Cornell University News Service Releases

April, 2003

Index to all months

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

Cornell researchers June Nasrallah and Saul Teukolsky elected to National Academy of Sciences
Two members of Cornell University's faculty -- one from Lebanon, the other from South Africa, one studying plant reproduction, the other probing black holes -- have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). They are June B. Nasrallah, professor of plant biology, and Saul A. Teukolsky, the Hans A. Bethe Professor in Physics and Astrophysics. Their election brings to 48 the number of faculty members from Cornell's Ithaca campus and the Weill Cornell Medical College in the NAS. Election to the academy, a private organization dedicated to the furtherance of science and its use for the general welfare, is considered one of the highest honors for a U.S. scientist or engineer. (April 30, 2003)

Cornell Empire State Poll first to focus on New York
How safe is New York state according to the people who live here? What do New Yorkers believe are the most pressing problems facing the state today? And how does the state stack up as a place to find good jobs with benefits and room for advancement? The answers to those and a range of other questions can make an enormous difference in everything from state policies to federal grants. But while many other states have long had reliable, nonpartisan annual survey data on their residents, New York state hasn't … until now. This June the results of the first ever Cornell Empire State Poll will be released. The new poll is a joint initiative between the Survey Research Institute (SRI) at Cornell University and Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, with assistance from the Department of Communication and other research departments. (April 30, 2003)

Earthquake testing lab for nation's lifelines
Cornell University is to become a site in an innovative national earthquake research system linking 15 of the nation's leading engineering schools. A $2.1 million award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) is enabling Cornell to develop a state-of-the-art facility, scheduled to open in October 2004, to test the effects of earthquake-caused damage to the nation's lifelines. These are structures, from bridges to pipelines to communications conduits, that form parts of complex networks of vital resources and services. The Cornell laboratory, a collaboration with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), will become a link in an NSF-funded chain of testing and research sites called the George E. Brown Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES). The facility is under construction in the Winter Lab in Thurston Hall at Cornell's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. (April 30, 2003)

Cornell and Scholastic Inc. will distribute children's books, free, to upstate libraries and community organizations
Cornell University Library will be distributing approximately 11,000 children's books from Scholastic Inc. to elementary-school and public libraries, as well as to literacy and other community organizations, in the upstate New York area. Cornell received the books thanks to the generosity of Cornell alumnus Kevin McEnery '70, MBA '71, executive vice president and CFO of Scholastic, the global children's publishing and media company. McEnery is a member of the Cornell Library Advisory Council. The books received from Scholastic include titles for preschool children up to sixth grade, ranging from simple digest paperbacks to hardcover "picture" books. (April 30, 2003)

Most hotels making no changes in safety, security
Most hotels made no changes to safety and security staffing or procedures in the year following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, possibly because they already were in good shape. Exceptions: modest improvements to staffing and procedures were made at hotels in New York, New Jersey and the central southwest. The news is from a national survey of hotel managers conducted at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration. (April 30, 2003)

Cornell volunteers unpave paradise and put up a garden for residents of an Ithaca nursing home
"They paved paradise and put up a parking lot," singer Joni Mitchell lamented in the 1970s. Three decades later, they are demolishing a parking lot and paving the way for a paradise. Thanks to the efforts of a Cornell University environmental psychologist, her colleagues and students, the Cornell Public Service Center and the Tompkins Cortland County Builders and Remodelers Association (TCBRA), a garden is being created in a former parking lot for residents of an Ithaca nursing home. (April 30, 2003)

Acupuncture said to have potential fertility-boosting benefits
New York, NY (April 29, 2003) physician-scientists at the center for reproductive medicine and infertility (crmi) at New York Weill Cornell medical center call for a definitive study of acupuncture as a fertility treatment, citing its numerous, promising benefits associated with increasing fertility in women. An article in a recent issue of Fertility and Sterility ö co-authored by Dr. Zev Rosenwaks, Dr. Pak H. Chung, and Dr. Raymond Chang of Weill Cornell ö provides a summary of current research that supports acupunctureâs potential benefits for fertility treatment, including the stimulation of increased uterine blood flow and fertility hormones.Ê"Acupuncture, which is nontoxic and relatively affordable, holds much promise as a complementary or alternative fertility treatment," said Dr. Raymond Chang of New York Weill Cornell Medical Center.Ê

