Survival triples for AIDS patients receiving antiretroviral therapy in Haiti
A thousand patients with AIDS in Haiti who received antiretroviral therapy had a one-year survival of 87 percent for adults and 98 percent for children, triple the 30 percent one-year survival of Haitian patients without the therapy, according to a study authored by Haitian and U.S. physician-scientists of Weill Medical College of Cornell University and the GHESKIO Center in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (November 30, 2005)

New Orleans playwright tells prescient tale of hurricanes and hubris
The definitive Hurricane Katrina play was written three months before the storm hit. The play is "Pink Collar Crime" by New Orleans actress-playwright Yvette Sirker, Cornell Class of '84. (November 30, 2005)

Cornell alumnus investigates TB in cows in Siberia
When Roger Ellis '73, DVM '77, saw that an international volunteer farmer-to-farmer program needed a veterinarian to travel to Siberia to assist with a surprising rise of tuberculosis in dairy cattle, he jumped at the chance. (November 30, 2005)

Investigating cosmic forces that produce new galaxies
When galaxies collide (as our galaxy, the Milky Way, eventually will with the nearby Andromeda galaxy), what happens to matter that gets spun off in the collision's wake? With help from the Spitzer Space Telescope's infrared spectrograph, Cornell astronomers are beginning to piece together an answer to that question. (November 30, 2005)

Rawlings ends whirlwind China visit with collaboration and table tennis
Cornell President Hunter R. Rawlings and his small delegation ended their mid-November whirlwind China trip with exchanges across the table and in a friendly table tennis game. (November 29, 2005)

Cornell ranks as 14th-best university in the world
Cornell University ranks as the 14th best university in the world, according to the Times Higher Education Supplement published by The Times of London, up from 23rd in the world last year. (November 29, 2005)

Iron-rich rice improves iron status of women
In the first study to test people who eat foods that have been bred for higher-than-normal concentrations of micronutrients, nutritional sciences professor Jere Haas and colleagues found that the iron status of women who ate iron-rich rice was 20 percent higher than those who ate traditional rice. (November 29, 2005)

And you thought your home energy prices were getting steep ...
Higher energy prices, which have been affecting Cornell since July, are expected to continue through the winter. Members of the Cornell community are asked to help out by saving electricity. (November 29, 2005)

Einstein posts to the physics arXiv
An obscure paper on superconductivity was recently rediscovered by a Cornell University professor and has been posted on the Internet on Cornell's e-print service arXiv. (November 29, 2005)

Department of Statistical Sciences joins CIS
The Cornell University Department of Statistical Science has become a department of the Faculty of Computing and Information Science. (November 29, 2005)

Award granted to develop filters against avian flu, SARS
Juan Hinestroza, assistant professor of textiles and apparel at Cornell University, has won a James D. Watson Investigator Award for $200,000 over two years from the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research to develop nanofibers capable of filtering out viruses, bacteria and hazardous nanoparticles. (November 29, 2005)

John Hopcroft receives IEEE award
John Hopcroft, the IBM Professor of Engineering and Applied Mathematics, has been awarded the Harry M. Goode award of the IEEE Computer Society in recognition of his fundamental contributions to the study of algorithms and their applications in information processing. (November 29, 2005)

United Way campaign pledges are going up as donation jars go out
For the first time in about five years, United Way donation jars are being placed in Cornell facilities on campus and off. (November 29, 2005)

Thelma Schoonmaker '61 talks Powell and Scorsese at tribute
Film editor Thelma Schoonmaker '61, who has won Oscars for "Raging Bull" (1980) and "The Aviator" (2004), returned to Cornell on Nov. 19 to show and talk about her work at a tribute event presented by Cornell Cinema. (November 29, 2005)

Unfair and unequal: Attorney champions rights of sexual minorities
When Shannon Price Minter, J.D. '93, returned to the Cornell Law School Nov. 16 to speak about the future of gay rights, he brought a unique perspective to bear on the issues. Minter, who attended the Law School as a woman, is now a married man and legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco. (November 29, 2005)

