Cornell's new family leave policy offers more flexibility for adoption and for caring for an ill relative. Assistant Dean of Students Joe Scaffido used leave time to travel to China to adopt his daughter, Hannah.
People, including professional bartenders, pour 20 to 30 percent more liquor into short, squat glasses than into tall, thin ones, finds a study by Cornell Professor Brian Wansink, published in a December 2005 issue of the British Medical Journal. Wansink thinks the vertical-horizontal optical illusion is the reason. (December 22, 2005)
Cornell engineering professor Thomas O'Rourke has been named to a panel convened by the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering to study the effects of Hurricane Katrina and the adequacy of hurricane protection infrastructure in New Orleans. The committee will provide an independent review of the government's interagency investigation. (December 23, 2005)
In a breakthrough discovery, researchers at Weill Medical College of Cornell University believe they have pinpointed the mechanism that triggers relapse in patients with deadly multiple myeloma.While available drugs can push the disease into temporary remission, fatal, uncontrolled cell division always re-emerges over time. Until now, the cellular mechanism driving this relapse has remained unclear. (December 23, 2005)
Several dogs from the Rochester area suffered liver damage after ingesting commercial dog food contaminated with a fungal toxin, according to veterinarians at Cornell University's Hospital for Animals, where the dogs are being treated.
The benefits of eating wild Pacific salmon outweigh the risks because it has fewer cancer-causing contaminants than farmed salmon, but the risks of eating farmed Atlantic salmon outweigh the benefits for some people, say Barbara Knuth and Steven Schwager of Cornell University in a benefit-risk analysis in November's Journal of Nutrition. (December 22, 2005)
To help consumers make informed choices about contaminants in fish, Cornell Professor Barbara Knuth serves as a scientific adviser to Seafood Safe, a new voluntary fish-labeling program for companies, retailers and restaurants. (December 22, 2005)
In the new book 'The No Child Left Behind Legislation: Educational Research and Federal Funding,' Cornell Professor Valerie Reyna asserts that new mandates for scientifically based educational programs will improve education, and other experts challenge her. (December 22, 2005)
When young school-age children do not always have enough to eat, their academic development -- especially reading -- suffers, finds a new longitudinal by Edward Frongillo of Cornell University. The study is published in the December issue of the Journal of Nutrition (2005: 135,12). (December 22, 2005)
Almost 20 percent of Americans -- and 42 percent of those over age 65 -- live with a disability, and the numbers are growing as baby boomers age. Taking a positive approach, a new book says that people with disabilities can overcome many of the barriers that prevent them from obtaining optimal and efficient health care. (December 22, 2005)
Meredith F. Small, professor of anthropology at Cornell, is the recipient of the 2005 Anthropology in Media Award from the American Anthropology Association (AAA) for 'the successful communication of anthropology to the general public through the media.' (December 22, 2005)
Capt. Kathy Zoner, a 14-year veteran of Cornell University Police, has been named assistant director. She is the highest ranking woman in the department's history. (December 22, 2005)
