Recent Contributions from Nikhita Parandekar

Higher Education Responds to Waning Economic Climate

Nikhita Parandekar — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

In the past few weeks, members of the Cornell community have received a plethora of information about how Cornell is dealing with the current economic crisis. Like Cornell, many institutions of higher education have created innovative plans to support their missions while managing their budgets.

There were two resounding facts that echoed through all of the statements and press releases of the Ivy League schools. First, all have stated that upholding a strong academic reputation is a main priority. Second, all have stressed that they are committed to maintaining financial aid programs throughout the economic crisis to ensure that economic hardships do not cause any student to withdraw from school.

Stats Challenge Criticism of Lake Source Cooling

Nikhita Parandekar — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Cornell recently released a report detailing the impact of the Lake Source Cooling project on Cayuga Lake. The report concluded that since its implementation in 1999, LSC has not had a detrimental effect on the lake, despite criticism that the project is a major source of pollution for the lake.

LSC works by bringing cold water from the depths of the Cayuga Lake up to the surface where it is used to cool water that runs through the air conditioning systems of Cornell and Ithaca High School. The water is then discharged back into the lake at its surface.

“The discharge contains soluble reactive phosphorus at two to five times the level that is in the shallow lake water,” said Walter Hang, owner of Toxics Targeting, Inc. “This promotes the growth of choking blooms of algae.”

Study Shows Allergies May Protect Against Cancer

Nikhita Parandekar — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Sit in any lecture hall during the fall and spring months and you will inevitably hear someone cough or sneeze at least every five minutes. People plagued with allergies during these seasons see them simply as nuisances, but a study conducted by Cornell researchers revealed that allergies may actually help fight some cancers.

Survey Shows Employers Are Now Less Likely to Hire

Nikhita Parandekar — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 03:09:41 -0400

The recent economic turmoil has already gotten a lot of college seniors thinking about their job options, but recent statistics show that they might need to think harder. The National Association of Colleges and Employers conducted a survey in August of 219 employers that projected a 6.1-percent increase in hiring for the class of 2009. NACE conducted the same survey again this month, and 146 of the original 219 employers responded, revealing that the projected outlook had dropped to a 1.3-percent increase.

According to Edwin Koc, NACE’s director of strategic and foundation research, the organization decided to conduct the survey again because of the recent chaos in the stock market and the credit crunch.

Univ. Receives $1.6 Million For Food Safety Research

Nikhita Parandekar — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

With issues surrounding the E. coli outbreak in 2006 from spinach, contaminated tomatoes this past summer and the toxic milk in China, food safety has garnered increased attention and Cornell researchers have been called to the line of duty.

Cornell has received a $1.6 million grant from the United States Department of Agriculture to study food safety, and is one of around 20 universities to receive part of a $13.8 million grant. The USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service annually awards grants to fund research that allows science based, practical findings to be shared amongst the food industry and consumers.

Critic Counters Claims Of Liberal Media Bias

Nikhita Parandekar — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0400

“I consider myself to be the liberal media,” said Eric Alterman ’82, media critic for The Nation, in his speech yesterday about media bias in the 2008 presidential election. In his speech, Alterman tried to convince his audience that the media is not as biased in the Democratic Party’s favor as people tend to think. More specifically, he asserted, the media is not biased in favor of presidential nominee Barack Obama.

Alterman began with a brief definition of what the media is. “Media,” he said, is a plural noun because it encompasses so many different sources.

“When most people talk about the media, what they mean is the elite national media,” Alterman said.

Nat’l Science Foundation Awards C.U. $10M Grant

Nikhita Parandekar — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Computer science and environmental sustainability are not often associated with each other. But the new Institute for Computational Sustainability at Cornell hopes to change that, with the help of $10 million from the National Science Foundation.

According to Prof. David Shmoys, operations research and information engineering, associate director of the institute, the center came into existence under the NSF’s “Expeditions in Computing” program. Upwards of 100 proposals were submitted to the NSF by different institutions. The NSF then narrowed the proposals down to four finalists, each of which was awarded a $10 million grant.

