Now in his second year at KRNL-FM – the student-run radio station at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa – this graduate of Niles West High School has been busy reforming, reshaping, and, he hopes, rejuvenating the lost art of the college radio station.

Shimanovsky never particularly intended to be part of Cornell’s own radio renaissance.

“Basically, I walked into The Commons at the right time,” he says. A baseball teammate was taking applications for the 2008-09 KRNL executive board, and Shimanovsky was hired as program director, a position he said involved “a lot of grunt work.”

But his efforts as a liaison between the executive board and the DJs, coordinating shows and training activities, prepared him for a larger role with the station.

This year, as the general manager of KRNL, Shimanovsky is shaking things up and working to create a station that’s not the same old song and dance.

Shimanovsky said his primary goal for KRNL is the expansion of its listener base. “We need to be constantly expanding, not just cater to the same, small group,” he said.

In years prior, KRNL had languished under the weight of  technology that lagged behind the curve and a lack of mainstream interest from the student population.

To help combat those issues, KRNL has increased and expanded its coverage of Cornell sporting events. The combination of sports programming and online broadcasting has allowed the station – which, prior to about 6 years ago, was music only with a broadcast range not much larger than the booth – to reach parents and alumni interested in live broadcasts of Cornell sports, an audience the station had never previously captured.

And on campus, KRNL has increased its visibility by sponsoring concerts, inviting professional DJs, and hosting dance parties.

“If we want to be successful,” said Shimanovsky of the new endeavors, “we need to restructure the way the station is run.”

This restructuring would involve turning the entire station on its head, making it “more like a real station and less like an extracurricular activity.” DJs would have to apply for shows, and would be on-air three to five days a week, as opposed to the one day they are currently.

According to Shimanovsky, the station’s biggest challenge is overcoming itself. Under his guidance, KRNL is working to “rebrand” its image, though he admits there are often disagreements among his staff about who the station should cater to on and off campus.

“Through these competing ideas, good things come out of it,” Shimanovsky said, adding that the wide range of viewpoints among the staff allow creative solutions.

As much as he does for the radio station, Shimanovsky’s non-radio plate is pretty full too. In addition to playing baseball, he is a double major in politics and philosophy, referees intramural sports, and is applying to law school.

As Shimanovsky’s college career draws to a close, he is preparing himself for life after KRNL and starting to make plans. He hopes law school is in his future, although he is still figuring out where he would like to attend next fall. His dream job would be to secure a position as in-house council for a professional sports team, but he is also interested in a governmental appointment.

His back-up plan? Shimanovsky thinks tackling other mediums as a professional philosopher has a certain sort of appeal for a former radio man.

“I would write a book,” he said, “and get Oprah to sell it.”

Now an attorney living in Seattle, Weston alerted the college in an understated e-mail that said, “I graduated from Cornell in 1978. During my life there, I shot a lot of photographs. Over the past several years, I have scanned and digitized those negatives. Over the past month, I’ve been building a Web site for those and other photos. You might be interested in taking a look at the Cornell College set.”

Communications Director Dee Ann Rexroat ’82 received the e-mail and claims not to have completed work for a chunk of that afternoon while viewing the images online. She contacted college historian the Rev. Richard Thomas, who had interviewed Weston while researching and writing Cornell’s scholarly history book.

“It’s a very valuable collection. It has the integrity of a defined period and reflects that time in a fascinating way,” Thomas said. “It’s a documentation of student life at Cornell and perhaps of the larger world of student life in that period. I was enthusiastic about his art while he was making it. He has a gift for composition.”

To view the photos, go to www.ericwestonphoto.net/cornellgallery.html. But first, set aside plenty of time.

In addition to Darity, a number of Cornell students will perform at the event. Freeman and the Staceys (Zach Freeman, and Jordan and Julian Stacey), Ariel Harris and Neisha Croffitt, Heather Pavlu, and Julio “Kid Supreme” Miramontes will offer artistic performances ranging from musical selections to poetry to installation graffiti.

Non-Cornellian acts will include The Original Man, Young Ezzy, and DJ ISE.

A dance party hosted by DJ ISE will take place after the show. “Rock the Box” is sponsored by Intercultural Life and KRNL.

