Dear Disillusioned,
I shared your letter with Community Health Educator Jan Talbot at Gannett (jit1@Cornell.edu; 255-4782); she replies:
        "While I'm not familiar with the term 'straightedgers', I do have some thoughts on how students can find others with similar interests and on how to find social options other than heavy alcohol or drug use.  One of the best ways to meet people is to join a student organization that shares common interests.  On September 14 from 10am-2pm there will be a Student Activities Fair held in Ho Plaza (or if it rains in the Memorial room in Willard Straight Hall).  Student organizations from across campus will have members staffing table displays, and groups will be looking to attract new members.  In the meanwhile, I suggest looking at the Student Activities Web page on Bear Access (http://www.activities.cornell.edu/so).  All of the currently registered groups are listed along with a description of their mission and goals.
        "Also check out the student group SMASH, which plans at least one campus social/recreational event each month.  Alcohol is not served at any of their events.  The group will be holding its first meeting for new members at the beginning of September.  Contact Pius Fung (ppf2@cornell.edu) for more information or check out their web page at:  .
        "It's also possible to start a new student group on campus and do some advertising to find students who share your interests.  For example, talk with some of the Residence Hall Directors (their names are in the campus phone book) to see if they would put an announcement in their hall newsletters, or talk with the Community Center Coordinators at Robert Purcell Community Center (RPCC) or Noyes to see if they will include your inquiry in some of their messages to students.  If there are particular program houses on campus where students share your interests -- let's say in music or skateboarding -- you can see if the RA's or Hall Directors that work with those groups have ideas on how to connect with others or if they would be willing to help advertise the formation a new group.
        "Students who want to form a new organization often do that by putting up posters in halls and in other campus buildings.  A poster can list a first meeting date, time and location, an email address, and a phone number to call for those who are interested.
        "There's a long list of activities on campus that do not involve alcohol/drug use.  Look for functions planned by residence halls and the community centers, campus films, plays, concerts, intramural sports teams, the outdoor education club, and/or programs in the fitness centers.
        "Don't be too disillusioned this early in the semester.  Many students share your interests, and it's worth taking the time to find them.   Often they are busy doing the things they enjoy most."
        Thanks, Jan!

Uncle Ezra   

Dear No-Sweat,
The steam room is closed for two reasons, according Al Gantert, Associate Director of Athletics (255-4286):
        1)  The ceiling is made out of asbestos, and Athletics Department staff aren't ready to invest thousands of dollars into removing it.
        2)  A medical doctor -- the medical advisor for NCAA wresting -- has gone on record saying that if there's one more death related to weight loss through steam and saunas, he'll advise that all weight-limit sports be eliminated.  And short of deaths, there are serious medical problems associated with athletes' attempts to lose weight for sports.
        These two reasons in combination are enough, unfortunately, to close down the steam room for the foreseeable future.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Topanga Fans,
Danielle Fishel, who plays Topanga Lawrence on "Boy Meets World," has never applied for admission to Cornell, according to my Admissions insiders.  Whether or not someone uses an assumed name to avoid attention while *attending* Cornell, all *applicants* must use their real names.  So I'm afraid you've been been misinformed.
        Similar rumors abounded about Christina Applegate of "Married with Children" several years ago and also turned out to be false -- but certainly semi-famous kids, and children of famous adults, have attended Cornell in the past.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Sauron,
It's nice to focus on a different baseball record for a change and give Mark and Sammy a little break!  According to the 1997 edition of THE SPORTING NEWS COMPLETE BASEBALL RECORD BOOK, in the regular season:  the American League record is 50 stolen home plate bases by Ty Cobb, Detroit and Philadelphia, over the course of 24 years, 1905 through 1928; and in the National League, the record is 33 by Max Carey, Pittsburgh and Brooklyn, 20 years, 1910 through 1929.  In the World Series, there are eleven individuals who have tied for the "most times stealing home."  If you'd like the details, look through the above volume, housed in the Uris Reference stacks:  GV 877 C73 1997.

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Tree-tracking Traveler,
Between the tar spot fungus (see Q11 in the 10/28/97 "Dear Uncle
Ezra" posting) and these webs, our trees sure do appear to be taking a beating!  I asked Plant Pathology Professor George Hudler (gwh2@Cornell.edu; 255-7848) about your observations, and he explains:  "The webs you saw were made by larvae of an insect known as the fall webworm.  Soon, the larvae will mature and disperse from their current crowded nests to individual sites on nearby twigs. There they will transform into pupae on their way to becoming adults (small off-white moths) next spring.  Feeding damage from fall webworms can occasionally be extensive, but their prominent webbing often makes things look worse than they really are, especially at this time of year.  The larvae and their webs pose no threat to tree health, and people who are troubled by the insects' presence are asked to tolerate them a bit longer.  If this outbreak is like others, populations of parasites and predators are rapidly building in the background, and they will emerge to mount a full scale assault on the webworms next spring.  Thus, we do not expect the current level of infestation to continue in 1999."
        Thanks, Professor Hudler!

