Cornell University News Service Releases
March, 2002
Index to all months
Index to all monthsFor the full text of any story, click on the headline. Electronic queries may be made to cunews@cornell.edu.
Mathematics Awareness Month lecture set for April 6
Some researchers think all problems can be resolved, given a sufficiently large and fast computer. Other researchers believe that computers are inherently inexact, and the results produced by machines cannot be trusted. Somewhere in the middle is a narrow band of academics who fit snugly between these two schools of thought. To explain, Warwick Tucker, the H.C. Wang Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Cornell, will talk on "Using a Computer to do Rigorous Mathematics," at the third annual Mathematics Awareness Month public lecture on Saturday, April 6, at 1:30 p.m. in 251 Malott Hall on campus. The public is invited to attend the talk without charge, and no calculus or advanced mathematics are required for understanding the subject. (March 29, 2002)
Cornell chemist Brian Crane receives major awards from NSF and Searle
Brian Crane, an assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Cornell University, has been named a recipient of two major research awards: the National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program award and a Searle Scholars Program grant. The NSF award, for $598,180 over five years, will support his exploration of the controlled movement of charge, which he describes as "ultimately, the essence of life." Nature's ability to tune the reactivity of metal centers in proteins and to direct electron flow within and between proteins is controlled by the vast number of states available to the polypeptide chain. (A variety of proteins contain metal centers, generally performing functions ranging from the maintenance of structural integrity to catalysis.) The goal of Crane's research is to develop and apply new photochemical methods for studying the structural basis of oxidation-reduction chemistry and long-range electron transfer in biology. (March 29, 2002)
Businessman-scientist Paul L. Carey named director of Cornell's Office of Economic Development
Business development professional and biomedical engineer Paul L. Carey has been named director of Cornell University's Office of Economic Development. The office helps develop and commercialize the university's intellectual resources by moving technology from research to the private sector and by attracting funds for Cornell research. "Mr. Carey has a successful track record in the design, negotiation and closure of financial and research transactions for the growth or joint venture of academic centers, corporations, government agencies and sources of investment capital," said Robert C. Richardson, vice provost for research, in announcing the appointment. "Under his leadership, we are confident that Cornell units involved with technology transfer and industrial outreach will have even greater success in extending innovations from the research environment to the private sector." (March 28, 2002)
Artificial heart pioneer to speak at Cornell Society of Engineers conference on union of biology and technology
Much of the research and discovery in biological science is now taking place at the interface of the life sciences with other disciplines, from materials science to computer engineering. This year's annual conference of the Cornell Society of Engineers (CSE) April 11-13 on the Cornell University campus will explore this 21st century biological revolution with the theme, "The Body Is a Machine, the World Is a System: The Convergence of Engineering and the Life Sciences." The most immediate example of the marriage of life science and engineering is the development of the first implantable replacement heart. Among conference speakers will be David Lederman, M.D., president and chief executive of Abiomed, the company responsible for the first self-contained artificial heart, which was implanted last summer in a patient at Jewish Hospital, Lousiville, Ky. A second patient received the Abiomed heart last September, also at Jewish Hospital. Since then, three other artificial hearts have been implanted. (March 28, 2002)
Farmworker conference and dinner will celebrate 30th anniversary of Cornell Migrant Program May 22
Experts from around the nation will gather at a Cornell University conference May 22 to explore how historical perspectives, current trends and public policies shape and affect United States farm labor and rural communities. The conference, "Our Roots Feed Our Future," will be held at the Clarion Hotel in Ithaca, beginning at noon. The conference is sponsored by the Cornell Migrant Program, which is based in the Department of Human Development in Cornell's College of Human Ecology, and is part of the program's 30th anniversary celebration. The conference is open to the public, by prior registration, and will include the views of present and former farmworkers, research overviews and presentations from experts on promoting change for farmworkers and helping rural communities grow. (March 27, 2002)
April 13 College of Veterinary Medicine open house will showcase animals and their caregivers