Decline in human fertility linked to global warming, Columbia Presbyterian study shows
New York, NY (April 24, 2003) Scientists at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center have found that an increase in global temperatures due to global warming may be a contributing factor in the decline of birth rates. A new study, which appears in the June issue of the Journal Medical Hypotheses, compared global air temperatures from 1900 to 1994, and the corresponding birth rates from nineteen industrialized nations, including the United States.Birth rate decline has been historically attributed to social, cultural, and economic changes, such as increases in the cost of living, postponement of marriage and child bearing, and the increased use of contraception and legalized abortions. This study, led by Dr. Harry Fisch, associate attending physician in the department of urology at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and associate clinical professor of urology at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, is the first to suggest that an environmental factor, specifically rising global temperatures, may also have contributed to the decline in human fertility.

Book focuses on HIV/AIDS intervention to combat high death toll among black American women
Black women in the United States should be the focus of more HIV/AIDS education because they strongly influence the quality and survival of their families and communities, says a Cornell University expert on AIDS who is co-editor of a new book on the topic. Two-thirds of HIV/AIDS cases in the United States occur among black Americans, and AIDS is the second-highest cause of death among black American women, ages 18 to 44. (April 25, 2003)

Cornell to host conference on rural poverty and degradation of natural resources May 2-3
N.Y. -- Cornell University will host a conference, "Reconciling Rural Poverty Reduction and Resource Conservation: Identifying Relationships and Remedies," in Warren Hall on May 2 and 3. The conference, which is free and open to the public, is part of the university's Poverty, Inequality and Development Initiative. Among the conference guests are: Steve Sanderson, president and chief executive of the World Conservation Society; Pedro Sanchez, director of tropical agriculture at Columbia University's Earth Institute, coordinator for the Hunger Task Force of the United Nations' Millennium Project and winner of the 2002 World Food Prize; and Emmy Simmons, assistant administrator for economic growth, agriculture and trade, United States Agency for International Development. (April 24, 2003)

A room with a view helps rural children deal with stress
A room with a view -- a green one, that is -- can help protect children against stress, according to a new study by two Cornell University environmental psychologists. Nature in or around the home, they say, appears to be a significant factor in protecting the psychological well-being of children in rural areas. "Our study finds that life's stressful events appear not to cause as much psychological distress in children who live in high-nature conditions compared with children who live in low-nature conditions," says Nancy Wells, assistant professor of design and environmental analysis in the New York State College of Human Ecology at Cornell. "And the protective impact of nearby nature is strongest for the most vulnerable children -- those experiencing the highest levels of stressful life events." (April 24, 2003)

Dolores Huerta, co-founder of United Farm Workers of America, to give public talk April 29
Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America, will deliver a talk, "Harvesting Change: Farm Workers' Rights 40 Years After the Founding of the UFW," Tuesday, April 29, at 7 p.m. in Anabel Taylor Hall auditorium. The event, hosted by the Farm Worker Advocacy Coalition at Cornell, is free and open to the public. Huerta is the most prominent Chicana (Mexican-American woman) labor leader in the United States. She is co-founder and first vice president of the United Farm Workers union. For more than 30 years she has dedicated her life to the struggle for equal rights for migrant farm workers. Honored with countless community service, labor, Hispanic and women's awards, Huerta has been called a role model for Mexican-American women. (April 24, 2003)

Free grad school tuition to teach in public schools
A National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported program that employs Cornell University graduate students to teach in public schools in return for free tuition and financial support has selected 10 new fellows for the coming year. The program, Cornell Scientific Inquiry Partnerships (CSIP), each year selects 10 Cornell graduate students to work with teachers in public K-12 schools, both teaching and developing curriculum materials, for 15 hours a week. In return, each fellow receives free Cornell tuition, plus an annual stipend of $21,500 (rising to $27,500 in 2003-2004) and paid health insurance. Recently the NSF renewed Cornell's funding for the program for a further three years. (April 22, 2003)

Steven Schuster named director of information technology security
Steven J. Schuster has joined the Cornell University Office of Information Technologies as director of information technology security. His tenure began April 1. (April 21, 2003)

