Cornell University News Service Releases

October, 2001

Index to all months

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

Studying growth, poverty and well-being in Africa
Researchers at Cornell University, in collaboration with Clark Atlanta University (CAU), have received funding to support a five-year, $8 million effort to conduct research and training aimed at promoting economic growth and relieving poverty in Africa. The activity is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID). Heading the multidisciplinary team of researchers is David E. Sahn, professor of economics in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell. He also is director of the Cornell Food and Nutrition Policy Program, a social science research institute that is among the world's leading centers for African economic policy research. Other key Cornell faculty engaged in the research include N'dri Assié-Lumumba, associate professor of Africana studies and education, a leading sociologist; Ravi Kanbur, the T.H. Lee Professor of World Affairs and professor of economics, who is at the forefront of efforts to mix quantitative and qualitative research methods; Chris Barrett, associate professor of applied economics and management, who is pursuing mixed methods in African fieldwork; and Stephen Younger, an economist and senior research associate in nutritional sciences, who has written widely on issues of economic reform and poverty in Africa. (October 31, 2001)

'Global Development and Terrorism: Related Topics?' forum to be held Nov. 8
"Global Development and Terrorism: Related Topics?" is the title of a Cornell University forum that will attempt to identify the key issues in U.S. foreign policy and global affairs. It will be held Thursday, Nov. 8, from 3:30 to 5 p.m., in the David L. Call Alumni Auditorium, Kennedy Hall, at Cornell. The forum is free and is open to the public. The event is hosted by the university's New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The moderator will be Susan A. Henry, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences. A question-and-answer period will follow presentations by the speakers. (October 31, 2001)

Hunter Rawlings is elected to AAU post
Cornell University President Hunter Rawlings was elected vice-chair of the Association of American Universities (AAU) at its annual fall meeting Oct. 23 at the University of Maryland. He will serve a one-year term and then assume the chairmanship of the association in October 2002, succeeding Robert Berdahl, president of the University of California-Berkeley, who was elected chair at the Oct. 23 meeting. (October 31, 2001)

Greta M. Colavito of Ithaca receives BTI's first Distinguished Service Award
Greta M. Colavito, a resident of Ithaca, is the first recipient of the Bettie Brooks-Greta Colavito Award for Distinguished Service at the Boyce Thompson Institute of Plant Research, Inc. (BTI), located on the campus of Cornell University. Colavito began working for BTI in Yonkers, N.Y., in 1972 and moved to Ithaca when the institute was relocated to Cornell in 1978. She worked in the institute's library and as an assistant to Dewayne Torgeson, the institute's former treasurer. In the mid-1980's she became executive assistant to BTI's then-president Ralph Hardy. (October 31, 2001)

Arecibo Observatory to receive IEEE/ASME award
In a joint ceremony Nov. 3, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) will commemorate the engineering and scientific contributions of Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The 1,000-foot-diameter Arecibo radio/radar telescope, the world's largest, will be declared an IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering and an ASME Landmark in Mechanical Engineering. Arecibo Observatory will be the eighth recipient of these prestigious joint awards, most recently given to the Stanford Linear Accelerator. The award was requested by the Puerto Rico and Caribbean Section of the IEEE. (October 31, 2001)

Fusion spin-off makes high-res images of tiny objects
The energy that powers the sun would seem to have little in common with the hair on the tip of a houseßy's wing. But in a Cornell University lab, the two have found a curious unison. Using powerful machinery originally developed in the hope of discovering a way to generate energy from hydrogen fusion, scientists in Cornell's Laboratory of Plasma Studies are creating high-resolution images of minute objects, like ßy hairs or the Þne Þlaments that keep dandelion seeds aßoat in the air. (October 29, 2001)

Kids Growing Food program invites teacher applications
To help show young students how vegetables get from the field to the kitchen, Cornell University's Kids Growing Food program is now accepting grant applications from elementary and secondary schoolteachers in New York state and several middle Atlantic states. The grants will help teachers establish or maintain gardens on school grounds. The application deadline is Dec. 3. Elementary or secondary schoolteachers from New York, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey or Pennsylvania who have not received a previous Kids Growing Food grant are eligible to apply. Grants of up to $500, plus gardening and educational materials, are awarded to successful applicants. (October 29, 2001)

