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University of the Web: video-streamed lectures and commentaries by Cornell faculty are now freely available online
Watch famed Cornell University astronomer Steve Squyres describe the Mars rover mission and the space program; get tips on appreciating, storing and buying wine from a Cornell oenophile; listen to a Cornell sleep expert discuss slumber strategies and the value of power naps. Such presentations by Cornell experts once were restricted to students. Now, anyone with access to the Web can enjoy almost 100 video-streamed presentations on current topics by some of the university's top professors, for free. All the curious have to do is go to Cornell's CyberTower at and register. (November 30, 2004)

Turkey's ambassador to U.S. among speakers at Turkish forum Dec. 3-4
Faruk Logoglu, Turkey's ambassador to the United States, will deliver the opening address for a two-day forum on "European Turkey: Modernization, Secularism and Islam," on Friday, Dec. 3, at 5:30 p.m. in the A.D. White House at Cornell University. Logoglu's remarks will be followed by a concert of Turkish music and dance, performed by Cornell's Middle Eastern Ensemble and the dance group Chandani. On Saturday, Dec. 4, Kemal Gürüz, former president of Turkey's council of higher education, will deliver the forum's keynote address at 6 p.m. in the atrium at Sage Hall. Gürüz is currently a visiting fellow at Harvard University's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. (November 24, 2004)

Cornell Police participates in 'zero-tolerance' wave of seat-belt enforcement
This week, Nov. 22-28, Cornell University Police joins police agencies across New York state in a "zero tolerance" wave of enforcement of state seat-belt laws. There will be checkpoints and saturation patrols aimed at ticketing drivers and front-seat passengers without seat belts and drivers who fail to properly restrain their child passengers. This Thanksgiving, the seat-belt enforcement push will continue to place a special emphasis on teens and young adults. These drivers, national statistics show, are the least likely to buckle up. Cornell Police continues to participate in these enforcement efforts because research shows that repeating waves of high-visibility enforcement saves lives. (November 23, 2004)

New sampling method to track HIV-risk behavior
What's the best way to get a statistically reliable sample of people who are hard to identify, such as illegal-drug users in large cities, itinerant jazz musicians, aging Manhattan artists and semi-professional storytellers? Answer: Use a new "pyramid" sampling method developed by a Cornell University sociologist. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will use the method to recruit injection drug users (IDUs) and measure their HIV-risk behavior in the 25 U.S. cities with the largest number of AIDS cases. (November 19, 2004)

Lesbian, Bisexual and Gay Studies program celebrates 10 years
The Lesbian, Bisexual and Gay Studies program at Cornell University will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a two-day conference Nov. 19 and 20. Titled "The Queer's English," the conference features a slate of Cornell graduate alumni working in the field of queer studies. The two-day event opens with remarks from Provost Biddy Martin on Friday, Nov. 19, at 4:45 p.m. in the Cornell English Department Lounge, Room 258 of Goldwin Smith Hall. Martin's comments will be followed by two talks and a reception. The conference reconvenes Saturday at 10 a.m. in the lounge and concludes with a roundtable discussion at 4 p.m. All events are free and open to the public. For a complete list of speakers and the title of their talks, see . (November 18, 2004)

Stephen J. Hadley, Cornell Class of 1969, becomes second alumnus to serve as national security adviser
Stephen J. Hadley, who received a bachelor's degree in government from Cornell University in 1969, has been appointed national security adviser by President George W. Bush. The president announced the appointment Nov. 16; it does not require Senate approval. Hadley is the second Cornellian to be named to the post in the past eight years. In 1996 President Clinton appointed Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, Class of 1967, as national security adviser. Hadley, 57, was appointed assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser in 2001. He previously served as a senior foreign and defense policy adviser to Gov. Bush during the 2000 Presidential Campaign and worked in the Bush-Cheney transition on the National Security Council. Prior to that position, he was a partner in the Washington, D.C., law firm of Shea & Gardner and a principal in The Scowcroft Group Inc., an international consulting firm. (November 18, 2004)

