Student Spotlight on Mika Matera-Vatnick ’21: Researching Insect Reproduction Genetics

When Mika Matera-Vatnick ’21 received President Martha E. Pollack’s email in March announcing the closing of campus, her first thought was, “What am I gonna do with my flies?” Matera-Vatnick, like many other undergraduate student researchers on campus, had to abandon her honors thesis research project as classes transitioned online for the remainder of the semester.

JONES | Four Years Just Isn’t Enough Time

I recently petitioned the Academic Records Committee in the College of Arts and Sciences to spend a fifth year at Cornell as an undergraduate — which would give me enough time to pursue an additional major. The process of petitioning the Committee is brutal, if not totally irrational. Students interested in staying a longer time at Cornell to pursue an extra degree are advised to get approval from their faculty advisor and the Director of Undergraduate Studies for each current and new degree. They also must submit a five-year course plan, all before the add deadline for courses, Feb. 5.

JONES | Cornell Needs an Undergrad Applied Math Department

Pen and paper in hand, I felt a jolt of relief as I finished scribbling the last answer to a math problem set due in 20 minutes. Feeling accomplished, I paraded from Olin Library to Malott Hall, the mathematics building, hoping to find my TA’s office where homework is dropped off. Upon arriving at Malott, I opened Blackboard to look for his precise office location. The result was appalling: My moment of accomplishment immediately receded as I discovered my TA’s office was located 15 minutes away in Rhodes Hall, which is by the Engineering Quad on the opposite end of the campus. Fortunately, after sprinting to Rhodes, I somehow was able to submit my homework on time.