Cornell's year in photos
The top stories in 2006 were the inauguration of David J. Skorton as Cornell's 12th president and the launch of the university's $4 billion campaign. Enjoy this look back at a few of Cornell's accomplishments, events, research and outreach efforts, and have a healthy, happy new year. (Dec. 22, 2006)

Solar panels will make enough electricity to light the clock tower
In late December workers completed the installation on the roof of Day Hall of solar panels that will generate slightly more electricity than is used by the clock tower lights. (Dec. 22, 2006)

Let's hear it for the toys: Program serves 425 local families
The Cops, Kids and Toys program distributed toys to more than 1,000 children and about 425 families Dec. 18 and 19 in the Ithaca and Tompkins County area. (Dec. 22, 2006)

Department of Music receives its largest gift ever, $6.5 million
The gift, from the estate of alumnus Sidney T. Cox, A.B. '47, M.A. '48 (1922-2005), will support the performing ensembles; concerts and lectures; and graduate education in musicology, composition and performance practice. (Dec. 22, 2006)

Tower crane removed from life sciences building site
Construction contractors for the Life Sciences Technology Building spent Dec. 18 and 19 removing a 245-foot tower crane from the building site. (Dec. 22, 2006)

First-borns get more quality time with parents, study shows
Joseph Price, a graduate student in economics at Cornell, has found that a first-born child receives 20-30 more minutes of quality time each day with a parent than a second-born child of the same age from a similar family. (Dec. 22, 2006)

Cornell begins 'new era' in grape research in Lake Erie region
The New York State Agricultural Experiment Station will move its grape research laboratory from Fredonia to Portland, N.Y., onto recently purchased land, with more than $5 million of state funding. (Dec. 22, 2006)

Former Associate Dean Lynne Abel '62 dies at age 66
Lynne Snyder Abel, former associate dean for undergraduate education in the College of Arts and Sciences, died Nov. 29 due to complications of multiple myeloma. She was 66. (Dec. 22, 2006)

Kate Bronfenbrenner honors father at Head Start conference in NYC
About 2,000 people attended a keynote speech in New York honoring the late Urie Bronfenbrenner given by his daughter Kate, Cornell's director of Labor Education Research in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. (Dec. 22, 2006)

Tim Dougherty is new engineering alumni affairs dean
Tim Dougherty has been named the College of Engineering's new alumni affairs assistant dean. (Dec. 22, 2006)

Susan Holt named chief development officer at Weill Cornell
Susan Holt has been named to the newly created position of chief development officer at Weill Cornell Medical College. She is responsible for creating a new Office of Institutional Advancement. (Dec. 22, 2006)

Warm December could break some records in the Northeast
With above-average warmth throughout the Northeast, several cities in the region face top-10 warm Decembers, according to Cornell's Northeast Regional Center. (Dec. 22, 2006)

'Mindless autopilot' drives people to underestimate food decisions
People estimate that they make about 15 food- and beverage-related decisions each day. But the truth is, they make more than 15 times that -- more than 200 such decisions, finds Cornell researchers Brian Wansink and Jeffery Sobal. (Dec. 22, 2006)

Skorton and Cornell delegation to visit India Jan. 1-8
Cornell President David Skorton will meet with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other high-level officials in government, business and education in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. (Dec. 20, 2006)

New disabilities initiative coordinator will address access issues
Andrea Haenlin-Mott has been appointed Cornell's first Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator for facilities. The university has also launched an informational Web site on disabilities for faculty, staff and students. (Dec. 20, 2006)

$15 million gift establishes Appel Alzheimer's institute at WCMC
The Appel Institute for Alzheimer's Research at Weill Cornell Medical College will seek to better understand the debilitating disease, develop treatments and eventually find a cure. (Dec. 19, 2006)

Kip Keino visits campus for launch of two new initiatives in Kenya
The College of Architecture, Art and Planning welcomed the famed distance runner and humanitarian with a reception Dec. 14 that also launched the Growing Up in Nairobi program and a planning and architecture studio. (Dec. 19, 2006)

Refurbished computers find new homes from Ithaca to Africa
A student organization called the Cornell Computer Reuse Club and some staff members refurbish Cornell computers and donate them to schools in Zambia, Togo and Jamaica, and even to Tompkins County-area organizations. (Dec. 19, 2006)

