Course GPAs

26 10 2008

So, in my own personal experience at Cornell, I’ve had a number of classes that I’ve done well in, and a number of courses that proverbially bent me over and made me beg for sweet, sweet mercy. My own coursework bridges CALS and the College of Engineering, so personally I’ve often wondered about the average GPAs with regards to my own in a course, or major, or college. I’m not the best at differential equation by a long shot (A little part of me dies every time I see the C- on my transcript), but I’m rather addicted to stats.

Luckily for my stats cravings, course GPAs are readily accessible online. A resolution passed in the mid 1990s allowed for the readily accessible publications of grade reports in order to get an idea of the average GPA in a given class :

http://registrar.sas.cornell.edu/Student/mediangradesA.html

http://registrar.sas.cornell.edu/Grades/MedianGradeFA07.pdf

http://registrar.sas.cornell.edu/Grades/MedianGradeSP07.pdf

Sadly, the website has no information for the past school year- rather surprising and unfortunate for the curious souls who want to know the average grades for their course in the past year. However, this doesn’t mean that there isn’t any worthwhile informmation to be gleaned from these reports.

On a whim, I decided to search out the course with the lowest average in the two above pdfs (grades back to 1997 can be accessed from the main website). The spring 2007 reveals two C+’s that tie fro the lowest course average:  MATH 191, the Calc I for engineers, had 41 students and an average of a C+, which is low even for our friends in the engineering school, and the second is HD 260, “Intro to Personality”, which had 57 registered students. It was cross-listed with the 141-student PSYCH 275, which averaged a B.

The fall list doesn’t even have any C+’s. Instead, the lowest grade is a B-, which was the average in the Bio G 101 (intro bio intended for weeding out some of the wanna-be pre-med’s), and M&AE 325, a course in “Analysis of Mechanics and Aerospace”, which sounds as difficult as it probably is. Physics 213, the second of the engineering physics courses, also pulled a B- average for its 401 students. Ironically, the sequence in my major is 207-208-214, not that it matters much anyway because my physics grade averages to a B-. I have a hair above a 3.0 as my cumulative GPA, and I’m not too proud to admit that. But then, my advisor has said the average GPA for the major is 3.1 at the end of sophomore year, so that adds a meager consolation to my efforts as a student.

Now, finding averages for the schools…not as easy. U.S. News and World Report says that the University average is about 3.4….too bad I can’t copy that here because I would have to buy access. I’ve heard in passing that grades for ILR and Hotel are the highest on average, at 3.8 and 3.7 respectively. Engineering is often reported as the lowest, ranging between 2.8 and 3.1 (the 3.1 stems from a 1996 report on university academics, and the 2.8 is a more recent figure). The rest are virtually shots in the dark between that range.

I think the best part about trying to find this information was a college confidential thread about aem transfer gpas, where they then proceed to whine about the CALS general biology requirement [1]. I s’pose I’m a little jaded from science and math, but really now, suck it up.  Bio G 109 and 110 aren’t [weren’t] even that hard, just tedious.

In conclusion, this entry has done nothing for my esteem but hopefully sheds a little light onto some of the grades at Cornell. I can look at the averages and realize I’m a below average student in almost all regards, which may doom my chances of grad school in my field. On the bright side, I’m having by far my most successful semester ever at Cornell right now, thanks to all my core reqs being done and out of the way, so I can focus on courses I want to take, like an advanced stats class.

Yes, I’m an information whore.

[1]http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/transfer-students/498716-cornell-transfer-aem-average-gpa-acceptance-rate.html


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Greeks Freak…and it’s not the MGLC’s step show.

13 10 2008

So, I’m churning out two updates in one day. Yay.

For those who follow the trials and issues of the Greek system (which are probably very few in number, but nonetheless fascinating in its own twisted way), the big news in the system has been related to the Greek conference (Call To Action Summit) held in Appel last month. Quite simply put, Cornell and a coalition of alumni are threatening to remove Greek self-governance unless some changes are made. Now.

The first concern are academics. The fraternity system as a whole stands at 3.26. In the fall of 2007, it stood at 3.246 (sororities are at about 3.4, and higher than their non-Greek counterparts, so they don’t have the same issue).

I only have a paper copy of this past semester’s average, which is why the elctronic one is only the prior two semesters. Anyways, that upsets the alumni. The campus average is somewhere around 3.4. That is very upsetting. As one fraternity alum exclaimed, “Cornell Greeks could and should be smarter than non-Greeks”.

