Cornell University News Service Releases

June, 1998

Index to all months

For the full text of any story, click on the filename at the end of the description. These stories are also available via anonymous FTP at cunews.cornell.edu. Electronic queries may be made to cunews@cornell.edu.

TCAT will provide free fireworks shuttle Thursday evening
ITHACA, N.Y. -- TCAT (Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit) will again provide free bus service between downtown and Ithaca College on the evening of Ithaca's annual community fireworks display Thursday, July 2. Last year, the first year the service was offered, over 1,500 passenger-trips kept the buses busy transporting 750 people to and from the display. Fireworks.shuttle.html (June 30, 1998)

Leaf beetle chewing ornamental bushes in western New York
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Two years ago, the viburnum leaf beetle (Pyrrhalta virburni), a pest with an appetite for certain ornamental bushes, was found in upstate New York along the Lake Ontario shore. Since then it has been chewing its way steadily south, and now a Cornell University entomologist says the pest has been found in Geneva, N.Y. "The damage is very striking. The beetles devour the leaves of the viburnum and totally skeletonize the leaves," says E. Richard Hoebeke, associate curator of the Cornell entomology collection. "There's nothing else that attacks viburnum like that. " LeafBeetle.bpf.html (June 30, 1998)

TCAT begins Adopt-A-Shelter/Adopt-A-Stop Program
ITHACA, N.Y. -- For years, groups have been able to lay claim to a piece of the road through "Adopt-A-Highway" programs, and now TCAT (Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit) is offering the chance to Adopt-A-Shelter/Adopt-A-Stop. Any nonprofit, or profit-making, nonpartisan organization or group may become a sponsor of a TCAT bus stop or shelter in the area for a two-year period. Adopt.a.stop.TCAT.html (June 29, 1998)

Cornell Plantations offers Wednesday evening strolls in July
ITHACA, N.Y. -- For the second consecutive summer, Cornell Plantations offers a series of Wednesday evening guided strolls with plant-related topics during the month of July. Free and open to the public, the strolls start at 7 p.m. in front of the Plantations gift shop, off Plantations Road. The gift shop is open until 7 p.m. each Wednesday evening in July. PlantWalks.hrs.html (June 26, 1998)

Cornell senior wins Fulbright Scholarship
ITHACA, N.Y.-- Matthew Semino of Winthrop, Mass., who received a bachelor's degree in policy analysis and management from Cornell this May, has been selected as a Fulbright Scholar. Semino, who is one of approximately 2,000 U.S. grantees to travel abroad during the upcoming academic year under a Fulbright Scholarship, will conduct economic research in Singapore. Semino, a 1994 graduate of Winthrop High School, is the son of Thomas and Paula Semino of Winthrop, Mass. seminofulbright.dg.html (June 26, 1998)

New packaging sweetens grapefruit juice
ATLANTA -- The bitter taste commonly associated with packaged grapefruit juice has long soured many potential consumers. But now Cornell University food scientists say they have developed a special type of "active" container that significantly reduces the bitterness. "Juices deteriorate over time now, but with active packaging the juice product might actually improve," says Joseph Hotchkiss, Cornell professor of food science. GrapfruitJuice.bpf.html (June 25, 1998)

'Auditory scene analysis' helps find mates
SEATTLE -- It's a problem faced by people joining noisy parties and by midshipman fish seeking mates: How to cut through the racket and find Mr. Right? Now Cornell University biologists, who became underwater disc jockeys to study a homely fish that hums, say they have a clue as to how mate selection works. The auditory portion of the midbrain uses the acoustic qualities of all the noise to isolate one signal it is programmed to recognize as potentially interesting. hummingfish.hrs.html (June 25, 1998)

Johnson Museum wins $55,000 NEA grant
ITHACA, N.Y.--The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University has been awarded an endowment grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The Johnson Museum is the only university museum in the country to win such a grant during this award cycle. "This NEA grant is a tribute to the reputation and achievement of the Johnson Museum," said Frank Robinson, the Richard J. Schwartz Director of the museum. "It is a sign that our collection and our educational programming are held in high national esteem." nea_grant.dg.html (June 25, 1998)

