Cornell News, April 2005

News

April 2005

For the full text of any story, click on the headline. Electronic queries may be made to cunews@cornell.edu.

First CU ornithologist to see ivory-bill in Arkansas bayou describes thrill and emotion of discovery
Tim Gallagher, editor of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's award-wining quarterly, Living Bird, and author of the forthcoming book, "The Grail Bird: The Search for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker," was the first ornithologist from Cornell University to positively identify an ivory-billed woodpecker in Arkansas' Bayou de View. Here he recounts the thrill of that Feb. 27, 2004, sighting, as well as earlier near-misses that fueled his "obsession with this bird" and the organized search that followed his discovery. (April 29, 2005)

News of the ivory-billed woodpecker's rediscovery thrills media, birders and researchers alike
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Black and white and read all over: Bird was the word. News of the rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker hit the media Thursday and Friday, April 28 and 29, with fervor. (April 29, 2005)

World's most advanced sound-detection tools aided human ears
In the bayous of Arkansas, as in other forested habitats, birds are often heard before they're seen. Recorded sounds of Campephilus principalis -- and not something else that sounds almost alike -- can be high-tech "bread crumbs," according to Russ Charif. The biologist in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Bioacoustics Research Program, source of some of the world's most advanced natural-sounds recording and analysis tools, explained: "Think of these recorded sounds -- the signature double rap of the ivory-bill or its 'kent' call -- as bread crumbs leading a camouflaged photographer to the base of the tree for that once-in-a-lifetime photo." (April 29, 2005)

Long thought extinct, ivory-billed woodpecker rediscovered in Big Woods of Arkansas
Long believed to be extinct, a magnificent bird -- the ivory-billed woodpecker -- has been rediscovered in the Big Woods of eastern Arkansas. More than 60 years after the last confirmed sighting of the species in the United States, a research team today announced that at least one male ivory-bill still survives in vast areas of bottomland swamp forest. The evidence was gathered during an intensive year-long search involving more than 50 experts and field biologists working together as part of the Big Woods Conservation Partnership, led by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and The Nature Conservancy. (April 28, 2005)

Conference featuring Hillary Clinton seeks to rebuild upstate New York
Aside from its natural beauty, upstate New York is known for an economy that is sluggish, at best. On May 2, 2005, Cornell President Jeffrey S. Lehman will join a host of state leaders, including U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, for a one-day symposium that is dedicated to boosting the upstate economy. "Rebuilding Upstate New York: What Works II" will take place at the Convention Center at Oncenter in Syracuse. The symposium will discuss successful tools for community redevelopment, experiences of nationally known experts and strategies for fostering municipal economic health. (April 29, 2005)

Cornell will end current wind study but continue support of wind energy
Cornell will end its current study of the feasibility of wind-energy generation on university-owned property on Mount Pleasant in Dryden. When the university decided to investigate the possibility of producing wind-generated electricity, it noted that its feasibility study would consider several factors, including economic viability, environmental impacts and community input. (April 29, 2005)

Cornell student is reported missing
Cornell University Police has issued a missing person's report on a male student who was last seen early Sunday morning, April 24. Daniel A. Pirfo, 19, from Washington, D.C., and a resident of Mews Hall on the university's North Campus, was reported missing by a resident adviser in Mews Hall at 1 a.m. Monday, April 25. (April 28, 2005)

Christine Natsios named Hotel School alumni affairs director
Christine Natsios has been appointed director of alumni affairs at the School of Hotel Administration. Natsios, a 1985 graduate of the Hotel School, will develop and implement alumni activities and programs throughout the world for the school, working closely with the volunteer leadership of the Cornell Hotel Society, the school's 9,000-member alumni association and its foundation as well as 59 international alumni chapters. (April 28, 2005)

Michal Lipson wins NSF 'Early Career' award to study photonic circuits
Michal Lipson, Cornell assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is among this year's recipients of National Science Foundation (NSF) Career Awards. The NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program offers NSF's most prestigious award for new faculty members, supporting the early career development activities of those teacher-scholars who are considered most likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century. (April 28, 2005)

Shirin Ebadi, 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner from Iran, will give Kaplan Family Lecture, May 4
Shirin Ebadi, the first Muslim woman to be a Nobel laureate and the first female to serve as a judge in Iran, will give the Kaplan Family Distinguished Lecture in Public Service on May 4 at Cornell. Ebadi's talk, "Democracy and Public Service," will focus on the role public service plays in sustaining democratic values. (April 27, 2005)

Cornell Mosaic is hallmark of campus that works hard at diversity
In 1925 Cornell became the first institution of higher learning to award a doctorate in pure mathematics to an African American. But well before that, indeed, since its founding in 1865, Cornell had been pursuing cultural and intellectual variety on campus. Starting this week, on April 29, and continuing through May 1, the university continues to break ground by hosting a landmark conference, "Cornell Mosaic: Celebrating Diversity and Advancing Inclusion," a title that reflects the conference's goals and spotlights Cornell's free-thinking, inclusive atmosphere. (April 27, 2005)

