Register by April 1 to receive a reduced registration fee for the Pedal for Pets bike-a-thon on April 27.
Join the student chapter of the American Veterinary Medical Association on a 30- or 50-mile bike ride throughout Ithaca and neighboring communities. The race supports the Patient Assistance Fund at the Cornell University Hospital for Animals. The Patient Assistance Fund helps clients with economic need cover medical and surgical costs for their animal companions.
Early this semester, Cornell launched the Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Education (SHARE) website. It’s an information resource for all members of the Cornell community about issues related to sexual violence and other sexual misconduct. The SHARE site was developed to provide a one-stop access to services that offer support for victims and survivors, facilitate reporting, increase awareness, promote safety, and highlight prevention, compliance and advocacy initiatives. A collaboration between the divisions of Human Resources and Safety Services, Student and Academic Services and University Communications, the site reflects input from individuals and organizations who stepped forward to address issues raised by campus events during 2012.
In the wake of the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., Cornell’s caring community can help make a difference by sending sympathy cards.
If you are interested in writing a sympathy card, bring it to the drop box outside of 130 Day Hall, near the mailroom, until 4 p.m. Friday, Dec 21. A staff member is attending a candlelight vigil in Newtown on Christmas night and will deliver the cards.
The sympathy cards will go to those who have lost loved ones and to those who were affected by this tragedy like law enforcement, clergy and therapists. The cards will convey words of encouragement and let them know they are in our hearts, thoughts and prayers.
You can also donate candles for the vigils that will be happening in their area.
A little piece of the outdoors came inside this week, thanks to students from the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis (DEA).
Small sections of turf create grassy oases of calm in the lobbies of Olin and Mann libraries, as well as Duffield Hall and the Physical Sciences Building. Potted plants and comfortable chairs are placed around the grass, encouraging students to lounge during one of the most stressful times of the academic year.
DEA’s Ryan Allen-Parrot ’13 and Gilad Meron ’12 (a fellow with the Center for Engaged Learning) installed the projects, along with a “small army of people working with them,” said Eveline Ferretti, Mann’s public programs and communications administrator.
“Being in touch with nature helps people be calmer, and they feel refreshed and productive,” Ferretti said. “The library is the perfect place for it.”
Meron first installed a lawn in Mann Library last fall. “It’s great to see people willing to lay down in the grass and just relax there,” he said then.” The main goal is really to make people happy.”
When artist Cindy Tower ’80 discovered that her great-great-grandfather was a founder of Yosemite National Park, she created an art installation modeled on a national park of painted recyclables for her viewers to hike through, from sandblasted wine bottles to construction-grade sono tubes.
The New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York City featured the work in a 1993 solo exhibition titled “Westward Expansion Inwards.” Tower’s aim was to forge a personal connection between her youth in the Brooklyn art scene and the life of Galen Clark, one of three men to write Abraham Lincoln regarding the preservation of Yosemite Valley, the area that would go on to become the country’s first land grant.
Some of the “Westward” work will be displayed Oct. 20 at an art soiree at the Ithaca home of Ron and Shelley Cooper ’79. Free tickets are available via coopermeierhouse@gmail.com.
The 2012-13 flu vaccine has arrived. Vaccine (via shots and mist) are available at flu clinics located throughout campus. Visit the Gannett Health Services site for times and locations.
The DailyMeal studied dining programs at 2,000 colleges and universities this summer and ranks Cornell No. 5 on its list of 52 Best Colleges for Food in America.
In addition to blind taste tests and interviews, criteria included adherence to health codes, variety of food, service, healthiness of food, locally sourced food, accessibility and sustainability.
They write of Cornell:
“’We work hard to ensure that dining at Cornell is more than a meal – it’s an experience,’ said Karen Brown, director of campus life marketing and communications for the university. Want to see the best of campus dining via video? Cornell presents CU in the Kitchen, a series that highlights the food, people and things that set Big Red’s food service apart from the rest. Think of it as Food Network, but hyper-local.
“Big on student engagement, the university hosts events like “A Night at Hogwarts,” which featured British cuisine, butter beer, and chocolate frogs. On a more typical day, students can dine on pancakes and sausage, Ethiopian vegetable stew, and pork stuffed with apples. The Ithaca-based institution has more than 30 eateries.
“Cornell offers promotions to encourage students to jump on the sustainability bandwagon. If you buy a mug on campus, you can get a large coffee, tea, or hot chocolate for the price of a small one. What’s next? ‘Two goals for the coming year are to offer more late-night dining options, and to communicate with our customers better using social media and smartphone technology,’ Brown suggested. Expect a new eatery in partnership with the Cornell Dairy as well.”
Scents of Indian and Mexican food, hand-crafted jewelry, farm stands heaped with summer produce and live music are a few of the sights and sounds of the student-organized Farmer’s Market at Cornell, which takes place every Thursday until Oct. 25 on the Ag Quad from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Farmers’ Market at Cornell has more than twice as many vendors this fall compared to its opening season in 2011, according to Beth Leuin ‘13, volunteer coordinator. Vendors include Tellez Mexican Food, Greenstar, Silent City Coffee, Dilmun Hill Student Farm and many others.
“I was so excited to hear Cornell was going to have its very own farmers’ market, bringing fresh and local foods to students who may not otherwise have access to them,” said Leuin.
Audrey Boochever ’13, and Katerina Athanasiou ’13 are co-managers of the market, while a team of students coordinates vendors and marketing.
“There is no place I’d rather be than a farmers’ market on a beautiful day. Wonderful food responsibly grown, great music and happy people all in the same place – what could be better?” said Leuin.
Cornell has been named to the Campus Pride index of the top 25 most LGBT-friendly colleges and universities in the United States.
The rankings are based on data from 339 campuses on LGBT policy inclusion, student life, academic life and other practices.
“Every student deserves to feel safe on campus, and all of these colleges are committed to creating a more LGBT-friendly campus,” Campus Pride Executive Director Shane Windmeyer told the Huffington Post. He also noted the index is “done for and by” LGBT people.
Unbeknownst to many, Cornell Plantations includes more than its 150-acre arboretum and the 25-acre botanical garden: Nearly 4,000 acres of natural areas support the university as outdoor classrooms and places for recreation.
But these natural areas are being invaded by invasive species, such as the hemlock wooly adeligid, a tree-sucking pest, and pale swallow-wort, a noxious weed. Degradation from these and other invasive species compromise enjoyment, learning and research.
“We want people to realize that they can help in their decisions to minimize new introduction of invasive species, such as by not planting known invasive plants or moving firewood between counties,” says natural areas director Todd Bittner.
Plantations’ staff are also preparing for the arrival of emerald ash borer (above), a beetle that could wipe out the region’s ash tree populations and have negative consequences for our local habitats.
According to Bittner, “It’s an uphill struggle, and no one believes that any of these pests will simply go away. But, our natural areas are simply too valuable to abandon to a rising tide of unwelcome invaders.”
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Posted by George Lowery
