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Schumer tours Cornell's Technology Farm in Geneva
http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Feb07/Schumer.Geneva.ht
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Feb. 22, 2007
By Lauren Gold
LG34@cornell.edu
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer toured Cornell's Agriculture and Food
Technology Park in Geneva Feb. 22, where he discussed new research in
grape genomics and pitched a plan to improve education in math and
science nationwide.
Schumer's visit to the research park, known as the Technology Farm,
began with an informal discussion with scientists from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS)
Grape Genetics Research Center, the facility's anchor tenant, about
the latest developments in the New York state grape and wine industry.
"Things are profoundly changing," Christopher Owens, a USDA research
scientist at the center, told Schumer. "The techniques in genetics
are advancing rapidly."
As one of only a handful of U.S. universities studying grape
genomics, Owens said, Cornell is at the heart of those advances.
Scientists are currently working to develop grapes that are more
resistant to cold temperatures, diseases and pests, as well as
studying such qualities as intensity and stability.
"The facility here in Geneva is critical," said John Martini, a local
grape grower. "It enhances the local industry."
Schumer praised the collaborative efforts and promised to advocate
for support in the Senate. "We will help you," he said. "Science and
technology, and their combination and marriage to agriculture --
that's our future."
Schumer toured the facility, meeting with business owners and
scientists along the way. In a town meeting with area leaders, he
made a pitch for "Math for America," a bipartisan bill he
co-sponsored to create a national Math-Science Teacher Corps.
"One of our great problems for the future is our need for good
science and math teachers," he said, noting that as manufacturing
jobs decline, educating today's students in science and math is
essential for staying competitive in the global economy. The bill
proposes measures to raise national standards for math and science
teachers, reward qualified teachers with financial incentives and
build prestige for the profession.
Schumer said he expects broad support when he introduces the bill in
the Senate this spring. "It's a good idea for America," he said, "and
it's a good idea for upstate New York."
Schumer concluded with a request for ideas or concerns from the
audience. "Give me my homework," he said.
Gary Harman, Cornell professor of horticulture and plant pathology,
asked about bridge loans for beginning entrepreneurs. "You can't get
money from a venture capitalist until you have a product," he said,
and innovators are often forced to drop ideas or take out precarious
mortgages to fund them.
Schumer agreed. "That has not been on my front burner over the last
three to four years," he said. "But now it's gonna be."
Other questions covered local development, the war in Iraq (adding
more troops "makes no sense to me," he said), illegal immigration and
its effects on the agricultural community (he supports a plan for a
national employment identification card), and a brief diatribe about
the Boston Red Sox. (Schumer, suffice it to say, is a Yankees fan.)
The visit was Schumer's 17th to Ontario County since he took office in 1998.
The Technology Farm, a 20,000 square foot building on 72 acres,
opened in 2005 to foster collaboration between faculty members in
Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in Ithaca and the
New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva. Its tenants
include several businesses developed and run by Cornell researchers
and alumni.
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