Cornell University News Service Releases

November, 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 graduate student wins top Mexican youth prize
Mexican President Vicente Fox on Nov. 24 presented Mexico's most prestigious youth award, the Premio Nacional de Juventud (National Youth Prize), to Gerardo Chowell-Puente, a third-year Ph.D. candidate at Cornell University, for his research in the mathematical modeling of communication in networks, which has provided new understanding of the way disease spreads through a population. In recent work as a visiting research assistant at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Chowell-Puente and his Los Alamos colleagues modeled the transmission of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Hong Kong, Singapore and Ontario, Canada. The work validated the decision of Canadian health authorities to intervene with strict quarantines. Without that intervention, the model showed, the disease might have spread to some 200,000 people, instead of the few hundred who were infected. (November 26, 2003)

Planning ahead to gain control over final years of life
The vast majority of elderly Americans want to stay in their homes as long as possible, even if they become ill or disabled. But significant psychological benefits can be gained by planning ahead, well before the onset of infirmity. "Senior citizens who plan ahead report a high degree of control over their moves and a greater sense of mastery than those who don't plan ahead," says Elaine Wethington, associate professor of human development and of sociology at Cornell University. "Our research also shows that this sense of control is linked to feeling physically and psychologically healthier over time." The findings, from a six-year longitudinal study that began in 1997, are detailed in the new book, Residential Choices and Experiences of Older Adults: Pathways to Life Quality (Springer Publishing, 2003). The study is a joint project of the co-editors, Wethington, John Krout of Ithaca College's Gerontology Institute and Phyllis Moen, now at the University of Minnesota. (November 25, 2003)

Cornell dismisses head football coach
Cornell University Director of Athletics Andy Noel announced today (Nov. 25) that Tim Pendergast has been dismissed as head football coach at the university. The Cornell football team posted a 1-9 record this season under Pendergast, including a 0-7 mark in Ivy League play. (November 25, 2003)

The 2004 weather calendar from Cornell is available
The average high temperature for the Fourth of July in Ithaca is a comfortable 79 degrees Fahrenheit, although it did hit 102 degrees once that day in 1911. Snow bunnies, skiers, sledders and skaters will love to hear that Ithaca's average high temperature for January is 31.2 degrees. Fun facts like these are available in the 2004 Ithaca Weather Calendar, prepared by Cornell University's Northeast Regional Climate Center and Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. In the calendar, the climatologists provide Ithaca weather data for every day of 2004, a leap year. (November 24, 2003)

Chances for a white Thanksgiving in the northeast
While Thanksgiving (Nov. 27) falls late this year, the best chances for snow on Turkey Day occur in upstate New York and portions of New England, according to Keith Eggleston, a senior climatologist with Cornell University's Northeast Regional Climate Center. For travelers, there is a 50 percent chance of measurable snow in Caribou, Maine, on Nov. 26, the day before Thanksgiving, while there is a 70 percent chance of snow in Caribou on Thanksgiving. Boonville, N.Y., northeast of Syracuse, N.Y., at the foot of the Adirondack Mountains, has a 73 percent chance for a white Thanksgiving. Burlington, Vt., and Buffalo, N.Y., have 30 percent chances of measurable snow on Thanksgiving eve, while Binghamton, N.Y., has a one-in-five chance of snow on Nov. 26 and a 30 percent chance of seeing snow on the ground on Thanksgiving. (November 23, 2003)

Cornell architect is World Trade Center memorial finalist
"Garden of Lights," a design by Cornell University undergraduate Sean Corriel and two others, was chosen as one of eight finalists in a competition for a memorial at the site of the former World Trade Center in New York City. The finalists were announced Nov. 19 by the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. (LMDC), which sponsored the competition, drawing 5,201 entries from 63 nations and 49 states -- making the memorial competition the largest in recent history. (November 21, 2003)

Tiny automated sensors to map disaster areas
A train has derailed at the edge of a city, spreading toxic chemicals and fumes over a wide area. Before rescue and decontamination workers can enter the danger zone, they need more information: How widespread is the contamination? Where are the hotspots? Where and how are toxic gases moving? A helicopter swoops over the area, releasing a flurry of tiny devices, each about the size of a dime. They contain sensors that sample the air for toxins and tiny radio transceivers that allow them to communicate with one another and report to a van at the fringe of the disaster area. Inside the van, a screen lights up showing where the contamination is and how it's spreading. (November 19, 2003)

