Cornell University News Service Releases

May, 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.

Photo exhibit of Americans posing in chairs is on display
"Time and a Chair," an exhibit of historic photographs depicting ordinary Americans posing in chairs in remote parts of the country from 1840 to 1940, is on display until Aug. 29 on the Cornell University campus. The photos, in the gallery of Martha Van Rensselaer Hall's east wing, use the chair to symbolize the interiors of the portrait sitters' homes. (May 30, 2003)

Archaeologists find small areas with artifacts at proposed athletic fields site
Archaeologists from the Binghamton University Public Archaeology Facility, hired by Cornell University to study the proposed site for new athletic fields off of Game Farm Road in the town of Ithaca, recently identified a handful of artifacts tied to the Early Woodland phase of the Finger Lakes' Paleo-Indian culture. Site inspections identified three small areas with prehistoric artifacts, and a projectile point, chert flakes and shatter were recovered. A Phase 2 site examination will focus on the areas where artifacts have been identified, and more test pits will be dug to determine the site's significance. A related report is expected to be completed in mid-June. (May 30, 2003)

9/11 has led to greater prudence in designing systems that can withstand extreme events
Thomas O'Rourke illustrates the effects of the World Trade Center destruction with a quote from T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land: "The awful daring of a moment's surrender/ Which an age of prudence can never retract/ By this, and this only, we have existed." For O'Rourke, the Thomas R. Briggs Professor in Cornell's School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the poet's words sum up the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001: a moment of unforeseen catastrophe that society will pay for with "an age of prudence." O'Rourke and Cornell colleagues have spent the past two years analyzing the impacts that brought down the twin towers. By studying this and other disasters, O'Rourke says, engineers will be able to give valuable advice to a society still struggling with how best to avoid future tragedies. (May 29, 2003)

Applicants sought for Cornell Civic Leaders Fellowship Program
The Cornell Public Service Center currently is seeking applications for the third annual Cornell Civic Leaders Fellowship Program. This initiative enables the Public Service Center to initiate collaborative relationships between Cornell and the local community, and it allows the center to award $5,000 to each selected fellow. (May 29, 2003)

3-D imaging inside living organism, using quantum dots
Tiny blood vessels, viewed beneath a mouse's skin with a newly developed application of multiphoton microscopy, appear so bright and vivid in high-resolution images that researchers can see the vessel walls ripple with each heartbeat -- 640 times a minute. The capillaries are illuminated in unprecedented detail using fluorescence imaging labels, which are molecule-size nanocrystals called quantum dots circulating through the bloodstream. Writing in the latest issue of the journal Science (May 30, 2003), researchers at Cornell University and a nanocrystal manufacturer, Quantum Dot Corp., report that the nanocrystals are particularly useful for producing high-resolution, three-dimensional images inside living. (May 27, 2003)

Deadly listeriosis often occurs in clusters, research finds
Cases of listeriosis, the food-borne bacterial disease that kills one of every five of its victims, are not as isolated as once believed. Using DNA evidence to track bacterial strains, a Cornell University food scientist and his collaborators have concluded that nearly one-third of the 2,500 U.S. cases annually might occur in geographic clusters at generally the same time. (May 28, 2003)

Ross Brann named house professor and dean for West Campus residence
Ross Brann, the Milton R. Konvitz Professor of Judeo-Islamic Studies and chair of the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University, has been named house professor and dean of the Alice H. Cook House for upper-level students on West Campus, Cornell President Hunter Rawlings announced today. Alice Cook House is the first house being built as part of the West Campus House System for sophomores, juniors and seniors. The groundbreaking and naming for the late Alice H. Cook, a noted professor in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations and Cornell's first ombudsman took place at a ceremony April 28. (May 27, 2003)

James Carville sees hope for graduates in Hundred Acre Wood
To explain why there is hope in the adversity of today's world, political strategist James Carville carried 5,000 Cornellians, their families and friends to the magical world of A.A.Milne's Hundred Acre Wood on Saturday, May 24. Speaking at the Senior Convocation in Barton Hall during the university's 135th Commencement weekend, Carville told of once pondering the advice he should give to graduating seniors, and suddenly deciding to draw on the wisdom of children's literature. He had been watching a "Winnie-the-Pooh" movie with his two-year-old daughter, and there was a crisis in the Hundred Acre Wood. Christopher Robin told Pooh, "You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think." (May 24, 2003)