Students help develop exhibit and play that celebrate Southside neighborhood life
ITHACA, N.Y. -- To celebrate the diverse history of the Southside neighborhood of Ithaca, the Cornell-Ithaca Partnership (C-IP) will sponsor a free exhibit and public reading from a new play as part of its neighborhood history initiative. The exhibit, "This is Home … A Southside Living Room," is a representation of a contemporary Southside neighborhood living room. It will be in the Artspace of downtown Ithaca's Clinton House, 116 N. Cayuga St., for the month of November, and there will be an opening reception for the exhibit Friday, Nov. 2, at 5:30 p.m. in the lobby at the Clinton House. The public is invited to meet the families that participated. In addition, a reading from the play "Reflections: Our Stories Told Our Way," written from the words of residents of the community, will take place Wednesday, Nov. 14, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at the Kitchen Theatre; it is free and open to the public. (October 29, 2001)

Stuff of everyday life to be demonstrated at Chemistry Fair, Nov. 3, at Pyramid Mall
From a seaweed extract called alginate to the element calcium, learn how chemistry affects our everyday lives. Both materials will be among the host of subjects available for explanation and demonstration at the annual Chemistry Fair, in celebration of National Chemistry Week, at Pyramid Mall in Lansing, Saturday, Nov. 3. The event, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., is being sponsored by the Cornell-Ithaca section of the American Chemical Society. All booths will be near the Ames entrance to the mall. (October 29, 2001)

Hunter Rawlings joins board of public service organization
Hunter Rawlings, president of Cornell University, has joined the board of governors of Partnership for Public Service, a new nonpartisan organization dedicated to revitalizing public service by restoring public confidence in and prestige to the federal civil service. The partnership officially was launched Oct. 23 at a news conference in Washington, D.C. Its 36-member board comprises leaders in business, politics and public affairs, as well as 10 university presidents. Members include U.S. sens. Richard Durbin and Joseph Lieberman and former Sen. Bill Bradley; Elizabeth Hanford Dole; John Hennessey, president of Stanford University, Richard C. Levin, president of Yale University, and Judith Rodin, president of the University of Pennsylvania. (October 26, 2001)

Procter & Gamble's John Pepper is Park speaker Nov. 1
John E. Pepper, chairman of Procter & Gamble's board of directors and former chief executive of the consumer products giant, will be speaking at Cornell University Thursday, Nov. 1, at 4:45 p.m. in the PepsiCo Auditorium, 305 Ives Hall. His talk is titled "Leadership for a Changing World" and is free and open to the public. The 163-year-old P&G markets over 300 brands, including Crest, Tide and Pampers, to nearly five billion consumers in 140 countries. It also produces the soap operas "Guiding Light" and "As the World Turns"-- as befits one of the world's largest manufacturers of soap. (October 26, 2001)

Business seminar's new focus: leadership skills in times of crisis
Executives who sign up to learn how to lead fast-growth companies at IBM's Advanced Business Institute this winter also will get lessons in crisis management. The two sets of skills aren't that far apart, says Beta Mannix, a professor of organizational behavior at Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management, who will teach a component of the course to 30 executives from a range of organizations. "Leading Fast-Growth Companies" is the first one-week intensive at the institute to offer such skills to the general public. It is taught by faculty from Cornell's Johnson School and the IBM institute and will take place Dec. 10-14 in IBM's executive conference center in Palisades, N.Y. The focus: organizational agility in times of stress. (October 26, 2001)

Regional travelers boost business at some hotels
The hotel business -- while suffering from the drop in air travel -- actually is doing better than has been reported, with a new marketing focus, fewer layoffs and more optimism in many quarters, a national survey of general managers shows. Professor Cathy Enz, executive director of the Center for Hospitality Research at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, sent a survey via fax to 11,000 general managers (GMs) at hotels across the United States one month after the terrorist attacks; 1,300 replied, most within three days. "We were impressed by the level of participation and quick response," says Enz. (October 24, 2001)

Cornell delicata squash named 2002 All-America Selection
A lush, tasty squash with cream-color skin and forest-green stripes, named Cornell's Bush Delicata, has been named a 2002 All-America Selection (AAS), a seed-industry award. It is the first Cornell University-developed variety to win the prestigious award in 39 years. The squash, bred by Molly Jahn, Cornell assistant professor of plant breeding, and George Moriarty, Cornell research plant breeder, combines the best features of an heirloom-type delicata. That squash is noted for excellent eating quality and disease resistance, which reduces the need to apply fungicide during the growing season. The delicata squash was popular in the early part of the 20th century, but went out of style due to poor yields and susceptibility to disease. (October 24, 2001)