Climate linked to reproduction of right whales
The highly endangered North Atlantic right whale population is facing a difficult journey to recovery. That recovery may become even more precarious if North Atlantic climate takes a turn for the worse, according to Cornell University ecologists. Cornell scientists say that winter atmospheric conditions over the North Atlantic affect the abundance of zooplankton eaten by right whales, one of the most endangered species of marine mammal. New models developed by these scientists can be used to explain the relationships among climate changes, atmospheric temperatures and winds; patterns in ocean currents, water temperature and salinity; the food resources required by whales and other animals; and the reproductive success of right whales. (November 19, 2003)

First permanent, temporary-use building, Surge 1, to be used by displaced campus units
Cornell University has created its first permanent, temporary-use office space that will accommodate various campus offices as needed. The housing is at Surge 1, at the entrance of the Cornell Plantations off Forest Home Drive. The first tenants are two centers displaced when the north wing of Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, the home of the College of Human Ecology (CHE), closed in July 2001 due to structural problems. The two centers, the Family Life Development Center and the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center, were then temporarily housed in the original Mann Library building. (November 19, 2003)

Author Allan Johnson to discuss how to unravel the 'gender knot' Nov. 21 at Cornell
Writer, teacher and public speaker Allan Johnson will give a presentation, "Unraveling the Gender Knot," Friday, Nov. 21, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the auditorium of Martha Van Rensselaer Hall on the Cornell University campus. The presentation is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served at 9:15 a.m. (November 19, 2003)

Health-care and biotechnology symposium views alliances of pharmaceutical firms and researchers
Karen Katen, president of Pfizer Global Pharmaceuticals, a division of the multinational health-care firm Pfizer Inc., will deliver the 2003 Lewis H. Durland Memorial Lecture Thursday, Nov. 20, at 5 p.m. in Kennedy Hall's Alumni Auditorium on Cornell University's campus. Her talk, "Building Big: Leadership and the Challenges of Scale," opens the second annual Healthcare and Biotechnology Symposium, "Strategic Alliances in the Healthcare and Biotechnology Industry." The symposium takes place Friday, Nov. 21, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Sage Hall at Cornell. Both the talk and the symposium are open to the public, Katen's Durland talk is free; a small fee will be charged to attend the symposium. For details and to register, see . (November 18, 2003)

Conference on women and unions honors Alice Cook
Paid maternity leave, pay equity and comparable pay for work of comparable worth -- those and other benefits that aid all working women and their families today -- are such an integral part of the U.S. workplace that we almost take them for granted. But they might not exist at all were it not for the efforts of Cornell's Alice Hanson Cook, one of the first researchers to study the problems faced by working women. Her pioneering work has influenced generations of scholars and activists -- from unionists to public policy analysts to experts in feminist jurisprudence -- and led them to transform working women's issues into societal priorities. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Cook's birth. A faculty member at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations from the early 1950s on, she died in 1998 after making her mark as one of the top researchers in her field. A conference to honor Cook's legacy will be held on Cornell's campus starting Friday evening, Nov. 21, and running all day Saturday, Nov. 22. The Saturday presentations are free and open to the public. Most of the events are in 105 Ives Hall. (November 18, 2003)

Another 15 obese cats needed for Cornell feeding study
There's still hope for obese cats that missed the first round of a feeding study at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine. Animal-behavior researchers who began the study earlier this summer with 60 overweight felines are now looking for another 15 cats living within driving distance of Ithaca. The two-month feeding study tests alternatives to current weight-loss diets. In return for participating in the study, cats get a medical exam and a two-months supply of one of three kinds of cat food, all free of charge. Obese cats that are lucky enough to get the weight-loss food -- and stick with it -- might end the test with a sleeker physique and a diet plan for a longer, healthier life. To be eligible, cats must be at least 25 percent overweight and live indoors. Driving distance is a factor because owners and their pets are expected to make at least three trips to Ithaca for examinations. (November 18, 2003)

Cocoa froths with cancer-preventing compounds
There is a new reason to enjoy hot cocoa on a cold winter's night in front of a cozy fire. Consider it a health drink. Beyond the froth, cocoa teems with antioxidants that prevent cancer, Cornell University food scientists say. Comparing the chemical anti-cancer activity in beverages known to contain antioxidants, they have found that cocoa has nearly twice the antioxidants of red wine and up to three times those found in green tea. (November 17, 2003)

New playable 'nanoguitar' promises circuit applications
Six years ago Cornell University researchers built the world's smallest guitar -- about the size of a red blood cell -- to demonstrate the possibility of manufacturing tiny mechanical devices using techniques originally designed for building microelectronic circuits. Now, by "playing" a new, streamlined nanoguitar, Cornell physicists are demonstrating how such devices could substitute for electronic circuit components to make circuits smaller, cheaper and more energy-efficient. (November 17, 2003)

