The year in review: Photos from 2007
We celebrated the bicentennial of the birth of Cornell's founder, led new academic and research initiatives around the world, and made our voice heard as a national advocate for sustainability. Little surprise, then, that Cornell was named the 'Hottest Ivy' by Newsweek. Enjoy this look back at some of our favorite images from 2007. (Dec. 21, 2007)

Mars rovers find new evidence of 'habitable niche'
As the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity head into their third and most perilous winter yet, researchers are working to optimize their safety -- and reporting on new evidence that the planet could once have sustained life. (Dec. 21, 2007)

Agribusiness conference focuses on economy, immigration reform
A weak U.S. dollar, war spending and falling housing prices are likely to contribute to weakening the 2008 economy, said a Cornell economist who shared his predictions at a Dec. 18 agribusiness conference at Cornell. (Dec. 21, 2007)

Arecibo gets back to work, spies potential Geminid parent
After receiving its first fresh, full coat of paint in more than 40 years, Arecibo Observatory made its first observation in more than six months at 6:36 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 8. (Dec. 21, 2007)

Publications roundup shows more than 700 ways to write about CU
More than 700 Cornell publications were scrutinized in a one-day display and opinion survey conducted Dec. 13 in Hollister Hall's McManus Lounge. (Dec. 21, 2007)

CISER director John Abowd steps down
After more than eight years at the helm of the Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research, John Abowd is stepping down and devoting himself full time to his own teaching and research. (Dec. 21, 2007)

Nina Bassuk awarded the Scott Medal
Nina Bassuk, Cornell professor of horticulture, will be awarded the prestigious Scott Medal at the March 2008 annual meeting of the Scott Arboretum at Swarthmore College. (Dec. 21, 2007)

eClips Career Corner offers 20 podcasts on job hunting
To help college job-hunters, Cornell now offers 'Sound Advice,' a series of podcasts to help with creating job search strategies, interviewing skills, writing a resume, dressing for success and more. (Dec. 20, 2007)

Symposium looks at developing biofuel research
Global warming, oil's role in national security and bolstering rural economies are all pressing issues today, and developing biofuels in a sustainable way is essential for the U.S. economy, noted researchers, Dec. 14. (Dec. 20, 2007)

Cornell researchers prove how plants transport sugars
Using genetic engineering techniques, Cornell researchers have proven a long-standing theory of how many plants ship sugars from their leaves to flowers, roots, fruits and other parts of their structure. (Dec. 20, 2007)

New Law School clinic will assist small investors
There are few places in upstate New York where small investors can turn to for help with securities investments. Cornell Law School will help change that in January, when it opens a Securities Law Clinic to provide legal services. (Dec. 19, 2007)

Recognition ceremony for January 2008 graduates
Members of Cornell's Class of 2008 and advanced degree candidates who completed their studies midyear donned caps and gowns at the fifth annual Recognition Ceremony for January Graduates, held Dec. 15 in Barton Hall. (Dec. 18, 2007)

Bruce Levitt directs play in New York this week
'The Puppetmaster of Lodz,' directed by Bruce Levitt, a professor in Cornell's Department of Theatre, Film and Dance, is being performed through Dec. 23 at Manhattan's ArcLight Theater. (Dec. 18, 2007)

Retired university photographer Russ Hamilton dies at 89
Russell C. Hamilton, a Cornell photographer in the former Visual Services department from 1970 until his retirement in 1981, died Dec. 16 at his home in Trumansburg, N.Y., of congestive heart failure. (Dec. 18, 2007)

Vice Provost David Wippman to leave Cornell
David Wippman, vice provost for international relations and professor of law, will be leaving Cornell to accept a position as the 10th dean of the University of Minnesota Law School. (Dec. 17, 2007)

Cornell's Farm Animal Hospital hosts one-day cattle seminar
The Farm Animal Hospital of Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine hosted a free, one-day seminar Dec. 8 to inform dairy cattle owners about diagnostics and treatments available at the hospital. (Dec. 17, 2007)

Cornell focuses on multilevel emergency preparedness
Emergency preparedness was a priority during the fall semester. Projects included enrolling the campus in a new messaging system, offering flu vaccines, and developing plans for winter weather and a potential influenza pandemic. (Dec. 14, 2007)

Human Ecology students invent innovative products for seniors
In the course Textiles, Apparel and Innovation, students partnered with local senior citizens to develop new products, including an electronic pillbox and a multipurpose walker complete with GPS tracking. (Dec. 14, 2007)

