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March 14, 2003

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Softball Heads South

By wpengine | March 14, 2003

After having its first two weekends of scheduled games canceled due to the inclement weather in the northeast, the softball team will make its 2003 debut in the state of Florida. The Red will kick off its trip against Stetson in DeLand, Fla. before heading to the Rebel Games in Kissimmee. Its opponents during the week-long tournament will include IUPUI, St. Peters, Dayton, Rider, George Washington, Vermont, Fordham, Army, Florida A&M and Colgate. Cornell will conclude its long road trip at Daytona Beach against Bethune Cookman.

The Red had been scheduled to play Drexel last weekend and the Dixie Classic the week before that, but all seven games were canceled. Additionally, as a result of the poor field conditions in Ithaca, the team has been unable to practice outdoors and has been relegated to the Ramin Room.

On its trip to Florida last season, Cornell went 6-8. The Red lost doubleheaders to both Stetson and Bethune Cookman a season ago on the bookends of the week-long journey, but managed a 6-4 mark in the Rebel Games. Two of those wins came against two teams — Vermont and Florida A&M — that the club will see again this season. Cornell beat the Catamounts by a 6-2 score while pummeling Florida A&M into a five-inning 9-0 victory.

Cornell will finally play its first home games of the season on March 27 when it hosts Colgate in an afternoon doubleheader.

Archived article by Alex Ip

Related

Obscure Office Plays Key Role

By wpengine March 24, 2003

Ask a student at Cornell what an ombudsman does and they probably won’t have the right answer. “The office is in Stimson,” said Lin Yang ’05, “so I thought he was in charge of taking care of trees or plants.” Hilary Corsun ’06 gave a more common response, “I have no idea.” Corsun came close though when she said that an ombudsman “tells you where to go when you need help.” The official Dictionary.com definition of an ombudsman is “a man who investigates complaints and mediates fair settlements.” Since its creation in 1969, the Ombudsman’s office at Cornell has been a place where students, faculty, and staff can go to discuss any complaints that they may have against Cornell. Prof. Walter R. Lynn, civil and environmental engineering, who currently holds the position of University Ombudsman, describes the office as “a place where people can address their problems with the institution and utilize [this office] to help them try to resolve those.” Lynn is the eleventh in a line of Ombudsmen that began with Prof. Alice Cook, industrial and labor relations. The Ombudsman’s office is also staffed by Associate University Ombudsman Ronald Bricker and Assistant Ombudsman Danilee Poppensiek. Together with Lynn, they have over 20 years of experience in dealing with people’s complaints. “They’re the smart people,” said Lynn. “They’ve been doing this job for a long time and they’re really good at it.” The job consists mostly of helping the roughly 400 people who come to them each year to understand University policies and procedures. “Who looks at that?” asked Lynn, gesturing to shelves full of policy notebooks. “It’s only when people get in some sort of trouble [that they read them].” Over the years, the staff of the Ombudsman’s office has seen all sorts of trouble. They’ve handled concerns ranging from simple grade disputes, all the way to sexual harassment cases. “Sometimes people bring in something that might take you just a minute or two to answer and then other times it might take you 3 or 4 months,” said Poppensiek. The staff has also seen many changes. For example, though the office has handled sexual harassment problems in the past, federal legislation now requires that those cases be referred to the Office of Workplace Diversity office. While the Ombudsman’s office is a great source of advice and information about policy, it has no direct power to resolve problems. “We don’t have the authority to say you have to do the following,” said Lynn. “Our procedure would be to tell somebody, whoever it might be, the University rules say you have to do the following.” The Ombudsman’s office can also contact people on behalf of someone, but only if that person gives them permission to discuss their complaint with others. Confidentiality is a very big concern for the Ombudsman’s office. “We wouldn’t take any action unless we told the person what that would be and with whom that would be,” said Poppensiek. Similarly, anyone who comes to them with a complaint or for advice can rest assured that their privacy will be protected. “Confidentiality is absolutely essential,” said Lynn. This belief is shared by all members of the office and comes up again and again in their brochure, on their website, and in speaking with them. However, the confidentiality only goes so far. “There’s no way we can deny a subpoena,” admitted Lynn, but “that’s the limit.” However, the office keeps no formal records, so even if their records were subpoenaed very little would be revealed. All three members of the Ombudsman’s office are more than happy to speak with any member of the Cornell community about any complaints or situations that arise. “The office is here to help people,” Lynn said. Poppensiek agreed, mentioning that one student had come in recently with a simple problem because he “just wanted to talk to someone” about it. “I thought that was really a smart thing for him to have done,” Poppensiek said. “It’s too bad more people don’t behave in that way.” Bricker encouraged people to come to the office. “Sometimes [people] really need someone to work [problems] through with who is uninvolved and hopefully can give them a little objective advice.” Archived article by Courtney Potts
New Ornithology Lab Opens