Linda Donahue heads Great Lakes workplace education outreach efforts for ILR
Linda Donahue has been appointed director of the Great Lakes district for the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) Division of Extension. In her new position, she oversees the ILR school's workplace training and education programs and faculty efforts in the greater western New York area, including training and professional development workshops, college credit courses, research, economic development and technical assistance. The Great Lakes district serves private- and public-sector employers and unions, nonprofits, government agencies, trade and professional associations and community groups. Outreach is one of Cornell's founding principles as part of its land-grant mission. (November 14, 2003)

John Cloud discusses the history of geographic information systems at GIS Day 2003 on Nov. 19
To help Cornell University celebrate Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Day 2003, John Cloud, a geographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington, D.C., will speak on "Layered Truths: Uncovering the Complex Histories of Geographic Information Systems," Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 2 p.m. on the second floor of the university's Albert R. Mann Library on campus. It is free and open to the public. Cloud will explain how GIS emerged and discuss the cartography it displaced. Also, he will examine how the history of GIS will contribute to the use of the system in future applications. (November 14, 2003)

Declining employment of persons with disabilities
Although U.S. employment rates rose over the growth years of the 1990s for most working-age Americans, people with disabilities experienced an unprecedented fall in their employment rates. The employment rates of men with disabilities fell by 23 percent between 1992 and 2000, for women with disabilities, they fell by 5 percent. Two Cornell University economists and experts in disability policy have co-edited a new book, The Decline in Employment of People with Disabilities: A Policy Puzzle (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 2003, 448 pages), to explore and evaluate the possible causes of this widening disparity in employment between working-age people with disabilities and all other working-age Americans. (November 13, 2003)

Cornell Police joins national effort to crack down on seat belt violators, Nov. 17-30
Cornell University Police will join more than 13,000 law enforcement agencies and other college and university campus police agencies in the national Click It or Ticket Mobilization, which runs from Nov. 17 to 30. "Failure to wear a seat belt is against the law in this state. We enforce this law because it's the best proven way to save lives. If you won't buckle up to save your life, then buckle up to save yourself a ticket," said Sgt. Chuck Howard, traffic enforcement coordinator for Cornell University Police. (November 13, 2003)

John Updike will give a reading and colloquium, Nov. 18 and 19
Prolific author John Updike, twice honored with the Pulitzer Prize, will read from his works Tuesday, Nov. 18, at 8 p.m. in the Statler Auditorium of Statler Hall on the Cornell University campus. In addition, Updike will lead a colloquium titled "The Craft of Fiction: a Conversation with John Updike" Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 11 a.m. in Barnes Hall Auditorium. Both the reading and the colloquium are free and open to the public. Born in Shillington, Pa., in 1932, Updike is a 1954 graduate of Harvard University and the author of more than 50 books that span many literary genres. But he is perhaps best known as a novelist. Updike's first novel, PoorhouseFair, was published in 1959, and his most recent, Seek My Face, in 2002. High points in his novel-writing career include the quartet of Rabbit novels, Rabbit Run (1961), Rabbit Redux (1971), Rabbit is Rich (1981, Pulitzer Prize) and Rabbit at Rest (1990, a second Pulitzer); and the trilogy of Bech books: Bech, A Book (1970), Bech is Back (1982) and Bech at Bay (1998). In addition, Updike has written collections of short stories, poetry, art and literary criticism, memoirs and a play. (November 12, 2003)

Philanthropy Day, Nov. 14, will be celebrated by Cornell students helping Head Start preschoolers
On National Philanthropy Day, Friday, Nov. 14, 50 Cornell University students will fan out over Tompkins County to plant the seeds of philanthropy among 3- and 4-year-olds at local Head Start programs. The university students will be reading to the young students and conducting activities related to a children's book about sharing, caring and giving. (November 12, 2003)

Stephen O'Brien, chief of the National Cancer Institute's genomic diversity lab, will speak Nov. 19
Stephen J. O'Brien, chief of the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity at the National Cancer Institute, will deliver a public lecture titled "The Landscape of Comparative Genomics in Mammals" as part of a colloquium on genomics, Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 4 p.m. in 135 Emerson Hall on the Cornell University campus. A 1971 Cornell graduate and an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large, O'Brien will discuss comparative insights gained from applications and discoveries of the whole genome sequences of other mammals. The talk is free and open to the public. (November 12, 2003)