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Cracking Away,
Knuckle-cracking is relatively harmless.  However, in excess (there's no exact definition here of "excess"; rather, it's a continuum that varies from body to body), it can lead to arthritic changes, a stiffening of joints which is different from arthritis, a hereditary condition.  For more information, please see these "Dear

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Wondering,
The large-scale symmetry results from the rapid growth rate of the crystalline structure of snowflakes, leading to instabilities which cause crystals to form along columns, in what's called "dendritic growth." BRITANNICA ONLINE, in an article on crystal growth (http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=macro/5004/5/27.html), explains:  "At slow rates of crystal growth, the interface between melt and solid remains planar, and growth occurs uniformly across the surface.  At faster rates of crystal growth, instabilities are more likely to occur; this leads to dendritic growth.  Solidification releases excess energy in the form of heat at the interface between solid and melt.  At slow growth rates, the heat leaves the surface by diffusion.  Rapid growth creates more heat, which is dissipated by convection (liquid flow) when diffusion is too slow.  Convection breaks the planar symmetry so that crystal growth develops along columns, or 'fingers,' rather than along planes.  Each crystal has certain directions in which growth is fastest, and dendrites grow in these directions.  As the columns grow larger, their surfaces become flatter and more unstable.  This feather or tree structure is characteristic of dendritic growth.  Snowflakes are an example of crystals that result from dendritic growth."
        The BRITANNICA ONLINE article on "Snow" (http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/553/56.html) notes that this branching tends to occur when air is humid; whereas "in colder and drier air, the particles remain small and compact."  Frozen precipitation, according to this article, can take seven different crystalline forms -- whose infinitely varied shapes are contingent on changes in temperature and the amount of water vapor available -- or it can become sleet, graupel (granular snow pellets), or hail.  I'll go for the crystalline forms any day!

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Clockwatcher,
Bob Feldman, Chimes Advisor and Electronic Information Services staff member for Cornell Cooperative Extension, sets the tower clock computer by the official time at the U.S. Naval Observatory, which can be found at their website: .  Bob says the clock tower maintains pretty accurate time, but it does drift slowly. Synchronizing the clock tower's computer with the U.S.  Naval Observatory time is easy;  the problem is getting the four clock faces to say the same time, due to mechanical slippage.  The clock faces can
become three to four minutes different fairly quickly, necessitating another synchronization.  Thanks for the information, Bob!
        The Tompkins County Airport sets its clocks by the atomic clock reading you refer to in Fort Collins, Colorado.  There are several "official" time centers in North America, including the one in Colorado, the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., and clocks based in Hawaii and Ontario, Canada.  It's not clear whether or not these time centers are synchronized.  I guess that's about as relative as you can get!

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Curious,
Cliff Duda, University Grounds Manager extraordinaire, supplied us with the answers to your questions.  Grass is green because of its chlorophyll.  As you'll remember from early science classes, chlorophyll is essential to the process of photosynthesis, which allows plants to manufacture food.
        Weeds grow from seeds which blow in from other areas, or from bird droppings, or from weeds re-seeding themselves.  Most weeds germinate easily and grow profusely, much to the chagrin of gardeners.
        Sod is planted by levelling and fertilizing soil, then laying down the cut sod, and watering heavily.  A combination of chemicals, improved turf varieties, and fertilizing prohibit weed growth in sod.
        Here's to a healthy lawn!  Thanks, Cliff!

Uncle Ezra   

Dear Grateful Niece,
I'm glad to help!  I can understand why you'd be frustrated and confused by the mysterious change in your boyfriend's sexual behavior, especially when you're feeling as attractive as ever (not in an arrogant way, but rather with a healthy dose of self-esteem).  Without meeting you two and talking together in more detail, it's hard to say whether there's some problem your boyfriend isn't telling you, whether he's at low ebb for whatever cluster of reasons (stress, illness, "pressure to perform" and the resulting anxiety), or whether this is a natural balancing out of an intense initial ardor.  There may be things going on that your boyfriend doesn't acknowledge to himself or that frighten him.
        To work towards some understanding about what's happening, you two can read Bernie Zilbergeld's THE NEW MALE SEXUALITY, which sooner or later mentions all the possible causes of such a change in physical attraction.  By yourself or with your boyfriend you can consult with a counselor at CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services; ground floor Gannett; 255-5208) or with Roz Kenworthy, Gannett's Sexuality Counselor (call 255-3978 to make an appointment).  Ultimately, you'll need to decide whether to be explicit with him about what you're missing and what you need him to try to do about it, and these resources can help tremendously.

Uncle Ezra