Growing up as the oldest of seven children in a family that homeschooled until she reached high school, Schneider was raised by her father to “question everything.” The result is a keen interest in social justice and a decidedly eclectic extracurricular list.

“Even when I was little I was always interested in justice and questioning why things are the way they are,” said Schneider.

That interest developed fully when a summer studying in England opened her eyes to the differences that can exist between the haves and the have-nots even in a fully industrialized society. Having lived in Colorado Springs her whole life, Schneider was suddenly confronted with people from all over the world who had also come to England to study. “I had never met people so different,” she said.

When she returned to the states, Schneider began to take her father’s advice to heart and questioned anything and everything around her, even her teachers. Which, she said, she was sure “annoyed everyone around me.”

But, she added, “I wanted to know on my own.”

That desire to know led her to enroll at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, a school that, like Colorado College, runs on the One Course At A Time course schedule. It was there that she found her calling in women’s studies and began to probe deeper into questions of injustice, especially focusing on South Africa.

“When I came to campus, people started talking, people argued and shared ideas,” she said. “That’s why I love Cornell. I’m not the only person saying ‘why?’.”

To that end she began to intern at institutions concerned with social justice in and around Colorado Springs, including service-oriented Northern Churches Care – which she called “pretty formative” – and the Boulder County AIDS Project in order to prepare for a possible semester in South Africa in 2010.

Along the way she’s become active in a number of social justice-centered groups, including attending the White Privilege Conference (an anti-racism conference), the Interfaith Spirituality Group, the Multicultural Counsel, and the Third Wave Resource Group (a feminist collective). Two years ago she also participated in an Alternative Spring Break trip to New York City where she spent her week off volunteering at homeless shelters.

Though much is banking on her semester studying in South Africa, Schneider says her post-graduate plans involve “some combination” of the Peace Corps and graduate school, likely overseas. But mostly, she just wants to do one thing when all is said and done.

“Keep learning.”

Sophomore Chase Nowak of Colorado Springs, Colo., was walking between Tarr Hall and The Commons when he noticed a copper coin that he recognized was not a Lincoln head penny.

“I saw that it was stuck in the mud. I had to pry it out with a stick, so it had to have been there for a long time,” said Nowak, a geology and economics and business major and a resident assistant in Tarr. Nowak, a coin collector, gave away the penny that is now worth about $1.

When the penny was minted, the college was just 36 years old, William Fletcher King was president, and there were 190 students and four buildings (Old Sem, College Hall, South Hall, and Bowman Hall). The Rock was delivered by sled to campus that year by members of the senior class who found it at what would become Palisades-Kepler State Park.

1889 was also a banner year for physical education on the Hilltop. Professor and preceptress Harriette J. Cooke pressed for equal physical fitness activities for female students, and a “ladies battalion”—complete with uniforms and, for senior women, rifles—began that year. The student Cornell Athletic Association funded and built a small, barnlike gymnasium in 1889 (it burned down 15 months later). Also that year, representatives of Cornell, Grinnell, the University of Iowa, and Iowa State College at Ames met at Cornell and formed the Inter-Collegiate Baseball League.

Cornell College’s campus is one of just two campuses listed in their entirety in the National Register of Historic Places.

The following are among the world events that also occurred in 1889:

• The Coca-Cola Company, then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, was incorporated in Atlanta, Ga.
• Columbia Phonograph was formed in Washington, DC.
• Grover Cleveland was succeeded as U.S. president by Benjamin Harrison.
• The Eiffel Tower opened.
• The first Wall Street Journal was published.
• Vincent van Gogh painted “Starry Night.”
• The Nintendo Koppai (Later Nintendo Company) was founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce and market Hanafuda playing cards.
• North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington were admitted to the United States.
• Musician Leadbelly, painter Thomas Hart Benton, actor/director Charlie Chaplin, and philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein were born.

Listening to this energetic Randolph High School graduate leaves one with the impression that her goals are awfully lofty for someone who hasn’t quite graduated from college. She talks readily about working with others to make collective changes, about the injustices of position and privilege, about racism and the power of language, and helping the forgotten sections of society.

