THE HUBOctober 2005 Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research Volume 7, Issue 6

From the Hot Seat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Health & Wellness Fair . . . . . . . . . . . .1Visa Regulation Updates . . . . . . . . . . .2Service Anniversaries. . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Did You Know? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Comings & Goings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Oh, Baby! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2BTI & Katrina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Out of Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Management UpD8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3A Closer Look at BTI . . . . . . . . . . . . .3A Good Walk Spoiled . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Science Cabaret . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5It s̓ Not About the Chicken . . . . . . . . .5Kudos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Awards & Recognition . . . . . . . . . . . .5Talks & Travels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Tea For $20,000? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Ding Dong! The Door Is Dead . . . . . .6Fun Folks Needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Holiday Party . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6The Great BTI Coffee Debate . . . . . . .7Twinsane! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8PGS News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

In This IssueFrom the Hot Seat

Health & Wellness Fair

D

by David Stern

More Challenges with Energy

There are two things which arenʼt news to anyone at BTI. One is the energy spike following Katrina. The other is our new Starbucks machine. Since both are offering challenges, I thought Iʼd say a few words about each this month. After all, they both have to do with energy, although of very different types and on a very different scale.

Mr. Starbucks: Since Valleri decided to conduct a survey, I said Iʼd write a comment after peeking at the results. It is clear that some BTIʼers canʼt live without Starbucks; others find the coffee too strong. And as we noticed just about from Day 1, you canʼt make pots of coffee for meetings and things.

As I noted in my Fair Trade “interview,” we didnʼt know how much this new service was going to cost us. It turns out the answer is probably “too much.” Not surprisingly, the Business Office was the first to figure this out. Right now, we are looking for alternative ways to have a single-cup brewer with options (e.g. decaf, cocoa), using Fair Trade and preferably local coffee (e.g. Gimme). The Starbucks deal is that the machine is free, but the coffee has a premium tacked onto it (over and above the Fair Trade price). We are drinking ourselves silly – maybe 4 times the cost of the former Mr. Coffee. So, please bear with us as our Caffeine Response Team resolves the hot drink dilemma. (See the survey results on page 7.)

Electrons: The graph below shows the prices of energy futures, e.g. the price promised to purchase energy at some point in the future. The price curve is striking. After the State of the Institute talk, we found out that Cornell had once again raised their anticipated utilities charges for next year, particularly for electricity and steam. If our use stays constant, it will mean tens of thousands of dollars of unanticipated costs. Since we have built reserves into the budget, the impact for 2006 may be mitigated, but we still need a strategy to reduce energy use. Although we

already had several projects in mind, Management once again went through a brainstorming session and came out full of new ideas. Your ideas for saving energy around the Institute are also very much needed - both for our budget, and for the environment. Please forward your suggestions to Larry Russell.

Budget: At least for Management, budget season has started. Weʼre planning to work from the “bottom up” as we did last year. The endowment has done well this year, and our “draw” will increase a little. We have also set aside funds to accommodate any new scientist hires. We need to be cautious given energy costs, but in general, thanks to many peopleʼs hard work, we are in very good shape.

Wednesday, November 16thBTI Atrium & Auditorium

10:00am - 2:00pm

We are lining up representatives from current providers (Blue Cross/Blue Shield, AFLAC, EAP, etc.) to answer your questions about coverage options. We will be having free screenings, similar to last year that may include blood pressure, blood glucose, body fat and others.

We are hoping to bring in reps from other areas of health/wellness that may be of interest to you as well, such as the Cornell Wellness Program, IBCA, Weight Watchers, TOPS, and Island Health & Fitness.

We are also hoping to have staff from “alternative” and “preventative” areas of medicine such as chiropractic, holistic healing, and massage therapy. If you have suggestions for specific providers or areas you would like more info on, please let Valleri or Kim Huizinga know and we will do our best to get them here!

Look for further details via email!!

Volume 7, Issue 6 Page 2

Form I-129 (H-1B): Beginning October 26, the filing fee for all H-1B petitions is being raised to $190 (previously $185). This applies to extensions as well as initial petitions. For new petitions only, this is in addition to the $500 “Fraud Prevention Fee”, which took effect earlier this year.

Form I-539 (For family members of H-1Bʼs): Also effective October 26th, the cost of filing the I-539 will be $200, previously $195.

J-1 Professor & Research Scholar Category: Many of you have heard that new regulations will expand the duration of this category from three to five years. PLEASE NOTE THIS IS NOT IN EFFECT YET! This new rule will be effective once DHS (Department of Homeland Security) has developed the SEVIS programming changes necessary to implement the rule. At this time, there is no date available for that programming upgrade. Therefore, you are still limited to the three year duration.

