CORNELL UNIVERSITY - ITHACA'S CLASS ACT

One of Ithaca's proudest moments must have been in 1865 when Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White founded Cornell University.

Ezra Cornell's generosity, along with New York State's Morrill Land Grant, helped to create this internationally acclaimed university. Thanks to his vision of a university "where any person can find instruction in any study"

A walking tour is the easiest way to explore this "town within a town" set amidst waterfalls, gorges, lakes and undulating hills. Just think you can now look down into Fall Creek gorge from Triphammer suspension bridge, but 10,000 years ago the northeast was buried under a mile deep river of ice and glaciers covered the valleys.

Cascadilla Gorge flows like a natural beauty over several waterfalls and there is also a trail connecting the Cornell campus to downtown Ithaca (a bit of a hike but it's an alternate route to get to the shops on Ithaca Commons).

The architecture remains an outstanding feature throughout the campus, whether it's the symbolic McGraw Tower, Sage Chapel or the many halls that house various departments of the university.

The 745-acre main campus encompasses 260 major buildings occupied by seven undergraduate units and four graduate and professional units.

Unforgettable Cornell Memories

A Cornell landmark, the McGraw Tower and Cornell Clock and Chimes Museum rises 173 feet skyward. By 1999 the bell tower was ringing with daily chimes played on the set of 21 bells by student and alumni chimesmasters, and it is a privilege to listen to any of their repertoire which numbers more than 2,000 songs.

The Willard Straight Hall (The Straight) is a 1925 Gothic structure built with cathedral ceilings, marble staircases and oak paneling. Its a hub of activity with dining facilities, library, music room, ceramics studio, art gallery, cinema and meeting and activity rooms. Offices of the Dean of Students and the 40-plus student organizations also occupy the building.

Sage Hall was built in 1873 to accommodate female students when Cornell became one of the first co-ed universities in the northeast. The tall spines and polychrome brickwork defines this building as another campus landmark.

The Kroch Library can be easily bypassed since the entire four-story building is underground. Here you will find rare books and manuscripts that lay claim to fame (an autographed copy of Lincoln's Gettysburg address), as well as Asian collections, Fiske Icelandic collections and collections on human sexuality, witchcraft and history of science.

The Cornell Plantations are a museum of living plants. The arboretum and 200-acre botanical gardens are easily accessible, as is the 500-acre nature preserve filled with woodlands, trails, streams and gorges.

Cornell's accolades are unending but it is worthy of mention that their College of Veterinary Medicine is the world's largest and most advanced center for treatment and research in animal health. On a lighter note, did you know that the Newman Arena has the Lindseth Climbing Wall, the largest indoor climbing wall in North America?.

The Frank H.T. Rhodes Hall houses the high tech College of Engineering and Cornell Theory Center. Partnered by IBM, the facility boasts one of the largest and fastest computers in the world - Does 136 billion calculations per second sound amazing? You bet!

The Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art is as remarkable for its fine art collections as it is for its unique design by architect I.M. Pei, and is famed for its 'fifth floor with a view'- Cornell campus, Cayuga Lake and Ithaca. It's on this site that the founder reputedly stood to announce his plans for a university.

Free admission opens up a cornucopia of collections to visitors, from Asian art to 19th and 20th Century American art and the graphic arts. If you're lucky you might encounter one of the many traveling exhibitions the museum hosts. On a recent visit it was Cuba! The Jay and Anita Hyman Collection of Cuban Paintings, One Man's Eye: Alan Sigel (photographs), Form and Fantasy: Decorative Art and Art Posters from the Berley Collection, City of Light (images of Paris), Politics in Print and Decompositions:John Pfahl (photographs and poems inspired by the images).

Many of the benefactors of the Museum are Cornell alumni like Isabel and William Berley, Class of 1947 and Class of 1945. Just last year the museum received the Berlys' collection of European and American glass, silver, furniture and posters, which reflect different eras - Art Deco, Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts.

The Statler Hotel (www.statlerhotel.cornell.edu) ranks among the world's finest in the hospitality industry, but few guests realize that some of the employees are students enrolled in the School of Administration at Cornell University, which was the first to offer a hospitality program. The hotel school operates three restaurants that cater to every palate, from snacks to formal banquets.

Banfi's Restaurant is billed as "Fresh Ideas in Casual Gourmet Dining" and judging from the lunch menu of soups, salads and lite fare for appetizers they live up to their promise. They also offer grilled thin crusted pizzas, specialty sandwiches and wraps together with various luncheon entrees.

For lunch on the run (when you want to see as much of Cornell within a day) I would recommend the Vegetable Quesadilla (flour tortilla stuffed with sauteed vegetables, Monterey Jack, sundried tomato salsa, guacamole and scallions). The Thai Wrap (grilled chicken breast rubbed with red curry, wrapped in a tortilla with Asian vegetable slaw, rice, ginger, mint and basil, and served with cilantro dressing and a field green salad) is another tasty, light meal.

If you want to dine cafeteria style, the Terrace Restaurant offers a salad bar, deli and grill, while at Mac's Cafe breakfast and Italian fare are on the menu and beverages and light snacks are available at the Regent Lounge.

Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White are both immortalized by statues on the campus grounds, an honor that befits two gentlemen who had the foresight to create an undergraduate teaching institution and an international research university.

Cornell University - truly a class act.