Child poverty going down, due to more mothers working
The number of children living in poverty in the United States is down to 16 percent --the lowest in 20 years. The reason is largely that more mothers -- especially single mothers -- are working and not because of changes in family structure, reports Cornell University's Daniel Lichter, in Social Sciences Quarterly. (November 28, 2005)

Alpha Phi Alpha: The Pilgrimage to Cornell
Nearly 1,000 alumni brothers and friends of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity came to the Cornell campus Nov. 19, a pilgrimage that marked the centennial of the first Greek-letter fraternity for African-Americans. Alpha Phi Alpha was founded at Cornell in 1906. (November 23, 2005)

Agribusiness conference focuses on wine legislation, Farm bill
The impact of new wine shipment legislation, the 2007 Farm Bill and trends in specialty crops are a few of the highlighted topics that will be explored at the annual Agribusiness Economic Outlook Conference Dec. 6 at Cornell University. (November 23, 2005)

Cornell's rover team celebrates Spirit's first Martian trip around the sun
The Cornell contingent of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission saluted the rover Spirit with a gathering at the Space Sciences Building -- two days before the official anniversary (7:37 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 20) of her first Martian year on the red planet. (November 23, 2005)

Student members of search committee have an equal voice in the process
Douglas Mitarotonda, a doctoral student, discusses his role in the search for a new Cornell president. (November 23, 2005)

An amazing book drive from Ithaca to Lithuania
Faculty, curators and even graduate students culled their collections, and more than 2,000 books were collected for the Center of Oriental Studies at Vilnius University. (November 23, 2005)

Cornell workshop helps scientists become entrepreneurs
A pre-seed workshop at the newly opened Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park in Geneva, N.Y., gave entrepreneur wanabees some tools to bridge the gap between lab research and a start-up company. (November 23, 2005)

Experts to discuss avian flu in Washington, D.C.
Cornell University has teamed up with the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., to co-host a conference to create dialogues among public health, animal health and wildlife management experts from both government and the private sector. (November 23, 2005)

Two studies find ways to block the 'freshman 15'
Preventing the "freshman 15" and perhaps even the national obesity epidemic could be as simple as stepping on a scale every morning or getting a little info about big portions in all-you-can-eat dining halls, according to two new studies by David Levitsky at Cornell University. (November 22, 2005)

Nobelists address science, storytelling and pseudoscience
Two Cornell University Nobel laureates spoke at the Triple Helix conference, Nov. 19. Triple Helix is an undergraduate organization founded at Cornell last year that now has 13 chapters and publishes a journal to bridge gaps among science, ethics, society and law. (November 22, 2005)

Zalaznick teaching assistantships awarded for 2005-06
Six Cornell University professors have received monetary awards from the Louis H. Zalaznick Teaching Assistantship program, administered by Cornell's universitywide Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise (EPE) Program. (November 22, 2005)

Poet Ogden Nash's proverbial wit recalled by biographer
Douglas Parker '56, LLB '58, author of "Ogden Nash: The Life and Work of America's Laureate of Light Verse," entertained Nash fans in Kroch Library Nov. 11 with reflections on the poet's life and art. (November 22, 2005)

Libraries turn publishers to sidestep high costs of academic magazines
Cornell University Library is among several large academic research libraries that now operate their own publishing offices to produce high-quality scholarly publications, either by working with local researchers or by partnering with other publishers. (November 17, 2005)

Conference ponders building library collections in 21st century
More than 80 chief collection development officers, representing the nation's largest research libraries, met at Cornell in October for the "Janus Conference on Research Library Collections: Managing the Shifting Ground between Writers and Readers." (November 17, 2005)

Weill Cornell immunologist receives prestigious NIH award
Recognized for his breakthrough biomedical research in the area of inflammation, Weill Cornell Medical College scientist Dr. William A. Muller has been selected by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to receive a 2005 NIH Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award, worth $2.1 million.