Campus celebration honors tenure of President Hunter Rawlings, April 28
"Hats Off to Hunter, a Campus Salute to President Hunter Rawlings" will kick off a day of events on Monday, April 28, to celebrate Rawlings' eight years as president of Cornell University. "Hats Off to Hunter," an ice cream social with entertainment, will be held under a tent on the Arts Quad from 1:10 to 2:30 p.m. A chimes concert will start the program, open to all members of the Cornell community. Entertainment will include performances by student vocal groups, a poetry reading, jugglers and musicians. A large Grecian urn will be provided so that participants can write down their recollections and good wishes for Rawlings and place them in the urn. (April 21, 2003)

New physics textbook for non-physicists uses color and fantasy to explain tough concepts
Rebel Þghters blow up a Death Star in Return of the Jedi. Jack's beanstalk grows taller and taller, allowing him to climb to the giant's kingdom in the clouds. But what is the likelihood that an exploding star would result in the bright ßash and loud roar of destruction that George Lucas' audience sees and hears on the screen? How high can a beanstalk really grow and still support its own weight? Science fantasy? Not to three Cornell University academics -- Alan Giambattista, Betty Richardson and her husband, Robert. They pose the questions in their recently published textbook, College Physics (McGraw Hill, 2004). Their intent is to draw readers into the text and to help explain difficult physics concepts for pre-med students and others not planning to further their education in the subject. (April 18, 2003)

Conference on futures, options, risk-management
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The leading North American conference on derivative financial markets takes place in New York City's financial hub this April 25 and 26. The opening speaker is Stephen Ross, the inventor of arbitrage pricing theory (APT) and other findings that have helped change the way people think about investing. One Nobel laureate in economics said of Ross: "Listen carefully. Everything he says is like gold." Ross' latest ideas and other empirical results in futures, options, new forms of pricing models and risk management will be shared at the 13th Annual Conference on Derivatives. It is sponsored by Cornell University's Theory Center and Johnson Graduate School of Management and The Mathworks, and takes place at the New York Information Technology Center, 55 Broad St., 4th floor. (April 18, 2003)

Finalists announced for the 2003 Robinson-Appel Humanitarian Award for community service
The recipients of Cornell University's 2003 Robinson-Appel Humanitarian Award were announced during a dinner and awards ceremony April 4 on campus. The award recognizes and honors students at Cornell who have had significant involvement in community service by providing support for their projects, which address a community's social needs. Seven semifinalists for the award attended the ceremony held in the Yale-Princeton Room of Cornell's Statler Hotel, and four of them were named finalists and award winners. The finalists were Lauren Jacobs '05, Ifunanya (Funa) Maduka '04, Jennifer Harber '03 and Rebecca Vichniac '04. Semifinalists included Kerry Neijstrom '03, Edward Pettitt '04 and Bethany Tong '05. Finalists receive $1,500 each, to further a community service project that they have proposed and initiated. (April 17, 2003)

Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and U.N. human rights commissioner, will give 2003 Bartels lecture, April 21
Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and most recently the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, will be the 2003 Henry E. and Nancy Horton Bartels World Affairs Fellow at Cornell University, April 21 and 22. Robinson, who served as the high commissioner from 1997 to 2002, will present the Bartels Fellowship Lecture Monday, April 21, at 8 p.m. in the Alice Statler Auditorium of Statler Hall on campus. Titled "Human Rights and Ethical Globalization," the lecture is free and open to the public. (April 17, 2003)

2003 Iscol Lecture at Cornell is canceled
The 2003 Iscol Distinguished Environmental Lecture, scheduled for April 24 at Cornell University, has been canceled. Laurie Garrett, the Newsday medical writer, who was to speak on "Coming Plagues," will be in China covering the SARS epidemic. -30- (April 17, 2003)

International symposium to honor Cornell's Jack Freed April 26
Jack Freed, director of the National Biomedical Center for Advanced ESR Technology (ACERT) at Cornell University, will be honored at an international symposium in Baker Lab on April 26. The event will celebrate Freed's 65th birthday and his 40 years devoted to research and teaching at Cornell. The symposium, "ESR, New Developments," will highlight new developments in electron spin resonance (ESR), with emphasis on its applications to biophysical and biomedical research. (April 17, 2003)

Cornell Police to conduct seat belt campaign April 20 to 27
Cornell University Police will conduct its second annual "C.U. Click It or Ticket" campaign during the week of April 20 through 27 to encourage compliance with New York state seat belt laws. During the campaign, Cornell police will field extra patrols and utilize checkpoints to enforce the seat belt laws under a "zero tolerance" policy for violations. As they did last year at the checkpoints, Cornell officers will give a gift to motorists who are properly restrained and a traffic citation to those who are not. (April 17, 2003)

