By ryan November 20, 2000
Hundreds of Cornellians anted up Saturday night to take part in one of the oldest and most unique college parties anywhere in the country — the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity’s Victory Club ball. The event was billed last week as a “night of dancing, gambling and partying,” and certainly featured plenty of all three. Throughout the evening, revelers were treated to champagne, various musical groups and a host of blackjack tables and roulette wheels. It was the latter that captivated the attention — and money — of most guests at Saturday night’s bash at the Alpha Delt house. Indeed, more gamblers won than lost, yet the party still raised more than $1,300 for the Ithaca Fire Department, according to initial estimates. “It went really really well,” Victory Club co-director August Roth ’01 said. “Victory Club hasn’t had as strong a showing recently as it had in previous years. But people were telling me all night that this was the best Victory Club that they had ever been to.” Much of the mystique surrounding the charity ball, which was once rated the top party in the Ivy League by Playboy magazine, comes from its long and rich tradition. The party originated back in 1917, when Alpha Delt held a gambling event to raise money for World War I victory loans. It quickly went underground after the onset of the prohibition era in 1919. Since the end of that period, the biannual Victory Club has been held on and off. This fall, it was on again during the semester, unlike last spring when the party did not occur until the week after classes had ended, much to the delight of the approximately 400 people that attended. “I always have a good time here,” Jason Farrington ’01 said. “I love when everyone tries to act classy.” As a member of Cayuga’s Waiters, one of the a cappella groups that performed Saturday night, Farrington provided guests with just one of the many entertainment options at the party, which also featured After Eight, Bernie Milton’s Motown Band and Johnny Russo’s instrumental group. “There is a little bit of everything,” Jenna Lewis ’03 said. “It’s the best party I have been to all semester.” Despite being “down about $20,” her date, Nick Matuszczak ’01, added, “This is one of the best nights there is to be had at Cornell.” About his gambling loss, he noted, “It’s all for charity. Everyone here has that mentality.” Unlike at some recent Victory Clubs, in which guests have complained of the champagne running out too early in the evening, the supply of bubbly was never in question this time. “We went out and got 420 bottles, maybe a hundred more than in past years,” Roth said. Along with Alpha Delt, On Site Volunteer Services, a student-run non-profit agency, helped staff the event, particularly by providing blackjack dealers. Archived article by Aron Goetzl
By ryan November 20, 2000
The packed amphitheater was perfectly silent as several hundred people listened intently to Dr. Fotis Kafatos. Filling a massive screen with countless rows of genetic sequencing, the scientist translated the seemingly hieroglyphic rows of “CCTTTACACCGA” into a recognizable language. Kafatos, of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, was the second speaker in a series of three, chosen to honor Prof. Thomas Eisner, the Jacob Gould Shurman Professor of Chemical Ecology. As the “Father of Chemical Ecology”, Eisner has been a mentor to many in the field, including Kafatos. Friday afternoon from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., an eclectic panel of speakers honored Eisner. Held in the Proscenium Theatre in The Center for Theatre Arts, notables such as Dr. Edward O. Wilson, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, John Hildebrand, the former president of the International Society for Chemical Ecology, and President Hunter R. Rawlings III spoke to honor Prof. Eisner. Rawlings opened the symposium entitled “Learning From Nature” and congratulated Eisner on his immense contributions to not only Cornell, but to the world. The symposium centered around celebrating the lifelong work of Eisner. He has been described as “the founder of Chemical Ecology,” said Janis Strope, Prof. Eisner’s assistant. Eisner is also the Director of the Cornell Institute for Research in Chemical Ecology, has co-authored seven books, conducted field research on over four continents and is a recipient of the National Medal of Science. As well as all of his published articles and field research, “he is a wonderful teacher,” Strope said. “Through his teaching alone he reaches a lot of people- scientific and non-scientific.” Gathering Chemical Ecologists from around the country, the symposium gave the various speakers opportunities to share recent breakthroughs in the field of Chemical Ecology. The symposium included brief remarks by Jerrold Meinwald, the G Smith professor of chemistry, President Emeritus Dale R. Corson, Roger Payne, Visiting Prof. Diane Ackerman of the society for humanities, Prof. Roald Hoffman, chemistry and President Emeritus Frank H. T. Rhodes. John H. Law moderated the event and Cornell’s Prof. Charles Walcott, neurobiology, delivered closing remarks. Kafatos, the second speaker in the series, delivered a speech entitled, “Life at the Molecular Level: The Malaria Parasite and the Mosquito Vector.” Summarizing his recent laboratory work, he discussed his “attempt to locate the Malaria resistant gene”. Displaying columns of numbers, charts and data graphs, he also reached the non-scientific audience members through his speech, “We are actually constructing a physical map of the mosquito genome.” The goal of Kafatos’ work is to discover genetic map for the malaria virus. In his speech he said, “You only need the tip of the leg of a mosquito to trace its DNA from end to end,” said Kafatos. By studying the minutia of such a tiny creature, he and his colleagues hope to “use sophisticated genetic mapping” in order “to develop new strategies for controlling malaria,” he said. After hearing Kafatos speak, Brian Finucane ’03 described Kafatos’ speech as an attempt “to explain the interplay between the mosquito, the human, and malaria.” According to Strope, the symposium was a success. “It’s going really well,” Strope said, “We’ve gotten a great turn out.” Finucane was also impressed, “In 20 minutes of sitting there I learned more than in three weeks of Genetics 281,” said Finucane. The symposium not only succeeded in honoring Eisner, but served as a forum for some of the scientific community to share and exchange recently acquired knowledge that may one day lead to medical breakthroughs that could save millions of lives. “Unless you know the parasite, you have no rational way of controlling it,” Kafatos said. Archived article by Christen Eddy