Major study concludes that global warming is killing off coral
If world leaders do not immediately engage in a race against time to save the Earth's coral reefs, these vital ecosystems will not survive the global warming and acidification predicted for later this century. (Dec. 13, 2007)

Cornell seeks to preserve Karen culture and language
The Southeast Asia Program is working to assist about 50 ethnic minority refugees from Burma (also called Myanmar) now living in Ithaca and other Burmese who are resettling in upstate New York cities. (Dec. 13, 2007)

Officials from Kazakhstan visit for weeklong workshop
Twenty-nine Kazakhstani officials attended a meeting planned by the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs and the Department of City and Regional Planning on the topic of administrative reform. (Dec. 12, 2007)

Cornell to help tackle the crisis of uninsured New Yorkers
Cornell has been selected by the New York State Health Foundation to be one of five institutions to address the crisis in health insurance that has left roughly 2.2 million New Yorkers without coverage. (Dec. 12, 2007)

Researchers seek clues to how tuberculosis infects cells
Cornell researchers are using advanced genetic techniques to better understand the relationship between the bacteria that cause tuberculosis and the human immune system defense cells that engulf them. (Dec. 12, 2007)

Can a vibrating mouse prevent computer-related injuries?
Alan Hedge, international authority on office ergonomics, studies a chair that undulates, a mouse that vibrates, a monitor attached to a movable arm and other newfangled workstations. (Dec. 12, 2007)

International students form speakers bureau for area schools
Cornell's new Performance and Speakers Bureau, sponsored by the Einaudi Center, coordinates international organizations across campus to train student presenters to speak or perform at area schools. (Dec. 11, 2007)

Dr. Positive tries to find what's right with people
Anthony Ong, assistant professor of human development, studies positive psychology, believing that people can mindfully choose to focus on their positive emotions, which may lead to promoting healing and easing pain. (Dec. 11, 2007)

Laquatra appointed to New York's first toxic mold task force
Joe Laquatra, the Hazel E. Reed Human Ecology Extension Chair in Family Policy has been appointed by N.Y. Gov. Eliot Spitzer to the state's first task force focused on health issues associated with toxic mold. (Dec. 11, 2007)

President Skorton joins Hillel, Chabad for Hanukkah celebration
Nearly 200 people gathered on Ho Plaza Sunday evening to join Cornell Hillel, Chabad at Cornell and President David Skorton in lighting the candles on the Hanukkah ice menorah on Ho Plaza. (Dec. 10, 2007)

Law School starts exchange program with Peking University
Cornell Law School is set to launch a student exchange program with Peking University beginning in fall 2008. The program marks the law school's first formal agreement with the premier law school in China. (Dec. 10, 2007)

ILR members participate in U.N. climate change conference in Bali
Representatives from the ILR School's Global Labor Institute are part of a delegation of international labor leaders who are discussing a treaty that could establish unprecedented standards for controlling global warming. (Dec. 10, 2007)

Dan Huttenlocher named ACM fellow
Daniel Huttenlocher, the John P. and Rilla Neafsey Professor of Computing, Information Science and Business and a Stephen H. Weiss fellow, has been named one of 38 fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery. (Dec. 10, 2007)

ADVANCE data shows equitable salaries for CU men and women
However, women faculty at Cornell are generally less satisfied than their male counterparts with their jobs, says a recent report by the CU-ADVANCE Center, relying on data from a Faculty Work-Life Survey. (Dec. 10, 2007)

Johnson School celebrates 10 years of Park fellows
Designed to develop tomorrow's leaders for the business world, the Roy H. Park Leadership Fellows Program at Cornell's Johnson School is celebrating its 10th anniversary. (Dec. 10, 2007)

Camp $tart-Up teaches business skills to teen girls
A group of 2002 Johnson School graduates founded Camp $tart-Up, a weeklong summer retreat for girls interested in business careers, as their public service-leadership project for the Park Leadership Fellows Program. (Dec. 10, 2007)

Cornell places third at annual real estate challenge
Cornell students placed third in the National Real Estate Challenge, which pitted teams from 16 top graduate schools in a realistic competition held at the University of Texas McCombs School of Business. (Dec. 10, 2007)

CU Wind Ensemble returns for tour, outreach in Costa Rica
CU Winds will have a reprise in January of its 2006 Costa Rica concert tour and outreach mission, and plans to deliver 70 refurbished instruments to two schools. (Dec. 7, 2007)

Viramontes, Webster receive awards for creative work
Cornell professors Helena Maria Viramontes and James Webster have been recognized for artistic achievements. (Dec. 7, 2007)

