http://www.metaezra.com/ en Copyright 2012 Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:32:54 -0500Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:32:54 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.2 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss By Matthew Nagowski I don't veer much into politics on this blog. (To say nothing of the fact that I don't veer into much of anything on this blog these days.) But I do find it worthwhile to point out the excellent job that Cornell alumna Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Class of 1954, did in arguing for the need of Congressional regulation of the health insurance market this week. Sadly, she did a much better job of arguing for the Affordable Care Act than the Obama administration's own lawyers: When U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli made a vague case for regulating economic activity, Justice... http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2012/03/ruth_bader_ginsburg_54_is_a_na_2.shtml http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2012/03/ruth_bader_ginsburg_54_is_a_na_2.shtml Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:32:54 -0500 By Matthew Nagowski I don't veer much into politics on this blog. (To say nothing of the fact that I don't veer into much of anything on this blog these days.) But I do find it worthwhile to point out the excellent job that Cornell alumna Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Class of 1954, did in arguing for the need of Congressional regulation of the health insurance market this week. Sadly, she did a much better job of arguing for the Affordable Care Act than the Obama administration's own lawyers: When U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli made a vague case for regulating economic activity, Justice... http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2012/03/ruth_bader_ginsburg_54_is_a_na_3.shtml http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2012/03/ruth_bader_ginsburg_54_is_a_na_3.shtml Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:32:54 -0500 By Kyle Scott This Deadspin story about a Cornell pledge who dressed up as Mark Sanchez and signed autographs as part of a fraternity prank made its rounds through social media yesterday. This could have worked, but the fraternity chose the wrong time and location for the ruse. The New York Jets held their summer training camp at SUNY Cortland in the summers of 2009 and 2010, and a Mark Sanchez autograph signing would not have been out of place in Ithaca. Even though the Jets did not train in Cortland last summer, I imagine most students (or Ithaca residents) would have... http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2012/03/mark_sanchez_visits_cornell.shtml http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2012/03/mark_sanchez_visits_cornell.shtml Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:48:42 -0500 By Matthew Nagowski A gem of a little poem that I stumbled upon by E.B. White '21: Returning to the college town And sitting in the room, I saw the neatly folded hills, I heard the blessing of the bells; And looking south and west Watching the light that crowned the hills, I waited to be blessed." Apparently it is the first stanza of a larger piece entitled "Incident on a Campus." If anybody has the full text they can post, it would be greatly appreciated.... http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2012/02/returning_to_the_college_town.shtml http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2012/02/returning_to_the_college_town.shtml Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:54:47 -0500 By Matthew Nagowski Late last summer, Cornell announced a financial aid program whereby it would match any competing offer from the other Ivies, Duke, Stanford, and MIT. As MetaEzra commented at the time, it was essentially a ploy to land more hotly contested recruited athletes. Eighteen months later, we now know that roughly 1 in every 100 students in the Class of 2015 took advantage of the financial aid match program. As reported in a meeting of the University faculty, 12 non-athletes, and slightly more than 30 recruited athletes are benefiting from this quasi-merit based financial aid scheme. And anecdotal reports from various... http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2012/02/over_40_students_benefited_fro.shtml http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2012/02/over_40_students_benefited_fro.shtml Tue, 28 Feb 2012 00:15:23 -0500 By Kyle Scott It’s a classic problem for businesses in small communities: how does the business compete with firms in larger markets to recruit top talent? If I were a professor, why would I move to Ithaca when I could secure a job at a university in or near a major city? One of Cornell’s chief priorities leading up to the sesquicentennial is faculty recruitment. A university is only as strong as its teachers, but while Cornell has a reputation for research, its location is a major deterrent in attracting preeminent professors. Further compounding the problem is the fact that professors’ spouses often... http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2012/02/cornells_solution_for_trailing.shtml http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2012/02/cornells_solution_for_trailing.shtml Thu, 23 Feb 2012 13:55:55 -0500 By Elie Bilmes ... http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2012/01/defending_the_relevance_of_cor.shtml http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2012/01/defending_the_relevance_of_cor.shtml Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:51:22 -0500 By Kyle Scott Cornell is a bubble. We all know this and we all say it. But, we don’t really feel it until we