So, obviously, they launch into this whole sphiel about promoting academics and all that goes with it. Here’s my concern, as an attendee; we all know that certain schools are more rigorous grade-wise than others. ILR averages about a 3.8, while engineering is nearly a full point lower. For a generic house, where the have two rushees who are relatively the same in every characteristic except that one’s an ILRie and the other is an engineer, which one are they going to choose, as their independence in the system is under threat?

That’s my issue. The intended goal is smarter Greeks. GPAs don’t necessarily mean someone is smarter, but based off of statistics, one might think it is. I’m concerned those from more rigorous majors (my dept. averages a 3.2, which is why I feel every right to be concerned) are going to have a slimmer chance of getting into a house because the house will focus more on their course of study, thinking it more potentially attractive to give bids to those in majors with generally high GPAs (and I’ll be damned if someone steps up to say that would never happen, and can prove it).

The second topic was getting rid of the Greeks “party-and-kegger” image. This I can agree with more. I feel embarrassed if I wear my letters around campus because I get this awkward feeling that unfamiliar faculty and staff are looking down on me, as if they heard I’m drunk four nights a week. I think I’ve drank maybe four times this semester, and only one of those times was it even with anyone from my fraternity. So, I personally would love to do away with the party image.

Unfortunately, I’m also aware that parties are a primary source of “fresh blood”. The general view is that people aren’t as interested in a sense of camraderie and connections and cheaper housing; they’re visiting in the fall for the free booze. Fraternities who have used alternative method are generally looked down upon. To that extent, I’m aware of the two ag frats [AZ and AGR] doing events on the Ag Quad to attract attention to themselves and to get people interested, and Seal and Serpent posting flyers in high-traffic areas, but the aggies are considered off the wall anyway and Seal’s desperate for members.

So, the system is attempting an “informational” on the 26th. It seems like it will be a guided tour of the houses and a career fair style setup in the multipurpose room of RPU. I’ll be downright shocked if they have a significant turnout.

The third is the spectre of hazing. As someone who has been directly involved in overhauling parts of their own fraternity’s pledging to address the concerns, I can say that most of the ideas they were proposing were one’s we put into effect after hazing allegation went public in almost ten years ago. It took five years to put into place though, because some alumni vehemently opposed what they referred to as “taking the fun and character out of the pledge process”. They disaffiliated with us over the restructuring, but we did what we had to, and we’ve been the better for doing it (I won’t give exact numbers and details because I’m concerned they would give some others the information necessary to determine my afiiliation).

Meanwhile, Greek and non-Greeks alike are flipping out over the police distrubing dozens of $500 fines in a given weekend. Here’s the bad news folks—the locals are strongly supportive of the measures. And unless you plan on commuting from Lansing or Dryden, you’d better learn to deal with it, because as much as we’re upset, the support from the rest of Ithaca (excluding South Hill and IC) is staggering. Students are a captive market, and unless it can be proven otherwise, expect things to only get more stringent in the future.

EDIT: Speaking of MGLC, I take it this [1B] means Alpha Phi Alpha is active at Cornell once again? Congratulations gentlemen. Best of luck to you.

[1B]http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=29891094604&ref=nf


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News Tidbits 10/08: An Addition to Cornell’s Morbid History

