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Bridge Barrier Designs Unveiled

Another Way to Read CAM; Fraternity Banned Following Sophomore's Death; Harrison Named Board Chair; Africana Center Budget to Rise; Vet College Is Tops in the Nation (Again); Provost Emeritus Keith Kennedy Dies; 'Father of Chemical Ecology' Tom Eisner, 81; Reading Project Taps Doctorow Book In a series of public presentations on campus in early March, […]

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Another Way to Read CAM; Fraternity Banned Following Sophomore's Death; Harrison Named Board Chair; Africana Center Budget to Rise; Vet College Is Tops in the Nation (Again); Provost Emeritus Keith Kennedy Dies; 'Father of Chemical Ecology' Tom Eisner, 81; Reading Project Taps Doctorow Book

bridge barriers

In a series of public presentations on campus in early March, the architects hired to design suicide-prevention barriers on seven bridges on and near campus unveiled their concepts. The architects, Nader Tehrani and Dan Gallagher of the Boston-based firm NADAAA, offered several designs for each bridge; they include such elements as tempered glass walls, fine steel mesh fencing, curved vertical barriers, and under-bridge netting.

Bridge fences were first erected in spring 2010 after a trio of gorge suicides in the span of a few weeks, including two on consecutive days. Originally made of chain link (eventually replaced with less obtrusive black wire mesh), they sparked a debate on campus and in town about the efficacy of such barriers in preventing suicide—and the difficulty of balancing public safety with natural beauty. After a panel of experts tapped by Cornell issued a report endorsing so-called means restriction as a way to save lives, the University pledged to make the barriers permanent, and hired Tehrani's firm to design aesthetically pleasing solutions.

Since the concepts were made public, the University has been collecting feedback from the community; once the final designs are chosen, Cornell will file for site plan review with the city planning board. The deadline is May 31, the date by which—according to a unanimous vote last summer by Ithaca's Common Council— Cornell must either submit permanent designs or remove the current fencing.

 

Another Way to Read CAM

digital camWith this issue, we are launching a new electronic edition of Cornell Alumni Magazine—one that looks and feels like a magazine, with pages you can flip and all of the content of the print edition (including ads). There will also be special versions optimized for the iPad and other mobile devices. This will not replace the print magazine or the current website. It's just an alternative, one that we believe will be more appealing to some readers and will allow CAM to reach more alumni. It offers many great features, including type that can be enlarged and hot links to websites. This project was made possible thanks to the efforts of an alumni task force led by Bill Howard '74 and financial support from Alumni Affairs and Development and University Communications. To learn more about how to access the electronic edition, watch for an announcement in your e-mail and at cornellalumnimagazine.com.

 

Fraternity Banned Following Sophomore's Death

Sigma Alpha Epsilon

The University has withdrawn recognition of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity following the alcohol-related death of a sophomore. In February, nineteen-year-old human ecology student and Brooklyn resident George Desdunes died after being found unresponsive at the fraternity house, located on McGraw Place. "Even though the members and associate members recognized the condition Desdunes was in, they failed to call for medical care," vice president for student and academic services Susan Murphy '73, PhD '94, said in a statement. Sigma Alpha Epsilon will be banned from campus for at least five years; if and when it is reinstated, it would be on probation for an additional three years. Desdune's death came on the same weekend as another alcohol-related student fatality in town: Ithaca College freshman Victoria Cheng was found dead in a snow bank near the IC campus, having apparently passed out and died of exposure.

 

Harrison Named Board Chair

Robert Harrison

Robert Harrison '76, CEO of the Clinton Global Initiative, has been unanimously elected chair of Cornell's Board of Trustees. His two-and-a-half-year term begins January 1, when he succeeds Peter Meinig '61, who has served as chair since 2002. A college scholar at Cornell, Harrison studied politics, philosophy, and economics at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and earned a JD from Yale. He practiced corporate law with the firm Davis Polk & Wardwell and is a retired partner and managing director at Goldman Sachs. President David Skorton called Harrison "an enormously capable leader whose expertise and mentorship have been invaluable to me personally and to Cornell."