Think Paul Wellstone if he was a senior woman at Cornell College in Iowa. But with a fuller schedule.

Atchison’s aptitude for humanitarianism started early, just after she graduated from high school. During the summer she traveled, by herself, to Honduras for five weeks, teaching English and volunteering at a number of locations. The trip, she said, was eye opening.

“I was pretty naïve. I didn’t understand how the world worked,” she said. “It put things in perspective and made me realize that it can be pretty easy to forget people.”

Since then, she’s spent time in internally displaced persons camps in Kenya, investigated food distribution in Bolivia with the United Nations World Food Programme, interned for  Sen. Tom Harkin in Washington, D.C., and involved herself in nearly a dozen student organizations at Cornell College. All of it, she said, in an effort to learn from and work with as many people as she can.

“I love the power of people coming together,” she said. “That excites me more than anything else.”

One such experience was through the National Coalition for the Homeless, where Atchison spent two days without food, shelter, or the means to support herself on the streets of Washington, D.C. She panhandled, slept on the streets, ate at food kitchens, and, most importantly, spoke with the homeless about what it really means to live life on the streets.

“It was a life changing experience for me,” she said. “It opened my eyes to things that I being on the outside didn’t understand”

Atchison said she still keeps her panhandling sign in her room as a daily reminder of those people who couldn’t go home after two days. It reads: “Mom died. Need food. Please help.”

When she is not volunteering at African orphanages or building bunk beds on reservations (both of which she has done) she stays busy back in Iowa keeping the issues she’s passionate about on everyone else’s radar.

At Cornell, she founded the organization STEP – Students Together Eradicating Poverty and spent three years on Student Senate, most recently as Student Body Vice President.  She’s also involved in campus Mortar Board, has been recognized for her diversity programming on campus, led voter registration efforts during the 2008 election cycle, and is a Peer Advocate for incoming student. She’s involved in so many campus activities that this article could be just as long by simply listing her resume.

“I am trying to devote more time for hobbies,” she said, after listing off a litany of committees, activities, and leadership projects.

Her passions, she said, are driven by a love of learning and bringing people together.

“Life is bigger and there’s more to people than meets the eye. It’s the iceberg analogy. Only 10 percent is above the surface, and the rest is below,” said Atchison.

That 90 percent is key to her most recent pet project, Sustained Dialogue. Sustained Dialogue is an international conflict resolution program that supports a college network aimed at solving campus diversity issues. Atchison is the president and its lead moderator and hopes to use the program as a way to produce stimulate conversations and dialogue.

“I don’t think people talk about diversity enough,” she said. “Events don’t really change lives. They do and can, but it’s the personal conversations that really change lives.”

After graduation, Atchison plans to join Teach for America, and eventually pursue graduate studies in Public Policy, which she sees not only as a way to give back, but as an opportunity to learn more about the world and how collective change is possible.

“I’m learning all the time. I’ve never arrived and I never want to arrive. I want to learn for the rest of my life.”

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 group was one of just 32 chapters to take home the Golden Torch Award, presented to outstanding chapters that are “superb, timely, and go above and beyond the minimum standards throughout the academic year.”  Only a select number of Golden Torch Award nominees are chosen to receive the award based on their devotion to Mortar Board’s three key ideals of scholarship, leadership, and service.

Additionally, the chapter was one of 28 groups to receive a Project Excellence Award, for their immense fundraising efforts for the Cedar Rapids Public Library.  Throughout the 2008-2009 academic year, the chapter held eight different fundraisers (including collecting donations at football games, selling t-shirts, trick-or treating for books, delivering food to dorm rooms, gift wrapping at Barnes & Noble and more) to contribute a total of $2,700 to help repair the flood damage incurred at the Cedar Rapids Public Library.

Finally, the chapter was honored with the Most Improved Chapter Award, reserved to annually recognize a chapter that has achieved success during the year in re-establishing and re-invigorating programming and membership.

Chapter President Adam Norton ‘10 and Vice President Jennifer Brown ‘10 were present to accept the chapter’s awards.

