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The Corne¬ Daily Sun Vol. 132, No. 4
THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015
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ITHACA, NEW YORK
16 Pages – Free
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Cloudy HIGH: 69º LOW: 50º
Elizabeth Gorman ’18 samples some of the many foods the Ithaca Farmer’s Market has to offer. | Page 8
Jack Jones ’18 calls Mick Jenkin’s Wave[s] ‘rewarding,’ but ‘pretentious and preachy’ at times. | Page 10
After a disappointing 2014 season, field hockey hopes to come back this year and clinch a title. | Page 16
Cornell Scales Back Summer Book Project Profs express disappointment over decision
By CHRISTOPHER BYRNS Sun Staff Writer
YICHEN DONG / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
So it goes | Students in the Class of 2019 read Slaughterhouse-Five, written by notable alumnus Kurt Vonnegut Jr. ’44, for the New Student Reading Project.
Citing declining participation and difficulty in attracting faculty involvement, the Office of the Vice Provost scaled back the New Student Reading Project this year, with some objections from faculty involved in the project. The project — which started 15 years ago — provided all new students with a book to read over the summer and then involved students in group discussions upon their arrival on campus. In an email obtained by The Sun, a staff assistant from the Office of the Vice Provost says the New Student Reading Project will no longer involve “Sunday talks” or “small group discussions.” Instead, this year’s programming would primarily consist of events at the Carol Tatkon Center and an ongoing exhibition at the Johnson Museum. Among the reasons for the changes to the project, the email cites difSee PROJECT page 4
Judge Dismisses Profs Say New BME Major $500K Lawsuit Will See‘Substantial’Growth Filed Against C.U. By STEPHANIE YAN
Sun Staff Writer
By EMILY FRIEDMAN Sun Staff Writer
A federal judge dismissed a $500,000 lawsuit filed against Cornell by a former veterinary college student Tuesday. In 2006, Karen Habitzreuther — then a second-year veterinary student — brought
Habitzreuther alleged that she lost three years of credits and suffered $500,000 worth of damages, court documents state. her German Shepard, Shandor, to campus, according to court documents. When Shandor fell ill with an ear infection, Habitzreuther brought him to the Community Practice Service Clinic at the veterinary college for treatment. During the exam, Shandor bit the fourth-year student clinician who was examining him. Following the incident, the Faculty Administrative Board conducted a hearing to decide if Habitzreuther had violated the honor code by failing to disclose that the dog had “dominance aggression problems” even though she knew that he had bitten See LAWSUIT page 5
With four possible concentrations, a $50 million gift from Nancy ’62 and Peter Meinig ’61 and strong interest from both current and prospective students, professors are saying the new major in biomedical engineering is “a big deal.” The Department of Biomedical Engineering previously only offered Ph.D. degrees, a masters of engineering and an undergraduate minor because of its relative newness — it was founded in 2004 — and a lack of faculty, according to Prof. Jonathan Butcher, biomedical engineering. However, the department announced in late June that with the Meinig’s donation,
the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering and a major would be established. “The plan all along was that at some point, when the numbers of faculty grew to a size where we would be able to sustain an undergraduate major, that we would launch one,” said Prof. Chris Schaffer, biomedical engineering. According to Butcher, surveys show that studying biomedical engineering is a priority to the next generation of engineers. The College of Engineering surveyed students “who apply to Cornell and ultimately don’t go, or the people who don’t apply to Cornell at all but are still See BME page 5
Feeling s-Weill | Weill Hall is the home of the Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering. BRITTNEY CHEW / SUN NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
BY THE NUMBERS $50 million
Amount of the gift made by Nancy ’62 and Peter Meinig ’61 that helped make the expansion of the biomedical engineering department possible, according to Prof. Jonathan Butcher.
Four concentrations
Students in the major can choose to concentrate in molecular, cellular and tissue engineering, biomaterials and drug delivery, biomedical imaging and instrumentation as well as biomedical mechanics and mechanobiology.
Six years
of developing the major, according to Butcher.
60 percent
of the engineering college’s current freshmen are interested in biomedical engineering, according to the University.
2004
When the department of biomedical engineering was created at Cornell.