Cornell University News Service Releases
October, 2003
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.
Fall workshops in horticultural crafts offered at Cornell Plantations
Experts at Cornell Plantations can help ward off those early winter blues and welcome the upcoming holidays with November workshops on chair caning, fall flower arranging and holiday design. o Chair caning with instructor Phil Syphrit is offered on three consecutive Thursdays -- Nov. 6, 13 and 20 -- from 7 to 9:30 p.m. The fee is $30 for Plantations members and Cornell students, or $45 for nonmembers, plus an additional $30 for footstool, pegs and caning materials. Using cane from the climbing rattan palm, participants will work on their own wooden footstool and take home a unique handmade gift or keepsake. (October 31, 2003)
Four from Cornell elected fellows of AAAS
Four members of the Cornell University faculty have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). They are among 348 researchers chosen to receive the prestigious award this year. The four are Donald Campbell, professor of astronomy; David Grusky, professor of sociology; David Hammer, the J. Carleton Ward Professor of Nuclear Energy Engineering, and Ray Wu, professor of molecular biology and genetics. (October 31, 2003)
Cornell's Kids Growing Food program accepting grant applications from New York teachers
Cornell University's Kids Growing Food program is accepting 2004 garden grant applications from elementary and secondary schoolteachers in New York state. The grants will help teachers establish or maintain a food garden on school grounds. The application deadline is Dec. 8, 2003. Kids Growing Food is the hands-on component of the New York Ag in the Classroom program. Its purpose is to teach students to understand how food grows by providing them with gardening experience at school. (October 31, 2003)
Retention study might aid nursing home worker shortage
For years, news stories have warned that the country's long-term care system is in crisis, partly because of an unprecedented shortage of nursing home workers. Cornell University researchers believe they have a remedy. Aided by a $500,000, two-year grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Atlantic Philanthropies, the researchers will assess whether specially trained "retention specialists" can reduce the high rate of turnover of these frontline workers. Also known as "nursing aides," certified nursing assistants (CNAs) are the lowest-paid hospital and nursing home workers, providing basic rather than direct medical care. The retention specialists will develop innovative programs for frontline workers, help them deal with work stress and prevent job dissatisfaction and burnout. (October 30, 2003)
Historic Fashion collection now can be viewed online
Rather than having to travel to Ithaca to examine Eleanor Roosevelt's 1937 inaugural gown or another of the 9,000 pieces in the Cornell University Costume and Textile Collection, fashionistas now can go online. So far, the Web-based collection has more than 5,000 records and more than 600 photos. Over time, the entire collection will be photographed and stored in the online database. The collection, which specializes in apparel dating from the 18th century to the present and ethnographic textiles and costumes, can be viewed at
Korea Peace Day celebrated with free public events, readings by Korean novelists and comedy show, Nov. 6-8
Cornell University's East Asia Program is sponsoring a weekend of events on the Cornell campus called "Korea Peace Day: Voices of Modern Korea," Thursday, Nov. 6, through Saturday, Nov. 8. Events will include films, readings by two of Korea's leading contemporary authors, lectures and even a bit of comedy. All are free and open to the public. The Korean War ended with a cease-fire 50 years ago, more stalemate than peace accord, and recent tensions between the United States and North Korea threaten to reignite hostilities that have been smoldering since 1953. A nationwide coalition of scholars recently proposed Korea Peace Day as a time for open discussion of the current crisis and consideration of peaceful solutions to conflict in the region. Cornell's is among more than 25 college campuses sponsoring teach-ins, workshops, lectures, debates, films and cultural presentations as part of this effort. (October 30, 2003)
Brett de Bary is new director of the Society for the Humanities
Brett de Bary, Cornell University professor of Asian studies and comparative literature, has been appointed director of the Society for the Humanities (SHC). She replaces Dominick Lacapra, Cornell's Bowmar Professor in Humanistic Studies and professor of history, who has served as SHC director for the past decade. "The distinction of Cornell's Society for the Humanities has become almost synonymous with the distinction of its former director," said de Bary of her predecessor. "Dominick Lacapra's wide-ranging concerns as an intellectual historian, especially with the ethical challenges posed to humanistic inquiry by the Holocaust, led the society to probe profound issues of late 20th century thought and conscience. I hope to maintain this tradition of scholarly intensity and engagement." (October 30, 2003)
