Hunting drugs in a NY nature preserve
ITHACA, N.Y. -- An unprecedented collaboration among a drug company, a university and conservationists will result in a search for new medicinal compounds that might be contained in fungi on a nature preserve in upstate New York. It will be the first survey of its kind in a temperate zone habitat. bioprospect2.hrs.html (February 27, 1998)

New York schools join high-speed computer network
ITHACA, N.Y. -- A consortium of eight New York colleges and universities, including Cornell University, will receive grants to support connection to a special high-speed computer network as part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant announced by President Bill Clinton yesterday (Feb. 26). Cornell has been connected to the NSF's very high performance Backbone Network Service (vBNS) since 1995, but approval of the new grant means that the service will continue and will be more widely available to faculty throughout the campus, according to Peter Siegel, director of the Network and Computing Systems division of Cornell Information Technologies. vBNS.bs.html (February 27, 1998)

New anthology of writings about love
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Book of Love (Norton 1998), an anthology of writings about love, edited by writer Diane Ackerman and novelist Jeanne Mackin, takes on that ancient and heart-stoppingly contemporary question, what is love? "It feels like hunger pains, and we use the same word. Pang," writes Ackerman in her introduction. "Perhaps this is why Cupid is depicted with a quiver of arrows, because love feels at times like being pierced in the chest. It is a wholesome violence. People search for love as if it were a city lost beneath the desert dunes, where pleasure is the law, and streets are lined with brocade cushions, and the sun never sets." Book_of_love.pc.html (February 26, 1998)

Cornell Law School symposium on trade
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Jeffrey Lang and other experts on international trade will offer insight into a controversial new international investment agreement Friday, March 6, at the Cornell Law School. Lang will deliver the keynote address at the 1998 Cornell International Law Journal symposium, "The International Regulation of Foreign Direct Investment: Obstacles and Evolution," at 6 p.m. All symposium sessions will be held in the MacDonald Moot Court Room of Myron Taylor Hall. deputy.dg.html (February 26, 1998)

Professor Jason Millman is dead at 64
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Jason Millman, a Cornell University professor of education and an expert on standardized testing methods, died Feb. 22 in Lake Oswego, Ore., where he was visiting family. He died from complications arising from Shy-Drager Syndrome. He was 64. Millman spent a large part of his career studying standardized testing of high school and college students, developing evaluation guidelines for teachers and trying to find accurate ways to measure human performance in an academic setting. MillmanObit.bpf.html (February 26, 1998)

Cornell Figure Skating Club exhibition at Lynah Rink March 8
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell Figure Skating Club will hold its annual exhibition Sunday, March 8, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Cornell University's Lynah Rink. Adults and children in the club's learn-to-skate, advanced skaters and ice dancing programs will be strutting their stuff to Broadway tunes in solo and group numbers. The exhibition will include special choreographed performances by the Cornell men's hockey team and Cornell student pro skaters. And the popular a cappella singing group Cayuga Waiters will be featured during the intermission. skating.show.ssl.html (February 26, 1998)

Warmest January in 104 years; Binghamton sets record
ITHACA, N.Y. -- January temperatures for the Northeast region of the United States averaged 7.7 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than normal, making it the 10th warmest January in the last 104 years of record-keeping, according to Keith Eggleston, a senior climatologist at the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University.During the month, 39 high-temperature records were broken or tied throughout the region. One particularly balmy spot, Binghamton, N.Y., tied its high-temperature record for January, set in 1967, with 63 degrees on Jan. 8. NRCC.Jan98.bpf.html"(February 25, 1998)

MentorNet project supports women studying science
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University will be one of 15 universities participating in a new project to support women studying science and engineering. Called "MentorNet," the project will use the Internet and electronic mail to connect female engineering, science and math students across the country with volunteer mentors employed in scientific and technical fields in private industry. MentorNet.bs.html (February 24, 1998)

Sick building study blames air, not vibes
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Workers in poorly ventilated offices are twice as likely to report the symptoms of sick building syndrome (SBS) as are employees in a well-ventilated environment, a new Cornell University study finds. The researchers say they find no link, however, between SBS complaints and almost three dozen potential irritants studied, or between the syndrome and age, education, gender, general stress, positive or negative feelings or a variety of other psychological factors. They did find mild links to a variety of physical workplace problems, including sensitivity to odors, feelings of being overworked, migraines, allergies and, surprisingly, musculoskeletal problems, which indicates that ergonomic factors play a role in the syndrome. sick.building.ssl.html (February 24, 1998)

