On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, America woke up, got some coffee, and started its day as if nothing was wrong, as if the world was basically safe and predictable...Ten years later, we live in a different reality....Psychologists have found that the emotions that surrounded New York City and the rest of the nation 10 years ago — the fear, the anger — have largely faded into the background, often with remarkable speed...but Barbara Ganzel, research scientist in the departmenf of human development noted that some who seemingly recovered quickly may still be carrying hidden baggage. Read the full story in the Los Angeles Times.
The taunting started four years ago, when Dylan Huegerich was 10. Back then, he didn't know what being gay meant, and even today the soft-spoken teenager isn't sure where he fits on the spectrum of sexual orientation. He knows he's different. Cornell's Ritch Savin-Williams, professor of human development, is quoted regarding how to address bullying. Read the full article from Time Specials
For as long as there's been an IQ test, there's been controversy over what it measures. Do IQ scores capture a person's intellectual capacity, which supposedly remains stable over time? Or is the Intelligent Quotient exam really an achievement test — similar to the S.A.T. — that's subject to fluctuations in scores?
Need advice on love and marriage or on raising children? Now life’s lessons, collected from over 1500 older Americans, are at your fingertips.
The new website is based on the Legacy Project, led by Karl Pillemer, professor in the department of human development and Associate Dean of Outreach and Extension in the College of Human Ecology. Over the past six years, the project team collected advice from seniors across New York State and beyond. They compiled answers to the question: “What are the most important lessons you feel you have learned through the course of your life, i.e. what kinds of advice would you like to give to younger generations?” The result: thousands of pearls of wisdom on a wide range of topics, including love and marriage, work and career, child-rearing, finding a purpose in life, dealing with aging and the end of life, and many others.
By John McKain
Reprinted from Cornell Chronicle, July 5, 2011
Valerie Adams will become New York's 4-H Youth Development Program leader and assistant director of Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) as of Aug. 29.
Adams will plan, deliver and evaluate 4-H, the youth component of CCE, supported by staff in 57 counties and New York City and thousands of volunteer leaders across the state. She will link extensive county-level programs with the research-based resources of Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and College of Human Ecology.
A former 4-H educator in Philadelphia, she also has worked with Junior Achievement, Children's Defense Fund Freedom School, 21st Century Community Learning Center, Center for Youth Development at the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania and as a lecturer in Namibia.
She currently serves as research coordinator for the Preventing Long-term Anger and Aggression in Youth Project at the University of Pennsylvania, where she integrates developmental theories into the design and application of culturally relevant interventions.
Adams said, "I am excited about serving as the NYS 4-H leader because it provides a wonderful opportunity to work with a dynamic group of people -- researchers, educators, volunteers and administrators who are passionate and vested in supporting and creating programs that result in positive youth development programming for 4-Hers across the state."
Adams received her B.S. from Philadelphia University, master's degree in urban education from Temple University and Ph.D. in interdisciplinary studies and human development from the University of Pennsylvania. She has done additional graduate study in South Africa.
Adams, said CCE Director Helene Dillard, "is clearly suited to advance the mission of Cornell Cooperative Extension and our 4-H youth development programs. Her history of moving innovative research into on-the-ground programs, and her first-hand experience working with kids in diverse settings, will make her a real asset to our programs, our educators and volunteers, and all the youth in New York who participate in 4-H."
With Adams' appointment, 4-H will relocate to the new Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research. Formed by the merger of the Family Life Development Center and the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center, the new center in the College of Human Ecology will bridge the gap between research and practice. 4-H will be at the vanguard of using research on youth development and learning to guide practices and programs. Practitioners, youth and other stakeholders will also engage in evaluation and other forms of research.
"Valerie is an advocate for 4-H and is highly qualified to advance youth development programs across the state," said Steve Hamilton, associate director for youth development at the Bronfenbrenner Center. "With her background and expertise, Valerie adds tremendous depth to the programs, and we look forward to a future of continued improvement."
With more than 6 million youth members, 4-H is the largest out-of-school youth organization in the United States. 4-H has been enriching the lives of youth and their families since the beginning of the 20th century. CCE staff members lead 4-H programs in nearly every county and city in New York state.
John McKain is assistant dean for communications in the College of Human Ecology.
This fall, the College of Human Ecology will open the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research (BCTR), an initiative that will merge two longstanding and successful college centers: the Family Life Development Center and the Bronfenbrenner Life Course Center. The BCTR will place the college in the vanguard of one of the most dynamic and exciting recent developments in the scientific community translational research as a means to link research with outreach and education.
The BCTR will operate as a “living laboratory” for the extension of research-based knowledge into practice and policy settings and for the incorporation of problems from those domains into researchers’ agendas.
In the spirit of its namesake, Urie Bronfenbrenner, the new Bronfenbrenner Center will bridge the gap between research and practice, helping Human Ecology to solve a problem that exists both at Cornell and in society at large. Too often, practitioners view research as esoteric and irrelevant, while researchers perceive application as trivial and unscientific.
Through a novel alliance with local churches and health clinics, a multidisciplinary team of Human Ecology and Weill Cornell investigators are striving to reverse the odds and reduce obesity and obesityrelated deaths in black and Latino adults in Harlem and the South Bronx.
For two years running, the Bronx has attained an unwelcome distinction: the unhealthiest of all 62 counties in New York. High rates of adult and childhood obesity, especially in the South Bronx, have helped plunge the borough to the bottom of the findings by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. A few miles west, across the Harlem River, the proportion of overweight and obese residents in Central and East Harlem is similarly high—about 6 in 10 adults and more than 4 in 10 children.
As a result, these low-income neighborhoods, largely African American and Latino, show disproportionately high rates of hypertension, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and a host of other chronic health conditions related to poor diets and sedentary lifestyles. Perhaps most distressing, however, are the environmental, cultural, and economic influences that promote obesity in these neighborhoods: a surplus of fast food restaurants and a shortage of fresh produce and other healthy options; limited access to parks and affordable recreation; and unusual work, family, and social strains.
Rich Savin-Williams, director of the Sex & Gender Lab in the Department of Human Development is quoted extensively in this ABC News article about coming out. Although coming out has been shown to have mental health benefits overall, he advises being selective and strategic.
One of the nation’s leading experts in translational research methods, Elaine Wethington, shares her thoughts on this growing field in an interview last fall. Wethington is associate professor in the Departments of Human Development and Sociology at Cornell.
Cornell’s College of Human Ecology is pursuing a translational research model to better link social and behavioral science research to extension and outreach, creating a more seamless link between science and service. But the question arises: What is “translational research?” Read more
New York families will soon have more access to evidence-based programs that prevent substance abuse among middle school students and their families.
The PROSPER partnerships - which stands for PROmoting School-community-university Partnerships to Enhance Resilience - are a model for implementing substance abuse prevention programming based on real evidence. The program links Cooperative Extension, public schools, and local communities to choose proven programs that serve the needs of individual communities.
Last month, New York was chosen as one of five states in that will continue the process of forming a PROSPER Partnership, with Cornell serving as the university partner. Read more
