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William Sinclair '12
The folks over at the Cornell Review have done an honorable job covering yet another tragic loss: Physics professor Robert E. Thorne reflected upon the loss to his students this evening by sending an email delaying the week’s assignment and allowing students time to come to terms with the loss. “I knew William as a curious, warm and gentle person of great promise. This is a terrible loss.” Thorne went on to tell the Review via email that “unfortunately, [that] does little justice to the person he was.” Sinclair, who lived in Maryland, took several courses in engineering outside of his major that interested him – namely computer science and physics. Matthew Nagowski | March 12, 2010 (#) Significant Departure in Store Not a month after the announced departures of Doris Davis and James Walsh, MetaEzra can confirm another significant departure from the ranks of Cornell's senior administrators. Expect to hear the announcement by tomorrow afternoon. But we'll provide a hint to our longtime readers: This administrator has been featured prominently on this blog before. Matthew Nagowski | March 11, 2010 (#) Reputation and Humor Given that the Law School is spinning their 'Andy Bernard' ad as a way to demonstrate that 'they don't take themselves too seriously', and that I have been likened elsewhere in the blogosphere to the crazy uncle that nobody quite likes for not having a sense of humor, I think it's important to distinguish between the relative merits of reputation and humor. (And also between actual opinion and attention-getting, hyperbole-laced blog titles.) While Andy Bernard is a humorous character, unfortunately there isn't anything very endearing to his personality. His fictional associations with Cornell paint the University in a light of both arrogance and ignorance. Nothing about his values channel the University's traditions of 'elite without being elitest', 'freedom and responsibility', 'any person... any study", or a 'private institution with a public mission'. And nothing about him suggests the Law School's tagline of 'Lawyers in the Best Sense'. (Unless of course, the Law School is now interested in producing ambulance chasers, which would be a pretty good occupation for Andy.) As Homer Simpson once wisely said, "It's funny because it's true." And the dirty little secret is that there is more than a glint of truth to the character of Andy Bernard -- the writers for The Office didn't pull the material out of thin air. A healthy minority of Cornellians like to blindly brag about their association with a certain athletic conference, their difficult coursework in one of the applied social science departments of the Ag School, or their parties, that quite frankly, are meek relative to what you might find in the Big Ten on any given Saturday. So I can think of a handful of my peers who fit the 'Nard Dog role pretty damn well. And I don't know about you, but that's not something I really want to advertise. It would be akin to Princeton advertising their ridiculously status-conscious bicker process, or Dartmouth prominently featuring its beer-soaked party scene, on Harvard reveling in the fact that is a soulless corporate bureaucracy focused solely on money (with a crappy hockey team, to boot). So by all means, let's have a sense of humor about ourselves. And let's poke fun of our own bourgeois attitudes. But let's keep it to the pages of the Cornell Lunatic and not in public as a recruitment tool. Especially for a professional school that leans heavily upon its own reputation -- as opposed to research or scientific contributions -- for its success. We can save the weather for our front page jokes. Matthew Nagowski | March 11, 2010 (#) Somebody at the Law School Needs to be Fired Late Update: For those of you who don't quite understand the problem with this (beyond the fact that the 'Nard Dog has no ties to the Law School), Andy Bernard is like the uncle in your family that nobody quite likes. You can laugh at him in the presence of good friends, and smirk at him in the presence of polite company. But you don't bring him up unless asked. Matthew Nagowski | March 09, 2010 (#) Rethinking the Admissions Process With the planned departure of Doris Davis as the associate provost for admissions and enrollment in conjunction with the continued 'Reimagining Cornell' process, it is definitely time to rethink the University's admissions process. One of the more provocative ideas surrounding admissions options was floated by Kent Fuchs at the Cornell Alumni Leadership Conference in January, where he suggested that freshman should be only accepted to the University at large, and not affiliate with an undergraduate college until their sophomore year. This would centralize the admissions process, make the Cornell educational experience more flexible, and not force students to prematurely choose their academic path. There are a lot of students applying to Cornell who cannot clearly communicate why they would like to study nutrition over biology or ILR over AEM. But it would also arguably dilute the quality of the experience in some of the more cohesive colleges on campus, namely Architecture, Hotel, and Engineering. Another option would be to make the Cornell application process itself more dynamic and engaging, even if this means making it harder to apply to Cornell. (In my view, that would be a feature, not a bug.) Right now, the University is asking one lame supplemental question per college as past of the Common Application. Nowhere in the application process is the University trying to excite students about the intellectual riches that await them in Ithaca, nor is it trying to uniquely brand itself or its student body. By contrast, Northwestern asks its students about the research they have conducted and Tufts asks students to ponder 'Are we alone?', while also giving them the opportunity to submit their own YouTube video. So how about a distinctly Cornellian essay prompt about 'Freedom and Responsibility' or public outreach and engagement? One of my big complaints about the admissions office under Davis was that it was too numbers focused -- not in terms of SAT scores and GPA (that's another story) -- but in terms of applications received, acceptance rate, and other rather trivial metrics. See, for example, the article in the Chronicle about Davis's depature: At the same time, Cornell continues to attract more students. More than 36,000 students applied for 3,150 places in the Class of 2014, a new high. "I am proud of the enormous success we've had in increasing admissions applications to Cornell -- applications have increased over 65 percent since my arrival," said Davis." Now's the opportunity to make the Cornell admissions process a distinctly Cornellian one. Even if it means our acceptance rate would go up, we need to ensure that we are attracting the right types of students for Cornell. Matthew Nagowski | March 07, 2010 (#) Cornell Victorious, The Champions of All!