Expanding Your Horizons '05 reaches out to middle school girls
"Fishy Business," "Itty Bitty Pictures" and "Plants Can Breathe" have one thing in common: they were a few of the many hands-on workshops at Expanding Your Horizons (EYH), an annual conference at Cornell that encourages girls in grades 7 to 9 to explore careers in science and technology. This year's conference on April 23 attracted more than 200 girls from upstate New York middle schools. (April 27, 2005)

Cornell preservation students and alumni revive historic Catskill theater
The Shelburne Playhouse, one of the Catskill Mountains' remaining jewels from the golden age of small resort hotels, was repaired and stabilized by a volunteer group of Cornell historic preservation planning (HPP) students and alumni -- along with some local helpers -- April 15-17. (April 27, 2005)

Cornell economist, launching year of the family, identifies trends that affect children
Is the American family dissolving or evolving, asked H. Elizabeth Peters, professor of policy analysis and management in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell in a public lecture April 20. Her talk launched the upcoming year of Cornell events focused on the family. (April 27, 2005)

Mellon Foundation grant funds Future of Minorities Studies institute
This summer Cornell will be the epicenter of a major national initiative to diversify humanities departments called the Future of Minorities Studies Research Project (FMS) Summer Institute. Funded through a $350,000 three-year grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the institute places Cornell at the vanguard of efforts to democratize the humanities in higher learning centers across the country. (April 27, 2005)

Life for Joe Veverka: the cosmos, cooking and bel canto
When Joe Veverka celebrated his 60th birthday in 2001, the Department of Astronomy came up with a novel gift: an open ticket to see any opera performance anywhere in the world. But before Veverka and his wife, astronomy researcher Ann Harch, could take advantage of the gift, both of their mothers fell ill. So it is only now that the couple is able to plan a visit to the Stadtoper, the State Opera House in Vienna, where many of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's operas were first performed. (April 27, 2005)

Radiant flapdoodle -- new books by and about A.R. Ammons celebrated
Considering the radiance of the day, that so many would sit inside a public library for bit of "Bosh and Flapdoodle" only proved that the work -- as well as the memory -- of the late A.R. Ammons is very much alive. An April 17 gathering in the Tompkins County Library's Borg Warner room drew a panel of friends and former students of the Cornell poet to mark publication of two new books by and about Ammons: "Bosh and Flapdoodle," the first posthumous collection of poems by Ammons, and "Considering the Radiance: Essays on the Poetry of A.R. Ammons," co-edited by David Burak, a Cornell alumnus, and Roger Gilbert, professor of English. (April 27, 2005)

Summer research on island leads Cornell junior to prestigious honor
Last summer, Cornell junior Sui-Ling Evelyne Kuo lived the good life on Appledore Island, the 95-acre home of Shoals Marine Laboratory in the Gulf of Maine. She spent most of her time studying predator and prey interactions in small freshwater invertebrates. Aside from a fascinating way to spend a summer, Kuo's work led to one of three Best Student Presentation Awards at the 34th Annual Benthic Ecology Meeting, April 6-10, at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Williamsburg, Va. (April 27, 2005)

Weill Cornell medical college announces second $50 million challenge to advance its clinical mission
Sanford I. Weill, chairman of the Board of Overseers of the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell, and Dr. Antonio M. Gotto Jr., dean of the Medical College, announced today that the school will launch a second Challenge Match to help complete its $750 million capital campaign, one of the largest ever undertaken by a medical college. The Challenge will match major philanthropic gifts to Weill Cornell's campaign, known as Advancing the Clinical Mission. (April 27, 2005)

Two new vice provosts, Moody-Adams and Kresovich, are announced
Cornell Provost Biddy Martin has announced that two distinguished vice provosts who inaugurated their positions will be stepping down and returning to the faculty, making way for two accomplished faculty members to step into those vice provost positions, effective July 1. Michele Moody-Adams has been named vice provost for undergraduate education, succeeding Isaac Kramnick, and Stephen Kresovich will be the next vice provost for the life sciences, succeeding Kraig Adler. (April 26, 2005)

Architect Rem Koolhaas warns of the 'sloppy' and 'uncritical'
Internationally famed architect Rem Koolhaas spoke to an overflow crowd in Kennedy Hall's 600-seat David L. Call Alumni Auditorium on campus April 25. The 2000 winner of the Pritzker Prize -- often called the Nobel Prize of architecture -- talked about his views of the current state of architecture in general and also described, and showed images of, projects of his own. (April 26, 2005)