Who tolls those bells? Cornell's chimesmasters
The wooden hand levers and foot pedals of the Cornell Chimes' playing stand are a demanding physical workout for the players, known as chimesmasters, performing thrice-daily concerts high up in McGraw Tower. (November 17, 2005)

As power bills soar, Cornell is working to trim energy usage
The Cornell campus is facing a winter of challenge as energy costs soar. Over the next few weeks, Chronicle Online will be presenting stories showing the extent of rising costs and how the Cornell community can help to keep them under control. (November 16, 2005)

Expert on minority-student educational performance to speak Nov. 20
Freeman Hrabowski, a leading expert on improving the academic performance of African-American students in math and science, will be in Ithaca Sunday, Nov. 20, to deliver a Sage Chapel address at Cornell University and be the featured participant in a Community Forum on Education and Society in downtown Ithaca. (November 16, 2005)

Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park welcomes first tenants
A federal agency and four start-up businesses are the first tenants at the Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park, in Geneva, N.Y., which was dedicated Nov. 16. (November 16, 2005)

Rawlings delivers keynote address at 2005 Beijing Forum
In his keynote address at the 2005 Beijing Forum, Cornell President Hunter Rawlings suggests a "two-way street" for educational exchange with China. Former President George H.W. Bush, in remarks before the speech, salutes Cornell. (November 16, 2005)

CAPS major sealed in Beijing as Rawlings signs agreement with Peking U.
Reaching across the Pacific Ocean with a friendly hand, Cornell President Hunter R. Rawlings formally signed an academic partnership Nov. 15 with Peking University. This puts the final Beijing piece of Cornell's new China and Asia-Pacific Studies program into place. (November 15, 2005)

Cornell harvest brings healthy food to local dinner tables
This harvest season, families across the Southern Tier have received 81 tons of fresh fruits and vegetables thanks to faculty and staff at Cornell University's Homer C. Thompson Farm in Freeville. (November 15, 2005)

Macaulay Library of natural sounds digitizes its collection
Engineers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library -- the world's largest archive of animal sounds and associated video -- are in the process of making their entire collection digital. In four to six months, they hope to make their collection available online for researchers, educators and others to use. (November 15, 2005)

Molecular Physics journal pays tribute to Benjamin Widom
Benjamin Widom, Cornell University Goldwin Smith Professor of Chemistry, is honored with a special issue of the journal Molecular Physics. (November 15, 2005)

Men and women seek comfort food for different reasons
A study co-authored by Jordan LeBel, associate professor at Cornell's School of Hotel Administration, and two colleagues shows that women seek comfort food when they're blue, while men indulge when they're happy. The findings may lead to a better understanding about food choices that lead to weight gain or, conversely, promote a healthy lifestyle. (November 15, 2005)

Daniel Cohn-Bendit speaks of the need for a strong, unified Europe
The controversial and contradictory Daniel Cohn-Bendit delivered his signature blend of paradoxical rhetoric to a Cornell audience Nov. 11. (November 15, 2005)

Memories about 'the American war' that continues to haunt
Soldiers, scholars and language instructors participate in Teaching Vietnam program on campus and off (November 15, 2005)

Traffic issues drive discussion at first open forum on sustainability
Traffic and parking issues were at the top of the agenda for the first open forum on sustainability at Cornell on Nov. 8. The discussion, sponsored by the University Assembly, was the first of six planned summits to focus on creating a culture of sustainability throughout campus. (November 15, 2005)

Theory Center offers new options, seeks input from researchers
Cornell Theory Center has announced new, faster computing facilities and is inviting members of the Cornell research community to a "town hall meeting" to discuss new directions. (November 15, 2005)

Theory Center deploys new, faster cluster supercomputer
The Cornell Theory Center has fired up its newest and fastest high-performance computer, called the Velocity-3 Cluster, or V3, capable of speeds up to 2.1 teraflops. (November 15, 2005)

Workshops help educators understand youth issues
Sex, drugs and alcohol. These are among the youth-oriented issues being discussed in Connecting with Kids workshops, an award-winning program run by Cornell Cooperative Extension. (November 15, 2005)

Study finds anxiety and depression lead to workplace problems
A new study by psychiatrists at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine highlights the toll that anxiety and depressive disorders exact on workplace performance and profits, and suggests improved psychiatric evaluation as a cost-effective approach.The article was published in the Nov. 7 issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Med College research brings insights for treatment of male infertility
New research is expanding what we know about the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of infertility in men. In one recent paper, a team from NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City demonstrated the effectiveness of microsurgical sperm extraction and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) -- techniques developed by Weill Cornell scientists -- in restoring fertility to men previously considered sterile due to Klinefelter syndrome.

