Agriculture

Advocating For Agriculture on a National Level

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Conor McCabe ’18, promoted federal funding for agricultural research and land-grant universities in Washington D.C from March 4th to 7th as the first-ever student selected to serve as a delegate for the Association of Public Land Grant Universities’ Council for Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching. In an interview with The Sun, McCabe talked about the importance of having a current student’s perspective when making funding decisions relating to education and research. “Many of the individuals who previously served on [CARET] were at the end of their careers, but there had never been a point of view of someone who was currently experiencing the land-grant system as a student,” McCabe said. “I had such a unique story to tell that would show the power of the land-grant university system and how my life has been directly impacted by it.”

The motivation behind McCabe’s involvement in D.C. stemmed not only from his academic background, but also from his personal history. The kinds of agricultural programs for which he advocated in D.C. were similar to those from which he had benefited from in his childhood.

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Pundits Argue Over Validity of CALS Degrees

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In the arena of American political discourse, almost every area of life, ranging from religious convictions to familial relations, is subject to attack and satire. This past week, those attacks have hit Cornell particularly hard, as Ann Coulter ’84, right-wing political pundit, mocked the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences on her website.
In a blog post last Wednesday, Coulter, who attended the College of Arts and Sciences, questioned the educational background of Keith Olbermann ’79, one of her left-wing counterparts, who attended the agriculture college.

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State Cuts Force Colleges to Adapt

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New York governor David Paterson (D-N.Y.) has imposed a mid-year budget cut that decreased the state funding to Cornell’s four statutory colleges (Human Ecology, Veterinary Medicine, Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Industrial and Labor Relations) from over $159 to $153 million, according to Ron Seeber, vice provost for land grant affairs. This decrease represents a loss of between 6 and 7 percent of their previous state funding for each of the four colleges.
While the $6 million worth of cuts have already been enacted, a further $2.5 million cut is currently being debated for the 09-10 year, and it will not be voted on by the legislature until the budget is approved at the end of March or early April.

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AEM Emphasizes Leadership

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The Department of Applied Economics and Management in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences launched its new student leadership program with a slew of events last Thursday and Friday.
More than 30 distinguished alumni on AEM’s Business Advisory Council helped introduce the Business Opportunities in Leadership and Diversity (BOLD) program through a series of workshops, seminars and panels designed to usher in a new era of leadership focus for the AEM department.