'Hotel Rwanda' hero offers lessons to halt future genocides
The hotel in Kigali, Rwanda, where Paul Rusesabagina sheltered 1,200 people in 1994 has the picturesque name Des Mille Collines -- French for 1,000 hills. It also is a description of the once beautiful countryside of Rwanda, which sadly has not recovered from the brutal machete murders by Hutu militias of a million Rwandese Tutsis in 100 days just 11 years ago -- the fastest genocide in history. Said Rusesabagina of the devastation: "Every place smelled" of rotting corpses "and all you could hear were the sounds of dogs eating the bodies." (April 26, 2005)

Tsunamis, ancient fires, criminal trials featured at undergrad research forum
How do children influence their parents' eating habits? Can a polymer be used to deactivate chemical warfare agents? What are the differences in how jurors process information in criminal trials? Can ancient charcoal from the fires of the Mayans cast new light on the civilization's timeline? Ask Cornell University undergraduates. About 100 of them conducted and presented their original research on these and other topics at the 20th Annual Undergraduate Research Forum April 20, sponsored by the Cornell Undergraduate Research Board (CURB). (April 26, 2005)

Africana center celebrates anniversary, building dedication with conference
Rigorous scholarly reflection on vital matters of social consequence has been a hallmark of Cornell's Africana Studies and Research Center's educational mission from the outset 35 years ago. So it is only fitting that a daylong ceremony on April 29 honoring the center's splendid new building should showcase three distinguished black legal scholars in a conference marking the 50th anniversary of the landmark civil rights case, Brown v. Board of Education. (April 25, 2005)

2005 Perkins Prize awarded to King Commemoration Committee
The 2005 James A. Perkins Prize for Interracial Understanding and Harmony at Cornell will be awarded to the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Committee during a ceremony and reception April 29 at 4:30 p.m. in the Memorial Room of Willard Straight Hall on the Cornell campus. The award, carrying a $5,000 cash prize, was created and endowed by Cornell alumnus and trustee emeritus Thomas W. Jones. (April 22, 2005)

Giant appetizer will serve as 'springboard' for Guinness world record
What do you get when you combine a bunch of crazy college kids and a giant spring roll? A possible Guinness world record, all in the name of charity. Students at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration plan to create the world's longest spring roll Saturday, April 30. This attempt at a new record -- 1,315 feet -- will benefit tsunami relief efforts. (April 22, 2005)

Visiting South Korean experts on stem cell research stress the need for therapeutic cloning
Woo-Suk Hwang, one of Time magazine's "100 People who Matter in 2004" and a professor at Seoul National University in South Korea, and his colleague Professor Seung Keun Kang spoke this week with Cornell faculty and students about their groundbreaking animal and human stem cell research. (April 22, 2005)

Scholars to address intellectual history, cultural history and the influence of critical theory
Distinguished scholars of both intellectual and cultural history will gather to discuss the current and future state of their fields in relation to leading-edge currents in critical theory during a Department of History conference, "Intellectual History/Cultural History/ Critical Theory," to be held April 29-30 at the A.D. White House on the Cornell campus. (April 22, 2005)

Presidential scholars showcase research at April 15 poster session
What can you do in four years? How about finding a lifelong passion and researching it with feverish intensity -- just as members of the graduating class of Cornell Presidential Research Scholars (CPRS) have done. This year, about 65 students are graduating from the CPRS program, which targets academically gifted students who want to pursue undergraduate research. Each scholar works with a faculty mentor to develop an individualized research plan, which can be in any discipline, and receives financial support for research and loans of up to $24,000 over four years. (April 21, 2005)

Engineer to develop miniaturized devices for protein research, thanks to NYSTAR award
A two-year, $200,000 grant from the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR) will help a Cornell mechanical engineer design smaller, faster and cheaper devices for processing and producing proteins. The research has implications for a vast array of applications in research of biological systems. (April 21, 2005)

Cornell becomes even more selective in choosing incoming students
Cornell is getting more selective. This year, Cornell received an all-time record of 24,444 applications for undergraduate admissions. Of them, 26.1 percent of the applicants were admitted -- that's down from 29 percent last year and 31 percent two years ago. With a more than 17 percent increase in applications this year, Cornell had the second highest application increase in the Ivy League, just behind Princeton's jump of about 20 percent; Harvard's increase was about 15 percent. (April 21, 2005)

Symposium to explore frontiers in chemical biology
The next great phase of research in the biological sciences is burgeoning at the crossroads where chemistry meets biology. To explore this cutting-edge interdisciplinary nexus, Cornell University's Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology will host a symposium, "Frontiers in Chemical Biology," Saturday, April 30, from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at 200 Baker Laboratory on campus. (April 21, 2005)