Mars Odyssey satellite provides link for Rover in 2003
A collective sigh of relief could be heard around the corridors of Cornell University's Space Sciences Building late Tuesday night when the Mars Odyssey spacecraft went into orbit around Mars. The main reason for the jubilation: The small robotic spacecraft will be the key communications link for the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission in 2003. "Everything went perfectly, and this is fabulous news for the Rover program," says Cornell Professor of Astronomy Steven W. Squyres, who has a leading role in both NASA's Odyssey and Rover missions. He is a member of the science team for the gamma ray spectrometer (GRS), one of three instruments carried by the Odyssey. And he is principal investigator, or leader, of the larger international team that is developing the Athena science package to be carried by the two Rover vehicles during their planned exploration of the red planet in 2004. (October 24, 2001)

Microsoft supports Cornell virus-protection research
Cornell University has received support from Microsoft Corp. to develop and test new technology that could help protect computers from viruses and other malicious code downloaded from the Internet. Microsoft has given a grant of $150,000 to the Information Assurance Institute (IAI) at Cornell to develop language-based security for mobile code. The new technology could be tested in future Microsoft products. (October 23, 2001)

'Knowing Asia,' regional Asian studies conference, Oct. 26-27
Some 150 scholars of Asia will convene at Cornell University Oct. 26 and 27 for the New York Conference on Asian Studies (NYCAS). The conference is open to the public, but registration is required and a range of fees are charged for the various events. Most sessions will take place in Robert Purcell Community Center on Cornell's North Campus. NYCAS is the oldest of the eight regional conferences of the Association for Asian Studies, which is the largest society of its kind in the world. (October 23, 2001)

Freedom of religion requires death penalty trial changes
Many courts that try death penalty cases allow religion to be used in ways that violate the First Amendment, say two Cornell University Law School professors. Gary Simson and Stephen Garvey look at common uses of religion in death penalty trials and apply the First Amendment's Religion Clauses, which prohibit any legislation or other governmental action "respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." They find that important changes are needed in the way such trials are run. (October 22, 2001)

Privacy in the digital age is the topic of a free lecture Oct. 25
The stuff your doctor used to write down on a file card now goes into the doctor's computer, and is probably shared with your HMO. The same sort of thing is happening with your school and employment records, and thanks to supermarket discount cards and bar-code scanners, some computer somewhere probably knows what you had for dinner last night. And it's probably not too hard for some other computer to mine that information. Robert Gellman, a privacy and information policy consultant in Washington, D.C., summed up the problem with the provocative title of his recent article in the Washington Spectator: "How's Your Health? Just Ask the FBI" Gellman will visit Cornell University this week to offer further analysis in a free public lecture titled "Do We Have Any Privacy? Do We Even Know What It Is?" at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, in Uris Hall Auditorium on the Cornell campus. (October 22, 2001)

Family turmoil effects last into middle age
The effects of childhood family disruptions -- such as parental divorce, long-term separation from biological parents, parental abandonment and foster care -- can reverberate into later life, says a Cornell University sociologist. Women, in particular, who experienced childhood family turmoil are more likely to report interpersonal conflict in later life than are other women or men. In a study on social support networks and family conflicts in adulthood, Elaine Wethington, associate professor of human development and sociology at Cornell, found that men and women who reported a strong social network were more likely to report good physical health, feelings of cheerfulness and satisfaction most of the time, with no, or very few, periods of depression. And marriage is linked to more positive effects for both men and women. (October 22, 2001)

Aging Gracefully and Healthfully: Experts from New York Weill Cornell Medical Center Offer Advice to Women
New York, NY (October 17, 2001) -- Although women are living longer and better than ever, they still need up-to-date information on such questions as, What is the best way to protect against heart disease? What are the signs of depression? What are the possibilities of modern laser surgery for vision correction? How can a woman keep a healthful, youthful skin? These are among the topics that will be addressed today at the 19th annual Women's Health Symposium sponsored by the New York Weill Cornell Medical Center.The symposium, entitled "Aging Well: Good News for the Heart, Mind, and Body," will take place in the 12th floor auditorium of Citigroup, at 399 Park Avenue.

