Cornell University News Service Releases

September, 1999

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.

Cornell Higher Ed Research Institute holds first policy conference Oct. 15-16
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell Higher Education Research Institute is hosting its first higher education policy conference Oct. 15 and 16 on the Cornell campus. All sessions are in the ILR Conference Center, rooms 105 and 120, and are open to the Cornell community. During the conference, scholars from Cornell and elsewhere will discuss nine papers on a range of topics relevant to higher education on the cusp of the millennium. Among them are: the forces that influence alumni giving to colleges and universities; the shift toward more non-tenure track faculty on campuses across the country; student diversity in a post-affirmative action era; and the economic challenges to higher education today. Ehrenberg.ed.conf3.lm.html (September 30, 1999)

Invasion 2000: Canada's finches at U.S. feeders
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The land that regularly sends human "snowbirds" to Florida could be sending real feathered friends to the United States this winter. An irruption of winter finches from Canada's north woods is expected to delight feeder-watchers to the south, according to bird experts at Cornell University's Laboratory of Ornithology. "The citizen-scientists who participate in Project FeederWatch and other bird-watching surveys may be in for a real treat this year," says Laura Kammermeier, FeederWatch project leader at the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. "If patterns of the past decade hold true, then winter bird-feeding enthusiasts through much of the central and eastern U.S. should expect a big showing of northern finches this winter." finch_invasion.hrs.html (September 30, 1999)

World's first synthesizer ensemble to perform at Cornell Oct. 3
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Mother Mallard, the world's first portable synthesizer ensemble, celebrates the 30th anniversary of its electronic debut at Cornell University Sunday, Oct. 3, at 8 p.m. in the Proscenium Theatre of the Center for Theatre Arts. The concert launches this year's Proscenium Concert Series. Prior to the performance, David Borden, director of Cornell's Digital Music Program, will speak with guest Robert Moog, Cornell Ph.D. '64, a legendary figure in the world of electronic music. The preconcert discussion takes place at 7:15 p.m. mother.mallard.fc.html (September 30, 1999)

Two A.D. White Professors-at-Large to give public lectures in October
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Two A.D. White Professors-at-Large with widely varying interests will deliver public lectures during their visits to the Cornell University campus in October. -- Haris Silajdzic, co-chair of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, will speak on "Bosnia's Road to Europe: Opportunities and Obstacles," Tuesday, Oct. 5, at 4:30 p.m. in McGraw Hall 165. A former prime minister as well as foreign minister of Bosnia, Silajdzic also will present the Peace Studies seminar on Oct. 7. profs.at.large.html (September 30, 1999)

Trustees and Council members gather at Cornell Oct. 7-9
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Members of the Cornell University Board of Trustees and Cornell University Council will arrive on campus Thursday, Oct. 7, for Cornell's annual Trustee/Council Weekend. The annual meeting of the 440-member council and a quarterly meeting of the trustees are scheduled on campus every fall so that the groups may attend joint meetings and hear President Hunter Rawlings' State of the University Address. Trustee.council.99.html (September 30, 1999)

Pollution makes crustaceans adapt rapidly
ITHACA, N.Y. -- When the going gets toxic, the hungry get clever -- very quickly -- say biologists from Cornell University and Germany's Max Planck Institute for Limnology whose study of tough times in a German lake has shown that rapid evolution can influence the environmental effects of pollution. The discovery, reported in the Sept. 30 issue of the journal Nature, shows that environmental degradation can be reduced when the affected animals evolve quickly, according to Cornell biologist Nelson G. Hairston Jr. rapid_evolution.hrs.html (September 27, 1999)

Path to better grades and behavior: Join 4-H
ITHACA, NY -- Young people who participate in New York state 4-H clubs do better in school, are more motivated to help others and achieve more than other kids who both do and do not participate in other kinds of group programs and clubs, according to a two-year Cornell University study. Members of the youth organization also are more educationally motivated, have higher levels of self esteem, place more emphasis on having a value system and communicate at more of an adult level, says the study conducted by June Mead, a program evaluator for Cornell Cooperative Extension; Eunice Rodriguez, an assistant professor in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management; and Tom Hirschl, a professor in the Department of Rural Sociology at Cornell. 4H.report.ssl.html (September 28, 1999)

