Cornell University News Service Releases

March, 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.

Pulitzer Prize-winner David Davis lectures on slavery history
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Pulitzer Prize-winning author and slavery expert David Brion Davis will speak at Cornell University Wednesday, April 8, at 4:30 p.m. in Room 165 McGraw Hall in a lecture titled "The Origins and Nature of New World Slavery: Seeing the Big Picture." The lecture is free and open to the public and is made possible by the Walter LaFeber and Joel Silbey Fund in American History, which is sponsoring Davis' visit to Cornell. David.Davis.ssl.html (March 31, 1998)

Book shows how congressmen are paid for inaction
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Politicians across the country -- and in particular congressmen -- are engaged in a frenzied dance of political extortion, extracting payments from constituents for legislative inaction. "It's a shakedown -- and it's perfectly legal," says Cornell law Professor Fred S. McChesney, who probes this political phenomenon in his new book, Money for Nothing: Politicians, Rent Extraction, and Political Extortion (Harvard University, 1997). "This is basically extortion by politicians, in that they are paid not to legislate -- they get money for nothing." McChes.dg.html (March 31, 1998)

Freshman researchers win applause of trustees
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Jaclyn Engelman explained meteor showers called Leonids. Paul Kleinman talked about analyzing U.S. census data. Joshua Ladau described the peculiar mating habits of crickets. All three are 18-year-old undergraduate freshmen doing paid, sometimes graduate-level research at Cornell University. And all three held captive an audience of the Cornell Board of Trustees open session March 27, as they described, with honesty and erudition, research work that keeps them busy as researchers for five to 12 hours a week, outside their regular course work. "When I applied to Cornell, I never thought I would get into research this early on," Kleinman, of Brooklyn, N.Y., told the trustees. research.trust.deb.html (March 31, 1998)

Medieval architecture book uses CD-ROM
ITHACA, N.Y. -- When Cornell University art history Professor Robert G. Calkins was 17 years old, he took a bicycle trip through southern England and France. "I was swept off my feet," he said, by the countryside, the people and the antiquity he saw. Most of all, he was amazed and moved by the great cathedrals of Europe. This year, Oxford University Press published Calkins' Medieval Architecture in Western Europe: From A.D. 300 to 1500, marking the first time an overview and selection of major monuments of European architecture have been brought together in a single textbook. It includes 419 photographs and drawings and an IBM-compatible CD-ROM that features 860 color photographs of the buildings. Calkins took 75 percent of the photographs in the book himself and nearly all the photos in the CD-ROM. Calkins.book.pc.html (March 30, 1998)

Distance Learning forum April 3
ITHACA, N.Y. -- "Technology for 21st Century Teaching," offered by Cornell University's Office of Distance Learning, will be held Friday, April 3, beginning at 8 p.m. in Room 105 ILR Conference Center, Garden Avenue. There is no registration fee. The session is designed to familiarize the entire community with state-of-the-art technologies currently available for enhancing education at a distance. There will be six simultaneous demonstrations at various locations within the building: distance_learning.dg.html (March 30, 1998)

Cornell reaffirms commitment to student aid
ITHACA, N.Y. ---- Cornell University has vigorously reaffirmed its commitment to providing students with the financial aid they need to attend the university and has significantly increased funding -- with some awards boosted as much as 40 percent -- of a major financial aid program, officials announced last week. With these actions, and with the substantial increase in some federal grant awards for undergraduates approved for this year and proposed again for next year, the financial aid picture for students enrolling at Cornell is brighter than it has been for some time, according to President Hunter Rawlings. Further, it compares most favorably with the financial aid situation at peer institutions, Rawlings said. Financial.aid.jkp.html (March 30, 1998)

Cornell Dean John L. Ford named an American Council on Education Fellow
ITHACA, N.Y. -- John L. Ford, the Robert W. and Elizabeth C. Staley dean of students at Cornell University, has been selected as a 1998-99 American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow. The ACE Fellows Program provides in-depth, comprehensive leadership development for senior faculty and administrators in higher education. It offers a yearlong, flexible fellowship experience, designed by the fellow and the nominator, with the goal of preparing leaders who are skilled in the management of change. Ford_Ace_Fellow.jkp.html (March 30, 1998)

World Bank economist joins Cornell as Lee Teng-hui Professor
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Ravi Kanbur, an expert on economic issues facing developing countries, has been named the first Lee Teng-hui Professor of World Affairs at Cornell University. His appointment, effective April 1, 1998, was approved by the Cornell Board of Trustees at its March 27 meeting in Ithaca. Lee.Teng-hui_Kanbur.lgk.html (March 30, 1998)

