The Essentials

The film “In 500 Words or Less” portrays the college application process through the lives of four American high school students as they navigate the high-stakes world of college fairs, SAT prep, campus visits, applications and the largest hurdle – the personal essay – before awaiting the fat envelope stuffed with an acceptance letter.

Leo Rosario, a first-generation Dominican American from Yonkers, N.Y., plays tenor sax, loves sports and dreams of becoming the first in his family to attend an Ivy League school. He ultimately lands a full-tuition scholarship to Cornell, where he is now a sophomore in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

In the documentary, Rosario, raised by a single mother who never finished college, sets his sights on the top schools, convinced that anything less would be a failure. “Do not let anyone put you down,” he says. “If you dream of something, do it.”

The film, directed and produced by Molly Fowler and released by Point Made Films, earned an official selection at the Orlando Film Festival. But critics and movie buffs aren’t the only ones giving it rave reviews. “This film is outstanding – simply outstanding,” says Doris Davis, Cornell’s associate provost for admissions and enrollment.

– Ted Boscia

The other day, teaching assistant Matthew Sweeney, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management, was talking about price discrimination in a section for the course Intermediate Microeconomics.

“Matt led a discussion of a story by the AP on how the San Francisco Giants baseball team is experimenting with ‘dynamic pricing’ – changing ticket prices based on factors such as day of the week, opposing team, even starting pitchers and weather,” wrote the professor for the course, John Cawley, in an e-mail. “To foster discussion, Matt asked the students to envision themselves in the Giants’ front office, and think about whether fans might be angry about this policy.”

The discussion got one of the students, Daniel Novick ’12, thinking about the issues, and it prompted him to propose another way that teams could increase ticket revenue without alienating fans as much. It turns out that Novick is a columnist for The Hardball Times, so he has posted his idea in his column.

“I think it shows how Cornell graduate students can have an impact on Cornell undergraduates,” wrote Cawley, “and also how the Internet allows Cornell undergrads to share what they learn at Cornell with others.”

– Susan S. Lang

At the 2009 Saratoga Dew Stakes in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., a race for New York-bred fillies and mares, the smart money proved to be on Dean Henry, a 4-year-old named in honor of CALS Dean Susan Henry.

The filly, owned by Larry Goichman ’66, rallied from two lengths behind in the homestretch to win in a thrilling photo finish, capturing her first-ever stakes race victory. After winning by a head, Dean Henry has now crossed the line first in three of her eight career starts.

“I know she’s a closer,” Goichman told The Saratogian after the Aug. 31 race. “She made a big, big run.”

-Ted Boscia

There’s a simple mathematical explanation for many of life’s mysteries – and Keith Devlin, Stanford mathematician and NPR’s “math guy,” explained a few in a packed-to-the-rafters lecture in Malott Hall’s Bache Auditorium Sept. 10.

Why golf balls have dimples, for example. (The indentations allow the ball to travel up to two and a half times farther by reducing drag.) And why bees make hexagonally shaped honeycombs. (Regular hexagons allow the bees to enclose the largest area possible using the smallest amount of material.)

But when it comes to the mathematics behind airplane flight – well, there are a few problems with the explanation in many pilot manuals, Devlin noted.

Think of the diagram you’ve seen depicting air flow around a cross-section of an airplane wing. Air flowing over the curved top has to travel faster than air flowing over the straight bottom – that creates a pressure differential, which creates lift.

Right?

“But you begin to suspect something’s wrong,” he said, “when you remember that airplanes can fly upside down.”

Oh.

Actually, Devlin said, “I’ve not yet become convinced that we have a really good explanation” for why airplanes stay aloft. Consider that one a work in progress.

- Lauren Gold

We already knew that “Ithaca Is Gorges” and a fabulous “10 square miles surrounded by reality.” (But isn’t it actually more than 10 square miles? We have always been confused about this).

Anyway, now the American Institute for Economic Research (AIER), an independent research organization in Great Barrington, Mass., agrees.

AIER just reported that Ithaca ranks No. 1 as a 2009-10 college destination for towns under 250,000 people.

The index is based on quality of life, including cost of living and number of cultural and entertainment venues, student population, job and internship prospects, yearly increase in college-educated people moving into or out of the city and other academic, social and economic factors.

AIER researchers crunched data on more than 360 metropolitan areas to come up with a list of the top 75 destinations, divided into four categories by population. The other No. 1 college destinations according to the index are New York City for major metropolitan areas; San Jose for midsize cities; and Boulder, Colo., for small metropolitan areas.

-Susan S. Lang

Two Cornellians are testing their mettle on the game show circuit this fall.

Rodolfo Saccoman ’99, director of online marketing at The Breakers Resort in Palm Beach and CEO and co-founder of MyTherapyJournal.com, appeared on Episode 105 of ABC’s Shark Tank on Sept. 6.

In the episode, Saccoman and his brother make a deal for an innovative Internet company with three of the show’s “Sharks” (who include real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran, infomercial industry pioneer Kevin Harrington, technology innovator Robert Herjavec, fashion icon Daymond John and financial expert Kevin O’Leary). Just before the deal is sealed, a battle ensues and one of the Sharks is ousted.

Check out the show for the gory details.

On a less toothy note, Andrew Bridson, a junior in the ILR School, was a contestant on Wheel of Fortune’s College Week. The show will air Thursday, Nov. 12.

Bridson was mum on the episode details, but said he “had a lot of fun, solved a puzzle, and won a little bit of money.”

- Lauren Gold