Dear Hungry,

We hope you have been enjoying Cornell Dining’s newest eatery in the beautiful, new Physical Sciences building. If you haven’t tried it yet, you have to order the Pot Roast Sandwich. Yum!

Goldie’s Café was a gift from Ken Goldman ’71 Eng aka Goldie. There will soon be a plaque mounted in the café to honor his special gift. Eat hearty!

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Hungry Nephew,

Cornell Dining has designed its meal plans and dining hours to ensure coverage for students during the academic year when they will most likely need access to all you care to eat meals in the residential meal plan dining rooms. As noted in the dining terms and conditions, “the meal plan program does not cover Cornell’s recesses for fall break, Thanksgiving, winter intersession, or spring break.”

Big Red Bucks are included with meal plans to cover recess periods and other times when students are unable to conveniently access all you care to eat dining rooms. You’ll note that there are a number of retail units and convenience stores in the dining hours list that are open through the week of Spring Break. We hope you’ll take advantage of those open hours. If you’re looking for something on west campus, try West Side Express in Hans Bethe House.

This is also a great opportunity to stroll down to Collegetown to try one of the many wonderufl respaurants there.  Greab a friend who is also here for break and explore!

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Filled with Anticipation,

As is the case every year (in a long-standing Cornell University tradition) the speaker (for the May 2011 Commencement Ceremony, May 29, 2011, in Schoellkopf Stadium) will be the University President (currently Dr. David Skorton).

The name of the speaker for the 2011 Convocation (the day before Commencement) is still TBA. 

Keep checking the Commencement homepage http://commencement.cornell.edu/ for more details (and a second-by-second countdown clock).  See you at Commencement (and Convocation).

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Worried,

“So much time, so little to do,” Willy Wonka misspoke. “Strike that.”

But you do have a golden ticket to a very special place— a kind of “smarts factory” that equips you to become a well-rounded, successful, compassionate person.  It might be hard to believe now, but most college graduates look back — years and years later — and consider their undergraduate experience the “best time of my life.”

That’s not to say college isn’t a jam-packed time.  So few years (four) and ever so much (four zillion things) to do.  This can also be a perfect time to develop a lifelong habit of planning your work life—and your activities of all kinds:  Studying, of course; researching and writing papers; attending the prep sessions before exams with a study buddy; and equally important, schedule plenty of fun stuff, shared with other interesting people who don’t nave their noses in textbooks, at the time.

Writing down your well-planned schedule in a weekly calendar might help e.g. Wake up. Bathe. Breakfast. Class. Break for hot green tea with honey. Class. Walk to the next class with someone you’ve always wanted to talk to. Class (an elective not required for your major. Hooray!) Lunch with old friends. Study in a different library this time. Class. Lab.Try a new sport you never knew you could do. Join a student-activities club. Dinner. Study. Watch Charlie Sheen on TV and vow to be a better person. Study. Late-night snack with the gang down the hall. And finally—deep sleep to absorb all the things you learned today.

And if you are seriously worried about being worried, please seek professional help, and talk to a counselor about it.  EARS or Gannett are both good choices.

Just “Don’t forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he always wanted,” Willy Wonka advised. What happened? “He lived happily ever after.”

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Niece,

Yes, that is something that I said a long time ago in an effort to promote the widest range of courses and studies.  I still believe in that motto and hope to foster intellectual engagement in a multitude of fields and interests.  But then there is reality and finances.  Although I would love to have Art courses available to all, it is most important for those majoring in Art to have access first, etc. 

Our country and world, to some extent, are in recession.  Things are fiscally tough all over.  Our university, like all institutions of higher learning today, is balancing how to stay fiscally solvent while offering as many intellectually stimulating and state-of-the-art courses to as many students as possible.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Savoyards Seeker,

“Then give three cheers, and one cheer more, for the hardy Captain of the Pinafore.”

Sorry. That Gilbert and Sullivan operatic ditty has been going through Your Uncle’s head, ever since the question about the Cornell Savoyards theatrical troupe came in.  Equally sorry, a quick answer appears not to be readily researchable. 

Thus, while throwing this one out to the Dear Uncle E community  (does anyone know if the Savoyards survive?) let’s remember one of the grand, recently departed Cornell Savoyards: Alfred Kahn.

The Savoyards did more than Gilbert and Sullivan, of course, but you get the gist: a theatre of talented singers, actors and dancers better known as experts in lines of work that generally were not theatre. One such was Fred Kahn, the faculty member who died this winter at age 93. 

The career-long Cornell economics professor – when he wasn’t serving the 70s Carter administration as head of the Civil Aeronautics Board and the Council on Wage and Price Stability —was a talented Savoyard.

