Cornell’s quarterly magazine FALL 2008 Making the ivy League More affordabLe 18 - West CaMpus experienCe 20 - investing in sChoLars 22 - student-athLete standouts FROM THE PUBLISHER Welcome to the debut issue of Ezra, the new quarterly magazine of the Cornell Chronicle, produced by the Division of University Communications in collaboration with the Division of Alumni Affairs & Development (AA&D). This exciting new publication seeks to become, for starters, a must-read for alumni, faculty, staff and students around the world. Ultimately, we aim to attract readers beyond the Cornell community. Ezra magazine – so named to capture at once the enduring vision and the informality that is Cornell – like traditional news magazines, will have a cover story and wide-ranging sections, reporting on research and scholarship, much of it interdisciplinary; on outreach that brings applied research and Cornell resources to people around the globe and solves real-world challenges; on the arts and humanities; and on Big Red athletics. And, each issue will carry campaign updates and features that show not only what it takes but also who it takes to be a successful university in the 21st century. In time, we will attract to our pages many of the opinions, thoughts and arguments that make Cornell University such a special place. The magazine is available online at http://ezramagazine.cornell.edu, a site that will continue to develop over time as multimedia and additional content are added. We welcome your feedback. Ezra is the culmination of a long journey that has brought together two great teams responsible for publishing Communiqué, which was launched by AA&D in 1978, and Cornell Chronicle Magazine, which premiered in January 2006. I am delighted Joe Wilensky ([email protected]) agreed to be the editor of Ezra. I want to thank all my colleagues in AA&D for their trust and collaboration, and in particular Laura Toy without whom we would not be embarking on this wonderful adventure. Cornell is a unique institution; Ezra aspires to be an exceptional news magazine that captures your attention, and maybe your imagination, four times a year. THOMAS W. BRUCE VICE PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS ezra Contributing Editor: Bryce T. Hoffman Produced by the Cornell Chronicle and the ON THE COVER: Yeshim Iqbal ’09. “ezra” Cornell’s quarterly magazine Copy Editors: Susan Baldwin, Karen Walters Office of Publications and Marketing title treatment by Jim Houghton/The Vol. I, Issue 1 Contributors: Daniel Aloi, Lauren Gold, All photography by Cornell University Graphic Touch; photo by Lindsay France/ Fall 2008 Julie Greco, Jeremy Hartigan, Bryce T. Photography unless otherwise indicated. University Photography; digital postproduc- Hoffman, Anne Ju, George Lowery, Clare Cornell University is an equal opportunity, tion by Steve Rokitka/Spinetree Media and Publisher: Thomas W. Bruce Matthew Fondeur/University Photography. Managing Editor: Joe Wilensky Ulrich affirmative action educator and employer. Senior Editors: David Brand, Susan S. Lang Designer: Lorraine Heasley 10/08 50M CP 080494 CORNELL’S QUARTERLY MAGAZINE CONTENTS 2 UPDATES 14 VIEWPOINT 24 CAMpaIGN UpdaTE 4 COVER STORY On affording college Looking for a good Financial aid opens BY BRUCE V. LEWENSTEIN investment? doors The cost of college is still too high BY BRYCE T. HOFFMAN BY ANNE JU – not just at top universities but at Highlights and updates from Far Above The university’s new financial public and private colleges across … The Campaign for Cornell. aid plan is making a Cornell the country. education more affordable 25 END NOTE 15 OUTREacH for many students and their The view from 2047 families. How equal is BY SUSAN H. MURPHY opportunity? How will this year’s incoming fresh- BY ClARE UlRICH men, the Class of 2012, look back at The persistence of racial their Cornell days 35 years from now? disparities has made people accept them as normal. 16 PHOTO ESSAY Breakdancing and 4 underwater hockey BY LAUREN GOLD Cornell has student groups and subgroups for nearly every nationality, ethnicity, religion and inclination. 18 CAMPUS LIFE West Side Story 18 BY GEORGE LOWERY The West Campus residential houses (with Keeton House now open) are offering students new ways to live and learn. 20 WORTH SUppORTING Endowments invest in talent 23 BY BRYCE T. HOFFMAN Scholarships aid students and take budget pressure off tuition. 22 BIG RED ATHLETICS The student-athlete ideal BY JEREMY HARTIGAN AND JULIE GRECO Jeomi Maduka and Nathan Ford have honed their student-athlete experiences into a winning formula. 