Board of Trustees will seat new and re-elected members
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell University Board of Trustees recently elected two new at-large trustees, two new trustee fellows, and it re-elected three at-large members, one member from the field of labor and three fellows. Board members also welcomed two new alumni-elected trustees, one new faculty-elected trustee and one new student-elected trustee. In addition, the board unanimously re-elected Ronay A. Menschel and Edwin H. Morgens as vice chairpersons, for one-year terms beginning July 1. New.trustees.jp.html (June 25, 1998)

Servers who touch patrons get bigger tips
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Reach out and touch someone may be the new motto of the hospitality industry. A new study by the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, published in the June 1998 issue of the Cornell Hotel and Administration Quarterly, shows that when restaurant servers touch their customers -- even for as long as four seconds -- they increase their tips by more than 3 percent. Especially prone to the power of touch were younger customers: Touching them increased tips by nearly 7 percent. Older customers were less influenced by the four-second touch: hands-on service only increased tips in this group by about 2 percent. Existing studies have shown similar increases in tips when the customer is touched, but this study is the first to show that a prolonged touch does not provoke a negative reaction from customers that might cause them to leave a smaller tip. touchstudy.html (June 23, 1998)

Students win national food product competition for third time
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell University food science student team won the 1998 Institute of Food Technologists' national food product competition in Atlanta Monday night (June 22) for the third time in four years. The winning entry was a cone-shaped, flour tortilla meal-wrapper called Wrapidos. In the largest field of participants in the history of the competition, Cornell beat second-place Iowa State's S'morsels, third-place Kansas State's Chicotillas and 17 other teams. WrapidosWin.bpf.html (June 23, 1998)

Why some microwaved foods explode
ATLANTA -- Why do some foods, such as eggs, explode in a microwave oven? Why do microwave-heated TV dinners emerge with dried-out peas but frozen mashed potatoes? Why do microwaved French fries always come out soggy? For the first time, a Cornell University professor has explained the fundamentals of these processes, and his calculations, he says, could turn microwaving into a predictable science, resulting in more appetizing and nutritious foods in the future. Ashim Datta, associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering, has developed mathematical and computer models to explain how different kinds of food, and properties such as such as shape and size, are affected by oven power and food placement during microwave heating. microwave.ift.ssl.html (June 22, 1998)

Library project preserves ag literature
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Prior to World War II, America was a largely rural nation, but many of the documents that chronicle the history of rural life are drying, cracking and crumbling away on the shelves of libraries of state colleges of agriculture. Funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is now helping to identify and preserve state and local historical literature about agriculture and rural life in the period from 1820 to 1945. Cornell University's Mann Library is directing the project, in which land-grant university libraries in 15 states are microfilming the publications. agliterature.bs.html (June 22, 1998)

Elderly modify homes despite the cost
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Despite the high cost, 40 percent of Americans over age 70, regardless of income, have modified their homes with grab bars, bathroom railings, wheelchair ramps and other aids, reports a Cornell University housing economist. "We had no idea that so many elderly have modified their homes to function better," says Nandinee Kutty, assistant professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell. "The modifications become such a necessity that older Americans invest in them regardless of financial situation. Yet, the cost of these modifications is not covered by Medicare or other insurance." home.elderly.ssl.html (June 22, 1998)

Waste management committee reports
ITHACA, N.Y. -- After thousands of hours of investigation, consultation, discussion and deliberation over 20 months, a committee of university and community representatives has recommended a waste-management plan for Cornell University and its College of Veterinary Medicine that would phase out the need for incineration. The Cornell/Community Waste Management Advisory Committee will hold a press briefing at the Community Dispute Resolution Center office, 120 W. State St., Ithaca, at 3 p.m. today. Don Smith, dean of the veterinary college, as well as other university officials and members of the committee, will be available at the briefing. wastemanagementadv.lgk.html (June 22, 1998)

Nominations sought for Business & Technology Park's Community Service Awards
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Nominations are being accepted through Friday, June 26, for the annual Community Service Awards presented to companies located in the Cornell Business & Technology Park (CBTP) in the village of Lansing. The awards, sponsored by the Real Estate Department of Cornell University, recognize the volunteer and community service efforts made by companies and employees of companies located in the CBTP. All companies in the park are eligible for the awards; companies can nominate themselves or can be nominated by others. CU.Real.Estate.award.sm.html (June 19, 1998)