 No matter what happens in the NCAA tournament, I can't emphasize enough what a pleasure it has been to follow this team over the last four years. Their stories -- from an out of nowhere Jon Jaques to a local boy done good in Jeff Foote -- are enough to make any Cornellian proud. Their talent and character, both on and off the court, will far ring the story of the glory of Cornell. Two memories of mine stand out in particular: The first was at a basketball game in Allston four years ago, when I convinced a couple of friends that our basketball team was worth seeing. We ended up seeing a nerve-wracking, buzzer-haunting, one point loss, but not before we could tell that Cornell has something special in Louis Dale and Ryan Wittman. (And, not coincidentally, before I got into a heckling match with a bunch of eight-year old Crimson fans. The only fans fair Harvard seemed to be able to attract that night.) The second was attending the home game against Columbia this past January, when I somehow found myself standing next to Jeff Foote after the game. Sweat was still dripping off of his forehead and I was a bit intimidated by the fact that he seemed twice as massive as I was, but Jeff just has an awesome grin on his face. Congratulations to the Big Red Basketball team for all of your accomplishments, past, present, and future. Matthew Nagowski | March 06, 2010 (#) The Sun Interviews Fuchs Sam Cross asks all the right questions in his interview with the Provost: K.F.: We’re hoping not to shrink the faculty any more than we already have. My higher priority is to keep the faculty size at its current level, and even to regrow it. You’re right, if we have to balance the budget by reducing faculty, then that does mean fewer courses, particularly electives. Our hope is that we can avoid that. We don’t yet know if we can do that, but we hope to not have to shrink the faculty any more. That’s why we’re trying to attain $90 million of administrative savings. Sun: Many of the task force reports discuss possible mergers among colleges. Have there been further developments on the feasibility of these plans? K.F.: For some, yes, and for some, no. For example, the College of Engineering was proposing a possibility of a combined science. It’s unlikely we’re going to do that. We are, however, discussing whether AEM should become a school and whether there should be a school of environment, both [of which were] proposed by CALS. Sun: It seems odd that AEM is in CALS. K.F.: The AEM major is a highly ranked major for undergraduate business, but we also have management programs in the Hotel School, the Johnson School and some business in ILR; Engineering has a masters in management, so we’re trying to decide how we can be best organized around management. Sun: Are you planning to create a school of public policy, and if so, will it be built out of one of our current schools? K.F.: That’s going to be a big decision and we don’t know yet. Sun: Is the College of Arts and Sciences — especially the government or economics departments — playing a role in the school of public policy? K.F.: It will. We’re not yet ready to bring in all of the colleges because I’ve asked a couple of deans to think about it. The Arts College, because of its breadth, has some type of impact, whether it’s social sciences or economics. Sun: How will such major changes in the University structure impact the budget model? K.F.: That’s why I’m such a big supporter of changing the budget model. If we pool undergraduate tuition, we can make it easier to pull down barriers between colleges, at least from a student’s perspective. For colleges, we have to ensure that we don’t create negative incentives that will make them compete with each other. In another interesting tidbit, apparently the Policy Analysis and Management program in Human Ecology has decided to rename itself 'Public Policy', perhaps trying to distance itself from the pre-business crowd. Matthew Nagowski | March 02, 2010 (#) A Month of Departures The Sun is reporting that University CIO James Walsh has tendered his resignation, effective at the end of June. In the statement, Walsh also reported that the University’s endowment performance is up about 10 percent so far this year, after suffering a more than 25 percent decrease in fiscal year 2009. In the midst of the bleak financial situation that engulfed the nation in 2009, the statement noted that the University’s “endowment successfully avoided many of the liquidity problems that affected those of its peers last year.” “Working with the Investment Committee, James helped the University weather the downturn and begin to regain much needed equilibrium in its investment performance,” President Skorton said in the statement. “I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.” Skorton might as well have added, "And don't let the door kick you on the way out." While the press release is padded in good will, the performance is obvious: while Cornell lost 26.4 percent of its investments in the last fiscal year, other peer schools, like Columbia and Pennsylvania, lost less than 20 percent. Remember, when Walsh was first hired, he was aglow in the opportunities of hedge funds and commodities. That didn't turn out so well for us. Walsh also was offered a first year salary of $400,000, not counting any incentive bonuses. We wonder if there were any clawback provisions to his contract for subsequent poor performance. Curiously, when MetaEzra first learned of a departure that turned out to be that of Doris Davis, our thoughts initially turned to Walsh. But now we can report that we also know of one other high-level departure coming down the pike as well... Matthew Nagowski | February 17, 2010 (#) The Lure of Marcellu$ $hale As Elie noted last month, Cornell has rightfully decided to postpone a decision on leasing its sizable Southern Tier land holdings to gas companies drilling for the sizable Marcellus natural gas deposits. Cornell wants to wait to see more evidence as to the environmental impact of drilling for the gas with a technique called hydro-fracking.  