CU adds gender identity, expression to nondiscrimination policy
Cornell's commitment to diversity and inclusiveness includes areas protected by federal and state law, such as race, religion, sex, disability, veteran status and age, as well as areas protected under local law, such as sexual orientation and ex-offender status. Cornell's commitment also extends to other aspects of difference. This month, the Cornell University Board of Trustees added gender identity and expression to its Equal Employment and Education Opportunity policy. (April 21, 2005)

Author and former nun focuses on the quest to know God in April 14 talk
"It's like a goldfish trying to understand a computer." That is how Karen Armstrong describes human attempts to understand God. On April 14, Armstrong, a former Catholic nun who has written numerous books on religion, presented this year's Frederick C. Wood Lecture in Sage Chapel as part of the 75th anniversary of Cornell United Religious Work (CURW). Her speech, "God and the Religious Quest for Humanity," complemented the interfaith tradition of CURW by focusing on how religion is experienced across a variety of world cultures. (April 21, 2005)

Steal this concerto, please: An interview with Steven Stucky
Steven Stucky's most commercially successful work to date is an arrangement of a piece written by a man who died 400 years ago -- Henry Purcell's "Funeral Music for Queen Mary." "It's my greatest hit by far," said Stucky, who won the Pulitzer Prize for his Second Concerto for Orchestra earlier this month. "There are like five different recordings of the Purcell." (April 21, 2005)

Senior and two alumni receive prestigious Mellon fellowships
Jaffa Panken, a senior history major from Baltimore, Md., was one of 85 students nationwide to receive the 2005 Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship in Humanistic Studies, awarded by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. The fellowship covers tuition and required fees for the first academic year of graduate school, including a stipend of $17,500. Panken was joined by two Cornell alumni who also received the Mellon: Lauren Donovan '02, classics; and Julia Guarneri '03, history. (April 21, 2005)

Gen. Wesley Clark is named Cornell's Convocation speaker
Gen. Wesley K. Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe and a Democratic primary candidate for president in 2004, will address Cornell University's annual Senior Convocation for graduating students and their families, Saturday, May 28. The Convocation speech will be presented at noon in Barton Hall, on campus. Commencement will be held the next day, Sunday, May 29, in Schoellkopf Field, starting at 11 a.m. By tradition, Cornell President Jeffrey S. Lehman will present the annual Commencement address. (April 20, 2005)

In provocative talk, Gomes looks at chapel's past, envisions its future
In a provocative and often-humorous guest sermon, "So Far, So Good, So What?," on April 10, the Rev. Professor Peter J. Gomes discussed the past, present and future of Sage Chapel and expressed his views on the role that religion plays at modern universities. Gomes, the Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church and Plummer Professor of Christian Morals at Harvard University, is considered one of the premier preachers in the country. While his sermon marked the 130th anniversary celebration of Sage Chapel, much of his talk focused on the future. (April 20, 2005)

Cornell Police hosts child safety seat event, April 23
Many well-intentioned parents dutifully buckle their youngsters into seat belts and car seats designed for children. But some youngsters are too small for seat belts -- and not every car seat is safe or legal for children to use. Cornell University Police is holding a special child safety seat event April 23 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Cornell Grounds Department shops at 307 Palm Road, off Route 366 near the Cornell Orchards. (April 20, 2005)

Symposium looks at potential 'water wars' in Africa
The Cornell University Institute for African Development (IAD) will host a two-day symposium, "Hydropolitics and Geopolitics in Africa," April 22-23 in McManus Lounge, Hollister Hall, on the Cornell campus. The symposium -- free and open to the public -- brings together experts in water resource management, economics and political science among other disciplines for a discussion concerning water-related issues. (April 19, 2005)

Cornell symposium on 'Affect, Interaction and Technology' is April 22-23
Do computers have feelings? The significance of "affect" in both technological design and digital art is the focus of a two-day interdisciplinary symposium, "Affect, Interaction and Technology," April 22-23 on the Cornell University campus. (April 19, 2005)

International colloquium celebrates 500 years of 'Don Quixote'
In honor of the 500th "birthday" of the first publication of "Don Quixote," Cornell's Department of Romance Studies is sponsoring an international colloquium, "Cervantes and the Frontiers of Fiction: A Celebration of 'Don Quixote' (1605-2005)," April 22-23 in the A.D. White House on campus. (April 19, 2005)

Ag College symposium features giants of innovation
The centennial year for Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will come to a close Friday, April 29, with "The Golden Age of Innovation" -- a symposium featuring major contributors to human health, nutrition and education. "Having Maxine Singer, Per Pinstrup-Andersen and Norman Borlaug together in one room for a public symposium is truly an historic event and a wonderful way to wrap up our centennial year activities," says Susan Henry, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences. (April 19, 2005)

