Cornell News Releases, November, 2001

Cornell University News Service Releases

November, 2001

For the full text of any story, click on the headline. Electronic queries may be made to cunews@cornell.edu.

Simulation explains mystery of giant planets' tiny moons
NEW ORLEANS --- In what could be the ultimate in fast-forward, Cornell University planetary scientists have used one of the world's most powerful computing clusters to simulate motions of the small moons of Jupiter over a one billion-year epoch. From this, the researchers have learned how the tugs and pulls of the sun and planets -- even from hundreds of millions of miles away -- shake out the permanent moons of the giant planets from those that get tossed away. In a three-month computing marathon, the Velocity I cluster at the Cornell Theory Center was able to mimic cosmic conditions over eons that would cause physical perturbations in the moons of Jupiter. The calculations were produced by entering orbital data from hypothetical moons of the planet. As a result, the astronomers now have an explanation for the unusual orbits of 12 confirmed small, eccentric moons of Jupiter. (November 28, 2001)

Restoring American chestnut, possible medical benefits
Once again Longfellow's village smithy could have a spreading chestnut tree under which to stand. And the bountiful tree's fungal foe could provide the village doctor with medicine for the sexton and the parson. The American chestnut tree, once proud queen of Eastern and Midwestern forests, was decimated out by an Asian fungus accidentally imported a century ago. However, the tree could mount a comeback within the next decade due to the efforts of the American Chestnut Foundation and multiple research groups across the country. (November 29, 2001)

Poor or immobile elderly may not eat well this holiday
This holiday season many elderly Americans will not get enough to eat simply because they lack the mobility to prepare their own meals. Others will lack the funds to purchase nutritionally adequate meals. As a result of such problems, the health and nutritional status of many older Americans is being significantly impaired, according to several new studies from Cornell University. (November 28, 2001)

Bio-security is topic for Canadian agriculture minister in Nov. 30 speech
The Hon. Lyle Vanclief, Canada's minister of agriculture and agri-food, will present the keynote address, "Agroterrorism and Bio-Security: Implications for U.S.-Canada Cooperation," as part of a daylong meeting at Cornell University on agroterrorism and bioterrorism. His address, on Friday, Nov. 30, from noon to 1:15 p.m. in the College of Veterinary Medicine's James Law Auditorium, is open to the public free of charge. Admission to other parts of the meeting, which is hosted by the veterinary college for key representatives from state and federal government, the public health sector, food producers and the veterinary profession in the United States and Canada, is by invitation only. (November 28, 2001)

How Membrane Channels Conduct Potassium Ions
New York, NY (November 28, 2001) -- One of the marvels of life is how the nervous systems of organisms can operate so rapidly and precisely, governing motion and consciousness. Nerve cells, like other cells, have membranes spanned by potassium-conducting channel proteins, but exactly how do these channel proteins work? Now, several papers in the November 1 issue of Nature, including one by Beno”t Roux and Simon Bernche of Weill Cornell Medical College, answer this question in dazzling detail, greatly deepening our understanding of some of the basic phenomena of the living world.Dr. Roux is a Professor of Biochemistry and a Professor of Physiology and Biophysics, and Mr. Bernche is his graduate student. They achieved their results by performing computer simulations (known as "molecular dynamics") of the potassium channel protein -- showing not only in theory but, as it turns out, with uncanny accuracy, the positions and activity of the ions in and around the channel.

Conference on greater inclusion of local produce in school and college cafeteria menus
Cornell University is sponsoring a regional conference to foster new farm-to-school links and to strengthen networks among farmers, school dining-service buyers, processors, distributors, educators and policy-makers. The conference, Farm-to-School Cafeteria: Partnerships for Improving Health, Supporting Farms and Building Community, will be held Dec. 9 to 10 at the Statler Hotel on campus. (November 27, 2001)

Cornell and Rutgers glee clubs to give concert at Cornell Dec. 2
The Cornell University Glee Club, under the direction of Scott Tucker, is hosting the Rutgers University Glee Club in a joint concert Sunday, Dec. 2, at 3 p.m. in Sage Chapel on Cornell's campus. The event is free and open to the public, but contributions are welcome. The groups will be performing a range of choral works from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries as well as music from the Cornell Glee Club's most recent international tour, in Venezuela. (November 27, 2001)

Cornell student is hospitalized with meningococcal meningitis
A Cornell University student was hospitalized with meningococcal meningitis while visiting her home in Massachusetts over the Thanksgiving holiday. The student, a 19-year-old female sophomore, became ill at home and was hospitalized Sunday, Nov. 25. She was diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis and spent two days in the intensive care unit. Her condition is improving, and physicians in Massachusetts expect her to make a full recovery, says Dr. Janet Corson-Rikert, director of Gannett: Cornell University Health Services. (November 27, 2001)