Forecast for Thanksgiving Day: Plenty of stuffing, not much snow
Save a place at the table for Frosty the Snowman if you live in Boonville, N.Y., or Caribou, Maine, this Thanksgiving (Nov. 25) -- just in case. Otherwise, most of the Northeast should be generally snow-free during the holiday, according to Keith Eggleston, senior climatologist with Cornell University's Northeast Regional Climate Center. For travelers in Boonville, N.Y., northeast of Syracuse, N.Y., at the foot of the Adirondack Mountains, there is a 38 percent chance of measurable snow on Nov. 24, the day before Thanksgiving, and a 71 percent chance of snow on Thanksgiving Day. In Caribou, Maine, there is a 54 percent of one or more inches of snow on the ground on Thanksgiving Day. (November 17, 2004)

The Scientist ranks Cornell among top five places for life scientists
In a survey of life scientists at 66 academic institutions, conducted by the editors of the magazine The Scientist, Cornell University ranked fifth in the United States as one of the best academic places to work. In The Scientist's 2004 survey, The Best Places to Work in Academia, life scientists were surprisingly uniform in reporting that adequate laboratory and research facilities for themselves and their co-workers were among the most important factors. Also ranking high in importance to the scientists were working relationships with peers, adequate health-care coverage, adequate research funding, support for new faculty members, clearly defined requirements for tenure and the local standard of living. (November 17, 2004)

An apple a day could protect against brain-cell damage
A group of chemicals in apples could protect the brain from the type of damage that triggers such neurodegenerative diseases as Alzheimer's and Parkinsonism, according to two new studies from Cornell University food scientists. The studies show that the chemical quercetin, a so-called phytonutrient, appears to be largely responsible for protecting rat brain cells when assaulted by oxidative stress in laboratory tests. (November 17, 2004)

Reducing enlarged heart muscle cuts patients' cardiac risk, independent of lowered blood pressure
NEW YORK (November 16, 2004) -- Two new studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association, led by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center researchers, are clearing up the mystery of why some hypertensive patients continue to be at high risk for heart attack and stroke, even after drug therapy has reduced their blood pressure to safer levels.Findings from both echocardiogram and electrocardiogram (ECG) suggest that anti-hypertensive drugs that aggressively shrink enlarged heart muscle bring added benefits to patients, lowering their risk for dangerous cardiovascular events.

Weill Cornell scientists identify mechanism governing immune system suppression
NEW YORK (November 16, 2004) -- Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College believe they've uncovered a molecular switch that naturally suppresses the body's immune response in situations where it's not needed.Drugs that mimic or oppose this mechanism might someday fight autoimmune disorders like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, or protect immune cells from enemies like HIV.

Weill Cornell Medical College hematologist receives prestigious NIH merit award
New York, NY (November 15, 2004) -- Recognized for his nearly 50 years of pioneering biomedical research in hematology and vascular biology, Weill Cornell Medical College physician-scientist Dr. Aaron J. Marcus has been selected by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to receive a 2004 NIH Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award. He has been continuously funded by NHLBI since 1956.The $2.8 million research grant will provide long-term support for the development of a new treatment for occlusive vascular diseases such as stroke, coronary artery disease, and peripheral vascular disease. Dr. Marcus is chief of Hematology-Oncology and director of the Thrombosis Research Lab at VANY Harbor Healthcare System. He is professor of medicine and professor of medicine in pathology and laboratory medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, and attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Cornell's $2.1 million earthquake lab to open with a bang in federal agency's nationwide network hookup
In the lobby of Cornell University's Thurston Hall, floor-to-ceiling windows provide a sweeping view of the four-story crane bay of the George Winter Laboratory with its mysterious monolithic constructs of concrete and steel. This massive lab, one-third the size of a football field, has become the home for a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded $2.1 million project to establish the nation's premier center for large-scale earthquake simulation experiments. The completed lab will have its public debut on Nov. 15 with an NSF-sponsored live webcast of an experiment designed to study the deformation and rupturing of underground pipelines -- carrying, for example, water, natural gas, liquid fuel or telecommunications -- during an earthquake. The experiment will be described by the earthquake facility's director Harry Stewart, an associate professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). His co-investigator is Thomas O'Rourke, a CEE professor who first became interested in earthquake-pipeline research about 25 years ago while working as a research engineer digging the Metro tunnels in Washington, D.C. (November 15, 2004)

New leadership endowments: the Austin O. Hooey Dean of Veterinary Medicine, the William C. Hooey Director of Chemical Engineering
The Cornell University Board of Trustees has approved two new leadership endowments: the Austin O. Hooey Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, currently held by Donald F. Smith, and the William C. Hooey Director of the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, held by Paulette Clancy. The deanship and directorship endowments come from the estate of Austin Hooey (1922-2004), a retired Wall Street securities analyst who lived in Chatham, N.J. Her father, William C. Hooey, was a 1912 Cornell graduate in chemistry and a prominent figure in the metals business, also in New Jersey. (November 15, 2004)