Mortar Board is a national honor society that recognizes college seniors for outstanding achievement in scholarship, leadership and service. Since its founding in 1918, the organization has grown from the four founding chapters to 227 chartered collegiate chapters with nearly a quarter of a million initiated members across the nation.  The Torch chapter at Cornell College was chartered in 1943 and currently has 27 members.

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.

Sacks’ article, titled “Guy Endore’s Babouk in the Shadow of Orientalism,” originated from a paper Sacks wrote for Shannon Reed’s Senior Seminar. The paper examined Babouk’s value and effectiveness in light of the lack of scholarship that existed on the book.

“I genuinely hope someone happens upon The Oswald Review and is enlightened, entertained, or infuriated by something I wrote,” said Sacks.

Sacks credited English professor Shannon Reed with inspiring and shepherding the paper.

The Oswald Review is an international journal of undergraduate research and criticism in English. It is published annually.

David Kugler ‘09

Five years ago, I started the college search process never having heard of Cornell College until I received a letter in the mail. Being intrigued by the One Course At A Time Calendar and wanting to learn more about this mysterious school, I decided to send back the information card. The summer before my senior year in high school, my family decided to go on a road trip to tour colleges. My dad thought that since we were visiting schools in eastern Nebraska we could travel to that “little school in Iowa” and just look at it. After this road trip, I had made up my mind about where I was going to attend college…and it was not Cornell because the residence halls did not have air conditioning. My mom was mortified that I was going to make my college decision based on air conditioning in the dorms, but after receiving multiple phone calls from persistent Cornell students, Cornell was looking more like a place I wanted to attend. (I later learned by working as a telecounselor that Cornell calls all prospective students even students who are not at all interested, but at the time I felt like Cornell was reaching out to me personally.) Once I got back to the dry heat of western Nebraska and out of the Iowa humidity, I came to my senses and realized that Cornell was everything I had ever wanted in a school: It was out of Nebraska, I knew no one, and it had a high quality academic reputation.

Fast forward one year later, I had arrived on campus and went to the New Student Orientation Convocation where Student Body President Steve Wieland said, “Enjoy the next four years because they will go incredibly fast.” At the time I just laughed to myself thinking “Yeah right,” but Steve was absolutely correct. I cannot believe that our four years at Cornell have ended so quickly. Love it or hate it, Cornell has become our home for four years, and we have all been greatly shaped by our Cornell experiences (or as I like to call them “Extraordinary Opportunities”…Okay so maybe I’m not the only person who calls them that).

Cornell is kind of like the television show Cheers because it seems that everyone knows your name (or at least a tidbit of gossip about you), and I would not have it any other way. I have made lasting friendships and had incredible faculty. The interactions that I have had with staff have also been wonderful. It may sound silly, but every where I look at Cornell I see extraordinary people engaged in “extraordinary opportunities.” I cannot believe how much I have learned about myself, other people, and the world by attending a small liberal arts college in a small Iowa town. I would like to share some of the lessons that I have learned by being at Cornell with all of you.

Lessons I Have Learned By Attending Cornell:

• Be yourself even if it is scary at first…That way you can live life without regrets.
• You cannot love others until you learn to love yourself.
• I tried to fight my sociology professors on this one because as much as I want to believe that I have agency and free will, I have learned that I am constrained by our larger societal structure. If I want to have agency within this structure, I need to organize it in a way where I can exercise my free will.
• Be open to new experiences (I had no idea that applying to be an RA three years ago would lead to a future career in student affairs—Sorry if I ever wrote you up.)
• It’s okay to give something up when it stops being enjoyable and move onto something new. This way, you can discover new passions and have new experiences. Sometimes these experiences will be positive and other times they will be negative, but try to learn something from every single one of these occasions.
• Good friends come and go, but they will always have a special place in your heart.
• Judging others only causes others to judge you. We also tend to judge others when we are insecure about something within ourselves. Accept others’ imperfections, differences of opinions, and flaws. We all have flaws. Embrace them. I have probably learned more about my own beliefs from the people with whom I disagree, but disagree respectfully.
• Be willing to change your first impressions. They are not always right.
• Honesty truly is the best policy. Sometimes the truth hurts, but we eventually pull ourselves together and get over it. People can take bad news, but deliver the bad news gently.
• Sodexo cooks better than I do.
• Be proud of your accomplishments (We all have many), but try to remain grounded and in touch with reality. Modesty and humility are qualities that I genuinely admire in people.
• I’ve discovered new passions and things that I enjoy such as discussing sociological issues, painting, making art, veggie corn dogs, and eating sushi while keeping some of the things that I have always enjoyed like laughing with friends until my stomach hurts, increasing my cultural capital by visiting museums and watching theatre performances, quoting Nicole Richie, applying Chapstick, and washing my hands with foam soap.
• Meeting new people can be scary but also incredibly rewarding. Putting yourself in potentially uncomfortable situations and making yourself somewhat vulnerable can truly allow you to connect with a variety of people. I have made wonderful connections by attending Cornell, a school where I knew no one coming in.
• Everything happens for a reason even if you do not immediately know the reason.
• I believe that everyone has a personal ongoing struggle that helps them discover their true identity. Do not avoid this struggle…It is what makes you unique.
• Tell people frequently how much you care about them.
• Sometimes letting go is really a good thing. Remember all of your memories from Cornell, but accept and embrace new challenges that will face you very soon.

