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CORNELL

COUNTRYMAN

VOL. LXXIV

OCTOBER, 1976

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN
OCTOBER 1976/VOL. LXXIV - Number 1

EDITORS Elisabeth Varak
Jeffrey Marson
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Randy Heller
ART EDITOR
Joyce W. Friedlander

IN THIS ISSUE:

PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR David Hoffman
EDITORIAL STAFF Michael Brown
Joanne Dalton John Henrehan Jodyjaffe
Donna Rollo Ann Voorhees

3. When Aggies Were Aggies
by John Henrehan 4. The Admissions Game
by Randy Heller 6. So You Want to be a Veterinarian?
by Jodyjaffe
7. Argie in Action
by Ann Voorhees

8. Places to Remember
by Joanne Dalton
10. He Could Teach Anyone to Draw
by Elisabeth Varak 12. Brown Thumbs in the Garden
by Joyce W. Friedlander
14. Barton Hall — From Registration to
Graduation
by Jeffrey Marson

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Picture Credits: Cover-Media Services; page 3-Cornell
Archives; page 5,9-David Hoffman; page 7-Greg Yawman; page 8-Jody Dalton, page 8,9-Elisabeth Varak;
page 9-Bill Phelan; page 11-Media Services; page 12,13-
Maryhelen Klein; page 14-U.S. Army Photo; back coverBarbara Buoymaster.
ABOUT THE COVER
Our staff thought that this pen and ink and watercolor drawing done by Professor W. C. Baker depicted the theme of this nostalgia issue. We focused on people and places to remember at Cornell University.

The Cornell Countryman is published seven times a year from
October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York. 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott.
Subscription Rates: $2.50 a year; $4.50 for two years, $6.50
for three years. Editorial content gathered and written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors: Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

WHEN AGGIES

WERE AGGIES

lis** ,.....
Yesterday I worked nine hours on
Mr. Trescott's farm and got $1.00
and two meals. I never worked so
darn hard in my life, and my hands are all blistered."
So began the first day of farm
labor for Arthur W. Wilson '15.
Starting in the early 1900's and lasting for the next half century, Cornell Agriculture students were required to pass a "farm practice requirement." It usually meant spending one or two summers doing farm labor.
For several years, now, the University Archives has been collecting students' diaries and recollections of these farm experiences. Some of the most recent dona tions make fascinating reading.
Arthur Wilson (shown in the photo) decided to get his farm practice requirement out of the way even before entering the College. In the summer of 1910 he and a friend lived in tents to save money while working as neophyte farm hands in the Hudson Valley fruit area.
In a number of letters written to his mother, which
Wilson donated to the Archives in 1974, he revealed the
hardships and hilarities of his farm experiences. The early Wilson letters indicate that he earned about
a dollar a day picking fruit, working hay fields, and binding rye. Since expenses in the low-rent tent were small, he could usually save about sixty cents a day.
Tent life was not lonely, as Wilson explained to his mother, "There are a few mosquitos here and lots of ants which manage to get into the tents. I sleep in pajamas, sox, bathrobe, and blanket as it is quite cool."
Urban-reared students like Wilson soon learned how
long the farm laborer's day lasted. On one New Jersey
farm he worked from 4:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. for $25 a
month plus board. Some aspects of rural life obviously appealed to
Wilson. The food, for example. "(At) dinner you ought to see me get into that grub," he wrote, "Three glasses of milk at least and boiled potatoes disappear like melt ing snow."
During his farm practice days, Wilson learned the art of precision building: "Saturday I went to George's and mixed concrete and built a wall lining the cellar of his wagon house. We dug quite a bit and then had the pleasure of seeing about a third of it cave in."
On one occasion, farm work almost kept Arthur Wilson from ever becoming a Cornellian. "The other morning when I was on top of the wagon, over she went, me landing on my nose and the rye on me. I climbed out all right with only a bloody nose and two scratches

by John Henrehan '76
and a rather sore wrist. . . now I
don't lie down on top of the load
when we drive along a hillside." Wilson survived the farm practice
requirement to eventually become
the business manager of the Cornell
Countryman. Following graduation, he worked for the American Agri culturist and other farm publica
tions.
What did Arthur Wilson learn from his farm practice requirement? "I learned it took hard work to make a dollar in farming," he said more than 60 years later.
As the century matured the College faculty reduced the farm practice requirement. But not before Lewis Klotz '54 spent a summer in the mid-1950's milking, cleaning machinery, feeding and caring for chickens, mending fences, and clearing brush. At least the pay
had increased since Wilson's time, Klotz earned $120 a
month plus room and board. The hours, however,
remained about the same: 5:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Klotz kept a journal of his farm experiences which he also has donated to the University Archives. "Upon arrival in March of 1954 I was an Army veteran from Brooklyn, N.Y. with almost no knowledge of which end
of a cow to attack."
Some of Klotz' Army training may have come in handy on frustrating days. His terse entry for June 2nd
reads: "Pitched manure. Got out seven loads and then
had a flat."
Klotz reflected on the nature of farm life 20 years
later, in a 1974 letter. "I don't think that (the work)
bothered me as much as the different way of life. The
lack of things to do and further being too tired at night to do anything that there was to do. . . I remember once I went to a square dance at a nearby teacher's college and fell asleep on a bench at the side. I wasn't very
welcome thereafter."
Was the farm practice requirement worth it? Lewis Klotz had mixed feelings: "It was a tough experience, but well worthwhile in looking back. I'm not sure I'd want to do it again nor require that others follow my footprints."
The faculty eventually came around to that point of view. Over the decades, the farm practice requirement
was reduced and liberalized.
By the 1970's Cornell Aggies were no longer required to spend a summer working in their specialty.
Lewis Klotz' farm practice journal may tell us some thing we're missing: "One thing it gave me is a greater appreciation driving through farm country."

3

THE ADMISSIONS GAME
by Randy Heller 76

For most Americans, April 15 is merely the day when income tax returns are due. But for thousands of grad
uating high school seniors around the country, the fif teenth of April represents the day of reckoning— the day when many colleges traditionally mail out their
acceptances and rejections. Getting into the College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences isn't easy. The number of qualified applicants greatly exceeds the number of available openings each fall and many difficult decisions have to be made by
the 3 -man admissions staff. Although the size of the
entering class has remained essentially the same over the last six years, the number of applications has
doubled. Last year alone, over 3,000 applications were
submitted for the 550 openings in the freshman class.
According to Richard A. Church, Assistant Director of
Admissions, however, the number of applications
should start leveling off as high school guidance counse
lors begin discouraging applications from those students
who fall below the top 10-15 percent of their graduating
class. "The most frustrating part of my job," explained
Mr. Church, "is having to turn away the many qualified students for whom we have no available spaces."
For the small admissions staff, the reading of com pleted files seems to be an endless task. The first appli cations to be evaluated are those for early decision.
Essentially a service for those students who are sure that
Cornell is the school that can best suit their needs, the
early decision process gives extremely qualified students a chance to eliminate extraneous applications to other schools by notifying them of their status in early Decem ber. Despite the myth that early decision admissions
policies are less stringent, competition remains fierce and no one is admitted who would not normally have been accepted in April.
There's no set number of early decision places to be filled but there is an attempt made at maintaining an even distribution of acceptances throughout the various
program areas. Last year 125 students received accep
tances in early December whereas only 100 affirmative notifications went out for 1975s entering class.
Those early decision candidates who aren't immedi
ately accepted get deferred to the regular freshman pool — and it's here that the really tough decisions have to be made. While as many as 400 applicants may be unquestionably qualified and 1200-1500 others uncom petitive, it's the large "middle-ground" of about 30% of the applications that must be carefully evaluated.

"The most frustrating part of my
job is having to turn away the many qualified students for whom
we have no space"

Without a doubt, success in high school remains the prime prerequisite for admission to the College of Agri culture and Life Sciences. Dr. Leonard W. Feddema,
Director of Admissions, Gordon L. Peck, Associate

Director and Mr. Church all assess the applications on

the basis of rank in class, SAT scores, appropriateness

of academic background, achievement test scores and
many other less numerical determinants such as demon
stration of leadership and awareness of career goals. Computers are now used regularly to calculate a con
verted class rank based on the size of the student's high school graduating class. However, admissions remains a very "human" process. It's not unlikely for two and
sometimes all three of the directors to read an indivi

dual application.

Finally, by mid-April, approximately 750 acceptances have been sent out to fill the 550 places in the fresh man class. This is a very carefully calculated number based on historical data for each department in the College. Whereas almost 85% of those students accepted to the Animal Science program will eventually come to Cornell, prospective Biology majors have a much larger selection of alternatives and only 60% -65% may even tually matriculate. Therefore, acceptances have to be distributed accordingly.

Similarly, waiting lists are compiled according to

department. These lists, containing as many as 200-300

students, have become an important, albeit unpredict

able, part of the College's admissions policy. Last year

approximately 25 students were accepted from the wait

ing list as compared to only 10 two years ago. The Ag College receives applications from through
out the Northeast despite the fact that the entering class is comprised 85% of in-state residents. This makes

the competition for out-of-staters particularly keen.
Despite popular beliefs, there is no geographical quota within New York State and an applicant from one
county is given exactly the same consideration as an
applicant from another.

Some specialized areas such as Entomolocrx.
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science

andjr.Pomoli oev

continue

to

receive

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relatively

fewer applications because of students' lack of

exposure

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to these subjects. "It's really the exception to find a
candidate who is interested in and enthusiastic about
Entomology," laments Mr. Church. "But each year it seems we get about a half dozen applications from stu
dents who have collected insects for years. If their
academic record is good, these are truly outstanding applicants."
Although transfer applications and intra -university transfers keep the admissions staff busy for most of the
remainder of the year, the directors will still find time
to recruit and interview prospective applicants. Because of the increasing demand (almost a third of the appli cants request interviews) the College has gone to group
Richard A. Church reads and assesses applica tions on the basts of SA T scores, appropriateness of academic background and class rank.

"conferences". These conferences are not required but they give the students a good opportunity to share infor mation and ask questions. The conferences seldom have a major effect upon the applicant's chances but it would be naive to assume that personal impressions of the can didate don't occasionally find their way into the evalua
tive process.
By the time April 15th rolls around, you can be sure that the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has accepted an outstanding entering class — distinguished in both academics and leadership qualities. For those who survive the crunch, April 15 marks the victorious end to a long struggle. For the men who have to decide people's fates, it is merely a momentary pause in the neverending admissions game.
As has been the case throughout the country, SAT scores have dropped since their 1972 zenith at 590 ver bal and 640 math. (The class of 1979 has a mean score of 557 verbal and 630 math). This decline is surprising considering the fact that Cornell is accepting better qualified students than ever before based on class rank, high school average, and Regents test scores. Mr. Church postulates that the decline in the verbal score is the result of a decreasing emphasis having been placed on composition skills. "With greater options being offered in high schools under the guise of 'English', students have spent less time learning the basics." But this is a trend which is beginning to turn around, according to Mr. Church, as high schools begin to recognize the problem and react to it.
Although there has been a growth in the number of applications for almost every department, sizable increases have occurred in Biological Science, Food Science, Communication Arts, Argricultural Engineer ing and Agricultural Economics. As students begin to
ask, "what can I do with my education?", there has
been an increase in the number of applications to career-oriented fields. "Students with no agricultural background at all have begun applying to Cornell to study soil science or vegetable crop production," explained Mr. Church.

5

So YOU want to be a VETERINARIAN

_ by Jodyjaffe '76

So you want to be a veterinarian. You say your marks are good (above a three-point), your Graduate Record
Examination scores are far above the nation's
average, and you have had experience working with
animals. In fact, you are so sure of your career choice
tht you have taken all the required science courses, and possibly even majored in preveterinary science.
Now that you have sent your application to veterinary school, complete with a reference from the employer of your animal related job, you wait in anxious anticipation
for the answer to come in the mail. When you receive
the letter, you tear it open, hoping that it starts with "Congratulations" or "We are pleased to inform you!" Instead you read. . . "too many qualified applicants, thank you for applying and good luck."
What do you do? Well, don't panic. You and 90 per cent of veterinary school applicants have been denied
admission.
But why is it so hard to get into vet school? The most obvious reason is that there are only 19 vet schools in the country. If you are lucky enough to reside in one of the 18 states (Alabama has two schools) that has one,
your chances of admission are greatly increased. If,
however, you do not, your chances for admission are
greatly reduced.
Furthermore, there is an increased interest in veteri
nary science, which means more applicants. This surge in popularity is due to a "back to the earth" movement among American youth. Also adding to its popularity is the shrinking job market. The vet student knows that he or she can get a job straight from school, with a starting salary of $16,000. And for those applicants who are motivated by ecological reasons, the future large animal veterinarian will play an essential role in the world food
shortage problem. But whatever the reasons, the applications are increas
ing. At the New York State College of Veterinary Medi cine at Cornell University, 659 students applied for admission in 1973, whereas 1,006 students applied in 1975. And with this increase in the number of applica tions, comes a more stringent admissions policy. Yester day's vet school applicant may have gotten in with a three-point average and a 1200 score on the GRE. But today's average vet student has a three-point five aver
age with a 1300 score on the GRE, and of course, the
required 10-week animal practice job.
One veterinarian confided that he didn't think he
could get into vet school if he had to apply today.
"These kids are smart, smarter than I was at that age,
even the ones who are denied admission."

Hopefully, now you don't feel as if a denial is the end of the world. There are alternatives. Perhaps a career in
animal welfare, or animal technology, or veterinary research appeals to you. What about human medicine? While medical school is still difficult to get into, there
are many more of them, thus increasing your chances. In fact, they accept 37 per cent of their applicants.
But if you are adamant about becoming a veterinar
ian, re-evaluate your situation. Go in and talk to the
admissions people at the vet school. Find out if you "just missed it", and reapply.
"One-third to one-fifth of the denied applicants
reapply a second and even a third time," explained Dr.
R. F. Kahrs, chairman of admissions at New York State

College of Veterinary Medicine. "If they were close the first or second time, their chances are fairly good of being accepted the next time."
But, if you didn't "just miss", face the facts. No matter how many times you apply, you are just not going to get into veterinary school. Don't become a

career pre vet.
"This is the most tragic situation of all. Less than 10 per cent are so obsessed with becoming a veterinarian, that they just keep applying year after year. "Instead of pursuing an alternative career, they will spend their lives fixing up their application, retaking the GRE's, resubmitting references and applications, only to be denied admission time and time again," commented
Dr. Kahrs.

And for those who don't want to keep reapplying,
there is always the prospect of foreign vet schools. "If
you have the money to travel and pay tuition, you stand
a very good chance of getting into a foreign vet school," said Dr. Kahrs. "There are now fifty Cornell graduates studying veterinary medicine at the universitv in Italy."
Oftentimes, the education is inferior (excluding the English speaking countries) which makes it quite diffi
cult to pass the state exams necessary to become a
licensed veterinarian. And when foreign vet students
transfer to American schools, the difference is some times quite noticeable.

"Usually a foreign transfer will lose one or two years

of credit," explained Dr. Kahrs. "but occasionally we

find the knowledge level so insufficient that they must

start at the beginning again."

Now if you seem discouraged about becoming a vet

erinary,school.

remember, people can get into vetermarv But most important of all, the people who dont

^- Pursue other careers just as fulfilling as veterinl;arv

6

ARGIE m
ACTION. . .

by Ann Voorhees '76

Anyone who has participated in or watched most
sports at Cornell has probably seen Argie. He teaches skin diving and water polo in Teagle Hall, and acts as a trainer for football, hockey, and junior varsity lacrosse.
He is much a part of the Cornell sports scene.
Bill Argetsinger, or Argie as he is familiarly known, and his wife, Terry, have one son. Argie grew up in Ithaca and graduated from Brockport State College in January 1969 where he played basketball and majored in physical education.
Upon graduation, Argie wanted a job in high school coaching and teaching. However, a job at Cornell opened and he started in the program here. He ex plained, "I was always involved in things happening at
Cornell since I grew up in Ithaca. There was a tremen
dous influence on me from Cornell sports." His duties as a trainer are many-fold. In all three
sports Argie's job includes taping, fitting equipment, and treatment of injuries. He also designs a weight pro gram for the hockey team to keep the players in top
form. At times he is involved with two sports at once
since football starts in August and runs to the end of the season, and hockey starts with a Fall Camp.
Being a trainer demands that he be at the games. With actual game time, practices, and lead-up programs, training is almost a full-time job. Participation in a sport is also time-consuming. Programs run all the time, including over the summer to keep players in shape for
the season. "Not many students will sacrifice time to
play two sports because it is so demanding," Argie said. This is a recent trend in college sports, according to
Argie, since many seasonal sports now overlap. Pre season training and lead up programs for a winter sport start right in the middle of a fall sport season.
Argie has been active in sports all his life. "I like being around sports," he said. "It's exciting. I wouldn't call it work because it's not work if you're doing some thing you enjoy." However, this doesn't mean that he is happy all the time. He is very competitive and doesn't like to lose. "My biggest fault as a trainer is that I get too involved in the game instead of looking at it pro fessionally. I act more like a fan than a trainer."
For example, last year's hockey season was the scene of what he calls "my most frustrating moment." In the
Yale game at Yale, the score was very close the entire
game and Cornell should have been defeating that team easily. Argie started getting upset and was given numer ous warnings by the referee about his conduct. Every -

Argie and goalie, fohn Vallyo, examine stick for defects.
thing came to a head when the referee made a bad call against us. Argie looked wildly around, grabbed a water-
bottle and started to throw it at the ref as he skated
by. Greg Yawman, manager of the team, grabbed the bottle, asking, "What do you think you're doing?" Argie lost the glazed look in his eyes and turned to Greg say ing, "Thanks, I needed that."
Argie's interest in sports doesn't stop with his train ing duties. In the summer, he plays in a softball league and on an area traveling softball team. Argie has par ticipated in this league for four or five years and has
been a definite asset. Last year his team won the
regional championship and he was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.
Second to sports is Argie's interest in bartending. He
has tended bar in local taverns, and would like to own
or have part interest in a bar someday. "No two days are alike when you're tending bar. They're different because people are different."
This interest in people is reflected in his attitude towards training too. He likes being a trainer because he meets the players and other people involved in the sport, and gets to know them well through the contact they have during the season. He enjoys the intimacy established with many of the people because the friend ships last far beyond the season.
Eventually Argie would like to become a trainer for a professional team. "Any athlete would like to go on and become a pro," he said.
Another possibility is to become a head trainer at a college. He would prefer a junior college because it would give him a chance to coach too. Coaching was his goal when he completed college and he'd like to fulfill that goal someday.
Bill Argetsinger has influenced many athletes. His
behind-the-scenes contribution to Cornell sports can not be measured in the number of wins and losses the teams
have tallied. Argie is one person that many will
remember.

7

by Joanne Dalton '76
As Cornellians, we sometimes become
so involved in the drudgery of our work that we overlook the beauty of our surroundings. Our campus has
often been called the most beautiful in the country yet so many of us
have failed to fully explore it. Last spring, I asked graduating
seniors what they would miss the
most. Parties and friends won but the campus scored a close second. The excitement of freshman year,
afternoons in Collegetown, lunch in the Straight, and walks in the woods were all mentioned. The "hangouts" were frequent favorites including
local bars and campus facilities.
PLACES ti
Each of us will leave eventually. We will remember Cornell as a place
we can return to and as an exper ience that has become a part of us.
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EMEMBER

1. Viewing gorges without paying
admission
2. Buying books, bagels and milkshakes in Collegetown
3. Dog with student 4. Hiking up Libe Slope 5. Uris Library in a new perspective 6. Walking through woods to class

4.

He could teach
anyone to DRA W

by Elisabeth Varak '77

William Charles Baker, '98, artist and Emeritus Professor of Freehand Drawing, spent 64 years after his graduation painting in Ithaca and teaching at Cornell. He loved the Finger Lakes countryside and was known
to remark that
"We live in a beautiful world and those who
live in the Finger Lakes region dwell in one of the finest parts of this beautiful world. "
Many students were exposed to Baker's zest for living and his enjoyment of beauty. Professor Baker taught his students that, "Keenness of perception, awareness, is one of the most valuable assets that can be acquired, and that drawing is one means to this end."
Baker's own talent was discovered when he was an
undergraduate in the College of Agriculture where he majored in chemistry. Even then his drawing ability was so outstanding in biological sciences that various pro fessors called upon him for illustrations for their publi cations. After graduation he taught mechanical draw ing in the Engineering College.
It was during this period that he decided to make a
career of art. In 1904 he went to France where he
studied drawing and painting for a year at the Julian
School.
Dean of the College of Agriculture, Liberty Hyde Bailey, requested that Professor Baker return to Cornell in 1905 and illustrate Dr. Bailey's American Cyclopedia of Horticulture. Some 200 illustrations were needed for this three volume compilation which is still in print. Professor Baker contributed 57 drawings and several photographs.
In 1907 he was appointed assistant professor of draw ing in the College of Agriculture by Dr. Bailey who considered drawing to be an "indispensible aid to teach ing accuracy of observation in the biological sciences," according to the Faculty Necrology.
"My father once asked another artist to draw a branch," related Miss Ethel Bailey. "The artist drew a plant with opposite leaves. My father replied, 'You drew that plant wrong. It has alternate leaves.' "
"But my father knew that when he asked Professor
Baker to draw something that he would draw it exactly like he saw it," stated Miss Bailey.

Because of Baker's accuracy, Dr. Bailey called upon him for illustrations for another compilation, this time an Encyclopedia of Agriculture, a four volume work. It deals with the history and all aspects of agriculture and farming. The illustrations, mostly pen and ink, depict farm tools from the first crooked stick through modern machinery; tropical and temperate agricultural products and how they are grown; farm animals and poultry; the evolution of farming and associated
architecture, and so forth. There are some 400 illustra
tions; about 100 were drawn by Baker. In 1913 he was advanced to a professorship which he
held until he became emeritus in 1938. "My father enjoyed teaching. His classroom on the top floor of East Roberts was always crowded with objects which he attempted to draw," related Mrs. Elizabeth Baker Wells.
"He claimed that he could teach anyone to draw, but
he could not promise to make an artist out of every
one."

\ j

"Keenness of perception, awareness, is one of the most valuable assets that can be acquired, and that drawing is one means to this end."

Stuffed birds, plaster casts of heads and feet, dried weeds, spheres, cubes, sometimes fruits or flowers, and
much more were stored in this room.

One of his treasured acquisitions was a human skull
which found its way to the top floor. "Father often
walked up to campus from downtown by the way of the city cemetery, and if he met the caretaker the two
would enjoy a visit. He once mentioned that he would like to have a skull for his students to draw," according
to Mrs. Wells.

The caretaker said that occasionally in opening a crowded plot some previously interred remains were

disturbed and if a skull turned up he'd save it.
"Not long after they met again and the caretaker said he'd found a skull and had wrapped it in news
papers. He put it under the loose floorboards of the

cemetery toolshed, back in a corner. My father could
get it after dark and not mention it to anyone."

She continued, "So one dark evening he went to the

shed, pushed in, groped to the far corner and r -I i-

under the boards, felt around and foun"ud «.^.

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something

wrapped in paper, pulled the parcel out and el

•

Professor W. C. Baker's "Milking Time" depicts a man and a cow meandering through the Autumn woods. This drawing was done in pen and ink and watercolor.
it squeezed out the door and started to walk away. But something had grabbed him and he could not move."
"For a moment it seemed that all the ghosts he'd ever
read about closed in," revealed Mrs. Wells. "But he
squirmed around and found that the door had closed tightly on his coat. The next day the skull reached the classroom safely."
In addition to teaching and illustrating for Bailey's publications, Baker was a frequent contributor to vari ous Cornell publications. His photographs and etchings appeared in numerous College of Agriculture bulletins, leaflets, monographs, the Cornell Countryman, Cornell Plantations and Country Life in America.
On the other hand, in a poem entitled "Weather
Wise" that appeared in the Cornell Plantations, Sum mer of 1949, Professor Baker captured Ithaca weather.
Each morn I bring the lawn chairs
out;
At eve, the other way about,
I take them back again; But sometimes even I forget And when I do they sure get wet, — It always brings the rain:

And so I've learned, without a
doubt,
That one good way to end a drought Is just to leave the lawn chairs out!
In fact, Professor Baker was not only an expert
illustrator, writer but an artist of note. Since he retired
at 65, this gave him more time to concentrate on his
painting. His inspiring talks and friendly encourage ment was missed by all the students who knew him, but they knew after he retired he could paint more.
Professor Baker died on February 20, 1958, at the age of 85. The community will remember him through the paintings he did that captured "this beautiful
world."
Praise was bestowed by Baker, for far-sighted people who preached conservation. He wrote about projects of beauty like the Cornell Plantations and the wild life preserves. To Professor Baker, these were places for "rest and enjoyment as well as for study, each a sanator
ium where the tonic touch of Mother Earth restores
strength and sanity and fosters a love of Nature with its consequent happiness."
Professor Baker provided the pen-and-ink drawings for Katherine Palmer's book called: The Spirit of the Chehalis (Indians of Washington).
But all during his teaching career he found time to paint in oils and watercolor and captured the Finger Lakes countryside on canvas in all its seasonal changes and atmospheric qualities, in a way that caused count less others to see it with a new appreciation.

Do You Remember those Murals

in Roberts Hall?

"We're made so that we love/ First when we see

them painted, things we have passed/ Perhaps a
hundred times nor cared to see," wrote Robert

Browning. But do you remember passing the murals in
Roberts Hall? Professor Baker was said to have

painted barns, people plowing, wheat and corn
fields in the main stairwell in Roberts Hall. Two

people in the Class of 1916 "swear that the murals

were there."

According to Mrs. Elizabeth Baker Wells, the artist's daughter, she has found appropriations in the Agriculture College minutes designated for redecorating the third floor but she could not find any funds appropriated for her father's murals.
If you remember the murals or have any infor
mation about their former existence, please con

tact: Mrs. Elizabeth Baker Wells of 104 Brook

Lane, Ithaca. She believes the fate of the murals

lies beneath several layers of paint.
lv

J

BROWN THUMBS in the GARDEN

by Joyce W. Friedlander '76
As cold weather approaches, we Northerners gradu ally assume the habits of the bear. While winter sports buffs willingly brave the snow and subzero wind chill factors, the rest of us will hibernate in our technologic ally comfortable homes. In October, we begin to really appreciate the marvels of gas and electric heat.
Prior to this time, from May through September,
many modern men and women shunned the benefits of
technology. Getting back to nature, they gardened a path through the spring and summer. Even the Cornell landless could follow this route. Renting a garden plot let them join with and boost Mother Nature along in her task of producing fruits, herbs, and vergetables.
The Cornell Rent- A-Garden- Plot Program is not new. It has existed since World War II Victory Garden days and continued in low key through the 1950's and 1960's. Although no records were kept during those years, figures for the first half of this decade indicate a tremendous rise in gardening popularity.
Part of this increase stems from the addition of the

of

this

is

happening

...
within

a

,
broader

<<fauLorRk

to

nature"

framework. During the spring and summer mor p p
are willing to break from technological slavery and
indulge in "earthier" activities. Available land is decreas

ing and technology is gaining momentum, but the

simple motions of tending a small garden help people

feel independent again.

Gardening also has more "practical" advantages. By

renting a garden plot, a Cornellian can grow fruits,

vegetables, and herbs that are cheaper and tastier than

most supermarket produce. Jack Owicki commented,

"Cornell gardeners grow just about everything (you find)

in the supermarket that can be grown in this climate."

A small garden plot, 500 square feet, that is well-

planned and tended can yield enough food to carry a

small family through the summer. A larger plot, 1,000

g^g^

Warren Farm, about four years ago. Currently the
largest plot site, it nearly doubled the amount of land available for rent to Cornell gardeners. The area grew
to about eight acres. Even during the years since that expansion, numbers have continued to climb. I spoke with Jack Owicki, Chairman of the Garden Plot Com
mittee, last March as the program prepared to swing into its 1976 season. He said, "Interest is growing. About 450 people signed up two years ago, about 550 last year." He predicted, "This year, we expect 600."
The rise in gardening's popularity at Cornell cor
relates with a similar increase across the country. Part

After garctevnng, hmven is a cup of spearmint ti

Cucumber beetles can demolish crops in a few hours.

square feet, can supply families with produce through out this coming winter if other survival skills, such as

canning and freezing, were employed.

Growing and experimenting with personal favorites is

another gardening plus. About two years ago, a mint fanatic worked one Cornell plot. "He had about 10 or 12

varieties of mints, and that was his garden. He planted

applemint, spearmint, lemon mint, lemon balm

"

says Jack Owicki. After harvesting and drying the plants,
one can use them in teas and sachets.

Probably, the mint man knew what he would harvest,
but, often, novice gardeners are surprised. Such was the case of the zucchini lovers. With zucchini, the gardener reaps a plant of plenty: the more you pic}, the more you get. "One zucchini plant is enough to feed an army," explains Jack Owicki. "These people v\ whole row of zucchinis - 12 zucchini plants in on

12

Although saving money on tastier produce, especially your favorites, is a "back-to-nature" boom, gardening is not always a bed of roses. Disasters, usually in the forms of bugs and other pests, still plague both the novice and experienced gardeners.
A particularly dramatic problem appears in the guise
of a cucumber beetle. These devils tend to all come out
at once, and they eat great quantities of crops. Jack
Owicki tells the sad story: "You have these little cucum
ber plants, and (the beetles) can almost demolish them in a couple hours. Sometimes, people will set out their cucumbers and squashes in the morning, but when they come back in the evening to view them, there's nothing there, really. I think they are very unhappy." A slight dent in their economical plans is made when gardeners have to buy more seeds and starters to replant.
The Great Cantaloup Robbery at Cornell Gardens. The Cornell garden plots do not escape society's ills, either. Theft is a small problem, but it does occur. "There was one fellow who was growing this new variety of cantaloupes. He had four of them, and they were huge and looked tremendous. When he was almost ready to pick them, somebody beat him to it. It wiped him out as far as that variety." Jack Owicki remarked that thefts "vary quite a bit, (but) most people don't have too many problems." Although he can not be certain, he believes that thieves come from outside the gardening community. "I'd like to think gardeners wouldn't stoop to that." Theft and bug problems might dampen the gardener's practical, economical spirit, but getting back to nature does have other advantages. A lively community spirit is one compensation. The Cornell gardener belongs to a friendly species. Working side by side, he gets to know his neighbor. Jack Owicki brought my idealism down a few pegs, but, basically, he agrees: "I don't know of any lasting friendships or mar-

The zucchini dropper strikes the mail room.
riages that resulted, but you do get to know the people who are next door and nearby." Probably, an experienced gardener would be voted most popular: "Anyone who looks like he knows what he's doing gets pounced upon."
This kinship feeling even extends to non-gardening friends. I guess that sharing the harvest is a grand feel ing because every summer my own green thumb relatives and neighbors drown me in a deluge of tomatoes.
Perhaps one Cornellian will be remembered as a zucchini-dropper. Jack Owicki tells another tale: "There
was one fellow who was on the Garden Committee a
few years ago who planted only two or three plants, but they were more than he could handle. He was giving
them away to all his friends until his friends got sick
of being given zucchini. So he went to his department,
walked into the mail room, and put a zucchini in every mail box."
Of all the reasons for getting back to nature through gardening, maybe the most basic are recreation and exercise. During the summer people have more spare time; gardening is a good tension-reliever, a muscletoner, and, simply, fun.
If you plan to be in Ithaca next summer, you might want to rent a garden plot to see for yourself what this
fuss is about. Watch for the Cornell Rent-A-Garden-
Plot announcements in March. You can rent a 500
square foot plot for $1.00 or a 1,000 square foot plot for $2.00. You can also choose between three gardening locations: the large Warren Farm near the Equine
Research Park, a site on Ellis Hollow Road, and the
smallest area on Mitchell Street, near Cornell Quarters. Sign up early because plots are apportioned on a first
come-first served basis.
Stay warm and dry this winter and enjoy technology, but, maybe, in the spring, you will feel the urge to get back to the land. Gardening has many benefits to recommend it, and for those juveniles among us, it is simply a chance to get your hands dirty. Besides, if you had gardened last summer, you might still be pick ing carrots and parsnips from your plot today.

13

BARTON HALL: from
For some 60 years now, her awesome dimensions
have made her into an unmistakable landmark that's
seen by all those who pass through the Cornell campus. And like the university itself, Barton Hall has played a large role in the multitude of events that have occurred
over the years.
As a building orginally designated as the Drill Hall, Barton was built in 1914 by New York State for the purpose of "enabling Cornell University adequately to discharge its obligations to give instruction in military
science." However, in an attempt to demonstrate how
military science encompassed more than just drilling,
the superstructure, in 1940, was renamed after Colonel Frank A. Barton whose illustrious activities included
serving as Commandant of Cornell's ROTC from 1904-
1908 and 1917-1921.
As a training center for soldiers, Barton Hall has produced many notable individuals who have made significant contributions to America's war efforts. Among this list of distinguished military personnel are Hugh Elmendorf ('24), Commanding General Bruce C. Clarke ('27), Lieutenant General Robert C. Taber ('38), Major General George Bell (L.L.B. 1894) and others.
In time, however, Barton was to become more than
just a center for military science. A review of its history shows that the building is steeped in a heritage of color ful events and happenings.
Amongst the more memorable of these events were the traditional Spring Weekend and Junior Prom dances. Throughout the 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's, Cornell men, appropriately attired in tuxedos and other suitable
dress, would escort their coed dates to Barton Hall
where they would step in rhythm to the sounds of Benny Goodman, Harry James, Tommy Dorsey, Duke Elling ton and just about every other big band of the era.
In addition to dances, Barton also noted numerous
sporting events that have left a distinct mark in the Ivy League record books. Included in this category are the Heptagonals of 1953, 1955 and 1958 in which Cornell either won or shared the Ivy League track champion ship. Cornell athletic experts also fondly recall the
Cornell- Princeton game of 1965. In this crucial game,
Cornell managed a 70-69 victory over a rugged Prince
ton team which had the awesome and remarkable Bill

egistration to Graduation
by Jeffrey Marson '77
Bradley on its roster. In addition to the victory, the game remains a standout because a record breaking 9,500 jammed into a building that normally holds only 8,000 spectatorsl
But, as history would have it, Barton has also, inadvertently, housed several demonstrations and pro
tests which reflected the rebellious atmosphere that hovered not only over the campus, but the country as well during the late 1960's and early 1970's.
When speaking of such occasions, one must recall the Charter Day Convocation which took place on April 27, 1969. On this day, Governor Rockefeller's speech in Barton Hall was delayed for some time because anti-
Vietnam demonstrators had risen from their seats and
proceeded to hold up banners and chant in a disruptive fashion. Eventually, they marched outside where they were immediately accosted by egg throwing students perched atop Statler Hall. After a few mild skirmishes, though, the incident quickly ended.
Another Barton Hall protest occurred on May 1,
1969, when members of the Students for a Democratic
Society broke into a restricted area and painted slogans on a Navy ROTC deck gun. Fortunately, no violence occurred and destruction was kept to a minimum.
But amidst all the colorful pageantry and tense
drama that have taken place throughout its history,
there are two traditional events in Barton Hall that
have touched upon the lives of every Cornellian.
The first of these events is the annual course registra
tion, in which nervous freshmen run about in near
chaos, reluctantly signing up for courses of which they often know nothing about.
The second event, and indeed the more memorable
one, is the annual Commencement Exercise which
was held in Barton Hall for many years. For the past
two years, the ceremony has been moved to Schoellkopf Field. It is a day when seniors, in quiet anticipation of
their well deserved degree, sit in mass, for the last time, and peacefully contemplate the bitter-sweet memories that have molded them into the distinct individuals that they are today. And because of this. Barton Hall will alway' s come to mind whenever thevy rem"iinniics^c-e„ over th^ eir
Cornell years.

14

COLLEGE PROFESSORS RETIRE

Professor Richard H. Barnes has
retired and been named James Jami
son Professor of Nutrition Emeritus.
He joined the Cornell faculty in 1956
as the first dean of the Graduate
School of Nutrition, a post he held until 1973. Dr. Barnes is an author
ity on the impact of early malnutri tion on mental development.

Matthew Drosdoff, Cornell Univer
sity's first professor of tropical soils,
has retired and been named Profes
sor of Soil Science Emeritus. Dr.
Drosdoff is known for his contribu
tion in forming a consortium of uni
versities to promote education and
research in tropical agriculture in
the United States and abroad.

Charles E. Palm, Ph.D. '36, Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Agricultural
Sciences, has retired after 45 years as
student, entomologist, educator and
administrator. Professor Palm, Dean
of the College from 1959 to 1972, is a member of numerous honorary and professional organizations. He is currently a member of the National Academy of Sciences —
National Research Council.
Philip Taietz, on the staff of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for twenty-nine years, has
been named Professor of Rural Soci
ology Emeritus upon his retirement. An expert on aging and retirement, he initiated one of the early courses in the sociology of aging at Cornell.
Professor Paul J. Zwerman, an international authority on the man agement of water on cultivated land,
has retired and been named Profes
sor of Soil Conservation Emeritus.
He will be joining the Bureau of Land Management of the U.S. Department of the Interior in
Socorro, N.M.

William R. Reeder, Ph.D. '47, has
been named professor of rural soci ology emeritus following his June 30 retirement. His teachings and
research have focussed on the direc tive factors in the decisions and
actions of persons and organizations. In Ithaca, Professor Reeder has been active in university, church and community affairs. He expects
to continue these activities, as well as his research.
A. Leslie Neal, a biochemist at Cornell University for twenty- nine
years has retired and been named Professor Emeritus of the section of
biochemistry, molecular and cell biology.
Charles R. Henderson, a pioneer and leader in the genetic improve ment of dairy cattle in the United
States, has retired from Cornell and been named Professor of Animal
Science Emeritus. He was appointed to the Cornell faculty in 1948 to
head the division of animal breed
ing.

Charles A. Shoup, B.S. '60, M.S. '65, is currently the Dean of Aca demic Services at Edison College in Piqua, Ohio.
Albert J. McClane, '43, an author who has published several books on fishing, is the Editor of Field and Stream Magazine.

Norman R. Scott, Ph.D. '62, has
been promoted to professor of agri cultural engineering. A specialist in bio-engineering, Professor Scott is conducting research to learn how chickens regulate body temperature in response to changing environ
mental conditions.

Professor Joseph B. Bugliari has
received a $500 Chancellor's Award
for Excellence in Teaching. An nounced by Ernest L. Boyer, chan cellor of the State University of New York, the award is given annually to recognize teaching excellence and innovation. Bugliari, a lawyer,
teaches courses in business law and
taxation in the College's Depart ment of Agricultural Economics and
in the Graduate School of Business and Public Administration.
Professor John E. Kinsella of the Department of Food Science has
been honored with the Borden
Award of the American Dairy
Science Association. The award of a
gold medal and $1,000 goes to an outstanding research scientist each year. Dr. Kinsella has published
numerous papers in the fields of
biochemistry, nutrition, and food technology.
Philip A. Minges, professor of vegetable crops in the College's Department of Vegetable Crops, has
received the 1976 Carl S. Bittner
Extension Award from the Ameri
can Society for Horticultural Science. He was recognized for out standing contributions to horticul ture through innovative and valuable
extension activities. The award,
which consists of a plaque and $200 in cash, was given at the Society's annual banquet held at Louisiana State University.
Edgar A. King, '63, has been appointed by Governor Hugh L. Carey to a Deputy Commissioner position in the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. King will oversee the Dairy Industry Services, the Division of Animal Industry, the Division of Plant Industry and the Bureau of Weights and Measures.
William J. Jewell has been granted tenure as associate professor of agri cultural engineering. In addition to his teaching duties, Dr. Jewell has
been involved in several research
products dealing with animal waste
treatment.

15

ill you be doing for the next
20 YEARS?

Don't wait until you are a senior to begin your job search. Get on the ball and start
early in your academic year. The College Career Planning Center
located in Room 16 Roberts Hall is designed
to assist students in career planning and job searching. It is sponsored by the College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences. Mike Gerling Placement Coordinator,
Edie Streams Career Exploration Coordina

tor and Sharon Radcliffe secretary, share
the Center's duties.
Here's your opportunity to seek out advice on extension or temporary jobs that will increase your individual skills and job opportunities. Come talk to Mike and Edie about your interests so that you can plan a rewarding career. Familiarize yourself with the job market. Know the opportunities and
resources available to you.

RE ARE THE SERVICES AVAILABLE:

■ '■'-" locket

■-•"■■■" 'i" ■. !'■•'■ Workshops

;■.■ .• .. i

■■•■

;]<.<;.■

^j'liJft-^irilunity

listings

Library. n ■. j-,.i, .-.-!.;. ii-iii'iM»

iisrVfthurfft-AMmini Contact Progra-m

jumwaer Employment Booklet

Information on Internships and CO-OP Program
Communication Channels and Resources
through Faculty Representatives
selected to assist in Career
Planning and Placement.

New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of the

at .r^rvrc"k*^l"l nun„iversi

Cornell's new research partner. . . Story on page 10

hi

CORNELL

COUNTRYMAN

VOL. LXXIV

NOVEMBER, 1976

NO. 2

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN
NOVEMBER 1976 VOL. LXXIV NUMBER 2

EDITORS
Lori D. Shapiro William E. Gray
ASSISTANT EDITOR Elisabeth Varak
ART EDITORS Catharine L. Rogers
Karen Esposito

EDITORIAL STAFF

Linda Adams Bruce Berkman

James Goulder
Steven Grandin

Barbara Buoymaster
Bruce Carson

Paula Shuster Debra Slotnick

Clifford Cockerham Janet Smith

Bruce Crispell

Helene Vigorita

Cathy Ferrand

IN THIS ISSUE:

3. Scarlet Ruffles and Fountain Grass
bv Bruce Carson
4. The Big Red A
by Helene Vigorita
6. Campus in Contrast
by Paula Cimini Shuster
8. A New Breed of Ivy
by Debra Slotnick and
Clifford Cockerham

10. Cornell Welcomes New Research Partner by Bruce Berkman
12. Would You Recognize Ithaca?
by Janet R. Smith
14. The Real World of Sid Mesibov by Barbara Buoymaster

This issue of the Cornell Countryman deals unth the con stantly changing face of Cornell and the Ithaca com munity. One important change soon to take place is the addition of the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research to the Cornell campus. Pictured on the cover
is an architect's model of the building.

Picture Credits: Cover, Anton J. Egner; pages 3,6,7,

8,9 — Cornell Archives; page 7 — Bruce Crispell; pages

8,9 -- Russ Hamilton; pages 10,11 -- Anton J. Egner;

page 12

John Muckey; page 13 -- City of Ithaca;

page 14 — Barbara Buoymaster; Back Cover — Bruce

Berkman.

The Cornell Countryman is published seven times a year from October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cornell University,
Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott.
Subscription Rates: $2.50 a year; $4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content gathered and written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors: Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

1 he arrival of late fall

Lua Minns entered

in Ithaca usually brings

Cornell in 1912 and

thoughts of dying leaves,

received her Masters'

plants becoming dormant,

degree in Floriculture in

and the imminent arrival of winter.

rjA)unfxfdnf^/>(<UA

1918. A quiet person, she lovingly devoted her

This is the time of year,
though, when plans and

by Bruce Carson '77

life to her students, to the
department of floricul

preparations are being made to insure the beauty of the

ture, and especially to flowers. "She made her depart

next growing season in the gardens around campus.

ment a living thing," Cornell President Farrand said of

One garden in particular has been familiar to several generations of Cornell students - the Lua A. Minns

Miss Minns at the memorial dedication of the garden
after her death in 1935.

Memorial Garden, now located between Tower Road

When it was announced in 1960 that Malott Hall was

and the Plant Science building. Containing some of the most colorful flowerbeds on campus, this garden is maintained by the Floriculture and Ornamental Horti culture Department as a memorial to Miss Minns and as a living laboratory for students.
The Minns Garden was not always at its present loca tion. Prior to the summer of 1915, the garden site was a
vacant lot at the corner of Garden and Tower Roads,

to be built where the garden stood, a new site had to be
found. The present spot was available and convenient,
and arrangements were made to move the garden there. The new garden was designed by Robert J. Scanned,
a Cornell landscape architect. It has a maze arrange ment rather than the large rectangular beds of the original garden. The center beds primarily contain changing displays of spring bulbs and annuals, while its

where Malott Hall now stands. While still a student and

long borders are devoted to various perennials.

later with the help of her own students, Miss Lua Minns

The garden incorporates both the old and the new,

transformed the lot into a garden of herbaceous plants.

including plants transplanted from the original site as

The process required huge quantities of topsoil, time,

well as many new plants and varieties which add interest

and labor as well as generous amounts of care and affec

to the various flowerbeds. The original sundial base and

tion. Her Floriculture 10 students learned about

pedestal were saved from the old garden.

herbaceous plants by pulling weeds in the hot sun. But

People other than floriculture students take advan

with Miss Minns planting peonies and pulling quackgrass

tage of the Minns Garden. Other classes use it to study

right along with them, the students rarely had any

such things as plant pathology and insects. During the

opportunity or cause to complain.

summer the garden draws students from other schools,

For the past several years the garden has been a place

garden clubs from all over the state and photographers.

for students to identify and study herbaceous plants.

On warm days people will be seen studying, reading,

The actual planning, planting, and general mainten

drawing, eating, sleeping, or talking. The Minns Garden

ance, however, are performed by head gardener Ed

hosts several receptions each year and has recently been

Carter, whose efforts have yielded the excellent condition

the site of two weddings.

of the Minns Garden in recent years.

Miss Minns would probably be delighted to know that

While Mr. Carter still is responsible for most of the

so many people find so much enjoyment in the flowers

work, floriculture students this year are returning to the

she devoted her life to. She probably would not spend

tradition of working in the garden. This fall the Herba

much time taking credit for the beauty, though. She

ceous Plant Materials class taught by Dr. Robert G.

would rather be working in the garden enjoying its

("Woodies") Mower is active working in the garden and

Magic Charms and Scarlet Ruffles.

planning next year's displays. Members of the class can

be observed planting some 6,000 tulip bulbs for April's

The original Lua A. Minns garden before it was relo

show, for example. Dr. Mower, who is responsible for

cated in front of Plant Science.

the garden, said that other gardening activities are being

planned as well.

In the garden, among the Jewels of Opar, the Creep

ing Zinnia, the Scarlet Ruffles and the Fountain Grass,

stands a sundial with the words "In Memory of Lua A.

Minns" inscribed on its granite base. This sundial was

erected by her friends as a modest recognition of the

lady who started the garden and who was the first

instructor of herbaceous plant materials at the New

York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at

Cornell.

THE BIG RED

The nationwide epidemic of grade inflation has hit
Cornell. In the Fall semester of 1975, almost 70 percent
of grades assigned in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences were A's and B's. Twenty-three percent of grades were C's. Only seven percent of grades fell below a C. Last spring, a quarter of the College's undergradu
ates were on the Dean's List.
What ever happened to the "gentlemen's C" that average students used to get? Does a C grade today denote average work, or something far less?
The statistics available provide no obvious answer, though they show definite changes in grading patterns since 1965-66. Letter grades were introduced that year, and tabulations of grades have been kept since then by the College's Office of Resident Instruction and by the
University Registrar. Comparison of the grade distribution reports over the
past ten years since letter grades were introduced shows
that
— the proportion of A grades has risen from 16 percent
to 27 percent;
— B is the most prevalent grade given;
— C grades are down substantially;
— fewer D's and Fs are given now than ten years ago.
Further, in a random sample of 35 instructors who taught in the College in 1965-66 and who were still teaching here in 1975-76, all but four gave proportion ately more A grades in 1975-76. Twelve instructors in the sample had doubled the proportion of A's they gave; six had tripled the proportion of A's, and three were giving five times as many A's in 1975-76 as they
were ten years ago.
What does it all mean? Are today's undergraduates at Cornell a generation of geniuses? Are they better pre pared for college when they enter? Are they more seri ous about their studies? Or are professors less rigorous about grading?
"Students have caught on. They know how to succeed in college," says Prof. C. C. Russell, who has taught at
Cornell for almost 20 years. "Students have learned
how to meet the needs of writing formal papers. They are more exam-conscious, and know how to study for them." Professor Russell feels that students are brighter, have more creative ideas, and are quicker to grasp con

cepts. In his view, they are also more sophisticated about the world. "Regarding legislation, politics, and business,
they are very sharp."
Professor Russell is well aware, however, of students'
faults today. He says that students are not as well informed about history, economics, or the classics. "They demonstrate an amazing deficiency in spelling
and sentence structure, too, but if you didn't mark
them for those things, research papers in the '70s would show real improvement over those in the '60s.
There is an irony in the grade inflation question at Cornell. Letter grades were instituted here in 1965-66 because the faculty felt that the numerical grades in use tended to be too low. The faculty was afraid that the old grading system was penalizing Cornellians apply ing to graduate schools. In effect, the faculty voted to raise grades by adopting a letter-grade system. Now some faculty and students wonder if grades are too high
rather than too low.
Students have caught on. They know how to succeed in college.
Cornell is not the only place where grades seem unaccountably high. Grade inflation is a nationwide phenomenon. The trend started about 15 years ago and has affected public and private colleges, including pres tigious ones. At Vassar recently, 81 percent of all grades were A's and B's; at Amherst, the figure was 85 percent. More than half of the University of Virginia's student body makes the Dean's List. Eighty-two percent of Har vard's Class of 1974 were graduated cum laude or better.
According to grades and honors being awarded these days, the colleges are chock full of superior thinkers.
Yet national scores on the Scholastic Achievement Test and other standardized tests have declined steadily.
Nationwide grade inflation may b. rendering grades meaningless. Truly superior students may suffer because of this. "Good students want recognition for hard work,"
says Dr. H. L. Everett, Director of Resident Instruction
for the College. "High grades are becoming an issue now among faculty members," Dr. Everett reported. "The median cumulative average for the College's Class
of '66 was 2.44. For the Class of '76, it was 2.91. That's
a striking difference."

4

Grades are high, but Dr. Everett thinks they may have reached a plateau. The upward trend in grades may indeed have hit a peak in the Spring of 1975. There were fewer A's given the following Fall in all Colleges of the University except for the College of Human Ecology
and the School of Hotel Administration. The percentage
of B grades remained the same, but the percentage of C's went up. This evidence is hardly conclusive, however, because grades tend to be lower in the Fall than in the Spring.
The rest of the University is being affected, too. Over the past ten years, changes in grade distribution through out the University have closely paralleled those in the College. University-wide grade levels tend to be slightly higher than in the College of Agriculture.
As things stand, with 70 percent A and B grades in the College, it is hard for excellent students to get the recognition they deserve. Graduate schools and potential employers pay less attention to high grades now and
look instead to other indicators of achievement in order
to evaluate applicants. The Graduate Record Examina tion has become much more important than it once was for gaining admission to graduate schools. Grade infla
tion, whatever the forces behind it, has narrowed the
grading scale. Prof. Henry M. Munger, who has taught Plant Breed
ing in the College since 1940, thinks the numerical grading system reflected student achievement better than letter grades. "Letters can't be averaged; you have to assign number values to letter grades when you calcu late a student's average. So why not stay with numbers?"
Professor Munger feels that trying to categorize numerical averages into letter grades leads to high
marks. "You're reluctant to mark a cut-off within a
close array of numerical values, so you mark it only when a sharp break occurs among the values. So an A includes people who would get the numerical equivalent
of a B."
If grading has become less rigorous, stu dents may not learn two traditionally valued lessons of college: self- discipline
and how to cope with competition.

The changes in grade distribution do not necessarily mean that professors are less rigorous in their grading, however. For example, part of the increase in high grades may be due to the number of incomplete grades
that students take. In the Fall of 1966, fewer than three
students in 100 took an incomplete. In the Fall of 1975, one out of ten undergraduates in the College took an incomplete. A student who expects a low grade may ask his instructor for an incomplete instead, which keeps
Do students deserve all the high grades they're getting?
the low grade off his transcript and allows him extra time to finish the work. Since incompletes are not included in the grade distribution tallies, the strategy of taking an incomplete may account for a large part of Cornell's grade inflation.
Whatever the causes of grade inflation, the pheno menon can hurt students as well as colleges' reputations.
It removes a useful evaluative tool from the hands of
potential employers and graduate schools, which may result in more subjective and less just evaluations. If grading has become less rigorous, students may also not be learning two traditionally valued lessons of college: self-discipline and how to cope with competition.
Professor Munger believes that the credibility of higher education is at stake, and that the phenomenon of grade inflation demands careful study. "Colleges and univer sities have to get together and reverse this trend so dis tinctions can be made between good and bad students. But, like devaluation of money, it's not a popular thing."
If grade inflation does require an overhaul of the grading system, it will not be easy. Professor Munger stated the problem:
"One professor can't make the decision to deflate grades. He would be out of line with the other profes sors. Nor can the College of Agriculture make the decision. It would be out of line with the University. Nor can the University make the decision. It would be
out of line with other universities."
Do students deserve all the high grades they are get ting? Until the puzzle of grade inflation is solved, nobody will know for sure. For the Class of '77, good grades may meet with doubt rather than unquestioning respect.

t.lp -ft^^t"^

Jticture if you can the Cornell of many years ago. On
the site where the Arts Quad now stands, a virtual prairie
existed, with Ezra Cornell's farm located near Morrill,
McGraw and White Halls. A handful of young male
students and an even smaller faculty were led by Mr.
Cornell, a stern Quaker born at Westchester Landing, New York, in 180/. Not long after the founding in 1865, the idea of practical coeducation was introduced at
Cornell, with the hearty approval of Ezra Cornell and
co-founder Andrew Dickson White.
In those days, the physical layout of the University was dictated more by necessity. According to Leonard J. Mirin, professor in the Department of Landscape Archi tecture, the campus was quite a different looking place,
with a much less formal arrangement of space.
Women's sweeping skirts would inadvertently pick up dirt and litter as they plodded through the thick mud to get to class. Upperclassmen, trying to evoke airs of maturity and responsibility, smoked fat, smelly cigars and chewed tobacco. Young ladies had to gather their skirts up above the level of such dangers underfoot. Soon young elm trees, most ideally suited to the archi tectural scheme, were in full leaf. Professor Mirin points out that Frederick L. Olmsted, the original landscape architect of the Cornell campus, "wanted to develop an indigenous American style, rather than imitate the English Oxford/Cambridge style of University." Does today's campus layout hold true to the original concept?
Professor Mirin sees the passing of the elm trees as a sad example of how radically Cornell has changed since the early days, especially so in recent years. He sees the older styles as more enduring and charming, while eschewing the unimaginative, box-like structures of the newer buildings. Professor Mirin extolls the neogothic

style of Barnes and Sage Halls, while "The IBM Card (Olin Library), and The Sewing Machine (The Johnson Art Museum)," receive low ratings on his charm and personal appeal index.
K. C. Parsons, Dean of the College of Architecture for the past five years, disagrees with Professor Mirin. Dean Parsons is "pleased that the University Administra tion is paying more attention to the buildings and land scape of the campus. I hope the Trustees are supportive of maintaining the older buildings, but I do believe the Johnson Art Museum has an important and unique
function and should stand out from the others."
The rate of change is occurring at Cornell at a more accelerated pace than ever before in the history of the University. For example, in 1866, no one worried about where to park automobiles on campus. Just 10 years ago, the number of cars on campus was limited to faculty, employees, and upperclassmen. Today even freshmen
have cars.
The fact remains that a luxuriant growth of foliage, the verdant hillsides, the plunging gorges, and a properly
CAMPU
in Paula Cimini Shuster

6

managed, ecologically preserved campus are important
to many Cornellians, past and present. Professor Mirin
explains, "We don't design buildings, we design the spaces between buildings. Spaces that invite or exclude, seeding, signs, bicycle racks. . . where do they go, and how can we design the campus to facilitate flow, yet preserve a pastoral setting?"
Mirin believes that trees are important. "They provide a canopy of softening and dappling of light, cooling, shading, buffering noise and traffic." He also states, "Recently I worked on a contract to replant 20,000 trees in New York City. There are 60,000 trees in New York City, outside of Central Park. Many places in New York are much more richly planted than Ithaca."
The image of the campus is relative to where you're coming from and how long you plan to stay. Time is a crucial factor in trying to assess the merits of change in a university setting. Older alums may remember the ring road now going around Morrill Hall as a pathway, for example. The Cornell of yesterday is gone. From
what Ezra Cornell conceived of as a land grant institu
tion where "Any person can find instruction in any study," modern land management techniques and tech nological influence and growth have metamorphosized Cornell into a complex, sprawling mini-city.
CONTRAST:

1. Ezra Cornell's farm, complete with his house and barns, once stood on the site now occupied by Sibley and Franklin Halls.
2. The castle-like quality of Barnes Hall provides viewers with an excellent example of the original campus splendor.
3. The old Arts Quad, circa the late 1800's. Few buildings, deep mud, and the scarcity of coeds
dominated the scene.
4. Olin Library, built especially for use by Cornell's grad students, is also the repository of the Univer sity archives.
5. The Johnson Art Museum, formally opened to the public in 1972, provides a stark and stalwart
contrast to the old campus.

The Ivy
and the Concrete

A NEW BREED OF IVY

The first Ivies at Cornell had a very dis
tinct appearance before the turn of the century. Women always wore long dresses
highlighted by stiff necks, puffed sleeves,
and lace. Long hair would be turned up into a severe bun, revealing the fresh face with out a trace of make-up.
A distinguished three-piece suit was the
order of the day for the Cornell man of 1890. A student with slicked-back hair, occasionally sporting a thin mustache, would always bear the serious expression of an Ivy League
academian.
The Cornellians apparel, like the Cornel lian, has undergone many revolutionary changes in the last 100 years. All biologists know that the evolution of populations works towards progress, but the clothes must speak
for themselves.
Only the seasons change.
Though once tall and shaded many of today's Ivies intertwine.

;; V>7t'

by Debra Slotj|
and Clifford Cockerhj
■
■f::'

The original Ivies grew tall in straight rows. . .

Natural selection
favors utility over formality.
e breeds diversity.
■

ft-ftfff

Cornell Welcomes
NEW RESE

by Bruce Berkman '78
H PARTNER

For years, Cornell scientists have worked closely on many projects with a private, non-profit research firm nestled in the Hudson River Valley. Scientists at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (BTI) in Yonkers, New York have long cooperated with Cornell investigators, including early attempts to control Dutch elm disease. Soon, BTI will be located in Ithaca, expand* ing the cooperative research efforts.
BTI was founded in 1924 by the late Colonel William Boyce Thompson. Six years before he observed that there would soon be two hundred million people in this country. "It is going to be a question of bread, of pri mary food supply. I think I'll work out some institution to deal with plant physiology, to help protect the basic
needs of the two hundred million."
With this in mind, he endowed the Institute to solve
problems of food and fiber production and consump tion. It has operated since that time as a non-profit, taxexempt corporation with headquarters in Yonkers, 15 miles north of New York City.
Facilities provided under the agreement with Cornell University will include a research lab with 65,000 net
An overview from the North, locating BTI across
from the U.S. Plant Soil and Nutrition Lab.

square feet of floor space, 15-20,000 gross square feet of
greenhouses, and 25 acres of arable land near Ithaca. The buildings will be constructed on Tower Road near Morrison Hall on the campus of the College of Agricul
ture and Life Sciences.
Like the College, BTI is concerned with basic and applied research in the plant sciences and related fields of biology concerning modern agriculture and the envi ronment. BTI is internationally recognized for its studies in ecosystem analysis and plant growth reactions to air pollution.
The Directors of BTI have been considering a move from Yonkers for over a decade. The area's rapid urbanization has produced problems for land use along with increased air pollution. In the mid 1960's College and BTI administrations began discussing the possibility of moving. Dr. W. Keith Kennedy, then Director of Research and currently Dean of the College of Agricul ture and Life Sciences, was invited by BTI to partici pate in these discussions. By late November of 1971, Dr. Charles E. Palm, then Dean of the College, and Cornell University President Dale R. Corson agreed to further
The greenhouses for Boyce Thompson Institute, showing Bradfield Hall in the background.

10

explore the possibility of affiliating with BTI. By 1972, BTI management had concluded that a
relocation with a major land-grant university would be
best. Land-grant institutions could provide the strong
support for agricultural and environmental problems that BTI sought. A number of proposals from major universities were screened, and by the spring of 1973 BTI had narrowed its choices to Oregon State Univer sity at Corvallis and the New York State College of Agri culture and Life Sciences at Cornell University.
The Oregon State Legislature offered BTI a $6.7 million facility on the OSU campus. Not wishing to lose BTI to another state, the New York State Legislature then appropriated $8.5 million to move BTI to Cornell. In October of 1973, the trustees of BTI accepted the New York State proposal.
The original agreement of May 28, 1974 called for occupancy by April 1, 1977. There have been several financial delays. If construction begins late this year or early next year, it should be completed in time for BTI
to fulfill its commitment to vacate its present facilities
by July 1, 1979. Cornell is anxious to bring BTI to Ithaca because the
Institute's resources would be a valuable asset to the
University's programs. BTI's transfer to the Cornell campus would strengthen the College's research and graduate study in biology by bringing to Cornell a group of dedicated and high-caliber scientists. In addi tion, BTI's budget provides substantial funds for supporting personnel, graduate stipends and other needs. These funds could be applied flexibly where the research need is greatest and most challenging.
The Institute will rise five stories on Tower Road,
west of the N.Y.S. College of Veterinary Medicine.

In exchange, BTI would have the extensive facilities and services of the University available at a lower cost than i.s usual for a small, private research organization.
BTI could continue its research into the effects of air
pollution on plant health and the mechanisms of chem ical control of pests, for example, with the College's resources and personnel right at hand.
Both the College and BTI are involved in researching unresolved problems in agriculture, forestry, and marine biology. Teams from each have worked together on many projects over the last 50 years. College research in plant pathology, such as the early attempts to control the spread of Dutch elm disease on campus, were
centered at the Institute. Graduate students work at
both locations.
By moving its headquarters to the Ithaca campus BTI, in cooperation with the Cornell Graduate School, will be able to provide more assistantships and fellow ships for graduate students. BTI scientists may be invited by Cornell to accept adjunct professorships. While Cornell and New York State provide the facilities and support services, BTI's private endowment, with assets of about $35 million, will provide the income to support
its research programs.
The basic premise behind BTI's research has always been that a fundamental attack on problems of plant
life will result in benefits to mankind. The collaboration
of BTI and Cornell scientists will help to further the dream of the late Col. Thompson, "I should like to get at the real bottom of the phenomena of life processes. . . By doing that perhaps I can contribute something real
to the future of mankind."
A view from the west, showing the main entrance
to BTI's research facilities.

11

WOULD YOU RECOGNIZE ITHACA?
by Janet R. Smith Grad.

"For the times, they are a changin'." So prophesied Bob Dylan, songwriting hero of the 1960s. Ithaca heeded the warning and now, some ten years later, has much to show for the effort. Taking into consideration the needs and concerns of the increasing citizenry, the city remodeled the downtown area and is presently enjoying
the addition of a new outdoor recreation center, marina
and shopping mall in nearby Lansing. Ithaca is truly experiencing an urban revival.
There once was a time when shoppers made monthly pilgrimages to Elmira, Syracuse or Cortland. That was
before the arrival of the Ithaca Commons, and more
recently, Lansing's Pyramid Mall. Located immediately beyond the intersection of Triphammer Road and the cloverleaf of Route 13, Pyramid offers stores and mer
chandise as diverse as the area it serves.
The 400,000 square foot enclosure presently features some 48 stores including J.C. Penney, Montgomery Ward, Hickory Farms and Casual Corner. When completed,
the mall's 80 stores will include four cinemas, a Beau-
jolais Cafe and Dimitri's, a Greek restaurant. Cafe Square, a unique theme area, provides the central gathering place for tired shoppers and fidgety children. The focal point of the setting is a white gazebo surrounded by eighteen fast food operations ranging from a frozen

yogurt stand to a Chinese carry-out. Colorful ice cream
parlor tables and chairs and costumed attendants enhance the Gay Nineties atmosphere of the surround ing decor. Fountains, music, and more than $30,000 worth of plants provide a bright, relaxing setting for shoppers in this latest addition to the area's business
community. Farther down Route 13 there have also been changes.
What was once East State Street is now the Ithaca
Commons. Bordered by Cayuga and Aurora Streets, the tree-shaded mall is a gathering place for business people, shoppers, students, artists, and farmers.
A typical day on the Commons might include enter tainment by a string quartet, an exhibit of arts and
crafts, or a farmers' market. The old Rothschild's has
been replaced by a sleek two-story brick and glass struc ture one block west of its predecessor. Browning and King Clothiers is now Simeon's, a posh bar featuring contemporary music in a Victorian setting.
Around the corner from the Commons stands the
DeWitt Mall, formerly the DeWitt Junior High School. The street level features a variety of boutiques and cafes;
upper levels have been converted into apartments. Clin ton House has likewise received a new lease on life
thanks to the concern of historic preservationists. The

The Allen H. Treman State
Marine Park, largest of its
kind in the state, features
launching facilities for more
than 330 small boats.

12

once dilapidated hotel, now home of the DeWitt Historical Society of Tompkins County, remains a polished example of Greek Revival architecture in
upstate New York.
A tour of contemporary Ithaca would not be com
plete without a visit to the lake. Here too there have been
many changes, the most recent of which is the Allen H. Treman State Marine Park. Commemorating the contri butions of Treman as a member of the Finger Lakes State Parks Commission, the 93 acre park features launching facilities for more than 330 small boats. The largest marina of its kind in the state, it can also
accommodate cruisers up to 50 feet in length. Following its July dedication, the marina hosted the
arrival of New York State's Bicentennial Barge, a 250
foot long vehicle carrying historical displays of New
York life at the time of the American Revolution. The
marine park joins two other Treman family contribu tions, Buttermilk Falls and Enfield Glen, in providing the Ithaca area with exceptional recreational facilities.

Winner of the 1976 Design Award from the State Associ ation of Architects, the Ithaca Commons (far left) is complemented by the new Rothschild's (upper right) and Simeon's (lower right), formerly Browning and King Clothiers.
Adjacent to the Treman State Marine Park is Cass Park. Named for former city engineer Leon Cass, the low land at the southern tip of Cayuga Lake has become the focal point of community recreation over the past five years. The $1.8 million facility includes a municipal skating rink, Olympic -size outdoor swimming pool, bathhouses and an abundance of picnic and playground equipment.
Despite all these additions, the old municipal air term inal remains as a reminder of the city's colorful past. Instead of serving travelers, it now caters to patrons of the arts as the Hangar Theatre. Long an Ithaca land mark, the "flats" continue to provide an appropriate complement to the rocky shores of Cayuga Lake and the
bustle of downtown Ithaca.
Ithaca's innovators have carefully blended an appreci
ation of the past with the needs of the future. Continued
concern to maintain such equilibrium can only insure that those returning to the city will enjoy the nostalgia of the familiar and the excitement of exploring the new,

13

The
Real World
of SID MESIBOV
by Barbara Buoymaster '77
Remember the Marx Brother's movie "A Night at the Opera"? There's a scene with Groucho and a hotel detective. Groucho is accused of having people in his room who haven't paid.
The detective enters. Groucho is sitting at a breakfast
table set for four, while his brothers hide in the next
room.
Insisting that Groucho isn't alone, the detective says accusingly, "but the table is set for four."
"That's nothing," Groucho counters. "My alarm clock
is set for seven." Sid Mesibov wrote that bit for the Marx Brothers. Sid
got into writing by pure accident. A producer friend was in a bind; his writers had quit and he had to have a

script done in two days. Gags came easy to Sid so he gave it a try. People thought his material was funny and
that was the beginning. He wrote for the Marx Brothers, was publicity direc
tor at Paramount Pictures for 15 years, and worked at
the ABC network for nine. This is just part of the real
life experience Sid Mesibov is sharing with Corneli
students this semester.
How does he like teaching? "I'm having a real ball." And the students? "They're terrific."
Six years ago, Mesibov and his wife bought a house in Spencer. They wanted to get out of New York City and when they made the move found themselves with nothing to do. Sid was soon, as he put it, tangled up with the Ithaca Journal and producing local T.V. for Ceracche cable. Last spring he got an offer from Cornell. Sid figured, "Why not?" and is now teaching writing for radio and television in the communication

arts department. "I'm actually a frustrated doctor," he says, "I got my
B.S. in biology, had a year of post-grad in bacteriology, but couldn't complete med school because of money difficulties. I drifted into public relations work by dis covering I had a half-baked talent for words."
That "half-baked" talent got polished along the way, but it took a long time. Mesibov hopes he can make
the way easier for his students. He remembers when he
was at the network getting stacks of resumes each June. "Few made it. I'm glad to be in the position of alerting them. I tell them, 'This is what you're going to have to
"
face.'

"Very little out there coincides with what you learn
out of a textbook. Rules are bent. Student idealism can

get an abrupt shattering when you step off campus into
a station."

Asked if anyone can learn to write, he answered, "No.
It has to come out of your head and heart. A teacher
can correct mistakes and furnish general guidelines, but either a person grasps the idea of writing or never makes
it. If you don't have the talent it can be a heartbreaker."
What else does Sid do? "I think of ways to do nothing. I'm useless around the house, hate gardening. But I love good wit, a good argument, good conversation and most of all a good joke."
Since Mesibov has had real life experience that he enthusiastically shares with his students in class, students are able to grasp concepts that will help them get a foot
in the door.

For example, he tells his students that if they have an

idea for a TV show, "Do not go to the networks." Instead

Mesibov advises taking a couple of scripts and a synopsis

to the program's ad agency. "Don't worry about them

not reading it," says Mesibov. He assures his classes that

the agencies are looking for good scripts. This insight is

just part of the real world

according to Sid Mesibov.

14

Prof. Walter H. Render, chairman
of the Department of Pomology at the N.Y. State College of Agricul
ture and Life Sciences, has been
elected a Fellow of the American Society for Horticultural Science.
He was recognized for his outstand ing professional achievements in the
field of horticultural science and
for his meritorious service to the
Society. Professor Render, who also
heads the Department of Pomology
and Viticulture at the N.Y. State
Agricultural Experiment Station
at Geneva, was among 11 scientists so honored this year. His research activities at Geneva included work
on the effects of growth regulators of fruit crops. Recently he developed methods of protecting grapevines from injurious air pollutants.
Professor Works With
Miracle Rice
Prof. Peter L. Steponkus, Depart
ment of Floriculture and Orna
mental Horticulture, will visit
the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines
in order to coordinate a research
project with the IRRI, the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant
Research, and Cornell scientists.
The project is aimed at developing drought-resistant upland rice
varieties. The "miracle rice," so
named because it is grown without
irrigation, originated from the IRRI and has resulted in large increases in rice production. However, these new varieties fail to show yield advantage in areas experiencing dry periods. Research will therefore con centrate on basic aspects of drought resistance and breeding in an attempt to alleviate that problem.
The Division of Biological Sciences has named Prof. Kraig Adler as chairman of the neurobiology and
behavior section for three years.
Before joining the faculty of the

N.Y. State College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences in 1972, Professor
Adler was an assistant professor of biology at the University of Notre
Dame. Professor Adler teaches the
large introductory biology course,
101-102. He was honored for his
teaching ability at Notre Dame
with the Thomas P. Madden Excel
lence in Teaching Award, and in
1975 he received a grant for innova
tive teaching from the State Univer sity of New York. At Cornell,
Adler's research focuses on studies
of light receptors and orientation mechanisms in amphibians and reptiles, with special attention to
unusual receptors outside the normal
eye that are used to perceive polar ized light. The National Science
Foundation supports this work.
Eddy L. LaDue, B.S. '64, was pro moted to associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Econ
omics. Professor LaDue was
appointed to the staff in 1971 and currently teaches a seminar in advanced agricultural finance for undergrads and a course in pro duction economics for graduate stu dents. Using his expertise in the
field, LaDue has conducted research
on the application of the computer
in farm management and in finance.
Merck & Co., Inc. has named Dr. Donald S. Marshall, Ph.D. '51,
senior development biologist in Pro duct Development & Service
Laboratories, Merck Chemical Divi
sion. Dr. Marshall joined Merck in 1970 to investigate new application possibilities for Merck agricultural products. Fie will continue to work closely with Merck Chemical Division
customers to aid them in their effec
tive use of Merck agricultural chem
icals. Dr. Marshall will also coordi nate activities with state and federal
governments.

Zilversmit Wins
Nutrition Award
Prof. Donald B. Zilversmit was
presented with the 1976 Borden
Award of the American Institute
oi Nutrition for his discoveries in
the field of cholesterol absorption. Zilversmit, a professor in the Divi
sion of Nutritional Sciences, and
in the Division of Biological Sciences, is the author of about 200 publica
tions in the areas of atherosclerosis ,
lipid metabolism and other related
fields. A member of the Cornell
faculty since 1966, Professor Zilvers mit is currently on the editorial boards of "Biochimica et Biophysica Acta," and the "Proceedings of the Society of Experimental Biology and
Medicine."
John M. Staatz, M.S. '75, is one of three graduate students in the nation to be recognized by the American Agricultural Economics Association. His Outstanding Master's Program Award was accep ted by his former faculty advisor,
Professor Daniel G. Sisler, since
Staatz is presently working in the Ivory Coast for the University of Michigan.
The Department of Floriculture and
Ornamental Horticulture has
advanced Ernest F. Schaufler to
full professor. Professor Schaufler is responsible for 4-H and youth pro
grams in ornamental horticulture.
Among his many innovative and
educational programs, Schaufler has
developed a "Talking Plant." This model explains the importance of plants to man and his environment. It has been used by nearly 1,000
teachers in the last two years and has reached more than 80,000 school children. Professor Schaufler is the
author of more than forty youthoriented publications on horticul ture and is well known to gardeners
because of a ten year radio program called the "Cornell Gardener." In 1974, the Federated Garden Clubs
of New York State presented
Schaufler with the Alice Doscher Horticultural Bronze Medal in
recognition of his many achievements
in the field of horticulture.

15

Library
PLANTAE
PROTISTA
FIVE KINGDOMS OF ORGANISMS

Teaching Evolution

FUNGI

Good teachers are naturally important to students
who want the best education. But the talented teacher
can become too rare a species in a research-oriented university such as Cornell. That's why the College of AN IMA LI Apiculture and Life Sciences is dedicated to creating
an environment^vhere good teaching in all of its diver

sity can^ontin novVthe College is working hard to make a
facii^tafven better. Through grants from the
fity of New York, the College Fund, and te of Resident Instruction, the College encour-

rofessors to enrich old courses or invent new ones.

dio-visual equipment and computers are put to the as teachers try to find helpful ways to appraise

r own teaching efforts. For example, thanks to a proposal from Professor Kraig Adler and Dr. Jon C. Glase, students in an other wise crowded introductory biology course can have their
iown seats on the reviewing stand for a "Parade of King
doms." They sample the diversity of life each week in a .
ajvirtually private lecture/ demonstration provided by
slide and tape, or film loop presentation, combined with exhibits of micro-organisms, live snakes and

lizards, birds, fungi, algae, ferns and exotic fishes. In another area, the College sponsors a series of
seminars designed to help new faculty and graduated

students teach more effectively.

MONERA

JLooking to the future, the Committee on Scholarship
in Teaching, a panel of outstanding teachers, has pro-|
posed a plan to guide the continued upward evolution!
of teaching and learning in the College.

Students in an introductory biology course investigate micro-organisms (left) and enzyme chemistry (right).

New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of Jtte State University, at CornfifHJnivej

CORNELL

COUNTRYMAN

VOL. LXXIV

DECEMBER, 1976

NO. 3

\<n*\ S*r>

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CORNELL COUNTRYMAN
DECEMBER 1976 VOLUME LXXIV - Number 3

ABOUT THE COVER
Our cover is an attempt to reflect the very real presence of women at Cornell, and the diverse ways in
which women shape the Cornell experience.
IN THIS ISSUE:
3 Women's Studies Here to Stay
by Cathy Rogers '77
4 "Cooks at Cornell — Never!" by Elisabeth Varak '77
6 Off the Sidelines and On the Field by Steve Grandin '77
8 Bagging the Books
by Bruce Berkman '78
10 The Versatile Vice Provost by Cliff Cockerham '78
12 "Quick, Henry — the Blue Ageratum!
by Bruce Carson '77
14 Stretching the Big Red Dollar
by Cathy Ferrand '78
15 Capsules

^CORNELL CaUlMWYIVI/VN
«8Ht I
■is Jgkr**
w-? t i:-f i m fm
aJNfe -fill
"■>£', Wr'my *%W%S If ?l
WOiViEN AT CORNELL
Picture Credits: Cover — Barbara
Buoymaster, Cornell Athletics Office, Bruce Crispell, Cornell Archives; page 3 — Cathy Rogers; page 4,5 — Cornell University Archives; page 5 —
Media Services; page 7 — Russ Hamilton; page 8,9 — Barbara
Buoymaster and Bruce Berkman;
page 10 — Eric Pillemer; page 11 —
Dr. Ward M. Tingey; page 12,13, 14 — Bruce Crispell; page 13 —
Russ Hamilton; Back cover — Morris
Peck.

EDITORS
Helene Vigorita
Linda Adams
ASSISTANT EDITOR Cliff Cockerham
ART EDITORS
Janet Smith Cathy Ferrand
PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
Bruce Crispell
EDITORIAL STAFF Bruce Berkman
Barbara Buoymaster
Bruce Carson
Karen Esposito
Steve Grandin
William Gray Cathy Rogers Lori Shapiro
Paula Shuster Debbie Slotnick Elisabeth Varak

OUR MISTAKE

We erred in the November Countryman in crediting the photographs that appeared with the article on the Boyce Thompson Institute. The
credits should have read: Architect: Ulrich Franzen and Associates:

Model by: Ulrich Franzen and Associates; Photographs bv: Freedman. We apologize for any problems caused bv this error.

Lionel

The Cornell Countryman is published seven times a year from October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cornell University,
Ithaca!Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at New York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott!
Subscription Rates: $2.50 a year; $4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content gathered and written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors: Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

WOMEN'S STUDIES HERE TO STAY

by Cathy Rogers '77

JNot long ago, classes at Cornell were dominated by men in most departments, women weren't encour aged to enter certain fields, and professors addressed
their co-educational classes as "Gentlemen." Instances
like these created a new awareness in women of their
roles in society and prompted the development of the Women's Studies Program. Today Women's Studies is an established interdisciplinary program in the College
of Arts and Sciences.
The Women's Studies Program grew to its present
level from ideas discussed at a conference on the status
of women held at Cornell in 1969. The first stage was a
Human Ecology course entitled "The Evolution of the Female Personality: History and Prospects." This was
Cornell's first course related to women and the first
interdisciplinary course on women given for credit at a major university. In 1970, an experimental program
was created called "Female Studies" which evolved into
the Women's Studies Program in 1972. After a four year trial period, there was a faculty evaluation and in 1976 Women's Studies officially became a permanent program. It is designed to offer both men and women a better understanding of women's roles.
Johanna Ettin, acting director of the Women's Studies Program, pointed out that women have existed through out history, yet little is taught about their contributions.
The women's movement has made great strides to end
discrimination against women, yet the educational system
is still a drawback. The system focuses on men's achieve
ments, and places less emphasis on women's contribu tions in the development of our country, technology, the arts, and other fields. "The history of women has been ignored," said Ettin. For example, one of the most widely used textbooks on American history contains only one page on the women's suffrage movement, a major event affecting women's participation in politics
and government, but includes pages on Prohibition.
The Women's Studies Program hopes to correct the
absence of women in the educational system and encourage women to be aware of their roles. Ettin said
biases still exist, often unconsciously, and feels programs

like Women's Studies can equalize them. Women's Studies is not an independent department
or an undergraduate major, but an interdisciplinary program. Courses combine the history of women and women's roles with literature, fine art, and religion, as well as other disciplines. The courses offer diverse combinations that generate new insights into a woman's feelings about herself. Course titles range from "African
and Caribbean Women in Literature" and "Women at
Work" to "Remedies to Inequality." Each semester, about 25 courses are offered. They
are taught by members of the faculty from 13 university divisions and by lecturers hired by the program. The
enrollment for the program averages about 350 students a semester, of which 20 percent are men. Professors
teaching in the program wish more men would take the courses. Ettin suggested that by being in a minority, men may be afraid of being attacked intellectually by the women in the class, which discourages them from registering. Men who have taken Women's Studies courses feel they were worthwhile and that they opened their eyes to things they weren't previously aware of
about women.
Ettin said a particular concern of the Women's Studies program has been the scarcity of tenured women faculty members who could serve as role models for undergrad uate and graduate women. Prof. Jennie Farley, past director of the program and a professor in the School
of Industrial and Labor Relations, finds that the pres ence of women teachers as role models "has an incalcu
lable effect on women students who have never had a
woman professor." Studies have shown direct relation ships between how well women do professionally and the number of women professors they have had. This is one reason why women from women's colleges attain higher status positions in shorter time. The small number of women professors at Cornell gives women students few strong role models to look up to. Similarly,
there are few women for women students to turn to for
inspiration and help in career planning and guidance at
(Continued on page 15)

3

T CORNELL — NEVER
by Elisabeth Varak '77

"What is this delicious dish I am eating?" Told that it was cabbage, the senator replied, "Why, I never eat cabbage, but you may give me more." Another sen ator thought the accompanying salad was also memorable.
In 1907, Martha Van Rensselaer served the historic
meal of scalloped cabbage and a salad — a meal that was to shape the future of women's education at Cornell. Two committees from the State Legislature were on a tour of inspection of the campus. Their reactions would
decide the future of home economics at Cornell Univer
sity. Miss Van Rensselaer was called upon to cook for 50 guests and the only place to serve them was a long, ugly, unadorned hall on the fourth floor of Roberts Hall. Despite the surroundings, she impressed her guests.
Three years later, in April 1910, Miss Van Rensselaer presented her views on home economics at Cornell to the Legislature. She wanted money to construct a home economics building.
"I want to vote for the women who made that salad," exclaimed one senator.
Another shouted, "I want to vote for the women who
taught me to eat cabbage." Within 20 minutes, the Legislature approved the
building project and appropriated $154,000 for a home economics building.
Martha Van Rensselaer was not called to Cornell to cook, nor was this the first time cooks at Cornell marked
important milestones. The Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862 established a fund "to teach branches of learning as are related to agriculture." At a conference held at Lake Placid in 1899, Mr. and Mrs. Melvil Dewey, two persons of broad educational background, and Liberty Hyde Bailey, professor of horticulture, discussed the possibility of introducing home economics at Cornell. This is when Cornell President Jacob Gould Schurman balked, "Cooks on the Cornell faculty -never!" Nonethe-

less, a resolution was adopted asking that "the State... give to household arts and home economics the same practical encouragement which is now given to agricul ture and the mechanic arts in State schools and colleges."
Within the next year, Liberty Hyde Bailey, later Director of the College of Agriculture, began his search
for someone who shared his concern about women on
farms and who could help him organize a reading course for women. "If home conditions are not right, farming cannot be right," said Bailey. "Stable agriculture depends on keeping the native stock on the farms con tented and happy."
Miss Van Rensselaer was called to Cornell by Director
Bailey from her work as School Commissioner in Cattar augus County. As School Commissioner, she often traveled
on dusty roads from township to township. When she stopped at farm houses, she made mental notes of what
she saw: tired, work-worn mothers and undernourished
children, and a lack of labor-saving devices. From her dealings with the farmers' wives, she began to under stand their daily activities. As she became familar with
their needs, she realized that farmers' wives could be
less like drudges and more like happy people only through a scientific approach to correct housekeeping.
Martha Van Rensselaer believed in women. Her desire
to help them became her goal in life. She lacked a college education, but the job required a fresh approach and she came to it without any preconceived ideas. At Cornell, she found herself assigned to a small basement
room in Morrill Hall. Her office was meager: two wooden
chairs, a letter file, and a kitchen table with a single drawer to hold pens, pencils, and paper. The office was amply decorated — with exposed pipes.
The first step in bringing the farmers' reading-course into being was taken in 1900. Dr. Bailey sent a letter to
over 5,000 women in the state. "In all the vocations of
life, there are none in which success depends so much upon the wife as in farming... we do not intend that you should be left out in helping the farmer." The letter introduced the first bulletin called "Saving Steps" and
asked for replies. More than 2,000 women responded.
Miss Van Rensselaer studied the replies and searched for answers to the women's questions and problems. She told a bacteriologist, "I would like to learn about the bacteriology of the dishcloth so that I can explain to farm women the importance of its cleanliness." His
reply was, "Oh, they do not need to learn about bacteria.

Teach them to keep the dishcloth clean because it is nicer that way." Despite his lack of insight, she registered for a course in bacteriology.
Martha Van Rensselaer wrote many bulletins and sent
them to the farmers' wives. Topics ranged from human nutrition, decorating, canning and preserving, and dust as related to food and to laundry. The overwhelming gratitude felt by the women was represented by one letter in particular: "I cannot tell you what it means to me to think that someone cares. My life is made up of
men, men and mud, mud. Send me the bulletins and
remember me in your prayers." Another farmer's wife wrote, "I weigh 120 pounds. I
milk seven or eight cows night and morning; run a separ
ator; get breakfast, dinner and supper; do most of the
cooking and do all the washing and cleaning."
One woman appreciated the ideas on home income. "I have cleared $2.44 from 30 hens this last year by your
book on home industries. This year I have three indus
tries, the profit from two sheep, 35 hens and a patch of
strawberries."
Susan B. Anthony, president of the National American Women's Suffrage Association, wrote Miss Van Rens selaer and asked, "How do you succeed in getting farmers'
wives to talk? I should like very much to be at one of
your meetings and be like a mouse in the wall, to see and
hear how you get on for I find it the hardest work to get
women to talk on any subject in a public meeting." The first resident courses relating to home and family
life were offered for credit in the College of Agriculture in 1903. They were entitled "The Homestead — Externals of a Farm Home," taught by Professor Bailey; "Women's Work and Home Economics," by Miss Van Rensselaer; and "Literature and Art for the Farm Home," by Anna Botsford Comstock. These survey courses were designed for students with other primary interests.
During the following year, 1904, the New York State College of Agriculture was established at Cornell and an appropriation of $250,000 was made by the state for its housing. Home economics was included by implication.
With one-fifth of the population of New York State

engaged in the business of homemaking, a winter course
in home economics was introduced in 1906. The course
consisted of a series of lectures by about 20 leading
women in the field of home economics; Flora Rose, a
specialist in foods and nutrition, was one of the guest lecturers. During Miss Rose's two -week stay at Cornell, she talked with Director Bailey about the possibilities of the development of home economics in the College.
Director Bailey asked Miss Rose to suggest someone to organize a home economics department at Cornell and Miss Rose replied, "Why not Miss Van Rensselaer? Her qualities of leadership, her enthusiasm and initiative and her forward-looking views on education have greatly impressed me." He hesitated, perhaps because of Miss Van Rensselaer's lack of a college degree. Miss Rose pointed out that it was not too late for Miss Van Rens
selaer to get a college degree. Director Bailey asked Miss Rose to come to Cornell in
the fall of 1908 to organize the department. She had a formal college education but she refused to accept the title of Department Head. So Director Bailey told the two women that they could share the responsibility. But he was dubious. "Quite frankly," he said, "I have not found two people, especially two women, who could for long work together successfully and on equal footing."
For the next twenty-five years, these two women worked together for the same cause — establishing home eco nomics as a respected and necessary course of study at Cornell. In 1908, home economics became a department in the State College of Agriculture. The department
became a school of home economics in 1919, and in
1925 by legislative action it became a college. In 1932,
Miss Van Rensselaer died. Two years later, in 1934,
the present Martha Van Rensselaer Hall was dedicated.
Some faculty felt that it should be called Van Rensselaer-
Rose Hall, but Miss Rose declined. At the dedication,
one of Miss Van Rensselaer's friends said: "That she did
not live to see its completion should not be regretted. Her spirit vitalized every part of the building. In her vision she saw the part it was to play in improving human
welfare. In her heart it was completed."

Early home economists at Cornell prepare for a home demonstration trip in the first Extension Service car (1915). Second from left is Martha Van Rensselaer, then co-
director of the School of Home Economics
at Cornell.

5

OFF THE SIDELINES .

"Men's programs are what they are what's evolved in the last 100 years," Cornell

because Director

of of

Athletics Richard Schultz said. "Women's programs have

only been evolving for five or six years."
But in those five or six years of evolution,

women's

sports have come a long way -especially at Cornell. In

the past 13 years, Cornell has increased its women's pro

gram from just two teams to 17. And
number of sports offered has leveled off,

although the the quality of

the current Red sports has been increasing by leaps and

bounds.
Martha Arnett, Director of Physical Education for Women, believes the turning point for Cornell women's
athletics came when Helen Newman Hall was built in
1963. Prior to that, only field hockey and tennis were offered on an intercollegiate basis. The women's athletic
offices were located in Balch Hall, women athletes had
only sporadic use of the Teagle Hall facilities, and they were often forced to use offcampus facilities. "Things
were pretty bad," Arnett admitted. "That was
probably the low ebb." Since the opening of the women's athletic facilities,
basketball, bowling, cross country, gymnastics, ice hoc
key, lacrosse, polo, sailing, skiing, softball, swimming, track, and volleyball have all started. Fencing and crew
have been on the Cornell campus since the post-World
War I days, but only in the last decade have they

become intercollegiate. But the years of great improvement may be numbered

because of one word — money.

Both Arnett and Schultz agree that finances are the

major problem, but at the same time, they feel that

very little can be done immediately. "It's just an absence

of money," Arnett said. She pointed to the current state

of the national economy as a primary reason for the

problem.

Schultz said that he originally submitted a 1977-78

women's athletic budget calling for a 12 percent increase over this year. But the proposed increase was immedi

ately "whacked in half," he said. The dilemma stems

from the fact that other university departments, includ ing nonathletic ones, are receiving just a 3 percent hike.
Schultz admits that a 6 percent increase for women's
athletics may just barely cover the rising cost of infla
tion. He added, however, that he is "thankful for small

favors" — considering that the women's increase is twice what other departments appear to be getting. Men's athletics will be getting only a 3 percent increase next
year, Schultz said.
Both Schultz and Arnett also agree that fund-raising
is the best way out of the current financial crunch. But
fund-raising for women's sports has been difficult. Schultz has recognized that fact and has authorized the establishment of a post that would deal largely with fund-raising and development for both men's and
women's sports. The post, Director of Public Affairs for
Intercollegiate Athletics and Physical Education, would oversee the planning and operating of fund-raising activi ties. Women's fund-raising has been done only on a small scale, according to Arnett. Activities such as a cookie sale and a "run-a-thon" are typical of the money-
making projects women's sports have had to use to
supplement their budgets. The best way to raise money, according to both
Schultz and Arnett, is to identify possible donors, such
as former athletes, and solicit money from them. But
again, problems have arisen. The rapid growth of
women's sports has enabled a great number of women
to participate but, due to the lack of sports several years
ago, there aren't many former Cornell women athletes. Arnett added that many of the former athletes are
recent graduates, just starting out in business or with a family. These women are often unable to contribute amounts needed to give the programs a cushion. Many
of the older alumni are not interested in giving money
because they remember the early days of women's sports
when the few programs Cornell offered were not ade
quately funded or recognized, according to Arnett. Currently, Cornell has some of the best women's teams
in the country. Two prime examples are the Red fenc ing and ice hockey squads. The Cornell fencers have
taken the national title five times, while the skaters,
under Coach Bill Duthie, a former Cornell men's hockey
captain, have quickly risen to the top of the athletic ladder. In skiing, swimming, tennis, and volleyball, Cornell women have always been among the tops in
New York State.
Perhaps the most exciting new Cornell women's sport is gymnastics. Coached by Gretchen Dowsing, one ot
the nation's top mentors, the Red gymnasts have several

. . AND ON THE FIELD
by Steve Grandin '77

6

Cornell women's athletics
come in many different shapes and sizes. The
wo men 's gy rn nasties team,
thanks to an influx of highly regarded freshmen, will be one of the top squads in
New York, while the women
icers are feared in their
circles as much as the Cor
nell men skaters are in theirs. The women's crew team is
making a comeback after several years of inactivity.

women who have competed in international competition, including freshman Renee Hack, the U.S. Senior
National Balance Beam champion. In just a few years, Dowsing has brought her team from virtually nowhere to be possibly one of the best in New York State.
This year has been a productive year off-the-field for
women's athletics. For the first time, there is a trainer
located in Helen Newman Hall to serve injured athletes. The job nearly fell through, though, since the budget called for only "one-half trainer" and supplied no money to equip a training room. Schultz, who just took over his post in July, was forced to "run around and try to find money" to make the women's trainer and training room a reality. Arnett also notes a marked improvement in the quality of women's sports information this year.
Cornell's location hinders its women's athletics. Ithaca
is too far from Boston, Providence, Philadelphia, Han over, Princeton, New Haven, and New York City to
economically play a competitive Ivy League schedule. For example, the Red field hockey team traveled to Harvard this fall for a game and spent nearly 50 percent of its entire budget on the trip, according to Arnett. But many local schools, such as Ithaca College, Wells,
Elmira, William Smith, Keuka, and Cortland State
provide excellent competition in some sports.

The Ivy League is attempting to solve the transporta tion problem by sponsoring league tournaments, so schools will only have to make one long trip a year, but still have league status. Tournaments are run in cross country, basketball, gymnastics, ice hockey, and
track.
Surprisingly, the controversial Title IX rule has not had a significant influence on the strengthening of
women's sports at Cornell in the last few years. Title IX
is a federal ruling that prohibits discrimination by sex
in schools that receive federal money, "There is a mis
conception about Title IX," Schultz said. "It does not mean equality of funding, but rather equality of oppor tunity." Changes instituted to conform with Title IX
have been the addition of a women's trainer, the exten
sion of football gate passes to women athletes, and an
increased availability of men's athletic facilities to
women.
Cornell appears to have reached its limit in the number of women's sports it can offer. Now the Cornell
administration is looking to strengthen the existing pro
grams. With some luck and a lot of financial relief,
Cornell's already extensive program of women's sports can be made a highly successful one. It's moving that way already.

7

BAGGING the BOOKS
by Bruce Berkman '78 ir ack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile." There's no fighting it — after the parties and the fun, between football on Saturday and Happy Hour on Friday, all students face the task that first brought them to Cornell — study. And whether it's off to Uris Libe for last-minute research or down to the Ivy
Room for some munchies, a student has to carry around the
tools of the trade. A quick glimpse around the campus
revealed many solutions to this unavoidable concern. Smile!
8

A. Bookbags come in all sizes, shapes and brand names.
B. Greeting the new day outside Mary Donlon Hall.
C. It's a long climb up to Martha Van Rensselaer Hall.
D. An ever-present "Harvard Bag" waits patiently for its owner to finish reading in Uris Eibrary.
E. Eeainng the Straight, bookbag in hand.
F. Roberts Hall bench provides a resting place for students and bookbags.
G. Taking a short rest between classes outside of Olin
Library.
H. The Cornell Campus Store proiidcs a nude it lection of bookbags in many styles.

Xhe cry — "Quick Henry, the Flit!" — used to strike fear into the hearts of hungry bugs. But despite the many advantages of chemicals such as DDT, their draw
backs demanded that scientists look for other ways to
control insects.
Last summer, Cornell scientists announced the dis
covery of two different but equally promising natural
forms of insect control. A group of researchers headed
by Dr. William S. Bowers, an entomologist at the N.Y. State Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva, dis
covered a chemical in the common blue ageratum
which, by upsetting the hormonal balance of certain insects, affects the rate and quality of their maturation.
The other announcement came from Eric A. Pillemer
and Dr. Ward M. Tingey, who found that certain leaf
hairs in some bean varieties literally stab and capture
insects feeding on the leaves.
Tingey, an assistant professor of Ento mology at Cornell, has been working on natural bug controls for several
years, researching and teaching about plant resistance to insects. He currently teaches a course in conjunction with Dr. Vernon Gracen of Plant Breeding on pest resistance in crop plants.
Pillemer, who conducted most of the
studies on this insect defense mechanism, is a graduate student at Cornell in
Plant Breeding. This research consti
tutes a portion of his Ph.D. thesis on the resistance of dry beans to leafhoppers.
Pillemer and Tingey began their research of physical plant barriers to insects as part of a cooperative effort with the Inter national Center for Tropical Agriculture (CI AT) in Cali, Colombia. Insect damage to dry beans is a severe prob
lem in Central and South America, where the crop con stitutes a prime source of protein in human diets.
Empoasca kraemen, a close relative of the potato leafhopper of North America, seriously limits the pro duction of dry beans in Latin America. Infestations of the pest are so frequent and intense, however, that appli cation of enough pesticides to be effective would endan
ger both humans and the environment.
Pillemer and Tingey began to study the natural resis tance of certain varieties of dry beans to leafhoppers. While examining the damage done to leaves by feeding

bugs, they noticed leafhoppers clinging to the leaves of some of the plants. Using a microscope, they found the insects to be impaled on hooked leaf hairs, called hooked trichomes. "As leafhoppers are very active, we concluded that the insects became entangled in the hairs as they moved rapidly over the leaf surface," Pillemer says.
The scientists set out to explore the mechanism by which the hairs control the young leafhoppers, or nymphs, and particularly the effect of the density and angle of the hooked trichomes on the leaf. They found that the higher the density of the hairs, the higher the number of leafhopper nymphs captured. Small young leaves, those most delectable to the bugs and most sus
ceptible to damage, have a higher density of hairs than
older, larger leaves, and are thus better protected.
Tingey and Pillemer seem too benevolent to be search
ing for ways to entangle, puncture,
tear and kill. But they don't mind
pointing out some gory details of the
trichome mechanism. Using a scanning electron microscope, they observed and
photographed the methods by which the hooked trichomes fight insects. They found that the leafhoppers, especially the nymphs, often are impaled in the tender abdomen. This usually proves fatal, as the bugs tend to mortally wound themselves during their struggles
to escape.
The abdomen is not the only danger
ous place to get caught on a hooked leaf hair. Leafhoppers captured by their leg parts stop feeding and struggle to
free themselves from the trichome, fre
quently becoming impaled on other trichomes during the escape struggle. If unable to escape, the insect usually dies because of dehydration and starvation.
The blue ageratum extract developed by Dr. Bowers could someday be packaged as a spray and sold alongside other insecticides. Its chemical structure is relatively simple and could be synthesized fairly easily. The extract consists of two precocenes, or anti-juvenile hormones, which force insect nymphs to mature early.
Although the extract is as dangerous as the hooked
trichomes to insects, it is as safe as the trichomes for the environment and for humans.
The work which led to the discoverv of the extract
began over ten years ago. Bowers was searching for a

by Bruce Carson '77
££
Quick, Henry — the Blue Ageratum! 55

10

Opposite: Hooked trichomes on a bean plant leaf. Below: Green peach aphids gathered on a potato vine.
biochemical difference between humans and insects,
one which could be exploited to control bugs without damaging other forms of life. He found that difference to be juvenile hormones that occur naturally at various periods of the insect's life and that prevent the insect from maturing as long as the hormones are present.
Juvenile hormones have been used successfully to con trol mosquitoes and flies, but they have been of little use in agronomy since they work only during the short periods when the insects lack them. Also, most of the damage done to crops occurs during the larval stage of
the insect. In 1972, Bowers set out to find an anti-
juvenile hormone which would shorten the larval stage of the insect. "Frankly, it was an act of faith, a long
shot," he says. But with a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation and his choice of some 18,000 different
plant seeds, Bowers and three associates — Dr. Tomihisa Ohta, Ms. Jeanne S. Cleere and Ms. Patricia A. Marsella — began to test the effects of various plant
extracts on immature insects.
"In the course of our studies, we found several plant extracts that inhibited feeding, interfered with molting and were generally toxic (to insects)," Bowers notes. Finally the team of scientists found extracts with the effects they were looking for, the anti-juvenile hormones. They discovered that Hemiptera, especially milkweed bugs and cotton stainers, were most susceptible to the
hormones.
Spraying the hormones during the larval stage causes the bugs to mature early, shortening their most damag ing eating stage. Application of the chemicals to adult
females sterilizes them and blocks the release of sex
attractants. The hormones also cause the yolks of eggs
in pregnant females to be resorbed. If the eggs do survive
and hatch, the nymphs will mature early. Adults which contact the hormone may be forced into diapause, a
form of hibernation.

This all means that the precocenes could be applied to a population of bugs in mixed stages of development and affect the entire species' population without endan gering other forms of life.
According to Bowers, the hormones' partial specificity has two implications. It means that a breakthrough in
chemical structure will be needed to control other insects
to a full extent. On the other hand, the existence of
partial specificity may lead to the discovery or develop ment of hormones that control specific selected species
of pests.
What about the future of trichomes and anti-juvenile hormones? Pillemer and Tingey are checking the possi bility of breeding the trichome defense into beans with characteristics that fit farmer and consumer require ments in various countries. Their discoveries concerning
hooked trichome resistance will be tested to determine
the effects of the trichomes in large plantings of dry
beans.
Tingey, Pillemer and other specialists in entomology and plant breeding are researching another type of tri
chome defense as well, this one a combination of
chemical and physical mechanisms. This mechanism
has been identified in a wild South American potato
species which is "exceedingly resistant" to the green peach aphid, a chronic potato pest world-wide.
The defense mechanism consists of a number of
"glandular" leaf hairs, or "glandular trichomes." When an insect touches the glandular head of the trichome, the head expels a sticky substance which physically hampers the bug's activities by coating its legs, mouth parts and ovipositer (egg laying organ).
The scientists say that although development of potato varieties with glandular trichome resistance may take up
to 15 years, it would be worthwhile. Since a trichome
is one of the first plant structures with which an insect
comes in contact and since it has an immediate effect,
the leaves are largely protected from contact with the insect. This could be especially important in reducing disease transmission by infective insects.
Pillemer and Tingey expect that their research into the mechanisms of physical bug barriers will help in the breeding of more insect-resistant crop plants of world-wide usefulness to agriculture.
Bowers is continuing to test the effectiveness and safety of anti-juvenile hormones as an insect control. "We hope it will guide the way to the emergence of a fourth generation of safe and insect-specific pesticides." He believes that some day farmers will have these hor
mones as a method to control insect pests. Because
they are chemical pesticides, however, proper testing and government approval will take a minimum of seven to nine years and will cost in the neighborhood of $10
million.
So, if you find a worm in your tomatoes, don't call
for the can of "Blue Ageratum" yet. But hang on — it's
coming.

11

JUNE FESSENDEN-RADEN
The Versatile Vice Provost
by Cliff Cockerham '78

Students are more willing to venture towards the inner recesses of Day Hall these days. In the heart of the Uni versity's central administration stronghold, on the third floor, they now look for the open door of Vice Provost June Fessenden-Raden.
The many roles she fills at Cornell seem to add to her
overall credibility on campus. As a successful researcher, respected educator, leading academic innovator, and advocate of equal rights for women and minorities, she is often the prime recourse for students with problems. And despite the varied and time-consuming roles she fulfills on campus, June Raden still places prime impor tance on her job of mother at home.
Raden graduated at the top of the Class of '59 at Brown University. After a one-year stint at Tufts Medi
cal School that ended in disillusionment, she transferred
to the graduate school to study biochemistry — her under graduate honors research field. The doctorate led her to three more years of pure research before accepting her first faculty position as an Assistant Professor of Biochem istry at Cornell in 1966.
"I need to teach," explained Raden. "This contact with students is enjoyable and fulfilling. At Cornell I've taught several biochemistry lab courses for undergradu ates and graduates, and given undergraduate seminars."
Tenure was granted in 1973 and a year later Raden
became the Associate Director for Academic Affairs in
the Division of Biological Sciences. In 1975, Raden accepted the broad challenge to improve the quality of undergraduate education at Cornell as the new Vice
Provost.
Her shift from educator to educational innovator is
an interesting one. She first became concerned when seniors she had known in her courses for only two or
three weeks requested recommendations from her for
medical schools because they knew no other professors.
Raden then recognized the need to bring students and
professors at Cornell back in touch with each other.
"Size is one of our problems," said Raden, discussing the plight of Cornell's biology students. "The Division
of Biological Sciences has almost 100 professors spread out in 20 buildings for over 1600 undergraduates."
On March 6, 1974, then Associate Professor June
Raden wrote Division Director Richard O'Brien advo
cating the formation of a biology center to give the Division, and most particularly undergraduate biology majors, a "home."

According to
Raden, she sought
help from the fac ulty and administra
tion, whose reaction
was: "It sounds
great, but do you think the students
would be interested?" Raden placed an advertisement in the Cornell Daily Sun which attracted some 50 students to an organizational meeting. When she put the pro posal of a biology center to them, the reply was: "It sounds great, but do you think the faculty and adminis
tration would be interested?"
Relying on a wide base of support, Raden succeeded in the effort within 11 months. Space was allotted, funds were earmarked, and the present Biology Center in Stimson Hall was established. At the same time, June
Raden took on the role of Associate Director for Aca
demic Affairs.
As Raden worked to improve undergraduate education in the Division of Biological Sciences, she gained renown with the students. They elected her to the student-selected faculty seat on the University Board of Trustees. In 1975, University Provost David Knapp decided that all the undergraduates would benefit from her special interest in improving education if she were Vice Provost.
'"You've been complaining enough; now do something about undergraduate education.' That's what it seemed like they were saying when they offered me the Vice Provost's position," Raden recalled. "I love teaching, but I knew if I didn't take the job, I would have to keep silent, because I wouldn't have any right to complain.
Raden's sweeping task as Vice Provost is to improve undergraduate education at Cornell. Though her efforts mainly focus on freshmen and sophomores, they also involve graduate teaching assistants and faculty. The
emphasis is on the communications gap. "One of the great things about Cornell is diversity,
but a perceived inaccessibility keeps the students from availing themselves of everything on the campus. Com munication will have to combat shyness and ignorance at all levels, including the pre-frosh. And we also have
to remember that communications is a two-way street.
Building a communication bridge between the stu dents and faculty is her primary goal. Raden actively
encourages undergraduates to have the "willingness,

12

motivation, and perseverance to go after that Cornell
education." Through the faculty and special programs, Raden wants to identify the academic resources and
create roads of access.
Vice Provost Raden views her position as that of a facilitator. She searches throughout the Cornell com munity for constructive new ideas from educators facing real problems in their respective fields, and then she works to implement them.
Despite Raden's responsibilities as one of Day Hall's key figures, she refuses to abandon teaching. This past fall, she served as teaching assistant in Biology 430, which is the modular biochemical laboratory methods course that she worked to establish before entering the administration. Next spring, the Vice Provost will be teaching an undergraduate seminar with Prof. William Provine on the History of Biology.
While the laboratory is an important part of her life, many colleagues and students feel that the demand for her time is more pressing in the Vice Provost's office. Although Raden has not yet reconciled herself with the idea of giving up an exciting and important area of
research, she feels that the chances are about 90 percent that she will stay in administration. "In the administra
tion," Raden explained, "I can have input and see the
outcome. Because I have support here and chances to
be creative, I find it gratifying."
A woman like Raden, active in the administration
and on the Board of Trustees, is naturally viewed by people on campus as an advocate of equal rights for women and minorities. Raden cannot help serving as a symbol for many; however, she holds no formal adminis
trative role in this vein.
"One can't help but be cognizant of the problems
Professor Raden retreats to a biochemistry lab in Wing Hall, where she focuses on problems in
cancer research.

Vice Provost June Raden hosts a weekly brown bag luncheon in her Day Hall office. Undergra duates use this time to voice opinions and raise questions in an open discussion.
women have on this campus," noted Raden. "Women and minorities at Cornell have not yet gained equal opportunity. There is a long way to go in the need for sensitivity and education. Some have come a long way
and those who have succeeded have a burden to educate
their colleagues by providing the demonstration of doing their jobs well and assisting the career develop ment of their peers."
For Cornell, Raden wants the efforts the University wishes to invest in minorities and women clearly defined
and then put into effect. Affirmative Action programs,
according to Raden, should seek out qualified women and minorities, and give them an equal opportunity to demonstrate their ability.
Vice Provost Raden is not only a successful profes
sional woman, but also a dedicated mother. A widow,
she knows the difficulty of raising a child as a single
parent. At the same time, she feels it has been easier for her in some ways. "A woman with a child but no
husband," she said, "doesn't have to justify working for
a living and as a result, people are more supportive." Conflicts between her roles as professional and mother
arise only rarely. Her time commitment choices fall either way under different circumstances but, according to Raden, they never seem to border on neglect of any
one part of her life. Raden said, "A woman doesn't have to make a choice
between a full-time career and a family. She can do both, but it requires understanding and support from family and professional colleagues. Then she has to learn to budget her time."
During the transition from Academic Affairs to the Vice Provost's office, Raden held three jobs simultan
eously. She remembers her then nine-year-old son com menting at the end of that hectic period: "It's nice that you only have two jobs now instead of three, but I wonder what it would be like if you had only one."

13

STRETCHING
THE BIG RED

by Cathy Ferrand '78
The next time an advisor can't find your transcript,
ask where his secretary is. Or the next time there aren't any paper towels in the restroom, ask the dorm staff
about it. These are two signs of the current trend at Cornell — money saving!
According to a release published by the Office of
Public Information, many units at Cornell recorded sav
ings over their planned budgets for the 1975-76 year. For the endowed units, the total accounting surplus was approximately $2,967,000. However, the University still had to dip into $3.4 million of capital reserves and $728,000 of unrestricted bequests which would previously
have gone into endowment.
Cornell's aim has been to save money by cutting unnecessary spending. It has been successful in a number of ways. One area of saving cited by University Treasurer Arthur H. Peterson was that of vacant jobs. Consoli dating jobs and not filling vacant jobs immediately saved $575,000 more than the original estimate of $340,000. If your advisor really couldn't find your transcript, don't
worry; at least you still have an advisor.
Cornell increased its current investment income by about $560,000. According to Peterson, roughly half was due to improved money management which allowed a larger part of the University's money to be invested for interest. Much of the improvement in the year-end budget figure resulted from efficient management.
Part of the University's savings came from accumula tion of maintenance projects which have been left undone in recent years. According to University Presi
dent Dale R. Corson, "It has been estimated that we
have from $7.5 to $10 million in such projects that are of an emergency nature." A campus as large as Cornell requires continuous maintenance of buildings, side walks, roads, and lighting. So when you fall in a pothole because of the poor lighting in some obscure corner of campus, just remember that you're boosting the finan
cial cause.
Several budget areas showed surpluses. In designated funds, much improvement was made through savings by deans and managers. This money was reappropriated into their budgets for the current year.

Some accounts had smaller deficits than were
expected. The $1.5 million deficit originally anticipated in general purpose funds was revised down twice to a final figure of $620,000. As shivering students on cam pus might expect, the Central Heating Plant showed a $380,000 improvement. However, the plant still ended
1975-76 $175,000 in the red.
Physical Plant Operations showed a marked improve ment, too. It began the year with an $885,064 deficit which it brought up to an almost break-even position. How did they do it? One method used was pasting stickers near light switches reminding students and faculty to turn off the lights when leaving the room.
According to Peterson, enterprise units of Cornell changed pricing policies to catch up with negative balances in their accounts. If food or items purchased on campus seem a little more expensive than in the past, that may be why. Peterson said, "Essentially the Univer sity was able during 1975-76 to make substantial progress towards achieving financial equilibrium, whereas we had feared we would lose ground."
The state of the national economy greatly influenced the finances at Cornell, too. Peterson explained that "The budget for the year was prepared almost two years ago, during the worst of the recession, so that in part one might attribute the results to improvements in the economy." But the University's financial condition is still not healthy. Cornell used up $37.5 million in capital funds over the last 11 years to support opera tions. This slightly exceeded the amount received from gifts and market gains available for the support of oper ations. As President Corson said, "the University will need to continue its austerity programs for several years to catch up, even with such fine performances as
1975-76."
To whom does the credit for saving belong? President
Corson gave the credit "to people at all the operating levels of the University, to deans, to department heads, to faculty members and to the support staff, people who have taken seriously Cornell's problems and been
zealous in their efforts to cut costs and increase income."
And credit also belongs to the students braving the cut
backs.

14

Jane S. Tutton, '68, had an article published in last May's issue of The
Western Horseman. The article,
"4-H Polo: Hybrid Sport," is an upbeat description of this new sport designed for young horsepeople. Ms.
Tutton is an illustrator for Cornell's
Department of Animal Science, and
lives in Ithaca.
A. C. Davis, Ph.D. '50, has been
promoted to a full professorship in Cornell's Entomology Department. He has long been considered the leading authority on Northeast vege
table pests and their control. He is also a government consultant on
insect study and pesticide regulation.
Raymond C. Nichols, '52, received a Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of County Agricultural Agents. He was nomi nated by his fellow agents for his leadership achievements. Nichols
has served on state-level committees
and task forces for the coordination
of Extension and Cornell faculty
research.
Dr. Leroy Coggins, professor of virology and director of the Research Laboratory for Equine Infectious
Diseases at the New York State
College of Veterinary Medicine, has recently received patents for two
areas of his work. The patents
involve Dr. Coggins' invention of a new test for "swamp fever," or equine infectious anemia (EIA), a disease affecting horses. The test is generally known as the "Coggins Test." Both the production of the EIA antigen and the EIA diagnostic test are now protected by patents. Dr. Coggins is presently spending 12 months at the
Federal Institute for Virus Diseases
of Animals at Tubingen, West Ger many, as a result of his being
awarded the Humboldt Award for
Senior U.S. Scientists.

The Northeast Section of the Wild
life Society has honored Patricia Riexinger, '76, with the P.F. English Award. The award is given annually to the outstanding wildlife student in the Northeast. Ms. Riexinger, who was a major in the Department
of Natural Resources at Cornell, has
served as a teaching assistant in wildlife courses, as president of the
Cornell Conservation Club and at
the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge.
Claire Garrett, '70, whose major
was communication arts, is now the
Plant Lady in the Boston area. Ms. Garrett writes a column on plant culture for the Marblehead Reporter and also writes "Keep Your Greens
in the Pink," a column for The
Waterfront Era. Her business
includes lectures, house calls to
diagnose sick plants, designing inter ior landscapes and teaching adult education courses on plants. Claire
can be heard on WESX radio where
she answers gardeners' questions.
E. Walter Coward, Jr. has been appointed chairman of the Depart ment of Rural Sociology at the N.Y. State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Professor Coward joined
the staff in 1973. He served as asso
ciate director of the Northeast
Center for Rural Development last year. He received his B.S. degree from Delaware Valley College and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Iowa State University.
Cornell graduate Ernest H. Cowen,
'65, has been named executive direc
tor of the Agribusiness Institute of
Florida. In his role of executive
director, Cowen will lead and coordi
nate all the Institute's activities. The
Agribusiness Institute of Florida is a non-profit organization serving as an information and public rela tions unit for Florida agriculture.

Women's Studies
(Continued from page 3)
Cornell. It is discouraging for women when they run into only men at the
top positions in their field. "It tends to make them feel they are doing something they shouldn't be."
The Women's Studies Program is trying to combat this situation by encouraging women to apply for university positions so there will be more positive models for women. Ettin felt that just the presence of
the program has tended to make
those doing the hiring consider women for jobs that otherwise might
have gone to men without discussion
or thought of women.
Besides the courses, the other
main activity of the program is the sponsorship of Friday seminars fea turing topics of interest for and
about women. The seminars are
open to the public and serve to spread the ideas of Women's Studies out into the community. In 1975, more than 3,000 people attended the lectures. This year, topics
included "Women and Affirmative
Action," "Women's Magazines in
1976," "Career Ladders for Women
in Clerical Jobs," and "Women in Traditionally Male Professions."
Women's Studies is an important
step forward for Cornell women. It
is pledged to provide women with information they need to adapt to their changing roles in today's society. For the future, Ettin summed
up with the need for more courses
and more women professors. Ettin
admitted there are gaps in the pro gram which the program directors
are striving to fill. More courses are
needed in literature, government,
and the ideology and theory of the feminist movement. "Steps must be taken to solidify the gains the pro gram has already made. Too many courses come and go because they
are taught only one semester by a visiting lecturer," she added. The Women's Studies Program is off to a good start and promises to be a solid educational discipline that will give both men and women a more accurate picture of women's roles.

15

"The University is fortunate indeed to have a

person of Constance Cook's qualifications to take

on

this

important

responsibility for

"
Cornell,

said

President Dale R. Corson. "Her knowledge of state

government and her legal and administrative

talents will be of great benefit to the University in fulfilling its land grant responsibilities. "

MRNELL STRENGTHENS LAND GRANT MISSION

To strengthen the land grant mission, Cornell University's Board of Trustees has appointed Con stance E. Cook, lawyer, former member of the New York State Assembly, and former Cornell University trustee, to fill the newly- created position
of Vice President for Land Grant Affairs. She
assumed the new office on November 1, 1976.
Since the major objective of land grant uni versities is to "teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts," the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, through extensive research and development, has been a principal force in extending the benefits of the land grant idea to the public.
Cook will be responsible for promoting Cornell's land grant programs through development and coordination of public service efforts of the endowed and statutory colleges at Cornell. The
duties of the new Vice President will include coor
dinating relationships among the statutory colleges at Cornell, the State University, the New York State legislature, and executive agencies. The new position will also involve the development and execution of the annual statutory operating and capital budgets.
New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of the State University, at Cornell University

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1977/VOL. LXXIV NUMBER 4

EDITORS Janet R. Smith
Clifford Cockerham Debra Slotnick
ASSISTANT EDITORS Cathy Ferrand
Paula Shuster

ART EDITORS
Elisabeth Varak
William E. Gray
Bruce Carson

EDITORIAL STAFF
Linda Adams
Bruce Berkman
Barbara Buoymaster Bruce Crispell
Steven Grandin
Helene Vigorita Catharine L. Rogers Karen Esposito Lori Shapiro

3 The Morrill Land Grant Act by Catharine L. Rogers
5 The Case Against Acid Rain
by Paula C. Shuster

IN THIS ISSUE:
11

Reviving the Ag Quad
by Elisabeth Varak

14 The Woman for the Job
by Barbara Buoymaster

6 More Than a Tree Grows in Brooklyn
by Lori Shapiro

16 What Happened to State Street?
by Cathy Ferrand

8 From the Attic to the Archives by Debra Slotnick

18 The Land Grant. . .No Blank Check by Clifford Cockerham

9 Martha Mapes - Innovator in Nutrition
by Linda Adams

20 International Agriculture's Bumper Crop
by Helene Vigorita

10 Return of the Raptors
by Bruce Carson

22 Who Lives Here? by Cathy Ferrand
ON THE COVER

This issue of the Cornell Countryman deals with the history, activities, and con
troversy associated with Cornell's land
grant status. Featured on the cover are
student proposals for the relandscaping of the Ag. Quad.

The Cornell Countryman is published seven times a year from October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscrip
tion Rates: $2.50 a year; $4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three
years. Editorial content gathered and written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors: Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

MORRILL LAND
GRANT ACT
Of 1862

by CATHARINE L. ROGERS 77
". . .to promote the liberal and practical education. . . "

.Like many great ventures, the story of Cornell's founding weaves the chances of fate and the dedication and foresight of men into an intriguing story. Cornell owes its existence to the generosity and sagacity of Ezra Cornell, the perseverance of Andrew D. White, and the vision of Justin Smith Morrill, sponsor of the Morrill
Land Grant Act.
By receiving the land grant from the Morrill Act, Cornell became one of 68 institutions of higher educa tion in the United States founded during the latter part of the nineteenth century. The Morrill Act proved to be an important development in education and made it possible for the educational system to flourish into what it is today.
Our state universities, primarily land grant institu tions, are attended by one out of five students. They confer 40% of all doctoral degrees, all of those in agriculture, half of those in science and engineering, and a quarter of those in the arts and languages. Should it be thought that the universities neglect quality for quantity, 25 Nobel Prize winners have been from land
grant colleges.
The influence of the land grant institutions extends
into the daily lives of people all over the world. Dis
coveries in science and medicine, technical advances,
and research into new and profitable ways of food pro
duction have come out of these institutions. Billions
of dollars have been added to the nation in return for
the comparatively small initial investment. This record
of achievement supports the land grant idea that a
society that supports public universities is the chief bene ficiary in terms of increased wealth, better health, and general well being.
The Morrill Act was particularly significant for two reasons. First, it promoted the idea that anyone with the ability for a higher education should have the chance for one and secondly it provided the incentive to bring this equal educational opportunity idea to life. The

Land Grant Act reversed the traditional idea that only the wealthy had access to education.

The purpose of the Morrill Act was to provide for ". . .one college in each state to teach agriculture and
the mechanic arts. . . in order to promote the liberal
and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life."
Terms of the act gave each state a grant of Federal land. The land was allotted on the basis of 30,000 acres

for each member of Congress in the state. The profits from the sale of the land were to go to the university for investment. If federal public lands existed within a state, these could be claimed. If there were no public

lands, the government issued land scrip in undeveloped
states equal to the number of acres allowed.
Concern arose over the fact that eastern states could

locate a great block of land in a western state and in a
sense establish a colony. To avoid this, the act required that land scrip be sold and the proceeds invested in safe stocks with the dividends going to a college for agricul ture. Each state was required to provide one such college

or forfeit the grant.
The first time Morrill's bill was brought up for a vote, it was passed by the Congress but vetoed by Presi
dent Buchanan. However, in 1860 the southern states
seceeded from the union and the climate for passing the

bill grew more favorable. Without the southern opposi tion, Morrill introduced a second bill which proposed

studies not only in the agricultural and mechanic arts but military tactics as well. With the War Between the States fast approaching, the bill was signed into law on

July 2, 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln. When the Morrill Act was passed in 1862. Cornell

University was no more than a dream in Andrew White's head and 300 acres of farm land owned by Ezra Cornell.

populatedNew York was the most

state in the union.

With its total of 33 senators and representatives, it was

continued next page

3

the chief beneficiary of the act. One tenth of the grant ended up going to New York, a total of 990,000 acres. Prime contenders for the benefits of the Morrill Act were the People's College, located in what is now Montour
Falls, and the State Agricultural College at Ovid. Enter
Ezra Cornell and Andrew D. White.
Cornell and White met in 1864 when they were both
members of the New York State Senate; Cornell on the
Agriculture Committee and White, Chairman of the
With the land grant fund totally available,
Cornell proposed that the college be located in
Ithaca.
Committee on Literature. Despite their different back ground, White and Cornell soon realized their common educational goal. Events leading to Cornell University's founding began with a resolution by White that the People's College, major contender for the grant, be investigated to see if it could meet the necessary require ment. To satisfy the requirement, the college bad to acquire ten professors, accommodations for 250 students, operate a farm of at least 200 acres, and add a library and laboratory facilities. The People's College was hope lessly inadequate and the proposal's needs wouldn't be met within the specified time period. The grant was
withdrawn.
With the land grand fund totally available, Cornell proposed that the college be located in Ithaca. He
offered his farm of 300 acres as the site, to erect suitable
buildings, and give an aditional sum of $300,000 on the condition that the Congressional College Fund endow the college with $30,000 a year.
White introduced a bill "to establish Cornell University and to appropriate to it the income from the sale of public lands.'' Friends of the People's College and other small colleges who had some hope of obtaining a portion of the grant rallied against the proposal. Cornell and White instigated some practical politics to get their proposal passed; bargains, concessions and unwritten promises. It was passed with a few revisions and signed
Once the land was allotted for the university, the question was how to make the most of it.
by Governor Fenton on April 27, 1865, signalling the official birth of Cornell University.
Once the land was allotted for the universitv, the
question was how to make the most of it. Cornell's wisdom
was invaluable here. Because the state was forbidden to
locate the lands, it was proposed that men of "goodwill' should purchase the scrip, locate the better lands while they were still available, and hold them in trust for their college. The benefit of this investment was evident for the timberland would be precious in the luture.
•1

Cornell bought 100,000 acres of land scrip from New York for $50,000, buying the remaining land certificates for 30c an acre down payment, with the agreement that as the land was resold, he would pay the additional cost per acre. The university would reimburse him and any surplus would go to the Cornell Endowment Fund.
Thus the University Endowment Fund existed in three
parts. The first was known as the Founder's Fund and
included Cornell's initial gift of $500,000 and donation of the site. Supplementing the Founder's Fund was the College Land Scrip Fund, financed through the sale of the land scrip by the state to Cornell. Lastly, there was
the Cornell Endowment Fund, to be drawn from
eventual profits on the land sales.
Cornell realized the importance of carefully choosing
his land. He knew the value of the timber lands of Wisconsin and spent his own time and money to care
fully select the best possible tracts to make his investment
The act proved to be a far sighted proposal, benefiting not only students but the entire
nation.
as lucrative as possible. His intelligence in the manage ment of the land scrip and the sale of his lands brought
benefits for Cornell and New York State that were far
greater than any of the other states. Most states converted
their scrip immediately to cash, flooding the market and lowering the prices. Cornell was wise enough to realize the future value of the land and held out against the continuous pressure to sell the land quicklv for cash.
Cornell's prudence can be seen in comparing the returns from the land scrip for other states compared to the overall returns on Cornell's carefullv managed
sales. For instance, Illinois received 480,000 acres of
scrip and sold it for $648,442. Rutgers received 210,000 acres; the sale price for the land in scrip was SI 15,945. Pennsylvania received 730,000 acres and sold them tor
$439,186.
Cornell Universitv, however, was fortunate to have an
able financier in Ezra Cornell. His practical dealings with New York's 990,000 acres gained a sum of over $5,460,038 for the universitv. The original scrip pur chased by Cornell was $688,576 but yielded the largest sum horn resale. Cornell insisted on holding on to his land and waiting as it increased in value. His shrewdness
is reflected in the size of the eventual endowment to the
University.
I he history of Cornell, like so many other universities.
was dependent on the Monill Land Grant Act. The act proved to be a far sighted proposal, benefiting not only students but the entire nation. Morrill Hall, a tangil'k
tribute to the man and his vision, adorns numerous
inllege campuses, a constant reminder of the contribu tion o| Justin Morrill and the Morrill Act.

Proving the Case
AGAINST ACID RAIN
by PAULA C. SHUSTER 77

I he only reason the Finger Lakes Region of New
York has the most acid rain in North America is because
of pollution blown in from practically everywhere west of us." This is a statement from Dr. F. Harvey Pough, a herpetologist in the Division of Biological Sciences at the New York State College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences.
Acid rain is a term describing precipitation that has a low pH, the result of burning fossil fuels in homes and factories, releasing of automobile exhaust into the air,
and other sources of sulfates and nitrates that come
from combustion. These chemicals are dispersed into the air and later washed out by rain, filling the temporary ponds where salamanders and other amphibians must
lay eggs.
Studies conducted in the Adirondacks revealed that
about 50 percent of the lakes lying above elevations of about 2,000 feet are quite acidic, having a pH of less
than 5. Of these lakes, 90 percent lack fish life. In other areas of New York State, brook trout and white suckers
have been found to be particularly vulnerable to acid
rain.
Fish are not the only victims of acid rain. Professor Pough's research has shown that amphibians, such as the spotted and Jefferson salamander, are adversely affected by acid rain in the Ithaca area. According to Professor Pough, the temperature and acidity of the water affects salamander embryos. Since amphibians must lay their eggs in water, the early embryo is sensi tive to harmful acids in the water. Most spotted sala manders hatch successfully at a pH of 7, while the Jefferson salamander requires a pH of at least 5 to hatch normally. Due to the low pH of 3 or less found in temporary ponds affected by acid rain, both spotted and the Jefferson salamanders have high abnormality and mortality rates.
The decreased size of salamander populations has severe ecological ramifications. According to Dr. Pough, "One Ambystoma (spotted salamander) eats 80 midge larvae a day, and these are the top vertebrate predators
where there aren't any fish." In addition, birds, rodents
and other small mammals rely on salamanders as a part of their food supply, thus creating a worrisome gap in a
highly complex food web.

Putting the problem in an international perspective, Dr. Pough commented that "The acid rain problem was recognized as a severe problem in Scandinavia at least two decades ago." Researchers G. F. Hendrey and R. F. Wright at the Norwegian Institute for Water Research
in Oslo found that "A lake or a river, often overpopu-
lated with large numbers of small or stunted fish, is subjected to a long-term decrease of the pH."
The first American research into the problem was
conducted in 1974 when Professor Gene E. Likens of
Cornell found that winds from the Midwest carry indus
trial pollutants over Ithaca, where rain washes it down to form acid precipitation.
What is the solution? Dumping huge quantities of limestone into lakes to act as a mitigating agent after the damage has been done is "hardly a solution," according to Dr. Pough. It wouldn't help the Ithaca salamanders, anyway, because of their temporary pond
habitat, which dries up in the summer. The salamanders
lay their eggs only during the early spring. Besides, dumping large quantities of limestone into lakes is expensive. People simply wouldn't be willing to pay such a prohibitive price, according to Dr. Pough. He is convinced that "you must go to the source to solve this world-wide problem." Of course, getting industry and automobiles to stop polluting the air, and conse quently stop the acid rain problem is easier said than
done.
Professor Pough's research has shown that the spotted salamander is adversely affected by acid rain.

5

More Than a Tree
Grows in Brooklyn

by LORI SHAPIRO '77

New York City got a taste of rural America last sum mer through a special program in urban gardening developed by Cooperative Extension. Dan Goldman '78, in the New York State College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences at Cornell and Tina Isaris '77, spent this past
summer working in a pilot program on gardening in vacant lots, backyards and rooftops at various sites in
Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Dan and Tina met extension agents at Cornell last
year and learned of the pilot program planned in cooperation with 4-H to develop demonstration gardens for citydwelling kids. Cooperative Extension had pre viously worked with agencies in Brooklyn through pro grams in nutrition, consumer education, and youth development. Last spring, the U.S. Department of Agri culture allocated $38,000 to Cooperative Extension to be used for this urban gardening project.
The program sounded like an intriguing challenge to
Dan and Tina who were hired as student assistants.
John Ameroso, formerly a Peace Corps agronomist in Viet Nam, was hired as the year-round gardening specialist. Lawrence Lewis, an assistant holding a Master's degree in pomology from Cornell, concen trated on fruit crop problems. The group's combined knowledge covered all facets of gardening, from general plant sciences to floriculture. "We made a great team,"
Dan related, "Tina knew all about the flowers and
ground cover while I knew more of the fine points of the vegetable crops."
The group had to start the program from scratch.
"All we had was money," explained Dan. They were located in an office in a YWCA building on Third Avenue in Brooklyn and had to begin by buying all the fundamentals, including office supplies. Phil Pepe, the 4-H Youth Development Coordinator and their link with Cooperative Extension, assisted in the educational
program, providing inspiration and "a constant supply of energy.'' As a result of the group's efforts, 133 young people between the ages of six and 13 saw how a garden grows during the summer of 1976.
Garden sites had to be prepared during the month of June, before the city schools were out. Dan "moved a lot of dirt" in the process; converting a vacant lot into
a fertile field is no small task. "Each site is a story in
6

itself," and there were about 12 of them. The first lot

was at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge. Once it was

trash -free, Dan and an assistant from the neighborhood

started to dig. What felt like bedrock turned out to be

chunks of a brick wall covered by a few feet of dirt.

Dan insists "an archaeologist would have had a ball. We

found glass, boots, cans, lots of flea market items." A

sofa and remnants of a refrigerator were even unearthed

in the process.
After the sites were cleaned up, topsoil was delivered.

the first site, for instance, required 40 cubic yards or

two large dumptrucks full of soil. The group tried to get

the neighborhood kids involved since they would take

over the care of the garden once it was prepared. Curious

children stuck their noses through the fence and were

captivated the minute they saw a few caterpillars crawl

by. Adults became involved, too, especially when they

realized that flowers and vegetables were really growing.

Though most of the demonstration gardens were

located in rather rough neighborhoods, the group

encountered few problems. There was only one site
where any vandalism occurred and this was not of a

serious nature. According to Dan, most people would

just stop and stare in amazement when they saw "five

foot corn in the middle of a metropolis." Passing truck

drivers got a kick out of the whole project, shouting com ments like, "Right on, tomato power!" as they drove bv.
A large part of the summer pilot program involved

"hands on" learning. The gardens were a fine oppor tunity for kids to participate in a group project while

gaining respect for nature and the environment. Many

came to the gardens ignorant of how plants grow.

The staff taught gardening skills to children drawn from day-care groups, the Police Athletic League, the Youth Corps, the Tree Corps, the Magnolia Tree Earth Center and other city organizations. Other children

were members of an organization called A Tree Grows

in Brooklyn, which was started by Betty Smith, author

byof the book

the same name.

The kids attended two gardening skills sessions. The

first took place indoors and was basically a "how to

session in preparation for the actual gardening. They learned about tool safety, watched slides of trees and plants, and looked at pictures of insects. Most kids had

.4 large part of the summer pilot program involved "hands on" learning.
no concept of how things grew. For instance, after seeing a slide of a young corn plant, which was mostly foliage, one little boy said quizzically, "I thought corn was yellow." The kids dissected lima beans and planted seeds in milk containers to take home. They also received pamphlets prepared by the staff. At the end of the first session, the kids explored the rooftop garden atop the YWCA. Here they observed some of the limitations of their urban environment - air pollution, rain run-off, wind and tall buildings which blocked the sun.
One week later, the kids returned for the outdoor
session. They usually traveled to the Boreum Hill garden where a staff member explained such phenomena as how fruits grow out of flowers or why squash leaves are so rough. The kids exercised all their senses — they smelled herbs, felt soil and examined different vegetable plants.
The group learned quickly that there are special problems in metropolitan gardening. Since the sun travels east to west across the sky, a garden that runs north to south and is in between tall buildings gets only two to three hours of direct sunlight a day. The group
became very conscious of the sun's movements and
planted those plants which take the shade, such as
cucumbers and mint.
What do you do about squirrels who love to pull up cucumber seedlings? Well, squirrels happen to hate the smell of blood. The solution was to sprinkle dried blood meal, a good organic fertilizer, over the soil. And what
do you do when the sewer on the corner of your lot
backs up and floods your garden? Extra attention to proper drainage proved to be the answer. What do you

do when you get termites in your turnips? Termites have not traditionally been considered an agricultural hazard and the problem even stumped vegetable crops specialists
at Cornell.
Using fertilizers and other chemical soil treatments, aroused protests from many neighbors. Dan found that people were initially "paranoid" about the use of any chemical or insecticide and resented them being used, no matter how harmless they were. Nor could urban gardeners forget that the gardens were in heavily popu lated areas. After all, "How could you spread manure underneath someone's window?" That was obviously out oi the question.
All these challenges added to the excitement of the harvest. There is a special sense of achievement from picking sweet corn and zucchini squash from gardens that were once battered asphalt lots. The program turned out to be a successful effort by the U.S. Depart ment of Agriculture to help big cities. In addition to educational pursuits, Edwin L. Kirby, administrator of the Agriculture Department's Extension Service, noted
that this program demonstrated "what can be done in
helping low-income urban residents to produce some of
their own food."
In the future, Director of New York City Programs, Dr. Eugene Ezersky, hopes to coordinate a greatly expanded program. He expects to receive funding of about $500,000 and envisions, "somewhere around 100
gardens" next spring. Dan and Tina were thrilled to learn of the program's expansion in light of their partici pation in the pilot program. In the words of Dan Gold man, "If we didn't do anything else this (past) summer, there are 133 kids in Brooklyn who now know that corn
plants are green, not yellow."
Despite their urban environment, the gardens thrived quite beautifully.

/""* '

m-

_

Charles Rote, archives assistant, examines some of the photos in the library's collection.
Down in the depths of Olin Library, you can find several battle axes and swords that Willard Straight brought back from China, or the old black hat once worn by Isaac P. Roberts, former Dean of the School of Agriculture over three-quarters of a century ago, or
even Cornell beer mugs from the year 1912.
These objects are just a sampling of the many treasures housed in Cornell University's "attic."
"This campus was designed for carriages. It was once a beautiful, charming campus. These roads were never meant for cars," Gould P. Colman commented, shaking his head nostalgically. Colman is a University Archivist and Chairman of the Department of Manuscripts in the
Cornell Archives.
The question that people constantly ask is "What
does the Archivist save and what does he throw out?"
Where does the Archives staff draw the line between
priceless gems and secondhand junk? Archivists must anticipate the needs of future researchers, shape the course that research will eventually take and respond to
the needs of present researchers.
"Since everything that we collect for our Archives is unique, we try to answer the question of marginal utility: Will the cost of preserving the records be justified? The gems are priceless. . .the junk is junk," Colman explained.
"We throw away very little except for any duplicates (i.e. pamphlets and carbon copies). Basically what we accept, we keep. There are so many different research projects that many of our collections are frequently in use," explained Kathleen Jacklin, Archivist at Cornell
for the past 25 years.

A renewed interest in Cornell University's past, black history and women are examples of the new and popular topics of study. Archivists generate some of the research interest, but much of the interest is due largely to
current American interests.
Today students are interested in the University's his tory. Students ask "What was college life like back then?",
"What did the students wear?", "What courses were
offered?" and "What did the campus look like?"
The Cornell Archives has become everybody's attic.
Cornell students, Ithaca residents, New York State resi
dents, visitors from across the continent take advantage
of the vast resources that are housed in the Archives.
Even genealogists come to study their family lineage here. The Archives tries to use many non-manuscript materials for display. Among some frequent borrowers
have been the Smithsonian Collection and the Museum
of American Folk Art in New York City. The manuscript materials collected include those of
Ezra Cornell, Andrew D. White, Jacob Gould Schurman,
third President of Cornell and later United States
Minister to China and Ambassador to Germany, Profes sors John Henry Comstock and Robert Henry Thurston.
So the pendulum swings back and forth. When you become familiar with Cornell's "attic," you begin to see
the value of all that's accumulated over the years.
"I wonder why Great-Grandfather collected these funny looking Thanksgiving cards?" a youngster might ask while rummaging through a musty attic. Yet to Colman and Jacklin, these few Thanksgiving cards, once popular around 1900-1910, are unique. According to Jacklin, such treasures are not included in the manu script collection but are housed in a special "museum"
section.
Wouldn't it be fascinating to read a log written by a young British midshipman who fought in the Napoleonic Wars? Imagine reading about the daily activities on board ship. The midshipman also referred to the type of naval disciplines in the year 1815: ". . .punished 2
men with 36 lashes, all for drunkenness. . . ."
These relics are the common threads that spice up and bind together research. The sources are original, the subjects timely and thus, they can provide valuable and interesting information to researchers.
So, if you are debating whether to throw out your great-grandfather's Cornell banner — Don't! Think before you junk what you consider to be a set of irrelevant photographs and scrapbooks that your great-aunt once cherished. Instead, donate those worn, frayed and
tattered documents to Cornell's attic.

From Your Attic
to the Archives „, debra slotnick w

Martha Mapes: An Innovator in Nutrition
bv LINDA ADAMS '77

Did you know studies have indicated that the average American family throws away between 10 and 13 percent of the food they buy? Or that most teenagers are con cerned about losing weight quickly? And did you know
that EFNEP is the official abbreviation for the 4-H

Expanded Food Nutritional Education Program - a pro gram being used to reach people with limited resources?
If you didn't know, you aren't alone. Thanks to the
efforts of Martha Mapes and the Extension faculty of

the Division of Nutritional Sciences, more people are

finding out the answers to these and other questions.

Martha C. Mapes, College of Human Ecology Senior
Extension Associate and the Division Extension Leader,

explained that nearly every department in the statutory colleges at Cornell has three divisions (undergraduate, research, and extension) that help carry out the univer sity's land grant mission. "My position serves as a point of contact for two groups," noted Mapes. "I act as a leader for the Extension faculty in Nutritional Sciences as we

work with college faculty and agent field staff to design
effective nutritional education programs and I serve as
a contact for people who are seeking information."

Her personal interest and professional responsibility concentrates on reaching youth, ages 9 to 19, of New
York State who need, but are often resistant to, nutrition

help. This concern led to a special grant from the College of Human Ecology to investigate alternate approaches in reaching older youth who haven't been

especially attracted to information on nutrition.

"I wanted to find out what their thoughts were on

nutrition and health, so I asked them!" she explained.

Mapes's first step was to survey nearly 1,000 youth across

New York State, asking them what their nutritional

concerns were. The replies were overwhelming. Teens

indicated that losing weight quickly and the pros and

cons of snacking were, by far, their most important

concerns. However, questions about acne, drugs and

nutrition, and diets during pregnancy were also raised.

From this survey came three innovations. The first was

a comic book, Gulpl, that presented nutrition informa

youthtion to older

in a manner that was more attrac

tive to them. Next, a Fad-Diet Portfolio was developed

for nutrition professionals to use in reaching concerned

audiences. Her final endeavor on this grant was a film

and video program, Eight and Easy. Produced in coordi

nation v/ith the "Galloping Gourmet," Graham Kerr,

the film shows how to prepare tasty and nutritious food,

achieve that filled feeling and still curb calories.

The first grant ran out, but Martha Mapes's enthusi

asm and ideas did not. Recently, she completed two

projects, one on snacking and one on breakfast. Work ing with a 4-H agent, Mapes also developed a Snack

Resource Packet for professionals to use with "Snack Wisely," a new youth project. Another Mapes innovation is "Food in the Morning," a youth project emphasizing the variety of nutritious morning foods. Go ahead and eat a cold pork chop or a cheese sandwich for break fast - just be sure to eat a morning meal that includes protein and fat as well as carbohydrates.
Mapes is even more excited about her soon-to-be
released slide set on food waste entitled "Trash Tells a
Tale." She is also looking forward to a two-day meeting that she and a colleague, Dr. Christine Olson, are planning for May 10 and 11, 1977. Entitled, "Nutrition, Growth, and Reproduction: Reducing the Risk of
"
Mothers and Infants, the program will explore the pressing need in the United States to find "better approaches to adolescent health care as it affects infants
survival and the future nutritional status of the mother."
Martha Mapes sees the purpose of the land grant institutions as an important challenge to herself and the others carrying outreach responsibilities through Cooper
ative Extension. "There are so many different types
of people with nutrition problems - the pregnant teen ager, the obese executive, the family with limited resources, the eighth grade home economics teacher that we are constantly researching better ways to dissem inate reliable information for people. But they must realize that the carefully planned study takes time," said Mapes. "It is exciting to try and find ways to model
information so it is attractive to look at, easy to get to,
reliable to use, and effective in fulfilling the needs of people with nutritional problems."
Graham Kerr, Martha Mapes and Prof. Marjorie Washbon discuss an idea during the filming of Light and Easy.

y

Dr. Cade holds an adult peregrine, while two eyasses watch.
The bald eagle, symbol of freedom and strength, is returning to the northeastern United States. So is the peregrine falcon. They are coming back with the help of Cornell's Laboratory of Ornithology.
The peregrine and other predatory birds once nested over all of North America. That was before they became the victims of an expanding urban society, of toxic
chemicals such as DDT and of the destruction of their
wild habitat, especially in the heavily populated North east. In New York State, where the peregrine once domi nated the cliffs of the Shawangunk Mountains above the Hudson River Valley and the Taughannock Falls gorge near Ithaca, no wild peregrines have nested for
over twenty years.
Likewise the bald, or American, eagle was prevalent
in New York. At one time 41 active nests of American
eagles existed in the state, but only one nesting pair remains. Located in Western New York, the pair has fledged only one offspring in the last 10 years.
In the early 1970's, Dr. Tom Cade, Professor of Ecology and Systematics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell, began attempting to breed and raise peregrine falcons in captivity. After several tries, the first eyasses, or young peregrines, successfully conceived in captivity were born in 1973.

by tfKULiJL UftK^UlN //

y.

Encouraged by this success, Cade and his co-workers carried the experiment further, and in the summer of 1975 they placed 16 young peregrines in natural and man-made eyries, or nesting sites, in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Maryland.
This past summer the Cornell ornithologists used techniques developed in Cade's peregrine hacking pro gram in an attempt to reinstate the bald eagle as a wild breeding species in New York. Elizabeth Milburn, a graduate student in wildlife science at Cornell, spent the summer helping two eaglets settle into a new home at the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge.
Beginning June 27, Elizabeth, better known as Tina, camped with her two dogs near the 35 foot tower built as a nesting site for the birds. While taking special pre cautions to keep them from realizing that she was their caretaker, Tina provided the eaglets with food and protection against both predators and the hazards of early flights. She left carp and small animals killed along the road where the birds could easily find them. Refuge officials lowered the level of the ponds near the site earlier than they normally would so that swimming carp would be visible to the eaglets. They got the idea and soon were hunting on their own.
After August 6, Tina commuted from Ithaca to the refuge several times a week, each time leaving food and checking on the birds. It was hoped that making food gathering easy for them as winter approached would keep the young eagles from migrating, thus protecting them from the dangers associated with such travels. On October 16, the pair left the sanctuary. They have
yet to be sighted. Despite the uncertainty of the eagles' well being and
whereabouts, Tina remains enthusiastic about the pro
gram. Reflecting on her summer with the eagles, Tina comments, "The most important aspect of my summer's work was to show that procedures perfected at Cornell for returning peregrines to their native habitats can be adapted to bald eagles." Though it will be some time before anyone knowns how successful Tina's eagles will be in establishing a breeding pair, two more eaglets may be released in the Refuge this year.
Meanwhile, the peregrine program continues in Ithaca, at the facilities in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania and at
the Colorado State Wildlife Research Station at Fort
Collins. Encouraged by success so far, according to Steve Sherrod of Cornell's Ornithology Lab, 50 percent of the birds hacked in 1975 returned to an eyrie in 1976 as compared to a 65 percent mortality rate for falcons raised in the wild -- preparations are now being made
to place one or two peregrines in each of approximately
30 different sites this spring and summer.
Northeasterners, and in fact all North Americans,
will soon again be able to watch wild peregrine falcons soar and roll into breathtaking swoops near their ancient eyries. Thanks to the efforts by people such as Dr. Cade,
Tina Milburn and Steve Sherrod, the return of the
raptors is fast becoming a reality.

Reviving the Ag Quad

by ELISABETH VARAK 77

ftea/ educators know the value of beautiful surroundings for an institution of learning, and for this reason well-considered plans have been worked out for the embellishment of the Cornell Campus. They know that every alumnus will remember these waterfalls and wooded ravines, these well kept grassy lawns and shaded walks, long after their words of instruction have passed into oblivion. A J. Lamoureux, February
1921.

In 1870 the Cornell Campus was bare of trees. By
1921, the roadways were lined with maple and elm. "Plantings everywhere transformed the open hillside into a great park. . .a perfect setting for the great University
that has grown up in its midst," observed Lamoureux, a
former reference librarian at the Agriculture College at Cornell University.
On top of the hill, toward the east, stood the Agricul ture Campus which had richer soil, causing it to develop more rapidly than any other area of the campus. Later a canopy of elms graced the quadrangle faithfully until Dutch elm disease and phloem necrosis began to infect
trees in the 1950's.
Prompt removal of the trees proved to be the best method for fighting the disease. "Within two to three years, most of the elms were cut down. People were in a state of shock," said Landscape Architecture Professor Marvin I. Adleman. "After the trees disappeared people began to realize that the elms had a softening
effect."
In October 1975, Dean W. Keith Kennedy set up a committee to work on the Agriculture Quadrangle's restoration. It consisted of: Professor Carl F. Gortzig, chairman of the Department of Floriculture and Orna mental Horticulture; Professor Marvin I. Adleman, pro gram coordinator, Landscape Architecture; Professor David M. Bates, director, L.H. Bailey Hortorium; and James W. Yarnell, staff planner in the Division of Plan ning and Facilities. The committee's purpose was to
investigate the restoration of the trees, the modernization
of paths and new areas for reading, relaxing and sun ning.
During the summer of 1976, Pamela Rooney, a senior in Landscape Architecture, worked with Professor

Adleman on a detailed site analysis of the quadrangle
which included maps of existing vegetation, sun angles,
pedestrian circulation and other features. The site analysis was a starting point for Professor Adleman's Senior Landscape Course 491, "Plants and Design" as a
studio project. Eighteen students' proposals were pre sented to Dean Kennedy and his staff who have since reviewed them. The committee also presented the pro posals to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty at its November meeting.
An exhibit of the restoration proposals was displayed in Mann Library during December, in order to get input from the faculty, staff and students. Suggestions ranged from a lily pond or Zen rock garden to approval of the informal planting of trees in the Agriculture Quad. The final restoration design will be selected by the Dean in
consultation with the College faculty. The final plan is scheduled to be developed by January
1977, with subsequent planting of the canopy trees planned to begin late this winter. "Successive stages will be completed as rapidly as College funds and contribu
tions from alumni and friends are received," said
Professor Gortzig. A plaque, similar to the one in Da^ Hall, will mark
and explain the type of trees donated and be placed in the lobby of Mann Library. Pins will locate specific
trees and tell the donors' name of the person for whom
the tree was given as a living memorial. As Cornellians, we should heed the advice given by
Lamoureux in 1921. "Let us respect the dreams of Ezra Cornell and Andrew D. White, who saw the beautiful
possibilities of this almost barren hillside, and then let us remember that all this is the priceless possession of
every Cornellian, to preserve as well as to embellish."
photos on next page
11

su
12

JG PATHS
13

An interview with

Cornell's new Vice President
for Land Grant Affairs
The Woman
for the Job
by BARBARA BUOYMASTER 77
These aren't easy times for colleges and universities. They all have felt the recession of the '70's and many are facing financial crisis. Cornell is no exception. This financial crunch affects the entire Cornell community, particularly the Vice-President for Land Grant Affairs who has to find the funds to keep the university going. Constance E. Cook was recently appointed to this posi tion and is uniquely qualified to do just that.
Why? Well, besides being an alumna of the College
of Arts and Sciences and the Cornell Law School, she was a member of the Board of Trustees. She chaired the Education Committee for six of her 12 years in the
New York State Assembly; served a four-year term on the Education Commission of the States, a national policy making organization; and was a member of the Regents' Advisory Commission on the Financial Problems of PostSecondary Institutions. This experience has given her a thorough understanding of education and the legislative
process.
"The fact that I was intimately connected wnth the legislature has given me the ability to use Cornell's resources effectively," she explained. Because of its his tory, many of Cornell's financial decisions are made by the New York State Legislature. Cornell's endowment
came from the sale of lands received from the Morrill
Land Grant Act which Lincoln signed into law in 1862. Several state-supported colleges were established at Cornell over the years: Veterinary Medicine in 1894, Agriculture in 1904, Home Economics in 1924, and
Industrial and Labor Relations in 1944.
These four colleges became affiliated with the State University of New York system (SUNY), when it was founded in 1948, but are still part of the land-grant university. All of Cornell's colleges, both state-supported and privately endowed, comprise the land grant univer sity of New York State.

This means that a lot of Cornell's funding comes from Albany, where the university has to compete with other demands on tax dollars. Education is not the highest priority in the legislature these days. "It did enjoy that position for several years," Ms. Cook remembers, "during the building of SUNY. Those were expansion years which were badly needed; we had a lot of catching up to do, but when a period of expansion ends, it dis appoints a lot of people."
"If I read what most politicians in the state are saying, particularly the governor, I think they put economic development as the highest priority and for good reason. I believe some work Cornell does will be along these lines. Energy is probably their second priority and again I'm hoping Cornell will have a role in solving this problem."
New York's needs for economic development and new
sources of energy are knowm to every state resident.
Post-secondary education has popular support, but because it is a less tangible concern than unemploy ment or the price of fuel its bid for tax dollars is easier to ignore.
Until recently, most colleges haven't taken the time to explain their programs. "Colleges will have to develop the capacity to explain what they're doing to the people and the legislature," Ms. Cook said.
"Fortunately, Cornell realized this some time ago.
The first step was to create this office to coordinate
these efforts. There are a lot of people who are doing an excellent job. The governor and lieutenant governor are on our board and that's very helpful. But we need to involve the public and our own constituency."
"Colleges will have to develop
the capacity to explain what
they're doing to the people and the legislature. "

14

"/ think we're going to be under severe budgetary limitation for years. I hope that it will stabilize. "

Although Cornell's teaching and research have been highly regarded for more than a century, the university's public service programs which benefit many thousands of individuals in every area of the state are not widely recognized. One of Cook's objectives is to make these public service programs better known.
Because Cornell's budget timetable is prepared by the legislature, Cook doesn't have, as she said, "the luxury of sitting down and establishing my own list of priori ties." She expects the development of the legislative pro gram and improvement of faculty salaries to absorb a lot of her time, and sees a more independent control of funds as another important objective. When asked
how this will affect the students, Ms. Cook answered,
"I feel we'll be able to improve the quality of education of those that are here and I hope we'll enable more worthy students to come."
But in spite of recent serious efforts to economize, Cornell is faced with a potential deficit which makes such improvements hard to envision. The legislature cut 41 teaching positions in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences alone last year (to be spread over several years) and the governor has taken the position that to bring overall spending down, there have to be cutbacks.
How does Ms. Cook feel these cuts will affect the
quality of Cornell's education? "I think it's unfortunate that we have to reduce our program," she said. "These cuts are being done as carefully as possible to avoid a drastic effect, but they can't help but have some effect.
Reduced dollars started four years ago. If there was any
fat they had gotten rid of it. I think we're going to be under severe budgetary limitation for years. I hope that
it will stabilize."
That's a dismal forecast, but Cook senses a strong
underlying belief in education. "Most of the legislators don't come from very affluent backgrounds," she elaborated, "and education has made them what they
are. So they are very supportive, but not blindly suppor tive, of it. Cornell's support has changed. When I first went to Albany on Governor Dewey's staff, there were

a large number of Cornell alumni sitting in the Assembly.
It often used to seem like a Gornell alumni reunion.
This has changed; the number of alumni has gone way down, and that in itself has made quite a difference."
Of course Albany is not the only source of funding. Federal grants play an important role in Cornell's
finances as do alumni contributions. The national economic slow-down affected these funds, but not to the
extent expected. "We had expected a decrease in research funds, but actually had an increase of nine to
ten per cent.
"But," Ms. Cook added, "the recession is especially hard on the student body and their ability to pay." The increase in the cost of running the university cannot be absorbed by increased tuition, because students just
don't have the money.
Does she think she'll enjoy her new job? "To tell you the truth," she said thoughtfully, "I don't see it as so different. I was in the Assembly to improve education in the State of New York, among other things, so this job is very closely related. I know I'll enjoy it."
Connie Cook's career is a record of firsts and stamina,
her politics always keenly intelligent. In a very compli
mentary feature written in 1970, the New York Times
described her as "an exceedingly apt politician with a slightly off-beat quality."
"I'm not sure what they meant by off-beat," Connie smiled. "I don't consider myself a maverick because I work within the system. I consider myself an indepen
dent; I like to make my own decisions."
Whether her approach is off-beat or independent, she is clearly the woman for the job. If anyone can main tain the quality of education at Cornell over the next
few years, it is Connie Cook.
15

What Happened to State Street? by CATHY FERRAND 78

Fountains and playgrounds on State Street? People strolling along Tioga Street admiring the trees? What happened to Ithaca? The Ithaca Commons! The $1.2 million open-air mall was completed over a year ago as a replacement for two blocks of State Street and one block of Tioga Street in the central business district.
The Commons was designed to rejuvenate the center of Ithaca, which was losing business to shopping plazas outside the city. Mayor Ed Conley, a firm supporter of the Commons, described its purpose as "making it (the downtown area) a people place" and "creating life in the central business district." When asked if he thought
the Commons was fulfilling this purpose, Conley replied,
"It's doing what we want it to do."
The idea behind the Commons was to beautify a part of Ithaca and create a place people would enjoy. The Commons accomplishes this through its universal appeal. Small playgrounds with slides and structures to climb
are provided for children. Trees, fountains and benches dot the length of the mall. Telephone booths and drink ing fountains are provided. To insure that the Commons remains a pedestrian mall, dogs, littering and alcoholic beverages are not allowed. Motor vehicles are only
allowed on the Commons with permits, and cyclists are requested to walk their bikes to the nearest rack.

The Commons has brought more to Ithaca than a change in appearance. Some changes are just becoming
apparent after the Commons' first year of existence. The mall has slowed the pace of downtown Ithaca.
Where pedestrians once streamed down the street and traffic clogged the intersections, people are now taking time to stop and view a temporary art show, a quiet
contrast to the din of State Street traffic.
The Commons' show space encourages different acti
vities in downtown Ithaca. Craft fairs offering leather goods, glassware, jewelry and other items are occasionally held. Musicians playing everything from dhakabellas (Brazilian drums) to flutes or banjos are frequently seen. During the Christmas season, groups play and sing carols up and down the mall against a backdrop of twinkling
lights. According to Conley, the Commons is helping to
upgrade the stores in the downtown area. Competition between the shopping plazas and the Commons is strong, but the downtown merchants are changing to serve people more efficiently. For example, a new Roths child's building was completed in the summer of 1975, and drive-in banking facilities installed to serve cus
tomers more conveniently. The Commons has a number of individual merchants, as opposed to large chain stores,

The Commons' architectural blend of old and new provides a gracious setting for area Christmas shoppers.

16

?«aaS^!»S!te-^^K..»i,'S^.•^iW»/,/*
Winner of numerous design awards, the Commons is, above all, a people place.

thus distinguishing it from the local plazas.
The effect that the Commons will have on business is
a long-term one. Several salespeople interviewed stated that business had definitely increased since the Commons was built, perhaps due to the novelty of the area. Others could see no change. Some merchants dislike having
craft fairs and similar activities on the Commons. The
merchants claim that while such events attract people to the mall, they also take business away from the established stores. This problem was something they didn't have to
contend with before construction of the Commons, and
it adds to the competition among downtown merchants.
While the Commons has positively affected downtown Ithaca, it has also initiated some unfavorable changes. It has proved to be an inconvenience for the handi capped. While such people used to park in front of a particular store, they are now forced to walk from parking to and around the Commons. Changes in traffic patterns
have resulted in much heavier flows at the east and west
ends where vehicles coming from the octopus or down
the hill must go around the Commons.

More changes are planned for the Commons; some are designed to deal with these problems. A traffic circulation plan to handle the traffic tie-ups at the ends of the mall has been initiated. The city also hopes to
beautify the streets surrounding the Commons in an effort to improve the looks of the entire business area.
One section of the Commons has not yet been com
pleted. Plans have been made to build a small mall in the lot between the Home Dairy and the new Roths
child's building. It would be made up of individual shops, and would increase the variety of the Commons.
The Commons has altered the appearance of down
town Ithaca, but how is it being received? For the most
part, its first year has been hailed as a success. The
Commons has received a number of design awards
including ones from the American Concrete Institute and the American Institute of Architects, and is being
included in a film highlighting ten malls around the world. Maybe Mayor Conley sums up the Commons best when he says, "Everybody has a perception of what it
should be, and it varies." Above all, the Commons is a
people place.

17

bv CLIFFORD COCKERHAM '78

THE LAND GRANT.

The appointment of a new vice president for land grant affairs last semester raised a question of priorities with some students and alumni. "Why does Cornell
need another high-level administrator just to represent the statutory colleges in Albany?" they ask.
This simplistic approach often lays the blame on "Cornell's sprawling bureaucracy," but the real answer
can be found in Vice President Constance Cook's official
job description. "The Vice President has responsibility for the development and coordination of public service efforts within the endowed and statutory colleges, and will play a leadership role in effecting communication
of Cornell's land grant mission. . ."
These words make today's Cornellians very conscious of the University's ongoing effort to meet its obligations to the Morrill Land Grant Act. Signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862, the bill attempted to provide funds, through grants of federal land, for education of the working class.
The Morrill Act's broad mandate requires that land grant universities and colleges, like Cornell, work "with out excluding other scientific and classical studies and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in such manner as the legislature of the States may respectively prescribe, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions of life." This leaves considerable latitude for interpretation.
Many Cornell administrators feel that the Land Grant Mission of the University is simply met by providing
education in the fields listed. But on the other end of
the spectrum, there are those who advocate that the
University make a significantly greater commitment to the education of working people throughout New York State, using endowed college resources.
The Plane Commission Report, a presidentially appointed one-year evaluation of the University's fulfill
ment of the Land Grant Mission, resulted in several
positive recommendations for future action. In the words of the study committee, "We believe the basic thrust for a land grant university of the future should be to strengthen the connection between more traditional
forms of education and educational service to a broader
public." The Plane Commission Report places an emphasis
upon the total University's land grant commitment explaining, "There is increasing interest in public service
18

within the endowed units at Cornell and it should be
fostered. It is through the interdisciplinary combination of the statutory and endowed portions of Cornell that the most significant advances in land grant programs
can be realized in the future."
More recently, Director Bryant Robey, Cornell Office of Public Information, released a new publication entitled, "A Broader Mission: Cornell University and the People of New York State." The booklet describes
and illustrates the many ways Cornell attempts to fulfill
its land grant obligations to New York State. "As New York's land grant university," Robey explains in the introduction of this public statement, "Cornell recognizes
a broader mission: to extend the benefits of its research
and knowledge to all the people of New York State." Central to Cornell's public service outreach program
is David Call '54, director of New York State's Coopera tive Extension. Though directly concerned with the
informal statewide education from the New York State
Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Human
David Call works at the heart of Cornell's land-grant efforts as Director of Cooperative Extension.

to Blank Check

Ecology, Call's views echo the sentiments of the Plane
Commission Report.
"I think Cornell should make an effort to extend its
total knowledge resources to the people of the State," explained Call. "Cornell is a storehouse of knowledge, so we should apply the Land Grant Mission to other colleges (endowed), with modifications."
He cautions, however, that not all university programs are suited to this, adding, "Cornell's total resources should be applied as they relate to the needs of the people. It's got to be need-based, because there is no justification for taking anything out there if there is
no need for it."
Cooperative Extension relies on continuing community involvement for establishing specific programs to meet the needs of the people. Cooperative Extension County Associations, and the county agents are a key factor in
the grass-roots identification of needs in the New York
State communities. Call believes that this program is a
possible model for public service work in other colleges. Call explained, "Knowledge is to be shared from —
not stored in — the land grant institution. Cooperative Extension is a major form of technology transfer, but Cornell University had outreach efforts as part of the philosophy of the University before extension was estab lished (1914). Because Cornell was the land grant uni versity of New York State there were obligations going back to the charter to get information to the people."
Call cites many examples of non-statutory college programs which can be considered public service work in fulfillment of the University's land grant obligations. But, he still acknowledges the validity of alternative attempts to link more endowed college faculty resources to the needs of the people.
"I could see an office for the endowed colleges to pro mote, develop, and facilitate off-campus efforts," said Call. "You could do it for the rest of the University, or on a per college basis since colleges have strong individual identities on the lower campus."
Constance Cook '41 fills the key role, which may signify a new level of focus for Cornell, as the Vice Presi dent for Land Grant Affairs. Though heavy with the
tasks of state relations and administrative duties, her
broadly defined job includes the specific responsibility for development of endowed college public service efforts
and coordination with statutory college extension activi
ties.
"It is our interest and intent to use the resources of

the entire University in fulfilling our land grant obliga tions," said Cook. "Funding is a problem. There are all kinds of possibilities and I will work hard to explore
them."
Still the effort to develop Cornell's broader mission will take time — especially as the new vice president turns her attention to "more immediate financial problems
relating to the state colleges and Albany." One hundred years elapsed before Cornell publicly
defined its interpreted land grant obligations to include the humanities, in the Plane Commission Report. Close to three years passed before the University made its first move to implement some of the report's recom mendations with the appointment of a Vice President for Land Grant Affairs. In the words of Daniel Leahy,
former director of the Cornell Human Affairs program, there is a clear indication of "Cornell's current failure
to live up to its mandate for public service and the need to re-orient the University direction."
When the endowed colleges will actually increase their fulfillment of the public service mandate given to
Cornell as New York State's land grant university, can
not be predicted. But clearly, the time between cause and effect is markedly decreasing.
19

A Heavy Yield in
International Agriculture

by helene vigorita n

International agriculture has been part of the scene at Cornell since the university opened its doors. Cornell taught its first course in agriculture in 1868, and a
Russian student was among those enrolled in it.
By 1900, Cornell was attracting students from Canada, Switzerland, Japan, and Turkey. In 1908, 17 foreign students from 11 countries were studying agriculture at Cornell, and faculty had traveled to China to assist one of the provincial governments there. From 1924 to 1931, despite massive political strife in China, Cornell and the University of Nanking maintained a program of technical cooperation in plant breeding and crop improvement that worked on the major food crops of
central and northern China. This was the first formal
international agriculture program at Cornell, and it paved the way for post- World War II technical assistance
programs.
Cornell's largest single effort in international agri culture was its assistance in rebuilding the University of the Philippines' College of Agriculture (UPCA) at Los Banos. The college had been nearly destroyed during World War II. Its buildings had been bombed or burned
down, its stock butchered for food, its orchard trees cut
for firewood. Cornell and the University of the Philip pines began a joint effort to rebuild the college in 1952 — an effort which was to last eight years.
In 1962, UPCA asked Cornell's help in another longrange project, that of developing a graduate education program. By 1972, when this project was completed, UPCA was a modern teaching and research institution, and the foremost agricultural college serving Southeast
Asia. Its strong resources led the Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Froundation to choose Los Banos as the
The main entrance to the rebuilt University of the Philippines' College of Agriculture at Eos Banos.
20

site for the jointly funded International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in 1962. IRRI has since become the
rice research and training center of the world. One idea that Cornell brought to UPCA was the land
grant concept of public service through resident instruc tion, problem-solving research, and extension. The concept had a slow beginning in the Philippines due
to limited funds and an overloaded staff, but it became
an important part of the Los Banos effort.
Cornell gained, too, from its nearly 20 years of asso
ciation with UPCA. The graduate education develop ment program became an integral part of the Univer
sity's research, teaching, and extension programs. By doing so, it strengthened Cornell's international activities
and its faculty.
According to Kenneth L. Turk, who was long associ ated with the Los Banos projects, "Faculty members who lived and worked in the Philippines came home with a much broader point of view and a deeper appreciation and understanding of the problems faced by the world's peoples. . . .Without exception, they are better
informed, more competent scientists and teachers." In
all, about one-fifth of the College's faculty participated
in the Los Banos effort.
The UP-Cornell Graduate Program also provided the training ground for many Cornell graduate students in international agriculture. By 1974, 14 of the 23 Cornell graduate students who participated in the pro gram held important positions with foundations, inter national research and training centers, and universities.
Furthermore, most of them were credited with two
years of overseas experience by their employers, and thus started their careers at higher than normal salaries. In addition, UPCA faculty and graduate students have brought their knowledge and experience to Ithaca for
the benefit of students here.
Charles E. Palm, Dean of the College during the life of the UP-Cornell Graduate Education Program, called the Cornell-Los Banos cooperative effort an adventure, and one of the highlights of the history of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He said that the Los
Banos experience gave Cornell faculty "a different con cept of responsibility to the society of nations than we
had before."
In 1963, the year in which the UP-Cornell Graduate
Education Program got underway, Cornell instituted the International Agricultural Development Program. This program integrates the many course offerings spread throughout the College which focus on topics in inter national agriculture. Directed at training students
from both the United States and abroad for active

f& -it

Left: Mother and daughter on the farm called "Las Piedras" because of the stony land, Poza Rica, Veracruz, Mexico. Right: A farmer at "Las Piedras" talks over a
problem with Cornell students during students' visit, January 1976.

careers in World agriculture, it offers a graduate minor and a Master of Professional Studies degree program in the Field of International Agriculture and Rural Development. Its faculty is composed of 58 professors from disciplines throughout the University.
Virtually every department in the College plays some role in the program, since international agriculture requires expertise in everything from soil science and plant breeding to animal husbandry, nutrition, and public information. Last year, courses dealing with international topics attracted 757 undergraduates and 496 graduate students.
Only about 25 undergraduates have a secondary specialization in international agriculture, but about 300 American and foreign students are doing graduate level work in the area of international agriculture and rural development. Most of these students will enter the field professionally.
The program sponsors five graduate level interdisci plinary courses — in international agriculture, Philip pine agricultural development, problems of agriculture in the tropics, and the administration of agricultural and rural development.
The core course in tropical agriculture began in 1968
wdth support from a Ford Foundation grant. It meets
in the spring semester following a two-week trip to the humid tropics with the six faculty who jointly teach the
course. This year, as last year, about 30 students in the
course will travel to Mexico for two weeks to study. Cornell undergraduates in the College can study agri
culture abroad in a student exchange program admin istered by the International Agriculture office. Last year, eight undergraduates studied in England, Ireland,
Sweden, and Mexico.
The program is also involved with the Peace Corps, helping it in its future Agricultural Research Manpower (FARM) program in the Phillipines. FARM is an effort to enhance career development opportunities for Peace Corps volunteers.
Solving world food problems is, of course, a major thrust of international agriculture. Last year, the pro gram co-sponsored a series of seminars with the Univer sity's Center for International Studies. The series, entitled STEPS, featured talks on scientific, technological, econ omic, political, and sociological steps to a better under standing of world hunger.

In August of 1976, the program received a three-
year grant from the Division of International Education
of the U.S. Office of Education for the establishment of
a Center for the Analysis of World Food Issues (CAWFI). "The new Center will strengthen on-campus educational programs on world food problems, encourage research in agriculture and rural development, and attempt to generate public interest in world food issues," said Prof. Edwin B. Oyer, Director of the Program in International Agriculture since August 1974.
In January 1977, Dr. Joseph F. Metz, Jr., was named the new Director of both the Program in Inter national Agriculture and CAWFI. Dr. Metz will be assisted by L.W. Zuidema, Assistant Director of the International Agriculture program, and by a system
of committees which will focus on the curriculum, an
outreach program, and African agricultural develop ment studies. The activities of the Center will expand upon the existing Program in International Agriculture,
serve to enhance the Graduate Field of International
Agriculture and Rural Development, and offer educa tional opportunities through an outreach program.
Course offerings will expand due to the Center, and may include a new lecture series on agriculture in South east Asia, crop protection in the tropics, an introduction to tropical agriculture for social science students, and planned agricultural resettlement. The Center plans new publications on world food issues and on the admin istration of agricultural and rural programs.
Most of the diverse activities connected with inter
national agriculture seem remote from New York State farming. But many grants that fund international agri
cultural research benefit New Yorkers as well as the
College and its international colleagues. For instance, grants for international agriculture have resulted in the genetic improvement of several crops, the introduc tion of sources of resistance to plant pests, and the exportation of livestock from New York State.
Through the Program in International Agriculture, Cornell's long history of agricultural research that germinated and grew in Ithaca is now yielding impor tant solutions to worldwide agricultural problems. "We all feel proud about Cornell's efforts in international agriculture," said Dr. Oyer, "The continued building of human resources is the most important element of the
solution to world food problems."

21

WHO
LIVES
HERE?
bv CATHY
FERRAND 78
Dr. Morse and students use the observation
feeding station to study the vision, taste sense and behavior of honey bees.
From the beginning of fall classes until October, passersby are puzzled by the white wooden shack standing on the ag quad. The shack contains a beehive and is used by the students in Entomology 262, Biology of the Honey
Bee.
Entomology 262, a one credit hour fall semester course, is taught by Dr. Roger Morse. According to Dr. Morse, the beehive is used to teach
students how to establish an observation hive, feed and mark bees, and
study the wag-tail dance (which indicates the distance and direction of food from the hive), color vision of honey bees, and the taste sense of bees.
To study the wag-tail dance, students move the feeding station from the Warren Hall side of the ag quad toward the Plant Science side and observe the bees' behavior. As the station nears Plant Science the bees change from the round-tail dance to the wag-tail dance.
The color vision of the bees is studied by using colored feeding boxes.
The sense of taste is also studied. It has been found that bees can't taste
quinine, a bitter substance, but they can detect different levels of sweetness. The project involves completing thirteen labs and one term paper. Accord
ing to the university's course description, "Laboratories include demonstra tion of sex attractant, swarm orientation, the natural nest, and a study of
wasp, bumble bee, and other social insects."
Labs are done on weekends, and, because of the behavior of honey bees, can only be done when it's sunny. Students may do three or more labs in one day. The labs usually go for only the first half of the semester; the course ends when the labs and term paper are completed, which allows students to finish early.
According to Dr. Morse, Entomology 262 is "intended as a very intro ductory course in honey bee biology." Although many of the students in it either have taken or are planning to take his other introductory course, 262 has no prerequisite courses and is not limited to entomology majors.
Dr. Morse also said. "I try to conduct it in such a way that students don't
get stung," a common concern when working with bees.
Dr. Morse tries to limit the course to an enrollment of 15 since he feels
students learn more from a lab course if it's small. He has been working
with the course for about the past 15 years.

The New York State t-n ruunaation
at Cornell University has a new executive director, Glenn 0, MacMillen, '54, a 22-year veteran
of extension work and a 4-H program
leader in Chemung County for 18 years. MacMillen will provide staff leadership for the board of trustees of the Foundation; be responsible for communications with college and county extension staff; organize and work with eight regional support councils; provide leadership and support for an ongoing fund raising
program; and communicate exten
sion program needs to individuals, corporations and foundations.
Four Students Receive
Honundekah Awards
Four students received awards at the
Ho-Nun-De-Kah Barbeque held last September. Judithann R. Hartman,
'79, with a 4.11 average, received the
Alpha Zeta key for the sophomore with the highest average at the end
of the freshman year. Ms. Hartman
is an Animal Science major. Micro biology major David L. Conrad, '77, was given the College of Agricul
ture and Life Sciences award for the
senior who had transferred into the
College as a junior and had achieved the highest cumulative average at the end of the junior year. His
cumulative average was 4.05. Gerald
A. West, '78, a Biological Sciences major with a 4.12 average, won the Alumni Prize for the junior with the highest cumulative average at the end of the sophomore year. Barbara Spector, '77, received the Alumni Prize for the senior with the highest
cumulative average at the end of the
junior year. Ms. Spector carried a
4.07 average.
Gary Fisher, '70, now in sales with
WABC in New York City, presented
a course for the New York University
Adult Education Division last fall. entitled, "Introduction to Radio
Broadcasting: Skills and Techni ques." Before joining ABC, Fisher held radio positions in Binghamton, Long Island, and with CBS.

COUNTRYMAN

Alumni Directors Meet

Young Appointed Chairman
Professor Robert J. Young has been appointed chairman of the Depart
ment of Animal Science at the New
York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Prof. Young,
who took the chair on November 1,
has been chairman of the Depart ment of Poultry Science for the past
11 years. He received a B.S.A. with
honors from the University of British
Columbia, and earned his Ph.D. in Animal Nutrition at Cornell. Prof.
Young joined the staff at Cornell as an associate professor in 1960. He is coauthor of the book, Nutrition of
the Chicken.
Margaret Bair, '77, Mary Joy, '77, and Lisa Savino, '77, have proved beyond a doubt that Cornellians
know their cheese and ice cream.
The trio were members of the Cornell
University diary products judging team, which participated with 22 other teams in national competition in Atlantic city on October 11. The team placed fifth overall, placing second in ice cream judging and third in cottage cheese. Coaching the team was Professor Frank Shipe of the Department of Food Science.

Three College of Agriculture and
Life Sciences students have received
$500 each in scholarships from Dairylea. The three are Sandra Lee
Darrow '78, Charles D. Leonard
'80, and Gregory L. Seblink '80.
To receive the award, candidates
must major in dairy research, agri business, agricultural education or home economics. They must also be members of Dairylea employees'
families. Since 1966, $31,500 has
been awarded.
W. Lewis Perdue, '72, a Communi cation Arts graduate, has recently
had his first novel published. Entitled The Trinity Implosion, the book was coauthored by Robin Moore, author
of The French Connection.

The College of Agriculture and
Life Sciences Alumni Association
held a Board of Directors meeting on September 24-25. At the meet ing Dean W. Keith Kennedy praised the faculty for receiving more SUNY small teaching grant awards than any other SUNY unit during the last three years, despite the fact that the College's faculty is much smaller
than many other SUNY campuses.
He also noted that the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences graduates more Ph.D.s annually than any other SUNY college except the University Center at Buffalo. At the same meeting, Board of Director member John J. Sullivan, '62, urged greater promotion of the fact that the Alumni Association provides support for the Cornell Countryman
and that Alumni Association mem
bers receive the Countryman.

The Eastern Frosted Foods Association, Inc., has provided four $500 scholar
ships to students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for 1976-77. Students who received scholarships were Antony Gardy, '77, Jean Ann Koberlein, '78, Glenna J. Kophen, '77, and Leslie J. Herzog, '77. Pictured below at the EFFA fall meeting are (1. to r.): Alfred Leffel, EFFA Co-Chairman; Bradford Carruth, '68, of the College Alumni Association;
Antony Gardy; Glenna Kophen; Frank Apicella, EFFA President; Jean Ann Koberlein; Leslie Herzog; and Sidney Schwartz, EFFA Education Co-Director.

Picture Credits: Cover - Pamela
Rooney; page 3 - Cornell Archives; page 5 - F. H. Pough; Page 7 -
Dan Goldman; page 8 - Bruce
Crispell; page 9,10,13,18,22 -
Media Services; page 11,12,13 Cornell Archives; page 12
Pamela Rooney, William Phelan page 14,15 - Ithaca Journal
page 16,17 - William Phelan
page 19 - Russ Hamilton; page
20 - Los Banos International Agri culture Program; page 21 - Peter Ewell; page 23 - George McDonald;
page 24 - Peter Ewell.

23

Above: An ancient Mexican artifact, on exhibit in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.

If the thought of four years in Ithaca leaves
you with little more than soggy shoes and chronic
congestion, consider studying agriculture abroad. You get credit towards your Cornell degree while learning about the people, customs and agriculture
of another country firsthand. You have a choice of four different programs in Mexico, Sweden,
England or Ireland. Last year nine women and four men participated
in programs abroad. "All those who've participated
have been enthusiastic - even ecstatic - about their
experience," according to Larry Zuidema of the Office of International Agriculture. The programs combine the educational opportunity with a good time. As a result, Zuidema described the personal growth and development of most participants as striking.
HERE'S HOW TO DO IT
Any student in the College of Agriculture and
Life Sciences with a C + average or better can
apply to the program. Don't panic if you don't know the language of the country before you go. It's not a prerequisite and there's usually plenty of time to learn. Costs and credits vary depending on the particular program, but the total for tuition, room and board is normally comparable to or less
than the cost of an academic vear at Cornell.
Students are usually responsible for their own trans portation and personal expenses.
Letters about the programs are sent to freshmen
and sophomores, but the best advertisement for
the programs is word of mouth. The Office of
International Agriculture in 252 Roberts Hall can give you names and addressses of students who have participated in past years.
So if spending a Cornell vear on a farm outside
of Stockholm or near a castle in Dublin sounds
intriguing, consider agriculture abroad.

New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of the State University, at Cornell University

s /
y <-
/h,€

Room /

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN MARCH 1977 VOLUME LXXIV - Number 5

EDITORS: Karen Esposito Cathy Ferrand
Paula Cimini Shuster
ASSISTANT EDITORS: Nancy Ryan Nancy Tomkins
ART EDITORS: Gary Barnes Barbara Buoymaster Ralph Spence Catharine Rogers

EDITORIAL STAFF:
Marleen Bicknese, David Bilmes, Lucy Bodanza, Bruce Carson, William Gray, David Joseph, Jill Kirschman, Steve Klein, Keith Kushner, Carl Laron, Kathy Layer, Mark Monroe, Rich Pawlak, Kathy Riley, Gary Roberts, Peter Schoenberger, Susan Ziff.
ABOUT THE ISSUE:
Our issue is an attempt to reflect student life and some of the various activities that students share at Cornell.
Our new format is designed to give The Cornell Countryman a fresh look.

Picture credits: Cover — Barbara
Buoymaster, Rich Roberts, Gary Barnes; page 3 — Pamela Dorge; pages 4,5 — Gary Barnes; pages 6,7 M. Bicknese; page 8 — Paul O'Shaugnessy; page 9 — Keith Kushner; pages 10,11,12,13 — Karen Esposito; pages 12,13,16, Back Cover — Barbara Buoy master; pages 14,15 — Roberta Haber; page 17 — Catharine Rogers; pages 18,19 - Russell Hamilton, Sol Gold
berg, Fenner Studio; page 20 — Rich
Roberts; page 21 — Rich Roberts, Sol
Goldberg.

CONTENTS
3. Class Of '27 by William Gray 77
4. Breaking Out With the Outing Club by Gary Barnes 77 6. Safety Division Meeting a Challenge by Marleen Bicknese 78 8. American Food from Foreign Perspectives by Lucy Bodanza 78 9. Getting By by Keith Kushner 77 10. Helping the College Grow by Karen Esposito '77
12. Not On the Roster by Barbara Buoymaster '77
14. WVBR. . . Working Wavelengths by David Bilmes 78
16. Music for Credit by Cathy Ferrand 78 17. "Yes Sir Ma'am!" Women in Officer Education by Paula Cimini Shuster 77
18. From Beebe Lake to Lynah Rink: Cornell Hockey Tradition by Steve Klein 77 20. Chugging for Charity by Peter Schoenberger 78
22. To Honor the Deans by Catharine Rogers 77
The Cornell Countryman is published seven times a year from October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription Rates: $2.50 a year; $4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content gathered and written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors: Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

1927. The Roaring Twenties.
Raccoon coats and Model T's. "Silent
Cal" Coolidge occasionally spoke from the White House, reassuring Americans that they would stay at
peace and that the economy would
remain strong. "Lucky Lir.dy" flew a non-stop, solo flight from New York to Paris, and Henry Ford was turning
out a car every ten seconds.
But what of Cornell students? What
were they doing to amuse themselves in those bright days now 50 years gone? They weren't drinking, at least not legally. Prohibition, that old spoil sport, would be around for another six years. And of course they weren't watching television. But what else was there to do, when the sun was
out and one didn't feel like studying. For one thing there was the down
town theater, advertising "The Best Photo Plays", where one might watch
the silent motions of Buster Keaton or
Rudolph Valentino. But that was a
long walk and cost a dime. What was there on campus?
Certainly there were sports. One
student from the Class of '27 wrote,
"Before the commencement of classes,
there was a football game to attend."
And Cornell football, in those days before plastic helmets and padding, was something to cheer about. Besides football, there was baseball, hockey, lacrosse, soccer, tennis, track and
wrestling. Cornell, in the 1920's, was
the site of the First Annual Indoor
Intercollegiate Tennis Tournament,
held in that famous Cornell landmark, Drill Hall. You may know it as Barton Hall. Besides the varsity teams, one could always scrape up an after-class game on the campus lawns, complete with cheerleaders.
In 1927 there were 63 fraternities
and 14 sororities on campus, and they supplied most of the social activities. Formal rushing season started early in those days, and many hopeful member ship candidates spent evenings trying to look acceptable at smokers, dinners or dances.
One of the high points of sorority life was "Hades Night", described in the following manner by one young !ady who attended: "The sopho mores were all dressed as red devils, and they took us through a mock Hades where they made us do stunts. We had a good time and lots to eat afterwards."

Of course, young ladies and gentle men, being much the same then as now, found many interesting ways to while away the hours together. A couple might walk hand-in-hand to beautiful Beebe Lake, where a recent
incident had prompted the University to erect a "No Slapping Allowed" sign. Or they might go to Fuertes Observatory for an evening of observ ing. The stars, that is.
For those students with artistic
interests, plays by such authors as Eugene O'Neill, George Bernard Shaw and George M. Cohan were ably pre sented. For literary comedy, there was the Cornell Graphic, which was about to die an untimely death. And there was the Cornell Sun, at that time
featuring a heated debate between students and professors concerning

Class of '27
William Gray 77
the shape of the earth. Student clubs were prominent, and
included the Hermits, the Skulls, and Knickerbocker. The Cambridge Debate Club held court in Bailey Hall. Each year the Annual Spring Day Festival
hosted crew races on the inlet of
Cayuga Lake. There were sundry other activities,
including games of bridge on Sage roof, games of poker in various frat ernities, freshman cap burnings, penny-pitching on the arts quad, and greased pole-climbing. All in all, it was a pretty interesting place for a young man or woman to spend four
years.
Occasionally there were even a few odd moments for studying. Things really haven't changed that much over
the years.

3

Breaking Out with the Outing Club
In the past, regretfully, more than
a few Cornellians found that they could
not cope with the Cornell environ
ment. The only solution for some seemed to be the extreme of leaving this environment entirely. Obviously
this is not the conviction of all. For many Cornellians the answer is that
they must regularly "break-out" of the environment that bogs them down and causes short sightedness.
What's the "break-out" formula?
For 400 Cornell undergrads and grad students, it's the Cornell Outing Club.
The University Student Organization Directory, states that the club, "Spon sors outdoor trips and teaches out door skills." However, the Outing Club's president, Roxanne Nersesian, claims that its importance goes far deeper than trips and skills.
"We're not only a recreational organization. The Outing Club is also an educational and a social organiza tion. And the thing that makes it unique is the diversity of people
involved."
At a weekly meeting you undoubt edly have the opportunity to bump into a "typical farm Aggie" or a
"committed Double E" or even a "cultured Artsie." But there's even
more to it than that. The Outing Club appears to be a successful "break
out" formula because it sets the stage
for getting to know other Cornellians. Roxanne explains, "Most of the best

by Gary Barnes '77

people *-tl-gr"m<nQww

people thai I've -^otte to know tf

the Outing^Jub."

Does this r^ean tK all Corne

/orth meeting

TnTtne Cornell!

backpacking, canoeing, bicycj^ ing, kayaking, caving, cros ^kiing, snowshoeing, rockk-sna
ibing, and winter mountar
light even catch one

ice

Club? No,

course not!

ioe^umply that Onting Club
le ^etem o he /"Great C(

M^ch i n^C w bi^h sej ms to ali(

peoptfefrorrSago
No T^ubt/i
student

present^
of Corr

you can relate t

lation. A|

montht^sguare dances.

Day th^sJiave been extended

weekend ouwss and even week

trips are taker^jygng GfehofTvaqE-

tions. By the end ZfcBKiyear^tudentsI

will have had the cppflkunityAtsriiv^

orl^twith and get to know

people as

they adventure to the Everglades, Mt.

very likely, yo

for yours

Washington, Maine, and the mountains

one of many ca

inizations

of West Virginia and North Carolina.

activities which remedied tfiW problei

Repeated trips are taken in the Catskills

Certainly the Outing^^ub isSaot th
only "break-out" solutio

and the Adirondacks, offering a nearer
adventure.

However, it is interestifl|Lto n'

Anybody may join the Cornell Outing

that Cornellians have been usH^i it as

lub by simply paying a membership

iy-^arssuch for over 40 years. Only AC

fee^f $5 per year or $3 per semester,

ago you would have found it in th^- and tnfc^lub's membership isn't limited

Organization Directory as the Johnny

student

Parsons' Club. Activities then consisted

lortuniTfe^are still available for

primarily of day trips and local hikes. non-nWnbers.^l|e club regularly

As the years rolled along, the Cornell sponsor^^Red Cros^^dvanced First
Outing Club continued to offer a Aid courseNthere is thea^nual chance

"break-out" by introducing students to buy new Stepping equipment at a

percer^^~heto one another as people. Presently, group discount i-n^to 15
it is able to continue this on a much club also schedulesS«gular trail m?

more expanded basis. It changed its size, its number of activities, and the
extent of its outings. Now the Outing Club is likely to be
the most diversified organization on
campus and is definitely the largest
with 400 members. Its activities include

tenance and repair orN^two gorge"
trails.
Being the president of such^mactive
organization is a solid commm^ent.
Why invest so much of your time this club as opposed to doing otheT things? Roxanne answers, "It's the

/eryorj^els

the cliib

•\meTeel li

ly^omm

is woptffwh'

Ten Bee^l lake Vroz
fer, /me^luflN^^toldl 0SkC<*«i£j
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someone.

Safety Division Meeting a Challenge

by Marleen Bicknese 78

When Lieutenant Elbert Smith first joined the Cornell Safety Division 23
years ago, he swelled the ranks to seven members. Today, Safety has six times that number on its force— 42
employees-and they could use more.
The need for this increase reflects
both the changing student life at Cornell and the changing attitude of Safety toward protecting the campus.
The Safety Division, with its head quarters in Barton Hall, is a 24-hour police force. Its members are assigned ranks; it has its chief, its lieutenants, its sergeants, just as in a military unit. Not only is the Division governed by Cornell's rules and regulations, but by the penal law of New York State
as well.
When an individual is apprehended on campus for a crime, Safety has the authority to do two things: it can
send the person to Cornell's Judicial Administrator, who handles misdemea nors and more minor incidents, or to
the local criminal courts. A double
standard arises. A non-Cornellian
must be tried by the state courts for any crime and automatically gets a
criminal record while a Cornell student
is tried by the University for lesser
offenses and therefore does not receive
a police record. Today, that's an advantage to a
student, but before 1969, when the Safety Division had a "hot-line" to the Proctor, who had the authority to issue penalties, committing a serious
crime could suspend or expel an
individual from Cornell. Because of
these strict punishments, many stu dents would have preferred to have been tried by the state courts and incur a police record rather than be thrown out of the University. But now campus penalties for similar crimes
committed a few years ago are more
lenient. Individuals can still be sus
pended or dismissed, but these mea
sures are less likely to be taken. Instead, offenders are usually given a

Syracuse. Coeds had a curfew then, so when he spotted a girl and a boy near Schoellkopf Stadium at 3 a.m., he knew he would have to reprimand
the couple. But it wasn't what he expected— the girl was actually a guy
in a dress! Both students had water
bottles under their arms with hoses

leading to the pavement. They were in the process of making a trail of orange footprints in honor of the

game. Alumni from the '50's also remember

the carefree atmosphere around
campus; they could walk safely at night and leave their doors unlocked, assured that their possessions were
secure. Today, greater precautions
must be taken to insure such confi

Chuck Grimes, one of 18 students in the Safety Division, directs rush
hour traffic.

dence.
There are several reasons for the rise
in crime on campus. The student
population has risen more than 50
percent. In '55 there were less than 10,000 students, while in 76 over 16,500 registered. As a result, the number of faculty and staff has had to increase.
And where there are more people,

written reprimand, fined, put on pro bation, or asked to do 100 hours of community service, which ranges from maintaining the gorges to help ing the Ithaca halfway houses.
Since the 1950's, the amount of

crime has increased at Cornell, follow

ing the national trend. The type of crime, though, differs from the '50's. Today, it is more likely to be directed against a person — assault or robbery —
whereas 25 years ago much of it had
less malicious intent. Jack Williams,

who has been on the force since the

early '50's, recalls that many of the past crimes were actually pranks —

panty raids, breaking curfews, Architecture College's annual Patrick's day antics, and the like.

the St.

Lt. Smith recalls an incident in

the '50's on the eve of a big Fall Week
end football game with arch rival

there is likely to be more crime. New educational facilities and living
units have been built since the early
'50's. That makes a greater target area for crime and a greater area for Safety
to patrol and protect. The abolishing of dorm and social
regulations and curfews has also
affected the crime rate. Ruth W.
Darling, Associate Dean of Stu dents, recalls that in the '50's all girls at Cornell were required to live on campus unless their family home was within a specified radius. They lived either in a sorority, at Sage, or on
North Campus, since West Campus
was strictly for men and North Campus for women. Each girl had to sign in and out every night, and "desk girls
were hired to keep track of the proce dure. "Night girls" let latecomers in.
These curfew breakers were reported
to the Women's Judiciary Board,

6

which dealt harshly with dorm infrac
tions. In line with the social norms of
the times, men were not bound by these curfews and West Campus doors
were never locked.
Moreover, in the '50's and early '60's, all organizations sponsoring social events, including fraternities and sororities, were required to regis
ter at the Dean of Students' Office.
These events had to be chaperoned by people whose names were left with the Dean. Thus, Safety knew in advance what was happening on campus and who was responsible, and could plan accordingly.
In the late '50's the students started
to openly protest the strict regulations supported by the Faculty Committee
on Student Affairs. Several hundred
people marched to President Malott's home in opposition to these overpro-
tective rules and the lack of student
participation allowed in the adminis
tration.
"As the '60's progressed, there were a number of changes, slow changes," recalls Ruth Darling. One of the first
was in 1963. The senior women's cur
few was removed; they were allowed to return to their dorms whenever they pleased. A budget cut eliminated the desk girl's position, although sign in's
and out's remained in effect except for
seniors. Seniors were still encouraged
#*-■"

to voluntarily report when they would return to the dorm, but cooperation
was poor.
After the seniors' curfew was lifted, juniors, sophomores, and freshmen questioned the reasons they were restricted and found no satisfactory answers. Class by class, the curfews and the sign in's and out's disappeared, and by 1969, all these restrictions had been lifted. Beginning about this time
many dorms became co-ed. Thus ended Cornell's role as "in locus
parentis." By 1972 even the residence requirement for freshmen was dropped. "All these changes increased the degree of responsibility students must
assume in the conduct of their per
sonal lives," remarked Ms. Darling. All these changes also made it harder
for Safety to do its job. Whereas before Safety could readily recognize
whether a person should be on North
or West Campus, today they cannot
even be sure who should be in a dorm
without requiring identification. People from outside Cornell can easily enter. Moreover, the elimination of curfews helped to create the greatest need for Safety patrols between 10:00 p.m.
and 2:00 a.m., a much later hour than 20 years ago.
But Lt. Smith says he would be
reluctant to see restrictions reimposed upon the Cornell community. He
Sergeant Ted Pless warns a secre tary to be more careful in securing her possessions.

commented, "Graduating high school
seniors are more mature and more
aware of their freedom today then 25 or even 10 years ago. Young people learn responsibility — to account for themselves quicker — under this
system."
Safety is adapting to the changing
student life. "Before the Proctor's
office was dissolved," observed Lt.
Smith, "prior to the Straight takeover, students had an image of Safety as 'the big, bad policemen.' Since 1969, Safety has become more student
oriented. We want to break down
the barriers in order to work more
effectively among students, and we'd
like to think that the students realize
that."
Last fall, 8 "blue lights" were installed to help prevent crime. These
lights were put in strategic places, as at the suspension bridge and behind the engineering quad. They mark phones that anyone can use anytime
to contact Safety in emergency situa tions or just for information.
Safety also wants to make people
more aware of campus crime so as to
motivate them to take necessary pre
cautions. They are holding "rap ses sions" with students and showing movies on crime prevention. When possible, "You could have been ripped
off" cards are left under items that
people leave unguarded. They encour age students to ride the night buses between West and North Campuses. This spring or next fall, Chief McDaniel hopes to have crime prevention adver
tisements on Cornell's milk cartons.
Students are also helping Safety. Eighteen of them put in 20 hours or less a week helping direct traffic, patrol the dorms, and make medical transports. However, when they are on patrol, they do not have the author ity to apprehend individuals themselves. They spot potential trouble and notify the dispatcher at headquarters. With the help of this Student Patrol, the
officers can take more time to thor
oughly follow up cases and do their ever-increasing paper work.
The Safety Division has more people to protect, more area to patrol, and
more serious crimes to deal with than
in the '50's. The changes in the force reflect the changes on campus over the years, including the changing atti
tudes and student life.

7

American Food
from Foreign Perspectives

by Lucy Bodanza '78

Dining habits in individual cultures
are usually taken for granted by the
members of that culture. Most Ameri
cans accept the fluffy bread, greasy fried foods, and predominance of beef in our meals without thinking twice. To many, they are the best parts of
our diet. But to those from other cul
tures, these same foods are often the
most disliked.
Cornell University's population includes a large number of foreign students. Many of these students eat in the University dining halls; others
cook for themselves or form groups
and do their cooking together. Most foreign students don't like the Ameri can food they have found in Ithaca. Their feelings range from "dreadful" to "edible", but most agree on one point: American food is not very tasty.
David Mao, a student from Taiwan, put it this way. "It may be nutritious, but it doesn't taste very good." He said basically food is the same every where, and different ways of prepara tion are what distinguish cuisines of
different countries.
Since most people like best the

cuisine of their childhood, David felt
any cuisine other than that one would
take some getting used to. Then he added, "Well, how do you define
American Food?"
The question is a good one, but hard
to answer. American food is based on
the cuisines of many countries, and it reflects them all. Perhaps that "melting pot" is part of the problem. Without any clearcut guidelines, American food has become a conglomerate of many tastes— and not always good ones.
Most Cornell students grow up on
American food, and hardly think about what they eat. It is simply food.
But a student from Sweden didn't
think he could ever adjust to American food. "The bread is so awful here,"
he lamented. He said there is too
much emphasis on hot foods, and the
cold meats and cheeses which he
loves are secondary food items. He
also disliked the many fried foods
typical of the fast food chains. He feels American food in general is too fatty, and hard to enjoy.
Peter Hrechdakian, a student from Lebanon, was less particular about his

own dislikes. "Over all, it's terribly
bad," he said. While he admits Amer ican food is edible, he also feels it's
tasteless.
American food is similar to the
cuisines of some other countries, and
Douglas Turnbull, from Australia said
that in many ways our food is close to what he is used to. While Australians
eat more lamb than beef, and the
foods are prepared differently, they are basically the same as in this coun try. "However," he said, "American food is certainly not very interesting."
Another student from Africa said
simply, "American food? It's dreadful." Determining exactly what makes the
food so poor is difficult. Perhaps, as David Mao said, the problem is merely a matter of personal taste. Or perhaps it is the emphasis on fatty foods, airy baked products, and industrially pre pared convenience foods.
For whatever the reasons, American
food is not what attracts students
from other countries to Cornell. One can only conclude that, though the meals may be poor for the body, the feast must be great for the mind.

8

Getting By

by Keith Kushner '77

Gary's a mason. . . Bill's a folk singer. . .
Leslie's a lab technician. . .
What do these three people from
obviously different backgrounds have in common? They are all students, and are helping to put themselves through school by working at a part time job. Many students find this necessary to help meet the rising costs
of their education. Jobs around the
Ithaca area are increasingly difficult to find, and students sometimes have to come up with strange solutions to their financial problems.
Peter Myer, '77, is in mechanical engineering and is also a Naval ROTC midshipman. Pete is also the "dirt man" out at the Stables Inn on Dryden Road. He shares the responsibility of cleaning up the restaurant with one of his roommates. "The job is seven days a week, but it pays for the groceries," he said. "Sharing the job with some one else is the only way we could do
it. When one of us has classes the
other person can fill in," Pete added. "We did have a little problem at the end of last semester when I got in an
accident with my roommate's car. We

had to borrow one till the end of the
term or else give up working." If a student is unable to find employ
ment off campus, the University itself has a strong student working force.
Cornell has about 2000 students on a
work-study program called SEMP. The jobs are given out according to financial need, and students in the
program are working all over campus. Pete Dennington, Hotel '79, is in
the SEMP program and works in Olin
Library. "I work as a page in the South east Asia section, and in the stacks," he said. "The program's a great thing. I don't feel so dependent on my parents, and I study more once I get done with work since I'm already at the library."
Not all student held jobs on campus are involved with the work-study pro gram. Leslie Branch, Arts '77, is a lab technician, working with Neurospora (bread mold). She cross mates
the mold, isolates spores, and sets up genetic experiments. "I started out doing research for credit, but found
out I could work here over the summer
and get paid for it," she said. "I've been supporting myself since April."
Students have found some interest
ing ways of getting by financially.

Steve Liguori, Agriculture 77, has approached the problem in a uniquely original manner. Steve got involved with a food experiment on campus, testing the effects of fiber on the human body. He and 23 other male students get fed three times a day, seven days a week, and get paid
besides. The drawback is that the
meals include the same type of break fast, same type of lunch, and same dinner for the full course of the
experiment, 80 days. "Basically, it's an exercise in self discipline," Steve said. "I can't leave Ithaca, and I can't eat anything that isn't part of the experiment. I even have to carry a
bottle of de-ionized water around in
case I get thirsty. We're not allowed to drink any alcohol, but they do give us seven ounces of Burgundy on Saturday night." Steve, who is
interested in animal nutrition still holds
other campus jobs. "I work at the information desk at Day Hall, and sometimes give a campus tour, but I'm glad I'm involved with this experi
ment."
Cornell students find some unique ways of surviving when money gets tight. And in the long run, isn't surviv ing what it's all about?

Steve Liguori, Agriculture and Life Sciences '77, enjoys breakfast number
36; looks forward to 44 more.

Leslie Branch, Arts and Sciences '77, prepares test tubes for genetic experiments on neurospora.

Peter Myer, Engineering '77, keeps
busy at The Stables Inn restaurant,
"
where he works as "dirt man.

9

Helping the College
Grow

by Karen Esposito '77

\ :?

Like any of the schools and Colleges
at Cornell, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences annually depends on contributions and gifts from its 26,328 alumni* and friends. The annual problem is: how to create aware ness of the needs and opportunities for alumni to give support to "the College of your choice."
While Cornell was in the midst of
the Centennial campaign during the '60's, none of the statutory colleges
was involved. No one had seen a need
for development programs in the statu tory colleges, since it was assumed
the state would handle their needs.
In 1969 the College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences Fund (CALS Fund)
was established. Although Ag College
alumni had contributed support to Cornell, there had been no major Ag
College fund-raising efforts before the CALS Fund. Its initial goal was $1
million. With the enthusiastic support
and leadership of alumni such as Joseph P. King, '36, Chairman of the College Development Advisory Com mittee and Myron Fuerst, '29, that goal was achieved in 1972.
Brad Carruth, '68, Assistant to the Dean for Development and Alumni Affairs, believes that student partici pation can be a key factor in the
future success of the Fund. This year
five undergraduates serve on the Development Advisory Committee with alumni and faculty. While students
have been Committee members since
the Fund's inception, the recent expan sion of student representation from *As of February, 1976.

two to five was heartily endorsed by Committee members. A major reason for student involvement? According to Carruth, "To increase their aware ness of the benefits and potentials
of the CALS Fund and how it aids
their education."
The present Fund goal is to establish endowments that will provide $1 million annually for the College. During the
1976-77 academic year, the Fund will
assist 440 undergraduates with $164,440 in scholarships. This help is only the beginning, since the College's under graduates must secure loans in excess of $750,000 to meet their annual educa tional expenses. Along with scholar ship support, the Fund supports the creation and expansion of innovative
teaching programs by College faculty. It has supported 29 innovative teaching projects in the last five years totaling over $35,000.
Carruth explained that if alumni are to be aware of the CALS Fund, they
must first know about the present
student body and faculty. "People will not make commitments unless they
are aware of and interested in the
future of the College," he said. "We have a strong link with alumni - they
were students here once. We have to
increase their awareness, interest, and involvement with the College today."
Carruth cited an example of a stu
dent who well remembers the scholar
ships he received — Morton Adams, '33, now a University trustee. Carruth said, "Mr. Adams readily admits he could
not have continued his education
during the Depression if he hadn't

received a scholarship." In honor of its retired president, in 1976 the CurticeBurns Company established the Morton Adams Scholarship Fund - a $50,000
endowment. During 1976-77, $3,500 was awarded in scholarships to 17
students as a result.
The five students currently serving on the Development Advisory Com
mittee were appointed by Dean W, Keith Kennedy and represent a cross section of majors and graduating classes. They are Susan Riedman '77, David Tretter 78, Marilyn Groll '78, Robert Weiss 79, and Bradley
Grainger, 79. Since the Fund's inception, students'
opinions and involvement have been
solicited. How does Carruth feel
about the student involvement with
the Fund? He considers it "extremely
worthwhile."
During one recent meeting with Joseph King and Myron Fuerst, stu dents offered the following suggestions to continue to improve communication
with students about the CALS Fund-
a display in Mann library showing some of the Fund's accomplishments and contributions to the College, add
ing Fund information to registration
materials, and designing labels with the Fund's logo for all equipment pro vided by the Fund to improve under
graduate teaching programs. Carruth emphasized that he would
like to see further student participation
with the Committee and the Fund. One possibility is the development of a student organization as a branch of
the Fund - one that would primarily

10

prad Carruth, Assistant to the Dean for Development and Alumni
Affairs, talks to student outside Roberts Hall.
Students on the Development Advisory Committee; from left to right, Bradley Grainger, Marilyn Gro/I, Susan Riedman, David Tretter.

assist in promotion. Carruth has a
number of specific suggestions con
cerning increased student involvement
in fund-raising. One is the introduction
of a newsletter for alumni that could
spotlight important facets of students, faculty, and research that is being done in the Ag College.
Broad student participation would be needed in helping design and pre
pare such a newsletter to represent as
many departments and fields of study as possible. Students could help
research material such as alumni pro
files, for example. According to Carruth,
"This kind of a newsletter could be
an effective way of introducing and updating information about the Fund."
When alumni visit the campus,
Carruth said, "They're usually extremely
eager to talk with students from their
college. They want to know what's
happening in the Ag College today.
Student volunteers are needed to talk
with these alumni and to be student
representatives at regional alumni association functions away from the campus."

Keeping alumni and friends of the College of Agriculture informed and
interested in their alma mater is a con tinuous process. Brad Carruth offers
many new and interesting ways which incorporate increased student involve ment. Participation in the activities of the CALS Fund offers very tangible
returns for students. As Carruth said,
1 "With greater student involvement in
the development program, alumni and
friends can work with students and
continue to improve the educational programs of the College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences."
Audio/visual equipment provided by CALS Fund to meet increased student enrollment in Professor Paolilla's plant anatomy course.

11

Not On the Roster
by Barbara Buoymaster '77

itii.

1 .ft.

HP ■■:■..■.■■:

f ■, ^

WffMfiffift'ff■fffHff, S

Don't let school stand in the way
of your education. Mark Twain said that. But we all think of it a number
of times during four years at Cornell. It's hard to see how chemistry or calculus make anybody more of a
somebody and we long for a course
that matters.
Cornell's Experimental College tries to offer courses that do; courses that
teach you something you want to know, for you. They're sponsored by the Uni
versity Student Unions.
Their listing begins with amateur
radio licensing and ends 34 courses
later with yoga. Ballroom dancing, bartending, bellydancing, and bicycle maintenance, vegetarian cooking, gar dening, and theater; there's something
for everyone.

Students concentrate on the fine points of yoga techniques, above and right. Does re/axing help you study?

Instructor Jerry Krushin describes the fine points of tuning
your car.
12

Dancing's a great way to let off steam. If you'd like to try the intri cacies of bellydancing, instructor Jude
Lomas will show you how.

ffffrfffft'-"'

Ballroom dancing is having a come back. These students are learning it's fun to dance together.

Following the process of turning a handful of clay into a pot, using a
wheel, absorbs this student's atten
tion.

13

WVBR. . . Working Wavelengths

by David Bilmes '78

When not studying, Cornell stu
dents manage to find time for a wide
variety of extra-curricular activities. One of these activities is WVBR, a
radio station run predominantly by
Cornell students, which unlike most student activities, functions 24 hours a day all year round and deals in
thousands of dollars each year.
WVBR is not an average college
radio station. Over 90 people, mostly Cornell students, work there and it takes in over $120,000 a year in adver
tising revenue. Unlike most college stations, WVBR broadcasts 24 hours a day all year round.
Even with its large billing, WVBR is not a profitmaking organization. Sta tion president and general manager Larry Epstein, B & PA 78, explained the station's objectives as follows:
"As long as we're training people,
making enough money to operate, and serving the public, that's really why we're here."
Epstein is responsible for overseeing the overall operation of the station, a task requiring considerable time and energy. His duties range from making sure "the building doesn't turn into a pit" to insuring that the program, music, and news directors keep coming
up with new ideas.
Since it first started, WVBR has
undergone numerous transitions before becoming the big business it is today. It began as The Cornell Radio Guild in 1935, broadcasting a few hours of programs daily over WESG (now WHCU), a university-owned radio sta tion. In 1940, the Guild set up studios in Willard Straight Hall and began broadcasting over a station of its own
WCRG.
The Guild became a membership corporation and in 1946 changed its

call letters to WVBR, the "Voice of the Big Red." By 1958, WVBR had an FM license and in 1966, a new trans mitter. A dual polarized antenna (a significant technical improvement) enabled the station to become the first
in the Southern Finger Lakes region capable of stereophonic broadcasting.
In 1973, the station moved from the Straight to its present Linden Avenue location in Collegetown. The studio
facilities on Linden Avenue were
designed and built by staff members.
Work continues as parts of the com
plex are still unfinished. Corporation members, who own
and manage the station, must be
Cornell students. About half the staff
is disc jockeys. Most of the remaining
staff is on the news staff and the
remaining members are in the techni cal department. Only the full-time receptionist gets a full salary from
the station.
In contrast to most college stations, WVBR does not aim its programming only at college students. "We're after the 18-34 age group," explained Epstein. By aiming for a broader audi ence than just college students, WVBR is able to broadcast even during vaca

tions when Cornell is closed. During
vacations, staff members are paid to stay in Ithaca and keep the station going; the only time staff members are paid a salary.
On campus, reaction to WVBR is
mixed but generally favorable. Its
diverse album-rock format does not
appeal to everyone. "It's too freaky,"
said Anne Moss, 78, who is not a
fan of the station. Kevin Wandryk, 78, agrees, "I don't like all that progressive
bull."
Diane O'Connell, '80, sees WVBR as the lesser of two evils. "Compared to the other one (cross-town rival
WICB), it's less bubblegum," she said. Rose Gutfeld, 78, has her own rea
son for listening to WVBR. "It's the only station on when I come home from the Sun," she said, explaining that as a reporter for 77?e Cornell Daily Sun,
she often doesn't get back from the
paper until the early morning. WVBR is the only station still broadcasting
then.
"The announcing is bad," said Elliott Paull, 77, who listens to the station
because he likes the music. Chris
Looram, 78, also likes the music but doesn't enjoy the "local commercials."

Holly Stein preparing the news
broadcast.

14

Disc jockey Dave Schiller works
the controls while on the air.

While it is not the overwhelming favorite of Cornell students, WVBR
does have a strong base of support among them, and has also succeeded
in reaching the rest of the 18-34 age group. According to Epstein, a recent professional survey initiated by the
station showed the station is first
among the 18-34 group during the day, is first overall in Tompkins County at night, and is first among the 18-34
male group all the time.
Like any other successful organiza tion, WVBR owes its success to the
people who work for it. Many of the staff members hope to use their WVBR experience to obtain jobs in either the broadcast media or the music business
when they graduate. Among the more noteworthy station alumni are: Dr. Joyce Brothers; Joel Chaseman, presi dent of Westinghouse Corporation; Bettina Gregory, a reporter for ABC television and radio in New York City; and Larry Kleinman, a disc jockey forWLIR on Long Island.
A brief look at some of the staff
members shows what makes WVBR
tick. Joel Meltzer, 78, former news director for the station, is now its
Community Affairs director. Meltzer
terms WVBR "a great experience. It
teaches you how a radio station
works." He is hopeful of landing a job with a radio station after graduating.
Music director Alan Posklensky, '77, has a very desirable job. He listens to 30-40 new albums sent to the station

each week, choosing the suitable ones for air time. "Anything that's good for music is good for WVBR," said Posklensky, who hopes his contacts within the record industry will be use ful in helping him find a job with a
record company in the future.
Rick Danzker, 78, a disc jockey,
calls WVBR a real work situation. "It
goes farther than a classroom. You
can really learn about the radio busi ness." In addition to announcing,
Danzker has also written and produced
commercials for a local nightspot, an experience he has found invaluable. He expects this will aid him in getting a job in the broadcast industry.
However, people do not work at WVBR simply to get a job when they graduate. Peter Schacknow, 78, a newscaster, also enjoys the social life at the station and spends much of his free time there. Schacknow, who has

also broadcast sports and been a disc
jockey, enjoys working at the station
"a lot more than classes." He has
been a DJ on several all-night shows (2-6 a.m.) and found that they "ruin you for classes the next day," adding, "You get lots of weird phone calls."
Schacknow enjoys the relaxed atmosphere at the station, and related
one incident which he remembers
especially well. "The DJs try to make
newscasters laugh on the air all the time. One night they put a plastic
duck on the turntable while I was read
ing the news. It looked hilarious, but I kept from cracking up on the air."
High staff morale is important, since
no one works at WVBR to get rich.
Currently, WVBR is running into increased competition from its rival, Ithaca College's WICB, which has expanded its power wattage and undergone dramatic program revisions. In response, WVBR has adopted a
better mix of music, with popular
songs dispersed more evenly among the progressive music. "Competition makes everyone work harder," said Epstein, who is confident his station will retain its popularity.
The most important part of WVBR is its training program, for that is the
station's lifeblood. "WVBR needs
people just as much as we need a license and money," said Epstein.
The station has a training program
each semester, upon which the staff
places heavy emphasis.
What lies in the future for WVBR?
The station has undergone several major format changes in the past and will certainly undergo more in the
future. No matter what the future
holds, WVBR has made it in Ithaca and is here to stay. Secured in its own building with an enthusiastic and competent staff, the future for WVBR
is a bright one.

Station president and general manager, Larry Epstein, reflects on
the business operation.

15

Music for Credit
by Cathy Ferrand '78

Wind Ensemble is given as a one-
credit hour course each spring; some
students take it for credit and others
audit it. Members are expected to attend two rehearsals per week (total ling over three hours of rehearsal time), and many practice on their own. Several concerts are presented on campus. The music the Wind Ensemble plays at these concerts is unique. In addition to performing pieces by such notable composers as Copland, Hindemith, Stravinsky, and Ives, the group premieres many new pieces. Mr. Stith said, "I like to discover new composi tions." Broadening the appreciation of

the group. The tours serve as a form
of goodwill from Cornell, as well as a source of enjoyment for the musicians. This year the tour will include Holland,
N.Y. and Toronto. Once the Wind Ensemble is back in
Ithaca they present an outdoor concert by the Johnson Art Museum, and then play their last performance of the
season — commencement. The group
plays for both the ROTC commence ment and the University commence
ment. During the University commence ment the Wind Ensemble is required
to play about 40 minutes of proces sional music while the graduates file

contemporary music and giving begin ning composers a start are two of his
goals for the group.
There are several ways in which
new pieces come to the attention
of the Wind Ensemble. Students or former students from Cornell often
bring their manuscripts for Mr. Stith to look at. For example, Philip Krasicky,
a graduate student who is currently playing with the group, had his arrange ment of Joplin's "The Easy Winners" premiered at the March 6 concert. Another member, Daniel Dorff, 78,
premiered his "Concertino Molto
Grosso" this year. In his office Mr.
Stith has a pile of manuscripts sent
from all over the country by composers
who hope their pieces will be used by

in.
Even when the last piece for gradua
tion is over, the work for Wind Ensem
ble goes on. Mr. Stith, who is a licensed recording engineer, takes tapes
he recorded of the group's concerts
and edits them for record albums.
The Cornell University Wind Ensemble
Record Series has 18 albums, featuring
many of the premiere pieces and pieces by contemporary composers performed by the group. The series is a non-profit project. The records are sent to 35 countries, including all over the United States and to every university in Canada. According to Mr. Stith, three
new albums will be added to the series
before the end of this year. More information about the series can be

the Wind Ensemble. Sometimes the obtained by writing:

The place: a high school auditor
ium in the Washington, D.C. area. The crowd quiets as a man walks from the wings and stands before the group on the stage. He raises his arm — and another concert by the Cornell Uni versity Wind Ensemble begins.
The Wind Ensemble is a 60-piece
concert band under the direction of
Professor Marice Stith and graduate assistant Jim Gibson. When Mr. Stith,
Associate Professor of Music and
Director of Bands at Cornell University,
came to Cornell 11 years ago he found a concert band and a repertory band. From these he started the Wind
Ensemble, selecting woodwind, brass, and percussion players by audition.
The ensemble is made up of students
from all colleges of the Univeristy,
and it includes all ages— from freshmen
to graduate students.

Wind Ensemble commissions a com
poser to write a piece especially for
them. Such was the case with Pulitzer
prize winner Karel Husa's "Concerto for Saxophone and Band," the first band piece ever written by Mr. Husa.
The Wind Ensemble does not con
fine itself to being an on-campus, one-
semester course. After classes and
finals end in May, the group spends three or four days traveling and giving
concerts. Mr. Stith views the tour as
something which "keeps us playing"
and as a reward for the time and work
Wind Ensemble members put in during the semester. In past years, the group has gone to such areas as Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia. Sometimes the area alumni invite the group to perform, and other times the stops for the tour are chosen because a specific high school expressed an interest in hearing

Band Office
Lincoln Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, N.Y. 14853
Wind Ensemble has many diverse
purposes. Mr. Stith feels its major contribution lies in "giving serious musicians a chance to play a variety
of music." It introduces both its mem
bers and the public to contemporary pieces and new composers. While serving the University through its performance at graduation and through
the tour, Wind Ensemble is also
intended as a pleasant experience for its members. Some students regard it as a means of keeping in practice, a way to meet people, or a diversion from work. And as one member said,
"I guess everyone gets a thrill out of being in a performance. . . ."

16

"Yes Sir Ma'am!" Women in Officer Education

Before the middle 1960s, Cornell enjoyed a long history of compulsory
Officer Education training for male students through the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). Interest in joining fell off after the Vietnam war era, and so the ROTC requirement was dropped. By the early 1970's, when the draft was abolished, ROTC partici pation by students was at a low ebb. Equal opportunity legislation coupled with a combination of high attrition rates in the military, new concern with an ever tightening job market, and
the influence of the women's move
ment allowed the first woman to enter
Air Force ROTC in 1970.
Today, Officer Education programs
at Cornell have 42 women enrolled:
22 Army, 12 Air Force, and 8 Navy. Still, the number of women partici pants is far from ideal. Patricia Kim, a
senior from a suburb outside of Cleve
land, Ohio in the Navy ROTC program, reported that "It's a unique experience
because I've never felt what it was like
to be in the minority 'til now." Scholar ship student, Midshipman Gail Lusk, a sophomore from New Orleans, Louisi ana in Navy ROTC, remarked that "Of course, there are times when being a female, you feel out of place, especially
at first."
In all three ROTC divisions, cadets and midshipmen are admitted either as scholarship students (with all four year's tuition and books paid for plus $100 a month subsistence allowance)
or non-scholarship students, who receive $100 a month during their junior and senior years. In addition,
there is an officer education program which commences in the students'
junior year which also leads to com
missioning as an officer.
All ROTC students must learn mili
tary customs and courtesies to the
point where it becomes second nature.
They must attend drill sessions con ducted in Barton Hall every Thursday or Wednesday. Correct wear of the uniform is stressed throughout the training experience. As future officers, women cadets and midshipmen learn
that skirts are to be no more than

by Paula Cimini Shuster '77
two inches above the knee and that
spit-polished, plain black pumps or oxfords, nylons, and a minimum of makeup and jewelry is the norm. In addition to curriculum specified for the students' respective majors, required military science courses, offered by each ROTC Unit, must be taken each semester throughout their four years of undergraduate study.

Summer training is one aspect of the respective programs that the women find most exciting. It's really a working experience that provides an insight into how officers live and func tion which helps students to decide if they wish to continue with the program or not. Army and Air Force "ROTCEES" are sent to a variety of bases and posts during the summer after sophomore year, while women in Navy
ROTC must go on three different
"cruises" at the end of their freshman, sophomore, and junior years. Ms. Kim in describing her third summer cruise said "I was sent to Naval Investigative Service (NIS) headquarters in Alexan dria, Virginia. NIS deals with crime on a naval station and its personnel is comprised of a combination of naval
officers and special agents involved in port security and counterintelligence activities." Women attending Army summer training face such challenges as the confidence building test (where
one must climb a rope 40 feet above
water and drop), ducking at the last moment under protective concrete
walls to avoid an on coming tank, and learning weapon use. Air Force ROTC cadets may copilot either a T-37 or T-38, which are both pilot
trainers. Boring, it isn't! A good paying job is appealing in a
time when the U.S. economy appears
to be in a static condition. Captain Tom H. Warren Jr., Professor of
Naval Science and Commanding
Officer of the NROTC Unit explained that "The starting salary for an ensign
or second lieutenant is over $900 a
month, plus medical, insurance and
retirement benefits." With a smile
he added that "Advancement with
increased pay comes after the first 18 months of competent service which is
as easily accomplished as breathing
normally." After college, officers are obligated
to serve a minimum of four to three
years in the service according to the programs in which they were enrolled. Commitments may increase, however, dependent on job specialties selected by each active duty officer.

17

Coach Nicky Bawlf holds a practice session on Beebe Lake during the
1937-38 season.

From Beebe Lake Cornell Hocke'

As Cornell's hockey team competes
in the Eastern championships this month, many fans will undoubtedly reminisce about the golden decade of Big Red hockey during the late sixties and early seventies. During a ten year period, the skaters at Lynah Rink won eight consecutive Ivy League Titles, five ECAC championships, and a pair of national crowns. Although Cornell
no longer dominates eastern competi tion, and must scrap for one of the top eight spots, the winning tradition
has continued.
Cornell hockey and "success" are synonymous at a quick glance. The winning tradition is a brief one how ever, when one considers that hockey
teams have competed at Cornell since the turn of the century. The players were just as dedicated during the first fifty years, but the ice was much rougher, and the victories a lot fewer.
Before Lynah Rink was built in 1957,

the Big Red teams played on the
natural ice of Beebe Lake. Due to the weather conditions, very few games
were actually played. During a few seasons, none were played at all due
to thaw or the lack of any ice.
"If the ice looked promising," recalls Ray McElwee '40, "we grabbed some cars and drove to Syracuse to practice
at the old Coliseum." The team often
kept in shape by running at Barton Hall. Anticipating a game, the players
would throw linoleum on the floor and
practice shooting against the goalie. Very often team members had to
clean the ice themselves with hand
scrapers made of wooden boards. The snow was then shovelled to the
perimeter of the rink where it would often melt during a warm spell. "I can recall taking a spill in six inches of water," McElwee recollected. "That
was cold!"
"It was primitive hockey," said Dave Cutting, '49, who was a wing for
Cornell before and after World War II.
"We had six inch boards and the ice
had many cracks." Due largely to the
maintenance expense, Cornell discon tinued its use of Beebe Lake in the
mid 1940's. "We lost a tractor through the ice once," Cutting recalled, "I
think that bothered them."
During the '47-'48 season, the team
used the area behind the Polo Barn
for its one home game, after failing in an attempt to flood Upper Alumni Field. Most of the games during these years were played on the road. "Teams would laugh at us," Cutting reflected.
"A lot of teams had artificial rinks."
During the early 70's, students did anything for season hockey tickets, even sleeping over at Barton Hall.

