For the full text of any story, click on the filename at the end of the description.

ITHACA, N.Y. -- How leaves turn from green into colorful, autumnal splendor is known, but scientists have plenty of room to discuss how weather contributes to the leaves' autumnal vibrancy. "Science agrees on the mechanism of fall color, but there is debate as to what precedes it," said Peter J. Davies, Cornell University professor of plant physiology. "Is it a wet summer or a dry summer that increases the brilliance? Without a doubt, cool nights and bright days contribute quite a bit to fall color." AutumnSplendor.bpf.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- When female wasps return to the colony after foraging, some females initiate aggressive encounters with males and stuff them -- head first -- into empty nest cells, according to Cornell University research reported in the Oct. 2 issue of the scientific journal Nature. Researchers call this newly discovered insect behavior "male-stuffing." "It's a strikingly aggressive behavior," said Philip T. Starks, Cornell doctoral candidate in neurobiology and behavior. "In a wasp colony, the behavior is normally somewhat aggressive, but no one has reported this level of aggression between male and female nestmates before. We observed sting threats, mauling, lots of antagonism. Perhaps it has not been reported because 'male-stuffing' lasts only a few seconds and is thus easy to miss." MaleStuffing.bpf.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- To help parents make sensible and trustworthy choices in the potentially overwhelming world of child care options, a Cornell University expert has co-authored a new handbook that gives parents the tools to collect and assess information on child care. The book is Child Care That Works: A Parent's Guide to Finding Quality Child Care, (Houghton Mifflin, 1997: $14), co-authored by Moncrieff Cochran, professor of early childhood development at Cornell and a member of the board of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, and Eva Cochran, the coordinator of the Continuing Education Child Care Training Project at Tompkins Cortland Community College and former director of the Day Care and Child Development Council of Tompkins County, N.Y. and the Cornell Infant Care Center. Together, the husband/wife team has more than 50 years of child care knowledge and experience. cochran.book.ssl.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Where to go to study rare freshwater sponges, find birds in a thorn thicket, watch monarch butterflies in a field of goldenrods and dozens of other educational/recreational opportunities are detailed in a new publication from Cornell Plantations, A Field Guide to Cornell's Off-Campus Natural Areas. The 40-page book by Nancy L. Ostman and F. Robert Wesley is illustrated with maps and botanical drawings, and is available for $4.95 from the Plantations Garden Gift Shop or by calling Cornell Plantations at (607) 255-2400. naturalareas.hrs.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University nutritionists and agronomists will travel to the Chakaria area of Bangladesh beginning today to investigate why the disease rickets has been found in such a sunny place. Rickets, a debilitating disease affecting bone growth and resulting in gross deformities, is usually associated with a lack of sunlight. However, in this case the Cornell scientists believe that the calcium deficiency being seen in that region of Bangladesh among children is somehow exacerbated by either soil or water conditions, or poor nutrition, or all of the above. rickets.bpf.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- New drugs from fungi, more economical production of hybrid crop plants and children's vaccines in potato slices will be discussed at the 13th annual Cornell Biotechnology Symposium, Tuesday, Oct. 14, at the Biotechnology Building on the Cornell University campus. The theme of the symposium is "Harvesting Useful Gene Products." Symposium lectures, from 9 a.m. to 12:05 p.m., and an afternoon poster session, from 2 to 5 p.m., are free and open to the public. biotechsymp.hrs.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- If workers aren't prepared for the impact of climate change on work, there's stormy economic weather ahead, a report from the Cornell University Work and Environment Initiative predicts. "Climate change will present both dangers and opportunities," said Edward Cohen-Rosenthal, director of the Cornell institute and a co-author of the report, Labor, Climate Change and the Environment. "There is room for serious concern about the impact -- with up to 1.6 million jobs lost, according to some estimates -- if we don't address the economic issues head-on. The same precautionary principle that guides climate change is required for dealing with new job opportunities and transition in industries and communities that will be hardest hit." climate.hrs.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- A potentially fatal bacterial disease that damages the liver and kidneys of dogs, humans and other animals -- leptospirosis -- is appearing in new forms in the United States. Citing an alarming increase in leptospirosis cases, bacteriologists in the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine's Diagnostic Laboratory are urging dog owners to watch for symptoms of the disease until improved vaccines are available. "We're especially concerned about some of the new types of lepto, such as grippotyphosa, that we first documented in the New York City metropolitan area in dogs, but which probably is not confined there. We're finding grippotyphosa in the Northeast and in other areas of the country," said Patrick McDonough, a veterinary bacteriologist at the Cornell Diagnostic Laboratory. That laboratory is the official diagnostic center for animal disease control in New York state and each year conducts more than 700,000 diagnostic tests for animals of all species, including humans. lepto.hrs.