Travel for H-1Bʼs & J-1ʼs: If you are planning on traveling outside the U.S., please make sure you have obtained all the necessary signatures and documents to GET BACK IN!!

Lucy and Valleri are both authorized to sign visa/immigration documents so make sure you check with them, several days if possible, before you leave. (If you are traveling on Saturday, please donʼt wait until 4:00 on Friday afternoon to come see us!)

As always, if you have any questions regarding your visa situation or status, please stop by and see either of us and weʼll do our best to help you out!

Visa Regulation Updates! Comings & GoingsWelcome to a few new folks...

Karen Gomez and Julien Levy, new postdocs in the Harrison Lab.

Martin De Vos, a new postdoc in the Jander Lab.

Fond farewell to...

Jude Tulla, who headed to Thunder Bay in August. She has already written to many of us, describing her first adventures and welcomes email from folks that want to stay in touch. You can contact her at givin_er@yahoo.com.

Beth Takacs, who has transitioned into grad school at Cornell. Youʼll still see her around and about since her first rotation is in the Stern Lab!

In a whirlwind of new developments, we offer congratulations, welcome, farewell, and best of luck to the Family Markelz. Nicole and husband Todd are the proud new parents of Mr. Evan Hanley Markelz. Despite our best planning efforts to have his shower before he arrived, Evan showed up on Saturday, September 3rd - a month early! He weighed 5 lbs., 11 oz. and is just adorable.

The Markelz trio will be departing for Silicon Valley in California at the end of October where Todd has accepted a position as a webmaster for Google. Although we are very sad to see them go, we wish them the best of luck on this excit-ing new venture and with their new baby boy.

Jeff and Jen Anderson are the proud new parents of Thomas Cooper Anderson, born at 2:11am, October 10th! He is 6 lbs. and 20 inches long. The family is doing great. Thomas is a calm baby, and he has been sleeping very well. Congratulations!

September & October Service Anniversaries

Don Slocum 22 yrs Kerry Pedley 4 yrsJoanne Carruthers 21 yrs Berta Gutierrez 4 yrsMary Westlake 20 yrs Rongcheng Lin 3 yrsJay Miller 10 yrs Georg Jander 3 yrsGreg Martin 7 yrs Jae Hak Kim 3 yrsTish Keen 6 yrs Vijay Joshi 3 yrsSusanne Lipari 6 yrs Doug Carruthers 3 yrsDan Klessig 5 yrs Ling Xu 3 yrsJim Giovannoni 5 yrs Melanie Sacco 2 yrsElizabeth Fox 5 yrs Vered Irijimovich 2 yrsWendy Vonhof 5 yrs Greg Rairdan 2 yrsBrian Conlin 5 yrs Michelle Vernier 2 yrsRuairidh Sawers 5 yrs Shawna Williams 1 yrJulia Vrebalov 5 yrs Janelle Jung 1 yrCornelius Barry 5 yrs Quan Zhang 1 yrHong Gu Kang 5 yrs Gerrit Heetderks 1 yr

BTI has made two contributions of $1,000 for Katrina relief. One has gone to the American Red Cross, and the other to the Humane Society of America. As you know, there is an enormous need for both people and their companion animals. While this need far exceeds our modest contribution, which was in the name of the Institute and its staff, it is nonetheless important.

BTI & Katrina

If you are using Eudora, you donʼt have to type “@cornell.edu” when emailing other Cornell email addresses? The system

automatically does it for you!

Did You Know...

Oh, Baby!

BTI s̓ open house event on September 7th drew quite a crowd. Here are the numbers:

Coleus plants given away: 110Programs handed out: approximately 125

Signatures in guestbook: 74Postcards printed: 1700

Volunteers: 31

The success of the event depended on the hard work of many BTIʼers, each of whom deserves many kudos:

• Thanks to those who spread the word about the event, and those who brought their own families.

• Thanks to Wendy Vonhof and Katia Wostrikoff for helping me come up with descriptions for the greenhouse doors.

• Thanks to Bob Kohut, Haiyang Wang, and Rob Abramovitch for contributing stunning images for the slide show.

• Thanks to Valleri Longcoy for lending her handwriting to the guestbook and to Mary Westlake for proofreading the program.

• Thanks to Judy Bishop for putting the first and fourth floors in pristine condition in the days leading up to the event.

• Thanks to Nicole Markelz for her help with planning, and for the photos used in the slide show.

