Hands-on skills have been declining in this country since I was growing up in the 60's. We have students here in the lab who don't know which end of a hammer to hold! Nothing can totally reverse this trend, but Mr. Cook's courses are a big step in the right direction.
Harry Wilhelm
Cornell is going to take away one of the most practical classes for the whole university away for what, make room for a class about asain beetles of the third centruy? The whole university could use useful skills about welding and wood working.
I support this petition. These classes are extremely important in that they teach not only basic building principles that are essential in life, but also facilitate understanding of other factors of science and physical life.
I support this petition. Let me know what I can do to help. Wood-shop was the best course I took in four years at Cornell and I use it's teachings more than any other class.
Mr. Cook's classes are a great resource to have at Cornell. It is important that students have access to classes that teach practical skills, not just academic content! I have used the skills he taught me countless times.
I support this petition. I feel that practical courses such as these are one of the things that makes Cornell different from other Ivy League schools. Please continue to offer these classes; storage space can be found elsewhere!
I support this petition. I graduated with a BS and ME in Mech Eng in 1982. I am now a Principal Engineer & Research Manager at Xerox and have over 50 patents. The welding course I took while at Cornell was extrememly valuable to me (more so than many other courses I took!). Please do not stop offering this valuable type of course to Cornell students!
I support this petition. Keep Tom Cook!! Losing these courses will cause a greater separation of relaity and practicality at the 15th greatest school in the world... do not allow this to happen!!!
I support this petition. You know what will happen. Cornell will re-instate this courses 3 years from now at a gross loss to the school after they realize they are missing part of their curriculum by leaving out the applied aspect. You are cutting a hole in the program bigger than the size of the course.
Ezra Cornell founded this institution so that any person could go to get a well rounded education. This class taught me important skills in project management, attention to detail, and creativity in overcoming obstacles. It would truly be a disservice to future students to no longer offer this course. Please reconsider!
I support this petition.
Tom Cook's Intro to Metals course was an extremely valuable piece of my understanding the breadth of environmental engineering. I don't plan to use my learned skills in any specific context, but the way Tom teaches these courses communicates a lot about hands-on precision and technique that the academic rigor of Cornell Engineering lacks. This course saved me from going crazy sitting in lectures all the time. I would certainly be upset to see it leave the roster.
Sincerely,
Jordan Bokor Warner
The wood and metal classes should be required of all BEE majors. It provides hands on understanding -from a real master - of the stuff we learn in books
It is both dissapointing and frustrating that the CALS department, in the midst of a 3 billion dollar capital fundraising campaign is so hard strapped for cash that it feels the need to eliminate one of the few hands on, hard skill courses left at Cornell. If this is how my money is being spent at Cornell then I vow to never give a red cent to the Ag program. Tom Cook is a great teacher and the courses are an important part of the CALS program. If some majors are cutting this requirement from their list of classes I would venture to say they should rethink that action. Regardless the class provides useful skills to Cornellians every semester. It must be kept.
I support this petition. I took both wood construction and metal fabrication from Tom Cook. The course provided me with necessary skills I needed for not only my ag education degree but for my farming occupation too!
I’m an AS ‘05 grad who never took a class with Tom Cook, but was moved by former students' experience in this class and their love for Professor Cook. I work in a design firm (our roots are in industrial design, but we now do loads of digital work, and largely convergent work). The further we move into the digital realm, the more the designers push modeling and sketching. Our brains are stimulated by the hands on process, even when the final output may not be physical. Modeling is critical to creativity, and crucial to the design process. We even have a patented process called “frogthink”, which is an exercise in parallel thinking. We always use physical objects and modeling, even when the final result is digital.
Professor Cook's classes are more important than you realize in an increasingly hands-off time. If Cornell wants to stay on the cutting edge of innovation, it needs to understand the importance of the DIY movement, and the hand-brain connection in creativity.
Buy some trailers for storage.
I support this petition.
As one who works at Cornell building research equipment for students and faculty engaged in research, I can say that the knowledge gained through courses in design and basic machine skills is extremely useful for the future roles students expect to assume in the real world. You cannot be an effective engineer or architect or designer if you have no experience and sense of what is involved in fabrication of the products or processes you are trying to develop and produce. Hands-on experience is EXTREMELY vital in producing effective professionals.
I support this petition. As a Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) major I found these courses a welcome relief from classroom based theory courses that are so prevalent in the major. As a small business owner I now have to perform multiple roles, including fabricating our prototypes for the DoD. Only because of these courses do I have the ability to translate my Engineering expertise to real world working prototypes. As the little guy in the world of military contracts having a physical device that our customer can hold in their hand goes a long way in convincing them that we have what it takes to get the job done.
I support this petition. As an alumni working in the field I was educated in at Cornell, I believe that these classes are extremely useful in building confidence in a student. These skills also bridge the gap between the theoretical and the applied parts of our industry. The better we understand the practical side of our designs, the life of the contractor and the realities of working with these materials, the better we will design and manage our projects.
I support this petition. I took this class while at Cornell to supplement my hands-on engineering curriculum, and have found it an invaluable resource as a practicing engineer. Eliminating this course would be a real mistake.
To whom ever it may concern,
I support this petition.
I am a professional in the solar electric industry of 7 years. I am in Germany right now developing partnerships with companies who produce solar electric module racking and anchors. We are in the process of setting up manufacturing of these products in NY. Over the last few days I have been visiting my partners' production facilities and my metal shop education has proved invaluable perspective in this new business development. Metal shop stands out as one of the more valuable, directly applicable pieces of learning which took place during my education at our beloved Cornell University.
Thank you for your time,
Rob Garrity, principal
Finlo renewable energy
strategic capital solutions / solar deployment
www FINLOenergy com
607.227.9759
Ithaca, NY 14850-9424
I hope you consider the significant, hands on
I support this petition. I took both Metal working courses back in 1985. I'm an ocean engineer now and regularly make use of the theory and practical skills we learned. These classes are as important for the hands-on farmer as they are for the computer bound engineer.
I was planning to take metal fab in the spring! These are the courses that are supposed to set Ivy League universities apart. Not only should Cornell seek to excel at humanities and science classes, we should also seek to offer top flight hands on engineering courses. Take a look at MIT's course offerings and you'll see what it takes to stay competitive as a top flight engineering department.
