The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/2002/07/19/an-array-of-classes-draws-new-students/)
An Array of Classes Draws New Students
By wpengine | July 19, 2002
It's huge, it's entertaining, and it's crammed with students. And it's not a hockey game.
It's Psychology 101, and every year 1,600 students take the course taught in the 2,000 capacity Bailey Hall.
The reason that students pile into the popular elective in droves is not a mystery: sometimes for a reputation of an easy grade, sometimes for an interesting subject, sometimes for an entertaining professor.
"Psych 101 is just a fabulous mix of many ideas and concepts," said Katie Heley '05, who took the course out of an interest in psychology and the course's fame — t is the world's largest single lecture course, according to the New York Times.
"Everyone at Cornell should take it."
And many have. Recently, Prof. James Maas, psychology, the course's instructor for 39 years, counted over 50,000 alumni students.
The course is all the more exceptional because it so depends upon the quality
of the solo lecturer, which often include demonstrations and short video clips.
Another popular course, Art, Archaeology, and Analysis, has a interdisciplinary approach: bring together five professors from five different academic departments and apply the methods of science to analyze objects from art and archaeology.
"It's a hybrid class," said Ben Gianforti '05. "You get five, six, seven perspectives on the same topic."
The course is listed as Archaeology 285, Engineering 185, Geology 200, History of Art 200, and Physics 200.
Field trips (last year to the Corning Museum of Glass, the Ward Nuclear Laboratory on campus, and the Malcolm and Carolyn Wiener Dendrochronology Laboratory in the basement of Goldwin Smith), frequent guest lectures and interactive demonstrations on paper making, painting techniques, light and paleontology all add an unusual element to the course.
But that's not all that makes the course different.
"I'd describe [Prof. Peter] Kuniholm, [archaeology and history of art] as Foghorn Leghorn and Archimedes from Sword in the Stone combined," Gianforti said, referring to the Looney Tunes' impetuous, booming fowl and Archimedes, the learned owl.
Prof. W. Stanley Taft, art, is a co-author of the course's textbook, "The Science of Paintings"; Lecturer John Chiment, paleontology, led an excavation of a mastodon found in the Chemung River two years ago with course students; Prof. Robert Silsbee, physics, and Prof. Robert Kay, geology, complete the course's roster of performer-professors.
"As little as I actually learned, I got a good grade, I filled a science requirement, and I enjoyed the course," Gianforti concluded.
With a title like "Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds" it's no wonder that Prof. George Hudler, plant pathology, captivates an audience of approximately 300 each spring.
"It wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be," said Daniela Avrahim '05. "There were lots of interesting lectures and lab demonstrations."
Hudler shows would-be mycologists how fungus impacts everyday life.
"It wasn't too science-heavy," said Puja Gupta '05. "It was really great."
Of course, there is also the semi-famous Hotel Administration 430: Introduction to Wines, but, because of state drinking laws, don't plan on taking that until senior year.
Some courses are just too good for freshmen.
Archived article by Peter Norlander
Dean of Arts College Will Resign
By wpengine July 25, 2002
According to an e-mail obtained by The Sun last week, Provost Biddy (Carolyn A.) Martin has asked Philip Lewis, the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, to resign. The e-mail was sent to College of Arts and Sciences department chairs on July 16. The message said that Martin spoke to Lewis on the matter in recent e-mail exchanges, responding to "a series of disagreements he has had with her on behalf of the College and its faculty. [Martin] believes that his disagreements with the central administration on a range [of] issues amount to a negative attitude and make him the wrong leader for the College at this time." The authors of the e-mail message, Jonathan Culler and Paul Houston, both senior associate deans of the college, declined to comment. They stated in the message, however, that "we think it likely that [Martin] will initiate a search in the fall and that [Lewis] will continue in office until a successor is chosen." According to Lewis, the president and the provost have asked him to resign, effective June 30, 2003. "After much reflection, I have agreed to [resign] since it appears that there are irreconcilable differences in our viewpoints," he stated in an email sent to faculty and staff on July 29. "After taking a leave during the academic year 2003-04, I plan to return to the faculty in the Department of Romance Studies," he continued. Culler's and Houston's e-mail also raised questions of procedure. "The Dean is the representative of the College as well as a member of the Central Administration's team," it stated, "and for the Provost to request his resignation, without consultation with the faculty, when there is no question of malfeasance or mismanagement might be regarded as a blow to faculty governance and a dangerous precedent." Lewis himself elected Martin to the position of senior associate dean of the college in 1996; she became the University's provost on July 1, 2000. She was previously