News Releases
December 2004
Index to all monthsFor the full text of any story, click on the headline. Electronic queries may be made to cunews@cornell.edu.
Weill Cornell team develops fast-acting anthrax vaccine
NEW YORK (December 29, 2004) -- In any bioterror attack, vaccines that provide a rapid, effective defense against the pathogen will be key to saving lives.However, in the case of anthrax, vaccines available today can take weeks or even months to gain full effect.
James McConkey's latest is 'The Telescope in the Parlor'
James McConkey, Cornell University's Goldwin Smith Professor of English Literature emeritus, didn't think he had another book in him. But when Paul Dry, owner of an independent publishing house in Philadelphia, suggested to McConkey that perhaps he'd already written his next book, it was a wake-up call of sorts. The result is The Telescope in the Parlor: Essays on Life and Literature (Paul Dry Books Inc., 2004), a compilation of previously uncollected writings and McConkey's first new book since The Anatomy of Memory, an anthology he edited in 1996. Telescope covers a range of topics, including McConkey's abiding interest in the works of Anton Chekov, E.M. Forster and the late Cornell poet A.R. Ammons, a friend and colleague. In addition to vivid recollections of romance, family life and the world of words, McConkey writes poignantly of poet Anne Silsbee, also a friend, whose works were just gaining recognition at the time of her death. The title is literal and, as with his celebrated Court of Memory works, metaphorical: There is a telescope in the parlor at McConkey's home. There's also McConkey and his telescopic mind. (December 22, 2004)
Cornell researchers call burgeoning Hispanic population of New York state a resource for development
From 1980 to 2000, the foreign-born Hispanic, and largely Mexican, population in New York state grew significantly. In a study just released, two Cornell University researchers claim this growing population of immigrants can potentially contribute to community development in upstate New York, where population loss and economic stagnation or decline have been pervasive for decades. "The growing number of Hispanics is related to the changes in the agricultural workforce in New York and nationwide. Increasing numbers of these farm workers and their families settle in upstate New York communities where they work and then face various challenges and opportunities as they seek to become integrated in the social and economic life of the community," noted Max Pfeffer, Cornell professor of development sociology who co-authored the study "Immigrants and the Community" with Pilar A. Parra, a research associate in Cornell's Division of Nutritional Sciences. (December 21, 2004)
Organic food research at Cornell boosted by $1.99 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture grants
ITHACA, N.Y. ---- The demand for organic food in the United States has increased by approximately 200 percent over the past 10 years, a trend that is expected to accelerate in the coming decade. Organic farmers in New York state will be better able to capitalize on this trend thanks to three new grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) received by researchers in Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS). The programs address seed viability, dairy herd health and improved crop production. The grants, worth $1,987,784, represent 43 percent of the $4.6 million awarded in September by the USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Services' (CSREES) Integrated Organic Program. (December 21, 2004)
Four Cornell researchers named to 2009 Mars mission
Four Cornell University space scientists are on five of the eight teams that will begin planning the science program for NASA's next Mars rover mission, the mobile Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), scheduled for launch in 2009. The space agency has chosen the eight proposals to provide instrumentation and associated science investigations for the mission, which is intended to explore a local region as a potential habitat for past or present life. (December 21, 2004)
For ailing former guide dog Brando, it's a wonderful life
After years of making his contribution to people, Brando, a 9-year-old Labrador retriever, has found that it is people's turn to return the favor. Brando served for many years as the trusted guide dog for Nancy Moore in Albany, N.Y. About a year ago, he retired from guiding and returned to live a life of leisure with his breeders, Dick and Bette Jayne Spinney, in Stanford, N.Y. Last month, Bette Spinney noticed that the dog's balance was off kilter, and he seemed to have trouble seeing. Brando was brought to Cornell University's Hospital for Animals, where Thomas Kern, chief of ophthalmology in the College of Veterinary Medicine, confirmed that Brando was, indeed, having vision problems: He was blind in one eye. Kern ordered a magnetic resonance image, or MRI. The MRI system at Cornell, built by Esaote of Italy, is North America's first permanent, open-magnet MRI system specifically designed for companion animals -- dogs, cats and other small pets. The system was installed just before Thanksgiving, and Brando was among the first to use it. The system, which images soft tissue in detail, clearly showed Brando's problem -- a small tumor impinging on the optic nerve. "Thanks to the new MRI, we were able to diagnose the tumor at this early stage. Catching it early bodes for a better prognosis," Kern says. (December 21, 2004)
