Corbett is a vice president at CRST, a Cedar Rapids trucking company owned by fellow Cornellian John Smith ’71. He was elected to the Iowa House in 1986 and served seven terms before stepping down to take the job of president/CEO of the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce. While serving in the House he was speaker for five years. Corbett has never lost an election for public office.

Corbett defeated City Council incumbent Brian Fagan. With 90 percent of precincts reporting as of Tuesday night, Corbett had 13,418 votes to Fagan’s 7,742.

Gazette election coverage

Gazette profile on Corbett

Gazette story on football careers of the three mayoral candidates

“Country club universities.”

That’s how one Iowa newspaper described the state’s Regent institutions in a piece about how our state performs when it comes to higher education for the most needy.

We don’t go that far with such a moniker, but are disappointed that our state seems to have strayed from the point of taxpayer-supported higher education – education for all. At the same time, we’re thankful that institutions like our own Cornell College have been continuing to meet the needs of all students.

The issue, as reported in a recent edition of the Des Moines Register: Iowa is the fourth worst place in the country when it comes to the number of needy students in state universities. Specifically, the story told of a study based on Iowa’s share of Pell Grant recipients. Federal Pell Grants are for “low-income undergraduate” students to “promote access to post-secondary education.”

Data from the study shows that fewer students are using Pell Grants at state universities, while more and more are using the federal dollars at community and private colleges. Twenty-six percent of Pell Grant recipients in Iowa used the funds at public universities in 2007-08, down from 33 percent 10 years before then. By comparison, Pell Grant recipients using the funds at private colleges has held steady at 29 percent. In other words: Private colleges have consistently educated 29 percent of Iowa’s lower-income students, compared to 26 percent being educated by public universities.

We taxpayers spend oodles on the Regent institutions in Iowa – about $500 million a year. Sure, part of that is a worthwhile investment in research, job creation, economic development, etc. But the heart of the investment is in public education. Each of our students should have a shot at that.

But not as many are getting that shot.

Instead, they’re turning to places that receive little, or no, state funding.

That’s where Cornell enters the picture.

Jonathan Stroud, Cornell’s vice president for enrollment and dean of admission, said the college is “need blind” when it comes to admissions. It’s not focused on families’ abilities to write a check for tuition.

“We have enough faith that we can make it financially feasible for all,” Stroud said.

That’s because of a solid endowment and strong financial support of the college by alumni and friends. The result: Most students pay the same out of pocket as they would at a state school.

“Our student body is as socioeconomically diverse as any public institution,” Stroud said.

We’re grateful for those who donate to Cornell to make sure students have access to a high quality education – including low-income students.

Even though we frown at the numbers – Iowa’s low ranking in our public universities’ service to low-income families – we grin at places like Cornell.

After all, it should be clear that private places like Cornell aren’t “too expensive” or “unaffordable.” We’re not talking about a country club.

He’s visiting his work-study boss to talk about a long-term photography project and dropping off a CD of pictures he was assigned. Later, he’ll meet up with his art professor for a small construction project before finishing up the day slinging stories and lattes at the local coffee place.

Tomorrow he’ll wake up and, hopefully, do almost nothing the same again.

There’s an easy air about the Granger native in nearly everything he does. He speaks readily on anything from photography to boat building with just about anyone. And they listen, intrigued by Hall’s latest interest.

“I’m interested in things I don’t know,” said Hall. “A large portion of the things I do are because I don’t know how to do them. I get bored quickly.”

Aaron Hall probably hasn’t had a boring day since his time as a fresh-faced Granger teen with only a passing interest in photography.

These days his interest in photography is far more than passing. Almost any time a camera’s documenting a Cornell event, Aaron Hall is standing, sitting, or crouching behind it. Sporting a beard these days, the no longer fresh faced Hall is making a name for himself around Cornell College as the unofficial college photographer and something of a renaissance man.

Not that he didn’t fit the bill of the everywhere man in high school. While at Woodward-Granger High School, Hall played golf, baseball, basketball, and ran track and was a member of the state championship jazzband. Not to mention his run as student body vice president.

“I’m not sure I’m exceptional at anything,” said Hall. “But I’m mediocre at lots of things.”

The truth is, Hall seems to succeed almost everywhere he puts forth the effort. And ever since his parents gave him a Nikon D50 for his 18^th birthday, Hall has put a great deal of effort into capturing the world through a lens.

“There are a lot of things that happen, and to get them caught on film creatively was sort of my draw,” said Hall. “There are photos everywhere.”

