I had a great visit to Cornell University in Ithaca, NY yesterday. My old friend, Sarah Magnus-Sharpe, who works for Cornell, gave me a VIP tour! The largest ivy league university, (4800 acres and 25,000+ students) Cornell is both a private and a public institution - it's the federal land-grant institution of New York State which makes it a tremendous value for New York State residents. Beautiful chimes are played by Cornell students 3 times each day from the McGraw Tower. There is a 10 week competition each spring to become a chimemaster. The only qualifications are that the student be able to read music, climb 161 steps and balance on one foot. With over 4000 courses across the 8 undergraduate colleges, one of the most popular (and most difficult) is offered by the Nolan School of Hotel Administration: a class on wine! On my tour, I saw what remains of a collection of human brains. It was started by a Cornell professor who believed he could learn about psychology and intelligence from the study of brain anatomy. He was testing his hypothesis that educated men had bigger brains than women, the mentally ill, minorities and murderers. The findings proved otherwise, but he donated his own brain to the collection nevertheless. Well known for its gorges, Cornell has some beautiful vistas and is a fabulous place for anyone who loves the outdoors. But there is so much going on on campus at any one time that it's a wonderful place for almost anyone to spend 4 years. Go Big Red!