Physicist Neil Ashcroft wins Bridgman award
Neil Ashcroft, professor of physics at Cornell University, has been named winner of the 2003 Bridgman Award in high pressure physics, awarded by the International Association for the Advancement of High Pressure Science and Technology. The award is named for Percy Bridgman, winner of the 1946 Nobel Prize in physics. Ashcroft's expertise is in theoretical condensed-matter physics, speciÞcally in interacting many-particle systems as they occur in condensed matter. Among his research interests is metallic hydrogen and matter under extreme conditions, as might be found in the interiors of the giant planets. (April 17, 2003)

"Safe" lead levels pose risk to children's intelligence
A five-year study has found that lead is harmful to children at concentrations in the blood that are typically considered safe. Reporting in the latest issue (April 17) of The New England Journal of Medicine, two Cornell University scientists say that children suffer intellectual impairment at a blood-lead concentration below the level of 10 micrograms per deciliter (mcg/dl) -- about 100 parts per billion -- currently considered acceptable by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "We also found that the amount of impairment attributed to lead was most pronounced at lower levels," says Richard Canfield, lead author of the journal paper and a senior researcher in Cornell's Division of Nutritional Sciences. (April 14, 2003)

Plant physiological ecologist Jed P. Sparks wins NSF Faculty Early Career Development award
Jed P. Sparks, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology in Cornell University's College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded a Faculty Early Career Development program grant from the National Science Foundation. He will receive five-year funding of $500,000 to support research into foliar uptake of atmospheric nitrogen from the molecular to ecosystems levels. Early Career awards are NSF's most prestigious honor for new faculty members, recognizing and supporting teacher-scholars who are considered most likely to become academic leaders of the 21st century. (April 15, 2003)

Student-run conference on the southern U.S. looks at labor issues, April 16
The history of labor in the U.S. South begins in its cotton fields and mills, with workers laboring under harsh conditions at exploitatively low wages. "What other job? This is the only job," said Sally Field in the title role of the film "Norma Rae," based on a true story about Crystal Lee Sutton, a home-grown union organizer at a J.P. Stevens plant in a small southern mill town in the 1970s. Today improved working conditions through the growth of such textile workers' unions as UNITE, countered by weakened labor laws, the shift in manufacturing jobs overseas and the growth in the service sector are among the forces shaping labor in the southern United States. The southern U.S. labor picture, then and now, and related topics will be addressed at Cornell University's first Southern Labor Conference this Wednesday, April 16, in PepsiCo Auditorium in 305 Ives Hall on Cornell's campus. The event, which is being run by the Southern Organization, a Cornell student group interested in culture, social and political issues in the U.S. South, starts at 4:30 p.m. (April 14, 2003)

SARS travel recommendations issued by Cornell University
Cornell University has issued the following recommendations for members of the Cornell community planning travels to or from areas affected by the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) epidemic: "The World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have issued alerts regarding Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Since mid-March, Gannett: Cornell University Health Services has been working closely with Tompkins County and New York State Health Department officials to monitor information and recommendations related to SARS to protect individual and public health. To date, there have been no reported cases directly affecting anyone within the Cornell or Ithaca communities. (April 14, 2003)

'Coming Plagues' is topic for journalist Laurie Garrett in Iscol Distinguished Environmental Lecture April 24
The public-health infrastructure -- both in the United States and worldwide -- is ill-prepared to deal with emerging viruses and microbes, journalist Laurie Garrett will assert when she delivers the 2003 Iscol lecture Thursday, April 24, at 4:30 p.m. in Call Alumni Auditorium, Kennedy Hall, Cornell University. Free and open to the public, the lecture is titled "Coming Plagues: Signaling an Environment in Distress." Garrett, a 1996 Pulitzer Prize winner for her hands-on coverage of Zaire's Ebola epidemic, is a medical and science writer at Newsday. The author of two books about disease epidemics and the state of global health care, Garrett is expected to tell her audience that many scientists today know what policy-makers and governmental leaders fail to acknowledge: that emerging and re-emerging diseases -- far from being eradicated -- pose an unprecedented threat to human health. She contends that dramatic changes in attitudes, as well as resource allocation, will be needed to construct a public-health infrastructure capable of coping with the myriad challenges of globalization. (April 14, 2003)