Nicky Bawlf coached the Big Red hockey teams from 1920 to 1948. Over that period, the hard fighting, but often inferior, Cornell teams com
piled a record of 42-72-4. McElwee
remembers the scant game attendance.
"There were girl friends, parents, and a few coaches," the alumnus said,
"that was about it."
Hockey was dropped from the athletic program following the '48
season and was not reinstated until
ten years later. At this time, Paul Patten, a former coach at St. Lawrence University, joined the Cornell staff and supervised the construction of Lynah
Rink.
With an indoor arena, the Red could
now play a full schedule and host half
of the contests. Patten coached the
team with limited success for six years
and left the job in 1963 with a 38-68-3 record behind him. During the '59-'60 campaign, Cornell lost 19 of 21 games.
One hundred and fifty miles away in the small town of Troy, a coach by
the name of Ned Harkness had built
a power-house at RPI. After Patten resigned his post, Cornell convinced Harkness to come to Ithaca and build
a program on the East Hill. In his seven
seasons at Cornell, Harkness put together a string of won-loss records that will go unmatched in collegiate hockey for some time. After winning 12 and losing ten in his initial campaign, the Big Red went 151-17-1 before Harkness left Ithaca to coach the
Detroit Red Wings.
One reason for the tremendous
success of Cornell teams was the ability
of Harkness to recruit in Canada where
hockey was a developed sport. Not
many cities had valid programs to
develop youngsters in the United States at this time. An equally impor-

Lynah Rink, named after James Lynah, Cornell's director of Athletics
from 1935 to 1943, was built in 1957
at a cost of $500,000.

to Lynah Rink:
adltlOn by Steve Klein 77

tant factor was the man himself.
According to Peter Tufford, '69, "Harkness could get you to do any thing. He instilled the need to perform highly, no matter who the team."
During the last season Harkness coached, the Big Red went undefeated
on the way to recapture the national
championship. One of the captains of the 29-0 team, Dick Bertrand,
succeeded Harkness as coach and has
been at the helm ever since.
The won-loss records and the feel
ings of the players cannot alone recapture all the enthusiasm and inte rest generated by hockey during the
Harkness years, which witnessed 63
consecutive wins at Lynah Rink. The Pee-Wee Hockey League, which
started in the late fifties with 47 chil
dren, expanded to over 450 members during the Harkness era. Harkness also got the adult community involved and helped organize the Cornell Hockey Boosters. Still a strong organization today, the boosters offer spiritual and financial support to the program.
Much of the excitement surrounding Cornell hockey at this time centered

around getting tickets for the games. With few reserved seats available,
student and Ithacans alike would line up in mid-afternoon to await the sale of tickets at five o'clock. When the rink
was full, the doors closed. "People would take out food from Kentucky Fried Chicken or McDonald's, and have dinner while they waited for the game,"
Tufford remembered. As reserved tickets became more
available in the 70's, the mob scene moved to Barton Hall, where students would sleep overnight to secure season tickets. Today, most of the seats are reserved and anyone can buy a season
ticket without much hassle. Most of the spectators don't show up until
game time. "Something's been lost," said Tufford, looking back at the sixties.
Cornell's dominance of college hockey has also been lost. The Ivy League title, a given during the Hark ness era and early Bertrand years, had eluded the Big Red for three consecu
tive seasons. Cornell's pre-season
challenge in recent years has been to finish high enough to receive a post
season tournament bid.
Coach Ned Harkness and 1970 th- captains Dan Lod
boa, John Hughes, and Dick Bertrand. Nancy Hark ness, the coach's daughter, holds the NCAA trophy.

The end of the Cornell dynasty is by no means a reflection of inferior
talent, but a result of the evolution of
a sport. "The quality of teams is
much improved," Tufford pointed out.
"Any team in the top eight or so can
knock off another on a given night."
Many coaches across the nation
took notice of the success Harkness
enjoyed recruiting in Canada and started looking across the border for talent themselves. In addition, the develop
ment of American hockey has helped
balance the teams and improve the
overall calibre of play. Despite the absence of ticket lines
and championships, there is still a lot of support for the Big Red team which
has finished fourth or better in the
east every year under Coach Bertrand.
Bob Julian, President of the Booster Club, reports that membership is as high as ever. The club charters buses for several away games during the year and meets with the coach and players after designated home games. The club has also played a role in maintaining the high quality of the program thorugh monetary contribu tions. Some of the club's accomplish
ments include refurbishing the locker-
room, hockey offices, and providing homes for many of the players.
The boosters have also provided some less visible help. "We bring the
oranges and bubble gum for the
games," said Julian. "Over a season,
that saves a few hundred dollars." There are those fans who were
spoiled by the success of the sixties and complain about the present pro gram. Julian believes these people are living in the past. "There's no guarantee
that Ned Harkness would be able to
do any better if he were here today,"
Julian said. "This is a new era."

19

ugging
■.
n the i Psi 500
by Peter Schoenberger '78

The bartender reached up to adjust
the volume on the TV set over the bar
so the bar patrons could hear it over the clamor of the crowd out on College Avenue. Suddenly an immense, bearded
Viking dressed in full battle garb, com plete with horns and spiked club, jogged into the bar, laid down his weapons, and quickly "chugged" the glass of beer put before him. Wiping his chin with one armored gauntlet,
he nodded a thank you and lumbered
back onto the street.
The bartender's only reaction was a slight shake of the head and a smile. "I was pretty surprised when Groucho Marx came in," he explained, "but after the six-foot bluebird, the cave men, and the guy on the unicycle, nothing fazes me!"
That comment might lead you to think that the barkeeper had been sampling his own wares in the middle of the day, but then you might not be familiar with the "Phi Psi 500", the fund-raising event for charity that has become Cornell's biggest spring
event for students.
What do beer-drinking Vikings and
Groucho Marx have to do with a

charity event? They were all members
of some of the 90 teams that were
sponsored by local merchants or friends to run a 1.1-mile footrace through the streets of Collegetown. That would normally present a sizeable challenge to most people, but to make things even more interesting the runners must stop five times along the way to down an eight-ounce beer before continuing (hopefully!) to the finish.
The "500," which will run on Satur day, April 30th this year, has been run at Cornell for only two years. Other chapters of the national fraternity that runs the race, Phi Kappa Psi, however, hold similar events across the country. For example, Arizona State University sponsors a tricycle race for their "500", while at the University of Rhode Island
the contestants run the course bounc
ing basketballs.
Cornell's race is divided into three
competitive divisions: Fraternity, Sorority, and Independent, and a Masters' division (over 30 only) is being considered for this year's race. A small fee paid by either the threeperson teams themselves, or an inte rested sponsor, garbs the runners in

flashy "500" T-shirts (de rigueur for the occasion), with the remainder of
the money going to the chosen charity,
which has been the Greater Ithaca
Activities Center for the past two years.
At 2:00 the afternoon of race day, ^
the teams start leaving the Phi Psi parking lot at precise 30-second inter vals. They sprint a short distance to the corner of Campus Road and "chug" a practice beer before shifting into low gear and charging up the hill toward East Avenue. Turning right at
the top of the hill, the runners coast across the Cascadilla Gorge onto
College Avenue, which takes them to their first stop in Collegetown: The Royal Palms. From there, they zip around the corner to The Connection, ;
then halfway down East Hill to The Gin Mill (previously Morrie's) on Eddy Street. Then it's down, down, down
Williams Street (please check your brakes!) to The Chapter House, the last stop, before cutting back across the lower bridge and into the Phi Psi lot to be marked off as a "finisher,"
and have their time recorded.
Trophies are awarded in each division for the fastest total time of

20

A confident member of the fraternity
division winners in 1975.
The "Phi Sigma Kappa Vikings", not winners but quite a show.

each team's first three finishers. Medals
are also awarded to the five fastest
individual runners, and most of the
other runners leave the course with a
good feeling that comes from having a great time while at the same time helping a local charity.
The evening of the race, an open awards party is held in the Phi Psi parking lot, with trophies and medals presented by a representative of the beer company whose product is used

in the race. In addition, there is lots of good music, more contests, and lots of laughs talking over the race with other guys and gals who ran.
The "500" came to Cornell in 1975, greeted by a tremendous crowd of enthusiastic runners and and sponsors who combined talents to raise over
$700 for the Greater Ithaca Activities
Center, a local community service organization. Last year's race was hampered by cool weather and light

"Ithacation" in the morning, but the tremendous popularity of the event was once again apparent, in spite of
the weather.
The success of the "500" is largely
due to the fact that it is one of the
few local happenings that draws together both the college community and the surrounding merchants and
inhabitants. It's a fun time for all.
To those who claim that student life
died with dance marathons and gold fish-swallowing, an open invitation is extended to the wackiest, zaniest,
yet most beneficial event of the year — The Third Annual Phi Psi 500! Bottoms
up!

The crowd keeps the runners going throughout the race, cheering on the winners and the losers.

Ol

^: .

Ithaca winters are long and bitterly cold, but the promise of Cornell's beautiful spring makes even the deep
est snowdrifts bearable. Thanks to the efforts of the Cornell Plantations and two graduates of the landscape archi tecture program, Mike Camann and Jean Kavanagh, Cornell students will have another scenic place to enjoy nature on campus - the Deans' Garden. Located behind Warren Hall, the gar
den originated in 1930 and has been maintained by the Cornell Plantations
since the mid-1950's. Natural deteri
oration of the area through the years
brought about a recent decision to renovate and re-design the garden to honor the deans of the College of
Agriculture for their interest and sup
port in the Plantations' activities. Assuming the role of the client, the
Plantations consulted Marvin I. Adle
man, co-ordinator of the landscape
architecture program, who suggested the garden be a class problem for
senior students in the program. The
Deans' Garden evolved into a special
thesis project of the two seniors who were interested in studying the problem
thoroughly.
The small scale of the area was ideal
for educational purposes. Extensive
research was conducted using geo
logical site studies, analysis of existing plants, soil surveys, and investigations of the climate and the effects of wind,
snow, and shade. The experience of

such a complete site analysis offered
opportunities for study not usually possible in professional offices con strained by time and money. Jean Kavanagh said that the landscape designers who reviewed the project
envied the students' freedom to do
this kind of detailed study. Presently, the only thing delaying the
transformation of the Deans' Garden is the lack of funding. The estimated cost of the entire project has been set between $20,000 and $30,000. The plan recommends the Plantations staff
complete the garden within five years and has divided the project into phases
which allow time for additional funds
to be collected and specimen quality
plants to be gathered.
Careful consideration was taken in
the planning to keep the garden from being completely destroyed while changes are being made. Approach ing the project in phases will ensure its use throughout the year and will
prevent the site from being an eyesore while it is being renovated.
The first phase involves maintenance of the existing garden and clearing the
surrounding area. The second, most expensive phase will include construc
tion of patios, benches, and seating areas, as well as new beddings of
plants. The third phase will concentrate
on the areas farther from the building,
mainly the fringes of the slopes and the outlying wooded spaces. The final

To Honor the Deans
by Catharine Rogers '77

The proposed Deans' Garden designed as a thesis project by two senior landscape architecture students.

phase involves re-paving me walkways from the center to the periphery of the garden, changing the circulation
pattern in the process.
The proposed design of the garden will complement its use as a setting for outside receptions, classes, and luncheons. Reception areas will be paved and provide a sense of privacy, yet will hopefully retain unity with the rest of the garden. These areas will have a variety of uses such as plant displays and will be easily accessible from the buildings. The seating areas will provide a variety of views and spatial experiences for the garden visi tors. The garden will be a pleasant
place for people to study, eat, and
relax on nice afternoons.
The original garden contained a variety of ornamental plants not native
to the Ithaca area. Beautiful show
pieces of unusual specimens have
flourished and exist in the present gar
den. A lovely Kousa dogwood, with unusual bark and flowers is a prize specimen along with a stewartia, a Canadian hemlock, and an American
redbud.
The location of the garden, sur rounded by buildings and trees, makes
it a protected microclimate so plants
that are often too tender for the Ithaca
climate can survive. Little meteoro
logical or climatic data is available about the area, though much is known
about the soil from earlier studies.
Kavanagh hopes that meteorological students will take advantage of the setting and conduct experiments on its
individualized climate.
The new plantings will offer an
attractive blend to enhance the exist
ing foliage and provide a seasonal collage of blossoms. The designers have made suggestions about which plants to use, but the final decision will be made by the Plantations depend ing on which species are available when it's time to plant the garden. Canopies of trees line the outlying areas and others may be introduced near the buildings to offer greater pri vacy for the people working in the
basement offices.
This is one of the Plantations' few
undertakings in building a garden as a
landscape feature instead of primarily
for teaching purposes. Soon students will be able to relax in the Deans'
Garden and enjoy the precious sunny days the Ithaca weather allows us.

COUNTRYMAN CAPSULES

Sears, Quinn, and Hill
Receive Ag College
Merit Award
Three members of the advisory council of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences have received the Award of Merit from the Department of Animal Science at Cornell. Receiving the award for "outstanding contributions to the New York dairy industry and to programs of the Department of Animal Science" were: Francis R. Sears, '31, a dairy farmer in Cortland, has worked closely with the College in trying and adopting new practices, has served
on numerous animal science com
mittees and has made his farm avail
able to tour groups sponsored by Cooperative Extension. Sears has been active in community and agricultural affairs, including two years as President of the College's Alumni Association
and President of the State Council of
Farming Cooperatives. William M. Quinn, '44, Onondaga County Cooperative Extension agent is in charge of the dairy program. He has worked closely with dairymen and the Department of Animal Science in conducting field tests of new methods in dairy breeding and management, including a program to develop methods of milking to prevent mastitis. Quinn, who has just completed a term as president of the State Association of County Agricultural Agents, is a
member of the Board of Directors of
Blue Shield of Central New York,
chairman of the Onondaga County Citizens Committee for Energy Con servation, and was recently appointed to the agricultural committee of the Department of Environmental Conser
vation.
Bernard Hill, a dairy farmer in Lowville, owns one of the top producing herds in Lewis County. He has been a director of state and county Dairy Herd Improvement Cooperatives, the Lowville Milk Producers Cooperative, and the County's Cooperative Extension
Association, as well as serving on the
State Rural Development Advisory Board. Hill has won several awards in
recognition of his herd's production
record and his soil conservation efforts.

Frank P. Proto, '65, has been ap pointed to the new position of Execu tive Director of the Tompkins County Agricultural and Horticultural Society.
He comes to the post from Dunhill of
Denver, an international placement service for executives, and has held positions with First National Bank and Trust Company of Ithaca.
Milton L. Scott, Ph.D. '45, professor of animal nutrition, has been appointed chairman of the Department of Poul try Science at the College of Agricul
ture and Life Sciences. A member of
the Cornell staff since 1945, he was recently elected the Jacob Gould
Schurman Professor of Animal Nutri
tion. Scott is recognized as an inter national authority on the feeding of poultry and is senior author of the textbook, "Nutrition of the Chicken."
Dr. William D. Pardee is a member
of the Board of Directors of the Crop Science Society of America. Dr. Pardee is the Board representative of the Seed Production and Technology Division of the Society. The CSSA is a 4,000
member scientific and educational
organization of agronomists.
Dr. Michael H. Dickson has been
promoted to Professor in the Depart ment of Seed and Vegetable Sciences at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva. Dr. Dickson has been responsible for the snap bean breeding program and for a processing brassica breeding program, including work to improve seed quality and to develop cold tolerance in snap and lima beans during germination and growth. He serves as chairman of the Bean Improvement Cooperative and the Plant Breeding Subcommittee of the Vegetable Research Steering
Committee for the northeastern states.
CROP and HPI
Need Your Help
The New York State College of Agri
culture and Life Sciences does much
important work to help the millions of people starving throughout the world. But there is something else that can be done, and it doesn't take a university to do it. CROP, the Christian Rural Overseas Program, and the Heifer

Project International provides help for people worldwide on the basis of
need. Tax deductable contributions may be made to CROP by check or
through an "in kind" gift of grain. Contributions to the Heifer Project International, also tax deductible, may be made by check or through an "in kind" gift of heifers, pigs, sheep, chickens, goats, honey bees, or any
other farm animals. Checks may be
mailed directly to, and information about "in kind" gifts received from: CROP, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, Indiana, 46514; or Heifer Project International, P.O. Box 808, Little Rock, Ark. 72203.
Communication Graduates
Jill Charboneau Ryan, 76, a com munication arts graduate, is Director of the R.S.V.P. Program of Tompkins County Senior Citizens, located in
Ithaca.
John Henrehan, 76, another com munication arts major, is working with Taft Broadcasting in Cincinnati, Ohio as a radio newsman for WKRC
and WKRQ-FM. He announces hourly newscasts, as well as writing news, editing tapes, and conducting inter
views.
Professor James L. Brann Jr. Ph.D.
'44, after 35 years with Cornell, has
retired and been named Professor of
Entomology Emeritus by the University
Board of Trustees. Prof. Brann is an
authority on the control of fruit pests. As a research entomologist in the Department of Entomology, he has developed more effective and efficient pesticide application equipment,
advocated reduced spray programs for pest control, and searched for alternative fruit pest control methods. Prof. Brann received his B.S. at
Massachusetts State College and his Ph.D. at Cornell. He joined the faculty in 1944. During his tenure at Cornell, he has served the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United
Nations as an advisor in Israel and Greece, done research on control of banana diseases in Panama and studied
fruit insect control practices in Canada.
He was honored as a member of
Sigma Xi, the Scientific Honorary.

23

REWARD

a free one-year subscription to '■'■•'■'
the Cornell Countryman for two new
members of the Alumni Association

The Alumni Association of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) is offer ing a reward for new members. Sign up two Agriculture and Life Science alumni for the Association, and we'll reward you with an additional year's subscription to the Cornell Countryman.
How do you contact alumni in your area? You can write to us and we'll send you a list with addresses of all the alumni in your area.
Drop some of them a line, renew old friend ships, and sign them up. Non-members will receive similar information about this campaign, and two must sign your name to their new membership application. So it's worth a call to an old acquaintence to get that reward.
Your efforts will aid in creating: —a better Open House program to encourage high school students to consider a College of Agriculture and Life Science education. a— better Student-Alumni Contact Program to help undergraduates explore career alterna
tives.

a— more successful Alumni Association
Breakfast in June to exchange ideas concern ing further improvement of College facilities.
— and expanded alumni support to make the Cornell University College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences the finest educational insti tution of its kind in the world.
If you need help getting started or wish to become more actively involved, write to the
address below.
write to--
Alumni Association
College of Agriculture

New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Statutory College of the State University, at Cornell University

and Life Sciences 205 Roberts Hall
Ithaca, NewYork 14853

wfl^i^y^u^l*

|W?!WP?S!f'

/7o

CORNELL

COUNTRYMAN

''■■

VOL. LXXIV

PRIL.1977

■'

Reaching Beyond Our Borders

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN APRIL 1977 VOLUME LXXIV - Number 6

EDITORS:
Lucy L. Bodanza
Bruce Carson Jill Kirschman
ASSISTANT EDITORS:
Marleen Bicknese
Katherine Layer Peter Schoenberger
ART EDITORS:
Gary Barnes Ralph Spence
PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR:
Richard Pawlak

ABOUT THE ISSUE:
This issue of the Cornell Country
man covers some of Cornell's far
reaching contributions. Nancy Ryan designed the cover to express Cornell's concern beyond its borders.
EDITORIAL STAFF:
David Bilmes, Barbara Buoymaster, Karen Esposito, Cathy Ferrand, William Gray, David M. Joseph, Steve Klein, Keith Kushner, Carl Laron, Mark Monroe, Kathy Riley, Gary Roberts, Catharine Rogers, Nancy Ryan, Paula Shuster, Nancy Tomkins, Susan Ziff.

CONTENTS

3. 4. 5. 6. 8. 9. 10. 12. 14. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.
22.

A Playground for All Children by Catharine Rogers 77 The Puzzle of Livestock Poisoning by Karen Esposito 77
From Grass to Gas by Mark Monroe 77
"I would found. . . a carriage house?" by Gary Barnes 77
CIVITAS by David M. Joseph 77
Peace Corps by Jill Kirschman 77
Bigger isn't Always Better by Bruce Carson 77 The Cornell Menagerie by Susan Ziff 78 and Richard Pawlak 77 The Tragic Myth of Cornell by Keith Kushner 77 A New Way to Prune Vines by Katherine Layer 78 Professors Enjoy Their Vintage Years by Nancy Tomkins 77
Recombinant DNA Research by Kathy Riley 78
Pest-Free Greenhouses - Naturally by Lucy l. Bodanza 78 New York's Declining Population Affects Agriculture
by Cathy Ferrand 78
Richie Sticks to the Top by Gary Roberts 77

Picture Credits: Cover - Nancy Ryan; page 3 — Russ Hamilton; page 4 — Karen Esposito; page 5 — Mark Monroe; page 6 — Cayuga Lodge; page 7 — Mark Dalba, Cornellian; page 8 — Paul S. Lei; page 9,18 — Gary Barnes; page 10 — Media Services; page 12,13 — Cornell Daily Sun, Susan Ziff, Ron Schassburger; page 15 — Keith Kushner; page 16,17 — Chester H. Freeman; page 19 — James K.
Estes; page 20,21 — American Agriculturist, Kohler Co.; U.S. Steel; Caterpillar News; page 22 — Gary Roberts; Back cover — Carl Laron, Richard Pawlak.

The
May

Cornell Countryman is published seven times a (a combined issue for January and February) by

year from October through the New York State College

Lca^'N ^l^ t ^T?*' ^^Jy,*°* 36' R°berts HaN' Corne"
Ithaca, N.YY. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853

MSO^o ^^ UI«°J7- ^Jw$a4rni5tet0enEf. obHryatrmwdyaojaoynrsed,anrVsitchte$o6rD.R5e0.pSafrtotermp°hetfhnerntEe.noedfiCyCOeoattmr"sm.SuuEnbdi-citnaotPriioatinlonAcorRntsta.etneFsta:cgu$al2ttyh5e0aardueavvdi.bsooarrnssd-.

A Playground
for ALL CHILDREN
Lynn Wolfe (left), David Fernandez (center) and Linda Fritz with their award winning playground designs.
by Catharine Rogers '77

Many handicapped children dream
of spending sunny afternoons in the park, swinging on swings, riding merrygo-rounds, and playing with other chil dren. For most, interacting with other children and enjoying some of child
hood's most cherished activities seems
an impossibility. The New York City Department of Planning and Parks and Recreation has long realized the
need for recreational facilities for the
thousands of handicapped children in the city. To get improvement of the
situation underway, they sponsored a playground design competition. Three
Cornell students were the top winners
in the competition to create the first
public playground for both able-bodied
children and those with mental and
physical impairments. Linda Fritz, a graduate student in
Landscape Architecture and City Planning, was awarded the first prize of $1,000 for her design. Dave Fer nandez, a junior in the program received the second prize award of $500. Another junior, Lynn Wolff, won an
honorable mention for her efforts on
the project.
Lynn explains the playground design was assigned last semester as a class project. Though the playground pro ject proved to be a "great learning experience," Lynn found it to be a complex and challenging assignment because of the research and special
constraints necessary to accommodate
the needs of handicapped children. Fifty-five students from the seven
leading design schools in New York
State entered the competition. Stu dents from the City College of New York, Cooper Union, Parsons School

of Design, and the Pratt Institute were represented as well as students from
Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute, Syracuse University, and Cornell.
A jury composed of the deans of
architecture schools in the state and
experts on the needs of handicapped children judged the entries. The pro jects were evaluated on their imagi nativeness and overall design approach. Solutions for the prime objective of the problem and the creation of specific play activities played a role in the final decision, as did safety factors, shading, accessibility, and mainten
ance.
Dave Fernandez says the competi tion was especially valuable to him as a "consciousness raising" experience. "We are aware of the need for design
ing with the handicapped in mind,
but I never realized the extent of
neglect until I got involved in this
project." Lynn feels that disabled children are
often "babied" and are not encouraged to play because of a handicap. "The idea of a playground to integrate healthy and disabled children may be idealistic, but it is a start and a step in
the right direction." Background for the project involved
extensive research into site advantages, transportation alternatives, and usergroup studies on the special needs for certain physical problems. The spon sors consulted agencies and individuals with experience in recreational needs of children for suggestions and feed
back on ideas.
Dave worked with physical thera pists at BOCES to learn more about the needs of the handicapped. He

explains that a designer must consider factors like shelter, sun screens, the
accessibility of facilities to wheelchair-
bound children, and numerous safety
precautions. "The challenge was to create a safe, usable environment for
the disabled, while still creating enough excitement for children without prob
lems."
Linda Fritz feels the best feature of
her design is the organization of space
to make activities accessible to all. To
increase interaction she arranged areas
so that children could see each other
playing from any part of the play
ground.
Elevated sand tables for children in
wheelchairs or on crutches, and a "whimsical" fountain made from
ordinary faucets that children can turn on and off are two of Linda's special play activity creations. All the play surfaces are covered with soft, sculp
tured tops to prevent injury or are paved with a resilient surface similar
to that used on tennis courts so that
wheelchairs can move safely and easily. The construction of the park has
not begun yet. Presently, plans made by professional planners are being con sidered along with those of the stu dents. The final design will be a com
bination of the best features of all the
proposals. For the Cornell students this experi
ence was a chance to apply their skills to a real problem with challenges they had not encountered before. For New York's handicapped children, the play ground promises a chance to lead more normal, active lives and experi
ence more of the fun that children
should have.

3

The Puzzle of Livestock Poisoning

by Karen Esposito 77

For years, the most popular animal for psychological and physiological
laboratory studies has been the rat:
inexpensive, easy to care for, and
easy to handle. However, it's often
difficult if not impossible to generalize
results from rat research to other animals, such as livestock. Conse
quently, researchers in the psychology and veterinary medicine fields are seeking direct information from dairy farmers on the topic of nutritional wisdom in domestic livestock - specif ically, why these animals choose the foods they do and if they learn to avoid
poisonous ones. In general, animals seem to choose
foods that are high in essential nutri ents, familiar to them, and nonpoisonous. A number of theories, all based on rat research, purport that animals
can form associations between food
cues, such as taste and odor, and ill ness. Rats will consume only a small quantity of a strange food and then wait for possible reactions. If what a rat ingests causes illness, it avoids
that food in the future.
Theories about nutritional habits of
domestic livestock such as cows,
goats, sheep, etc. have always followed
literature on rats. Donna M. Zahorik
in the Department of Psychology, and Katherine A. Houpt in the College of Veterinary Medicine are presently test ing these theories to determine whether or not livestock actually learn to avoid poisonous plants. However, studying livestock is considerably more difficult than conducting laboratory experiments on rats.
While researchers have set up
laboratory circumstances as similar as
possible to situations that exist in the
field, the differences between situa
tions cause problems. Grazing cows, unlike rats, eat more than just one type
of food at a time. As Prof. Zahorik
explains, a meal might last for hours and contain dozens of different plants. "However in the laboratory," she says, "the poisons used have been limited
to one specific food and have been
fast-acting poisons. While there is evidence of learning in these experi-

Comell researchers working on the problem of livestock poison ing seek information from farmers about livestock, such as this
Holstein.

ments, this doesn't mean the same mechanism operates in the pasture. It
might be impossible for cows in a field to isolate the particular plant they ingested which made them sick."
Under the circumstances, this is one type of scientific question where farmers in daily association with their livestock are in a much better position to supply information on dietary habits, according to Prof. Zahorik. Since poisonings are infrequent
occurrences, research efforts to
"stage" experiments or simply observe grazing cows are futile.
Researchers are interested in estab
lishing the kinds of poisons occurring
in New York State and cases where
farmers have observed poisoning in livestock. Since herds are relatively
small in this state, farmers often know
every animal in their herd individually
and may have the best information
available on the subject. Researchers
are most concerned with these indivi dual animals - ones which have been

poisoned and ones which have and have not ingested the same poison again. The researchers are not trying to support any particular theory and are interested in all poison cases. As Prof. Zahorik explained, "We need to survey a large number of unbiased people who have been able to observe the same animals over a relatively long
period of time." Whether or not animals actually learn
to avoid poisonous plants is not yet
established. Farmers who have
observed cases of poisoning in their livestock may have extremely pertinent
and useful information to aid re searchers. If you have information on
the subject, contact either:
Donna M. Zahorik
278 Uris Hall
Cornell University Ithaca, NewYork 14853
Katherine A. Houpt College of Veterinary Medicine Cornell University Ithaca, NewYork 14853

4

From Grass to Gas

by Mark Monroe 77

Professor Jewell (center) discusses an experiment
with PhD candidate Michael Switzenbaum and techni
cian Pat Dauplaise.

The winter of '76-77 was a frigid one, made even colder by a shortage
of natural gas. But future winters
rrjciy be made a few degrees warmer by the efforts of a team of researchers at Cornell's College of Agriculture and
Life Sciences. The solution? Cow
manure!
Prof. William Jewell, of the Depart
ment of Agricultural Engineering,
heads up the endeavor to find more
efficient, low-cost ways of converting organic wastes — specifically, animal
manure — into methane. Natural gas
is 99 percent methane. :,The current research is based on
knowledge that has been in use since the 1930's. Organic matter, removed from, contact with oxygen, can be broken down by bacteria to produce methane and other by-products. The process, called anaerobic fermentation,
was used as early as the thirties on farms in Europe and in treatment of sewage sludge in the United States.
Jewell and his team want to improve on the old technology. "Our aim is to define more clearly the limits of the biological process," says Jewell. "Then
we can develop cheaper, more effi cient technology for methane produc
tion."

The researchers are working on two types of digesters: a simple, smallscale unit for use on small dairy farms, and a larger, more sophisticated digester for large farms and feedlots.
The smaller digester will be designed
for use on farms with as few as 20
cows. An experimental unit holding 1,500 gallons of waste is now turning out, daily, a volume of gas just about equal to the volume of waste — 5,000 to 6,000 litres per day of 70 pecent
methane. (The other 30 percent of the volume is carbon dioxide). Accord
ing to Jewell, "A small dairy farmer could produce more energy than he
uses."
However, utilization of this potential
energy is another hurdle to be cleared.
"There's no problem in heating build ings and water — that's easy," Jewell
says. "But the use of methane for
other operations, like running machin
ery, needs to be worked on." Com
pressed methane can be used to run heavy machinery, but compressing equipment would be too expensive for
most farmers.
Waste from the simple digester is valuable as fertilizer. In fact, the pro
cessed waste makes better fertilizer
than raw manure. The digestion pro-
Jim Spada and Mer Wiren, research tech
nicians in the Waste

cess actually increases nutritional value
40 to 50 percent over raw manure —
in addition, the nutrients come out in
a form plants can use more efficiently.
Jewell says farmers have shown a
great deal of interest in the smaller
digester, but, "This interest just about always takes the form of 'How much would it cost, and will you help me build one?'" Jewell says the digester is close to useable, but he advises farmers to wait until the technology
has further proven itself.
The larger digester would be used on feedlots and farms with over 1 ,000
head of cattle. In addition to methane
and fertilizer, the large-scale operation would be able to recover high-protein solids from bacteria and undigested animal feeds. These solids could poss'b bly be recycled and fed to livestock. So far, only small models of this more complex digester have been built. But the outlook is good — one apparatus is generating methane at ten times the fastest rate previously recorded.
The Cornell team has the largest grant of any organization in the U.S. studying methane production. The initial funding for the project - $280,000 - came from the United States Energy Research and Development Commis sion. Jewell is currently applying for more money, and expects ERDA may come up with $500,000 to $600,000
more, enough to cover two more years of work. Eight professors and seven graduate students have been working on the project for the last year, with cooperation from microbiologists at the New York State Health Depart

Management Lab at Harford, New York,
check a meter on the
1,500 gallon digester.

ment.
So a few years from now, having a
herd of cows could mean keeping cozy
through a bitter winter. And on a larger scale, Cornell's efforts may very well open up a huge new source
of energy that won't run out — as
long as the animals cooperate.

5

"I would found . . . a carriage house?

by Gary Barnes 77

Certainly Ezra Cornell never made
a statement which forced him to relin
quish his carriage house. But who would have thought at the moment he said, "I would found an institution
where any person could find instruction
in any study," that his own carriage house would contribute to such a goal?
Or for that matter, who would even
think it today? Well the residents of Cayuga Lodge
have always thought this to be true. "The Lodge," as it's commonly called, is the oldest cooperative living unit at Cornell University.
In 1933 an energetic and ambitious
group of young men of Cornell organ ized what was then known as Llenroc
Lodge Association. On January 19, 1936, the Syracuse
Herald said, "the most unique housing and living arrangement on any college
campus in the world is the Llenroc
Lodge Association at 111 Llenroc Court, Ithaca. Here under one roof 40
Cornell students live with all the features
of a fraternity, but without ritual." So how in the world are the Lodge,
the carriage house, and the goals of Cornell connected? They were initially brought together by a well known educator and writer, Edward Amherst
Ott.

Dr. Ott founded the association
with the idea of capitalizing on the talents of the students, whose parents
were of average financial circumstances, so that they might live with fraternity house privileges and learning experi ences without its attending expenses.
Dr. Ott asserted, "Through cooper ation you can do things you can't do
any other way on earth." He believed
that such a living unit for men would provide an economical and educa tional basis for them that they would
otherwise forfeit.
The Lodge actually goes back to 1922 when Dr. Ott, came with his family to Ithaca and taught at Ithaca College for six years. They bought the old carriage house of the Cornell
estate which had been empty for many
years. They fixed it up with the picture
of a student residence in mind and
had the wiring and plumbing done accordingly. When members of Dr. Ott's family went out on their own,
the house was converted to a student
residence.
Through arrangement with A.L. Tompkins, head of Cornell United Religious Work, the CURW "cabinet" of some eight or nine undergraduates initiated the project and picked the original group of Llenroc lodgers. They

secured the lease from the owner,
Dr. Ott. Working nearly all of his life in the educational field, Dr. Ott lived
in a connecting apartment with the lodgers and maintained a counselling
room for members. He advised on all
matters of business, on the use of his personal library which he donated, and
on vocational matters.
On March 29, 1938, the Lodge passed into complete student use and control from private property. Since that time the title has been held by
the trustees of the permanent members.
As was first initiated, principles of cooperative living are still pursued by Cayuga Lodge. Additional living units
were established on the same concept.
In 1939 Algonquin Lodge was organ ized as an offshoot of Cayuga. Hillside was next to follow in 1946, and several
more have since been established as
women's co-ops or as coed co-ops.
Each of the cooperatives is owned and controlled by all its members. In governing themselves, the members necessarily practice democracy in its purest form. Equal distribution of responsibility leads to equal distribution of privileges. Cooperating not only in
house government and maintenance, members combine their efforts in social
activities and sports.

Dr. Edward Amherst Ott with original Llenroc lodgers, a contrast to today's less rigidly posed house portrait.

6

_odge

Generally open houses are held once a term. This provides an opportunity
for interested students to meet current
members and become familiar with
the purposes and methods of the
cooperative. Since there are no rush ing programs in the co-op, an open house becomes the chief means of
meeting prospective members. No discrimination by race, religion
or social status is employed in select ing members. New members are admitted by a vote of the house mem bers. Being completely separate from

a fraternity or sorority, the co-op is not unfriendly towards such organiza
tions. In fact it is sometimes the prac
tice of a co-op to contract meals to other such members.
Although the life styles have dras tically changed at Cornell over the past 40 years, needs are basically the same. As Dr. Ott was particularly con
cerned about the male student's
development, he stated, "The place a boy lives for four or five years, while at college, has an important influence on his entire life. Just a place to eat,

sleep, and study does not meet the highest needs of developing life."
Now there are a great number of men and women Cornellians pursuing instruction while experiencing cooper ative living. For many this has opened the door for equal learning inside and outside the classroom.
It seems backwards at first that even
Ezra's carriage house, transformed to Llenroc Lodge, would contribute to his ultimate goal.
But then, everyone knows that Llenroc spelled backwards is CORNELL.

CORNEL

InCIVITAS
by David M. Joseph 77

Do we all have an inherent quality

that makes us want to help others less

fortunate than ourselves? This is a

popular question raised frequently by philosophers and psychologists. When I approach this question, the first thought that enters my mind is that if someone truly wants to help another
person, he or she must be a very, very

good human being. One day last year I was lunching

with a friend at Willard Straight Hall. Don, somewhat of a pent-up frustrated

individual, began to confess his true

ambitions to me, Don wanted to help

people.

•.',••■ .

"Who cares about Cornell academja,

term papers, prelims, and high scholas
tic achievements? I want to make my
life worthwhile, I want to help make

this world better. How can I do this if

I spend half my time shacked up in Uris Library?"

Where could Don have turned to

ease his frustration? Many other stu dents experience similar feelings, and
what too many of them are not aware
of is CIVITAS, the campus organiza tion designed specifically for placing students in volunteer positions. Approximately 250 students volunteer their services through CIVITAS every
semester.

The main goal of the organization is to help meet the needs of the com

munity by placing students in human service work. Not only does it provide them with on-the-job experience, but it also gives them an opportunity to explore career goals such as teach
ing, social work, and medicine.

Through CIVITAS, students work with organizations like Main Line a

counseling and drug rehabilitation center; the Mental Health Center; the Greater Ithaca Activities Center; and other educational and recreational
facilities. Some salaries are available
for financial aid students, and other people Can gain independent study
credit.
What motivates people to devote their time and energy toward meeting the goals of CIVITAS? According to
CIVITAS student coordinator Ms. Leslie
Golden '77, "Most people volunteer out of a sincere desire to help others. However, practical job experience is also a factor." Ms. Golden has enjoyed her job with CIVITAS. "The most rewarding experience I have had with CIVITAS was last fall when we helped to organize the swine flu vaccination program at Barton Hall. Many great

people gave up valuable time to help/'
How effective is CIVITAS in achiev
ing its goals? They manage; to place almost" 1 00 per cent- of their "applicants,; an impressive fact considering the number of agencies and peopfe-they are involved with. Most responsible
for this excellent record is? I\|ary
McGinnis, the head.- coordinator of CIVITAS. Says Ms. Golden, "She's a
fantastic person, with an jjpexl^ustible
amount of energy and concern." The doors of CIVITAS at 125 Anabel
Taylor Hall are open to anybody. The: person who has the time, ability^^and concern will certainly reap the benefits.
Whether or not one can answer that
age old question concerning the: in herent qualities behind helping others, CIVITAS involvement is truly a great
experience.

CIVITAS volunteers contribute time during Cornell's flu vaccine program.

p.

VOLUNTEERS

iT
#>

In the Peace Corps

by Jill Kirschman 77

A Cornell education is one way
people choose to prepare themselves for the world, but after four years of
study, ^most students know more about the world's problems than any thing else. Through that knowledge,
many students can become part of
the solutions by becoming Peace Corps
volunteers.
Paul Farmer is one of several gradu ates using his education and skills to help others. He writes from his station in the Philippines, "I am happy here, but discontented by the problems which exist, primarily in the agricul
tural sector, but elsewhere as well.
Discontent gives way to determinism, though, and problems become true challenges. In two years time, if I accomplish nothing else, I would at
least like to come to a basic under
standing of these problems, their origins, and the future prospects for solutions. Cornell has provided me with
a breadth of horizons which are an
excellent foundation on which to build
this understanding." ; r Paul works with other Peace Corps volunteers in the development of vari ous irrigation programs. This first year has proven him a successful worker, as one of his designs has been put
into use, and money has been appro
priated for the building of ten more
such systems.
Paul is very excited by the opportun ities the. Peace Corps offers. "Techni cal expertise is necessary in any person enteripg the Peace, Corps," he said. '^But of equal importance would be rthe, individual's qualities of adaptability,
flexibility, common sense, and good
humor. In return for fiis efforts, a volunteer is backed by a good organi
zation which strives to assist him in

every possible way." Another Cornell graduate, Emily
Morelli, is also stationed in the Philip pines. Her project involves plant breed ing, and of her experiences she writes, "Unhappiness comes mostly from making 'mountains out of molehills' concerning the less than ideal living conditions, rather than taking them in stride or changing them where possible. But every time I come through a prob lem situation, I find my patience has
been made stronger, and that I know
a little bit more about myself." The Peace Corps is a two year pro
gram of volunteer work. Both Paul
and Emily agree that it is a worthy cause, and they have offered their insights to Cornell to help prospective
volunteers.
Many people ask them how much importance is based on the actual job assignment. "Plenty," Emily answers, "but it's really only a starting point. I feel as much, or more, like a volunteer when I'm washing my clothes by hand with the women, or walking down the road and greeting someone in the
dialect."
Paul adds, "Joining the Peace Corps seems at best a weighed calculation, for you never really know what your particular situation will be until you've immersed yourself. Often it's a person's
individual resources and how he or she
uses them which makes the difference
between meaningful service and imposed exile."
The Peace Corps presents an oppor tunity for both world growth and self-
maturation. And to prove the old
adage that you never stop growing,
Dean and Ruth Davis decided to become Peace Corps volunteers when their children had grown. The Davis'

have recently returned home to Ithaca from their station in Swaziland, Africa. They had first served in Central Amer ica, but were restationed in Africa for
the past two years.
"Volunteer is not part of the Swazi
dialect," explains Ruth. "I think we have become more patriotic as a result
of our service — Americans do have a
conscience, many Americans do volun
teer their time."
The Davises are two of America's
concerned people. They share an interest in improving the food supply for underdeveloped nations. Dean was involved in the planting and production of agricultural crops in Swaziland. Ruth taught English and geography in a village school. The couple also grew their own garden as an example to
the natives.
"They laughed at first, but someone was always leaning over the fence asking questions," Dean recalls.
The couple seem to echo the opin ions of Emily and Paul concerning the importance of the job assignment.
"Sure you have certain job respon sibilities," explains Dean, "but you are expected to spend your free time with the local people as well,"
Ruth adds, "I don't believe that as much learning goes on in the class
room as that which occurs in normal
life situations. I think perhaps we did more for our neighbors by growing a garden and answering questions than we achieved through our actual jobs."
After their Peace Corps experience, the Davises, would add patience to Paul's list of required qualities for a
volunteer.
One thing is certain, as Dean Davis commented.. "After two years in the Peace Corps, no one is ever the
same." For information concerning oppor
tunities in the Peace Corps, visit Robert Stavins of the International Agriculture Program, in 15 Roberts
Hall.

9

Land-grant institutions, including
Cornell, are often criticized for ignoring
the needs of small farms and concen trating instead on commercial sized
units and agribusiness. Much of that criticism may be justified, but a trend to working specifically with small farms is increasing as people question whether bigger is always better. The College and Extension are finding ways to adapt general programs to smaller farms and are continuing to
support people who have long worked
with smaller operations.
The county agent forms the most
important and effective link between farmers and Cornell. He or she can
become familiar with someone's

Management program began in the summer of 1975. A program assistant,
Florence Conners, works one-to-one
with several families, learning their problems, especially those related to their resources, and drawing on uni
versity people and facilities to help
solve them.
Some Cornell people have worked on small farm problems for several
years. Dr. John Tomkins, Associate Professor of Pomology, has been at
the University since 1961 . He stresses the smaller operation in his introduc tory courses in small fruits. He also writes a monthly column for Exten-

resources and can advise them how
best to apply information to their problems. But part of the reason
Extension does not do more for the

small farmer is the notion that Cornell

and Extension deal only with the larger

farms, the ones which move more money. Dr. R.R. Seaney, Extension
Agronomist at Cornell, finds that some farmers actually are afraid to use

agents. He tells of one man who

hesitatingly approached an agent, apologizing and explaining that he felt the man did not have time for prob

lems as insignificant as he felt his to

be compared to those of the larger

farmers in the area.

Programs aimed specifically at the

problems of the small farmer may

alleviate this communication problem.

Partly in response to the charges that

it was failing the little guy, the sion newsletters, produces bulletins

College began several years ago to on the problems of growing and mar

study the problems of smaller and keting small fruits, and travels state

poorer farms in New York. One such wide to address meetings of people

study, by Dr. Richard Boisvert, Asst. interested in growing fruit on a small

Professor of Agricultural Economics, scale. At one such meeting in Malone,

and Christopher Wardle for Wardle's he spoke to over 80 people interested

thesis research in Agricultural Econo in growing five or less acres of straw

mics, found that for a variety of rea berries.

sons farmers on limited resource dairies

Tomkins feels the small farm,

in Central New York were not taking especially in fruits, is often more

advantage of existing programs. These practical than a large one. Moreover,

farmers, for example, often did not it allows income to be spread among

make use of management materials more families. "A person can make a

or information. Several complained nice living with a couple of acres," he

that they could not use technical infor says, but they have to realize that it

mation from Cornell because it did not
fit their limited land, capital, and equip

takes a "rugged individual" to deal
with the hard work.

ment.
To find ways to help these farmers make more use of Extension, the

Programs drawing on a variety of resources to help young people become
involved in small business and business

Chenango Limited Resource Farm procedures by raising flowers, vege-

tables, and animals for market are part of an active 4-H program. Ernest
Schaufler, Professor of Ornamental Horticulture Extension and 4-H, has been helping teenagers in Tioga County start a small flower business. The project helps 4-Hers rent land and equipment, obtain seed and fertilizer, and make cultural and marketing decisions while growing flowers to sell
at Farmers' Markets.
Schaufler also spends some of his time with adults, especially in develop ing agricultural income in areas where farming is poor or part-time and seasonal. He says that help usually
BIGGEI
can be found for all sorts of problems,
and Extension even initiates the process
through advertising and meetings. But Schaufler adds, "while we provide the facts, we can't guarantee what
the person will do with them."
Some small farm problems just can not be solved easily by the College. Even with the help of information
and an agent, eggs from chickens raised in a backyard may cost more than those from a grocery store. Feed
bought in small quantities and build ings that will keep hens laying through cold New York winters are costly.
But poultry people at Cornell have long been committed to small (between 5,000 and 20,000 birds - as few as 2,000 if they are part of a diversified small farm) commercial flocks. Profes sor Charles Ostrander says the smaller operation can be about as efficient as

in,

a large farm, and the quality of life on the small farm is better. Money
from the small set-up stays in the
community, the small farm is more ecologically sound, and the small
farmer stays closer to the land while
remaining active in community affairs. The Extension poultry field staff
works in a different way with the
problems of a small family farm than with those of a large one. In addition
to advising small farmers on feeding, housing, and crop growing, the service has advisory committees and holds meetings to determine their special problems, including taxes, record

and money flow on the farm. County agents set up demonstration plots on
the test farms and used them to show
the results of the research and of
different agricultural practices using
those resources.
You might not think of the com puter as an aid to small farms, but it may be one of the best tools they have for taking advantage of Cornell's expertise and technology. Two com puter programs at Cornell can help
the farmer make the most efficient
use of limited resources.
The Cornell Agricultural Manage ment Information System, CAMIS, is

nft always Better
by Bruce Carson 77

keeping, and marketing. One venture in Syracuse, for example, grouped
several farmers to sell their eggs
through one food chain, assuring the stores a steady supply of uniform quality eggs and assuring the farmers
a steady market. Other general programs benefit the
small farmer as much as the large one. The Department of Agronomy has researched the problems and methods of farming in the Southern Plateau region of the state. The problems
encountered there, including acid soil, stones, poor drainage and low soil nutrient levels, plague many small farmers.
Extension workers, among them
Dr. Seaney, studied the resources and specific agronomic problems of selected farms and suggested changes for such practices as animal nutrition

an electronic bookkeeping system
which allows farmers to make record
entries in any order, eliminates most
of the arithmetic headaches and pro
vides an orderly readout which allows
the small farmer to compare his
monthly costs and returns, his per formance this year with last, and him
self with other farmers. One of the
advantages of this system over regular record keeping says Austin Lowry, Extension Associate in Agricultural
Economics, is the discipline: since they want to get as much as possible from the computer time they pay for, people tend to keep better records. "In turn they have current records that are essential in making sound manage
ment decisions."
Another project is concerned with enterprise analysis using a NEWPLAN computer-assisted decision aid. The

program deals mostly with dairy farms,
as they comprise over half of New
York's farms, but can be useful on
other types of operations.
According to Dr. Wayne Knoblauch and Dr. Robert Milligan, Assistant Professors of Agricultural Economics,
the program finds use as part of a
management school, not as an end in
itself. Combined with other college resources, the program helps a dairy
man find the most profitable organiza
tion of the farm's resources. It examines
in detail a farm's cropping program, ration, replacement policy and other
enterprises.
It analyzes a wide variety of factors,
including labor, land, available equip ment, feed and milk prices, and pro
duction, pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of an operation. The
farmer can see where more emphasis
must be placed on reducing costs, for example, and where he or she is cur
rently doing a good job.
One other NEWPLAN program, the
leastcost ration, shows on a small
scale the system's potential. It deter mines the quantity and composition of feed needed to meet a cow's require
ments and maintain production with out wasting protein and energy. Based on the nutritional aspects of the feed, and the cow's weight, health and milk production, it also provides the farmer
with nutritional education and encour
ages him or her to pay closer attention to both records and livestock.
Not all help comes from Extension or College faculty. Indeed, much of
the interest in small farms can be
found among students. Groups such as the Black Agriculturists study cooperatives and the skills needed to operate a small farm successfully. During the past two summers the Black Agriculturists have put their knowledge to use in a large garden near Ithaca, combining community involvement with actual practice in teaching and farming on a small scale.
So, while you may have heard that the ag college doesn't care for the little guy, and extension is only interested
in fancy farms and high production, you can find many people, from county
agents to faculty and students, who have worked all along with small
farmers as well as people who are finding new ways to be more useful
to the small farmer.

11

Dr. William Barclay, in charge of the camel recently treated at the Veterinary College, explains that zoo animals are not accustomed to being handled by humans. "When excited, cows and horses kick with their legs, but a camel hits with his whole body, includ ing spit!"

6
■ '■% ~v :!J' ■ iy"j

"I

f»
:
^ftftftf,. ■• "-!'•..-» | notgnoj

i .

Dr, Lpuis Leibovitz directs the aquatic portion of the
Department of Avian and Aquacultural Medicine. His department treats sick fish, researches fish diseases and
production, and serves as an extension service. "Some people," he says with a grin, "treat their fish like house pets!"

12

Raising. timber, wolves for his doctoral research, Ronald Schassburger studies vocal and olfactory pack behavior.
"Wolf vocalizations are intertvyin-ed into a combination of sounds which allow wolves to precisely communi
cate their emotions to each other."
ci 'A- V
?$U:f^i

Ron is often in tfie, wolf pen, hugging and speaking softly to his wolves. "The only known wolf attacks," he is quick to .explain, "have been by rabid wolves."

Richard Thomas is studying the role of venom in snake digestion. Most of

Dick's snakes are non-poisonous, (even if physically ominous) such as the four
and one half foot Corn snake shown

here.

-.

by Susan Ziff 78
and Richard Pawlak 78

13

The Tragic Myth of Cornell
by Keith Kushner 77

Kill me fast, for death is near. I am frustrated beyond belief. I love someone who can't love me.
I don't know of my future.
I, my past has been destroyed.

(found in Uris Library, Cornell.)

A view of Cornell's suspension bridge, the site of a recent student suicide.

Whether the student who wrote this
actually committed the ultimate act of a depressed mind is not known. But suicide among college students has
become so common that one-third of
all student deaths are brought about by their own hand. This means that suicide ranks second only to accidents as a cause of death among college
students.
The Cornell campus has been a tar
get of much speculation over suicides. The topography of the campus, though beautiful, lends itself to this type of discussion — in fact, many students believe that the University has the highest suicide rate in the country. They also feel that the Cornell admin istration goes to great lengths to
suppress this information. This view is
perpetuated by one or two suicides
each semester, and the lack of a notice
able effort by the University to prevent
them.
Dr. William White, Associate Pro fessor and Director of Mental Health
at Gannett Clinic, and Elmer Meyer Jr., Dean of Students and Assistant Vice-President for Campus Affairs, refer to the supposedly high rate of student suicide as the tragic myth of
Cornell.
"In the last five years the number of students who have taken their lives
has been very small," says Dr. White, whose staff at Gannett Clinic helps train the Suicide Prevention Crisis
phone counselors. "When compared to other universities of similar high academic ranking, Cornell does not
have any more suicides than the other campuses do."
Gannett Clinic's trained counselors meet a lot of students seeking to talk with someone; many have the poten tial for suicide. But none of the stu dents who have visited Gannett for therapy in the past five years have
committed suicide later on. The fact that Dr. White and the
clinic see a lot of students with the

potential for suicide is not surprising.
A 1971 study of 792 students at the

himself in a heroic dimension. The only picture in his room was that of a uni

Cornell for a student's suicide. In a
university as large as this one, it is

University of Cincinnati showed that corn, the mythical beast of perfection. impossible to immediately recognize a

many students have suicidal thoughts The animal was caged and wounded maladjusted student.

at some point in their academic careers. in two spots. I just wonder if that's

According to the Dean of Students,

Approximately 30 percent said they how he saw himself."

Cornell is aware of and sensitive to

had entertained thoughts of suicide

If students are going to commit the situation that exists on campus.

during the academic year, while 38 suicide, statistics have to be kept Besides counseling, the university is

percent of this number rated their to help in our understanding and pre planning to repair the Dwyer Dam suicidal thought as somewhat serious vention of the problem. Statistics Bridge on Dryden Road. Part of the

and an additional 15 percent rated show that the suicide rate for college repair includes the addition of a high

their thought as very serious.

students is about 50 percent higher fence along the railings to prevent

People who are serious about suicide than the rate for peers who never jumpers. But, sources say there has

usually exhibit the same warning signs. attended college. Nina Miller of never been a suicide in that area.

Isolation and withdrawal seem to be Tompkins County Suicide Prevention

Even though there has never been

the most accurate indicators of a per and Crisis Service estimates the a suicide from the Dwyer Dam Bridge,

son contemplating self destruction. number of Cornell suicides since 1960 Nina Miller feels that the addition

They tend to drink to excess or begin taking drugs. There is a radical change in their daily behavior and living pat terns, such as extreme fatigue, bore
dom, decreased appetite, preoccupa tion and the inability to concentrate. If a person is exhibiting these symp
toms, he or she should not be left alone, but should receive some sort of
therapy from an experienced counselor
or doctor. Cornell has a number of
counseling services that can be called
if a crisis situation arises. Besides
the Suicide Prevention Crisis Center,
which is on call 24 hours, and Gannett
Clinic, a student can seek help at Mainline, the drug counseling servicealso on 24 hour call, and at EARS — the Empathy Assistance Referral Ser vice. Religious Affairs also provides counseling in Anabel Taylor Hall.
Jack Lewis, Director of Religious Affairs at Cornell, and one of the
founders of the Suicide Prevention
Crisis Counseling Service in Tompkins County, sometimes counsels potential
suicide victims. "As a counselor I
operate on the thesis that a person in
a crisis situation tends to lose perspec
tive, and this loss throws him into
danger." One problem, as Mr. Lewis sees it, is that some people set stand ards that are too high for themselves
and others to reach. The continued
frustration of not being able to achieve those high standards may cause the
radical solution of suicide. Mr. Lewis
speaks from experience on this point. His grandson committed suicide when
he was 21 years old.
"He wanted a perfect love, some thing no one could give him. He saw

to run as follows:
1 960 — 1 student (bridge death)
1961 —0 students
1962 — 1 student (gunshot)
1963—0 students
1 964 — 1 probable student (bridge death) 1 student's wife (bridge death)
1965 — 1 student (carbon monoxide)
1 966 — 1 student (bridge death) 1967 — 1 student (bridge death)
1968—0 students
1969—0 students
1970—0 students
1971—3 students (bridge deaths) 1972—3 students (bridge deaths) 1973 — 1 student (bridge death-perhaps acci
dental)
1974 — 3 people (not confirmed students)
In 1975 there were seven suicides
in Tompkins County, but Mrs. Miller
is unable to determine which were at
Cornell. The figures for 1976 have been compiled, but student suicides were not distinguished from the total. There were 13 suicides in Tompkins County lasf year. During the 16 years that these figures cover there were 162 suicides in Tompkins County, of
which 1 1 were confirmed as Cornell
students.
Though the year is only a few months old, we know there will be at least one foreign graduate student on the list for 1977. He leaped from the suspension bridge on the Cornell campus at the beginning of the semes ter. Eyewitnesses said the student did not just jump, he dove, as if it were some sort of religious rite. A note was later found, written in Spanish, which contained some heavy religious over
tones.
It is never clear why a student would take his life, but it is not fair to blame

of a railing of increased height is a
positive action. "Our feeling is to take
a pro-life position," she said. "When
Dr. Edmund Shneidman, the nation's
leading expert on suicide and suicide prevention was at Cornell about six years ago, the one thing he said was
to do something about those bridges."
Statistics do show that students
will use the bridges first before resort ing to other means of self destruction. And the addition of slightly higher rail ings could end tragic accidents like
the one in 1973. A student was
apparently walking across the bridge over Triphammer Falls op his hands
and fell to his death.
It may be a myth that Cornell has the highest suicide rate in the country, but it is a sad reality that students and sometimes faculty are dying from
their own hands. The only way to put suicide into perspective would be to organize information from across the nation into a central file. Right now there are no efficient tables citing
annual suicide rates for college stu dents. Most colleges play down the
suicide rates on their own campuses.
But with a statistic showing that the student suicide rate is 50 percent higher than that of their peers, per haps this information should be avail able to researchers.
If the information were organized, it would be possible to study the
relationships between schools and pressure situations, and how they affect student self destructiveness. With more accurate information to combat the suicide problem, it may be possible to end this senseless waste.

15

From Vin

A New Way to
Prune Vines

by Katherine M. Layer 78

Today^ to be fed grapes from any
one's hand but your own would require

a great persuasive, talent or a good

imagination..

But the ,

table

grapes,

wines, unfermented juices, and spreads

made from grapes are enjoyed as much

today as generations ago. Many of

these products are produced from

grapes grown in New York State.

New York ranks second only to Cali

fornia in national grape production.

In, 1975 N.Y. produced 153,000 tons

of grapes valued at $30 million.

New York has approximately 42,000

acres of grapes in three major grape

grovying - regions: the Chautauqua region on the south shore of Lake

Erje providing a majority of juice grapes;

the Finger Lakes region producing

nnainly wine grapes; and the Hudson Valley region: providing mostly table

grapes. Not far from Ithaca the hill

sides on both shores of Cayuga Lake

are lined with vineyards. „

c, ,

.-

..Vineyard cultivation is a complex

process and maximum crop produc

tion usually requires that the grape

vines be selectively pruned each year.

Tl^is is done during the dormant season

of November to March., But skilled

labor necessary to do the job is becom

ing; increasingly difficult to obtain.

The jobs: are temporary and the cold

New York winters are not especially

enticing to work in. Special training

schools have been set up to provide

a labor force sKiUed, in hand pruning.

Muchnof this new labor consists of

women ax>d college students.

. ;, Basically, grapevines are composed

of a main trunk from which grows a

long thick arm (or cordon), held high

in the air by a wire strung between

posts. From the cordon grow a multi

tude of branches (or canes) which

produce the grape bunches. Unless

vines are properly, pruned inferior

grapes will result. The best wood of

the correct diameter and position to

tbe vine must be kept and the canes cut to. the right length and number.

In the late 1950's and 60's research
began on simulated mechanical prun ing, but the oversimplified approach was unacceptable. In 1972 at Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
work was started on the machine.
Agricultural engineers worked in con junction with the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y. At the experiment station proposed alterations in pruning methods were viticulturally tested setting bound aries for mechanized pruning. The engi neers hoped to produce a machine that could be used on a repeatable basis, provide quality grapes, and make
better use of the available work force.
Currently working on the project
are Research Associate J.G. Pollock
and Prof. E.S. Shepardson of the
Department of Agricultural Engineering, Prof. N.J. Shaulis of the Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, and
Technical Associate D.E. Crowe of
the Vineyard Laboratory in Fredonia, N.Y, They have developed a mechan
ical pruner that increases labor effi
ciency three to six times. The machine is surprisingly simple, consisting of a spiked wheel, three cutting bars, a
small circular saw and a street cleaner's
brush all mounted on a tractor. The
saw and cutting bars do the actual pruning and thinning while the wheel is a guiding mechanism. Later in the
season the brush is used to sweep
along the top of the vine removing
new shoots that arise in undesirable
locations.
Because the machine cannot sense
the exact cane length or select the
best wood the mechanical pruner can
only be used on a non-selective basis
(using only the wheel and cutting bars) every other year with hand pruning done alternate years. Through the use of the circular saw pruning may be done selectively every year with a
small amount of hand correction done
periodically. Growers may choose
whichever system best fits their needs.

Dr. A.W. Laubengayer shows soi home wine making equipment at the 1S
Plantations Fall In. .
Some varieties of New York Sf.
grapes are shown on the next page.
The pruning research program-is federally funded and privately spon sored by the New York State. Grape
Research Fund Inc. This fund is an
industry wide program of volunteer
contribution for research in grapes
and is unique to the grape industry. Through such programs research is conducted in all phases of grape pro
duction from grower to processor.
Grapes have been an .important product of New York since the mid
1800's with growers facing periodic
booms and depressions. The mechan ical grapevine pruner could help grow ers keep up with the demands for
inexpensive grape products. As the essence of wines and other
products grapes have been cultivated for thousands of years., But in, the rush of today's society it is important to remember that grapevines are pruned, not grapes. Otherwise our
modern ideas wilL appear as messy as
pruned grapes.

US

3 Wine

lFf'\

Professors Enjoy their Vintage Years

by Nancy Tomkins 77

What do Cornell professors do in
their spare time? If it is fall, they might
be crouched over shower stalls clean
ing five-gallon carboys. But if it is spring, they might be gloating over the clarity of nature's product - wine.
Dr. A.W. Laubengayer has been
making homemade wine since 1923.
Retired now, he is a Professor Emeritus
in the Chemistry Department at Cor
nell. His grandfathers were from the
Rhine Valley in Germany so winemak
ing to him is really a family folk art.
Dr. Laubengayer fondly remembers
the early and somewhat crude wine
making techniques. The wine was
made in fifty-pound wooden butter
or lard pails from local grocery stores.
The grapes were mashed in the bottom
of the oak pails and baker's yeast was
added to insure the complete conver sion of sugar to alcohol. Unfortunately, fruit flies would often congregate
around the barrels and the odors would
filter throughout the house. And
although it was perfectly legal to make wine in the 30's, many of the neigh bors thought it was a "bit off color". As Dr. Laubengayer recalls5 "The family next door didn't like us making
wine so my mother wouldn't let us
bring the grapes into the house until
after dark."
Today conditions are more favor able for home winemakers. The juice from properly ripened grapes can be bought from a number of suppliers. Good information and equipment are also available. However, winemaking is subject to certain legal restrictions. A permit is required for its non commercial production. In 1923 during prohibition it was legal to make as much as 150 gallons per person; today it is 200 gallons per household. While Permits are free, expect an initial investment of 30 dollars. The cost per bottle averages about ninety cents.
Some home winemakers prefer to

crush the grapes and get their own
juice. Dr. J. P. Tomkins, an Associate Professor in the Department of Pomo logy has made his own wooden fruit
press. It consists of a series of racks
that each hold 15 pounds of stemmed and washed grapes. Pressing the juice
from the grapes takes about half an
hour. If red wine is desired, the skins
are allowed to ferment in a crock in a
cool place — and stirred twice a day for five days to get the color out.
The juice is then tested to deter mine its acid level and sugar concen
tration. The sugar content should be at least 20 percent and not more than
24 percent when tested with a hydrom eter. Eastern grapes are usually not as
sweet as California grapes so sugar or water needs to be added. The acid
content is adjusted to provide a pleas ant tasting fermented product. An anti septic agent is added to. the juice to knock out the undesirable organisms. Twelve to 24 hours later a yeast starter is added to insure the completion of
the fermentation process. This process takes from about three to nine weeks.
When the bubbling slows and the lees or sediment are well established, the
wine should be siphoned into a new container — this procedure is called racking. Wine should be racked two to three times over a six to eight month period. When making white wine, air seals are needed to prevent oxygen from turning the wine to vinegar. Finally the wine is bottled and allowed
to age for two to three years for red
wines; one to two years for white
wines.
Although the formula seems precise, Dr. Tomkins says, "If ten people get grapes out of a vineyard on the same day and make wine, they will get ten different wines." Dr. Tomkins, an
authority on small fruits, has been experimenting with wine for over eight years. He makes about 20 gallons of

red and white wine a year along with some strawberry wine.
Professor CH. Freeman, Chairman of the Department of Communication Arts, makes mainly dry white dinner
wine and some red wine. He says he
became interested through friends such as Dr. Laubengayer who also
makes white wine. Professor Freeman
has been making wine for eight years, and bottling it in 16 ounce soft drink
bottles. When asked about his interest
in winemaking, he chuckled and said "why - wine stimulates communica tion, of course." And in fact it does,
for at the start of each semester he
gives a sample speech to his oral
communication classes on the wine
making procedure.
All three professors are members of the American Wine Society. The society was founded in 1967, with, Dr. Laubengayer as its first president. Today there are 1200 members across the country organized into chapters such as the Ithaca-Cortland one, The,
members meet five to six times a year and run wine tastings. The tastings are either 'open' or 'blind'. For the 'blind' tasting, a paper bag is wrapped around the wine bottle and members
are asked to rate the wine as to its
color, body, aroma and bouquet.
The qualities of a good wine can be found in all three professors' wines. But even they can recall humorous
near disaster stories. Professor Free
man remembers one of his early wine making ventures, when, not fully understanding the fermentation pro cess, he set a carboy of fermenting
wine in the basement and left for
the office. Later that day his wife
called to tell him that his wine was
bubbling all over the basement floor.
Despite mishaps, these winemakers enjoy the fun of making and drinking their own special wine.

17

Recombinant DNA Research

Recombinant DNA research is a
controversial subject which is invok ing speculation and fear about the potential dangers of this valuable laboratory technique. The term seems to conjure up images of the creation of new, hazardous life forms foreign to any currently existing in nature. But the potential of such creatures resulting from this research is extreme ly minimal. "We are interested in removing the mysterious, hazardous concept the public may have concern ing recombinant DNA research," Dr. Ray J. Wu says.
Dr. Wu, professor of biochemistry
and chairman of the section of Bio
chemistry and Molecular Cell Biology, explains that the technique involves the introduction of only a few genes
into an organism which already con tains thousands. It allows the experi
menter to study particular genes in a particular organism. Dr. Wu contends
that no new life would be created nor
would the balance of nature be signifi
cantly disturbed by this technique. Cornell University is one of over
one hundred major institutions using
recombinant DNA research in some
experiments. "Recombinant DNA research is a laboratory technique which no major university can do without to solve major biological prob
lems," Dr. Wu states.
Five biologists on Cornell's faculty
use this technique. They are Dr. Wu,
Dr. Joseph M. Calvo, associate pro
fessor of biochemistry, Dr. Volker M.
Vogt and Dr. Jeffrey W. Roberts,
assistant professors of biochemistry,
and Dr. Gerald Fink, professor of
genetics, Dr. Wu estimates within five
years, all researchers working with DNA will use this technique.
Most of Cornell's recombinant DNA
research is funded by a grant from
the National Institute of Health
(NIH). Last summer this federal agency
published a pamphlet detailing the guidelines to be followed by experi
menters in this type of research. The
guidelines specify the minimum

by Kathy Riley 78

faces daily and liquid wastes of recom binant DNA material before disposal,

and prohibiting eating, drinking, smoking, and food storage in the lab.

Dr. Wu says that most scientists

believe that the guidelines are overly

conservative. "The guidelines are

more than adequate to protect the

community from potential hazards,"

he claims.

Dr. Wu says that a planned addition

of two floors to Wing Hall will house

facilities for experiments classified as

P-3. Because these experiments

involve the potential for moderate

biohazards, P-3 facilities must be

separated from areas of public access and provide a system for directional
air flow within the lab. "To build an

addition without P-3 facilities would

be poor planning," Dr. Wu believes.
Because most NIH grants are made

to institutions rather than to individuals,

the guidelines specify that the institu
tion must establish a committee to

"certify to the NIH on applications for research support and annually there after, that facilities, procedures, and

practices and the training and expertise of the personnel involved have been
reviewed and approved by the institu

tional biohazards committee."

The Cornell University Committee on Recombinant DNA Research has

The Watson-Crick model of DNA.

20 members which include scientists, non-scientists, and university officials concerned with health and life safety.

Committee chairman Harry T. Stinson,

required physical containment condi tions which must be met depending on the level of potential biohazards which might result. They classify
recombinant DNA research into four

professor of genetics and chairman of the Section of Genetics, Develop
ment, and Physiology, explains the purpose of the committee, "Our job
on behalf of the community is essen

categories,

varying from

P-1 ,

practically

no hazard, to P-4, potentially the great

est hazard.

The work of Cornell's faculty is

classified as low P1 and P2 level.

Among the practices which must be

performed are the following: always keeping the laboratory doors closed,

allowing no children under 12 in the

tially to certify that work with recom
binant DNA meets the requirements of the guidelines." He says that although only federally funded research is required to meet the guidelines, the committee has taken the position that all recombinant DNA research undertaken at Cornell regardless of the source of funding must meet these

laboratory, decontaminating work sur requirements.

18

Pest - free Greenhouses Naturally
'
,y
by Lucy L. Bodanza 78

Wasp infects whitefly in new biological greenhouse pest control.

On the eastern edge of the Cornell
campus, sided with greenhouses and
dwarfed by taller structures, a low
grey building manages to hide itself.
Inside, the warm humid air and
heavy smell of growing plants present
a sharp contrast to the cold winter
morning. Beating through the green house roofs, the rare Ithaca sun shines
onto tables full of small green tobacco
plants. The plants will soon be the hosts for hordes of little white insects,
and the insects will in turn be the hosts
for hordes of small black wasps.
The white insects are appropriately called whiteflies (Trialeurodes vaporariorum), the wasps are Encarsia formosa, and the building is the Cornell Insec tary. All of these factors work together in the laboratory of Dr. Maurice J. Tauber, researcher and professor in the Department of Entomology.
Dr. Tauber, standing on a ladder attempting to fix an incubator, doesn't mind taking time out to talk about his work. Like the insects they study, entomologists seem to have an inex haustible supply of energy, and Dr. Tauber and his graduate student assis tant, Jim Nechols, are not exceptions.
Working with Dr. Robert G. Helge-
sen, another entomologist, they have developed feasible methods of whitefly control through biological methods; in this case through parasitism. Bio logical controls also encompass predation and disease pathogens; they are viable alternatives to chemical
control methods.
Whiteflies, one of the biggest pests
ln greenhouses, are difficult to control

chemically. The sprays currently used to control them generally last only a short while, and must be renewed
constantly. Some of the sprays even harm the plants they are protecting. In addition, whiteflies can build up high resistances to chemical controls, rendering them ineffective.
But with biological control methods, none of this happens. The tiny wasps,
harmless to humans and most other
forms of life, are deadly to whiteflies. They need only be applied once. Their
natural behavior leads them to attack
and eventually destroy the whitefly
infestations.
The female wasps lay their eggs inside the developing whitefly nymphs, which are scale-like. Each nymph
receives one egg. When the egg
hatches, the wasp larva begins to eat away at the whitefly nymph, eventually killing it. Then the wasp will emerge from the dead nymph, soon to begin the egg laying process itself. In its lifetime, a single wasp can infect about 60 whitefly nymphs, forming a very
effective control method.
In developing a biological control program, complete knowledge of the life cycles of the insects involved is important. In this type of control, timing is essential — a few days can
mean the difference between success
and failure. The wasps must get to
the whitefly nymphs at the right time, and the eggs must hatch at the right time, or the control will not work.
In addition to life cycles, the behavior of the insects is an important factor. Because this factor is rather complex

in insects, this is a difficult area of study. Much effort must first be directed at the study of the insect itself before any kind of specialized control can be formulated. Even then, the control usually starts on a trial basis.
Dr. Tauber, Dr. Helgesen, and Jim Nechols are now eliminating the vari ables from whitefly control. By doing that, they are giving the commercial greenhouse industry a reliable alterna
tive to chemical control programs. In
fact, the commercial trials of biological whitefly control have been quite
successful.
The natural aspects of the method
make it especially attractive to people
concerned with environmental factors
as well as economic ones. The wasps
in the greenhouse can effectively con trol the whiteflies through natural means. They need only be applied once, as they are self-perpetuating.
And their cost/ benefit ratio is one to
30 — for every dollar spent on them,
the economic return is 30 dollars.
For most chemical control methods,
the ratio is closer to a five dollar return
for every dollar spent. That is quite a
difference.
Although biological controls have
existed in nature for thousands of
years, they are just beginning to be
used for man's benefit. One of the
best things about biological controls is that, if they are used correctly, they are highly reliable, efficient and effective. The key is in doing it cor rectly. For whiteflies, Dr. Tauber and
his associates seem to have found
that key.

19

New York's Declining Population Affects Agriculture
by Cathy Ferrand 78

Between 1970 and 1974 the popu
lation of New York State declined by 131 ,000 despite the fact that births
still exceeded deaths. The losses have
been greatest in the New York City area, but other counties with important cities have also lost population. Increases were largest in the home
areas of commuters, the new home
areas of retirees, and a military base in Clinton County. According to Gor don Conklin, editor of the American Agriculturalist and a 1949 graduate of Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, this decline and shift in population will affect the state's
agriculture. :. Conklin feels there are good reasons
for the population decline; one is New York's high tax rate. According to
statistics from the Citizens Public
Expenditure Survey, Inc., New York State's taxes per capita are the highest in the nation, and they exceed the U.S. average by 52 percent. Conklin named four components of the popula tion decline: industry, retirees, young people, and children under five. Indus tries have found that they can move from the New York City area to Connecticut, for example, where taxes
are lower. Retirees also leave the state
because of the high taxes. A March 7
Ithaca Journal article said that "an
increasing number of the nation's elderly are calling western and southern states home. . ." The retiree popula

tion is shifting to new areas within the state or moving to other states. Many young people in the 18 to 25 bracket are leaving the state in search of jobs.
The decline in the- number of young
couples and a Changing attitude toward desirable family size have led to a
decline in the number of young chil
dren. The Ithaca Journal article quoted previously said, "... the number of persons under five declined nationwide, with the Northeast showing the biggest drop, 22.2 percent."
While population; has dropped in the New York City area, population growth
has continued in rural areas. Conklin
found both positive and negative
aspects to the way this will affect the
state's agriculture. He said, "I think it has some positive impact in that it
will take the wind out of the sails
of the professional planners. . ." Many planners have pushed for strict legislation to deal with land-use prob lems associated with an expanding population, and have tried to control the land to support more people. However, ps Conklin points out, the planners haven't yet adjusted their thinking to fit the population decline.
Conklin feels that the population
decline may cause "a little slowdown on the urban pressures on land."
Artificial values which can inflate prices have been placed on the land. For example, land is used for skiing, snowmobiling and other recreations. The

population decline may? help slow the loss of agricultural land to other
uses/ arid stem the inflation of Jand
prices.
Another favorable result of v the
population decline, said Conklin, is that it finally made the politicians
aware that New York State has some
competitive disadvantages. He= gave the example of the: workmen's compensation rate for forest work,
which is about $25 for every $TO0
the workers are paid. With this compensation rate New York forestproduct industries can tie underpriced by timber producers in neighboring
states where rates are lower.
A disadvantage with the population
decline is that there will be fewer
people to buy perishable goods. Conklin feels that even though some
eggs, meat, and other products are brought from other states, sales of fruits, vegetables and milk may be
hurt by the decline. The tax rates helping to cause the
population decline will continue to grow, intensifying the problem. The state is based on a growth economy. For example, a town makes a commit ment with the intention of paying over a number of years. If it can't pay as planned because of economic slowdown, taxes are raised. As Conklin said, "We're going to have fewer tax payers to shoulder the burdens which
never seem to diminish."

20

1. An aerial view of Cater
pillar Tractor Company's new administration building. 2. Wolf Run Valley near Cuba, New York.
3. Engines and electric plants for farm machinery
are manufactured at the
factory of Kohler Com
pany.
4. A modern barn raising.

A dominant trend in agriculture has
been toward small farm consolidation.
According to Conklin, "We'll see some
more consolidation," but it may not be as rapid. He doesn't think the
population decline has affected small farm consolidation. Between 1974
and 1976, for example, there was a temporary increase in the number of farms in the state. The number of farms is currently slumping off again,
but total farm output in the state continues to increase. As farms
increase in size they also increase in complexity, often turning into large businesses. However, the population decline won't have a great impact on commercial agriculture because "these farmers are willing to gamble on the

long run," said Conklin. How will the population decline
affect the rural areas of the state?
Conklin said, "Politically, of course,
farm families are less than one percent of the electorate. . . so farmers are
not going to have any political lever age." He added that there may be a slight shift in the traditional New York City vs. upstate battle concerning legislation and tax distribution.
Although the population decline may have some negative effects on agriculture, Conklin points to the flexi bility of agriculture and marketing systems as a reason for optimism. "Agriculture is, I think, the growth industry in New York." People are moving to rural areas and more capital

investment is being made in agricul ture. Our marketing and transportation systems are so complex and flexible, he said, "that it doesn't matter in terms of food supply where people
live."
The decline and shift in population raise many questions: Will tax rates rise? Will there be enough children
to fill the new schools? How much
money should be spent to save wildlife
and land since the population is no longer expanding? Even though, as Conklin said, "Agriculture will adjust,"
New York State inhabitants will have
to adjust their thinking to deal with the new problems and opportunities created by a declining population.

21

Richie Sticks to the Top

Without a doubt, 'tis the season to be high. Such is the result of spring
time as it drops the blahs, raises the spirits, and turns grey into green as black and white blossoms into techni color. Yes, high is the word. Now, take a National Champion lacrosse team, cross it with the radiant season of spring, and you've got high hopes.
This year Coach Richie Moran and his red-breasted laxers will fly onto
the field and victimize their opponents with all the pomp and precision of a well-tuned machine, fully apprehending
the thrill of victory. "But," you ask, "what's a 'laxer'?"
Don't worry, a red-breasted laxer is
not going to swoop down when you
least expect it and teach you the agony of defeat. Cager is to basketball player as laxer is to lacrosse player.
Sportswriters, like any independent group, have a language of their own.
The North American Indian gave
birth to lacrosse, and the game has
been maturing ever since. Maturity means taking a pastime rich in Indian legendry, of competition on fields such as the area between Cayuga and Seneca lakes, and reducing it to a small field with fewer players and
restricted free play. Instead of posing as a bloody substitute for war, lacrosse is now an outlet for healthy competi
tion.
Cornell jumped on the bandwagon in 1898, when it played its first formal schedule, and has rolled to national championships since as early as 1907. So, red-breasted laxers have been in
season a long time. In 1976 Cornell overpowered a highly
touted Maryland attack to become National Champs during a 16-13
overtime thriller.
How does it look for a repeat
championship? Richie Moran has led Cornell to two national titles, in 1971
and 1976, and isn't tired of receiving that trophy yet. According to Coach Moran, "Last year we had a seasoned
veteran squad offensively. The return ing veterans who helped capture that title will help solidify our team's total effort during the 1977 season."

by Gary
Roberts 7
When you Iwve a man like Richie
Moran running lie show, you're bound
to be optimistic Since he was named
head coach in l|69, Richie has emerged
the victor in almost nine games out of
every ten played. In addition to the two national titles, Cornell has cap tured seven Ivy League championships under Moran — going undefeated a
seven times. It's no wonder that Richie was named the United States Inter
collegiate Lacrosse Association "Man
of the Year" in 1976.
In case you've never heard of Mike French, well, he was the guy who ran off with such awards as "Ivy Player
of the Year" and "Most Valuable
Player" in the country. All legends in their time must graduate, so Mike and seven other seniors, among them Bill Marino (All-Ivy, Ail-American) and
Jon Levine (Second Ail-American
team), have left Cornell a challenge: Can they be replaced so that Cornell may maintain its number one position? What about it, Richie?
"It'll take a little time to get the
right combination to jell, of course. I never look to take somebody's place. My philosophy is to devise the most
efficient system to benefit the fine talent we have. But we can do it."
It's nice to know that this year's team has a few budding stars. You know, the guys that rise and break the records set by legends. On the
attack we will have the honor of see
ing the best stick handler in the nation, Eamon McEneaney, a two-time All-
American. At midfield lies such talent
as Bob Henrickson (All-American honorable mention). He'll be aided
by, among others, Steve Page (Junior College All-American) and Craig Jaeger (two-time Junior College Player of the Year). In the defense wait three
well-budded stars from last year: Bob
Katz, Chris Kane, and Frank Muehle-

-m

man. Bob was a^ All-America hon( named to the

season.

In the goal lurks
Mackesey. This group\ of stars] with the other veterans! and upc

will comprise the 1977

Lacrosse team. High hopes^

definitely warranted. \

On this year's schedule, Cornell ;

faces six playoff teams from est"-

teSjyear. Five of the top

University

Division schools will attempt

dethrone the Big Red, incloyj^t^ut-
gers, Massachussetts, an^_-\lw^ySv

tough Johns Hopkins.

In the Ivy
of freshman

League, eligibility

the will

bseecaoncdomypeaer^,

tition factor. Freshmen are nov^

allowed to compete on the varsity level. According to Richie, "It should

make the Ivies more competitive

than ever, since all squads will be

strengthened. I will use deserving

freshmen."
The passing of spring will tell the
whole story. When the snow has
melted, and the birds are grounded,
once again pulling worms from within the soil, the Cornell Lacrosse team should be flying high. Here's hoping.

22

Professorships Awarded
Edgar M. Raffensperger was recently
promoted to full professor of entomo
logy by the Cornell University Board of Trustees. Since coming to Cornell, he has been researching the biology and control of mosquitoes and biting flies, of household pests such as cockroaches, and of insects infesting stored food products. Indicative of his concern for homeowners' insect prob lems, in 1971 he took an active part in establishing Cornell's Plant Disease and Diagnostic Laboratory which each year helps several thousand New York residents diagnose insect prob
lems.
Dr. Richard W. Robinson, Ph.D.
'62, has been promoted to a full professorship in the Department of Seed and Vegetable Sciences at Cor nell University's New York State Agri cultural Experiment Station, Geneva. Dr. Robinson specializes in developing new varieties of tomatoes, cucurbits, and lettuce. He completed his Ph.D.
soon after he came to the Geneva
Station in April 1961.
Cornell University agricultural engi neers Edward 0. Eaton, M.S. '50, Ph.D. '52, and Gerald E. Rehkugler, B.S. '57, M.S. '58, were recently promoted to full professorships in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Professor Eaton, who joined the Department of Agricultural Engi neering in 1958, has received numer
ous awards for educational aids which
show how to safely use a variety of farm and recreational machinery. Professor Rehkugler joined the Department in 1957. He is researching the detection of apple bruises and has worked on the development of mechan ical cabbage and apple harvesters.
John W. Sherbon was recently pro moted to full professor in the Depart ment of Food Science in the College, where he has taught since 1963. Professor Sherbon has done extensive
research on the physical structure of

dairy products. His teaching in both undergraduate and graduate courses focuses on the chemistry of food.
Sherbon also serves on the editorial
board of the Journal of Dairy Science and is a member of several professional dairy and food science associations.
Sandra A. Sheradin, '75, was appointed as an instructor in the Orna mental Horticulture Department at Alfred State Agricultural and Techni cal College. She will teach floral design
and the identification and usage of
herbaceous plants. While at Cornell,
she was chairman of the Horticulture
Advisory Board for Instructional
Material Services.
Robert C. Nolan, Sp. '58-59, has joined the Cornell University Food Industry Management Program staff as an extension associate. His job includes marketing and promotion activities which will carry him through
out the U.S. and Canada. Nolan did
graduate work, specializing in agricul tural economics, in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
New Director for the
International
Agriculture Program
Prof. Joseph F. Metz, Jr. was recently appointed director of the Pro gram in International Agriculture by
the Board of Trustees. He will coordi
nate the curriculum and training of U.S. and foreign students for work in international agricultural development.
Metz, who joined the Department of Agricultural Economics in 1956,
has served as an international consul
tant on agricultural research for the Ford Foundation, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the
World Bank.
The former Program director, Edwin B. Oyer, resigned to join the Inter national Agricultural Development
Service.
Succeeding Metz as associate director of research at both the College

and the Cornell Agricultural Experi
ment Station is Prof. Joan Roos
Egner of the Department of Educa tion. She will supervise budgeting
matters in the office of research.
Professor Egner is also an associate
editor of the "Educational Administra
tion Quarterly" and of the international
section of "Educational Administra tion Abstracts."
The Alumni Ballot
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences graduate Ernest L. Stern, '56, is one of four individuals nominated by the
Alumni Trustee nomination committee
to run on the alumni ballot for the Board of Trustees. Two alumni will be elected for a five year term. Stern is
chairman of the Dumont Corp.
Dr. W. H. Allaway, Senior Lecturer in Agronomy, has been made an Honorary Member of the American Society of Agronomy. Dr. Allaway's major research dealt with the relation ship of soil to the nutritional quality of plants. His work on the soil to plant cycling of selenium has been widely used in the livestock industry and in studies of the geographic distribution of human health problems. He received
ASA's Soil Science Award in 1971.
Dr. Allaway retired in June 1976 after serving 15 years as Director of the U.S. Plant, Soil, and Nutrition Labora tory at Ithaca.
Service Award
At their annual meeting in October 1976, the Science Teachers Associa tion of New York State presented Glenn A. Crosway, '53, with the Service Award plaque for his outstand ing contributions to that organization. Only seven other science teachers have received this award in its history.
Crosway also was Director of the 25th State Science Congress spon sored by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Alumni Associ ation in May 1976. At the Congress Banquet he received a Service Award plaque from the Gamma Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega of Cornell in recogni tion of 21 years of service in New York high school science education.

23

LlOiary
COFFEE and MEMORIES
Far above Cayuga's waters. . .where
you spent some of your best years.
The memories of your college days
are among your fondest. Ever wonder
what happened to those old class mates, professors. . .those old friends?
Find out this June. Come to -
The Alumni Association of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' Breakfast and Annual Meeting. Saturday, June 11, 1977 at 8:00 a.m. North Campus Union, South Dining Room, Cornell University
Interested? Please let us know ahead of time by contacting: The Alumni Association of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences 205 Roberts Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14850
■ul I ite Sciences, a Statutory College of the Statp. Mniv/p.rsity at Cornell University

ULTIMATE FRISBEE. . .page 12

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN MAY 1977 VOLUME LXXIV - Number 7

EDITORS
Gary Barnes Nancy Ryan Nancy Tomkins ASSISTANT EDITORS
Marleen Bicknese
Kathy Riley ART EDITORS
Cathy Ferrand Kathy Layer
Carl Laron
PHOTO EDITORS
Keith Kushner
Karen Esposito

EDITORIAL STAFF
David Bilmes, Lucy Bodanza, Barbara Buoymaster, Bruce Carson, William Gray, David Joseph, Jill Kirschman, Steve Klein, Mark Monroe, Rich Paw lak, Gary Roberts, Catharine Rogers, Peter Schoenberger, Paula Shuster, Ralph Spence, Susan Ziff.
ABOUT THIS ISSUE
Difficult decisions are made with a
sense of anticipation at graduation.
This issue focuses on several ways
Cornellians set their new goals.

Picture Credits: Cover - Bruce
Carson; page 3 - Ralph Spence;
page 4,5 - Media Services; page 6 Keith Kushner; page 8 - Kathy Layer; page 9,10,11, back cover -
Department of Manuscripts and
University Archives; page 12,13 Bruce Carson; page 15 - New York State College of Human Ecology at Cornell University; page 16,17 Cornell Daily Sun; page 17 - Russell
C. Hamilton; page 18 - Kathy Layer; page 19 - Cornell Black Agricul turalists; page 20 - James K. Estes; page 21 - Media Services; page 22 Keith Kushner; Back cover - Vicki
Romanoff.

CONTENTS
3. Life Lies Before You by Ralph Spence 77 4. The Fruits Of His Labor by Paula Cimini Shuster 77
6. Finding Your Future . . .
At the Career Center by Keith Kushner '77
In A Value Clarification Workshop by Barbara Buoymaster 77 8. 5,000 Parking Spaces - 16,000 Cars by Kathy Layer 78
10. A Man Called B.A. by Nancy Tomkins 77 12. A Twist Of the Wrist by Jill Kirschman 77 and Bruce Carson 77
14. Venturing on Your Own by Catharine Rogers 77 15. Designs That Work by Nancy Ryan 77 16. The Housing Scramble by Steve Klein 77
18. How Do You Choose A Professor? by Marleen Bicknese 78 19. Carrots Don't Grow in the Market by Bruce Carson 77
20. New Developments in Poultry Research by Cathy Ferrand 78 22. Intramurals: Something for Everyone by Mark Monroe 77

The Cornell Countryman is published seven times a year from October through
May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription Rates: $2.50 a year; $4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content gathered and written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors: Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

LIFE lies before YOU
Spring of year and life
reflections of worth
Freedom in sight
a new kind of birth
Trained for position playing a while
The world is now yours
change your lifestyle
Cornell is a memory home isn't home
Doing things your way spending time alone
Finding out the options time is moving fast
Making more decisions learning from the past
A career for a lifetime
plans have been made
Life lies before you
your cards have been played
The future is present the past is still clear
Fresh dreams will guide you there's nothing to fear.
by Ralph Spence 77

THE FRUITS OF HIS LABOR
A Profile of
Dr. Louis J. Edgerton

by Paula Cimini Shuster '77

The sun shines strongly through
the early autumn leaves as Cornell pomoiogists prepare for the long-
awaited harvest of the Cornell orchards.
Students enrolled in Pomology 101 and its accompanying laboratory examine the tart Mcintosh, plump Idared, and
wine-colored Red Delicious for condi
tion and stage of maturity. Then they
move on to get experience and practice in the harvesting, grading, and storage of the fruit. Their professor points out the features of each variety and its
special handling requirements. He nods in approval as his students detect the
principal features of this most important time in the life of an apple. It's clear that on a bright fall afternoon, Dr. Louis J. Edgerton, a Professor in the Department of Pomology in the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell, looks forward to the annual harvest as eagerly as
anyone.
The study of apples and other tree fruits has been a lifelong pursuit for Dr. Edgerton. His office in the Plant Sciences building on campus is lined with volumes such as "Proceedings of the American Society for Horticultural Science", "Shedding of Plant Parts", "The Packer", and many copies of

fruit growers magazines. A native of Ohio, Dr. Edgerton attended the College of Wooster, received his B.S. degree from Ohio State University in 1937, and then a Ph.D. degree from Cornell in 1941. Dr. Edgerton's research con cerns the cold hardiness of fruit plants, chemical fruit thinning, flowering, and fruit set and regulation of fruit maturity. More recently he has been investigat ing fruit abscision in relation to mechan ical harvesting and the use of growth regulators to control tree size and fruit ing. Dr. Edgerton is the author of many technical papers describing his research as well as articles on practical fruit growing and extension bulletins on cherries and peaches.
During a sabbatic leave in 1955 he was associated with the University of
California at Davis. In 1962 he received
a Cornell Traveling Fellowship for travel and study at some of the horticultural research stations in England and Europe. Dr. Edgerton was a Fulbright Lecturer at Cairo University, UAR, in 1966 and has recently completed a six
month's sabbatic leave in Australia and
New Zealand where he conducted
research on plant growth regulators. As a member of Gamma Sigma Delta, Sigma Xi, American Society for Horti

cultural Science, American Association
for the Advancement of Science, and
the Research Club at Cornell, Dr.
Edgerton has proven to be one of Cornell's most active professors.
A pleasant, cheerful man, Dr. Edger ton has been teaching pomology at Cornell since 1946. He explained that in the 1940s, many more students in
pomology had already had experience in fruit production from home orchards throughout the Northeast. "This is changing," he said with concern, "because as the number of family
orchards decreased and became incor
porated, the number of fruit grower families decreased during the late 50s and 60s." He brightened, however,
when he added that "I think there has
been a real revival of interest in fruit
growing in the past five years, though. For example, in my introductory course of about 70 students only ten or fifteen are majors, but those majoring in Plant Science, Social Science, and Animal
Science are also in the class. You
don't have to be a pomology major to
take the course. I view my role here
at Cornell as a career teaching experi
ence, where I can continue to teach pomology for a few more years before
I retire."

4

Holding a prime specimen at arm's length, Dr. Edgerton explains to students how proper pruning practices are essential to good tree development.

A few years ago, Dr. Edgerton tested out this small, portable power sprayer. Small enough to fit in the back of a van, the machine is designed to apply chemical plant growth regulators that enhance fruit abscission, making mechanical apple harvesting more efficient.

Pointing to some apple twigs in a
glass jar on his desk, Dr. Edgerton
excitedly explained his research with
bloom delay. "These unusually warm
days that we've been having cause the buds to start swelling prematurely, leaving them vulnerable to frost
damage. To prevent this, we've been
experimenting with a sprinkler system in the orchard that sprays a light mist of water over the trees. This effectively cools the bud down to delay opening.
Would you like to go out to the orchard to see it in action?"
Dr. Edgerton and I then took a short
drive down Tower Road in his blue
Plymouth. Sporting a 35 millimeter
camera, he was anxious to get some
photographs of the sprinkler system just as it sprang into action. It was about 80 degrees that afternoon, as we stood on the newly sodden and well-mulched ground between the rows.
A few feet away, a beautiful rainbow
was forming as the mist dispersed the white sunlight into a multitude of ethereal, transparent bands of color. "Would you mind holding this branch for me?" Dr. Edgerton asked. As the
wind carried the mist down on us, he
quickly snapped more pictures. "Now iet's go get some apples!"

From the orchard, it was a short trot to the orchard store. He graciously offered me a few samples of Empire,
a cross between Red Delicious and
Mcintosh. During the drive back to
campus, he said that "At this time of
year, Empire holds up pretty well under controlled atmosphere storage.

Really tasty, isn't it?" At that moment I was enjoying the apple so much, I could only nod in agreement. "Thank you for talking to me, and thank you especially for the apples." "It's no trouble at all," he replied "I always enjoy talking to students."

In Dr. Edgerton's Pomology 101 class, students learn the different
characteristics of fruit trees.

5

FINDING YOl

at the Career Center

by Keith Kushner 77

Every student that attends the
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will someday be faced with the hard reality of having to find a job. Even if facing this fact is delayed by graduate school, someday the books will have to be laid aside, and the student will become gainfully unemployed.
Though Cornell is a good school, its graduates do not have a corner on the job market. Finding a job that meets the student's expectations sometimes takes hard work, and a bit of luck. To help students, the College has its own Career Planning and Placement Office in 16 Roberts Hall, referred to by many
students as the "Career Center."
Before 1969 one of the Center's
main functions was to make sure that
each student fulfilled his farm practice requirement. The requirement ended in 1969, allowing the center to develop
new programs.
"We provide information and the opportunity for students, especially seniors, to meet prospective employ ers," said Edie Streams, a Doctoral student in Education Administration, who runs the Career Center along with Mike Gerling, who is studying for his
MBA. "Our busiest time of year is
probably February and March when people are scheduling and having interviews," Edie said. "We scheduled 820 interviews, representing 230 stu dents." Though this figure may make it seem like a relatively small number
-tHFOllMAnc

of seniors are taking advantage of the at SUNY Albany. By remaining a full

interview program, it must be remem bered that 30-40 percent of them are

time student with 12 credit hours, the
student can retain any financial aid he

going on to graduate school.

may be receiving.

But the Career Planning and Place ment Office is much more than a place

But these programs are still only part of what makes up the Career Center.

to meet prospective employers. For
the last three or four years the Center
has been handing out the senior packet

The Center has just completed a study of alumni from the years 1949, '54
'59, '64, '69, 72 and '74 to see' what

which gives information on writing percentage are still in the same fields

resume's, cover letters, and other job- they studied at Cornell. The Center

related material. Though there is no was interested in finding out the

direct feedback to the Center on the
use of this information, more than 500 senior packets were picked up this

employment and educational experi
ences alumni have had after leaving Cornell. Sixty-three percent of the

year.

alumni responded to the questionnaire,

Not all the programs that the Career and of this number, 48 percent stayed

Planning and Placement Office pro in their field of study, while 28 percent vides are for seniors, or have to do were working in different fields. An

with permanent employment. For additional 14 percent were still in

example, Contact Program is a one school doing some sort of graduate week work experience for sophomores work. The rest of the alumni did not

and juniors. They are placed with
alumni who are in the field that the
student is considering entering. Spon sors in the program work in banking, county and federal agencies, wildlife,

fit into any of these categories because some are in the process of switching jobs, some are unemployed, and others are occupied in raising a family. The study showed that the further

local papers, and other fields. In the
two previous years there were 150
applicants for the program, but this year there were only 15. "I made the decision not to mail the information

away from graduation a person is, the more likely he will be in a job unre lated to his major. In the future other information may be requested from
alumni for similar studies.

out to students in an effort to save
money," Edie said. "The information

The Career Planning and Placement Office has undergone a slow evolution

was posted on bulletin boards, but no in trying to provide a better service

one must have seen them. Maybe for the students. In the future, a pub

next year we'll have someone stuffing the material into the preregistration
packets."
If a student is interested in govern ment he can apply to work for a semes
ter in the New York State Assembly Intern Program. The student works 30 hours a week from January to June with an Assemblyman, and carries six hours of independent study, and six hours of courses as a visiting student

lication is planned that will have infor mation about different graduate schools, and what faculty members
have attended that school who are
willing to talk to students about it. Some faculty are also being used to recruit companies to come and inter
view students who are prospective
employees. Students should not be afraid to
use the Career Center, and Edie

Mike Gerling, placement coor dinator, updates career informa
tion bulletin board.

Streams encourages people to start thinking early about their futures. There will always be someone there
to help.

UTURE

in a Value Clarification Workshop
by Barbara Buoymaster 77

Graduation is often an introspective
time. Seniors are forced to consider
the question of what to do with their lives. Some have decided on graduate schools, others have jobs lined up,
but many students have no idea what
they'll do. Cornell graduates have the luxury
of vocational choice. The job market
is tight but when we begin seriously seeking employment quite a few jobs
turn up. Then some vocational choice has to be made.
It's hard to choose a career direction
because the stakes seem so high. We think we're picking a career for life,
and often we are, so there's a lot
resting on the decision.
That's the wrong way to think about
things according to the value clarifica tion program now being offered at
Cornell's career centers. We should
ask ourselves instead where we are,
where do we want to go, and what
resources do we have for getting
there.
These are often difficult questions
to answer. The value clarification or
planning workshops can help. In a group of five to seven people and one staff member, the workshops help to answer these big questions by first answering smaller ones.
"Most of us act as though we think the future is something that happens to us, rather than something we create every day," explained Charlotte Shea,
career counselor and the force behind
these workshops. "The emphasis of psychology on
how childhood experience determines later adult behavior, coupled with the
fact that most of us accumulate
obligations as we go through life," she adds, "leads many people to explain their current activities in terms of where they have been rather than in terms of where they are going." The workshops attempt to put people in touch with how they think about their life and what they want to

accomplish. The staff person struc
tures individual reflection and group discussion around a series of written
exercises.
The first is called "life line". Each
member of the group is asked to draw
a line representing their life and put a check where they are now. The line can be straight, slanted, curved, con voluted, or jagged. The group then
discusses what the lines mean to each
person and to the others.
They work through a number of these exercises designed to increase self-knowledge. "Try to list those things which are really important to your sense of yourself," the second exercise reads. "Things that, if you lost them, would make a radical differ ence to your identity and the meaning of life for you."
After these who-am-l exercises, the workshop focuses on a self-evaluation of abilities. They evaluate verbal-persua sive, social, numerical, investigative, manual-physical, creative, and manager ial skills. By ranking abilities on a scale of one to four, from no ability at all, to a definite strong ability, a pattern of prominent strengths
emerges.
The group also looks at work values, rating satisfactions that people obtain

from different jobs. And finally, they attempt to set immediate and longrange goals.
The workshop isn't an "encounter" group. There is nothing magical or spiritual about it. People don't leave with the rest of their lives figured out. But the workshop does help people to think about these hard questions. The questions can be answered just as well without the work shop, but they tend to get put off because they are difficult.
The career centers encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to take part in the workshops. These aren't questions that are asked exclusively by students. Ideally we should all think about our goals and how we're pro gressing toward them frequently.
For those trying to determine a career direction, the next step is to
look into the fields that emerge as
strengths and interests in the work shop. For those that have a career
direction or even a career, the work
shop can help people understand
themselves and their interests more
clearly. "Because it's over," as Charlotte
Shea said, "the past is unmanageable. Because it has not happened, the
future is manageable."

5,000 Parking Spaces - 16,000 Cars
by Kathy Layer 78

"Where do you see a space?" There are plenty of cars in the A-B parking lot located near the North Campus housing complex.

"We/come to Cornell University. We
hope that you share our admiration of its beauty. Unfortunately, when you
come by car you must also share one of our problems — a shortage of park
"
ing spaces. Printed on a Visitor's
Parking Information sheet these words warn the eager visitor of a problem common to all faculty, students, and employees of Cornell.
At this time there are 16,000 cars
registered with the Cornell Traffic Bureau and 5,000 available parking spots. Director of Transportation Ser vices David Brown said that "parking
on campus is a non-renewable natural
resource." If in fact everyone tried to
park on campus the grounds would literally become one huge parking lot. There simply are not enough places on campus to accommodate all those who wish to park there.
Over the past ten years parking areas
have been constructed on the outer
edges of campus, as lots closer to the
center of campus have been covered
by new buildings. Uris Hall and the

Johnson Art Museum are built on
former parking lots and the new Boyce Thompson Institute will be constructed on another. As campus expansion
occurs more parking areas will be added to the fringes of the University; 125 new spaces are planned alongside
Morrison Hall. Whether continued
peripheral extension will be able to
handle the expanding auto population
remains to be seen.
The Campus Bus Service shuttles
parkers back and forth to the main
campus, from peripheral parking lots.
This system may be somewhat incon
venient but it does help to maintain the natural beauty of the campus and keep roadways open and safe.
This diminishing availability of park ing space is, unfortunately, accom panied by the fact that many more students own cars today than ever before. Parking is especially crowded for students of West Campus. When lots are full many students park on the street, but they must remember to switch sides every day because of

Ithaca's alternate-day parking law.
Should they forget they are likely to find a ticket flapping on the windshield,
Traffic had long been a problem for
Cornell. As might be expected, rising
use of the personal autos increases traffic as well as parking difficulties.
On the average day in 1965, 40,000
cars crossed the campus. Since the
population of Ithaca totals 28,000, minus students, this would be equi
valent to everyone in Ithaca driving through campus about one and a half
times a day. In an article published in
the Cornell Countryman in 1970, Carol Furst wrote ". . . Cornell even has
rush hour tie-ups. Parking spaces are difficult if not impossible to find, dur ing the day and a "U" sticker is a treasured item." On March 3, 1970
six Cornell students staged a sit-down on Campus Road during the 8 A.M. rush hour to stress that the presence
of cars on campus created safety,
pollution, and ecology problems.
In the fall of 1970, a permanent
parking permit and a redirected traffic

8

flow system went into effect. To park on University-owned land, drivers must obtain a permit from the Cornell Traffic Bureau. Permits are classified according to the purchaser's relation ship to Cornell; student, faculty or employee. The fees charged range from nothing to $108 per year, depend ing upon the proximity of the parking
area to the center of campus.
Three traffic control booths guard the entrances to campus and only cars with "U", service or visitors' per mits are allowed to pass by and park
on campus. Between 7:30 A.M. and
5:00 P.M. weekdays, all other traffic is diverted around Cornell, unless other wise specified by the Traffic Bureau.
Brown stressed that traffic on campus
has thereby been substantially cut, much to the relief of numerous pedes trians, cyclists, and skateboard riders.
Where there are restrictions there
are also violations. This is reflected by the 35,000 tickets issued each year for the various parking and traffic viola tions. Some tickets are suspended and others are appealed but the major ity are paid. Ignorance of parking
restrictions is not considered a valid
argument for a ticket to be excused.
To keep the public informed of current

Parking problems begin! Here cars are neatly parked at the base of the Ag Quad in the 1950's.

campus traffic regulations the Traffic
Bureau puts out several excellent
publications including a parking map. These may be obtained free of charge at the Cornell University Traffic Bureau,
115 Wait Avenue.
The future holds planned improve
ments to aid the battle to maintain
adequate parking and roads. It seems that parking will forever be a problem because of Cornell's geographic loca tion and the general layout of the
campus. But future solutions may
include an expanded bus system, park ing garages on the interior of campus, and the repositioning of the control

booths. Decreased use of the personal auto would greatly help the situation. To encourage car pooling the Univer sity offers individuals with more than
one vehicle or groups of individuals the
chance to purchase a set of multiple permits for any given area for the price of one regular permit. Yes, even Cornell is trying "two for the price of
one" incentives.
Parking is still tight, making the "U" permit the pass to the inner sanctum of the Cornell campus. Although the traffic flow through campus has vastly decreased, drivers and pedestrians still
cast frustrated looks at each other.

When parking was not a problem! A horse | and buggy move down Central Avenue in the
early days of Cornell.

9

The year is 1935. The Monday
evening chocolate hour at the Adams'
home at 202 Fall Creek Drive has
already begun. Students and friends are assembled in front of an open fire place where Bristow Adams has carved the well known words, "The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things." And talk they did, about everything and anything from student activities to politics and litera
ture while Mrs. Adams served hot
cocoa and cookies.

B.A., as he was often called by colleagues and friends, began the gettogethers by introducing everyone. If you were to watch closely, you could probably catch the sparkle in B.A.'s eyes as he remembered the names of
all the newcomers without a pause. If
you preferred to listen, B.A.'s adven tures in the south seas would boggle
your imagination. Today, although they happened
decades ago, many alumni , fondly
remember the Monday night get-

togethers along with B.A.'s sharp wit and often-discussed pet peeves such
as flowery writing, publicity, and the
then contemporary fuss about soy beans. But for those of us unfamiliar
with B.A. personally, numerous accomplishments stand waiting to be
explored. It was in 1914 that B.A. packed up
his abilities, his good humor, and his
dedication and traveled to Ithaca to
take charge of the Information Service and to be editor of the Agriculture

A MAN
CALLED
B.A.

by Nancy Tomkins 77

and Rural Life Publications of the
New York State College of Agricul ture (now Agriculture and Life Sci ences.) He brought to Cornell a degree from Stanford University, Class of 1900, and a varied career in publication and journalism. At the age of 22, B.A. was appointed artist on the Bering
Sea Fur Seal Commission on the Pri-
bilof Islands.
In 1902 B.A. was made associate
editor of Forestry and Irrigation, the magazine of the American Forestry Association, now American Forests. For a period of nine years beginning in 1906, Bristow served as a profes

sional forester in the U.S. Forest
Service in various National forests in
the north and south. His connections
with the forest service gave him the
privilege of working with the men
who started the conservation move
ment, often termed "the cause" under President Roosevelt.
B.A. was a pioneer in many fields. He was called on by Cornell to develop public relations in forestry because of his experience in Alaska and the vari
ous National forests. He was also to
teach a class in the forestry depart
ment, Conservation of Natural Resources, to be offered for two

credits.
In addition, he was asked to set up an efficient system for handling the
publications of the College. Organiz ing the editorial office boosted the quality of extension bulletins and made the findings of research available to the farmers of the state. Cornell's
improvements influenced many other institutions and led to the formation
of organizations such as the American Association of College News Bureaus
and American Association of Agricul
tural College Editors. B.A. was presi dent of each of these organizations.
It wasn't until sometime after B.A.

10

had been at Cornell that he began to teach journalism classes. Members of the Cornell Countryman asked B.A. for assistance in the production of their magazine. A one-hour course
was offered for no credit. The students
liked it so well, they kept right on working through intercession, and starting with the next term credit was given. Throughout the '20's and '30's, the early journalism courses were hid
den in the Office of Publication because
there was no provision in the College
for such courses.
B.A. proceeded to add another course called Feature Writing. The objective of the course was to write articles for publication. One of his former students, Dorothy Chase, remembers taking the course from B.A. in the spring of 1927. As she recalls, "He gave any of us a chance
to write an article for the homemakers'
section of True Story, which he
headed under the pen name of Luella
Farmer, his wife's maiden name. B.A. was paid by the month and as True Story accepted our articles he paid us. I sold several!" However, B.A.
was not all academics. In fact, on a cheerful spring day in 1927 you might
find Bristow and his students far from
the campus halls, sitting near one of Ithaca's falls or gorges. Dorothy Chase especially remembers these escapades because "everyone would gawk at us."
Miss Chase remembers the first
course she ever took from B.A., Agri cultural Journalism, a general lecture on all phases of journalism. She recalls waiting in a lecture room in Fernow
Hall for the instructor's arrival. And as
usual, B.A. would promptly walk into class with his dog, an elderly shepherd
who would lie in the back of the room
until seconds before the bell rang and
invariably plod to the front of the
room to stand beside B.A. He never
failed to beat the bell!
On his 25th anniversary as editor of publications for the College, students in one of his journalism classes started the parade of wellwishers and startled B.A. as they burst into strains of Happy Birthday. Each student pre

sented him with an apple. B.A. smil ingly remarked, "Those apples look pretty well polished!"
B.A. initiated all the writing courses
himself and laid the foundation for
what was to become the Department of Communication Arts. In total, he taught 11 credit hours in journalism and two in the forestry department. To Bristow, success in agricultural journalism meant an ability to different
iate between what was of value to read
and what was not. He believed the
power of discrimination was important
to any person who claimed a well rounded education.
B.A. gave to Cornell many of his
creative writings and paintings. When on sabbatical leave in Europe in 1937-8, he was asked to keep account of his
travels. Bristow filled two 500 page
books with his writings and water
color illustrations. When asked the
objective of his travels he soberly replied, quoting Kipling, "For to admire
an' for to see/ For to be 'old this world
so wide."
When asked in 1945 about whether
he was really ready to retire, he replied "Well, yes, it is true that I am finish ing 31 rebellious years at Cornell." Though he retired in title, B.A. contin ued to keep active in many academic
and social circles. For a number of
years, he was editor of the Cornell Plantations. He also continued to be
an active member of the Savage Club of Ithaca, a group of men with talent as entertainers, chartered by the Sav
age Club of London. He described
their escapades in his poem Prolego-
menom:

a few weeks before Cornell Plantations
had planned to publish "An Apprecia tion to B.A." on his 82nd birthday. The Plantations published the appreci
ation as if it were written when B.A.
was still alive because they wanted to continue to think of him as the living inspiration that he was to all.
B.A. sketched this seal when he
was artist on the Bering Sea Fur Seal
Commission on the Pribilof Islands.

"The Savage Club, a group of merry wights Who gather for their joy on sundry nights, With quips and cranks, and songs and wanton wiles To gain each others praise, or only smiles. . . . . . So gentle folks, we hope you'll like our skits Our raconteurs, our songsters and our wits,
And that we'll have at every actor's pause
Your sweet indulgence or your kind applause."
Tuesday morning, November 17, 1957, the beloved Bristow died, only

11

Ugh! Blocking a frisbee in mid-air is not a/ways
as easy as it looks. Just look at those nasty grass stains.

A twist of

Not a huge crowd, but a happy one. Ultimate Frisbee does not receive the publicity of other
team sports.

>?/<

.^•~Vv^'>Vft
.....4*: "^♦■>'«t*<,,«'»;V' ■■ -s
•i-1
Cornell ThrowsOff to Penn State. The seven men cannot leave the end zone fine until the frisbee is in the air.

by Jill Kirschman 77
Ultimate Frisbee is a new sport and
a new approach to team competition.
Cornell has had a Frisbee team since 1973 when Jon Cohn introduced the
game to the campus. This year's team has been exceptionally success ful, losing only once in the fall semes ter to Hampshire College and once this spring to Penn State. They are in line for the Eastern Championship
which will be held at Amherst.
Ultimate Frisbee is played on a 60 by 40 yard field, outdoors at Cornell's Upper Alumni Field or inside at Barton
Hall. There are seven men from each team on the field at the same time. The object is to receive a throw-off and move it in a series of passes down the field to score. A score is a
pass caught behind the end zone.
There are no referees. Since Frisbee is
essentially a non-contact sport, players operate by an honors system on the
field and call their own fouls.

Oh no you don't! It's hard to tell who is playing defense here. It looks like they all want that
frisbee.
•"■
f.

the wrist

/ got it! Ultimate Frisbee requires agility. Players
must time their motion to be where the frisbee
will be.

%%?„

i Bruce Carson 77
Cornell's team has no faculty coach, so they share the coaching responsibi
lities among team members. This
year's team has about twenty-five members, including several women.
While Cornell has the strongest indoor game in the league, as the
weather begins to warm competition is held outside - and that is perhaps our team's only weakness. They need more practice playing an outside
game and must learn to contend with
a grass field and wind. Jon Cohn, still a team member, is the league's best arm, according to All American
Jim Herrick, and the team has a tribe
of expert receivers.
Ultimate Frisbee is a new concept in team sports. It's fun to play, exciting
to watch and an enthusiastic team
effort unchecked by the politics of so many other college sports. If you want something totally different check out Cornell's Ultimate Frisbee team!

Win or lose ■ a good game of Frisbee is a good time. Here Cornell congratulates Penn
State after a fine game.

13

"/ grew up three years in the past

"
few months.

"It's

what

you

make

of

it. I only had to learn certain things

but the chance was there to go as far

as

I

"
wanted.

"I

found

out

I

will never

be able to work in an office!" "Now

I know I'm interested in health care from the business rather than the

"
medical aspect. These are typical comments from
students who have participated in the

College Venture Program. The program

provides students with job opportun ities and structured learning experi

ences during the regular semester. It

is an alternative to traditional academ

ics for students anxious to try their

knowledge in the "real" world and gather first-hand information about the workings of their career choices.

The program is relatively new at Cornell, just ending its two year trial

period this September. It was started

in 1973 by the trustees of Northeastern

University as a response to increasing

demands by students for more practical

options, especially for liberal arts

majors, but also for those in engi

neering and agriculture. "With the

job market as competitive as it is,

students are becoming more interested

in gaining learning experiences off-

campus, where they will get a head

start on the road to finding permanent

jobs later," stated David Cullings, the

Cornell Venture representative at the

Career Center in Sage Hall. He believes

the program successfully offers stu dents practical learning away from the classroom and helps students find

careers. Another valuable service of

the program that is not always recog

nized is its capacity as a counseling

device. "Many students come in

ready to take a leave of absence, and

in the process they get things sorted out," Cullings said. "Just sitting down

and discussing their likes and dislikes

or career interests points out many

new routes available to them right here

on campus and with their curriculum."

The Venture Program has 17 mem
ber schools in the northeast part of the country with Boston as the central

headquarters. The program is growing because the usefulness of off-campus

experiences is being increasingly

acknowledged. Findings show that the right experience can stimulate per sonal growth, help career objectives,

Venturing
On Your Own
by Catharine Rogers '77
M
f
and increase motivation to complete a degree. Cullings summed it up by saying, "It offers a new educational flexibility."
Reports from students are enthusi astic and positive. Their evaluations
indicate the program has led to more
confident career plans, increased selfreliance and social maturity, as well as independence. In addition the job bank for the Venture Program far exceeds the listings an individual could come up with on his own, giving him a chance at the best jobs available.
To be eligible, a student must be an undergrad or first semester senior. The placement process is really a team project involving the student and Ven ture representatives. The procedure for genuinely interested students works like this: they prepare a resume, look through job listings for first choices and priorities, and then interview with the Venture representative. How

ever Cullings points out that many students have the wrong impression
and think the program will auto
matically find a job for each applicant. The process is a joint effort, stressing a "with, rather than for" approach.
land'To a job after the program has
come up with some possible options, the student must really sell himself
to the prospective employer. There are few drop-outs in the pro
gram when students successfully follow through on all phases and are patient enough to wait for the right job to appear. The biggest problem accord ing to Cullings is that students set their expectations too high and think they will just be handed the job that
is ideal for them.
Most of the students receive a salary,
though some jobs provide only room and board or are voluntary positions.
Since the program started at Cornell, 20 students had been placed the first
year and as of February 1977, 19 more had obtained work experience.
Every career or interest is available from ecology to engineering and poli tics. Students work as medical research
assistants, interns for political leaders, archeological field assistants, and in agricultural operations and research. More professional and skilled positions are included, such as film directing,
welding, or industrial training. Many of the jobs offer exciting
challenges to broaden each student's knowledge and experiences. For
example, a senior biology major spent three months sampling experimental
solutions for enzyme content while
working in a research laboratory at
Harvard. Another student worked tak
ing bottom samples which are moni tored to determine the impact of the
human activity on the coastal zone. The possibilities range on and on from archeological digs to advertising
promotion work. Through the College Venture Pro
gram Cornellians are getting a chance to gain valuable first-hand experience about areas of interest so they can
plan their college years the best way possible and have some real experience behind them when they enter the job market. Showing that they have been able to put to use what they know
may be one of the most important
things a student can learn at Cornell.

14

Designs That Work
by Nancy Ryan 77

; Many students complain that the
cademic environment isolates them ;-om "the real world." However seven lornell students recently participated i a project that proves the two are ,ot mutually exclusive. The Student )esign Investigation Program, sponored by Armco Steel Corporation, lives students from four schools the
ipportunity to present their ideas on a
liven topic to professionals from lovernment and industry. The result ; a stimulating exchange of views
nd ideas between the two groups.
Students from the Department of )esign and Environmental Analysis in he College of Human Ecology were ivited to participate in the program or the second time. The subject of he 1977 investigation was "Concepts or Fighting Fire." Apparel design eniors Laurie Rosen and Mary Valla
lirected their attention to the fre
ighter's outer clothing while product lesign seniors Mary Elizabeth Bauer, loAnne Hutter, Juliette Mroz, Jill Valker, and graduate student Ira /elinsky worked on the equipment carried in the firefighting situation. Jnder the guidance of faculty mem>ers Joseph Carreiro and Susan Wat;ins and graduate assistant Joseph i/loro, the designers worked closely vith one another, employing a systems ipproach to insure total integration of Nothing and equipment. Such an
'his backpack has about one-third te weight of existing ones.

approach increases the firefighter's efficiency and gives him a greater degree of personal protection.
How do you begin to design a fire fighter's turnout coat or air support apparatus? "We read everything we could," recalled Mary Valla, "from professional magazines to novels to
the National Fire Prevention Associa
tion's voluntary standards for clothing and equipment." Then the designers
conducted numerous interviews with members of various fire companies
probing for problems with items that are currently in use.
The hazardous environment faced
by the firefighter led the apparel designers to focus on a fabric system
that would eliminate water and steam
penetration yet permit proper ventila tion. This was accomplished by bond ing a fire resistant outer fabric to a film that is waterproof but permeable to
air.
Since heat exhaustion is such a
great problem, the construction of the garments included a pleat in the back area, elbows, and armpits. These pleats have a bellows effect that per mits the firefighter's own movement to circulate air, thus facilitating the cooling process. As Laurie observed, "Every design feature had to have a
reason in order to establish our credi
bility."
In addition to a traditional turnout
coat and pants, a more modern gar
ment was proposed which the desig ners feel may be the ideal approach. It combines a short jacket and overalltype pants to eliminate bulk and weight
and increase freedom of movement.
The students feel the major problem in achieving user acceptance would
be its untraditional appearance.
The Cornell product designers pro posed a system consisting of the fire fighter's helmet, air support mechan ism, face mask, a portable light, and a
communication system. Their efforts
were directed at making all of these parts fit and work together in a safer,
more efficient fashion.
Another concern was the health of
the firefighter. According to JoAnne Hutter, "Many firemen die from heart attacks because of the weight of the equipment they must wear. A conven-

Students' concepts for improved fire fighter protection are presented by de signers Ira Velinsky and Laurie Rosen.
tional system can weigh as much as 50-60 pounds. With our approach we were able to keep total weight to between 17-20 pounds'."
The project required several weeks
of the students' time and energy. Room
mates were called to bring tooth brushes and a change of clothes after the "all-nighters." There were a few occasions when Safety Division found someone taking "short naps" in Martha Van Rensselaer Hall during the wee hours of the morning.
But the results were worth it. At
the critique session, which was held in Dallas, Texas at the end of March, the reaction by the panel to the Cor nell presentation was described as "phenomenal" by Laurie Rosen.
Armco's coordinator of the program,
Joseph B. Curry, reported in a letter to Dr. Jean Failing, Dean of Human Ecology, that "the response of these professionals to your students' work was so positive that I wanted you to be aware right away of it. The depth of research, the thoroughness of the students' analysis, and the validity of their presentations were highly praised.
This was one of the very best presenta tions we have seen in the twelve-
year history of the Student Design Program."
"I've learned an unbelievable amount
in the past semester," said Mary Valla. "The experience of working on a real problem is great. It makes you deal with all the factors involved - something can't just look good." Wisdom from one who has seen the real world,
right here on campus.

15

The Housing Scramble

by Steve Klein 77

This spring more than 2000 drew numbers for the 700 available dormitory spaces reserved for upperclassmen in the fall.

"Where are you going to live next
year?" While such a question may have
been easy to answer at Cornell years ago, it is one that arouses much anxiety
in students today. The increasing demand for housing and the prohibitive cost of building new dorms have forced many students to shop off-campus for
housing. A lot of the tension peaks during
the campus-wide dorm housing lottery. This spring, over 2000 students drew
numbers for some seven hundred
rooms. Although a number of students took the lottery lightly, the results
had serious consequences for many. Tom Tischhauser '80 had the mis
fortune of drawing number 2220. "I wanted to live in a dorm," he explained. "It's an important part of getting a well rounded education. Living offcampus, I'll just be getting the bene fits of college during the day." Other
students cited the convenience of
being near classes and other facilities as the main reason for desiring univer
sity housing. "It's enough of a problem getting
through all your courses without worry ing about cooking and running an apartment," said Karen Rednor '80,
whose number 791 earned her one of
the last twelve beds. "Besides," she
sighed, "I don't have time to start looking for off-campus housing right
now."
Cornellians who joined fraternities during the year were spared the task of worrying about finding a place to live. Still, a large number drew lottery numbers for curiosity, bets, or just to keep their options open.
George Tombropoulos '80 was set on living in a fraternity in the fall,
but drew one of the better numbers
and saw the process through to sign ing a room contract. George selected

a quad on North Campus and is allowed under the rules to pull in three room mates of his choice. "I did it to get
three friends in, who needed a place to live," he said. Within twelve hours George was able to break his contract, forfeiting his deposit. "They split the sixty bucks," George added.
Although such abuses do occur, it is anticipated that procedural changes
will cut down these occurences con
siderably.
Not all students are thrilled about
the idea of living on-campus. Many who participated in the lottery would
like to stay as far away from the dorms
as possible. "Cornell is a pretty tough landlord," said Joe Abraham '80,
who is living in an off-campus apart ment next year. "It's cheaper to live off, plus you have the option of being
there all year round." While many stu dents cite isolation as a drawback of
living off-campus, Abraham noted that he would probably be able to get more
work done.
Where is Dave Williams '80 living next year? "Who knows?" he replied.
"I have no idea." Dave drew number
439, good enough for a single, but claims, "It's a zoo on campus. I like a little peace once in a while. Besides,
the dorms are too expensive."
To those who want to live on-
campus, such factors don't matter
however. For others, it is the first time they must face the realization of searching for a roof to hang over
their heads. Time limitations and not
having a car often leave students with few options for desirable housing.
Robbie Chatman, Assistant Director for Off-Campus Housing and Small Living Units, agreed that students liv ing off-campus are missing something educationally, and felt that a substan tial number of students living off would prefer university housing.

"It seems ridiculous that you can't
get a room at a university this size, which has so much money," com
plained Terri Poirson '80. Terri was placed on the waiting list and is pre pared to "stick it out" until the fall.
"I don't feel you should have to come
to a school and worry about finding a
place to live," she said. "I'll pitch a
tent on the Arts Quad if I have to."
Although that alternative seems somewhat far fetched, the thought
has dawned on others over the years.
In 1965, a bumper crop of freshman
males produced a housing problem. Before hastily contrived temporary housing met the crisis, a group of articulate students captured the imagi
nation of the community by erecting
"Tent City" on the Arts Quad. "Many of the stories of homeless
students were exaggerated," said Ruth Darling, Associate Dean of Students.
"The entire affair, however, contri
buted to the authenticity of the long existing need for housing more under
graduate men." Traditionally, housing has not been
seen as a major part of the University.
Andrew Dickson White's philosophy of education had no place for dormi
tories. He felt men should be divided
and conquered, and looked to the fraternities as a place where they could learn the social graces. Although the thrust for university housing was started in 1913 under President Jacob Gould
Schurman, the influence of White's philosophy has had an impact through
the years.
Until recently, women never had to worry about housing, since they had a residency requirement for four years.
Men on the other hand, never expected
to live on campus past their freshman year. After the University Halls were constructed in the '50's, between one and two hundred rooms were left in

16

One student examines off
campus housing opportunities in
the different sections of town.
the Baker dorms for upperclassmen.
"The first one hundred or so who
applied at Day Hall got rooms," recalls Darling. "There wasn't much competi tion for them. The habit of moving off
was ingrained."
Just before the erection of "Tent
City," the trustees directed the Uni versity to formulate a plan for the con struction of 1500 beds north of Mary
Donlon Hall. As the new dorms were
being built, the University started to panic, fearing the dorms would never
attract a sufficient number of students
to fill the buildings to capacity. To make the dorms more attractive,
several major policy changes were enacted. In addition to co-ed living units, major revisions were made in room assignment policies. The latter change enabled groups of students to obtain rooms together, and allowed the students to keep their rooms from
one year to the next.
After these changes of the late '60's,
more students started to seek dorm
space as it now provided many of the benefits of independent living. By this time, the residency requirement had been eliminated, as were curfew and sign-out procedures. There was no major shortage of rooms, however, until 1973, when three hundred fresh men, originally without rooms, wound up in temporary housing. After this,
all freshmen were allotted rooms
while the remaining spaces were avail

able to upperclassmen through the lottery system.
"More people want to live on cam pus today than in the '60's," said Chatman. "In the 60's, students were rebelling against the establishment. They wanted to be out of the in loco parentis guidance and assert their independence."
The Off-Campus Housing Office at Day Hall provides information for stu
dents and acts as a liaison when
problems arise with landlords, although the office is not legally responsible. "Most people are brand new to this situation," explained Chatman. "The University has made a commitment to help these students. We don't want them to feel that they're out there
alone." She noted that one of the
major problems students experience is being intimidated by leases and land
lords. "We go over the lease with the
students and make sure what they want is in there," Chatman added.
Most students who are forced to
move off-campus accept their fate, and know if they are lucky, they can return to university housing the follow ing year. The reasons for the incon
veniences are still unclear to most of
them. "Money is not being put into the right place," Tischhauser com plained, citing the major renovations in dining halls and unions.
William MacKay, Resident Area

Coordinator of West Campus, noted that the different departments do not dip into the same pot. Just like the academic units, campus life divisions have separate budgets. Housing oper ates almost entirely on the rent collected. MacKay also pointed out
that while renovations may run to
thousands of dollars, it costs millions
to build new dorms.
"It's unfortunate we don't have
enough housing to meet the demand," said MacKay. "We could fill more
spaces than we have now, but how
many more? Vacancies eventually raise the rent, which is already very high."
In the past decade, plans to build more campus housing were shelved due to the great inflation of construc tion costs. Under these circumstances,
there was no way the dorms could
support themselves.
"If we stay under the market demand a little bit, the students will be
better off," said Darling. The Asso ciate Dean realized the drain placed
on some students forced to move off-
campus, but could not offer a better solution under the present economic conditions.
"Unless the University changes its priorities or alumni donate money for housing, things won't change," pre dicted MacKay. "We don't have the money to build. You can't give people something you don't have."

Students relax in temporary transient housing as they return in August to explore housing opportunities they couldn't find in the spring.

17

How do You Choose

by Marleen Bicknese 78
a Professor?

When the job hunt comes along,
most Cornellians search in the "outside
world" — the world beyond Cornell's borders— for their prize. But there are people in the outside world who look
within those same borders in order to
fulfill their career goals. Hundreds did
so in response to the news that Cornell
was looking for qualified individuals to fill two vacancies in the Biology Divi sion's staff. Hundreds applied, but
only two were successful, a story often heard in the job market. Yet the story is unique, both to the outside
and the inside worlds.
The vacancies in two introductory biology courses came a year ago. The one in the non-majors course, with 650 students, had long been expected, but
the one in the auto-tutorial course,
with 250 students, came as a surprise.
In response, the Biology Division
decided to establish one committee to
conduct two searches. The Search
Committee included a representative
from each of the five sections in the
Biology Division and Dr. R.D. O'Brien, Director of the Division, as chairman.
The Committee's goal was to find two qualified instructors to fill the positions for the 1976-77 academic
year. In order to determine who had
the teaching skills, they required all candidates to give a 50-minute lecture, as in a regular biology class. The idea was good, but the audience, which was basically the Search Committee, was too small to create the right atmos phere. Everyone involved knew that
lecturing to six people was not the same as lecturing to half a thousand
freshmen.
Nevertheless, two capable indivi duals were chosen and began teach ing in the fall. In the meantime, a new committee was formed to perform
the second search. This search was
more extensive, because to perman ently fill the positions the Biology Division was looking not only for excel lent lecturers, but for excellent researchers as well. To the surprise of many candidates, the committee placed an equal emphasis on both. They were
also concerned that there would be a
balance in a candidate's knowledge,

Students listen intently as they
evaluate a candidate's lecture and
performance.
that he or she should know plants as
well as animals and what occurs on the cellular level as well as on the
ecological level.
After these criteria were established
the country was notified of the vacan cies. Two simple recruitment devices
were employed: advertisements were placed in Science magazine, a widely read publication among scientists, for three consecutive weeks, and a flyer
was mailed to every educational insti
tute awarding Ph.D. degrees in biology. The response was overwhelming —
465 applications were sent in. Each one, including a resume' and three letters of recommendation, was read by two of the Committee members and given an initial rating. Every appli cation that scored a "one," meaning "Tops," was then read by all the Com mittee members and scored again to
determine which were to be scrutinized
even more carefully.
The Committee had to move fast
since other institutions were also hir
ing. On January 11 they asked eight people to come to Cornell. Later, so as to have more of a selection, four
more were asked. Two came per week
from the beginning of February to the
end of March. Each was asked to stay
for two days.
Next the Committee had to deter
mine how to evaluate the candidates on
their teaching and research. They liked the idea of the candidates giving a lecture, used in the first search, but
wanted the situation to be less arti
ficial. After some brainstorming, they decided upon a new idea in hiring staff: they solicited the help of students.
Eighty-six students from three intro ductory biology classes volunteered to come to the lectures, a commitment
for them of more than two hours a
week for six weeks. They filled out evaluation sheets for each candidate,

giving letter grades for organization,
content of lecture, delivery, and over
all performance. After the last lecture,
they were asked to meet with the
Search Committee to assess each lec
turer's capabilities in comparison to
the others. These evaluations were
then compiled and studied by the Committee. "By and large, there was
very much of an agreement between students and faculty." observed Dr.
O'Brien.
The first day of the candidate's
stay at Cornell included an interview
with the Search Committee and delivery
of the lecture. The lecture had one
requirement: its topic could not be
the same as the candidate's Research
Seminar. Thus the topic choices, which ranged from evolution to mole cular biology, were important factors themselves, since they reflected
whether the candidate followed the
basic requirement and yet was ade quately knowledgeable about his choice. On the second day, the can didate presented a Research Seminar to the faculty and graduate students of the Section of his specialty.
"Ordinarily," commented Dr. O'Brien, "people just give Research Seminars.
A committee is then left to guess
about their teaching abilities in situa tions when they have to lecture on material they have had only three days to study up on. The candidates were surprised about our form of having students participate, but they
approved."
Students also approved. They were pleased to be involved, realizing that their opinion was valuable. They also acknowledged that it had sharpened their analysis of what good and bad teaching was about.
Within a week after the students'
last evaluation, the Search Committee
had made its final choices. It was not
so difficult after all their work-
surprisingly, only four out of the 465 applicants were thought to be thoroughly acceptable in both teach ing and research. Soon two of them will step inside the borders of Cornell, having survived a unique interviewing
process.

18

Carrots DONT Grow in the Market

by Bruce Carson 77

Makaza Kumanyika came to Cor
nell at the age of 40 "to study a little poultry and leave," but he ended up earning a degree and forming a unique organization, the Cornell Black Agri culturalists. In 1974 he discovered only 24 black Americans studying tradi tional agriculture at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and
most of them came from cities.
"I was shocked that black people just were not involved in one of the best ag schools in the world," he says.
"Black students do not see agriculture
as an option. They're not tuned in to
how important the soil is." Most stu
dents from urban areas think food
comes from the supermarket, he adds,
and he would like them to care and
understand how basic farming is to
survival.
Kumanyika, however, sees the
spread of modern agricultural skills and technology as an important and basic necessity for minorities to survive
worldwide. To further awareness of
the possibilities for black students in
agriculture, and to help those already interested gain "relevant experience,"
he and three other Cornellians started
the Black Agriculturalists in 1974. In the hope that the black com
munity at large would become involved, they opened membership to students in any major. It aroused interest: the first meeting drew over 40 people, and attendance presently fluctuates between five and 30 people. The problem now is capturing the imagi nation of freshmen, finding people to
instill with interest.
"Relevant experience" is more than a cliche in this case. In the summer of 1975, various students worked with the Federation of Southern Coopera tives in Epes, Alabama, the Universal
Negro Improvement Association of Raleigh, North Carolina, and the Ithaca Food Development Project.
Following training at Epes in the
problems and customs of the people they work with, participants traveled

to various communities. In Raleigh, the Black Agriculturalists helped local residents plow, plant, and cultivate land provided by Shaw University. They set up a poultry house "where
one animal science student super
vised the growing of some rather healthy chickens." Others worked on housing problems, and some pre-med
students established a sickle-cell test
ing program. In Ithaca, 12 students and two
graduate student coordinators received
on-the-job training producing vegetable
crops on donated land in Brookton-
dale. They tied the project in with community organizations, identifying poor and old people and encouraging those who were able to join in the harvest. Sick and shut-in people were brought fresh vegetables. Other people who had gardens they could not finish working received a helping hand.
The harvest consisted of more than
vegetables. "It was a healthy, problemridden summer," says Kumanyika. "It wasn't smooth, but everybody got there and back safely. The students learned an awful lot, especially that it's not all peaches and cream for people living in the country."
The students found that "the major ity of what's taught in school has no relation to poor people." You learn facts, but not their application. You
Black Agriculturalists helped grow over 16 varieties of vegetables during
the projects.

don't study the extent of poverty or
the effects of past racism which pro
gram a people to self-destruct.
"Summer 76" concentrated on
Ithaca. In a project mapped out by coordinator Derek Gourdine and Osbert Liburd, a Ph.D. candidate in plant pathology, the Agriculturalists
farmed two and one-half acres. The
group's advisor, Dr. Donald Graham, directed the project, which again stressed community involvement. Even after distributing food to over 80 families, enough vegetables were left for a community awards dinner.
Non-farm activities included library readings and instruction in cooking, sewing, and food preservation.
The projects do change lives. "The
summers gave students a new sense
of what they should be about," says Kumanyika. "They opened up people's eyes to what Cornell actually has to offer." One participant, Cecilia
McKetney '76, joined the Emergency Land Fund in Mississippi after gradua tion. Others have changed the direc
tion of their career aims.
Plans for "Summer 77" are well
underway. Dr. Graham says there will be two project sites: one in Ithaca
and the other with the Frank P.
Graham Training Center and Experi mental Farm in Wadesboro, North
Carolina.
Major problems, according to Kumanyika, are funding and adminis tration. Projects have received money from the Episcopal Church. The College also supplied some funds since
students, including Kumanyika, were working for credit: reading, keeping logs, and producing a documentary film after working the fields.
The Black Agriculturalists hope to
become more self-sufficient in the
future. At the same time, Kumanyika
would like the College to assume responsibility for the program, both for its educational potential and to take advantage of the school's admini
strative facilities.
At his graduation in 1976, Kumanyika stepped down as coordinator, devot ing his energies to directing Ag Teams
Inc., a resource agency for small farmers worldwide. He hopes Black
Agriculturalists will be stimulated to continue using skills learned here, possibly by joining Ag Teams after they leave school.

19

New Developments in Poultry Research
by Cathy Ferrand 78

"The poultry industry in New York State generates about $ 100 million in farm income every year and in doing so becomes an important segment of the State's $1.5 billion agriculture industry." Yong H. Kim; "The Chicken:
Man's Vital Food Source" New York's
Food and Life Sciences Quarterly
Volume 10, Number 1, 1977. The nation's first Department of
Poultry Science was established at Cornell University in 1907. Over its 70-year history it has been a leader in developing research to aid the growth of the poultry industry in New York State. The research and teaching components of the department consist of four divisions: nutrition, food
science, physiology, and genetics.
Information is disseminated to indus
try and agriculturists by an extension
section.
Dr. Richard Austic of the nutrition
division, an alumnus of Cornell and a
staff member since 1970, has been
working on the nutritional and meta bolic interrelationships of amino acids.
Austic studies how various enzymes
affect the efficiency of amino acid utilization and how different dietary elements affect enzyme activity. This work is aimed at finding ways to improve the conversion of dietary protein to meat and eggs, thereby lowering the cost of production.
Since 1968 Austic, in cooperation with Dr. R. K. Cole, Professor Emeritus in the poultry department, has been researching hyperuricemia (the condi tion of a high level of uric acid in the blood) and gout. Austic has deter mined that hyperuricemia is caused by
defective renal secretion of uric acid.
He has found relationships between hyperuricemia, potassium requirements, and gout. According to Austic, this is

the only model for spontaneously occuring gout, and there is a possibility that it can be applied to man.
Austic and a graduate student have found that feeding hens a low-calorie diet until they reach laying age will result in increased egg production. This promises to have a direct applica tion within the poultry industry.
The conversion of poultry waste to feed is being researched. By using a
two-step fermentation process manure
is made into a source of high quality protein which can be fed back to chickens. According to Austic, prelim inary estimates indicate that the material can be produced for less than its actual cost. This is a cooperative project involving Dr. M. L. Shuler and H. W. Seeley Jr. of the Departments of Chemical Engineering and Food
Science respectively. Dr. G. F. Combs Jr., a Cornell
alumnus and nutrition division staff
member since 1975, has been work ing in three main areas of research. The first is the metabolic basis of the
nutritional interrelationship between
selenium and vitamin E. These two
substances play roles in protecting the
chicken from uncontrolled oxidation
of cellular components. Combs has
found that chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides appear to interfere with
selenium metabolism. He is interested
in determining how other chemicals and drugs affect selenium metabolism and, thus, the selenium-vitamin E
nutrition of the chicken.
He is also working on other vitaminmineral relationships; more specifically, he and a graduate sutdent are dealing with vitamin D, calcium, and phos phorus in a study of how pesticides
may affect the function of the avian
parathyroid gland. Another area of research involving
the chicken and foreign compounds
is the influence of non-nutrients on
nutrient function. Combs and several
graduate assistants have been study ing the biochemical mechanism by
which toxins of feed molds affect
digestion and metabolism. Combs has also done breeding

for increased eggshell strength, an area
which could save the egg industry money usually lost from egg breakage.
Combs and Professor Emeritus Cole have found that hens from a line which has been selected for resistance to
Marek's Disease, a "virus-induced cancer in chickens," exhibited con
siderable variability in eggshell quality. They have begun a breeding program to select strains with high or low egg shell strength from that line. These will be used in nutritional and biochemical
studies of eggshell formation. Dr. M. L. Scott, who is head of the
department and a member of the nutrition division, is also working to improve eggshell strength. As hens age, eggshell quality declines and egg breakage during processing increases. Scott found that by reducing the amount of phosphorus fed to hens
stronger eggshells are produced. Excess phosphorus may draw calcium
from the blood stream and conse
quently from the bones. As the bird
ages this causes a decrease in bone calcification. It remains to be deter
mined whether this also occurs in
humans.
Scott has done research relating to
vitamin E and selenium in nutrition.
His work has been aimed at the study of three diseases caused by vitamin E deficiency and the interaction between
vitamin E and selenium.
The food science division of the
poultry science department has two members. Dr. Robert Baker, an alum
nus of Cornell who has been on the
staff for 28 years, said, "I work on problems connected with eggs in any way." Baker has worked on problems dealing with egg quality, such as lower ing the cholesterol in eggs by using different blends of yolk and white. A
project on the binding properties of eggs in other foods is being started.
Baker has done much work in the
area of new uses for poultry meat and eggs. Consumers have the Food
Science division to thank for 38 new items made from chicken meat and
products. They include chicken bologna, chicken sausage, and chicken

20

hot dogo. Baker is very interested in food
safety, an area in which he has done some work with keeping the number of disease-producing organisms in food down. Much work has yet to be done in this area.
Another area of relevance to the con sumer is Baker's concern with improv ing the pipeline from the producer to the consumer. As much as 30 percent of the food produced is wasted between the producer and consumer. Baker points out that people can't continue to depend on an increased
yield per acre; food problems must be solved by making the pipeline more efficient. He suggests putting under
utilized foods, such as chicken necks, to more efficient use. Both Baker and
Dr. Joe Regenstein, also from the food science division, are working to make better use of underutilized fish species. The Sea Grant project has resulted in 15 new products made from previously
unused fish. New innovations include
fish pizza, and lasagna oceana. Although Baker and Regenstein
work together on several projects each has his own special interests. Regenstein, a Cornell graduate who has been with the poultry science department for almost three years, is currently doing a comparative study
of lobster and chicken muscle. The
muscles are being studied as models of contractility, including possible use
as a model of human heart muscle.
He is also doing a chemical investi gation of the functional properties of poultry meat. In particular, indivi dual proteins are being studied. The important question is "What does poultry meat do in food?" According to Regenstein, this will also aid in the development of meat substitutes. He
i has also conducted biochemical
i research and work with cholesterol
i control.
The physiology division has two staff
members: Dr. A. vanTienhoven and
Dr. A. Bensadoun. However, while vanTienhoven is on sabbatical, gradu ate student Alan Johnson is helping with his research as well as conduct
ing research of his own. He is working
toward a Ph.D.
Johnson's research deals with estro
gen metabolism in laying hens. Hens generally lay in clutches of three to eight eggs. They ovulate the first egg of the clutch around 6:00 A.M., lay

me egg 24 to 26 hours later, and
ovulate the second egg of the clutch half an hour later. A hen will continue
to lay later and later each day. When she has to lay at approximately 3:00 P.M. she will not ovulate that day, but will begin another clutch the follow ing day. Johnson observes the effects of estrogen on this cycle. In his work
with ovulation he studies mechanisms
responsible for triggering and terminat ing clutches and factors which interfere with laying. Among other things, he is looking for ways to prolong a clutch and thereby increase egg production.
Johnson is working on vanTienhoven's research on steriods, com pounds with a special ring structure
derived from cholesterol. It involves
developing techniques, called radioimmuno assays, for measuring steroids in plasma. VanTienhoven, in conjunc
tion with Professor C. Ostrander
(Poultry Extension), has also done work on the amount of light chickens need for maximum egg production. He found that if the birds are exposed to intermittent light at specified inter vals they will lay without decreased production. This research may save producers money by cutting down on lighting costs.
Dr. S. E. Bloom has been at Cornell
since 1968 in the genetics division of the department. His research is in the area of cytogenetics, the study of chromosomes. He emphasizes chic kens, but also does some work with fish, turkeys, and wild species such as hawks and herring gulls.
Much of his work deals with the
detection of genetic defects in chick embryos. Research shows that chromo-
Trays of eggs in an incubator.

somal abnormalities are common in
poultry flocks, but varied in frequency and type. Many of the defects are lethal in embryonic stages. Normally,
chickens have 78 chromosomes. Devia tions from the normal include altera tions in chromosome number and
structure. Bloom is trying to develop new techniques to isolate and stain
the chromosomes so that defects can
be studied more effectively, with the goal of eliminating these from future generations.
He is also studying environmental factors which cause genetic defects,
such as x-rays and chemical agents. He has determined that some chemical
agents do cause breakage and rearrangement of the chromosomes, which can result in abnormal growth
or death of cells. The chick system may someday be used to screen for
potential mutagenic agents, thus aiding government and industry in the task of determining the safety of thousands of chemical compounds.
Bloom and a graduate student are studying the effects of environmental pollution on fish, by observing damage
to chromosomes. This work may even
tually allow for prediction of mutagenic ity in other animals, and possibly man. "I'd be reluctant to drink a sample of water that damaged the mudminnow's chromosomes," said Bloom.
The department also includes exten sive teaching and Poultry Extension programs. Work within the poultry science department deals with prob lems affecting producers and con
sumers and contributes to the success
of the poultry industry.
Leghorn laying hen.

21

Cornell's first president, Andrew
Dickson White, wrote of "Sports for the many, not for the few." White's maxim is carried out more faithfully each year by Cornell's huge, expand ing program of intramural sports.
This year 23 different sports will attract about 20,000 competitors (count
ing all contestants in all sports) to
intramurals. About six to seven thou
sand individuals competed in at least
one intramural sport last year.
"Our aim is to give everyone an
opportunity to participate in some

fraternity, independent, graduate stu dents, and women. Women make up only about one-tenth of the partici pants, but Gantert says this is not due to any problem in the program. "First of all, it's subject to population, and
there are fewer women than men at
Cornell. Also, women haven't shown the kind of interest men have. We're
open for anything. If two teams come
to the office and want to start a new
league, we'll do it." Gantert noted, however, that over the past year there has been a 50 percent increase in the

number of teams registered for
women's leagues. The program of "sports for the
many" creates a hectic schedule. On a typical spring day the roster may
include 20 to 30 softball games at
Alumni Fields, as many volleyball games in Barton Hall, and a newer sport, box lacrosse, being played until one in the morning on the con
crete floor of Lynah Rink. "It gets pretty busy sometimes," says Gantert. Seven thousand Cornell students
wouldn't have it any other way.

INTRAMURALS, Something For Everyone

by Mark Monroe 77
sport," says Al Gantert, director of intramurals. "Besides giving the stu
dent a release from pressure— and
there are quite a few pressures on a student here— intramurals help kids
form associations. A freshman comes in here. . .he knows his roommate, a
couple of kids on his hall, and maybe a couple of kids he has a class with. If he can get out and play on a team, in intramurals, he gets to meet a lot of people. And the good thing about intramural games is that they're all set up, all organized beforehand. The kids just have to show up and play."
Last year about 3,500 Cornellians on 215 teams showed up for softball, the most popular intramural sport. "It was a riot," says Bob Bowers '77, who played for Phi Sigma Epsilon. "We won a three-way playoff for our division championship, and got as far as the semi-finals in the fraternity league, but then our hitting failed us."
"There was some bad weather, so we ended up playing three playoff games in one afternoon, right in the middle of study week, before finals. I figured I'd studied when it was raining, so I could go out and play the one day when it was nice. This year we'll get that championship."
Most intramural sports are split into four or five divisions: dormitory,
One of 3500 competitors is shown here trying to lead his team to a championship game in Cornell's most popular intramural sport.
22

COUNTRYMAN CAPSULES

Vail Named Director
of NYC Office
Richard T. Vail has been named
director of Cornell's New York Metro
politan Office effective March 1 . He
succeeds Arthur H. Peterson who had been regional director since 1972. Vail will direct Cornell's public affairs programs in the metropolitan area where more than 30,000 of Cornell's 140,000 alumni live. Vail has been with Cornell since 1968, also serving as assistant director of admissions and
director of admission records. His
office is at 825 Third Avenue, New York City.
Professors Named
Royal D. Colle has been promoted to
Professor of Communication Arts in
the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Dr. Colle joined the depart ment in 1966, teaching radio and tele
vision courses and an advanced course
concerning recent developments in
communication. He has conducted
studies in Guatemala, Singapore, and Malaysia, assisted in founding a com munications center in India, and is currently developing a communica
tions program related to maternal and
child health to be used by the govern
ment of Mexico. Colle received a cita tion of honor from the International
Broadcasting Society in Holland in
1967.
Sedgwick E. Smith, Ph.D. '39, has
been named Professor of Animal Science Emeritus. He has been with
the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences faculty for 37 years. Dr. Smith joined the Department of Animal Science faculty after working here
with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for three years. He has written more than 100 research articles for scientific
journals and special interest magazines. He co-authored a book entitled, Food
For Life and has conducted extensive research on mineral nutrition in live
stock and on fur-bearing animals. Smith has been active in the departnient, serving as chairman several times and teaching at both the gradu

ate and undergraduate levels. He has been a yearly participant in the Cornell
Nutrition Conference. Smith is a
native of Elkins, West Virginia.
Habicht Fills Jamison Chair
Jean-Pierre Habicht has been named James Jamison Professor of Nutrition in the Division of Nutritional Sciences
and will join the Cornell faculty in August in the Colleges of Human Ecology and Agriculture and Life
Sciences. Dr. Habicht served as medi cal officer of the World Health
Organization and head of the Bio medical and Epidemiological Section
at a Guatemalan institute. He was professor of maternal and child health
at San Carlos University there. Dr. Habicht is currently special assistant
to the director of the Division of Health
Examination Statistics, a unit of the U.S. Department of Health, Education
and Welfare. Habicht received a Ph.D.
degree in nutritional biochemistry
from M.I.T. and the Master of Public
Health degree from Harvard. He is
also certified in clinical nutrition from
the American Board of Nutrition.
New Resident Instruction
Director Appointed
J. Robert Cooke has been appointed
Director of Resident Instruction for a
five year term in the College of Agri
culture and Life Sciences. Cooke has
served as acting director the past two months. He will be responsible for the development and administration of the overall teaching program of the College. The number of courses offered by the College has expanded
from 25 in 1903 to more than 780
today. Cooke joined the Cornell faculty
in 1966 as Assistant Professor of
Agricultural Engineering. In 1971 he was promoted to associate professor.
For the past four years he has been the Coordinator of Graduate Studies
in agricultural engineering, is now completing a two-year term as speaker of the University Faculty and of the Faculty Council of Representatives, and served as speaker for the Univer sity Senate in 1971-72.

Peter J. Ingraham, D.V.M. '76, is currently practicing veterinary medicine in Delhi, New York. His address is Elk Creek Road, Delhi, New York.
Prof. William E. Drake, coordinator of agricultural and occupational educa tion in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, was voted president elect of the American Association of Teacher Educators in Agriculture. Drake has served as a consultant for
several universities, including the University of Sierra Leone in West Africa, and for the U.S. Office of
Education.
The Shoals Marine Laboratory will once again offer summer courses on the laboratory island. Individualized research in marine biology will be avail able throughout the summer. A broad, four-week undergraduate course, Introduction to Marine Science, will be held at the beginning and end of the summer, while two more special
ized courses, Underwater Research and Introduction to Marine Science
for Teachers, will be presented in mid
summer. For further information and
application forms, write: Shoals Marine Laboratory, 202 Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
Dr. Alvin J. Braun, who joined the New York Agricultural Experiment Station's Department of Plant Path ology at Geneva in 1945 and received his full professorship in 1957, retired in January this year. Dr. Braun is probably best known for his work on the development of fungicide con trol programs for grapes, although
he has also contributed much to the
study and control of diseases affecting strawberries and raspberries.
The Cornell Ambassadors have
announced implementation of the Cornell Ambassador Host Program. Through this program, personal tours of Cornell, including a walk through
campus and a first-hand view of
classes, will be offered to visiting alumni and their children. The only requirement for the tour is three days
advance notice to the Ambassador Host Program, Alumni House, Cornell
University, Ithaca, New York, 14853.

23

■i
Cornell's Earthy Past

In 1865 a man with a dream and a
farm founded an educational institution.
Today, that farm is Cornell University
and Ezra Cornell's dream of an institu
tion where individuals could study agri culture and other subjects has become reality. Because Ezra Cornell was so deeply committed to the theory and practice of farming, agriculture became the very foundation of this University.
Farming underlies the economic
structure of the United States. And
Cornell's College of Agriculture and
Life Sciences has contributed exten
sively to the education of students
and farmers and to research and
development in all areas of agriculture.
In October of 1976 a historical exhi
bition about farming in Tompkins County was displayed by Connie
Saltonstall and Victoria Romanoff in
their 1883 barn. With help of area
historical societies and the Cornell
University Archives, farm machinery and implements, photographs, a model of a farm kitchen, and even a life size figure of Martha Van Rens selaer were shown to the public.
There are few visible reminders at
Cornell that tie the University to its farming roots. Only the Big Red Barn
is left on campus as a link to the
beginnings of Cornell. The exhibition by Saltonstall and Romanoff and the Big Red Barn are both bonds to a past age of agriculture. To bring these two historic remnants together might help Ezra's University better under
stand its base.

An unknown artist's sketch of
Ezra Cornell's homestead, "The
"
Nook. In the left hand corner a
photo of the house.

One of the last reminders of
Cornell's beginnings, the Big
Red Barn.

A history of farming! The poster proclaiming Saltonstall and
Romanoff's exhibit.

MEET SIR CHMUES.
rATIltR OF IO.iTN CHICKS ANDSTIUCRUWIM;. '

GIDDY UP NAPOLEON

»tXXlN'OM!C\W LitrLM>iaiJ". ■"UMlYIWtR :

IT LDDKS LIKE RAINi if MVSTI 111

^"&J
\

-3!e A LOOK AT lv\RMINi; IN TOMPKINS COUNTY

«tfr&tiV2 mJSUS

New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of the State University, at Cornell University

75th ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN OCTOBER 1977 VOLUME LXXV-Number 1

EDITORS:
Keith Kushner Richard Pawlak
Kathleen Riley ASSISTANT EDITORS:
David Bilmes
Cathy Ferrand Catharine Rogers
Susan Ziff
ART EDITORS:
Marleen Bicknese
Peter Schoenberger Nancy Tomkins

EDITORIAL STAFF:
Gary Barnes, Lucy L. Bodanza, Barbara Buoymaster, Bruce Carson, Karen Esposito, William Gray, David M. Joseph, Jill Kirschman, Steve Klein, Carl Laron, Katherine Layer, Mark Monroe, Nancy Ryan, Paula Cimini Shuster, Ralph Spence.
ABOUT THE ISSUE:
In our 75th anniversary issue, we try to bridge the gap between then and now by recalling the past and looking
at the present and the future.

PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR:
Gary Roberts
Picture Credits: Cover - Department of Manuscripts and University Archives and Joseph Lubeck; page 3 - Eve Jaworowski; page 4, 5, 6, 19 - Gary Roberts; page 5 - Marleen Bicknese; page 7 - Susan Ziff; page 9 - Connie Saltonstall; page 8, 9, 16, 17, 20, 21 Cornell Archives; page 10 - Angelus Pacific Company; page 12, 13 - Media Services; page 14 - Bruce Carson; page 15, 18 - Russ Hamilton; page 22 - Richard Pawlak; Back Cover Ralph Spence.

CONTENTS

3. 4. 6.
7. 8.
10. 11. 12. 14. 15. 16. 18. 19. 20. 22.

A Fall Back in Time by Gary Roberts 77
Every Aggie's Advisor by Paula Cimini Shuster 77
More Service than Social: The Alumni Association by Keith Kushner 77
The Good Farrier of Cornell by Susan Ziff 78
The Big Red Barn... Past, Present, and Future
by Katherine Layer 78
It's an Ag, Ag, Ag, Ag, World by Steve Klein 77
Our 75 Years by Karen Esposito 77
Pages from the Past by Karen Esposito 77 Compiling Today's Countryman by Jill Kirschman 77 Ag-PAC: The Student Connection by Kathleen Riley 78 Liberty Hyde Bailey: A Man of Action by Marleen Bicknese 78
A Summer at Shoals by Lucy L. Bodanza 78 Tune In to Consumer News by Carl Laron 77 Who Pulls the Plow? by Gary Barnes 77
"I Don't Want My Name in Lights" by Richard Pawlak 78

The Cornell Countryman is published seven times a year from October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription Rates: $2.50 a year; $4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content gathered and written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors: Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

Did you ever wonder what Joe Campus '02 was up to 75 years ago? Let's take a gander at that golden age
when Cornell was 3,000 students
young-October, 1902.
Seventy-five years ago as you stroll ed through the Ag quad, you noticed that most students were wearing hats, but there were only four different kinds. You see, "'Tis the opinion of the undergrads that each of the four classes should have some distinctive manner of dress. One of the disadvantages of
a university in which the classes are as large as ours is that one's circle of acquaintances is comparatively small and that little opportunity is given for
classmates to meet each other." (Oct.
2, 1902 Sun). Well, how do you like that? Students didn't know how to
say "Hi" back then either. The freshmen were a little more spe
cial since they had the privilege of wearing a "fob" with their hats. A fob
is an ID type watch band. If you found
a lost freshman, you were to return him
promptly to the address on the label. Perhaps there would be a reward wait ing for you. Have you ever heard of "Blow it off"? Sure you have, but our
meaning doesn't parallel 1902's "Can't
Blow It Off" hat specials at Bernstein's
in yesteryear Collegetown.
A big disappointment in 1902 oc curred when famed Arctic explorer,
Admiral George W. Melville and inven tor, Alexander Graham Bell, phoned in to inform administrators that they
wouldn't be able to fulfill their Cornell
engagements.
Picture this, a Hall of Physics in the middle of the Arts quad. If it hadn't been for our early century protestors,
the center of attraction in the Arts
quad would have been a building swarming with F=MA majors. Thank goodness common sense prevailed.
Back in youthful Cornell, class rivalry was strongly promoted through interclass athletic contests. During the month of October, the underclass teams of sophomores and freshmen would play each other and later, in
November, the victor would compete
against the upperclass champion. It's
interesting to note that for the first
time since 1898 (whew!), the sopho
mores lost a three game baseball series
to the frosh, 2-1. That's not all; the freshman football team handed the
sophomores another defeat in a 10-5
contest. I'm not supposed to tell you

A
Fall Back
in
Time
by Gary Roberts 77
what occurred in November, but it's only fair to mention that the sopho mores whipped the freshmen in track,
65-51.
Speaking of sports, if you were starting on the varsity football team in 1902, you were the "cat's meow", admired by all. The very first item a student read in the Cornell Daily Sun was a front page report on Saturday's game or even yesterday's football practice. Yes, there was a daily report on every football practice, and many times, other athletic practices as well. In fact, at one football practice, there were a reported 1000 students looking
on-that's one third of the student
body. As I said before, you were something
if you occupied one of the eleven start ing positions. How about if you didn't?
Here is an indication of where you
stood in the students' eyes: "Today is one of the few opportunities that the great mass of students will have to show their appreciation of the men who represent Cornell and those who act as scrubs." (Oct. 22nd Sun). It's amazing that 89 persons put up with being known as "scrubs" on a daily
basis.
On Oct. 14, 1902, Henry Schoellkopf, '02, donor of Schoellkopf stadium, arrived in Ithaca to assist in coaching the varsity for one week. Frequently ex-athletes would roll into town to help coach the team for short periods.
Every era has its hero, and back in the early 1900's Lieutenant Henry
Beacham was considered to be the best athlete that Cornell had ever pro
duced, lettering in three sports. Since

Lt. Beacham's time, Cornell has pro
duce many athletes who deserve the
"golden jock" award. Seventy-five years ago, if you were
from Maryland you joined the Maryland Club, and if you were from Virginia you joined the Virginia Club ... I could go
on but it gets more difficult. These were mainly "all-men" organizations probably because the Women's Liber ation Movement hadn't been created
yet.
To occupy your time on a Saturday afternoon, there were Hare and Hound chases, debates, and serious cases of appendicitis and typhoid fever to con tend with. So there was something for everyone. At night, there were such musical comedies as "Foxy Grandpa" and "Kind Dodo", which were per formed with the original professional
casts.
If you were a beer drinker, there was always the most popular bar in town-
Zinck's--where you could let your fob
hang loose. The Cornell Countryman is now 75
years old, ladies and gents, and though times have changed since its birth,
there are still parts of Cornell that have remained the same.
I propose a toast-Here's to the first
75 years of the Countryman's exis tence. May no one decide seventy-five
years from now to write an article
playing with these times that we call fun right now.
'02 Skidoo...Hike!

EVERY

AGGIES

ADVISOR:
by Paula Cimini Shuster 77

Dr. Burgett, College Registrar and student counselor, signs a petition which may help a student applying for independent study.

A student enrolled in the College
of Agriculture and Life Sciences no tices a long white envelope in his mailbox. Hastily, he rips it open to
read the contents which inform him
that he may "continue at his own
risk" and try to improve academically or withdraw from the University. Grumbling under his breath, the unlucky student crumples the unwelcome no tice into the back pocket of his well-
faded jeans. He decides that the time has come when he can no longer ignore the situation, so he slowly
wends his way back to campus to
seek academic counseling.
The office number the unfortunate
student is seeking is 192 Roberts
Hall. The office of Dr. Donald C. Bur
gett, College Registrar and student counselor, is an institutional mecca
for students in the College of Agricul
ture and Life Sciences who need
expert counseling advice. In addition to advising and counseling those in academic difficulty or with personal problems, Dr. Burgett may arrange for leaves-of-absence, help students consider alternative areas of speciali zation, and make them aware of any special petitioning procedures. He helps them to discover their particular strengths and weaknesses in planning their college careers. One need not be in an academic bind to talk frankly with Dr. Burgett, although it is the most common reason why he gets frequent student visitors.
Dr. Burgett's office door has been
open to Cornell students and their pro-

blems since 1970. Earning all three of his degrees at Cornell (B.S., M.S. and
PhD.) he taught in high school for
four years and has been in contact with
young peoples' problems for the past
15 years. As a member of Phi Kappa Phi honor society and a Cornell grad uate with distinction, he has also been
active in the New York Association of
Teachers of Agriculture. As a holder
of a NYS Permanent Teachers Certi
ficate for Teaching Vocational Agri culture, he feels that his experience teaching Vo-ag in the high school has been an invaluable aid in preparation for his job as counselor at Cornell.
Although officially listed as the
College Registrar, his job goes far beyond that narrow definition. His
congenial personality, clean-cut appear ance, and pleasant handshake immedi
ately puts the troubled student at ease.
Dr. Burgett feels that his job title really
doesn't describe his full function in
the College. "The title 'Registrar' doesn't describe everything I do. A registrar is simply a keeper of records. My duties include not only keeping academic records, but also serving as an impartial guide to students when they need academic advising and personal counseling."
Dr. Burgett probably has more face-
to-face contact with students than
many professors. He makes a real effort to remember names and faces, so that the student is remembered on
any return visit. Dr. Burgett exhibits some concern that there isn't enough constructive, two-way student-profes-

sor feedback, but adds that it is the high degree of open communication
and mutual trust that he shares with
most students that makes his job an enjoyable one. "I do have a lot of
student contact-that's why I like the job. The novel thing about it is that
I never know what to expect from
day to day. I never know if I will leave this office elated at night, because a certain student has managed to over come his problems, or if I will leave here feeling depressed because I'm thinking about a student who might
succumb to his difficulties. Cornell
has all kinds of people with many different counseling problems-each one is unique."
But where does Dr. Burgett get his seemingly limitless ability to help stu dents find solutions to their problems? Hailing from a church-going family, and attending services every Sunday, Dr. Burgett knows that his personal relationship with God helps him to make advising decisions and helps him to view student problems with em pathy. He is convinced that "As a counselor for a variety of students, it helps to know that God has a unique
plan for each individual. Acceptance of the Lord's will for one's life gives the needed purpose, stability, and direction. Acceptance of God's plan
is an individual matter and because
this has made such a difference in my
life I share it with others."
Why is it that students seem to need academic and personal counsel ing more now than they have in the

A Profile of Dr. Donald C. Burgett

Student counseling is an important part of Dr. Burgett's work, even though his official title is College Registrar, or keeper of records.

Does Dr. Burgett have any plans for the future? He is happy with his work
at Cornell and is not the kind of person
who feels that he must keep moving on to another job to gain satisfaction. "My job here at Cornell is part of God's plan for my life. My door is
always open to students who need help in determining their own future plans."

past? Not only is it because the stu
dent population has grown radically in the past few years, thus increasing
the number of students that visit Dr.
Burgett daily, but a lot of it is related
to the breakup of the family. Dr. Bur
gett observes that "The students who
see me often feel out of touch with
their families or may be too embroiled
in family problems to concentrate on their studies properly. Generally, though, there seems to be more
academic pressure than there used to
be, a greater breakdown in family cohesiveness, and less strong family
ties to fall back on in times of stress."
As a person with flying experience, Dr. Burgett knows how important it is in one's life to keep a clear field of vision. He helps to instill a sense of direction in his own family (his wife Joan, his son Russell, aged 13, and his daughter, Katherine, aged 15) by always paying attention to their inter ests. A dedicated organist, Dr. Bur gett has provided musical leadership
for the past nine years at the Bethel Grove Bible Church, located just out side of Ithaca.

A dedicated organist, Dr. Burgett can be seen at the keyboard at the Bethel Grove Church every Sunday.

5

The Alumni Association
More Service Than Social

has chosen, and decide to continue in the program with another alumnus in
a different field. Any alumnus, no matter what field he is in, can partici

by Keith Kushner 77
Hello old friends. Sure is nice to be with you once again. If you have not
seen us, the Cornell Countryman, for
awhile you probably do not belong to the Alumni Association of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Every
member of the Association receives a
subscription to the magazine, and in this, our 75th year of continuous pub lication, we are celebrating by going out to more than 15,000 alumni of
the College. "The primary reason," according to
Bradford Carruth, Assistant to the Dean for Development and Alumni Affairs, "is to tell alumni, the vast majority of whom are not members of the Alumni Association, that when they left on commencement day, that was not the end of their connection
with Cornell and the College. They still have a role they can play, which is important and viable."
Founded on February 9, 1910 under the name, Student Association of the New York State College of Agricul ture, the Alumni Association was dedicated to recruiting new students for the College, and raising funds. The organization was not to be known under its present name until February,
1917.
Today, the Alumni Association's role has not changed much, but it has expanded the services it does perform. "First of all," said Carruth, "the Association wants to support the College of Agriculture in any fashion. The support need not be in the form of contributions, and many alumni
choose to do volunteer work instead.
Our second concern is to make a
special effort to recognize all retiring faculty members at the alumni reunion
breakfast." Students who have achieved
outstanding proficiency in the class room are also recognized, and receive
honors.
Though volunteer work and recogni tion of faculty and students are impor
tant aspects of the Alumni Associa
tion, its main goal is directly related to a problem that every agricultural school

across the country has had to face.
The problem is one of recruitment. During the 1940's and 1950's the stu dent population of the agricultural schools fell off drastically. After World War II, the country was shifting from an agricultural base to a technological one. To change this trend of declining student population, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences had to show how versatile it was in utilizing technology, and the Alumni Associa
tion increased its efforts to recruit
new students for the College. The recruitment project has branched
into two forms. This year the Associa
tion has formed a Special Committee
on Recruitment because in the 1980's
the high school graduating classes will be smaller due to a declining birth
rate in the 1960's and 1970's. Its
purpose is to make parents and stu dents aware of the programs that are
available in the College. Its second service is closely related
to one run by the Career Planning
and Placement Office in 16 Roberts
Hall. It is known as "career explora tion," or the student-alumni Contact
Program. Students involved in the program spend one week with alumni in the field they are thinking of enter ing. The purpose is to expose the stu
dent to the type of work he may be
doing after graduation. He may find
out he is not suited to the career he

pate. In addition to recruitment, the Alumni
Associations of the College of Agri
culture and Life Sciences and the
College of Human Ecology, have an "Open House" in the fall for high school students. Guidance counselors
in the high schools throughout New York State are contacted by alumni
volunteers, so students can sign up.
When students arrive on campus,
they visit areas of interest to them. The Cornell faculty and students give
information and answer questions. It
is possible in the future that an open house will be held in the spring for
transfer students.
These programs make up much of
the Alumni Association activities.
According to Brad Carruth, "The Asso ciation has taken on additional responsi
bilities. It has become a service organi
zation to help the college and anyone
associated with it."
Although not an additional respon sibility, the Alumni Association con tinues to support the Cornell Country man as does the College of Agricul ture and Life Sciences. Its history of
cooperation began in 1910, when Director Bailey innovated the policy of
sending the magazine to every mem ber of the Alumni Association, a policy
that still exists today. "I'm glad the Alumni Association
recognizes the Countryman for what it is, a learning device," commented Brad Carruth. "It's a very valuable
tool to the students preparing it. If you look back through past issues of the magazine, you can see the history
of Cornell contained within its pages. Students don't have as broad a his
torical perspective, so anything they write reflects what is going on at Cor
nell at the time it was written." The Countryman's value as a tool
and its ability to record history are two reasons the Alumni Association supports its continuance and still offers
it to members. If you wish to partici pate in the continued improvement of
the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, or if you would just like to continue receiving the Countryman, join the Alumni Association and keep in touch and involved with Cornell.

6

THE GOOD FARRIER OF CORNELL
ffftftf .

Because horseback riding is in creasing in popularity, the demand for qualified blacksmiths is also increas ing. Realizing the necessity for black
smiths, Cornell University set up a course in farriery in 1953 which was separate from the curriculum of the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine.
The history of the blacksmith school dates back to 1913 when Henry
Asmus served as the vet school's first
instructor of farriery. He taught the
vet students the basics of blacksmith-
ing because it was often necessary for vets to shoe a horse. But, Cornell
still did not offer any course for per
sons wanting to specialize in blacksmithing.
In the 1950's Cornell had several
work horses which were used for
showing and general farm purposes. Because these large horses required
constant hoof care, the need for train ed blacksmiths at Cornell was becom
ing more and more apparent. A course in farriery was organized to accommo
date this need.
Gene Layton was the first instruc
tor of the course. The sessions were
held three times a year with one stu dent enrolled in each session. In 1971, enrollment was doubled to accommo-
Harold Mowers carefully fits a shoe
to a horse's hoof.

date the increase in horses that needed
treatment.
Layton retired in 1965 and was
succeeded by Harold Mowers. Mowers explained that he was trained by his uncle, John Hinds, in 1932. He speaks very highly of both his uncle and Layton. "The two of them know more about horse shoeing than almost any
one."
Mowers explained that the course lasts for sixteen weeks and begins in September, January, and April. The two students who work as apprentices to the instructor for forty hours a week are selected from twelve to sixty applicants each session. Requirements are the following: two or more un related references and experience with horses. The students are chosen by a committee of vet college professors and the presiding blacksmith.
The course is unlike a usual college
course because there are no routine
assignments or exams. The students have the opportunity to work on all
types of horses-both Cornell-owned
and outpatient horses from the Large Animal Clinic. This provides the stu dents with a great variety of shoeing experience under the best Cornell instructors. During the sixteen week
course, the students learn to work at
the forge and anvil, trim hooves, and fit and nail shoes. They also learn the corrective shoeing theory and study
the anatomy of the hoof. "If the stu
dents remember and enjoy their train ing," Mowers explained, "then, they can become good blacksmiths."
In the past, the blacksmith school has accepted two women students.
Mowers particularly remembered Toni
Hanna. "She was five foot two, and
110 pounds.... The prettiest little thing
you ever saw!" Mowers felt that she
was totally capable of handling a black-

smith's duties. Today Toni is shoeing horses in Utica, New York.
When asked why Cornell did not expand its program to accept more students, Mowers explained that there are about 100 farriery schools in the United States. Because they usually accept more students, there is no need to enlarge Cornell's acceptance.
"Our blacksmith school is the best
because the instructor can spend
more time with fewer students. That
way, the students get their practical experience." Since the school is con nected with the vet school, the stu dents are subjected to all different types of horse lameness which they will undoubtedly have to deal with in
their future careers.
Harold Mowers retired from his
teaching position in the summer of 1976. He is now blacksmithing for Cornell's Equine Research Center. Marshall Conklin has recently taken Harold's place as Cornell's instructor of farriery.
It is interesting that our academically oriented university offers the voca tional course of farriery. Cornell has realized the growing demand for train ed blacksmiths and responded with a course suited to potential needs of students and the community.
Harold Mowers checks the wall of a
hoof for cracks.

7

There are few reminders of past eras and life styles on the Cornell campus. Some of the University's
first buildings, such as Morrill, McGraw, and White Halls still stand, but there is little else from which to retrace the
past. The newer buildings on campus incorporate modern architecture. One
has no windows and another's exterior is allowed to rust for the aesthetic
value. In the midst of the ultra new,
the not so new and the old, sits the
Andrew Dickson White house. Built
in 1874, the house offers a brief return to the past; the back yard has flower beds and a secluded garden
commonly visited by couples seeking solitude. Painted a deep red, the old carriage house stands in a corner of the lot as another quiet reminder of
the past.
The carriage house was built in
1874 for the express purpose of hous
ing horses, hay, and buggies. Eighty years later, in 1954, there was con
siderable pressure from various parts
of the Cornell community to destroy
the structure and replace it with a parking lot. But President Malott sug gested that it be renovated. In the fall of 1955, through the hard work of
Allan H. Treman '21 and the generosity
of alumni, enough funds were raised
to redo the barn. New floors, windows,
and roof were installed; the barn was
painted; and plumbing, heating, elec tricity, and a large fireplace and kitchen
were added.
Little did Andrew D. White realize, when he pointed out the need for a
place for returning alumni to visit, that his own carriage house would be the spot. Dubbed the "Big Red Barn," the carriage house is used by students and faculty as well as alumni. Meetings, receptions, parties, and other events are held in the barn. The activity scheduling falls under the domain of the University unions and the Director
of Alumni Affairs.
In the fall of 1976 another barn, located in Newfield, N.Y., housed a historical exhibition about farming in Tompkins County. The exhibit was put together by Connie Saltonstall and Vicki Romanoff with the help of

Formerly Andrew Dickson White's carriage house, the Big Red Barn is now used for a variety of activities.

THE BIG RED BARN...

Past, Present, and Future
by Katherine Layer 78

area historical societies. Farming tools, a multi-projector slide show, art work, a model of a farm kitchen, and a life size figure of Martha Van Rensselaer were displayed. Authenticity was care fully gauged even to placing high
heeled shoes on Martha Van when
they found they had made her too
short.
Many of the photographs in the
exhibit were taken between 1897 and
1940 by Verne Morton. Born in Groton, N.Y., Morton chose to capture rural life in the areas surrounding Ithaca.
Life in upstate New York, including various aspects of the development of Cornell University, as well as agricul
ture were dealt with in the exhibit.
Public attendance and reaction to this
historic exhibition were very good. In fact, several Cornell professors began thinking about a continued use for the display.

Dr. Gould Colman of the Cornell
University Archives and Dr. Barclay
Jones of the architecture college
thought it would be great to bring
the exhibit to Cornell. But before such
a task could be accomplished a place
to put the exhibit had to be found and
the Big Red Barn seemed to be the most logical and fitting place. Dr. Colman says the main objectives for trying to place the exhibit in the Red Barn are the preservation of both the exhibit and barn and their great educa tional value. "People just do not have a grasp of the importance of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to the University," said Dr. Colman. He added that a professor in rural sociology thought the exhibit was an excellent way to educate people about their own history of development, so they might better understand the develop
ment of other nations.

8

There is a ready made captive audience for the exhibit since the Big Red Barn is used by so many groups. Some major overhauling and repairs would be necessary before the
barn could accommodate the exhibit
and be structurally safe. No definite decisions have been made as to the possible renovation of the barn or about getting the exhibit. But Miriam Gusevich, a graduate student in Archi tecture at Cornell, has made some basic design sketches.
It is hoped that the major part of the exhibit will be placed upstairs in what was once the hay loft, with other smaller displays downstairs in
the entertainment-meeting area. Changes of course require money,
and if alterations for the barn are
given the go ahead, then money must
be raised.
Saltonstall and Romanoff have con
sented to have their exhibit placed at Cornell. The University would undoubt edly add a great deal of its own historic paraphernalia to it. Saltonstall said that she thought Cornell had enough
historic material of its own that the
displays could be easily changed, added to, and rotated for variety. She emphatically added that the exhibit would not be "stuffy or cobwebby, but lively."

At this time, the Big Red Barn is a
mixture of old and new. It is dark
inside; some of the wood is natural, some is painted gray. The loft area is virtually unused except for an old sleigh and several buggies stowed
away for the casual wanderer to find.
Downstairs, the entertainment area is large but rather gloomy and dis jointed by a long runway style annex. A carriage pulled by a life-size model
of a horse stands in one corner; old
harnesses, wagon wheels, butter

The unused loft area of the barn that could be
2 renovated to house the agri
cultural exhibit.
churns, and other historic equipment are hung on rafters and over the fire place. Much of this material is hard to see or just does not show off well.
Renovation of the interior of the barn
and establishment of an agricultural
exhibit could make the barn even
more charming and educational. The Big Red Barn and its exhibit
might serve as a symbol of Cornell's agricultural foundation and a symbol
of the old amid the new. Because of its central location on campus, the
barn might also serve as a link and symbol of unity between the various colleges of Cornell. The project could contribute considerably to greater public, student, faculty, and alumni involvement and understanding at
Cornell.

A view taken in 1900 of the Cornell
campus, looking west on Tower Road.

9

It's An
Ag Ag Ag Ag World

by Steve Klein 77

Contrary to what this decal implies, there is more to the Ag College than mi/king cows. Only a small percentage of the student population is farm
reared and even fewer return
to the farm.

While Aggie jokes still circulate on
the Cornell campus, the serious mis
sion of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is gaining recognition at an accelerating pace. Regarded in the past by many as a school for farmers, the image has changed considerably due to the increasing importance of agriculture and the broader education provided by a school.
Contrary to what many might think, the student body has not been pre dominantly composed of farmers in
the last few decades. Leonard Fed-
dema, Director of Admissions, esti
mated the percentage to be as high as
35-40 percent when the school had
a farm practice requirement. Today, only about seven percent of the stu dents are farm reared and even fewer
go back teethe farm.
"We're interested in the production of food and fiber," said Feddema, explaining the outlook of the College. "We're looking for people who are interested in biology and its application."
This central concept is filtered
through the many diverse depart ments of the College, some of which may not appear to be agriculturally
related. Students in such areas as
business management and communi cation arts often have no plans in
agriculture. Feddema noted though that many are surprised by what the future brings. "A business major may get a job with Allied Chemical or a journalist a job with Better Homes and Gardens. It all comes down to agricul
ture."
"The school gives people greater sensitivity when they hear the word agriculture," the director continued.
"They may be dealing with it on a secondary or tertiary level, but it's
there."

Recruiting for the ag school has
become an easier task over the years.
Whereas a decade ago many prospec tive students looked at an ag school
with apprehension, attitudes have changed considerably.
"One reason is that people have
realized that a farmer is not a hick
with baggy pants and hay coming out of his ears," offered Feddema. "They
have realized the worth of the farmer
to the community and the large capital
investment needed to run a farm."
Other reasons for attitude changes have been world-reaching accomplish ments by agriculturalists, subtle factors such as the growing appeal of the rural community, and contemporary
issues such as the cost of sugar and coffee.
About 85 percent of the students
in the College are from New York State/Although there is no quota, the state sets guidelines for the school to follow. Whereas the arts college com
petes for students with other liberal
arts institutions such as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, much of the competi
tion for the ag school lies in the State
University system. This factor also depends on the particular department. For example, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania is a chief competitor for business students,
while MIT attracts a lot of food science
majors.
Four of every ten ag students are transfers from outside institutions or other divisions at Cornell. Most of the transfers from outside Cornell are
from junior colleges. The College pre sently gains four Cornellians for each
one that chooses to leave the institu
tion. A high proportion of the new "aggies" are from the arts and engin eering colleges.

Although the term "aggie" is basic ally used as a form of identification, it may still be used in a chauvinistic
manner by elitist art students. Much of the elitism has disappeared as agri culture has become better understood.
Today the ag school provides a broad background in addition to teaching employable skills. At one time, the lib eral arts school had a monopoly on training people to enter the power structure of medicine, law and theolo
gy. In recent years, however, a large
number of medical and law students
have come out of the ag school.
There are still some elitists who feel
the ag college is too conservative in
the classroom. As one student ex
pressed, "They can't see past Ag Ec
or pre-vet." "When they say the ag college is
conservative," answered Feddema, "I smile." The arts college requires its students to take 100 of the 120 credits
within the division. The ag college re quires its students to take slightly
less than half of the credits in the
statutory colleges. "You tell me who's conservative," he added.
Cornell University may mean the arts college to many Americans, but
to the world, Cornell is an agricul
tural college. The College has trained numerous agriculturalists who have had a great impact in many corners of
the world. "This is the Mecca of the
ag world," boasted Feddema. Many students at Cornell do not
realize the many diverse and vital functions of the ag college. Aggie jokes can still be heard and stereotypes persist. But in a world that is becoming more agriculturally oriented every day,
the students from the College of Agri
culture and Life Sciences may have
the last laugh.

10

Out of a "growing desire to estab lish an agricultural periodical at Cornell University" and with the intent to
"deal with the larger problems of country life, the economic and social conditions, the rural school and the farm home," came the first issue of
the Cornell Countryman. Complete
with ten pages of advertising and arti cles such as "Training for the Young
Farmer" and Martha Van Rensselaer's "A Reading Course for Housewives," the Countryman hit the Cornell cam

ates in the College of Agriculture had grown enough that it was impossible to include their individual photos and a write-up of each one as had been routinely done in previous years.
With Julie Bockee '37 as the first
woman editor in 1936, the magazine shifted temporarily to publishing fewer
technical articles. There were few
articles by the faculty in the 35th anniversary issue. Covers became more varied and emphasized good photog raphy and original drawings. During

pus in December, 1903. After 75 years, the Countryman
exists today as Cornell's longest-

the 1939 issues when today's Chair man of the Department of Communi
cation Arts Chester Freeman '39 was

continuing publication, the only agri cultural publication in the Ivy League, and the oldest continuous agricul

editor, there were freehand drawings on all Countryman covers.
For the 50th anniversary issue, past

tural publication of any school in the country. While it has gradually shifted from highly technical articles toward those of more general student interest,
it is still directed toward the student

editor John R. Fleming '21, then work ing for U.S. News and World Report, wrote; "It is something for the Country
man to have survived 50 years of the
kind the world has had to endure.

of agriculture and still includes "gen eral agricultural news." Even the price hasn't changed drastically-from $1.00

That it has survived encourages the
suspicion that it is a useful magazine and stands a good chance of sur

a year 75 years ago to $2.50 a year
today. The title Cornell Countryman was
suggested by Liberty Hyde Bailey back in 1903. Due to a shortage of funds, the initial cover with a man sowing seed remained unchanged for months. Most of the early articles were contributed by faculty members and professionals in the agricultural field. Article writing was gradually taken over by students after 1931
when such articles as "Should Stu
dents Marry While in College?" first

viving another 50 years." The Countryman suffered some
rough times just ten years later when the publication was still an extra curricular activity. In February, 1963,
the staff warned in an editorial that
"due to many factors... the magazine is suffering from an inadequate staff, a weak financial base, and a chronic
lack of support from the student body." There was no student editor-in-chief
for the Spring Term of that year, little advertising was being sold, and
the Cornell Student Executive Board

appeared.

As of 1904, the magazine was copy

righted and in November of that year, the price rose to 15c an issue. When

by Karen Esposito 77

the Library of Congress in 1906 re quested a copy of the first issue, the
Countryman offered 50c for each of
the first ten copies subscribers sent back. By 1909 the number of gradu-

denied the publication any financial
support.
It was at this point that the staff
made two recommendations in its
editorial-that the responsibility of the Countryman be assumed by the depart ment of Extension Teaching and Inform ation (now the Department of Com munication Arts) and that the publica tion be given the status of a course carrying a certain number of credit
hours. Both recommendations were
put into effect, but not before Prof.
Charles Russell of the communication
arts department personally assumed responsibility for the next four issues.
During the Countryman's 75 years, its ever-changing staff has gone on to achieve impressive positions. The list includes Jane Brody '62, science writer for The New York Times; H. C.
Thompson, once the leading vegetable scientist in the world; and Corey Ford,
a writer and humorist of national
renown. Mrs. Jane Little Hardy '53, now faculty advisor for the Countryman course, had her first published arti cle in the May, 1953 Countryman and went on to become gardening editor of Canadian Homes magazine. The list of past staff goes on to include every one from farmers to professors, such as Ray Borton '54, international agri culture professor at California State
Polytechnic University. As a group of agriculture faculty
and students met in 1903 to discuss
founding a new publication at Cornell, so meet faculty and students to pro duce that publication today. From Liberty Hyde Bailey's lead article for Volume I, Number I, "The Outlook for Agricultural Teachings," to the recent article, "WVBR. ..Working Wavelengths," the Cornell Countryman has seen 75 years of students, faculty, and agricultural developments. In that
time, it has established itself as one of
the best-respected, student-produced agricultural publications.

OUR

YEARS
11

The Cornell Countryman

1. The cover of Vol. I,
No. 1 . It remained the cover for the first year
of publication.

j
I

©lii amirs mi iHrrbr iCakr

I )| I I \ j |; '"
„,
COTTON SMI)
MEAL

^A^OAKHILL STOCIlf ARM.

C\ pa-',-. Ormihou-its

"v-'-"
• ••• ■
Fl. U. BUTTON G SON

f'■ ■ -'
~":
"
g *

Cypress or Yellow Pinc
silos
——v-»

G. F. Morgan

"" v' ,'sn,;.K,'!suli'lrMW':R(%

It Makc«

t r e: e. s
SHRUBS Roses
HARDY PLANTS

More Milk

Richer Cream Firmer Butler
EHwanger I Barry,

FOR SALE

Some of Our
Specialties

THE OTM COTIOH OIL CO,

SWinwg „R..sSrollh,

D. H. BURRELL & CO.
LITTLE FALLS, N. Y.

2. Advertising from the first issue.

10. "Old Times on Beebe Lake" - May 1973.

■**■ Vfc* turn tit ieuti. 1931

by Karen Esposito 77
The
Freshman
Special

9. In Jan. /Feb. 1972, an article about the era of Ithaca's silent movie industry - "Those Early Silent Days"
12

8. The cover of Oct. 1954 - J The "Freshmen Special"

Each spring in the early years, the Countryman luded photographs and brief stories about each College graduate. This is the class of 1905.

The Cornell
Countryman
FtliKU AH ">

FRUIT NUMBER
4. The cover and con tents of the Feb. 1912 issue dedicated to fruit
growing.

horn the Past

1 he New Cornell-Iroquois Trail
By Ru.,cll H.ll

It's A Dog's Life
f
:-..
7. In April 1953, "Goofus" was featured on the cover. In the issue, the article "It's a Dog's Life."

5. The Feb. 1922 issue included an article about
Indians registered in agri
cultural courses at Cor nell.
The Cornell Countryman
M«hoJf of DJ.vcnnc MarLl Mill ,„ b»« buruntsn L.'tn.
1 !J

6. The Nov. 1925 issue offered poetry to research arti cles - this one, "Methods of Delivering Market Milk in
Some European Cities" by W. A. Stocking.

13

Compiling

Today's

COUNTRYMAN

by Jill Kirschman 77

When the Cornell Countryman hits
the stands in Mann Library, many times it is gone within a day. The Countryman is one way students, faculty and alumni keep informed as to the goings on of Cornell and the College of Agriculture and Life Sci ences. While the Countryman enjoys a readership of some 4,500, many of our readers are unaware of exactly what is involved in publishing the
magazine. The Countryman is compiled by
majors in the Department of Com munication Arts. The required work falls under the course heading of Print
Media Lab. Each semester includes
work on both copy and graphic aspects of magazine publication. With Profes sors Victor R. Stephen and Jane E. Hardy acting as instructors and con sultants, a typical issue evolves as
follows:
The first step is to choose an issue theme and an editorial staff. This
involves a class discussion and sug
gestion session. Next, article ideas are submitted and assigned.
Once a student has an article as
signment, there are several things he

must keep in mind. Most crucial to a Countryman staff member is the dead line. Failing to meet deadlines holds
up the entire issue schedule. For ex
ample, this article is sneaking in just under the final deadline-with a few
urgent calls from frantic editors. Usually a writer must limit his copy to
one or two pages which requires care
ful attention to editing. However, on occasion, an article turns out to be
too short and then additional copy
must be obtained. An article must
also be truthfully documented with signed approval from all authorities
interviewed. If illustrations are included
within the article, picture credits must be acknowledged within that issue of
the Countryman. Once the article and accompanying
graphics are collected, the editors must then decide which will be pub lished and in what order. This requires a balancing of research articles with lighter reading for a tasteful format. For instance, in a past issue the editors decided that running an article on producing methane from manure on the first page might not be appro priate as an introduction to the issue.

Countryman class works on titles for the next issue with advisors Jane E. Hardy and V. R. Stephen (below), and proofs galleys of an issue (above).

Once everything is in, the layout people begin their work. Layout must
make sure that all copy fits the pages,
always keeping in mind a pleasing
visual format. A cover must also be
designed in keeping with the issue.
The final edited copy is sent to the
printer and returns in galley form which is then pasted up by class members, A galley is all of the copy printed onto a huge sheet which comes from the printer folded up. When the fall class arrives, it begins work at this stage using the galley of an October issue compiled in May by the preceding
semester's class. Corrections are made
and the paste-ups are returned to the
printer for paging. Next, the pages are returned, illustrations are pasted
in place, and the printer returns a dummy copy known as a silver or blue print. This final proof must be edited and approved before returning it to the printer for the actual printing of the magazine.
The procedure revolves around a series of deadlines which are compli
cated by the fact that more than one issue is in the works at a time. While
the March editors are proof reading their issue's silver print, the April editors are busy choosing and editing
the articles for their issue. At this
point Jane Hardy's office begins to resemble the quad during class change.
When an issue of the Cornell
Countryman hits the stands, you can
be sure that another issue is in the
works under the direction of the mem bers of Communication Arts Print
Media Lab. And, you may be equally
assured that the proud editors of the just released issue are frantically trying to catch up with the work they let slide while compiling the Countryman.

AG-PAC The student Connection by Kathleen miey 78

What do the milking of a cow in
the Memorial Room of the Straight last spring, the free phone on the reserve desk in Mann Library installed
last semester, and the course informa tion table at the Grand Course Ex
change have in common? They were all made possible by Ag-PAC, the AgPositive Action Council.
Ag-PAC is the answer of students in the College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences to the need for student gov
ernment and representation on its
campus. "We're a complaint depart ment, a collector and dispenser of information, and a pool of student opinion," explained Dan Goldman '78, past president and one of the initial organizers of Ag-PAC.
Two years ago students and admin
istrators expressed an interest in re establishing a college "student coun
cil." At the annual student luncheon
with college administrators that spring, a committee was formed to investigate
this possibility and to suggest some
sort of structure. The main thrust of
the committee's work took place the
following fall. The Agriculture and Life Sciences
Community Forum held its first meet ing in late fall, 1975. Representatives from the College's clubs and depart
ments and other interested students
attended and later changed the name to Ag-PAC.
The support of the college ad
ministration is crucial to the success
of Ag-PAC. Dean Keith Kennedy has been supportive of the idea of such a student organization since its incep tion. "Ag-PAC provides a means of expressing to the administration the collective concerns of students and
in turn is a group with whom we can
discuss matters and obtain reaction,"
he said.
However, Dean Kennedy does see some problems with the organization. He explained since the student body is so diverse, its interests tend to be specialized rather than collegewide. He expressed disappointment because
nnore students aren't involved with
Ag-PAC but added that it wasn't a
criticism. He understands the time

and work pressures that students in
this University have. "Nonetheless, Ag-PAC hasn't become as strong a unit as I think it could well be," he
said.
J. Robert Cooke, Director of Resi dent Instruction, is impressed with the enthusiasm and interest Ag-PAC representatives have. "I believe Ag PAC can play a significant role in influencing the formation of college policy because we're sensitive to stu dent concerns," he said. Director
Cooke added that he suspects that
Ag-PAC has greater influence than its
members realize it has.
The backbone of Ag-PAC is the commitment of its members. Gary Bender '78, president of Ag-PAC, thinks that it can play as important a role in the College as the Campus Council does in the University. "We provide the student feedback the faculty and administration need to make decisions," he said.
Goldman believes that Ag-PAC is
neither an extension of the adminis
tration nor its opponent. "Rather, we are a body which facilitates com munication and a catalyst which brings together students, faculty, and ad ministrators to work together and

improve the college," he said. During two years of existence, Ag
PAC has accomplished quite a bit. Its major project was the sponsoring of events in connection with Ag Day celebrated on the Monday closest to spring. Richard A. Church '64, assis tant director and advisor of Ag-PAC, explained the rationale for using the Memorial Room of the Straight for Ag Day exhibits last spring. "We wanted to take our story to those
least familiar with it. We wanted to
bridge the communication gap and give all Cornell students a better under standing of the role of agriculture,"
he said.
Ag-PAC has also established the selection procedure for student repre sentatives on faculty committees,
written and distributed a brochure
detailing clubs and organizations with in the College, and sponsored open meetings with the dean.
Ag-PAC has been compared to the hub of a wheel, the point where all the spokes converge. Its "spokes" are the students, faculty, and admin istrators of the "upper campus" com munity. If Ag-PAC is to continue to succeed, we must all give it our time,
energy, and support.

"Detta" affectionately nuzzles one visitor of the Ag Day exhibits in Willard Straight Hall last spring.

Liberty Hyde Bailey:

A Man of Action

Director Bailey's involvement with the College extended to taking part in
activities like this baseball game, where he's shown at bat.

Nearly 75 years ago in 1903, Cor
nell's College of Agriculture had a total enrollment of only 252 students. They were taught by nine faculty members who enabled the College to offer 25 courses. Ten years later, those figures had increased nearly one thousand percent to 2305 students, 104 faculty members, and 224 courses. This remarkable expansion was due to the initiative of Liberty Hyde Bailey, Director of the College of Agriculture
from 1903 to 1913.
Although he never wanted to suc ceed Director Roberts, Director Bailey
was a wholehearted administrator. One
of the first things he helped do was change the College's name. He faith fully lobbied in the State Senate for state endowment and in May, 1904, the Cornell College of Agriculture became the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell University.

by Marleen Bicknese '78
But Liberty Hyde Bailey was not stopped by success. He moved on. In the spring of 1905, he had the satis
faction with Cornell President Jacob
G. Schurman and Andrew Dickson
White of breaking the ground for the construction of new agriculture build ings. Morrill Hall had been the hub of the College until the Roberts Hall complex was constructed. During his Directorship, the value of the agricul ture college's buildings mushroomed from $60,000 to $1 ,125,000.
Director Bailey was also actively involved in the growth of the faculty and curriculum. Using his authority as director, he assembled a faculty of specialists in agricultural research and practice. He established new depart ments-Experimental Plant Biology, later known as Plant Breeding, Soils, Plant Pathology, and Ornamental Horticulture-and expanded the Department

of Plant Physiology to the Depart
ment of Botany in 1913, even though v the arts college already had a botany department. The College of Agriculture
grew from a small department to a well established, well respected institu
tion in the University.
Liberty Hyde Bailey's influence as
director was also noticeable in other
areas. He continued to develop joint
efforts with various groups such as
the Dairyman's Association and the State Grange. He involved farmers in an expanding agricultural extension program. In 1911, Bailey won faculty approval for his promotion of Martha
Van Rensselaer and Flora Rose to pro
fessorial rank, the first time women
permanently reached that status at Cornell. They were both in the Home Economics Department, which Director Bailey had helped establish in 1907 in
the agriculture college.Although Director Bailey's actions
were favored by most people in the school and community, he did face
obstacles. The arts college faculty were
ruffled by his institution of the botany department, a rival of their own. In his diary, Andrew Dickson White noted several instances of "Bailey Trouble," trouble directly related to director Bailey's ambitious program for the development of agricultural science.
Yet obstacles did not discourage
him, and he gained the respect of many as he persevered at his same vigorous pace. President Theodore Roosevelt called upon Director Bailey
to be chairman of his Country Life
Commission, which he considered the second most important commission in
his administration. In a letter to the
Countryman in 1913, President Roose-

16

velt remarked, "I doubt if I should
have undertaken to appoint the com mission if I had not been able to get Director Bailey for its head..." -
The only event that stopped Bailey from continuing his pace as adminis trator was his own resignation in 1913. At the time, he wrote that he desired "to devote himself to travel and study,
and to carry out plans for the remain
der of his life which he had formed
many years ago." Those plans included giving 25 years of his life to prepara tion, 25 years to work, and 25 years to doing what he wanted.
Twenty-five years of his life had already been dedicated to Cornell. He
had come in 1888 as a Professor of
General and Experimental Horticulture to teach and do research, an initiator
from the start. His first spring, instead of waiting out the long Ithaca winter for the ground to thaw, he built un usual protective coverings over his plants. Out of curiosity, uninhibited by thoughts of success or failure, he would do things such as graft toma
toes on potatoes and then try the
reverse.
Early influenced by the conviction
that "horticulture must reflect the ap
plication of basic botanical know ledge," he advanced a new concept that "horticulture must be an applied science based on pure biology." He changed teaching concepts by directly involving students. Instead of giving formal lectures and going on field trips with students to only watch others do work which was the usual practice until then, he included laboratories in
his curriculum. He would mix with
the students as he demonstrated a
principle or set up experiments in which students took part. Although laboratories are common today, many faculty members initially considered Bailey's teaching methods strange. But they were popular with students and by 1910, it became necessary to deny students registration in many laboratories because of the lack of
space.
Bailey's principal contributions in horticulture were in taxonomic studies. He tackled the investigation of the biggest genus of f\ora-Carex or sedges, (grasslike herbs). He published his revisions of many genera, including Vitis (grapes), Brassica (cabbages and kales), Cucurbita (pumpkins and

squashes), and Hosta (plantain lilies). He was a specialist in the systematics of blackberries and palms.

His interest in palms allegedly be gan in 1910 on a trip in Jamaica. Mrs.
Bailey teased him for not being able to identify the palms in the Kingston gardens. In his determination to be

more knowledgeable about them, he started his own1 palm collection soon after he resigned as Director of the College. Today, this palm herbarium
is one of the best in the world.

During his lifetime, Liberty Hyde Bailey traveled over 250,000 miles from the West Indies to Europe to
South America. When he fell and

broke his leg in a New York bank in

December,

1 949,

at

the

age

of

91 ,

he

had airline tickets to tropical Africa

with him. On his travels, he collected

275,000 plants and classified thou

sands of them. Eighteen plants were named after him, including a rare Chinese fig, Ficus Baileyi, and a Venezuelan shrub, Grimaldia Bailey-

orum.

When his private herbarium of

125,000 specimens and library of 3,000 volumes became too large for

him to adequately maintain in 1935, he donated them to Cornell. They

became the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hor-

Liberty Hyde Bailey (1858-1954) is captured in a rare moment of inaction. Prof. Bailey taught a popular class in
evolution in Morrill Hall before becom
ing the Director of the College of Agriculture in 1903.

4S6

torium, an institution devoted to the
systematics of cultivated plants. "Hor torium" was Bailey's own coinage for the only institution of its kind.
If the books Bailey wrote were put in two stacks, cover to cover, both stacks would be taller than Bailey
himself. His 63 books and five ency
clopedias span such subjects as hor ticulture, farm crops, and farm ani mals. Even in his first book, Talks Afield, he showed his ability to relate
to his audience-in this case, the farm ers and non-scientists. His Standard
Cyclopedia of Horticulture is still widely used and highly respected today.
As an editor, Bailey worked on more than 100 volumes by different authors in various fields of science, as well as several journals. In 1890 he ac cepted the editorship of American Garden, a popular monthly, and, at the turn of the century he began work on the magazine Country Life in
America.
One time when he was editing the first issue of his own Cyclopedia, Bailey gave the instructions that a
tree fern engraving with a meandering stem be included. Without Bailey's consent, the lay-out man purposely squeezed it to fit in the columns of the page. When he received the proofs back from Bailey, he found the note:
"If you pull a dog's hind leg straight, is it a dog's hind leg any more?"
Bailey's comments were well-regarded; people enjoyed working with him.
An administrator, a teacher, a re
searcher, a writer, and an editor, Liberty Hyde Bailey was also a poet and philosopher. On Sunday evenings while at Cornell, no matter how busy he was, he often opened his home to students for informal talks or reci
tations of the works of writers like
Poe, Whitman, and Emerson. Some times he shared his own works. He claimed that these sessions with the
students helped to keep him young. Although Bailey burned his only novel, he did publish a book of his poetry. As a philosopher, he examined man's debt to earth and earth's goodness to man. His book The Holy Earth,
reflects many of the ecological thoughts
expounded today. Liberty Hyde Bailey used his talents
to give life to his ideas, and as those ideas materialized their effects were
felt by the world.

17

A Summer at SHOALS

each transect predictably different from
every other one, but the organism
populations in each section were amaz ingly stable from year to year. Such
information is very valuable in these

days of oceanic change forced by man, In addition to the Marine Science

by Lucy L. Bodanza 78

course, the Shoals Laboratory offers
an underwater research course and a

Marine Science course designed pri marily for high school teachers. Courses in other marine subjects are also offered

during the summer. Along with the courses for which
credit is given, the Laboratory offers

short programs in varied marine fields for alumni of Cornell and the Univer

sity of New Hampshire. These pro
grams are scheduled after the summer
courses, and alumni are invited to bring
their families along for the experience.

In this age of sprawling cities, boundless population growth, and an increasingly despoiled environment, it is often the small and barren places
which become the most wonderful escapes from the rest of the world.
Appledore Island is such an escape.
Located ten miles off the U.S. coast
in the southern Gulf of Maine, Apple
dore is the largest member of a group
of isolated islands called the Isles of
Shoals. Uninhabited, Appledore is a small and rocky place, subject to all the whims of the surrounding Atlantic Ocean. A Registered National Historic Site, it is the home of thousands of
pairs of nesting gulls. Snowy Egrets, Glossy Ibis, Black Guillemots, and Black Crowned Night Herons also build their nests on the rocky shore.
But more than just birds nest at Appledore. The island also houses one
of the most unusual marine field sta
tions in the country. And the Shoals
Marine Laboratory is unusual. Created in 1966 as the "Summer Program in
Marine Science," the laboratory was
located on Star Island, another mem
ber of the Shoals Archipelago. Con
ceived of and administered by Dr. John

In 1973 the program moved to Ap pledore Island and was renamed the Shoals Marine Laboratory.
In 1966, the program admitted 20 students to its Marine Science course. Today, Introduction to Marine Science is but one of the courses taught on the island. It and the other undergrad uate courses enrolled 150 students last
summer.
Despite the many changes neces sitated by its popularity, the philosophy of the Shoals Laboratory in 1977 is the
same as it was 1 1 years ago.
"The Shoals Laboratory is designed to give undergraduate students the opportunity to familiarize themselves
with the ocean and its many environ ments, and to show them the broad
horizons of Marine Science, with em
phasis on Marine Biology," Dr. Kings bury explained.
The Introduction to Marine Science
course is taught twice each summer, and gives students an idea of what
Marine Science is all about. The course
covers many areas, and is helpful in directing students either toward or
away from a Marine Science career.
One of the requirements of the

The Shoals Laboratory is quite an
experience. Although coursework takes up most of the day, the island is a beautiful place to stay. The living con ditions are somewhat primitive. Fresh
water is in short supply, and is often
rationed for things such as showers.
The dormitory buildings keep getting
better, however, and new facilities
have just been built.
One of the most attractive features
of the program is the Shoals cuisine.
"Morale on an isolated island varies
directly with what happens in the kitch en," said Dr. Kingsbury. "Students will put up with ants in their -beds, plaster on their faces, dirty clothes, wet sneakers, one shower a week, and fussy safety regulations if they are happy in the dining room."
Fresh fish from the sea, fresh baked
goods from the kitchen, and good
cooks help make the meals different,
interesting, and delicious. The popularity of the Shoals Program
is not surprising. No student has ever dropped out after starting, and it is difficult to find a participant who has not enjoyed the experience of working
at a real marine station rather than in

Kingsbury and a number of other dedi cated founders, the program was pop ular from its inception. Each year the student enrollment increased, and the program grew. The Laboratory is ad ministered by both Cornell University and the University of New Hampshire, but students from all over the country
are admitted to the Marine Science
programs.

course is a transect of an area of the
Appledore coast. All organisms within the area must be identified, and records of the findings are kept. The transects
of Star Island from the earlier classes
were recently compiled and published by the Laboratory. Few seacoasts have been examined as closely over as long a period of time, and the findings of the study are remarkable. Not only was

a classroom.
From students to alumni to high
school teachers, the Shoals Marine Laboratory has something to offer to almost everyone. Appledore Island is one of the few places in the world where it is possible to enrich one's mind as well as escape from society.
It is hard to think of a better way to
spend a few weeks during the summer.

•ii -3

For Your Information:
TUNE IN TO CONSUMER NEWS
by Carl Laron 77

There are 89 percent more radios than people in the United States. That
statistic illustrates radio's penetration into the daily lives of everyone. To some, it is merely a form of entertain ment; but to many others, it is a vital
information link that enables them to
keep in touch with what is happening in their community and in the world.
Since its establishment in the summer of 1974, the Consumer News Service has been involved in this informational
and educational process by supplying radio stations in New York, its border ing states, and Ontario, Canada with interesting and educational news sto
ries with a consumer orientation.
The Consumer News Service? It
sounds like a service provided by one of the major networks or wire services, but it is not. Instead it is produced by
the radio section of Media Services at
Cornell University. From its tiny studio
in the basement of Martha Van Rens
selaer Hall, the radio section, otherwise known as director Gordon Webb and
radio specialist Michael Veley, produces
three different stories each week. These
are made available to over 1 50 stations
via a 24-hour automated phone system. The radio section is very pleased
with the reception the service has re ceived. Since its inception, the service has been experiencing a steady growth rate. Use rose almost 37 percent in 1976 and the service is currently aver aging over 100 calls per week.
Veley feels that one reason for the success of the service is its emphasis
on news that is useful.
"Stations are trying to get away from what is termed 'hard news.' What we strive to do here is soft
news-something that is interesting,

Michael Veley, radio specialist for
the Consumer News Service at Cor
nell, works on one of three programs produced each week by the service.

that the man on the street can grasp,
and that is going to benefit a lot of
people."
Some examples of recent stories are the saccharin ban and rising coffee prices. In these stories, as in most of the stories done by the service, a Cor nell professor knowledgeable in the area tells how some aspect of the issue affects the consumer. For instance, in
the coffee price rise story, a Cornell consumer economist compared the
costs of various hot beverages.
Another reason that the service has
been received so well is that it strives
to be timely, an important quality es pecially when dealing with radio which
is an instantaneous medium. The sac
charin and coffee stories are good ex amples of this but even more striking are the efforts of the service during the
winter of 1976-77 when weather sto
ries and energy advice were critical to so many of their listeners.
Believed to be the only universitybased operation of its type, east of the Mississippi, the Consumer News Ser vice has done many things it can be proud of. Its stories have been aired as far south as Georgia and as far north as Halifax, Nova Scotia. A few have been carried nationally by the networks
and wire services which is a reflection
of the quality of the stories. According to Veley, the average
adult hears more than three newscasts
daily. Veley is hopeful that the Con sumer News Service provides the lis tener with some interesting and useful information. Judging by the number of stations that pay the telephone toll charges to use the service, the users
seem to agree.

19

Who Pulls the Plow?

by Gary Barnes 77

Looking at the May 3, 1905 issue
of the Cornell Alumni News, you might have read, "The students in the Col
lege of Agriculture celebrated the breaking of ground for their new build ings on Monday with an interesting and unique ceremony. ..ground was broken with a large plow, drawn by the students and guided by the direc
tor himself."
The events which lead up to this
ceremony cast an enlightening per spective on the pulling of the plow. It's hard to say really if this significance
was intended or not. At any rate, there is a parallel which still leaves us
with a message for today. Without the guiding hand of the director, the ground broken may not be of use to
anyone. However, the director guides nothing when the working force is idle.
The founding and the state funding of the College of Agriculture has been primarily attributed to Liberty Hyde Bailey. It's true that the guiding efforts

of Director Bailey were paramount to the establishment of the College. It is seldom realized though, that Bailey perceived the working force for the job, and successfully tapped their services. Who pulled the plow for Bailey in a figurative sense? It was the
New York State farmer.
President Jacob Gould Schurman
and Director Bailey and others were of course essential as organizers of the effort to secure the State College of Agriculture at Cornell. One of their tools was the print media. The Country Gentleman, the American Agricul turalist, and the Rural New Yorker
proved effective in hitting their target
audience.
The immediate objective was to se cure a state appropriation to construct the long contemplated agricultural buildings which were so badly needed. Some articles in these publications included pictures of new agricultural buildings at other state colleges in the

nation. Some praised Cornell's work in Agricultural Education and described the cramped conditions under which the faculty worked. The business office, the director's office, the office of the experiment station, and the library were all in a single room on the
second floor of Morrill Hall.
In 1902, President Schurman sent Editor Collingwood of the Rural New Yorker a long statement in the form of an interview between himself and the editor. Schurman referred to his own
farm background and paid tribute to
the farmer as the "backbone of the
country, the most conservative class we have, the people of the solidest
character." At the end of the inter
view, Schurman raised the subject of state aid by asking Editor Collingwood the question, "Do you agree with me that the state must make provision for agricultural education?"
President Schurman and Director
Bailey had the same goal of establish ing a state funded College of Agricul
ture, but their purposes differed. Presi
dent Schurman wanted Agriculture to be a professional school like Veteri nary or Forestry. It may very well be that it was Bailey's opposing ideal of the college that actually secured it as a state agricultural college.
His concept not only provided the "guiding hand", but incorporated thel "pulling power" that was needed. "Other institutions aim largely at what is called productive scholarship. The land-grant colleges... aim at public ser
vice."
"Agricultural education was for him a preparation for life, indeed the best, most rational, most healthful kind of preparation," says historian Morris Bishop, speaking of Bailey.
Bailey held that, "The mission of an agricultural college has now extended beyond mere academic lines. The modern agricultural college concerns itself with large public questions of education, trade, transportation, and general betterment, standing for all agencies that will aid in making the farmer a more efficient producer of wealth and a more effective citizen.
In shorter words, the agricultural col
lege stands for education for country life. It is not a professional college.
Bailey believed the goal was public
service. The college was to be the

20

heart of agriculture, and its lifeblood should flow to every farm home in the
state.
It wasn't long before the New York State farmer began to experience that lifeblood in his home. It was at this very early stage that the "guiding-
pulling" relationship began to establish
itself. It got a healthy start and was begging for continued growth. How ever, opposition in the form of limited facilities and funding began to limit effectiveness.
The opposition was headed by Chan cellor James R. Day of Syracuse Uni versity, representing six other state in
stitutions. He demanded a share in
the state bounty equal to that accorded

everything will flow that way and no
stream be diverted to other institu
tions."
The political strategy was getting
more and more intense and all the
while Cornell's Agricultural College was becoming more desperate for buildings and money if it was to sur
vive.
At the beginning of the 1904 ses sion, a bill appropriating $250,000 for a state agricultural building at Cornell
was introduced in the Senate. In se
curing special interest legislation, timing was of utmost importance. Editor Luther Tucker of the Country Gentle
man insisted that this was the year for
action. Sensing that the farmers were

As the whistle signaled the establish ment of the State Agricultural College, the Ag students rushed to the Armory to carry out the plan of firing cannons to salute the Governor. Soon, about 1,200 students gathered and led by a large black bull from the University farm, marched to the homes of Presi
dent Schurman and Director Bailey. Sirens blew, bonfires blazed, church
bells rang, students filled the streets,
firing pistols.
The bill provided for four buildings.
The main hall was to be constructed
for $125,000, the remaining to be used for buildings of horticulture, stock-
judging, and machinery. The main
building, Roberts Hall, was built in

Left; Dean Bailey guides plow being pulled by students during ground breaking ceremony. Below; Excavators begin work on the site of Roberts Hall using the old "team-work method. "

^B*ffiyi.= %**<

to Cornell. His belief was, "Either give to all or not to any." The Chancellor called for a hearing before the Assem bly's Ways and Means Committee. This was granted him, but when he did not get the attention of the legisla tors he desired, he broke off his argu
ment in a fury and left the room. (It is reported that Bailey later put up in his office a picture of Chancellor Day with the subscription: "Founder of the New York State College of Agri culture at Cornell.")
However, opposition continued to
hit hard in the State Legislature. Syn
dic John H. MacCracken of New York
University took up the argument and
voiced the essential grievance: "We tear that the channel is becoming so
worn which leads from the State Trea-
surY to the Cornell University that if anY more grants such as these are
made, it will make such a canyon that

ready to respond, an appeal was made for a barrage of letters from farmers directed to the legislature.
What previously seemed to be a dream began to materialize. On March 11, Assemblyman Monroe introduced a new bill entitled, "An act to establish a State College of Agriculture at Cor nell University and making appropria tions therefore." Additional changes in the Stewart Bill provided for the erection of four buildings instead of the single structure originally intended.
Faculty of Agriculture took prelimi nary steps toward celebrating the an
ticipated victory. Arrangements were made with the superintendent of the Ithaca pumping station to blow five
blasts of the whistle if the bill were
signed, three blasts if vetoed. News of the Governor's signature reached
Ithaca about seven o'clock on the
evening of May 9.

three parts to comply with the act's restriction of expenditure for a single
building.
So who gets the credit for the May 1905 ground breaking? Obviously it
was no one man or group of men.
Bailey had an ideal of public service. Those receiving it responded. The farmers, as concerned citizens, accept ed the help of Cornell and advanced their own interest in legislation.
Without the guiding hand of the di rector, the ground broken may not be of use to anyone. And likewise, the director guides nothing when the pull ing power is idle. The "guiding-pulling" relationship of Bailey to the New York State farmer secured not only an es tablishment, but one that is a service
to the public.

21

o o "I Don't Want My Name in Lights" o o

About 12 years ago, Tom Clark
decided that acting wasn't his career.
What did he do for an encore? He
chose to be a carpenter for the the
ater. Clark started teaching stagecraft and lighting last fall as technical direc tor of the Willard Straight Theater.
One Theater Arts course (stagecraft) introduces a student to the planning, designing, and building of scenery for each production during the semester. The 28 year-old native of Middletown, N.Y. said that the course basically
orients the student towards carpentry.
It also covers construction using alter native materials and techniques such as metals, plastics, paint, and welding. Several drafting projects are assigned to further acquaint the student with the related processes of blueprint reading and building.
In another course, Clark stresses the
aesthetic qualities of stage lighting. He discusses different types of equipment
and deals with the artistic value found
in the variation of hue, intensity, dis tribution, and movement, to obtain a proper mood in each production. He also supervises students who are
doing independent study.
There are some obstacles for Clark
to overcome. He has noticed that most
people, especially the women, aren't geared for the main requirement, car pentry. Everyone, however, is required to do his fair share of work despite certain physical limitations. According to Clark, "No woman is allowed to use
her sex as an excuse." Consequently,
it is not unusual to see a female weld
ing metal or constructing a large bulky

Tom Clark (right) and assistant Phil Miller inspect the working model of a torture rack. It is only one of ten un usual props used during last May's production of Bewitched.
scenery flat.
The lighting course, however, at
tracts the student with the theater ca
reer in mind and gives Clark the oppor tunity to incorporate his 12 years of theatrical experience during class.
Clark started working on stage dur ing his high school days and was teaching stagecraft at S.U.N.Y. at Al bany as an undergraduate. The period between his undergraduate and grad uate study saw him working the Berk shire Theater Festival during the sum mer of 1970, the Black Experience Ensemble in 1971, and The New Country Theater in Ridgebury, N.Y. He completed his graduate require ments last year at S.U.N.Y. at Albany and plans to remain in educational theater to obtain his doctorate. Clark, his wife, Linda, and his daughter, Catherine, presently reside in Ithaca and are fulfilling his life's ambition, "to live by the side of the road and be a friend to man." (His experiences have
allowed him to meet with theater
notables such as Anna Jackson, Eli Wallach and Jacques Levy.)
When asked whether or not he liked
his work, Clark cheerfully responded with, "I love it." The feeling of artistic
achievement combined with the diverse
types of work involved in each produc-
by Richard Pawlak 78

tion, provide an interesting and re warding way of life. He must enjoy it,
because the 'Dracula' set designed by Dean Tschetter, stage set designer, and built by Tom's crew unofficially placed second in a general category of the American College Theater Fes
tival Competition.
Last spring Clark and his crew built the props for the April opening of 'The Bewitched.' The story wove sex, poli
tics, and religion of the medieval rule of Carlos II of Spain, (1601-1700),
into a comical struggle for power which resulted in the War of the Spanish Succession. The production was the largest non-musical Straight play which could be fitted into the backstage di
mensions. Props for one particular scene included working versions of a
torture rack, boot, and wheel. Other props included a large rocking horse
and a baby's cradle. Compared to a previous production of 'Birthday Party,'
Clark considered The Bewitched' to be
a "heavy show." It ran for 31/2 hours and endured two long acts with 29
scene changes.
When asked to describe his person
ality, Clark responded with adjectives such as outspoken, independent, friendly, understanding, and patient. The bearded, long haired technical director, who looks like a refugee from
the Woodstock Era, feels that these
are especially important qualities to have in theater when dealing with the
impressionable minds of students. Tom
Clark may have never made it as an
actor, but his encore is proving to be
a success.

22

Bailey Professorships

Accomplishments Recognized
Donald M. Bay, '55, manager of Up state Milk Cooperative, Inc., and chair
man of the Board of Trustees of the
New York State 4-H Foundation, has
been honored with the first New York
State "Partner in 4-H Award," in rec ognition of his 22 years of volunteer
service to 4-H. He is a member of the
Advisory Council of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and has
served on the Board of Directors of
the Ontario County Extension Service Administration. An international judge of dairy cattle and a member of many dairy and business organizations, Bay
has volunteered his services to 4-H
throughout the years and is a popular fund-raiser for the state organization.
Ricky A. Marshall, '78, an undergrad uate student majoring in agricultural and biological engineering, has been honored by the American Society of Agricultural Engineers for a paper he presented in a national competition at the Society's annual meeting. The
paper, which took top honors among a
field of finalists, discusses different designs of electrical heat probes used
to detect the exact time that a cow
comes into heat. Marshall is a native of Grand Island.

Martin Alexander, Harlan P. Banks, Neal F. Jensen, William T. Keeton, J. Thomas Reid and Kenneth L.

Robinson have been elected Liberty Hyde Bailey Professors in the N.Y.

store bald eagles to New York State, State College of Agriculture and Life

as only one mature pair remains. The Sciences. Established to recognize dis
chief of the Confederacy said that the tinguished faculty with international

Six Nations have a special affection and national reputations in agriculture for Ms. Milburn's work, "because the and related sciences, the first Pro

eagle was our own national symbol fessorship was held by Charles E.

long before the United States came Palm, now professor emeritus and

into existence." She is the first woman dean of the College, 1959-1972.

so honored by the Confederacy.

Prof. Martin Alexander, Dept. of

Prof. Milton L. Scott, chairman of the Department of Poultry Science and Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Animal Nutrition, has received the Borden Award in Nutrition from the American Institute of Nutrition. Scott
was recognized for his studies estab
lishing selenium as an essential nutrient for normal growth and health of poul
try. Scott is the author of more than 230 scientific articles in the field of
nutrition.

Agronomy, is a recognized leader world-wide in soil microbiology and microbial ecology. Prof. Harlan Banks,
of the Division of Biological Sciences,'
is an expert in paleobotany, and has a
international reputation in botanical
science. Prof. Neal Jensen, Dept. of Plant Breeding and Biometry, has de veloped and introduced 20 superior varieties of wheat, oats and barley for
the northeast. Noted as a teacher and
author, Prof. William Keeton, Division
of Biological Sciences, will be the Key

Prof. Robert J. Young, chairman of the Department of Animal Sciences, has received the Distinguished Nutri
tionist Award from the Distillers' Feed
Research Council for outstanding per
formance in nutrition research and
service to the feed industry. His re

note Lecturer at the International
Ornithological Congress in 1978. Prof. J. Thomas Reid, Dept. of Animal
Science, has published widely in ani mal nutrition, biochemistry and physi ology. Prof. Kenneth Robinson, Dept. of Agricultural Economics, is recognized for teaching, public service and re

search has included studies of fat search. Author of a text and more than

absorption and metabolism of fatty 150 articles, he has been a consultant

acids.

to the National Science Foundation.

Jody Blanco, '77, has been honored by the State University of New York for academic excellence while partici pating in the State's Educational Op portunity Program for educationally and economically disadvantaged students. Blanco, who is the first mem ber in his family to graduate from col-ege, is now studying for the M.D. degree at the Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse.
Elizabeth Milburn, Grad., has been named an honorary member of the Iro
quois Confederacy of the Six Nations,
which includes the Cayuga, Mohawk,
Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, and Tus-
carora tribes. She has been working S|nce last summer on a project to re

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Keeping in Touch...