Cooperative Extension to show how it helps agriculture thrive at celebration day Tuesday, Oct. 5
ITHACA, N.Y. -- To show how extension activities help individuals and enterprises to thrive in agricultural ventures and food systems, Cornell Cooperative Extension invites the public to its Celebration Day, Tuesday, Oct. 5, The free event will be held under the big tent on the Cornell campus's Ag Quad between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. . There will be exhibits involving corn grinding, fruit tasting, an observation bee hive, food safety, honey tasting, a collegiate 4-H bake sale, composting, sustaining water quality and how to keep a healthy home. In addition, there will be displays from the Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Program, the Cornell Farming Alternatives Program, the American Indian Program and FarmNet. ExtensionDay.bpf.html (September 28, 1999)

Syndicated columnist Nat Hentoff to discuss free speech Oct. 5
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Nat Hentoff, award-winning author and syndicated columnist for the Washington Post, will discuss "Free Speech at Cornell and Other Centers of Higher Learning" at Cornell University Tuesday, Oct. 5, at 5 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium in Goldwin Smith Hall. Free and open to the public, the lecture is sponsored by the Daniel W. Kops Freedom of the Press Fellowship Program. Hentoff.Kops.lgk.html (September 28, 1999)

Michael Kammen books on art and history
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Historian Michael Kammen's two most recent books are a rare and impressive display of vocation and avocation fulfilled in service to history and to art. Kammen, the Newton C. Farr Professor of American History and Culture at Cornell University, is the author of American Culture, American Tastes: Social Change and the 20th Century (Knopf), which came out in August, and Robert Gwathmey, The Life and Art of a Passionate Observer (University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill), released this month. Both works have received wide notice, hit bookstores back-to-back and have enhanced two distinct categories. Kammen.fc.html (September 28, 1999)

Pugwash head to honor late Professor Franklin A. Long, ABM critic who challenged Nixon
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University's Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology will hold a symposium Oct. 1 in memory of Franklin A. Long, professor emeritus of chemistry and the university's vice president for research and advanced studies from 1963 to 1969, who died Feb. 8. The symposium will be at 4 p.m. in Baker Laboratory, Room 200. Long achieved national prominence in 1969 when he was nominated as director of the National Science Foundation (NSF). But the appointment was blocked by President Richard Nixon because of Long's stated opposition to the antiballistic missile system (ABM), then a highly controversial element of U.S. nuclear defense strategy. Appropriately, the symposium is titled "The Great ABM Debate -- Then and Now." Long.symposium.deb.html (September 28, 1999)

Saul A. Teukolsky named new head of astronomy department research center
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Saul A. Teukolsky, the Hans A. Bethe Professor in Physics and Astrophysics at Cornell Univeristy, has been named director of the Center for Radiophysics and Space Research (CRSR), one of the two research centers of the Cornell astronomy department. Teukolsky succeeds Peter Gierasch, professor of astronomy, who had been director of CRSR since 1984. The directorship has a five-year renewable term. CRSR was founded in 1959 by Thomas Gold, now the J. L. Wetherill Professor Emeritus of Astronomy at Cornell, to foster cooperation with astronomers, engineers, geologists and other researchers with specialties relevant to space sciences. Today the center administers nearly 100 Cornell research grants and contracts with a value of about $15 million a year. Teukolsky.crsr.deb.html (September 28, 1999)

Single motherhood doesn't hurt schoolwork
ITHACA, N.Y. -- A large, multiethnic Cornell University study has found that single motherhood does not necessarily compromise how well prepared six- and seven-year-olds are for school. "Although one-parent families had lower incomes, what mattered most for kids' school readiness was the mothers' ability and educational levels, and these were about the same in both of the large samples we analyzed of single- and two-parent families," says Henry Ricciuti, professor emeritus of human development at Cornell. single.parents.ssl.html (September 27, 1999)

Cornell will be viewing site for the World Food Day teleconference, 'Tomorrow's Farmers: An Uncertain Future,' Oct. 15
ITHACA, N.Y. -- To examine the forces working against tomorrow's young farmers in today's changing world and the problems of domestic food security, Cornell University will be a viewing site for the 16th annual World Food Day teleconference, "Tomorrow's Farmers: An Uncertain Future." The program is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 15, from noon to 3 p.m., in the Martha Van Rensselaer Hall Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. TomorrowFarmers.bpf.html (September 27, 1999)