Cornell Board of Trustees to meet in Ithaca, May 22-24
The Cornell University Board of Trustees will meet in Ithaca Thursday, May 22, through Saturday, May 24. The Executive Committee of the board will hold a brief open session at the start of its meeting Friday, May 23, at 7:30 a.m. in Taylor A&B Room of the Statler Hotel on campus. The open session will include a discussion of the 2003-2004 financial plan for the contract colleges. (May 19, 2003)

Cornell public affairs group seeks computer donations for Africa project
Cornell Public Affairs Society (CPAS) is leading a wide-scale computer donation campaign to benefit the people of Africa. Society members are asking the greater Ithaca community to donate fully functioning, used computers with a Pentium I -or greater processor, or its equivalent. They have set an ambitious goal of acquiring 200 units by May 31. The computers are destined for African nations, with an emphasis on institutions supporting women in schools, agricultural organizations and training centers, and health agencies. Monitors, mice and keyboards are the only peripherals that can be accepted with the computers. All donations must be in working condition; all software, including the operating system, should be removed prior to donation. (May 19, 2003)

Critical early-defense trigger in plants found
The gene for an enzyme that is key to natural disease resistance in plants has been discovered by biologists at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (BTI) and at Cornell University. The researchers say that by enhancing the activity of the enzyme they might be able to boost natural disease resistance in crop plants without resorting to pesticides or the introduction of non-plant genes. The research, reported in the latest (May 16) issue of the journal Cell, describes the discovery of the gene that codes for an enzyme (a protein that carries out a chemical reaction) that is activated when a plant senses it is being attacked by a pathogen. When activated, the enzyme produces nitric oxide (NO), a hormone that tells the plant to turn on its defense arsenal. (May 15, 2003)

Breakthrough treatment for most common ailment in men over 50 is safe and effective, Weill Cornell study shows
New York, NY (May 14, 2003) -- A breakthrough new laser procedure is a safe and effective treatment for the most common ailment experienced by men over the age of 50, Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) or enlargement of the prostate. Almost half of all men over 50 experience some symptoms related to BPH, a condition where the prostate increases in size, gradually pinching the urethra, leading to a host of uncomfortable and painful symptoms.--As one of six clinical research study sites, and the only site in the New York City metropolitan area, the Weill Cornell Brady Prostate Center investigated the new procedure, Photoselective Vaporization of the Prostate (PVP), finding significant and immediate reduction in symptoms (23.9 percent to 2.6 percent) and prostate volume (55.1g to 30.3g) with all patients discharged within 23 hours without significant complications. The studyâs findings were presented at the recent American Urological Association meeting in Chicago.

Johnson School MBA students complete 14 projects that will serve the community in lasting ways
Local nonprofits and small businesses in Ithaca and surrounding counties and the Cornell University community are the immediate beneficiaries of this year's Park Service Leadership projects. MBA students selected as Park fellows at Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management have been working on the service projects for the past two years. Their aim: to leave something of lasting value in the community, learn leadership skills in the process and make community service a lifelong habit. (May 14, 2003)

Qualified restaurant staff hard to find and keep
CHICAGO-- The number-one concern for U.S. restaurant managers is human resources, in particular, finding, training and keeping the best employees, according to a new study at Cornell's School of Hotel Administration. The study, in which managers of independent operations and chains were surveyed, showed the second top concern to be government rules ill-designed for the food-service industry. "Key Issues of Concern for Food-service Managers" by Professor Cathy Enz, executive director of the Center for Hospitality Research at Cornell's Hotel School, reveals the findings of a survey she designed that was distributed by the National Restaurant Association and responded to by 448 restaurant operators, senior managers and owners throughout the United States. The study's results are being formally released at the association's Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show at McCormick Place in Chicago this week, May 17-20. (May 14, 2003)

The cost of science at universities is subject of Cornell conference May 20-21
Science is central to research universities, but what are the implications of its growing importance and costs, and who should pay for it? A national conference convened by a Cornell University-based higher education group looks at those issues next Tuesday and Wednesday, May 20 and 21. The conference, "Science and the University," is sponsored by the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute (CHERI). Most sessions will take place in 115 Ives Hall on the Cornell campus and are free and open to the public. (May 13, 2003)

Cornell to celebrate its 135th Commencement May 25
Cornell University will celebrate its 135th Commencement Sunday, May 25, with more than 6,000 graduates receiving degrees at a ceremony beginning at 11 a.m. on Schoellkopf Field. President Hunter Rawlings, who will present the commencement address and confer degrees, will preside over his eighth and final commencement ceremony as Cornell's president. He is retiring from the presidency June 30 and will assume a professorship in the university's Department of Classics. The commencement ceremony caps two days of celebratory events at Cornell. (May 13, 2003)