leave our alma mater. When in Ithaca, everything in Ithaca is of utmost importance. IFC decisions were endlessly critiqued and debated. The Student Assembly Finance Committee’s rulings on funding – or non-funding – of student groups were protested at Student Assembly meetings. The pressure of overcommitted calendars and upcoming deadlines were all-consuming, and anything outside of the small box of work and more work felt as though it didn’t matter. And, to many of us, nothing else did really... http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2012/01/cornell_is_a_bubble_1.shtml http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2012/01/cornell_is_a_bubble_1.shtml Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:38:59 -0500 By Kyle Scott In celebration Ezra Cornell's 205th birthday, today is Founder’s Day. Ezra Cornell founded the university using his own background as a model for the type of education his school would provide. A carpenter, mechanic, farmer, salesman, inventor, entrepreneur, politician, trustee, and philanthropist, as well as a Quaker who left his religion to marry a Methodist, Ezra Cornell is a perfect embodiment of “Any Person…Any Study.” Of course, that is his own motto. Now, in 2012, with the sesquicentennial right around the corner, Ezra would have likely added “Any Place” to his idea of a Cornell education. This would have been... http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2012/01/happy_founders_day.shtml http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2012/01/happy_founders_day.shtml Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:17:14 -0500 By Kyle Scott If you follow us on Facebook, you’ve probably already seen the RSS feed post announcing the imminent retirement of psychology professor Dr. James Maas. If you haven’t, here’s the news: Dr. James Maas is leaving Cornell as of the end of this year. Readers of this blog undoubtedly know who I’m talking about. In his 48 years as a member of the Cornell faculty, Dr. Maas has taught Psych 101 (which changed to 1101 in 2008) to over 65,000 Cornellians. This is not only a Cornell teaching record, but is also a world teaching record. In recent years, at least,... http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2011/12/farewell_to_professor_james_ma.shtml http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2011/12/farewell_to_professor_james_ma.shtml Thu, 29 Dec 2011 13:02:45 -0500 By Kyle Scott Cornell is being particularly coy about today’s anticipated announcement from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg about the proposed New York City tech campus. Although the news broke late last night in the Wall Street Journal, the University’s Press Office is saying only to tune in to CornellCast at 2:30pm today for a “live event of special interest” to Cornellians. If you can break away at 2:30, watch the video here or through the Alumni Association Facebook page . Oh, and thank you to the anonymous donor for making this possible.... http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2011/12/big_news_from_cornell_today_at.shtml http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2011/12/big_news_from_cornell_today_at.shtml Mon, 19 Dec 2011 12:25:06 -0500 By Elie Bilmes The Wall Street Journal reports that Cornell has won the bid to build a new technology campus in New York City. Cornell emerged as the front runner over the weekend as Stanford gave up on its bid and the Big Red announced a record-breaking $350 million anonymous donation that would assist in building the campus. Cornell's plan calls for construction on city-owned land on Roosevelt Island.... http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2011/12/wsj_cornell_wins_nyc_tech_camp.shtml http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2011/12/wsj_cornell_wins_nyc_tech_camp.shtml Sun, 18 Dec 2011 22:30:45 -0500 By Dan Jost This week, in a 7-2 vote, the Ithaca Common Council gave final approval to Cornell’s plans for permanent suicide barriers on three city owned bridges. This means the current fences will be coming down next summer, according reports in the Cornell Daily Sun and the Ithaca Journal . They will be replaced by suicide nets—horizontal projections 15 feet wide—below the Thurston Avenue and the Stewart Avenue Bridges. Cornell will also be putting up suicide nets on most of the bridges it owns (The Suspension Bridge will be covered with a wire mesh cage instead). Under its agreement with the... http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2011/12/barrier_update_city_approves_n.shtml http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2011/12/barrier_update_city_approves_n.shtml Mon, 12 Dec 2011 03:03:03 -0500 By Matthew Nagowski ... http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2011/12/big_red_cymbal_guy.shtml http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2011/12/big_red_cymbal_guy.shtml Sat, 10 Dec 2011 00:36:59 -0500 By Kyle Scott It’s been awhile since I last wrote here, but I’m back. I’ve been transitioning into a new job and things have been hectic. Several weeks ago I came across a New York Times article that ranked Cornell University 38th in a list of the top universities throughout the world from which “hundreds” of CEOs from “leading companies” in ten countries recruit. At the top of the list, as expected, were Harvard, Stanford, and Yale. Within the top fifty spots, 23, or 46%, are American universities. Although this could be a good sign of the quality of American higher education, I... http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2011/12/new_york_times_survey_on_campu.shtml http://www.metaezra.com/archive/2011/12/new_york_times_survey_on_campu.shtml Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:35:55 -0500