Carolyn S. Shoemaker, the world's most successful living "comet hunter," will speak at Cornell University Sunday, April 21, at 1 p.m. in the David L. Call Alumni Auditorium, Kennedy Hall. The talk is free and is open to the public. The subject of the talk, which is aimed at science educators, will be asteroid and comet collisions within the solar system. The talk is sponsored by NASA's Comet Nucleus Tour (Contour) and the central and southern sections of the Science Teachers Association of New York State. Contour, which is scheduled for launch July 1, is managed by the Applied Physics Laboratory at the Johns Hopkins University, with Cornell's Department of Astronomy leading the science team. (April 11, 2002)
The fruits of genetic research are about to ripen: Scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, Inc. (BTI), located on the campus of Cornell University, have discovered a gene that controls ripening in tomatoes. This means that tastier, more-nutritious grocery-store tomatoes are not far behind, say the researchers in an article in the latest issue of the journal Science (April 12, 2002), titled "A MADS-box gene necessary for fruit ripening at the tomato ripening-inhibitor (rin) locus." (April 9, 2002)
Binary asteroids -- two rocky objects orbiting about one another -- appear to be common in Earth-crossing orbits, astronomers using the world's two most powerful astronomical radar telescopes report. And it is probable, they say, that these double asteroid systems have been formed as a result of gravitational effects during close encounters with at least two of the inner planets, including Earth. Writing in a report published by the journal Science on its Science Express web site (April 11, 2002), the researchers estimate that about 16 percent of so-called near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) larger than 200 meters (219 yards) in diameter are likely to be binary systems, with about a three-to-one relative size of the two encircling bodies. To date, five such binary systems have been identified by radar, says lead researcher Jean-Luc Margot, an O.K. Earl postdoctoral fellow in the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences at the California Institute of Technology. (April 9, 2002)
Four Cornell University undergraduates -- two sophomores and two juniors -- are winners of the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for natural sciences, mathematics and engineering. The students are sophomores Peter M. Clark of Flemington, N.J., majoring in biology, chemistry and mathematics, and Matthew Moake of Cedaredge, Colo., majoring in biology; and juniors Adam Berman of Bethesda, Md., majoring in physics, and Yolanda Tseng of San Jose, Calif., majoring in biological engineering. (April 11, 2002)
With the recent delivery of the telescope and scientific instruments for the Space Infrared Telescope Facility, the last of NASA's four Great Observatories, to Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale, Calif.
"Diversity Dialogues," a campuswide discussion at Cornell University on diversity in America, is scheduled for April 18 through 30, with events both on campus and in downtown Ithaca.
Enabling excellent teachers to remain in the classroom beyond retirement -- and allowing them to devote their talents to teaching undergraduates -- is a major challenge for universities today. Thanks to the generosity of two of its alumni, Andrew H. Tisch '71 and James S. Tisch '75, Cornell University is prepared to meet that challenge. The Tisch brothers have established a unique, distinguished professorship at Cornell that honors excellence in teaching and extends the undergraduate teaching role beyond retirement. (April 10, 2002)
Rob Ryan, a 1969 graduate of Cornell University's College of Arts and Sciences and founder of Ascend Communications, will speak on campus Monday, April 15, at 4:30 p.m. in 155 Olin Hall on "What Goes Wrong in Start-up Companies?" The talk, sponsored by Cornell's College of Engineering, is free and open to the public and will be followed by a reception. It is geared for engineering students and faculty members who might be interested in starting their own businesses. (April 10, 2002)
BAYSIDE, N.Y. -- Civil War-era landmarks cared for by New York City's Parks Department will be protected for future generations thanks to a spring volunteer project initiated by students in historic preservation planning at Cornell University. The students and other volunteers will stabilize neglected historic buildings and battery walls at Fort Totten Battery, in Bayside, Queens, from Friday, April 12, through Sunday, April 14. They hope that preserving the structures now and improving their appearance will lead to city support for their eventual restoration and use by the public and nonprofit groups. (April 10, 2002)
A workshop on U.S.-China business relations, featuring a Cornell University benefactor who is one of China's most-successful entrepreneurs, will take place on Cornell's campus Friday, April 12. It is free and open to the puqblic. "China-U.S. Business Relations: Lessons that Stand the Test of Time" will be from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at the Johnson Graduate School of Management, B-08 Sage Hall. The event, the Moses and Loulu Seltzer Forum, is sponsored by Cornell's East Asia Program and Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise program (EPE). (April 10, 2002)
Cornell University President Hunter Rawlings announced today (April 9) that the university has decided to lift the hiring freeze for externally funded positions April 15 and for all other positions June 30. Rawlings said the decision was made, based on the recommendation of the Workforce Planning Team and in conjunction with Provost Biddy Martin and Harold Craft, vice president for administration and chief financial officer, because the freeze has achieved its three primary objectives. (April 9, 2002)
The first report on college drinking conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was released today (April 9, 2002) at a news conference in Washington, D.C.