Critic Trey Graham given George Jean Nathan Award
Trey Graham, theater critic at the Washington City Paper, is the winner of the 2003-04 George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism. The award, which carries a $10,000 prize, is administered by the Cornell University Department of English and is one of the most generous and distinguished in the American theater. Graham was selected by a committee consisting of the chairs of the English departments of Cornell, Princeton and Yale universities, assisted by experts on the theater from those universities. The Nathan committee citation reads: "For Trey Graham, the play's the thing. In reviewing classical and contemporary work produced in the Greater Washington D.C. area, he brings a fresh eye both to things we think we know and to things newly-minted. He writes with sensitivity and flair about the individual masterworks of the British and American canon, but he's especially adept at linking these and other works from the past with the best the present has to offer." (December 20, 2004)
44% of Americans favor curtailing some Muslim liberties
In a study to determine how much the public fears terrorism, almost half of respondents polled nationally said they believe the U.S. government should -- in some way -- curtail civil liberties for Muslim Americans, according to a new survey released today (Dec. 17) by Cornell University. About 27 percent of respondents said that all Muslim Americans should be required to register their location with the federal government, and 26 percent said they think that mosques should be closely monitored by U.S. law enforcement agencies. Twenty-nine percent agreed that undercover law enforcement agents should infiltrate Muslim civic and volunteer organizations, in order to keep tabs on their activities and fund raising. About 22 percent said the federal government should profile citizens as potential threats based on the fact that they are Muslim or have Middle Eastern heritage. In all, about 44 percent said they believe that some curtailment of civil liberties is necessary for Muslim Americans. (December 17, 2004)
Chances of a White Christmas in the Northeast
There is a 100 percent chance of sand all along the beaches of Atlantic City, N.J., Christmas morning, but only an 8 percent chance of snow. If you are looking for a White Christmas in the northeastern United States -- or trying to avoid one -- the top spots are the usual suspects: Pinkham Notch, N.H., (with nearly 100 percent chance of snow), Caribou, Maine, and, in New York state, Boonville and Old Forge, according to Keith Eggleston, senior climatologist with Cornell University's Northeast Regional Climate Center A lower probability of snow -- although still at a high 71 percent -- is forecast for Syracuse, N.Y., and Portland, Maine. (December 17, 2004)
Onions and health: a clarification
On Oct. 7, Rui Hai Liu, M.D., an associate professor of food science at Cornell University, and his colleagues in Cornell's Department of Food Science published an article in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry titled "Varietal differences in phenolic content and antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of onions." The article reported on research indicating that onion types vary in antioxidant and antiproliferation activity which inhibits liver and colon cancer cell growth. One of the most active types was from New York state. (December 16, 2004)
Science names Mars discovery Breakthrough of the Year
Science magazine has chosen the discoveries of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission as Breakthrough of the Year in its Dec. 17 edition, published today. The principal scientific investigator for the mission's twin-rover science program is Steve Squyres, professor of astronomy at Cornell University, assisted by a large team of researchers, 28 of them at Cornell, including 15 students. The mission is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The journal, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, says that its annual top honor is awarded for the mission's discovery of evidence for the prolonged presence of potentially life-supporting, salty, acidic water on the planet's surface. (December 16, 2004)
In-depth previews of Supreme Court cases on the Web
One of the most-accessed legal Web sites in the world just got better. The Legal Information Institute (LII) at Cornell University Law School is now offering free details on high-profile cases before they are argued and ruled on by the Supreme Court, including one on medical marijuana (Ashcroft v. Raich), another on restrictions on interstate alcohol sales (Granholm v. Heald) and a third on the constitutionality of executing young people who were under 18 when they committed a capital crime (Roper v. Simmons). Written in an easily understandable style for everyone from journalists to teachers to bright high school students, the analyses of upcoming Supreme Court cases are put together by a team of Cornell Law School students. The goal is to help people who are neither lawyers nor legal scholars grasp the issues at stake and why they are important. (December 16, 2004)