Scheduled this year for Saturday, April 13, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the 36th annual Open House at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine is a showcase for animals of all kinds and the medical professionals who care for them. "This event is a great opportunity for us as students to share our school with the community," says Lauren Schnabel, co-chair of the open house and a member of the Cornell doctor of veterinary medicine (DVM) Class of 2004. "Veterinary students and members of the faculty and staff host this event to give a closer look at veterinary medicine and its significance in our lives." (March 27, 2002)
Some animals can recognize degree of kinship by scent
The tiny Belding's ground squirrels appear to be "kissing". Instead, they are sniffing to analyze secretions from facial scent glands, hoping to learn from the complex odor bouquet who is family and who's not. More remarkably, they are determining in a matter of seconds precisely who is close-enough kin to risk their lives helping -- and perhaps even whether they are too closely related to for mating. (March 22, 2002)
Women's access to education in Africa conference
A two-day international conference at Cornell March 28 and 29 examines what many see as a major stumbling block to the success of future African development -- gender equality and women's access to higher education. CEPARRED (the Pan African Studies and Research Center in International Relations and Education for Development), based in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, is sponsoring the conference in collaboration with Cornell's Poverty, Inequality and Development Initiative (PIDI). "Women and Higher Education in Africa: Engendering Human Capital and Upgrading Human Right to Schooling," is free and open to the public. (March 26, 2002)
Alfred Kahn, Jonathan Tisch at Hotel Ezra Cornell
Lessons from a world-renowned economist and a leading hospitality executive are the focus of Hotel Ezra Cornell (HEC) this April 4-7, reflecting a shift in what's being emphasized in education at the world's premier hotel school. The gala gathering at Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, now in its 77th year, will feature a range of educational events, including talks by economist Alfred E. Kahn on the state of the economy, and Jonathan Tisch, CEO of Loews Hotels and chair of the Travel Business Roundtable, on the hospitality industry post-Sept. 11. (March 26, 2002)
Edward M. Scolnick, president of Merck Labs, to talk April 3 on origins of prion and mad cow disease
Edward M. Scolnick, president of Merck Research Laboratories (MRL) and executive vice president for science and technology of MRL's parent, Merck & Co. Inc., will give a public talk, "Diseases of Animals and Humans Caused by Transmissible Proteins: The Prion and Mad Cow Disease," Wednesday, April 3, at 7:30 p.m. at Cornell University, Baker Hall, Room 200. This is Scolnick's second visit to Cornell since being appointed an inaugural Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 professor in 2000. Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), is linked to a prion disease in humans called Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. Prions are tiny, highly infectious substances made of protein and capable of self-replication. BSE was ̃rst observed in Britain in 1984. Since then, nearly 200,000 British cases of BSE in cattle have been identĩed. The epidemic peaked in 1992-93 at almost 1,000 cases per week, forcing the government to institute strict control measures. (March 26, 2002)
International conference on AIDS pandemic
Angela King, adviser on gender issues and the advancement of women to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, is the keynote speaker at a major international symposium on the AIDS pandemic March 29-30 in 700 Clark Hall on Cornell University's campus. It is free and open to the public. "AIDS Symposium, 2002: Global Problem, Shared Responsibility" begins Friday at 7 p.m. with the talk by King, who also is U.N. assistant secretary-general. The event's key sponsors are Cornell's Institute for African Development, Latin American Studies Program and South Asia Program. The symposium follows a Cornell conference March 28-29 on a related topic, women's need for access to higher education in Africa. (March 25, 2002)
Amazon leaders meet author of 'Darkness in El Dorado' April 5 to 7
To shed light on the ethical debates sparked by Patrick Tierney's book Darkness in El Dorado: How Scientists and Journalists Devastated the Amazon , Cornell University will host a three-day public conference April 5-7, 2002 that includes speakers from the Yanomami tribes of Brazil and Venezuela as well as leading anthropologists and cultural-rights activists. Organizers hope the conference will provide an important missing element of this ongoing debate about the ethics of native research -- namely, the Yanomami themselves. The conference, "Amazon Tragedy: Yanomami Voices, Academic Controversy and the Ethics of Research," begins Friday, April 5, at 3:15 p.m. in the David H. Call Alumni Auditorium of Kennedy Hall (March 25, 2002)
Cornell Police to increase traffic enforcement