Savage Club officers elected; plans for Cornell Reunion '98 taking shape
ITHACA, N.Y. -- A little talent goes a long way, at least for members of the Savage Club of Ithaca who entertain Cornell University alumni at reunion weekend each year. And now these comedians, jugglers, magicians, musicians, songsters, storytellers and all-around good guys from the greater Ithaca area have a new leader. Don Hinman, a retired Cornell Veterinary College administrator, has been elected president of the Savage Club, which was founded 103 years ago. Other officers are: Charles McCary, vice president; Fran Morgan, secretary; Joe McConnell, treasurer; and Jack Burns, steward. Savage_Club.ds.html (March 30, 1998)

Songbird salmonella tracked by Cornell
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Until laboratory tests identify sources of a bacterial disease killing songbirds in the East and Midwest, Cornell University scientists say people who feed birds should not blame themselves for the recent outbreak of salmonellosis in redpolls and other flocking species. Nevertheless, three precautions are in order, say experts at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology and the College of Veterinary Medicine: songbird_salmonella.hrs.html (March 30, 1998)

Labor unions recruit for first time on the Cornell campus
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Ten major labor unions will recruit on the Cornell University campus for the first time as part of Union Day '98, April 2, sponsored by the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Representatives will meet with interested students to talk about career opportunities at the various unions. The unions are recruiting not for membership in their organizations, but for union employees -- individuals who can fill staff positions within the unions to help in organizing and other efforts. union_day.dg.html (March 30, 1998)

General Electric chief financial officer to deliver Durland Lecture April 1
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Dennis D. Dammerman, senior vice president and chief financial officer of General Electric Co., will deliver the 1998 Durland Lecture Wednesday, April 1, at Cornell University. Dammerman, who has been the CFO since 1984, will present "Changing GE: Lessons Learned Along the Way" at 4:30 p.m. in Schwartz Auditorium of Rockefeller Hall. In addition to his lecture, Dammerman will participate in a luncheon with the Johnson Graduate School of Management's Park Fellows and speak to a class on mergers, acquisitions and corporate finance. durland_98.dg.html (March 27, 1998)

Suzanne Loker comes to Cornell with a mission
ITHACA, N.Y. -- What do the New York state apparel industry, the Czech Republic, Vermont home knitters and Cornell University have in common? Answer: Suzanne Loker, professor of textiles and apparel. After years as an administrator, most recently as professor and director of the School of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Idaho, Loker came to Cornell this January with a strong desire to return to the trenches of teaching, research and extension. "Although I drew great satisfaction from facilitating others to teaching and research excellence, I am looking forward to working directly with students and industry and spending more time on scholarship," she said. In her new appointment, she will focus on the needs of New York state apparel manufacturers. Although the apparel industry has faltered in the past two decades, New York still employs more than 100,000 workers in 5,000 shops, making it the second-largest apparel manufacturing state in the country. loker.ssl.html (March 27, 1998)

M&T Bank sponsors summer college scholarship
ITHACA, N.Y. -- M&T Bank is offering a full scholarship to Cornell University's Summer College, one of the nation's first summer programs for high school students. High school juniors and seniors from Broome, Cortland and Tompkins counties are eligible for the M&T scholarship, which is worth $5,100. The six-week summer school program introduces high school juniors and seniors to the challenges of college study and helps to ease the transition into college. The program also offers career exploration programs, college study skills and math workshops, and a look at the college admissions process through the eyes of admissions officers. Summer.College.ds.html (March 27, 1998)

Cornell Agriculture and Life Sciences Alumni Forum will be April 18
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Alumni from Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are invited to participate in the second Agriculture and Life Sciences Alumni Forum on Saturday, April 18. More than two dozen classes will be available for the Cornell alumni and their guests. ALS-AlumForum.bpf.html (March 26, 1998)

'Genders and Nations' conference is set for April 2-5
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University's Women's Studies Program and the Program on Gender and Global Change are sponsoring a four-day conference, "Genders and Nations: Reflections on Women in Revolution," April 2 to 5 on campus and in the community. The conference will feature presentations, lectures and discussions, workshops, films, an art exhibition and a round-table discussion on issues of activism and academic engagement with respect to the position of women. Participants are scheduled to speak on perspectives from areas of the world such as Bangladesh, Ireland, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Poland and Senegal. genders-nations.pc.html (March 26, 1998)