The Cornell Countryman, I'm on the staff, Time and effort, but still some laughs.
A position held for a time so short,
With hope that this may be my start. Countless others have done the same,
They've seen the joy of printed name. The copies that are now on file,
Reflect the change in form and style. The important things from years gone by,
Are recorded here to never die. It changes some from time to time,
The stories range from cows to wine.
We try to write things just for you, Although it's very hard to do.
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The Countryman should be more than nice, More contact with you would put that on ice.
by Ralph Spence '77
P.S. Turn to coupon on capsule page for information on contacting the Countryman.

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The Ag Faculty Meets the New President. . . page 4

EDITORS:
Paul Brantley Susan Itzkowitz Peter Schoenberger
ASSISTANT EDITORS:
Robin Feiner Eva Wu

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN NOVEMBER 1977 VOLUME LXXV - Number2
:'-^$$t?£f''.Mi CORNELL
COUNTRYMAN

ART EDITORS:
Carole Freedman
Steve Hodgson
Dan Ivanick Debbie Moses

EDITORIAL STAFF: Brenda Angyal, Marleen Bicknese, Laura Lee Collyer, David Domeshek, Peggy Koenig, Joseph Lubeck, Mark Pinnie, Judy Redel, Peter Schacknow, Jo Schaffel, Rita M. Slovacek, Chuck
Summers, Tom Sutcliffe.
ABOUT THIS ISSUE
Students returning to Cornell this fall discovered many changes in the camp us and community they left behind last spring. This Countryman focuses on some of the new faces and places to be found far above Cayuga's
waters.
Picture Credits: Cover, page 4 Chuck Summers; pages 3, 12, 13, 22 Steve Hodgson; pages 5, 10, 13, 15, 16, 20, 21 - Russ Hamilton; Visual Sen/ices; page 6 - Dan Ivanick; page 7 - Wilson G. Pond; page 8 - Debbie Moses; page 1 1 - The Ithaca Journal; pages 12, 13 - Marleen Bicknese, Carole Freedman; page 17 - Dan Reeves; page 18 - Marleen Bicknese; page 19 - Rita Slovacek; page 21 Sol Goldberg, Visual Services. Back cover - Bruce Crispell, Visual Services.

CONTENTS
3. Did You Say ALFALFA Room? by Brenda Angyal 78 4. President Rhodes: The Freshman in Day Hall by Chuck Summers 78
6. The Real Finish Line by Tom Sutcliffe 78 7. A New Use For Manure by Jo Schaffel 78
8. First Impressions of New Aggies by Laura Lee Collyer 78 9. Design Your Own Program by Joe Lubeck 78
10. New Life For Old Landmarks
Sage Dining by Eva Wu 78
Strand Theater by Paul Brantley 78 12. A New Look for the Fall by Susan Itzkowitz 78
14. Cheap Thrills and Other Frills by Steve Hodgson 78 15. Access for the Handicapped by Robin Feiner 78 16. Cornell Football-Change In The Air by Mark Pinnie 78 18. Teaching TA's by Marleen Bicknese 78
19. W.I.C.I. Comes To Cornell by Rita M. Slovacek 20. A Guide to Autumnal Attractions by Peggy Koenig 78
22. Chickening Out by Judy Redel 78
The Cornell Countryman is published seven times a year from October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription Rates: $2.50 a year,
$4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content gathered and
written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors. Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

Did You Say ALFAL FA Room?

by Brenda Angyai 78

One senior asked another, "Meet
you in the Alfalfa Room at 9?" The two
freshmen looked at each other, puzzled.
What was the Alfalfa Room? Was it a
special section of Mann Library they hadn't heard of yet?
It wasn't long before the two fresh men found out. Curious, they asked a
student where it was. After going
down the stairs to the basement of
Warren Hall, they went through the door marked "Room 14." Upon seeing
the rows of vending machines, they immediately put their coins in and were
soon munching happily. The Alfalfa Room is a hangout for
students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Conveniently located
in Warren Hall and right next to Mann Library, many students, faculty and
staff visit it every day for a cup of
coffee, a cigarette or a meal.
When one enters the room, one is
immediately struck by the wide variety of vending machines. These machines dispense everything from hamburgers to hot soup to cigarettes, and there
are two microwave ovens to warm
food. Two long wooden tables domi
nate the room. The walls are an un
attractive light green, the only break for the eye being a large bulletin board
on one wall with the usual announce
ments and ads common around Cornell
thumbtacked onto it.
Although the room lacks the charm of the Temple of Zeus in Goldwin Smith Hall or the Green Dragon in Sibley Hall, the atmosphere in the Alfalfa Room is very friendly. Groups of students sit chatting, and one sus
pects many a student has decided to
skip a class because he or she didn't
want to leave a conversation for a
class that probably wouldn't be so in teresting.
When asked why they came to the Alfalfa Room, students' answers were
many and varied.
"I come here to watch the girls," a senior frankly admitted.
"We always get the munchies around

Change for a dollar becomes
lunch for a student in the ever-
popular Alfalfa Room.
9 p.m.," two giggling sophomore girls said.
A junior reading a comic book said, "I'll do anything to procrastinate."
Looking up wearily from her cup of black coffee, a senior girl said, "I have two prelims tomorrow and a paper due the day after that. If I don't come
down here and drink coffee to stay
awake, I might fall asleep and not
wake up for two weeks."
A sophomore said bluntly, "I come here because I'm hungry and need a break from studying. Why else?"
And a junior girl in the College of Engineering said, "I don't come here often because I'm usually on the Engineering Quad, but sometimes I
meet my roommate here. I must say,
the guys in the ag college are a lot better looking than the ones in the engineering college!"
The informal atmosphere of the Alfalfa Room makes it an ideal place for students and faculty to meet.
"One day when I was down here one of my professors sat down across from me with a cup of coffee," a

junior girl said. "We had a really good conversation, and I never knew he was
so interesting. Usually I never get to know any of my professors personally, so it's nice to know that I'm not just
another number to at least one profes
sor now."
At the end of one of the tables, a
professor and a student were playing
a game of checkers. Next to them two
students and a teaching assistant were discussing how to improve a
discussion section for a course.
"I come down here a lot to meet
with students," a teaching assistant
admitted. "It is more of an informal
atmosphere than my office would be, and it's better than the rigid confines
of a classroom. Lots of times I run into other students in my classes, and what started out as a one-to-one talk will often end up in group discussion."
The Alfalfa Room is a lot more than an old unused classroom with
vending machines. So the next time you're in Mann Library, come on down and relax. Everyone needs a break from studying once in a while!

3

President Rhodes: The Freshman In Day Hall
by Chuck Summers 78

Murphy's Law is a simple statement
that often holds true: anything that can go wrong usually will go wrong. Ithaca weather is no exception to the Law, as the faculty and administration of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will attest. Sunday, Septem ber 18, the day of the Agriculture and Life Sciences reception for new Uni versity President Dr. Frank H.T. Rhodes, was the wrong day for rain.
And rain it did.
Luckily, the mysterious Mr. Murphy did not attend the reception. If he had
come, he would have found that the
entire afternoon on the covered veranda
of Emerson Hall was a notable exception to his famous hypothesis. The ubiq uitous rain dampened the ground on
the Cornell campus for most of the
afternoon, but the spirits of those at tending remained high and dry as al most 600 members of the Agriculture and Life Sciences faculty and admin istration greeted Dr. Rhodes and his
wife Rosa.
Except for the precipitation, the event was planned and executed
beautifully. The faculty and adminis
tration were divided into three groups
roughly equal in size, according to department. Punch and other refresh
ments were served throughout the
afternoon as the Rhodes' and Dean
and Mrs. Kennedy greeted each faculty member and administrator individually. Dr. Rhodes was obviously well-informed
as to the concerns of the individual
departments, speaking with ease on

specific and technical topics. Needless to say, the members of the faculty were pleased with Dr. Rhodes' wideranging knowledge of College concerns. In addition, he took to the podium several times during the afternoon and spoke with equal ease to the audience
as a whole.
His extemporaneous talks focused
on the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in general. Dr. Rhodes

chose to meet with the Agriculture and Life Sciences faculty and admin
istration before any of Cornell's other
schools and colleges, noting the ad mirable degree of cooperation and teamwork found in a College so large
and diverse that it could stand as a
university on its own. He said this spirit is the basis of the teaching/re
search/extension system on which the
College operates, carrying innovations

President Rhodes greets Professor George Gyrisco of the Department of Entomology at the faculty reception. Dr. Rhodes met almost all 600 faculty and administration members of the College that afternoon.

4

Rhodes and Kennedy discuss research topics at the Geneva Agricultural Research Station.

from the idea stage through to practi
cal application. Dr. Rhodes stressed
the importance of the research function
of the College in solving major world
problems, including that of food sup
plies. Rhodes believes that major world problems can be solved, and that the
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will play a role in the process. In
addition, he had praise for the student
advising program of the College, saying
he has learned from a number of inde
pendent sources that it is the best of
all the schools and colleges at Cornell. Although he had much praise for the
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the concerns of the University as a whole have never escaped Dr. Rhodes'
attention. In the statement he issued
accepting the University presidency, Dr. Rhodes outlined the major problems he sees facing Cornell in the immediate
future:
"Though in accepting the presidency at Cornell, I am excited at the challenge it provides, it would be wrong to min imize the dangers that now confront us. At a time of global tensions-social, environmental, economic, technologi cal and ideological-higher education
has a pivotal contribution to make. Yet we also face problems of a declin ing applicant pool, declining federal and state support, economic con
straints, an increasing tendency for government intervention, the changing employment market, and a whole range of internal educational problems."
He has said many times that access

ibility to the community, more imagi
native financial aid programs, alumni
support (especially in the area of ath letics) and the increasing specialization of education should be major areas of
concern for Cornell.
Dr. Rhodes is well qualified to iden tify the problems of the University. Before coming to Cornell, he was vicepresident for academic affairs at the University of Michigan. That position roughly corresponds to Cornell Provost, so it is quite apparent that Dr. Rhodes is no stranger to the complex world of administration. A geologist and paleon tologist by profession, Dr. Rhodes received his bachelor of science degree
with first-class honors from the Uni
versity of Birmingham, England in 1948. He received his doctor of philosophy degree there in 1950. His work in geology and paleontology has been highly acclaimed, winning several

awards from the Geological Society of
London. He has toured the Middle
East, lecturing and gathering geologi cal data, and has also been a guest lecturer at Ohio State University and
Cornell in the past.
In addition, he has written 62 major articles and monographs on a wide range of topics, and written four books on geology and paleontology. Dr. Rhodes has participated in many other educational projects, including the production of the B.B.C. television
series The Planet Earth.
The entire Cornell community is looking forward to a long association with Dr. Rhodes. Even though he has been University President for only a short time, Dr. Rhodes already has at
least one achievement to his credit:
proving that Mr. Murphy isn't always
right.

For many people, and in many ways,
Cornell stands as one huge test of character, knowledge and strength. But for thousands of racehorses at over a dozen tracks in New York State, Cornell is the final test past the finish line that determines the true
winner of a horserace.
The Equine Drug Testing and Re search Program of the State Veterinary College at Cornell is responsible for testing blood and urine samples from standardbred and thoroughbred race
horses for illegal drugs. "What basically happens," explains
Dr. George Maylin, the Program's head, "is that Cornell receives a sealed, labeled sample of blood or urine from
the racetracks and then asks the
question: Is anything there?" The questioning began in September
of 1971 when the standardbred asso ,
ciations began experiencing irregularities in their testing programs. The industry asked Cornell to implement a drug testing program similar to the one at Ohio State University. Thoroughbred tracks followed suit during 1973-4, making Cornell the hub for equine drug testing in New York. Contracts for the service were originally with the
individual tracks, but this year the New
York State Racing and Wagering
Board instituted what's called a first
instance appropriation. A sum of money is appropriated by the individual
track through the State Board to
Cornell's program. No taxpayer money
is used directly. Probably the most famous case of a
horse failing a drug test occurred in Kentucky when a "positive" was found
in the sample of Dancer's Image, the "winner" of the 1968 Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the Triple Crown. How ever, the ratio of tested samples that
are positive to those that are not is
extremely low.
The task of testing blood and urine samples of racehorses for drugs is Herculean. Dr. Maylin, who is a vet erinarian and has a Ph.D. in pharma
cology, explains why: "Until recently, no one has really studied drugs in horses. In many instances only a small portion of the dose is excreted as the
parent drug and the remainder is ex
creted as metabolites. Often the metab
olites are unknown entities and must
be characterized to determine which
drug they are from."

The Real Finish Line
by Tom Sutcliffe 78

Samples are tested for acid, base, and neutral type drugs. Powerful new techniques in analytic chemistry such as gas chromatography and mass spec trometry are being used as Dr. Maylin's team begins to develop a comprehen sive procedure for drug testing.
The testing of labeled samples (us ually of the first three finishers, but depending on the track and race, may be more) is completed the day fol lowing the race. In the case of prerace blood testing of standardbreds, the procedure is finished 90 minutes after it is begun. Thoroughbred racing associations are considering pre-race blood testing at their tracks at this
time.
Supposing the test of a sample for drugs is positive? Dr. Maylin immedi ately informs the New York State Racing and Wagering Board, which takes appropriate action in accordance with the state rules and regulations of racing.
All of which is well and good. But you or I might ask: How does Cornell
benefit?

"As you know," replies Dr. Maylin,
"the three basic functions of Cornell
as a state land grant university are teaching, research and service. The Equine Drug Testing and Research Program performs a valuable service for the State Racing Board, the racing industry, and the people of the state,
in addition to researching an area we know little about: the effect of drugs
on horses." The Program has begun to acquire what he calls "a critical mass of people" that's needed to find out more about effects of equine drugs. Recent additions to his staff include
an analytic chemist and a cardiovascu
lar physiologist. The testing program lends integrity
to a racing industry that provides the state with one of its biggest sources of tax revenue. But service and research
toward more knowledge and better service is the key function of Maylms team. Racing's credibility in the eyes of the huge betting public is an abso lute must for a healthy future, and Cornell's Equine Drug Testing and Research Program looms large in thai
future.

A NEW USE FOR MANURE
by Jo Schaffel 78

Much energy is wasted in our highly mechanized world. Synthetic
fertilizers are used to grow food for livestock, which in turn are slaughtered to feed humans. Energy is lost in each step of this process. Tremendous energy is put into making nitrogen fertilizers, yet much of this nitrogen is lost through animal waste. In the past, manure has been spread as crop
fertilizer, but land space is becoming increasingly less available for this type of waste disposal. What is needed is a way to reclaim the nitrogen and other
valuable elements lost in animal waste,
as well as a practical way to dispose
of the waste.
In many tropical areas of the world, farmers have been using fermented
animal manure as a source of methane
gas for cooking. A research team at Cornell is seeking other answers to this problem. Graduate student Po Chung of Taiwan has made a study of an
algae that grows rapidly on swine
waste; one which could be an excel
lent food for livestock. Several others
are working on the project under the guidance of Prof. Wilson G. Pond, Department of Animal Science. They
are Prof. Lennart Krook, Pathology Department, College of Veterinary Medicine, Prof. John Kingsbury, chemist Earl Walker, and PhD candi date Tuan-Ngan Yap. The researchers fed this blue-green algae to laboratory rats, finding it to be as protein-rich as soy beans, and equal to them in pro tein quality.
"So far we have only fed a few
rats!" cautions Professor Pond. The
'-• research is still in a very preliminary stage; there are no grand scale algae-
: producing plans for the future, he said. The experimental set-up, in Morrison
Hall, is relatively simple. A bottomless .wooden frame, lined with a polyethy lene sheet, is filled with water. The
; swine waste is allowed to ferment for
..ten days, and the liquid is then slowly ■ dipped into the tank. The algae,
Arthrospira platensis, grow quickly on
,: he waste medium and are harvested
!f >y filtering out through a fine mesh.
'Other nutrient sources for the algae

are also being investigated, such as synthetic fertilizers, human, chicken and cattle waste. The experiments have not been carried far enough yet to fully interpret the results, Professor Pond explained.
Another species of algae, Arthrospira maxima, is being produced in Mexico at the rate of about one ton per day, on a larger scale and at greater cost than is being done in the Cornell pro ject.
Arthrospira platensis could be an
excellent livestock feed. Professor
Pond explained that it has a 55 to 60
percent protein content and could theoretically yield 20 to 40 tons of dry matter per acre per year. Corn, by comparison, has a ten percent protein content and yields only three tons of dry matter per acre per year. In addi tion, the algae contain high levels of two important amino acids, lysine and tryptophan. Most plants contain very
low levels of these essential amino
acids, needed for animals' growth and
survival.
Researchers know that the algae will
grow on the residue left after swine
waste has been used to produce meth ane gas. It may also be possible to grow algae on fresh waste. Either way, the process could be extremely bene ficial since it recycles nutrients from an already existing waste product, and also cuts down on the disposal prob lem. The method requires very little

This apparatus is algae which can be source for livestock.

used to grow used as a food

land space, so algae production would
not compete with conventional crop
space, and algae needs only the sun
as its energy source. These factors
make growing algae on animal waste very practical for tropical areas, which have a lot of sunlight. Harvesting this particular species of algae is relatively inexpensive and easy. As its name im plies, Arthrospira is a spiral-shaped algae, and can simply be filtered out
of the water in which it has grown.
Other differently-shaped algae must be centrifuged or precipitated out of the
water, involving much more time and
cost.
The algae could be fed to livestock
just as it comes from the water, but Professor Pond pointed out that there might be a problem with diseases caused by bacteria in the animal waste
used. If the algae is ensiled, it would ferment, killing any bacteria present. Another way to use the algae could be to dry it out by heating. This would also kill any bacteria that might be present. The algae could then be stored for future use. The preparation of the algae for feeding has not been fully worked out as yet.
Research involving energy in agri culture is becoming increasingly im
portant. There is a very limited amount
of raw energy available for agriculture, and much of it is being wasted by our present farming methods. New ways of reclaiming energy lost through a system have only recently been inves tigated. By re-using the nutrients lost through animal waste production, de creasing the waste disposal problem,
and producing a high-energy food source for livestock, Po Chung and
Professor Pond are making important progress towards the goal of econom
ical energy use.

Prospective Cornellians often won
der if it is possible to get some sem
blance of an individualized education at Cornell. Despite the immense size of the University, some of the colleges are encouraging student independence
through specialized programs. In the College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences, over 175 students are en rolled in the General Studies Program. According to Dr. Donald C. Burgett, ag college registrar, this program elim
inates specific course requirements for a major, leaving the student with many more options in curriculum. To
ensure that the General Studies Pro
gram is indeed general for each stu dent, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences distribution requirement courses are still mandatory.
The General Studies program grew
out of a general agriculture curriculum originally designed to provide a broad education for the students returning to their family farms. The new program has expanded the scope of the studies available, and more students have joined General Studies. "It's a growing area," said Dr. Burgett. "Many com panies are interested in people with a broad training."
8

DESIGN
YOUR
OWN
PROGRAM
by Joe Lubeck 78
In the agriculture college there is no specific program for self-designed majors or double-majors, but many students can pursue this course if they get faculty support. A student's major is not listed on his diploma, so with a professor's support, one can pursue a self-designed major.
Beverly Holmes, a junior transfer student in the College of Human Ecology has taken advantage of the Independent Major option to pursue
her dual interest in communications and consumer economics. At first dis
couraged from having a double major, Ms. Holmes petitioned the deans and

was finally successful in designing her
own program.
"Cornell has the flexibility to adapt for individual programs," says Beverly
"There were no real problems of peo
ple being opposed to the independent
program. Administrators are just con cerned that all requirements are ful filled." Her only complaint was the huge amount of time involved in ar ranging the program and the inflexibil ity of the program once it was de signed. Fitting courses into a schedule is a real problem for a double major, since there are so many requirements to complete.
Apparently there is growing interest in individualized education, as Beverly
has had a number of students ask her
what it is like and what procedures to follow to design your own program. Although there are no specific guide lines or procedures, interested students
must find faculty support, and then write an academic petition stating what they want to study, why they want to study it, and why the proposed special program is the only way that this course of study can be pursued.
Cliff Cockerham, a senior in the Col
lege of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has designed a double major combining communications with genetics. "Setting up a double major is a learning exper ience in itself," says Cliff. "After spend
ing more time on the rules of the Col
lege and interpreting them than on my courses, I started talking to professors who were interested in helping me get
the kind of education I wanted. If you
know what you want to do, and have
a good reason, they will help you ar
range it."
Cliff feels that Cornell as an institu
tion had nothing to do with fostering
his attempts to arrange an individual education; it merely tolerated it. He
gives credit to concerned faculty mem bers who were willing to devote time and support to his idea. The admini strative tangle is too large to handle individualization, but official policy is to permit it if there are willing faculty members involved. Cliff observed,
"Cornell, the institution, is a maze; you go in and play the game. Every now and then, however, you have an oppor tunity to get up on a stepladder and
look at the maze to see where you are
going. The professors are the step-
ladders."

First Impressions of New Aggies
by Laura Lee Collyer 78

New students in the N.Y. State College of Agriculture and Life Sci
ences have diverse impressions about their experiences at Cornell. A cross-
section of 20 freshman and new
transfer students in the ag college have told the Countryman how they feel about being at Cornell.
Some students confidently claimed that they knew what awaited them. Dan Sovocool, '81, a third generation Cornellian, explained, "Practically everyone in my family came to the College of Agriculture so I knew what to expect. My grandfather, Lewis Sovocool, graduated in 1925; my mother is a '52 graduate, and my dad,
a '50 graduate."
Some students had the opposite re action in that they did not know what to expect at the ag college. Diane Stenlake, '81, microbiology, blurted out, "I thought Cornell would be snob bish because of its Ivy League repu tation. Now my impression is different since most people are very friendly."
Andrea Coyle, '81, biology, claims
that since her sister came here she
wanted to follow in her footsteps. She finds it difficult academically, but says that the people in her suite are so studious that they give her a sense of discipline.
Others, such as Rich Patterson, '81,
are apprehensive about their Cornell
experience. He claims, "I'm afraid of HOW I'm going to change."
Ron Rejda, '81, ag ec major, has a more positive approach. He says, "I adapt very well to adverse conditions; I'm optimistic."
As of this fall, approximately 580 freshmen and 320 transfers have ma
triculated into the agriculture college. The College's Director of Admissions, Leonard W. Feddema, has warned that although these freshmen and transfers may be well prepared aca
demically, they may not be prepared emotionally. He claims, "Cornell is
tough. We can't accommodate all that

run with the pack." Among all the confusion of classes,
Desiree Ball, '81, feels, "My main problem is that nobody cares about me. I can get lost in the crowd at
Cornell and no one will notice."
Many freshmen have expressed un certainty about their career goals, but Susan Giusti, '81, pre-vet major, al ready has her future planned to attend
vet school.
Another descendant from earlier
generations of Cornellians is Tom Fos ter, '81, who admitted that "Before
I was born, I was going to go to Cor
nell. It seemed like the most feasible
thing since so many in my family went
there."
The ag freshmen are experiencing college for the first time, whereas transfers have been "through the ropes"
at other colleges. Randy Sauer, '79, transfer and nat
ural resources major, confides that "Nothing has surprised me. I knew Cornell would be demanding and tough to adjust to." He did note that the students and faculty of the ag college had a "devotion to their college which
was more noticeable than in any other
college in the University." Ag college activities such as the Ho-
Nun-De-Kah barbecue were mentioned
by several new students. Lisa Kanner, 79, transfer, finds such activities to be "unifying experiences."
Jennifer Koch, '79, transfer, enjoys
the combination of science and hu
manities in the ag college. Although she is a communication arts major,
she finds the "science background"
very useful.
"Why else does anyone come to the ag college besides to go to vet school?", questions a junior transfer. "I've been to five different schools; I'm not sure what I want to learn, but I like the variety of courses in agriculture. I've majored in music, geology, oceanogra
phy, meteorology, and agriculture."
She is amazed at the level of teach
ing quality at Cornell. However, other

Andrea Coyle, '81, new student in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, contemplates her choice of
studies and her Cornell future.
students who were interviewed were
dissatisfied with some of their profes
sors.
Another junior transfer in ag ec finds
that one of the great difficulties is the "overcrowded lectures" in the ag col
lege. Aside from this disappointment, everything is "running pretty smoothly."
Another opinion about academics in the ag college is expressed by Steve Eggert, '79, transfer and ag engineering major. Steve feels that the Cornell ag college gives him a well-rounded agri cultural education. Despite this variety at Cornell, Steve remains devoted to his career goal: "I came from a farm, I'm here to learn about this business,
and that's what I want to go back to."
Ralph Souza, '79, transfer, remarks, "I was surprised at what variety Cor nell has to offer. Besides that, the campus is so beautiful it just amazes
me." Freshmen and transfers alike under
go the movement from one stage in life to another under the academic and
social discipline of the agriculture col lege. Their impressions of this experi ence show the interesting variety of students composing the ag college.

9

NEW LIFE FOR

Meals in the newly renovated Sage House are quiet, luxurious and re/axing.
Sage Dining
The semester is well under way. Pre lims and papers are coming at you hard
and fast. Need an escape from the harsh realities of Cornell 1977? Take a
step backwards into the late 1800's, an era of grace and elegance.
Sage House is Cornell's newest reminder of an age gone by. Formerly Sage Dining Hall, Sage House began its $620,000 "facelift" last January.
It remained open for meals until the
end of the semester. Meanwhile, con struction was being done on the base ment, part of which had to be lowered
15 inches so all rooms would be a uni
form level. Sage House was completed and ready for service August 28.
The idea of a Victorian setting for Sage came from the original architec ture of the building. However, as two full-time workers, Nellie McEver and Norma Dobson commented, "This is what it was like in the 1800's? I thought
it was hard times then!" The decor of
Sage House is hardly representative
of "hard times."
Fluorescent lights have been replaced by tiffany-style lamps of genuine shell

and chandeliers. The tile floor has
made way for soft carpeting in gold and brown tones. Hanging plants adorn the windows, and the ceiling tiles are engraved with various designs. Booths and chairs are padded and comfortable. Coat racks stand by every table and
more racks are to be installed on the
booths.
Signs are placed strategically through out the various rooms. Upstairs there are the Drawing Room and the Conser
vatory. Downstairs there are six rooms: The Root Cellar, The Wood Room, The China Closet, The Trunk Room, The Scullery, and The Servants' Hall.
by Eva wu 78
The restrooms are tastefully referred
to as "water closets" and instead of
the usual "No Smoking" signs, a pic ture with a hand holding a cigar and
the words "Please Refrain" serves as
a gentle reminder. The sign by the dish
return window says "Thank you for
being the butler." The staff is dressed a la mode 1800, complete with caps
and aprons for the women and hats
and vests for the men. Prices, however, remain 1977 style.
Aside from those changes that are immediately apparent, the grills are new. Your Sageburger is now char-broiled instead of grilled. The dishroom has
been relocated. "You remember the
mess it was before," said Manager Ed Farmer, Arts, '73. Before, the dishes

had to be hand transported from the
dish-return window to the dishwasher. The serving area has been enlarged the kitchen moved closer to the serving area, and refrigeration space has more than doubled. These changes make for a more efficient dining service.
The seating capacity for Sage is now 389 people. Last year the seating ca pacity was 266 people. Also, business has been booming at Sage. There has
been a 33 percent increase in business at lunch and a 120 percent increase
at dinner.
Customers, in general, have positive remarks about the new Sage House. Louis Cohen, Arts, 78, commented, "The facilities are impressive. It looks more like a professional dining area as opposed to an institutional one. I think the money was well spent."
Sage House is merely carrying on a fine dining tradition. In the past, the building was once only for women and
known as Sage College, Co-ed dining was necessary to fill the seating capa city. In February 1876, 50 males re fused segregation and insisted on sitting at co-ed tables. It is said in A History
of Cornell, that the Psi Upsilons were
particularly troublesome, demanding
breakfast from the best end of the sir
loin steak. History also shows that in order to attract business, many of the
dining halls of the 1800's had gone so far as to provide an orchestra several
times a week.
Breakfast is no longer served; or chestras are economically at least, passe. But Sage House remains open, a tradition in fine dining.

Efficient service areas leave hurried patrons more time to en joy the/r meals.

10

OLD LANDMARKS

At 8:30 P.M. on September 24,
the Strand Theater reopened its doors
for the theater's first evening of live performances in 27 years. The dedica tion ceremony and welcoming of dig nitaries and guests preceded the sea
son opening show, a debut perfor mance of the Dennis Wayne "Dan cers." Opening weekend continued on Sunday the 25th with a special concert by the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, part of which was narrated by Cor nell astronomy professor Carl Sagan.
The story of the resurrection of this
Ithaca landmark is an interesting one. When it was built in 1917, the Strand

The Strand in the 1930's: Note the separate movie listings for men and
women!

Strand Theater
was one of five theaters in the down
town area. Long outliving the other four, the Strand had live performances up until 1950 featuring such legendary performers as Helen Hayes and George M. Cohan. But in 1950, this elegant
theater was converted into a movie-
house which was subsequently aban doned. Eventually there were even plans proposed to tear down the Strand and put in a parking lot or a furniture
store.
But in the fall of 1976, Ithacans be came inspired by successful renovation projects in the nearby cities of Bing hamton and Elmira. A drive to create
interest culminated in the purchase of the Strand in January 1977 by two Ithaca residents. These two, Barbara Thuesen and Elaine Downing, acted in behalf of a community corporationthe Tompkins County Center for Cul ture and the Performing Arts, Inc.
Just how big an undertaking was the renovation? According to Thuesen, there really wasn't that much to do. The stage was classified as "absolute ly first rate" and the building itself was fine. Helped immensely by a loan from a bank in Binghamton, the work mostly involved installation of new safety equipment. This included adding new fire doors, wiring, and a sprinkler sys
tem. Seats were also installed down
stairs and the balcony tiers are carpeted for a more relaxed, comfortable atmo-

by Paul Brantley 78
sphere. Otherwise, most of the work was in restoring the theater to its ori ginal 1917 condition. Even the original color scheme of ivory, rose and gold was faithfully restored.
In addition to adding an exciting new
dimension to Ithaca's downtown cul tural scene, the Strand will also be
benefiting the Cornell theater arts de partment. Cornell's Board of Trustees recently agreed on a five year contract with the Strand giving the theater arts
The Strand, 1977, during reno
vation. Its redebut was on
September 24.

department 50 days use of the theater annually. The advantages of the Strand Theater over Willard Straight (where Cornell productions have always been) are many. The main advantage is the Strand's size. Not only does it seat 500 more people (900 versus 400), but the large size of the stage allows Cornell to produce musicals, operas, and Shakespearean plays-all of which they've never been able to do before.
The downtown location of the theater
is also very convenient to ample park ing.
The Strand renovation is a gift to
everyone in Ithaca. A full season of
ballet, jazz and mime is planned and the people of Ithaca can once again enjoy live theater art downtown.

11

Most of the Ag Quad's beautiful elms have fallen to Dutch elm disease, but recent plantings ensure a green
future.
A
LOOK

Med boards, law boards, business boards; skateboards fit right into
campus life.

"
. . .and the wall came a
'tumblin' down!" Bank renova
tions have forced the late-night Collegetown crowd to seek a
new hangout.

Moped-mania hits the
Cornell campus, making the hills just a little eas
ier to bear.

THE
With construction proceeding ahead of schedule, the Boyce
Thompson Institute for Plant Re
search looks forward to a June
1978 opening.

FALL

Gorge-gazers say the view is ob structed, but steel restraining bars on the Suspension Bridge prevent acci
dents.

13

Cheap Thrills and Other Frills
A Current Look At University Unions
by Steve Hodgson 78

They are the hangouts for the pool
sharks, the hideaways for the serious students, buildings "to provide for the
furtherance of human contacts among
Cornell students," as Willard Straight, '01, once expressed. It was on this lat ter premise that Willard Straight Hall was built in 1925 to be followed by Noyes Center in 1967 and North Cam pus Union in 1971. The Department
of University Unions, a combination of all three buildings plus a separate University Unions staff, is well known in the college union field as being a front runner in providing special pro gramming and events to meet the
needs and desires of Cornell students.
Each of the three unions is run by a governing board made up of students and the respective directors of the
buildings. They handle building use and policy and oversee the direction of
programming. In addition, a program committee in each union is responsi ble for creating the imaginative and
varied forms of entertainment and
relaxation for the year. Both the boards and the program committees are self-
perpetuating, with an emphasis on character development and working as
a group.
The UU staff, directed by Ron Loomis, includes the University Unions Program Board (UUPB), the Cornell Concert Commission, the Cornell Cin
ema and Wilderness Reflections. Be
sides the paid staff, many volunteers gain experience in programming, busi ness management and advertising.
This year, various changes and addi
tions have been made within the unions. One of the most creative

additions is "Cheap Thrills," a discount coupon book. "Cheap Thrills" offers students over sixty discounts on every thing from ping-pong to concerts and movies, all for 15 dollars. Several years ago, the Concert Commission decided to develop some ways to help sponsor popular concerts be cause they found they were moving
away from the kind of concerts stu
dents wanted. They dreamed up the idea of the books, did all the legwork in contacting all three unions and the UUPB in order to arrange special dis
counts and sent out advertising to incoming freshmen. "I think they're going well for the first year," com mented Toni Riccardi, University Unions
program director. She also added that
sales should pick up once a concert is
scheduled. The book holders are entitled
to concert discounts, plus early selection on reserved seats in Bailey Hall. Toni added, "You only need to use about
one-third of the book to make it pay
for itself. It is worth the price."
Tradition is also being brought back by the Unions. Hope Spruance, the new Director of Willard Straight Hall,
woula like to see the "revitalization of
the Straight as a cultural center." One
way she envisions this is to reactivate
the art lending library. Over many years the Straight has accumulated hundreds of art prints and originals which have been donated by outside sources or bought by the union. They would be made available to students, faculty and
staff for a small fee. There would
also be a reactivation of the art lounge for use as a gallery and for periodic
art sales.
Parents' Weekend is another tradi
tion that the Unions have brought back.
The last Parents' Weekend was the
same weekend as the 1969 Straight takeover. "It will be an experiment at first," said Toni Riccardi, "but the pro

gram will have a lot to offer the
parents." Chances to meet professors, enjoy
Cornell sports, and visit the unions are
a part of the program as well as a
special lecture by Carl Sagan, noted professor of astronomy. The weekend was designed primarily for parents of
freshmen and transfers to let them also
become a part of the Cornell experience. Along with bringing back the old
traditions, many new additions are
evident. Noyes Center, in the heart of the West Campus dormitory area, has undergone a remodeling in efforts to improve its services. The pub, a favorite place for relaxation, has been expand ed to cover nearly one-third of the ground floor. "It is designed to be both a place for relaxation and education," said Steve Dalton, 78, a student bar
tender. "The room can be used as both
a study lounge, and as a pub and entertainment center." Steve added, "We're trying to be a little more sophis
ticated and at the same time serve the
students." Student mailboxes, once in University Hall One, have been moved to Noyes, creating a greater utiliza tion of the building.
North Campus Union, the youngest of the unions, is also expanding. A four by six foot video screen was rented for viewing the presidential debates last year and was later acquired by NCU for increased programming ideas. The Thirsty Bear Tavern, the North Cam pus counterpart of the Noyes pub, has
initiated a "Take a Professor to the
TBT" offer. Any student may take a professor and get two drinks for the price of one.
These new programs and facilities reflect a period of growth and expan sion for the University Unions, as they continue to look for new ways to
provide students with a place for "furthering their contacts" with them
selves and others.

14

Access For The Handicapped At Cornell

by Robin Feiner 78
A few years ago Bob Holdsworth ' 'as accepted to Cornell as a linguistics ■ :'iajor: soon afterward he wound up in
'': i wheelchair. Still determined to come ") Cornell, he contacted various admin■-.trative offices here to explain his - ew predicament and to find out what
■^ind of accommodations were made
-or the physically handicapped. He re ceived a series of apologetic excuses ': bout hills, inclement Ithaca weather,
:-~-nd "architecturally significant" build-
rigs which couldn't be altered-all of
f- -*/hich translated to Bob as, "Why
:Hon't you look for a more suitable school?" He wouldn't. He entered : Cornell, drove his car to the entrance
.if each building, hired someone to -ihysically maneuver him into Morrill —tell for his linguistics classes-and fell : Jown a flight of steps the first week. \few days later, he was an economics ; major. (The auditorium in Uris Hall was ..-nore accessible.) Meanwhile, his car
u.;-vas getting ticketed left and right. .., Bob's case is not unique. In the
...wst, disabled students have been
orced to find their own resources on
i campus that's more like an obstacle
course. But the story has suddenly changed. ;., Last spring, the federal Department ;.jf Health, Education and Welfare ssued a regulation enforcing Section
•504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973-
'•■vhich, in effect, is the first federal ;ivil rights law protecting the rights of 'handicapped individuals. Specifically, t provides that "No otherwise quali fied handicapped individual shall, solely 5V reason of his handicap, be excluded rom the participation in, be denied ":he benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or
Activity receiving federal financial Assistance." This includes Cornell Uni versity. :': Beyond the legal jargon, the carmpus-
v'de implications of Section 504 are ireat. All existing programs at Cornell nust be made accessible, including
/lasses guest lectures, religious

services, the Johnson Art Museum, use of all libraries, dining areas, park ing lots or any other aspect of campus
life that Cornell affords its students.
All facilities under construction also
must be designed so as to provide "ready accessibility" for the handi capped. But at Cornell, it is clearly the older buildings-the "architecturally sig nificant" ones with an equally signi ficant number of steps before each
entrance, often multi-storied and with
out an elevator-that are the major
offenders.
Structurally revamping the entire campus, though, would be financially prohibitive. Lewis Roscoe, manager of the architectural section of Design and Project Management at Cornell, esti mates that it would cost upwards of $50,000 to make the necessary struc tural changes in a building such as Franklin Hall to render it "readily ac
cessible".
Some flexibility is thus written into the legislation, suggesting that a more feasible method of compliance is to
seek non-structural alternatives first.
For example, class locations could be shifted, or lectures could be taped and
books brought to students. But a factor to be stressed here is the goal of providing these programs in "as in tegrated" or natural a setting as poss ible. The only truly satisfactory alter native, then, is one which doesn't
separate these students but rather
allows them to participate in an activ ity in the same manner as anyone else.
The situation resulting from the new law is not a simple one. An example of the complications just beginning to surface is the conflicting needs of different handicapped groups: while curb-cuts facilitate wheelchair mobility,
they are dangerous to a blind student
who may not realize that he or she is
entering the street. Since last spring, Cornell administra
tors have been concentrating their efforts to anticipate and combat these problems. Each college has identified a person who is equipped to assist dis abled students with course scheduling,
room changes and exam provisions.
A handicapped access ramp has been added to Olin Library.

Library services will be available for those who require them. A committee
has been formed to address itself
specifically to the problems of handi capped students. A designated Re source Coordinator, Associate Dean of Students Florence Berger, will be avail
able to talk with any self-identified
handicapped student about his or her
concerns, as well as provide materials detailing campus accessibility.
Perhaps a major reason for the recent
bureaucratic progress in the handi
cap issue is its Campus Coordinator, Ruth Darling. She seems to take on her responsibilities with a moral commitment as well as a legal one. Ms. Darling is both well-informed and sensitive to the difficulties facing these students, and will be working closely with Florence Berger and Lewis Roscoe
to monitor the progress of the commit
tee and any student problems that
materialize.
Cornell has three years to complete this project, perfecting all new struc tures and making arrangements which will convert the present campus into a completely accessible one. In the
meantime, all prospective students are receiving application materials which clearly state that the University does
not discriminate on the basis of handi
cap in recruitment or admission of
students, nor in their treatment after
admission. With the law and the Uni
versity on their side, it is now up to
these students to come to Cornell to
ensure that the last part holds true.

CORNELL FOOTBALL
Change In The Air
by Mark Pinnie 78

When conversation in the Ithaca
area turns to football you can usually depend on one of two things happen ing. Either there will be an argument about how bad Cornell football is, or there will be a reminiscing about the good old days of Ed Marinaro. But there is a wind of change going through Cornell football, a change that many predict will bring an Ivy League
title back to Ithaca. The man who has
instigated this change is something of a living legend in the Ivy League - his
name is Bob Blackman.
The hiring of Bob Blackman has brought on an incredible wave of opti
mism about the future of Cornell foot
ball. Looking at Blackman's past successes it is easy to see why a
reversal of Cornell's football fortunes
seems inevitable. During his years at
Dartmouth Blackman compiled a
104-37-3 record, winning an amazing seven Ivy League championships. After moving to Illinois Blackman completely
turned around a program that was
mired in the depths of the Big 10,
probably the most competitive league
in the nation. In the winter of 1976
after being offered several professional and major college coaching jobs Blackman accepted the head coaching job at Cornell. Why with such lucrative
job offers did the third winningest
coach in the nation decide to come to
lowly Cornell? Blackman's answer to
that question was simple. Cornell was
a good football school in terms of
tradition, winning potential, and com ing to Cornell would provide him with
a great challenge - to make the Big Red winners again. Here then was a program Blackman could mold, and the changes that have been imple
mented in the short time he has been
here have shown that change will not be gradual, but according to a specific timetable.
One changing factor that will aid
the renaissance of Cornell football is
the pledged support of Athletic Director

At an early season football practice. Presi dent Rhodes gets the
scoop on the team from Coach Blackman.
Dick Schultz and President Frank
Rhodes to bring a winning team to
Cornell. Often overlooked in the devel opment of a successful program are
the importance of a commitment from the athletic department and the
school's administration. Schultz came
to Cornell from the University of Iowa and is quick to point out that contri
butions for academic programs rise when there is an increased success on
the athletic fields. There is undoubtedly an air of cooperation between Blackman and Schultz in their quest of a winning program. In September new University President Frank Rhodes stepped onto the Poly-Turf at Schoell

kopf Field, which may seem like alien
territory for an academician. However Rhodes was completely at ease addressing the football squad that day, and stayed to watch the whole prac tice. More important, Rhodes said that there was no reason why a university could not have a first rate academic reputation, and a first rate football
team, as witnessed by his experiences at the University of Michigan. The
pledging of support by these two men rates as a definite plus in the
changing face of Cornell football. One change that became immedi
ately evident in this so called "Black-
man era" has been the re-organization

16

of the recruiting system at Cornell. Blackman came to Cornell working with two serious disadvantages. First
he was hired in the middle of the
college recruiting season. Second, he has had to work hard to dispel the notion that Cornell is a loser, some thing that talented young high school ers definitely consider. Although beset by these two problems Blackman has pulled off a minor miracle in his re cruiting for this year. Along with several blue chip All-Americans he has recruited the largest incoming class since the heyday of Ed Marinaro. Tom Weidenkopf, one of this year's freshman players, speaks of Blackman's recruiting wizardry: "He just impressed me incredibly with his honesty and commitment to building a winner up
here. When I realized most of the
other Ivy coaches recruiting me were his former assistants it really made me
want to go to Cornell and see what
playing for Blackman was like." The immediate changes that Black-
man has implemented will become apparent throughout the season. Ren
ovations were done on cavernous

Schoellkopf stadium , with the words CORNELL and GO BIG RED painted
in both end zones. Cornell's uniforms are brand new and lend an added bit
of flash to the Big Red's appearance
on the field. The helmet that Cornell
wears was designed by Blackman himself, the trademark of a changing team. In line with these changes
Blackman has instituted an offense
that can only be termed exciting.
Cornell's mentor is known nationwide
for his innovative plays and wide open style of ball. At both Dartmouth and
Illinois Blackman's teams have contin
ually surprised opponents with reverses, fake field goals and specific plays that always hit right at the defense's
weaknesses.
Since last spring, when the team
met for the first time at an informal
meeting, there has been something intangible growing at the core of Cornell football. There is a spirit that the players on this Blackman team
have developed. Dave Kintigh, 79, said, "I never felt the confidence I feel
now on the team. I think we realize
that we have the potential to win and

that we have a very skilled man lead
ing us." Dave Tretter, 78, added that, "Blackman has really had an impact on the team. As long as I've been here we've been missing that extra something that wins ballgames. I think if we develop the discipline that Coach wants us to, that we're undoubtedly going to be a winner--and that would be nice for a change!"
Cornell football fans all over the
country would echo the sentiment
that it "would be nice" to have a win
ner here in Ithaca. The addition of
Bob Blackman to Cornell football has
lent class, credibility, and impact to
the football program in his short tenure.
By the time this article is released
we'll know whether the impact (in the
form of victories) is an immediate one.
But whatever the outcome of the 1977
season, it seems as though the days of looking to the past glory of Cornell football are over. There is a change in the air for Cornell's football future, and that change should be a winning
one. Bob Blackman wouldn't have it
any other way.

Designed by Coach Blackman himself, Cornell's new helmets and uniforms get put to the test during the Colgate game.

17

"A dynamite idea. . ."
That was one of the enthusiastic re sponses to a three day program enti tled "Improving Scholarship in Teach ing" for new teaching assistants. The
comprehensive program, sponsored by
the Office of Resident Instruction in
the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, took place just before fall classes began this year.
Recently, the Office of Resident Instruction reminded the College, "If we want to continue to attract high-
quality students, . . .[we must) provide high-quality learning experiences." Many students' "learning experiences"
come from interaction with the teach
ing assistants in their courses. Over 300 TA's are employed by the College to help professors teach nearly 800
courses.
Usually, TA's, most of whom are graduate students, assist in autotutorial courses or in large classes
which offer laboratories or discussion
sections. Depending on their particular assignments, they have a variety of responsibilities: preparing materials for laboratory courses; leading discussion sections; grading exams and papers; holding tutorial sessions.
Thus, TA's have a direct influence on the quality of education a student
receives. Yet many TA's have never
had any, or only limited, teaching education or experience. Lack of ex
perience or teaching knowledge shows in their classes and, in response, some
students voice their dissatisfaction.
Prompted by a concern for under
graduate education, the Office of Res ident Instruction organized and spon sored the TA program. Dr. Earl Brown,
Associate Director of Resident Instruc
tion, is its originator. Although the first of its kind, the TA
program's forerunner was a series of
workshops addressing specific subjects
of interest to TA's. Evaluations of
these workshops were favorable, indi cating a need, so Dr. Brown moved ahead to establish the three day pro gram which would provide new TA's with suggestions and ideas before their
classes started.
These suggestions and ideas came from lectures ranging from educational and psychological theory to practical how-to items in teaching methods and aids. While setting up the program,

Teaching
TA's
by Marleen Bicknese 78
Dr. Brown kept in mind TA's respon sibilities and tried to provide informa tion to help meet them. He tracked
down well-informed individuals from
many of the College's departments and persuaded them to address specific topics at the program. A panel of outstanding TA's presented their in sights learned on-the-job and a panel of instructors responded to questions
the new TA's had asked on their ap
plication forms.
Besides the information and the
opportunity to observe experienced pro fessors and instructors in action, the fall program offered several special features. The information packet given to each new TA attending included Harvey R. Bernstein's Manual for Teaching as well as notes on each topic presented during the program.
The Office of Resident Instruction
hoped this notebook would serve as a
permanent reference source for the

TA as he or she actually began to teach. A reference shelf of books which TA's might find helpful for their
jobs was established in Mann Library.
Thirdly, the communication arts and
education departments jointly offered to videotape and critique TA's presen
tations once they started their classes. After observing themselves on video,
TA's could better evaluate their skills and improve them.
Naturally, as evaluations come in, many suggestions are being offered to help improve the next program scheduled for January. Due to limited
enrollment, only 50 of the 90 who
applied for the fall could attend, so a
demand for another program does
exist. Of those who did come, many wrote it was worthwhile and would be
even more so if suggestions they made
were incorporated.
One major criticism, voiced by both
students and faculty, was the scope
of the program. Prof. D.G. Sisler of
the agricultural economics department agreed that too much was attempted at one time. Many things were not ap
plicable to all people, he noted, since
TA's assist in different types of
courses. Professor Sisler added that
although a TA may not be using a
certain idea for a class this semester,
he or she may use that information in
a later course or at a different university.
Prof. Victor R. Stephen of the com munication arts department called the program a "good first step" in meet ing a need. He suggested the informa
tion be communicated to TA's earlier
so that they could use it more effective
ly in their course assisting. Dr. Earl Brown, the coordinator of
the program, never intended to imply
that one can become a teacher in three
easy lessons. "Even the best instructors
can only give clues and hints," he adds. "The way to become a good teacher is to develop a desire and willingness to work at it, to like students and to practice." Nevertheless, when resources are made available, there is a greater likelihood of their being used. If so,
then TA's aware of these resources
may be better equipped to provide
more "high-quality learning exper iences." Already some of the new TAs who attended have indicated they are applying what they learned, so the program is making a desired impact.

18

"An eye opening experience", is how Jane E. Hardy of the communi
cation arts department described the new campus organization, Cornell Women in Communication (CWIC). She said, "It opens opportunities that students might not otherwise come across, through events such as lectures and workshops."
Inspired by the need for more pro
fessional contact among students and
professionals in communications, plus
the level of media saturation in the
Ithaca area, five graduate students decided to found a chapter of Women in Communications, Inc. (WIG) at
Cornell last January. Four of the original steering com
mittee members, Helen Taylor, Elaine Lewis, Lucia Libretti and Cheryl Wood

an international organization that was established in 1909 with the primary goal to work for a free and responsible
press. It is not a radical feminist organ
ization focusing solely on the needs
and merits of women. Recall a bit of
history for a moment. During the
19th century women were excluded from any professional organizations so it became necessary for women inter ested in communications to organize their own group, which accounts for
the name Women in Communications, Inc. Today, however WICI welcomes
both male and female members whose
interests lie in all fields of communi
cations.
WICI is one of the oldest and largest organizations of its type in the United
States. WICI draws members from
every area of communications and

Cheryl said she was delighted to dis cover that Ms. Mary Utting, the exec utive director of WICI, was enthusias tic about a new chapter at Cornell. Ms. Utting has a special interest as
she is a Cornell alumna.
The chapter advisors for CWIC are
faculty advisor, Jane E. Hardy and professional advisor, Barbara Hall from
radio station WHCU. Currently there
are 30 active members in CWIC with
prospects of a bright future as each week more interested people show up for the meetings.
At the moment, members in CWIC
are busy preparing for a one day work shop called New Perspectives in
Communication: The Communication
Specialist. The workshop will focus broadly on careers in communication and will attempt to bring together

W.I. C.I. Comes To Cornell

by Rita M. Slovacek 78

ruff are all graduate students in the Department of Communication Arts. Linda Camp, who received a Masters' degree last year, is also a member.
Jane Hardy and four representatives from the steering committee attended a WICI conference during April in Washington, D.C. to gain some first hand knowledge about the organiza tion. At the conference they met with the regional Vice President, Ms. Bar bara Haas, and discussed the com
munication resources in the Cornell
community. "At Cornell there are over 50 women professionally employed in
communication-related fields as well as
27 graduate students and 150 under graduates in the Department of Com munication Arts, and more than half of them are women." said Cheryl
Woodruff, one of the original commit tee members and the current president
of Cornell Women in Communications
(CWIC).
Based on this information a de
cision was made to establish the Cor
nell chapter as a joint student and professional organization. Membership in a campus chapter offers students a unique opportunity to increase their professionalism. Both students and
professionals will learn about job oppor tunities and be able to enhance pro fessional growth and contacts through organized field-trips, workshops, guest lectures and conferences.
Women in Communications, Inc. is

since its founding more than 30,000
have become members.
The organization provides a number of services for its members, including job listings, communications education, management training, scholarships and awards, community service programs and several publications. WICI holds annual national meetings and yearround programs for members to help keep them abreast of the latest devel opments in the rapidly changing field
of communications.
The person largely responsible for establishing communications with the WICI National Headquarters in Austin, Texas is Cheryl Woodruff. She said that one of the reasons for becoming so deeply involved in WICI is because
the academic world is too isolated.
She said, "It's important to broaden students' perspectives on life after school. One way to make this happen is by exposing individuals to profession al organizations."

faculty and students with outstanding communications professionals from traditional and newly evolving fields.
Career panels will be set up with professionals from various fields in communications offering information and answering questions. There are other activities planned for the year including video and writing workshops, guest speakers and films. These events
are open to anyone who wishes to
attend. Membership in Cornell Women
in Communications is not restricted to Cornellians. For more information
about membership and events contact Cheryl Woodruff at 256-6500.
CWIC is an organization that can and will bridge the gap between academia and the professional world
in all fields of communications.
W.I.C.I.'s organization is carried out through a Steering Committee that
attended a national conference last
spring.

A Guide to

AUTUMNAI

Before the zero degree weather and
snow set in, there are many inter
esting and memorable sights to see at Cornell University and in the Ithaca
area. Whether a newcomer to the area,
an alumnus returning to Cornell for a football weekend, or a student or
faculty member, Ithaca's fall panorama offers something for everyone. Rang ing from parks to plantations to labor atories, the things to do and see on or
near the Cornell campus are unlimited.
Here is a brief guide to some of the
more unusual landmarks in the local
area.
Gorges and waterfalls abound throughout much of the Ithaca region. Three state parks near the University campus have especially wondrous falls
to admire. Lower Buttermilk State Park
just off the Elmira Road on Route 13
has a large waterfall with a steep hiking path parallel to the falls. Upper Buttermilk Park, one mile past Ithaca College on King Road, is dotted with
picnicking tables and has hiking trails. Up the road from lower Buttermilk,
Robert H. Treman State Park is also
sectioned into a lower and upper area. The lower part, off Elmira Road on
Route 327, features a waterfall which is surrounded by campgrounds and
trails. These trails lead to the upper section of the park (further up Route
327 if you are travelling by car) which is crisscrossed by delicate creeks and winding paths. On the other side of town, Taughannock State Park's (Route 89 - 8 miles past the Octopus)
south section has a grassy beach for
summertime swimming in Cayuga Lake.
Visitors to the North Park may hike up
to Taughannock Falls or drive to Look
out Point at the top of the 215 foot waterfall.
Visitors can stop in at Stewart Park
for a panoramic view of the Cayuga Lake landscape. The park, located on
Route 13 down the road from the
Triphammer Shopping area, has lovely
facilities for picnics and fires. Without

by Peggy Koenig 78
Students take advantage of sunny
fall weather before winter "Ithacation" arrives.

having to go too far from the Cornell campus, however, Beebe Lake is an
other water hole which deserves a quick walk around. If a hike is not in order, a view of Beebe Lake can be admired from inside the Noyes Pancake House which overlooks the lake.
Two of Cornell's own facilities ex
hibit the natural habitat: the Planta
tions and the Laboratory of Ornithol ogy at the Sapsucker Woods Sanctu ary. The Sanctuary contains almost
180 acres of flora and fauna inter
sected by four miles of trails. On the sanctuary premises, the Lyman K. Stuart Observatory provides a window wall and telescopes to view a ten acre pond and feeding station. Inside the Observatory itself, a varied selection of Louis Agassiz Fuertes' bird paintings are exhibited. The Observatory is open usually from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Satur days and Sundays. A variety of plants, trees, and shrubs, some rare or un
common to this area, may be found
on the 1,500 acres of Cornell land
called the Cornell Plantations off
Forest Home Drive. A main office on
Comstock Knoll provides a large scale
model of the area, maps and brochures. The Plantations include a wildflower
garden which is part of Rockwell Field Laboratory, the Cornell Test Gardens, the Hedge Collection, the
Walter C. Muenscher Poisonous Plants Garden behind the New York
State College of Veterinary Medicine
and the Robison York State Herb
Garden. Still another place to visit is the University orchards on Dryden Road. A special October treat is the Plantations' Fall-in, an educational celebration of autumn. Although this year's seventh annual festival has passed, keep in mind the wagon rides, pumpkin carving, craft demonstrations, the old-fashioned apothecary shop, music and dance entertainment and
food for sale as part of any future adventure.

20 i

\TTRACTIONS

The L.H. Bailey Hortorium green house on Tower Road provides an edu cation in tropical and sub-tropical plants, some 1,500 species in all, while its neighbor the Minns Garden displays a changing landscape from spring to fall. The greenhouse is open to the public daily, 8-5, except Fri day, 9-4.
Cornell's constructed environment
also offers many interesting places to visit. Atop the Johnson Art museum, an aerial view of the Ithaca landscape
is outstanding. Open Tuesday through Saturday from 8-5 and Sundays from 11-5; and Wednesday evenings until 9, the museum houses several per manent collections and various touring
exhibitions.
For those more taken with the out
er cosmos, the Fuertes Observatory is

located between Helen Newman Hall
and Pleasant Grove Road. It is open
most clear evenings while the Univer sity is in session. Another wonder on the Cornell campus, the Wilson Syn chrotron Facility, is located on the north side of Route 366. A particle accelerator, the Synchrotron studies the properties of materials by speeding their particles around a magnetic ring
of over 800 feet in diameter. It is one
of the world's largest. Hours are from 9-4 Monday through Friday. Tours must be arranged.
These waterfalls and parks, observ atories and labs and plantations and gardens are just the beginnings of the area's wonders. But if nothing else,
a visit to each should almost be a
must during any stay or visit to Cornell University or the Ithaca area.

It's hard to tell who's watching who at the Laboratory of Ornithology's
window-wall.

Good times for all at the Fall-In: The hayride stops to pick up more passengers
for a ride around the Plantations.

"
•^SftR-VT'" '' '** *
xf '/*';•

21

HO-NUN-DE-KAH BARBECUE

Chickening Out
by Judy Redel 78

Ho-Nun-De-Kah
members serve dinner
to hungry freshmen, transfers and their faculty
advisors.

"There may be no such thing as a free lunch anymore, but tonight has
proven that free dinners still exist."
These words of Cornell University President Frank H.T. Rhodes aptly set
the mood for the College of Agriculture's
annual chicken barbecue for new stu
dents held on September 19, 1977. The event, co-sponsored by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and its senior honorary society, Ho-Nun-DeKah, was successful for the 31st con secutive year in bringing freshmen and transfers in the College together with faculty and administration for an in formal evening.
Dr. Donald Burgett, advisor of HoNun-De-Kah, explained that the yearly barbecues were suggested by the honorary back in the 1940's as a way
for new students to get to know their advisors outside of a strictly academic setting. "I believe that students need to feel that there is a sense of camarad
erie between themselves and the facul
ty of the school," Burgett noted. The Dean of the College agreed to finance the event, stipulating only that Ho-Nun-De-Kah be responsible for organizing and running it.
Since 1947, the barbecue has be
come virtually the only non-Orientation, large-scale gathering of new students and faculty at Cornell University. Chi Chi Lau 78, vice president of Ho-NunDe-Kah and chairperson of this year's barbecue, thinks it appropriate that the honorary brings new students and

faculty together through this event. She explained, "Ho-Nun-De-Kah fo cuses on helping the agriculture col lege student. This barbecue is a real
service because it shows freshmen
and transfers another side of the
school."
In the huge Livestock Judging Pavilion where the event is held, red-
and-white-clothed tables span from
one end of the building to the other
to seat the 850 students and 150
faculty invited. The faculty and stu dent advisors sit in specially-numbered sections according to their depart ments, while new students are given programs that point out where they
can find them.
The traditional evening is known not only for its enjoyable atmosphere and excellent food, but also for its speakers and entertainment. This year, Cayuga's Waiters crooned several
smooth melodies and hammed it up
on Cornell songs before rendering
the Alma Mater for the benefit of new
students and old. Later, the evening's speakers had several excellent com
ments to make to the new students.
Gary Bender 78, the president of the College of Agriculture's Positive Action Council (AgPac), urged the new stu dents to become involved in issues, ideas and decision-making in the school by joining AgPac. To further empha size the importance of service and of satisfaction as well as scholarship at Cornell, the other speakers, University

Good food, conversation and speakers make the dinner a perennial success.

President Rhodes, agriculture college Dean W. Keith Kennedy and the main speaker, Professor J.M. Elliot, animal
science, focused on their ideas of what Cornell can offer every student.
Awards are also given annually at the barbecue. Professor Wendell G. Earle of the Department of Agricultural Economics received the Professor of Merit Award based in last spring's balloting in the College. Diane Henke '80, earned the Alpha Zeta Key forthe highest freshman cumulative average, while the transfer with the highest average, Gregory Seblink 78, received the Agriculture and Life Sciences
Award. Steven Carter 78 and Charles
Deutsch 78 merited the Alumni Asso
ciation Awards for their averages at
the end of junior year. In addition,
Kathleen Dear 77 won the new Ser
vice to the College Award for her activities in AgPac, Ho-Nun-De-Kah and Ecology House.
Overall, the barbecue was an enjoy able experience for the students, facul ty and administration. Nearly all of the faculty and student advisors of the
college were present; their opinion is that the barbecue provides a conven ient and informal opportunity to visit with their students and to get better
acquainted with them. The turnout of new students was not as high in proportion as the faculty, but those who attended felt the evening was a
worthwhile use of their time.
W. Keith Kennedy, Dean of the Col lege, foresees the annual barbecue continuing for as long as there is stu
dent interest in it. "I wouldn't want
to continue the barbecue if students
didn't enjoy it," he explained, "but I
think that those who go do find it
interesting, and I know that the faculty and I do." Almost assuredly, the future of the annual barbecue will remain secure-as long as the College's advis ors and students want to get to know each other and as long as the barbe
cue means a free dinner is in store.

COUIMTRYMAIV CAPSULES

Elected to National
Academy of Science
Professor Roderick K. Clayton, Divi sion of Biological Sciences, has been newly elected to the National Academy
of Science as one of its 60 new mem
bers. The National Academy is a pri vate organization of scientists dedica
ted to the furtherance of science for
the general welfare of the nation. Clayton's principal research interest is photosynthesis, and he is especially
renowned for his work on the isolation
of the photosynthetic reaction center in green plant tissues. He received his degrees from the California Institute of Technology and was associated with the C.F. Kettering Research Laboratory and the Oak Ridge Nation al Laboratory before coming to Cornell
in 1966.
Dr. George S. Abawi, M.S. '65, Ph.D. 70, assistant professor of plant pathology, has received the 1977 CIBA-Geigy Award for excellence in plant disease research in the United
States. He has done extensive studies
of white mold disease, which causes severe damage to snap bean plants, and has also been studying root rot diseases of snap beans and table beets. A native of Iraq, Abawi has been a member of the Geneva Experimental Station faculty since 1972.
Professor Emeritus
Wins Medal
Sydney A. Asdell, Professor of Ani mal Physiology Emeritus, has been
presented the Marshall Medal of the
Society for the Study of Fertility in Dublin, Ireland. A pioneer in the field of reproductive biology, his major
research contributions were in estab
lishing the basic mechanisms of repro
duction in domestic animals. He re ceived his degrees at Cambridge Uni versity and was a student of F.H.A.
Marshall, in whose honor the medal is
awarded. A member of the Cornell
faculty for 35 years, Asdell wrote
several texts, lectured nationally and
mternationally, and served as consult
ant to many national committees. He
:Row resides with his daughter, Mary
Asdell, in Frederick, Maryland.

Dr. David B. Hand, Ph.D. '30, form er head of the Department of Food Science and Technology at Geneva has received the 1977 Babcock-Hart
Award from the Institute of Food
Technologists. The award is sponsored by the Nutrition Foundation and is presented annually for contributions to food technology which have im proved public health through more nutritious foods. After his graduation from Cornell, Dr. Hand studied for two years in Germany on a post-doctoral National Research Council Fellowship before returning as a faculty member in 1932. After leaving Cornell again to spend five years with Sheffield Farms,
Inc., Hand returned in 1947 to serve as head of the food science depart ment at Geneva. He retired from the Station in 1968. During his tenure Hand was quite involved with inter national nutrition programs and sur
veys, and acted as a consultant to many national and international
agencies.
Roelofs Co-Winner of
von Humboldt Award
Dr. Wendell L. Roelofs, professor of entomology at the Geneva Agricultural Experiment Station, has been named a
co-winner of the 1977 Alexander von
Humboldt Foundation Award for his
work using insect sex attractants as a possible means of controlling econom ically damaging insects. The prestigious
von Humboldt award honors the indi
vidual who has made the greatest contribution to American agriculture in the past one to three years. Roelofs was named along with a colleague, Dr. Harry Shorey of the University of California, Riverside. Joining the Gen eva faculty in 1965, Roelofs was made an associate professor in 1969, and was promoted to full professor in 1976. He was awarded the Entomo
logical Society of America's J. Everett Bussart Memorial Award in 1973, and a College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Travelling Fellowship in 1974. His international reputation as an ento mologist took him to China as a mem
ber of the United States Insect Con
trol Delegation.

Durniak Retires
Walter Durniak, '45, who joined Co operative Extension of Schenectady in 1946 and became County Agricultural Agent in 1950, retired in June of this year. Specializing in fruit and vegetable work, he also wrote a newspaper col umn on home and garden care for 26 years, founded the Rural-Urban Mixer, developed the first homeowners' advis ory committee, and did a considerable
amount of television and radio work
on homegrounds related subjects.
Dr. Forrest B. Wright, B.S. '22 M.S. '24 Ph.D. '33, has written a third
edition of his authoritative work on home and farm water systems, Rural
Water Supply and Sanitation. Professor emeritus of agricultural engineering, Dr. Wright grew up on a farm and has had a lifelong association with the technical aspects of agricultural and
rural communities. He is a native of
Falmouth, Kentucky.
John Mott, '37, an Otsego County dairy farmer for thirty years, is now a
member of the historic farm staff at
Old Sturbridge Village, a recreated 19th Century rural New England settle
ment in Massachusetts.
William E. Fry, Ph.D. 70, has been elected associate professor of plant pathology. He joined Cornell in 1971 after a year on the faculty of Central Connecticut State College. His re search centers on factors affecting plant epidemics and the mechanisms of natural disease resistance in plants. He is a native of Lincoln, Nebraska.
Dairy Cattle Judging Team Takes Top Honors
Cornell University's dairy cattle judging
team took top honors at the Eastern
States Exposition Intercollegiate Judging Contest, winning over 12
other teams. The team coach is Pro fessor Samuel T. Slack of the Depart ment of Animal Science. Team mem
bers also placed first, third and sixth for their individual judging scores.

23

^^fvHJ&^ate^ollege of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of the State University, atV<
ann Library

University

j

r
"Look! Up in the sky. . ."
No, it wasn't a bird, nor plane nor even Superman, but to the crowd of curious onlookers, it was just as excit ing. Hundreds watched on the sunny September day as a helicopter lowered
"NO, IT'S NOT
what looked like a large white gumdrop onto the rooftop of Bradfield Hall.
The gumdrop, which turned out to be 1000 pounds of new weather fore casting equipment, was lowered onto the roof by nylon straps from a heli copter service operating out of Penn sylvania. The weather dome, known
as a "radome" because of its radar
capabilities, was transferred to the
Cornell campus from the Broome
County Airport in Binghamton.
The roof's new addition is part of a
sophisticated radar system being in stalled by Cornell's Department of Atmospheric Sciences. While intended primarily for research, atmospheric sciences department staff member
Paul Sanik says the new system will
improve Ithaca's weather forecasting capacity considerably.
"Ithaca has never been covered very
well by radar," explains Sanik, "The
nearest stations are located in Pitts
burgh, Buffalo and New York City, which are too far away to give Ithaca
and the rest of the Central New York
area adequate coverage."
Sanik says the new system will be able to detect storm systems from up to 100 miles away. Such advance
ments can give weather-watchers as
much as four to six hours of advance
warning before the storm actually hits.

"The system works by sendip a narrow beam of energy which tra§l
in a straight line until it finds ail
fleeting target such as a storm sys^l says Sanik. ,rlf a storm is present! portion of the energy is bounced bl

A GUMDROP. . .1

to the system's receiving anted!
The reflected energy is then amplified^
and the intensity of the storm is mel
sured by the strength of the returning signal, while the distance to the storm is determined by the time it took for
the signal to return." Sanik says the new "radome" should*
be a big help in detecting the sevi
storms which often hit the Ithaca area
The system will be used in conjuncflh with Cornell's present equipment
which includes a weather satellite n
ceiving station. This equipment is cur rently used to take photos of weather
patterns, another useful tool in deter
mining when and if a storm is on the

way.

^|p

Cornell also possesses a teletype

which receives observational data from

the National Weather Service. In addi

tion, a reproducing machine can de

liver copies of surface and uppe^f

maps, as well as other visual data

The new equipment could t#

important aid when it becomes op

tional next spring, in case torrei

downpours like those during Sep| oj|ber reoccur. Over ten inches

fell during that month, breast

old record by almost three inche$§

by Peter Schacknow

1918: When skaters flocked to Beebe,LatokM

tH
H-

fc

4 tBtli

CORNELL *1

COUNTRYMAN

Iff

NO. 3

J

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN DECEMBER 1977 VOLUME LXXV - Number 3

EDITORS:
Marleen Bicknese Carole Freedman
Peggy Koenig

ABOUT THE COVER
Skating on Beebe Lake was a popular winter pastime for many Cornellians
in the 1920's. The article on the next
page, "Forbidden Fun," tells why most students no longer skate there.

ASSISTANT EDITORS:
David Domeshek
Steve Hodgson
Peter Schacknow
CONTENTS

ART EDITORS:
Robin Feiner
Joseph Lubeck
Debbie Moses Eva Wu

EDITORIAL STAFF:
Brenda Angyal, Paul Brantley, Laura Lee Collyer, Susan Itzkowitz, Dan Ivanick, Mark Pinnie, Judy Redel, Jo L. Schaffel, Peter Schoenberger, Rita M. Slovacek, Chuck Summers,
Tom Sutcliffe.
Picture Credits: Cover, page 3- Cor nell University Archives; page 4- Sol Goldberg; page 5, 6- Alex Close; page 8- Joseph Lubeck; page 9- Carole Freedman; page 12, 13- Dan Ivanick; page 15- Chuck Ditmars; page 16Carole Freedman; page 17- Visual Services; page 18- Media Services; page 19- Joseph Lubeck; page 20, 21Dan Ivanick; Back cover- Chuck Sum
mers.

3. Forbidden Fun by Debbie Moses '79 4. New York's Marine Connection by Chuck Summers 78
6. Laurels for Landscape Architects by Laura Lee Collyer 78 8. Graduating with Honors by Marleen Bicknese 78
9. What Price Environmental Values? by Tom Sutcliffe 78
10. Emily Dunning Barringer '97 by Robin Feiner 78
12. Roots by Rita M. Slovacek 78 and Dan Ivanick 79
14. No Fly by Night Operation by David Domeshek 79 15. Careers in Ag Engineering by Judy Redel 78
16. Return tO Sender by Carole Freedman 79
17. Orientation Through Wilderness Reflections by Susan itzkowitz 78
18. Urie Bronfenbrenner by Debbie Moses 79
19. Aggies Abroad: Student Exchange Program by Brenda Angyal 78
20. A Cast Of Thousands by Dan Ivanick 79 22. Dear Ezra: by Steve Hodgson 78

The Cornell Countryman is published seven times a year from October through
May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853.
Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription Rates: $2.50 a year;
$4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content gathered and
written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors:
Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

FORBIDDEN FUN
by Debbie Moses 79

The icy cold wind brings tears to
your eyes, and everyone lets out ex
cited screams just for the fun and thrill of it all. You pick up speed, the buildings and trees surrounding Beebe Lake turn to a blur as you go shooting by on your toboggan.
This image, however, has long dis appeared. Although the Cornell cam pus appears to have been specially designed for winter sports and fun,
many of these activities have either
been abandoned or forbidden. Skiing and tray sliding down Library Slope are now strictly banned. The old toboggan
slide which dominated the south shore
of Beebe Lake in the winter has been
dismantled and out of sight for de cades. The lake is no longer open to
the hundreds of skaters who used to
glide gracefully across its frozen sur
face.
"I remember when Beebe Lake froze
over; they used to take a white flag with a big red dot in the center and hang it on the trolley car to signal the whole town that skating was open on the Lake," described Frances Lauman,
'35 who works for the Cornell Archives.
In addition to public skating, the Uni versity hockey team would hold prac tice and play their games on Beebe
Lake.
According to Eugene J. Dymek, Di rector of Life Safety Services and Insurance at Cornell, skating was re
stricted on the lake for two main rea
sons. First, on the south shore of the lake, the water is always moving under the ice. Therefore, you can never know exactly how thick and stable the ice is. Secondly, because Beebe Lake is so shallow, it is also possible to see and feel mud, grass and rocks in the
ice when the lake freezes over. This
may lead to dangerous skating condi tions. The opening of Lynah Rink, the indoor skating facility, has also taken

/.-.Cornellians enjoy winter on .-.£$* ..a toboggan slide once located
.■. "■r.^f.f.i\'0n the south shore of Beebe
-■*& ''Lake.

away much of Beebe Lake's skating population.
Throughout the winter season, both night and day, crowds thronged around the lake. If they were not there to ice skate, they were there to use the toboggan slide, located next to Tobog gan Lodge. Originally made of wood and later of metal, the toboggan slide was designed to carry two toboggans
at once. The slide itself was lined with
cakes of ice taken from the lake. For
safety reasons, no sledders or skaters
were allowed on the slide.
The Cornell toboggan slide was con
structed without a banked curve so
that when toboggans sped off the slide they would shoot across the surface
of the lake. The last person on the
toboggan was the steersman and if he was not careful, the whole group would be sure to take a spill.
Finally, according to Morris Bishop's A History of Cornell, "The toboggan slide, after providing twenty-one in juries, seven of them fractured verte brae, in the winter of 1939-1940, was quietly abandoned."
In any season when you look at
Library Slope, the first thought that comes to mind is skiing, sledding or somehow sliding down it in the winter. In fact, during Cornell's earlier history, "Libe" Slope was a popular place to ski. The most popular mode of travel ing down Library Slope, however, has always been by dining tray. Although the University permitted and even

supported tray sliding, it is now strictly prohibited. "No one should be tray sliding anymore," asserted Mr. Dymek.
"It's just too dangerous and there
have been too many serious accidents.
The insurance and liability risks are too high, and the University just can't
afford those kinds of risks."
Student opposition to the ban on tray sliding has always been high. At one point, when the University tried to put snow fences across the middle of the Slope, students stacked hay against the barriers, twice attempting
to burn them down.
Tray sliding still goes on today de spite the ban and public safety patrols. Two ex-West Campus residents de scribe tray sliding as, "The most fun thing to do in the winter when there
is snow around. It's better than sled
ding because the hill is so steep. Be sides, it's convenient. You don't have to be hassled getting in your car and going out to the ski slopes. All you
have to do is step outside. What's
more, it's cheap. In fact, it's free-- no lift or rental fees, nothing."
Cornell is literally a natural winter wonderland. The location and general layout of the campus are innately suited for winter sports-skiing, skating, sledding and tobogganing. Because
many of these activities are now ex
tinct, today's Cornell student does not
realize the fun and excitement which
was once open to him.

3

YORK

by Chuck Summers '78

Many of us whose lives are not im
mediately affected by lakes and oceans have little idea of the real importance of these resources in our everyday existence. The purity and environ
mental balance of oceans and lakes
now and in the future depend greatly on timely research, on keeping the public informed and on enlisting their concern. Sea Grant, a national program
whose aims are to protect and preserve
our Great Lakes and oceans, provides
money for research and information
programs that relate to existing and potential marine problems. As a partic ipating state in the Sea Grant program, New York is in a unique position be cause it is the only state in the coun
try with both marine and Great Lakes coastlines.
The national Sea Grant program is
administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce. In ex istence since 1966, it has funded liter ally thousands of projects in 27 states ranging from finding new ways to pro tect city harbors to developing new seafood products. As a reflection of its changing research interests, a col lege may review its participation in the

Sea Grant program each year. So far, 1 1 colleges have initiated planned, on
going Sea Grant programs and have
been officially designated by the
N.O.A.A. as Sea Grant Colleges. According to Professor Bruce T.
Wiikins of the Department of Natural
Resources in the College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences, a Sea Grant College
"demonstrates continued high perform
ance in its role as a Sea Grant insti
tution." To qualify for this status, the
institution must set up programs in the
general areas of research, education,
and advisory services. In New York, the State University
of New York system and Cornell Uni
versity conduct Sea Grant programs and in recognition of excellence were named together as New York's Sea Grant College in 1975. The designa tion as a Sea Grant College means that projects conducted in New York have their funding reviewed every two years as opposed to every year in states with
out a Sea Grant College. Projects in each of the three pro
gram areas-research, education, and advisory services-are funded inde pendently. However, the three areas must cooperate efficiently in order to make the overall program in the state
a success.
Topics for funded research are gen
erated in two ways. If an individual concerned with a certain problem in
a marine area seeks information to

solve that problem from Sea Grant, he may set into motion a large-scale re search effort to find the answer. An example of this process was the request for information received from a group
TION

<z™*wmm&WRt

Possibly the most interesting of the
three program areas in Sea Grant is
its advisory service. The Cooperative Extension specialists form the primary
network of contacts between the Sea
Grant College and the citizen. These specialists are stationed in New York
City, at Stonybrook and Riverhead on
Long Island, and at Fredonia, Brockport, Oswego, and Potsdam along the
Great Lakes. The home of the support staff for these offices is Cornell Uni
versity.

of Long Island fishermen. They com plained that they spent too much time and effort sorting and disposing of spe
cies of fish that have little or no com
mercial value. Sea Grant Extension
staff met with the fishermen, dis
cussed the problem, and decided that no information existed that would help solve the problem. Researchers were contacted, and soon a new machine
was found that scales and de-bones
fish.
From there, Cornell University nutri tionists went to work on creating new fish products by mixing the meats of
different kinds of fish to make a kind
of aquatic hamburger. The new prod uct, minced fish, was packaged and test-marketed by Cooperative Extension, and a good degree of consumer ac
ceptance was noted. Armed with this
information, Extension agents went back to the fishermen, presented their findings, and demonstrated the ma chine and the new product. It is hoped
that this process will be utilized com
mercially in the near future. University researchers who think
that a particular problem might have marine applications may also apply for
funding. To date, about half of the
projects that have received approval for Sea Grant funding have been iden tified by concerned citizens or industry, the other half by independent univer sity researchers. In almost all cases, the research done has provided a solu tion to an existing problem.
Just as research is the most valuable tool known to help solve today's prob-
lems, education is the most valuable

Commercial fisherman John Rempe of Greenport, New York, hauls in a
catch with a hand-made trap net.
tool known to help solve the problems of tomorrow. Recently, New York Sea Grant has supported a series of semi nars on topics such as coastal zone management and marine transporta tion. These seminars are presented to interested groups in industry and to professional associations. The seminars stimulate interest in local marine prob lems and may actually be the impetus for new citizen groups forming to help protect the Great Lakes and the ocean. In addition, as an investment in the more distant future, a program for ele mentary education has been started for children in the New York City area.
At the Sea Grant College level, grants are awarded to researchers to attract post-graduate assistants. The assistants receive pay and gain know ledge and thesis material in exchange for their help on the program. New York is second only to California in the number of colleges that offer mar
ine science programs. With so many
opportunities to study marine science in the S.U.N.Y. system and at Cornell, New York has consistently attracted highly qualified graduates.

The primary responsibilities of the
field staff are threefold: to transfer
existing information on marine prob lems to groups that need it, to stimu late the interested groups to apply the information to their problems, and
to involve researchers to generate in formation if it does not already exist.
The importance of the advisory services is illustrated by a request for information from city officials in Dun kirk, New York. Located on Lake Erie, the city harbor is ill-protected from the
waves of the lake. If the wave action
becomes sufficiently violent, boats moored in the harbor may be damaged. To alleviate this situation, a submerged wall is usually constructed to calm the waves approaching the harbor. How ever, such a project is often timeconsuming and always expensive. Dunkirk city officials came to Sea Grant with the problem of little time
and money with which to construct
their breakwater. Using research from the University of Rhode Island Sea Grant College and the assistance of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Com pany, a new method of chaining old automobile tires together to form a floating version of a breakwater was
tested. Dunkirk obtained a new break
water and a new way to recycle auto
mobile tires was found.
The entire Sea Grant program re
flects a growing concern with the use and management of marine resources. With programs such as Sea Grant, the public is assured that our oceans and the Great Lakes will be unspoiled and productive in the future.

5

Laurels for LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS

by Laura Lee Collyer 78

Cornell University won first prize in
a student landscape competition spon sored by the Department of Community
Affairs in Rochester last January. The
subject of the competition was the de velopment of proposals for improving
the lower Genesee River corridor.
This corridor extends nearly seven
miles from the upper falls in the cen tral business district of Rochester to
the forested plain by Lake Ontario.
The area is rich in historical and natural heritage. In this seven-mile stretch, the Genesee River encompasses both gen
tly flowing waters and swift moving rapids and two very high waterfalls. Along the river, land holdings have been developed by railroads, industrial groups, and public and semi-public
sectors. These groups own or have
partial control of most of the land. The Landscape Architecture pro
gram, which is jointly sponsored by the N.Y. State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (Department of Flori
culture and Ornamental Horticulture)
and the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning at Cornell University, participated in the competition. The Cornell project team had 18 members. Thomas H. Johnson, a professor of
Landscape Architecture, assisted these
students with the project which con tained two main parts: a 16-foot model
of the existing area, constructed by Alex Close '77 and Jim Doenges '77, and a 16-foot colored master plan with
a 130-page publication explaining the study of the lower Genesee River area.
The Center for Environmental Research
at Cornell provided a $1,000 grant to publish the study. Both the 16-foot model and the master plan with the publication won first prize. Noel Corkery, Grad. and Rodney Wulff, Ph.D. '77, won a second prize for another Cornell entry.
Professor Johnson explains, "The project required more effort than we
originally anticipated. After attending
commencement, many students re-

Close-up of Industrial Falls section of the award winning Lower Genese^
River model constructed by Alex Close and Jim Doenges for Rochester.i

moved their robes and returned to the
studio for a session that lasted until
3:00 AM. The project was submitted the next day."
During this study, at least half of the project members travelled to Rochester
to view the site and also to interview
people in community associations and industries along the river such as Kodak Research Laboratories, Rochester Gas and Electric, and the Genesee Brewery.
The 16-foot model was initiated by Professor Johnson and constructed by project team members Alex Close and Jim Doenges. "The objective of the model was to provide public informa tion and generate public interest about
the Genesee River area near the cen
tral business district," said Alex Close. "We wanted to give the public some thing tangible and easy to understand since topography maps are difficult for the layman to interpret."
Doenges and Close used various techniques to construct the model. One interesting method was the pro jection of black and white aerial photo graphic slides onto a white surface. Using this method they could find

exact locations of areas on the exisf
ing site. Close further explained that he anfi
Doenges had designed the model f^
use on a conference table so that-
could be placed in the center of th| table. People sitting around it could] then make proposals while viewing the
model. "We also divided the model
into four segments which were bolted together. In this way several communi ties could discuss one of the sections
of the site at different times."
The model was on display at the
Rochester Midtown Mall for two and
one-half months. Then it was displayed
at the Department of Community De velopment at Rochester. The prize-
winning project also impressed crowds
of Cornellians and visitors at Mann
Library in the agriculture college. Before proposals for a master plan
design were made, the existing land scape was studied and analyzed. The
report, "The Lower Genesee River,
which accompanied the master plan,
explains the landscape architectural
study of the area. Graduate students Noel Corkery and Rodney Wulff com-

6

piled the second-prize winning publi
cation entitled "The Genesee Gorge Landscape Study."
The landscape analysis for the pro
ject entailed many stages of progress. In the first stage, the purpose and process of the project were determined.
The next stage was a "methodology review." This was a review of visual and natural resource analysis methods and the legal tools for managing a
small region. Following the methodology review
was the "model criteria" stage. This
stage involved establishing systematic organization of natural and cultural criteria for locating recreation, develop ment, and preservation land uses.
The data survey used for establish
ing the "model criteria" was organized into an inventory of natural and cultural
systems including land use, zoning, and property ownership. The traffic flow and accessibility of the area to

areas, such as wetlands and established
parks, that should be preserved. The
recreational model was subdivided into
areas suitable for trails, parks and picnic grounds and fields. The attract iveness model for development indica ted the kind of development areas, such as housing and industry.
To make management recommenda tions, an overall composite map was
developed which showed areas where conflicts between the preservation, recreation and development models existed. The composite map was a separate overlay combining the three
attractiveness maps. Then it was pos
sible to analyze and resolve conflicts and make decisions based on goals and priorities that had been set pre viously. These decisions were made
at a scale of one inch to 1200 feet.
The Genesee gorge corridor was
then divided, at a scale of one inch equal to 200 feet, into four adjoining

Full view of the Close and Doenges model, including the Industrial Falls, Maplewood-Seneca Parks, Turning Point Park and Charlotte Water
front sections.

the public were also catalogued. The
inventory required data on soils, geol
ogy, climate, vegetation, hydrology and slope analysis.
Once the three basic models-recre

regions defined by cultural and natural
features. These areas were: Industrial
Falls, which stretches from the Upper Falls to the Lower Falls; Maplewood and Seneca Parks, which extends from

ation, development, and preservation-
were chosen, it was possible to define the requirements for any specific pro posal. Data was divided according to
the three basic models and shown on

the lower falls to the north border of
Riverside Cemetery; Turning Point Park, which includes the area from the northern edge of Turning Basin; and Charlotte Waterfront, which extends

separate overlay sheets. Three "attractiveness" models, or
maps, were developed. The preserva tion attractiveness map indicated those

in the northern area of the corridor
from the Turning Basin to the river mouth and includes the village of
Charlotte.

As the master plans were designed for the four regions, many problems arose in the landscape analysis. For instance, one major problem was the difficulty of reaching the steep gorge area. These problems challenged the ability of the project team to develop proposals for the sites.
The project team offered several
recommendations for the revision of
the master plan and strategy for the improvement of the lower Genesee River corridor. They suggested that existing warehouses on the Charlotte
Waterfront site be converted to a
marina. Since land near the river is
relatively flat, it is desirable for waterrelated recreational uses. Improving water quality and practicing conserva
tion measures would increase the value
of the land. Furthermore, historic
marine character could be planned, which would classify this region as a preservation and a recreation area.
Turning Point Park, a plateau and wetland region, should be established as a wilderness park with increased
access.
The Maplewood and Seneca region, an existing park, was originally de signed by Frederick Law Olmstead, the first American landscape architect. This area could be improved and main
tained as a recreational area.
Certain sections of the Industrial
Falls region could be used for develop
mental purposes. Other sections which
are too steep could be planted with vegetation to check erosion and there by be used for preservation.
In addition to the master plans for
each section of the corridor, recom mendations were made to unify the entire corridor. These recommendations included establishing a continuous bicycle path and walking trail, planting
trees along peripheral roads, using city buses and industrial parking lots on summer weekends, improving boating access, and making historical districts.
The detailed proposals involved in this project show how large and com plex the study was. The students learned a great deal about such pro jects, and their hard work was re warded with the prizes they received.

7

GRADUATING WITH HONORS

by Marleen Bicknese 78

For his Honors project, Doug Capiello '78 is investigating the internal protein make-up of RNA
in a virus that causes leukemia
in chickens.
Snow blankets the hillsides and pro
vides perfect conditions for snowmobiling. As you zoom along, taking in the splendor of the countryside, you spot a white-tailed deer. Questions dart through your mind: How will the
deer react to this snowmobile-the
noise it makes, the suddenness of its
coming? Now you can get information to help
answer these questions. The effect of snowmobile interactions on the heart
rate of white-tailed deer was the sub
ject of an honors research project completed by an undergraduate at
Cornell last year.
The Honors Program in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences sup ports qualified students undertaking faculty-supervised, independent re
search. When students have success
fully completed the program, they have not only acquired valuable experience in the research field, but they have contributed significant findings to it. They have also earned the special di ploma designation of "Bachelor of
Science with Honors."
Not all students engaging in inde-

pendent research are eligible for the
Honors program. Each student must
have completed a minimum of 55 hours of course credits, 30 of which have been completed at Cornell. Seniors must make a written application be
fore the end of the third week of their
first semester, senior year.
Furthermore, a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better must have been maintained during previous
course work at Cornell and must be
maintained during Honors work. Never theless, the "with Honors" designation is not a' distinction of academic ex
cellence. Students may graduate "with Honors" and "with Distinction" if they meet both sets of requirements.
Naturally, not all research proposals are accepted for Honors work. A stu dent with a research idea and plan must find a faculty member to super vise his research and win the approval
of the Honors committee in his field.
Without authorizations from both, he cannot enter the Honors Program. All proposals fall under the jurisdiction of at least one of the seven Honors com
mittees: Animal Sciences, Biological Sciences, Entomology, Natural Re sources, Physical Sciences, Plant
Sciences and Social Sciences. Several
faculty members, one of whom is chosen chairman, are elected from the constituencies they serve to be on each committee. Thus, the Social Sciences Honors Committee may include faculty
members from the communication arts,
education, and rural sociology depart
ments.
Each Honors Committee develops
its own criteria for a final recommen
dation of the Honors designation. Dr. R.E. McDowell, chairman of the Ani mal Sciences Honors Committee, notes that undergraduate Honors' theses in his field must be suitable for publica tion in technical journals of animal science. Moreover, each candidate

must complete a 20-minute interview with the Committee to determine the extent of his involvement and know ledge of the research. The Honors Program in Animal Sciences has grown
"from almost zilch about five years ago to a substantial program of nine stu
dents this year," commented Dr.
McDowell.
The four year old Honors Program in the Department of Natural Resources requires that similarly challenging cri teria be fulfilled for earning the Honors designation. "We maintain very high standards for this research experience,"
writes its chairman Dr. Milo Richmond.
When the thesis does not meet certain
standards after its revision, it is not
accepted. Reflective of the high stand
ards is the fact that four of the five
theses that were accepted have been published in scientific journals. One of these theses, entitled "Egg- Processing Wastes as a Replacement Protein
Source in Salomid Diets" in The Pro
gressive Fish Culturist, showed the value of chicken egg protein in fish diets. Dried egg-processing wastes proved to be a reasonably successful replacement for fish meal.
Honors research is not graded, un
less the student decides to earn aca
demic credit for his work by enrolling in an appropriate Independent Study
course. Most students do choose this
option. They earn between six and eight credit hours for their research.
Information about the administrative
details of the Honors program, such as
the Independent Study option, are
handled in the College Registrar's
Office. Dr. D.C. Burgett, College Registrar, is the overall coordinator of the program, acting as a liaison be tween students, administration, and Honors Committees. Interested stu dents can find additional information about the Program at his office in
Roberts Hall.

8

WHAT PRICE ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES?
by Tom Sutcliffe 78

Mention the phrase "natural re
sources" to people on the ag quad and many would respond with answers like "unpolluted water" or "clean air," "a shortage of minerals" or, perhaps, "a
forest of redwoods." But there is a
chance that someone would stop, fold his arms, and think for a moment be
fore answering, "Well, I took this course with Dr. Baer, and. . ."
That student is familiar with one of
the most popular and unique programs offered at Cornell in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' Depart ment of Natural Resources-a Program
in Environmental Values. ^Part of the
reason it seems so unique is that at first glance it does not seem to belong
there.
In the fall of 1974, largely at the initiative of Dr. Richard Baer, the Pro
gram was launched through a three year grant by Lilly Endowment, Inc. It sought to foster understanding of man's relationship with the environ ment in light of basic value consider ations from the humanities, particularly religion, ethics and philosophy. Teach ing, research and extension are the three basic parts of the Program.
Dr. Baer considers the natural re
sources department the ideal place for the Program. "There's a real challenge in being part of the department," he explains in his basement office at Fer
now Hall, "and an importance in the way different disciplines interact at the level of basic departmental organiza tion." While in most interdisciplinary endeavors the process of interaction is limited to particular classes and seminars, the Values Program enables a humanist to become a resident facul
ty member of the department. Dr. Baer's input goes well beyond the confines of just a visiting lecturer.
Much of the energy that seems to fuel the interaction in the Environ
mental Values Program comes from Professor Baer himself. He headed the Department of Religion at Earlham
College before leaving his tenured post

to become a full-time consultant in en
vironmental values, and later to initiate the Program at Cornell. He says the challenge of trying something new was
one reason he moved to Cornell.
Another reason is his personal belief that the development of a person's values is central not only to that per son's complete education, but also to
the way he will live the rest of his life. Dr. Baer thinks that this devel
opment is often neglected.
He writes, "Science students at prestigious universities earn Ph.D.'s without having had a single course in the philosophy of science and the op portunity such study would afford them to examine assumptions, methods and goals of their own discipline. Theories of justice and the good so ciety, basic understanding of the nature of ethics, the relationship between ethics and metaphysics-all of these
remain outside of the academic ex
periences of the great majority of our college graduates. . .Unless the uni versity is willing to change, I see little hope that we will become a society more genuinely sensitive to long term environmental values and more deeply committed to working for a just and egalitarian society. The university must return to the task of educating men and women for living rather than simply

training technicians."
Students who have taken the Pro
gram's course, "Religion, Ethics and the Environment" have consistently
rated it among the most valuable
courses they'd taken at Cornell. "Stu dents are challenged to think about personal values, work values, environ mental values and really what they are doing here," explains Baer. The Pro
gram has also received the solid sup
port of the faculty.
What is the future of "Environmental
Values" at Cornell? The Program has been assured funding until 1980 through a one year grant renewal by Lilly Endowment and a new two
year grant from the Rockefeller Bro thers Foundation. Beyond 1980, how
ever, lies an uncertain future. Support through College funding will depend largely on the College's own values
and commitments as reflected in spe
cific budget decisions, for New York State is in a period of financial belttightening. Private funding is also be ing sought by the Development Office.
"Cornell is an enormously stimulat ing place to conduct the Values Pro gram," says Dr. Baer, "because of the mix of academic and applied interests like Cooperative Extension, research and teaching. I couldn't think of a
better environment."

Dr. Richard Baer, who teaches a unique course in environmental values
in the College, chats with natural resource graduate student Linda
Schenck.

"Fanny, my dear, you must train
Emily to earn a living. You need her earnings to help you out. I don't like to say it, but you do my dear. Why
don't you have her apprenticed to a milliner? Why, look at her fingers-I'm
sure she could make a success of it.
I will be glad to speak to my milliner about her." When the woman left,
Emily's mother called her into the room. With her back pressed against the
door, and in a different, compelling tone of voice, she said, "Well, Emily,
that settles the question. You are going
to go to college."

investigated the entrance requirements for Emily, and devised an intense
summer program for her so she could
enter college a year early. With all these plans well-laid, the
only remaining obstacle was a financial one. The fact that Emily's great uncle was Henry Sage, a cofounder of the University, by no means made her ac ceptance a sure thing. In her memoirs, Emily later wrote of him: "This great uncle was something of a family legend. As a lad he had been pressed into ser vice to help support his widowed

inquire about tuition and general ex penses of a Cornell student. To their surprise, "Uncle Henry" visited them promptly, and told Emily's mother "Mrs. Dunning, I am going to help Emily go to college. I shall give her tuition, and what is more I shall keep an eye on her for you." So with a
most unique class of financial aid, Emily Dunning entered Cornell Uni
versity in the fall of 1894.
Although her pre-medical course
was a rigorous one, Emily considered
her college years a relatively carefree

One of Cornell's Earliest Women Graduates

EMILY DUNNING BARRINGER '97

For 1893, that was quite an unusual statement. In fact, at Cornell only 171 women were enrolled. Everyone warned that a college education might be a hindrance rather than a help to a young lady's development by causing a sublimation of her normal mating in stinct, and postponing beyond a safe time her chances of marriage. But Emily's desire for success made her in different to the jeering concensus. And
thus the hands of a would-be milliner
were molded, despite all resistance, into those of an expert surgeon—the
first woman ambulance surgeon in New York.
Emily Dunning's dream of being a nurse was born one night as she as
sisted the obstetrician with her
mother's difficult delivery. Two promi
nent women of the time were to pro
vide the next important influences on Emily's life. The first, Dr. Mary Putnam Jacobi, advised Emily to get a good scientific background, and predicted
that she would then choose medicine as her profession. She recommended
Cornell University, noting that her
friend Dr. Burt Wilder and a Professor
Simon Gage were working out a medi
cal preparatory course there-one of the first in America-which was re
ceiving much recognition. The other woman was Anna Brackett, a re
nowned educator who founded her
own secondary school for women. She

by Robin Feiner 78
mother and her younger children when
his father was shipwrecked off the Florida coast and massacred by the
Seminole Indians. We heard tales of
his penniless childhood and how by thrift and hard work, and suffering the greatest privations, he had worked his way up until fortune smiled on him, and his money doubled and tripled and finally landed him in the multimillion aire class. Having reached this upper bracket, he had acquired certain of the idiosyncracies that went with money, including that of not parting with it easily. Uncle Henry was very definite about the things he would spend money on, and the Dunning family was clearly not on the list."
But with nothing to lose, Mrs. Dun ning wrote to her husband's uncle to

interlude between the difficulties of her
childhood and the cares of her profes sional life. She joined Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, took up rowing-one of the sports offered by the women's athletic associations, 'Sports and Pas-
times'-and was a member of the first
women's crew to voyage down the
Cayuga Inlet. But as her sorority sisters were getting pinned for marriage, Emily kept her sights firmly fixed on her goal.
Of academia she remembers Dr.
Wilder's "Cat House," the feline head quarters where young boys brought stray cats to be pickled for anatomy classes, in exchange for some appro priate stipend. And then there were the privileged memories of evenings at her uncle's mansion. In Emily's words, Cornell of the 1890's was "too young to be stuffy, too vigorous to be formal
ized."

Dr. Emily Dunning Barringer '97 during her internship at New York City's Governeur Hospital in her ambulance outside the medical facility.

10

After two years at the Medical Col
lege of New York for Women, Cornell opened its medical school, and Emily was reunited with her Alma Mater, but in New York City. It was during these two remaining years in medical school that she met Ben Barringer, her fellow student and future husband. Finally,
graduation arrived. But with the eight
year haul of strenuous study now over, the doors of opportunity did not seem to fling open for Emily as they did for
her medical brothers. As the men slid
easily into hospital positions, Emily met the most potent opposition-
acceptance in a man's world.
Every hospital declined her appeal to compete for a staff position, citing "lack of precedent"-why should they jeopardize their harmonious operation for the sake of an experiment? After myriad subsequent pleas, the medical board at Mt. Sinai Hospital allowed
her to take their exam. But this was
not exactly a hallmark, considering the stipulation: even if she happened to win a place by score, she would not be appointed, and her marks would never be made public. Twenty years later, and quite by accident, she found out that she had ranked #1, but that
the post was then quietly granted to
Mr. #2.
The years that followed brought substantial civic reform to New York,
the fruit of mounting pressure from young women physicians. The Gouverneur Hospital exam opened up to women the following spring, and Emily secured a position. Though the staff seemed friendly enough, a less hearty welcome appeared in the evening paper. A headline on June 28, 1902
read: WON'T SERVE A WOMAN
DOCTOR-MEN SAY THAT HER
SUPERVISION WILL BE DISTASTE
FUL AND PETITION COMMISSIONER
FOLKS. It was no secret that Emily's
presence aroused controversy.
Her first day was running smoothly, when the House Physician said to her, "Dr. Dunning, you are on duty tonight for the routine catheterizations in the male ward." With this directive, Emily
had a sample of the long, grueling game devised by four doctors on the

staff, the object of which was to elim inate the lady doctor. Throwing her into the male ward on her first night, they reasoned, would create quite a stir either in her or the patients. Then, with a little publicity, the probationary experiment would be deemed a failure.
But Emily attended to the old men,
teenage boys, sailors, longshoremen and bums all evening, without incident.
Her confidence grew, and soon there
was a demand for the "lady doctor" in the clinic. She learned one thing im mediately: when one is sick and in pain,
sex is immaterial.
After six months of interning, Emily was assigned ambulance duty. Work ing ambulance shifts in the Bowery was hard, often ugly work and Emily's colleagues would go out of their way to tell murky tales about New York's wickedest streets, hoping to instill a nightly fear to accompany her on am bulance calls. The neighborhood folk went through phases of wonder, indif
ference and then eager acceptance
upon seeing a woman occupy the am bulance seat. Before long, children were waiting on street corners and sit ting on sidewalk pumps to wave to Emily when her ambulance hustled by.
But the stratagems of the opposing bloc became more complex and pre
meditated. The doctors were well
aware of the importance of nutrition in keeping a person on such a demand ing schedule in top form. Thus they attempted to interrupt her meals with "emergencies," or to make them so unpleasant that she would decide to

forego them completely. One incident she recalled was a doctor asking her to "pass the puss" in reference to a bowl of gravy; another was being sent to check on an ulcerated lesion wrig gling with maggots just before lunch.
Recalling those days, Emily wrote,
"I do not believe any Freshman at
West Point ever received more con
sistent and concerted hazing than I had
to face."
Needless to say she stayed out her
four years at Gouverneur, witnessing
in that time what few women in the
gay nineties could. She became ac
quainted with life and death and every phase of human activity in between, with an intimacy formerly reserved only for certain men. Emily abhorred the polemics with her professional brothers;
but the battle was to become less
virulent, and Emily to emerge the
silent victor. And of the forces which
helped to build the strength that she so needed to draw from on a daily
basis, Emily cited her years at Cornell
as among the most fundamental. De
scribing the personal union she felt with Cornell, in retrospect she wrote, "When the going got foggy, I have always been able to put a mental foot
down to touch that base. I learned to
work side by side with men on an equal intellectual level. Without that day to day contact, I probably would have never made it through the next ten years of my life." And, in turn, Emily gave to Cornell the roots of a mounting precedent: women in worldly-not just domestic- trade.

11

Nothing like a jam session to enhance my growth, but a sip of water now and then wouldn't be bad.
EDUCAT/ON

by Rita M. Slovacek 78
It's not uncommon to find offices, labs even library study rooms bedecked with plants these days.
You only have to glance in a window to find anything from a 40-foot vine crawling
around a bulletin board to an assortment of
prize African violets.
Plants are one of the most attractive ways
to brighten up a bookladen, paper-cluttered office. These potted beauties add color and zip to a room that might otherwise be stark
and institution-like.
Plants give a lively flare to the austere, academic atmosphere. And our leafy friends have personality of their own. These pages display a glimpse of that character which has become an integral part of the halls of ivy.
Every department has its roots and those embedded in clay pots are no exception.

I thought if I changed my image these ab sent-minded profes sors might notice me.

We're proud to be ROTC plants.

and Dan Ivanick 79

Here I am, squeezed between books on communication theory on the one side and Roget's Thesaurus on the other, burdened by deadlines. I feel like a press-ed plant.

I'm willing to do my part for the benefit of research, but come
on, fellas!

■ . .production functions, cost value, input, output. Gee, I wish they would pay attention to my
marginal growth.

/\
PLANT SCIENCE
This is the life. / have a comfortable home; I'm treated royally Yet a bath and a shampoo from a Ph.D every day is a bit much,
you know?

No Fly By Night Operation —
by David Domeshek 79

"As for passing on wisdom to up coming medical students: Genetics is
an absolute must!"
This opinion is from a Cornell grad uate now attending the Medical Col lege of Virginia, and seems to be shared by Cornell University, which requires Genetics of all its biology
majors. Biological Sciences 281, Genetics is
a five credit course consisting of both lecture and laboratory periods. The philosophy behind structuring the
course this way is that students will
learn the most by doing the experi
mental work themselves. The labora
tory is therefore mandatory, and is an integral part of the student's semester
grade. One key to the success of Genetics,
according to the administrators of the course, is the assignment of a profes sor to the full time position of "labora tory coordinator." This job, usually held by Prof. Ross J. Maclntyre, is being handled this semester by Prof. Harry T. Stinson. The switch was made because Prof. Maclntyre is fill ing in as the course lecturer for Prof. Peter J. Bruns, who is on sabbatical.
It is Prof. Maclntyre who is primarily responsible for the format of the cur rent Genetics laboratory program. Al though students had been actively in
volved in labs in the past, when he

came to Cornell in 1966, the Genetics laboratory was organized as a demon stration, requiring minimal thinking on the part of the students. Prof. Mac lntyre overhauled the format and intro duced an experiment in which pairs of
students had to locate and map several unknown genes on chromosomes of
Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies). According to Prof. Maclntyre, stu
dents work on this experiment for the first half of the semester, continually gathering data in an effort to "put the pieces of the puzzle together." The
second half of the semester is de
voted to a laboratory study of bacter ial genetics.
Due in part to the notoriety of the Drosophila experiments, Genetics is reputed to be a very difficult course at Cornell. Professor Maclntyre is aware of this reputation, and is the first to admit that "you can't teach genetics well without it being hard."
However, the course's reputation
seems to have become somewhat
overblown. Prof. Gerald R. Fink, Genetics lecturer in spring semester, tells of a student who once approached him and asked, "Is it true that the high est grade you give is a D?"
Professor Fink made it clear to the
student that this was certainly not the case, but the fact that the question
even arose illustrates the nature of the

problem. The course administrators feel that the rumors may be started by students who may have done poorly in Genetics, and then exaggerate the amount of required work in an effort to rationalize their own performance.
Professor Maclntyre sees a problem in the persistence of Genetics rumors,
since many students are "scared off"
from taking the course until they are seniors. In likening this situation to a student "putting blinders on," Profes sor Maclntyre argues that by the time senior year rolls around, students have
already taken upper-level courses in which the experience in analytical thinking afforded by Genetics would
have been invaluable.
Professor Stinson, who teaches
several Genetics laboratory sections
each semester, feels that the reputa tion of the Genetics course is "un
fortunate." He notes, however, that in
a survey taken a few years ago, over
50 percent of the students questioned
said that Genetics was one of the best
courses they had taken at Cornell. "If this is a stigma, that's okay with me,"
says Professor Stinson.
Mary Taylor, '78, a biology major who took Genetics last fall, is among
many who really enjoyed the course. "It's time consuming, but not that hard," she explains. And although she
sometimes put in 12 hours a week in
lab, she found the puzzle-solving na ture of the Drosophila experiments
kept her interest. Randy Beale, '79, a neurobiology
major currently taking Genetics, notes that "the course is extremely difficult and you've got to stay on top of it,"
but adds that it "hasn't been as diffi cult as I'd heard." He feels the material
is relevant, and says he probably would
have taken the course even if it had
not been required for his major. That there is an exaggerated repu
tation surrounding Cornell's Genetics course is undeniable. Also undeniable, however, is the truth of that Cornell graduate's statement regarding the im portance of Genetics, to which he adds: "I complained a lot about 281,
but it has turned out to be a real life
saver."

14

CAREERS IN

Diane Henke '80 accepts a memento
from Prof. E.S. Shepardson for her high cumulative average.

Ag Engineering

by Judy Redel 78

'■G. im

|f you asked any senior in the Col
lege of Agriculture and Life Sciences
to name a few females he or she knows

in his major, you'd expect to hear : mention of quite a few. This is not

true, however, for a senior in the De

partment of Agriculture Engineering,
"where the number of women is still far

'exceeded by men.

The question is: Why is this so?

: Women are being attracted to engine

ering in greater numbers in recent

■"years due to the relaxation of the male
stereotypes in engineering, the oppor-

"-tunities for upward mobility, the assur

ance of rewarding work with good pay,

the choice of a broad range of careers

::: and the possibility for achieving indi

vidual status. Yet, to ag and non-ag

--students alike, mention of the ag en

gineering department induces typically - "male" images of tractors, farm buildi-ingsand agricultural machinery.
In reality, however, ag engineering : .• does not just focus on farming; instead,
it offers to both females and males

..some of the most varied opportunities

....available in the University.

.; The program choices of agricultural

.engineering promote engineering know

ledge as well as strength in the bio

logical, social and agricultural sciences.

Two
...

broad

options

for

specialization

'.,- are open to the student.

.. One is the engineering specialization, ';. which offers theoretical and practical

''.'•background needed for design and re

search. It is jointly administered by the
•J, W State College of Agriculture and ;.'. -ife Sciences and the College of En gineering, resulting in a bachelor of
; /Cience degree from the engineering
:i:.;;o|lege. The technology specialization,

:-:r contrast, emphasizes the biological

and agricultural sciences which are linked to engineering aspects of agri
culture. It in turn leads to the award
ing of a bachelor of science degree from the ag college.
Both specializations include widely
varied interest areas that the student
can choose from, ranging from food engineering to community development
to soil and water management. The
flexibility and choice of these options makes the department attractive to
men and women alike.
The increasing percentages of wo men in the ag engineering depart
ment indicate that women are becom
ing interested in it for the same reasons
many men are. Diane Henke '80
came to the ag engineering depart ment from a farm in Callicoon, New York, but her major interests are not in farm production and processes. "The curriculum of the department's en gineering and biology courses looks very good to me, since I am inter ested in biological and environmental systems," she explained. "I have found that I really like the department be cause it is small and has good pro
fessor-student contact."
Another ag engineering student, Sue Edinger '81, found out about the de
partment when she was interviewed
in the ag college last year. "When I said I was interested in concentrating on science and math, I was told that ag engineering might be the major for
me.
Ronald Furry, '53 M.S. '55 a pro fessor in the ag engineering depart ment, feels that the department has
much to offer to women. "There is
automatic flexibility in career choice
because of the many interest areas a

student can design her major from," he stated. "In addition, there are great advantages in terms of tuition and of courses offered in the agricultural and biological sciences."
Professor Furry feels that besides course work, activities like the annual
party and the work of the Cornell Stu
dent Chapter of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers in the depart
ment are also very valuable to students.
The yearly student-faculty-administra
tion party in the fall encourages greater personal contact, while the student branch of the ASAE affords social and
academic opportunities for communi cation with people of similar interests.
The women in the ag engineering department, though relatively few in number, are making themselves known in the college these days. Diane Henke was the 1977 recipient of the Alpha Zeta Key for achieving the highest
cumulative average among the fresh
men in the ag college. She retains
some definite ideas about women in
engineering. "I entered ag engineering knowing that if I didn't like it I could always change my major - but I don't think that will happen," she stated. "I believe that women with aptitudes in science and math can perform as well as men in engineering. In fact, I feel that women purposely take a more
serious attitude toward work and try
to solve their problems more readily
than men to prove their abilities."
Soon, a senior ag engineer will probably be able to name many females in his department, for women will realize more and more their potential for dealing with the technological problems of production and society through careers in ag engineering.

15

RETURN TO SENDER
A Look At Cornell POS1 OFFICES by Carole Freedman 79

such as Cooperative Extension, the credit union in Bailey Hall, Plant
Science and Stone Halls. Roberts
takes in betwen $25,000 and $30,000 in stamp sales each year. Both post offices handle quite a bit of mail, and it is difficult to pinpoint the exact
number of letters that is mailed each
day.

mail is opened and decisions are made
as to where it should be delivered. Mr. Grant says it is a common occurrence
for mail to be addressed simply "Cor nell University". He suggests that all
mail addressed to the Cornell campus
include the name of the building in which the individual or department re
sides.

Imagine, for a moment, that you are at the receiving end of a letter at one
of the Cornell post offices. The year is
1939. You are flipping through letters that are addressed fairly ambiguously
to someone at Cornell. One letter in
particular catches your eye. It says: Director of Distension, Cornell Univer sity, Ithaca, N. Y.
Whether it is 1939 or 1977, the post
offices in Barnes and Roberts Halls on
the Cornell campus are kept busy with the continuing flow of outgoing mail of all types. Both facilities are contracted substations of the main U.S. post office in downtown Ithaca, and both
offer the same services as the down
town P.O. They sell stamps and money orders, and receive outgoing mail. This mail is not postmarked and distributed at the Cornell post offices, but is picked up by the Ithaca P.O. and processed there.
Barnes Hall, the older of the two Cornell post offices, became a con tracted substation of the Ithaca post office in the early 1900's. It handles mail from students, faculty, and em ployees of the University. Letters are
mailed all over the world from Barnes.
Stamp sales reach up to $150,000 a
year. The Roberts Hall post office was
opened shortly after Barnes began operating. Roberts Hall, which serves fewer people, handles the incoming
mail for the tenants of Roberts Hall

You glance through a pile of letters that has just been handed to you, and you come across a postcard ad dressed to Roberta Hall. Perhaps it is
a letter from someone who likes to
think of buildings in the female gender, as sailors so affectionately do of their yachts.
Where do all of these strangely addressed letters go once they have been delivered to Cornell? Bob Grant,
the coordinator of U.S. mail on cam pus in the Postal Services Division of
the Administrative Support Services, explains that mail addressed to Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853, with out the name of the building, is sent to the mailroom in Day Hall. Here the

All right, you can see how there might be a director for distension on campus; if there isn't one yet, you've
decided that there is a definite need
for one at any rate. You take the
Roberta Hall incident with a grain of
salt.
But there's more. . .
A postcard is addressed to Cornell University, Ithaca, New Jersey. On the flip side is a request for a certain Co operative Extension bulletin. Another letter is addressed to Syracuse Uni versity, Department of Agriculture, Ithaca, N. Y., and another to the New York State College at Ithaca, East Lansing, New York.
Where is Cornell anyway? you ask yourself. And who is Roberta Hall?

Linda Blaze (above) and Jeff Payton (below) handle mail in the Cornell post offices to be sorted and processed by the Ithaca Post Office.

1G

TWo Cornellians hike through the woods on one of the trips spon sored by Wilderness Reflections.

by Susan Itzkowitz 78

Orientation Through h

"Mow I see the secret of making
the best persons; it is to live in the
open air and eat and sleep with the
"
earth. Walt Whitman.
You might be wondering what Walt
Whitman has in common with Wilder
ness Reflections. Wilderness Reflec
tions is part of the new student orien
tation program at Cornell. It is a unique opportunity for incoming freshman and
transfer students to meet on a camp
ing, bicycle or canoe trip before begin ning their first semester at Cornell.
Wilderness Reflections was born in the Dean of Students Office seven
years ago. During its short life, it has withstood staff cutbacks, association with different departments and changed offices. Currently, it is a student run program under the auspices of Uni versity Unions, planned and imple mented by a group of dedicated and
enthusiastic students. Last year 200 new students partici
pated in the program. They learned of
the beauty of the wilderness, explored
new areas and discovered the skills of
managing the outdoors. Wilderness Reflections is also a way of easing the transition from high school and home
to Cornell and a new freedom and
responsibility. The trip offers an oppor tunity to learn a little bit more about oneself through close interactions with others and through a few hours of solitude in the woods.

Each group consists of six to ten
participants, a guide and an assistant guide. The guides for the program are chosen because of their outdoor skills, leadership experience and sensitivity towards others. They have usually par ticipated in a past Wilderness Reflec tion trip and are eager to share new experiences with incoming students. The guides give these students oppor tunities to ask questions about Cornell and receive first hand knowledge about what college life is really like.
Margaret Smith, '78, a Wilderness Reflections guide, thinks it is "the best way to get away and really relax be
fore you start school. It reminds you
of all the things you thought about
when you were a freshman. It's fun."
Guides plan and prepare for their own trips. They are responsible for arranging everything from the travel route to the budget and meal menus. The guide's freedom to plan his own trip gives a unique flavor to each
group excursion.
Once in the wilderness, the organi
zation stresses the idea of minimum
impact camping. Each group should leave the area looking like no one had
been there.
A top priority of the program is the safety of each participant. All guides are fully briefed on first aid, safety precautions and emergency procedures.
Over the past few years, students have visited various wilderness areas
of the Northeastern United States, in

cluding the Presidential Range of New Hampshire and the Green Mountains of Vermont. Other groups have cycled in and around the Finger Lakes area and canoed through Algonquin Park
in Canada and on Saranac Lake in
New York.
Wilderness Reflections, in addition,
sponsors a physical education course called Outdoor Leadership. According to Kitty Cullina, '78, ex-coordinator of
Wilderness Reflections and course in
structor, the course "combines outings and in-class lectures and experimental
learning." Students are required to actively think about leadership. In struction in safety skills, crisis manage ment, group dynamics, cooking, plan ning skills, environmental awareness and minimum impact camping are
offered.
In the future, Wilderness Reflections hopes to sponsor theme trips. There will be weekend outings during the fall and spring, using the wilderness as a
tool to teach people about geologic history and ecology of such areas as the Black Forest of Pennsylvania. The trips will be open to all Cornell faculty, staff, students and alumni, and aim to
enhance discussion between these dif
ferent groups.
To participate in Wilderness Reflec
tions, all you need is a smile, some enthusiasm and a desire to make new friends and discover the natural beauty of the earth. As Walt Whitman might say, Wilderness Reflections offers you a chance to become a better person.

17

Urie Bronfenbrenner '38,
Professor of Human Devel
opment and Family Studies,
talks with one of his stu dents.

Four o'clock in the morning, every
thing is dark and still. His hands no longer tremble at the thought of crime. Only sixteen years old, he is already
a pro.
Reported acts of youthful vandalism and violence are skyrocketing in the United States today. One major reason

our country who don't know how to write a check," he declares.
According to Professor Bronfen brenner, a strong correlation exists be tween the business world and family life. Through a pilot project, he and his colleagues have found that the two
greatest sources of stress in the Amer

URIE BRONFENBRENNER:
Professional Family Man

by Debbie Moses 79

for the rise in juvenile crime is attri buted to the breakdown of the family unit. Dr. Urie Bronfenbrenner, a pro fessor in the Department of Human
Development and Family Studies in the New York State College of Human Ecology at Cornell, is studying the rela tionship between the deterioration of the family structure and its adverse effects on American society.
Professor Bronfenbrenner places great emphasis on the need for a stress-free and supportive family life. Without these factors, he feels that society will begin to decline. He looks to the United States as an example of
this. "The children who are in the schools now are the ones that are
soon going out into the business world,
yet we in the United States are in
danger of developing a society where people aren't competent enough to be consumers. There are some people in

ican family concern finances and work ing conditions. When finances are
tight and working conditions are not conducive to family care, this leads to high stress situations. When high stress is obvious in families, parents tend to
look upon both themselves and their
children in a negative light. This relationship between the work
ing world and the family has led to the project that Professor Bronfen
brenner and co-director Professor
Moncrieff Cochran are presently devot ing most of their time to -- a trans-
cultural field study of the family and
its social support system in the United
States, Israel, Germany, Sweden and
Great Britain. Professor Bronfenbren ner and Professor Cochran have seen
the project undergo considerable change from its original plan. Now, it is a six and one-half year project to be carried out in two phases.

Professor Bronfenbrenner's intense
interest in psychology and the family
developed out of his own childhood
environment. His father was a neuro
pathologist at Letchworth Village, an
upper New York State mental insti tution. As a child, Professor Bronfen
brenner remembers, "perfectly normal kids being sent to Letchworth to be
institutionalized and before a year was
out, they were mentally deficient. Ob viously, the circumstances in which
you live do make a difference."
Living in a rural community also influenced Professor Bronfenbrenner's career choice. He recalls taking walks in the woods with his father, who he considers a true ecologist, and seeing how all things in life are interdepen dent. "Nothing is really independent; life is really a community consisting of
many chains." To discover how man's
system of development works, through dependency and support, is a driving
force in Bronfenbrenner's research.
Finally, Professor Bronfenbrenner's interest in psychology was influenced by his Russian background. When his family emigrated from Russia, they brought with them much of their liter ature and customs. This literature,
which mainly concerns itself with the
lives of families and their children was
a motivating force for his career. "I learned psychodynamics from the lit erature on which I was brought up,"
comments Professor Bronfenbrenner.
Through his diversified activities,
Professor Bronfenbrenner has proven to be one of Cornell's most active
professors. His own works have been published in numerous psychology and general interest magazines. He has also been an advisor to the Depart
ment of Health, Education and Welfare, the National Academy of Science, and UNICEF. Many lectures and observa tional trips, as well as visits to Russia
and one to the Peoples' Republic of
China, have kept Professor Bronfen brenner busy outside of the Ithaca area.
Through all of his travels, Professor Bronfenbrenner has added new insights to his ideas and theories on children
and family life. He is a professional
family man.

18

Learning about another culture vvhile attending college in a foreign country can be an enjoyable and un forgettable part of the Cornell exper
ience. Each year about a dozen stu
dents in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences study in Sweden, Eng land, Mexico and Ireland.
Leslie Dines '78 was in Uppsala, Sweden from June 1976 to August 1977. She is an environmental educa tion major at Cornell, and she studied such subjects as agricultural statistics and tropical agriculture at the Agricul tural University of Sweden. The uni versity is in Uppsala, about 70 kilo meters north of Stockholm. Approxi mately 1000 students study there, in cluding students in the separate veter inary college.
There are many interesting differ ences between Cornell and the Agri cultural University. Instead of taking prelims, students often undertake group projects, and the only exam in
a course may be the final one. The
grading is pass-fail, and students study one or two subjects intensively per
semester instead of the usual four to
six at Cornell.
Since Leslie's courses were taught in Swedish, she took a five month course in the language when she ar
rived there. The course is government-
sponsored, and any foreigners may
take it.
Leslie commented very favorably on the student life at the Agricultural University. Almost everyone knew
everyone else. This was because of the
university's small size as well as the
fact that almost all students live in
dormitories. While living in a dorm,
Leslie had her own room and bathroom and shared a kitchen with seven others.
Leslie had the opportunity to go to Africa for a two-week study trip in a tropical agriculture class. About 25 students participated in the trip funded by the Sweden International Develop
ment Authority. After school let out,
Leslie traveled to France, Switzerland,
Germany and Norway before returning
to the United States. In Norway she went to a meeting of the International
Association of Agricultural Students.

AGGIES ABROAD: Student
Exchange Program
by Brenda Angyal 78
Carin Hornsten, a student at the Agricultural University, is studying agricultural economics at Cornell this
year. She came to the United States at the end of June. Before school
started, she lived on a dairy farm out
side of Cortland. Carin noted the difference in class
size between Cornell and the Agri cultural University. Large lectures of
several hundred students are common
at Cornell, while Carin's largest class in Sweden had only 60 students.
Although Carin found Cornell stu-
Swedish exchange student Carin
Hornsten compares notes with Leslie Dines '78 outside Cornell's Mann Li
brary.

dents to be friendly, she was surprised at their preoccupation with grades. She said that grades seemed to be the main topic of conversation at Cornell. She is living in the International Living Center and has had the opportunity to share her experiences with other foreign students.
The basis for selecting students for college is very different in Sweden. Students are chosen solely on the basis of their high school grades, and Carin felt that this system is faulty. Be fore starting at the Agricultural Uni versity, students take practical courses which they relate to a seven-month period of work on a farm.
Carin was selected to come to Cor
nell by a student interviewing com mittee. After a screening process, some applicants were eliminated. From those remaining, one was chosen.
At Cornell there is a different selec
tion process. In the spring term of sophomore year ag students get a let ter from Larry Zuidema, Assistant Director of International Agriculture
in 252 Roberts Hall. Interested stu
dents attend a meeting where slides are shown and presentations given.
Policy and selection decisions are handled by the Exchange Scholarship Committee consisting of ag college professors and chaired by Professor Robert E. McDowell. Organizations providing support for the Exchange Program include the International Stu dent Office, Agriculture Positive Action Council (Ag-Pac), Alpha Zeta frater nity and Cayuga Lodge.
The 22-year-old Swedish exchange
program is the oldest one in the ag
college. Leslie explained that in the Swedish program all expenses are paid by a scholarship fund. She paid $1000 to help defray the expenses of the
Swedish student who was to come to Cornell. The only other money Leslie
paid was for airfare and for traveling
expenses after school was over. Room
and board at the Swedish university
were free, as was membership in stu
dent unions.
Consider the exchange program of fered by the ag college. For more in formation contact Larry Zuidema in
252 Roberts Hall.

19

A
CAST
OF

THOUSAND

Below the rooftop, below the class
rooms and hallways, below the coffee shop and the basement corridor of Goldwin Smith Hall in dank and dimlylit surroundings accessible only by trapdoor, encrusted by mold, encased in years of dust and mildew, lies one of Cornell's most remarkable col lections. The H. W. Sage Collection of Casts, an extensive collection of plaster casts of ancient Greek sculp
ture, has wasted away after over 25
years of neglect. Today, however, the casts are once again seeing the light
of day. Through the efforts of Prof. Peter
Kuniholm of the Department of Classics and a hardworking team of Cornell un dergraduates, the collection is being
cleaned and reassembled for future use
by the University. It is all part of a new course offered in the College of Arts
and Sciences this fall entitled "Archae
ology in Action." The H.W. Sage collection was first
assembled by Andrew D. White when
he was United States minister in the
legation to Germany in 1881. Through funding provided principally by H.W. Sage, plaster casts of statues from Olympia, Pergamon, and Athens were acquired. These were shipped to Ithaca and displayed in the Antique Sculpture
Museum in the basement of Goldwin
Smith Hall until the 1950's at which
time they were haphazardly stored in
a number of sub-basements.
Today, some of the statues are on
display around campus; A 15-foot
Hercules is in Franklin Hall and a num
ber of statues are located in the Tem
ple of Zeus coffee shop in Goldwin
Smith Hall. But hundreds of statues
make up the collection, and the major ity of these are stored. Due to the

by Dan Ivanick 79
dampness of their surroundings, many of the larger casts which had iron pins to reinforce the joints have broken apart. Chunks of plaster litter the floor of the chambers, and dirt and
mold cover many of the statues.
The cost of assembling this col lection today would be astronomical.
"If you were to go to the trustees
today," says Professor Kuniholm, "and ask them to buy a similar collection at 1977 prices, they'd look at you as if
you were crazy. And you would be!
But we've already got the casts, and they're just falling apart."
Consequently, the major objective
of Professor Kuniholm's course is the
restoration and preservation of these valuable casts. This involves a great deal more than merely cleaning the dirt
off. What the students have to do is
remove the dirt while leaving the plas ter intact. This requires a great deal of innovation. In fact, a large part of the students' time has been spent experi menting with different methods of cleaning. The method now used in volves the spreading of a solution of
potato starch on the statue, then
peeling it off after it has partially dried.

"The kids have that down to a science right now," declares Professor Kuni holm happily. "Because if they leave
the starch solution on too long they
take off the plaster, too!"
After the statue has been cleaned,
any cracks must be sealed and broken
limbs reassembled. This is a jig-saw puzzle job that demands a great deal of patience and precision. On the
larger casts the rusted iron support
pins are removed, and fiberglass dowels take their place.
Preservation of the statues has in
volved the students in more experi
mentation. Various sealants have been
tested, including varnish and plastic
coatings. Recently, a sculpture pro fessor in the College of Art, Archi
tecture and Planning suggested using
powdered skim milk to bind the plaster.
The powder, however, must not con tain butterfat. Unfortunately, the pow
der available had a one percent butter fat content. One student went to the
chemistry department with the powder, and by using centrifuge techniques,
was able to rid the skim milk of its
butterfat. "So they're learning a lot more here than just cleaning these things," Professor Kuniholm asserts. "They're going all over the University
for answers."
All this effort will result in material instructive aids which professors of art history and sculpture will be able to use in their courses. Many of these professors feel that a great deal more will be gained by having the statue in front of the class instead of by using a slide. To this end, Professor Kuniholm is compiling a master file of the statues for public use.
While the sculptures form the bulk of the classwork at present, this wi

20

Kathy Mello and Sue Skieresz are cleaning busts in a Goldwin Smith Hall basement workroom. They are surrounded by other busts which need to be
cleaned.
Head of Archaeology in Ac tion, Professor Kuniholm, holds
a cast of stone which says that
an olden day jock held the stone
over his head.
not always be the case. The course
also entails "excavations" of campus
ouildings from top to bottom looking for objects of historic interest.
The idea for this portion of the
course grew out of Professor Kuni-
nolm's own probes about campus. 'I've always been a snoop," he con-
esses, "and when I saw all the mater-
- al here that no one is using, I thought ;:hat there ought to be something getter to do with it." So, when the
:ourse was set up for the fall this
'basement archaeology" was included. The plan is to search every building on
campus and to construct a master file
n the University's computer which will
ist all of these relics.
,. Some important finds have already >een made from preliminary investiga■ons. For instance, an ancient Roman
■ Joor mosaic in its 40 year old packing
'
rate, Roman and Hellenistic pottery,
: nd big crates in McGraw Tower con ning the remains of Cornell's zoology
luseum have been discovered.
' Professor Kuniholm says that some

of his best sources for this project are alumni, who remember items which used to be on display on campus. He asks any alumni with information they believe may help locate some mis placed relics to write him c/o the De
partment of Classics in Goldwin Smith Hall.
Professor Kuniholm feels that many lost collections can be recovered if the
right people respond. One such col lection, now legendary in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is the plow collection of Andrew D. White. In 1868, while abroad visiting model institutions in Europe, buying books and equipment and "collecting" professors, he bought miniature plows of all ages and nations. Presumably this collection is around today, but no
one knows where. It is one of many such Cornell collections. Professor
Kuniholm hopes that just as the sculp tures are being resurrected and pre served, so too may other fascinating artifacts be brought to light through
his course.
Ancient Greek busts welcome
visitors to Temple of Zeus coffee shop. Casts from the Temple of
Zeus in Greece range from small
to large size.

; 21

Srar ifera

by Steve Hodgson 78

Few people ever realize that Ezra Cornell was quite an advice columnist! He never wrote a special advice column
for a newspaper, but his letters to his
son, Alonzo, are intermingled with bits of wisdom for life. If he were writing a column today, using his exact words, it might look something like this:
Dear Ezra,
What do you think of all this read
ing that we have to do here? You know, Emerson, Franklin, etc.?
Bookworm
Dear Worm, I think time is well spent in reading
the life of Franklin: he was a great man and he was a self-made man; a boy with the observance of the same rules that he lays down, and with the same industry and perseverance, can also become a great man.
EC

ever have you fall into the other ex
treme and become suspicious as that is an equal fault and leads to mis anthropy and misery. Midway between
the two is where you may steer clear of many difficulties.
You should also be cautious in form
ing acquaintances; for bad acquaint
ances are the greatest of evils for a young man, and hard to shake off.
EC
Dear Ezra, I think nobody misses me at home.
I've been away at school for two
weeks now and have gotten only 10 letters. Is something wrong?
Homesick
Dear Homesick, I have not been home in a month,
and have not heard from the family in
that time. EC

Dear Ez baby, My roommate Perry, tried to kiss a
girl on the suspension bridge last night. When he was all set to do it, she dis appeared. What's the scoops?
Disgusted Male
Dear DM, I will write to Perry about that kiss.
Kisses soon dry up; I don't wonder
that he could not find it. EC
Dear Ezra, I trust everybody. I'm not so sure
that is good. Every time I go past the guys on my hall they tell me all sorts of things. Should I believe them?
Gullible
Dear Gul, I am glad to learn from your letter
that you. . . are correcting the error of being too confiding. I should not how-

Dear Ezra,
You seem to know a whole bunch
of good things. Can you give me some inside tips?
Curious
Dear Curious, There are many rules given, my son,
for a man to square his conduct by,
and many or all of them contain per
haps some good features. But there is
one that has come to my knowledge that seems perfect in all its parts; and
that is the one known as the 'Golden Rule.' It says, 'As ye would that others should do unto you, do ye also unto
them'. . . Then. . . to adopt this rule you have simply, when you are about to do anything to another person, to inquire of yourself whether it is doing by him as you would like him to do by
you.
If your conscience answers 'No' even
in the lowest whisper, be assured it is

not right and you should reconsider
what you were about to do. On the other hand, if a person ill treats or abuses you, suppress anger and show him that the matter is easiest settled
by letting him alone.
EC
Dear Ezra, I keep running out of money. There
seems to be a vacuum in my wallet. What should I do?
Too Poor to Pay
Dear TP, Do you keep an account of your
personal expenses? If not, you should do so; you should not spend a cent for anything, even the merest trifle, with out putting it down in your private cash
book with the name of the article.
Adopt that as a rule for life; always carry the book in your pocket.
EC
Dear Ez, What do you think of all-nighters? Foggy Brained and Bleary Eyed
Dear Fog and Blear, Last night at Rutland was the first
night I have been in a bed for a week, and I don't expect to get into another for the week to come. My health was
never better. EC
Dear Mister Ezra, I love to study! People tell me I'm
crazy and should get out and run around. Is that right?
Joe College
Dear Joe, A degree of healthful exercise is
good; it quickens and invigorates ideas
and enables the student to learn faster,
and renders the learning acquired vast ly more useful.
EC
Ezra Cornell's advice can be found daily in the Department of Manuscripts and University Archives in Olin Library,

22

COUNTRYMAN CAPSULES

Professor Receives Teach ing Award
Prof. Robert H. Foote, of the De partment of Animal Science, has been named recipient of the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching by the State University of New York. Known for his efforts in development of personalized learning methods for students from diverse backgrounds, he serves on several academic commit tees, and is world-renowned for his research in artificial insemination and the physiology of reproduction.
Geneva Station Appoint
ments
Dr. Alexander C. Davis has been ap
pointed Associate Director at Cornell University's New York State Agricul tural Experiment Station, Geneva, and
Assistant Director of Research for the
College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences. At the Geneva Station, Dr. Davis will
be responsible for the federal programs in which the Station is involved, and
he will represent the Station on various
regional committees. As Associate Director of Research,
Dr. Davis is responsible for developing improved short and long term crop protection procedures for vegetables
grown in New York.
Ronald J. Kuhr has been appointed Associate Director of Research for the
College of Agriculture and Life Sci
ences for a five year term. He has also been named Associate Director of the
Agricultural Experiment Station for a
similar term. Kuhr will be responsible for the ad
ministration and coordination of re

search programs in the plant and food
sciences. Kuhr comes from the New York State
Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva, where he has been a faculty member of the Department of Entomol
ogy since 1968. He is an associate
professor of insect toxicology.
First Wm. I. Myers Pro
fessor Named
Robert S. Smith, Professor of Farm Finance, has been named the first William I. Myers Professor in Agri cultural Finance by the Cornell Uni versity Board of Trustees.
This new endowed chair in the Col
lege of Agriculture and Life Sciences is a memorial to former faculty member and dean William I. Myers. Myers developed the concept of the Farm Credit Bank System in the United
States.
Contributions and pledges to the en
dowment have been received from
alumni, friends, faculty, corporations,
and foundations. Commitments total
ing $750,000 are expected by December31, 1977.
Prof. Earl H. Brown, Associate Di rector of Resident Instruction, has been appointed to a national committee
representing northeast deans and
directors. Associate Director since
1972, he has been chairman of a 14 state regional group this past year.
Varnum D. Ludington '39 has es
tablished the O.W. Smith Memorial
fund, an emergency student aid fund for undergraduates in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Contri butions to the Fund are being sought
from those whose lives were touched
by the generosity of O.W. Smith.

R. David Smith B.S. '64, Ph.D. '74 has been appointed an Associate Pro fessor of Animal Science, after serv ing as a research associate at the University of Rochester Medical School. While doing his graduate work at Cornell he was laboratory instructor in general physiology, endocrinology, reproduction, and a nutrition course. He taught for two years in the physi ology department.
Don Mead Family Secret
Mark Mead 74 and the rest of his
family made the August 19, 1977 issue of Dairy News. Each Mead youngster was given a newborn heifer calf at eight years of age. They each had the responsibility to manage that animal in any way they wished. Sav ings accounts were opened, and the animals started paying off. Sale of
milk from these cows alone amounted
to ten dollars a week.
Mark was an agricultural economics major at Cornell and paid for most of
his expenses while in school. He is now
in partnership with his father. They
cash crop 100 acres of wheat and ear
corn and leave the remaining 400 acres for dairy.
John McKeown '73 has been named
budget analyst for the endowed col leges and support services at Cornell.
McKeown is known for his spectacu lar plays in the 1972 football season
and as the captain of the Big Red
track team in 1973.
After graduating from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Mc Keown earned his masters' degree in
Business and Public Administration at
Cornell.
In his position at Cornell McKeown will serve as Budget Office liaison to University departments for preparation of the annual budget, operations fore casting, and budget monitoring and
control programs.

23

Secretary
Bergland
Visits Research Center

by Mark Pinnie 78
It was a beautiful fall afternoon in
upstate New York. Leaves were turn
ing with their autumnal splendor, and there was a feeling of respect for na ture surrounding the rural setting. It was this mood of natural change that United States Secretary of Agriculture Robert Bergland encountered on his visit to Harford, New York, the site of the Department of Animal Science's teaching and research center.
Secretary Bergland's October 26th visit to Harford was an important part
of his tour of New York State's various
agricultural facilities. He pointed out
the need for research facilities like Har
ford to keep up with the changing technology and information that mod ern farmers need today.
The Harford research facility is a vi tal part of the College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences' dual purpose of
teaching the students of Cornell while providing service for the residents of New York. At this teaching and re search center, experimentation is car ried on in many diverse areas of agri cultural importance, all aimed at im proving the productivity and efficiency of the farming community.
The most extensive research at the
facility has been in the field of dairy

Robert Young, head of the Depart ment of Animal Science, welcomes Secretary of Agriculture Robert Berg
land.
science. New York is the second largest dairy state in the United States, and revenue from dairying provides 55 per
cent of the total income of farmers in New York. The Harford researchers
have been striving to increase the pro ductivity of dairy cattle and have con ducted numerous experiments on the care and feeding of these animals.
As it exists today, the Harford Re search and Teaching Facility is the largest one of its kind in the East. Dur ing his visit at Harford, Bergland point ed out the paramount importance of
such research stations to the farmers of the United States. His stress on the
increasing demands and needs of American society for agricultural com
modities indicated the need for tech
nological advancement, the kind of advancement that is Harford's goal.
The existence of Harford Research and
Teaching Facility is a true indicator of the changing nature of agriculture and how Cornell is attempting to stay one step ahead of that change.

Univer§j|Hege of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of the State University, at Cornell

CORNELL

COUNTRYMAN

VOL.LXXV

JAN./FEB..197B

T

Min

:ft ■■ ;,.■■::.■■- . , .ft

From The Classroom To The Cockpit. ..see p. 15

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1978
VOLUME LXXV-Number 4

EDITORS: Laura Lee Collyer
Debbie Moses Mark Pinnie
ASSISTANT EDITORS: Paul Brantley
Rita Malone Slovacek Chuck Summers

ABOUT THE COVER Ray Sheldrake, a professor of vegetable crops at Cornell, is pictured on the cover with his own airplane-"Mooney". Prof. Sheldrake feels that flying is more
convenient and much faster than driv
ing a car and so flies his plane to Cambridge, Massachusetts where he works part-time.
ART EDITORS:
Marleen Bicknese David Domeshek Dan Ivanick
Peggy Koenig Peter Schoenberger
PHOTO EDITOR: Steve Hodgson

CONTENTS
3. The Minstrel by Carole Freedman 79
4. Getting Their Message Across: Eskimos Use Film & Video by
Peggy Koenig 78
6. Swept Away by Broomstick Polo by Eva Wu 78 7. Catching Zzzz's by Judy Redel 78
8. Bailey's "Experiment"-Landscape Architecture at Cornell by Laura
Lee Collyer 78
10. Doin' the Cornell Shuffle by Paul Brantley 78
12. Pomp and Circumstances by Joe Lubeck 78 14. A Thing of the Past Becomes a Thing of the Future by Peter Schack
now 78
15. Flying Professors by Rita Malone Slovacek 78 16. They Went Down to the Sea in. . .Shells? by Steve Hodgson 78 18. Pigeon Come Home by Debbie Moses 79 20. Charting Ag College Expansion by Daniel ivanick 79
22. "Home Sweet Home" for Bio Students-the I. Ellis Behrman Biol ogy Center by Peter Schoenberger 78

EDITORIAL STAFF: Brenda Angyal, 'Robin Feiner, Carole Freedman, Susan Itzkowitz, Joseph Lubeck, Judy Redel, Peter Schacknow, Jo Schaffel, Tom Sutcliffe, Eva Wu
Picture Credits: Cover, page 15 Rita Slovacek; page 4-Tim Kennedy; page 6, 16, 22-Steve Hodgson; page 8-Cornell Plantations; page 9-Laura Collyer; pages 12, 13-Joe Lubeck; pages 16, 17-Department of Physical Education; pages 18, 19-Russ Hamil ton, Visual Services; Langmuir Lab; page 3-Carole Freedman; page 7-Edmond Giugliano; page 14-John Still
well.
The Cornell Countryman is published
seven times a year from October ,
through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Sub scription Rates: $2.50 a year; $4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content gathered and written i by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors. < Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen,

1 wisted musings are tangled up in the cold of the night.
Icy voices permeate the airwaves, and I can pretend
I am that voice, my eyes shut, my
imagination forced open.
I lick a snowflake from my nose.
I am a part of winter's creation,
With the wind tripping across the lake Invisibly tangling my hair. Early morning fog touches the foothills Blanketing the chilly waters Hospitable to no one, save the
Half-crazed winter sailor.
And I
Will steal away in the night
Because I am a part of winter's creation. I am the frost that ices your tongue
And the whistling in your windowpane.
You can't look for me.
I'm not there.
I am the minstrel
And I will play for you the masterful musings of the mind.

THE MINSTREL
by Carole Freedman 79

3

For thousands of years Alaskan and
Canadian Eskimos lived in a nomadic, hunting society. When the first white men arrived in Alaska, nearly 300 years ago, they brought the Eskimos Christ ianity, Western education and disease.
The Eskimo lives were never the same;
over time they were exposed to a new language, a radically different form of government, a modern technology, and a village lifestyle. It is only in the
last few years that the Eskimos have
regained control over their lives and developed a new identity.
Tim Kennedy, a Cornell University communication arts graduate student, spent the last eleven years in Alaska working with the Eskimos in the villages of Noorvik and Emmonak. Kennedy developed a program wherein the Eskimos filmed and videotaped their discussions of community issues. These
films were then distributed to govern ment officials for their reaction and in
put. Kennedy's aim was to help the Eskimos instigate social change and develop stronger community bonds. Kennedy called his program the Skyriver project.
The Skyriver project grew out of Kennedy's work with Eskimos through the federally funded VISTA program. Kennedy joined VISTA in 1966, spend ing the next two years in the arctic Eskimo village of Noorvik. Here he
learned of how the white man's infil
tration of Eskimo society had perma nently altered the Eskimo's lifestyle.
The people of Noorvik were origin ally caribou hunters. When the western religious and educational institutions were introduced by the white man, Eskimos were brought into a sedentary village lifestyle for the first time. This
new way of life as well as their ex posure to Christian missionaries and
western medical men rendered the Es
kimos, according to Kennedy, "unbal anced culturally and uncentered in
their own environment."
After Kennedy finished his work in Noorvik, he continued working in Alaska. He moved to the village of Emmonak, near Anchorage, to work for the Community Enterprise Develop ment Corporation which organized

cooperatives in Alaska. Kennedy helped the Eskimos of the village of Emmonak

organize fish marketing cooperatives. While in Anchorage, Kennedy met Don
Snowden, who was evaluating the

Community Enterprise Development Corporation for the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO).
In conversations with Snowden,

Kennedy learned of a community on Fogo Island which had difficulties communicating with their provincial government. Colin Low, a member of the Canadian National Film Board, had

helped these people develop a program to improve communications with their
government officials.
Low's program consisted of the
Islanders filming their discussions on community issues. These 16mm films

were then distributed to government
officials for reaction and response. The films were felt to be a more effective

communication device than face to face

discussion because they have a greater

and longer lasting impact. Kennedy said he had been thinking
of a similar program for the Emmonak
and Noorvik villagers, who were having problems similar to the Fogo Islanders'. Kennedy's program, however, used videotape as well as film and applied

to the American political situation, not

to the Canadian. Snowden and Low

eventually helped persuade the OEO

to fund a program, allowing Kennedy to further develop his ideas.

Kennedy believed the communication

gap between the Emmonak villages and their government officials developed

because the Eskimos did not under

stand how the western system of

government functioned. In their no

madic society there had been no

decision-making officers. Decisions

were made by the after a community
reached.

shaman (chief)
concensus was

The westerners who infiltrated the

Eskimo society created a hierarchical

system of government. A new power
structure developed which was not
based on the shaman as leader of the

community. The Eskimos who risked
the change of the western style of government and acted as village repre
sentatives to visiting government offi-

Getting Thei ESKIMOS us!
by Pegg
cials had usually been the least re spected community members. The chief of the village was usually the most respected member of the village and had nothing to gain through this change. Therefore those who were chosen to represent the Eskimo com munity were not necessarily the real village leaders.
When the Alaskan government visi ted Emmonak to discuss the commun
ity's needs, they sought out those who were assumed to be the village leaders,
but who in many cases were not. Out
of this misunderstanding, according to Kennedy, grew a "chaos of misinfor
mation". The officials labeled the
Eskimos passive and apathetic and the
Eskimos labeled the western govern ment as insensitive to their needs.
Using the trust which had grown between himself and the villagers, Kennedy began the program by video taping the villagers' discussions about community issues. The Eskimos were taught to operate the equipment so they had complete control over the taping. A portable videotape machine, according to Kennedy, was easy for the Eskimos to learn to operate; it
Eskimos, from the village of Emmonak, discuss community issues while being filmed. Communication in the village has improved.

4

Message Across: Im& VIDEO
enig 78
took no more than one hour. Because
the Eskimos were not used to seeing themselves on tape, videotaping con tinued until they felt comfortable with their taped images. Videotape was used because it provided immediate
feedback.
Community discussion was the first
step in the program for two reasons.
The villagers of Emmonak are a diverse people. The discussions improved
communications between different
groups. The villagers also used the dis
cussions to reach a concensus on the
community issues of education and housing.
The community then selected a fel low villager, Ray Waska, to help Ken nedy organize the program. Waska had a stake in the issues, and according to Kennedy, "had integrity beyond
me." An interview format now re
placed community discussion. Village leaders were selected as community spokesmen and interviewees. These leaders were to be interviewed by Waska and filmed by a crew that the community controlled.
Film had replaced videotape be cause Kennedy found it was more powerful when shown outside the
community. Because film must be
viewed in a dark room, it neutralized the viewer to his environment. The

viewer was forced to focus on the
subject of the film rather than the technology.
Time, setting and language of the interview was then selected by the
interviewee. In this way, the person
being interviewed controlled the con tent and situation making him more comfortable with the topic of dis
cussion.
Questions and answers were pre
arranged, eliminating all elements of
surprise. Before the interview was
completed, the community spokesman offered a solution to the problem.
Because the film took time to be
developed, the interviewee had time
to think over what was discussed and
decide on any changes he wanted to make. Once the film was processed,
the interviewee viewed it for reaction
and possible changes. The film was
shown a number of times until the
spokesman recovered from the initial excitement of seeing his image on film. He then had the option of editing the material or redoing the interview.
Once the interviewee was satisfied
with the film, it was shown to the community. These discussions were all videotaped. The community could
decide to either add or delete informa
tion from the interview. Eventually a vote was taken to accept or reject the film as representative of the community's feelings about the issue and the proposed solution.
When the interview was accepted, Waska, with the help of Kennedy, explained the system of government and education decision making to the villagers. The community then de
cided who should receive the film.
The Emmonak villagers decided the
Commissioner of Education and the
State Board of Education should re
ceive their film. The films were shown
by Waska at two meetings of the State Board of Education. They had a power ful impact on the government officials. For the first time, the officials were hearing the real village leaders speak about important community issues at
an emotional level.
The films also had an impact on the other villagers who attended the meet ing. Because the spokesman on the

film was no different from themselves and because the government officials
reacted to the film so strongly, the villagers were given a renewed sense
of self-worth.
The Commissioner and the State Board of Education responded to the
villagers on videotape, and through direct action. Videotaping the govern ment's response had a positive psycho logical impact on the Eskimos, build
ing community confidence. The Eskimos
were able to compare what they
heard from the government immedi
ately after their film presentation with the changes which actually took place in the community.
The program has been a success,
according to Kennedy. "The Eskimos have a new sense of who they are. They realize they have problems which they can articulate and which they
have in common with their entire
community. They have developed a
collective awareness which can be
used to focus on their problems and to explore the courses of action avail able to finding solutions on their terms." Kennedy feels these films are documentaries, which a documentary
filmmaker could never have made.
They are the Eskimos' own interpreta tion of their problems and not some one else's vision of Eskimo society.
The Skyriver program, according to Kennedy, can be used by other groups having problems with bureaucracy, such as American Indians, unrepre
sented workers, and dissatisfied
farmers. Kennedy has had an interest expressed in his program by UNESCO, the Academy for Educational Develop
ment, and individuals within the World
Bank. In February he will be making a presentation to the American Asso
ciation for the Advancement of
Science. Someday Kennedy would like
to set up a home base attached to a
university in the form of a Center for Development Communication. He feels he has a successful "pedagogy" which can be used to help people share information more effectively. But the Skyriver program is not an ideology; it is a process to be applied openmindedly to different situations and adapted to different circumstances.

5

SWEPT AWAY BY
BROOMSTICK POLO

by Eva Wu 78

Pogo resides in a straw-lined stall
at Oxley Riding Stables. A retired polo pony, his days are spent giving riding lessons and chewing his hay. Working hours are short and not terribly stren uous. Life for the most part, aside from
an occasional carrot, is uneventful.
But on Saturday night, the docile ani
mal comes alive to the amusement of
his fans and the frustration of his
riders.
This pony won't settle for a lifetime
of boredom and routine. While his poloplaying days may be over, Pogo can still star in a sport unique to Cornellbroomstick polo.
Rules, regulations, and sanity are lost as players sit astride ponies and
attempt to hit a soccer ball with a broom. The futility of their attempts
is overshadowed only by vain efforts
to stay seated atop their mounts, a difficult feat, especially when there are no saddles.
There are few formalities to this
game of equestrian nonsense. Three players make up a team. In order to score, the rider must merely be on the
horse when he or she hits the ball to
wards the goal post, and after that, anything goes! Players are allowed to fall off their horses, to hit the ball with their hands, head, or foot, or
even to hit each other. As broomstick
polo supervisor Lydia Hrechnyak, '78, observed, "It gets a little rowdy."

With most sports a strong sense of get up and go prevails. But broom stick polo can hardly be called a typi cally competitive sport. It is, as many have attested, "for fun." The players wear no uniforms; at times, it is diffi cult to tell which team is which. Mass
chaos predominates in the riding arena, mass hysteria in the stands.
Ponies like Pogo play a role in pro viding the entertainment of broomstick polo. Described as "the pluggiest, most' docile" horses available, very
often the ponies will refuse to move or if they do, it is in the opposite di rection. Susan Ogden, a member of
the Baker Tower-Boldt team described
the ponies as "perfect living statues" and explained that the winning team usually had the only moving horse.
The origins of this sport are ob
scure, but we do know that the game started in 1955. To the best of any
one's knowledge, Cornell is the only
school that offers it as an intramural
sport. Through the years, it has be come Cornell's most popular intramural sport, proven by the fact that registra tion for broomstick polo is a one-day
affair and closed out in twenty minutes. This year twenty-four teams com
peted in a standard single elimination tournament. A run-down of participants showed a tremendous variety from fraternity brothers to sorority sisters, from the Cornell Glee Club to Young

Bravo! This rider has overcome the greatest challenge of broomstick polo- staying seated on your horse.

Israel. Names of teams were equally interesting. Hell's Belles and The Head less Horsemen may one day meet in competition!
Broomstick polo comes in as half-
time entertainment at Saturday night
polo matches. Next year when there are fifty-two teams, they will play be tween chukkers (quarters). The game lasts two and one-half minutes, which Lydia says, "Sounds short, but it's actually quite long for someone who
has never been on a horse." Due to
the questionable riding skills and so briety of players, the game often goes into overtime. Then, it is not necessary to hit the ball between the goal posts, but to hit the wall opposite the goal you are defending.
Players offered some words of wis
dom to the unwary. Carol Pepper, 79, of the 302 Wait Coop team, suggested that the rider drop the reins and use
both hands on the broom to hit the
ball. When questioned about the sta
bility of such a maneuver, she said "The horses don't go anywhere."
Other players, perhaps with a higher alcohol content in their blood, would
disagree. Dave Dunlavy, '78, of the Cornell Glee Club team, was one play er who had the distinction of being in voluntarily ejected from his mount. As he puts it, "I fell off the side of the
horse, the back of the horse, and
lost my broom." When asked for ad
vice he states, "It helps to have a drink
or two; it helps if your opponents have
many more."
Mrs. Marie West, who is in charge of intramural sports, revealed one solu tion to the pokey-pony syndrome. Several years ago, a student, realizing that his mount would probably be slow and stubborn, tied a carrot to a stick
and dangled it in front of his pony's
nose. Wherever the carrot went, the
horse would follow accordingly. Other strategies vary from cursing
at the pony to giving up and watching the game. Whether the players use carrots for the ponies or something with a little more punch in it for them selves, broomstick polo promises a good time for spectators and players alike. Right, Pogo?

CATCH I l\T ZZZZ'S byJudyRedel78

"You wouldn't believe the dream I
had last night!"
This is a familiar line to hear first
thing in the morning from your room
mate, a friend you walk to your 9:05
with or an eating partner at Co-op. Dreams may range from nightmarish science fiction thrillers to nostalgic memories, romantic interludes or con fusing Cornell miscellany. Whether they are believable or not, these nightly excursions into fantasy give an unavoid able, irrepressible and revealing look
at the lives of students at Cornell
and specifically in the College of Agri
culture and Life Sciences.
When asked what they remember most from their dreams, many students admit to dreaming about immediate problems or things happening currently
in their lives. In accordance with ac
cepted dream theory, this is a reason able answer. However, it is a bit ironic
when one considers that most students
value their sleep as an effective, nonaddictive and non-hangover-producing
escape from life! Because dreams are
often an obstinate reminder of reality, those precious hours of "escape" can be more grueling, exhausting and de pressing than real life.
Sometimes, however, dreams con
fuse and mix ideas so much that the
result is hilarious. Ag students' dreams are no exception. One senior microbi ology major was so immersed in his fruit fly research for genetics that he encountered fruit flies one night in his dreams. "A couple of weeks ago, I

squashed a fly by mistake in lab and was disgusted with the way the red eyes bulged out at me from under the microscope," he explained. "I was so upset about that fly that I dreamt a horde of gigantic fruit flies took me and my sister captive. They kept us prison ers, making us work for them in retri
bution for what I had done to one of
them."
During a crunch of prelims, papers and projects, students' dreams reflect their Cornell lives quite vividly. Yet, not all of their dreams are directly
related to coursework. One communi
cation arts senior started during her
freshman year to have recurrent dreams about an imminent nuclear holocaust.
"It was always the same dream," she noted. "I'd be standing outside with lots of people around me when sudden ly I'd see bombs falling from the sky. No one else ever noticed them, and I'd scream 'the bombs are coming, the bombs are coming!' But I'd always wake up before they reached the ground. I had that same dream from freshman through junior year. Then,
last summer, I dreamed that the bomb
finally fell and that I actually lived through it. I remember fervently saying, 'I'm so glad to be alive!' The dream finally reached its conclusion; I haven't
had it since."
Fortunately, not all dreams of stu dents are that ominous. Just as sleep
is a welcome escape, dreams can
sometimes provide a bit of fun. One student admitted to dreaming recently

of playing backgammon underwater with a male friend, while another
dreamed of a Cornell student confer
ence being held in a coal mine. Fam ilies, old schools and food also seem to sneak into the subconscious through dreams frequently.
The most pervasive presence in
Cornell students' dreams is that of all
the people who are around them during the day. Brief night encounters may
be so realistic that you cannot discern
what actually happened during the day and what occurred only in your mind. Some students even meet people they
do not know. "I've sometimes seen
people in my dreams who always study in Mann Library at the same time I do, but whom I've never spoken to," one agricultural economics junior
noted.
Finally, there is one major thing Cornell students in general do not dream about: the future. Many dream
about events that could occur in the immediate future, but no one dreams
about what they will be doing ten years from now. Students are firmly rooted in the present in both their conscious and subconscious thought, allowing only occasional flashbacks to previous times to complement and elucidate current experiences. The
future is not much of an open door in
either reality or fantasy. "What are you doing this weekend?" "I think I'll just sleep it away." "You'd better not. You might regret
it!"

1

BAILEY'S "EXPERIMENT"-
Landscape Architecture at Cornell

by Laura Lee Collyer 78

"Futhermore, I have been specially interested in the development of
this Department of Landscape Art not only because the subject itself appeals to me but because I have wanted to see the experiment in the development of a piece of professional education that would still meet
"
the needs of the masses of the people.

-from a talk by Liberty Hyde Bailey to Cornell landscape architecture stu dents, March 10, 1914. (L.H. Bailey was professor of Applied Agriculture
from 1888 to 1903. He then served as
Director of the agriculture college un til 1913.)
These words of Liberty Hyde Bailey describe one of his major reasons for establishing a Landscape Architecture Program at Cornell University. The seeds of the "Landscape Art" curric ulum were planted in 1897 when a student named Bryant Fleming entered
Cornell on the advice of Frederick
Law Olmstead, Sr., founder of the profession. Because no educational
program in landscape architecture ex isted in the United States at that time, Olmstead advised Fleming to "put yourself under L.H. Bailey, who will
see to it that you are furnished with
the proper background of study."

During his four years at Cornell, Fleming chose courses based upon the suggestions of Olmstead and Bailey. By 1904, Bryant Fleming had a success ful landscape architectural practice in Buffalo and had been appointed by Bailey as the first faculty member to teach landscape design and theory courses at Cornell. Originally called the "Outdoor Art Department", it offered a course of instruction in landscape architecture open to juniors and seniors.
In 1906, the College of Agriculture,
which was located in what is now the
Arts quad, formally established the "Department of Rural Art" which offered a complete undergraduate pro gram in landscape architecture.
By 1912 the department had a faculty of four consisting of Bryant Fleming, E. Gorton Davis, Eugene Montillon and Ralph W. Curtis. In that year the name of the department

From an era gone by - a photo of the Landscape Art building; today Landscape Art is the Dept. of Landscape Architecture.

was changed to the "Department of Landscape Art" and the Trustees es tablished the degree, Master of Land scape Design.
The quality of the landscape archi
tecture curriculum proved to be excel lent and the department repeatedly produced winners of the Rome Prize
Competition (of the American Academy
in Rome). Thirteen of the first nine teen winners of the Rome Prize were
Cornell landscape architecture students. By 1915 the department had ac
quired and remodeled an old poultry workshop (located on the edge of the
wooded area behind what is now
Warren Hall) in an effort to centralize
its studios and classrooms. This struc
ture was named the Landscape Art Building and the facilities included a studio with 35 drafting tables, a lecture room seating 70 people, a small library, a herbarium and 5,000 lantern slides.
E. Gorton Davis succeeded Bryant Fleming as chairman of the department
in 1915. Professor Davis was a well-
liked teacher who led the program
through a significant transition: land
scape architecture was transferred to
the College of Architecture in 1922. In this year, the undergraduate curric ulum was changed to a five year pro gram leading to a BLA degree and the MLD was replaced by the MLA degree.
The early 1930's was an upsetting period for the landscape architecture
program. E. Gorton Davis died sudden
ly in 1930 of pneumonia and Eugene D. Montillon became department
chairman. The times were generally traumatic because of the depression
and classes remained relatively small. At the national level, Roosevelt's
"New Deal" programs created a need for landscape architects who could design parks and parkways to be im
plemented as WPA and CCC projects.
Gilmore Clarke (Cornell '12) of the New York landscape architectural firm of

Clarke and Rapuano joined the faculty
in the mid-30's to teach courses in
park planning and design. Gilmore
Clarke later became Dean of the
College of Architecture, the first and only landscape architect ever to hold that position. Throughout World War II, there were few and finally no land scape architecture majors, although service courses in landscape archi
tecture were still being taught. After World War II, returning veter
ans created a new interest in landscape
architecture at Cornell and Frederick
Edmondson, Jr. was appointed to the
landscape architectural faculty by Dean Clarke. Clarke felt a need for a strong
er planning and engineering background for the profession and in 1948, the
five year BLA degree was replaced by a four year BS degree in land planning.
The 1950's proved to be a disap pointing period for the department because retiring faculty were not re placed. With insufficient faculty and
the reduced course offerings which resulted, the number of students in the
program diminished.
Cornell's accreditation in landscape architecture was thus withdrawn by the American Society of Landscape Architects in 1958 because of program
inadequacies resulting from the lack of faculty.
The climax of this period of the program's history was reached when the last faculty member, Professor Edmundson, retired in 1962 and land
scape architecture was no longer taught in the College of Architecture.
An independent program in land
scape design had been established in the Department of Floriculture and Or
namental Horticulture of the College of Agriculture at the same time that the Landscape Architecture Department transferred to the College of Archi tecture in 1922. This landscape de sign training, although intended for students in nursery management, pro duced many graduates who have be come well-known landscape architects.
It was the existence of this program
and the efforts of the faculty and Chairman of the Department of Flori

The Senior Landscape Architecture Studio today. Marvin Adleman is assisting these students.

culture and Ornamental Horticulture
which was responsible for the reestablishment of the Landscape Archi tecture Program in the College of Agriculture in 1968, sixty-four years after it had originally begun in this college.
The pressures to re-establish the
program resulted in part from the pass
age of state legislation requiring the licensing of landscape architects and in part from the realization that the resources of Cornell University make it one of the best places to have such a course of study.
After instruction had begun picking up where it left off, Marvin I. Adleman was appointed Landscape Architecture Program Coordinator and the new pro gram received provisional accreditation
in 1972.
Development was again in full swing in 1973 when the graduate curriculum was "cooperatively re-established" in the College of Architecture, Art & Planning. A two-year second profes sional degree program leading to an MLA degree was then offered.
In 1974, the landscape architecture curriculum was awarded full accredita
tion. Two years later, the undergradu ate and graduate programs merged, receiving the combined support of the New York State College of Agri
culture and Life Sciences and the
College of Architecture, Art, and Plan ning. A three-year first-professional graduate degree in Landscape Archi tecture (MLA) was initiated in 1975.

Presently, the Landscape Archi tecture Program has approximately 60 undergraduate students, 24 graduate students, and six faculty members. The students in the program have again begun to win awards and have recent ly won the first and second prizes in the Playground for All Children Com petition and the student competition for a master plan of the lower Genesee River. Marvin Adleman, Program Coordinator, explains that a concurrent graduate degree program in City and Regional Planning and Landscape Architecture is now being developed. Adleman further states that, "Today our Program enjoys the best of both worlds - linking resources of both the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences and the College of Architecture, Art, & Planning."
Although Cornell's Landscape Archi tecture Program had a few difficult and occasionally uncertain periods in its history, it managed to develop into its
current successful structure. "Marv"
Adleman sums up his feelings toward the program's development: "I like to maintain the feeling that there is con tinuity in our program- that it dates back to the time of Liberty Hyde Bailey. Although there were a few
transitions from school to school and
perhaps some short term gaps in its development, Landscape Architecture has been serving an important role at
Cornell since 1904. In 1979 our Pro gram will celebrate its 75th anniversary."

9

Agriculture College

Doin' the Cornell Shuffle

by Paul Brantley 78

High school seniors face many
difficult questions about their future. Should I go to college? What college
should I go to? How will I pay for it?
If they do decide to go to college, within a year or two another question, probably the toughest of all, comes up. What should my major be?
Although many students stick with their early career decisions, the major ity have real feelings of doubt. Often they decide that their present curric ulum is not at all what they really
want and set off in a new direction. If
this new concentration radically differs from the old, they may decide to transfer. In other smaller colleges, this necessitates transferring to a separate school, but at Cornell another
option is available; the intra-university
transfer.
At Cornell, transferring from one college to another is not at all unusual. The ag college accepts close to 100 intra-university transfers a year-a high percentage of those who apply. Gordon L. Peck, the Associate Director of Admissions in the College of Agri culture and Life Sciences, says that generally intra-university transfers are given as much consideration as pos sible. "Even if transfer applicants aren't accepted, they can study hard
for another semester in the Division

of Unclassified Students (D.U.S.) or
their home college and apply again. If their grades are good, there is a good chance they will be accepted."
The intra-university transfers are used as a flexible buffer by the Ad missions Office. Since they are already at Cornell, their applications are looked at later than other applications. If there is an oversubscription of students for a particular semester (as there was for the fall, 1977 semester in ag), then dealing with the intra-university transfer applications often helps alle-
'
'On the whole many more Cor nell students transfer into the ag
"
college than out of it.
viate the problem. Mr. Peck says that in a case like this transfer applicants are often promised deferred admission for the following semester. This flex ibility is very advantageous for the Admissions office and seldom causes
problems for the transfer student.
Often the student can arrange with his
present college a curriculum of ag courses in preparation for admission.
The College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences is a very attractive one to transfer applicants. On the whole, many more students transfer into the
college than out of it. This is reflected

quite clearly in the illustration on the
next page. From 1974 to 1977, the ag college accepted 356 intra-university
transfer students. During the same
time, only 206 students left for other
Cornell colleges (all figures were com
piled by the author).
According to Mr. Peck, there are
two basic groups of Cornell students who transfer into the ag and life sci
ences college. He estimates that about
one third of all transfers come from
the engineering colleges. These stu dents are often looking for an engineer ing/business concentration. The other
basic group of students are those in
Cornell's private or state schools who
decide that the comparatively practical education of agriculture and life sci
ences is more desirable than their
present major. In the diagram showing the number
of transfers in and out of the ag col
lege, the engineering transfers number only 51 students--much less than the
one third Mr. Peck mentioned. How
ever, he estimates that at least one
half of all D.U.S. students accepted
into ag were originally from engineer ing. These students often feel that they were pressured into engineering and
after one or two years want to trans fer into ag for some business courses.
The semester or two spent in D.U.b.

10

is considered a "proving ground" to see how well they will do in ag and life
science courses. The number of true transfers from
ag into engineering is less than is im plied in the diagram. Mrs. Ruth Stan
ton, an ag and life science admini strative aide who handles much of the
work involving student transfers, says
that almost all of the ag students
who go to engineering are involved in a special study program. Students can enroll in an engineering specialization by taking three years of agricultural engineering, then transferring to the engineering college for their fourth year. A Bachelor of Science degree is awarded upon graduation. These stu
dents enroll in ag with the intent to leave after three years and therefore shouldn't be considered in the transfer
totals.
The second major group of incoming
transfers come from the other Cornell
colleges. The majority of these trans fers (in the last four years-144 out of a total of 356) come from the College
of Arts and Sciences. Mr. Peck and
Mrs. Stanton both agree that most of these arts transfers have come to
the conclusion that they would rather

get a more practical job-oriented edu cation instead of the more theoretical majors in the arts college. Chris Stack, a senior in the ag college, trans
ferred from ag into arts and then back
again. He said, "I transferred into arts originally for an economics major.
But when I took the arts courses I
found that I didn't enjoy and didn't do
well in the theoretical aspects of eco nomics. So I went back into ag. ec."
"I couldn't afford not to trans
fer into ag."
Very few transfers come into ag
from the hotel school or the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. The re verse is also true. In the last four years
only five ag students have transferred into hotel, and only five hotel students have transferred into ag. The ag college has accepted five I.L.R. transfers while the I.L.R. school has accepted six ag transfers. The comparatively small
number of students in these two
schools helps to explain why there are
so few transfers. Both the hotel and
I.L.R. schools are also very difficult
to transfer into and most applicants are rejected.

The only Cornell college that receives significantly more transfers from ag than it gives is the College of Human Ecology. Perhaps the main reason for
this is the fact that most students
have misconceptions as to the range of courses and majors included in the college. Once they discover the wide variety of subjects in hum. ec, they
become more interested and then
possibly transfer. Since hum. ec. is
also a state school there are no tui
tion differences between the two
colleges.
One final consideration of transfer
applicants which hasn't been men
tioned is the obvious economic ad
vantage of the ag college. There is a large tuition difference between the state colleges and schools and the private colleges and schools. This is especially true for New York State residents. One ag college senior, who wished to remain anonymous, said, "Not only did the ag college offer the same science courses I was taking
in arts, but at a much lower cost since
I'm from New York State. The quality of education was virtually the same,
but the cost wasn't. I couldn't afford
not to transfer into ag."

Major areas of transfer in and out of the ag school. Width of the arrows roughly indicates the
number of transfers.

Human
Ecology

Industrial and Labor Relations

Hotel

Division of Unclassified Students

Arts and Sciences

Engineering
11

by Joe Lubeck 78

POMP

President Frank H.T. Rhodes holds
the mace, the symbol of Presidential authority.

What has ten thousand legs, hun dreds of geraniums, multi-colored
robes, an orchestra, and takes place in a gym? A Cornell inaugural, of
course!
The ninth president of Cornell Uni versity, Dr. Frank H.T. Rhodes, was inaugurated before an estimated 7,000 spectators in Barton Hall on Thursday morning, November 10. The elaborate ceremony was the high point of a week of special events at Cornell, including a symposium on space flight led by Professor Carl Sagan, and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Con vocation, featuring the College's dis tinguished Liberty Hyde Bailey pro
fessors.
The elegance of the inauguration ceremony was certainly impressive. Hundreds of faculty members and aca demic ambassadors from throughout
the country and the world were out
fitted in multi-colored robes. Perhaps the most impressive moment was the transfer of the mace, the symbol of presidential authority, from Board of
Trustees Chairman Robert Purcell to
President Rhodes.
The inaugural program was certain ly not lacking in speeches. Dr. Robben Fleming, President of the University of Michigan and longtime friend of Rhodes, spoke warmly of Cornell's new president, and discussed many of the problems faced by colleges and their presidents. "Reaffirmation" was the theme of President Rhodes' inaugural

speech. The incoming President stated that, "We must reaffirm the power of
reason, the strength of community, the priority of research, and the wider partnership of Cornell." Rhodes also spoke of the University and its place in the academic world, and even
showed his good humor by welcoming
the protesters in attendance.
The many contrasts and emotional
issues of the University environment
were readily apparent throughout the
ceremony. Amid the pomp and ele
gance, many students expressed their
dissatisfaction with University policies.
An estimated group of 250 students
protesting financial aid policy held signs reading, "Merit Aid Robes the
Rich" and "Increase Aid With Need"
throughout much of the ceremony and then marched out during President Rhodes' inaugural address; other stu dents wore armbands; one group unfurled a sign admonishing the audi
ence to sit for the alma mater. A size
able security contingent, including a photo and video team, was on hand to deal with any problems; however
none occurred.
The inauguration of Cornell's ninth president was certainly a far cry from the small, simple inauguration of An drew Dickson White, Cornell's first president. White, inaugurated in Li brary Hall in downtown Ithaca, in October, 1868, would certainly be surprised to see how the same ritual has changed and expanded in the 109

...and
12

years since he was empowered by
founder Ezra Cornell.
A sizeable amount of time and mon
ey went into planning the Rhodes in augural festivities, and indeed it was a gala occasion enjoyed by many. Some Cornellians, however, wondered if the University was perhaps overextravagant with its inauguration bud get, especially considering its financial situation. One thing no one can argue with, however, is that there are many contrasts in the University world, and an event like the inaugural, which makes them come to the surface, is certainly exciting.

The University Chaplain delivers the invocation, as dignitaries line the stage. Campus security officer stands by with a video camera, to record faces in the event of any disrupt/on.

Students protesting financial aid policies stand with raised fists and placards
as President Rhodes receives the mace.

CIRCUMSTANCES

13

A THING OF THE PAST
BECOMES
A THING OF THE FUTURE
by Peter Schacknow 78

It is a bright sunny day in Ithaca.
Local residents mill around the down
town area, some shopping, some walk ing, and some waiting for the streetcar
to take them up Buffalo Street. The
year? 1930. Or perhaps, if the dream
of a new local committee comes true,
1985. Yes, a street railway system, a thing of the past in Ithaca, could also become a mode of transportation of
the future.
Street railways were a primary source of transportation in the early part of
this century, before cars and busses
were in vogue. Many a foot-weary traveller hopped on the streetcar in hopes of saving himself the long trek
up the hill. The new ad hoc committee
to study the rebirth of street railways hopes to present that possibility to
future Ithacans as well.
According to committee member David Goldsmith, '80, the committee is currently trying to determine if a feasibility study for Ithaca on the sub ject would be worthwhile. Goldsmith
says the city of Toronto, which still has some streetcars, recently ventured
into the same field with success that
spurred Ithaca's hopes.
"The committee now has in its pos
session a 121 page feasibility study done for Toronto," says Goldsmith. "They've decided that additional street cars would be a boon for the city, and plan to go ahead with a new system stretching for more than four miles starting in 1982."

Goldsmith says the Canadian study will be one of the committee's major tools in deciding whether a similar study will be done in Ithaca. Prelim inary reports indicate streetcars handle large volumes of people more efficient ly than busses can.
Ithaca's old street railway system stopped operation in 1935, with the advent of city busses and the increas ing popularity of cars. Within a short time, streetcars and tracks both dis appeared from the city streets.
Since it was the busses and cars
which contributed to the demise of the
old streetcar system, the question arises
as to whether a new system would be able to survive. One who votes in the
affirmative on that issue is the project's coordinator, Lt. Col. Daniel Marvin.
"The new system would be built with the current bus system kept in mind at all times," says Marvin. "We would want the streetcar to complement
the busses, not to hurt them and their continued operation."
Marvin says the idea to bring street railways back to Ithaca began with local audio expert John Stillwell, who
now serves as one of the committee's
16 members. Marvin entered the pic ture through his role as project coor
dinator for the Boardman Planetarium.
Explains Marvin, "Natalie deCombray, who's involved with the Planet arium's Board of Directors, found out about the railway project and asked if I'd be interested in coordinating it."

Marvin was interested, and now is providing much of the energy behind
the committee's initial work. The
committee hopes to meet at least once monthly for the forseeable future.
David Goldsmith says an answer to
the question being pondered by the committee probably won't come for another five years at least. But he adds,
"We all think the idea has merit and
is worth pursuing. Otherwise, we wouldn't be spending our time with it."
The study is concentrating on a cable or cog-wheel system to service the Buffalo Street area from Tioga Street to Eddy Street, with an electric over
head wire system to service a route
extending from State Street at Aurora Street east to Eddy Street and up Eddy Street through Eddygate to College Avenue and back. Other alternatives
may also come under consideration.
The committee has already gotten some outside support for its idea. At the initial presentation for the plan in September, both Ithaca Mayor Edward Conley and Tompkins County Planning Director Frank Ligouri expressed full support for the plan.
Whether or not Ithaca will once
again have streetcars wending their way from downtown up to College-
town is still up in the air. But if the
committee's work points to the street car as a viable transportation source for the future, then the bireetcar, a thing of the past, could very well be come a thing of the future.

14

FL YING

PROFESSORS

by Rita Malone Slovacek 78
"/ don't especially like flying but I
hate driving." You would too if you had an office in Cambridge, Massa
chusetts and had to commute from
Ithaca on a regular basis. Professor Ray Sheldrake does just that. He teaches in the Department of Vegetable Crops half time and also acts as a consultant in industry. He said, "I fly about 250-300 hours a year."
Professor Sheldrake has his own
single engine plane that serves as a
trusty servant in times of travel. His
comment about flying as opposed to driving is not overly enthusiastic, how ever he does enjoy the great conven ience and pleasure of flying. He said, "I like being able to get from one place to another f-a-s-t!" Quick and
easy means of travel are a must for
professionals who are constantly called away to share their expertise with
others.
Sheldrake is not the only faculty member who flies as a means of get ting around. Of course not everyone has their own plane, but the East Hill Flying Club does provide planes for qualified pilots who are members. The East Hill Flying Club is a private club
which offers instruction to anyone in
terested in flying in addition to renting small planes to its members.
There are a number of University professors who have pilot's licenses and save time traveling by navigating themselves to their destination. Emil Haller of the education department surprised me by saying, "Many people don't realize that there are over 14,000 airports in this country but only about 300 are served by commercial air lines." What this means is, if you are dependent on commercial transporta
tion and have to travel to a small town in upstate New York, or any-

ly. Professor Jim Liggett of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
travels as far as the Caribbean and the

western part of the United States in

his own plane. Professor Art Muka, of

the entomology department uses East

Hill Flying Club planes to travel and

carry on work for cooperative exten

Professor Ray Sheldrake, one of Cornell's many flying professors.
place else for that matter, you may be
forced to make more than one

sion.
Have you ever been in a small air
plane? Ray Sheldrake says, "It's like a Volkswagen with wings." He is right, and it is especially noticeable if

connection at a commercial airport and you are in the back seat. Professor

even then you will probably have to Sheldrake owns his plane jointly with

drive a fair distance.

another gentleman, Jerry Ehrhart, a

Most people think of private flying former engineering faculty member.

as a prohibitively expensive endeavor.

The day I spoke with Professor

There is no question that it is costly Sheldrake he drove me out to the

at the outset. Initially it is necessary airport to see his plane. The day was

to shell out anywhere between one brisk, the sun was timidly shining

thousand and twelve hundred dollars now and again as I stood ready and

for flight training and licensing. It
stands to reason however that if one's
job calls for extensive travel then the
initial investment is well worth it.
I spoke with Professor CH. Freeman, of the communication arts department

waiting with my camera for the beast to emerge from the hangar. Once the hangar doors were flung open, I grabbed onto the propeller and Pro
fessor Sheldrake used a tow bar and
we proceeded to pull the plane out of

who has spent a fair amount of time
piloting university professionals throughout the state to take aerial photographs. He also has come to the speedy rescue of other professors who needed fast transportation to another

its quarters. Sheldrake, donned his Cornell cap,
sat in the cockpit and tested the radio while I sat on the wing of the plane snapping pictures and quickly became aware of the weather. It was nippy

part of the state. Professor Freeman was an active member of the East Hill
Flying Club and during that time served
as an instructor. As a matter of fact
he gave Ray Sheldrake his first flying lesson. Freeman is currently an honor ary member of the club and no longer
flies.
Professor Freeman told me about
several people, including Ray Shel drake, who have their own planes and fly extensively. Professor Robert Kalter of the agricultural economics depart ment has his own plane and travels back and forth to Washington regular-

out there.
The plane is indeed small but what a way to fly! It is attractive and looks rather inviting. Professor Sheldrake even has a stereo in his plane "so I
don't get bored." he said. What it all breaks down to is this -
not everyone is compelled to rent a state car from the University when
they have to travel. Not everyone is going to run right out and enlist in flight school either, but as Professor Haller put it, "It's not for sheer con venience; it's fun and interesting and I'd like to see more people doing it."

15

They Went Dow

Of all the sports teams at Cornell,
few can compare with the history and overall competitive excellence of crew. Rowing began at Cornell in 1873 and soon became quite a popular sport. The early boats, known also as "shells,"
contained six oarsmen without a cox
swain. In 1889, the Cornell crew be gan using the eight-man shells or "eights" with a coxswain, much the same as crews do today. The practices were held at Poughkeepsie and on Cayuga Lake, with the races also at Poughkeepsie, Saratoga and later on Cayuga Lake.
The "eight" consists of a coxswain in the rear of the boat followed by
the "stroke" and seven other oarsmen.
The coxswain does not row-his job is to steer and to work in conjunction with the stroke to set the rowing speed and determine the race strategy. "The coxswain is in a 'psych' position," said Stan Preczewski, '80, varsity heavy weight coxswain. "He is ultimately responsible for the boat, the working together and attitude of the crew. The coxswain lets the crew know how they are doing and pushes them to win." The stroke, usually the most consistent
rower, is the visual cue for the rest of the crew and advises the coxswain on how the race should be rowed.
"The two must work together to do well," remarked Stan.
The rowing program at Cornell con sists of freshman and varsity heavy weight and lightweight crews and a women's crew. Coxswains generally weigh 120 pounds or less, while the
116

The 1894 freshman crew poses with their
coach, the renowned Charles E. Courtney.
heavyweights and lightweights differ considerably. Heavyweights generally weigh more than 165 pounds and are over six feet tall while the lightweight boat must average 155 pounds with no member over 160 pounds. There is an advantage of size for the heavy weight because of increased leverage
for his stroke.
Many athletes learned the sport by rowing in one-man boats or "sculls".
One of the most notable scullers in the
late 1800's was Charles E. Courtney. As an amateur, Courtney won all of the 88 races he participated in. When he turned professional his record was 39 wins against seven losses. Courtney abandoned the professional spotlight in order to coach a promising Cornell University crew. His methods of train ing and racing were somewhat unorth odox for the time, but the results of the "Courtney stroke" paid off. From

the time that he first came to Cornell in 1872 until the time of his death in 1920, Courtney's crews recorded 117 victories and only 47 losses overall. Courtney also had the distinction of
coaching the first American "eight" to compete in the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta in England. Courtney can be credited with establishing Cor
nell as a top crew school.
Courtney's style of coaching was one that emphasized a combination of
physical and intellectual excellence.
This mixture still remains a part of the
Cornell rowing program. Findley Meis lahn, the varsity heavyweight coach, remarked, "It's to a guy's academic advantage to do it. It helps him
schedule his time better and have
better eating, sleeping and study habits." Chuckling, he added, "They're not getting smarter because they're rowing, they're just smart guys who
are rowing. We don't try to make them any smarter. . . well, I do correct
their English every now and then."
As Courtney did, Meislahn has found that rowing involves not only physical strength but an intellectual knowhow. These are achieved by stren
uous, year-round work outs. The crew starts practicing on Cayuga Lake early in the fall and continues there for eight to ten weeks. They then retreat to the crew room in Teagle Hall, the men's physical education building, where practices include the use of the indoor rowing tanks and two ergometers. The rowing tanks are designed to simulate on-the-water conditions by the use of a special pumping system for the water and rowing seats and oars set in ce ment in the center. Individuals or a
whole crew can practice their timing

Mirrors and muscle: a/7 athlete tests himself on the ergometer.

the Sea in. . .SHELLS?
by Steve Hodgson 78

and sweep of the oars in the tanks.
The ergometer, on the other hand, is designed to build and test a rower's strength and endurance, while using the same rowing motion. "The legs and the back are the strongest force," said Coach Meislahn. He added, "It
takes about six months minimum to
pick up the basic skills. It's the kind of thing that a good athlete who has the physical strength and endurance and relaxation can pick up and expect to get to a competitive level quickly."
The crews go back out on the Lake
once the ice has thawed, which is
usually toward the end of March. The racing season is later in the spring, consisting of five to six races plus championships. In the latter category, Cornell has an outstanding record. Cornell varsity crews have won the
Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championships more than twice as many times as any other school,
including last year, and have been
successful in various international races.
Cornellians have been on medal
winning U.S. crews in the Olympics in 1964, 1968 and 1976.
Even with the great success, some
have questioned year-long training for only six to eight races. Rick Zimmer man, '78, captain of the varsity light weight crew sees the training as very necessary. "It pays off in the long run. Every other school does it so you have to keep up. Besides that, it takes time to build yourself up physically
and time on the water to get better."
Crew has declined recently as a spectator sport. The popularity of the early races could be seen in the num ber of people who turned out to watch. Men, dressed in their suits and straw

hats, and women, in their parasols and petticoats, flocked to the water's edge to get a glimpse of their favorite boat. An observation train, jammed with students, faculty and townfolk, followed the race along the shore as the people cheered for the "eights" along the four mile course. Large spectator boats as well as smaller
private boats also moved alongside the
race.
The trains are no longer used as the race has been shortened to the Olympic distance of 2000 meters, and the large
crowds seem to have vanished. Rick
Zimmerman remarked, "It's not really a spectator sport. We're not out for the spectators." "Rowing is unlike hockey or basketball," Coach Meislahn reflected, "where the joy comes from competing against others, in beating an opponent. There is a certain satis faction in just making the boat go, a more personal challenge. It just hap
pens that there may be another crew
next to you when that happens." Rick added, "That's a real thrill, when something clicks. When you know it's working, it's great!" Both felt that the

A bygone era: crowded train follows race on Cayuga Lake.
crews would enjoy having more people
show up to watch. "It's great to come out and sit on the bank with a lunch
and a couple of six-packs and enjoy an afternoon of racing," laughed
Coach Meislahn.
Whether or not there's a crowd, the crews will continue to work hard and row for the pure enjoyment and close camaraderie that rowing brings. Rick Zimmerman observed, "Crew does build a very unified body of men. You have to work very well with every
person in the boat in order for that boat to do well." The Cornell crew is
doing just that- building a strong body of men who are doing very well in their unique sport.

Boaters fill the Hudson banks to
cheer a Cornell crew.

PIGEON

COME

HOME

Sunrise-600 miles from home. . .
You uncover the cage, release the bird
inside and by nightfall he's back at his nest. But how? For centuries, man has wondered how a homing pigeon finds
his way home. For the past ten years, Professor William Keeton of the Divi
sion of Biological Sciences has been searching for an answer to this riddle.
Apparently, birds live in a sensory world that is very different, and often
better, than man's. Douglas Paine, a professor in the meteorology depart
ment, first came up with the idea
that infrasound might be used by birds to detect advancing weather fronts. Dr. Keeton and his associates at Lang muir Laboratory have proven that homing pigeons can hear these sounds which may help them navigate. Accord ing to Dr. Keeton, for humans there are three types of sound; ultrasound, audible sound, and infrasound. Humans
hear what is called audible sound, sound vibrations of 20 to 20,000 cycles per second. Ultrasound is higher than 20,000 cycles and too high for
humans to hear. Infrasound is less
than 20 cycles per second, producing a pitch too low to be heard by humans. "This discovery adds a lot to the knowledge and understanding of how
birds could use environmental cues to
help them navigate," said Dr. Keeton.
Wind, thunderstorms, tornadoes, weather fronts, earthquakes, and many
of man's inventions can create infra
sounds. Birds might be able to use these sounds in navigation, homing, migration and weather change de
tection.
"The distance that sound travels is
related to wavelength," explained

by Debbie
Moses 79

Dr. William Keeton explains aspects of the homing instincts of pigeons to students at Langmuir Lab.

Douglas B. Quine, '79, a graduate student working with Dr. Keeton, "long waves travel a long way. At mospheric infrasounds travel long dis tances without losing much strength. For instance, a bird in Ithaca might be able to hear the Concorde landing in Washington, D.C, waves breaking in the Atlantic Ocean, and a rocket tak ing off at Cape Canaveral."
To test the pigeon's ability to detect infrasound, Dr. Melvin Kreithen, re
search associate with Dr. Keeton and
Marilyn Yodlowski, then an under graduate research student, had to use an air-tight, sound-insulated chamber. "It had to be completely air tight so
that no infrasounds could leak in.
Otherwise, the birds would react to
extraneous sounds and alter the results
of the experiment," commented Mr. Quine. "The experiments were based on cardiac conditioning. Everytime a bird in the chamber detected a specially controlled infrasound, his heart rate would rise in a graded response to the infrasound stimulus; the most in tense response corresponded to the
most intense stimulus." It was found
that birds can detect low-pitched sounds with frequencies less than one-tenth of a cycle per second, in contrast to the 20 cycles per second
that humans can hear.
According to Mr. Quine, the ability to detect infrasound is most likely to

be found in the inner ear. "If you re
move a bird's middle ear bone, he can
still hear infrasound, but not as well
as before, because the sounds can still
vibrate through to the inner ear. A
pigeon can't detect these low-pitched
sounds at all, however, if his inner ear
has been removed."
In order to navigate accurately by using infrasounds, birds must be able to distinguish two sounds of nearly the
same pitch. They could use Doppler
shift "to localize infrasound sources
while flying." According to Webster's dictionary, Doppler shift is "a change in frequency with which waves from a given source reach an observer when the source and observer are in rapid
motion with respect to each other, so that frequency increases or decreases
according to the speed at which the distance is increasing or decreasing." For example if a bird were flying to
wards a mountain from which infra
sound was coming, he would run into more infrasound waves per second, and if he were flying away from the mountain, he would detect fewer infrasound waves per second, like a plane bucking a headwind or moving
with a tailwind. When the bird flew
parallel to the mountain, the infrasound
waves would come at a steady rate.
So, by the number of infrasounds detected, a bird could orient himself to the position of the mountain.

18

Keeton cradles one of the 20,000 birds used in his exten
sive experiments.

So far, all the infrasound experi ments have been performed under highly controlled laboratory conditions.
The next step will be to take the birds out into the field. "We want to see if
there are any complicating factors in the real world of sound," commented Quine. "Will pseudosounds, such as wind rushing against the birds' ears,
have any effect on the detection of
infrasound? This is the kind of thing we're looking for."
Birds call on many of their senses
and environmental cues when they
navigate. "They can use the sun as a compass, interpreting the sun's posi tion by their internal time clocks,"
said Dr. Keeton. "Birds also have a
much better sense of smell than we
had previously thought." "Because a pigeon can still navigate
when one or more cues has been
knocked out, it appears that several different cues together form the abil ity to home," commented Quine. In certain experiments, blindfolded birds were able to find their way home. In other tests, birds that wore magnets so they couldn't use the earth's mag netic fields for direction arrived back at their nests. Deaf birds are able to
navigate to their homes. Barometric Pressure changes, magnetic fields, polarized and ultraviolet light can all

be detected by birds. In fact, pigeons are so sensitive to changes in air pres sure that they can tell the difference between the floor and ceiling of a room just by changes in pressure.
"It's funny," said Dr. Keeton, "every one used to think that homing was so

simple, but we've uncovered so many different abilities of pigeons in homing that we're not sure how they all fit to gether. One day, we'll have enough information so that everything will fall into place and we'll really understand the secret of bird navigation."

A pigeon hooked up in the infrasound chamber shows the sensitivity these
birds have to sound.

19

&*<£&&

•nH^' ?&i^l* %utfl
^SSSKil

Before and after shots of f/?e s/Ye o/' Roberts Hall be
hind the Veterinary College, the first building of the state College of Agriculture.

CHARTING AG COLLEGE EXPANSION

by Daniel Ivanick 79

Agricultural studies have not always
been taught in the present group of agricultural buildings. In fact, the oldest ag building, Roberts Hall, was not completed until almost 40 years after the University opened its doors. Before that time, the fight to secure adequate space was almost continual, marked by long periods of frustration. Yet, expansion began and continues today, with over 20 major buildings now housing various agricultural de
partments.
In 1868, when the University opened, agriculture was hardly considered a branch of learning. There was no college of agriculture. Rather, a pro fessor of agriculture covered the entire field! Professors in veterinary science, botany and chemistry performed related work. But in agriculture, specialization in learning had yet to prove necessary.
Finding an agricultural professor was
no easy task. It was not until after

suffering six years with a succession of part-time, semi-skilled and poorlyselected professors who accomplished little that the University found a man to fill the position.
When Prof. Isaac P. Roberts became
professor of agriculture in 1874, he had a three-fold job on his hands. First, he had to set up an agricultural research program that would justify its worth to New York farmers. Second, he had to expand the field through specialization of subordinates. And finally, he had to rejuvenate the Uni versity's farm which had been badly mismanaged during the first six years of operation.
During the first years of the Uni
versity, funds were scarce. Professor Roberts' office was a small room in
Morrill Hall shared with four department
workers. The classroom set aside for
agriculture was shared by six pro
fessors.

Since Roberts realized agricultural
research had to be proven effective
before it could acquire added funds for
building and staff expansion, he set his energies to restoring and improving
the farms.
Because of his success on the farm
(it turned a profit three years after he had taken it over) and his ability to
bring the results of his experimentation
before the state's farmers, Professor
Roberts soon gained the support of many state agricultural associations.
Throughout the 1870's and into the 1880's the work in agriculture revolved about the farm's productivity, new re search and expansion of fields. The major reason for this was the trustees continued skepticism of the value of agricultural research. Roberts, and later Director Bailey, realized that to expand agricultural research they would have to receive state support.
In 1893 the legislature appropriated

20

money for the first agricultural build ing on campus-the dairy building that is now the north wing of Goldwin Smith Hall. This relieved part of the space
problem, but expansion was just pick
ing up in the 1890's. Agricultural de partments were crammed into tiny
corners in a number of campus build
ings. In late 1903, President Jacob Gould
Schurman and the newly appointed Director of the College of Agriculture, Liberty Hyde Bailey, both pushed for construction of more agricultural build
ings. What eventually developed was the state's funding of a college of agriculture which would enjoy greater academic freedom and continued
support by the state. Director Bailey, recognizing a will
ingness on the state's part to support a new College of Agriculture, estab lished eight new departments. One of

these was the Department of Home Economics, headed by Martha Van Rensselaer and Flora Rose, that formed the basis for the present College of Human Ecology.
Concurrently, Bailey began stressing student enrollment, which led to an
even greater shortage of space in the new agricultural buildings completed in 1907. Roberts, East Roberts and Stone Halls were each overflowing soon after they were occupied.
The result of the continual shortage of space was the lobbying by special
interest groups, such as the New York
branch of the American Poultry Asso ciation, for agricultural buildings of their own. Hence, there was rapid
construction in the 191 0's of a Home
Economics building, today known as Comstock Hall; Bailey Hall, Fernow Hall, Rice Hall, Caldwell Hall, Wing Hall and the Judging Pavilion. As

fields of study opened up and ex panded the state added to the number of agricultural buildings.
From that time until the present, New York State has continued its role
in expansion of the College of Agri culture and Life Sciences, replacing temporary structures with large, perm
anent installations.
Today, with over 20 major buildings comprising the college, space remains at a premium. Plans for renovations and new buildings continue to be pro posed. Recently there have been dis cussions concerning destruction of Roberts Hall and construction of highrise buildings akin to Bradfield Hall.
Whether or not these plans come to fruition, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will continue to expand to meet the evergrowing demand for new knowledge, skills and techniques in agricultural and related fields.

'Home Sweet Home" for Bio StudentsThe I. Ellis Behrman Biology Center

For many generations of Cornellians,
the gray stone walls of Stimson Hall
call to mind the days when Cornell's Medical College was situated there, and anyone not wearing a white lab
coat was looked upon as an intruder.
Times change, though, and so does a campus building's function and image. From the outside, Stimson Hall doesn't look much different today than it did fifty years ago, but surprises await
those who venture inside. While the
classrooms and taxidermy displays are
about the same as always, the ground
floor would be unrecognizable to re turning Cornell M.D.'s. What used to
be an unfinished storage area in the front corner of the building is now a lively student resource center known as the I. Ellis Behrman Biology Center.
The "Bio-Center," as regulars call
it, was organized three years ago in an
attempt to centralize the services and
resources needed by biology students. Cornell biology majors may be en rolled in either the College of Agri culture and Life Sciences or the College of Arts and Sciences. With faculty offices and laboratories spread over
those two campuses and the research
facility near the airport, informal
communication opportunities for bi ology students were severely limited.
A centralized "home" for the many
students in the Division of Biological Sciences seemed a good way for them to get acquainted with each other, to talk with biology faculty outside the classroom, and to receive personal attention with questions or problems about biology courses, or even college problems in general.
Academic advising and counseling
is seen as the center's most important
function by its director, Ms. Sylvia

Miller. Whether a student plans to
continue formal education or not,
biology is a demanding major and can easily cause vexations for students who are unsure of their career goals.
Many students seek help finding un dergraduate research opportunities or information on graduate and pro
fessional schools. The center has also
become a regular point of interest for prospective biology students and their parents who visit Cornell.
Besides academic advising by Ms. Miller, the center is headquarters for the biology student advisor program. Upperclass biology majors voluntarily
lend their time and "learned-the-hard-
way" knowledge to incoming freshmen biology students who are new to the college experience. The upperclassmen
are trained to make use of their per
sonal perspectives and insights to give
the freshmen advice and information
which cannot usually be obtained from faculty advisors.
The Bio Center also provides sup
port services for the Division of Bio
logical Sciences such as volunteer tutoring, detailed course information,
and a reserve desk where students
can sign out old exams, study guides, and tape recordings of lectures.
"We try to make the students feel a little bit more like people than num-

by Peter Schoenberger 78
bers here," Ms. Miller said. "There's always somebody here who will talk to you about just about anything. |fs a very open-door policy!"
The open-door policy seems to be working fine for the Bio Center as
far as student usage is concerned. Its hours are from 9 A.M. to 10 P.M.
Monday through Thursday, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. on Friday, and closed on the weekend. While 50 people at one time may be in the center during some heavy test periods, the layout of the rooms and offices is designed for ef ficiency and encourages informality. The rooms are brightly lit and fur
nished with comfortable modern furni
ture to make "hitting the books" just
a little easier for desk-sore students.
A spacious lounge in the front of the center features daily papers, popular magazines, and a coffee pot, provid
ing a chance to relax between classes
or to take a break from studying.
Cornell students are fortunate to
have an excellent choice of courses
available through the Division of Bio logical Sciences. They are even more fortunate to be able to supplement their biology lectures and laboratories
with the individualized services avail
able at the I. Ellis Behrman Biology
Center. It's not the easiest spot on campus to find, nor is it the largest: but it could easily be the most diversely valuable place for students. Perhaps that's why those who do find their way to Stimson G-20 keep coming back!

Students make use of the Bio Cen ter, located in Stimson Hall, for assist ance in courses in many areas of biol
ogy.

22

COUNTRYMAN CAPSULES

Two Students Receive
Alpha Zeta Scholarships

morning. Those arriving on Friday stay in agriculture fraternities, sororities, or University housing.

by the Future Farmers of America for his contributions to the organization on local, state, and national levels. He

The National Alpha Zeta Foundation 0f America, Inc., has awarded two scholarships to College of Agriculture and Life Sciences undergraduates. The foundation is a charitable arm of the Alpha Zeta Fraternity. The fraternity is restricted to students of agriculture and has chapters on 64 university campuses in the United States and
Puerto Rico.
Daniel Goldman '78 of Flushing, N.Y., a vegetable crops-pathology major, has been awarded the Kent L. Wells Alpha Zeta Memorial Scholarship. This award is made annually to a member of the Cornell chapter of Alpha Zeta. The award is named after Kent L. Wells '64, and was endowed
by alumni and friends after his death.

Three years ago, the New York
State College of Human Ecology Alumni Association joined the Agri
culture and Life Sciences Alumni
Association in sponsoring the program. Students now have the opportunity
to visit two program areas in either
College during the day. A multi-media presentation on Cornell starts the day in Bailey Hall, followed by the visits to areas of specialization. Participants lunch with faculty and upperclassmen in their second area visit, and take a
bus tour of campus before the con
clusion of the day's events. Each year the Open House has
attracted more participants than the last. If the present level of interest is any indication of future participation,
the program will continue to grow. The

has conducted workshops for agri
culture teachers in six states on the
establishment of youth groups, and is the author of a widely used Cornell bulletin on the subject. On the Cornell staff since 1957, Professor Bail teaches a Department of Education under graduate course on youth organization.
George W. McConkie, Professor of psychology and education, has been appointed Chairman of the Depart
ment of Education for a five year term,
succeeding Prof. Helen L. Wardeberg.
Prof. McConkie came to Cornell in
1964 as an assistant professor. He was granted tenure in 1970 and was pro moted to full professor in 1976. He is currently doing research on the pro cesses involved in skilled reading.

Gerald A. West '78 of Seneca Falls, N.Y., a biological sciences major, has been awarded the Diamond Anniversary
Scholarship. This scholarship was en dowed by alumni and friends of the fraternity in 1972 on the occasion of
its 75th anniversary.

Alumni Association and the College would like to thank alumni participants of the past for making the Open House
program such a success.
Department of Education
Professors Honored

DeKalb Award
to Plant Scientist
The DeKalb Crop Science Distinguished Career Award has been presented by the Crop Science Society of America to Neal F. Jensen, Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Plant Breeding.

Alumni Association
Sponsors Open House
Each fall for the past 20 years, the
New York State College of Agri
culture and Life Sciences Alumni
Association has presented an Open House for high school juniors and seniors in cooperation with the College.
This year the event attracted almost
300 participants from over 35 counties
in the state.
A College alumnus in each county
of the state acts as liaison between the
College and interested students. Sign up sheets are distributed to each high
school in the county, and information
is sent to those expressing interest in the program. The Open House is held on a Saturday, and recently students have had the choice of coming to campus Friday afternoon or Saturday

Professor Harold R. Cushman, De
partment of Education, has received the Outstanding Service Award of the American Association of Teacher
Educators in Agriculture. Professor Cushman is highly regarded in the field of agricultural education, and is most widely known for his teaching
and research in adult education and
occupational experience programs. He is coauthor of the Cornell Diagnostic
Observation and Reporting System, a tool widely used by agricultural edu cators to test their teaching techniques.
Since coming to Cornell in 1955, Professor Cushman has also conducted
a study for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and served as a visiting professor at the
University of the Philippines.
Professor Joseph P. Bail has been
awarded the Honorary Farmer Degree

Professor Jensen is the first to receive
this newly established award, in recog nition of his career as a plant breeder and geneticist. Since joining the faculty in 1946, he has developed 20 new varieties of wheat, oats, and barley. Professor Jensen, a pioneer in plant breeding methodology, has previously
been honored with the New York
Farmers Medal and a Distinguished
Service Citation from the New York
Agricultural Society.
Alumni Responses
Susan Weitz Jaffe '73 is currently a
resident in the obstetrics-gynecology program at Boston Hospital for
Women. Mrs. Jaffe lives in Brooklme,
Mass.
Barry Schoenfeld 76 is an account executive at N.W. Ayer International in New York City.

In its continuing effort to keep
the citizens of New York State in
formed, Cooperative Extension has begun a "Save Energy, Save Dollars"
program to alert consumers to the
important role they play in conserving energy. The "Save Energy, Save
Dollars" program comes at a time when the United States is faced with
a severe energy crisis. This program
points out that conservation can de crease the economic and personal
difficulties one may encounter as a
result of the energy shortage. "Save Energy, Save Dollars" emphasizes that
it is up to each one of us to do our share to conserve energy.
But one may ask, "how can I help to conserve energy?" The answer to this and other energy questions can
be found in a series of free fact sheets
that are being distributed by N.Y.S. Cooperative Extension.
A fact sheet entitled "Button up,
Tighten up for Winter" outlines how
consumers can save "10 to 30 cents

of every dollar currently spent for home heating fuel" by making a few minor repairs in their homes such as caulking or weather stripping.
Trees add beauty to the landscape of one's home and also help to reduce heating and cooling costs. A fact sheet entitled "Landscape to Save En ergy" will tell you how to do this.
More than three million sets of fact
sheets are already helping New Yorkers cope with the energy shortage and rising energy costs.
In addition, a manual entitled Save Energy, Save Dollars is being offered.
The manual outlines various ways to
conserve energy in the home, includ ing many do-it-yourself activities such as how to heat and cool your home,
winterize your wardrobe and build and
remodel for energy efficiency. Included in the manual is a helpful energy man
agement checklist which allows you to assess your energy usage and evaluate
how you might improve upon it. The
New York Times as well as other

publications has praised this manual as a complete and useful consumer guide.
During the pre-winter months of September, October and November, 60 newspapers throughout the state, in conjunction with Cooperative Exten sion, carried an energy supplement. This supplement supplied eight million
New York State homeowners with
useful tips to prepare for the winter. In addition to the ongoing public
service education, massive research
efforts continue to search for alter
native energy sources, as well as new ways to conserve energy. At the pre- ■
sent time, Cooperative Extension is '
also involved in energy conservation
programs in agriculture and food pro cessing.
Programs are continually being de veloped through Cooperative Extension in an effort to educate, motivate and help the people of New York State to help themselves through the energy
crisis.

CORNELL
COUNTRYMAN
Cornell's Boundaries Extend Overseas. . .p. 20

EDITORS:
David Domeshek Robin Feiner Peter Schacknow

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN
MARCH 1978 VOLUME LXXV - Number 5

ASSISTANT EDITORS: Brenda Angyal
Joline Miceli
Judy Redel Jo Schaffel

ART EDITORS:
Carole Freedman
Lynn Levidy
Debbie Moses Debbie Slotnick

PHOTO EDITOR: Lynn Shannon

Cornell's Boundaries Extend Overseas. . p. 20

EDITORIAL STAFF: Renni Altman, Christine Bingham, Stacey Cahn, Cathi Gobel, Patrick Lyons, Luci Merin, Polly Wilson,
Jane Winslow
ABOUT THE ISSUE The physical boundaries of Cornell's
Ithaca campus do not represent limits
on the University's educational and re
search interests. In an attempt to in crease awareness of Cornell's extensive academic influence, several of the arti
cles in this issue of the Countryman
are devoted to various aspects of "off-
campus Cornell." From the Ag Quad to Africa, Cornell researchers continue to have a hand in the latest develop ments in many fields of study.
Picture Credits: Cover - Eve Jawor-
owski; p. 3 - D. Bandler; p. 4-5 Mike Hopiak; p. 7 - Steve Hodgson; p. 8-9 - Verne Rockcastle; p. 10, 12, 13 - Carole Freedman; p. 14, 15, 18, 19, 22, back cover - Media Services; p. 16 - Mike Mitchell; p. 17 - Jane Winslow; p. 1 1 - Pat Lyons; p. 20-21 Larry Zuidema.

CONTENTS
3. Coast to Coast Life Swapping by joline Miceli 78 4. Cornell's Ornithology Lab: Not Just For the Birds by Robin Feiner 78 6. Recruiting Recruiters by David Domeshek 79 7. They Represent Us by Brenda Angyal 78 8. Rocky and the Man in the Street by Judy Redel 78
10. Student Suburbia by Peter Schacknow 78
1 1 . Cornell Slanguage by Brenda Angyal 78 12. Fighting For Attention by Pat Lyons 79 and Carole Freedman 79 14. Killing Pests Without Poisoning People by Lynn Shannon 78 16. Cornell Alumni University by Debbie Moses 79 17. Delayed Diplomas by Jane Winslow 78 18. Packaged Pictures by Debbie Slotnick 78
20. Cornell's Place In the Sun by Lynn Levidy 78 22. Where the Bees Are by Jo Schaffel 78
24. Arnot Forest: Living Laboratory by Polly Wilson 78
The Cornell Countryman is published seven times a year from October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription Rates: $2.50 a year;
$4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content gathered and
written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors: Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

COAST TO COAST
Life Swapping

by Joline Miceli 78

Dave Bandler, an Assistant Pro
fessor of Food Science, has settled
back into his job at Cornell University
after spending a year as a visiting pro fessor at Oregon State University. In July, 1976 Bandler left for Oregon while at the same time Floyd W. Body-
felt, an Associate Professor of Food
Science at Oregon State, left Oregon to take over Bandler's position at
Cornell. They made a complete switch, exchanging everything from jobs, homes and "second cars" to secretaries;
everything but their families. The idea was initiated by Bodyfelt
at an Annual Dairy Science meeting where he expressed an interest in ex
changing positions. After being at Cornell for 12 years, Bandler responded positively. Owing to two years of planning and ironing out of details, as well as to their parallel positions and respective responsibilities, the profes sional switch went smoothly. Both ad ministrations gave full approval to the exchange, and no burden was placed on either the departments or the other faculty members. However, the Oregon
State administrators did request a writ
ten agreement stating that each man
would carry out the full duties of the
other, leaving approximately 50 percent of his time for "developing personal interests." According to Bandler though, a great majority of his time in Oregon was spent at work. He felt,

however, that it was well worth it. Bandler's time in Oregon was a great
"learning experience" for him. Whereas
in Ithaca he advises in the milk and
cheese production for 375 plants of the Cornell Extension Program, in Ore
gon he took over a one-person exten sion program which is concerned with
only 40 plants. There he handled all aspects of dairy processing, not just milk and cheese. He also taught Bodyfelt's Dairy Processing course as well
as a course in communications for food
science majors. At Cornell Bandler teaches a milk quality course and ap pears as a guest lecturer. Teaching these courses at Oregon State was an interesting experience for Bandler in contrast to his teaching here.
After they made the switch, Bandler and Bodyfelt kept in constant contact, speaking to each other every week. By doing so they were able to iron out any problems that surfaced and keep things running smoothly. Their respective secretaries also helped to minimize complications. They insured that each man was in the right place, or at the right meeting, at the right time.
Bandler and Bodyfelt had not known

each other prior to the exchange, but as a result of two years' correspondence they have become good friends. Enough trust grew between the two to allow complete access to each other's personal files and libraries. So far, the friendship has been a lasting
one.
Besides the friendship, Bandler feels there are several advantageous factors to such an exchange. Not only can it
be done at any time a program is
worked out and approved by the ad ministration, but it can also be done for any length of time. Lastly, an ex change program does not impinge upon sabbatical privileges.
For Bandler, the exchange was a very fulfilling experience. He became a full faculty member at Oregon State.
This enabled him to learn how another
Food Science Department operates. He acquired "instant friends" while there, and made a more personal friend, Wayne Bodyfelt, as a result of
the program. He feels that his time in
Oregon "sharpened his senses" by giving him access to new horizons within his field; truly fulfilling its original purpose of "professional improvement."

The exchange of keys between David Bandler, right, and Floyd Bodyfelt, left, marks the beginning of their
one year "job exchange" program.

CORNELL'S ORNITHOLOGY LAB:

NOT JUS

What do Scarlet Tanager, Cliff Swallow, Magnolia Warbler, Alder Fly catcher and Virginia Rail have in com mon? An apparent Anglo-Saxon heri tage? Characters out of a fictitious
colonial novel? Famous Cornell phil
anthropists? Nothing? Wrong. They are all birds which can be spotted nesting
in and around the Ithaca area. Not to
mention the hairy woodpecker, tufted
titmouse and white-breasted nuthatch.
Trivial, taxonomical, tongue-twisting trifle, you say? Not for the 3,000 members of Cornell University's Labor atory of Ornithology, as well as for the
many and varied avian aficionados who
visit the Lab to observe, listen, read, record, report, ask and otherwise pur sue their fascination. Plainly put, that
fascination is birds.
At the University level, an interest in the study of birds as a separate sci
ence dates back to 1915 when Dr.
Arthur A. Allen, cofounder of the Lab,
was hired as Assistant Professor of
Ornithology within the Department of Entomology. But it wasn't until 1955 that the Laboratory was recognized as a separate entity within the University, growing, in the interim, in the wings

of the zoology and conservation depart ments. Today, the Ornithology Lab, located on Sapsucker Woods Road, exists as a separate academic unit of the University. It consists of 180 acres acquired by both gift and university assignment, most of which is kept as
a natural sanctuary and includes about
four and a half miles of trails for public observation. These unspoiled woods are particularly lush during the spring and summer months when they are richly lined with seasonal wildflowers.
Clearly, though, it is in the main building-the Lyman K. Stuart Observatory-where most of the Lab's activities
are concentrated. When you enter the
building, before you is a large, pano
ramic window which overlooks a ten-
acre pond and a few feeding stations. Observation telescopes are set up inside to bring the viewer out to the water fowl as they feed, undisturbed, on
cracked corn. There is also an audio
system which brings the bird sounds into the Observatory.
One of the unique assets of the Lab oratory is its Library of Natural Sounds, which boasts of the world's largest collection of bird vocalizations on tape.

Many of these biological acoustics are available in record and cassette form at the Lab's modest book store. Upon request, you can hear anything from the actual bird songs which inspired many a poetic passage in classic liter ature, to the typical bird sounds of
South Carolina.
Ornithology also can be artistic. And
as a tribute to the more aesthetic side of the science, an entire room in
the Stuart Observatory is dedicated to the paintings of Louis A. Fuertes. Modeled after the study in a Connecti cut manor where the canvases origi nally hung, the room contains twentyfour watercolor bird sketches by the famous Ithaca naturalist-painter.
According to the guest book at the door, the Ornithology Laboratory at tracts a broad range of visitors daily, from class groups and organizations to
entire families and senior citizens. In
terest in birdwatching-or "birding", as it's familiarly referred to by its pa trons-has been on a steady incline since the foundation of the Sapsucker headquarters. What's the lure? Explains Dr. Charles Smith, public education director for the Lab, "Nowadays, with

4

IRTHE BIRDS by Robin Feiner 78

such a large focus on ecological con cerns, birding represents a non-con sumptive form of wildlife appreciation. It's enjoyment without destruction."
Each year, the Laboratory is engaged in a number of research projects and field experiments. But aside from these more academic pursuits, the Lab con cerns itself largely with offering the general public an education, or at least a hobby, in birds. Toward this end, a Monday night seminar series held at the Sapsucker lab is hosted by a variety of Cornell ornithologists, in cluding Lab Director Dr. Douglas Lancaster. These lectures, as well as a
Saturday morning radio program en titled "Know Your Birds", deal non-
technically with current topics of orni thological interest. Of recent concern, and the topic of many discussions, has been the plight of the Peregrine Fal con; the threat of its extinction, and how field ornithologists are attempting to revive it through experimental breed ing methods.
In collaboration with the National
Audubon Society, Cornell University's
Ornithology Lab has established the
Colonial Bird Register. Through it,

hundreds of amateur and professional
ornithologists contribute detailed in formation about colonies of breeding birds sighted in the U.S., Canada and
Mexico. This information is then fed
into a large computerized data bank, and the result is a useful, comprehen sive source of facts concerning the fluctuating bird status of our continent.
And, finally, for those incurable
academics who want to take ornithol
ogy a little more seriously, the Lab offers a Home-Study Introductory
Course.
As an extra-departmental unit, the Lab is only seven to eight percent University-funded. Although this is a financial drawback, at the same time it
allows for more autonomy than is
afforded the usual college department under the auspices of Cornell Uni
versity.
Open all year 'round, the Ornithol ogy Lab of Cornell University is a
natural attraction for bird enthusiasts,
whether the enthusiasm is pure biology, bird-watching, the science of ecology or the politics of it. (Did you know that the American Bald Eagle is now an officially endangered species?) If

you spend any time at all in Ithaca, the Ornithology Lab is 180 acres of it
you shouldn't miss.

ABOVE: A class hikes through the trails at the Sapsucker bird sanctuary, which are open all year long.

LEFT: At the Ornithology Lab on Sapsucker Woods Rd. telescopes set up near a large picture window give observers a close-up look at the water
fowl feeding nearby.

RIGHT: The Common Nighthawk
is a summer resident of Ithaca. Well-
camouflaged by day, the nighthawk becomes active just before dark.

5

by David Domeshek 79
Right about now, somewhere in
Ithaca, there are several Cornell seniors
on the verge of panic. Their four glor ious undergraduate years have boiled down to two months, and the future is bearing down on them. They are
concerned because, very soon, some sort of decision will have to be made
regarding how their next few years
will be spent. And right about now, somewhere
in Ithaca, a recruiter from a company of untold wealth and wisdom is sitting
in a room sizing up a potential em ployee - most likely one of the pan icking seniors. But now the student is poised and confident, a dynamic per sonality, a veritable font of information about the company represented by this
particular recruiter. The recruiting game is in season
now, and all the participants appear to be geared up. According to Robert Hopkins, Director of Career Planning and Placement in the College of Agri culture and Life Sciences, the interview schedule is pretty full through March. In hosting over 40 recruiters this spring (at a going rate of between eight and 13 interviews per recruiter per day),

RECRUITING
RECRUITERS
Hopkins hopes to give as many seniors as possible their "initial face-to-face contact" with prospective employers.
He feels these contacts are crucial for
the students, since "an objective of any job hunt is getting an interview."
The strategy employed by job re cruiters in their dealings with students is closely paralleled by the University's
own efforts to entice these recruiters to the Cornell campus. "We're recruit
ing recruiters," says Hopkins, noting that the "sales pitch" aspect of a company's second phase of recruiting (after the initial on-campus screening)
has been turned around and used on
the recruiters themselves.
According to Hopkins, the major companies will get back in touch with
the students who made favorable im
pressions in their campus interviews.
These candidates will then be invited
to visit the company "on its own turf," (and usually at the company's expense) for further mutual evaluation, a series
of interviews and, inevitably, exposure to the company's sales pitch. As "red carpet treatment" is the rule on these junkets, it should become evident to the candidate at this point that he is in

demand, and that he now in fact holds
some of the cards.
Just as the first face-to-face meeting between potential employer and em ployee is a crucial step in the job hunt so the recruiter's initial visit to Cornell is an important step toward the addi
tion of another name to the list of
companies recruiting annually from the ranks of Cornell's graduating class.
"Once we get them in the first time
they'll come back," says Hopkins.
Cornell University Career Center Director John L. Munschauer, '40, agrees with Hopkins' assessment.
"Recruiters have good luck at Cornell," notes Munschauer. And, he adds, in terms of bringing companies to the
campus, "the word 'Cornell' is the
best recruiter."
Munschauer's active "recruiter re
cruiting" efforts are concentrated on
his attendance at the periodic meetings of the College Placement Association, a group comprised of people from
both industry and educational institu
tions. In discussing Cornell with various
people at these meetings, Munschauer
often attempts to clear up miscon
ceptions about the University, or sup ply information to fill in gaps in an
individual's knowledge of certain pro grams at Cornell. For instance, he has
often emphasized to recruiters seeking people with a business background that some of the courses of study in
the ag college "closely approximate
business training."
With the aid of. coordinated efforts
from the University Career Center, most ag college recruiting is actually handled by Hopkins and his office in 16 Roberts Hall. Director Hopkins be
lieves his best pitch to prospective
recruiters is simple and direct: "Look at our ag college alumni" - we've turned out people who have made it
in the past, and continue to do so. The
important message to get across, says Hopkins, is that the ag college is a vi able market from which to recruit
good young talent. So, with that bit of moral support
in the back of their minds, let the
panicking seniors relax, take a deep breath, and sign on to another inter view waiting list. It won't be long now.

Brad Carruth and Mary Maxon
discuss the Alumni Association.

They Represent US

by Brenda Angyal 78

When one thinks of the Alumni
Association of the College of Agri culture and Life Sciences, one usually thinks of graduates. What, then, are
Neal Saslow, '78, and Mary Maxon, 79, doing on the Board of Directors
of the Alumni Association?
According to Bradford Carruth, '68,
secretary of the Alumni Association
and Assistant to the Dean for Develop ment and Alumni Affairs, "One of the
goals of the Alumni Association is to
create greater alumni contact with the
present campus community. Many committees in the College have stu dent representation, because student
opinion is valued and appreciated. Mary and Neal represent student opin ion. They assist with campus activities of the Alumni Association, and act as a sounding board for the other mem
bers of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. The Alumni Association
needs feedback from the student body to determine how best to serve the
students and faculty." Says Mary, "The Board of Directors
thinks it's important to have student members, because we have a unique
perspective on things." Neal said,
"Things change a lot, and often old
alumni don't realize the many things going on at Cornell today."
There are 15 members on the Board
of Directors. They are nominated by a nominating committee, and are elected at the annual reunion meeting of the Alumni Association. The term is three years, and a member can serve a maxi
mum of two terms. Since 1974 there
has been student representation on

the Board, usually a junior and a senior. The junior can continue to serve through senior year, if he or she wants
to do so.
Both Mary and Neal were involved in ag college activities before being recommended for membership on the Board. Mary, a communication arts major, is chairman of the Ag Ambas sadors, is AG-PAC publicity chairman and has worked on the "Teaching Up date" publication of the ag college. Neal, an animal science major, is on the Exchange Scholarship Committee and is a member of Ho-Nun-De-Kah, the ag honorary society.
The Board of Directors meets three
or four times a year. When asked what
some of the goals of the Board of
Directors are, Carruth mentioned the
following: stronger regional repre sentation in the Alumni Association, increased membership in the Associ ation, new awards to recognize out standing graduates of the ag college and support for projects like the plant ing of new trees on the ag quad.
Members of the Board are appointed to committees. Neal is presently serv ing on the Awards Committee for the second time, and Mary is on the Countryman Coordinating Committee.
Neal is also interested in the inter
national agriculture exchange program,
and would like to see the Association
come up with ways to obtain more economic support for this program.
Mary, who is new on the Board this year, helped out with the recent "Open House" for high school students spon sored by the Alumni Associations of

the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and College of Human Ecol ogy. She arranged for visitor housing and was responsible for getting Cornell students to help with the various Open
House activities.
What is it like to work with the
alumni? Eight out of the ten nonstudent Board members graduated from the ag college 20 or fewer years ago, so student days for most of the mem bers were not so long ago, and mem ories haven't faded much yet. Says Neal about the alumni, "They're a good bunch of guys and don't look down on students." According to Mary,
"Since this is my first year on the
Board of Directors, I learned a lot just from listening at the first meetings
this year. It's clear now that the alumni
are very receptive to my ideas."
Mary and Neal see the experience of being on the Board as a very valu
able one. Neal sees it as a chance to
meet and interact with many different
types of people. The ag college is very diverse, and its alumni vary widely
in careers, outlooks and lifestyles. Mary's eventual career goal is public
relations, possibly at the college level. She has worked with people all her life, and sees being on the Board as a way of continuing this experience so
vital to any career in communications. The Alumni Association is an im
portant form of support for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The next time you read or hear about it,
remember that students as well as
alumni are represented on its Board of
Directors.