Trustees Executive Committee meets in New York City June 25
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell University Board of Trustees Executive Committee will meet in New York City Thursday, June 25. The meeting will be held in the Fall Creek Room of the Cornell Club of New York, Exec.comm.june.jp.html (June 19, 1998)

Rebecca Quinn Morgan elected at-large trustee
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Rebecca Quinn Morgan of Los Altos Hills, Calif., has been elected to the Cornell University Board of Trustees as a trustee at-large for a four-year term, effective July 1, 1998. Morgan, who received a B.S. (Human Ecology '60) at Cornell and a MBA ('78) at Stanford University, has been president and chief executive officer of the Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network, a non-profit organization of business, government and education leaders working to improve the economic competitiveness and quality of life in Silicon Valley, since 1993. She was a California state senator from 1984 to 1993 as a Republican representative of the 11th District. morgan.ssl.html (June 19, 1998)

Japanese builders learn to build houses valued longer than 20 years
ITHACA, N.Y. -- In Japan, where typical houses are less than half the size of average American houses but cost two to three times more and maintain value for only about 20 years before they become worthless and are demolished, home builders are turning to Cornell University to learn how to build better, economical and energy-efficient homes. Associate Professor Joseph Laquatra, a housing specialist in the Housing and Home Environment Program of Cornell Cooperative Extension, and other experts briefed Japanese builders on American house design and construction methods and techniques in a four-day short course he organized for the Housing Institute of Complete Project Management (HICPM) of Tokyo, Japan, June 10 through 13. Seven officers and members of this non-profit educational organization, including the president, an architect and translator, came to Cornell for the special course. HICPM's members represent various facets of Japan's residential construction industry. japan.builders.ssl.html (June 17, 1998)

Charles Wolfram named interim dean of Cornell Law School
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Charles W. Wolfram, the Charles Frank Reavis Sr. Professor of Law at the Cornell University Law School, has been named interim dean of the Law School effective Aug. 1. Wolfram will serve in that capacity through June 30, 1999. The appointment was announced by Provost Don M. Randel. Wolfram succeeds Russell K. Osgood, who will become president of Grinnell College. Osgood has served as dean of the Law School since 1988. wolframannounce.dg.html (June 16, 1998)

Revising Koechel catalog of Mozart's works
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has become a cultural icon whose image and music are used to sell everything from cars to chocolates. Can there be anything new to say about him or his music? Neal Zaslaw thinks so, and classical music scholars worldwide will be able to debate whether he is right or wrong in a few years, when his current research project, a new edition of the Koechel catalogue that lists Mozart's works, is published. He expects it to be controversial. zaslaw.mozart.koechel.html (June 16, 1998)

Cornell will be the new home of Dutch Bulb Program
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The influential Dutch Bulb Program in the United States is moving to Cornell University from Raleigh, N.C. The selection announcement notes that the move is a tribute to Cornell's extremely long and prestigious horticultural tradition. The announcement was made by the Dutch Wholesalers Association for Flowerbulbs and Nursery Stock and by the North American Flowerbulb Wholesalers Association, made up of representatives from the Dutch and U.S. flower-bulb and greenhouse industry. BulbProgram.bpf.html (June 15, 1998)

Tracking pulsars by their twinkle
SAN DIEGO -- Twinkle, twinkle little pulsar is much more than a nursery rhyme to radio astronomers. They have found a way to use the twinkling to measure the velocity and distance of these speeding neutron stars that are up above the world so high that they have escaped from the galaxy. In the hope of finding new pulsars and calculating just how fast they can travel, Cornell University professor of astronomy James Cordes, and Barney Rickett, an astronomer at the University of California, San Diego, have devised a method that combines computer modeling with two of the world's largest radio telescopes, the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) and the Arecibo Observatory, to measure the speed and distance of these incredibly dense, spinning objects well above the galactic plane. scintillation.deb.html (June 8, 1998)

Measuring bonds in a single molecule
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Ever since the invention in 1982 of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), which can see single atoms, scientists have been trying to use the instrument to examine the bonds that hold atoms together in molecules. In a significant advance, a team of Cornell University physicists has successfully made a measurement of the frequency at which atoms in a bond are vibrating against each other in a single molecule of acetylene. The research for the first time provides a way to identify single molecules by their vibrational signatures and to study how their bonds change during chemical processes. It could lead to better understanding of how catalysts work and a new way to study biological molecules like DNA. vibrate.bs.html (June 9, 1998)

