Cornell Alumni Magazine
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c1-c3CAMso14_c1-c1CAMMA05 8/14/14 3:11 PM Page c1 OWNED AND PUBLISHED BY THE CORNELL ALUMNI ASSOCIATION SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2014 $6.00 ALUMNI MAGAZINE Big red birthday The sesquicentennial celebrations begin Inside: altschuler & kramnick on the demise of in loco parentis tasty Tips from Cu’s ‘Mindless Eating’ guru cornellalumnimagazine.com c1-c3CAMso14_c1-c1CAMMA05 8/14/14 12:17 PM Page c2 01-01CAMso14TOC_000-000CAMJF07currents 8/14/14 11:38 AM Page 1 IN THIS ISSUE 1865 September/October 2014 2015- Volume 117 Number 2 150 YEARS CORNELL ALUMNI MAGAZINE 40 24 2 From David Skorton International affairs 4 Big Picture Fond floral farewell 6 Correspondence For this Valentine, no love 10 Letter from Ithaca It’s a dirty job, but . 12 From the Hill Countdown to 150 16 Sports Double teaming 18 Authors Object permanence 35 38 Wines of the Finger Lakes 40 Campus Confrontation, 1958 Ryan William Vineyard 2012 Merlot Glenn Altschuler, PhD ’76 & Isaac Kramnick 54 Classifieds & Cornell University Press recently published Cornell: A History, 1940–2015, which picks Cornellians in Business up where A History of Cornell (by Morris Bishop 1913, PhD ’26) left off. In an excerpt, its authors describe a seminal event that marked the beginning of the end of in loco 55 Alma Matters parentis and foreshadowed much campus turmoil to come. “Dwarfed in subsequent accounts of the Cornell story by the events of the spring of 1969, and its relationship 58 Class Notes to national racial issues on college campuses, the ‘apartment riot’ of 1958 deserves to be accorded its true historical significance,” they write. “From East Hill a wave of stu- 92 Alumni Deaths dent anger at being told when, where, and how they could personally interact with other students would sweep through American universities and lead to the end of pari- 96 Cornelliana etal hours, curfews, and most university restrictions on social conduct.” Radio waves 48 Sound Bites 20 Currents Beth Saulnier Baby Talk | Meet CU’s cutest research subjects Marketing professor Brian Wansink is a media darling—the source of offbeat, user- friendly research on how people make food choices. The author of the best-selling book The Right ‘Stuff’ -| Environ Mindless Eating, Wansink has explored dining decisions in settings from school lunch- mentalist Annie Leonard, MRP ’13 rooms to Chinese buffets, supermarkets to desktops. His now-infamous experiments To the Moon, Allan | include concocting a soup bowl that never empties and giving moviegoers free popcorn Smithsonian’s Apollo curator that tasted like Styrofoam; the common denominator is that when it comes to packing it in, hunger is rarely the main motivator. In his new book, Slim by Design, Wansink Ringing Endorsement | offers advice on how to adjust your surroundings to encourage yourself to eat health- Lowell Taub ’96, dealmaker ier without thinking about it. As he’s fond of saying: “It’s easier to change your eating Bricks and Mortar | Tragedy environment than to change your mind.” strikes the Ithaca Commons Of a Feather | East Hill’s Cover photograph by Lisa Banlaki Frank red-tailed hawks Cornell Alumni Magazine (ISSN 1548-8810; USPS 006-902) is published six times a year, in January, March, May, July, September, and November by the Cornell Alumni Association, 401 East State Street, Suite 301, Ithaca, NY 14850. Subscriptions cost $33 a year. Periodical postage paid at Ithaca, NY, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Cornell Alumni Magazine, c/o Public Affairs Records, 130 East Seneca St., Suite 400, Ithaca, NY 14850-4353. September | October 2014 1 02-03CAMso14skorton_000-000CAMJF07currents 8/14/14 11:39 AM Page 2 FROM DAVID SKORTON International Cornell: A Conversation with Fredrik Logevall LINDSAY FRANCE / UP ast year about 4,200 international students from 115 have the capacity for empa- countries were pursuing degrees on the Ithaca cam- thetic understanding. It’s pus. Many of our faculty, students, and alumni are about the curriculum, but it’s engaged internationally. Yet, as I suggested in a white also about giving students the Lpaper a few years ago, Cornell must maintain—and in some chance to have a meaningful cases regain—its global edge. I sat down recently with experience abroad, whether Professor Fredrik Logevall, vice provost for inter national during the academic year, affairs and director of our Mario Einaudi Center for over the summer, or through International Studies, for an update on our efforts. an internship. It’s about mak- ing it possible for them to David Skorton: Fred, you issued a call to action a year ago, as develop competency in Prof. Fredrik you launched the Internationalization Initiative. Could you another language. And it’s Logevall describe your achievements in the first year? about having them interact with international faculty and Fredrik Logevall: We’re moving vigorously on several fronts. I with international students. sense a shared conviction on the part of all of us engaged in this effort that if we are to be a truly top research university world- DS: Given