Move over, Barbie. Role-model dolls help girls excel
Spring in U.S. Northeast is arriving a week earlier
New York poll: state politics confusing, some will move
19 undergraduate students are awarded the Howard Milstein Scholarship in Arts and Sciences
Homeowners in Northwest asked to look for Asian stink bugs, invasive pest that is threat to fruit and soybean crops
Seven Cornellians receive prestigious national and international honors
Meridiani Planum could have been suitable for life on Mars
Cornell alumnus awarded a Marshall Scholarship
Cornell grad Damany Gibbs wins Rhodes Scholarship
If you're looking for a holiday gift for girls 8 to 12 -- and can't face buying yet another Barbie -- take a look at
Spring is arriving up to a week earlier than it did 40 years ago in response to a warming trend in the U.S. Northeast, Cornell University researchers are reporting. They base their conclusion on a study of historical bloom-date records for lilacs, apples and grapes, which suggests that nature's calendar is changing due to an increase in greenhouse gases. In one of the first documented cases that plants in the Northeast are responding to climate change, the Cornell scientists and their colleagues at the University of Wisconsin say that lilacs are blooming about four days earlier, and apples and grapes six to eight days earlier, than in 1965. The findings in the study -- the first to encompass the U.S. Northeast -- are consistent with similar reports in other regions of the United States and in Europe. (December 13, 2004)
Do New Yorkers understand New York politics? Fuhgeddaboutit. More than 70 percent of New York state residents feel that Albany's politics are too complicated to understand, according to this year's 2004 New York State Empire Poll of state residents, conducted by the Survey Research Institute at Cornell University. (December 10, 2004)
Cornell University has announced that 19 of its undergraduate students will receive a scholarship for up to four years -- the 2004 Howard Milstein Scholarship in Arts and Sciences -- based on academic accomplishment and financial need. The annual scholarship, funded by a gift from Cornell alumnus Howard Milstein, was established in 2000 to enhance the Cornell College of Arts and Sciences' ability to attract and enroll some of the world's most intellectually able students. (December 9, 2004)
Wanted, dead or alive: the brown-marmorated stink bug. "We are asking homeowners in the Pacific Northwest to be on the lookout for these bugs, and if they think they have found any, to collect them and send to me or to take a digital image to e-mail to me," says E. Richard Hoebeke, a Cornell University senior extension associate in entomology. (December 07, 2004)
Seven Cornell University academics have received national and international recognition for their work in scientific research. Several of the awards are among the most prestigious in their fields. Scholars who have received awards recently include Kevin Kornegay, electrical and computer engineering; Philip Liu and Jery Stedinger, civil and environmental engineering; Jerrold Meinwald, chemistry; Aaron Marcus, Weill Cornell Medical College; Fred W. McLafferty, chemistry and chemical biology; and Lang Tong, electrical and computer engineering. (December 3, 2004)
Scientists have long been tantalized by the question of whether life once existed on Mars. Although present conditions on the planet would seem to be inhospitable to life, the data sent back over the past 10 months by NASA's two exploration rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, showed a world that might once have been warmer and wetter -- perhaps friendly enough to support microbial organisms. Now a Cornell University-led Mars rover science team reports on the historic journey by the rover Opportunity, which is exploring a vast plain, Meridiani Planum, and concludes with this observation: "Liquid water was once present intermittently at the martian surface at Meridiani, and at times it saturated the subsurface. Because liquid water is a key prerequisite for life, we infer that conditions at Meridiani may have been habitable for some period of time in martian history." (December 02, 2004)
Cornell University graduate Michael Schwam-Baird '02 has been awarded a Marshall Scholarship to attend Oxford University, where he will pursue a master's degree in economic and social history. Schwam-Baird is a native of Jacksonville, Fla. Schwam-Baird applied for the award while enrolled as a College Scholar in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell, where he focused on literature, theory and writing. (December 02, 2004)
Barbados native Damany Gibbs, a Cornell University 2003 engineering graduate, has won a 2005 Rhodes Scholarship, considered the world's leading academic scholarship, for two or three years of study at the University of Oxford. Gibbs, who majored in operations research and industrial engineering, now works as an analyst at Morgan Stanley in New York City. He is the first Cornellian to win a Commonwealth Caribbean Rhodes Scholarship, awarded to just two people this year. He plans to use his Rhodes Scholarship to earn an MBA at Oxford with a concentration in finance. (December 01, 2004)