Dear Daughter,
Moms have some very interesting ways of showing their love.  My guess is that your mother wants the best for you and hopes to guide you in the right direction with her comments.  It's obvious from your point of view that all this does is make you angry and defensive.

I suggest that you do three very different things.  The first is to take some time to write down all of the things that you love about yourself.  Your talents, skills, accomplishments and successes.  Make the list long, with large and small things as well.  Be proud of yourself and all that you have done.  Keep adding to it every day.  What is most important is that you stay in touch with your successes and be proud of yourself.

The second thing is to think very seriously about the things that she has been critical about and decide for yourself if you agree that some of those things need attention.  If so, take care of them and make yourself a better person. Some people dig their heels in so deep, that even when they know they should change their behavior, they won't, just to spite the person who mentioned the behavior.  If you want to be trusted, remember, you have to be trustworthy.

The third thing is the hardest to do, but if you can do it, I promise you that you will see a huge difference in your mom.  What I want you to do is to stop being critical of her and start to compliment her every time she does something that you like.  Thank her when she gives you money.  Appreciate all that she has done to raise you.  Let her know when you like her outfit, when she cooks a nice meal or when she reports a success at work.  When she is being critical, thank her for caring about you.

As I said, it is very hard to be kind and generous in the face of criticism, but it gives you the power to turn a relationship around.  The other thing it does is breaks the chains that might influence you to be just like her.  And I know that you don't want that to happen.

And by the way, tomorrow, Sunday is Mother's Day!  Let her know all the ways that you do love her.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear One-step-closer,
Congratulations on completing #150 - Writing to Dear Uncle Ezra!

Now for # 70...it makes no sense to take over a building without good reason and this Spring seems to have passed with no building takeovers.  Although I will say that the events celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Willard Straight Hall Takeover were excellent.  Maybe you attended one of those events...That would count for # 70.

Were you involved in the protest about the gay student leader being ousted from his position or active in the information sessions to ensure the continuation of  Program Houses or did you walk with Take Back the Night.  Although not "takeovers" they were all excellent protests so I would count them as well.

But the semester is almost over and maybe you missed all of those fine events.  So I suggest that you change the way you read the item.  Instead of taking over a building,
why don't you go to the top of a building (like the top of the clocktower or the terrace of WSH) . Have a friend hold something out in their hands and "take" it from them, while you are "over" the building!

I'm sure that logic like this won't get you a good grade in Organic Chem, but it works for Dear Uncle Ezra.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Curious,
Jeannine Crouse was kind enough to pull together this information:
"Ecology House is certainly rich in history beyond the fire. After the 1967
fire, in which nine people died, Alfred and Ellen Hurlbert donated a large
sum of money to improve fire safety throughout campus and to reconstruct
the building that is now known as the Ecology House.

"Ecology House became a program House in 1971, the year after the first
Earth Day. It was founded by a group of environmentally-minded Risley
residents and modeled after Risley's self-governing structure. From
1971-72 the hall's main focus was establishing a campus-wide recycling
program. The following, year, the focus turned more to building a
community within the residence hall. Today Ecology House is known both for its residents' dedication to sustainability and for the sense of community
within the hall.

"In 1973, Cornell offered to hire a non-student "Head Resident" (similar to
today's Residence Hall director) and students voted to hire the first Head
Resident, Jim Meade. This is also when the hall's governing body, the
Steering Committee, was chartered.

"In 1990, residents honored the Hurlberts by officially renaming the hall
"Ecology House: The Hurlbert Residential College for Environmental
Education and Awareness". A few years ago, portions of Ecology House were renovated and the designer tried to make the building as sustainable as
possible by installing cork floors (cork is a renewable resource) in the
lobby and fireside lounge areas, a wood pellet stove for heating the
fireside lounge, and low flow showerheads in each room.