 

Africana Center Budget to Rise

In the wake of controversy over administrative shifts at the Africana Studies and Research Center that sparked campus protests, the University has announced that the center's annual budget will increase more than 50 percent over the next five years, from $2.3 million to $3.5 million. The center will also receive a one-time infusion of $2 million to recruit faculty, support research, and develop a PhD program. Since its founding in 1969, the center has been an independent unit reporting to the provost's office. But in December, Provost Kent Fuchs announced that it would merge with the College of Arts and Sciences effective July 1. Protests immediately erupted—with many objecting not only to the move but to the way it was done, saying that the provost had failed to consult with faculty and students before announcing his decision. Professor Robert Harris resigned as the center's director, though he rescinded his resignation two days later at the urging of the Africana faculty.

Fuchs has said that the move will help ensure the future success of the Africana program, which will be classified as both a center and an academic department. In announcing the funding increase in late March, he stated that he had reviewed the budget with Harris and Arts and Sciences dean Peter Lepage. "We are committed to Cornell's Africana Center becoming a top-five program in the nation," he said, "and this support will help make that possible."

 

Vet College Is Tops in the Nation (Again)

For the fourth time in a row, the Vet college has been ranked number one by U.S. News and World Report. The college has held the top spot since 2000; the rankings come out every four years. U.S. News also rated health care management programs, placing Cornell's Sloan Program in Health Administration at number fourteen, up from twenty-fifth place four years ago. In other U.S. News ratings, the Engineering college had seven graduate programs in the top ten, and the college itself was ranked tenth in the nation. The Law School was ranked thirteenth, the Johnson School sixteenth, and the Medical college seventeenth. In a new ranking based on the opinions of decision-makers on hiring at law firms, the Law School ranked eighth.

 

Provost Emeritus Keith Kennedy Dies

Keith Kennedy

W. Keith Kennedy, PhD '47, provost emeritus and former CALS dean, died February 18. He was ninety-two. A professor of agronomy on the Hill since the late Forties, Kennedy—who grew up on a plum farm in Washington State—held various administrative posts at Cornell, including director of the Geneva Ag station. He served as provost from 1978 until his retirement in 1984; at that time, then-President Frank Rhodes called him "as generous and sensitive an individual as he is forthright, perceptive, and capable as an administrator." In 1990, the new CALS administrative building was named in his honor. Kennedy is survived by two sons and their families. His wife, Barbara Barber Kennedy, MS '40, predeceased him.

 

patchCanine cosmonauts: This 1961 Christmas candy box from the Soviet Union, depicting two mixed-breed dogs who were the first living creatures to spend a full day in space (aboard Sputnik 5), is among the items on display in Kroch Library's exhibit "Animal Legends: From the Trojan Horse to Godzilla." The show, which explores why and how humans elevate certain animals or species to exalted status, runs through the end of September.

 

'Father of Chemical Ecology' Tom Eisner, 81

Tom Eisner

Thomas Eisner, a distinguished biologist considered the father of chemical ecology, died in Ithaca on March 25. He was eighty-one and suffered from Parkinson's disease. Eisner was born in Berlin; his family settled in the United States in the Forties after stints in Spain and Uruguay. He earned bachelor's and doctoral degrees from Harvard—Cornell rejected his undergraduate application, and for decades Eisner proudly displayed the "ding letter" on his office wall—and joined the Cornell entomology faculty in 1957. With his longtime collaborator and Cornell colleague Jerrold Meinwald, GR '52, he explored how insects use chemicals to defend themselves and facilitate reproduction. His wide-ranging interests included nature photography, and he published several books on the subject, including Chromatic Fantasy: Leaves in the Midst of Change and Eisner's World: Life Through Many Lenses. At the time of his death, he was the Jacob Gould Schurman professor emeritus of chemical ecology. Eisner is survived by his wife of fifty-eight years, Maria Eisner, an expert in electron microscopy who worked on his research team, and three daughters and their families.

 

Reading Project Taps Doctorow Book

bookThe E. L. Doctorow novel Homer & Langley has been chosen for this year's New Student Reading Project. Published in 2009 and loosely based on a true story, the book follows two New York City brothers whose parents die in the 1918 flu pandemic. They create their own world in the family mansion on Fifth Avenue, their personal stories echoing the developments of twentieth-century America. "Homer & Langley is an interesting choice, first because it is based on a real New York story and thus raises issues about fictionalizing the news," says Charlotte Rosen, PhD '79, a senior lecturer in management and a member of the selection committee. "I believe that a community read should reflect something about belonging to (or rejecting) a community, and this thread runs throughout the brothers' tale." To participate in the project, which includes discussions and events open to the community, go to reading.cornell.edu.

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