New NIH neuroscience portal to be led by Weill Cornell
The National Institutes of Health's new Neuroscience Information Framework will be designed by a consortium led by Weill Cornell Medical College, whose Dr. Daniel Gardner was awarded the prestigious competitive contract. An invaluable information resource and portal for neuroscientists, the Framework will aggregate numerous neuroscience databases, provide neuroscience-related findings, and offer tools for exploring information about the brain.

Yuri Orlov recognized for his commitment to human rights
Cornell physicist Yuri Orlov has been named the recipient of the first Andrei Sakharov Prize from the American Physical Society for his extensive work promoting human rights. (November 14, 2005)

Child-headed households in Namibia turn to friends for aid
With millions of orphans in Africa, more are becoming the heads of their own households at very tender ages. As such, they turn to other children for help three times more often than to other sources, finds Cornell doctoral candidate Mónica Ruiz-Casares, who studied child-headed households in Namibia. (November 14, 2005)

UCLA musicologist wins $10,000 Nathan award
Raymond Knapp, musicologist at the University of California-Los Angeles, has been named the winner of the 2004-05 Nathan award for dramatic criticism. The $10,000 award, administered by the Cornell University Department of English, is one of the most generous and distinguished in the American theater. (November 14, 2005)

UW campaign pledges jump sixfold in one month
With pledge card glitches mended, the Cornell United Way Campaign surged into high gear with pledges-to-date totaling $413,855 -- 66 percent of the 627,000 goal. (November 14, 2005)

ALS Alumni Association honors outstanding alumni and faculty
The Agriculture and Life Sciences Alumni Association recognized eight outstanding alumni and faculty at the 2005 Outstanding Alumni Awards Banquet on Nov. 4. (November 10, 2005)

2005 Weiss Fellows: Ron Ehrenberg, Paul Sherman, Tony Ingraffea
Ronald Ehrenberg, industrial and labor relations; Anthony Ingraffea, civil and environmental engineering; and Paul Sherman, neurobiology and behavior, are the 2005 recipients of the Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellowships for effective, inspiring and distinguished teaching of undergraduate students. (November 09, 2005)

Twelve projects receive $50,000 intercampus seed grants
A dozen projects promoting research and training collaborations between faculty at Cornell's Ithaca campus and Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City were selected for one-year intercampus grants. (November 09, 2005)

CU Muslims and guests mark Ramadan's end with Eid al-Fitr banquet
About 300 people, Muslim and non-Muslim, gathered in Trillium dining hall Nov. 6 to take part in a banquet celebrating Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. (November 9, 2005)

People eat more stale popcorn if served in a big bucket
Large portions push people to overeat foods they don't even like, according to Cornell University's Brian Wansink. His study found that moviegoers given big buckets eat 34 percent more stale popcorn than those given the popcorn in medium containers. (Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior Vol. 37:5, 2005) (November 09, 2005)

Researchers find gravitational wakes in Saturn's rings
By watching a distant star as it passed behind Saturn's outer rings, Cornell astronomers involved with NASA's Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn have found the most direct evidence to date of thin, parallel striations within the planet's outer rings. The evidence gives scientists clues about how thick Saturn's rings are and how their constituent bodies interact. (November 09, 2005)

Agriculture in Developing Nations course takes students to India
Cornell Professor K.V. Raman teaches Agriculture in Developing Nations by taking some 50 Cornell students to India in January after a semester of preparation, followed by a semester of reflection. Indian students take the course, too, from India. (November 09, 2005)

CU undergrads given extraordinary research opportunities
Cornell University's Presidential Research Scholars may travel to far places to conduct research or be so involved in research with professors that they win prestigious awards or become co-authors of scientific papers as undergraduate students. (November 09, 2005)