Cornell - NASA infrared telescope contract
ITHACA, N.Y. -- NASA has opened the way for the signing of a $24.8 million contract between Cornell University and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for building an infrared spectrograph, a sophisticated instrument that will be sent into orbit to detect and analyze some of the most distant objects in the universe. The contract announcement was made as NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin authorized the start of work on the Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF), an observatory that will be launched into orbit around the sun in 2001 to probe thousands of celestial objects in the infrared portion of the spectrum. Infrared detectors are sensitive to heat rather than visible light. Thus the SIRTF instruments will be able to "see" stars much younger than those visible to the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope. infrared.deb.html (March 26, 1998)

Congressman Lamar Smith in immigration policy panel
ITHACA, N.Y. -- U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) will participate in a panel discussion on "U.S. Immigration Policy: What's in the Future" Friday, March 27, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the MacDonald Moot Court Room of Myron Taylor Hall. The presentation is free and open to the public. Smith, who chairs the Immigration Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, authored and led the effort to enact the 1996 landmark illegal immigration reform law. Smith also serves on the House budget and ethics committees. He represents the 21st Congressional district in Texas, which stretches from San Antonio to the suburbs of Austin. lamar.dg.html (March 26, 1998)

Units merge to create new Center for Learning and Teaching
ITHACA, N.Y. -- In a move aimed at improving the learning climate at Cornell University, two separate units have merged to create the new Center for Learning and Teaching. The merger, which united the Learning Skills Center and the Office of Instructional Support, resulted from a year of discussion and self-evaluation and from a two-and-a-half-day vision conference Feb. 14 through 16 of this year with staff from the two units. Learning.Center.jkp.html (March 26, 1998)

State Supreme Court justice dismisses Maas suit against Cornell
ITHACA, N.Y. -- In a decision dated March 23, 1998, New York State Supreme Court Justice Phillip R. Rumsey dismissed remaining claims in a lawsuit brought by Professor James Maas against Cornell University. The lawsuit, which was filed in August 1995, sought damages allegedly suffered by Maas in connection with the University's resolution of sexual harassment charges leveled against him by four of his former students. As a result of the charges, an elected faculty committee of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Professional Ethics Committee, unanimously found that Maas "repeatedly behaved both unprofessionally and inappropriately in his relationship with [three of] these students and that in effect this behavior constituted sexual harassment" and that Maas "committed harassment of a more manifestly sexual and egregious sort" with the fourth student. The Dean of the College and the University Provost upheld the committee's determination. Maas_decision.hnd.html (March 26, 1998)

Menopause biology and hormone-replacement therapy lecture
ITHACA, N.Y. -- V. Daniel Castracane of Texas Tech University's department of obstetrics and gynecology will discuss "Human Menopause and Estrogen Replacement Therapy" on Wednesday, April 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the Women's Community Building, 100 West Seneca St., Ithaca. The lecture is free and open to the general public. The expert on menopause biology is in Ithaca to present a research seminar at Cornell University on his studies of the potential roles of leptin, the appetite hormone, in human reproduction. He is giving the evening lecture at the request of the Reproduction Biology Seminar Committee. castracane_lecture.hrs.html (March 25, 1998)

Malthus + 200: Disastrous 'correction' looms
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Two hundred years after the essay that put "Malthusian" in the lexicon, the consequences of overpopulation are more dire than ever, warns Cornell University anthropologist David Price. "Since the productive capacity of the planet is finite, a disastrous Malthusian correction looms ahead," Price says, referring to T.R. Malthus' seminal "Essay on the Principle of Population." This dire outcome, says Price, is a possibility that no one wants to accept as an inevitable consequence of natural forces. malthus200r.hrs.html (March 25, 1998)

Law School symposium on death penalty March 28
ITHACA, N.Y. -- New empirical studies on racial discrimination and the influencing of juries related to capital sentencing will be presented at a symposium on the death penalty Saturday, March 28, at Cornell University. The symposium, "How the Death Penalty Works: Empirical Studies of the Modern Capital Sentencing System," sponsored by the Cornell Law Review and the Cornell Death Penalty Project, will bring to campus more than a dozen leading legal scholars, some of whom have represented death-row inmates in postconviction appeals, to address and present new research on capital punishment issues. death.symposium.dg.html (March 24, 1998)