New Use of Ultrasound to Test for Down's Syndrome--Early Non-Invasive Procedure in Lieu of Amnio or CVS
New York, NY (November 20, 2001) -- With experience already gathered in about 1500 tests since April 2000, New York Weill Cornell Medical Center of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is offering women in the first trimester of pregnancy a simple ultrasound test that is about 80% accurate in detecting Down's syndrome and other genetic abnormalities. The test -- for nuchal translucency, or thickness of the skin at the nape of the neck -- is an early, noninvasive procedure that promises to ease the fears of many expecting parents (including many pregnant women advanced in years), as well as lead to an earlier diagnosis of genetic abnormalities in abnormal pregnancies. New York Weill Cornell is the only university medical center in New York City that is collaborating with an international foundation -- the Fetal Medicine Foundation, based in London -- and offering the test as a regular service, not just as part of a clinical trial.

New Use for an Old Drug: Thalidomide as a Potential COX-2/Cancer Inhibitor
WARREN, NJ - (November 20, 2001) - Celgene Corporation (NASDAQ: CELG) and the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University announced today that data from an in vitro study determined that thalidomide and IMiDsª (Immunomodulatory Drugs) inhibited COX-2 (Cyclooxygenase-2). Based on these data, which were published in the November 2001 issue of Clinical Cancer Research, Celgene and Weill Cornell have expanded their research partnership to an extensive three-year collaboration to evaluate the molecular mechanism by which thalidomide and IMiDs regulate COX-2 expression."The knowledge of how thalidomide and IMiDs modulate COX-2 will help us select the appropriate clinical indications for our current drug candidates," said David I. Stirling, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Celgene Corporation. "In addition, understanding the mechanism of action will allow us to design novel drugs targeted at cancer and inflammation."

American Indian Program to honor elders Wilma Mankiller and Tom Porter
Cornell University's American Indian Program will honor elders Wilma Mankiller, former principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, and Tom Porter, spokesman and chief spiritual leader of the Mohawk community of Kanatsiohareke, in Fonda, N.Y., on Friday, Nov. 30, at 7:30 p.m. in David L. Call Auditorium of Kennedy Hall on campus. The event is free and open to the public. The program will recognize and celebrate their decades of work with Native communities. Several prominent Native scholars are scheduled to speak about Mankiller's and Porter's work, including John Mohawk, Katsi Cook, Dagmar Thorpe and Debra La Fountaine. (November 20, 2001)

Lake Source Cooling project wins two prestigious engineering awards
Cornell University's Lake Source Cooling (LSC) project has been honored with a first-place American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Technology Award. The ASHRAE Technology Awards recognize outstanding achievements by members who have successfully applied innovative building design in areas that include energy conservation. Award-winning designs incorporate ASHRAE standards for effective energy management, and performance is proven through one year of veriÞable operating data. LSC was launched in 1994 and began operating in July 2000. (November 20, 2001)

Flower chemicals invite some, warn off others
When some insects zero in on a flower for nectar, their ultraviolet vision is guided by a bull's-eye "painted" on the plant by chemical compounds. Now, chemical ecologists at Cornell University have discovered a second job for these compounds: warding off herbivores. Even before a flower bud -- such as the creeping St. John's wort -- opens for business, the same chemicals, called DIPs (for dearomatized isoprenylated phloroglucinols), are both coloring the flower in patterns unrecognizable to the human eye and protecting the plant's reproductive apparatus by killing or deterring caterpillars, the scientists report in the upcoming Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Vol. 98, No. 24). (November 16, 2001)

Sen. Clinton to address food safety issues at Cornell forum Nov. 19
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., will discuss food safety in another in a series of "town hall" meetings on issues related to the Sept. 11 attacks on Monday, Nov. 19 in Ithaca. The forum will be held from 10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at Cornell University's Barnes Hall. The audience will consist of area health and emergency services personnel, elected officials and campus-based experts. (November 15, 2001)

Muna Ndulo to head Institute for African Development
Muna B. Ndulo, professor of law at Cornell University Law School, has been named director of Cornell's Institute for African Development. The interdisciplinary institute, established in 1987, fosters teaching, research and outreach linked to food security, human resource development, environmental resource management and policy guidance in sub-Saharan Africa. Ndulo will continue as a Law School faculty member while holding his new position. He succeeds David B. Lewis, director of the institute since its inception. (November 14, 2001)

