To the Editor:

Re: “Intramural Hockey Axed in Budget Cut,” Sports, Sept. 1.

Playing intramural ice hockey and then downing our nightcap — a Ruloff’s pitcher — was one of our favorite pastimes in college. So you could imagine our dismay when we discovered that the Athletics Department axed our beloved sport.

More than the disappointment that Cornellians will no longer have the privilege of playing on Lynah’s legendary sheet of ice, the end of intramural ice hockey shatters the heart of a revered Cornell institution.

Over the past few weeks, almost 20,000 students have descended upon Ithaca, moving into new dorm rooms and apartments, making multiple trips to Target and lugging textbooks from the bookstore. For the most part, we have been greeted by local residents warmly: a bright smile from the clerk at the registrar or a friendly “welcome back” from our favorite barista at CTB. But not all Ithaca residents are as warm or welcoming.

In last year’s “Best of Ithaca” survey by the Ithaca Times, respondents were asked to name the “best thing that should happen to Ithaca.” The second response listed was “get rid of half the college students.”

“What are you doing next year?”

This time of year, many seniors have come to dread that inevitable — and daunting — question.

People have all kinds of plans, and many of us legitimately do not know. Yet amidst all the uncertainty and confusion, nothing came close to what I was about to hear. Without even a twist of her comely, deceptively-innocent brow, she spoke with a voice full of the confidence of four years of liberal arts education and other worldly experience:

“I’d like to do something good for humanity … or make a lot of money.”

Or??

My Sun career comes down to this: 800 words and then I’m finished, done for good. What that means I don’t know, but it does leave some room to be creative. No matter what I've written, there will be no worrying about firing or suspension, no need to take angry calls and no requirement to respond to livid e-mails. There will be no looking back.

I’ll start by noting that the very fact that you’re seeing this column means I’ve moderated a bit. There are many things I would have loved to have written but, if I did, this would be in the trash and instead you’d be taking in some wisdom from the College Exchange. Thus, in the spirit of getting this printed, I’ve forsaken some of that wiggle room.

With the Middle East crisis at the forefront of media coverage and debate, Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni brought a unique perspective to the situation yesterday, speaking of his first-hand experience as a mediator between Israeli and Palestinian political parties.

“I have never encountered a process as complicated and complex as this one,” Zinni said.

Zinni, a Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of 1956 Professor, began his discussion in front of the packed HEC Auditorium with his worry that the Middle East peace efforts are being eclipsed by the current economic crisis and various other events.

FACEBOOK. OBAMA. FACEBOOK. OBAMA. OBAMA. ISRAEL. OBAMA FACEBOOKS ISRAEL. ECONOMY. FACEBOOK. ISRAEL. FACEBOOK. OBAMA. OBAMA. ECONOMY TWITTERS OBAMA TO FACEBOOK ISRAEL.

I just found out that there is a mistake on the resume that I have been sending out in my job applications.

A member of Cornell Career Services notified me this week that this error accounts for why I failed to secure an interview with a potential employer.

I’m not talking about some wee, negligible oversight — a “9” where there should be an “8,” a double space instead of a single one. I’m talking about a mother load of a blunder, as monstrous and glaring as it is undeniably and irreversibly catastrophic.

Under my “Home Address,” I have the following listed:

Toronto, Ontario

Canada

Not a grammatical glitch or a formatting failure, but a stain on my record all the same.

[“This email is being sent to all students who … did not receive an interview.”]

A department has merged. A visual facility has been cut. A library is closing.

Across the pond, universities throughout the United Kingdom have either closed departments or are considering closing them due to a lack of funding.