Credit: Lindsay France/University Photography

Cornell is preparing for the arrival of about 3,200 first-year students and 550 transfer students with Orientation Week activities and events, starting with Move-In Day, Friday, Aug. 20.

New undergraduates will move into residence halls that day and pick up their ID cards at Cornell Bound Check-In, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Barton Hall, where students and parents can also find information about numerous services on campus. More than 600 students are serving as Orientation volunteers this year.

Orientation Week will feature more than 150 events Aug. 20-24, many of them planned by the Orientation Steering Committee (OSC). Events include six New Student Reading Project lectures, a farmers' market on North Campus, the Big Red Blowout in Schoellkopf Stadium, comedy and musical performances, and tours of Willard Straight Hall and other student centers, libraries, gardens and many other essential and offbeat campus attractions.

For a full list of sustainability events and links, check out Sustainability at Cornell's "Orientation Sustainability Events 2010" Facebook page, posters around campus or an orientation guidebook.

"We try to create a diverse Orientation, where there is something for everyone," said OSC co-chair Nikki Stevens '11. "We feel this is vitally important because our campus is so diverse. Creating a wide variety of events allows each student to pick and choose what speaks to them, whether it be a seminar on stage fighting or a night at the Johnson Museum."

President David Skorton will address the New Student Convocation, Saturday, Aug. 21, at 8:45 a.m. in Schoellkopf Stadium. The annual Dump and Run Sale follows, with recycled furniture, clothing, electronics and more, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Aug. 21 and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Aug. 22 in Helen Newman Gymnasium.

The 2010 Reading Project will culminate in six faculty lectures Aug. 22, 3:30 to 5 p.m., and small group discussions across campus Aug. 23. This year's selection is Philip K. Dick's dystopian classic "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

The "Android" lectures are:

• "More Human Than Human: Virtual Worlds and Imagination" in Statler Auditorium, with Jeff Hancock, associate professor of communication and information science;
• "Why Electric Sheep Need Human Shepherds" in the Schwartz Center, with Alan Hedge, professor of design and environmental analysis;
• "What Do Robots Dream Of?" in Baker Lab 200, with Hod Lipson, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and computing and information science;
• "Pets of the Future" in Bailey Hall, with Gretchen Schoeffler, lecturer in clinical sciences and chief of emergency and critical care at the Cornell Companion Animal Hospital;
• "A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far Far Away ... When Words Fail Us" in Willard Straight Theatre, with Shawkat Toorawa, associate professor of Near Eastern studies; and
• "Biodiversity, Ecocomplexity and the Human Experience" in Kennedy Hall's Call Auditorium, with Thomas Whitlow, associate professor of horticulture.

First-year students from all colleges are assigned to lectures based on their residence hall, with transfer students attending the Bailey Hall program.

"We're trying to create more opportunities in these smaller venues for students to ask questions and to engage with the presenters and one another, [and] display something of the range of intellectual and academic experiences that Cornell has to offer," Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Laura Brown said.

Other Orientation Week events include:

• The North Campus Block Party, Aug. 22 at 5:30 p.m. on Donlon Circle, a new student mixer with food, games and live music;
• "Real Students, Reel Stories," Aug. 23, a program to introduce students to the Cornell community and help them to navigate their first year on campus;
• The Class of 2014 group photo, 5 p.m. Aug. 24 on Libe Slope; and
• Free Cornell Cinema admission for all new students, Aug. 22-31, with films including "Some Like It Hot," "2046," "Brazil" and "Iron Man 2."

There are two dozen events just for transfer students, including trivia, intramurals and a dinner with professors. In addition, an array of placement exams and auditions for performing groups will be held.

As new students settle in, Welcome Week offers events from Aug. 26-29, with a free concert by Super Mash Bros. and Shy Child, Aug. 28 on the Arts Quad, and ClubFest, Aug. 29 in Barton Hall.