The $170 million donation that Sanford Weill ’55 advanced to the University ahead of schedule in January is more valuable than its monetary worth alone, college officials say.

“We needed it as an inspiration … for others to come forward … with a gift,” said Stephen Cohen, associate provost and executive vice dean for administration and finance at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Around $135 million of the total donation will be used to fund the construction of a new 480,000 square foot medical research center in New York City, while the remainder will be put towards programming in Weill Hall, the new life sciences building on the Ithaca campus.

This is the second article in a series examining the effects of the University’s budget cuts on individual schools and colleges.

The $2.8 million cut in state funding for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences announced in the fall was unwelcome but not altogether unfamiliar. Throughout the college’s history, CALS has faced three periods of significant reductions resulting from state cuts, according to CALS Senior Associate Dean Jan Nyrop. However, in order to account for the University-mandated 5 percent cut — in accordance with the Ithaca campus reduction of the same amount — the college will have to cut an additional $4 million, amounting to a significant decrease unparalleled in CALS history.

NEW YORK (AP) — If you're looking for an extra bargain before the holidays, you may only have to ask.

With holiday sales shaping up to be the lowest in years, possibly the worst since the industry began annual comparisons in 1969, retailers say they're taking consumers' demands for good deals seriously. Some are extending return policies, while others are matching competitors' prices. Many are volunteering on-the-spot discounts and even letting customers haggle prices well down from what's marked in a desperate bid to make the cash register ring.

"You'd have to be a moron not to ask for a discount," said Stephen Hoch, a retailing expert at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ President George W. Bush expressed remorse that the global financial crisis has cost jobs and harmed retirement accounts and said he'll back more government intervention if needed to ease the recession.

"I'm sorry it's happening, of course," Bush said in a wide-ranging interview with ABC's "World News," which was airing Monday. "Obviously I don't like the idea of people losing jobs, or being worried about their 401(k)s. On the other hand, the American people got to know that we will safeguard the system. I mean, we're in. And if we need to be in more, we will."

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Walloped by the recession, automakers' U.S. sales are plummeting as hard-to-get credit, job losses and other stresses make many Americans wary of taking on big-ticket financial commitments.

Auto sales for November, released Tuesday, are expected to show a drop of 36 percent from a year ago to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 10.2 million vehicles, according to Joseph Amaturo, analyst at Buckingham Research. Those sales figures would include the Big Three Detroit car makers as well as foreign companies that sell vehicles in this country.

This is the first part of a series delving deeper into the economic crisis and its effects on higher education, particularly at Cornell.

In the past few weeks, members of the Cornell community have received a plethora of information about how Cornell is dealing with the current economic crisis. Like Cornell, many institutions of higher education have created innovative plans to support their missions while managing their budgets.

A five-member panel of international business leaders from Osram, one of the world’s leading lighting manufacturers, met in Sage Hall last night to discuss global leadership challenges and changes.

The panelists talked about topics ranging from green business and sustainable development to competing leadership models and corporate social responsibility. The student-organized International Leadership Forum sponsored the event. Looking for answers: Panelist Larry Hu speaks yesterday in Sage Hall about international business.

They focused on the need for sustainability in light of global climate change and the energy crisis.