Running To Glory

By wpengine | November 25, 2002

Practice has already begun for the women’s track and field squad as they prepare for the upcoming indoor season. This year’s squad hopes to have another solid year after winning both the indoor and outdoor Heptagonal championships last year. They also came in eighth indoors at the Eastern College Athletic Conference leading the Ivy League finishers.

According to head coach Lou Duesing, “The expectations for this year are the same for every season, every year,” as he notes that there is no pressure to continue the success of last season.

The Red lost a few of its important contributors, as three league champions and two of the top weight throwers graduated this past May, but also returns much of its talent from last season in addition to a solid recruiting class. “Everyone is pumped, ready and excited for another good year,” says senior tri-captain Natalie Whelan.

The sprint group will be headed by senior Katy Jay, two-time Heptagonal MVP and Northeast Region most valuable athlete. She is joined by junior Hannah Garrity, who also had a great year as she scored in four events at last year’s indoor Heptagonals.

Sophomores Kari Steed, Jessica Brown, and Shonda Brown all had incredible freshman campaigns, while junior Jill Crispell and senior Conniel Arnold round out the returning members. A group of six talented freshmen will try and add to the Red’s existing talent as they look to make an impact in the sprint group.

Three of Cornell’s leading hurdlers in the 60 and 100-meter races return including 60-meter indoor Heptagonal champion and tri-captain Merili Mosley. Garrity, as well as seniors Caitlain Ramsey and Jamie Greubel complete the short hurdle group. The 400-meter hurdle group is led by second place Heps finisher Shonda Brown who is joined by sophomore Alicia Sim, junior Ashley McMillan and three freshmen.

The middle distance runners also bring together a very strong team building off last year’s success although they will be missing Heps mile champion and 1500 NCAA-qualifier Lena Mathews and Heps scorer Halle Watson. This year’s squad will be lead by senior tri-captain Natalie Whelan, a three-time league finalist in the 800 and was All-East indoors last season in the 1,000. Juniors Ann Hansgate, Natalie Gingerich and Kinsy Miller also had great sophomore campaigns and look to contribute again.

Sophomores Carrie Richards, Jessica Brown, Amber McGown, Sarah Coseo, Jen Meil and Alison Koplar all made an impact in their Cornell debut and look to produce another quality year long with five freshmen recruits.

The distance group will be lead by senior two-time Heps scorer and school steeplechase record holder Carlan Gray. Sophomore Kari Haus and juniors Jessica Parrott, Aliza Cohen, Christine Eckstaedt are also had impressive seasons last year.

The Red’s jump group will be headed by juniors Kalifa Pilgrim, who placed second at the outdoor Heps in the long jump along with Irbralate Stanley-Ikhilioju, who placed third at the outdoor Heps in the triple jump, leading the horizontal group. They are joined by junior Liz Ferguson, the current long jump record holder, and freshman Karen Synder, the New York State triple jump champ.

In the high jump, the Red returns two tough competitors in Jessica Brown and junior Lauren Kilduff, while the pole vault sees the return of senior Molly Dickens.

The throwers for the Red will be led by tri-captain Sarah Herskee, who scored in every throwing event indoors and outdoors last year at the Heps.

Adding to the group will be sophomore Stacey Nadolny, Heps champion in the discus and an ECAC qualifier, sophomore Becky Tucker, freshman record holder in the hammer, and senior Linda Aarismaa. In the javelin, Herskee and sophomore Ginny Lerch will guide the way.

Together, all of the groups work to provide the Red with a young, deep and talented track and field squad.

Herskee added, “Eeveryone is focused on what we can do together. We’re still excited, but we’re taking it one meet at a time”.

The Red begins its campaign on Dec. 7 at the Cornell Relays here in Ithaca.