"The hall has had relationships with Jane Goodall and Bill Nye in the past. Another important relationship Ecology House has is with the Mission:Wolf wolf refuge in Colorado. October 15, 2009 will be the 20th consecutive year Mission:Wolf staff members have brought live wolves to Cornell's campus for a campus-wide program about wolf conservation and reintroduction. Each year after the campuswide program, Ecology House members get a private program with the wolves in the fireside lounge "

Uncle Ezra   

Estimada Profesora,
Cornell Career Service's Career Library (Barnes Hall) has excellent resources that relate to teaching abroad. Many of these are websites and can be accessed by going to career.cornell.edu, choosing "career library", then the  Barnes location. You can then use the key word search box to find resources that match your interest. For example, if you type "efl website" into the key word search box, you will get the following four sites:

There are many companies that provide the training you mention and it is difficult to choose among them.  Resources 3 & 4 below have been around a long time and are reputable. By the way, you can do other key word searches such as "teach international".

1. Dave's ESL Cafe. (www.eslcafe.com). "The internet's meeting place for ESL & EFL teachers & students from around the world."
 
2. Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. (TESOL). (www.tesol.org/s_tesol/index.asp). A global professional association for those who want to make a career of teaching English to speakers of other languages. Provides an online directory of degree & certificate programs - each several semesters to two years (master's) in duration. Offers student membership with access to many services. For short term (60-hour) training course & certification, use another organization - www.oxfordseminars.com
 
3. Oxford Seminars. (www.oxfordseminars.com/). Provides 60-hour in-class course with an internationally recognized certificate to teach English overseas. The $995 fee covers six months of job placement assistance. Course is offered on many college campuses - 7 in NYS.
 
4. University of Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching - CELTA. (www.cambridgeesol.org/exams/teaching-awards/celta.html). Offers training courses in ESL teaching that leads to a certificate - one recognized throughout the world. Full-time = 4-5 weeks; part-time = a few months to a year. Locations in 54 countries, searchable on their website.
 
Donna Ramil in Cornell Career Services is the international careers advisor. Her email is dmr47.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Good Friends,
Sorry that you lost your classmate.  How wonderful of you to enable their memory to live on. The contact for memorials is Joan Lord and she can be reached at jml9@cornell.edu.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Almost Alum,
If you have spent an extended time on my gorgeous campus I consider you one of my own...but I'm not sure that the registrar does. Since every school is different, please contact the registrar in the school at Cornell that you attended to find out your official designation.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Stranded,
Sorry, buses to Syracuse are chartered for winter and spring break when everyone is leaving campus at the same time.  With varied final schedules, people hanging around to finish papers, Senior Week, etc. it's hard to determine when people are looking to leave town, so buses are not provided.

Other options include the Greyhound Bus service to Syracuse, the Airport Limousine or a ride from a friend.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Buzz,
How right you are!  I really missed the boat on that one.  I assume the volume has to do with waking sleeping students to alert them that it's time to leave. Thanks for your suggestions.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Studious,
I could only find two buildings that are open 24/7...Goldwin Smith Hall and Duffield Hall.

As you can see in the next answer, Uris Library is open all night on Sunday and only closes on Friday and Saturday nights.

The Community Centers and Willard Straight Hall have many nooks and crannies, and even comfortable rooms, available for studying.  The Straight is open 24/7 for your studying pleasure from May 4 - 15th.  Good luck on your exams and have a great summer.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Shocked,

There is one library open 24 hours a day, but not all 7 days a week at Cornell.  Here is the schedule of the larger libraries:
Kroch is open until 2am Sunday - Thursday and 10pm on Friday and Saturday. 
Mann is open til 2am Sunday - Wednesday and til 6pm on Friday and Saturday.
Olin is open Til 2am Sunday - Thursday and 10pm on Friday and Saturday.
***Uris is open 24/7 from Sunday at 10am until Friday a 9pm.

There are exceptions to these hours during study and exam week so check this website for up-to-date hours, http://www.library.cornell.edu/hours.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Cornellian,
Welcome!  There is no "one size fits all" answer.  Do some research to discover the differences and make the decision that is right for you.  Here is the Cornell Housing Website, which will describe the different options.  I would also suggest that you contact some people you know who have been here at Cornell and ask them what they think.  Good luck in your search and glad to know you will be coming here soon.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Keeping Kosher,
The only meal plans available to House residents are one of the three House Meal Plans. Participation in meals at the House is seen as essential to being a House resident by the House Leadership. Each of the meal plans allow 50 out of house meals per term. If a student wants to take all of their meals at 104West! then living on West Campus in the House system would not be appropriate for that student.

Uncle Ezra