Cornell is who I am. I have learned to grow from my experiences here whether they have been positive or negative, and whether or not you believe it, Cornell is who you are too. Each of my classmates has somehow shaped my four years here, and I am forever grateful. I am incredibly impressed by the internships, fellowships, service to the community, and campus programs that have been done by all of you. I have no doubts that wherever we go, we will each be successful. I am proud to say that I graduated from Cornell College, and I am even prouder to be a member of the Class of 2009. Congratulations!

Phil Lucas

Jesus make the blind to see

Jesus make the deaf to hear

Jesus make the cripple walk

Walk in, dear Jesus,

No man can hinder me.

No man can hinder me.

They wanted that education because their instincts told them there was more to life than money, and with the right education they and their families could lead more satisfying lives and they could advance society too.

What we can learn from Abraham Lincoln and the freed people is the confirmation of what we know. Your instincts brought you to Cornell College, and my colleagues and I applaud your success. The instincts that led you here, to this education, are undeniable and invaluable. But as Lincoln and the freedmen and women knew, that was but the first step. They followed their instincts to apply that knowledge to the unprecedented challenges that faced them, and to make difficult decisions to attain justice in its many dimensions. History shows such instincts serve well whether one is surrounded by a horrible war, emerging from 200 years of bondage, or in the midst of a crippled economy.

Embrace the new world beyond Cornell with confidence in your own instincts, and with the optimism that your contributions will make it better.

All I ask is that you occasionally reflect on what was, what is, and what will be.

Thank you.

View photos on Facebook. (Recommended. You do not need to be a member of Facebook to view these photos.)

View photos on our online photo gallery.

Saunders, an economics and business major, has been active with the Business Interest Group, Berry Center for Economics, Business, and Public Policy, and was part of an entrepreneurship case study with Cornell College President Les Garner this year. She was also recently inducted into Omicron Delta Epsilon, the international honors society for economics.

“I am grateful for such an honor. Awards such as this demonstrate our community’s unfaltering support for excellence in higher education,” said Saunders. “I hope to prove myself worthy of this award through my graduate work.”

Saunders will pursue a Ph.D. in economics this fall at the University of California-Davis.

The Erroll B. Davis Jr. Minority Achievement Awards are presented annually to honor and recognize outstanding academic achievement and leadership by students at public and private colleges and universities in Alliant in Iowa and Wisconsin. Ten outstanding undergraduate students receive awards each year. The recipients are chosen by their peers and professors based on their individual scholarship, leadership and future career potential.

Feser will spend two weeks on San Salvador Island, Bahamas working with Professor of Geology Ben Greenstein. Her research investigates the impact of the development of a Club Med on shallow marine mollusk communities.

“I am honored to have received a grant from the North Central Section of the Geological Society of America,” said Feser. “I am really looking forward to this project and its results and am excited that GSA is helping to support this research.”

The grant will help support Feser’s fieldwork this summer as part of research towards an honors thesis in the geology department.