• Thanks to Patrice DuBois, Arnaud Germain, Melanie Sacco, Tim Devarenne, Dave MacDonald, Sarah Zimmer, John Dentes, Lucy Pola, Dick Staples, Janelle Jung, Melina Lopez-Meyer, Quan Zhang, and Don Slocum for taking care of the often-boring security and logistics details during the event. Tim and Quan also helped me with the greenhouse descriptions.

• Thanks to Ruth White, who not only performed admirably under pressure as a sommelier, but also volunteered to display a beautiful silk representation sheʼd made of a plant cell.

• Thanks to Larry Russell for getting the auditorium ready on time (against all odds), for allowing the masses to invade the building, and for being on hand to help with security.

• Thanks to Maria Harrison for contributing beautiful microscopy images for the slide show, and for demonstrating the fluorescence microscope during A Closer Look.

• Thanks to the others whose scientific demonstrations were the heart of the open house: Kevin Ahern, Peter Moffett, Georg Jander (whose aphid image also appeared in the slide show), Elizabeth Fox (who bravely stepped in at the last minute to fill Nicoleʼs shoes), Linda Rymarquis, Jim Giovannoni, and Paul King.

• Thanks to Brian Bell, Jay Miller, Ialon Irijimovich, and Liza White for growing Coleus seedlings, planning a presentation in the potting room, cleaning the green-house area, taking care of security, and keeping the lights on.

• Finally, thanks to Liz Estabrook, whose assistance was truly invaluable. She took care of details I wouldnʼt even have thought of...until it was too late.

Volume 7, Issue 6 Page 3

by Shawna Williams

Carl Leopold is one of two featured artists at an exhibit at The Upstairs Gallery in Ithaca. The exhibit is entitled, “Out of Africa” and will showcase African influenced masks. Carl told me, “I have had a long-term interest in African art -- especially in African masks. So I have been making ceramic masks that simulate or were inspired by the designs of the African artists. I will be hanging about a dozen of my masks along with Karen Conferʼs newest paintings about Native American art. It is a pleasure for me!”

The exhibit runs from October 11th through November 5th with an opening reception on October 11th from 5pm-7pm and a gallery talk on October 12th at noon. The gallery is located at The DeWitt Office Complex, 215 N. Cayuga St. You can also visit them at www.theupstairsgallery.org.

Out of Africa A Closer Look at BTI

September saw the completion of the Auditorium (finally!!), the very successful “Closer Look at BTI” event , the first Science Cabaret event, new coffee, recyclable plates, cups and silverware, and lots of work in preparation for 5 faculty candidate visits. Other notes of interest:

• We have begun to review applicants for the Outreach position. Gary, Tom, Georg and Lucy will be working on this over the next few weeks. We hope to have someone starting by January 1, 2006.

• Valleri is updating the photo board – we hope to have everyoneʼs new pictures up by the end of the month. Smile!

• John and Joanne are busy fine-tuning the grant module of the new accounting software. We hope that soon we will have reports available to PIs on-line!

Coming up this fall – various meetings with committees of the board, the annual evaluation process for faculty and staff, new health insurance rates (cringe), more faculty candidate visits, and review of our retirement plans.

Management UpD8

Volume 7, Issue 6 Page 4

The world has Tiger Woods but BTI has its own golf champion. On July 27, 2005 the Cornell University Menʼs Golf League championship was held at the Cornell Robert Trent Jones Golf Course and Alan Renwick, Emeritus BTI Scientist, was a key member of the championship team: Team Hogan. Alan was the top point scorer for Team Hogan all season long and after only 2 years on the team he had his first Cornell championship season. Alan is from Scotland so it was not a surprise to see him succeed at this game. Congratulations, Alan!

In June, BTI had a golf team that entered a Captain and Crew Golf event organized by the Institute of Management Accounting. The team consisted of Captain John Dentes, Liz Estabrook, Jude Tulla, and Gary Blissard. The event took place at the Elm Tree Golf Club near Cortland and the BTI team took 3rd place in their flight. The shot of the day was when Captain Dentes hit his ball across Route 13 and almost took out a VW. John will have to fix the slice in his swing before next yearʼs event. The BTI team also won a prize—a shoe cleat and club cleaner - for being closest to shooting par as a team. Good going and congratulations!

On July 11, Bob Granados was invited to represent the BTI at the Annual Golf and Tennis Tournament sponsored by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. The team event golf tournament was held at the historic Woodland Golf Club in Newton, MA. Bobʼs team finished the tournament at 8 under par for a fourth place finish. Bob was teamed up with CEOs representing Biotechnology companies in the Boston area and he was able to mix a little business with golf. If you are wondering how Bob got the invitation to play in this tournament, his daughter, Adrienne, is the Director of Events for the Chamber as well as the tournament organizer, and Dad got a sponsors exemption! Bobʼs credentials also include that he is a devoted Boston Red Sox fan. GO RED SOX!