9 10 2008

Okay, I’ll bite, because thirty-six views in the past hour on this blog have been under the search line “death gorge cascadilla october 8”. I don’t tend to be a big supporter of current morbid news, because it’s sort of like slowing down to look at a horrific car accident. That being said, here’s the information being released at this time.

~~~

ITHACA — Emergency officials are investigating the death of man who was found in the Cascadilla Creek gorge beneath the College Avenue Bridge Wednesday.

Ithaca Police, Cornell University Police, Ithaca firefighters and Bangs Ambulance personnel responded to the report of a body lying in the gorge at about 2 p.m., the Ithaca Police said. A caller to the Tompkins County 911 Center had said a man had jumped from the bridge, they added.

Officers interviewed witnesses and gathered preliminary details, police said. Ithaca firefighters and Bangs Ambulance personnel removed the body from the gorge and transported it the Cayuga Medical Center morgue, police said. The bridge was closed for about an hour.

Though the investigation is continuing, there are no signs of foul play at this time, police officials said. The man’s name is being withheld pending notification of his family, they added.

http://www.theithacajournal.com/article/20081008/NEWS01/81008009

For the record, this is not one of the more popular jumping bridges. The bridges on north, particularly Stewart Avenue and Thurston Avenue, are much more popular. I don’t mean that in a good way.

From the Sun:

http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2008/10/08/body-recovered-cascadilla-gorge-after-alleged-suicide

At about 2:00 p.m., a male body was found at the bottom of Cascadilla Gorge, under the bridge connecting Collegetown to Central Campus. A Cornell Police officer stated that a person allegedly dove head-first into the gorge. Around 2:30, the body of the deceased man was removed on a stretcher and transported to the Cayuga Medical Center Morgue by Bangs Ambulance. The victim has been identified, but his name is being withheld pending notification of the family.

In response to the suicide, the Ithaca Police Department, Cornell Police, Bangs Ambulance and Ithaca Fire Department reported to the scene. They closed the College Avenue Bridge to pedestrians and vehicular traffic for about an hour.

The IPD is still investigating the case and whether or not the victim was a Cornell student. Dean of Students Kent Hubbell ’67 said, “I wouldn’t conclude it was a [Cornell] student. From what I can tell, it doesn’t seem like it was … I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions.”

While this suicide is an isolated incident, incidence of suicide at Cornell is consistent with the national average in higher education, which is 7/100,000 per year, according to Sharon Dittman, associate director of community relations for Gannett. The last time an enrolled student died by suicide at Cornell was in 2006, and since 2002, there have been five student deaths due to suicide.

For those upset by the situation and looking to seek counseling, Gannett’s counseling services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “At Cornell, every member of the community has a role to play in expressing concern and providing support for one another, particularly to a student who is hurting,” Dittman stated. She urged students to go to Gannett’s website to obtain information about how to get support, give support to a friend, and connect a student to services.

In addition to counseling, the University has a crisis management team overseeing the situation. “Crisis managers are prepared to meet with students who may have been upset and concerned,” Hubbell said. To get in touch with a crisis manager, students should contact the Cornell Police at 255-1111. With any additional information regarding this case, please contact the IPD at 272-9973.

UPDATE (from WVBR): The body found yesterday in the Cascadilla Creek Gorge under the College Avenue Bridge has been identified as a 1998 Cornell alum. 33 year old Jakub Janecka allegedly dove head first into the gorge sometime before 2:00 pm yesterday. His body was removed from the gorge around 2:30 and brought to the morgue at Cayuga Medical Center. It is not clear why Janecka, a native of Lake Ariel Pennsylvania, was in Ithaca yesterday. The Ithaca Police Department is still investigating the case.

***

For the record, the last student suicide recorded was that of Ash Thotambilu ’06, a student from the Human Ecology School. That was in May 2006 [1]. Since 1996, there have been 22 recorded student suicides (notably, 15 were those who identified themselves as being of Asian descent) [2].  Since 1990, at least ten suicides have been attributed to the gorges in the Ithaca area.

[1]http://cornellsun.com/ash.thotambilu.death
[2]http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/April06/Chung.ksr.html


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From Bradfield’s Roof

5 10 2008

Looking southwest. Weill Hall dominates the view since its completion. The far hills in this photo are about eight miles away.

In this image, the crane for the physical sciences building is prominent, as is the Spencer T. Olin Research Tower (1967). The odd smokestacks on either end of Olin Tower’s roof are a fairly recent addition, from the late 1990s [1].

