“Since then,” writes Jeremy “Kinetics” Dussolliet ’09, ”I’ve continued to pursue music full-time, which has led me to tour around the country (and even to China) and release a full-length album with my writing partner Tim [One Love] Sommers ’10, which charted on both iTunes and Billboard… We recently released a music video entitled ‘Sign Language’ which touches upon the issue of teen suicide and was written in early 2010, partly triggered by the string of suicides at Cornell that winter.”
The duo began writing and producing music together after meeting at Cornell in 2007 and have written for Eminem, B.o.B and Nicki Minaj.
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.”
On Nov. 5, eight Cornell students boarded a carbon-offset bus in front of Rhodes Hall to embark on a cross-country journey. Their goal: to spread education and empowerment about green schools. By Nov. 14, they’d stopped in five cities, conducted outreach projects at local schools with other college students, and picked up some more student travelers. They ended up in San Francisco at Greenbuild, the international conference of the U.S. Green Building Council, which collaborated with the students to make the trip happen.
The inaugural Students@Greenbuild Bus Tour was a project of Cornell University Sustainable Design, in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council’s Center for Green Schools. The entire effort was part of the Center for Green Schools’ “Green Apple” Initiative, which promotes healthy, safe schools.
The students meticulously documented their journey via Facebook and Twitter. Kai Keane, the team’s videographer, produced a video recap of each pit stop, as well as a particularly reflective look back at the whole experience. In the midst of heavy travel, the students even managed to parody themselves, a la T-Pain’s “I’m on a Boat” – make that, “I’m on a Bus.”
In their newest Forbes blog post, Cornell President David Skorton and American studies professor Glenn Altschuler write an open letter to President Obama as he begins his second term. They offer six ideas to invest in higher education, urge Obama to push for passage of the DREAM Act and double the research budgets of government agencies.
The film features Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released from house arrest after spending nearly two decades as a political prisoner and earlier this year received the United States Congressional Gold Medal for her pro-democratic work in Burma.
Lieberman shot “They Call it Myanmar” clandestinely over three years. The film exposes everyday life in a country controlled by a military regime for 48 years and offers an inspiring portrait of present-day Burma and an overview of the nation’s history and its people.
Tomorrow (Oct. 31) is the last day to donate to Angela Bikes 4 Hopi, Angela Gonzales’ effort to raise funds for the Hopi Cancer Assistance Fund, which helps defray patients’ travel expenses.
Gonzales, associate professor of development sociology, took sabbatical leave from Cornell this year to participate in a 30-day, 1,539-mile bicycle ride from Bellingham, Wash., to Ventura, Calif., to support Arizona’s Hopi seeking treatment who must travel more than 550 round-trip miles from the reservation to Phoenix or another city. Travel is not covered by health insurance.
“I’m raising funds for this community because of the research I do there as well as the fact that I’m a community member,” she told the Cornell Chronicle. “Engaged research ties together the land-grant mission of Cornell and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and it’s very exciting to see its impact on Hopi people.”
Visit Angela Bikes 4 Hopi for the story of her bike ride, which ended Oct. 23 and has so far raised more than $10,000. Visit the site to contribute and to learn about Gonzales’ research with the Hopi Nation.
In their latest Forbes blog post, President David Skorton and Glenn Altschuler, professor of American studies, discuss the role of universities in the fracking debate:
“In Ithaca, N.Y., where we live, as elsewhere, horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing to gain access to shale natural gas (fracking) is a hot-button issue. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo is considering whether to lift the moratorium on fracking – thereby joining some 20 other states that already allow fracking – and lawsuits are expected to follow that decision, no matter which way it goes.”
They weigh pros and cons and give several examples of how universities can contribute valuable insights to the debate, including: “… universities have expertise in all the areas relevant to fracking – social, environmental, human health and economic impacts, technological innovation and sampling design – as well as a commitment to and reputation for rigor and objectivity in research. We believe that universities can bring a reputation for independence to these investigations. And many universities are already collaborating with government and industry to promote economic development and the public good.”
The Hacker Tour 2012 – an eight-week national bus tour designed to connect fast-growing startups and tech companies to top computer science and engineering students across the country – rolled into Ithaca last night to visit Cornell’s Pop Shop.
Says Jesse McElwain, Pop Shop general manager: “We started Pop Shop to encourage entrepreneurially minded students to meet each other face to face and start talking about how to commercialize their ideas. It kind of catalyzed the entrepreneurial spirit and forged new relationships, in a way we never expected. We host events, meet-ups, networking socials and anything else.
“The second I heard that Hacker Tour’s first stop was at Cornell, I knew that Pop Shop should host an event – we represent a collection of the most talented entrepreneurs on campus. At Cornell, there’s plenty of students interested in startups, and plenty with startups of their own. With the Tech Campus, all eyes are turned on entrepreneurship, and it’s certainly the time for it!”
“As of tomorrow, I will be more than 1,700 miles in!” says Barrett Keene, Ph.D. ’13, who has been walking from Miami to San Francisco since Jan. 28. He’s raising funds for abandoned children in Haiti and Africa through the Go Walk America project and conducting academic research.
Even through the recent heat waves, Keene continues to walk, and he’s joined by enthusiastic supporters he inspires to get involved along the way.
With each donation of $20, a student receives a uniform required to attend school. Thus far, funds have been raised to support 1,261 school uniforms.
“Please donate at least one school uniform,” requests Keene, in red above. “When you sponsor a school uniform, you support three things: a uniform for a child, job creation in impoverished communities and orphan care.”
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Alums, Cornell People, Update | Tagged: Kinetics & One Love | 
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Posted by George Lowery
