NEW YORK -- Cornell's March programs in New York City included a panel discussion about sex after menopause, a workshop on parenting the explosive child and a meeting of New York's former first lady Matilda Raffa Cuomo with Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) staff.

Alive and well

"Postmenopausal women are very much alive sexually. In fact, as long as a woman's health remains intact, her sexual functioning should be preserved throughout life," declared Barbara Bartlik during the Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC) educational seminar "Sexuality in Mature Women" held March 1. Bartlik, who holds professorships in the Departments of Psychiatry and of Obstetrics and Gynecology, was joined on a panel by Renuka Tyagi, a urogynecologist at WCMC, and Sandra Stingle, a psychologist at Barnard College. "Still Doing It," the 2003 documentary that gives a number of women over 65 a chance to discuss how their erotic lives have not only survived but also thrived with the passage of time, was shown prior to the group discussion. While the panelists answered many of the audience's questions regarding sexual function, Bartlik conceded, "There is no science to back up women's sexuality issues. All of the money goes into male sexuality research and almost nothing goes into women's. We have about 100 pharmaceuticals to improve male sexuality and not one to improve female sexuality." For more information contact Bartlik at bdb2001@med.school.edu or see http://www.nyppsychiatry.org.

Youth worker training

A capacity crowd was also on hand March 7-9 for "Advancing Youth Development: Youth Worker Training," a pilot training at CCE (16 E. 34th St). The new three-day workshop is designed for direct service youth workers and supervisors, especially those who serve youth from "high risk" situations. Presentations and group exercises covered such topics as youth development research, youth engagement and adultism (the premise that adults oppress children). Advancing Youth Development is a partnership of CCE, New York State (NYS) Office of Children and Family Services, Association of NYS Youth Bureaus and ACT for Youth Upstate Center of Excellence. For more information, see http://www.nyayd.org.

Dealing with explosive children

What's the matter with children today? Absolutely nothing that adequate supervisor training cannot assuage, according to CCE, which hosted a program, "Parenting the Explosive Child," on March 3, drawing medical students, psychiatric social workers and counselors. Packing a conference room in the public health division of WCMC, youth workers participated in a faculty conversation with Ross Greene, director of the Collaborative Problem Solving Institute in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. Eleven CCE county offices took part in the videoconference that taught collaborative problem solving (treating and teaching the explosive or noncompliant child). The explosive child is not "willful" or spitefully defiant but, in fact, is demonstrating a learning disability, he said. Helping children to overcome their delayed development (in flexibility skills, frustration tolerance and problem solving) will ameliorate the explosive outbursts, he added.

Cuomo discusses collaboration

New York's former first lady Matilda Raffa Cuomo met with Cooperative Extension-NYC staffers to discuss collaboration efforts in nutrition with the organization she founded and chairs, Mentoring USA. This was the first meeting Cuomo held with Cooperative Extension; the two organizations will be working on future areas and opportunities for collaboration.

Brenda Tobias '97 is director of Cornell-New York City relations. The CU in the City column appears monthly. To suggest an item for coverage, e-mail Tobias at NYC@cornell.edu.