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New Look  CU UNVEILS LOGO

IN OCTOBER, THE UNIVERSITY TOOK THE WRAPS OFF a new logo that will replace the much-maligned Big Red Box on all official communications. It was designed by a team from Cornell's Communication and Marketing Services led by senior designer Laurie Ray and including Clive Howard and Kathy Seely; they worked with Chermayeff and Geismar Inc. to modernize the traditional Cornell emblem into the version shown here. The new logo also includes the words "Cornell University" in the Palatino font. A digital version of the new logo is featured on the home page of the revised and expanded Cornell website--www.cornell.edu--which came online in late August and continues to evolve. The new logo and website are the first manifestations of a comprehensive overhaul of Cornell's public image being directed by Tommy Bruce, vice president for communications and media relations.

George to Martha: Drop Dead  GOVERNOR VETOES FUNDS FOR MVR

GOVERNOR GEORGE PATAKI'S NEW YORK STATE BUDGET vetoes have derailed plans to replace the north wing of Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, condemned and vacant since a 2001 engineering study discovered serious structural flaws in the building. In August, Pataki vetoed $460 million in capital projects for the State University of New York system, including $9 million of the $34 million needed to replace the 1966 College of Human Ecology structure, which is owned by the state. The remaining $25 million slated for MVR remains in the budget. In all, Cornell could lose more than $20 million in state funds, including $1 million to the Geneva Agricultural Experiment Station. A September 20 effort to override the vetoes failed in the Democrat-controlled State Assembly.

Stuck  USN&WR RANKING UNCHANGED

FOR THE FOURTH STRAIGHT YEAR, CORNELL was number fourteen in the annual ranking of national universities published by U.S. News & World Report. Harvard and Princeton once again shared the top spot, followed by Yale in third and the University of Pennsylvania in fourth. Fifth place was a three-way tie among Duke, MIT, and Stanford. Columbia and Dartmouth tied for ninth, and Brown jumped from seventeenth to thirteenth, making Cornell the lowest-ranked Ivy.

Cornell also placed fourteenth in another USN&WR poll, although this was more welcome news. For the first time, the magazine's ranking of 430 undergraduate business programs included the one offered by the Department of Applied Economics and Management in CALS. Unlike the magazine's overall ranking system, which uses a complex (and controversial) formula to determine each institution's score, the business- school poll is based solely on a "peer survey" of deans and senior faculty at institutions accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

Moving Up  ENDOWMENT GAINS

ACCORDING TO A REPORT PUBLISHED in the New York Times, Cornell's endowment increased by 16.1 percent in the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2004, climbing to $3.8 billion. Donald Fehrs '77, Cornell's chief investment officer, says that number actually represents "the new amount of the pool of funds we manage in long-term strategies."University CFO Hal Craft '60, PhD '70, says the endowment will be reported officially at $3.3 billion in the annual financial report, which will be presented to the Board of Trustees shortly after this issue goes to press.

Beck Center  STATLER HALL

Hotel room: Construction of the Beck Center, a 35,000-square-foot addition to Statler Hall, wrapped up this fall. The $16.2 million three-story "teaching center" houses a 140-seat lecture hall, classrooms, and a computer center. It was named in honor of former Hotel school dean Robert Beck '42, PhD '54, and his wife, Jan.

Actor and Activist  CHRISTOPHER REEVE, 52

ACTOR-DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER REEVE '74 DIED ON OCTOBER 10. Reeve, who was paralyzed from the neck down when he was thrown from his horse in 1995, was an outspoken advocate of spinal cord research. Before the accident, he had appeared frequently in stage and television productions and made seventeen feature films, including four in which he played the role of Superman. Although confined to a wheelchair and reliant on a ventilator, he continued to work, directing several productions, acting in a remake of Rear Window, and writing two autobiographical works, Still Me and Nothing Is Impossible. In 2000, after extensive activity-based rehabilitation, Reeve recovered some ability to move his extremities and feel sensation. His death was attributed to heart failure brought on by a systemic infection. Reeve is survived by his wife, Dana, and three sons.

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