10 million report hunger, even with jobs
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Ten million Americans, including almost 4 million children, don't get enough to eat, according to a new study from Cornell University and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Employment is no guarantee of being well fed: More than half of the 4 percent of Americans who say they are sometimes or often hungry live in households in which at least one person has a job. food.inadequate.ssl.html (March 24, 1998)

Architecture in the post-Holocaust era in Cornell debate
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Daniel Libeskind, an influential architectural educator, theoretician and practitioner from Berlin, will deliver the 1998 Preston H. Thomas Lectures April 1 and 2 on the Cornell University campus. The subject of this year's lectures is "Re: Constructing Architecture and the City Between History, Hope and Hallucination." In addition to the lectures, Libeskind will participate in a debate April 3 with McGill University Professor Alberto PŽrez-GomŽz and Cornell College of Architecture, Art and Planning Dean Anthony Vidler on the significance of the practice and theory of architecture in the post-Holocaust era. Preston_Thomas.dg.html (March 24, 1998)

'Ammonsfest' April 3-4 at Cornell honors poet and Professor A.R. Ammons
ITHACA, N.Y. -- "Ammonsfest," a celebration of the life and work of acclaimed poet A.R. Ammons, Cornell University's Goldwin Smith Professor of Poetry, will be held on the Cornell campus April 3 and 4. The two-day event will include poetry readings for Ammons by former students; the opening of an exhibition in Cornell's Kroch Library called "A.R. Ammons: The writing life"; lectures by poet Roald Hoffmann, Nobel Prize-winning chemist and the Frank H.T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters at Cornell, and by noted poetry critic and Harvard University English Professor Helen Vendler; and a poetry reading by Ammons, with an introduction by Cornell President Hunter Rawlings. ammons.pc.html (March 23, 1998)

Paul Cody's new novel: "So Far Gone"
ITHACA, N.Y. -- In the memorably hot summer of 1988 in Newton, Mass., Jack Connor murdered his mother, father and grandmother. He left their corpses in the family home for a week, their lifeless faces covered with his grandmother's underwear, rosary beads in their hands. Now, 10 years later, readers join the story as John Emmanuel Connor awaits execution on Massachusetts' death row -- the first execution there in half a century. Cornell University alumnus and author Paul Cody's So Far Gone, a novel published by Picador USA, a literary imprint of St. Martin's Press, was released in February ($22; 240 pages, ISBN 0-312-18180-9). CodyBook.bpf.html (March 23, 1998)

Senegalese scholar lectures on women's rights in Africa
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Professor Fatou Sow, chair of the Department of Social Sciences of the Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire at UniversitŽ Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, Senegal, will give a University Lecture on "Challenging the State: Women's Rights and the Future of Africa," Saturday, April 4, at 11:20 a.m. at the Women's Community Building, 100 W. Seneca St. The lecture is free and open to the public. Sow's lecture is part of "Genders and Nations: Reflections on Women in Revolution," a conference being held at Cornell University April 2 through 5. sow.pc.html (March 23, 1998)

Rotating a single oxygen molecule
ITHACA, N.Y. -- As electronic devices grow ever smaller, single molecules could one day become components of electronic circuits or even moving parts of tiny machines. Cornell University researchers have now demonstrated one way this could be done, by isolating a single oxygen molecule and causing it to rotate on command. Brief voltage pulses applied to the molecule cause it to rotate between three orientations spaced 120 degrees apart, something like a radio knob that clicks into one of three stops. If the voltage pulse is not stopped, the molecule continues to rotate between the three orientations, turning like a tiny motor. rotate.bs.html (March 20, 1998)

Professor J. Robert Cooke elected dean of the faculty
ITHACA, N.Y. -- In a close race with substantially lower voter turnout than five years ago, J. Robert Cooke, Cornell University professor of agricultural and biological engineering, was elected dean of the Cornell faculty. Cooke, elected to a three-year term, takes office July 1. A member of the university faculty for 32 years, he replaces Peter C. Stein, professor of physics and nuclear studies, who was elected dean in 1993 and reappointed dean by the faculty in 1996. Also running were S. Kay Obendorf, professor of textiles and apparel, and Joseph M. Ballantyne, professor of electrical engineering and the Lester B. Knight Director of the Cornell Nanofabrication Facility. Dean.of.the.faculty.jp.html (March 19, 1998)