It was Hall’s eye for finding these photos that landed him his first photography job shooting weddings for Tim Vorland Photography in West Des Moines only months after he received the Nikon.

“Aaron has an eye to find the important details at a wedding,” said Dirk Von Stein, another photographer at the Vorland studio, and a man Hall considers a mentor. “He hit the ground running and did a great job telling the story of the day from the first wedding he worked at.”

Hall was a little more self effacing about his first wedding.

“I didn’t know what to look for,” he said. “And one of the hardest parts was that I was doing it at age 18. Weddings are such an important event, and they don’t expect some 18-year-old to shoot it. I had to settle down and breathe and relax.”

Eventually he did, and went on to shoot weddings for the studio for two wedding seasons and three summers before moving on to another studio. He was, of course, looking to try something new.

“I was looking for a bit of a different style. Working with one group of people limits you as an apprentice.”

When not behind the camera, Hall fills his time with a kaleidoscope of activities that pour out of him almost as quickly as he thinks them up.

“I really enjoy doing small house construction. I picked up tennis in a year, and now I play with the tennis coach. I’m interested in building a boat. My most recent interest is weaving, because I don’t’ know how to do it. I’ve looked at culinary school,” he said. “I like to do things.”

Creative things, typically. Hall is a studio art major who has developed a strong working relationship with an art department recently ranked as one of the best in the nation by the Fiske Guide to Colleges. This past summer he lived in Mount Vernon and worked with Cornell art professor Tony Plaut on a number of collaborative projects.

“Aaron’s not afraid to engage new ideas and materials in innovative, non-traditional ways,” said Plaut. “He is a thoughtful and determined artist who ponders the big questions and responds creatively.”

As he enters his senior year at Cornell, the big question for Hall is what comes next.

“I’m not a plan maker, and everything’s turned out well,” he said. “I really like where I am right now. I think I’ve made a lot of good friendships with students and professors as well.”

Aaron Hall’s story is part of an ongoing series of profiles on students who are doing extraordinary things while at Cornell College. This article was previously published in the Dallas County News.

The Smiths, who have donated millions to Cornell over the years, are at the forefront of “Block by Block,” a program aimed squarely at speeding up neighborhood recovery in flood-damaged areas of the Cedar Valley. The program was recently featured in the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

According to the article: “By Christmas, Block by Block will have mobilized most homeowners on eight flood-damaged city blocks to agree to finishing work on their houses. Heavy lifting will come from $1.9 million in cash donations, $100,000 or more in donated materials, and countless hours of volunteer help.”

The heavy lifting on the $1.9 million is being done by the Smiths, who are contributing $1 million to the effort that came about when the couple approached Jim Ernst, president/CEO of Four Oaks about doing more the hasten the recovery.

The Block by Block program, despite its name evoking the Cornell Block Plan, is not actually affiliated with John Smith’s alma mater. Like Cornell, however, the program has Methodist ties, as it was largely founded by The Rev. Clint Twedt-Ball, a Methodist minister who runs a non-profit neighborhood effort called Matthew 25.

More information on Block by Block can be found at www.blockbyblockcr.org or by calling (319) 350-2252.

Wednesday was a unique day, mathematically speaking, when the time/date combination of 12:34:56 7/8/09 came up. Some were saying this phenomenon would never happen again, but Freeman knew better.

“It definitely will occur again, if we don’t blow ourselves up,” but not for another 100 years, Freeman was quoted as saying. As long as only the last two digits of the year are used, this phenomenon will occur again in 2109, 2209, and so on.

Stephen Bean, chair of the mathematics department, pointed out seperately that sequences of this nature actually happen on occasion. If the seconds are not included, for example, then 4:56 7/8/09 will occur on the same day, and 9:10 11/12/13 will happen in just a few years, and 1:23 4/5/06 and 2:34 5/6/07 have both happened in recent years.

As if there weren’t enough coincidences in play, the story was written by Erin McNeill ‘10, former co-editor-in-chief of The Cornellian and currently an intern at The Gazette.

To read the full story by McNeill, visit The Gazette Online.

The Nuns case, as it was known in Chicago, involved an accident in which a nun was accused of causing a fatal car crash by running a red light. The nun, Marie Marot, a 24-year-old member of LaFraternite Notre Dame, was defended by Lund and his partner.

The case garnered national attention when Lund’s team successfully argued to allow Marot and her sisters to wear their habits while in court, and when Marot was acquitted despite all other witnesses insisting she was responsible.

