THE ESSENTIALS
CORNELL PEOPLEMike Abrams turns 100!
Class of 1916 Professor Emeritus M.H. "Mike" Abrams reflected on his long career and a life in letters during a two-day public celebration organized by the Department of English in honor of his 100th birthday, July 23.
Abrams spoke with his trademark wit and candor in "A Conversation with M.H. Abrams," held before a full house in Goldwin Smith Hall's Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium July 21. President David Skorton; Jonathan Culler, the Class of 1916 Professor of English; Geoffrey Harpham, director of the National Humanities Center; and Donald Lamm, chairman emeritus of publisher W.W. Norton, also spoke. The next day, an "Open Mike for Mike" featured tributes from friends, colleagues and former students (including literary critic Harold Bloom '51, who sent a video message), and Abrams lectured on "The Fourth Dimension of a Poem," the title of his forthcoming book.
Abrams helped shape literary studies over more than a generation as general editor, through seven editions, of "The Norton Anthology of English Literature" from 1962 to 2000. He taught English at Cornell from 1945 to 1983. His books include the acclaimed 1953 history of criticism, "The Mirror and the Lamp: Romantic Theory and the Critical Tradition," 25th on the Modern Library's list of 100 best nonfiction books of the 20th century.
For more information, see http://as.cornell.edu/abrams/.
Morgan Uceny '07, who made it through all the qualifying rounds, finishing third in the semifinals, to run for gold at the 1,500-meter final Aug. 10 at the London Olympics, fell during the final lap and was unable to finish the race.
"Once I hit the ground, I was just devastated," Uceny told the Associated Press. The disappointment was undoubtedly amplified by familiarity; Uceny suffered a similar fate in the 2011 world championships.
Also at the Olympic games: Muhammed Halim '08 delivered his best performance of the year with a long jump of 53 feet, 9 3/4 inches, earning him an 18th-place finish while representing the U.S. Virgin Islands; and in rowing, Ken Jurkowski '03, representing the U.S., advanced to the quarterfinals of single sculls before being eliminated from medal contention.
Columbia University professor and literary critic Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, M.A. '63, Ph.D. '67, has won the Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy.
The prize, announced June 22, is Japan's highest private award for global achievement and comes with a cash award of 50 million yen (about $630,000).
Chakravorty Spivak was recognized as "a critical theorist and educator speaking for the humanities against intellectual colonialism in relation to the globalized world."
The prize is presented annually in three categories (the others are advanced technology and basic sciences), fields not traditionally covered by the Nobel Prize. It recognizes outstanding work in these fields and contributions to humanity. The award will be presented Nov. 10 in Kyoto.
Joanna Guy '13 earned a $10,000 scholarship when she was crowned Miss Maryland June 23. She will represent her state in the 2013 Miss America pageant in Nevada in January.
The American studies major beat 23 competitors by winning the swimsuit and talent preliminary competitions, but this is far from Guy's first honor.
Among other achievements, Guy is an Intel International Science Fair winner, holds a Congressional Award for Youth and sings with an all-woman a cappella group on campus.
"Not only is she science-smart and politically interested, she's funny," states the daily news and lifestyle website Baltimore Fishbowl. "Listen to her great phrasing in the silly song 'Popular' – the Garrett County girl's got a sense of humor about herself, and the world. We wish her all the luck at the Miss A. contest next year, where levity's bound to come in handy backstage, and more importantly, in real life after Cornell."
Nathan Shinagawa '05, M.A. '09, took more than 60 percent of the vote June 26 to win the Democratic Party endorsement in his run for New York's 23rd Congressional district seat.
Shinagawa, 28, a liberal member of the Tompkins County Legislature, faces conservative Republican Tom Reed.
A hospital administrator with a strong interest in health care, Shinagawa will need to sell his progressive agenda in the newly drawn 23rd district, which extends from Ithaca to Jamestown.
He can always turn to another young Cornell pol: Shinagawa's roommate Svante Myrick '09 was elected Ithaca's mayor last fall.
Big Red Bands' new home
Groundbreaking for the Cornell Big Red Bands' new facility is planned for Homecoming Weekend, Sept. 21.
The new 6,400-square-foot facility for the marching and pep bands will be adjacent to the bands' primary performance space, Schoellkopf Crescent on Kite Hill (see rendering at left).
For nearly 50 years, the Big Red Bands have been housed in Barton Hall; ventilation, instrument storage and practice spaces are not optimal.
David Fischell See larger image
Band alumni David Fischell '75, M.S. '78, Ph.D. '80, a trustee, and Sarah Thole Fischell '78, M.Eng. '79, gave the lead gift to the Big Red Bands' facility fundraising campaign. The Big Red Bands Alumni Association has continued to fundraise toward the facility's $1 million goal; student band members have raised money through a spring phone-a-thon, and the first building space has been named with a gift from David '92 and Christine '93 Stuhlmiller.
More than 50 band alumni attended a reception during Reunion Weekend where updated building designs were shared, and several alumni played with student band members during the all-alumni lunch in Barton Hall (including David Fischell, see photo above, who also guest conducted the alma mater).
Baird Sampson Neuert Architects of Toronto, designers of the award-winning Cornell Plantations Brian C. Nevin Welcome Center, is designing the new facility.
The Fischells hope that the facility will be complete and dedicated a year from now, at Homecoming 2013, when it is planned that 500 band alumni will be on hand to play.
On Earth Day, six design and environmental analysis students in the College of Human Ecology led a transformation of the Human Ecology Commons – the new community space between Martha Van Rensselaer Hall and the Human Ecology Building. Among the dining areas and meeting spaces, the students unveiled a surprise sustainability "POP" – their term for a spatial intervention – that united college students, staff, faculty members and visitors around a common theme.
During the week prior, hundreds of sustainability factoids across a series of infographics throughout the college acted as a buildup to the main event April 22, which was a veritable takeover of the commons with a combination of sustainability-themed multimedia presentations on the media wall, Andy Goldsworthy-inspired rock formations, and scratch paper covering walls and tables to capture anyone's inspiration or ideas.
"Every other day of the week the commons space is like our living room. The buildup and surprise of the Earth Day POP transformed the space [and] … created a sense of community around something we all care about no matter what your major," said design team member Sara Lesage '12.
The media wall will continue to play a strong supportive role in welcoming visitors to the college and highlighting the college's mission.