Cornell University Police will operate a sobriety checkpoint on campus between March 25 and May 4. This checkpoint was originally scheduled for the weekend of March 8 but was postponed due to bad weather. (March 25, 2002)
Leading authorities on cinema and Victorian poetry to give University Lectures March 29 and April 4
The University Lecture Series at Cornell presents the following free public talks: Friday, March 29, at 4 p.m. in the A.D. White House Guerlac Room: Marcia Landy, professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh and a leading authority on cinema, visual culture and politics, will deliver a talk, "The Dream of the Gesture: Todd Haynes' Films and the Body of/in Cinema." Haynes, a filmmaker, is director of "Poison," "Safe" and "Velvet Goldmine." Thursday, April 4, at 4:30 p.m. in Kaufmann Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall: Herbert Tucker, professor of English literature at the University of Virginia, will deliver a lecture, "Sweet to Tongue and Sound to Eye: The Virtual Orality of Rossetti's Goblin Marketing." Christina Rossetti's poem "Goblin Market," published in 1862, is one of the most frequently and variously interpreted works in its genre. (March 25, 2002)
'Biocomplexity' is the topic for NSF Director Rita Colwell in the Iscol Distinguished Environmental Lecture April 16
"Biocomplexity in the Environment: A 21st Century Odyssey" will be the topic April 16 for Rita R. Colwell, director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), when she will be the 2002 Jill and Ken Iscol Distinguished Environmental Lecturer at Cornell University.Presented by the Cornell Center for the Environment, Colwell's lecture, at 4:30 p.m. in the David L. Call Alumni Auditorium, Kennedy Hall, is open to the public at no charge. The NSF director also will give opening remarks at a convocation of the Cornell Undergraduate Research Board (CURB) on April 17 at 4 p.m. in Kaufmann Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall, and will meet informally with Cornell students and researchers during her two-day visit to the campus. (March 22, 2002)
NPR's Richard Harris is 2002 Biotechnology Symposium keynote speaker April 9
"Science, Journalism and Politics: When Cultures Collide" will be the topic for National Public Radio (NPR) science correspondent Richard Harris in his keynote address April 9 at 4:30 p.m. in Call Alumni Auditorium during the 2002 Biotechnology Symposium at Cornell University. Open to the public at no charge, the Harris talk follows a scientific poster session and reception, from 1:30 to 4 p.m., in G-10 Biotechnology Building. The award-winning radio correspondent also will participate in several Cornell classes during his two-day visit to campus, April 9-10. (March 22, 2002)
Estrogen's role in preventing female cardiac disease
The role of the hormone estrogen in protecting the female heart from enlargement and ultimate failure has been partly explained by studies with genetically engineered mice, according to researchers at Cornell and Vanderbilt universities. Authors of the report in the latest issue of Nature (March 21, 2002), "Oestrogen protects FKBP12.6 mice from cardiac hypertrophy," used the newly developed mouse "model" for an enlarged heart muscle to help explain estrogen's important role in preventing female cardiac hypertrophy -- extreme stress on the heart that is an early sign of congestive heart failure. However, the researchers say, much more research is needed into the complex causes of heart-muscle enlargement, a condition that leads to cardiac hypertrophy. (March 22, 2002)
How to make the best decisions in a hurry
Good decisions can be made at warp speed -- if you know how to bypass biases and embrace the opportunity that pressure offers -- say a Cornell University business school professor and a Wharton consultant in a new book. Described by Harvard Business Review as a "comprehensive, well-balanced guide" to decision-making, the book Winning Decisions (Doubleday Currency, 2002) by Professors J. Edward Russo and Paul Schoemaker takes decades of groundbreaking research on how people make decisions and delivers a four-step framework for making good decisions quickly. (March 21, 2002)
Most Hypertensive Patients Do Not Know the Importance of
Systolic Blood Pressure
New York, NY (March 18, 2002) - Despite having a potentially life-threatening condition, a large proportion of patients with hypertension (high blood pressure) are unaware of the full importance of systolic blood pressure (the upper number in a blood pressure reading) in the control and prevention of disease, according to a study presented today at the 51st Annual Scientific Sessions of the American College of Cardiology in Atlanta."Improved recognition of the importance of systolic blood pressure has been identified as a major public health challenge," said primary investigator Susan A. Oliveria, Sc.D., M.P.H., Assistant Professor of Public Health at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Assistant Attending Epidemiologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. "Yet this survey indicates that many patients lack the basic knowledge about the importance of systolic blood pressure that would help them achieve better blood pressure control and reduce the potential for more serious conditions."