Lund said the case turned on the successful cross examination of the State’s witness, a cross examination he said was made possible by his time at Cornell.

“I attribute my ability to cross examine anyone on any subject to the education I received at Cornell College as a philosophy and political science major learning to think from the general to the specific, while mastering the facts, and attending to the details,” said Lund.

The case, which was originally a “slam dunk for the prosecution,” according to Lund, turned into a 30-minute jury deliberation and an acquittal after his cross examination.

“Professors Debbins, Gray , Crossett, Berry, and Allin taught me how to stand toe to toe with the greatest thinkers,” said Lund. “So having faced down Aristotle and Plato I was ready to stand up and grind towards the truth in the courtroom.

“People always ask at the end of a trial how I learned to ask such questions,” added Lund. “I smile. Sometimes I say one of my professors’ names, but most of the time I proudly say: I went to Cornell College and the place is still making me think.”

Read about it in the Chicago Sun-Times.

The article cited Congressman David Loebsack, former Cornell professor of politics and an honorary alumnus, as a positive in the fight to keep health reform proceedings open and smart.

“On June 9, 2nd District Congressman Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, attended a congressional briefing that has the potential to help Congress pass both the hearing test and the IQ test on health reform,” wrote the authors. “He opened the House of Representatives’ doors to experts on the topic of medication therapy management (MTM).

“For that he gets credit for listening, and for highlighting an opportunity to help make health care work better for less.”

Anderson co-authored the article with Bruce Roberts, executive vice president and CEO of the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, and Thomas Temple, executive vice president and CEO of the Iowa Pharmacy Association.

Anderson is a Cornell trustee, a regular supporter of the Cornell Fellows program, and a member of the Berry Center Advisory Board.

The full article was not yet available online.

The article—published in Autism Advocate, an autism issues magazine—attempts to show that there’s more to being autistic than the “negative or pitying aspects of autism” through Rankowski’s own relationship with her brother, Jan. Using stories and examples from her own life, Rankowski addresses many of the issues that face the family of an autistic child.

“I have had challenges in my life, and can only hope that other students learn from some of the difficulties facing disabled students,” said Rankowski.

The article highlights some stereotypical assumptions about the disabled, the difficulties associated with living with an autistic family member, and the strong bond that develops between a sister and her brother.

“I really love my brother and even though people will always try to change him, I know he is perfect just the way he is,” said Rankowski.

The article can be found in volume 54 of Autism Advocate, a magazine produced quarterly by the Autism Society of America. The Autism Society of America was founded to “improve the lives of all affected by autism,” and offers help and advice for family members, professionals, and those with autism.

Watkins’ work for the Sierra Club’s ‘Cool Cities’ clean energy campaign is highlighted in the story, which includes photos taken of the group in New York City’s Central Park.

Other Glamour eco-achievers include actress Alicia Silverstone, chef Alice Waters, model Christine Brinkley, new Director of the U.S. EPA Lisa Jackson, and olympic gold medalist Hope Solo.

Click here to view the online version of the article.

“I hope that Glamour magazine’s feature will encourage everyday women and men that they too can be Green Heroes,” said Watkins. “It was such an honor to be selected to participate in the photo shoot.”

Watkins began working on the Cool Cities campaign in Omaha in 2006. The Cool Cities campaign mission is to work with local governments to implement the goals of the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement. Watkins was instrumental in getting the cities of Omaha and Lincoln signed onto the Mayor’s Agreement. She currently heads up the Sierra Club’s campaign work for stronger energy-efficient building codes. Last year, the Cool Cities program was instrumental in bringing about the largest increase in residential energy efficiency in decades. For more information about the Cool Cities campaign visit www.coolcities.us.

The article concerned the usefulness of Pell Grant funding in the stimulus bill. Some opponents of the stimulus package have argued that Pell Grants, among other things, are an example of “non-stimulative spending.” Garner sees things differently.

“In this environment, $500 makes a big difference,” Garner was quoted as saying. The article further quoted Garner saying that many students are “at the margin” of college affordability.

“Pell grants are going to be spent right away,” added Garner, while also pointing out that fewer students able to afford college could lead to layoffs accross the board in higher education.

The article can be found online by subscription only, or in the print edition of the Feb. 5 Congressional Quarterly.

“It’s a dream come true,” Lindsay was quoted in the article as saying. “Just talking to her every day and hearing about the process and having kids I know playing the roles — I couldn’t have been happier.”