Cornell to be closed Dec. 24
Cornell University will be closed Monday, Dec. 24, adding an extra day to the annual winter break. The decision was made by President Hunter Rawlings and Provost Biddy Martin "in recognition of and appreciation for the dedication and commitment of our faculty and staff." "The events of this fall, beginning with the tragedies of Sept.11, have made the last few months stressful and difficult here on the Cornell campus, in our local community and across our nation," said Rawlings. "The dedication of our staff and faculty during these difficult times has been impressive. Students, faculty and staff were supported and bolstered by the care and concern of our campus community." (November 14, 2001)

President Hunter Rawlings announces workforce planning process and interim staff hiring freeze
Cornell University President Hunter Rawlings made this announcement to the campus community today, Nov. 13: The national economic downturn and the aftermath of the events of Sept. 11 have sent shock waves throughout our nation and abroad. Economic, political and social forces have been set in motion that will continue to have serious and probably unforeseen consequences for individuals and institutions across America and the world. (November 14, 2001)

Joanne DeStefano is named vice president for financial affairs and university controller
ITHACA, N.Y. --Harold D. Craft Jr., Cornell University's vice president for administration and chief financial officer, announced today, Nov. 14, that he will recommend to the Executive Committee of the Cornell Board of Trustees the appointment of Joanne M. DeStefano as vice president for financial affairs and university controller, effective Dec. 6. DeStefano, who joined Cornell in 1990, has been acting vice president since May. She has 22 years of diversified financial management with a major research institution, Fortune 100 companies and small for-profit corporations, Craft said. She also has experience in federal indirect cost negotiations and compliance and the development of financial and administrative policies for a highly decentralized research institution. (November 14, 2001)

Cornell Tradition seeks nominations for new Community Recognition Award
The 2001-02 Cornell Tradition Student Advisory Council has announced the creation of a new Cornell Tradition Community Recognition Award to be offered this year for the first time to honor and recognize an Ithaca-area community member who embodies the ideals of the Cornell Tradition: commitment to community service, strong work ethic and scholarship. Cornell Tradition is an alumni-endowed student recognition program at Cornell University. The selection for the Community Recognition Award will be based on demonstrated commitment to community service and/or leadership in a community service setting. The award is in the amount of $1,000 and will be donated to the nonprofit agency of the recipient's choosing. The recipient of the award will be honored at the 2002 annual Cornell Tradition Convocation, and nominations will be received until Nov. 26 of this year. Applications for the award can be obtained at Cornell, 107 Day Hall, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853, or online at . (November 12, 2001)

Implanted Heart Pumps Lengthen and Improve Lives of Terminally Ill Patients
Anaheim, Calif. (November 12, 2001) -- Implanted heart pumps can extend and improve the quality of life of terminally ill heart failure patients, a three-year landmark study of 129 patients at 22 major medical centers has found.Supervised by investigators at Columbia University's International Center for Health Outcomes and Innovation Research, the multi-center and multi-sponsored REMATCH* trial found that the use of an implanted heart pump with wearable controls more than doubled the likelihood that terminally ill heart failure patients would be alive at the end of one year. These patients were either too sick or too old to be candidates for a heart transplant.

Signing of New York Campus Compact charter promises campus community service
Just one month after the terrorist attacks in the United States, more than 70 national and state leaders and college and university presidents, staff and students from across New York gathered to celebrate the signing of the charter for the New York Campus Compact (NYCC) at Pace University in lower Manhattan, six blocks west of the World Trade Center site. The NYCC executive board, in consultation with Pace University President David A. Caputo, remained resolute in hosting the celebration at Pace on Oct. 16, despite the campus's proximity to the site of the attack. With the Sept. 11 disaster and the community service efforts that followed as a backdrop, and given the NYCC's mission -- to promote "service learning" (a method of teaching and learning that builds academic and citizenship skills among students, while renewing communities) and student community service -- the location could not have been more appropriate for the founding of this new state Campus Compact, the 26th in the nation. (November 9, 2001)

'Tommy' Sze is remembered through endowment to Cornell school of mechanical engineering
Yao Yuan Sze, a retired Seattle aerospace engineer, has endowed the directorship of the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University in honor of his father, one of Cornell's first Chinese students, S.C. Thomas "Tommy" Sze. A member of the class of 1905, Sze became a major force in the building of the Chinese railroad system. The naming of the chair and the endowment was approved Sept. 6 by Cornell's Board of Trustees following a recommendation by Cornell's President Hunter Rawlings. The first holder of the chair is Sidney Leibovich, the Samuel B. Eckert Professor of Engineering. (November 8, 2001)

