N.Y. -- If you plan to go over the river or through the woods this Thanksgiving, consider snow tires. The holiday falls on Nov. 28 this year, and for the northern parts of the northeast United States, that means a good chance of snow. Cornell University's Northeast Regional Climate Center predicts a 67 percent likelihood of an inch of snow on the ground in Caribou, Maine, on Thanksgiving morning, and a 34 percent possibility in Burlington, Vt. Not far behind is Concord, N.H., with a 29 percent chance. Keith Eggleston, senior climatologist at the center, based his predictions on a 30-year average of Northeast snowfall, from 1971 to 2000. (November 19, 2002)
New York, NY (November 18, 2002) -- A new study by doctors at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center shows that the Center's unique diagnostic technology of magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) is the equal of the traditional technique of x-ray angiography in helping physicians plan treatment for patients with peripheral vascular disease (PVD). MRA, which is much less invasive than x-ray angiography, can now be considered as the appropriate and standard diagnostic technique not only for mild forms of PVD but for severe forms as well.The new study, recently published in the journal "Radiology," is the first to show that MRA is useful in guiding the planning of treatment for severe as well as mild PVD. PVD, which afflicts many elderly people, involves a narrowing or obstruction of arteries in the lower body, particularly the legs or feet. In its mildest form, it can lead to pain in walking and is called claudication. In its more severe form, it can lead to pain in the feet at rest as well as foot gangrene and ulcerations.
During the Thanksgiving holiday season from Nov. 18 to Dec. 1, Cornell University Police will join police agencies throughout New York state in a wave of "zero tolerance" enforcement of the seat belt laws. "Many students will be driving home for the Thanksgiving holiday, and we want to help ensure a safe trip home and back for them," said Sgt. Charles Howard, coordinator of traffic enforcement activities for Cornell Police. (November 18, 2002)
Environmental sculptor Andy Goldsworthy will present a public lecture "Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time," on Dec. 4 , at 7:30 p.m. in the David Call Alumni Auditorium of Kennedy Hall on the Cornell campus.
New York, NY -- NewYork Weill Cornell Medical Center of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is currently seeking patients for a nationwide, multicenter clinical research trial to explore the benefits of a unique vaccine to treat low-grade follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). This randomized Phase 3 study will test a personalized immunotherapy vaccine created from a patient's own tumor cells to potentially combat the cancer and interfere with disease progression. NewYork Weill Cornell is the only site in New York State participating in this trial. "This study is for patients with previously untreated, advanced stage low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma who want to use their own immune system as a first line of defense to fight the disease," said John P. Leonard, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine, Medical Director, Oncology Services, Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University, and investigator on the trial. "Low-grade NHL is a cancer with no readily available cure, and conventional treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation have been shown to lose efficacy and cause side effects as the disease progresses. We are hopeful that this technique for stimulating the immune system to recognize and then attack the cancer will result in longer-term remissions."
Paid maternity leave, pay equity and comparable pay for work of comparable worth -- those and other benefits that aid all working women and their families today -- are such an integral part of the U.S. workplace that we almost take them for granted. But they might not exist at all were it not for the efforts of Cornell's Alice Hanson Cook, one of the first researchers to study the problems faced by working women. Her pioneering work has influenced generations of scholars and activists -- from unionists to public policy analysts to experts in feminist jurisprudence -- and led them to transform working women's issues into societal priorities. This year marks the 100th anniversary of Cook's birth. A faculty member at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations from the early 1950s on, she died in 1998 after making her mark as one of the top researchers in her field. A conference to honor Cook's legacy will be held on Cornell's campus starting Friday evening, Nov. 21, and running all day Saturday, Nov. 22. The Saturday presentations are free and open to the public. Most of the events are in 105 Ives Hall. (November 18, 2003)
A new architectural firm has been chosen to design Milstein Hall, the future home of Cornell University's Department of Architecture. Barkow Leibinger Architects (BLA) was the unanimous choice of the Cornell committee that made the decision.
Great poetry still matters even in these most bellicose of times. To wit: Alice Fulton, professor of English at Cornell University, has been awarded the 2002 Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry for her 2001 book of poetry, Felt. The prestigious $10,000 biennial prize, sponsored by the Library of Congress, will be presented to Fulton on Thursday, Dec. 5, at 8 p.m. in the Mumford Room of the James Madison Building in Washington, D.C. Fulton will read from her works, and a public reception will follow. The Bobbitt prize recognizes the most distinguished book of poetry written by an American and published during the previous two years. Fulton was chosen by a three-member jury of American poets appointed in July by a selection committee composed of the librarian of Congress, the poet laureate consultant in poetry, a publisher named by the Academy of American Poets and a literary critic nominated by the Bobbitt family. (November 14, 2002)
An institute for workplace studies at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) is undertaking a major study examining the work, well-being and quality of life of New York City firefighters.
Thousands of people in the Ithaca area have computers, and some have two or three between work and home. The Cornell-Ithaca Partnership (C-IP) is hoping that as these users upgrade their equipment, many will choose to donate their still-functional computers to local schoolchildren from low-income families. "When we recently assessed how many students at the Beverly J. Martin Elementary School [BJM] do not have access to computers at home, we discovered a resounding 57 kids. In today's educational landscape, a child without a computer is a child who may not succeed," says Tish A. Pearlman, program coordinator of C-IP. (November 14, 2002)
Of course mothers love their children. But as moms get older, more than half report some conflicted or ambivalent feelings about their adult children. And, according to a recent study at Cornell University and Louisiana State University, the older mom gets, the more mixed are her feelings about her children. "Older mothers tend to be most ambivalent toward children who never completed college or aren't married," says Karl Pillemer, an associate professor of human development at Cornell and co-director of the Cornell Applied Gerontology Research Institute. "Mothers are also more ambivalent toward children that still need financial support from them." (November 14, 2002)
Cornell University alumnus Fred Young, a retired Racine, Wis., businessman and longtime follower of astronomy, has given $250,000 for the study phase of a proposed infrared telescope, planned for the Atacama desert in the high Andes of northern Chile. Young said he will provide a further $250,000 for the Atacama project if by next year substantial progress has been made toward establishing a firm partnership that will lead to the construction of the telescope within a decade. The telescope, estimated to cost more than $100 million, would be built entirely with private funds from Cornell and other sources, although it is expected that its operation will involve federal funds. (November 13, 2002)