Raffaello D'Andrea receives Presidential Early Career Award
Raffaello D'Andrea, associate professor in the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University, has been awarded a Presidential Early Career Award for Science and Engineering (PECASE), the White House has announced. The award carries a five-year, $500,000 research grant to explore the control of interconnected systems. Matching grants from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research bring the total project funding to $1 million. The award is the highest honor bestowed by the U. S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers who are in the early stages of establishing their independent research careers. Awards are given to researchers who have received their Ph.D. degrees within the past five years. The Clinton administration established the awards in February, 1996 to recognize some of the nation's finest junior scientists. (March 20, 2002)
H.S. students will have experiment on Mars mission
With the help of Cornell University's Nanobiotechnology Center (NBTC), two students at Lansing High School in Lansing, N.Y., will see the results of three years of research and planning go far -- all the way to Mars. Jessica Sherman and Kelly Trowbridge, both sophomores at Lansing, are two of just three students selected in a global competition to have their experiments carried on a future mission to Mars. The three students presented their plans to investigate conditions on the red planet at the Lunar and Planetary Institute's annual conference in Houston on March 14. (March 20, 2002)
Cornell development institute will hold community improvement conference May 22-23 in Syracuse
Cornell University's Community and Rural Development Institute (CaRDI) will hold a conference, "Everything Old Is New Again: The New Approach to Community Development," May 22-23 at the Wyndham Syracuse, Route 298, East Syracuse, N.Y. The conference is designed to help community leaders, development professionals and government officials focus on how localities can accelerate and sustain healthy development. (March 20, 2002)
Harvard political theorist Nancy Rosenblum to discuss U.S. political parties and extremism March 26
Harvard University professor of government Nancy Rosenblum, who researches U.S. political parties, will deliver Cornell University Law School's Robert S. Stevens Lecture Tuesday, March 26, at the Law School. Rosenblum's talk, "Party ID? Anti-Extremism, Anti-Partisanship, Anti-Politics," will take place in the Stein Mancuso Amphitheater of Myron Taylor Hall. It is free and open to the public. No tickets are needed to attend. (March 19, 2002)
Flexible ceramic material is a 'plumber's nightmare'
Using nanoscale chemistry, researchers at Cornell University have developed a new class of hybrid materials that they describe as flexible ceramics. The new materials appear to have wide applications, from microelectronics to separating macromolecules, such as proteins. What is particularly striking, even to the researchers themselves, is that under the transmission electron microscope (TEM) the molecular structure of the new material -- known as a cubic bicontinuous structure -- conforms to century-old mathematical predictions. "We in polymer research are now finding structures that mathematicians theorized long ago should exist," says Ulrich Wiesner, associate professor of materials science and engineering at Cornell. The structure of the new material appears so convoluted that it has been dubbed "the plumber's nightmare." (March 19, 2002)
Book uses college life to explain sociological concepts
What better way to teach college students about the basics of sociology than to use their own college as a microcosm of society. A new book, College and Society: An Introduction to the Sociological Imagination, by Stephen Sweet, associate director of the Cornell Employment and Family Careers Institute at Cornell University, does just that. "Colleges and universities tend to reflect many of the same social structures, culturally based expectations of social conduct and patterns of interaction that we see in the larger society," says Sweet. "This book allows college students to learn about how society operates by studying what transpires in colleges and universities. By focusing on familiar experiences, readily accessible observations and issues relevant to students' lives, this book teaches students to understand the profound ways in which social forces shape the human experience." (March 19, 2002)
Four faculty members receive NSF 'Early Career' awards
Four Cornell University faculty members are among this year's recipients of National Science Foundation (NSF) Career Awards. The Faculty Early Career Development Program is NSF's most prestigious awars for new faculty members. The program recognizes and supports the early career development activities of those teacher-scholars who are considered most likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century. Johannes Gehrke and Andrew Myers, assistant professors of computer science, and Anna Scaglione, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, each will receive five-year grants of about $350,000 to support their research. John A. Marohn, assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology, will receive a five-year grant of about $500,000. (March 19, 2002)
