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mvr briefs
PROLONGED SITTING JEOPARDIZES OLDER WOMEN’S HEALTH, STUDY FINDS A human body at rest will remain at rest, and that means health woes for older women. Led by nutritional scientist Rebecca Seguin, a new study of 93,000 postmenopausal American women found those with the highest amounts of sedentary time—defined as sitting and resting but excluding sleeping—died earlier than their most active peers. The association remained after controlling for physical mobility and function, chronic disease status, demographic factors, and overall fitness, showing that even habitual exercisers are at risk if they are overly idle. Seguin suggested that beginning as early as young adulthood, women should strive to exercise regularly and take steps to limit sedentary behaviors. The paper was published online Jan. 7 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
The University of Minnesota will award Susan Watkins, professor emerita of fiber science and apparel design, an honorary doctor of science degree in May for her innovative teaching, research, and extension work. The university’s highest honor, the degree recognizes excellence in cultural affairs, public service, and scholarship. Kay Obendorf, MS ’74, PhD ’76, FSAD professor, and the college’s senior associate dean for research and graduate education, praised Watkins as a “pioneer in her field” whose book “Clothing: The Portable Environment” is “a classic in apparel design.” (An updated version is due out this year.) Watkins joined Cornell in 1967 as assistant professor before retiring as professor in 1999.
Arielle Levy ’13, MS ’14, put her creative skills to the test last fall at an 11-day student design camp hosted by China’s Shenzhen University. The only American student to participate, Levy joined 70 students from China and elsewhere to create cuttingSirangelo, right, meets with Food and edge design projects for Shenzhen, a Finance H.S. students. young, rapidly growing city of ten million Photo: Ronnie Lacy/National 4-H Council people. Levy’s group devised a competition and festival called YourSZ (short for Your NATIONAL 4-H LEADERS TOUR Shenzhen) to empower young designers. CORNELL’S HYDROPONIC At camp’s end, they presented their STUDENT LAB plans to university and city leaders, and In her first month on the job, Jennifer were followed by a lecture by Kathleen Sirangelo, National 4-H Council president and Gibson, associate professor of design and CEO, visited Manhattan’s Food and Finance environmental analysis, about Cornell’s High School in January with leaders of Cornell Intypes Research and Teaching Project. University Cooperative Extension-New York City, including interim director Jennifer Tiffany. The group observed the school’s CUCE-NYC Hydroponics, Aquaculture, and Aquaponics Learning Labs, where they learned how students sustainably raise more than 10,000 tilapia and other fish, enabling them to meet New York state-mandated science, technology, engineering, and math Levy, left, consults with her team at (STEM) lab requirements. Shenzhen design camp.
Photo provided
STUDENT AND PROFESSOR ATTEND CHINESE DESIGN CAMP
Photo by David Watkins
WATKINS EARNS HONORARY DOCTORAL DEGREE
HOMONOFF WINS AWARD FOR TOP TAX DISSERTATION For her insights on behavioral economics and public finance, economist Tatiana Homonoff, assistant professor of policy analysis and management, won the Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation in Government Finance and Taxation Award at the National Tax Association’s annual conference last November. The award recognizes Homonoff’s dissertation at Princeton University along with research she has continued at Cornell in tax design and related issues. “It’s an honor to receive an award that’s been given to so many of the top names in the field,” said Homonoff, who joined former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and Harvard economist Raj Chetty as recipients. SPRING 2014 link 3