Bernthal, a politics and economics and business major, will work this summer with a policy researcher from the University of Nevada- Reno to evaluate private landowner programs and create a green business certification program.

“I’m very excited. This is a good stepping stone to help me get into public policy,” said Bernthal. “It lets me use facts and data in a way that can make a real difference.”

The 10-week program starts June 8 and runs through Aug. 14. Over the course of the summer Bernthal will complete both individual and group activities on environmental policy analysis.

Bernthal credits his professors Santhi Hejeebu, economics and business, and David Yamanishi, politics, with helping him apply for and, ultimately, receive this prestigious award.

“I certainly would have had no chance getting into this program without their help,” said Bernthal.

Phil Lucas, professor of history, will give the faculty address.

David Kugler of Gering, Neb., who is graduating with a double major in psychology and sociology, will be the senior class speaker.

Saturday events begin at 9 a.m. with a baccalaureate service in King Chapel. Seniors’ words of gratitude for family, friends and mentors will be read at the service. The Rev. Catherine Quehl-Engel, college chaplain, will deliver the sermon.

Cornell’s Delta of Iowa chapter of Phi Beta Kappa will hold a reception at 10:30 a.m. in Cole Library. Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest and most widely respected academic honor society in the United States. There are 270 chapters in the United States, including seven in Iowa.

After a buffet luncheon from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Cornell seniors, faculty and administrators will assemble at 12:45 p.m. in the Multi-Sport Center for the traditional academic procession that begins the 1:30 p.m. commencement ceremony. The public is invited.

For complete information, visit our Graduation Information page.

Seven seniors and 10 juniors were inducted into the inaugural class of the Cornell chapter, also known as the Iota Chapter of Iowa. Members of the honors society will provide tutoring support for courses in economics.

“We are really proud of the academic achievement of these students and delighted that they’ll be helping younger students through our tutoring program,” said Santhi Hejeebu, associate professor of economics and business, and faculty advisor to the Cornell chapter of Omicron Delta Epsilon.

Among those elected to the society were juniors Jamie Bernthal, Emily Burnham, Nick Light, Joanna Loewen, Mara Oda, Kevin Pickhard, and Nick Tripp, and seniors Vincent Anderson, Jeff Curran, Griffin LaDew, Yuri Mitchell, Audrey Saunders, and Ben Sebers.

Omicron Delta Epsilon is one of the world’s largest academic honor societies. Omicron Delta Epsilon recognizes scholastic achievement in economics and seeks the establishment of closer ties on campus and between campuses. Currently, Omicron Delta Epsilon has 578 chapters located in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Egypt, France, and United Arab Emirates.

The student, who is in isolation now and will leave campus today to return home, was recently in an area within the United States that has reported confirmed cases of H1N1. Close contacts of the student have been notified.

It is important to note that most cases of H1N1 have been similar to a mild seasonal flu lasting less than a week. The student is expected to recover fully. Should any student experience flu-like symptoms, please seek medical attention by contacting the Student Health Center or a physician of your choice immediately.

Public health officials do not recommend quarantining people who have been in contact with persons with H1N1. The Center for Disease Control has recommended campuses not be closed, and Cornell will continue to follow the advice from the Iowa Department of Public Health in conjunction with the CDC. We will monitor the situation, but do not anticipate closures or cancellations at this time. Updates will be posted on the Web site as necessary.

Students should take general precautions, including  good hygiene and avoiding others with respiratory illnesses.

Any questions can be directed to Jill deLaubenfels, Director of Student Health Services, at x4292, jdelaubenfels@cornellcollege.edu.

Juniors Nick Selby of Delmar, Alex Riniker of Winthrop, and Kade Parry of West Liberty, as well as sophomore Katherine Schveiger of Maquoketa were named recipients. All four students are Iowa natives.

These four student scholarships are supported by The UPS Foundation’s educational endowment fund. The UPS endowment fund evolved from a $4.2 million grant to the Foundation for Higher Independent Education by UPS in 1974.

The Foundation for Independent Higher Education is the national partner in a network of 33 state and regional funds, which develops resources for private colleges and universities. The 33 member associations of FIHE will receive over $2.2 million to be distributed to over 650 institutions in scholarships.