1950s-1960s design through eyes of woman architectural pioneer comes to life in Cornell photographic collection
A collection of glass lantern slides that provides a snapshot of the history of design through the 1950s and 1960s, from prefabricated housing to room interiors and furniture, has been donated to Cornell University's Rare and Manuscript Collections at Kroch Library. The slides document the work of Ruby Loper, New York state's first female extension architect. Many of the slides -- positive transparencies sandwiched between two 3 1Ž4-inch by 4-inch glass plates -- are thought to have been taken by Cornell photographer Jon Troy and used by Loper both for teaching and research. Loper worked at Cornell from 1946 to 1967 and died in 1990. (April 11, 2003)

Cash incentives for energy-saving consumers, builders
A Cornell University housing and energy expert has been named to head a New York state consumer program to promote energy-saving incentives for homeowners, landlords and builders. He is Joseph Laquatra, professor of design and environmental analysis (DEA) in the New York State College of Human Ecology at Cornell. The new program, the Consumer Education Program for Residential Energy Efficiency (CEPREE), has been created by New York Energy $mart, managed by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), with an award of $155,000. CEPREE, a one-year project associated with Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE), will provide consumer-education programs on the multitude of ways to save energy -- and money -- in the home and to take advantage of incentives to reduce energy use. (April 10, 2003)

2003 Perkins Prize is awarded April 9 to mosaic project promoting understanding between Jews and Muslims
A visual art project that brought Jews and Muslims together on Cornell University's campus is the winner of the 2003 James A. Perkins Prize for Interracial Understanding and Harmony, which comes with a $5,000 prize. The top two finalists receive $1,000. The student winners and finalists will be honored at a private ceremony today, Wednesday, April 9, at 4 p.m. in Willard Straight Hall Memorial. (April 09, 2003)

Past, present and future of Tibet is focus of 'Tibet Weeks,' a series of almost daily events, April 7-19
Every spring, the Tibetan refugee community in Ithaca celebrates its culture and history. This year Cornell University is joining the celebration with Tibet Weeks, a series of events from Monday, April 7, through Saturday April 19. The Cornell East Asia Program and Students for a Free Tibet have scheduled Tibetan-related films, guest speakers and family-oriented events. The program is designed to celebrate Tibetan culture while educating the public on the continuing political and social concerns of the Tibetan community here and abroad. (April 8, 2003)

Power and promise of life sciences to be showcased by Cornell at Library of Congress April 12
Recent life-sciences research by Cornell University scientists and their students in Ithaca, N.Y., will be showcased April 12 at the Library of Congress (Thomas Jefferson Building, 1st Street SE), Washington, D.C. The scientific forum is titled "The Power and Promise of Life Sciences." (April 8, 2003)

Cornell trustee committee meeting in New York City changed to April 11
The Executive Committee of the Cornell University Board of Trustees will meet in Manhattan on Friday, April 11, instead of Thursday, April 10. The change was made so that university trustees and administrators can support the Cornell men's hockey team in the national semifinal Frozen Four game at noon Thursday in Buffalo, N.Y. The committee will hold a brief open session when it meets at 12:15 p.m., April 11, in the Fall Creek Room at the Cornell Club of New York, 6 E. 44th St. The public session will include a report from President Hunter Rawlings and an update on the New York state budget. (April 8, 2003)

Neuroscientist David Lin wins Beckman Young Investigator grant
David Lin, assistant professor of biomedical sciences in the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine, has been awarded one of the 20 2003 Beckman Foundation Young Investigator grants awarded nationally. The grant to Lin, providing $240,000 over a three-year period, is to further his study of connectivity in the mouse olfactory system. Laboratory mice, including transgenic mice, are used by Lin as animal models to study axon guidance and target selection in the nervous system. His laboratory focuses on the olfactory system and how neurons in the nose are able to identify their appropriate targets in the brain. A better understanding of connectivity in one species' olfactory system might someday inform studies of development or regeneration of other critical systems. (April 8, 2003)

Legendary American bard John Ashbery to give poetry reading April 10
John Ashbery, considered one of America's greatest living poets, will give this year's Robert Chasen Poetry Reading on Thursday, April 10, at 4:30 p.m., in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium of Goldwin Smith Hall at Cornell University. The reading, hosted by the Department of English at Cornell, is free and open to the public. Ashbery is the Charles P. Stevenson Jr. Professor of Language and Literature at Bard College and the author of twenty collections, including Girls on the Run (1999), Your Name Here (2000), and Chinese Whispers (2002). His Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror (1975) was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Award, the first time a book of poetry was so universally acclaimed. (April 8, 2003)

