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Cornell Celebrates 143rd Commencement

Nets Chosen as Bridge Barriers; Senior Dies in C-town Blaze; Endowment Up; CIO Out; Four Charged in Frat Death; Wheels Up for New Campus Bike-Sharing Program; Willard Straight Board Closes Ceramics Studio; The Internet, Explained; Theatre Director Retires; Sentencing in Heroin Case; New Grad Drowns in Gorge; Seven New Trustees Elected; Chip Satellites Launched on […]

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Nets Chosen as Bridge Barriers; Senior Dies in C-town Blaze; Endowment Up; CIO Out; Four Charged in Frat Death; Wheels Up for New Campus Bike-Sharing Program; Willard Straight Board Closes Ceramics Studio; The Internet, Explained; Theatre Director Retires; Sentencing in Heroin Case; New Grad Drowns in Gorge; Seven New Trustees Elected; Chip Satellites Launched on Space Shuttle Endeavor

Bright future: Sunny skies greeted graduates and their families, as caps and gowns dotted the Hill.

Despite a severe thunderstorm the previous night that had campus officials—not to mention grads and their families—concerned about the weather, Schoellkopf was bright and sunny for Commencement. Addressing the 6,000 graduates on Memorial Day weekend, President David Skorton emphasized the values that define Cornellians. "These values include, among others, respect and affection for each other, embracing and celebrating differences, openness to new ideas, willingness to reach out to others in friendship, and, in widely and wildly varying ways, to lift the world's burdens by what we do every day, in ways large and small."

He also praised the Class of 2011's accomplishments, from working with Mayan children in Belize to researching economic challenges facing Mongolian farmers. He noted that 80 percent have jobs or grad school plans, up from last year's 75 percent. Acknowledging the solemn fact that a number of students have lost their lives in recent years, Skorton indicated an empty chair in the front row of the seated graduates and noted the attendees wearing pins in memory of a senior who died in a fire in early May.

In Schoellkopf the previous day, former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani spoke at Senior Convocation. Giuliani stressed the need for young people to develop their leadership skills by holding strong beliefs, developing the ability to solve problems, and preparing relentlessly for the future. "Happiness in life is not just about your being what you want to be," Giuliani said. "Happiness in life is figuring out how you fit into this vast society, how you make your contribution."

 

Nets Chosen as Bridge Barriers

nets

On May 31—the last day before the City of Ithaca would have required removal of the temporary fences on seven gorge bridges on campus and its environs—the University submitted its site plan application for permanent suicide prevention methods. After contemplating a variety of barriers, Cornell opted to install netting, made of low-visibility tensile steel mesh, underneath six of the spans; on the seventh, the Suspension Bridge, the University aims to replace the current metal bars with vertical netting. "We've taken care to submit designs that will preserve the aesthetic value of the bridges and vistas," says vice president for student and academic services Susan Murphy '73, PhD '94. "We believe the designs also will make vulnerable members of our community feel safer and reduce the incidence of a highly lethal and potentially contagious form of suicide." Approval of the barriers on University-owned bridges rests with the city's Planning and Development Board; Ithaca's Common Council will decide whether to install them on city-owned spans.

 

Senior Dies in C-town Blaze

A senior died in a Collegetown house fire in May, just weeks before he was set to graduate from the Hotel school. Twenty-one-year-old Brian Lo was killed in a midnight blaze that officials believe was caused by an unattended stove. A member of Delta Kappa Epsilon, Lo was from East Rockaway, New York. In the Daily Sun, DKE president Chazman Childers '12 described him as "the guy who was always happy, and his happiness was infectious." The building, on Cook Street, housed thirteen students in eight apartments.

 

Endowment Up; CIO Out

On May 4, the Office of University Investments announced a "preliminary investment return" of 19.3 percent, as of April 30, for Cornell's long-term investments (LTI), a pool of funds that includes the endowment and two smaller funds. With this gain, the LTI's value increased to $5.28 billion, up from $4.43 billion as of June 30, 2010. Its value had been $6.14 billion on June 30, 2008, prior to the financial crash later that year.

The news came on the heels of a surprising announcement that the University's chief investment officer, Michael Abbott, had stepped down on May 1 after holding the job for only six months. In a press release, Tommy Bruce, vice president for university communications, stated that "it had become apparent that [Abbott's] style of conducting business is inconsistent with Cornell's policies and expectations. Accordingly, he and the University have agreed that it is in their mutual interests to end the relationship." Senior investment officer A. J. Edwards is heading the office on an interim basis.

 

Four Charged in Frat Death

Four people have been charged with misdemeanors in the alcohol-related death of nineteen-year-old human ecology student George Desdunes '13. Former Sigma Alpha Epsilon pledges Max Haskin '14, Ben Mann '13, and Edward Williams '14, and a fourth defendant whose name was not released due to his age, were charged with first-degree hazing and first-degree unlawfully dealing with a child. (The latter charge refers to providing alcohol to someone under twenty-one.) Additionally, Williams faces a charge of second-degree criminal nuisance. None of the defendants is currently enrolled at Cornell; they have pleaded not guilty and were released without bail.

Court documents released in the case offer a more detailed look at the circumstances surrounding Desdunes's death in February. According to the papers, he died following a mock kidnapping ritual "where the pledges can quiz an older fraternity brother on the fraternity lore that is expected to be learned by the pledges." The documents report that Desdunes and another brother, Gregory Wyler '12, consented to being restrained and quizzed about SAE. "When Mr. Desdunes or Mr. Wyler answered a question incorrectly they were given a substance to consume or told to do exercises such as situps or crunches," the papers say. "The substances that Mr. Desdunes and Mr. Wyler were given included water, flavored syrups, sugar, and vodka." The following morning, the fraternity custodian found Desdunes unresponsive on a couch in the library; he was pronounced dead at Cayuga Medical Center and found to have a blood alcohol content of .35.

