Dear New-to-Cornell,

Welcome.  Those prices seem about right, and there is always the option of many a la carte dining facilities.  Check the Cornell Dining Website for all info about dining at Cornell, http://housing.cornell.edu/campuslife/dining/.  The variety is fantastic and there are many healthy choices at all dining areas.  Hasbrouck does not feel like an undergrad campus at all.  Many graduate students with families live there so it feels more like an International community for young families, couples and singles.  It isn't that close to restaurants or evening entertainment, but served well by the bus routes.  Maplewood is in Collegetown, just outside of the bustling center of shops, restaurants, bars and college nightlife.  Also close to bus transportation.  Thurston is closer to the undergrad scene with fraternities and sororities nearby.  All three are very close to campus buildings.

There are many benefits of living in university housing, including convenience to campus, safety, the choice of both 12-month and academic-year housing contracts, and having your utilities included in your housing bill.  Residents also appreciate the built-in social and support networks they find in Cornell’s graduate and professional student communities.

The three communities are quite different, and attract different kinds of residents: 

Thurston Court is the smallest of the three, with only twenty residents, all of whom are single students, and as a result the community tends to become very close-knit.  The building is cozy and intimate, with hardwood floors, although it does not have a shared lounge area for residents.  Thurston Court is the only graduate/professional student community that does not have live-in staff, and therefore has fewer programming opportunities than the others.     

Maplewood Park is also popular among single students, especially international students who appreciate living in a multi-bedroom apartment with other students from around the world (although studios and smaller apartments are also available).  Maplewood is a much larger community with almost 500 residents, including some couples and families.  Residents enjoy regular programs and events, including shared dinners and multicultural activities. 

Hasbrouck is the largest graduate/professional student community, with more than 700 people.  Most students with children choose to live in Hasbrouck due to the multitude of family-friendly programs and events organized by community staff members, and the popular playground on Hasbrouck’s grounds.  Couples and single student also live at Hasbrouck, and like Maplewood, the population is predominantly international.  Hasbrouck is the only community that has townhouses available, in addition to apartments.

For more information, you can view Cornell’s “Guide to Graduate and Professional Student Living.” 

For available off-campus living options, we suggest using Craigslist’s Ithaca site.

Grad students live on and off campus.  Some in Collegetown or the Belle Sherman area, a nice residential area.  Some live in downtown Ithaca, only a mile from campus but down a big hill.  Ithaca is a progressive, activity centered community with great diversity and support for alternatives.

The Campus to Campus bus will get you here from NYC if you want to go in style, but why not take Shortline from Port Authority for less money.  It will drop you off on campus, in Collegetown or at the downtown Ithaca Bus Station.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Class of 2015,

Congratulations!  Welcome!  Take a deep breath and relax.  Enjoy the success of getting into a wonderful school.  If you begin to think about everything that you have to accomplish in your four years here at once and have the expectation of getting all A's, you will only cause yourself grief. 

Although you will work hard here, life at Cornell is more than just grades. You are coming here to learn, to be with other brilliant and interesting people who are also passionate about their futures. You may also choose to be involved in clubs or sports or organizations to express the other interests in your life.  Yoga, meditation, martial arts or other physically centering and relaxing activities may help relieve some of your anxiety and stress.  You might choose one of these options to fulfill a phys ed requirement. Remember that if you are interested in becoming a doctor, it will be important for you to develop healthy ways of relieving anxiety and stress.

You will do well in some areas and you may struggle in others.  Cornell's President Skorton tells all incoming freshman about the time he failed a course...and then went on to become a cardiologist, a professor in internal medicine and now President of Cornell University.  Although, you may never fail a course, there may be some disappointments along the way.

If you want more information about Health Careers here is a great overview, http://www.career.cornell.edu/downloads/Health/PreappGuide10.PDF.

Enjoy your summer.  Spend some time outdoors, being active and healthy.  See you in the Fall.  I'll be standing on the Arts Quad looking at my good friend Andrew Dickson White across the quad. 

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Color Code Noticer,

The various greenhouses around campus used to be named according to their departments (including departments that don’t exist anymore) or by room numbers corresponding to the nearest classroom building (with some confusing duplications).  That was a problem when trying to report an emergency (“I want to report a vicious cactus attack in the greenhouse attached to the big stone building near the corner . . . but I don’t know the name . . . please come quick!”

So a task force was formed to devise a more rational naming scheme, according to Andy Leed, greenhouse manager for all the facilities run by the Cornell-Ithaca Ag Experiment Station (http://www.cuaes.cornell.edu/cals/cuaes/ag-operations/greenhou ses/index.cfm). 

The colors denote location, with a mnemonic that only works — from East to West, if you know the order of the color spectrum and think about the rising (and setting) sun.  The (predawn) Gray greenhouses are farthest East.  Moving West along Tower Road, the Yellow, Green, and Blue greenhouses are in that order.  The day ends with the (sunset) Gold greenhouses atop Mudd Hall.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Mr. Strong,

Here is the information straight from the Academic Advising Office in Engineering.

"I think what Lance is referring to is what happens when students take advantage of the early admission to the MEng degree. (Students who have 8 or fewer credits left to complete for the undergrad degree can apply early to the MEng. What this means is that in their final semester they are actually completing their bachelor’s degree and beginning the MEng at the same time. This could certainly result in someone finishing early, as Lance is suggesting.)

"For more information, please see: http://www.engineering.cornell.edu/academics/graduate/degrees/meng/index.cfm I would recommend, however, that Lance check with the MEng office of his intended major to get a better sense of his particular situation. (Contact information is found on the website shown above.) Hoping this is helpful."