Book uses college as a microcosm to explain sociology
What better way to teach college students about the basics of sociology than to use their own college as a microcosm of society. A new book, College and Society: An Introduction to the Sociological Imagination, by Stephen Sweet, associate director of the Cornell Employment and Family Careers Institute at Cornell University, does just that. "Colleges and universities tend to reflect many of the same social structures, culturally based expectations of social conduct and patterns of interaction that we see in the larger society," says Sweet. "This book allows college students to learn about how society operates by studying what transpires in colleges and universities. By focusing on familiar experiences, readily accessible observations and issues relevant to students' lives, this book teaches students to understand the profound ways in which social forces shape the human experience." (March 18, 2002)
Cornell trustees approve contract college tuition increase for 2002-3
The Cornell University Board of Trustees, at its regular meeting March 15, approved a tuition increase of $1,180 for undergraduate resident students in the New York state contract colleges for the academic year 2002-03. "Cornell remains committed to keeping tuition increases as low as possible, as well as to a policy of need-blind admission -- that is, to admitting students without regard to their financial resources," said President Hunter Rawlings. "For 2002-03, the cost of meeting our institutional priorities will cause expenditures to grow faster than the rate of inflation. The situation is particularly acute because various revenue sources, including state funding and endowment income, in particular, are expected to remain flat as a result of general economic conditions and the aftermath of Sept. 11." (March 18, 2002)
Alison 'Sunny' Power is appointed dean of Graduate School
Cornell University Provost Biddy Martin March 15 announced the appointment of Alison "Sunny" Power as dean of the Graduate School. Power has been interim dean since July, when Vice Provost Walter I. Cohen stepped down as dean. Power's appointment, which is for three years beginning July 1, 2002, was endorsed March 13 in a vote by the faculty of the Graduate School and was approved by the Cornell Board of Trustees March 15. (March 18, 2002)
Mimi Melegrito receives first Cornell Tradition Community Recognition Award
At its seventh annual convocation, March 1, The Cornell Tradition awarded its first annual Cornell Tradition Community Recognition Award to Ithacan Mimi Melegrito. The Cornell Tradition is an alumni-endowed fellowship program at Cornell University that recognizes and rewards outstanding students dedicated to work, service and scholarship. This past fall, the Student Advisory Council of Cornell Tradition created the new award to recognize and honor an Ithaca area person who has demonstrated a strong commitment to community service and/or leadership. An awards committee solicited nominations from community agencies of candidates who exemplify the Cornell Tradition ideal of improving their community through dedication to service. In December, a selection committee composed of members from both the Cornell and Ithaca communities evaluated all of the nominations and selected Melegrito as the first recipient of the Cornell Tradition Community Recognition Award. (March 18, 2002)
E. coli detection in food reduced from days to minutes
NEW ORLEANS -- The era of waiting days for E. coli bacteria lab results soon will be at an end for food processors and health departments, thanks to a new type of biological sensor that works much like a home-pregnancy test in one format. At present, it takes technicians days to incubate and then implicate harmful and deadly bacteria in food poisonings, but the new sensor does its detective work in just minutes. (March 15, 2002)
Rawlings announces intent to step down from Cornell presidency in 2003
Hunter R. Rawlings III, president of Cornell University since 1995, today (March 15, 2002) announced his intention to retire from the presidency on June 30, 2003, and to assume a full-time professorship thereafter in the university's Department of Classics. Speaking at the Cornell Board of Trustees meeting on the university's Ithaca campus, Rawlings said that announcing his intention to retire at this time "will allow the board to begin a deliberate and systematic search for a new president and will provide time for an orderly transition." (March 15, 2002)
Cornell joins textile research consortium
The Department of Textiles and Apparel (TXA) at Cornell University has joined the prestigious National Textile Center Consortium (NTC), a group of universities focused on research to sharpen the global competitiveness of the domestic textile and apparel industry. The program now brings together the combined knowledge and expertise of nine of the nation's leading textile research universities. Academic research taking place under the direction of the NTC addresses all key aspects of the textile industry, from fiber production to marketing. In addition to research, education and partnership, the NTC also deals with concerns related to work-force training and job creation. (March 14, 2002)