Bradfield’s roof is surprisingly spacious. Up until a few years ago, it had red flashers on the roof because it was originally in the flight path of planes heading into the airport. (Note: this area is only accessible by special request. There are alarms, and they will go off if you go up here without the key).

Looking SSE. These were the smockstacks I was referencing in the incinerator entry. The heating plant is currently being expanded about 16,000 sq. ft. Friedman Wrestling Center (2002) and Bartels Hall (1990, formerly Alberding Field House) are in the foreground.

Schoellkopf in the foreground, with the towers of IC in the back.

Looking East towards the vet school. The far hill is Hungerford Hill, about nine miles away  They’re Turkey [left] and Baker Hills, and they’re 3.5 to 4 miles. This might be the worst entry I’ve ever done when it comes to factual correctness. Hungerford Hill, 2.5 miles away, would be farther to the right if it had made it into the photo.

  To see what the view looks like from Hungerford Hill looking at Cornell (winter), click on the link (screw it, the link isn’t working too well, if you want to see just google “hungerford hill ithaca”, it the first thing in ‘images’): http://farm1.static.flickr.com/184/472688985_3a80886d64.jpg?v=0

Rice hall is in the immediate foreground, with Stocking, Wing and Riley-Robb Halls sitting on Judd Falls road halfway between Rice and the Vet School.

View directly north, over Beebe Lake. Fall is a comin’.

NNW is north campus.

Far up on the lake (about twelve miles) is the Bolton Point Milliken Station power plant (EDIT: okay, my bad, I mix up the names of the water station and power plant A LOT). If you’ve been hung up on 79  between Inlet Island and downtown by the train, this is where it is going (delivering coal from Somerset, PA).

 

 

[1]http://www.chem.cornell.edu/history/laboratories/STOlin.htm


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9/7/08 News Tidbits: Alpha Omicron Pi to shut Cornell Chapter

6 09 2008

AoPi sisters confirmed Friday that their chapter will be closed as of the first of October, due to declining numbers within sorority rush. All current members will be moved to alumni status and allowed to live in the house until graduation. Once all current sisters have graduated, the intention is to reopen the house under a new set of women (this has been done with fraternities in the past. Pi Kappa Phi closed in 1986 and reopened in 1990, and Phi Kappa Tau closed in 1994 and reopened in 2000).

So, the news, while unfortunate, isn’t surprising to anyone familiar with the Cornell sororities. AOPi was typically derided and demeaned, and as a result of the nasty jokes associated with the house, women tended to avoid having it as a choice on their bids. Also consider that sorority rush turnout was lower than usual this past year, and you end up with a situation where the house can’t get enough women to make minimum member quotas. I feel really sorry for the current active membership of that sorority house.

This should really be a wake-up call to PanHel that something is amiss in the sorority system. Delta Phi Epsilon closed in 2003, as did Chi Omega. with Alpha Omicron Pi shutting down, this results in a net loss of two sororities in the past five years (PanHel selected Alpha Xi Delta to open on campus in 2004). With eleven left, is this really the system that they want? When some sororities have 140 women, and AOPi is closing with about 30 members left, as regulated as the system is for women you’d think the numbers could be a little more balanced.


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Going Downtown

3 09 2008

Information that might be worth knowing about Downtown Ithaca, so you can impress your friends by making it sound like you actually leave Cornell and Collegetown.

Built in 1914, the quirky DeWitt Mall (named for Dewitt Clinton) formerly served as the city’s high school before the new facility on Lake Street was built in 1960-61. Apart from having a bunch or quirky shops and stores, the building’s sub-street storefront is home to Moosewood Restaurant (est. 1973 [1]) of vegetarian dining fame.

Seneca Place on the Commons is one of the largest buildings by gross area in downtown Ithaca. The 121-ft. tall, $32 million building was completed in 2005 by Criminelli Development [1]. It houses 100,000 sq. ft. of offices (Cornell is the primary tenant at about 70,000 sq. ft.) and a 104-room Hilton Garden Inn [2]. Starbucks and Kilpatrick’s faux-Irish pub make up the ground floor retail. The site was previous home to a parking area and two low-rise buildings.

The beige box on the left is the Community Bank Building, which was built about 1981. The previous structure on the site, a four-story YMCA building, burnt down in a reported arson in 1978. The building on the right is the older portion of the Ithaca Town Hall (not that it’s not Ithaca City Hall, which is another building), which dates from 1858[3]. Prior to renovation in 2000, it was the (vastly underused) main Post Office in Ithaca.