Ezra Cornell's great-granddaughter donates his dramatic 1861 letter
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The clash of two armies at a place that one side called Bull Run and the other Manassas was supposed to end a war before it began. But when the battle was over, 900 soldiers lay dead on the fields of Virginia, and a man on a mission of mercy from Ithaca, who four years later would found a great university, was running for his life. The details of this journey by Ezra Cornell, founder of Cornell University, were described in a letter he wrote to his wife from Washington, D.C., on July 23, 1861, the day he and three companions completed a harrowing 35-mile march from the site of the first battle of the Civil War, a battle that the Union was confident it would win. Ezra_letter_Bull_Run.html (March 19, 1998)

Cornell Trustees to meet in Ithaca March 26-27
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell University Board of Trustees will meet in Ithaca on March 26 and 27. The board will meet from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., and again from 2 to 4 p.m. on Friday, March 27, in the Trustee Meeting Room of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. The morning session will be open to the public. Topics will include a report from President Hunter Rawlings; an update on State University of New York (SUNY) budget discussions and discussion of statutory college tuitions; the university wide admissions and financial aid policy; and a presentation by the university's first Presidential Research Scholars. trustee.advance.html (March 19, 1998)

Letters describe adolescence in Indonesia
ITHACA, N.Y. -- A unique collection of correspondence between Indonesian adolescents and the psychology professor who has become Southeast Asia's own "Dr. Ruth" is now available at the Cornell University Library. The records of Sahabat Remaja, a program created to answer Indonesian teenagers' questions about sexuality and relationships, have been added to the Cornell Library's Human Sexuality Collection and the John Echols Collection on Southeast Asia. indonesian.sex.html (March 18, 1998)

Radio astronomy gets RF protection
ITHACA, N.Y. -- A new agreement extends some protection to astronomers who use the Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico and have been concerned about potential interference from the commercial satellite system IRIDIUM. The memorandum of understanding signed between the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, which operates Arecibo, and Motorola, Inc., which operates IRIDIUM, guarantees eight hours of observing time each day "unpolluted" by interference. The NAIC is headquartered at Cornell University and funded by the National Science Foundation. The agreement, which took five years to hammer out, addresses IRIDIUM's potential interference with reception of faint radio signals at a key frequency for astronomers: 1612 megahertz. Hydroxyl, one of most common interstellar molecules, emits radiation at this frequency. This simple molecule can be produced in the atmospheres of old red giant stars; gas can blow off and eventually be swept up into new stars. Hydroxyl also appears in interstellar clouds, which are seed beds of young stars and solar systems. Tracing the path of this gas is one thread in reconstructing how our own galaxy evolved. IRIDIUM.bs.html (March 18, 1998)

Warmest NE winter in 103 years
Northeast enjoyed its third warmest winter in 103 years of records -- even Buffalo shuffled off winter NEWS FROM THE NORTHEAST REGIONAL CLIMATE CENTER NRCC.Feb.98.bpf.html (March 18, 1998)

Mirror surfaces with nary an atom exposed
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Melissa Hines is a researcher in search of perfection. Her goal is a mirror surface on which not even a single atom is protruding above the surface. "There is no theoretical reason why you can't make things that are perfect," says Hines, an assistant professor of chemistry at Cornell University. "It was once thought there were no mechanisms for perfection." But within the next five years she expects researchers to be able to produce silicon surfaces that "are essentially totally flat." perfect.deb.html (March 13, 1998)

Cornell food scientists uncork wine aroma
ITHACA, N.Y. -- It makes wine smell like a barn, wet leather, horse sweat, or burned beans. It is called "brett," and it produces an often-pungent aroma in wine. Scientists at Cornell University are starting to unravel the chemical mysteries that produce the curious aroma found in fermented beverages like wine and beer. "We're trying to understand the aroma's chemical profile, essentially the aroma chemistry of the wine and the microbiology that created it," says Jonathan Licker, a Cornell graduate student in food science. brett.bpf.html (March 17, 1998)

President's Council of Cornell Women to meet March 27-29
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Members of the President's Council of Cornell Women (PCCW) will focus on "Cornell Today: Issues and Actions" at the alumnae group's annual spring meeting on the Cornell campus March 27 to 29. The three-day conference will offer networking and mentoring opportunities for students. PCCW members will hear about key issues facing Cornell from deans and members of the university administration and will host a reception for women faculty and graduate students who are recipients of PCCW's research grant program. PCCmeetingadv.lgk.html (March 17, 1998)