Law School symposium examines endangered species act
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Attorneys, legal scholars and environmentalists will participate in a Cornell Law School symposium, "Changing of the Guardian: Re-examining the Role of the Federal Government in the Protection of Endangered Species and Environmental Habitat," Feb. 27 and 28 at Cornell University. The symposium, sponsored by the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy, is free and open to the public. All sessions will be held in Myron Taylor Hall on the Cornell campus. endangered.dg.html (February 23, 1998)

Alan Guth, will deliver the Bethe Lectures
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Alan H. Guth, the Victor F. Weisskopf Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will be the Hans A. Bethe Lecturer at Cornell University. Guth will give a free, public lecture, "The Inflationary Universe," on Wednesday, Guth.deb.html (February 23, 1998)

New York maple syrup producers are facing economic losses
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The great ice storm of Jan. 7-11 has long since melted away. But the economic damage left in its wake continues to mount, with New York maple syrup producers facing production losses of more than $3 million. In Clinton County alone, Cornell Cooperative Extension forestry experts are predicting the loss of almost 100 percent of the 1998 maple syrup harvest. Clinton County is in the far northeast corner of New York, bordering Vermont and the province of Quebec. MapleIceDamage.bpf.html (February 23, 1998)

Troy Donahue is featured in Bye Bye Birdie at Cornell
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Troy Donahue, a American teen heartthrob from the '60s, will play Harry MacAfee, a father whose life is disrupted by teen idol Conrad Birdie, in the 1998 national tour of Bye Bye Birdie, at Cornell University's Statler Auditorium, Saturday, Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. Tickets for Bye Bye Birdie, which is sponsored by the Cornell University Program Board, are on sale at the Willard Straight Hall Ticket Office and the Clinton House Box Office. All tickets are reserved seating and are $6 for Cornell students and $10 for the general public. Bye.Bye.Birdie.sfm.html (February 20, 1998)

The great pumpkin contest: is it real?
ITHACA, N.Y. -- So what is actually sitting up there on the very tip of Cornell University's McGraw Tower? Is it a putrefied pumpkin, or is it a pulp fiction? To find out if upstate New York's most famous gourd is fruit or fake, Cornell undergraduate students are being challenged to enter the great pumpkin contest, open to individuals or teams. The only rules: no flying or climbing, and all feet must stay firmly on the ground. pumpkin.deb.html (February 20, 1998)

Three faculty members win 1998 Sloan Fellowships
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Three Cornell University faculty members have been awarded Sloan Research Fellowships for 1998: Dong Lai, assistant professor of astronomy; Gregory Morrisett, assistant professor of computer science, and Michael J. Spivey-Knowlton, assistant professor of psychology. The 100 research fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation are awarded each year to scientists early in their careers in six fields (physics, chemistry, pure mathematics, neuroscience, applied mathematics and economics, and computer science) and are intended to help "young scholars of outstanding promise" set up laboratories and develop research projects. Since the fellowships were established in 1955, 21 Sloan fellows have gone on to win Nobel Prizes. sloan.fellowship.hrs.html (February 20, 1998)

Campus drug and alcohol report released
ITHACA, N.Y. -- College presidents coping with campus violence and harassment caused by alcohol and drug use now have a new informational tool to help them examine the problem from a national perspective and develop responses to potential violence before it occurs. Alcohol and Drugs on American College Campuses: Issues of Violence and Harassment, a report published by the Core Institute at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC), is being mailed this week to college presidents nationwide. Developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the report is based on surveys from 89,874 students at 171 institutions and describes issues of collegiate violence, harassment and campus climate. Alcohol.drugs.rpt.html (February 19, 1998)

CARDI begins screening applicants for fall 1998
ITHACA, N.Y. -- A Cornell graduate program in community and rural development, now in its first year, is accepting applicants for fall 1998. The one-year master of professional studies program provides training for mid-career professionals, such as public administrators, economic development specialists, human services providers and extension agents. Students can choose one of four areas: community development process, economic development, local government organization and operations, or program development and planning. CARDI.1998.bpf.html (February 19, 1998)

Cornell Law School lecture canceled again
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Former death row inmate Rolando Cruz has canceled his scheduled appearance at the Cornell Law School today (Feb. 19). His flight from Illinois was turned back due to weather problems. Cruz's lecture, which had been canceled last week because of similar flight problems, has tentatively been rescheduled for Thursday, Feb. 26, at 2 p.m. in Room G90 of Myron Taylor Hall. cruz_cancel.219.sfm.html (February 19, 1998)