Africana conference marks 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education
Cornell alumna and legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw, professor of law, Columbia University and the University of California-Los Angeles, will deliver the keynote address for the Africana Studies and Research Center's conference "Brown vs. Board of Education: Race and Education 50 Years Later," which begins Friday, April 29, at 9 a.m. The conference marks the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Africana Studies and Research Center and the formal dedication of its new building. (April 19, 2005)

Campus Sustainability Summit brainstorms making Cornell 'greener'
How can the Cornell campus do more when it comes to energy efficiency, recycling, reducing pollution, preserving green areas and other efforts that promote sustainability? The first-ever Campus Sustainability Summit addressed these topics April 14 in Anabel Taylor Hall. (April 19, 2005)

Planners lead mapping workshop for community nonprofits
On April 15, a workshop for nonprofit groups organized by Michelle M. Thompson, a visiting lecturer in Cornell's Department of City and Regional Planning, took place at Albert R. Mann Library. Planners introduced workshop participants to Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a methodology that uses tools and techniques to do spatial analyses of community information, such as household demographics or environmental factors. (April 18, 2005)

Former ambassador is Bartels World Affairs Fellow
Dennis B. Ross, the former U.S. ambassador and Washington's chief peace negotiator in the Middle East, will discuss "Finding the Missing Peace? The Middle East in 2005," this year's Bartels World Affairs Fellowship lecture at Cornell, Wednesday, April 27, at 8 p.m. in Statler Auditorium. (April 18, 2005)

Pritzker architecture prize laureate Rem Koolhaas to speak April 25
Rem Koolhaas, considered one of the most innovative architects in the world today, will speak at Cornell April 25 about his recent work. His talk, which is free and open to the public, will be at 6 p.m. in the David L. Call Alumni Auditorium, Kennedy Hall. (April 18, 2005)

'The Digital Download Strikes Back' forum participants agree to disagree
A group of experts on peer-to-peer file sharing managed to agree on one thing last night: that having people obtain intellectual property without compensating the creators is not a good thing. But they came nowhere near to agreeing on a solution to the problem. (April 15, 2005)

Volunteers needed for community effort April 23
Come one, come all and volunteer Saturday, April 23, 2005. On Site Volunteer Services, a student-run, nationally recognized nonprofit organization, is coordinating more than 20 volunteer projects for that day. The event celebrates National Volunteer Week, April 18-23. (April 15, 2005)

Sociologist explores who goes to college and why
Who goes to college and why? The answer is important because education is an ever-important predictor for labor market success. Yet, social scientists know very little about the complex reasons why some students prepare to go to college and others do not. To give scholars a new framework with which to investigate these issues, Stephen L. Morgan, associate professor of sociology and director of the Center for the Study of Inequality at Cornell University, has published a book, On the Edge of Commitment: Educational Attainment and Race in the United States. (April 15, 2005)

How synchrotron radiation unravels mysteries of fungi is topic of lectures
Tree diseases, ecosystem disturbance, the crumbling of houses, biomass degradation, carbon cycling and bioremediation of environmental toxins have a lot more in common than first meets the eye. They are phenomena that can be caused by higher fungi. Barbara Illman, an expert on fungal mechanisms of wood decay, will deliver three lectures on the topic during the week of April 25 in a series sponsored by the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS) on Frontier Applications in Synchrotron Radiation. (April 15, 2005)

Cornell Feline Follies slated for Saturday, April 23
The Feline Club at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine will hold its annual Feline Follies Saturday, April 23, 2005, from 1 to 5 p.m. in the atrium of the veterinary college. Feline Follies is a free event open to all types of cats and owners of all ages. (April 15, 2005)

Third-person perspective is helpful in meeting goals
Trying to lose weight, be less nervous when speaking publicly or improve in some other way? One strategy that can help is to switch your point of view from the first-person to a third-person perspective when reviewing your progress, according to a series of studies conducted at Cornell University. (April 14, 2005)

Seamus Davis shares physics award
J.C. Seamus Davis, Cornell professor of physics, will share in the 2005 Fritz London Memorial Prize, considered the highest award in the field of low-temperature physics. Since the prize was inaugurated in 1957, nine winners have gone on to win the Nobel Prize. (April 14, 2005)

Randy Worobo was 'hooked' on food science the first time he looked through a microscope
All Randy Worobo, associate professor of food science and technology, ever wanted to do as a college student was to go back to the farming life of his childhood. Five miles from their nearest neighbor, the Worobo family calved 800 cattle each year and grew the grain they needed to feed them on their 12,000-acre ranch in rural Alberta, Canada. "My brother and I knew, though, that we couldn't stay on the farm," says Worobo, whose high school class consisted of just six students. "Our parents insisted that we go get a degree from a university -- not a college -- in anything, even basket weaving, to see that there's more to life than farming. After that, they said we could come back." (April 14, 2005)