NYU, Cornell win MBA Stock Pitch contest
A student team from New York University's Stern School of Business was the first-place winner April 4 in the first-ever MBA Stock Pitch Competition. Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management, which hosted the competition, came in second. They competed for two days against teams from seven other top U.S. business schools and were judged by a blue-ribbon panel of Wall Street stock-analysis experts on the buy and sell sides. The NYU team won a cash prize of $3,000, and the Johnson School team won $1,500. The competition for future stock analysts was co-sponsored by the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). (April 8, 2003)

Cornell trustee committee to meet in New York City
The Executive Committee of the Cornell University Board of Trustees will hold a brief open session when it meets in Manhattan Thursday, April 10, at 2 p.m. at the Cornell Club of New York, 6 E. 44th St. The public session will include a report from President Hunter Rawlings and an update on the State University of New York (SUNY) budget. (April 04, 2003)

Symposium April 11-12 examines globalization, food and nutrition policy
Cornell University will host a symposium, "Globalization, Agricultural Development and Rural Livelihoods," April 11-12, examining globalization of markets and the status of world food supplies and of nutrition. The symposium, in 401 Warren Hall, will feature a keynote address, "Globalization, Agriculture and Rural Poverty: Implications for Developing Countries," by Per Pinstrup-Andersen, Cornell's Babcock Professor of Food, Nutrition and Public Policy. The talk will be given in the opening session at 8:30 a.m. on April 11 (April 04, 2003)

Hotel room discounting doesn't increase revenues
Hotel operators have often discounted their room rates during slow times, in the belief that lower rates will increase revenues. They won't, according to the preliminary findings of a study at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration. What's more, hotels are at greater risk than ever before of lower revenues because the Internet has enormously exacerbated the problem of discounting room rates. (April 4, 2003)

Four Cornell undergraduates win Goldwater Scholarships in 2003
Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships, the most prestigious national awards for undergraduate students in the fields of science, mathematics or engineering, have been won by four Cornell University students: Mark Laidre, a College of Agriculture and Life Sciences junior from Gansevoort, N.Y.; Eric L. Margelefsky, a College of Engineering junior from Sylvania, Ohio; Sara T. Parker, a College of Engineering junior from Brecksville, Ohio; and Niraj M. Shanbhag, a College of Agriculture and Life Sciences sophomore from Liverpool, N.Y. Now in its 15th year, the Goldwater Scholarship programs honors the late U.S. senator from Arizona and provides awards of up to $7,500 per year for each recipient to help cover the costs of tuition, fees, books and room-and-board. This year's 300 Goldwater scholars were selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,093 students nominated by colleges and universities nationwide. All four of Cornell's nominees won Goldwater Scholarships this year. In the past six years, 23 of the university's 24 candidates have been successful -- a record matched only by Duke University. Since 1992, a total of 33 Cornell students have won Goldwater Scholarships, and 10 went on to achieve additional honors, such as the Rhodes Scholarship, Marshall Scholarship, Churchill Scholarship and the Hertz Fellowship. (April 4, 2003)

Apple snack, high-tech medical concepts win idea contest
A low-tech idea for a healthy and delicious fast-food snack took first place, and an award of $10,000, in a Cornell University contest for the best business idea. The winning concept is Johnny Applestix -- sliced-to-order sticks of fresh apples lightly fried in canola oil, tossed in a secret blend seasoned with cinnamon and sugar, then served with the customer's choice of a vanilla or a caramel dipping sauce. It was developed by Mark Kuperman and Anthony Dellamano, both second-year students in the master's of management in hospitality program at Cornell's School of Hotel Administration. They hope eventually to market their product in malls, ballparks, airports and other high-traffic areas across the United States. (April 4, 2003)

Cornell junior Betsy Cooper wins a 2003 Truman Scholarship
Betsy Cooper of Amherst, N.Y., a junior in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) at Cornell University, is one of 76 students selected from a national pool of 635 candidates to win a prestigious Truman Scholarship. Students were nominated for the scholarships from 305 colleges, nationwide. Open to juniors who plan careers in public service, the Truman Scholarship provides winners up to $30,000 -- $3,000 for their senior year of undergraduate education and up to $27,000 over three years for graduate studies. In addition, Truman scholars have the opportunity to participate in leadership development programs and have special opportunities for internships and employment with the federal government. (April 3, 2003)

