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Incoming! JUMP IN ADMISSIONS APPLICATIONS

THE STAFF IN THE UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS OFFICE has been working overtime trying to keep up with a flood of applications. As of February 8, Cornell had received more than 24,000 applications, a 16 percent increase over the previous year and the largest number in the University's history. Applications from all regions of the U.S. were up, and there was an 18.5 percent increase in forms submitted by international students. "There are many reasons for the increase," says Doris Davis, associate provost for admissions and enrollment, "but we believe that the three major reasons are our joining the Common Application Group, the redesign of our view book, and the results of our ongoing efforts to develop a university-admissions communications plan." The Common Application Group is a consortium of colleges and universities, including five of the Ivy League schools, that have agreed to accept the same application form, thus making it easier for students to apply to more schools. Used for the first time this year, the new view book replaces the old Big Red Book and is, Davis says, a "major improvement in quality, message, and design." The communication plan she refers to involves increased outreach to prospective students by e-mail and direct mail, as well as the hosting of more admissions programs.

All in all, Davis says, the quality of the applicant pool has remained high, with SAT numbers at the same level as last year, and the jump in applications means that the University is better able to "truly extend Ezra Cornell's vision of ‘any person, any study.' "

Transnational Text  FRESHMEN TO READ NOVEL BY NIGERIAN WRITER

IN JANUARY, VICE PROVOST ISAAC KRAMnick announced that the selection for this year's New Student Reading Project will be Things Fall Apart by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. "For several years we've wanted to use a non-Western text," said Kramnick. "Achebe's piece is a classic of world literature." Written in 1958, Things Fall Apart depicts village life in Nigeria during the imposition of British colonial rule in the late nineteenth century. In addition to incoming students, alumni, and members of the Ithaca community, 4,000 advanced-placement high school students across New York State will be reading and discussing the book, thanks to a pilot project organized by Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Celebrating Diversity  ALUMNI, STUDENTS TO NETWORK AT CONFERENCE

ON THE WEEKEND OF APRIL 29 TO MAY 1, alumni and students will gather on campus for "Cornell Mosaic: Celebrating Diversity and Advancing Inclusion," a conference sponsored by Cornell University and the Minority Alumni Initiatives Implementation Committee of the Board of Trustees. A lineup of workshops and speakers will address such topics as admissions, faculty diversity, student life, academic programs, and employment, with an emphasis on engaging African-American, Asian, Latino, and Native-American alumni in volunteer leadership roles. President Jeffrey Lehman '77 will deliver the keynote address. In conjunction with the conference, the renovated and expanded Africana Studies and Research Center will be dedicated during a ceremony on the afternoon of Friday, April 29. Other related events on Friday include the presentation of the Perkins Prize for Inter-racial Harmony and Understanding at Willard Straight Hall and the tenth anniversary banquet for the Latino Living Center. For more information, contact the Office of Minority Alumni programs at (607) 255-4173, cornellmosaic@cornell.edu.

Return to Sender  CIT WAGES WAR ON SPAM

ALUMNI WITH CORNELL.EDU E-MAIL ACCOUNTS CAN LOOK FORWARD TO fewer Nigerian banking opportunities this year, thanks to new virus- and spamblocking technology that went into effect on February 1. Cornell Information Technologies (CIT), which operates the University's electronic mail, is now running an anti-spam system called Sophos PureMessage, which rates inbound mail for probable spam (junk mail) content and bounces the message back to the sender. False-positive ratings are rare, says CIT e-mail messaging manager Jim Howell, and senders of blocked legitimate mail will be informed of why their message was not received. Some 250,000 pieces of junk e-mail go through the Cornell system on an average day; so much spam was flowing through the e-mail forwarding program that the Hotmail and MSN Internet services have blocked all mail from cornell.edu addresses since summer 2004.

Tuition Rising  ACROSS-THE-BOARD INCREASES ANNOUNCED

IN JANUARY, THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES APPROVED TUITION INCREASES FOR the 2005–06 academic year. Tuition in the endowed colleges will rise 4.3 percent, moving up from $30,000 to $31,300. Undergraduates in the contract colleges face steeper increases: New York State residents will pay 8.4 percent more, $17,200, while out-of-state students will pay between 6.3 percent and 6.7 percent more, depending on their year of graduation. First- and second-year students will pay $30,200, while third- and fourth-year students will pay $29,000.

Professional school tuitions rose as well. Business students at the Johnson School will pay 5.7 percent more, $36,350, while Law School students face a 7 percent increase to $37,750. In-state students studying veterinary medicine will pay 7.3 percent more, $22,000, while out-of-staters were hit with an 8.6 percent increase to $31,500.

Provost Biddy Martin cited "declining state appropriations, rising labor and utilities costs, and the increasing costs of ensuring academic excellence in a competitive environment" as the main reasons for the increases.

Appointments  EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, VICE PROVOST NAMED

AT A SPECIAL MEETING ON FEBRUARY 1, THE EXECUTIVE COMmittee of the Board of Trustees approved the appointment of Stephen Golding as executive vice president for finance and administration. He will assume the post on April 1. Golding, who holds a bachelor's degree from Washington College and a master's in political science from the University of Delaware, comes to Cornell from the University of Colorado System, where he has been vice president for budget and finance since June 2003. He succeeds Harold "Hal" Craft '60, PhD '70, who has served as Cornell's vice president for administration and CFO since 2000. Golding's position has been endowed by the Bodman Foundation to honor Samuel Bodman '60, B Chem E '61, who was confirmed as U.S. secretary of energy in January; it is believed to be the first such endowed senior financial position in American higher education.

Earlier, President Jeffrey Lehman '77 announced that he has named law professor David Wippman as vice provost for international relations. "The creation of the vice provost position," said Lehman, "combined with our growing presence internationally, will ensure that Cornell can fulfill its mission of teaching, research, service, and outreach in a transnational world."Wippman, who accompanied Lehman to Asia last November, is an expert in international human rights and was director of multilateral and humanitarian affairs at the National Security Council in 1998–99.

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