On July 22-23, Gary Blissard and Bob Granados teamed up to play in the Cornell University Menʼs Golf Invitational at the Cornell golf course. The invitational is highly competitive and attracts the top players in Tompkins County. Nevertheless, this BTI team competed well with Gary posting a stellar 83 in the second round on a very difficult course. Eventually, Gary and Bob finished in the 3rd flight

but not in last place! Wait till next year. This twosome was not discouraged and in August they ventured to Anchorage, Alaska to attend the annual meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology and tried their luck playing golf in the dark. Together with five other insect-virologist/golfers they teed off after 8pm and finished nine holes a little before midnight. The golf scores were mostly forgettable and the most exciting event of the evening was having a large Moose Cow and her two calves walking across the 9th fairway as we prepared to tee off. We were warned by the golf Ranger to shoot in the opposite direction from mother moose and not to retrieve a golf ball near the calves because he did not want to have a “Moose Incident”. We all complied with his request.

In mid-August, our dear friend, Jude Tulla who recently left the Institute, organized the “Annual BTI Golf Outing”. The golf event was held at Stonehedges Golf Club in Groton and approximately 20 BTI staff took part in this fun event. With a good mix of golf newcomers and more advanced players, the golfing was meant to be GOLF FOR FUN! As Jude remarked, “Itʼs a blast to hang out and miss-hit balls with your friends and co-workers”. A volunteer is needed to organize this popular BTI golf outing next year.

by Bob Granados

A GOOD WALK SPOILED: SUMMER TALES OF BTI GOLFERS

Bob Granados (far right) and Gary Blissard (third from right) with golfing colleagues around 12 midnight. The Anchorage City lights can be seen in the background.

2005 Cornell Mens Golf League Champions: Alan Renwick (center) and his team mates from the Vet School and Law School.

Volume 7, Issue 6 Page 5

★★

★Kudos!

Congratulations to...

Haiyang Wang, who was a co-PI of a $348,632 NSF equipment grant (PI, Klaas van Wijk) for pur-chasing a hybrid quadrupole Time-of-Flight tan-dem Mass spectrometer integrated with UPLC for characterization of protein complexes and comparative proteomics.

Sarah Covshoff who recently received an “Atta Girl” award for her efforts in organizing the annual BTI scientific retreat.

Tish Keen and Brian Conlin who received “Atta Girl” and “Atta ̓ Boy” awards, respectively, for their help with numerous outreach activities as-sociated with plant tissue culture and plant tran-formation.

Donna Meyer and Charlie (her significant other) who did it again! They entered more of their home-made wines into the Great New York State Fair in August and won a silver medal for their 2004 Chardonnay and a bronze medal for an apple wine that “we kind of just threw together!” Cheers!!!

Ithacaʼs Science Cabaret was inspired by the Café Scientifique movement (http://www.cafescientifique.org/), which started in Europe in the late 1990ʼs and has spread rapidly. Cafes Scientifiques promote public engagement with science by eschewing a lecture format in favor of informal talks on topics of broad interest, which are used as a jumping-off point for group discussion. Sessions usually take place once a month in social venues such as cafes or pubs. The Ithaca Science Cabaret is organized by local professors, graduate students, and one public affairs officer from a wide range of scientific fields.

In other Sci Cab news, our website will be up very soon. The schedule for the rest of the semester is:

November 1st, 7:30pm: God in the Woods: The Ivory-billed Woodpecker as a Spiritual Paradigm

Presenters: John Fitzpatrick & Dave Foreman

December 6th, 7:00pm:Crocheting the Hyperbolic Plane

Presenter: Daina Taimina

The Lost Dog Café, 106-112 S. Cayuga St., Ithaca, NY 14850

Science Cabaret Kudos to George Hoffman for always having the kindest, friendliest disposition in the world. - Valleri Longcoy

Kudos go out to Dave MacDonald for his custom designed light stands that he delivered to us lickity split. - Tom Brutnell

The Ladies of the BTI Business Office would like to give a big caffeinated kudos to Jeffrey ̒ Sweetpea ̓Heichel for making our morning coffee and having it ready when we arrive in the morning.

Talks & TravelsJoyce Van Eck attended the 2nd Solanaceae Genome Workshop held in Ischia, Italy at the end of September.

Two groups visited the Van Eck lab to learn about plant transformation and the set up of a plant transformation facility. One group was from the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University and the other group was from the Korean equivalent of the USDA.