Oct. 25 symposium will celebrate 80th birthday of chemist Harold Scheraga
Harold A. Scheraga, one of the world's most eminent and widely published chemists and the George W. and Grace L. Todd Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Cornell University, will be honored by biomolecular researchers from around the world at a symposium on campus, Oct. 25-27, on the occasion of his 80th birthday. The symposium, "The Role of Protein Structure Prediction in the Post-Genomic Era," will be held in G10 Biotechnology Building, Oct. 25 and 26, and in Baker Lab, Oct. 27, beginning at 8:45 a.m. on all three days. It is free and open to the public. (October 19, 2001)

Visiting professor to talk on design of nature reserves
Charles S. ReVelle, a professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, will present a seminar, "The Design of Nature Reserves -- an Eco-Informatics Discipline in Development," at Cornell University on Oct. 25. The seminar will begin at 4:30 p.m. in 162 Hollister Hall. The public is invited to attend without charge. (October 19, 2001)

Engineering Quad building project to use blasting for rock removal beginning as early as Oct. 24
Rock blasting will briefly halt traffic around Cornell University's Engineering Quad beginning as early as Wednesday, Oct. 24. Contractors on the site, which is being excavated for an advanced engineering research building, will be using the explosives to remove rock over a period of about two weeks. "Security is always a concern with explosives but never more so than in light of recent tragic events," says Robert P. Stundtner, Cornell project manager for the Duffield Hall building project. "We want to get the word out about the blasting as early and as widely as possible to eliminate any possibility of anxiety." (October 19, 2001)

Heavier white female workers earn less
The heavier white working women are, the less money they make, a Cornell University researcher's study concludes. Women who weighed 65 pounds more than other women in a sample of 1,442 white female workers earned an average 7 percent less than their slimmer colleagues, when other factors were controlled for statistically. That difference in income is roughly equivalent to the wage effect of one year of education, two years of continuous employment at one job or three years of work experience. (October 18, 2001)

Universities must adapt to deregulated society
America's major research universities have enjoyed a long period of unprecedented success, but they are facing a rapidly changing environment in which higher education is becoming deregulated and subject to ever-increasing scrutiny, writes Frank H.T. Rhodes in his new book, The Creation of the Future: The Role of the American University (Cornell University Press, 2001). Rhodes, who was president of Cornell University for 18 years (1977 to 1995), draws on his experiences at the Ivy League institution and at the University of Michigan, where he held academic and administrative posts, to review the essential role universities play in modern society and to make recommendations for changes he believes are essential if they are to maintain public understanding and support. (October 18, 2001)

Web site has wind data for biological or chemical attack
For emergency management officials in the Northeast who in time of an airborne biological or chemical attack must know which way the wind blows: click here. The Northeast Regional Climate Center (NRCC) at Cornell University has developed a web page that provides easy access to the most recent weather observations, including wind direction and speed, during the preceding 24 hours. The data comes from approximately 200 National Weather Service stations across the region. (October 18, 2001)

Core system for national online science library
Cornell University will build the central engine for the National Science Digital Library (NSDL), an online resource that will make high-quality source materials in science available to students from kindergarten through college. The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced a grant of $1.56 million to Cornell's Digital Library Research Group to develop the core infrastructure for the project. This is software that will collect information from hundreds of sources in a wide range of formats and make it accessible to end users via the World Wide Web. (October 18, 2001)

Dedication of Sheila W. and Richard J. Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts to be held Oct. 19
ITHACA, N.Y. -- It's only fitting that ceremonies for the official dedication of the Sheila W. and Richard J. Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts include elements of theater, film and dance performed by Cornell University students. Beginning at 10:30 a.m., Friday, Oct. 19, in the Schwartz Center's Kiplinger Theatre, longtime Cornell benefactors Sheila and Richard Schwartz will be treated to a live dance performance, a clip from a student film project and a video scene from the theatre department's sold-out production of "Amadeus" performed here last spring. These presentations, including formal remarks and a ribbon-cutting, celebrate the official naming of the performing arts center in recognition of a gift by Richard and Sheila Schwartz. (October 18, 2001)

Helene Dillard is named associate director of Cornell Cooperative Extension
Helene R. Dillard has been named an associate director of Cornell Cooperative Extension. She will focus her attention on agricultural issues and on programs in the university's New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. A Cornell University professor of plant pathology at the New York State Agriculture Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y., Dillard has served as chair of the station's plant pathology department since 1997. She will continue her plant pathology research effort while serving part-time in the extension position. (October 18, 2001)

NSF $1.7 million grant for Ornithology visitors center
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has topped off a successful fund-raising campaign for its new facility with a $1.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The grant will enable the lab to create, as part of the new building, a visitors center offering hands-on learning experiences, including multimedia "virtual bird walks." Based on the theme "Understanding Birds," the NSF grant will help the lab provide interactive, multimedia learning stations to aid visitors with bird identification skills vital for understanding and appreciating birds and biological diversity. The exhibits also will provide the opportunity to learn field techniques and basic scientific methodology, including how scientists ask questions and arrive at conclusions. (October 16, 2001)