Boyce Thompson Institute celebrates 75 years of plant research to benefit human welfare
ITHACA, N.Y. -- As the world population passes the 6 billion mark, pioneering work to guarantee food sustainability continues at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research Inc. (BTI), the largest not-for-profit organization dedicated to plant research in the world. Located on the campus of Cornell University, BTI celebrates its 75th anniversary today (Sept. 24). "In retrospect, we can see that by helping people study plants, William Boyce Thompson has helped humankind. His vision led to studies that helped create national air pollution standards that not only protect plants but also all of us who breathe the same air," says Charles J. Arntzen, president and chief executive of the institute. "We have created a new technology that is used to create an inhalable version of insulin that will save diabetics from millions of painful injections each year and another for pain-free, inexpensive edible vaccines for our children and those in developing countries." BTI-75.bpf.html (September 24, 1999)

'Disposable electronics' from polymer study
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The integrated circuits of the future could possibly be made with a substrate of silicon with a thin film of polymer containing the transistors and the interconnections dropped on top. The idea is novel, but as yet the marrying of two such dissimilar materials is poorly understood. The future applications of such new types of semiconducting materials could be such things as light-emitting diode displays and flexible laptop screens, leading to an era of cheap and highly portable "throwaway electronics." clancy.award.deb.html (September 24, 1999)

Collegetown cleanup by residents and students is set for Oct. 2
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University students, including members of fraternities and sororities, and Collegetown residents will clean up the streets of Collegetown Saturday, Oct. 2. Activities include cleaning neighborhood sidewalks, streets, utility poles and open spaces. Volunteers will gather in shifts beginning at 10 a.m. in front of The Nines at 311 College Ave. From there, teams of students and year-round residents will begin their cleanup effort on the streets of Ithaca's Collegetown neighborhood. Their efforts will include removing posters that have been placed illegally on utility poles. Collegetown.cleanup.ds.html (September 24, 1999)

Onscreen break reminder boosts productivity
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Workers who used computer software to remind occasionally them to assume good posture, take short breaks and occasionally stretch do more accurate work and as a result are more productive, according to a new Cornell University study. "We found that alerting computer users to take short rests and breaks improved work accuracy without any reductions in overall keystroke and mouse use," says Alan Hedge, professor of design and environmental analysis at Cornell and director of Cornell's Human Factors and Ergonomics Laboratory. In his study, Hedge found that workers receiving the alerts were 13 percent more accurate on average in their work than coworkers who were not reminded. The more the workers typed, the better their accuracy: the fastest typist made almost 40 percent fewer errors than his counterpart who did not receive the computer alerts. computer.breaks.ssl.html (September 24, 1999)

Impact of biotechnology will be examined at symposium
ITHACA, N.Y. -- From hepatitis prevention to virtual lab animals on a chip, five scientific advances with the potential to change society will be examined at a symposium on Monday, Oct. 11, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Biotechnology Building conference room at Cornell University. The 14th symposium sponsored by the Cornell Center for Advanced Technology (CAT) in Biotechnology is open, free of charge, to the public. The symposium is titled "Cornell Biotechnology: Impacts on Science and Society." biotechsymp99.hrs.html (September 22, 1999)

Communications towers killing birds
ITHACA, N.Y. -- If Alfred Hitchcock made disaster films, "Birds vs. Towers" might go something like this: It was a dark and stormy night during fall migration season. Lacking visual cues, the flock homed on the one source of hazy brightness in the sky. Apparently mistaking lights of the communications tower for the moon, some birds smashed head-on into the steel structure. The rest circled the tower like a confused tornado, eventually hitting one of the tower's supporting guy wires, colliding with other disoriented birds or falling to the ground in exhaustion. Bird scientists gathering at Cornell University last month for the annual American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) meeting looked ahead to fall migration time with renewed dread. Although birds have been hitting structures in North America for at least 100 years, there are now more tall towers than ever before -- especially for cellular phone and digital television transmission -- with even more on the drawing boards. bird_tower.hrs.html (September 22, 1999)

Leading Spanish anthropologist to deliver Einaudi Lecture Sept. 28
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Mar’a Jesœs Bux—, the 1999-2000 Luigi Einaudi Chair in European and International Studies at Cornell University, will give the annual Einaudi Lecture Tuesday, Sept. 28, at 4:30 p.m. in the A.D. White House on campus. The lecture, titled "Fields of Passion: Anthropology, Ethnicity and Violence," is free and open to the public. einaudi.lecture.html (September 22, 1999)

Terrence Fine named director of Cornell Center for Applied Mathematics
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Terrence Fine, Cornell University professor of electrical engineering and statistical science, has been named director of Cornell's Center for Applied Mathematics. The center has a membership of approximately 80 faculty and 40 graduate students with interests in the applications of mathematical and computational methods to a wide variety of problems arising in the biological, physical and social sciences and in engineering. Fine.math.deb.html (September 22, 1999)