Cornell offers free lesson plans for Northeast migrant farmworkers' traveling exhibit
ITHACA, N.Y. --Who picks and packages the fruits and vegetables in supermarkets? To learn more about the faces and lives behind the produce we eat, teachers and youth leaders can obtain free teacher resources and lesson plans developed by Cornell University on migrant farmworkers in the northeastern United States. The lesson plans are designed to enhance understanding by students who visit the new traveling exhibit, Coming Up On the Season: Migrant Farmworkers in the Northeast, formally opening November 17 at the Hammond Museum in North Salem, N.Y. It moves to the Tompkins County Museum, Ithaca, in February 2002, to the New Jersey Historical Society, Newark, in October 2002, and to several other sites in the Northeast in 2003. The activities and lessons are consistent with the New York State Learning Standards in language arts and social studies. (November 8, 2001)

Computer graphic technology to help low-vision sufferers
A computer graphics project at Cornell University could lead to an improved quality of life for people with visual disorders classified as "low vision." James Ferwerda, a research associate in the Cornell Program of Computer Graphics, is developing computer simulations of the ways in which people with several kinds of low vision see the world. Working backward from these computer models, he plans to process images of the real world into forms that low-vision sufferers can more easily comprehend. The work is funded by a three-year, $450,000 grant from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Information Technology Research program. (November 8, 2001)

Kresge Foundation grant to Vet Medicine to buy linear accelerator for cancer treatment
Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine is one giant step closer to its goal of acquiring a state-of-the-art linear accelerator for cancer treatment in the Hospital for Animals after receiving a $500,000 Kresge Foundation Science Initiative grant. The accelerator will be used in the hospital's oncology service and will position Cornell's Comparative Cancer Program as a national and international resource for cancer treatment and research. The program provides medical care for animals with cancer, conducts research about the cellular characteristics of cancer and educates veterinary and graduate students in the cell biology and genetics of the disease. (November 8, 2001)

Fair Labor Association (FLA) votes to expand its membership and scope
ITHACA, N.Y. ---- The board of directors of the Fair Labor Association (FLA), which works to improve workplace conditions in factories around the world, recently took action to increase university participation on the board, increase participation by licensees and expand the FLA monitoring program to include additional products. The board voted Oct. 24 to: (November 8, 2001)

Children's book explores why animals stay home to help
A mystery that has puzzled evolutionary biologists for years -- why some animals postpone breeding in order to stay home and help their families -- may actually make good evolutionary sense. Cornell University biologist Paul Sherman figured young human animals would be intrigued, too, so he drew on the latest research about the phenomenon of cooperative breeding -- including some of his own groundbreaking studies -- to co-author a new children's book, Animal Baby Sitters (Franklin Watts, September 2001). (November 7, 2001)

Cornell's Agribusiness Economic Outlook Conference will be Dec. 11
Cornell University's annual Agribusiness Economic Outlook Conference will be held Tuesday, Dec. 11, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., hosted by Cornell's Department of Applied Economics and Management. On-site registration will begin at 9 a.m. in the foyer of the David L. Call Alumni Auditorium, Kennedy Hall. The morning plenary session will begin with a welcome by Andrew Novakovic, chair of applied economics and management department. He will discuss "Agriculture and Business -- A Synergistic Opportunity for the 21st Century." Steven Kyle, Cornell associate professor of applied economics and management, will provide a national perspective on the economy and agriculture. Nelson Bills, Cornell professor of applied economics and management, will discuss "Agricultural Economic Development -- Opportunities for New York State and the Northeast." The morning will conclude with a panel discussion of examples of agricultural economic development that represent future opportunities. (November 7, 2001)

Sept. 11 web site aims for greater global understanding
To find out how people beyond U.S. borders view the war in Afghanistan, the hunt for Osama bin Laden or the latest bioterrorist threats, open this web page: . The web site "Terrorism and War: Context and Aftermath of Sept. 11th" aims for greater global understanding. Launched in late October by Cornell's Einaudi Center for International Studies, it includes links to major online newspapers around the globe, many available in English, such as Cairo's Al-Ahram, Tel Aviv's Ha'aretz and Jedda's Arab News. (November 6, 2001)

Book helps kids sleep with science and song
Before Cornell University Professor of Psychology James B. Maas achieved national recognition as a sleep researcher and educator, he was a parent, and he knows all about that ploy for postponing bedtime: Following every parental answer with another "but why?" So Maas' latest book, Remmy and the Brain Train: Traveling Through the Land of Good Sleep, illustrated by Guy Danella and including a read-along, sing-along CD by composer/songwriter Suzanne Scheniman, provides plenty of reasons why the four- to eight-year-old set should get a good night's sleep. (November 6, 2001)

