How do former dictatorial regimes become democracies? They begin by reshaping the laws that govern society, said Elena Poptodorova to a roomful of law students in G85 Myron Taylor Hall, Feb. 11.
New York, NY (February 19, 2004) -- Debunking a popular myth about vasectomy, a new study by physician-scientists at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center finds that vasectomy reversal is highly effective, even 15 years or more after the vas deferens, the tube that carries sperm, is blocked. The study, published in the January Journal of Urology, documents the highest pregnancy rates following vasectomy of any study to date.Whether a man had a vasectomy this year or 15 years ago, there was no difference in the pregnancy rate achieved following a vasectomy reversal, with an average 84-percent likelihood of pregnancy over two years, the study finds. (Comparatively, healthy men without vasectomy can expect a pregnancy rate of 90 percent.) Previous studies have demonstrated pregnancy rates following vasectomy reversal of only 50-60 percent, a difference that can be attributed to advances in vasectomy-reversal techniques. The study also finds that at intervals of greater than 15 years, the pregnancy rate dropped to 44 percent.
eCornell, a developer and marketer of online professional education courses from Cornell University, is being restructured to bring the size of its organization in line with the revenue growth pattern. The company is consolidating talent and skills to focus primarily on selling its existing catalog of courses. eCornell will continue to serve its current and future individual and corporate customers worldwide. The company will maintain a core development team to continue its innovations, in conjunction with Cornell faculty, in collaborative, online learning, and to develop new programs in 2004. (February 20, 2004)
For perhaps the first time in more half a century, a brewer has made a beer from hops grown entirely in New York state. The new venture has been achieved with help from Cornell University agricultural researchers working with the Northeast Hops Alliance. Hops, once a leading specialty crop in New York state, suffered from plant disease and insect pests. Prohibition in the 1930s also helped spell the crop's demise, and 50 years ago, production ceased. Now Cornell researchers are helping growers and brewers bring hops back to the state. (February 19, 2004)
Photographs and news stories of young boys in uniform waving real guns may shock and dismay the world community but don't always lead to a deeper understanding or preventive actions. Now a symposium at Cornell Law School offers an opportunity to find out more about what can be done to halt the heinous practice of using children as soldiers. (February 19, 2004)
Compared with their husbands, women tend to put less effort into planning for retirement, studies show. But lesbians tend to plan even less than other women, according to one of the first studies to look at the retirement plans of gay and lesbian couples.
A research team at Cornell University has succeeded in converting nitrogen into ammonia using a long-predicted process that has challenged scientists for decades. The achievement involves using a zirconium metal complex to add hydrogen atoms to the nitrogen molecule and convert it to ammonia, without the need for high temperatures or high pressure. (February 18, 2004)
People lie, research has shown, in one-fourth of their daily, social interactions. But according to Cornell University communications researchers, people are most likely to lie on the telephone. In fact, the researchers say, phone fibbing is even more likely than when people use e-mail, instant messaging or even speak face-to-face. (February 18, 2004)
Acclaimed contemporary Israeli novelist Ronit Matalon will read from her work Sunday, Feb. 22, at Tompkins County Library and will be at Cornell University Monday, Feb. 23, to deliver a talk, "Writing, Desire and Two Billion Hungry People." Both events are free and open to the public. The Feb. 22 reading is at 2:30 p.m. in the library's Borg Warner Room. The Feb. 23 talk at Cornell is at 4:30 p.m. in White Hall, Room 106. "Ronit's visit offers the Cornell community a window onto the vibrancy of Israeli literature and culture," said Deborah Starr, an assistant professor in Near Eastern studies. "Her talk will also offer insights into the role of public intellectuals in Israeli society." (February 17, 2004)
When Thomas W. Simons Jr. participated in a Peace Studies Program seminar at Cornell University in 2002, he made such a powerful impression on students and faculty that it was only natural to invite him back to campus again as soon as possible. Now Simons, former United States Ambassador to Poland and Pakistan, has returned for a two-week visit as the first Provost's Visiting Professor at Cornell, and he will deliver a lecture titled "Islam, 9/11 and Iraq" Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 5 p.m. in Alice Statler Auditorium of Statler Hall on campus. The talk is free and open to the public. (February 17, 2004)
Dr. Joseph Fins, professor of medicine in psychiatry and chief of the Medical Ethics Division at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, will deliver a talk titled "Back to the Future: Cultures of Death and Dying in America," Thursday, Feb. 19, at 4 p.m. in the Guerlac Room. of the Andrew Dickson White House on the Cornell campus. The keynote presentation inaugurates the Society for the Humanities at Cornell's inter-disciplinary colloquium, "Humanism at the Cross-Roads," a collaboration among faculty members at Cornell's Ithaca campus and the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. (February 17, 2004)
Columbia University Professor Manning Marable, an eminent historian and one of the most influential interpreters of the black experience in America, will be visiting the Cornell University campus to deliver the 2004 Martin Luther King Jr. guest lecture as well as a Sage Chapel sermon. Marable's talks, listed here, are free and open to the public. Sunday, Feb. 22, 11 a.m., Sage Chapel: "When the Spirit Moves: Black Faith and the Struggle for Freedom." Monday, Feb. 23, 4:45 p.m., Sage Chapel: Martin Luther King Jr. speaker, "Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Dream Deferred." (February 16, 2004)