How new waves of immigrants are changing America
For generations the United States welcomed immigrants who were primarily white Europeans. But immigrants from Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean over recent decades have been largely nonwhites from developing countries. And their influence on American culture, neighborhoods, schools and the workplace has been profound, says a new book -by two sociologists. Remaking the American Mainstream: Assimilation and Contemporary Immigration (Harvard University Press) by Victor Nee and Richard Alba is the first systematic look at U.S. assimilation since the 1960s. The authors conclude that immigrants (who now make up 20 percent of the U.S. population) and their children are expanding the cultural repertoire of America probably just as much as American culture changes them. (October 30, 2003)
Crows and chickadees decline in West Nile virus areas
In West Nile virus-afflicted parts of the country last winter, counts of American crows dropped to a 15-year low. Other species, including chickadees, also were scarce, but some species appeared in record-high numbers. The reports come not only from scientists in the field but from the 16,000 volunteer citizen-scientists in Project FeederWatch who count birds that visit their feeders each winter and send information to Cornell University scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. There, the FeederWatchers' reports are collated and analyzed to determine the status of North America's feeder birds. (October 29, 2003)
Janet Reno joins symposium on juvenile death penalty
A symposium, "Rethinking the Criminalization of Youth," will be held Nov. 6-7 at Cornell University, featuring former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, a Cornell alumna and a Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 University Professor. Scholars from around the nation will participate in the symposium, which will examine the evolving history of the American juvenile justice system and the death penalty and how new research in the social sciences suggests that contemporary practices for juvenile offenders be changed. The event is free and open to the public. (October 29, 2003)
Astronomer Tor Hagfors to give Gordon Lecture at Arecibo Nov. 3
ARECIBO, P.R. ---- The prominent Norwegian-born astronomer Tor Hagfors will deliver a lecture during next weekend's 40th anniversary celebrations at Arecibo Observatory, home of the world's largest and most-sensitive single-dish radio telescope. Hagfors, who will give the William E. and Elva F. Gordon Distinguished Lecture on Nov. 3, is an internationally known pioneer in studies of the interaction of electromagnetic waves with ionized plasmas and solid surfaces. (October 28, 2003)
Father of Arecibo telescope keynotes 40th anniversary
ARECIBO, P.R. -- William E. Gordon, the father of the world's largest and most sensitive single-dish radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory, will deliver the 40th anniversary keynote address on Nov. 1. Gordon will present his talk, "The Arecibo Story," at 4 p.m. at the Angel Ramos Foundation Visitor and Education Center at the observatory. (October 28, 2003)
Team from Cornell wins international prize for top invention of year
Two Cornell University graduate students and a researcher have won a top prize in the 2003 Collegiate Inventors Competition for building an utlra-small electronic generator. Their award of $25,000 was presented at a ceremony at the New York Public Library, Manhattan, on Oct. 23. The three are applied physics student Keith Aubin, mechanical engineering student Robert Reichenbach and research associate Maxim Zalalutdinov. Their advisers on the project, Harold Craighead, Cornell professor of applied and engineering physics, and Jeevak Parpia, Cornell professor of physics, shared a $5,000 prize. (October 27, 2003)
Familiarity decides if wolf spider loves 'em or eats 'em
Sometimes familiarity does not breed contempt: A Cornell University behavioral scientist has found that female wolf spiders prefer mates that are comfortably familiar. However, the researcher has discovered, a male wolf spider unlucky enough to attempt to mate with an unfamiliar female probably is doomed to be killed and eaten by the female. October 24, 2003)
Pollutant-eating microbe could speed gasworks cleanup
Cornell University microbiologists, looking for bioremediation microbes to "eat" toxic pollutants, report the first field test of a technique called stable isotopic probing (SIP) in a contaminated site. And they announce the discovery and isolation of a bacterium that biodegrades naphthalene in coal tar contamination. Although naphthalene is not the most toxic component in coal tar, the microbiologists say their discovery might eventually help to speed the cleanup of hundreds of 19th and 20th century gasworks throughout the United States where the manufacture of gas from coal for homes and street lighting left a toxic legacy in the ground. (October 24, 2003)