Cornell’s large wide, internationalization must permeate virtually all that we do. international student population, how can we enhance the inter- It’s not a choice; it’s an imperative. But we’re not starting from action between international and domestic students for every- scratch. Indeed, I believe we have an advantage because of the one’s benefit? range and breadth of what we do, thanks to our long tradition of global research and engagement. FL: Globalization is here to stay, and we have a growing num- A priority in the first year has been internationalizing the stu- ber of full-time, degree-seeking international students and also dent experience so our students will have the opportunity to have visiting international students. That’s a very valuable thing, and an international component to their curriculum—whatever their our task is to make sure that our domestic students and interna- college, whatever their course of study. I’m also exploring the tional students have opportunities for interaction—inside the creation of a new major in “global affairs,” which could gener- classroom and out. You can really do so much to international- ate a lot of student interest. ize the student experience right here in Ithaca. Secondly, we’re supporting internationally engaged faculty with enhanced funding for Einaudi Center grants and with a new DS: As we begin the sesquicentennial year, with celebrations International Faculty Fellowship program, which I’m hoping will across the country and internationally, what role do you see for allow Cornell to recruit and retain the best faculty from any- our alumni, including our international alumni, going forward? where in the world. We have four terrific fellows in our first cohort, representing four colleges. FL: I often marvel at the fact that we had students from at least A third priority has been to bring about more coordination, four other countries—England, Canada, Russia, and Brazil—in interaction, and discussion across the campus and beyond. Cornell’s first class. We’ve always been international, and we con- Accordingly, we’ve formed an Internationalization Council, made tinue to be. To think about that in this sesquicentennial year is up of senior associate deans from all our schools and colleges, as really exciting. Our alumni—domestic and international—can well as an External Advisory Council, whose members care help us get across the message that Cornell must continue to be deeply about the University and have a particular attachment to engaged with the world, now more than ever. International “Global Cornell”—indeed, whose careers, whose sensibility, are alumni as well as alumni with international experience can be a international in every sense. tremendous inspiration for our current and future students. They can provide internships and jobs, and help guide us as we think DS: What roles do study abroad and internationally engaged about whether to establish more of a physical presence interna- learning play in helping Cornell graduates function effectively as tionally—whether through “consulates” or offices in selected global citizens? cities. The External Advisory Council, chaired by Martin Tang ’70, is made up of alumni, many of them based overseas. They FL: Study abroad, internationally engaged learning, and what are already very important to us and will continue to be. students are doing on campus—all of those things feed in to pro- — President David Skorton ducing global citizens who can move nimbly in the world and [email protected] 2 Cornell Alumni Magazine | cornellalumnimagazine.com 02-03CAMso14skorton_000-000CAMJF07currents 8/14/14 11:39 AM Page 3 04-05CAMso14bigpic_000-000CAMJF07currents 8/14/14 11:40 AM Page 4 THE BIG PICTURE CORNELL PLANTATIONS The Bough Breaks With heavy hearts, Plantations staff and visitors are bidding goodbye to the Magnolia macrophylla tree that has charmed visitors to the arbore- tum for more than half a century. Plagued with rot and stress fractures, it has been deemed terminally ill and is slated for removal this fall. Growing well outside its usual range, the magnolia—which sports mas- sive blossoms and two-foot-long leaves—is the only one of its kind in Tompkins County. Before its top was lopped off in an effort to prolong its lifespan, it stood more than three stories tall. It’s now cordoned off with caution tape and an explanatory sign headlined “Goodbye to an Old Friend.” Reaction to its imminent demise was so strong that Planta- tions staff created a video (available on Vimeo) explaining, almost tear- fully, why it must go the way of the chainsaw. A sapling from its seed, already four feet tall, will eventually be planted nearby. 4 Cornell Alumni Magazine | cornellalumnimagazine.com 04-05CAMso14bigpic_000-000CAMJF07currents 8/14/14 11:40 AM Page 5 September | October 2014 5 06-07CAMso14corresp_000-000CAMJF07currents 8/14/14 2:29 PM Page 6 CORRESPONDENCE Evidence of Massive-Scale Emotional Contagion Through Social Networks,” was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences; it studied data collected by Facebook, under the company’s terms of service, as it artifi- cially manipulated user feeds.