Provost Martin appoints interim dean of arts and sciences
G. Peter Lepage, chair of the Cornell University Department of Physics since July 1999, will serve as interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for a one-year term, beginning July 1. The appointment was announced by Provost Biddy Martin, in consultation with President Hunter Rawlings and President-elect Jeffrey Lehman. Martin informed the College of Arts and Sciences faculty today (May 12) that Robert Fefferman, the Louis Block Professor and former chair of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Chicago, had decided, after what he has described as a difficult decision-making process, to accept the position of dean of physical sciences at the University of Chicago, where he has spent his entire academic career. (May 13, 2003)

Students learn 'ecological literacy' in Grand Canyon
Education is more effective when students feel their efforts make a difference in the real world, says Jack Elliott, who teaches a Cornell University course on environmental issues in design. That's why his students are helping a new National Park Service (NPS) building in the Grand Canyon get its "green" certification. His Ecological Literacy and Design class, the first such full-semester course in the nation, is teaching students how to implement the new environmental building standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a sustainable building-industry advocacy group. Pennsylvania State University has now followed with a similar course. (May 13, 2003)

Symposium to examine polymer science links to biology
The connections of polymer science to biology will be examined when a major academic research conference with industrial participation, the 14th annual Polymer Outreach Program (POP) symposium, is held at Cornell University, May 19 and 20. The symposium, sponsored by the Cornell Center for Materials Research, is open to industry researchers and to members of the Cornell community. Free registration, which is required, is available online at . (May 12, 2003)

Two faculty members are named fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Two Cornell University faculty members are among the 187 new fellows elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, in honor of their distinguished contributions to their professions. The two Cornell honorees, who will be inducted into the academy in October, are Peter Uwe Hohendahl, the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of German and Comparative Literature, and Paul L. Houston, professor of chemistry and chemical biology and senior associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences. (May 12, 2003)

Historian Michael Steinberg awarded a 2003 Guggenheim fellowship
Michael Steinberg, professor of history at Cornell University, is the recipient of a 2003 fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to conduct research abroad during his 2003-04 sabbatical leave. In addition, Steinberg was awarded the Berlin Prize of the American Academy in Berlin. The latter prize will allow Steinberg to study in Berlin next fall as a member of the academy. The latest Guggenheim fellowship winners -- 184 artists, scientists and scholars -- were awarded a total of $6.7 million. They were selected from more than 3,200 applicants and chosen for distinguished achievement and exceptional promise. (May 9, 2003)

Cornell Plantations' new degree program in public garden management enrolls its third crop of fellows
The Master of Professional Studies (M.P.S. Ag.) degree program in public garden management, a new academic specialty announced in 2002 by the Cornell University Department of Horticulture and Cornell Plantations, has just enrolled its third crop of fellows. One hundred and five years earlier, that department was founded by the "Dean of American Horticulture," Liberty Hyde Bailey, who subsequently conferred the cryptic name, "Plantations," on the Cornell unit that now administers the university's arboretum, botanical garden and natural areas. (May 9, 2003)

EPA award for teaching students to study environment
Ninth- and 10th-grade biology students in Seneca Falls, N.Y., are investigating social and scientific issues behind a controversial proposal to expand an existing landfill in their town. High school students in Ithaca are evaluating the relative toxicity, effectiveness and cost of different highway de-icing compounds to find the most environmentally friendly alternatives to road salt. And in 11 cities around the country, young people are working with elders to study plants, people and cultures in urban community gardens. Now, Environmental Inquiry, the Cornell University program that inspired these efforts, has earned the Environmental Quality Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It is the agency's highest honor. (May 9, 2003)

Earthquake risk to U.S. remains 'unacceptably high'
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Despite the remarkable advances in earthquake prediction and mitigation that have been made over the past 25 years, the risk to the United States still "remains unacceptably high," a prominent Cornell University engineer told a House of Representatives subcommittee hearing today (May 8). Speaking before the subcommittee on basic research, part of the House Committee on Science, Thomas O'Rourke, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Cornell, Ithaca, N.Y., said that at current federal funding levels he and his colleagues believe that it will take "100 plus years to secure the nation against unacceptable earthquake risks." (May 08, 2003)