7

ROCKY and tl

Newfoundland is just one location of Dr. Rockcastle's STEM workshops. His work includes play, as here he dis plays a salmon he caught there.
"The Celebrated Man In The
Street," or T.C. Mits*, is a name for the everyday man who benefits from
the scientific discoveries that spew
daily from the countless labs, com
puter terminals and desks of research institutes and universities such as Cornell. However, to Verne N. Rock castle, Professor of Science and En
vironmental Education in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, this "celebrated man" is more basically one
who from childhood is in need of skills to cope with the environment and
with changes wrought by science and technology.
Dr. Rockcastle, a faculty member in the education department since 1956, has spent much of his profes sional career developing curricula for teaching science to grade school stu dents through means they can easily understand, remember and put into practice. His efforts in constructing science programs and teaching future educators focus on aiding the future
T.C. Mits to understand and deal
'Taken from The Education of T.C.
Mits, Hugh G. Lieber and Lilian R. Lieber, W.W. Norton and Co., Inc.,
1944.

with his physical surroundings. Enthusiasm, good will, perceptive-
ness and nearly boundless energy are all key words for characterizing the educational professor's attitude toward his work, his students, his goals and his personal interests. Rockcastle's work with elementary school science began in the early 1950's. At that time, he was teaching biology at SUNY at Brockport, having already earned his masters' degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, finished a four-year stint in the Air Force and spent a brief period public school teaching. While at Brockport, he was asked by some teachers in Albion, New York to co-direct a workshop in teaching elementary school science.
"At the time I knew little about science
teaching in grade schools," he recalled, "but I agreed to do the workshop, and
it turned out great. The teachers loved it. And so did I!"
A year after he received his Ph.D.
from Cornell in 1955, he joined the ag college's education department to fur ther his growing interest in elementary
school science programs. For the fol
lowing 15 years, he authored and managed the Cornell Science Leaflet, a quarterly publication of the ag col lege. The leaflet, begun in 1907 by Anna B. Comstock, delved into a dif ferent natural science topic each issue and was written for use by elementary school teachers in rural areas. By the 1960's, circulation had increased to include city schools, but publication was terminated in 1970 due to rising printing costs.
"It was around this time that pub lishing companies began approaching me to write science textbooks," Pro fessor Rockcastle explained. After years of research, workshops and writing, he collaborated with three other authors to develop the "STEM" program for teaching elementary school
science. This program, which takes its
initials from 'space, time, energy and

matter,' consists of seven books ranqing from a primer to a sixth grade level text. The curriculum emphasizes
experimentation and discovery through
described activities that are pictured throughout the books. Each experiment involves the use of everyday objects helping to build up children's con
cepts of their environment through
accurate, fun, and practical means.
Professor Rockcastle gave reasons
for his student participation approach. "Teachers throughout the United States have been looking for and try ing out new ways of teaching for
years. The move a while back toward
open classrooms and non-structured
programs has begun to fade. Schools
are tending toward structured pro grams again because students were
not learning efficiently and because national test scores flagged. The STEM
program is a structured one, but it is
different from the traditional science
program because it teaches concepts
almost wholly through activity and en courages the development of sound
scientific and social attitudes."
The STEM series is currently used
to teach science to 1 V2 million children
in the United States, Canada, Central America, Puerto Rico and South
America. Published in three languages, it is corrected for value and cultural
differences for use outside the U.S.
However, within this country, only one
edition is used in English-speaking
areas. As a result, it has had to be adaptable to diverse situations. Rock
castle noted, "We had to be especially
careful in our references to sexual re
production, but other problems we
dealt with concerned word choices and
representing minorities in illustrations.
The science program has been suc
cessful due to Verne Rockcastle's con tinuing use of teacher workshops throughout the U.S. and foreign coun tries to assess teaching conditions and to explain the STEM series. As a re sult, the book is now being revised in

an in the street

by jUdV Redei 78

anticipation of a completely new edi
tion in 1980.
Rockcastle is pleased with the results
of his program. "I believe that STEM
gives children a much stronger back ground in science than students had ten years ago," he claimed. "One thing I have noticed over and over again at
Cornell is that the students here do not
have as much knowledge as they give the impression of having. They mem orize complicated abstract formulas, but they don't understand the basic concepts behind them."
As a teacher at Cornell, Rockcastle
is determined to give his students
first-hand contact with aspects of their
environment that they may have never
experienced before. His courses-Ele mentary School Science, Field Natural
History, Our Physical Environment and
courses on teaching methods-empha size out-of-classroom learning and
learning through activity and observa tion. "My students mean everything
to me," he admitted. "The experiences we have valued the most together
have occurred out in the natural en
vironment. I remember one girl who became so excited about touching the throat of a singing toad that she had
to call home to tell her folks about it."
"Rocky," as some of his graduate
students and advisees refer to him, fol lows the teaching and learning methods he advocates in his STEM series in all
of his college courses. One of his grad students, Dave Cate, spoke of a recent classroom situation: "Professor Rock
castle just started doing an experiment once at the beginning of a class with out explaining what he was trying to do. Then, once everyone was totally confused, he began leading us through a series of experiments so that we understood the concepts."
"By starting the class that way, he uses the confusion and anxiety as a motivator in the learning process," Cathy Robertson, another grad, exPlained. "Presenting material in this

way, Dr. Rockcastle encourages stu dents to think. He puts more stock in
the learner learning than the teacher
teaching."
Because he holds so much "stock"
in his learners in the university setting, he can be found every day around noon chatting with a few people in the grad student lounge in the basement of Stone Hall. There, Pat Nixon, grad,
is one of his avid listeners: "Dr. Rock
castle doesn't accept the status quo;
instead, he is always talking of ideas for new ecological inventions like
hollow bricks and two-levered toilets."
Professor Rockcastle's concern for
nature and people is simply part of his general philosophy. Besides going on field trips with his students, he has led Cornell Alumni University groups on
weekends in the Adirondacks. He and
his wife spend time fishing, hunting, skiing and relaxing at their cabin, which he built and furnished through
his carpentry skills. Nature photography is also one of his favorite pastimes; he
has taken his camera with him every
where from the Cornell campus to
Central America to take photos for his books and his own personal collection.

During a summer course in field natural history, Professor Rockcastle
demonstrates all concepts.
Photography isn't his only mode of creative expression, however. He has written scads of poetry about nature, most of which is unpublished, and is
known for his spur-of-the moment puns. What's more, he has competed
for years on the U.S. Masters Track
Team, getting respectable results in the World, Toronto Star, and Eastern
U.S. Masters.
Obviously, Verne Rockcastle has firm convictions on teaching and learning about the world. His goals of bringing more practical understanding of science to "The Celebrated Man In The Street" are being realized through his pro
grams, courses and research. One of
his sources of inspiration, learning theorist Jean Piaget, echoes his ideal aptly: "The principal goal of education is to create. . .[people] who are capable of doing new things, not simply re peating what other generations have done." With the help of Verne Rock castle, T.C. Mits of the future should be equipped to do so.

9

Student Suburbia
by Peter Schacknow 78

Each year at this time, a mounting panic engulfs the Cornell community. It hits freshmen, sophomores, and juniors alike, with departing seniors being the only group to escape un affected. Unlike many problems, how ever, there is one specific cause for this phenomenon; namely the question, "Where am I going to live next year?".
Different students solve this problem
in different ways. Some go through
the on-campus housing lottery, a sometimes harrowing experience well
documented in its time. Others head
for Collegetown, a desired location for its proximity to Cornell and not neces sarily for quality housing. And then there is the new breed, the ones who
have headed for Cayuga Heights and Lansing, an area fast becoming known
as "student suburbia."
The apartment complexes, located
from two to four miles away from
campus, have all sprung up in the last
decade. One of the first was the Lan
sing group, consisting of Lansing North, Lansing West, and Lansing East (now Warrenwood) Apartments. Others came in rapid succession, in cluding University Park, Gaslight Vil lage, Covered Bridge, and Uptown Village, among others.
All the aforementioned complexes
are a mixture of students and non-
students. The attractive setting of tree-laden Cayuga Heights and Lansing could be incentive enough for nonstudents, but what could make stu
dents want to live so far away from campus?
Glenn Corneliess, '79, says the financial factor is reason enough for him. Corneliess, a Lansing North res ident, lives with three other students
m a three bedroom apartment, and pays rent of only 73 dollars a month,
plus utilities. However, bad experiences in Collegetown also drove Corneliess to move to Lansing in the fall of 1976.
"Collegetown housing is ugly, over

priced, and too close to campus," says Corneliess, obviously not one of Collegetown's biggest supporters. He lived in no less than four houses in Collegetown before making the move.
Gary Fassak, B & PA '78, cites the higher quality housing in "suburbia" as his reason for forsaking campus and
Collegetown living. "The housing in Lansing North is
infinitely superior to anything located near campus," notes Fassak. He lives in a Lansing North single apartment which, like all others, comes carpeted, and equipped with modern kitchen ap pliances such as refrigerator, dish-

Lansing North Apartments, part of

"student

"
suburbia,

feature

terraces

and patios for the outdoor type.

washer, and a garbage disposal. Like Corneliess, Fassak dislikes

Collegetown for being "too close to campus. At the end of the day, I like
to leave the campus behind me."
Evan Fram, '78, a Warrenwood res ident, has an even simpler reason for fleeing Cornell for suburbia.

"I hate crowds," emphasizes Fram. A former resident of Dickson Hall Fram grew disillusioned rather quickly
with the crowds of a dozen or more
that gathered in the bathroom every morning.
"When you can't even find privacy in the bathroom," laughs Fram, "that's
when it's time to leave."
Like Fassak, Fram admires the qual ity of his apartment. As a general rule, says Fram, "The further away you get from campus, the nicer the houses and
apartments are."
One of Fram's favorite attributes of
Warrenwood, however, has nothing to do with housing quality. Simply put, it is the presence of "real people." Fram has made friends with neighbors ranging from age six to 50.
"It's not that I mind students so
much," says Fram, "but it's nice to
meet other people once in a while
also."
Are there drawbacks to living in "student suburbia"? According to
Jerry Share, 79, a Lansing North resident, "campus seems to get much
further away when the weather turns
bad." Share does not own a car as do
Fassak, Corneliess, and Fram, so his
problem is compounded. However,
Share says he does not run into too
many transportation problems "as long as I keep my thumb in shape." Hitch hiking is a favorite method of trans portation for apartment complex resi dents, although a bus service which covers the Lansing and Cayuga Heights area does good business as well.
Student suburbia is probably not everyone's idea of housing Utopia. However, most people who live there seem to relish the idea of getting away
from the Cornell campus when their
day's work is done. Judging by the relative lack of vacancies in the apart ment complexes, it seems "student
suburbia" will continue to thrive in the
years to come.

10

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CORNELL SLANGUAGE
by Brenda Angyal '78

Suppose there were a Cornell I.Q.
test, and it included vocabulary words
like "Prelim," "Straight break," "C-
Town," and "Gorge-out." No problem, you might say. But what about non-
Cornellians? Would these words be so
understandable then?
Last summer I worked in a factory
with 30 other college students. Nat
urally we got to discussing our re spective colleges and universities. When I mentioned something about
prelims, everyone gave me a blank
stare. PRELIMS? What were they? It was then that I began to realize that here at Cornell we share a strange language understandable only to
someone who has lived the Cornell life.
First of ali, consider the various
undergraduate colleges. Depending on the college, someone is an Artsie, Aggie, Hum Eccie, Hotelie, or ILR'ie. Only engineering and architecture stu dents are called by their rightful names.
No matter what college or major a student identifies with, all Cornellians share the Cornell idiom. A "Straight break" is a mini-party occurring at 9 p.m. every weekday night. Everyone, even "nerds," tear themselves away
from the books for a short break in the
Ivy Room in Willard Straight Hall. By 11:00 or so, most freshmen have be
gun the mass evacuation from the li
braries down "the hill" to West Camp us. "The hill" is Libe Slope, the leg

exerciser between West Campus and
the main campus.
A popular sport in the winter is "tray sliding" down the hill. One must be careful, though, because sometimes it gets so slippery that one could slide right past the dorms into Cayuga Lake!
The most popular sport at Cornell is hockey. Cornell has a great fondness for "hock jocks," also known as "Can
ucks." Even their avid female followers
have a special name- "puck bunnies." "All-nighters" are the procrastinator's
specialty. While the nerds are happily asleep, this poor soul is trying to cram all the material since the last prelim into his brain in a few hours. When hunger hits, he makes a "truck run." The
destination is one of the sub and sand
wich trucks parked near the dorms. By the time the procrastinator takes the exam the next day, he has welldeveloped fantasies about "ace-ing" it while secretly fearing he'll "blow"
it. He swears that next semester he'll
only take "guts," popular courses that have a reputation for being easy. Some examples are "Rocks for Jocks," "Flicks for Kicks," "Nuts for Sluts,"
and "Brownies With the Dean."
Many say that Cornell has "gone to the dogs." Dogs aren't the only animals
that have free run of the campus,
though. Human animals generally live in fraternities, the most common spe cies being the "turkey." With 47

fraternities and nine sororities, learn ing the Greek alphabet is an absolute necessity before one can really learn
his or her way around Cornell.
Cornell is known to be a high-pres sure academic institution. Every year
a certain number of students decide
they can't cope, and "gorging-out"
seems to be the answer. Instead of
overdosing on pills, they throw them selves from one of the bridges into
one of the scenic gorges.
"Gorging-out" also has its more common meaning at Cornell. Because the food at "Co-slop" is often un satisfactory, the urge for nourishment sparks unlimited consumption of munchies, ice cream and other goodies bought at the "Stick-up" or "Mini Stick-up." Their real names are the "Pick-up" and "Mini Pick-up," on-
campus grocery stores known for their
high prices.
The best time of the week starts on
Friday afternoon. Students take off for "C-Town," the district directly south of campus known for its bars, restau rants and apartments. The party lasts until Sunday morning. After numerous cups of coffee and aspirin, it's off to
the libraries for an afternoon of "book
ing it." With umbrellas in hand and knapsacks on back, we trudge through the rain, snow, sleet or mud and begin another week of the so-called "best
years of our lives."

11

ECOLOGY HOUSE OPEN HOUSE
THIS SUNDAY 12-5

±

C OR NE LL
UNIVERSE
Mfi- Lilt b tie Wvid Ckim' ;
TOR

55' -i

12

-TKCtNTLCfli*
FIGHTING FOR ATTENTION
by Pat Lyons 79 and Carole Freedman 79

Signs, bulletins, posters, flashing lights and screaming headlines. . . the whole world is fighting for your attention. Upwards of 1,600 sales
messages alone bombard you every day, not to mention countless
notices, memoes and traffic signs. Nowhere is this more in evidence
than on the Cornell campus.
Students are a hard bunch to reach - their minds deeply engrossed in problem sets or the big game on Friday night - so it takes a novel approach (some of which are pictured here) to grab their interest, get the message across and capture their attention.

Counterclockwise from above: A
place where notices are likely to be seen; A display of political publications;
A new banner on the campus store;
A typical bulletin board; A warning from the computer; An argument in spray paint on the wall of Uris Hall.

t' *
I

13

Aphids are one of the pests being tested for control through biological means.

by Lynn Shannon 78

j**..^

KILLING PESTS
without poisoning people

With the advent of "miracle" pest
icides after World War II, pest control resembled a military strategy in which the pest was pounced upon and anni
hilated. There were tremendous ad
vantages to such an approach, as chemicals were cheap, easy to use, and, best of all, extremely effective. DDT, for instance, was credited with
saving more than 200 million persons from the ravages of malaria, yellow fever and the plague in India, and has also been of great importance to world agriculture.
Unfortunately, there are practical and ecological disadvantages to allout chemical warfare against insect pests. Insects resistant to DDT, pol luted waterways, and disrupted eco systems are just a few of the commonly
cited limitations and disastrous side
effects. Clearly, there must be another
way.
The answer appears to be in a more
integrated approach to pest control. According to Professor Richard D. O'Brien, director of Cornell's Division of Biological Sciences, "this newer at
titude suggests that pest control re
quires an understanding of the complex

biological systems. When a pest pop ulation becomes of unacceptable size, it does so because of the interplay of several factors. Especially important is
the interaction between the pest and its host, parasites and predators."
Prof. O'Brien stresses that "bio
logical and chemical studies go hand in hand. . .but unfortunately this is not easily achieved," as the research of these two disciplines is usually segre gated. "We need imaginative new ways to fuse these disciplines," he
says.
The response to the national move
ment at Cornell is the newly formed Steering Committee for Pest Manage ment Programs. Spanning the depart ments of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in teaching and research and integrating with the state's Co operative Extension program, the steer ing committee has been set up to solve the complex pest suppression problems of local agriculture with min imum effect on non-target organisms
and the environment.
According to Professor Ronald J. Kuhr, associate director of research of the College and chairman of the steer-

ing committee, "the sharing of ideas and resources of the various depart ments in Agriculture here at Cornell is nothing new. Ad-hoc committees have been formed in the past between entomology and plant pathology, for example, but the arrangement was usually temporary. The significance of the steering committee is that it has the right mix of people to encourage long term cooperation and interdepart mental sharing."
This new concept in agricultural protection is called "integrated pest management," (IPM) and it operates on a highly practical level. As Prof.
Kuhr explains it, "Let's say that we are having trouble with an alfalfa crop. The old approach would be to take some
soil to one specialist who might recom mend that something be added to the soil. Then an entomologist might be consulted, and suggest that a spray
be used to kill an insect pest. Still
another expert in plant pathology might look at the plant diseases asso ciated with alfalfa and prescribe yet
another spray. The problem with this isolated approach is that it is often
wasteful and even damaging. Some times in spraying to kill off one pest,
we kill off the natural enemies of an
other pest. With integrated pest man agement the whole picture is looked
at, as it operates in its ecosystem.
This often allows us to manipulate
pesticides so as to let the natural para
sites live to help in the control."
Prof. Kuhr points out that this is just one small example in a very large picture. Another case came to mind concerning local apple orchards. "Grow ers were spraying approximately every two weeks because they just couldn't risk crop damage. They had no accu rate way of knowing if damaging levels of pests were present in their orchards so they had no choice but to spray just in case. However using IPM tech niques a pest monitoring system was developed that could measure the pest population simply by laying a series ot

14

traps along the periphery of the or chard. By using these monitors, some
farmers were able to save chemicals
by only spraying when it was neces sary."
Although IPM often results in a re duction in the use of pesticides, it does not eliminate them completely. Plant Pathology Professor Phil A. Arneson, teaching representative on the steering committee, puts it best when he says,
"We can't expect farmers to go cold
turkey on pesticides. Chemicals have been so cheap and effective that we've become dependent on them, and we haven't yet developed effective alter
natives."
He goes on to say that, "Some people have advocated biological con trol as the ecologically safe alternative to chemical control, but total de
pendence on biocontrol carries some
of the same environmental risks as
total dependence on pesticides. Intro duced biocontrol agents can leave
undesirable "residues" which even
tually disappear after their use is dis continued. The exotic species can re produce, and we are stuck with them.
Biocontrol agents, like pesticides can also have serious non-target effects, upsetting natural balancing forces in an
agro-ecosystem. Furthermore, an effective biocontrol agent, like an effective pesticide, puts selection pressure on the pest population and eventually results in the evolution of a population resistant to the control
agent.
The English sparrow is just one example. Introduced here hundreds of
years ago, the bird was thought to control insect pests. Unfortunately, the sparrow is a seed eating bird, so instead of being a help to farmers, it is a hindrance, gobbling up thousands of dollars worth of seed annually.
"What we are trying to do is achieve a balance," says Prof. Arneson. "We consider every aspect of the problem, and use all control methods; chemical,
biological, cultural, and genetic, and
apply them in a way that makes good ecological sense."
Prof. Arneson is also coordinating
a new curriculum called Plant Protection.

The multi-disciplinary approach trains students to look at the whole picture in crop protection and gives them the opportunity to practice their skills in the field through internships and affil iations with Cooperative Extension.
Although IPM is thriving here at Cornell, we are by no means the only university to practice it. According to
a recent paper from the pest manage
ment steering committee, "Other agri cultural colleges are more advanced than Cornell in developing coordinated teaching programs, research projects
and extension networks to carry these
programs to the field." These colleges are attracting federal grant dollars and
aid for their programs. "At the present time, Cornell pest management efforts
are being funded to some extent by Extension Service, but funds for re search and teaching are scattered."
For practical and economic reasons, the IPM approach to dealing with the problems of pest control in the context of a complex ecosystem is more diffi cult than the simple "chemical annihil ation" approach. However, the
teachers and researchers here at
Cornell believe it is worth the effort.

Much research in integrated pest management is conducted in the greenhouse.

Field work is an important part of the integrated pest management
program. Here a researcher checks and records his observations on
potato plant pests.

15

IT'S NEVE

"A chance to think; a chance to explore; a chance to exchange views with other intelligent men and women
from various walks of life; a chance to
discuss issues with some of Cornell's
most interesting faculty members." So reads the description of the Cornell Alumni University's summer and week end programs for continuing education.
CAU began its summer education
program for alumni in 1968 and it was
so popular that a weekend program was begun in 1970. "Our program, for both adults and youth, is the largest
in the country and we feel it is tops
in quality," declares Helen Hamilton,
associate director of the program. "We
have about 230 adults and 100 kids
here each week during the summer."
The summer CAU program offers a
great opportunity for alumni to show
Cornell to their children, especially
those who live away from the east
coast. It's also a good way for those
college-bound high school students to
get a taste of the university atmosphere and to talk to and get to know some of the professors. In fact, the program is so popular that many alumni prefer
to go to CAU rather than to their
class reunions.
According to CAU Director G. Michael McHugh, '50, one reason the Cornell summer program is so popular is due to the offering of several courses at one time, so that family members can follow the different paths that
interest them. This summer's program
includes two multi-disciplinary courses and 17 workshops. The lecture topics are "The Freedom of a Society" and "The Cost of Freedom." Workshop topics range from birding to cooking to natural and environmental history
to money management, as well as many others. As in the past, this year's
faculty list is quite impressive and in
cludes such notables as Prof. James
Maas of the Department of Psychology,
Prof. Verne Rockcastle of Science and
Environmental Education, and Prof. Philip Taietz of the Department of Rural Sociology, to name just a few.
During the summer sessions, while their parents are attending classes,

Cornell Alumni
University
by Debbie Moses 79
there are activities for children and
teens to join in. Swimming, canoeing, arts and crafts, hiking, riding, sports, and picnics keep youngsters busy. For the older kids, there are also workshops in photography, computer program ming, and backpacking for self-expres sion and personal interests.
Unlike the summer session, CAU's weekend programs cater only to adults. This year approximately 100 adults a
weekend will converge in various loca tions around the country for education
al experiences. Participants go to ex plore their surroundings on their own. "They come planning to work and learn," says Ms. Hamilton. "They don't
come to vacation." What's more, those who do attend the seminars consistent
ly want more to learn and more time to learn it in. Because of this, some of
the weekend programs have been ex
tended an extra day to begin on Thurs day evenings. "It's a great opportun ity to learn a surprising amount of information informally," reflected one participant.
One seminar, "A World of Har mony," focusing on the environment, ornithology and land use, will take place in Lake Arrowhead, Cal., this April. It will be conducted by Prof. Lawrence Hamilton of the Department
of Natural Resources and Prof. Gustav
Swanson, currently at Colorado State
Counselor Peggy Haynes
works with two campers
by the Cornell barns.

and formerly the executive director of Cornell's Ornithology Lab and chairman
of the Department of Conservation In May, the early pioneer days will be explored at a seminar entitled, "New
England: the First Frontier," in Wood stock, Vt. Leading the weekend will be R. Lawrence Moore, acting chair man of the History Department and Goldwin Smith Professor of English Literature Robert H. Elias. Also in May, the seminar "Forever Wild; the Low-
down on the Adirondacks" will be held at Blue Mountain Lake, N.Y., to inves
tigate the flora and fauna, land use, timber management, and zoning. Prof.
Verne Rockcastle of Science and En
vironmental Education, Dr. Douglas Lancaster, director of the Ornithology Lab, and Dr. Charles Smith, assistant
director of Public Education of the
Ornithology Lab will head this seminar.
The weekend seminars cost from $110
to $170 per person.
"The weekend seminars take con
tinued education out to centers in the
country-away from the University. In a sense, they take the classroom to the alumni," says Ms. Hamilton. The
weekend seminars and summer courses
are an extension of the University's land grant responsibilities. "We try to
meet the needs of Cornell's constitu
ency," explains Mr. McHugh, "by locating the programs in places where
many people can have access to
them."
Freedom for intellectual expression,
a relaxing atmosphere, and stimulating company are all offered by the CAU programs. As one alumnus said, "CAU
can best be described as a tremendous
and rewarding experience."

16

00 LATE
Delayed Diplomas by Jane Winslow 78

What is an aide to New York State
Assemblyman Steve Riford doing on the Cornell campus? One might expect Judy Riehlman, '80, to be working on political matters. But right now she is part of Cornell's adult student popu lation and is working on a degree in Agricultural Economics, with a con centration in Public Affairs Adminis
tration. With her degree, she hopes to
work with local governments in planning
and land use management.
Riehlman enjoys being with the stu dents. "I like working with young people. After all, I have two youngsters at home who will be in college within the next few years," she says.
She has met with some difficulties,
however. One problem she encountered at first was getting acquainted with the campus. In addition, financial aid is
not available to her. She also finds
that spending two and a half hours a day commuting from her home in Preble, N.Y. makes days seem long.
For Riehlman, the loss of family time is not a real problem. She feels that "it's the quality of the time you
spend together that counts, not the quantity." Furthermore, her children have developed a healthy degree of in dependence through this experience. All things considered, Riehlman is "grateful to have the opportunity to
finish school."
These days, many other adults are
returning to college. Some are finish ing degrees interrupted by marriage and children, while others are study ing new areas of interest. Older stu dents have usually had some work ex periences, and are highly motivated.
The decision to return to college is
not without its pressures, however.
Older students must give up some of their family time, make a fairly large financial commitment, and cope with fellow students who are less mature.
According to Richard Church of the
New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Admissions Office,

there are only a handful of these stu dents enrolled at this time. Although the ag college has no special programs for mature students, they are encour aged to matriculate. There is an em
ployee degree program, and other parttime students are allowed, but as a rule older ag students are treated exactly like their younger counterparts.
If the number of older students
increases significantly, the ag college may find it necessary to implement certain changes to meet their particular needs. For example, the College of Human Ecology offers several privileges to mature students. They can take a
minimum of six credits and have their
tuition prorated accordingly. This makes for substantial financial savings. They are given special consideration at the Cornell Nursery for pre-school children. Rita Sugarman, of the Human Ecology Admissions Office, says that a peer-
support group will be formed based on one which existed a few years ago.
Sugarman says financial aid is a big problem for many mature students. There are no scholarships available to
them and they cannot get aid if they
are not full-time students. She also
notes that class times are often incon
venient for mature students. In some
instances night classes have been
scheduled in response to these needs.
According to Sugarman, the emo tional adjustment can be difficult for mature students. First, they must over
come insecurities about their some
times rusty study skills and misgivings about how they will fare in this envi ronment full of competitive young people. Generally, adults prove to be very good students.
The second emotional adjustment
which sometimes must be made cen
ters around a feeling of guilt. Often, the person feels that he is taking
valuable time and money away from
the family resource pool. If the spouse and children are encouraging, the ad
justment is easier.

Judy Riehlman, '80, a returning stu dent in the ag college spends some time in Mann Library before class.
The College of Human Ecology is working on ideas for financial aid specifically designed to meet the needs of mature students. In addition, says Sugarman, proficiency exams may be employed in the future to determine
the amount of academic credit a stu
dent may receive for non-academic
work experiences. Furthermore, an adjunct program with Tompkins-Cort land Community College (TC-3) will probably be instituted. Concerning the direction of college programs, Sugarman believes that if colleges are to sur vive in the face of a declining number of younger students in the future, it will be necessary to recruit a greater number of older students and empha size more practical and professionally-
oriented curriculums.
Carol George, 78, a Human Ecology student majoring in social work, says of her return to college, "I think it has been good for my family and good for
me." As she watched her children
growing up, she had begun to feel
restless. With her husband's encourage
ment, she began taking courses at TC-3, then transferred to Cornell. She has been easily accepted into her classes by the other students. In fact, they often ask her questions about experiences she has had which relate
to the theories studied in class.
George has had to make sacrifices, such as missing out on some of her children's activities, and having less time to handle household responsibil ities. She has found that commuting is often inconvenient and parking is a problem, but she remains enthusiastic. In the face of this adversity, George still insists: "I'm really glad that I could
do it."

17

PACKAGED
by Debbie Slotnick 78
Most people probably would not
guess that a slide set can be more effective than film as an instructional
device. Yet by combining slides with
a cassette tape, anyone can take a
simple idea and transform it into a descriptive and informative visual slide
show. Slides are a successful form of vis
ual media and are considered to be
very flexible. They can be made from charts, maps, cartoons, line drawings and photographs. When used together, the slides can create a unified graphic interpretation of a specific subject.
A slide set has several advantages
over most other visual media. It is
adaptable (easily transported), less expensive to produce than, for in
stance, a movie and offers the audience
a variety of supplementary materials to support the visual and written text
included in the program.
As an example, consider this: An audience requests materials on nutrition labeling. In seeking informa tion on this topic, the lecturer could probably find a movie on the subject, but instead decides to utilize the re
sources of the Visual Communication
Group of Media Services at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Human Ecology.
Currently, the Visual Communication Group and radio section of Media Services is producing a slide set entitled "Nutrition Labeling: What's In It For You?" The set includes slides, a tape, a pictured script, camera-ready copy
and a workbook.
The purpose of this particular set is
to inform consumers about nutrition
labels and their use as a guide to mak ing better-informed food choices. The slide set gives examples of how this nutrition information can be applied to a variety of food selection and dietary planning situations.
Although not every slide set is as complex as "Nutrition Labeling," even the simplest set must provide the

PICTURES
basic information relevant to a given topic. Regardless of its complexity, a good slide set will convey the necessary information, stimulate enthusiasm and interest and finally, give a more compre hensive understanding of a specific subject.
"Maintaining a Safe Bicycle" is a good example of how 66 color slides, a tape cassette and one script can give an audience the most basic in formation on this subject. The slide set
can be directed toward an audience of ten-year olds or their parents, since the proper selection and maintenance
of a bicycle is essential to the bicycle's continuing performance and to the rider's safety. Tips on selecting the correct style of bicycle, purchasing

accessories, keeping a bicycle in opti
mum condition and theft prevention are all provided in this slide set.
"The demand for slide sets and
multi-media presentations has increased in the last few years," notes George Lavris, head of the photographic sec tion of the Visual Communication Group. Until six or seven years ago Media Services produced only two or three slide sets a year. Awareness of
the fact that slide sets are a viable medium for providing additional infor mation on a subject has contributed to the increased demand for this visual
program.
In terms of practical use, slide sets
can enhance any lecture and make it
into an informationally explosive presen
tation. As part of the lecture, the pro fessor has at his fingertips a complete outline of the slides. It not only makes for a more interesting lecture, but pro vides the necessary examples that

This multimedia presentation on New York State agriculture attracted the attention of thousands of visitors to the College's
booth at the New York State Fair in 1975.

18

Elin Saxby prepares slide sets for mailing to customers. Each padded bag contains the slides for the set and the accompanying printed script and audio tape.

channel the information more success
fully. The slide set is also durable
making the initial investment worth
while for years to come.
Today, slide sets produced by Corn ell University are used at state and
county fairs, conferences, workshops
and in classrooms. Most slide sets pro
duced by the Visual Communication Group are for New York State Coop erative Extension Agents to use in their
local county programs.
According to James Griffith, Co
ordinator of the Visual Communications
Group of Media Services, "The subject
matter (of these slide sets) knows no bounds. It is impossible to begin to name all the different slide sets pro
duced," he adds, as subjects range
from nutrition to agronomy. In terms of the actual production of
slide sets, it is first necessary to define ihe purpose of the set and the audi
ence to whom the information is being directed. The subject matter should be

timely and it is essential to have a sub ject that will be of interest to the audi
ence. A successful slide show is one
that develops a story step by step in coordination with carefully planned visuals. The subject matter can include "how-to's," documentaries, or defining a problem and solution.
The next step is to outline important points necessary to get the message
across to the audience. Sometimes the
script is already written and only needs
minor revision to achieve slide set
form. Other times a specialist might
come to Media Services and propose an idea for a slide set. If it is "slide set
material," the specialist is then asked to outline and write a rough draft for
a script. Once the script is finalized, Visual
Communications decides on the style of presentation and chooses the type of artwork or photography to be used
in the slide show.
The mood created by the music,

theme, voice, amount of narrative and the speed at which the slides change varies with each slide set. The number of slides depends upon the subject matter and the intended audi ence. If each slide requires study, then
an effort is made not to bombard the audience with too many slides.
Most slide sets produced by Media
Services for mass distribution use a
single slide projector and include an audio tape. However, Media Services does occasionally prepare multi-pro jector shows. These shows use a series of projectors that dissolve one picture at a time, thus avoiding a pause be
tween each successive slide. Due to
the complexity of this type of slide show Media Services usually takes the responsibility of setting up and op erating the presentation.
A three-screen slide set entitled
"Agriculture Today in the Empire
State" is illustrative of Media Services'
work in multi-screen productions. Originally produced for a single screen, "Ag Today. . ." was expanded into a
multi-media slide show because it was
felt the show's topic would be of interest to the general public and that
the message would come across more
effectively if the number of pictures
used was increased. In its expanded form, as presented at the New York
State Fair in Syracuse for two years, "Ag Today. . ." used three slide pro jectors, a programmer and a synchron
ized tape recorder.
For purposes of promoting these
slide sets, announcements, brochures,
catalogs and displays are commonly used. Specialists also promote this material through their daily activities
at work. The success of slide sets is
evident through the thousands of mass produced sets sold worldwide yearly.
Media Services' work in slide set
production is another example of the integration of Cornell and the offcampus community. By providing a valuable service to clients seeking a
means of effective visual communica
tion, Media Services is contributing to Cornell's deserved reputation as a diverse institution offering a broad
range of services to the public.

19

Native Kenyan Peter Misiko
overlooks a farm in central Puerto Rico. Misiko has a Ph. D. in trop
ical agriculture granted by the ag college.
Cornell's place
in the sun

■M&&M

by Lynn Levidy 78

In the past two years, over 100 N.Y. State College of Agriculture and
Life Sciences faculty members have served in overseas positions. Repre sented are a variety of disciplines and geographic locations, but all share a common goal: the development of in ternational agriculture.
Since post World War II involvement in technical assistance programs, Cornell's contributions to international
agriculture have been extensive. Kicked off by aid in the rebuilding of the Philippines College of Agriculture at Los Banos in the early 1950's, pro
grams have involved many members
of the ag college faculty. While scanning the file which the
International Agriculture Office main tains on overseas activities, it becomes
apparent that many of the programs
are in tropical regions. Looking out side to the somewhat less-than-tropical Ithaca climate, the question comes to mind, "Why is the emphasis in the tropics?" The reasons for this are several fold. First, there is the make up of the student body. Of the graduate students in the College, an estimated thirty percent are from tropical regions. These people then return to their native countries to apply their knowl edge.
There is, however, a more basic
reason for Cornell's involvement in
tropical agriculture studies. Prof. R.E. McDowell of the Department of Ani

mal Science has been engaged in studies of the tropical environment in relation to animal problems. "Today's food situation is interwoven," says
Professor McDowell. An awareness of
the large farming sector in the tropics
is essential even to those students who
will never leave New York State. In
other words, the fate of farming in Africa affects the price of commodities in Ithaca, New York.
Prof. Matt Drosdoff of the Depart ment of Agronomy intensively studied soils of the tropics until his retirement a year ago. He explains, "Extensive soils of the tropics offer a lot of poten tial for agricultural production, partic ularly in view of the world food situ ation." Development of these under utilized lands, then, became the focus of his research program. Apparently, in the less developed countries of the tropics lies unrealized potential for alleviating the world food problem.
Representative of the nature of in ternational agriculture activities is the project Professor Drosdoff headed from 1969 until 1977. In 1969 the College
entered into a contract with the United
States Agency for International Devel opment (USAID) to research the poten tial of tropical soils for agricultural production. The program began in Puerto Rico and has since expanded to Brazil and Ghana. Since the project began, staff has been stationed in these countries continuously. The project is

now headed by Prof. Armand Van
Wambeke.
"The greatest extent of lands that are either not being used or are under utilized are in the tropics," Professor
Drosdoff reiterates. This potential
spurred USAID's interest there. The picture here, however, is not that Cornell and USAID are on a purely
charitable mission. All of this work is
definitely a two way street. Since the
United States offers little chance for
direct tropical study, Cornell is "always learning and broadening perspectives through international agriculture." This gives Cornell students the advantage of a comprehensive knowledge in ag
ronomy. As countries become more
and more interdependent, the holistic view becomes more important. Pro
fessor Drosdoff summarizes these
activities, then, as "mutually advan
tageous." "The main focus of our program is
helping developing countries increase their agricultural output," says Dros doff. A side result, however, is the opening of export markets. A direct benefit in this area is evident in potato breeding. Reciprocal research between Peru and the United States can help develop new and stronger potato
varieties.
Prof. Gilbert Levine of Cornell's College of Engineering tells of another contract which just began with USAID.
The program concerns water manage-

20

ment systems work in the Philippines and other Asian countries.
This program indicates the holistic
perspective developing towards inter
national agriculture. The team for this project consists of Prof. Walter Cow ard, a sociologist from Cornell, Prof. Leslie Small, an agriculture economist from Rutgers, Prof. Milton Barnett, an anthropologist from Cornell and Pro
fessor Levine. This team collaborates
with researchers at the Philippine
College of Agriculture at Los Banos. Again, this represents a give and take of information. Says Professor Levine,
"Development efforts in the Philippines
and in northern New York face similar

studies. In addition, New York State's export of livestock and semen is ex panding due to contacts with less developed countries.
Is Cornell unique in its international agriculture activities? About ten other universities share this interest, but ac cording to Drosdoff, "Cornell has probably one of the best reputations
around the world because so many students have gone out to less devel
oped countries and there is a large
staff commitment." Professor Mc
Dowell feels, "Cornell has the best program in international agriculture and the best agricultural library in the
world."

professors who have been involved in
the various programs. What is the future of the interna
tional agriculture activity which has
been a part of Cornell since the uni
versity was founded? The past fifteen years, especially for New York State,
have been very active. Under the
governorship of Nelson Rockefeller
these activities flourished. The Rocke
feller Foundation and the Ford Foun
dation have themselves sponsored pro
grams such as the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). "There isn't
a state in the U.S. that has provided the kind of support for international agriculture activities that New York

problems."
Professor Levine feels that the pro fessional satisfaction from this work is
because, "A small research effort has

Of course, some faculty members travel overseas for more personal rea sons. Entomology Prof. William Brown, for example, has journeyed practically

State has," explains Drosdoff. "Now with the economy being tighter, this kind of support could become more difficult to get."

a large payoff. Field irrigation assistance every continent expanding his insect

"Since Cornell is recognized as a

is very basic and results directly in in collection. Still others frequently attend major institution for international ag

creased food production." His exper seminars out of the country. A large riculture and rural development," pre

ience differs with Professor Drosdoff's proportion of faculty overseas activity, dicts Zuidema, "the strength of study

in that his project focus is on the field regardless of the motive, means that in this area will continue." Title XII, the

level.

Cornell's store of knowledge and edu Famine Prevention and Freedom from

Professor Levine has found himself cational impact are expanded to en Hunger Amendment to the Foreign

in the midst of some unwanted situ compass many countries and people.

Assistance Act of 1961, was passed

ations. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and typhoons are all part of life in the tropics. Professor McDowell tells of a time driving through the Andes Moun
tains when his group encountered a
landslide across the road. They turned back only to find another landslide from where they had just come. For some eight hours, the group was
stranded on a narrow mountain road.
Through patient digging they finally found their way back to passable road.
The motive for this work should not
be built into some kind of missionary
zeal. There are charitable instances. One professor's widow donated vol
umes of her husband's invaluable

Larry Zuidema, assistant director of the International Agriculture Office here at Cornell, explains that popular
concern for the world food situation
has prompted the College to develop an outreach philosophy. Adults throughout New York State, including liberal arts colleges and community
groups, will be able to benefit from the
ag college's knowledge gained through international agriculture. A speakers'
bureau and a series of papers and vis uals on world food issues will be avail
able to groups outside of Cornell. The information for these has been
gathered and prepared with ag college

in 1975. This title provides for continued university participation with USAID and foreign universities for teaching and research in less developed coun
tries. The particulars of the federal
program have yet to be worked out, but Cornell's past involvement guaran tees it a place in the future. Mr. Zuidema feels, "Overseas research and educa tion activities will continue, but not
large scale institution building." Ample funding sources and the strength of the ag college faculty insure this. In the meantime, Professor Levine is off to Mexico, and the soils project con
tinues in Brazil.

agricultural journals to a developing
library overseas. For the most part, however, all agree that a partnership
is most characteristic of the relation
ship between the States and less de
veloped countries. Professor McDowell
explains, for example, that Cornell has the most complete milk yield databank which has been gathered from the ani mal sciences department's overseas

Professor R.E. Mc
Dowell (extreme left), along with Jose VicenteChandler, discuss farm ing systems with Cornell
students on VicenteChandler's farm in Puerto Rico.

WHERE THE BEES ARE
by Jo Schaffel 78

Richard Nowogrodzki, grad, studies toxicity of substances on caged bees in feeding experiments.

Did you know that scientists have
identified more pheromones (chemical messengers) for the honey bee than
for any other animal? Or that a rela
tively new, imported disease is now striking many hives in the U.S.? These and many other things about honey bees are being investigated at Cornell's Dyce Honey Bee Laboratory on Freese
Road.
Dyce Lab, built in 1968, was named
in honor of Professor Elton James
Dyce, a world-famous apiculturist in Cornell's Department of Entomology from 1944 to 1965. During his years here, more specialists received mas ters' and doctoral degrees in apiculture
than at any other institution.
While a graduate student at Cornell (1928-1931), Dyce invented the pro cess for making the creamy, finely granulated solid honey you now find
on store shelves. The patent for this
process was given to the province of Ontario, Canada (Dyce's birthplace was Meaford, Ontario) and also to Cornell University. The money earned from the royalties on the patent was put in an investment pool and had added up to $140,000 over the years -
more than any other Cornell patent has
22

Dyce Honey Bee Laboratory was moved to its
present secluded location on Freese Road in 1968.

earned. These funds are still being used to further research in apiculture at Cornell. In 1968, with matching funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the apiculture lab was
moved from Comstock Hall to its
present location on Freese Road.
Dr. Roger Morse, of the entomology department, feels the seclusion of
Dyce Lab's new location is beneficial
for research. "The beehives on campus
bothered some students," he said.
"And the students bothered the bees."
Dyce Lab's 150 hives of bees can live peacefully alone, except, of course,
for the researchers.
"We are mainly interested in study ing the reproductive behavior of the honey bee," said Dr. Morse. Other
research at the lab includes investi
gating the effects of pesticides on bees, honey bee swarm behavior, pheromones and diseases. The lab does not have some of the extremely sophisticated equipment needed for chemical analysis, so Cornell workers study bee behavior, perform bio-assays and extractions, and then send them out for further analysis.
Public tours of Dyce Lab are not encouraged, according to Dr. Morse.

He stressed the researchers there are
working with full-sized bee colonies so getting stung is almost an everyday occurrence. Researchers might not mind this, but the public certainly would. Dr. Morse added that Dyce is mainly a research facility and not a
museum. However researchers will be
glad to give further information on projects to interested people.
While Dyce Lab may be physically
distant from Cornell's main campus, it is but one of many facilities of
off-campus Cornell.
Nowogrodzki and Rick Fell observe behavior using glass observation hives.

State Agricultural Society
Honors Cornellians
The Shimel Farm, owned by Foster and Lee Shimel '71, was one of four outstanding New York State farms to receive the 1978 Century Farm Award
presented in Syracuse on January 5
by the New York State Agricultural Society.
The Century Farm Award each year recognizes selected families with long standing records of service to farm and community life.
Both Foster and his son, Lee, are graduates of Cornell. Lee Shimel com pleted his degree in 1971 from the College of Agriculture and Life Sci
ences.
The Shimels are considered pioneers in new farming methods. They owned the first bull, named Cornell Ollie Lady Boy, to be used in New York
State for artificial insemination. Mem
bers of the Shimel family have also worked with Cornell University and the Extension Service to improve a new variety of oats and in growing founda tion Viking Birdsfoot Trefoil to produce
certified seed.
Cornell Trustee Morton Adams,
'33, received the 1978 Award for Ser vice to Agriculture from the New York State Agricultural Society on January 5. Adams is the 27th recipient of the distinguished service citation.
Alumnus Appointed Commander
Major Mike Hall, '68, of the 174th Tactical Fighter Group, New York Air National Guard has been appointed
the unit's new air commander.
Hall, an Ithaca resident, graduated
from Cornell with a bachelor of science
degree in biological sciences. He was commissioned through Air Force ROTC m 1968 after graduation and completed a master's degree in systems manage ment from the University of Southern California while on active duty with the
Air Force.
In his new position, Hall heads 160 Civil Service air technicians at the Air National Guard Base at Hancock Field in Syracuse.

COUNTRYMAN
CAPSULES
Extension Agent Retires
Mrs. Ann W. Frame, M.S. '51, has
retired after 32 years of service in
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University's Extension Division at Blacksburg, Va.
Mrs. Frame received a bachelor of
science degree in home economics from Madison College in 1938 and a master's degree in 1951 from Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
In 1976, Mrs. Frame received a 25-
years service citation from the National
Association of 4-H Agents. Before her
retirement Mrs. Frame was Southeast
District Program Leader in family
resources.
More Alumni Responses
Garson Gossin '36 is currently a Senior Employment Counselor with the New York State Department of Labor. Mr. Gossin, a student of Professors Pearson and Boyle, lives in Syracuse,
N.Y.
John D. Turrel, '43, of Mt. Vernon, III., is editor of The Electric Letter and Ag-Rural (supplement).
Mrs. Edward D. Ramage, '59, is working as a librarian in the village library in Skaneateles, N.Y.
Frank K. Martin, '61, is a Lt. Col onel in the U.S. Air Force now sta tioned at Boiling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C.
James Collora '63 of Bolingbrook, Illinois, is a business consultant for manufacturing companies. He is em ployed at Arthur Anderson and Com pany in Chicago.
F.C. (Curt) Barry, '68, is employed as manager of Research and Develop ment for the Corporate Data Center of Garfinckels, Brooks Brothers, Mil
ler and Rhoads - a chain of 200 de
partment and specialty stores. He re sides in Richmond, Va.

William Kroll, '63, of Middle lslanv
N.Y. is the owner of two Christian bookstores in addition to his lawn service business.
Susan Wojakowski '77, a Food Science graduate, is now employed at Crowley Foods in Binghamton, N.Y. She works as a Research Technologist, developing new dairy products.
Edward Graham '69, of Torrance, Pennsylvania, is a Sales Executive with a legal publishing firm. Mr. Graham
lives on a 200 acre farm where he
breeds Red Angus cattle and Dorset sheep.
Amy Schonhaut '73 earned her M.S. degree from the University of Michigan. Since August of 1975 she has been employed as a cytogenetics technologist and assistant genetics
counselor.
Accolades for Pomologist
Professor Loyd Powell of the Department of Pomology was made a Fellow of the American Society for Horticultural Science at their 74th
annual meeting. He was recognized for "outstanding contributions to horti cultural science, to teaching, and to the Society." Professor Powell has taught at Cornell since 1955, and his research on shoot growth mechanisms in apple trees and other woody plants
is well known. He teaches a course on
the growth and development of woody plants and assists with other courses in experimental pomology and labor atory techniques. In 1974 Professor Powell was a visiting professor at the
Institute of Cultivated Fruits in Pisa, Italy, and in 1975 he received the Joseph H. Gourley Award for his
paper on general pomology.
Norman J. Smith, '50, a professor at Rutgers University, currently holds the position of Agricultural Agent in southern New Jersey's Cumberland County. For the last ten years he has been advising 550 vegetable farmers.
Smith has been president of the College's Alumni Association during
the term from 1973-74.

23

ARNOT FOREST:
A Living Laboratory

which take advantage of the Arnot Forest's unique facilities as a field laboratory to supplement classroom
instruction. A student's first intro
duction to the forest is in Field Biology, when freshmen and sophomores gain field experience that was previously available only to upperclassmen.
The campus facilities at Arnot include 1 1 dormitories which can accommo
date 70 people in the spring and sum mer. Through a donation from the Cornell Class of 1920, one of the
dorms was recently winterized, making it possible for students to take ad
vantage of the educational oppor
tunities the forest offers during the winter months. The Department hopes to eventually winterize the entire

4-H summer campers discover the
many different kinds of aquatic life
found in the marshes at the Arnot.
Just 18 miles southwest of Ithaca,
a part of the Cornell campus provides a natural habitat for white-tailed deer, wild turkey and ruffed grouse. It is the Arnot Teaching and Research Forest, a 4,026 acre tract donated to the Uni
versity in 1926, which provides a living laboratory in ecological research for students, faculty and the community.
Arnot Forest is primarily used by the Department of Natural Resources, which also administers the facility. The Department has divided the forest into two major areas of use: the Banfield Creek Watershed, where long and short term research is the primary function; and the campus area out side the watershed, where field ex perience and resident instruction are emphasized.
Wildlife Management, Wildlife Ecol ogy, Introductory Field Biology, Wood land Management and Maple Syrup Production are just a few of the classes

Prof. John Kelley explains how to
observe the Arnot's animal residents
without being detected.
by Polly Wilson 78

As an extension of the classroor
the forest provides recreation as
as education.
campus so year-round educatkj
activities may be conducted at
The excellent facilities provided;!
the Arnot Teaching and Researl
Forest are also available for the
cational use and enjoyment of organ izations such as Cooperative Extension, 4-H and Cornell Alumni University. Other groups, such as the Cornell Conservation Club and the Cornell
Wildlife Society also take advantage of the unique opportunities at Arnot.
In addition, the forest is used by
hikers, cross country skiers and snovfoj
shoers during the winter, and picnickf
ing is permitted at designated spotj
in the summer.
The Cornell community is very for- ■
thjtunate indeed to have access to Arnot Teaching and Research Foresjj
It provides a unique opportunity fo|
education, research and enjoymentTcj| ofjtthose wishing to take advantage
natural beauty and excellent facilitie

New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of the State University, at Cornell Univer^

CORNELL

OUNTRYMAN

LXXV

APRIL,1978

MO. 6

/ X* \^.
*^»
t% vi Here are some unusual collections. . . .:At: S*V
IPS:|:i|f;f *

CORNELL. COUNTRYMAN
APRIL 1978 VOLUME LXXV-Number 6

EDITORS:
Brenda Angyal
Jo L. Schaffel Debbie Slotnick

ABOUT THE ISSUE Collections are an important part of
Cornell life. This issue focuses on the many types of collections that can be
found far above Cayuga's waters.

ASSISTANT EDITORS:
Christine Bingham
Cathi Gobel
Lynn Levidy Polly Wilson

PHOTO EDITOR:
Carole Freedman
ART EDITORS: Stacey Cahn
David Domeshek Robin Feiner Joline Miceli

EDITORIAL STAFF: Renni Altman, Patrick Lyons, Luci Merin, Debbie Moses, Judy Redel, Peter Schacknow, Lynn Shannon,
Jane Winslow.
Picture Credits: Cover design, page 1 1 -Pat Lyons; page 3-Lynn Levidy; page 4, 5, 6, 12, 13-Carole Freedman; page 7-Peter Schacknow; page 8, 9Jon Reis; page 8, 9-Harvey Ferdschneider; page 10-Dan Ivanick; page 14, 15-Renni Altman; page 17-Luci Merin; page 18, 19-Media Services; page 20, 21 -Cornell Archives; page 22Polly Wilson; p. 21 -Visual Services,
Russ Hamilton.

CONTENTS
3. Today's Clutter-Tomorrow's Treasures by Lynn Levidy 78
4. Fiske Icelandic Collection by Christine Bingham, Grad. 6. What to do When the Beer Runs Out. . .by Stacey Cahn 79
7. . . .And You're Hungry by Peter Schacknow 78
8. An Art Collector's Dream by Cathi Gobel 79 10. Seniors Tell All by Brenda Angyal 78
1 1 . Falling Into Your Future by David Domeshek 79
12. Where Students Collect by Carole Freedman 79
14. The Collection That Finally Got Together by Renni Altman 79 16. These Are the Good Old Days by Judy Redel 78 17. Who Needs a Salary? by Luci Merin 78 18. Costumes Not for Dress-Up by Joline Miceli 78
20. The Cornell White House by Jo L. Schaffel 78
22. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Wormwood by Polly Wilson 79
24. It Makes $en$e by Debbie Moses 79

The Cornell Countryman is published seven times a year from October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cornell University Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853.
Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription Rates: $2.50 a year; $4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content gathered and written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors:
Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

TODAY'S CLUTTER TOMORROW'S TREASURE

by Lynn Levidy 78

Nostalgia- is it a word of the past?
The Cornell Archives housed in Olin
Library are full of bits and pieces of life at the University from years gone by. Scrapbooks in the archives contain such memorabilia as party invitations, notes from famous professors' lectures and even a sixty year old marshmallow from a picnic on Beebe Lake. But what about today? No, students have gotten away from that feeling for tra dition. Saving things for posterity stopped with three-dollar season's sports tickets half a century ago. Or
did it?
Rummaging around in the archives you might find a garter stuck between the pages of a scrapbook. For a wo man in the class of '08 you might think of this as a "typical" item. (Although one might wonder what was the sig nificance of that particular garter.) But
what about for a woman in the class
of 78? Amongst the piles of some stu dent's souvenirs today, you still might
run across a garter: a memory for the future from Phi Gamma Delta's bi
annual Garter Party. Along with such identifiable party
mementos, many scrapbooks contain name tags and invitations, mainly from sorority rush parties. They are simply pieces of paper, but somehow the significance attached to them makes them worth saving.
Females, however, are not the only surviving traditionalists. Fraternity pledge paddles are commonly kept as mementos of years spent at Cornell. These are not all the ordinary wooden variety. Someday a pledge paddle which is, in fact, a manhole cover, may find its way to the archives, only to be uncovered by some unsuspecting
writer. Years from now, students
might wonder about the kind of people who would save such bizarre things.
Another common keepsake, along the lines of the "frosh cap" of yester
year, are hats of any and every kind.

A junior in the ag college has over
twenty different hats. Each has a spe cific story and mood it portrays. One girl has a tattered old hat which has been with her since age twelve. This
hat is collecting personified since she
even has a name and distinct person
ality attached to it. The collectability of unique hats was also shown recently by a party to which the admission
ticket was a hat--the stranger the better. Everything showed up from ordinary baseball caps to something resembling a spaghetti strainer or a prop from Star Wars.
Sports souvenirs have always been popular. Winning crew oars were kept by team members in the past. When the athletes graduated, often the oars stayed behind displayed proudly on a wall. It is undeniable that saving ath
letic mementos is still common. Old
team jerseys can be found in many drawers, along with hats, helmets, balls, and other sports paraphernalia. Just last season ice hockey player Lance Nethery promptly retrieved his record breaking puck from the net dur ing the Harvard game.
It is not even necessary to be an
athlete yourself to save sports tokens. Many people have old football pro
grams buried somewhere among the accumulated mass of years at Cornell.
Of twenty students randomly ques tioned, over three-quarters agreed
that somewhere among their papers
they, too, would be likely to find a sports program which they had saved.
Until a few years ago even the football
goalposts themselves were common collector's items. Before goalposts
evolved from wood to metal some ten
years ago, spectators would dismantle them after home games to drag off as
keepsakes. It is thought by historians that the
kinds of collections people have indi cate quite a bit about their everyday lives. The popularity of bars as meeting

Students at Cornell collect many
things. This is one senior's matchbook
collection.
places is shown well by the abundance of cocktail napkins, mugs, and matchbooks which show up as prized col
lections in many rooms. One senior has a collection of matchbooks which
fills a one liter mug with plenty to spare. One of the professors in the ag college has a Jack Daniels' label framed
and saved out of harm's way on his wall.
Another item commonly saved are the various freshman guide books which have been published over the
years. Of course, the content of the
books varies a bit. In an early 1900's equivalent of the Cornell Desk Book, the authors thought it necessary to de fine the word "beer." Today's desk
book has four pages of definitions for
incoming freshmen. "Beer" is no longer among them. Instead words like "turkey" are defined as, "a flamer, gobbler, etc.; one who acts by flapping
around." Students in 2078 may have
difficulty figuring out exactly how and why "turkey" was defined, much as defining "beer" seems peculiar to day.
Collecting memorabilia may seem to be a thing of the past. But when you see a macrame wall hanging with a swizzle stick from the Nine's, a spoon from Co-op and other "first time at Cornell" tokens tied right into it and proudly on display, all of these collec tions begin to make sense. The room clutter of today will answer the ques tion for Cornellians of the future,
"What were those students back in
the late 1900's like, anyway?"

3

Islenzk menningarmidstod i Ameriku
The Fiske Icelandic Collection
by Christine Bingham, Grad.

Now tell me this only, Since you deem yourself Wiser than other kings;
What words did Odin
Whisper to Balder Ere on the pyre they laid him?
King Heidrek of Reidgotaland, a
famous riddle solver, never was able
to answer this 30th and ultimate riddle
posed by Odin, the supreme deity in Old Norse mythology, and so had to
forfeit his life.
The oldest collection of Scandi
navian riddles (the Gatur Gestumblinda, or Riddles of Gestumblindi, of which this is one) is contained in the
Hervarar Saga. Since the riddle stan
zas are akin to so-called Eddie poetry, they are included in some editions of the Elder Edda, a corpus of mythical and heroic poems believed to have orig inated between 800 and 100 A.D. The individual poems were transmitted or ally until they were written down in the 13th century.

The Elder Edda is but one of many parts of Cornell's Fiske Icelandic Col
lection housed in Olin Library. The col lection is considered to be one of the
three best collections of its kind.
"It is certainly safe to say that it is the outstanding collection of Icelandic materials on this continent," said Vilhjalmur Bjarnar, a native of Iceland,
now curator of the collection.
According to Bjarnar, not only is the
extensiveness of the collection note
worthy, but in particular, the nearcomplete coverage of the early liter ature -- pieces such as the Elder Edda.
"The policy originally was to try and acquire all editions of any Old Ice landic or Old Norwegian work and all translations," Bjarnar explained. "We
don't have 100 percent coverage but
we do have excellent coverage."
The Fiske Icelandic Collection is
named after its founder, Willard Fiske, Professor of North-European Lan guages and the first Cornell University
librarian from 1868-1883.

Icelandic Bishop Thordur Thorlaksson (1637- 1697) produced some of the
earliest maps of his native land. This one was made in 1670.

Fiske began collecting books and other materials pertaining to Iceland as early as 1850 when, as a young man, he travelled to Scandinavia to study Scandinavian languages. It was said he spared no trouble or expense in ob taining old and rare books. Halldor Her-
mannson, the first curator of the col
lection, wrote that "the largest addi tion in any one year he (Fiske) made during his visits to Scandinavia was in the summer of 1899 when, according to his own estimate, he bought be
tween 800 and 900 volumes and about
3,000 pamphlets." Hermannsson met Fiske in Copen
hagen in 1899 and was hired by him along with another young Icelander to help Fiske catalogue his already size
able collection. After Fiske's death in
1904, Hermannsson brought the col lection (then totalling 8,600 volumes) from Florence, Italy (where Fiske took
up residence after his retirement) to
Cornell and became its first curator
from the spring of 1905 until 1948
when he retired.
During that time, Hermannsson, also
a renowned expert in Icelandic mater
ials, compiled a catalogue of the col lection (published in 1914) which is recognized as the pioneer work in Ice landic bibliography. Supplements were added in 1928 and again in 1943. Along with a separate Runic Catalogue, these sources listed approximately 22,000 volumes. Today the collection numbers some 32,000 volumes, a total rivalled only by similar collections at the National Library in Reykjavik and the Royal Library of Copenhagen.
It was Fiske's belief that Icelandic manuscripts should remain in Iceland. For this reason the Fiske Icelandic Col lection is primarily a book collection and contains few manuscripts. Still, the collection is not without some medieval
treasures.

4

One of the rarest pieces, according to Bjarnar; is a copy of the first book
printed in Icelandic, the New Testament
of 1540, which, he says, is one of
maybe a dozen copies in the world. And the oldest manuscript in the col
lection dates from the middle of the
15th century. "It is a code of old Icelandic law
which came into effect in 1281 . Of
course, the world doesn't have any one
manuscript we can point to as the orig
inal from 1281 but there are a number
of copies from various times and we happen to have one," Bjarnar ex
plained. Among the manuscripts preserved
in the collection were some records
pertaining to the Althing, the oldest institution in Iceland. The Althing was
originally a legislative and judiciary assembly established in 930 and has
been referred to as "the oldest par
liament in the world." The manuscripts,
some dating back over 300 years, are handwritten records of the proceedings of the Althing for 37 years scattered through the period 1667-1762. They include records of trials, court de
cisions, official announcements, de crees and the like. In keeping with Fiske's original attitude, however, and with the consent of the Library Admin istration, Bjarnar returned the manu scripts to the Icelandic National Ar chives during ceremonies held in Ice land on January 6, 1978, (the centen ary of Hermannsson's birth). They are expected to be useful in a current pro ject of the Historical Society of Iceland to edit and publish Althing records from 1570-1798.
"The strongest part of the collection
is in the literature, the language and the history of Iceland," said Bjarnar,
whose favorite area is the old literature.
The old literature contains not only the Elder Edda but also the Younger Edda and the famous Sagas. Unlike the Elder Edda, the Younger Edda is in prose form. Divided into three sections, it essentially forms a handbook on Skaldic poetry.
Then there are the runes which, for a long time, comprised a different kind of Scandinavian riddle. The runes are

Fiske's manuscript of Chess in Iceland and a copy of the Ice landic chess journal I Uppnami are part of Cornell's collection.

an old alphabet of 24 characters used in inscriptions on weaponry and other objects or for brief messages. The ori gin and history of runic characters (which date as early as the third cen tury) were mysteries to scholars until the latter half of the 19th century
when many of them concluded that
runes were primarily used for magic
purposes. In a sense, the runes are
really pre-literature; although sufficient for a written language at the time, the runes were a crude form of writing.
Perhaps the best known aspect of Old Icelandic literature are the Sagas or epics. Written in prose form, these
anonymous stories date from the 13th
century and are noted for their simpli city of style and historical realism. Un like Icelandic mythology, the Sagas deal with life-like people in credible sit
uations. The most famous of these --
the Family Sagas — trace the lives of Icelanders over a period of 150 years beginning with the settlement of Ice land by the Norsemen late in the ninth
century. The Fiske Icelandic Collection also
has a variety of old maps, pamphlets and periodicals, archaeological and ethnographical works, works on the language, religion, history, manners,
customs and other aspects of life in Scandinavia in early times. There are also works by Icelanders in languages other than Icelandic and even writings

of modern authors who have been
influenced by Icelandic literature.
Last year Cornell received a three
year grant by the National Endow
ment for the Humanities to aid in re
classification of the collection into the
Library of Congress classification sys
tem. The reclassification work current
ly underway, which includes entering the entire cataloging record into the Ohio College Library Center data base, is expected to increase public access
to the different items contained in the
collection.
New additions to the collection are
obtained regularly, mostly through
agents, and every effort is made to keep up with modern Icelandic literature
and significant contributions to Ice landic scholarship. This is no small task for, as Bjarnar points out, "in propor tion to the population, Iceland publishes
more books than any other country in
the world."
With modern printing and publishing what it is, it may no longer be possible to collect, as Fiske once hoped, "every thing that would throw light on the history, topography, indigenous prod ucts, commerce, language and let
ters of Iceland." Even so, Cornell's Ice landic Collection represents an out-
standing contribution to the University's renowned literary resources, a contribution of which Willard Fiske can
indeed be proud.

5

What to do when the beer runs out.

by Stacey Cahn 79
A new hobby is on the rise. Cornell students have joined the ranks of over
half a million people who have taken up a rapidly growing pastime-- beer can and bottle collecting.
"It seems to have caught on in fraternities," according to Joe Kane '79, a member of Lambda Chi Alpha.
For the last four or five years his fra
ternity has been collecting beer cans. The total now stands at 335, and the
neatly-shelved cans cover an entire wall of a bedroom. (The collection
comes with the room.) The only policy that exists regarding the collection is
that each can must be different. Kane
says that adding to the collection is
done on a volunteer basis. "It's a fix
ture and we add to it gradually." Ex cept for avoiding duplication, there is "nothing really organized" about col lecting the cans. A few years ago a visiting fraternity brother arrived one evening with a carload of beer. The
all-night party brought an additional
100 cans into the collection. Lambda
Chi Alpha also collects beer bottles, but only a limited amount because they gather dust and need stronger shelving. Kane adds that, "cans are more decor ative anyway!"
Individual students have collections
as well. Harvey Christensen, '79, has
decorated the four walls of his Chi Phi
fraternity room in "contemporary beer
can." He and two of his friends started
collecting two and a half years ago. One hundred sixty cans and 90 bottles later, he is still adding to his domestic and foreign collection. Christensen says flea markets and antique stores are good places to find interesting and rare
cans and bottles.
Tim Wayne, '80, a member of Alpha Gamma Rho, collects bottles exclusive ly. Last year, he challenged his U. Hall dormmate, Karl Westbrook, '80,
to a bottle-collecting race. In one se
mester, Wayne collected over 65 var

ieties of bottles in both the seven and twelve ounce sizes. He estimates the
cost of the bottles at $100, but says, "after all, it's not as though you don't derive any pleasure from emptying them." He was inspired by an impres sive collection at "The Rongovian Em bassy," a Trumansburg bar known for
its wide selection of domestic and for
eign beers. Most of his bottles come from bars, although some additions to
his collection are travel souvenirs from friends.
Karl Westbrook says he collects bot tles and cans as an excuse for sam
pling the different types of beer. "I rate
each beer on a scale of one to five. So
far, I haven't come across any 'fives'." Other collectors say they took up the hobby for a number of different rea
sons. One student said he "needed a
window shade, and beer cans seem to do the job well." Most said they got started "just for the fun of it."
But there is more to collecting than personal enjoyment, according to Kevin Wandryk, 78, of Phi Sigma Ep silon. Wandryk's interest in his room mate's collection inspired him to start one of his own, and he has done quite a bit of reading on the subject. "About
ten or fifteen years ago, someone
Beer cans galore! The Lambda Chi Alpha col
lection covers one entire wall of a private room.

founded the 'Beer Can Collectors Association' (B.C.C.A.)," said Wan dryk. "It was a joke at first, but the B.C.C.A. now has several thousand serious members." Wandryk says each year they hold a "can-vention" where
collectors swap cans and tell stories.
The highlight of the event is selecting "The Best Can of the Year" along with the annual crowning of "Miss
Beer Can."
In comparison with the can, Wan dryk says beer doesn't often taste as good as the can looks. He says the dif ference is sometimes extreme, es pecially with foreign beers. Foreign brewers will sometimes change the consistency of their beer to suit Amer ican tastes. The same applies to the can itself. Wandryk describes some Dutch beer can labels, for example, as "mildly pornographic." The beer sold
within Holland often has a different
design than that which is exported. For the serious collector, there is a
growing number of brewhouses that buy and sell cans. There are also sev
eral beer can and bottle collectors'
guides which contain background in
formation and colorful illustrations.
This somewhat off-beat hobby really is a legitimate pastime.

6

.and you're
What is round, fat, delicious, has a
hole in the middle, and before the mid 1970's was rarely seen in Ithaca? The answer, of course, is the bagel, which many Cornellians grew up with but found generally unavailable upon reaching the area.
For whatever reasons, Cornell stu
dents and bagels rarely had the op portunity to mix in days past. In fact, until the Bagelry opened downtown in August of 1974, the entire Tompkins County area was without a single bagel shop. But it was not until December of 1975 that Collegetown Bagels opened up shop on College Avenue, finally giving Cornell students a chance to buy freshly baked bagels
close to campus. The man behind the drive to mix
bagels and college students is Craig Cole, a 1973 graduate of Adelphi Uni versity and a co-owner with Robert Friia of Collegetown Bagels. Cole spent about two years looking around the Northeast for a college town to open a bagel store in. He finally settled on Ithaca and more specifically Cornell,
and recent events seem to prove he
made the right choice.
"I never doubted for a moment that
a bagel shop in Collegetown could be successful," says Cole, who has been in the business practically all his life.

hungry
by Peter
Schacknow 78
Collegetown's only bagel shop. The entic ing aroma of hot bagels
is evident even before you walk in.
"Our original goal was to do a decent job and make some money. Since
we've been open, we've done a great
job and made a good deal of money." Cole, whose store currently sells
about 35,000 bagels a week, says sales
are up 35 percent from last year, a
growth rate he expects to stay con
stant. "The location sells itself. I could not
have picked a more perfect spot for
the store." Cole says many students
stop in for a quick snack on the way to class, although he emphasizes many do come out of their way to buy his bagels because of the superior product he sells. He estimates his customers are about 80 percent stu dents and about 20 percent towns people.
According to Cole, people come to his store not only for the convenience but for quality. Although all bagels are made from the same ingredients, Cole says the proportion in which they are
mixed makes a world of difference. On
the whole, he says, his bagels are "big ger, tastier, and fresher" than those anywhere else.
A striking feature of Cole's store is
the flavorful aroma that wafts its way out onto the walk in front of the store.
An accident? "No way," smiles Cole.
It turns out there is a vent which car

ries the bagel aroma outside, a factor which certainly must attract passersby who had not originally intended to stop.
Another attraction of the store is the
constant availability of hot bagels. How are they always kept hot? Cole admits
this is one of the trickier aspects of
running the store.
"You have to know how much
you'll be selling on a particular day and when the people will be coming in," says Cole. Then, he adds, it's simply a matter of making sure the time from
the oven to the customer is very short.
Bagel making itself is a mite more
complicated than it might seem at first. Initially, the dough is mixed in a large machine with a combination of ingredients, including flour, water, yeast and salt. After the mixing is done, the dough is put through another machine which shapes it into bagels. The uncooked bagels are then put into a refrigerator to retard the yeast's
action.
Once the decision is made to bake
the bagels, the required number are
boiled in water for a short time to re
activate the yeast. The bagels are
then put on small wooden boards and
into the oven so one side of the bagel can dry. After a minute or two, the baker is ready to turn over and remove the boards, leaving the bagels in for the bulk of the baking time. If the side of the bagel which eventually touches
the oven shelf is not dried first on the
boards, it will stick, making it very hard
to remove intact.
Cole says the busiest day of his week is Saturday, when there are no classes and people are generally more relaxed. Although all bagels generally sell well, the Ithaca community does have its favorites. Cinnamon-raisin
bagels attract the most buyers, while caraway and garlic bagels occupy the
other end of the scale.
According to Cole. "Any city or town with a population of at least 20,000 can support a successful bagel shop." While that dictum remains to be proven in many bagel-less towns in upstate New York, it is apparent Cole and his partner have given Ithaca bagel lovers exactly what they want.

7

An Art Collector's Dream-

AStAn ART

by Cathi Gobel 79

A Buddhist figure (left) carved from wood during the Ming Dynasty (A.D.
1368 - 1644) and a seated Buddha
from the Sung Dynasty (A.D. 9601279) are outstanding features of the
Rockwell collection.

Cornell has many assets, so many
that even after four years of study, a student cannot possibly know all of them. Many students, or alumni for
that matter, are unaware that Cornell's Johnson Art Museum holds an exten
sive Asian art collection, with Chinese objects dating back to as far as the Shang Dynasty, 1500 B.C.
Compactly housed on the Museum's fifth floor galleries and storeroom are approximately 2000 pieces, with their main concentration being Chinese
ceramics. An effort has been made to
acquire at least one example of as
many types of Chinese ceramic wares as have ever been discovered and
studied. Excellent examples of South east Asian sculpture, including the Thai Buddhist bronze, Chinese paint ings, Indian miniature paintings and Japanese wood-block prints and scroll paintings are effectively displayed throughout the collection's nine gal
leries.
The shelves lining the crowded storeroom and gallery floor are filled with numerous tomb figurines, dating back to the Tang Dynasty. According to Chinese tradition, these figurines, placed within the walls of the tomb,

accompany the deceased to the after life.
Probably no single type of porcelain
ware has been as admired as much as
the famous Ming Dynasty blue and white pieces. Impressively arrayed one after another, these pieces comprise one entire wall of the gallery.
In addition, Chinese bronzes, among the oldest objects ever discovered by Chinese archeologists, can also be found in the Museum along with ves sels and mirrors dating back to 1000
B.C.
One Asian gallery exhibits a large

number of Chinese scroll paintings
representing the Ming and Ch'ing Dy nasties. These delicately embroidered and brocade silk paintings are dis
played in three formats; handscroll, hanging and album or fan.
According to custom, the proper way to read the storytelling handscroll is not to see it all at once but, rather
to gradually unroll it from right to left which adds to the chronological devel
opment of its story. The size of the Asian collection is
remarkable considering its recent estab lishment. Martie W. Young, curator of
the collection and Professor of Art
History in the College of Arts and Sci ences, acquired the first major group of Chinese bronzes only in 1962. Young
is mainly responsible for the growth
and development of the Asian collec
tion.
According to Young's assistant curator, Emoretta Yang, "Martie is very concerned with the condition and quality of the Asian pieces and only

A lovely porcelain vase, known as a
prunus vase, has a cobalt blue under-
glaze. It dates from the Ming Dynasty.

8

This Japanese wood-block print in color of "Cleaning the House at the End of the Year" is by Ki tag awa Uta-
maro.

through his efforts is the collection what it is today."
Since the initial bronze purchases, the Asian collection has been growing systematically. "Because of the un availability of good and older art pieces,
a collection cannot come about over
a short period of time," commented Young. "Many pieces in a collection are acquired by happenstance, by gifts and donations. Occasionally a desirable piece will come into the market and based on one's judgement in knowing what is good, and of course depending on the financial resources available, the piece might be acquired," stated Professor Young.
One may rightfully be asking himself just who pays for these costly pur chases. George and Mary Rockwell, for whom the galleries have been named, played a significant role in help ing to bring so many first rate examples
of Asian art to Cornell. Former Uni
versity trustee Rockwell '13 and his wife, through their generous art dona tions and contribution to the building of the Johnson Museum, assisted in developing Cornell's existing high

quality teaching and exhibit collection. Although the Rockwell collection
comprises a major portion of the Asian holdings, other notable gifts and loans
have contributed to the collection's
development. Colonel John R. Fox of Fort Plain,
New York, donated a substantial num ber of Japanese and Korean objects. Like Rockwell, Fox was particularly interested in helping Cornell acquire a strong group of teaching materials.
Thanks to the interest and support of Dean Frasche, the collection of Southeast Asian ceramics has been
greatly improved. According to Pro fessor Young, "Frasche was able to explore many of the kiln sites producing pottery wares in the Southeast Asian countries of Thailand, Cambodia,
Vietnam and Indonesia."

Professor Young who received his doctorate from Harvard, came to
Cornell in 1959 as curator and Profes
sor of Art History. Young chose to come to Cornell knowing that he had a large task ahead of him in building up
the Asian collection with limited finan
cial resources. Young commented, "Through the acquisition of these Asian art objects, students are pro vided with a wide range of examples to study from, and on occasion are per
mitted to examine and handle the
pieces at close hand." "Cornell owes the inception of its
fine Asian art collection to the dedica ted alumnus and avid Chinese enthu siasts. Without one or the other, Ith aca and upstate New York would have been that much the poorer in its aware
ness of Asia."

Carved from granite, this standing female deity is from the South Indian Cho/a period of the 1 1th Century.

Seniors
Tell
All
by Brenda Angyal 78
Cornell-what does it mean? Far
above Cayuga's waters, give my re gards to Davy, prelims, pressures, gorges, great lacrosse and hockey
teams, rain. . . Cornell means a dif
ferent thing to every person. May will soon be here, and that
means graduation for over 800 ag col lege seniors. Right now we seniors are preoccupied with thoughts of the future--medical school, law school, grad school and jobs. Before we leave, though, maybe we should reflect on what it really means to us. By the time we come back for Homecoming, our perceptions will have changed.
Ag college seniors were asked what they thought Cornell was. Ready for the answers?
"Cornell's an intellectual country club."
"The only thing's that gotten me through four years is mocha chip ice
cream!"
"Life will be one big gut after gradu
ation."
"Cornell's like being in a trash masher!"
"Ten years of hard labor."
"It'll be good to see sunshine again." "I don't know, I don't have time to think. I have a prelim tomorrow." "A trip both good and bad."
"Dante's Inferno."
"A real ego-deflator."
"Libraries and books."
"The Hum-Eccies save the place." "Wild hockey games." "Happy hour in Collegetown." "Flunking a prelim, and wondering why they thought I was so smart in high school." "Cornell's one big frustration." "Is there life after graduation?"

"I'll remember the frat life."
"The only place you pay for the priv ilege of pulling all-nighters."
"Cornell is hell!"
"Why did I ever come here?" "All I want is an Ivy League diploma."
"Cornell is a horse race."
"Work, work, work, work. . ." "I thought the average height of males in the U.S. was 5'8". What hap
pened?" "Hills and over-developed calf mus
cles."
"Cornell State Prison."
"Cornell? I don't know. I'm just passing through on my way to bigger and bet ter things." "It's a lot better than high school." "A great big pressure cooker. I think I'm going to come out boiled." "There were never enough hours in a day here." "The dog days will soon be over." "Running in the Phi Psi 500, and being sick for two days afterwards." "Old buildings that are falling apart." "New buildings that are falling apart."
"I've spent the last four years in Mann
Library. You mean there's more to
Cornell?"
"There are a lot of great minds here." "Cornell's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to go to school here. (Why did I?)"
"Cornell to me means always doing papers the night before they're due." "Cornell changed my values a lot." "Now I know that I want to spend the
rest of my life in Arizona where it's nice and DRY!"
"I wish I had it to do all over againthere are so many things I never had
time to do."
"Little Long Island." "Cornell was like a long hangover!" "There are a lot of strange people
here."
"It's a love-hate relationship." "Playing frisbee on the arts quad."
"A stop before med school." "Bad weather."
"The greatest concentration of umbrel las in the U.S."
"Going from innocent and optimistic to sophisticated and cynical."
"The great weekends at Wells."

"Road construction.' "A lot of great scenery."
"After being a number for so long, |
don't remember what it was like to be
a person." "Friday nights in Clark Library." "Never getting enough sleep." "Dogs!" "A lot of different opinions." "A big bagel, and the hole in the mid dle is where everyone's brains are." "Disgusting light-green walls every
where."
"The great male-female ratio." "The awful male-female ratio. (Thank
God for Wells!)"
"Fraternity parties." "Five prelims in one week."
"A crash course in life."
"Learning, living, loving, leaving."
"I KNEW I should have gone to a party school!"
"Waiting. . .to enter the real world."
Cornell. Seven letters that mean so
many different things. Soon we will be alums, and that is when we will probably all agree on one thing-Cornell
was worth it!

10

Some people are lucky.
From the moment they enter college, they have a career goal in mind. Be it medicine, law, engineering or anything else, these determined individuals will do everything in their power to achieve the particular end they desire.
For what is probably the vast ma jority, however, no such clear-cut path
toward a career exists at the outset of
a student's college education. In fact, a career goal may not develop until the student is well into or even beyond the undergraduate level.
So, for the sake of those who fall
into this second category (as well as all interested readers), the following il lustrations are offered as reassurance
that the options considered in selecting a career need not necessarily be limited by the scope of a student's under
graduate experiences. A case in point is Cornell alumna
Diane Douglas, '61, who graduated from what was then called the College of Agriculture with a degree in agricul tural economics. Upon leaving school, however, Douglas realized that she was "basically a mechanic at heart," and decided to get into an occupation
which would allow her to work with
her hands.
Armed with her bachelor's degree and over a year's work experience at Connecticut General Insurance, Doug
las went to United Aircraft in the fall
of 1962 with a proposition that basic ally read: "Give me any lab job you've got and train me." She was hired and
proceeded to receive an on-the-job education in X-ray diffraction tech niques. "I did everything they told me," says Douglas. "I picked every body's brains."
Having taken advantage of the onthe-job educational opportunities af
forded her in the course of her em
ployment over the years, Douglas is
now involved in biochemical research
as a technician at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, Connecticut. And returning to
school after 16 years of work in sci
ence-related fields is not exactly high up on Douglas' agenda. "I don't ever want a Ph.D," she says. "I am happy

by David Domeshek 79
as hell mucking around in the lab." Whereas Diane Douglas has found
happiness in the laboratory after spend ing her Cornell undergraduate career in agricultural economics, W. Barlow Ware, '47, has situated himself in a public relations position with Cornell from the same undergraduate major. Coming from an old Virginia family in which "professional men" (ie. doctors and lawyers) were the rule, and the University of Virginia was "the Uni versity," Ware was somewhat of a radical in declaring his intention to go
to Cornell.
Ware says he chose agriculture "while at prep school down in Virginia" for the sole purpose of rebelling against family tradition. He never intended to
farm but rather to work for the United
States Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. He became side tracked, however, when he was hired right out of college by A&P as part of their personnel training program. In 1955, Ware returned to Ithaca to fill
the post of Assistant to the Executive Secretary of the Cornell Alumni Fund. Since then, Ware has made many alumni contacts, which have stood him
in good stead in his current position as Associate Director of University Devel
opment.

Another example of a budding young agricultural economist who got off the track is Robert D. Ladd, '43, who has had a wide variety of exper iences during the course of his 30-year
business career.
Since his father was dean of the Col
lege of Agriculture, Ladd grew up in
Ithaca in the midst of an academic en
vironment. "My basic upbringing had been among scientists, so I know how to get along with Ph.D's," says Ladd.
This experience proved invaluable for Ladd when he got involved in the "research and development game" in the mid-1950's. Having served in World War II and gotten an M.B.A. from Harvard on the G.I. Bill in Novem
ber, 1947, Ladd spent several years doing market research and administra tive work for National Dairy Products Corp. on Long Island. He then got in volved in politics, and ended up going to Washington in 1952 to help run the
office of the Vice-President. Ladd left
politics after two years, but later got
involved in government contracts for
the space agency and the defense
department in the course of running his company, Research Management
Corp., which he operated until 1974. Since then, Ladd has been working
on a poultry production package in Algeria with his new company, Haver hill International, Ltd. "I've come full
cycle," he says with regard to his turn ing back to agriculture. Ladd notes that in business, "you get on a very fast track, and you have trouble pro gramming yourself. You grab the op portunity that comes along, like elec tricity following the path of least resist
ance."
It is clear that the individuals men
tioned above did not end up in fields
they had intentionally prepared for dur ing their undergraduate college careers. But this lack of formal college training in what eventually became their re spective occupations did not deter them from pursuing nor hamper them in succeeding in their chosen fields.
And for those of us in that second group who are unsure of what we will
be doing with our lives, that certainly is
encouraging.

11

A student finds a place to study in the Temple of Zeus, In Goldwin Smith Hall, the place has statues of Greek gods and goddesses.

An occasional trickle of laughter permeates the smoky air. Everything from Greek statues to handpainted
murals covers the walls. Is it a cafe in
Europe? Definitely not. Right here on
campus students seem to collect where
the food is, and where the ambiance
rates more than two stars.
The Green Dragon in Sibley, the Al falfa Room in Warren, the Temple of Zeus in Goldwin Smith, the Commons in Anabel Taylor and the Ivy Room in the Straight provide places for people to go to eat, seek shelter, and unwind.
Patty Ramos '78 works at the Green Dragon and likes the atmosphere there. "It is more relaxed than other places," she says. "The majority of the people who come here are architects, because
it's convenient for them."
If you are looking for a place to en gage in some consciousness raising or you just want to do the crossword puz zle, there is a friendly place to do it on
campus.

The Temple of Zeus hosts poetry readings and some Greek plays. There is often live entertainment at the Com mons as well, especially on the week
ends.
The Ivy Room is more of a zoo. Larry Larson '79 frequents the Ivy Room daily. "I will continually fight the crowds to come here because the
music is good and it's a great place to just watch people."
The Alfalfa Room is the only one of the five that offers vending food exclu sively. At all the other locations, the
food is served.
"People stay for hours reading the paper. They're under no pressure to move on because somebody needs the seat. It's so relaxed," says Ramos of
the Green Dragon.
Wherever you are on campus, and
whatever mood you're in, there's a place waiting for you to enter through its doors. And you can stay as long as
you like.

J

by Carole Freedman 79

Students unwind to taped music in the Commons in Anabel Taylor
Hall.

12

This is the Green Dragon in the basement of Sibley Hall. The atmos phere is conducive to relaxation,
conversation and admiration of the
scenery.

A rare moment of quiet in the Ivy Room in Willard Straight Hall, usu ally a very crowded place.
students
The Alfalfa Room in Warren Hall, the smallest of the five places. Agri culture students congregate here for a cup of coffee, cigarette or a meal.

13

The Collection
That Finally
Got TOGETHER

by Renni Altman 79

Of the many collections on the
Cornell campus one of the most inter
esting, and probably least well known, is the Anthropological Collection housed in McGraw Hall, Room 150. The thousands of archaeological and ethnological articles assembled in the
"museum" represent ancient civiliza tions from all over the world. This mu
seum is not open to the general public,
but is maintained as a tool for students
studying ancient relics and other cul
tures.
Since its beginning in 1870 by Cor nell President Andrew D. White, the
collection has travelled from department to department until it finally reached its present home in 1971 . When White first began making provisions for dif ferent museums on campus the Depart ment of Anthropology did not exist.
The collection fell under the direction
of the Department of Paleontology and
in later years was transferred to the
Department of Sociology and Anthro pology. The two departments split in 1960 and the Department of Anthro pology maintained the collection.
Throughout its existence the col
lection has been scattered over various
parts of the campus and periodically neglected. In the late 1880's, for example, parts of the collection were
located in the Museum of Classical
Archaeology in the basement of Uris Library. The Museum was later trans ported to McGraw Hall and then to
Goldwin Smith Hall in 1906. Due to a
general lack of interest in collections
on campus, the Anthropological Col
lection was abandoned for a number
of years. When it was revived in 1939, part of the original collection was found in the basement of the Andrew D. White House, but a good deal of it was missing. The Museum of Casts in

Goldwin Smith Hall also housed arch
aeological material from the collection.
The outbreak of World War II
brought the reorganization of the collection to an abrupt halt, and, even
after the war was over, the collection
was not revived for many years be
cause of lack of interest. It was not
until the early 1960's that the remnants
of the collection that were stored in the
White Museum were reorganized and moved to McGraw Hall. After a period
of storage, consolidation and recata-
loguing, the collection was finally set
tled in Room 150 in 1971.
The first acquisitions of the collection began with those donated by President White. He bought many articles and also traded with the Peabody Museum at Harvard University. White also pre
served a collection of Peruvian pottery that was donated to Cornell in 1877
by W.W. Evans, Civil Engineer. When the collections were uncovered in 1939,
two-thirds of the Peruvian pottery was
missing. In 1882 a rather large invest ment was made in archaeology with the purchase of a collection from the
Wards Scientific Establishment in
Rochester. It was a diverse collection
containing, among many other things, American archaeological and ethno logical materials including Mississippian ceramics, and a 300-piece set of stone tools from Denmark. Only parts of this collection remain today.
A collection of pottery and relics
from the Amazonian island of Marajo was excavated by geology professor Charles F. Hartt on his expedition to
Brazil in 1865. What remains of this
collection today has been found to be
very valuable for classes because of its
large variety of forms and designs. Contributions to the Anthropological
Collection have come from various

A full dress costume of the Ndembu
Indians of Northwest Zambia. It is from
the Victor Turner collection.
parts of the University, among them the College of Agriculture and Life Sci
ences. When Professor Emeritus of
Entomology James Bradley died in 1975, he bequeathed to Cornell a large collection of objects and photographs
from the Ocaino and Huitoto Indians in
South America. They were the finds of the Cornell Entomological Expedi
tion to South America that he led in
1919. Dr. Elton Dyce, also a professor of entomology, had a collection of cer amic pieces from Costa Rica and Peru. In 1976, Mrs. Dyce donated her late husband's collection to the anthropol
ogy department. One of the most interesting collec
tions of ethnological materials was that donated by the well known anthropol ogist Victor Turner, containing articles obtained from his study of the Ndemba
tribe in Northwest Zambia. This tribe is known for its many rituals, and the costumes, masks and ornaments of the
collection give students an insight into
tribal culture and rituals.

14

Most of the collection is made up of
objects from Latin America and South America. Cornell's expedition to Hon duras last summer, led by anthropology
professor John Henderson, has added
many finds to the collection which are
currently being studied and analyzed by students in the department.
The main drawback of the collection, as noted by the curator of the museum,
graduate student Cay Loria, is that "all
the materials were not systematically collected and many things are still not catalogued. It could be used much more since there are so many things from all over the world." The depart
ment manages to make use of the col
lection in various classes. One class, "Analysis and Care of Artifacts," does work on the collection and maintains
a display case in the anthropology de partment. A course in "Archaeological
Ceramics" also uses the collection for
learning how to copy ceramic objects. Recent expeditions sponsored by
Cornell, such as the one in Honduras, keep the collection growing. "The
Collection relies on donations and be
quests from faculty and other members of the community," explains Thomas Lynch, Professor of Anthropology. It is hoped that the collection will one day be open to the public, but first it must all be catalogued and a perma nent curator appointed. The Anthro pological Collection is a valuable asset to the department as a practical means
for students to learn about different
forms of pottery and about ancient cultures. If it can one day be opened to the public it will be a learning ex perience for everyone.
Some articles from South America
donated by Prof. James Bradley. Shown are ceramic statues, shell and tooth neck/aces, sandals and a musical instrument.
George Stilphen, '80 a student in "Archaeological Ceramics, " measures
a piece from the collection to learn how to copy pottery.
These agricultural and fishing im plements are samples of the collec tions that are studied in anthropology classes. Stone tools from Denmark are
included in the group at right.

15

There are two familiar lines that stu
dents hear these days from parents and past Cornellians: "These are the best
years of your lives" and "Life will
never again be like it was in the good old days." Contradictory as these two lines sound, they aptly express mixed feelings about life at Cornell in
both the past and the present. In the "good old days," Cornell Uni
versity was characterized not only by its superior academic qualities, but also by its amazing student spirit. Pep ral lies, freshman cap burnings, junior jamborees, spring days and countless balls were faithfully recorded in old scrapbooks and yearbooks. Yet, Cor nell's past was characterized by another memory that is not so pleasant: that of numerous rules and regulations covering everything from social duties
to academic necessities.
From the moment the unsuspecting
freshman passed through "Andy's
Chocolate Cake" (now known as the
Eddy Street gate) into this liberal insti tution of his dreams, he was bombard
ed with threats to his individuality and freedom. According to the 1943 Deskbook, the freshman's requirements
were to: wear his freshman beanie
every day except Sunday, not sport any preparatory school pins, not smoke
on campus, not enter the Dutch Kitch
en (a popular bar), not wear his class
numerals until he earned them and
never walk on the grass on campus.
Cornell women were kept under strict observance at all times, sub
ject to rules enforced by the Women's
Self-Government Association. Their
objective was to "maintain a high
standard of conduct and decorum."
Some of their regulations which still prevailed in the 60's included signing in and out of dormitories and having
curfews.
Academic requirements in the past
set strict limitations on the students'
majors and the types of courses they
could take. A freshman enrolled in the
ag college in 1885 was expected to take French or German, rhetoric, ge ometry, freehand drawing, military drill and six lectures on hygiene. Applied agriculture, agricultural chemistry, economic entomology, horticulture and

These are
the
Good Old
Days
by
Judy Redel '78
veterinary science were the only majors
offered at this time.
Health was another particular head ache on the campus. Yearly health recommendations given to all entering
freshmen were like these from the 1938 Deskbook: a balance between
mental and physical activity, eight hours of sleep nightly, two afternoons of sports a week, a balanced diet, a thorough evacuation of the bowels once a day, attention to posture, op timum illumination and ventilation, an
annual medical exam and avoidance of
depression. In the 1943 Deskbook, a tenth suggestion was added: "Avoid excesses in all the physical appetites."
Other woes were added to these
over the years. Fears of epidemics, ex pulsions, more stringent rules, dorm fires and loss of privileges were prev
alent in the minds of past classes. The
1885 Cornell Register noted that every student had to submit to the Faculty a satisfactory oration, poem or essay in order to graduate. Before 1925, stu dents had to pay fines for skipping classes directly before and after holi days. The most excitement allowed to women until the 40's was attending the annual Spinster's Hop. In 1946, the Thanksgiving break was cancelled after a West Campus dormitory fire
caused classes to start that fall one month late.
Throughout all these and other traumas, however, Cornell students re
tained their sense of humor and learned

to revel in their infrequent freedoms. Many occurrences and customs that seem silly to us now were important to
them: rivalries between lower and up
perclassmen; intense solidarity between
students not in fraternities promoted
by the CIA (Cornell Independent Asso ciation); great emphasis on all areas of sports through rallies and extrava gant displays; and celebrations like
"pinning." When you think about it, though,
we have as many strange ways and woes today at Cornell as students have
had throughout the years. We still feel alienated as freshmen, have loads of
prerequisites and requirements to con tend with, are stifled by time and course limitations and are seeking bet ter means for self-government.
Ironically, some of our current inan ities parallel those of yesteryear: rival ries between the University Halls and Sperry, blase attitudes toward "jocks" and the continuing of traditional cus
toms in the fraternities and sororities.
Also, though, as times have changed
new traditions and activities have come
into existence. We've still got big-name concerts, famous professors, new de partments and ideas and yearly tuition increases. However, recently the "Pro
test Student Activism" movement, the
Phi Psi 500, the Risley Fair, University Unions activities, the controversy over the Cornell Writing Program, the hous ing shortage, Louie's Truck and the Gay People's Movement have come into play. These may all sound pretty strange when we describe them to our descendants some day.
Albert Smith, Cornell Class of 1878, summed up Cornell's past and present in a stanza of his poem "The End of
the Morning Session":
Freshman and Soph
Fellow and Prof
A sorrow or joy in the heart of each one: Lowly and proud Mix with the crowd;
Comedy, tragedy, under the sun.
Cultures, lives, courses, politics, cus toms and feelings are all mixed at Cor nell, whether considered in the light
of 1878 or 1978. But who says that
these aren't the good old days?

16

A Cornell student volunteer reads to a group of children at
the Cornell Nursery School.

Who needs a SALARY?

by Luci Merin 78

With prelims and papers always
looming in the background, many stu dents have trouble just fitting meals into their schedules. Yet each week,
hundreds of Cornell students volunteer
their time in response to the Cornell
and Ithaca communities' needs.
Through CIVITAS (Cornell Ithaca Volunteers in Training and Service), the Voluntary Action Center, and in
dividual interests and discoveries,
Cornell students have been placed in
volunteer positions that range from door-to-door canvassing, tutoring for
eign students in the Ithaca schools, and caring for children in Day Care
centers, to sharing a skill with an ap prentice, sharing a friendship with a child, peer or adult in the community,
and much more.
Cornell volunteers Susan Maze, '80, and Sydney Slater, grad, representing the Black Student Coalition have spent almost 30 hours per week for the last two months planning programs at the Southside Community Center in Ithaca, and have enlisted other student volun
teers to staff the programs. "I've volunteered my time for this
project because I feel I've been fortu
nate to be able to go to school, and I want to give back to others some of what I've been getting," Slater ex plained. Maze added, "My volunteer work is a vehicle to heighten people's
ability to critically analyze the situation
m this country, under the present sys
tem, through cultural awareness."
Some students take on volunteer Positions that require a great deal of professional training.
EARS (Empathy Assistance Referral
Service), a volunteer, student-run peer
counseling service on the Cornell

campus, requires at least a full semes ter of training before a volunteer can do any counseling. Norman Graber, 78, has been an EARS counselor for
two semesters, and has helped train
other student counselors. He said that
it is especially important that students volunteer to help other students, be
cause a student counselor is very like
ly to be in touch with the feelings a student will come in with, whereas a
paid professional may not.
Another service in Ithaca that relies
heavily on well-trained volunteers is Planned Parenthood of Tompkins County. Following a six week training program, Lois Botto, '79, began her
volunteer work as an interviewer at
Planned Parenthood. She said she vol
unteers her time because, "I see a def inite need in the community for in formed contraceptive care at a price everyone can afford, and what I do is give a lot of information to the women
who come into the clinic."
Many volunteer programs involve volunteers in being enthusiastic com panions for other persons in the com
munity. The Big Brother and Big Sister
program sponsored by the Ithaca Youth Bureau is staffed by many student vol unteers who spend time with a child in the community who is in need of companionship. One student Big Sis ter said that she was glad she could
take an interest in her Little Sister
when she did, because no one else
was able to.
Sheila Mapes, 78, visits the senior citizens living at the Ithacare facility. "It's a real ego-booster to feel as
wanted as I feel when I volunteer my
time at Ithacare," Mapes said. "Even

if I'm feeling really down before I go there, by the time I leave, I'm feeling really good," she added.
Like other student volunteers, Mapes has found that her volunteer work has been a priceless opportunity to explore possible career interests. She explained that once she started
working with the people at Ithacare, she realized that prelims and papers
were not the whole world. "I've gotten
close to some of these people, and I want to try and understand how they feel about being taken out of their homes, selling their things, and living in this dormitory, so that I can help younger people prepare for what it can
mean to grow old," Mapes explained. The Cornell Nursery School in Mar
tha Van Rensselaer Hall serves as a
place for students interested in a car eer with children to explore that interest and gain practical experience. Elena Rodriguez, 79, was an intern at the
nursery school last semester, and re ceived 12 hours credit for her work.
Continuing to spend time with the children as a volunteer, Rodriguez said,
"These kids are my friends now, and
at this point I need to see them as much as they ever needed to see me as a teacher. I'm continuing the rela tionships that I'd built up with the kids
when I was here as one of their
teachers, and that's good for all of us,"
she added.
Karen Silverstein, 79, who has been a volunteer counselor, tutor, and
Big Sister, summed up the importance
of volunteer workers best: "Volunteers
do jobs that might not be done other wise, and their little extra concern and
little extra attention can make a lot of
difference to a person or a program."

17

COSTUMES
Not for dress up

by Joline Miceli 78

Contrary to popular belief, Hallo
ween costumes are not the only cos
tumes around. The Cornell Costume
Collection contains over 3000 articles
of clothing and accessory items which
are used for educational purposes. The
Collection is used by the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis in the College of Human Ecology and
is located in Martha Van Rensselaer
Hall.
The Costume Collection was orig
inally founded to be, and still is, an
educational resource. Its sole purpose
is to serve as a study for those students in design and costume history classes. Consequently, the Collection is not open to the public.
The Collection is stored in boxes in
three separate rooms in Martha Van
Rensselaer Hall. Only those students in the specified design classes are per
mitted to use the Collection. Even these
students must be supervised by Chris tine Yackel, lecturer in the depart ment and acting curator of the Col lection or by her teaching assistant, Sally Richner.
There are several reasons why the Collection is not on permanent display. Mainly, proper facilities for display are not available. "Not only would a full
time curator be necessary but a con
servator for damaged clothing would also be needed," Yackel explains.
"There are too many items in the Col
lection to maintain a permanent display.
For this reason, and to prevent deter ioration of the garments any permanent
display would have to be on a rotation basis," Yackel continued to say. Both the lighting in the display cases and the "gravity pulling on the garments on mannequins would damage articles on
permanent display." Consequently,
box storage is the best way to pre-

serve the garments in this collection,"
comments Yackel.
The items in the Collection have
been acquired during the past fifty years from a variety of sources. Beuhlah Blackmore, Professor Emerita and founder of the collection, donated fine apparel and textile items which she collected during a trip around the
world. These were the start of cos
tumes and accessories from other cul
tures, a division of the collection.

This dress is from the 1890's. It is a part of the "Lautrec a la Mode" Exhibit in the costume collection.

The "East Meets West" exhibit shows an American gown of the 1890's on
the left, contrasting it with a Japanese bridal kimono on the right.

18

Miss Blackmore was also very influ ential in inspiring others to donate clo thing and accessories valued for both their beauty and historical significance. However, most of the items in the collection are donated by people who wish to "preserve their family heir looms" and "make them available as an educational resource."
There are four major categories within the collection. These divisions include: American costumes and ac cessories; costumes and accessories from other cultures; textiles; and doll's
costumes. The bulk of the American Costume
division consists of women's apparel and children's clothing. The oldest costume in this section is an eighteenth century gown which was brought to America from India. Following this, in chronological order, are two silk dresses
from the 1830's and from then on there
are women's dresses which represent

each decade.
Within the group are wardrobes which should be studied as individual
entities. The second inaugural gown worn by Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt and a formal gown worn by Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower to a dinner hosted by Winston Churchill are in
cluded in this section too.
The gowns worn by several Cornell University women are housed in this collection. Especially significant are the gowns worn by Mrs. Andrew Dickson White to court functions given by the Russian Czar, Alexander III. These
gowns were originally worn during the
years 1892-94 when Andrew Dickson White was American Ambassador to
Russia.
In the second category, costumes and accessories from other cultures
are represented. These include cos tumes worn by American Indians and people representing forty different

These dresses are examples of the historical aspect of the collection, dating from the 1880's. They were shown in the Christmas exhibit of 1977.

countries. Such things as shoes, shirts, trousers, ponchos, cloaks and head
gear are included in this group. All gar
ments are classified according to coun try of origin and type of item. This
classification is a successful means of
comparison between the various items. For example, certain articles such as trousers can be studied cross culturally, or as they appear in different periods or cultures.
Textiles, the third division of the
collection, contains many historic fabrics. The physical properties can be studied, which enables the student to
observe the materials that have been
through much wear and storage. A collection of books on laces supple
ments a small collection of laces too.
The doll collection, the last of the four categories in study, serves as a way of showing costumes in miniature.
The section includes dolls from historic
periods as well as dolls from other countries. Particularly interesting is a doll made by the French doll maker,
M. Jumeau. The doll is clothed in an
outfit that shows high fashion of the
time.

Each particular month a particular
costume is displayed in a showcase on
the second floor of Martha Van Rens
selaer Hall. During March the display
was entitled "Dickens." It contained
clothing and accessories from the per iod of Charles Dickens. The April
display is "Arsenic and Old Lace" and according to Yackel, the display in May will be "Life is a Cabaret." Yackel re
grets that more of the collection can not be displayed and hopes that people will take advantage of viewing the
present display case. An exhibit of examples from the
costume collection has been set up by Richner. This exhibit, which is open
to the public, is located throughout Uris Library. Nineteenth century clo
thing is currently on display. The Cornell Costume Collection is
'quite comprehensive. It contains articles
of historic and aesthetic value some
of which date back to the eighteenth century. Also included in this unique
educational resource are a variety of clothing articles and accessories which
originated from different places throughout the world.

19

A colorful sense of the past joins
with the present at Andrew Dickson White's Victorian mansion on East Avenue. Period furnishings, many be
longing to White's family, were
searched out and now grace the first floor rooms, while the other floors house Cornell's Society for the Human ities. The carefully carved walls and moldings and intricately decorated pieces make one remember the times when handwork was treasured. The
house itself, once surrounded by elms, overlooks Cornell's Arts quad and Cay
uga Lake. It is a fine example of English
Victorian architecture.
Cornell's co-founder and first pres
ident, Andrew D. White, announced in
1871 that he would build a house for
himself and future presidents for $50,000. William Henry Miller, one of
Cornell's first architecture graduates,
designed the mansion. Miller later de signed Barnes Hall, Uris Library, and Risley Hall. The house took over two years to build; after much trouble with
the heating system, the White family finally moved into their new home in

felt he needed professional help so he hired Jay Cantor, '64, a History of Art graduate as an antiques consultant. A
"Friends of the Andrew D. White
House" society was created by Prof. Guerlac to get contributions from interested Cornellians. "The adminis tration was skeptical," he said, "but we managed to raise a good sum of
money." Many of the furnishings now in the
mansion came from the estate of
White's last surviving daughter, Karin,
who died in 1971 . Other pieces were
hunted down, donated, or found gath
ering dust in various basements.
Workers tried to fill the house with

others who worked with me on the restoration. I never thought I'd ever do something like this," Guerlac ex claimed. "I had a lot of fun!"
Many interesting stories can be told about the pieces that now adorn the rooms of the White mansion. Mrs.
Mary White's rosewood Chickering
The CORNELL
by Jo L. Schaffel 78

1874.

Only two other presidents lived in
the mansion after White's death in

1918, although guests were enter
tained there. The house was made into

an art museum in 1953 after President

Malott chose not to live there.

When the new Johnson Art Museum
was begun (it opened in 1972) there
was much debate over the fate of

A turn-of-the-century view of President White's Victorian mansion. (R.i White's dining room as seen from the plant conservatory.

Andrew D. White's house. Should it
be preserved or demolished? Strong protest to this last option came from some students, staff, alumni and ad ministration. Professor Henry Guerlac, '32, History of Science, led the fight to house the newly-formed Society for
the Humanities in the historic house.
The group finally persuaded the Cor nell administration to let the Society
use and restore White's house.
Professor Guerlac served as Director
of the Society from 1970-1977, and supervised the renovation details. He

period furnishings that had some Cor nell connections if they couldn't find White's personal belongings.
In recognition of Professor Guerlac's extensive work on the restoration, the first floor living room of the White house, originally the library, was named in his honor on February 28,
1978. He remains very modest about
this, and emphasizes that it was cer tainly not a ". . .one-man job. . .A lot of the credit should be given to my wife and Jay Cantor, as well as the many

piano, now in the music room, wa used as a bar by the architecture stu
dents in their house in Collegetowr:
The piano was only recently returne : to the White house and is being re stored through the kindness of Mrs Andrew S. White, widow of Andrew
D. White's nephew. The living room contains an intr..
cately carved revolving bookcase niac in Germany and brought back durm. his travels. Famous author's names a •,
carved in large letters on it. ■ -ar

igfellow's is misspelled as 'Lang-
ow'. ^ low green velvet couch was donaby Professor Morris Bishop, author "A History of Cornell", because it
ninded him of the naps he was ced to take on it as a child. Very nful naps, apparently, because the

lac, "is the Eastman Johnson por
trait of A.D. White." This was found
hanging in a Cornell Archives office and now is over the mahogany mantlepiece. This mantlepiece was purchased in Santo Domingo in 1877, and on it hang small brass plates commemor ating distinguished visitors to the house. Some of them were Ulysses S. Grant, James Garfield and, later, Dwight D. Eisenhower.

And a surprise was found in the President's Chair ordered by White in 1868. In the 1920's, the Cornell medal
lion in the back of the Chair came loose
during a Board of Trustees meeting. When work began to replace the medallion, a workman found a slip of paper wrapped in foil inside a small
hole drilled in the back. A German
message, dated September 24, 1868,
was written on it. This was translated

Several beautiful Victorian pieces were recently given to the White house by Miss Luella Williams, '16. These

by Professor George Lincoln Burr as, "Go out into all the world and testify to what is born, even in prison walls, from

pieces were originally owned by the strength, from patience, and from

stonecarver Robert Richardson, who living toil. The United Workmen."

did the carvings on the White man-

Professor Guerlac related a story

about the Ithaca Calendar clock that

sits on the mantlepiece. While trying

to find such a clock, he got a call from a man who was willing to donate his. So Guerlac flew to New York City and

picked up the clock in its box. When he arrived at the airport, he found out

since he didn't want to put the delicate clock in with the luggage, he would have to pay for a half-price ticket in order to carry the clock on the plane with him. "So, somewhere in the ac count records of the 'Friends of the

A.D. White house'," laughed Guerlac, "sits an Allegheny ticket stub made

out to Mr. Clock!"

Himself a humanist, Andrew Dick

D. White in his crowded library about 1885. (RJ: A more recent photo. ie revolving bookcase is to the right of White's favorite chair.

son White would no doubt be pleased
that his Victorian mansion now houses
Cornell's Society for the Humanities.
The first floor rooms are used for in

■uch was originally made of horse•ir! Even though it had been redone, '.:3hop still didn't relish the memory of
; ^ couch.
portraits of Andrew D. White's
^ents, Clara Dickson and Horace
;,;hite, hang on the far wall. Clara's
■"trait had been hanging for a few
f;lrs in the dorm that bears her name,
f it was taken down and moved to a p.4ement, where both paintings were
J..jr found.
(,f Areal prize," said Professor Guer-

sion, as well as those on Sage Hall. Noted author and Cornellian E.B.
White donated an engraving done by his grandfather, the well-known artist
William Hart.
Often a restoration project can take on the air of a mystery story. A puzzle still tantalizes the people using the
house. In the plant conservatory, a
beautiful wooden and brass chest sits.
. .locked. "We can't open it and it's
just killing us!" someone there ex
claimed.

formal seminars, receptions, small concerts and lectures. The north wing,
formerly the servants' quarters, has been converted into a guest suite for
the Andrew D. White Professors-at-
large and other visitors of the Society. In 1974 the Department of the Interior named the house an historic place.
The restored first floor of Andrew D. White's villa reminds us of Cornell's
colorful past. The furnishings take us back to a less-hurried era, when a per son's home often reflected his or her
outlook on life.

#T^

PARSLEY, SAGE ROSEMARY and
WORMWOOD

Pepperroot Dentaria diphylla

by Polly Wilson 79

Chicory Cichorium intybus

With spring planting time here,
many green thumbers are looking for something unusual and interesting to add to their gardens. The Robison
York State Herb Garden at the Cornell
Plantations offers the creative gardener a variety of ideas and plenty of in
spiration. The garden was completed in 1973
in response to a growing interest in herbs. It displays a comprehensive collection of herbs for all to enjoy or use as a living reference for study and research. In the July 1976 issue of
Ground Maintenance the collection
was described as "probably the most complete, beautifully designed, mod ern herb garden in the country. . .".
The herb garden offers beginning and experienced gardeners a variety of interesting ideas to incorporate into their home gardens. Each bed of plants is arranged according to herb use. Every herb is labeled at some location in the garden and color-coded to help observers identify each plant by its use or association. Many herbs are re peated in several beds and groupings, showing a variety of uses.
The use of herbs as food or fla
vorings is probably the first to come to mind and the garden displays a great
many of these. A section of one of the
raised beds in the center of the garden is devoted entirely to savory seed herbs. When harvested, the seeds from
these herbs can be added to many
dishes providing a special touch with
their subtle flavors. Another section
displays many species of culinary herbs. The leaves of these plants, such as sage, tarragon, thyme, savory and basil, are preserved by drying, freez ing, or adding to vinegar and offer a fresh flavor to a variety of recipes year
round. Several salad herbs are also
grown in the herb garden. Salad bur-
net, sweet cicely and lovage are just a

few of the unusual species on display which make interesting and tasty
additions to summer salads. The Plantations has literature con
cerning the cultivation, preservation
and uses of these herbs available to
interested garden visitors. Gourmet gardeners will be delighted to see the many herbs they can cultivate in their own gardens for year round use in the
kitchen.
Organic gardeners may be interested in herbs as companion plants to grow alongside common vegetable varieties. As companion plants, herbs act as natural insect repellants and help to increase growth and development of neighboring plants.
Plants which can be used to make herbal teas fill another section of the
four main beds in the center of the
garden. Old favorites like chamomile, lemon verbena and mint, among
others, are exhibited. Several teas were historically used
for medicinal purposes. This is the
subject of another grouping of herbs. Part of the garden is devoted to herbs which the Indians and early settlers re lied on as remedies for a long list of complaints. Herbs of current medical interest are also on display.
A green thumb is not required to enjoy and learn from the hundreds of herbs thriving in the Robison York State Herb Garden. Surrounding the
Gold Thread
Coptis trifolia

center court of native stone where a
regional millstone is encircled with thymes, are benches where visitors may sit and enjoy the peaceful colors and pleasant fragrances. Others may stroll through the area noting each
individual plant by its label.
Herbs have a long history of im
portance to many cultures and are
significant in mythology, folklore and literature. The legends and history
connected with many of the plants had
beginnings before the birth of Christ, Herbs important in literature are the subject of an arrangement of herbs in the garden. Another arrangement ex hibits sacred herbs. Some, such as
hyssop, are ancient. The hyssop in this garden was grown from seeds that
came from the USSR.
Those interested in natural fibers
and dyes will enjoy the collection of dye plants displayed within the garden walls. Some of the species native to the Northeast were first used by the
Indians. Others were brought to Amer ica by the colonists and early immi
grants to add color to their homespun
garments. It is surprising to learn plants
as common as bachelor's buttons and
lily-of-the-valley were once valued for their coloring properties as dyes.
Where an elementary school play ground once stood, the Robison York State Herb Garden now provides a playground for the senses. The unique
collection of herbs offers color and
beauty for all to see, delicate fragrances
to scent the air and natural flavors for us to taste. As a living museum, the
garden links us to the past through the uses of plants and provides a valuable learning experience. The garden is open at all times for visitors to enjoy as a peaceful retreat. Guided tours are avail able on request on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the Cornell Planta'
tions office hours.

22

COUNTRYMAN CAPSULES

The Cat's Best Friend
Dr. Louis J. Camuti, '16, a Veteri narian for the last 58 years, is a leading authority on the cat and has limited his
practice to house cats. The popularity
of his book. Park Ave. Pet, led to 21 radio and television appearances. Camuti's column in the prestigious
magazine for veterinarians, Feline
Practice is a favorite among that mag azine's readers. Currently, he is at work on his second book describing his adventures among cats and people
they own.
A Most Unusual Gift
Dr. A.E. Alexander, '29, an inter national authority on gems gave scien tist Dr. Charles Paul Alexander, '13, PhD '18, a most unusual gift called a Kovsh for his 60th Wedding Anniver sary. The sterling silver Kovsh is unique in that its detailed inscriptions date back to 1875. Originally, Russian noblemen sipped wine from this bowl during the days of the Czar.
This Kovsh has had an interesting history of ownership. It was owned by a Russian nobleman, Herbert Hoover
and General Leslie Kincaid who in turn
gave it to Dr. A.E. Alexander.
Currently, he is an officer of the
class of '29 and for several years has written the '29 column for the Cornell
Alumni News.
New Chairman for
Agricultural Engineering
Norman R. Scott, has been ap pointed for a five year term as Chair
man of the Department of Agricultural
Engineering effective February 1, 1978.
A specialist in bio-engineering, Scott is conducting research to learn how chickens regulate their body tempera ture in response to changing environ
mental factors. This is in an effort to
improve poultry management under
commercial conditions. This research
received national recognition in 1971 when Scott received a paper award • from the American Society of Agricul tural Engineers (ASAE). Scott has also

received the outstanding Faculty Award
of the student branch of the ASAE at
Cornell.
Scott is using electrical probes in studying techniques to detect the on
set of estrus in cattle. He has been
leader of several other projects in cluding earth-air heat exchange, mechanics of milking, environmental systems for livestock housing and solar heating and cooling of greenhouses
and residences. Scott is author of more

elsewhere in dairy cattle breeding, genetics and reproduction. He also has made significant contributions to the effort that resulted in the building of the College's Animal Science Teaching
and Research Center at Harford.
Erton Sipher has been a director and president of the St. Lawrence County Dairy Herd Improvement As sociation and his expertise brought him the chairmanship of the Dairy Herd

than 40 technical journal articles and
papers.
Scott recently spent his sabbatical
leave at the National Institute for Re

Improvement Committee on the Board
of Directors of the National Association
of Animal Breeders. He is now presi
dent of the Eastern Artificial Insemina

search in Dairying at Reading, England, tion Cooperative and has been a
where he studied the fundamental as director since 1957.

pects of milking the dairy cow and vis ited more than a dozen leading sci entific laboratories in European coun
tries. Scott teaches courses in environ
mental control of animals and plants, design of agricultural structures and
instrumentation.

Donald Bay is a manager of the Genesee Valley Cooperatives, Inc., a dairy cooperative serving the Rochester area. Under his leadership, the cooper ative has been strengthened finan cially.
He has been active in a number of

Three Honored for Work

farm organizations especially in 4-H

in N.Y. Dairy Industry

work in the Ontario County Cooperative
Extension Service.

Norman W. Allen, '46, Erton W.

Sipher and Donald M. Bay, '55, were honored by Cornell University's De partment of Animal Science for their outstanding contributions to the New York Dairy Industry and to programs of the Department of Animal Science. Both Sipher and Bay have been mem bers of the Advisory Council of the College of Agriculture and Life Sci
ences. This is the third year two
farmers and one person from agibusiness have been singled out by the Department of Animal Science for recognition at their Annual Dairy Day when farmers join with college faculty to learn about dairy research and management techniques.
Norman Allen's contributions to
the dairy industry have centered around his strong support and belief in coop eratives. As president of the Board of
Directors of the Eastern Artificial In
semination Cooperative, he stimulated research efforts at the College and

Professor Elected to
Committee of Highway
Experts
Professor Lynne H. Irwin, high way research engineer at the New York State College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences has been elected a member
of a national committee of highway ex
perts to help develop rural transporta tion in developing nations.
The project sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development is aimed at providing developing nations
with technical information on the
planning, design, construction and
maintenance of low volume roads.
Professor Irwin has been a faculty member of the Department of Agricul tural Engineering since 1973. In coop eration with other College scientists,
he has developed and taught a course in "Transportation Policies for De veloping Nations".

23

!\ltiotivfbr a Creative Future

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Fund

It Makes $en$e
"|t works like an umbrella fund," explains Brad Carruth, Assistant to the Dean in charge of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Fund. The Fund has two main purposes: to provide undergraduate students with scholarships and to furnish grants for
innovative teaching techniques. Over the past ten years, ag college tuition has risen drastically; from $675 for New
York State residents in 1967-68 to $2,025 for 1978-79. As tuition goes up, it becomes more and more difficult for students to meet the costs of going to college. To cope with their financial difficulties, ag students are now taking out approximately $750,000 per year in loans to pay for their college educations.
Ag students in need of financial aid have three alternatives open to them. Most stu dents that receive financial aid participate in a self-help work study program. In addition, if necessary, a student can take out a loan to aid in his tuition payment. Finally, the stu dent may apply for a scholarship. CALSF scholarships are granted and reviewed yearly. But to continue helping ag students, the CALSF needs money- money to help qualified students meet their rising tuition bills.
According to Mr. Carruth, "an overriding concern of the Fund is to improve the qual ity of instruction through the use of new technology in new teaching methods." The technological goal of CALSF is not to replace the human element in instruction, but to augment it with new educational techniques such as audiotutorial and audiovisual sys
tems.
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Fund needs money to continue its sup port of both teachers and students. It needs money to implement new and experimental teaching methods and money to help ease the pressing financial burden facing today's student. But CALSF can't do it alone; it needs your backing and assistance. You can help by supporting the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Fund now!
by Debbie Moses 79

Cj New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of the State University, at Cornell Univel

&m^^fSk

*■% »

'%-

GAMES CORNELLIANS

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN
MAY 1978 VOLUME LXXV - Number 7

EDITORS:
Cathi Gobel Joline Miceli Judy Redel

ABOUT THE ISSUE Many people regard sports activities as the only type of game college students participate in. The "Cornell game" shown on the cover, with our apologies to Parker Brothers, proves this theory
untrue. Several of the articles in this
issue of the Countryman are devoted to various types of games presently
played at Cornell.

ASSISTANT EDITORS:
Stacey Cahn
Luci Merin
Lynn Shannon
Jane Winslow

ART EDITORS:
Renni Altman
Brenda Angyal Chris Bingham
Peter Schacknow

CONTENTS 3. Where Else Would You Study Tropical Agriculture? by Luci Merin 78

4. Games for Grades by Debbie Slotnick 78

6. A Saloon for a Ghost by Polly Wilson 79

7. Cornell's Pet Rocks by Robin Feiner 78

8. Miller Left His Mark by Renni Altman 79

EDITORIAL STAFF: David Domeshek, Robin Feiner, Carole Freedman, Lynn Levidy, Pat Lyons, Debbie Moses, Jo Schaffel, Debbie
Slotnick.

10. Armchair Generals and Cardboard Wars by Pat Lyons 79
1 1 . ROTC: Games With a Real Objective by Jane winslow 78 12. Summer. . .Places and Spaces by Luci Merin 78 14. Computer For the Clouds by David Domeshek 79
15. Sometimes Answers Do Grow on Trees by Lynn Shannon 78

PHOTO EDITOR: Polly Wilson

16. Greek Parties Are the Best by Cathi Gobel 79 18. Creative Curriculum by Joline Miceli 78

Picture Credits: Cover - Media Ser
vices and Pat Lyons; p. 3 - Peter Ewell; p. 4 - Lucy Merin; p. 5, 19 - Polly Wil son; p. 6 - Bonnie Brashear; p. 7 Thomas Trencansky; p. 8-9, 12-13, 20-21 - Cornell Archives; p. 10, 22 Carole Freedman; p. 1 1 - Donald Cranz; p. 12-13 - Visual Services, Russ Hamilton, Sol Goldberg; p. 15 - Caroline Miller; p. 16 - IFC; p. 17 - American Distilling Co.; p. 18 - Susan Andrews; p. 23 - Jane Winslow; Back Cover -
John Parlato.

19. Put on Your Dancing Shoes! by Judy Redel 78
20. When Cayuga's Boats Had Boilers by Jo Schaffel 78
22. Who's Behind the Games? by Carole Freedman 79
The Cornell Countryman is published seven times a year from October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription Rates: $2.50 a year;
$4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content gathered and
written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors: Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

Where Else Would You Study
Tropical Agriculture?

by Luci Merin 78

A lot of courses include field trips,
but you won't see too many listed that
go to Mexico for two weeks. In fact, "Special Studies of Agriculture in the Tropics," (International Agriculture 602) is the only one you'll see. As an impor tant part of this course, approximately 30 students and six professors travel
to the Villahermosa area in Mexico
during January to visit and study the local agricultural areas and practices.
During the trip, students see farm ing of several different crops, including coconut, papaya, maize, beans and
coffee, and talk to farmers about their
techniques. Included on the itinerary are visits to many areas of interest,
several special agricultural projects, and presentations on tropical agriculture at agricultural colleges in Mexico City
and Villahermosa.
Over 60 students apply to the course each fall, but only 34 can be accepted. Prof. H. David Thurston, chairman of the course's faculty committee, stressed
that a student must have a sincere in
terest in international agriculture to be accepted into the course. He noted, "Interest is usually seen in a career commitment to international agriculture,
or some demonstrated interest such
as minoring in international agriculture, in international travel experience, or
enrollment in related courses."
Once accepted into the course, students are assigned to six multidisci-
plinary groups, each of which studies one particular aspect of tropical agri culture in depth. During the Spring semester following the trip to Mexico
the groups prepare term papers to share with the rest of the class in a
weekly class meeting. International Agriculture 602 is organ-
lzed as an interdisciplinary study. Students who have enrolled in the

course have come from many different
disciplines within the college, and the course is administered by professors in six different areas of specialization. This year, professors in agricultural economics, plant breeding, agronomy, animal science, plant pathology and rural sociology were responsible for the course of study. In addition to these disciplines, students have represented such areas as extension education, nu trition, entomology, vegetable crops, comparative politics and communication arts. "This multidisciplinary makeup
of the course is valuable for the stu
dents' exposure to and exchange with students and professors in other dis ciplines which are related to their own," according to Prof. Thurston.
Among the other advantages Thurs
ton noted about the course format was
that the students got to know each other very well during the field trip, which created an atmosphere of high morale within the learning group. Sarah Langrish, grad, a student in this se mester's class, agreed with Prof. Thurs ton about the students' morale, adding, "The field trip gave the students an opportunity to get to know the pro

fessors better, and in a different en
vironment."
Other students in the class highly recommend "Special Studies of Prob lems of Agriculture in the Tropics" as a valuable learning experience. Glenn Caslick '78 is enrolled in the class, and said that during the field trip to Mexico
he was able to find out what the area
and people were really like. "You hear that people are poor and have nothing, but when you go there and really see it, it means a lot more to you," he said. After this experience, Caslick said he feels surer about join ing the Peace Corps after graduation.
One of the difficulties in conducting a course with a two week trip to Mex ico is the cost of such a trip. The Uni versity cannot afford to absorb the cost, so each year funding is obtained from grants and private gifts. The stu dents pay for their own food, lodging and personal expenses, while all travel costs are covered by the funding.
Prof. Thurston stressed that the
trip is not a vacation, but that for many students it is an opportunity to see an area, a people and a way of life that they have only studied in books.

Students and professors visit farmers near Pueblo, Mexico during a January, 1978 field study period.

GAMES
FOR
GRADES

by Debbie Slotnick 78

"You have just found out you were elected mayor in a city-wide election!
Newspaper editors and pressure groups
swarm into your office. What is your
first move?"
"Wheat just dropped 30 points in
the futures market and you lost
$20,000. . ."
Sit back and reflect on these scenes
that occur in two college classes. Most classes at Cornell University are
either lectures or seminars. Some have
shared characteristics of both. But, a relatively new and innovative
teaching method uses simulated labs. These labs are a new educational
tool which challenge students in rea listic situations. Through role-playing and decision-making experiences, stu dents are given direct control when placed in positions of authority. This is especially true in two courses offered

urban affairs lab, he is given more
direct control and receives a wider
variety of breadth and experience," explains Douglas E. Van Houweling, Government 312 professor. In this way, the lab can give the student invaluable experience in a particular field of urban
affairs. Students can get so involved in their
specific roles that they can experience personality conflicts with friends and
even miss some aspects of the course
as a whole. Yet, in a course designed
like the urban affairs lab, the positive
qualities outweigh the negative. Any motivation problem disappears.
First of all, students take the lab be cause it is unique. A high level of effort is expended and the capability for in teraction is high. The students must
learn to react in group situations since
they have partners and must effectively

totally academic, but rather an incor poration of both. The lives of the stu
dents become intertwined as the role-
playing intensifies and as they realize that the future of the entire city depends
on the decisions made by all.
Each week is six months-the semes
ter covers a period of seven years. Elections, blackmail and other city
activities are all a part of this MetroApex game. Debriefings are held to explain why certain events take place.
One student can gamble away his fortune and job in an effort to make some money-only to find out that his plans were foiled by a competitor.
Agricultural Economics 240, Market ing, is structured a little differently from Government 312. Instead of a
lab, the simulated game sequence, entitled "A Class Exercise in Futures
Market Speculation," is integrated into

at Cornell: Government 312, Urban Affairs Lab, and Agricultural Economics 240, an exercise in Futures Market speculation.
Metro-Apex, the make-believe city that becomes a reality for 70 students, is an active role-playing experience.

make group decisions in order to be successful.
Henry Steinberg, Engineering '78,
commented that this lab is a break from
the typical routine lectures. "As a city planner I look at the entire city and implement policies that directly relate

the course.
Like Government 312, the exercise
involves a high level of student partici
pation and interaction. "It introduces
greater market realism and provides timely feedback on market activity,'
comments Dana C. Goodrich Jr., Ag

Students are given the opportunity to try out some of their own ideas, make authoritative decisions and ultimately implement certain policies which will affect the city.
"Although you sacrifice some real ism, when the student is placed in the

to each member of our simulated
city. I use my own judgement and play
with the lives of the other members of
Metro-Apex," he explained. The general theme of this innovative
course is learning to work with peers on a level that is not totally social or

Ec 240 professor.
The students are told in a course
description that they ". . .will be theo
retically participating as speculators m
the futures market. . .Trading in this market takes place in the facilities ot several commodity exchanges. Stu-

4

Left, trading in commodity futures for the marketing course gives students a real life trading experience.
Students in Urban Affairs Labor
atory haggle over city finances in Metro-Apex.

dents will be pitting their price-predicting
skill-and nerve--against thousands of
real-life traders across the country."
Goodrich explains, "Trading in the
futures market is accomplished by
entering into an agreement to sell or
buy a certain commodity in the future."
"As the seller of a contract promises
to deliver the commodity, the buyer
promises to pay for and accept delivery of it. The objective is to profit from
changes in the price of a contract by
correctly predicting the direction in which the price will move. The dif ference between the prices at which
a contract is sold and bought is a gain or a trading profit."
Formal commodity exchanges pro vide for trading in many different com modities. Goodrich's game includes wheat, soybeans, cattle, frozen pork bellies, frozen concentrated orange juice, iced broilers and Maine potatoes. Students thus encounter an experience of actively participating in a simulated
market situation based on the actual
market commodities, prices and sub sequent contracts.
The students in this speculative exer cise are attuned to the market institu tion to learn how it operates and to allow them to participate in a realistic monetary situation using actual prices. Since prices move frequently and sub
stantially, they are exposed to the real :'°sses and gains of the marketplace.

Mark Sladkus, Arts '78 comments, "I'm learning the ups and downs of the futures market as well as using the marketing theories I've learned in pre vious classes. So far I'm losing money playing this game, but that's the risk you have in life, right?"
Both courses have similar character
istics that make them stand out from
the normal, mundane lectures or sem inars offered to Cornellians. Both
place students in role-playing, decision making situations. Students are forced to accept the challenges of using pre viously learned facts and theories and applying them to real situations.
The ultimate goal of both courses is to have the students apply brain power to a simulated "on-the-job" ex perience. It forces them to accept the

challenges of interacting with peers, making decisions and implementing their own policies.
These simulated games bridge the
gap between the student role and the
real-life roles of "city planner" or of
"commodities exchange representative." Having had "on-the-job" experience, even if only through a simulated game, can have a major impact on the grad uate when he is eventually placed in a real-life job situation and must make influential decisions that can ultimately
affect his career and the future of the
company with which he is affiliated.
This particular training exercise is really the determining force in illustrating how well the student applies the material learned throughout the course and how active he is in the role-playing model.

5

"A pleasant blend of people from all persuasions is what Rulloff's is all about," says owner and originator,
Ned Macksoud.
Rulloff's, Collegetown's newest saloon, is actually a pleasant blend of many things, local history for one. Over
one hundred years ago, Edward Rul-
loff, whose most striking feature was his abnormally large head which housed the second largest brain on record,
wandered into the Ithaca area. His ex
traordinary intelligence had allowed him to con his way into many jobs for which he wasn't qualified. At one time Duke University was fooled into offering him a job as lecturer. He also resorted to robbery to earn a living. The unexplained disappearance of his wife and child from their Dryden home
led to a murder trial where Rulloff
acted in his own defense. At the trial,
he set a new common law precedent
for the State of New York which re
quired producing the unfortunate victim's body as a prerequisite for a murder conviction. No body was found
and Rulloff was freed to commit an
other crime, the robbery and murder of a store clerk, which led to his hang ing in Binghamton. The memory of this unusual figure in local history still lives
within the saloon which carries his
name.
Rulloff's is filled with original nine teenth century memorabilia, including converted gas chandeliers, hand-forged wrought iron railings and an awesome

by Polly Wilson 79
mahogany and walnut back bar which stands twelve feet high and reflects the scene in its original mirrors. There is even a yellowed newspaper article proclaiming the fate of the saloon's
namesake framed for all to see.
Macksoud and longtime friend, Tom Malone, spent over a year collecting original pieces to use in the saloon. "Old discards and architectural frag ments are beautiful, irreplaceable and very important. You can't improve on the original," says the former sculptor Macksoud. With the help of master carpenter Mike Pratt, who specializes in restoration, Macksoud has proven himself wrong. The originals have been improved on by bringing them together into a living sculpture which makes Rulloff's a special place to be with
friends.
Downstairs at Rulloff's blends the
contemporary with the antique. It serves as a gallery where local artists may display their work for exhibition

and sale. The ever-changing decor provides a pleasant atmosphere for quiet dining and conversation. Mack soud plans to make Downstairs at Rulloff's available for small seminars and meetings in the future.
Rulloff's menu is also a blend of old
favorites and original selections. In cluded are quiches du jour, homemade beef stew, fresh salads, hot sand wiches and vegetarian dishes. A cham pagne brunch is served on Sundays
when patrons may relax after their meal by reading one of the various national and international newspapers on hand.
The bar is well stocked with im
ported beers and wines; even the house wine is a product of France. More than
a dozen different international coffees
as well as a variety of teas are served to help break the chill of the drizzly
Ithaca climate.
The hard work and enthusiasm of
Macksoud and his co-workers, which
made it possible for Rulloff's to be completed in less than four months,
still radiates now that the saloon is
open. "People appreciate the energy we put into creating a pleasant atmo sphere at Rulloff's," says Macksoud. "And we really enjoy the people who
have come here."
A variety of people visit Rulloff's for a number of reasons. Lining the walls
are old books for anyone to borrow
and read. Chess, checkers and back gammon games are available for enter
tainment and friendly competition. An
excellent sound system fills the saloon
with music which is pleasant but not overpowering. In the future, Macksoud plans to feature a variety of live enter tainment including jazz and instru
mental music of entertainers new to
Ithaca.

Rulloff's Saloon, located on College
Ave., is the new face in Collegetown. The grand opening was in March, 1978-

On the south end of the engineer ing quad is a geological display of New York State's various rock types.

CORNELL'S

by Robin Feiner 78

Where can a piece of pink granite
from Enfield, New York find peaceful
coexistence with a hunk of Manhattan
schist? In the Rock Park at Cornell
University, of course. The Rock Park, an exhibit created
by the Department of Geological Sci ences, is a representative display of
the kinds of rock found in the New
York State region. It consists of two
parts: Rock Park East constructed in
1972, and Rock Park West constructed in 1977. Available for public observa tion, the geological arrangement stretches along the southern walk of the Engineering quad. Both parks were sponsored by Meyer Bender, president of the class of '29, and are respectively dedicated to his mother and father.
The more recent addition, Rock Park West, is largely the work of Ted Snedden '78, a geology major who under took the park's construction as a sum
mer project. He spent the first few weeks contacting state farmers and quarry workers to locate the rock spe cimens. The farmers Ted spoke with were glad to get rid of the large rocks
'ying half embedded in their topsoil,
and most of the quarries had samples available for him. The hard part was
traveling to each farm, mine and quarry
site to have the boulders lifted onto a truck for the drive back to Ithaca. It is estimated that each rock weighs be tween 500 pounds and three tons.

Many of the igneous boulders in the park are glacial erratics, rocks brought
down to the New York area thou
sands of years ago by distant glaciers which probably originated in Canada
or the Adirondacks. Some talc boul-
ders-which we are most familiar with
in the pulverized form of talcum pow der-were taken from an above-ground pit mine in Gouverneur. A chunk of mine waste from the Adirondacks, riddled with low-grade garnet, fool's gold (iron pyrite), and magnetite is one of the park's most colorful showpieces.
Representing New York City is a piece of Manhattan schist, taken direct ly from a subway tunnel at Lexington
Avenue and 63rd Street last summer.
There is also a sample of diabase sill, which is trap rock used for making roads, obtained from the Palisades
area above the Hudson River.
Commenting on the utility of the Rock Park, geology department chair
man Dr. Jack Oliver mentioned one
unique aspect. "In studying the geo logical world, we most often take either a microscopic view of it or, at the other extreme, we observe a huge road cut. The Rock Park, on the other hand, is a means for seeing geology on
a more intermediate scale. Aside from
being an educational tool within the department, these rock samples are a simple, attractive way of bringing
geology to the public."

And it has been successful in doing this. During the Rock Park's first winter
season, many students en route to and
from collegetown via the Engineering quad have stopped to eye the conspic uous rock garden more closely. Of course, they first had to brush off a
blanket of snow or, as Dr. Oliver refers
to it, "layer of recent sediment." One curious student, Kurt Fraczkowski,
Hotel '78, spent part of last summer mountain-climbing in the Adirondacks and stops frequently at the Rock Park. "I like to see if I can recognize any of the rock types I saw while climbing.
Some of them were really magnificent." By the end of the spring, Ted Sned-
den plans to have each rock specimen tagged with its name, origin and points of interest, as well as to complete a brochure describing the park.
Other public collections of the geol ogy department include a mineral
collection and a fluorescent rock and
mineral display. The mineral collection
is housed in Kimball Hall and features
hundreds of showpieces of semi- and non-precious stones from all over the
world. The fluorescent rock and mineral
display is under ultraviolet lights in the lobby of Thurston Hall.
So for a quick geological survey of New York, as well as insight into al ternative rock gardening, consider a walk to the Rock Park. It's not just
boulder-dash.

7

MILLER LEFT HI

by Renni Altman 79

Take a walk around Ithaca -- start
at Cornell University, walk around the
campus and then walk downtown.
Along the way, take notice of the old and restored buildings. Many of them were designed by one person, Cornell's first student of architecture, William
Henry Miller. Miller's architectural career began
when he entered Cornell in 1868. After
two years at the University he left, without a degree, to set up practice in Ithaca. By the end of his career in 1920, Miller had designed over 70 buildings and remodelings in Ithaca
alone. With respect to the exteriors of
his buildings, Miller was considered a "trendy" architect, always following the appropriate style of the time. The interiors, though, were quite opposite in their innovative styles. Miller built his own house on Eddy Street. The house still stands today and is used by the College of Architecture, Art and Plan ning to house visiting professors.
The Cornell campus is a virtual ex
hibition of Miller's work. Among his accomplishments are Barnes Hall

Uris Library, completed in 1891, was
Miller's most notable work on campus.
It is now Cornell's main undergraduate
library.
Stimson Hall and, most notably, Uris Library. Miller, who was a good friend of President Andrew D. White, was commissioned to build White's house, along with Cornell's first architecture professor, Charles Babcock. President
White also donated the money for Mil
ler to build the Eddy Street Gate and the Cascadilla Creek Bridge. The gate was known by many as "Andy's Choc olate Cake" because of its alternating
red sandstone and white limestone.
When the Cornell Board of Trustees
complained about the ugly design of Cascadilla House, Miller was commis sioned to improve the building and grounds. The money for this was do nated by William Henry Sage, for whom
Miller had built a house earlier. The
Sage House is currently being used as the lobby of the Sage Infirmary. Miller was also responsible for building the
Communication Arts Graduate Center

on Stewart Avenue, which was origi nally built as the home of members of the Treman family.
In 1911, Miller designed his last building on campus, Prudence Risley Hall. At the time, President White was
very fond of the English Collegiate Gothic Style and sent Miller photo graphs of Pembroke College at Oxford as a suggestion. Due to lack of funds the building could not be done exactly
as President White had wished, but it was done in that style.
Off campus Miller's works are also
abundant. A number of sorority and fraternity houses were designed by him, either originally as chapter houses or as private residences. The McGraw-
Fiske mansion was one of the best
known of these. At a cost of approxi mately $300,000 it was Miller's most extravagant residential commission.
In 1880, when it was built, $5,000
was considered sufficient for a pro fessor's home, but Professor Fiske
wanted the home for his dying wife, Jenny McGraw. One requirement he
made of Miller was that the mansion

Miller's most extravagant residential commission, the McGraw-Fiske man
sion was built in 1882.
8

1ARK

be in view from the town below while at the same time the town be in view
from inside the mansion. Jenny Mc Graw Fiske died before ever entering the mansion. The furnishings and
house were sold in an auction to Chi
Psi fraternity. In December of 1906 a fire broke out in the house, completely destroying the interior of the mansion and killing four students and three fire
men.
Many students may not know it, but they could be living in a house de signed by Miller. He built many profes sors' homes in Ithaca, a number of which have been divided into apart
ments. Buffalo Street has numerous
examples of such houses, including the Marvin Gardens Coop.
William Henry Miller also contributed
to the various landmarks in Ithaca. The
Tompkins County Courthouse, origi nally built in 1854, was remodeled by
Miller in 1893. Located on the site of
the first county courthouse, it is the oldest Gothic Revival public building
in New York State. Because of this it
was declared a National Historic Land

mark in 1971 . For many years it was
used as a museum by the DeWitt His torical Society, but was recently re stored as a courtroom. The building currently housing the DeWitt Mall was originally Ithaca High School, built by Miller in 1912. He also designed what
is now St. Catherine's Greek Orthodox

Church, although originally it was Congregational. The First Baptist Church was also done by Miller. The

first

version

of

it,

finished

in

1831 ,

burnt down in 1854. Its replacement

was torn down in 1890 to make way
for Miller's design. The third building still contains three of the original stained glass windows.
Miller was also involved with the

The residence of William Henry Sage was also one of Miller's works. It is currently the lobby of Sage Infir
mary.
famous Clinton House. Built in 1830,
the Clinton House grew to become
"the most pretentious hotel between New York City and Buffalo." Its original Greek revival style eventually became outdated and in 1872 Miller designed its renovations. To give it the new French design he added a mansard
roof and shutters. The Clinton House
was the social center of Ithaca in the
19th century. It deteriorated greatly
over the years, but was revived when
Historic Ithaca bought it in 1973. The association immediately began reno vations while maintaining the original style. The building now houses Historic Ithaca, the DeWitt Historical Society
and many commercial offices. William Henry Miller left his mark on
Ithaca through his many buildings. Organizations such as Historic Ithaca and the DeWitt Historical Society have been responsible for the continued
existence and maintenance of many of his works. It is because of them and
others that we can today continue to appreciate the beautiful work of Wil liam Henry Miller.

f$ . ':ijj.r;-< «
Jiff

Miller designed the renovations of
the Clinton House to give it the French
look popular in the late 1800's.

9

A quick glance across the room re
veals the following: A Fokker D-VII
swoops down out of the sun; the Bon
Homme Richard tacks gracefully in a
blustery wind; a hasty treaty between the Germans and the British, concluded
just minutes before, checks a growing
French interest in the low countries; a Klingon battle cruiser dissolves in a blaze of photons.
What's going on?
These are all scenes from what are
known as "conflict simulation games," or more frequently, wargames. Interest in these games has been growing rapidly on campus in the last few years, and local sales of the games are sky
rocketing. Officially, the games are accurate
representations of social, economic or military conflicts from history or liter ature, depicted in game format. De scribed that way, though, they don't sound like much fun. "Wargamers"
say otherwise. Most of the conflict-simulation games
focus on military battles (thus the misnomer "wargames"), but increas ingly, new games are focusing on dif ferent and unusual topics. There are "After the Holocaust," wherein the
four surviving organizations (the Tele phone Company, the Baptist Church,
etc.) try to rebuild the economy after
a nuclear war, and "Chicago, Chicago" concerning the events in Lincoln Park during the 1968 Democratic Conven
tion.
One of the most popular of the games is also one of the oldest. "Diplo macy" was developed in the early
1960's and involves no dice or luck of
any kind. Seven players connive and scheme their way into controlling the
world before their opponents "stab"
them. "Diplomacy" has reached cult status because of the game's unpre dictability and total reliance on the skill of the players.
Also very popular here on campus,
for some of the same reasons, is a new
breed of game collectively referred to as "Dungeons and Dragons." "D&D" was the first of the "role-playing games." Each player assumes a char
acter or "persona," complete with

Topics of the games span continents and centuries. The games pictured above are among those of industry leader, Avalon Hill Co..

"abilities" and a personal fortune, and the players gather together and explore mysterious dungeons full of gold, jewels and an assortment of unspeak ably nasty critters. The dungeons are the work of one of the players, the malevolent "Dungeon Master." You can spot a D&D player immediately by
his continuous talk of "fourth-level
magic users," "saving throws" and sudden death at the hands of a Balrog, along with his habit of emerging from Risley Hall at 4:30 a.m. with a faraway
look in his eye.
The "his," by the way, isn't intended to be sexist. To date, almost all the
gamers on campus and nationwide
have been male. It's not clear exactly why; the three-year-old Cornell Simu lators Association loudly protests that it has never excluded anybody from its rolls, and the much larger informal body of local wargamers is too disor
ganized to discriminate. Encouragingly,
the number of females who show up
for a Sunday afternoon game is in
creasing. Campus gamers, being somewhat
few in number, have been working closely with Ithaca gamers. A hybrid Team Ithaca, led by Dryden High senior Bryan Mundell, is on the verge of winning an international team tourna ment, and periodic local tournaments

draw many student entrants. Few of
the gamers draw any distinction be
tween on- and off-campus play.
The first wargame, "Tactics," was
published in 1958 by what has become the Avalon Hill Corporation. AH is now
the biggest manufacturer of adult games overall, having bought outright
the 3M line of adult games and the
Sports Illustrated line of sports simu lations, as well as the rights to "Diplo macy." The hobby's other giant, SPI, has recently surged to the top spot among wargames by virtue of its large number of new titles issued each
year.
The future looks bright for wargame
buffs on campus. SPI will have its "Star Wars" simulation out soon, and
several locally-designed amateur games have shown promise. There is a new game club at Cornell, and the expected Ithaca Team prize money will help local gamers get organized. Mundell and several Cornell Simulators Association people hope soon to sponsor a mini-
convention. So, don't be alarmed if you hear
someone on campus announce that
Moscow has just fallen to the advancing Turkish Army; it's only a few brightlycolored pieces of cardboard and a lot of imagination and fun he's talking
about.

by Pat Lyons 79

Armchair Generals

and Cardboard Wars

10

ROTC:

Cornell's ROTC students participate
in weekly drills to develop leadership qualities and skills they will need when they become officers in the Air Force, Army, Marines or Navy. They are eval uated on their performance and receive constructive criticisms from the ROTC
staff members.
Orienteering is a game played by Cornell's Army Reserve Officers Train ing Corps students. Although orienteer ing is becoming a worldwide sport, the cadets do it as part of their officer training. Each cadet or pair of cadets is given a map and compass and is directed to find as many designated points as possible within a specific time limit. Orienteering develops map and compass reading abilities.
The Navy ROTC system of drill eval uation is typical. Lieutenant Richard Casselman, a Navy ROTC instructor, says students are given billets or staff positions within the hierarchy of the
NROTC battalion. This allows them
firsthand experience in dealing with a chain of command. Duties rotate by
the semester. Students then evaluate
each other's performances to learn personnel management and improve their judgment. They are also evaluated by the ROTC staff and are counseled
about the evaluations.
Air Force cadets attend a summer
field training session between their sophomore and junior years. At sum mer camp, cadets participate in a twoday "Project Mini-stick." Each group of cadets is assigned a certain amount of aircraft and munitions, which they
must use in the most efficient ways to
hit the targets they have been assigned. The cadets also go through a two-day survival exercise simulating the situation they would face if their planes crashed, with an emphasis on team effort.
Some Air Force cadets also have the
opportunity to participate in "Project X," which is a series of leadership ex ercises. Cadets learn to adapt them selves to various situations and find

GAMES WITH A
REAL OBJECTIVE
by Jane Winslow 78
unique solutions to unusual problems. Sometimes group leaders are assigned,
while other times leaders are allowed to
emerge naturally. One exercise involves getting a wounded man across a river; another involves accomplishing a task in complete silence.
Army ROTC students learn field leadership, rifle marksmanship, moun taineering, map reading, orienteering and military science during the school year, in addition to drill and leadership practice. Occasional weekend bivouacs are taken which involve "moving in pla toon formation through the woods to attack a hill defended by another squad," according to Jan Harris '78. These mock battles provide leadership and planning experience. Harris says
As an Army ROTC cadet, Carolyn Louie, learned rappelling down Schoellkopf's walls.

his ROTC training places much empha sis on working with people.
Midshipmen in Naval ROTC take courses in naval science, including Armed Conflict and Society, navigation, weapons and Ship Systems. They also participate in seminar courses on sea-
power concepts, Naval Operations and naval organization and management.
One summer, Naval ROTC cadets
go on cruises to help them understand the enlisted man's perspective when the midshipmen are commissioned as
officers. The cadets' second summer
is spent getting an overview of naval
activities. After a week at a naval air
base comes a week of submarine
training, followed by surface (ship) indoctrination. During the last week, the Marines train the Navy men in
amphibious vehicles, and running ob stacle courses. Midshipmen go through a mock landing, storming the beach and consolidating their position.
The summer between junior and senior years finds Navy ROTC students
acting as junior officers on ships to get a feel for the entry level jobs they will be taking upon completion of their training. John Haynes '78 says the program "has, for the most part,
been very worthwhile." Cornell's ROTC Marines train with
the Navy group until the summer after their junior year. Six weeks of that summer are spent at Bulldog
camp. This includes basic training, physical training and the solving of specific problems. One such problem might be for a cadet in command of a squad to devise a method for crossing a river with an injured man. Juniors in the Marine option, says Benjamin Sands '79, work out and go running to prepare themselves for the rigorous
Bulldog maneuvers. Through these types of leadership
exercises, simulation exercises and war
games, Cornell ROTC students practice
the skills necessary for their futures as officers in the armed services.

11

!U
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*>

><^

Ov
V
\>^

Summers in the 1920's meant swim
ming in upper Beebe Lake before the Henry W. Sackett '75 bridge was
built.

§f<t"

Canoeists enjoy the summer on calm Beebe Lake. The Outing Club
operates a canoe renting service
throughout the summer.
12

Granted, from September to May
each year, there are a lot more people around Cornell and Ithaca, but by no stretch of the imagination does this college and this collegetown disappear during the summer months.
Yes, even Ithaca, N.Y. has its own
crop of "summer people." Students
study during summer sessions at Cor nell, Ithaca College and TompkinsCortland Community College. Alumni of the colleges return for reunions. Along with their families, Cornell alum ni attend the special programs at Cor nell Alumni University. Travelers and campers visit the sights and scenic parks in the Ithaca area. While they
may not qualify as "summer people," those special people who can call Ithaca
their home are around, too.

Alumni returning to Cornell in the summer of 1925 enjoyed the traditional
class reunions luncheon in Barton Hall.

Though notorious for its summer rainfall, there are sunny days in Ithaca's summer, and there are plenty of places to go and things to do under the Ithaca sun. Just to name a few, there is swimming in the gorge, boating on Cayuga Lake, hiking at Ithaca's state parks and picnicking and bicycling just about anywhere. And so what if it
does rain? Then there are fine repertory theatre and summer stock companies in and around Ithaca, constantly
changing art exhibitions, films and
concerts, and lectures and courses off
ered at all three area colleges, as well as by some community groups.
Ithaca doesn't shrivel up and die
after finals and graduation. Maybe this
is the year that you should stick around for or come back and visit.

Summer students stroll
along campus on a warm sunny day.
Cornell's summer flowers
provide nature photograph ers with plenty of material.

Between summer classes, students pass the time by sunning in the arts quad.

Weather lore and proverbs are
abundant in literature. That they have come down to us through the centuries as trite sayings, however, should not be taken to imply a blanket invalidity in these ancient observations. Since man has always tried to deal with the environment to his best advantage, it stands to reason that he would take an interest in observing and ultimately predicting the weather. Unfortunately, accurate long-range forecasts are slightly less abundant than the polished
gems of weather lore one can find.
Prof. Douglas A. Paine of Atmo spheric Sciences within the New York State College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences describes the current "state
of the art" in meteorology as a "fore casting hierarchy." The National Wea ther Service (NWS) releases a 90-day
temperature outlook for the United States, which it currently rates at a 65 percent confidence level. This re port indicates on a national basis where
temperatures are anticipated to aver age above normal, normal and below normal for the particular 90-day period. While acknowledging that he does keep an eye on these outlooks, Paine
says he puts little stock in them as use
ful tools because they are unable to indicate record-setting temperature
trends. Such trends represent the type
of climate stress which affects agri cultural interests, power and fuel con
sumption. The next level in the hierarchy is the
30-day "Average Monthly Weather
Outlook" for the variables of temper ature and precipitation. This report is updated every 15 days, so even if a forecast differs greatly from what is
occurring at the beginning of the
month, the NWS can restructure it at
mid-month to align with the observed
weather pattern.
A relatively recent innovation is the
"Prognostic 6-10 Day Temperature and Precipitation Anomaly," which the NWS started providing last Decem
ber. This report also attempts to pre dict the amount of variation from a
region's normal average temperature and precipitation. The Temperature Anomaly and the previously mentioned

"The sun sets weeping in the lowly west,
"
Witnessing storms to come, woe and unrest. - Shakespeare
"A man sits weeping whilst the angry crowds Encounter weather unpredicted by his
COMPUTER for the
CLOUDS
by David Domeshek 79
reports all fall into the category of "long-range outlooks,' and have con fidence levels below 70 percent.
According to Professor Paine, if there is to be any significant increase in our capabilities to produce accurate long-range outlooks, "we need a good dynamic model of the forces that cause climatic change." Until such a model is developed, he adds, "com puter models won't help out in the long-range forecasts for the forseeable
future."
"Where we have significant skills," notes Professor Paine, "is in forecast ing up to five days in advance." The
confidence level reaches 70 percent
with a 3-5 day forecast, and jumps to 80-85 percent with the 1 -3 day fore
cast.
Unfortunately, in the last few years, there has been a leveling off in what
had been a continual increase in fore
casting confidence levels since numer ical modeling started in the late 1950's. "We've had difficulty making signifi cant inroads in improving the 85 per cent figure on 2-day forecasts."
Professor Paine's own research centers around the problem of predict
ing localized severe weather conditions. He notes that "the timing and intensity
of severe weather is difficult to fore cast." This limitation forces the NWS
to alert people in a broad area about

impending severe weather when usually only an isolated region actually en
counters it.
A desire to end the uncertainty and inconvenience caused by this type of situation has resulted in two schools of thought on the matter. Some mete orologists feel that the only means by
which storm forecasts can be made
more accurate and localized is by developing a denser network of data points from which atmospheric read ings may be obtained. This would involve great expense for the additional equipment required at all new reporting
stations.
Professor Paine's alternative proposal
involves a "revolutionary technique" in which the existing data points suf fice in providing the needed additional
information for a localized storm fore
cast. The technique is based on Paine's "Cascade Approach" to atmospheric energy phenomena, which states that "localized storms are most frequently the result of the atmosphere 'cascading' excessive energy to eventually dissipate it." The cascading effect itself is sim ply one in which longer wavelength, shorter frequency waves of energy in the atmosphere give rise to the shorter wavelength, higher frequency waves responsible for localized storms.
Professor Paine has to use the com
puter facilities at the NASA-Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, since the set of equations used to mathematically describe certain at mospheric phenomena must be in corporated into a grid model he helped to develop for use in such forecasting problems. The IBM computer at Cor nell was deemed inadequate for this task because, as Professor Paine notes,
"the data takes over the whole
machine" even at the extensive NASA
facility. With the advent of these technolog
ical tools for weather forecasting, it is no longer necessary to rely on the bard's poetic allusions to meteorolog ical trauma. But they're certainly a re freshing change from the tired refrain: "Partly cloudy this morning, with a 70
percent chance of rain this after noon. . ."

14

SOMETIMES ANSWERS DO GROW ON TREES

by Lynn Shannon 78

What does a Cornell University pro
fessor do after he retires? The answer
lies in one man from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences who has remained as vitally active and involved in his field today as he was before his
retirement in 1956.
As one of the foremost nut growing experts in the northeast, he has au
thored numerous articles and bulletins
on the subject. He was actively in volved in the committee to save Cayuga Lake from becoming the site for a nuclear power generator, and is also interested in the preservation of Ithaca's hanging valleys. He's done all this be tween his relief work in places such as Yugoslavia and Mexico, and his studies on imported Bougainvillea plants.
He's Dr. Laurence H. MacDaniels
(or Dr. Mac. as he is better known), former head of the Department of Flori culture and Ornamental Horticulture
and current professor emeritus. Although he is most visible to students these days as the man who heads a yearly nut exhibit at the Cornell Planta tions' Fall-In, his most important recent work with the ag college has been his
research with Dr. Arthur Lieberman
on cultivation of tree crops on rough or marginal lands as a source of food and as a soil erosion preventative.
According to Dr. Mac, the problem is that global food reserves are down
and accelerated soil erosion is up. As
the population rises and millions starve, we're losing millions of tons of soil a year through erosion. As quoted from an article by MacDaniels in the autumn 1975 issue of The Cornell Plantations, "Recent comprehensive studies in New York State show that in the past two decades large areas of crop lands have been lost to other uses, and this trend will undoubtedly continue through the
next decade. . .The Mediterranean
Basin is an outstanding example where,
through thousands of years, the level

of terraced lands have continued to
produce cultivated crops, but where the hills are now barren wastes except for tree crops such as olive, carob, almond and apricot." In Morocco, the land has become so barren that goats have actually learned to climb trees after forage!
Tree crops are unique in that they provide food, forage and fuel in addi tion to providing long term protection against soil erosion. The notion of using tree crops is not a new one. American Indians and early settlers depended on the nuts, berries and maple trees as important food sources. In the past pigs thrived over a wide area on forage from tree crops, partic ularly in the southern part of the U.S.
Although it is unrealistic to encourage American farmers to go into growing tree crops for profit, the use of tree
crops should be considered in areas
where the land has become too rough
for cultivated crops. There is the addi tional prospect of new uses for harvest
ing woodlands as well. Right now, re search is being done using ground up
wood as concentrated cattle food.
Dr. Mac explained his role in the recent developments in tree crops research at Cornell. "I planned to give Cornell some land if they decided to
do the research on food crops, and
apparently they're going to go ahead with it," he said. "If we get this thing rolling it could really catch on in about twenty years, but that's just in the
United States. In other parts of the
world such as the tropics, tree crops are a reality now." Dr. Mac went on to add that although the soil erosion problem in the U.S. is critical, we really don't have a critical enough food short age to encourage research. Nobody is willing to pay attention to the situ
ation until it is too late.
Dr. Mac has probably done more since his retirement than most people

have in a lifetime. He has many reasons
for his vitality and his continuing re
search as a senior citizen. "I don't
think I'm anything special," he ex plained. "You just have to keep an interest. Don't shut yourself off from
the mainstream. I agree with the late
L.H. Bailey, who said, 'A person's life should consist of twenty-five years to learn, twenty-five years to produce and twenty-five years to do whatever he pleased." I've always been interested
in birds and trees, and I can follow those interests now. I have two hob
bies: growing trees and growing lilies.
It's a well-known fact that disuse leads
to atrophy. . .I just keep busy." It is the opinion of the author that
that is the understatement of the
century!
Doctor Mac Daniels measuring a walnut tree he planted over 50 years
ago.

15

Many students gather together to join in the fun on the arts quad during the
1977 Fall Fun In The Sun.

by Cathi Gobel 79

Prelims, papers and projects take
up a lot of students' time, but surely
one knows that a school year at Cor nell does not simply consist of all work and no play.
Student organizations, sports events and even private parties bring students together on a small scale to supply mental relief from a week of classes. However, in past events little effort had
been made to include students in
campus-wide events. Cornell's fra ternity and sorority system has helped to change this by sponsoring various
events which are open to the entire
campus.
The "Fun in the Sun" picnic now held every fall on the Arts quad starts the school year off right. To one's
amazement the sun manages to shine
all day on the mass of students who

GREEK PARTIES ARE THE BEST

m
Eager spectators stand back as racers stumble across the finish line of
the 19 77 Phi Psi 500.

enjoy a day of frisbee throwing, chat ting with friends or just milling around the many greek-sponsored game booths and who amuse old and entering Cor nellians with water balloon and pie throwing contests, rope climbing stunts and even apple bobbing in a pot of purple jello.
According to Mike Curran '80, lntrafraternity Council president, the pic
nic serves as an orientation event for
new students. "At the same time, it
gets the fraternities, sororities and student organizations involved in a campus-wide event," says Curran. How ever, one student disagrees--he thinks the picnic is ideally a good time for all. "School hasn't started and it's one of
the few times you can sit back and relax and not worry about school
work that needs finishing." As the cold months approach, what
better way is there to start the long and dreary Ithaca winters than by
having a "Winter Warm-Up?" The "warm-up" is held in Barton
Hall and put on by the IFC and the Panhellenic Council. It is considered

16

to be one of the biggest social events of the year, with last year's attendance numbering over 3000 students.
This year's event was sponsored by
the American Distillers and Penthouse
magazine. Dunphy's Irish whiskey was the main attraction while the previous
two years Puerto Rican rum served as
the "warm-up." "It's the best time," commented one
student. "It's an excuse to get every
body together and talk with friends
you haven't seen all semester." The "Phi Psi 500" is another cam
pus event enjoyed by all, thanks to the many participating Cornell fraternities and sororities. This charity race is not
atypical marathon run. According to Scott Smith, this year's race chairman,

its road map includes running 100 yards from the starting point, stopping to chug one beer, then running through Collegetown and stopping to chug a beer at three of the neighborhood bars: The Royal Palms, The Connection
and The Gin Mill. "Then the teams
have to run down Williams Street hill
and you know what that hill is like! The
last stop and probably the worst is the Chapter House. After the C-House all
those able must return home to Phi
Kappa Psi, health permitting," com
mented Smith.
"This race is a big game for every
one, both spectators and runners. The
fraternity, sorority and independent teams running get dressed in wacky outfits or wear matching t-shirts, hats

A line of students wait for their Irish whiskey drink at the 1977 Winter Warm-up held in Barton Hall.

and shorts. The spectators parade along the sidelines in their matching outfits cheering for their favorite frat or sorority," commented one runner.
Last year 500 people ran the race. The $2,500 raised from the minimum $25 registration fee was donated to the
Greater Ithaca Activities Center and
this year the money is being given to Challenge Industries, a non-profit community organization which provides employment opportunities and pro
fessional service to the disabled resi
dents of Tompkins County. Due to last year's turnout a federal grant has
been awarded that will match every dollar raised from the contest.
Campus-wide events may be only
a few of the activities scheduled in
the Cornell Greek's social calendar
but, fortunately, they manage to bring enjoyment to the whole campus.

17

CREATIVE CURRICULUM

by Joline Miceli 78

A day in the life of Cornell students
who take unusual courses could in
volve starting the day by playing with
farm equipment. Later on they proceed to the greenhouses to make flower arrangements or to judge other people's
flowers. However, if they prefer, they
may choose to swarm to the hives and
take beekeeping. Rather than waste
time for lunch these students may de
cide to take "brownies with the Dean"
instead. This is followed by a class where they study the styles of women's
clothing. To end their very long, hard day a relaxing course is needed. With
out a doubt, wine tasting fits into this slot perfectly!
Wine tasting, actually named an Introduction to Wines and Spirits, is not your basic required college course.
Nor is it the type of course one expects
to take in college. It is one of the
many unusual courses offered at Cor
nell University to give students practi cal information for everyday life.
Given through the School of Hotel Administration by Professor V.A. Christian, the course offers a series of lectures by professionals in the area of wines and wine tasting. At the end of each lecture, five or six different
types of wines of the type discussed
are tasted. Don't forget to add it to
your list of next semester's courses.
Remember, though, it is for juniors and seniors, and in the springtime for seniors only. Upon completion of this
course you should have a general
knowledge of wines, matching wine with food and the winemaking process.
Lectures in Hotel Management, alias
"brownies with the Dean," is another

unique course offered by the School of Hotel Administration. As in wine tasting,
a different lecturer appears each week
to talk about his or her area of expertise. However, unlike wine tasting, the
lecturer is one who is involved in dif
ferent areas of the hospitality industry.
As its nickname "brownies with the
Dean" implies, brownies and coffee
are actually served after each lecture. An informal atmosphere is set which allows the students to mingle and
talk with each other and with the lec
turer and dean of the school. Gail
Cady '80, a student who has taken the
course, loved it. She believed it was
very worthwhile and stated that this
course exposed her to "different as pects of the hospitality industry" and made her aware of career opportunities
that she never realized existed.
You have probably never thought you could make your own wedding bouquet or your sister's prom corsage. Well, in flower arranging, given by the Department of Floriculture and Orna
mental Horticulture in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, you learn just this and more. Techniques of arranging and design using color, shape and size of flowers are taught.
Other unusual courses offered by the ag college are beekeeping, Special Topics in Ornamental Plants, otherwise known as flower judging, and a noncredit Introduction to Farm Techniques.
Going to "play" with farm equip ment is an integral part of the course
entitled an Introduction to Farm Tech
niques. In this class one learns the skills and procedures of day-to-day farming. Its purpose is to create an

awareness of the practices and pro cedures of farming to those unfamiliar
with them.
The College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Human Ecology also
have their share of unusual courses.
One of these is "Dress: A Reflection
of American Women's Roles." It is
offered jointly by the Women's Studies Program in the arts college and by the Department of Design and Environ mental Analysis in the College of Hu man Ecology. The clothing worn by women from the colonial period to the present, and women's roles in society as reflected by these clothes are
studied. The Cornell Costume Collec
tion is used to develop an awareness of the clothing styles, while lectures and assigned readings focus on the roles of women in society. A former student in the class liked being able to
see the actual costumes. She also said
she especially enjoyed being able to
try on some of the accessories like
hats, belts and corsets. As such a large university, Cornell
offers quite a variety of unusual courses. Creativity and planning are necessary
before any of them can be made avail
able to the students. Although several are considered "gut" courses by many students, their worthiness is evident.
The information learned from these
courses is readily applicable. Unlike most theory courses, what is learned
in these courses can be used in every
day life. Furthermore, their worth is not necessarily derived from the un usual subject matter but instead from the unique and enjoyable type of learn ing experience they provide.

18

Put On Your Dancing Shoes!

How many times have you been an
onlooker at a dance and heard yourself or your friends say, "I could never dance like that! Where did they learn all those steps?" That may be a rhetor
ical question, but at Cornell University it has an answer. Through university
facilities and programs, a wide range
of dance opportunities are available for students who long to put on their
dancing shoes. Chris Nevole '77 is currently an in
structor at Helen Newman Hall, where
he teaches ballroom dancing to 250 students. "I learned how to dance only
three semesters ago in this gym course,
and now I'm actually teaching it," he
said. "That proves that anyone can do
this type of dancing, because I'm con vinced that if I can do it, anyone can."
Chris teaches both beginning and ad vanced ballroom dancing classes for gym credit and for those who are just interested in learning. His format in volves teaching the current dances such as the jitterbug, foxtrot and disco
first because that is what his students
want most to use. "I couldn't believe
how fast I learned how to hustle," said Mario Alfano '80. "Two weeks
before the class began, I was breaking my partner's arm. But after one month of practice I feel much more smooth
and confident."
The ballroom dancing course at Newman is difficult to get into because the class is usually full by the end of the first day of physical education registration. However, other modes of dance are equally sought after there. Courses in modern dance, ballet, Asian dance and specialized courses for the Cornell dance major are offered through the Departments of Physical Education and Theatre Arts. However, problems are created by the increasing popularity of dance offerings. "We have reached our limit in terms of space and faculty course load," claimed Jane Desmond of the Newman Dance Office. "More
of a commitment from the administra tion is needed to find ways to expand.

by Judy Redel 78
Dance is a recent rage elsewhere on campus too. Several Cornell student organizations focus on the social as
well as physical aspects of learning to
step to the music. The Cornell Folk
Dance Club, headed by Sheila January '78, meets weekly in the Memorial Room of Willard Straight Hall, while Israeli Folk Dancing, taught by Ellen Moss '78, gets together in the One World Room of Anabel Taylor Hall.
Both are open to everyone, diverse in
terms of students' levels of dancing experience, free of charge and very informal. "At Israeli Folk Dancing, the first hour each week is spent teaching
the steps that will be used in dances for the rest of the evening," said Donna Yankner '78. "I can't help getting swept into the spirit of the dances, and everyone enjoys the sense of satis faction and achievement that comes
from learning to do beautiful steps and leaps."
This spring University Unions has offered six types of dance, ranging from African to jazz to disco dance, through the Experimental College. "The Experimental College makes oppor
tunities available for the Cornell corn-
Students dance to the tune of a live
group at the usual Monday night Folk Dance Club meeting.

nunity and local residents that aren't
usually found in an academic setting," explained Laurie Nash, coordinator of
the program.
Resa Mestal 79 is one of the student
teachers in the Experimental College, teaching belly dance to a class of 20 women. She relishes teaching this course because it is good exercise, fun,
easy to catch on to and different. "I
learned how to belly dance originally through the Experimental College, but I didn't think I'd ever get to use it," she explained. "I often perform for friends and sorority and fraternity functions, but teaching is even more
fun. I'd like to see some men get
interested in learning belly dance too." Various other opportunities exist on
campus for gaining dancing skills. Broadening Horizons, the residentially-
based program available for Lower
North Campus students, has offered this spring a free ballroom dance and jitterbug course taught by students.
Other short-term courses in disco dance
and ballroom dance are offered through student residences, fraternities, soror ities and clubs, while in downtown Ithaca, the Strand Theatre and the Women's Community Building offer
lessons periodically. At Cornell, there really is no excuse
not to learn how to dance if you would
like to. "Many people claim they wish they had the time and the partner with whom to learn how to dance," re
marked Chris Nevole. "Everyone thinks
he's a klutz and would rather not
learn steps in the middle of a dance
floor. Yet, I think if people just gave themselves a chance and really prac ticed, they could find that those steps they wanted to learn aren't as hard as they looked."
All you have to do is find the oppor tunities available to you, put on your
dancing shoes and practice yourself into a new mode of expression and
satisfaction. And remember that with
anything you learn, unless you use it,
you lose it!

19

and had to be replaced by a passenger. The Enterprise acted as a connection
for people traveling from New York to Buffalo on the New York turnpike. It
ran every day except Sunday during the season, weather permitting. It left
Ithaca at 4 a.m., then made many stops
including Ludlowville, 6 a.m., Aurora, 9 a.m., and arrived at Cayuga Bridge at 1 1 a.m. The return trip began at
noon and ended in Ithaca at 7 p.m.
Stagecoaches waited at each stop, much like our taxis wait at airports.
The fare-$1 .00 each way. The Enter
prise ran until 1831 . The completion of the eastern section

WHEN CAYUGA'S BOATS HA[

It is a beautiful spring Sunday in
Ithaca. The sky is blue, the birds are singing. . .you can't stay inside on a day like this! There are many ways you could enjoy the outdoors. In the early 1900's a group of you might have chartered a large passenger boat and spent the day boating on Cayuga Lake.
Boats and Cayuga Lake have en joyed a long, interesting and often ex citing relationship with each other. The Lake has seen the tiny hamlet of Ithaca
grow into a boom town and then level
off to the city it is today. It has seen commercial boat traffic increase rapidly
and decrease as other methods of
transportation were developed, and it has also experienced a large increase in private boats. It is hard to imagine Cayuga Lake serving mostly as a com mercial body of water rather than the recreational body it is today.
The Indians were the first and only boaters on Cayuga Lake until colonial
settlers arrived in the 1700's and drove
them away. In 1790 John Harris of
Cayuga started the first ferry service
between the north and south ends of
the Lake. This provided a connection for travelers on the New York State
"turnpike," (which was nothing like
the present day highway--apparently
people suffered broken limbs from the ride!) which stopped in the village of Cayuga and then picked up on the

western shore. In 1798 Captain Able Frisbie began an east-west ferry that carried both mail and people across
the lake. Business grew and in 1800
Harris received permission to build a tollbridge. The bridge was the longest in the world at that time, measuring 5,412 feet long and 22 feet wide. It could not stand up to the rough win ters, however, and gave way a few
years later.
The Ithaca area was rapidly increas

ing its business, and most of the in
dustries needed to receive and send

their goods by boat. Bigger and better ships were required and more and more

boatyards sprang up around Cayuga
Lake.

In 1807, Robert Fulton invented the

steamboat and revolutionized boating. In 1819 the Cascadilla Canal Company decided that they should build a steam
boat to run from one end of the lake

to the other. The Cayuga Steamboat Company was formed, and work began in Ludlowville the following year.
The first boat, the Enterprise, was 80 feet long, and since it had a 24 horsepower engine imported from New Jersey, it could travel at the amazing speed of 10 miles an hour. The Enter

prise's

maiden

voyage

on

June

1 ,

1820

was a gala affair. It took an eight hour

cruise around Cayuga Lake, during

which the ship's engineer got drunk

of the Erie Canal in 1 823, and of the
entire canal in 1825, greatly increased boat traffic on Cayuga Lake. Two am
bitious Hector farmers built their own
schooner, loaded it with fruits and
vegetables, sailed up Cayuga Lake to the Erie Canal, and then down the
Hudson River to New York City. Since
this was the first boat from the western
part of the state to bring food to New York City, a large crowd was out to
greet the two farmers. The development of the railroad
created a need for boats to ferry goods from one side of Cayuga Lake to the trains on the other side. Captain Tim othy D. Wilcox built his first two boats in 1840 and they made regular trips
across the lake. Wilcox's boat line
changed hands many times in the next decades, during which several more
boats were added. Last, but not least,
built in 1869 was the famous Frontenac
which met a spectacular end in 1907. The use of pleasure cruise ships fell off around 1910 due partly to this disaster.
At 135 feet long and 22 feet wide, the Frontenac was the largest boat of Wilcox's fleet. It had a 27 horsepower engine, could go 15 miles an hour, carried 350 people, and cost $50,000.
The Frontenac soon became the favor
ite boat for cruising and was often used for special events. Its main pur pose was to bring people to and from

20

The Frontenac, opposite, was a charter boat used for special occasions. It was built in 1869 and was a typical
luxury boat.
Legend says, when the water is low
the frame of the Busy Bee, can be seen. The ship was built in 1884.

■ v'' '"'

s

''■"'■'.:

«'

WMkfflM&l >' ''■' I'i . I '■' ■4'wBQ1- <*fc

"■>»,v^ ,

..tfa.,i}t*. »»*„,. mfoMl

-«S2^

ft -"It':.

*# by Jo L. Schaffel 78
oIlers I- fli
the Cayuga trains, but it also followed the Cornell crew races. It was a luxury boat, having sleeping facilities, a din ing room and even a bar on board. The
Frontenac was so much in demand
during the summer that people had to buy advance tickets for weekend rides. On July 27, 1907, while carrying a full load, the boat caught fire. Most pas sengers had to jump overboard since the lifeboats were in flames, and eight people drowned.
Ferry boats remained a good way to transport goods and people across Cayuga Lake. In 1844, the Cayuga be gan operations. This boat was so large

k

that it needed 12 horses on board to
work its treadmill, and soon became known as the "horse ferry." However, the Cayuga proved to be too expensive and difficult to maintain, so it had to be replaced with a smaller, more prac tical ferry.
In 1884, Captain James Quick built the Busy Bee, which had two sails, operated on steam and had side wheels. Captain Quick earned about $100 a year extra transporting mail between Kidders (near present-day Sheldrake) and King's Ferry four times a week in addition to his passengers. The Busy
Bee was retired in 1914.
The late 1800's were a heyday for Cayuga Lake. The area became known
as the "Switzerland of America" and
people flocked here to build hotels, resorts and summer homes, not to mention boatyards and tourist boats.

The summer people started building and racing sailboats and the more modern era of "individual" boating
was ushered in.
College students probably entered in on the Cayuga Lake boating as soon as they arrived here. Yesterday, as today, the lake was known for its dan
gerous waters, for in the 1939 Cornell
Deskbook, students are warned of the dangers of the deep and cold lake. Squalls strike without much warning because of the lake's long, narrow shape and its surrounding high, steep
banks. For years, female students could not go out in the lake unless
they had filed parental permission with
the Dean of Women.
The old luxury cruise ships are gone now. The last Cayuga Lake tour boat stopped running a year ago. If you don't own your own boat (or have a friend who owns one), you can rent a canoe, paddle boat or a sailboat. (And women do not need special permission anymore.) People still enjoy Cayuga Lake in much the same ways as in the past: swimming, boating or just sitting on the shore and relaxing on a beautiful spring day.

Watching steamships like this one pull into the docks was a favorite activity of the townspeople during the
late 1800's.
21

Who's Behind the Games?

by Carole Freedman 79

What is it that puts someone in
front of a television set every Monday night during the football season? Or every weekend for a wide world of sports? At Cornell, that same fascina
tion prevails, and the fact that 90 percent of the student body is involved
in sports in one way or another proves
the point: sports is an important part
of the academic way of life. And be
cause there are forty sports played at
Cornell, someone must keep track of everything that goes on. This is what Sports Information is all about.
Who is behind the games at Cornell?
Who puts together the programs you
receive at football and basketball
games? It is the people at Sports Infor
mation, or S.I., located in the Schoell kopf House on the Cornell campus.
Under the direction of Phil Langan,
Director of Athletic Public Affairs, and
Dave Wohlhueter, Sports Information director, students are hired to inform
local and hometown media about what
goes on at Cornell. At present, there are ten student assistants working for
Langan and Wohlhueter. Each student is assigned two or three sports to cover
in a season, and then must write press
releases about the games, design bro
chures and programs, write a weekly
sports news roundup, and send releases
about the players to their hometown papers. In addition, Sports Information
puts out The Big Red Report: News
and Views of Cornell Sports, an alum
ni publication that comes out fifteen
times a year.
Paul Luchowski '80 started working
for Sports Information this past fall.
He puts in about ten hours a week on
assignments from Langan or Wohl hueter. This spring Luchowski is cover
ing men's and women's tennis. He
must call in the results of all matches
to local media and put together any brochure the sport requires. Paul's
background is heavily sports-oriented.

Paul Luchowski, Mark Goldberg and Sharon Palatnik check the copy for one of the sports brochures. Students working for Sports Information
create brochures when they are required.

He was a sports writer for his home
town paper, has played sports all his life, and is currently a reserve fullback on the varsity soccer team. He explains that "sports is a way of relaxing and of releasing frustrations." He would like to continue with sports writing when he graduates. "I do it because it turns me on," Paul says.
Sharon Palatnik '78 also considers
herself a sports nut. Unlike Paul, who is a communication arts major, Sharon is in Fine Arts. She began at S.I. in spring 1977 as a typist and has since
increased her level of involvement
there. She began to coordinate all the
home town releases that are sent out
before, during, and after the season, and then she was given a sport to cover. This spring Sharon is following varsity B lacrosse. She spends ten to fifteen hours a week working at S.I. writing home-town releases and record ing statistics for each player and for the Big Red Report. "I love the people here," Sharon explains when she is
asked how she has time for school-
work. "There isn't much pressure and the hours are flexible."
Sharon is not a member of a team, but considers herself to be an active
spectator. As for the future, she is

interested in sports public relations and announcing. This desire has led her to minor in communication arts.
A native Ithacan, Mark Goldberg '81 has been a sports fiend ever since he can remember. He was sports editor for his high school paper and is an assistant manager of the varsity basket ball team. Mark began at S.I. this fall, and is covering golf, women's lacrosse and women's sailing this spring. He would like to go into sports writing, and will be working part time for the Ithaca Journal writing small lead stories on local sports events. "I'm a sports nut," Mark says. "You never car predict what can happen. I really en joy the competition."
More people work in Sports Infor mation this year than in years past Mark thinks this is good because i assures that all the sports will bi
covered. "Everybody here does a gooi
job," Mark says. "As an organizatioi
we work really well. Everybody puts h
a lot of effort."
These students are getting practice experience as they are getting paid fc what they do. Thanks to them, Sport
Information is Cornell's liaison with th
outside sports world.

22

tIM CAPSULES

Hamilton Granted Fulbright-
Hays Award
Prof. Lawrence S. Hamilton of the Department of Natural Resources has
been granted a Fulbright-Hays Fellow ship award from the New Zealand-
American Educational Foundation.
The award provides for a lecturing and research assignment as a Visiting Professor at the University of Waikato
in Hamilton, New Zealand. Hamilton will be in New Zealand working on the project from July 15 through January 15 of next year.

study. This summer, Perkins will begin
her one year venture abroad at the
Royal Botanical Garden at Edinburgh, Scotland, followed by visits to similar gardens in England, Italy, Holland, and
France.
In addition to an excellent academic record, Perkins was a member of the
Cornell Women's Volleyball Team and spent summers working at the ConardPyle Company, a rose production nursery near Philadelphia.
Two Professors Honored

A major portion of his duties will focus on improving Waikato's Environ mental Studies Unit, which was de signed for multidisciplinary research and teaching.

George H. Wellington has been named Professor of Animal Science, Emeritus by the Cornell Board of Trust
ees. His thirty years spent on the Col lege's faculty were devoted to the field
of meat science.

Wellington headed the Animal Sci

G. Wilbur "Bill' Selleck has been
granted tenure as Professor in the
Department of Vegetable Crops. Selleck has done extensive research in ecology of weeds, herbicide development, and weed control in vegetables, field crops,
and pastures.
In recent years, he has studied po
tato and turfgrass fertilization in rela tion to nitrate buildup in underground water on Long Island.
Selleck, who joined the Cornell facul ty in 1975, is currently the superinten dent of the College's Horticultural Re search Laboratory at Riverhead, Long
Island.

ence Department's meat plant operation for 24 years. In 1975 Wellington re ceived a Distinguished Service Award
from the Northeast Section of the
American Society of Animal Science in recognition of his outstanding leader ship and achievements in teaching, research, and extension.
Wellington is now at the Universidad
Federal de Minas Geraif in Brazil. He
is completing a four-month assignment
as a consultant in the meat and food sciences.
Richard P. March has been named
Professor of Food Science, Emeritus by the Cornell Trustees. March was

Student Receives Dreer Award

a specialist in milk quality, and fluid milk handling and processing.
His efforts were aimed at establish
ing uniform sanitary and quality control

Karen M. Perkins, a senior in the Department of Floriculture and Orna
mental Horticulture has received the William Frederick Dreer Scholarship
from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
The four thousand dollar award is given annually to outstanding students ln the department for international

regulation in the northeastern states, and improving communication in the
field.
March received the "Education-
Industry Award" of the International Association of Milk, Food, and Environ
mental Sanitarians in 1974. He is
currently serving a term as vice-presi
dent of this group, and will become its
president in 1980.

Champion Apple Peeler is
a Cornell Student
by Jane Winslow 78
Once a year, in Rochester's Long-
ridge Mall, you will find Cornell stu dent Kathy Wafler '81 peeling an apple the size of a small canteloupe.
Wafler is a world record holder in the
sport. She accomplished the feat by peeling an apple to produce a peel 2,068 inches long in 1976. She says that most apple peeling contests limit peeling time to twelve hours. Wafler usually needs at least ten hours-six to score the apple and four to remove the peel.
Wafler uses apples from her family's farm in Wolcott, New York. Large, crisp apples are best. Scoring the apple involves making a continuous, spiral cut on the apple. This makes it possible to cut a long strip of peel about one thirty-second of an inch wide. Wafler uses a very sharp horti cultural budding knife which has been ground to a special shape by her father, a former apple peeling champion.
Why would anyone want to spend a whole day peeling an apple? Wafler replies, "It's fun. It's a challenge. Be sides, it's good publicity for the apple business!" She says she will probably
continue to enter the contests for
the next few years. In the future, Waf ler would like to do demonstrations
about the apple business.

23

WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
DEAR NEW GRADUATES:
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Alumni Association knows where you are going. We were there. We know that because you are a gradu ate of Cornell University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences you will:
Automatically become the leading candidate for a job in your career field. Always speak with pride of your college years and academic achieve
ments.
Command the respect that is afforded the graduate of one of the finest institutions of higher education in the world. An active Alumni Association will assure you in future generations that this excellent reputation will be continued through your efforts. We will have:
A BETTER OPEN-HOUSE PROGRAM
To encourage high school students to consider a College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences education. A BETTER STUDENT/ALUMNI CONTACT PROGRAM
To help undergraduates explore alternatives.
MORE SUCCESSFUL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION REGIONAL GATHERINGS
An Annual Campus Breakfast during Reunion Weekend to exchange ideas for further improvement of college faculty programs. We hope that you will join us by sending your check for just $4 to the Alumni Office, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 205 Roberts Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853. You will receive the Cornell Countryman for one year and be invited to Cornell regional alumni affairs in your area.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Phillip A. Green, President
York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of the State University, at Cornell Univers

EDITORS:
Lynn Levidy Luci Merin Jane Winslow
ASSISTANT EDITORS:
Renni Altman Carole Freedman Debbie Moses
ART EDITORS:
Stacey Cahn Polly Wilson
PHOTO EDITOR: Judy Redel
EDITORIAL STAFF: Brenda Angyal, Chris Bingham, David Domeshek, Robin Feiner, Cathi Gobel, Pat Lyons, Joline Miceli, Peter Schack now, Jo Schaffel, Lynn Shannon,
Debbie Slotnick.

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN
OCTOBER 1978 VOLUME LXXVI - Number 1

ABOUT THE ISSUE Outstanding people of the worldentire magazines are devoted to the topic. The Cornell community includes plenty of outstanding people of its own. From undergraduate students to Nobel prize-winning professors, Cor
nellians excel in many different ways.
This issue of the Countryman focuses on a few of these people who add sparkle and excellence to Cornell.
Picture Credits: Cover, p. 3, 11, 20, 22, Back Cover - Carole Freedman; p. 4 - Joseph Porter; p. 5 - Landscape Architecture department; p. 6 - Jane Winslow; p. 7 - Brenda Angyal; p. 8 Cornell Archives; p. 9 - Christine Bing ham; p. 10, 12, 13, 22 - Luci Merin; p. 14 - Visual Services, Russ Hamilton; p. 3, 15 - Media Services, Bill Mesner; p. 16 - Ithaca Journal; p. 17 - Renni Altman; p. 18, 19 - Mark Sellew.

CONTENTS
3. Fun With Vic and Jane by stacey Cahn 79
4. Worth More Than A Tip by Cathi Gobel 79 6. Computers for Consumers by Jane Winslow 78
7. Mind Games by Brenda Angyal 78 8. Ithaca's First Families by Chris Bingham, Grad 10. Professors Of Merit by Luci Merin 78
1 1 . The Young Executive by Carole Freedman 79 12. Ag Day: Not Just For Farmers by Joline Miceli 78 14. What Are They Doing in ETV? by Debbie Moses 79 16. Composing by Cayuga's Waters by David Domeshek 79 17. Centering On Speakers by Renni Altman 79 18. Cornell: For Your Body by Lynn Levidy 78 20. Matriculating Moms by Lynn Shannon 78 21 . Making Research Relevant by Chris Bingham, Grad 22. Gammoned Again by Robin Feiner 78
The Cornell Countryman is published seven times a year from October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cornell University Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription Rates: $2.50 a year;
$4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content gathered and
written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors. Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

FUN with VIC and JANE by Stacey Cahn 79

When I first entered Cornell, my
parents ottered me the following words
of advice "Take a course that will teach you something useful." Many
students probably feel that practical work experience can only be found out side the University's curriculum. How ever, some courses do provide an op portunity to learn by doing. 77?e Cornell Countryman is the finished product of
such a course. "Print Media Lab," the course's
official title, is offered each semester to majors in the Department of Com munication Arts. "The Countryman," as most students refer to it, is taught in a relaxed, informal atmosphere
which really is conducive to learning. Credit for this might be given to the
two course instructors.
Jane E. Hardy, who focuses mainly on the editorial aspects of the Country man began her career with a Cornell degree in floriculture. After working in garden design, she joined the staff of Canadian Homes Magazine as a gardening editor. She worked as a gardening editor for twelve years. In addition to teaching in the College, Hardy likes to do freelance work in both writing and garden design.
Victor R. Stephen has over twenty years of experience in publication production, and advertising design and illustration. Professor Stephen has headed the information services of
communication arts and publishes the quarterly in-service training letter,

VIS/ ION, which is read by visual spe
cialists al! over the world. He is also known as a fine artist who has re ceived awards for his exhibits.
How do two people manage to "co-anchor" a class? In some respects, they are affectionately looked upon as a comedy team. Hardy plays Ed Mc Mahon to Stephen's Johnny Carson. "Stephen's one-liners are great. . . sometimes," remarks a student who
wishes not to be identified.
However, there is a great deal of
work to be done and there are crucial
deadlines to meet. Something unex pected (and unwanted) manages to
crop up from time to time. Brilliant
and quick thinking is sometimes the answer to avoiding a crisis. There re
mains a lot to be said about the bene
fits of on-the-job training.
Students enrolled in the course find
it helps them to develop the good professional attitude that is needed in
any career. Peter Schacknow '78 says
the course helped him as former News
Director of WVBR-FM in Ithaca.
Schacknow says joining the Country man staff was originally a matter of
what fitted best into his course sched
ule. "Last fall, I signed up for two
classes that met at the same time.
Somehow it didn't seem to work out
conveniently," he explains. Like many students, Schacknow elected to take
the course for two semesters. "I'm
really interested in a career in broad casting but I enjoy the experience of

working in the print media." Other students are seriously interested
in working for a publication in the future. Lynn Levidy 78 says the course is a good first-hand look at the "actual mechanics" involved in putting together a magazine. Levidy says the experience is an "added plus for anyone interested in this particular job market."
Countryman staff members often walk away from class learning much more than they realize. A source of inspiration for job-hunters is the "stu dent-makes-good" letter from someone who previously took the course. Mark Monroe '77 attributes his new job writing magazine articles on agriculture to a story called "From Grass to Gas." "There is no way I would be working at this job if I hadn't had the Cornell name and a Countryman article on an ag-related subject behind me." Karen Esposito '77 says her class experience helps her complete daily assignments
as a staff writer for a utilities company.
One of the most rewarding aspects of putting together a publication is get ting positive feedback from readers. In addition, the Countryman staff regularly receives requests for permis sion to reprint articles.
The course has all the basic ingredi ents to provide an invaluable learning experience for everyone involved. It not only teaches practical skills, but emphasizes the importance of respon sibility to one's work. Students can get professional training in class.

Layout pages are examined by V.R. Stephen and Marleen Bicknese '78 at left, while Jane Hardy and Paul Brantley '78 consider editorial changes.

Countryman staffers Lynn Shannon '78 and David Domeshek '79 proofread their articles before
they paste up the layouts.

Worth more than a TIP
by Cathi Gobel 79

"There's only one thing you give a Pullman porter and that is a tip," claimed Professor Joseph "Tip" Pull
man Porter. But, if you are fortunate
enough to spend a day with Tip Porter, '17, you will surely agree that he de serves a great deal more for all his contributions than just a tip.
Professor Porter's association with
Cornell has continued uninterrupted for 65 years. After receiving a masters degree in landscape design in 1918, Porter spent the next 40 years teach ing at Cornell and in 1957 retired as
Professor Emeritus. Porter is noted for his innovations
in landscape design and teaching. While still a student at Cornell, Porter
served as draftsman for the present
Cornell Plantations. After graduation, he began working for Cornell as the
Professor "Tip" Porter, noted for his landscape design, works on a land scape project near Sara
nac Lake.
4

first full time extension teacher in
landscape design for New York State. Working in many counties, Porter dealt with the existing poor conditions
in resident farmlands and one-room
schoolhouses. Tip spoke to civic
groups, schools and rural churches in
forming them of changes that were needed in their areas to improve living conditions. Playgrounds and larger
schools were advocated and farmers
were instructed on new methods for
better living conditions. Porter helped people in the communities appreciate the many types of flowers, trees and shrubbery their areas had, the best locations that would suit these plants and how to preserve and transplant
them.
During 1 1 years as extension tea cher, Porter became the first Cornellian

to give an instructional radio program relative to landscape design, as well as the first to present an educational television program at Cornell. In 1928,
Professor Porter transferred to campus
teaching of landscape-nursery courses which he originated.
Professor Arthur Lieberman '52, who
was once Porter's advisee and is now
a professor in the Landscape Archi tecture Program at Cornell commented that Tip was an enthusiastic and in
spirational teacher. "He had an unusual ability to awaken in other persons an
interest in landscape design. As an ad
visor he would go that extra step and share personal concerns about courses and career aspirations," com mented Lieberman.
As a professor, Porter was noted for
his courses because they gave so
many students practical field experi
ence. Porter secured the cooperation of the superintendents of several of the local parks and he involved his
students in the design and implementa tion of plans as well as the park's construction. Some of their accomplish ments include building bridges and the swimming pool found at the foot
of Buttermilk Falls.
Mrs. Joseph Porter, commenting on her husband, believes that "Tip's most noteworthy accomplishment was the designing and development of the grounds of Raybrook Hospital, former
ly a hospital for T.B. patients." Tip
modestly commented that he was
asked to design Raybrook's grounds
to encourage the patients to enjoy the out-of-doors. "I agreed to work on the project under the condition that they would let me live in the hospital for seven days as a patient prior to making any plans. It was the only way I could understand exactly what the patients

were feeling and what their needs were. Staying there helped me decide what needed changing," said Porter.
"I eliminated many of the trees sur
rounding the building. Oh, this upset
many of the patients but there was too much shadow on the building and
not enough sunlight coming into their
rooms. Trails for a nature walk and a
sitting house were constructed and I
had a marvelous mountain brook arti
ficially made on the property. Courts
for horseshoes and croquet were built and a nine hole golf course with a 24 par," said Porter. "This was the medi
cine the patients needed. It helped them psychologically as well as physi cally," added Porter.
Following retirement in 1957 Tip continued being active with Cornell
and the Ithaca area. Directly across from Porter's home is a small park owned by Cornell Plantations. Porter for many years kept the park in beau tiful condition by trimming overgrown trees and shrubbery and keeping the Park free of any litter. His current 'nterests include maintaining a coin

collection and compiling material for a book on the history of his family- the
Pullman Porters.
Professor Tip Porter commented that after spending 65 years at Cornell his grand-daughter has now chosen to study landscape design in the Col lege of Agriculture and Life Sciences. "Marcy Porter will pick up where her grandfather left off," commented Tip.
Porter's man-made lake found in the
Adirondacks, left. Below, a view of Raybrook Hospital surrounded by
conifers and lawn.

H I1IIUS% UlSim%V

D DD D DD 1

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by Jane Winslow 78

DDD DDD
DDDDDDDDDD

Let us suppose you want to buy a
35mm single lens reflex camera. You turn on your television and push the
properly coded buttons on a device resembling a pocket calculator. Infor
mation from a computer facility ap
pears on the screen, telling you what
brands are available with the features
you desire, and the quality and price
of each. You press another button to
view the names and addresses of
several camera shops in your locality which carry the brand at the price you
want. You can also find out what
kind of service to expect from each of
the stores.
In the near future, you may be able
to get shopping advice like the above
from a computer. Local consumer information systems, as proposed by economists and computer scientists at
Cornell University and the University of Michigan, would be accessible by telephone, mail, cable television, or vending machines. The systems would provide information about the quality of merchandise and services, as well as providing price comparisons and supplying information on local stores where the items can be purchased.
Consumers would be able to ask ques tions and receive quick replies. It will be easier for consumers to receive better quality goods at lower prices.
The concept of a national network of local consumer information facilities
was proposed this year by Cornell's E. Scott Maynes and University of Michi gan scientists James N. Morgan, Weston Vivian, and Greg J. Duncan in the Journal of Consumer Affairs. Various means of gathering and distri buting the information will be tested to determine the most effective ones.

Maynes advocates the methods which provide the most immediate feedback, since they will be the most helpful to
consumers.
Maynes, the chairman of the Depart
ment of Consumer Economics and
Housing at the N.Y. State College of Human Ecology at Cornell University,
indicates that the systems could be
publicly funded, or financed only by
those who use the information. With
public funding, the information would be available to people who could not
afford to pay fees for information.
Maynes says the systems may not serve the poor directly. Although lower-income people need consumer information even more than others, they tend to seek such information less
frequently. Often, they cannot afford it, or simply do not know how to use it. However, the market economy will be improved by the use of the systems. Prices will be forced downward by the competition, therefore benefiting the poor indirectly.
At present, prices for any given item vary greatly. Price ranges are especially wide in larger cities. The economists' research in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1974 revealed that Kodachrome 126 color film ranged from $1.45 to $2.50 a roll. Single lens re flex cameras of similar quality ranged from $170 to $635. One prescription drug varied from $2 to $7. A 25-yearold male in good health could pay from $1,680 to $3,100 for five' year
term life insurance.
In many cases, consumers could save one-half to two-thirds of the top
prices simply by finding out about the availability of lower-priced items within
their localities. The local consumer

information systems would make
savings possible by giving consumers the information they need.
The quality of services also varies greatly. The economists propose to conduct quarterly surveys of local
consumers. These consumers would
rate local vendors such as retail stores, auto and television repair shops, and home improvement companies. Major areas of inquiry would include quality of work, promptness, price and over all satisfaction. During preliminary sur veys taken in Ann Arbor, there was evidence that ratings of this kind were regarded as meaningful to consumers. Those surveyed said they would be willing to pay for such information.
Of course, retailers would have a
chance to review their ratings and in
sert their own comments, in the interest
of fairness and accuracy. A problem Maynes mentions is that high-priced merchants may use their political
power to prevent institution of the
systems.
Setting up the systems will be com plicated. To be economical and well-
utilized, Maynes says, local consumer information systems must begin as large-scale operations. Obtaining the necessary funds would be difficult. Maynes sees little opposition from the political left and right. The liberals
will approve because all consumers
will be helped, and conservatives will like the idea of making the free enter prise economy work the way it should.
If successfully instituted, the local consumer information systems will provide a valuable service to con sumers- ultimately giving them higher quality for less money.

MIND
GAMES

O by Brenda Angyal 78

Only two more pages to type of
the term paper that is due in half an
hour. Your fingers aren't at their fast
est, though, because you pulled an allnighter to write the paper. Twenty minutes later you rip the last page out
of the typewriter and frantically rush
off to your T.A.'s office to hand it in.
Procrastination has become a way
of life for you-one of the mind games
we all play with ourselves. Torn be
tween doing the work we know we should be doing and something more enjoyable, the constant battle is on.
Leaving things until the last minute is a popular pastime. Witness the number of bleary-eyed people who
come in to take exams. It's a safe bet
that most of them left their studying
until the very last minute.
There are other mind games, too. Because there are more than 16,000
students at Cornell, fear of loneliness and being lost in the crowd is very real. So people join fraternities, soror ities, intramural sports, clubs, sensitivity groups, bands, orchestras, craft courses. When asked why they join groups, the students usually answer, "To meet people."
According to Sigmund Freud, there
are three parts to our personality-id, ego and superego. The superego is responsible for guilt, and that is what you feel when you make a desperate Phone call to your parents telling them t0 put more money in your checking account for books. Why the guilt? Be cause you really need the money for Partying, not books!

So you try to rationalize away your
guilt. "I study all the time, and I have to relax once in a while," you might say to yourself. Never mind the fact
that the real reason you need the
money is that you made a bet, lost and now have to take five of your friends out for a night on the town!
When you are asked why you don't
like someone, you should take a close look at your answer because you can
learn something. Many times the thing
you don't like about someone else is
a disguise for what you don't like in yourself. When you do this, you are "projecting" your own undesirable
characteristics onto someone else in
an attempt to get rid of them. Both rationalization and projection
are defense mechanisms. These are
unrealistic ways of dealing with the environment, your impulses or your consciences. Common though rational ization and projection may be, though, they don't occur as frequently as re pression, which is the primary type of
defense mechanism.
Repression occurs when you push
out of consciousness that which you
cannot accept. "I'm just not going to think about it," you might say. Cornell life is full of stress and anxiety, so
you can be sure there is a lot of re
pression going on behind all those
intellectual faces.
Sometimes we play mind games with
each other. When we first meet some
one, we immediately start wondering what they are thinking about us. We try to ascribe motives to their behavior

and figure out "what makes them tick." "What are you doing Saturday night?" (I'm finally getting up the nerve to ask you out-why are you looking at me strangely?) "Nothing, I guess." (I HATE it when they never say what they have in mind, just ask if you're doing anything.)
"Want to go to the movies? I think
there's a good one on campus this weekend." (She said she wasn't doing anything Saturday, but she doesn't
look or sound too enthusiastic.)
"Okay." (Well, I might as well go out with him, since it's obvious that Mike
isn't interested in me. I don't want to
sit at home Saturday night.) "I'll pick you up about 7, okay?" (Oh, no, I forgot to ask what kind of movie
she likes!) "That's fine. By the way, what movie
are we seeing?" (I hope he isn't a
mystery freak.)
"How about Dr. Zhivago?" (I've never seen that one, but I've heard it's good.) "Yeah, that sounds good." (Why that
one? I think I've seen it about 10 times.
Well, I didn't have anything else in
mind.)
"Great. I'll borrow my roommate's car, and then we can go out for drinks
after the movie." (I hope you're not a
tee-totaler.)
"Okay. See you Saturday night." Mind games-we will play them all
of our lives because it's very much a
part of being human. Think back over the past day. How many times have you played a mind game?

7

It was April, 1789 in Kingston, N.Y., a prospering village on the Hud
son River, and three families were making last minute preparations for their departure. Motivated by a desire

Lake. They had lived with the Indians by the lake for about nine months but had departed when difficulties with the
natives arose. A Jesuit mission was re
established in 1668 on the lake at

year before. They had returned to
Kingston about a month later having examined only the area embracing
Cayuga and Seneca Lakes and a few
miles in either direction.

to improve their fortunes, these fam ilies were leaving Kingston as pioneers
in search of a new home. That new
home was to be Ithaca and they were
to become Ithaca's first families.
In all, 20 persons were going to

Cayuga, N.Y. which continued until
1684. The Jesuit reports indicated that
while the region was densely forested,
the Indians had cleared considerable
areas in the flat delta plain near the

So it was that in April the three families gathered some household fur niture, a few key farming tools and other supplies, sheep, cattle and horses and set out on a new adventure

make the journey. There was the Yaple family composed of Jacob Yaple, 29, his wife Maria Dumond Yaple and chil dren Philip, Mary and Peter, as well as Jacob's younger brother, John, about
20 years of age. Isaac Dumond would
also come with his wife and children, Peter, Abram and Jenny as would

southern end of the lake.
The families had also heard wonder
ful stories about the physical splendor and bounty of the region from soldiers who had passed through in September, 1779 as part of a detachment of Gen
eral Sullivan's army sent from Wash
ington to "humble" the Indians. The

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Isaac's brother, John and his bride of
one month, Jane Burrows. A third family, Peter Hinepaw, his wife and five children, completed the group.
The new pioneers had only a general idea where they were bound. They had heard some reports of the Finger Lakes region northwest of Kingston from
Jesuit missionaries. Two Jesuit Fathers
reportedly came to the area as early as 1656 by way of the St. Lawrence
River and the Great Lakes down
through the northern end of Cayuga

soldiers, led by Colonel Dearborn, destroyed the Indian villages and wasted the native plantations and or chards, forcing the Indians northward towards Niagara.
The real impetus for making the journey, however, came from the three
family heads, Jacob Yaple, Isaac Dumond and Peter Hinepaw, who, along with eight other men and two Delaware Indian guides had embarked on an exploratory trip of the region west of the Susquehanna River the

to the wild Finger Lakes region-specifically, to the area now known as Ithaca, N.Y.
The journey was both long and arduous for the pioneers had selected an indirect route following natural, geographic lines and a complicated means of travel. Horace King described the route taken by the first families in a public lecture given to Ithacans on April 5, 1847.
"From Kingston," he said, "they
crossed to the eastern branch of the

Delaware (River) reaching it at Middle-

town, the southeastern township of

The route carved out by Ithaca's first settlers from Owego to Ithaca is indicated in red on this 1879 map of the region.

Delaware County; there they con structed canoes in which they descend ed the river to Owego. Between that

place and Ithaca there was no road of

MAP OF THE
CoumiEs of TIOGA , CHEMUNG-. TOMPKINSS> SCHUYLER
KY

any description-unless a well-beaten, Indian foot-path might be considered one-and therefore they were compelled
to clear the way before them in order

to journey onward."

The roadway opened by the Yaples, the Dumonds and the Hinepaws during

the last leg of their trip followed one

of the low-lying gaps across the char acteristic upland country, the valley of Six Mile Creek. This valley was one of
two or three valleys which provided
the only southern access into the

Finger Lakes Region.

The Six Mile Creek valley was nar row, winding and forbidding. Virtually all dense, unbroken, tangled forest

(the "dark forest" according to ac-

counts from some early observers), it was bordered on either side by high, steep cliffs which obstructed all view.
In later years, as the Ithaca settle ment grew, such north-south lines of travel and communication became
extremely important in the development of the region.
In all, the trip from Kingston to the point where Owego is now situated
RST FAMILIES
by Chris Bingham, Grad
took the pioneers just over one month. The distance from Owego to Ithaca, about 29 miles, took 19 days. As they approached the fertile clearings in the flat land by Cayuga Lake which was to be their destination, the first families found the earlier reports they had heard surprisingly accurate. In deed, it must have seemed ideal.
"In the valley bottoms of Ithaca, particularly near the head of the delta flood plain, the white pine (predominant on the surrounding upland summits) merged into oak, elm and maple woods, though there were extensive cleared fields, cultivated by the Indians on this ground together with apple orchards, this fruit apparently having been introduced by the Jesuits," wrote Oscar D. Von Engeln in describing the region at the time of the first settlers in his book, Concerning Cornell.
The lakeside of the delta was all marshland and swamps-so much so the Indians had named the lake "Tio-
hero" meaning "the lake of flags and rushes." Early accounts suggest that when the white men arrived nearly all the territory now west of Cayuga St.
and north and west of Mill and Aurora
Sts. was one large swamp covered with a dense growth of trees, vines
and marsh grasses. In the swampy
area, tamarack, black spruce, balsam fir and hemlock were plentiful.
Food was certainly not a problem
for the new residents. The lake offered

numerous varieties of fresh fish in
cluding whitefish, bass, pickerel and pike among others while the huge forests stretching in all directions abounded with game-especially deer
and bear.
Jacob Yaple, Isaac Dumond and Peter Hinepaw, pleased with what they found, selected 400 acres near where Tioga St. is located today and set to work building homes for their families.
The first cabin was built for the
Hinepaws at a site on the north side
of Cascadilla Creek at the mouth of
the gorge. The cabins for the Yaples
and for the Dumonds were built near
one another at what is today known
as East State St.
In that fall of 1789 these three fam
ilies were the only white inhabitants in the region. There were some Indians who had remained after the siege of Colonel Dearborn and a large Indian village was located some two miles up the Cayuga Lake inlet, Neguaena Creek
as it was then called.
The Indians were friendly and as sisted the settlers in planting and har vesting their first corn crop. In the second year, however, most of the
Indians left for their reservation at the
northern end of the lake.
Yaple built a small mill in that year near Hinepaw's cabin, fashioning all the mill stones himself out of a single, large granite boulder. Soon the mill

was grinding 20-25 bushels of grain per day.
The first families began trading in 1789 with the first merchant of Ithaca, an itinerant trader who brought a small boat down the lake and exchanged tea, coffee, crockery and hardwares, lead, gunpowder and liquor for maple
sugar and animal skins.
The Yaples, the Dumonds and the Hinepaws grew and prospered. After settling in Ithaca, Jacob Yaple and his
wife had six more children. Jane Bur
rows, wife of John Dumond, gave birth to Sally on March 10, 1791, the
first child born within the limits of
Tompkins County. Generally, for about 10 years after
the first settlement, the "flats" in creased very little in population. In 1798, for example there were not more than a dozen small homesteads.
(The first wood frame house was not
erected until 1800.) Gradually, how
ever, word of the new settlement
and of its prosperous potential made its way back east where other families, encouraged by the favorable reports, made plans to follow suit.
"Thus a current emigration com menced to flow in this direction," said King, "which soon attained large proportions and aided materially in opening up and populating the areas covered by the present county of Tompkins."

The Six Mile Creek through-valley as it appears today near Willseyville, about midway between Owego and Ithaca.

9

Professors

of MERIT

by Luci Merin 78

Talking about interesting, important,
intelligent, and irreplaceable people
around Cornell, we can not leave out
the distinguished faculty of the New York State College of Agriculture and
Life Sciences. Each year members of
the College's faculty receive many awards and much recognition for the outstanding quality of their teaching, research, and public service contribu tions. Recognition has come from the State University of New York, national professional associations such as the
American Economics Association and
the American Meat Science Association,
the National Science Foundation, and
research related rewards such as Gug
genheim Fellowships and Fulbright presentations.
No faculty is truly distinguished, however, without the respect and recognition of the students they are teaching. It was just such thinking that prompted Ho-Nuri-De-Kah, the stu dent honorary society of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, to
establish the Professor of Merit Award
in 1947-48. The award is determined
from the votes of graduating seniors in the College, and honors the member of the faculty whom the students feel is an outstanding teacher.
The 1977-78 Professor of Merit is
William C. Kelly, shown here with Marilyn Groll '79, at the Ho-Nun-DeKah reception in May.

Nominations for the Award are ac
cepted from all students in the College during March of each Spring semester. From these, Ho-Nun-De-Kah members select the five professors having the greatest number of nominations, and place them on a ballot which is then mailed to all graduating seniors in the ag college. The ballots include descrip tions of the nominated professors' work, as well as comments from the respective professors' department chairmen. From this information, their classroom experiences with any of the professors, and their opinions of what an outstanding professor is, the seniors select their choice for the year's Pro
fessor of Merit.
Each year's winner is officially recog
nized at two traditional Ho-Nun-De-
Kah activities; the student-parentfaculty graduation reception in the spring, and the welcoming barbecue
in the fall. The official announcement
of the winner is made at the spring re ception, along with the presentation of a "walking plow" plaque to the Professor of Merit. Two larger, similar plaques are on display in Mann Library, and are engraved with the names of each year's Professor of Merit since
1947-48.
Prof. Stanley W. Warren, retired from the Department of Agricultural
Economics in 1972 after 40 years of
teaching in the department, was the first professor to be honored by the College's senior class as the Professor of Merit in 1947-48. Recalling the presentation of the Award, Professor Warren says, "I can honestly say that of all the honors and recognition that
have come my way, that one is num
ber one. I have always felt that my number one job was teaching under graduates, and an award that came entirely from those students really

means a great deal to me," he added. Approximately one-third of all pre
vious winners of the Award are also
from the Department of Agricultural Economics. Other departments repre sented by Professors of Merit include
biological sciences, agronomy, com munication arts, animal science, vege table crops, and entomology. Both professors and departments are proud to carry the honor, and consistently comment that the most flattering
aspect of the Award is that it comes
from the senior students. "By the time a student is a senior, he or she has
been exposed to a great number of in
structors in the College, and a professor whom they vote to be the Professor
of Merit is truly being honored," a department chairman noted.
Prof. Thomas W. Scott, of the de
partment of Agronomy and winner of the 1 968-69 Professor of Merit Award,
said, "It's satisfying to know that stu dents appreciate the time and effort a professor puts in to do a good job."
This past year's Professor of Merit, Prof. William C. Kelly of the Depart ment of Vegetable Crops was honored
at the Class of 1978 Senior-Parent-
Faculty reception held in the Memorial
Room on the day before graduation
last spring. Professor William C. Kelly teaches courses in vegetable crops physiology, research methods in ap plied plant science and a class in or ganic gardening for non-agriculture
students. His close contact with stu
dents comes from dividing the classes into small discussion groups which he
leads.
Surely each professor who has re ceived this Award is truly a Professor of Merit, and surely there are many other outstanding professors on the ag college faculty who have not yet been recognized by the senior class. Seniors will never be troubled by a lack of candidates for their special award, but rather by the continually difficult pro cess of choosing only one winner.

THE YOUNG EXECUTIVE:

This junior runs a radio station

by Carole Freedman 79

Dave Goldsmith is a junior Com
munication Arts major at Cornell. Twenty-year-old Goldsmith is also General Manager of WVBR, a 24-hour
commercial radio station run primarily by Cornell students who volunteer
their time and energy. I watch him as
he surveys the different areas in the
station to see if people have questions,
to answer phones and to stop and
chat for a bit. He moves quickly, at a
pace it is hard to keep up with. "I like working with people," he
explains to me as we sit down in his small, yet efficient office. "I like to
keep busy. I get bored easily and find
I have to keep busy to keep happy."
Goldsmith is the president of the
Cornell Radio Guild Incorporated, the
organization that owns VWBR's license.
The members of the Guild elected him
to the position he now occupies. His
responsibilities are "multifaceted" as
he puts it. It is up to Goldsmith to see
that WVBR stays on the air, meets its
legal requirements with the Federal Communications Commission and New
York State corporate law. Goldsmith
sees himself as the public relations man for the station. He likes to present it to prospective advertisers and other businessmen in the community.
How is a twenty-year-old college junior qualified for such a position? Goldsmith's background is heavily business-oriented. His family owns and runs a retail operation, in which he
has taken part. He worked for three
years during high school in a clothing
store in his home town, and as a
senior in high school was manager of
the school book store.
Once he came to Cornell, Goldsmith
literally jumped right into WVBR. As a
freshman he was elected vice president of the Cornell Radio Guild in charge
of the station's facilities. He says ever since his first few months at VBR he
knew he would be General Manager

sometime in the future. This year, he
felt he knew enough about the station and its day-to-day operations to run for the position. Due to WVBR's status
as a student-training station, the Gen eral Manager is elected.
Directing the goings-on of a radio
station takes an infinite amount of
time. Goldsmith spends about 40 hours
a week on station business. He is a full-time student as well. "Because I
spend the time at VBR and go to classes I have to be organized. I make lists either mentally or on paper that I try to stick to very closely on a dayto-day basis."
And what about classes? The tran
sition between manager and student
is not always an easy one to make.
Goldsmith says "I feel frustrated at times in classes. Sometimes I feel I
can accomplish more at VBR in an hour than I can sitting in a classroom." Goldsmith adds that it is important for him to be at the station during business hours. As General Manager, if some thing comes up at VBR during class time, he will tend to forego the class. "Most of the real education you get comes from practical experience," Goldsmith feels. "That's always been a philosophy of mine."
The volunteer nature of the station
makes for interesting managerial cir cumstances. Goldsmith explains that "radio management is different at VBR than at most places. This is be cause the bottom line at most places is profit. At VBR the bottom line is training people and serving the public,
and money made at VBR is used as a means towards that end."
Goldsmith's term of office is one
year, April to April, at which time he may run again if he wishes. "I see my position here as a challenge," he says. "After all, I am responsible for the successes and failures of a $160,000 operation. I ran for the position be-

WVBR's General Manager, Dave Goldsmith '80, talks informally in his
office at 227 Linden Avenue.
cause I think I can do good things
for VBR."
Becoming General Manager wasn't all easy for Goldsmith. "I had good and scary feelings initially. The ele ment of power can be overwhelming. There's no one above me judging what I do. I have to make the decisions by myself. It's a good feeling to know, though, that I can always ask for ad vice. Everyone is very helpful."
Somewhere in between the radio station and schoolwork Goldsmith is able to squeeze in a little bit of re laxation. Cooking is one of his hobbies.
As for exercise, he plays volleyball on WVBR's coed and men's intramural
teams.
This college junior runs a $160,000 operation. And all for the love of it.

11

Minnie the cow, from the Dairy Science Club, gazes at the people
around her in the Memorial Room.
Right, the Floriculture Club ex-
hibited dried and aromatic herbs and flowers.
Plant pathology graduate students pre pared a display showing damaged food commodities as consumers might purchase
them in grocery stores. 12

Almost
everything
starts on
a farm

A student tastes a new egg breakfast
drink which was served in Mann Library. It proved to be very popular with visitors.

The tractor, above, parked in front of the Straight, was from the
agronomy department.

KY ... Not Just for farmers

by Joline Miceli 78

A cow to be milked by anyone who dared. . .
a chameleon. ..
baked potatoes and four kinds of pop corn
for sampling. . .
dried herbs to sniff. . .
The second annual Ag Day brought all these things into the Memorial Room of Willard Straight Hall. March 13, Ag Day 1978, was a smashing
success.
Although most of the exhibits were at the Straight, several were located in the lobby of Mann Library. The most popular of these were the baby chicks exhibited by the Future Farmers of America, and a new egg breakfast drink served
by the food science department. Ag Day 78 was sponsored by the New York
State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and organized by the Ag Positive Action Council. The educational displays and samples were provided by different departments and student organizations

in the College. The theme for the day was "Almost Everything Starts on the Farm."
Ag Day is a nationally celebrated day which gives farmers and food producers a special op portunity to communicate with consumers. Its purpose is to enlighten consumers as to the role of farmers in America's future. Locally, Ag Day is provided to make the students in other divisions of Cornell University aware of what is involved in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and to eliminate the "pitchfork" image of the farmer.
The sponsors and organizers of Ag Day '78 were very pleased with both the exhibits pre
sented and the number of enthusiastic spectators.
According to Mary Maxon 79, "Plans are already underway for Ag Day 79 in hopes of fulfilling the purpose of Ag Day and pleasing the Cornell crowd." Ag Day 78 was a fun and inspiring learning experience. Ag Day 79, now in its plan ning stages, should be even more spectacular.

13

What Are They Doin

The camera crew is ready. All the microphones and lights are in working
order. The stage is set. "Thirty seconds," calls the head-
phoned floor manager, "Stand by." Up in the control room, the director is rapidly firing orders to the video-
person and the technical director.
After the thirty seconds tick by,
the video machines start to roll and a
sound track is recorded. Thus, another production is under way at the Educa
tional Television Center located in the
basement of Martha Van Rensselaer.
The ETV Center was instituted in
1969 as a service organization. Origi nally, ETV was a part of the Depart ment of Communication Arts, but three years ago they split. Now a part of Media Services, the ETV Center is strictly for service, offering no courses and having no faculty, while the com munication arts department fulfills an
academic purpose and is based in
Roberts Hall, Mann and in its graduate
center on Stewart Ave.
Dave Watkins and Doug Dunning edit a video tape production by an
electronic process.

There are Communication Arts class
es in television production, however,
that do use the ETV Center's facilities.
These classes learn production, editing, scheduling, programming and planning. Last spring, one class produced a series about campus life for WSKG in Bing hamton, N.Y.
According to Dave Watkins, Super visor of the ETV Center, ETV has three main goals. The first concerns its public service obligations for Coopera
tive Extension. The ETV Center pro
duces public service announcements, documentaries, and community and educational programs. Their topics in clude child abuse, nutrition education, and several teaching aid programs. The productions are distributed all over New
York State to educational and com
mercial TV stations as well as to other
universities, institutions in the rest of the country and many foreign nations.
The ETV Center also has a commit
ment to work with resident instruction
in bringing television into the class

room. The Center tapes individual pro grams for lab courses and other classes.
For example, the chemistry department is engaged in a five year program of putting all the introductory and organic
lab demonstrations on tape. "Television is really an adjunct to in
struction," explains Watkins. "It's just
another audiovisual aid students can
use if they miss a lecture or would like to review class material. One bene fit of television in the classroom is the camera's ability to do a lot of close up work and take in a lot of detail. Also,
it takes pressure off T.A.'s to standard
ize instruction over a large class with
many sections."
The third mission of the ETV Center
is to aid research. Rather than direct
ing actual research, the center works with faculty members on their research projects. The Center helps researchers, sometimes supplying them with video equipment, either stationary for studio work or portable for on-the-spot cover age, to use in their work. It also helps

Center, operating a camera video machine, Bernie Gurewich adjusts the contrast and brightness before the picture is actually on the tape.

«*] ■m^\
J:
J:

Right, Doug Dunning monitors the video tape machine, checking for quality and sound levels.

^

14

by Debbie Moses 79

faculty members buy and maintain whatever machinery they may need
for production.
"To get a program on the air takes a lot of time and planning," Watkins asserts. "It is possible though for us to do a job on short notice." Usually a group or an organization will come in with a rough idea for a show. To
gether, the show's producers and studio staff will spend most of their time in the pre-programming stageswriting scripts, deciding formats, sched uling, budgeting, even deciding
whether television is the best method
to communicate the desired message.
A producer can choose between video
tape and 16 mm film in color or black and white. He or she will also be able
to select from several possible formats: dramatizations, on location mini-docu mentaries, animation, or interview
situations.
People using the ETV Center pay for the use of its services. The price depends on the scope of the pro-

duction, the equipment used, the project's complexity and the amount of money available. Government grants or national foundations sponsor many of the Center's productions. Also, Cooperative Extension supports the making jf many public service an
nouncements. The films and video
tapes, after they are produced, can either be rented or bought for a spe cific price.
The ETV Center can be working on a half dozen to eighteen separate projects simultaneously, so it has a fairly large carrying capacity. "At one time," Watkins describes, "we can have four different operations at work-
the studio could be in use for a tele
vision taping, someone could be out on location with a portable camera, our small format operation might be in use, and someone could be working with the audio equipment."
"The Cornell campus has been slow
to accept television in the classroom," says Watkins, "but the number of

our productions is steadily increasing.
Over the past two years, our staff and
equipment have been as busy as they
were over the past six years combined.
We're doing a lot more and people are becoming much more aware of the
range of services the Center can pro vide."
Right now only two buildings on
campus are hooked up to the ETV Center's closed circuit system-Baker Lab and Martha Van Rensselaer. Un
fortunately, there are logistical problems involved in getting a TV signal from one building to another on campus. In spite of this, it is predicted that sooner or later, television will serve the
whole campus on closed circuit.
ETV is basically a service organiza tion, serving both the state and the campus. It is becoming more apparent as time goes by that television is a means of easily communicating knowl edge and information and the Edu cational Television Center is proving
that.

15

KAREL HUSA

by David Domeshek 79

Composing by Cayuga's Waters

Karel Husa - composer, conductor
and Cornell professor - had just re turned from a trip to Baltimore the
previous day. "No, I didn't get to see the lacrosse
game against Johns Hopkins," came the reply to an obvious question. "But I still managed an injury. I stepped off an elevator a little funny and seem to have done something to my back."
He eased himself into a plain wooden
chair and began thumbing through
some papers. The office on the second floor of Lincoln Hall was furnished
sparsely, but functionally. The only light in the office just then was that which came pouring in through the large naked window overlooking the
Arts Quad.
"Here is some biographical informa tion you may want," Husa said, hand
ing over a large folder. Much of the material - reviews of his compositions or performances (often both), or per sonal profiles that begin: 'Karel Husa was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia on August 7, 1921. . ." - was re printed from newspapers and maga
zines over the past 10 years. That is not to say, of course, that
Karel Husa was not active in music
before this period. In fact, his musical
education dates back to when he was
eight years old and his parents gave him a violin for Christmas. At 13, he began studying piano.
As a child, however, music was not Husa's professional goal. "Like most

kids, I didn't always want to practice," he recalls. "I was going to be a civil engineer, but when the Nazi occupation came, they closed all the technical
schools." Music, then, became Husa's voca
tion, more by default than anything
else. The Nazis allowed the music
schools to remain open, so during 1940-41, Husa studied privately in preparation for the entrance examina tions at the Prague Conservatory of Music. He graduated with a master's degree in 1945, having composed over
the course of his four years at the
conservatory two major works - his first published composition, the Sona tina for Piano, Opus 1 (1943) and an overture for large orchestra (1944),
his master's thesis.
Husa then went on to study at the
Academy of Musical Arts in Prague for a year before moving to Paris in 1946. There, he studied composition under Arthur Honegger and Nadia Boulanger, and conducting with Andre Cluytens, Eugene Bigot and Jean
Fournet at the Ecole Normale de
Musique and Conservatoire Nationale.
Paris remained Husa's home for
eight years, during which time he pro duced several major compositions and maintained a rigorous conducting schedule. By 1954, however, he real ized that some sort of change was necessary in order to continue doing the things he wanted under less pres
sure. When an offer came from Cornell
for a three-year position on the Uni versity faculty, Husa gladly accepted.
"Some composers take university jobs as a necessary source of income, but don't particularly like it," he says. "I, on the other hand, really enjoy be ing in a university, surrounded by stu dents with such inquiring minds."
Husa's three-yar hitch at Cornell has now stretched to 23, and he gives no indication of growing tired of it.