Archived article by Danielle Nicholson

C.U. Engineers New Rice Strain

By wpengine November 26, 2002

Cornell scientists announced today that they have developed a method to improve the resilience and yield of rice — a crop that feeds over half of the world’s population, according to a report in today’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. By adding a single gene to the common rice plant, the researchers created a crop that has the potential to grow more quickly than other rice under normal conditions and is more tolerant of chilling temperatures, drought conditions and high water salinity. “The goal of this work was to make rice plants that were more tolerant of environmental stress,” said Research Associate Ajay Garg, molecular biology and genetics, lead author of the study. “We tested drought stress, chilling, and salt stress and found a number of plants that show substantially increased tolerance.” This research could generate new varieties of rice that can be grown in a wider range of temperatures and in brackish water. These varieties could also produce more grain per plant under the more hospitable conditions in which rice is now grown, Garg said. “This increases the area where rice can be grown. The plants will also tolerate water loss. They won’t grow without water but they will resume growing once the water has returned,” said Prof. Thomas Owens, plant biology. Of the world’s 130 million hectares of land where rice is grown, about 30 percent contain enough salt to either stunt rice yields or prevent cultivation altogether. Another 20 percent of this land is periodically subject to drought conditions that routinely affect food production. About 10 percent of locations where rice is grown occasionally experience temperatures that are too low for healthy plant development. The rice yield starts to diminish when the temperature is 15 degrees Celsius or below, but the transgenic plants produce normal yields at these temperatures. “In principle, this same technique can be used to transform other major cereal crops such as corn and wheat, also providing them with increased resistance to stress,” said Project Leader Prof. Ray Wu, molecular biology and genetics. Rice, along with corn and wheat, accounts for 70 percent of the calories consumed by the human population. With experts projecting a doubling of the population over the next century, transgenic crops such as these could help agriculture keep up with demand. The genetically engineered plants produce a sugar called trehalose, which increases tolerance to adverse conditions. In invertebrates, bacteria and yeast, trehalose acts to preserve organisms in the absence of water. “Since trehalose protects so many organisms from environmental stress, the goal was to make more of it in rice,” Owens said. Brine shrimp eggs, commercially marketed as fish food or as pet “sea monkeys,” can remain dried up for years in a state of suspended animation due to their trehalose content. The resurrection plant, found in desert environments, can also remain in a dry, suspended state due to the presence of this sugar. “We have designed the experiment so that the trehalose gene turns on when there is a stress. In the past, people have inserted the gene so that it is turned on all the time, which stunts the growth of the plants. Since the genes are only induced to turn on when there is a stress, the plants grow normally and become more stress tolerant,” Wu said. The lab has experimented with six different genes, each of which provides some degree of stress tolerance. “What is special about the gene used in this case is that the degree of protection from stresses has been much higher than with the other genes that we have tested,” Wu said. In addition to the expected increase in resilience due to the addition of the sugar, the researchers made a discovery they were not anticipating. The modified plants also exhibited higher levels of photosynthetic activity. “Humans have been breeding plants for 5,000 years. One goal has been to produce more yield by allocating more resources to producing fruit or grain. Another goal has been to increase photosynthesis, which has been difficult to achieve even with genetic engineering. Now it appears we have found one way to do so,” Owens said. A crop with an elevated photosynthetic rate grows faster and produces more seeds, for example more rice grains, per plant. “We accidentally stumbled on something we didn’t expect,” Owens said. “We’ve only uncovered the grossest characteristics of this. We don’t really understand the mechanism.” Owens hopes that further research will lead to a more thorough understanding of how the photosynthetic rate is increased. Meanwhile, other research interests are beginning to pay off as well. “We’ve done additional work with another gene that enhances rice yield,” Garg said. Although results are preliminary, this research could provide scientists with additional insights as to how food production might be boosted. In the shorter term, crops more resilient to environmental conditions would be less susceptible to short-term drought and off years, thus stabilizing the food supply and commodity markets. “A limiting factor is acceptance of genetically modified crops as a food source. As we saw with golden rice, these things don’t always make it to the people who they are intended to help,” Owens said. Golden rice was developed in 1999 by scientists in Switzerland and Germany as a means of supplementing the diets of those in developing countries with beta-carotene, a precursor to vitamin A. Beta-carotene provides the rice with the “golden” tint from which its name is derived. According to the World Health Organization, millions around the world suffer from blindness and early death due to vitamin A deficiency, but the technology has not yet made it to the field. “I think golden rice was the first test system. Hopefully in a year or two, many of the legal considerations and other problems related to this will be resolved through the golden rice issue,” Wu said. Environmentalist groups and others have opposed the plant due to its genetically engineered origin. However, as these issues are being resolved, golden rice may pave the way for other transgenic technologies. “Humans react to things in crisis mode, so if food is not a problem for the majority of people with money, then there’s no rush to apply this technology,” Owens said. When the technology makes it to the field, a journey that is expected to take at least three years, it will be made available freely to farmers in developing countries, Wu said. Commercial farmers in rich countries will have to go through the normal channels and pay the appropriate licensing fees. “Our research is for humanity and global food security,” Garg said. The six-year project was funded largely by the Rockefeller Foundation. The findings are published in today’s issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Archived article by Philip Lane
Company Accuses Hum Ec of Stealing Techniques