So the Sun is running an op-ed piece today that implicitly argues that Cornell should be playing a large role in the discussion when it comes to regulating the process.: Oversight for natural gas drilling in New York is in the hands of Governor David Paterson and the DEC’s proposed regulations — local governments hold no power over the gas companies that drill in their area. Thus, should hydraulic fracturing be allowed under the proposed regulatory measures, gas companies would legally be able to dump millions of gallons of wastewater into local plants, which may lack the capacity to treat all the solvents in the fluid and would not have to publicly disclose what chemicals they have used. It's a critical issue that Cornell needs to weigh-in on, because only a land-grant institution like Cornell can gain the confidence of all interested parties, including government, industry, and the public at large. Currently, Cornell Cooperative Extension has an extensive website dealing with all of the issues involved. What I haven't seen, however, is an estimate of how much the Marcellus Shale reserves could be worth to Cornell. Obviously the value of the gas deposits is subject to market swings, but given the University's structural deficit, it's definitely necessary to place the value of Marcellus within the context of the University's budget challenges. In Tompkins County alone, Cornell owns 11,000 acres of land. (I actually haven't been able to track down the total number of acres that Cornell owns in New York State, but the University owns 400,000+ acres across the country. If you have a more detailed breakdown of the University's land holdings, please let me know.) Now, according to estimates by the University's department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, each acre of Marcellus Shale is worth approximately $30,000 over the course of the next 10-15 years. That's assuming roughly 6,000,000 cubic feet of gas per acre and a payment of $5 per thousand cubic feet. And prices have jumped around between $3 and $8 in the past couple of years. So in Tompkins County alone, Cornell could yield $330 MM over the next ten to fifteen years from Marcellus Shale drilling. That's $30 MM a year for the next ten years, or around a quarter of the University's structural $135MM deficit, or just about the cost of the University's increased financial aid packages in recent years. The question, of course, is whether or not that is worth the cost of potential drinking water contamination and all of the associated health risks. Interestingly, the same Cornell report indicates that wind power actually would produce 25% more energy per acre than drilling. The difference of course, is that wind power is clean and endless. Matthew Nagowski | February 15, 2010 (#) An Open Letter to the Lynah Faithful Hockey games start at 7PM in the evening. Not at 7:10. Not 7:20. Section A should not be 75 percent empty when the puck drops, let alone when the starters are introduced or the Canadian national anthem is played. I know I am sounding like a crotchety old alum, but part of the Lynah experience is being in the barn before the hockey game starts. If we're not going to win on the ice, at least we can win in the stands. That said, I was pleased that most of you seemed to know the lyrics to My Old Cornell. The Yale fans that I was sitting with were impressed. Late Update: Discussion has continued on eLynah and on Elie's blog. Matthew Nagowski | February 14, 2010 (#) |
-- Ugh -- Congratulations to Rebecca Johnston '12 for her gold medal victory -- Shot across the bow -- Another campus death -- I just hope [they] pay less attention to job placement and Spring Break than... to our ideas and the pleasures of living and studying in this weird little place. -- IvyGate details Skorton -- Penn? Storming the court? Not for a championship? Against Cornell? -- Cornell Women's Hockey team wins first Ivy Championship in 14 years! -- Every little bit helps -- Most. Amusing. Article. Ever./a> -- A plan for a trolley? -- Prof. Steven Strogatz is blogging for the New York Times on numbers and math -- Tradtion is an important reason to keep the swim test -- Sun confirms Davis departure; to start international admissions consulting business -- Cornell ranked third for Peace Corps enrollments in its category  -- Of Course, The Sun's News Reporting Still Needs Work (Nagowski) -- There Must Be Something In The Water (Nagowski) -- Major Eclipse of The Sun! (AGuess) -- The Sun Interviews Susan Henry On AEM (Nagowski) -- Kudos to The Sun (Nagowski) -- A Map of Collegetown (Nagowski) -- Charge of the Decade? (Nagowski) -- Quotable Quotes on Budget Cuts (Nagowski) -- Some Questions for Chris Marshall (Nagowski) -- Impressive Sun Columnist on the Horizon? (Nagowski) -- Nope, I Didn't Ghost Write This For The Sun (Nagowski) -- Grapes of Wrath - Not Engaging? (Nagowski) -- Who Was That Mystery Donor? (Nagowski) -- Cornell Over-Enrolls Again; Yield at 49 Percent for Class of 2013 (Nagowski) -- Where Have We Heard This Before? (Nagowski) -- Your Move, Campus Life (AGuess) -- CALS Dean: Faculty, Department Declines Imminent (Nagowski) -- I Knew His Name Sounded Familiar (AGuess) -- Cornellian Writer For Times Obviously Not an ILRie (Nagowski) -- Congratulations to the Class of 2009 (Nagowski)  |