"There was some reorganization several
years ago, and I gave up conducting the Cornell Symphony to allow more time for composing and traveling," he
says. "I had the orchestra for 19 years,
and enjoyed it the whole time. I like the enthusiasm of young players."
One gets the impression that this grandfatherly gentleman has no con cept of himself as anything other than
a kid out of school (with a bit of prac
tical experience under his belt). He enjoys being surrounded with the vitality and energy of youth, and sees the young people as his peers.
In discussing his compositions, Husa speaks of "writing pure music in proven forms." He distinguishes between two general philosophies of art - classical
and romantic.
"Classical style is 'art for art,' and
is characterized by an emphasis on style. Romanticism is essentially 'art for expression' and places more of an emphasis on ideas." Wthin this frame work, Husa describes himself as a romantic, and feels that 'most of the
movements in the last 10 years are
essentially romantic." As a student, Husa says he was
influenced by the composers of the day, such as Bartok, Stravinsky and Schonberg. The American composer
Charles Ives also "started to intrigue" Husa while he was studying in Paris.
"I work more by evolution than by revolution," he adds. "I combine new techniques that exist today with
the traditional forms." As the winner of the 1969 Pulitzer
Prize for Music for his String Quartet #3, and a renowned conductor world wide, Karel Husa has made an impor tant mark on contemporary music.
That Cornell is the fortunate bene
ficiary of much of his talent should be appreciated by both musicians and
non-musicians alike.

16

by Renni Altman 79
How many guest speakers were in
vited to address the Cornell community this past year? Attempting to answer this question is virtually impossible. One of the assets of a prestigious uni versity such as Cornell is its ability to attract many renowned speakers from
all over the world. The Andrew D. White Center for the Humanities is an
organization whose responsibilities in
clude the coordination and sponsor
ship of speakers for Cornell. The Center runs several programs, including the
Society for Humanities and a Distin
guished Visitors Program.
"The Society for Humanities was
established at Cornell University in
1966 to encourage and support re
search and imaginative teaching in the
humanities. It is intended to be at
once a research institution, an experi
ment in education, and a continuing
society for scholars."
This aim, as described in a brochure
about the society, has become a reality.
Each year the society invites selected
Fellows to spend a year at Cornell to
give seminars and to do research.
There are three categories of Fellow ships, each lasting one year: Senior Fellows, who are very distinguished scholars from other institutions; Junior Fellows, who are postdoctoral scholars from other institutions; and Faculty
Fellows from Cornell. Senior and Junior
Fellows are elected by the Cornell Humanities Council, which is composed of Cornell faculty members. Faculty Fellows, in order to prevent any bias, are elected by an External Advisory Board composed of distinguished professors from other institutions.
The seminars given by the Fellows last throughout the year and are some
what unusual and different from Cornell
courses. Their subject matter is closely related to the Fellows' research. After the Fellow's term, the results of his or her research at Cornell are usually Published. In 1975, for example, Pro fessor Isaac Kramnick published his book The Rage Of Edmund Burke, based on research and writing done while he was a Fellow.

Last spring Henry Steele Com-
mager, one of America's re
nowned historians, lectured at
Cornell.

A CENTER
for
SPEAKERS
The idea, as expressed by the Director of the Humanities Center, Professor Michael Kammen, "of bringing to Cornell people of various fields to contribute to the community" is further illustrated in the Distinguished Visitors Program. It provides an opportunity to invite guest speakers to Cornell for only a brief period of time. The Center may sponsor a speaker on its own, or,
as is more common, it co-sponsors the
speaker with the appropriate depart
ment.
Over the past year this program
brought a wide range of speakers to Cornell, including Marcus Cunliffe,
Professor of American Studies at
Sussex University in England, and Professor Charles Segal of the Depart ment of Classics at Brown University. One of the year's highlights was the lecture given by Henry Steele Commager, one of the most distinguished historians in America today.

Once or twice a year the Center
sponsors a major symposium in which
a number of scholars are invited to
Cornell to participate in a series of in
tensive discussions of an issue. Last
year the topic was "The Crisis in Britain" and featured such speakers as Britain's
former Prime Minister Edward Heath
and the Rt. Hon. Barbara Castle. In
some instances in the past the results of the symposium were published, as in the case of the book entitled The
Morality of Scholarship, written by Northrop Frye, Stuart Hampshire, and Conor Cruise O'Brien, all of whom were participants in the 1966 sym posium.
This year's selection of speakers has already been done. Some of the wellknown speakers expected to come to Cornell are Helen North, head of the classics department at Swarthmore College; Daniel Bell, professor of sociology at Harvard University; Wallace Stegnor, Pulitzer Prize winning novel ist; and Victor Weisskopf, a physicist and President of the American Academy
of Arts and Sciences.
A change in direction is expected
for the Center in the near future. "Dur
ing the last decade," stated Prof. Kammen, "the selection of scholars hinged on the availability of people and suggestions made in an eclectic way by members of the faculty." Beginning in
the 1979-80 academic year a theme will be selected by the Humanities Council, which will in turn shape the
choice of Fellows, most of the visiting lecturers and symposia. One goal of this plan is to have a major report or book published at the end of the year
based on the theme.
The proposed plan will give more shape and intellectual accountability
to the Center. It will serve to tie to
gether the different programs to make
them more useful. The Center will
then be even more capable of ful filling its goal of serving the Cornell community.

17

What has 205 softball games, 185 volleyball games, 69 badminton
matches, 60 box lacrosse games, and 58 horseshoe matches all in one week?
The intramural program at Cornell University does. Headed by Alan Gantert and assistant Maria West, the intramural program here at Cornell has grown to be one of the most extensive and best in the country. Intramurals
are organized sports in which Cornell
students compete with each other.
Distinguished from the interscholastic competition occurring between colleges and required physical education, intra
murals offer Cornellians a chance to
play sports among themselves. A large proportion of the students participate in the sports. Straight statistics show more than 19,000 participants during the 1976-77 season. This figure, how
ever, has duplicates. Explains Gantert,
"That number probably represents about 7,000 different students." Aside from the high degree of student in volvement, the diversity of offerings is
another point which distinguishes Cornell's program. Twenty-one activities
are organized for intramural competition. With everything offered from horse
shoes to football, there is probably an
intramural sport for most any taste.
Contrary to how it seems today,
this diversity in both offerings and student participation was not always the case. As a matter of fact, until only four years ago, when Gantert joined
then assistant West as director of the

CORNELL FOR YOUR BODY

as well as your mind

by Lynn Levidy 78

program, there were virtually no intra mural sports for women. It seems to
have been one of those cases where
no one knew who was supposed to be including them. The former director
felt that women's intramurals should
be run by the women's physical edu cation staff while they acted as though the responsibility rested with the intra mural office. Gantert explains, "Al though the former director didn't feel it was part of his job, I logically in
cluded women as part of this office's responsibility."
Aided by two students, then, intra murals were opened to females about four years ago. At about the same time,
West initiated the formation of coed
teams. "In each year since intramurals
were first offered to women there has
been a 33 to 50 percent increase in participants for every sport they're active in," says Gantert.

When asked if Title IX, the equality in sports provision, applies to intra murals, Gantert replies, "Sure it does,
but we got ahead of it." Before the enactment of the legislation which made equality in athletics mandatory, the intramural office was already prac ticing it. Any of the sports offered are open to women's teams. Gantert elaborates that there is an economic
and logistics consideration, however.
There is a minimum number of teams
which must register in order for West to schedule a given sport, and this limitation applies to anyone. This ex plains why there is not yet any women's football or wrestling competition.
Competition-there is a key word in sports. It seems that here, too, the intramural program offers something for just about every taste. At one end of the spectrum, in Gantert's words, "Intramural sports give people who

Intramural ice hockey teams com
pete in Lynah Rink, often skating until all hours of the night.

Cross country running (top right) is
one of the many intramural sports
offerings which hold a life-long interest for participants.

18

can't be on a varsity team for one
reason or another the option of play
ing their sport, the one they excel in, on a competitive level." This attitude
is particularly apparent in some fra ternities who really strive to get the
"All-Sports Champion" trophy at the
year's end. Gantert hypothesizes that
this high fraternity involvement is due
to a "tradition of competition." Most
even have an elected athletic director
with one of his main responsibilities
being the organization of intramural
competition. Gary Roberts, 77, team
member of many independent teams,
exemplifies this side of the spectrum.
"Independent teams win a lot of sports because we can get a bunch of ringers." As a transfer, Roberts could not play soccer, his former varsity sport, "But I needed a competitive outlet. . .and it was intramural sports."
On the other side of this attitude
scale are those who use intramurals
as a way to relax, rather than to add another competitive element. Gantert
believes, "The coed teams are more for recreation." Many of the women's teams are plagued by "no-shows" and subsequent forfeits, also indicating a
less competitive attitude. Martha Bon-
thuis, '80, who is in charge of intra murals for a sorority, feels this is be cause, "Sports are not encouraged and there is no feeling of team commit
ment. Because the teams don't pracf'ce, the play is low quality. The games
are relaxing and enjoyable, but rarely
•nvigorating and exhausting." Perhaps
fhis attitude will change to a more

serious one as the numbers of women's
teams increase.
With the Faculty Council of Repre sentatives' decision last spring to reduce the physical education requirement from four semesters to two perhaps
the role of intramurals will increase.
This will not be felt as much in a mere
increase in participants, but as one of the few sources of encouragement to students to get exercise on their own. Most of the sports themselves are not
physically demanding according to Gantert, "but they do provide good incentive." Without required physical education, this incentive will become more important. Along with this comes the advantage that intramurals are the
kinds of sports which one can "take
through life" as pastimes. Further more, time spent in preparation for the matches increases the degree of viable physical exercise provided by the program. Managers at Lynah Rink explain that ice time is often sold out to intramural ice hockey teams who practice between games. Intramurals help students realize that along with
a commitment to one's studies comes
a commitment to one's body. In view of the increased budgetary
woes which are being felt by Cornell as a whole, is there any chance of economic pressure filtering into the intramural department? Definitely not. Mainly because, as Gantert put it, "It's an inexpensive program, so they won't cut it. And even if it was costly, there is enough student interest that
it wouldn't be cut." Funds for the

program come from various sources.
Originally, the physical education and intramural departments were under one budget. One of Gantert's first actions
as director was to separate the two
budgets to find that his office has about $42,000 with which to work. At two dollars per participant, that is
low cost entertainment. With more and
more games every year, the staff is
trying some new ways to stay within that budget. One method they dis
covered was to eliminate the referees in softball. Since softball season hits
about the same time as spring fever and a lot of people get outside to play, a significant savings is made. There are some events where special super
visors are needed such as cross country
skiing and ice hockey.
All in all, the future of a great intra
mural program is secure here at
Cornell. Gantert and West, along with their team of student supervisors, are
in touch with the diverse interests and
abilities of Cornellians and have tailored
an intramural program which meets
and can change with those needs. As
can be expected from one so closely
involved with sports, Gantert feels,
"The more for athletics, the better."
Because of this philosophy, the intra
mural staff is always thinking of pos
sible additions or modifications for the
program. Gantert would like to add
tennis since it is so popular, but due
to Ithaca's weather and limited court
space cannot schedule it. Indoor courts do not seem to be in Cornell's future.
Another of Gantert's interests is water
polo, but the difficulty of getting pool time is forcing him to shelve that idea,
for awhile. One of the intramural staff's
interests which did come to life during
the past four years is the now popular
box lacrosse offering.
So every year, all the freshmen will continue to get "The Cornell University
Handbook of Intramurals." If they de cide to participate, they may find as
one of last spring's graduates found, "Intramurals were a big part of my Cornell experience. (He played on as
many as six teams at once.) Intra
murals give students a great chance for something besides academics."

19

m ATRICULATING
OIVl^ by Lynn Shannon 78

Why would a middle-aged woman
with a family consider going back to
school? What is it like for her if she does? What is there for her in the way
of challenge and social growth when she gets there, and what sort of an
effect does the transition have on her
family? These are just a few of the questions raised by a study on married women in college, conducted recently by Cornell researchers. The answers were explored through some careful psychological research and a study of 30 middle-aged women who recently returned to school in a community college in upstate New York. All parti cipants in the study were between the ages of thirty and forty years old, and
all were or had been married for ap
proximately thirteen years. Researchers Patricia M. Donley and
Professor John Condry of Human Development and Family Studies in the College of Human Ecology hoped to discover how the college experience
contributed to the women's sense of
self and self-accomplishment and to provide some insight into a psycho logical theory of female adulthood. Only recently have researchers begun to explore human development beyond adolescence, but with more and more

mothers working, and more women choosing careers instead of families, the time has come to analyze the old role patterns, and the effects on both mother and family of the new
ones.
Reasons for returning to school are varied. Karen Allen, a working mother
of two, started out several years ago
taking courses at a community college, and is now both working and taking courses at Cornell. Although she did not participate in this study, her rea sons for matriculating parallel many of those expressed in the study. "As the kids entered high school," she be gan, "I realized that they weren't going to be around forever. I said to myself, 'Hey lady, you'd better get your act together and work toward a more viable career than typing.' "
The "viable career" looming off in the future is only one of the appeals of higher education. Study data revealed that personal gratification derived from
achievement in academics was the
single most important rewarding re sult of returning to school. Exposure to new ideas, increased knowledge, and social relationships with other stu dents also proved very valuable.
Although women returning to school

Karen Allen discusses her return to school during a busy day at the graduate center where she is a secretary.

are often stereotyped as not being "good mothers" or not really loving
their children, the study concluded that these stereotypes are inaccurate and unfair. Women interviewed made a very clear distinction between the mother and housewife roles. Children were loved and valued by all, but the majority found homemaking responsi bilities at best tolerable, and at worst
boring and stagnating. What's more, the women in the study actually noticed
benefits in their home lives. "Com
munication with families improved and their children became more responsible
and independent." Allen emphatically agrees. "A few
years ago we got together and worked out a system for sharing household responsibilities and it has worked out
well."
But returning to school is not with out its problems and sacrifices. Aca
demic pressures and the additional
responsibilities that go along with them are seen as the big problems.
Approximately one-third of the women in the study expressed guilt as a result of neglecting some chores associated with the previously accepted mother/wife role. Although there seemed a trend toward general relax ation of standards for housekeeping tasks, women still had the major re sponsibility. Despite the setbacks, no one expressed regrets about returning
to school.
Perhaps this is due to the support
women received from many areas.
Husbands were the major source of
needed support in cases where mar
riages were intact. This support was supplemented by friends and relatives. Still, many women in the study ex pressed concern about negative effects upon their marriages.
The type of institution attended had a significant effect on the feelings of satisfaction they gained in returning to school. Since the community college is reasonable in cost, fairly close to home, and class size is small, it is ap propriate for mothers with families.
With all of these advantages, it is
no wonder that more and more women
are returning to the classroom.

MAKING RESEARCH RELEVANT

by Chris Bingham, Grad
Today, when much valuable research
is being done, why is it that so little is utilized by those who can really benefit from it?
Finding the answer to this important
question concerns Communication
Arts Professor Njoku Awa who has
just completed the second segment of a three part study into research
utilization and communication linkages
between scientists and rural farmers.
A recent article which appeared in
the March/ April issue of the Journal
of Extension described the fact-finding
study by Awa and his assistant, L.
Van Crowder, Jr. in Lewis County,
N.Y., located in the North Country
region of the state. Specifically, the purposes of the study were to identify
1) the principal communication chan
nels used by Lewis County dairy
farmers, 2) the farmers' perceptions of
Cooperative Extension's credibility and
3) socioeconomic characteristics of
the farmers that might have a bearing on their relationship with Extension.
"Research is always worthwhile pro vided it gives insight into perennial problems or generates new knowledge. But what is the significance of social inquiries if people don't use the results?" explained Awa.
By discovering the factors hindering
communication with farmers and then
devising strategies to insure an ef ficient, two-way message flow within
the information dissemination system, Awa hopes to bridge the gap between
knowledge producers and knowledge
users. The results of the research are
expected to be particularly useful to the New York State Cooperative Ex tension Service which currently oc cupies a major linking role in informa tion dissemination.
Awa based his research on the
Two-Communities" theories of com
munication which propose the ex
istence of a gap between social sci
entists (knowledge producers) and rural farmers (knowledge users).
These two communities or sub

Extension leader George Field (left) and Professor Awa (center) interview dairy farmer, Kenneth Theobald.

systems essentially form two distinct worlds," explained Awa. "The impli cation is that they would probably
communicate at cross-purposes if left to their own devices."
For this reason, Awa emphasized the importance in his work of immersing himself in the rural community of Lewis County to learn as much as possible about its residents' expecta tions, values and belief orientations.
The study in Lewis County has gen erated some interesting findings as a result of Awa's careful planning and design. The study clearly pointed to the diversity of sources and commu nication channels through which farmers seek agricultural information.
"Our findings show that Lewis County dairy farmers do not depend
on any one source but instead try to
gather as much agricultural information as possible. Clearly, some sources fill
the farmer's needs better than others
but all are recognized as potentially
useful. The farmers interviewed emerge as 'rational information seekers' who
rely on both the mass media and inter personal networks for farm-oriented information," Awa concluded.
Print media, magazines especially,
were found to be both the most im
portant and the most convenient source
for area agricultural information. While
radio and newspapers were of some
importance (e.g., weather reports, timeliness and 'localness'), television

was found to be insignificant as a
vehicle for information dissemination.
Interpersonal farmer networks were found to be the most important refer ence group for the farmers; Cooper ative Extension agents and commercial
agents were secondary sources. Awa
also learned that while farmers tend
to rely more on commercial agents for agricultural information, they over
whelmingly choose Extension agents when there are conflicting reports.
The study indicated that, in general, Extension serves as only one of many
communication links in the knowledge
dissemination process. "Extension agents should focus their
efforts on identifying and providing information to primary sources. Ex tension professionals have an important role in educating farm leaders, supply ing dealers with appropriate literature and working with the media to effec tively diffuse information in rural com munities," Awa said.
Through his work, Prof. Awa has given us valuable information on how best to provide farmers and other rural residents with information perti nent and meaningful to them. More importantly, he has focused our at tention on one idea that has long been overlooked: the need to bring closer together those who generate knowledge and those who make use of it, the need, in other words, to make re
search relevant.

21

Backgammon as a dice game involv ing both strategy and luck in con
tests played for fun as well as profit.

by Robin Feiner 78

Gammoned Again!

"The first time I ever saw it played
was six years ago on a steamer in the
Sea of Galilee. . ."
Backgammon. Up until a few years ago, it was almost exclusively played in the Middle East by men in public coffee houses, excepting various Euro
pean gambling oases. Now, a mere half a millenium since its inception,
the Eastern board game appears to be
catching fire in many parts of the
United States. Aside from its appear
ance in bars and living rooms every where, its popularity can be measured in dollars of backgammon paraphernalia sold every day.
". . .and I never saw it again until I came to Cornell three years later," remembers Barney Lerner, 79, mem ber of the Cornell Backgammon Club.
Like many such cultural exports, tawula, the Arabic word for back
gammon which literally means table, is filtering in largely through American colleges. Random dormitory perusals reveal that Cornell University is cer tainly no exception. When the libraries have gone to bed for the night, but the students are not quite ready to do the same, backgammon is fast be coming the logical answer.
Since starting last fall, the Cornell Backgammon Club has been meeting one night per week for a few hours

of serious backgammon play in Noyes Center. Complimentary Pub drinks during these hours have not done
much to inhibit the club's member
ship, which is comprised mostly of students, a few local residents, a former Noyes Center cook, a custodian and a Cornell professor of education. According to the club's president and founder, Brian Kortis, '80, most of the 40 members are true backgammon enthusiasts, while a few seem less interested in playing than in social izing. "One of our members hasn't played a single game yet; she comes, orders a pitcher of beer, laughs it up, and leaves. Once I taught her how to play, but I'll bet she forgot."
Someone explained backgammon's newfound place on the American social scene as "snob appeal;" that it
was a cinch to catch on in the United
States once it hit various strategic Western European gambling circles. But just what is it about the game that makes it so universally appealing?
Here are some student responses.
"It doesn't require nearly as much
skill and concentration as chess-
there's too much pure dice involved." "It's a new way to attract men
when I get out of college, since not everybody knows how to play it yet."
"It never gets boring- you can

change the rules and play all different variations of the game besides AceyDeucey, the best-known one. Like last night, we played with cheating allowed, as long as you weren't caught."
"It's perfect to sit with a friend, sip wine, and play backgammon."
"I can gamble at it without feeling
like a degenerate. The mood is thick carpet and cocktails rather than a
hanging lightbulb and cigar smoke-
even in South Baker."
"You don't have to gamble. It's
fun to play for the sake of playing."
Mitch Sparer, '81, incoming presi
dent of the backgammon club on
campus, is a self-professed hopeless
gambler. "I win until I play for money." Brian Kortis admits he plays for Reese's
Peanut Butter Cups.
Most students, it seems, either
don't gamble at backgammon at all, or play for very small stakes. On the other hand, there are always those few
who live closer to the fringe than to
the conventional- who tend toward
the compulsive. Roger Low, formerly Roger Low, Engineering 79, took an
indefinite leave of absence because
he was literally obsessed with the game. During his freshman year he continually pulled all-nighters working out backgammon probabilities rather than problem sets, and played for
hours at a time with whomever he
could, often resorting to himself. Oc casionally he studied as a backgammon
break. As a result his wallet was con
siderably more attractive than his Cornell transcript, and he has since gone on to become a World Master
travelling and playing with Paul Magriel
who writes a backgammon column for
the New York Times.
Is backgammon here to stay? Most students seem to think it is, and that
it's not just a craze. As Barney Lerner aptly puts it, "Backgammon obviously won't remain on magazine editors lists for possible feature articles, but as long as there's someone around who plays, I'll never give it up."

22

COUNTRYMAN CAPSULES

Changes in the College
W. Keith Kennedy, Ph.D '47 dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences since 1972, has been ap
pointed Cornell provost. Kennedy suc
ceeds David C. Knapp, who is leaving to become president of the University of Massachusetts.
Kennedy has been a member of the University faculty since 1949. In ad dition to being dean for the past six years, he was vice provost from 1 967 to 1972, associate dean of the ag col lege from 1965 to 1967 and director of research and of the Agricultural Ex periment Station from 1959 to 1965. Prior to that he was professor of agron
omy.
James W. Spencer, professor of agricultural engineering and associate dean of the College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences since 1973 has
been appointed special assistant to
President Frank Rhodes for one year.
Spencer will be helping the University make objective decisions which will bring Cornell into financial equilibrium.
As associate dean, Spencer has been actively involved in the admin istration of the College's annual oper ating budget of some $41 million as well as monitoring selection and pro motion of more than 450 faculty.
Joan Roos Egner Ed.D. '65 has been appointed associate dean of the
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Egner came to Cornell in 1965 as
an assistant professor in the Depart ment of Education. She was named associate professor in 1969 and pro fessor of education administration in 1977. In January of 1977 Egner was appointed Associate Director of the office of Research and Associate Di rector of the Agricultural Experiment
Station, a position she had held on a temporary basis in 1974-75.
A graduate of State College at
Stroudsberg, Pennsylvania, Egner
earned her M.Ed, at Pennsylvania
State University and her Ed.D at Cornell.

Stimming Scholarship
Established
A $500 William H. Stimming Scholarship honoring the late leading
New York State florist of Newark
Valley has been established at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
The sum will be awarded each year to
a student majoring in floriculture and
ornamental horticulture based on
character, need, academic ability and promise for future leadership in the
fie'H
$30,000 Research Fund
Frances C. Reilly, president of the RA-PID-GRO Corporation in Dansville, N.Y., has given $30,000 to the De
partment of Floriculture and Orna
mental Horticulture to support research
in foliar feeding. The gift will be named the Thomas and Frances Reilly Fund for Teaching and Research in Plant Nutrition in honor of Reilly and her late husband, Thomas, founder of RAPID-GRO and early advocate of foliar feeding.
Kodak Scholarships Awarded to Eight
Elizabeth H. Beers, 79, James E. Blankenship, 79, Mary E. Lyons, 79, Brian J. Martinell, 79, all plant science majors, and communication arts majors Debra A. Kishinsky, 79, and Debbie G. Moses, 79, have been
awarded scholarships through a grant from the Eastman Kodak Company. The grant comes from the company's plan that supports colleges and uni versities from which its employees
graduated.
Tree to Honor Alumnus
An oak tree has been donated to
the ag college quadrangle in memory of Harry Bull, by members of his family.
Bull, a member of the first College short course in 1893, was a founding director of the Dairymen's League and G.L.F. (now Agway). As president of the New York State Agricultural Society he served on the University Board of Trustees.

A NEW DEAN
David L. Call, B.S. '54, M.S. '58, Ph.D. '60, has been officially ap pointed acting dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cor nell University. He succeeds W. Keith Kennedy, who left the deanship earlier this summer to become University Pro vost. Call is intimately acquainted with many aspects of Cornell University. After serving as an assistant professor at Michigan State University from 1960-62, he returned to Cornell as the
H.E. Babcock Professor of Food Eco
nomics in the Graduate School of
Nutrition, where he taught courses in
food economics. His research centered
on the analysis of government food and nutrition programs; factors causing changes in nutrition and food con sumption, and acceptance of food analogs and substitutes. Since 1973,
Call has served as the director of New
York Cooperative Extension in the Col lege. Says Call, "Much of my life - as a student and professionally - has been devoted to Cornell University." He describes the deanship as the high point in his career.
Loan Collection Officer Hired.
Richard W. Banks, 74, has been appointed as loan collection officer for
Cornell University and has toughened its loan administration procedures in an attempt to decrease delinquency and default by student borrowers.

23

Acquisitions Div.
Mann Library

DEAN BAILEY

one of
Cornells

A few of us are alive, able to punish a typewriter and more than willing to voice our high esteem of one of the
GREAT men of Cornell. He was Emeritus when our class, '18-'22, was in residence. He came back to give regular lectures in either Bailey Hall or in the old auditorium in
Roberts Hall.
We all knew when it was announced, on the common

great ones bulletin board in Roberts Hall, that Dean Bailey would speak we were sure that in whatever auditorium he spoke, the

place would be filled to overflowing. He would appear at any rostrum with no fanfare. Always the place was quiet, "as

still as a mouse," before he began to speak. He did not have to worry about electronic devices to spread his voice
out in a monotonous tone over an assembled crowd. His

voice had a golden thread which wove its way through every
word. The tone was soft. The manner was sure. We all knew m

by Edmund Northrup Moot '22

of his prestige in his chosen field, throughout the world. Many of us had learned that at the "at home" get-togethers which his devoted daughter organized down in Sage Place.

When the Dean spoke in the small auditorium in Roberts

The Penner of Pinewald

Hall there were many who stood outside in the halls just to get some word of inspiration from his mental offerings. I usually sat in the aisle. There was no coughing nor clearing

of cigarette-irritated throats. No group of two or more people

kept mumbling even when he first started to talk. The word

RESPECT had a deep meaning. His flowing white mane of

hair did not induce emotional co-eds to squeal in ecstasy.

Every male in the room looked at this man with a deep per

sonal regard. Here was a GREAT MAN, to be idolized.

He never scolded. He set such high goals for individual

achievement that no one EXTRAPOLATED the ethics he

represented or the economic standards which he espoused. Those who were disciples of Whitman knew what Whit

man meant when he indicated that the best education was

purposeful when it involved one man and one lad sitting on a log, whittling.

The small books which Dean Bailey published under the

one important printing company label of that time are almost sacred possessions of those of us who could purchase them
at that time in the old famous CO-OP.
Many of us have attempted to guide our lives, in this rock and roll age, by the steady impetus he gave us in those leetures which have never been recorded on tape. TOO BAD.

Portrait of Liberty Hyde Bailey hangs in Mann Library
as a reminder to students and
faculty of one of the College's
great figures.

New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of the State University, at Cornell University

hiliS 'tYUOffl

CORNELL

COUNTRYMAN

VOL. LXXVI

NOVEMBER, 19"

Jt

'm
A BIG FRIENDS
for little kids . . . Page 10
51 W.
f-

■ .*»

CORNELL COUIMTRYMAIM NOVEMBER 1978 VOLUME LXXVI - Number 2

EDITORS:
Paul Green
Mary McDonald
Lena H. Sun
ASSISTANT EDITORS:
Katherine Kalaf
Mary A. Maxon
ART EDITORS:
Mark Smith Debbie Swinehart Shari Watchman
PHOTO EDITOR: Patti Moy
EDITORIAL STAFF: Rob Bernstein, Ed Hardy, Pat Lyons, Carie Leigh Middleton, Priscilla L. Nissi, Karen Green Thau, Byron Widger, Evelyn Wilkens.

CONTENTS
3. Getting Rid of The Deadwood by Katherine Kalaf 79 4. Nothing But Treble by Mary McDonald 78 6. Cascadilla Hall - From The Beginning by Ed Hardy 79 8. Students on The Campaign Trail by Paul Green '80 9. More Representatives For Alumni by Mary a. Maxon 79 10. Big Friends For Little Kids by Bryon Widger 79
12. A Tribute to Greatness by Rob Bernstein 79
14. Recognition Is Their Goal by Shari Watchman 79 16. Chew Garlic and Stay Healthy by Lena h. Sun 79
18. In a Stew Over Insects by Debbie Swinehart 79 20. Beebe Makes a Comeback by Carie Leigh Middleton '80
22. A Cloned Corsage? by Priscilla L. Nissi 79

Picture Credits: Cover - Bruce Cris
pell; p. 3 - Ed Hardy; p. 4, 5 - Sue Ann Miller; p. 6, 7 - Ed Hardy, Cornell
Archives; p. 8 - K Karpen; p. 9 Bruce Talmage; p. 10, 11 - Bruce
Crispell, Sol Goldberg; p. 12, 13 - Sol Goldberg, Harold Loveless; Olympic Games, Athletic Department; p. 14, 15, 22 - Patti Moy; p. 16, 17 - LaMedicine
Chinoise, Fernand Criqui, John Keys; p. 18, 19 - Debbie Swinehart; p. 20, 21 - Kevin McCarthy; p. 21, Back
Cover - Media Services.

ABOUT THE COVER
Big and little brothers enjoying them selves at a Christmas party. The Big Brother/ Big Sister program takes
Ithaca youngsters and makes them little brothers or sisters to volunteer
students.

The Cornell Countryman is published seven times a year from October through
May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cornell University,
Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853.
Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription Rates: $2.50 a year; $4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content gathered and written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors:
Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

Getting Rid of the DEAD WOOD

by Katherine Kalaf 79

Why is this Course Required?

A frequent complaint of students
in the N.Y. State College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences is: "Why is this a
required course for me? It has nothing
to do with my field of interest."
Throughout their college careers,
students find themselves struggling
through courses which they have been
required to take to fulfill certain man
dates of the College, but otherwise
would not have taken. In many cases students feel that these courses are
not relevant to the majors they selected. When I spoke to students about
this issue, I found a common reaction
to taking these courses. Because of a lack of interest, students claim they
tend to seek out the easiest way to
slide through their required courses. Their aim is to pass while doing the
least amount of work possible. The old saying "you get out of it what you put into it" holds true in this case.
1 view this common reaction not
only as a waste of money but a waste of time as well. Instead of toying with a required course in which there is no real interest on the student's part, the same student could be participating in
a course which would further his or
ner career goals. One student pointed out that the requirements are the same f°r each student in the ag college. S|nce each student differs from the ne*t, why are the requirements not

altered to meet the individual student's
needs?
Since I had many of the same
questions, my curiosity took me one step further - to the administration for their point of view and possibly some answers. According to Ruth K. Stanton, Registrar for the ag college, the faculty are responsible for estab lishing course requirements. The re quirements are selected because "the main intent for having the required
course is to enable students to leave
Cornell with a well-rounded education."
Although requirements were even
more extensive two years ago, Stanton
said the faculty "feels the present requirements are sufficient in prevent ing students from limiting themselves
to one area of interest."
Now knowing the faculty are re sponsible for making the requirements, I went next to a faculty member for his point of view about these requirements.
In response to the issue, Prof. Chester H. Freeman, chairman of the communi cation arts department and a former editor of the Cornell Countryman
said, "The College is called agriculture and life sciences, and all the require ments for the College do fall into the category of either agriculture or life
sciences."
Satisfied with the reasoning be hind the requirements, I was curious

to know how instructors felt when they
teach students with an obvious dis
interest in the course. After taking a required math course, I went to my instructor for the course, knowing
there was at least one student in the
course who did not want to be there.
I asked her how she felt about a stu
dent's lack of interest. Jere Confrey, grad, replied, "I find it to be a chal lenge to arouse an interest in the stu dents and show them they can get something out of the course." Confrey feels one way of doing this is to relate the course as much as possible to the everyday life of students.
After I had heard different view
points and suggestions, my personal feelings have changed from complain ing about required courses to a better understanding of the issue.
The problem of students sliding through seemingly irrelevant courses in the easiest way possible still re
mains. We must strive to motivate students who are inclined to take the
easy way out by providing them with
courses which will create an interest
as well as a challenge. One possible solution is to provide more extensive options in the requirements. Those
courses which appear to be irrelevant should be reviewed from year to year
to remove the deadwood, and in doing
so, replace it with new growth.
3

I? "Qth'ng

a member of the Cornell Chorus, they
felt that not enough of the female repertoire was being sung by that group. Rather, the Chorus was sing ing primarily with the Cornell Glee Club in major mixed works.
Nothing But Treble began to en large its repertoire during the spring

Jeffrey Rehbach, graduate student in musicology at Cornell, directs Nothing
But Treble.

The Cornell University campus is ringing with the sounds of one of the
finest entertainment groups in the area,
Nothing But Treble. (Oh, I see. . .very clever use of words there. It's all girls, right?) Nothing But Treble is a select
group of undergraduate women who
are members of the Cornell Women's
Chorus, a 100-voice ensemble under
the direction of Professor Thomas A.
Sokol of the Department of Music. NBT (as its members prefer to call
the group) was formed in the spring of 1976 by David Janower, '74, who handpicked the original members from an audition process involving interested
women in the Cornell Chorus. Jan
ower established the group primarily as an English madrigal a capella (with out accompaniment) choir, and the
group sang at a few Cornell functions that spring.
The next fall, NBT continued to flourish, and its members were quite devoted to putting in their time for the chance to sing all-female music. Al though each of these women was also

of 1977, due to a large increase in its
popularity on the campus. The group
added many songs which had a broader
appeal on the campus, and now this
repertoire includes such variety as
sacred songs, Cornell songs, barber
shop (in the style of the Sweet Adelines
choruses), novelty numbers and pop ular songs and English magrigals.
NBT is currently under the direction of Jeffrey Rehbach, grad, who serves
as assistant conductor of both the

Cornell Chorus and the Sage Chapel Choir, and is completing his Master's degree in musicology at Cornell. Reh bach says of the group, "It is a delight working with such talented singers who are capable of performing well a variety of musical styles."
The present members of NBT repre
sent a surprisingly varied cross-section of the Cornell community. In alpha betical order, they include: Debbie Bower, A &- LS '79, a recent transfer from the Rochester area; Susan Boyd, Eng. '81, from the Washington, D.C. area; Nanette Cooper, Arts '80, the only music major in the group; Chris tina Ekern, A & LS '79, from sunny Hawaii; Alice Freyer, Arts 79, active
as Cornell Women's Chorus manager;
Kay Glassey, Eng. '79, (That's funny! You don't look like an engineer!. . ."); Mary McDonald, A & LS '79, a Com munication Arts major; Jo Ann Minsker,
Rehbach's extensive musical ex
perience and ability combine with the
overall sound of the group to achieve
an excellent musical reputation for Nothing But Treble.

4

by Mary McDonald 79

A & LS '81, who holds the distinction of having the lowest voice in the group; Marsha Mortkowitz, Arts '79, from New Jersey; Betsy Murphy, Arts '80, who is currently NBT's business man ager; Diane Sawicki, A & LS '81, and one of our newest members; Andrea
Wells, Arts '81. Each of these girls was chosen
through a stiff audition process open
to all of the 100 women in the Cornell
Chorus. The girls were chosen on the basis of voice quality, tone, blending ability (it is extremely important in a
group as small as NBT to have voices
which blend together well), technical ability, sight-reading ability and gen
eral sound.
As Nothing But Treble is a relatively
new group on campus, it is in compe
tition for many of the jobs which have been traditionally performed by one of
the all-male groups on campus. These groups include the Cornell Glee Club
Hangovers and the Cornell Cayuga's
Waiters. In the past, these two male

Members of NBT include: (top) Betsy Murphy, '80, Jo Ann Minsker, '81, Mary McDonald, '79, (middle) Nanette Cooper, '80, Marsha Mortkowitz, '79, Sue Boyd, '81, Chris Ekern, '79, (bottom) Alice Freyer, '79, Debbie Bower, '79, Diane Sawicki, '81. Not pictured: Kay Glassey, '79, Andrea Wells, '81.

ensembles have provided virtually all of the entertainment for alumni jobs and Cornell functions. Now, however, NBT is providing an alternative for those clubs and organizations who want something different for their
entertainment.
Since its inception, NBT has per formed at fraternity house functions, alumni breakfasts, luncheons, dinners, sports banquets, Tammany Hall in Risley College, trustee functions, the Tompkins County Public Library, nursing homes, in the Ithaca Commons, Pyramid Mall, and other spots of in terest in both Ithaca and neighboring
Rehbach and Nothing But Treble climb up and "sing a few bars" for
Andrew Dickson White and the arts
guad.

towns, including Cornell Clubs of the
area. Perhaps the highlight thus far has
been the group's tour of Washington,
D.C. The girls traveled to Washington
last spring for a weekend excursion, singing at Georgetown University and other areas where tourists gather.
This January, NBT is going on a
tour of the southeast coast of the
United States, starting in Washington, D.C. and traveling down to Florida for two weeks, then back up again through New York City and back to Cornell. The group will be performing at Cor nell Clubs as well as major tourist areas on the tour. NBT has established a very good reputation for itself, and is extremely popular as a result. It looks as if this all-female group is here
to stay!

5

CASCADILLA - from th

by Ed Hardy 79

One crisp October morning in 1868,
the anxious applicants to Cornell's first freshman class gathered down town, on the steps of Ithaca's Cornell library. The results of their entrance exams were read, and the first 412
students were marched up Buffalo Street to Cascadilla Place. Perched on
the edge of a gorge, Cascadilla would
be home for most of the students and
faculty, and freshman president
Andrew D. White.
Construction began on Cascadilla in the mid-1 860's. Financed in part by Ezra Cornell, but organized by Samantha Nivison, the building was original ly intended to serve as a "water-cure" sanitarium. The waters of the nearby
gorge were believed to help cure
mental illness. But the state of the
nation's economy after the Civil War
and competition from Watkins Glen
facilities forced the sanitarium's down
fall. In 1867, the University agreed to finish the building and lease it from the original stockholders for $9,000 a year.

Cascadilla soon became the center
of campus life. It contained the dining facilities, administrative offices and a large parlor which could be used for dances or lectures. The president and some of the faculty lived on the lower floors. The students were relegated to the cramped fourth floor. Heat and running water were rare luxuries. In fact, the water system was so often
broken that outhouses were essential.
The building's first residents were not overjoyed with their accommoda tions. White termed it "an ill-ventilated,
ill-smelling, uncomfortable, ill-looking
almshouse." Goldwin Smith remarked
that the new campus's buildings could
only be redeemed by dynamite. Although Cornell was not originally
intended to be a military school, it was nevertheless run in that style.
Reveille sounded at five o'clock in the
morning during the fall and spring, and at six during the winter. After in spection, the student body, clad in
grey West Point-type uniforms, as

sembled at Cascadilla for breakfast.
The food had a reputation for being
very bad.
Conditions outside Cascadilla rivaled those inside. As late as the 1870's there were pig pens around the build ing. And when it rained there was mud everywhere.
But life was not without some plea sures for early Cornell students. Dur ing Cornell's first year seven fraternities were established; most met at various places downtown. And the Irving Liter ature Association was founded 13 days after the University opened. There were also some organized sports. Baseball was played on campus from the be ginning days. The field doubled as the Cornell family cow pasture. Toboggan ing down Buffalo Street was another favorite pastime.
The Cornell University Class of 1871 poses for its class picture. Many of these men lived in Cascadilla Hall.

It was claimed that, compared to others of their day, Cornell students
were very well behaved. But Cascadilla students created their share of
mischief. A Russian student left a pair of high boots outside his door one night with the mistaken impression they would be polished in the morning. Instead, when he awoke he found
Cascadilla Hall, as viewed from downtown Ithaca prior to the appearance
of private dwellings and apartments,

they had been filled with water and
were frozen solid. This was a minor
incident. In 1877, the outhouses at Cascadilla mysteriously burned down,
and the trustees had to offer a reward
for the "apprehension of the miscre-
ants."
One snowy, December night in 1868 the chimes rang wildly. Through the snow, Morrill Hall appeared to be engulfed in flames. When President White, Ezra Cornell and the volunteer fire company finally struggled to the

scene, they found that students had built a bonfire just below the lip of Libe Slope. This had convinced the town that the University was going
down in flames. (This story was drawn from Morris Bishop's, A History of Cornell.)
But, even though conditions at Cascadilla were not the best during the early days of Cornell, the students and faculty had a chance at an intimacy which is very hard to find today.

Students
on the
mmm m

D

by Paul Green '80

It seems everyone's mother has a friend who is active in local politics.
The stereotype of a volunteer cam
paign worker is a middle-aged lady who makes phone calls to people on
behalf of the candidate. But this is not the case in Ithaca, where some 40 Cornell students are an active part of
Democratic Congressman Matthew F. McHugh's election campaign.
"Matt likes (to have) as many stu
dents as possible-we expect them to help us out," said Richard Rodgers, '78, who, as Volunteer Coordinator for the campaign, controls the activi ties of the 1,000 McHugh volunteers.
He added that the number of Cornell
student volunteers this year surpassed
the 1974 and 1976 figures (McHugh
has served two terms as Congressman) as early as September and credited
this to a more "well organized and co ordinated" youth recruitment program
than in the past.
The success of the recruitment pro
gram has extended beyond Ithaca, however, to the far reaches of the 27th
Congressional District, which spans
across seven counties, from Tompkins County to the west to Ulster County to the east. Roughly 50 students from the State University of New York at Binghamton, New Paltz Community College, and Delhi technical institute have joined the McHugh machine. But
Cornell still boasts the most student volunteers.
Students are primarily concerned
with two functions: voter contact,
called canvassing, and office work.

Canvassing involves speaking to voters by phone or in their homes, and thus publicizing McHugh and his positions. But the students don't answer specific
voter questions, pointed out Rodgers. Instead, Joan Loehr contacts the Washington congressional office, and McHugh furnishes the reply.
Such functions may be "mundane," admitted Campaign Manager Joan Loehr, but both she and Rodgers were quick to expound on the value of student workers. "They're a great help to us," Rodgers said. And Loehr noted that the only constraint against stu dent participation is the lack of time most have to devote to the day-to-day
operation: "If an intelligent, hard-working, re
sponsible student wants to work on the campaign, and he wants to take a semester off from school, boy, we'll give him all the responsibility he can
handle."
Although few students would be in clined to defer their studies, some have acquired more duties, mostly as
coordinators of the student recruitment
and canvassing programs. Also, in Binghamton, students are planning a disco-nite fund-raiser. But, as in any organization, certain individuals seem
to have an abundance of energy.
Jeff Hughes, '80, is one such in dividual. A government major, Hughes attempted to join McHugh's con gressional office this summer as a re searcher but soon learned the position is "not easy to get into." However, he also came to realize that campaign

Students in the canvassing program; Stephen Griffin, '76, (left) and Susan
Zloth, '81, (center) receive instructions
from Mary Whiting, '80, an Election
District Coordinator.
headquarters is a unique and "exciting" place, and thus began to devote his time to the campaign. Said Hughes: "If you're going to be a critic of the system, you ought to know how it
works."
In addition to his more sobering
duties, such as distributing flyers at a fair, Hughes was able to do a little "research." Put in charge of making McHugh lawn signs, he "ferretted out"
information about which materials
were inexpensive but durable. He also checked local zoning regulations to determine the do's and don'ts of put ting signs on people's lawns. The end result: the completed signs cost less than a dollar each, while comparable signs used by an Ulster County as semblyman cost six dollars apiece. As Hughes noted, such savings, "releases money to be used for other campaign
activities."
Aside from being financial assets to a campaign, zealots like Hughes have a definite spiritual impact on the rest of the staff. Rodgers agreed:
"A campaign is a very tiresome process, and it helps you keep going if you really see someone going great
guns. And the enthusiasm can carry over when you talk to voters."
And that could make all the differ
ence.

8

More Representation for Alumni by Mary Maxon 79

Increased alumni representation on
the New York State College of Agri culture and Life Sciences Alumni As sociation Board of Directors is a real istic goal. Realistic because a plan for an enlarged and regionalized board
has been initiated.
At the Annual Meeting of the Alumni Association in June, a constitutional amendment incorporating this change was approved. Once the plan is im
plemented, there will be 29 members on the Board of Directors, including
two students. Association President
William Bigham Sr. '48 looks forward to "representation on the board from
a much broader base."
According to Bigham, the board is responsible for Alumni Association business during the time between an
nual meetings.

ment of students and graduates, and keeping alumni in contact with each
other and with the College. The Asso
ciation also cooperates with the Cor
nell Alumni Association.

To enlarge and regionalize the Board of Directors, locations where College alumni live were mapped and divided
into 27 districts within New York State
and the nation. Counties and major regions of the country guided the for mation of districts. According to the new amendment, directors will be

elected to the board for three
terms by alumni in the district
reside in.

year
they

An executive committee of the

board will lead the expanded group. The President, Vice-President, imme diate past president, two student

representatives and six district direct

facilitate transition. The present board may present a slate of district directors for approval at next June's annual
meeting. Some district directors will be designated to serve one or two-
year terms so turnover will be gradual
in the future.
Now the present board must find alumni from the various districts for
the proposed slate. At the September Board of Directors meeting, J. Michael Holloway 73 reported on the procedure the Nominating Committee will use to gather "a diverse group that is willing
and able to serve the Association."
The committee is developing a list of contact persons to help identify potential candidates. Department
chairmen, the Dean of the College, Cooperative Extension county coor dinators, College of Agriculture and

Besides providing a means for alum ors will serve on the Executive Com Life Sciences Fund Advisory Committee

ni to remain active, the Association's mittee. Ex-officio members are the members, Deans of the SUNY ag and

main objective is to advance the inter Secretary and Treasurer. The six dis tech colleges and other individuals

ests of the College by aiding in new trict directors will be elected at the will be contacted.

student recruitment, providing recogni
tion and financial assistance for out

Annual Meeting.

"We'll contact these individuals by

A special procedure for selecting letter explaining what we are trying to

standing students, securing job place next year's additional directors will accomplish and asking for recom

Some alumni association
September meeting.

board

members

relax

with

students at the

mendations," said Holloway. Bio graphical information sheets will be completed by the contact person or

the candidate and returned to the

Nominating Committee for review. On an ongoing basis, the committee
will evaluate make-up of the board in

regard to districts covered, classes represented, and segments of agri

culture and other professions pre

sented. According to Holloway, a candidate's "ability to commit time and energies to the Association" will be a

factor, too.
All alumni of the College are en
couraged to suggest possible candi
dates for the Alumni Association Board of Directors. This input will help make
the organization representative of

alumni interests. Send names of candidates to the
Nominating Committee of the Alumni Association, 205 Roberts Hall, Cornell
University, Ithaca, NY 14853.

9

BIG FRIEND

Richard Cavalli, '78, and Rich ard Bickford, '80, have become un-common forms of transporta tion for their little brothers.
"It is surprising how quickly you forget what an eight-year-old thinks," reflected one junior Cornell student
about his new little brother. After
twenty years of being the youngest in his family, this student, along with many others, is discovering joy in re lationships with new little brothers and
sisters.
Suddenly finding yourself a big
brother to some young sport has be come a common occurrence around
Ithaca. This phenomenon has to do with the amazing success of a unique Big Brother/ Big Sister program in the
area. The program takes Ithaca young sters between the ages of seven and 15 and makes them little brothers or
sisters to volunteer students in this
college town. The Big Brother/ Big Sister program
begins with youngsters who want an older companion in their lives, and
with young adults who want younger
companionship. By bringing these two groups of individuals together, the Big Brother program has succeeded in creating a new role for the brothers and sisters involved, and a healthy growing atmosphere for many youths in the community. The effort has

turned from a simple voluntary pro gram to an experience which deeply
affects the lives of those involved.
The idea began in Ithaca when two Cornell students, Ned thomas, '73, and Dan Finley, '73, decided that they wanted to be big brothers. This desire motivated them to go into the com munity and find little brothers for themselves. Soon they had 12 little brothers, and were calling on their friends to take part in the fun. Upon their graduation, these students felt that this was an opportunity that should not slip away now that it had begun. To insure this they approached the Ithaca community looking for help.
Eight agencies submitted proposals
for the continuation of the program.
The current sponsoring agency, the Economic Opportunity Corporation, was chosen to take the responsibility of operation and to include a Big Sister program on an equal basis. The program has grown to over 140 big
brother and sister combinations. Un
fortunately, anxious youngsters are waiting for more volunteer big brothers and sisters to join the program.
The accomplishments of the Big Brother/ Big Sister program were pub licly recognized in the summer of 1978
with an award from the New York
State Division of Youth. The Creative
Community Award cited the program as a community service project ex emplary of outstanding achievement
and of sufficient merit to inform other
communities across the nation of its
actions. Prior to this award, a federal
program of the Law Enforcement As
sistance Administration sought to create a resource manual of unique youth programs. Ithaca's Big Brother/ Big Sister program, under the N.Y.S. Division of Youth's Delinquency Pre vention Program, was chosen as a
model program for the resource man
ual, entitled Peter's Cookbook, A Cat alogue of Model Youth Programs.
Fun is the key to Big Brother's

success. Students are encouraged to
use their imagination when they are with their companions. "Don't spend money. Hike, bike, piggy-back ride!"
recommends Audrey Fields, the pro gram's sole advisor and administrator, "It is the flexibility that sets it apart from other activities," she adds. Un
like similar programs, the brothers and
sisters are not committed to every
Saturday morning at ten o'clock. In stead, the little friends become an
actual part of the volunteers' lives.
Everyday activities that the studer+s
normally perform become regular times to get together. It thrives on the "nat
ural" situation.
The youngsters do not expect con
stant entertainment from their big brothers or sisters. It is the companion
ship that is needed, and the pairs do whatever they can at the time to en
joy themselves. "It's not a problem because you do things together that
you would want to do anyway. It kind
of inspires you to think of things to do," explained big brother Andy Smith, '79. The youngsters are one half of every pair, and they generally do their part to keep the relationship active.
Because spending money is discour aged and spending time is encouraged, an amazing variety of activities have been taken on by the pairs. Walks to the store, afternoons doing laundry,
sporting events, and eating ice cream all show up on the list. Andy regularly took his little brother, Eric, and their
dog to Schoellkopf stadium for games
of football in the snow.
Sherry Pardee, an Ithaca High stu dent, even went with her little sister, Sam, to visit the pig farm at Cornell. "The importance is not what you do, but being together. We both enjoy it a lot, just talking about each other," said Sherry about her relationship with Sam. Visiting the various art exhibits around town has been a special plea
sure of theirs.
Larger activities, such as picnics and

10

tar little kids

by Byron Widger 79

Christmas parties are planned per iodically to bring the whole group together. Whatever the entertainment might be, both the young and the younger always report a good time as they enjoy each other's companionship.
All of the responsibility for entertain
ment has been left to the individual
pairs, but the program itself does try to help out. Fields likes to provide
free tickets to events whenever she can.
"I was given 12 season passes to Cornell lacrosse and they were like gold
last year," she said. The program en joys community support from radio stations, newspapers and merchants.
To become a little brother or sister
is a simple process for the youngsters. They just have to really want it. Often they are referred to the program through their school or friends, but usually they just go in and sign up. The parents of the child must also
want them to do it. Often this is dif
ficult because the parents must come forward and admit to themselves their
limitations, before allowing their child to be a friend to a stranger. Any hesi tation that may be present is quickly dispelled by the success of the new big brother or sister. The pairs always meet together with Fields at the child's
home for the first introduction. After
that they are left to their own creations. Thanks for the big brothers and
sisters can never be expressed well enough. Instead of becoming a worry to the families, the volunteers become
a part of them. A number of the house
holds involved are without a father, but these mothers still want their sons
to play football and other games, al though the mothers cannot provide it. They do realize that the students have
access to a number of facilities, in
cluding swimming pools, sports equip
ment and gymnasiums, and they can provide the exact activities that the
youngsters desire. The facilities, along with the time and desire, make the volunteers natural helpers.

The volunteers must meet two re
quirements: they must enjoy young people and they must honestly have
the time to be with their little brothers
or sisters. When Pardee applied to be a big sister, she went in for an inter view, and was matched up with a seven-year-old girl.
Little brothers and sisters give the
student volunteers another world to
think about. As Fields describes it, "many students say that it is very artificial on the hill, they never see anyone under 18." A youngster to spend time with is a welcome change from the scholastic atmosphere and contributes to the popularity of this
program. For many of the students it
increases the feeling of having a home and family away from home.
A recent count of the volunteers
reported 62 Cornell students, 52 Ithaca College students, and 30 volunteers from the community acting as big
brothers and sisters. There is no age
restriction for the volunteers. They need only have the energy to keep up with the youngsters.
One obstacle to overcome was the

fact that most students are only in Ithaca for eight months of every year. This was a major worry when the pro gram began, for fear of what would happen to the relationships during separations. Fortunately, the worry never became a problem. It is carefully explained to each child at the beginning of each relationship that their new
friend lives far away and will go home
at times to see his or her own family. The problem actually became an ad vantage, giving the youngsters a
chance to receive mail and write to
their big brothers and sisters. Most pairs go out of their way to keep in touch and get together during breaks.
The opportunity to be a "kid" nor mally comes only once a lifetime. By the time a student reaches college, it
seems that his or her childhood years
have been left far behind. But it has
become clear that childhood is not
something that is lost, only something
that has moved away. A little brother
or sister has created a new childhood
for a number of students, and in doing so they have made friendships that the whole community can enjoy.

The Big Brother/ Big Sister program provides action for the whole group, as well as providing strong individual companionships.

The Hall of Fame as
it stands atop Schoell kopf Hall overlooking the playing field.

Hillary Chollet, '50, running against the Columbia Lions in
1949. He was also an outstand
ing basketball player.

Rodney Bliss Jr., '34 showing the form that brought him to the National Intercollegiate Finals.

'"?„ *

>•*■'... - fJf\
'f*:&$Mfii-\

A TRIBUTE TOG

A collection of Cornell's great
athletes returned to Ithaca for the
September 23 dedication of the Uni
versity's Athletic Hall of Fame. Donated by Ellis Robison '18, the new structure stands atop Schoellkopf Hall, over looking the football stadium.
The charter group of inductees in cludes recent Cornell greats Ed Mari-

naro '72 (football), Ken Dryden '69
(hockey) and Mike French 76 (lacrosse)
along with old-time Big Red standouts^
Brud Holland '39 (football), Dick Savitt '50 (tennis) and Murray Shelton '16 (football). A total of 51 athletes, at
least one representative of each sport, were included in the initial list of Hall -
of Famers, together with three coaches,

John Paul Jones, '13, setting the world
mile run record of 4:14:4 in 1913. He was the first American ever to set a world track record.
. ''-^'fj'fft.ft,
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^T5^K
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John Anderson, '29, taking the gold medal in the discus throw at the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Richard Savitt, '50, who posted
a 57-2 record at Cornell and went on to win the Wimbledon
and Australian Championships in
1951.

Wfff
by Rob Bernstein 79
ATIM ESS
|p administrators and five major
donors. Cornell Athletic Director Dick Schultz
headed the nine-person selection com mittee which had over 2000 names to
consider. All head coaches were con tacted to submit nominations in ad dition to those made by alumni and
administrators. It was required that
,.:;■'■■■■■ '■:■■.■.■ :- ■■■ft--ffffffft'- ff- .:.■..: ■■.■■■■.■■ :■■■:■:.

nominees be out of school for at least two years. "The selections were based
?on the person's achievements while at Cornell," said Schultz. "We had
decided to limit the initial group of inductees to 50 to 60, but we could
easily have had 200."
The Hall of Famers were honored
in the Statler Ballroom on September

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22 at the first Hall of Fame Awards
dinner. All 350 seats were full as NBC
sports personality Dick Schaap '55
hosted the ceremonies. Each inductee
was presented with a commemorative plaque displaying his picture. Similar trophies will be placed in the Hall of Fame room. Thirty-nine of the 61
inductees were either present or repre sented by a family member at the awards dinner. People travelled from as far as Hawaii and California for
the opening of the Hall. "The Hall of Fame is something
Cornell has needed," said Schultz. "The great athletes who have repre sented the University deserve to be honored in a permanent way, and the Hall of Fame is the perfect vehicle. The response has been overwhelming, and we're hoping the Hall will provide inspiration to Cornell's athletes of the present and future." In any case, the honoring of 10 to 15 inductees each year at the awards dinner is sure to become one of Cornell's most presti
gious events.
13

RECOGNITIOI

Rick Derella, '79, assistant coach of
the men's soccer team at Cornell,
demonstrates his balancing ability
with a soccer ball.
It is no longer a strange sight to find sixty Cornell women kicking a
soccer ball around Jessup Field at 10 o'clock on a Sunday morning.
These women are members of the Cor
nell Soccer Club and Jessup Field is where they practice. Organized this spring by Captain Kathy Gieger, a senior at Cornell, the club is now
struggling to gain team status. Formerly a member of her high
school soccer team, Gieger missed playing the sport and decided to make inquiries about the possibilities of forming a Cornell Soccer Club. After
encountering much red tape and a number of delays, Gieger was referred to Martha Arnett, Director of Women's Physical Education, for assistance in organizing the Club. With the help of Mrs. Arnett, Gieger arranged a soccer meeting to determine how many girls would be interested in joining such a club. The meeting was a success, drawing over fifty women. As a result, the Club was established in late spring.
The women get into shape by prac ticing some of the traditional agility
drills.

Presently, the club consists of approxi mately seventy women ranging from freshmen to seniors. When Gieger was
asked how she felt about Cornell
finally organizing a soccer club, she said, "It's about time. For Cornell not
to have a women's soccer team is
ridiculous. Soccer is a major sport."
Now that the Club has established
itself, it is trying hard to become recog
nized as a team. Team status entitles
the members to various sources of
funding allocated by the Cornell Ath letic Department. Without these funds, women are required to pay for their own equipment which includes soccer balls, uniforms, shin-guards, and cleats.
Another benefit of being a team rather than a club is the ability of the
team members to ask for a coach.
Every recognized team is required to have an official coach. Therefore, if a team does not have a coach, it is the

athletic department's responsibility to supply one for them. Conversely, if a
club finds itself without a coach it is
not the Cornell Athletic Department's problem. The burden of finding a
coach falls on the shoulders of the club
members and their captain. Luckily, the women of the Cornell
Soccer Club have found a qualified coach with the help of Jack Writer, coach of the men's varsity soccer
team. The new coach of the Women's Soccer Club this season is Rick Derella.
He is presently the assistant coach of the men's varsity soccer team. Derella
has volunteered his services to the
Women's Soccer Club because he feels
that "everyone who wants to play
soccer should have a chance to do
so."
All the women in the club respect him and appreciate what he is doing for them. One club member remarks,

■*■-■ v* $; "ft*^ '

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14

their GOAL

by Shari Watchman 79

In preparation for their first game, the women do dribbling exercises and hold practice games.
federal dollars to offer everyone - male
and female - equal opportunities to play a sport. In 1972 before Title IX was passed, women's intercollegiate
sports used about one percent of the
total sports budget granted to col
leges. Support for women's intercollegiate
sports is growing stronger. Will the trend carry over to the Cornell campus?
Cornell's Soccer Club members are
keeping their fingers crossed. In their struggle for recognition, first as a club
and now as a team, the women have
learned to be good sports. Let's hope their good sportsmanship will pave the
way toward the establishment of the Cornell Women's Soccer Team.

"Without him, we'd be up the creek without a paddle." Derella sees it differently. According to Derella, "There's a lack of coaching all over so if I can close the gap a little, why
not?" In addition to the assistance from
Rick, members of the men's varsity soccer team have also cooperated in
helping the women develop their soc
cer skills.
Although a coach has been secured, there is still one other problem that the
"women of Cornell have encountered
in being a club. Without a team status
and the support of the Cornell ath
letic department, the Club does not have an authorized official to sign their ; playing contracts with other college teams. Until recognition is granted to
the Club as a team, it cannot obtain
an official signature and must request

that the other schools play against
them without contracts.
Despite these problems, the club members are still hopeful and high-
spirited. "We're working at minimizing these stumbling blocks as best we
can," said Cindy Safier, '79, treasurer
of the Club. "It's well worth the hassles
if the girls can get to play because we know we have a good chance to win." Safier is now working with the Stu dent Finance Commission in hopes of acquiring partial funding for the Club. In addition, the women are planning to sell programs at several sports functions throughout the year in order
to receive some of the profits.
Legally, the women should have an excellent chance to gain recognition as a team. Title IX legislation calls for schools and colleges supported by

Derella teaches club members that "there's more than one way to use your head" in a soccer game.

Chew Garlic

and Stay HEALTHY

by Lena H. Sun 79
Ever since its first contact with the
Far East, the western world has been fascinated by the materia medica of China, by its promise of health, longev ity, increased sexual potency, fertility, and rejuvenation. Even today, Chinese still chew garlic to ward off disease.
While there has been little research
done in this country in this particular field of Chinese traditional medicine, the growing interest of Americans in plants and more healthful ways of living has drawn more attention to the study of Chinese herbs, a practice
whose usefulness has been known for over 4,700 years.
As part of its program for the fall semester, the Cornell Plantations offered
a course called The Healing Herbs' "in response to the growing requests," according to Mrs. Audrey H. O'Connor,
one of the course's teachers. One-third of the course was devoted to Chinese
Ephedrine (a drug synthesized from Ephedra) is used today to curb bron chial asthma, hay fever and tracheitis.

herbs, focusing mainly on their history and development, and their importance in the art of healing.
Many people view the richness of Chinese herbal pharmacopoeia with wonder and question how it came into being. The development of Chinese medicine is veiled in legend. Important in this background is Emperor Shen Nung (2,700 B.C.) regarded as the
Father of Chinese medicine. As the
legend goes, he had a peephole in
his stomach which allowed him to ob
serve the movements of his stomach
and functions of other organs. Con
sequently, he took different plants for
a year to determine their effects on
the human body. To Shen Nung is attributed the compilation of Pen Ts'ao, a record of his research and
generally translated as the "Great
Herbal" or the first materia medica of the world. The Pen Ts'ao lists more than three hundred medicines and de
scribes their therapeutic properties.

According to the report of the
American Herbal Pharmacology Dele gation that went to the People's Re
public of China in 1974, "the Chinese people consume considerable quantities of herbal remedies, many of which
have been in use for centuries. Both
laymen and scientists subscribe to the belief that these natural products have proved their efficacy through years of consumer satisfaction and
that theyxare extraordinarily safe."
Many drugs used today in western medicine are derived from plants used
in China for centuries. One of the
better known plants is Ephedra which was used by the Chinese for four milleniums as a cough remedy. Today ephedrine (a drug synthesized from this plant) is used for the treatment
of asthma and bronchitis. The Pen
Ts'ao also recommends using iron for anemia, arsenic for skin diseases, and
Chinese rhubarb as a laxative.
The use and history of Chinese herbs is part of the general philosophy of the art of healing - a philosophy radically different from that of the
western world.
Chinese philosophy regarded the human organism as a miniature version
of the universe. Just as in Nature,
there is a constant struggle in the human organism between opposing and unifying forces. The two polar
forces in which universal energy mani
fests itself are known as yin and yang.

*A

Ephedra sinica 16

''making the p

Yin terms include negation, cold,
and dark. Yang personifies positivity, warmth, and light. Just as these two
forces are in constant conflict with the universe and yet at the same time
form a whole, so too do they symbol ize harmony or disharmony in the human organism. An evenly balanced yin and yang means good health - but if the energy is displaced in any one direction it denotes illness. Over-
powerful yang symbolizes increased organic activity; if, on the other hand, yin predominates, this implies hypo-
function. Different variations of yin
and yang are to be found in the uni
verse and in the human organism.
Besides the two forces of yin and
yang, processes which occur within
the human organism are also connected with the interplay of the five creative elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and
water. They can exist in a helpful and complementary relationship to each
other or they can work against one
another and so destroy themselves.

are many areas of Chinese traditional
medicine which are still valuable today. According to O'Connor, perhaps one
of the most valuable lessons one can
learn from the Chinese is the attitude
of using herbal medicines in preventive treatment. The emphasis in China, as in many other countries with long standing civilizations, is on "keeping
well." O'Connor agrees that it is much
more important to maintain physical
fitness than to "load with antibiotics"
after getting an illness (curative treat
ment).
Winter in Peking last year brought strong winds - and smells, as this writer experienced an aroma of bus loads of Chinese people chewing garlic. Many people in the People's Republic of China still chew garlic today to prevent disease. In 1948, researchers

While the doctrine of the elements has

its origins in very ancient concepts, it is perhaps possible to read into it such a context as: Fire is fed by wood;

after the fire has burned out there re

main ashes which become earth, in

which metals are found and from

which water springs; the water feeds

the trees, thus completing the circle

back to the element of wood.

The yin-yang principle and the five elements are closely associated. The

yang energy can be strengthened, but also weakened by the five elements, and the same applies to the yin. Thus Man fits into and becomes an organic part of the totality of Nature.
While westerners may scoff at the 'unscientific' Chinese approach, there

in the U.S. extracted allicin from garlic and found it to be effective against
bacteria.
In general, O'Connor said, herbal medicines are slower in producing ef fects but safer in the long run. "We in this country are just beginning to realize the large number of stressinduced ailments." In this respect, herbal medicines could help Americans to "slow down (their pace of life) a
bit." The Chinese have maintained
their "respect for the wisdom of their own ancients," she said. "I think they're wise."
Shen Nung (2700 B.C.), the Father of Chinese medicine. This photo graph is in the Johns Hopkins Hospital.

've the present"

'*&•

M~ '

17

A Stew Over
Insects

by Debbie Swinehart 79
Remember when your mother used to warn you never to eat the bugs you found in the garden?
A lot of mothers may have to eat their words as insects make an ap
pearance on the American dietary
scene.
Eating insects, or entomophagy, has been a part of many cultures through out history. Insects are considered acceptable fare by the Jewish, Christian and Moslem religions. Moses specifies
in Leviticus 1 1 :20-23 that locust and
grasshoppers are permissible in the kosher diet, the book of Mark tells us that John the Baptist dined on locust and honey, and Mohammed's wives are said to have sent him platters of locust as gifts. The emperors of China considered deep fried waterbugs a delicacy, and Dr. David Livingstone, the famous Scottish explorer, described

this encounter with an African chief
of the Bayeiye tribe: "I gave him a piece of bread and preserved apricots, and, as he seemed to relish it, asked if he had food equal to it in his country. 'Ah,' he said, 'did you ever taste white
ants?' "
Although many of us may shudder at the thought of eating insects, May Berenbaum, a graduate student in the Department of Entomology, points out that without realizing it we consume

quantities of insects. According to Berenbaum, "fresh garden vegetables are the worst. It's almost impossible to wash off all the tiny aphids and
thrips."
We also eat insects in most of our
processed foods. Under limits pre scribed by the Food and Drug Admin istration, the glass of juice you drank with breakfast should have contained no more than ten fruit fly eggs and two larvae; there should be no more

Just a spoonful of beetles makes the medicine go down.

18

than 75 mites in the canned mush
rooms you mix into spaghetti sauce
for dinner. Berenbaum calculates that
the average peanut butter and jelly sandwich contains 56 fragments of
insects.
But don't worry. Go ahead, bite into your sandwich. You probably have eaten things that are much less appetizing than insects. Berenbaum points out that most people eat marine crustaceans such as lobsters, shrimp,
crabs and crawfish. "Crustaceans are
disgusting," she says. "Look at lob sters - they feed on putrid flesh. But insects like grasshoppers feed on nice clean plants."
Besides, when you get right down to it, insects are good for you. Many contain more than 60 percent protein,
while beef is less than 20 percent pro
tein. Insects are high in vitamins, too. One bee larva, for example, provides the full adult daily requirement of
Vitamin D.

explains that serious proposals do not advocate marketing insects in recog
nizable form on the grocery shelf. "There's still too much cultural aver
sion for that," she says. One possibility that is being con
sidered is adding a preparation of ground insects to flour to increase its food value. A similar preparation could also be mixed with ground beef, in the same way as soybean meal is used now, to make a less expensive and more nutritious hamburger substitute. Another possibility is the use of an in sect protein extract as a food additive.
However, Berenbaum predicts that Western culture is going to have to be "a lot more desperate than we are now" before we accept insects as a serious part of our diet. She explained that insect dishes in this country are, and probably will continue to be, novelty items.
Berenbaum recently served one such

novelty - a dessert based on a standard pecan pie recipe, but with mealworms instead of pecans. Although she met
with mixed reactions from her guests, most of the comments were favorable
and several people have asked her to
make other insect dishes.
Bear in mind that when yogurt first appeared on the grocery shelves, many
people turned up their noses. Now stretch your imagination a few years into the future. Instead of serving popcorn with their beer, local bars may someday set out bowls of crispy, lightly salted fried grasshoppers, and
we will all be healthier because of it!

Berenbaum also remarks on the high ability of insects to convert the food

they eat to body weight. According to Berenbaum, "beef is really bad in this
respect. Most of what cattle eat comes

Four and twenty mealworms baked in a pie

out as manure and is wasted as far as we're concerned." But some insects

convert as much as 50 to 60 percent
of their food to body weight. Insects also eat material that we can
not consume directly. Berenbaum points out that although we feed cat tle on grain, we could eat that grain ourselves. Insects can be fed on plant material that we can not digest. By then eating the insects, we gain energy that might otherwise have been lost
to us.

In response to the growing world food shortage, some entomologists are proposing an increase in the use of insects as human food. Berenbaum

19

"Do it for Beebe!" the inspirational
slogan for last April's Beebe Lake restoration event expresses the feeling
that a number of Cornell students and
faculty have concerning the lake's pro jected revival. Last year's two days of labor were successful but, in the opinion of Jack McGowan, '80, who worked on the restoration project, "It was
only a start."
The story of Beebe Lake goes back to the early 1830's, when Ezra Cor nell, then the manager of Colonel
Jeremiah Beebe's flour and plaster mill, impounded the water from Fall

nor is it what it could be. The present state of the lake is very poor. Silt has
been carried down by Fall Creek into the lake. This has settled on the lake's bottom, making the water only one foot deep in some places. Erosion from the steep hill leading up to Helen Newman Hall contributes to the prob lem, although not as much.
Whether or not the lake is polluted,
no one can say for sure. It is possible that septic systems upstream are leak
ing into the water. Bubbles have often
been seen flowing into the lake.
Besides being mistreated by external

BEEBE makes a
COMEBACK

by Carie Leigh
Middleton '80

Creek with a dam. This transformed
the swamp above Triphammer Falls into a pond. In 1896, a new and higher dam was built, forming Beebe Lake.
The breathtaking beauty of Beebe, especially in the fall when the trees are
full of vibrant color, is "really striking," says Anita Welych, '80, a fine arts major. "I just want to paint it!"
In the past, Beebe has been actively used by the Cornell community for swimming, canoeing, skating, tobog ganing and fishing. It was a very popular social place.
But Beebe is not what it used to be,

factors, Beebe is taking its natural course by eutrophying. This aging process would eventually lead Beebe
back to its original swamp state. A controversy has arisen on whether
Beebe should be allowed to go its
natural way or be dredged. In one ecology student's opinion, the lake should be left alone because the filling
in of the lake is a natural process.
However, he added, since man tam
pered with the environment by putting
in the dam, something should be done to keep the eutrophication from hap
pening at such a fast pace. Dredging^

20

Weilbacher, '78, an active
(Mikeparticipant in the restoration, manned
\ a rake during the day to help widen i the footpaths surrounding Beebe Lake.
of the Beebe Lake restor-
Spartn effort, this group of students
ed rocks down to Japes Lodge to J a supporting wall around the 'v of the lake.
The Ecology House hopes, ultimately,
to return Beebe Lake to Cornell stu
dents. As it was in the beginning. . .

is too harsh, in another student's opinion, because all of the trees would
be knocked down around the lake.
Aviv Goldsmith, '80, a member of
the Beebe restoration group argues that a swamp would not be aesthetic.
In his opinion, the University's re sponsibility is to maintain its environ ment, and dredging is the only answer
for Beebe.
A complete dredging of Beebe has not been done since 1929. Feasibility studies for such a project are being done by the Department of Ecology and Systematics. However, the process would cost more than $400,000, money which the University can not easily spend.
While dredging proposals are in the making, a group of concerned stu
dents has taken up Beebe's cause. As
part of last year's annual Earthrise celebration (born of Earth Day), stu dents from the special living unit, Ecology House, coordinated the restor ation event. It took place on two Satur days, at the end of April and the be ginning of May. The Cornell Plantations and the grounds division co-sponsored
the event.
Inspiration for the restoration event came mostly from "Earth Music"
which was aired across the lake. This
music was put together by an Ecology House student, and included songs of John Denver, Dan Fogelburg and
others. All of the songs had environ
mental themes which were "very ap
propriate," said Goldsmith. Even though not as many people
showed up as were expected, the majority of what had been planned was accomplished. Now, as one runs or walks around the lake, the improve ments are apparent. The trails around
the lake have been widened and sur
faced with gravel. A bridge now goes
across the stream on the north side of
Beebe, making it much easier to go along the trail. Fencing around the lake and along the trails has been repaired and painted. A retaining wall has been

built in front of Japes Lodge, by the Pancake House, to make the path
there wider and more stable. One
project that wasn't completed was the restoration of the picnic area on the lake's north end. The area has only partially been cleared, and the tables are still being made. The picnic area
was dedicated to the class of 1953.
The restoration event cost $1,400. Funding for this came from various
student-coordinated activities. A Clara
Dickson night club featured student talent with food, drink, and atmosphere.
The "Beebethon" raised the most sub
stantial amount of money, over $1 ,000.
This run around the lake included
over 30 sponsored runners. Prof. Bruce Ganem of the chemistry department ran eight miles and was sponsored by his department.
What happens to Beebe now depends on how much support can be raised from the Cornell community. McGowan
believes that students have to show
considerable concern before the Uni
versity will take any positive action. In the future, Ecology House may have the stewardship of the lake. Its resi dents would continue the work they began last year and try to make Beebe
a more usable resource.
If the beauty of Beebe can be main tained and the picnic area is restored, the lake could become what it once was. According to a hopeful student, it could be a "very delightful place."

21

CLONED CORSAGE?A

by Priscilla L. Nissi 79

Orchids take seven years to bloom and thereby produce seeds. So how do
florists get hold of vast amounts of pink orchids for Valentine's Day, white orchids for Mother's Day and more white orchids for summer brides? Tissue culturing, or cloning, is cur
rently the major means of propagating
orchids. "The introduction of tissue culturing has revolutionized the orchid
industry," said Prof. Robert W. Lang hans, Department of Floriculture and Ornamental Horticulture.
Tissue culturing is the process of cloning slices of meristem, the pinhead-sized areas of plant tissue located at the growing tips of plant stems. These areas of meristematic tissue, the
"cell division centers", are responsible for the plant's increase in length and
leaves.
Moreover, these meristems will di
vide and multiply after they are sliced
off the plant tip and planted. However, these tiny slices of meristem are not planted in soil or even in a greenhouse. In a totally aseptic room, the slices are "planted" in petri dishes containing
"necessary elements, vitamins, auxins, a shoot-growth-promoting hormone kinetin, and sugar, suspended in agar,"
said Langhans. Next, the petri dish is placed in the
"growth room" where the meristem slice receives 24 hours of light at vary
ing levels, according to Langhans. When they are large enough, the plantlets are moved to flasks of liquid which are fastened to a rotating wheel. Thus,
their contents are "sloshed around"
continuously. "This sloshing of the contents causes
the meristem cells to break apart as
they multiply and divide. So, many shoots are being produced from one tiny meristem," explained Langhans.
The tiny shoots are then planted in stationary petri dishes and grown

until ready for the greenhouse. "This process can be kept going for quite a while. The Department of Floriculture
and Ornamental Horticulture has shoots
in culture from a white chrysanthemum removed from the plant in 1969; now that's a long time," said Langhans.
"Tissue culturing probably won't
have any immediate effects on the
conventional propagation systems of chrysanthemums or carnations, basically because the systems are super," said Langhans. "However, where the con ventional systems aren't good, such as with orchids, tissue culturing fits in
nicely."
Since hundreds of thousands of
shoots can be propagated from a few, tissue culturing has many practical uses. Langhans is working with several graduate students whose research focuses upon setting up a working system of tissue culturing in plants which are in high demand but are dif
ficult to propagate. Ken Kratz, grad., is working with
tissue cultures in clematis while Richard
Adams, grad., is producing tissue cultures of various carnivorous plants. Ellen Sutter, M.S. '77 is working with
anemones. If the plants become more
available to commercial growers
through tissue culturing, they will be
more available for the consumer.
Besides creating a "rapid burst of propagation", tissue culturing is useful in plant breeding. Through tissue cul turing a breeder can duplicate any hybrid exactly. By means of anther/ pol len cultures, he can develop haploid cultures (they have one set of genes instead of two). Thus all characteristics
can be seen even if they are controlled by a recessive gene. This is very help ful in determining which gene controls
what trait.
Currently Steve Koenigsberg, a Ph.D. candidate, is working with chimeral

engineering. A chimera is the geo metrical layering of the plant's epi dermis, mesophyll and pith. The epi dermis is the outermost layer, the meso phyll is underneath and the pith is the central portion. It is possible to take a tissue culture of just one of these layers and grow it. Genetic changes in the two outer layers can cause changes
in the color of the flower and affect
durability or resistance of the plant to disease. For example, "if a hairy epi dermis is put on a potato plant, bugs can't get at the plant as easily so the potato becomes more resistant to in sects. It sounds crazy, but it works,"
said Langhans. Even though tissue culture research
is still in its early stages, it is being
used to fulfill a number of desired re
sults. Many more uses of this fasci nating process are sure to develop as
research continues.
Langhans checks the meristem cultures as they multiply and divide in flasks attached to rotating wheels.

22

COUNTRYMAN CAPSULES

Retiring Faculty Honored by College

Each year retiring faculty are hon
ored by the Alumni Association of the College of Agriculture and Life Sci ences. The 1978 event took place on
June 10 at the Alumni Breakfast and
Annual Meeting. The following indi viduals were recognized: Harlan P. Banks, Botany ('37-78); Clifford 0. Berg, Entomology ('53-78); Robert W. Bratton, Animal Science C39-78);
Hollis R. Davis, Agricultural Engineer ing ('42-78); Marvin D. Glock, Edu cational Psychology ('49-78); Neal F. Jensen, Plant Breeding ('46-78);
Richard P. March, Food Science ('47-

ficial breeding in cattle. Since 1946, he has taught courses in reproduction of farm animals and livestock improve
ment. His studies have been noted in
technical publications. An authority on farm operation,
structures and storage systems, Prof. Hollis R. Davis, '37, M.S. '48, is well known to New York farmers for his
work in extension. He is author or co
author of many bulletins dealing with his specialty, poultry housing and equipment.
Prof. Neal F. Jensen, Ph.D. '42, developed and introduced 20 superior

He has also done extensive research
with methods of harvesting apples mechanically and mechanical milking.
Prof. Robert W. Spalding's major work and research has been with dairy cattle reproduction, breeding problems
and artificial insemination. He has also
served as chairman of Cornell's division
of United Way and acted as leader of
agricultural manpower programs. Former president of the Ithaca school
board, Prof. Frederick H. Stutz, '35, Ph.D. '45, is considered a leading authority on educational changes in New York State. At Cornell, Prof.
Stutz specialized in teaching compara tive education, the history of education

77); Philip A. Minges, Vegetable varieties of wheat, barley and oats in and issues in educational policy.

Crops C55-78); Robert Musgrave, New York State and New England.

Prof. Lemuel D. Wright has been

Agronomy ('40-78); H. Brooks Naylor, Recipient of many awards in agronomy, nationally recognized for his research

Microbiology C39-77); Robert L. Prof. Jensen is also noted for found on the biology of living cells. A pro

Patton, Insect Physiology C38-78); ing the "Oat Newsletter", an inter fessor of biochemistry and nutrition,

Charles C. Russell, Communication national publication that he has edited Prof. Wright received the Borden

Arts C56-78); E. Stanley Shepardson, for 17 years.

Award in Nutrition for his discovery of

Agricultural Engineering ('36-78);

Prof. Robert B. Musgrave's career mevalonic acid, a key chemical in the

Robert W. Spalding, Animal Science at Cornell has led him to success in biosynthesis of cholesterol.

('47-77); Frederick H. Stutz, Educa tion C52-78); Lowell D. Uhler, En

two areas. His first two decades here
were spent developing better methods Babcock Professor Named

tomology ('40-77 ); George H. Well of crop production. More recently,

Internationally recognized economist

ington, Animal Science ('47-77);
Lemuel D. Wright, Nutritional Bio
chemistry C56-78).
Here's a look at what some of these
distinguished members of the ag col
lege have done in their careers.
Prof. Harlan P. Banks, Ph.D. '40, former head of the Department of
Botany, enjoys an international repu tation in his field, with a specialization in paleobotany. Prof. Banks is a former Guggenheim Fellow and Fulbright Research Scholar.
A specialist in aquatic entomology, Prof. Clifford O. Berg is an inter nationally recognized authority on the
biology of snail-killing flies. He has
done much work in tropical areas
where disease-carrying snails cause
serious health problems. Prof. Berg has discovered a number of formerly unknown species of insects.
Prof. Robert W. Bratton, Ph.D. 42, has done major research in arti

Prof. Musgrave has turned to the study of photosynthesis and respiration in the corn plant.
Prof. H. Brooks Naylor, after 38 years of teaching food microbiology at Cornell, is now in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, continuing his work in this area of study.
Prof. Robert L. Patton, a specialist
in insect physiology, designed a num ber of devices and techniques for the physiological analysis of insects. He is author of approximately 75 articles on this topic.
A popular professor in the communi cation arts department, Prof. Charles C. Russell, has left Cornell to accept the deanship of the College of Liberal
and Fine Arts at Arkansas Technical
University in Russellville, Arkansas. Prof. E. Stanley Shepardson, '36,
M.S. '47, is noted as a pioneer in the
innovation of mechanical methods of
harvesting grapes, cabbage and lettuce.

Erik Thorbecke has been appointed
the new H.E. Babcock Professor of
Economics and Food Economics at
Cornell.
Prof. Thorbecke has been Chair
man of the Department of Economics
at Cornell since 1975. He has a dis
tinguished background in international economic and agricultural development and planning, as well as world food
problems. As Babcock Professor, Thorbecke
will be a part of the Division of Nu tritional Sciences at Cornell, while re
taining a joint appointment with the Department of Economics.
Broadening his career as an econ omist in many respects, Thorbecke has taught in a number of universities, served as development specialist and consultant for foreign governments, and worked as economic adviser to the governments of Peru, Brazil, the Phil ippines, Kenya, Spain and Greece.

23

SHIBBOLETHS —True or False?

Many of the conventional answers
to problems of local government and community leadership "ain't necessarily so," to borrow from George Gershwin's popular song of decades ago. The most misleading "shibboleth" - con
ventional wisdom that is not neces
sarily true - is that citizens of a com munity have no real control over the
quality of their lives.

There have been programs aimed at
dispelling just these shibboleths, how ever. Cooperative Extension of the New York State College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences is one of the spon
sors of Cornell's local government program, a research and extension education effort aimed at improving the quality and effectiveness of local governments across New York state.

In the past, the program has pro duced home-study courses, reference materials, instructors' manuals, and
guides in pursuit of this aim.

One small-group discussion series, "Shibboleths - True or False?", was designed to help local leaders explore fundamental questions about local government, such as "Is bigger better?" and "What is growth and can it be managed?".
While the five pamphlets were de veloped primarily for local officials,
the Director of the program, Duane
Wilcox, believes they are also useful
for other citizens. Wilcox believes the
summaries of research in the materials
will be particularly useful to educators, especially those teachers concerned with community development and
government.
More and more people are realizing
the limitations of state and federal
bureaucracies. The Shibboleths infor
mation can "challenge people to think and act in new ways," said Wilcox.
And with the growing popular dis
illusion with government, such mater
ials can be very important in rebuild ing confidence in the performance and integrity of the public business.

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EDITORS.
Mark Smith Debbie Swinehart Shari Watchman
ASSISTANT EDITORS:
Rob Bernstein Priscilla L. Nissi Karen Green Thau
ART EDITORS: Ed Hardy
Katherine Kalaf Mary A. Maxon Patti Moy

CORNELL. COUNTRYMAN
DECEMBER 1978 VOLUME LXXVI - Number 3
ABOUT THE COVER
Join us in celebrating another holiday season at Cornell. With reindeer,
Christmas balls, and mistletoe we can feel the spirit of Christmas de
scending upon us. The photogram on the cover depicts such a feeling.

PHOTO EDITOR: Evelyn Wilkens

EDITORIAL STAFF: Mary McDonald, Paul Green, Pat Lyons, Carrie Leigh Middleton, Lena H. Sun, Byron Widger

CONTENTS

Picture Credits: Cover- Mary Maxon, Ed Hardy; p. 3 - NYS Assembly In tern Program; P. 4-5 - Media Services; p. 6-7 - E.S. Phillips; Savage Club;
p. 8 - School of Business and Public
Administration; p. 9 - Russ Hamilton; p. 10, 11 - Channing L. Pete Co.; p. 12, 13 - Russ Hamilton; P. 14 - Ed Hardy; p. 15 - University Archives; p. 16 - State 4-H Office; P. 17 - Media Services, State 4-H Office; p. 18, 19 Mary McDonald; p. 20, 21 - Shari Watchman; p. 22 - Bill Mesner, Media Services; p. 24 - U.S.F&-G Co.; p. 8 -
Mark Smith.

3. A Semester In Albany by Judith David 79 and Evelyn Wilkens '80
4. Charlie's Back In Russellville by Rob Bernstein 79
6. Savages Take The Stage by Ed Hardy 79 8. Joseph Bugliari: Worth Waking Up For by Karen Green Thau 79
9. Cornell Lets Off Steam by Byron Widger 79
10. More Than A Holiday Friend by Katherine Kalaf 79
12. Russ Hamilton Focuses On Winter by Lena H. Sun 79
14. Pinch-Hitting Professor by Mark Smith 79
15. Of Zinck's and Drinks by Patti Moy 79
16. 4-H's On-Campus Headquarters by Mary A. Maxon 79 18. From Mumps to Plato by Mary McDonald 79
20. Feelin' Fine In 79 by Shari Watchman 79 22. Cornell vs. Child Abuse by Priscilla L. Nissi 79

The Cornell Countryman is published seven times a year from October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cornell University Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription Rates: $2.50 a year;
$4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content gathered and
written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors:
Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

A SEMESTER IN ALBANY
by Judith David 79 and Evelyn Wilkens '80

The italicized quotes in this article
are from Judith David '79, who par
ticipated in the New York State As sembly Intern Program during the
spring 1978 semester. Do the words "first-hand practical
experience" mean anything to you?
If they do, you are like thousands of other students who are looking for
something relevant to add to their education in a particular field. Tired of
"booking it" throughout their entire college career, students seek intern ships which will fulfill the need to
apply the knowledge they are receiving
in the classroom.
"The program we participated in
was the New York State Assembly
Legislative Internship program, housed
in a fifth- floor office in the State Cap
itol Bui/ding in Albany's South Mall.
The five of us were part of a group of
over twenty Cornell students and ap
proximately 170 other college and uni
versity students from across New York
State, who worked for legislators and committees in the Assembly and Sen ate. In spite of the problems we en
countered, the five of us who returned
to Cornell after being in Albany have
many positive feelings about going away and coming back, and spending
time in a very different environment. "
Supervised by the staff of the legis lator, an intern has an opportunity to perform a wide variety of duties. The important task is to gather information
and pay attention to the details of
state government in keeping with re nting previous educational background to current experience. Interns are responsible to the legislator in all the work they do and are entrusted to do assignments with thoroughness.
"By being in Albany, we had the
chance to see for ourselves how the
tegislative process worked and how it differed from what textbooks told us.
We were able to work with authorities °n research projects and learn first

hand from them. "
During the first week, the interns are introduced to a college faculty
member who deals with the academic
component of the program. The Faculty Fellow conducts seminars during the semester, gives background informa tion on the legislative process and most importantly, is in charge of seeing
that the students have made the proper
credit assignments. The overriding reason that motivates
most students to undertake a field
experience is to do something different. "I wanted to participate in a practical working experience." said Bill Karol 79, an agricultural economics major who was assigned to the Committee
on Environmental Conservation. "I had
gone to my professors looking for some kind of business internship in the area, and one of them suggested I apply to the Albany program."
"77?e most difficult problem we faced was arranging for sufficient credit for the work we were to be doing. We
were told we would receive six credits
from Cornell which we would have to
arrange ourselves, and then find any additional coursework on our own or
"
through local colleges in Albany. Interns do everything from routine
office work, to sitting in on sessions. They even draft pieces of legislation. The type of job depends mostly upon
the nature of the office - those in
offices with small staffs step right into positions of great responsibility. Debra Indovino 79 is still in Albany, on a leave of absence from Cornell, work
ing for a federally funded project

which she learned of through her office. "Accessibility to future jobs and es
tablishing contacts were but two of the pluses connected with the experience. One of the most enjoyable was deal ing with lobbyists and politicians both professionally and socially on a daily basis. In fact, the parties thrown by lobbyists became one of the more
popular topics of conversation among the interns, and we all tried to attend
as many as we could!"
"Throughout our semester, we had a few people to gripe to, seek advice from and use as mouthpieces into
the Cornell administration. One such
person was Steve Johnson, public policy specialist for Cooperative Ex tension, who took our ideas and sug gestions to the administration and
"
came out with changes. Several Cornell faculty members
support the internship and encourage the interns by being interested and responsive to their needs when struc turing academic programs. Such pro
fessors include Jennifer Gerner of
consumer economics, David Allee of
agricultural economics, and James Preston of the rural sociology depart ment. According to Preston, "A field experience is valuable because it lets
the student be a part of the actual system of the work he's doing without being fully committed and responsible.
It gives the students a chance to learn without being penalized. I also think it puts background education in per spective and relates the value of the work experience to the courses studied
in school."

Assembly interns often attend committee meetings.

Charlie's Back
in Russellville

by Rob Bernstein 79

A strange silence exists these days
in the communication arts office in

Russell first came on the Cornell
scene in 1956 when he taught one

Roberts Hall. Last year, singing, hum ming, joking and an occasional "Get off your gazoo," filled the air. This semester, however, the office is a bit

year for Prof. William B. Ward, then department chairman, who was on special assignment in the Philippines. The following two years, he headed

Even "wild and crazy guys" have
their serious moments.

calmer as Professor Charles Russell, the journalism department at the Uni tion with a Ph.D. in journalism from

teacher, advisor and friend has returned versity of Arkansas in Fayetteville be the University of Missouri.

to his native Russellville, Arkansas, to Arkansas Tech University.
It is hard to predict the number of
Cornellians Charlie Russell befriended
in his 20 years in Ithaca. The blue-eyed, balding yet curly haired man with the
southern drawl never shut his door to
anyone. It is for this he is probably
best remembered.

fore being granted a permanent posi
tion on the Cornell staff in 1959.
During World War II, Chas, as some of his close friends call him, worked in the U.S. Navy's Intelligence Section of the radio fleet. After that, he earned his Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Texas. Then in 1968, he completed his formal educa-

When asking questions about Rus sell, one usually gets a similar response from any of his numerous acquaint ances: first a moment of thought, then a broad smile, and finally a chuckle or laugh. That's what Charlie Russell was all about; he was fun to
be around.
One of his greatest assets was his

"Look at yourself on television." says Prof. Russell to daughter, Patti, and wife, Mary, in a 1958 Cooperative Extension Program.

ability to make friends. With a big "hellooo" and a warm hand shake, Chas made a stranger feel like an old

buddy. "He had more friends and was

more outgoing than anyone I know,"

said colleague and long-time friend

Russ Martin.

Russell's willingness to help also made him very popular. "He should have been a minister," said ex-admini

strative assistant Genie Mitchell. "People

would come to him for help and he

would drop everything." Carolyn Killigrew, his secretary for
11 years, concurred. "He wouldn't send students somewhere else, he'd

take them to the right place himself." The biggest benefactors of Professor
Russell's generosity with his time were his student advisees. "He would al

ways encourage me and tell me not to
worry," said Shari Watchman 79. "And I was surprised at his genuine interest in setting me up with a career. It was

very reassuring."

However, this intensive involvement
with other people sometimes led to problems, especially when he took
over as head of the communication
arts department in 1972, "Charlie was very sensitive about people," said Professor Ward, "and he would be come so immersed in their problems, he would get sick himself." In 1974, Russell decided it would be best for his own health to resign his chair
manship. The people who worked with Chas
day to day found him to be quite amazing. "He was always jovial, it was his nature," said Killigrew. "And you knew when he was in the building because you could hear him singing."
Russell would often bring peanuts
for his secretaries "Miss Pam" and
"Miss Becky" as he called them with
his southern charm.
Of course, Charlie had his serious
moods too. "If it was something he strongly believed in, he would be quite forceful and firm," said Ward. And when he got mad at someone,
he would exclaim with rage, "You
oughta be whipped with a wet goose!"
As a professor, Russell taught courses in mass media and advertising.
He was one of the first instructors to
use the tele-lecture technique, in which
a remote interview was held on the
telephone and broadcast in class. It
was conducted live so that students
could interact with the guest. This sys
tem is being used more widely today.
Students also found his lectures
enjoyable. "He was fun and interest
ing to listen to," said David Halberstadter 79. "Every day he would come up with a new phrase to make the material less boring."
From the other side of the desk, Charlie's colleagues got to know yet another side of him. "He was constant ly running around to a million different Places," said Prof. Chet Freeman.
"Everything was a crisis, but I don't
think he'd be happier any other way." One of Charlie's funnier crises was
when he flew out to Missouri for the oral part of his doctoral dissertation.
Somehow, his luggage ended up in Columbia, South Carolina instead of Columbia, Missouri. Always known

for his bright pastel suits, he quickly
went to a cleaners and borrowed the
best suit available. Unfortunately, the
pants were about six inches too short
and he had to walk around trying to
hide them. Needless to say, he came
through the orals with flying colors. Away from Cornell, Russell spent
much of his time buying and refinishing old furniture. Antiques were some
of his greatest treasures. Charlie also took great pride in a beautiful doll house that he built for his wife, Mary.
He spent countless hours constructing
it and often came into work with
brown-stained fingers. The theater also provided Charlie
with much enjoyment. He was a mem ber of the local performing group, the Savage Club. One time he came into the office flaunting a red wig he had worn in a production of Mame.
He also worked behind the scenes dur
ing a performance of Hello Dolly, in which his daughter Kim was starring.
-And like a true southerner, Russell
loved football. Arkansas football to be
exact. This author remembers just go ing to say hello to Professor Russell and ending up talking about the Razor-
backs' chances for a national cham
pionship for almost an hour. Earlier

this year when Sports Illustrated picked
Arkansas to be the best team in the
country, Charlie frantically called Chet Freeman to send down more copies of the magazine because it had been
sold out in Russellville.
But there is little doubt that the
extra-curricular activity Russell devoted the most time to was guest speaking. He was constantly being called to talk to groups varying from the Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies to the United Fund. Charlie's quick wit and light touch took away the sameness of many speeches. And he would very rarely turn down anyone
who called. "Sometimes he would run
himself so ragged," said Professor Ward, "that I'd have to say no for
him."
On July 24, this past summer, a farewell party was held in Russell's honor at the Big Red Barn. His close friend and ex-Cornell professor, Elmer
Phillips, presented a speech highlight ing Chas' tenure in Ithaca. Over 150 people attended to say good-bye to a friend and colleague. "Charlie wasn't cracking jokes as he always does," said Ward. "You knew he was going
to miss Cornell." Cornellians would
agree; the feeling is mutual.

An invitation to Charlie's farewell party, held in the Big Red Barn.

CHARLIE RUSSELL'S on the move (again)

HELP SEND HIM OFF IN STYLE... TIME: PLACE:
DONATION:

Monday, July 24 - 3:00-5:00 ph
Big Red Barn $2 each — Refreshments and Gift
(Spouses invited) Chet Freeman, 307 Roberts Hall 255-2111
(By July 11)

Egats Eht Ekat Segavas

by Ed Hardy 79

Though usually dormant in the
summer months, last June 9th Bailey
Hall came alive. The hall hummed with
anticipation as alumni and their families, faculty, students and townspeople set tled into their seats. They were all waiting for the start of the annual Savage Club show. The show is a traditional event during Reunion Week at Cornell. The club, a collection of
mostly non-professional entertainers,
exists because of two unfortunate in
cidents that occurred in London.
First, in 1857, Henry Savage a "penny-a-liner" or entertainer was
found dead from starvation in the
Covent Garden Market. That an enter
tainer had died from starvation when
so many others around him lived so
well fired his peers into action. They formed a Savage Club to "immortal
ize this terrible incident of London
life."
The first members of the London
club were men who had a gift for entertaining. The club met in a base
ment room near the Covent Garden
Market, where the members dined
and entertained themselves.
But how did the only American branch of the Savage Club end up in
Ithaca? It was due to another unfortu nate incident that occurred 38 years
after Henry Savage's death. In 1895, members of the Cornell
Glee Club and other musical organiza tions accompanied the Cornell crew on an invasion of England. The crew competed at the Henley Regatta, while the Glee Club members planned to present a series of concerts arranged

by the British Lyceum. However, following the first concert the London Times and other papers severely criti
cized the Americans' show. It seems
that American college humor did not find a home in England. The Cor nellians' booking agent promptly can celed the rest of the planned shows.
With few funds and little popular support the Glee Club members were delighted when the Savage Club of
London invited them to appear at their
club to dine in exchange for enter tainment. The Savages thought the Cornellians' show was great.
When the Glee Club members
finally returned to Ithaca, they sent a letter back to London asking if they could form their own Savage Club at Cornell. The request was granted,
and in the fall of 1895 the first meet
ing of the American Savage Club took place. Louis Agassiz Fuertes, a Glee
Club member in 1895 who later be
came a famous artist, is credited with establishing the club.
Membership in the club was and still is open to anybody who can entertain

the group when called upon by the president. Musicians, magicians, artists and story tellers all perform before the group, then the group decides whether they should be admitted.
The Savage Club has always been a "town and gown" affair. Though
many of its members are associated

Club members pose for an informal
picture, again in the old Green Street
quarters.
6

(Savages Take the Stage)
. . .and no one knows why they spell it backwards

with Cornell, that is not a requirement to join. Unlike the parent club in London, the Ithaca Savage Club will accept students from Cornell and Ithaca College into the club.
Past Cornell members who later became famous include author Kenneth
Roberts '08 and Willard Straight '01. At present the club members represent
a cross section of the Ithaca com
munity. The head of the U.S. Olympic Committee, Bob Kane performs along side world famous professors, busi
nessmen and other local talents.
The Ithaca branch of the club has
had several homes. At first the club

was located in the basement of the
Cayuga Press building on East Green Street. When that building was torn down the club moved to the Tobog gan Lodge behind Martha Van Rens selaer Hall on Beebe Lake. Finally the club moved to the Rathskellar, on the Village Green in Ithaca.
The club meets the third Sunday of each month. Meetings start around
8:30 and last for three or four hours.
Nobody knows in advance who will show up, and usually about 25 mem
bers of the club appear. Some mem bers come from as far away as Watkins
Glen. And usually most of the mem bers arrive with some idea how they
will entertain the group when called
upon by the president, but there are
no formal rehearsals. President Al
Cook '37 calls the meeting to order, an opening song is sung and then the
Tim Butts, Scott Edwards, Dave Perlman and Allan Treman perform at the old club quarters on Green Street.

president calls on individuals to per
form.
In some fraternal organizations drink ing is a major club activity, however this is not the case at the Savage
Club. The members are there to per
form and enjoy each others' company in an informal atmosphere.
The London club never performs in public, but the Ithaca club does put on one gala performance during Reunion
Week at Cornell. The program is run
professionally, but informally. Accord ing to president Al Cook one of the biggest problems with the show is just getting all the Savages to wear the old style black tuxedos.
The club begins planning the show
in March. Sometimes the show has a
definite theme, but not always. Dur ing meetings the members decide on the opening and closing numbers for
the halves of the show. These are
usually chorus numbers or selections by the club's band. The individual acts
are rehearsed to some extent, but not
extensively. However the between-act timing must be rehearsed so the show will run smoothly.

The Savage Club members are a group of very talented individuals, most of whom pursue non-musical
careers. But they meet once a month
for fun, to perform and to applaud. If you happen to be in Ithaca during this year's reunion festivities, you'll be able to see the Savages in their only performance for the year. Don't miss it.

A present day meeting of the Sav age Club at the Village Green in Ithaca.
7

Joseph Bugliari
Worth
Waking Up For

by Karen Green Thau 79

At 8:30 every Tuesday and Thurs
day last semester, I would drag my weary body, well-laced with caffeine, into Warren Hall for Agricultural Eco
nomics 421- Advanced Business Law.
Friends were concerned with my be
havior. Why was I, a confirmed nightowl who registers for morning classes only under threat of torture, listening attentively to lectures on bailments and
secured transactions at such an ungodly hour? I was listening because Joseph Bugliari was teaching, with zeal and vigor rare even at Cornell.
Even through blurry eyes I could see why he was awarded an Excellence in Teaching Award in 1976 by the Chancellor of the State University of
New York. And I was not the first
student enthralled by his teaching ability- he was voted Professor of Merit by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences class
of 1971.
A 1953 graduate of Hamilton Col lege, Bugliari served two years in the army before going on to Cornell Law School. He distinguished himself at Cornell, receiving course awards in Corporations and Estate Planning, serving as managing editor of the
Cornell Law Quarterly, and receiving his law degree with distinction in 1959.

Admitted to the New York Bar that
same year, Bugliari began his pro
fessional career as an associate with
the New York City firm of Dwight, Royall, Koegel and Caskey. That re lationship was short-lived, however; the "Big Apple" and Joseph Bugliari
weren't suited to each other. "I didn't
like the life style," he told me. And so, in 1961, he was back in
Ithaca, teaching Legal Research and Writing at Cornell Law School, and serving as a confidential legal assistant to an associate justice of the Appel
late Division of the New York State
Supreme Court, a relationship which spanned the next seventeen years. Simultaneously, he was a part-time
lecturer at Cornell's Graduate School
of Business and Public Administration
until 1967, when he became an asso ciate professor in both the ag college
and the business school. A full pro
fessor since 1973, he teaches two
courses in business law and one in the
legal aspects of hospital administration. The original University Judicial Ad
ministrator from 1969 to 1971, Bugli ari is now Cornell's Director of Legal Services, and serves on a staggering number of university committees. He
is the chairman of the business school's
Academic Standards Committee, the ag college's Academic Integrity Review Board, the Department of Public Safely Advisory Committee. . .the list seems
endless.
As I sit in his office, he contentedly puffs on his pipe, although he nervous ly taps his feet, as though ready to bolt out the door to a meeting or a class. Thankfully, he doesn't. . .at least not until "my" hour is over.

"The American legal system is the
best one you can devise," he tells me.
But Professor Bugliari is concerned
about our "litigious society." Many of
the cases before our courts now, he
notes, would have been "immediately
thrown out a few years ago." He cites what seems the perfect example of this absurdity: Two people were in a state park when they were hit by lightning. "Now they're suing because they claim they weren't told how to
avoid lightning." Bugliari shakes his head at this extreme example. "But we
can't let an injured party bear all the
injuries. . .someone must pay." Bugliari is concerned with how the
law will adjust to the continuing
flood of lawsuits. He feels there will
be a "movement towards Blue Cross-
Blue Shield-type services for lawyers." He does not believe, however, that
the recent Supreme Court decision allowing attorneys to advertise will significantly affect the practice of law. Bugliari points out the financial dif ficulty in running a "cut-rate" legal clinic- high overhead and the amount of time spent on each legal problem. "It has to be run like an assembly .
|line. . .you have to run a MacDonald's." Is there anything he would like to change? "A little more time to play * golf," he admits. And he enjoys Cor- j nell football and hockey. He fondly mentions last year's Cornell Concert!
Series with Isaac Stern and Beverly I
Sills. Joseph Bugliari certainly doesn't , regret having left New York City.
I would like to have a lazy last semester at Cornell, but no matter
what time Bugliari's hospital law class is scheduled, I'll be there.

by Byron Widger 79
CORNELL LETS OFF

Quickly, off the top of your head,
what would you do with 40,000 tons of coal, 4.5 million gallons of fuel oil, 4.8 million therms of natural gas, and
approximately 25 miles of steampipe?
In Ithaca, this mammoth supply of re
sources is combined at Cornell's Central
Heating Plant and used to heat Cornell University for a year.
Keeping more than 20,000 students and employees warm on the Cornell campus is a complex task. The job be gins in the big brick building nestled between two towering smokestacks on
the south side of Cascadilla Creek.
Constructed in 1922, the plant is presently undergoing a six million dol lar renovation, including the construc tion of a coal storage area and up dating pollution controls. The plant remains responsible for converting the cold minerals of coal and petroleum into the heat that keeps Cornell com fortable in the winter.
"The heating plant is operated by three different kinds of fuel: coal, oil and natural gas," explains Karl Garlock, manager of the Central Heat ing Plant. Using three coal boilers and

three petroleum boilers, nearly all of
Cornell's heat is derived from steam.
The largest boiler, four-story-high #8, is fueled by coal delivered from a stor age bin in the top of the plant. The coal slowly moves through the boiler
on a grate, which in the case of #8 is
the largest chain grate in the world, measuring 27 feet by 25 feet. Specially
softened water from Fall Creek revolves
through a series of pipes in the boiler and is turned to steam to be piped
around campus. The cinders from the coal are stored in a silo and sold to
local townships for winter ice control. With three sources of fuel and ample
storage area available, the plant has the ability to plan around fuel shortages and price fluctuations. In the fall of 1977, students in the Senior Practicum of the Department of Natural Resources investigated the feasibility of using
wood as an additional fuel to heat
Cornell. They concluded that due to the renewability of the fuel and the low levels of sulfur and nitrogen oxides emitted during its combustion, that wood could be a practical fuel for the university. Professor Ray Oglesby, one of the advisors of the study, stated that the research, "Got rid of some of the myths. It defined the possibility of using wood fuel obtained from local sources to the point where it looked interesting and economic." Garlock, after experimenting with wood chips at the plant in the winter of 1978,
was able to create a mixture of coal
with 30 percent wood chips that pro
duced a reasonable burn in the boilers.
Limited supplies of wood chips and the additional managerial difficulties of
(TOP) A winter view from the east
end of campus. (LEFT) A look down the main aisle of the steam plant.

harvesting wood locally are the present
drawbacks of wood as a fuel.
From the plant, the steam moves
through a system of underground pipes, entering the campus under
Alumni Fields. The location of the
underground pipes is easy to identify in the winter, because the snow-free
sod above the warm steampipes sup
ports green grass throughout the cold season. Branching off from the main lines, the steam enters directly into each building and encounters a reducing
valve which lowers the pressure and
makes the steam usable.
All of the buildings tend to differ in the way they are heated. Old buildings, such as Roberts Hall, have only a valve
in the basement that controls the
amount of steam that is shot directly
up to cast iron radiators in the build
ing. Newer buildings convert steam to hot water, creating either hot air or
water to heat the structure. Much
of the condensate, or water created by the cooling steam, is pumped back to the plant through another system of pipes to be remade into steam. A System Seven IBM computer, located at the Chilled Water Plant, helps to
conserve energy by automatically cycling heat on and off every hour in 43 of the major buildings on campus.
Although heating Cornell is not an easy or glorious task, the efforts of the Central Heating Plant are warmly appreciated by all. Whether you are rushing from one warm building to another in the dead of winter, listening to the radiators hiss and spit in Rocke feller, or just trying to warm up in the escaping steam from an underground steam leak, it is easy to realize that the plant has a job to do, and it does
it well for all of us.

More than a

HOLIDAY FRIEND

The holiday season is a popular
time for family and friends to reunite and share love and gifts. Many indi viduals, young and old, are not fortu nate enough to have a family to share this happy time with. However, these people do not have to be alone during this time of joy. A unique organization known as the Salvation Army provides not only friends, but love to more than two million needy people throughout
the world.
The Salvation Army was formed in London, England in 1865 by William Booth, a Methodist minister who saw a necessity for help in the slums of London. After struggling throughout the years to gain recognition and funds, the Salvation Army now exists in 86 countries and has rapidly expanded its
activities.
In essence, the Salvation Army is of the Protestant faith. Therefore, the
most important activities within the
organization are the church services held mornings and evenings. Captain Kellus Vanover, the leader and pastor of our local Salvation Army, is be
hind all activities carried on for the
corps. Accompanying the church services are Sunday school, a choir, referred as "Songsters" along with a Brass Band, and several religious pro grams for the youth of the community. Among the youth programs is a childrens group that is comparable to the
Girl Scout and Brownie programs. It functions much like that of the Scouts
but requires no initial fee. Donations
are accepted to use towards sending
the children to camp. The children also
sell cookies and candy to raise the additional funds. "The people we reach are generally low income- be cause they might not be able to afford things," Captain Vanover states. He adds, "Many are on welfare or from
broken homes." At present there is

no Boy Scout group but they are working for it.
For women in the community, a club has been formed called Home League. This group is primarily concerned with community services. According to Captain Vanover the women in the group are involved with quite a variety of activities, both educational and recreational. The Captain points out, "The corps community center is most ly housing for religious and community activities. If a non-profit organization needs a place to meet they can use this building. Donations are accepted but not mandatory."
The Senior Nutrition Program pro
vides meals for many of the older
people in the community. The Salva tion Army prepares over 100 meals a day free of charge. "People who come to the center get not only meals, but fellowship and socialization, although we do supply home meals if it's not possible for a person to make it to the center," says Captain Vanover. He points ot there is a suggested donation of $1.00, but no one checks for the
money.

Another activity focused towards the older people of the community is the Golden Age Club. Functions of the club include trips and gatherings for music twice a week. Once again, the goal is for the members to develop a sense of belonging.
Captain Vanover discusses a very important aspect of the Salvation Army,
"What we try to do is fill the gap
between existing facilities." The corps provides food baskets, limited emer
gency housing and meals. The people in need of housing are referred to
motels or the Tompkins County Farm. "This is a farm run by the county through the welfare department," ex
plains Vanover. The objective is to

10

by Katherine Kalaf 79

work on the farm for housing and meals. Vanover adds, "Most people working on the farm are without fam
ilies. It's a short term immediate-aid type of service."
Another important function of the Salvation Army is acting as the focal point for the Kitchen Cupboard, a church-sponsored charitable organiza tion that gives food to the needy. The Salvation Army doesn't actually
run this program but is a source of clients for it.
Currently, the Salvation Army is also working on plans to provide emer gency housing and a "sobering-up
station" where intoxicated citizens can rest and get safe medical super-
Salvation Army volunteers brave the cold, sponsor meal programs,
and teach the word of God to those in need.

vision. With funding from the state through the Mental Health Board, the Salvation Army will build a building adjacent to the Salvation Army build ing. One floor will be used as a sober
ing up station, the other floor will be used for emergency housing. Captain Vanover points out the problem of lack of funds. "It's funny; you have the money to build the building, but not to run the project." This lack of funds seems to be a never-ending battle. Captain Vanover explains, "We are running into a financial deficit now." The Salvation Army relies on the general public and the United Way for funding. Vanover points out that the United Way gives a constant donation, but this money does not go as far due to inflation. The only in crease is coming from the general public. "People in the community realize a need for the Salvation Army,"
Vanover comments. He adds, "In de
fense of the United Way, they've been having difficulty raising their own money to reach their goals. So in the long run it comes back to public dona tions." The United Way supports 18 agencies, among them the YMCA and the Red Cross. All 18 agencies suffer the common problem of lack of funds. Vanover points out that if the govern
ment came in and did the work for

these private agencies it would cost
five times as much as it does now. He
also feels that because the organization is run by volunteers the commitment
and dedication is more intense.
One of the largest means of funding
comes once a year from the Christmas
kettles the Salvation Army sets up on the streets. In 1977, the goal was $9000 for the kettles. They raised $9697.81, an 18 percent increase over the previous year. Any funds above the goal are used through the year. The goal this year should be close to $10,000. A board of business
people from the community sets the fund raising goal and advises the corps on programs during the holiday sea son. In addition to the kettle donations, the Salvation Army organizes a food drive in which the elementary schools and the junior high schools play a major part. This is primarily canned goods
donations which are used to make up
the holiday food baskets for families
in need. After the food baskets have
been completed, the remaining canned goods are donated to the Kitchen Cup board. To make up these holiday meals, Captain Vanover and his wife work as a team to put together a well balanced menu for each family receiving a
basket. If there's an abundance of one
food the captain and his wife supple ment by buying what they need to complete the menu.
"Depending on where you are, the Salvation Army has a wide range of
programs. But it all comes back to the
commitment to God," Captain Vanover comments. He adds, "But how
do you talk to someone about God if
they're cold and hungry?" With volun
teers and donations, the Salvation Army continues to aid people in need. The Army feels telling someone you love them is one thing, but it is another
thing to show it.

11

RUSS HAMILTON FOCUSES ON WINTER

Snow transforms the campus into eerie silence and leaves a
lonely record of pas sers by.

Night with its darkness, solituc with its peace, snow with its brilliandj the moods of winter are here again!
Most people can enjoy the many moods of winter, but few can capture its
essence on film.
Russell Hamilton comes close. Photos
editor for Cornell's Visual Services,!
Hamilton believes a good mood picture is more than the "gymnastics of pick- ^ ing the right exposure." Mood pictures "must provoke some human emotion, whether it be humor or pathos," he
explained.
Hamilton has been taking pictures^
"youlfor almost 35 years and thinks
shouldn't call yourself an artist unless \ you're familiar with paints and brushes, * and you shouldn't call yourself a photog
rapher just because you own a \cam-
era." According to Hamilton, the real
difference between the successful
photographer and the beginning ama teur is the former's ability to relate his work to other people. "You're really good at it if other people who see your photo can put themselves into it," he said.
In general, mood pictures are a challenge because they demand more

■Zf-.>..ft<: ^~***»&£r--
'
- : e ft""' ?'■■*' '■■ fi^V^^'-.^S^v^--
:V^>

Upside down, a smothered Volkswagen
becomes a benevolent abominable snow-
bug.

V

12

by Lena H. Sun 79

reativity and imagination. "But," he aid, "they give a competent photogapher a chance to show what he
an do."
And winter in Ithaca is an excellent
ime to do so. About to weather his
iinth Ithaca winter, Hamilton still finds
now "magnificently beautiful in brilant sunlight or the depth of night." lut while Ithaca may receive plenty
if snow, "you don't often see sunght for months after big snowfalls,"
ie complained. Which is one reason iamilton likes to shoot at night.
Hamilton has taken countless Cor-
|ell winter scenes, but he has yet to
pke one of a starry winter night. "You ian't do it normally because the camius lights are too bright," he explained. 'But if you go during the Christmas ireak when the campus is totally dark, iim due north and take a long expo se, you could get the stars whirling
hrough the sky. . ."
Hamilton's favorite mood pictures 1° not show any people. The reason 5 simple. "There is something naturally
•eautiful in the scene itself - the (one
ness of it is part of the fascination."
^s one looks at some of his pictures,
('ne can only agree.

A moment of soli
tude- looking up the
hill from the arches
of West campus.

Some just don't know enough to
come in from the cold.
13

Pinch Hitting
by Mark Smith 79
Cannonballs whistling overhead. . . the acrid smell of gunpowder in the
air. . .hoarse cries. . .sails snapping in the wind. . .(What? Wrong John
Paul Jones?)
Cornell has a new professor, Dean John Paul Jones. After teaching for a year at the University of Wisconsin, ten years at the University of Illinois and 30 years at the University of Florida, Jones was ready to retire. But his
retirement was short-lived. "I retired
from the University of Florida on June first," he said, "and accepted a posi tion at Cornell in July." He accepted a teaching position in the Department
of Communication Arts to fill the
vacancy left by Prof. Charles Russell. You may be wondering why Jones
would trade retirement in Florida for a
year of teaching in Ithaca. "I figured it would be a challenge," he said.

Although he had taught advertising
and mass media courses before, many
years of journalism courses followed. "I thought these courses would be an
interesting change from journalism-
type courses." Jones remarked. "I
figured they would give me a chance to dig back into those fields and see what's been happening. Also, my wife
thought it would be fun to go up north."

Professor

Professor Jones became Dean of
the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications in 1968 and held that post until 1976.
Prior to that time he was a teacher and freelance writer. Much of his free lance work reflected his love of the
outdoors because most of his writing was for outdoor magazines, although he has written for such publications as the New York Times, the Chicago Daily News, and the Christian Science Monitor. In addition to this, he is the
author of five books on journalism. When all of that wasn't keeping him
busy, he was teaching, mostly at the
universities of Illinois and Florida.
Jones has observed some changes in the latter's journalism school. "When I went to Florida in 1948, there were three communications professors," he said, "and I was one of them. Now there are about fifty." Although the first example is rather extreme, Jones does prefer a smaller department. "I think I enjoyed it more when it was a school, before it became a college.
You got to know all of the students.
It was more like a family."
When Jones became the Dean in
1968, his college badly needed some
new facilities. "We needed a communi
cations building and couldn't get the

Dean Jones (TOP) relaxing in his

office. "The climate's fine. I'd like to

give

ice-skating

a

"
try.

The

Dean

teaching a mass media course, (BOT

TOM).

money for it," Dean Jones recalled,
"so we went to the media." The Gan
nett chain donated one million dollars,
and they managed to raise another
million from other sources, but this
was still short of the estimated eight million dollar goal. The plans were
sent back to the architects for another
estimate. The price came down to six million, but that was still too high. "Finally, the university gave us the six million dollars," said the Dean, "and
let us keep the two million as an en dowment fund." The Communications
Center should be completed by the
second quarter of 1980.
Despite his strong ties with the Uni versity of Florida, the Dean seems
fond of Cornell as well. "I think Cor
nell has one of the most beautiful
campuses I've ever seen," said Jones.
"I love the old buildings and the feel ing of tradition and history."
In case you've been wondering,
Dean Jones doesn't mind Ithaca's
climate. He plans to take advantage
of it.
"The climate's fine," he commented.
"I'd like to give ice skating a try. I
haven't done it in a while."
Since he has been in New York he
has already taken advantage of some of New York's camping and fishing spots. "My wife and I have a camper," said the Dean, "and we've been to Pulaski a couple of times for the salmon. Our group caught twenty the last
time we went."
When he is able to resume his re
tirement, Dean Jones will probably have enough to keep him busy. His
garage (in Florida) houses a small
printshop, where he and his eight grandchildren have a lot of fun. There he plans to print and publish several books on a small scale, setting all the type by hand. Saint Augustine and Other Poetry, his first effort, is already
available in some Florida bookstores.
He also plans to spend some time
with his other interest, photography.
In the meantime, while Cornell
searches for a permanent replacement
for Charlie Russell, Dean John Paul Jones is at the bat, with no strikes.

Of Zinck's and Drinks
by Patti Moy 79

Give my regards to Davy,
Remember me to Tee Fee Crane;
Tell all the pikers on the hill That I'll be back again;

Tell them just how I busted,
Lapping up the high highball
We'll all have drinks at Theodore Zinck's, When I get back next fall.

Try to imagine Cornell with no
dormitories except Cascadilla, and almost no residences or rooming houses east of Eddy Street. Try to imagine the campus with no Willard Straight Hall, no Noyes Center, and no North Campus Union.
Back in the 1880's, Cornellians
had none of these buildings, but they did have Zinck's as a gathering place.
Theodore Zinck, a good-natured, quaint German, was blessed with good business instincts. He opened
his beer saloon-restaurant at 108-110
North Aurora Street in 1884, and catered almost exclusively to students.
His German and Bock beer were al
ways tapped from their wooden kegs at the optimal temperature. These two types of beer were his principal staples, and for five cents a beer, it was virtu ally the only beverage served.
Zinck was respectable and industri ous, with an amusing personality. He was a friendly person, proud of his recently acquired American citizenship.

Zinck's - also known as Theodore's Place - was usually crowded on any
evening in the week, and frequently only those who arrived early were fortunate enough to get a table.
In addition to the beer, Zinck's was
known for Cornell's social clubs'
monthly banquets, which were held in the private dining rooms on the second
floor above the restaurant. These ban
quets often featured roasted pigs. Zinck was scrupulous about the
reputation of his enterprise. If at any time there was singing he did not like, especially of those songs which made derogatory references to the German Kaiser, it was promptly stopped. And since Zinck did not allow
drunkenness, his saloon was considered
the most well-conducted drinking es tablishment of its day.
Theodore's place demonstrated the Cornellians' desire for a community spirit - what Willard Straight expressed
in his wish to make Cornell "more
human."

Theodore Zinck, the famed Germanborn Ithacan whose establishment be
came a local tradition.

Zinck died in 1902, and his saloon
was closed until 1935 when Aaron
Wells became the president of Zinck's Incorporated. Wells was also the presi dent of Wells Brothers Co., Inc., a

prosperous clothing retailer, which was
located at 142 East State Street.

Anthony G. Macera joined Wells as

a partner in 1947, and the two be

came joint proprietors of Zinck's Inc.,

which was moved to 109 S. Aurora St.

Zinck's changed hands again in

1952, when John W. Bohrman Jr.

bought the property and the business,

and again in 1953 when Richard L.

Hagy gained control of the corporation.

The last owners of Zinck's Inc. were

Peter and Margaret Hadzicki, who bought it in 1957. Zinck's relocated

to 120 South Aurora Street in 1962,

Zinck's, also known as Theodore's Place, was in the Brunswick Hotel Building at 108-110 North Aurora St.
and the Kent Steak House filled the void at 109 South Aurora Street. The last year that Zinck's was still in busi
ness was in 1967, when the building
at 120 South Aurora Street was torn down to make way for the eventual construction of the Ithaca Commons.
To some alumni, Zinck's is unques tionably a symbol of the old days
when a student knew almost all of his
classmates and the community spirit
which is often seen in the smaller
colleges was a distinct characteristic of the entire University. Perhaps this community spirit still exists; the senior class drinking society has been named "Zinck's Club", in honor of Theodore Zinck. Hopefully the words "We'll all
have drinks at Theodore Zinck's when
I get back next fall," will now take on more meaning to members of the senior class, for in spite of the fact that Theodore Zinck is no longer with us, the "Spirit of Zinck's" lives.

15

4-H's
On-campus HEADQUARTERS
by Mary A. Maxon 79

4-H's goal is to help youth be come self-directing, productive and
contributing members of society. 4-H Clubs and activities offer opportunities
to "learn by doing." You are probably most aware of 4-H
work in families, communities and county 4-H offices. However, the goals can't be reached or programs offered without state and national
support. Cooperative Extension and its 4-H component receive funding, abundant resources and organizational
assistance from the state and the
United States Department of Agri culture. State support is through the land-grant college system which in cludes Cooperative Extension.
New York State Cooperative Exten sion administration and specialists in academic departments operate through the Colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Human Ecology at Cor

nell University, the state's land-grant college. Specifically, 4-H is directed by the State 4-H Program Unit in
East Roberts Hall on campus.
According to George Broadwell, '53, PhD. '69, assistant director of Coop
erative Extension and leader of the
state 4-H office, "every activity of the state staff is done in support of county programs." He describes the office's function as "program leadership," not
administration.
The paper shuffling image of ad ministration certainly isn't appropriate. Developing and managing programs, choosing and training staff, coordi nating state-wide activities and form ing future goals keep the staff busy.
Four program coordinators and a
program specialist work with Assistant
Director Broadwell.
Broadwell cites program manage
ment as a major focus. "4-H agents

Prof. Leonard Topoleski instructs 4-H leaders at a forum held on campus.

have two roles-educator and educa
tional manager," he said. The state
staff counsels agents on their dual role.
As educators, it is important to under
stand the education process and have
a knowledge of subject-matter content, As managers, agents must plan, or
ganize, staff, direct, coordinate, eval uate and report. In addition, needs
assessment and resource development
are necessary for educational programs.
Other state activities also assist the
county 4-H efforts. For example, a file of resources at the colleges and programming ideas from counties is kept up-to-date. Some materials and supplies for use in individual 4-H club
work and county activities can be
ordered through the office. The Con
sumer News Service which sends
newspaper and radio releases on 4-H
and home economics topics is advised by the 4-H staff. It is important that
the News Service "articulate the pur
pose of 4-H to citizens since 4-H is a
tax-supported, public education agen cy," said Broadwell.
Activities are planned each year to bring 4-Hers from around the state together to learn about a subject and about each other. Broadwell said,
"These activities increase their aware
ness that 4-H is part of a larger sys tem. . .it's an off-campus arm of Cor
nell University." For example, youth participate in the State 4-H Congress, Leadership Laboratory and the New
York State Fair. Volunteer Leader
Forums are also organized with a sim
ilar purpose on multi-county, state, regional and national levels.

4-Hers gather at Cornell for the an nual state 4-H Congress. These youth attended a workshop at the Herbert
F. Johnson Museum of Art.

"Crystal ball gazing" is part of the state 4-H office's business, according to Broadwell. They identify social and
economic trends like the need for pro
grams for urban youth and for under standing the changing sex stereotypes. Then they predict their impact and encourage appropriate research and programs. Essential to this forecasting is the state staff's linkage with ad ministration and departmental staff in both colleges and with people in all
counties.
Program Coordinators, John Sterling, '59, Phyllis Stout, '44, Jean Szabadi and Bill Umscheid, have three main
functions. Each acts as liaison with
counties, liaison with academic de
partments, and coordinator of several
committees or activities.
Umscheid explains that program coordinators "help in any way needed at the county level, usually with 4-H
agents or advisory committees." For example, he might help organize dis trict leaders or area representatives
who volunteer to initiate new clubs within a county. Or a program coor
dinator may be called upon to identify a resource person at Cornell to develop a program desired by local 4-H parti cipants. Umscheid and the other coor dinators plan training programs to teach staff about working with com mittees and volunteers, and about
refining programs. Program coordinators also work with
departmental specialists on 4-H project design. Faculty of the two colleges are knowledgeable in their fields, and
state 4-H staff understand the needs

and interests of youth and volunteer leaders. Together they develop ap propriate projects and activities. To implement the programs, resources in the colleges are tapped and leaders
receive instruction.
A prime example is the present
work of Stout and Prof. Charlotte
Ferris, Department of Community Service Education, on changing sex roles in the family and work worlds. After surveying youth and drawing conclusions about their understanding of "sex equity," materials and activities
have been created for 4-H and other
youth to use in group meetings or
discussions. Professor Ferris says,
"The purpose is to help youngsters overcome sex stereotype casting of the past and to develop leadership skills in group relationships." She said Stout actively coordinated 4-H's role in the survey, interpretation of results and involvement in the pilot program.

youth program from recruiting judges to arranging for dormitory chaperones
must be done." Umscheid also works with the State Fair administration.
George Preston, '74, is 4-H pro gram specialist. He organizes the State 4-H Congress each June when 4-Hers come to Cornell for workshops
and activities. Preston also works
on national awards and recognition,
Leader Forums and use of instructional television. Preston advises the Col
legiate 4-H Club of Cornell under graduates.
With the support and efforts of the state 4-H staff, 4-H continues to suc
cessfully serve the people of New York
State.
The youth program at the New York
State Fair is a showcase for many
youngsters' skills.

Each program coordinator has ad
ditional responsibilities. For example, Sterling works with the Media Services Public Relations and Advisory Com mittee, urban programs and the
National 4-H News publication.
Overall New York State Fair coordi
nation is part of Umscheid's plan of work. Throughout the year, the State Fair-4-H Advisory Committee of
agents and faculty, and a separate committee of agents for each event (bicycling, clothing and livestock among others) plan the Fair. Umscheid said, "Their role extends past the plan ning stage, since all aspects of the

From MUMPS to PLATO.

by Mary McDonald 79

Computers have long been known
as time-saving devices, and their var ious possible uses are constantly being explored and enlarged upon. At Cornell University, computers are used by teachers and students, administrators
and secretaries, research and laboratory technicians, doctors. . .in fact, by
anyone with a need to collect or record
information.
The main computer at Cornell is an
IBM 370 model 168 located off-campus
at the Langmuir Laboratory. There are six high-speed terminals on campus in
addition to several interactive terminals.
These systems can be used by virtually
anyone on the campus, because they are programmed in such a way as to simulate a simple operating system for
each user.
The three major computer centers
on campus are located in Baker, Uris and Upson Halls, and are run by the Cornell Computer Services Department. Each of these terminals is equipped with work rooms, key punch rooms and operators/ consultants to answer
questions.
Among the many terminals in Uris G-26, there is one called PLATO which
was designed and built by Andrew Greenberg '79 and Steven Hirschman '78. PLATO helps the students in
a course entitled Rudiments of Music
Theory (Music 141, for non-majors)
to understand the correlations among
pitches which they hear through head phones, keyboard notes which they press on a simulated piano keyboard
attached to the computer and the visual appearance of the notes on a staff on the computer screen.
According to Greenberg, the course
is too large for each student to obtain individual help from their teaching assistants in the techniques of eartraining. The PLATO terminal takes
over these duties. The students utilize
their senses of seeing, hearing, and touching in their interaction with the
18

computer, and thus learn the material
quite thoroughly. PLATO indicates when a note played on the keyboard is too high or too low, for example, and prints a smile when the pitch is correct. Says Greenberg, "Students are learn ing. . .The computer is definitely a help
in the course."
Incidentally, Greenberg built a com puter for his own room in Risley. It is hooked up to a regular color television
set in the room, and can be instructed
to play games with the operator, solve problems, draw pretty pictures and sing songs. Greenberg's "toy" has

formation processed daily.
Marianne Carpenter, User Support Specialist of the User Services Division of Cornell Computer Services, remem
bers two instances when the main
computer facility was shut down. On October 10, 1977, the water-cooled main computer "sprung a leak." Water seeped into many of the components
of the computer, which caused a shut
down of 98 hours. Recalls Carpenter,
"It was scary. Huge pieces of machine
ry had to be taken apart and moved.
and they had to completely rewire about 1500 circuits." Says Carpenter,

PLATO, a musical genius, sings and plays for a student enrolled in Rudiments of Music Theory, (music theory for non-majors).

provided many hours of enjoyment for Risleyites as well as aiding in various mathematical endeavors.
Aside from the student uses of the Cornell computer system, there are in numerable other uses. The main com
puter has hook-ups throughout campus for use in administrative duties, ad missions, billings, payroll, research and gaming simulations to name a few. It
is very important that the main com
puter be kept operating at all times in order to handle the vast quantity of in-

"There were complaints coming in to my office every couple of minutes, but once the computer was again in oper ation, the complaints stopped. As long as people can get their work done,
they don't bark!" Another instance when the main
computer was out of commission was
the result of a programming prank
perpetrated by a graduate student. Although Carpenter doesn't remember the details, rumor has it that one day
the computer got hungry and printed

SEHFUTENS FIT StlMHl

out, "I WANT A COOKIE." All oper
ations stopped. The engineers were baffled. Finally, one enterprising oper ator acted on a whim and typed in "COOKIE" to the computer, and LO! operations started again. The program, incidentally, was never seen or heard
from again.
There are other computer systems
at Cornell which are not connected
with the main computer facility at Lang
muir. One of these is located in the
Computer Graphics Laboratory in Rand Hall. The center is interdisciplinary, and
was established in 1974 through a three

of Architecture, Art and Planning.
The present focus of research in the
Graphics Laboratory includes medicine, structural engineering, architecture, environmental engineering and even cartoon animation. Computer graphics is the most visually exciting of the
various uses of computers. The screen
lights up with animated cartoons or drawings in full color, and the spectacle is breathtaking. Greenberg and his
associates have devised methods
whereby they can project three-dimen sional images on the two-dimensional screen, showing contours, densities,

the hospital procedure. The computer is a PDP-1 1 using MUMPS, and it pro
vides an accurate account of each
patient, from admissions to laboratory tests and results to pathology reports to prescribed drugs to billing and dis charge.
MUMPS currently stores patient data from the past three years of work done in the hospital, according to Dr. Fred Hiltz, Ph.D. '67, Applications Analyst at the College. These records are open to use by students and pro vide an accurate case study of many
of the diseases which are of interest

to them.

"The students used to have to search

the records room for DAYS, and would

still come up with only a few cases. Now, however, they can send the

computer on a search of the files and obtain the required information within

seconds," said Hiltz. A second use of the veterinary col

lege's computer system is in the Diag nostic Laboratory. New York State

supports this laboratory to run tests on blood samples in a check for pos
sible diseases. There are well over

MUMPS aids this graduate student in his interdepartmental research project involving both engineering and medicine.

and one-half year grant from the Na
tional Science Foundation. According to Professor Donald. P. Greenberg, Ph.D. '68, the purpose of the lab is
three-fold; first, for the development
of computer graphics techniques,
second, in the utilization of these
techniques to help solve various re
search problems and third, to improve
interactive design methodology. Green berg is the current director of the
Program of Computer Graphics at Cor
nell as well as a professor in the College

transparencies, illuminations, and various perspectives of an object. The innovative techniques employed by
these graphics experts are providing insight into many areas of research being conducted at Cornell.
Another facility which houses its own computer system is the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell. The primary use of this computer is to record the medical records of the patients, including all of the intermediary steps involved in

2,000,000 tests of this kind done per year, according to Hiltz. Cornell is the only veterinary college in the world
with such an extensive computer
facility. "In fact," boasts Hiltz, "there are only 80 'people hospitals' in the country with comparable systems."
Hiltz hopes that there will eventually
be a reference service set up at the
College to aid veterinarians the world over in determining the worth of new drugs and techniques on the market.
This would enable the doctors to test
the validity of new innovations without taking them from their patients or
other research.
Computers are playing an increasing ly important role at Cornell University as well as in the rest of our society, making our life on earth just a little
simpler.

19

FeelirT Fine in 79

Senior Class Organization? "I never
heard of it," comments a member of the senior class at Cornell. This stu
dent's reaction is similar to that of
many seniors who are planning to graduate in the spring of '79. If a student happens to be aware of the organization's existence, a remark like this one usually follows: "Oh yeah, isn't the Senior Class Organization the
group that collects money for our class
gift?" The Senior Class Organization does
have the responsibility for collecting
money, but it functions in numerous
other ways as well. Until this year the
members of the organization have ad hered to tradition. They have been in

charge of selling class T-shirts, over seeing Zinck's (the Senior Class Drink ing Society), and collecting monetary funds for the class gift. But according to Rick Hadala '79, the new president of the organization, "This year's Senior Class Organization won't stick to just
the old traditions."
Hadala, a graduating senior, plans to make changes in the organization
this year. In the past, the Senior Class
Organization has never bothered to generate senior spirit before the middle of the spring semester. But this old ap proach is going to change. One of Rick's overriding goals is to conduct
activities which will involve and in
form seniors about Senior Class '79

prior to Senior Week. Some of these activities have already taken place and others are planned for the near future
The organization itself is controlled by an executive committee. This com mittee consists of the president and five subcommittees including the Pub licity Committee, Commencement Committee, Finance Committee, Activ ities Committee, and the Class Gift Committee. Each subcommittee is headed by two executive committee
members. These subcommittee mem
bers hold meetings of their own in
order to recruit seniors of the student
body to aid in the planning of senior
class events.
Probably the most interesting sub
committee is the Activities Committee.

President Rick Hadala and Cindy Safier, members of the Senior Activities Committee, try to organize mountains of paperwork.

The leaders of this subcommittee are
responsible for organizing the Zinck's Club. One leader in particular, Joan

Bozek 79, has the job of selecting the
bar at which the Zinck's Club meets

every Thursday night. It seems that Joan has some new plans for the, Zinck's Club. According to Joan,

"Zinck's has always been held at bars

like The Haunt and The Chapter House.

This year I want to have the Club

meet at a different place like the North Forty where people can dance as well

as drink. I'm also trying to organize
some type of talent show so there

can be entertainment for the senior

Zinck's members right in the bars where they are drinking."
Thus far, the turnout for Zinck's has been good. Approximately 250 Zinck's cards have been sold. In order to sell

more tickets, the committee leaders are planning to place an article in the Cornell Daily Sun to give the Club publicity and to answer a lot of ques tions students ask about Zinck's in

general. Greg Gorka '79, the other leader of
the Activities Committee, has charge of the drinking bashes before the

20

by Shari Watchman 79

football and lacrosse games. Although
these bashes have been held in the past, Gorka has some new ways of
organizing these events for the future
games. Gorka remarks, "I'd like to get block seating for the seniors at all of the games so some feeling of unity
can be generated." One other wild idea proposed by Gorka is the setting up of
a cocktail bar outside the stadium.
"This bar could serve seniors drinks
during half-time," says Gorka. Can such an event be organized? Gorka
thinks it can. He is already making in
quiries about the possibility of holding a half-time Happy Hour, as he de
scribed it.

Leaders of the Commencement
Committee, David Stocker '79 and Steven Green 79, have some changes to make also. In keeping with tradition,
a member from within the Cornell
community is delegated to speak at the graduation ceremony every year. Stocker and Green, though, hope to break tradition. They are now working with the Faculty Committee in hopes of acquiring a speaker from outside
Cornell. Which noted individual they have set their hopes on recruiting
has not yet been revealed. Whether
they can execute these plans depends
upon whether the committee gets approval from the administration to

make changes in the graduation cere

mony.

Cindy Safier assesses the winning logo and slogan for the class of '79.

The Class Gift Committee has or
ganized a fall phonathon to collect
funds for the Senior Class Gift. This

three-day event is going to take place

on the evenings of October 31st,

November 1st and 2nd. Another phon

athon is planned for the spring as well.

Linda Rust 79 and Kathleen Best 79,

leaders of the committee, are in the

midst of recruiting phoners, whom

they desperately need to call for dona

tions. Although phonathons have been

conducted in previous years, these girls

are convinced that their phonathons

will be better. According to Best, "We

have a follow-up plan on pledges.

We're going to send letters and make

phone calls to those who pledged

money to remind them of the amount

they pledged." The girls agree that

they need to make at least $5,000 to

pay for the gift they have in mind.

Their suggestions for class gifts are: a

lecture series, a scholarship fund,

and a campus beautification project.

The gift they select will depend greatly

upon the results of the fall and spring

phonathons.

With all the new events planned,

the Publicity Committee will be kept

extremely busy. Mary Maxon 79, one of the leaders of this committee, re cently took charge of a logo and slogan
contest. This contest was held to get
a logo and slogan for the Class of 79 T-shirts, which will go on sale sometime in November. The slogan, which has
been selected for the senior class is
"Feelin' Fine in 79." The logo ac companying the slogan is a picture of
a stout 79 with the word Cornell
resting on top of the number. Maxon has also been busy painting banners and drawing up posters to publicize
the Zinck's Club and pre-game football and lacrosse bashes.
All of these planned activities are sure to keep the Finance Committee inundated with work. Keeping the
financial books in order for all these
events will not be an easy task for Neil
Exter 79 and Michael Rabin 79, the heads of the Finance Committee. But
the Executive Committee appears to be both confident and competent. All the committee leaders are enthusiastic and
they seem to have very ambitious goals. If the members of this organization follow through with their newly pro posed plans, the Senior Class Organ ization may gain the recognition it de
serves and a name which Cornell
seniors will remember.

21

Cornell vs. Child Abuse

by Priscilla L. Nissi 79

Recent laws in all states require the formal reporting of incidents of child
abuse and neglect. These laws have revealed a hidden plague of mistreat ment of children by their families.
According to the annual report of the New York State Department of Social Services, last year, nearly 60,000 children were reported as victims of some forms of alleged abuse and neglect. Nationwide, there are over a quarter million reports a year and more than 2,000 deaths.
Housed in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at the College of Human Ecology is the Family and Life Development Center. Its eightmember staff includes six professionals and two secretaries. John Doris is the
director of the Center and a professor
in the Department of Human Develop ment and Family Studies.
"The Center was established in 1 974
by the New York State Legislature and in 1975 received a federal grant to
become the New York State Resource
Center on Child Abuse and Neglect,"
explained Michael Nunno, Extension
Associate, Department of Human
Development and Family Studies.
The Center does not provide direct
services to families. Instead, it works
from the local to the state and national
levels to help communities develop and strengthen their own programs of
education, community development and public services.
"The Center serves as a resource
to communities and agencies. By com bining research, teaching and extension faculty with the Cooperative Extension
network in 56 counties and the five
boroughs of New York City, the Center is able to conduct supportive programs in these areas," said Nunno.
Abuse and neglect are clearly de fined by the law. In New York, serious physical injury, or great risk of such injury, is considered abuse. Sexual
abuse at the hands of the parent, or
someone acting in the parent's role, is also abuse. Neglect refers to the

holding-back of necessary food, cloth ing, shelter, educational opportunities
or other forms of scanty care and
supervision that could jeopardize the well being of the child.
"Under the law, the burden falls on the parents and on the welfare sys
tem to solve the problem," explained
Nunno. "But, often neither the parents nor the system have the resources
needed to promise the protection of
the child."
In one of the community handbooks put out by the Center, Frank Barry, Extension Associate, Department of Human Development and Family Stud ies, called for more community involve
ment. 'What is needed is a response
at the community level: a degree of caring we have failed to sustain in our society. Too often the public response to a serious social problem is to de
mand legislation, place responsibility for the solution in a public agency and then drop back into complacency, content that the problem has been
solved. Such a response to child abuse
and neglect is simplistic, naive and
inadequate.' "In 1975, there were eight com
munity Task Forces existing in New
York State. These task forces con
sisted of community members- usually physicians, educators, social workers
and other professionals, as well as pri vate citizens. Frank Barry saw the po tential of involving these multi-disci plinary groups in the community. Now there are 42 task forces throughout the state's 57 counties," said Nunno.

These task forces consider them selves action groups. They consist of people representing local agencies and organizations concerned about children.
"One of their goals is to initiate change in their communities. Usually they do
this by organizing existing groups or agencies to work with each other. The task forces may also develop new ser vices if there is a need," said Nunno.
Since the Center's staff has watched the number of task forces grow over
the past three years, they are familiar with some of the organizational prob lems that may weaken a group's ability to take any action at all. Thus, the
Center meets with the groups and
offers them guidelines on how to get members of the community involved, how to run their meetings effectively, how to set goals based on their com munity's needs and how to establish their legitimacy in the community.
Once a task force has organized its resources effectively, it is ready to
improve the community's response to child abuse and neglect. Task forces throughout the state have developed such programs as Parents Anonymous chapters, speakers bureaus, visiting
friends programs, training programs
for Child Protective Service workers
and public awareness conferences. Task forces, according to Barry,
"generate a community-wide response to a social problem. The task forces operating today may dissolve after they have reached their goals. On the other hand, the may set new goals or
they may move into entirely new areas. In any case, they will serve as a pre cedent for solving other complex social problems in every community where they have been effective in re
ducing child abuse and neglect."

22

■--*0£-<te>. —jar

COUNTRYMAN CAPSULES

Anson Rowe Awards
Presented
The Department of Communication
Arts has honored three of its own. The 1978 Anson Rowe Award has been
presented to Joseph Lubeck 78, Lori
Bernstein 79 and Renni Altman 79. The Anson Rowe Award, which in
cludes a cash prize, is given annually to a junior and a senior in the depart
ment who have demonstrated out
standing ability and achievement in public communication, and who plan
to go on to work in the field. This year, however, it was decided that Bernstein
and Altman were so close in qualifica tions that the junior award was split between them, along with $875 each
in prize money. Lubeck will be using his $1750,
the senior prize, towards graduate study and a Master of Communication degree at the University of Delaware.
Babcock Professor
Appointed
Prof. Erik Thorbecke, Department of
Economics chairman and renowned
international economist, has been
named the new H.E. Babcock Professor
of Economics and Food Economics.
Dr. Thorbecke brings a distinguished background in international economic and agricultural development and planning and on world food problems
to his new chair in the Division of Nu
tritional Sciences.
Prof. Thorbecke will retain a joint post in the Department of Economics.
Outstanding Work
Rewarded
Prof. Randolph Barker '53, agri
cultural economist and researcher, has been appointed a full Professor of Agricultural Economics with tenure. Dr. Barker was an associate professor
in the College of Agriculture in the midsixties, and taught at the graduate
school in 1973-74. His most recent

work includes research with the famous International Rice Research Institute
in the Philippines, and teaching at the
Los Banos and Diliman campuses of
the University of the Philippines.
Dennis Kelly 77 has been named general field representative for agrichemical giant CIBA-GEIGY Corporation in Mississippi. After graduating, Kelly joined CIBA-GEIGY, first as a part-time
and later full-time research technician.
Prof. Daniel Sisler has received the
Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching
Award of the American Association of
Agricultural Economics for 1978. Since Sisler joined the faculty in
1961 he has been lauded for his out
standing teaching in the College, in cluding being voted outstanding teacher in 1964 after just three years of teach ing.
Prof. William F. Mai has received the
Award of Merit, Northeastern Division, American Phytopathological Society, for his contributions to plant pathology. Mai is a leading authority on nematodes, and his research has led to significant improvements in the methods used to control the parasites in fruit trees and vegetable crops.
Prof. George L. Good has received the New York State Nurserymen's
Award and has been voted to that
group's Hall of Fame. Good was recog nized for his conspicuous contributions
and meritorious service to the nursery
industry through his research, teach ing and extension programs in nursery management, and landscape horticul
ture. This is the second time Good has
been honored by this group; he re ceived a special citation from the as
sociation last year.
Prof. Richard E. Austic has received
the 1978 Poultry Science Award of the Poultry Science Association. The award carries with it a $500 cash prize, and was conferred on Austic for the

outstanding research he has published in the journal, Poultry Science, during the past year. Austic's field of study
includes work on egg shell formation.
Steven C. Weist grad, and his advisor, Prof. Peter L. Steponkus, have been given the Kenneth Post Award for their outstanding research in ornamental horticulture. Weist was singled out by the American Society for Horticultural
Science for his research on the ways
freezing injury affects the roots of container-grown plants, a problem that has far-reaching consequences
for commercial nurseries.
Prof. H.B. Tukey, Jr., has been elec ted vice president (1978-82) and presi
dent (1982-86) of the International
Society for Horticultural Science. Tukey, a native of Geneva, N.Y. and a faculty member of the Department
of Floriculture and Ornamental Horti
culture since 1959, will be the first Cornellian and only the second Ameri can to serve as the group's president in its eighty-year history.
Tukey is an authority on the effects of rain and mist on plant growth and development. His current work centers
on foliar nutrition as a means of achiev
ing more efficient use of fertilizers. He and his students are also investigating
botanical effects of acid rain.
Prof. Leroy L. Creasy has been voted vice president (1978-79) and president (1979-80) of the Phytochemical Society of North America. Creasy will be the first Cornell scientist to head this organization since its found ing in 1961 .
Creasy joined the Department of Pomology faculty in 1965, and has
become well known for his research on effects of orchard management
and environmental factors on the quality of apples. His studies have also included work on biochemical factors in apple color development and disease
resistance in grapevines.

I IP

by Debbie Swinehart 79

What do you do when a peregrine
falcon drops in for lunch, adopts your office building as her cliff and spends hours flirting with her reflection in your windows?
Officials of the United States Fidelity
and Guaranty Insurance Company (USF&-G) in Baltimore recently en countered this question, and they have
rolled out the welcome mat -- in the
shape of specially designed nesting
boxes - to encourage the rare bird to
stay. The falcon, a female called Scarlet,
was hatched in the falcon barns near
the Cornell campus. She was released
on an island in Chesapeake Bay in the spring of 1977 as part of a program to reintroduce peregrine falcons to their natural habitat. In January of last year Scarlet appeared in downtown Balti
more, where she staked out her terri
tory on the city's tallest building - the 35-story USF&-G office complex.
According to Dr. Tom J. Cade, professor of ornithology and director of the peregrine program at Cornell, the skyscraper is actually an ideal home for Scarlet. Peregrines usually nest on ledges and crevices of steep cliff faces. "The USF&-G building is made almost entirely of glass," Cade explained, "but each floor is encircled
by a ledge of naturally quarried pink

granite, so it looks like a cliff to Scar
let."
Furthermore, Cade added, the build ing's glass walls are tinted so that,
while the falcon can not see in or be
disturbed by movement inside the offices, observers can look out and watch the beautiful bird from only a
few feet away.
Like most cities, Baltimore has a substantial population of pigeons and starlings, which is a definite attraction for Scarlet. Unfortunately, Cade ex plained, Scarlet has dropped the re
mains of several "lunches" onto the
street below her adopted cliff, to the dismay of the more squeamish pedes
trians.

But aside from having to duck fall-.
ing pigeon wings, the people at USF&G are proud of their resident falcon. At
the suggestion of Cornell ornithologists,1
they have installed two pink granite
nesting boxes on a 32nd floor ledge to
encourage Scarlet to stay. The boxes
are filled with sand, since peregrines^
need a soft nesting surface so they
can scrape out indentations to hold
their eggs.
Scarlet has accepted her boxes and
is exhibiting some nesting and court ship behavior, including scratching
indentations in the sand in her boxes
and staring at her reflection as if she
thinks it is a male falcon. If Scarlet
actually finds a mate and nests success fully, it will be a major victory for the
peregrine reintroduction program, since today there are no wild breeding peregrines left in the eastern United
States.
According to Cade, the chances that
Scarlet will find a mate are fairly good, since nearly 20 other peregrines have
been released from sites near Baltimore over the past few years. Cade also feels that Scarlet's behavior indicates
that she has accepted the USF&G building as her permanent territory. "Unless something unforseen happens to her," Cade said, "Scarlet will hang
in there!"

New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of the State University, at Cornell Univ

{•,'{. •/< ;'<

CORNELL

COUNTRYMAN

JAIM./FEB., 1379

NO. 4

it
mm

EDITORS:
Carie Leigh Middleton Mary A. Maxon Patti Moy

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN
JAN. - FEB. 1979 VOLUME LXXVI Number 4

ASSISTANT EDITORS:
Ed Hardy Shari Watchman Evelyn Wilkens

ART EDITORS:
Katherine Kalaf Priscilla L. Nissi Mark Smith
PHOTO EDITOR: Byron Widger
EDITORIAL STAFF: Rob Bernstein, Paul Green, Pat Lyons, Mary McDonald, Lena H. Sun, Debbie Swinehart, Karen Green Thau

Getting Avvpy ■
From'It Alt

ABOUT THE ISSUE
Getting away from it all seems to be the objective of many members of the Cornell community when the semester
break rolls around. Most of us do man age to escape from the routine of our
everyday lives in one way or another,
but there are some who cannot. This.
issue of the Countryman takes a look at what some people do to get away.
from it all.

OOPS! In our December 1978 article
on Computers at Cornell we said that students had designed and built the terminal used with the PLATO system to teach a course in music theory. The computer-based education sys tem known as PLATO is a registered trademark of Control Data Corpora tion, and Andrew Greenberg and Steven Hirschman built only the piano-like keyboard that interfaces
with the terminal. We're sorry for the
error.
Picture Credits: p. 3 - Visual Services; p. 4 - Visual Services, Media Services; p. 5, Back Cover - Visual Services; p. 6, 7 - Shari Watchman; p. 8 - Mark Smith; p. 9 - Cornell Dining; p. 10, 11 Rick Gilbert; p. 12, 13 - Mary McDon ald; p. 14, 15 - Stefan Simmons, Xiao Lin, Kathrin Scheerer; p. 16, 17 Carie Middleton; p. 18, 19 - Cornell Archives; p. 20, 21 - Sol Goldberg, Byron Widger; p. 22 - Ed Hardy, Pro fessor G.W. Olson; Cover Design Priscilla L. Nissi, Katherine Kalaf.

CONTENTS
3. Aloha Big Red Baseball! by Priscilla L. Nissi 79 4. Joe King. . .He Can't Get Away From It All by Mary A. Maxon 79 6. Big Plans for "Little Eleven" by Shari Watchman 79 8. Life at the Turkey Palace by Mark Smith 79 9. From Hamburgers to Haute Cuisine by Karen Green Thau 79 10. Making a Splash in Fort Lauderdale by Patti Moy 79 12. The Dogs Of Cornell by Mary McDonald 79 14. One Year at. . .Peking University by Lena H. Sun 79
16. What's a Mantra? by Carie Leigh Middleton '80 18. A Woman's Place by Debbie Swinehart 79
20. Fans Heat Up Hockey by Byron Widger 79
22. And Then There Were None by Ed Hardy 79
24. Landscape Architecture: Students Implement Designs by Mary A. Maxon 79
The Cornell Countryman is published seven times a year from October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cornell University Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription Rates: $2.50 a year,
$4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content gathered and
written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors. Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

Aloha BIG RED Baseball!

by Priscilla L. NiSSi '79
Ten years ago, athletic budgets,
along with many other department budgets, were cut. For Cornell's Varsity Baseball team, the cut meant no more road trips during the spring break.
So ten years ago, Coach Ted Thoren started the Cornell Baseball Boosters Club as an additional source of support

he was a football coach and I think
he's done an outstanding job," said Anderluh. "I think the trips are great and I think they're necessary for an athletic program like Cornell's, especially considering Cornell's geographic location. The playing season is short. I'm very pleased with the team's pro
gress, I think they've come a long way."

for the team. "The members of the club are for
mer Cornell baseball players, managers, alumni and friends," said Thoren. "In
ten years, the club has grown to a
membership of 700 individuals, 250
of whom are active."
Through the support of these alum ni, the team has been able to take some glamorous spring trips by plane to Florida, Texas and California. This
year the team is headed for Hawaii!
Eleven men in particular "have given extraordinary support to Cornell
baseball over the years. For their dedi

When Lewis Durland, '30, was a manager for the baseball team, they "went on a bus trip down south and played teams like Duke and the Uni versity of North Carolina. Now the
teams travel much greater distances for the trips, the Cornell alumni in the area come out and greet them and
they have a great time," said Dur land. "I think this trip to Hawaii is simply going to be a wonderful exper
ience for the team."
"It's important that this is common knowledge: the University does not fund the trips in any way," said Thoren.

cation and support, I've designated "The alumni in the Boosters Club

them Super Boosters," explained totally finance the trip."

Thoren. "They are John Anderluh, '55,

The Big Red Nines began meeting

Lewis Durland, '30, Jim Farrell, '50, some of the nation's best when Thoren

Dr. Tom Flanagan, '42, Poe Fratt, '53, started pushing Cornell baseball to

Joseph Iglehart, '14, Dr. Seymour more demanding heights with the birth

Katz, '31, Fritz Krebs, '12, George of the Boosters Club ten years ago.

Russell, '19 and Gustavo Vollmer,
42."

As a result of the far-reaching spring trips financed by the club, Thoren's

Super Booster John Anderluh has
been involved in the Boosters Club
"ever since the program was instituted.
I played baseball when I was at Cornell

teams have met the top schools in the south, southwest and west coast. The
big moments have come in 1972 when Cornell knocked off top-ranked Arizona

some years ago. I've known Ted for a State at the Riverside, California Tour

great many years, starting with when nament; in 1973 when the Big Red

Last year the team went to California; this year the players will be eating Pineapple and learning the 'hula' in Hawaii.

shocked third-ranked Miami with two defeats in one day; and in 1974 when
they upset Texas A&M, the nationally
ranked leader of the Southwest Con
ference. Since reshaping the program in 1967, Thoren's regular season record is 167-93-2; including spring trips,
212-166-9. This is Thoren's 28th year as a coach at Cornell and 18th year as baseball coach.
According to player John Nurthen, '79, "The teams we play on our trips are tougher because they've already played half their season, whereas we're only starting ours. Of course, it's
a feather in our hat if we do beat the
teams."
This year, 21-23 players, two man agers and three coaches will be going
to Hawaii. "The team looks forward
to the trips very much, believe me," said Nurthen. "Freshmen are looking forward very much to making the grade to travel with the team."
This is Nurthen's third trip with the team. In his sophomore year the team
went to Texas, followed by California in his junior year. When asked if the players get a chance to sightsee at all he replied, "We're usually given a free night out on the town towards the end of the trip. And just traveling from the hotel to games you see the area. Also, if it rains, we have more time."
The alumni of the area are interested
in the team and sponsor dinners for
them. "They also come to the games
and cheer us on- that's how we know
they're there. They were even there if we lost," said Nurthen.
"Letting the alumni see the team in their own area is a good way to keep in contact. The team is representing
Cornell and the alumni enjoy speaking to them," explained Thoren.
However, it isn't just the alumni who enjoy the experience. "I think it's a heck of an opportunity," said Nurthen. "I think I can speak for the rest of the team in saying that it's not often that teams have the privilege of being sup ported by such outstanding alumni or of going on such excellent trips.
There's no other team in the country, that I know of, that can say they travel as much as we do."

JOE KING . . .
He Can't Get Awa

by Mary A. Maxon 79

Joseph P. King, '36, is a College
of Agriculture and Life Sciences alum nus who can't get away from Cornell. He is actively involved in alumni fundraising and student recruitment pro grams, and in policy-making and ad visory groups of the College and the
University. "Joe has certainly devoted more
time to the College and the University than any other alumnus of the College,"
said Cornell Provost W. Keith Kennedy,
PhD. '47, former dean of the College. When someone asked his wife, Ethel
King, how much time he spends at Cornell, she answered, "If Joe spent
three more days a year on campus, he'd be eligible to vote in Tompkins County!" She estimates he comes
down from their home in Rochester
20 or 25 times each year.
Because his wife is so patient with
his involvements and time commit
ments- for Cornell and for his job as administrator of the Genesee Valley Regional Market Authority, King pur chased one of the new red maple trees on the ag quad in her honor.
What could keep an alumnus that busy at Cornell? King's motivation has led him into many roles: "My stimulus to be involved has been the opportunity to see the product, to be in touch with the undergraduates." He feels that this helps him function better as
an active alumnus.
"I'm optimistic for the fitness of Cornell as it faces today's challenges to higher education," said King, "be cause besides fine facilities and staff,

we have the strong support of alumni."
He stressed that people are what's needed to make the Cornell experience
great. King praises the large number of
active alumni "who give of their time although they have responsibilities to jobs and families." A very modest
man, he thanks those alumni because he can see their effect on all aspects of Cornell.
King has served on the Cornell Board of Trustees for the past nine years. Besides working on the Executive
Committee and as chairman of the
Committee on State Relationships and
the Liaison Committee on Cornell-
SUNY Matters, he has been traveling to Ithaca weekly this year for meetings
of the Trustees' Ad Hoc Committee
on Investments in Companies operating
in South Africa. Discussions are com
plex because the issue of South African
investments involves "a moral issue
and the fiduciary responsibility of the Trustees." When he was a student, issues on campus were not as explosive. King remembers that the struggle for
individual survival was the most im
portant concern of students during the depression years at Cornell.
He is a member and past chairman of the Council for the New York State
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Agricultural Experiment Sta tions. Recently King was appointed to
Alumnus King and Cornell Provost Kennedy confer during one of King's
many visits to the Cornell campus.

the College of Veterinary Medicine Advisory Council.
As the first chairman of the College Fund Advisory Committee in 1968, and as an active member throughout
its first decade, "his enthusiasm and knowledge of Cornell alumni helped put together a strong organization to raise funds for the College," explained Richard A. Church, '64, College ad
missions officer and former Fund co
ordinator.
Church describes King as "a con tinual Cornell enthusiast." To help students make contacts with Cornell,

4

om It All

he feels free to call and make appoint
ments, he said. As a member of the
Secondary Schools Committee in his area and as a deeply concerned person, he works hard to attract good students

to Cornell. King firmly believes "there's a place
in every boy's and girl's life for a sin
cere interested person besides parents
and officials." Recruiting students is an important activity because young people "have to make judgements, with limited personal experience, that
will affect their futures."

After attending the University of
Nebraska for two years, he worked on the Osborndale farm in Connecticut

during the depression and drought out west. King remembers that his em ployer, Mrs. W.S. Kellogg, challenged him to come to Cornell. He accepted the challenge and applied for admission
as a transfer student.

Besides encouraging students to consider Cornell, King takes a personal interest in their decision to attend,
their progress while in school and their future. Students' respect and gratitude is obvious when you fre
quently hear them call him "Uncle
Joe."

Tracy Pajeski, '79, met King through
her parents and the Rochester Cornell

Club activities. He interviewed her for

Cornell and answered many of her

questions. "He keeps track of how I'm

doing when I see him on campus or at home," she said. "We share an interest

ln horses, too, so he often tells me

about his experiences."

John Walsh,

'81 ,

remembers "he

made sure I spoke with professors in

my major and the athletic coaches

At the testimonial dinner last spring, Virgil Cotton, '79 thanked King for his
dedicated support of Cornell students.

when I came for my interview." Now
Walsh sees him at the varsity and light weight football games. He says, "Joe King is a really nice guy."
King makes a special effort to en courage athletes to apply to Cornell. A former high school football player whose college participation was cut short by a dislocated shoulder, he points out to prospective students not only what Cornell can do for them, but what they can do for Cornell. King served on the Advisory Committee on Physical Education and Athletics in the past, and remains active.
Two of his most meaningful friend ships when he was a student were with Nathaniel "Tully" Cossack, '35, who was first to greet him when he went on the Cornell football practice field, and Jerome "Brud" Holland, '39. King cheered them on while they achieved
All American recognition. His cheers are still heard for present
football players, among others Joe Holland, '78. Holland, Brud's son, re calls King's encouraging words, espe cially during Cornell football's "leaner years."
Last spring the Rochester Cornell Club held a testimonial dinner for King.
Over 360 persons from the area and the campus attended the affair held at
the Oak Hill Country Club, according to Bradley G. Corbitt, '58, director of Cornell's Upstate Regional Office.
Cornell President Frank H.T. Rhodes
spoke highly of King's contributions

to Cornell. Other speakers included Cornellians from five decades who
told anecdotes of how he had helped. According to Corbitt, the dinner is
just one indication of how much Ro chester alumni respect King. "When
an alumni group in the area makes a
major decision, they often get Joe's opinion first," he said. Aside from his local recruiting and organizing efforts in the Secondary Schools program and the Cornell Club, King has worked for
the Cornell Fund for over 20 years.
King is the first recipient of the Out standing Alumni Award presented by the College Alumni Association. Phillip A. Green, '64, Alumni Association president at that time, made the pre sentation at an alumni reception during Homecoming Weekend '77. The
Alumni Association Board of
Directors, of which King was once president, established this award to recognize outstanding graduates for their service to the College or individual achievements in their field. A plaque honoring the Outstanding Alumni Award recipients hangs in the lobby of
Roberts Hall. It was handcrafted of Vermont cherry wood by Julian M. Carter, '37, another active alumnus and close friend of King.
Cornell and the College are very important in the life of Joe King. His dedication and involvement have made him at least equally important to Cor nell and the College. Thank you,
"Uncle Joe."

5

BIG PLAN

Co-chairmen Gary Guzy and Jeff Schwartz gather essential information.
Where can Cornellians go to meet
with student groups from other schools
to discuss the common problems of college life? Jeffrey Schwartz '80, an enthusiastic Cornell student, responds without hesitation: "The Ivy League Plus Three conference, better known
as the Little Eleven conference."
Schwartz has reason to respond with such confidence for he has recently
been named co-chairman of the over
all conference.
Gary Guzy '80, a Cornell student trustee, is working with Schwartz to organize the Cornell group in prepara
tion for the Little Eleven conference
at the University of Pennsylvania in February 1979. Here, a number of dele gates will be present from each of the Ivy League colleges as well as from MIT, Stanford, and the University of Chicago. These students will con verse with one another on the subjects
of academics and the role of the uni
versity in social, political, minority, women, student life, tuition and finan cial aid, student government, and inter collegiate athletics affairs.
One Cornell delegate, Bruce Katz '80, hopes to generate ideas about how to deal with campus related problems so he may effect changes at Cornell. A problem that he seems particularly

concerned about is the judicial system on campus. According to Katz, "Stu
dents don't know who to turn to when
they are in trouble. For example, when a student is caught cheating and is brought before the Academic Board of Integrity he has no one to advise him on his rights or prepare him for this
ordeal. The student senate, dismantled
approximately two years ago, lent
students an ear and gave them advice when a situation of this kind arose.
Right now there is no student-run organization like this to meet the stu dents' needs." Katz, leader of the student government committee for the Little Eleven meeting is working with
his group to design a new judicial sys tem for the student body at Cornell.
Part of his plan involves the instituting of a court system where government students act as lawyers and represent Cornellians in trouble, like those
brought before the Academic Board of Integrity. "In this way, everyone can
get a fair shake as well as a shoulder
to lean on," remarks Katz.
Organizers Schwartz and Guzy have coordinated seven committees to begin research on major issues for discussion at the conference. This research, al
located to the various committee
members of the seven major areas under investigation, will prepare mem bers for the actual conference and help them select representatives from each
of their committees for the conference.
Only two delegates from every com
mittee will be chosen to attend the
conference in Philadelphia. In total, twenty-two students will be picked to sit in on the conference, including Jeff Schwartz and Gary Guzy. The end of
November has been set as the deadline
for the choosing of these delegates. Selection will probably depend upon
attendance record and the amount of

research a member does in relation to
the committee's particular issues. Guzy is having a difficult time deciding upon the criteria to use for the delegate selection process. According to Guzy,
"It is hard to base selection on atten
dance records because some people will simply go all out and get involved for a few weeks so that they can be come delegates. After that, we won't
see them again."
The conference members selected
will either charter a bus or drive in cars
to Philadelphia on a Friday in February
of 1979 and the conference will last
three days. Schwartz, in charge of travel arrangements, has secured rooms at the Holiday Inn in Philadelphia for Cornell delegates. When I asked Schwartz how he planned to obtain money for this venture, he replied, "Well, we now have $535. We need approximately $1 ,500 for the con ference and I'm not sure yet where the
rest will come from." A contingency
fund from the Division of Campus
Life has already provided them $225.
Another $225 came from the campus council. Council chairman Robert Mc
Ginnis, stated that "The council's sup port of the conference with a $225 en dorsement was generous, considering the severe financial limitations of funds."
Schwartz recently appealed to the
Student Finance Commission for some sort of funding but no decision has been handed down yet. Schwartz is keeping his fingers crossed. "If we
can't raise enough money for the conference, delegates will be forced
jto contribute some of their own money
for lodging and transportation costs. I certainly would not be in favor of dele gates paying their own way because then only those who could afford to lay
out the cash would attend the con
ference," he asserted.

6

or "Little Eleven"

by Shari Watchman 79

Although the conference is still some months away goals have already been set. At a meeting held on November 6, 1978 some of these goals were dis
cussed. A female committee member from the athletics group hopes to or
ganize intercollegiate sports tourna
ments for women who are members of
Cornell sports clubs. Right now, only teams have the privilege of engaging in these tournaments. Therefore, this
group is hoping to work out an arrange ment where food, transportation and lodging can be provided for all college clubs that would like to participate in tournaments like these. Possibly, these arrangements could be made with representatives from the different col leges at the conference.
When asked what he hopes to ac complish at the conference, Schwartz
responds, "First I would like to make positive ties with other colleges based on something other than competition. From there a sharing of ideas among intelligent students from different schools is hoped for, so common problems and major issues can be ex

amined and discussed; leading to pos
sible solutions that we have not been able to come up with on our own."
What issues is he talking about? Divest
ment is one issue on most of the stu
dents' minds at Cornell. A vocal mem
ber from the minority affairs group is looking to gain support for divestment
at the conference. This committee
member hopes that an intercollegiate
student alliance on the issue of divest
ment will help to speed up action taken by the Cornell administration to divest itself of stock in companies that do
business in South Africa.
On the subject of student life, com mittee members are focusing their at tention on the housing problem. At the Little Eleven conference delegates
would like to come away with new ideas
on how to supply adequate housing
for Cornell students who wish to re
main on campus. Is the building of
another dorm feasible? What about
bunkbeds in all the rooms to sleep more students? In discussing possibil
ities like these with students from
other colleges maybe Cornellians can

come up with some new ideas on how
to solve Cornell's growing problem of housing.
With high hopes and outlined goals for a new judicial system, better hous ing, stronger ties with other colleges and thought-provoking discussions of major problems and issues like divest ment, Cornellians eagerly prepare for their first intercollegiate conference. They are doing their homework, for research is now being carried out and organized efforts are being made to
affect these issues that will be dis
cussed.
Though the conference is named "Little" Eleven all attending hope that it will be a big success. Accord ing to Guzy, "We've all put out for this conference. . .in effort and time. I only hope it shows at the conference and
after we return to Cornell." No one
knows how effective these big plans
will be for the Little Eleven conference
until the actual weekend that the meet
ing will be held. However, we can be sure of one thing, that Cornellians will be going to Philadelphia prepared.

A heated discussion ensues involving the delegate selection process.

A committee member questions the chairman as plans
are set for the conference.
1

Some students ski during their win
ter vacations. Some sojurn in sunny
climes. And some feed rabbits, guinea pigs, turkeys, cows and chickens. I will be one of the few engaged in the latter activity because I live and work
at the "Turkey Palace." The Palace is owned by Cornell's
poultry science department. Students

While it is an opportunity to save some money on housing, that consideration
alone could not have induced me to
brave the rigors of turkey duty. The reason I moved there is that I wanted
to live with four guys from my church,
and since they were already living at the Palace, it seemed easier for me to
move out there than to move them

Life At The Turkey Palace
by Mark Smith 79

who live in this apartment help pay the rent with their labor. They take care
of the varmints on weekends and holi
days, when the full-time employees are
not working.
If someone had told me, "You're
going to live on a turkey farm during your senior year," I would have recom mended that they move to a rubber room. I'm not crazy about turkey din
ners, much less about running a cater ing service for the beasties. I came to Cornell as a biology major- as many people do- and decided after con ducting a particularly disgusting ex periment involving lizards to change to something less gastronomically dis quieting. As it turned out, I ended up majoring in communication arts, which explains why I'm writing this article.
But that's another story.
Getting back to this story, you may be wondering why an avid animal lover like myself moved in to the Palace.

Some birds are bred to be meaty.
into my North Campus single, so I
moved.
The first time I walked into a pen
full of about two dozen leghorn roosters I was attacked by them. Roosters are not rational creatures. They will not listen to reason. They will not be moved by kind words or smiles. They
will not sit down with you and discuss the merits of Linda Ronstadt's latest
album. They will attempt to decapitate you for any offense. Feeding them, for example. At the end of my first day of turkey duty, the only thing that would have looked more inviting than a warm
bed was an eviction notice.
Having a rooster scramble up your leg is not the only benefit of turkey duty. The unrelenting din of gobbles, squawks, cackles, shrieks, thumps and scratching toenails which you can still hear two days later in your sleep and
hens who refuse to leave their eggs
which forces you to drag them off kicking and screaming are some of the other high points. Putting your finger through an eggshell or some other bird by-product accidentally; and dropping

a flat of eggs because everybody in the pen just decided to fly really can
happen here. One thing which contributes to the
variety of turkey duty is the birds themselves. Different types of birds display different personalities. Turkeys
are mellow and laid-back for the most
part, while most chickens are frantic. Toms (male turkeys) have a very dig nified senatorial manner; leghorn
roosters have a lot in common with
the 1968 Chicago police during stu dent protests; jungle fowl (a breed of
chicken) are small and more ornery than all the other types combined.
Jungle fowl must be very insecure because they are constantly fighting over the pecking order (or some other
matter which escapes me.) These
vicious "land piranha" also have the most piercing screams of any of the birds. They probably took screaming lessons from Tarzan. These are just a few of the characters I will be sharing
my vacation with.
What's the point of all of this? Sim ply this: while some students are en joying a winter wonderland, and others are escaping it, my roommates and I will be experiencing a "Close Encounter
of the Bird Kind."
hr
'4r $)

From Hamburgers . . .

TO HdUte Cu/Sine by Karen Green Thau 79

During my freshman and sopho
more years, long lines of people signi fied one of two things - an upcoming rock concert or a hockey game. For the past three semesters, however, Cornell students and faculty have been
queueing up for the chance to taste the specialties of some of America's
best restaurants at Cross Country
Gourmet dinners.
To some people, the "Cross Country Gourmet" may conjure up visions of a jogging Julia Child. In reality, however, it is a series of dinners that brings
some of the nation's top chefs to
Ithaca to prepare entries from their dinner menus for the Cornell com
munity. Cornell's contract dining plan prom
ises its student members a number of
"special" meals throughout the aca
demic year. In 1975-76 students were treated to the "Great American Din
ner" series - historically accurate meals as they would have been prepared in
the homes of famous Americans. This
was followed by "The Classics" series of 1976-1977, which featured the
cuisine of a different region of the world each month. Although it would
appear difficult to top these successes,
Arthur A. Jaeger, director of Cornell Dining, and Frederick Seavey, dining
services manager and coordinator of
the gourmet series, decided to bring
some of America's finest restaurants
to Cornell, and the Cross Country Gourmet was founded.
Six nationally-famous restaurants Participated in the 1977-78 series. Several other restaurants were forced to decline because they could not
spare a chef. Other invited restaurants,
Seavey noted, declined because of the staggering amounts of food involved preparing 5000 Beef Wellingtons rather than 200 or 300. In addition, Seavey remarked, "the restauranteur must be a gambler," willing to entrust his res
taurant's reputation to "relative strangers" - the Cornell Dining staff.

One month before the meal is served
at Cornell, four Cornell Dining repre
sentatives travel to the restaurant to
sample the food, note the atmosphere and plan the menu. Many dishes can
not be recreated at Cornell due to
differences in equipment or seasonal produce availability.
Food preparation documents are needed for each entree. In addition, the serving staff, which consists pre dominantly of student workers, is in structed on the preparation of flower arrangements and linens. They are also taught to serve the food. The restau rant's chef supervises the production of dinners, and works with Cornell pro fessional chefs, David Clarke and Dick
Grout.
The Cornell Dining staff does every thing possible to recreate the ambiance of the visiting restaurant. For example, Anthony's Pier 4 provided the "seafaring objects" - rafts, fish nets, statues of pirates and the like -- that normally
grace their Boston restaurant. Uniforms
are also often provided for the servers by the restaurant.
The dinners are served Monday
through Friday at a different dining unit each day. Dining units are located in the North Campus Union, Noyes Student Center, Balch Hall, Willard Straight, and Sage Hall. Contract dining students may opt for cafeteria service, which is included in their con tract, or table service, the more popu lar option, at a small fee. Although table service adds to the fine dining at mosphere, cafeteria style does allow the diner to take advantage of the "unlimited seconds" policy more dis creetly. Members of the Cornell com munity not on the contract dining plan may purchase tickets for under ten
dollars.
The restaurants that participated in the series last year provided a wide
range of cuisines in addition to nation
wide representation: The Bakery (Chicago -- Hungarian), Narsai's (Berke-

Chef Louis of The Bakery proudly dis plays his roast duckling.
ley - Lebanese), Commander's Place (New Orleans -- Southern Creole), Scandia (Beverly Hills -- Danish), Pierre's Quorum (Denver - Continen
tal) and Anthony's Pier (Boston - New England sea food). A glance at the menus is certainly enough to send me scurrying off to my refrigerator: roast duckling with cherry glaze, brownie bottom bourbon pie, chocolate deca dence with raspberry puree, oysters Bienville, veal Lafayette, salmon steak Norwegienne, Danish rum pudding, chicken Kiev, baked Alaska. . . the list seems mouth-wateringly endless.
This year's offerings to date are La Caille of Quail Run, Utah, which serves French country cuisine, and Camelot, a Continental restaurant in Blooming-
ton, Minnesota.
The restaurants participating in the Gourmet series receive free publicity
and exposure to thousands of pro
spective customers. At the same time, members of the Cornell community
have the chance to partake of gourmet specialties of famous restaurants for a very nominal fee. And the typical "sold out" signs pasted over Cross Country Gourmet advertisements must please
Cornell Dining directors. The Cross Country Gourmet series
has obviously been a success from everyone's point of view - chefs, stu dents, and Cornell Dining staff mem bers. With the two-year series drawing to a close, Cornell Dining is consider ing an "International Gourmet" series. I'm considering doing some graduate
work. . .

Making a

^4

"Squeeze a little more, try and
keep that head down!" No - it's not a bunch of zany college kids piling into a phone booth or a Volkswagon Bug
- it's Coach Rick Gilbert giving in
structions to his divers at an afternoon workout. The Diving Team and Swim ming Team make up Cornell's Men's Varsity Swimming Team.
At the end of the fall semester, most
students leave Cornell to relax or travel; in essence, they can "get away from it all." But not the Men's Varsity Swim
ming Team, for their season is just be ginning. They are given a Christmas vacation also, but are expected to
train intensively during their vacation

for the upcoming meets. In fact, the 20 members of the swim
team and their Coach Jim Perkins have
an unwritten understanding that "the
Christmas break is to be used for

training." Gilbert sees the vacation as an opportunity for his divers to get into shape for "quality diving."
Gilbert was a member of the 1968

Olympic Diving Team, and came "straight from Mexico City" to join the
Cornell staff in November of 1968. He

had not quit diving until one month
before that time because the Amateur

Athletic Union ruling states that "a competitor may not maintain amateur
status and coach for money at the same time."

Although the diving team consists

of only two divers this year, Gilbert is

confident that they will do well, since

he has All-American Paul Steck, '79

and John

Krakora,

'81 ,

under

his

tutelege. Steck is one of the co-cap

tains of the team.

The divers practice between 45 and
50 dives twice a day at Teagle Hall, and the sessions are usually one hour

Co-captain John Skudin '79 churns his way to victory in the 100-yard free
style.
long. Divers also do pre-season train ing on the trampoline. There are times
when the workouts run one-and-one-
half hours, but Gilbert prefers to limit them to one hour because "Diving is a sport based on skill, and when fatigue sets in, it becomes increasingly difficult to concentrate and dive well," says
Gilbert.
Perkins, who coached at Auburn University for two years and West
Point for one year, became a Cornell staff member in 1975. He conducts
swim team practices weekday mornings and afternoons, and Saturdays. The afternoon workouts are approximately two hours in length, and vary daily, as Perkins alternates the emphasis be tween distance and sprinting. For the distance workouts, they swim 8,000 yards, and for the sprint workouts 6,500 yards. The swimmers also do "strength training" at the Universal gym in Teagle and on the Nautilus equipment in Schoellkopf Hall.
In order to maintain the keen com-

petitive edge which is imperative to performing optimally in meets, the
team has gone to Fort Lauderdale, Florida for their annual two week-long
intensive workouts. Some team mem
bers fly down, but most usually drive down together a day or two after Christmas. The trip takes approxi mately 26 hours, and training begins the morning after they arrive in Fort
Lauderdale.
The team traditionally stays at the
Cornell alumnus-owned Holiday Hotel, where they receive accommodations
at a discount rate. The Holiday Hotel
efficiency villas are equipped with
cooking facilities so that team members
can economize on food bills. "We eat
what we can afford," says the other
Co-captain John Skudin, '79.
Most team members have a good
sense of what is nutritionally beneficial.
"There has never been a situation
serious enough to warrant a regimented protein diet," says freestylist Ed Tsuzuki, '79. However Gilbert says he will warn his divers to lose weight if they should gain during the season. Says Gilbert of his divers, "If you're heavy,
you can't do anything." In the past, the team used the pool
facilities at the Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale. The swimmers and
divers work out at separate times. The divers work out anywhere from
three to four hours a day, depending
upon the number of other divers using
the facility. "We're expected to do about 100 dives at each workout,"
says Steck. Swimmers pay a flat fee of $15 per
person for pool rental time, which entitles them to access to swimming
clinics and instructional films.
Perkins sets general yardage and

10

Fort Lauderdale

by Patti Moy 79

training goals for the trip, and aims to have his swimmers do as many yards
as they can during the two weeks. Swimmers spend approximately fourand-one-half hours per day in the water,
and estimate that "these double work
outs average between 12- and 14,000
yards per day," according to Skudin. What do they do in their spare time?
"Most of the time, they're tired enough
so that they want to sleep," says
Perkins. "We play beach football if we
have the energy," says backstroker
Alex Hodge, '80. Occasionally, they will go out to bars at night, but be
cause they must get up to work out
the next morning, this usually is not a
good idea. "If they're going to drink,
they have to control it," says Gilbert.
The biggest "fun" event for the team while they are in Fort Lauderdale is the
festivities on "the strip" which are
part of the New Year's Eve celebration.
Perkins explains that "Sometimes,
with all the people milling about every where, you'll get a minor riot." "People just go crazy," adds Tsuzuki. "Any thing that's not nailed down gets thrown into the water," he continues. For the benefit of all those involved, Perkins usually cancels the morning practice on New Year's Day.
Unfortunately, Cornell University
does not subsidize this winter workout. The team members pay for most of the
trip out of their own pockets, and raise funds by cleaning up Schoellkopf Stadium after a game (they are paid $300 for their efforts), and by hosting two Masters Swim Meets. The funds are divided into shares, and "theoret-
ica|ly, if a swimmer attends all three
functions, he can make about $50,"
says Perkins. The cost of the trip ranges from $150 to $250, depending on

Appearing to fly through the air, co-captain Paul Steck '79 shows his good form on a front layout dive.
one's living habits.
The team members agree that the winter workout is a worthwhile leisure
experience: "It's a good break - it lets you get away from school," says
Steck. Skudin reasons, "We train hard
and are able to get in better shape than when school is in session, because school distracts you. The trip is also good because the team is split up until
Christmas because some swimmers
also play water polo during the fall season." Tsuzuki adds, "It's essential to train hard during the winter break, and we might as well do it where it's enjoyable. Ithaca's no fun."
However, there is disagreement among them concerning the training value of the trip. The divers feel that the unpredictable Florida weather is a definite disadvantage for them." "With the wind blowing and the water temperature so inconsistent, they don't get through all their dives," ex plains Gilbert. In addition, because the divers must share the facility with

other teams, they are not able to get in as many dives as they would like. It
is for this reason that the two teams
are taking separate trips this year. The swim team is returning to Fort Lauder dale, but the divers are going to give Montreal a try. They will be using the Olympic pool facilities, which are now open to the public. Gilbert reports that there is another pool nearby which is identical to the Olympic pool and
will also be available for their use.
It seems that getting away from Cornell to train during the semester break has many overriding psycho logical and physical benefits despite the shortcomings. Team members feel
that the difference between Ithaca and
Fort Lauderdale provides a good change of pace, and that after re turning to Ithaca, they have the con fidence and conditioning behind them to sustain them during the meets. For example, Gilbert feels that "the momen tum carries for a while," and that the
divers' general overall attitude is better after returning. "When they have a fresh attitude, I can get some good
dives out of them."
"They look forward to competing rather than training. For the most part, the tougher part of the season
is over, and the rest of the time is for
competing," remarks Perkins. He also noted recently that his swimmers are more dedicated to swimming well,
and are more enthusiastic about prac
ticing.
The team had a 5-4 record last year. This renewed enthusiasm and dedica
tion resulting from their "escape" from Cornell, when combined with
the efforts and talents of each team
member should result in a great season for the Men's Varsity Swimming Team.

11

"I'd rather be here
than pulling sleds in
Alaska!"
"
Education is a bore. . .
by Mary McDonald 79
The
CORNELL
'Oh dahlings! JUST LOOK at this gorgeous fur I got from dear Herbert. It's divine, simply divine.
12

Dogs, dogs, dogs. Dogs everywhere!
They have become a hallmark of the Cornell campus: an integral part of what is known as the "Cornell exper ience." On any given day, the campus
provides a playground for quite a motley
assortment of our fine furry friends. From the long and sleek to the short and squat, dogs of every shape and size run and leap with glee between
the statues of Ezra Cornell and Andrew
Dickson White. Some play frisbee or ball with students, others make or break friendships among their peers,
still others are content to sit back and
watch the festivities of their more
energetic counterparts. The presence of dogs on the campus
is an important tradition at Cornell. Certain of the more memorable dogs have been fondly remembered long after their departure from the campus. Among these is "Tripod," a threelegged canine who reigned supreme
for a number of years and became
known and loved by countless Cornel lians. More recently, a special favorite
of Louie's Lunch customers has been
"Fat Dog," who begs for food with such finesse (and, hence, success!) that he becomes incredibly obese dur ing the school year. (Fat Dog undergoes drastic losses of weight during the summer months. . .)
Cornell's dogs have provided stu
dents with a welcome diversion from
the rigors of academia. They will con
tinue to be "students' best friends" on the campus.

"As an eminent doctor in the field my opinion is. . ." "Oh, Madge! Did you hear about. . .?" (below, left) "My hair? Why the Cornell Clippers, of course!" (below right)

13

". . . .the paper should be no more than ten pages long and is due in three weeks," he announced as he erased the blackboard. Sound like a Cornell
professor assigning yet another paper? Not quite. He is a university professor, and he definitely assigned the paper, but the university is Peking University and the country is the People's Repub
lic of China - where I spent one year
learning in a very different way.
I took a leave of absence from Cor
nell for the academic year 1977-1978.
I was one of 1 30 foreign students from
36 different countries, including Europe,
Africa and the Middle East, studying at Peking University. Enrolled in a spe cial one-year Chinese history program, I was the only American student there. Formal student exchanges between
the two countries did not start until
January of this year - I went through private channels. I had all my classes
with the same group of Chinese and
foreign students; the classes were all
conducted in Chinese. But because I
could speak and write Chinese to a limited extent before I went to China,
language was not a problem.
As an ABC (American-born Chinese)
however, I did have some problems adjusting to the different standard of living. For example, it took me almost a day to figure out whether or not one is supposed to face the hump in a squat
toilet. A squat toilet is a flush toilet without the seat. And it was almost two weeks before I could master the
art of washing my clothes using only a wash-basin, wash-board and washing powder. One has to apply just enough
pressure to get the clothes clean with
out tearing them to shreds in fits of vigorous scrubbing.

But most of us adjusted and ac cepted the differences quickly. And
we soon became accustomed to our
daily schedule - classes starting at 7:30 in the morning until 1 1 :30, lunch and rest until 2:30, and classes again
until 5 p.m. While the time spent in
class may have been overwhelming at times (we had classes on Saturdays, too), the academic pressure was not.
I took three courses each semester, but it wasn't until the second semester
that I had objective exams similar to ones given at Cornell. My roommate, and Chinese classmate, and I stayed up until three in the morning to cram
in the names and dates of all the im
portant events that happened from
1911 to 1957 to prepare for our final

exam in contemporary Chinese history.
Students in China do not just attend
classes, go to the library, and take exams. At the end of June, our whole
university population pitched in to help in the annual wheat harvest. Be cause China's agriculture is still far
from mechanized, much of the labor is done by hand. Since time is a crucial factor in the wheat harvest and all
other busy crop seasons, all the units in Peking - schools, factories, offices took turns providing manual labor. When it was Peking University's turn, students and teachers got up at three in the morning to walk to a nearby commune. Foreign students were
encouraged but not required to parti cipate. We worked until noon trans-

14

eking University
Above: Foreign students practice
the martial arts in the outdoors.
Right: Hauling wheat leads to a sore back and blistered fingers.
porting the wheat in large bundles from the fields to the threshing place. For those foreign students who lasted until the end, the feelings of accomplish ment were considerably lessened the next day by the pain of newly-dis
covered muscles. But for someone like
me who had never been in a factory
or on a farm in the United States to
say nothing of China, it was still a satisfaction.
It was these activities outside the classroom which made my one year so
rewarding. Our class planned and par ticipated in almost all the extracurricular activities as a group - everything from morning exercises at 6 a.m., to visiting factories and communes, to making I'ao zi, Chinese dumplings, in the

dormitories. It was through this con stant contact with my classmates, that I developed such close friendships, particularly with my roommate. And these relationships brought home the reality of China more than anything
else. One year is too short a time to try
to understand a society as different and complex as China's. But that year provided me with some appreciation for the workings of the Chinese system, way of life; moreover, it introduced me to a new system of learning. Now that a formal exchange program exists
between the two countries - the first in 30 years - more American students
will have the chance to study in China.
I envy them and wish them the best of luck.
15

"Meditation makes me feel re
laxed," says Sheila Kanaley '80, "I really wish I could do it more often, but with the hectic pace of college life,
I never seem to be able to make time
for much of any form of relaxation."
The busy day-to-day life of a Cornell student leaves little time for relaxation,
self-exploration, or awareness of nonacademic activity. A number of stu
dents have found certain meditation

techniques to be helpful in relaxing, escaping, reflecting, and feeling better
about themselves and their current life
situations. Most students find that meditation
has great benefits which are worth the amount of time spent doing the process. A freshman explains, "It dawned on
me that this place doesn't give you enough time for your own thoughts,
unless you take the time." He con
tinues, "If I do a lot of work and spend a lot of time doing it, it becomes stag nating." So he puts down his books
and takes time for himself and con
templation. After meditation, he finds
that sometimes whatever had been
bothering him doesn't seem "all that important anymore."
Some students say that meditation relieves a bit of the academic pressure
by helping the person to get a clearer perspective on things. "Just getting away from something that is causing you to be tense is good," explains
another student. You can realize that
you won't "die" if a paper is late.
Things don't seem to be as serious or as important as they were before a clear persepctive has been rerched. Because of meditation, a student explains that "in times of trouble, I can

What's
be more rational and understand things
better."
The process of meditation helps a person to have these reactions because thoughts are just allowed to float by in the mind. No single thought is caught or paid much attention to as anything particularly important. If a thought is caught, such as about an exam the next day, it is dismissed as unimportant for the time being. In this way, the person can relax and not be distraught.
The feeling after meditation is one
of relaxation and of greater energy.
After meditating, Kanaley feels that "little things don't get on my nerves anymore" and she has a "more open
view of life."
"I have a new perspective on every thing," explains Jack O'Leary, '82,
who does his "own kind of medita
tion," which is lying down and letting his thoughts go through his mind. He describes his method, "First, I try to remove all distractions of the senses. I get into a comfortable posi tion, lying on my back. It's best if there is a low, rhythmic noise in the background, such as rustling grass, birds, music, or especially running water. Then I simply close my eyes."
Another student sits in the lotus po
sition, with legs crossed in front of him, his feet resting on his knees. He closes his eyes, lets his hands relax, and sup ports his back against something. Using a combination of breathing, re flection, and just letting "things flow" he finds that meditation is an internal experience. It is a "positive escape rather than a negative escape, which one would get from drinking, he ex plains.
The time to meditate is anytime that
you feel like it, if you don't do a more restrictive type of meditation such as

Mantra?
by Carie Leigh Middleton '80

All of the students whom I talked
to found that meditation was a positive escape for them. Cornell doesn't give a student much time to explore those things described here. Personal time
should be taken by everyone. One student summed this feeling by quoting the song-writer Billy Joel,

transcendental meditation. One stu
dent meditates "when I feel like I want
some time to myself, to rest without sleeping, when I feel the need to calm down." O'Leary meditates daily, usually
in the afternoon when all of "the
stresses of the day are over."
Transcendental meditation (TM) is
a method of meditation which uses
the "mantra", a two-syllable sound.
A person is given a particular mantra, according to the person's age. The sound is used to reach a higher state
of consciousness. By constant repeti
tion of the mantra, this state is reached.
This is done twice a day, for twenty minute sessions, once in the morning
and once before dinner.
Kanaley, who has been doing TM for
six-and-one-half years, says that it
works for her because she "lets it
work." She explains, "It isn't some thing magic that has control over a
person. You have to make a conscious
effort to clear your mind and relax
your body." For Diane Heimer, '79, who has
been doing TM for the past nine months, meditating is "completely natural." TM creates a deep state of rest which is deeper than sleep. Be cause of this, Heimer says that she has a "great deal of energy" and "doesn't feel tired anymore."
Kanaley feels that meditation, rather than being a means "of getting away from it all" is more of a "becoming
aware of it all." She says that TM is
often called "raising consciousness," which lends to a heightened awareness.
I find that my senses are more acute
during and after meditation. I notice
more of what is around me and within
me," she explains. "It almost feels like floating,"
Maureen McDonnell, '80, describes,

"I'm not really conscious of what I'm sitting on." She continues that TM is "mostly a feeling of nothingness. It's very relaxing because all you sense is you; your body and mind."
McDonnell feels very relaxed and
"laid back" when meditating. "It feels
great to be so removed from every
thing around me. I like to sit there for as long as I can." Meditating in silence,
she can "be alone with me. I can do
it with other people walking past, but not if they talk to me."
It seems that meditation could be
the answer for everyone, but Kanaley
says, "I'm sure that not everyone
could get something out of it." She explains that a "skeptical attitude or a
closed mind would be sufficient to
negate any benefits of meditation." Meditation takes a great deal of
concentration -- on trying to think about nothing. It is difficult to not let certain thoughts catch your attention. But once the technique has been found to reach a state of meditation, the person will probably incorporate the
process into his or her own life. Medita tion is a very natural and effective way
to relax, contemplate, and become more aware of oneself and the things
in the environment.

"I believe there is a time for medita tion and cathedrals of our own."

A Woman's Place
the early days
of Cornell coeducation
by Debbie Swinehart 79

For a mere $22 a month, residents of Sage College received room, meals, and luxuries such as a greenhouse.

Did you ever wonder why Willard

Straight Hall has two front entrances?

The reason is that when the Straight

was built in the 1920's, it was con

sidered improper for women to use the

same door as men.

The Straight was erected in memory

of Willard

D.

Straight,

'01 ,

who

speci

fied in his will that part of his wealth

was to be used to make Cornell "a

more human place." Straight's widow

Dorothy urged the construction of a

student union where men and women

could meet on an informal basis.

University officials were shocked at

the idea of male students and coeds

mingling socially and they suggested the "compromise" of a segregated union with a large front entrance for
men and a smaller entrance off to one
side for women. Dorothy Straight agreed, hoping that once women were inside the building, sexual inte gration would occur naturally.

18

But for ten years after the Straight opened, women were confined to the restroom and the two lounges just in
side the women's entrance. In 1935
women were admitted into the dining areas, but not until the early 1940's could women enter the front lobby and other areas in the Straight.
Cornell was actually one of the first major eastern universities to admit
women on an equal academic basis
with men. Both Ezra Cornell and
Andrew Dickson White were advocates
of coeducation. In a letter written to
his granddaughter a few months be fore the University opened, Cornell said, "I want to have girls educated in the university as well as boys, so that they may have the same oppor tunity to become wise and useful to society that boys have."
Cornell's first female student, Jennie Spencer of Cortland, arrived in the fall of 1870, two years after the University

opened. The University was immedi
ately faced with the problem of where
to house its single coed. Jennie eventu ally found a room in downtown Ithaca.
Every morning, burdened with an
armload of books and hampered by
her heavy long skirt and petticoats, Jennie would trudge up a muddy path to classes; every evening she would slide back down the long hill. The walk and the Ithaca winter proved too much for her, and Jennie left Cornell with
out finishing her degree. One immediate result of Jennie
Spencer's plight was that Henry Sage,
a lumber merchant and member of
Cornell's Board of Trustees, donated $250,000 to build and furnish a dormi
tory for women. The cornerstone of
the building was laid in 1873, and in it was sealed a letter from Ezra Cornell
to "the men and women of the future
expressing Cornell's hopes for the success of coeducation and explaining

the reasons why it might fail. Cornell died the next year without revealing
the specifics of the letter and without
seeing the realization of his dream for a coeducational university.
The completed Sage College for Women (now Sage Hall) contained a fully equipped gymnasium, greenhouse
and library as well as music rooms,
parlors, reading and study lounges, dining rooms and carpeted and fully
furnished bedrooms for 120 occupants. It was decorated with sculptures and engravings from Europe, heated by steam, lighted by gas and had an unheard-of luxury -- bathrooms with bathtubs on every floor. The trustees
expected to be flooded with applications from women wanting to take advantage of a good education with such luxur ious living arrangements. But when Sage College opened in the fall of 1875, it had only 29 occupants.
Professors and students received
these first coeds with something less
than enthusiasm. A main concern was
that women would lower the University academic standing. The attitude of
male students was summed up in these
lyrics to a popular song: "I'm glad all the girls are not like Cornell women/
They're ugly as sin and there's no good
within 'em."
Women and men attended the same
classes, but women were considered
intruders; they grouped together and after a lecture they disappeared quickly and quietly. By an unwritten code,

men and women rarely spoke to each other outside of class during the first
few years of coeducation. House rules
prohibited most fraternity members from speaking to coeds on campus, and they were not allowed to bring Cornell women to fraternity social functions, either. As late as the 1950's, fraternity members were encouraged to bring girls from Vassar and Elmira to parties but had to pay a fee if they wanted to bring a Cornell woman.
For several years, Cornell women
were allowed to decide where they wanted to live. Many women chose to
live off campus, where an average room rented for $15 a month. The
women who were willing to pay $22 a month for high-class living at Sage enjoyed a relatively unsupervised life. But ten years after it opened, Sage was losing money because so many of its rooms were unoccupied.
The University issued a decree that all coeds had to live in Sage. A matron was appointed to chaperone the girls, strict rules regarding curfews and behavior were enforced, and all Sage residents were required to attend re ceptions and mini-courses to train
them in the social graces. The women
did not take kindly to all of this; they
called their matron "the Warden" and
for years Sage residents were known to the University as "inmates."
The official reasoning behind the new residence requirement was that parents would be more willing to send their

daughters to Cornell if the girls lived in the sheltered and healthy atmosphere of Sage rather than being allowed to
run wild all over Ithaca. The result was
that men and women were no longer admitted to Cornell on an equal basis.
The number of men admitted was set by limitations of class size, while the quota for women was determined
by the number of available "female beds." The situation eased slightly when members of the Delta Gamma sorority were allowed to leave Sage to
live in their own house and later when
new women's dormitories were con
structed. But while men continued to
live wherever they wanted to, women had to live in dormitories or Universityapproved housing until 1970.
Attitudes toward men at Cornell
have not really changed very much. Cayuga's Waiters, an all-male singing group on campus, still sing about Cor nell coeds being "stuck-up and ugly." And a male acquaintance recently told
me, "I'm all for coeducation. I think
women make Cornell a better place -
especially on Saturday nights!"
But at least women can use the main
entrance to the Straight now. And in 1977 the Cornell Barber Shop located in the front lobby of the Straight
abandoned its all-male tradition and
became the unisex Cornell Clippers. More than 50 years after Dorothy
Straight planned for a sexually integra ted student union, the Straight finally
opened all its doors to women.

The 1905 Sage Crew Team. Sage women were required to participate in physical exercise five days a week.

19

FANS HeatU

"I'm a real hockey fanatic; I've
slept out here two years in a row," exclaimed a voice from inside a sleep ing bag, nestled alongside a door of
Barton Hall.
Another rosy-cheeked face, pro truding out of a down jacket, glanced at several similarly enveloped bodies around him, explaining, "We were here at four o'clock this afternoon, but the guy down there was here at eight

o'clock this morning. That's got to be a record." At one o'clock in the morning on the first Sunday of November,
such comments and appearances are
common from 200 or so Cornell seniors, waiting to buy season hockey tickets
that afternoon.
So begins the annual ritual of Ith aca's heartiest breed of winter activists, the Cornell hockey fans. Long before the ice begins to set on Beebe Lake

Patience is the principle distinction of the Cornell hockey fans, obvious here as they wait for tickets.
or the Bear has had a chance to dust off his skates, devout fans must roost
for an evening in the ticket line to as sure themselves of an appropriate place in Lynah Rink for the coming hockey
season.
Hockey at Cornell is not your basic run-of-the-mill spectator sport. Its following is so loyal that being a real fan is almost a sport in itself. With no
doubts at all, any fan will tell that
hockey nights at Lynah Rink are the brightest spots in the long Ithaca
winters.
Just what is a hockey fan? "Someone who is insane enough to sleep out sixteen hours for a crummy season hockey ticket." Perhaps the most visual description of a Cornell hockey fan is summed-up by Ozzie Richardson. Perched next to the Cornell bench, he listens to the game through an FM headset, and leads the excitement with his legendary airhorn. Ozzie has been a personal friend and inspiration to the players and fans since the Beebe Lake days
of ice hockey. Ozzie avidly attends most Cornell
sports, but his love is, "hockey, hands down." His reasons? "There's more
action in a hockey game than anything else. It's a fast game; controlled vio lence, or I hope it's controlled."
Unfortunately, as Ozzie points out, every fan's attendance at Cornell hockey games is not due to a devoted love for the game. "All they have to do this year is start off losing two or three games, and you can buy all the tickets you want. That's not being a hockey fan," says Ozzie.

A motley collection of dedicated fans last the entire night, waiting to
get season tickets.

20

IOCKEY

by Byron Widger 79

Even without the smell of the first
win in the air, ticket sales took off at a thunderous rate this year. Pete Mariano, the assistant athletic business manager in charge of ticket sales, was left reveling. "This is my first year here, the first hockey sale I went through. I had heard about it, but it was hard to believe." Receiving an undergraduate education at Notre Dame and a masters at Ohio State,
both notorious football schools, Mari
ano was amazed by Cornell's hockey fans. "I think they're wild. I never
would have slept out at Notre Dame."
Hockey fans have not always been
so abundant, as Dottie Scott, the
previous ticket manager recalls. Now
the secretary to Cornell's Director of
Athletics, Scott remembers having to
advertise available tickets on game
days. "But the trend has turned," she states, "the students have changed again."
Scott is living proof of the magnetism
of the game. She relates that after
moving from the football office to Teagle Hall, "They almost had to talk me into being a hockey fan. I hesitated
to go because I didn't like the fans.
But as I became one I began to see that the fans really liked the game."
She now attends all of the home
games and Boston tournaments with
her family. Once a stranger to the game develops
a casual interest, the road to being a
real fan is hard to resist. The solid de motion of the established townie fans combined with instant exuberance of the students has created an unshake-
able following. But why do they fall for
the game so completely? Students waiting for tickets gave their reasons.
"For me it's the quickness."
Excited and enthusiastic hockey de votees fill Lynah Rink every Cornell
hockey night.

"The expectation is always there for a good season, and I mean good."
"Because if you are going to be a fan, this is the team to do it with."
Dottie Scott concluded with, "I never get bored, even with the one sided games. I guess I'm greedy."
So enthralled was Stephanie Koma-
romi with her first game, that she has
missed only one home Cornell hockey game since then, only because she was snowed in. Stephanie saw her first game at the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference playoffs in Boston.
She was one year old at the time.
Now eight years old, Stephanie still sits in seat 17, row nine, section 0,
with her parents. Her mother reports,
"She just loves hockey, and she knows her game."
Stephanie's father, Joe Komaromi, is the treasurer of the Cornell Hockey Boosters, a local club of friends and
fans of the team. "It developed out of people in town with a common interest in hockey," explains booster president Ed Sheppard. Raising funds, scheduling bus trips for away games, helping the players, and sponsoring

the annual hockey banquet are a few
of their functions. "It's a real cross section of people in town. The common
bond is hockey. We're a built-in cheer ing section for every game," says Sheppard of the boosters, all 300
strong.
Perhaps the most outward expres sion of the fans' zeal is displayed at the Cornell-Harvard game. Traditionally it's held on a Wednesday night at the end of February; everyone who can possibly get a ticket goes to the game. Students cut classes and professors change test dates in order to get to
this game. Some are there to do their
part in intimidating the Harvard team with fish, sieves and chickens, some just to witness the activity of the event, while others are there to glean the overpowering excitement from the rivalry. But at that game, everyone is
a fan.
Cornell hockey is more than just
another winter sport. It is a lifeline of
action and drama, a moving light to rally around during the long winter months. It is the real hockey fans that realize this, and live by it.

21

And then THERE WERE NONE
Soil Abuse Leads to Mayan Downfall

by Ed Hardy 79

The ruins of the massive Mayan temples still tower over the Central
American rainforests. The Mayans were the leading artists, architects and scholars of their time, but near the year 900 AD their 1500-year-old society collapsed around them.
Archaeologists have theorized for years on the causes of the Mayan downfall, but they have reached no
concrete conclusions. For Cornell's
Professor of Agronomy Gerald W. Olson, part of the answer lies in the Mayan's continual abuse of the precious inches of fertile soil that helped build their society's agriculture. Olson points
out that the same kind of resource
abuse that undermined the Maya's world exists today, in our world.
Over time, the Maya developed a complex and stratified society. Their architects designed monumental cities, like Tikal, with massive limestone
temples. Their scholars perfected an extremely accurate astronomy. The Maya also developed an intricate cal endar system. In addition, their system of agriculture was able to support a population much larger than the area
does now.
Using a "slash and burn" system of farming the Maya raised sweet potatoes, maize, cacao beans and squash. The dense rainforests were

Professor Olson looks at a soil map of the area.
burned off to make way for fields. After several years of cultivation the fields
had to be left fallow, for the thin but rich soil to rejuvenate itself. After fallow periods the encroaching rain
forest would be burned off and the
soil replanted after the first rains. Present day studies indicate that for
the soil to be restored completely,
the fields would have had to lie fallow
for ten years. With an expanding pop ulation it is doubtful that the Mayans left this land uncultivated for that long
a time. Without the dense network of
rainforest roots to hold organic matter
and necessary nutrients much of the
soil's fertility was lost. Erosion from the deforested uplands also ruined many
of the lowland fields. Evidence of
Mayan soil abuse still exists today, 1 ,000 years later.
Professor Olson feels that archae
ologists are only slowly becoming
aware of the useful information to be
found in soil studies. During his brief
visits over the past ten years to Tikal
and other Mayan sites on the Yucatan
An aerial view of the Mayan ruins, Tikal, in Guatemala.

peninsula, Olson has discovered that soils disturbed by the Maya differ in
color from the rich black of the un
disturbed soils. This means that the
spread of Mayan agriculture can be detected through soil profiles alone.
Where Olson found disturbed soils
they were usually depleted of nutrients.
Why? The expanding Maya population put
greater pressure on their food pro duction. To increase production fallow periods were shortened and more rain
forest was cleared, creating further erosion problems. The soil could not rejuvenate itself under this intense use, and food production began to drop.
Olson points out that the Maya
would not have noticed this soil de
pletion, because it was a "day to day"
process. The effects of this abuse
would only become evident after a
number of years. There is evidence that in the later
stages of their civilization the Maya began to develop tree crops and elevated fields to help deter erosion and increase production. But, these efforts were not enough to offset their centuries of soil abuse. While the final blow may have been an internal revolt or a natural disaster, the founda tions of the Mayan civilization were unsound due to their continual re
source abuse.
Olson stressed that this cycle of soil abuse is repeating itself today in parts
of Africa and Central America. If the past is the key to the present, is there
a solution? Professor Olson replies: "Only to better know our resources and to determine the carrying capacity of the land. . . People fail to plan a
hundred years ahead."

COUNTRYMAN CAPSULES

Five Named Liberty Hyde
Bailey Professors
The Cornell University Board of Trustees has honored five professors of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences with Liberty Hyde Bailey Professorships, bringing the total of active Bailey Professorships at the College to nine. The recognized faculty have "outstanding national and inter national reputations in agriculture and related sciences."
Walter T. Federer, professor of
biological statistics in the Department of Plant Breeding and Biometry, is recognized for his research on the theory, analysis, and application of statistical designs. He has served in numerous statistical societies, and was
one of only ten Americans elected a
member of the International Statistical
Institute in 1974. He has written over
270 scientific articles, abstracts, and
book reviews, as well as the textbooks
"Experimental Design - The Theory and Application", and "Statistics and
Society". William Hansel, M.S. '47, PhD.
'49, of international repute for his re search on dairy cow reproduction, holds a joint appointment as the first chairman of the newly created Section of Physiology in the Division of Bio logical Sciences, and as the new chair man of the Department of Physical Biology of the College of Veterinary Medicine. He has received various
honors for his contributions to animal
physiology and breeding, including the
Borden Award of the American Dairy Science Association and the National Association of Animal Breeders Award. He has written 175 articles on repro ductive physiology.
Donald McCormick, a nutritional
biochemist, has investigated many
aspects of vitamins and coenzymes, from their chemical synthesis to their
metabolism and binding proteins. The American Institute of Nutrition pre
sented him with the 1978 Osborne and
Mendel Award. He is a member of both the Division of Nutritional Sciences

and the Division of Biological Sciences, and of numerous leading scientific
societies. McCormick has also been
honored with a Guggenheim Fellow ship and the Mead Johnson Award of
the American Institute of Nutrition. He has written more than 200 scientific articles.
Harold E. Moore, Jr., a professor of botany and a world authority on the biology and classification of palms, is also former director of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. Moore has been the editor of "Principes", the journal of the Palm Society, since 1957, and has written "African Violets, Gloxinias, and Their Relatives", in addition to numerous technical papers on palms and other subjects. He serves on the board of directors of several tropical plant societies, is a Guggenheim Fel low, and has received the Founders Medal of Fairchild Tropical Garden.
Wendell L. Roelofs is a professor of insect biochemistry in the Depart ment of Entomology at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station
at Geneva. He is renowned for moni
toring pest populations through his
research on reduced-time methods of
pheromone identification and simula tion, and insect control. He was named co-recipient of the Alexander Von Humboldt Award for the most signifi cant contribution to American agri
culture in 1977.

ministration. He brings 25 years of ex perience in the management of natural resources to his new appointment, and
notes that "the proper use of New
York State's 2,400 miles of coastline is critical to the Empire State." Wiikins joined the Cornell faculty in 1967.
Microbiology Chairman Appointed
Robert P. Mortlock is the new
chairman of the Department of Micro biology in the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Mort lock has been a professor at the Uni versity of Massachusetts at Amherst since 1963, and was head of that university's Department of Microbiology. For the past 17 years, he has been studying mutant bacterial strains which enable bacterial growth to occur on synthetic sugars or pollutants.
Mortlock graduated from the Rens selaer Polytechnic Institute, and re ceived his doctorate in bacteriology from the University of Illinois, where
he had been a Rockefeller Foundation
Fellow. He was a lieutenant in the
United States Army Chemical Corps for two years, followed by two years
as a National Institutes of Health Post-
doctorate Fellow at Michigan State University before joining the faculty at the University of Massachusetts in
1963.

Named President of Sea
Grant Association
Bruce T. Wiikins, B.S. '52, PhD. '67, an associate professor of natural resources has been named the 1 1th president of the Sea Grant Association. This association is a national organiza tion committed to improving the man agement of the nation's aquatic re sources, and includes participants from over 60 leading universities in the
United States. Wiikins is the author or co-author
of more than 50 scientific papers. He has served as consultant to the British Columbia Land Commission and the
National Oceanic Atmospheric Ad

NASA Awards Bacteriologist
The National Aeronautics and Space
Administration has presented Russell
E. MacDonald with the H. Julian Allen
Award for the outstanding scientific
paper resulting from research over the past year. MacDonald, an associate professor of bacteriology in the Sec tion of Biochemistry, Molecular and
Cell Biology of the Division of Biological
Sciences in the New York State Col
lege of Agriculture and Life Sciences, reported findings on a microorganism,
Halobacterium halobium, which is of
growing scientific interest due to its ability to convert light directly into energy without photosynthesis.

23

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE:
Students Implementing Designs
by Mary A. Maxon 79
Landscape architecture students
gathered on a rainy November day for
the dedication of the site construction
project they built near the Cornell Orchards in the Landscape Architectur al field station. According to Assistant Prof. Thomas H. Johnson, the stu dents' supervisor, the rain was ironic because the good weather throughout the fall made completion of the project possible.
The hands-on project was part of Site Construction, a landscape archi tecture course in the Department of
Floriculture and Ornamental Horticul
ture in the College of Agriculture and
Life Sciences. Their purpose was "to
explore materials; design and build a series of landscape objects," said
Johnson. The site will now be used
to demonstrate and exhibit the use of
a variety of materials and methods. A conceptual drawing of the area
was divided into four quadrants for
four groups of students to work on.
First, they designed the visual ex perience they wanted to create on the landscape. Johnson explained that their plans included "paving, decking, steps, fences, seating, an overhead trellis and plant materials."
Then they began construction with the assistance of Clayton Bowker, a local contractor. Top soil had to be
excavated and forms built and treated

before concrete could be poured and
finished. The students used concrete
in four different ways on the steps, deck areas and walks. Railroad ties, bricks, stone, gravel and granite sets added to the variety.
The students built the footings for
the deck and the overhead trellis.
Wood details like fences and benches
were also constructed.
Many trees and shrubs were dug, balled, burlapped and replanted accord ing to students' designs. They even
moved a 2000 Ib. crabtree! Thomas
Grimm and Howard Pidduck of the
floriculture and ornamental horticulture
department helped them move and prune plants properly. Prof. George Good, M.S. '66, PhD. '69, donated
a number of shrubs from his container-
grown shrub research project.
"It was the first hands-on work for
many of the students," said Johnson. "Under supervision, the students learned to use a variety of hand and
power tools."
However, before taking Site Con struction, the students did take two five-credit design studio courses and a site grading construction course, he pointed out.
The course, which meets two after noons each week, also includes read
ings, lectures, field trips and a final project. The students design and pre pare a construction documentation landscape architectural project for this assignment. This year some stu dents redesigned one of two areas of
the Cornell campus. Alternatives to
the construction presently underway between Day and Stimson Halls were presented; and other students proposed plans for the areas between Olin and Uris libraries which may be redesigned by the University in the near future. Home landscapes or a series of con structions using different materials
and methods like the field station
construction project could also be
designed. Johnson, who cut the ribbon at the
rainy dedication ceremony, feels that this venture "was successful and will
continue."

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of the State University, at Cornell University

Cornell's ALS - Super College

PMMJ^'^rff

CORNELL

COUNTRYMAN

VOL. LXXVI

MARCH, 1979

NO. 5

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN
March 1979 VOLUME LXXVI Number 5

EDITORS:
Ed Hardy Debbi Kishinsky
Jennifer Koch

ASSISTANT EDITORS:
Judith David Audrey Levine John Turcotte

ART EDITORS:
Leslie Green Lucille A. Ircha
Patti Moy
Lena H. Sun

ABOUT THE ISSUE We're number one in agriculture and forestry, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education which recently pub lished a report noting the achievement of the New York State College of Agri culture and Life Sciences. The faculty ratings were based on a survey of 4000 academics. In honor of this distinction, the March issue of the Countryman highlights some of the facets of the ag college which make it so outstanding.
EDITORIAL STAFF: Pamela Edwards, Ernie Koehler, Carie Leigh Middleton, Mary E. Schiek, Mark Smith, Christin Sparagana.

CONTENTS

3. Keep Your Eye on Dyce by Mary McDonald 4. Roberts Hall: Where It All Began by Carie Leigh Middleton 6. Second Guessing Mother Nature by Judith David 8. New Directions in Veterinary Research by Leslie Green

10. Where Do They Go From Here. . . by Audrey Levine

11. . . .Into a Phone Booth by Lucille A. Ircha

12.

""
by Lena H. Sun

14. COWS for Credit by Pamela Edwards

16. What Ever Happened to Miss P.B. Fletcher? by Mary e. Schiek

18. The Myth of the Big Bad Wolf by Jennifer Koch

19. A New Man in 205 Roberts by Patti Moy
20. Jack Lambert - Pump Company President by Ernie Koehler 22. The Gray Beanie Incident by Ed Hardy

24. Ag Fund Helps Students by Debbi Kishinsky

PHOTO EDITOR: Mary McDonald

Picture Credits: p. 3 - Mary McDon
ald; p. 4,5 - Cornell University Archives; p. 6 - Russ Hamilton; p. 7 - Atmos
pheric Sciences, Patti Moy; p. 8,9 Mary McDonald; p. 1 1 - Theater Arts; p. 12,13 - Lena H. Sun; p. 14,15 William Mesner; p. 16,17 - Cornell
Countryman; p. 18,19 - Mary McDon ald; p. 20,21 - Ernie Koehler; p. 22 Cornell Daily Sun, Cornell University Archives; p. 24 - Mary McDonald;
Cover Photo - Visual Services.

The Cornell Countryman (ISSN 0010-8782) is published seven times a year from October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cor nell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New
York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription Rates:
$2.50 a year; $4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content gathered
and written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty ad
visors: Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

KEEP YOUR EYE

ON DYCE

by Mary McDonald 79

Far, far above Cayuga's waters, in
the midst of fields and woodlands, lies Cornell's Dyce Laboratory. The green aluminum building houses honey bees,
experimental equipment, workrooms
and offices for the research of Prof.
Roger A. Morse, '50, and three gradu ate students in apiculture.
"We don't get many visitors out here," commented Professor Morse as he gave me a tour of the lab. We stopped outside a large metal box, called a "flight room," in which vari ables such as temperature and light can be controlled by the experimenter. As Morse explained the uses of the flight room in research, he opened the metal door.
And suddenly, there I was. . . face-
to-face with thousands upon thousands
of honey bees! My heart raced as I tried to nonchalantly flick off the bees which landed on me. "Oh, don't worry," reassured Dr. Morse, "they sting only
once. . ." Needless to say, I felt much
better after the door was closed again. Honey bee studies at Dyce Labora
tory have established it as a leader in
apicultural research over the years. Cur rent topics of study include apple pol lination, magnetic field effects on bee

orientation, queen cell recognition and reproduction techniques.
Willard Robinson is studying what
he terms "The Delicious Problem."
According to Robinson, Delicious ap ples comprise 40 percent of all apples grown in the United States, but these apples have very low productivity.
After much research and direct ob
servation of the pollination process in
Delicious groves, Robinson discovered
a structural difference in the apple
blossoms.
On Delicious flowers, honey bees gather nectar from the side of the fil
aments rather than from the top. As a
result, the pollen-bearing anthers are not contacted by the bees, and little pollination occurs. Robinson calls these bees "side-workers," as distinguished from the more common "top-workers,"
and blames them at least in part for the low productivity of Delicious apples.
There are several suggestions which
Robinson offers to Delicious growers to minimize the effects of these "side-
workers." "Growers could encourage
the bees to gather more pollen by eliminating other pollen-producing plants from the area, trapping pollen from the bees as they enter the hive

Apis mellifera, the honey bee, is the object of study at Dyce Laboratory.

Dr. Roger A. Morse, who directs re search on bees, in his office in Dyce
Lab.
or feeding the bees sugar syrup," he
said. Each of these methods serves to
increase pollen gathering by the bees. Other possibilities include the use of
more pollinizer trees of different vari
eties and different flower structure, as
well as the introduction of more honey
bee colonies to the area.
Robinson's innovative research is of
great interest to Delicious growers who may look forward to much larger yields of apples upon implementation of his suggestions.
David De Jong, another graduate student at Dyce, is interested in the magnetic field of the earth and its pos sible effects on honey bee orientation. De Jong is currently studying comb building techniques in various situations. He is attempting to quantify a relation ship between the direction of the combs in a particular hive and the earth's magnetic field around the hive. "Although I have some promising data, I need to come up with an experi
ment which would show consistent
results and be repeatable," he said. Other ongoing studies include meth
ods of increasing honey bee repro duction and chemical analysis of the substance by which bees recognize
queen cells within the hive. The dedi
cation and enthusiasm displayed by each of the researchers at Dyce Labor atory clearly indicate that Dyce will remain a leader in world-wide api
cultural research.

