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Table of Contents VOL. 2 NO. 1, FALL 2009

IthaQatar (IQ) Ambassadors
THE ESSENTIALS

The Essentials

100,000th bird banded at Appledore, ROTC standout Carolyn Evans '10, IthaQatar Ambassadors' second summer, CALS dean to step down in 2010, Milstein Hall is tweeting. Read more

Students discuss The Grapes of Wrath outdoors with government professor Matthew Evangelista
COVER STORY

Why creative writing is a force on campus

Creative writing instruction at Cornell is not only central to the humanities -- its techniques are employed by scientists, engineers, lawyers and business people alike. Read more

Bound copies of student theses
COVER STORY SIDEBAR

Cornell Library preserves creative work

Before they were famous, they left traces of their pasts in the library. Copies of students' theses line the shelves of Olin Library, and they have been collected in the university archives ever since graduate studies began at Cornell. Read more

Image of Epoch covers
COVER STORY SIDEBAR

Epoch: A decades-long history of publishing

Epoch, Cornell's literary magazine, has a national reputation for publishing traditional and experimental work by exemplary authors. It features fiction and poetry, sometimes essays, graphic art, screenplays or cartoons. Read more

Sana Krasikov
VIEWPOINT

'Mischievous abandon' and solidarity

During my junior year at Cornell, I signed up for my first writing course -- The Art of the Essay. I recall the people and the peculiar madness and camaraderie of that first writing class at Cornell. Read more

Students in Rwanda
OUTREACH

Students recount service trip to Rwanda

Kit Dobyns '12 figured that spending time in Africa would transcend anything he could learn from a textbook. So he and six other Cornell students spent three weeks in Rwanda this summer. Read more

CAMPUS LIFE

Lawns grow long and roofs go green to cut costs

As Cornell becomes more sustainable -- and cuts costs -- Cornellians are seeing fewer lawns and more meadows on campus, longer grass and more green roofs and functional plantings. Read more

Peter Yarrow 59 at Cornell Reunion 2009
PEOPLE

Peter Yarrow '59 on 'Romp-n-Stomp'

Peter Yarrow '59 remembers his time as a guitar-wielding student instructor in a popular folklore class at Cornell as a watershed experience, shaping his life and career as a musician. Read more

College of Architecture, Art and Plannings New York City Center
NEW YORK CITY

Architecture program explores 'Common Ground'

Cornell's 14 graduating Master of Architecture II students held their final design research seminar this summer at the College of Architecture, Art and Planning's New York City studio. Read more

Professor Nelson Hairston
RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT

Hatching long-dormant eggs and evolution

Suspending a life in time is a theme that normally finds itself in the pages of science fiction, but now such ideas have become a reality in the annals of science. Cornell ecologist Nelson Hairston Jr. is a pioneerin a field known loosely as resurrection ecology. Read more

Annual Fund national chair Bob Katz in superhero outfit
WORTH SUPPORTING

Small change, big deal

Maya Gasuk, director of the Cornell Annual Fund, wasn't sure it was possible, in such a dire economy, to meet the fund's $23 million fundraising goal for the 2008-09 fiscal year. Read more

Seth and Beth Klarman
WORTH SUPPORTING

Bullish on Cornell, with no strings attached

People who study Seth Klarman '79, iconoclastic hedge fund manager and philanthropist, realize that he chooses investments very, very carefully -- and that if the crowd is stampeding in one direction, he usually goes the other way. Read more

Students in front of Africana Center in 1994
ARTS AND HUMANITIES

40 years of Cornell's Africana Center

Cornell's Africana Studies and Research Center, established during political struggle and minority exclusion on campuses nationwide, is entering its 40th year with its sights set on the future. Read more

Book cover: Tocquevilles Political Economy by Richard Swedberg
CORNELL BOOKS

Cornell Books

Richard Swedberg on Alexis de Tocqueville and Max Weber, Salah Hassan co-edits a volume about the crisis in Sudan, Elizabeth Peters tackles the question of marriage, and more. Read more

Cornell coaches, students and alumni who made a trip to the Dominican Republic
BIG RED ATHLETICS

How student athletes spent their summers

This past summer, Cornell student athletes built houses, volunteered in other countries and explored potential careers, making a difference for themselves and others in just three short months. Read more

Campaign update
CAMPAIGN UPDATE

Matching-gift challenges seek to inspire support

Cornell is fortunate to have loyal and committed alumni and friends. They continue to ensure that Cornell can open its doors to the best and brightest students, regardless of their financial means. Read more

Laura Brown
ENDNOTE

Robot or sonnet? The power of creativity

The last two decades have seen a decided turn toward the arts in American colleges and universities. Creative writing programs have played a flagship role in this broadening of undergraduate education. Read more



From The Publisher

Tommy Bruce In this issue of Ezra, we look not only at the example of Cornell's creative writing program and how it is central to the humanities at the university, but also at its ability to transfer techniques and skills that are crucial in many other fields. Read more