After I sent out an email a few months ago titled “The Colonel Needs You,” it came to my attention that many people at BTI were confused at what seemed to be a reference to KFC. The colonel in this case was in fact our founder, William Boyce Thompson, who earned his title not in the military but in the Red Cross. According to legend, it was his trip to Russia with the Red Cross during the 1917 revolution that led him to the idea that plant research would promote food security and, ultimately, democracy and stability.

Here is how Thompson s̓ biographer, Hermann Hagedorn, describes the time leading up to his Russian excursion:

“He offered the government a motor-cycle battery with machine guns, trucks and hospital equipment; raised some twenty millions for the first Liberty Loan, including a million and a half of his own; contributed a quarter million to the Red Cross. All this was according to the formula for millionaires. But the suggestion that the device known as “daylight saving” would contribute to the welfare of city workers and cut down the nationʼs coal bill brought his energy into action. He persuaded Senator Calder of New York to introduce a “daylight saving” bill in the United States Senate. Then, with the thoroughness and concentration he was accustomed to apply equally to gambling on the Curb and the construction of mining plants, he built up public support of the measure through the newspapers and press associations. The legislation passed Congress with a rush. “You have added to your laurels,” Calder wrote.

“But such glory was small pickings for a man who sat at meat with kings and had learned to deal with life in the titanic terms of American industry and finance. His friends were already deep in the war as field-marshals and ambassadors.” Henry P. Davison, as head of the American Red Cross, was dramatizing the code of the Samaritan on an almost mythical scale. Thompson no longer found promotions and stock operations stimulating enough for his imagination. The world was the chess-board over which he dreamed in the wakeful hours of the night or in his garden where the crocuses brought golden resurrection to his southward-sloping lawn. The overthrow of the Czar startled and thrilled him. Russia would be the decisive factor in the war, he said. If Russia could be held firm, Germany would be defeated. If the Russian front broke...

“Thompson let it be known in Washington that he would like to go to Russia in any capacity. Davison, in the Red Cross, took him at his word.

“So it happened that the greatest of Thompson s̓ adventures began.” (source: The Magnate, p. 180-181).

It’s Not About the Chicken by Shawna Williams

Awards & Recognition

BTI HOLIDAY PARTY!!Friday, December 16th

Holiday Inn6:00pm - 1:00am

Volume 7, Issue 6 Page 6

As an “answerer” of BTIʼs main phone line for a good portion of the last 11.5 years, Iʼve received some truly bizarre inquiries. One lady explained to me (in great detail) that her horses were sick. She suspected it was something growing in their pasture but could we please do a hay analysis? One person had a question about an ingredient in Jello pudding. One person noticed a patch of flowers growing beside the Yonkers BTI and did I know what it was? Do I have any records on the Colonelʼs private collection of dwarf Chinese willow trees (or something to that effect)? The most recent inquiry I received was from an auction house that was preparing an estate auction of a lady that had passed away. Amongst her belongings was a sterling silver tea set that was traced back to Colonel Thompson. They wanted to know if we wanted to buy it back since it was part of our history. However, considering the appraised value in 1979 was $20,000, this didnʼt quite make the “must have” list for BTI. It does have a very interesting story though. The following was taken from the auction house website...

ARTHUR, BOND: THOMPSON STERLING TEA SET ca 1905From the estate of Ms. Florence Ueltzen, we proudly offer THE SHOWPIECE OF A LIFETIME! This is the William Boyce Thompson special commission Sterling Silver tea service. Thompson chose Arthur and Bond of Yokohama, Japan to complete this master-piece; in the same spirit of the recently delivered LISCUM BOWL, celebrating the heroics of the 9th U.S. Infantry Regiment, and its fallen commander, at the relief of Tientsin from the Boxers on July 15, 1900. This unique tea service was to be fashioned from the same famous fused Tientsin silver, presented to the 9th U.S. (Manchu) Regiment by Crown Prince Li Hung Chang. The result was a SPECTACULAR, full 8 piece Sterling set with a magnificent Mahogany centered butlers tray, at over 34 inches in length! All pieces, including the Incredible Samovar, are adorned with a unique school of swimming Koi, battling against a windswept sea. The set was delivered to William Boyce Thompson ca. 1905, at a cost of over $35,000! A similar set with repousse dragon motif, sold at Sothebys in 2003 for $84,000 and an unidentified later Japanese export tea set, sold at Sothebys in 2004 for $28,800! The Pedigree of the Thompson service is literally ONE IN A MILLION! It is inexorably tied to the last Dowager Empress of China (Tzu Hsi), a true moment of historic American glory in the Boxer Rebellion, a fabled design and manufacturing company in Arthur and Bond, and a true American Genius, Magnate and Philanthropist, in William Boyce Thompson. How could any work of art have a finer lineage? Appraised at almost $20,000 in 1979, this set is so much more than simply an expensive and stunning antique; it is literally, a MAGNIFICENT AND SINGULAR PIECE OF AMERICAN HISTORY. MEASUREMENTS: 28lbs, 8oz [LxWxH] 34.50 inches, 26.75 inches, 13.00 inches.