Limited number of tickets still available for Bill Cosby performance at Barton Hall, Oct. 31
A limited number of general admission tickets are still available for actor and comedian Bill Cosby's performance at Cornell University, Friday, Oct. 31, at 8 p.m. in the university's Barton Hall. Cosby is appearing at Cornell as part of the university's annual First-Year Family Weekend. Tickets for Cosby's Barton Hall show will remain on sale at Cornell's Willard Straight Hall ticket office (255-3430) until they are sold out. The ticket office is open weekdays, 9 a.m. -5 p.m. General admission tickets are $30 each. (October 24, 2003)
DuPont environmental director John Carberry to give Thorpe Lecture Oct. 30
N.Y. ---- Cornell University alumnus John Carberry, director of environmental technology for DuPont, will deliver the 10th Raymond G. Thorpe Lecture in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering on Thursday, Oct. 30. His talk, "Industry and the Environment: Changing Paradigms," will be given at 4:30 p.m. in 165 Olin Hall, on the Cornell campus. The lecture is free and open to the public. (October 24, 2003)
Johnson School among top 15 business schools teaching corporate social and environmental responsibility
Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management is among 15 business schools that earned high marks this October from the Aspen Institute and the World Resources Institute for giving graduate business students a solid training in social-impact and environmental-management issues. The fourth such report by the two groups since 1998, "Beyond Grey Pinstripes 2003: Preparing MBAs for Social and Environmental Stewardship," challenges business schools to better arm graduate business students with skills critical for effective leadership in a changing world. The report highlights 15 schools that are either "cutting-edge" or "with significant activity" in the teaching of such skills. It includes data reported from 100 business schools in 20 countries. (October 23, 2003)
Agriculture Internet portal to aid the Third World
For agricultural scientists in developing countries, scientific seclusion soon will give way to inclusion, thanks to an online system developed at Cornell University's Albert R. Mann Library for the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The system, announced Oct. 14 at FAO headquarters in Rome, is the second major online portal for scientific literature aimed exclusively at the developing world. Called Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture (AGORA), the system will provide scientists in developing nations with free access to more than 400 journals in agriculture and related science. The Rockefeller Foundation and other donor agencies fund the project. Scientific publishers are providing the content without charge. (October 23, 2003)
Asteroid Hermes, lost for 66 years, is two objects
ARECIBO, P.R. -- An asteroid that has eluded astronomers for decades turns out to be an unusual pair of objects traveling together in space, a planetary scientist using the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Arecibo Observatory radio telescope and his colleagues report. The asteroid Hermes was re-discovered last week after being lost for 66 years. Now Jean-Luc Margot, a researcher in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles, has determined that the asteroid is in fact two objects orbiting each other. The two objects together would cover an area approximately the size of Disneyland. (October 23, 2003)
U.S. agency award to Cornell will train teachers in science and math
The National Science Foundation (NSF) today announced an award of $322,000 to Cornell University to train teachers in science and mathematics to work in some of the neediest school districts in New York state. Schools that will benefit from the program will include those in rural, urban and tribal districts, and school systems with high teacher turnover. The award is part of $6.9 million in grants by the NSF to 15 U.S. universities and colleges, aimed at stemming the loss of mathematics and science teachers in the nation's neediest schools. (October 22, 2003)
Schizophrenia expert Herbert Meltzer to lecture, Oct. 23
The distinguished psychiatrist Herbert Meltzer, a 1958 Cornell University graduate, will present a University Lecture on Oct. 23 at Cornell on the subject of "Molecules and the Mind: The Impact of Psychopharmacology on Self and Society." The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is at 4:40 p.m. in 200 Baker Laboratory on the Cornell campus. (October 22, 2003)
Knighted British physicist visiting as Upson professor