All You Need to Know to Conquer Infertility: The 3rd Edition of a Popular Guide
New York, NY (October 2001) -- One in six American couples of childbearing age has difficulty conceiving -- despite the fact that medical advances in fertility have never been so numerous. An infertile couple needs expert help, but first of all it needs information, and for that it can turn to the new, Third Edition of The Couple's Guide to Fertility, by Gary S. Berger, M.D., Marc Goldstein, M.D., and Mark Fuerst, published by Broadway Books.Dr. Goldstein, a world-class urologist, is Professor of Reproductive Medicine and Urology at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, Co-Executive Director of the Cornell Institute for Reproductive Medicine, and Surgeon-in-Chief of Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery at New York Weill Cornell Medical Center of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Berger, an OB/GYN, is Director of Chapel Hill Fertility Center and teaches at the University of North Carolina. Mr. Fuerst is a former President of the American Society of Journalists and Authors who has experienced infertility first-hand.

Medical FSAs used mostly by higher-end workers
Higher-paid and better-educated workers are much more likely to use medical flexible spending accounts (FSAs) than are lower-income and less-educated workers, conclude researchers from Cornell University and the University of Minnesota. The accounts allow consumers to pay for medical care with pretax dollars. Employer strategies for encouraging participation in this tax shelter, however, do little to boost enrollment rates, say Jennifer Schultz, assistant professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell, and Roger Feldman, professor of health services research and policy at the University of Minnesota. One exception, according to their study, is special information meetings, which were shown to increase employee participation by 7 percent among single employees but not for other employees. (October 15, 2001)

Cristina Garcia, author of 'Dreaming in Cuban' and 'The Aguero Sisters,' speaks at Latino Studies' Dinner, Oct. 19
Cristina Garcia, acclaimed author of Dreaming in Cuban and The Aguero Sisters, is the guest speaker for the Ninth Annual Unity Dinner hosted by Cornell University's Latino Studies Program (LSP) Friday, Oct. 19, at 5:30 p.m. in the Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room on campus. There is a $6 admission fee for the dinner, and the public is invited to attend. On Saturday, Oct. 20, Garcia also will give a free public reading and book signing at 11:30 a.m. in 132 Rockefeller Hall. (October 15, 2001)

Trustees and University Council members to gather Oct. 18-20
Members of the Cornell University Board of Trustees and Cornell University Council will arrive on campus Thursday, Oct. 18, for Cornell's annual Trustee/Council meeting. The 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 15, 2001)

Institute for Research on Children created
Legislators, politicians, educators, governmental agencies, business leaders, judges and others regularly attempt to make decisions based on sound scientific research. Translating that research to sound policy decisions can be challenging. Two leading Cornell University developmental psychologists hope to facilitate the understanding and application of research findings that inform decisions that relate to children in the U.S. To better inform those who make important decisions concerning children, and to bridge the gap between scientists and the decision-makers who translate their research into practice, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded two Cornell professors $2.45 million over five years to establish the Cornell Institute for Research on Children (CIRC). (October 11, 2001)

American Express chairman and CEO is Durland lecturer Oct. 17
Kenneth I. Chenault, chairman and chief executive officer of the American Express Company, will deliver the 2001 Durland lecture Thursday, Oct. 17, at Cornell University. This year Business Week named Chenault one of the top 25 managers of the year, and Worth magazine called him one of the top 50 CEOs in the United States. In 1999 U.S. News described him as one of the most visible, and talented, African American executives in the corporate world. And in 1998 Business Week dubbed him "a first-rate marketer" and "an established star" among the circle of African-American professionals who have achieved. (October 11, 2001)

Controlled nerve growth factor aids brain cell transplant
Bioengineers at Cornell University have demonstrated a system for transplanting clusters of brain cells, together with controlled-release microcapsules of protein, to enable cell differentiation and growth. The system, first tested with rat fetal brain cells and nerve growth factor (NGF) implanted in the brains of adult rats, has yet to be demonstrated in humans. But the technique to create microenvironments for tissue growth is said to be adaptable to a variety of other transplantation needs, including the treatment of neurodegenerative disease and spinal cord injuries. (October 11, 2001)