The one-act play, which was set in the 1950s and examined themes of segregation through the eyes of teenagers, was put on by the Rapid City Stevens High School drama club. Lindsay formerly went to Rapid City Stevens High, where her sister now attends.

The full article can be read here.

“The corridor is like six degrees of RJ. Need to meet someone? Start with him,” offers the article in the January 21 issues of Hoopla.

To view the entire article, visit hooplanow.com.

Darrell Aaron ‘05 was pictured and quoted in the article that discussed this leap forward in recruiting tactics, a leap in which Cornell is leading the way as “one of few colleges or universities in Iowa using the webcam technology for admission interviews,” according to the article.

“As a small college we really like to personally connect with students,” said Jonathan Stroud, dean of admission. “They are able to see each other and we think, as a result, relate a little bit more to one another as real people.”

To read the full text of the article, click here.

The stores, the story puports, are shutting down at least in part due to the poor economy.

“Unfortunately during this recession that is what we will see because small businesses are more likely to see their credit cut off,” the story quotes Knoop as saying.

He goes on to say that the recession has not yet hit rock bottom, and that it’s likely to be 18 months to 2 years till any recovery is seen.

To view the full article click here.

To watch the video click here. 

Knoop has been making the media rounds with regard to the current economic crisis, appearing on Money Talk with Bob Brinker and in Business Week, The Associate Press, The Cedar Rapids Gazette,  and others.

Knoop is Associate Professor of Economics and Business, has interests in macroeconomic policy, monetary policy, tax reform issues, and international finance.  His courses include Money and Banking, Economics of Recessions and Depressions, and Econometrics. He is the author of the 2004 book Recessions and Depressions: Understanding Business Cycles, and has published articles inCanadian Journal of Economics, Economic Inquiry, and Southern Economic Journal. He holds a doctorate from Purdue University.

Knoop has been making the media rounds with regard to the current economic crisis, appearing in Business Week, The Associate Press, The Cedar Rapids Gazette,  and others.

In Iowa, the show can be heard on any of the following radio stations (check listings for times):
Burlington KCPS 1150 AM
Cedar Rapids WMT 600 AM
Davenport WOC 1420 AM
Des Moines WHO 1040 AM
Fairfield KMCD 1570 AM
Sioux City KMNS 620 AM
Sioux City KSCJ 1360 AM

For a list of other stations on which the show can be heard, click here.

Knoop is Associate Professor of Economics and Business, has interests in macroeconomic policy, monetary policy, tax reform issues, and international finance.  His courses include Money and Banking, Economics of Recessions and Depressions, and Econometrics. He is the author of the 2004 book Recessions and Depressions: Understanding Business Cycles, and has published articles inCanadian Journal of Economics, Economic Inquiry, and Southern Economic Journal. He holds a doctorate from Purdue University.

“The costs of doing nothing are very significant,” said Knoop.

He went on to add, “Like it or not, government has a role in protecting the financial stability of an economy. The sooner that governments bite the bullet, take their medicine and bail out financial systems, the quicker you can get beyond this and get back to growth.”

Knoop was also recently cited in Business Week on a similar topic.

Knoop is Associate Professor of Economics and Business, has interests in macroeconomic policy, monetary policy, tax reform issues, and international finance.  His courses include Money and Banking, Economics of Recessions and Depressions, and Econometrics. He is the author of the 2004 book Recessions and Depressions: Understanding Business Cycles, and has published articles in Canadian Journal of Economics, Economic Inquiry, and Southern Economic Journal. He holds a doctorate from Purdue University.

Among the highlights of the interview was Garner’s take on the advantages of Cornell’s unique calendar:

“We have the opportunity to create truly unique learning opportunities for a wide variety of students, both on and off campus. For example, we can teach ocean geology and biology in the Bahamas, and we do.  We use our calendar and its competitive advantage when we’re recruiting in and out of Iowa.  It’s a great point of distinction. As a bonus, it adds luster to cornell college in the eyes of high achievers, self-starters and people who flourish in collaborative learning environments,” said Garner.

The Greentree Gazette is a business magazine focused on higher education.

The first of the three-part interview, which covers the basics of what defines Cornell – from One-Course-at-a-Time to the close working relationship of faculty and students – can be read in full here.

The second part, on Cornell students and U-CAN, can be found here.

The third and final part, on stakeholders and endowments, among other topics, can be read here.

In the piece, which is part of an issue on politics and education, Garner highlights areas of higher education which are often glanced over in an election season.