Composer, conductor Steven Stucky wins Goddard Lieberson Fellowship from American Academy of Arts and Letters
Steven Stucky, the Given Foundation Professor of Music at Cornell University, has been awarded a Goddard Lieberson Fellowship by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Stucky is one of two composers to win the $15,000 fellowship for 2002 and is among 17 recipients this year to receive awards in music from the academy. The Goddard Lieberson Fellowships were endowed in 1978 by the CBS Foundation in memory of the founder of Columbia Masterworks to recognize mid-career composers of "exceptional gifts." (March 14, 2002)
Every Cornell freshman will read 'Frankenstein'
A world-famous novel written two centuries ago by an 18-year-old Englishwoman will be required reading for all Cornell University incoming freshman and undergraduate transfer students in fall 2002. The newest selection for the New Student Reading Project seems the perfect choice. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein not only gave the world it's first characterization of the "mad scientist," inspiring scores of movies and books, points out Cornell Vice Provost Isaac Kramnick, but it raised concerns about the role of science in the modern world that seem more relevant than ever today. (March 13, 2002)
Enlisting world's young people to prevent HIV/AIDS
The number of young adults infected with HIV/AIDS -- almost 12 million globally -- is staggering, as is the number of AIDS orphans (11 million), expected to double by 2010. To enlist the help more effectively of the world's young people to help protect other youth, a group from Cornell University is collaborating with UNICEF's international project, "What Every Adolescent Has a Right to Know." Two campus groups, the Cornell Participatory Action Research Network (CPARN) and Cornell HIV/AIDS Education Project, recently joined forces as Cornell Right to Know (RTK) to assist in planning and conducting participatory action research (PAR) with youth. The new group is composed of more than 50 Cornell students, staff and faculty working with 14 countries to help UNICEF identify the best ways to develop effective HIV education strategies and to improve programs and policies, including young people in the process. The hope is to give adolescents the life skills required to reduce their vulnerability to HIV infection and to respond to the varied causes and consequences of the epidemic. (March 13, 2002)
Cornell seeks to meet Kyoto greenhouse goals
A new energy-conservation initiative at Cornell University is bringing about significant savings in the university's electric bill and is helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The first step in the new campaign has been pretty simple: just asking people to turn off the lights. Before the university closed down for the December 2001 holidays, mass e-mails and posters asked faculty, staff and students to make a special effort to turn off lights and electrical devices before going on vacation. The result was a reduction of more than 360,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity used in the 10-day period compared with the same period the previous year, and savings of about $25,000. (March 13, 2002)
Former astronaut Mae Jemison visits as professor-at-large March 25-30
ITHACA, N.Y. --Dr. Mae Jemison, a former astronaut and professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth College, will visit Cornell University March 25 to 30. It will be her first visit as an Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large. Jemison will give a free public talk, "S.E.E.ing the Future," on the topic of science, engineering and education, at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 26, in Statler Auditorium. Free tickets for the lecture will be available beginning March 14 at the Willard Straight Hall ticket office and the service centers at Robert Purcell and Noyes student unions on campus. There is a limit of two tickets per person. (March 12, 2002)
Watch for dragons and other beasties on March 14
Cornell University officials, alerted by reports of animal rumblings in Rand Hall, have issued a dragon-warning and road-closure alert for the campus on Thursday, March 14. Vehicular access to central campus will be restricted from 1 p.m. to approximately 3:30 p.m., and buses could be rerouted or delayed for the annual emergence of the dragon. This year is the 101st Dragon Day, in which first-year students in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning build and parade a dragon through campus. (March 12, 2002)
Trustees to meet in Ithaca March 14 and 15