3

ROBERTS HALL:
Where It All Began
by Carie Leigh Middleton '80

"On this very soil new thoughts
and ideas will be raised concerning
plants, animals and the welfare of man." These words were spoken by Norman Ratchford, '05, in 1904 upon the beginning of construction of Roberts Hall, the first building of the College
of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The seed of the College was a small
one. In 1891, only 22 undergraduate
students were in the Department of Agriculture within the University. The faculty of the small department in
cluded Professors Isaac P. Roberts,
Liberty Hyde Bailey and George Cald
well. These people expected their de
partment to expand enormously as the
emphasis on agriculture moved from
being based solely on practical ex
perience to scientific and natural laws.
Strong efforts were made by the
faculty, especially by Bailey, to estab lish the department as a college. After a long struggle, New York State as sumed sponsorship of the College of Agriculture. On May 9, 1904, all papers were signed and $250,000 was pro vided for a building to house the new college. A celebration with students
and faculty followed, including a parade, bonfire and a banquet.
Plans were quickly made to begin
construction once the Cornell trustees
accepted the new college and the state authorized and appropriated funds. The first state architect of New York, George C. Heins, was engaged to plan the building. He and Morris Kantrowitz, the assigned contractor, were given 400 days to finish the job.
Three buildings were planned as a unit because the state legislature spe

cified that the buildings "include a principal building, costing no more than $125,000, a hall for agricultural machinery, a stock-judging pavilion, and a horticulture building." The final
site was chosen because there was a
beautiful view over the rolling hills to
the south toward Cascadilla Creek. A
southern exposure and convenience to
the college's farmland made the loca tion on Tower Road perfect.
The building complex consists of
Roberts Hall in the center, with Stone
Hall to the west and East Roberts, a mirror image of Stone, on the other side of Roberts. A covered porch con nects the smaller building to the large
one in the center. The basement is
one long hallway which connects the three buildings.
The administrative offices of the
building, as they are now, were located
on the first floor of Roberts Hall. Class
rooms were also located here, includ ing a very large lecture room, seating over 500 people. Balconies were on
either side of the room which have
been taken down to become a smaller lecture room, 131 Roberts.
Stone Hall housed the Department
of Rural Education. This has not
changed much because today the building is used for education, includ ing environmental education.
East Roberts was the dairy building and had a smaller building attached
to it which held the milk and cheese
processing machinery. This was torn
down in 1930 when Plant Science
was built in its place, some 50 feet
from East Roberts.
A southern terrace also unified the

In 1923 the face of Roberts Hall showed
clearly; today it is obscured by large
evergreens that have grown up.
group of buildings which provided a level approach to the principal entrance
and for some years was used as a
parade area for livestock judging con
tests.
When it was built, Roberts Hall was the largest building on campus. Now it claims the special feature of sitting on the highest level of ground. Although the inside of the building is rather drab and unexciting, the architecture on the outside is interesting to observe. For instance, it isn't often noticed that on the top of Roberts Hall there is a statue of two women, looking out over alumni fields. Behind them is a small
enclosed area from which one can see
clearly to Uris Tower. This area can be
reached from a small series of steps
leading from the attic of Roberts Hall. This attic is reached by an out-of-
the-way stairway on the top floor be
hind a window in Media Services. It is
a large empty room which brings one back to the days gone by. Graffiti
from 1920 decorates the wood panels; class registers from over 40 years ago
are collecting dust. When the entire College was in the
same building, the separate depart-,,
ments were small and each had its own
section of the building. The horticulture department took up the second floor of Roberts and the entomology depart-

4

ment the third floor. The Department of Home Economics,
then conducted by Martha Van Rens selaer and Flora Rose, was on the fourth floor. This department was ad ded because it was thought that the wives and women in the farm families should be able to learn from the Col lege's offerings as well. This department eventually grew large enough to be come the College of Human Ecology.
Enrollment in the College of Agricul ture grew from 296 in 1904, to 963 in 1910, and it soon became necessary to attain more building space for this
expansion. Six more buildings were
constructed between 1912 and 1913,
including Comstock, Caldwell, Rice, Wing, and Fernow Halls. All were built in some relation to Roberts, forming a separate campus from the College of
Arts and Sciences.
Comstock was built at the back of
Roberts, situated so that it could be
clearly seen through the open walkway
between Roberts and Stone. The home
economics department moved to this building. Caldwell Hall was built on a site where it was directly across from the opening between East Roberts and Roberts, and was used for the Depart
ment of Soil Science. Rice Hall became
the new building for poultry husbandry,

Wing Hall for animal husbandry, and Fernow Hall for forestry. These three buildings were built in line with Roberts, along Tower Road.
Along with the administrative offices, Roberts now holds biology laboratories, Cooperative Extension offices, Media Services and the Department of Com
munication Arts. East Roberts is the
vegetable crops building and is used
for small discussion sections. It also
houses the landscape architects and
their studios on the top and bottom
floors. These studios are large and
rather barren except for the ever present
landscape architects. The buildings of the College of Agri
culture are owned by New York State
which also owns ten feet of land sur
rounding the buildings. Cornell owns the rest of the land. Therefore, the
state pays for the maintenance of the
buildings. It is planned that Roberts Hall, along
with Comstock and Caldwell, will be
torn down in a few years to be re
placed by more modern and functional buildings. Roberts Hall does not comply with present building codes because of a lack of fire exits, among other in adequacies. The laboratories for the Division of Biological Sciences require renovations and other departments

need better facilities.
Carol Sisler, Executive Director of Historic Ithaca, is currently involved in an attempt to save Roberts because of its historic, as well as its architectural value. She has been actively involved in saving old buildings and she feels that these structures have a story of their own. In her opinion, it is a shame that people spend a lot of time in buildings, but never really notice them.
Renovation rather than demolition is the answer, she says.
Roberts Hall has a great and inter
esting history, pertinent to the begin ning of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. It is where it all began seventy-five years ago. But, the real feeling of the beginnings of the Col lege are expressed in the words of Liberty Hyde Bailey, who said at the ground breaking ceremony for the Roberts Hall complex in 1905, "This College of Agriculture is not established to serve or magnify Cornell University. It belongs to the people of the state. It will justify its existence only if it serves the people of the state. The farmers of the state have secured it;
no amount of academic sentiment
would have secured it. Their influence
has placed it there. They will keep it close to the ground."

Roberts Hall, when Tower Road was little more than a path. Comstock Hall is in the background.

3BT
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5

Second Guessing
Mother Nature

by Judith David 79

"March comes in like a lion and
goes out like a lamb," is a weather axiom familiar to most people. Yet,
as we all know from experience in Ithaca, predicting the weather is not
as easy and steadfast as that old say
ing. While residents of Cornell, Ithaca
and central New York have no absolute
way to determine their weather, they may have the next best thing, in the Atmospheric Sciences weather predict
ing service. Part of the College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences, Atmospheric Sci ences (within the Department of Agron omy) is located on the 11th floor of
Bradfield Hall, a vantage point from
which its scientists can overlook much
of the campus and see what the skies
are doing. In these rooms, meteorology
students work with the unit's staff and

gain first hand experience in actual weather predicting and forecasting. And, according to Associate Prof, of Atmospheric Sciences Douglas A. Paine, this can be a humbling exper
ience.
"Predicting a major weather event like a snowfall is very difficult to do," he explained. "You may have an 85 percent accuracy record, but in that 15 percent error range you could make some very important mistakes. Stu dents quickly learn the difficulties in forecasting when they see this."
Paine described the weather pre
dicting service, as "a cooperativevolunteer effort," dedicated to training students and informing people of the latest weather developments. He said the service's function is split between gathering and compiling weather in-

Douglas A. Paine works with students as they prepare their weather forecasts
for the Ithaca area.

formation from a number of sources
and then disseminating that informa
tion to the public.
"We have all the necessary equip ment to forecast that any National Weather Service office would have," he remarked. This includes teletype machines which supply weather sta tistics and conditions, and a facsimile
machine which gives satellite pictures
and maps. Paine said the weather
center also has its own radar unit which
will soon go into operation. He added
that the predictors are continually comparing the information these
sources supply with their own actual
observations to arrive at a forecast.
The Atmospheric Sciences unit also
receives information from computers,
but Paine emphasized that the human factor still plays an important role in
arriving at a prediction.
"There is a very definite human ex
perience factor involved in weather prediction," he commented. "Com
puters have various skills in different forecast situations, but you still have
to introduce human judgement and experience to see where the computer leaves off. Predicting the weather is a matter of continually comparing com puter products, the observed atmo sphere and people's judgements. None of them alone is really enough."
The other service the unit provides is letting the public know of its find
ings. Paine said that the service has a wide audience, ranging from "local police agencies, the average person and radio stations," to people outside
of the Ithaca area. "We get a lot of calls from other
places. If people plan to visit Ithaca
and want to know the weather here,
they call us. The same thing happens
with former residents curious to know

what's going on, and people who sim ply know about our service and want some weather information."
Paine mentioned that the service is most helpful to people of central New York because it allows them to receive
more accurate weather information. "Central New York is technically cov ered in the Buffalo and Albany fore
casts, but this has some problems. Buffalo predictors may focus on a lakeeffect storm from Lake Erie, while in Albany they're worrying about a wea ther pattern along the coast. Our area
tends to get lost, so having our own
weather service makes sense."
According to Paine, the weather center disseminates information by is
suing weather updates, and through the recently acquired weather phone
line. The line carries reports prepared
by the National Weather Service and
gives the day's complete weather pic
ture for western and eastern New York,

with an extended prediction for the up state area. Since its introduction last fall, the weather wire has grown so popular that a new line was added to accommodate the increasing volume
of calls. Paine said the lines average
400 calls a day, with as many as 1 ,000 or more during a major storm.
The line is considered an important
advance in the unit's progress because
it marks the first time the University has provided daily weather information, and it is, according to Paine, the first
such service of its kind to be offered
by a University. He said the lines were needed to handle the increasing num ber of calls to the unit, and free the staff for their other teaching and re search responsibilities.
Paine called the Atmospheric Sci
ences unit at Cornell unusual because
it places importance on student involve ment. Approximately 20 undergraduate and graduate students participate in

The map represents a cold front moving across Central New York. Solid lines represent wind vectors showing wind direction and dashed lines show the
temperature field in feet.

33 r ' jj
Kevin Williams, '81 monitors the weather line on the top of Bradfield Hall.
weather predicting, some earning credit through a course called Meteor ological Communications. He stressed that in other atmospheric sciences departments where the weather pre dicting service may be performed for money, there are not as many students, but Cornell relies on their participation.
"We value the opportunity to train students. It's like teaching and re search-but gives some practical ex perience as well."
Paine mentioned that everyone in the unit becomes involved in the event
of a weather emergency, and they set
up a shift routine where there will be
at least three students on duty for sixhour periods.
Paine said he thinks the service is pretty accurate, and has its best suc
cess in predicting one to two days in
advance. He admitted that the Cornell
meteorologists have goofed, and cited a prediction of a major winter storm
last year which never materialized, and underestimating the amount of snow in this past Christmas Eve's major storm, as examples.
Looking ahead, Paine said he would expect that the first half of March will still be wintry, and based that outlook on a "58-60 percent skill factor."
Only time will tell if his prediction
will come true. But, in the meantime, if you need to know the weather for
the next few days, you might try the Atmospheric Science's weather pre dicting service. It's not perfect, but it's the next best thing.

7

±z±z=Ez
8

NEW DIRECTIONS
IN VETERINARY RESEARCH
by Leslie Green 79

As part of the land grant college,
Cornell University's College of Veteri nary Medicine has traditionally had three responsibilities: teaching, research and service. The vet college has striven to compete as successfully as possible in all three areas by maintaining a high research profile. According to Dean Edward Melby Jr., "the quality of a department, college or university is directly related to what is produced in research and expressed through publication." Funds provided by recent federal legislation will enable the vet college to institute an animal research
program which is even more compre hensive than that which exists now.
Until recently, animal research which focused upon improving animal health had been given a lower priority than
animal research which related to hu
man health, the agricultural economy and the production of nutritive food and fiber. This was primarily due to the specific nature of funds which were
available.
Funding from New York State, which is a significant continuing source, is usually channeled into research con cerning a particular state need. For instance, the New York State Depart ment of Agriculture and Markets funds a series of regional poultry and cattle disease diagnostic facilities which are maintained by the Cornell vet college.

One of the primary concerns of this
program is service to the veterinary
practitioners, poultrymen and dairymen of these New York State regions. New
York State grants are for the most part
on a yearly basis. A major source of research funds
has been the National Institute of
Health. This federal organization pro
vides funds for a broad range of health-
related purposes. The National Science Foundation also funds various types of
scientific research.
By law, animal research funded by these organizations must relate directly to human health. Therefore, experi
ments are conducted on animals in an
attempt to generate models for human health research. For instance, the
National Cancer Institute has provided
the majority of funding for feline leu kemia research being conducted at the vet college. Cornell researchers have developed diagnostic tests for cats to
determine leukemia virus carriers. They are currently working in the treatment
area with cats and mice.
According to researchers, the nonchemical treatments being used may eventually work for man. Many re searchers believe that human and animal diseases are ultimately related. Therefore, this type of animal research
has a limitless value as far as human
health is concerned.

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In January of 1979, the Cooper
ative Research Division of the USDA's
Science and Education Administration
amended certain sections of the Food
and Agriculture Act of 1977 to pro
vide substantial funds for animal health
and disease research. The purpose of the amendment is "to promote the
general welfare through expanded pro
grams of research and extension to im
prove animal health."
The legislation allots $5 million to
be divided among the various states
and their respective veterinary research institutions according to a formula
which encompasses each state's pro
ductivity and the animal health research
capacity of the institutions. New York State's Agricultural Experiment Station will receive $24,734 and the College
of Veterinary Medicine, $181,522.
An additional $9 million will be al■otted to animal research institutions to support the research of specific national or regional animal health prob lems with no direct application to man. These funds will be awarded on a competitive basis, according to preProposals which have already been sub mitted.

The Science and Education Admin
istration has received approximately 600 pre-proposals thus far, 55 of
which have been submitted from the
Cornell vet college. Some examples of pre-proposals submitted by Cornell re searchers are a study of the genetic basis for resistance to bird diseases, a study of winter dysentery in cows, a study of infectious diseases in horses and a study of the effects of the disease colic on the large intestines of horses.
According to R.K. Radziwon, a vet college administrator, the three to five year duration of the competitive grants is a significant factor in the enthusiastic
response. He feels that the time com
mitment will allow for more meaning ful research, which may not have been possible in a short-term situation. Radziwon was also optimistic about this agency's dedication to improving
animal health.
For many veterinary researchers, this federal legislation has opened up new opportunities which were not possible
before. The additional funds will also serve to enhance money received from New York State and may relieve some
funds for public service and teaching,

Vet college buildings at the east
end of Tower Road house diverse research facilities.
with increased productivity as a pos
sible result. It is easy to see that the future holds
some exciting discoveries for the Cor nell vet college.
In the words of Dean Melby, "The vet college has a very stimulating and active environment. I don't perceive of running out of things to do in our lifetime. We can look forward to major strides in animal health and the quality
of life of man."

9

WHERE DO THEY GO FROM HERE. . .

by Audrey Levine 79

Early one January morning, I waited
in line in front of the Career Planning
and Placement Office in Roberts Hall
to sign up for interviews. As I waited with other prospective employees, I wondered what had happened to the
others who have waited in this line in
past years. What kind of jobs did they
decide on? Where in the United States
did they settle? In short, where do they
go from here?
I began my search for the answers to these questions at the Career Plan ning and Placement Office in 16 Rob
erts Hall. This office assists seniors and
graduate students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in their job search. One important service they provide is the interview, and the num ber of companies coming to recruit the College's students increases each year.
This year, there are 25 percent more interviews in Roberts Hall.
The office also mails out placement notes and job listings to the College's seniors, graduate students, and alumni. Most of the graduates find jobs or
make career contacts while still at Cornell. But some return after gradu ation to use the resources the office provides for them. One of my comrades-
10

in-line for interviews had graduated from the College last year, and after a six month vacation, he was beginning his job hunt. The Career Planning and Placement Office was, in his opinion, the best place to begin his search.
According to Robert R. Hopkins, the director of the Career Planning and Placement Office, a large number of ag college students are employed in management, sales, the health care services, production facilities, and vet erinary facilities.
Many graduates wish to work for the government. A pamphlet distributed by the Civil Service Commission ex plains the process: business and liberal arts students begin their career pre paration early in February of their senior year when they file for and take the PACE (Professional and Administra
tive Career Examination) exam. The
score on the exam rates the candi
date's eligibility for a job and his or her starting salary. Technically specialized
students do not have to take an exam.
Their ratings are based on their edu cation, experience, and grade point
average. The government looks over
these ratings and hires when needed.
Engineers are the most likely to be hired. Business and liberal arts gradu ates have little chance for employment
here.
The graduate's decision to begin a career relating to his or her major is largely dependent upon the demand in that field. A biology major, for ex ample, who does not plan to go on in
his studies may find himself in compe
tition with two-year technical graduates for a lab job.
Other graduates find it extremely easy to hold onto their career goals. "This is especially true of food science and agricultural economics majors who do very well in their careers," Hopkins
said.
Sometimes jobs are found that are

indirectly related to the intended field A biology major can complement hi<: studies with agricultural economics' making himself, for example, a dynamic candidate for employment with a phar
maceutical sales company or in the
health care services.

A good job, once found, may leac the graduate to a new location. Some find enticing opportunities outside the -
United States. Others find certain areas of the country to have more
employment opportunities than this.
area. Positions in animal food pro-.
duction for example, exist in the east;., yet, there are many more jobs of this. type available in the midwest.

The majority of the graduates stay
within a 250 mile radius of their home,
town. Eastern states have been the.

favored place of residence. Largely,.

the

graduates

choose

the

east

because _

they prefer their home territory; they

find life to be more satisfying near

their family and friends.

Most graduates stay in the U.S. This is partly due to the better political -
and economic conditions found here

than abroad at this time. Also, inter

national companies prefer their em ployees to be native to the country ir

which they're employed.
Ag college graduates can be founc in all phases of agribusiness across the
country. The private sector offers ex
tensive opportunities to the graduates, The public sector's supply of jobs only
1exceeds demand in the areas of com-
modity inspection and soil science. I Where do the College's graduates I
go from here? They go to different]
parts of the country and world. Theyil
agriculjmay enter different phases of
ture. Or, they might not enter a9ricuT
thenjjture at all. But they carry with
the distinction of being graduates cm Cornell's College of Agriculture andM
Life Sciences, the most respected!
school of its kind in the nation.

INTO A PHONE BOOTH

by Lucille A. Ircha '80

The new "Superman" is Cornell University's very own Christopher
Reeve, '74. The 26 year old New York
stage actor who, as recently as this past summer, had a leading role in the Broadway play A Matter of Gravity starring Katherine Hepburn, is now rescuing cats from trees and leaping over tall buildings in a single bound.
Reeve, a theater arts major in the College of Arts and Sciences, was chosen to play the lead role of Super man in the movie Superman after a three year search by the movie's pro
ducers. At least two hundred other
actors were also considered and screen
tested for this major motion picture
role. Reeve does somewhat resemble
the comic book character of Superman, however he is not related to George Reeves, the last man to portray Super
man on the television series.
After landing the leading role in the 35 million dollar extravaganza, Reeve had to add 20 pounds to his 195

pound, six foot four inch frame. After
an extensive six week body building
program, he was transformed from an average citizen to a man of steel; more powerful than a locomotive and
able to stop speeding bullets with his bare hands. Look, up in the sky. . .
While attending Cornell, Reeve had the leading roles in many of the uni versity's theatre productions. Two such roles were those of Segismundo in Calderon's Life Is a Dream, and Pozzo in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.
In his senior year Reeve attended the Juilliard School of Drama in New
York City. After graduating with a Cor nell degree in theatre arts he became a regular on the television soap opera
Love of Life.
Reeve is well remembered by his
friends at Cornell. One very close
friend from the theatre arts department spoke fondly of him. "Chris always knew exactly what he wanted. He knew that it was only a matter of time, and

In 1971, Reeve appeared as Pozzo in Cornell's production of Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett.

Christopher Reeve performing in the

Cornell production

"Life is a

"
Dream.

he worked very hard to achieve his
goals."
Virginia Smith, the housekeeping supervisor at Risley, where Reeve lived while attending Cornell, described him
as a mild mannered student. "I re
member him as a very handsome boy. He was always so quiet but always very polite."
Reeve's life, like Superman's, was
somewhat of a "double" life. As a stu
dent, he was very interested in the arts
and was an excellent musician. He was
not an athlete at Cornell although he did play intramural hockey.
His "other" life was that of a New
York City actor. While in Ithaca, Reeve
often traveled to New York for audi
tions. Mrs. Lisa LaVigne, the publicity manager of the Cornell University Theatre said, "It was obvious that he was pursuing a career. While he was
here he went on many auditions. He
was a very nice kid," she added, "very ambitious. We were not surprised that he had gotten the lead."
Superman is an entertaining movie
but the best reason to see it is the
handsome Cornell graduate. With many superman sequels in the making, it looks as if Christopher "Superman" Reeve is flying in one direction-up.

11

Students are asked to think of snow-
flakes and lace as they play this game
of statues.
Hand over hand - Instructor Gail Tishcoff demonstrates one of the basic mime illusions, the wall.

by Lena H. Sun 79

Four people stand quietly in the
four corners of the light-filled room.
"Tea with the queen," a voice says.
There is a brief silence; then a move
towards the center of the room where
the four figures freeze simultaneously:
one is in the midst of a curtsy, another in the midst of a bow, a third holds an
imaginary cup, and the fourth surveys the scene from an imaginary throne.
These improvisations are part of a series of weekly workshops given by Gail Tishcoff, '80. Although there is no credit for taking the ninety-minute sessions, there is no charge either. Tishcoff, an English major who studied acting and mime for six years before coming to Cornell, gives the mime and

10 'fe< ft.<->'■

;,.-;; .■ :■■•-.,.■*"•.'....

improvisation workshops on her own
time because she wants to continue
her work in mime and acting while she
is at school.
Tishcoff has been studying theater since she was thirteen, and it was her
interest in theater that led her to mime.
Now, mime has become an important
part of her life at Cornell because she
feels "so trained in angular ways" as a student. "By the end of the week I've picked up so many tensions, I'm responding to due dates like a bell." Working in mime allows her to release these tensions, she explained.
Many of the students in the class feel the same way. For Debbie Wenzel, '81, one of the students who also took the workshop last semester, "it's terrific to be part of something that

requires you to focus energy." Tishcoff divides each weekly session
into three main sections. The first part
of the session is devoted to warm-up
exercises to loosen and relax the
muscles. She follows this with a set of
"core warm-ups for mime illusions." Mime illusions involve the isolation of
one or more parts of the body in space Examples of mime illusions are the construction of an imaginary wall through the isolation of hands and the creation of an imaginary leaning pose through the isolation of an arm. The remaining time is spent on improvisa
tion.
All of the participants respond posi tively to the workshop. Much of this
response has to do with the attitude of the instructor. "It's important to

aili

Up against the wall - Learning to

isolate the hands keeps the walls from

tumbling down.

j>®buai'

The reflections exercise is a class favorite. The object is for students to mir ror the facial expressions and body movements of another member of the class while he or she is doing them.

create a climate where people feel un-
threatened and relaxed," she explained.
As a student in several acting and
mime classes, Tishcoff often felt that the instructor intimidated the students
by making the movements look more difficult than they actually were. Tish coff tries to overcome this problem by
explaining and doing the movements
at the same time.
Overcoming tension is harder, how
ever, because "tensions are sneaky things," she explained. Tishcoff often tells the class to think about a part of the body other than the part being used to help students relax. For ex ample, in one warm-up exercise where students are on their backs moving their legs as if they were riding a
bicycle, Tishcoff tells students to relax

their thumbs. And it works. Wenzel
found this focusing on details really
helped. "She (Tishcoff) knows how you feel," she added with a grin.
But the most important, and perhaps the most interesting part of mime, is its use of imagery. Tishcoff's work shops are no exception; she uses imagery in each section of the session. For example, in an isolation exercise
where Tishcoff wants the students to
concentrate on isolating one arm, she
suggests they "leave the other arm at
the babysitter's." Developing image work is important.
"You can do the techniques of picking
up a mime glass but it won't be as filled if you don't have the picture in your mind," she explained. "You have to learn to connect with an image, use

it, bring it up there and talk to it." The most exciting part of the work
shops for Tishcoff comes when the students "have come across something they really like and refine it through
improvisation." The interesting part,
she added, is watching "the patterns in what people do in their lives" emerge in their improvisations.
Most of the students feel the same
way. "I like to see real people letting go," Wenzel said. She compared it to playing games, adding that "so few of us really play fun games anymore."
got out of the workshops: "Doir
improvisations gives you terrific
and builds up your confidence. . take it with you after the class."

Cows for CREDIT
by Pamela Edwards '80

Milking, 5:30 A.M. Through the course students gain practical ex perience in livestock care, and this means keeping early hours.

One student described it as the
"sanest place on campus" while another
said she wanted to live near one all of
her life. Both are referring to Cornell University's barn where each fall, stu dents are encouraged to work with
animals.
The Department of Animal Sciences offers several practical courses which
allow students to work with livestock.
Most of these courses meet twice a
week in a classroom. Then, another two and a half hours a week are spent applying what they learned in class to a real barnyard atmosphere.
The barn behind Morrison periodi cally houses dairy and beef cattle, sheep, swine and horses. It is here where the non-farming students ex perience what life on a farm is really
like and students who come from
farms feel right at home. Dairy Cattle is one of these courses
which emphasizes the practical aspects of dairy science. The class is given the responsibility of caring for its own herd of 12 dairy cows. Their duties include feeding, milking, grooming and occa sionally rearing cows and calves. Usu ally, one or two of the cows which are brought to campus from Cornell's Teaching and Research Center in Har-
14

ford are pregnant. Also, the students
must clean the gutters and the area
in which the cows are kept. Prof.
Roger P. Natzke, who teaches Animal
Science 350, has termed this manual
sanitation technique the "Armstrong Cleaning System."
In class, Professor Natzke lectures
on such topics as breeding, freeze branding, feeding, milking, grooming and judging. Then, during the labs, the students actually practice these skills. Groups of five students sign up for milking duty which involves work
ing in the barn at 4:30 p.m. one day and 5:30 a.m. the next day. There are
no employees to help the students dur ing these times. An undergraduate teaching assistant does accompany
them the first few times but the final shift must be performed on their own.
Milking duty includes feeding the cows grain and hay, preparing to milk them (no, not by hand), checking for mastitis, milking them (yes, by machine) and cleaning the stalls. The milking time and the volume received
must be recorded. The milk is then carried over and poured into the milk cooler which is also located in the barn.
Sounds tough, huh? Well, just remem ber that it is also only 5:30 a.m.

If something goes wrong, the stu dents are responsible. One student said that, like everything else, one learns more by one's mistakes. It is hard
work but it is also a lot of fun. Karen
Armington, '79, said, "It's always so great to be up that early in the morn ing and walk through campus before the sun comes up. When you finally leave the barn, it is a brand new day and while everyone else is just starting out, you've already done so much. It gives you a real feeling of accomplish
ment."
Professor Natzke described the
course as providing students with the basic dairy science skills. "We stress the practical aspects of dairy science because there are so many non-farming students; a good percentage are from
urban areas. Even those students who
do come from farms are not familiar
with every aspect of dairy science. From the course, most students acquire a favorable attitude toward animals.
They become more confident." During the winter, the dairy cattle
are brought back to the Teaching and Research Center. But signs that the cows were once in the barn and will be back again are on the barn's walls.
Each cow's name has been printed on

a piece of paper along with its vital statistics. Yes, many of the students

do have a favorite cow.

Another course which extends learn

ing time by using barnyard labs is In troductory Animal Science. Dr. J.

Murray Elliot, who has taught the

course for the past 18 years, described

its contents as being very broad; touch

ing upon all aspects of animal science. Lectures include such topics as nutri

tion, physiology, breeding and manage

ment of dairy and beef cattle, sheep,

horses and swine. But it is during the

labs when all the pieces fit together.

Joan Susko,

'81 ,

explains that you

can

apply all the biological and physical

sciences you have studied when work

ing with the animals. "Mother Nature

really works!"

One lab consists of studying the digestive, or rather fermentative, sys
tem of a cow. The students are able
to observe this process through a hole in the side of a cow. This hole, called a fistula, has been sewn open and then plugged. The students are also
able to put their hands into the rumen, the first chamber, and feel how big it is. No, this does not hurt the cow. The
rumen is so large that when the con
tents of this chamber have been emp
tied of its digesta, two garbage cans
have been filled.
"From the standpoint of teaching,
it is very nice to have animals on
campus with which students can apply, experience and practice all that they have learned in the classroom," ex plains Dr. Elliot. At one time, Cornell

had many more livestock on campus
but when the dairy barn burned down,
the animals were moved to the T & R
Center. "Unfortunately," says Professor Natzke, "the farm is too far away for
the students to go to every week. It is
17 miles from Cornell and by the time you get there, it is time to leave."
Relaxed, quiet and natural, the barn on campus is a great place to visit, especially when all the livestock is there. To many of the non-farming students, the practical courses give
them a chance to observe animals in
their natural habitats. To students from
farms, the barn and the courses are
part of their lives. One student joked, "I like animals enough- what am I going to do? I am going to play with
the animals for the rest of my life!"

Left, record keeping is an important part of any dairy operation.
Right, after milking the milk is stored
in a bulk tank cooler.
Below, students learn the intricacies
of proper feeding.

■&■■ *f. E3

15

WHAT EVER HAPPENED T<

The names of the Cornell Country man's newly-elected editorial board members appeared in the magazine's
April, 1906 issue. A note followed the
new board members' names. "The Constitution allows the election of as
many men as necessary to properly run the paper." One of the "men" elected to run the Countryman was
"Miss" P.B. Fletcher.
By 1906, Philena Belle Fletcher had become accustomed to working among men. As a graduate student in agri culture, she had few female peers.
Turn-of-the-century agricultural colleges were designed for and run by men. P.B.
Fletcher had made it in her field.
Philena Fletcher entered Cornell Uni
versity in the fall of 1900. A native of Bainbridge, N.Y., Fletcher had gradu ated from high school at the age of
sixteen. Like many educated young
women of her day, Philena went on to become a public school teacher.

But, after four years of teaching,
Philena Fletcher decided she wanted

more out of life-a college education.

It is not clear whether Philena enrolled

at Cornell because she wished to

study agriculture or because she wished to be near her younger brother William,
who was also enrolled at Cornell. But

whatever her reasons for enrolling,

P.B. Fletcher quickly became an out

standing Cornell student. To obtain an education at Cornell,

Philena Fletcher had to conquer a

financial crisis. The Fletcher family

had no funds with which to pay for
Philena's and William's educations. By

taking on as many as two or three

part-time jobs at a time, Philena Fletcher

was able to finance not only her own education, but her brother William's
as well.
As an undergraduate, Philena Fletcher

P.B. Fletcher, the first woman to re
ceive a degree in agriculture from
Cornell.

wrote many articles and essays on
agricultural topics. Some of her writ-

ings made money. A weekly column that Fletcher contributed to an agri
cultural paper called The Rural New

Yorker served as a much needed source

of income.

The Cornell Countryman
Illustrated Monthly. Published by Students in the College of Agriculture Chosen by Competition and Election

During her junior year at Cornell, P.B. Fletcher created an essay entitled,
"The Life and Habits of the Crow."
Professors and peers alike were astound ed when Fletcher's essay won an an
nual cash prize for the best student literary production. Women seldom won literary awards. Agriculture stu dents seldom won literary awards. Essays on crows never won" awards.
Philena Fletcher's skill and hard work

n. r. 1'i.imk
The Countryman staff of 1906-7 poses for a portrait of record.

were beginning to pay off. In 1904, Philena Fletcher became
the first woman to receive a Bachelor
of Science degree from Cornell's Col lege of Agriculture. Her brother, Wil liam F. Fletcher, also graduated from the College of Agriculture that year.
After graduation, Philena and Wil
liam Fletcher decided to continue as
graduate students at Cornell. William
received a masters degree in agriculture
from Cornell in 1906. His sister Philena

16

tiss P.B. Fletcher? by Mary E. Schiek 79

decided to aim for her Ph.D. Her de cision meant that she would spend three more years juggling her time be tween academic work and part-time
employment. In April, 1906, when the announce
ment of her election to the Countryman editorial board appeared, P.B. Fletcher already had more than enough work to fill her busy days. In addition to her doctoral work, Fletcher had two time-

work. In 1907, she received her Ph.D.
Whatever happened to Miss P.B. Fletcher? Upon completion of her Ph.D., she was offered two positions. Her first offer came from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Her
second offer came from the U.S. De
partment of Agriculture. A job doing agricultural research awaited her in
Washington, D.C. Friends and profes
sors advised Fletcher to accept the

readers may view Philena Fletcher's decision to make a home in the west
as the inglorious end of a promising career. Fletcher, however, probably felt that raising a family was every bit as challenging and rewarding as pur suing a doctorate. If P.B. Fletcher
accepted a challenge, she was sure to
succeed. When Homer asked her to
be his wife, he knew she was the right "man" for the job.

William H. Homer, Miss Fletcher's future husband, is second from the right in the front row among the graduate stu dents in horticulture, 1906.

consuming jobs. On campus, she was
the librarian of the Flower Veterinary
Library. Off campus, she was the
editor of the Agricultural Department of the Ithaca Daily News. Her column, "Newest Ideas About the Farm-An
Educational Department Conducted
Expressly for the News by P.B. Fletcher B.S.A., Cornell University, College of Agriculture," appeared in the Ithaca Daily News on a regular basis. Yet,
even with all these activities and duties, p.B. Fletcher wanted to work on the
Countryman.
P-B. Fletcher's final year at Cornell must have been an incredibly hectic °ne. Somehow she always found enough time for everything-time for
the Countryman, time for her news-
Paper work, time for the library, and
most importantly, time for her doctoral

government's offer. It was an oppor tunity of a lifetime. She could not pos sibly think of turning it down.
Philena Belle Fletcher accepted a position, not in Washington, but in Provo, Utah. William H. Homer Jr., a professor at Brigham Young University,
had invited Fletcher to come west. She
had become acquainted with Homer while he was doing graduate work at
Cornell in 1906. The two were married
in July, 1907. Mr. and Mrs. Homer raised a family of six children. Later they moved their family to Montana
and Mrs. Homer died there in 1949 at
the age of 71 .
P.B. Fletcher was undoubtedly a talented and brilliant individual. She
accomplished more in her seven years
at Cornell than other women of her
time could even think about. Some

William F. Fletcher majored in pomol ogy and graduated in 1904, the same
year as his sister.

17

At dusk on a brisk winter day, nine wolves quietly stalk through freshly fallen snow. Light-footed and agile,
they move with caution, detecting a nearby stranger. Suddenly, they freeze. Three grey statues point their noses
into the wind.
Are these big wolves really bad? Ac cording to Donna Brown, '79, there is no reason to fear wolves. "Many people have great misconceptions about wolves being ferocious and vicious. Actually, they are quite gentle and shy. A healthy wolf has rarely attacked a human being in the U.S."
The psychology major in the College
of Arts and Sciences has observed a
wolf pack for two years to study pack structure, courtship and olfactory
communication.
Why study wolves? "I've always had a liking for wolves, especially after taking Prof. William C. Dilger's course in comparative vertebrate ethology,"
says Brown. Last fall she obtained a
permit from the Dept. of Environmental Conservation to hold full responsibility for a small wolf pack. The wolves are
The Myth of the
BIG BAD WOLF
by Jennifer Koch 79

living on land provided by the biology division's Section of Neurobiology and Behavior, on Sapsucker Woods Road. Within their quarter-acre pen, they are
free to roam in a semi-natural environ
ment.
Although Brown's wolves were raised in captivity, she says they are still too timid to be handled. "My wolves were left with their mother too long so they
don't accept me as a member of the pack. At first they were terrified of me. However, I feel they definitely know me now," she says with an affection
ate smile.
Her four two year-old wolves are the offspring of one of the five wolves owned by Ronald M. Shassburger. Six
years ago, he obtained his first wolves from the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle,
Washington. One year later, he ac quired additional wolves from the Burnet Part Zoo in Syracuse, New York to study their vocalizations for his Ph.D. in neurobiology and behavior.
What do wolves eat? "They are al most 100 percent carnivorous and they will eat anything right down to the bone," answers Brown. When in the wild, Brown says that wolves may make a killing of caribou or deer once every three or four days. The New York State College of Veterinary Medicine provides the animals with a
weekly supply of whole dead calves, parts of cows, horses or ponies. Brown keeps rats in her freezer to use as a
dietary supplement. "Occasionally," she adds, "if I'm in a pinch, I'll feed them dog food, but they eat an in
credible amount." Brown says the vet
school has provided excellent medical
care for the wolves.
Brown is currently preparing her senior honors thesis on olfactory com munication. So far, she has observed
the ways in which wolves communi
cate through sight, sound, body pos tures and smell. According to Brown, wolves use urine primarily to mark out
their territories and to communicate
in some way with one another. Simi
larly, she sees reason to believe that domestic dogs also use scent marking because they evolved from wolves.
Brown compares the wolf pack to early meat-hunting Eskimo and Indian

societies because they are faced with some of the same problems of survival. Like humans, Brown says: "wolves
need to work together while hunting
large animals such as caribou and deer."
Another area Brown has studied is
courtship behavior, which she describes as much like a soap opera and fasci
nating to watch. "Wolves are basically
monogamous, choosing one mate for a lifetime. But, the young females often
develop a crush on other dominant males and flirt with them during the mating and breeding season."
After over six years of research in
North America and Germany, Shass burger is one of the first to have per formed a quantitative examination of the wolf's vocal repertoire in its entirety. He has devised a systematic method, based on sonographic structure, of determining the relationships between
11 basic sound types such as the
whine, whimper, growl and bark. The relationships are described in terms of biological development, meanings and
functions.
According to Shassburger, wolves
are one of the most social animals and
they have a highly complex and co hesive pack structure. He attributes this "tightness" within the pack to a balance of personalities which unifies the pack. "Some are shy and others are more aggressive. If they all were aggressive, the pack would never get along," Shassburger explains.
After completing her senior thesis, Brown will pursue a Ph.D. in animal behavior and psychology. Shassburger plans to leave the Ithaca area. Where will the wolves go? "Mine are like my
four-footed children and I feel respon
sible for their welfare. I am looking for
a reliable person to care for them
after me," Brown replies. Shassburger, without hesitating, answers, "I'm taking
mine with me."
Brown often enjoys watching her wolves in the moonlight. "Sometimes late at night I will hear a wolf start
to howl. It's an eerie sound that some
times sends shivers up my spine, she says. The next time you take an
evening stroll by Sapsucker Woods and feel like crying wolf, listen. You may
hear a real answer!

18

Glenn MacMillen, Executive Director 0f tne Alumni Association, settles into his new office.

A New Man in 205 Roberts by Patti Moy 79

"Today's students are tomorrow's
alums," according to Glenn 0. Mac
Millen, '54, executive director of the
Alumni Association of the College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences. Mac Millen was appointed to his new post
last December 15, and has had his
hands full trying to juggle all of his new-found responsibilities. He also
serves as Assistant to the Dean of the
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences,
and as executive director of the Fund
Advisory Committee. This committee is the fund-raising branch of the Col lege's Alumni Association, but operates
as a separate entity, due to the growth and complexities of its responsibilities.
MacMillen's duty as executive director
of the Alumni Association entails in
volvement of alumni in recruiting stu dents, placement of graduating seniors, public relations, and what he referred to as "selling the College to the gen eral public through alumni."
MacMillen has accepted his new job with enthusiasm and admirable doses
of energy; he looks upon it as a "chal lenge," and as a potential way of pay
ing back the College for what it has done for him. "They were instrumental in helping me become a professional and off of a small hilly marginal farm,"
he asserts.
MacMillen, a native of Cobleskill,
N'Y., was born and reared on a dairy farm, and would probably have been a dairy farmer today, had it not been f°r A.W. Gibson, Director of Resident
instruction, and J. P. Hertel, Secretary
of ^e College. They convinced Mac

Millen to complete his education at Cornell, despite the hardships of work ing several jobs and very "mediocre" grades.
"They had more faith in my potential than anyone else- including myself," says MacMillen. "They gave me the encouragement and the will to stay on."
MacMillen majored in general agri culture and communications at Cornell, and he chose dairy husbandry as his specialty. As a student, MacMillen participated in many extracurricular activities. For instance, he served as president of the Cornell Round-Up Club, treasurer of the Cornell 4-H Club, and was a member of Ho-NunDe-Kah Honorary Society, the Cornell Livestock Judging Team and the Cor nell Dairy Judging Team, to name a
few.
Of special interest was MacMillen's position as advertising manager for the Cornell Countryman in 1953. Up until 1964, the Countryman was supported by revenues received from national and
local advertisements. He solicited ads
from local favorites such as Johnny's Big Red Grill and Bill's Luncheonette in Collegetown. Not all local business
men reacted the same way when ap
proached by MacMillen. Sometimes his potential patrons were very cooper
ative. Other times the owners would
chase him out of their stores.
Today, the Countryman is partially funded through the Alumni Association, the College, and the Department of
Communication Arts. This year, the Association may increase its donation

from $2500 to $3000 to cover the
cost of producing and mailing the Countryman to 700 new members of
the Association.
MacMillen hopes to see the Country man "open doors for alumni with stu dents, by including information about the Alumni Association - what it is, and what it is doing, both individually and collectively." He adds, "Alumni
also want to know what Cornell stu
dents are up to. For instance, how
does student life now compare to 20
years ago? Alumni want to know what living conditions are like, and what the rapport is like between students, their advisors and their professors. They would like a different perspective
of Cornell."
Understandably, one of MacMillen's personal goals relating to his new job is to get the students who are en rolled in the College of Agriculture and
Life Sciences involved in the Alumni
Association before they become alumni. He hopes that the Association may be presented in a way that will interest
students. He wants student involve
ment in Association activities, and hopes to use student speakers at Alumni Association district meetings.
Asked how the Alumni Association has affected students, MacMillen re
sponds, "Alumni of the College are helping students reach their own per sonal goals. After all, today's students are tomorrow's alums." Perhaps the tradition of alumni helping students reach their goals will continue for many
years to come.

19

Jack Lambert - Purri)

Students majoring in areas like
biology, agronomy, animal science, agricultural economics and entomology can be seen periodically making the

instructor, and what strange course is this that belongs to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences?
The instructor is Prof. Robert John

trip up to the fifth floor of Mann Library. Lambert Jr., '50, or just Jack as he is They enter a room known as "The called by the people who know him.

Pump Company;" a room filled with The course is Freehand Drawing, other

sketches, replicas of statues, plants, wise known as Floriculture 111.

skeletons, stuffed animals and drift

Lambert is a multifaceted individual,

wood.

and his complexity is reflected in his

The students pull out pencils, brush es, charcoal and paper and calmly sit down. When the class is finally assembled, the instructor says, "Get ready, this is a 30 second pose."
The instructor's thin form then goes into a dramatic stance. The students
eagerly try to capture the essence of his pipe, tweed coat, lean frame and handsome white hair. After 30 seconds,
the instructor strikes a different pose
and the students begin to make another
sketch.
But wait a minute! Who is this odd

office which is full of mementos, all
of them with a story behind them.
When he isn't enthusiastically demon strating a technique, he may be con
templatively puffing on his pipe. At other times, he can be funny in his own subtle way. He whimsically calls his Freehand Drawing class "The Lambert Pump Company," of which he is president.
Lambert is very candid in his opinions about art; however, he feels it is im
portant to stress the positive qualities in a student's work that will give the

Exeter Cathedral, Devonshire England, painted during one of Professor Lambert's trips abroad.

Jack Lambert discusses perspective with landscape architecture students.
student a path to follow in stages of development.
His manner is soft-spoken and calm. Being an artist gives him an under standing of the frustration arising from the conflict between one's expectations
and limitations. His relaxed attitude
and understanding influence his art
and the way he teaches his course. Lambert did not become an artist

by the direct route of majoring in art during his undergraduate and graduate

years. Rather, he was more like a sight

seer who travels here and there to look,

observe and learn. The more he saw,

the more he learned about himself.

As an undergraduate at Cornell, he was an ornithology major, but in his senior year he was already assisting in the drawing courses he now teaches,

and also taking anthropology courses. Having to choose between art and an

thropology, he decided to do graduate work in anthropology at the University
of Michigan. He tried doing anthropological field
work in South America, but then realized that his true calling was art. He accepted an offer to teach drawing here at Cornell. He felt he could always

20

lompany President

return to anthropological work during the summer. However he stayed with |art. Lambert explains, "I tried several
of traveling to Cuba and Ja-
Summerslaica (on anthropological research) ut I found myself more interested in painting than in interviewing people."
(Although he didn't go into anthro
pology, his travels didn't go to waste,
isince they exposed him to the art of Imany cultures.
After becoming an instructor at Cornell, Lambert continued to travel but these trips were for the purpose of increasing his knowledge of art. During one summer in New York City, he studied woodcut printing under the master, Antonio Frasconi. After that,
he took a two-year leave and went to
California where he studied painting and lithography at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco, and oriental Sumi art at Berkeley. He also spent two sabbaticals in Britain study ing English watercolor painting, while making his own sketches of the English landscape.
Mouse, Brushes and Water Dish, an example of the Sumi painting style Lambert introduces to students in free hand drawing.
■~** &U. -

A view of the south end of Cayuga Lake, one of Jack Lambert's many
watercolors of the area.

Lambert is primarily a watercolorist with a deep interest in landscapes. Watercolor lends itself perfectly to his style of spontaneously placed lines. These freely placed lines are the acti vating force of his landscapes. He feels his style is directly influenced by
oriental Sumi art.
In Lambert's freehand drawing
course, the student is familiarized with
a variety of media including pencil, pen, pastel, watercolor and charcoal.
The student is also introduced to land
scape, still life and oriental Sumi paint ing techniques. In this way, the stu dent is given a chance to learn the various techniques which Lambert uses
in his own work.
In addition to the freehand drawing
course, Lambert also teaches Free
hand Drawing and Illustration (Flori culture 211), Advanced Drawing (Flori culture 316), which allows the freedom of gaining proficiency in a particular

medium, Watercolor (Floriculture 214)
and Perspective for Landscape Archi
tects (Floriculture 1 10). Except for the
course in perspective, the courses are
taught at a non-professional level to allow individuals who are majoring in
areas other than art to develop their
talent for drawing. Lambert's relaxed personality is evi
dent in the relaxed atmosphere of his
classes. There isn't any competitive
pressure between students as is found in many other courses. Instead you find
yourself struggling with your own ex pectations and limitations.
Lambert states, "There is always a
feeling in art of not achieving what one
wants to achieve. Matisse, a famous
painter, always felt someone was paint ing better than he could." Lambert hopes that experience in art will lead to a greater understanding of oneself so that one begins to set more practi cal goals in art and other studies.

21

APPLB5J0RAL

The Gray Beanie Incident

Sub-conscious Freshman Be-
lieves He Could Break a

by Ed Hardy 79

Time-honored Custom.

HIS DREAM EXPLODED
The Cornell Daily Sun of April 22nd
192 1 ran this headline after More/// was dumped into Beebe Lake.

Today the issue seems trivial, even
silly, but fifty-eight years ago the stu dents were outraged. Their outrage

evolved into a riot, and as a result,

professors began to prepare their resig nations. Why? Frank Morelli ignored
tradition and refused to wear his fresh

man beanie.

It started slowly;

on April

19th,

1921 ,

a letter appeared in the Cornell Daily Sun. This letter explained that a "cer

tain freshman entered here in Septem

ber, [and] he has never worn a frosh

cap yet." This freshman claimed that he did not believe in wearing one

and would not wear one for the author

of the letter or for anyone else.

That same day, the Sun, outraged

that a Cornell tradition had been ig nored, offered a suggestion: "It is up to public opinion to make it quite
evident to the offender that he cannot

continue in his ways and there are
plenty of means that can be resorted

to in case it comes to a showdown."

The next morning these means were enforced. Morelli was spotted, capless, by several hundred classmates near

Rockefeller Hall. There, the Sun re

ported, the "freshman headgear was securely fastened to his head." A sign was then placed around neck: "Moral:

Wear a frosh cap." From Rockefeller, Morelli was chased to the arts quad where by now several thousand stu

dents gathered. The crowd then at

tempted to soak him in a drinking
fountain in front of McGraw Hall. This

didn't work, so they marched off and
threw him into Beebe Lake. The Sun

claimed that his "treatment seemed

to be a success, for chagrin marked

the face of the violator of Cornell
traditions."
But undaunted, the next morning Morelli appeared on the arts quad with out his grey cap. Pandemonium broke loose, angry students rushed from all parts of the quadrangle and in a few
seconds Morelli was surrounded. This
time he was rescued by acting Presi dent Albert W. Smith, 78, who rushed
to the scene and carted him off to his
office.
Morelli was given two options; he
could wear the cap or leave the Uni
versity. He chose the latter, thus the headline of April 23 proclaimed, "Mor
elli Given Absence Leave." A smaller
headline assured the public that his action was voluntary.
Enter Professor George Lincoln Burr, '81, a prominent professor of ancient and medieval history, and a faithful supporter of everyone's right to be radical. First a student, later faculty member, Andrew D. White described
his close friend Burr as one of the two
geniuses who had attended Cornell during his presidency (the other shot himself).
The next day, while concluding a lecture on Martin Luther, Burr un expectedly lashed out at the recent
student actions and the freshman cap tradition. "Less than a dozen years ago, if I may trust my memory, a
self-appointed handful of students at
some downtown resort formulated
these rules for freshmen; till then, none wore caps." To Burr, one of Cor nell's greatest characteristics was its lack of "evil creeping" traditions.
He claimed that the recent riot con
stituted the arrival of "lynch law" on
campus. "Your liberties and mine will
not long be more secure than those
of this student. . . What are we to do?
For my part my decision is taken. My resignation lies partially written on my
desk. If I may not remain at Cornell I must still be free to be a man."

Things soon calmed down and Pro fessor Burr never did finish his resig nation. Some of his colleagues who were also threatening the same action
also changed their minds. The faculty passed a resolution officially disapprov ing the use of physical actions to en
force customs created by students. And in response to Burr, the Sun de nied that it had advocated or supported any of the students' actions against
Morelli. Frank Morelli returned to Cornell the
next year and received his degree quietly in 1926. Though he never wore a beanie, Morris Bishop reports in his history of Cornell that Morelli returned
home to Utica and led a career in boot
legging during prohibition days. He later became one of that city's major gam blers, and one night, years later, he was found murdered outside a night
club he then owned.
Today it seems hard to imagine the current student body becoming so up set over a freshman and his beanie,
which shows how much values have
changed. But back in 1921, Frank
Morelli and his beanie were a serious
matter.
George Lincoln Burr, a distinguished faculty member who a/most resigned
over the Morelli incident.

22

COUNTRYMAN CAPSULES

College Celebrates 75 Years
The New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will
celebrate its 75th anniversary on May 12, 1979 with tours, demonstrations, lectures and a 6 p.m. reception fol lowed by a banquet in Barton Hall.
The residents of New York State are invited to attend the celebration.
Registration will begin at 10 a.m.
the day of the event in a tent on the ag quad. Program schedules and tickets for the banquet will be available there. The tent will also serve as an informa
tion booth.
Cornell University President Frank H.T. Rhodes and State University of
New York Chancellor Clifton Wharton
Jr. are scheduled to speak at the ban
quet.
The College was first recognized as a state institution on May 9, 1904,
with a ceremony that included "the
shooting off of revolvers and cannons and the pounding upon anything that would produce noise," the local news paper reported. The May 12 celebra tion will be quieter but just as eventful.
The morning events will include
tours, demonstrations and exhibits.
Throughout the afternoon, four forums will be conducted by faculty members. The first forum will cover general topics related to the College. Dr. Lucinda Noble, Director of Cooperative Extension, said that each of the three other forums will cover a major area of concern to the College: animal sciences, plant sciences, and social
sciences.
Dean David L. Call said efforts will be made to arrange for interested
high school students and their parents to talk to faculty members.
The Department of Communication Arts will present a multi-media program m Alice Statler Auditorium during the social hour before the banquet.
"Between 500 and 700 people are
expected to attend the celebration,"

said Noble, "including alumni, support ers of agriculture and key agricultural
leaders."
William Mount, ARA, '60, was in
stalled as President of the American
Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers for 1979. The society is a national professional agricultural society headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with 3,800 members throughout the
United States and Canada.
Food Company Names New
President
William F. O'Connor, '60, has been named president of Sands, Taylor & Wood Co.. He is the first non-Sands
family member to fill the presidency in
over 100 years.
Sands, Taylor & Wood Co. is a food marketing and manufacturing firm that serves the industrial dairy, food ser vice, retail grocery and bakery industries. O'Connor joined the firm in 1977 as executive vice president.
A native of Melbourne, Australia, O'Connor came to Cornell in 1958 on
scholarship as a foreign student and majored in agricultural economics.
Richard C. Call, '52, Stanley N. Chittenden and Lewellyn S. Mix, '46, have received the Award of Merit from the Department of Animal Science in recognition of their contributions to the College's animal science programs.
Call, a dairy farmer from Batavia, was cited for his cooperation with the College in carrying out research pro jects on his farm and evaluating farm ing techniques.
Chittenden, owner of a farm in New Lebanon, was cited for his assistance in bringing about the construction of Morrison Hall which houses the De partment of Animal Science. He has also been an innovator in adopting new technology and management techniques on his farm.
Mix, the director of farm manage ment research and development at

Agway, Inc., was cited for his role in planning, developing and supporting research programs such as one in dairy
farm management.
Barnes Fellowship Fund
Established
The Richard H. Barnes Fellowship
Fund has been established in com
memoration of the late Richard H.
Barnes, former dean of the Graduate School of Nutrition.
Barnes, a dedicated teacher and in vestigator, helped to establish Cornell as one of the leading centers for nutri tion research and teaching in the United States. The fellowship will be awarded to a deserving graduate student in the study of nutrition.
Earle Named Professor of
Marketing Emeritus
Prof. Wendell G. Earle, agricultural economist and analyst of the food in dustry, has been named Professor of Marketing Emeritus. During his 28 years as a faculty member, Earle taught courses in food distribution, food in dustry management and managerial decision making.
Earle is also known as the director
and founder of a special educational program for training food industry ex ecutives. He is considered an authority in his field, and his annual report, "Operating Results of Food Chains," has been highly regarded for many
years. Earle is a member of the Board of
Directors of P & C Foods, Inc., and also serves as a consultant to several food processors, food manufacturers and trade associations.
Former students and friends from the food industry honored Professor
Earle's numerous achievements by es tablishing a scholarship fund in his name. Students enrolled in the Cornell Food Industry Management Program are eligible for the scholarship.

23

AG FUND HELPS STUDENTS
by Debbi Kishinsky 79
Three Faces of Scholarship Winners

"I'm taking microbiology and ver
tebrates so I'm in lab four days a
week," said Glenn Meyer '80. As a biology major with a concen
tration in animal physiology, Meyer has
his hands full.
Meyer transferred to Cornell last fall. He lives in the transfer wing of Clara Dickson Hall and participates in many of the dorm's activities during his free time, when he can find some. In ad dition, he enjoys tennis and drawing.

"I really like Cornell because there's so much going on, but you have to find it for yourself," he said.
Last semester Meyer took a course in neurobiology which he enjoyed a great deal. He was especially interested in the study of animal behavior.
Unlike many other biology majors, Meyer does not see medical school or veterinary school in his future. After graduation he hopes to work in the field of biology.

"I'm trying to combine both the technical and people-oriented aspects of agriculture," said Lynn Conway '80, who has an informal double major in
animal science and education.
Conway has taken a variety of courses including reproductive physi ology, agricultural education, dairy cattle and agricultural economics. She belongs to Ho-Nun-De-Kah, the honor ary society of the ag college.
A member of the Cornell Horseman's

Association, Conway has spent her
summers working on a farm in upstate
New York and teaching riding at a day
camp. Currently, she is teaching handi-j
capped adults and children to ride at
the Oxley Polo Arena.
In her spare time, Conway enjoys!
skiing and the company of her golden' labrador Vicky and her goldfish Gregory.
Conway is not yet sure of her plans
after graduation but she said that shebj
is considering extension work.

When I went to college the first
time it was because I was expected to and I didn't get much out of it," said Jeffrey Carl '82.
Carl had been out of school for ten
years when one day he hurt his back while working. He then decided to en roll at Cornell and began as an engineer.
"Engineering took up too much of my time," Carl said, adding that unlike most Cornell freshmen, he has a wife
and two children.

Carl switched his major to environ- j
mental sciences due to his concern||
over energy and water control. He.§
hopes to take part in Sea Semester, program in Woods Hole, Massachuset
where students learn about oceanogra*
phy and spend six weeks out at sea.
Carl's attention is divided betweer his studies and his family. "I think of
attending school as a job. I spend from six to eight hours studying and then I go home to my kids," he said

New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, n Statutory College of the State University, at Cornell Universif

COUNTRYMAN

VOL. LXXVI

APRIL, 1379

Np. 6

Growth

EDITORS:
Judith David Audrey Levine John Turcotte
ASSISTANT EDITORS:
Pamela Edwards Ernie Koehler Mary E. Schiek
ART EDITORS.
Leslie Green
Ed Hardy Mark Smith Christin Sparagana

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN
April 1979 VOLUME LXXVI Number 6
WITT7"
CORNELL
COUNTRYMAN
Growth

PHOTO EDITOR:
Lucille A. Ircha

EDITORIAL STAFF: Debbi Kishinsky, Jennifer Koch, Mary McDonald, Carie Leigh Middleton, Patti Moy, Lena H. Sun

CONTENTS
3. Grandpa Knows Best by Debbi Kishinsky

ABOUT THE ISSUE
April marks the final coming of spring. The snow melts, the grass turns green and the flowers begin to bloom. April means growth and change, and the April issue of the Countryman takes a look at the growth occurring within and around the College.

4. Call for Change by Christin Sparagana
6. Horse Sense by Pamela Edwards 8. Jordani by Mark Smith
9. Advising Aggies by John Turcotte 10. Energy Saving Greenhouses by Ernie Koehler
12. The Brain Drain by Ed Hardy
14. Doing What Comes Naturally by Carie Leigh Middleton

Picture Credits: Cover photo, p. 8 Russ Hamilton; p. 3 - Cornell Uni
versity Archives; p. 4, 5 - Christin
Sparagana; p. 6, 7 - Sol Goldberg; p. 9 - Volk Clip Art; p. 10, 11 - Ernie
Koehler; p. 12, 13 - Ed Hardy; p. 14 Mary McDonald; p. 15 - Ann Hunting ton; p. 16, 17 - Yong Kim, Dr. Leroy L. Creasy; p. 18 - Mark Smith; p. 19 Chase News Photo, Washington D.C; p. 20, 21 - State of New York Con
servation Department, Visual Services; p. 22 - Greg Benson.

15. Helen T. Lasher: She Helps Them Spend It by Lena h. Sun 16. There's More to that Apple than Meets the Eye by Patti Moy 18. Attacking the Black Fly Problem by Mark Smith 19. First Endowed Chair in the College by Mary e. Schiek 20. Still Learning in Ithaca's Waters by Leslie Green 22. And Next on the Agenda... by Jennifer Koch 24. Ag College Celebrates Its Past, Present and Future by Audrey Levine
The Cornell Countryman (ISSN 0010 8782) is published seven times a year from October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cor nell University Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription Rates: $2.50 a year; $4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content gathered and written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors: Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

Grandpa
Knows Best
by Debbi Kishinsky 79

Ezra Cornell's daughter, Mary Emily Cornell, was Eunice's aunt.
Ezra Cornell was thinking about equal rights for women in the sphere of education long before Betty Freidan
or Gloria Steinem appeared on the
scene. In 1867 Cornell wrote a letter
to his 4-year old granddaughter Eunice in which he stressed the importance of expanding educational facilities to
include women.
"I want you to keep this letter until
you grow up to be a woman and want
to go to a good school where you can have a good opportunity to learn,
so you can show it to the President
and Faculty of the University to let
them know that it is the wish of your
Grandpa that girls as well as boys
should be educated at Cornell Univer
sity." Coeducation was still considered a
radical experiment in Cornell's time. Educators felt that by admitting women
into universities, they would be down grading the prestige of the institution. Yet even though construction of the
University had not been completed
when he wrote the letter, Cornell was concerned with one day providing a Place where both men and women could obtain a high quality education. Cornell made this point very clear in the letter that he wrote to little Eunice

"I shall be very glad when I get through with business here, so I can
go home and see you and your little
brothers, and have you and them go
with me up on the hill to see how the
workmen get along with the building of Cornell University, where I hope you and your brothers and your cousins,
and a great many more children will go to school when they get large
enough and will learn a great many things that will be useful to them and make them wise and good women and
men."
However, the University's first class to graduate (in 1869) was all male.
That same year, Cornell wrote a letter
to a female applicant, Lucy Washburn, in which he explained the difficulty of admitting women before arrangements such as suitable housing had been at
tended to.
"I hope to see 1000 young women educated in this University, with as many or more of their brothers, and all working smoothly and in harmony for their best good-but I don't want
the young women forced upon us be
fore we are ready to make a success
of it."
Cornell's dreams for coeducation
soon became reality. Financial limita tions which had prevented the admis
sion of women were overcome. In 1873
Henry W. Sage provided the money for Sage College, the first women's dormitory. On May 15, 1873 the corner stone of Sage was laid and Cornell
said:
"The work (coeducation) is moving
forward and I am able to assure you

Ezra Cornell, founder of the Uni versity, favored coeducation.
that... a very decided majority of both Trustees and Faculty are in favor of this great experiment; as for myself, I
have the utmost confidence in its suc
cess. I regard it as the most important experiment that could be made, not only for the institution, but for our sur rounding country."
Ezra Cornell certainly lived up to his promise that he would found an insti
tution where any person could find in
struction in any subject. Through the
years, thousands of individuals have
put Cornell's philosophy into action. But then again, Cornell never doubted that his vision would be executed, as
he illustrated in the conclusion of his
speech at the opening of Sage: "Thanking our friends for the means
that have enabled us to make this
rapid progress in the matter of coedu cation, and of placing the women of America upon the same footing with the men of America in regard to educa tion, I will close with the remark that the letter deposited in the corner stone, of which I have kept no copy, addressed To the future men and women,' will relate to the future generations the cause of the failure of this experiment, if it ever does fail, as I trust in God it
never will."
3

ALL
for
HANGE

by Christin Sparagana '80

Changes occur continually within
the College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences. Changes in administration,
changes in faculty, changes in stu
dents, changes in research, changes in
structure, changes in facilities and
changes in procedure all have to be
dealt with effectively in an institution
that is constantly growing. Someone
has to provide the leadership necessary
to coordinate the programs in the Col
lege as changes occur. Since being appointed dean of the College in Sep tember, 1978, Dr. David L. Call has
been meeting the challenges that result from such changes.
Over the years, many changes have led to improvements within the College. The faculty of the College was rated number one in agriculture in the nation
in a recent national survey conducted
by sociologists Everett C. Ladd Jr. of the University of Connecticut and Sey mour M. Lipset of Stanford University. Participating in the 1977 survey were 4,000 faculty members at four-year colleges and universities.
Dean Call said he is proud of the
recognition of the faculty since it sets a high standard for new faculty mem

bers and "reflects all the things that have happened over a number of years." He added that he feels the undergraduates in the College are also "number one" when compared to stu dents at other colleges of agriculture. "I think we have the best quality faculty and students," said Call.
"Throughout my first months as dean, the quality of the faculty and students, and the breadth of the Col
lege's programs have impressed me tremendously," Call remarked. "We have a lot of things going for us," he added. A major responsibility of the dean is to maintain the existing quality and stimulate continued improvements in the College. He said he achieves this objective by working through his staff in the areas of teaching, research and
extension. "The dean doesn't do much
alone," he emphasized. According to Call, there are now 23
departments and five sections in the
College, and "they have to be glued together somehow." The Dean said, "I work to integrate all the programs into a total College program." In doing
so, he has to consider both the short-
term and the long-term roles of the

4

College, as well as how the College is
related to the state and the country. Call has had years of direct contact
with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Following the trend of his father, two brothers and three sisters,
he came to Cornell as an undergrad
uate. He spent the years of 1950 to
1954 and 1956 to 1960 as a student
and earned his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D.
degrees in the field of agricultural eco
nomics. He spent 1960 to 1962 as an
assistant professor of agricultural eco nomics at Michigan State University.
He returned to the College of Agri
culture and Life Sciences in 1962 and
spent 11 years as the H.E. Babcock Professor of Food Economics, and the past five years as director of New
York State Cooperative Extension. His familiarity and experience with
the College help him deal with College issues. He has an understanding of the complexity of the College, as well as insight into the diversity of programs. "We are very decentralized in our de cision making," stated Call, "and I
have realized how little power the dean
has." The Dean provides leadership and works toward improvement, but

according to Call, "the College is the faculty."
In his role as dean. Call faces numer
ous challenges. "Trying to maintain a stable financial base in an inflationary period is a problem," he stressed. Call added that increasing funds are needed to get good research equipment and
to keep facilities up-to-date. The pro
cesses of attracting and maintaining high quality faculty members are also
related to finances.
Another responsibility of the Dean
is to encourage faculty members to accept changes in their fields in order
to provide a stimulating learning en vironment. Call confronts this challenge when hiring new faculty members. He said the College will probably hire ten
to 20 each year, and has to consider
that each person hired may work for
the College for 40 years or more. "Every time there is an opening in the faculty, we have the opportunity to make a 40-year change in the pro gram," he explained.
"Another major concern is recogniz ing new scientific thrusts in a time of
technological change and scientific ad vancement," Call stated. The decision
to support new areas of research can
mean shifting priorities since "there is
a limited number of dollars available."
The character of the student body has also changed over the years, ac cording to the Dean. Comparing today's students to his colleagues in the early 1950's, Call said, "they are more pro
duction oriented and more scientific
now. Today's students seem more ser ious. It's a better and tougher educa tion than it was in the early 50's." Call believes the reasons for the changes are that the College is bigger, the ad
missions procedure is stiffer and there is more academic pressure. "Students seem more dedicated to their studies
But one similarity is that they still have
ton," he added. Call expressed a need for organiza-
™n among students to provide him
t^Tw JnPUt °ne ^anization
ccoommpnonsl ed,TgoxfPtAhCe )'Coalnlegeo'srgsatnuidzeatnitosn,

administrators and faculty. According to Carol Zimmerman, 1978-79 presi
dent of AgPAC, "One of the major reasons why we exist is that former Dean Kennedy wanted student input Dean Call is following in his footsteps."
Zimmerman explained that Dean Call gives AgPAC projects to work on, sug
gestions, information, input and advice. "He is really open and receptive, and AgPAC is appreciative of his interest,"
she said. The major project for this year is the renovation of the Alfalfa Room in the basement of Warren Hall Members of AgPAC hope to have the room converted into a student lounge by the end of this summer.
Zimmerman said Dean Call provided
Phone calls are the order of the day for the College's busy new Dean.

a "big push" behind the project. Call said, "We gave the project priority be
cause we want the students in the Col
lege of Agriculture to have a sense of identity." He said his staff is working with AgPAC on the project.
The Dean is also concerned with
major long-range projects. One such
project is the construction of two new
buildings that will replace Roberts, East Roberts, Stone, Comstock and Cald well halls. "The plan is progressing,
and I'm pleased that the state will fund
it," he commented. The new buildings will provide more adequate teaching and research facilities, and the Dean said both phases of the project should
be completed between 1983 and 1985. Call often makes decisions about
which projects have priority with regard to finances. The projects which are
funded are those that are most neces
sary, and those that will contribute
most to improving the quality of the College.

Partly to thank the taxpayers of the
state for their support, Dean Call has arranged for a celebration to be held
on May 12 in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The cele
bration will include tours, demonstra tions and lectures that will increase
public awareness about the changes that are occurring in the College. "It's
an open house and a thank you to
show people how we've been of ser
vice to the state. We use a lot of tax
dollars, and we want to tell people that we're trying," he said.
During his first year as chief admin
istrative officer in the College, Call has
become familiar with his new role and

responsibilities. He has displayed his ability to capitalize on a multitude of

changes to bring about improvements in the College. Although faced with

many demanding issues, Call is work

ing to further the quality of teaching,
research and extension. His reaction

to his first year as dean of an ever-
changing college with 460 faculty

members, approximately 2,900 under

graduates and 1 ,000 graduate students, is - "It's a challenge, but we're deter

mined to remain number one."

5

Horse Sense
by Pamela Edwards '80

Herbert F. Schryver, the Director of the Equine Research Program at Cor nell University. "Caring for a horse in volves more active participation than
caring for a dog. If I owned a horse, I would want to know the right ways
of taking care of it."
Equine research is a major activity at Cornell. "One of the main objectives
of our research is to share new ideas
with the public. We have found that
the need for knowledge about horses
is great and that is why Cornell Alumni University is offering a course called
Horses! this summer," says Dr. Schry

ver.

Cornell Alumni University, which is a continuing adult education service under the land grant mission, has of
fered many non-credit summer courses since it started in 1968. Seminars and

special interest courses run concurrently and on a weekly basis. The tuition for these programs includes room, board, advance study and course materials and afternoon and evening social pro

grams.
Among the broad range of interest ing topics offered by CAU, such as Chinese Cooking, Calligraphy and Orni thology for Beginners, is the new course, Horses! Offered only once this summer, from July 15-21, Horses! is a great opportunity for the new horse owner, as well as the professional, to learn about the care and management of horses for pleasure, breeding and

Caring for a horse is no simple mat
ter and an increasing number of people are finding this out. Since the early 1960's, there has been a significant growth in the popularity of horses.
Horses can now be seen in the back
yards of many suburban and semirural homes. Much of this increase is due to the higher standard of living. People have more money and leisure time to develop new hobbies and skills.

Many of us have owned a dog or a cat. The new trend, it seems, is to own a
horse.
Owning a horse is a lot of fun. Un fortunately, the inexperienced owner who buys a horse without acknowl edging the extensive care and manage
ment which is needed will soon be look
ing for guidance. "Many people get the horse first
and the problems later," explains Dr.

showing. Mary Gloster Perks, Assistant Direct
or of CAU, is very excited about Horses!
"This course will open many doors
for us. We really would like to offer
more animal related courses. Next
summer we hope to have a companion
animals course. The pet industry is
growing and CAU is meeting this need. Our goal is to reach into every area of learning at the University."
Dr. Schryver, although unavailable
to teach this summer, was instrumen
tal in organizing the staff and the course Horses! "Anyone who is interested in taking this course should have had some biology and chemistry. We would like
to limit the students to those over lb
because the curriculum is geared

6

towards people with some high school education," says Dr. Schryver.
"Monday through Friday mornings,
one of the staff will lecture on such
topics as nutrition, feeds, feeding, qenetics, reproduction, management, health and disease. The afternoons will be spent touring the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine and the Equine Research Park, viewing films and observing conformation demonstrations. An afternoon at the Finger Lakes Racetrack (thoroughbreds) or an evening at the Vernon Downs Racetrack (standardbreds) is also in cluded," explains Dr. Schryver.
Dr. Harold F. Hintz, one of the in structors of Horses!, expects to have a lot of fun teaching about an animal
that he really admires. "Owning a
horse is very good for a family," ex plains Dr. Hintz. A horse can be looked at as a backyard project. A family tak
ing care of a horse together experiences many happy moments."
Another type of horse course is
offered by 4-H. The 4-H Horse Program
consists of a series of activities, com
petitive events and learning experiences which are geared toward youths aged
9 to 19.
4-H is a part of Cooperative Ex
tension and it is the extension horse

specialist, Dr. Samuel W. Sabin, who puts together the horse program. Sabin combines research, basic information and a variety of activities with which
to maintain the children's interests
while also helping them learn about
horses.
Educational materials, including slide
sets and information used in the horse
program, are available in the county
4-H offices. Jim Mueller, Tompkins County extension agent for 4-H, sees
to it that the Horse Club leaders and

really designed to guide our youth to raise horses. Rather, it is a means of guiding them through having them raise horses," he added.
More and more people are buying
horses. But before you go out and purchase one, check and see what
your area's zoning laws are. The in crease in the popularity of horses justifies the need for more equine re search, courses and programs. The age of the pet horse is here. Hey, Mr. Ed,
move over!

members receive the materials they need. "Presently," states Mueller, "more than 200 youths participate in the 4-H horse program in Tompkins County. Each club decides what it
wants to learn about the horse. Horse

care and safety, pleasure and compet itive riding, horse packing and horse show management are some of the projects that members can study." Competitive events such as judging, Hippology and the Horse Bowl (a take off on the College Bowl) are also part

of the program.
Through the 4-H horse program, young people gain an awareness of the responsibilities of owning a horse. "4-H
is an out-of-school informal and edu

cational program for children," says Sabin. "The horse program is not

A student takes a "time-out" to re assure her steed.

Horse care as emphasized in Horses! Below, 4-H Horse Programs teach com petitive riding and showing.

by Mark Smith 79

"I have a dollar do I hear a dollar
and a half? Dollar and a half do I hear
two dollars? This chameleon is only slightly used. It's in real good shape, low mileage. The former owner was a little old lady who only rode it to church on Sundays..."
There are a lot of different ways for
organizations to raise money. The Jordani Society has an annual auction.
Past auctions have included the sale of
old equipment and live animals. But what is the Jordani Society?
It is not, in spite of its eagle emblem and name, an Arab organization. Ac cording to former president Richard J. Pollack, 79, many people have made that mistake. "At registration, we'd
have a B'nai B'rith table on one side
and student activists on the other.
People would walk up to us and
ask 'What kind of demonstrations do
you stage?'" Actually, Jordani's demon
strations include films and lectures on
zoology and natural history. The Jordani Natural History Society
began as the Jordani Society of Zoolo-
Guido Dingerkus, '75, with snakes
and animals in Stimson Hall.

gists in 1949. It took its name from an illustrious Cornell biologist, David Starr Jordan, Class of 1872, whose textbook was being used at the time by most of the founding members. Now, as then, members are not neces sarily only biology majors, but people who are interested in natural history.
Members this year include an engineer
and a government major. Jordani usually has a table in Willard
Straight Hall on Ag Day, complete with animals which they have borrowed from the Department of Biology. They also sponsor a weekly lecture series on topics in biology, botany and ecol ogy. The lectures are informal, and geared to the layman. They provide an excellent opportunity for students, faculty and members of the community to learn about natural history without taking a course. As Pollack points out, "Cornell is getting more and more specialized, with more prerequisites,
and there are fewer and fewer courses
dealing with natural history and the whole organism."
Often, the weekly lecture includes a film, and when they can manage, Jordani sponsors field trips. This semester's jaunt will be to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. They may, this month,
sponsor a special lecture on National
Endangered Species for Ecology House's Earthrise Day. In the past, when they had the manpower, they have gone to elementary schools to give the children a chance to see live whip scorpions, tarantulas, lizards and snakes.
Another service which Jordani tries to
provide is arranging for a trip to Cor nell's Laboratory of Ornithology during
orientation week for interested students.
This year, Jordani is under the leader
ship of Dennis Febinger, grad. Their
advisor is Dr. Ed Brothers who is with

One of Jordani's fearsome mascots
keeps a close eye on things.
the ecology and systematics section of the Division of Biological Sciences.
The average lecture has 50 to 75
people attending, with about twenty of those being members. The atten dance is very healthy compared to last
semester, when there were fewer members. "We were on the verge of extinction," said Pollack, as he sun/eyed
his surroundings. Jordani is head quartered in the embalming room of the old morgue in Stimson Hall, now tastefully furnished with a filing cabinet,
an armchair and a comfortable couch.
In the past, animals of various ilk were
kept at Jordani's headquarters, but due to a shortage of members the animals could not be maintained, so they
were sold at the Jordani auction.
The auction is Jordani's way of
paying for film rentals, field trips, and advertisements. It's a "standing room only" affair where a carnival atmosphere prevails. Many of the items are donated outright, while some are sold on a
commission basis. Merchandise includes
lizards, lab mice, guinea pigs, fossils, glassware and old equipment.
The star of the auction is Dr. Howard
Evans, Chairman of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy. As a graduate student at Cornell, Evans was one of the founding members of the Jordani Society-and its first faculty advisor. He is also a skilled barker, according to Pollack, inducing people to bid for items they didn't even know they wanted. (Sounds like the kind of guy who could sell pants to a mermaid.)
Now you have a better idea of what the Jordani Society is and what it does.
If you're interested in natural history, drop in on one of their lectures. Or if you need a used chameleon. . .

ADVISING AGGIES
by John Turcotte 79

would go into my advisor's office with my head on backwards and he
would turn it around again. That's
what advisors are for," says one stu
dent. Another adds, "I just ask my
advisor to put me on the right path;
once I'm there, I can find my own way."
Keeping ag students on the right path isn't always easy. The advisor's main job is to guide the student's academic progress. That includes help
ing the student choose courses that are
not only interesting, but necessary to fulfil! the requirements for graduation.
"We have a special challenge ad
vising pre-vet students," says Prof.
Roger P. Natzke in the Department of Animal Science. "Many of them change their interests," he said, "so it's im
portant to see that they take a well-
rounded schedule of courses. That way,
they gain exposure to other alternatives, while they fulfill the requirements for a veterinarian specialization."
Along with academic advising, the advisor may be expected to help when a student has personal problems. Though not all advisors can be expected to be professional counselors, they can refer students to other agencies at Cornell for help. When new students are having difficulty adjusting to col lege, their advisors help orient them, make suggestions for improving study hab.ts and help re-evaluate priorities
when necessary.

The relationship between advisors and students in the ag college is a special one because of the close per
sonal contact between the two. For
that reason, it is important to make the best possible match. That match making process begins in the Office
of Student Affairs.
Dr. Donald C. Burgett, Director of Student Affairs for the College, is the man who oversees the ag college's advising system. Says Burgett, "I don't really run the operation; it runs
itself."
Burgett is responsible for delivering the names of new incoming students to one of nine advising coordinators -
one for each of the nine program areas
in the College. Those nine people are
the real matchmakers.
Professor Natzke, the advising co ordinator for the Department of Animal Science, uses the information he re ceives from Burgett to match students
and advisors. When students do not
list special interests, Natzke uses other
criteria to try to match them with an
appropriate advisor.
A student from a rural area, for
example, is likely to be assigned to a production oriented advisor. If students
are from an urban area, Natzke may
assign them to a science oriented ad visor. "One thing that would help," says Natzke, "is more information about students and their interests."

Prof. David C. Ludington, advising coordinator for the Department of Agricultural Engineering, takes it upon
himself to get more information about
students before assigning them to ad visors. "All incoming students are first assigned to me," says Ludington.
He then writes to the students be
fore they arrive at Cornell to determine their interests and specializations. Then, when the students arrive in the fall, he assigns them to advisors with simi
lar interests.
Students who don't feel that their
advisors are appropriate - for whatever reason - have the option of changing. According to Ludington, "One of the easiest things to do in the ag college is to change advisors."
When students first arrive at college, they may just have a general idea of what they want to do. As their interests develop, they may decide that a dif ferent advisor might be able to serve their needs better than the present one. Often the present advisor will suggest a change if it is more appropriate. This is especially true in cases where students change their interests or spe
cializations.
How well does the whole advising operation work? Natzke says he thinks "The advising in this department is ex cellent." Adds Ludington, "Most of the faculty welcome the opportunity to advise students. I think the system
works well."
Students tend to agree. One aggie summed it up nicely saying, "Where else can a student get the kind of per sonal attention from a professor that
an advisor provides? It's very human
izing."

9

ENERGY SAVING GREENHOUSES

by Ernie Koehler 79

Since the energy crisis began in
1973, the cost of heating greenhouses
has gone up 250 percent. In New York
State alone, greenhouse growers spend
$18 million a year on fuel to heat their
greenhouses between August and May. According to Prof. James W. Boodley
of the Department of Floriculture and Ornamental Horticulture, "The rising fuel costs are causing some greenhouse growers to stop production during the
coldest winter months or move out of
New York State to warmer climates."
A decrease in the greenhouse crop in dustry means lost revenues for New
York State.
In order to reduce greenhouse heat ing costs, professors of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cor nell are doing research that may in the future change greenhouses from large

expensive monsters, which are costly to heat, to cheaper, energy efficient structures less dependent upon fossil fuel for heating. Prof. Louis D. Albright of the Department of Agricultural Engineering has led the research on three devices to reduce the heating
requirements of greenhouses by con serving the heat greenhouses obtain
from the sun.
The first of these devices is a thermal
blanket made of five layers of aluminum
foil-backed cloth with air spaces be
tween the layers. The blanket can be spread over plants using the same mechanism employed to spread the lightproof cloth that growers presently use to control flowering times in plants. The thermal blanket traps the heat, which has been acquired during the day, around the plants at night. The

Energy-saving, water filled Q-mats used by Professor Albright rest be tween rows of chrysanthemums.

thermal blanket lowers nighttime heat ing requirements by 90 percent. With nighttime heating accounting for 75
percent of the fuel consumed in a
greenhouse, there is a 67 percent saving in total fuel used. "The material used to make the blanket only costs 40 cents per square foot, and it could be made by a local sailmaker," states Professor Albright.
Another device developed by the group led by Professor Albright is the "Q-mat". Q-mats consist of large, clear, flexible plastic tubes filled with water. These tubes are placed on the greenhouse benches between the rows of plants. According to Professor Al bright, "During sunny days, the Q-mats scavenge heat from sunlight, the benches and air convection causing
the temperature of the water to rise at
least ten degrees above the ambient
air temperature. The Q-mats then radi ate this stored heat back into the green
house at night, and if covered with a thermal blanket they can usually meet the night heating needs."
If a greenhouse crop requires a cooler nighttime temperature, the warm water
from the Q-mats can be drained off into
insulated containers below the benches
and then pumped back up when the greenhouse has to be reheated.
The third greenhouse innovation by Professor Albright's group involves the development of a computerized green house environmental control system based on a microprocessor. The micro
processor, which is a sophisticated
calculator, would have sensors to con
tinually measure such greenhouse con ditions as temperature, humidity and light. Based on the information from these sensors, the microprocessor automatically adjusts the energy con serving devices according to a preset

program.
"The microprocessor, although not really an energy saving mechanism in
itself, coordinates them so that they

10

Albright inspects Q-mats in the green
house.
work efficiently. Furthermore, the cost of a microprocessor compares favor ably with that of thermostats which can only turn a system on or off and are much less accurate," states Pro
fessor Albright. Another area of energy conserving
greenhouse research involves the de velopment of a new strategy in heat ing and cooling greenhouses that wastes less energy. Traditionally the temperature inside a greenhouse is dropped at night by opening vents and letting the daytime heat escape. When the temperature in the greenhouse reaches the desired lower nighttime value, the vents are closed and the
greenhouse is then heated to maintain the lower nighttime temperature. How ever, Prof. Robert W. Langhans and graduate student Mike Wolfe of the
floriculture department are experiment ing with letting the temperature of the greenhouse lower gradually overnight, as would happen in nature, until it reaches a minimum just before dawn. This minimum would generally be much lower than the usually desired nighttime temperature. Since the temperature would vary from above normal to below normal, the plants would experience an average close to the commonly prescribed nighttime temperature. This procedure would conserve presently wasted daytime heat ar|d reduce nighttime heating needs. In tests with lettuce, Professor
Langhans and Mike Wolfe have found
that the plants did as well when the

temperature declined gradually over night as when they were held at a constant temperature.
In addition to the research being done to make greenhouses use solar heating efficiently, there is also re search proposed by David M. Stipanuk, Research Associate in the Department of Agricultural Engineering, to test the feasibility of using the large amounts of warm waste water from power plants to heat greenhouses in the winter. This sounds very straightforward and sim ple. However, the problem is how can you heat a greenhouse with water that may be only 40° to 55° F? This
is the temperature range of the water
discharged by many cold climate power plants in winter.
David Stipanuk hopes the answer
will be a heat pump. A heat pump is a
device which works similarly to a re frigerator or air conditioner but in re
verse. Using a small amount of electri city to run a heat pump to reclaim
the diffuse heat within the lukewarm
water can be more energy efficient and
less costly than directly producing heat by burning fuel. It also puts to use the waste heat that would normally be dumped into a lake or stream. The site
for the research may possibly be the state owned Astoria Six power plant in New York City. The project will be
funded for two years by a $180,000

grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Administra tion and the Power Authority of the
State of New York.
In addition to using the lukewarm water from power plants, David Sti panuk suggests that it may also be possible to use warm water from sew
age treatment plants to heat green houses.
To lower the cost of building the greenhouse used for research, David Stipanuk wants to investigate the use of frameless air inflated plastic houses. If the cost can be kept low enough, the project may be able to produce vegetables in winter and sell them at
competitive prices in the city. By lowering the overall heating
needs for greenhouses in the winter and using waste thermal energy as an
alternative heat source, the cost of
winter greenhouse production might
be decreased. This decrease could pre
vent further decline of the greenhouse
growing industry in New York State
and the northeast.
"In the future," states Professor
Boodley, "if heating costs can be lowered sufficiently, greenhouse pro duction of vegetables in the northeast
may become cheaper than shipping vegetables from distant places especial
ly if production and distribution costs
continue to rise."

A young lettuce plant used in Professor Langhans' experiment with night-time heating.

by Ed Hardy 79
The Brain Drain
It's rare (above) to find the Andrew Dickson White Library's "comf>
chairs," which face the windows, ever unattended. While some peoplf
(upper left) can only concentrate in the stacks, others can somehov work, (left) amid the clutter, at home.

It happens twice each spring; once
1 mid-March as the Ithaca winter be-
(ins to lift, and again at the end of ^pril when outside it is starting to feel
tost like summer. Usually, it only ms like days since your last prelim,
Hit the weeks have been screaming by.
feenly papers, projects and prelims
ifpile up right on the verge of a vaca
tion.
"Consequently, the weeks just before
ping break as well as those at the
Dniester's end tend to be cramped,
Tjystrating and often sleepless. To
Ike things worse the sky is often un-
Jsually clear during these weeks, mak ing it all the harder to pull the books from the knapsack.
ffhere are as many ways to study through these rough periods as there a§ students. While some can work at
■ffie, perhaps even to music, others
need the stark quiet of the stacks to
(fncentrate. The work usually gets
Jone, crammed into the remnants of
"spare time" and finished in the early hours of the morning. The only reas
surance is that as soon as you are
done there is always a vacation only hours away.

The Ivy Room (above) provides a needed break from the libraries; here you can continue work complete with coffee and music. There are some problems (below) with studying in bed.

Organic Gardening:
DOING WHAT COMES NATURALLY

The afternoon had a definite hint of spring - a clear blue and sunny
sky reflecting off the melting snow. At the Guterman Laboratories, on
Route 366, past the veterinary re
search building, evidence of growth was everywhere in the organic garden
ing greenhouse. Twenty students in the organic
gardening (Vegetable Crops 123) class looked over their "mini gardens" which
were full of small green leaves of let
tuce, peas, radishes and other plants. Prof. W.C. Kelly, who teaches the
class, walked around the room along with a teaching assistant, answering questions that the students had con cerning their gardens.
The organic gardening class evolved about ten years ago, according to Kelly, when he gave a lecture on gen
eral horticulture. A number of students
were interested in the subject of or ganic gardening and wanted to talk
more about it with him. He held an in
formal discussion that began to grow
in number of students. The students
wanted to have a regular discussion group and Kelly told them that if they
Students in the organic gardening class examine vegetables in their planting beds.

by Carie Leigh Middleton '80

could sign up 15 students, he would arrange it. They signed up 30 students
and two groups were formed.
"After awhile," Kelly explained, "the
students in the discussion groups didn't
want to talk anymore, they wanted to grow plants." So, the discussion groups became a three-hour class, now held four times a week during the after
noon.
The class is informal and relaxed which is how Kelly wanted it to be. For the first hour of class, a presenta
tion is given by Professor Kelly, by one of the teaching assistants or by one of
the students.
After the presentation, the students go upstairs to the greenhouse where their gardens are. Four rows of garden
area are located on the floor for each
of the four classes. Two long tables hold potted plants and plants in organic substances, which demonstrate the
different methods of growing.
After the students look at their mini-
gardens, small discussion sessions are held by the three teaching assistants
in each class. In these groups, the stu
dents ask questions about their gardens as well as about organic gardening practices.
The organic gardening class is only
for students who have had no ex

perience in planting. Betty Hughes, a graduate student in the Department of Vegetable Crops and one of the twelve teaching assistants for the course, ex plained that the course is very basic, mostly because the students have mini mal knowledge of plants and how they
grow.
Kelly feels that it is best when all
students in the class are at the same
level of knowledge. Any students who are from the ag college have been care fully screened by Professor Kelly as to how much they know about plants and
gardening. Kelly's philosophy about the class is
that "you can have fun and learn something at the same time." He acknowledges that many people would not agree with that statement, but he
maintains that everyone who comes
out of the course is able to plan a gar den, to plant seeds, mix soil, transplant and have some knowledge of garden ing without chemicals. Hughes added
that students come out of the course
knowing how to take care of their plants at home.
Gardening without chemicals is stressed in the course. According to Hughes, there are many definitions as to what organic gardening is, but for the class it is gardening which is not synthetically or chemically oriented. No chemicals are used in the greenhouse,
in the soil or in the air. Methods are
presented to the class on how to con trol bugs without using any chemicals. Therefore, the course is beneficial in that it presents an alternative to chem
icals.
The students I saw at the green house were very interested in what
they were doing. They seemed to be proud of their achievements as garden ers. I felt that it was an extremely
worthwhile way to teach a course on
gardening. Everyone was enjoying what they were doing and learning something at the same time.

HELEN T. LASHER:
She helps them
SPEND IT
by Lena H. Sun 79

Brief break, as Lasher relaxes be tween telephone and student demands.

Like many other places on campus,
this office is full of ringing telephones
and waiting students. But unlike some other places, this office inside the
Straight has managed to keep a friendly relaxed atmosphere, with students
trading quips with the power behind
the desk.
The students who come to Helen T.
Lasher usually request the same thing -
money. As head account clerk for the
Undergraduate Student Finance Com
mission and the Graduate Activities
Funding Commission, Lasher helps the
different student organizations who re
ceive funding from the SFC and the GAFC plan their activities in accordance
with their budgets for that year. Al
though she has no part in determining how much money each organization will receive, she is responsible for
counseling the students in spending and planning.
For Lasher, the job has combined two of her strongest interests - people and numbers. Always fond of mathe matics since she was in high school, Lasher has taken several accounting
courses in the hotel school. The 57year-old Lasher also expects to get an
associate degree in business admin istration from Tompkins-Cortland
Community College in two years.
But Lasher also likes people, another reason why she enjoys her work so much. "| have met the nicest people trom all over the world," she said. rhe map of the world that hangs on the opposite wall is her way of keep

ing track of some of her friends. The map is studded with pins marking the
native countries of the students she
has met over the past six years. Lasher, who was lost in the "new
vocabulary of organizational titles" when she first started the job, is now
on a first-name basis with almost all
of the students who visit her.
She has not had any serious prob lems in her dealings with students. Most of them, especially the ones who are new to an organization, may get confused about the proper procedure for payment of the organization's bills.
"The first normal reaction of some
body new is that I'm going to give them the money for their bills," she explained. In many cases, students come to her expecting reimbursement for an organizational activity that they have paid for from their own pockets.
But without the proper documenta
tion - receipts, social security numbers - they cannot get reimbursed.
Some of the more comic scenes
arise toward the end of the academic
year when "time is running out and there is still money in the budget," she added with a smile. "They all come
into the office and want to use up
their money." And one way is to in
vite guest lecturers to campus. "Have
you ever noticed there are more speak ers in April and May?"
Once in a while, there will be a student trying to get around the sys tem, she said. So, "Each year, there is usually one student I would be very

happy to see graduate," she explained. But she emphasized that those stu
dents were among the minority. Most of the time, Lasher believes it is just a matter of having the right attitude. "You get back what you give," she explained. For example, she remembers
one student who came into her office
"looking really disgruntled because he had been given only one day's notice for a meeting." When the student complained about not having enough time, she replied, "I hope that's the
biggest problem you'll ever have." And from then on, "He has just been a joy."
Lasher is used to working with people, especially students. She has
worked all over campus as a secretary
in the School of Industrial and Labor
Relations and as an accountant in Day
Hall; she worked at home typing papers
and theses for students when her two
children were small. And she has
maintained most of her contacts of the
past 24 years so she knows who to
call for problems. And though her present job is cer
tainly one of the busiest ones on campus, Lasher firmly believes it is also the best job. "If I ever leave it, it's be cause I'm leaving Cornell." For Lasher, the main pleasure of the job is meeting the different students. And the only regrets she feels are for the students who return to their native countries or
back to their homes in the U.S. after
their studies are finished. "You just get to know them so well and then they go to Ethiopia, or somewhere far away."

15

There's More To That App

Golden Delicious apples affected by russeting, which makes the skin less at tractive but doesn't affect taste. Normal apple is on left, russeted one on right.

You've probably never given a sec ond thought as to how it is possible for you to eat fresh, crisp apples in
the middle of April when apples are harvested in September. But to a few professors in the pomology department in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, producing fresh, perfect ap ples has been the major goal of many years of research and experimentation.
Although New York ranks second to Washington in the United States in apple production with an annual crop of approximately 24 million bushels, there are some problems indigenous to apples grown in New York State.
Three problems in particular con cerning apple production have plagued these Cornell scientists; two of these problems are exclusive to apples grown
in the northeastern United States.
Red Delicious apples grown in the northeast do not naturally exhibit the elongated shape and well-developed lobes which are characteristic of De licious apples. Only the Red Delicious apples grown in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States display the distinctive features of Delicious apples naturally. Because consumers tend to associate elongated fruit with the Delicious variety, and therefore select against apples grown in the northeast, the competition between northeastern
16

Delicious and Washington Delicious apples has increased. As a result, sci
entists have been working on ways to enhance elongation of fruit while im proving the development of the lobes.
Prof. Louis J. Edgerton of the De partment of Pomology at Cornell Uni versity, has done extensive work in the last two years with a new growth regulator registered with the Environ mental Protection Agency (EPA) pri marily for experimental work on De licious apples. The growth regulator, called Promalin, can stimulate cell divi sion and growth of plant tissues. "If it is sprayed at blossom time on Red Delicious apple flowers, Promalin can increase the growth rate of the tissues at the calyx or apex of the flower," Edgerton explained. "This results in a
more pointed fruit," he pointed out. According to Edgerton, Red Delicious
apples grown in the Pacific Northwest
are not affected by short lobes due to
the differences in climatic conditions. He also added that there are no unde sirable side effects of Promalin if used
properly. The other geographically-related
problem occurs in Golden Delicious, which is one of the most popular apple varieties grown in the United States. In New York and other north eastern Atlantic states, Golden Delicious

apples are often affected by russet, the brownish corky pattern that develops on the skin of the apple. Although rus set is not caused by disease organisms, it results in low consumer acceptability of russeted apples.
It seems to be a matter of aesthetics. "The eating quality of the russeted apples is just as good as that of smooth-
skinned ones," according to Prof. Leroy L. Creasy '60, at the College of Agri culture and Life Sciences. Creasy added, "If a russeted apple is peeled, you'll never be able to tell the differ
ence."
Unfortunately, Americans tend to want food that looks appetizing re gardless of its nutritive value. It is un derstandable that the russet-free apples grown in the northwest are posing stiff competition with the fruit pro
duced in the east.
"One solution to the russet problem is to cover individual apples with paper
bags," Creasy explained, "but this is not economically feasible on a com mercial scale," he added.
In Japan, Golden Delicious apples are very popular, and the practice of covering individual apples is widely employed, as "A good-looking apple on the Japanese market will get any where from $2 - $4," Creasy said. "People bring apples as gifts for a fancy dinner in Japan, and the apples are eaten almost ceremoniously," he
recounted.
A more reasonable remedy for the russet problem is to build plastic rain
shelters over the trees. "This is con
sidered practical in Europe," Creasy explained. "It protects the fruit from being damaged in hail storms."
Creasy attributes russet to an inter action of environmental factors, partic ularly rain and humidity. Heavy rainfall 15-25 days after blooming usually causes russet, and Creasy feels that, "There is a significant correlation be tween russet and high relative humid ity." In addition, temperature increases during this critical period may increase
the incidence of russet.

Eye)an Meets The

by Patti Moy 79

"There is also the possibility of
other things falling on the fruit," said Creasy. He has found that apples qrown in an open-ended, silo-like chamber with a steady supply of air free of any particulate fallout do not
develop russet. "We want to find out the most criti
cal factors resulting in russet," he said. "Hopefully when this is determined,
we will be able to control it. It's more
feasible to control russet during criti cal days if they can be pinpointed, rather than over an entire 120-day
growing period," he reasoned. But for
now, Creasy hopes that consumers
will discover that russeted apples are

So far, Liu has succeeded in keeping Mcintosh apples fresh and firm for eight months, from September to May, while retaining other important quali
ties such as flavor and appearance.
For the past 40 years, the technique of controlled atmosphere storage has been used to keep apples fresh and crisp practically year-round. This method of storage is gas-tight, and the temper
ature, and oxygen and carbon dioxide
content are regulated from the out
side. Almost 37 million bushels of ap
ples are stored under controlled at mosphere conditions in the United States, and New York stores 4.7 mil
lion bushels this way.
Through his research, Liu has found that harvesting the apples before they begin to ripen on the tree and at the same time removing ethylene will pre vent the fruit from becoming too soft. This method also deters browning and decomposition of the flesh. Ethylene is a gas given off by apples during storage, and has been known to ripen apples in one's home at normal temper
atures.
There are times when an early har vest will yield mature but green Mc intosh apples. Since consumers will not buy green apples, Alar, a chemical regulant, is used to improve the red color. Alar also delays the onset of the ripening process, enabling growers to

harvest their fruit up to 10 days later. According to Liu, "The best apples
are those treated with Alar, and are picked before they mature on the tree. In controlled atmosphere storage, the ethylene should be removed."
Of course, the real test of the suc
cess of Liu's research and experi mentation is the firmness of the apple. In a series of apple biting tests in volving consumers in the salesroom at Cornell orchards, apples considered crisp and desirable by most participants required 13 pounds of pressure to sink
the "mechanical tooth" of the pressure tester into the apple flesh. In his ex
periments, Liu has succeeded in keep ing Mcintosh apples fresh and crisp, holding pressure levels at 13 to 14 pounds, in controlled atmosphere stor age until May.
"This is all still in the experimental stage," explained Liu. "We have to find the best way to remove ethylene from the storage room on a commercial scale, as well as a simple, reliable technique of detecting the onset of the ripening process for growers."
If you are amazed at what goes on
behind the scenes in apple research,
you should be. The next time that
you take a bite out of a crisp, crunchy apple in May, don't take it for grantedthere's a lot more to that apple than
meets your eye.

Dr. Frank Liu tests apples for firmness. Plastic roofs cover an orchard of Golden Delicious apples to prevent russet.

just as good as smooth-skinned ones.
He added that there is a campaign
started in New York State to promote
"rusty goldens," and that some ac
cepted varieties of apples are 100
percent russeted.
!f apples are to be perfected when they are in season, it would be a shame to be deprived of them at other times of the year. But thanks to Prof. Frank F.W. Liu, another pomologist
^ the College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences, we will be able to eat apples
ln May, and they will be as crisp as when harvested in the fall.

'
t
17

Attacking the

Black Fly
Problem

^_
v
I
by Mark Smith 79

What's small, black and the second
leading cause of blindness in the world? Give up? Simulium damnosum, also known as black fly. Anyone who has
ever gone camping in the Adirondacks
knows what black flies are: bloodsuck
ing pests whose only reason for exis tence seems to be spoiling vacations.
In the United States, black flies trans-

one which cannot be dealt with effec
tively until more is known about its carriers. Until recently, scientists have only been marginally successful in their attempts to raise black flies in the laboratory. And they've been trying
since the 1930's.
Why has science failed where nature has so often succeeded? In other
words, why is it so difficult to raise flies in captivity? It seems to be im possible to get rid of them under natu ral conditions. "The biggest problem is food and filtration," Rick Brenner,

grad, said. "They feed continuously and void their gut every twenty minutes to an hour. They also require clean

fast-flowing water." Previous experi
ments were unsuccessful because

these conditions were not met.

At Cornell's Schwardt Laboratory,

Rick Brenner, under the direction of

Dr. Eddie W. Cupp, is raising black

flies by the thousands. He rears the

flies in lobster tanks and a timer re

Rick Brenner checks the screens leases food into the tanks at fifteen

in the black fly breeding tank.

minute intervals. Excess food is filtered

mit pathogens to cattle and parasitic
diseases to birds such as ducks and
turkeys. In Central America and Africa,
black flies transmit nematodes called
Onchocera volvulus in their bite. These
worms breed in their new environment, eventually causing river blindness or onchocerciasis, the second leading
cause of blindness in the world accord
ing to the World Health Organization (WHO). It takes more than one bite to contract river blindness, because a large number of nematodes must build
up in a human to cause blindness. River blindness is a serious problem,

out. What do you feed a black fly? "Rabbit chow," said Rick. He pulver izes it first, of course. Apparently, the flies like it and it's cheap. "One bag of rabbit food is a year's supply," Brenner
noted. "We can raise thousands of flies
for about eleven dollars in food a year." By regulating the pH, water temper
ature, and the current, the tanks can
simulate the conditions of practically any stream in the world. They are set up for a large output. "We've raised 25,000 flies at a time," said Brenner, "and that's with 85 to 90 percent sur
vival. We don't believe we have even
approached the upper limit of the sys

tem." Others who have tried to raise black flies have had survival rates that average 10-40 percent. The ap paratus has not been any trouble so
far. "The system is essentially selfmaintaining." Brenner pointed out, "We add food every three days and clean the screen filters every 2 days."
The apparatus makes it possible to raise large numbers of blackflies for a variety of purposes. For example, the life cycle and life history of different black fly species is being studied at Schwardt Laboratory, as are the con ditions for their growth and control.
Substitute vectors, or carriers of the
nematodes, such as mosquitoes, are part of the experiments at the lab. Cupp and his colleagues are also look ing into biological controls. An example
is mermithid nematodes which para
sitize blackfly larvae.
Who's interested in this research?
The USDA for one. They provided the funds which got the project going. Other interested parties are WHO and
the Center for Disease Control in At
lanta, Georgia. Representatives from
both groups have come to Schwardt
Laboratory to learn the techniques for raising the flies, and in the last six months, WHO has funded some of the
research. Current research at Schwardt Lab
oratory and research that will soon be undertaken by WHO and the Center for Disease Control may mean that time is running out for river blindness.
Brenner sees how many mature flies
have been trapped.

18

William I. Myers, former Dean of the College of Agriculture.
If the $750,000 goal of the William
I Myers Professorship of Agricultural Finance Fund is reached by May 12"and it will be," says Assistant to the
Dean, Glenn 0. MacMillen- then Dean David L. Call will announce the
establishment of the Myers Professor-

chosen Myers Professor because my career was greatly influenced by Wil liam Myers. For many years I taught the course he initiated. He was one of the giants in my field."
Contributions totaling $750,000 must be raised by May 12 if the announce
ment of the Myers Professorship is to
coincide with the New York State Col
lege of Agriculture and Life Sciences'

First Endowed Chair in the College by Mary E. Schiek '80

ship at the 75th anniversary celebra
tion of New York State's affiliation with
the College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences.
The William I. Myers Professorship
of Agricultural Finance will honor the
late William I. Myers, a Cornell profes
sor and dean of the agriculture college.
To appreciate the type of memorial
chosen to commemorate Myers, one
should know about the former dean.
Myers devoted his life to agricultural
finance and administration. He received
a Bachelor of Science degree from
Cornell's College of Agriculture in 1914
and attained a Ph.D. in farm finance
from Cornell in 1918. As a professor
at the College in the 1920's, Myers did
pioneer research in farm management, farm finance, and the organization and
management of farm cooperatives. In March 1933, Myers took a leave
of absence from Cornell at President
Roosevelt's request, and accepted a position in Washington as assistant to Henry Morgenthau, who was then chairman of the Federal Farm Board.
Through legislation generated by
Myer's ideas, the Farm Credit Ad ministration (FCA), a major innovation °f the Roosevelt administration, was created. Myers was first deputy gover
nor and later governor of the FCA. The Farm Credit Administration rescued
and saved thousands of farmers during the Depression Years.
Myers returned to Cornell in 1938 as chairman of the Department of Agri cultural Economics. From 1943 to
a59 he served as Dean of the Col
lege of Agriculture. During his tenure
s dean, Myers was involved in many pr(lgrams to further agricultural edu

cation and research. Commissions, com mittees, governors, legislators, and even such U.S. presidents as Roose velt, Truman and Eisenhower sought
his counsel and advice.
Myers was dedicated to his work; he was equally dedicated to the people with whom he worked. As a teacher,
he was skillful and effective. Under
graduates eagerly signed up to take his courses. Graduate students aspired
to work under him. Former students
and peers remember William I. Myers as a sympathetic person with a deep, never-ending interest in the problems
and concerns of others.
The William I. Myers Professorship of Agricultural Finance, then, is a living
memorial to a man who took both his
work and the people with whom he worked seriously. According to Mac Millen, it is the first endowed chair in the agriculture college. It is also the first chair to be established through gifts from private individuals and cor porations.
Robert S. Smith, Professor of Farm Finance, currently occupies the Myers chair on a part-time basis. It was con sidered important to have someone fill the chair on a part-time basis so that the individual selected as full-time
W.I. Professor of Agricultural Finance
would have some foundation from
which to start. The Cornell University
Board of Trustees felt that the first individual to occupy the chair should be from New York State. Professor
Smith has been a key figure in the field of farm finance for the past 10 to 15 years. Said Smith, "It has been particularly meaningful to me to be

75th birthday celebration. "We already have $707,000 worth of contributions," said MacMillen. "We are only $43,000 short of our goal."
Some major contributors to the Myers Professorship Fund are the Fed eral Land Bank, which contributed $200,000 and the American Agricul tural Foundation, which donated $100,000. An anonymous source con tributed another $100,000 and John D. Rockefeller III donated $50,000 to the fund. Many other individuals have also contributed gifts. Alumni and
friends who wish to make donations
to the Myers fund can direct their
gifts or questions to Glenn O. Mac Millen, 205 Roberts Hall, Cornell Uni
versity. MacMillen is confident the
$750,000 goal will be reached in time for the ag college celebration.
When the $750,000 needed to es
tablish the William I. Myers Professor ship of Agricultural Finance is raised, the work of defining the purpose of the chair, preparing a job description, and appointing a search committee will begin. "We hope to fill the chair some time in 1980," said MacMillen.
American agriculture today is capital-
intensive. The need for programs to
help farmers finance their operations has never been greater. Friends of William I. Myers feel he would have liked a memorial designed to help rural people. "Some men build monu
ments to themselves with bricks and stones," wrote friend and fraternity brother Walter E. Flumerfelt '23. "Bill
Myers built his monuments into the
hearts and souls of men with wisdom
and love."

19

STILL LEARNING in Ithaca

by Leslie Green 79

Some types of research will always
be worthwhile. Historically, Cornell's College of Agriculture has been in volved with the biological surveillance
of the area's lakes and streams. The value of this long-term commitment is
indicated by the continuous contribu
tions of Cornell researchers to the field
of freshwater biology in the form of
research papers and the teaching

function it serves in acquainting Cor
nell students with the wonders of the
aquatic world. The first and most comprehensive
series of biological studies of inland waters to be conducted by any state agency was carried out by the New
York State Department of Conserva tion during the summers between 1926 and 1939. The purpose of these studies

was "to determine the most practical
methods of increasing fish production," with the ultimate end being recom
mendations concerning stocking policies. In the summer of 1927, the study
involved a survey of trout stream con
ditions in the Oswego Watershed.
Trout streams in and near Ithaca were
chosen for this study because of their similarity to trout streams in other densely populated areas which were heavily fished and because of the ac cessibility of Cornell's extensive labora tory facilities. According to Dr. Clifford Berg, Emeritus Professor of Aquatic Entomology at Cornell, university re sources were heavily tapped by the state conservation department because of the expertise of its researchers and professors in the field of freshwater

biology. In this survey, Cornell researchers
and field workers collected statistics
concerning fish species, their food, rates of growth and parasites and pred ators. In addition, information was col
lected on temperature, dissolved oxy gen levels, alkalinity, pH, CO2 levels,
sources of pollution and the physical
characteristics of the lakes and streams.
Therefore, the surveys, which were originally concerned with making recom
mendations on stocking policies, offered a wealth of general information for use

P.R. Needham (left), and DeLeon Walsh '27 (right) use a galvanized square foot with a sieve dipper to obtain samples of stream organisms.

by biologists. A Cornell instructor involved in the
1927 study was P.R. Needham, whose father Professor J.G. Needham had
been chairman of the Department of

20

faters

Entomology and Limnology at Cornell for 22 years. P.R. Needham, who was at the time an instructor in limnology
and ecology at Cornell, conducted a quantitative study of the fish food sup ply in certain streams in Ithaca. He and his undergraduate lab and field assist ant, Deleon Walsh, collected animal specimens from streams in an attempt to find, among other things, a relation
ship between stream width and bottom-
type and the availability of trout food.
Needham concluded that the food sup
ply in a stream decreases by one-half
from the shore to the middle and that
most nutritive elements are found
closer to shore. Smaller, narrower
streams with silt bottoms were found
to be richest in food.
This series of surveys was one of
the most comprehensive of its kind. Men like Needham contributed a wealth
of knowledge to the realm of fresh water biology. But this sort of research also plays an important role in training
the scientists and researchers of tomor row. Student research assistants do not often uncover publishable information
but they do gain valuable experience in working with professors and re searchers in projects such as the Os wego Watershed Survey. Deleon
Walsh, for one, was certainly enthusi
astic about the role he had played: When anyone asked what the heck
was doing in the summer of 1927, would answer 'I'm an ecologist'. In Prospect, I have a hunch we were
Pioneers."

In the 1970's, studying the biological and physical characteristics of area
lakes and streams has continued to be
an important part of Cornell's research and teaching efforts. For example, every spring the students of intro ductory biology design their own re search project, from the proposal stage to the actual collection and analysis of data and the writing of a formal
report.
Many of these students choose to study various aspects of the myriad
of lakes and streams in the Ithaca area.
Interestingly, one student has proposed for this spring a study of Hydropsyche in Dryden Creek. Hydropsyche are netspinning caddis flies which are com monly eaten by trout. 51 years ago
Needham and Walsh conducted similar
research in Sixmile Creek.
Of course, the orientations of stream studies have varied over time. Fresh
man biology students who conducted stream research last year mostly con
centrated their efforts on the effects
of stream velocity on invertebrate

species diversity and density. In gen
eral, they concluded that species diver
sity increases with greater stream
velocity. One might ask why similar research
need be conducted year after year in
neighboring locations. Biology is a complicated and dynamic process. Stream and lake conditions change day by day, and even hour by hour. For instance, the gradually increasing pop ulation density has overtaxed our natural resources. Any creek in Tomp kins County today carries a far greater pollution load than it would have in the time that the Oswego Watershed Survey was conducted, 51 years ago. Thus it is necessary to continually up
date data that deals with conditions
jn streams, and water bodies in general. And an important part of this sort of research is the teaching function it serves. Freshmen biology students to day undoubtedly feel the same sort of pioneering enthusiasm for learning in
an outdoor laboratory as Deleon Walsh
did 51 years ago.

21

AND NEXT
ON THE
AGENDA...
by Jennifer Koch 79
He tucks a copy of Robert's Rules of Order in his back pocket as he
changes his role from professor of sociology to Chairman of the Cornell Campus Council. Robert McGinnis is
his name and when he is not in the classroom, he is in the forefront of
campus government. Since the coun cil's jurisdiction encompasses so many areas of campus life, from student activities to university budgets, invest ments and the judicial system, Mc Ginnis has no trouble maintaining a full agenda for it.
Why is a sociology professor inter ested in Cornell self-government? Mc Ginnis replied, "I feel doubly respon sible to help the council get off to a strong start after seeing the demise of the University Senate." Cornell's former legislative body, the senate, was replaced two years ago by the Campus Council. This new policy making body consists of 17 elected representatives from the student body, faculty and staff.
McGinnis also said he enjoys the opportunity to get to know students, fellow faculty and employees on a more personal basis. He is perhaps one of the few faculty members who inter
acts with students as much out of the
classroom as he does within. "In class, I see students as successful intellec tuals; on the council, I see them as socially concerned citizens," said Mc Ginnis.
The chairman cited few difficulties
during his initial year on the council. "In light of all the hassles we experi
enced with the senate, we have had
remarkably few major difficulties re garding the council's organization and commitment," he said. According to McGinnis, the council's greatest worry

Campus Council Chairman McGin nis oversees a meeting.
regarding commitment is getting enough interested faculty members to serve
on it.
During his 16 years of teaching at Cornell, McGinnis has witnessed and influenced a major change in campus goverment. He remembers the days
when he was Chairman of the Senate
Campus Life Committee, which de
manded a time commitment of 30
hours a week. The major philosophical
difference between the new campus
council and the old senate, according to McGinnis, is that no adversary re lationship exists between Cornell's ad ministration and the council. "Instead,
the council takes a view which is more
akin to the Federal Congress and the Executive Branch," he said. "They work with rather than against each
other."
Thinking that the senate was power
ful while the council is weak is a mis
conception, according to McGinnis.
"One must look at the council and its
committees as a self-governing system through which much authority is re tained," he maintained. McGinnis
noted that the council has been able
to avoid the problems of the senate
such as lack of attendance and organ
ization, due to its streamlined structure.
"We devote less energy to internal
measures so we can give more time to matters of community concern," he explained.
Are students more involved in campus
affairs today? McGinnis said he has

observed a slight decline in student ir
h'volvement over the past ten years.
disagrees, however, with the stereo type of today's students. "The current
stereotype of students being lethargic, f self-interested and inevitably lockei
into conventional wisdom is seriouslu; overdone," he commented. "There [.-

plenty of intelligent student activism:

on campus."

;.

During the past two years, the coun

cil has dealt with various issues o,

student concern, such as University

relations with intelligence agencies

subpoena power, photo policies anc

University investments. "We have ;. good chance of making an importan
contribution to the economics of Cor

nell through the establishment of <.'

committee of technical experts to stud>

the University's investment portfolio,'

said McGinnis. He sees this committer

as a significant breakthrough in col

laboration between the administrator

and the community.

"It has been a very busy year fo special projects," said the man who i:

constantly dealing with new issues fo

the council's agenda. What's next on the agenda? "W<

have just been asked to investigate

volunteer efforts on campus, a reques
which evolved from recognizing thr need for more voluntary contribution:

from students," McGinnis replied

Other council committees are studying

such problems as off-campus housing alcohol abuse, environmental safety

and the University calendar. Looking to the future, McGinni:.:
hopes to see the council's third-yea. review help to smooth out problem; with committee organization and struc
ture. The review will be a serious anc

in-depth analysis by the council anc

administration.

The chief potential weakness in am self-governing body, according to Mc Ginnis, is the people it attracts tc serve. The future performance of the
"
Cornell Campus Council depends or the quality of community involvement "We have had extremely dedicatee
members," said McGinnis. "We ge what we deserve by whom we elect.

22

COUNTRYMAN CAPSULES

Weed Scientist, Students Feted
The Northeastern Weed Science Society recently honored a College weed scientist and two graduate stu dents. Prof. Robert D. Sweet M.S. 38 Ph.D. '41, chairman of the Depart
ment of Vegetable Crops, was named a Distinguished Member of the Society, while Bradley A. Majek and Betty j, Hughes won awards in the Society's graduate student paper competition.
The first person to receive the honor,
Sweet was recognized for his out standing contributions to the Society during the past 33 years. He was also
cited for his achievements that benefit
growers throughout the northeast. A leading scientist specializing in weed control for a wide range of vegetable
crops, Sweet is also a Fellow of the
Weed Science Society of America.
Majek won the $100 first-place
award for his paper "Seasonal Field
Development of Quackgrass." The paper is co-authored by Prof. William B. Duke in the Department of Agron
omy. Hughes received the runner-up award of $50 for her paper "Living Mulch: A Preliminary Report on Man aging Grassy Cover Crops in Vege tables," co-authored by Sweet.
Prof. Joe P. Bail has been ap pointed chairman of the Department
ot Education for a three-year term. Bail is a specialist in assessing career opportunities and educational needs
for both youth and adults.
Bail was appointed to the faculty in 1957, and was chairman of the agri cultural education section of the de partment for eight years. He has taught c°urses, supervised the training of agri cultural instructors in public schools, advised doctoral and master's degree candidates and has written more than °u articles and publications based on
nis research in the field of education.

Langhans Edits Growth
Chamber Book
Cornell University has published a book about the operation and mainte nance of growth chambers, edited by Prof. Robert W. Langhans, M.S. '54, Ph.D. '56 Department of Floriculture
and Ornamental Horticulture in the
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The volume, A Growth Manual-
Environmental Control For Plants, is the work of Langhans and 12 other Cornell scientists. It provides technical information on how growth chambers work, how to provide precise environ mental conditions in the chambers, and how to avoid many problems associated with growth chamber operation. Growth chambers are used for research
involving plants, insects, disease organ
isms and animals.
Prof. William E. Drake of the Col
lege of Agriculture and Life Sciences was recently awarded the highest de
gree of the Future Farmers of America:
the Honorary American Farmer Degree.
Drake an active FFA member for
nearly 40 years, has received numerous FFA awards starting with the Green Hand Degree as a high school student. He is the coordinator of agricultural and occupational education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels
at Cornell.
Professors David R. Bouldin and
Loy V. Crowder Ph.D. '52, both of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, have been named Fellows of the American Society of Agronomy.
Bouldin was also named a Fellow of
the Soil Society of America. The awards are the highest bestowed upon mem bers and are given on the basis of pro
fessional achievement and meritorious
service.
Bouldin, a professor of soil science in the Department of Agronomy, is currently involved in research on the

chemistry of the plant root-soil region. Crowder, a professor of plant breed
ing and international agriculture, is in volved with research concerning the development of field mustard plants as a genetic organism for laboratory
exercises.
Shaulis Named Professor Emeritus
Dr. Nelson Shaulis Ph.D. '41, pro fessor of Viticulture at Cornell's New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, was recently honored for his
contributions to New York's grape
industry. Shaulis retired from his post as director of the Station's grapevine and vineyard management program in December, and was named Professor
Emeritus of Viticulture.
Shaulis first joined the faculty of the station as an assistant professor of pomology in 1944. During his tenure, he was responsible for many research contributions, including finding an accurate method of pruning grapevines to produce maximum yields and quality and determining suitable growing sites for specific varieties of grapes.
ACE Chooses New Logo
Agricultural Communicators in Edu
cation (ACE) has a new logo. The nationwide organization adopted a de sign by James Estes, a graphic de signer in Media Services^ the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Estes' design was chosen in a national com petition.

23

L

Ag College Celebrates Its
ST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

The New York State College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences is plan ning an all day celebration on Saturday, May 12 to commemorate its 75th an niversary of being part of the New York State college system. Alumni, the political community, the agriculture community and the College's students
are all invited to attend.
On May 9, 1904, Governor Benjamin B. Odell signed the Stuart-Mason Bill appropriating $250,000 of the state
money for the erection of a New York
College of Agriculture at Cornell. Until the signing, the newly formed and financially unstable College was uncer
tain of its future as a division of Cor
nell University. The College's new sta bility meant a lot to a number of people. Cornell Countryman writer, C.S. Wil
son, '04, summarized the significance
of the Stuart-Mason Bill ir^his article
"A Conclave Agricultural:"
It means that the farmers of New
York State are to have a larger and more comprehensive agricultural col lege, a college through which agri
cultural interests shall be dissemi
nated, and the farmers of the state
brought into closer relations. The students, in their enthusiasm over the bill, quickly arranged a large celebration which took place on May 12, 1904. The celebration on May 12, 1979 is being planned with the same
enthusiasm.
The day's activities will begin at 10
a.m. with campus tours and exhibits
on the ag quad. The College's stu dents and faculty will be involved with running the events.
At 1 :30, Kenneth L. Robinson, Max E. Brunk and George J. Conneman,

Jr. of the Department of Agricultural Economics will participate in a forum. The theme will be "Inflation and Agri culture: the next 25 years." Depart mental forums will begin at 3:30 p.m. The topics will be presented for the first hour and questions will be an
swered for the last half hour. Discussed at one forum will be the
contributions of the plant sciences. A
second forum will cover the contribu
tions of the animal sciences. A third
will review the changes in communities and institutions during the College's first 75 years and look at the expected changes during the next 25 years.
The concentration of this forum will
be on the rural community, its land use, and its population shift. A fourth
by Audrey Levine 79

forum will discuss the accomplishments
of food science and food marketing, emphasizing science's and engineering's relationships to the past, present and
future in these fields.
A 25-minute premiere of a multi media show called "75 years of Com mitment and Service to the People of New York State" will be held at 6:00 p.m. The history and accomplishments of the College will be covered, archival pictures and special photos will be shown, and the tenure of each of the College's deans will be reviewed. After the show, Dean David L. Call will deliver a summary of the College's
direction.
Following the show, from 6:30-7:30 i p.m., a reception will be held in the ; lobby of the Statler Inn. This reception :
will feature wines and cheeses from ■
New York.
A banquet will follow at Barton Hall at 7:30 p.m. The number of people expected to attend is between 500 and 700. Only New York State food products will be served and most of
them have ties to Cornell. President
Frank H.T. Rhodes and Chancellor
Clifton Wharton of the State University
of New York are scheduled to speak. Tickets to the banquet will be sold for
ten dollars each.
The 75th anniversary of the New York State College of Agriculture and
Life Sciences will be a memorable one
for all involved in the agricultural com-; munity. It is a day to look back to the, College's beginnings, to look at the1 College's progress and projects, and)
to look towards the new advancements!
the College expects to make in thejj
future.

New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of the State University, at Cornell University

CitimgmwgMW.

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN
May 1979 VOLUME LXXVI Number 7

ABOUT THE ISSUE
A lifestyle is an approach to life and an expression of one's personality. In stitutions like Cornell and the College play a double role. They both help stu dents express their lifestyles and influ
ence them at the same time. This issue
of the Countryman looks at how the university and student lifestyles have changed together over the years. It also looks at some present day Cornell lifestyles and their manifestations.

CONTENTS
3. Bringing Back the Trees by Pamela Edwards '80 4. Putting Knowledge to the Test by Jennifer Koch 79 6. Remember Geology 1 1 5? by Mary e. Schiek '80 8. A Celebration of Community by Carie Leigh Middleton '80 9. Risley: The Changer and the Changed by Mary McDonald 79 10. Making Life Easier for Working Women by Judith David 79
12. Home Sweet Home by Ernie Koehler 79
14. Exchanging Values by Lena H. Sun 79
16. There's a World of Difference by Mary McDonald 79 17. First in the Field by Audrey Levine 79 18. Balch a Generation Later by Christin Sparagana '80 20. When Birds Don't Eat Like Birds by Patti Moy 79
22. Living Together Cooperatively by Lucille A. ircha '80 24. Rekindling an Old Tradition by Leslie Green 79

EDITORS:
Ernie Koehler
Mary Scheik
Lena H. Sun
ASSISTANT EDITORS:
Leslie Green
Patti Moy Christin Sparagana Mary McDonald
PHOTO EDITOR:
Mark Smith

ART EDITORS:
Pamela Edwards
Ed Hardy
Lucille A. Ircha Jennifer Koch
EDITORIAL STAFF: Judith David, Debbi Kishinsky, Audrey Levine, Carie Leigh Middleton, John
Turcotte

Picture Credits: Cover photo - Cor
nell University Archives; p. 4, 5, 7, 17, 24 - Media Services; p. 6 - Ed Hardy; p. 8 - Sarah Simmson; p. 9 - Mary McDonald; p. 10, 11 - Russ Hamilton, Visual Services; p. 12, 13 - Ernie Koeh
ler; p. 14, 15 - Lena Sun; p. 15 - Ann
Huntington; p. 18, 19 - Christin Spara gana; p. 19 - Eleanor Kehm; p. 20, 21 Ron Johnson; p. 21 - Bill Bridgeland; p. 22 - Lucille Ircha; p. 16 - Ed Hardy.

The Cornell Countryman (ISSN 0010 8782) is published seven times a year from October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cor nell University Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription Rates:
gathered$2.50 a year; $4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content
and written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty ad
visors: Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

"So large a landed property as ours ought always to have some special
care by an expert, who, when a build
ing is to be placed, a road or path laid, trees cut or drains dug, can at once give an opinion worth having, and bring all improvements made into connection with the original scheme, which regards the whole work as a whole, and not as a patchwork resulting from the whims, or perhaps the ignorance of many in
dividuals." These words, written nearly 100
years ago, appeared in President An drew D. White's Annual Report (1884).
His advice has not been forgotten.
Today, efforts by Cornell faculty, alumni, students and friends have made
campus beautification more possible. One campus beautification project
which has been completed is the con
struction of a brick and concrete ter
race which extends from the Stimson
Hall entrance across Tower Road to
Day Hall. This area had been disturbed
by repairs made to underground pipes.
Presidential Councillor and Trustee
Emeritus Harold D. Uris, '25, personally committed to maintaining the beauty
of the Cornell campus, decided to
donate $25,000 for the Day-Stimsbh
beautification project. He then offered
to double the amount if alumni and
other parties could match his gift.
According to W. Barlow Ware, '47,
Associate Director of Development, 105 donors have contributed to the
Campus Beautification Fund and the

total has reached $53,018. So the Uris challenge is a success.
Once elm trees were all over campus. But due to disease and old age, 800 trees have died in the last decade. Over the last few years, 19 classes have made commitments to the campus
beautification program. Many trees have been planted in honor and in memory of previous Cornell graduates.
This past year, 38 trees have been
planted on the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences quadrangle to replace
the diseased elm trees that were re
moved. Most of the trees were planted in honor or in memory of College
alumni and friends.
TWo maple trees which are located near each other were purchased by David A. Nagel, '49, and his family. Nagel donated the sugar maple in memory of his good friend and class mate, Patrick J. King, '49. These two men were always together during their college years; if there was a picture of one in the year-book, the other was right next to him. Now the adja cent trees oh the ag quad represent
the close and meaningful relationship
between these two men.
Another two trees have been plarited in honor of Joseph P. King, '36, and his wife, Ethel. Each knew that the other was being honored with a tree but neither knew of plans for their own until the presentations. The red and the sugar maples now stand sideby-side in front of Mann Library.

F. Grant Schleicher, '16, who re ceived his B,-§. and M.S. from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has had a continuous interest in campus beautification, Schleicher, presently of Green Valley, Arizona, js 85 years
old and still treasures the campus
beauty of his alma mater. Noted Ware,
"He has donated 17 trees and more
are coming!" Another interesting contribution was
made by Nancy Disbrow Lewis, '39, President of the Alumni Association of the New York State College of Hu man Ecology. Her husband had an ar boretum and after he died, she offered the trees to Cornell, fight of these spe cimen trees, such as weeping beech, columnar beech and yellowwood, were planted last fall outside Martha Van
Rensselaer Halt, This spring, the trees will be leafing out in time for Lewis'
40th reunion.
We must thank these strong believers
in the beauty of Cornell's campus. Many more individuals and classes are considering ways in which they, too, can be involved in campus beau
tification. With the new building plans
for the ag quad and other places the need for trees will continue.
Any student will tell you that educa
tion is not just the study of knowledge but the product of the total environ ment. We are proud to attend one of the most beautifully landscaped col leges in the country. The future looks even more promising!

Bringing

the Trees by Pamela Edwards '80
3

Putting Knowledge

by Jennifer Koch '79
You are standing in a dirt pit five
feet deep, four feet wide and ten feet long. Accompanied by five to twelve other students who, like yourself, carry nothing but a small knife, tape ruler, pencil, soil color book and a level, you begin to scratch away at the surround ing walls of earth. Your task is to de scribe a vertical section of soil by its structure, drainage, texture, permeabil ity and erosion in twenty minutes.
In the ag college, competition and learning is not confined to the class room. Over the years, judging teams have provided practical experience in a variety of disciplines including soil science, animal science, food and plant science.
If you are one of the six members
of the soil judging team, working in dirt pits is an educational and enjoy able experience. "It gives students the chance to see soils in a different locale,
meet students from other schools in the northeastern states and get to know
faculty from some of the top graduate soil science programs in the country," said Ken Olson, research associate in
soil science.

Olson prepares his students for
judging during the fall semester in a coaching and practice section of Spe cial Topics in Soil Science called Field
Identification of Soils. Last year the
team finished fifth among nine eastern
colleges. "We were really pleased and fortunate to have so much enthusiasm,"
said Olson, who sees bright prospects
for the nationals to be held next fall.
Moreover, according to Olson, soil judges have had little difficulty in find ing a job in soil science after graduation.
Aside from competition, some stu dents are in judging just for enjoyment. "It's fun because you get into the real thing. It isn't just book learning," commented Richard Aguilar, graduate
student in soil science.
One of the most competitive judging teams at Cornell is the horse judging team, according to Samuel W. Sabin,
Associate Professor of Animal Science.
Judging horses requires keen observa tion, articulation and plenty of horse sense. To be a good judge, Sabin added, students need a competitive drive to excel. "However, students
take this, if anything, too seriously. They enjoy themselves, but it is 100 percent all the way during the contests." From the time they begin the contest at 8:00 a.m. until they finish at 4:00 p.m., talking is forbidden except to the panel of final judges. Even though the
individual scores are what count, Sabin
noticed that students develop a cohesive team and enjoy competing as a group.
During a competition, students eval
uate classes of breeds of horses. Team
members learn how to place horses on conformation (form) and performance (function) in nine or more different
classes. Judges must rank four horses in each class. The final stage in the
contest is called the "oral reason." At
that time, students must give a highly stylized explanation of why they placed their horses in a specific order. "Judg ing provides good exposure and ex perience for students contemplating a career in the horse industry," said Sabin.

One of the few teams that is not
part of a formal course, horse judging
is strictly extramural and open to all students in the ag college who are at least in their third semester. The horse judging team is also one of the few teams dominated by women, three to one. "The reason is that girls tend to be more dedicated to horses than boys. They grow up around horses and be come more emotionally attached," he said. According to Sabin, women also tend to be more articulate speakers, an advantage in competition.
Cornell tries to enter three competi tions during the course of each calendar year. The competition begins at the New York State Fair, then proceeds to the Quarter Horse Congress in Columbus, Ohio, and ends at the Key stone International Livestock Exposi tion in Harrisburg, Pa. Cornell routinely finishes in the top half of these con
tests and has won each of them. With
the help of previous team members,
Sabin has left no time to horse around
between seasons and has already be gun to organize next year's team.
No, judge. . . / never use dental

. to the Test

In the meantime, William F. Shipe, Professor of Food Science, is offering
a course in sensory evaluation of foods
to provide students with the basic knowledge and skills needed in evalu ating food quality. Three or four stu
dents are selected from this course
and are trained to judge in one national contest sponsored by the milk industry
and ice cream manufacturers.
When testing samples of milk, ice cream, butter, cottage cheese and cheddar cheese, judges must taste and test eight samples of each. "Getting full too quickly is a little bit of a prob lem," noted Shipe, who encourages
students not to swallow their delicious
samples. The judges have a four-hour period in which to evaluate the products on the basis of flavor, texture, color and viscosity.
Because the products to be judged are selected from the local market, Shipe will make sure his team is familiar with the area's products before the contest. "The day before the event, we usually go around the town and sample the local milk," he said. Most
of the butter and cheese is from the
midwest.

There are 20 to 25 colleges partici pating in the annual contest but Cor nell is the only school competing from the northeast. The competition is keen, according to Shipe. "Like sports, in order to be good, you have to put in the practice." Cornell last entered the contest in 1977 and placed second out of 69 contestants in milk judging.
Another team which has repeatedly won national fame is the dairy cattle judging team, coached by Samuel T. Slack, Professor of Animal Science.
Since its inception in 1934, the team has ranked first in the U.S. eight times. George Trimberger, considered to be the dean of dairy cattle judging, coached
the team from 1947-1975. It is not
easy to qualify for the team, noted Slack, who selects the top four stu dents from the course, Dairy Cattle Selection and Type Evaluation.
If you have not acquired a taste for
judging dairy products or animals, you might give flower judging a try. As a member of the flower judging team, you will begin to look at plants
and flowers with a critical eye and dis
cover a new dimension, according to Raymond T. Fox, Professor of Flori-

Dairy Product Judging Competition- 1976- Atlantic City. L. to R.: Margaret Barir, '77, Lisa Savina, '77, William F. Shipe, May Jay, '77. The team placed
No. 2 in ice cream judging out of 69 competitors.

Woman grooms old man cactus plant- a surprise entry in last year's
National Collegiate Flower Judging
Contest.
culture and Ornamental Horticulture.
A rose is a rose, right? Wrong. The thing to look for is cultural quality. "If
you examine a rose you should be able
to tell if it is in perfect form," said
Fox. The average person does not
recognize good quality from bad when it comes to flowers, said Fox, noting
that every flower has an ideal form.
Students look for blemishes caused by insects and disease. They also note the number of flowers and buds, old petals, proportion and condition of the foliage. "Some people have a natural knack; they have a keener power of observation," Fox explained.
To prepare for an annual national
contest, weekly judging sessions are scheduled and eventually the three students with the highest practice judging scores are selected for the
contest. This year it was held at Call
away Gardens, Pine Mountain Georgia. The students compete against 20 to 30 teams from all regions of the U.S.
Fox said most recent contests have
been held in the western states, pre
venting Cornell from attending because of transportation problems.
Whether your interest is soils, horses, dairy cattle, dairy products or flowers, you may discover judging to be a re warding and enjoyable way of acquir ing expertise and practical experience. Most judging teams are open to any students having the desire to devote
some extra time outside of the class room and the courage to put their
knowledge to the test.

5

What ever happened to that geology
requirement?
That's what Norman W. Schiek, '50, would like to know. "When I attended Cornell University in the late 1940's, all students in the College of Agricul ture had to take Geology 115. I really enjoyed that course. I knew other stu dents, though, who hated it."
Schiek's daughter, Mary E. Schiek, '80, and son, William A. Schiek, '82,
both of whom are students in the Col
lege of Agriculture and Life Sciences,
will never have to take a course in
geology. Norman Schiek was not sur prised to learn that this requirement had been dropped, but he was surprised
to learn that there is no orientation
requirement.

Remember
5GEOLOGY IIJ?

"I found my Freshman Orientation
course very useful and interesting,"
Schiek said. "We learned how to use
the library and other university services. We were also taught study skills and we learned a little bit of Cornell history."
Orientation was only one of the
many courses that freshmen in the ag
college of the 1940's had to take. A full year of English, chemistry or phy sics, and botany, general biology, or zoology were also required.
"I took botany," Schiek said, "be cause it was taught by Prof. Loren C. Petry and everyone spoke highly of him.
His course was one of the best I took
in the ag college." In addition to the freshman require
ments, agriculture college students of the 1940's were required to take 24
hours of basic sciences and social
studies. According to the New York State College of Agriculture Announce ments for 1947-48, students were re quired to take "not less than nine hours and not less than two subjects

under A," a category which included biological sciences, physical sciences, mathematics, geography, psychology, and human growth and development, and "not less than nine hours and two
of the subjects under B (economics, government, history, rural sociology, and anthropology and sociology)."
Agriculture and Life Science students of the 1970's, like ag students of the '40's, must fulfill science and humanities
requirements. In place of the 1940's requirement of one year (six credit hours) of English, ag students today
must take a minimum of nine hours
in written and oral expression. Students usually take two Freshman Seminars, and then elect an English or communi
cation arts course.
Schiek said he felt that today's ag students are given too much freedom fulfilling written and oral expression requirements. A course in creative
writing can be used to satisfy the written expression requirement. "I can see where creative writing might be of

Two generations of ag studentsMary E. Schiek, '80, Norman W. Schiek, '50, and William A. Schiek,
'82.
some use to a communication arts
major, like my daughter, but it would
be a waste of tuition money for an
atmospheric sciences major, like my
son, to take such a course."
Schiek, however, had much more
freedom than his son and daughter with respect to biological science re quirements. Like all 1970's Agriculture and Life Sciences students, William and Mary Schiek must take six hours of introductory biological sciences. Back in the 1940's, students who did not care for general biology could take six hours of botany or zoology.
Today's Agriculture and Life Sciences students take approximately the same number of agriculture college electives
as their 1940's counterparts. Schiek recalled that one of his favorite ag
electives was an agricultural economics course called "Agricultural Geography."
"It was taught by Prof. Herrell F. DeGraff," Schiek remembered. "Pro
fessor DeGraff was an excellent lec turer. He really made the course fasci
nating. Another of my favorite courses was agronomy, but I don't remember who taught it."
Many popular ag electives of the

6

1970's didn't even exist in the 1940's. Two courses offered by the Department of Natural Resources, "Ecological Basis for Conservation" and "Environmental
Conservation," are familiar to most Agriculture and Life Sciences students. When Norman Schiek graduated in
1950, a new Department of Conserva tion had just been created. By the time I entered the agriculture college in the fall of 1975, the Department of Conservation had become the Depart ment of Natural Resources.
Cornell University had a School of Nutrition in the 1940's, but nutrition courses could not be taken to satisfy
ag elective requirements. Today, many ag students take "Ecology of Human Nutrition and Food," an introductory nutrition course taught by Prof. Mar jorie M. Devine. Norman Schiek was asked if he thought "Ecology of Human
Nutrition and Food" would be a worth
while course for an ag student to take.
"I think that depends on the student's field of study," Schiek replied. "If a student plans to go into a field which has nothing to do with human welfare,
then a course in human nutrition is un
necessary." The younger generation of Schiek
Cornellians view nutrition courses from
a different perspective. I have taken
Professor Devine's course and I think
many of our society's myths and mis
conceptions about food would disap
pear if college-educated people had some basic knowledge about nutrition. I believe any student in the University
would benefit from the course.
William Schiek has never taken a
nutrition course. "But I think," said Bill, "it would be beneficial for most
students to take nutrition because it
helps them become more conscientious
consumers."
Like today's ag students, 1940's
students were allowed to take 20 credit
hours anywhere in the University. "As I understood it," Norman Schiek said, "we were expected to take our outside electives in the College of Arts and Sciences. I never explored the option of taking electives at any other college."
Schiek was asked if he ever would have considered taking a course in

winetasting. The answer was an em phatic no. "Only students who intend to work in an industry that deals with wine should take a course like that,"

The purpose of the extension teach
ing department, however, was to produce extension workers, not journal
ists and broadcasters.

Schiek said. "It is also a waste of
money." Although I don't intend to take a
course in winetasting, I regard the ag college's 20 hours of free electives as a legitimate opportunity to take courses unrelated to my major. Bill Schiek
said, "I think students should take free electives they really enjoy, preferably,

While his son and daughter major in programs that have been developed since the 1940's, Norman Schiek's
own major has disappeared. "I majored in dairy industry," Schiek
said. "I think they replaced dairy in dustry with the Department of Food Science." Schiek remembers making many dairy products in his labs. "Some

but not necessarily related to their of the ice cream we made in the lab

majors."

was sold in the Dairy Bar in Stocking

My major, communication arts, and Hall."

my brother's major, atmospheric sci

The agriculture college has changed.

ences, didn't even exist when my Courses, departments, and requirements

father was in the agriculture college. that existed 30 years ago have vanished.

During the late 1940's, the College Yet some things remain the same.

offered two undergraduate courses in

"I believe the work is still as difficult

meteorology, but the ag student who as it ever was," Schiek said. Students

wanted to major in meteorology was must still fulfill requirements in physical

out of luck. For ag students interested sciences and math, biological sciences,

in journalism or broadcasting, the De and social sciences and humanities.

partment of Extension Teaching and The geology requirement and the

Information offered courses in news Department of Dairy Industry may be

writing, feature story writing, radio gone, but Cornell ice cream goes on

broadcasting, and radio production. and on.

The Dairy Bar in Stocking Hall as it appeared when Norman Schiek attended
Cornell.

7

A Celebration
of COMMUNITY

Carie Leigh Middleton '80
Ecology House is a small interactive
dorm with an emphasis on environ mental issues and lifestyles. The stu dents within the community work to gether to run projects and programs
within the House and on the campus to increase environmental awareness.
One way of increasing this aware
ness has been an educational program
which the students have brought to children. For example, a group of students go regularly to schools to
present Dr. Seuss's The Lorax. The
story is about how big business took
away the trees and sent away the
animals who depended upon the trees
for their livelihood. The moral of the
story, which is told in typical Dr. Seuss fashion, is "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing's going to get better, it's not." The story has become part of Ecology
House lore because it represents the
thought which the students want to project to others.
The efforts of students at Ecology House also go into the recycling pro gram on campus. Every Saturday,
students go around campus and make
pick-ups from the participating dorms, fraternities and sororities. Although
the program could be more successful
with more participation, it has been running fairly well for three years.
Although some of these efforts may go unnoticed by the general com munity, Ecology House students make
their presence known with the annual

The Beebe Lake Frog (Jack McGowan,
'80) visits the Earth rise Festival which
was held in the Willard Straight Memo
rial Room last year.
Earthrise celebration which is held
every April.
The Earthrise celebration is the most
significant and unifying activity of the Ecology House community, explained Chris Leatherwood, Resident Director of Ecology House. Donna Pienkowski, '80, a third-year member of the House, agreed. "The goal of Earthrise is to bring environmental awareness to the Ithaca and Cornell community, but it also gives people at Ecology House a chance to work together and become more of a community ourselves."
The Earthrise celebration brings to gether all of the thoughts, hopes, ideas, and knowledge of the students at Ecol ogy House. It reflects what they believe to be important and what they try to maintain in their lifestyles. This year's theme for Earthrise was community. Within this framework, the celebration included activities such as making paper from recycled paper, a marathon run around Beebe Lake, a presentation of
"What's in here?" asks the child who
puts a hand into the "mystery box" at this year's Earthrise Celebration.

The Lorax, and a New Games festival in which everyone got together to play games in which the rules were: "Play hard. Play fair. Nobody hurt." A separate room was also set up for
children where stories were told and exhibits were set up which were of interest to the younger audience.
Weeks before Earthrise students
begin their preparation. Plans are
made about who to contact for pos
sible speakers and what groups should be contacted to be involved. Many groups from campus help out Ecology House with the celebration. They in clude Risley College, Jordani, the Cor nell Concert Commission, the Folk Song Club, the Student Finance Committee,
and the Office of the Dean of Students.
The annual Earthrise celebration is
impressive because it is coordinated by just one dorm of students who do not have enough recognition on campus.
The other activities and efforts of the
students may go unnoticed, but Earthrise is hard to miss. As Scott Hubert,
'81, explained, "Nobody knew Ecology House existed until Earthrise." Perhaps in time, the efforts of these students will become more appreciated and stu
dents from other parts of campus will contribute to the House's efforts to
make us more aware of our environ
ment.

8

RISLEY: the Changer and the Changed

The transformation began eight
years ago, when a small group of in
dustrious students obtained permission from Cornell University to establish a special living unit on the campus. As a result, the Prudence Risley Hall for Women became Risley Residential Col
lege, dedicated to an encouragement of the creative and performing arts.
Risley has undergone numerous changes in the past eight years. Per haps the most obvious changes are those which are physical. For example,
the old ballroom is now a theater with
an audience capacity of 100. Students are provided with an outlet for theatri cal endeavors, including directing, act ing, producing and doing technical work on a show. Risley's theater is the only one on campus which allows for total student involvement, and anyone
who is interested has the opportunity
to participate.
Several rooms which are located in
Risley's basement have been con verted into usable work-spaces. Facil
ities presently available include a pot
tery studio, a fully-supplied darkroom, a print-shop, a wood-shop and several music practice rooms complete with
pianos. These facilities are constantly
being updated and improved upon through the work of Risley members.
Aside from these obvious physical changes, there are countless other as pects of Risley life which distinguish
it from most of the other dorms at
Cornell. A wide range of activity, from Primal Scream Contests to an
annual reading of Handel's Messiah, brings the Risley members into contact with each other. Kay Glassey, '79, a long-time Risley member, puts it this way, "There is a sense of community
here which I have never seen in another dorm."
One of the most important aspects
°f living in Risley is that members
■THist eat on the dining plan. Twice a
day, Monday through Friday, Risley members interact with neighbors and friends while eating. The food is ex-

by Mary McDonald 79
The Risley Dining Room provides a place for students to interact with friends and neighbors.
cellent, and the company of other members who share common interests in music and art make mealtime fun. "Risley is a haven for friends to meet, away from the pressures of the Cornell academic community," said Glassey.
The Cornell and Ithaca communities
also derive benefit from the Risley at mosphere. In addition to theatrical pro ductions, Risley offers weekly musical desserts featuring local talent. Every Friday and Saturday night, there is live entertainment in Risley's Tammany Nightclub. An annual Spring Fair draws
crowds from miles around. Numerous
other activities are provided, including lectures, workshops, and the Risley Free Film Series, all of which are open to the public.
Risley is one of the most popular dorms at Cornell, and there is always a waiting list for prospective members.
Students who have an interest in some
aspect of the arts are accepted through an application process. In view of this fact, it is not surprising to find that the

The cast relaxes after a grueling re hearsal of this April's Godspell pro duction in the Risley Theater.
newer members bring fresh ideas and rejuvenating energy into the dorm, so that Risley is in a constant state of evo
lution.
Risley is much more than just a place
to live while at Cornell. It is HOME to
200 students; it is a place to learn and grow and experience life. Risley Resi dential College is the changer and the changed.

9

Making Life EasiS
by Judith David 79

Twenty-five years ago the assertion
"A woman's place is in the home,"
would not have elicited much contro
versy. But, today, that generalization would be challenged.
Four out of every 10 American
workers are women. They are still in a much narrower range of occupations than men and still earn only about 59
cents for every dollar men earn. But
young women are preparing for careers in the 1980's that will give them the economic independence traditionally
reserved for their brothers. Affirmative
action legislation, changing attitudes about working women and a new selfawareness are all helping women to cre ate a new lifestyle and succeed in the workplace.
According to Jennie Farley, Assist
ant Professor of Industrial and Labor
Relations, there is no reason why a woman can't succeed in a job. She said that a woman could juggle a career
and homelife as well as a man, but added that it is much harder for a
woman because of all the traditional
expectations society has for her. Farley said these expectations hinder women

on the job because managers seem to find it difficult to help and reward
women workers.
Besides the problem of expectations, there is also the problem of sex stereo typing. According to Farley, researchers are discovering that more and more social problems related to sex stereo typing are connected. She said stereo typing actually exists in all facets of life, and that many women don't even recognize the problem when they see it. For example, society's expectations, parental pressures and media stereo
types of women as wives and mothers have done much to prevent women
from advancing at work.
A co-founder of the Women's Studies
program at Cornell, Farley is particular ly interested in these and other prob
lems of women workers and has re-
Despite a busy schedule, Far ley makes time to advise and
share her enthusiasm with stu dents.
searched the issue thoroughly. One re sult of that research is a book entitled,
Affirmative Action and the Woman Worker: Guidelines for Personnel Man
agement, published in March, 1979 by the American Management Asso ciation, in which she discusses some of the trials all women and minority men face in working.
Farley, who earned her B.A. in
1954 and her M.S. and Ph.D in 1970
from Cornell, said she wrote the book
because she felt that affirmative action
legislation should be more clearly de
fined.
"I wanted to see a work which
would decode affirmative action legis lation in terms which a majority of

people could understand. This book is aimed toward the person trying to
institute an affirmative action program
and toward those affected by it," she explained.
Affirmative action legislation re quires employers to seek out, hire
and promote women of all races and
minority men on the same basis as they do other men. It is included in a series of Civil Rights Acts drafted in
the last 15 years.
Although this legislation is designed to help women and minorities, Farley believes it helps everyone "because it results in better personnel practices with more careful, thoughtful hiring." She added that the increased job post ings especially help women, giving them a fairer chance at jobs.
There is not yet enough evidence to determine how helpful affirmative action legislation has been. While there have been positive results, nega
tive effects also have been seen. One

10

or Working Women

such negative effect is the label of "affirmative action hire," placed on some women by their co-workers who assume they are there only because
of their sex.
Besides affirmative action legislation,
other factors may also influence wo

to work and women seeking nontraditional jobs.
Although Farley believes women
should enter non-traditional work
situations, she also recognizes that the traditional "women's occupations" are honorable. "The danger exists in

men's changing roles in society. Far ley cited the importance of role models for women, stressing that seeing strong, successful women in a variety of pro
fessions encourages young women. For example, anthropologist Margaret Mead and Labor Secretary Frances Perkins were two women Farley ad mired when she was younger.
Giving young women alternatives to traditional roles is also important,
according to Farley. She stressed that
women should be reached at a young
age, while they are still contemplating their futures, for attitude changes to occur. Because they may have little self confidence, it is necessary to sup
port and encourage women returning

not offering alternatives to low paying, low advancement jobs."
This is particularly important today. With the rapid growth of white-collar and part-time jobs for women, the smaller number of children in families,
and the increase in the number of
families headed by women, more and more women are entering the labor market by choice or because of urgent
financial need. With more women in
the labor market, Farley feels employers should help women even more.
For example, "having a personnel staff member knowledgeable about community child care resources and service agencies is helpful," she ex plained. A woman's work performance

may not always reflect a lack of com mitment to her job, explained Farley. "If, for example, her child is ill, she
may lose time at work because of lack
of help at home." Other measures employers can im
plement include maternity benefits, equal benefits and pensions to both sexes, jobs which can be shared by two people and "flex time," a work schedule flexible enough to allow
women and men time to cope with a
family and a job. Although Farley doubts that total
equality between the sexes will come about without a substantial change in society, she does feel there is hope for today's women.
"Now is an exciting time. Young women today are willing to experiment and take the whole situation seriously. They consider all the problems involved in working and still take the risks." Be fore long, women may be entering as wide a range of jobs as men, leaving
room for men to become more involved
at home. It may soon be the exception
rather than the rule that "a woman's
place is in the home."

11

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A bare room. The floor is nude The walls are empty. The bed is just i set of springs covered by a mattress
The window is naked except for i -
homely shade. This is the kind of dormitory o3-
apartment room that many student:
find themselves in when they come to Cornell University in the fall. Sooi -v after arriving, however, many student ,.. begin to change these empty room.. into comfortable living spaces that re^.
flect their individual tastes.
After a hard day of classes, it feel good to come home to a room tha expresses your personality. Also, good-looking room is much mor. pleasant to work or entertain friends ir •'■
Turning a bare room into one the :':
reflects your tastes can be done ine>^ pensively. All it takes is a little imag
nation. You can start by painting yoi '• room an appealing color. Dependin
upon how artistic you are, you ca
paint a mural on a wall. You can the > add a few posters, a net or two, som friendly plants, stuffed animals, a des ... lamp or a colorful print. Rugs can b >.
by Ernie,

IR
;t Home.
WELL
bought used or on sale. To save money, it helps to bring
items like cushions, bookends, bed spreads, pictures and lamps from home. However, this activity can cause a great deal of consternation for your parents. (Ma, I'm taking your dining room set. You don't mind, do you?)
Some students accumulate draperies, elaborate stereo systems, couches, coffee tables, refrigerators and wallsized mirrors. Their problem isn't saving money, but finding more room. You can save space by stacking a book shelf on top of a bureau. If you're a little skillful, you can build a loft in your room. By putting your bed on top of the loft and your desk below it, you can create a lot of space. A cheap door bought from a lumber company
and laid over a small desk turns the
desk into a large table that gives you Plenty of elbow room.
When you finally have your room the Way you like it, try to remember how ■t was at the beginning of the year. Then smile, because you'll have to start all over again next fall.
°ehler 79

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Exchanging

Freshmen have probably found Cor
nell hard to adjust to. For many foreign students who come here, however, the
problem may be compounded. Not
only may the size of the University over whelm them, the academic pressure strain them, and the dreary weather dishearten them, but the process of learning about and understanding the different cultural system may also shock, confuse, and alienate them.
Some have found adjustment to Cor
nell and the United States easy. Others
have found this difficult, and as a re
sult, have sought companionship with
students from their own country,
planning and organizing their own din
ners, dances, and sports events. David Daws, '80 is one student who
does not find the United States too
different from his own country. An
English student studying plant breed ing, Daws feels the only difference is
the amount of work he has to do.
"There are fewer lecture hours here but
you have to work a lot harder and on
a more regular basis," he said. Daws has not sought out any other English students though. "I didn't come 4,000 miles to experience England," he ex
plained. Many of the other foreign students
express similar opinions. But as Wei
Oi Li, a Hong Kong student who spent
her undergraduate years in this coun
try and is now a grad student in me
chanical engineering at Cornell, ex
plained, being an undergraduate or
graduate student can make a big dif ference in the ease of adjustment. She
feels the daily routine of attending classes and the atmosphere of dormi
tory living make life easier for under
graduate foreign students to adjust to. Students at the International Living
Center on North Campus agree. Shireen
Sepahi, '79, an Iranian student major ing in economics, believes everyone at
the ILC makes attempts to meet and
know the people, with the result being
closeness among the students.

Values by Lena H. Sun 79

Working in one of the many labs in the basement of Baker Laboratory, a foreign student prepares to analyze a sample.

"Students do identify with their ethnic backgrounds, but the barriers are forgotten very easily," explained Carolyn Kim, Resident Director of the North Campus dormitory. In fact, "I rarely see just other Filipinos," said Robert Siy, Jr., a Filipino student studying city and regional planning.
But for many of the other graduate students and post-doctoral fellows who
make up about 80 percent of the for
eign community here, it is not as easy. As a graduate student, Wei Oi Li finds herself with little free time, explaining that most graduate students are sup posed to devote most of their time to
research. "It's much harder to meet
people," she said.
There are also other academic dif
ferences. For example, Shlomo Ruschin, a post-doctoral fellow in chem istry from Israel, finds the professor-

Some married students have their
hands full at school and at home.

14

student relationships at Cornell more
distant than those in Israel. But on the
Iwhole, most of the foreign graduate students have been able to adjust to the academic differences.
Dinner's ready-many students at the 'nternational living center cook to gether, a hectic but fun job.

Cultural differences, however, seem to be a different matter. According to Aja Okorie, a second-year graduate student in agricultural economics from Nigeria, certain American customs ap pear strange to Africans, who are tra ditionally hospitable. For example, a potluck dinner to him is not the proper way of inviting a friend for a meal.
And while many students who come
to this country do not have problems speaking or understanding the language, some feel cut off when they don't un derstand the nuances of a joke. "My professors may tell a joke in perfect English but I still won't understand it," said another graduate student from Hong Kong who is studying theoretical and applied mechanics.
But for Okorie, besides the different
cultural habits and customs, there is
also a strong feeling of ethnocentrism that is unsettling. "It is shocking to
observe that even in this academic in
stitution a large proportion carry stereo typed ideas about certain groups of people," he said. "And under this situation, it becomes difficult for one

■:0r many students, reading the foreign language newspapers in Olin Library is Je of the few ways to catch up on all the news back home.

to get along with others and penetrate the society," he explained.
As a result, many of the older for eign students do not participate as actively in campus affairs outside their
groups' activities. Instead, they tend to organize most of their own parties, barbecues, lectures, and movies. Many of the Chinese students (mostly the men), for example, play volleyball, bad minton, and basketball in Barton Hall
and Helen Newman Gymnasium on Fri day nights. "It happens that most of
them are stuck on campus with no cars
and no girlfriends," explained Li with
a smile.
Many of the graduate students who
are married find themselves even more
isolated, especially if they have small children. Ruschin, who is married and
has two children, says he has met most
of his American friends through his children and not through interaction
from the campus. Like many of the
older foreign students, he finds he has little leisure time; the time he does have he likes to spend with his family.
Although some of the older gradu
ate students may not have as much
time to participate in the different activ ities organized by their groups, Li noted that most of the foreign stu dents, graduate and undergraduate,
tend to be more concerned with the
news. Since they are naturally going
to be concerned with affairs of their
home country, they are going to be
more aware of other world events, too,
explained Li. "You can always see a lot of foreign students in the basement of Olin Library," she said, referring to the foreign language newspapers in the Maps, Microtext, and Newspapers section of the library.
Li and many of the other foreign stu dents do not feel, however, that their lifestyles differ so much from other
American students. "You're limited (in what you can do) by what you have
available," she explained. "After all, everybody has got to eat and study."

15

Man the artillery! Load the guns! It's intellect vs. physical strength as the "war between the colleges" wages.
I am a Cornell student, and two of my brothers attend Ithaca College. "So what?", you ask. "College is college,
right?" WRONG. At least, not in the minds of those attending them.
Unlike most college towns, Ithaca is the home for two institutions of higher
learning. On one hill, the vast expanses and ivy-covered walls of Cornell look down on the city of Ithaca. On another hill, two tall towers reach up to touch
the sky.
Aside from the obvious differences
in the physical set-up of the two schools, there is an attitudinal dif
ference as well. The students at each
school harbor prejudices against and
stereotypes about the other.
For example, according to some IC students, Cornellians are "bookworms,"
"psuedo-intellectual," and "just plain

weird." Cornell students, on the other hand, see IC as a "party school" with "jocks, druggies and morons" making up the student body.
What are the facts? Cornell has
16,000 students, Ithaca has 6,000. Cornell is an Ivy-League institution, Ithaca is a private college. Cornell
spans acres and acres, Ithaca is cen tralized. Cornell boasts an endless list
of specializations, from electrical en gineering to ornamental horticulture. Ithaca College is noted for a few ex cellent departments: theater, music, communications and physical therapy.
Based upon these facts, the atmo sphere of each school is necessarily different. Cornell students complain of feeling 'lost in the crowd' or 'a
number instead of a name.' Ithaca Col
lege students complain about the limited facilities at IC, as they journey
across town to use Cornell's extensive
library system. Despite these differences, I was
amazed at the degree to which stereo typical attitudes have developed be
tween and about the two schools. In
the words of Michael Moses, a senior at Ithaca College, "They (Ithaca Col lege and Cornell) may be only a few

miles apart, but there's a world of
difference."
Another IC student, Michael Posner, describes it thus: "There's definitely a difference between walking into Egbert Union (IC) and walking into Willard Straight Hall (CU). At Cornell, there's an air of intelligence. You're dealing with the top students in their classes, and it just gives you a different feeling."
What do Cornellians think about IC? Linda Finn, '81, expressed an opinion
reiterated by many other students. "I've been to I.C. only once, but I liked the
atmosphere. They have time to fool around there! I'm jealous."
From my own experience, there are certainly bases for the stereotypes which exist, but it cannot be denied
that there are "jocks" at Cornell and "nerds" at Ithaca College. There may
indeed be a world of difference between
the schools, but it's a small world,
after all.

16

f^te^^''^^^r^^^/^^im^f^^-''^i':^

FIRST in the FIELD

by Audrey Levine 79

Isaac P. Roberts, first Dean of the
College of Agriculture.
Wouldn't it be odd if a college graduate who had specialized in dairy
science never milked a cow? Or, if a
student of entomology could not recog nize the insects in the corn crops?
Today, courses in the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences insure all their graduates of having enough practical experience in their major. One hundred years ago, however, many graduates of agriculture colleges were ignorant of basic farm techniques. Isaac P. Roberts, the first dean of the College, put an end to this problem by making his students learn about agriculture not only in the classroom, but in the fields and with the herds as well.
Roberts first realized that students
could have practical farm experience as
part of their curriculum before he came
to Cornell. He was a teacher at Iowa
State College of Agriculture (I.A.C.) during the late 1860's and early 1870's. Teaching was a new experience for him, and agricultural education was a recent innovation in American colleges. Since there were no previous pro fessors to serve as teaching models for Roberts, he had to develop his own teaching techniques.
Roberts experimented with a few dif ferent teaching techniques. At his
first lectures, he stood in front of the
class and recited his own farming ex periences. He quickly ran out of things
to say.
Next, he attempted to find teaching

materials in the library at I.A.C. In his book, "Autobiography of a Farmboy," he stated that he "might as well have looked for cranberries on the Rocky Mountains as for material for teaching in that library."
Because he had no other place to look for teaching materials, Roberts
took his classes out to the fields and
to the farm, and talked to them about
the plants and animals they saw. They also travelled to both the good and bad farms in the area to analyze farm tech niques and the environmental problems
that could affect a farm.
He realized that his teaching method was necessary for a complete agricul
tural education after an incident oc
curred in class one day. He brought in a simple weed pest to class which no one could identify. As a result, his belief in this method, nicknamed "walks and talks," was confirmed. Roberts, with this belief in mind, came to Cor nell. After examining the University's facilities, he found the University Farm to be the only teaching facility avail
able.
The University Farm, which was in
tended to be the model farm of New
York, was in poor shape and brought embarrassment to the University. Roberts devoted himself to the improve ment of the farm in order to give his students an opportunity to gain practi cal farming experience.
The small farm could not accommo date the students as well as Roberts would have liked. He tried on three separate occasions to convince the
Board of Trustees to purchase adjacent farms when the opportunity arose, but a decade passed before he was suc cessful in his quest. Therefore, many of the early agriculture students gradu ated without any farming experience.
Because Roberts could not provide the kind of experience he wanted in his classes, he considered making farm experience a prerequisite for admission

to the College. After further consider ation, however, he decided against this
idea because he felt that an educational
program should provide graduates with enough practical experience. After all, doctors, lawyers and engineers were given the practical instruction in their fields; agricultural students should be given the same opportunity.
Roberts' persistent support of his teaching method eventually rewarded him. After a generation of experiments at the farm, he compared his College to other agricultural colleges, and found that the schools with the largest farms,
which used these farms to teach their
students, were the leaders in all phases of agriculture. Those colleges relying
on classroom work could not match
this success.
The students of the College were
also enthusiastic about Roberts' teach
ing methods. Once a student asked Roberts about starting a poultry science department. This student, James Rice,
and his fellow classmates built a chicken
house and developed poultry experi
ments on their own. James Rice later
became a prominent professor of poul
try at Cornell. ' "Walks and talks" became a reality
in the College in the late 1880's.
Roberts would take his classes on in struction tours of the area's farms. They would travel long distances to sugar factories and horse shows as well.
Without the "walks and talks," agriculture students would be deprived of important illustrative materials. Roberts claimed that until the College's
agricultural program was "educated and
directed in this manner, no one will
be able to say that the Empire State has the best system of agriculture in the world." The College made no mistake in heeding Roberts' advice, as the College forged ahead to become the number one agriculture college in
the country.
17

BALCH a Generation Later

by Christin Sparagana '80

What was it like to live in Balch 25
years ago? Balch was opened in 1929, so this year marks its 50th anniversary. My mother, Rose Marie Kehm Spara gana '54, lived in Balch during her junior and senior years at Cornell when
Balch was 25 years old.
When I was trying to decide where
to live for my freshman year, Mom sug
gested Balch Hall. She said I would like living there because Balch is con
venient and comfortable. She further
explained that the rooms are large, different sizes and shapes, and I could probably get a single room. She was right on all counts.
I lived in Balch for my first two
years at Cornell. Coincidentally, both rooms my mother lived in are right above the one I had during my fresh man and sophomore years. As we com pared the experiences we each had in Balch, we found that although there were some similarities, many things have changed.
Approximately 395 women live in Balch each year. Dorms were assigned
A typical single room in Balch - the
furniture is the same as it was 25
years ago.

according to class when Mom lived there, and Balch was known as the junior or senior dorm. Dorms are no longer assigned by class, and Balch now houses approximately 40 percent freshmen and 60 percent upperclass men. Balch is currently the only build ing on campus that exclusively houses
women.
Since my mother was a student in
the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, as I am, we both found
Balch convenient because it is the
closest dorm to the ag quad. We could also both study in our rooms without having to go out since Balch is general ly quiet. Mom described the noise level as "reasonable." Although Balch is still considered a quiet dorm, the at mosphere is different now.
Our rooms, however, were quite similar because we had exactly the same kind of furniture. Mom said they
were allowed to decorate their rooms
as they wanted to, but could not paint them. I painted my room both years, and also had a phone in my room. Ac cording to Mom, "We had one phone in the hall, and it was outside my door junior year so it was noisy at
times."
My mother lived in Balch during what Chris Schelhas-Miller, current Residence Coordinator, called "the af fluent days." I was shocked when Mom told me they had maids who cleaned their rooms once a week. "They dusted,

vacuumed, cleaned the sink area, changed the sheets, and picked up the laundry and sent it out to be cleaned," she listed. Those were the
days. . .
She said the students could leave
tags on their doors which said "Do not enter before 10 a.m." if they wanted to sleep late. The maids usually cleaned while the students were attend
ing classes. "Today there are only six custodians responsible for all the public areas of the dorm," according to Chris
Schelhas-Miller.
I was born too late for such luxuries.
The laundry room I used is in the basement of Balch, and I borrowed a
vacuum cleaner from my residence assistant (R.A.) when I wanted to clean
my room.
When Mom lived in Balch, they had corridor vice presidents (VPs) instead of R.A.s. Mom was a VP her junior year, and said her job was to help stu dents who had problems, keep the peace on the corridor and run weekly meetings. When I asked what was covered during the meetings, she re sponded, "We discussed Balch issues -what was going on, and what shouldn't be going on!"
Because of restrictions and require ments, people who lived in Balch were
more constrained and reserved in their
living habits when Mom was a student. The lifestyle seems to be more relaxed
and casual in the 70's.

There was a specific night curfew when Mom lived in Balch, and the women did not have keys to the out side doors of the building. "You made sure you got back on time because the head resident waited up for you at the reception desk by the main entrance. You could check out for weekends, though," she explained. "I liked living in Balch, but sometimes it was hectic trying to get back for 'closing time',"
Mom added.
One night a resident who was an
officer of the Women's Self-Government Association did not make it back on time. Mom said, "She was late and the door was locked. I heard
she climbed through a ground floor window to get in."
The desk is presently open from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Fortunately, Balch residents are now given keys to the outside doors. Women at Cornell enjoy more personal freedom and responsibility today than 25 years ago.
Another major difference is Balch's policy on male visitors. During Mom's college years, most women's dorms only allowed men in the downstairs lounges. "The only time they came upstairs was at the beginning of the year when they helped carry suitcases,"
she recalled.
She told me of one instance when
her roommate's brother came to their
Mom- Rose Marie Kehm Sparagana, '54 (left), and twin Trudy Kehm Ash, '53, at Cornell in their college days.

room to visit. "He just stayed and stayed and acted like he was never going to leave. I was in a frenzy be cause I was supposed to be in charge
of order on the corridor and there was
this guy in our room," she remembered. She said it is fun to look back on such
situations now.
The policy has changed since then. It is a standard joke on campus to see
how many men come out of Balch dur
ing night fire drills. According to Chris Schelhas-Miller, however, "The overall security has improved since the 50's. We have a building guard who patrols all of the lower North Campus build ings."
The North Campus dorms were all women's housing units when Mom
was at Cornell. She said the male stu
dents used to threaten to come up to
the women's dorms for "panty raids." She added, "But it was nothing like
the time you told me about when that
fraternity 'streaked' through Balch your freshman year!"
The meal program is another area of
change. Balch residents were served sit-down breakfasts, lunches and din ners in the Balch dining rooms, and had to get to the dining rooms on
time or miss a meal.
The dining unit is now open to all students on the meal plan for lunches and dinners during the school week. It is run cafeteria style and there is al ways a choice of entrees. I appreciated the convenience of eating in the build ing I lived in, especially during the win
ter.
When I asked Mom if she remem
bered anything special about the meals, she said, "just that on nights when they had liver everyone went over to Japes to eat." Japes was located
where the Pancake House is now. She
said the women usually enjoyed the meals they had in Balch, and the table service made mealtime especially re laxing. She commented that the head resident sat at the head table during
meals. When Mom lived in Balch the dorm
was not referred to with catchy phrases such as "the convent," as it some times is today. Despite Balch's sedate

The Unit One lounge in Batch has re
tained its formal appearance over the
years.
reputation, when I was a resident there were occasional "water wars," shaving cream fights, screaming sessions, study breaks and parties that were sup posed to help release the tension and
pressure from school work.
There were some trying times fresh
man year. We had controversies over how loud and how late stereos should
be played, and what television show we should watch in the lounge. When my mother was a student they used the lounges to play bridge, or play the piano. "They were kept pretty formal," she told me. Women still play the pianos, but today there is also a tele vision in each unit lounge.
People now study in the lounges as well, and even students who live in other dorms study in Balch at times to take advantage of the quiet and comfort. Today the lounges are also used for planned get-togethers such as Sunday morning brunches and occa sional ice cream study breaks at night.
There are now larger scale social
events, too, such as the recent 50th anniversary formal. Mom recalled that there were no dorm social activities when she lived in Balch. Many of the
current events are planned through the
residence coordinator. A lot of societal changes have oc
curred during the last half century, and Balch's character is keeping up with the times. Mom and I agreed that it would be interesting to see what life is like in Cornell's only all women's dorm in another 25 years.
19

When Birds Don't
1 3 1 L I KG D I TCI S by Patti Moy 79

Birds don't always eat like birds especially when each million red-winged
blackbirds that descend upon the corn fields of Central New York consumes
25,450 bushels of corn valued at $63,625 over a four-month period.
According to James W. Caslick, Ph.D. '72, a senior research associate in the Department of Natural Resources, these blackbirds {Age/aius phoeniceus) prefer not to fly over water, so when they migrate south from Canada in late summer, they fly around Lake Ontario,

roosting in the marshes of Cayuga and other neighboring counties. This causes extensive damage to the cornfields in that area, as redwings feed upon corn in the "milk stage", before it
matures.
In addition to the corn eaten, much
more may be destroyed because in sects, mold and fungi may enter an ear of corn after the husk is opened and destroy the remaining kernels.
Red-winged blackbirds, the most numerous of several blackbird species

in the United States, first appear in
Central New York in late February, and are primarily insectivorous during the four-month breeding season. "For this
part of the year, the birds are beneficial to agriculture," says William T. Bridge-
land, a graduate student working un der Caslick's supervision. In the summer months, it is estimated that one million blackbirds consume 460,000 pounds of insects and 600,000 pounds of
weed seeds.
The redwings' feeding habits are systematic; when they find a cornfield, they will continue to return to it if the
corn is still in the soft stage. The first
damage occurs in early August, and it continues through the beginning of November. Most damage occurs be fore mid-September, and within 6.5
miles of the roost. It is theorized that
the birds use the roost as a food infor
mation center, which also enables
young birds to follow the others so
that they may also feed. In addition, intraspecific competition
may determine where the birds feed.
The birds appear to sort out by age and sex class, with the adult males feeding closest to the roost, and young females feeding the greatest distance
from the roost. "Because the huskiest
and most persistent will be the first to feed, the adult males may have a sur vival advantage over the younger birds when food is scarce," asserts Caslick.
One must remember that the red
wings are troublesome only part of the

A redwing builds his home in a marsh
in Central New York.
20

Red-winged blackbirds have done ex tensive damage to this ear of corn.
year. The other times, the birds feed on insect pests and weed seeds, which helps to check weeds from spreading. Because the birds perform vital roles in maintaining the balance of the en vironmental system, the scientists do not wish to eradicate the redwing population. Rather, they hope to formu
late a non-lethal, integrated method to control the problem.
Bridgeland's research deals primarily with bird damage in relation to the maturity date of the corn, the size and shape of the cornfields, and the habitats surrounding the cornfields.
So far, Bridgeland has found that time of corn maturation largely deter mines the extent of damage to the corn. Birds are more readily attracted to
fields in which the corn is still in its
soft stage. As a result, "early" matur ing fields suffer the most damage be
cause the corn in other fields in the
area is not ready to be eaten. As a remedy to this problem, Bridge-
land suggests that the farmers in a
given area might synchronize the matur
ation date of their fields so that there
are no "early" fields. This would spread °ut the damage and decrease the con centration of birds in any particular 'ield. However, field synchronization maY not always be a feasible remedy because of the unpredictable weather ln Central New York State, and the "Citations of time and equipment.

Presently, in an attempt to control the damage, scare tactics are used. Carbide cannons, which are essentially noisemakers, are set up to explode at regular intervals. "This method is not always effective, especially if the birds
have come into that area and are al
ready feeding there," comments Bridgeland.
Another scare tactic involves the use
of a chemical agent - Avitrol -- to
control damage, especially if it occurs on a large scale. Avitrol is bait which is applied to the fields from a cropdusting plane. The chemical causes the birds to display distress behavior, and this is meant to be a warning to other
birds to leave the area.
Although nothing has been done with it in New York marshes, Caslick also mentioned roost manipulation as

a method of control. The principle be hind roost manipulation, once the key features to manipulate are determined, is to disrupt roosts and move them far enough away from cornfields so that no damage would be done.
Furthermore, Caslick discussed the possible development of bird-resistant varieties of corn. By examining large numbers of different varieties planted adjacent to each other, it is possible
to determine the most desirable char
acteristics for a "bird-proof" corn variety.
As more is learned about the red
wings and about bird-resistant corn varieties, an integrated approach to control bird damage may be developed. Ideally, this would substantially reduce
the economic loss of corn, with no
harmful effects to the birds.

Tracking redwings from their roosts to feeding sites is made easier by attach ing colored plastic streamers to their legs.

ff,f.

Betty Ortiz, '81, summed up the
definition of a cooperative by saying, "Co-ops survive solely on the partici pation of their members. There's a family feeling. It's a home away from
home."
Cooperatives are small living units. There are eleven of these University-
owned units located all over campus,
some of which are exclusively male or female, and others coed.
Independent from University Housing,
co-ops are self-sufficient units. The members of the co-ops share in the
maintenance and general well-being of
the house. Some of the shared re
sponsibilities are governing of internal affairs, housekeeping, and in some cases even dining.

away from home but after a while you
begin to miss it." Cooperatives house a smaller num
ber of residents than the average dorm, thus providing certain advantages to
their residents. "We have the oppor
tunity to get to know people who are members of the house," said Ellen Stuart, '81. "It's a give-and-take situ
ation where we share in a home at
mosphere. We live together, work to gether, study together, and eat together. What else can add to a family atmo sphere?" Martha Galbo, '80, added, "Co-ops provide an atmosphere for
more than the average student-to-
student relationship. We are able to
make many more close friends and that can make all the difference."

ations on a more interpersonal basis. Andrea Coyle, '81, said "You have to be able to get along with the other members in the house, but you're able to develop more and closer relation ships with them."
Cooperatives have been described as the pleasant alternative to dorm living. One of the most positive attri butes is its considerably lower cost. Co-ops are less expensive than the average dorm mainly because of their independence from the University and their shared responsibilities.
Mary Schiek, '80, said, "It's the
best deal on campus. We have great
facilities, including a library, a large living room with a functioning fireplace, and piano, two study rooms, a T.V.

Living Together COOPERATIVELY

by Lucille A. Ircha '80 m

Preparing for dinner at Phillips House- L. to R.: Martha Galbo, '80,
Betty Ortiz, '81, and a dinner guest,
Mark Maier.

Cooperatives are quite different from the other available means of housing on campus. Ag student Vicki Meretsky, '80, described cooperatives as the "comfortable and convenient compro mise between dorm living and apart
ment life." Another ag student Carol
Degenhardt, '81, added, "Cooperatives
tend to provide the student with much more than a place to live while at school. It's the family-like atmosphere that I like best. At first it's fun to be
22

All of these women are residents of
Phillips House, an all-female co-op, which just this semester voted to be
come coed. Phillips House is a two story unit. Each floor has a sleeping room and nine study rooms which are shared by two women apiece. Martha Galbo also said, "Going coed should really enhance the atmosphere with new experiences which can be valuable
to us in the future." It seems that co
operatives let students experience situ-

room, and a kitchenette. We also have
a regular dining program with a great cook. Our free laundry facilities are a
great convenience too."
On the other hand cooperatives, like all other living arrangements, have
their drawbacks. Sometimes members
overlook their housekeeping chores. As Lisa Sheppard, '81, put it, "Living in a co-op is having to mop up after someone else has taken a shower."
"But, I like it here; it's fun."

COUNTRYMAN CAPSULES

Hullar Appointed Associate
Director
Theodore L. Hullar has been ap
pointed an associate director of re
search at the College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences, and associate director
of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) Deputy Commissioner for Programs and Research for the last four years, Hullar will help scientists develop and obtain support for research programs in the social sciences at the College. His other responsibilities will include planning and coordinating research dealing with energy and environmental issues and serving as an adjunct pro
fessor of natural resources.
Hullar joined the DEC in 1975. Prior
to that he served for a year as Com
missioner of Environmental Quality for Erie County.
Prof. Milton Zaitlin, of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has
been elected a Fellow of the American
Phytopathological Society. Zaitlin, a
professor of plant pathology, is an
internationally known expert on plant virology. He is co-author of the book, The Biochemistry and Physiology of
Infectious Plant Diseases, and he has written numerous articles on plant viruses.
Eric B. Outwater, '52, a member
of the Advisory Council of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has
been named Special Assistant to the regional administrator of the U.S. En
vironmental Protection Agency. In his new position, Outwater concentrates °n major problems facing the USEPA.
Outwater just spent what he called
fascinating" five years as a Deputy
Regional Administrator for the agency.
He is also an active member of the En-
j"ronmental Committee for the 1980
Lake Placid Winter Olympics.

Promotions
Marjorie M. Devine has been pro moted to professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences, a joint division of the N.Y. State College of Human Ecol ogy and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is presently the co ordinator of the division's undergradu
ate program and associate director for academic affairs.
She is nationally known as a leader in the field of nutrition education, and has worked with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop a new cur
riculum in this field. She has also served on the Board of Directors of
the National Nutrition Consortium, and as chairman of the higher education section of the Society for Nutrition Education. She has published many
articles on her research with ascorbic acid and in 1977 received the Chan
cellor's Award for Excellence in Teach
ing.
Richard B. Root, an internationally known authority on evolutionary ecol ogy has been promoted to Professor of Insect Ecology in Cornell University's Division of Biological Sciences. Root's studies focus on the relationships be tween insects and plants, regulation of insect populations and the relation ships between pest problems and crops grown in large, dense or pure stands.
He was formerly editor of Ecology and of Ecological Monographs, is a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society of London, and has been part
of the Rockefeller Foundation's field
staff. Since he joined Cornell's faculty in 1964, much of his work has been
of an international nature.
Dale E. Bauman has been appointed associate professor of animal nutrition, with tenure, in the Department of Ani
mal Science. Bauman is an international
scholar specializing in nutrition and metabolism of dairy cattle. He has given numerous seminars around the world, and is an outstanding teacher of undergraduate and graduate students.

Farm Director Produces
Radio Program
Ed Slusarczyk, '49, Farm Director at WTLB AM-FM Utica, N.Y., produces
and broadcasts a radio program called
Ag Radio Net Farm Report that covers the latest agricultural news, market
reports and weather information of in terest to New York state farmers. The six minute program is broadcast
each morning on 13 New York State radio stations, making it accessible to approximately 85 percent of the farmers
in New York.
Slusarczyk, an agricultural economics graduate, is a member of the National
Association of Farm Broadcasters.
Edward C. Raney M.S. '35, Ph.D. '38, professor of Zoology, emeritus, has been designated an honorary
member of the American Fisheries
Society. Raney was on the College of Agriculture and Life Science's faculty
for 31 years. He serves on several
fisheries-related advisory committees and holds membership in 26 professional societies. In recent years, Raney has headed his own consultant firm, Ichthyological Associates, Inc.
Prof. Steven V. Beer '65, Prof. William E. Fry Ph.D. '70, Prof. Wil
liam F. Mai Ph.D. '45 and the late Prof.
Otto E. Schultz were among the con
tributing authors of a 46 chapter book entitled Methods for Evaluating Plant Fungicides, Nematocides, and Bacter icides. The book, published by the American Phytopathological Society, includes procedures for testing the
effectiveness of chemicals to control
nematodes, fungi and bacteria that cause disease in plants.
ATTENTION SENIORS -Join the thousands of ALS gradu ates who are now members of your Alumni Association.
Contact: A&LS Alumni Office, 205 Roberts Hall

23

Rekind

1 Old

Tradition

According to Cornell's Cooperative
Extension, we have a lot to learn from our forefathers. Since July of 1978,
the New York State Colleges of Agri
culture and Life Sciences and Human
Ecology, through Cooperative Extension, have jointly been involved in an effort
to promote the safe and efficient use of the time-honored old wood stove.
In the present era of rapidly ad vancing technology, this might seem odd, but Cornell's Extension faculty
sees wood stoves as an attractive ad
ditional or even alternate source of
fuel if used properly. In fact, as oil
prices spiral upward, some consumers are now using wood stoves as a com plete substitute for their present source of heating.
The Office of Energy Programs at Cornell, headed by Dr. Donald R. Price, Professor of Agricultural Engineering, decided that wood-burning stoves ought to be a major focus for the win ter of 1978-1979, and the subsequent winter as well. The objectives of the
wood-burning program, according to Christopher D. Whittle, Director of Media Services for the two colleges and one of the Energy Program plan
ners, are "to encourage New Yorkers
to conserve fossil fuels by using wood as an additional source of heating and to emphasize the safe use of wood
stoves."
Wood stoves have become an alarm
ing cause of home fires. In addition, Extension hopes to teach a modern generation of people the lost art of enjoying life around a fire, while saving
energy and dollars. Whittle himself in
stalled a wood stove in his family
room. "We set the thermostat at 60
degrees and spend most of the evening in the family room. We've saved a lot
of fuel. But most families have for

by Leslie Green 79
gotten about wood stoves and need instruction."
Cooperative Extension is instructing New Yorkers on this lost art through a multi-media campaign. A motion picture entitled "Home Heating With Wood" has recently been produced by Media Services. The film, which deals with the safe use and enjoyment of wood stoves, has been heavily pro moted by the Media Service Film Li brary and is in great demand through out New York State. Also, a five-part
Burn Wood
safely
television series on wood stoves was
produced at the ETV Center in the Col lege of Human Ecology. Whittle said the series was shown during prime
time news programs and reached 25 million viewers.
Several pamphlets which instruct
consumers on the safe and efficient
use of wood stoves are available at
County Cooperative Extension offices. If wood stove owners are willing to in
vest a small amount of effort follow
ing the advice given by Cooperative Extension, they should have no trouble operating their stoves safely and ef ficiently.
L. Dale Baker, Extension safety en gineer at the ag college, said that "If the stove and chimney are properly installed, and there is a good supply

of dry wood on hand, all that is needed^
to maintain a safe fire is the patience 1 to learn." In addition, Cooperative Ex-1
to|tension advises consumers on how
run their wood stoves most efficiently,!
and as a result, as inexpensively as!
possible. For instance, certain types of;
wood are more efficient than othersj
The accessibility of a wood supply and the cost of installing the stove^
must also be considered. If these con
siderations are not a problem, it mm
be worth the consumer's while to in-l
stall a wood stove in his home.
Rick Koelsch, an Extension Associates
in agricultural engineering, said that; the average cord of wood is approxi-i mately equal in cost to fuel oil and! much cheaper than electricity, as fari as the amount of heat produced. He
reg^feels that using a wood stove on a
ular basis could cut heating costs bi
as much as one-half.
Frustrated about your high heating
bills? If you can afford to invest in a
wood stove, there may be a way out|
And if you'd like to learn more aboul it, write the Cornell Mailing Room, 7 Research Park, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853, for a copy of "Burning Wood." II
costs 75 cents.

New York State College of Agriculture nd Life Sciences, a Statutory College of

COUNTRYMAN

VOL. LXXVII

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CORNELL COUNTRYMAN
October 1979 VOLUME LXXVII Number 1

ABOUT THE ISSUE
This year is the 75th anniversary of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. With a faculty rated number one in the nation in agriculture and forestry, the College also possesses the second largest agriculture library in the world and the largest concentra tion of plant scientists. This issue looks at some of the history of the College which made it what it is today.

CONTENTS 3. Practice Makes an Aggie by John Turcotte 79 4. The Active Bystander by Ed Hardy 79 6. 3,100,000 Glasses Of Milk by Lucille A. Ircha '80
7. Cold Weather Yields Cold Cash by Patti Moy 79
8. The Countryman's Evolution by Audrey Levine 79 10. Albert R. Mann: Agriculture's Fifth Dean by Judith David 79 1 1 . Foal-Saving Research by Christin Sparagana '80 12. Can You Complete This Cornell Campus Quiz? by Mary e. Schiek '80 14. Holding True at 92 by Lena H. Sun 79
16. Nuclear Power: What Is Its Future? by Carie Leigh Middleton '80
18. Chatting With Hyram by Debbi Kishinsky 79
19. Another First for Cornell by Jennifer Koch 79 20. The Creative Comstocks by Leslie Green 79 22. Plants From A to Z by Pamela Edwards '80 24. Tribute to Grandfather by Debbi Kishinsky 79

EDITORS:
Ernie Koehler
Carie Leigh Middleton Patti Moy
ASSISTANT EDITORS:
Judith David Pamela Edwards Leslie Green Jennifer Koch

ART EDITORS:
Lucille A. Ircha
Mark Smith
PHOTO EDITOR: Ed Hardy EDITORIAL STAFF: Debbi Kishinsky, Audrey Levine, Ma, McDonald, Mary E. Schiek, Christ, Sparagana, Lena H. Sun, John Turcoi

Picture Credits: Cover Photo - Ed
Hardy; p. 3, 4, 5, 10, 12, 13, 20 - Cor nell University Archives; p. 6 - Lucille
Ircha; p. 7, 19 - Media Services; p. 8, 9 - Cornell Countryman; p. 1 1 - Christin
Sparagana; p. 14 - Lena H. Sun; p. 14, 15 - F.A. Pearson; p. 16, 17 Volk Clip Art; p. 18, 21 - Ed Hardy; p. 22 - Russ Hamilton; p. 24 - Patti Moy.

The Cornell Countryman (ISSN 0010-8782) is published seven times a year frc

October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the N<

York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, C

nell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, N<

York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription RatiJ

$2.50 a year; $4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content gatheif

and written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty <{,

visors: Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

".

■ii

PRACTICE makes an AGGIE

by John Turcotte 79

Milking is a fundamental skill the stu dents learned.
"If a boy comes here from high
school or New York City and he thinks that all the cows are kept in palaces,
it wouldn't hurt him a bit to see what
the farmer had to do and how he had
to live."
These words of wisdom by the late William F. Barrett, '15 don't apply to students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences now the way they did 50 years ago. Back then, graduates of the College were required not only to know where the cows were kept they went there and milked them.
This was done in order to fulfill a
requirement for graduation called farm practice, where ag students received hands-on experience working with
farm tools and animals.
Barrett served as superintendent of the University farm from 1916 until his retirement in 1958 at age 69. One of his responsibilities was to get the stu
dents to work on the farm.
In a 1964 interview, Barrett reflected on these earlier days. "... any student that had much of any farm experience

did not have to take farm practice. It
was not difficult for anyone from a
farm to get his 40 points or credits without taking any instruction."
"The boys that came to farm practice were those from the city. To our minds, of course, they were boys that wanted to get free tuition, without going to the trouble of studying agriculture. I felt during the early years, that that was one of the main reasons for having the farm practice requirement. The
other reason was that it seemed too
bad for a person to get a degree in agriculture and not know what a horse
or a cow looked like."
"In farm practice, they were required
to take a certain number of lessons in
milking cows, driving horses, plowing and work of that sort. That would give
them the number of credits needed.
It was a thankless task. Very few of
the students wanted it."
About the farm practice students, Barrett added, "They were excessively green as far as agriculture went. They
didn't know which end of the cow to
put the milking machine on, or which way to put the horse collar on. They knew nothing about agriculture, the majority of them."
As to the educational value of farm
practice, Barrett commented, "As far as its being an education, I don't think
it ever was or was ever intended to be. That doesn't mean that none of them
ever got anything out of it. Those that
were interested had some idea of what

they wanted to do. If they took an in terest, they had a chance to do it."
While working for Cornell, Barrett was also involved in another interesting task - making ice. In those good ol' days, ice making required more than putting a tray of water into a freezer to get ice cubes, and nobody had auto
matic ice makers in their kitchen re
frigerators. Instead, cakes of ice were
cut from Beebe Lake.
"Our ice-making procedure was very primitive. In the beginning we started with just our ice saws. . .then we got the ice plows which helped quite a lot.
The field was marked out and then the
ice was plowed part way through with these plows. The plows were nothing but about four or five blades with a sharp point. That was pulled through and it scraped the ice out and cut it off. Then we went through with our ice spuds and spudded the cakes off. The cakes were pulled up onto the ice. It took a strong back. Then they were picked from there up onto the sled. We preferred to have the sleds
down on the ice."
"On the whole," continued Barrett, "We were quite successful in getting
it out. Once in a while a horse would
go in the drink, or a man would go in the drink when he stepped on a cake that wasn't very solid."
Those who fell in probably did not get a very warm feeling from their success, but it was all in a day's work
for those earlier aggies.

Ag students were once required to learn plowing and other farm skills as part of their practical coursework.

"Goldwin Smith? Yeah, straight
ahead past the bell tower. It's the big building on the right side of the quad with huge Greek columns in front. You
can't miss it."
Today the name only comes up in conversation amid directions or among
students once the Course and Room Roster comes out; but over a hundred
years ago it was heard frequently. Then it referred to one of England's and
later Canada's most controversial and

did not care for it, so he divided his
time between tutoring and writing
pieces for the Saturday Review and the Morning Chronicle.
During this period, Goldwin Smith crusaded for improvements in the edu
cational system. Continually dismayed at England's restrictive class system,
he did not approve of the rule that re
quired most of Oxford's faculty to come from the cleric class. In addition, Smith
did not like the idea that to be ad

THE ACTIVE

BYSTANDER *.**«* 79

outspoken liberals, Goldwin Smith, whose pen name was The Bystander.
Smith was a historian and a journal
ist who spent the first half of his life
in England, taught on the Cornell "frontier", (as compared to Oxford),
for two years and then finished his career in Canada. In some ways, he could be described as a Victorian Jack
Anderson, or George Will, because many of his most effective writings were published as essays and reviews behind the mastheads of England's and Canada's prominent periodicals.
Yet Smith also wrote many books
and pamphlets, some of which can be found in Cornell's White Library. And, though many of the volumes are quite small, the gold titles on their spines cover subjects ranging from An Outline Of The Political History of the U. S. to
Guesses At The Riddle Of Existence.
Goldwin Smith's life began in Read ing, England on August 13, 1823, at
number 15 Friar Street. He was the
only one of seven children to reach
adulthood. Much of Smith's childhood
was spent at various boarding schools. At fourteen, he was sent to Eton, where he began his study of the clas sics. After graduating in 1841, Smith continued on to Oxford and eventually graduated from Magdalen College with
many academic honors.
For a brief time afterward, Smith
studied law. But he soon found that he

mitted to Oxford one had to be a
member of the Church of England. And, though changes came slowly, Smith's
influence was instrumental.
Though Smith was immersed in jour nalism at the time, in 1858 he was offered the Regis Chair in Modern History at Oxford. Smith accepted the offer, but he was not meant to be a history professor. Although the stu dents liked him, they complained that he was not objective in his presenta tions, and that he discussed every thing from a modern liberal viewpoint. He also tended to use his position as a launching pad for attacks on what he considered the issues of the day.
Smith left the professorship in 1866 and went home to Reading to stay near his father who was mentally ill. He was at his side continually except
for one weekend in 1867 when he
went to northern England on business.
That weekend his father committed
suicide, and Smith blamed himself.
So, at age 44, Goldwin Smith was wealthy, due to his father's estate, but without a profession. Friends tried to convince him to run for public office.
But Smith felt that he was too much
of an independent to be a good party
member. It was in this condition that
Andrew D. White found him and asked
him to join the new Cornell faculty. The idea immediately appealed to
Smith. He had already been planning

This charcoal drawing of Goldwin Smith, done in 1881 by R. Sandys, hangs in the White Library.
to spend some time, or even settle with, his relatives in Toronto, Canada. Smith had always cared for the United States, and during the Civil War he was an ardent supporter of the Union cause. In fact, he felt that one of the greatest disasters which had befallen the English race was the fact that the colonies and England had not parted on friendly terms.
In 1864 Goldwin Smith had com
pleted a three month lecture tour of the United States. During the visit here,
he met with a number of eminent
people, including Lincoln, Seward, Emerson, Thoreau, Longfellow and Horace Greeley. Smith saw the oppor tunity to teach at Cornell as a chance to study America and its institutions.
Before Smith arrived here, Andrew
D. White had only sent Smith pictures
of the scenery around Ithaca. So h| was quite unprepared for what he savi
that cold, rainy November mornirj
when he inspected the campus. "Th< university was represented by a singU
^block building, much the reverse
beautiful, and looking particularly gri»|
that day." But he thought quite highly of the
new faculty, stating that, "I do nol ,

4

think I ever had to do with a set of men whose character and ability I es teemed more highly." Smith had praises for the new student body as well: "We have excellent material to work on. Our students, young farmers and mechanics for the most part, are rough outside and inside, but they have the
root of the matter within them." Yet he was amazed that the new
university should have such a small library. So Smith sent for his own
personal collection of 3,400 volumes
to be added to the few the University
already owned. Smith got along well with the stu
dents. He participated in sports with them and was a member of Psi Upsilon
fraternity. He lived downtown in the Clinton House, and wrote in his mem
oirs of seeing golden eagles glide over
Cayuga Lake as he walked home. After his first two years here. Smith
took many extended visits to Toronto.
He resigned his position at Cornell in
1871. Yet Goldwin Smith still felt
quite strongly attached to the University,
and returned to visit and lecture. He
wrote, "In my checkered passage
through life there is no happier incident
than my connection with Cornell."

Even so, there were a number of
reasons that prompted Smith to leave. First of all, he had never planned to settle in Ithaca on a long term basis. In addition, he missed being involved in the daily political action. As a visit ing Englishman, Smith had vowed to stay out of American politics and merely observe the American system. Compounded with this, the United
States' relations with Britain were
somewhat strained at this time, and Smith felt that he was receiving some of the hostility.
Finally, Goldwin Smith could not abide the University's decision to be
come a coeducational institution. He
did not object to education for women, as long as it did not occur together
with men. Here is how he described a
meeting between suffragette Susan B. Anthony and Ezra Cornell: ". . .after having melted butter poured over his head and down his back by Susan Anthony, she ended by telling him that
if he would open Cornell to women
his anniversary would be regarded by posterity as equal to the fourth of July or the coming of Christ."
After being in Toronto for a few years, Smith, in 1875 married Harriet

The cornerstone ceremony for Goldwin Smith Hall took place in 1904. Goldwin Smith is under the umbrella, President Jacob Gould Schurman is on the left, while Professor Charles Mellon Tyler is in the foreground.

Elizabeth Mann Dixon, a widow, and moved into her old English mansion, "The Grange." From this observation post Smith dove back into journalism and everyday politics. He provided financial backing for a series of publi cations including: The Bystander, Week, and Canadian Month. Smith
also wrote comment pieces for these magazines and others. He refused pay ment for any of this work. In addition, he contributed his funds to help strug gling journalists. From his library at "The Grange" Smith also turned out the majority of his books and pamphlets, which covered a broad range of topics.
His final major effort in journalism was his work on the Canadian agricul tural paper the Weekly Sun. Smith con
tinually wrote editorials, which force
fully advocated the interests and views of Canadian farmers. Though usually quite modest about his achievements, he was quite proud of the Sun's efforts to amplify the farmers' voice among
the clamor of business interests.
Throughout his life, Goldwin Smith
was often at odds and isolated from
his peers, socially and politically, by his
ideas. In England, he provoked contro versy through his vocal opposition to "foreign entanglements" and his sup port for the emancipation of the re maining British colonies. In Canada, Smith was isolated by his conviction
that Canada should become part of the
United States. He failed to recognize
the depth of Canadian nationalism. Unwilling to follow party lines, Smith
was often even a minority among his liberal colleagues. He feared socialism, but supported government welfare plans during the Canadian depression of 1888. He was impatient with slow moving monarchies, yet he would not advocate any changes except through
strict constitutional means. Over the course of his career, Gold-
win Smith formed his own liberal
policy. And through his teachings and writings, he tried to instill some of what he thought was right into the daily lives of his contemporaries. His pen name was The Bystander, but it
was rare that he ever let an issue pass
without comment.

5

A familiar Cornell favorite: ice cream sandwiches, which are made at the Dairy Plant.

3,100
Each year, the Dairy Plant belong ing to the College of Agriculture and
Life Science's Department of Food Science processes between 290,000 and 300,000 gallons of fluid milk, "or 3,100,000 twelve ounce glasses," ac cording to David Brown '67, the Dairy
Plant's manager.
The Dairy Plant employs approxi mately 30 people depending upon the time of the year. Of those employed, 12 work full time in management, plant services, sales or delivery. The re maining workers are on a part time
schedule and are students in the De
partment of Food Science.
The Cornell Dairy Plant is trying to go nature one better by attempting to improve the flavor of milk with the use
of the Aro-vac machine. The Aro-vac
machine improves milk's taste by re moving objectionable off-flavors such as the unnaturally sweet aromatic odor of feed, or the barny odor.
The Aro-vac injects steam into the milk, raising its temperature to approx imately 202° F and then introduces the
milk into a vacuum chamber. The
milk flash boils because of the high temperature and low pressure. Vapor is removed along with unwanted flavors,
and at the same time the bacterial
count is lowered, which allows for a
6

GLASSES OF MILK

by Lucille A. Ircha '80
longer shelf life. Besides whole milk, the Dairy Plant
produces skim milk, heavy cream, light cream, half and half, Tetrapak creamers, chocolate pudding, yogurt, ice cream, reconstituted orange juice
and much more.
In addition to serving the Cornell community with a variety of high qual ity dairy products, the plant serves as a teaching facility for food science
labs. Research is also done at the
plant. New products are manufactured by the food science department, and market studies on these new products are done in the Dairy Plant sales room. The Dairy Plant is also responsible for producing and packaging new products
and the initial market studies.
The new products begin with an idea and a lab formula. They are tested by a panel of food scientists and then by a second consumer panel. The prod uct is now ready to be packaged and priced for its market study. "The major concern," said Brown, "is whether the product will sell at a reasonable price." Some indication of the prod
uct's success or failure is seen after it
is packaged and tested for sales in the Dairy Plant's sales room.
One product now being worked with at the Dairy Plant is pudding. Besides

chocolate, new flavors and formulas
are being tested to increase variety. Some of these new flavors are lemon,
vanilla, and butterscotch.
Most novelty dairy items are not
produced at the Dairy Plant because
the machinery required is too large,
but the ice cream sandwich is the one
novelty the Dairy Plant does produce. The plant rents the machinery needed
to make ice cream sandwiches and in
less than one day enough sandwiches are produced to last an entire month. Renting the machinery for a day utilizes
less space, lowers the costs for both
the plant and the consumer and also provides the consumer with a novelty
dairy product. The Cornell Dairy Plant's main prod
uct, milk, has been called the "perfect food" by some. This is because milk
and its derivatives are excellent sources
of calcium, protein, riboflavin and
many other vitamins and minerals. It also supplies fat and sugar. Many nu tritionists suggest that the average adult requires at least two or more glasses of milk per day. Filling this
daily requirement can be a pleasure according to ag student, Carol Degenhardt '81, who says, "I just love Cornell ice cream." Many Cornell
students would agree.

WartiER Yields *~4i
Cold Hand Ca*

by Patti Moy 79

The recent energy crunch has prompted researchers in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to find
new ways of converting their knowl edge of energy conservation into saving cold, hard cash.
Prof. Robert R. Zall, Ph.D. '68, of
the Department of Food Science, has undertaken a project which takes ad
vantage of an abundant natural resource in the northeastern United States- cold
weather-to substantially reduce energy
use in the refrigeration of foods during
the winter.
Zall's project was first conceived in
mid-1977, but the actual research did
not begin until last December. Profes
sors William K. Jordan, '45, also of the
Department of Food Science, and
David C. Ludington, '56, of the De
partment of Agricultural Engineering,
are co-investigators in this unique project. It was originally considered
as an add-on system which could be
installed to supplement the existing mechanical refrigeration systems dur ing frigid winter weather (November
to March in the northeastern United States).
The pilot set-up was a regular walkin (10' x 20' x 1 0') cold room that had been modified with vents and a fan, which enabled it to be cooled with out side air during cold weather. The walkin cooler is kept at a temperature rang ing between 32 and 40 degrees Fahren heit. When the cold air alone cannot maintain this temperature range, the
thermostatically-controlled back-up
mechanical refrigeration unit takes over
automatically. A fan-powered air handling system
Wltn built-in dampers was installed in

the room where milk, vegetables and fruit are stored. This system delivers
cold air from the outside and at the
same time expels spent air from the room. Factors such as humidity, hy dration and dehydration rates are
measured and recorded.
The study appears to be a success. According to his data, Zall estimates that, "Approximately 80 percent of the refrigeration for the pilot room was supplied by outside air between Jan uary and March." He adds, "The mech anical refrigeration unit for the cooler has worked only two or three times in the test period since a cold-air cooling system was added to the room."
The study is especially practical if one considers that the temperature in Syracuse for instance, is at most 40 degrees Fahrenheit approximately onethird of the time year-round. "This im plies that outside air can provide cool ing for a considerable period of time," asserts Ludington.
The researchers are also looking at ways of chilling coolants such as cal
cium and sodium chloride brine solu
tions with cold air. These liquids may
then be circulated throughout a system to keep the food cold. "This is no new discovery. What we are trying to do is simply take advantage of what we have all around us in the long winter,"
Zall contends.
Zall was surprised to find that cold air is not being used on a commercial scale to keep food products cool any
where in the country. "To the best of
our knowledge, no one has done work
in this area."
Although there are no concrete sta
tistics available to date, Zall estimates

Prof. Zall checks an air duct that cools a walk-in cooler with cold air.
that "By just using cold air in milk storage facilities from November through March in the northern half of the country, approximately 1.25 trillion British Thermal Units (BTU's) of energy could be conserved." This is equiva lent to 600,000 barrels of oil.
About half the country's annual milk supply of 120 billion pounds is pas teurized and distributed as fluid milk, and much of this is produced and pro cessed in the northern United States,
where winter remains cold for months.
The members of the research team
have applied for a grant from the De partment of Energy (DOE) to obtain funding for a more extensive project. "So far, Dr. Zall has only been able to obtain preliminary data to try to de termine the order of magnitude of the energy saved by the system," com
ments Ludington. If they receive the grant from the
DOE, Zall and his research team will implement the dual refrigeration sys tem to cool a commercial dairy plant's cold storage room when weather per
mits.
The data and experience obtained from this critical project will then help the investigators develop design in formation to equip the larger-sized com
mercial scale cold rooms with dual
winter cooling hardware if they have periods of cold weather. This could mean a savings of cold, hard cash for food processors, supermarket operators and dairy farmers, as Zall sees cold weather as an important natural re
source and energy saver.

7

When a species struggles for sur vival in a constantly changing environ ment, its good and productive char
acteristics are retained by nature, while its harmful and useless ones are eliminated. Ultimately, this process of natural selection results in the evo lution of a new species. The Cornell Countryman during its 77 years of existence has also gone through an evolution. As the demands on the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences shifted and our society changed, inno vative editorial policies and writing styles replaced the old, outdated ones.
The Countryman was born in 1903, a product of the "growing desire to establish an agricultural periodical at Cornell," according to the first Country man editorial. Liberty Hyde Bailey, the College's director, christened the pub lication the Cornell Countryman. George F. Warren, '04, took on the task of editing the first issue. That
issue was distributed in December of
1903.
Warren's first editorial expressed the magazine's desire "to voice the best in agricultural progress and agricultural teaching." Articles were to be of a
During World War II, Countryman
issues centered on different aspects of the war effort.
The Cornell
Countryman

This request for advertisers appeared
in the first issue; advertisers were ac
cepted for the next 60 years.
technical nature and were to involve
farming, agricultural teachings and in vestigations into agriculture.
Faculty and professionals penned the articles published in the first years. Today, when students hear the names Van Rensselaer, Bailey and Stone, they think of the buildings on the ag quad. Seventy years ago, these names could be seen as bylines in the Country
man's first issues.
Undergraduates, post-graduates and alumni constituted the editorial staff,
although faculty and professionals con tributed articles to the publication.
The editor was elected to the post each
year by alumni and the College's un dergraduates, and the staff was chosen after competitions. Feature articles about general agricultural news, Cor
nell news and news of former stu
dents were the editorial staff's respon
sibility. The Countryman's appearance
changed often during its early years. Its original cover was of a farmer sow ing seed. Partially due to a shortage of funds, the cover remained the same for many months. However, as funds
grew, the staff was able to try new ideas for the cover.
When the Countryman first began, the end-of-the-year issue contained a writeup on each graduate and his pic ture. By 1909, the editors were forced to change this policy. The College had grown too large and space con straints eliminated the pictures.
The Countryman's page dimensions
grew from 9]/2" x 6V2" to a full 9" x
12". But although page size increased,

The Cornell Countryman
1100 Men have gone out from the Agri cultural College of Cornell Uulveralty
We Will Reach All These People
THE CORNELL COUNTRYMAN, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.
financial problems caused the number of pages to decrease. A new editor, David S. Cook, took over in 1923 and found the problem. He felt the publi cation was too opinionated, and so he changed editorial policy. "We aim to print a Countryman which will win the
most favor from the most of our read ers." Articles became less technical.
Instead, they took on a more general tone and they tried to give the readers practical, money-saving advice. The public reacted favorably to these changes and the Countryman increased
in size.
In 1928, the College's growth once again affected Countryman policy. "Former Student Notes," a monthly feature since 1903, gave readers the latest news about the College alumni. However, after 1928, it was impossible
to write about all the alumni in one issue. The alumni were thereafter
grouped by the region of the United States they lived in and each month a different region was discussed.

I'mJ I'm I'nrdmu lu

J
The
COUNTRYMAN'

1 J]
f&M
When the Depression began, the number of advertisements received by the Countryman declined. As a result
the number of pages declined also.
The agricultural community was also in a depression. The Countryman's focus shifted further away from agri culture. Article topics included advice to freshmen, the Big Red Band, and the coed on the varsity polo team.
The Countryman grew again during
the second half of the thirties. Julia
Brockee became the Countryman's
first woman editor in 1936. Non
technical articles were again stressed. In 1938, Chester H. Freeman, '39,
became the editor. Today he is the Chairman of the Department of Com
munication Arts. In the 35th anniver
sary issue edited by Freeman, Sally Gibson, '40 and Donald Nesbitt, '40, wrote an article about the changes that had occurred in the Countryman. They found the largest difference to be that "an article by a faculty member is an exception rather than a rule."

Ads were no longer included, and the printing method was changed to keep up with the times.
The Countryman's editor and much
of its editorial staff entered the armed
forces during World War II. As women
all over the country took over male dominated jobs, Marie Call and Mar garet Lucha became co-editors of the
1941-42 volume and the Countryman
continued.
The war also influenced the Country
man's contents. The column "Former
Student Notes" began to include mili tary posts as alumni addresses. Betsy Kandiko, in her article "Our Part,"
wrote:
The Countryman cannot go to Guadalcanal and shoot Japs, but
we can do our best.
Maybe we can cheer you up once a month with our light
features
...Maybe we can bring college
back to those who had to
leave...
Then we can stand before Uncle
Sam and say we helped too.
Private John Meloney, '45, was the Countryman's corresponding reporter. In his article, "From Campus to Camp," he wrote about his experiences in the
army.
During the early post-war years, the Countryman went through another change as men returned to their old jobs. In 1949, a surprising editorial was written arguing that students in the College of Home Economics were not just "pre-weds" but students taught invaluable skills. The Countryman was reflecting the changes in our society's opinion towards educated women.

The Countryman began in 1955 to distribute complimentary copies, not only to the College students, but to the public high schools and county
agents. The financial burden of this
practice proved to be too great. By 1963, the Countryman's editor, Paul Roman, suggested that the responsi bility for the magazine be delegated to the Department of Extension Teach ing and Information (now the Depart ment of Communication Arts).
Students majoring in the department would staff the publication. Originally, these majors were required to get out side practical experience in order to graduate. The Countryman would serve as the source of that experience now. Furthermore each month, a new editor
would be chosen in order for each
major to get a chance to be editor before graduation.
Advertisements would no longer be accepted by the Countryman. Financial worries would never plague the publi cation and affect its size and policy. A faculty supervisor would insure the Countryman's smooth running. By 1966, the Countryman had become the magazine we see today, a straight forward, informative publication about the College. And, after all these years,
it continues to try to "voice the best
in agricultural progress and teaching."
This October 1966 issue was the first
to appear as we see it today.
CORNELL
COUNTRYMAN

v

VOLUTION by Audrey Levine 79 —*i

Agriculture's | 'th

by Judith David 79

\ I DEAN

Dean Albert R. Mann was responsible for much of the physical expansion of the college.
Mann Library, the huge building
which looms on the east end of the
agriculture quad, is well known to students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The library is named after the College's fifth dean, Albert R. Mann. As the College celebrates its 75th birthday this year and reflects upon its growth and changes, it is fit ting to look at the man under whose direction many important changes took place.
When Albert R. Mann became Dean
of the College in 1917, he was al ready well acquainted with Cornell.
Mann could not afford Cornell's regu
lar tuition, so he entered the College in 1901 as a special student. George F. Warren, a graduate student who studied horticulture under Liberty Hyde Bailey, persuaded him to study full
time. Mann heeded Warren's advice
and earned the extra money he needed
by working as a milk tester for Prof. Henry H. Wing, '81. He graduated
from Cornell in 1904 and went on to
become Assistant Superintendent of
the Boston Farm and Trades School.
Within one year, Mann was back in
Ithaca after Liberty Hyde Bailey per suaded him to return as his personal secretary. As part of his job, Mann helped Bailey prepare the Cyclopedia of American Horticulture, a four-volume collection. In 1908, Mann was ap pointed assistant professor of dairy industry, but left again to become
secretary to the State Commissioner
of Agriculture. He was back at Cornell by the following March as the secre tary, registrar and editor of the College.

After working in the College's ad ministration and as a professor for several years, Mann seemed the logi cal choice to succeed Beverly T. Gal
loway, who had followed Bailey as Director in 1914. His appointment as dean pleased many people, especially Bailey, because Mann was one of his protegees. When people praised Bailey, for having "discovered" Mann, he re fused the compliment and replied, "I
do not know that anyone should be
given credit for discovering the ob vious." Morris Bishop, in his History of Cornell, wrote of Mann, "His broad experience was reinforced by his being an insider, one of our own people."
Mann's tenure as dean lasted from
1917 through 1931. As dean, he was
also the director of the Extension
Service and director of the Agricul tural Experiment Station in Ithaca. In 1924 his jurisdiction expanded to in clude the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva, and in
1926 the direction of the New York
State College of Home Economics
was added. In the 15 years of his ad
ministration, many changes took place. The annua^ income of the colleges doubled, the size of the staff more than
doubled and the College secured 80 percent of its present buildings and equipment.
During this period, there was a
great emphasis placed on expansion of the College's facilities. New buildings housing the departments of plant science, dairy science, animal hus bandry, agricultural economics, rural social organization and home eco nomics were all added to the College under Mann's direction. Along with Beverly T. Galloway, who was Director of the College from 1914-1916, Mann was responsible for creating the De partment of Rural Social Organization (now rural sociology).
Since he strongly believed that the College should help the state's

farmers, Mann was especially inter ested in seeing extension work grow,
and under his administration it did. In
1910, little emphasis was given to ex tension work, but by 1920 it was one of the College's strongest divisions.
Part of Mann's success as an ad
ministrator can be attributed to his
unique sense of timing. Gould P. Colman, In Education and Agriculture: A History of the New York State Col lege of Agriculture wrote, "...He awaited the opportune moment to intro duce changes. He seems to have cal culated in every major decision. . . the intensity and direction of relevant social forces." Mann's acquaintance with several state legislators and the Gov ernor helped him to secure extra funds for the College. His achievements in Albany were called "nothing short of spectacular," by William A. Stocking Jr., head of the Department of Dairy Industry.
In 1931 Mann left his duties to be
come the first Provost of Cornell Uni
versity. As Provost, Mann was aware
of the tensions that existed between
Cornell's colleges, and he worked to strengthen the relationships between
them.
Mann resigned his post in 1931 to
work for the Rockefeller Foundation.
Even though he was away from Cor nell, he remained active in agriculture
and alumni affairs.
When Mann died unexpectedly on February 21, 1947, President Edmund Ezra Day said of him, "For more than 40 years Dr. Mann has given unstintingly of his energy and wisdom. ..he brought a superb intellect and devotion to the splendid causes which he
served." It was also under Mann that
the College of Agriculture greatly ex tended its influence both nationally and internationally. The College has under gone many changes since its inception.
Much of the credit for those changes
is due to Dean Albert R. Mann.

FOAL-SAVIN 3 RESEARCH

by Christin Sparagana 80

Those who raise horses know that foals need special care during their
first 24 hours of life. They must be immunized, or they may not survive beyond a few days. Steve Burton, 78, is working on a new method that will
ensure that foals receive the anti
bodies they need to fight infection. Burton, a graduate student in the
Department of Animal Science, is con ducting his research at Cornell's Equine Research Park. The research project includes providing a product that can
be substituted for mares' colostrum.
Colostrum is the first milk the mare
provides for the foal, and it contains
a much greater concentration of anti bodies than does the mare's subse
quent milk. When nursing during the first 24 hours of life, the foal is im munized by the colostrum.
The early death of foals is a serious problem for horse breeders. According to Burton, "Too many foals die within the first week of life. If traced back, the problem is often that there was
something wrong with the colostrum,
or the foal did not get colostrum 4n time." Three situations which can re
sult in premature foal deaths are orphan foals, colostrum which lacks sufficient
antibodies, and foals which are too
weak to get up and nurse. The foal must receive colostrum
within 24 hours of birth or the anti-
Steve Burton, '78, holding the halter
of a pony he described as "chock full
of baby. "

bodies will be digested instead of ab
sorbed intact into the blood stream.
"The serum I'm working on is like a 'homemade colostrum.' A special ad
vantage is that the serum can be in
jected directly into the foal's blood stream," Burton remarked.
Many breeders now freeze colostrum for use in emergencies. Two problems with freezing the actual colostrum are that mares produce small amounts, so little is available for freezing, and that the protein structures in colostrum can be altered when frozen. Neither prob lem is encountered when using Bur
ton's serum.
For his experiment, Burton collected blood from six ponies which are part of the pony herd bred at the Equine
Research Park. He then extracted the
serum from the blood. He recalled,
"It took a month to collect the 70
liters of blood I needed." He said
Dr. John E. Lowe of the College of Veterinary Medicine helped him with techniques for blood collection.
After concentrating the serum to get the amount of antibodies needed,
Burton said he "freeze-dried the serum,
just like they do coffee. The protein
structure is not altered when the serum
is freeze-dried, and the serum can be 'rehydrated' for use at any time."
Burton tried feeding the rehydrated serum to horse foals that had already received colostrum. "They drank it, so it's palatable," he concluded.
Burton said he hopes to know soon if the procedure is feasible. The serum is freeze-dried, but the research is wait ing on 20 pregnant ponies whose foals will be given the serum. Burton said
he will test the effects of the serum
by dividing the foals into four groups and immunizing each group differently-
with serum, colostrum or a combi
nation of the two.
"Theoretically it should work because
the antibodies are the same as those in the first milk," Burton stated. "There
is definitely a need for the product,

This pony was one of the six blood
donors for the experiment.
and it could be commercially market able if it's successful," he added.
To be near the ponies when they foal, Burton lives in a house on the grounds of the Park with five other
"horse-oriented" students. "Sometimes
I have to watch the ponies during the night," he explained.
Norm Woodworth, '79, also lives in
the house at the Park. He noted the
potential benefits of Burton's research"His project is unique in research to day because many current projects ex plain things that are nice to know, but won't really change much."
Dr. Harold F. Hintz of the Depart
ment of Animal Science also said Bur
ton's project has potential. "If it's suc cessful, it wouldn't be necessary to store colostrum," he stated. Dr. Hintz oversees and supervises all nutrition projects at the Park.
Dr. Hintz said nutrition, drug testing, reproduction and infectious diseases are the four research categories studied at the Park. He explained, "The Park is conducted by the College of Veteri nary Medicine. Dr. Lowe, Director of the Equine Research Park, coordinates
all the activities and allocates the space
and animals." Burton said he first got the idea for
his experiment from a friend who was trying to freeze-dry cows' colostrum. "Since mares produce much less colos trum than cows, I decided to try making a serum that will do the same thing," he explained. If the experiment is successful, Burton's results may prove to be a major breakthrough in the horse breeding industry.

11

CAN YOU COMPLETE THIS
CORNELL CAMPUS QUI2

rfft-.i.V.At-Y/jt'Ss \fts.-'s-ft-.ftfft
1 . You are on the Arts Quad. For ten
points, name the two buildings on the right.

Imagine yourself on the Cornell
campus of 1917... 1928... 1939. Do you think you could find your way around?
The following quiz takes you back to the Cornell campus of the 1910's, '20's, and '30's. Even though most of the buildings which graced the campus
30 to 60 years ago can still be found
today, many trees and walkways have disappeared. Some old buildings have
come down and many new edifices have been erected. You may think all
these changes are minor, but as you will see, even minor changes can dras tically alter a familiar scene.
The quiz is worth 100 points. Re cent graduates of Cornell will under standably have more difficulty answer ing the questions than will individuals who studied or taught at Cornell dur ing the first half of the century. There fore, readers who arrived on campus after 1950 should add five points to
their final scores. Answers appear on
the bottom of the next page.

2A. We are still on the Arts Quad, but you are standing in a building which no longer exists. For ten points, name this building. B. For ten points, name the building which occupies this spot today. C. For ten points, name two things in this picture (other than buildings) which are no longer on the Arts Quad.
12

'JMiW^ff > ■ ft'v''%A.
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by Mary E. Schiek '80

^^.*a£ft?
:'

yff:t\-

'j *-

3A. A photograph taken during the '30 's or '40 's. For ten points, name this
street.
B. For ten points, name the building
on the left.

i- SCORE
80-105
Congratulations. You have suc cessfully completed a tour of the
campus. 50-80
Congratulations to you, too. You got lost a few times, but at
least you made it back to your
car.
20-50
Stay where you are. We'll send
someone to get you. Below 20
Trees can be tricky.

4A. Comstock, Stone, Roberts, and
East Roberts Halls about 1920. Notice
the garden in the lower left hand corner of the picture. For ten points, name the garden. B. For ten points, name the building which stands on that spot today.
5A. For ten points, name this building. B. For ten more points, name the func tion this building served at the turnof-the-century.

ANSWERS:
'AjOJILUJOp S,U9LUO/V\ e se/v\ }/-gg -//e/-/ a6es-\/S uapjer,
suu/ia/ v en-f-gp -//en UO/eiAl-VP lleH
lifBiens PJeiHAA-a€ 'anuaAy imuaj -\/£ -udejSoiOLfd ou} ;o a/pp/uu agi ui (siuiod 9aij) peoj dip pue (swiod aA/j) soajj. diil-QZ 'AjBjqn uifO-gz WH ueuj
-pjeog-\/Z 'slleH MejgoiAl pue aiii/wi

13

The small, wiry man sitting on the couch leans forward, impatiently waving his hand as he makes his point. The blue eyes stare up unblinkingly from under wire-frame glasses.
His voice may be scratchy and squeak when he is excited, and his suit may no longer sport a red rose in the lapel, but age has not mellowed Frank A. Pearson's outspokenness or outlook on life one bit. The almost 92-year-old
Professor Emeritus of Prices and Sta
tistics is still holding true. Dubbed "Happy Pearson" by his
peers because of his cheerful dispo sition, Pearson is probably remembered by most people for working with George F. Warren, another professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics, in persuading President Franklin D. Roosevelt to take the country off the gold standard in 1934.
At the time, a controversy was

country." According to Pearson, during an inflation, prices rise, and farmers, manufacturers, and storekeepers be come prosperous. "Industry makes money and labor is employed," he explained. "The only people doing the kicking are the ones on fixed incomes." Pearson explained that more people are on fixed incomes today and are therefore more likely to feel the bite of inflation. Professors, for example, are one group of people with fixed in comes. "There are a lot more profes sors now," he added with a grin.
Few people would agree with Pear son's views on inflation, but disagree
ment of this kind has never bothered
him. In fact, Pearson likes to pride himself on his independence. Born in 1887, Pearson confesses that "I squealed the day I was born and I've been squealing ever since." When he graduated from high school in western

Pearson reluctantly allows his pic
ture to be taken outside Warren Ha/I.

Ho/d/'ngby Lena H Sun 79

TTU6 at 92

raging about whether the United States
should reduce the gold content of the dollar. A move to take the country off the gold standard had not been made for forty years, and although many farmers and businessmen supported the devaluation of the dollar, most of the economics professors on the Cor nell campus and across the country were against the move, he explained.
Pearson and Warren were not.
"Warren was down in Washington most of the time advising the President. I was up here preparing the data," he recalled. And in the end, the dollar was
devalued, "causing prices to rise and taking the nation out of the depression," he said. After that, when the gold content of the dollar was reduced, "No body paid any attention to it," he
added.
Pearson feels just as strongly about the state of the economy today. Con trary to popular opinion, Pearson is for inflation. "I think it's good for the

Fisherman's Paradise —Pearson took
this picture in 1957 near Montour Falls, a New York inlet to Seneca Lake.

Pennsylvania, his high school principal
convinced him to go to Cornell. Pear son visited Cornell, liked what he saw,
put in his application, and was accepted in 1908 in the College of Agriculture. Referring to the 4,000 students in the university he recalled fondly that "Any body who belonged to that gang was good, the real McCoy."
After graduating from Cornell, Pear son went to the University of Illinois to become an instructor in the College
of Agriculture. He taught for five years
and got married. But he wasn't satis fied because the university forbade
salaried persons from studying for a graduate degree at the same time. Pearson, however, wanted a degree,
so he left Illinois and came back to
Cornell, where he received his Ph.D. in 1922 and continued to teach here
for thirty-five more years. While at Illinois, he became interested
in prices, and when he came back to Cornell, this interest was furthered

14

through his acquaintance with Warren.
Warren persuaded Dean Carl Ladd to
make Pearson Professor of Prices and Statistics, the first in the country. Pearson and Warren started to write
articles and books together, and this close teamwork eventually led to their
advisory services to Roosevelt.
A popular professor by many ac
counts, Pearson still likes to reminisce
about his greatest students. One stu

son went to class.
Pearson made a striking picture in more ways than one. An avid photog rapher, he took about 1,800 photo graphs in his earlier days. He exhibited many of them in Warren Hall. "Every Sunday I went to Warren to change those pictures with new ones, and
every Monday morning the students
would pour down the halls to look at
them," he said with satisfaction.

Things are different today. "You don't see that many buildings being donated because taxes are so high."
Although his heart condition prevents him from doing much else besides
reading, Pearson has no complaints. "I've no reason for existing so long,"
he said. "The world treats me better
than it should."
Maybe. But perhaps Pearson de
serves it.