Cornell holds fourth annual December graduation ceremony
About 270 undergraduates, 60 master's degree candidates, 40 Ph.D. candidates and a lone Johnson School MBA candidate participated in the fourth annual midyear graduation ceremony, Dec. 16. (Dec. 18, 2006)

Nevada native returns to conservationist roots, with a CU degree
Having graduated from Cornell a semester early this week, Lisa Gilbertson will head back home, where she hopes to pursue a career in environmental conservation -- a career path she has long sought. (Dec. 18, 2006)

Graduate Katie Whalen rises to Cornell's challenges
'Cornell seems very large and intimidating at first, but then the school becomes very small because you find your niche,' said government major Katie Whalen, who graduated this week. (Dec. 18, 2006)

Study finds hidden costs of hotel employee turnover
In the hotel business, 60 percent of frontline workers and 25 percent of managers leave their jobs each year, costing employers a bundle, says a new study from Cornell's School of Hotel Administration. (Dec. 18, 2006)

RedRover-Secure: A much greater degree of wireless privacy
RedRover-Secure, Cornell's newest wireless network service, offers a much greater degree of privacy during wireless transactions than ever before by using WiFi protected-access technology. (Dec. 18, 2006)

Two students honored for artistic achievements
The Cornell Council for the Arts recently honored Maria Adelmann and Catherine Galasso for their academic and artistic achievements in creative writing, film and dance. (Dec. 14, 2006)

New book explores research methods of positive psychology
'The Oxford Handbook of Methods in Positive Psychology,' edited by Cornell's Anthony Ong, explores research methods for studying hope, laughter, resilience and other aspects of positive psychology. (Dec. 14, 2006)

CU to offer graduate concentration combining law and psychology
To prepare scholars who will contribute original research in human development and the law, and psychology and the law, Cornell will offer a new graduate concentration called Law, Psychology and Human Development, beginning next fall. (Dec. 14, 2006)

Library of bird and animal sounds now open to the public online
For the first time, more than 65,000 sound clips and some 18,000 video clips of birds and other animals are accessible for no charge at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Macaulay Library's Web site. (Dec. 14, 2006)

CU study reveals pros and cons of therapy for lead exposure
Lead chelation therapy can lessen learning and behavioral problems due to lead exposure, but the therapy adversely affected rats with no lead in their systems, a Cornell study shows. The finding has implications for the treatment of autistic children. (Dec. 13, 2006)

New book asks, 'Why Aren't More Women in Science?'
A new book edited by Cornell professors of human development Stephen Ceci and Wendy Williams explores the reasons why more women don't go into science or engineering. (Dec. 13, 2006)

Johnson School students demonstrate knowledge for Citigroup execs
Johnson School students applied complex financial concepts to a real-world situation, the MasterCard IPO, during the school's first-ever Integrative Case Competition on Dec. 10. (Dec. 13, 2006)

New program gets elders to collaborate in courses
A line of textile-based products to help the elderly was developed in a course this past semester. The products were developed not only by students but also by senior citizens in the community. (Dec. 13, 2006)

Cornell professor helps seniors make sense of Medicare drug plans
User-friendly help is available in Tompkins, Seneca, Monroe, Schuyler and Steuben counties to help seniors sort through Medicare drug plans, thanks to a pilot project in Cornell's College of Human Ecology. (Dec. 12, 2006)

Lang Tong named Jacobs Professor in Engineering
Electrical and computer engineering professor Lang Tong has been awarded a $50,000 grant from Lockheed Martin to support this research. He was also recently named to the Jacobs chair in engineering. (Dec. 12, 2006)

Protein 'bar code' could lead to Alzheimer's diagnosis
Cornell researchers from Ithaca and Weill Medical College have discovered 23 proteins in the spinal fluid of Alzheimer's patients that could hold the key to future diagnosis of the disease. (Dec. 12, 2006)

Bloggers to celebrate Carl Sagan on 10th anniversary of his death
Fans and bloggers are planning a worldwide blog-a-thon to commemorate the life and legacy of Carl Sagan -- consummate scientist, communicator and educator -- on Dec. 20, the 10th anniversary of his death. (Dec. 11, 2006)

Barclay Jones' legacy lives on in new Urban Design Laboratory
The late Barclay Gibbs Jones -- a mentor, prolific scholar and visionary professor of planning at Cornell for more than 35 years -- was honored by alumni and colleagues Dec. 1. (Dec. 11, 2006)

