David Plouffe, campaign manager for President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, will be this year’s convocation speaker, the Convocation Committee an­nounced at yesterday’s Student Assembly meeting.

Plouffe, whom Obama has referred to as “the unsung hero” of “the best political campaign in the history of the United States of America,” will address this year’s graduating class.

“Our committee sought an individual who has had a profound impact on the society that our class has been prepared to enter,” C.J. Slicklen ’09 stated in an e-mail yesterday. Slicklen is chair of the Convocation Committee and a Sun columnist.

Steve Hildebrand, deputy national campaign director of President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, spilled the juicy secrets yesterday at Cornell that led to the biggest non-incumbent victory in American history.

Approximately 70 students gathered in McGraw Hall to hear Hildebrand speak about everything from his personal background to his team’s intricate campaign strategies and inside stories of political bigwigs.

Strategy session: President Obama’s Deputy Campaign Manager Steve Hildebrand speaks with students yesterday.

President Obama signed the most sweeping piece of economic legislation in the nation’s history on Feb. 17 in Denver, Col., officially sparking what may prove to be a long road to financial recovery. On campus, students and professors voiced their opinion, highlighting attitudes ranging from cautious optimism to vitriolic critique.

In addition to the $8.7 trillion that the U.S. government has already pledged last November in order to restore the crumbling economy, the Senate and House now have compromised on an additional $789 billion bill in the form of a stimulus package towards the efforts.

This year’s Black History Month comes at a pivotal time in the history of both America and Cornell. The first Black president was inaugurated in January, and this April marks the 40th anniversary of the Willard Straight Hall takeover.

Ernie Jolly ’09, president of Black Students United, views Obama’s inauguration as the top rung on a long ladder extending through history — an image displayed on the Black History Month flyers around campus.

The BSU is sponsoring a series of discussions and dinners this month, the first of which was held yesterday in Robert Purcell Community Center. The African, Latino, Asian and Native American Programming Board’s annual commemorative ceremony for the Willard Straight Hall takeover in April is likely to hold special significance this year.

You may want to hold off on that new car or think twice before booking that Spring Break trip to Acapulco, or even stop yourself from shelling out the $7.00 for a Collegetown bagel, because despite the House’s approval of the economic stimulus package, experts warn that there will be no quick solution to the financial crisis. 

Yesterday, just over 40 people gathered at the Tompkins County Public Library to hear a panel of experts discuss what President Barack Obama must do to begin to right the economy. The event, which was sponsored by the Ithaca Democratic Socialists of America, featured four speakers who offered unique insight into different aspects of the issue.