Dear Graduate,

Typically the year you graduate is the year you graduate. December “graduates” actually have their degrees conferred in January of the following year. Thus, if your last semester is December 2010, your degree is conferred in January 2011. You are a member of the Class of 2011. However, as far as mailings, reunions and such: it is really up to the student as to which group they want to identify with.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Non-graduating Seniors,

Your Uncle checked with the Student Activities Office, where Jennifer Davis says:

“Graduating seniors may invite non-seniors to many events, but some events are exclusively for seniors only.  The senior week schedule typically is released the week before Spring Break.  Check with a senior as to what events you may attend when the schedule comes out.  Enjoy!”

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Student,

I understand the need for a break for all of my nieces and nephews who work so hard.  In fact, your suggestion is up before the Faculty Senate right now.  They are or will be discussing the possibility of having President's Day off.  I don't know what they will decide, but I'm am hoping you get your wish.  I do know that the wheels for such transitions turn very slowly, so even if the resolution passes, it might be some time before the change is implemented.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear History Lover,

Beautiful Boardman Hall existed on the space now occupied by Olin Library, from 1892-1959.  It was designed by Cornell's own William Henry Miller, whose local designs also include Uris Library and McGraw Tower, A.D. White House (he actually designed the president's house while he was a student here) and numerous other local buildings.  Upon its completion in 1892 it housed the College of Law.

If you have a real interest in CU history, you should read some of the CU classics like Kammen and Bishop. I would also recommend Ostman and Littell's Cornell Then and Now.  This paperback has some lovely visual contrasts interwoven with historical text.  On the subject of Boardman Hall, they write, "...Finished in 1892, the structure was named in honor of Judge Douglass Boardman, a trustee who had been a strong advocate for its construction and who served as the first dean of the law school. 

Boardman Hall was used by the Departments of History and Government after the College of Law transferred to Myron Taylor Hall in 1931.  In 1958-59, Boardman Hall was torn down to make room for Olin Library...Remnants of Boardman Hall are preserved outside and inside Olin Library.  Outside, three Boardman Hall carved stone faces incorporated into a north-facing wall express worried resoluteness, angered readiness and sleepy passivity. 

Inside Olin, another wall incorporates three more chiseled stone heads, overlooking the stairwell to the basement.  Those countenances denote cocky bemusement, steadfast determination and grim sourness.  Legend says that likenesses of the workmen who constructed Boardman Hall, Uris Library, and Stimson Hall were used as models for the busts."  Boardman Hall was a lovely building designed in an architectural style similar to Uris Library.  Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Pointer,

I can’t find anything specifically prohibiting lasers. The FDA requires a special variance for manufacture of anything over 5mW and if you purchase something over 5Mw over the internet, it may be seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

There are serious safety concerns for lasers over the 5mW or Class IIIa designation. Class IIIb and IV products should be used only by individuals with proper training and in applications where there is a legitimate need for these high-powered products. Proper safety precaution should also be taken to protect yourself and others from the radiation safety hazards of anything over 5mW. While not illegal to possess, you may expose yourself to criminal and civil liability if a high powered laser is not used properly or fail to use adequate safety precautions.

The FDA regulates lasers and has some great information here:

http://www.fda.gov/Radiation-EmittingProducts/RadiationSafety/Aler tsandNotices/ucm153548.htm

http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm166649.htm

http://www.fda.gov/Radiation-EmittingProducts/RadiationSafety/Aler tsandNotices/ucm116534.htm

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Student,

Whenever you have a interpersonal problem that involves your RA, the best way to handle it is to either talk to the RA directly or see your Head Resident who can help you resolve the concerning issues.

If you go directly to the RA, you might start the conversation by kindly and politely stating that you feel like the two of you aren't getting along as well as you would like.  Note the behaviors that you are concerned with in your RA.  Mention that you are also wondering what it is that you might be doing to make the interactions difficult and ask what you could do to improve the relationship.

If this doesn't work or if you feel more comfortable, let the Head Resident know that you would like some help getting along better with your RA and see what suggestions they can offer.  They are really amazing people who have salvaged even the most difficult relationships so be hopeful.

We all have quirks that we can work on throughout the years or not.  Facing interpersonal issues is one of the best ways to grow and develop, for you and your RA.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Grateful Niece,

Call Your Uncle a hopeless romantic —but this is the sweetest pre-wedding story I’ve heard in a long time!  Especially the part about the Wines course— and the winery.  Not so much the chilly plunge in Cayuga Lake —giving planners of his bachelor party a benchmark to go far above.