Agreement to develop edible vaccines
ITHACA, N.Y. -- An exclusive research and license agreement was announced today (June 14) by the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (BTI), Ithaca, N.Y., and Axis Genetics, PLC, Cambridge, England. It links two organizations with complementary goals and expertise in creating a new generation of oral vaccines. BTI, located on the campus of Cornell University, is a not-for-profit organization that has pioneered the creation of edible vaccines in specially engineered plants. While pursuing their mission of providing highly effective, low-cost immunization strategies for use by developing countries, BTI scientists have recognized that their technology is also of immediate use for numerous preventive medical applications. BTI.Axis.bpf.html (June 11, 1998)

Quick thinkers may have averted Japanese pine sawyer beetle infestation in Jamestown
ITHACA, N.Y. -- It's not every day that plumbing-supply warehouse employees get a chance to protect the environment. Tuesday, June 9, 1998, was one of those days. Thanks to the employees' keen eyes and quick thinking, the area around Jamestown, N.Y., may have been spared an infestation of harmful Japanese pine sawyer beetles, which can destroy pine trees. JamestownBeetle.bpf.html (June 12, 1998)

Challenge Industries, GIAC, Student Farm win 1998 Smith Awards
ITHACA, N.Y. -- A Challenge Industries Inc. project and another project that combines the talents of the Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC) and the Dilmun Hill Cornell University Student Farm have won 1998 Tompkins County Trust Co.'s Robert S. Smith Awards for community progress and innovation. This is the fifth year the awards have been given. Challenge Industries Inc. will use its award to plan, promote and coordinate a six-month pilot unit of Small Business Enterprise Support Services. This project is a new level of service for individuals with disabilities or related barriers to community employment. Judi Hilman from Challenge Industries is the project's supervisor, and she will manage Cornell student Erin Deegan. SmithAward.bpf.html (June 11, 1998)

Nest-Cam puts swallow family on the web
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Ornithologists have taken voyeurism a step further by installing a video camera in the home of a pair of nesting tree swallows. The seemingly oblivious birds at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology are raising a family in full view of the World Wide Web. The birds at are the most public avian participants in the Cornell Nest Box Network. Thousands of other birds that nest in tree cavities and nest boxes -- including bluebirds, chickadees, kestrels, wrens, swallows and wood ducks -- are under observation by amateur scientists across North America who have joined the National Science Foundation-funded project. Participating bird observers report their findings to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, where the information is analyzed by scientists and shared with the scientific community and conservation groups, as well as with all participants in the project. NestCam.hrs.html (June 10, 1998)

Benjamin Widom wins prestigious Boltzmann medal for 1998
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Benjamin Widom, who since 1983 has been the Goldwin Smith Professor of Chemistry in the Cornell University Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, has been named one of the two recipients of the 1998 Boltzmann medal. The medal is awarded by the Commission on Statistical Physics of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. The award will be presented at the 20th International Conference on Statistical Physics to be held in Paris next month. widom.award.deb..html (June 10, 1998)

Joan Jacobs Brumberg is elected a fellow of the Society of American Historians
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Joan Jacobs Brumberg, a Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow and professor of human development and women's studies at Cornell University, has been elected a fellow of the Society of American Historians. Fellows are elected "in recognition of the literary and scholarly distinction" of their historical work. Brumberg was one of seven fellows elected this year. The society has a limit of 250 fellows. Brumberg.award.ssl.html (June 9, 1998)

Porus Olpadwala named interim dean of Architecture, Art and Planning
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Porus Olpadwala, professor and chair of the Department of City and Regional Planning (CRP) at Cornell University, has been named interim dean of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning effective July 1. The appointment was made by Cornell Provost Don M. Randel. Olpadwala succeeds Anthony Vidler, who will return to University of California at Los Angeles after serving as dean since Jan. 1, 1997. olpadwala.dg.html (June 9, 1998)

