The Essentials

The Legacy Project, which collects practical wisdom for living from the oldest Americans, has launched a YouTube channel of interviews. Professor Karl Pillemer directs the Legacy Project and is author of the new book, ”30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice From the Wisest Americans.”

In 2010, 55 Cornell graduates served in the Peace Corps, which ranks Cornell in the top five colleges and universities with between 5,001 and 15,000 undergraduates, according to the corps’ 2011 rankings.

Cornell offers a Master of Professional Studies (M.P.S.) degree in 15 disciplines in agriculture and the life sciences in which the student spends two academic semesters on campus and then two years overseas on a Peace Corps assignment. Administered by International Programs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the M.P.S. program offers the opportunity to carry out an applied project rather than the traditional research thesis for a master’s degree.

More than 200,000 Americans have served with the Peace Corps in 139 host countries. Today, 8,655 volunteers work with communities in 77 host countries. Peace Corps service is a 27-month commitment.

Pounds of fresh produce from the Homer C. Thompson Research Farm in Freeville donated in 2010 to food relief efforts such as Elmira’s Food Bank of the Southern Tier, Ithaca’s Friendship Donations Network and Cortland’s Loaves and Fishes: 141,936.

Total pounds donated since 2004 (including potatoes, sweet corn, snap beans, cabbage, peppers, tomatoes, melons, winter squash and pumpkins): 1,111,037.

Bushels of apples and gallons of cider donated by Cornell Orchards in 2010 to food pantries, schools and other organizations: 658 and 281.

“The produce we receive from the Homer C. Thompson Vegetable Research Farm is top quality product freshly picked from the field,” says Natasha Thompson, Food Bank of the Southern Tier president and CEO. “Most of it is distributed directly to individuals in need through our Mobile Food Pantry program the very same week it is received. This has allowed us to provide hundreds of families with fresh, nutritious produce that they may have otherwise not been able to access. We are extremely fortunate to have Cornell as a partner in the fight against hunger in the Southern Tier.”

- Craig Cramer

According to the American Community Survey of the U.S. Census, released Sept. 28, Ithaca is the most highly educated metropolitan or “micropolitan statistical area” in the country, with 27.2 percent of its population over age 25 holding an advanced degree, compared with 10.3 percent for the nation as a whole.

The only other cities that had more than 20 percent in this elite category were close contenders Bethesda-Frederick-Rockville, (27 percent); Boulder, Colo., (26); Ann Arbor, Mich., (25.5); Cambridge-Newton-Framingham, Mass. (23.8); Lawrence, Kan. (22.7); Corvallis, Ore. (22); Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C. (21.8); and Charlottesville, Va.( 20.2).

– Susan S. Lang

Cornell scores 21 on Sierra magazine’s list of top 100 “Coolest Schools,” and by “cool” the magazine means “sustainable,” with a strong emphasis on each school’s energy supply. It ranked schools responding to an 11-page questionnaire and considered these factors in the final score: efficiency, food, academics, purchasing, transportation, waste management, administration, financial investments and a catchall section titled “other initiatives.”

Meanwhile, over at the Wall Street Journal, a survey of recruiting executives set out to identify the majors and schools that best prepare students to land jobs that are satisfying, well-paid and have growth potential. “Recruiters made clear they preferred big state schools over elite liberal arts schools, such as the Ivies,” writes the WSJ. “Recruiting managers find it’s more efficient to focus on fewer large schools and forge deeper relationships with them.” Despite this bias, Cornell scored No. 10 on the newspaper’s list of top 25 recruiter picks.

In its annual College Destinations Index, the American Institute for Economic Research has named Ithaca No. 1 on its list of the 75 best towns and cities with populations under 250,000 to live in if you’re a college student. Locations were chosen from an analysis of the 222 metropolitan statistical areas with student populations of 15,000 or more.

Ithaca grabbed the top spot on such idiosyncratic criteria as its student concentration (number of college students per 1,000 residents); student diversity (percentage of all students holding foreign passports); academic research and development expenditures per capita; degree attainment (percent of the 25-34 year old population with college degrees); and cost of living (!) .

The top-10 cities in which Cornellians reside, per MetaEzra:

1. New York City (18,010)
2. Boston (10,740)
3. Washington, D.C. (10,005)
4. Bay Area (9,832)
5. Ithaca (7,556)
6. Long Island (6,739)
7. Los Angeles (5,402)
8. Philadelphia (5,188)
9. Westchester (4,870)
10. Chicago (3,898)

Cornell Mail Services distributes mail between departments and staff throughout campus for free (official university business only) and:
• processes more than 3.75 million pieces of mail each year or
• 26,011 pieces of mail each day.
• CMS can apply postage to USPS Priority Mail letters and packages and charge the fee to departments’ metering account.
• CMS delivers to 130 buildings on campus. Some buildings receive mail more than once a day.

Among the statistics compiled by the Princeton Review, which just named Cornell to its list of the best 373 colleges:
Best campus food #5
Best college library #5
Best career services #16
Best college newspaper #19
Admissions selectivity rating: 98
Quality of life rating: 88
Green rating: 97
All undergraduates living on campus: 56%
# of organizations: 841
# of honor societies: 22
# of social sororities: 19
# of social fraternities: 50
# religious organizations: 61

Stats from the Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future 2009 Annual Report:

• 350 Cornell faculty for all Cornell colleges and schools participated in CCSF activities.
• 19 Cornell faculty and students traveled to Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Conference with CCSF support.
• 5 new cross-campus research teams received CCSF funding.
• More than $40 million in funding was secured by CCSF.
• Cornell offers more than 200 courses on sustainability-related topics.
• CCSF hosted 16 topical lunches for more than 200 campus researchers.

Read the entire report in Web or downloadable PDF version.