D. Merrill Ewert to direct Cooperative Extension
ITHACA, N.Y. -- D. Merrill Ewert, a faculty member in the Department of Education, has been named director of Cornell Cooperative Extension by the deans of the College of Human Ecology and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He will assume his new position April 15. Ewert, an associate professor of education at Cornell since 1991, succeeds William B. Lacy, who stepped down Feb. 1 to resume teaching as a professor in Cornell's Department of Rural Sociology. Carol Anderson, associate director of Cornell Cooperative Extension, is serving as acting director until April 15. Ewert is now on sabbatical, on a Fulbright Scholarship, doing research in the Philippines. CCE_Ewert.bpf.html (February 18, 1998)

Exhibit shows faces of AIDS
ITHACA, N.Y. -- After stops at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., galleries in Boston, Charlotte, N.C., and Florence, Italy, and two weeks at Ithaca College's Handwerker Gallery, the artist Jason Dilley's startling exhibit on the faces and voices of AIDS, Project Face to Face, will open at the art gallery in Willard Straight Hall at Cornell University Feb. 23 and stay through March 6. Project Face to Face is an interactive, multimedia exhibit that tells the story of people from all walks of life with a single common bond -- AIDS. The exhibit presents the masks and voices of men and women, blacks and whites, the young and old, straight and gay -- all who are living with AIDS. So the bloodless, faceless statistics -- the hundreds of thousands of dead, the millions living with the disease, the millions infected with HIV all over the world -- seem almost to breathe. Dilley_AIDS.pc.html (February 18, 1998)

'Environment Appreciation Days' need volunteers
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University students and other members of the Cornell community are needed to take part in 4-H's annual Environmental Appreciation Days, scheduled this year for May 1, 4 and 7. The Environment Appreciation program is designed to help local fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders learn more about the natural environment and to foster a sense of stewardship. Last year more than 1,200 students participated. This year 70 volunteer instructors are needed to teach EAD_volunteers.hrs.html (February 18, 1998)

Law professor's book wins 1997 AAP award
ITHACA, N.Y. -- A book by Gregory S. Alexander, Cornell University professor of law, has been named one of the best scholarly works of 1997 by the Association of American Publishers. Alexander's Commodity and Propriety: Competing Visions of Property in American Legal Thought, published by University of Chicago Press, was one of 31 titles recognized by the association at its annual meeting Feb. 10. law_award.dg.html (February 18, 1998)

Jane Mt. Pleasant honored by national American Indian society
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Jane Mt. Pleasant, director of the American Indian Program at Cornell University, was presented with the highest honor of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) at the organization's national conference in Houston in November. "The Ely S. Parker award recognizes Jane for her significant work in science and her involvement in the wider community," said Norbert S. Hill Jr., executive director of AISES. "It honors her efforts in working to improve the welfare and well-being of the Indian community." MtPleasant_award.lgk.html (February 18, 1998)

Plantations' orchid display offers view of the tropics
ITHACA, N.Y.-- For winter-weary northerners who can't get away, Cornell Plantations' annual orchid display in the Class of 1952 Solarium at Cornell University offers a colorful and fragrant "visit" to the tropics. Running through April 30, the changing display of exotic tropical orchids includes Cattleyas, Cymbidiums, Oncidiums and Paphiopedilums. orchid.hrs.html (February 18, 1998)

Proposals sought for 1998 community-project grants
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The committee for the 1998 Robert S. Smith Award for community progress and innovation is calling for proposals from local community organizations and agencies. Proposals are due by April 15. An award or awards of up to $2,500 will be given to a sponsoring program using a Cornell University student, or students, to help carry out a community development project. SmithAward98.bpf.html (February 17, 1998)

Babies are born with language ability
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Kids understand the smartest things even before they can say the words, according to a Cornell University psycholinguist. Her studies of American and Chinese children provide new compelling evidence that human babies are born to grasp the complex rules of word order and sentence structure in any language. "Our studies show that both American and Taiwanese children as young as 3 years of age already possess a remarkable knowledge of language structure and syntax which is so complex and precise that it must challenge any known learning theory to account for its acquisition," says Barbara Lust, a developmental cognitive psycholinguist who has been heading studies on language acquisition in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell for more than 15 years. AAAS.language.ssl.html (February 12, 1998)