In March, the University withdrew recognition of SAE and required its members to vacate the house, located on McGraw Place. The fraternity has been banned from campus for at least five years; if and when it is reinstated, it would be on probation for an additional three years.

 

Wheels Up for New Campus Bike-Sharing Program

bicycle

The University launched its new bike-sharing program in early May, giving students, faculty, and staff the chance to "check out" bicycles like library books. The program began with twenty bikes available for day-long borrowing at Uris Library; after registering online, users show their Cornell ID at the circulation desk and receive a helmet and key to unlock a bike parked outside. Members get twenty-five free hours of bike use per week and can pay for additional time. The program is planned to run from March to November, weather permitting. For more information, go to bigredbikes.cornell.edu.

 

Willard Straight Board Closes Ceramics Studio

The Willard Straight Student Union Board has voted to close the building's ceramics studio, a Straight fixture for more than half a century. The move prompted supporters to present the board with a petition, signed by more than 700 people, opposing the decision. But as executive director Michael Motley '12 told the Daily Sun, with hundreds of student groups clamoring for event venues, the board couldn't justify devoting the space—large enough for dance classes or coffeehouses—to the studio, which has limited appeal among undergrads.

 

The Internet, Explained

Al Gore didn't invent the Internet by himself. He had help—lots of it—from Ken King and his colleagues in higher education, many of them at Cornell. That's the key point made in "The Origin and History of the Internet: A Lecture by Kenneth M. King," which was recently released by the Internet-First University Press. The video is an enhanced version of a talk given by King, who was Cornell's vice provost for computer services from 1980 to 1987, to the Cornell Association of Professors Emeriti. In it, he traces the "political history" of the Internet, from its origins in Arpanet in the Sixties to Gore's push for a National Information Superhighway in the Eighties and up to the present. Throughout, he emphasizes the key role played by universities in creating and developing the Internet, which was originally conceived as a network of scholars.

Another recent Internet-First release is a lecture by Gerry Rehkugler '57, MS '58, on the 5,000-year history of the plow, including the one developed by Ezra Cornell for laying telegraph wire. For online access to these and other releases, go to Cornell-Cast (http://www.cornell.edu/video/) or the University Library's eCommons site (http://ecommons.library.cornell.edu/handle/1813/62).

 

Theatre Director Retires

David Feldshuh

After nearly three decades as founding artistic director of the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, David Feldshuh has retired. "When I arrived at Cornell, the Schwartz Center was a hope," he recalls. "My first job was to represent the idea that Cornell could and should offer excellence and give students the opportunity to participate and learn the crafts of theater, film, and dance in a state-ofthe-art facility." Opened in 1988, the center draws 13,000-15,000 audience members each year, about half of them students. Feldshuh, a Pulitzer-nominated playwright for Miss Evers' Boys, is also a physician; he practices emergency medicine at Cayuga Medical Center and is a clinical instructor at the Medical college.

 

Sentencing in Heroin Case

A former English major and Daily Sun editor has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison and two years of post-release supervision after pleading guilty to third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. In December, Ithaca police apprehended Keri Blakinger '11 near the Hillside Inn on Stewart Avenue and charged her with possessing more than five ounces of heroin with a street value estimated at more than $50,000. (At the time of her arrest, initial reports put the drugs' value as high as $150,000, prompting national media coverage.) A plea deal reduced the charges from second-degree possession.

 

New Grad Drowns in Gorge

An alumnus who had received his bachelor's degree at Commencement the previous day drowned in Fall Creek Gorge in late May. Kendrick Castro '11 of Reston, Virginia, was wading in the water near the Stewart Avenue bridge when he slipped and was swept downstream. He was pulled out of the creek by passersby, who administered CPR but were unable to revive him. Castro graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences with a degree in information sciences; according to a letter from President Skorton to the Cornell community, Castro planned to continue composing electronic music after graduation.

 

Seven New Trustees Elected

This spring, six alumni and one undergrad were elected to the Board of Trustees. They are: Alexander Bores '13, an ILR major; Gregory Galvin, PhD '84, MBA '93, president and CEO of Kionix, a micromechanical technology commercialization company; Rana Glasgal '87, MEng '92, an associate vice provost at Stanford; Douglas Braunstein '83, CFO of JP Morgan Chase & Co.; Ruben King-Shaw Jr. '83, chairman and CEO of the health investment and advisory firm Mansa Equity Partners; Chiaki Tanuma, MPS '80, president and CEO of the Asian hospitality holding company Green House Group; and Karen Zimmer '91, MD '98, clinical director for ECRI Institute Patient Safety Organization, a nonprofit health services research agency. Bores fills the student trustee seat, Galvin and Glasgal are alumni trustees, and the rest are trustees-at-large.

 

Chip Satellites Launched on Space Shuttle Endeavor

chip

When the shuttle Endeavor took off on its final voyage in mid-May, its payload included prototypes of tiny microchip satellites designed in the lab of mechanical and aerospace engineering professor Mason Peck. Named "Sprite," the postage-stamp-sized devices will be mounted on the International Space Station to test their performance in the harsh environment of space. Eventually, they could travel to Saturn to collect data as they enter its atmosphere. "Their small size allows them to travel like space dust," says Peck. "Blown by solar winds, they can 'sail' to distant locations without fuel."

On hand for the shuttle launch was Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, MRP '97, wife of Endeavor commander Mark Kelly. Giffords continues to recover from the head wound she suffered during the mass shooting at a constituent event in Tucson in January.

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