Artist James Turrell creates with light and space
Artist James Turrell discussed his work to a full house at Alice Statler Auditorium Nov. 12, from his lifelong fascination with light to a 30-year project to transform an extinct volcano into an observatory. (Dec. 7, 2007)

Doha Diary: Students exhibit research, forge connections
An update on what's happening at Weill Cornell Medical College in Doha, Qatar. (Dec. 7, 2007)

Ezra: Icon of cool ideas
Ezra Cornell's enduring ideas on higher education endure. (Dec. 7, 2007)

Roberto Einaudi carries on family legacy from Cornell to Rome
A profile of Roberto Einaudi, B.Arch. '61, a founder and the first director of the Cornell in Rome Program, son of International Studies Program founder Mario Einaudi, and member of a prominent Italian political family. (Dec. 6, 2007)

Wilson Synchrotron Lab celebrates 40th anniversary
Wilson Synchrotron Laboratory looks ahead to 'big science' and looks back on 40 years of leading accelerator research. (Dec. 6, 2007)

CU and area schools to collaborate on U.S.-funded summer program
The U.S Department of Education has awarded Cornell $250,000 a year for four years for an Upward Bound program to begin in 2008. (Dec. 6, 2007)

Afghanistan deployment affects several Cornell families
Nearly 1,700 soldiers of the 27th Brigade Combat Team, including three Cornell alumni and four area residents whose wives are staff at Cornell, are preparing for a deployment to Afghanistan in early 2008. (Dec. 6, 2007)

Cornell Law School team continues to update Rwanda's laws
Law Professor Robert Summers is almost a year into serving as principal co-drafter of Rwanda's code of contract law. The entire project, as intricate and complex a piece of legal work as there could be, is being done entirely pro bono. (Dec. 6, 2007)

Bob Harris to step down as vice provost
Robert Harris, vice provost for diversity and faculty development, is stepping down in July 2008 after eight years in that position to return to his faculty position at the Africana Center. (Dec. 5, 2007)

Cornell receives 21 Fulbright awards, four Fulbright-Hays awards
This ties Cornell with Harvard for sixth place among American universities for the number of Fulbrights received in academic year 2007-08. (Dec. 5, 2007)

Studies show disparities in vascular disease diagnosis, treatment
Women and Hispanics are less likely to be diagnosed with or treated for vascular disease, a leading cause of debilitation and death among the elderly, according to two Weill Cornell studies. (Dec. 5, 2007)

Sneaky Chef cooks for pediatric patients
Missy Chase Lapine, author of 'The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals,' has infiltrated kitchen operations at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian. (Dec. 5, 2007)

Milstein Family Heart Center topped off with final beam
The final steel beam of the Vivian and Seymour Milstein Family Heart Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center was installed Nov. 9. (Dec. 5, 2007)

McCandliss earns Presidential Early Career Award
Bruce McCandliss, associate professor of psychology in psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, is a 2007 recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. (Dec. 5, 2007)

Embryonic cells implanted into damaged hearts prevent arrhythmias
When Cornell researchers and others transplanted living embryonic heart cells into cardiac tissue of mice that had suffered heart attacks, the mice became resistant to cardiac arrhythmias, thereby avoiding one of the most dangerous and fatal consequences of heart attacks. (Dec. 5, 2007)

New class examines international current events
The Einaudi Center's new course called Issues Behind the News: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Current Events is proving popular with undergraduates. (Dec. 5, 2007)

CU team says county can cut its 'carbon footprint' by two-thirds
A study by a team of Cornell professors estimates that Tompkins County could reduce its contribution to global warming by two-thirds by better managing existing technologies and investing in proven renewable energy sources. (Dec. 4, 2007)

Advance planning is essential when preparing for winter weather
Now is the time for everyone on campus to be as prepared with winter work and travel plans as they are with warm hats and gloves. Vice President Stephen Golding says that advance planning is essential to avoid confusion. (Dec. 4, 2007)

Law enforcement officers train around 'active shooter' simulation
More than 80 law enforcement officers from seven local agencies attended a scenario-based training program, 'Rapid Deployment to the Active Shooter,' hosted Nov. 30 by Cornell Police. (Dec. 3, 2007)

Grad students bring home the beauty of their research destinations
The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies has selected the winners for its annual photo contest for graduate students who conduct research in far corners of the world. (Dec. 3, 2007)

Cornell researchers use sperm biomechanics to power nano-robots
Researchers at Cornell are working to use the same energy that drives sperm to power nanoscale robots or to deliver chemo drugs or antibiotics, for example, to targeted sites within the body. (Dec. 3, 2007)