Communities affect school performance
PHILADELPHIA -- How much children learn in school depends in good measure on the attitudes and values of the surrounding community -- and on how much those values are shared by the children themselves -- education experts agreed at a symposium at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Philadelphia today (Feb. 16). Encouragement from adults, federal support and even summer vacation activities have a profound effect on what children learn, education experts reported in a session exploring the cultural and social aspects of educational success. AAAS_neisser.hrs.html (February 12, 1998)

Medicinals help Indians and forest
PHILADELPHIA -- Efforts to tap the botanical wisdom of the rain forest -- its people, plants and animals -- are producing such encouraging results that researchers, who call themselves bioprospectors, are ready to take the next step: assisting Indian communities in cultivating newly discovered medicinal plants for their own use and for export to the developed world. "The indigenous people have known about most of these plants all along. Our job as scientists is to validate their knowledge by doing the bioassays that prove the plants' effectiveness against disease," says Eloy Rodriguez, the Cornell University biologist who has discovered 10 plants from the Amazon rain forests with anti-malarial properties. AAAS_Rodriguez.hrs.html (February 12, 1998)

Some women's workplace inequality grows
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Women have made "substantial progress" in gender equality over the past 25 years, increasing their presence in the labor market and narrowing the wage gap with men. But a new study by a Cornell University labor economist also provides dramatic evidence that the economic status of less-educated women is deteriorating. "Less-educated women, especially high school dropouts, have seen their wages fall and their level of participation in the labor market rise at a much slower pace than their more highly educated counterparts. These trends are especially disturbing when one notes that more and more of these women have become the single head of the household," said study author Francine D. Blau, the Frances Perkins Professor in Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations. "These women are becoming less able to support a family while at the same time more responsible for the family's well-being." blau_study.dg.html (February 16, 1998)

Death row inmate's lecture rescheduled
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Former death row inmate Rolando Cruz has rescheduled his appearance at the Cornell Law School for Thursday, Feb. 19, at 2 p.m. in Room G90 of Myron Taylor Hall. Cruz's visit to Cornell is sponsored by the Law School's Death Penalty Project and is free and open to the public. cruz_reschedule.dg.html (February 16, 1998)

Cornell Police ask for help in investigation
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell Police investigators are asking members of the campus community, especially those who park in lots on the east end of campus, for help in tracking down a person who has been placing malicious messages on cars. Since September, 21 small stickers have been taped on cars, most of them parked near the Teaching and Research Barns or in lots off Judd Falls Road near Morrison and Bradfield halls. Some stickers have been placed in Mann Library. The most recent incident occurred Feb. 2, when a sticker was placed on the north side of Emerson Hall. sticker_investigation.lgk.html (February 16, 1998)

Good franchise relationship helps hotels
ITHACA, N.Y. -- A more positive relationship between a franchisee and the hotel parent company can lead to better occupancy rates and happier customers -- not to mention increased profits. That's according to a new study by Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration. "If a franchiser wants to improve the performance of its hotels, it should treat them more like partners rather than as 'necessary evils' to be tolerated or, worse, adversaries to exploit," said Chekitan Dev, associate professor of strategic marketing at the School of Hotel Administration. franchise.dg.html (February 13, 1998)

Ballantyne is director of Nanofabrication Facility
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University Professor of Electrical Engineering Joseph M. Ballantyne has been named the Lester B. Knight Director of the Cornell Nanofabrication Facility. A member of the Cornell faculty since 1964 and founding director of the university's first microelectronics fabrication facility, Ballantyne takes over from Noel C. MacDonald, who is on leave-of-absence from the faculty to direct the federal DARPA (Defense Advance Research Projects Agency) Electronic Technology Office. Ballantyne_nanofab.hrs.html (February 11, 1998)

USDA grant to eradicate tree-killing beetles
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) has awarded a Cornell University entomologist a $50,000 grant to help eradicate the Asian long-horned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis). The beetle, which is wreaking havoc with hardwood trees in Brooklyn and on parts of Long Island, is considered by experts to threaten commercial tree industries in the Northeast. It is also a threat to the maple syrup, and tourism industries. The beetle has no known natural enemy in North America. BeetleGrant.bpf.html (February 11, 1998)

Book examines serial killer in our culture
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Have serial killers Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer replaced Clint Eastwood and John Wayne as American icons? The question may oversimplify things, but it nonetheless goes to the heart of some complex cultural issues, argues Cornell English Professor Mark Seltzer in his new book, Serial Killers: Death and Life in America's Wound Culture (Routledge), published this month. Seltzer.pc.html (February 11, 1998)