Compassion is topic for pet overpopulation expert Patty Olson in Sept. 27 vet lecture
ITHACA, N.Y. -- "Compassion and Commitment: Veterinary Medicine as a Model for the 21st Century" is the topic for Patricia "Patty" Olson in a Sept. 27 presentation at 5:30 p.m. in Lecture Hall I of the Veterinary Education Center at Cornell University. The talk by the internationally known expert in animal welfare and pet overpopulation issues is open to the general public at no charge. olson_lec.hrs.html (September 22, 1999)

New York City educators learn to give youth a message on the environment: Go Fish!
NEW YORK -- To train educators and youth coaches about aquatic life, more than two dozen New York City educators are goin' fishin' on Thursday, Sept. 23, in Central Park. Cornell Cooperative Extension-NYC and the New York State 4-H Sportfishing and Aquatic Resources Education Program (SAREP) are conducting a training program for New York City educators as part of the Aquatic Resources Education and Stewardship project. The purpose of the program is to train educators how to teach youth about aquatic life and habitats, how to keep the aquatic environment healthy and how to participate in a catch-and-release fishing program. CCE.Fishing.bpf.html (September 20, 1999)

New guidebook covers 'Birds of Cornell Plantations'
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Best known for the beauty and diversity of its plant collections, Cornell Plantations reveals an abundance of other inhabitants and migrating visitors with its newest publication, An Annotated Checklist for Birds of Cornell Plantations. The 32-page guide is co-authored by Charles R. Smith, senior research associate in Cornell's Department of Natural Resources, and Adam M. Byrne, a former undergraduate in that department, and includes illustrations by Louis Agassiz Fuertes, courtesy of the Kroch Rare and Manuscript Collections at Cornell. plantations_birds.hrs.html (September 20, 1999)

A miserable life on overcrowded Earth in 2100
ITHACA, N.Y. -- One hundred years from now, democratically determined population-control practices and sound resource-management policies could have the planet's 2 billion people thriving in harmony with the environment. Lacking these approaches, a new Cornell University study suggests, 12 billon miserable humans will suffer a difficult life on Earth by the year 2100. "Of course, reducing population and using resources wisely will be a challenging task in the coming decades," says David Pimentel, lead author of the report titled "Will Limits of the Earth's Resources Control Human Numbers?" in the first issue of the journal Environment, Development and Sustainability. sustainable_life.hrs.html (September 20, 1999)

Director of Latino Studies Program works to move the program forward
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Latino Studies Program (LSP) at Cornell University is poised to become a premier center for both undergraduate education and faculty research, says Pedro Cab‡n, a visiting professor of government and the program's director for the academic year 1999-2000. To evolve, the LSP will need across-the-board support from the administration, from faculty in diverse academic units and from the students themselves, Cab‡n says. caban.release.html (September 17, 1999)

$400,000 HUD grant to enhance Ithaca's quality of life
ITHACA, N.Y. -- A Cornell University - City of Ithaca partnership has received $400,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assist in addressing the needs and concerns of neighborhoods in Ithaca and to help enhance the quality of life in the city. The partnership includes Cornell and city of Ithaca community-based organizations and churches, residents and government agencies. To date, more than a dozen community organizations have committed to the project. Patricia Pollak, associate professor of policy analysis and management in the New York State College of Human Ecology at Cornell and the principal investigator/director of the ambitious project, stresses that any organization is welcome to participate. HUD.award.ssl.html (September 17, 1999)

Books on labor struggles by Bronfenbrenner, Juravich and Cowie published by Cornell Press
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Two new books on labor struggles from faculty members in Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) were recently published by Cornell University Press. Kate Bronfenbrenner wrote Ravenswood: The Steelworkers' Victory and the Revival of American Labor with co-author Tom Juravich of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Ravenswood, which is published under Cornell Press's ILR Press imprint, recounts the battle between United Steelworkers of America (USWA) and Ravenswood Aluminum Corp. over one of its plants in West Virginia. The authors tell how the Ravenswood company, on the eve of the expiration of its contract with USWA, chose not to discuss health and safety violations at the plant, despite five work-related employee deaths in a single year. Instead the company locked out all 1,700 employees and hired permanent replacements. Jefferson Cowie is the author of Capital Moves: RCA's 70-Year Quest for Cheap Labor, which tells the story of four communities, Camden, N.J., Bloomington, Ind., Memphis, Tenn., and Ju‡rez, Mexico. Each is transformed by the opening of an RCA industrial plant from the 1930s through the 1970s -- and in the case of the first three towns a plant closing too -- as the firm scoured the country and hemisphere in search of cheap and desirable labor. Bronfenbrenner.Cowie.PR.html (September 16, 1999)

