Deputy Provost and Sociology Professor David Harris felt that previous books correlating race and poverty failed to accurately and completely identify the mechanisms that lead to the existing socioeconomic race disparities. To address these shortcomings, he wrote a book entitled The Colors of Poverty: Why Racial and Ethnic Disparities Exist. During a lecture yesterday, Harris discussed the analysis of his book as well as how it was composed.

As deputy provost, Harris focuses on University diversity, admissions and financial aid. Harris is also responsible for enhancing the profile of social sciences at the University.

Last week, President Barrack Obama appeared on The Tonight Show to make us laugh over issues like the financial crisis, the burgeoning deficit, the energy crisis, the dubious future of American prosperity and, of course, to give us the latest gossip on the impending presidential dog.

(Laughter and applause … )

Obama wasn’t an ordinary late night TV guest. First, he is the sitting President of the United States — the first to ever appear on late-night TV. Second, he wasn’t there to promote a new movie, TV show or book. Rather, as soon became apparent, he was there to promote the economic agenda of his administration.

To the Editor:

Re: “Sold Short: American Capitalism at Its Finest,” Letters, March 25

We live today in a tense economic climate. In the past year, organizations previously thought of as the titans of industry have been brought to their knees, while pension plans and 401ks throughout the nation have been wiped out. All while short sellers managed to turn a profit.

To the Editor:

Re: “Sold Short: American Capitalism at Its Finest,” Opinion, March 25

This author’s very interesting column has one problem — or shortcoming. He addresses the issue of short selling as a fundamentally negative operation that is “invested in market failure.” This is a simplistic view of short selling that flies well with the public’s general feeling of indignation towards Wall Street.

 While the future of the global economy remains uncertain, many look to the lessons of the past for advice on how to tackle today’s problems. Kirstin Downey, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist from the Washington Post, explained this philosophy yesterday while discussing her recently released biography The Woman Behind the New Deal:  The Life of Frances Perkins, Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Secre­tary of Labor and His Moral Conscience.

Fannie Coralie Perkins was born in Boston in 1880 and quickly realized that her life would be based around helping others. Perkins, who later changed her name to Frances, worked with Jane Addams at the Hull House in Chicago and later worked for the Tammany Hall political machine and then-governor of New York, Al Smith.

Financing typically comes in two sizes for businesses: very large or very small. Large-scale financing caters to the needs of large businesses, while small-scale financing answers the needs of tiny enterprises. In a manner reminiscent of Goldilocks’ perfect fit, Root Capital — a nonprofit social investment fund based in Cambridge, Mass. — aims to provide much-needed capital to help such medium-sized businesses grow.

Last night, students and faculty alike gathered in the Plant Science Building for a lecture entitled “Beyond Microfinance: Finance for the ‘Missing Middle’ in Africa and Latin America” to learn more about the financing avenues made available to medium-sized enterprises through Root Capital.

“It will only cost $500, all inclusive. Flight, room, food …”

There was a brief pause.

“Oh, plus drinks, yea. So like $1000.”

The source of the conversation was an innocent looking petite in a baggy Cornell sweatshirt, clutching a calculus textbook unable to fit in her jam-packed Jansport backpack.

I immediately knew she was planning her spring break. Spring break: the consummate week of sun, sand and “romance.” The week students from across the country “dance” intimately with strangers in unrestricted, inebriated revelry on national television. The one-week revolt against the rigor of the American education system — book learning swept rudely from the altar, replaced by carnal knowledge.

This financial collapse never had to happen, if we had properly regulated the mortgage market. And the ideological opposition that bankers had to regulation was obviously short cited; if we had, everyone—including the bankers—would have been better off. This is how ...