Cornell's auto team wins the national racing car design and performance contest
ITHACA, N.Y. -- For the second year in a row, Cornell University engineering students won a fiercely fought contest to design, build and race a Formula SAE racing car, overcoming competitors from 90 other top engineering schools in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Great Britain. Cornell's engineering team went into the national competition, held in Michigan at the Pontiac Silverdome May 28-31, as a favorite. But the students had to fight off a challenge from top contender University of Texas-Arlington (UTA), whose team had won the competition in 1995 and 1996. Last year Cornell broke UTA's winning streak. racecar.deb.html (June 9, 1998)

Ag students get career advice from alumni
ITHACA, N.Y. -- You can lead students to a list of alumni contacts, but getting them to take the scary step of calling a complete stranger for advice is tough. Unless it counts on their grade. alumni.career.bs.html (June 8, 1998)

Teams, not CEOs, make companies prosper
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Effective senior management teams play a greater role in company success than charismatic CEOs, according to a new study by Randall S. Peterson of the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. This combination -- a strong CEO and senior management team -- is an essential contributor to both a company's return on investment and its growth in income. When other factors are controlled for, strong management teams accounted for about 40 percent of their firm's superior return on investment and 35 percent of its income growth. Contrary to popular perceptions and much business reporting, strong CEO personality traits alone have little connection to strong financial returns for the company. Even strong CEOs can have their efforts undone by dysfunctional senior management teams. In successful companies, the study found, the CEO fosters healthy group dynamics among his immediate subordinates, allowing them to mobilize the energies and talents throughout the organization to overcome key problems and create new opportunities for growth. In particular, successful top management teams had both a "directive" leader and greater openness to new information. ceostudy.mh.html (June 8, 1998)

Chimes removed from McGraw Tower for a year of tuning
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Brother, can you spare a chime? Beginning Tuesday, June 9, the Cornell University campus, which has been serenaded daily by the Cornell chimes with few interruptions since the university opened, will fall silent for the better part of a year. The entire set of bells will be removed from the belfry of McGraw Tower and sent off to Ohio for tuning as part of the tower's refurbishing. Chimes.removed.sm.html (June 8, 1998)

Half-million dollar gift accelerates distance learning efforts
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Educational communications experts, World Wide Web programmers, curriculum designers and computer and video technologists are joining forces with Cornell University faculty to extend Cornell's educational programs throughout the world through the generosity of an anonymous Cornell graduate. Cornell's Office of Distance Learning (ODL) announced the receipt of an anonymous $500,000 gift that will accelerate the growth of distance-learning programs that allow students, faculty and experts throughout the world to interact, using a blend of computing and video technologies. ODLgift.dg.html (June 8, 1998)

Athletes, fraternity men are top drinkers
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Male college athletes consume about 50 percent more alcohol than their counterparts who don't participate in intercollegiate sports, a record beaten only by college fraternity members, as shown in a study published by the Core Institute at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale in the May issue of the Journal of American College Health. Men on intercollegiate sports teams consume 10 alcoholic drinks a week, or 52 percent more than non-athletes, who average six drinks a week. College fraternity members consume 12 drinks a week on average. athletes.drinking.lgk.html (June 4, 1998)

Family businesses are focus of July 27 conference at Chautauqua, N.Y.
ITHACA, N.Y. -- More than 90 percent of all businesses in this country are family businesses, which makes them an integral part of the American economy. Strengthening these family firms will be the focus of a conference sponsored by Alfred University, Ohio State University and Cornell University on Monday, July 27, at the Chautauqua Institution, just north of Jamestown, N.Y. family.business.ssl.html (June 4, 1998)

Grace Richardson wins alumni award from Cornell University
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Human Ecology Alumni Association of Cornell University has announced that Grace Richardson of New York City is the winner of the 1998 Helen Bull Vandervort Alumni Achievement Award for outstanding professional and volunteer services. Richardson, who received her master's degree from Cornell in 1962, is currently the vice president for Global Consumer Affairs at the Colgate Palmolive Co. In addition to the busy work schedule that her career entails, she has donated her time as a member of the board of directors for many organizations, including the YWCA of New York City, the Cornell Club of NYC, and the NYC International Women's Forum. She has been honored by the YWCA in their Academy of Women Achievers and is the recipient of the Family Circle Golden Leaf Award for Consumer Education Materials. richardson.ssl.html (June 4, 1998)

