This weekend, Cornell students here in Ithaca enjoyed the few remaining days of sunny weather and prepared for pre-Thanksgiving crunch time. On the other side of the world, President David Skorton was in China delivering a speech for a panel session titled, “Higher Education Under the Financial Crisis: Strategies and Development,” at the 2009 Beijing Forum which aims to promote the study of the humanities and social sciences around the world. Prof. Peter Katzenstein, international studies, delivered a keynote address at the forum.

Correction Appended

In the wake of substantial budget cuts for Cornell’s libraries, the University signed a deal this past weekend to sell a 95,000 volume duplicative collection in Uris Library to Tsinghua University in Beijing, according to Anne Kenney, University librarian for the Carl A. Kroch Library.

Cornell has been collaborating with Tsinghua on research projects, faculty exchanges and student work and study options for the past decade. In 2004, former Cornell President Jeffrey Lehman '77 visited Tsinghua to initiate a “strategic partnership,” which laid the groundwork for future cooperation in the fields of engineering and physical sciences, according to the Cornell website.

In 1901, senior Willard Dickerman Straight organized the first ever Dragon Day at Cornell, a tradition in which a Chinese Dragon, built by first-year architecture students, is paraded across campus. A Far East scholar at Cornell, Straight was appointed as the American Consul-General in Manchuria shortly following his graduation and went on to dedicate much of his short life to improving relations between the U.S. and China.

To the Editor:

Re: “People’s Republic Honors 60th Anniversary,” News, Oct. 2

The omissions in this article are an unfortunate example of journalistic negligence. How is it that out of an 880 word article about the history of the People’s Republic of China, there are only 70 words about the genocide of the government against its own people?

Thousands of Chinese soldiers — all nearly identical in height — stood motionless at perfect attention for the military review of President Hu Jintao in honor of China’s biggest ever National Day celebration yesterday morning.

In a grand display involving almost 200,000 Chinese citizens, 12,000 performers, 5,000 soldiers and 60 float prototypes, according to UPI, China celebrated the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China under tight security.

The Shanghai Quartet visited Bailey Hall on Saturday for a riveting performance that had some of the rough-and-tumble feel of a rock concert. To open the performance, the quartet took on Mozart’s String Quartet in D minor, K. 421, setting an elegant yet chipper tone for the concert. They dallied with the first movement’s lightsome runs with a tempered gusto. In the Andante that followed, however, the quartet attacked a dark counterpoint, allowing it to well up with an unexpectedly inward melancholy. When the counterpoint motif came back, they erupted in a startling, hall-reverberating crescendo that brilliantly shattered the remaining façade of delicate composure the piece had initially created.

Weeks before the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip was announced, thousands in Hong Kong joined protesters around the world to march against the bloodshed that has resulted from the war between Israel and Hamas. Gaza is also a hot topic of debate in Internet blogs in China.

According to an online survey by the Chinese newspaper Huan Qiu, 66 percent of China’s bloggers believe Israel should be held responsible for the conflict while 34 think the fault lies with Hamas. In addition, an online petition calling for an Israeli ceasefire was signed by almost 1,400 Chinese.

WASHINGTON (AP) — China has abruptly canceled a series of military and diplomatic contacts with the United States to protest a planned $6.5 billion package of U.S. arms sale to Taiwan, American officials told The Associated Press on Monday.

Beijing has notified the U.S. that it will not go forward with several senior level visits and other cooperative military-to-military plans, said Marine Maj. Stewart Upton, a Defense Department spokesman.

"In response to Friday's announcement of Taiwan arms sales, the People's Republic of China canceled or postponed several upcoming military-to-military exchanges," Upton said, lamenting that "China's continued politicization of our military relationship results in missed opportunities."

Drum roll. The audience at the State Theater was absolutely silent — anxious with anticipation — waiting for what would be the grand finale of the Golden Dragon Acrobats’ dynamo performance last Saturday.

“Ladies and gentlemen, what you are about to see is incredibly dangerous. Please, do not try this at home.”

Huh … they’re saying that now? The first two hours of the performance had already seen a multitude of acrobatic feats that, performed by lesser-trained individuals, would have resulted in any number of injuries, as mild as hernias or as severe as broken bones.