Neighborhood relations forum
ITHACA, N.Y. -- A campuswide forum on neighborhood relations, including student block parties during Senior Week in May, is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 16, at Cornell University. The forum, at 7 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium in Goldwin Smith Hall on campus, is co-sponsored by the Cornell Senior Class Council, Cornell's Office of Community Relations and the Collegetown Neighborhood Council. While topics will range from parking issues to city noise ordinances, a main focus will be senior-week block parties in the Collegetown neighborhood. The discussion is part of an ongoing dialogue at monthly meetings of the Collegetown Neighborhood Council (CNC), an organization that comprises students, property owners, merchants and permanent residents. campusforum.dis.html (February 10, 1998)

Alice H. Cook is dead at 94
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Alice Hanson Cook, a professor emeritus at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations and one of the first scholars to study the plight of working women, died Feb. 7 at her home in Ithaca, N.Y. She died of complications from a stroke. She was 94. Cook was one of the first scholars to write on and research issues related to working women, such as equal pay and comparable worth. Her academic studies in the early 1970s also touched on maternity leave and the various ways public policy could support working mothers. Cookobit.dg.html (February 10, 1998)

Cornell Tradition increases student grants
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Fellowship grants will increase by 40 percent for students in the Cornell Tradition, an alumni-endowed program that rewards Cornell University undergraduates for academic achievement and community service. The hike in the fellowship awards -- from $2,500 to $3,500 a year for each student -- will go into effect in the 1998-99 academic year. The increase, the first in more than a decade, reflects a commitment from Cornell alumni and friends to increase the endowment of aid supporting students in three programs of the Cornell Commitment: 600 Tradition fellows, 250 National Scholars and 50 Presidential Research Scholars. The maximum Cornell Tradition award over four years will rise to $14,000 -- reducing the loan indebtedness students may incur while earning a Cornell degree. Cornelltraditon.sfm.html (February 10, 1998)

Death row inmate will lecture at Law School
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Rolando Cruz, who spent 11 years on death row and had two murder convictions overturned before he was acquitted at his third trial, will speak at Cornell Law School at 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, in Room G90 of Myron Taylor Hall. Cruz's visit to Cornell is sponsored by the Law School's Death Penalty Project and is free and open to the public. deathrow.dg.html (February 10, 1998)

Richard Smallwood at Festival of Black Gospel
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Grammy Award-winning artist Richard Smallwood, singing with the choir Vision, will headline the 22nd Annual Festival of Black Gospel at Cornell University Feb. 20 to 22. The festival is the centerpiece of the university's Black History Month celebration. Richard Smallwood and Vision will perform Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. in Bailey Hall. Also performing will be Malcolm Wilson, Joshua's Generation and the Anointed Voices. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $8 with Cornell I.D. and $10 for the general public. Group rates also are available. Advanced sale tickets are available at Willard Straight Hall Ticket Office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and at Logo's Bookstore on the Commons and the Christian Vision Bookstore, 510 W. Clinton St. In Syracuse, tickets are available at Sacred Melody, 3535 James St. Tickets also are available at the door the night of the performance. gospel98.dg.html (February 10, 1998)

'Sexing the Mind' author to lecture
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Evelyne Ender, maitre-assistante in modern English literature at the University of Geneva, will speak on "Writing and Remembering: Virginia Woolf, Lou Andreas-Salome and Others," Thursday, Feb. 19, at 4:30 p.m. in the A.D. White House, as part of the Cornell University Lecture Series. The lecture is free and open to the public. Ender.pc.html (February 9, 1998)

Physicist Kip Thorne gives Parratt lecture
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Kip Thorne, the Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics at the California Institute of Technology, will give the first Lyman Parratt Lecture in Physics at Cornell University on Feb. 16. The lecture, "Gravitational Waves and Black Holes: A Personal View," will begin at 4:30 p.m. in Schwartz Auditorium, Rockefeller Hall. Refreshments will be available from 4 to 4:30 p.m. in the first floor hallway. KipThorne.bpf.html (February 5, 1998)

Spring Field Ornithology' course is open
ITHACA, N.Y. -- "Spring Field Ornithology," the eight-week course designed for beginning bird-watchers and scheduled this year for March 25 through May 16, is open for registration by the general public as well as by Cornell University students. Presented for the past 22 years by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, the series of course lectures and field trips covers the identification, life histories and behavior of spring migrants and resident birds of the Cayuga Lake area. Cornell students can arrange for course credit if enrolled by Feb. 7. Enrollment is limited to ensure small field groups. SFOcourse.hrs.html (February 5, 1998)