a professor in German studies with a joint appointment in the women's studies program. Lewis became acting dean of the college in July 1995 and was named to serve a five-year term as dean in July 1996. He was previously an associate dean and on the faculty of romance studies. Don M. Randel, the former dean of the arts college and former provost, said in a 1996 announcement of Lewis's appointment: "There will inevitably be differences of opinion with any dean worthy of the name. With [Lewis], one can be confident that those differences, as well as the agreements, will be profoundly principled and that the level of discourse surrounding them will represent the standards to which a university community ought always to aspire." Randel, who is president of the University of Chicago, could not be reached for further comment. Martin also could not be reached for comment. Culler and Houston also suggested that the departments chairs hold a meeting to discuss the issue further. "It is going to be difficult for Phil to be a strong advocate for the College in the coming year, and we need your thoughts about how to deal with this problem as well," they stated. Lewis stated that he will continue to be an effective dean in the coming year. "During the remainder of my term, I shall continue to try to represent our interests thoughtfully while working with members of our faculty and staff to facilitate the search for a new dean and an orderly transition," he stated. Henrik N. Dullea '61, vice president for University relations, and Lynne Abel, associate dean for undergraduate admissions and education, declined to comment.Archived article by Andy Guess
University Agrees to Grad Students' Request to Unionize
Cornell University and its graduate students agreed on July 12 to hold a union representation election. The agreement ends an adversarial hearing process that would have likely taken months to resolve. The agreement covers approximately 2,200 teaching assistants, research assistants, graduate research assistants and graduate assistants. "They've seen the writing on the wall," said Joan Moriarty grad, a member of the Cornell Association of Student Employees/United Auto Workers (CASE/UAW). The deal comes three months after graduate students filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board, which began hearings on the matter in June. "We have great respect and admiration for our graduate students," said Henrik N. Dullea '61, vice president for University relations. "By this agreement we avoid enormous expenditures of time and money on both sides." As part of the settlement, CASE/UAW agreed to shrink the proposed size of any union from over 4,400 to half that by excluding undergraduates, readers, graders, students in the professional schools (law or veterinary medicine) and hourly workers. "[CASE/UAW] originally identified a larger number of groups than the big four we considered employees," Dullea said, referring to the TAs, RAs, GRAs, and GAs covered. The University agrees to collectively bargain with the Cornell Association of Student Employees/United Auto Workers (CASE/UAW) if they win a majority vote in the election scheduled for October 23 and 24. "This is an unqualified victory," Moriarty said. "They guarantee to count our votes." In a 2000 decision, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) held that graduate students at New York University (NYU) were also employees, reversing a long-standing precedent. Facing similar student unionization movements, Columbia and Brown universities appealed the NYU case and are currently awaiting a decision from the full NLRB. Cornell is the first private university employer to agree to an election and its results, although it has reserved the right to withdraw from this agreement and enter 45 day renegotiations should the full NLRB side with the universities. "If the Brown and Columbia appeal is victorious and we haven't signed a contract, then we could be back to square one," said Rob Willer, grad, another organizer of the CASE / UAW. The UAW represents more graduate student-employees than any other union. "We were embarking on the same route that Columbia and Brown took," Moriarty said referring to the formal NLRB hearing process that resolves the issues tackled by this agreement. "They've committed themselves to a much more respectful path than the other universities," Willer said. "This reflects a smart, progressive attitude." Only days before a July 9 hearing, the parties began negotiations to search out common ground. "We wanted to avoid a contentious process," Willer said. "Unions work best when they have a positive relationship with management." The administration also had encountered difficulty with the hearings process. "The hearings would have involved hundreds if not thousands of faculty and administration [hours] to go over specific functions performed by individuals," Dullea said. With an election now scheduled, both sides are preparing to lobby for votes. The University reserves the right to "speak directly to the appropriateness of union representation for the designated graduate students," said Mary G. Opperman, vice president for human resources, according to a University press release. Willer and Moriarty both said they expected a victory. "There is a feeling that this is a national movement to unionize graduate students," Willer said. "We all fought really hard for a long time." Archived article by Peter Norlander