As Cornell students stroll, saunter and sprint to class each day, preoccupied with their last prelim or concerned about their next assignment, they rarely have the opportunity to appreciate the Cornell campus, the beauty and decades of dusty history it has to offer. But as springtime rolls around, now is as good a time as any to take a fresh look at some of the seemingly mundane monuments and memorials around campus.

Bob Woodward, investigative reporter best known for his work with Carl Bernstein in uncovering the Watergate scandal, discussed his views on President Bush’s idealism and how it has influenced the Iraq war during his speech at Ithaca College yesterday. Entitled “State of Denial” after his book State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III, it was the third lecture in a year-long series celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Park Scholar Program at Ithaca College.

faQ Online, a ‘chat-style’ student-to-student mentoring and support service for the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community at Cornell, recently celebrated its first anniversary.

“It’s one of a kind, and it’s the first of its kind in the nation,” said Andrew Lee ’08, student coordinator and co-founder of faQ Online. Lee also serves as a mentor for the service.

The Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factor Program at Cornell recently received the 2006 New York State Innovation in Breast Cancer Early Detection and Research Award for its pioneering program of breast cancer research and education as well as its long-term commitment to the New York State community.

While Cornell may appear to be under perpetual construction, the new West Campus is currently scheduled to be completed by August 2008, almost two years ahead of schedule and still right on budget at about $225 million, according to Edna R. Doogan, West Campus Council co-chair and assistant vice president for finance and administration and student and academic services. Bethe House will become a program house this August with Prof. Porus Olpadwala, city and regional planning, as the first House Professor and Dean of Bethe House. It will be the third house out of five that will eventually comprise the West Campus House System.

Generations of Cornellians gathered yesterday at the Hirshland Gallery of Kroch Library to celebrate the opening of the exhibition “I Would Found an Institution: The Ezra Cornell Bicentennial.” The showcase lauded Ezra Cornell as a man of revolutionary ideas, who founded a truly model American university that continues to carry on his legacy.