Cornell Students Get a Quick Readout After Taking Their Problems to ‘Uncle Ezra’

“Dear Uncle Ezra: Where is the bridge that everyone jumps off of? I am considering it myself.”

“Dear Uncle Ezra: Where did the idea come from that the moon is cheese? Moonwatcher.”

“Dear Uncle Ezra: Where do I need to go to get a parking permit? What information will I need to provide? EZDriver.”

Those are some of the questions submitted to Dear Uncle Ezra, the computer program through which students at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., can get the answers to their questions about almost anything--personal, social and academic problems ranging from weight loss and loneliness to campus geography to advice on studies.

Completely Anonymous

The questions are completely anonymous; the answers often help others with similar problems who read the Uncle Ezra questions and answers.

Named for the university’s founder, Ezra Cornell, Dear Uncle Ezra is the brainchild of Jerry Feist, assistant dean for counseling in the Cornell dean of students office.

“It came from the fact that we had an electronic bulletin board that all students had access to,” Feist said. “One thing it listed was advising and counseling services. We discovered that about 50 people a month were looking at the list, and it was our feeling we could tell them directly where they could get help if they could ask questions via computer.

“It started with 50 people and within a very short period of time we had hundreds of people writing in each month and a thousand a month going into the system to read the questions and answers.”

He said that Dear Uncle Ezra began dispensing advice in mid-September and by November was receiving more than 300 questions a month. Back in September, Feist would read the questions and start making phone calls around campus to provide the answers. But the volume became too much for him to handle alone, and he has recruited helpers from student, faculty and staff--even one vice provost of the university.

Alcohol Use, Abuse

“The questions include comments on campus issues, questions about who to complain to if, for instance, construction blocks an entrance so wheelchairs can’t get in.” Feist said. “We get a lot of questions on alcohol use and abuse. Someone will write in and say everybody stresses alcohol and they don’t want to drink, so how do they deal with the social pressure.”

He said the questions have followed a general pattern.

“The first questions we got dealt mainly with how to get around this place, how to make friends, get involved in activities, what is there to do besides studying,” Feist said.

“The next phase seemed to be relationship problems and problems with self-esteem, weight, loneliness. Then came problems about substance abuse. Then came the phase involving academics.”

A quick read-through of a computer printout of “Dear Uncle Ezra” questions reveals topics that range from suicide to big sister programs, from someone depressed because no one remembered his (or her) birthday to problems with grading procedures and financial aid, from a student in search of male underarm perspiration pads to questions about Uncle Ezra’s real identity.

Sociable Drinking

For the student who feared that he or she was committing social suicide by not drinking, Uncle Ezra answered, in part:

“Too many people have gotten the mistaken idea that they can’t have fun, be cool, act mature, without alcohol . . . . While you may feel shy about it, you’re going to be teaching others an important and needed lesson by saying, ‘No thanks, I don’t drink.’ Sometimes it’s hard to be a leader, but you’ll be helping your friends and acquaintances. Keep up the good work.”