Cornell professor's book on literary theory
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Many intelligent, reasonable people regard literary theory as the equivalent of -- well, if not of drinking sand, then at least of drinking motor oil. And Cornell English Department chair and Class of 1916 Professor of English and Comparative Literature Jonathan Culler is well aware of that belief. "Theory is intimidating," Culler writes in his latest book, Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 1997). "One of the most dismaying features of theory today is that it is endless. It is not something that you could ever learn so as to 'know theory.' Theory is thus a source of intimidation, a resource for constant upstagings: 'What? you haven't read Lacan! How can you talk about the lyric without addressing the specular constitution of the speaking subject?'" culler.pc.html (February 4, 1998)

Susan Faludi To Give Olin Lecture March 26
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Feminist author Susan Faludi will deliver the annual Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Foundation Lecture on Thursday, March 26, at 8 p.m. in Bailey Hall at Cornell University. Faludi has worked on the staffs of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Wall Street Journal, has freelanced for The New Yorker, Mother Jones and MS., and is best known as author of Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women. Winner of the 1992 National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, Backlash reveals patterns in society's response to the women's movement and challenges the notion of feminism as a source of women's problems. A Time magazine cover story (March 9, 1992) recognized Backlash as "one of those landmark books that shapes the opinions of America's opinion shapers ... [it] has set off firecrackers across the political battlefield." Faludi.pc.html (February 4, 1998)

Cornell creates new fruits and vegetables
GENEVA, N.Y. -- To officially introduce six new varieties of fruits and vegetables developed by Cornell University plant breeders, the university will hold a press conference Tuesday, Feb. 10, from noon to 1 p.m., at the New York State Vegetable Conference and New York State Berry Growers Meeting in the Salina Room of the Four Points ITT/Sheraton in Liverpool. The hotel is located at New York State Thruway Exit 37, at 7th North St. and Electronics Parkway, and the phone number is (315) 457-1122. The six new varieties of fruits and vegetables are an improvement over existing varieties, either in their degree of disease resistance (which reduces pesticide use), their quality and/or their adaptability to New York's growing conditions. FruitVeg.bpf.html (February 4, 1998)

Cornell puts ag journals on CD-ROM
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University's Mann Library will soon give agriculture researchers and students in developing countries access to a wealth of technical information they need to increase food production. Mann Library, which supports Cornell's colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences and of Human Ecology, will scan and digitize the entire contents of the last five years of 125 selected agriculture journals and store them on a set of 60 CD-ROMs. The result, known as The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library, or TEEAL, will be made available to libraries in 111 of the lowest-income food-deficit countries, as listed in the World Bank's 1996 World Development Report. TEEAL.bs.html (February 4, 1998)

Cornell Plantations seeks tour guides
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell Plantations is seeking volunteer guides to give tours to school children and the general public in the Mundy Wildflower Garden and other areas. Weekly training sessions are scheduled for Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to noon, March 4 through April 29. Familiarity with wildflowers and native plants is helpful but not essential. Volunteers should expect to conduct at least one tour a month during the spring and early summer. CP_volunteers.hrs..html (February 3, 1998)

Ant chemical may help Alzheimer's patients
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The pheromone trail laid down by an Aphaenogaster rudis ant to help the ant and its recruited nest mates find their way back to prey they plan to kill -- contains a chemical now undergoing clinical trials as a possible Alzheimer's disease treatment, Cornell University chemists report in the January 1998 issue of the German journal Naturwissenschaften. Anabaseine, whose chemical analog GTS-21 stimulates the nicotine receptor sites in the brains of Alzheimer's patients and helps reduce memory loss, is one of four components found by Cornell researchers in secretions from the poison glands of A. rudis ants, a common species in the Northeast United States. antpheromone.hrs.html (February 2, 1998)

NY red wines show more resveratrol
ITHACA, N.Y. -- New York state red wines have higher levels of resveratrol -- a naturally occurring substance in grapes that has been found to reduce the chance of heart disease and cancer -- than comparable wines from other regions of the world, according to Leroy Creasy, Cornell University professor of fruit and vegetable science. Creasy recently completed an analysis of more than 100 red wines from five states and foreign countries. Although resveratrol is a compound found in some other plants, grapes and grape products -- particularly wine -- are the most substantial sources. Resveratrol.bpf.html (February 2, 1998)