The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/author/sas432cornell-edu/page/4/)
President-elect Barack Obama appointed William J. Lynn III, J.D. ’80, who served under the Clinton administration as the Pentagon’s chief financial officer, to a new position — deputy defense secretary, the number two position in the Pentagon. Lynn officially inherited the position yesterday, when the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services held a confirmation hearing.
Updated at 8:00 p.m.
At 12:20 p.m. the University alerted the community that the Central Heating Plant, which is responsible for providing heat and hot water to about 250 buildings, is not exporting steam. An e-mail alert requested that all people on campus shut their windows and minimize hot water consumption until the plant could begin exporting steam again.
Cornell, like other universities across the country, is being forced to adapt to the recent economic crisis. In response, the administration has instituted a 90-day construction pause and a non-professional hiring freeze to limit expenses. But despite the conserve-and-cut mentality that has gripped students and universities alike in the wake of the economic meltdown, university presidents across the country are earning more than ever.
This is the second article in a series analyzing how various aspects of campus life impact Cornell’s commitment to sustainability.
When Cornell’s Athletic Department decided to coordinate the scheduling of the men’s and women’s squash teams so they could travel together, were they doing it to reduce their carbon footprint, or were they doing it to limit their travel expenses? The Athletic Department does not see the two as mutually exclusive. In fact, more often than not, the two are complementary –– what is environmentally sustainable is fiscally responsible.
For two days during Orientation Week, students, parents and community members formed a queue outside Helen Newman Recreational Center for the Dump and Run sale. The sale, which runs every August, features items that Cornell students donate at the end of the spring semester. For those unfortunate enough to be at the back of the line, there were times where it took them up to three hours to get into the building to see what was for sale.
Yesterday, all those who helped make the Dump and Run sale possible came together to celebrate the success of the event and distribute the proceeds from the sales.
In its 2008 ranking of the best business schools in the United States, BusinessWeek ranked Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management 11th — a two-spot promotion from its 2006 ranking. In comparison to its peer institutions, the business school overtook Dartmouth and remains ahead of Yale, but trails Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia.
At about 12:10 p.m., a new sound joined the regular rustling of fallen leaves, perpetual prattle of pedestrians and typical traffic noise. The wailing of C.U.’s emergency sirens pounded the eardrums of people on virtually all locations of Cornell campus — no matter how seemingly isolated or remote. In the future the sounding of the sirens could indicate an emergency, but yesterday was a test.
The University tested its emergency system in order to gauge its effectiveness and efficiency. Richard McDaniel, vice president of risk management and public safety, said the emergency system consists of three ways to alert students, faculty and staff to the presence of an emergency on campus: sirens, voice messages and text messages.
The Lost Dog Café’s upstairs lounge played host to the Ithaca Science Cabaret speaker series last night as Ithaca residents and science enthusiasts alike crowded into the dimly lit lounge. They reclined on the couches and perched themselves on the chairs while sipping wine and listening to this month’s speaker. Prof. Max Zhang, mechanical and aerospace Engineering at Cornell, explored the scientific basis for concern about air quality in Beijing during this past summer’s Olympic Games.
According to Kitty Gifford, one of the coordinators for the Ithaca Science Cabaret, the series began its fourth year this September and has always taken place at the Lost Dog Café in the Commons.
“Lost Dog has been a great host to the series,” Gifford said. “It’s a great venue.”
The U.S. is facing a historic economic struggle and everyone’s eyes are on the next president for answers. Joe “the plumber” Wurzelbacher, the star of the third presidential debate, became the human paradigm of how economic policies would affect the everyday American citizen. Joe’s story became widely known as he made the circuit of appearances on CBS’s The Early Show, Fox News, The Daily Show and others. However, every American out of the national spotlight will be directly affected by the candidates’ policies. The Sun interviewed local students and community members to highlight how the candidates’ policies will affect their personal and professional lives.
Anthony the Small Business Owner
Correction appended. See below.
While the national government is taking measures to deal with the recent economic crisis, state governments are also forced to deal with the issues. The state of New York has a huge budget deficit, according to The Wall Street Journal, that Gov. David Paterson (D) and the state legislature are being forced to deal with.
In order to minimize the deficit, the state has to limit its funding to different institutions including schools. According to The Ithaca Journal, the state will force the State University of New York (SUNY) to absorb an estimated $70 to $96.3 million of the losses and Cornell will feel the effects of the cuts.