Big Red goaltender David McKee addresses Racker Centers audience
Cornell hockey goalie David McKee spoke about his learning differences at a fall celebration for Franziska Racker Centers, a United Way member agency that provides services to children and adults with special needs in Tompkins, Tioga and Cortland counties. (November 09, 2005)

'The Science of False Memory' explores the new field
"The Science of False Memory," a new book by Cornell University Professors Valerie Reyna and Charles Brainerd, explores theories, experiments and false memory in legal contexts and in psychotherapy. (November 9, 2005)

Cornell Hispanic engineers win big
Members of the Cornell University chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) returned from the society's Eastern Technical Career Conference in Philadelphia Oct. 20-23 with an armload of prizes. (November 9, 2005)

'Teaching Vietnam: War and Culture' events roll out Nov. 10
An exhibit of archival materials related to the Vietnam War as well as talks, films and a conference for teachers sponsored by the Southeast Asia Program (SEAP) at Cornell is being held Nov. 10 and 11. (November 9, 2005)

Find your inner actor in a creativity workshop Nov. 19
Actor Tom Demenkoff will present a DrillingCompaNY actors workshop open to the campus community Nov. 19 in the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts. (November 9, 2005)

Franco-German Green Party leader to speak Nov. 11
Daniel Cohn-Bendit's Nov. 11 talk, "Quo vadis Europe: the Franco-German Dialogue in the European Community," is the advance keynote presentation for "Franco-German Relations and the New Europe," Nov. 19. (November 9, 2005)

First round of presidential interviews 'justifies a positive outlook'
The first rounds of interviews by the Presidential Search Committee are nearing completion. One of the members of the committee is Juris Hartmanis, the W.R. Read Professor Emeritus in Engineering and Computer Science. (November 9, 2005)

Cornell marks International Education Week Nov. 14-18
Peace-building in Colombia, the lessons learned from the Vietnam War, aiding sustainability in developing countries and opportunities in international internships, study and research are among the topics of Cornell University events marking International Education Week, Nov. 14-18. (November 9, 2005)

Rawlings heads to China to sign partnership agreement
Cornell University President Hunter R. Rawlings will be heading to China Nov. 14 for a four-day trip to Beijing. He plans to sign an official partnership agreement with Peking University (formalizing Cornell's newest academic major, China and Asia-Pacific studies), deliver a keynote address at the 2005 Beijing Forum and participate in an engineering workshop with Tsinghua University. (November 07, 2005)

Cornell ranks in top 10 in two recent surveys
The Scientist magazine announced that Cornell ranks 10th in its survey of the best places in the United States for life scientists to work in academia. And Foreign Policy said Cornell offered the 10th best education in the country for students interested in pursuing an international relations career in academia. (November 07, 2005)

Enlightened leadership requires training, says Cornell author
What's needed as a corrective to harmful self-interest is principled leadership that cares about the greater good, says Cornell University's Clint Sidle, author of "The Leadership Wheel: Five Steps for Achieving Individual and Organizational Greatness." (November 07, 2005)

Alpha Phi Alpha celebrates its centennial at Cornell, Nov. 19
Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation's first Greek collegiate organization established by black students at Cornell in 1906, will prepare for its centennial with a pilgrimage to Cornell on Saturday, Nov. 19. The "2006 Centennial Celebration Kickoff" is expected to unite 700 to 1,000 fraternity brothers. (November 07, 2005)

'Will Boys Be Boys?' exhibit at the Johnson
A new exhibition, "Will Boys Be Boys? Questioning Adolescent Masculinity in Contemporary Art," now through Jan. 8 at the Johnson Museum, explores, deconstructs and redefines "boy-ness" as a socially determined identity. (November 04, 2005)

Nitric oxide inhibition slows Alzheimer's disease in mice
NEW YORK (November 3, 2005) -- A toxic gas appears to speed neurological decline in mice bred to mimic Alzheimer's disease, and inhibiting the production of this gas -- called nitric oxide -- led to dramatic slowdowns in the rodents' disease-related brain damage, according to a new study by researchers at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