Two undergraduates awarded Udall Scholarships for 2005-06
Two Cornell University undergraduates have won scholarships in the 2005-06 Morris K. Udall Scholarship competition. They are Shoshannah Lenski, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Lena Samsonenko, a junior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The award supports juniors and seniors who plan careers related to environmental policy and Native American students who plan careers related to health care or tribal policy. (April 13, 2005)

Cornell President Lehman accepts Reichenbach's resignation
Cornell University President Jeffrey S. Lehman has accepted the resignation of Inge Reichenbach as Cornell University's Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Development, effective early May 2005. Reichenbach will be accepting a position as Vice President for Development at Yale University. (April 13, 2005)

IVIg therapy may improve cognitive function in Alzheimer's patients
NEW YORK (April 11, 2005) -- In what could prove to be an important development in the search for a treatment of Alzheimer's disease, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center physician-scientists say the results of an initial (Phase I) clinical study provide encouraging evidence that antibodies derived from human plasma can capture the beta-amyloid protein in blood and exert positive effects on patients' thinking abilities. Beta-amyloid is a central component of the senile plaque in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, and its toxicity against brain cells is believed to be a prime cause of the illness.The study's investigators, however, caution that it's still far too early to hail IVIg as anything but "promising," and they do not currently recommend that physicians treat Alzheimer's patients with IVIg.

Cornell Police target seat belt safety with 'Click It or Ticket' campaign
Cornell University Police will soon be driving home an important safety message: Buckle your seat belt or get a ticket. From April 18 through April 22, Cornell Police will be bringing the fourth annual "Click It or Ticket" campaign back to campus. Extra road patrols will be assigned, and checkpoints will be set up to better enforce New York state seat belt laws. (April 13, 2005)

Slime-mold beetles named for Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld -- but strictly in homage
U.S. President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld may not all get a library, airport or highway named after them. But each has a slime-mold beetle named in his honor. Two former Cornell University entomologists who recently had the job of naming 65 new species of slime-mold beetles named three species that are new to science in the genus Agathidium for members of the U.S. administration. They are A. bushi Miller and Wheeler, A. cheneyi Miller and Wheeler and A. rumsfeldi Miller and Wheeler. (April 13, 2005)

80th Hotel Ezra Cornell provides candid views on airline woes
The only airline not singing the blues these days may be JetBlue Airways, according to industry leaders on the "Flying High for Years to Come" panel at the 80th Annual Hotel Ezra Cornell (HEC) April 8, 2005. The topic for the heavily attended panel in the Statler Auditorium was chosen by this year's HEC student planners because so many people fly to vacation destinations that the success of the hospitality industry is now closely linked to that of the airline industry. (April 12, 2005)

South Africa's Tony Ehrenreich wants unions to blunt globalization's inequalities
Tony Ehrenreich, a South African labor leader who helped dismantle apartheid, called for an end to "globalized apartheid" when he spoke on campus April 7. While "globalization is a reality and has many positive benefits, it is structured so the benefits go to the wealthiest countries, at the expense of the poorest," said Ehrenreich, the keynote speaker at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations' Union Days, April 6-8, 2005. (April 12, 2005)

Lawbreaking former stockbroker offers ethics lessons to business students
Here's a novel idea: To teach MBA students about ethics, hire a lawbreaker -- or in this case, a reformed lawbreaker. Nobody knows the slippery slope better than Patrick Kuhse, who spoke April 5, 2005, in visiting assistant professor of ethics Dana Radcliffe's Ethical Issues in Finance and Accounting class at the Johnson Graduate School of Management, for the second year in a row. (April 12, 2005)

Johnson School recruiting reaches new heights
For the third year in a row, the Career Management Center at Cornell University's S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management has taken its search for corporate recruiters to new heights -- approximately 30,000 feet in the air, to be exact. On March 31, 2005, the Johnson School held Just About Jobs III, a unique event in which the Johnson School flies recruiters to Ithaca on private jets to give second-year MBA students a wider variety of potential employment opportunities. (April 12, 2005)

Grammy winners Sweet Honey In The Rock to give benefit concert
Cornell's Africana Studies and Research Center is sponsoring a benefit concert by Sweet Honey In The Rock, the internationally renowned Grammy Award-winning a cappella ensemble. The concert is at Ithaca's Historic State Theatre Sunday, April 17, 2005, at 7 p.m. (April 12, 2005)

April 15-17 conference to probe communicating science in the corporate world
Graduate students in the Department of Science and Technology Studies and the Department of Communication at Cornell University are sponsoring a conference, "Science for Sale?: Public Communication of Science in a Corporate World," April 15-17 on the seventh floor of Clark Hall on the Cornell campus. It is free and open to the public. "Science for Sale?" is an interdisciplinary weekend conference for exploring the mediation of science in a corporate environment. (April 12, 2005)