That's Professor Bill Nye 'The Science Guy' and he's coming to Cornell
Bill Nye, a.k.a. "The Science Guy," will be coming to Cornell University as a Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 Professor, Oct. 12-18. During his stay, Nye will give a free public lecture, "Living on a Speck," Tuesday, Oct. 16, at 7:30 p.m. in Statler Auditorium on campus. Tickets are required for the lecture and will be available beginning Oct. 11 on campus at the Willard Straight Hall ticket office, the service centers at Noyes Community Center and the Robert Purcell Community Center, and off campus at the Sciencenter, 601 First St., Ithaca. (October 11, 2001)

Web site explains why Cayuga Lake blows hot and cold
Anyone who swims on consecutive days in a large lake knows that the water can be pleasantly refreshing on one day and frightfully cold the next. Now a remote underwater sampling station, or RUSS, instrument package, installed earlier this year in Cayuga Lake by Cornell University scientists and students, has documented a dramatic phenomenon to explain the swimmers' confusion: Strong, persistent winds cause large bodies of water to slosh back and forth -- like a bathtub in an earthquake -- and bring to the surface enough cold, deep water to make bathers wonder if they are in the same lake they enjoyed the day before. (October 10, 2001)

Cornell department will host in-service tax school in November
Cornell University's Department of Applied Economics and Management will hold an in-service income tax school in central New York state to review income tax reporting and management Nov. 7 to 20. Classes will be offered in Binghamton, Utica, Batavia and Liverpool (Syracuse). The school is designed for accountants, tax practitioners, consultants, lawyers and financial advisers. This year's topics include: major emphasis on the new tax legislation, individual taxpayer problems, small business problems, limited liability companies, partnerships and corporations, agricultural issues, investment reporting, gifting, retirement and current issues to aid in planning and filing tax returns. (October 10, 2001)

Jeffrey Parker, financial information innovator and Cornell Entrepreneur of Year, speaks Oct. 12
Cornell University alumnus Jeffrey P. Parker will be honored by Cornell as the 2001 Entrepreneur of the Year. Parker has been credited with fundamentally changing the way information is transmitted in financial services and the corporate world. He will deliver a talk Friday, Oct. 12, at 4 p.m. in the Statler Auditorium that is free and open to the public. The talk is part of a two-day symposium on entrepreneurship, Oct. 11 and 12 on Cornell's campus, for alumni, students and faculty. (October 10, 2001)

Don C. Ohadike is new director of Africana Studies and Research Center
Since beginning his five-year appointment as the new director of the Africana Studies and Research Center at Cornell University in July, Don C. Ohadike has worked to enhance the 30-year-old center's position academically as well as socially. Plans for an expansion of the center's library and conference room with the addition of a multipurpose room are moving apace, said Ohadike, the associate professor of Africana studies who succeeded James Turner as director. Turner was the center's founding director from 1969 to 1986 and its most recent director from 1996 to 2001. (October 10, 2001)

'Native Americas' garners nine journalism awards from the Native American Journalist Association
ITHACA, N.Y. --Native Americas, the flagship publication of Akwe:kon Press at Cornell University's American Indian Program, has won first place for general excellence plus eight other national journalism awards bestowed by the Native American Journalist Association. This is the second year in a row that Native Americas has won the top award. "We are particularly happy to be honored by our peers in Native [American] journalism," said José Barreiro, editor-in-chief of Akwe:kon Press. He received the awards in June at the association's convention in Buffalo, N.Y. "Our focus and connection is to community realities. We respect and report on native cultures as an important, major source of knowledge," he said. (October 10, 2001)

Harvard Law Professor Janet E. Halley will discuss sexual harassment and same-sex marriage
Janet E. Halley, professor of law at Harvard University, will deliver three Messenger Lectures at Cornell University this fall. The theme of the lectures is "Sexuality Harassment/Same-Sex Marriage." All lectures are free and open to the public. (October 10, 2001)

Generation X adopts chameleon personality to cope
Many successful Generation Xers -- those born between 1965 and 1984 -- are tormented by anxiety, fear of failure and a lack of control over the forces that affect their lives. To cope, many have adopted "chameleon" personalities, pretending to be what others want them to be, but at great emotional cost to themselves, according to a new book by a Cornell University sociologist. In Masks and Mirrors: Generation X and the Chameleon Personality (Praeger, 2001), Bernard Carl Rosen, professor emeritus of sociology at Cornell, asserts that elite Generation X'ers are at the forefront of the technology revolution but are filled with anger at the preceding generation -- the baby boomers -- who, they feel, takes advantage of them. (October 10, 2001)