Tea For $20,000? by Valleri Longcoy Ding Dong! The Door is Dead!

Fun Folks Needed!The BTI Fun Committee is in search of new members and fresh ideas! We have been on hiatus for the past few months but are ready to regroup and come up with fun events to keep us going through the long winter that is almost upon us. We gener-ally meet once a month for about an hour and discuss/organize new and upcoming activities. If you are interested in being part of our group, please let me know and/or attend our next meeting which will be announced by email soon.

If you have an idea youʼd like to submit, send it to VLL2. Thanks!

Most of you have heard by now that one of the mighty glass doors to the Atrium conference room went “somewhere over the rainbow” on Thursday (10/13). Hereʼs how it ʻwent downʼ:

The wind began to switch, the room to pitch, and suddenly the hinges started to unhitch. Just then, the Witch! And oh, what happened then was rich. The room began to pitch. The wall it took a slitch. It landed on the Wicked Witch in the middle of a ditch, which was not a healthy situation for the Wicked Witch.1

Hereʼs a little trivia about that door. 1) It WAS 48 square feet. 2) It DID weigh 7 lbs. per sq. ft. 3) Thatʼs 336 lbs. of glass. 4) 336 lbs. of glass exploding and crumbling to the atrium floor sounds like being under Niagara Falls. 5) The scatter of debris from 336 lbs. of glass is quite impressive.

A new door has been ordered but it will be approximately three weeks before it arrives and is installed. During this time if quiet/privacy is needed for your meetings, you may want to see about using a different room.

1The Wizard of Oz, 1939

Volume 7, Issue 6 Page 7

The one-cup machine seems to vary in the strength and amount that comes out. Some days it’s thick and REALLY strong and tastes sort of burnt and not very much comes out. Some days it comes out with a lot of water added and is, obviously, less strong and fills the cup more. I’m curious which one is the true “Starbucks” flavor?

The coffee from the SB machine is top notch! No problems.

I like the combination of the two machines. The coffee quality is much better than the previous one! Joy on earth! The Starbuck automated machine is not convenient if you want just a little bit of coffee. But with the combination of the two coffee makers that is just perfect! I think with the 2 coffee makers it’s fine. Having a smaller volume with the Starbuck machine would be great. And even better: a dual hose so that two cups can be filled at the same time. To save some efforts from the machine, and time for us.

I like the Starbucks, I can’t imagine anyone NOT liking it. I also prefer it in the carafes since it doesn’t seem as strong as the machine that brews by the cup. I like strong coffee but that’s REALLY strong and I’ve heard several complain. I just added extra water (which can be a challenge if it fills your cup too much). I didn’t have any trouble working either machine.

Freshly brewed coffee is ... DA BOMB! Starbucks is good/OK - personally I prefer Sumatra coffee.

This is the only new coffee machine I’ve tried, but I like it far better than any previous BTI coffee ever.

The “one cup at a time” machine takes too long, and the other machine may work well, but when the carafes are empty there are no supplies to refill them and the coffee left in the carafes gets cold.

The Starbucks coffee is too strong and it smells and tastes burnt. I don’t like it at all.

I’ve used both machines. Other than the occasional wait, I really like the single cup on demand of the new Starbucks machine. It seems far less wasteful than brewing up a carafe. I like the Starbucks coffee a lot, but I like strong coffee and have been accused of being a “bitter under-taster”. While it’s polite to let tea drinkers jump ahead of you in line, it seems like pulling a lot of hot water out requires the machine to build a head of steam up again (which causes something of a wait - maybe 3 times longer than waiting for it to brew). Are we going to use the carafe feature (the two buttons cleverly covered with tape) to brew up for meetings or seminars? Can we? Could we have a carafe (or two) for that purpose?

Coffee is okay.

I love the single-cup brewing machine!

It can’t get much better than the single cup Starbucks, in my opinion! A little bit stronger even with the minimum selection! Simple to operate but takes too long and always see people waiting in a line for the coffee. Maybe a good chance for socializing, but sometimes too time consuming! Also, if I only want hot water for tea, the capacity is low and always need to wait for a while!

