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Symbolism

LOOKING AT THE LOGO

THANKS FOR INFORMING YOUR READERS about Cornell's new logo, the symbol of the University's new visual identity program (From the Hill, November/December 2004). At the heart of the program is a reconnection to Cornell's traditional symbols.

Your story suggested that the new logo is only the circular insignia; in fact, the new logo contains two parts (shown here): the insignia--a modern and functional refinement of the University emblem for use in diverse media--and the "Cornell University" logotype. Also, as part of the design process, the official color has been returned to Cornell's original deep shade of red--dubbed "carnelian"-- first used during the inauguration of the University and its first president, Andrew Dickson White, in 1868. The new logo's designers conducted archival research to detail the history of graphic marks at the University and to understand the origins of Cornell's traditional shield and colors. (For the record, the design team included editor Jeri Wall, as well as senior designer Laurie Ray and designers Clive Howard and Kathryn Seely.) A detailed style guide for the use of the new logo by the Cornell community in a variety of applications and media-- print, Web, broadcast, signage, and apparel--is online at www.cornell.edu/ identity.

Simeon Moss '73
Press Office Director
Cornell News Service
Ithaca, New York

I WAS PLEASED TO SEE THAT THE new Cornell logo resembles the old shield I knew and liked from my days as a student. But I was dismayed to see that it prominently states "Founded A.D. 1865"--in other words, "in the year of Our Lord 1865."

Jesus is not my Lord.He's not the Lord of tens of thousands of present and past Cornellians, nor of tens of thousands of future Cornellians.He's surely not the Lord of Cornell University, major portions of which are state schools.

The inclusion of "A.D." serves no useful purpose; if the logo said "Founded 1865," no one would think it meant 3,869 years ago. I understand why "A.D." appears on many older documents and insignia, but I find it offensive that it was included on a logo that was designed in 2004, at a time when the University cares so much about diversity and inclusivity. Cornell shouldn't be reinforcing the false notion that the United States is a "Christian nation."

Arthur Spitzer '71
Chevy Chase, Maryland

Campus Life

AFTER READING "THE WAY WE LIVE NOW," I feel the need to add something to your neat, concise list of student lifestyles (November/December 2004). The way many Cornell students live now is depressed.

This has much to do with Cornell's workload, but I have come to think of it as deeply ingrained in Cornell's nonacademic culture as well. Students never seem to have enough time to really talk to each other, to ask "How are you?" and wait for an actual response. As much as I love Cornell and appreciate the undergraduate education I recently completed, I remain very concerned about what many Cornellians see as an intractable mental health crisis on campus.

Will Schmitt '04
Alexandria, Virginia

THE "LIVING-LEARNING" CONCEPT OF the new West Campus residence halls sounds great (Letter from Ithaca, September/ October 2004). But please don't tell me the exteriors of all the new dorms are going to be the depressing shade of muted charcoal gray shown in the accompanying photo. God knows Ithaca has enough gray already! If others feel as I do about the color scheme of these new buildings, I'd suggest they contact Vice Provost Isaac Kramnick <ik15@cornell.edu> and let him know.

Perry Jacobs '74
Scarsdale, New York

Red vs. Blue

CONGRATULATIONS TO PROFESSOR Elizabeth Sanders for emphasizing that the primary system has polarized the country and created less democracy rather than more (Letter from Ithaca, November/December 2004). The "cigar-chomping bosses" were not ideologues and chose centrist candidates.Making sure the candidates are Tweedledee and Tweedledum is good for the country! Catering to hysteria and paranoia at the extremes is not. Besides, the old-style conventions were fun to watch; you could see just who was supporting whom.

Peter Cortland '57
Wallingford, Connecticut

WE HAVE JUST EMERGED FROM ONE OF the dirtiest election campaign seasons I can remember. It was characterized by a plethora of slogans and sound bites replacing thoughtful statements of policy. Intelligent thinking was not required of, or expected to be important to, the voting public.

Elizabeth Sanders continued this process in order to advance her political bias, in what should have been a neutral article. She used the word "abortion" several times, even attributing it to Bill Clinton's agenda. This is a word with heavy emotional overtones for many people. To my knowledge, Clinton has never professed any support for abortion. I have frequently heard him say that he supports a woman's right to choose what to do with her body--but supporting choice is not the same as supporting or recommending abortion. The word "abortion" comes with a built-in prejudice for some people, and I am surprised that a professor in the Department of Government would color her article to express her own viewpoint.