Alumnus Miguel Ferrer hosts dinner for Rhodes in San Juan
Miguel Antonio Ferrer '59 hosted a Cornell Club of Puerto Rico reception Nov. 19, which kicked off a $1 million fund-raising effort for Puerto Rican student scholarships. (Dec. 11, 2006)

Annual 'lighting of the cow' tradition continues
Cornellia, the Ag College mascot, was back in time for the annual 'lighting of the cow' at the Dairy Store, Dec. 7. (Dec. 8, 2006)

University forms new University Diversity Council
Cornell has announced the formation of a new University Diversity Council to deepen and reinvigorate the university's commitment to creating and sustaining an inclusive campus community. (Dec. 8, 2006)

Committee selects issues to study for campus code revision
The Codes and Judicial Committee met Dec. 6 to discuss a timetable for submitting a final report to the University Assembly on changes to the Cornell Campus Code of Conduct proposed in the so-called Krause report. (Dec. 8, 2006)

Cornell joins N.Y. consortium to share computing facilities
The Cornell Theory Center has joined other academic and research institutions in New York in founding the NYSGrid to share computer applications and crunch huge amounts of data. (Dec. 8, 2006)

Queen bee promiscuity boosts hive health
Though promiscuity may be risky behavior for humans, it's healthy for honeybees: Queen honeybees who indulge in sexual surfeits with multiple drones produce more disease-resistant colonies than monogamous monarchs, according to a new study. (Dec. 8, 2006)

Apparel design students strut their stuff
On Dec. 5, students in Cornell's apparel design classes strutted their semester projects in a Department of Fiber Science and Apparel Design fashion show. (Dec. 8, 2006)

Hotel School class explores ethics in the workplace
Students must think about ethics and data management because they will need to make decisions involving them in the workplace, says Assistant Professor Erica Wagner, who teaches Introduction to Information Systems. (Dec. 8, 2006)

A colleague's photographic portrait: Kevin Stearns, 1958-2006
Cornell University photographer Kevin Stearns, 48, died Nov. 16 at Hospicare in Ithaca. Stearns was an artist with a lens whose work regularly graced the pages of the Cornell Chronicle. (Dec. 8, 2006)

Growing intercampus collaborations improve quality of life
Decade of Challenge: From developing artificial skin to relieving chronic pain in the elderly, research collaborations between the Ithaca and New York City campuses are improving the quality of life. (Dec. 6, 2006)

Cornell professor combats breast cancer taboos in Malaysia
When a Malaysian friend was diagnosed with breast cancer and could not find any information about the disease in Malaysian libraries, Professor Rosemary Caffarella began an effort to fill the information gap. (Dec. 6, 2006)

Many faces of a successful $4 billion partnership
This is the first of a regular column following the progress of The Campaign for Cornell, the five-year, $4 billion universitywide fund-raising effort announced in October. (Dec. 6, 2006)

Higher ed publication takes a closer look at Cornell alumna
Through a collection of alumni stories, the Consortium on Financing Higher Education looks at the ways universities serve the public. Renowned pediatrician Margaret Morgan Lawrence '36 is profiled in the piece. (Dec. 6, 2006)

New heart procedure helps Hard Hitter get back in the race
Hard Hitter, a racehorse from Saratoga, was given a new chance on the track by Vet College doctors who performed a new procedure to correct atrial fibrillation in horses. (Dec. 6, 2006)

Susan Brown named the Herman Cohn Professor at Geneva
Susan K. Brown, professor of horticultural sciences at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y., has been named the first Herman M. Cohn Professor of Horticultural Sciences. (Dec. 6, 2006)

When the label says 'low fat,' calories can pile up, study says
People -- especially overweight people -- consume up to 50 percent more calories when they eat low-fat versions of snack foods than when they eat the regular versions, finds a study by Cornell's Brian Wansink. (Dec. 6, 2006)

Students take a road trip to Albany to lobby for Cornell
A dozen Cornell students took a break from studying for finals and writing term papers on Dec. 4 to take a road trip to Albany to lobby for their campus and financial aid programs. (Dec. 5, 2006)