Arecibo radar shows no thick ice at lunar poles
ARECIBO, P.R. -- Despite evidence from two space probes in the 1990s, radar astronomers say they can find no signs of thick ice at the moon's poles. If there is water at the lunar poles, the researchers say, it is widely scattered and permanently frozen inside the dust layers, something akin to terrestrial permafrost. Using the 70-centimeter (cm)-wavelength radar system at the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico, the research group sent signals deeper into the lunar polar surface -- more than five meters (about 5.5 yards) -- than ever before at this spatial resolution. "If there is ice at the poles, the only way left to test it is to go there directly and melt a small volume around the dust and look for water with a mass spectrometer," says Bruce Campbell of the Center for Earth and Planetary Studies at the Smithsonian Institution. (November 12, 2003)

Cynthia McKinney speaks on 'Frontline Females: Military Women and Civilian America," Nov. 19
Cynthia McKinney, who served as the first African-American woman from the state of Georgia to be elected to the U.S. Congress, will make two public appearances during her first visit to Cornell as a Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 University Professor. On Wednesday, Nov. 19, McKinney will deliver a talk titled "Frontline Females: Military Women and Civilian America" at 7:30 p.m. in Statler Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public, but it requires tickets, available starting at 9 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 13, at the Willard Straight Hall ticket office; limit two per person. (November 12, 2003)

Professor Stephen Hamilton is named associate provost for outreach
Stephen F. Hamilton, professor of human development and co-director of Cornell University's Family Life Development Center, has been named associate provost for outreach, Provost Biddy Martin announced Nov. 5. Hamilton was appointed to a three-year term beginning Nov. 1. The new part-time position of associate provost for outreach was recommended by the university's Land Grant Mission Review Task Force last spring, a year after five panels began reviewing Cornell's land-grant mission. The part-time position will allow Hamilton to continue his other academic responsibilities. (November 11, 2003)

Simple Gifts help reduce agitation and behavior problems in Alzheimer's patients
More than 12,000 fleecy muffs, message magnets, stress balls, picture dominoes and other simple items are helping to reduce agitation, boredom and behavior problems for 8,000 Alzheimer's patients across New York state. All are being made by youngsters and adults, with directions from Cornell University. The items are produced as part of the Simple Gifts project, a Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) program that enlists young people in making research-based recreational products for people afflicted with Alzheimer's disease. "Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, irreversible brain disorder that causes memory loss, confusion, impaired judgment and loss of language skills. Yet research shows that therapeutic activities are beneficial when they stimulate sensory and motor responses and do not depend on verbal skills," says Charlotte Coffman, a senior extension associate in the Department of Textiles and Apparel at Cornell, who conducts the program. (November 11, 2003)

A table stand for the elderly wins award for boosting self-esteem
Several years ago, the mother of Cornell University professor Paul Eshelman was diagnosed with dementia and entered a skilled nursing facility. It pained Eshelman that his mother was in such a sterile environment and longed for her own belongings. "She kept talking about wanting a little dish cabinet that her uncle had built when she was a little girl," says Eshelman, an associate professor of design and environmental analysis in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell. "I found it in her attic and displayed it prominently on a little table stand in her room. That gave me an idea for a piece of furniture whose only function would be to reflect an individual's identity." That idea resulted in "Sara," a table stand Eshelman designed and constructed for the elderly and those with Alzheimer's disease. It won Best of Show for Visual Arts in the Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC) Juried Design Competition in March in San Diego. (November 11, 2003)

Tumor size predicts survival in most common type of lung cancer
New York, NY (November 10, 2003) -- Tumor size can predict the survival of a patient with the most common type of lung cancer, according to physician-scientists at NewYork Weill Cornell Medical Center. The study, which is the lead paper in this month's Chest, emphasizes the need for further substaging in lung cancer and suggests the importance of early detection by CT scans.The study evaluates the relationship between tumor size and five-year survival in patients with stage IA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Researchers reviewed the history of 244 patients treated at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center who underwent surgical resection for lung tumors between 1991 and 2001. Overall survival rates and survival rates specific to lung cancer were analyzed and compared to tumor size. The overall five-year survival rate for all patients was 71.1 percent, and the five-year disease-specific survival was 74.9 percent. Significantly, tumor size was an important predictor of long-term survival: disease-specific survival was 81.4 percent for patients with tumors less than or equal to 2.0 cm and only 63.4 percent for patients with tumors greater than 2.0 cm.