Rover mission extended for 18 months -- or as long as parts hold up
NASA has approved up to 18 more months of operations for Spirit and Opportunity, the twin Mars rovers that have already surprised engineers and scientists by continuing active exploration for more than 14 months. The mission will be extended through September 2006. (April 6, 2005)

Human rights in Chinese factories is subject of global-issues ILR panel
Three experts on labor in China will be part of a panel discussion, "Labor, Business and Human Rights in China," Monday, April 18, at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations. The panel takes place from 4 to 6 p.m. in 423 ILR Conference Center, on Garden Avenue, and is free and open to the public. The event is the first in ILR International Programs Global Speakers series in which experts come to campus to discuss important global topics. It is co-sponsored with the Johnson Graduate School of Management's Suter-Staley Global Business Education Program and supported by the East Asia Program and other campus groups. (April 12, 2005)

How U.N. deals with sexual abuse is topic of Cornell Law School talks
In 2004 actions by "a significant number" of United Nations (U.N.) forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo prompted the world body to confront a problem that had previously gone unnoticed: sexual exploitation and abuse by its staff and peace keeping troops. On Friday, April 15, two U.N. staffers will discuss this problem and how the U.N. plans to address it. The event is titled "Toward the Elimination of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in U.N. Peacekeeping Operations." Their talks are based on a report they helped prepare for the U.N.'s General Assembly at the request of Secretary General Kofi Annan. (April 12, 2005)

Scholar offers 'A Tour of the Ethical Landscape,' April 19
Anita L. Allen, author and University of Pennsylvania professor of law, will present a talk titled "A Tour of the Ethical Landscape," Tuesday, April 19, at 4:30 p.m. in the Lewis Auditorium (Auditorium D) in Goldwin Smith Hall. Allen is the author of The New Ethics: A Guided Tour of the 21st Century Moral Landscape (2004), named by Publisher's Weekly as one of the top nonfiction books of 2004. (April 12, 2005)

Derrida's legacy, 'Literature and Democracy,' is subject of conference, April 15-16
A scholarly reflection on the legacy of the late French philosopher Jacques Derrida titled "Literature and Democracy" will be held April 15 to 16 on the Cornell University campus. It is free and open to the public. Hosted by the Cornell Program in French Studies, the symposium brings together nine outstanding scholars in the fields of literature and literary theory -- Derrida's happy hunting grounds. (April 12, 2005)

A.D. White Professors-at-Large to discuss digital art and future of food
ITHACA, N.Y. --Cornell University's Andrew D. White Professors-at-Large program will host two distinguished visitors this month: Lynn Hershman Leeson, professor of art in the Technocultural Studies Program at the University of California-Davis, and Jules Pretty, head of the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Essex, England. Pretty will lecture on "Clarifying the Ends and Means of Sustainability: Some European Perspectives," Wednesday, April 20, at 4:30 p.m. in 401 Warren Hall. (April 12, 2005)

Paul Rusesabagina, real-life hero of 'Hotel Rwanda,' will lecture April 20
Paul Rusesabagina, the hero portrayed in the Oscar-nominated movie "Hotel Rwanda," will deliver a public lecture, "Hotel Rwanda: A Lesson Yet to Be Learned," Wednesday April 20, at 8 p.m. in the Statler Auditorium on the Cornell University campus. Tickets are $5, available at the Willard Straight ticket office. All proceeds will benefit the Genocide Intervention Fund. (April 12, 2005)

Engineering as preparation for leadership is topic of conference
We know that Cornell University engineering graduates often rise through the ranks to executive positions, or found and manage new companies of their own. Is there something special about an engineering education that prepares a person for leadership? The Cornell Engineering Alumni Association (formerly Cornell Society of Engineers) will explore that question in this year's annual conference April 21-23 on campus. The conference is titled "Engineering as a Foundation for Business Leadership: Tales from the Frontlines." (April 12, 2005)

Cornell heads Olympic environment impact study for NYC
In its efforts to land the 2012 Olympic Games, New York City has turned to Cornell University for help. To complete its application, the city has asked Cornell's Center for the Environment to put together a plan for conducting a global impact study and a team of prominent environmental, social and economic scientists from leading academic institutions to carry it out if New York gets the games. (April 12, 2005)

IBM quantum computing expert to give free lecture April 21
Charles H. Bennett, a quantum computing expert and research fellow at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., will deliver the first in a series of lectures sponsored by the Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science. The lecture, "Quantum Information Processing," will be held Thursday, April 21, at 4 p.m. in 700 Clark Hall and free and open to the public. (April 12, 2005)

Gro Harlem Brundtland, former prime minister of Norway, to give Iscol lecture
Gro Harlem Brundtland, former prime minister of Norway and director-general emeritus of the World Health Organization (WHO), will give the Jill and Ken Iscol Distinguished Environmental Lecture at Cornell University, April 28. Her lecture, "The Global Significance of Sustainable Development," is free and open to the public and begins at 4:30 p.m. in Call Alumni Auditorium of Kennedy Hall, on campus. It concludes Cornell's Campus Sustainability Month. (April 12, 2005)