Announcing the grants, Lisa M. Hamilton, President of The UPS Foundation, said, “UPS is proud of our support to our nation’s independent colleges and universities and the work they do in preparing our nation’s future leaders.”

This conference provided a unique opportunity for undergraduates from across the state of Iowa to present their research to peers, parents, and professors and to discuss and defend their work in an academic atmosphere. Papers this year were divided into several topics, including immigration and discrimination, gender and race, social policy, religion, and issues of mind and body.

A total of 23 students presented papers at the ISA conference. Four awards for student papers are presented to participants: the best paper submitted by a junior or senior, the best paper submitted by a first or second-year student, the best paper on a criminal justice topic, and the best paper integrating theory and research.

The winner of the Manfred Kuhn Award for best paper submitted by a junior or senior was Chris Davids of Cornell College for his paper, “Filling the Gap: An Examination of Body Dissatisfaction of Differences of Gay, Bisexual, and Heterosexual Men.”

The winner of the Steve Wieting Award for the paper best combining theory and research was Natalie Turner of the University of Northern Iowa for her paper, “Feminism Hits the Mainstream: Gender, Sexuality, and Comic Book Heroes.”

The winner of the Mary Alice Ericson Award for the best freshman-sophomore paper was Annie Schneider of Cornell College for her paper. “Reimagining South Africa: Feminist Theology and Violence Against Women.”

The winner of the Ward Reynoldson Award for the best paper on a criminal justice topic was Sarah Wittig Galgano of University of Iowa for her paper, Barriers in Reintegration: An Audit Study of Impact of Race and Offender Status on Employment Opportunities for Women.”

The conference included a keynote address by Tanya Golash-Boza of the University of Kansas. In her address entitled, “Age of Exile: Racism and Mass Deportation in the 21st Century” Professor Golash-Boza argues that the United States is currently in an era of mass deportation. Rates of deportation – nearly 1000 people per day – are at their highest point in history. Further, she examines the role that racism in immigration and law enforcement plays in immigration policy and deportation practices.

The Sociology Department at Cornell College wishes to thank Richard Peterson of Cornell College, Kenneth Sanchagrin of the University of Iowa, and Megan Tesene, Justin Stoll, and
Gayle Rhineberger-Dunn of the University of Northern Iowa for serving as judges in the ISA paper competition this year. We are also grateful to Kent McClelland, Char Kunkel, and Mary Beth Stalp for their advice on organizing the meeting, to Cornell student organizers Rebecca Sullens, Candice Kociemba, and David Kugler for their logistical work, and to the organizations who helped fund this conference including the MSS, the Berry Center, and LACE among others.

Wondra, a Russian and international relations major who is fluent in Russian, will perform a side-by-side study analyzing two Republic of Georgia high schools in order to determine effective reforms for urban and rural schools. He will also examine the role foreign aid plays in these schools.

“I know we have a history of excellent Fulbright Scholars at Cornell, and I’m pleased to represent the college in the ranks of past students,” said Wondra.

The study will analyze the effectiveness of educational reform during the current presidential term of Mikheil Saakashvili. Wondra said he will look at family income, propensity to continue on to higher education, the urban-rural difference, funding levels and other indicators in the study.

This won’t be the first time Wondra has represented Cornell overseas. Wondra previously held a three-month Cornell Fellowship in Armenia, where he worked for the U.S. State Department. While there he drafted official communication briefs to Washington on topics such as human rights, economics, judicial proceedings, and local projects. He also participated in fact-finding missions during the protests and military crackdowns that gained worldwide attention in the days following the incarceration of an Armenian parliamentary official. Wondra visited with protesters, a hunger-striker, and a police chief in a region north of Yerevan.

Wondra called his three-month internship “the most rewarding and edifying work experience I have ever had.”

For his Fulbright studies, Wondra hopes to publish his results and begin a career in international policy-making, research and teaching. Though Wondra has never been to Georgia, he adds this experience to his travels and study in Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, and Estonia. He looks forward to this opportunity to directly contribute to policy research and impact the common good. His primary areas of interest are international policy in education and finance.