Perfect. I am really pleased (actually proud) that BTI is buying Fair Trade coffee. This has done more for my morale than all the BTI fests put together. It really is up to business and the individual to lead the way in responsible environmental and economic behavior. If we wait for our government to lead the way... well you know. Regarding secrets for operating the machine - Yes -Ingredients: One mug plus one index finger. Directions: push button. Result: great coffee that was sustainably produced. No problems. But we do need to solve the issue of proper recycling of the biodegradable dishware.

No comments but some questions...who makes the carafes of coffee - are we supposed to refill - was an email sent out about who to ask if questions -- who’s the keeper of the supplies?

Secrets for making the ultimate cup of coffee or operating the machine...There are none - it’s not possible to make a good cup of coffee on the 2nd floor and you can’t operate a machine without supplies. I’d like to know who is supposed to keep the carafes filled. Also what are you supposed to do for a cup of coffee when the hoppers are empty, carafes are empty (or ice cold) and there are no supplies to make more?

I like the one with the fresh grinding stuff (au-tomatic). Pure caffeinated has caused two of our postdocs to suffer from stomach-illness. At least they found a correlation between drinking this coffee and feeling their stom-achs upset. Although I love coffee, I don’t drink it frequently (once or twice a week). The mix of caffeinated/decaf is better for the stomach upsetting people. There is no cocoa today! Big tragedy for me because that one I drink more frequently. I love the cocoa from that machine.

Love it. It’s black gold! I have only used the single cup Starbucks machine. What I like about it most is that if you are here early on the weekend, or late when nobody is around you don’t have to brew a whole pot. If filling the bean grinder is an issue, why can’t we just leave the hopper unlocked and stock the beans in the cabinet the way we used to with the ground coffee? If the concern is that people may steal the coffee, can’t we just keep a limited stock there? Or perhaps wait to see if there is a problem before we try to solve it?

The only problem I’ve had was that the machine (Starbucks) was out of beans and although there were bags in the cabinet below, the hopper was locked. Is it possible to keep it unlocked?

I like the filterfresh machine. Don’t like the carafes. Who is going to clean those? One advantage though is that you don’t have to wait in line as long. Starbucks coffee...Not my number one choice. Better than the previous stuff, but a bit to acidic and burnt tasting. Press the buttons before placing your mug underneath to save time. You have 50 seconds to add creamer and sugar, although the hot water splashes all over. Not sure how to fix this but my guess is that the guy from filterfresh doesn’t either. He is an absolute (insert insult here).

I’ve only tried the first machine. It was fun to try the first time. Even though I don’t like Starbuck’s coffee I decided to give the machine a try. It was easy to use. I have gotten the cocoa also just to try it. It’s okay, but I like Nestle’s better. I don’t like Starbucks coffee, so I’ll continue to brew my own in my office.

I love the new big machine with the Star-bucks coffee. I can’t imagine a day without it. I’m definitely hooked on the stuff. I have even considered buying some to use as my own home coffee. But since I don’t have the machine, I will keep my new addiction at work. Thank you to all who were involved with this wonderful mission!

I like fresh coffee made from beans. Now I can enjoy fresh coffee day and night, 24/7. No concern about the burning-out of coffee pots. The taste is different, but it does not mean bad. I feel that Starbucks coffee has richer flavor and more caffeine. I often see other people diluting their coffee with hot water. The half and half (normal and decaf) option gives better taste to me. It will be great if we have coffee beans from local brands or so called “fair-trade” coffee. It will be fun to have a blind test for BTI people (similar to ‘Pepsi challenge’) to pick up the best bean among the local candidates.

Like the hot chocolate....sad it is awol. Don’t drink coffee, but did have one small cup of hot chocolate...and liked that! Sorry, only tried the one cup of hot cocoa, no mixture...though if you could get a few drops or a teaspoon of the coffee in the hot cocoa, that might be good. :)

I’m not impressed with either machine. I think the old system was much better. I don’t care for Starbucks coffee. Problems with the machines...went up to get a cup of coffee and tried the first carafe of regular. It was empty except for all the grounds that went into my cup. Tried another – empty. Tried a third. Full but ice cold so decided to go for the decaf. Empty! Ok, I’ll make a pot. NO SUPPLIES! Well...I’ll get a cup from the other machine...wait in line...decide to try 1/2 reg-1/2 decaf because its so strong...worst cup of coffee I’ve had in a long time. Dumped it out and went back to work. Try again.

The new machines...terrific. The Starbucks coffee...very good.

The Great BTI Coffee Debate!!

The autumn term has started, and our events have also begun with the first BTI Fest happy hour in September. Three more BTI Fests are scheduled for the rest of 2005 to follow seminars featuring Cornell campus faculty.