CU on the air: Slope Radio looks to expand services
Slope Radio, Cornell's online radio station and an established campus presence after one semester of operation, plans to expand into new offices and FM and television broadcasting in 2007. (Dec. 5, 2006)

'CornellCast' offers Big Red audio and video on the Web
Cornell's Office of Web Communications has created a central clearinghouse for Cornell multimedia, with video and audio presentations of major campus news and events. (Dec. 5, 2006)

Classes collaborate to create engaging play spaces for adolescents
Teams of students in two College of Human Ecology courses worked together to design functional and appealing activity areas for Boys and Girls Clubs of America. (Dec. 5, 2006)

$5.5 million grant goes to ADA program in ILR School
The U.S. Department of Education grant will enable the Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center-Northeast ADA Center to research how to improve employment and community living for the disabled. (Dec. 5, 2006)

'Daily Show' writer admits his tastes run 'to the more absurd'
Emmy Award-winning writer Jason Reich '98 visited Alice Cook House Dec. 1 to talk about his experience working at 'The Daily Show With Jon Stewart.' (Dec. 5, 2006)

'Stripes' and superconductivity -- Two faces of the same coin?
Researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory and Cornell have made a surprising discovery about high-temperature cuprate superconductors, finding that a non-superconducting cuprate has the same electron energy structure. (Dec. 5, 2006)

Co-op lets engineering students take real world for a test drive
Cornell's Engineering Cooperative Education Program gives students an opportunity to work a semester and a summer for pay with an engineering employer to get a taste of the real world. (Dec. 5, 2006)

Pew Charitable Trusts awards Cornell $2 million
Pew Charitable Trusts has awarded Cornell $2 million over four years to support a research scholarship program for undergraduates and universitywide interdisciplinary research and educational initiatives. (Dec. 4, 2006)

Why teens do stupid things
Research Notebook: Teens take a lot of risks, but not because they think they're invulnerable or haven't thought about the consequences. They just decide the benefits says Cornell's Valerie Reyna in a new study. (Dec. 4, 2006)

Rustproofing and better design ready Pew Sundial for Quad
The Joseph N. Pew Sundial, designed by Cornell President Emeritus Dale Corson and Professor Emeritus Richard Phelan, has spent the last few months in the basement of Clark Hall undergoing repairs. (Dec. 4, 2006)

Mutant mouse provides insights into breast cancer
By discovering a mutant mouse that is highly susceptible to mammary tumors, Cornell researchers have found a novel potential link between genetic defects in DNA replication (copying) and breast cancer. (Dec. 4, 2006)

Three inspiring teachers win Weiss Presidential Fellowships
Glenn Altschuler, Theodore Lowi and Edward McLaughlin have been chosen as the 2006 Weiss Presidential Fellows for their effective, inspiring and distinguished teaching of undergraduate students. (Dec. 4, 2006)

Women in science credit flexibility as key to career success
Balancing family with a career in science requires a large degree of flexibility, claimed women scientists at the Women In Science at Cornell annual dinner, Nov. 27. (Dec. 4, 2006)

Kellie Page named director of finance for student services
Kellie A. Page has been named director for finance and administration for Cornell's Division of Student and Academic Services. (Dec. 4, 2006)

Meeting on Campus Code of Conduct draws sharp criticisms
The University Assembly's first public meeting to discuss a revised Campus Code of Conduct drew about 50 members of the Cornell community, Nov. 29. (Dec. 1, 2006)

NASA astronaut describes for students how to 'test to failure'
Charles Camarda visited a Cornell engineering class Nov. 21 to recount his experiences onboard Discovery, the first space shuttle mission following the 2003 loss of Columbia and its seven crew members. (Dec. 1, 2006)

Cornell-created computer games on display Dec. 5
Help inept Munchkins avoid disaster. Play cooperatively with friends, then eat their brains. Throw squirrels at annoying students on Ho Plaza. All that and more in the upcoming Game Design Showcase. (Dec. 1, 2006)

Scholarship as sculpture: Loan your books by Dec. 8
Hundreds of books by Cornellians have been collected for the Humanities Book Art Project, but more are needed to build a sculpture that represents the reach and impact of Cornell scholarship. (Dec. 1, 2006)

Bernard Gittelman, professor emeritus of physics, dies at 74
Bernard Gittelman, who helped design the first colliding beam device in the 1950s, died Nov. 25. (Dec. 1, 2006)