Confusion Over SHIP Concerns Grads

Nikhita Parandekar — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

In response to the passing of the Graduate Community Initiative, members of the Cornell Graduate and Professional Student Assembly visited the Geneva Experiment Station — about an hour southeast of Ithaca — in August to unite the graduate student community. Confusion surfaced, however, when students in attendance expressed concern about Cornell’s Student Health Insurance Plan, which many believed required those on the plan to travel all the way to the Gannett Health Center in Ithaca to receive health care.

Pres. Skorton Refuses to Sign Pledge to Lower Drinking Age

Nikhita Parandekar — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The Amethyst Initiative was created by a group of college presidents in June with the goal of inciting discussion about the effectiveness of the current drinking age. As of Wednesday, 129 presidents of colleges and universities around the country had signed an initiative supporting an investigation to lower the drinking age back to 18. President David Skorton was not one of the signatories.

Study Finds Hormone Makes Dairy Farming More Efﬁcient

Nikhita Parandekar — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0400

A study conducted at Cornell by the D.E. Bauman research group revealed that dairy cows that receive Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin (rbST) have a higher milk efficiency, which in turn lowers their carbon footprints. RbST is an FDA approved artificial growth hormone that allows cows to more efficiently use nutrients so that fewer cows are required to produce the same amount of milk.

“On an individual cow basis we get eight percent less manure, less feed, less land, less water [when supplemented with rbST]. We get less methane, nitrogen and phosphorus coming out of the cow,” said Judith Capper, animal science, the lead author of the study. “The cows give an extra 10 ounces of milk.”

University Elects Five New Members to Board of Trustees

Nikhita Parandekar — Thu, 15 May 2008 13:33:09 -0400

Cornell is the only Ivy League University to have students, faculty and staff as full members on the Board of Trustees, in addition to alumni. In its annual process of electing new trustees, the Board recently added five new names to the 64-person list of members, including a faculty member, staff member, graduate student, and two alumni.

"I think it's important to have a faculty voice at the Board of Trustees to maintain a connection between the deliberations and decisions of the Board and the activities and priorities of the University from a faculty and student perspective," said new Faculty Trustee Prof. Rosemary Avery, chair of the Department of Policy Analysis and Management

Puerto Rican Government Grants Funds to Arecibo

Nikhita Parandekar — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The Cornell-managed Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico has been under cost-cutting pressure due to budget cuts by the National Science Foundation. However, the observatory received a break with a new partnership agreement signed last week to bring in $2.3 million annually to Arecibo.

The National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center and the Puerto Rico Department of Education will run the program together, though the Department of Education will contribute the funds.

The money will go to fund a program called “Inspiration to Science,” which aims to educate kindergarten through 12th grade Puerto Rican school children.

LGBT Advocacy: A 40 Year Tradition Continues

Nikhita Parandekar — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

In 1968, Cornell students created the Student Homophile League, making Cornell the second university in the country to have a gay student organization. In the past 40 years, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender activism at Cornell has continued to evolve and support the LGBT community.

An exhibit in Olin Library titled “Queer Cornell: LGBT student activism, 1968-2008” opened on April 11. It displays quarter cards, flyers and pictures chronicling LGBT activism on campus since the SHL was created in 1968.

Profs React to National Writing Report Card

Nikhita Parandekar — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

When the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress Writing Assessment came out two weeks ago, the results — which have improved little in the recent past — raised questions about our nation’s education system.

The study found that about a third of eighth graders and one fourth of twelfth graders scored at the proficient level in writing. The report, called “The Nation’s Report Card,” revealed that there was no improvement in the proficiency level of students.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Donates $26.8 Million

Nikhita Parandekar — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation website declares that two simple values lie at the core of the foundation’s work: all lives, no matter where they are being lived, have equal value; and to whom much is given, much is expected.

To this extent, the Gates Foundation has granted Cornell $26.8 million to fund the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat program.

“The overall mission of this project is to protect world wheat production from the urgent threat posed by new variants of stem rust disease emerging out of East Africa,” reads the project’s executive summary. “The expected impact is to prevent catastrophic losses of wheat production among resource-poor farmers in Africa and Asia.”