College and Community Expo '99 kicks off on the Commons this Saturday
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Ithaca Downtown Partnership, in conjunction with Cornell University, Ithaca College and Tompkins-Cortland Community College, is sponsoring a new, annual event -- College and Community Expo -- on the Ithaca Commons this weekend. College and Community Expo '99 will take place Saturday, Sept. 18, from 1 to 5 p.m. and will feature entertainment, a free drawing for prizes and more than 50 exhibitors from area colleges and community organizations, including AIDS Work, Community School of Music and Arts, Challenge Industries and the Greater Ithaca Activities Center, among others. College.Community.Expo.html (September 16, 1999)

Veterinary students will wash dogs for education on Oct. 2
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Members of the Cornell University Student Chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association (SCAVMA) will hold a dog wash on Saturday, Oct. 2, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the College of Veterinary Medicine's Tower Road plaza. A suggested donation of $5 will help send SCAVMA members to an educational symposium in Virginia. dogwash.hrs.html (September 16, 1999)

Psychologists advise students on how to beat those college blues
ITHACA, N.Y. -- College is a positive experience for most students, but some newcomers to campus may encounter problems that range from homesickness and anxiety to severe stress. Other students bring their existing problems, like eating disorders and procrastination, to college, where it can be harder to cope in the absence of family structure and supervision. Adding to the dilemma is a new range of problems facing students that didn't exist even five years ago: Internet addiction, access to pornography on the World Wide Web, greater availability of gambling sites and an increasingly wide array of lifestyle and career choices. "Students in the Year 2000 freshman class will encounter many new challenges," said Philip W. Meilman, director of counseling and psychological services at Cornell University and co-author of Beating the College Blues (Facts on File, 1999), a self-help guidebook written for students in question-and-answer format. "The choices students have to make can be overwhelming," he said. meilman.college.blues.lgk.html (September 16, 1999)

Duke's Barbara Herrnstein Smith Lectures on evolutionary psychology Sept. 27
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Barbara Herrnstein Smith of Duke University will deliver a University Lecture at Cornell University titled "Sewing Up the Mind: The Claims of Evolutionary Psychology," Monday, Sept. 27, at 4:30 p.m. in 700 Clark Hall. It is free and open to the public. Herrnstein Smith is the Braxton Craven Professor of Comparative Literature and English and director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Science and Cultural Theory at Duke. univ.lect.BHS.html (September 16, 1999)

Floyd not threatening Northeast like Agnes
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Despite the immensity of Hurricane Floyd, which after sweeping over Florida is bearing down on the Carolina's and threatening the U.S. eastern seaboard, climatologists at the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University believe the storm will not pack the watery wallop of hurricane-turned-tropical storm Agnes in 1972. "If Floyd comes this way as forecasted, the rainfall amounts won't be as high," says Keith Eggleston, senior climatologist at the center. "Agnes moved slowly and it rained over several days. Floyd, on the other hand, is expected to move through the northeast more quickly so the storm won't have as much time to drop as much rain. But this is really speculation right now as the track of Floyd is so uncertain." HurricaneFloyd.bpf.html (September 15, 1999)

Venezuelan music troupe to perform at Cornell Sept. 17
ITHACA, N.Y. -- A vibrant group of young Venezuelan musicians and dancers called Estudiantina VENUSA will perform Friday, Sept. 17, at 8 p.m. in Anabel Taylor Hall Auditorium on the Cornell University campus. The event is free and open to the public. Dressed in native costume, the traveling ensemble will perform works from the diverse regional traditions of Venezuela, in addition to songs and dances from Spain, Ecuador, Mexico and other Latin American countries. Friday's event is sponsored by the Committee on U.S./Latin American Relations (CUSLAR) at Cornell. CUSLAR.MUSIC.html (September 14, 1999)

GTE CEO Charles Lee will give annual Hatfield address Sept. 23
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Charles R. Lee, chairman and chief executive officer of GTE Corp., will deliver this year's Hatfield address at Cornell University on Thursday, Sept. 23, at 4:30 p.m. in Schwartz Auditorium of Rockefeller Hall. His talk is titled "Net Gains: Opportunities and Obstacles in a Networked World." The lecture is free and open to the public. Lee is the 1999 Robert S. Hatfield Fellow in Economic Education, the highest honor Cornell bestows on outstanding individuals from the corporate sector. Hatfield.spkr.Lee.html (September 14, 1999)