Male flesh flies high-speed pursuit of females
While examining the flight behavior of flesh flies, Cornell University entomologists have discovered that males of the species (Sarcophagidae: Neobellieria bullata) -- traveling at very high speed, soaring in sexual pursuit and swiveling their heads like gun turrets -- literally can lose sight of a target female. Yet the males compensate for the momentary loss of vision and still catch up to mate. A detailed explanation of this quirk in vision physiology and neurological processing could help military and aerospace engineers to build aircraft and artillery that have improved detection of evasive targets. (November 10, 2003)

How interest and social relations impact the economy
Social relations, culture, politics, law and gender influence economic decisions. Studying the roles that these factors play in economic phenomena is called economic sociology. To provide a general introduction to this relatively new and rapidly growing field, Richard Swedberg, a Cornell University professor of sociology, and vice director of Cornell's Center for the Study of Economy and Society, has published an introductory text, Principles of Economic Sociology (Princeton University Press, 2003). (November 06, 2003)

Janet Reno to speak on 'Justice' in Sage Chapel Nov. 9
Justice is the hallmark of Janet Reno's life work and "Justice" is the title of her final public talk as a Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 University Professor. The former U.S. attorney general and Class of 1960 Cornell University graduate will deliver her talk as a sermon Sunday, Nov. 9, at 11 a.m. in Sage Chapel on the Cornell campus. The event is free and open to the public. Reno is on campus Nov. 3 to Nov. 15 and will keep to the pace she set on her inaugural visit in 2001 as a Rhodes professor. She is the featured participant in a Cornell symposium, titled "Rethinking the Criminalization of Youth," to be held Thursday, Nov. 6, and Friday, Nov. 7, on campus. At the symposium, she will join eminent scholars from around the nation for an intensive examination of the American juvenile justice system and the death penalty. The event is free and open to the public. For information about the symposium, contact Jane Powers at the Family Life Development Center at (607) 255-3993 or e-mail . (November 06, 2003)

$2.25 million institute for fuel cell development
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Cornell University $2.25 million over three years to establish the Cornell Fuel Cell Institute (CFCI). The institute will research new materials to kick-start the development of fuel cells that would be both efficient and cheap to produce. The new approach to the electrochemical device, that in its traditional form converts hydrogen and oxygen into water and produces electricity and heat in the process, aims to make a significant improvement in the technology by discovering and exploiting new materials based on recent discoveries in Cornell laboratories. Indeed, some of the possible fuel cell technologies that could result from the research might not even involve hydrogen as a fuel. (November 5, 2003)

Cornell President Lehman receives NAACP National Equal Justice Award
Cornell University President Jeffrey S. Lehman will be honored Nov. 6 by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc. (LDF) with a 2003 National Equal Justice Award for his role in the successful defense of the University of Michigan Law School's affirmative action policy before the U.S. Supreme Court. The award will be presented at a gala dinner at the Hilton New York in New York City. Emmy award-winning actress Alfre Woodard will be mistress of ceremonies at the event. The Supreme Court last June upheld the University of Michigan Law School's affirmative action policy in a decision widely hailed as a landmark in the law of higher education. Lehman served as dean of the University of Michigan Law School from 1994 to July 1, 2003, when he assumed the presidency of Cornell. During his tenure as dean, he helped shape the legal argument for universities' freedom to consider race as a limited factor in the admissions process in order to achieve meaningful levels of racial integration. When the Supreme Court upheld the Law School's admissions policy, Lehman said, "The question is no longer whether affirmative action is legal; it is how to hasten the day when affirmative action is no longer needed." (November 04, 2003)

Alicia S. Torrey is named the director of new Alumni-Student Mentoring Program
Alicia S. Torrey has been named director of the newly created Cornell Alumni-Student Mentoring Program in Cornell University's Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education. The Cornell Alumni-Student Mentoring Program (CASMP) is sponsored and funded by the Provost's Office, in conjunction with the offices of Undergraduate Admissions, Financial Aid, Alumni Affairs, Minority Educational Affairs and Vice President for Student and Academic Services. (November 04, 2003)

Greek and Turkish leaders from Cyprus, U.N. representatives and scholars will be 'Crossing the Green Line'
The Turkish mayor of Nicosia, Cyprus, and a representative from the Greek mayor's office of Nicosia have traversed a once impenetrable border, not to mention the Atlantic Ocean, in order to attend a forum titled "Crossing the Green Line" at Cornell University. Hosted by the Institute for European Studies at Cornell, the free public forum is a three-day examination of the long-term effects of enforced separation on peoples and cultures. The forum's events include lectures and panel discussions by representatives from Cyprus and the United Nations and by guest scholars of Cypriot history and politics. In addition there will be a screening of the documentary "Living Together Separately: Pyla, a Mixed Border Village" and a concert performed by the Cornell Middle Eastern Ensemble. (November 3, 2003)