The $819 billion economic stimulus plan passed yesterday in the House of Representatives would shower billions of dollars to a higher education sector that is in dire need of aid. The package, passed on a 244-188 vote, would boost Pell Grant to a historic high and introduce a new $2,500 tuition tax credit.

The House’s approval of the stimulus plan came a few days after Cornell announced a series of measures — including tuition increase, budget cuts and a hiring pause — to battle its 27-percent loss in its endowment and $6 million slash in state funding on Saturday.

President Barack Obama pledged to improve schools, colleges and universities to meet new technological standards and accessibility in his Inaugural address on Tuesday. This pledge, which upholds Obama’s promise during his campaign, marks a shift in funding for research, financial aid, college accessibility and preparedness.

Next month, Barack Obama will be inaugurated as the forty-fourth president of the United States. The world holds its breath, hoping that Obama’s team of the best and brightest, like D.C. Comics’ Justice League of America, will save the day. If we lived in the best of all possible worlds, Obama will solve the financial crisis, resolve all conflicts in the Middle East, and restore this country’s reputation in the world. In addition, he may slay another fearsome beast— the rising costs of higher education.

This is the first part of a series delving deeper into the economic crisis and its effects on higher education, particularly at Cornell.

In the past few weeks, members of the Cornell community have received a plethora of information about how Cornell is dealing with the current economic crisis. Like Cornell, many institutions of higher education have created innovative plans to support their missions while managing their budgets.

The year is 1969, and racial tensions on Cornell’s campus have erupted into a group of armed black students taking over Willard Straight Hall. The administration and professoriate have surrendered age-old traditions of education to the violent opposition, and Cornell has become a hotbed of radicalism. Fast forward almost 40 years, and Cornell is still the same “cynonosure of student rebellion.” At least this is the Cornell depicted by the Veritas Fund for Higher Education.

ISTANBUL — As a university student coming to Turkey, I knew there was a chance of encountering today’s incarnation of the brutal and bloody struggle for this country’s soul. While I had that knowledge, I never thought I would actually see it. When I saw it, it took me a few hours to comprehend what actually took place. Here I will relay to you what I saw, what I think it means and why it is important. This is not simple subject matter to write about and I do not claim to be an expert in any way on the topic. I can only record and observe. The following is just that.

2008 marked one of the largest graduating high school classes in recent years, many colleges around the country, including Cornell, have over-enrolled students in their freshmen classes.

“As of mid-July, 3,181 first-year students indicated their intent to enroll in the Class of 2012; the target class size was 3,050,” Doris Davis, associate provost of admissions and enrollment, stated in an e-mail.

This is the third in a three-part series analyzing the Higher Education Opportunity Act that was passed in August.

President George Bush signed the Higher Education Opportunity Act into law this past August, ushering in a series of reforms that were said to help pave the way for more students to be able to attend college. Aside from its attempt to make higher education more accessible, the act contains controversial provisions that represent the entertainment industry’s ongoing pursuit to curb illegal file-sharing on college campuses nation-wide.