Richard Friend, a University of Cambridge physicist who recently was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, has been named the Mary Shepard B. Upson Visiting Professor at Cornell University. During his residence, Friend will give lectures and collaborate with Department of Materials Science and Engineering faculty on teaching and research. He will present his first free, public lecture Oct. 28 at 4 p.m. in 155 Olin Hall. His subject will be "Organic semiconductor heterojunctions: Electricity to light and light to electricity." Other lectures will be given Monday, Nov. 3, when he will discuss organic semiconductors, and Monday, Nov. 24, when he will talk on polymer electronics, both at 4 p.m. in B11 Kimball Hall. (October 22, 2003)
Ethics of free music downloads to be debated at Cornell Oct. 24
Downloading copyrighted music from the World Wide Web without paying for it is a violation of federal law. Is it unethical, too? A representative of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and an attorney experienced in Internet legal issues will debate the issue at 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24, in Hollister Hall Auditorium on the Cornell University campus. The debate, titled "What part of 'Jailhouse Rock' don't you understand?" is open to all. (October 21, 2003)
Multiphoton microscope observes cell membrane action
Cell membranes -- the sacs encompassing the body's living matter -- can assume a variety of shapes as they morph to engulf materials, expel others and assemble themselves into tissues. In the past it was possible for theoreticians only to analyze the thermodynamic forces behind membrane shape-shifting. But now a team of biophysicists from Cornell University, the National Institutes of Health and the W.M. Keck Foundation has been able to watch the sacs, or vesicles, reshaping themselves under the light of multiphoton three-dimensional microscopy. The forces behind the membrane morphing, the researchers say, is akin to a party entertainer shaping balloon animals by tensioning the surfaces. (October 21, 2003)
New York Weill Cornell research highlights need to focus on frequently neglected neurogenic hypertension
New York, NY (October 13, 2003) -- Despite considerable advances in the treatment of hypertension, many patients fail to respond to standard drug therapy, which focuses on regulating blood volume, salt intake, and the body's renin-angiotensin system (RAS). For these patients, their condition is often due to a frequently overlooked entity -- neurogenic hypertension -- that requires different pharmacological intervention, according to a report by a NewYork Weill Cornell Medical Center researcher.The review, by Dr. Samuel J. Mann, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and Associate Attending Physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center, appears in this month's American Journal of Hypertension.
President Lehman proposes increased contributions to the city of Ithaca at his first Inauguration Day event
Pledging to make strong relations between Cornell University and the city of Ithaca "a hallmark of my presidency," Cornell President Jeffrey S. Lehman began his inaugural celebration in Ithaca today (Oct. 16) by announcing a proposal for a new memorandum of understanding that would significantly increase the university's monetary contributions to the city. "A strong university and a strong community go hand in hand," Lehman said this morning at a meeting with community leaders at the Tompkins County Public Library in downtown Ithaca. "A community with outstanding services, outstanding schools, and outstanding recreational and cultural opportunities makes Cornell attractive to outstanding students, faculty and staff members. Those students, faculty and staff members, in turn, help keep the community strong and contribute to the overall quality of life. We need to recognize the importance of our town-gown partnership. We need to celebrate it. And we need to strengthen it, especially in an era of budget constraints." (October 16, 2003)
Sex is good for you, and sexual dysfunction is a major health issue, Weill Cornell physicians say
New York, NY (October 13, 2003) -- Sex has many health benefits -- including mental, cardiovascular, and immune system health -- according to two physicians and sexual health experts at NewYork Weill Cornell Medical Center. Likewise, sexual dysfunction, which is largely untreated, has many associated health risks and should be treated as a major public health issue, they say, especially as more adults are enjoying sex later in life."Sex is good for you, with benefits including a longer, healthier, and happier life," says Dr. John Mulhall, Director of the Sexual Medicine Program and Associate Attending Urologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center, and Associate Professor of Urology at the Weill Cornell Medical College. "Conversely, sexual problems like erectile dysfunction (ED) can contribute to a variety of other mental and physical problems, including depression and relationship discord. ED may also be a harbinger of diseases, including diabetes, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, coronary artery disease, among others."
Ergonomics for -- would you believe forklifts?
