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.
After his final collegiate ice hockey match – a dramatic double overtime duel won by top-seeded Quinnipiac University March 17 – Nick D’Agostino ’13 was struck by time’s incessant march.
“It seems like just yesterday I was just a little freshman and now it’s hitting me that my career here at Cornell is done. It was pretty emotional after the game. Just like that, we lost and the season was over,” he said. “What I’m going to miss the most is playing in front of the Lynah Faithful alongside some of my best friends.”
A team tri-captain, D’Agostino sparkled on the ice for four years. Now he is negotiating a contract with the National Hockey League’s Pittsburgh Penguins for the next two seasons. “It’s an exciting time,” he said. “It’s obviously something that isn’t done overnight, and it’s a pretty unpredictable process.”
If he and the Penguins can’t reach an agreement by Aug. 15, D’Agostino becomes a free agent. His study of labor negotiations and collective bargaining at ILR might give him an edge.
After playing professional hockey, D’Agostino plans to pursue a law degree and stay involved in sports: “After all, sports is a business, and the presence and strength of professional league unions and management have created conditions where people with an expertise in labor relations are needed.”
The Plantations’ Mundy Wildflower Garden has the most variety of early-blooming wildflowers in the area and is a must see in early spring. To celebrate National Poetry Month this April, graduate student Emily Oliver matched her favorite poems to many of the garden’s wildflowers. Look for signs throughout the garden providing a number to call for information about each plant and a poem recited by the author.
President David Skorton offers students advice about choosing the college that’s best for them in a CNN blog. Among his tips:
“First, the faculty …” he writes. “Check out the proportion of faculty who have a Ph.D. or the highest professional degree in their field. Faculty experience in a non-academic setting can be a plus, especially in professional fields like engineering, business, law and architecture, and in the visual, performing and creative arts.”
How may faculty have full-time appointments? What is the student-faculty ratio? “Large courses don’t necessarily lead to disappointing experiences – one of the most popular courses at Cornell, an introductory psychology course, had an enrollment of more than 1,200 year after year, but it also employed a small army of effective teaching assistants,” Skorton writes.
Look at the quality and diversity of the student body, acceptance rate and student demographics: “You’ll learn more if your peer group is as bright – or brighter – than you. You’ll also learn more by living and learning with people from a variety of geographic, ethnic, racial, political, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds.”
“Finally, given the time and money likely to be invested in higher education, consider how the experience will enhance your prospects for employment. It is worth looking into the career services available at the institution, the number and kinds of recruiters who come to campus each year, the availability of co-op and internship programs and the willingness of alumni to take part in mentoring and job-shadowing programs,” Skorton writes.
Catch some of Cornell’s brightest science and engineering students at BOOM (Bits On Our Minds) April 3.
The 16th annual student research showcase features projects ranging from a Wikipedia-based “6 Degrees of Bacon” game to software that reads human emotion.
Also: a light bulb that emulates the changing intensity of the sun over the course of the day and year; robot planes, robot submarines and more pedestrian robots; a smartphone app to help you keep track of the time spent on tasks; and lots of games and grown-up toys.
“When we got married 10 years ago, we pledged to create a Jewish home committed to peace and deeds of loving kindness, a warm and welcoming home to all,” says Edsell-Vetter.
“If you think running 26.2 miles is hard, try being homeless,” says Edsell-Vetter’s husband, Jesse.
At least 60 Cornell students have committed to leave their phones at home, ignore social media, engage in face-to-face interaction and reevaluate their relationship with technology, April 10-12.
They are taking part in CU [dis]connect, a student-run “social experiment” intended to combat the detachment from others technology use can foster. Student groups will host events in collaboration with CU [dis]connect, enabling students to gather as a community.
“I was frustrated with some of the behavior I observed in my peers,” said Rudy Gerson ’15, a College Scholar in the College of Arts and Sciences who organized the event. “I would be mid-conversation with a friend, and he’d check his phone. At a bar, it was strange to see people checking Facebook or texting, when there were so many new faces to engage with right there around them. In class too, I even felt the urge to check my phone, which essentially tuned me out completely from the professor and the material. I hope people will come to realize that they can be happier and liberated without constant connectivity.”
CU [dis]connect events will include an “Ask Big Questions” group dialogue, a screening of “Connected, the Film” and a barbecue for participants. Sign up at the above link.
Senior Kyle Dake is vying for his fourth NCAA Division I wrestling title in an unprecedented fourth weight class. Seven Big Red wrestlers are competing in the tournament March 21-23 in Des Moines, Iowa. Go Big Red!
In a Huffington Post blog post, President David Skorton writers about a way to alleviate the United States’ physician shortage:
“The U.S. already employs a substantial proportion of physicians (about a quarter) and other health workers (about a fifth) who were educated or trained overseas, and we could easily employ more of them without taking jobs away from Americans. In fact, as the nation ages and more previously uninsured individuals seek treatment under the Affordable Care Act, the health of millions of Americans may depend on the availability of more physicians and other health workers from abroad.”
How to achieve this?
Skorton writes: “Granting more H-1B visas to international medical graduates who have already completed U.S. residencies in high-demand specialties, including primary care, and who agree to practice for a prescribed length of time in underserved areas, would meet a pressing national need while ensuring that these physicians augment their prior medical training with additional training and practice in the U.S. This experience would serve them well, whether they ultimately obtain a green card and stay here or decide to return home after their service in the U.S. is complete.”
As Ronald Reagan’s surgeon general 1981-89, C. Everett Koop, M.D., became a household name. Koop, who was among the first public health officials to speak plainly about AIDS and was a crusader against smoking, died in Hanover, N.H., Feb. 25 at age 96.
A 1941 graduate of the Cornell Medical College, Koop joined the Reagan administration in 1981 following a career as a pediatric surgeon and professor.
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Community Matters, Cornell People, Created@Cornell | Tagged: Pedal for Pets | 
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Posted by George Lowery