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Car-less in Summer Ithaca,

Start with Ithaca Festival http://www.ithacafestival.org/ June 2-5, 2011, for an experience students miss if they leave town too soon. The only car you’ll need will be in the “Volvo Ballet” unit of the Festival Parade which is always held on Thursday evening.

In fact, summer in Ithaca without a car can be very special, event-wise, what with all the offerings on the Cornell Summer Session http://www.sce.cornell.edu/ss/ calendar and everything going on downtown and in the nearby parks http://www.ithacaevents.com/.  The TCAT buss will take you all the way to Taughannock Park in the summertime only.

Cornell Summer Session offers concerts on the Arts Quad and lots of fun things to do.  And then you could walk through the Plantations or around Beebe Lake.  Or tour the Johnson Museum or the Ornithology Lab.  Climb the Cornell Clocktower.

Summer is a perfect time to check out the local live music scene (in funky Ithaca clubs, even in the streets every Thursday nights on the Commons); summer stock theater (the Hangar really was an airplane hangar once); the Ithaca Farmers Market at Steamboat Landing (all kinds of prepared foods—if you don’t need a peck of rutabagas—and more music, too); and all the other adventures townies take for granted—but are happy to share with summer honorary Ithacans. 

Please don’t hesitate to venture out-of-town, because TCAT buses http://www.tcatbus.com/ go far and wide.  Like to the annual Community Fireworks (at TC3, the community college in Dryden, the night of July 1). Or the Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance http://www.grassrootsfest.org/festival/ in Trumansburg July 21-24. (Unless your vehicle of choice is a finger-painted VW microbus, you won’t need to drive in T’burg Grassroots week anyway.) 

A nice evening walk down Gun Shop Hill, down past the Ithaca high School to Stewart Park is a wonderful evening adventure.  Swing on the bench swings at the shore of Cayuga Lake.  At Cass park on the other end of town you can walk along the Waterfront Trail.  How about a canoe or kayak ride at Puddledockers or a ride on the MV Manhattan on Cayuga Lake.

Oh, the fun you’ll have—the gas you’ll save this summer.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Lewis or Clark,

There is indeed a tunnel that runs from Stimson to the libraries and it was open and used last Friday during Slope Day. IT made it pssible for people to get to the libraries without needs a Slope Day stamp.

Are there tunnels that run through campus for general trekking around. No, not here.  In nearby Rochester Institute of Technology (where they get even more snow than we do) they do have tunnels that students can use to go from their dorms to classes during freezing and snowful winters.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Parent,

A detailed comment like yours deserves a well-considered response, which we’re getting from David Peck in the Cornell Store:

“One of our key goals at The Cornell Store is to provide exceptional customer service, and we've developed a reputation for going above and beyond in that department.  That said, we're human, and sometimes we blow it. That seems to be the case here.  While I don't know the specifics of your experience, I am sorry your experience with us was not a positive one.

“When it comes to technical support, we try to answer as many questions as possible, but we're not technicians and we're limited by what the manufacturers allow us to do.  If the question is too in depth or we just don't know the answer we will try to help you find the right place to receive assistance.  For computer repair service, we work with an off-site repair center in Ithaca which does warranty service for Apple, Dell, Lenovo and select other manufacturers.  They can also service many computer models out of warranty. Our service partner has an excellent reputation for quality and service, and they go to great lengths to maintain that reputation.

“The Technology Connection has been selling computers for a long time, and we've developed excellent relationships with Apple, HP and Dell.  We work with each of them to offer some of the best pricing around.  Our Apple pricing is actually better than the pricing Apple offers through their education web site.  If you see a price that you think is too high, ask us about it.  Most of the confusion we encounter comes from comparing the models we offer with a model with lesser specifications or warranty coverage.

“Our goal at The Technology Connection is to offer the best prices, service and support we can.  We appreciate feedback on how we’re doing. We like to the hear the good stuff, but we need to hear the bad stuff as well.  It's the only way we can improve.”

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Reader,

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 Grandparents,

Yes, finding a place to stay near campus during graduation weekend is very difficult and very expensive.  There is so much demand for a place to stay that some local residents even rent out their homes and flee the overcrowded town for the weekend.

But there is a great inexpensive option and that is the residence halls on campus. Here is the site that explains the arrangements.  There will be a similar site set up for 2012.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Water Taster,

You sound like a person who needs to gather evidence first-hand and draw your own conclusions—so here’s how: Visit the University’s Water Filtration Plant (255-3381 for an appointment, or just show up at the facility between Caldwell Road and Fall Creek, across from the Arboretum entrance) and get a tour.  See for yourself how water from Fall Creek is filtered and disinfected, so that it meets the strictest requirements of federal, state and local health authorities.

Observe as the technicians test water samples from faucets and drinking fountains around campus (or tag along if you doubt their sampling methods) then pop the big question: With all this, how come the water still tastes funny?

Offer your own observations.  In your experience, does the taste vary from one season to another, or from different taps and drinking fountains around campus? How would you describe the taste?  What would you prefer?  The crew at the Water Filtration Plant welcomes feedback, and they won’t think you’re nuts if you say their water tastes like nutmeg.

Of course you could skip the tour altogether —just read the annual report of water quality in Ithaca posted here http://www.boltonpoint.org/images/DWQR_2010.pdf —but think of the fun you’ll have.  You can read the historic plaque — telling how Cornell’s water plant was donated by Andrew Carnegie, a University trustee at the time, after the Ithaca typhoid epidemic of 1903.  Then read David DeKok’s new book on the subject, “The Epidemic,” and be glad Typhoid Mary isn’t cooking at your house. 

Your interest in water quality could lead to a whole new career.

Uncle Ezra