National Biomedical Center for Advanced ESR Technology
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Cornell University $5,897,513 over five years to establish the National Biomedical Center for Advanced ESR Technology (ACERT). ESR is electron spin resonance, a technology for studying the bonds and structures of chemical and biological materials, such as molecular mechanisms in membranes and proteins. Basically, the technique elucidates how molecules move, react and interact with one another. The principal investigator on the grant, who will become director of the new national center, is Jack H. Freed, professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Cornell, who has pioneered new methods of ESR. The grant is administered by the NIH's National Center for Research Resources. (October 10, 2001)

Cornell Cooperative Extension and National 4-H Week will be Oct. 6 -- 13
Cornell Cooperative Extension and National 4-H Week will be celebrated Oct. 6 -- 13 on the Cornell University campus. This year's theme is "Nutrition, Health and Safety." (October 10, 2001)

New York officially launches state compact to promote active citizenship in higher education Oct. 16
ITHACA, N.Y. -- National and state leaders from the National Corporation of Service and other government programs will join college and university presidents, staff and students from across New York state Oct. 16 to officially launch the New York Campus Compact (NYCC). With the establishment of the NYCC, New York is joining over 25 other state compacts in establishing an organization of colleges and universities committed to promoting active citizenship as an aim of higher education among member institutions. The ceremony for the official launch of NYCC begins at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 16, in the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University, 1 Pace Plaza, New York City. (October 10, 2001)

Book explores health, income for retiring boomers
How can the United States ensure that health and income security programs are adequate for an aging workforce as retirement approaches? What risks do older workers face? What if they lose their jobs or become disabled or ill? How should public policy be shaped to ensure that workers' needs are met in retirement? These questions are explored in a new book, Ensuring Health and Security for an Aging Workforce, published by the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research (2001) and co-edited by Richard Burkhauser, professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell University, and three of his colleagues from around the country. (October 10, 2001)

A third of baby boomers plan to work beyond retirement
As the leading edge of the baby-boom generation prepares for retirement, researchers at Cornell University are finding that about one-third of the boomers surveyed are planning to keep on working. In addition, about one-third is considering more education and about two-thirds consider traveling and volunteering as important. "Our study suggests that there is a fundamental shift in how baby boomers view retirement," comments Phyllis Moen, a professor of sociology and human development at Cornell. Moen, the Ferris Family Professor of Life Course Studies at Cornell and the director of the Cornell Employment and Family Careers Institute, directs the Cornell Midcareer Paths and Passages Study to examine the retirement plans of the baby-boom generation born between 1946 and 1964. (October 10, 2001)

Cornell Police to increase enforcement for Homecoming, Oct. 12-14
In order to help ensure a safe Homecoming for all, Cornell University Police will increase enforcement activities to target alcohol-impaired drivers during the weekend's events, Oct. 12-14. The enhanced enforcement is part of a national campaign by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to reduce the number of fatalities caused by impaired driving. The program is called "You Drink & Drive. You Lose." (October 10, 2001)

Asian stink bugs confirmed in Allentown, Pa.
The first infestation of brown marmorated stink bugs (Pentatomidae: Halyomorpha halys) in the United States has been positively confirmed in Allentown, Pa., by a Cornell University entomologist. The bug is indigenous to Asia and is considered a major agricultural pest in Japan. Throughout parts of Allentown, the insects are in trees and in houses, where they produce a pungent, malodorous chemical. "Imagine hundreds of them inside your house. There is no insecticide to get rid of them. The only thing you can do is sweep them up and throw them back outdoors," says E. Richard Hoebeke, Cornell senior extension associate in entomology. "And even after that, they want to come inside again where it is warm." (October 10, 2001)

Cornell's Liu and O'Rourke join NSF earthquake network
Two professors in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Cornell University, Philip Liu and Thomas O'Rourke, have been named to the team that will develop a new organization to manage the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) during the decade 2004-2014. The new organization will be developed by the Consortium of Universities for Research in Earthquake Engineering (CUREE). Partners with CUREE in the $2 million project are the Civil Engineering Research Foundation of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. (October 3, 2001)