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- A $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to the Electronic Packaging Program at Cornell University will support the design and construction of a novel fabrication and characterization tool for industry -- a PICT (precision interconnect cluster tool) capable of attaching integrated circuits with at least 10 times more connections than today's most powerful chips. Dubbed the Connection Machine, the PICT from the Cornell Electronic Packaging Program could help the industry meet a technology goal: microprocessors with 5,400 connections by the year 2009, and 7,300 connections by 2012. In comparison, today's leading microprocessor chip, the Intel Pentium II, has "only" about 500 metallic connections between the chip itself and the circuit board. Such connections allow chips in computers, cellular phones, digital cameras and other electronic equipment to communicate with others at ever-increasing rates. connection.hrs.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Earthquake researchers at Cornell University will share in a $10 million grant awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to the University at Buffalo's National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (NCEER). New York state will provide matching funds of an additional $10 million over five years. Cornell's portion of the funding, estimated to be between $600,000 and $1 million annually for five years, will support the Cornell researchers' work for the Center for Advanced Technologies in Earthquake Loss Reduction at Buffalo. Earthquake.bpf.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Despite 27 low-temperature records falling throughout the Northeast in September, the average temperatures for the month were not far from normal -- making this the 30th coolest September in the last 103 years of records, according to the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University. "It wasn't much cooler than normal," said Keith Eggleston, climatologist at the center. "It wasn't terrible at all. In the middle of September, we had temperatures slightly warmer than normal and that put the month close to normal." NRCC.Sept.97.bpf.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Growers who follow U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules in applying sewage sludge as fertilizer to their land may be inadvertantly endangering human health, the environment and the future productivity of their own crops, an analysis by the Cornell University Waste Management Institute has found. "The potential for widespread use of sludge on agricultural and residential land, the persistence of many pollutants which remain in soils for a very long time and the difficulty of remediation" warrant tougher rules than the federal EPA and most state environmental agencies have established, the university-based institute states in a new report. sludge.hrs.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- NASA today (Oct. 21, 1997) awarded a $154 million grant to Cornell University to lead and direct close-proximity comet fly-bys scheduled for launch early in the next century. Cornell's award was the largest single mission grant in the school's 129-year history. The Comet Nucleus Tour mission -- nicknamed Contour -- will be led by Joseph Veverka, Cornell professor of astronomy. The unmanned mission will take images and comparative spectral maps of at least three comet nuclei and analyze the dust and gas flowing from them. The mission's goals are to dramatically improve knowledge of the key characteristics of comet nuclei and to assess their diversity. ContourMission.bpf.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Today, about 780 million people in developing countries still do not have access to enough food to meet their basic daily needs for nutritional well-being. To review the nature of hunger and malnutrition in the world today, describe the causes and ways to deal with hunger and malnutrition and discuss international food and nutrition issues, Michael Latham, M.D., professor of international nutritional sciences at Cornell University, has authored a new text, Human Nutrition in the Developing World (Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO]of the United Nations, 1997, $52). latham.text.ssl.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The sea may soon concede more of its seismic secrets. In this week's journal Science, university researchers report that a network of instruments will soon be deployed and placed on the ocean floor, giving humanity a precious tool to predict and track tsunamis in real time. Tsunamis -- giant seismic sea waves, sometimes as high as a five-story building -- can crash against coastal communities, kill thousands of people instantly and devastate property. They are produced by undersea earthquakes, or landslides or volcanic eruptions. Tsunami.bpf.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Despite dramatic losses in wild honeybees and in colonies maintained by hobbyist beekeepers, Cornell University apiculturists say the pollination needs of commercial agriculture in the United States are being met -- for now -- by commercial beekeepers, although their supplies are precarious. "Parasitic mite and mite-related diseases have caused the death of most wild honeybees, and left the commercial colonies at tremendous risk," said Nicholas W. Calderone, head of the university's Dyce Laboratory for Honey Bee Studies and an assistant professor of entomology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell. Calling the Varroa mite "the greatest threat to beekeeping," Calderone said beekeepers have only one registered chemical (Apistan) to control Varroa mites, "and European mites have already become resistant to that chemical, so we must assume the same thing will happen in the U.S." beedisease.hrs.