Cornell-Ithaca Partnership and United Way team up to assist local nonprofits with computer help
To address the technology and computer training needs of local nonprofits, the Cornell-Ithaca Partnership (C-IP) has partnered with United Way of Tompkins County and its 40 member organizations to form Computer Aid "Bringing Cornell resources to assist the Ithaca community is a core part of our mission," says Patricia Pollak, associate professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell and the director of C-IP. "Computer Aid is a great example of bringing university resources to address a real community need." (November 6, 2001)

FeederWatchers preparing for a new season
The birds could fly, but they couldn't hide for long from the thousands of volunteer bird-watchers throughout North America who reported their observations to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology-based citizen-science program, Project FeederWatch. Now, having solved the 2000-2001 mystery of missing birds in the Northeast and misplaced birds in the West, FeederWatchers are preparing for whatever the upcoming season brings. (November 5, 2001)

'Digital Earth' tool for geologists, students and teachers
An institute at Cornell University is building a "digital Earth" that will become an important resource for geoscience researchers and also will provide easy-to-use teaching tools for educators from elementary school through college. The Digital Earth Project, part of the Cornell Geoscience Information System (GIS), is a global database created by the Institute for the Study of the Continents (INSTOC) at Cornell to make accessible geological information accumulated by Cornell researchers over the last eight years. The GIS includes over 100 different data sets on the structure of the Earth's crust, location of earthquake faults, a record of earthquake and volcanic events, magnetic and gravity measurements and descriptions of aquifers, along with details of surface topography. Interactive tools allow users -- from advanced researchers to elementary schoolchildren -- to create maps with almost any selection and combination of the data. (November 5, 2001)

Dr. Alfonso Torres named director of Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory
Dr. Alfonso Torres, deputy administrator for veterinary services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), has been named director of the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine. The Diagnostic Laboratory operates as a partnership between the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell to improve the health of food- and fiber-producing animals, as well as companion, sporting, zoo and wildlife animals. The partnership also works to prevent communicable diseases that have an impact on human health throughout the state and the region. The laboratory conducts more than 700,000 diagnostic tests each year on animals of all species, including humans, and provides education, consulting, outbreak investigation and prevention programs. (November 2, 2001)

'Fun From Mathematics' to be subject of Cornell Kieval lecture Nov. 9
"Fun From Mathematics, and Mathematics From Fun" will be the title of the 2001 Kieval lecture Nov. 9, hosted by the Department of Mathematics at Cornell University. The speaker will be Richard Guy, emeritus and faculty professor of the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The talk, an autobiographical history of combinatorial games, will be given at 4 p.m. in Malott Hall, Room 251. The lecture is free and is open to the public. A reception will be held at 3:15 p.m. in the fifth-floor lounge of Malott Hall. (November 2, 2001)

New York appellate court holds session at Cornell Law School Nov. 9
If you've always wanted to sit in on a real live appeals court, here's your chance. On Friday, Nov. 9, the Third Department of the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division will be in session at Cornell University Law School. The session, usually held in Albany, N.Y., will take place in the Law School's MacDonald Moot Court Room on the third floor of Myron Taylor Hall on Cornell's campus from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The session is open to the public, as are all Appellate Division hearings. (November 2, 2001)

Bone Marrow Cells Contribute to Tumor Blood Supply and Growth
NEW YORK, October 30, 2001 -- The biology of tumor growth has long been a mystery. While it has been known that tumors recruit cells to form new blood vessels -- a process called angiogenesis -- and that growth factors are necessary to promote this, the origin of the cells that form the early, new blood vessels has been poorly understood. Now, researchers at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have discovered that tumor angiogenesis is dependent upon the recruitment and incorporation of bone-marrow-derived precursor cells into newly formed tumor vessels. Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) produced by the tumor cells induce precursor cells from the bone marrow into the tumor vessels. (November 1, 2001)

Residents rate upstate New York as a safe and inexpensive place to live and work
Families in upstate New York reap numerous benefits, such as a strong sense of safety, moderate cost of living, proximity to jobs and relatives and numerous community amenities (parks, libraries, public events and recreational opportunities), according to a new study from Cornell University. The study, which assessed the "family friendliness" of upstate New York, found that to maintain the same standard of living that an annual income of $50,000 buys in Rochester, for example, would take $75,000 in Los Angeles and $104,000 in Manhattan. The report, How Family Friendly is Upstate New York? is published by the Cornell Careers Institute, an Alfred P. Sloan Center for the Study of Working Families in the New York State College of Human Ecology. (November 1, 2001)

Cornell News Service front page