Neewsreel

A periodic compilation of references to Ithaca College in the nation’s media.

[Cornell University’s lake source cooling project] has gained endorsements from the local Sierra Club chapter, the county and town governments, even from a biology professor at Ithaca College down the hill — not a usual source of support for Cornell. "This is a major societal problem," said Dr. John Confer, the biology professor at Ithaca College, who teaches ornithology now but is also an expert on the dynamics of lakes. He said he could find no environmental hazard from the project. "We have gotten to the point where we distrust scientists," Dr. Confer said. "A scientist says X and anybody says Y and you’re at chaos."

— New York Times, March 27, 1999

While youth baseball is supposed to be child’s play, the game can have a profound effect on how the players grow up, experts say. "There is a strong correlation between sports participation and what we consider good citizen characteristics," says Stephen Mosher, an associate professor in the Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences at Ithaca College in New York. The competitive crucible of sports is also where children can learn composure. Performing well in the face of fear or adversity is what Mosher calls "acting tough," and "acting tough is one of the most important things boys learn in sports."

— Atlanta Journal, May 21, 1999

Tired of hearing bad jokes? A new Web program may have a solution. Created by a UC–Berkeley professor, the program recommends a series of jokes based on what users have said they like. It’s similar to the program that helps Amazon.com recommend books or videos you might like based on what other people have bought, for example. By trying to use science to explore humor, the researchers are tackling a topic as hard to nail down as a carefully timed punch line, researchers say. "Deciding what’s funny is a complex process," said Barney Beins, a psychology professor who studies jokes at Ithaca College in New York.

— San Jose Mercury News, May 22, 1999

Fear not for the poets. This is a good commencement year for the rhymers and declaimers. U.S. poet laureate Robert Pinsky will speak at his alma mater, Stanford University, June 13, and the Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Yusef Komunyaka, a professor at Princeton, will be the commencement speaker at Lycoming College. But poet-writer Maya Angelou is the big winner in her field, getting the speaking nod at three schools: Ithaca, Lafayette, and the State University of New York at Albany.

— Philadelphia Inquirer, May 10, 1999