Lecture kicks off a year of Cornell events focused on the evolving family
Why have single-parent, stepparent and unmarried-parent families become so common? What are the consequences for growing numbers of children who live apart from their biological fathers? Such questions are at the heart of the first three-year theme of the Institute for Social Sciences (ISS) at Cornell University. To kick off the second year of this theme, team leader H. Elizabeth Peters, professor of policy analysis and management in the College of Human Ecology, will give a free and open lecture, "The Family: Dissolving or Evolving?" Wednesday, April 20. (April 11, 2005)

Vet College's open house will showcase exotic pets, wildlife and dog agility, April 16
Rain or shine, Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine will open its doors to the public for its 39th Veterinary Open House, Saturday, April 16, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Veterinary medical students, faculty and staff will showcase exhibits with exotic pets and wildlife, and offer basic and life-saving skills for pet owners, including a demonstration of dog agility. College admission and veterinary careers information will be available throughout the day. (April 11, 2005)

Cornell to host forum on digital downloading, 'The Download Debate Strikes Back,' April 14
Cornell University will host a forum on the controversial issue of digital copyright, titled 'The Download Debate Strikes Back,' April 14 at 7:30 p.m. in Call Auditorium of Kennedy Hall, on campus. The public is invited to attend. The forum will be streamed live on the Web. (April 11, 2005)

NSF launches computer security program
Cornell University will be part of a nationwide initiative to develop long-term solutions to computer security problems, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced. The NSF expects to provide almost $19 million in funding for the program over five years, with about $3 million coming to Cornell. The plan creates a new Science and Technology Center that will bring together researchers with a strong background in security research from eight academic institutions along with industrial and government partners. Fred Schneider, Cornell professor of computer science, will be chief scientist; S. Shankar Sastry, professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences at the University of California-Berkeley, will be principal investigator and director of the new center. Stephen Wicker, Cornell professor of electrical and computer engineering, leads the participating team of Cornell faculty and will be a member of the center's governing board. (April 11, 2005)

Can separate ever be equal in public single-sex schools?
Public single-sex schools, once thought out of step, are returning -- promoted by an unlikely coalition of progressive and conservative groups. Communities need to know whether these schools are constitutional -- as well as whether they are good for young people, says Cornell University Law Professor Gary Simson. (April 07, 2005)

Cornell juniors receive Truman, Goldwater scholarships
Two Cornell University students have been named recipients of prestigious national scholarship awards. Junior Elisabeth Becker, a New York City resident and double major in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been selected to receive a Harry S. Truman Foundation Scholarship, and Kevin Joon-Ming Huang, a junior in the College of Engineering from Mechanicsburg, Pa., has won a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. (April 07, 2005)

Study shows where to look for lowest hotel room rates
If you are looking for the best hotel room deal and are confused by what is out there on the Internet, a new study done at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration points the way to the best prices and the most up-to-date information on available rooms. (April 6, 2005)

Yeast discovery gives insight into familial dysautonomia
A discovery in yeast that has important implications for finding a cure for a devastating disease of nerve cell failures -- called familial dysautonomia (FD) -- has been made by Cornell University researchers. They have found a gene that is a major player in determining the structural and functional asymmetry of cells -- known in modern biological parlance as cell polarity. (April 06, 2005)

Landmark Cornell Mosaic conference brings together alumni of color, April 29-May 1
A landmark conference, Cornell Mosaic: Celebrating Diversity and Advancing Inclusion, April 29-May 1, on the Cornell University campus will bring together African-American, Asian, Latino and Native American alumni and faculty to promote interaction and to discuss, issues of concern to their communities. They will be joined in cross-campus forums by a talented array of national leaders in professional fields, such as business, law, health, art, entertainment and education. (April 05, 2005)

NSF renews Cornell's Arecibo contract
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has renewed Cornell University's management contract for the operation of Arecibo Observatory, the world's largest and most-sensitive single-dish radio/radar telescope. The contract, with the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center (NAIC) at Cornell -- which runs until March 31, 2010 -- is for approximately $70 million, making the NAIC the second-largest federally funded research center on campus. NAIC has managed the observatory for the past 34 years. (April 05, 2005)

Composer Steven Stucky wins Pulitzer Prize for music
Steven Stucky, the Given Foundation Professor of Music at Cornell University, has won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for music for his Second Concerto for Orchestra. "It came as a complete surprise," said the famously modest Stucky, who reported that he'd forgotten the Pulitzer board announcements were coming out of New York this week. "I am kind of astonished. This is something I'll never have to worry about again." (April 04, 2005)

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