9, 2001. (October 4, 2000)

Department of Labor to outsource mediation
A $1.1 million U.S. Department of Labor grant to a Cornell University-based group may mean a fast, inexpensive and satisfactory resolution to a range of employment disputes throughout the United States. The outsourced mediation project is an unprecedented move for the DOL and is expected to save time and money and produce solutions more acceptable to both sides of disputes than court-litigated rulings, the high-priced alternative. It also will help the agency respond to the flood of claims arising from recent employment legislation. (October 4, 2000)

Author Michael Kammen is honored by Library of Virginia
Michael Kammen, the Newton C. Farr Professor of American History and Culture at Cornell University, has been honored by the Library of Virginia with an award for his 1999 nonfiction book, Robert Gwathmey: The Life and Art of a Passionate Observer, published by the University of North Carolina Press. The award was presented Sept. 16 at the third annual Library of Virginia Awards, which honor Virginia authors and friends. (October 3, 2000)

Greenhouse Management Conference Nov. 9-10 at the Holiday Inn, Batavia, N.Y.
Cornell University will host the "2000 Greenhouse Management Conference: Grow Your Greenhouse" conference Nov. 9 and 10 at the Holiday Inn, Batavia, N.Y. The conference is being held in conjunction with the Country Folks Grower Trade Show and Garden Plant Education Day. The conference is for anyone interested in starting or expanding a greenhouse business or for those involved in the horticultural industry, either as managers or as service providers, and for horticultural educators. (October 3, 2000)

Collegetown cleanup by residents and students is set for Oct. 14
Cornell University students -- including members of fraternities and sororities -- and Collegetown residents will join forces Saturday, Oct. 14, 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. (October 2, 2000)

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