This weekend: 5th annual Pow Wow and Smoke Dance and Vet College's Open House
Two major family-oriented events, the fifth annual Pow Wow and Smoke Dance competition and the 37th annual Veterinary Open House, will be held at Cornell University on Saturday, April 5. The Pow Wow begins at 10 a.m. in Barton Hall. This stunning variety of Native American dancing, singing, chants and drumming begins with a resplendent and picturesque Grand Entry of participants commencing at noon. The Pow Wow will continue until 8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. (April 3, 2003)

Edie Carey headlines Lauren Pickard '90 Emerging Artist Series
Singer/songwriter/guitarist Edie Carey is the featured performer for year's Lauren Pickard '90 Emerging Artist Series in Cornell University's Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room Monday, April 14, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. The concert is free and open to the public. Using her graceful, soaring voice and an undeniable skill for carving everyday images in almost startling detail, Carey's songs draw listeners in, and what she says in between them is what keeps them there. As much a part of her show as the music itself, Carey's wry and often self-mocking humor, coupled with her ability to tell a great story, leaves listeners feeling as though they have just spent an evening with a close friend. (April 3, 2003)

Thomas P. Turner, who helped develop Cornell Library system's respected digital collections and services, dies at age 35
Thomas P. Turner, who helped develop the Cornell University Library system's digital collections and services, died March 22 in Ithaca. He was 35. The cause of death was complications from malignant melanoma. Turner founded the Cornell Library system's metadata working group, which focuses on making digital resources available to library users. He also served as an adviser on the committee for the development of a central repository for digital image collections and as a committee member on the digital-preservation working group. (April 3, 2003)

Energy-industry leader Linn Draper is this year's Durland speaker, April 9
E. Linn Draper Jr., chairman, president and chief executive officer of American Electric Power (AEP) Co., will deliver the 2003 Durland Lecture at Cornell University Wednesday, April 9. His talk, "Corporate Responsibility in Turbulent Times," begins promptly at 5 p.m. in 155 Olin Hall. The talk is free and open to the public, but space is limited and tickets are required. They may be obtained from Jennifer Cottrell in the Student Activities and Special Events Office, 106 Sage Hall, (607) 254-5446, , or at 246 Carpenter Hall. (April 3, 2003)

Dog owner sought in March 27 biting incident
The Cornell University Department of Environmental Health and Safety is seeking assistance from the community in identifying the owner of a black, mixed-breed dog that was tied with a red leash to a bicycle rack outside the entrance of the new Mann Library building between 3-4 p.m. last Thursday, March 27. The dog bit a student, who may have to undergo a series of rabies "shots" if the dog can not be shown to be rabies-free. Anyone with information about the dog should contact Cornell Police at 257-1111. Thank you for publishing this important notice. (April 3, 2003)

April 14 is deadline for proposals for community projects employing Cornell students
Grant proposals from local organizations and agencies for the 2003 Robert S. Smith Award are due by April 14. Awards of up to $3,500 will be given to programs employing Cornell University students in community development projects. Last year, five local organizations shared awards totaling $13,500. (April 2, 2003)

Los Alamos lab names Cornell educator Castillo-Chavez a distinguished scholar
ITHACA, N.Y. ---- Carlos Castillo-Chavez, professor of biomathematics and director of the Cornell University Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Institute (MTBI), has been named the 2003 Stanislaw M. Ulam Distinguished Scholar by the Center for Nonlinear Studies (CNLS) at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Castillo-Chavez is spending this year at CNLS supervising seven MTBI alumni, most of them American Latino Ph.D.s and graduate students, in a program of diversified research. The research projects include influenza and dengue dynamics, homeland security and the study of epidemics on networks. Five of his collaborators are recipients of Cornell-Sloan fellowships in the mathematical and statistical sciences, a program that Castillo-Chavez founded in 1997 and now directs. (April 2, 2003)

Death of Cornell graduate student is being investigated
Cornell University Police and Ithaca Police are investigating the death of a Cornell University graduate student. The student, a 25-year-old male, collapsed in a laboratory on campus at approximately 10 p.m. March 31. He was taken to Cayuga Medical Center, where he died this morning (April 1). (April 1, 2003)