“Many of the policy makers who will populate the next administration are now working in or close to the presidential campaigns,” said Garner. “We should be taking the messages of hope and partnership to them and to the two presidential candidates, explaining what we can do and suggesting what the next administration should do to make sure that our students are the best-educated in the world.”

The whole piece can be read online at The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Cornell was referenced alongside Grinnell and Drake as a college participating in the innovative “Iowa Private Colleges Week,” wherein students can have application fees waived if they visit multiple participating schools during the week (which was Aug. 4-8).

The full article can be read here.

More information on Iowa Private Colleges Week can be found here.

Bohstedt told Cornell that although media reported he rushed as the shooter stopped to reload, “the four of us who were the first to hit the shooter have talked, and our experience was different from media reports. We certainly did not see anyone ‘stopping or pausing’—not the shooter, not us, nor the heroes who were shielding their children and grandchildren, not the leaders leading children away from danger.

“The whole sequence was so fast for all of us that there was no stopping. We
all wished we had gotten to him sooner, but we did what we could.”

Two people were killed and seven others were injured in the attack at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church.

Bohstedt is an emeritus history professor who retired this summer from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville after a career “studying and teaching about violence and the roots of collective violence, specializing in riots and revolutions that stem from quests for social justice,” reported The Chronicle of Higher Education.

“I will always be grateful that I could do what I would have wanted to do,” Bohstedt told Cornell.

In line with Cornell’s liberal arts and service tradition and his TVUUC religion, he said, “Evil walked into our church and hurt and killed people. But love was stronger and love will prevail. That’s not a prediction but an affirmation of faith and determination.”

He added, “People have called us heroes—why doesn’t that feel right? No more than the other heroes mentioned above—all of them passionately and effectively doing the right thing—no panic.

“More important: I have had heroes who saved me—among them, Cornell’s
Professors Dick Martin and Eric Kollman, and many others. I’m glad I could help this time.”

Bohstedt was a Cornell Rhodes scholar and holds a master’s degree from Oxford and a Ph.D. from Harvard. His sisters, Peggy Bohstedt Kahr ‘58 and Kathy Bohstedt Harrison ‘63, are also Cornellians.

To read the Chronicle story: http://chronicle.com/temp/email2.php?id=j8frrcZ5ydsTcrrpKh9jxq4vqkJKzZ9J

To read the New York Times story: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/28/us/28shooting.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

After the manufacturer wasn’t responsive, Dorr, who was a paid consultant for the manufacturer, “sounded an alarm to colleagues in a professional association and soon heard back from doctors with similar experiences.”

“I saw one of Zimmer’s engineers at a meeting, and I told her that you should pull this cup because you are crippling patients,” Dorr told the New York Times.

Last week, Zimmer suspended sales of the device.

To read the full article, visit http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/business/29hip.html?ref=health

Knoop, who was also cited as the author of “Modern Financial Macroeconomics: Panics, Crashes, and Crises,” discusses the reaction of the credit market to recessions in the article.

The full text of the article can be found online at Businessweek.com.

More on Knoop’s economics text can be found on the Cornell News Center.

Knoop is Associate Professor of Economics and Business, has interests in macroeconomic policy, monetary policy, tax reform issues, and international finance.  His courses include Money and Banking, Economics of Recessions and Depressions, and Econometrics. He is the author of the 2004 book Recessions and Depressions: Understanding Business Cycles, and has published articles in Canadian Journal of Economics, Economic Inquiry, and Southern Economic Journal. He holds a doctorate from Purdue University.

“Motorcycling has brought me great friends and a wonderful community, and I am a big fan of giving back,” Winokur says in the article.

To read the full article, visit Washingtonpost.com.

Stories on the community, including Cornell College, will appear during KCRG news, weather, and sports. Cornell invested in a short ad that will air throughout the week.

A special will air from 6-7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 2, featuring all four 2008 “Our Town” communities: Dyersville, Mount Vernon-Lisbon, Amana, and North Liberty.

The review by Robert Crease offers a glowing portrayal of both the work and the life of Beranek, who was the subject of a recent Cornell Report profile (Spring 2008).

The review and the book cover Beranek’s life from childhood – when he picked up his first radio receiver and eventually put himself through Cornell College during the depression – to his rise to the top of the acoustics world.

‘ “Riding the Waves” leaves us wondering which story is the more remarkable – that of the development of electroacoustic technology, or of the person who rose to meet its challenges,’ writes Crease.

Said Beranek of his life and work in the Cornell Report, “In some ways what also shaped my life were opportunities. When opportunities looked good, I went in that direction.”

To read the full article, visit the Wall Street Journal.