18 THE CAMPUSES UPDATES GENEVA Geneva experiment station helps N.Y. fight plum pox virus A new landmark BY ELIZAbeTH KELLER When two plum trees and one from Prunus trees to identify PPV for Cornell’s new headquarters for life Statistics and Computational peach tree in Niagara County, N.Y., the team of APHIS and New York sciences research, Joan and San- Biology. tested positive for the plum pox virus State Department of Agriculture and ford I. Weill Hall, is unofficially open. The building’s two-acre basement (PPV) in 2006, a team dedicated Markets officials.H is lab analyzes all Researchers began moving into the includes a low-vibration space to eradicating the virus sprang into samples collected in New York state, $162 million, 263,000-square-foot for imaging research, controlled action and within months turned to which last season numbered 91,000. facility over the summer. Its formal environment chambers for plant Cornell pathologist Marc Fuchs for Fuchs expects to analyze more than dedication is set for Oct. 16. research and tunnels to the Plant help. 110,000 samples this season. A centerpiece of the New Life Sciences and Biotechnology build- Last year 16 trees in New York state Fuchs’ lab, like all labs associated Sciences Initiative, Weill Hall features ings. Other features include a café, tested positive for PPV. As a result, with the survey, is required to follow a striking four-story atrium, walls of a business incubation center and 26 acres of orchard were destroyed. strict protocols for sample collec- windows and gleaming white tile, the H. Laurance and Nancy L. Fuller Yet there is hope that, through strin- tion and analysis, which includes abundant open spaces and an Learning Center for lectures and gent surveying and identification not knowing where samples come expected gold rating in Leadership teleconferencing. efforts, PPV can be eradicated from from so researchers are not biased in Energy and Environmental Design Weill Hall was designed by Pritzker New York. by information pertaining to grower (LEED) – which would be the Architecture Prize–winning archi- Plum pox was seen first in Bulgaria or location. Once a sample tests university’s first. tect Richard Meier, B.Arch. ’57. It in 1915 and is now the major disease positive and the USDA’s National The building’s lab space can accom- is named for benefactors Joan and of Prunus trees in Europe, affecting Germplasm Resources Laboratory modate up to 500 researchers. The Sanford Weill ’55. Sanford Weill is plums, peaches, nectarines and in Beltsville, Md., confirms that the building’s primary residents are the the former chairman and CEO of apricots as well as ornamentals. sample is positive, the correspond- Joan and Sanford I. Weill Institute Citigroup, Cornell trustee emeritus Because the disease can be spread ing tree must be removed along for Cell and Molecular Biology, the and chairman of Weill Cornell Medi- by aphids, regulatory officials in New with every susceptible tree within a Department of Biomedical Engineer- cal College’s Board of Overseers. York had been watching for plum 50-meter (about 55 yards) radius. ing and the Department of Biological Both Joan and Sanford Weill are pox for some time. In 2006 the U.S. A positive test result can be dev- presidential councillors. Department of Agriculture (USDA) astating for the grower, destroying Animal and Plant Health Inspec- both orchard and source of income. IN OUR WINTER ISSUE: tion Service (APHIS) declared an Yet growers understand that PPV Go inside Weill Hall and learn how this ultra-specialized agricultural emergency in New York, has the potential to destroy Prunus which freed up funding for eradica- orchards across the country, said facility is transforming research and teaching in the life tion efforts that included an in-depth Fuchs, and are compensated by the survey of Prunus orchards and government for tree removal and sciences. susceptible Prunus ornamentals in loss of production. Ongoing exten- parks and backyards. sion efforts educate growers and Fuchs, an assistant professor of keep them informed so that growers Public Service Scholars part of new plant pathology at the New York are included as part of the team. State Agricultural Experiment Station Elizabeth Keller is a writer for the College co-curricular program in Geneva, N.Y., analyzes samples of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Starting this fall, service-minded Students with at least four students can work toward a new semesters remaining are eligible PROVIDED distinction for their Cornell résumés to apply, though the program is – public service scholar. The Public designed to take three years. Service Center is launching the The program is coordinated new co-curricular program, which by the Public Service Center combines academic immersion with in partnership with the Faculty hands-on learning, all with a focus Fellows in Service; the Knight on civic engagement and social Institute; the Department of City justice. and Regional Planning; the Center Public service scholars will take for Teaching Excellence; Steve one required class each semester, Hamilton, associate provost for including one on the concept of outreach; Ron Seeber, vice provost citizenship and another on research for land-grant affairs; Michele methods. They’ll also participate in Moody-Adams, vice provost for the Public Service Leadership series undergraduate education; and the and one Civic Dialogues series.