Most of the work of Cornell University ergonomist Alan Hedge focuses on applying ergonomic design criteria to make workplaces more productive, such as redesigning computer stations, keyboards and mice, chairs and lighting. But trucks are a work environment, too. About 15 years ago, Hedge, a professor of design and environmental analysis and director of Cornell's Human Factors and Ergonomics Laboratory, both in the New York State College of Human Ecology at Cornell, worked with industrial designers and a forklift truck company to redesign new vehicles. He used what was then a novel "inside-out" human-centered approach, so that the new trucks were designed around the operator's needs, with special attention paid to maximize comfort, minimize the risk of accidents and maximize productivity. Hedge developed a strategy that systematically incorporated ergonomics information at every stage of the design process for forklifts, and that substantially influenced future designs. For that work, which has resulted in a new generation of ergonomically designed lift trucks that are now in worldwide operation, he will receive the Alexander J. Williams Jr. Design Award from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society for "outstanding human factors contributions to the design of a major operational system" at the society's annual meeting, Oct. 13-17, in Denver. (October 15, 2003)
Noted author Jamaica Kincaid will give a free public reading, Oct. 17
Jamaica Kincaid, one of the most important and influential authors writing today, will give a reading Friday, Oct. 17, at 7:30 p.m. in the Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium of Goldwin Smith Hall on the Cornell University campus. The event is free and open to the public. Kincaid is the third reader in the James McConkey Readings in American Fiction series sponsored by the Cornell Department of English's Creative Writing Program. The previous readers in the series have been Tobias Wolff, in 2001, and Tim O'Brien, in 1999. (October 15, 2003)
Historian Carol Kammen writes a brand new history of Cornell
As the entire Cornell University community "celebrates a new beginning" with the inauguration and installation of President Jeffrey S. Lehman, a timely new history of Cornell also is arriving at the Cornell Store during Inauguration Week. Cornell: Glorious to View, written by Cornell lecturer and historian Carol Kammen and published by Cornell University Library, takes a fresh and engaging look at the university's origins, historical challenges and its achievements. The title of the book is derived from Cornell's famous alma mater. Drawing on the extensive holdings of manuscripts and photographs housed in the Cornell Archives, Kammen's concise account conveys the intimate details and the unique character of almost a century and a half of the Cornell experience. (October 15, 2003)
Bill Nye 'The Science Guy' gives free public talk Oct. 21
Bill Nye, noted television popularizer of science, will be coming to Cornell University, Oct. 19-25, for his final visit as a Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 University Professor. Nye will give a free public lecture, titled "Galileo's Grapes: A Cosmological Perspective," Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 7:30 p.m. in the David L. Call Auditorium of Kennedy Hall. The event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required and will be distributed starting Oct. 16 at the Willard Straight Hall ticket office. Tickets are limited to two per person. (October 15, 2003)
Weill Cornell medical college celebrates second of three historic inaugurations of Cornell's 11th president
New York, NY (October 14, 2003) -- As part of an historic "triple inauguration," Jeffrey S. Lehman will be inaugurated as president of Cornell University at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City on Wednesday, October 15. This follows inaugural ceremonies at the Weill Cornell Medical College in Doha, Qatar, and precedes ceremonies at Cornell's main campus in Ithaca. The New York City ceremonies feature an inaugural address articulating President Lehman's global vision for Cornell and higher education, and a presentation by international AIDS leader Dr. Anthony Fauci on urgent current challenges to global health. Reflecting his global vision, Lehman is probably the first university president to be inaugurated both within and beyond national borders."Cornell Celebrates a New Beginning" is the theme of the inauguration, in which Lehman, 47, will challenge higher education to provide fresh leadership in areas, like health care, that are critical to the well-being of all humanity.
Global taste: 'Ezra and Andrew's World View' ice cream celebrates President Lehman's inauguration
Spanning the globe to bring you flavors from every continent -- the thrill of chocolate meeting espresso and the agony of seeing an empty ice cream cup: This is the Cornell University inaugural ice cream, Ezra and Andrew's World View. To follow the global theme of President Jeffrey S. Lehman's inauguration, David P. Brown, a senior extension associate in the Department of Food Science, was faced with a daunting task: Create an ice cream that features a flavor or component from every continent. (October 13, 2003)
President Jeffrey Lehman's inauguration will be a community -- and out of this world -- affair
Beginning with a trip to the Tompkins County Public Library, Cornell University President Jeffrey Lehman's Inauguration Day Oct. 16 in Ithaca will be a community affair that will feature distinguished speakers, including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and a live phone call from the International Space Station. The public is invited to attend the formal installation ceremony in Barton Hall at 2 p.m., which will feature Lehman's formal inaugural address and a speech by Ginsburg, a 1954 Cornell graduate. (October 13, 2003)