C.U. Ranked as a Top Company for Exec. Women

Nikhita Parandekar — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

The National Association for Female Executives has named Cornell as one of the nation’s top companies for executive women.

Cornell was the only university amongst NAFE’s top five non-profit organizations that won the award and was ranked third in the category. According to NAFE’s website, the awards were given to companies with a minimum of two women serving as executives that applied. The application focused on the number of women in senior ranks compared to the number of men and included questions about programs that support the advancement of women.

Senate Inquiries Analyze Endowment Spending of Wealthiest Universities

Nikhita Parandekar — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 01:00:00 -0400

In January, the Senate Finance Committee, led by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) sent letters to the presidents of 136 universities with the highest endowments requesting information about tuition, financial aid and endowment usage, among other issues. Of the universities who were sent inquiries, Cornell was the first to respond to the committee.

By the Feb. 21 deadline, only 30 universities had sent in their replies. According to a Baucus aide, responses are still coming in. Many universities reportedly requested an extension in order to give a more thorough response.

Colleges Discuss Showing Course Evals to Students

Nikhita Parandekar — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences recently changed its policy regarding course evaluations, enabling both the numerical and written parts of the course evaluations in CALS to be made public. However, many of the deans at other colleges are hesitant to create the same level of transparency with regard to course evaluation policies.

College of Arts and Sciences Dean Peter Lepage is worried that the evaluations would serve too many purposes if made public.

“Faculty members are using them to get feedback on the course, details of the course structure, whether the textbook works, and department chairs are using them to keep an eye on the quality of the teaching,” said Lepage, adding that this would hinder their usefulness to students.

Research Finds Protein That Regulates DNA

Nikhita Parandekar — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Conducting basic research can often have unexpectedly important implications for human health.

That’s just what happened to a research team at Cornell that discovered how a protein named PARP-1 binds to genes and regulates their expression. Their work could have important impacts in diagnosing a number of diseases.

The researchers found that the location of the protein has a significant impact on human genes.

Prof. W. Lee Kraus, molecular biology, Matthew J. Gamble Ph.D. and Raga Krishnakumar grad co-authored an article about the research, which appeared in the Feb. 8 issue of the journal Science. The National Institutes of Health funded the research.

S.A. Looks to Pres. Skorton to Approve Resolution 12

Nikhita Parandekar — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Two weeks ago, the Student Assembly passed Resolution 12, which states that the president and executive vice president of the S.A. will be elected by the entire student body. Previously, only S.A. members voted for the top two executive officers. The S.A. is currently awaiting approval for the new resolution from President Skorton.

Article 2, Section 3 of the S.A. charter reads: “Amendments dealing with legislative authority belonging to the S.A. and with the membership and amendment procedure are subject to the approval of the President.”

Famed Evolutionist Lynn Margulis Lectures for Darwin Days

Nikhita Parandekar — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Prof. Lynn Margulis, geosciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, is known throughout the scientific community for her work in evolutionary biology. Yesterday, she delivered a lecture entitled “Darwin’s Truths and Symbiogenesis” as part of the Paleontological Research Institute at Cornell’s third annual Darwin Days celebration.

Margulis is well known for her contributions to the endosymbiotic theory, which explains that the organelles of cells are derived from bacteria. However, when she first suggested her ideas to the scientific community, she faced skepticism for many years.

S.A. Votes ‘Yes’ on Direct Election of President, V.P.

Nikhita Parandekar — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Cornell is no longer the only Ivy whose president and vice president of the governing student assembly are not elected by the student body.

Yesterday, the Student Assembly passed Resolution 12, which states that the president and executive vice president of the S.A. will be elected by the entire student body in all future elections. The resolution passed with a 15-1-3 vote.

Specifically, the resolution details that two of the eight at-large seats will be set aside as seats for the president and executive vice president. Now that the resolution is part of the S.A.’s charter, the first election it will affect will be in the 2008-2009 school year.