The M&T Bank Building, formally known as Tioga Place, was originally built in 1924 [4]. The awkward addition, like a piece of food stuck between someone’s two front teeth, was built on a half century later.

Center Ithaca, on the Commons. The building was built in 1981. It was an early attempt at a mixed-use structure designed to take advantage of the Commons and to make the area more lively. Well, didn’t really work out as planned. Rothschild’s, a department store that was the ground-floor anchor, closed early on. The 62 apartments were difficult to rent out at a time when downtowns were still considered dangerous places to be. And it ran over-budget, pushing its developer and the cash-strapped city into financial hell. Today, the building has worked out most of its kinks, but it didn’t fulfill its original goal, so it worked with mixed results.

Token Commons shot. Completed in 1974 on what was a part of State Street, the Commons was the brainchild on Thys Van Cort, the recently-selected city planner. Pedestrian malls were all the rage in the 1970s; most closed down within a few years. Ithaca’s has persisted, much to the delight (or loathing) of locals. Talk around, and you’ll find some adore the Commons, and some want it turned into a street with parking on the sides. Whichever you prefer, it’s there for the time being. The tracks in the foreground mark where the streetcars used to turn in the downtown area before they closed in 1935/36.

The foreground building that houses Viva Taqueria is the Wanzer Block, which dates from 1905. The building that hugs it in an L-shape is the Roy H. Park building, which was built in the 1990s. Roy H. Park was an Ithaca-residing executive for Proctor & Gamble who was also a substantial donor and investor in Ithaca College and  the surrounding area.

For now, it’s a parking lot. By 2010, as long as things stay on schedule, this will be the site of a 9-story, $17 million,  102-room Radisson hotel by Rimland Associates (rumors have it to be a Radisson, but it will be a recognized chain that occupies the new building) [6].

The center building is the Tompkins County Health Services Building, constructed in 1990 [7]. On the right is the nearly-finished Cayuga Green Apartments, a 59-unit building that will house Cinemapolis on the streetfront. The Parking garage on the left (built in 2005), will see the addition of a seven-story, 30-unit condo tower (Cayuga Green Condos) on the backside (the side facing this photo).

http://www.josegarciadesign.com/images/cayuga-condo00.jpg

I know, bad photo, but it’s visible most everywhere else in Ithaca City. Limestone Tower, built in 1932, is slated for an apartment conversion and renovation by the Ithaca Rental Company and its head, Jason Fane. The building  was originally built for the G.L.F. Exchange Farmers’ Association.

Just outside of downtown is the William Henry Miller Inn. William Henry Miller, of course, was one of the first Cornell architect graduates, and also designed Uris Libe and Boardman Hall. He designed this house and its carriage house, which were built in 1880 and 1892 respectively [8].

 

[1]http://www.moosewoodrestaurant.com/aboutus.html

[2]http://www.re.cornell.edu/senecaplace.htm

[3]http://www.town.ithaca.ny.us/newtown.htm

[4]http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=tiogaplace-ithaca-ny-usa

[5]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_H._Park

[6]http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3718/is_20080418/ai_n25443972

[7]http://www.kwikfold.com/Pictures-PhotoWork/Hascup.jpg

[8]http://www.millerinn.com/inn.htm


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Arts Quad Photos

30 08 2008

Some people suggested that I might consider sharing a little history of a few of the campus buildings for those that are interesting. Well, it’s Friday evening, and I’ve already enjoyed a private 21st birthday celebration for a friend. So, why not?

Rand Hall, built in 1912, was built in the industrial style typical for the time period. The building was donated by Mrs. Henry Lang in honor of her father Jasper Rand [1], and her ubcle and brother of the same surname. The building housed machines shops as part of the Sibley School of Engineering, and eventually was reworked to be the studio for many of the architect student as part of the AAP school.

For those of us who aren’t architects, we rarely see the interior. We do, however, see the designs and phrases bored architects create on the compound windows.  The building has been proposed for demolition in recent years to make room for proposed addition to the AAP school (see the Milstein Hall entry), but the current design proposal for Milstein Hall spares the structure for the current time. The building doesn’t tend to make much news, with the slight exception of a time a peacockfrom a Cayuga Heights home broke into their computer lab a couple of years ago [2].

Lincoln Hall, across the path, has seen a much more varied history than its workhorse neighbor. Lincoln Hall was built in 1888 at the then-cost of $72,603, and housed the Civil Engineering until 1960 (it moved to Hollister Hall). The building was renovated for the music department, and they moved in the following year [3].

Lincoln Hall saw an 18,640 sq. ft., $19 million dollar expansion from 1999-2000 (the addition is on the left side of the photo). The firm that designed the addition also designed Kroch Libe in 1992 and the Law School addition in 1988.

