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LGBT Students Demand Voice

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The economic downturn has hurt all facets of the University, especially those parts of the community that were often overlooked before any economic crisis.
Cornell’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer/Questioning community has gone without a permanent director or an office manager of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning Resource Center (LGBTQ RC) since the summer, and without an assistant dean of Students/Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer/Questioning Outreach (LGBTQ) for a year and a half.

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‘Grave’ Budget Dictates C.U. Plans

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When Provost Kent Fuchs moved into Day Hall to assume his new position about six weeks ago, he was faced with a daunting task — balancing Cornell’s budget. Facing a $200 million budget shortfall, which represents 10 percent of the University budget, Fuchs had been forced to make some drastic decisions.
In yesterday’s Faculty Senate meeting, Fuchs told the attendees, “The situation is grave. If we do nothing, this institution is at great risk.”

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Slope Day Receives $30,000

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In order to increase funding for Slope Day, the Cornell Concert Commission (CCC) gave $30,000 of its own funds to the Slope Day Programming Board on Thursday.
“We’re very appreciative of everything the Concert Commission has done for us and thankful of their generosity,” said Mandy Hjellming ’09, chair of the Slope Day Programming Board. “It will definitely be significant to the success of Slope Day and the artists that we bring.”

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Budget Constraints Limit Dining Hours

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University budget cuts have finally reached North Campus, as North Star dining hall in Appel Commons will no longer be open for Friday and Saturday dinners. Though a mild inconvenience for many freshmen, authorities say the decision is sound and relatively innocuous to the overall University dining experience.
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“We made that call in between semesters, but it was something we had been thinking about for many years,” said Richard Anderson, general manager of Cornell Dining. “We’re more than capable of feeding the amount of people that come through, but Friday and Saturday are our slowest nights.”

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Univ. Budget Cuts Plague Slope Day

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One of Cornell’s most visible student events appears to have fallen victim to the University-wide budget cuts that were announced earlier this week.
Slope Day, the annual concert held on Libe Slope on the last day of spring semester classes, will receive significantly less funding from the University, which has historically offered financial support for the event, according to Mandy Hjellming ‘09, chair of the Slope Day Programming Board.
Hjellming said that this the SDPB will be forced to cover an estimated $70,000 that the University had provided in the past for logistical and infrastructural expenses. That figure is a low estimate and the actual deficit could actually be higher, she said.

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University Set to Slash Budgets

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On Saturday, the Board of Trustees approved cuts to the University’s operating budget, increased the cost of tuition for the next academic year and further extended an external hiring pause and construction pause that were first implemented last October. The move comes as the University reels from a 27-percent decline in its endowment, drastic cuts in state funding and a decrease in philanthropic contributions.

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Cornell Closes Tower Café Due to Budget Constraints

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While the University’s current financial outlook did not directly precipitate the café’s closure, Younger said, the need for fiscal frugality at all levels of the University made last December a particularly good time to eliminate one of Cornell Dining’s facilities.
“It wasn’t a hasty decision,” he said. “We had been looking at this for a while. Over the past 5 years, participation [at Tower Café] never got to the levels where we wanted it to be.”

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N.Y. Gov. David Paterson Speaks Frankly About The State’s Dire Economic Situation

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On Jan. 7, Governor David Paterson (D-N.Y.) delivered the State of the State address. In his speech, Paterson’s first since assuming office last March, he focused on the numerous problems that the state is facing. He began the speech with a harsh assessment of New York’s current situation. 
“My fellow New Yorkers: Let me come straight to the point,” he said. “The state of our state is perilous.”
In his speech, Paterson touched on health, education, energy, environmental and economical issues that the state was grappling with, noting the adverse impact of the recession.
“New York faces an historic economic challenge, the gravest in nearly a century,” he said.

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State Cuts Force Colleges to Adapt

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New York governor David Paterson (D-N.Y.) has imposed a mid-year budget cut that decreased the state funding to Cornell’s four statutory colleges (Human Ecology, Veterinary Medicine, Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Industrial and Labor Relations) from over $159 to $153 million, according to Ron Seeber, vice provost for land grant affairs. This decrease represents a loss of between 6 and 7 percent of their previous state funding for each of the four colleges.
While the $6 million worth of cuts have already been enacted, a further $2.5 million cut is currently being debated for the 09-10 year, and it will not be voted on by the legislature until the budget is approved at the end of March or early April.

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Impending N.Y. State Budget Cuts May Affect University

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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.