Uncategorized

Zinni Derives Meaning From Middle East Crisis

By |

With the Middle East crisis at the forefront of media coverage and debate, Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni brought a unique perspective to the situation yesterday, speaking of his first-hand experience as a mediator between Israeli and Palestinian political parties.
“I have never encountered a process as complicated and complex as this one,” Zinni said.
Zinni, a Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of 1956 Professor, began his discussion in front of the packed HEC Auditorium with his worry that the Middle East peace efforts are being eclipsed by the current economic crisis and various other events.

Uncategorized

Healthy Eating on a Student Budget

By |

I’m broke. Most of us are broke. Some of us have thousands of dollars in loans and credit cards that are always in the red. I complain about this just about every day of my life to my parents who have this weird perception that being a broke college student is a rite of passage or something. Its gotten to the point where the twenty dollars of “mad money” my mother sends is like gold. And for a girl who literally has expensive taste, having no money in my pocket is like my own personal purgatory. I can’t survive off ramen or pizza or wings every single night of my life. I need the good stuff to get me by. Freshly baked artisan bread, exotic fruits and vegetables, fresh fish right off the truck. This is where my “mad money” goes.

Uncategorized

Environmental Rights Priority

By |

I’m sure that everyone has some mention of environmental rights in recent years. With growing concern for environmental protection, many have begun to adapt their lifestyles to limit damage to the earth. From hybrid vehicles to wind power, there is an ever-increasing focus on protecting the environment and limiting the pollution emitted by humankind. Our own Cornell University Sustainability Coordinator is in the process of developing initiatives to make the campus environmentally friendly.

Uncategorized

Three Steps to Maintain Popular Support for The Bailout

By |

President Obama said something very important and insightful during his address to Congress on February 24th. “We cannot afford to govern out of anger, or yield to the politics of the moment,” was the President’s advice on how Congress and his administration should proceed with stabilizing the financial system. The moral hazard involved in bailing out institutions deemed “too big to fail” is well documented, but the costs of allowing some financial institutions to fail is greater than the costs of using taxpayer dollars to stabilize these institutions. Both the administration and Congress must be wary of growing populist sentiment, because there will inevitably be more money needed to solve the financial crisis.

Uncategorized

Job Fair Draws a Meager Crowd Despite Recession

By |

Even in the midst of the current economic crisis, few students wandered in and out of Willard Straight Hall’s Memorial Room where CampusLife hosted a job fair yesterday for on-campus employment opportunities for the current spring, summer and fall semesters. Representatives from several different departments, such as information systems and Cornell dining, waited for employment-seeking students behind tables with information, applications, business cards, free pens and cookies.
When asked if the economy has affected on-campus jobs, Melanie Ciotoli, CampusLife human resources manager, said that “there has not necessarily been a cut back on employment positions” overall and continued by saying that each department seeks different needs at different times.

Uncategorized

Obama, the Economy, and Overreaction…the Saga Continues

By |

While Liz continues on her analysis of international woes from a European perspective, I’ve decided the time is ripe to pipe up with some American vision about recent events.

Let’s begin with an anecdote. Last Thursday, as many began to celebrate the start of spring break a bit early, I was holed up in my room writing papers (yes, plural) . As I typed, my roommate barged into my room to decry Obama’s economic policy solutions. Claiming that they were destroying the banking system, he explained that there was a clause in the recovery plan (hire-American) that mandated all companies receiving government support hire only American employees. This has been at the cost of the jobs of many foreigners in the United States.

Uncategorized

Looking For A Little Cash, A Little Optimism

By |

Life is hard. Making money is hard. Being on your own is hard. Recently, these messages have been ingrained into our brains from every media outlet and from all our friends that suddenly decided to forgo a financial career and take a stab at the LSATs. Therefore, it is difficult to sit through another movie that reiterates how depressing life can be without monetary resources. No wonder people willingly gravitated towards the dazzling, though excessively impractical, Slumdog Millionaire this past year for a fantastical escape.

Uncategorized

Lessons From Monkey Business

By |

Economists are scientists. They take data. They run statistical tests. Then, they boil down human behavior to elegant mathematical models: G+I+Xn+C =GDP, MRS=-p1/p2 etc. However, as sophisticated as these models may be, they don’t always work in practice.

Several years ago, the returns of two portfolios compiled by a brie eating, Armani wearing analyst at Merrill Lynch and an innocent monkey throwing darts at a page of the Wall-Street Journal were compared, and the differences were negligible. The Subprime mortgage, created by intelligent Ivy League graduates fluent in computer programming and financial modeling, shattered the global economy and literally brought the house down. Your browser may not support display of this image.

Uncategorized

A Changing Reality

By |

The Obama administration, by its own admission, is redefining the role of the federal government. This is evidenced by the President’s budget for the fiscal year 2010, which is not only a document of numbers and figures, but one of goals, priorities and yes, ideology. This is not to say that all aspects of the President’s budget are misguided, but Americans need to be made aware of the changing reality in which we are living.

Uncategorized

My Future as a 'Fresh Meat Manager'

By |

As spring semester gets under way, the worries of most Cornell seniors are no longer whether the bump on their crotch is an ingrown hair or a herpes sore, but where — and even if — they will work once they graduate. Conversations with students across majors have confirmed that the state of the economy has profoundly affected their prospects. With layoffs of qualified workers at an all time high — inexperienced labor, regardless of if it is Ivy educated, is not what employers seek.