ILR School opens New York City think tank and part-time graduate program
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) is opening a New York City institute and think tank to study the changing issues of the workplace. It's name: the Cornell Institute for Workplace Studies. Under its auspices, the ILR School will offer an affordable, part-time, Ivy League master of professional studies (M.P.S.) program based in Manhattan. ILR School faculty will teach in the Saturday program, which is otherwise available only to full-time students on Cornell's main campus in Ithaca. The first class will begin in January 2000. MILR.NYC.inst.html (September 14, 1999)

Student-designed bridge spans Cascadilla Creek
Bridge links communities, local organizations ITHACA, N.Y. -- A service project by Cornell University students will bridge the gap between two community organizations and two Ithaca neighborhoods. Sciencecenter.bridge.html (September 14, 1999)

NSF award for multiscale modeling
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Cornell University $1.5 million for a new facility for research on multiscale problems in materials science and molecular biology. The award, from the NSF's directorate for Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering, will support a project involving four universities and located at the Cornell Theory Center (CTC), Cornell's high-performance computing center. The goal of the so-called multiscale research project is to develop the scalable hardware and software systems needed to simulate critical technical and scientific problems, from analyzing a cracking piston to determining the way in which a protein folds. CTC.award.deb.html (September 13, 1999)

Expert comments on E. coli outbreak
ITHACA, N.Y. -- In recent days New York state has faced a major outbreak of illness, and a fatality, caused by the E. coli O157:H7 bacterium. The bacterium is believed to have been spread through infected well water. Cornell University News Service is offerering expert faculty to comment on a broad number of topics involving the outbreak, including detection of the bacterium, its survival, its contamination of water systems and of food. EColi.Experts.bpf.html (September 10, 1999)

Author Alison Lurie is celebrated with a public reading Sept. 17
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The distinguished teaching career of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alison Lurie will be honored this month with a tribute, simply called "Readings for Alison Lurie." The event, sponsored by Cornell University's Department of English and Program of Creative Writing, will be held Friday, Sept. 17, from 4:30 to 6 p.m., in the Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium in Goldwin Smith Hall. It is free and open to the public. Four of Lurie's former writing students will read for 15 minutes each from a selection of their published works. Guest readers include: Ithaca resident Paul Cody, author of So Far Gone and Eyes Like Mine (Picador USA); Beth Lordan, author of And Both Shall Row (St. Martin's Press); Jason Brown, author of Driving the Heart and Other Stories (Norton); and Micah Perks, author of We Are Gathered Here (St. Martin's Press). Lurie.Reading.html (September 10, 1999)

Genetic engineered crop studies questioned
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Two prominent entomologists, one from Cornell University, warn that three recent studies on the effects of genetically engineered crops have distorted the debate about engineered crops and that this could have "profound consequences" for science and public policy. The article, "False reports and the ears of men," in the latest issue of Nature Biotechnology, is authored by Anthony M. Shelton, professor of entomology at Cornell's New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Richard T. Roush of the University of Adelaide, Australia. They urge that the public should not be swayed "by laboratory reports that, when looked at with a critical eye, may not have any reality in the field or even in the laboratory." Shelton.monarch.bpf.html (September 10, 1999)

Statutory colleges to hold fall open house and information sessions for new and transfer students
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University's statutory colleges will hold an open house for prospective freshmen students on Saturday, Oct. 23, 1999. They also will hold an information session for prospective transfer students on Friday, Nov. 5, 1999. Students interested in learning about admission to the state-assisted colleges at Cornell are encouraged to attend. The open house will provide high school juniors, seniors and their parents the opportunity to visit Cornell's New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Human Ecology and the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Visitors will receive an overview of the university and academic programs in the three colleges. High school students and their parents are invited to campus to meet admissions staff, faculty and current Cornell students. The program will include admissions and financial aid information. StatOpenHouse.bpf.html (September 9, 1999)

Women learn how to succeed on Wall Street from alumnae and other mentors
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Six Cornell University seniors, all women, went to New York City this past summer hoping to learn how to crack Wall Street's infamous glass ceiling -- that invisible, impermeable surface their mothers merely scratched. Unlike their mothers, however, they were lucky enough to have as mentors a group of women, many of them Cornell alumnae, who are already established in the business world. The 10-week experience taught the students rule number one: networking is the name of the game. And rule number two: if you think you already know all you need to know about networking, you're wrong. Women.wall.st.html (September 9, 1999)