Students overcome fear of spiders
E-mail: bpf2@cornell.edu ITHACA, N.Y. -- It's a world filled with bondage, supreme sacrifice and cannibalism as a mating ritual. Given their propensity for horror-movie behavior, it's little wonder that spiders provoke an immediate reaction of fear and disgust from students. That's why Linda Rayor, Cornell University instructor in entomology, does something very unusual: She begins her course on spiders by using education to cure her students of arachnophobia -- the fear of spiders. She shows them a comedy-horror film called Arachnophobia, she talks about spiders in terms of enthusiasm, curiosity and excitement, and she constantly exposes her students to all manner of spiders. Spider.bpf.html (June 4, 1998)

Networks become 'small' very quickly
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The game "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon," in which actors can be connected to one another through their appearances in films with actor Kevin Bacon, works because Hollywood movies are a "small world," in mathematical terms. It's a world where actors are grouped into clusters -- the casts of each film -- and there are many interconnections between the clusters. But two Cornell University mathematicians have now shown that small worlds are probably common in many networks found in nature and are easy to create in systems as diverse as networks of people, power grids and the neurons in the human brain. All it takes is a few extra random connections. smallworld.bs.html (June 4, 1998)

Chemistry department renamed Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology
ITHACA, N.Y. -- In recognition of its commitment to the union of chemistry and biology, Cornell University's Department of Chemistry has changed its name to the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. Researchers in the department see the name change as representing an important new focus of modern chemistry in American universities. "Chemical biology is the ultimate dream of many chemists and biologists," says Jon Clardy, Horace White Professor of Chemistry. "Chemical synthesis and macromolecular crystallography will be used to tackle important biological problems at the molecular level. In the future, we hope to attract the best scientists in this area to our department." chemistry.dept.deb.html (June 2, 1998)

Last McGraw Tower chimes concert for a year Monday, June 8
ITHACA, N.Y. -- "Ring out the old, ring in the new!" proclaims the inscription on the first of nine bells given to Cornell University by Jennie McGraw and played at the university's inauguration day in 1868. And on Monday, June 8, starting at noon there will be a celebratory chimes concert on Cornell's Arts Quad to usher out the old -- the bells are being removed from the tower and sent off to Ohio to be tuned, not to be returned to campus until next spring. The Cornell Chimesmasters, taking advantage of their last opportunity for an entire year to play, will be offering a final hour-long concert, and Cornell's Office of Human Resources will provide Cornell Dairy ice cream and representatives of Maintenance Management, the Cornell Recreation Connection and Communication Strategies will be serving it up. A tent will be made available, and the chimes will ring, regardless of the weather. Chimes.concert.sm.html (June 2, 1998)

Court TV's Fred Graham speaks to Cornell Law School alumni June 6
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Court TV's chief anchor and former CBS News legal correspondent Fred Graham will be the guest speaker at the Cornell Law School's alumni reunion dinner Saturday, June 6. Aside from his chief anchor responsibilities, Graham serves as managing editor of the Courtroom Television Network, which covers courtroom proceedings and other legal matters. He has been at Court TV since it was created in 1990. FredGraham.dg.html (June 2, 1998)

PCCW awards research grants to Cornell women faculty and students
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The President's Council of Cornell Women (PCCW) at Cornell University has awarded research grants to three faculty members and five graduate students to help advance the careers of women in academia through support of research leading to tenure and promotion and to the completion of dissertations. Since the PCCW grants program was begun seven years ago, the alumni group has awarded a total of $191,000 to 104 women faculty and graduate students. Of the faculty members who have received PCCW grants, 85 percent are still at Cornell and several have moved up the tenure ladder. PCCW's ability to make these important awards has been due to members' annual contributions and a modest endowment. PCCW launched a two-year campaign in September 1997 to endow the grant program at a level which will sustain annual awards of $25,000. pccw98grantrecip.lgk.html (June 2, 1998)

Rawlings appoints two vice provosts
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University President Hunter Rawlings announced two key administrative appointments at the Cornell Board of Trustees' final meeting of the academic year May 23. Rawlings announced the appointment of Nobel laureate Robert C. Richardson, the Floyd R. Newman Professor of Physics, as vice provost for research, and Cutberto Garza, M.D., professor and director of the Division of Nutritional Sciences, as vice provost with responsibility for academic liaison. trustee.appoints.jp.html (June 1, 1998)