In Brief
No Strings
Students interested in puppetry have a once-in-a-lifetime chance this spring. The three members of the New York City-based Puppet Kitchen theatre troupe are in residency on campus Blocks 5 through 8, and are teaching students about the art of designing and creating puppets, as well as performing with them. Students in Eric Wright’s puppetry class demonstrated their skills at the end of Block 5 with an informal showcase open to the campus community.
Im-Press-ive Machinery
The basement of the historic Van Etten-Lacey House, which is the home of Cornell’s Center for the Literary Arts, houses another historic treasure—a Washington letterpress. Devyn Smith ’18 (left) was one of the students who took a course last fall that included using the press to “publish” selections of work by former English Professor Winifred Mayne Van Etten ’25. At Homecoming 2014 English and creative writing Professor Katy Stavreva (right) and students, including Smith, demonstrated the press for alumni, and offered visitors the chance to make their own prints.
Treasures from the Basement
Facilities services staff found a surprise this winter while removing a broken toilet in the basement of King Chapel. The toilet’s tank was bolted to a piece of wood that, when turned over, revealed an elaborate sign advertising a tailor. The Rev. Richard Thomas, chaplain emeritus and college historian, said the sign was likely an advertisement to attract business from the Cornell Cadet Corps. Members of the corps, which was sponsored by the U.S. War Department, were required to buy or provide their own uniforms. The corps was active from 1872 until the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898.
Alumnus teaches how to learn
Some alumni love Cornell so much that they come back to visit. Others love it so much that they come back to teach. That’s what alumni board member Paul Hutchison ’87, an education professor at Grinnell College, did this winter. During Block 5 he taught a class explaining how to learn about physics, which showed students the way scientists reason their way through problems and gain new skills.