Resolution Proposes That Student Body Elect S.A. President and V.P.

Nikhita Parandekar — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Cornell is currently the only Ivy in which the president and vice president of the governing student association are not elected directly by the student body. However, tomorrow this may change after the Student Assembly votes on Resolution 12, which proposes that the entire student body elect the S.A. president and vice president directly.

Currently the president and executive vice president of the S.A. are elected by other assembly members.

The resolution was co-sponsored by Vince Hartman ’08, Arts and Sciences rep., and Director of Elections Mark Coombs ’08, rep. at large.

Hartman said, “Mark Coombs and I have always felt that the president and vice president should be elected by the student body because they directly represent the students.”

Students Urged to Start Safe Ride Program

Nikhita Parandekar — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

At some point, many Cornell students who have cars face the dilemma of whether to drive after drinking at party. Today, many colleges have volunteer safe ride programs, where students can call and request someone to drive them home if they have been drinking and cannot drive themselves — Cornell however, does not have such a program, nor are there any real plans underway to create one.

One of the reasons that Cornell does not have such a program is that students usually walk around campus instead of drive.

“Usually students walk or take the bus,” said Irene Rodriguez ’11. She added that for the most part, she has not noticed problems with students driving drunk.

Cost Remains High for New HPV Vaccine

Nikhita Parandekar — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Ever since Gardasil was approved by the FDA in June 2006, it has been widely advertised by the manufacturers as “the only cervical cancer vaccine.” However, it comes with a steep price tag that might deter some women from getting the vaccine.

Full vaccination requires three shots that are 132 dollars apiece if not covered by health insurance.

Gardasil is designed for women aged nine to 26 and it protects against human papillomavirus strains six, 11, 16 and 18. Strains 6 and 11 cause 90 percent of genital warts, and strains 16 and 18 cause 70 percent of cervical cancers. The series of three shots is given over the course of six months, with the first two shots being two months apart and the last shot coming four months later.

Prof. Brian Wansink Chosen to Lead Nutrition Center at USDA

Nikhita Parandekar — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

It is not unusual for a Cornell student to have taken part in an experiment conducted by the Cornell Food and Brand Lab. Free food and a stipend are enough to convince most students to give up some of their time for the research, but many are unaware that the lab is well-known for its nationally acclaimed research.

In a sign of the lab’s success and acclaim, Prof. Brian Wansink, nutrition, creator and director of the lab, has been named executive director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion.

Nancy Johner, Agriculture Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services told the Cornell Press Office, “We feel quite fortunate in having Dr. Wansink join our team here at the USDA, and look forward to working with him.”

CoursEnroll System to Undergo Major Upgrade

Nikhita Parandekar — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

The word “CoursEnroll” brings a groan from most Cornell students, often coupled with unpleasant memories of waking up at 6 a.m. to sit bleary-eyed by their computers. For many, CoursEnroll means several minutes of waiting with crossed fingers to see if they get into classes and often trying to rearrange schedules on the spot.

To help and deal with some of the problems students have found with CoursEnroll, a new system will be implemented for the Fall 2008 pre-enrollment .

The system, PeopleSoft, will have features such as course specific wait lists and “swap,” which would allow a student to drop an old class and add a new one simultaneously.

Panhel Elects New Executive Board

Nikhita Parandekar — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

On a campus with one of the largest collegiate Greek system in the United States, the Panhellenic Association, the largest women’s association on campus, is the umbrella organization for Cornell’s sororities.

Panhel recently held its annual executive board elections. The current executive board will preside until the end of January, and then the new executive board will take over.

Katie O’Neill ’09 of Alpha Xi Delta will be president of the new board, Sarah Watterson ’09 of Kappa Kappa Gamma will be executive vice president and Rowena Perry ’09 of Alpha Phi will be vice president of communications.

Law Schools Stay Competitive

Nikhita Parandekar — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0400

In an interesting conundrum, a survey conducted by Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions of law school admissions officers at 190 law schools across the country revealed that although the number of applicants to law schools has declined in the past few years, admittance is as competitive as ever.