Simeon Ross, DVM '50
Greenlawn, New York

Elizabeth Sanders responds: I regret that one reader found my essay biased. I did not intend to promote a personal viewpoint, but simply to describe the most emotional issues underlying the red/blue divide and the difficulty they pose for Democrats. Most postelection commentary has focused on these same issues. Emotional they no doubt are, but they are certainly a prominent part of current political debates. As we know, "moral issues" were ranked very high by voters on November 2. A willingness of the Democrats to accept some compromise on the issue of abortion would show some accommodation, as would a willingness to work toward the goal of reducing unwanted pregnancy and supporting health-care and adoption services for women who are pregnant and unable or unwilling to care for a child. Opposition to all restrictions on abortion beyond those in the original Roe v. Wade decision is supported only by about 35 percent of the population, and the level of support among some historical Democratic constituencies is even lower. Hence the party's current dilemma.

As for Clinton, he did take bold positions on both abortion and gay rights. Among his first formal actions as president were executive orders permitting gays to serve openly in the military and voiding the Reagan-Bush rule requiring federally aided family planning clinics to give "non-directive" counseling to pregnant women and separate the counseling process from the clinics' abortion services. He also vetoed, twice, the ban on partial-birth abortion passed by Congress.

I will confess to the following "agenda": I endorse the suggestion of Peter Cortland that the old-style conventions were indeed more fun to watch than today's tightly scripted shows, and they also gave us better presidential candidates, more meaningful debates, and standard bearers closer in their issue positions to the parties' rank-and-file supporters than the ones chosen by the primary system in place since 1972.

Unnatural State?

THE 50TH REUNION OF THE CLASS OF 1954 was a wonderful experience, but a number of hours spent walking the gorge trails left me shocked at the state of ecological deterioration. The once-natural character of the gorges, with their ground cover of native shrubs and wildflowers, has been massively overrun by invasive exotics to such an extent that the native plant life is now largely limited to a few species of trees. Given that the University, and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in particular, is committed to world leadership in the ecological basis of the human condition, I found the state of the gorges quite unsettling. Is Cornell losing touch with its conservation heritage?

Robert Hellmann '54, MS '57
Hilton, New York

Nancy Ostman, Natural Areas Director of Cornell Plantations, responds: Indeed, the vegetation in Cascadilla Gorge is dominated by non-native invasive species. Norway maple is more shade tolerant, has a longer growing season, and over time has replaced sugar maple as one of the dominant trees in the gorge. Other ornamental plants are also abundant; they probably fell from backyards along the gorge lip or were carried to the gorge by birds. Fall Creek Gorge has a similar problem but is not yet quite so overrun.

Cornell Plantations has been tackling the invasive-plant problem with diligence for years. We didn't begin on the gorges, although we have discussed the issue. There, the slopes are highly erosive, tend to slump in wet weather, and are subject to rock falls caused by the freeze-thaw cycle.We fear that all of these problems might be worsened if we were to cut trees. We have turned our attention to the vast numbers of invasive plants found elsewhere, and have made major inroads on invasive-plant removal in the Mundy Wildflower Garden and at our recently acquired natural area, Park Park on Fall Creek.We have also worked systematically to remove invasive plants from the shores of Beebe Lake and the slope north of the Ag Quad. This is not a quick and easy task, nor is it a one-time event. Invasive plants spring back from bits of roots left behind or buried seed banks, or they arrive once again from the abundant seed sources in the region. So, no, Cornell has not lost its conservation heritage--but we sometimes feel overwhelmed by the task.

Golden Goof

THE ARTICLE "POWER PLAY," ABOUT amputee hockey players, was incredibly inspiring (Currents, September/October 2004). But in it Everett Hullverson refers to "the famous gold medal game" in which "the underdog 1980 U.S. hockey team upset the Soviet juggernaut in Lake Placid."The USA's miraculous victory over the USSR in the 1980 Winter Olympics was in the semi-finals; they went on to beat Finland to win the gold medal.

Jeffrey Anbinder '94
New York, New York

Corrections

July/August 2004
Legacies (p. 115): Charlotte Smith Moore '48 informs us that Edward Taylor Moore III is a fourth-generation, not third-generation, Cornellian.His great-grandfather was Edwin Potter Smith 1912.

November/December 2004
Alma Matters (p. 65): The listing of recipients of the Frank H. T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Awards included the name Ginger H.S. So '61; the award was actually presented to Irene H.S. So '61.

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