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Astronomers using the 5-meter Hale telescope on California's Mount Palomar report the discovery of two "new" moons orbiting the planet Uranus. The objects -- first observed Sept. 6 and 7 by Philip Nicholson and Joseph Burns of Cornell University, Brett Gladman of the University of Toronto and J.J. Kavelaars of McMaster University, and photographed again by the astronomers in late October -- bring to 17 the number of satellites known to orbit Uranus. After subsequent observations by telescopes in Hawaii and New Mexico, the discovery was confirmed today (Oct. 31) by Brian Marsden of the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. At the time of discovery, the fainter object was located approximately 6 arc-minutes east of the planet, and the brighter object, 7 arc-minutes to the west-northwest. new_moons.hrs.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Representatives from various California digital arts and film production companies, including DreamWorks, will meet with representatives of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP) this weekend to discuss the merits of a new academic program on digital arts. As part of their visit, representatives will discuss careers in the field with students at a Career Forum, Oct. 4 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in David L. Call Alumni Auditorium of Kennedy Hall. AAP Associate Dean for Technology Stanley Bowman, a professor in the art department who is leading the discussion on the development of a digital arts program, says he is eager to hear what the industry experts have to say. digital_arts.dg.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University has announced the acquisition of a painting by noted American artist Edward Hopper. The painting, titled Monhegan Landscape, was donated to the museum by Cornell alumnus Herbert Gussman '33 of Tulsa, Okla., a Presidential Councillor, life member of the Cornell Council and a longtime university benefactor. hopper.dg.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University will enhance its graduate programs by offering 80 new fellowships, primarily in the sciences, to bring its total number of fellowships in these areas to 100 in the 1998-99 academic year, President Hunter Rawlings announced today (Oct. 1). "We are making a substantial institutional commitment to increase the number and quality of our doctoral students in the sciences and those areas of social sciences that have not had much fellowship support up until now," Rawlings said. "This new initiative will also improve our competitiveness in bringing the top graduate students in the country to Cornell." graduate_fellowships.lgk.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Joel Westheimer, an assistant professor in the School of Education at New York University and winner of the 1997 Millman Promising Scholar Award presented by Cornell University's Department of Education, will give three public presentations, Oct. 8 and 9, on the Cornell campus. Westheimer will speak on "Among School Teachers: Autonomy, Community and Ideology," Oct. 8 at 4:30 p.m. in 345 Warren Hall. He also will participate in a brown-bag seminar, "We Don't Just Take the Pictures, We Decide Their Meaning: An Informal Discussion on Education Research," Oct. 9 at 12:10 p.m. in 101 Kennedy Hall. Hosted by the Cornell Education Society, the seminar will focus on Westheimer's educational research. The final presentation, a two-hour workshop on "Democracy, Community and Teacher Education" will be held Oct. 9 at 3 p.m. in 101 Kennedy Hall. Westheimer.cm.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Into the Streets, a student program of the Public Service Center at Cornell University, is sponsoring its annual community public service day on Saturday, Oct. 4, from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Nearly 400 Cornell students, faculty and staff will participate in public service projects throughout Tompkins County. Into the Streets is a national organization designed to introduce more students to thoughtful community service and to provide a learning experience that will encourage them to volunteer on a regular basis. The Cornell branch of Into the Streets is located in the Public Service Center, 200 Barnes Hall, and is run entirely by student volunteers. into.the.streets.sm.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Macedonian ambassador to the United States, Ljubica Z. Acevska, will visit Cornell University Oct. 8 through 10 to meet with faculty and students and discuss a variety of issues, among them human rights violations, international law and Macedonia's position in the international arena. A former constituent republic of Yugoslavia, Macedonia declared its independence in 1991 and was admitted to the United Nations under a provisional name in 1993. A year later, both Russia and the United States formally recognized Macedonia, a nation of more than 2 million people. macedonia.dg.