Outreach and Extension

Social responsibility is never out of fashion. Yet, poor working conditions and disregard for the environment are endemic to clothing and shoe factories around the world. Cornell apparel design professors think it is high time to change that and have helped to develop a set of courses on social responsibility in the apparel industry.

Ten one-credit courses in Socially Responsible Apparel Business have been launched online this semester for graduate students, and with permission, undergraduates, at Cornell, University of Delaware and Colorado State University. The program, which addresses labor and environmental issues in global supply chains for the apparel, textile and footwear industries, will be available internationally after its first year.

Workers inspect fabric in a cloth factory in Thailand.

www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Oct07/apparel.sustainable.ssl.html

As a student, Denise Green, Human Ecology '07, developed and taught a unique and powerful curriculum designed to empower disadvantaged youth through artistic expression. Working with the Ithaca Urban 4-H Outreach Program of the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County, her program teaches basic sewing skills with an emphasis on independent thought and creative freedom. This film is part of an outreach effort to make project ideas and curriculum available to other educators and volunteers involved in 4-H youth development programs.

www.cornell.edu/video/details.cfm?vidID=74&display=player

At the age of 12, Craig Kielburger founded Free the Children after reading a news story about the assassination of child laborer and activist Iqbal Masih. Eager to take action, he established Free the Children to help free children from poverty, exploitation and powerlessness.

The organization quickly became an international phenomenon, and has changed the lives of countless young people around the world. On Monday, September 10th, Craig delivered the 2007 lecture for the Iscol Family Program for Leadership Development in Public Service, titled Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material World.

The Iscol Program is run under the joint leadership of the College of Human Ecology, the Family Life Development Center and a committee of students, faculty, administrators and the Iscol family.

www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Sept07/Kielburger.cover.cn.html

A California-based skateboard company is moving to Ithaca to collaborate with e2e Materials, a new company that is commercializing Human Ecology research pioneered by Fiber Science Professor Anil Netravali.

The Ithaca company uses soy protein to create a resin, or glue, to bind natural fibers to create a composite using non-woven natural fibers. It's a petrochemical- and formaldehyde-free alternative to particle board. In this case, the result is a lighter yet well-performing skateboard, with the added benefit of being biodegradable after it's no longer used. The companies collaborated on a prototype skateboard that was shown at an industry trade show and which sold out.

The College of Human Ecology is a lead collaborator on the $49 million grant awarded to Weill Cornell Medical College by the National Institutes of Health, in charge of evaluating projects under the grant. The grant will create a new Clinical and Translational Science Center to bring the latest medical research into practice for the benefit of people today. CCE-NYC will conduct project dissemination.

www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Sept07/CTSC.translational.html

A low-fat vegetarian diet is very efficient in terms of how much land is needed to support it. But adding some dairy products and a limited amount of meat may actually increase this efficiency, Cornell researchers from Human Ecology and Agriculture and Life Sciences suggest.

This deduction stems from the findings of their new study, which concludes that if everyone in New York state followed a low-fat vegetarian diet, the state could directly support almost 50 percent more people, or about 32 percent of its population, agriculturally. With today's high-meat, high-dairy diet, the state is able to support directly only 22 percent of its population, say the researchers.

www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Oct07/diets.ag.footprint.sl.html

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