Thursday, October 13th at 3pmKlaas J. van Wijk, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Plant BiologyʻChloroplast function, differentiation and protein homeostasis;

what does proteomics tell us?ʼ

Thursday, November 17thJian Hua, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Plant Biology

Thursday, December 16thLeon Kochian, Research Leader, U.S. Plant, Soil and Nutrition Laboratory,

USDA-ARS

Our lunchtime Professional Development Series (PDS) will continue this fall with a talk on collaborations by Greg Martin on November 18th. Victoria Blodgett from the Cornell University Graduate School will be back on December 9th to talk about job seeking outside of academia.

Unfortunately, we were unable to book a Distinguished Lecturer this fall. However, we have our first confirmed speaker for 2006 scheduled for April 5th and that will be Sue Wessler, Professor of Plant Biology at the University of Georgia, who studies transposons in maize.

We are starting to schedule next yearʼs events so it is a great time to get involved or to make suggestions to your floorʼs committee members for Cornell faculty that you would like to see invited for the 2006 BTI Fest series. Any ideas for professional development or career topics are also welcome.

PGS 2005 CommitteeChair—Melanie Sacco

Vice-Chair—Tom BollenbachSecretary—Corina Vlot

Treasurer—Jeff AndersonRetreat Coordinator—Sarah Covshoff

Distinguished Lecturer Coordinator—Kerry Pedley4th Floor Member—Quan ZhangFaculty Advisor—Peter Moffett

BTI Post-Graduate Society NewsTWINSANE!

THE HUB

Boyce Thompson InstituteEditor, Valleri Longcoy

Email: VLL2@cornell.edu vote for Pedro

With flu season approaching, now is a good time to start spritzing your mitts with the HAND SANITIZERS located around

the building!

Volume 7, Issue 6 Page 8

As the mother of 3-yr. old twins, I frequently find myself doing two things. Lamenting the fact that I have yet to coin a catchy phrase to slap onto cheap products and make millions from. Like, “Twincubator”, “Twinfertile”, “Twogether”,”Womb Mates”, and my favorite, which isnʼt catchy at all, just blatantly true, “You canʼt scare me. I have twins.”

Secondly, I am always eager to speak to others that have twins or are a twin. My main intent, of course, is to uncover parental survival skills and tactical maneuvers to preserve (what s̓ left of) my sanity and the framework of my home. The interior of which has already been significantly compromised due to minor flooding by twins that are DETERMINED to help with the dishes, “abstract” art on most of the walls (thank God for the Mr. Clean Sponge), and considerable spillage of various beverages and Franco American products. I also try to gain insight into the mysterious minds of these individuals. What makes them tick? What makes them do the things they do? Are my twins unusually heinous in their acts or do all twins behave like this? And if so, will this defense stand up in court, hopefully leading to their acquittal? Or possibly my own? Recently, Iʼve begun making the following statement, very loudly, when Iʼm trapped in the middle of a public place and the twins have escalated from squabbling into full-scale mayhem. “The heavens above have blessed me with twins and since not everyone is so fortunate, YOU ARE ALL GOING TO ENJOY THEM WITH ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!” The crowd parts like the Red Sea.

In response to my Institute-wide query about multiples, I received a few legitimate responses:

1) “I, Dick Staples, am an identical twin. Sad to say, my brother Harry, with whom I was close, died three years ago of a stroke. He lived in St. Louis, MO.”

2) Inge, the wife of Martin de Vos, is a twin. They have never been tested to determine if they are identical or fraternal. Martin says that to anyone else they look quite alike but Inge thinks they have different teeth and DO NOT look alike.

3) Saikat Bhattacharjee is an identical twin and they are indistinguishable.

I received two responses that are definitely worth mentioning:

From Len Weinstein - ”Iʼm not a twin (although one might argue about the role of Eulith) but when I got in trouble as a pubescent pop tart, my mother used to say, almost daily, “Thank God youʼre not a twin!!” I guess that doesnʼt qualify, does it? (Good enough for me, Len!)

One BTIʼer admits that some days he pretends he has an evil twin and fluctuates between the two personalities. To protect his identity I shan t̓ publish his name but I will tell you that he is now an expert at imitating the splutters, ticks, tocks, blurps and bleeps that emanate from the Starbucks machine.

Surprisingly, I didnʼt receive responses from the parents that I KNOW have twins. As I stated earlier, proclaim it loud, far and wide because people will get out of your way and it may help in your defense later in life.

GASP!!! I may have just earned myself a million dollars. This could be bigger than the pet rock. “TWINSOMNIAC!”

by Valleri Longcoy