Dump and Run sale

Looking for a deal on clothing, furniture, electronics, sporting goods, or school and office supplies? Cornell's Seventh annual Dump and Run community sale will be held Aug. 22, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. and Aug. 23, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. in Helen Newman Gym on North Campus. Dump and Run is a waste recovery and recycling initiative run by Cornell students who collect items from students leaving in May, and resell the goods during orientation weekend. The spring 2009 collection netted more than 25 tons of reusable items.

Proceeds from the sale benefit Ithaca-area charitable organizations; more than $120,000 has been raised for local charities over the past six years. Recipients this year will include Better Housing for Tompkins County; Cops, Kids & Toys; Drop-In Children's Center; and Tompkins Learning Partners. Dump and Run, part of a national effort dedicated to waste prevention, is supported by Campus Life. Information: http://dumpandrun.campuslife.cornell.edu.

Cornell at the fair

Cornell will once again have a diverse presence at the Great New York State Fair in Syracuse this year, which runs from Aug. 27 through Labor Day, Sept. 7. President David Skorton will tour the fair, including several Cornell exhibits, and will address a group of young 4-H members on the fair's opening day.

Cornell's 2009 Solar Decathlon house will be open to the public for daily tours on the Colonnade next to Chevy Court; and the university's 100+ MPG Team X Prize car will also be on display, with some body panels removed for a cutaway view.

Various 4-H activities supported by Cornell Cooperative Extension will occur throughout the run of the fair in the Youth Building. They include animal science and agriculture displays, a Museum of the Earth exhibit, and science, engineering and technology demonstrations, such as GPS/GIS, robotics and making biofuel ethanol as part of "Biofuel Blast," a nationwide 4-H experiment with participating youths sharing their data online.

The College of Veterinary Medicine provides services for exhibitors' animals at the fair, and members of its faculty will be available in Building 35 to discuss careers and medical issues.

The astronomy department will host outreach activities Sept. 1-3 in the Youth Building.

For information, visit http://nysfair.org.

Graduate research symposium

The seventh annual Biological and Biomedical Sciences Symposium, Aug. 25 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., will showcase graduate research from fields in Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine. The event includes morning and afternoon student presentations, a poster session/wine and cheese reception, opportunities for informal discussion and networking, and a keynote address and seminar by Dr. Marianne Manchester of the The Scripps Research Institute, on "Viral Nanoparticles: Novel Tools for Tumor Imaging and Targeting."

The 2009 symposium is hosted by the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and is open to the public and the Cornell community. For information, contact Karla Stucker at 607-256-5609 or kms36@cornell.edu.

Classic cinema

Cornell Cinema, considered one of the best campus film exhibition programs in the country, is offering all new students free admission to its programs and a crash course in film history Aug. 23-27.

The free films for new students with Cornell ID are co-sponsored by the Welcome Weekend Committee, and include such classics as David Lean's epic "Lawrence of Arabia," Federico Fellini's "La Strada," Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey," Buster Keaton in "College" and John Ford's "The Grapes of Wrath," co-presented with the New Student Reading Project. There will also be free screenings of the recent films "Up" and "Star Trek" on Aug. 27 in Willard Straight Theatre for the general public and the Cornell community.

On Aug. 24 at 7 p.m., cinema director Mary Fessenden and manager Christopher Riley will hold "An Orientation to Cornell Cinema," with free popcorn, student films and other shorts, trailers of coming attractions, such door prizes as movie posters, passes and T-shirts, and information on how to become involved in the organization.

Regular student admission is $4, and a $35, 10-admission discount card is good for one year. Tickets and discount cards are available at Willard Straight Theatre and Uris Auditorium; and discount cards and special event tickets are also available online at http://CornellCinemaTickets.com.

Cornell Cinema is also seeking motivated, movie-loving students (undergraduate or graduate, from Cornell and Ithaca College) for its Student Advisory Board. Applications can be downloaded at http://cinema.cornell.edu and are due Wednesday, Aug. 26, at 3 p.m.

Woodsy lore

Join the Museum of the Earth Aug. 26 and every Wednesday at 1 p.m. for Wednesdays in the Woods, with activities exploring the natural world -- from looking at where cockroaches are on the forest food chain to how to plant seeds. The activities are held in conjunction with the current exhibition "A Forest Journey" and are free with regular museum admission.

Information: http://www.museumoftheearth.org.

Molecular biology seminars

Frank Schroeder of the Boyce Thompson Institute and Cornell's Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology will lead a seminar in "Worm Chemical Biology: Lessons From Small Molecules," Aug. 28 at 4 p.m. in Biotechnology G10. The seminar is hosted by Volker Vogt.

Regular weekly seminars in molecular biology and genetics will take place Fridays at 4 p.m. in Biotechnology G10 during the academic year. Special seminars are also held on alternate days of the week. For a full schedule, visit http://mbg.cornell.edu/cals/mbg/.