Nobel laureate, economist James Mirrlees, to join panel on "obnoxious markets" Oct. 17
James Mirrlees, winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize in economics, will participate in a panel discussion on the economics of "obnoxious markets." The discussion will be on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 3:30 in room 401, Warren Hall, on the Cornell University campus. Mirrlees, professor of political economy at the University of Cambridge, is known for his theories on balancing the equity and efficiency aspects of taxation. He will join the panel discussion with Deborah Streeter, the B.F. Failing Sr. Professor in Cornell's Applied Economics and Management Department; Nancy Chau, Cornell assistant professor of applied economics and management; and Ravi Kanbur, the Lee Teng Hui Professor of World Affairs, who shares an appointment in the departments of economics (College of Arts and Sciences) and applied economics and management (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.) The panel will be chaired by Andrew Novakovic, Cornell's E.V. Baker Professor of Agricultural Economics. (October 3, 2001)

Parents can be stronger forces in lives of their children
Bad things happen to good parents. In a new book, Parents Under Siege: Why You Are the Solution, Not the Problem, in Your Child's Life, Professor James Garbarino and researcher Claire Bedard of Cornell University help today's parents regain control of difficult children growing up in toxic and hostile social environments. After detailed interviews with many parents -- including the only interviews with the parents of Columbine school shooter Dylan Klebold -- the authors assert that parents are responsible but not necessarily to blame when things go badly with their children. (October 3, 2001)

ILR Dean Edward Lawler receives Cooley-Mead Award
Edward J. Lawler, dean of Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) and a scholar of organizational behavior, is the recipient of the 2001 Cooley-Mead Award. The award, which is granted annually by the Social Psychology Section of the American Sociological Association (ASA), recognizes lifetime contributions to scholarship in social psychology. ASA is the pre-eminent organization of sociology scholars in the United States. The committee that chose Lawler praised him for his scholarship in the study of power, negotiation, social exchange and group processes. Lawler has written, co-written or edited 15 books and more than 30 articles on those subjects for professional journals. He has served as editor and co-editor of Advances in Group Processes (JAI Press), an ongoing multivolume series of theoretical and empirical work on small-group relationships, and, from 1993 to 1997, he was editor of Social Psychology Quarterly. He and ILR Professor Samuel Bacharach co-wrote Power and Politics in Organizations (Jossey-Bass, 1980) and Bargaining: Power, Tactics and Outcomes (Jossey-Bass, 1981). As part of the award ceremony at the ASA annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif., this August, Lawler presented a scholarly paper titled "Micro Social Orders: A Social Exchange" that will be published in Social Psychology Quarterly in March 2002. (October 2, 2001)

Patricia J. Williams will discuss race, gender and law as Kops Freedom of the Press lecturer, Oct. 16
Patricia J. Williams, an expert on race, gender and law, will present the 2001 Daniel W. Kops Freedom of the Press Lecture at Cornell University Tuesday, Oct. 16, at 4:30 p.m. in the Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium of Goldwin Smith Hall. The lecture, titled "Obstacle Illusions: Free Agency, Free Press and the Politics of Media," is free and open to the public. Williams is the James L. Dohr Professor of Law at Columbia University's School of Law, an author and recipient of a MacArthur "genius" Fellowship. Her book, The Alchemy of Race and Rights, was named one of the 25 best books of 1991 by the Voice Literary Supplement and was cited by Ms. magazine as one of the "feminist classics of the last 20 years" that "literally changed women's lives." (October 2, 2001)

Temple Grandin, expert on humane animal slaughter, to speak on "Autism and Animal Behavior" Oct. 11
Temple Grandin, a Colorado State University assistant professor of animal science who studies the humane handling of agricultural animals, will give a Cornell University Lecture Oct. 11 at 8 p.m. in room 146, Morrison Hall. The lecture is titled, "Autism and Animal Behavior: How They Come Together." Grandin, the author of the American Meat Institute's guide to humane animal handling, recently was hired as lead consultant for McDonald's new animal welfare program. Other fast food companies, such as Burger King and Wendy's, have followed McDonald's lead in making the handling and slaughter of animals for their meat products more humane. In all, she has designed about one-third of all new livestock-handling facilities in the United States. She also has worked closely with Muslim and Jewish communities to improve religious slaughter. (October 2, 2001)

Hotel business starting to rebound following attacks
Hotel room occupancy is up for the first time since the big drop following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The Center for Hospitality Research at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration found that national hotel room occupancy is now rising steadily and was at 64 percent Sept. 22 -- a notable rebound from the 48 percent low of Sept. 17, but still down 17 percent from the same day last year. In addition, hotel room prices across the United States last week were down by more than 25 percent, compared with the same week last year -- making travel a bargain. (October 1, 2001)