Sibley Hall, namesake of Hiram Sibley, has three seperate wings built at three seperate times. The West Wing began construction in August 1870. The building was dedicated to the “mechanical arts”, as so deemed by Hiram Sibley, an original trustee of the university. Sibley donated the money hinging on A.D. White building himself a president’s house on the campus [4]. The east wing was built in 1894, and the center area, including the photogenic dome, was built in 1902. Although the three portions were designed by three different architects, they form a relatively cohesive single structure that serves as the nucleus of the AAP school. The center area houses the Fine Arts Library.

The construction in the photo is some pipe work, and Sibley underwent minor renovations during the summer to make the building handicap-accessible, and to add more bathrooms to the structure.

The John M. Olin Library shares the title of being the main library for the Cornell campus. The building was opened in 1961 [5]. To facilitate its 5.66 million dollar construction, the university demolished Boardman Hall (1892), which was the original home of the law school. Boardman was a former dean of the law school. The three stone faces on the outside and the three stone faces next to the interior staircase are artifacts from the exterior of Boardman Hall that were incorporated into Olin’s facade.

http://library.lawschool.cornell.edu/WhoWeAre/MissionAndHistory/History/images/buildings_-_boardman_hall.gif

The Kroch Libary, largely underground except for four skylights next to Stimson Hall, was constructed in the fall of 1992 at a cost of $25 million dollars (namesake Carl Kroch ’35). For those who are curious, Olin has a utility tunnel to Uris, and Kroch has a utility stairway-tunnel that connects to Stimson, both of which are largely prohibited for non-staff use.

Olin’s entry way and cafe were renovated in 2002. The rest of the building is currently being prepped for a major renovation that will clean the exterior facade and renovate the interior to being it up to safety codes and to make it more conducive for current trends in upper education (think “pollinization spaces” not too unlike those in Duffield and Weill, without the atrium).

Tjaden was built as a “physical laboratory” in conjunction with West Sibley in 1883. Although $50,000 was budgeted, delays and material shortages drove the costs up to a final tally of $100,923, more than twice than was originally budgeted [6]. This is partially because of A.D, White insistance on the use of stone, and the medallions that decorate the building with the profile of prominent men in the mechanical arts. If you look closely enough, you can see that the window arches still have the names of great discoverers and inventors inscribed into the stone. The building was originally named Franklin Hall, in honor of the great innovator Benjamin Franklin.

The Department of Chemistry originally called the building home until it left for Morse Hall in 1890. The physics department left in 1906, and afterwards the building was incorporated into AAP as the Fine Arts building and workshops. The building was rededicated in 1981 to Olive Tjaden van Sickle ’25, a pioneering woman architect [6]. The building was renovated in 1998, at which time it regianed the hipped roof that I so inconveniently cropped off because I was too lazy to take a few steps back (the original hipped roof was deemed structurally unstable in the 1950s after a lightning strike set it on fire).

[1]http://www.aap.cornell.edu/aap/explore/rand.cfm

[2]http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/June06/peacock.nabbed.dea.html

[3]http://www.arts.cornell.edu/music/LincolnRen-Exp.html

[4]http://www.aap.cornell.edu/aap/explore/sibley.cfm

[5]http://www.cornell.edu/search/index.cfm?tab=facts&q=&id=541

[6]http://www.aap.cornell.edu/aap/explore/tjaden.cfm


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Add/Drop

27 08 2008

Wait, we moved add/drop from 6:30 AM to 10 AM this year? Well, that takes the fun out of it. What’s more exciting than staying up all night (or in my case last year, trudging to Uris Libe at 6 AM) to try and get in the mad stampede to fix and fill schedules for the upcoming semester. The freshman need the shock and frustration of getting up early and still not being able to get a certain class, it would help them adjust better.

I certainly don’t miss the wait and confusion of JTF; however, I can’t exactly say StudentCenter does a better job, because it takes forever to load a page, but at least tells you how many slots are still available in a class. The convenience of this development is that some professors, normally those teaching smaller classes, never set a limit (technical limit is 9999), so you can plan your order of enrollment accordingly, trying to get into the classes with limited spaces first and the null limit classes at one’s own leisure. These details can be checked regardless of whether or not add/drop is underway, so my personal recommendation is to check and plan the “method of attack” before it opens at 10 AM tomorrow.

All I have to do is switch out one class for another anyway.


