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S.A. to Discuss SAFC Revisions

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Every semester, hundreds of student organizations on campus dread the intricate process of requesting funds from the Student Assembly Finance Committee, but that may all change today when the S.A. votes on the SAFC’s revised edition of the rules and regulations handbook.
After spending the past six weeks discussing new guidelines for the funding process, the SAFC is prepared to submit their revised edition.
According to Taylor Mulherrin ’09, co-chair of the SAFC, the latest changes are meant to make the process easier for applicants, easing frustrations and dissatisfaction with the SAFC.

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Dolgin Addresses Water Threat in Middle East

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Noam Dolgin might be the first ever ‘Mr. JewSA,’ but he hasn’t let it get to his head. No, despite receiving this honor from New York City’s 14th Street Young Men’s Hebrew Association for his skills as a multitalented tofu chef, comedian and motivator, he continues to travel throughout the U.S. and Canada educating young and old on environmental issues across the globe.
Appearing yesterday at Anabel Taylor Chapel, Dolgin brought his expertise to Cornell, speaking on the rarely discussed environmental situation in Israel. Focusing on the connections between security, economics and environment, he emphasized the importance of addressing the growing problems of resource overuse and pollution to ensure the future of this struggling country.

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Ethics Under Fire: Military, Anthropologists Team Up

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Unlike the secret weapons of WWII that helped the U.S. bring an end to fighting in Japan, the newest addition to military units in Iraq and Afghanistan are a bit less radioactive. But the debate surrounding this hot issue is proving to be just as explosive.
Since the development of a new program that teams anthropologists with U.S. soldiers for military operations in the war-torn regions of the Middle East, a heated conflict within the scientific community has emerged. Battling over considerations of ethics, anthropologists are now fighting over the future of their discipline in the war zone.

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Journalist Highlights Controversies Surrounding News Coverage of Iraq

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As the bullets fly outside, people scream for help from the bombarded streets around a makeshift medical clinic in downtown Fallujah. Approaching the building with blood pumping from a hole in her neck, a girl fights her way through the chaos making a sickening gurgle noise with every breath. The city is getting torn to pieces by sniper fire and bombers streaking across the sky. And today was supposed to be a ceasefire.

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Tompkins Lures Young Professionals to Settle

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While Ithaca may not at first glance seem like a bustling metropolis compared to the skylines of New York City or Los Angeles, for Upstate New York it is the pinnacle of excellence when it comes to the region’s dreaded “brain drain.”
As the young and educated throughout most of Upstate N.Y. jump ship looking for something different down south or out west, Tompkins County has actually gained many members of this demographic. In what has become known as Upstate N.Y.’s “brain drain,” many of the forward-thinking college graduates that are needed to get the region’s economy back on track are moving elsewhere.
So then what is so unique about Tompkins?

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C.U. Lags Behind Peer Schools in Pell Grant Distribution

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For a University founded on the principle of “any person, any study,” Cornell is greatly lacking in economic diversity, ranking among the most financially exclusive institutions in the country.
According to a recent report in Postsecondary Education Opportunity, a monthly newsletter focusing on issues of education and accessibility, enrollment of Pell Grant recipients at Cornell has declined by over 25 percent since 2000 while the number of grant recipients across the country has increased by almost 40 percent.

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Skorton Addresses University Trends in Global Initiatives

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Poverty, malnutrition, violence and despair — this is what much of the world faces on a daily basis from the jungles of Sub-Saharan Africa to the rugged mountains of Afghanistan despite dedicated relief efforts by organizations like the United Nations and the World Bank. However, there may be hope for these regions, according to President Skorton, with a little help from Cornell.
At a time when over 2 billion people live on less than $2 a day, according to the World Bank, new players must come up with a new plan to address issues of global inequality, said Skorton in a public address last night on global capacity building. The new players, he said, should be American universities and the new plan, the Global University Initiative.

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Unique Dynamic Gives Obama Upper Hand in Tompkins

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Ithaca’s “ten square miles surrounded by reality” seemed to encompass the whole of Tompkins County last Tuesday when Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) soundly defeated Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) in the county’s Democratic primary. But the question remains: how?
Despite losses in every other county throughout the state, Obama finished with a nearly 17-point lead over home-stater Clinton last week in Tompkins. Across the rest of New York, Clinton received 57 percent of the Democratic vote, while Obama was awarded only 40 percent.

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C.U. Research Works To End Bioterrorism

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While U.S. troops battle terrorism abroad in Iraq and Afghanistan, scientists at the Weill-Cornell Medical College are doing their part a little closer to home — strengthening America’s defense against threats of bioterror.
Since the anthrax attacks of 2001, a fear of bioterrorism has heightened the need for research on treatment options to prevent potential catastrophes. With new developments at Weill-Cornell, however, two potentially deadly viruses — Hendra and Nipah — may no longer pose a danger to national security.
The two viruses were discovered in the ’90s when outbreaks killed over 100 people in Australia and Asia, primarily due to transmission from close contact with infected animals, according to the World Health Organization.

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CU Stem Cell Research Gets $2 Million From NY State

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In an effort to expand stem cell research programs across the state, Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s Empire State Stem Cell Board recently awarded $14.5 million worth of research grants to 25 New York based institutions, including nearly $2 million, for Cornell’s Ithaca campus and the Weill-Cornell Medical College in New York City.
According to Dr. Shahin Rafii, director of Weill’s Ansary Stem Cell Center for Regenerative Medicine, these awards are a promising step in the right direction, providing much needed funds to a highly underfinanced field.