Former Botswana president discusses his country's successes
Sir Quett Ketumile Joni Masire, a central figure in Botswana's remarkable transformation and its former president, spoke at Cornell on Oct. 31 about the development of sustainable leadership in Africa as part of the Institute for African Development's Special Speaker Series. (November 03, 2005)

Seven distinguished alumni receive Rhodes Awards
Seven distinguished Cornell alumni have received Frank H.T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Awards recognizing their outstanding long-term service as Cornell volunteers within the broad spectrum of the university's various alumni organizations. (November 02, 2005)

Explaining why the Millennium Bridge wobbled
Steven Strogatz, professor of theoretical and applied mechanics at Cornell University, describes the Millennium Bridge's notorious opening-day oscillations in the Nov. 3 issue of Nature. (November 2, 2005)

Cornell alumni make 'CSI' television's most-watched show
What does it take to make a television show No. 1? About 28 million viewers and two Cornell graduates, among other things. Carol Mendelsohn, A.B. '73, is executive producer and showrunner of "CSI," and Naren Shankar, B.S. '84, engineering, M.S. '87 and Ph.D. '90, applied physics, is co-showrunner. (November 2, 2005)

Executive VP Golding suggests short- and long-term goals
Cornell Executive Vice President Stephen Golding discussed his findings from six months of meetings around the university at the Executive Vice President Leadership Forum, Oct. 25. Speaking to vice presidents, directors and other leaders, Golding presented short- and long-range goals to improve administrative services. (November 02, 2005)

Interracial relationships are on the increase in U.S., but decline with age
The older individuals are, the less likely they are to have a relationship with someone of a different race. Yet, the rate of interracial relationships keeps increasing, says Cornell University's Kara Joyner. (November 02, 2005)

Drugs make life-or-death difference if avian flu strikes
In the absence of a specific avian flu vaccine, could antiviral drugs thwart a pandemic should the virus spread from birds to humans? One person with a detailed knowledge of that subject is Dr. Anne Moscona, an infectious-disease expert at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. (November 01, 2005)

Avian flu study takes CU virologist to Australia
Next April, Cornell virologist Karel Schat will be traveling to Australia to spend a total of six months at a high-security disease center to study a gene change in the avian flu virus and to test if this mutation is increasing the virus's virility. (November 01, 2005)

Whoopi Goldberg entertains during First-Year Family Weekend
Comedian Whoopi Goldberg joked about aging, current politics and even poverty during her performance Oct. 28, during Cornell's First-Year Family Weekend. (November 01, 2005)

In one academic year, Shawkat Toorawa had four books published
A combination of hard work, revisions of earlier writings, coincidence and swift turnarounds in publication led to Shawkat Toorawa's remarkable coup of four books in one academic year (November 01, 2005)

Oscar-winner Thelma Schoonmaker '61 at Cornell Nov. 19
Film editor Thelma Schoonmaker '61 will present highlights from her work, including several features and documentaries directed by Martin Scorsese, at Cornell Cinema's Willard Straight Theatre on Saturday, Nov. 19. (November 01, 2005)

Smithsonian Magazine taps Jane Mt. Pleasant as 'innovator of our time'
Cornell agronomist Jane Mt. Pleasant joins the likes of Maya Angelou, Bill Gates, Andy Goldsworthy, Wes Jackson, Yo-Yo Ma and E.O. Wilson as one of "35 People Who Made a Difference in the World" in the November 2005 issue of Smithsonian Magazine. (November 1, 2005)

Judith Butler makes first visit as A.D. White Professor at Large
Berkeley's Judith Butler will give two public talks during her first visit as A.D. White Professor-at-Large, Nov. 9-11. (November 1, 2005)

Writer Edna O'Brien leads secluded, rich life of letters
At a colloquium Oct. 28, Irish writer Edna O'Brien discussed her favorite works and the state of literature today. (November 01, 2005)

United Way's Compass II survey exposes hidden need
More than 6,000 county residents -- about 9 percent -- are living below the poverty line, based on numbers provided by the Tompkins County planning department. (November 01, 2005)