The study will last approximately 11 months, starting next fall, with the support of the Caucasus Research Resource Center in Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia. After the study Wondra will pursue graduate study and further research in international relations and political economy with the aim of becoming a professor or serving with the U.S. State Department.

The Fulbright Award is a scholarship awarded as part of the Fulbright Program to foster international research and collaboration. The Fulbright Program “aims to increase mutual understanding between the peoples of the United States and other countries, through the exchange of persons, knowledge and skills.”

The symposium runs from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

One of the premier events at Cornell, the symposium originated as a way to spark intellectual conversation and growth on campus. This year there are 70 students and 33 faculty members involved in 55 presentations, including lectures of about 20 minutes each and poster presentations offering visual displays of projects along with explanatory comments.

The lectures will take place in three sessions (9 a.m., 10:45 a.m., and 1:15 p.m.) in Hedges Conference Room, Harlan Dining Room, Berlin Room, and Paris Room. Poster presentations will take place at two sessions (10–11:30 a.m. and 1–2:30 p.m.) on the Orange Carpet. For a complete schedule, visit the Student Symposium page.

Following the symposium, Cornell’s Delta of Iowa chapter of Phi Beta Kappa will hold its annual induction ceremony at 3 p.m. in Harlan Dining Room, followed by a reception. Fifteen seniors and two juniors were selected for membership this year based on distinguished performance in a broad range of liberal arts courses. Phi Beta Kappa considers members of the top 15 percent of the senior class and the top five percent of the junior class.

Phi Beta Kappa is the oldest and most widely respected academic honorary society in the United States. There are 270 Phi Beta Kappa chapters in the United States, including seven in Iowa. Cornell’s Delta of Iowa chapter was the fourth chartered in Iowa, in 1923.

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.

Garner posits that the new economic reality facing the country will have lasting impact, on Cornell and on the nation. Working within that framework will take the support of alumni, friends, faculty, and staff alike. The message also addresses the specific changes Cornell will take in order to meet these pressing challenges.

Message to the Cornell Community
March 2009

Several months ago I wrote to you about the college’s well-being in these challenging times. It is clear that we are facing a recession unlike any we have encountered in decades. In this letter I report on the continuing impact of the downturn on the institution and the steps we are taking to ensure the viability of the college.

Like every other institution of higher learning, Cornell is facing a new economic reality. Our endowment declined by 30 percent during 2008, and current giving to the annual fund is, to date, lower than expected. Together, endowment income and annual giving account for 24 percent of our 2008-09 operating budget.

Applications for next year are strong, and student retention appears to be on a par with recent years. However, even if we meet our enrollment goals, we expect that our operating revenue will be no greater than in the current year. We have announced an increase of tuition and fees of 5.75 percent, which, with a modest increase in enrollment, is only enough to make up for the loss in endowment income and for needed increases in financial assistance. To accommodate other increases in costs, many of which are beyond our control, we anticipate making reductions in the range of 3-5 percent in most areas of the budget.

As we make these difficult choices, our commitment to the quality of teaching and learning on campus remains strong. The education of our students will always be our first priority. To the extent that we are able to strengthen the quality of teaching, for example in the addition of two new members of the full-time faculty, we are doing so by making reductions in other areas.

I am encouraged by the fact that the Extraordinary Opportunities Campaign continues to make progress toward its goal of $92 million. The pace of that progress has slowed in recent months. We now have $87 million in commitments and believe that we can reach our goal by the target date of December 2009. Many of the gifts to the endowment have been pledged to be paid in future years, giving us the opportunity to benefit from the recovery in the financial markets.

We continue to make progress on major facility projects funded through the campaign. Students moved into a renovated Pfeiffer Hall in January, and work is under way on the renovation of Rood House. Additions and renovations to The Commons will not be undertaken until we have pledges to cover the costs of the project and sufficient cash in hand to minimize the impact on the operating budget of any interim financing.

I believe that the financial plans we are developing in concert with the Board of Trustees will allow us to emerge from this crisis as a strong institution. Our commitment to our students will not waver, but we will need the continuing support of the full range of our alumni and friends to sustain that commitment. Thank you for all that you do for this wonderful institution.

Les Garner
President

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