No questions askeed, no criticisms passed — Pearson took this picture in 1953.

dent, Maloney, was a "Strapping sixfoot Irishman who rose from nothing to take charge of the Borden Company in Detroit," he said. Another, Keith Murray, later became Lord Murray of Newhaven, he recalled with obvious
satisfaction. To Pearson, what his stu dents accomplished once they gradu ated was more important than the grades they received when they were students.
Pearson also extended his style to
the way he dressed. Known for his
cheerful disposition, he cut quite a figure with the red rose he wore in the
lapel of his suit. He now dismisses
the whole thing as a "foolish idea," but it seems he looked at things dif
ferently when he was younger. Before
the Pearsons started to raise their own
flowers, Mrs. Pearson used to walk
from their small white house on the
corner of Worth Street to Bool's Flower
Shop and for thirty-five cents, buy one
red rose every morning before Pear

Pearson was just as uncompromis ing when it came to taking pictures. He made it a rule never to take pictures
of subjects that were not photogenic in his view. He cites himself as a prime
example of a non-photogenic subject, and seldom permits his picture to be
taken.
Although he donated most of his photographs to the University, he has a few hanging on boards in his base ment. The collection is a motley of
Cornell landscapes and family relatives. To most people, the buildings in the prints look like the buildings we now see on the campus, but for Pearson, the buildings have real associations with the men they are named after. Passing by a photograph of Schoellkopf Field, he commented that Jacob A. Schoellkopf made his fortune in Buf falo. Pearson explained that many men of his generation donated buildings be cause "they made so much money they didn't know what to do with it."

Where is Dr. Watson? Pearson's pic ture of Herman Crofoot, resembles a
familiar figure.

15

Nuclear power-just the mention of
it causes controversy these days. Over 250 people, mostly students,
filled Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium in
Goldwin Smith April 19th, 1979 when a debate on the subject of nuclear
power took place. Three Cornell professors and a New
York State Electric and Gas employee presented their concerns about the
future use of nuclear power to an
audience, the majority of which could
be described as "anti-nuclear". Sched
uled as part of the annual Earthrise celebration, the debate was sponsored by the Eco-Justice Task Force and Ecology House.
The audience became involved in

partment of Physics and Professor Duane Chapman of the Department of Agricultural Economics and former member of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
"If there came a point in time in
which there were no energy, what would you miss the most?" asked Rider
in his opening statement. The audience responded with laughter and jeers when Rider proceeded to list necessities such as the hair-dryer, air conditioning and cold beers, which he said we
wouldn't want to do without. He then
asked the audience to imagine study ing by candlelight and walking down dark corridors. Both suggestions were greeted by more jeers and comments

Cady explained. "And we must main tain the standard of living which we have by providing energy so that labor is productive."
There may be serious problems as
sociated with nuclear power, but in
Cady's opinion, these are less serious than those associated with coal. Coal mining is dangerous because of acci dents, black lung disease and harm to the environment. These problems make it impossible to use coal as a source of energy all by itself.
What about the problems associated with nuclear power? Cady conceded a
long list of the problems, including heat diffusion, power plant accidents, public fear and waste disposal. Cady

by Carie Leigh Middleton '80

LEAF

What Is

the debate by interjecting questions and reactions to points made by the speakers. Constance E. Cook, VicePresident for Land Grant College Af
fairs and former member of the New
York State Assembly moderated and introduced the topic as highly contro versial and exceedingly political.
Speaking in favor of nuclear power were Bernard Rider, Chief of Load Forecasting for New York State Elec tric and Gas (NYSEG) and advisor to the New York State Power Pool, and Professor K. Bingham Cady of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering in the College of Engineer ing. The opposing side was taken by
Professor Robert 0. Pohl of the De-
16

such as, "This guy has to be kidding!"
Rider presented his arguments from the point of view of NYSEG. He ex
plained that using fossil fuel to pro duce energy was costing the con
sumer too much money because as the
resource depletes, the price of it rises significantly. Rider stressed that there
are more appropriate uses for oil, especially within the food processing industry, therefore it should not be
used for fuel when there are other
available energy sources. And the
"only viable alternatives to oil are coal
and nuclear power."
Both Rider and Cady believe that the need for electricity is not going to wane. "The need for electricity is real,"

believes, however, that these problems can be minimized using a strategy of combining coal and nuclear power as
sources of energy.
Pohl presented his concerns with the problems of nuclear power. Fear is the worst problem, and the most dif
ficult to minimize. Since the nuclear
power plant accident at Three-Mile Island in Pennsylvania in March, 1979, people are more afraid. Not enough
is known about nuclear power for
people to feel safe. "The chance of an accident occurring is 6 percent, but since the actual accident at Harrisburg,
we have lost confidence in predictions of low chances," Pohl explained.
As for disposal of waste from nucle-

ar power, there is no present technology to deal with it. Waste is now put in
cooling pools and tanks. But a perma nent method must be designed be cause this is only a temporary solution.
The expressed need for nuclear power is doubtful in Chapman's opin
ion. The consumer until now has not
needed the amount of energy already
produced by nuclear power plants. And
he does not see a need for their use
while alternatives are available. The anti-nuclear section of the audi
ence applauded enthusiastically when Pohl proclaimed, "Opportunities from
alternatives are far from exhausted." Although he did not go into these al ternatives, he did present the sun as

people to conserve, but that isn't realistic because the utility would gain undue profits," Rider said.
Students in the audience had mixed
reactions to the debate. Ida Traschen
'80 was disappointed because she felt that the main danger with nuclear energy-the unseen danger- was not adequately addressed by the debaters. What would happen if another accident occurred? And if it were more serious, would lives be in terrible danger? Even though she was disappointed by the lack of attention to this issue, Traschen
said that she learned more about what
the other issues and concerns were
from the debate.
Rhonda Shapiro '81 was concerned

scale by a few individuals in their dayto-day lives. "Although people are re luctant to make a change, they will conserve when they realize the im portance of doing it," she explained.
Alternative energy sources were
greatly favored by most people in the audience. They put down nuclear power because of its obvious dangers and applauded any mention of less environmentally harmful sources of
energy.
Robert Spragg, '81, did not attend the debate, but did have ideas about the issue, which was discussed later
among students who had attended. "Alternative energy mechanisms take
a lot of time and money to develop,"

POWE
ts Future?

the perfect source of energy because of its constant availability.
Conservation of energy was also strongly supported by Pohl and Chap man. "Conservation is the only answer," Pohl said. "If we can't conserve our
energy, there's nothing that can help
us."
Rider claimed that NYSEG actively supports conservation of energy. Chap man confronted this with a description of the utility's rate system which he
said rewards increased energy use rather than conservation. Rider ex-
Plained that the rate system includes the cost of fuel, the cost of genera tion and the customer charge. "NYSEG could raise rates, thereby forcing

with the issue of conservation. She
was not as enthusiastic as Pohl and
Chapman about the possibility of people conserving energy. She does not think that people will conserve un less they are made to do so. "It is dif ficult to make people realize the urgent need to conserve energy now. People
can't see that if we use up energy
now, there won't be any for future
generations." "One person's contribution of con
serving seems to be minimal. But it has to be multiplied by thousands to indicate the significance," she said.
Traschen believes that conservation
is a realistic possibility because she al ready sees it being done on a small

he explained. "Efforts should be put into creating these mechanisms. It's
obvious that we have to become less
dependent upon oil because of the
hazards involved. Nuclear power is the
only other possibility at present. We
have no choice until alternative, com
mercially feasible methods are devised."
There does not seem to be another
choice. Alternative energy is, as yet, not ready to be used on a large scale. To take action now means to conserve
energy. Pohl believes it is the only an swer and has a pessimistic outlook if conservation is not practiced. In the
meantime, we have nuclear energy. With all of the controversy about its
use, what will be its future?

17

Chatting with HYRAM

by Debbi Kishinsky 79

This is a special interview with Hyram Wilkes who graduated from the College of Agriculture in 1908. DK: I'm so glad that you were able to
take time out for this interview. It's
not often that I get an opportunity to speak with a Cornellian who attended the University at the turn of the cen tury. The first thing that I'd like to
know is what were the students like

quently subjected to the "Cow College Yell", in which a group of Artsies would shout: "Cornell, I yell, I yell, I
yell. ..moo!" DK: Even though the workload was heavy, did students still find time for
many extracurricular activities?
HW: Why sure! We had the Glee Club,
the Cornell Orchestra and the Mandolin
and Guitar clubs for the musically in

back then and what types of activities clined. Masque, the dramatics club,

were they involved in?

was quite popular too. For those stu

HW: In the first place, we were a hard dents who had a flair for writing there

working bunch. We were required to was the Sun, of course, and the

take 12 to 18 credits each semester, Widow, a bi-monthly humor magazine.

including laboratories and recitations. Boy, that sure contained some wild

There was always a lot of talk about humor! We also had Era, a literary

the heavy workload. In fact, our student- monthly.

run newspaper, the Cornell Daily Sun, DK: What types of sports were most

ran an entire series of editorials about popular?

how Cornellians worked harder than HW: Lacrosse, crew, hockey, basket

students at Yale or Princeton.

ball, fencing, boxing, wrestling and

DK: Was there ever any problem for tennis. Even though we all wanted to

you as a student in the College of be on the teams, the next best thing

Agriculture?

was to be chosen "ass manager."

HW: Some students thought that it DK: Excuse me?

was easier to get a bachelor's degree HW: You know, an assistant manager,

in agriculture than in the arts college. the one who tends to all the details.

But there wasn't a shred of truth to Those athletic fraternity men weren't

that. Especially since we had to take the only ones who liked being involved

chemistry and physics right along with with sports.

the arts students.

I remember the cider raids at the

DK: Was there ever any conflict be cider mill which stood on the bank of

tween students in different colleges? HW: You bet! As an Aggie, I was fre-

Fall Creek. Upperclassmen would sneak up to the mill at night and bring back

Author Kishinsky and the ghost of Hyram Wilkes in a rare photo.

pails of cider. Then there was the time
when Professor Goldwin Smith came
to stay in Cascadilla Place, where all the students lived. He left his boots
outside his door before he went to
sleep, expecting them to be polished in the morning. Was he ever surprised to discover that instead of being shined, they were stolen by a group of mis
chievous students!
DK: What was it like to be a freshman in those days? HW: Freshmen really had it rough. We had a Freshman Banquet and was that ever wild! Three days before the banquet freshmen had to hide so that they wouldn't be caught by upper classmen. If a freshman was tagged, he was dressed up and painted, and forced to parade downtown and throughout the campus. The professors were annoyed by this tradition because they said that it disrupted work for
the entire week.
DK: Were there any other popular uni versity celebrations?
HW: There were the usual balls and
cotillions, but the most wonderful day of all was Spring Day. Every college in the University set up booths, and for a time, Cornell was transformed
into a giant circus. Yes, I have fond memories of my years at Cornell; from the day my train arrived in Ithaca until the day I was scratched.
DK: Scratched?
HW: Sometime before the end of the
last exam period, a list of those stu dents who were completing their final year of study was posted. As each student fulfilled requirements for gradu ation, his name was scratched off the
list.
DK: Mr. Wilkes, this certainly has been a privilege. If you had the chance to interview me about what Cornell is
like in 1979, what would be your first
question?
HW: Are all freshmen still required to take Hygiene 1 and 2?
As I thought about an answer to Hyram's question, I realized that al though many things about Cornell have changed some things like the workload and Spring Day have remained
the same.

A
ANOTHER
FIRST
for Cornell
by Jennifer Koch 79
"When I graduated from Cornell,
I never would have believed I might one day be the first female Director of Cooperative Extension in the country," said Lucinda A. Noble with a slight smile. Twenty-five years after graduating from the College of Human Ecology, Noble accepted the unbelievable posi tion "with humility and awe."
Her job is a challenge, requiring ex perience and insight. "I see myself as
a steward because the effects of my
job today will be evident in the 1980's," said Noble, at ease in her office in 103
Roberts Hall. "Extension must reach
people not only today, but a decade from today," she added.
Noble has taken many steps back and forth between academia and ex
tension to get where she is today. She accepted her first job as an Extension agent in Genesee County in 1954. Two years later, her responsibilities expanded to working with new agents from 20
counties. "I liked what I did then-train
ing agents, developing programs and preparing budgets," she recalled. Soon however, Noble thirsted for a taste of academia again.
In 1959 she enrolled in Extension
Administration at the University of Wisconsin for a Master of Science degree, later returning to Cornell to be
come Assistant State Leader of Home
Demonstration agents in Albany. At that point in her career, Noble knew
that she would like to work at the uni
versity level. "I wanted to work with
graduate students so I decided to get a Ph.D. because if you are going to
work in higher education, you need the highest degree."
In 1969, Noble received her Ph.D. in human development from the Uni versity of North Carolina and returned

to Cornell as Assistant Director of Ex tension. Then she earned the distinction
of Associate Dean of the College of Human Ecology which led to her re cent promotion to Director of Cornell University Cooperative Extension in August, 1978.
Throughout her career Noble has played a major role in developing Ex tension in New York City, particularly in the areas of housing, urban garden ing, food and nutrition. "Since one-half of the state's population is located in New York City, Cooperative Extension has recognized the need to increase its programs there," Noble, explained.
As Assistant Director in 1969, Noble worked on the scene, spending time in East Harlem to meet with community leaders and acquire a first-hand knowl edge of housing problems. "As ad ministrators, we got out there and saw
our programs at work. If you are un
willing to give up time and resources
to insure successful programs, you
may raise a community's expectations then dash its hopes," warned Noble. "If you say you are going to improve housing and it's a bust, you will ruin future programs."
Noble said one of the most gratify ing programs, the HANDIVAN, was launched this spring. She described the project as a mobile unit that trains community leaders in home mainte nance through classroom lectures, demonstrations and practical experience.
Asked what program in family de velopment she thought was of major concern, Noble responded, "Combat ting child abuse... we need to inform people of the factors leading to child abuse and neglect and provide the
necessary services."
Although Noble's new job has taken

Lucinda Noble takes the lead as
first woman Director of Cooperative
Extension.
her away from on-the-scene to behind the scene, she is not out of touch with her programs. "I talk to coordi
nators of New York City programs re gularly, and I am working with them to develop a city-wide advisory coun cil," said Noble.
Denying any such thing as a typicai schedule, Noble said her workday be gins at 7:45 a.m. and lasts until 5:45 p.m. She might start the day by hav ing breakfast with the head of the Science and Education Administration, then meet with members of the staff, department chairmen, deans and visit ing dignitaries. Or she might discuss
programs and finances with Extension
leaders, not to mention taking time out to advise her graduate students. Noble
has also been able to manage her
time to include a part-time job as pro fessor of Community Service Educa tion in the College of Human Ecology.
As a female who is first in her field, Noble has encountered few major dif ficulties. "You just have to learn how to deal with people's expectations," she said confidently. "At first, some men act somewhat differently because they don't expect to see a woman as director. But, as soon as they adjust and accept it, we have no trouble get ting down to business," added Noble.
The greatest challenge in her new job is to ensure that money and time invested today will meet the needs of tomorrow. "There are so many things that can be done to help people utilize the resources of Cornell University. It's hard to know how to establish priorities which will make the greatest difference in the years to come," said Noble.
Will she ever pull up her roots from Cornell? Probably not. "Someday I
would like to teach adult education
full-time at Cornell," she said. In the meantime, Noble will continue to help
maintain the trust between the Univer
sity and the people of New York through Cooperative Extension, by what President Rhodes called, "knowl edge applied, knowledge multiplied and knowledge trusted."

19

by Leslie Green 79

The Creative

COMSTOCKS

Comstock Hall and four other build
ings on Cornell's ag quad may not be around much longer, because of plan
ned construction. This realization has
sparked nostalgia in many Cornellians.
We often wonder about the men and
women whose names the buildings
carry. "Who were the Comstocks and
why was a building named after them?" In the fall of 1875, Anna Botsford
made the acquaintance of John Henry
Comstock when she took the Inverte
brate Zoology course that he was in structing. They took nature walks to gether and dined at the Sage College Dining Room as their romance blos
somed. But Anna is known to have
remarked to her mother: "Mr. Comstock
is noted for being a young man who is a sort of general friend to young women of his acquaintance but never
wastes any sentiment upon them."
Nevertheless, the two were married in October 1878, beginning a partner ship that proved to be most profitable
for Cornell. As a husband and wife
team, they were responsible for the creation of two entirely new disciplines in the College of Agriculture, Entomol ogy and Nature Study, and for the de velopment of Home Economics.
John Henry Comstock was a poor, country orphan working as a cook on
a Great Lakes schooner when he read
a book on entomology that was re sponsible for changing his life.
Morris Bishop, in A History of Cor nell, tells us that Comstock wrote on the flyleaf of the book: "I purchased this book for ten dollars in Buffalo, New York, July 2, 1870. I think it was

the first entomological book I ever saw. Before seeing it, I never gave ento mology a serious thought; from the time I bought it, I felt that I should like to make the study of insects my life's work." Soon after, Comstock enrolled
at Cornell in order to learn more about
the natural world.
As a freshman, Comstock's enthu siasm was noted by Burt G. Wilder, Professor of Neurology, Vertebrate Zoology and Physiology, who made
him a lab assistant. Within one year,

13 students petitioned the faculty to allow Comstock to give a series of lectures on entomology, a subject not yet offered at Cornell. The petition was granted, laying the foundation for over 50 years of dedicated teaching.
In 1876, Comstock was made an Assistant Professor of Entomology. His courses flourished and in 1880, the Department of Economic Entomology, the first in America, was established. It
was located on the third floor of Rob
erts Hall. As the Department's only

Anna Botsford Comstock and John Henry Comstock, after whom Com
stock Hall was named.

20

faculty member, Comstock personally
gave all lectures and directed all lab oratories and field work. And under
his supervision, the Departments of Biology and Nature Study were devel oped in 1909 and 1912, respectively.
Anna Botsford Comstock is often
acknowledged by entomologists as being one of the key factors in her husband's success, through her aid in the writing and illustration of his texts. However, she was also one of the best
known authorities in the field of nature
studies in her own right. The Hand book of Nature Study which she wrote
and illustrated in 1911 was the most
widely used text on the subject. It was used in teacher training programs throughout the country. Anna Com stock is especially remembered for the
way her books endeared butterflies and
other natural creatures to small chil
dren. In 1923, she was honored by the League of Women Voters as one of America's 12 outstanding women.
Anna Comstock was also involved
in the rudimentary beginnings of the Department of Home Economics, which evolved into the present day College of Human Ecology.
In 1899, Liberty Hyde Bailey, then Professor of Horticulture, Isaac P.
Roberts, the Dean of the College of Agriculture and Mrs. Comstock, then
a lecturer in Nature Study, decided
that instituting a reading course for farmer's wives would be a good idea. Martha Van Rensselaer, the only
woman to hold a School Commissioner
Post in New York State, was chosen to lead this program.

By 1903, three courses which re lated to home and family life were being taught in the College of Agri culture, by Van Rensselaer and Mrs. Comstock. In 1907, Dean Bailey de
cided to make Home Economics a de
partment and designated Van Rens selaer and Miss Flora Rose, an expert in food and nutrition, as "lecturers" of the new department. However,
these women would not settle for
second-class positions. After a bitter debate, they were awarded professor ships by the all-male faculty on October 18, 1911. Mrs. Comstock had been awarded an assistant professorship in Nature Study in 1898, but had been
demoted to lecturer because of trustee
opinion. She was reawarded her pro fessorship in 1913, when the faculty was a bit more progressive, and is
considered to be the first woman pro fessor at Cornell.
Martha Van Rensselaer and Flora
Rose were also involved in obtaining
the funds for the construction of the
building which is now Comstock Hall. According to the History of Cornell,
Van Rensselaer and Rose were excel
lent cooks and they often helped the administration in entertaining various distinguished guests. In March 1909, these two women fed the Ways and
Means Committee of the New York
State Legislature in a corridor of the fourth floor of Roberts Hall. According to Bishop, "The scalloped cabbage was particularly successful with a legis lator who normally detested cabbage.
When a bill was introduced in the
State legislature the following January,

for an appropriation of $154,000 for a Home Economics building, the gal
lant lawmaker shouted: "I want to vote
for the women who made that salad;
I want to vote for the women who
taught me to eat cabbage!" Funds provided by the New York
State Legislature in 1910 enabled the
construction of a Home Economics
building. The building was first occu pied in February 1913. Bishop tells us: "Its cafeteria, a new device and a new word at the time, immediately cap tured campus gourmets and spelled the doom of many a Collegetown boarding house." The Department of Home Economics taught women to be more than good cooks. On the con trary, thirty courses were offered, some of which dealt with nutrition,
house planning and management, house and clothing design.
By the late 1920's, both home eco nomics and agriculture were flourish ing and each needed more room for growing. In June 1932, the corner
stone of Martha Van Rensselaer Hall
was laid. It was occupied in the sum
mer of 1933 by Home Economics. In the meantime, the Department of En tomology was moved from Roberts
Hall into the old Home Economics
building, which was renamed Comstock Hall by the Cornell Board of Trustees, in honor of John Henry and Anna
Botsford Comstock.
Today, almost half a century later, the Department of Entomology remains
in Comstock Hall. Its name is a stand
ing tribute to the dedication and con tributions of this amazing couple.

21

The Conservatory houses many dif-
ferent species of the palm tree.

A grad student studies the growth of a spider plant.

Plants From A to Z by Pamela Edwards '80

Some species of the palm tree can
grow faster than an eye's blink, or at least they seem to. One palm tree grew so rapidly that it broke a window of the Conservatory before anyone noticed. The Conservatory, located be hind Plant Science, and the palm tree, are part of the Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium which was founded by its namesake, Dr. L.H. Bailey, in 1935.
At first, the Hortorium was located at Sage Place, the home of the late Dr. Bailey. In 1953, the Hortorium was
moved to the fourth floor of Mann
Library. Today, the Hortorium's library holds
over 10,000 books on plants, many of which were written or edited by l Bailey. The herbarium included some 700,000 plant specimens. The collection of palms may be the finest in the world. Yet, to keep up-to-date, many of the published works must be revised.
No current horticultural book col
lection is complete without a copy of Hortus Third, a 1 ,290-page dictionary of cultivated plants, which was re vised by the staff of the Hortorium. The original version was written by L.H. Bailey and his daughter, Ethel Zoe Bailey. This dictionary gives the
proper botanical names, synonyms
and descriptions of plants cultivated in

the U.S. and Canada. Previous editions of Hortus do not have as many entries as there are in Hortus Third (23,814
plant species). Published by Macmillan Publishing
Company, Inc. in the fall of 1976,
Hortus Third has won many awards such as the Certificate of Merit from
the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
and the Silver Medal from the Massa
chusetts Horticultural Society. Dr. David M. Bates, professor of botany in the Division of Biological Sciences and Director of the Hortorium, re
ceived the Garden Club of America's
Medal of Honor in 1979 for the work.
The Hortorium's staff is now revis
ing another work written by Bailey and some of his associates, 777e Manual of Cultivated Plants, which was last published in 1949. Unlike Hortus Third in which you need a plant's common or scientific name in order to find it,
the present revision is an identification
manual. Keys and illustrations make it easier to identify most of the world's cultivated plants.
The research that occurs during a book's revision is also important. Dur ing the writing of Hortus Third, ap proximately 500 articles on the tax onomy of cultivated plants were pub lished. And, in revising The Manual of

Cultivated Plants, the Hortorium's staff
plans to produce a bibliography of horticultural taxonomy. This bibliog raphy would assist librarians, scientists
and the like who want to refer to the
original source of the information. A computer has recently been used
to accumulate and store all the infor
mation on cultivated plants. This makes
it easier to keep records up-to-date.
As members of the Division of Bio
logical Sciences, the Hortorium's staff also teaches and performs individual research. Among its course offerings are Plants and Human Affairs, which
is taught by Dr. Bates, and Families of Tropical Flowering Plants. Dr. Har old E. Moore, Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Botany and the world's foremost expert on palms, teaches this course during the intersession. Dr.
Michael D. Whalen and Dr. John W.
Ingram, Jr. teach basic courses in systematic botany while Dr. William J. Dress handles such esoteric subjects
as botanical latin and nomenclature.
In Dr. Bates' office, a palm tree sits innocently in a pot. I wondered if this
tree would grow as fast as others have
been known to. Dr. Bates assured me
that it would not. Too bad. I thought maybe I could watch it grow through the fourth floor ceiling of Mann Library.

22

COUNTRYMAN CAPSULES

W. Keith Kennedy, M.S. '41, Ph.D. '47 provost of Cornell University and former dean of the College of Agricul ture and Life Sciences, has been hon ored by the New York State Legisla
ture for his many contributions to
agriculture and agricultural education.
Kennedy has been a member of the university faculty since 1949. He served as director of research and director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, and was dean of the College from 1972 until 1978, when he was appointed provost of the University.
Spencer Elected
Vice- Provost
James W. Spencer, B.C.E. '47,
M.S. 1951 has been elected vice pro
vost in charge of budgeting, planning and analysis for Cornell for a three-year term. A professor of agricultural en gineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Spencer has been serving as a special assistant to Presi dent Frank Rhodes during the past year, developing the University's plan to reach financial equilibrium by the
1982-83 fiscal year.
Spencer will retain his faculty ap pointment in the College, where he began his career in 1951 as an assist ant professor. He was named professor
in 1961 and was vice director of Co
operative Extension in 1970-73. From 1973 to 1978, Spencer served as associate dean and acting dean of the
College.
Faculty Awards Abound
Robert R. Zall, Ph.D. '68 professor at the College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences, has received a Certificate of Appreciation from the regional office
°f the Environmental Protection Agen cy in recognition of his contributions to a better environment. The food sci
entist was also honored with this certi
ficate in 1975. Zall has designed several recycling
systems, including one in conjunction
with two other Cornell researchers.

This system of reusing detergent solu tions and hot water in cleaning milk ing equipment saves energy, detergent
and water.
Another of Zall's recent research
projects deals with the use of cold air in winter to refrigerate foods.
Zall, who received his doctorate from Cornell, also teaches courses in food sanitation and food processing.
Neal F. Jensen, the Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Plant Breeding, emeritus, of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has been awarded a Fulbright-Hays Award.
An internationally known plant breeder, Jensen developed 21 superior varieties of wheat, oats and barley during his career at the College. He
retired last fall after 32 years with the
College. Jensen is currently at the Plant
Breeding Institute of the University of Sydney, Australia, as a Fulbright scholar. He will be there through December, delivering a series of lectures and conducting research on wheat genetics and breeding.
Danny G. Fox, professor of animal science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, received the Young Scientist Award given annually by the
Northeast Section of the American
Dairy Science Association and the American Society of Animal Science.
A specialist in beef production, Fox
has conducted research at the beef
cattle Teaching and Research Center
at Cornell since 1977. He is also re
sponsible for the beef cattle extension
program in New York.
Students Receive Honors
Five students in the field of plant science, all members of the class of 79, have been honored for their out standing scholastic achievements.
Those honored are Theodore C.
Alway, Robert A. Caughey, Peter J. Ferrante, Eric R. Hansen, and Judith G. Vanadelsberg.

According to Professor Leroy L. Creasy, chairman of the Plant Science Curriculum Committee and faculty member of the Department of Pomol
ogy, these students were selected on the basis of their cumulative averages
for the two terms of their junior year
and the first term of their senior year.
Linda Groner, Grad. at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has been awarded a $3,000 scholarship
from the National Fisheries Institute for work in food science.
Groner is working toward a master's degree under the direction of Prof. Joe M. Regenstein. As part of her graduate work, Groner will prepare a comprehensive report on the techniques and economics of using microwaves to temper and thaw seafoods intended for further processing.
Pamela Lein, '81 is the first recipi
ent of the Bernard Friedman Memorial
Scholarship. This award is offered by the Nikon Corporation and Cornell to
a student in the continental United
States with a professional interest in microscopy.
Lein spent six weeks during the sum mer studying advanced microscopy techniques under Robert F. Smith,
Director of Biomedical Communications
in the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell.
Earl Ainsworth, 73 who graduated from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences with a degree in com
munication arts, has been named Man
aging Editor of Farm Journal. As Managing Editor, Ainsworth will
supervise the entire editorial staff, in cluding that of the Livestock Extras. He joined the livestock editorial staff
of Farm Journal as an assistant editor in 1975 and was named an associate
editor the following year. Prior to that,
Ainsworth was a field editor with the
American Agriculturalist in New York
state.

23

A Food Science
Scholarship

Tribute to

GRANDFATHER
by Debbi Kishinsky 79
When Leslie Herzog graduated in
1977 from Cornell with a degree in Food Science, he didn't forget his gratitude to the College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences. On the contrary, he recently established a food science scholarship fund.
Herzog, who is now an assistant food scientist with Thomas J. Lipton Inc., received a scholarship through the Department of Food Science when he was an undergraduate at Cornell. He was so pleased at receiving this
honor that he convinced his mother to
join him in a ten year commitment in providing a similar scholarship.
The scholarship fund was set up in memory of Herzog's grandfather, Al bert Flegenheimer, who made many contributions to the sugar industry in this country. Herzog calls his grand
father a true businessman for dedica
tion to his career, which was climaxed
in his election as Chairman of the
Board of the Michigan Sugar Company
in 1963.
Herzog decided to establish the scholarship after earning his Master's degree at Rutgers University in May 1978. He saw a need to help under graduates who might be troubled by the rising cost of education. In addi tion, he hoped to encourage other stu
dents to pursue a career in food sci
ence. "I would like the scholarship money to be awarded to a junior or senior in the Department of Food Sci
ence who has shown a strong interest in the field," Herzog said.
Herzog added that he wanted to see
the money go to a student who has been active in the Food Science Club
and has perhaps conducted some kind of research project. Selection will be

Leslie Herzog, a graduate of the Dept. of Food Science, is currently using his Cornell training on his job in process development for Lipton.
made by the Food Science Scholar ship Committee and the final decision will be left up to the College's scholar ship committee.
During his years at Cornell, Herzog
was involved in many facets of food
science. He was the only undergradu
ate ever to have taken Food Protein
chemistry 601 , a course that intimidates many graduate students. "I took it be
cause I was interested in the course
material... and I was the only one crazy enough to do it," Herzog said, adding that the class was offered
three times a week at 8 o'clock in the
morning. Herzog was impressed by the close
relationships between the students and the faculty members at Cornell, noting that Rutgers was a "more closed ship." In addition to the personal involve ment of the staff, Herzog noted that another of the food science depart ment's strengths was its flexibility and variety.
"Food science is such a wide disci-
pline-you get to take a little bit of a lot of things," he said. Herzog cited engineering, biochemistry, nutrition
and statistics as some of the other dis
ciplines he calls upon in his work as an
assistant food scientist with Thomas J.
Lipton Inc. He is currently involved with process development and even tually hopes to do work with con
sumer education and nutritional label
ling. "Lipton has hired five people from
Cornell in the past 15 months so they
must be pleased with our students," exclaims Herzog.

New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of the State University, at Cornell University

COUIMTRYM ^IT
NEW DIRECTIONS Sneakermania on campus- see story on pafge 4 ""^f,

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN
November 1979 VOLUME LXXVII Number 2

ABOUT THE ISSUE
In our last issue, we took a look at some aspects of the history of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. We saw how student life has changed
over the years. We saw innovations
which shaped the world we live in to day. This issue focuses on changes taking place now, as the College
searches for new directions.

CONTENTS 3. Computers: New Hired Hands by Stephen Adriance '80
4. Sneakermania by Steve Rotterdam '80
6. The Alfalfa Room Sprouts by Maria Sue Malkman '80
7. Nutrition Comes Alive by Adrienne R. Schwarz '80
8. The Ag Quandary by Nancy J. Okun '80 10. Plants Fight Back by Virginia A. Miller '80 1 1 . 1979's Outstanding Seniors by Karen M. Pelliccione '80 12. Thirty-Three Welcomes Later by Christin Sparagana '80 14. George F. Warren- A Profile by Diane Charnley grad. 15. The Days of Farm Demonstration Schools by Mary Elizabeth Schiek '80 16. The College's Real Farmers by David Paul Lane '80 18. Sororities on the Upswing by Donna M. Case '80 19. The Ag College Scores by Mike Grogan '81 20. New High Yield Wheats by Linda Ann Koski '81
22. Not Just Water Over the Dam by Catherine Northrup '80
24. Vegetables Get Window View by Leslie Green 79

EDITORS:
Pamela Edwards
Mary Elizabeth Schiek Christin Sparagana

ASSISTANT EDITORS: Stephen Adriance
Donna M. Case
Diane Charnley
Adrienne R. Schwarz

ART EDITORS:
Joann D'Emilio David Paul Lane
Charley Nasta
Steve Rotterdam

PHOTO EDITOR:
Lynn Jennifer Griffo
Picture Credits: Cover Photo - Steve
Rotterdam; p. 3 - Gary Fick; p. 4, 5 Steve Rotterdam; p. 6, 20, 21 - Linda Ann Koski; p. 7 - Media Services - Dan Reeves; p. 14, 15, 23 - Media Services; p. 8, 9, 22 - Cornell University Ar chives; p. 10 - Virginia A. Miller; p. 11 - Gordon Peck; p. 12, 13 - Carol Rathmann, Christin Sparagana; p. 16, 17 - David Paul Lane; p. 19 - The Cor nell Daily Sun; p. 24 - Roger Kline.

EDITORIAL STAFF: Mike Grogan, Mary Anne Hahn, Linda Ann Koski, Scott Lucear, Maria Sue Malkman, Virginia A. Miller, Debra Montner, Catherine Northrup, Nancy J. Okun, Karen M. Pelliccione
The Cornell Countryman (ISSN 0010-8782) is published seven times a year from October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cor nell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription Rates:
gathered$2.50 a year; $4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content
and written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty ad visors: Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

aniiiJiiPiS:

NEW HIRED HANDS

by Stephen Adriance '80

Are computers leaving the lab to take up farming? Will solid state cir cuitry replace denim coveralls and the
tractor? Lay your fears aside, the ver dict on all counts is "no."
Although this threat is fictitious, re search at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in the development
of information systems for farmers is a reality. In the near future a farmer will have direct access to computerized
information ranging from dairy manage
ment to crops and soils.
Some extension agents are already equipped with portable terminal units
which can be attached to the farmer's
phone. According to Prof. Gary Fick, Department of Agronomy, "In the
future the agent will be able to go to the farmer and basically for the cost of a telephone call get the information he needs."
This service is still at the research
stage. Models which simulate the many factors and decisions a farmer faces are being developed. Professor Fick is one of many researchers in this country and abroad who are tackling these factors through computers.
Weather, soil classification and man
agement are the major areas of con
cern in Professor Fick's current work

with alfalfa models.
When considering weather factors which affect alfalfa growth a model named "Weather," developed by Prof. William Fry, Department of Plant Pathology, and Jack Bruhn, grad, is
used. "Weather" was used to deter
mine climatic factors affecting potatoes,
which are seasonal. Alfalfa lives for
more than one year so "Weather" is
being modified to consider this and ad
ditional variables.
Models like "Weather" make the job of predicting farming variables more efficient. "Using weather history stored
in the computer, you can test manage ment over 50 years in a matter of
minutes," Professor Fick said, smiling.
The formation of alfalfa and weather
models is just part of a larger study, now in its infant stages. The study is entitled; "Component Analysis and Synthesis of Forage-Dairy Production Systems." Researchers in the northeast will study and form models represent ing a total dairy farm system. Included are models for weather, crop produc tion and management, machinery se lection and use, harvesting, storage of feed, milk production and economics.
Professor Fick and his family lived
in New Zealand from the summer of

1977 through the summer of 1978. He
studied pasture production and the use of the computer model in irrigation management problems with Prof. J.B. Dent from Lincoln College of Canter
bury University.
Professor Dent has written about the use of "skeleton" models where individual farms can be modeled. In
his paper, "The Application of Systems Theory in Agriculture," he wrote, "A
skeleton model must be able to absorb
the various details unigue to individual farms or farm enterprises and these must affect the coupled model's per formance in the same way as they af fect the real system." If this can be done, the farmer can get predictive in
formation about his own farm.
In such a program, each component model affects the system model and the system can be tailored to work in
a practical way for each farmer. Exten sion agents are currently training on portable computer terminal units. The use of computers and programmed models is presently a reality for a limited portion of agriculture. This sector will expand as research continues. "I think it's going to become even more impor tant. In the long range it will be as use ful as a weather forecast to a farmer,"
Professor Fick said expectantly. There are, however, things that the
computers refuse to do. In a recent poll of computers, the vote was unan
imous against both donning pairs of coveralls and driving farm vehicles. They will graciously leave that respon sibility to human hands.

Computer models are being developed in New Zealand to aid farmers in managing their pastures and croplands.

r1 .

W^w'j*********-,*

,.#/:,»"*■■

"^fff""^^

SN^4K^

They've been called many things in
their 111-year history: gumshoes, fel
ony shoes, tennies and croquet sandals. But most of us know them by a more familiar name - sneakers! Those canvas shoes with rubber soles that our parents hated and that now account for over 50 percent of the shoes sold in the nation.
Cornellians, aggies in particular, are
devout sneaker freaks. On one unusu
ally lovely day on the ag quad, of all the students and faculty rushing back and forth from one class to another, 65 percent were wearing sneakers. And if you count rubber soled Top Siders, you can up the figure another
10 percent. Why are sneakers so popular today?
It wasn't always this way. When I was a kid, I was allowed to wear my P.F.
Sneakers are perfect footgear for many activities - running, jogging, walking or just plain relaxing.

Specialty shops, such as this one in Pyramid Mall, are experiencing unprecedented growth due to "Sneakermania.

Flyers in the house and on the ball field. If I even attempted to put them on for a visit to Grandma's, the battle cry "Over my dead body!" would echo through the house. While I never really considered matricide, I would still oc casionally slip off to school in my sneakers where nobody seemed to mind, except on Assembly Days. If you wore sneakers on Assembly Days, your class would not get the com mendation for 100 percent proper dress, your classmates would tie your laces together and your teacher would berate you, claiming that you would
grow up to be a sneaker-clad bum.
Today, the opposite happens. Every
one wears sneakers. If you come to
class sporting a pair of Thorn McAn's, your classmates razz you. Sneakers,
in a sense, have become the hallmark of an informal dress code on campus.

The most obvious reason for this
"sneakermania" is the increased sense
of health consciousness in society, in
general. We are more active today. We jog, run, play tennis and overall try to stay in shape more than previous
generations. This kind of activity re quires the proper footwear to insure the health of our feet which is what sneak
ers were originally designed for. Try competing in the Finger Lakes Mara thon wearing pumps; say good-bye to
your feet and hello to your doctor.
Despite what mothers say, sneakers will not destroy your feet. The proper sneaker will give your foot the support
and protection it needs. But if you're in bad shape to begin with, don't ex
pect your Pumas to turn you into Jesse Owens. Only the proper care of
your body can do that. But it's only a small part of the

4

^N

A by Steve Rotterdam '80

sneaker-wearing population that actual ly use them to exercise in. A lot of people wear them to give that im pression, but the main reason for their popularity is a lot less athletic in nature.
"They're more comfortable," attests Vernon Mclntyre, a senior studying agricultural economics. That seems to be the main consideration in choosing
to become one of the "canvas gener
ation." And, indeed, they are more comfortable. They allow your feet to breathe during those long walks down
Tower Road. A cushioned sole is a
welcome friend to the foot running up
the stairs of Bradfield Hall. And you don't have to wear socks. Of all the
sneakered aggies trekking across the quad that morning, 75 percent were
sockless.
Sneakers on campus are generally
The old soft shoe - A pair of worn out sneakers holds a special place in
the heart of a sneaker fanatic.

of two types: the basketball sneaker
and the running sneaker. The latter, exemplified by the Adidas three stripe series, seems to be the most popular. The basketball sneaker (Pro-Keds, Converse) was a lot more popular un til folks discovered that running sneak ers highlight cute ankles.
Adidas seem to be the most prevalent on campus, followed by Nike and Pony. Skips, those cheap imitations that mom would buy from a large bin in a department store, are still frowned upon by the sneaker elite. As sneakers have become a fashion statement, so
have their brand names become status
symbols. And, as with any fashion, you can
buy them in a choice of colors. Blue and yellow are very common colors.
But basic white is still the most preva lent. Of course, if you wear white you
have to have colored stripes. Blue, red and green are the most popular stripe
colors. There is one sneaker that has
red reflective stripes for late night trips
to Louie's Lunch Truck.
Once they are bought, the average sneaker-wearer waits anywhere from six months to six years before buying a new pair. At around 30 dollars a shot, this isn't too surprising. But it's' some thing more than cost that makes people hang on to their sneakers. After the
whiteness fades to gray and after the
laces begin to look like something out of a Boy Scout knot tying manual, a pair of sneakers takes on a personality all its own (not to mention an odor, as
well). Just like selling an old car, part ing with a pair of worn out sneakers is like saying good-bye to an old friend.
Are sneakers here to stay? Will shoe
shine stands in Grand Central Station
soon be replaced by sneaker brushing

Decisions, decisions - A wide variety of sneaker styles and brands is avail able to the prospective buyer.
stands? Well, it probably won't come to that point. But sneakers have proven themselves to be the perfect footwear for today's lifestyle, especially here at Cornell. Ellen Block, '80 seems to fit the lace right in the hole when she sums up her feelings about the sneaker craze. "They're fun," she says. As a matter of fact, they're so much fun that they're not content to remain in our musty closets where they belong. Sneakers now pervade our entire cul
ture as well as our feet. There are
books about sneakers, sneaker shirts, paintings of sneakers and sneaker key chains. We are entering the age of "sneak chic." But we will not have to face it alone, it seems. Adidas is cur rently marketing sneakers in sets of four for our dogs. At least if the dogs refuse to wear them, they'll be able to chew on their own sneakers instead
of ours.

5

THE
ALFALFA ROOM
SPROUTS
by Maria Sue Malkman '80
Before this summer, it was a room filled with impersonal vending machines and long wooden tables which were mainly used for eating and studying. It just did not have the warm atmo sphere of a student lounge. But then
the renovation came. Walls were torn
down and the room was painted. Long tables with big wooden chairs were re placed by big cushiony couches, micro wave hot dogs became Mini-Deli sand
wiches snd fresh Bolton donuts took
the place of vending machine danishes. On September 3, the Alfalfa Room,
located in the basement of Warren
Hall, became the first student lounge on the ag quad to have both couches
and a concession.
Dan Mahaney, '80 a student in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
and manager of the Alfalfa Room is
pleased with the outcome of the reno vation. "We are doing as well as I expected and I hope we shall do even better. I'm especially pleased with the way the staff has turned out. Only one
out of the 14 students hired has behind-the-counter experience and yet we get compliments on the service and friendliness."

Students take advantage of new food choices in the renovated Alfalfa
Room.
The students who use the Alfalfa
Room are pleased with the new Lounge,
but many feel that it should be made
larger. Linda Seyler '81, said, "Because the lounge is much homier now, more people are coming here to 'hang out' and it gets very crowded. On the arts quad there are many more places to go. On the ag quad this is the only place to go, so everyone congregates here. I personally come here more than I used to. Before, I came here out of sheer desperation but now I enjoy coming."
One student who had to eat her lunch on the floor outside the Alfalfa
Room stated a definite need to expand the lounge. "It's good they have food and couches here, but I do not espe cially like sitting on the floor to eat my lunch. The room should be made larger to accommodate all these people. If it wasn't raining, I'd be outside," said Joyce Blum, '81 .
Ruth Breen, a staff member in Mann Library who had to eat her lunch stand ing up said, "I feel the overall con venience of the Alfalfa Room outweighs this one inconvenience. I am very pleased with the room."
Lois Morgan, '81, brings her lunch every day but uses the Alfalfa Room
to read and relax. "I would not put up
with the lines for buying food. It is nice
New couches offer a homier atmo
sphere for reading and relaxing.

to just come here and sit, and I come here more now mainly because it is more spread out and the smoking does not bother me as much," Morgan said.
Mahaney agreed that eventually the
Alfalfa Room will have to be made
larger. He said that the two long tables will be replaced with smaller tables
that seat four. "The Alfalfa Room definitely needs to be expanded but I
cannot see opening another lounge in
the near future. First we have to see
how this place does," said Mahaney. Ag-PAC members originally came up
with the idea for a student lounge four years ago. Sue Littman, '80, an Ag-PAC member, has been working with the renovation plans for the past two years. "Without student input,
the Alfalfa renovation would never
have been completed. The University
Unions wanted the renovation but the
agricultural administration wanted a gathering of student interest in the project. Dean Call said the renovation plans were accepted when the stu dents endorsed the tentative plans,"
said Littman.
According to Mahaney, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences gave $16,000 toward the renovation. This money was used for tearing down a
wall, painting walls and providing new furniture. Mahaney said Noyes Center provided the Alfalfa Room with money
on a temporary basis. "If it weren't for Dean Call this lounge
never would have been improved. He was in favor of having a place like the Alfalfa Room for students to use,"
said Mahaney.

Grandma and Puddles

the stars

of the Nutrition Comes Alive PSAs.

Nutrition Comes

ALIVE

by Adrienne R. Schwarz '80

Have you ever seen a carrot sing and play the piano Jimmy Durante style, or a bunch of broccoli fly through the air like Superman? Well if you watch your television closely you just might experience such sights in several
nutrition PSA's (Public Service An
nouncements) which are now being
aired all across New York State.
The series of 13 PSA's complement
a program called Nutrition Comes Alive
which is a set of nutrition education
activity packets for grades kinder garten through six. Nutrition Comes Alive is being developed by nutrition
ists at Cornell's Division of Nutritional
Sciences under contract with the
New York State Education Department. Funding is being supplied by the Nu trition Education and Training Program. Working closely with teachers, school administrators and students, nutrition ists are developing these resource pack ets to bring the cafeteria and classroom together.

Each level of Nutrition Comes Alive
emphasizes a different major nutrition topic. Some of the topics include the origins of food, snack choice and how
media affect food choice. The types of activities included in the packets vary from games and cassette tapes to slides, songs and puppets.
Martha Mapes, a Senior Extension
Associate in the Division of Nutritional
Sciences here at Cornell, worked on level two of the program entitled, "Be a Choosy Chewer." The major nutri tion topic for this level is snack choices. The same two lovable puppet char acters, "Grandma" and her dog "Pud dles" which appear in the PSA's, will
reappear in the classroom to take the
students through many nutrition learn ing experiences.
The television spots were filmed in the ETV Center in Martha Van Rens
selaer Hall, under the direction of David Watkins. The puppeteering, as well as help in scripting, is done by

The supporting cast - Vegetables, fruits and other foods help convey the message of proper nutrition to young children through PSAs.

Noreen Young and Bob Dermer who
are associated with children's television
in Canada. "Grandma" and "Puddles", used in all the spots for continuity, have a magic cupboard through which nutritional messages are conveyed by talking fruits, vegetables and even milk cartons. The message of good nutri tion is virtually brought to life by a piano-playing carrot, a singing banana or a talking head of lettuce.
Mapes said these PSA's are being
used to reinforce what the children
will learn about good nutrition in the
classroom. Posters of the puppets are
also being used so that children will
choose a nutritious snack in the school
lunchroom or when making selections at a vending machine or in a fast food
restaurant.
The PSA's were broadcast over a
13 week period this summer in Syra cuse on the children's show, "Satur
day Showboat." When children were asked how they felt about the spots,
the responses were favorable. The spots were liked and their messages
were understood. Mapes said six more "Grandma" and "Puddles" spots are going to be produced in November. In addition to Mapes, other Cornell Extension nutritionists including Susan Nelson, Martha Plass and Karen Kurowski are also working on the Nutrition
Comes Alive program in the classroom
resources area.
The supplementary reading resources
of the Nutrition Comes Alive program will be available at the local BOCES
or Community School District Re
source Centers in New York State in
early 1980. This worthwhile education resource offers a unique and innova tive approach to learning nutrition in the classroom, by actively involving children through exploration, experi mentation and experience.

7

THE AGby Nancy J. Okun '80

Change has. been an enduring theme
in the history of the College of Agri
culture and Life Sciences. Some modi
fications have affected internal policy decisions, while others have changed the exterior of the buildings.
During the early 1970's, a proposal was first submitted advocating a major overhaul in the ag quad area. This ori ginal plan sought to demolish the Roberts-East Roberts-Stone complex

integrity" of the ag quad by keeping the west end, parallel to Mann Library,
open.
The specific layout of this new pro posal seeks to preserve as much as possible, and still supply the needed modern teaching facilities. The first phase would be the construction of building #1, now to be located across
Tower Road on Lower Alumni Field.
The tentative completion date for this

move back across the quad into the second new unit. Caldwell and Com
stock halls will be preserved and taken
over by the University, thereby relieving the State of the cost of maintaining and rehabilitating these buildings. The
possibilities suggested for their use in
clude a library annex, a natural history museum and a student lounge.
The five ag quad buildings are owned by the State which supports their main

and Caldwell and Comstock halls. Two primary addition is September 1983. tenance and utility costs. The State

new buildings, termed academic units, were to be built; the first across the

When this unit is completed, the en tomology department will move into it,

will not, however, appropriate any
funds for increased classroom and of

west end of the ag quad, closing off the rectangle, and the second build ing replacing Roberts and Stone halls. The proposal has been reappearing every few years and although it gener ates excitement, it has never progressed from its planning stage.
The issue is surfacing once again,
and this time a second alternative is
being considered. The new proposal, according to David L. Call, Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, attempts to "preserve the

vacating Caldwell and Comstock halls. Next, the departments from Roberts
and Stone halls will relocate across
the quad in Caldwell and Comstock halls. During phase two, Roberts and Stone halls, by then unoccupied, will be demolished, preparing a site for the
second academic unit whose tentative
completion date is September 1985. At this time, the departments original ly in Roberts and Stone, temporarily housed in Caldwell and Comstock, and the occupants of East Roberts, will

fice space. Therefore, the two new buildings will have approximately the same square footage as the original buildings.
The price for renovating Roberts, Stone and East Roberts, according to a statement by Dean Call, is nine to ten dollars higher a square foot than for new construction. The College felt this
additional cost of one to one and a half
million dollars was too high so they have abandoned plans for renovation.
The proposal has incited much con-

The original proposal included plans to build an academic unit that would close off the west end of the ag quad at the far left of this picture. This south view shows Stone, Roberts and East Roberts halls.

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QUANDARY

troversy on the Cornell campus, and
throughout Ithaca as well. Recom
mendations to preserve the buildings
on the quad have been received from
two sources. The Ithaca Landmarks
Preservation Commission, headed by
Vicki Romanoff, feels that the five ag
quad buildings, Bailey Hall and all the
interconnecting land should be desig
nated a city historic district. Similar views are held by Historic Ithaca. The issue will go to Common Council for a final decision. If it is approved, the
University will have to obtain a permit from the City, approved by the Land marks Commission, before altering any of the buildings.
While Cornell is very interested in
preserving its buildings of architectural value, the University's highest priority
ls the academic program. Constance
E. Cook, Vice President for Land Grant Affairs, agrees. Cook feels that the delay in negotiations may jeopardize the entire plan and lose the State ap propriations. For Cook, the issue is one °f priorities, and academic considera-

An aerial view -- The revised proposal included plans for a building in lower alumni field. The foreground of this picture shows the contemplated site.

tions must take precedence. "Cornell is lagging behind in modern
teaching facilities in biology and en tomology," she stated recently. "We
cannot head into the next century in
this condition." According to Cook, the requests for renovation and simi lar proposals have been brought up before. She recognizes that if the pro ject is stopped this time, there may
never be another one due to the State's
tight fiscal situation. "We can't lose our momentum now,"
she added. "If we do, we will be de laying the resolution to a problem that we might not get another chance to solve, because of State restrictions of funds for higher education construction in the light of statewide declining en rollments."
The University feels that the issue is a legal question. If the site is designated a historical district, the University must consult the preservation committees for any minor changes in the exterior

of any of the six buildings. For this reason, the University is cautious in
subjecting the state-owned buildings to outside control. At a preliminary meet ing held in Albany on September 20, the State University of New York agreed to support Cornell's stand against naming the area a historic district.
"I believe this proposal to be a sen sible alternative to the original," Dean Call stated recently, "and I am opti mistic that the plans will go through."
Call said that he senses the support of faculty, alumni and students on this
matter.
This support has been expressed in
a vote of the Board of Directors of the
Ag Alumni Association held on Septem ber 29 in favor of the replacement of Roberts, East Roberts and Stone halls. On October 3, the faculty will act on a resolution which supports the current plan proposed by the College and Uni versity administration. The final deci
sion may still be far off.

9

PLANTS FIGHT BACK

by Virginia A. Miller '80

The black swallowtail butterfly thrives on parsnip, although the plant is poisonous to many other insects.
A parsnip sits on the podium. May Berenbaum, grad. introduces it as a weapons plant - but without the usual assortment of pickets and pro testers. Her presentation is the final
stage of a contest that won her and
another graduate student the 1979 Sigma Delta Epsilon - Graduate Wo men in Science (SDE-GWIS) award for
excellence.
The award, instituted this year by the Cornell chapter of SDE-GWIS, recognizes the female graduate student at Cornell who has completed a scien tific research project of the highest quality and who can best present her
results to an audience.
People think of the plants in their gardens as being helpless vicitms of
insect attack. Berenbaum said the
audience enjoyed her presentation be cause, "They think it's wonderful that a plant can fight back."
Berenbaum, who is in the Section of Ecology and Systematics of the Division of Biology, described the sub jects of her study as "being involved in an evolutionary arms race. A plant
comes up with one weapon and the insects with another to combat it."
Her research for this study was pub lished in the August 11,1 978 issue of Science magazine.
"Most plants make chemicals and some make very special ones like caf feine or certain psychedelics," said Berenbaum. People once thought that

they were waste products of the planntt.. To Berenbaum and other researcherrss, this was not practical. "It would be like someone saving the garbage in their homes for years," explains Beerrenbaum. Then, people realized thiat they might be important for the ecolo»ggyy of the plant, protecting them fro)mrn pathogens or herbivores.
The parsnip, in this case, has in it a chemical which is highly toxic to mamnyy insects. When the insect eats the plaanntt in the presence of ultraviolet light, or sunlight, the chemical latches on to tthhe insect's DNA which then kills the bujg-.
The skin of the insect also reacts to
this chemical by changing from da3rfkk
brown to brick red.
Depending on one's sensitivity, a person might also have a reaction after touching these plants. This w/as originally discovered during World W^/aarr II when soldiers on camouflage mane3uu-
vers were told to cover themselv/eess
with plants. "The next day they bro)kke out in itchy rashes and blisters amndd
their skin turned darker where tthhe
plants had touched them," said Beren-
baum. The army discovered that it wvaas
parsnip that the soldiers had used as camouflage.
May Berenbaum working at the h'igh pressure liquid chromatograph machliinne extracting compounds for study.

Some insects wisely roll the leaves of these plants completely around them, and thus avoid the infiltration of ultraviolet light. "They've got it made in the shade," said Berenbaum. Without the ultraviolet light provided by the sun,
the toxic chemical cannot bind to the DNA and cause the insect's death.
There are also some insects that can
survive on this generally toxic diet even in the presence of sunlight. The black swallowtail butterfly is one example. "If anything, it makes the butterf|y grow better," said Berenbaum. She explained that so far, whenever a plant comes up with a weapon to avoid being eaten, an insect is not far behind in creating a counterweapon.
Berenbaum was a biology major as an undergraduate and was always
afraid of insects. She decided that
"Fear stems from ignorance," and together with her interest in botany, began to study insects that eat plants.
All the research is not done. There
are two classes of the chemical that
Berenbaum is studying, with different insects reacting to each one. There is the possibility that these chemicals could be used as a possible control
measure for insects.
The arms race is still on. Berenbaum may be able to act as a mediator between the two adversaries to benefit
agriculture and ecology in general.

10

Outstanding1979's

Seniors by Karen M. Pelliccione '80

How often have you heard students
argue that it is difficult to be involved in extracurricular activities and still do
well in school? Probably fairly often. Well, if those students met either Mary A. Maxon, '79, or Carol L. Zimmerman, 79, they might change their minds. Maxon and Zimmerman, both gradu ates of the College of Agriculture and
Life Sciences, received the Outstand
ing Senior Award from the College Alumni Association. The award, which consists of a plaque and a $100 check, was given in recognition of outstand ing leadership and service to the Col lege and to the University.
Maxon held several leadership posi tions, including that of coordinator of College Ambassadors and vice-presi
dent of the Cornell Panhellenic Asso
ciation. Richard A. Church, '64, Col
lege Admissions Officer for the ag college, recalls that his first contact with Maxon occurred in the beginning of her sophomore year. She became chairman of College Ambassadors,
which then had about six members.
By the time she graduated, the Ambas sadors had increased to approximately
50 members. Maxon also contributed
to the Agriculture and Life Sciences Positive Action Council (Ag-PAC), as its publicity director during her junior year and its vice-president during her
senior year.
Maxon was a member of the Cornell
Ambassadors, a member of Sigma Delta Tau sorority and a student repre sentative for the College Alumni Asso
ciation's Board of Directors. As a
communication arts major, Maxon was editor of the January-February '79 is sue of the Cornell Countryman and was a member of the Quill and Dag
ger Society.
Maxon is presently employed in a public relations capacity at Cazenovia
College. Considering all of her previous experience, Church feels that Maxon

is very well-suited to her new position. Zimmerman was equally involved in
leadership activities. Her roles as pres ident of Ag-PAC and as coordinator of the College's 75th Anniversary activities were two of the major re sponsibilities to which she devoted her energies. She was a College Ambas sador, a Cornell National Scholar
and a student member of the Col
lege's Fund Advisory Committee. Zim merman also worked with the College Admissions Policy Committee and served as vice-president of her sorority,
Pi Beta Phi.
Zimmerman, an animal science major, decided to work as a Cooper ative Extension 4-H agent in Cattaraugus County because of her interest in
young people. What is now the Outstanding Senior
Award was once the Senior Service
Award. It used to be presented at the Alumni Breakfast, but is now awarded first at a reception for seniors spon sored by HoNunDeKah. Last year,
Maxon and Zimmerman were honored
at both affairs.
The committee which decides the
winner consists of alumni, students and ag college administrators. Student organizations are asked to submit possible candidates' names and the
winner is chosen on the basis of in
volvement in leadership services. According to Glenn 0. MacMillen,
'54, Director of the Alumni and De velopment Office, the most important criteria for winning the award are leadership and service to the College

and to the University, with less empha
sis on academic achievement. The Out
standing Senior Award was never be fore given to more than one student
but the credentials of both Maxon and
Zimmerman were so evenly matched that the deciding committee could not
choose one student over the other.
MacMillen stated that part of the result of this award is that the winners
can help "spread the word" for the Alumni Association. They can, for ex ample, speak at regional Alumni As sociation meetings, and, ultimately, become actively involved in alumni affairs. Fund-raising is a large part of this function because, as MacMillen pointed out, "The state provides the essentials but the Alumni Fund provides
for the measure of excellence."
As Church noted, both Maxon and Zimmerman made several tremendous
contributions. They brought Ag-PAC a long way and were instrumental in bringing about the renovation of the
Alfalfa Room. He sees a need to recog nize extracurricular activities as well
as academic achievement. In his opin ion, the Outstanding Senior Award is very appropriate for this type of recog nition, and Maxon and Zimmerman
were ideal candidates. These students
have shown that gaining a college education can be greatly enriched through involvement in other activities. As Zimmerman noted, "When you look back at your four years of college,
these activities and the friends you
meet as a result of them are the things
you remember."

Mary Maxon and Carol Zimmerman
stand with Dean David L. Call after re-
| ceiving their Outstanding Senior Awards.
i

Professor Conneman used an apple to show how people see things differ ently.
HoNunDeKah member Lynn Con way, '80, gave a helping hand.

Thirty-Three ^
by Christin Sparagana '80

It started 33 years ago when an ambitious professor in the Department of Animal Science, Prof. George Well ington, emeritus, assisted the HoNun DeKah members in venturing into the
woods to cut down two cords of hard
wood. The crew proceeded to dig a large pit where they built a blazing fire. At 11 p.m. the night before the first
HoNunDeKah barbecue, the fire was down to coals. The students then
placed roasts of beef wrapped in wet burlap on top of the coals, and covered the pit with dirt. At 5 p.m. the next day, the beef was ready to be served.
Prof. John P. Hertel, '34, Ph.D. '38, professor emeritus of Personnel Admin istration and former Secretary of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, described the first barbecue as "quite an operation." Professor Hertel was the HoNunDeKah advisor throughout
the first 26 years of the barbecue's
history, until he retired in 1972. Al though he has witnessed some changes
over the years, Professor Hertel said
the goals of the barbecue have re
mained the same.
According to Dr. Donald C. Burgett, '62, M.S. '67, Ph.D. 70, head of Stu
dent Affairs and current HoNunDeKah

Chicken anyone? Chicken for of chicken were prepared and i
advisor, the purpose of the barbecue: is to give new students a chance tc get acquainted with each other and their advisors in an informal setting. "It's the only time the Class of '83 wil be together until graduation," he added,
Dr. Burgett said the barbecue ma\ be held during Orientation Week in fu
ture years in order to increase atten-.
dance. Professor Hertel said, "The
barbecue used to be the principal ori ._
entation program before the new system

Nothing But Treble entertained with songs while students and advisors

12

Welcomes Later

veryone! - One thousand halves ved to the hungry crowd.
was developed." Of the 1,300 persons invited to this year's barbecue, 600
attended.
Despite a tightening budget, the dean and directors of the College have continued to provide HoNunDeKah with the financial support necessary forthe barbecue. Dr. Joan R. Egner, Associate Dean of the College of Agri culture and Life Sciences, said, "The idea is excellent. It gets the new stu dents together and identifies them as

a unit."
The preparation for the 1979 barbe cue began last spring when chairmen for food, invitation, set up, clean up and guest speaker committees were chosen. The event culminated on September 10th, where within the walls, ceiling and sawdust floor of the Livestock Pavilion, the 600 guests con sumed nearly 1,000 halves of chicken, 1,000 baked potatoes, 200 pounds of cabbage, 1,000 cartons of milk, 600
containers of ice cream and 40 water
melons.
Speeches, scholastic award presen
tations and entertainment followed the
feast. Alicia Simard, '80, 1979 Vice President of HoNunDeKah and general manager of the barbecue, explained, "The speeches and award presenta tions were intended to spark interest and enthusiasm, as well as give the
new students incentive."
Dr. Egner expressed three main greetings in her speech - welcome, congratulations and thank you. The guest speaker, Prof. George J. Conne man, '52, M.S. '55, 1974-75 Profes sor of Merit, said, "People must de velop perspective while at Cornell."
The theme of his speech was encom passed in his 10-word 20-letter mes sage - "If it is to be, it is up to me."
What better advice for a new student
at Cornell?

■d and enjoyed the meal. Organized teamwork made clean up run smoothly.

if-s*, f' »?//
Prof. Joseph B. Bugliari, LLB '59, moves through the buffet line.
Michael Totta, '80, president o\ HoNunDeKah, was master of cere
monies.
ftffff

1

GEORGE F. WARREN
A Profile

by Diane Charnley Grad.

George F. Warren, '03, was a re
markable man! Known as one of the
fathers of agricultural economics, a
scholar and advisor to Franklin D. Roosevelt, Warren as a teacher was a revered, down-to-earth, witty man.
Warren's accomplishments in the field of agricultural economics are well
known. Warren was the first in his
field to scientifically evaluate local as well as national farm management problems-not only as they affected agriculture generally, but as they affect ed the farmer directly. His work has had an important impact on the farmers of this century.
One of his many publications was the textbook Elements of Agriculture. Published at the beginning of the 20th century, it sold nearly a half million copies, due largely to his simple ex planations of important principles.
While teaching at Cornell, Warren acted as economic advisor to Governor, and later President, Roosevelt. How
ever, Warren turned down many offers
to leave Cornell because he preferred
"to continue at Cornell where men
can think first without having to think about what everybody else thinks."
Of particular interest are Warren as
student and as teacher. He was born
in 1874 to Connecticut Yankee parents
who were among the early settlers of the Nebraska prairie. Warren was raised on a small farm where the staple diet consisted of little more than mush,
local game, sunflower seeds and dried
corn. Though most farm boys' edu cations ended early then, Warren went on to study mathematics at the University of Nebraska. While at Ne-

earth teaching style greatly appealed

to his students, especially farm boys

interested in practical solutions to farm

problems. Warren's best teaching took place

in informal surroundings and on a one-

to-one basis. Each Tuesday afternoon

graduate students, often referred to as his "disciples", met for an informal
class in Warren's office. There were

no assignments, no examinations nor
any credit earned for this class. The
only time restrictions placed on his
students came when Warren's wife
telephoned to remind him that he was

late to dinner.
Warren lived what he taught on his
86-acre farm in Forest Home. His

George F. Warren - A teacher with humor and practical advice.
braska, his interests led him to shift his studies to agriculture. He later en tered Cornell in 1902 as a transfer
student and completed bachelor's, master's and Ph.D. degrees only three
years later!
While working on his undergraduate degree, Warren helped found the Cor nell Countryman magazine, becoming
its first editor and author of several articles.
A year after completing his Ph.D., he was appointed Assistant Professor of Agronomy at Cornell. His academic career spanned more than 30 years. Though his courses and lecture notes

barns were not painted because, as
he claimed, "You paint a roof to pre serve it. You paint a house to sell it. You paint the side of a barn to look at it, if you can afford it." When a student asked him why he did not
paint his barn, Warren replied, "The mortgage sticks longer than the paint."
But when a student later noted that
Warren's barn had been painted and
that the mortgage must have been paid, Warren retorted, "No, I merely painted the barn so I could get more
mortgage." In 1930, the New York State legis
lature passed an agricultural bill which provided funds for a new building at Cornell for agricultural economics and
farm management. As Governor Roose velt signed the bill, he declared, "This
bill is a personal tribute to Dr. Warren."
That tribute-Warren Hall-stands today

were felt by colleagues to be poorly organized, his humorous and down-to-

as a reminder of George F. Warren and his many accomplishments.

14

THE DAYS OF by Mary Elizabeth Schiek '80

Farm Demonstration Schools

Swarmville, Erie County, 1917, "The
men who attended this school were
older than average and not especially
progressive. . ."
Weedsport, Cayuga County, 1920, ."''"Rather difficult to get hold of the
audience at first. Inclined to have a
critical attitude."
East Durham, Greene County, 1919,
"Community as a whole was a bit back
ward, but keen for advancement."
Remarks such as these, taken from
instructors' reports in the Cornell Uni
versity Archives, represent some Col
lege of Agriculture instructors' initial
reactions to the rural people they en-
- countered at extension schools of the
1910's and '20's. These schools, called farm demonstration schools, were a part of the College's efforts to bring more specialized academic in-
"
struction to farm people. Earlier, "farm
ers' institutes" had been held in rural
-communities with great success. These
were social events which centered
■ around lectures on agriculture and in cluded feasts, sing-a-longs, and musi cal performances by local talent. With
the advent of farm demonstration
■: schools, however, extension teaching
•took on a more serious tone. ■ "An extension school is a short in tensive course of instruction in some
: -subject of interest to rural people, '■9'ven in the local community, away -from the College," announced a Col-
|f9e pamphlet of the early 1920's.
•"The extension school brings the Colie9e to the community. . . . The in duction is fundamental. . . and. . . practical. The work consists of demon
stration, lectures and practice periods." : To take advantage of the seasonal r3lack in farm work, farm demonstra-
;:IOn schools were held during the winter '•Months. The average school ran two 0 ^ve days. A school could be held ^hen a county agent and local com munity leaders determined that com

munity interest was keen enough to
make the school worthwhile.
Even though farm people seemed interested, they did not always attend the extension schools. Pamphlets on extension schools stipulated that ". . forty or more persons should be definately (sic.) 'signed up'," but enrollment usually fell below advanced registra
tion. The reasons cited in school re
ports for poor attendance included
everything from bad weather and ill ness to poor publicity. Here are a few
comments from farm demonstration
school records:
Westford, Chatauqua County, 1924,
"The school was a combination of
farmers and high school students which again proved a very undesirable ar rangement."
King Ferry, Cayuga County, 1924, "The small attendance was probably due to lack of advance (sic.) registra tion, though hay pressors (sic.) and
ice harvest also interfered."
East Durham, Greene County, 1920, "Not very many progressive farmers in the locality. . . Agriculture of the community adversely influenced by summer boarding business."
Crown Point, Essex County, 1918,
"An unfortunate occurrence the first
day of school was largely responsible
for lack of interest the balance of the
week." The records do not show what
this occurrence was.
Perhaps farmers were less interested
in intensive courses than in the more
casual "farmers' institutes" of old. Per
haps some schools failed because the innovations the College had to offer were ill-suited to local needs. During
this period, the College began to em phasize specialization. It was in areas with specialized needs that farm demon
stration schools were most successful. Monroe and Orleans counties had an unusually large percentage of fruit and
vegetable farmers who repeatedly asked

Dutiful listeners - The Farm Demon
stration School could meet in any pub
lic area, even in a jury box.
for schools in plant breeding, plant disease, fruit growing and agronomy. Fruit and poultry schools, as a rule,
were successful all over the state.
Extension school teachers occasion
ally ran across an unusually receptive group of individuals. In 1922, a Cayuga County school in farm management and poultry was deemed a success. "Community fairly prosperous. Wide awake with good cooperative spirit and interest in what the College has to offer them." From Derby in Erie County, 1916, came the report, "There are quite a number of city men in the community engaged in farming, some of them having independent means, but all
have taken an active interest in rural
problems, and it is these city men who are largely responsible for the progres sive spirit of the locality."
Interest in farm demonstration schools declined in the 1920's. During
this same period, both the number of
extension workers based in the counties
and the training requirements for ex
tension work increased. More individu alized help was offered to farmers and extension schools became a less im portant means of disseminating infor
mation on new agricultural techniques.
By the 1930's, farm demonstration schools had become obsolete, but be fore, during and immediately after World War I, they served as a useful source of information for many rural
New Yorkers.

15

The Teaching and Research Center dairy complex and shop are located between Harford and Dryden. The Center began operation in 1971.
The College's REAL Farmers
by David Paul Lane '80

ployee for 18 years and has worked
with the field crew since the T and R Center was created in 1971 .
Another member of the crew, Ed
Parker, has been working at the facility
for over nine years. He is classified as a motor vehicle operator and can drive
just about anything on wheels. His con cern with accomplishing the chores set forth for the crew goes far beyond his eight hour day. Parker's superior handling ability with equipment and his desire to get things done have deemed him an integral part of the
operation. Also an important member of the
crew is Harlan Nafziger. He is respon sible for the application of chemical herbicides. Nafziger is interested in machinery innovations and keeping the

Located fourteen miles from campus between Dryden and Harford is the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' Teaching and Research Center. The "T and R" Center is comprised of three complexes which include approximately
830 head of dairy cattle, 500 head of beef, and 1,000 head of sheep. Meet ing the feed requirements of this vast
number of animals is an enormous
task. The job is accomplished by six full-time Cornell employees.
While it might seem hard to believe that six men can grow enough forage to meet the requirements of so many animals, they get the job done. Philip Bradt is the supervisor for the field

crew. He is a 1965 graduate of Cornell and is serving his first year at this posi
tion. Prior to his current post, Bradt worked with the Department of Plant
Breeding and Biometry. With Bradt's knowledge of agronomy
and field crops, he is particularly wellsuited for his new job. He cited, "The production of high quality forage in sufficient quantity to meet the require
ments of the livestock at the T and R
Center," as the field crew's primary goal. He added, "We also assist in any way with experiments at the facility."
For the field crew, this includes
weighing all forage harvested, obtain ing samples from which moisture levels
and nutrient values are determined and
providing forage to test different stor age techniques.
Also, experimenting with new and differing seed varieties and chemical herbicides to obtain maximum yields is of high priority to Bradt. The field crew has been experimenting with various tillage techniques for years.
With the help of five men, Bradt ef ficiently runs the Center's farm. Ralph
Dickens is the oldest member of the field crew. He has been a Cornell em-
Phil Bradt, '65 - His job includes more than supervision.

The oldest member of the crew -
Ralph Dickens is shown transporting
si/age.
crew's equipment working at its opti mum potential.
Finally, Ron Sweet and Tim Moyer
are the most recent additions to the crew. Sweet's extensive farm back
ground and Moyer's knowledge of
mechanics have made them welcome members of the crew. Sweet has
been working at the center for almost four years while Moyer has been with
the crew for three years.
Although the crew services and main
tains its equipment, their productivity
is greatly increased by Rodney Moyer
and Jim Robbs. These men run the
T and R shop. They maintain and

Expensive equipment - Ron Sweet drives across a field and prepares to chop corn with a $60,000 forage harvester tractor and wagon.

Ed Parker shows his expertise while
leveling and packing a bunker silo with
a bulldozer.

Tim Mayer is unloading corn from
a wagon into a cement silo.
Routine servicing -Jim Robbs check ing a tractor battery in need of repair.

repair not only the machines used by the field crew, but all their equipment
at the T and R Center. Their duties in
clude diesel and gasoline engine over hauls, transmission repairs and body work as well as routine servicing of all machines. No piece of equipment leaves the shop (or enters the field) unless it is operating properly.
With the help of Moyer and Robbs,
the field crew is able to cultivate an
incredible amount of acreage quickly. Of the 2,500 acres at the T and R Cen ter, nearly half is tillable. In 1979, 640
acres of corn and over 600 acres of
hay were harvested.
Since a vast amount of land is util
ized, it is almost impossible for the crew to plant and harvest the crops working eight hour days. So, twelve hour work days are not unusual. With Ithaca weather like it is, the crew must work when the weather is good or risk forage quality and quantity losses.
Since the forage requirements at the T and R facility are enormous, utilizing
Rodney Moyer was recently honored
for 25 years of service to the T Et R Center.

1,250 acres is essential. It is through the cooperative efforts and hard work of the field crew that the forage needs
of the livestock are filled.
In spite of the size of the Teaching and Research Center and the large amount of research that takes place there, many Cornell students know little about what goes on at the facility, or even that it exists. Bradt, recog nizing this, commented, "I think seeing the T and R Center should be a part of the freshman orientation of all agri culture students at Cornell."

17

may return this spring. That will bring
the number of sororities at Cornell to

sororities
on

o

the ,»W
UPS*

by Donna M. Case '80
Greek society is entering a golden
age at Cornell. Where interest in so rorities declined in the 1960's, sorori ties have found themselves overflow
ing with members in the late 1970's. Many women in the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are a part of this growth.
Approximately 20 percent of soror ity members are women in the College. A good portion of these women can be found in executive positions within their sororities such as President, House Manager, Rush Chairman and Social Chairman. One sorority has only eight ag college students but
four of them are on the house's execu tive council. A past Panhellenic Presi dent and a former Assistant Rush Chairman for Panhel were women
studying in the ag college. These offices are just a few of the key posi tions women in the College occupy.
The average number of members in
a sorority at Cornell is 75. Most houses

are large and are grouped in two sizes:
60-80 and 90-115. This is a sub
stantial increase over the early 1960's figure of approximately 45. The houses
then had no more than 80 members.
However, during the early 1960's the number of sororities dropped from 13 to seven. According to Ruth Darling, present Acting Dean of Students and past Advisor to Fraternities and Soror ities, "There was less interest on the part of the students and there were more problems associated with various requirements national might have had."
The problems have since faded. Chrissie Schelhas-Miller, the present Advisor to Fraternities and Sororities, has seen some changes as a result.
"More students seemed interested in
traditional social events at this year's
orientation. Traditional institutions are
more acceptable. Sororities are one of
these institutions." Over 300 freshman
women attended Panhel's Big Red Barn party during orientation week this fall.
This is more than have ever attended
before.
Cornell now accepts a greater num ber of women for enrollment. This,
coupled with a greater desire to join sororities, has resulted in Panhel per mitting more sororities to return to
Cornell. Two sororities have been added
within the past five years and another

ten.
Present national sororities' interests
in Cornell are growing just as fast as
students' interests in sororities. Three
sororities are awaiting permission to
establish themselves on campus. As
a result, Panhel is now considering permitting one sorority a year to return.
The desire for this return is present
but no definite plans have been made to change the alternate year acceptance period to a yearly one.
If the attendance at this years' Big Red Barn party is any indication of things to come, rush will be stronger than ever this spring. Panhel has changed the rush format to accommo date the upswing. Instead of two formal rush periods of two weeks in the fall and spring, only one rush will be held. It extends from September to January and is comparable to the fraternity rush system. Informal rush, consisting of open houses and informal parties, ends this month. A mora
torium is held in December. Formal
rush will start with the return of stu
dents in mid-January and will last two
weeks.
Sorority members are showing in creasing involvement and leadership on campus. Panhel is joining with the Interfraternity Council to sponsor more
events on campus. The events include
things such as Fun in the Sun during orientation week. An increasing amount
of lectures and social events are spon
sored by Panhel and the IFC. A news paper, Greek Columns, has started production this year with many ag col lege men and women contributing to
it.
The present upswing in sororities is expected to continue. An increasing number of ag college women are caus ing this surge in interest. The more
sororities grow, the more women in
the ag school will contribute to Cornell.

I ■% ZH0IK
18

Ag College SCORES by Mi

For years Cornell's College of Agri
culture and Life Sciences has been the
target of taunts and jeers from op posing football and hockey fans. Until last year, when the Big Red gridders went 5-3-1, a Cornell football fan could only sit back and mutter while
a rival band marched into a "M-O-O"
configuration playing "Old MacDonald." It is psychologically difficult to retort
in like fashion when your team is los
ing, and from 1973 to 1977, Cornell and winning football were seldom mentioned in the same breath. In that
dismal five-year span, the Big Red
mustered a total of 10 victories, al
though the picture is much brighter
these days. In hockey the derision of Cornell's
aggies has been even more intense. The intense rivalry with Harvard, for ex
ample, began in the 1969-70 season
when a live chicken was tied to the
Big Red goal before the start of the third period in a game at Cambridge. The Crimson's pep band chipped in its rendition of "Farmer in the Dell,"
which has since been modified to
"Farmers from Cornell" by some
schools. The fact that Cornell won
that game (3-1) was overlooked by
the Harvard hecklers. When Harvard
came to Ithaca the following year, Big Red hockey fans would not be outdone. Two live chickens awaited the visitors,
along with an abundant supply of fish. But amidst all the mockery, oppos
ing fans seem to have ignored a rather glaring fact: more often than not, Cor
nell's "farmers" have beaten their ad
versaries. In fact, Cornell has more wins in NCAA Division I play than any team in the country.
The winning tradition at Cornell be
gan in 1965 when second year coach Ned Harkness took his team to a 19-7 finish. It was Harkness who introduced
Canadians to eastern college hockey Play, and for a few years, Cornell had a monopoly on recruiting up north. Today it would be nearly impossible to find a hockey powerhouse that did

not rely heavily on imported talent. Just how big an effect have aggies
had on Cornell's rich hockey tradition?
Take 1970 when the team was national
champion with a 29-0 record. Of the
22 members on that team, 16 were
enrolled in the ag college, including current head coach Dick Bertrand, 70, and Cornell women's hockey coach Bill Duthie, 71. Other ag students
from that team can now be found with
positions in business, sales manage ment, teaching, law and medicine, to name a few. This diversity of careers is a prime recruiting weapon of Bertrand's. "The beauty of the ag college
is that it has so many different pro
grams," explains the coach. "You can
move around within the school itself
or within the University to find just what you're looking for."
Of course there are several other
considerations which lure athletes to
the ag college. A big factor is the
tuition cost in Cornell's statutory col
leges, which is much lower than tui tion in Cornell's endowed divisions, or
at any other Ivy schools, according to
Bertrand. Add this cost factor to the
College's diverse program offerings, Cornell's natural beauty, Ithaca's prox imity to Canada and the University's top sports reputation, and it is no
wonder that athletes are drawn here.
Although he is a staunch supporter of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the nine-year coach does not force his allegiance on recruits. "We can't and don't push anybody into a particular school here," says Bertrand. "But I believe in the ag college. If
asked, I recommend it whole-heartedly.
Or if we have a kid in limbo as to
what he wants, we make him aware of
some general programs available."
Bertrand himself was among the ori
ginal string of Canadian talent attracted
to Cornell in the mid '60s. He enrolled
as a business management and market ing major in the ag college in 1965 at age 24, and was a tri-captain of the 1970 championship team. After that

season, while still a senior, he was picked to replace Harkness, who had accepted a job as general manager of the Detroit Red Wings in the NHL.
"I just continued the trend of re cruiting in Canada," says Bertrand. But while he was breaking into the coaching ranks, so were a number of other young coaches, with hungry eyes
on the Canadian hotbeds of talent.
Cornell's monopoly vanished, although the winning heritage has not suffered.
The 1979-80 season promises to be an exciting one. Some experts rank Cornell as a top contender for the na tional championship.
"A couple of times I thought we were only one or two men away from a national title," the coach said. "This year might be the season when we have some of those holes plugged. I'd love to bring home some national
hardware."
Perhaps it's only a coincidence, but in scanning this year's roster, one
finds an awful lot of names that can
also be found in registration files in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Indeed, 75 to 80 percent of those on the varsity roster are aggies, including standouts like Brock Tredway, '81, Doug Berk, '81, John Olds, '82, and goalie Brian Hayward, '82.
Let the hecklers in the crowd jeer and scoff all they like. If Cornell's "farmers" have their way-and they usually do-it will be Big Red hockey fans who have the last laugh.
There is still fowl play when Cornell's aggies meet Harvard on the ice.
■*:;&*

*■ .'^'f 1'

w

New
High
Yield
Wheats by Linda Ann Koski '81

After 18 years of extensive research,
Cornell scientists in the Department of Plant Breeding and Biometry at the New York State College of Agri
culture and Life Sciences have devel
oped two new strains of soft white wheat which give higher yields and
are more resistant to disease than
other strains.
Purcell, named in honor of Robert
W. Purcell, '35, who is a Presidential
Councillor at the University, will be placed on the purchasing market for farmers in two years. This fall, ten
percent of the New York acreage will use Houser. Next year, there will be
an unlimited supply of this soft white wheat grain.
The Houser strain has been planted and harvested for the past two years.
This wheat was named in honor of
Harry Houser Love, a retired professor
and breeder of many cultivars at the
Ithaca Station. Neal F. Jensen, who retired from the Department of Plant Breeding and Biometry during the fall of 1978, is the developer of these two superior wheats.
Although both wheat strains produce high yields, Purcell has a higher test weight or weight of grain per unit vol ume. High test weight is welcomed by purchasers because the wheat yields more flour and wheat products.
Cereal, food and baking industries are especially interested in Cornell's soft white wheat. Primarily, soft white wheats are used in flake cereals, crack ers, flour for cookies, cakes and donuts.

They are also found in livestock feed. The protein content of Purcell and Houser is approximately 12 percent.
This is considered average among soft
white wheats. According to Prof. Mark E. Sorrells in the Department of Plant Breeding and Biometry at the College, raising the protein content of soft wheat is not desirable for baking and milling. Other popular wheats in
clude hard red wheat that is used in
bread flour, soft red wheat used in pastries and durum wheat which is used in pastas.
The planting season for winter wheats is mid-September to mid-October. After

the initial planting, the seeds must go through a cold treatment during the winter. Within this period of at least six to eight weeks the temperature
must be less than 40° F. The cold cata
lyses the reproductive stage. By spring the wheat is rapidly growing so that harvesting is possible during the first two weeks in July.
Primarily, soft white wheat is grown in New York, Michigan and Ontario. Houser has been experimentally har vested in Canada and it is expected to become licensed; as yet, Purcell is
not licensed in Canada. Professor
Sorrells commented that the wheat

In the H. H. Love Field House, Prof. M. E. Sorrells, Department of Plant Breeding and Biometry, uses a machine for determining the test weights of various winter wheat grains.

20

strains developed in New York State
are not grown extensively in other
countries with the exception of Canada.
Every country has different soil and
weather conditions or preferences for
different strains which are produced
by their own researchers.
New York State is a favorable place
to grow such strains as Purcell and
Houser because of the moist climatic
conditions. These strains are also adap table to the soil and require relatively little fertilizer. Wheat needs less fertilizer
than corn or potatoes. Purcell and
Houser are expected to become leading
cash crops for New York farmers. Pro
fessor Sorrells said, "These wheats aid the farmer in crop rotations, labor re quirements are more evenly distributed and wheat requires minimal amounts of pesticides and input of energy when
tilling." Overall, the two new wheat
crops are quite efficient since they can save a farmer valuable time and money.
Efficiency of Purcell and Houser is
furthered by tolerance to disease. Com mon wheat fungus diseases include
smut which transforms the kernels and spike into a black spore mass, mildew

Cornell researchers have developed new soft white wheat grains that will increase production yields.
that is visible on leaves in the form of
gray powder, bunt, a fungus that re places endosperm with bunt spores
and leaf rust that forms rust colored
pustules. The two new strains were developed specifically to be resistant
to these diseases. Purcell is tolerant of leaf rust and mildew and resistant to smut. Houser is also tolerant of leaf rust and resistant to smut and mildew.
Disease is one of a farmer's con
cerns. Damage done by animals, espe cially birds and deer, is quite another problem. Liberian graduate student Roland Massaquoi, who is enrolled in the Department of Plant Breeding and Biometry, remarked that bird and deer damage last spring affected the results of experimental crops. The deer eat the spike and break the stems while roaming. Deer do not like the odor of
human blood and human hair. Birds
contribute to the crop loss by eating kernels before maturity. Unfortunately, many kernels fall to the ground, rot and then deteriorate. "We put a wood
en owl in the fields to scare the birds. It worked for awhile but then the birds became used to the owl and were no

longer afraid of it," explains Massaquoi. Bird poisons and noisemakers are pro hibited by law. Professor Sorrells added that other techniques such as netting the field or hiring labor to chase the birds are too costly. But these are only temporary deterrents and the animals soon return. Keeping watch while working on the fields is most helpful.
The budget for this research pro ject is provided by three main sources. One is the federal Hatch Act, legisla tion that gives financial support to land grant institutions. In addition, salaries are given through the State University of New York. Finally, industries pro
vide a small amount of money for
equipment.
"Houser is one of the best wheats
in our breeding program. It has outyielded all other cultivars," states pro ject director Sorrells.
Plant breeding certainly requires a long period of time. It took Cornell scientists 18 years to develop Purcell
and Houser. Cornell researchers will
continue to strive in new directions, improving wheat production more than
ever before.
This room is used for weighing and packaging winter wheats, and hanging individual plant selections for drying.

21

Not Just Water 0

by Catherine Northrup '80

r the Dam

The 400-foot-drop from Beebe to Cayuga Lake may soon provide the
Cornell community with electrical en ergy once again. In light of the recent energy concerns and rising fuel prices, Cornell is planning a renovation of the old hydroelectric plant in the Fall Creek gorge. Robert Clawson, Associate Director for Energy Management in the Department of Utilities, said the $1.2 million project will include re placements of the old machinery and repairs to the building and buried pen stock built early in the century.
From 1794, when the first water powered grist mill was built, until quite recently, the creek has supplied
energy for the residents of East Hill.
Through the 1800's water powered a succession of flour and wood working mills, tanneries, and even the gun powder company that eventually be came Ithaca Gun Company. In one of
the first tunneling projects for hydropower in America, Ezra Cornell and a
five man crew built the beginning of the penstock still useable today. An
other first in the field came in 1878
when Cornell Professor William A.
Anthony fashioned one of the first hydroelectric schemes in America along
Fall Creek.
In 1904 the present hydroelectric plant was built, replacing Anthony's pulleys and cables with turbine gener ators. The plant originally included two Pelton machines, with a superior Fran
cis machine added in 1914. These ran
with little trouble until 1967 when one
of the generators burned out, and re
pairs were viewed as uneconomical.
The plant was closed late in 1969.
After ten years of dormancy and several incidents of vandalism, the plant will be operating again if all goes as planned. In September the Executive Committee of the University's
Board of Trustees authorized the ad-

Graveyard shift - In 1943 the power plant did not rest at night.
ministration to start the project. It is slated for completion in 1981 .
After renovation, the plant will be upgraded from its original capacity of 750 kilowatts to 1 ,200 kilowatts, pro ducing 6.5 million kilowatt hours a year. Only 40 years ago this amount of energy would have met the require
ments of the entire campus, but now
it represents only about five percent
of Cornell's energy demand. At first
glance five percent may seem small, but energy manager Clawson feels that, "Even five percent of a large quantity like Cornell's total energy consumption
is still a substantial amount." The
amount is so substantial that at the
projected cost of $1.2 million, the plant will pay for itself in 11-12 years,
said Clawson. With a life span of 40-
50 years, the plant will provide sub stantial savings after the initial invest ment is paid off. The plant production

costs will remain constant over the life
of the plant, but the value of the energy generated will increase in direct pro portion to the prevailing electric rates.
Plans have not been finalized yet
because the project must go out to bid, but preliminary specifications call for replacement of all machinery and re pairs to existing civil works. Even though these repairs will be costly,
Clawson feels that Cornell is fortunate
to have these facilities. "To reproduce
them now would cost a couple of million dollars, if we could do it at all,"
said Clawson.
Repair, instead of replacement, of the machinery was considered at one time, but high cost coupled with questionable reliability discounted that idea. Depending on what the contractors propose in their bids, the old turbine generators may be re placed with new Francis turbines, or a cross-flow system. Replacement with
these models offers superior perfor mance for a longer period, and will allow for greater exploitation of the potential of the creek. The energy generated by the plant at completion will be equivalent to that used in 1,000
private homes.
Cornell will enter into a seven year, no-interest grant agreement with the
New York State Energy Research and Development Administration for $348,000 of the project's cost. The University has also applied to the U.S.
Department of Energy for a partial grant
that Clawson said may amount to
$190,000. With help from the past, and an in
vestment of $1.2 million dollars, Cor
nell will update an old idea and reap timely benefits. The University will soon have an anti-inflationary source of energy, and the power in the 400foot-drop to Cayuga Lake won't be just water over the dam anymore.

22

COUNTRYMAN CAPSULES

Ainslie Given Extension
Award
Prof. Harry R. Ainslie, dairy ex tension leader at Cornell University,
has been awarded the 1979 DeLaval
Extension Award for his significant contributions to the dairy industry. He was specifically cited for his work with the dairy herd improvement pro
gram in New York State which has become a model for other states.
Professor Ainslie has been with the
Department of Animal Science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
since 1950. He has been a consultant
for the Food and Agriculture Organi
zation for the Far East and Asia as well
as for the Joint Commission on Recon
struction in Taiwan. He has also taught at the University of the Philippines' College of Agriculture.
Prof. Leroy L. Creasy, B.S. '60, M.S. '61, of the College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences has been elected
president of the Phytochemical Society
of North America for a one-year term.
The society is dedicated to the pro motion of scientific investigations of plant biochemistry. Creasy is the first
Cornell scientist to head this group since its establishment in 1961 .
A member of the Cornell faculty since 1965, Creasy is on the staff of the College's Department of Pomology. Before joining Cornell, he was a Na tional Science Foundation Post-doctoral Fellow at the Low Temperature Re search Station in Cambridge, England.

Gordon C. Webb, supervisor of the radio center in the College of Agricul ture and Life Sciences and the College of Human Ecology, received the Pioneer Award from the Agricultural Communi cators in Education.
Webb has supervised the radio cen ter from which consumer and research information is made available to radio stations. He was recognized for his
contributions to the high professional standards of communication "in keep ing with the spirit of pioneer agricul
tural communicators."
In Memory of
Tim" Butts

The media services staff for the two
colleges won 12 awards of excellence, including six Certificates of Superior Performance, three red ribbons, and
three white ribbons.
Prof. Ronald Usborne, B.S. '59, was named Chairman of the Depart ment of Food Science, University of Guelph, as of July 1, 1979.
Usborne's research interests have in
cluded meat chemistry, meat composi tion and grading, and meat processing.
He has been active at both the local and national levels in the Canadian
Institute of Food Science and Technol
ogy. In addition, his advice is often
sought by the Canadian meat industry.

GEORGE S. BUTTS

Prof. John G. Seeley, Ph.D. '48, of the Department of Floriculture and Or namental Horticulture at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has
been named to the Floriculture Hall of
Fame. He has taught commercial
floriculture at both Cornell and Penn
sylvania State University for 34 years and was head of the department here
at Cornell from 1956 to 1970.
Seeley is author and co-author of 34 scientific papers and college bulle
tins and more than 160 articles in flor
ists' trade papers and magazines.
He won the 1950 Leonard H.
Vaughan Memorial Research Award from the American Society for Horti
cultural Science.

Bailey's Biography
is Back

Kenneth L. Robinson, M.S. '47,
Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Agri
cultural Economics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has been elected a fellow of the American
Agricultural Economics Association.
An important contributor in agricul
tural policy and prices, Robinson has
been involved with teaching, research
and ^operative extension work. He ls co-author of the popular text "Agri cultural Product Prices".

The portrait of George S. Butts, B.S. '25, a former profes
sor of communication arts in the
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is now hanging in Room
131 Roberts Hall. In his memory,
Orilla Butts, his wife, donated
money which was used to pur
chase the drawing tables now found in this room. Butts, known to everyone as Tim, taught at the College from 1925 to 1959.

The biography of Liberty Hyde Bailey by Philip Dorf, B.S. '24, famed horticulturist and pioneer in agricultural education, has been reprinted in paper back by the DeWitt Historical Society.
Bailey was dean of the New York State College of Agriculture, now the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences,
at Cornell from 1903 to 1913. Prior
to his death in 1954, at the age of 96, Bailey had written and edited
more than 100 books.

23

Vegetables Get
Window View

by Leslie Green 79

Are you interested in having a ready source of fresh vegetables year
round at almost no cost?
This might sound impossible but, according to Mike Aranoff, '80, it can easily be done. For his Organic Gar dening term project, Aranoff designed a small garden that can easily be in
stalled in any of the windows on cam
pus which have angled-inside windbreaking glass (see photograph). The novelty of the window box garden is
that almost no construction is needed
to install one. "The garden saves en
ergy, makes the office more home-like
and saves money on fresh vegetables. If someone is having lunch, he or she can just reach into the garden and get something fresh for his or her sand wich," adds Aranoff.
Windows facing south or west are best suited for window box gardens because they receive more direct sun light than those facing north or east. Carrots, New Zealand spinach, parsley, certain types of lettuce (i.e., bibb), kohlrabi, a member of the cabbage family, and radishes can be grown suc cessfully in western windows. But dwarf tomatoes and other vegetables grown for their fruit require the full sunlight usually provided in southern windows and will only flourish during the spring and summer.
Aranoff said that installing a window box garden takes between forty min
utes to an hour. All that is needed are
two pieces of treated, exterior plywood (approximately y2" x 12" x 25 V2" de

pending on the size of the window), several seeds or small seedlings and some special Cornell Peat-lite Mix. Ac cording to Roger Kline, an Extension Associate in the Department of Vege table Crops, this mix is half peat moss
and half vermiculite with small amounts
of fertilizer, lime and superphosphate.
Aranoff says, "The Cornell Peat-lite
Mixture is especially good for containergardens because it is very light and holds water nicely."
Another advantage of the window box garden is that it needs very little care. The owner must keep the artifi
cial soil moist but should be careful
not to over-water it. And if one is con
stantly using the plants for food, as in the case of lettuce, the outside leaves
should be removed first. After all of the

edible parts of the plant have been
taken, the plant should be removedf
carefully from the garden so that the
roots of other plants will not be dis- 1
jturbed. Another plant or seed can be1
put into the empty spot.
box|Aranoff says that the window
garden in Roger Kline's office is the ,1 only one of its kind on campus. He j feels that installing these gardens in
all of the old buildings throughout cam- . pus would produce a fair amount of j
vegetables and would contribute to the beautification of Cornell. If any mem-J
ber of the Cornell community is inter ested in installing a window box gardens
in the office, Aranoff will be glad to
help you out. You can reach him at the Prospect of Whitby Coop at 228
Wait Avenue, Ithaca.

How does your garden grow? - Roger Kline's office is the only place on campus where vegetables grow inside an angled-inside wind breaking glass.

New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of the State University, at Cornell Universi

Zii^

COUNTRYMAN

'OL. LXXVII DECEMBER, 1979

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China Doll: Saving energy on Cayuga Lake - page 4

EDITORS Stephen Adriance
D. Scott Lucear
Diane Charnley
ASSISTANT EDITORS:
Charley Nasta
Debra Montner
Virginia A. Miller Mike Grogan
ART EDITORS:
Maria Sue Malkman David Paul Lane
Mary Elizabeth Schiek Nancy J. Okun Virginia A. Miller

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN
DECEMBER 1979 VOLUME LXXVII Number 3
ABOUT THE ISSUE Next to inflation energy is probably the biggest concern our nation faces today, As supplies dwindle and prices soar many Americans are preoccupied with finding ways to save energy. In this
issue we take a look at some of the
interesting ways the College of Agri culture and Life Sciences is trying to supplement and conserve this vanish ing commodity.

PHOTO EDITOR:
Linda Ann Koski

EDITORIAL STAFF: Steve Rotterdam, Mary Anne Hahn, Christin Sparagana, Joann D'Emilio, Karen Pelliccione, Pamela Edwards, Donna M. Case, Catherine Northrup,
Adrienne R. Schwarz.
Picture Credits: Cover Photos - Linda
Ann Koski, Chris Mossey; p. 3 - Vir ginia A. Miller; p. 4, 5, 11, 16, 17, 19 Linda Ann Koski; p. 4, 8, 9 - Charley Nasta; p. 6 - Marc Schiler; p. 7 - Prof. R. Zall; p. 10 - Ag Teams Inc.; p. 12, 13 - Catherine Northrup; p. 14 - David Paul Lane; p. 15 - Maria Sue Malkman, Debra Montner; p. 18 - Lauren Kasman; p. 21 - Consumat Systems, Inc.; p. 22 - Cornell University Archives; p.
24 - Media Services.
It is the policy of Cornell University actively to support equality of educa tion and employment opportunity. No
person shall be denied admission to
any educational program or activity or be denied employment on the basis of any legally prohibited discrimination involving, but not limited to, such factors as race, color, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, age, or handicap. The University is committed
to the maintenance of affirmative action programs which will assure the
continuation of such equality of op portunity.

CONTENTS
3. 170 Trees a Month by Virginia A. Miller '80 4. China Doll. . .More than an Adventure by Linda Ann Koski '81
6. Planting to Save Energy by Stephen Adriance '80 7. Recycling Cuts Dairy Cost by Nancy J. Okun '80
8. Fuel from Alcohol: A Viable Alternative? by Charley Nasta '80
10. Ag Teams Lend a Hand by D. Scott Lucear '80 1 1 . Working Overtime for Research by Mary Anne Hahn '80
12. Photo Finish by Catherine Northrup '80
14. Heating Water With the Winds by David Paul Lane '80 15. Pedalling Conservation by Maria Sue Malkman '80 16. Friendly Faces in Room 192 by Karen M. Pelliccione '80 18. Getting the Second Degree by Christin Sparagana '80 19. Ag College Hit Parade of 1909 by Pam Edwards '80
20. From Solid Waste to Steam by Debra Montner '80 22. Carnival on the Lake by Joann D'Emilio '80
24. A Unique Graduate Program by Mike Grogan '81
The Cornell Countryman (ISSN 0010 8782) is published seven times a year frorr October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New
York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cor-j
nell University Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New
RatesjYork 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription
$2.50 a year; $4.50 for two years, $6.50 for three years. Editorial content gathered
ad|and written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty
visors: Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

170 TREES a MONTH
by Virginia A. Miller '80

One ton of recycled paper is the equivalent of 17 large trees. This sta
tistic may not sound very impressive until we consider that 10 tons, or the
equivalent of 170 trees, of paper are
recovered each month from the aca demic buildings at Cornell - and the
potential is even higher.
Paper recycling began at Cornell over a decade ago when Greg Morris,
Ag '68, a basketball player, took it
upon himself to set up a program here.
He went to 12 buildings, mostly in
the agriculture college, and showed people how to sort paper. Though about 60 buildings participate currently
in the recycling program, the total of
paper recovered remains the same.
The major reason that more paper
is not recycled appears to be apathy,
according to Anita Welych '80, the Re
cycling Coordinator at Cornell. "When recycling started, there was a lot of
interest but it was hard to sustain.
We're trying to make it a habit so it won't feel like extra work," said Welych.
The recycling program practically
runs itself. Usable paper is put into
trash cans on campus in participating buildings and picked up once a week.

The paper is sold to Ithaca Scrap
Processors and the revenue generated is returned in the form of trash cans,
plastic bags and publicity for the pro
gram.
There are many problems with the program. The garbage cans provided for the collection of recyclable paper have a way of disappearing. Contami
nation is another concern. "When
you're sorting through paper for various grades, you don't want to have to sort
out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches," said Ida Weber, owner of Ithaca Scrap
Processors.
After the paper is baled at Ithaca
Scrap Processors it is brought to paper mills where it is mixed in large blender like vats. There is a filtering system
that removes contaminants like paper
clips and staples. From there it goes through felt rollers that flatten it into sheets. The sheets go through a series of dryers where most of the water is evaporated. The final product is wound onto rolls averaging 10 to 15 tons
each.
Recycled paper is used in stationery, containers and even cars. Every auto mobile has 300 pounds of scrap paper

in it in the form of gaskets, side panels
and other interior structures.
The recycling logo of a continuous circle of arrows gives a good idea of how the recycling process works. An item is manufactured, used by the con sumer, recycled by a mill for use in another product and sold back to the
consumer.
As a result of this process, the pub lic may benefit. Millions of trees are left standing which can provide us with better air quality, a control for erosion, shade and natural beauty. Add to this the huge quantity of material saved from landfills and we may have greater impetus to recycle paper and other
materials.
With the cooperation of a greater number of people the savings could
be much more extensive. There are
several buildings at Cornell that are not participating in the recycling program. As in all movements that require our consciences, recycling depends on each
person. That 170 trees saved each
month by Cornell could be 300 or even 500 with the appropriate commitment. We need to establish the right habits and the rest should come easily.

Anita Welych '80, recycling coordinator at Cornel
works on ways to sustain interest in the program.

A fork lift operator stacks bails of scrap which will now be sent to mills for recycling.

3

"It is exciting,. . .adventurous. . .
and one of the most beneficial exper
iences of my college career!" These
are some of the comments from mid
shipmen on board the China Doll. The China Doll is a fifty-foot ten-inch lux ury yacht capable of berthing ten
people. The uniqueness of this boat begins
with its unlawful history. Just two years ago in international waters off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the United States Coast Guard captured the China Doll. On board were several thousand pounds of marijuana for which the boat was impounded and later confiscated by the United States government. Ownership of the China
Doll was traced to a nonexistent owner.
Through the efforts of Commander Joseph M. Quigley, Executive Officer of the Naval R.O.T.C. Unit at Cornell,
the China Doll was turned over to the
R.O.T.C. Unit. "China Doll represents an effort by the Navy to stress seaman ship training. This is the basic element in professional development of naval
officers," explains Commander Quigley, who has been sailing since 1964 and is in charge of maintenance, safety and training on board the China Doll.
The last chore of the day is completed by Andy Logan '81, as he lowers the fenders and ties the boat to the pier.

A guided tour provides a glimpse of
the vessel's beauty. Enthusiastic mid shipmen work vigorously many hours a week to brighten and seal the exterior teak decks. In the interior there is more
teak wood to be waxed, carpeting to be cleaned, brass to be polished and
an engine to be maintained. Electrical engineering students are
repairing the electrical system and a

On the waters of Cayuga Lake the midshipmen have the opportunity to experience challenges which may arise when at sea. Imagine the thrill and re
sponsibility of navigating a ship up a channel and on the lake. Through sail
ing experience, one gains a sense for visual maneuvering. Lights, buoys and
other markers exist and are not just
points on a chart in class. According

CHINA DOLL
. . .more than an adventure
by Linda Ann Koski '81

spirit of cooperation can be witnessed everywhere. Physical exertion coupled with new skills learned by experience add to a sense of pride. This is further enhanced by knowing that training on
the China Doll will become a Cornell
tradition.
Students involved with the operations
aboard the China Doll represent a
cross section of the University. Any midshipmen or civilians who obtain N. R.O.T.C. permission are permitted to sail on the boat. N. R.O.T.C. juniors are required to take Principles of Navi gation, a course offered in the Depart ment of Agricultural Engineering. The course content includes the principles of marine navigation, piloting, which is coastal and shore navigation, navi gational astronomy, which uses the stars to fix the position of a ship at sea, electric navigation (omega) and a navy navigational satellite system which is also used for fixing position at sea.
One distinct advantage of taking this
course is that material covered in
class can be applied to practical exper
ience on board the China Doll.

to Navy Lieutenant Bart Finegan, the instructor of navigation, "Correlating
what is on the chart with what one
sees is the most difficult part of pilot
ing. It requires the most skill and judg
ment."
The China Doll is quite economical. The diesel fuel for approximately sixty sailing days a year costs less than $100. The 120 horsepower diesel engine is
very efficient and no fuel is burned
when utilizing sails. "Three to five miles per gallon of fuel for a boat that dis places 26 tons is considered very eco nomical compared to a power boat," added Commander Quigley. In contrast to an outboard motor which pollutes
the lake because unburned fuel in the
exhaust is mixed below the water sur
face, the China Doll poses no such threat to aquatic life on the lake. The China Doll emits no smoke or exhaust
expelled into the water and the cooling system returns only a small amount of hot water to the lake. With assistance
from the wind, only a minute amount of fuel is needed to get out of the onethird-mile-long marina to the lake.

4

The Navy has a reputation for pro
ducing the most highly trained and skilled navigators in the world. When midshipmen are training, mistakes are made and by learning from these mis takes they gain the professionalism
necessary for their naval careers. A verbal Personal Qualification Stan
dard Test is given to individuals oper ating the boat, who must answer

On a brisk windy day - L. to R.: Jim Luchs '79, Andy Babchych '83, Tim Bennett '81, Mike Case '80, and Andy Logan '79, enjoy a different kind of
classroom.

Midshipmen wrestle the sail which
uses the wind to power the China Doll
across Cayuga Lake.
questions with few mistakes. Certifica tion is then awarded stating that one
has a working knowledge of the mater
ial.
Commander Quigley was the navi
gator for the China Doll's first navy
voyage from Miami, Florida, to Ithaca, but none of the present midshipmen crew had any previous experience with navigation on a large boat. Andy Lo gan, a junior in the College of Agricul ture and Life Sciences, started sailing this fall on the China Doll and thorough'y enjoys the opportunity to learn navi gation. Jim Luchs, 79, did not know h°w to navigate a boat, but after com

pleting the training trip from Florida, he is now the boatkeeper and crew trainer out on the lake. Mike Case, a
senior at Cornell and chief engineer of the boat, started sailing with friends on Cayuga Lake and last December
was on board a naval vessel that sailed
from Hong Kong to the Philippines. As a result, the midshipman became interested in gaining experience by navigating a large boat. Lt. Finegan states, "The Navy feels the best sea manship experience for future naval officers is offered on large sailboats.
There is a lot to learn about the ways
of the sea, weather, ship handling and
navigation." Future trips that midshipmen may be
involved in include voyages to Wells
College and a possible ten-week sum mer cruise to the Great Lakes, Nova
Scotia, Boston, New York and back up
the Hudson to Ithaca. Student navi
gator Jim Kent, '81, is planning the
summer cruise. "I never realized how
much planning there was until I had to do it," exclaims Kent. He is using the course material in navigation to

make the preparations. It takes many hours of planning and skill but the thrill of sailing on the open sea, breath ing fresh salt air, feeling the brisk wind
rush across your face and maneuver
ing the cruiser is more than an exper ience, it is a tale of the sea.
Planning voyages is a tedious pro cess - Lt. Finegan prepares a naviga
tion lecture for students.

5

"Don't sit under the apple tree with

anyone

else

"
but me,

is

a

line

from

a

popular Glenn Miller tune, encouraging

the faithfulness of wartime wives. In

the fields of computer graphics and

landscape architecture trees are cur rently being studied as the object of another kind of relationship, plant

Using proper planting design and thoughtful combinations of tree vari eties a building can be made more
energy efficient. With deciduous trees,
for example, a home can be shaded in the summer by the tree's leaves and in the winter warmed as sunlight passes freely through its bare branches. Trees

plored. "The simulations performed
to date represent the tip of an iceberg,"
writes Schiler.
According to Prof. Arthur Lieberman,
'52, M.S. '58, Landscape Architecture Program, "In the whole area of environ mental function of plants there's a need
for quantitative research." He believes

PLANTING

by Stephen Adriance '80

to save ENNERGY

materials and energy conservation.
Assistant Prof. Marc Schiler, M.S. '79, Department of Architecture, studied the density of trees as part of
his master's thesis. In his paper, "Foli
age Effects on Computer Simulation of Building Energy Load Calculations," he explains the shading value of different tree varieties. Using computers and
mathematical models that accept these measurements, Schiler can form per spective scenes which create a variety
of shading and air movement combi
nations.

planted strategically can divert the
wind over and around a structure or
act as insulation by creating "dead" air spaces between plants and wall.
Energy conservation using plant materials does not follow a simple formula which can be applied identical ly in each situation. Every site has a
combination of elements which must
be considered.
One way to pull these elements to gether is by computer simulation. This work is of vital importance, but the possibilities have just begun to be ex-

Foliage simulation
tool.

A photograph of a scope display shows a new analysis

that research is needed to provide further insight regarding current con cepts involving the use of plant materials such as wind diversion, shading and
noise attenuation.
Professor Lieberman believes that
the functional uses of plant materials, beyond esthetic values, should be in vestigated. Specific research is a neces sity to give factual meaning to these
uses. "In the area of energy conserva
tion, as with other functions, initial
strides have been taken," said Lieber
man, "but much further effort is need
ed."
Schiler acknowledges the need for further research and is currently coauthoring a book which relates this ex panding field to the layman. He hopes
to follow this up with a book addressed
to professionals as research of plants
and energy continues. He believes that
trees may provide an inexpensive and lasting solution to the energy situation. "For about $20 you can get started
with a tree. Unlike other energy devices
(solar, mechanical) it becomes more
and more effective as the tree grows,"
says Schiler.
The joy of sitting "under the apple tree," and other varieties, may become popular once again as we all wait ex pectantly for research results which develop plants as a practical solution
to our energy needs.

6

The conservation of energy and re
sources is a nation-wide concern and
the College of Agriculture and Life Sci ences at Cornell University has made a valuable contribution. Researchers have developed a new method of cleaning and sanitizing milking equip ment for dairy farmers. The objective of this innovative cleaning system is
to reduce cleaning costs by recycling
the detergents and hot water used in

Recycling
CUTS DAIRY COSTS
by Nancy J. Okun '80

the process.
Milking equipment consists of an ex tensive pipeline system. The milk
from each cow is collected and travels
through a series of small tubes. These tubes lead into a main pipeline which culminates in a storage tank. Milking is done twice a day, which means that the pipeline apparatus must be cleaned and sanitized twice daily as well.
Before any specialized method of cleaning was developed, the entire pipeline was disassembled, washed by hand in a large basin and reassembled before the next milking. Growth in the dairy industry has made this procedure both impractical and time consuming, although it is probably the most energy-
efficient method.
More recently, in place of this pre vious method, an automatic clean-in-
place (CIP) washing system has been
used. The new concept enables the pipeline system to be flushed out and cleaned while still assembled. The CIP
method saves time and labor, but in creases the use of detergents, sanitizers, water and heat energy. Large quantities of water and detergent have to be

heated twice a day for cleaning. Prof. Donald R. Price, agricultural
engineer, Prof. Robert R. Zall, food scientist, and research associate A.
Theodore Sobel combined their efforts
to combat this energy-inefficient pro cess. Their newly developed recycling
system is estimated to reduce the cost
of electrical energy required to heat water by 70 percent. In addition, as much as 75 percent of the detergent
can be saved and the amount of water
needed can be cut in half. This is ac
complished by attaching the recycling system to the existing cleaning equip
ment.
The recycling system automatically captures and stores warm cleaning solu
tions which can then be reused. The
detergent solutions are stored in an in sulated tank where they are heated
from about 110°F to 150°F. Therefore
less energy is required to heat the sal vaged solution to 150°F, which is the optimum temperature for cleaning. In this way, the same quality of cleaning can be obtained with a reduced expendi
ture of energy.

The milking parlor - Individual collection bottles and pipelines must be cleaned.

A schematic of the CIP system
shows how detergent is stored and re-
used.
The cleaning solution is recycled for one week, and can also be used to
wash and sanitize the exterior surfaces
of the automated milking apparatus. The additional service is made possible by passing the liquid through spraying
nozzles hooked up to the water storage tank.
Professors Price and Zall have fin
ished their research in this area, for
the most part, and now must tackle
the problem of distributing the infor mation and technology to farmers who can adopt a system for their own use. The researchers report a potential total savings of about 3,000 billion watts of electricity, equivalent to five million barrels of oil, that could be conserved by dairymen annually if recycled clean ing systems were used on farms. Along with the energy savings, 100 million pounds of detergent could be saved as well. Current yearly consumption of 6.5 billion gallons of water could be cut in
half.
Professor Zall considers the milking process to be similar to the harvesting of crops. "In either case," he asserts, "we ought to have an efficient collec tion system from which we maximize output, as in any business." Zall hopes that he and his colleagues have con tributed to the betterment of the dairy industry, but speaks simply of the trio's
accomplishments. "Our research is the spin-off of ideas
from the interaction of three slightly different perspectives, all coming to gether by doing some basic homework,"
he said.

Is this the future? - Corn fields near Mecklenburg, New York may someday
yield their stalks for fuel.
FUEL FROM AL COHOL

Would you put fermented agricul
tural waste products in your car's gas
tank? That's not as bad as it sounds.
Ethyl alcohol (ethanol) can be manu factured from a wide variety of organic materials including corn, wheat, rice, potatoes and sugar beets, and also
from crop residues such as corn stalks.
According to Senator Birch Bayh,
chairman of the National Alcohol Fuels
Commission, widespread use of "gas ohol" (commonly a mixture of gasoline
and one-tenth ethanol) could allow us
to become less dependent on foreign petroleum sources. He and other gaso
hol proponents also maintain that
American farmers would benefit through increased crop plantings and more
economical use of waste matter.
Most vehicles can run without any modifications on a fuel mixture with
ten percent of 200 proof ethanol. Be sides replacing gasoline, the ethanol also boosts octane by a few points. But the slightly increased engine per formance is offset by a small drop in
fuel economy.
It might seem on the surface that
the future of the horseless carriage lies

in the vast corn fields of the midwest.
After all, gasohol advocates point out that if we replaced all our gasoline with a 90/10 gasoline-ethanol mixture, we would cut our total gasoline consump tion and reduce oil imports substantially.
This all sounds deceptively simple. But Prof. Larry P. Walker of Cornell's Department of Agricultural Engineering is less optimistic about gasohol's promise as the "salvation of America." He and others in the department have
determined that to enact such a nation
wide program almost half of our annual corn harvest would have to be convert
ed to ethanol. This would cut down
feed stocks significantly, and drive beef and dairy prices higher.
Another sobering consideration is the cost of gasohol vis-a-vis conven tional gasoline. It was thought that as gasoline prices soared, ethanol fermen
tation (which runs about $1 .40 to $1 .65
per gallon for ethanol produced from corn) would become competitive if its price remained relatively stable. But it takes energy for farmers to produce corn, including a sizeable amount of fossil fuels. Costs of wages, building
materials and energy to farmers have

all risen more than 100 percent since
1967, and they show no signs of level
ing off. Thus, on a national level gas ohol may never become competitive
with gasoline without massive sub
sidies of billions of dollars per year.
Of course, there are other sources
besides corn for the "biomass" needed
to produce ethanol. Crop residues were at first thought to be particularly attractive. According to entomology
Prof. David Pimentel and food science
grad student Walter Vergara in Ad vances in Energy Systems and Tech nology, Vol. 1, these residues have beneficial roles in agriculture which "far
outweigh their direct energy potential."
Removal of crop remains from the land often results in increased sediment run
off, soil erosion and loss of essential
nutrients which then have to be re
placed by products derived from non
renewable fossil fuels.
These and other drawbacks indicate
that gasohol is a more promising fuel on a regional level than nationwide. While countries like Brazil are capable
of producing huge amounts of sugai crops to convert to alcohol fuels, the U.S. has a more complex and unpre

8

dictable crop harvest. If we commit a substantial portion of our grain reserves to fuel and a grain shortage develops like the one in 1974, competition be
tween energy and food users would no
doubt become highly inflationary. New York State already has to import onethird of its grain from other areas, so alternative biomass sources would
have to be used.
Professor Walker and his colleagues recently received funds from the ag college to investigate the use of apple peelings, cheese whey and other or-

ready been successfully substituted for gasoline in a variety of motor vehicles. In fact, at the other end of the auto
motive spectrum from farm equipment, all of the Indianapolis 500 race cars this year were powered by a form of methyl alcohol. And in Brazil, all six million vehicles have been running on gasohol for over three years. The Bra
zilian government plans to eventually replace all gasoline powered vehicles with ones that run on straight alcohol.
While such a radical move may prove sound due to Brazil's favorable crop

situation, it appears evident that any similar attempt by the United States is at present inadvisable. Gasohol prob
ably has a promising future in some
regions of our nation, but we would be unwise to view it as an easy path to national energy autonomy.
It is hoped that research like that
being undertaken currently at Cornell
will continue in the interest of im
proving the potential for gasohol and
other alcohol fuels as realistic alterna
tive components in America's energy picture for the 1980's.

i viable alternative?

by Charley Nasta '80

ganic feed stocks for alcohol con
version. However, additional research
is needed to assess the viability of
such plans. Professor Walker notes
that, unfortunately, federal funding such as that from the Department of
Energy is basically "mission oriented," and the funds for basic speculative re
search have been cut back at a time
when perhaps they are needed most.
Locally, Professor Walker is current
ly preparing a proposal in a related area. He intends to determine the practicality
of small-scale alcohol and methane pro duction (from plants and animal wastes)
on the farm, as a means of achieving some degree of energy self-sufficiency for the individual producer. For ex ample, diesel tractors could be modi
fied to use a dual fuel system in which
they would start and idle on diesel fuel and run on straight alcohol. In this ap plication the alcohol does not need to
be 200 proof as it does in gasohol, and distillation costs could be reduced.
Il should be emphasized that al
though there are serious questions
j^out the advisability of producing
lar9e amounts of ethanol for fuel, gas-
°hol and other alcohol fuels have al-

Turbocharged Porsches like this one ran on gasohol during the Watkins Glen
six-hour endurance race this past summer.

9

AG TEAMS

Lend a Hand

by D. Scott Lucear '80

Winston Carroo grad., co-founder of Ag Teams, works with lettuce farmers as they examine their crops.
It is dawn on an island somewhere in the Caribbean. As the sun slowly
rises over the small fields and forest
that make up the little island, a farmer
emerges from his small home. He
yawns and stretches, then pauses for a moment to contemplate the day's work ahead.
This day will be different from others. On this day the farmer will be joined in his fields by two newcomers to the island. The strangers move out into the field with the farmer and begin to help him with his work. These new comers will do much more than just aid the farmer with his chores. They will give him advice on how to increase his crop yield and show him new meth
ods to raise healthier animals. The two
strangers are members of a very special type of company. This company is dedicated to the cause of helping the poor to help themselves and it is called Agricultural Teams Incorporated.
Basically, Agricultural Teams is a minority-oriented, non-profit firm that provides technical assistance to
poor farmers who cannot afford it otherwise. In the words of Richelle
Dade, the firm's administrative assistant, "Ag Teams is a technical assistance
firm and also a consultant firm. We
give technical assistance and training to poor farmers and organizations in the U.S., the Caribbean and Africa."
Still in the fledgling state of develop ment, Ag Teams was founded five years ago by four black Cornell gradu ate students: Makaza Kumanyika, his

wife Sheriki, Winston Carroo and Nathaniel Quick. In its five years of existence, the firm has grown from a local outfit run out of Kumanyika's
home in Ithaca to a firm that has offices
in three cities: Ithaca, Washington,
D.C. and Eutaw, Alabama. The firm now has a staff of 10 full-
time employees and about 150 others
who are used on a "as-needed" basis.
These "as-needed's" are the backbone
of the organization. They are the spe cialists who go out into the field. They have degrees in such fields as animal science, animal nutrition, plant science and other agricultural disciplines. These people also have one other thing that
cannot be learned in any classroom: a
burning desire to help the poor to help
themselves.
The services that Ag Teams provides
for subsistence farmers are varied. In
addition to improving crop yields and animal nutrition, they perform soil analyses to determine the nutrient value of the farmers' soil. Feasibility
studies are also done for poor farmers
and small local organizations such as food cooperatives. These studies are important to help farmers determine
the best ways to use the resources at
their disposal such as growing a new kind of crop or raising another type of animal with the stock they already have.
Ag Teams does not get paid for the services it provides. It is a totally non profit organization. It depends upon contributions and grants to keep its operations going. Members of the firm have discovered, however, that non profit organizations have a hard time getting funds in America, especially from the government. Says Dade, "All the things we are doing are very worth while. . .but you have to really prove to the government that they are." Ag Teams has managed to get some fund ing from Uncle Sam. One of their pro

jects, "Farm to Market," is being par tially funded by the Community Ser
vices Administration. The bulk of their
funds must be solicited from other
sources, however. Churches that have
programs to help the poor have been their biggest backers. Funds are some
times received from the governments
of the different nations they work in
also.
Even when adequate funds are ob tained, working in other countries is not always easy. Sometimes Team members are looked upon with suspi cion while working in foreign countries. "Whenever you tell someone you're an American, they naturally are suspicious of your motives," says Dade. Ag Teams, however, pushes no political lines or philosophies. "We don't go in with any political ideologies," remarks Dade. "We go in to help people." After team personnel have been in
the area for a week or so, the doubts
fade away and the business at hand becomes the main issue.
The central thrust of the organiza tion for this year will occur in Florida, with the project "Farm to Market." In a nutshell, the purpose of this project is to unite the produce of the poor
farmer with the stomach of the poor
urban consumer. One part of the plan is to provide the farmer with transpor tation so he can get his goods to the inner city. In the city Ag Teams hopes to set up food cooperatives that are run by people in the community. These cooperatives would buy the food from the farmer at a fair price and sell it to the consumer at a price he can afford.
The members of Agricultural Teams ultimately hope to foster the creation
of a world where the poor can become
self-sufficient. As long as there are people like those in the Ag Team family, attaining that goal may not be an impossible dream.

10

Mary Anne Hahn so Working OVERTIME for Research

A vast number of college students
across the nation are finding that, in order to make ends meet, they must
lead double lives as full-time students
and part-time employees. Having to hold down a job while going to school can be a handicap. It can infringe on study time, limit one's social life and
add still another pressure to those of
prelims, paper deadlines and lab reports. Students in the College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences are not exempt from
the crunch of inflation. The College, however, offers unique alternatives in the area of employment. As a leader in many forms of research, the College
has an abundance of laboratories and
research programs constantly in oper
ation. A look inside these laboratories
reveals a number of undergraduates students who are both earning pay checks and enriching their education through part-time jobs. These enter prising students have found work con nected to their majors. They are labo ratory employees.
Amy Rumsey, '80, is an agricultural economics major with a special interest in food industry management. Besides her studies, she works ten hours a
week for Professor Richard Austic and
research associate Chris Calvert in the
Department of Poultry Science in Rice
Finding the right solution - John Spi/sbury '81, examines fungi survival.

Hall. In the course of her work Rum sey makes buffers which are used to
analyze amino acids. What does she
like about her work?

"I like the people, the diversion from

my schoolwork," she says. "I suppose
if I could afford to, I wouldn't work.
But the job offers me an alternative
to my studies."
This feeling is echoed by Nancy Bogen, '80, who works under Dr. Harold H. Willson of the Department of Entomology as an extension aide.

Bogen contends, "I like working in my field. There are so many things in
my work I would not see in a classroom
situation."

Bogen calls herself an "atypical entomologist" as her interests do not lie directly in entomology, but in agri business. Her ideal job after graduation
would be with the pest control division of a firm. She states that her job as
an extension aide gives her invaluable experience towards this goal.
"Basically, I do odd jobs. I identify insects from pheromone and black light
traps. I take insect surveys. That's when we tally what kinds of insects we find in various counties." The in

formation Bogen compiles, besides be

ing used in Willson's research in crop

protection from insects, is also used in

Cooperative Extension newsletters.

Another student, John Spilsbury,

'81 ,

finds that his job

under

Dr.

Richard

Soper in the Boyce Thompson Insti

tute is also related to his major. A

plant science major, Spilsbury works

approximately 10 hours a week with

fungi that control insects. He was in

terested in crop protection prior to tak

ing on this job, but the work has ce

mented his fascination with this field.

"I don't see as much of where my

research is going as I'd like to," Spils bury concedes, but he admits that he
enjoys his job nonetheless.
Does his work interfere with school?

Spilsbury doesn't think so. "You really
learn more there than in class. You

learn lab techniques and you see how

things work." Lynn Conway, '80, says that her job,
taking care of research rats and rabbits for Dr. Bruce Currie, in the area of re productive physiology in the Depart ment of Animal Science, does not hurt her academically. "Things get hectic," Conway feels, "but I've always worked. My hours at this job are flexible."
Conway keeps records on the mating
and births of the animals. She finds
that she can connect her job to her animal science major. "I think that if you ever go into research in this field, you're going to be responsible for ani mals. The only way research can be valid is if you keep healthy animals," she explains.
The students all share the same
opinion about working and going to school. Budgeting their time between
work and studies is essential.
"You get into a routine," Rumsey relates. "Sometimes I stay up late to get things done. Sometimes I get up early-sometimes both!"
Working part-time while going to school can be an unwelcome necessity. But as these undergraduates have shown, it can also be a beneficial ad dition to life at Cornell, and a way to lay the groundwork for life after gradu
ation.
Lynn Conway '80, gives careful atten
tion to her 40 rabbits and 300 rats.

Photo Finish §§§| by Catherine Northrup '80 ■

Third Place Winner - M.J. Fannon '81, submitted this photograph.
12

First Place Winner - The Photo Salon favc
The results of four weeks of photo graphic frustrations and triumphs weredisplayed last month in a photo show
put on by the students of Education; 401, Our Physical Environment. The
Photo Salon was an exhibition of 11" x
14" enlargements developed and printed by the members of the class, most of whom had had no previous darkroom experience. Many had taken pictures before, but only three of the 20 stu
dents in the course had worked in a
darkroom. The rest learned through
the instruction of Professor Verne N.
Rockcastle and through much trial anc^
error in the darkroom.
The main objective of the unit or photography and the course as a whole was to give students a "hands-on" ap proach to learning. To read about th( photographic process helps a studen "^ understand it, but facing the problem; ;. that crop up in the darkroom guaran
tees that he will understand it.
The Photo Salon was judged an< N
critiqued by photographers from th x? \-

A

was created by Jay Taylor '80.
Cornell community. Howard Lyon, Marcia Kelley, Ann Elliot and Bill Brown
picked the outstanding prints and gave helpful hints and tips to all of the en trants. All the judges are experienced photographers specializing in different aspects of photographic images. How ard Lyon is a phototechnician and visual aide in the Department of Plant
Pathology, and has received many na
tional awards for excellence in scientific
photography. Marcia Kelley who has
had her work shown in many photo salons works for Photographic and Microfilm Services in Day Hall. Ann Elliot is a lecturer in freehand drawing m the Department of Floriculture and
Ornamental Horticulture. Bill Brown is
the assistant manager of the photographic department of the Campus Store. Brown echoed the feelings of
all the judges when he said, "I am thrilled and surprised with the prints."
Was it worth the trials and errors? tudents in the course say yes. If you 00k at the results, I think you'll agree.

Second Place Winner -- Jim Aesch '80, crafted this beautiful shot.
Students and Photo Salon judge dis
cuss one of the entries.

13

Heating Water with the Winds

by David Paul Lane '80
In years past, it was not unusual to
see a windmill on almost any farm in
the mid-west. Most often, wind power
was used to pump water. Recently, harnessing the wind as a source of energy has generated new interest.
Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is participating in a pro gram sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Department of Energy to develop ap plications of wind energy in rural areas. Currently, Professor Wesley W. Gunkel of the Department of Agricultural En gineering is directing a wind energy project. The goal is to design an eco nomically and mechanically feasible means of producing hot water for dairy operations.
"Approximately 25 percent of the electrical energy consumed on dairy farms is expended for heating water for washing and sanitizing milk handling equipment," said Professor Gunkel.
With such an enormous hot water re
quirement, a shortage in electrical sup ply could have serious consequences on the dairy farmer and consumers.
For this reason, the direct applica
tion of wind energy to heat water is of
particular interest to researchers. The wind turbine system prototype, which is now operational, is not used to gen erate electricity. Instead, it converts mechanical energy into heat energy.
A commercial wind turbine and asso
ciated equipment constructed by Pro fessor Gunkel and his staff is designed

specifically to produce hot water. "There are possible applications in dairy operations and home heating," pre
dicted Professor Gunkel.
Since wind power technology is still in the experimental stage, many prob
lems had to be overcome in construct
ing the full-scale prototype. Obtaining
a wind turbine was a difficult task. The
Windmill powered generator heats water for dairy use at Cornell.
Researchers Randy Lacey and Viswarn Nattuvetty collect data from a
turbine.
ag engineering project was limited by the funds available to purchase a tur bine and also by the specifications re quired. A Cycloturbine manufactured by the Pinson Energy Corporation was finally purchased.
The Cycloturbine was chosen al though it was of a smaller scale than originally proposed. Professor Gunkel cited the Cycloturbine's unique design and its adaptability to the system as primary reasons for its acquisition. The turbine is mounted on a 40-foot-high tower. A hexagonal building was de signed to fit around the base of the tower. The building protects equipment
and serves as a data center.
"Originally," explained Gunkel, "we set up the project to heat water for the dairy complex at Cornell's Teach ing and Research Center," located on Route 38 between Dryden and Har ford. Randy Lacey, a research engineer working on the project, commented that the original location was unsuit-

able because the dairy complex is sur rounded by tall hedgerows and build ings which interfere with the wind cur rents. This, accompanied by the fact
that the wind turbine was smaller than
intended, made it necessary to find a
new site.
So, the decision was made to locate
the windmill on a hill about half a mile
from the dairy complex. This made it impossible to incorporate the dairy operation into the project. "Hot water demand is simulated by extracting water from the system in accordance with a predetermined schedule that represents the demand patterns of dain/ systems and domestic use," said Pro
fessor Gunkel.
Another major problem encountered by the researchers was matching the wind turbine with an Energy Conversion Unit (ECU) to produce the maximum amount of hot water possible. The ECU consists of a water holding tank and an impeller. The impeller is driven by the wind turbine and rapidly agi tates the water, creating heat. The wind turbine and ECU match-up was com pleted by Assistant Professor Sergio Neyeloff of the University of Connecticut.
With the wind energy system oper ational, data is continuously collected.
Randy Lacey is responsible for data collection and analysis. Information will be gathered from the prototype for a period of one year. Data will in
clude the amount of hot water pro
duced by the wind energy system as
well as the wind characteristics at the
site. Information on reliability of the prototype will also be collected.
With the energy situation growing worse, viable alternatives to using oil
and coal as sources of power are be
coming increasingly important. The wind-powered hot water system being developed at Cornell could some day
reduce the amount of non-renewable
energy expended in producing hot water for domestic and dairy uses if incorporated as a supplement to exist ing hot water units.

14

j\ It won't be a stylish marriage* I can 't afford a carriage,
But you'll look sweet upon a seat
Of a bicycle built for two.
■ Either history does repeat itself or aback in 1892 composer Harry Dacre had a good idea of what life in the
: 1970's was going to be like. The cost
■of a car, including its maintenance and fuel, has led many people in the Cornell community down the path to bicycle ;. riding.
: According to the Cornell Department of Public Safety, 2,400 bicycles have been registered on campus since 1972. ■Out of this number, 778 bicycles have been registered for the two-year period
!of 1978-1980.
The transition from car or bus to two
wheels has not been an easy one for
many bicyclists. Wes Tree, Director of Cornell's Radio-Television-Film Sec tion in the Department of University Relations, began to ride seriously last spring. He made several attempts before that, but quickly gave up. "The first time I tried biking to Cornell I

Leeming, who used to drive his car
to campus, took up bike riding as an alternative to buying a second car. "I'm totally against cars now. They do
not last more than three years up here and with the price of gas and mainte
nance, I have found bike riding to be
an excellent alternative."

f

Bl

"L
■"ft""™" '. ', TBj '-'Sfc. _

Biking has also been used in teach
ing people about energy conservation. Last year, the Department of Agri cultural Engineering wanted to make the public aware of just how much
energy had to be exerted while pedal
ling a bicycle to turn on a 100 watt
light bulb. The Visual Communications
Section of Media Services built such
an apparatus and put it on display to
demonstrate energy conservation at
the New York State Fairs at Syracuse
in 1977 and 1978.

A biker waits his turn at the corner
of Central Avenue and Campus Road.
to pay for the cost of my bicycle in terms of the money I saved by not taking the bus. As it turned out, it
would take me five years at 50 cents
a day, but I really like the exercise so it's worth it. During my first year of riding I cheated. I used to walk my bike
up the hard parts. But the first time I
made it up the hill without putting my feet down I felt a quiet sense of ac complishment."

Though not driving a car, a bicyclist
must follow the same traffic rules.

Pedalling

Conservation

::-never thought I'd make it back home.
id gave up after two days and returned -to using the bus," Tree said. After put ting on some weight, however, Tree -.decided to try bike riding again and
.soon became an enthusiast. "The first
r^eek every muscle in my body ached. ft>u just have to stick to it."
Not all alternate forms of energy
Jiave to be in the form of 1 0-speed .Picycles. One in particular is a black
Jree-speed Sears model which was
purchased five years ago for $35 by
Joe Leeming, Assistant Director of the >dio-Television-Film Section. Leeming
M "I consider that bicycle my life-
/aver. At my age, the ten-minute ride
W|ce a day makes the difference."
; 'cycle overpopulation causes this ^o-whee/er to find refuge under a tree.

Jim Griffith, manager of the Visual Communications Section, said that the
exhibit was a success in that it showed
people how much energy is really re quired to produce electricity. Griffith said they found it was much harder than just flicking on a switch.
Jerry Wilcox, Assistant Director of the International Student Office, has been riding his 1 0-speed Fuji Sports
Ten from West Hill for over a year.
Wilcox said, "Before I started riding I figured out how long it would take me

by Maria Sue Malkman '80
Leeming said that once he was stopped by a campus patrol officer when he turned his bicycle up East Avenue during the hours which are unlawful for use by cars.
According to Leeming, riding a bi cycle does have its advantages, though.
"When traffic is backed up and I don't
feel like waiting in line I just hop off my bike and become a pedestrian. I
have found that at times there is an
adversary relationship between motor ists and bicyclists. When I am in a car I hate bicyclists and when I'm on my
bike I hate motorists."
It is almost as difficult to find an
empty bike stand as it is to find a park ing space at Cornell these days. Twowheeled vehicles are becoming so plentiful that "No Parking" signs may
soon appear on tree trunks and chain link fences around campus.

15

Incoming freshmen in the College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences are sud denly overwhelmed by a steady stream of mail. They receive course listings, the name of their advisor and publica tions such as Keep Me. Upon arrival on campus, they report to registration in Barton Hall, where a friendly row of ladies stamp, seal and officially sign everyone in. During senior year, letters arrive requesting students to drop in to take care of senior businesses, and
finally, each person is handed a diplo ma. Has anyone stopped to consider
who handles all of these transactions?
Well, it is not a band of elves. It is a group of people who work in 192 Roberts Hall, otherwise known as the
Office of Instruction.
Sitting at the first desk to the right
of the entrance to 192 Roberts Hall is
Mary DeLong. Mary's official title is Records Clerk, which involves handling student records, mailing and various other tasks. Mary is an extremely de voted worker, as well as a sincere and helpful person. Any disheartened stu
dent would be comforted after a visit
with her. As Mary stated, "Most of the students are extra nice. They are in teresting and a joy to work with." Mary has spent a total of 30 years working at Cornell - with the past 1 1 in the Of fice of Instruction. Equally devoted to

The Friendly FACES
In Room 192

by Karen M. Pelliccione '80

Smiling from L. to R.: Jan Preston, Mary Rightmire, Rita Wanner, Mary DeLong, Diane LaLonde, Beth Mullenhoff, Ruth Stanton.

her own family, Mary has raised four children. In her spare time, she does volunteer work, such as knitting, for
the Church of the Immaculate Con
ception, and enjoys pastimes such as refinishing furniture.
If a student needs to check on a
grade change, Mary Rightmire can lend a hand. Also a records clerk, Mary spends much of her time making grade changes, working on student petitions and Summary of Record sheets. Mary
has worked about six years in the Office
of Instruction, always with a warm and friendly manner. Mary enjoys working for the students because "They keep me aware of what's going on." Cro cheting, reading and embroidering are among Mary's leisure time activities.
Rita Wanner is the person to see re
garding financial aid questions. She is
the very spry secretary to the Associate Director of the Office of Instruction.
She handles a multitude of responsi bilities aside from her regular secretarial
duties. Rita has worked with this office

since 1968. She helps the Associate
Director with the coordination of sev
eral ag college programs. She is a neat, organized person who is always more than willing to help.
This may seem like a tremendous amount of work for one person, but,
as Rita said, "The students keep me
young and needed. Students are the
real reason we are all here on campus." Rita also enjoys hockey, tennis and horse racing. She attends to a large collection of antique dolls and costumes
in her spare time.
The pleasant lady working with the adding machine is Jan Preston, Ad
ministrative Aide. Jan takes care of
the budget, payroll and personnel ap pointments and records for the office.
She has worked in Roberts Hall for 17
years, the last nine of which have
been in room 192. Although Jan has
somewhat less direct contact with stu dents than the other workers, she said
that, "With very few exceptions, I have enjoyed my contacts with stu-

16

dents. I am impressed with their openminded attitudes and their ability to cope with the problems they encounter in today's society."
Jan has three children. The youngest has several horses, which Jan is pre sently taking care of.
Ruth Stanton, College Registrar, is perhaps the person most often sought after by the students who visit the
office. Ruth has worked in 192 Rob erts for 12 years. She is responsible
for the supervision and maintenance of accurate and complete records for students enrolled in the College. This tremendous task involves checking on students' progress toward their de grees, availability of transfer credit and more. Ruth is an extremely hard work er, as evidenced by the fact that her work day often extends far beyond five o'clock, when she brings work
home with her in order to stay on
schedule.
Ruth feels that working with students is an ideal situation, because, as she explained, "It keeps me up to date on trends. I feel it gives me a better in sight with regard to the problems young people face today."
What little spare time Ruth has is
spent attending various sports events. She is a particularly avid fan of Cornell hockey, football and lacrosse.

urn ;:
Rita Wanner consults with a stu
dent employee regarding the day's
work.
Diane LaLonde is the secretary to the Director of Instruction. Diane has been working in 192 Roberts for about two and a half years. She is a quick,
efficient worker with a pleasant dispo sition, all essential qualifications to keep up with the many responsibilities her job demands. Some of these in clude setting up appointments for the Director, preoaring memos and typing
reports. Diane's main involvement with
students is through the Master of Pro fessional Studies (MPS) Program.

And last, but definitely not least, is
Beth Mullenhoff. Beth has been work ing as a clerk in the Office of Instruc tion for seven years. A person of varied skills, some of Beth's jobs include work ing out credits from other schools,
preparing Summary of Record sheets and keeping up with incomplete and
missing grades. Beth is a warm and friendly person who really seems to en
joy her interactions with the students.
Beth is very Cornell-oriented, and with good reason. Her husband, Paul Mul lenhoff, is a research support special ist in poultry science. Three of her four
children are Cornellians: Jeanne, 76,
who was commodore of women's
crew, Mark K., 78, Law '81 and Paul, '82, who is presently playing varsity football. Beth's daughter Nancy will graduate from St. Bonaventure Uni versity in May, 1980. Beth loves work ing with the students, because, as she noted, "All the students are really nice, polite and interesting - each with their own story to tell."
It is difficult to truthfully describe
the endless amount of energy and co
operation circulating among the people
who work in 192 Roberts. Rita Wanner
very aptly described the attitude re flected in the office when she said,
"Our mission is to work for and with
the students at all times."

Jan Preston, who has worked in the office for nine years, is involved mainly with budget and payroll.

Your student petition goes through Mary Rightmire's hands. She also keeps student records up to date.

17

Exceptional Cornell students can
save time and money while obtaining both a bachelor's degree and a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.)
degree in only five years. Although the combined degree program is open to all University students, the major ity of applicants from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences have tra ditionally been agricultural economics (ag ec) majors.
Mark Wilson, B.S. 79, M.B.A. '80, explained, "You have to fulfill most of your undergraduate requirements dur ing your first three years. You apply for the five-year program during your junior year, and if accepted, you're a double registrant your senior year. Dur
ing that fourth year, you take business courses in the Graduate School of
Business and Public Administration
(B.&P.A.) in place of your under graduate electives. At the same time, you finish your bachelor's degree and graduate with your class. During the
fifth year you finish your M.B.A. in B.&P.A.."
According to Prof. Richard D. Ap-

This maze represents the complex path from high school to a five-year
MBA.
lin, Department of Agricultural Eco
nomics, "The ag ec students auto
matically receive 1 1 credit hours of ad vanced standing when accepted into the program. This advanced standing is a result of the excellent background the students have upon entering the program."
Professor Aplin advises all ag ec majors who are double registered dur
ing their senior year. "I have an obli
gation to the College and to the stu
dents to see that each student com
pletes his B.S. requirements in eight semesters," he stated.
"The five-year program has become more selective recently. A few years
ago, all the ag ec students who ap
plied and were worthy of admission were accepted. Today, that is no longer true. Last year, two of the 1 1 accepted
into the program were ag ec students.
Applicants have to be realistic about the situation," Professor Aplin stressed.

GETTING THE SECOND
DEGREE

by Christin Sparagana '80

He explained, "The increased selec
tivity is due to an increased interest in M.B.A. programs all over the country. Everybody wants an M.B.A., right? And Cornell's B.&P.A. reputation is
improving. These factors are causing a considerable increase in applications."
The numerous benefits of this pro
gram explain its popularity. Aplin listed the benefits: "First, the stu
dents save a year of tuition. Second, they save a year of their time. Third, their starting salary is generally about $6,000 to $8,000 higher than someone graduating with a B.S. Fourth, their summer job opportunities while still in school are outstanding, both finan cially and in terms of providing valu
able experience." Craig Buckhout, B.S. 79, M.B.A.
'80, emphasized the advantage of hav
ing more job opportunities, responsi bilities and challenges available upon completing the program. He explained, "You have more flexibility regarding
where you can start and what you can
do."
Buckhout also mentioned one major
disadvantage of the program. "By working to fulfill all the requirements in a compressed time period, you miss out on taking free electives you may want for your general education," he
said.
Many financial institutions are look ing for personnel qualified in both agri
culture and business related fields. Com
bining the two, a duo known as agri business, is an attractive option for five-year students. Buckhout cited pos sibilities such as working in agribusiness
departments within banks, managing farms and working in food industry
management. Professor Aplin said, "The benefits
of the five-year program are great. But to get into this program, students need high test scores as well as high cumulative averages. The candidates
also need strong recommendations and a record of other supportive activities.
They have to be very special people who have held responsible positions because the selectivity process prob ably will not change in the foresee
able future."

18

Music calms the savage beast...
and the Cornell student. Since the Uni versity was founded, songs have been sung at social, sports, formal, informal and fraternal events. Not all the songs are soothing, some even poke fun at
a particular college or group. But most
songs bring students together as has been the case here at the College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences since 1900.
For example, there is a song that
describes the student in the College
of Agriculture during the early 20th century. "To dig up Greek and Latin

THE

HIT-

OF

COLLEGE

1909-

AG

PARADE-

roots, We do not come to college, But of the earth and all her fruits, To get a
store of knowledge. Our thoughts to beef do mostly turn, To cabbage and tomatoes, We want the cheapest way to learn, Of raising big potatoes. And
when we've found out how to grow
The rich and luscious pumpkins, We'll take our sheep-skins home with us,
And shine among the bumpkins."
This is one song that was included
in College Songs, a book prepared by
the students of the New York State
College of Agriculture in 1909. Liberty Hyde Bailey, the dean of the College
for many years, wrote the foreword of this song book. He wrote, "I am
glad that the students in the College of Agriculture are preparing a new song book. Every enterprise conducted in common adds to the social unity of the college, and it trains persons to work together in the world. I am sure that these good songs will help many stu dents to derive more joy and satisfaction from life, and they should contribute much to the fellowship of the college."
And that is just what these songs did. The College of Agriculture con sidered itself distinct from other parts °f the University and yet, still con nected with it. Dean Bailey encour-
a9ed the students to feel this way. Dur
ing the early stages of the College of

by Pamela Edwards '80

miss my eight o'clock upon the hill."
The second verse of this song tells of

the students' blessings toward the pro

Agriculture, the students and faculty fessors of early classes. "The Faculty

were busy developing an identity and who live in style Upon the hill together,

these songs were a unifying force.

They're not compelled to walk that

In the year 1909, there were ap

mile In every sort of weather. God

proximately 600 students in the Col grant that in some future state, They

lege. The members of the faculty may receive their fill-May it be always knew most of the students. In College nearly eight, and half way up the hill."

Songs, the lyrics of one song entitled "The Old Farm at Cornell," were writ

Another song, entitled "One, Two, Three, Four", describes a student's

ten by Anna Botsford Comstock, the first female professor in the College and the University. The first verse and
chorus of this song are as follows:
"When dawn her bowstring drew,
When her brightest arrows fell, They
touched the meadows green, That sur
round our fair Cornell. Hov'ring rains
blew gently o'er, Winds their secrets to tell, To the grass and the bending grain, On the old farm at Cornell."
Yet, not all the songs tell of the joy ous days at Cornell. "At Eight Upon the Hill" describes quite a different
aspect of early mornings. "The golden sun within the heaven Is rising more
and more, The clock has just been striking seven, The coon knocks at the
door. I lie in bed and curse my fate And try to swear my fill—At those who
haul me up at eight, On that accursed hill. (Chorus) At eight upon the hill, At

woes at report card time. "One day a
freshman to Cornell came, With reso
lutions to study hard, He got to loaf
ing and in December I saw him count ing the hours on his card. (Chorus) One, two, three, four, Oh, how I wish there were more, Ein, zwei, drei, vier,
I won't be back next year, Yet, nee,
sam, see, Dumb as a heathen Chinee, No more I'll roam Away from home,
One, two, three." These songs tell of the students'
lives in the College of Agriculture "way back then," but it is nice to know that times have not changed drastically.
For it seems that one can still hear the
old song, "And When I Die" at many
of today's fraternity parties. "And when I die. ..don't bury me at all,... Just pickle my bones... in alcohol... Put
a bottle of booze... at my head and feet,. ..And buy me a shroud. ..Then I

eight upon the hill, It's getting late, I'll will keep."

19

From

SOLID WASTE

to

"We are burying an energy source:
garbage. If it can be proven econom ically feasible to the University and the counties, it is logical to use this for fuel, rather than non-renewable energy sources presently used," claims James W. Ray, Tompkins County Board Representative (R-Enfield-New-
field).
Four counties-Tompkins, Cortland, Cayuga and Tioga-have fostered the logic of city and regional cooperation by focusing on the long-range plan ning and development of a solid waste incineration plant with heat recovery.
The Multi-County Solid Waste Re covery Study has been considering Cornell University as a potential buyer of steam produced by the plant since 1978. Consultants employed by the
counties revealed the economic com
plexities involved in building such a large and expensive plant.
The proposed plant site would be located behind Cornell's existing heat ing plant at the interseciton of Route
366 and Judd Falls Road.
One supplier of such plants, Consumat of West Virginia, is under con sideration to install 12 waste-to-energy
units at this centralized location to
which garbage will be hauled. The following technique is used in
solid waste incineration. Burning stews the garbage in an oxygen-deficient
chamber. Methane gases from the
process are not burned here, but fed
to a pollution control chamber. Here,
the gases are mixed with air to main tain a proper air-to-fuel ratio and
temperature before entering the heat exchanger where steam is produced. Gases are then released through the energy stack. When ejected, the solid

by Debra Montner '80

waste material from the combustion
process is reduced to 1 5 percent of its former volume. This inert material can
then be hauled to a landfill for final
disposal.
Stack emissions do not seem to pose
any considerable pollution problem, when controlled by conventional tech
niques. With the exception of large cumber
some objects, glass and metals will not be pre-sorted. These charred materials must be disposed of in landfills.
After much deliberation, Cornell still feels that a decision to proceed is pre mature. Henry Doney, Director of Utilities, said, "We are not really pre pared to give a decision-it's a com plicated economics problem. Buying steam, instead of burning fuel, has the potential of saving money for Cornell University. Theoretically, the life of equipment not used will be increased and capital equipment will be saved. Installation of additonal equipment and future expansion or retirement of older equipment in the current plant could be avoided in part."
Cornell's current plant is multifuel (oil, gas, coal, wood). The expen sive fuels (oil, gas) are used to meet

the campus daily peak demand because
they are more responsive.
For some reason, peak garbage pro
duction occurs in the summer. In the
winter, when demand is higher, heat
production would be lower.
It has been determined that the
counties cannot supply all of Cornell's steam requirements; therefore, Cornell must maintain its present plant to
some extent.
Oil and gas boilers would still run in
tandem to compensate for the swing in demand. Yet, seasonal limitations restrict fuel versatility. Coal cannot be run in the summer because the large
boiler far exceeds campus demand, so expensive fuels are burned in the
summer.
Rising landfill costs provoked the counties' concern in the proposed project. They were united politically
by the availability of 45 percent fund ing from Albany to support the projed and to confirm their commitment the^ were asked to fund $210,000 toward <'• preliminary design phase of the project
According to James Ray, "The pro ject decision will be made in late 1980if the engineering plant, environment?: impact study and negotiations betweei

20

The cutaway view (left) of the basic Consumat system shows how steam is formed from solid waste. A tractor (1 > pushes the waste to the
automatic loader 12). The loader injects waste into the gas production chamber (3) where transfer rams (4) move the
material through the system. The high
temperature gas chamber receives a
controlled quantity of air which is fed to the upper pollution control chamber (5 J. Here gases are mixed and control
led for entrance into the heat exchanger (6) where steam is produced. A steam
separator (7) ensures high quality steam. Normally, gases are discharged through the energy stack (8). During power failures, gases are vented through the dump stack 19 j. Inert material is ejected
in the form of ash into the wet sump
(10) and conveyed (11) into a closed
bottom container (12) which can be
hauled to the landfill for final disposal.

the University and counties all prove
to be positive. The decision now is to
proceed to the next planning stage." If the plant is built, the counties
stand to gain a vastly reduced landfill
problem. Increasing Department of En vironmental Conservation regulations on landfill operations will escalate costs
in the future.
At the moment, Tompkins County is generously endowed with landfill sites. It will become the repository for the remaining inert material to be
landfilled, thus providing the counties
with sites to dispose of their waste.
If steam is sold to Cornell at the
!owest price proposed in the county study, net disposal cost over a 20-year Period would be $3.7 million. The
equivalent landfill cost has been calcu lated at about $54 million.
Plant cost for the counties is esti
mated at $15-18 million in 1979 dollars. The county proposal suggests that revenues collected for the steam
Produced will offset the capital and annual operating costs of the plant.
Operational cost, in a 20-year period,
ls estimated at $128 million and debt sen/ice at $33 million, giving a total annual cost of $161 million. To break

even in 20 years, they would have to
sell Cornell $100 million worth of steam.
The plant would have to process an estimated 60,000 tons of garbage per year. As mentioned, supply is lower in
the winter. The counties have thus
selected wood chips as an alternative fuel to supplement the steam capacity at peak periods. The use of wood cuts
down the use of other parts of the
Cornell University plant. A proposed 40,000 tons of wood chips would be burned to keep production uniform.
Dr. Ray Oglesby, in the natural re sources department feels that, "The University should consider its own operation for wood chip production, based primarily on the thinning of woodlands. By finding a balance be tween harvest and production, wood chips, as a fuel supply, would never
be exhausted."
Wasted heat recovery is under specu
lation by both Cornell and the counties. "We can generate electricity profitably
from waste steam, but we can't af
ford, in today's market, to make elec tricity from burning coal," claims Doney.
"One would have to calculate the cap
ital cost of electrical power generation equipment compared to the output

and determine economic efficiency." Concerning wood production, intern
alized expenditures could be of eco nomic benefit to the region. Managing a fuel supply based on local fuel sources can create an 'economic cushion,' which is safer, surer and a means to
increase New York State revenues.
An array of problems surrounds a project of this nature. Without proper timing and planning, ecologists see air pollution, odors and truck traffic as
potential problems. Another unresolved detail presents
itself. Will this plant be a public utility or run by Cornell?
Cornell is taking responsible action on an issue of major concern-locally, regionally and nationally. The decision to invest in a solid waste plant of this magnitude requires an in-depth analysis of equipment and operational econom ics and efficiency, availability of gar bage as a renewable energy source and a cost versus benefits analysis.
Institutional and county cooperation is still in its preliminary stages of de velopment. Much unresolved detail re quires further study to determine if it is an economically sound deal for both the counties and Cornell University.

21

Ruth Rice McMillan, '23, daughter of Prof. James E. Rice, '90, of poul
try husbandry, remembers sitting on the sleeping porch of their Wait Avenue home as a little girl and listening to the strains of a waltz being played for skaters on Beebe Lake. One night every year, during the festive week in Febru
ary between terms, known as Junior Week, the frozen Beebe Lake was
strung with colored lights so skaters could whirl into the night, serenaded by musicians.
The event was known as the Ice
Carnival and it was held regularly be

tween the years 1900 and 1950. Some
times, though, a February thaw would come along (it can happen even in Ithaca) and the ice would melt, ruin ing the carnival plans. McMillan said she remembers only one carnival being held when she was an undergraduate
student at Cornell. As a child she looked
forward to the event and was so dis
appointed when one carnival was can celled that she wept.
Information about the carnival is hard
to find in Cornell literature. In one book, At Cornell, author O.D. von Engeln gives the following account:

"The absence of fancy costume de tracted not a whit from the attraction... and did much to prevent the roughness and disorder which have characterized former affairs of this kind," the Sun reported.
The 1940 carnival was presided over by Satan, who arrived in a glider. The program that year included demonstra tions by professional skaters and mem
bers of the Cornell Figure Skating
Club.
With the outbreak of World War II, though, Junior Week festivities were
limited and the carnival was aban-

CARNIVAL on the Lake

by Joann D'Emilio '80

j
%s
Setting up for the Ice Carnival (1913) meant building a bandstand and a can vas rink -- a horse watches cautiously.
22

"During Junior Week, when the un dergraduates entertain their feminine friends with house parties and dances, there is one night set aside, always, for the Ice Carnival. This is a gala oc casion on Beebe, for the ice is spe cially lighted, and a canvas-walled en
closure is decorated with festoons of
color and evergreens. A band is secured, and no one knows of such a thing as fatigue while skating to its strains."
McMillan said she remembers that
the bandstands had heaters so the
musicians could warm their fingers in
between songs. There was also a heated shelter where the skaters could go to warm up. Most programs lasted from
8 to 1 1 p.m. Afterwards, fraternities would offer refreshments and dancing
for brothers and their dates back at the houses.
But no two carnivals were ever ex
actly the same. Plans for the 1908
carnival made headlines in the Cornell
Daily Sun because of their radical de
parture from tradition. It seems that the Ice Carnival committee that year de clared that no one was to appear in
costume for the event. Skating con tests, a hockey game and more elec tric lights would be added to the car nival. According to reports in the next day's Sun, the new ideas worked well.

doned. "With the festivities limited to
two days, with no Ice Carnival or prom, Junior Week, 1942, is but a shadow of its former self...," sadly
commented one Sun account.
The Ice Carnival never recovered its
former greatness after the war. In
1948, the festival was allotted only
one hour of afternoon time and in
1949 it was cancelled because of bad
ice conditions and inadequate prepa
ration. In 1950 the Junior Week sche
dule made no mention of an Ice Carni
val.
Many alumni, especially McMillan, still hold fond memories of the magi cal Ice Carnivals. "People just liked the
chance to skate to music and have a
good time," she said. "As a youngster I used to think how glamorous it all
was."
In our modern age, filled with tech
nological wonders, one might doubt that the simple joys of the Ice Carnival would find acceptance on today's campus. But it was not the carnival's
lights and decorations that captivated the student body-more than anything it was being together and relaxing
that students enjoyed. Although the Ice Carnival is not planned for a come back, its pleasures were those that any generation could appreciate.

COUNTRYMAN CAPSULES

Roger A. Morse, '50 M.S. '53, Ph.D. '55, professor of apiculture in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has had his book, Rearing Queen Honey Bees, published by Wicwas Press.
The proper handling of queen bees is critical to success in beekeeping, and Morse's book is intended for the beginner on a small level, but is also of use to the professional on a larger scale. Illustrated with many photos,
the book describes in a "how-to"
style the necessary equipment, methods of raising and shipping queens and making new colonies.
For more than 40 years Morse has
kept, studied, taught and written about bees. Two of his other publica tions on beekeeping are Bees and Bee keeping and Comb Honey Production.
Appointed Assistant Dean
James C. White, '39, Ph.D. '44,
specialist in food bacteriology, ecology and energy conservation, has been appointed assistant dean for academic
affairs in the School of Hotel Admin
istration. White will be responsible for the development of the school's cur riculum due to changing needs of the hospitality industry which is being affected by a world-wide energy crisis. White was a member of the faculty of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in the Department of Food Science until 1973 when he joined the
faculty of the hotel school. He has ex
tensive publications in dairy, food
bacteriology and bacteriology control
in large quantity food production.
Alumna Appointed
Janet Smith, M.P.S. '78, has been appointed Sales Support Editor for the JA Jones Construction Company in
Charlotte, N.C. Smith will write and
edit brochures and other publications
for this company which has world
wide interests.

Award Winners
Robert E. McDowell, professor of
international animal science in the
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
has been awarded the International
Animal Agriculture Award by the American Society of Animal Science.
For more than 30 years, McDowell has worked on the identification and solu
tion of problems concerning livestock production in tropical areas of the world. His work on cross-breeding of dairy cattle has been of great value to the United States and in developing
nations. McDowell teaches the inter
national aspects of animal science, has written a book Improvement of Live
stock Production in Warm Climates
and serves as consultant to many in
ternational organizations.
Dale F. Baker, ag engineering,
James P. Lassoie, natural resources and Todd R. Caso, Media Services, have received one of the top awards
of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers for the production of their 23-minute color film, titled "Home Heating with Wood." Winning entries were cited as outstanding in their originality and effectiveness in improv ing educational materials for the gen eral public and farmers.
Royse P. Murphy, Ph.D. '42, has been named professor emeritus in the Department of Plant Breeding in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Murphy is one of the leading breeders of forage crops in this country and varieties developed under his leadership have been predominant in forage production in New York and other northeastern states. In recognition of his contributions to agriculture, Murphy
received the 1970 Science Award from the New York Farmers, Inc.
C. Arthur Bratton has been named
professor emeritus in the Department of Agricultural Economics in the Col

lege of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Bratton retires as his department's ex tension leader and professor of farm
management after 35 years on the
faculty. Bratton's major research deals with dairy farm income and farm labor
management. Related to his research
interests are the development of agri
cultural economics extension programs in farm business management and
farm partnerships. He is the author of
more than 200 articles for extension
publications and farm magazines.
W. Shaw Reid has been promoted to professor of soil science in the De partment of Agronomy in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Reid is the department's extension leader and currently has responsibility for the extension and applied research programs concerning soil fertility for field crops
in this state.
Jane Gibson has been promoted to professor of biochemistry in the Section of Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology in the Division of Biological Sciences. Gibson, who studied at Cambridge and London universities, teaches a lecture and laboratory course in cell biology for undergraduates.
Her research has included work on the
regulation of growth and photosynthesis in photosynthetic bacteria.
Jeffrey A. Winton, '80, a senior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is the recipient of a $250 Alpha Zeta Scholarship granted by the National Alpha Zeta Foundation of
America Inc. Winton is one of 29
agriculture students on 26 campuses
across the country who received a
scholarship.
Gerald F. Combs Jr., an animal nutritionist in the College, has received the 1979 Poultry Science Research Award from the Poultry Science Asso ciation. The award is given for out
standing research published in the Association's journal in the past year.

by Mike Grogan '81
a unique grad program

Over the past ten years an impres sive range of graduates have received
master's degrees from Cornell's De partment of Communication Arts, but they earned a degree with a unique background. Now gaining recognition throughout New York State, few realize that the concept of the Master of Pro fessional Studies (M.P.S.) degree was
born in that department. During the 1960's the communication
arts department tried several times to win approval to offer the Master of Science degree, but was unsuccessful. Seeking to mollify critics, the depart ment developed a plan for a Master of Communication Arts degree, which won approval from all levels on campus and within the S.U.N.Y system. The State Department of Education blocked the degree, however, because of a con cern that too many new degrees were springing up. The communication arts department searched for an alternative and found it in the M.P.S. degree.
"We were looking for a degree spe
cialization which could cover a number
of fields within the College of Agricul ture and Life Sciences," explained Prof. Royal D. Colle. "The M.P.S. is an umbrella degree. It very nicely bridges the various fields of study in the College under a general degree."
The proposal for an M.P.S. degree was approved in Albany in 1969. In 1970 the ag college offered two new degrees: the M.P.S. (Communication Arts) and the M.P.S. (Agriculture). M.P.S. is the broad designation with
a student's concentration listed in
parentheses.
Unlike a Master of Science degree, the M.P.S. is not intended as a step ping stone to a Ph.D., though 20 per
cent of the M.P.S. (Communication
Arts) graduates have gone on for doc

torates. In most cases an M.P.S. trains
a student to tie research together, and then apply the knowledge in problemsolving situations.
"If you want to direct television
programs, don't come to Cornell," Prof. Robert H. Crawford warns pro spective M.P.S. candidates. Crawford
was communication arts' Graduate
Faculty Representative from 1970 to August of this year. "We don't knock that kind of career choice; it's just not what we're trying to do," he adds.
The uniqueness of Cornell's focus attracts students from backgrounds
that may or may not have involved
communication study or work exper ience. First-year graduate student Bill Altman, for instance, earned his Bache lor of Arts degree at the University of Pennsylvania last year.
"Before deciding on Cornell I was looking at the communication programs offered by Syracuse and Penn," Altman said. "But I had already had ex tensive hands-on experience (and Syra cuse is media-oriented) and the con
centration on theory at Penn didn't appeal to me."
"At Cornell we don't have all the
equipment we would like, but at least we don't have theory stuffed down our throats," Altman added. "The empha sis here is on strategic applications, which is perfect for what I want." Altman plans to work with a large corporation as a communications facil
itator.
The communication arts department now offers the largest M.P.S. program in the ag college. Furthermore, the M.P.S. concept has spread to several other colleges at Cornell, and even to
other universities.
Despite the program's success, the communication arts faculty still seeks

The Communication Arts Graduate Teaching and Research Center houses the Program.
a Master of Science program. "We
like the M.P.S. program very much," said Professor Colle. "People come here specifically for the formula we have developed, and we've had good
success with it."
But because the M.P.S. program
has been fairly flexible, some students have done research normally associated with an M.S. degree.
"If we could offer an M.S.," said Colle, "it would more accurately reflect the range of choices available, with some students doing research while others are carrying out 'project-type'
activities."
The communication arts faculty hopes that in the near future the de
partment will be able to offer both
degrees. This would not alter the present program, but it would expand the options for incoming students.
No matter what changes may evolve over the next few years, Cornell's
M.P.S. (Communication Arts) program will continue to offer students a unique opportunity for communication study.

UniversitjNew York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of the State University, at Cornell

AT LAST, A FARMER!

/

Ag College Humor - PAST and PRESENT

CORNELL

COUNTRYMAN

VOL. LXXVII

JAN./FEB..19BO

NO.4

EDITORS: Mike Grogan
Steve Rotterdam David Paul Lane
ASSISTANT EDITORS:
Karen M. Pelliccione Nancy J. Okun Mary Anne Hahn Linda Ann Koski
ART EDITORS:
Donna M. Case
Diane Charnley Adrienne R. Schwarz
Scott Lucear
PHOTO EDITOR: Catherine Northrup
EDITORIAL STAFF: Stephen Adriance, Joann D'Emilio, Pamela Edwards, Maria Sue Malkman, Virginia A. Miller, Debra Montner, Charley Nasta, Mary Elizabeth Schiek, Christin Sparagana
Picture Credits: Cover Illustration -
Cornell Widow; p. 3 - East Hill Depot; p. 4, 5 - Cornell Widow, p. 6, 18 (top), 22 - Media Services; p. 8, 9 - Visual Services, Russ Hamilton; p. 10 Catherine Northrup; p. 1 1 - The Cor nell Daily Sun; p. 12, 13 - Charley Nasta; p. 14, 15 - Volk Clip Art; p. 15, 18 (bottom) - Cornell University Archives; p. 16 - Linda Ann Koski; p. 20, 21 - Diane Charnley; p. 23 - United Dairy Industry Association; p. 24 Natural Resources Department, Cornell University.

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN
Jan./ Feb., 1980 VOLUME LXXVI I Number 4
ABOUT THE ISSUE With the cold and gloom of winter upon us, this issue of the Countryman may lift your spirits. The chap on the cover comes from The Widow, a former Cornell humor magazine, and is a sam ple of our look at campus humor -
past and present.

Collego Humor - PAST and PRESENT

Correction: In the November article,
"Not Just Water Over The Dam" we
implied that the University power plant could generate power resulting from the 400 foot drop in elevation from Beebe Lake to Cayuga Lake. The only head available at the plant is that from Beebe Lake to the plant, about
1 50 feet.

CONTENTS
3. The Depot... 100 Years Later by Maria Sue Malkman '80 4. The Merry Widow by Mary Anne Hahn '80
6. Chester H. Freeman: From Student To Professor by Donna M. Case '80 7. A Cornellian's Guide To Procrastination by Steve Rotterdam '80
8. Cross Country Skiing: Winter's Solace by Linda Ann Koski '81
10. The Grad Center From The Inside by Adrienne R. Schwarz '80 1 1 . Would YOU Believe? by Mike Grogan '81
12. The Big Red Barn - A History Of Change by Charley Nasta '80 14. Murder In Wing Hall by Mary Elizabeth Schiek '80
16. Footwear For The Active Horse by Joann D'Emilio '80

It is the policy of Cornell University actively to support equality of educa tion and employment opportunity. No
person shall be denied admission to
any educational program or activity or be denied employment on the basis of any legally prohibited discrimination involving, but not limited to, such factors as race, color, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, age, or handicap. The University is committed
to the maintenance of affirmative
action programs which will assure the
continuation of such equality of op portunity.

17. Crash Course by David Paul Lane '80
18. Little White Father by Christin Sparagana '80
20. Cornell's Voice In Albany by Diane Charnley Grad.
22. Students On Parade In Mann Library by Karen M. Pelliccione '80
24. Sirup Producers Benefit From Research by Stephen Adriance '80
The Cornell Countryman (ISSN 0010-8782) is published seven times a year from. October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cor nell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New" York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription Rates $5.00 a year; $9.00 for two years. Editorial content gathered and written b\: majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors: Jane E .Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

THE DEPOT...
100 Years Later

by Maria Sue Malkman '80

In 1876, the East Ithaca Train Depot was built at 140 Maple Avenue. One
hundred years later that same depot now stands on Judd Falls Road and
serves Cornellians in a different way.
The one-time train depot is now The
East Hill Depot, a tavern-restaurant
which is owned and operated by two
Cornell graduates. Ken Wormser, a 1971 graduate of
the College of Agriculture and Life Sci ences and his friend, Scott Anderson,
a 1974 graduate of the School of Hotel
Administration, bought the old East
Ithaca station from Cornell in 1976.
The pair hoped to establish a restaurant
business and were also interested in
renovating the old building. Because of a problem with zoning regulations, Wormser and Anderson arranged to have it moved off its original founda tion to its present location, 1876 Judd
Falls Road. The address represents
the year it was originally built. "The building needed a great deal
of restoration, both inside and out, but
we wanted to keep as much of the original depot as possible," Anderson explained. "We did much of it ourselves.
Walls were repainted, the wooden floors were sanded and revarnished, the beams, which are the originals, were rubbed down. We even helped
with the building of the foundation. After all this, we then had to install the
plumbing and electricity."
There were times the two owners
questioned what they were getting
themselves into. Anderson explained
that the land the Depot is now on was
originally used as a path for water drain
age onto Judd Falls Road. "We had
this huge hole dug at the start of build-
lng the foundation. It was in March and the snow was just beginning to melt. We arrived the next day to find th& entire hole filled with water. We

couldn't work for one month. People
used to kid us and ask if we were build
ing a swimming pool. It wasn't funny then but I can laugh at it now when I see the slides," Anderson said.
Even with the renovation, the basic layout of the building has been left un changed. What was once the waiting room and ticket office is now the dining room. The baggage and freight room
has been turned into the Parlor Car
Room where there now stands a bar.
The only addition to the building is the
kitchen area in the rear.
The Depot was opened for business on September 1, 1976, but as a bar only. Two months later, food was be ing served.
Many of the people at Cornell con sider the Depot their home away from home. It is known as an aggie hangout and perhaps justly so. Most Depot customers are graduate students in the ag college and students from the Col lege of Veterinary Medicine. Other patrons include Cornell professors and working people in the surrounding area.
"Most of our customers are regulars. Some come here every day for break fast or lunch or just to discuss research projects they might be working on," Wormser explained.
Because the two owners bought the Depot exactly 100 years after it was built, they have used the original date 1876 in their address, telephone num ber and sandwich specialty, the Depot 76er. "It was funny. A man from the
United Parcel Service threatened to
fine me ten dollars because the Depot's
address was out of sequence with the rest of the Judd Falls addresses. We
had permission from the Post Office, however, so nothing came of it," An derson said jokingly.
Wormser and Anderson are pleased with the outcome of the Depot but after

The original East Ithaca Train Station was used to bring supplies to Cornell and transport athletes to away games.
ten years in Ithaca they feel it is time to move on. The business is currently up for sale. 'We feel too confined by the business. We have done just as much as we can with the building. What we would like to do is buy old buildings, renovate them and then rent them out. In this way, we're constantly doing something new and learning more and more as we move ahead,"
Anderson said.
The next move Anderson, Wormser and their new partner, Chris Babcock, Ithaca College '80, intend to make is towards the southwest, possibly to a larger city. Wherever the three decide to go, they take with them some mem orable Ithaca experiences and yet leave behind an historical landmark, The
East Hill Depot.
The East Hill Depot, as it now stands, is a home away from home
for aggies.

3

WIDOWThe Merry

Portrait of

Affectionately nicknamed "Our
Lady in Mourning" by early staff mem bers and "the Little Old Lady in Black" later on, the Cornell Widow reigned as the University's humor magazine from the autumn of 1894 until 1962, when publication ceased. The Widow, a trademark first designed by Walter Wilder, '96, was a charming and fash ionably dressed cartoon character who graced the covers of many issues, ap peared among the pages and made edi torial comments throughout the years. The editors, calling themselves "The Widowers," included such distinguished Cornellians as Willard D. Straight, '01. When women joined the staff during
the 1920's and the "widower" dis
tinction for editors was dropped, the
Widow character remained with the
magazine named for her through its
final issue.
The Widow established herself as a
highly opinionated magazine from the start. Through the decades she followed University and local affairs, changing
fashions and morals and national news.

Because of the immense social upheaval that accompanied the 1960's, the
Widow found it difficult to maintain
the detached cynicism for which she was known, and the magazine folded.
Brief attempts to revive her in the mid-
1960's and again in the mid-1 970's failed, probably for the same reason. The Widow's memory lives on today, however, in the stacks of Olin Library.
What were students' complaints in 1895? See if you can identify with the following segment of a poem in the
October 17th issue of that year:
When, after gulping down our hash, we
up the campus creep, We sweat, and swear no other hill
was ever quite so steep.
How about this comment concern
ing red tape, presented in joke form
two weeks later:
Student (in Registrar's office): Please, Sir, I spoilt that petition blank you gave me yesterday. May I have another? I want to petition the faculty. Registrar: No. You're only allowed one
blank a term. If you want another

The Widow herself graced the cover of many an issue, always dressed in fashions reflective of the time period.

THI

WIDOW

1 l^fli ^B'-'^^i^fc^

Iks!
S&pWT^* 1 y jfcfjJT*^-

OCTOBF.P ■

\'H)'t-

) Well, Well
\ '46

20i

you'll have to petition the faculty. So red tape and Libe Slope are
nothing new to Cornellians.
As she grew in size and circulation,
the Widow searched for more institu
tions to criticize. Almost immediately
the magazine singled out her competi tor, The Cornell Daily Sun, making it the brunt of many jokes and stories. Here is a segment of an "Entrance Exam" printed in the Widow "for the benefit of prospective members of the
Class of 1900:"
"If there be 50 sewer-builders in
town, each working for $1.15 per day, and of whom three can read English,
which one of the other 47 is the Sun's
proofreader?"
In 1962 the staff referred to the
newspaper as "The Daily Done," further proof that a 67-year tradition still pre
vailed.
Eventually, nothing missed the Widow's eagle eyes. She had views on
everything. In 1907 it was women's rights: Mr. Simpson: Ah, Miss Sharpley, don't
you often wish you were a man?
Miss Sharpley: Yes-and you?
Traffic control in Ithaca drew this
1931 comment: "We might begin with Stewart Avenue. This alleged thorough
fare gets most of the traffic on the hill and... holds the all-time motorists' pro
fanity record."
The country was also in the midst of the Depression in 1931, and the
Widow could not resist saying some thing about that. "With the World's Series finally over, maybe some of the country's higher officials can sit down
and get serious about a few other
things." On gangsterism in 1937 the Widow
remarked, "And when somebody yells 'fire' in Chicago, people don't run for the nearest exit; they duck." Prohibi tion, World War II, the atomic bombnot a moment in history passed the
Widow unnoticed.

4

by Mary Anne Hahn '80
ampus Humor Magazine

Cornell University, however, remained the biggest source of the Widow's anecdotes and the prime target of her
wit. The first issue of each year was
primarily reserved for freshmen. "Once again," a staff member wrote in 1907,
"merrie autumn has fallen upon us,
with its usual crop of dead leaves, near-dead freshmen, and other things." The staff in 1931 was more kind in its
opening remarks: "To those of the en tering class, the Widow expresses her customary greetings and good wishes. The greetings may be of little practical benefit, but the good wishes are likely to come in handy... during the next four years." In an issue a few years later, this joke appeared: "Found on a freshman's registration card-Name of parents: 'Mama and Papa.' "
Fraternities did not escape unscathed.
The Widow recounted how one co-ed
said she was going to marry "a Kap and a gentleman," to which another girl replied, "You can't. That's bigamy."
Professors and courses attracted
their share of the Widow's abuse. One
aspiring poet had this to say in the
autumn of 1932:
Why is it professors can wear purple ties,
Haphazard haircuts, and coats the
wrong size. Trousers too short, and color-schemes vile.
Yet bust me in English because of my style?
Ten years later, the Widow told a
particularly interesting story about a
professor. Some students, it seems, felt that their professor was too smooth a talker and that they were not learn
ing enough from him. One day they left a "sedimentary deposit" on the
floor of his lecture room, and a shovel °n his desk for him to use. On witnes
sing the prank, the professor took the shovel and left the room. He soon re ined, and to the students' dismay,

sitting on the blade of the shovel was a stack of corrected prelims!
No doubt the College of Agriculture received its share of the magazine's attention. The Widow pointed out in September of 1940 that required courses in the College included "Milk ing 12" (which was "good to the last drop"), "Marriage Lab" (which included a two dollar fee) and "Dumb Apples 4." A must for students in veterinary medicine, the Widow said, was a course entitled "Meat Chopping 5."
One College professor is purported to have asked, 'From what kind of ani
mals do we get milk?" A student sup
posedly answered, "Female!" "Why does Geraldine let the boys
kiss her?" another joke asked. The re ply was, "She once slapped an Ag stu dent who was chewing tobacco."
"You know, Pop," a student in the College is chronicled to have said, "I
think I'll raise chickens." To which his
depressed father replied, "I think you'd
better raise bats. Their hours will suit
you better."
The slogan for the Cornell Widow, which remained with her through her last issue, was "Men may come and
men may go, but I go on forever."
After closing the final issue, one can only feel a bit sad that the slogan did not ring true. The Widow, in her way, had captured the best and worst times of the University and the country.
For Cornell historians, she is a gold
mine of information. For more casual
readers, she is a marvelous lady who found something to laugh about in everything, from passing concerns to problems that still wrinkle the brows of students today. Perhaps this joke, in a 1932 issue, best exemplifies how
the Widow described life at Cornell:
Parent: Tell me, have you learned any
thing at college? Son: Well, I've been taut quite a bit.
I imagine, somewhere, the merry Widow laughs still.

For whom the bell tolls - Mc Graw Tower is parodied in this 1935 cartoon.
Oops— This student's crib notes do not exactly please his 1007 professor.
■^f
"What's the joke?" -- A typical graduating aggie circa 1928.
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I
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: lUffi

CHESTER H. FREEMAN: From Student to Professor

Cornell University has been the focal
point of the life of Prof. Chester H. Freeman, BS '39, MS '45, for almost
45 years. Freeman received his under
graduate and graduate education at Cornell University and has been teach ing here for 34 years. In that time span he has seen the Department of Com
munication Arts grow from one course
to a department. He hopes to help in furthering its growth with the knowl edge he has developed since the fall
of 1935.
Before enrolling at Cornell, Freeman
had spent his whole life on a farm out side of Constableville, New York, where
he was born in 1915. When Freeman
reached grade school age, his father became ill and could no longer work
the farm. For the next two winters he
lived in a lumber camp where his parents
were cooks and his mother taught him reading, writing and arithmetic.
After graduating from high school in Constableville, Freeman expanded his knowledge of the three R's when he
entered Cornell. He studied rural edu
cation for four years, followed by one year of graduate work in agricultural economics. During these years he be came a member of Alpha Zeta and was active in the Kermis Club, an upper
campus drama club.
At this time he was reintroduced to
his future wife, Irene Schoff, Home Economics, '40. According to Freeman, "I met my wife originally in high school. But, we were both going out with other people. As a matter of fact, she used
to go out with my best friend. When
I came to Cornell, I finally got the cour
age to go out with her." Freeman took
Irene to seven house parties, a record for his fraternity.
About the same time he rediscovered
Irene Schoff, he took a public speak ing course in a department that was then called Extension Teaching. Free man also entered the Eastman Stage Public Speaking Contest. After his
second try, he won the contest.
With his interest in speaking and ex tension work flourishing, Freeman fin-

by Donna M. Case '80
ished his master's studies in 1940. However, he claims he did not receive
that diploma until 1945. "My degree
was dated '45 because I needed the
20 dollars at the time. I just couldn't pay for the diploma until then. My wife finally sent the money in when she knew I was coming back from the war."
After graduating in 1940, he became the Assistant County Agent in Cayuga County. He married Irene in 1941, and
a little later went on to work for the
Department of Commerce in the field of Zoning and Planning. Later that year, Freeman was given notice by the draft board, but decided to enlist in the
Air Force instead.
Freeman encountered one problem while enlisting. "I was ten pounds underweight and had only two weeks to gain the weight. The morning I took my physical I must have had eight or nine pounds of bananas and water. That did it. I got in." He entered and completed the Aviation Cadet Program
and was sent overseas to the Pacific Theater. He flew B-29's from the island of Tinian. It was from this island that the first atom bomb was flown.
Shortly after this, Freeman came back to the States. He clearly remem bers, "It was October 22, 1945. I landed in California. My wife sent me a tele gram the next day. It seemed Prof. George Peabody of extension teaching
Professor Freeman instructs a stu dent in proper darkroom procedure.

wanted to know if I wanted an assistant
professorship at Cornell. They needed qualified teachers to handle the influx of G.I. 's returning to the States."
Freeman wanted to accept but there
was the minor problem of getting out of the Air Force. They told him his mili tary specialization was still essential and he could only get a 45-day leave.
Freeman decided to take a chance and
return to Cornell. He started teaching on November 1, 1945, just ten days after coming stateside. Luckily, towards
the end of his leave, he was taken off
the essential specialization list. Free man joined the Department of Exten sion Teaching and Information, which had been formed by Prof. William B. Ward the previous April.
Freeman worked and received his
associate professorship in the early 1950's. By the early 1960's he received a full professorship. He taught what was then called Extension Teaching
101 and 102 (now Oral Communica
tion and Parliamentary Procedure, re spectively). Seven to eight years ago he started a photography course.
Other changes occurred during this time. In 1964 the department's title was changed to the Department of Communication Arts. According to Freeman, "There was a high rise in
interest in the academic end of com
munication in the 1960's and especially the 70's." There was a split five to six
years ago between the media services and the academic areas. It was during this split that Freeman became chair man of the academic department.
Freeman will retire this July. He plans
to maintain his ties with Cornell and
continue teaching on a part-time basis
for two or three years. He would also
like to help start an enlarged photogra phy program if it is feasible.
The Countryman wishes Prof. Chester
H. Freeman the best of luck in his
ventures. He has taught Cornellians
for 34 years. His determination to do
more after his retirement symbolizes a
true sense of dedication to the aca
demic world.

6

We've all been in the situation.
Whether we are students or out in the work force, it really doesn't matter. We end up faced with a task that must be
completed, usually relatively soon, but we just don't want to do it. It can be anything from a term paper to calling
dad about the wrecked car to explain
ing to the boss why the company's profits have sunk lower than a pregnant centipede crawling on the ocean floor.
If you think about it long enough

loss as the semester has progressed.
You then separate the pens into their
respective colors and arrange them very nicely in your coffee cup. You notice the heap of clothes lying in a corner of your room. They have been
there ever since you washed them two
weeks ago. Isn't it about time you
hung them up? You call the operator to make sure you have the right time. As you put the receiver down, you
notice dirt caked in around the mouth-

but not today." Otherwise the guilt can be overwhelming. Bearing this in mind, I submit 15 surefire Phase II procrasti nation techniques for your use:
1 . Sit back in bed, reflect upon
the past and wonder about the future.
Avoid the present.
2. Build that swimming pool you've been promising yourself.
3. There is a great Bogart triple feature playing. The fact that it's in
Philadelphia shouldn't bother you.

A CORNELLIANS GUIDE TO

by Steve Rotterdam '80

(and avoid more important things to
do) the answer becomes clear. We pro
crastinate to avoid guilt. Face it: you
have already decided not to do your
biology homework. If you just sit around
and do nothing, the guilt of that fact
can eat away at your insides and make
you miserable. But if you stay busy
then at least you can feel as if you've
accomplished something, regardless of whether or not that something had to be accomplished in the first place.
There are two basic types of pro
crastination that I have come across
in my own attempts to put off today what can be accomplished tomorrow. These are the short-term, pre-task com pletion delays or Phase I techniques and the cold-day-in-hell, long-term postponement impulses or Phase II
techniques. The Phase I techniques are precur
sors of the Phase II techniques or can be complete procrastinational experi
ences within themselves. We all per
form Phase I techniques at one time
or another.
You are sitting at your desk with 25
case studies to read and a summary
to write. You really don't want to do them, but you know you have to sooner or later. So you opt for later. You be9'n counting your pens and pencils and noting the trend in writing implement

piece. You find the Lysol and clean it off. You check out the T.V. listings,
but all your favorite characters on your
favorite shows have been replaced and you just can't follow the story anymore.
You spot the deck of cards on your desk. One or two games of solitaire
won't take very long, will they? All of the Phase I techniques have
one thing in common. They are de signed to give you anywhere from five to 60 minutes of respite before you decide to finally finish your work. They should not be employed unless you predispose yourself to actually completing your task once the pro crastination technique has been dis patched. But if you have a real hatred for the task awaiting you and are looking for a more elaborate means of escaping your responsibilities, then you shouldn't even waste your precious time with Phase I. Move directly into
Phase II.
The Phase II techniques are long-
term creative activities which can al
most always be manipulated into alibis to hand your superiors, since it is in
evitable that your work will not be
completed by deadline. You should not embark upon a Phase II technique unless you can look at yourself in the mirror and say, "You'll get it done... You'll get it done... You'll get it done...

4. Defrost your refrigerator, clean the pieces of food off your can opener,
remove all the hair from your blow dry
er and make sure all your warranties
are up to date. This is also a good time to remove the excess toothpaste
from your toothbrush.
5. Invite the Business School over
for a Monopoly party. Be sure to have
plenty of dip. 6. Stop by a friend's room to talk
about all the Saturday morning cartoons
you watched as kids and try to make
sense of them all.
7. Relace your sneakers. (This is especially effective if your sneakers are
in your girlfriend's apartment.) 8. Your best friend's birthday is
coming up and you want to buy him
some clothes. Drive to L.L. Bean's in
Freeport, Maine. Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Great coffee.
9. Buy a jigsaw puzzle. Turn all the pieces upside down and complete the puzzle while blindfolded.
10. You have worked hard and you
owe it to yourself to be fully rested to tackle the challenges of the coming day. Go to sleep for 12 hours. . .
Unfortunately it is impossible for me to go into the other five techniques at this point. It's not that I don't want to. I do. It's just that l...er...l have to go
feed the cat.

7

It may seem like the cost of every thing is going up, but two things that
will not go up this winter are the tem perature and the cost of cross-country
skiing. The long cold Ithaca winters may seem dreary, confining and even boring. After all, who wants to drive on ice and snow or go out in freezing temperatures? Well, if you are looking for exercise, lots of fun and an activity that is relatively inexpensive then cross country skiing is for you.
Many people have always wanted to cross-country ski but never budgeted their time to do it. Unfortunately, many people have been misinformed or believe myths about the sport. First, cross-country skiing can be enjoyed by anybody. An individual's age has no bearing on performance; people of all ages ski. Sharon Vaissiere, a Cornell physical education instructor and women's crew coach says, "Everyone gets his own enjoyment out of this sport. It is very personalized and can
be recreational."
A second point involves skill. If you consider yourself nonathletic or unco ordinated this may affect the efficiency with which you ski, but exploring the outdoors can still be enjoyed. For be ginners, cross-country skiing does not
involve much skill. The motion is most
often compared to walking and gliding. Technique is important only to those who wish to become proficient. It is not absolutely necessary, but often
beneficial to find someone who will
help for an hour. Experienced skiers can aid in selecting equipment, recom mending paths and advising how to prepare physically.
Conditioning for this winter sport
8

4
y

*

>AM>*#A-&^:J

may become a chore or an exciting
event. Some athletes remain in ex
cellent condition year round. Those
individuals achieve this by jogging, cycling, hiking and lifting weights. Other novices may simply condition
their bodies by cross-country skiing. The exercise involved when touring improves the cardiovascular system. Leg muscles are also strengthened.
For this reason many members of
the men's and women's crew teams
cross-country ski during the winter. Many of the same muscles are used in these two sports and it gives the ath letes a chance to enjoy winter. Fred Chapman, a sophomore in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences com ments, "It gives you lots of good physical training. Skiing is smooth. You never have any shin splints that you get from running on pavement." Also, running outdoors in the winter can be dangerous because ankles often become injured by slipping on ice and
snow.
Many calories are used while cross country skiing. The combined effect of the exercise and your body's at
tempts to stay warm will tend to trim
off the unwanted extra pounds. After touring, look forward to hot food. You will have quite an appetite!
During inflationary times, cross country skiing can offer many more benefits than alpine (downhill) skiing. Cross-country skiing equipment is rela tively inexpensive when compared to the cost of alpine equipment. The best cross-country ski equipment may not
be best suited for your needs. Get ad
vice by talking to skiers and dealers who have expertise.

Winter's Solace
^MjAa--^4^- ^^v^^\ by Linda Ann Koski '81

Clothing is casual for cross-country touring. In contrast, alpine skiers have become commercialized into buying a "jet set" image. The important thing to remember is to layer clothing, not
to wear the latest coordinates. Certain
nylons should not be worn since the
fabric does not allow moisture to es
cape. Moisture from perspiration causes a cold and clammy feeling. Wool socks, knickers or pants, light tops and a
sweater will maintain warmth. Gloves
will protect the hands and a hat or head band prevents a large loss of body heat. Vaseline may protect ex posed skin, but will not protect a skier in all conditions.
Exercise, have fun and enjoy yourself. Cross country skiing is for everyone!

One of the dangers ot Touring is not knowing how to regulate the body tem perature. Frost bite and hypothermia
can result. Ideal weather conditions for
cross-country skiing are clear sunny days, a temperature of 20°-25°F and fresh, fine dry snow.
Other advantages of cross-country skiing include no charge at most resorts, no time limit on skiing, no waiting in lines and virtually no chance of getting cold since the body is moving con stantly. Most of all, cross-country skiers enjoy being out in nature either by them selves or with their families. "It's quiet. You are by yourself and still you get a peaceful feeling. You can stop and listen," describes Andrea Dutcher, a Cornell physical education instructor and women's alpine and cross-country
ski coach. Dutcher often skis in her
backyard where animals roam freely. Many animals can be observed in
their natural habitat. Deer are plentiful, occasionally pheasants are seen and a rare appearance by a red fox was noted by one skier. Ag student Sherry Weeks, '81, was an avid alpine skier, but now puts her efforts towards cross-country skiing. "I like being alone out in the woods. It is surprising more people do not do it. When it is sunny
out the reflection of the snow is beauti
ful," says the crew team member. Ithaca and the surrounding area pro
vide ideal places for touring. There is the golf course, Stewart Park, Tru mansburg, Greek Peak and many open fields. Many people even ski in their backyards. Most communities have
citizens' races for all age groups.
The University has an annual cross
country ski race, open to everyone,

Ithaca's rural areas provide skiers with many paths to choose from.
which always guarantees a lot of fun for participants. For serious competitors there is the prestigious Canadian Ski Marathon in Canada. This is a two day event of 50 miles each day. Many Ithacans participate in this challenging, yet enjoyable event.
Now winter has some meaning,
some purpose other than to chill our bones. The winter wonderland has ar
rived! Forget about life's daily pressures. Go out and explore nature. Then stop and think. You may learn something about yourself. That is what cross country skiing is all about.

9

There is a house at 640 Stewart Avenue that appears quite ordinary from the outside. When passing by, most people think it is just another
fraternity or co-op living unit. It is no such ordinary place, however. I know. I work there. I'm Adrienne Schwarz,
secretary. My place of employment-
the Communication Arts Graduate
Teaching and Research Center. I started part-time work in October
after working full-time last summer. I shared an office with Karen Allen,
Administrative Aide and Joan Burgett and Pat Gray, the center's two full-
time secretaries. Back then I was a
quiet, shy, normal kind of person. Karen, Joan and Pat used to tell me I was too quiet and worked too hard.
So I decided to try and be more like
them: talkative and easy-going. By now

The author at the copy machine. -
"Eh. ..It's a living."

Arts..." Just a hazard of the job, I
suppose.
With five professors working at the Grad Center, there is always someone with something to be typed. For in stance, Associate Professor Njoku Awa generates enough work for five secre taries. Unfortunately, he has only
Karen and me. A few weeks ago we
had so much typing to do for Prof. Awa, Karen and I were seriously con sidering sending him away on vacation.
That way we would know that he
wasn't at home writing! I'm not com plaining about the amount of typing I do; it's great practice. But why is it that the times I spend all day typing at work always seem to coincide with
those nights I have to type a 20-page paper? Just luck, I guess.
The one attraction working at the

The GRAD CENTER from the INSIDE

the three women probably think they've created a monster for I certainly have
opened up. But honestly, I don't think there are many places you can joke
with your boss the way you would with
friends, and at the same time, like and
respect her.
Don't get the impression my job is
all fun and games. Oh no, no, no! I
knew things were getting serious and that I was really needed when my name
was put on the building directory: Adrienne Schwa rz-Secretary. Then, while working full-time over the sum
mer, I knew I had reached the pinnacle of importance. I was given a brand new
office on the first floor to share with
Karen. I was even given a stapler and a tape dispenser to call my own.
Besides opening up my personality, the job at the Grad Center has pre pared me with some skills I can always fall back on, should I fail to graduate from Cornell. My primary expertise lies in photocopying. I can copy something for you front and back, right side up

by Adrienne R. Schwarz '80
or upside-down. One week over the summer I think I made over 7,000 copies. Despite the bad case of "Xerox finger" I developed and all the head aches that copying gave me, I was able to catch up on my sleep every 100 copies or so.
In addition to perfecting my photo copying abilities, I have also been given the opportunity to polish my telephone techniques. With at least 1 5 staff mem bers and 25 graduate students to take messages for, things can get quite hectic. My favorite event occurs when all four lines on the telephone are lit up and I've just buzzed a professor on the intercom, but I can't remember which line his long distance call from Guatemala is on. Usually I just pick a button and hope for the best. When I get home from work I often find myself forgetting where I am and answering the phone with, "Communication

Grad Center had to offer me that my
former job at Day Hall lacked was ex citement. Whether it's a birthday party, a broken steam pipe or just an inter departmental feud, there's never a dull
moment. I've learned more about com
munications and lack thereof in my one year at the Grad Center than I have in
all four of my years at Cornell.
Whatever I might have said about my job at the Grad Center to make it seem less than perfect, I have said with the utmost affection. Sure, some times it's a problem when I'm on Stew
art Avenue at 11:10 and I have a class
on the ag quad at 11:15, but I wouldn't give it up for anything. By working at
the Grad Center I meet new people and learn new things every day. But the most precious thing I've found in working there are three of the best
friends I know: Karen, Joan and Pat.
What more could a person ask for than three mothers to count on in a
place considered a home away from home? Just more luck, I guess.

10

Wbuld YOUB Believe...

by Mike Grogan '81

Over the past 20 years one scene
has become a traditional experience for Cornell students. As Thanksgiving break approaches a grueling series of tests and papers have yet to be con
quered, so tensions are high on campus. One Friday morning a student rises
for his 8:00 class despite the loud pro
tests of mind and body. Before doing
anything else he sleepily reaches for the morning paper. Glancing at the
front page his eyes suddenly pop
wide with horror.
Cornell Will Adopt C Curve
Fall Grades to Be Lowered
Soon the roommate and half of the
dormitory have been alerted to the
shocking news. Many of the students
rush straight to their phones to call
parents, friends, advisors or one of
the numbers listed in the paper. Finally,
unable to contain himself any longer,
the floor's resident advisor bursts into
laughter and explains that this is The
Sun's annual Fall Weekend joke issue.
Many freshmen, and even some
forgetful upperclassmen, have been
duped by The Cornell Daily Sun's tra ditional hoax edition, but they shouldn't feel too ashamed at their gullible re actions. Cornellians have been falling for Fall Weekend spoofs since 1958.
Each year the hoax differs from its pre decessors but a pattern has evolved which binds the special editions into a common tradition.
The first step in the spoof formula is to conjure up a suitable topic. A lead ing staff writer is then picked to blend contrived facts with invented quota tions. The result is typically a believable news story ringing with authority. To sPice things up the front page often features related stories, diagrams,
Photographs or phone numbers for
further information. Sensational head'ines are a must. Add an editorial
about the late-breaking news, have the sports department write its own spoof,

throw in a Monday morning disclaimer and you have a genuine Sun joke issue.
The November 13, 1964 Fall Week end publication is a good reflection of the traditional mold. The issue's top story reported that the University had adopted major revisions in the aca demic calendar. One disheartening ef fect of the revision was explained in Sun writer Barry Cutler's lead:
The approval of the new University calendar has forced the University to withdraw from the Ivy League, Director
of Athletics Robert J. Kane announced
last night. Kane wept as he explained the neces
sity of the sudden action. . . The corresponding editorial took a
dim view of the news and Monday's
retraction blamed a "mechanical error"
for the fabrication.
There have been many other amusing front page and sports spoofs over the years. For example, in 1968 it was re ported that mandatory ROTC training would be reinstated. In 1970 plans were approved for a subterranean park-
Crystal ball time - The 1976 Fall Weekend issue of The Sun reported
the demolition of Roberts Hall and three
other major buildings.

==£ QL\)t Cornell ©ailp £>un -~=

Four Buildings to Be Leveled

Student Schedules -~'^£~~i~~yJi?~

To Be Rearranged.

: . ..

Preregistration Set ;':::':■ ::r:; rx'.-^J-S^

f~£^Maintenance Plan Brings Annoyance

ing lot on the Arts Quad. The institu tion of a tri-mester system was reported
in 1977.
A 1972 sports story reported that Canadians had been declared ineligible for eastern college hockey play. (Of course Cornell's team was predomi nantly Canadian.) In the pre-Astroturf days of 1969 the site of the weekend's
football game against Brown was to
be switched to Barton Hall because of
a swamped and muddy Schoellkopf Field. The story quoted director Kane:
"Due to the fact that that floor is
pretty hard, the game will be played
under the rules of the National Colle
giate Touch Football Association."
The history of the Fall Weekend
spoof actually begins before 1958. In
1954 a group of mischievous Cornellians
journeyed to Syracuse, the Big Red's
final home opponent in football that
weekend, and substituted 3,000 copies
of a parody issue of The Daily Orange
for the actual Syracuse publication.
Noted writer and broadcaster Dick
Schaap, '55, the editor-in-chief of The Sun that year, was a ringleader in the prank which the Syracuse Post-Stan dard called, "the biggest hoax ever to accompany an intercollegiate football
rivalry." The following year Cornell's daily
paper placed its regular Friday edition inside a parody of the New York Daily
News and sold the combined issue on
Fall Weekend. The Cornell Daily News,
as it called itself, contained lampoonstyle satires of local and national events.
There was no follow-up on the hoax
or parody idea for the next two years,
but in 1958 the Fall Weekend edition
reported that a Hotel student was slain in an early morning duel over a week
end houseparty date. Today the spirit that moved the ori
ginal 1954 pranksters can still be de tected at The Cornell Daily Sun. No,
Iran did not offer Cornell $15 million for surrender of the Shah and no, stu dent Bursar's payments were not lost in a huge computer malfunction, as
The Sun reported last November 9. In
deed, it is because these stories did not really happen that the Fall Week end tradition is still going strong.
11

A
THE BIG RED BARN:
A History of Change

Nestled snugly among the trees be
hind the Andrew Dickson White Muse
um is a building unknown to some Cor nellians: the Big Red Barn.
This versatile facility has been used as a stable, carriage house, garage, storehouse, alumni center and meeting place at different times over the course of its 105-year existence. The Big Red

by Charley Nasta '80
Barn was built in 1874 at the same time as first President Andrew Dickson
White's house. Cornell's second presi dent, Charles Kendall Adams, also
used the Barn for his horses and car
riages, but with the advent of the auto
mobile it was converted into a garage.
Presidents Schurman, Farrand and Day
all made use of the Barn in this way.
In 1951, when newly-inaugurated
Deane W. Malott decided not to live
in the President's house, the Big Red Barn was relegated to serve as a store house. Soon thereafter, however,
President and Mrs. Malott realized
there was a need for a special meeting place on campus for returning alumni

(especially those unaffiliated with fra
ternities or sororities).
After visiting a friend's reconverted barn, the Malotts became convinced that the Big Red Barn would be the perfect site for an alumni center.
Allan H. Treman, '29, and a group of alumni raised $30,000 to renovate the Barn. Heating, plumbing, electri city, a fireplace and a kitchen were all added. The "new" Big Red Barn offi cially opened with a luncheon on May 24, 1956. That summer saw the Barn in use for class reunions, and on foot
ball weekends in the fall there were pre-
and post-game get-togethers.
In 1969 the Barn was turned over
to the care of the Willard Straight Hall staff by the Alumni Association. Since
then it has become much more than
just the scene of an occasional alumni gathering. One of the Big Red Barn Supervisors, Joseph M. Rogan, Arts '80, observes "I've worked everything

Barn facilities include an outdoor covered barbecue pit. Inside, among various artifacts, are a fireplace and upright piano.

12

from wedding receptions to Chilean song-fests at the Barn." Nowadays the Barn is in use regularly for a variety of meetings, banquets and parties.
Many alumni have donated artifacts to the Barn over the years. These are
on display throughout the building. Upstairs in what used to be the hay loft are several carriages and sleighs, including a wonderful Russian droschke, a sleigh with gorgeous burgundy velvet cushions, which was given to the Barn by William H. Ball, '18.
Downstairs are many sets of riding
tack, harnesses, bridles and bits which
once belonged to Levy P. Morton,
former governor of New York and
United States vice president. There
are paintings and World War I era posters, farm implements and wagon wheels. Last but not least, just inside the front door is the Big Red Barn's
mascot, "Truman."
"Truman" is a dappled grey papiermache horse who stands solemnly hitched to a vintage buggy, eyeing all
who enter the Barn. His real name is
Silver Dan, and he was made in France
around the turn of the century. William
P. Biggs purchased the horse to show

off harnesses in his Trumansburg de
partment store (thus the nickname "Truman"). It stood in the second floor
display window of the Biggs Co. until
the store was sold in 1953. Robert E.
Treman, a former Cornell trustee, bought "Truman" for $350 and his
widow later donated the horse to the
University.
Incidentally, the last item on the Big Red Barn Supervisor's daily checklist reads "Kiss Truman good night."
What's in store for the Big Red Barn? Among other ideas was a proposal de veloped recently by Cornell Dining to convert the Barn into a lunchtime dining facility, which would have helped alle viate the mid-day crowd pressures at Willard Straight and Sage Halls. The Barn's location and atmosphere would have been ideal for such a function, although certain modifications to the
building were deemed necessary to
meet various regulations. Ultimately, disagreement over these modifications
led to the rejection of this particular
proposal, and Willard Straight Hall Director Hope B. Spruance does not
anticipate any major changes in the
near future.
But no matter what its destiny, the Big Red Barn will continue to stand
proudly as a reminder of past times
when the pace of college life was more
relaxed; a lasting tribute to the "good old days."

Truman, the Big Red Barn mascot, stands proudly near the entrance.
Upstairs, among carriages and sleds,
are banners such as this one.

The Big Red Barn's spacious interior is ideal for banquets and parties. The kitchen area is quite large and well equipped.

13

At 3 p.m. on the quiet, rainy after noon of September 14, 1936, two
weeks before fall classes were scheduled
to begin, a short, sad-faced man in his mid-sixties approached the Cornell campus-with a shotgun. Dressed in work clothes, his pockets bulging with 12 gauge cartridges, the man entered Wing Hall, which then housed the De partment of Animal Husbandry.
Several people later remembered see ing an anxious-looking man pacing about the building's first floor corridor, but apparently his behavior was not unusual enough to warrant a second glance. After a few minutes of hesita tion, the middle-aged man entered the office of Prof. Frank B. Morrison, Head
of the Department of Animal Husband ry, and quietly asked to see him. When
the secretary told him Professor Mor rison was not in, the cheerless man left the office. No one, not even Professor
Morrison's secretary, noticed that he
carried a gun.
Downtown in Ithaca that afternoon,
the State Theater was running a mati nee of Anthony Adverse, starring
Frederic March and Olivia de Havilland.
When the feature ended, movie patrons
left the theater to discover that the
most thrilling drama of the afternoon

had been played up on the hill, at the
University. "Extra! Extra!" yelled the Ithaca
Journal newsboys. "Ex-Janitor Kills Girl Clerk at University, Shoots Self. Viola Elver, 40, Victim of Man's Re
venge Motive."
The man with the shotgun, 66-yearold Harry W. Jeffrey, had been out of
work for a year and a half when he
finally made good his threat to "get even" with those he felt were responsi
ble for the loss of his position as a custodian in Wing Hall. Jeffrey and his wife had owned and operated a farm near Virgil, N.Y. for nearly 20
years. With the death of his wife in the
late 1920's, Jeffrey's fortunes changed. He moved into a boarding house in Varna and obtained a job as janitor in Wing Hall at Cornell. Jeffrey worked in the animal husbandry building for six years. Then in 1935, he lost his job because he had become incompetent.
Harry Jeffrey returned to Wing Hall on that rainy September 1936 after
noon, intent on revenge. When he dis covered that Professor Morrison was
not in, Jeffrey walked across the hall
and into another office where financial
clerk Viola Elver was working with stenographer Martha Salsberger and

student Raymond A. Miller. At this point, the drama in Wing Hall took on
the dimensions of a 1930's film.
"I've got a gun," Jeffrey said to Elver, who sat working with her back
to the door.
Elver glanced away from her work. "Oh yes," she said, refusing to take him seriously. Then she turned back to
the work before her.
"And I'm going to do to you what you did to me." Jeffrey raised the shotgun and sent a cartridge into her back and through her heart.
Miller, the student, rushed at Jef frey and tried to take the gun away
from him.
"I'll do the same thing to you," Jef frey said.
Here the resemblance to movie
drama disappeared as Miller ran out the
door.
Professor Morrison's secretary, Madeline Bower, heard the shot and saw Raymond Miller run past the office.
"Call the police," the student said
to her as he dashed down the corridor.
Bower walked out into the hall just in time to see Jeffrey sit down on a bench, clutch the barrel of the shot gun to his chest, and pull the trigger
which ended his life.

MURDER IN WING HALL
by Mary Elizabeth Schiek '80

©HVA
14

There's murder waiting in the wings - Wing Hall, as it appeared shortly after
construction.

The police found two notes on Jef
frey's body. One was quite mysterious.
It had come from the office of Governor
Alf M. Landon of Kansas, Republican Presidential Candidate for 1936. The
letter read as follows:
"This will acknowledge your letter to Governor Landon. He is glad to have
your suggestions, and appreciates
your thoughtfulness in writing." Signed, Willard Mayberry, Secretary to the Governor.
A second letter revealed that Jeffrey had contemplated revenge for some time. The envelope bore the message,
"Kindly call Mr. Perkins, undertaker °f Dryden, N.Y. Give him this note."
Dated June 30, 1936, the letter began w'th, "Dear Friend."
' was up to see you about four
weeks ago. Told you to lay me to rest. Y°u took it as a joke. But I had plan ned this."
' made up my mind to get even
wjth the liars, if I was obliged to use
the9un. So here it is."

"You will find clean clothes on my
bed where I board. Kindly ask the
Brothers to forgive me. But it's a bore in my mind. I can't help it... Say good
bye to McWaters for me." By "Brothers", Jeffrey meant fellow
Masons. George McWaters was a former neighbor. Earlier that afternoon, when Jeffrey left Varna, he had told his landlady that he was taking the shotgun to McWaters because he had
no further use for it.
Though the letter to the undertaker was dated June 1936, Jeffrey had
considered taking measures to "get even" as early as December 1935. At that time, he told his attorney, Bert T. Baker of Ithaca, that Elver and Profes sor Morrison had falsely accused him of petty thefts and of being intoxicated on the job. Jeffrey dropped legal pro

ceedings, however, and began devising a more violent means of getting re
venge.
The near tragic figure in this tale is,
of course, Professor Morrison. That
Morrison chanced to be out that Sep tember afternoon was purely accidental. Earlier that afternoon, Professor Mor
rison had attended a "Pasture Field
Day" that was being held at the Col lege of Agriculture. During this outside excursion, the weather became, to say the least, inclement, and Professor Morrison went home to change his clothes, thereby missing a fatal en counter with Jeffrey.
Apparently, no one ever wrote Alf Landon to inquire as to the nature of Harry Jeffrey's suggestions. Whatever they were, Jeffrey evidently felt he was entrusting them to a better presidential candidate. The Social Security Act of 1935, passed in August, came too late for Jeffrey, who had been dismissed by then. Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal was no deal for Harry Jeffrey.
All the quotes and information con tained in this article were taken from
accounts of the incident which appeared
in the Ithaca Journal.

15

Footwear for the ACTIVE Horse by Joann D'Emilio '80

Cornell University's Equine Research
Park is hidden in an area beyond the greens of the golf course and the plots of the Turfgrass Research Farm. There, on the 1 65 acre complex complete with barns and offices, ring and racetrack, one of many projects being carried out by Cornell scientists is the development
of a new kind of footwear for the per
forming horse. "Sneakers" is the nickname given
to a new type of pad placed on the
horse's hoof between the sole of the
foot and the shoe. It is designed to pro tect the sole and frog of a horse's foot by distributing the weight on them evenly no matter what surface the horse is on, according to Dr. John Lowe, D.V.M. '59, mer.ager of the Equinp Research Park and director of the project. "Instead of looking for good ground, with the sneaker the horse carries it around with him," ex
plained Lowe. Currently, different kinds of pads
are being used on horses' feet with varying degrees of success. The sneak ers project is funded by Hanson Indus tries of Boulder, Colorado, a ski boot
company whose directors felt they could improve on such products already

on the market, said Lowe. They became involved when one of their vice-presi dents, whose daughter rides a great deal, began working on the problem. Colorado State University researchers are working in conjunction with Cor
nell and Hanson researchers on the
project.
The sneaker itself consists of a
black, hoof-shaped urethane pad. The bottom of the pad has a raised tread which provides the horse with extra
traction. In the middle of the other
side of the pad, which touches the horse's sole and frog, is a bag of creamy
material called "flo."
Flo, the trade name for the material,
is what makes the sneaker different
from other pads being used, said Lowe. It consists of microscopic glass beads in silicone or oil. "They act like ball bearings," he said.
To test the durability of the sneakers, six horses wearing them are ridden for one hour each day by Cornell students.
Two horses are sound while the other
four being tested have "navicular bur sitis," a foot disease which leads to degeneration of a small bone deep in
the foot. These horses need the pro tection of a device such as the sneaker.

Diane Kilmer '80 rides one of the horses involved in the project.

w~ sgr f

Mr. Ked - this "sneaker" pad is used to protect the horse's foot.
So far the sneaker has been used
for pleasure horses - hunters, jumpers
and quarter horses. But that does not
rule out the potential use of the sneaker
on other kinds of horses in the future.
"However, the sneaker is not ready for widespread use yet," commented Lowe.
Of the six horses being tested, Lowe said four of them kept the sneaker on for the first six weeks of the project. Problems plaguing the researchers are that the packs with flo break or the entire pad tears off. "The horse is just
a little too strong for what has been
designed so far," said Lowe. At a walk a horse exerts 600 pounds of pressure on one foot, and the galloping horse may exert up to 3,000 pounds.
Stepping in mud, which causes a suction on the hoof, also shortens the lifetime of a sneaker. "None of the pads are foolproof," said Lowe, adding that
if the sneaker would last a horse six
to eight weeks he would consider it
satisfactory. During the cold winter months riding
will be suspended to allow Hanson de signers to take another look at the sneaker. "The mechanical problems are going to need solutions before we try another design on the performing horse," said Lowe. The third model of the sneaker incorporated the flo into the urethane pad, in an effort to prevent it from tearing off or breaking. Lowe said he and other Cornell researchers
will work with the Hanson people on
the next design.
Work on the sneaker goes on, then,
at the Equine Research Park. Although it may have an intriguing, even comical, nickname, it is a serious project with potentially great benefits for our four-
footed friends.

by David Paul Lane '80
I have never really professed any
great love for motorcycles. I'm sure I'd never own one. Actually, I don't even
have a license to operate one. That's
what I told the police officer when it happened. I distinctly remember the disgusted look he gave me as I lay on the hard asphalt of Route 366 and in formed him of my predicament. After all, it is against the law to operate a motorcycle without a license.
The entire incident might never have taken place except for a few extenu ating circumstances. I'm a communi cation arts student at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cor nell. I was employed last summer at the Animal Science Teaching and Re search Center in Harford, N.Y. Although
the center is located 17 miles from the
main campus, I decided to continue
to work there this past fall semester because it was good experience and I enjoyed the work.
I had been working the night shift on weekends, milking and feeding
cows. Normally, transportation was not a problem because I have a car. A few days before the incident my car broke down. My roommate offered me the use of his motorcycle. I was left with no alternative so I accepted.
The next day I was at the motor vehicle office attempting to secure a learner's permit. After waiting in several
lines I was informed that there was not
enough time to take the written test. The woman behind the desk said, "If you come back Monday morning. . ." But Monday would be too late. I needed the permit to drive to work that night.
So I made the bold decision to ride
the bike to work without a permit. Fri day night there were no problems. There were a few anxious moments
as I passed the State Police barracks at the intersection of routes 366 and
!3, but I made the trip safely. Satur day night was different.

With the cold fall weather, I dressed warmly. I wore overalls over my jeans, various shirts, my down vest and a parka. As I kick-started the 350 cc
Yamaha I remembered my best friend's
words, "Drive carefully." With more confidence than the night before, I turned onto Dryden Road and began my journey.
Route 366 was empty of cars. I ven tured into Varna unmolested. A glance at the speedometer revealed my speed of 40 miles per hour. I saw the car
pull out in front of me. I saw the look
of shock on the driver's face when he
realized what he had done. There was
the sound of steel colliding against
steel. The numbness which enshrouded
my body seemed to last for hours as I lay sprawled out on the highway, though it actually lasted only a few
moments.
When the numbness subsided I felt
a sharp throbbing pain on my left side.
The driver rolled down his window as
I screamed, "What have you done to me?!" The driver of a second car was
also pulling out of the parking lot at
Ballard's Tavern and had seen the
accident. Together the two drivers re
moved the crinkled remains of my room
mate's motorcycle from the street. The fender of the car scraped against the
tire as the car was driven into the
parking lot. Finally my cries for help were an
swered. A woman placed her coat under my head. I sank my teeth deep into my suede leather gloves. Suddenly everything was quiet. I realized that I
was unhurt aside from the incessant
pain in my lower left leg. The flashing lights of a police car
filled the sky. The loud voice of a trooper asked, "What happened?" A solemn voice asserted, "I didn't see him." "Are you hurt?" the policeman asked. "I think his leg is broken," a woman kneeling beside me replied.
Then the driver of the second car

reappeared. "I saw you move that leg before," he insisted. "You're all right."
An ambulance appeared. Again I was
asked where it hurt. A woman at
tempted to take a blood pressure reading, but found it impossible be cause of the vast layers of clothing be tween my arm and her instrument. My pulse was taken and my pupils checked.
A splint was placed on my leg and again my leather gloves were wedged firmly between my teeth. "Does this hurt?" someone inquired. I could feel every imperfection in the highway on the way to the hospital.
While waiting for the doctor in the
emergency room I became aware that
I was not the only person to have been injured that night. I listened to
the screams of a young woman who
had broken her leg. I heard the doctor say to her, "Don't cry until it hurts,"
as he set her broken bones.
My doctor appeared with a picture of my leg in his hand. "You've fractured your tibia and fibula," he announced. "We'll put you in a cast and in three months you'll be as good as new." I was in shock. Three months of hobbling around on the Cornell campus through the snow and ice didn't appeal to me. I asked if I might have something for the pain. I waited, anticipating the pill that would end my misery. When the nurse entered with a hypodermic needle
I debated which would be the more
painful of the two. I took my medicine. Monday night I searched the Ithaca
Journal to see if they mentioned the mishap. They did - sort of.
State Police said the accident occur
red about 6:50 a.m. when a woman. . .
pulled out of a parking lot into the path of Lane's eastbound motorcycle. . .
I was positive it had happened a lit
tle before 12 o'clock on my way to
work and that I was hit by a male driver. Several days later I was eating lunch
in the Brooklyn Diner with my girlfriend when I noticed a young woman sitting
with her husband at the counter. As I noticed her mechanical arm I remem
bered something my father told me on the telephone after the accident. "Things are never so bad but that they
could be worse."

17

LITTLE WHITE FATHER

by Christin Sparagana '80

Dr. Erl Bates devoted most of his
life to the betterment of the American
Indian, and because of his help and influence he became an honorary chief
of many Indian tribes and was known as the Little White Father of the Six
Nations of New York state. Bates
learned about the Indian's daily life and
needs as he traveled many trails with
the Red Man. Through his work, he
became one of the nation's foremost authorities on the race he referred to as "the real Americans." His aim was to make the Indian a better Red Man

instead of an imitation White Man, through training in farming and the
trades.
To achieve his goals, Bates came to
Cornell in 1920 and spent many moons
(40 years) working as an ethnologist
and advisor in Indian extension at the
College of Agriculture. In 1920, pas sage of a state bill appropriating $10,000 to the College for Indian extension work supplied the necessary funds. Bates then began providing services to the inhabitants of the 87,000 acres
of Indian reservations within the state.

Dr. Erl A. Bates devoted more than a half century to the American Indian.

Bates (third from left) often found himself surrounded by Indians. He be came an honorary chief of many tribes and was known as the Little White Father
of the Six Nations of New York State.
18

According to Bates's papers in the Cornell University Department of Manu scripts and University Archives, the general plan of his Indian extension work was: "To seek the personal co operation of the Indian farmers and their wives in order that they may have better farms, better homes and better communities without participat ing on the part of the extension forces in their religion or politics." Bates's papers included the following rationale
for his work: "The Indian is a human
being and capable of working out his own salvation if we give his children practical education in the trades, farm ing, commercial subjects and homemaking."
The extension plan was divided into three major parts. First, the extension service worked to help Indians achieve more productive farms. The Indians were educated in plowing methods, soil care and seed varieties. Second,
the Indian wives taught skills to im prove their homes. They learned about home-grown products, health improve ment and child care. The extension :
workers also explained home finances, including household and farm expense

accounts. To achieve better communi ties, Indians came directly to the Col lege to take "short courses" in leader ship skills.
As advisor in Indian extension, Bates
formulated a list of suggestions for the extension workers. He explained in his papers, "The need for more thorough understanding of Indian's problems and a more sympathetic treatment of them
is necessary to the successful treat
ment of Indian affairs." His list of sug
gestions included:
-- Always encourage; remember the Indian is a product of five generations
of discouragement. -- Use examples from nature and local
conditions.
-- Encourage interest in their history,
customs, and ancestors.
- Always listen to their stories of in justice, but end with "How about your
children and their tomorrows."
- Remember in Indian country, you are under Indian Law.
Bates felt the right approach to In
dian education was vital to its effective
ness and acceptance.
Throughout his manuscripts, Bates continually emphasized the Indian's
acceptance as a Red Man who is proud
of his race and culture. To increase the
Indian's self-pride, the Little White
Father created the Six Nations Indian
Fair, known as Indian Village, which
is held at the New York State Fair. For
many years, Bates planned, coordinated and directed Indian Village.
Bates's influence on Indians reached
far beyond Cayuga's waters. During the Hoover administration, he was given
leave from Cornell to reform the Indian
administration of the national govern ment. To increase his knowledge of
Indians, he conducted a tour in 1930
of over 100 tribes in 40 reservations.
In challenging the federal govern
ment's present plan, Bates addressed the Cornell Liberal Club with the follow
ing comments:
"The Indian represents our oldest national human problem and from the
days when Washington, Franklin and Jefferson tried to create a humane
solution, our best minds of the nation have sincerely endeavored to build the

Red Man into a self-supporting, self-
respecting citizen of the nation. Selfish

White Man, seeking fertile Indian

lands, caused clashes in the winning of the West. One must remember,
therefore, that when the White Man

won, it was a glorious victory, but when
the Red Man was successful in defend

ing the home land of his forefathers,
our historians call it a terrible Indian

massacre

If the parks, the trees,

and the rivers of the nation have a

permanent policy, it is right and fitting that the human Indian, the real Ameri

can, deserves at least some measure

of the same foresight and planning." The federal government sought
Bates's knowledgeable aid in formu

lating a more extensive national edu

cational program for the Indians. Bates

provided for the importance of educa

tion throughout his assistance in the re

organization of the Federal Bureau of

Indian Affairs. His plans for Indian edu

cation received the New England Medal

in 1921. In 1931, Bates won the Tyler

medal, which is awarded each decade

for the outstanding contribution to the

knowledge of a primitive society.

Bates perpetually strove to improve the life of the Red Man through in creasing national awareness of the American Indian. Among his numerous accomplishments in bridging the gap
between the Red Man and the White Man was his book 7e// Me An Indian
Story. Throughout his encounters with
Indians over the years, Bates listened to the themes of their stories, and compiled a book from what he learned.
In his book, he wrote: "May these
stories teach Jonathon (Bates's son) as well as all my young readers that
the word 'friend' reaches its highest perfection in the soul of an Indian and
that the real American deserves an
American chance in his own America."
The book includes selections such
as "Indian Summer," "Blueberry Moon," and "Shooting Stars." One story en
titled "What the Trees Gave the Chil
dren" includes Bates's observation:
"The real Americans say that one
should measure a gift not by its size or its value but solely by the effort of the giver." On the basis of effort, the
"gifts" Bates gave the Indians through
out his lifetime were immeasurable.

Why Snowflakes Differ
The gray clouds hang low and heavy over the lake and valley and a thick blanket of leaves cover the home of the woodchuck. The Great Bear high up in the sky is sleepy and in an awful yawn blows his cold breath across the sky and down come the first snowflakes.
Since the last snow fall in late March, the seasons of Spring, Summer,
and Autumn have come and gone and the Red Children on earth have
planted the corn, picked the strawberries, cultivated the beans and squashes, and have witnessed the go/den harvest. During the warm periods, many harsh words may have been spoken in anger, but many, many kind words of helpfulness have also been spoken thruout the long Summer.
All of these words, of both kinds, have gone skyward; and when the first snowflakes come down in little hard balls that pelt you on the face, the Indian believes they are your harsh words returned to you. Then come down, too, the soft feathering kind that show as pretty patterns on your dark garment, as you catch them on the trail. The Red Man sees in these designs of beauty, the kind words you uttered in the summer.
From Tell Me An Indian Story, 1 932
Erl A. Bates

19

Cornells voice i

and administration or a trustee determi

nation, the University will usually take

a position on a bill and that position will be made known to legislators and

their key staff people. In other words, as Passer explained, "We let them know

whether the University favors a particu

lar piece of legislation or opposes it.

