The Essentials

It’s cute, it’s catchy and it’s now on YouTube: Check out Big Red Rag, the 1920s-style animation created this summer by 11 talented students (including four Summer College students) in Visiting Associate Professor Lynn Tomlinson’s Film 3250 class.

The film, set to the tune of Varsity Drag, by George Olsen and His Music, with vocals by Fran Frey, includes a basketball-playing bunny, a frog promoting wind power and detour to the Chapter House for homage to the less-than-graceful pickup scene.

And if Big Red Rag tickles your fancy, you’ll enjoy the shushing librarian moose and snoozing student in Library Limbo, created in the same class in 2006.

- Lauren Gold

Wondering who’s talking about Cornell online, and what they’re saying? CUbiquitous collects pictures, videos, blog posts and other Cornell-related items across the Web.

The site also links to Cornell’s Twitter feed and Facebook page, networking sites LinkedIn and Ning and some of the best Cornell-tagged photos, like this one, by the Cornell Daily Sun’s Matt Hintsa, on Flickr.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates recently bought the rights to videos of seven lectures that famed physicist (and bongo drummer) Richard Feynman gave when he was teaching at Cornell in the 1960s. The series, “The Character of Physical Law,” includes lectures on the law of gravitation, the relation between mathematics and physics, the principles of conservation, symmetry in physical law, and probability and uncertainty – all sprinkled with generous doses of Feynman’s signature wit, enthusiasm and insight.

The lectures are part of Microsoft’s Project Tuva, named for the tiny Central Asian republic which Feynman attempted, ultimately unsuccessfully, to visit. Videos (which require Microsoft Silverlight) are fully searchable and enhanced with related content including images, notes and commentary.

Want to stay up-to-the-minute on the progress of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning’s Paul Milstein Hall, but don’t have time to sit around the construction site dodging backhoes and pile drivers?

The Milstein Hall Twitter feed now offers a real-time building’s-eye view (ably translated from building-ese to English by AAP communications director Aaron Goldweber) of the operation, with regular updates on construction progress, news, photos and related links, including one to a live on-site webcam.

The 47,000-square-foot building, designed by architect Rem Koolhaas and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture, will connect to Rand Hall and East Sibley Hall. Construction is expected to take 22 to 24 months.

Why the twitter? “The idea is to create the most transparent, intimate look at the construction of a Rem Koolhaas building ever,” said Goldweber, who gets regular updates from the project manager and follows up with some reportage of his own.

As of July 22, Milstein Hall had 94 people following its tweets – some at Cornell, others in Dublin, Cambridge, Toronto, Tehran and Costa Rica. The building itself is following 78 others, from the Johnson Museum and Olin Library to architecture and art design magazines and museums around the world.

Ever wondered where rhythm-and-blues music comes from? Stared into the night sky and pondered the origins of the universe? Been mystified by the intricacies of Muslim and Jewish dietary laws? These and other topics are presented in high-quality, user-friendly video clips archived in the university’s CyberTower Study Rooms.

CyberTower, a Web site operated by Cornell Adult University, features video clips of faculty members from across many disciplines. For example, “The Puzzling Life of the Universe,” narrated by Cornell assistant professor of astronomy Rachel Bean, offers a concise history of cosmology, relativity and the “white noise” that emanates from the big bang.

The site also has a “Forums” section where faculty members discuss or debate various topics, as well as a “Views and Reviews” tab with discussions on current books, films, arts or news.

Once upon a time accessible only to students, CyberTower is now available to anyone with an Internet connection.

In support of Cornell’s commitment to sustainability, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) has launched a new online version of CALS News, its biannual magazine, with its spring 2009 issue. It’s available at calsnews.cornell.edu.

The online edition includes Web-only features such as slide shows, links to related stories and information, searchable text and an expanded alumni notes section.

In addition to reducing the use of paper and other materials, the online magazine will save substantially on printing and mailing costs to 50,000 subscribers. It is also a response to reader requests for a magazine that can be saved digitally. As of now, CALS News will continue to publish both in print and online, with a goal of converting print subscribers to electronic-only over time.

The magazine is produced by CALS Communications in the college’s Office of Alumni Affairs, Development and Communications.

- Ted Boscia

Good news in hard times: The Cornell United Way announced it has exceeded the fall 2008 campaign goal and helped the United Way of Tompkins County raise more than $2,065,000.

To celebrate, President David Skorton and members of Cornell’s student Jazz Ensemble have teamed up to create a Name That Tune contest.

To play, go to cornell.edu/unitedway, click on the “Loose Change” link, watch the video and send your guess to ked13@cornell.edu.

Prizes were donated by members of the Cornell community and include a weeklong family vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, a $250 gift card for the Cornell Store, a round of golf for four at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course and more.

Nanotechnology could revolutionize agriculture and food systems around the world, according to Norman Scott, professor of biological and environmental engineering.

Scott discussed ways in which nanotechnology could make food safer on this week’s radio segment Earth & Sky, heard on more than 1,900 radio stations around the globe.

Nanoparticles could be used to deliver medicines and nutrients to farm animals, Scott said, or to track an animal’s health history from birth to dinner plate.

Download the podcast at: www.earthsky.org/radioshows/53167/will-nanotech-spark-an-agricultural-revolution

On his program “Countdown,” MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann ’79 reminisced about John B. Hill, chief engineer of Cornell’s student-run radio station WBVR-FM, who died earlier this month at age 60. “There are dozens of us who have worked in professional broadcasting in large part because we witnessed and emulated his combination of ingenuity, insurrection and inspiration – inspiration without making a big deal about it,” Olbermann said.

Watch the video here.

David Mason ‘69, professor emeritus of political science at Butler University in Indianapolis, was a government major and photographer for the Cornell yearbook in 1969 – the year of the armed takeover of Willard Straight Hall by 80 student members of the Afro-American society.
As the 40th anniversary of the takeover approaches, Mason is hosting the blog “Cornell 1969,” which he hopes will be a forum for takeover participants and observers to look back on and discuss the pivotal events of that year.
Visit the site here.