Robert L. Harris Jr. awarded Carter G. Woodson Scholars Medallion for contributions to African-American life and history
Robert L. Harris Jr., Cornell University vice provost for diversity and faculty development and associate professor of African-American history in the university's Africana Studies and Research Center, has been awarded the 2003 Carter G. Woodson Scholars Medallion for distinguished work in the field of African-American life and history. Harris received the honor during the 88th annual meeting of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH) in Milwaukee in September. The Woodson award is presented annually to a scholar whose career is distinguished through at least a decade of research, writing and activism in the field of African-American life and history. ASALH, founded by Carter G. Woodson in 1915, inaugurated the Woodson Scholars Medallion in 1993. (October 10, 2003)
Cornell to hold tax schools for New York state professionals
Cornell University's Department of Applied Economics and Management will hold in-depth income tax schools, to review reporting and management, in New York state during November. Classes will be offered in Binghamton, Batavia, Rochester, Utica and Liverpool (Syracuse). The schools are designed for accountants, tax practitioners, consultants, lawyers and financial advisers. Topics include: major emphasis on the new tax legislation, individual taxpayer problems, small-business problems, business entities, military personnel, religious institution filings, automobile issues, agricultural issues, retirement and current issues to aid in planning and filing income tax returns. (October 10, 2003)
CHERI conference on role of community colleges
The late-bloomer whose high school grades aren't good enough to get him into a four-year college or research university; the student whose family can't afford four years of tuition at a private college but, with help, might be able to swing two years; the returning, nontraditional student who seeks a career in a field that requires specific training not offered at four-year programs, such as nursing. These are among the people who have made community colleges the most-popular choice of the majority of eligible college applicants today. Two-year colleges enroll about 55 percent of all freshmen and about 40 percent of all full-time freshmen throughout the United States, says Ronald G. Ehrenberg, director of the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute (CHERI) and the Irving M. Ives Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations and Economics at Cornell University. "The importance of the two-years is likely to continue to grow as state and federal budgets become tighter and enrollment expands," Ehrenberg says. Given those facts, "The Complex Community College" seems a fitting subject for this year's CHERI annual conference, which takes place on Cornell's campus Monday and Tuesday, (October 10, 2003)
CU has prominent share in 2003 Nobel Prizes for chemistry and economics
Cornell has a prominent share in two Nobel prizes announced this week. Roderick MacKinnon, a visiting researcher at Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS), was a co-recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Robert Engle, a Cornell graduate, M.S., physics, '66, Ph.D., economics, '69, was co-winner of the Nobel in Economics. A total of 29 Nobel Prize winners have been affiliated with Cornell as faculty members or alumni. (October 09, 2003)
$179,000 grant to teach sustainable forestry practices
So that future generations can enjoy New York's forests for the trees, Cornell University's Department of Natural Resources has received a $179,204 grant from the U.S. Forest Service to teach sustainable land stewardship to the state's small-forest owners. Cornell's Forestry Extension program will coordinate its program activities with the Division of Lands and Forests, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). The money for the first year is contained in the Forest Land Enhancement Program (FLEP) in the federal 2002 Farm Bill, which appropriated $100 million, $645,000 of which went to New York. (October 09, 2003)
Trustees and University Council members meet on campus during inauguration, Oct. 16-18
Members of the Cornell University Board of Trustees and Cornell University Council will arrive on campus Thursday, Oct. 16, for Cornell's 53rd annual Trustee-Council meeting and the inauguration of the university's 11th president, Jeffrey S. Lehman. The meeting of the more-than-700-member council and a quarterly meeting of the board of trustees is scheduled on campus every fall so that the groups can attend joint sessions and hear the Cornell president's State of the University Address. The council is an advisory body made up of alumni and friends of the university who are elected by the trustees. (October 09, 2003)
Valerie Smith, African American Studies director at Princeton, speaks on "Memory and Civil Rights," Oct. 9
Valerie Smith, director of African American Studies at Princeton University, will deliver a free public talk, "Memory and Civil Rights," Thursday, Oct. 9, at 4:30 p.m. in Room 258 of Goldwin Smith Hall on the Cornell University campus. Smith, the Woodrow Wilson Professor of Literature at Princeton, specializes in feminism, film studies and African-American and American expressive culture and visual culture. She is the author of Not Just Race, Not Just Gender: Black Feminist Readings and Self-Discovery and Authority in Afro-American Narrative and the editor of Representing Blackness: Issues in Film and Video, African American Writers and New Essays on Song of Solomon. Her work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. (October 08, 2003)