By wpengine November 26, 2002

Bruce Chapman, president of Handle With Care Behavior Management System, Inc. (HWC), accused his competitor Cornell and its subsidiary Therapeutic Crisis Intervention (TCI) of publishing a training manual and videotape containing his patent-pending “Two Person Escort Position” in a move to unfairly compete with his company. HWC programs, according to Chapman, are well-known throughout the human services industry for the effectiveness of their methods in subduing out-of-control behavior, particularly in children in residential care facilities. Chapman’s methods, taught in HWC programs, have been effective in preventing patients who have become violent or out of control from harming themselves or others for over 30 years. TCI is a program run through the Family Life Development Center in the College of Human Ecology. TCI sells instructional services and materials for the human services industry, particularly training on how to prevent undue violence in residential care facilities for children. According to Chapman, “TCI until recently held a significant share of the market. Lately, the balance has been sliding away from TCI and towards my company.” In a letter to Martha Holden of the Family Life Development Center and Therapeutic Crisis Intervention, Chapman outlined the alleged violations. “Cornell is behaving in a way that is academically dishonest,” said Chapman, “and is putting children and the staff that takes care of them at risk.” HWC’s standard training provides human services workers with instruction on controlling situations through taking several calculated steps and using several patented positions in order to subdue patients without pain or injury, according to Chapman and the company’s website. As stated in Chapman’s letter of Oct. 23, ” this misappropriation of our Two Person Escort Position places TCI in an unfair advantage to compete against Handle With Care on future contracts.” The video, according to Chapman’s letter, shows Doug Bidleman, a TCI staff member, demonstrating HWC’s patented Primary Restraint Technique as well. Bidleman, said Chapman, “Was, at the time the video was shot, a certified HWC instructor as well as a TCI instructor.” TCI’s staff profile website states that Bidleman is, “The coordinator for Sociotherapy Training at Hillside Children Center in Rochester,” and, “specializes in crisis intervention and physical restraint training techniques.” Bidleman refused to comment to The Sun. Aside from having misappropriated his techniques, Chapman said, “TCI is taking my escort method and trying to use it with the basket hold, which has big gaping holes from a safety standpoint.” Chapman added, “There is a risk of asphyxiation. It becomes unsafe when it gets unstable, and then it creates an unsafe scenario. I don’t want my technique associated with this.” The misuse of these control techniques could lead to serious injury or potentially a fatality, according to Chapman, and is especially dangerous given the tendency of out of control behavior to run in waves among children. “This matter has been referred to University Counsel,” said Stephen Hamilton, co-director of the Family Life Development Center. When asked for further comment, Hamilton refused and asserted that the matter was going to be left to the counselor. Patricia McClary, the associate University counsel, could not be reached for comment. Chapman further said he was annoyed with the unresponsiveness of TCI and the University as a whole. According to Chapman, he has yet to receive a response to his letter to McClary of Nov. 14 or his letter to President Hunter R. Rawlings III. Archived article by Chris Mitchell