Andrew S. Schultz Jr., fifth dean of Engineering, dies in Florida at age 84
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Andrew S. Schultz, Jr., who was Cornell University's fifth dean of the College of Engineering between 1963 and 1972, died March 13 at his home in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. He was 84 and had suffered a stroke in 1995. With the exception of his World War II service in the U.S. Army Office of the Chief of Ordnance, Schultz's entire career was spent at Cornell. He became a full professor and head of the Department of Industrial Engineering and Administration (now the School of Operations Research and Industrial Engineering) in 1951. Schultz.obit.deb.html (March 17, 1998)

PFLAG papers in Cornell Sexuality Collection
ITHACA, N.Y. -- A collection of letters and other documents showing how a handful of American families made history -- and launched a national movement -- by publicly supporting their gay and lesbian children is now available at Cornell University Library's Human Sexuality Collection. The records of the organization Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) provides a detailed glimpse into both the personal, individual responses and the organized, collective efforts of parents and families speaking out publicly in support of their gay and lesbian family members. pflag.pc.html (March 16, 1998)

Dog blindness gene may help humans
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Two groups of researchers collaborating on a map of the canine genome have discovered the probable genetic correlation between the most widespread cause of inherited blindness in dogs and a similar human disease. The scientists, working at Cornell University's James A. Baker Institute for Animal Health and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, report their findings in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published tomorrow (March 17). They say that the genetic defect responsible for progressive rod-cone degeneration (called prcd), a form of progressive retinal atrophy known to cause blindness in at least five dog breeds, appears to be the canine version of the human gene defect producing RP17, one of the numerous forms of retinitis pigmentosa, a leading cause of familial blindness. rod-cone.hrs.html (March 16, 1998)

Psychoanalyst is A.D. White Professor-at-Large, March 23-31
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Juliet Mitchell, a psychoanalyst, feminist theorist and member of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Cambridge University, will visit Cornell University March 23 to 31 as an A.D. White Professor-at-Large. During her visit, Mitchell will give three public lectures: "Looking at the Notion of 'On Being Empty of Oneself,'" Wednesday, March 25, 4:30 p.m. in Goldwin Smith Hall D; "Whose Trauma and Whose Hatred?" at the Psychoanalytic Colloquium of the Society for the Humanities, March 27, 4:30 p.m. in the A. D. White House; and "Whatever Happened to 'Feminism and Psychoanalysis': Some Personal Reflections," the Women's Studies Brown Bag Lunch, March 30 at noon, also in the A. D. White House. Mitchell.pc.html (March 16, 1998)

Cornell students present 'You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown'
ITHACA, N.Y. -- A musical production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown will be presented by the Asian American Playhouse at Cornell University in the Barnes Hall Auditorium at 8 p.m. March 27 and 28. Advance tickets are on sale for $3 at the Willard Straight ticket office. Admission at the door will be $4. Charlie_Brown_musical.html (March 13, 1998)

Cornell Institute of Food Science and Central New York IFT Food Safety symposium
ITHACA, N.Y. -- "New Heights in Food Safety" is the title of a symposium April 2 hosted by the Cornell University Institute of Food Science and the Central New York Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) at the Statler Hotel on the Cornell campus. Among the presentations, Robert Gravani, Cornell professor of food science, will discuss recent regulatory advances in the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system, in his talk, "HACCP and Its Implementation in the Food Industry." FoodSafety.bpf.html (March 13, 1998)

Three share national drama criticism award
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism for the 1996-97 season will be awarded to Ben Brantley, chief drama critic of The New York Times; Elinor Fuchs, author of The Death of Character (Indiana University Press); and Todd London, artistic director of New Dramatists, an organization devoted to the encouragement of new plays, and a columnist for American Theater magazine, at a reception at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts on Friday, March 20. The Nathan Award, designed to "stimulate intelligent playgoing," has been given annually since 1958 for "the best piece of dramatic criticism, whether article, essay, treatise or book" published during the theatrical year. The prize of $10,000 is considered one of the richest and most distinguished in the American theater. The award is administered by the Cornell University Department of English, under the terms of a trust established by George Jean Nathan (1882-1958), author and critic, who graduated from Cornell in 1904. nathan.pc.html (March 13, 1998)

TransPositions conference March 27-29
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University will host the TransPositions conference March 27-29, exploring the facets of transgender identity, culture and academic studies. Transgender studies encompass the blurring of conventional gender norms, including transsexuality, crossdressing, intersexuality and androgyny. TransPositions aims to open a discussion about gender boundaries and how traditional notions of gender relate to and affect sexual and gender identities. A round-table discussion Saturday will give participants an opportunity to discuss the topics of the presentations. transgender.pc.html (March 13, 1998)