Thundering, thundering, along Fifth Avenue: Cornell takes traditional six-block parade Nov. 13
NEW YORK CITY -- It's merriment, mingling and marching. It's a real Fifth Avenue parade -- even though it only lasts six blocks. As it has every other year for the past 30 years following the Cornell-Columbia football game, the Cornell Big Red Marching Band will lead "The Sy Katz '31 Parade," down Fifth Avenue from St. Patrick's Cathedral to the Cornell Club on 44th Street, on Saturday, Nov. 13, starting at 4:45 p.m. Alumni will follow, dancing and singing. Then the marching band will present a concert in front of the club. (November 12, 2004)

Cornell shares fall bounty with local food banks
With the harvest coming in and Thanksgiving ahead, many are thinking about festivities and food-laden holidays. For those less fortunate, more than 100,000 pounds, or 50 tons, of fruits and vegetables are being donated by Cornell University to local food banks and food distribution centers. (November 11, 2004)

Dump and Run program to donate $9,000 to local nonprofits
Cornell University's Dump and Run program will donate the proceeds of its August 2004 yard sale -- a total of $9,000 -- to three local nonprofit groups during a ceremony Thursday, Nov. 18, at 5:30 p.m. in the Willard Straight Hall International Room. The donations will go to Loaves and Fishes, The Advocacy Center, and Cops, Kids and Toys. Doors open at 5 p.m. and refreshments will be available. The ceremony is open to the public. The awards will be presented by Cornell senior Lauren Jacobs, who founded the university's Dump and Run program in 2003, and LeNorman Strong, assistant vice president of student and academic services. Dump and Run, a national nonprofit organization that has generated more than $100,000 through its programs at 20 colleges and universities, is sponsored by the Office of Cornell Campus Life. (November 11, 2004)

Julia Duany, Sudanese refugee and scholar, to speak on Nov. 16
In 1999, the U.S. State Department allowed more than 4,000 Sudanese refugees into the country -- only 89 of these young orphaned war victims were girls. The disparity has both political and cultural origins, and few understand the complexities as well as Julia Duany, author of Making Peace and Nurturing Life: Memoir of an African Woman About a Journey of Struggle and Hope. Duany, a refugee who escaped from the violence in the Sudan in 1983, will deliver a talk titled "African Women's Voices: Effects of War on Sudanese Women" on Tuesday, Nov. 16, at 4:30 p.m. in Room 423 of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations Conference Center on the Cornell University campus. The talk is free and open to the public and a reception will follow. Drawing on her experiences as a refugee and activist as well as her knowledge of Sudanese women's groups, Duany will discuss challenges to women's peace-building initiatives in the Sudan. She also will address social factors that affect women in the Sudan, including family life, religion, cultural and political complexities, and the role gender plays in her multicultural, war-ravaged country. (November 10, 2004)

Human rights activist Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland, to give Nov. 18 public lecture on ethics and hunger
About one-fifth of the world's population lives in dire poverty, and the already very skewed gap between rich and poor keeps growing. Some 800 million people don't have enough to eat. The consequences of such destitution are malnutrition, environmental degradation and worldwide instability. These circumstances also leave millions of people with nothing to lose, who become ripe for turning to international terrorism in their frustration and need to be heard. So says Per Pinstrup-Andersen, the H.E. Babcock Professor of Food, Nutrition and Public Policy at Cornell University. To try to develop a shared vision that combines ethics and economics to counter world poverty, hunger and malnutrition, he has organized a workshop, "Ethics, Globalization and Hunger: In Search of Appropriate Policies," to be held Nov. 17 to 19 at Cornell. The highlight will be a free public lecture by Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland, former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and now the executive director of the Ethical Globalization Initiative, an organization dedicated to supporting human rights. Her address, "Social Justice, Ethics and Hunger: What Are the Key Messages?" will be given Thursday, Nov. 18, at 8 p.m. in Call Alumni Auditorium, Kennedy Hall. Cornell President Jeffrey Lehman will introduce Robinson, who will field questions after her remarks. (November 09, 2004)

