Cornell will serve as one of the viewing sites for the 17th annual World Food Day teleconference, "Poverty and Hunger: The Tragic Link," featuring a conversation with Amartya Sen, winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics. This year's teleconference examines the complex relationship between hunger and poverty. The program is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 16, from noon to 3 p.m. in the Martha Van Rensselaer Hall Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

The teleconference will highlight Sen's theory of global economic development and welfare economics, for which he won the Nobel Prize. In awarding the prize, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said that "Amartya Sen has made extensive contributions to the development and application of social-choice theory. His work has been a source of inspiration to many other researchers. He has also been highly instrumental in restoring an ethical dimension to economics and related disciplines."

In addition to the video teleconference, representatives of several projects and programs will be on hand with displays and posters. These programs represent the wide range of activities of Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the university's Division of Nutritional Sciences and other activities in this region.

Continuing education credits (CEUs) for teleconference participation will be available through Marywood University for interested clergy and social service professionals; the American Dietetic Association will offer CEUs for registered dietitians and dietetic technicians; and the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences has approved professional development units (PDUs) for its members.

Ray Suarez, senior correspondent with Public Broadcasting Service's "News Hour" and former host of National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation," will serve as the teleconference host. The Ithaca location of the teleconference is sponsored by Cornell's Division of Nutritional Sciences Community Food Systems Program, the International Agriculture Program (IAP) of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development.

For more information about the World Food Day event at Cornell, or if you would like to set up a display, contact: Jennifer Wilkins, senior extension associate, Community Food Systems Program, Division of Nutritional Sciences at (607) 255-2730, or Jim Haldeman, associate director of IAP at (607) 255-2283.

For more information about downlinking the national World Food Day teleconference, contact: Patricia Young, national coordinator, at (202) 653-2404.