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- With the help of Weslin Consulting Services, a national public transportation consulting firm, Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (Tcat) is initiating a service and fare consolidation study. Currently, City of Ithaca, Tompkins County and Cornell transportation services are operated separately, with different fare structures. The project's main goal is to improve local transit service and coordinate fares that have not been adjusted since Tcat was introduced last year. Public involvement is a key to the study's success. To encourage interest, Tcat and Weslin are "kicking off" the program with several community meetings that will offer a brief overview of the project. tcat.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Joel Westheimer, an assistant professor in the School of Education at New York University and winner of the 1997 Millman Promising Scholar Award presented by Cornell University's Department of Education, will give three public presentations, Oct. 8 and 9, on the Cornell campus. Westheimer will speak on "Among School Teachers: Autonomy, Community and Ideology," Oct. 8 at 4:30 p.m. in 345 Warren Hall. He also will participate in a brown-bag seminar, "We Don't Just Take the Pictures, We Decide Their Meaning: An Informal Discussion on Education Research," Oct. 9 at 12:10 p.m. in 101 Kennedy Hall. Hosted by the Cornell Education Society, the seminar will focus on Westheimer's educational research. The final presentation, a two-hour workshop on "Democracy, Community and Teacher Education" will be held Oct. 9 at 3 p.m. in 101 Kennedy Hall. Westheimer.cm.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University President Hunter Rawlings today (Wednesday, Oct. 8, 1997) outlined a seven-point plan of action for campus residential housing that provides a unifying educational experience for new students, preserves most student choice in housing and continues the current range of housing options. Those housing options include traditional residence halls, program houses, cooperatives, fraternities and sororities and off-campus housing. Under Rawlings' eagerly-awaited plan, all freshmen will be housed in residences on North Campus as soon as possible. West Campus and Collegetown will be reserved for sophomores, juniors, seniors and a few graduate students. New residential space will be constructed on North Campus, and West Campus will be renovated and improved. Rawlings' plan is a response to the final report of the Residential Communities Implementation Plan Steering Committee (RCSC) issued Sept. 29. That report offered a series of recommendations to improve the existing housing stock and community development programs but did not propose the alternative of housing all freshmen on North Campus. Rawlings.housing.plan.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University officials will lay a cornerstone at the new home of the Johnson Graduate School of Management, a restyled Sage Hall, during a ceremony Oct. 15. The event begins at 3:30 p.m. at the west entrance of Sage Hall. Slated to participate in the ceremony are Cornell President Hunter Rawlings, Cornell Board of Trustees Chairman Harold Tanner, Johnson School Dean Robert Swieringa, Trustee Ezra Cornell and MBA candidate Delfina M. Bisha, who chairs the Johnson School's student-faculty committee. On hand to celebrate will be Samuel C. Johnson, chairman of S.C. Johnson & Son, also refered to as S.C. Johnson Wax. The Johnson School is named in honor of his great grandfather, who founded S.C. Johnson & Son. sage_cornerstone.dg.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Rosalind C. Barnett, a clinical psychologist and senior scholar at Radcliffe College and co-author of She Works/He Works: The New American Family, will discuss the success of the new dual-income American family in a free public lecture on Thursday, Oct. 16, from noon to 1:30 p.m. in the Faculty Commons, Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, on the Cornell University campus. Based on a four-year, $1 million dollar study funded by the National Institutes of Mental Health, Barnett's study found that the "Ozzie and Harriet" family of the 1950s is dead and "the new American family is alive and well. Both partners are employed full time, and according to the latest research, the family they create is one in which all members are thriving: often happier, healthier, and more well-rounded than the family of the 1950s," Barnett wrote in her book. barnett.prewrite.ssl.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Pianist Malcolm Bilson says he wants to start a revolution. And he's encouraging the revolt by offering the world of classical music a new take on one of the single most important cycles ever written for piano -- the complete cycle of Beethoven piano sonatas. "We're playing Beethoven on the instruments for which he conceived the sonatas," Bilson said. "Serious pianists study virtually every aspect of these works in minute detail except the pianos for which Beethoven composed for and which inspired him." bilson.cd.dg.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Should it be illegal for universities to consider the race of student applicants in their efforts to produce a diverse student body? That question will be addressed in a debate between Gary Orfield, Harvard professor of education and social policy, and Ward Connerly, a member of the Board of Regents of the University of California, Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. in Cornell University's Barnes Hall Auditorium. The debate is free and open to the public. Connerly_debate.cm.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Linda Gordon, the Florence Kelley Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, will deliver the Flemmie Kittrell lecture on "The Construction of a Crime: A Century of Challenging Violence Against Women" on Tuesday, Oct. 21 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in Schwartz Auditorium, Rockefeller Hall on the Cornell University campus. The lecture is free and open to the public. gordon.lecture.ssl.