Dragon Day will cause road closings March 12
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The expected appearance of a large dragon on the Cornell University campus Thursday afternoon will create staggered road closings on central campus between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Motorists are advised to avoid driving through central campus on University, East and Central avenues, and Tower, Garden and Campus roads during the annual Dragon Day event, in which architecture students parade a mock dragon through campus. dragon_day_closings.lgk.html (March 11, 1998)

Hangovers a cappella group to tour Japan and South Korea
ITHACA, N.Y. --The Cornell University Hangovers, an a cappella group made up of members of the Cornell University Glee Club, begins a 10-day, spring-break tour of the Far East on Friday, March 13. The group will put on 12 concerts in and around Tokyo and Seoul, South Korea. While in Japan, the 15 members of the Hangovers will perform at the Tokyo-American Club, the United States naval base at Atsugi, and on Inter-FM, a radio station that features Western music. hangovers.pc.html (March 11, 1998)

Virulent fungus devastating potato crops
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The fungus responsible for the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s is back, and could be more threatening than ever. More than 150 years after the famine that took an estimated 1 million lives, a newer virulent strain of the fungus is causing widespread crop devastation in the United States. Agricultural scientists are finding the fungus, Phytopthora infestans, better known as late blight, difficult to control, says William Fry, a Cornell University professor of plant pathology. Fry believes the new strain of the fungus is a greater threat to potato and tomato crops in the U.S. and Canada than were previous strains because it is resistant to the most effective fungicide, and because the strain is more aggressive. LateBlight.bpf.html (March 11, 1998)

State grants $100,000 to FarmNet for ice storm recovery
ITHACA, N.Y. -- New York State Attorney General Dennis C. Vacco has distributed a one-time gift of $100,000 to Cornell University's FarmNet program to help provide counseling to farmers affected by January's ice storm. The ice storm decimated agricultural business throughout an area of the state known as the North Country, which is immediately below the Canadian province of Quebec and west of Vermont. FarmNetVacco.bpf.html (March 10, 1998)

Backyard scientists join Nest Box Network
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Those who yearn to spy on their neighbors finally have an excuse -- as well as an opportunity to help science -- by studying cavity-nesting birds. Bird-watchers across North America are teaming up with scientists at Cornell University's Laboratory of Ornithology to learn more about kestrels, swallows, bluebirds, chickadees, wood ducks and other birds that nest in tree cavities and nest boxes, through the Cornell Nest Box Network (CNBN). nestbox.hrs.html (March 10, 1998)

Windows computers at Cornell attacked by hackers
ITHACA, N.Y. -- A nationwide hacker attack on computers running Windows 95 and Windows NT operating systems struck computers on the Cornell University campus last week. Andrea Beesing, manager of the university's Network Operations Center, estimated that several hundred computers were affected. "These attacks will crash the machine, either with an error message or a blank screen," Beesing said in a bulletin to campus network administrators. "The immediate solution is to reboot the system." hackers.bs.html (March 9, 1998)

Cornell celebrates Women's History Month
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Women's History Month is being celebrated at Cornell University during March with a series of lectures, performances, seminars, readings, conferences and round-table discussions. women's_hist_month.html (March 9, 1998)

Community Spirit Award nominations due by March 18
ITHACA, N.Y. -- In order to recognize Cornell University students who have made strong public service contributions to local community agencies, the Cornell Public Service Center is accepting nominations for the first annual Community Spirit Awards. Up to 30 awards will be given in five categories. Any Cornell student involved in the community work-study program or who volunteers in Ithaca or in Tompkins County is eligible. Nominations will be accepted at the Public Service Center until March 18. Community.spirit.awards.sm.html (March 6, 1998)

Federal food aid makes healthier children
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Preschoolers whose families get federal food aid have much healthier diets than low-income children whose families are not getting assistance. And federally aided children are protected from iron and zinc deficiencies, according to a new Cornell University study. What's more, the study shows, the benefits to the young children from direct food aid are much greater than if the families are given a cash allowance. wic.ssl.html (March 6, 1998)

Legal Information Institute site named best on the web
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute has been named the Best Law School Site by legal.online, a national Internet newsletter, in its Best of the Web awards. The Legal Information Institute's World Wide Web site is located at . The Legal Information Institute (LII) also was given honorable mentions by legal.online for Best Legal Information Starting Point and Best Legal Research Site, in both the "cases" and "laws" categories. legal_online_award.dg.html (March 5, 1998)