The Cornell University Board of Trustees will meet in Ithaca March 14 and 15. The board will meet from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, March 15, in the Trustee Meeting Room of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art on the Cornell campus. Approximately the first 45 minutes of the meeting will be open to the public. Topics will include a report from President Hunter Rawlings; a report on the Student Assembly by its president, senior Uzo Asonye; a report on the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly by the assembly's president, Patrick Carr; and an update on the state budget, including proposed statutory college tuition. (March 12, 2002)
Cornell supports New York Campus Compact
Cornell University will serve for the next three years as headquarters for the executive director of the New York Campus Compact (NYCC), an organization of presidents of colleges and universities in New York state that seeks to promote and support collegiate involvement in community service. Cornell is a founding member of NYCC, whose charter was signed Oct. 16, 2001, at Pace University in Manhattan. Other founding universities include Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Syracuse University, Nassau Community College, Nazareth College, Pace, Niagara Community College and the State University of New York (SUNY) campuses at Cortland, Geneseo and Oswego. Currently, more than 35 campuses across New York state have joined NYCC, which is the 26th member of the national Campus Compact program. (March 12, 2002)
Terry Tempest Williams, author and environmental crusader, will give an open lecture March 26
Nature writer Terry Tempest Williams, author of Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place, considered a classic of environmental literature, will present a public lecture at Cornell, Tuesday, March 26. Titled "Homework: The Art of Sustainability," Williams' talk will be in Auditorium D of Goldwin Smith Hall on campus beginning at 7:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public, and no tickets are needed. (March 8, 2002)
W. Kent Fuchs of Purdue named dean of Cornell College of Engineering
W. Kent Fuchs, head of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Michael J. and Catherine R. Birck Distinguished Professor at Purdue University, has been named the Joseph Silbert Dean of the College of Engineering at Cornell University. The appointment will be submitted for approval by the Executive Committee of the Cornell Board of Trustees at its next meeting in April. (March 8, 2002)
Public review begins on plans for new medical waste-management facility
The three-month public comment period has begun on the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for a new medical waste-management facility at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Estimated to cost approximately $6 million and funded by the State University Construction Fund (SUCF), the facility would replace the college's incinerator to treat pathological waste and regulated medical waste, and could begin operation in early 2005. (March 7, 2002)
Cornell Hotel School holds NYC conference on terrorism and tourism March 7
A strategic conference of business executives and academic researchers in travel, tourism and hospitality will convene in New York City Thursday, March 7, to discuss how to reverse an industrywide slump worsened by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. In 2001, the industry experienced the worst hotel performance in 33 years, a situation made even worse by the massive cutbacks in airline flights and staffing that followed the attacks. (March 6, 2002)
Corning optical fiber developer is featured speaker at Cornell 'Technology Means Business' symposium March 8
Isler, famed thin-shell designer and structural artist, to talk at Cornell
Wanted: Females, ages 35 to 54, pants size 4-24 reward, $20
Guest chef from NYC's three-star Tabla restaurant brings a taste of India to Cornell March 10
Cornell president approves proposal to strengthen policy against hazing
Cornell Police to operate sobriety checkpoints March 8-10
HIV Vaccines & Low Daily Doses of Interleukin 2 May Lead to Permanent HIV Immunity
Severe drought threatens Northeast'
Astronaut Tom Jones to speak March 8
Alumnus endows international law center at Cornell
Students lost in Dominican Republic rescued
Donald Keck, vice president and executive director of Corning Inc.'s research, science and technology division, is the featured speaker at "Technology Means Business" on Cornell University's campus this Friday, March 8. Keck is one of three Corning scientists credited with developing an optical fiber that could be used in long distance communication. Keck also has won numerous awards for his contributions to the field of photonics. The sixth annual Technology Symposium is an all-day event, open to the public, with technology panels on media communication, manufacturing operations and health care. It will take place at the Johnson Graduate School of Management, B-09 Sage Hall. Admission is $10 in advance; $15 at event. Registration is required and can be done online at
