Since we’ve been out of the loop due to exam week, here’s a little recap of where Cornell has made the news:
Football coach Knowles cuts contract short – goes to Duke for big $$
Jim Knowles, Cornell’s football coach and ex-lineman for the Big Red, resigned from his job to pursue a long-term offer at Duke University. In his six seasons as Cornell’s head coach the team has gone 26-34, with this past year seeing a 2-8 record. While he said being a Cornellian is “in his blood” and that he is passionate about Cornell’s football, it seems the Blue Devils had a better way to fill his coffers. Ithaca Journal reports there are no hard feelings.
In other news… sports that Cornellians actually care about
The New York Daily News has labeled Cornell’s basketball team as ‘blossoming.’ How sweet. Dick Weiss writes a good article profiling the rise of Big Red basketball. I liked head coach Steve Donahue’s quote saying “Our league has been beaten up the last couple years by the national announcers. I think everyone likes to take a shot at the Ivy League – the elitist system.” That’s right, our simple-minded opponents may be able to steal victories on the court, but in the big picture, we’re still better than they are. Most recently, Cornell conquered over St. John’s in Madison Square Garden.
Return of the Johnsons: Peggy Preheim exhibit garners attention at Art Museum
The Johnson schools are back in the news, but this time in a more culturally enriching manner. Turns out the Business School’s artsy counterparts are less interested in sex banter and more interested in throwing a darn good art-party. The Johnson Museum of Art has garnered some positive recognition for its current exhibit on Peggy Preheim, a contemporary artist who specializes in very detailed small people and defacing American currency. I like ‘Kid Napping’ but I’m not sure about the pseudo-transsexual Andrew Jackson or the fohawk-sporting armless baby Washington. Also, why doesn’t she have a Wiki page?
‘Frack is Whack’ protesters get a nice stocking stuffer: no Marcellus Shale leasing by Cornell… yet
Representatives from Cornell have made it clear that no land will be leased for drilling into Marcellus shale unless companies conform to the “high environmental standards [upheld by the University].” Student groups such as KyotoNOW! and Green Guerrillas have recently protested the method of hydrofracking used to extract natural gas from a certain type of dark mineral known as Marcellus Shale that is prevalent in Ithaca’s landscape. Although other states such as Pennsylvania and Virginia have begun to successfully tap into the 262 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas that runs up the eastern seaboard, the shale around Ithaca may have higher levels of radiation that could poison the water system.
