Sandra Steingraber, the Cornell ecologist and author who studies health effects of exposure to environmental toxins, is featured in a Bill Moyers television special report, "Kids and Chemicals," scheduled to air on PBS stations Friday, May 10, at 9 p.m.
For its efforts in teaching farmers and homeowners how to use ecologically sound pest-management techniques, Cornell University's New York State Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program has received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Environmental Quality Award, the agency's highest honor. "This program develops and teaches pest-control methods that are cost-effective and pose minimal risks to human health and the environment," said Walter E. Mugdan, the regional counsel for the EPA, upon presenting the award in New York City on April 30. "Due in large part to the program's efforts, nearly 90 percent of New York farmers now use some form of integrated pest management," he said. (May 3, 2002)
A new understanding of how large biological molecules behave in tiny spaces could lead to a method for separating DNA strands by length. It also could throw light on the way molecules move in living cells. Using a forest of nanofabricated pillars so small that DNA molecules can only slip through lengthwise, Cornell University researchers have demonstrated the existence of an entropic recoil force that causes the molecules to move from a tight space into a more open one. (May 2, 2002)
The Student Insurance Advisory Committee at Cornell University announced today (May 2, 2002) that its Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) will be administered by the Chickering Group for the seventh year in a row. "The continuation of the Chickering contract allows us to provide continuity in coverage for students already on the plan and offer an outstanding value to every student in need of health insurance," said Allen Bova, chair of the committee, which is comprosed of undergraduate and graduate student representatives, university administrators and staff at Gannett: University Health Services. (May 2, 2002)
Cornell University will celebrate its 134th Commencement Sunday, May 26, with President Hunter Rawlings presiding over the ceremony at 11 a.m. on Schoellkopf Field. Rawlings will present the commencement address and confer degrees on more than 6,000 eligible candidates, capping two days of celebratory activities. (May 1, 2002)
Isaac Kramnick, vice provost for undergraduate education at Cornell, today (May 1, 2002) announced the first recipients of the Kendall S. Carpenter Memorial Advising Awards. The awards were established by Stephen Ashley, a member of the Board of Trustees, to honor his former adviser, Kendall S. Carpenter, a professor of business management at Cornell from 1954 until his death at the age of 50 in 1967.
Three graduate students in the Department of Physics at Cornell University are among six U.S. students who have been selected to spend the summer doing research at leading European Union (EU) laboratories. The students, Joseph Choi, Luke Donev and Daniel Graham, are being sent in an inaugural test research-training program connecting U.S. research centers with labs in the EU. The program has been developed by Cornell's Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics at the suggestion of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Materials Research. The program was spearheaded by Albert Sievers, Cornell professor of experimental condensed matter physics. (April 30, 2002)
The 2002 Robinson-Appel Humanitarian Award was presented during a dinner and awards ceremony on campus, April 12, to three Cornell students for their community service work. The award was established by Cornell alumni Gerald '54 and Margot '55 Robinson and Robert '53 and Helen '55 Appel to recognize and honor students who have had significant involvement in community service.
D. Tyler McQuade, assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Cornell University, has won a Nontenured Faculty Award from 3M Co. The award carries a check for $15,000. This is McQuade's second major award since joining the Cornell faculty last year. Last fall he won a New Faculty Award from the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation. (April 30, 2002)
The English mastiff dog, a breed that sometimes carries the gene defect for the canine eye disease progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), has been revealed as a key animal model to help explain retinitis pigmentosa (RP) in humans.
The Cornell University Library (CUL) is seeking talented minority high school students from Tompkins County to participate in its inaugural Library Junior Fellows Program. Six to eight students will be selected for the paid summer program, which runs from July 1st through Aug. 9th. Deadline for applications is May 10. Junior fellows are required to work 24 hours a week on specific projects and receive on-the-job training through workshops in information literacy, and technology and research skills. They can practice those new skills on their very own refurbished computer, given to them -- for keeps -- as part of their job. In addition Junior Library Fellows will receive career counseling. The library also provides a Cornell Dining Pass for the first week of employment and a TCAT Summer Fun bus pass. (April 26, 2002)