International marine survey of coral death
Now that marine scientists know how quickly disease epidemics can spread in the oceans -- up to 10,000 kilometers a year among fish, compared with 1,000 kilometers in diseases carried by flying birds -- they are focusing on dying organisms that can't move: the world's corals. The researchers are conducting the largest-ever international assessment of ocean disease, called the Coral Reef Targeted Research and Capacity Building project and supported by the Global Environment Fund and the World Bank. With funding of about $28.8 million for the first five years of an anticipated 15-year project, the assessment aims "to fill critically important information gaps in the fundamental understanding of coral reef ecosystems so that management and policy interventions can be strengthened globally," according to C. Drew Harvell, a Cornell University professor of ecology and one leader of the coral reef assessment. (November 8, 2004)

Cornell Police receive statewide award for promoting traffic safety
Cornell University Police were presented with a statewide award for promoting traffic safety Oct. 18 at the New York Highway Safety Conference held in Binghamton, N.Y. Sgt. Chuck Howard, traffic enforcement coordinator, accepted the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee award on behalf of the department from Raymond P. Martinez, commissioner of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, who chairs the committee. (November 4, 2004)

Tiny paddle oscillator senses the mass of a virus
By using a device only six-millionths of a meter long, researchers at Cornell University have been able to detect the presence of as few as a half-dozen viruses -- and they believe the device is sensitive enough to notice just one. The research could lead to simple detectors capable of differentiating between a wide variety of pathogens, including viruses, bacteria and toxic organic chemicals. (November 4, 2004)

Nov. 17 symposium to review effect of climate change on weeds, crops, gardens and farm profitability
Winters are getting warmer and some crops are starting to bloom earlier. Climate change is already upon us, but changes are not uniform across regions or species. The potential impact on farmers is both positive and negative and also has important implications for home gardeners and landscape managers. To review the evidence of climate change in the Northeast and to discuss adaptation strategies for the potential impact on farming, gardens and the dairy industry, researchers, extension educators and interested citizens will gather for a one-day symposium on Wednesday, Nov. 17, at the Ramada Inn, Ithaca. The symposium, Climate Change and Northeast Agriculture: Developing an Education Outreach Agenda, costs $10 and is open to the public. (November 4, 2004)

NOAA climate station established on Cornell's Harford site
A postage stamp-sized piece of property belonging to Cornell University's Animal Research Facility in Harford, N.Y. is now the site of a national climate station. The Harford site will be part of the U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN), a land-based system of climate stations now being developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce. Every USCRN observing site is equipped with state-of-the instruments including, a standard set of sensors, a data logger and a satellite communications transmitter. The Harford site meets NOAA criteria for its distance from urban areas, long-term stability and reliability as an area representative of the regional climate, among other factors. (November 4, 2004)

Lengthening Mars rover mission challenges Cornell researchers and students in operations center
Since the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity landed on the red planet last January, members of the Cornell University rover team have gone from living and working on Mars time at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., to running their operations from Cornell in Ithaca on a hybrid Earth-Mars time. The planning and operations that must occur twice each day -- between the time when "yester-sol's" data reach Earth until commands for the next sol's activities are sent off to the rovers -- is becoming more efficient. It now takes just six or seven hours on average, compared with the 17 hours it once took. (A sol, a Martian day, is 39 minutes, 35 seconds longer than an Earth day.) (November 04, 2004)

Structure of new DNA enzyme family member found
Cornell University researchers, who are trying to understand how proteins evolve and function by looking at their structural features, have uncovered the crystal structure of a protein involved in making the building blocks of DNA correctly. The protein is AIRs kinase, and to the researchers' surprise, its shape is similar to other members of the riboside kinase family, proteins that are important in making DNA and RNA, the molecules that make up genes. As a result, the research group now has nine members of the riboside kinase family that are thought to have evolved from a common protein ancestor. (November 3, 2004)

Leon Litwack, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and legendary force in African American studies, to speak Nov. 9, 10 and 11
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Leon F. Litwack, professor of American History at the University of California-Berkeley, will deliver three Carl Becker lectures on Tuesday, Nov. 9, Wednesday, Nov. 10 and Thursday, Nov. 11. The lecture series, titled "Stormy Monday: Black Southerners in the Twentieth Century," is free and open to the public, and each talk will be delivered at 4:30 p.m. in Room 165 of McGraw Hall on the Cornell University campus. (November 3, 2004)