According to Steve Marietti, pre-law programs director for Kaplan, the number of applicants to law schools dropped 4.8 percent two years ago, and 7.4 percent last year. However, last year there were still around 88,000 students who applied for 46,000 seats in the country.

Cornell Updates Bursar Software

Nikhita Parandekar — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Starting this semester, all students are required to pay an annual fee of $10 to use CornellCard regardless of whether or not they actively use their accounts. Previously, students were only required to pay the fee if they used the card.

The Bursar’s office will implement a new PeopleSoft software application next semester that is not compatible with CornellCard. PeopleSoft will enable the administration to use an “integrated suite of administrative applications” that is more economically efficient for the University, according to the a University press release.

Trail to Be Built Along Cayuga Lake

Nikhita Parandekar — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Cayuga Lake, one of Ithaca’s noted attractions, may soon be a little easier to visit as the City of Ithaca is building a waterfront trail along its southern end. The trail is being built in three phases: phase one was completed in 2002, but phase two has faced delays as it entails crossing the property of local residents and Cornell University.

The original path of the trail brought it close to the John Collyer Boat House, home to Cornell’s crew teams.

“We’ve been working closely with the designers and the City,” said University Planner Mina Amundsen.

According to Amundsen, negotiations have been progressing smoothly, and the trail will not interfere with the rowing teams.

College Leaders Knock Rankings

Nikhita Parandekar — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

The debate over college rankings took off earlier this year, when an article in The Washington Post revealed that U.S. News and World Report was using an arbitrary average SAT score to rank Sarah Lawrence College after the school stopped requiring SAT scores from its applicants.

On Sept. 7, 19 presidents of top liberal arts colleges signed a statement that discouraged the use of college rankings. Colleges that signed the statement aimed to reduce bias in the admissions process.

The statement read, “We commit not to mention … rankings in any of our new publications.”

C.U. Uses Grant to Fund Ph.D. Program in Ghana

Nikhita Parandekar — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Cornell plans to use a $1.7 million grant from The Alliance for a Green Revolution to provide support for the West African Center for Crop Improvement.

C.U. Experiment Station Celebrates 125 Years

Nikhita Parandekar — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Though it is thousands of miles away from the hot, muggy farmlands of Hawaii, a small research station 50 miles away from Ithaca in Geneva, N.Y., was instrumental in saving the island’s papaya industry.

According to Prof. Tony Shelton, entomology, several years ago, Cornell’s New York State Agricultural Experiment Station located in Geneva saved the industry through its development of a transgenic papaya.

While many undergraduate students may be unfamiliar with NYSAES, it is certainly not new to Cornell. The station was founded in 1882, but in 1923 it became part of Cornell and is now a part of College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. It is closely affiliated with the University’s Agricultural Experiment Station here in Ithaca.

Cornell U. Study Reveals Students’ Trust in Google

Nikhita Parandekar — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

According to a recent study completed at Cornell, students “trust Google’s positioning more than their rational judgments.” The study revealed that students are biased towards links that appear first when using a search engine such as Google.

The study obtained information through the use of “eye tracking,” where a small camera captures the reflection off a subject’s cornea to determine the position of the eye on the computer screen. According to Prof. Geri Gay, communication, co-author of the study, researchers were then able to know exactly what each subject looked at and for how long.

Twenty two Cornell undergraduates were randomly selected to participate in the study, and each was given 10 questions to find the answers to on Google.

Sustainability Center Aims to Unite C.U. Researchers

Nikhita Parandekar — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

The City of Ithaca has a history of being passionate about living sustainably, as evidenced by the presence of various environmental groups and rallying around issues such as Redbud Woods and recently, the Cayuga Lake Cooling Project.

Cornell is adding to the efforts by creating the Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future to integrate research efforts dealing with sustainability across and beyond the Cornell community. The need for the center arose in part as a response to President David Skorton’s signing of the President’s Climate Commitment to a climate-neutral campus last year.

Prof. Frank DiSalvo, physical science, alluded to the growing concern regarding sustainability in the past few years, both locally and globally. DiSalvo serves as interim head of the center.