Heinz Isler (pronounced "ezler"), the noted Swiss structural engineer and designer, will present a talk at Cornell University, Monday, March 11, at 6:30 p.m. at Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall. The talk is free and is open to the public. Isler is considered to be among the foremost structural artists working today. His talk, which is the Felix Candela Memorial Lecture, will concern Isler's thin-shell roof structures -- self-supporting concrete domes -- of which he has designed more than 1,000 in the past two decades, more than any other engineer. His structures, most of them in Switzerland, have been described as "harmonious, natural and inspiring." (March 6, 2002)
Women in Manhattan and Ithaca, ages 35 to 54, can earn $20 by volunteering to be measured by Cornell University apparel researchers who are using a state-of-the-art 3-D body scanner to measure more than 300,000 body data points. Volunteers will don a one-piece, Lycra scanning suit and then a pair of dress trousers for the 3-D imaging and be asked to complete a questionnaire. Total time commitment: 40 minutes. (March 6, 2002)
On March 10, Floyd Cardoz, executive chef of New York City's Tabla restaurant, will launch the spring 2002 Guest Chefs Series with a sumptuous four-course dinner at the Statler Hotel on Cornell University's campus. The event, featuring Cardoz's unique Indian-inspired international cuisine, is open to the public. Tabla earned a three-star review in The New York Times in 1999, soon after it opened, and Times restaurant critic Ruth Reichl wrote: "For me it was love at first bite." (March 6, 2002)
Cornell University President Hunter Rawlings has approved a proposal from a task force of students, faculty and staff to strengthen the university's policy against hazing. The amendment to the Campus Code of Conduct, approved by Rawlings Feb. 1, includes a definition of hazing, makes it a specific violation under the Campus Code and permits any member of the campus community to lodge a complaint. (March 6, 2002)
Cornell University Police will operate a sobriety checkpoint on campus this weekend after one of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) playoff hockey games. Drivers can find out in advance where the checkpoint will be by going to the department's web site
New York, NY (March 1, 2002) -- A new clinical trial testing an HIV vaccine together with low daily doses of interleukin 2 (IL2) -- led by Dr. Kendall Smith, Chief of Immunology in the Department of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College -- is designed to determine whether it is possible to achieve control of HIV by enhancing the body's immunity to the virus. Dr. Smith's team has previously shown that low daily doses of the T cell growth factor IL2 can result in accelerated improvement of the immune system when given to individuals with chronic HIV infection. Now, the team is testing whether it is possible to generate protective immunity to HIV, so that antiviral drugs will no longer be necessary.Dr. Smith and his research team discovered the IL2 molecule and IL2 receptors over 20 years ago, and since then, the team has pioneered studies that have determined how IL2 functions as a growth factor for T lymphocytes and Natural Killer (NK) cells, the principal cells known to fight viral infections.
ITHACA, N.Y. --Many coastal and large urban areas in the Northeast are facing their worst precipitation deficits (July through February) since official climatological record-keeping began more than a century ago, say experts at the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University. The severest drought faces those communities experiencing at least a 15-inch precipitation deficit since last July, including most of New Jersey, southeastern New York state, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, the climate center says. (March 1, 2002)
Former NASA astronaut Tom Jones will speak at Cornell University March 8 at 7:30 p.m. in Schwartz Auditorium, Rockefeller Hall. The talk is free and is open to the public. The subject of the talk, sponsored by NASA's Comet Nucleus Tour (Contour) and the New York State Space Grant Consortium, will be "The International Space Station: Stepping Stone or Block?" (March 1, 2002)
A major gift from a Cornell University Law School alumnus and his wife has endowed a center for international and comparative law studies that now has its first director. Approved by Cornell's Board of Trustees last October, the Clarke Center for International and Comparative Legal Studies was created through an endowment gift from Jack Clarke, L.L.B. '52, and his wife, Dorothea, that supports a directorship, several professorships and a range of international and comparative law initiatives at the Law School. (March 1, 2002)
The administration of Cornell University has expressed its gratitude to the government of the Dominican Republic for the Feb. 27 rescue of two Cornell research ecologists who were stranded for five days in the Armando Bermudez National Park. "Thanks to the prompt and skillful assistance of emergency workers under the direction of Admiral Radhames Lora Salcedo, the director of civil defense in the Dominican Republic, our researchers are safe and are recovering from their ordeal," said Henrik Dullea, vice president for university relations at Cornell. "We look forward to the time when they resume their research in this critically important part of the island ecosystem." (March 1, 2002)