Janet Reno to give lecture on "Impact of Presidential Election on Violence Against Women in the United States," Nov. 8
Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno will deliver a public lecture titled "Impact of the Presidential Election on Violence Against Women in the United States," on Nov. 8, at 7:30 p.m. in Bache Auditorium of Malott Hall on the Cornell University campus. A Cornell Class of 1960 graduate and a Frank H. T. Rhodes Class of '56 University Professor, Reno will visit campus Nov. 6 to Nov. 8 and is the featured participant in the Cornell Advocates for Rape Education (CARE) symposium, part of a year-long series. Established in 1984, CARE is a university-wide committee comprised of students, staff and faculty dedicated to providing a campus community free of sexual harassment, exploitation, abuse, assault and violence. For information about the symposium and Reno's role in it, contact Andrea Parrot, professor of policy analysis and management and founder of CARE at (607) 255-2512 or e-mail . (November 02, 2004)

Acclaimed fiction writer Lorrie Moore to read Nov. 8
Author Lorrie Moore, MFA '82, will give a free public reading on Monday, Nov. 8, at 7:30 p.m. in the Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium of Goldwin Smith Hall on the Cornell University campus. Moore is Cornell's 2004-05 Distinguished Alumni Artist Award recipient, an annual award established in 1997 by the Cornell Council for the Arts (CCA) and the Committee on the Arts of Cornell University Council. (November 2, 2004)

For the first time, observing protein synthesis and other single-molecule processes
New York, NY (November 2, 2004) -- All life relies on the actions and reactions of single molecules within cells. However, these molecules are so tiny that they have long eluded direct, real-time investigation using conventional light microscopes.A breakthrough technology being developed by Dr. Scott C. Blanchard -- recently recruited to Weill Medical College of Cornell University under the College's Strategic Research Plan -- is finally allowing researchers an unprecedented view into the workings of individual molecules.

Omega-3 fatty acids: good for the heart, and (maybe) good for the brain
New York, NY (November 1, 2004) -- There is mounting evidence that a diet containing omega-3 fatty acids, already known to help prevent cardiovascular disease, may also prevent depression. In light of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s recent ruling that antidepressants will be labeled with a "black box" warning about the drugs' higher potential suicide risk in children, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center nutrition experts call for further study of the mental health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids."Given recent findings of serious risks linked with antidepressants, we should prioritize the study of natural antidepressants contained in dietary sources -- specifically, omega-3 fatty acids, found most abundantly in fish and seafood," says Dr. Barbara Levine, associate professor of nutrition in clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and director of the DHA Information Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell. Dr. Levine has been studying DHA (docosahexaenoic acid -- a component of omega-3s) and its effects on lowering triglycerides and raising HDL (high-density lipoproteins) in overweight and obese patients with metabolic syndrome.

Cornell Agribusiness Economic Outlook Conference set for Dec. 7
Cornell University's annual Agribusiness Economic Outlook Conference will be held Tuesday, Dec. 7, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. On-site registration will begin at 9 a.m. in the foyer of the David L. Call Alumni Auditorium, Kennedy Hall. The morning session will begin with a welcome by William Lesser, chair of the Department of Applied Economics and Management (AEM). Steven Kyle, associate professor of AEM, will provide the national perspective on the economy and agriculture. There will then be a discussion of the agriculture innovation center, the New York Farm Viability Institute: The Center for Value-Added Agriculture, established at Cornell last year with a grant of $993,200 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The center is providing extensive consulting to individual producers to help them add value at the farm level. (November 2, 2004)

Nobel Laureate Paul Nurse is guest lecturer on biology and the cell cycle
Paul Nurse, president of Rockefeller University and a 2001 Nobel Laureate, will present the 2004 Efraim Racker Lectures Thursday and Friday, Nov. 4 and 5. On Thursday at 8 p.m. in Call auditorium, Kennedy Hall, he will speak on "Great Ideas in Biology. A reception will follow. At 4 p.m. Friday in Room G10 Biotechnology Building. Nurse will present a seminar on "Cell Cycle Control." Nurse's basic research focuses on the molecular machinery that drives cell division. Through this process, also called the cell cycle, cells copy themselves and multiply to form complex organisms. The cell cycle is crucial to survival, because the human body consistently must replenish many of its trillions of cells. Each new cell is a product of the cell cycle. Nurse shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology in 2001 with Leland H. Hartwell and R. Timothy Hunt for advancing scientific understanding of the cell cycle. (November 01, 2004)