'Candid Camera' still used in academia
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Test question: An elevator passenger is joined by three others who immediately turn to face the side of the car. Struggling to resist the pressures of conformity, the first passenger eventually joins the rest because: 1. He is on Candid Camera, the 1960s television show conceived by the late Cornell University alumnus, Allen Funt, Class of 1934; 2. His actions will be scrutinized as an example of human behavior by research scholars who use the Allen Funt archives at Cornell University; 3. Both. The indecisive passenger entertained millions on the television show and now educates thousands of students at Cornell and at colleges across the United States. The 1,802 students in Cornell's single most popular class, Psychology 101, know that the answer is "Both," that the wrong-facing passengers worked for Candid Camera and the conforming passenger would soon hear the familiar tag line, "Smile! You're on Candid Camera." They also learn the uses -- and limitations -- of unscientific data as portrayed on the hundreds of old kinescope prints of the TV show now housed at Cornell. Candid_Camera_arch.hrs.html (September 8, 1999)

Board of Trustees executive committee to meet in New York City Sept. 9
ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell University Board of Trustees Executive Committee will meet in New York City on Thursday, Sept. 9. The meeting will be held in the Fall Creek Room of the Cornell Club of New York, 6 E. 44th St., at 2 p.m. Exec.committee.jkp.html (September 8, 1999)

Alumnus who helped develop Dawn and Downy endows named professorship in physical chemistry
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University alumnus Robert G. Laughlin, whose research at Procter & Gamble Co. has contributed to a number of well-known household products, has donated $2.5 million to endow a new named professorship in the university's Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. The professorship will be called the Frank and Robert Laughlin Chair of Physical Chemistry. It also is named for Laughlin's late father, Frank, a high school teacher in Bloomfield, Ind. Laughlin.chem.deb.html (September 8, 1999)

Food scientists name two commercial dairies as New York state's top milk processors
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University's Department of Food Science has selected two commercial dairies as producing the highest quality milk in New York state. The annual selection is tied to the New York State Milk Quality Improvement Program, sponsored by the New York Milk Promotion Order. The analytical tests are run at Cornell. Crowley Foods of Binghamton and Upstate Farms Dairy of Rochester tied for top place with an 84.1 score. Second place went to Crowley Foods of Albany with a score of 83.6. Niagara Milk Cooperative (Wendt's Dairy) of Niagara Falls received third place with a score of 82.8. The awards were given Aug. 30 at the New York State Fair. Milk99.bpf.html (September 8, 1999)

Akwe:kon Press publication, Native Americas, wins six media awards
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Native Americas, a journal published by the Akwe:kon Press at Cornell University's American Indian Program, won six media awards at the 1999 Native American Journalists Association's (NAJA) annual awards held in Seattle in July. First place for "Best Layout and Design" in the magazine category went to Brendan White, production manager and web site developer for Native Americas. The award was a first for Akwe:kon Press. White, an Akwesasne Mohawk, has been an integral member of the Akwe:kon Press staff for more than four years. Nat.Am.Mag.Release.html (September 8, 1999)

Training Russians in youth crisis intervention
ITHACA, N.Y. -- With skyrocketing rates of drug and alcohol abuse and teen suicide throughout Russia, the city of Nizhni Novgorod needed ways to help its youth cope with anger and despair. As part of this effort, Martha Holden, director of Cornell University's Residential Child Care Project, gave an intensive seven-day training in Russia last month. With two interpreters and her 312-page manual translated into Russian, including format and colored coding, Holden, aided by two colleagues, gave the Cornell Family Life Development Center (FLDC) Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) training to 16 college professors, psychologists and others. They in turn, will train child-care workers in behavior management skills to enable them to manage acute anger and despair in their young charges. Russian.teenproblems.ssl.html (September 8, 1999)

Transportation and Mail Services staff produces award-winning marketing materials for TCAT
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Marketing materials for Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT) have been recognized as among the best in the country by the American Public Transit Association (APTA). The APTA AdWheel awards are held annually, and this year Tcat has been honored with first-place awards in two divisions of the print media category. Tcat garnered two awards in last year's competition, as well. The TCAT pieces honored this year are a newspaper advertisement, "A Fare to Remember," and a newsletter, "StreetWise -- Tcat's Guide to Getting Around." Both Tcat pieces are in contention for the grand prize in the print media category at APTA's annual meeting in Orlando, Fla., Oct. 10-13. TCAT.ads.html (September 8, 1999)