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- When does the public's right to know outweigh an individual's right to privacy? Does a reporter have the right to search for any personal information available? Is there a difference between printed records and electronic databases? Should the government restrict media access to cyberspace and courtrooms? Jane E. Kirtley, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, will address these issues in a lecture titled "No Place to Hide? Reconciling Your Right to Privacy and Freedom of the Press" on Monday, Oct. 20 at 4:45 p.m. in 165 McGraw Hall on the Cornell University campus. Kops.lecture_Oct.20.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Members of the Cornell Board of Trustees and University Council will arrive on campus Thursday, Oct. 16, for Cornell University's annual Trustee/Council Weekend. The annual meeting of the 440-member council and a quarterly meeting of the trustees are scheduled on campus every fall so that the groups may attend joint meetings and hear President Hunter Rawlings' State of the University Address. trustee.council.adv.doc.html

ITHACA, NY -- Cornell University is sponsoring the Sunday hours Oct. 19 at Tompkins County Public Library, and scholar-athletes and administrators from the East Hill campus will be on hand to read to children and assist library patrons. The library, founded by Ezra Cornell in 1864, has been open Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. since Sept. 7, thanks to contributions from more than a dozen local businesses, organizations and individuals. The Sunday afternoon hours continue through Dec. 14, according to Janet Steiner, director of the public library. Athletes_Library.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Pierre Pestieau, professor of economics at the University of Lige in Belgium, will present the 1997 Einaudi Lecture Oct. 23 at 4:30 p.m. in the A.D. White Houseat Cornell University. A leading expert on public finance in Europe, Pestieau will speak on "Social Protection or Private Insurance in the European Nation." Einaudi_lecture.dg.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Students and faculty at Colorado State University will be reading publications from the stacks at Cornell University's Mann Library for the next year or so, in a special arrangement to help the Colorado school deal with a devastating flood that destroyed many of its library's holdings. During that time, articles requested at a library desk at the Fort Collins, Colo., campus will be served up from Ithaca, N.Y., via the Internet. library.flood.bs.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- A dramatic reading by professional actors of the award-winning historical novel Wooden Fish Songs by Ruthanne Lum McCunn is slated for Saturday, Oct. 18, at 8 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium of Goldwin Smith Hall on the Cornell University campus. The event is free and open to the public. Wooden Fish Songs (Plume, 1996), the winner of the Women's Heritage Museum's 1997 Jeanne Farr McDonnell Award for Best Fiction, captures the struggles of Lue Gim Gong, a Chinese immigrant who changed the face of the Florida citrus industry but died a pauper. The story is told by three women who loved him but held very different perspectives on him: his Chinese mother who believed her son betrayed his people; his white New England mentor who viewed Lue as a fine Christian she had nurtured; and Sheba, a cook who was Lue's friend and the daughter of black American slaves. McCunn.dramatic.ssl.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Larry Palmer, professor of law at Cornell University, has been named as a member of the board of directors of the American Medical Association's National Patient Safety Foundation (NPSF). The NPSF hopes to improve health care safety by studying how medical mistakes occur and implementing safeguards to prevent errors from injuring patients. Board members represent the health care industry as well as consumer advocacy groups, medical ethicists, trial lawyers and scientific research institutions. notable_palmer.dg.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Carol Clark Tatkon, a member of the Cornell University Board of Trustees since 1981 and vice chair since 1995, died Oct. 11 at her family home in North Egremont, Mass. She was 59. Tatkon, who graduated from Cornell in 1959, was an economist and trailblazer for women in corporate America. Before retiring this year, she was a senior vice president for Exxon USA in Houston, having joined the company in 1964 as an economic analyst and moving steadily through corporate ranks at a time when women executives were rare. In 1980, she became the first woman member of the Petroleum Club in Houston and later served on its board. tatkon.obit.lgk.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Author and poet Peter Balakian will speak on "The Armenian Genocide and Inter-Generational Transmission of Trauma," Monday, Oct. 27, at 4:30 p.m. in Cornell University's Kaufmann Auditorium. Balakian's presentation is part of the University Lectures series. balakian.dg.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Following months of repair and restoration work, Cornell Plantations officials will mark the reopening to the public of the Cascadilla Gorge Trail with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 2 p.m. at the College Avenue trail entrance. gorge_open.hrs.