Having done everything perfectly Cornellian so far, you are hereby declared Big Red ready to put the icing on the cake. Your Uncle sent the request for wedding traditions to one of his most knowledgeable Nephews, Corey Earle in Alumni Affairs and Development (and a proud Cornell grad himself), who says:

“One Cornell wedding tradition applies to couples who marry in Sage Chapel. When a bride prepares in the crypt, legend says that the ghost of Ezra Cornell will appear and bless the marriage.”

Sometimes Cornellian weddings include vocal expressions of Big Red spirit, such as performances by the Cornell Glee Club, Nephew Corey notes, adding: 

“The Daily Sun ran a story about Cornell weddings and couples in 2009:

http://cornellsun.com/node/34997

I think my personal favorite story is that of the chimesmaster and her fiancé who incorporated bronze shavings from tuning the Cornell chimes into their wedding ring:

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/July07/chimesRing.html.   Then there are more than fifty Cornell couples who shared their stories for Valentine's Day online

(http://www.alumni.cornell.edu/remember/valentines/.”

Thanks, Nephew Corey, for those pointers. Notably, some Cornellian wedding traditions —like the E.C. Ghost blessing in Sage Chapel — do require advance reservations. Can I pencil you in for a bright day in June?

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Curious,

As you pointed out, incoming female students do have the option of requesting to live in Balch Hall, the richly historical and much-loved community for women only. Because Balch houses 230+ women, and there are no first-year residence halls that house men only, the other residences for first-year students tend to have slightly more male residents than female.

In most buildings, this difference is hardly noticeable because men and women are spread out fairly evenly throughout the building. However, in Court-Kay-Bauer, the configuration of rooms and bathrooms are such that it was obvious to some female students that there were more men on their hall than women. To minimize the feeling among some female residents that they were “outnumbered” in their community, the leadership in Court-Kay-Bauer chose to create a few pockets of all-male rooms, so the rest of the building was more evenly divided between men and women. Your friends apparently live in one such pocket.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Art Admirer,

I have asked for better signage for the front door of the WSH Art Gallery to explain the following:

You can actually gain entrance to the gallery by speaking with the attendant in the Browsing Library at any time. They have a key and can allow you to view the gallery exhibits. Keeping the room locked unless a meeting is going on is the only other way we have to provide security for art work on the walls. Thanks for the inquiry.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Cornell Parent,

I’ve talked with the team in the Housing & Dining Contracts Office who tell me this is the first time they have encountered this suggestion.

We’re actually more concerned with your daughter’s issue that quiet hours are not enforced and that she’s having trouble getting her rest. It’s important that she contact her residence hall staff – her RA or the Residence Hall Director. They are there to help her, and will take her concerns seriously.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Clock-watcher,

Suspecting another unauthorized Time Warp experiment — a dastardly collaboration between the Department of Theoretical Astrophysics and Risley’s “Rocky Horror” players — Your Uncle sent his best TW Nephew to the scene. He was supposed to text back when he figured out the problem.

“2:27 p.m. Hey Unc am here at the west-facing clock. It’s just a jump to the left Then a step to the right. Put your hands on your hips.  Let’s do the time warp again”

“2:22 p.m. Hey Unc I’m heading up Ho Plaza toward the clock tower. It's astounding. 
Time is fleeting 
Madness takes its toll”

“2:17 p.m. the day before Hey Unc, With a bit of a mind flip
. You're into the time slip.”

Sorry, TW Nephew, but clearly this isn’t working. 
You've spaced out of sensation. 
Like you're under sedation. 
Come back to the office while I try to reach someone with the Cornell Chimesmasters.

Marisa LaFalce— who works in the Registrar’s Office, when she isn’t running up the 161 steps of McGraw Tower, coordinating all things musical and temporal— said she was surprised.  All four clock faces are supposed to be synchronized, every 24 hours, with an atomic-clock signal from Colorado.  “Before we synchronized the clock faces, people would see one and think they were ten minutes late for class . . . or ten minutes early.  I’ll look into it today.  You said it’s the west-facing clock, right?”

Thanks, Marisa.  And as for you, TW Nephew— Let’s do the time warp again.

Uncle Ezra   

Thanks for the suggestion.

Uncle Ezra