President Lehman will visit New York Upper West Side neighborhood to highlight engagement with the city
NEW YORK -- To help display Cornell University's ongoing involvement with New York City and its residents, Cornell President Jeffrey S. Lehman, City Councilwoman Gale A. Brewer (D--Sixth District), city parks officials and other dignitaries will take part in a ceremony at 531 Amsterdam Ave. (at 86th St.), Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 2 p.m. (October 08, 2003)
Inauguration Day symposia feature Richard Meier, Narayana Murthy, Alice Fulton and Kenneth McClane
Three symposia featuring distinguished speakers in the arts and sciences will take place concurrently Thursday, Oct. 16, at 10 a.m. on the Cornell University campus in honor of the inauguration of President Jeffrey S. Lehman. The public is invited to attend. o Richard Meier, one of the world's most influential architects, will speak on "The New Architecture of Optimism," in the Statler Hotel Auditorium. (October 07, 2003)
President Lehman's Inauguration Day trip to the Tompkins County Public Library, Oct. 16
Cornell University President Jeffrey S. Lehman's Inauguration Day Oct. 16 in Ithaca will begin with a trip to the Tompkins County Public Library. The visit by Cornell's 11th president to the library in the heart of the city will highlight the historical and continuing connection between the university and the greater Ithaca community. Cornell University founder Ezra Cornell, in what was the first of his many philanthropic enterprises, incorporated Ithaca's first free public library in 1864. Originally called the Cornell Library, the spacious atheneum was located on the corner of Seneca and Tioga streets and opened its doors to the public Dec. 20, 1866. The library served as the site of the university's first Inauguration Day, for President Andrew Dickson White, in a ceremony that also marked the formal dedication of the university on Oct. 7, 1868. (October 7, 2003)
'Legacy of Leadership' exhibits in three libraries celebrate Cornell presidential inauguration tradition
In honor of the inauguration of the 11th president of Cornell University, Jeffrey S. Lehman, Cornell University Library will feature three special exhibits on campus, together titled "Legacy of Leadership: Cornell's Eleven Presidents." The exhibits, on display in the university's Olin, Kroch and Uris libraries from Oct. 13 through the end of the fall semester, will highlight the achievements of each of Cornell's presidents, through historical letters, documents and photographs. The displays also will include short histories of each Cornell inauguration ceremony. (October 7, 2003)
U.S. will see major climate changes, more winter precip
Over the next 100 years, the eastern United States will see more winter precipitation because atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are increasing. But more precipitation does not necessarily mean more snow, according to Arthur T. DeGaetano, a Cornell climatologist who is one of several speakers at the symposium, Impacts of Climate Change on Horticulture, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 4, at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence. This symposium will focus on implications of climate change and increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide for the important fruit, vegetable and ornamental horticulture industries, says David Wolfe, Cornell professor of horticulture and one of the symposium's organizers. The meeting will bring together climate scientists, horticultural researchers, extension educators, horticultural businesses, environmental and gardening groups, and representatives from public gardens. (October 03, 2003)
Radar finds evidence for hydrocarbon lakes on Titan
ARECIBO, P.R. -- The smog-shrouded atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, has been parted by Earth-based radar to reveal the first evidence of liquid hydrocarbon lakes on its surface. The observations are reported by a Cornell University-led astronomy team working with the world's largest radio/radar telescope at the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Arecibo Observatory. The radar observations, reported in the journal Science on its Science Express Web site (Oct. 2, 2003), detected specular -- or mirrorlike -- glints from Titan with properties that are consistent with liquid hydrocarbon surfaces. Cornell astronomer Donald Campbell, who led the observation team, does not rule out that the reflections could be from very smooth solid surfaces. "The surface of Titan is one of the last unstudied parcels of real estate in the solar system, and we really know very little about it," he says. (October 1, 2003)
NIH funds food- and waterborne disease research unit
A $6.6 million contract with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will establish a new program at Cornell University's colleges of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture and Life Sciences to study food- and waterborne diseases common to animals and humans. The new program is called the Zoonoses (pronounced "zoh-ah NO-sees") Research Unit. Scientists in the Cornell veterinary college's Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences department and the Cornell-based New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory will collaborate with researchers in several agriculture college sections, including the departments of Food Science and Biological and Environmental Engineering. (October 2, 2003)