Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison M.A. ’55, had a joyous homecoming yesterday in a packed Bailey Hall, which welcomed the renowned writer with a standing ovation. Morrison, who graduated from Cornell 54 years ago, read from her most recent offering to the literary world, A Mercy, published last year.

At the horrific hour of 5 a.m., the alarm clock interrupts our much-needed slumber. Are. You. Kidding. Each of us roll, quite literally, out of our beds, the freshmen in their dark dorms and townhouses, the sophomores in their silent sororities or houses, and the juniors and seniors in their cozy (read: dingy) Collegetown apartments and homes. We shuffle into our respective bathrooms, bleary-eyed and beaten, stumbling on the masses of empty Gatorade bottles and Wegman’s pasta cartons strewn across the room, evidence of the wild night of heavy hydration and excessive carbo-loading. We struggle to put clothes on properly (sweatpants first, THEN then shoes) and hobble outside to pick up other teammates or to wait for our ride.

Check Monday's edition of The Cornell Daily Sun for additional coverage

Men's hockey 5, Dartmouth 1

Cornell opened its ECAC Hockey season with a convincing statement, piling on three third-period goals to seal the 5-1 victory in a chippy, physical game against Dartmouth. Forwards Blake Gallagher scored twice, Colin Greening had one goal and two assists; and goalie Ben Scrivens made 21 saves.

Cornell's special teams shone on the opening night of league play. The Red took advantage of 49 Dartmouth penalty minutes, going 4-of-7 on the power play. Cornell's penalty kill turned away all but one of Dartmouth's seven man-advantage opportunities, including a 5-on-3 in the second period.

Women's hockey 4, Union 0

It seems logical for people to donate less when their wallets are tight. Phillip Lyons, a high school economics teacher in Palo Alto, Calif., has been donating $100 to his alma master, UCLA, every year since graduation. However, things became different after the recession hit.

“I haven’t given since the [economic] downturn,” Lyons said. “But in all honesty, I think it’s psychological. I still have a job and the same income but I feel less well off so I haven’t given.”

The University is making public the 20 reports from the tasks forces that have recommended ways on how to restructure Cornell’s academic operations to cut costs, Provost Kent Fuchs will announce today.

From Vice President Olamide Williams’s ’10 State of the Multicultural Community address to a lengthy debate over Campus Life’s decision to reassign Ujamaa Residential Housing Director Ken Glover, Cornell’s multiculturalism became the focus of yesterday’s S.A. meeting.

As a preface to a resolution overturning Campus Life’s decision, Williams provided an address on Cornell’s multicultural community.

Tomorrow, the women’s soccer team will conclude its season when it travels to take on Dartmouth.

The Red (1-12-1, 0-6 Ivy) has failed to produce a Ivy victory so far this season, so this will be the final chance for the team to pick up a League win and end on a high note.

“Our last few games have been heartbreakers…we just want to get some points to show that we’re that good team that we know we are,” said junior forward Lena Russomagno.

Kickin’ around: The women’s soccer team has faced a combination of bad luck and tough matchups en route to its thus-far winless Ivy season.

Forget saving the best for last; face-off time for Cornell hockey fans' favorite game of the season is 7 p.m. Saturday. The No. 5 men's hockey team has a 2009-10 schedule littered with tough games against big-name hockey programs like Boston University and North Dakota, but those will be largely forgotten when Harvard takes the ice at Lynah Rink in the 131st installment of the rivalry.

“The New York Yankees are world champions!” I have waited my entire life to hear those fateful words. Okay, maybe not. Sure, it was only nine years since the previous Pinstripe parade through the Canyon of Heroes, but I was a mere lad of 13 years old. I thought the Yankees won every year. My first baseball memory is of my father waking me up on a school night to watch Charlie Hayes squeeze the final out of the 1996 World Series. Despite a bump in the road when the Yanks lost in the 1997 playoffs, it was not until a villainous Luis Gonzalez had the nerve to flare a hit up the middle in the 2001 World Series that I understood what it felt like to lose in October.

With just two games left in the regular season, the men’s soccer team is looking for that elusive first Ivy win this weekend as the Red travels to Dartmouth this weekend for a 4 p.m. contest tomorrow for the Cornell’s last road match of 2009.

Defending Ivy champion Dartmouth (9-5-1, 3-2 Ivy) is tied with Brown for second place in the Ancient Eight, while Cornell (5-5-5, 0-2-3) has tied more times in league play than any other Ivy foe.

But senior captain Matt Bouraee sees some chinks in the Green armor.

“Maybe their season isn’t as good as we thought,” he said, considering Dartmouth’s recent struggles.