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Off-Topic: Q & A

23 08 2008

I’m taking it easy with this post, since I was directing cars on the Balch Lawn for a large portion of the day (welcome freshmen, to what could be the best four years of your life!). Occasionally in the search bar, someone types in a question. Let’s take a look at what people want to know.

1. “llenroc kicked off campus”

Ans: To my knowledge, this has not happened in recent history.

2. “dke secrets fraternity initiation 60’s”

Ans: If they were secrets, chances are that information isn’t going to be readily accessible, so how it would even be on the internet or in libe documents is beyond me. Many fraternities operate with some clandestine functions, but in my experience, it’s less in terms of cloak-and-dagger and more because it makes pledging and private functions all the more interesting. Case in point, the fraternity of Phi Kappa Psi advertises secrets concerning spatial geometry on its website [1].

3. “new restaurants ithaca”

Ans: Well, Bistro Fry in Collegetwon has been replaced with Jack’s Collegetown Grill. And a couple buildings down from the State Street Diner is a new restaurant called “Fine Line Bistro”. TBP opens up a new location on the Commons next month, and a second restaurant will be moving into what used to be the used bookstore on the Commons. Olivia’s has also permanently closed. Fair enough?

4. “sigma nu kicked off campus cornell”

Also, not in any recent history. What is up with people thinking so many fraternities have been kicked off campus?

5. “why people love cornell university”

Yes, this was an actual question. However, I don’t feel I can provide an adequate answer. This isn’t because I haven’t enjoyed my time here; I’ve found Cornell to be a rewarding and stimulating experience, if a little academically frustrating at times. But everyone has their own reasons for loving Cornell. And unless I could somehow compile all the answer together in one long list, than I really can’t provide a full answer to that question. We all have our own reasons for loving the institution that is Cornell.

6. ” cornell fraternity fall rush 2008″

Haven’t heard anything about it. Registration is linked from the OFSA (Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs) website. Traditionally, fewer fraternities participate in the fall rush, which is primarily transfer students along with a few curious upperclassmen. However, the fall rush has been decsribed as more intimate by some of its proponents, in the sense that you get to know rushees better. I’m sure if you send an e-mail to the OFSA or IFC folks, they’ll be able to fill you in on which houses are doing rush and any other details you should know. Oh, and there might be a promotional pamphlet going out for fall rush at some time soon.

7.””anna comstock hall” latino”

Well, yes, yes it is. Originally built in 1924 as a combination of faculty and graduate housing, Anna Comstock Hall was programmed as the Latino Living Center in the fall of 1994. This was after a peaceful occupation of Day Hall from November 19-22, 1993, where several events that strongly concerned members of the school’s Hispanic population caused them to stage a demonstration and a sit-in on the building to voice their concerns [2]. Day Hall is a frequent target for occupation anyway (do a google search on Redbud Woods for another example).

8. “ithaca college cornell tension”

Really? There must not be a whole lot of it. If anything, it’s because Cornell’s larger and in the Ivy League, so they tend to steal attention away from IC. But as for tension, there’s not much from what I’ve heard. But we also don’t mingle too often, with the exception for some muscial and theater groups, and Cornell staffers with ICTV.

9. “cascadilla dorm + asylum”

For the last time, NO. Casca was built for the original purpose of a water sanitarium, but never even functioned as such. Old Ezra was a major investor who took the building for his own uses when it appeared the sanitarium project would never get off the ground. That was back in 1866.

10.  “cornell living above ctb”

Dunno what that must be like. A little loud at times, I would guess. Anyone care to give a more accurate description from their own experience?

[1]http://www.phikappapsi-cornell.org/141-tour-mystery.asp

[2]http://cornellsun.com/node/26269


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Finish Line of Photo Tours: Eastern Cornell Heights

17 08 2008

This is the house of the sorority Pi Beta Phi, which is kinda far out on Triphammer Road. Pi Beta Phi started out as a local chapter called Beta Phi. By 1919, they had become the NY Delta chapter of Pi Beta Phi sorority, and they first met in Risley Hall, which was at the time an all-women’s dormitory. After moving around from Eddy Street and Wait Avenue, they settled at 425 Wyckoff Avenue in 1937. By 1955, they has sold this house to Alpha Chi Sigma, and they built the current house in 1955-56 [1]. At least one sorority has made it easy for me to dig up some historical information about them.