By wpengine March 24, 2003

On March 26, the Spring Field Ornithology course will begin its 27th year of weekly lectures and field trips. This year, however, the lectures for the course will be held in the new Cornell Lab of Ornithology on the Eastern shore of Sapsucker Woods Pond. Though it was opened to the public in mid-March, the grand opening is scheduled for early June, when multimedia exhibits sponsored by the National Science Foundation will be highlighted by a ceremony. The new lab is five times larger than the previous building and blends in with its surroundings at the Sapsucker Woods Pond to compliment its host ecosystem. The new lab will include a two-story observation tower that looks out onto the pond, as well as a visitors’ center. The visitors’ center will house a listening room with recordings from the Library of Natural Sounds. The highlight of the old lab was the Fuertes Room, which was named for the Ornithological artist Louis Agassiz Fuertes, the most notable ornithological painter since Audobon and a native Ithacan. The new lab will double the size of the Fuertes Room, and will display much of Fuertes’ artwork, as well as rotating exhibits, on a double-high wall. This room was supposed to be the sight of the Spring Field Ornithology course this week, but construction delays have moved the course to the Observatory. The Wed. evening lectures will begin March 26, and will continue every week though May 14. Lecture topics range from water fowl, hawk, and owl identification, to bird research and binocular use. Field trips can also be taken either Sat. or Sun. mornings, every weekend from March 29 to May 17. The end of the course also has two longer optional field trips. The trip on May 10 and 11 is to the Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Oceanville, N. J. This trip corresponds to the World Series of Birding at Cape May, N. J. Last year’s competition was won by the Cornell Lab “Sapsuckers,” who found the highest number of total species. The last field trip of the course is to the Arnot Forest on May 17 and 18, and includes an evening hike to spot owls. The new facilities will allow for a larger enrollment of 150 students for the lectures. Though the Spring Field Ornithology course is listed as BIO G 200, and can be taken for two credits when both the lectures and field trips are attended, the class has generally been composed of “about 1/3 undergraduates,” said Allison Wells, communications and outreach director for the Lab of Ornithology. “Some Cornell undergrads are really good birders, though, and lead field trips,” Wells added. The remaining students in the course have been mostly local Ithaca residents, who often go on to further ornithological involvement after taking the course. Many take the “home study course in bird biology, and some who take Spring Field Ornithology join the Cayuga Bird Club, or become Lab members,” reported Terry Mingle, course coordinator for the Spring Field Ornithology Course. Some students take the course repeatedly as a “rite of spring, they come back every year,” Mingle said. Much of the enthusiasm for birding inspired in the students is attributed to lecturer Dr. Stephen Kress, who is the National Audobon Society’s vice president for bird conservation. He “has a fabulous sense of humor and a broad knowledge of birds — from why they sing, to why they do certain behaviors, how to use binoculars, and where to go for great birding in the area,” Wells said. The new lab will hopefully generate greater interest in the course among undergraduates, as well as allow more people to take the course. Wells said that there “has not been enough room in the past, but the new building is conducive to lectures, and there has already been more traffic to the lab.” When asked if she thought she might be interested in the course, Jessica Rounds ’04 said, “The long field trips at the end of the semester would be really hard because the semester gets really busy around that time. But it would be really interesting and fun to take, just not that practical.” Archived article by Tony Apuzzo