"Wafer" treatment extends life in brain cancer patients
New York, NY (May 7, 2003) -- An innovative treatment for the deadliest brain cancer -- consisting of pharmaceutical wafers applied directly to the brain in lieu of traditional intravenous chemotherapy -- has recently been shown to extend the lives of patients with early-stage disease, according to a physician-scientist at Weill Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Susan Pannullo, Director of the Division of Neuro-Oncology at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center, will discuss the treatment today (May 7), at The Delaware Valley Brain Tumor Support Group in Philadelphia, as part of National Brain Cancer Awareness Week, May 5-12.The FDA-approved treatment, which involves the implanting of dime-sized GLIADEL¨ wafers in the brain cavity following surgical removal of the glioma tumor, has shown to have a dramatic benefit for early stage brain tumor patients. A study published this year shows that patients with early-stage gliomas treated with GLIADEL live, on average, 26 percent longer than patients with traditional intravenous therapy (13.5 months vs. 10 months).

Army ants have defied evolution for 100 million years
Army ants, nature's ultimate coalition task force, strike their prey en masse in a blind, voracious column and pay no attention to the conventional wisdom of evolutionary biologists. The common scientific belief has been that army ants originated separately on several continents over millions of years. Now it is found there was no evolution. Using fossil data and the tools of a genetics detective, a Cornell University entomologist has discovered that these ants come from the same point of origin, because since the reign of the dinosaurs, about 100 million years ago, army ants in essence have not changed a bit. (May 05, 2003)

Early HIV treatment extends life, Weill Cornell study shows
The study, recently published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, and led by Dr. Bruce Schackman of Weill Cornellâs Department of Public Health, employed a computer simulation model to determine how the therapy and its side effects affected life expectancy, cost, and quality of life.The projected life expectancy for a 37-year-old patient receiving early treatment of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) was nearly three years longer than for a patient receiving delayed therapy (16.54 years versus 13.73 years), even assuming increased cholesterol levels, a side effect associated with the therapy. This life-expectancy benefit is attributable to the treatmentâs effectiveness in reducing levels of HIV virus, or viral load, which improves CD4 cell count (a marker for immune system health) and leads to a reduction in the likelihood of opportunistic infections. The study also compared life expectancy for early vs. delayed therapy, assuming no cholesterol side effects; results were similar (16.66 years versus 13.80 years).

Gathering to honor 80th birthday of chemist Fred McLafferty on May 10
A scholarly gathering, with visitors from around the world, will be held at Cornell University, May 10, to celebrate the 80th birthday one of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology's most eminent members, Professor Emeritus Fred W. McLafferty. The symposium will be in 200 Baker Laboratory on campus, with registration beginning at 8:45 a.m. The morning presentations begin at 9:10, and the afternoon program starts at 1:30. The public is invited to attend without charge. (May 6, 2003)

First Kaplan Family Lecture at Cornell featured RFK Jr.
Only a strengthened environmental movement can compete with corporate polluters' lobbyists and earn the attention of legislators who would dismantle environmental-protection laws enacted since the first Earth Day, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told students who filled Cornell University's Call Alumni Auditorium April 23 for the first Kaplan Family Distinguished Lecture in Public Service. "Before you buy a low-flow showerhead or a 40 miles-per-gallon car, join and work for an environmental organization," said Kennedy, who is a prosecuting attorney for two such organizations, Riverkeeper and the National Resources Defense Council. (May 5, 2003)

Studying plasmas for promising X-ray fusion system
Cornell University is leading a newly formed international consortium of six universities and institutes collaborating on high-energy density plasma research, with the aim of developing a promising fusion power source. The institutions have been awarded a three-year cooperative agreement by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Nuclear Security Administration, a quasi-autonomous agency within the DOE, to establish the Center for the Study of Pulsed-power-driven High Energy Density Plasmas at Cornell. (May 01, 2003)

Two Cornell undergraduates are awarded Udall Scholarships for 2003-04
Morris K. Udall Scholarships for the 2003-04 academic year have been awarded to two Cornell University undergraduates -- Abigail Krich and Summer Rayne A. Oakes. Krich and Oakes are among 80 students nationwide to receive this year's academic awards of up to $5,000 from the Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation. The foundation's programs honor the late U.S. congressman from Arizona and are designed to assist students with excellent academic records and a demonstrated interest in careers in the fields of environmental policy, health care and tribal public policy. Two other Cornell undergraduates were cited as honorable mentions for the scholarships -- Stephanie Horowitz and Garrett Meigs. (May 1, 2003)