Token sculpture? Perhaps, but I’ll provide a little detail about it anyway. The sculpture is called “Richard Evans, 2nd, III”, and was created by Daniel Ben-Shmuel Barrett. It used to be located next to the art museum as part of an abstract art exhibit, but because they needed the space, it was moved to north campus in 2004 [2]. There are also sculptures next to Appel and near Akwewon.

Hurlburt House, or as it is more commonly known, EcoHouse. The building was originally constructed as a motel/travel lodge in 1953. Shortly afterwards (~1963) it was purchased by Cornell and renamed the Cornell Heights Residential Club. The building was used for graduate housing and for housing for students of an experimental accelerated PhD program [3]. On April 5, 1967, a devastating fire tore through one of the wings of the residence, killing eight students and a live-in faculty member [4]. Firemen said three bodies were found in the entrance lobby, one on the stairs between the first and second floors, one in a first floor room, and four in rooms on the second floor [5]. An investigation afterwards stated that inadequate fire safety (lack of fire escapes and alarms) combined with deadly toxic fumes released by the burning rubber-plastic furniture were the primarily factors in the devastating tragedy. In case you’re wondering, the PhD program was discontinued. As for the building, the wing where the fire took place was torn down, but several residents and visitors claim that the basement of the wing (which still exists) is haunted [6]. Haunted in this case means screaming, an oppressive heat, strange lights and the barking of a dog that dies in the fire. I’m going to stay skeptical on this one, and say it’s probably just some overactive imaginations. I’ve been inside only a couple of times, but I found the accomondations seemed luxurious compared to other dorms, and they were tightly-knit group.

This building is home to the Triphammer Co-Op. Built in 1912, the house originally housed a sorority known as Sigma Kappa. Around 1955, the sorority admitted an African-American woman, which was against their national’s rules and regulations (remember, this was at the beginning of the Civil Rights Era). The national ordered the women to get rid of her or risk being booted out of Sigma Kappa. Well, the Cornell chapter flipped their national the proverbial bird and became a ladies co-op. The co-op went co-ed in the early 1990s, and today houses 19 men and women in eleven singles and four doubles [7].

The co-op’s southern neighbor is the MGLC fraternity Pi Delta Psi (is this the only MGLC organization that maintains an official house right now?). The house itself dates from about 1915, but the house only came into the poession of the fraternity a few years ago, in 2003. Pi Delta Psi is an Asian-interest fraternity [8].

The house of Delta Delta Delta sorority, more commonly known as Tri-Delt. The Alpha Beta chapter here at Cornell began as the woman’s club “Sennightly” in 1895, taking their name from the fact that they held a meeting every seven days (heck, my fraternity barely manages to hold a meeting every two weeks without someone b*tching). The women petitioned a national sorority so they could stay in touch in later years as well as perpetuate their organization. By 1912 (yeah, missed the boat on that one), Tri-Delt national took interest, watched them as they threw a party, liked what they saw, and offered them a seat with their sorority. From 1912-1965, the house was on the 600 block of Thurston, in what is now the Alumni House; afterwards, they moved to this house on Triphammer with its Moorish influence [9]. The moorish house was home to Kappa Alpha Theta prior to their national disaffiliating them in 1965.

Right across the street from Tri-Delt is the sorority Delta Gamma. The sorority was established at Cornell in 1885 [10], but the current house dates from about the 1930s. My personal guess is that they were in the ladies’ dorms for a number of years and then lived in boarding houses until moving to their present location. The chapter was inactive from 1969 to 1975 (the Vietnam War era, when public interest in Greek life and other establishment groups waned significantly)

The house of Kappa Delta sorority. The Cornell Chapter was founded in 1916 by a transfer student who was a KD at her former institution. First based out of Sage and then out of a now-demolished house on Wait Avenue, the sorority purchased the land for their current house in 1923 and built on that property shortly thereafter, expanding several times over the years. [11]

[1]http://pibetaphi-cornell.org/public1.asp

[2]http://ezra.cornell.edu/searched.php Q5 2/7/08

[3]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornell_North_Campus

[4]http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/April07/1967Fire.kr.html

[5]http://www3.gendisasters.com/new-york/6971/ithaca-ny-dormitory-fire-cornell-university-april-1967

[6]http://ezra.cornell.edu/searched.php?search=haunted&question=&answer=&starttimestamp=&endtimestamp=&category_id=&offset=20&view=expanded

Q2 11/12/1992

[7]http://www.triphammercoop.org/place.php

[8]http://www.cornellpdpsi.com/version6/about.php

[9]http://www.rso.cornell.edu/tridelt/

[10]http://www.dos.cornell.edu/dos/greek/chapter_details.cfm?id=3277

[11]http://www.kappadeltaomegachi.org/kap2_about.taf


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