Parents' Weekend

Parents and families of new and transfer students will enjoy a taste of campus life at First-Year Parents' Weekend, Oct. 19-21. The weekend includes open classes for parents, tours, open houses and gallery events Oct. 19, and faculty lectures and information sessions with offices across campus Oct. 20.

The men's ice hockey team plays the U.S. National Team Development Program Oct. 19 and Brock University Oct. 20; games start at 7 p.m.

Saturday event highlights include Student-Family/Alumni Networking at 3 p.m. in G10 Biotechnology; a Twilight Concert with the Cornell University Chorus at 5 p.m. in Sage Chapel ($10/$7 students); and a Class of 2016 Talent Show at 7:30 p.m. in the Appel Multipurpose Room.

A Conversation with Dean of Students Kent Hubbell will be held Sunday, Oct. 21, 10-11 a.m. in Call Auditorium, Kennedy Hall.

Registration will be available at check-in at Robert Purcell Community Center, all day Oct. 19 and 8 a.m.-noon Oct. 20. The weekend is organized by New Student Programs, part of the Office of the Dean of Students.

Information: New Student Programs online, e-mail fypw@cornell.edu or call 607-253-4282.

Alumni artist

An Art Soiree, Oct. 20 from 4-6 p.m. at the Cooper-Meier House, 246 Updike Road, Ithaca, will feature selected works by Cindy Tower, BFA '80. Free tickets are available by sending an email to coopermeierhouse@gmail.com.

Works from Tower's 1993 solo exhibition "Westward Expansion Inwards" at The New Museum of Contemporary Art will be shown, including painted recyclables, which reflect Tower's connection to her great-great-grandfather, Galen Clark, who helped establish Yosemite National Park.

Tower made her name as a New York installation artist and worked as artist Red Grooms' assistant in the 1980s and '90s. Her recent works feature depleted industrial landscapes accompanied by site-painting videos. She has taught at Hamilton College, Savannah College of Art and Design, The New York Studio School and Washington University in Saint Louis. Information: http://www.cindytower.com.

The Cooper-Meier House, designed by architect Richard Meier '56, B.Arch. '57, was built in 1966 by Cornell professors Arch and Esther Dotson. It is owned by Ron and Shelley Cooper '79.

Community forum

A Campus-Community Coalition Forum on the Good Samaritan Law will be held Oct. 22 from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Ithaca High School cafeteria.

Staff and students from Cornell, Ithaca College, the Ithaca City School District and Tompkins-Cortland Community College will discuss the importance of calling for medical assistance when an individual experiences severe intoxication, a serious injury or other problems after consuming alcohol or drugs.

In 2011, New York state adopted a "Good Samaritan" law giving legal amnesty to individuals who are in need of medical treatment resulting from drug or alcohol use, as well as to individuals who seek help for someone in need of medical assistance resulting from drug or alcohol use. The law protects both parties from being charged or prosecuted for drug or alcohol possession.

Otis Redding's biographer

Alumni author Jonathan Gould '73 will discuss his work on a biography of soul singer Otis Redding in a public lecture, "Annals of Biography: In Search of Otis Redding," Oct. 23, 4:30 p.m. in the Hans Bethe House Common Room. Free.

Gould is the author of "Can't Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain and America" and a former professional musician. His talk is sponsored by the Minority, Indigenous and Third World Studies Research Group and Hans Bethe House.

Spider woman

While some may find spiders scary, Linda Rayor sees something completely different -- a fascinating world of predatory behavior, unique sex lives and amazing biology.

Rayor, a senior research associate and senior lecturer in Cornell's Department of Entomology, presents "A Romance with Spiders" at the next Science Cabaret, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. at Lot 10 Lounge, 112 S. Cayuga St., Ithaca. Admission is free. Information: http://www.sciencecabaret.org/.

Animated fantasies

Fantastical flying machines, strong young heroines and the dynamic between the human and natural worlds are all hallmarks of the films of Hayao Miyazaki. Cornell Cinema will present five of Miyazaki's animated masterworks Oct. 25-Dec. 1, including his acclaimed "Spirited Away" (Nov. 10-11) and "Princess Mononoke" (Nov. 15-18).

The series also includes "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" (Oct. 25-26), "Castle in the Sky" (Nov. 3-4) and "My Neighbor Totoro" (Nov. 29-Dec. 1). All films in the series are in Japanese with English subtitles, except the Dec. 1 Ithakid Film Fest matinee of "My Neighbor Totoro," which will be shown in a dubbed version.

The titles were included in a recent 15-film touring series, "Castles in the Sky: Miyazaki, Takahata and the Masters of Studio Ghibli," and were selected with the input of the Cornell Japanese Animation Society. Series cosponsors at Cornell include the East Asia Program and the Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future.

Baker lecture

Richard Baker '88 will give a public lecture, "Anatomy of a Real Estate Family," Oct. 23 at 4:30 p.m. in Alice Statler Auditorium. Free. Sponsored by the Baker Program in Real Estate.

Baker will offer stories of working with his grandfather and father. An alumnus of the School of Hotel Administration, he is the governor and chairman of Hudson's Bay Company, and serves on the Cornell University Council and the Board of Trustees' Committee on Development.

Richard and Lisa Baker gave $11 million to name the real estate program this year and also supported the light installation by artist Leo Villareal at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, opening Oct. 22 with a public lecture by Villareal.

Power of imagination

Inventor, entrepreneur, collector and curator Jay Walker '77 will discuss the role of imagination in human history at a public talk Oct. 26, 5 p.m. in 120 Physical Sciences.

Walker's talk is in conjunction with the Cornell Library exhibition "Collecting Imagination: Treasures from the Walker Library of the History of Human Imagination," on display through Oct. 29 in the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections in Kroch Library.

Walker will highlight items from his collection in the exhibition, such as a leaf from a Gutenberg Bible, a French prayer book woven entirely from silk and a star chart that guided the Apollo 16 astronauts on their lunar explorations.

Information: http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/imagination/.

Natural and experimental

Fanciful student-designed works inspired by nature, film, art and fashion are featured in "Rapture," the seventh annual Barbara L. Kuhlman Foundation Fiber Arts and Wearable Arts Exhibition, through Nov. 15 in the Human Ecology Building's Jill Stuart Gallery.

Works range from a jacket created from mushroom composites to a tribal gown and headpiece complete with wings made with rooster and ostrich feathers. The exhibition also features a floor-to-ceiling sanctuary curtained in embroidered velvet, and topped with a stained glass panel fabricated by Grace Choi '14.

Choi and six other Fiber Science & Apparel Design (FSAD) students in the College of Human Ecology conducted design research and experimented with unique materials and forms to create their pieces for the exhibition. The Kuhlman Foundation provides scholarship support each year to students who submit design proposals to craft wearable art.