Tibetan monks from Dalai Lama's monastery-in-exile perform Sept. 15
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Tibetan monks from the Dalai Lama's personal monastery in Dharamsala, India, will present an evening of ritual dance and traditional Tibetan monastic music Wednesday, Sept. 15, at 7:30 p.m. in the Alice Statler Auditorium on the Cornell University campus. The program, titled "The Sacred Dances of Tibet," features 18 monks from Namgyal Monastery in Dharamsala who accompanied the Dalai Lama during his recent visit to the United States. The monks have remained in the United States as part of a larger North American tour to promote awareness of Tibet's unique cultural and religious heritage. Tibetan.Monks.Release.html (September 8, 1999)

Cornellians lead United Way campaign on and off campus
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Several members of the Cornell University community are playing key roles in the 1999 United Way of Tompkins County campaign on and off campus. Their efforts, which started last spring, are aimed at raising $1.75 million this fall. About $530,000 of that will come from the Cornell campus campaign, which includes employees, retirees and students. Mary George Opperman, Cornell vice president for human resources, is chairing the United Way campaign on campus. Vice chair of the campus campaign is LeNorman Strong, assistant vice president for student and academic services. UW.Cabinet.ssl.html (September 8, 1999)

Breakthrough in molecular motors
ITHACA, N.Y. --Coupling the organic and inorganic, biological engineers at Cornell University have demonstrated the feasibility of extremely small, self-propelled bionic machines that do their builders' bidding in plant and animal cells, including those in humans. Such machines could travel through the body, functioning as mobile pharmacies, for example, dispensing precise doses of chemotherapy drugs exclusively to cancer cells. bio_nano_mechanical.hrs.html (September 8, 1999)

New dean for computing and information science will expand computing knowledge to many disciplines
ITHACA, N.Y. -- To emphasize the role computing is taking across a broad range of disciplines, Cornell University Provost Don M. Randel has created the new post of dean for computing and information science. He has appointed Robert Constable, who had been chair of the Department of Computer Science for the past six years, to the position. "I am very grateful to Bob for his willingness to undertake this effort in the context of an urgent need for change and our traditional reluctance to engage in it," Randel said. Constable's appointment, which was effective July 1, was formally announced in a memo from Randel to Cornell deans, directors and department heads. ComputingDean.ws.html (September 8, 1999)

At Campus Store, it's gotten easier to be green
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell students will be able to be a little kinder to the environment when they buy printer paper at the Cornell Campus Store this year. The store now sells only recycled printer paper, and it can be bought for as little as $3.59 for 500 sheets, much less than the non-recycled printer paper the store carried last year for $5.99 a ream. The store is one of many Cornell enterprises under the umbrella of Cornell Business Services (CBS) that have become more environmentally conscious lately. Last February another CBS unit, the Cornell Distribution Center, decided to go green, and now 95 percent of the 130,000 reams of paper it sells yearly is recycled and contains 30 percent post-consumer waste or more. CBS's web site even has a recycled paper glossary: . Green.campus.store.PR.html (September 8, 1999)

Ugandan prime minister to speak on economic reform Sept. 7
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Apolo Nsibambi, prime minister of the Republic of Uganda, will speak at Cornell University Tuesday, Sept. 7, at 7:30 p.m. in Anabel Taylor Hall auditorium. His talk is titled "Political Conditions for Economic Reform and Successful Adjustment in Africa." Nsibambi was education minister of Uganda from May 1998 until last April, when he was named prime minister by President Yoweri Museveni, in a cabinet reshuffle. Museveni, a former guerrilla leader, was elected president of Uganda in 1996 and since 1986 has been in power in the East African country, which borders on Kenya and Rwanda. As president he launched a sweeping privatization program that has been hailed by international lenders as an economic success story but criticized for fostering corrupt practices. Nsibambi's appointment was intended to help rout out corruption. Ugandan.pm.PR.html (September 3, 1999)

Biologists predict more marine disease
ITHACA, N.Y. -- Headline-grabbing die-offs of sea life could be just the tip of the iceberg as global warming and pollution allow old diseases to find new hosts, 13 biologists predict in this week's issue (Sept. 3, 1999) of the journal Science. Dying seals infected with distemper from sled dogs, sardines with herpes virus imported in aquaculture feed and corals killed by a soil-borne fungus are among 34 organisms cited in a report that says many "less apparent" species may be disappearing without notice. Some diseases are introduced from other habitats, the biologists note, while others are familiar ones that overstressed marine life may be losing its natural ability to fight. sea_disease.hrs.html (September 2, 1999)