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University has been awarded a $425,000 challenge grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for an endowment fund to strengthen the museum's education programming within the university. In keeping with the award requirements, the Johnson Museum will raise an additional $325,000 over the next three years. "With this endowment in place, we will be able to guarantee for the future the crucial place of the museum within the curriculum of the university as a whole," said Franklin W. Robinson, the museum's Richard J. Schwartz Director. museum_grant.dg.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Patrice Gaines, an African-American woman who survived batterings, sexual abuse and a prison sentence for heroin possession to become a prize-winning Washington Post reporter and author, will share her story and offer suggestions for implementing change in one's life Monday, Nov. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Cornell University's Anabel Taylor Hall Auditorium. Gaines' presentation, "It Happens Here: Oppression, Drugs and Self-Discovery," is free and open to the public. Two Cornell peer-education student groups, ALERT and PEHR, will give brief performances on overcoming substance abuse and oppression before the reporter speaks. A reception and book-signing in the Founders Room of Anabel Taylor Hall will follow the talk. gaines.hrs.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Robert S. Summers, the William G. McRoberts Research Professor in Administration of the Law, is co-editor, with D. Neil MacCormick, professor at the University of Edinburgh, of the recently published book Interpreting Precedent: A Comparative Study. Interpreting Precedent demonstrates a striking convergence in the extent to which not merely common law but also civil law systems now follow precedent. The book also stresses several major differences between legal systems in how they treat precedent and offers explanations for these. Another feature of the book deals with implications of the research results for general issues of legal theory. summers.book.dg.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The dedication ceremony of the Sagan Planet Walk -- an outdoor, permanent scale model of the solar system spread over three-quarters of a mile -- is slated for Saturday, Nov. 8 at 10:30 a.m. in the atrium of Center Ithaca on the Ithaca Commons. The planet walk is named after Carl Sagan, the late Cornell University professor, astronomer, author and television personality. The festivities will begin with scheduled speakers New York State Sen. James Seward (R-50th); New York State Assemblyman Martin Luster (D-125th); Ithaca Mayor Alan Cohen; Charles Trautmann, executive director of the Sciencenter and principal coordinator of the Sagan Planet Walk; and Bill Nye, host of a popular children's science series on Public Broadcasting Service and a former student of Sagan's. The monument representing the sun will be unveiled at 11:45 a.m. by Ann Druyan, Sagan's wife and longtime collaborator. planet.walk.ssl.html

Ithaca, N.Y. -- Cornell University announced today the endowment of a $50,000 fellowship, the IBM University Partnership Award, to support outstanding students of computer and computational science at Cornell. The fellowship, which will begin in Fall 1998, will be administered through the Cornell Theory Center (CTC). "Throughout our long relationship with Cornell, the university has proven itself to be among the nation's leaders in high-performance computing," said Mark Bregman, the senior executive responsible for IBM's relationship with Cornell. "Our goal in establishing this fellowship is to provide an incentive for outstanding students to further their education in the high-performance computing arena -- whether in computer science, electrical engineering or computational science applications." Theory.Center.lc.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Documents, scientific specimens, works of art and other materials previously available only to a few scholars will be made available worldwide through a new digital imaging program at Cornell University. The Cornell Institute for Digital Collections (CIDC), funded by $2 million in private grants, will make images of these cultural and scientific collections immediately and universally accessible to anyone with a computer and a modem via the World Wide Web. The new institute also will develop tools to help educators use these images and will conduct research on how best to manage the new technology. digital.library.bs.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The French Studies Program at Cornell University is launching its first annual French Festival on campus from Nov. 5 through Nov. 23. Called La Quinzaine, which means fortnight, the festival will include two weeks of lectures, movies, round table discussions, films, recitations, culinary events and concerts. French.Festival.pc.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University students, including members of fraternity and sorority councils, and Collegetown residents will clean up the streets of Collegetown this Saturday, Nov. 1. Activities include cleaning neighborhood sidewalks, streets, utility poles, and open spaces. Good.neighbor.day.sfm.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- To celebrate the 10th anniversary of National Chemistry Week, the local section of the American Chemical Society (ACS) will hold its annual series of demonstrations and hands-on activities at Pyramid Mall on Saturday, Nov. 1, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The activities will include information on such topics as how plastic bottles are recycled into carpet, how acids and bases are used in everyday life, the "supercool" world of liquid nitrogen, a secret of the Alaskan pipeline, and much more. There will also be free giveaways for people of all ages. Nat.Chem.Week.sfm.