Four U.S. citizens were detained by the Chinese government yesterday after protesting the planned 2008 Olympic torch route up Mount Everest and into Tibet — a route that is politically symbolic of Chinese hegemony in that region.

Robert Novak, nationally syndicated columnist, television news commentator and the self-acknowledged “Prince of Darkness” of the Washington press, spoke at Schwartz Auditorium last night.

In his opening remarks, Novak, who served in the Korean War and worked for 50 years in Washington, D.C., revealed the origin of his sinister moniker. “I believe in limited government, low taxes and individual economic freedom. And in Washington that makes you The Prince of Darkness. It may well make you The Prince of Darkness at Cornell,” said Novak.

Helen Thomas, tough-talking journalist and one of the first female members of the White House Press Corps, spoke to a packed Statler Auditorium last night at a lecture organized by the Cornell Political Coalition.

The normally taboo topics of peep shows, pornography, stripping, seduction and domination were all fair game during sex worker Sarah Katherine Lewis’ presentation at Carol Tatkon Center last Friday night.

For the first time since it was established in 2005, the China and Asia Pacific Studies major reached its yearly cap of 20 students, up from 12 in its inaugural year, marking a growing interest in the rigorous, immersion-based program.