Nanotech STM probe array for data storage
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Researchers who work with the incredibly small have long used the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to make pictures of surfaces with such precision that individual atoms appear as bumps. With it, tiny structures can be built by moving one or a few atoms at a time. But working one atom at a time is a painfully slow process, especially for commercial applications. One way to speed up the work would be to use an array of tiny STMs working together, each one scanning a very small area. nanoprobe.bs.html (March 5, 1998)

Fuerst Outstanding Library Student Employees named at Cornell
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Five Cornell University undergraduates have been selected to receive the 1998 Fuerst Outstanding Library Student Employee Awards. The awards, funded by an endowment from alumnus William F. Fuerst Jr. '39, recognize undergraduate library student workers for their exceptional performance, leadership and service to the campus. Three seniors and two juniors received this year's awards at a reception held March 3 in the Memorial Room of Willard Straight Hall: Alan Enos '99, bar-coding operations assistant, Olin-Kroch-Uris Libraries; Morna Hilderbrand '98, student supervisor, Management Library; Alison Hofmann '98, technical services assistant, Mann Library; Adam Kantor '98, computer assistant, Law Library; Jesse Sherman '99, technical processing and acquisitions assistant, Hotel School Library. Feurst_award.pc.html (March 4, 1998)

Airport noise harms children, effects endure
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The constant roar from jet aircraft can seriously affect the health and psychological well-being of children, according to a new Cornell University study. The health problems resulting from chronic airport noise, including higher blood pressure and boosted levels of stress hormones, the researchers say, may have lifelong effects. "This study is probably the most definitive proof that noise causes stress and is harmful to humans," says Gary Evans, a professor of design and environmental analysis in Cornell's College of Human Ecology. This is, he says, the first longitudinal study of noise and human beings to look at the same group of individuals before and after noise pollution. noise.stress.ssl.html (March 4, 1998)

Hunter Rawlings attends industrial innovation summit meeting
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University President Hunter Rawlings will attend the summit meeting of the Council on Competitiveness at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, March 12 and 13. Also attending will be Vice President Albert Gore Jr. and Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Among the topics to be discussed at the two-day session are Rating U.S. Innovation: Do We Have What We Need? and National Investment Challenges. The meeting will come only two weeks after an international mathematics and science study showed American high school seniors to be among the industrial world's least prepared in mathematics and science. competitiveness.deb.html (March 3, 1998)

Hotel School offers lecture series on housing the homeless
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University will offer a series of five lectures this spring as part of the course Housing and Feeding the Homeless. All lectures, which are free and open to the public, begin at 2:55 p.m. in 265 Statler Hall. homeless_lecture.dg.html (March 3, 1998)

How spices protect against food spoilage
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Fans of hot, spicy cuisine can thank nasty bacteria and other foodborne pathogens for the recipes that come -- not so coincidentally -- from countries with hot climates. Humans' use of antimicrobial spices developed in parallel with food-spoilage microorganisms, Cornell University biologists have demonstrated in a international survey of spice use in cooking. The same chemical compounds that protect the spiciest spice plants from their natural enemies are at work today in foods from parts of the world where -- before refrigeration -- food-spoilage microbes were an even more serious threat to human health and survival than they are today, Jennifer Billing and Paul W. Sherman report in the March 1998 issue of the journal Quarterly Review of Biology. spice.hrs.html (March 3, 1998)

Memorial service for George Suci, professor emeritus of human development
ITHACA, N.Y. -- George Suci, Cornell University professor emeritus of human development, died in Ithaca Feb. 11 after a brief illness. He was 72. A memorial service will be held in the chapel of Anabel Taylor Hall on the Cornell campus Sunday, March 8 at 5:30 p.m.; a reception will follow in the Founder's Room. suci.obit.ssl.html (March 3, 1998)

Radiation disposal site meeting is March 10
ITHACA, N.Y. -- A public information session and meeting will be conducted Tuesday, March 10, at the DeWitt Middle School on Warren Road to brief members of the community on the status of Cornell University's former radiation disposal site in Lansing. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) is seeking public comment on five official documents relating to the site: a Remedial Investigation Report, a Monitoring Plan, a Feasibility Study Work Plan, a Citizen Participation Plan and a Baseline Human Health Risk Assessment. The public comment period ends March 30. radiation_meeting.eh.html (March 2, 1998)