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- A new book offers insight on the interrelationships among some of modern art and literature's most important and influential figures, while shedding significant light on the influence of African, Asian and Pacific cultures on European modernism and suggesting how we "read" paintings as narratives. In Reconfiguring Modernism: Explorations in the Relationship Between Modern Art and Modern Literature, published by St. Martin's Press, Cornell University Professor Daniel R. Schwarz proposes relationships among artists as varied as Edouard Manet and Henry James, Paul EugŽne Henri Gauguin and Joseph Conrad, Paul CŽzanne and T.S. Eliot, as well as among Pablo Picasso, Wallace Stevens and James Joyce. In doing so, Schwarz suggests innovative directions for studying the relationship between modern art and modern literature that erase the boundaries between visual and written texts. New.Schwarz.bk.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Two of 60 Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, announced last week by the White House, will go to Cornell University faculty members: Linda K. Nozick, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering in the College of Engineering, and Patrick J. Stover, assistant professor of nutritional biochemistry in the College of Human Ecology. The awards, recognizing "young scholars' research contributions, their promise, and their commitment to broader societal goals" and offering up to $500,000 apiece over a five-year period, are scheduled to be presented at a Nov. 3 White House ceremony. pres.award.hrs.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- On Saturday, Nov. 1, the InterFraternity Council (IFC), the Panhellenic Council and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs at Cornell University will host a Public Service Day. The purpose of the Public Service Day is for all fraternities and sororities to participate in community service projects and learn new ways to reach out to the Ithaca community. The day will consist of three events: Public.Service.Day.sm.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Janice R. Lachance, deputy director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), will be joined by other Clinton administration officials and representatives of labor unions representing federal workers in a visit to Cornell University Wednesday, Oct. 8, for a meeting of the National Partnership Council (NPC). The NPC, which will meet from 2 to 4:30 p.m. in the Statler Hotel's Carrier Grand Ballroom, was created in 1993 by executive order to support and promote collaborative federal labor-management relations. The NPC holds several meetings outside of Washington D.C., during the course of the year, so that it may hear from federal employees in other parts of the country. npc.dg.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- If workers aren't prepared for the impact of climate change on work, there's stormy economic weather ahead, a report from the Cornell University Work and Environment Initiative predicts. "Climate change will present both dangers and opportunities," said Edward Cohen-Rosenthal, director of the Cornell institute and a co-author of the report, Labor, Climate Change and the Environment. "There is room for serious concern about the impact -- with up to 1.6 million jobs lost, according to some estimates -- if we don't address the economic issues head-on. The same precautionary principle that guides climate change is required for dealing with new job opportunities and transition in industries and communities that will be hardest hit." climate.hrs.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- A research consortium led by Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations has been awarded a two-year $400,000 grant from the Ford Foundation for an international project titled "Workers in the Global Economy." "The project will address and examine the challenges faced by working people and trade unions in a changing global economy," said the project's principal investigator, Maria Lorena Cook, an assistant professor in the ILR School's Department of Collective Bargaining, Labor Law and Labor History. Assisting Cook will be project director Lance Compa, a senior lecturer at the ILR School and a former labor law director of the NAFTA labor commission in Dallas. ford_grant.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- A Cornell University study has found that four out of 10 contract workers are satisfied with their nonpermanent employee status. The finding, included in the study "Contract Workers: How Do They Feel About Their Deal?" dismisses the long-held belief that most individuals employed as office temps, for example, are unhappy with their status as nonpermanent employees and are simply waiting for permanent jobs. A contract or temporary worker is an individual who is employed full time in a nonpermanent position. temp_study.dg.html

ITHACA, N.Y. -- International M&A, Joint Ventures and Beyond: Doing the Deal -- the first U.S. book dealing exclusively with cross-border deals -- is set to be published by John Wiley & Sons on Nov. 28. Edited by Mergers & Acquisitions experts David J. BenDaniel, professor of entrepreneurship at Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management, and Arthur H. Rosenbloom, special partner and former chairman of Patricof & Co. Capital Corp., International M&A, Joint Ventures and Beyond: Doing the Deal is a comprehensive, hands-on manual designed specifically for those charged with the day-to-day implementation of such transactions. Bendaniel_book.html

l