A familiar personage around Ithaca, he managed to deregulate the entire American airline industry.  Flying became affordable for the masses.  Now lining up at the gate like cattle —but not being fed as well — is a frequent experience. He was an academic-bureaucratic hero —a rare bird, indeed —but when airline service began descending to its current dismal level, he was asked if he regretted letting competition loose in the travel industry. As President Carter’s “inflation czar” he was warned that even uttering the D word  (Depression) could cause a Depression.  So he vowed to substitute “banana” whenever he meant D (you know what).

That was inside the Beltway.  Here in Ithaca, when male moviegoers need to go at downtown’s Cinemopolis, they can do so in a urinal bearing Alfred Kahn’s name. True story: check the little plaque at Cinemopolis if you don’t believe.    Fred Kahn had a wonderful sense of humor, and donating money to have his name engraved on a theater seat or lobby bench just wasn’t his style. All of which (style and humor) he showed, taking the stage for the Cornell Savoyards productions.  So Your Uncle hopes Fred Kahn won’t mind this slight rewrite of a song from G & S’s “H.M. S. Pinafore:”

All: Then give three cheers, for Alfred Kahn, our own deregulatin’ phenomenon

A.K.: I am the villain of the crowded skies

All: And the czar of in-banana-flation

A.K.: You now have discount fares

            And no worries of Depression

            Hope this show has an intermission

All: Then give three cheers, and one cheer more, when you flush at the local movie theater.

Please, bring back the real Cornell Savoyards.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear TCAT Rider,

Pink-tinted light is believed to be more flattering to  the human  complexion—but that’s not the reason TCAT fitted pink transparent covers to interior light fixtures on some of its buses.

Too much white light was interfering with the drivers’ night vision— just as it does in a passenger car at night when someone turns on an interior light. Some—but not all— buses in the TCAT fleet allow the driver to dim interior lights when the bus is in motion.  With pink lighting, there is less glare for the driver—who can look in the rearview mirror and see all the good looking passengers contentedly riding through the night.  Did you know, BTW, that TCAT buses are equipped with video cameras? Don’t forget to smile.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Student,

I suggest starting with the professor, remembering to be polite and respectful.  Start out, as you did with your letter to me, letting them know how much you have enjoyed their lectures and methods of teaching.  Then let them know that you wish that the text was as stimulating and informative.

Another avenue you could pursue would be to send your concern to Cornell Center for Teaching Excellence.  That is a group that holds workshops for professors covering teaching styles, evaluation and assessment methods, etc.  You can suggest that they should a workshop for professors on choosing materials to support their teaching.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Parker,

There are several ways to get this info:  Visit the Commuting and Parking Services website (http://www.transportation.cornell.edu/tms/parking/index.cfm) or visit them in person (116 Maple Avenue, with a few minutes of free parking while inquiring inside) or call 607 255-PARK (but not while driving around and talking on your cell phone!) or stop at one of the information booths on the edges of campus (they will sell you a visitor parking pass, one day at a time, and direct you to spot more-or-less near where you want to be).

In general, many of the daytime reserved parking spaces are open to the public, free of charge, at night and weekends.  However, avoid spaces marked as restricted for night and weekend parking.  These are marked with big, bright signs that were paid for by all those $15 tickets to parkers who ignored the signs. Considering the fines, paying for visitor parking is probably the best deal for short term or obtain a semester long permit through the Trahsportation Department for long term.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Helper,

Great info. Thanks,

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Concerned Consumer,

Thank you for your inquiry. I know my friends in Cornell Dining are always glad to get such question from concerned dining customers! I sent an inquiry to our Cornell Dining Nutritionist, Michele Wilbur, who provided me with the following response: “This is a great question and I can definitely answer it. First, I’m sorry you didn’t get a response to an early inquiry; perhaps an email was overlooked or sent to a faulty address. For more specific information on specific dishes, perhaps you can email me privately at mw287@cornell.edu. To answer your question broadly, we are eager to provide as much information as possible on our standard menu items. This is a work in progress, however, and if you know much about accurately reporting nutrient breakdown, you may know that this is a very large project.

The health care bill does indeed require restaurants with over 20 locations to post calorie information. However, this is applies to restaurants that have the same menu at all 20 (or more) locations. Although Cornell Dining has over 30 units, each location has a unique menu. With so many menu items, and over 24,000 different food items that Cornell Dining can order every year, it is difficult to keep up with item changes in ingredients, nutrition, etc.

Because we recognize this as an important issue, Cornell Dining has developed the Eating Well with Cornell Dining program. We use a logo to highlight healthier menu items. You can obtain more information about the program on our website at www.dining.cornell.edu. Also, we are proud to offer many healthy menu items at Trillium – visit the American Masala station for house made meals, or at any other station, there are always items available.

For the time being, I would recommend you use the online search engines to estimate calorie and other nutrient information of the popular menu items. Livestrong.com, calorie-count.com, and mydailyplate.com are all great resources.

Sincerely, Michele Wilbur Cornell Dining Nutritionist”

Uncle Ezra