If we oppose it, we have to explain our

Jerry E. Passer: voice for the Big Red.
"My major responsibility to Cornell
is that of legislative liaison. I deal directly with members of the Senate, the Assembly, the Governor's staff and the Lt. Governor's staff on legislative

reasons. Two ways to do this are by meeting with legislators directly or by attending committee meetings at which time our position can be stated. Some
times this action results in an amend
ment to a bill."
"I become involved in all of the steps

matters, such as specific bills or ideas that may become bills, for the purpose of understanding their implications for higher education and their potential impact on our University," explained Jerry E. Passer of his job duties.

that a bill goes through on its way to becoming either a law or vetoed. I track the progress of bills through vari ous committees, and when a bill makes
it to the floor (before the full Senate
or Assembly for a vote), I monitor the

Passer is Executive Staff Assistant action." If the bill passes both houses

in the Office of Land Grant Affairs and of the Legislature, it goes to the Gov

reports directly to Vice President Con ernor's office where the Governor's

stance E. Cook. Passer's office is lo counsel eventually determines whether

cated in Albany only one block from the Governor should sign or veto it.

the State Capitol Building where he

"Should a bill that we oppose pass

spends much of each working day.

both houses of the Legislature and be

Most of the legislation that Passer forwarded to the Governor, we can reg

deals with relates directly to the statu ister our opinion with the Governor's

tory colleges. He continued: "I make counsel. That represents the final step

a careful review of existing or proposed that we can take prior to the time that

legislation, gather available information the Governor is required to approve or

about it and forward that information veto a piece of legislation."

through Vice President Cook to the

Not many people are aware of the

administration, staff and faculty at the University's need for this kind of legis

University. After that information is re lative effort. Passer is registered as a

viewed, meetings may be held with lobbyist with New York State. Lobby

those groups or individuals for further ing is strictly controlled in New York

discussion. Some bills of major signifi State through the Temporary Commis

cance to the University are deliberated sion on the Regulation of Lobbying

by University trustees and they deter which requires anyone who engages

mine what the University's position will in influencing decisions concerning

be. The University counsel and his staff legislation to register as a lobbyist.

are also very much involved in this

Passer feels that the generally nega

process on a continuing basis."

tive impression of lobbying has under

Based on the discussions with faculty gone a positive change because lobby

ists have become more effective and

more reliable. He explained, "Legisla

tors are often understaffed and deal

with a wide variety of issues. They rely

on input. Lobbyists are one of the best

sources of continuous input." "Now, a lobbyist realizes that if he

uses false information or admits in

valid evidence, the legislator, upon

finding that out, will no longer trust

him. The word will then get around to

other legislators and that lobbyist will

no longer be of any use to his employer.

So, lobbyists have learned that to be

effective on a continuing basis, they

have to be accurate, they have to be

honest and they have to do their 'home

work' and be fully prepared when meet

ing with a legislator, or speaking be

fore a committee meeting."

It is easy to understand just how important the legislators' need for in put is when one considers that more than 18,000 bills were introduced dur

ing the current session. Of course, not all of those bills will be acted upon by

the full Legislature. However, as of

September

1 ,

1 979 the

Legislature had

passed only 822 bills which were sent
to the Governor for action. The Gover

nor had signed 726 of those bills into law and vetoed the remaining 96.
Currently, Passer has about 50 bills on his 'watch' list that the University

considers may have some important
impact on it. He said, "If I were to get involved in all the agriculture bills, civil service and public employment bills, health and safety bills, the list might go to several hundred. So, we try to
select the ones that will have the most
impact on Cornell and I follow them." There were several pieces of legis
lation of importance to Cornell that were passed by the Legislature this session. Two were particularly import ant. One was County Law 224 which
pertained to funding for Cooperative

20

LBANY by Diane Charnley Grad.

Extension. The legislation raised the minimum funding per county and also
provided an automatic 'escalator'
formula. This provision will eliminate the need to go back to the Legislature
every three or four years for further in
creases, and thus will keep those funds in line with inflationary increases.
The other significant piece of legis lation passed provided funding to the State Agricultural Experiment Station
at Geneva for grape research to be
conducted at the vineyard lab in Fre-
donia. That research will concern the
various effects of air pollution on
grapes. This research is important be cause, as Passer explained, "Other legislation has made it possible for small farmers and small vineyard owners
to begin to make, process and sell their own wine. More and more people
are getting into the wine industry in various areas of New York State, such
as the lower Hudson Valley and Long
Island. When you go into different geo
graphic areas of the state, you en counter different air pollution factors."
Currently, two important bills under consideration by the Legislature seek funding for research in the College of

Agriculture and Life Sciences. The golden nematode bill concerns research to develop disease-resistant strains of
potatoes. This research is considered
important since in terms of the cash value of all agricultural products in
the state, potatoes rank fourth at more
than $50 million annually. The sewage sludge bill deals with the land applica tion, as fertilizer, of the sludge. Since sewage sludges contain varying ingre dients, such as heavy metals, toxic compounds and possibly dangerous chemicals, their effects on the soil are
little known.
In addition to informing legislators,
the Governor's and Lt. Governor's
staffs about Cornell and its needs,
Passer is in daily communication by telephone with Vice President Cook in order to keep Cook informed of the latest legislative actions. At this time, he is also able to keep informed of Cornell's latest needs and priorities. Passer also keeps Cornell informed by holding meetings and seminars with
various staff members and administrators.
At these meetings, he describes the legislative process in Albany as it re lates to Cornell's legislative interests

and how those interests are pursued. To that end, he offered a workshop at the annual meeting of the Cooper
ative Extension Service last December.
Passer also emphasized that contin uing contact and assistance from vari ous organizations and state agencies, such as the Council of Agricultural Or ganizations, the Farm Bureau, the Agri cultural Resources Commission, the departments of Agriculture and Markets,
Environmental Conservation and Com
merce are extremely important to Cor nell's legislative efforts.
Passer's position is a relatively new one at Cornell. Prior to that time, such efforts were carried out by various people on campus on an ad hoc basis. The benefits of having one person, located in Albany, to coordinate most of the University's activities pertaining to the legislation which affects it, are
obvious. Passer concluded: "Our pre
sentation to the Legislature is much better organized than it was before. I
think that we are now more credible
and more effective, and this, in turn, has led to greater success in obtaining favorable legislation for Cornell Uni
versity."

Passer discusses the issues with Constance E. Cook, '41, law '43, vice president for land grant affairs.

21

Before the parade passes by Mann Library ominously awaiting the start
of another day.
STUDENTS on PARADE
IN MANN LIBRARY

f^i#C\~'-

*

'f' fr-' '■

4*

~

wi f ' ?*.~

.**

*Wi >'■• ~ Af-hf <n ,TT'"7i

/-•'." . >, ry

-"

-

--

|/|jff"ft % Ii ii

Ti
•
Ti

; -; r I fTfT ?• i? "■ iS

by Karen M. Pelliccione '80

"An uncommon diversity in styles,
get-ups, carriage, demeanor and atti tude - the parade of characters. . . is like a fashion show." No, this does not
refer to Fifth Avenue, and it has nothing
to do with the Mardi Gras. This de
scribes the students in Mann Library
as Thomas Clausen, '73, a six-year
reserve desk veteran, sees them. The
people who work behind the desk in
Mann witness a wide range of interest
ing and sometimes comical events.
The students and little animals who
frequent the library are unique sub jects for observation, as the desk at tendants can testify.
The theory that people are creatures of habit is strongly supported by the conduct of library-goers. According to Bill Pakkala, who has been a library
assistant in Mann for 15 years, "Some
students come to the library just about every day, and spend so much time here, you would think they're full-time employees." The desk people find that during the first few weeks of classes, most of the people who come in are graduate students and freshmen. The
freshmen often make their status clear
to the staff by coming up and asking
where the reserve desk is.
As the semester moves into high gear, the desk people note that stu
dents get more frantic and look for the
quickest way to do their work. When a prelim in a large class draws near, the staff is confronted with long lines of students, all asking for the same reserve material. Jeff Diver, '68, Senior Night Supervisor, feels that the stu dents are usually as friendly as always in a big pressure situation, but some of the other workers see it differently. As one stated, "Around exam time,

the students tend to revert to dog-eatdog tactics."
The staff has witnessed another
trend, this one appearing most often around finals time. Heather Nichols,
'80, desk attendant for three years, explained that "The students all seem
to have circles under their eyes and a
cup of coffee in their hands," as finals approach. She noted that some stu dents are so tired they can't remember their own addresses. There is, how
ever, a distinction between fall and
spring semester finals. As the end of the semester rolls around in December, the students take a serious approach to their studies, while the end of spring semester brings with it a more relaxed
attitude. This can be attributed in part
to the sun shining on the ag quad, as
well as to the fact that another year has come to an end.
These are the more standard occur
rences the desk people experience. But, as Jeff Diver pointed out, "The greatest disturbances are often those
the students don't even know about."
Imagine, for instance, being behind the desk at closing time when you notice a stream of steaming water heading straight toward you. This was the pre
dicament some of the desk staff found
themselves in one night when the pipes exploded in one of the rooms. Fortu
nately, Safety Division came to the rescue before any real damage was done, so the desk survived the crisis.
The desk attendants also get occa
sional requests which extend beyond the call of duty. A very distressed
woman once called the desk in search
of her husband, who had been gone for days. She seemed sure he was there, and wanted the staff to find him.

It took a bit of explaining to convince her that searching for him would be
rather difficult.
Some students also believe that the
reserve desk is the source of all in
formation, including, for example, Girl Scout pamphlets and course materials
which do not exist. Bill Pakkala recalled
an incident where "A student literally
swore up and down that a certain item was on reserve, and said he wasn't
leaving until he got the item." After Bill argued with the student for 20 minutes, he called the professor of the course in question and quickly cleared up the discrepancy.
Students are not the only "creatures" of habit who spend time in Mann. Many of God's furry little creatures
also visit the reserve desk from time
to time. A raccoon once strolled in,
seeking information for a term paper. Squirrels stop in frequently to glance through periodicals on their way to class. As with most other places on campus, dogs of every size and shape abound in Mann. Some have barking
contests, while the more studious ones
go straight to the desk, put their paws
up and hand the attendant a call num
ber for a book. Recently, a mouse scurried into the McKay Reading Room, but he left quickly because a com
motion in the room was preventing him from doing his work.
Although the workers at the reserve , desk have had some problems with students, overall they find them fairly easy to get along with. As Thomas Clausen said, "For the amount of pres sure they are under they seem to main tain a good-natured belief in the reason for living. Duress breeds its own com
pany and Mann leads on."

22

COUNTRYMAN CAPSULES

College Promotions
John P. McKeown has been pro moted to cost accountant at Cornell.
McKeown, a 1 973 graduate of the Col lege of Agriculture and Life Sciences, earned his MBA in 1974 from Cornell's graduate School of Business and Pub lic Administration.
McKeown has previously worked as budget analyst at Cornell for the past two years. He will now be in charge of developing policies and receiving community reaction to them.
Linda Brewington Berk, M.P.S. 76 has been promoted to Associate
Director of Admissions. An assistant
director at Cornell since 1976, she is a graduate of the College of Human Ecology and holds a master's degree from the College of Agriculture and
Life Sciences.
Berk will handle the regional recruit ing efforts of the middle Atlantic statesPennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey and Washing
ton, D.C.
Thomas A. Zitter, a plant patholo gist with the University of Florida, has been appointed associate professor of plant pathology with tenure. Zitter joined the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences on July 1 .
Zitter is a specialist in virus diseases
affecting agricultural crops. Now at Cornell, he will devote 70 percent of
his time to extension work and the rest
to researching diseases of field and forage crops. Since 1968, he has been a faculty member of the Agricultural Research and Education Center of the
University of Florida.
Pauk Retires After 24 Years
Walter J. Pauk was named profes sor of education, emeritus, upon his retirement. He was a member of the
faculty of the College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences for 24 years. Pauk's contributions to the University
include the establishment of the Read

ing and Study Skills Center, of which
he was the director. He was also in
volved in training executives, labor
leaders and administrators for the schools of Industrial and Labor Rela
tions, Business and Public Adminis
tration.
Harry W. Seeley, Jr. retired from the faculty of the Department of Micro biology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and has been elected professor of microbiology, emeritus.
Seeley served as a chairman of the Section of Microbiology, Division of Biological Sciences, and in 1977 was appointed acting chairman of the newly-formed Department of Microbi ology. He is a recognized authority on the physiology and taxonomy of strep tococci and related bacteria. Seeley
has received many awards for his re search in this field, and most of his
publications deal with this subject.
Gordon L. MacCaskill and Wood-
row W. Hoffman are retiring from the Department of Agronomy at Cornell.
MacCaskill is a research technician who has spent the last 33 years at Cornell. He is best known for his work in the
agronomy laboratory, participating in introductory agronomy courses. Hoff
man is a technician's aide in the de
partment and will retire after 17 years.
Professor Gets Blake Award
Robert W. Langhans, M.S. '54, Ph.D. '56, professor of horticulture at the College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences has been honored with the
M.A. Blake Award for distinguished graduate teaching.
The award was presented to Lang hans for his outstanding contributions
to horticultural sciences and for his
effectiveness in teaching at the gradu ate level. Langhans received his bach elors degree from Rutgers University, and the award was donated by Norman F. Childers, Blake Professor of Horti culture at Rutgers University.

Robert W. Everett, associate pro
fessor of animal breeding at the Col lege of Agriculture and Life Sciences
has received the 1979 National Asso ciation of Animal Breeders' Award for his contributions to the sciences of arti
ficial insemination and animal breeding. A member of the Cornell faculty
since 1966, Everett has experimented with the improvement of dairy cattle breeds, making a major impact on the dairy industry. Everett served as acting general manager of the New York Dairy Herd Improvement Cooperative
from 1969 to 1970.
Raymond Johnson, '54 from Schaghticoke, New York was
elected to the Board of Directors
of United Dairy Industry Associ ation at the organization's annual meeting held recently in Houston,
Texas.
An active leader in the industry,
Johnson holds an office in sev
eral other dairy and agricultural organizations. The new UDIA board member owns and operates a 400-acre farm. The organization is dedicated to increasing sales of U.S. milk and dairy products through a total promotion pro
gram.

23

SIRUP
Producers Benefit From
RESEARCH

by Stephen Adriance '80

The next time you sit down to a
steamy, hot plate of pancakes or waf fles, stop a moment to consider the time and care it took to bring you that pitcher of maple sirup that you have poised expectantly above it. It took about ten gallons of sap to make the one quart of sirup you have in your
hand. Before the sap ever reaches the
sugar house, much research and de velopment have taken place. Research ers from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are responsible for many advances in sirup production.
In the old days, a horse and sleigh would take the long trip from the sugar bush to the sugar house. Separate
buckets would collect sap from each
tree. Today, efficient plastic tubing runs from each tree to collection tanks, where sap flows quickly to the evapo rators. Ag college research has im proved the efficiency of vacuum in these tubing systems, a benefit to the producer, yielding more sap per tap.
Sugar bush management has been another area of research. Many man agement techniques were developed by Prof. Robert Morrow, Department of Natural Resources. One technique is thinning the sugar bush, especially important for young trees. "If we start early in life and develop a crown as it grows, we get a better producer,"
said Morrow. The direct benefit of a
sugar tree with a wide, deep and open

"Heaven Hill," the sugarhouse in Lake Placid, New York. Built in 1966, it houses the evaporators used to transform sap to sirup.

crown is a higher sugar content in the sap. This means that costly energy can be saved in the evaporation process. The wood obtained from thinning the
sugar bush can be used for evapora
tion or for home heating.
Much of this work has occurred at
Cornell's Arnot Forest sugar bush and
at the Uihlein-Cornell Experimental
sugar bush (Heaven Hill) near Lake
Placid, New York. According to Pro fessor Morrow, this work is still con tinuing, but more time is now spent in educating others about practical ways to apply these techniques. "We're get ting this information out to the pro ducers through the extension service."
There are about 1,000 commercial sirup producers in New York State alone and an increasing number of people who harvest sap for their own families. Extension information is a
valuable tool, especially for the com mercial producer who usually combines the sirup operation with another farm
business.
An important achievement in sirup production is the use of vacuum col
lection systems and their effect on the
flow of maple sap. "The biggest thing
we have done is to determine the con
ditions needed for development of vacuum in tube lines. This knowledge

allows us to make recommendations
on installing tube and pipe lines," said
Professor Morrow. These studies were
begun by B.N. Blum of the U.S.
Forest Service and continued and ex
tended by Cornell researchers. Both found that a closed tube system cre ated more sap flow because of develop
ment of a natural vacuum. A ten per
cent slope with 50 to 80 taps is the ideal setup for a natural vacuum.
Many sugar bushes do not have ideal slope so sap flow is aided by pumped vacuum systems. One development to aid collection is an improved vacuum pump unit built by Lewis Staats, man ager of the Heaven Hill sugar bush, and Chris Moquin. It consists of a metal milk container with a plunger unit in side. When the unit is filling, a tight
vacuum exists in the lines. When sap
reaches a certain level in the container,
a valve opens automatically and dumps the sap into a holding tank which speeds it to the sugar house.
The importance of this research is that it helps producers do a better job: increasing yields, cutting energy costs and producing a higher quality product.
The next time your fork is suspended
above steaming flapjacks, remember that the sirup you love is tastier and more abundant because of research.

State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College ot the State University, at Cornell University)

CORNELL COUNTRVIVIAN
March, 1980 VOLUME LXXVII Number 5

EDITORS: Mary Anne Hahn
Linda Ann Koski Karen Pelliccione
ASSISTANT EDITORS:
Joann D'Emilio Maria Sue Malkman
Charley Nasta
Jane Houser Shea
ART EDITORS:
Lucille Ircha Juanita B. McCaw
Charley Nasta
Steve Rotterdam
PHOTO EDITOR: Diane Charnley
EDITORIAL STAFF: Diane Charnley, Joann D'Emilio, Mike Grogan, Mary Anne Hahn, Lucille Ircha, Linda Ann Koski, Paul Luchowski, Juanita B. McCaw, Tim McKinney, Donna Moskowitz, Maria Sue Malkman, Charley Nasta, Karen M. Pelliccione, Steve Rotterdam, Jane Houser Shea.

ABOUT THE ISSUE
The College's extension program has a long history of informing New York State residents of the latest develop ments in agriculture. Farm and Home Week was a public event of lectures and demonstrations sponsored by the ag college. The cover photo shows a cattle parade which was a feature of early Farm and Home Weeks.
CONTENTS
3. Student Advisors-Friends in Deed by Mary Anne Hahn '80 4. The Good Old Days of Farm and Home Week by Linda Ann Koski '81
6. The Paperwork Explosion in Research by Joann D'Emilio '80
8. Jamaica: Communication in the Caribbean by Diane Charnley Grad.
9. The Om-What? by Karen M. Pelliccione '80
10. On Patrol with Officer Linda Fuller by Juanita B. McCaw '8 1
12. Master Gardeners Share Their Knowledge by Joann D'Emilio '80
14. The Legendary Hugh Troy by Catherine Northrup '80 15. Polo Big Red Style by Paul Luchowski '80 16. The Sweeter Side of Learning by Maria Sue Malkman '80
18. Alpha Zeta-Going On 80 by Mary Elizabeth Schiek '80
20. Why Do Plants Die? by Jane Houser Shea '80
22. Teaching-The Student Perspective by Mike Grogan '81
24. A Margin of Excellence by Tim McKinney '81

It is the policy of Cornell University actively to support equality of educa tion and employment opportunity. No
person shall be denied admission to
any educational program or activity or be denied employment on the basis of any legally prohibited discrimination involving, but not limited to, such factors as race, color, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, age, or handicap. The University is committed
to the maintenance of affirmative
action programs which will assure the
continuation of such equality of op portunity.

Picture Credits: Cover Photo - Cor
nell University Archives; p. 3, 6, 7, 22 - Volk Clip Art; p. 4, 20 - Media Ser vices; p. 5, 14 - Cornell University Archives; p. 8 - Diane Charnley; p. 9, 18, 19 - Linda Ann Koski; p. 10, 11 -

Juanita McCaw; p. 12, 13 - Arder Sherf, Caroline T. Kiang, Donak
Rakow, Bob Kozlowski, Kim Mills; p 15 - Jon Crispin; p. 16, 17 - Maria Sue Malkman; p. 21 - Jane Houser Shea

The Cornell Countryman (ISSN 0010-8782) is published seven times a year fror October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the Ne\ York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Co nell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, Ne< York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription Rate. $5.00 a year; $9.00 for two years. Editorial content gathered and written I majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors: Jane I.
Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

STUDENT
ADVISORS:
FRIENDS IN DEED

by Mary Anne Hahn '80

When a student has an academic problem or needs advice about which
courses to take, the logical person to
turn to is one's faculty advisor. Ad
visors know course requirements, have
inside tips on interesting electives and are familiar with career and major al
ternatives.
AgPAC, the Agriculture and Life Sciences Positive Action Council, takes
this useful and necessary service one
step further. With its Student Advisor
program, students help other students
through the difficult process of adjust ing to life at Cornell.
AgPAC, an organization formed in 1975 to replace the College's defunct Student Council, is a group of approx imately 90 members which includes
representatives from various ag organi zations, committees and the student
body. It is designed to be a communi
cative link between the students and
the administration, and one of its many
services is its Student Advisor program. "The idea for student advisors was
conceived about two years ago and
launched in 1979," explains Richard
Church, '64, an admissions officer who
serves as AgPAC advisor. The program, he relates, is comprised of about 130
undergraduates, each of whom were
assigned advisees from the incoming Ashman class last fall, as well as en ding freshmen and transfers this sPring. Ideally, each advisor was to re
ceive four to five advisees. The purpose of the student advisor is to supple
st faculty advising with first-hand
student experiences. Church feels that
uPPerclassmen who have already been

through introductory courses and have established friendships at Cornell may share insights that are outside the realm of the faculty advisor.
"It's comparable to a Big Brother/ Big Sister program," adds Dr. Donald Burgett, '62, M.S. '67, Ph.D. '70. Burgett, Assistant Director of Instruction for Student Affairs, oversees the entire advisory system of the College, so his position as administrator of the Student
Advisor program is a natural extension
of his position with the College. "Stu
dent advisors aid in the social acclima
tion of new students," he points out, stressing that the role of student ad visor was meant to complement, not replace, that of the faculty advisor.
Sarah Murray, '81, was chairman of the group that originally organized the
program. "There were about 20 of us on the committee. We first wrote a
proposal and submitted it to the Edu cational Policy Committee. When our student advisor idea was accepted, we went on to set up the training program, with the help of Dr. Burgett."
To become advisors, students had to complete application forms and be interviewed by an AgPAC committee. Those accepted then participated in the training program, during which they were informed what was expected
of them as advisors. Also included in
the training was role playing, in which hypothetical situations were portrayed
to see how the young advisors would
handle them.
"By spring semester we also had a handbook developed for the advisors," Murray continues. The handbook con tains referral information-people within the College to contact for help or advice-advisors' responsibilities and
basic information on what it takes to
be an advisor. Among these necessary

qualifications an advisor should be, in Murray's words, "relaxed with people,
able to relate to them." An advisor should also be familiar with ag courses
and willing to put time into the pro gram. Although AgPAC does not weigh an applicant's grade point aver age heavily, it does look for students with stable academic standing to fill advisor positions.
Caroline Nowak, '80, speaks enthusi astically about her student advisor ex periences. "My advisees and I kept in close contact at first, but now they both seem to have adjusted to Cornell really well." Remembering her own pressured feelings during freshman year, Nowak urged her advisees to relax
and seek a social life outside of class.
"We talked about general things, dorm living and so on, and we went out to
gether to fraternity parties or Collegetown. I tried to help them see that life at Cornell is more than just Co-Op."
Since the Student Advisor program
just started this past fall, no formalevaluation of the program's success has been made yet according to Bur gett. He feels, however, that the feed
back he has received so far from stu
dents has been positive. Murray concurs. "I think it's a good
program. We hope to refine it, make stricter guidelines for the training pro
gram and write a more detailed hand
book, but I think in its first year the
Student Advisor program has gone
well."
Working with faculty advisors, AgPAC student advisors are helping
freshmen and transfer students learn
about College clubs, cope with prelim pressure and become a part of the Cornell community. It is a new pro gram that has gotten off to a good start, and has a promising future.

3

The good old days of

by Linda Ann Koski '81

It is tradition that farmers pass their knowledge and experiences from gen eration to generation. It is also tradition that the College reach out and teach the latest developments to farmers,
rural nonfarmers and urban citizens
across New York State. With this con
cept in mind, Prof. Isaac P. Roberts, M.S. '74, planned the College's first
extension work.
Roberts invited all the farmers whose
addresses were known to attend the
first Farmers' Institute which was held
February 17, 18, 19, 1886. About 200
farmers attended classroom lectures.
The success of these meetings prompted the state legislature to provide funding and encouraged the professors to dis
seminate this information in other parts of the state.
In 1893, a group of grape growers from Chautauqua County asked the College to conduct some experiments in their vineyards. The College agreed and one year later the state legislature passed a bill appropriating $16,000. Prof. L.H. Bailey was put in charge of this experimental work. The splendid results prompted legislators to increase
Rural Housing Research car on a
Farm and Home Week demonstration train.

appropriations and the program gained
popularity. A group of farmers, who were mem
bers of the New York State Experi menters' League, gathered at the Col lege in February 1907 to exchange the latest results of their work. The Experi menters' League included individuals from both the College and from indus try. The interest and enthusiasm of this group inspired Director Bailey, who
conceived of a new idea: "Farmers'
Week." The first Farmers' Week was
held in February 1908 and its purpose was to educate the farm family with practical discussions and demonstra tions. People came from near and far, some by train, others by horse and buggy.
In 1912 the Hudson Railroad and
the New York State College of Agri
culture serviced one of the first farm
trains in New York State. The train
brought instruction to people in various
areas.
One train was named the Agricul tural Special. Its route began in Bing
hamton and ended in the northern part of the state. There was room on the
train for the lecturers to eat and sleep.
Cars were also used for exhibits and
demonstrations put on by the home economics, poultry, farm crops, pom ology, entomology, and plant path ology departments. Among the lecturers and exhibitors were such distinguished people as Prof. Martha Van Rens selaer, '09, Prof. H.A. Hooper, '03, Prof. A.C. King, '99 and Prof. M.F. Barms, Ph.D. '12.
One of the first stops for this group
was at Harpursville. Professor Barrus describes the typical scene:
"As we pulled into that station,
some 350 persons assembled there

showed their enthusiasm for this novel
experiment in rural education by shout ing and waving their hands. This was the kind of reception we received at
all other stops. As soon as the train was switched, they boarded it and moved to the demonstration car where those in attendance demonstrated one
practice or another. In the meantime, illustrated lectures were given in the lecture car throughout the afternoon."
The challenges of that annual ten day period on the Agricultural Special
resulted in what became Farm and
Home Week. The first Farm and Home
Week was held on campus in 1911.
As the name implies, the event now
included exhibits in home economics
for the women.
The program continued to grow until
it reached virtually every area of New York State. In 1918-1919 a victory train was set up to spread the Farm and Home Week message. Training schools for local leaders, cultural read ings and travel talks were new addi
tions to the program in the twenties. With the dawn of mass communica
tion systems in the thirties, the lectures
at Farm and Home Week were broad
cast over the radio. Programs were on
the air from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Prof.
Emeritus Elmer Phillips, '32, was the
second announcer for what was then
WEAI and today WHCU. Phillips recalls announcing summations of lectures and presentations of important speakers from Bailey Hall, describing exhibits and sending briefs to other stations
in the state. This statewide coverage
gave most residents an opportunity to
hear the Farm and Home Week mes
sages.
Such widespread publicity greatly aided the College as it gained the re-

lies WEEK AT THE NEW YORK STATE
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE
AT CORNELL UNIVERSITV
ITHACA, NEW YORK
FEBRUARY 22 TO 27, 1909 L H. BAILEY, Director

Practical Discussions and
Demonstrations in Farming
Mr,™, phi^ l^n up i« .l«»il ""-V da> Ii"in « \. M I- '. I' \l „,lh

ADDRESSES BV
Pres. Schurman «»« Dean Bailey WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY

REDUCED RAILROAD RATES

Thil Week II for you and your neighbor,. convenient and cheap Ask about it

Board and room

Publicity attracted over 1,200 peo
ple who registered for the 1909 event.
spect and support of many people in
high places. Among our distinguished
friends were the Roosevelts. As Gov
ernor, Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke to tremendous crowds in Bailey Hall. Eleanor Roosevelt was both a regular visitor and speaker. The former First
Lady was also a member of the Ad
visory Council of Women. This organi zation was active in promoting home
economics interests.
Prof. Emeritus Arthur Bratton, Ph.D. '42, recalls the excitement of Farm and Home Week, an event that involved
everyone in different ways. Under
graduates helped with registration in Roberts Hall, sold food and planned exhibits. Traditionally the event was held in February and many classes did not meet that week. "Most professors encouraged their students to attend Farm and Home Week lectures and ex
hibits," expounds Professor Bratton. Frequently, assignments were given to
students to attend a certain lecture and then write a report on it. Students assisted in the preparation of these events for the benefit of the public.
With the outbreak of World War II, Farm and Home Week was postponed from 1943-1948. However, during the
War the College's extension program

played a key role in strengthening the home forces. Phillips, who was the head of the audiovisuals for the College of Home Economics and the College of Agriculture, produced a film on how to make a victory garden. "One purpose
of the film was to take the burden off
food processors, lending more man
power to the War. The other purpose
was to show people how to grow food at home," explains Phillips. Extension wanted to increase the food production and processing in the state. As the films were shown to community audi ences, the "Victory Garden" came to
represent a patriotic duty. Soon after the end of the War, Farm and Home Week was back on the road again.
Among popular Farm and Home Week exhibits were those presented by the animal science department. Ani mals grown specifically for purposes of research were put on display. There
was a steer with a window in its side
so people could see the processes taking place in the four stomachs. Prof. Alex Romanoff, Ph.D. '26, had an exhibit showing the different stages of chick embryology. Who could resist watching the baby chicks?
Farm and Home Week continued to
prosper throughout the forties and
fifties. The last Farm and Home Week
was held in 1960. The following year, a transition took place.
The event's name was changed to
"Agricultural Progress Days." The four day event in March portrayed challeng
ing aspects of a broad agricultural study, special women's programs,

band concerts, motion pictures, alumni gatherings, open houses for various organizations and an opportunity to
attend lectures with students in class. Professor Barrus commented, "Cor
nell's Agricultural Progress Days em phasized the roles of the state colleges in meeting agricultural production, marketing and distribution demands of the expanding population." The lectures and exhibits were geared to
that purpose.
The week reguired a great deal of time and preparation. That is one rea
son the staff discontinued Farm and
Home Week. The growth of the exten sion program created an overlap with information previously presented by
Farm and Home Week. Farmers could
no longer wait an entire year for the
information it offered them. America
was growing fast, and farmers had to cope with the demand for higher crop yields.
Is there a chance the big event could take place again? According to Bratton, "It was successful at the time
but it would be hard to revive it." The
extension service has become a sophis ticated operation.
Farm and Home Week set the foun
dation for today's Cooperative Exten sion Program. Professors benefit by having close contact with the latest research developments, while research ers benefit from knowing the problems faced by farmers. Together, instruction, research and extension at the College will help strengthen agriculture for future generations.

One of the first farm trains serviced by the Hudson Railroad and the College in 1912. The train brought instruction to people in various state areas.

Professor "Jones" in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences returns
from a weekend in the mountains
studying the flora and fauna to dis
cover her desk covered with unanswer
ed correspondence. Professor Jones is a renowned researcher, and her
projects are funded under three separate federal and private grants. She has an annual report due for all three in two
months. Since one is about to run out
in six months, she has already begun preparing its lengthy renewal request. She sits down to her desk and begins wading through the papers. The phone rings and she discovers it is her depart ment chairman. The federal Depart ment of Agriculture has requested spe cific information about her project, to be completed in two weeks. Professor
Jones throws up her arms in frustra tion and buries her head in the ever-
increasing pile of paper on her desk. A totally imaginative scenario? Not
quite. As universities and faculty mem
bers obtain more money from outside
agencies and institutions, the amount of "paperwork" -- reports, summaries and budgets -- that researchers have to submit steadily increases. Cornell faculty members are no exception to
this rule.
"It's a problem for them and they hate it," said Thomas Rogers, Director of Cornell's Office of Sponsored Pro grams, concerning the faculty's attitude toward paperwork. The paperwork takes time; time which, some research ers have said, is taking away from their research efforts. According to Rogers, some scientists avoid dis closing possible inventions because of the paperwork involved in patenting a new procedure or device.
Research expenditures at the Uni versity for the 1978-79 fiscal year amounted to nearly $106 million, a 20

by Joann D'Emilio '80

percent jump over the previous year's expenditures. This money comes from a variety of sources -- federal and other government agencies, private organi
zations like the Ford Foundation and
large corporations.
Although the requirements for ob taining money from these different sources vary, the paperwork for each is about the same. Generally, a re searcher must first write a proposal for the work he wants sponsored. The pro posal includes a summary of what the researcher wants to accomplish, a de tailed description of how he wants to do it and a budget for the project. Each
year, the researcher must submit a
progress report outlining what has been accomplished.
Most funding is only for one year, with a good chance for renewal, and projects often take longer than that to complete. The researcher is thus faced

with writing a new proposal every few years for a long term project. "You
no sooner get the award and you
must start worrying about a renewal proposal," said Rogers.
As universities have had their own
research budgets cut back, more faculty
members have had to seek outside sup
port for their work. "There is more com
petition now," said Christopher Wilkin son, an entomology professor who has been doing research for nearly 15 years. Because of the competition, research ers have to spend more time and effort on each of their proposals, many of which do not get funded. Thus, the number and length of research pro posals and reports has been increasing.
Government agencies requesting re ports in specific areas add to the regular load of paperwork. Since Cornell is New York State's land grant college it is particularly susceptible to these

6

requests. For example, a government agency interested in research in a par
ticular area will turn to the land grant
colleges in each state to find out what they are doing on it. The request re quires a department member to write yet another report. "The topics we have to report on vary with the whim
of Congress or whoever," said Ronald
Kuhr, Associate Director of the Office
of Research in the agriculture college.
"This kind of paperwork has really in
creased in the last five or six years."
Kuhr said paperwork has also risen
in the regulation of new chemicals and
food additives. The amount of informa
tion that must be supplied to register
the chemical and allow it on the market
has multiplied. Once again, this in
formation must be supplied by the re
searcher in the form of a report.
You can see, then, how university
researchers might be swamped by a
sea of paper as in the case of Professor
Jones. Like many other researchers, Wilkinson directs more than one grant and has his paperwork multiplied. "These researchers must account pre cisely for each project," said Rogers.
The whole problem puts faculty mem
bers under a great deal of pressure.
"We all get up tight about these things," said Wilkinson. A renewal proposal takes him at least a "couple of weeks" of planning and writing, in addition to his regular duties, he said. "It is a major emphasis in your thinking at the ^e," said Wilkinson.
There is another reason why agencies may be demanding more reports, say the administrators. Kuhr and Rogers both Point to a problem of "account
ability." As researchers and universities demand more money and claim higher Costs, institutions, especially govern ment institutions, want to know where hat money is going. "There is an ele

ment of suspicion," said Rogers about the relationship of financers and re
searchers. "The two or three year sum
mary report is no longer sufficient," said Kuhr. Reports must be more spe
cific and that takes more time.
A reflection of this distrust is the new
set of regulations adopted by the Fed eral Office of Management and Budget earlier last year. The regulations change the way universities figure certain costs which are reimbursed by the fed eral government in sponsored research projects. A result of concern by Con gress in the rise of these costs, they compel universities to be more specific in figuring these costs and thus further increase the paperwork.
To aid the researcher in the battle
against paper, agriculture college ad
ministrators file all annual reports of certain federal and state reports the researchers write in a national computer
located in Washington, D.C. If a federal
agency or another outside group wants
to know what is being done at Cornell, often the research office can get the answer through the computer without bothering an individual. "We try to lighten the load on the researcher," said Kuhr. The Office of Sponsored Programs also tries to relieve the load of paperwork on faculty by doing what they can on their own, said Rogers. "But we cannot do it all without them,"
he added.

The administrators see no real solu tion to the problem of paperwork other
than what they are already doing. Rogers suggested that high level dis cussions with sponsoring agencies might soften the "adversary concept" universities and sponsoring agencies
have of each other.
Barring a sudden surge in New York's wealth, though, it seems as if the paper crunch will continue. Maybe someone could do a study on time efficiency for researchers. But then, it might take a long time to get fund ing.

JAfRAlCA
IY1 MUNICATION IN THE CARIBBEAN

Teaching Cornell students doesn't
always take place in a classroom or
lab on campus, or even in Ithaca! Dur
ing intersession in January, a group of 14 undergraduate and graduate
students traveled to Jamaica in the
West Indies to do a two-week field
study of communication in a develop ing nation. Two faculty members from the Department of Communication Arts, Njoku E. Awa and Royal D. Colle Ph.D. '67, accompanied the group. Teaching, in this case, was primarily done by professionals in situ.
An overview of communication strat
egies used and planned in Jamaica's development process was presented to the group in a panel session held at
the Institute for Mass Communication
at the University of the West Indies in Kingston. The panel consisted of U.W.I, faculty, plus various repre sentatives of government agencies and the media-newspapers, a radio station, UNESCO and the Agency for Public information. Generally, they felt that appropriate communication methods are a critical part of the development process-on local, regional and national levels-to promote education, increased food production and better health.
All-morning and -afternoon meetings were held separately with government agencies and the media to describe in
detail their roles in the island's devel
opment. One of the agencies visited,
JAMAL (Jamaica National Mass Liter
acy Program), described its efforts to combat the large illiteracy rate— nearly 40 percent-in Jamaica. Another group, the Public Relations Association, out lined its public information program for nutrition education. Briefings were also held at the two largest newspapers, the Jamaica Daily Gleaner and the Jamaica Daily News.
A trip was made to Christiana, high in the mountains of central Jamaica,
which is the site of a United States

by Diane Charnley Grad.

The group also learned something about the culture of the island. Parents
of one of the Jamaican students in
the group, Lorna Clarke, hosted a din ner party at their home near Kingston. It was a delightful occasion. The stu
dents sampled many native foods and
drinks, including curried goat, fresh sugar cane, home-made ginger beer and rum punch. Most of the foods served were raised by the Clarkes.

Time for a break! Ag students had a rigorous schedule of lectures and tours.
Agency for International Development (U.S. A. I.D.) rural development project. The entire group of 16, the driver and light baggage piled into a VW bus to
make the two and a half hour ride.
Though cramped, the trip was a beauti ful one over winding mountain roads. Several of the Americans working on this project were also Cornellians. The project is designed primarily to intro duce new farming methods to the iso
lated farmers in that area. After a brief
ing to describe the project, the group
traveled farther into the mountains to
visit one of the farms participating in the project.

On the last week-end in Jamaica,
several of the students traveled to
Montego Bay, a tourist area on the
northwest coast of the island. There
were beaches for sunning, swimming and snorkeling. A private villa with house staff, private swimming pool and well-laden grapefruit and orange
trees made the week-end vacation one
to remember!
For most of the students, it was their first visit to a developing nation. The field study helped to provide the necessary first-hand understanding of the problems and needs of communi cation in a nation's development process
which an on-campus, classroom set
ting could not have provided. The trip proved to be a valuable and worthwhile learning experience.

Exchanging cross-cultural communication. From L. to R. Professor Awa, a U. S.A.I.D. Project farmer and Professor Colle discuss banana crops.

8

"Om-buds-man/'am-budz-man//7:
one that investigates reported com plaints (as from students or consumers), reports findings and helps to achieve
equitable settlements." That seems
like someone every college campus needs, right? You will find just such a person, or rather a group of people,
in 201 Barnes Hall. Dr. Herbert L.
Everett is the University Ombudsman,
assisted by Associate Ombudsmen
Joycelyn Hart and Ronald Bricker and Administrative Aide Danilee Poppensiek.
Everett, who assumed the position
in August, 1979, is a professor of plant
breeding in the College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences. He also spent ten
years as Director of Resident Instruction
for the College. Joycelyn Hart has been
associated with every University Om
budsman since the inception of the
office in 1969. Her background in psy
chiatric social work helps her determine
and define problems and deal with them
accordingly. Ronald Bricker has been
on the staff for seven years, and his
background in educational administra
tion is another asset to the office. Dan
ilee Poppensiek has also worked with
the Ombudsman since 1969, and in addition to managing the office, she hears and investigates complaints.
Everett, who was preceded by Eugene C Erickson, chairman of the Depart ment of Rural Sociology, found no real surprises in the job, except that it
is very time-consuming. He has not made major changes because the pro
cedures are well-established and effec tive. The three basic elements which
characterize the office are independence, impartiality and confidentiality. As Everett noted, "The Ombudsman's
authority lies in persuasion, and access to individuals. We feel free to talk to
anyone at any time."
This ability to interact freely with the administration is essential. The office is unique because it serves the
faculty and University personnel as
vve" as students, and attempts to con
centrate on how to be more sensitive t0 current problems. Everett wants the
immunity to know about the office, Decause, as he said, "The community
ls our boss. It is where we find our

The Om-What?
Campus Complaint Department
by Karen M. Pelliccione '80

legitimacy." Although some people feel that having an Ombudsman en courages people to create problems, the staff finds that most complaints are legitimate.
The main function of the Ombuds
man's Office involves the investigation of complaints directed at any aspect of the University. Their first step is to determine whether the grievance is legitimate. If it is, the office obtains all the facts and tries to find out why the original action was taken. Some
times the staff finds that there is an
other office which can handle the prob lem more effectively, and will refer
the person there.
If the Ombudsman's Office does
handle the case, they investigate further, and usually contact the parties involved. This occasionally results in a resolution, because the complaint may have been based on a misunderstanding. This is why it is sometimes better not to call in a third party, since people often work out their own problems. As Everett pointed out, "The Ombudsman
is more concerned with an ultimate
outcome." The majority of complaints
are settled to the mutual satisfaction
of the parties involved.
Some of the more common com
plaints include faculty tenure and em ployee complaints about salaries and promotions. Because of the declining
economic state, the office has been
receiving more complaints about finan cial aid and insurance. The negative check-off plan for student insurance, through which students are automat ically given coverage, has presented many problems. People are not accus tomed to getting something automat ically and then having to respond if they wish to decline the offer. How ever, Hart said the office is trying to

We'll resolve your problems on campus! Prof. Herbert Everett is the Ombudsman.
make certain students have the oppor
tunity to make an informed decision. Grading discrepancies also comprise
a large part of the Ombudsman's work. These complaints are often difficult to resolve, because grading procedures consist of a subjective evaluation. Stu dents sometimes feel that a portion of their work was overlooked, so if it is brought to the instructor's attention,
the student can at least receive an ex
planation for the grade, if not a grade change. Years ago, the office received more complaints involving discrepancies in course requirements, but now the University faculty is more careful to give out course outlines early in the semester to avoid such complications.
The Ombudsman's Office also pro
vides the University with information concerning rules and policies. While they cannot actually make rules, the staff can suggest changes concerning a recurring problem. The administra
tion often contacts the office before
policy-making to help determine how
to make the best decision. As Hart
stated, "Having an office that people respect helps in designing policy."
The hallmark of the Ombudsman's
Office is confidentiality, which does not make it conducive to widespread publicity. Their annual report appears in the Cornell Chronicle, and they have had an information table at registration, but Everett feels they receive a lot of cases through referrals by others.
While the Ombudsman's Office does
not want to solicit unwarranted com
plaints, the staff does provide a note worthy service to the Cornell com munity.

9

Officer Linda Fuller sat in the brief
ing room at Barton Hall quietly sipping a Pepsi as she waited the arrival of her supervisor, Sergeant Robert Sims. It
was a little after 4 p.m., and she was
just beginning her evening duty as Cor nell Public Safety Patrol Officer. Before

ON PATROL
with

taking her seat in the briefing room, she had picked up her night stick, pistol,

a portable radio and "kel-light". Fuller had agreed to my accompany
ing her on the evening patrol as per

OFFICE

my request to Lieutenant John Jay

McGinnis, Manager of Support Services. According to McGinnis, Fuller is the
newest female Patrol Officer at Cornell.

campus that evening, specifically the Mardi Gras and a hockey game. Brief

There are eight women on the Safety Patrol, four Patrol Officers and four University Service Officers. This is out of a total force of approximately 58 officers, including those at the super visory level. There are no women at the supervisory level at the present

ing also included mention of other cam pus activities that had occurred during the past few days. They received re ports of larceny at Willard Straight Hall, and several reports of robberies, including thefts of fire extinguishers, wallets, clothing, phones and a box of

tions. Fuller was assigned Patrol Car Three. She appeared comfortable be hind the wheel, but was somewhat ap prehensive about the snow-covered
roads.
Once on the road Fuller began talk ing about her job as Patrol Officer, a

time. Women are a fairly new phenom shot gun shells from the firing range position to which she had been pro

enon at Public Safety. The first female at Barton. There were also reports of moted just two months earlier. I asked

officer was Pamela Kellogg, who joined the patrol in 1973.

broken windows and vandalized vend
ing machines in Roberts Hall.

Fuller about the briefing, noting that I
had detected some heat in the ser

The evening patrol was now receiving its briefing, which included a review of activities scheduled to take place on

Sims ended the briefing by assign ing cars and expressing concern over the weather and resulting road condi-

geant's voice as he discussed certain things. Fuller laughed, "You should: hear the briefings sometimes. This one:

was considerably toned down; the

The shift begins with a briefing. Cornell Patrol Officer Linda Fuller listens to
preparatory information.

language gets pretty strong at times."
I asked if she felt that fellow officers
behaved differently in deference to her

female presence. She answered that -

they may have before they got to know :

her, but that definitely was not the- •

case any longer.

Fuller credited Kellogg with pavinu

the way for the women officers whc ■._

have followed her. She said, "KellogK

put

up

with

a

lot

of

gaff.

There

wen.

'

a lot of people in this department a

well as other police agencies who be lieved that women didn't belong in thk

kind of work." As an afterthought sh... added, "There still are some who thin *;

that way."

Our conversation was interrupte ■ n
by the voice of the dispatcher repor /
ing an intrusion alarm at the Straight

"Three responding from Judd Falls, was Fuller's immediate reply. In r ;? time we were parked in front of tf ■ i
Straight along with Patrol Car Tvv -^

Fuller hurried into the building b-\

10

It's ready to go! The officer double checks equipment used in emergencies.

UNDA FULLER

by Juanita B. McCaw '81

soon emerged chuckling. As she filled out her Officer's Daily Report she ex
plained that the building manager had forgotten to set the alarm properly.
Cruising once again, Fuller talked
about her decision to work in law en
forcement. She was raised on a dairy
farm near DeRuyter, New York. After graduating from high school in 1969, she attended college for a year, but was not satisfied, so she returned
home to help her parents with the farm. In January of 1975, Fuller decided
to go back to school, this time at
Tompkins Cortland Community College in Dryden. When she enrolled she did not have a particular goal in mind. However, after taking a course in criminal justice she decided to make it her major. She graduated in June of 1977 with a degree in Criminal Justice.
While a student at Tompkins Cort land Community College, Fuller be came acquainted with a Cornell Patrol
Officer who told her about some open
ings on the patrol. Since she liked the Ithaca area she applied and came on duty as a University Service Officer in July of 1977.
University Service Officer is the first
grade on Campus Patrol. Fuller's time was divided between the booths,
patrolling the parking lots, ticketing parking violators and filling out reports at the desk. "I enjoyed the contact I had with people on that job, especially ln the booths, and I sometimes miss
il now," she said.
However, Fuller was very pleased
wjth her new promotion to Patrol Offi

cer. She said that she really enjoyed the change of lines. "You become aware of so many more things at night. Different things have meaning, like where lights are on in buildings and where they're not. It is a job of noting little differences, of always stay ing alert to subtleties."
She said that although she had gone through a formal period of training after her promotion, this was not a job you could learn all at once. "You keep learning all the time. Sometimes it gets very boring, driving around the campus
all the time. That is where the real chal
lenge comes in; you have to keep alert in spite of the boredom, so that you notice anything out of the ordinary. That's very important."
At 10 p.m. she received a message to go to the ladies' room at Barton Hall. There she found two women try
ing to assist a third who was very in toxicated. They said she had con sumed over half a quart of Southern Comfort at the hockey game. Fuller and another officer tried to get the
woman on her feet but it was no use.
Finally they gave up and called an am bulance to transport her to Sage In
firmary. McGinnis had told me that although
the women officers are not assigned to special areas such as women's dorms, they are sometimes called in to assist in special cases, such as rape,
when a woman requests a woman offi cer. This appeared to be one of those special times.
As we pulled out once again, I asked

Fuller what she felt was the most im
portant part of her job. "Just being there and able to help when someone is in need of assistance," was her reply. It did not come as a great surprise, be cause there had been ample evidence of this attitude towards her job through out the long evening. For example, when someone was trying to maneuver a van up a very slippery driveway, Fuller stopped and suggested that the
driver back down and go around the
circular driveway from the other direc tion. She then stayed to see that he made it safely and to cheer with real pleasure at his success.
At another point she noticed that lights were on inside a locked vehicle. When she later drove past and the vehicle was still there with the lights on, she called in a report so that the owner would be notified right away.
Again, when it was necessary to warn some students against sledding on campus, she took care to be pleasant
but firm. I'm sure she would say those are
very small things, and they are only part of her job. But it wasn't the fact that she did them so much as the spirit with which she acted, the spirit of caring. There is no question in my mind that being of assistance to the people on campus is the prime objective of Linda Fuller, Public Safety Patrol
Officer.
A period of reverie was abruptly in terrupted by the voice of dispatch, "Car 3." That was the signal for de briefing. It had been a long, quiet night.
11

Gardening practices are demonstrated A braille sign for blind gardeners iden-

at a television station.

trfies a vegetable herb garden program.

Volunteers from Central N.Y. are
shown new gardening techniques.

Master Gardeners S

Teaching is not necessarily the work
of professional instructors. Homemakers, business executives, retired people and many others who never pictured themselves in front of a class
room are some of the best teachers to
be found in New York State. People
from all these groups have volunteered
to help home gardeners in the Master Gardeners program of Cooperative
Extension.
Enthusiastic, dedicated and knowl edgeable, the volunteers fulfill Cooper
ative Extension's mandate to "serve
the people." The Smith-Lever Act of 1914, which authorized the start of Cooperative Extension programs in the nation's land grant colleges, states that the programs must bring to the people useful information and encour age its application. Cooperative Exten sion is a teaching arm of Cornell's Col leges of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Human Ecology and Veterinary Medi
cine. The Master Gardeners program
is an example of how it works. "Expert gardeners had a real desire
to share their knowledge with others," said Bob Kozlowski, '65 Coordinator of New York State's Cooperative Ex tension Master Gardeners Program.
"And extension offices needed more

by Joann D'Emilio '80
experienced help," he said. The pro
gram, based on one first tried in the
state of Washington, put these two elements together when it began five
years ago. Volunteers receive 60 hours
of training and instruction in a variety of horticultural subjects before they can begin work in the field. Although they are all experienced and knowl edgeable gardeners, most either need an update on new developments or they are specialists who need broader information. The training includes in struction in all areas in which they might get questions from New York state gardeners, said Kozlowski.
About 405 volunteers have been
trained throughout the state, and there are currently about 280 active volun teers, according to Kozlowski. Volun teers are trained regionally, but each county is responsible for the develop ment of its own program. "The garden
ers will meet as a group and look at
the needs of the community to decide what they want to do," said Kozlow ski. They also receive guidance from

the county's extension agent aboi
what is the best way to reach the^
particular audiences. As a result, the programs vary froi <
county to county, but all are aimed ■ ■ the needs of the non-commercial horr"
gardener. Some volunteers might ju
stay in the extension office to answ fr
questions, while in urban areas, MasK:
Gardeners will often make use of loc ^

V 12

Workshops at community gardens are provided by Master goaarrddeenneer<rs; iinn Oneida County, shown here with participants

MMaacster Gardeners receive a certificate
acknowledging completion of training.

it Their Knowledge

medla t0 disseminate gardening infor mation. Master Gardeners have set up
jfemonstration gardens in communities.
°me have even worked out of their

^es, using their own gardens to
eacn community members. They also

art'cipate in horticulture exhibits and

,l% plant science projects.

with the Master ^e have been able

Gardener program,
to do things that

An ornamentals demonstration
area. Master Gardeners from Broome
County have been actively involved in the planning and planting of Cutler
Gardens.

through the training that Master Gar
deners receive and reference materials
the College puts together and updates
for the volunteer.
The enthusiasm of the volunteers

otherwise might have been impossible,"
said Kozlowski. He cited a program in
Chemung County where volunteers

has certainly added to the success of
the program. The Master Gardeners may be required to volunteer as much

set up a garden for handicapped as 200 hours of time during a growing

patients of a local hospital. There, the patients can garden and just watch
things grow.

season though many do far above that
amount. Kozlowski remembered one
volunteer who had been reporting

Master Gardeners have come to be
recognized as reliable sources of in formation within their communities, said Kozlowski. "What is important is that the volunteers have a back-up be hind what they are recommending,"

falsely conservative estimates of the
time he had worked. The volunteer was afraid that when he reached the
required hours he was supposed to stop, but he wanted to put in more
time.

he said. If a Master Gardener runs into

"You have to be people-oriented to

a problem he or she cannot handle, succeed in Cooperative Extension,"

he or she can refer it to the county said William E. Worth '52, Program

agent or to the University. "It happens Coordinator of Cooperative Extension.

quite often and is one of the features "You must prove that you know some

which makes the program special," thing before people will accept you,"

noted Kozlowski.

he added. Kozlowski agreed that the

Cooperative Extension is supposed Master Gardeners program has suc

to allow new information to flow from ceeded partly because the volunteers

the College to the agents or volunteers have been able to get along with the

and then out to the public. By answer members of their communities. "Any

ing difficult questions with advice from one distributing advice has to prove

college scientists, this flow is accom themselves," he said. "And Master

plished. But it is also accomplished Gardeners have done that."

The
Legendary
HUGH TROY
by Catherine Northrup '80
A jokester notorious for his humorous and clever pranks.

rm~\

Who is Hugh Troy, and why do people remember him? Troy, '26, the son of a Cornell professor, went on to study at Cornell and distinguish him
self as one of the school's greatest
practical jokers. With his wit, sense of humor and often large amount of bravery, Hugh Troy left his mark on
Cornell.
Reminders of some of his stunts are
present on campus today. The foot prints between the statues of Ezra
Cornell and Andrew D. White on the
arts quad are credited to Troy. And the drenching of the freshman archi
tecture students each new school year
is a throwback to one of his pranks. Instead of architects, though, Troy chose engineers as the butt of his joke. Troy posted notes in the engineering buildings stating that at an appointed place and time he would make a barrel defy the law of gravity. When the time came and the engineers were cere moniously gathered around White Hall, Troy drew their attention to a barrel on the roof and then dumped its con
tents onto their heads.
Another of Troy's jokes had the
whole campus in an uproar. Louis
Fuertes, a Cornell professor, had a

wastebasket fashioned from an authen
tic rhinoceros foot that Troy borrowed one snowy evening. Late that night he
used the foot to make tracks in the
snow leading to Beebe Lake and out to the edge of the ice. The next morn ing the tracks were found and identi fied by a knowledgeable professor of zoology. Beebe was at that time the source of drinking water, and a good portion of the campus, including Hugh Troy Sr., gave up drinking water from the tap. People were convinced that they could taste the rhinoceros in it.
Hugh Troy's most daring caper oc curred during the 1941 reunion's organ concert. The organist, who was in ca hoots with Troy, would occasionally hit a note that sounded terrible. Every
time the sour note rang out, the organ
ist shot a glare at the pipes of the or gan. Eventually he stopped the per formance to have repairs made. The workmen who came on stage to fix the pipes were really Troy and some friends. They loosened the largest pipe in the organ and, fumbling, let it crash to the ground. Out of the pipe poured chickens and pigeons, with a girdle
and a spare tire added for effect.
Contrary to what one might believe,

Troy did graduate from college, but his practical joking did not cease. While living in New York City, Troy purchased a bench that he took to
Central Park. He would sit on the
bench waiting for a policeman to come by, then would pick up his bench and leave. After being arrested he would show the policeman the receipt for the bench and once again he would have the last laugh.
He joked in the subways of New York too. Troy bought a number of copies of the daily newspapers the day
Roosevelt was elected to his first term
as president. Two years later, in a nonelection year, Troy and some of his
friends took these papers onto the sub
way, and, nonchalantly turning to the inside pages, displayed big bold head lines reading "ROOSEVELT ELECTED".
Hugh Troy, who spent his life trying to be the greatest of practical jokers,
died in 1961 . But if you ever see a car reassembled on top of one of the
buildings on campus, or the hands missing from the faces of the clocks on the bell tower (yes, he did that too), you can bet the spirit of Hugh Troy is
back to leave one more mark on Cor:.
nell.

14

Polo BIG RED Style
by Paul Luchowski '80

If you have ever walked through any of the buildings in the ag quad, you
have no doubt seen posters about the
Cornell men's and women's polo teams. They are not your average athletic teams nor do they play an ordinary in
tercollegiate sport.
For one, it is a sport that combines man with animal, the horse, and to
gether they work to score goals, much like in hockey or soccer. The game is played indoors between two teams of three riders and horses, combining the skills of riding a horse and being able to hit a ball into a goal with a long
mallet.
The men's and women's squads at Cornell rank among the top polo squads over other schools in the country, with the women being the 1979 intercol legiate champions. The men have won nine national titles, including eight in the past 25 years.
Not only is the sport of polo unique, but the philosophy that the teams play by is different. Since most students
playing polo at Cornell have limited experience at the game, a different set of priorities is followed. Under coach Danny Scheraga, 73, the Cornell teams have a philosophy that de-emphasizes

the win-at-all-costs attitude shown in many other sports.
"The priorities," said Scheraga, "are to teach the players about the game so they can enjoy it for as long as they wish to play. We don't have
the rah-rah win-at-all-costs attitude.
Instead we try to help the players grow up a bit by guiding them in the right direction." Scheraga explains that the members of the polo team are given great responsibility in making the polo program work. Not only do they play the sport, but they must take care of the horses, equipment and them selves. But above all Scheraga says, "We play to enjoy ourselves."
During his undergraduate years at Cornell, Scheraga played on the men's team. The summer following his gradu ation, he was named manager of the Cornell stables at the Oxley Polo Arena and Orthwein Stables. "The timing was right. I didn't have definite plans as to what I wanted to do upon gradu ation," he said. "The job opened up
and I was hired. It was a chance to be
around horses, so I took it."
Although he was offered the job to coach the polo teams, Scheraga waited
until before the 1975-76 season to ac-

One for all and all for one! Pam
Wood and Cindy Preston lead the team to victory.
cept the job. He felt he was not ready to coach right after graduation, but
since then he has turned in a respect
able record, especially on the women's
side. The women's team has been in the national finals for the past three
seasons.
Not only does Scheraga teach his players something about the game, but the players have helped Scheraga
become a better coach. "I've learned
something every year, like how to coach, how to use new polo techniques and how to deal with people."
It is no wonder that with the enjoyyourself policy Scheraga follows in run ning the Cornell polo teams a close knit unit has developed for the squads. Not only do they compete, but raise money for the program. They not only win but have a good time in doing so.

Come out and support the team! Polo is a unique game We are the champions! Competitors gather after Cornell

and is played at the Oxley Polo Arena on campus.

defeated UCal-Davis 15- 12 last April.

15

Food for thought! Students enjoy the "taste test" as they compare the dif ferent types of honey.

The SWEETER Side

And then pell-mell his harvest
follows swift,
Blossom and borage, lime and balm and
clover,
On down the thyme, on cliffs the scantling thrift,
Everywhere bees go racing with
the hours,
For every bee becomes a drunken
lover,
Standing upon his head to sup
the flowers.
V. Sackville-West

Ryan decided to try and build up his own colonies. He built his own equip ment and in 1978 bought another man's beekeeping operation. Hence,
700 colonies were born.
Ryan recommends that those who are interested in beekeeping first get as much experience as possible. "It is important to learn how to handle
bees and to understand how an oper
ation like this works before investing

a lot of money into it," Ryan explained.
Professor Morse understands the im
portance of first hand experience. His practical beekeeping lab held in Dyce Laboratory allows the students to work directly with bees, setting up hives and harvesting honey.
Gene Robinson, '76, a graduate student in apiculture, is a teaching
assistant for the lab. "I feel that both
the lecture and the lab are an excellent

Using a heated blade, lab students uncap a honey comb to obtain the honey

Bees are not favored by most people. However, there are Cornell students
who have found that there is more to
a bee than just its stinger. The elementary beekeeping course
taught by Prof. Roger A. Morse, '50, M.S. '53, Ph.D. '55, of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences focuses on the honeybee, its lifestyle and the importance of its function as a polli nator and producer of honey.
Jon Ryan, '75, entered the elemen
tary beekeeping course knowing ab solutely nothing about bees. Today, Ryan, one of the few commercial bee
keepers in New York, owns 700 honey bee colonies. "It just started out as a hobby. I was looking for one or two hives. I placed an ad in the paper for honeybee swarms and before I knew it
I had 160 colonies of bees. I guess you can say it got out of hand."
After working as an Apiary Inspector,

3f LEARNING
by Maria Sue Malkman '80

Goldenrod and alfalfa are two types of honey produced in the industry.

introduction to the field of beekeeping," Robinson said, "The lab enables stu dents to get a real feel for beekeeping and the methods of producing honey."
The secret formula is revealed! Pro fessor Morse demonstrates how to
make honey wine.

Robinson explained that Dyce Lab has excellent learning facilities for the
students. They have the opportunity to handle much of the beekeeping equipment that is used in the Cornell
apiaries. Later on in the spring, a field
trip is taken to a commercial beekeeper's
operation where the students can get a better understanding of how it works.
As an undergraduate, Robinson took many beekeeping courses under Pro fessor Morse. When he graduated
from Cornell he went on to work with
bees for the New York State Depart
ment of Agriculture. He also spent one year in South America developing ef ficient beekeeping programs before returning to Cornell to do his graduate
work. "I came back to Cornell because
this is an excellent place to study apiculture. Professor Morse is highly recognized for his work with bees."
According to Professor Morse, the past seven years have been very favor able for beekeepers. "The honey in dustry is very lively now. Because of the increase in population and people's interest in natural foods, the price is increasing. Now is a good time for those interested in beekeeping to enter
the market," Professor Morse explained. Beekeeping, unlike many industries,
is relatively easy to break into. Accord ing to Professor Morse, there are not as many federal restrictions put upon beekeepers. An interested student can start off with just a few hives and gradually increase them with time.

"The first thing you need when starting a colony is a place to keep the
bee hives. The more hives you have
the more land you need. Most bee
keepers rent the land they are using," Professor Morse said. Most beekeepers
keep 25 colonies at the most in one
location. Colonies are usually kept two miles apart. "You can buy a second
hand hive from $75-100. If you really know what you're doing you can build your own," Professor Morse continued. The easiest part is collecting the bees. According to Professor Morse, if some one puts out 100 bait hives, 30-80 per
cent of those hives will be filled with
bees. "If there's a good home out there, the bees will find it."
Professor Morse explained that bee keeping is like many other pursuits. "People on the outside think it's all a
bed of roses. Sometimes it is. When I was 14, I told my father that there
has got to be a better way of making a living. At that time I was milking cows. I guess I was tired of getting my feet stepped on."
Perhaps to many students the sweet est part of Professor Morse's beekeep ing course is the samples of honey that are passed around during lecture.
There are many different types of honey and Professor Morse feels that it is important for students to learn the
differences. You might say they are getting a taste of what the beekeeping industry is all about.

17

"Alpha Zeta unites a group of peo
ple with somewhat common interests. I like the diversity," said member Mark
Baase, '81 . "We're all interested in some aspect
of agriculture," said Bill Schiek, '82. "However, agriculture itself is di
verse," Baase added. The Cornell Chapter of Alpha Zeta
Fraternity, one of 64 in the national,
was founded in 1901. Its purpose is
"to bind together a group of men in

in the College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences.
"We really don't have a heavy con centration of members in any major,"
Baase said. "Oh sure, we have more
animal science majors than soil science majors, but animal science is a larger department. We really don't have a sizable proportion of members in any one major." The majors of the brothers in the house range from agricultural engineering all the way to plant path

man of that same committee this year. Alpha Zeta has three brothers in the
house who are members of the Ameri
can Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE). One of the three, Stuart
Swiler, '80, is Vice-President of ASAE's Cornell Chapter.
Several members of the house have
had an opportunity to broaden their educational experience by doing re search. Robert Davenport, '81, is do ing undergraduate research in bio

ALPHA ZETA

terested in the continued advancement
of agriculture and to foster and develop high standards of scholarship, character, leadership and a spirit of fellowship among its members." To qualify for national membership, a brother must be in the upper two-fifths of his class, scholastically.
Alpha Zeta is an all-agricultural fra ternity. Every undergraduate brother in the 34-member house has a major

ology. Three graduate members also
live in the house. Two are students in
the College of Veterinary Medicine and one is a graduate student studying vegetable crops.
On an individual basis, Alpha Zeta
brothers are involved in all kinds of or
ganizations and projects. A member of AgPAC, Michael Ross, '81, was chair
man of the committee which handled
Ag Day last year. He will be co-chair

Warming up for an intramural soccer game, L. to R. Cleave Snow, '81, and

Jeff Martin,

'81 ,

practice in front of Alpha Zeta's house.

%$&'

~%t>::

i •'*;

chemistry. "I'm working on a reversible chemi
cal modification of the protein that aids the chloroplast in energy conservation," Davenport said. "It's quite frustrating. So far, it hasn't been reversible. It's
a slow process trying to find the right
conditions. I feel the work is much
more pertinent than a comparable lab course. I get to make mistakes and
learn from them."
Baase, a plant breeding and genetics major, is doing research on the inheri tance of mutants in mustard plants. "I like the fact that the grade depends
on what you can do and not how
much you can cram in," Baase said. As a graduate student in the De
partment of Vegetable Crops, Thomas Vrabel is investigating the feasibility of growing a cover of legumes in fields with sweet corn. Said Vrabel,
"Legumes increase the organic matter in the soil. By growing corn and le gumes together, it may be possible to
get the benefits of crop rotation with
out taking land out of production." You might expect that an agricultural
fraternity comprised of so many out standing individuals would make im portant contributions to the College.

18

Keep on playing! Each fraternity brother has his own musical tastes, but when they all get together it's one
big jam session.

by Mary Elizabeth Schiek '80

GOING ON 80

Alpha Zeta does indeed make signifi
cant contributions. Every fall, Alpha
Zeta and the Office of Admissions
sponsor an open house for high school
juniors and seniors. The house serves
as a reception area for the students,
many of whom must travel a consider
able distance to attend the event.
Alpha Zeta also co-sponsors the
College's student exchange program.
It serves on the committee that chooses
the College's exchange students to England and Sweden. It also becomes
a home each year for an exchange stu dent from Sweden. "Financially, the
College supplies the tuition and board for the exchange student, while we
provide the room," said Douglas Cor win, '80. "Our last two Swedish ex
change students were on the Cornell
soccer team and this year's Swedish student, Mattias Nordstrom, scored the first Cornell soccer goal of the sea son." Also living in the house this year is Yianni Boravilas, '81, a student from Greece. "These people are very active ln the house," Corwin said.
paul Gallagher, '82, said that "Havln9 foreign students in the house adds
a tale accent to the goings-on." 't also helps our intramural soccer

team," Keith Eggleston, '82, added. Boravilas feels that Alpha Zeta con
tributes a great deal to his life as a student in America. "I lived with a
family before. It's a good opportunity to live in a fraternity. I get to know the life of American boys. I get in volved in their sports. It's a close brotherhood and I like this experience."
Alpha Zeta holds several faculty events a year. "As a house, we are quite close to our faculty members,"
Rack 'em up! The pool table is one
of many recreational outlets.

Corwin said. A pig roast held in Septem ber of this year was attended by 40 faculty members and their wives. Dur ing the year, faculty members are fre quent guests at Alpha Zeta dinners.
In addition to the College-related programs and events, Alpha Zeta mem bers participate in a service project each semester. This spring the fraternity
will hold its annual blood drive. Last
fall, Alpha Zeta cleared a trail for a
nature center and the brothers are look
ing forward to the same project this
fall.
"The trails are great," said Swiler.
"It doesn't take that much individual
time, but it's a chance to work together and it benefits others immensely."
Alpha Zeta members take time to play too. They participate in virtually every intramural sport and, as you might imagine, they win quite a few
soccer games.
The Cornell Chapter of Alpha Zeta Fraternity is a diverse yet close fellow ship of men in the ag college. If the fraternity continues to initiate such de voted and enthusiastic members as those currently living in the house, it will be a successful organization for a
long time to come.
19

Why do
PLANTS DIE?

by Jane Houser Shea '80

The extra growth of the pea plant on the left, illustrates the effect day length has on a gibberellin.
f
€ ■ *&ft

Why do annuals die before frost?
What signals a wheat field to turn gold en? Why does a pea plant produce about eight pods and then wither and die? These are questions being asked by Professor Peter J. Davies and his
team of researchers from the Section
of Botany, Genetics and Development in the Division of Biological Sciences
in connection with their research on
senescence-the aging of plants. To study the mechanism of sene
scence, Professor Davies uses a special genetic strain of peas developed by Dr. Gerald A. Marx at the Geneva Experi
ment Station. If this strain is grown in
less than twelve hours of daylight (short days) it flowers, produces pods and then keeps on growing, producing more pods. If this same strain is grown in more than twelve hours of daylight (long days), it behaves like a normal plant and dies after producing pods.
"What we have here is clearly some change in senescence," says Professor Davies, "some process separate from flowering and fruiting." If a normal pea stem is grafted onto a stem of the special strain, the normal vine continues to grow after fruiting. So this strain is producing something that promotes growth, some chemical signal. A plant growth hormone is a possibility, but which one? Results from bioassays suggest it may be a gibberellin. Solving the riddle of extra growth may provide answers to the questions about sene
scence.
Before a plant growth hormone can
be identified it must be isolated not
only from the plant tissue but also from the comparatively enormous

What's A Gibberellin?
Gibberellins are one of five
groups of plant growth regulators (hormones). Found in seeds, seed lings and growing shoots, gibber ellins promote cell growth and division. Seed germination and stem elongation depend on gib
berellins.
The 53 known gibberellin com pounds have the same type of
chemical structure - the same
basic skeleton. Although some of the structures are inactive, as little as one part per billion (ppb)
can have a visible effect.
This effect can easily be demon strated. Lettuce seedlings grow three millimeters in four days; when one ppb of a gibberellin is added to the growth medium, they grow ten millimeters! A test like this, a bioassay, is carried out by students in the plant physiology laboratory course.

quantities of other chemical compounds found in the cells. Eve Emshwiller, the

technician working on this project,

grinds up about a pound of leaves,

filters out the solids and then separates-

the organic soluble fraction to obtain
one ten-millionth of a gram of total

hormone.

Because the hormones are found.

in such small amounts, she must be

careful that they are not lost by stick

ing

to

the

glassware,

lost

among

the ,

other compounds from the plant o

contaminated by chemicals in the lab

oratory which would mask the fina

results.

Emshwiller then uses some highl'

sophisticated electronic instrument^
called a high performance liquid chrorr
atograph (HPLC) and a gas/liqui -
chromatograph (GO to separate th :':
•
components of the hormone fractior
Each component of the mixture

V 20

unknown gibberellin-like compound. The presence of this unknown gibberel lin correlates with a response to photoperiod (day length). When this strain
is grown under controlled conditions
with long days, the researchers find low overall gibberellin levels and a very low level of the unknown gibberellin.
When the peas are grown in short
days, they find a much higher level of the unknown gibberellin. Normal peas contain a high overall gibberellin level but none of the unknown gibberellin. In other words the synthesis of this un known gibberellin, found only in this special genetic strain is somehow "switched on" by short days and pro duces additional growth of the pea
plant.
The next steps in the research will
involve using the mass spectrometer to make the positive identification of the structure of the unknown gibberel

lin, and finding its precursor and its fate when the plants senesce.
When plants senesce, the growing tip dies, which effectively limits crop yield for plants growing in the temper ate zone. Each plant seems to set limits on its own reproduction. Growers could possibly circumvent these limits by spraying with a gibberellin or a gibberel lin precursor to force the plants into extra growth and yield. "Also," says Gianfagna, "If we find out what con trols the growth of the growing tip, it might be a nice compound for a weed killer." Such a compound would be
natural and biodegradable. An understanding of the mechanics
involved in the additional growth and yield of the special genetic strain of
peas and the mechanics of senescence
will help Professor Davies and other researchers answer the question of why annual plants die.

A gas chromatograph separates the components of a plant hormone mixture,

The high performance liquid chromatograph is one instrument Eve Emshwiller uses to purify plant hormones.

represented by a peak on the recorder. The components are then identified
by a mass spectrometer. The data
from this instrument make a pattern -
every chemical compound has its own
characteristic pattern. Positive identifi cation is done by matching the data from an unknown with the data from
a known compound. "Even with all this analytical equip
ment, the bioassay is still a powerful tool for detecting plant growth regula tors," says Thomas Gianfagna. "One can see the effect on the plant with
as little as one billionth of a gram,
whereas conclusive analytical techniques require about 100 times that amount." The bioassay shows net response to all the hormones present, growth pro
moters as well as inhibitors.
According to Gianfagna, a graduate
student working on this project, the data from this special strain of peas show four known gibberellins and one

TEACHERS -- The Student Perspective

When big investments are men
tioned in connection with Cornell Uni versity, images of building construction, maintenance costs, alumni contributions and even stock market transactions
are the expenditures most often dis
cussed. But in another sense, the aver age Cornell student has a far greater investment in his or her alma mater.
The student's educational spendings eat up a far greater proportion of his financial resources than do the capital allotments of most other University budgets. But an even bigger stake is
the student's investment in Cornell's
ability to prepare him for a career. Cornell has a reputation for academic
excellence. That's a fact. The implica
tion is that because of a strong faculty, Cornell is able to maintain this image.
Academic pressures will sometimes
lead students to malign their instructors. But, according to an informal poll I re cently conducted of several aggies, Cornell students in general seem fairly
satisfied with their teachers.
Students come to college from vari ous secondary school backgrounds and
that has much to do with their initial
reaction to the Cornell classroom. Some
students, like communication arts ma jor Donna Regii, '82, and business major Barb Sherbon, '81, were blessed with outstanding high school teachers who "were good enough to have been professors themselves," according to Sherbon. Other students found greater sophistication at Cornell than they
were used to.
"The main difference between the
levels of teaching is that teachers here (at Cornell) are far more specialized and know more in a given field than my high school teachers did," said senior Sue Littman, an ecology major.
Once the student has adjusted to the academic rigors, he or she can begin
to compare and evaluate teachers.
Among the students I questioned, there was a surprising degree of con
currence on what makes a successful

by Mike Grogan '81
teacher. "A successful teacher is one
who is articulate, but is also relaxed," explained Littman. "The professor should give you enough of a favorable impression so that you want to talk to
him after class."
Sophomore Kristi Bleyer, a natural resources major, has a word for the ideal teacher: "charisma." In her view, "No one wants to listen to a boring
person. A teacher with charisma can
hold your attention and keep you fascinated with the subject."
There are other qualities that con
tribute to a teacher's success. Junior
Tom Dziedzic, agricultural economics '81, believes that, "A dynamic profes sor who shows enthusiasm helps you enjoy the course, but knowing just
what a teacher expects from you is
also key."

Sherbon likes to have a class well
organized, though she admits that, "Lectures are important; even if a class is poorly set up, a good lecturer can
make it worthwhile."
Ron Rejda, agricultural economics '81, agrees that an instructor should be enough of a showman to hold stu dent interest. "But a good teacher
should also show concern for students
and realize there are more things to life than a particular course," he ex plained. "For example, a professor should show some understanding
when a student has a conflict with a
scheduled prelim," he said.
Since students seem to know what
to look for in a first-rate teacher, does
that mean they are happy with what they've discovered at Cornell? The concensus according to my poll is yes, the performance of Cornell teachers is generally good. What's more, these same students rate ag professors
superior, on the whole, to non-ag col
lege professors. Senior Andy Dixon, who was an
engineer for over a year and is now a business major in the ag college, sum med up the prevailing impression: "Ag teachers are more relaxed and informal,"
he said. "They seem to want to help students and do it in a friendly sort of
way." Considering the overwhelmingly
positive responses of these ag students, one would think that everything is coming up roses in the College faculty.
Littman offers a qualifying explana tion for the positive attitudes: "I have
found that I tend to remember the
good professors-the ones I got a lot
out of-better than the bad ones."
Certainly not all teachers are of equal ability-that would leave nothing by which to compare good, less good and
bad instructors. But when some of the
country's top students are in general
agreement about the high quality of
their teachers, you can be sure that
the Cornell faculty is making the grade.

COUIMTRYMAIMCAPSULgg

Memorial Fund Established
Mrs. Cornelia Hochstrasser, wife of the late Walter Hochstrasser, '26, has established the Walter Hochstras
ser Memorial Fund, an endowed me
morial fund to assist graduate students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Preference will be given to graduate students enrolled in the De partment of Food Science who are concentrating in the area of dairy products. Walter Hochstrasser had worked in the dairy industry through
out his entire life. The process he de
veloped for the manufacture of Camembert cheese from pasteurized milk is still being used commercially today. John Kinsella, chairman of the food science department said that the Hoch
strasser Fellowship would be used to assist graduate students in the area of

clude comparative vertebrate anatomy, prenatal development of the dog and cyclopia in sheep.
The Cohn Foundation at Sodus has given Cornell Fruit Research a $50,000 yearly gift for the next five years to further the work that has
been underway since the Cohn farm was donated to the College of Agri culture and Life Sciences in 1961 by
Herman Cohn. The 285 acre farm is located on Lake Ontario near Sodus and has been used for research and
demonstration purposes by pomologists, plant pathologists, entomologists and agricultural engineers from both the agriculture college and the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva. Research now underway on growth management and integrated

mals from unsaturated fatty acids of dietary origin. Eating certain forms of
unsaturated fats may reduce the risks of coronary disease. The grant will
support studies determining the impact of dietary fats on prostaglandin syn
thesis in experimental animals.
Professor Emeritus John F. Cornman, '36, M.S. '39, Ph.D. '47, of the
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has been honored by the New York State Turfgrass Association. A special ist in turfgrass management and an authority in the field, he received the
Association's Annual Citation of Merit. Cornman was recognized for "dedica tion and for his 33 years of service to
Cornell University and the turfgrass in dustry in New York State." Before re
tiring in 1973, Cornman chaired the

dairy fermentation and chemistry.

pest management will be continued on the Cohn farm.

annual Cornell Turfgrass Conference
for 26 years and also served as editor

Gordon Conklin, '48, editor of the

of the Association's Bulletin.

American Agriculturalist, received the Student Selected As Scholar

Award of Merit from the Department of Animal Science of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The
award was in recognition of his sup port of dairy farmers and College pro
grams.
Theodore 0. Diener, plant path ologist, has accepted an appointment as Andrew D. White Professor-atLarge at Cornell University for a sixyear term. Diener is currently the tech nical leader for research on viroids and virus diseases at the Plant Virology
Laboratory, United States Department °f Agriculture, at Beltsville, Md. He
discovered and isolated the viroid while working with potato spindle
tuber disease in the late 1960's.

Sharon Cotanche, a graduate stu dent in the Department of Communica tion Arts in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is participating in the 1980 Assembly Graduate Scholar Program. She has been assigned to work with the Counsel to the Minority Leader. She and seven other graduate students from six major New York State colleges and universities have been selected as Assembly Scholars for the 1980 Assembly Session which opened January 9. This program pro vides a mechanism for involving New
York's universities with the state gov
ernment.
Prof. John E. Kinsella, chairman of the Department of Food Sciences

Clifford M. Buck, '22, circulation manager of the Cornell Countryman in 1922, worked with William McDermott, M.D. '43, and compiled a recent publication for the Dutchess County Historical Society, Eighteenth Century
Documents of the Nine Partners Pat
ent, Dutchess County, New York.
John Holden, '41, has been promoted to Marketing Director of Seed for Ball Seed Company. A graduate in floricul ture, he joined the company in 1 951 .
Schoonmaker Gets EMMY
Jim Schoonmaker, '74, former communication arts major and Cornell Countryman staff member, recently

Prof. Howard E. Evans, '44, chair man of the Department of Anatomy ln the New York State College of
veterinary Medicine, was elected presi
dent of the World Association of
veterinary Anatomists at the group's annual meeting in Moscow, U.S.S.R. P|"ofessor Evans' research interests in

in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has been awarded a $200,000 grant from the United States Depart ment of Agriculture for research on lipid metabolism and its effects on pro staglandins. Prostaglandins, a group
of hormone-like substances involved
in the control of several physiological functions, are manufactured by mam

received an EMMY during a state-wide
telecast of the Florida EMMY Awards.
He received the award for individual
achievement (Regularly Scheduled News) for directing "The Ten O'Clock News" of WCIX-TV, Channel 6, in Miami, Florida. He was the only director in the history of Florida to do so and
to receive the EMMY award.

23

A MARGIN OF EXCELLENCE

by Tim McKinney '81

"In the past year over $250,000
in scholarships have been awarded to over 400 Agriculture and Life Sciences students. One of the most popular and heart-warming programs is for scholar ships," according to Glenn MacMillen, '54, Assistant to the Dean of the Col lege of Agriculture and Life Sciences. These scholarships, and much more, come from the Agriculture and Life
Sciences Fund.
The fund was started in 1969 as a
three year program to establish an en dowed fund of one million dollars for
the ag college. At the end of three years the goal had been reached, but
the Alumni Association Board saw a
need for a continuing and more inten sive effort. In 1973, Dean W. Keith Kennedy, M.S. '41, Ph.D. '47, ap pointed the first Fund Advisory Com
mittee.
The fund was originally set up to provide aid to transfer students. As the cost of college has increased, so
has the scope of the fund's scholar
ships. Now any ag student with a gen-

For futher information the fund contact:
Glenn O. MacMillen
Office of Development
and Alumni Affairs 205 Roberts Hall

about

uine need is eligible for a scholarship. Today there are 43 endowed scholar
ships given in memory of family, friends or faculty members to supple ment the endowed scholarship fund.
The fund is not limited to student
scholarships. It also supports research, professorships, assistantships, special projects (such as the new trees on the ag quad) and a discretionary fund to help the College in extraordinary cir cumstances. "The fund now provides our College with a margin of excellence,"
says MacMillen.
One of the largest single projects was the W.I. Myers Professorship Fund. The three-year project raised over $750,000 to endow the chair in
agricultural finance. Future goals and projects include an
even greater number of scholarships and assistantships. The fund provides money for new programs, teaching ideas and specialized equipment.
Phase II of the Ag Quad Beautifica tion Project will begin this year with money provided by the fund. The project includes landscaping and a new entrance plaza which will connect Mann Library, Warren Hall and the Plant Science building.
The fund is based on private sup

port and is comprised of alumni who
can and want to assist the effort.
They succeeded in raising almost two
million dollars for the fund last year.
Dr. John K. Hoff, Ph.D. '63, and David Nagel, '49, are co-chairmen of
the fund.
There are several ways you can sup port the fund:
- Gifts: You can join many who
show their support with unrestricted
contributions ranging from $5 to $20,000. A recent major gift was the Madrey, a downstate farm worth
over one million dollars.
- The Scholarship Fund: The gifts are given designated for the scholar ship program. - Pledges: Alumni and friends can pledge a set amount over a period
of time.
- Lifetime Agreements: Individuals give money to the College to invest and receive the earnings until the donor's death. The College is then
free to invest the money for itself.
- Bequests: People can also remem ber the College in their wills and
leave money, real estate, stocks or
bonds, etc. to the College. - Scholarships: For $5,000 a schol arship can be endowed in an in
dividual's name or in the name of a
relative, friend or faculty member.
The fund has made a lot of progress since 1969 and with support can con
tinue to grow and provide our College with a margin of excellence.

Action for a Creative Future /College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Fund
New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of the State University, Cornell University

amsmmmiL

CORNELL

COUNTRYMAN

VOL.LXXVII

APRIL, 19BO

NO. 6

ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY
ITHACA N Y. 1A*53
MAY 131980

^M

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN
April, 1980 VOLUME LXXVII Number 6
ABOUT THE ISSUE
This month the Countryman takes a look at progress on the biology com plex, now under construction on the Lower Alumni Field. We are also offer ing an interesting blend of other topics from a historical piece on Edward Rulloff to a story about a Cambodian student at Cornell to some of the out standing contributions that ag profes sors have made to mankind over the
years.

EDITORS:
Joann D'Emilio Mike Grogan Jane Houser Shea
ASSISTANT EDITORS:
Diane Charnley Paul Luchowski Juanita B. McCaw Steve Rotterdam
ART EDITORS:
Mary Anne Hahn
Lucille Ircha Linda Ann Koski Maria Sue Malkman
Charley Nasta
Karen M. Pelliccione
PHOTO EDITOR: Tim McKinney

)

WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE? See page 12
CONTENTS
3. A Student with Special Concerns by Joann D'Emilio '80
4. The Learned Murderer by Diane Charnley Grad. 6. All About the Birds and the Bees by Jane Houser Shea '80
7. Getting a FAIR Shake by Paul Luchowski '80
8. The Link between Cancer and Nutrition by Linda Ann Koski '81 10. Think Before You Drink by Steve Rotterdam '80 12. HERE'S WHAT'S HAPPENING:
Biology Transplanted by Tim McKinney '81 Sports Uprooted by Charley Nasta '80 14. Talking a Great Game by Mike Grogan '81 16. Richard A. Church: Anchoring Admissions by Karen Pelliccione '80 17. A Solution to Booknapping by Charley Nasta '80 18. IMS - Helping Ag Instructors by Juanita B. McCaw '81 20. Fungi That Work for Farmers by Mary Anne Hahn '80 22. The Old Armory: Romance and Rigor by Lucille ircha '80 24. Serving Agriculture with Research by Maria Sue Malkman '80
The Cornell Countryman (ISSN 0010-8782) is published seven times a year from October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cor nell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription Rates: $5.00 a year; $9.00 for two years. Editorial content gathered and written by majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors: Jane E. Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

EDITORIAL STAFF: Diane Cham
ley, Joann D'Emilio, Mike Grogan, Mary Anne Hahn, Lucille Ircha, Linda Ann Koski, Paul Luchowski, Maria Sue Malkman, Juanita B. McCaw, Tim Mc
Kinney, Donna Moskowitz, Charley Nasta, Karen M. Pelliccione, Steve Rotterdam, Jane Houser Shea.
Picture Credits: Cover - Tim McKin
ney; p. 3 -- Intl. Studies Ctr.; p. 4, 5 Diane Charnley, portrait of Rulloff, poster and cabin, Copyright, Dewitt Historical Society, 1980; p. 6 -- Jane Houser Shea; p. 7, 12, 14, 15, 16 -Tim McKinney; p. 8, 9 -- Linda Ann Koski; p. 10, 11 - Dave Beaulieu; p. 13 -- Visual Services, Sol Goldberg; p.^ 17 -- Charley Nasta; p. 12, 13 -- Hugh Stubbins and Associates; p. 18 -Juanita B. McCaw; p. 20, 21 -- Dr.
Richard Soper.
It is the policy of Cornell University actively to support equality of educa tion and employment opportunity. No
person shall be denied admission to any educational program or activity or be denied employment on the basis of
any legally prohibited discrimination involving, but not limited to, such factors as race, color, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, age, or handicap. The University is committed to the maintenance of affirmative
action programs which will assure the
continuation of such equality of op
portunity.

A Student with Special Concerns

by Joann D'Emilio '80

For most of us, busy with our every
day lives, the suffering of a people on
the other side of the world has little
impact. But Sina Than, a graduate student in international agricultural de velopment, is making Cornellians more aware of the suffering in his native country - Cambodia.
"At first, since I was here, I did not
think there was anything I could do,"
said Than, who was born and raised
in Phnom Penh. This fall, though, en
couraged by friends, Than and 1 5 other people formed the Cornell Committee
for Humanitarian Relief to Cambodia.
The committee collected funds for aid
to the nation and set out to make
people at Cornell and in Ithaca more
aware of the situation in Cambodia.
Than uses the words "torn apart,"
"destroyed" and "bloodied" to de
scribe what has recently occurred in
his native land. In 1970, Prince Noro
dom Sihanouk, who had headed the
nation for 17 years, was ousted in a
coup supported by the United States.
After five years of devastating war,
the government came under the firm
control of the Khmer Rouge, a com munist regime. The Khmer Rouge be
gan a radical restructuring of Cambodia, which included a depopulation of the cities and a genocide program which
has resulted in the death of an esti
mated three million people. Early last year, the Vietnamese Army overthrew the Khmer Rouge, but reports indicate that they have only continued the pol icy of starving the Cambodians by
blocking all international aid.
To help people in Ithaca understand the problem, Than invited Sihanouk to
campus. The Prince addressed about 1200 people in Cornell's Bailey Hall
°n February 26. "I wanted people to
know this was a man-made disaster," sa-d Than. "Most people at Cornell seem to understand the problem," he added.
'n his daily life as a student, Than cannot forget the situation at home. "I

Than watches Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia (right) with reporters.

am studying agricultural development
because in Cambodia there are few
students in that field. Someone will
have to restore my country after it has
been destroyed," he said. "Our natural resources have never been exploited to full capacity. We have a lot of po tential to compete with other develop ing countries," he added.
Than came to the United States in
1974 before the Khmer Rouge took control. "I was going to become a pilot officer in my country," he said. "But if I dropped bombs, I would be dropping them on my own people."
On the advice of and with the support
of his father, Than moved to Washing
ton D.C. where he worked and studied
English. When he felt he knew the language well enough, he enrolled at
Cornell.
When Than left home, Cambodia
was in a state of war. "My country was poor but sufficient," he said. One
brother has also followed him to the
United States to study. Than's father reluctantly came to the United States at the time of the communist takeover. A former Cambodian congressman, his life was in danger and he had to flee, leaving the rest of the family, who were in another part of the country, behind. Now that conditions have worsened, the fate of Than's mother,
sister and other brothers is unknown.
The situation has had a profound

effect on Than. "I spend 25 percent of my time thinking about my family, 25 percent of my time thinking about my country, and only 50 percent of my time on my studies," he said. "I'm
better off, now, after I have committed
my time and efforts to help the Cornell
and Ithaca community understand."
Cambodia's problems must be solved on two levels, according to Than. "We must provide the people with food, but we cannot avoid the political problems. Both must be handled simultaneously,"
he said. He wrote a letter to President
Carter asking for an international con
ference on Cambodia that will remove
the Vietnamese from his country. Than
said that although the Vietnamese used the excuse that they came to liberate the nation, they have not left and con
tinue to starve the nation. "We want
them to leave while we still have enough people to make a country," he said.
But if there is no conference, and if the Vietnamese stay, Than said
Cambodians must be ready to fight. "I don't mind the political status of my country as long as we are not under foreign manipulation. We have enough people to run our country," he said.
"I am ready to go anytime," added Than. "My country is being torn apart. I cannot hide from it here." Fortunately, Than has also made it impossible for
those of us at Cornell to hide from the
serious problem of Cambodia.

3

THE LEARNED MURDERER

Edward Howard Rulloff, from a 19th
century engraving.

by Diane Charnley Grad.

"Hurry it up! I want to be in hell
in time for dinner!"
Following those final arrogant words to his executioner, Edward Howard
Rulloff felt the trap door of the scaf fold drop away beneath his feet and
the noose yank tight about his neck. That event, on May 18, 1871, re
ceived dubious distinction as the last
public hanging in Binghamton, N.Y. A specially invited group of people wit nessed the hanging, but a crowd of more than 5,000 outside the prison eagerly awaited the execution. The hanging concluded the long and grizzly career of a brilliant, but evil man known
widely throughout mid-1 9th century
America as the "learned murderer."
Today, all that remains of Edward Rulloff is his abnormally large brainthe second largest recorded and weigh ing 60 ounces (10 ounces more than the average human brain). It is now
on display in Stimson Hall as part of
the Wilder Brain Collection. The Cor nell brain collection was the result of late 19th century scientific and medi
cal interest and study which attempted to link the physical appearance of the brain to certain personality types. It is not known what links might have been made between Rulloff's personality and his brain. This story of his life and
"career" may suggest answers, or may
raise interesting questions. Read on
and decide for yourself. Rulloff was born in New Brunswick,
Canada, in 1819. He was mostly self-

taught and became quite knowledge able in history, law, medicine, mineral ogy, conchology, botany and philology. He was known to speak at least 26 languages and dialects. He also be came involved in a series of burglaries at an early age, however, and was first sent to prison at the age of 20.
After his release two years later, he obtained work in Dryden, N.Y., as a
canal worker. Not satisfied with man
ual labor, he used his vast knowledge plus some fast talking to obtain a teach ing position in a private school in the
same town. There he met and married
one of the students, 16-year-old Har
riet Schutt.
Soon after his marriage, Rulloff quit his teaching job and moved with his young wife to Lansing, N.Y. where he worked as a physician. That was not as difficult as it might seem, since it was an era when medical regulations were not strictly enforced and many
Did Rulloff's brain size make a differ ence?

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people conferred titles upon themselves. Despite his lack of medical credentials, however, he was quite successful in
his cures and became well known in
the area.
One day he was called to Ithaca to
treat the wife and child of his brother-
in-law who had opposed Rulloff's mar riage to his sister. His prescription for their "cure" was copper poison-and the patients both died! (It is not known how this "cure" affected his professional reputation!)
Shortly after his marriage, Rulloff's violent nature began to manifest itself. He beat his wife frequently-even at their wedding reception. Three years after the wedding, a daughter was bom. About two months later, he took an iron pipe and beat his wife and child to death. After wrapping their bodies in wire and attaching weights, he threw them into Cayuga Lake. Unable to satisfactorily answer his brother-in-law's questions concerning the whereabouts of his wife and child, Rulloff fled the
Ithaca area.
Rulloff was captured months later, returned to Ithaca and charged with
the abduction of his wife. The courts
at that time could not charge him with
murder since no bodies had been found.
He was sent to Auburn Prison for 10
years.
Upon his release, he was rearrested and charged with the murder of his daughter, even though no bodies had yet been found. He conducted his own defense, but was convicted and sen
tenced to be hanged. While appealing the sentence, he managed to escape from the Ithaca jail with the help of = the jailer's 18-year-old son, Albert
Jarvis.

4

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Handbill inciting Ithacans to take justice into their own hands.

He spent the next year running to
escape the law. He became frostbitten on one occasion so he amputated his
own left big toe! That missing toe
would later prove to be his undoing.
He was eventually arrested again,
escaped, caught again and finally re
turned to the Ithaca jail. "Luck" was
still with Edward Rulloff-the appeals
court ruled he couldn't be convicted of
his daughter's murder since no body
had been found.
Townspeople were enraged at the court decision. A mob of about 2,000 Ithacans attempted to lynch Rulloff, but police moved him to another jail for safety.
Once again, the authorities attempted to charge and convict Rulloff of mur der: this time, for the murder of his brother-in-law's wife and child. And,
once more luck in the form of lack of
evidence intervened with justice.
In the next few years Rulloff carried
°ut a series of burglaries. He was again sent to prison, this time at Sing Sing. There he met a man named Dex
ter who was later to become one of
his accomplices in crime. After both men were released, Rulloff met Jarvis again and the three carried out a series
of burglaries.
On at least one occasion, Rulloff had the opportunity to put his legal knowled9e to use when he acted as Dexter's
lawyer and successfully defended him 0n a burglary charge.
During this same period, Rulloff was

also posing as a professor and giving language classes. In addition, he was laboring long and hard on a pet projecta book to introduce a universal langu
age. He even appeared before a meet
ing of the American Philological As
sociation in 1869 to seek their spon
sorship of his book. This proposal was rejected by the members, however, and he furiously stormed out of the
meeting.
The burglaries continued. On August 21, 1870, in Binghamton, Rulloff, Jar vis and Dexter attempted yet another robbery. Two clerks were shot; one survived. That survivor later helped to bring about Howard Rulloff's downfall.
As the trio fled the scene of the crime, still another mistake was made. A pair of patent leather shoes was left behind.
There was an unusual depression at the tip of the left shoe where a toe
should have been.
A couple of days later, two men's
bodies were found in the Chenango River. The clerk who survived the Bing hamton burglary attempt was able to

identify them as two of the burglars: Jarvis and Dexter, both known ac complices of Rulloff. An intensive man
hunt for Rulloff resulted in his arrest.
Once again he escaped, but was re captured. Rulloff was almost able to convince one judge that he was "Charles Augustus" and innocent of the charges. However, another more alert judge recognized him as the notorious mur derer. The Binghamton clerk was able to identify Rulloff as one of the burglars who had shot the other clerk. Along with the unusual pair of shoes left be hind at the scene of the crime, this provided enough evidence to convict
Rulloff of murder.
Finally, after a "career" that had
spanned almost 38 years-murders (at least seven), burglaries and fraudsthe "learned murderer" was brought to justice.
After he was hanged, no one claimed the body and a doctor was then per mitted to remove Rulloff's large head
to examine the brain. The brain was
later placed on display at Cornell.

Rulloff's memory is perpetuated at this restaurant/ bar which is a popular stu dent meeting place.

by Jane Houser Shea '80
All About the BIRDS and the BEES

If you ever want to learn all about
the birds and bees, look in the ninth stack level of the Albert R. Mann Li brary. You will find there are two of the most extensive book collections in the
world about the birds and bees-the
Evertt Franklin Phillips Beekeeping Li brary and the James E. Rice Memorial
Poultry Library. If you are among the truly privileged,
you may also be admitted to the bal cony above the reference room where
the rare editions and books printed be

One early bee publication is a little book of recipes involving the use of honey. This book by Sir Kenelme Digby includes the directions for making mead and metheglin, fermented alco holic beverages. The recipe for methe glin calls for honey dissolved in only enough water "so that an egg neither sinks nor floats," violet and strawberry leaves, herbs and spices and the direc
tion "to put up at the end of summer and leave in cask until Lent."
Each of the collections contains

fore 1900 are kept. Among these early
editions are such titles as 77?e Feminine

about 4,500 books. The beekeeping
collection was started in 1924 with an

Monarchie, The History of Bees. This endowment of $10,000, the gift of The

book, published in London in 1623, bears the book plate of Lytton Strachey,

Beekeepers of New York State and The Cornell University Research Founda

the Edwardian author of The Eminent tion. The income from this endowment

Victorians. The Hamburgs, a book in allows the library to purchase "just

the poultry collection, also has a famous about every new title in almost any

author, L. Frank Baum who wrote 77?e
Wizard of Oz.
One of the earliest books in the poul try collection is the tenth edition (1660) of Chepe & Good Husbandry for the Well-Ordering of All Beast & Fowles

language," according to Henry T. Murphy, Assistant University Librarian who supervises the collection.
Evertt Franklin Phillips, for whom the beekeeping collection is named,
studied the behavior of bees in winter.

and for the General Cure of Their Diseases.

He stimulated interest in beekeeping by promoting the change from comb to

Some of the early editions from the special collections in Mann Library.

Henry T. Murphy displays the largest
book in the collections.
extracted honey production. He ar ranged for the endowment for the bee keeping library, which includes his per sonal collection, and obtained the first
editions and the collections of other
famous beekeepers. One of those re nowned beekeepers represented in the collection is L.L. Langstroth who de signed and patented the "modern" beehive in 1863. Langstroth's manu scripts and notebooks are part of the library's repertoire.
James E. Rice, for whom both Rice Hall and the poultry library are named, was the first professor of poultry hus bandry in America. He served Cornell as professor and department chairman from 1903 until 1934. Rice played an important part in establishing Ho-NunDe-Kah, an honorary society for stu dents in the College. The endowment of $20,000 for the collection named in his honor was set up in 1950.
According to Murphy, visitors come some distance, especially during the
summer, to use both these collections. Students also rely on the collections
for their regular course work and re
search.
Murphy finds these collections to be "an interesting part of Cornell's library system." So if your interest is in the birds or the bees, check out the books
on the ninth stack level in Mann Library.

FAIR Counselors Sandy Cordes '82 and Joe Holihan '81 at Willard Straight.

Getting a FA I R Shake

by Paul Luchowski '80

There is good news for students on
campus and for prospective students.
If you have questions about financial
aid, and who doesn't, there is no need
to panic. There is now a group of stu
dents on campus who want to help
you with your financial problems FAIR (Financial Aid Information Re
source) Peer Counselors. FAIR coun
selors work closely with the Cornell Office of Financial Aid to improve finan cial aid counseling and to disseminate information to students and prospective
students.
The FAIR Peer Counselors program was the brainchild of Assistant Director of Financial Aid, Louise Place and grad
uate student, Suzy Wong, 79. Before the 1978-79 school year, a program
involving counseling by fellow students
was needed. "There are some miscon
ceptions about financial aid among stu dents and we want to reach them to
he,P them with financial matters," said Place. She then added, "It was our h°Pe that the FAIR program would
^ake the Office of Financial Aid more
accessible to students." Fair Counselors are paid by the
financial Aid office and are trained and

kept up to date on financial aid changes and information by the staff.
Since the program started in the fall
of 1978, students have been the prime organizers in setting up information sites and meetings. Presently, there are some 20 students who are working as FAIR counselors. Their job is to know the policies and procedures of the finan cial aid system and to advise students on those matters. Any decisions as to the amount of aid given is handled by
the full-time staff.
FAIR counselors work throughout the campus. Not only are they available at the financial aid office in Day Hall, but they also have information sites at Willard Straight Hall, The Campus Store, Noyes Center, the Alfalfa Room in Warren Hall, various libraries and school and college offices. A full sched
ule of the FAIR Peer Counselors is
available at their office in the basement
of Stimson Hall. At these information sites, the coun
selors distribute Basic Education Op portunity Grant applications, Tuition Assistance Plan applications, Cornell
Financial Aid Forms and various pam
phlets. They also answer common

questions about possible resources and filling out forms. "If we can save a stu dent a thousand dollars by helping him fill out the aid forms, then we've been successful," said FAIR Peer Counselor Sandy Cordes, '82, while working at the Straight's information site.
The counselors also set up money
management workshops at the different
dormitories on campus. "The work
shops are used to help students under stand how to spend their money wisely
so that it will stretch over the nine
month school year," said Place.
In addition to these on-campus
services, during the occasional break from school, FAIR counselors return to their home areas and help organize College Nights. There, they meet with high school seniors and talk about Cornell and the financial aid available to help pay for a rather expensive col lege education.
So whether a student needs help in filling out financial aid forms or needs a question answered about spending habits, FAIR Peer Counselors are avail able to help answer such questions and to give whatever assistance possible.

7

The Link Between
CANCER and NUTRITION

by Linda Ann Koski '81

Cancer is one of the most dreaded
human diseases in the United States.
In the future we will be hearing many reports on how cancer is initiated, acti vated and developed in the human body in relation to diet. The Division
of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell Uni
versity has been granted $1.5 million for six major research projects on diet
and cancer. This grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), for three years, is being used to integrate six major re search projects on diet and cancer.
The program will relate tumor growth to such varied factors as fat, protein and fiber intake, vitamin and trace Prof. Kazarinoff uses a spectropho tometer to measure enzyme activity.
8

mineral deficiencies and alcohol and
chemicals.
Program Director T. Colin Campbell, M.S. '57, Ph.D. '62, explains that eat ing most nutrients has been indirectly implicated in laboratory or statistical studies about cancer. "A large measure of human cancer is caused by chem
icals. Some of these chemicals are in
our environment either put there by nature or by man," says Campbell.
Nutrients themselves do not start
tumors. However, the nutrients do pro
vide the environment in which tumors
grow. Thus, they may influence the actual potency of many carcinogens, cancer causing agents.
One project directed by Prof. Camp bell, in the Division of Nutritional Sci ences, will study the effect of nutrients
on the metabolism of chemicals into
carcinogens. Cancer begins after car cinogens have been activated in the body. He is researching the effect of dietary protein on the metabolism of
aflatoxin. Aflatoxin is one of the most
protent carcinogens known. Campbell notes that experimental animals, with a high protein diet, have a high prob ability of cancer. "Population groups that consume high quantities of protein also have a high rate of certain cancers," adds Campbell. This does not prove that protein intake directly causes can cer in humans, even though there is
some evidence in animals.
The relationship between tumor growth and the levels of glucose and
similar sugars in the diets of rats and
mice will be studied by Prof. William

L. Dills, in the Division of Nutritional Sciences, and Prof. Maiden C. Nesheim, Ph.D. '59, Director of the Division of Nutritional Sciences. Since it is possible to control the amount of glucose avail able to the animals, glucose availability to the tumor can also be regulated. Most tumors use large amounts of glu cose in their metabolism. The two re
searchers will also explore the possibility
that other sugars may inhibit the tumor.
"By controlling glucose availability, glucose analogs may be more effective in controlling the growth and develop ment of the tumor," explains Nesheim.
Bowel cancer has the second highest incidence, behind lung cancer in men
and breast cancer in women. Statistics
seem to correlate high meat consump
tion with the incidence of bowel can
cer. To test these findings, biochemist Michael N. Kazarinoff, Ph.D. '75, will examine the effects of dietary protein
and vitamin Be on the rate of turnover
of a protein, ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) in the intestine. ODC is a vita
min Be dependent enzyme that increases its activity when tissue cells multiply as in tumor growth. Kazarinoffs re search may provide evidence for dietary
modulation of ODC which has been
suggested as an early indicator of the
presence of a tumor. One link to bowel cancer is a low-
fiber diet. Fiber may have an anti-car
cinogenic effect. This effect is attributed
to its ability to speed up the processing
time in the digestive tract. Fiber binds toxic substances and promotes fiberdigesting bacteria that may destroy

carcinogens. Prof. Peter J. Van Soest, in the Department of Animal Nutrition, and Prof. Bertha Lewis, in the Division 0f Nutritional Sciences, will test the capacity of various fibers and fiber
digesting bacteria to bind or alter car cinogenic substances.
"The typically western diet is not
acceptable with respect to cancer in cidence according to newer evidence,"
claims Campbell. Approximately 43
percent of our total caloric intake is in the form of fats, including meat, salad
oil, and fried food. To improve your
diet, consume less salt, less cholesterol

sor in the Division of Nutritional Sci
ences. Roe will investigate alcohol's potential for promoting growth of liver tumors induced by aflatoxin. The ef fects of alcohol on the development
of this chemical cancer may be related
to malnutrition induced by alcohol. Hepatoma, or liver cancer, can re
sult from alcohol abuse and is often
associated with cirrhosis. Aflatoxin has
a cancer-producing effect on the liver, thought to be increased by alcohol.
Vitamin A deficiencies may also result
from alcohol abuse. Along with a de ficiency of vitamin A, aflatoxin has in-

Division of Nutritional Sciences, will study aflatoxins to see if they are directly toxic to lymphocytes (white blood cells) in the immune system. Be
cause aflatoxins have a chemical struc
ture similar to hormones, the carcinogen
may function like a hormone and sup press the immune system.
The NCI grant will also provide lab oratory equipment and services, a new tissue and cell culture laboratory and
will enable the research group to in
vite other specialists for discussions. This program is very timely because
there is great public concern about the

Prof. Dills examines slides of animal cells.

Carefully preparing hepatocytes for incubation in metabolic studies is graduate student Hope Stevens.

and less total fat and increase intake
of fibers. High fiber foods include fruit, whole grain cereals and vegetables.
An association exists between upper Gl cancer and alcoholism. "Alcoholism
roay affect cancer development and the cancer promoting effects of alco hol may be due to adverse results of alcohol intake on nutritional status,"
comments Daphne Roe, M.D., Profes-

duced intestinal cancer in rats.
Aflatoxin also may injure the immune system in the human body. It may af fect the cell-mediated immune system,
one of the body's main systems for resistance against tumors. Therefore, any disturbances caused by aflatoxins may have a significant effect on the body's ability to reject tumors. Virginia Utermohlen, M.D., Professor in the

relationship between diet and cancer. "Current knowledge of diet, nutrition
and cancer does not readily answer the question as to which stage of car
cinogenesis is most gravely affected
by dietary or nutritional factors," adds Nesheim. The collaborative research will attempt to sort out these very im portant questions on the effects of
nutrition on cancer.

Just one little drink more won't hurt,
now will it? What do you mean, I'm too drunk
to drive?
Aw, I'm OK. I know my limit.
If you've spent any time at all social izing, chances are that you've heard one of these assertions being made at
one time or another. Quite possibly,
they might have been coming from
your mouth. At a local bar. At a friend's party. At reunion time. Most of us en
joy a good stiff belt now and then. And why not? After all, booze is the great American relaxer, guaranteed to

cause of age, religion, race or social class. It's a truly universal problem.
Cornell, while isoloated from some things in society, is no exception to this problem. In 1977, a Campoll sur vey revealed that 85 percent of all Cor nellians drink. Campbell estimates that
the figure is closer to 95 percent today. Fifteen percent of these people are
problem drinkers. "Life is becoming more and more
stressful," remarks Campbell. "There's
more competition and aggression.
People panic. They try to cope by es caping. Drinking is just one way in

elude Resident Advisors, Student Ad visors and University Unions staff.
The Publicity Committee designs and produces posters, newspaper ads, public service announcements and
other materials which serve to draw
attention to the dangers of alcohol abuse. The ALERT logo is one such example. The universal symbol for "no drinking" was modified to suggest that
one can drink but should not do so in
excess, as indicated by the shaded

THINK Before You DRINK

by Steve Rotterdam '80

brighten up any party or social function, right?
Wrong. Medically, alcohol is a drug; a depressant just like barbiturates. And, as with any drug that has an effect on the mind, it has a tendency to be abused. ALERT, Cornell's Alcohol Edu cation, Research and Training program,
is a group of volunteers dedicated to
fostering responsible drinking on
campus.
Alcohol is the most abused drug in the United States today. Steve Camp bell, a clinical psychologist at Gannett Medical Clinic and co-chairperson of ALERT, cites a special report from the Secretary of the United States Depart ment of Health, Education and Welfare submitted to Congress in which it is
shown that alcohol abuse and alcohol
ism costs American society an estimated 25 billion dollars annually in lost pro duction, property damages and health
and medical costs. Of the more than
100 million drinkers in the country, 10 million are chronic abusers of alcohol.
About 28,000 people are killed on our highways each year due to drunken
drivers. Alcohol is a factor in one-half
of all highway fatalities. Forty one per
cent of all arrests in this country are in some way alcohol-related.
Alcohol abuse affects both men and
women and does not discriminate be-

which some people choose to deal with their problems." In a high pressure environment like Cornell, this expla
nation is particularly applicable. ALERT was organized to deal with
this drinking problem. It is under the jurisdiction of the Office of the Dean of Students, a department within the Division of Campus Life. The organ
ization evolved from what used to be
the Drug and Alcohol Education Com mittee, founded in 1972. It was later felt that alcohol abuse deserved special attention. This was a problem that most people had no idea about due to the way alcohol consumption is taken for granted during a person's upbringing. The Department of Public Safety ex
erted additional pressure on the ad ministration to create some kind of
group that would focus its scope purely on alcohol abuse on campus since they were constantly being barraged with incidents of anti-social behavior brought on by a few too many pitchers of beer.
ALERT has three committes which
function in various ways to bring the
message "DRINK RESPONSIBLY"
home to the Cornell community. The Education and Training Committee is involved in the training of key Cornell personnel to whom a student might turn if it was thought he/she had a drinking problem. These personnel in

line across the martini glass.
The Program Committee is the most
visible segment of the organization.
Members of this committee are engaged
in conducting periodic alcohol informa
tion sessions and programs at the two
on-campus bars. The highlight of the program is the participation of com munity members in actual breathalyzer tests-the type used by many police
departments to determine the degree
of intoxication in drunken drivers. The
breathalyzer measures the amount of alcohol in one's respiratory system and
converts that into a blood alcohol read
ing. For the purposes of this article, I
volunteered to participate in a breath alyzer test to illustrate how it worked.
Patrol Officer Chuck Howard from the
Department of Public Safety was the attending officer on duty that night in the Thirsty Bear Tavern at North Cam
pus Union. He assured me that one
drink would probably not register on the machine. So I consumed a Zombie,
which is equivalent to about four drinks or six ounces of hard liquor, in the
space of 45 seconds. To guarantee that I'd get some kind of reading we
decided not to wait the full twenty

10

minutes that is required to get an ac curate computation. We waited five minutes instead, so we expected the result to be abnormally high. I took a
very deep breath and released it into the tube on the machine. The alcohol in my breath stimulated a chemical reaction within a glass ampule. The intensity of this reaction determines the reading which is an indication of blood alcohol level. My reading was 0.09 percent which is one percentile below the level at which a person is
declared legally intoxicated. At that point, though, I didn't feel too drunk.
However, about twenty minutes later
I started to feel a little woozy, enough
to severely doubt my ability to drive.
The interesting thing to note here
is that Officer Howard explained to
me that if I took the breathalyzer test
again at that time, the indicated level
would be much lower because more
alcohol had been absorbed into my
bloodstream from my respiratory sys
tem. But I felt a lot drunker! I ques
tioned the validity of these tests with Steve Campbell.
"The true indication of alcohol in the
bloodstream can only be obtained by using a blood test," remarked Camp bell. "We admit that the breathalyzer test has problems. What you experi enced is one of the reasons why these tests are always questioned in court.
But for our purpose, which is to draw
Steve Rotterdam '80, takes a breath alyzer test.

as many people as possible to the ALERT program so that they can be exposed to information on responsible drinking, the breathalyzer is a good device. People show up to be tested and get information at the same time."
Another feature of the ALERT pro grams is to offer a free drink to all those persons who can answer a ten
question true-or-false quiz about alco hol and alcohol abuse. "This not only brings people to us, but it serves to
reinforce the fact that we are not
totally against drinking," says Campbell.
While response to ALERT on campus has been favorable for the most part,
there are a few obstacles standing in
the way of its total effectiveness.
First of all, some people just don't take the purpose of the organization seriously. Again, alcohol is something that is deeply rooted in our upbringing.
Chances are that our parents are drink
ers. And there's a great satisfaction en
joyed by many when they can lean back and say, "Well, at least my kid isn't on drugs." Ronald Ostman, As
sistant Professor of Communication
Arts and an integral member of ALERT's

that if the University had a firm, serious commitment to stopping alcohol abuse on campus, then permanent funding
would be found so that ALERT could extend its rather limited functions to
become a more effective helping agency. Campbell refers to the situation at
the University of Massachusetts, where a similar drinking problem exists. Yet the administration there has developed
an extensive alcohol awareness, edu
cation and referral program. "They
have a full-time program with a full-
time staff," says Campbell. "Volunteers can only do so much because of all
their other commitments and so really can't give [the program] a 100 percent
shot. A lot of other universities are
making a more serious commitment to
the problem of alcohol than Cornell.
We would like to have a permanent staff which can put most of its time
and effort into the program itself."
Campbell doesn't know whether or not
that will ever happen given the financial
state of the University.
As long as ALERT can maintain the
enthusiasm of its present membership,
it looks as if it will be able to continue

Publicity Committee, terms this kind to enjoy its modest success. But with

of reaction to ALERT as "nervous out a permanent source of funding,

laughter." Ostman says, "Sometimes any future growth for the program looks

this laughter is an indication of a per doubtful. And that's a real shame. Be

son's insecurity about his or her own cause alcohol abuse is a very real and

experience with alcohol. Sure, some dangerous problem on our campus... a

people may laugh, but you can bet problem that simply won't go away if

that at least some thought of the pos we ignore it.

sibility of an alcohol problem crosses

Organizations like ALERT are doing

their minds."

their part to help curb alcohol abuse.

The most pressing problem facing We can all do ours if we just try to be

ALERT, however, concerns the organi
zation's target audience. ALERT seeks to stop alcoholism and alcohol abuse
before they have a chance to develop. The people it seeks to reach don't have a problem yet and ALERT would like to see it stay that way. But ALERT
is not equipped to deal with people who already have a problem. These people must take it upon themselves to go out and seek counseling within the community. Unfortunately, this does not always occur. The people with the worst problem are the people who don't think they have a problem. It is the feeling of ALERT members

a little bit more sensitive to the prob lem. When we have parties, we should respect the rights of non-drinkers by having non-alcoholic beverages avail
able in addition to the standard fare.
We should never pressure anybody into having a drink if he/she doesn't want one. There should always be plenty of food available to help absorb the alco
hol in our systems. And we should never let a guest drive home drunk. If we can change our attitudes about alcohol use then the job of ALERT will be that much simpler and we'll all breathe a little easier and, perhaps, live
a little longer.

11

For those of you upset by the loss of your parking space on Tower Road, there is an explanation. The hole there
will be filled by an electric switch gear
room and the main entrance to the new
biology building will be via a small bridge over the switch room.
The new building will house the Ecology and Systematics section along with the section of Neurobiology and Behavior. The building will in effect re place Langmuir laboratory and for the first time, the entire Division of Bio logical Sciences will be housed on campus. The facility will also provide
modern laboratories for the two sections.
Most of the 120,000 square foot building will be used for faculty re search and by graduate students. Only 2,000 square feet will be used for undergraduate instruction.
The building was designed by Hugh Stubbins and Associates of Cambridge,
Mass. It will be built of brick and re
inforced concrete.
The total project is expected to cost about $14,000,000. The contractor, McGuire and Bennett, expects the building itself to cost about $11,500,000. Other costs include professional fees, new lab equipment, personnel, and moving the sections from Langmuir,

Here's What
by Tim McKinney '81
Bio Transplanted

located off-campus, to campus. The finished architect's drawings are
still incomplete, but by using a 'fast-
track' method of construction these
drawings are not needed. The architect gives the contractor enough information to complete basic work, especially the foundation, while the drawings are completed. This allows a considerable time and money savings. According to McGuire and Bennett, the cost of con struction is rising at about one percent
a month so the five to six month head-
start the system allows should save more than $750,000.
The building is being built under a construction management method,
wherein the trade contractors are re
tained by McGuire and Bennett, who
have a direct contract with the Uni

versity. The firm is paid a fixed fee and negotiates a "guaranteed maximum price" for the building. This means that if the building is finished under cost, the University will realize the savings. Conversely, if the building is finished over the guaranteed maximum price the difference will come out of
contractor McGuire and Bennett's fee.
This arrangement provides a general
contractor's services with the contractor
on the owner's side.
Because of the marginal soil under the building, a conventional foundation system will not be acceptable. Instead a caisson system will be used. Large holes are drilled down until they reach a concrete-like layer. Then the holes are turned into the foundation by fill ing them with reinforced concrete.
Construction of the building started last November and is expected to be completed by fall of 1981 .

A view of the future -this is an archite
to be completed by the fall of 1981.

Bill Patchen, left, is one of McGuire and Bennett's construction management team. Right, work rapidly progresses on the foundation.
12

• ^ft-ft*";-?5-,,-™

K^^

Happening :
by Charley Nasta '80
Sports Uprooted

The rest of the story behind the new Biological Sciences building is a story of "priorities" in practice.
Considering that each day of delay on the project would cost $3,000, it is understandable that the administra tion was anxious to begin work on
Lower Alumni Field. But this haste in
evitably led to the displacement of
several athletic teams from their former
practice fields. So now the 150 pound football,
freshman football, varsity and JV soc
cer and lacrosse teams will all be lo
cated on Upper Alumni Field, which will probably be resodded and relit at
considerable expense this summer. And this means intramural contests
will also get "bumped."
Alan E. Gantert, Assistant Director of Athletics and the man in charge of our intramural programs, is concerned
about the future of outdoor intramurals

at Cornell. "We might be able to squeeze four football fields in on Upper Alumni," said Gantert. The only other land available is Jessup Field, which lies off Triphammer Road near the North Campus Union.
Jessup has a serious drainage prob lem, though, caused by the concrete slabs used as part of the landfill during
its construction. Other difficulties in
clude increased travel time to the fields.
This could force starting times back to five p.m. or later, with an accompany ing loss of precious daylight. The locker rooms at Teagle Hall, convenient to Alumni Fields, would be useless for Jessup. And the intramural staff man ning the equipment boxes would have to be doubled in size, with some in
dividuals working later each weeknight,

or on weekends. Gantert estimates
that it would cost over $200,000 for Jessup to be made suitable for intra mural play. This includes lights, since night games will be necessary to ac commodate the approximately 100 soc
cer, 85 men's football and over 240
softball teams expected to participate in intramurals over the next year. Maria West, Assistant Director of Intramural Sports, notes that a women's touch
football program is also in store for this fall.
As of April first, there were no plans whatsoever to fund this work. Even with the elimination of make-up games and expansion of the schedule to weekends, there simply will not be enough daytime or space for intramurals
this fall.
One alternative? Cut all fall programs
virtually in half. Such a drastic move
will no doubt be met with protests
from many areas within the University community. Other possibilities include lighting the existing facilities at Jessup, and juggling an enlarged schedule to
accommodate as many teams as pos
sible. But unless funding is approved
soon, a lot of Cornellians could lose a
valuable part of their college experience: outdoor intramural sports.

tog of the new biology building, expected

ffrnm.

A thing of the past? Softball and other outdoor intramural sports could be adversely affected.
13

Talking a Grea

While sports fans are quick to point
out the turnaround of the Boston Cel tics in basketball and pop music en
thusiasts are rejoicing at the return of Kenny Rogers to the charts, Cornellians are now looking with pride at the re vival of one of the University's oldest and best loved pastimes: intercollegiate debate. The Cornell University debate team is engaged in one of the most
remarkable comebacks of all time.
Dating back to the 1870s when Cor
nell was in its infant years, debate is
one of the University's richest traditions.
For decades Cornell debate teams ranked among the nation's best and
even as late as the 1930s and early '40s, throngs of spectators would pack Barton Hall to witness the exchange of verbiage. Somewhere along the line interest began to wane until finally, in 1974, debate at Cornell collapsed al together and remained dormant for the
next four years.
Enter John Rowe. Coming from Syr acuse with a master's degree in com munication, Rowe was hired by Cornell's
endowed division to revitalize the de
bate team in 1978. He was told that
his first task was to find another spon sor for the team; the endowed col
leges could no longer support the pro gram. Rowe approached the Depart
ment of Communication Arts with his
dilemma and there found his deliver
ance.
"We're extremely grateful to the en tire communication arts staff, and particularly department chairman Chester H. Freeman, for bailing us out in our moment of need," Rowe said.

one must have neglected to inform

Pinnisi and Weltman of Cornell's inferior

status. In that rookie season, they up set the likes of Harvard, Princeton and

Pennsylvania and brought home a fair share of trophy hardware.

The addition of Steve Sotille, ILR

'83, and Andy Walsch, Arts '83, to the team, combined with the year's
experience for the original two, have
made Cornell even stronger this year.

Because of his increased teaching load
this year, Rowe now serves the team in
an advisor/ capacity. But first year law student Steve Parker, a 1978 graduate
of Dartmouth who was a stellar de

bater in his four undergraduate years,

Captain Mike Pinnisi, Arts '82, makes his point-debate is a great game.
"They took us in and gave us an aca
demic home."
After re-establishing a secure foun dation, the next step on the comeback

has filled in nicely.
The team's new complexion is yield
ing positive results, as Pinnisi, this year's captain, is quick to point out. "We're not winning top level national tournaments yet," he said. "But we
have reached the point where we can win consistently in New England. For a young team we are surpassing what should be expected; people are be
ginning to notice us." Since debate is just beginning to re
kindle any interest on campus, it re
mains, in the words of Pinnisi, "a strange animal" - an unknown entity-
to most of those unacquainted with

trail was to assemble a team. Enter
Mike Pinnisi, Arts '82, a former high school debater looking to continue his involvement in the activity at Cornell.
He and Rowe collaborated to find a
partner for a two-man team. Their
answer was another former high school debater, a pre-med major in the ag col lege, Dave Weltman, '81.
In the first year of debate compe
tition last year, after a four-year lull, Cornell could not be expected to furnish anything more than a token challenge
to better established teams. But some

the activity.
There are currently 12 to 15 under graduates on the debate team. The top four (Pinnisi, Weltman, Sotille and
Walsch) comprise the "on topic" team which is roughly equivalent to varsity performers in sports. Most of the re maining students are novices to formal debate and make up the "off topic" team. The big difference between the two is that the on topic team spends countless hours in researching a national
debate topic. (This year's question is whether the government should regulate

14

Same by Mike Grogan '81

mass media.) The off topic team con
ducts far less research and therefore
has a rather extemporaneous approach
to debate. A debate season stretches from late
September to the national tournament in April. Research starts before the season and is constantly upgraded throughout the year. "If we were to
get college credit for the work we put into the team, we would get at least
six credit hours," Pinnisi said. He ex
plained that much of the research time during the season is spent preparing defenses for arguments employed by
opposing teams. What makes a good debater? Ac
cording to Pinnisi, "One of the most important qualities is dedication. Re search alone requires hours of com mitment and still more time is spent on
weekend trips to tournaments." The sophomore captain also stressed the
need to be able to "think on your
feet in a pressure situation."
The debaters travel to two tourna
ments a month on the average. Be
cause of budget constraints, most of those trips are within driving distance.
"Hotel accommodations" are often no
more than the dormitory floor of a host school.
"We're not in as sound financial
shape as we would like," admits Rowe. "We have a $3,000 budget compared to the $8,000 to $10,000 budgets of
some of the top teams in the nation."
About three-quarters of Cornell's de bate funds are granted by the Student Finance Commission, while the re mainder is supplied by alumni.
"We sent a letter to some 600 de bate team alumni last fall," said Rowe, ar>d have received positive support,
though we're still seeking assistance."
To dig up the names of past Cornell
Abaters, Rowe put this year's team

to work doing what they do best: he had them study old Cornell yearbooks.
With the demanding amount of time expected of team members, the ques

Cornell debaters as a reflection on the
University in general. There is an added influential impression on high school
students who witness Cornell's success

tion arises as to whether debate is at tournaments.

worth all the effort. "On the surface,

Despite the painstaking research,

debate is a lot of hard work with very despite the virtual anonymity that it

little return," explains Pinnisi. "The has endured over the past ten years

kind of reward you get from debating or so and even despite its financial

is more of an intrinsic satisfaction. Be woes, the Cornell debate team is once

sides improving your speaking ability, again moving towards national promi

debate affects your thought processes. nence. It hasn't been easy, as John

It helps you to look at issues in a prob Rowe, Mike Pinnisi and the other de

lem-solving sort of way and teaches baters can attest.

you to conduct research economically."

But there is a hint of irony in the

He also suggested that as Cornell's debate reputation improves, the Uni versity's academic image also improves. Pinnisi cites the large number of pro
fessors at debate tournaments who

amazing comeback of the Cornell de bate team, as Rowe notes: "It's always
a kicker for me when we beat some one like Harvard or Princeton and can then turn around and say that we're a

may view standout performances by product of the ag college."

Prepping for a regional tournament, debate coach Steve Parker, Law '82 plans with Captain Mike Pinnisi and aggie Dave Weltman, '81.

15

RICHARD A. CHURCH:

ANCHORING

jHDMISSIONS

by Karen M. Pelliccione '80

''Working in Admissions is a way
to be involved in Cornell Agriculture," says Richard A. Church, '64, an admis sions officer for the College of Agricul
ture and Life Sciences. Involved may be an understatement, for Church is
dedicated to the College, and displays
this dedication in many ways.
In order to get a more complete pic ture of Church, it is best to start at the beginning of his Cornell career. He majored in animal science (then called animal husbandry), and took agricul
tural economics as well. Aside from
his studies, Church participated in sev eral student organizations, such as the Ag Council, which has now evolved into AgPAC. Church was president of
the Council in 1963-64.
He also served as a fraternity repre
sentative of the Executive Board of Stu
dent Government, a non-ag organiza tion. Church enjoyed this position, particularly because he felt that the University Student Government did not include enough ag people.
Church also enjoyed fraternity life as a member of Alpha Zeta. He was Master of the Cornell Grange and a member of Quill and Dagger. In spite of all these activities, he managed to
go home to Moravia almost every week
end to help tend cattle on his family's
farm.
After graduation, Church and his wife Joyce, also a member of the class

of '64, owned a farm for four years. In 1968, he returned to the College and served as Assistant to the Dean
for approximately three years. He then
became Assistant Director of Admis
sions, as a liaison with state agricul tural and technical colleges.
When Church returned to Cornell
in 1968, he noticed a change in campus atmosphere - concern over Vietnam and racial tension. During this time,
clubs and student government organ izations experienced a sharp decline,
and some went out of existence. As
Church noted, "It was an unpleasant time - a tough time in Cornell's history." However, when the war ended, he felt that the atmosphere of the College im proved. There was a renewed interest in forming organizations, and as Church said, "The students had a more posi tive, friendlier attitude." He feels that the present atmosphere is much like that which existed before this period
of unrest.
Church's present position as an ad missions officer for the ag college re quires involvement in all aspects of the
admissions process. One part is recruit
ment, which is becoming more difficult due to a decreasing number of high school graduates, according to Church. Because of this, the admissions officers must convey to prospective students that Cornell provides the type of edu cation they are looking for. Church is responsible for interviewing transfer students, and often does so by visit ing agricultural and technical colleges.
Another aspect of admissions is the selection process, which requires a re
view of each candidate's records. The
candidates are divided according to their majors, so each admissions offi-

cer reviews candidates in particular areas. Church is responsible for those
with majors in agricultural economics, plant science and food science. After
the freshman candidates have been
reviewed, admissions reviews transfers. However, as Church pointed out, this is not really fair, because transfers often have to wait a long time before being notified, so the office is now im proving this system.
Church's daily responsibilities as ad missions officer certainly keep him on
the go and well-informed of campus activities. But he does much more than
that to keep up with the ag college. He is now an advisor for AgPAC, which he finds satisfying because he can encourage students to get involved, and, as Church stated, "It's a good opportunity to watch students grow."
He has also served a two year term
on the University Priorities Committee, which is involved with University bud get and finance. Church is again work ing with Quill and Dagger as president
of its Alumni Board. He is also co-
advisor for the Cornell Collegiate FFA Chapter, and a member of the New York State FFA Leadership Training Foundation Sponsoring Committee.
Church is clearly a leader, and has received several honors in recognition of that quality. He was named one of, the Outstanding Young Men of Amer ica in 1974, he received an Honorary Empire Degree in 1978, and his name appeared in the Empire State Agri
cultural Leaders Directory and in Who'sy
Who in the East. Church has a great deal to be proud of, but perhaps his most outstanding qualities are his sin cerity and genuine interest in young
people.

16

A Solution to BOOKNAPPING by Charley Nasta '80

Albert R. Mann Library has a prob
lem, as do many other major college libraries and book stores: disappearing textbooks.
It's not a massive exodus, but with Mann's catalogue of a half million vol
umes even a loss rate as low as one
or two percent can amount to a sub stantial sum over the course of a year. What's even more worrisome, accord ing to Henry T. Murphy, Assistant University Librarian, is short-term "bor rowing" of reference materials. Al though these books and journals are eventually recovered, Murphy notes, "The inability to trace them can have a serious impact on the student or faculty member doing research." And since these items are usually returned they do not show up as having been lost on the biennial inventory.
Although urban universities have more serious problems, the staff at Mann is justifiably concerned and is considering the installation of an elec tronic book security system. The en gineering, hotel administration, indus
trial and labor relations and business
and public administration libraries have all installed such a system over the past few years. Last fall, after inspecting the Cornell installations, the Tompkins County Public Library purchased a similar apparatus.
All the facilities mentioned above
are using the "Tattle-Tape Book Pro

tection System," manufactured by the 3M Corporation. The basic hardware costs approximately $20,000. This in
cludes entrance and exit gates with detection devices and a desk unit which sensitizes or desensitizes the books as
they are checked in or out. Library staff place special magnetic strips, costing between five and ten cents each, in the spines of books and cur rent periodicals. These strips trigger the security system if not desensitized at the checkout desk. This is done by pressing the spine of the book against
the desk unit.
If $20,000 plus about seven cents per book sounds a bit steep to you, consider that the average price of a
bound volume has soared in recent
years and is now in the neighborhood of $20. At Mann, Murphy pointed out the figures on one periodical, Marine Biology. A year's subscription is cur rently $940! The subscription prices of a selection of 27 journals have virtually tripled from a total of $3,200 in 1971 to around $9,600 in 1979. As
Murphy puts it, "The investment we have in these publications makes security more and more a concern."
The fine arts and veterinary libraries are also looking into electronic security as an alternative to their present, some
what sketchy checking procedures. Reliability and compatibility consider ations indicate that they and Mann

would probably go with 3M installations.
But what of those libraries that have
had the system in operation for a while now? Betsy Ann Olive, Head Librarian at the business and public administra tion library in Malott Hall described
some of the results since their Tattle-
Tape system was installed in February of 1978. The process of inserting the tapes was completed by the following August. Of course, new volumes are tagged as they are added.
Olive is "highly enthusiastic" about
the new system. She sees a number of
advantages. One asset is that an elec tronic system treats everybody equally,
from the freshman to the tenured pro
fessor. Also, many materials can be
taken out from behind the desk and
put on open reserve, cutting down on the staff's workload and freeing them
for other duties.
Hard figures on book losses in the business and public administration library will not be available until the next inventory this summer, and even the drop in short-term losses will be
difficult to document. But every staff
member interviewed was impressed with the dramatic improvement in "findability" of materials.
And the bottom line from Olive pre
sents a convincing case for the TattleTape system and others like it. "In stead of having to replace books, we can now recall them," she said.

Two approaches to library security; at left, Sharon Hertz, Ag '81, inspects students' knapsacks at Mann. At right the electronic gates at IStLR.

17

the present chairman of the Depart ment of Education at Cornell, Joe P.
Bail.
According to Bail, "In the old days, it was primarily an attempt to put out a monthly newsletter with a review of
the instructional material available to
agriculture education classrooms." Today the four rooms of the IMS
office are full of bookcases of agri culturally-related materials. These ma terials range from the IMS Catalog to

uate of communication arts in the Col
lege of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is the Project Coordinator for IMS. She has held that title since September,
1979.
At the present, IMS' primary func tions are dissemination of agriculturally-
oriented materials and services to
teachers of vocational agriculture in
New York State and to act as liaison
between these teachers and the Uni
versity. It also offers services to post-

-helpiNq Aq InstructormsnwcnofUL manuals service
3 STOIC HrtLL'COWIELl WWERSTTr

Almost invariably as one walks through the door of the Instructional
Materials Service (IMS) office there is
a hub-bub of activity as work-study
students consult with some of the staff
about the work he or she is doing. There are usually boxes of materials to step around that are either being unpacked to be shelved or being packed for shipment to agriculture teachers.
"Anything to do with agriculture:
you ask for it - we'll try to find it for
you. Our whole philosophy is service." According to Daryle Foster, IMS Direc tor, MPS 1973, that is what IMS is all
about. IMS is an agency within the
Department of Education at the New York College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. It was developed in 1 957 by

a movie on backhoe maintenance.
There are teaching packets on careers in agriculture, pamphlets to help with the keeping of financial and insurance records, slide sets on specific areas of ornamental horticulture, transparency masters to aid in operation and mainte nance of small engines, etc.
Collecting, maintaining and deploy ing this wide range of materials is Daryle's job. Daryle received his Masters of Professional Studies in August of 1973 in agricultural education from Cornell. He was a teacher of agriculture at Schuyler, Chemung, Tioga BOCES center in Elmira, New York prior to ac cepting his present position in Septem ber, 1978.
Katherine Layer, B.S. 1978, a grad-

secondary agriculture programs, exten sion personnel, college faculty, indi viduals, private industry and students at the college.
IMS provides four primary service
areas. The first is the distribution of
information. The IMS staff receives in
numerable phone calls asking for in formation on many subjects relating to agriculture. Kathy mentioned recent requests for information on maple syrup production, sheep breeding and career development programs. Because of Daryle's experience as an agriculture teacher, he is rarely surprised by the questions and requests IMS receives daily. He has reviewed all the resources
that are available in the IMS office and
keeps a mental inventory of most of the materials. If he is stumped for an
answer or does not have the materials
requested he may turn to one of the departments at the College or to the
extension service for information.
IMS also offers a subscription pro
gram which includes newsletters an
nouncing new curriculum materials as well as notes on new developments in agriculture, teaching ideas, and
other relevant information. The news
letters are accompanied by items that

IMS staff reviews audio-visual materials with Karen
Bouquillon, '79.
18

are considered to be useful to sub scribers such as extension bulletins,
departmental mimeographs and ma
terials from other educational and com mercial agencies as well.
All materials at IMS are broken down into five categories: agriculture
mechanics, conservation and forestry, farm production and management, or namental horticulture and general (that covers any other categories of materi
als).
by Juanita B. McCaw '81
An annual catalog listing over 700
items is the second service of IMS. The types of media offered are film-
strips, slide-cassette tape sets, over head transparencies, reference books, teacher's manuals, and student work
books and several movies.
Daryle emphasized that the catalog is a unique source of agricultural teach ing aids from all over the United States brought together in one place. Copies are routinely mailed to all agriculture instructors in New York State, co operative extension agents, and to a
selected group of teachers in other states and it is available to others upon request as well.

Another service of IMS is an audio
visual loan system through which there are over eighty slide sets and filmstrips available.
Materials development, Kathy's pri mary area of focus, is IMS' fourth
service. A Vocational Education Act
grant from the Office of Occupational and Continuing Education in the State Education Department funds this ser vice. It provides for the development of new materials for vocational agri culture programs at the secondary level.
The grant specifies ten new materials projects a year, but IMS tries to find
authors for many more as some don't work out. At the present time 21
projects are under way. Kathy said, "The biggest challenge is finding auth ors. Putting these materials together is a lot of work." In addition, Daryle pointed out, "The authors need special technical skills plus the ability to com municate those skills on paper."
The authors of these materials are
often Masters of Professional Studies
students at Cornell. In these cases a
materials project may be substituted for a thesis. Other authors are: agri culture instructors, cooperative exten sion personnel, Cornell staff as well as
IMS staff.
Instructional materials projects presently under way include slide sets
on trapper training, greenhouse safety and bird identification. Some publica tions planned include such diverse sub jects as surveying and farm business

A letter to Base Program Subscribers occupies Sue Shanahan and Kathy Layer, left. Karen Bouquillon, '79 and Daryle Foster do research with teaching mate rials.

Zamer Rogachefsky and Daryle Foster get out a mailing of instructional
materials.
principles, to name only a few. Kathy is especially excited about a
workbook that she is assisting with that will help meet the needs of teach ers of learning disabled students.
Although these are the four primary services, there are numerous extras performed daily by the IMS staff. Uni versity students and staff frequently walk in and ask for materials. They are always greeted with a, "What can we do to help you?" attitude. Both Daryle and Kathy are enthusiastic about their jobs. "It is fun working here," was Kathy's comment to which Daryle added, "It's really great, because you always feel needed and appreciated
in this office."

19

Insects that feed on crops for a liv ing had better begin to watch their step.
Should the researchers at the Boyce Thompson Institute have their way, these pesty and destructive insects may soon be inadvertently running into pathogenic fungi as they eat the leaves, stems and produce of agricultural farm lands. Accidental insect poisoning? By
no means-the research at the Institute
is purposely motivated to eliminate or at least limit damage to crops by prey ing insects. This is achieved through the use of fungi that can actually pene trate the body walls of pests, killing
them.
Biological pest controls, as opposed to the use of chemical pesticides such as DDT, are not new to the world of agriculture. Studies in this area cover a wide range of possibilities, from the introduction of predatory insects that destroy crop pests to the development
of crop varieties that resist pest dam age. At Boyce Thompson, the USDA Insect Pathology Research Unit, under the leadership of Dr. Richard Soper 74, is centering its crop protection research
around the use of fungi which, when sprayed on plants, kill the pest directly, ensuring a greater crop yield for the
agriculturalist. "We are presently involved in five
programs, all of which are concerned
with insect pathogenic fungi," Soper explains. The five insects coming under fire in the Boyce Thompson research
are grasshoppers, spruce budworms, aphids, Colorado potato beetles and
black flies. Each of these programs is
presently in various stages of develop ment, with the aphid pathogen prob ably the closest to completion.
Funding for the research comes pri marily from the United States Depart ment of Agriculture (USDA) and its agencies, the United States Forest Ser vice and the Old West Regional Com mission. Soper, who was previously

FUNGI THAT WORI
'
^m

Pests beware - The spores of the fungus E. grylli (right) are being tested to combat destructive grasshoppers.

involved in similar work at the University of Maine, moved when the Boyce Thompson Institute established facilities on the Cornell University campus in
the autumn of 1978. This move com
bined USDA efforts with similar re
search directed by Dr. Donald Roberts of the Institute. The aphid project, meanwhile, is in collaboration with Dr. George Remaudiere of the Pasteur
Institute in Paris.
"The Pasteur Institute concentrates
on production," Soper points out, "while we at Boyce Thompson are in
volved with the formulation and field
testing." Production encompasses the growing of fungi spores in a machine known as a fermentor. Pathogenic fungi useful in combatting the aphid have already been produced at the Pasteur Institute, while spores used against other pests are produced at the

Boyce Thompson Institute or by various corporations such as Tate and Lyle in England or Abbot Laboratories in
Chicago.
"As spores, however, the fungi can not be used, because they won't stick to the crop," Soper continues. That is where the Boyce Thompson research
ers come in. In the formulation and
field testing stages, Soper and his col leagues must find formulations in which the fungi will survive, and also formu lations that are compatible with the crop on which they will be sprayed and climate in which they will be used. For example, if the pest to be eliminated is a soil insect, a formulation for the pathogenic fungus must be utilized that will adapt well to the soil, but in which the fungus will survive as well.
Soper cites another example. "If the pest is a type that attacks foliage,

20

OR FARMERS

When the right formula is developed, Coelomycidium may be commercially marketed for farmers' use against the black fly (left).

the formulation used to spray the fun
gus in should not only be able to stick
to leaves, but must protect the fungus from sun damage, too." Soy flour,
dextrose and cottonseed flour are
among the production ingredients that
have been tested and used. "These
not only have the properties we are
looking for, but are also inexpensive
and commercially viable," Soper con tends. Commercial viability is important if the researchers hope to market the outcome of their studies. Companies most interested in this line of research
are pharmaceuticals, such as Abbott Industries and Upjohn, because they already have the fermenting facilities
required for the production of pathogenic fungi.
At Boyce Thompson, three separate
laboratories handle the various levels
of the research. The time and resources

of the first laboratory are devoted to mycology, particularly the genetics of the fungi used in pest control. Insects and fungi are brought together in the second laboratory, where bioassays are performed and the effectiveness of the fungus on the insect is tested. The third laboratory is used in the initial screening of possible formulations for the dissemination of the fungi, that is, the formulation and production stages of the research. This last laboratory is equipped with a smaller version of the fermentor used by industry for the grow
ing of fungi spores. When possibly viable formulations
are developed, they are then subjected to field testing. The fungi are mixed into the formulations, then sprayed
onto field crops. Their success or fail
ure is then recorded. According to
Soper, Entomophthora obscura-an

aphid-specific pathogen-has presently reached the field testing stage of the
Institute's research. Field tests will be performed in such diverse places as
Switzerland, Belgium, France and, more locally, Agway Farms. Should the field tests prove successful, the process will be available for any agri
cultural business that shows an interest in it.
How does Dr. Soper view the future of fungi pathogens in crop rotation? "It's a growing area," he states, point ing out that petroleum-based chemical pesticides have become very expensive, so that agricultural companies are find ing new microbial agents commercially feasible. Moreover, pests are less likely to develop a resistance to pathogenic fungi as they do with chemicals. "Since we are dealing with two living
systems in this case, even if the insect
should form a resistance to the fungus, the fungus can also change." This is not possible with the use of chemical
pesticides. Another plus on the side of using
fungi is that they are insect-specific pathogens. In other words, they harm only the insects to which they are in fectious, posing no threat to humans, other insects or the plants on which they are sprayed. Soper notes that several viruses and bacteria are already being used as pest controls, while a protozoan pathogen is nearing com mercialization. A fungus that combats a citrus pest should soon be marketed,
if this season's field tests are successful.
Research in biological crop protection
is a progressive, on-going process. The work at the Boyce Thompson In stitute involves only one area in a diverse but vital field. Insect-specific pathogens-in fungi, bacteria and virus es-spell death for destructive pests, but safe, inexpensive and biological protection for a farmer's crops.

21

THE OLD
_*** ARMORY: Itf Romance
and Rigor

by Lucille Ircha '80

"The grim grey walls of the Drill
Hall, transformed into a scene of wild abandon by the ingenious architects,
will resound to the music of two of the
finest bands in the country tomorrow
night," proclaimed a story in the Cor nell Daily Sun on October 19, 1933. The account describes Homecoming
festivities of that year, one of the many campus events held in the old
armory.
Both parties and other University gatherings were held in the old armory. It consisted of a military hall and gym
nasium. Reverend Charles Babcock
designed the armory in 1882 and it was built one year later. The gymnasium wing was added in 1892. Reverend Babcock, who was a professor in architecture, also designed Sage Hall and Sage Chapel.
The old cadet corps holds the honor
of being the first group to use the armory. They were led by Major James Brattle Burbank at the time, who was a professor of military science and
tactics. The cadets often ventured out
side the armory's walls and it was not unusual to see them doing drills on
campus or on the armory green.
Later, the armory served as head quarters for the Department of Physical

Education and as a men's gymnasium.
Women students used the smaller facil
ities at Sage Hall. The armory was the first building
large enough to facilitate large campus gatherings, one of which was the an nual junior promenade. For the gala
event the armory was transformed into
a grand ballroom (of sorts) through
the use of decorations which concealed
its stark interior. Refreshments were
served and the guests enjoyed an or
chestra concert. The dance itself lasted
until 7 a.m.
In addition to the drills and dances,
the old armory was the site of convo
cations, commencements, conventions, large public lectures and many other university-wide gatherings.
The armory was designed to harmon ize with the other brick buildings sur rounding it, including Sage College. A simple, large building, the armory's

few ornamental structures were its
white and black window arches, nar
row bands of white and black bricks
below the arches and curved column
capitals in the entry. The armory was the first building on campus to be equipped with electrical lights, unlike the other buildings which still used gas lights.
The old armory stood on the south end of campus, where Hollister Hall now stands, until 1954 when it was torn down to make room for the En
gineering quadrangle. Having become
too small to facilitate Cornell's grow
ing student body, the old armory's facilities were replaced by Teagle Hall.
An old-timer recalled of the old
armory in 1953, "We used to hold the Junior Ball in the Old Armory. Of course, there were only about 450 stu dents back then. Things were much
smaller."

Built in 1882 the old Armory was the site of many large gatherings in cluding the Junior Promenade.

22

A,COUNTRYMAN CAPSULESAwar,d Winners
Louis D. Albright, Department of
Agriculture Engineering, and Donald
R. Price, director of energy programs
in Cooperative Extension, have received national awards from the American Society of Agricultural Engineers for
their work in research and extension.
Albright received the Young Researcher

William D. Pardee, Ph.D. '60, has Deen named Chairman of the Departmer|t of Plant Breeding in the College. A member of the faculty since 1966, Pardee is nationally recognized as an
authority on seed production and top ics related to plant breeding. Pardee
currently serves on the boards of directors
of the American Society of Agronomy,

Science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for a three-year term. Baker is well-known for his pioneering work in the development of a number
of food items made of poultry meat
and eggs. Baker is a leading authority on the biochemistry and microbiology
of eggs. He is the father of the famous
Cornell chicken barbecue sauce.

Award for his work involving environ and the Association of Official Seed

mental control in plant and animal Certifying Agencies. He is a Fellow of

structures, and energy management for
agricultural buildings. Many of his
studies and simulation models have
been adapted for use in the agricultural

the American Society of Agronomy, and recently received the Special Ser
vice Award from the New York State
Association of County Agriculture

Scott Retires
Milton L. Scott, an internationally recognized authority on poultry nutri

and engineering communities. Price re Agents.

tion, retired recently after 37 years of

ceived the Young Extension Man Award for his work in developing an energy
extension program called "Save Ener
gy/Save Dollars," which resulted in
the creation of twenty energy fact sheets and an energy conservation manual for homeowners.

John C. Sanford was appointed assistant Professor of Pomology in the Department of Pomology and Viti culture at the New York State Agri cultural Experiment Station in Geneva.
Sanford will be responsible for the de

teaching. Scott has been a faculty member of the Department of Poultry Science in the College since 1945 serving as department chairman for the
last three years. Scott is senior author
of the popular textbook, Nutrition of the Chicken, and has also authored

velopment of varieties of small fruit more than 200 articles concerning

Roger A. Morse, MS '50, Ph.D.
'53, professor of agriculture, in the Col lege of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has been awarded the gold medal at the biannual meeting of Apimondia, the international beekeepers organiza tion held in Athens, Greece. The award

crops adapted to New York conditions. He recently completed his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin, in plant breed ing and plant genetics.
Robert C. Baker has been appointed chairman of the Department of Poultry

poultry nutrition. He is the recipient of a number of awards, including the
Borden Award in Nutrition from the
American Institute of Nutrition, the National Turkey Federation Research
Award and the New York Farmer's
Award.

was given for Honeybee Pests, Preda
tors, and Diseases, which he edited.
Morse is the author of The Complete Guide to Beekeeping, Comb Honey Production, and Bees and Beekeeping.

Alumni Appointed
Norman J. Smith, '50 was

College Promotions
Michael L. Shuler has been named
associate professor with tenure in the School of Chemical Engineering. Since 1976 he has held a joint appointment in Cornell's Institute of Food Science at Geneva. Winner of the 1977-78 Ex
cellence in Engineering Teaching Award, Shuler teaches thermaldynamics, Process control and has developed a course in waste water engineering. He is editing a book, Utilization and Re veling of Agricultural Wastes, to be Published this year. Shuler is also the
author of more than 25 articles.

recently appointed professor at Rutgers University. Smith is also County Agricultural Agent in Cumberland County, New Jersey,
and is a vegetable production specialist. Smith was President of the Agriculture and Life Sci
ences Alumni Association in 1967.

23

New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
SERVING AGRICULTURE
WITH RESEARCH

by Maria Sue Malkman '80

American agriculture owes much of
its success to researchers and scien
tists at Cornell's College of Agriculture
and Life Sciences. Over the years, Cornell scientists have contributed their
knowledge and research for the better ment of modern agriculture.
Providing us with a better under standing of the nature of living things,
two Cornell scientists won Nobel Prizes
for their scientific achievements. James
B. Sumner, a Nobel Prize winner in 1926, established the chemical nature of enzymes. In 1965, Robert W. Hol ley won a Nobel Prize for determining the complex chemical structure of a nucleic acid. In the 1950s, Frederick
C. Steward's work showed that carrot
plants can be grown from single cells.
Cornell scientists were also the first
to produce disease-free plant stocks. With a technique known as "culture indexing", the nation's chrysanthemum industry was saved. New York's multi-
million dollar potato crop was also

saved when quarantine procedures
were established to control the destruc
tive nematode, a type of microscopic
roundworm.
A major concern among Cornell re
searchers is the effects of insects and
disease-causing organisms on various crops. Studies are currently being car ried out to broaden the genetic back grounds of major agricultural crops to reduce their vulnerability to unexpected
pest outbreaks. Scientists are now test
ing the first modern American potato variety utilizing exotic genetic material recently derived from potatoes from
South America.
Researchers are also studying crop
varieties with built-in natural resistance
to insect pests and disease-causing or ganisms. This natural resistance is found in plant-produced chemical substances, called phytoalexins, which help prevent fungal invasion of the plants.
Environmentally safe and effective means of pest control are being de

veloped which combine various control measures and techniques involving plants' natural resistance, biological
control and chemicals.
Researchers are also studying the possible use of cell cultures and proto plasts (cells with walls removed) for disease resistance in plants, develop ment of cereal plants, development of cereal plants with improved root systems for drought tolerance and adjustment of seed moisture content of soybeans to achieve improved germination at
cold temperatures.
Efforts are also being made to im prove the efficiency of legume plants, such as peas and beans, in capturing nitrogen from the air with the help of certain types of microorganisms.
In keeping pace with the health and nutritional needs of an ever growing and changing population, Cornell scien tists have developed and will continue to develop new methods and techniques in the name of agricultural progress.

New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of the State University, at Cornell University

CORNELL

COUNTRYMAN

VOL.LXXVII

MAY, 1980

IMO.7

ALUMNI
on Campus

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EDITORS:
Diane Charnley Mary Anne Hahn
Maria Sue Malkman

CORNELL COUNTRYMAN May 1980 VOLUME LXXVII Number 7

ASSISTANT EDITORS:
Juanita B. McCaw Tim McKinney Donna Moskowitz Charley Nasta

ART EDITORS:
Mike Grogan
Linda Ann Koski Paul Luchowski
Charley Nasta
Jane Houser Shea
PHOTO EDITOR:
Joann D'Emilio
EDITORIAL STAFF: Diane Charnley, Joann D'Emilio, Mike Grogan, Mary Anne Hahn, Lucille Ircha, Linda Ann Koski, Paul Luchowski, Maria Sue Malkman, Juanita B. Mc Caw, Tim McKinney, Donna Mosko witz, Charley Nasta, Karen M. Pellic cione, Steve Rotterdam, Jane Houser
Shea.
Picture Credits: Cover Photo - Visual
Services - Russ Hamilton; p. 3, 17, 24 Tim McKinney; p. 3, 4, 5 - Media Ser vices; p. 6, 7, 18, 19 - Diane Charn ley; p. 7, 15 - Linda Ann Koski; p. 8 Mary Driscoll; p. 10 - Cynthia West cott; p. 1 1 - Jane Houser Shea, Cor nell University Archives; p. 12, 13, 22 Visual Services - Sol Goldberg; p. 13 Office of Alumni Affairs; p. 16 - Charley Nasta; p. 20 - Julian Carter, Juanita McCaw; p. 14 - Charley Nasta.
It is the policy of Cornell University actively to support equality of educa tion and employment opportunity. No
person shall be denied admission to
any educational program or activity or be denied employment on the basis of any legally prohibited discrimination involving, but not limited to, such factors as race, color, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, age, or handicap. The University is committed
to the maintenance of affirmative action programs which will assure the
continuation of such equality of op portunity.

ABOUT THE ISSUE With graduation taking place this month and alums returning to campus in June for class reunions, the May issue of the Countryman has devoted
its theme to alumni. Some articles pro file individual alumni, while others re late to alumni events and activities.
CONTENTS
3. Catering to Alumni by Tim McKinney '81
4. Sellman Woollen: A Familiar Face by Donna Moskowitz '80
6. The Drinking Water Investigation by Mary Anne Hahn '80 7. For Fun, Not for Credit by Donna Moskowitz '80 8. Finding Work For the Next Generation by Karen Pelliccione '80 10. Cynthia Westcott the Plant Doctor by Jane Houser Shea '80 12. The Big Event by Mike Grogan '81 14. What Do You Do With Sludge? by Linda Ann Koski '81 16. Hockey Alumnae Return by Charley Nasta '80 17. Ecology: A Career and An Issue by Carie Leigh Middleton '80 18. It's a Family Affair by Diane Charnley Grad. 20. Reminiscing with Julian Carter by Juanita B. McCaw '81
22. Alumni Assist Athletics by Paul Luchowski '80
24. Ag College Liaison for Alumni by Joann D'Emilio '80
fromjThe Cornell Countryman (ISSN 0010-8782) is published seven times a year
October through May (a combined issue for January and February) by the Nev^
York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Box 36, Roberts Hall, Cor nell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853. Second class postage paid at Ithaca, New York 14853. Printing by Midstate Litho, Inc. of Endicott. Subscription Rates: $5.00 a year; $9.00 for two years. Editorial content gathered and written b\ majors in the Department of Communication Arts. Faculty advisors: Jane E Hardy and Victor R. Stephen.

CATERING TO ALUMNI

by Tim McKinney '81

Every year the alumni come back,
and every year Cornell Catering is there to feed them.
During a typical Reunion Weekend, Thursday through Sunday, catering serves the alumni at over forty different functions ranging from breakfast parties
of 25 to sit-down luncheons in Barton Hall with over 800 in attendance. The average function includes from 1 50 to
200 people. Bars, receptions, buffets, dinners and other sundry festive occa sions are also served by Cornell Cater ing during the weekend.
Mary Beth Swan is the Catering Manager for Cornell Dining. She books
the individual functions and oversees
the operation as a whole. A professional manager from Dining is put in charge of each individual function and, along with a student supervisor, directs it to completion.
The entire Weekend operation is
Mary Beth Swan manages the entire catering operation for Cornell Dining.

based in North Campus Union. All cooking and preparation is done at NCU, except for outside barbecues.
Cooks from this Union share the re
sponsibility for preparing all the food, since cooks from other Dining units are rarely used.
Once the food is prepared, it is placed
in warmers and trucked to the function
to which it has been designated. Some
truckers have been known to work
over forty hours during the event-that is, completing an average work week in just three days. Between 125 and
150 students are hired for the Week
end. Many use the Weekend as an op portunity to party one last time before heading home for the summer or enter ing real world jobs. Those who work full-time during the Reunion have been known to sleep in the offices or on the floors in Co-op, living on left-overs throughout the duration of the Reunion.
For the Catering employees, the best part of the Weekend has to be
the Alumni. Almost without fail the re-
unioners are forgiving when a novice employee makes a mistake, or when a problem such as a delay of service arises. Alumni are notoriously generous

tippers as well, and are always friendly, interesting to talk to and fun to work for. Many Reunion workers return, not for the money, but because they have
as great a time on the Weekends as the Alumni.
Milt Lee, left, and John Dunai are two of North Campus Union's cooks.

Cleaning pots is one of the least popular jobs, especially during reunions. Here, Caroline Upson and Greg Ryan prove it is possible to smile.

-•r-ft-V \.

FAMILIAR

FACE

You may have seen him walking
slowly but steadily on his way to water the African violets in Mann Library. Or perhaps you saw him working at the garden plot on Catherine Street in Collegetown and you wondered who he is, and what he is doing here.
J. Sellman Woollen, '14, has spent
more than 30 of his 90 years in Ithaca.
And it all started back in September of 1910 when 19 year-old Woollen got on the Lehigh Valley "Black Diamond Express" train and sat down next to another young man, Walter Distler, '12. As if it happened yesterday, Wool
len related their conversation.
"Where are you going?" Distler
asked Woollen.
"Ithaca, New York." "Freshman?"
"I hope to be." "Where are you staying?"
"I have no idea."
"Well, if you'll take my advice, when we get to Ithaca, take a streetcar and
ask the conductor to let you off at
Cook Street-that's a nice neighbor hood for a freshman." When they reached Ithaca, Woollen took Distler's
advice and found a room at 107 Cook
Street.
"It was a nice house," Woollen re called, "I was very fortunate to be steered to that house. The good Lord
worked it all out."
Woollen was happy living on Cook
Street. He soon became friends with
Karl Kaffenberger, '13, "who acted like a big brother, and became a trea sured lifelong friend."
After graduating from Cornell, Wool len moved to Maryland to farm land
willed to him as an infant.
In 1917 he married. He had met his
wife at a birthday party when he was about nine years old. His future wife,

For nearly 30 years Woollen has cared for the African violets in Mann Library.
who was three years older than he, was helping to entertain the other children, and Woollen recalled her blind folding him for "pin the tail on the donkey." They had five children before
she died in 1925. "She was a very
bright girl-led her class in high school. We had the same ideas about life, religion, and right and wrong," he
said. He has been a widower for more
than 50 years. In 1940 Woollen's farm was sold and
for eight years he worked at a school for emotionally and physically handi capped boys. "I wouldn't have missed that experience for anything," he said enthusiastically.

It was at the school that Woollen
was first introduced to African violets.
He brought several plants with him in to Mann Library "almost the day it was opened" in 1952. Woollen came to Ith aca in 1951 and worked as janitor in
Mann Library, taking care of the nine floors of the stacks from 1952 to 1960,
when he retired.
The ever-busy Woollen took wood
working classes at night while working at Mann, and in 1956 he opened a shop on Quarry Street. There he taught carpentry to boys from nearby East
Hill school. He showed them how to
use tools, but he also tried to "teach
the boys how to play fair." He encour aged them to play games after class, so they could learn good sportsman ship. This, he felt, was more important than what they learned about wood working. When the East Hill school established its own woodworking shop,
Woollen gave the school his tools and
taught woodworking at the school for a year or two. At the same time, he was teaching woodworking Saturdays
at the 4-H center.
For many years Woollen cared for
two community plots of land. He still
cares for about a half acre at the Mis
sionary Apartments on Catherine Street. Woollen's highest objective, his life's
purpose, is to see a school of religion
established at Cornell. "Many years ago," he explained, "after reading the autobiography of Andrew D. White, I began to feel that Cornell was not a complete university because it did not contain a school of religion. In 1951 I returned to Ithaca for the purpose of being instrumental in the establishing

4

J.

Sellman

Woollen

by Donna Moskowitz '80

of a school of religion. I feel it is not possible for Cornell to fulfill its highest destiny without a school of religion,
and I ask your earnest prayers that it may be established before the end of 1980."
Woollen has many fond memories
of Cornell. A recent special occasion was last year's 65th reunion of the
class of 1914. Ten of Woollen's class
mates attended. He also enjoyed Cor
nell's centennial celebration in 1965.
According to Woollen, Morris Bishop, '14, author of A History of Cornell was responsible for much of the planning. "It was a splendid affair," he recalled. Woollen is full of praise for Bishop.

Though they did not know each other as undergraduates, they became ac quainted when Woollen returned to Ithaca. Woollen cherishes the inscrip tion Bishop wrote in his copy of A History of Cornell: "To Sell Woollen, who has experienced so many years with me at Cornell University." He has only one regret: "I never got him to visit me in my room," he said wistfully.
Woollen enjoys living in his room at 107 Catherine Street, where he has
lived since 1957. The walls are cov
ered with photographs, and there is a special "Cornell corner" reserved for books and pictures involving Cornellians.
"When I first saw this room," he

Since 1957, Wool/en has lived in this room on Catherine Street.

said, "I picked it because of the picture
moldings." Woollen said he did not
notice the room was painted red and
white, the Cornell colors. His room is
cleverly designed to utilize space. He
has a swivel chair and a wheeled night
table, and a large desk where he eats
his meals. The shelves and bookcases
were handcrafted by Woollen. He has
had parties in his room with as many
as 12 people attending but, looking at
it, one wonders where he puts them. Woollen does not make all the parties.
One unexpected celebration occurred several years ago when Woollen bought
an Ithaca Journal. He was astounded
by what he saw. "There was my picture on the front page of the Journal, and
the paper said it was "Sellman Wool
len Day." That evening there was a party in his honor, and the mayor made a speech proclaiming "Sellman
Woollen Day." "It was a very nice affair, but I
hadn't done anything remarkable. I just worked with children. Plenty of Ithacans have done that," he said mod
estly. Woollen has a special love besides
children. It is the Cornell crew. He has donated about one thousand slides he has taken of the teams since 1955. He
feels it is the finest sport. "It demands strength and stamina
to the finish. No other sport demands
such perfect timing and coordination
every second of the race." But there is another reason why he
is so fond of the sport, and that reason
lies at the beginning of this story. The
first person Sellman Woollen met dur
ing those four happy years attending Cornell was Walter Distler, '12, an out standing oarsman on the Cornell crew,
who he met on the train ride up to
Cornell 70 years ago.

The Drinking Water Investigation

by Mary Anne Hahn '80
Is drinking water safe to drink? Man dated by the 1 974 Safe Drinking Water Act, encouraged by White House policy and sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an investi gation of drinking water in rural areas is being conducted-by members of Cornell's Department of Rural Sociology.
Explains Dr. Joe Francis, leader of the investigation, "This November marks the deadline for the study and
the culmination of four years of re
search that has covered over 2,600
households in areas from New York to California."
Why has drinking water come under Federal scrutiny? The entire process began when Section 3 (a) of the 1974 Federal law on water supplies called for a survey of the quality, quantity and availability of drinking water in rural
communities across the nation. The
EPA accepted the responsibility and by
the summer of 1976 authorized Francis
and his colleagues to gather the infor
mation. Data collected will be submitted
to the EPA this autumn. The Agency
then must transmit the information to
Congress and the Office of the President.

"This is the first systematic, national look into water supplies serving rural Americans," Francis points out, adding
that reams of information on urban
water systems exist. He further relates that the data collected in this latest
study has important implications.
"President Carter has included in his
policy on rural areas an objective to eliminate all unsafe drinking by the end of this decade," states Francis. "Should Carter be re-elected, our study will form one of the bases of this
program.
The Cornell researchers designed the procedure for conducting the study, delegating most of the actual collection
of data to outside interests. Consultants
from agricultural economics, civil en gineering and microbiology helped in terpret the data, but the field work was assigned to private companies. The Trans-Century Corporation accumulated water samples from all over the coun try, focusing as heavily on small indi vidual water supplies like wells as on large water systems that serve many people. Some large city supplies that cover surrounding less-populated re gions as well were also included in the
survey.
The water samples then travelled to
EPA laboratories to be tested for trace
minerals, heavy metals, herbicide and pesticide levels and traces of radioactive
materials. Private corporate laboratories
also checked the samples for bacterio logical contaminants. This last group ing remains the most common to look for in drinking water since bacteria
cause the most immediate health haz ards. Water treatment, such as the ad
dition of chlorine, is done primarily to
attack these contaminants.
The EPA study included a physical inspection of the construction of wells, cisterns and other equipment used in the transport and storage of water.
Dr. Joe Francis goes over data print out on each household's water sample.

"This was done," Francis says, "to see if construction had any effect on the
concentrations of health-influencing
constituents in a supply of water. In other words, we wanted to know if
good construction prevented high con
centrations of contaminants."
Besides testing water and checking
construction, the researchers interview ed the people whose water was being surveyed. Did people perceive an odor or taste in their water? Did they have problems with water pressure? Those interviewed were also asked how they used their water, and in what quanti
ties. Areas were checked to see if
people were limited to one supply of water-no matter how good or bad-or if they had alternative sources to tap.
When households were connected to
larger public systems, the interviewers went to the public system itself to ob
tain the information.
As Dr. Francis reiterates, "The EPA wants a complete estimate of the qual ity levels of our water supplies. How many supplies are actually above maxi
mum contaminant levels? How many
people are actually in danger of drink ing unsafe water? Those, in brief, are the reasons for the project."
Francis can not release any of his
findings from this important study un til the EPA and Congress have the op portunity to review the data and digest the report's contents. Without a doubt, however, the project delves into an area that we take so much for granted, but that is so important. That the Fed
eral government has taken an interest
in rural water quality bodes well for
millions of Americans nationwide. That Dr. Francis and his staff in rural soci
ology are involved in this far-reaching project means that their work may directly affect the lives of these people. The United States has countless sources of water to quench the thirst of its people. The question that the
EPA and the Cornell researchers want
to answer is— should we drink it?

At two-thirty p.m., ten students sit
patiently outside the International
Lounge in Willard Straight Hall wait
ing to register for a course in the Ex
perimental College. By five o'clock 200 people are waiting.
A division of the Department of Uni
versity Unions, the Experimental Col
lege is a program providing students and members of the community with
an opportunity to take courses outside the usual college curriculum. The

year include Intermediate Belly Dancing, Stereo 101, and Magic: Introduction
to Sleight-of-Hand. In addition, two courses have academic cosponsorship: Southeast Asian Cooking (cosponsored by the Southeast Asia Program), and Field Ornithology: The Spring Migration (cosponsored by the Laboratory of Ornithology).
Nash said, "Courses are chosen to
be relaxing, fun courses. They are edu cational, but not academic, so it's a

FOR FUN,
NOT FOR CREDIT
by Donna Moskowitz '80

Students set up bar in preparation for the basic bartending course.

courses, taught by students, faculty and members of the community, range from Amateur Radio Licensing to Yoga, from Beginning Auto Mechanics to
Ballet.
According to Program Coordinator of Willard Straight Hall Laurie Nash, "The cost of courses is kept as low as possible so that students can take them. Instructors are paid a percentage
of the net income of a course. Profits
go into student programming."
Costs range from four dollars for a
course entitled Antiques: Trash or Treasure, to forty-four dollars for Ten
nis. There is even a free course called
Emotional Crisis: Assessment and Re
sponse. It is sponsored by the Mental Health Clinic.
This semester 800 people, about 90 percent of them students, registered for the 44 non-credit courses in Exper imental College.
Each year several new courses are
offered in the College which was or
ganized in 1973. New courses this

break from academic life. Participants have an opportunity to learn in a re laxed atmosphere. The small classes also make it easy to meet people and have a good time."
Nash pointed out that in many ways the Experimental College is a barometer of student interests. For example, disco dance classes are not as popular as they were two years ago, and courses such as Basic Bartending and Magic are becoming increasingly popular.
Watching a ballet class, it becomes evident why the Experimental College is so successful. As the students jump up and down during an exercise, there is much laughter and chatter. Clearly

everyone is having a good time.
"Last semester I took modern dance
and I really liked it," said Julie Dephter-
eos, Law '82. "I decided to take ballet
this semester because it's good exer cise," continued the first-year law
student.
Kathy Boor, '80, said, "I am taking the course strictly for fun. I always wanted to take ballet, but have not had the opportunity." She added with a smile, "It was the right price."
The students dance across the floor
just as the clock tower chimes. "Any one who has to leave, feel free to go," instructor Judy Brophy informs her
students. But no one leaves.

Courses in the Experimental College
attract many students to registration.

"I'm sorry Danny, but we don't have any positions available right now.
Why don't you come back when you graduate high school?" As Danny left
the building, he couldn't help feeling discouraged. That was the fifth time
he had been turned down in the past
week. Danny went home and told his father what happened. "Don't worry Danny. I was always in that same posi tion, and we've managed." But Danny doesn't want to "manage." It might have been good enough for his dad, but it isn't good enough for him.
Danny is 17 years old, and his prob lem is typical of a large number of America's youth. "A whole generation is growing up without work; it is a pre scription for disaster," according to Professor Ray C. Rist. Rist, a visiting professor in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University, is the principal investigator for the Youthwork National Policy Study currently being conducted for the U.S. Depart
ment of Labor. The purpose of the
study is to find ways to alleviate the
problem of teenage unemployment.
According to Rist, there is ample evidence that unemployed teenagers are high risk candidates for unemploy
ment ten and more years later. "We're
creating a national catastrophe by not providing enough opportunities for young people to break out of that cy cle," says Rist. He mentioned several factors which are contributing to this cycle. One problem is the existence of a "circle of causation," through which, as Rist stated, "The poverty of parents generates a lack of options for their children." This then leads to an equally disadvantageous situation for those children and, in turn, their children as well. He says that young unemployed people often come from poor families
which have had limited access to proper
schooling, housing and health care. In fact, national figures show that>
general teenage unemployment is ap proximately 20 percent, and the figure c for black teens is double that. While;
he predicts a slight decrease in overall teenage unemployment rates by the ■. end of the decade, Rist says the prob-, lem will intensify in black and hispanic:

neighborhoods due to an increase in
the number of businesses leaving inner
cities. Another contributing factor is the
"escalation of the credentials race." According to Rist, even lower level jobs now often require high school cre dentials. For example, state employees in Missouri find it is necessary to have a high school diploma to obtain a street sweeper's job. As Rist points out, "That locks out a large number of young (and older) people who don't qualify for the low skill jobs on the basis of education."
An increase in the number of white
collar jobs coupled with a decrease in jobs requiring low skills in the private and public sectors further aggravates
the situation. Rist also says that in
creases in the minimum wage affect
the number of unemployed youth.
Solving the problem of teenage un employment will require a great deal of public and private concern and re sources. "They have to start some where," says Rist. He poses several possible starting points, such as an in crease in programs involving urban and rural development which would absorb job seekers into the economy. He also suggests improved connections be tween the private sector and public
education. He feels that there should
be greater emphasis on vocational edu cation, much like the training programs in Western Europe where employers allow their young employees to devote a few hours each day to academic course work. "Instruction is provided right at the job site. It's a potential model for us," suggests Rist.
Rist sees a need for new and inno
vative alternatives for students within
the schools. He believes it is important to find ways of reaching these teen agers while they are still in school, be
cause many school systems tend to exclude students due to their lack of
alternatives to college preparatory pro grams. He also feels that job creation
through tax-incentives, job sharing and
federal subsidies would help ease the situation. Rist favors teen-developed jobs as another solution. Some of
these, such as a computer recycling
Project and a moving van company,

both developed and operated by teen agers, are currently running success fully. "But," warns Rist, "if we don't begin to take a systematic and sustained
approach to solving the problem now, then we're just refilling a prescription
for disaster."
The Youthwork National Policy

job training. Job creation through youth-operated projects is the fourth model used in conducting the study. Through this program, the youth are responsible for creating and operating projects, under adult supervision, which are socially and economically
beneficial.

Study (YNPS) developed as a result of the 1977 Youth Employment and Demonstrations Projects Act (YEDPA). The YEDPA is an attempt to provide the foundations for an expanded ap

Currently, there are 60 in-school
programs operating throughout the nation along the guidelines of one of the four prescribed models. Each pro
gram has a one or two person team

proach to the problem of youth unem on hand to conduct extensive inter

ployment. The program serves low- views with staff, student participants

income youth, between the ages of 14 and community leaders. The results of

and 21, who are either in school or these interviews along with other in

who are out of school and unemployed. formation obtained from each program

In an effort to assist the Department provides the data for the Youthwork

of Labor in this project, Youthwork, National Policy Study research which

Inc., an intermediary non-profit corpo Rist is supervising. The basis for this

ration, was established in January research is learning how educational

1978. Youthwork, Inc. is responsible and public and/ or private sector or

for such tasks as developing guidelines ganizations can cooperate to make

for in-school projects, reviewing new youth employment programs more ef

proposals, making recommendations fective and to assist in the transition

for funding and providing guidance from school to work. The In-School

and assistance to projects in operation. Demonstration Projects are a firm step

The main source of information for in the right direction, but the problem

the research comes from Exemplary is too widespread to rely solely on

In-School Demonstration Projects ar such programs for a solution. As Rist

ranged by Youthwork, Inc. throughout pointed out, "The problem must be

31 states in the nation. Each project tackled head-on, otherwise the conse

is set up according to one of four basic models. One model, the career

quences will be felt for the next 30 to
50 years as this generation grows into

awareness, guidance and job-seeking skills project, is intended to help youth discover and develop their abilities and

adulthood." The results of the Youthwork National
Policy Study research so far indicate

interests while providing information about occupational activities and re sponsibilities through school and work
experience.
The academic credit for work exper
ience project provides a way to link education to work. This model is geared
toward students who have been dis
couraged by traditional schooling and are being encouraged to continue their education by allowing them to receive academic credit for skills they develop through work experience. A third model is the expanded private sector involve
ment project, which provides young people with experience in the labor market. The private sector offers career and vocational exploration and on-the-

that many of these teenagers are sus
picious of government programs and public school systems. "They are fun damentally convinced that this is their last chance," according to Rist. They
have a realistic sense of their futures,
and feel that if the current situation
does not improve, their prospects for
the future do not look particularly
bright. It is a grim outlook, and reversing
the trend of teenage unemployment
must be dealt with now, so that people like Danny can have a fair chance. As Rist emphasized, "We must develop opportunities so that young people can gain the satisfaction and experience of entering the world of work."

9

"Remembering a busy life"

"\ have a vast love for Cornell and all the land around there, especially in the early days before it got slicked up!" said Cynthia Westcott, Ph.D., '32. Dr.
Westcott, author of several books for the home gardener, talked about her experiences as the Plant Doctor and her years at Cornell.
Dr. Westcott started in 1921 study ing plant pathology under Professor H.H. Whetzel. "He taught me how to learn," she said. They used a laboratory and conference method of teaching
which included a lecture once a week
for inspiration. Each student checked out a tray of materials for study of a particular disease, examined the slidesexamples of diseased plants-and car ried out experiments. When the student

always having to explain that we were not a sorority." In 1924 and 1925, some of the members lived together in a house on Dryden Road. In its huge kitchen, Westcott, the house manager, prepared waffle breakfasts for the girls and a few beaus on Sunday mornings.
Ruth St. John Freeman, M.A. '25, who was Westcott's roommate, remem bered, "Although we were much too busy to become terribly close, we have kept in touch all these years. Even in those days, Cynthia had very decided ideas; she went her own way."
Westcott kept a model T Ford that was used for collecting and sight-seeing trips throughout the area. Taughan nock Falls was a favorite spot for picnics with the women from Sigma

Delta Epsilon and the students in the Department of Plant Pathology.
Born in 1898, Westcott grew up in North Attleboro, Massachusetts. She
graduated from Wellesley College where she majored in botany. She then taught science at Northboro High School for a year before entering Cor
nell.
After earning her Ph.D., Westcott worked at the New Jersey Experimen tal Station at Rutgers University, test ing cultures of legume inoculants.
In 1943, she worked at Spring Hill, near Mobile, Alabama on the disease of azalea flower spot. Although it was wartime, the government sponsored
this research because azaleas were
economically important in the south,

Cynthia Westcot

had learned all he could, he signed up
for a conference with Professor Whet
zel. In this way each student studied about 15 diseases each term. Because
Westcott worked in the materials
room preparing trays for the students, she was able to study all 75 diseases.
The laboratories were in the base
ment of Bailey Hall. "When the big organ was played, dust fell down from the ceiling and contaminated the cul
tures."
At the time she was the only woman among 40 men. "I rather liked that,"
she said with a twinkle in her eyes. "I
was the only one they didn't marry off.
Of course afterwards there weren't any
jobs for a woman." Westcott's thesis
research was on the diseases of roses.
During her school years she worked part-time and taught while studying and carrying out her research.
While at Cornell, Westcott belonged to Sigma Delta Epsilon, the women's honorary scientific fraternity. "I was
10

Anyone can grow roses, says Cyn thia Westcott in this 1935 photo.

for the tourist trade as well as for nur
serymen. Westcott was able to identify and culture the causative fungus and
worked out the treatment necessary to save the blooms.
Westcott had gone into business as
the Plant Doctor in 1925. "I operated like an M.D., not like a business wo man." With only word of mouth ad vertising, she made housecalls diagnos ing problems, treating roses and orna mentals in her clients' gardens. Win ters were spent writing, lecturing and travelling. "I didn't make much money but I learned a lot, and what I learned I wanted to pass on to others," she said. "I talked straight and I guess people liked what I wrote, because I'm still living on my royalties."
Westcott is the author of The Plant
Doctor, Anyone Can Grow Roses, Are You Your Garden's Worst Pest?, Gar den Enemies, The Gardener's Bug Book and The Plant Diseases Hand
book. She also wrote her autobiogra-

phy, called Plant Doctoring is Fun, and was a regular newspaper columnist for
many years.
When she lived in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, Rose Day was the high point of each year. On that day Westcott opened her gardens to the public, who viewed her test plots and admired her roses at the height of their bloom. She
prepared punch and cookies for her
guests-up to 700 of them. In 1962, Westcott moved to a re
tirement community near Croton-onHudson, New York. "After I moved up here, I thought I could live without roses, but found that I couldn't, so I planted a few plants here and then a
few more. Now I have 350 or 400
plants up here and had a Rose Day
until year before last."
"I'm slowing down some but I find that I can do a great deal of gardening from a lawn chair. I just take a stick

Cynthia Westcott enjoys the spring sunshine in her rose garden.
A new edition of Westcott's Plant Disease Handbook has just been re
vised by Professor R. Kenneth Horst of the Cornell Department of Plant Pathology. Westcott is pleased with the results of his efforts, especially with the full-color photographs.
From the time she was the only wo man in the plant pathology department at Cornell right up to the present time, Dr. Cynthia Westcott has accomplished a great deal. What she learned about gardens, she taught to gardeners throughout the country. "I've been rather proud as a female-I've just gone along my own way but it has been in a man's field and they paid attention
and that's rather nice."

the Plant Doctor

and point out the place where I want
my assistant to prune my roses." Westcott's apartment is crowded
with plants, books and mementoes. She pointed out many placques and
certificates mounted on the wall. "I
don't know exactly why they gave me all of them," she said. In 1975, The National Convention of the American
Rose Society honored her at their na tional convention with a presentation called, "This is Your Life, Dr. Cynthia Westcott." At that meeting, the Jack son and Perkins hybrid tea rose, named the "Cynthia" in her honor, made its
debut.
"I've had a busy life, but now I'm not doing much of anything-l just sit and remember," she said. Until last June, she was chairman of the Springdale Garden Club. She is presently overseeing a new edition of The Gar dener's Bug Book, and writing an arti
cle for Plant Diseases on "The Educa
tion of a Plant Doctor."

by Jane Houser Shea '80
Bailey Hall during the 1930's when plant pathology labs were in the basement.

THE

EVENT
by Mike Grogan '81

As the month of May rolls to a
close, busy Cornell can at last heave a sigh of relief. By that time, the seniors. have been graduated and most of the undergraduates have departed for sum mer adventures. But just as Cornell set tles into a relatively peaceful quiescence, bustling activity reignites the campus. Faculty, administrators, dining coordk nators, dormitory operators and other University employees make preparations' for Cornell Alumni Reunion Weekend. : Huge tents are erected on North Cam pus and at one or two other sites. Hats, buttons, umbrellas and colorful clothes of all kinds dot the Cornell community. The red carpet has been rolled out for Cornell alumni and their families and
friends.
Cornell Director of Alumni Affairs-
Frank Clifford, '50, sees a two-fold-:
value of reunions. "A reunion is a social -
occasion combined with an update on the University," he explained. "Besides" the obvious reuniting of friends and classmates, our goal is to provide alum- : ni with a microcosm of Cornell by hav ing our faculty available and by offer--: ing a series of lectures and activities.";-:
When arranging for outside speakers, Clifford and his assistant-Craig Espo-r-
Each year Barton Hall is the site o,
chance to meet with faculty in variou
*& n

-. .2MI -«%V

12

sito, 74-look for prominent Cornell
alumni or faculty members. Law Prof. G. Robert Blakey is one of a handful of faculty members who will speak this year. His subject will deal with his former position of chief counsel on the
U.S. Select Committee on Assassina
tions.
Esposito, who spends all but two months out of the year coordinating
the efforts of individual reunion chair persons, sees the event as more than
renewing old friendships. "Reunions give alumni a taste of the University today, and also help them recapture some of their past experiences at Cor nell," he said. "There is a special spirit of fun, excitement and nostalgia that's hard to describe," he added.
The idea for class reunions is believed
by Esposito to be uniquely American. Cornell was among the early institu
tions to hold reunions before the turn of the century when the Class of 1873
reunited in 1883. The idea gained in creasing popularity with successive
classes. In 1903 President Jacob Gould
Schurman appointed Charles Treman, '89, to develop a better organized pro
gram for the reunions. As a result of
the early efforts, class secretaries were
faulty displays in which alumni have the folds of the University.

assigned the task of publicizing and organizing their class reunions, though today the same duties are spread
among five class officers and receive the aid of the Office of Alumni Affairs.
In the past few years, attendance at the reunion weekend has stabilized at about 3,000 persons, 2,000 of whom are Cornell alumni. The Class of 1955 will return for its 25th year while the Class of '30 will celebrate its 50th an
niversary this June. Classes are invited back every five years, though there is a Continuous Reunion Club, which meets every year. According to Clif ford, the determined all-male Club in cludes the kind of members "you couldn't keep away even if you wanted to." Efforts are underway for the forma tion of a women's CRC, a female
counterpart of the male club. Clifford added that a few alumni return to Ithaca for their 60th and 65th reunions.
Romeyn Berry, '04, once wrote that
"...the chief concern... with alumni
was to keep their more violent mani
festations west of Stewart Avenue."
Although similar "manifestations" sur face periodically as a result of naturally exuberant spirits, modern day reunions are far more than the purely social oc casions they once were. Special re
ceptions, tours, open houses, dinners, forums and parties combine to make
the reunions a total experience. Some choose to forego the scheduled events and opt instead to explore familiar
haunts on their own.
Few Cornell events can equal the re unions in the amount of participation
and activity that takes place over a
four-day weekend. Much time and ef
fort is invested before, during and
after the alumni event, but there's
good cause.
"If we have a motivating theme for the reunions," said Clifford, "it would
be 'Welcome.' We want alumni to feel
the University belongs to them during the reunions. In fact," he added,
"every time an alumnus steps into
town we want him or her to feel wel
come."

by Linda Ann Koski '81

process is treated further to avoid pub
lic health problems. Before disposal, a portion of water
in the sludge may be removed. This

sludge to land, has not received high priority in New York until recently.
"Sound information is needed for those
attempting to identify proper manage-

What do you

Where do New York State com
munities dispose of their sewage sludge?
One immediate response may be the
ocean. New York City alone produces 12,500 tons of wet sludge daily, more than one half of the total generated in the state. New York City's sludge
accounts for more than five percent of the nation's total.
The city will soon have to stop dis posing of the sludge in the Atlantic Ocean. In 1981, under the Marine Pro tection and Sanctuaries Act, all ocean dumping of potentially harmful sewage sludge will be halted in the United
States. The main concern with ocean
dumping centers is the potential im
pact that it has on the marine environ
ment.
To understand the harmful effects
of sludge, we must first analyze its components. Sludge consists of various domestic and industrial waste products which are removed from sewage by treatment plants. A treatment plant removes pollutants from sewage by settling out suspended materials. This is called primary treatment. Also, in many cases, secondary treatment re moves dissolved pollutants biologically. Sludge resulting from this two-step

reduces both the volume and weight of sludge handled during disposal. Be sides water, sludge contains many or ganic and inorganic materials. Elements in food such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, iron and calcium are also found in sludge. In addition, sludge contains metals and organic materials
from industries and commercial busi
nesses. These include cadmium, lead and synthetic organics, all of which can be harmful to plants, animals and humans. State agencies currently are identifying proper methods for the management and disposal of sludge.
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences recognizes the growing prob lem of how to safely dispose of rapidly increasing quantities of sewage sludge in New York State, and has formed a
sludge management task force. Pro fessor Raymond C. Loehr, Director of the Environmental Studies Program, sums up the objectives of the task force: "First, the College's research and extension activities on sludge man agement must be increased. Special emphasis will be given to developing guidelines for the application of sludge
to land in New York State. Further
more, the College will work with state agencies in formulating a sound sludge management strategy for New York."
Sludge management, especially en vironmentally safe methods of applying

ment alternatives and to avoid subse
quent environmental problems. The problems include increased contami nants in surface and groundwaters, in creased odors and the possibility of toxic compounds and metals moving through the food chain to the public," explains Loehr.
Legislators, scientists and engineers are taking an active part in the debate on the growing problem of sludge management and disposal. Their efforts
support a nationwide drive toward a cleaner environment. As a result, Con
gress has been passing legislation which places high priority on a clean
and healthful environment. This pro
motes environmentally acceptable methods of sludge management and disposal.
Measures with direct impact on sludge disposal include The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The act emphasizes conservation of re
sources and recovery of useful mate
rials in the waste as the primary ap proach to waste management. This approach is to be used wherever it is technically and economically feasible and environmentally compatible.
The Clean Water Act recognizes the potential benefits of sludge as a re
source, as well as the potential hazards. Under this measure, the Environmental
Protection Agency is not permitted to

14

lowith SLUDGE?

make grants for upgrading wastewater-
treatment facilities or construction of
such facilities unless the applicant has fully evaluated innovated and alternative
processes for wastewater sewage man
agement. Presently, communities can research several options to resolve a
disposal problem.
There are various disposal methods
now in wide use. One method is in
cineration of sludge in which a fraction
of the incinerated waste may be dis
charged into the atmosphere and can eventually settle back to water and land. Burning sludge is popular in metro politan and suburban areas because land for sludge disposal is often too
expensive or unavailable near treatment plants. Loehr points out that one po tential problem with incineration is that
heavy metals such as lead, mercury
and cadmium can vaporize and be re leased in the atmosphere.
Another popular method used by many communities is land filling. Land: fills have the advantage of being owned ■. and managed by the community. About ;20 percent of the sludge produced in New York is buried in landfills. This
i method may lead to ground-water con
tamination; however, proper design, location and management can minimize
this problem.
i Although the previous two methods

deal with disposal, they do not utilize M. Naylor, in the Department of Agri

the nutrients in the sludge. Sludge cultural Engineering. In addition, popu

could be used as a fertilizer and soil lation growth also affects the quantity

conditioner. However, the concentration of sludge produced.

of toxic chemicals in sludge would have to be regulated to avoid possible
animal and human health risks. One
novel proposal calls for shipping liquid sludge to foreign countries by ore boats
or oil tankers. The countries could use
the sludge as fertilizer, as irrigation
water or as soil conditioner.
Whatever solution New York City
and other communities choose, they face the problem of a rapidly increas ing volume of sludge. By 1985, experts
estimate that more than 4.5 million
gallons of sludge will be produced daily. Spread one-foot thick on land, this would cover approximately 3,300 acres. If it is applied to agricultural
land at the rate of two inches, the sludge would cover 2,000 acres of land. Statewide, current annual sludge
production is expected to double from
seven million tons to 14 million tons
in the coming years. The national effort to protect the
nation's streams and lakes requires the construction or expansion of numerous
wastewater-treatment facilities across
the country. "The purer we desire the
wastewater from the treatment plant, the greater the quantity of sludge that

To provide answers to the sewage sludge problem, major research projects are underway in the College. The pro jects will identify the types, quantities and characteristics of sludge generated in New York, the potential effects of sludge which is applied to land on the public health and the environment, methodology to select proper land dis posal sites, storage and management conditions and studies to gain a funda mental understanding of the move
ment. Transformation and risks asso
ciated with the contaminants in sludge when land is used for disposal will also be studied. Presently, periodic updates
on research are released.
The College is distributing informa tion throughout New York to state agencies, municipal officials and the
field staff of the Cornell Extension Service. Bulletins, fact sheets and other
informational materials on sludge man agement are also available to the pub lic. The College's efforts on sludge management will be available to many people in the state. In Naylor's view sludge is not a total waste. It could be put to good use if treated and man

is generated," comments Dr. Lewis aged properly.

15

With the Big Red men's varsity hockey team reaching the NCAA
national tournament, many fans may
have overlooked Cornell's other hockey champions, the women's varsity.
In fact, the women's hockey team has been a consistent winner over the years since its inception in 1971 as a club. And some of the players who contributed to a string of five consecu tive Ivy League championships (every year this honor has been awarded) were back in Ithaca recently for a spe
cial kind of reunion. The occasion was
the second annual "Alumnae-Varsity"
contest on March fifteenth. Diane Duthie '75, a former team
member and wife of women's varsity coach Bill Duthie 71, organized the
game this year as well as last. A num ber of alumnae are local residents and
most of them keep "in shape" playing coed adult hockey in Ithaca's six team municipal league. Linda Bruckner 78, Melinda Dower 78, Tammy Norcross Osmeloski 78, Kate Reynolds 78, Krista Trousdale 78, Tammy Gobert 79, Ursi Gibson, Grad, Carol English, Grad and Marguerette Mattucci, Vet.
were among the Ithacans. Other alum
nae came from as far away as Virginia
by Charley Nasta '80
aT
2m_

Joanie Saltsman Oelschlager and Diane Griffin pair
up on defense.
fo@@k©iyj
€nllyffifiiffii€i@

and Ohio to take part. Among the outof-towners were Sandy Ward 76, Diane Griffin 78 and Cyndy Schlaep-
fer 78.
Joanie Saltsman Oelschlager 74, the oldest returning alumna, joined the women's program in its infancy. That first year the women played less than
a dozen games, and Brown was the
only other Ivy League school with a women's hockey team. Over the next few years the situation improved dra matically, with more colleges forming female squads each season. Locally, the Tompkins County girl's hockey team, the Shooting Stars, supplied several fine prospects to Bill Duthie,
who has coached the Cornell women
since 1972.
Oelschlager works in Washington, D.C. and plays hockey for the Wash ington Red Coats, the only women's team in the D.C. area. One problem that such amateur hockey clubs face is the high price of both rink rentals and inter-city travel. Luckily, the Bud-
weiser Division of Anheuser-Busch has
provided the Red Coats with financial support and sponsorship. The team was recently featured on the syndicated P.M. Magazine television series and

the CBS Evening News as one example
of the current state of women's sports. A number of the 79-'80 women's
varsity players were in Boston the day of the alumnae game watching the ECAC men's tournament but enough were available so that, with some lastminute juggling of the rosters, the game got underway. The contest was free of fisticuffs and only one penalty was assessed. Although the caliber of play was not quite of Olympic quality, many of the women played well con sidering their "advanced" ages.
For trivia buffs, the final score was Varsity 9 - Alumnae 2, but a midgame "trade" involving the goalies
and two of the forwards lessened its
significance. Suffice it to say a good time was enjoyed by all.
After the game, the players and their guests attended a reception in
Helen Newman Hall at which home-
cooked lasagna and lively conversation
were featured. Krista Trousdale 78 ex
pressed a sentiment that all involved
seemed to share: "I'd like to think of
this as the start of a continuing tradi
tion at Cornell." Those who saw the
alumnae-varsity game would agree wholeheartedly.

Top, Tammy Gobert winds up for a wrist shot. Below, ex-team captain Cyndy Sch/aepfer (22) prepares for a face-off against the varsity team.
16

Environmental awareness should
never be considered an issue that
dwindled with the ecology movements of a decade ago. For Bob Dowski, 76, knowledge of the environment is the focal point of his career, the object of
his studies and a determinant of man's
future.
"I came to Cornell wanting to learn more about the environment," he ex
plains. While majoring in natural re
sources at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Dowski became in volved in the Future Farmers of Amer ica (FFA) and in saving the Wilderness Reflections Program at Cornell. The year that he graduated he took the position as Resident Director at Ecology
House, where he started a number of
important environmental projects. Dow ski feels that he learned a great deal
at Cornell because he attended at a
time when the Department of Natural
Resources had a number of interesting
and enthusiastic people. During the summers following his
junior and senior years, Dowski worked
for the New York FFA camp, first as a
conservation instructor, then as Assist
ant Director.
"As an instructor, I found it difficult
to reach high school students," he laments. His goal was to teach a con cept of a total environment, in which there is an interdependence of all things, including air, soil and water. He wanted to show how man affects these things in his day to day life. Motivation was lacking in the students, however, and
Dowski found it too difficult to teach
within the confines of a classroom.
Being an Assistant Director entailed more work with planning and manage ment. Working together with other people toward a common goal was more rewarding for him than teaching,
and he put his efforts into that aspect of the camp.
Besides his involvement with FFA, Dowski undertook salvaging the Wilder ness Reflections Program at Cornell, which was floundering for lack of funds
during the time he was an undergradu
ate in the College. Help came from
University Unions, as well as from the
Office of the Dean of Students. His

€COLOGY:
A Career and An Issue
by Carie Leigh Middleton '80

interest in this program through his senior year was so strong he wanted to stay in Ithaca after graduation in
order to continue his work with it. His
advisor suggested he apply for the Resident Director position at Ecology House, a special living unit on campus. Even though he had never heard of the living unit, Dowski applied and got the job.
"I was lucky I got it," Dowski says,
because he became very interested in
the unit as a community and as a pro
moter of environmental awareness. To
bring Ecology House to its full poten tial as an environmentally-aware com munity, Dowski initiated programs
which could include students of varied
interests. According to Dowski, the purpose of the House is to give stu dents experiences they could not re
ceive in a classroom.
He wanted students to feel good about where they were living and en couraged their involvement in either their personal environments— room cleanliness or house plant care- or in
Bob Dowski urges us to be aware of
environmental issues even though they
are not as popular as they once were.

more traditional issues, such as re
cycling and environmental legislation. During the two years that Dowski
was at Ecology House, programs such
as recycling on campus, Earthrise and
the restoration of Beebe Lake were
pursued by students. Dowski feels
there is a lack of awareness on campus-
outside of Ecology House-judging from the lack of interest in the recycling program and by the small turnout of volunteers at the Beebe Lake project.
"Environmental awareness is know
ing how I affect the natural systems
that I depend upon for my life support and how they affect me," relates
Dowski. Environmentalism is a social
issue because it is very basic in how it
affects man's lifestyle and the quality
of life on earth. Dowski thinks we may
have been saturated by the ecology
movements of the past two decades and may have become insensitive to the real problems that still exist.
"Now people are more concerned with their future in the job market rather than with the future of social issues,"
he adds.
More people like those in Ecology House are needed to spread awareness of the issues at hand, Dowski con tends. "If people see that an idea has value, maybe they will pick up on it. That's when changes can be made."
Dowski is presently working as
Executive Director of New York FFA
Leadership Training Foundation, Inc., a non-profit educational corporation.
He also remains involved with the state
camp as its director. His career plans may include work with Cooperative Extension or the Department of the Interior. Whichever way his future lies, one can be certain that the future of the environment will be included in his plans. For Bob Dowski, that future is essential to the future of mankind.

17

Like father, like son! That is often
said, but how many fathers and sons will march together this May in the commencement procession to receive their degrees? Meet such an unusual pair: Howard, '50, M.P.S. '80, and Michael Cogan, '80.
"We have lots of reasons to cele
brate this year," Howard pointed out. "Our daughter Barbara is getting her degree from Tompkins-Cortland Com munity College, Michael is getting his baccalaureate, I'm getting my M.P.S.
and going to my 30th reunion, we're celebrating the 25th anniversary of our business (Cogan Associates, Inc.) and Helen and I are celebrating our 30th
wedding anniversary. It's a big year
for all of the Cogans!"

■miiiiiiiiiiiii .rn ihi ii in

.jm

read commercials, I could write them. From time to time, people asked me
to write ads for them, including my
dad who owned a shoe store."
Howard was graduated from Cornell in 1950 with a major in speech and
drama. Even though he had a couple of job offers in New York City, he de cided that life in the big city was not for him, especially trying to live on the gigantic salary of $35 a week! One of his first jobs was with radio station
WKRT in Cortland as program director
and news director. During the same
year, his father offered him a job man aging a new shoe store in Cortland. That proved to be an important busi
ness lesson: three years later the busi
ness folded. At that point Howard de

advertising. I borrowed some money from my mother to make a deposit on the telephone, bought a used desk for
35 dollars and I was in business. With
all those clients, I had to work 28 hours a day - each one of them wanted a couple of ads in the newspaper every week and a piece of radio copy every day."
The business has been successful, and a family venture as well. Helen and Barbara regularly assist in the busi ness. It was this strong family collabo ration and mutual support that made it possible for Howard at long last to
realize his ambition to return to school
for an advanced degree. At age 48, when Howard broached
the return-to-school idea to his family,
their response was enthusiastic. "But

its ;

Howard Cogan, in the middle of a successful career, decided to
return to Cornell as a student.

Outgoing, enthusiastic Howard is the head of Cogan Associates, a suc cessful Ithaca advertising firm. He is
one of those rare alums - an Ithacan
who remained in Ithaca upon receipt of his bachelor's degree.
Howard is a self-made advertising man. As he says, "I learned by doing." At the age of 14, he was working at
radio station WHCU in Ithaca as a
part-time announcer, and continued to do so through college. As Howard added, "People figured that if I could

cided to open his own advertising firm in Ithaca. "After all," he explained, "I had been doing that sort of thing since high school."
So out of that past experience, a
few borrowed dollars and much con
fidence, Cogan Associates was born. "In exchange for free office space, I agreed to do all of the advertising for the Sport Shop. Within a week, I had signed up 40 clients, each of whom paid me the magnificent sum of 25 dollars per month for doing all of his

I explained to them that there would be days when they would have to take care of the business in my absence,
or maybe help when there were papers to type and photocopy," he added. "I can truthfully say, there hasn't been a moment since I started when they have hesitated a second to help out with whatever needed doing. They have been just super-l couldn't have done it if I hadn't had that kind of support."
Howard found some things had changed at Cornell in 30 years. "Tui
tion then was $300. I had a scholar
ship for $400; so I had money for books and some left over." But the big
gest change he felt was in the quality of the students. "In my day, everybody was just having a good time. I worked the whole time I was in school, so I didn't have a chance to join in much of the fun. The quality of teaching was excellent, but I think the quality of the 'receivers' wasn't very good! Now, I think the overall quality of the students has improved, they have a more world ly outlook and are more involved. I think that's challenging-to teachers

18

Although in different fields Cogan and his son Michael work together on many things. and to 'old' graduate students like me."
It was in some relatively modern technology-though modest in size and scope-that Howard found the oppor tunity for his M.P.S. Special Project to help meet a real communication need among Ithaca's elderly popula tion. Howard described his projectCALLER (Community Audiocassette Lending Libraries in Elderly Residences)as designed to be used in nursing homes or individual apartments, since the elderly are often cut off from the normal flow of communication in a community. The cassettes would con tain even/thing from recorded versions of the Bible, literature and periodicals
FAMILY

by Diane Charnley Grad.
AFFAIR

to authoritative information specifically
designed to help the elderly cope with their unique problems-financial, legal, nutritional, etc. The system provides a
cassette player/ recorder in each room
or apartment. In addition, blank tapes will also be furnished for residents to
communicate their ideas or requests
to friends, relatives, the Common Council, the mayor and others.
Howard would like the opportunity to do more teaching. For several years, he has been a guest lecturer at both
Cornell University and Ithaca College. "I particularly enjoy the question-andanswer period following the lectures.
I think I have some life experience to
share, as well as my academic back
ground. I think students can benefit
from the opportunity to exchange ideas with people who have been out in the
world of advertising or communication." He has shared that life experience
w'th his son since Michael was a child.
As Michael says, "I used to hate to
Wr'te. I thought my writing was poor and when I was a freshman, I finally
Went to Dad and said, 'How did you

become a writer? Tell me what to do.'
One of his suggestions was to read
the New York Times every day. That
was a tremendous help, but I think now that my writing must have been good-because I've been living with him all my life. He saw everything I wrote as a kid. If there's anything he does better than write, it's edit. He's a very
nasty editor!"
That writing skill was put to practical
use last summer when Michael wrote
an environmental assessment for the
hydroelectric plant now being refur
bished on campus.
Michael is a biology major concen trating in nutrition. After graduation, he will study law at Georgetown Uni versity. That may sound like an unusual combination of studies, but there is a communication gap that he feels needs to be bridged. As he explained, "I'm interested in communication. I'm also idealistic and want to go into something where I can help change the world. The more I learned about the politics of nutrition, the more I realized that lawyers are making food policy. Lawyers

write the laws based on what the sci
entists tell them. I decided there was
a real need for someone who under
stands law but won't be misled by sci entists, or conversely, someone who
understands science but won't be mis
led by lawyers. I feel I could be a liaison
between the scientific world and the
people who make policy."
Michael has also followed his father's
eariy broadcasting experience at WHCU.
Some 35 years after Howard was a teenage radio announcer, Michael was
doing the same. "Sometimes, I'd get people calling me up after I'd announced my name on the air," he laughed. "They would ask me, 'Are you any re lation to Howard Cogan?' When I said 'yes', they'd tell me, 'I listened to your Dad about 30 years ago!'"
Though the Cogans have developed similar communication skills, each will use them to different objectives. They
have had a very successful and reward ing year. With their talents, drive and diverse interests, the Cogan family should expect many similarly exciting
years to come.

19

Reminiscing with
JULIAN CARTER

by Juanita B. McCaw '81

"For as long as I can remember,
my parents never allowed either my brother or I to think that there was any
other choice - when we finished high school, we would come to Cornell for agriculture." That was how Julian Carter '37 explained his enthusiasm and loyalty towards Cornell.
Not long ago I spent a very enjoy able afternoon with Carter, a former agricultural teacher and Cornell alumni. It was an afternoon full of reminiscing for both of us. I was supposedly inter viewing him, but often found myself being interviewed instead. Carter had spent 20 years teaching at Wellsville (New York) Junior/ Senior High School;
six of those years I was a student at Wellsville.
After graduating from Cornell as an Agricultural Education major, Carter began his teaching career in Churchville, New York before moving to Wells ville, where he taught until 1961 .
In 1954 he received his Master's De
gree in education from Cornell. Be
cause of the depression and war it was not possible for Carter to return to Cor nell full-time to get his Master's degree

immediately after completing his under graduate work.
He remembers his teaching years nostalgically; they were very enjoyable, rewarding years for him. Carter espe cially remembers with pride the good rapport he had with his students, who always called him "Prof." He said, "More often than not, when I got to my classroom in the morning there would be several students waiting out side my door before going to their homerooms. They just couldn't wait
until class time to tell me about a
newly born calf, a beaver caught the night before, or sometimes something very personal. That never failed to make me feel good." He also told of how he would, from time to time, have
the students teach a class. "Some
were better welders than I was. Why not let them teach it? Don't forget, I was working with rural kids, and they
respect you for what you are. You should never pretend you know it all, because they'll find you out."
Carter said that he always ran a tight classroom and study hall. Soon after he began teaching, however, at the

end of a study hall period, he was given a birthday card with the signa
tures of everyone in the room, and he
had not seen it being passed around. The moral of that story, according to Carter, is "it doesn't pay to see too
much."
In Wellsville, Carter filled an agricul tural teaching position that had been deserted by a number of previous teachers. His predecessors had left be cause of the disciplinary problems they had encountered. Paul Bastian, a stu dent of Carter's during his first years at Wellsville, remembers him fondly as a strict disciplinarian who kicked
more than one student in the seat of
the pants. But Bastian says, "I don't think any of Carter's students, even
those he had to discipline, ever dis
liked him." Carter and Bastian both
remembered an incident that occurred
soon after Carter arrived in Wellsville.
While in the process of handling a dis cipline problem, Carter accidentally
kicked a wastepaper basket and sent
it flying. Information about this little episode went through the school like
wildfire and Carter was soon known
as the teacher who kicked the bucket, a reputation that stuck with him through
out his tenure at Wellsville.
Carter said, "One of the most import
ant aspects of my work as a teacher
of agriculture, I always felt, was teach ing problem-solving skills. The first step is in helping students identify a problem and then assisting them in

Julian Carter discusses preparations for future Farmers of America (FFA) Camp Oswegatchie at a Syracuse work shop in 1956.

At home, Julian Carter demonstrates the art of chair \
caning, an activity which has helped keep him occupied1 during his period of convalescence.

3 Wmzf"''\
Kv//,??ftf: f"f''.

20

figuring out how to solve it themselves." In today's rapidly changing world of
agriculture, there are few ready-made
answers, making problem-solving skills
even more vital.
During his 23 years of teaching,

kept busy with his alumni association
work but also with his other interests. He is an enthusiastic collector of an
tiques and especially interested in the caning of chairs, which he gladly
demonstrated for me.

after his family is towards Cornell. "I have always been proud that I am a Cornell graduate - especially of the College of Agriculture." His involvement in various University organizations, his
desire to live close to and visit the

Carter was involved in FFA (an agri

This past year, he spent several campus and his enthusiastic memories

culturally-oriented youth organization). months in the hospital for two major
He feels that FFA is an integral part operations but hopes that this is all

of life here support his statement. With out a doubt, Cornell can be as proud

of any agricultural teacher's job. Ac behind him now.

of its alumnus, Julian Carter, as he is

cording to Carter, an important aspect

Carter's greatest pride and loyalty of the University.

of the FFA experience for the students

is the leadership training they receive. In addition to advising an FFA chapter

HELP! Agricultural Teachers Needed

locally, Carter was State Director of an

When Julian Carter graduated from BOCES Area Centers with the other

FFA Leadership Training Camp for six Cornell in 1937 and began his career half remaining in local high schools.

years at Lake Oswegatchie in northern as an agricultural teacher, much the

In talking about the advantages of

New York. He was also a member of same situation existed then that persists teaching agriculture, Foster said, "What

the Board of Trustees of the Vermont today-there were not enough agricul could be more exciting than working

FFA Foundation, Inc.

tural teachers to go around.

with young people and agriculture

When Carter left teaching, he be

In agricultural education today there simultaneously? They are both vital

came State Consultant for Agricultural
Education in the northern New York
State area. In that position he travelled a great deal, visiting the area schools that offered agricultural education. He moved from that position in 1967 to accept a similar position in Vermont as State Consultant Supervisor for
Vocational Education in Agriculture.
He was at the same time a state ad
visor for FFA. He particularly enjoyed this opportunity to work with young people in workshops and seminars.
When it came time to retire in July
of 1977, he and his wife Alberta moved
from Vermont to Ithaca. Carter ex
plained, "I wanted to be close to Cor
nell, and it is centrally located between Alberta's family and my own."
Carter has wholeheartedly supported Cornell in variojs ways since his grad
uation. He has always served on com mittees to collect money for the Cor nell Fund. He has been president of the
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Alumni Association and is currently its secretary. In addition, he has supPorted many professional organizations. Carter is especially proud to have sen/ed as president both of the National
Vocational Agriculture Teacher's Asso
ciation and the National Association
°f State Supervisors of Agricultural Education.

is a near state of crisis according to
Daryle Foster, 72, the Director of In
structional Materials Service at Cornell
and Richard Tenney, Assistant Professor
of Agriculture and Educational Occupa tion at Cornell. They note that for
every agricultural education graduate there are two positions waiting to be filled. This is true, not only in New
York State but throughout the country.
One of the reasons for the short sup
ply of ag teachers is that the public generally misunderstands the situation. There has been much publicity about
the overabundance of teachers in gen
eral without clarifying that, in certain
areas, there are too few certified teach
ers to meet current needs.
Agricultural education has made some dramatic changes since Carter left teaching in 1961; it has expanded into
many areas with which it had not been
previously involved. Traditionally, agri
cultural education has meant farm pro duction and management, which in cluded some farm mechanics. Today in many programs there are classes in such diverse areas as conservation and forestry, ornamental horticulture, horse
handling and care, agri-business and
small animal science, as well as the
traditional courses.
Approximately half of all secondary
level ag education classes are held in

and alive-the future is depending on them." Tenney spoke about the inter dependence of the peoples of the world today. He added, "While only two percent of the United States pop ulation directly produces food on the farm, a full 40 percent is in some way employed in work that is agriculturally
related."
Teaching agriculture is not just class room lecturing. The teacher visits his students on a regular basis, either at their homes or where they work. In addition, most teachers are advisors to FFA chapters, an agriculturally oriented youth organization formerly
known as the Future Farmers of Amer
ica. The teacher's job is a balance of working with young people and teach ing skills, with many far-reaching bene fits. Teaching agriculture is not so much a job as a way of life—a most re warding way of life.
If you are interested in learning more about the need for agricultural teachers, write or call:
Coordinator of Agricultural Education
203 Stone Hall
Cornell University Ithaca, NewYork 14853 Phone: (607)256-2197

Since retirement Carter has not only

21

Although the Cornell athletic de
partment's yearly budget is small com pared to athletic budgets of fellow Ivy League schools, Cornell still puts out an extremely competitive and suc
cessful intercollegiate sports program.
In addition to funds from the Uni
versity, much of the support for the Big Red athletic program comes from
the alumni and friends of Cornell ath
letics.
Most of the buildings that comprise
the Cornell athletic facilities were made
possible through capital fund donations.

gifts of Ellis H. Robison, '18. The total money donated by friends
and alumni is one-fourth to one-third
of the money needed to run the Cor nell athletic program, which is one of
the five largest in the country. Cornell
sponsors 22 men's and 17 women's
intercollegiate sports.
The Big Red athletic department looks to four major areas to sponsor
its programs. First there is the Univer
sity, which provides money to cover
the salaries of the staff and the minimal
needs of the program. The television

alumni and friends to donate money to the athletic department and receive class and University credit. Prior to this fund, only donors to the Cornell An nual Fund for Athletics received class
credit and University credit for money
donations. Donations to the majority
of other funds did not, thus not en
couraging donations to the athletic as opposed to other departments on
campus.
Many of the coaches for individual sports send out fund-raising letters to former players and friends of that sport.

ALUMNI ASSIST ATHLETICS

by Paul Luchowski '80

For example, the Ellis H. Robison
Hall of Fame Room and the Doris B. Robison Shell House were built in the
past two years thanks to the gracious
Dick Schultz looks on as Victor H.
Grohmann exercises on rowing torso
machine which he donated to the ath
letic department in 1978.
i
|
|
|
S I j I
*

and radio rights to Cornell sports, as well as the gate receipts generated from the revenue producing sports, provide the general operating expenses. Enterprises such as concessions pro
vide some additional support to the pro
gram. Finally, there are the gifts from
alumni and friends. In 1975-76 the
athletic department received a little less than $200,000 in gifts. Last year (1978-79) that figure was more than $1.1 million as the athletic department has gone out to improve its fundraising program.
The big change in fund-raising has been the people that are running the athletic department. Dick Schultz, the Athletic Director, took over his present position in June 1976, after spending two years at the University of Iowa dealing with athletic fund raising. He has been instrumental in setting up a solid fund-raising program for the Cornell athletic department.
The year prior to Schultz's arrival,
Harold G. "Bud" Hall was hired and
now holds the position of Associate Director of Athletics - Finance. Through their efforts and those of others, the Big Red athletic department, which ran a deficit up through 1975-76, is now on solid financial footing.
A key factor in putting the athletic department on firm footing was the initiation of a new fund-raising system. The Big Red Fund was created for

For example, the Shinguard Club in
soccer and the Friends of Cornell
Baseball all help raise money for their sports. Any money donated to these funds are part of the Big Red Fund. A donor can, if he or she wishes, give money to a specific fund or to the Ath letics-Special Gifts Fund which is used
at the discretion of Athletic Director
Schultz.
In addition to the Big Red Fund, which is classified under general contri butions, three other areas are also avail able for donations. Capital funds dona tions such as Robison's donating money
for the Hall of Fame Room and the
new women's boathouse, fall under this category. Also included is money
from alumni and friends to meet the
general needs of the individual sports. The third category is the donation of money for special projects by classes or groups. As an example, the base ball scoreboard at Hoy Field was a gift
from the Class of 1962.
Finally there is the Charitable Re mainder Trusts, which serve as long
term deferred trust funds.
Thanks to alumni and friends of
Cornell athletics, the funds needed to run a competitive and successful ath letic program are provided. The Uni versity's athletic department boasts an exciting variety of both male and , female sports, and will continue to do so - with a little help from its friends.

22

Foote Named Schurman
Professor
Robert H. Foote, MS '47, Ph.D. '50, professor of animal science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences,
has been elected a Jacob Gould Schur
man Professor by the Cornell University Board of Trustees for his distinguished service to Cornell in scholarship, teach ing and public service.
Foote received his master's and
doctoral degrees from Cornell and was
appointed to the faculty in 1950. Since
then he has received several national and international awards for his research
in artificial insemination and reproductive physiology; research which has resulted in the publication of about 300 scien tific papers. He has directed the gradu ate research of approximately 40 stu dents and teaches a basic reproduction course for undergraduates and an ad
vanced course in artificial insemination.
Dean and Faculty Honored
David L Call, '54, M.S. '58, Ph.D. '60, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has been honored by Lambda Chapter of Epsilon Sigma
Phi for his contributions to the advance
ment of Cornell Cooperative Extension. The fraternity, a national honorary
of extension workers, presented Call with the State Certificate of Recog
nition and cited him for his "creative
approach to problem solving that has
led... to the initiation of a series of new
and innovative education efforts." Call
was director of Cooperative Exten sion from 1973 to 1978, after which he was named dean of the College.
Ernest F. Schaufler, '48, M.S. '52, a professor in the College's Department of Floriculture and Ornamental Horti culture, was also honored by the fra ternity. A member of the Cornell facul ty since 1948, Schaufler was cited for
his leadership in the area of horticul
tural education for youth, 4-H mem bers and adults.
Arthur Bing, Ph.D. '49, also a pro fessor in the Department of Floriculture
ar>d Ornamental Horticulture and a

staff member of Cornell's Long Island Horticultural Research Laboratory at Riverhead, received a College-Based
Staff Award. He was cited for his service to extension workers, horticul tural producers and consumers.
Bing is a specialist in weed control
and has been a member of the Cornell
faculty since 1949. Robert E. Kozlowski, '65, an ex
tension associate in the Department of Floriculture and Ornamental Horticulture,
received a similar award for his role as
coordinator of the newly established Master Gardener Program.
Joseph D. Novak, professor of sci ence education and biological sciences at Cornell, has received a Fulbright Senior Scholar Grant to spend four months teaching in Australia from August through December 1980.
Novak will be teaching at Monash University in Melbourne.
Jere D. Haas has been elected
associate professor with indefinite
tenure in the Division of Nutritional
Sciences by the Cornell University
Board of Trustees.
Haas earned his Ph.D. in anthro
pology from Pennsylvania State Uni versity in 1973 and is recognized as an authority on the connection between nutrition and anthropology. He has
been at Cornell since 1975 and is cur
rently conducting research on human adaptation to high altitude stresses in the Andean highlands of Bolivia.
R. Kenneth Horst, plant pathol ogist at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has completed work on
the revision of Westcott's Plant Disease
Handbook, a volume long regarded as an authoritative work aimed at helping
both home gardeners and specialists in controlling troublesome diseases affecting trees, shrubs, vines, flowers and vegetables.
A member of the Cornell faculty since 1968, Horst is a specialist in plant diseases of floricultural and orna
mental crops.
Carol L. Anderson, Former asso
ciate professor of child development at Iowa State University, has been ap

pointed associate director of Cornell Cooperative Extension and associate professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies in the College of Human Ecology.
Anderson received her bachelor's
and master's degrees from the Univer sity of Wisconsin and her doctoral de
gree in home economics education/ adult education from Iowa State in 1976. She is a member of the National
Association for the Education of Young Children, the American and Iowa Home Economics Associations, the
Adult Education Association and numerous honoraries.
Alfalfa Room Becomes New Union
The Alfalfa Room, the student lounge and service desk located in the basement of Warren Hall, has been elected the ninth unit of the Department of University Unions by the University Unions Board of Governors.
Reorganized earlier in the year by members of the Ag College's Positive Action Council (AgPAC) and University Unions, the Alfalfa Room's new status will enable it to provide a wide range of programs and activities for frequent ers of the upper campus. Already plan ned are coffeehouses, guest lecturers, a festival on the Ag Quad and events for next year's Ag Day.
Christine Emmel '83

23

ii3itions Div. i Library

Ag College Liaison
For Alumni

by Joann D'Emilio '80

College alumni often share a special
relationship with their alma maters. They look to the university as an insti tution to uphold ideals they believe in and to accomplish goals they feel should be done. The college, in turn, depends on its alumni for support, en couragement and representation in the
outside world. This semester the New
York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences gave special recognition to this relationship by establishing a
new assistant director in the Office of
Development and Alumni Affairs. James Bays 74 is the first to occupy
the new position which officially began on February 1 . In his new role he gets the opportunity to wear "many hats."
The assistant director has several spe cific duties with different parts of the
college. "My primary intention is to
make sure there exists a sound work
ing relationship between the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs and other offices of the College," says Bays.
Fifty percent of Bays's time, as out lined by his job description, is expected to be spent working with Glenn Mac Millen, '54 the executive director of the
College Alumni Association, and with
the district directors of the Association.
"The Association has grown tre
mendously in the last two or three years," said Bays. "It supports a broad range of activities, from College Open Houses in the fall for high school stu dents, to district get-togethers for alumni, to a number of awards and

prizes for outstanding alumni and stu dents." Part of Bays's job is to broaden
and encourage the members' involve
ment.
One-quarter of Bays's time is to be spent as a fundraiser for the 4-H
Foundation. The Foundation was set
up to aid high risk, innovative 4-H youth programs, according to Bays. "I am helping to seek private money to support these programs," he ex plained. His job includes taking pro gram proposals and getting the fund ing for them.
Bays spends the remaining quarter of his time working with MacMillen in obtaining private support for the Col lege, developing brochures and other written materials, encouraging contact between alumni and students and, finally, acting as a liaison between the alumni and the placement and admis sions offices in the College. Bays said he sees this final duty as key. "My liai son role adds emphasis to the fact that
all the offices I deal with need to have
close coordination," he said. Administrators were influenced by
two considerations in creating the assistant directorship, Bays pointed out. First, the 4-H Foundation decided to revamp their organizational strategy and they wanted a Cornell-based director. Secondly, the growth of the
Alumni Association caused a demand
for more staffing. Administrators saw in these two needs an opportunity to appoint an administrator whose main

Jim Bays helps raise funds as the new assistant director in Development
and Alumni Affairs.
function would be to assist with fund
ing and encourage involvement from outside groups and individuals, espe cially College alumni.
In his seven weeks in the Office of
Development and Alumni Affairs, Bays said he found the job an interesting challenge. "It's difficult to know how best to approach people, especially in these times of tight money," he said. "But the dollar needs are certainly real,
and my strategy will reflect this."
Although it may seem that, with all these concerns, some of Bays's duties may get short-changed, Bays feels that in the future the office will only
become stronger. "In an economic crunch, private support becomes more important and there will continue to be
a need for this support," he said. "All
of my involvements are a reflection of this trend and as such are critical to
the College and to state 4-H youth programs," he added.
In creating the new position then, administrators have given the College an important new channel through which outside groups-especially alum
ni-can voice their concerns. As Bays succeeds in encouraging an active and supportive Alumni Association, he will give much to the College. His reward
will be in the breaking of new ground,
in a post that no one has ever before
filled.

New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a Statutory College of the State University, at Cornell University