The Essentials

The popular science website scientificblogging.com is holding its first writing competition for graduate students, and four Cornell students have been selected as finalists – but they need your vote to win.

Go to the students’ individual blogs, and if you like what you read, click on the “vote” button. Voting ends Sunday, Nov. 22. The student whose entry gets the most votes wins $2,500 and a three-month paid writing internship for the Web site. The top vote-earners in each of the 6 disciplines also win a cash prize.

Here’s a look at the blogs:

Ryan Anderson, astronomy: MSL: Mars Action Hero; about the Mars Science Lab and how it will improve exploration and data collection on Mars.

Laura Martin, natural resources: Is there a red environmentalism and a blue environmentalism? Investigates why there is a presumed political divide when it comes to environmentalism.

Katie Schoenberg, animal science: The need for a grey area; Discusses the differences between conventional and organic dairy farming and why choosing which one is “better” is not a black-and-white issue.

Yisong Yue, computer science: Self-improving systems learn through human interaction; Examines how computers and computer programs, ranging from Twitter feeds to Google search results, improve their value to the human users based on what input the users are giving.

– Sarah Purdue

With less money to spend, cash-strapped consumers are flocking to vegetable gardening to stretch their food budgets. In a survey by the National Gardening Association, one-fifth of respondents say they plan to start food gardening this year, and more than half are already gardening to save on groceries.

But saving money shouldn’t be the only attraction to growing vegetables, says Cornell horticulturist Lori Bushway. “It’s hard to find produce any fresher or more local than what you pick from your own garden,” Bushway says. “And the exercise you get while gardening can be as rigorous as a gym workout.”

For links to vegetable growing guides and information on how to get started, visit www.gardening.cornell.edu.

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 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 at cornell1969.blogspot.com

Architecture student Tim Liddell has been blogging about his travels in Italy and the Mediterranean since August. Read about his encounters with archaeology, art, food and culture.

In his blog, Caleb Dresser ’09, the International Rice Research Institute dramatically changed his perspectives. He blogged after a week in the course: “The clarity and confidence I had in my understanding of many issues is being, very appropriately, shaken. I laugh, eat, work and relax with a group of people whose diversity runs far beyond the color of their skin. My classmates and friends are from Bangladesh and Korea, America and Indonesia, the U.K. and Mozabique. Some are experienced plant breeders and geneticists, some are extension workers, some are in business. There are Mormons, Catholics, Muslims, Jews, Protestants and atheists. By day, we learn about complex issues from experts; by night and in our free time, we learn from each other and from this place.”

Dresser’s blog covers his travels to Modipuram, India, in June where he is conducting field experiments on plant-parasitic nematode activity in aerobic rice systems on the Indo-Gangetic Plains. Read it here.

Students at Cornell’s Shoals Marine Laboratory have posted a new portal called GoShoals. In addition to a blog, the site features information on programs, a Facebook link and maps of the Shoals Island off the coast of New Hampshire.

The Office of Web Communications’ blog is back from a yearlong hiatus with a new name and look. View Source, formerly known as the Redesign Blog, takes a look at what goes on behind the scenes on the Web at Cornell and points out new developments on the Web and around campus.

An excerpt by blog author Lisa Cameron-Norfleet: “… [W]e can see everything from bike rack locations to accessible entrances to bus stops. … the sky is kind of the limit when it comes to what you might want to see on your map. Bus routes? Totally doable. Quickest way from Kite Hill to MVR? Also possible. My suggestion of using the chips in our staff IDs to track parking agents in real time was met with laughter, but I’m reasonably sure it’s possible to know when you’re about to get a ticket. We totally have the technology.” Share your comments and sign up for an RSS feed or e-mail updates.